Some FO's

I haven't disappeared, I just got sucked into the black hole that is Ravelry. Anyone else have that problem? I joined up with some area knitters on Ravelry and have started getting together with them on the Thursdays my usual group doesn't get together. MFB and I joined a gym and we're working out at least three nights a week and it's also hockey season.

I have finished two projects and am actively working on two others. My niece who is in her second year at the University of Toronto has asked me to make her a pair of Fetchings. I made these with Cascade 220 Superwash and it is 813. I'm also working on a Farrow Rib Scarf Pattern from the Little Box of Scarves out of the same wool.

The scarf was put on hold when I realized that the Penn State Mens Ice Hockey team had their annual fund raising auction and I needed to come up with something in about two weeks time. I tried two different patterns, and then found this Kureopatora's Snake Pattern. I used Cascade 220 Wool color 8505 white and Cascade 220 Heathers color 9449 Blue. I picked these up last November on a trip to URI for a hockey weekend. The colors are a perfect match for Penn State blue and white. Loved the pattern, most people have made this with Noro, not with two different colors. Let me tell you, weaving in all the ends was a bit time consuming.

I've started my Clapotis but no decent pictures at this time.

Now on to sports:
First off is the World Series. It's the Sox vs the Rocks - Colorado Rockies that is. What the heck is happening to them in the first game? Too much time off is what I think, but I'm no baseball expert.
NFL - My Denver Broncos are not having a great year, however they did beat the Steelers on Sunday - JUST. That Jason Elam is money.
NHL - My Colorado Avalanche are doing better than MFB's Toronto Maple Leafs.

ACHA Hockey - That would be Penn State Icers who won their first four games of the season. The teams they played were ranked much lower than the Icers. The next weekend they were away on a long bus trip to Illinois. I listened to the broadcast and it was not pretty. Penn State went into the weekend ranked #1 and played the #2 ranked team. They lost both games, and the rankings flip flopped. This past weekend we hosted Ohio University Bobcats who were ranked #4 and is a long standing rivalry. Friday night we lost in a shootout and then we won Saturday.

This coming weekend we host Indiana University of Pennsylvania on Friday night and then play Scranton on Saturday and Sunday. It's a short road trip for me so I'll be making the trip with a friend and her two little girls. MFB gets to ride the bus!

Some more travel plans for me the two weekends after that. More on that later as I can't take anymore of this Rockies game. MFB just reminded me, it is the first game of the series.

2nd Finished Pair for Summer of Socks 2007

... and just in time too. SOS2007 ends this Friday at midnight, I just made it. I started these on August 15 and finished tonight. This was my first time knitting two socks at a time on two circulars. I liked the method as there's no chance of suffering from the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome.

These socks are the Wild Kat pattern by Deby Lake knit in Tofutsies color 723 "Put Your Foot Down". I cast on with 3.0mm Addi's and finished with 2.5mm Knit Picks 24" circulars. I enjoyed the pattern and the yarn has grown on me.

Next up is Fetching and a scarf for my niece while we travel to Canada this weekend, and then the Second Wave Clapotis KAL starts on Sunday.

Two weekends from now the annual "We Interrupt This Marriage for Hockey" season begins.

First Pair for Summer of Socks 2007!

I am so excited to have finished my Monkey Socks! As the post title says, this is my first pair for Summer of Socks 2007, she says like she may be able to finish a second pair. I started these around June 26 and finished them August 15. I love these socks, the pattern, the yarn, the color and the feel. I did make one modification - I added 8 stitches and divided them by 2 stitches per pattern repeat. I've never modified a pattern before, so I was excited that logic worked. This is Tess' Designs Supersock and Baby in the Peach Melba colorway.

New project, deep breath, teaching myself to knit two socks at a time on two circulars. I purchased two Addi Turbo circular US 2 24" needles at my LYS and cast on last night. Starting this at 9:00pm last night was not a good idea. You know the saying, read all the instructions before starting? Why would I do that?! So - ripped back out this evening and will start over.

I joined the Tofutsies Sock Club a couple months ago and have already received two of their limited edition colors and three patterns. I'm actually going to use the first ball of yarn I picked up at Maryland Sheep and Wool and I'm doing the Wild Kat pattern.

I received my Ravelry invite a couple weeks ago and as a couple of my friends here have said, it is the black hole of time! LOL The database is fantastic - it's such a great search engine. If I haven't found you yet and you're there, let me know.

Keep kind thoughts for me will you? I don't know how this circular needle sock knitting thing will go. After I ripped out this evening I discovered I had the needles around my neck, not like a noose YET, but like a necklace.

Woodpecker update: MFB put cheap pinwheels up. The next morning - you guessed it - the little ph is back. MFB then put up a magnifying makeup mirror and covered up the holes with galvinized steel. (poor embarrassed porch) Since then we haven't seen any new damage, but - the roof is low and MFB is tall. He had to move the makeup mirror over about a foot - he forgot it was there *giggle* Keep your fingers crossed!

Finished Pomatomus Socks

Right I finally finished them, they're not pretty but finished they are. See what I mean. I started these back in September and picked them up again about a month ago. Maybe my tension changed or I can't count pattern repeats. This certainly lets me know something I need to work on. Oh well - the socks are for me and I don't think the difference in height is going to bother me - much. I'm going to wear them in a couple days so I'll see how I feel about them then.


I've been working some ghastly hours over the last couple of weeks, but work may start getting back to a more normal routine later this week. In order to recharge our batteries MFB and I headed down to Lancaster PA for the weekend. We had a blast and great weather and even found a small restaurant between Intercourse and Bird In Hand (those are names of farming communities with a large population of the Amish) where we watched the cows grazing. On the trip down we stopped at Knitters Dream outside of Harrisburg and I picked up a small Laurel Burch bag. Jessica gave me the idea as she had picked one up when we were there together back in March. It's going to be perfect to take sock projects on the road.


I can't decide which sock yarn and pattern to use for the start of Summer of Socks 2007 so I am doing some research. In the meantime, I picked up a WIP I started several months ago and ripped it out and started over. I'm using Noro Kujaku Color #5 and am making an evening bag. Originally I cast on over 200 stitches, this time it's about 120 stitches. It's fast going being as it is just (edited) stockinette garter stitch. This yarn is 85% Wool and 15% Polyester. Can't say I'm overly fond of the feel of it but it's a good project to be working on to tide me over till the SOS.

It's a good thing MFB is no longer in need of cane or crutches, because I've taken over use of his cane. Yes somehow I've done it again. Injured a tendon on the bottom of my foot and hopefully I'll be limping around for only another week. If you want to see what I think is a real cool xray showing screws in MFB's ankle click here.

A weekend away - Part 2

and a little knitting news...(warning picture heavy post)

So Sunday morning we head out to Baltimore to meet up with our cousin Jan. We parked at a hotel at the Inner Harbor and met up and had lots of fun. I didn't really have any memories of Jan as the last time I saw her I was a baby, but within five minutes we were fast friends.

We walked around for a few minutes and guess what we did -yep had to decide what to have for lunch. We decided on a Irish Pub type of restaurant, and the four of us decided to split two Corned Beef Sandwiches. I was quite surprised when the waitress told me they didn't have any russian dressing for the sandwich. The waitress looked at me like why would they have russian dressing. It wasn't until the following day when I was whining about this to MFB and he said something like, "Honey, did they call it a corned beef sandwich or a Reuben". Oh ... yeah. Sorry.

So we sat there outside eating our passable sandwiches and getting to know one another. I found out that Jan lives about 4 hours away from me, and trying to narrow down where she was I asked if she was near a town called Chadds Ford. She said sure and asked how I knew of it and I told her I had been to a yarn store back in March 2006 and she said oh Garden of Yarn? Sure enough, that's the store and she's a knitter too. Something else we have in common. Mark took off for a couple minutes while we were sitting there, I assumed he was making a personal call of some type and about five minutes later he returns and hands me some sun screen. He had noticed I was taking on some sun and went in hunt of some sunscreen. How great a guy is that? Mark you're the best!!

After a couple of hours sitting and chatting we decided it was time to check out the USS Constellation and tour the warship that is docked in the Inner Harbor as a museum. The picture shows the beautiful weather we had and why I needed the sunscreen. Here is a shot of the ships wheel, I loved the wood so smooth and polished. Since I'm a retired cop it's natural that I'm interested in armament and so here is some of the ships 38 guns. We toured this boat assisted with listening devices which brought history to life and while below decks I could picture the ships crew working the guns and living their life on the seas. Every bit of space on the ship had a purpose and life must have been very cramped in the close quarters. Here are the officers quarters ... and here is the crews sleeping hammocks. These ropes looked extremely heavy, but they were deceptively lightweight. I'm glad we took the time to explore this history.

All too quickly my cousins and I had to go our separate ways. With hugs and promises to get together soon, I headed for home to meet up with MFB who was on his way home from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

On the knitting front - yes occasionally I actually finish something!!

Pattern: Perforated Edge Scarf from The Little Box of Scarves I picked up a couple years ago.
Yarn: Berroco Cotton Twist color 8464 70% Mercerized Cotton 30% Rayon purchased at Knitters Dream with Jessica back in March
I had to get used to the yarn as it enjoyed splitting, but the feel of it and the drape are just lovely.
I started this the beginning of March and finally finished it a couple weeks ago and sent it off.

The scarf was a surprise for Lonnie as I wanted to give her a remembrance of our time in Arizona. She lives in Texas but travels a lot and sometimes planes can be cold so I thought I would make her a scarf she could tuck in her carry on if she needs it. The colors of this remind me of the desert and I think the colors suit her.

I hope you all had a safe and happy Memorial Day and took a couple minutes to remember our men and women of the many branches of our armed forces who protect our freedom.

Actual Knitting Content

Back in January I had a post about a shopping expedition while on a road trip to Delaware. This was a day where looking for a yarn store I ended up taking my friends from Newark Delaware to Maryland and Pennsylvania when the yarn store ended up being less than 5 miles from our hotel. I've mentioned the initials GPS here, eh?

OK, so on that trip I picked up my first ever skein of Lorna's Laces. I fell in love with the colors of the yarn and then a couple months ago I saw the Yarn Harlot's One Row Scarf pattern. I cast on for the scarf right before leaving for Arizona and this was my travel project. One of my friends favorite color is periwinkle and we got together for dinner tonight where I surprised her with the scarf. I love the texture of the pattern and of course the yarn is really lovely to the touch.

(There's your provenance Peri)

It's COLD here, ya'll stay warm.