Too many things to talk about

Hello! 
The first post is up for the Advent Calendar Scarf 2012, and it isn't even December.  I DON'T HAVE MY BEADS YET!  O!  Dear.  Can you all tell I am freaking out? I knew I should have run out today and bought some. Well, I actually stopped at Michael's but they did not have any 8/0  (not sure what the numbers mean or how they work, except that the beads get bigger as the number gets smaller.)  They had 11/0 and 6/0 and I was very tempted to get the 6/0 but they were just too big.  I am going to use the same Cascade Alpaca Lace yarn in Ecru

that I used to make my mom's Echo Flower Shawl.

I was going to just use the left over red beads from last year, but I can't find them... Sob.  Well, now I can use a different color.  I was thinking gold, but now I might use black.  I think that will look really nice with the ecru yarn.  Anyway, I am going to knit up the first 4 rows tonight, and then run out tomorrow morning (the shop opens at 10 am) and get some beads.

HPKCHC
I turned in everything today for my first term as a Gryffindor.  I managed to turn in something for EVERY class again this month, as well as a completed OWL and BROOM, and I participated in every Quidditch (except for the Hat  Time Trials - I wasn't selected, but I cheered the team on).  Honestly, I am exhausted.  I really want to participate again next "term" which starts in January, but, I need to let myself relax a bit.  Famous last words as I was already reading the OWL prompts and thinking about what I might propose!

Anyway, I really want to show the Snape's Stockings that I finished as the last part of my History of Magic OWL.

One of the things that Cat Bordhi talked about in her Sweet Tomato Heels Class, was the need to make socks with a really tight fabric.  These socks wear the best.  This is especially important in the heels. If you are a loose purler (I am), the heels won't have the same strength as the rest of the sock.  Cat gave us some tips on how to make better heels.  One was to drop down a needle size, another to just drop down the purling needle.  She also suggested learning how to knit left handed, so that you are never actually purling, just knitting back but left-handed.  I have always wanted to learn this, as one of my sisters is a leftie, so I taught myself with much awkwardness.  I am very slow at it, but wow, it works!  My left handed knitting is very very tight, and the heels on these new socks are the best I have ever knit.

I finished the socks on the flight back from Princeton University yesterday.  And United Airlines is still horrible.  Honestly, a 6 1/2 hour flight with not even a bag of pretzels.  Also, it cost $8.00 to watch the movie or TV on flight. Pookie and I didn't starve though, we had brought apples and protein bars. Then, we landed in Seattle and the pilot said,"we are 5 minutes early."  But, there was a plane at our gate, and we had to wait for them to move, so actually, we were 45 minutes late, just sitting on the tarmac, waiting to pull up. 

So the socks are wonderful:

I was knitting the last 2 projects and trying to get everything posted today, and my feet were freezing, so ... although these socks will be my Christmas present for the Doc (he never reads this blog, so I am safe writing that), I wore them!

They fit great and are super warm.

The last 2 projects/classes I knit for this term were a hat for Flying, and a sheep for Charms.  The Flying class prompt was to create something inspired by a forgotten aviator.  So I did some research into early Women Flyers, and made a stash busting baby hat that is is fun and bright and is supposed to represent Opal Kunz.  This might sound silly, but it was fun doing the research.  Here is the hat:

The sheep was for Charms.  We were supposed to "bring the outdoors in."  This is a great prompt, and I had thought of making something with a leaf pattern, or perhaps even some leaves, like leaf washcloths or leaf trivets, but I decided to try to knit a small animal toy.  I knit a sheep.

Super easy and cute.

Can you tell I am now obsessed with apples? It is apple season, and we have so many wonderful varieties at our grocery stores, all from local farms.

These are all different types that I have at the house right now.  And NONE is a Fuji (a variety that I love).

I didn't write much about our trip to Princeton, but that would make this post super long.  The photo at the top is from a series of Chinese Zodiac sculptures in front of the Engineering Building.

Any way, we love the school.  Everything we saw and everything we learned just made us love it more.

Keep your fingers crossed for Pookie.

Ok, that's all for now.  I need to cast on my Scarf!

Peace.
Yours,

f1bercat
shaping the planet with new socks and a sheep.

Sunny Days

Hello!

I'm in Phoenix, Arizona for a few days, spending Thanksgiving with my husband's family and 2 of my own kids, Moogie and Himes.

I just took 2 apple pies out of the oven and put in 2 pumpkin pies, and while I wait for those to bake, I am trying to finish the heels of my Snape's Stockings

that I am knitting for the Doc, and for my HPKCHC History of Magic OWL (and also SolidSocks and SKA... are they a threefer or a fourfer?)

Today, my Father in Law, Himes, Moogie,

and I went to visit my Mother in Law's grave.  I miss her dreadfully.  She was a lovely woman, and a wonderful mother in law and Grandma to my kids.  We are thinking of you, Jeannie, and so wish you were celebrating this day of family with us.

Stay safe and well,
Yours,

f1bercat
shaping the planet with 4 pies and a bit of a hole in her heart.

FO's and an OWL

Hello!

Life
Every morning when I get up, usually around 6:00, I take a photo of Lake Samammish and the Cascade Mountains from our back deck.  Well, now that we are headed into winter, and the sun is rising so much later, I usually wait until 7 to take the first photos.  As we approach the solstice, on December 21, I will have to take that first shot later and later.  I grew up in Southern California, and I know the days were shorter in the winter, but not like this.  The sun will rise here at about 8 am and set by 4:30 pm in the end of December.

Anyway, I just love our view, and am compelled to try to capture it.  Lately, with all the foggy mornings, the shots just look like trees against a gray background.  If I wait until 10 am and take more photos, I can usually get one like this:

You can see the lake and the eastern shore and hills, but the Cascade Mountains are still hidden.  Sometimes, by early afternoon, the mountains begin to appear.

My favorites are the mornings with some cloud cover but no fog.  On these days, because the sun rises so late, we get the most spectacular sunrises.  You don't have to get up early for them, either.

Enough about my lake.  Just a warning, though.  As I am obsessed with photographing it, expect to see photos here as headers and footers, often.

Knitting
I am working furiously on the last of my classes for the HPKCHC (Harry Potter Knitting/Crochet House Cup) and simultaneously finishing up some things people have asked me to knit for them.

The first is a Green Bay Packers Hat.

My youngest sister called me about a month ago and said, "Is it too late to get in some orders for knitted Christmas Gifts?"

Hmmm.... Well, I supposed not, though I always have about a million projects I want to make.

So she asked for a scarf and a hat.

I can crochet a scarf, but not knit one.  I was remembering the Dr. Who Scarf that I made for my gaming friend, Aelfric:

She agreed that a crocheted scarf was ok (what does she know?).  Then she said... the stuff was not for her OR HER KIDS, but for:
her boyfriend's sister and the sister's husband.
So I crocheted a scarf for my Sister's Boyfriend's Sister,

And knit a hat for my Sister's Boyfriend's Sister's Husband.  Talk about 4 degrees of separation!  Here is the hat modeled by my favorite model, my son, Pookie.

It's made in Cascade 220 in Goldenrod, White, and Christmas Green.

It is long enough to easily cover the ears, with a bit of a slouch, or be folded up and still fit tightly against the head if the wearer wishes.

In this case, the wearer will be my sister's boyfriend's sister's husband.

This hat will fulfill the prompt for the Muggle Studies class.  We are studying Muggle games, such as football, soccer, board games, and video games.  The prompt is to make something inspired by a Muggle game, and something made in the colors of a muggle team will work.  The sister's boyfriend's sister's husband is a Green Bay Packers Fan.  Enough said.

The second project I have finished is my own design.  This is for the Defense against the Dark Arts (DADA) class.  The first choice from that class's assignment this month is to create your own original design.  I still have to write up the pattern for this, and that will be my first official pattern.

I made a ribbed mobius headband.

My daughter, Moogie, is growing out her bangs, and she tells me that they are at an unfortunate and awkward length right now, and some knitted headbands would be nice.

I used Cat Bordhi's Mobius Cast On (Video on YouTube). And then went on from there.  The yarn is Madelinetosh, Tosh DK, in Grey Garden, that I bought at my LYS, Serial Knitters.

I like this headband so much, it is cute and a quick knit, that I think I will make another one for my niece, S, who lives in Texas, for her birthday.

I am waiting for a photo from Moogie, or I will take one of her modeling the headband over Thanksgiving.  Until then, you get the bowl model.

I am still working on my last pair of socks for my History of Magic OWL.  These are the Snape's Stockings by Erica Lueder in Patons Kroy Socks in Gentry Grey.

I am making these for my husband, Doc.
I made him his first pair of handknit socks last November, the Movember Mystery Socks by Deb Barnhill.

I made his second pair last March, the Menehune Cobblestone pattern by Adrienne Fong.

He has truly proved sock-worthy as he wears both pairs of socks all the time, and frequently tells me how much he likes them.  The only problem is that I made the first pair with 9 inch legs.  Yes, 9 inches.  Doc does not have giant feet, unlike our 3 sons.  But still, they are man feet.  With 9 inch legs.  When I made the Cobblestone socks, I asked if he would perhaps like them a bit shorter in the leg.  "Nope,"  he replied happily.  "The first socks are perfect."  Ugh!  So now I am stuck making all of his socks... with 9 inch legs. 

I have 8 inches so far on the Snape's Stockings.

I really like how elegant yet manly the textured pattern looks in this gray.

One more half repeat to go, then I can start on the heels.  I am sure I can finish this project on time and score some serious points for my house, Gryffindor.

I will be so proud to have finished an OWL in my first term in the game.

Go Lions!

Stay safe and well.
Yours,

f1bercat
shaping the planet with hats, headbands and a half-finished OWL.