Friends with Tools

Hello!

Life

Life is definitely dominating right now.  One of my brother's best friends from high school came with his brother and installed a lift to carry Mark from the living room/bedroom he has been using to the main part of the house.

Mark's house is split into 3 levels:  The entryway opens to a living room, dining room and kitchen.  From this level you can also access the part of the back yard where there is a patio and barbecue.  From the living room you can go up stairs to the bedrooms or down a half flight of stairs to what once was a family room.  This lower level has a bathroom and the laundry room, also, as well as a door to the garage and access to the lower part of the back yard.  Can you tell the house is on a hill?  To get to the front door from outside there are stairs.  All of these stairs are a nightmare for someone in a wheelchair.

So the lower part of the house has slowly been fixed up to be Mark's room.  He has his computer for work, his hospital bed, a small refrigerator, table, a TV, chairs for visitors, etc.  He can get to the bathroom and outside through the garage.  One lucky thing is that it is open to the kitchen by a half wall, so Mark is included in the family while they cook, eat, and so on, but he was still not WITH them.

NOT ANY MORE

Enter Pete and Joe.  Friends with tools, building knowledge and experience, and a generosity of spirit that can't be matched.

They brought Mark a special lift,

 cut the half-wall,

 installed everything, and we ate dinner together as a family.

A family with GREAT friends.

Knitting

I have made so much progress on my Echo Flower Shawl.  I started the shawl about a million years ago, ok, April 6th.  The Beginning Lace Knitters Group in Ravelry did it as a KAL, but I was busy with other things, so I started mine way after they had finished.  I have worked on it pretty much every month, but super slowly.  I am finished with all of the main repeats and and working on the first border pattern section.  And, I am almost finished with it.  I am on row 13 of 15.  There is one more chart, the Edge Chart, with 8 rows and then it is just soaking and blocking.  As this shawl is for my mom, though I am tempted to keep it and make her a sweater instead, it would be amazing if I could finish it before I have to drive back up to Washington next week.  Where would I block it, though?

The big thing for me in this border section is the Nupps.  Yep, nupps (rhymes with soups)!  Made my first ever.

before purling back

3 completed nupps

I am very slow with the purling back, and a few times I have missed loops and had to "fix" things.  I haven't tinked or frogged back, and my lifeline is at the beginning of the whole border section (which makes me nervous).  Three more rows.  I can do it.

Stay safe and well.
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with nupps.

Mark and his daughter "ride" the lift.

Need to Post Fast and Get to Bed

Once again no FO's for my Friday.  But not for the usual reason.  (The usual reason is either that I am a slow knitter, or that I got busy with other things, and didn't knit.)

Since I finished my July socks so quickly, I've been working on mainly 2 things.  The Echo Flower Shawl for my mom, and a birthday gift for my niece, K, who will be 6 in August.

I am on the middle of the 12th of 13 repeats for the main body of the shawl (yay!).  I finally feel like I am developing a rhythm with the pattern.   Of course, I might have developed this rhythm a bit sooner, if I had been more monogamous with the shawl knitting.

I made a purse already for K from a free pattern I got (and the yarn to go with the pattern) on the Puget Sound LYS Tour in May.

I am knitting her a Belinda Jane Doll, but probably with different hair (she is blonde), and definitely different clothes, but I think that will be for Christmas.  The first Belinda Doll I made was for K's little sister, and I don't want the birthday gifts to be the same.

So she will get the purse, but I want to put 3 amigurumis in it for her.

I plan to give her my best mouse.

And, by best mouse, I mean the little cute one on the left.  The one that doesn't look mutant.

I still need to make 2 more little toys.

I worked on a Ballet Bunny, from the book Amigurumi by Bui and Wan.  I bought some Dream Baby DK by Plymouth Yarn in various colors.

 I hooked the pieces of the Ballet Bunny.

But I have not stuffed it, sewn the face, nor sewn the bunny together.

What I did instead all day, was play with a sock pattern I am designing myself.  I just couldn't make myself put the sock down and finish something.  I am really excited because it is my first pattern really from scratch.  I have altered other patterns, but never started with a blank slate.

Definitely more to come on the sock.  And I hope to post some really finished toys to put into the purse.

I did make myself hit theY, but rather than work on my Better Than French Vanilla Socks (which are almost ready for the heel flaps),

I worked on the new design while riding.

Where in the World is f1bercat?

Since I did not post yesterday, but did ride, I am adding yesterday and today together milewise.  This gives me about 13 miles for the 2 days. I have now knitted 318.93 miles.


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I am more than halfway through Oregon.

Stay safe and well.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with pieces of bunny  and almost, sort of, an echo flower shawl

Someone Stop Me

Wasp Nest on Our Garage Door

Hello!

Yes, that is a wasp nest (or perhaps hornets' nest) I found on our garage door.  EEEEEK!

I want to say thank you again to my daughter, Moogie, for taking time out from her busy schedule to guest blog for me.  In the fall, I plan to spend a few days in Portland with her, and we can go to some of the places she wrote about.

WIP's

Warning, there are photos of the SolidSocks Mystery Sock Clue 1 in this post.  If you don't want to see it, please don't scroll down.

I have been very busy with my knitting.  I cast off quite a few things last week, and of course immediately cast on some new projects.  What is wrong with me?  or am I just like every other obsessed knitter?

This month for Sock Knitters Anonymous, the challenge is to knit a pattern that is Underappreciated.  The rules are:

"patterns that have up to and including 15 or less projects listed on the pattern’s project page including all active, hibernating, frogged and/or ugh! projects. In the case of one pattern being translated into alternate language versions, the combined total for all the versions must be under 15. Every pattern page has a link in the lower right to all that designer’s patterns. For this challenge, please make a point of checking out the designer’s other patterns to make sure there are no additional versions!"

There are also 2 designers you can choose from, if you don't want to do an underappreciated pattern (or can't find one).

One of the designers is Anne Campbell, who designed Circle Socks, a pattern I have long admired and wanted to knit when I had time.  This pattern really needs a variegated yarn, so if I chose it, it wouldn't count for Solid Socks (whose challenge color is green).  OOOOO and I love doing two-fer projects and getting credit from both groups.

Solid Socks, in addition to the color challenge, has a mystery sock challenge every two months.  This month the designer of the Mystery Sock is YarnYenta (Heatherly Walker).

So what to do?  How can I decide?  I am trying to finish the Belinda Jane Doll from Flutterby Patch for my niece, M's 4th birthday this month.

I'm working on the Echo Flower Shawl for my mom.  I am on the 11th of 13 repeats of the main section.

 I'm making the 5th of 21 Spa Washcloths, idea from the Liz Marino Gift Knits Club.

I'm working on a pair of Better than French Vanilla Socks for my son, J.

I'm knitting a chemo hat for  Sharing Our Gifts.

and am making 2 afghans with 2012 BAMCAL.

So, what do I do?

I decide to make BOTH SOCKS!
Really, someone should stop me.

I have cast on and am about 1/2 way through the first clue of the Solid Socks Mystery sock.  It is called Rombikiri.  I am using the gorgeous Granny Smith colored yarn (remember, the challenge is GREEN) by Huckleberry Knits that I bought during the Puget Sound LYS Crawl at Apple Yarns, in Bellingham, WA.  I loved that shop, and loved their sock yarns.

  I bought a 2nd skein of apple themed yarn there, also from Huckleberry Knits, called Honeycrisp.  Have to say, that is one of my favorite apples, and the yarn's colors really give the feel of the fruit.

I have not cast these on yet, but I have separated the skein into 2 balls (so I can knit 2aat), and am hoping to start them soon.  I just need to get that doll finished!

I have made huge progress on the doll, and can't wait to have her all done.  I am also sewing some quick ballet costumes for my sons' studio performance this Friday.  So, I have somewhat limited time to knit.

EEK!  Why am I making two pairs of socks this month?

Because I love to knit socks.

Where in the World is f1bercat?


I knit another 5 miles today on my spa wash cloths.  I am not pedaling very fast though.  I am trying to watch my speed and not the timer or the mileage as I knit, but I have slowed down a bit from before I got the flu, and just can't seem to get the speed back.  It really doesn't matter how fast I ride, because I am trying to work up to 30 minutes of riding.  The miles don't really count.  Right?  Why must I compete with myself?

I also walked .5 miles while reading The Game of Thrones.  I got a tiny bit antsy because I would rather be Knitting!  ( I love to read, but just can't seem to focus lately), but reading really helps me last.  I am trying to work up to 1 mile a day walking.  I will need to get faster or I will be on the treadmill forever!  I'm so out of shape, that I am very very slow right now.  At least I feel good and not super sore after my "workouts."


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Look, I made it to Milwaulkie.

Stay safe and well.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one, two, three pairs of socks at a time

blurry photo of a deer in our backyard

 

Larger Pile of Cat Barf? Or A Shawl?

2012.05.24 Red Chinese Poppy

WIP

I am on the 9th repeat of 13 repeats of the main pattern of the Echo Flower Shawl  by Jenny Johnson Johnen I am making for my mom.  You might remember my earlier post about this shawl.

 It was a KAL for the Beginning Lace Knitters Group on Ravelry.  I did not start mine in time to knit it with the group because I was finishing my Princess Lace Wrap,

and I did NOT want to be knitting two lace projects at the same time.  It was bad enough that I was knitting that wrap and a pair of socks with a lace pattern, the Hearts Abound Socks for my sister, K.

 I kept confusing parts of the two patterns and knitting wrap stitches on the socks, and sock stitches on the wrap.  Much better to stick to one lace project at a time.  Of course, the Mock for SKA (Sock Knitters Anonymous) this month , Chiendent, designed  by the talented Rose Hiver, has a lace pattern, but it is so easy to remember, I am not confusing it with the shawl.  Or, at least I hope not.

When I hit eight repeats, I got really excited, and thought, "Wow!  I am half way finished."  But then I thought about the fact that I am adding 2 new sections with every new repeat, so, um, I'm too tired to do the math, but I am not half way.  This pattern is not hard, hence the Beginning Lace Knitters KAL, but I have to pay attention while I am working on it.  I can not watch TV, that's for sure.  I usually listen to a podcast, but not CraftLit because I have to pay attention to that one.  As it is, I sometimes have to replay parts of what ever I am listening to because I tend to block it out while I am knitting on this shawl.  Lately I have been trying to finish 2 rows every night.  Sometimes I manage more, sometimes, nothing at all.

But it is starting to have the shape of a shawl.  And I still love the yarn, Cascade Alpaca Lace in Cream.

Where in the World is f1bercat?

I have knit 201.18 miles!  Wooot!  Broke the 200 mile barrier today.  I had to take my car in for the 50,000 mile service check, and I almost used that as an excuse not to ride/knit. Instead, I rode and knitted, then went straight to the Dealer, yes, sweaty and wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt.  I refused to care.  It took about 1 hour to change the oil, etc, regular maintenance, and I knitted in the waiting room.  Then I stopped at the Knittery on the way home and picked up some yarn for a chemo hat that I want to make for the Sharing Our Gifts Group.  I am so glad I stuck to my exercise schedule.  I am still sitting on the side of the road.


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This is starting to remind me a bit of when I was stuck on the side of the road near Joint Base Lewis-McCord.  This highway is forever, and there are no yarn shops until I get to Portland.  I scouted ahead a bit and look at the map of Portland with the search for Yarn shops:


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Pretty amazing.

Ok, I hope to post FO (finished objects) tomorrow, so I need to get off my blog and get back to knitting.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one almostish scarf at a time

Orange Chinese Poppy

Echo Flower Shawl, Not Cat Barf

2012.04.19

 

Another gray day today.  The Fuji Cherry tree is starting to drop petals and put on its leaves, but because of the gloom, I don't think you can see much.

Life

This is a huge weekend for my family.  My youngest child, my son L, has the lead in his high school musical and they are performing this weekend.  The play is The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and my son plays the part of William Barfee who wins the contest.  He has been a ballet dancer with some tap/jazz/modern as well since kindergarten, and has performed in many ballets, especially The Nutcracker with the Pacific Northwest Ballet when he was younger (and much smaller and cute), but has never acted or sang on stage before.  One of his good friends has done quite a few of the school musicals, and talked L into auditioning saying, "you can get a small part in the chorus.  With your dance skills, they will love you."  So L got the ok from his ballet teacher to audition, and did it.  Of course, he did not get one of the minor rolls but is splitting the lead with another boy (the show is double cast to allow as many students as possible to participate.)  I can't wait to see him! 

My daughter, S, the talented writer who goes to school in Portland, is taking the train home tonight, and will be here for the weekend.  L will perform the final 2 shows, both on Saturday.  I will go to both of his shows.  My poor husband, the Doc, has to work during the day on Saturday, so he will attend the evening (closing) show.  My older daughter, Allifer, and her boyfriend A, will attend the matinee, since poor A works Saturday night.  I probably won't update this blog until Monday, but if I get any photos after the show, I will post some because I know all of you read this blog to see how my kids and cats are doing and not for the knitting and crochet!

WIP

Last week I posted photos of some new projects that I have cast on.  One is the Echo Flower Shawl by Jenny Johnson Johnen.

I am knitting this shawl with the help of the Beginning Lace Knitters Group on Ravelry.  I think this was the KAL for March, so I am a bit late, but I was BUSY. =)  And I will admit, a bit intimidated.  But I decided to screw up my courage, and take the plunge.

I am using Cascade Alpaca Lace in Cream.  OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  I mean it!  OOOOOOOO!  This yarn is absolutely lovely.  I love the feel of it as it runs through my fingers while I am knitting.  Sometimes, I just stop and pet the ball.  I am using cream, because I let my Mom pick the color, and that was what she wanted.  I know she is not really a "shawl" type of person, what ever that is.  She lives in southern  California, and it is simply too hot there to wear a lot of knitwear.  But I miss her.  And I feel the need to show my love for her by knitting her something.  She may never wear this.  But I don't care.  She can just take it out and pet it occasionally.  I have seen that some of the people in the group put beads in the border section, and I am thinking of doing that.  I will have to find a bead color that does not pop, but just adds a tiny bit of sparkle.  I learned how to add beads with a crochet hook when I was making my 2011 Advent Calendar Scarf last December.  I remember the process as being super slow and tedious, but the beads as adding a really lovely touch to the scarf.  Perhaps I will be a tiny bit faster this time around.  Also, I need to practice this, because I fully intend to participate in the 2012 Advent Calendar Scarf this coming December!

I have completed the set up section, and 2 repeats of the main flower pattern in these photos.  It is simply amazing to me how much lace looks like cat barf before it is blocked.  I stretched it out just a bit so you can get a sense of what the flower pattern looks like.

The flower pattern is 8 rows and on the first row, there are some "3 into 9" and "2 into 9" stitches.  This is where you knit together 3 stitches (or 2) and do not drop them off the left needle, but yarn over the needle and knit into the same stitches repeating this again and again until you have 9 loops on the right needle.  On the way back, you purl these 9 new stitches.  In this way, the shawl grows by 2 sections every full 8 row repeat.  At first, I was stopping after completing row 8.  Now, I am going ahead and doing the row 1 increases before I stop, so that it will seem like easy fast knitting when I pick up the shawl to continue.  It's all a game to psych myself up for yet another repeat.  To make a real shawl and not a scarf, we are supposed to do 13 repeats of this flower pattern.  I have been reading the thread on the Group Page, and almost everyone who stopped short of the 13 repeats was sorry.  So even though it will take me (a VERY slow knitter) longer and longer to complete the 8 rows, I will do all 13 repeats.  I am determined to make my mom a beautiful shawl.

That's all for today.  I get to pick up my daughter, S, at the train station in Seattle tonight.  I can't wait to see her.

No bike trip again today.  I hope to restart it on Monday, even if I can only knit for 15 minutes before dropping with exhaustion.

Yours,
f1bercat
Shaping the planet one piece of cat barf at a time

No Bike Ride Today... Too Sick With The Flu

2012.04.09

I'm dying.  Ok, I'm not really dying, but I feel like it.  I have the flu for the first time in about 20 years and it feels horrible!  I'm actually a bit better today.  Last night as we were watching Easter Parade (one of my family's favorite Easter traditions) the sore throat and irritating cough morphed into body aches and chills with violent shaking, and I really thought I needed to go to the hospital.  I am never sick.  I guess I forgot what it feels like.  It stinks.

Anyway, no bike ride for me today, and until I have energy.

I am going to post some of the new WIP's I cast on last friday.  Then get to bed early.

1. Subtle Socks

These are for the SolidSocks and Sock Knitters Anonymous Groups on Ravelry.  The challenge for SKA is socks with a Literary Theme.  The SolidSocks color for April is yellow.  I am making Lyra's Socks by DXM Patterns (she is DeusXMachina on Ravelry).  They are based on the main character from Phillip Pullman's wonderful His Dark Materials trilogy.

I am using my new Miss Bab's Yummy Superwash Sock yarn in Squash Blossom.  It is indeed YUMMY!  Super wonderful feel as I knit.

I am knitting them 2aaT on size 2 Addi Turbo Lace Needles.  I have also added 4 stitches since I want these to fit over my heels.

2. Wedding Fish

Rather than make my nephew A socks for his wedding in June (I am giving his bride to be the Snuggly Socks), I decided to make him a fish hat!  He is an avid fisherman; has loved fishing since he was a kid.  I have loved this pattern since our good friend Jenknotsed8 from Eastside Stitchers  brought her fish hat project one Wednesday.  The pattern is called Fish Hat [Dead or Alive?] by Thelma Egberts and was first published in Knitty, Winter 2008.  I am knitting the lips in Red Cascade 220.  I have some Orange Cascade 220 but I think I might look for some other colors if I have enough energy to go shopping tomorrow or Wednesday, since I am not sure I want red and orange.  I'm thinking 2 colors of blue or green. 


3. Nana's Shawl

I finally cast on the March KAL for the Beginning Lace Knitters Group on Ravelry.  The pattern is Echo Flower Shawl by Jenny Johnson Johnen.  I watched the KAL thread as people knitted these beautiful shawls, and really wanted to make one for my mom.  She lives in Southern California, so doesn't wear mittens, gloves, hats, etc. but she does go to the theater and ballet a lot, and I thought a lacy shawl would be just right.  I am using this absolutely wonderful feeling Cascade Alpaca Lace yarn  in Cream.  I would have made it in some glorious color, but I knew she would want a neutral color, and so I called to double check, and yes she said, please make it in cream.  One of our LYS closed this winter, and I was able to snag this yarn at a nice price.  So far I have knit the first half of the set up section, so it doesn't look like much.  Well, because I am using lace weight yarn and size 5 needles, it kind of looks like Cat Barf.


Good night, and stay well!  Being sick stinks.

f1bercat
shaping the planet one hacking cough at a time