New Home?

Well, it looks as if we have found a place we can move to soon. Waiting on the final information to be sure, but we viewed it today, and all seems to be in place. It is smaller than this house -- 3 bedrooms instead of the current 4 with everything on one floor -- but it is much better insulated, and DOESN'T HAVE ANY MOLD! That alone should make my lungs happier! Although my body will miss the exercise of going up and down the stairs several times a day! There seems to be enough room at first glance to accomodate all the bookcases, which is a plus!

One thought is to finally decree that some of the metal bookcases that have been with us so long be formally retired and Howard build new ones. We'll see. That may be just too much to do AND move. Maybe we can move, then build the bookcases!

My sister and her husband moved today. Serena moves next week. Now us. Something is in the wind!

I have started packing seriously again. I got discouraged when it seemed that there was nothing on the house front, and I was frustrated with not being able to get a book that was packed. Not to mention some of the kitchen stuff that I packed thinking it wouldn't be very long. HAH! You know the stuff you don't use often? As soon as it is packed away it is NECESSARY! I refuse to unpack, though, until we are moved. That way is too dangerous.

Yet another pair of socks!

I finished another pair of socks for me yesterday! Since I like to wear them with the purl side out on the foot (and the smooth knit side against the skin where I'm putting pressure on it by walking) I knit them with the foot purl stitch, and the top of the foot in knit stitch. This way, there is a "normal" looking heel and top, but a comfortable foot. It took a bit longer to knit, because I needed to be careful with the change from knit to purl, but I like the way they look and feel.

For a difference, I've started the next pair using a pattern from a book! I'm knitting from Nancy Bush's book, "Knitting Vintage Socks" and am using the pattern for men's hunting socks. I think. Over-the-calf socks with little purl flags on the leg and instep. I'm knitting them with hunter green Kroy from the Paton's outlet in Toronto, yarn that is WELL aged in my stash. I have so much dark colored 3 and 4 ply sock yarn from there! These are mill-ends, so the skeins aren't regularly sized. That's all right, they knit up beautifully. At this point, they are planned for me, unless I decide differently further along. Nice thing about socks, you have such a long time to make the final decision about ownership!

I need to repair a pair (now that I think about it, the ONLY pair that he had that was wearable!) of Howard's over-the-calf, black, 3 ply dress socks. I've knit 2 pairs for him, and I call them Howard's Eternal Socks, because that is how long it takes to knit them! The toes are going out. So, I'll snip a stitch on each foot, take out the toes, and knit the toes again. MUCH better than knitting the sock over again! The other pair needs new feet, and I've avoided them for quite a while now. In fact, probably for 2+ years! I really OUGHT to fix them! I cut those off at the ankle, so I'll have to do the heels and feet again on them. I can do this! Once I find where I safely PUT them. snivel

Socks

Right now I'm on a sock knitting kick. They are easy, and I love the results -- especially wearing them! LOL I usually knit a basic sock for myself, this time I didn't do left or right toes, but a "normal" toe. I have another pair that are ready for the gusset, so it won't be too long before I can complete them and wear them too. Which is good, because the socks I finished in 1999 are finally wearing out. I keep a list of Finished Objects (FOs) and my list tells me that I finished the pair that completely wore out on May 17, 1999. So, they lasted 6 years of weekly use. Not bad return of my time and effort!

This pair, I'm surprised to see in the picture, isn't as tightly knit in the toes. I think I'm going to have to go down a needle size to a 00 for the heels and toes in the future with Opal yarn. Rats!

This is Opal Crocodile, I have enough more for 3 pairs in the black/red, 4 pairs in the plum/black, and one in blue/black. I'm not sure it will all become socks, still pondering over other uses. I tried mitered squares with black contrast, I may go back to that but use a different contrast color. A shawl just using the plum/black? I don't know. Still thinking.

Long time since I posted

This has been a rough period of time, and I just haven't posted.

Here are a couple of photos from our B & B. This one is the view from the deck.

This one is Howard standing on the deck.

So in revenge, he took my picture there too.

I regret that while I took the camera along to Alison's, I forgot to get any photos. Much to my chagrin, I had planned to take more photos of family, and I didn't. So, we had a great trip, but little photographic evidence of it! I'm hoping to see some pictures from Serena.

Home Again

We had a wonderful time in California, it is great to touch base with family members who have similar senses of humor! We laughed and laughed during the trip. Learned new games, talked, and got to know each other again...priceless!

Nancy's vest is finished, ready to go in the mail Monday. There was a wrench when I declared it "done" as this vest and I have gone around and around, trying to reach accord. I think we did it. True test will be how it looks on her, though.

Started a pair of socks in some Opal, a discontinued color in black and red which makes random color blips. They are going fairly effortlessly, if I remember to leave it off the floor. During the trip the needles would stick out of the bag, catch on something, and be pulled out of the work. Not so bad once it was well and truly started, but such a pain when I was on the first 2 rows -- I think I restarted each twice because of that. I was not amused. These will replace a pair of mine that finally have bitten the dust after 5 years. Not the same color -- will have to find some blue sock yarn for that.

We stayed in a bed and breakfast that was wonderful. View of the ocean, close enough to hear the waves, and quail running around. The quail would get on the roof, and we'd hear them go racing across the roof. We never knew when we'd open the door and surprise a covey. Julia, the owner, also has a small yarn store, which made it perfect for me! I bought more sock yarn on the last day as a souvenir. Enough for, cough, 5 pairs of socks. That should keep my feet happy! Nope, no blue in the lot, but some other gorgeous colors.

Serena and I drove up to visit our friend Alison, and spent a great knitters day, just talking.

P.S. Happy Belated Birthday Mom!

California Fun

We've had a great week in California, visiting Howard's family. We've visited the Monterey Aquarium, gone to the beach (no chance of a sunburn -- it was FOGGY there up until today as we left!), visited, played, relaxed, Knit (me), laughed, and had a good time.

The B & B where we stayed part of the time is owned by a knitter, which added to the fun. She machine and hand knits, as well as crochets. A delightful lady, the time slipped away as we talked.

Yesterday we went to the Farmer's Market in San Luis Obispo. That was so much fun, and yet very different. So many blocks of booths, and such a crowd of people! I bought a new variety of avocados (bought hard ones so they should ripen after we get home) and some artichokes. I'm hoping that the hot weather bere in Fresno doesn't prove to be too much for them. Oh, and also some dried figs. I usually don't like dried figs, but the vendor gave one to me to sample and it was delicious.

I THINK Nancy's vest is finally done. I'd had to frog it back almost to the beginning again, and I was starting to despair of my ability to finish it. But today I did the armhold edgings on the drive from the coast back to Fresno. All that needs to be done is weaving in the ends, wash and see how it turns out! In celebration, I cast on a pair of socks. Something simple and brainless.

More when we get home, we need dinner!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy 92nd Birthday to my Dad yesterday!

High School Graduation
College Graduation
Undated -- 1950s?

Now

He's seen a lot of changes in his lifetime! He went to school with his siblings in a wagon pulled by a horse. His circuit riding minister father bought the first Model T in the county to make going between charges easier. He worked his way through the last year in high school, all of college and seminary. To pay his way, he was a migrant worker in the summers, harvesting crops and saving his money for the next school year.

He served churches in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and Utah before taking early retirement because of a massive stroke.

Dad race-walked "just for fun" and just recently hung up his racing shoes. It wasn't nearly as much fun when he wasn't winning! The senior division has too broad of a range, from 65 on up -- he can't compete with them! But he was named Jefferson County Racewalker of the Month while he was competing.

Here's to the man with a wicked sense of humor, who's never given up.

Love you Dad!

Books

You know, there is something about packing books. And packing books. One keeps doing it, and the bookcases don't seem to appreciably empty! Well, they do, but it takes a LOT of boxes to empty a bookcase.

I don't remember counting the number of book boxes the last two moves. So, the last firm number of boxes of books for the family was 63 in 1987, and that included children books and Howard's office books. Now you realize that the children are out of the house, they are adults! We got rid of books before we moved this last time. Howard's office books are not being moved at this point. And I have 20 FREAKING PAPER BOXES FULL OF BOOKS SO FAR AND I HAVEN'T MADE A DENT IN THE BOOKS! In fact, I have 6 bookcases left to go! That doesn't count the books that are scattered around the house that aren't IN bookcases.

When I say paper boxes, I mean the ones that reams of paper come in.

This Old House

The vote taken today decided the fate of this house. It is to be torn down and the lot will be a parking lot for the church. There are just too many things wrong structurally. So, it is time to start looking for a new place around town, and to PACK! Can you say EEEEKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!! I understand you have to pack just as well for a cross-town move as for a long distance one. Oh well...a good time to clear out...again.

Fiber Camp

Dianne has been here, and the two of us have been having a Fiber Camp.

We've skirted fleeces, spun, sewed (well Dianne has, I've admired as she has!), mended, knit, cooked, eaten, and laughed. She has taught me, I've taught her. An equal exchange, I hope. While she is leaving a lot of things behind for me, her truck isn't leaving empty! LOL Isn't that the best type of friendship?

She brought two denim shirts, she applied some of my hand-woven fabric (Zephyr warp and Lorna's Laces sock yarn weft) to the yokes and collar tips for our camp shirts. Howard took the pictures for us.

She leaves tomorrow. It has been a lot of fun. I'll miss her.

Dianne and I were matched up as knit buddies by Joan Hamer in 95 or 96. We've been working at it since then. It is funny, but there are a lot of places where we resemble each other, and many other places where we diverge. But, that is the fun part of friendship -- we enrich each other.

So, Thanks for being a great friend, Dianne!

The Shawl is Done!

I had thought to make this really wide, and realized that the Intended Victim would probably not appreciate something that wrapped and wrapped around her. So, after some negotiations with myself, I bound off last night. This shawl is not for warmth, per se, but for wrapping against air conditioning, or whatever. It can go in the washing machine on cool, and then air dry. It isn't fussy. I suspect it could even go in the dryer for a touch, but I didn't try it. I'll let Intended Victim.

Too much fun!

Okay, I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist this site. I had trouble narrowing down what I'd say. There have been many threats over the years over this. LOL Until I learned how to cable without a cable hook, Howard threatened to put Where is my cable hook? Other Shoe would be a good one too. I seem to have a gift for that as well. But I thought this one fit the best. Make your own tombstone!

Dollhouse Progress

I suspect you are surprised to see THOSE words, aren't you! Howard has been a gem and has helped me with the house. I've learned a lot with this house. This mistakes I made with the roof have certainly caused other problems. We think that not all the problems are mine, though. This house has definitely been a challenge. sigh
This is the house at the start of last week. The first picture I call "Pieces Parts" because there is no description of where these are supposed to go. It is all guesswork. The little pieces we've figured out -- it is some of the big ones, surprisingly, that are baffling us. All of this lovely trim, and nothing in the instructions as to where it goes. Most of the long pieces are either too long or too short for the places where one would logically put them. So, we will probably cut them to fit and say, "ah, that is where it belongs." You will notice Howard working patiently away.

Even further progress. Bit by bit it is coming together.
This is what it looks like so far. A lot left to do, but it has come a long way, don't you think?

The shawl is more than 3 feet long, and growing nicely. Problem is, of course, that not much shows in a picture at this stage unless I take it off the needles, and I don't want to take if off the needles! So, I'm afraid you are going to have to take my word for it! LOL Nancy's vest hasn't grown much in the last little bit, it hasn't had anything done on it because of the shawl.

Lifelines? I don't need no stinking lifeline!

I hadn't been putting in a lifeline on this shawl, because the knitting had been going so well. Monday, I finally decided to put one in -- just in case. As I finished putting it in, I noticed an error about 6 rows back. Somehow I'd done something so there was a noticeable (to me) amount of yarn that wasn't caught in. It ran behind the fabric, so it wasn't a yarnover. It looked to have happened during the yarnover knit 3 together through the back loop, slip that stitch to the left needle, pass over, slip stitch back to the right needle maneuver. There wasn't a possibility of dropping down and working back up. So, I started tinking back.

The yarn has enough texture that it is hard to see the individual stitches when frogging that particular stitch. Also when frogging slip 1, k3tog, pass the slipped stitch over. Between the color variation and the texture, I just plain had a hard time "seeing" what I was doing. I changed from the size 8 needle I was working with to a 0. I eventually went back 12 rows, to where I thought it was all in control. This morning, I started knitting it up again. To realize that I was in trouble. There were some stitches that had taken off and run to the bottom. There was no hope.

It is with deep regret and a sense of frustration (with myself -- not with the pattern or the yarn!) that I announce that I've started over. I've already put in the first lifeline.

LIFELINE TIP
When you finish a row, move the knitting to the cable part of the circular needle and it is easy to run the lifeline needle through the stitches. I pulled down on the stitches a section at a time. That way I avoided the stitch markers. I had the lifeline in very quickly and was able to make sure I got each stitch.

Shawl Progress

. I realized, when I took a picture of my shawl, that once you reached a certain point, appearances are deceptive. It really needs something to show quite how far it has grown. Six inches or 12 look almost alike, really. sigh You can't tell from the pictures, but these two pictures were taken several days apart. I did a lot of work between them. But you can't tell. Sigh. Except for the YardstickAnd yet, the first picture looks to be the same size as the second, because there isn't a frame of reference in it. So, this time, I used the ruler as a sign that I am knitting away! But sheesh, it does look as if the top picture has been knit more than the bottom. I'm going to confess to taking 6 pictures to get the second one. I even taped the needle straight so I could see progress.

I hate powdered egg whites

This is a minor rant. Powdered egg whites and I are having a long-running argument. I don't have any problem adding it as a dry ingredient. BUT, I get a mess when I try to mix it up into a liquid form 3 times out of 4.

Why is it that I can make gravy without lumps and I can't mix these stupid things up without a horrendous disaster of lumps? There is a certain amount of pride involved, and it gets smashed every time. sigh

Once again today the egg whites won. It was an ignominious defeat.

I'm a coward, reading and knitting

I'll admit to being a coward today. I didn't knit a stitch. I wanted to start a new week on the calendar -- to get this week and all its mistakes behind me before I started again.

Either that or I was lazy. Take your pick. Either way, I didn't knit today. I curled up on the couch and read, listening to the rain as it fell all day. I thought about casting on for the vest, but that is a lot of stitches. The yarn and the pattern were beside me. I read. Tomorrow is another day that Howard will be away most of the day, I plan to start then.

I like books on tape or CD for that reason. I can "read" and knit. Especially when I'm doing a complicated pattern. Once the vest is cast on, I can read an actual book while I knit it. The shawl has 3 rows that allow reading and one pattern row that requires attention. Not bad. But a book on tape allows me to sit back (instead of hunched over the book) and not worry about turning pages. That is a decided advantage.

Anyway, tomorrow is the start of a new week, time to start my projects again!

Oh for Heaven's Sake!

And just to prove my brain is not functioning, I show you the vest I've been working on. That is going to be frogged today. At 9 stitches and 13.5 rows an inch, this is painful. First of all, the gauge changed, the swatch was 8 stitches an inch, so it would have to be frogged anyway. But the BIG problem? The one that says, "yoo-hoo, anyone home in there?" I did the math for the half tuxedo points in front, and didn't do it right. I don't know where the brain was, but it wasn't home that day.

I was knitting along yesterday, knowing I just had a few more increases to go to be up to the right number for the whole body. Then all I need to do is knit back and forth until the underarm. Measured the thing. It seemed a bit narrow. Decided to count the front stitches to check. Good thing I did, I was 20 stitches short on both sides. There was a stunned moment of disbelief. I checked several times, but that is what is wrong. Somewhere, I thoroughly miscalculated. snivel. Took it off the circular, and placed it gently back in the bag to frog using the ball winder when we got home.

Dog Blast it, take 2

Here is the picture of the shawl still on the needles, just after Tucker had attacked it. As you can see, it did meet a Dogged End. Not all of the ring markers were recovered. I had been knitting about 4 stitches on the shawl, then throwing his ball. Couldn't he have appreciated that?

I started again ... the day after. In the room where he isn't allowed. No sense pushing my luck.

Duluth pictures

A collage of pictures from our trip. Just a relaxing time, a lot of walking, talking, and playing. I can't seem to take pictures consistently, so here we are with the few I have.