I really hate blogging without pictures!


The title says it all - I don't have any pictures. It's time to hit the hay because I have to be up, showered, fed & ready to go before 7 in the AM & it's now 11:49 in the PM but I don't feel sleepy. The BoyToy has taken My car to work since he's separated the cords in the steel belted tire on the front of His car & has to drive to Vancouver. I thought those tires were in better shape when I bought that car . . . . before we traded cars, that is. He he he, seems like I got the best of the deal. Oh well, I surely don't need My car on the Graveyard shift & he doesn't go anywhere on the Day shift so we'll share until one of my scrap buddies comes up with Cheap or Free - even better, tires that fit his car. If it isn't one damned thing, it's another . . . . Maybe I should actually check the tires on My car before I start laughing at his!

I've come to a standstill on the Briggs & Little Wallaby. My carpenter client needs to bring his skinny little bod over to be measured for length! I have the body & both arms knit & ready to attach to the yoke but I want it to be LONG enough. The little shit hasn't measured himself so I have to catch him & do it myself I guess . . . . MEN. I am learning a lot about the Wallaby though & I'll certainly knit another of these in the near future - they're fun!!

Black socks have their heels turned & I'm almost to the toe shaping. These ones have gone quite quickly - I think it's the Queen's heel that makes the difference.

I really have to take some photos . . . . .

It seems like a Dull November Day


And the Fall monsoons have started. Well, we could be saved by a nice long Indian Summer but it sure doesn't seem that way out there today. Or yesterday. Good thing I'm inside lost in gas-receipt hell. Gas-receipt hell??? That's what I call it when I have to add up FOUR year's worth of gas receipts for a truck driver's back taxes - AND he fills up daily!!! Good thing I've got soup simmering in the slow cooker & Ben Bova's MARS playing on my desktop player! I've become lost in Ben Bova's Grand Tour series. I listen while I work & it certainly makes the time go fast!
But this isn't knitting related, is it?? I didn't finish the Sweater Sprint - it was the Sweater Sprint I entered after all - event on the Ravelympics. I bit off more than I could chew - even in a size medium. A word of advice - never enter an untried pattern with an untried yarn in a timed event. I had to go down TWO needle sizes to get the correct gauge for my Wallaby. Then, part way thru the main body, I realized my gauge was off. I'm knitting 4 stitches to the inch instead of 4.5!! And what difference does half a stitch make, you ask?? Well, I'm thinking my medium sweater is now a large. The sleeve was ridiculous so I tore it back to the ribbing, ignored the "add 10 stitches" after the ribbing & just added a couple of stitches to the underarm every 4 rows until I added 8 more stitches overall instead of 18. I figure I'm about right for a slightly snug sleeve - after all, this is a WORKING Wallaby & the guy doesn't want huge arms to catch on things!!! My tension is waaaaaaay looser when I knit in the round! This won't be a bad thing when I want to make MY wallaby though. I should be able to knit the largest size to fit me - it should wind up two sizes larger. I'll just make it a little longer to elongate my body & keep my bum warm!!

And on the home front - well, I sent three pairs of socks off to new homes as birthday presents last week!! So now I have an excuse to start on the Christmas gift socks. I'm thinking of making Frankensocks - they're socks knit out of related leftovers with solid bands of blue or black or red for example, to bind them together. I often use black with stripes of yarns that have red bits in them or maybe a bunch that have blues in them. What fun to knit. Here's a pair I knit for Laura's daughter waaaay back in the beginning when Laura joined the Wednesday Nite Niters - we told Laura she'd have to learn to knit her own socks if she wanted any more of them!!! And then there's all those squares the girls knit. I intend to crochet them together into blankets this year & maybe knit some strips to make others if I can get the time.

Ravelympics Alert


My Sockput entry is finished!! And, why wouldn't it be??? I can knit socks in my sleep these days. Not only have I finished the Sisu Fantasy socks but I've got a pair of - drum roll please - BLACK SOCKS on the needles too. The BT's elderly dad asked if I would knit him a pair of black dress socks - what could I say . . . . I'm just quickly knitting a very plain pair in Preface which is made by the same mill that puts out the Confetti yarns I like so much. I've obviously been knitting with Regia & Opal yarns a whole lot lately because this Preface sure feels thin - oh I know it thickens up when the sizing is washed out!!! It just feels funny . . . . but the socks are just about to the start of the heel gusset shaping so they aren't going to take long to knit.


So, after socks, I entered the Freestyle thingamaboppie in the Ravelympics - you know you're getting old & weird when you can't even remember the damned events you sign up for!!!!! I was going to knit the Wonderful Wallaby in Purple Marble yarn. Well, I decided knitting a Wallaby for Moi for the first time was going to be just too much for such a short event. I mean, I have to compute the sizing, figure out the bust short rows etc . . . . so I thought I'd knit one for the BT. Well, even his size is a bit of a stretch with the LONG body & belly short rows!!! So my skinny little carpenter client dropped by with payroll info in hand & HE ordered a Wallaby when he saw what I was doing. He's a nice ordinary size MEDIUM with no belly. AHA!! A snap to make HIM a Hoodie. And I think the medium will be a bit big on him. I do so love to knit for kids!!!!!

The Carpenter Wallaby is being constructed - hehe - with Briggs & Little "Heritage" yarn in the Anniversary Twist colorway. The Anniversary Twist is light blue & denim twisted barber-pole style worsted wool produced for their 150th Anniversary last year. I loved the color & figured the boys would too. I had to go down a needle size to a US 5 & 7 to get the gauge called for for the Wallaby but so far it looks good. Although I thought Heritage would be too scratchy, it sure softens up as you knit with it! And, this will be a working hoodie!!! I think the Heritage wool will be perfect for this application. I'm thinking a chunky style wool would also be great for the Wallaby too - I'd just have to do some calculations for the gauge & go down a couple of sizes for a true WINTER Wallaby.

And I'm Off!!!

I have to admit, the Sockput is a riot. I really wanted to start these socks - I can't resist a new yarn!!! And I was dying to find out what kind of pattern I'd get. Sooooooooooooo . . . . . Tada, my entry. I'm up to the gusset shaping for the heel on both of them already. Sunday nite is my favorite nite on the boob-tube with the Antiques Roadshow on PBS & then Rosemary & Thyme & whatever British Detective series is running on Knowledge. So I end up knitting for at least three hours!!!

Haven't started on the Wonderful Wallaby yet in the beautiful purple Marble yarn but I'm thinking I might just change to the blue Eton Ornaghifilati yarn I bought for the BT. The Eton yarn is 50% wool & 50% acrylic so it can be washed in cool water & laid flat to dry. I think it'll work out nicely for the Wallaby!! He's long wanted a sweater but he wouldn't let me knit one till his son moved out. The kid used to 'borrow' dad's stuff & then just throw it all into the wash . . . . I mediated a couple of battles over what belonged to who. And, I learned to buy everything in doubles but in different sizes, LOL. So, the kid's been gone for about 4 years & maybe it's time to knit him something. I'm doing this in self defense you know, I want to be able to FINISH in time!!!!!

The August Manly birthday socks have been finished! They were actually finished a while ago but I hadn't tucked in the ends . . . I think that's the worst part of any project!! So, I have the perfect "manly" socks & the "wild" socks for the BT's parents who include me as one of the "kids". I'm the 'good' influence on the wildest kid. hahahaha

So, I joined the Ravelympics


My spinning & knitting pal Gail was making me feel guilty for not joining the Ravelympics. It wasn't that she said a whole lot but she's a mother. She has that mother way of making you feel guilty without saying anything - you know the look. So I went in & took a look . . . I figured I'd just join one of the sock events - I mean, hey, I can knock out a pair of socks in a couple or three days without breaking a sweat!! And I just bought some great new Sisu Fantasy to knit myself another pair anyway. So I joined the Sockput. I cast on this morning while watching Peter Fallico decorate on the Home & Garden channel - my morning addiction - & I've finished the cuff on both socks already. I did consider short socks but I get more use out of the longer ones so these will be above the ankle socks.


Since I was already signed up for one event at Ravelry, I figured I might as well sign up for another one while I was there. I should've signed on for the UFO project but it's waaaay too hot to knit a large wool sweater when half of it's laying in your lap! So I signed on to knit the Wonderful Wallaby in the purple Marble yarn I bought at Knitopia. I absolutely fell in love with Marble even though it IS acrylic. It's a lovely acrylic with great colors & I may just buy more of it before I'm through. I've lusted after the Wonderful Wallaby ever since I saw one on the back of a fellow guild member, Doris who has several of them!! I've already done the swatch with the pocket shaping & attachment so I'm ready to go!! I'm still debating whether to make the Wallaby as written or turn it into a zipped front with two kangaroo pockets. Sooooo many decisions, so little time - 17 days, isn't it???