What a Great Time!

My dd and I met in Des Moines on Feb. 23-24 for the Metro Knitters Winter Retreat. Over 40 knitters were registered and did we ever knit. The two of us went up to the motel room around 12:30 a.m. after having started knitting at 1:00 p.m. We were down again in the morning about 8:00 to start knitting until a little before noon. There were breaks, however, especially for the snacks that everyone had brought to share. I learned a couple of helpful techniques from those present and just enjoyed talking with the other ladies to see what favorite knitting projects each had. Talking with Tamara, the area knitting "professor", she made me inspired me to try "toe-up" socks again. I have a terribly high instep, so have adjusted top-down patterns to accomodate that .... not so with toe-up for me. Well, so I started the Dec. 2008 Rocking Sock Club selection with a pattern by Cat Bordhi .... well, I CO my usual sts .... finished the toe, thought it looked a bit wide, but also thought it would draw in with the foot ..... it did somewhat ..... I finished the patterned instep, learned a new way for a toe-up heel .... really liked it .... and then tried the sock on again ..... it was huge. I contemplated just using them as slipper socks, but decided that I liked the yarn too much to not wear it more. So ..... to the frog pond they went .... back to the toe for the next smallest size. That's all I have left of both socks since I do 2 on ml .... here's the pic before the froggin' session.
The last time we visited dd, she had ordered some Tulip Sweater kits .... here's the sweater (size 2) so far .... it will be for our newest neighbor, little Savannah across the street.

I haven't been working on the SOTS2 for the past couple of weeks .... finally decided to increase the length at the very middle ..... have the first repeat done of the increase with two more to go.... am behind two hints so will work more on it at dd's this week-end. Since we had parent-teacher conferences this week, we don't have school on Friday .... I'll get an early start.

TLGB

Week--end knitting

This past week-end was spent in Omaha at our DD's home. Her home is only 5 years old, but no maintenance had been done to the backyard fence. The DD had selected a nutmeg brown stain/waterproofer, Dad purchased a sprayer, and applied the "almost" first coat a couple of weeks ago. Three sections hadn't been stained since he ran out of stain and the only place in Omaha that carried it was WalMart .... the one closest was out for a couple of days. This week-end with four gallons available, the fence was completed and then a second coat was applied. The DD will treat the deck but apply that by brush to avoid "drifting" onto the siding. The weather was in the upper 90's, so it didn't take long for the finish to dry.

At night, we knitted .... mostly on squares for the Greenburg, KS afghan project. DD asked me how my STR club socks were going ... I told her I was on the gussets ... she said that's where I was last week-end at the knit night in Des Moines. Well .... I decided to knit on other things during the week. As she was working the heel of a second Jaywalker sock, I decided to work on the June STR club socks. I'm knitting both socks with magic loop, so both socks will be finished at the same time ... I did get the gussets finished and about 2 inches out on the feet. I'm almost holding my breath hoping that I have enough yarn to finish ... I'm knitting the size with 75 sts originally, so it should be enough yarn. Should know for sure in another couple of days. The pic shows the socks after knitting this afternoon ... I'm about 1 inch from starting the toe.
Didn't go shopping .... except on-line at BMFA .... DD still had her discount club coupon, so we just ordered sock yarn ... I order five colorways and a couple of patterns ..... also am sharing an extra one of the STR colorway just in case I need it. DD said she would need some of it for sure. Better get back to the socks .... TLGB.

Yarn Crawl

My DD, Alcariel, and I met in Des Moines (that's Iowa) on Friday afternoon. Friday evening we spent a great time at Borders in West Des Moines knitting with Cheryl and her knitting group. On Saturday morning, we met Cheryl at Knitting Together to start the crawl and went on to Purls the Yarn Studio and Creative Corner. Yes, I did break the yarn diet and Cheryl reminded me that I'd need to reset my counter.
My brother's family hosted a surprise 60th birthday picnic for my sister-in-law early in the afternoon. Since it was on the east side of the metro, we just made it after the crawl. About 3/4 of the way there, I remembered that the present was back in my car at the motel in West Des Moines. Thanks to the USPS in Omaha, the gift was sent on the way today. Her birthday is actually July 3, so maybe (???) it will make it.
Alcariel and I then went to Omaha for the rest of the week-end and so I could watch her co-ed church softball team win ... it's really a celebration when that happens. We celebrated at Cold Stone Creamery. After going home, Alcariel and I had a knitting session ... finished turning the heels on both of the STR socks on magic loop. Now just to finish the gussets. I fell asleep knitting on the Clapotis for a friend ... Alcariel continued knitting for most of the night.
On the way home to northern Iowa, I stopped at another shop in Carroll ... The Yarn Basket. It is fantastic .... has many Addi turbo circs ... had the one I needed! Also acquired something for Alcariel .... items for gifts don't count ..... right???
I got home to two very hyper dogs ... my mini poodle Toffee wouldn't stopped squealing .... yes, she is quite vocal. Cozi, on the other hand, just jumped up a couple of time. I'm glad to be home. TLGB

A Dumpster Full!

How much junk, memories, worn-out things, etc. does a 4 cubic yard dumpster hold? A lot!!!!
After living in this house for the past 30+ years, I decided that one summer chore would be to get rid of "stuff" in the basement that we haven't looked at in years, old clothes that might fit some day, and some things brought home by Alcariel, our daughter, from college. Well, we had the dumpster for two days and it was finally filled yesterday morning. After the company had picked it up, I went down in the basement and thought that maybe we could have filled it again. That may be for later this summer or weekly by placing an extra "bag" out with the garbage.

Due to this basement purging, I really haven't worked on too much knitting ... I am almost ready to do the heels on the RSC June sock .... Summer Solstice. This is the second pair of socks I've started on a magic loop .... the other one I placed on dps so I would have the 47" #1 Addi free for the socks. As I said before, I did do 3x2 rib for the first 8 rows ... really like the way the top looks.

This week-end Alcariel and I are meeting in Des Moines for a sister-in-law's surprise 60th birthday .... but ..... Friday evening we will be at Border's in WDM for knitting with a Des Moines group. A short yarn crawl throughout the city on Saturday morning .... how much damage can we do in a short time? Then we meet at a shelter house in Pleasant Hills (east metro area) at 1:00 for a surprise picnic. Alcariel and I will then head to her place to do some belated spring cleaning ... carpet shampooing from my DH that doesn't believe in wiping his feet even when he was standing in mud in her backyard to stain her fence.

Have a dentist appt. .... lost a filling at coffee this morning. UGH!
TLGB

Knee High To A Grasshopper Done!

Yes, the KHTG are completed! I even wore them to school this morning ... the high school is REALLY air-conditioned, so wool socks felt good. I did, however remove them within five minutes of arriving home for lunch. They looked soooo good with an old sweater set and slacks that I've had for over ten years, but really didn't care for the colors.

Now I'm ready to get back to the other three pairs of socks that are on the needles ..... Broad Ripple from Knitty in KP Sock Garden in a purple/pink colorway, Air-Conditioned from BMFA in Trekking in a rainbow colorway, and the Crooked Cable socks from SockBug in a pink/lavendar/blue colorway called Grandma.

I will really need a large bag for this week-end when we go to our daughter's home ... plan to have at least one marathon knitting session.

Cuteness alert ... here's a pic of my poodle with her first "big girl" poodle cut.

Time to head upstairs for some knitting therapy. TLGB

Mom-Daughter Socks

I suffered with the current bug being passed around the high school for most of the week. Thursday evening after attending church, we drove 200+ miles to our daughter's home. I spent most of Friday sleeping to recover from the sinus congestion, almost laryngitis, and tiredness. Really began feeling better Saturday evening.

Even though 200+ miles separate us, we decided to join STR from BMFA to "knit" together. Her sock box was one of the last ones received, so I had already just about finished the first sock only to discover that it didn't fit over my high instep...so frogging came about. With some modifications ... added a gusset plus heel flap, I thought they would fit .. no way! They did fit my daughter, so this week-end, we "exchanged" socks. With the comments from fellow knitters, she decided to knit her Monsoon in the RPM socks from Knitty. Here they are with the RPM on the left and Inside Out on the right.

While there I worked on some stockinette socks in KP self-patterning plum/tan/white colorway for Alcariel ... she going to call them her raspberry latte socks. Yes, she has a name for each of the 15+ pairs she has knitted. I'm also working on the foot of my last Dublin Bay sock that took a backseat once the STR box came. I hope to complete both of these socks before the next STR installment arrives.