Early Spring Update

New Year's resolutions:
--post more often on this blog.  so so
--finish Master Knitter Level 3--or at least most of it.Started April 8
--continue with year 3 of the yarn diet (I'm loving shopping in the stash). Doin' really well.
--fitness and weight resolutions ehhhh
--get back to sewing
--get my last bit of renos finished
--lots of unfinished projects finished (maybe 1 per month).
--added:  to read and comment on my friends' blogs more often.  so so
--added on Jan. 21--work on my sewing room--goal is to finish all the UFO's there, too, as well as the mending and ironing.  I also plan to sift through my knitting magazines and get rid of those that I know I will never knit from, and that don't illustrate some interesting techniques.
--Jan 21--this year I have to finish the cross-stitched stockings (2 out of 6) and tree skirts (2 out of 4).

I have a huge thing to share even though progress on other things is minimal. The magazine with my sweater design is out, so I can share with you.

The pictures are pretty, but don't do justice to the way the wrist ribbing comes to a neat point on top of the hand.  I can't wait to submit some more designs, but the next time I'm going to have most of the pattern done and a prototype knit ahead of time.

How can I argue with that?

In my church, it is a sin to miss Sunday Mass unless there is a valid reason (except we can go on Saturday instead).  I, personally, don't agree with the sin rule, since  I really enjoy going to church--most of the time.  I listen attentively, participate enthusiastically, so I always get something good from the service, and I enjoy the fellowship with my fellow-believers.

Except....I'm not a morning person at best of times.  So when the services were changed to 8:30 am, and I drive 20 miles on 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sundays and not so quite as far on alternate Sundays, and we have had a brutal winter, with -30 C and wind chills, and considering I have to drive over many  miles of uninhabited country roads, with very poor cell service, I'm more reluctant to be so "faithful", and rely on reading my scripture at home.

My leg issues--difficulty walking, and unlocking myself after sitting, only increase my fear of heading out alone.  Add to this the fact that the leg pain often deprives me of sleep, so I'm not as alert and strong as I'd like to be.

My personal view on church attendance--for me--is:  God has been so good to me, my life has been so blessed, even when there were hard times, so how can I not give him an hour a week?  I don't think for a minute that God is enriched by my presence, or harmed by my absence--the gain/loss is all mine, but it's a gesture of gratitude.  I don't usually need a "law" to get me there.

So I've begun making a deal with Him.  Last night I was exhausted from a long day of organizing an all-day meeting, and, tired and sore,went to bed early and set the alarm.  At 5:00 I awoke, grumpy and sore, and turned the alarm off:  as I turned it off, I said a prayer:  "Lord, if it's good for me to go to church today, please wake me up in time--if you let me sleep, I'll know that's what you wanted for me".  Well, I woke up at 6:55--5 minutes before the alarm-set.  Not only that, I was feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, raring to go, with much less pain than normal.
How can I argue with that?
This is a beautiful link:   God Whispers

May God bless you all today!♥♥♥

Happy update:  At the beginning of Mass, our music minister Mike made an announcement that his oldest daughter was in labor with her 4th child, but the baby was breech, so he asked that we all pray for a good outcome.  At the end of Mass, he went up to the lectern, pulled out his cell phone, and said "Michela can you hear me?". From the phone through the microphone we heard:  "Titus George Michael has arrived safely".  Mom sounded strong and supremely happy!!

The Mandala Saga

I ♥ the Mandala Sweater.
I ♥that it's knit in squares from the outside towards the center.
I ♥ the rustic yarn and the colors.
But I don't like the very wide sleeves, so I plan to try to knit them to shape.  I also realized that when I started this it was OK to wear a sweater with 6" positive ease, but that has changed, so I will be re-knitting the body squares that are already finished.  I ripped the first one out quickly and re-knit it quickly to ease the pain.  I won't be ripping the sleeves till I'm positive that the shaped form will work.  So that means I will be making the 8 body squares first to make sure I'll have enough yarn to make a third sleeve.

 So, the process went something like this:  The chart shows the original square sleeve, with the tapered modification drawn in:

These are the original big-square sleeves:

Completed, smaller, body squares, some blocked, some rumpled, the beginning of a seam:

The first part of the sleeve modification, worked with short rows:

Till next time:  Nothing profound to say, just have a nice spring!!


 

New Resolutions and projects

 I've decided to start each post with my resolutions or to-do list.  That's accountability (just like Brenda said in her post)-- say it in public--maybe it'll make me more accountable.

New Year's resolutions:
--post more often on this blog.
--finish Master Knitter Level 3--or at least most of it.
--continue with year 3 of the yarn diet (I'm loving shopping in the stash).
--fitness and weight resolutions
--get back to sewing
--get my last bit of renos finished
--lots of unfinished projects finished (maybe 1 per month).
--added:  to read and comment on my friends' blogs more often.
--added on Jan. 21--work on my sewing room--goal is to finish all the UFO's there, too, as well as the mending and ironing.  I also plan to sift through my knitting magazines and get rid of those that I know I will never knit from, and that don't illustrate some interesting techniques.
--Jan 21--this year I have to finish the cross-stitched stockings (2 out of 6) and tree skirts (2 out of 4).

 I just finished a Prayer Blanket for a  sick little girl in our community.  She wasn't well, not gaining, and it turned out she is allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs and nuts (that's what I remember).  Her mom has adjusted the family's diet, and the little girl often refuses to eat.

Did I mention that I have had a sweater design accepted by Cast-On Magazine?
I submitted some sketches and some scans of swatches, and got the news on Dec. 20.  The deadline for submitting the multi-sized pattern, charts and schematics, as well as the sample sweater which will be worn by the model for the photoshoot is:  Everything at the office in Ohio on or before January 24th.  They ordered the yarn, which didn't arrive until Jan. 3. The holiday season and an extended family party on Jan. 11th--I think I was crazy to accept this.  BUT--I sent the sweater away on the 15th (it arrived today), and I e-mailed all the paper work on Friday, the 17th.  I had to re-do the schematics to be print-ready.  She told me she is editing the pattern, but haven't heard of any changes.  Here's a little glimpse:

I already have 4 more ideas for design submissions, but this time, I'll have more of the work done before I pitch my idea.  (Lesson learned).

I have a bridesmaid's dress to alter--I took it apart, but it is navy and black, so I'll have to re-assemble it in daylight.  Will finish it on Thursday, since tomorrow I am going with the Handi-Bus to take some Long-Term care residents to the city for a "Wheel Chair Dance"--that is a hoot, and they do so appreciate the opportunity to get out and hear some good old fashioned music, and dance, and tap their feet and clap their hands.

 The first of my UFO's (unfinished objects) that I resurrected will now be worked on till finished.  This is constructed all in squares.  The sleeves are bigger squares than those of the body, and, while I don't mind the boxy body, I don't like the huge bottom of the sleeves.  I have already finished the sleeve squares and two body squares.  I entertained the idea of using the sewing machine and serger to taper the  sleeves, but then I decided to try to re-knit them to a proper sleeve shape.  This will involve some back-and-forth stranded knitting, but I don't mind purling stranded.  Also short rows will come into play.  BUT I will not be ripping out the original sleeves until I'm sure the alternate plan will be an improvement over sew-and-cut.

 --The next UFO will be the Brennan Cardigan.  This has stockinette stitch main parts knit separately from ribbed side panels, which are then seamed together, so I will try the knitting machine for the st st, and hand-knit the ribbed parts.

After 2 UFO's I will knit something new.  I think it will be Blish by Nora Gaughan.  I have a nice grey/natural white
 Briggs and Little Heritage for that.  Interesting, since I don't like ponchos and I don't like batwing sleeves, but I am really attracted to this design.

Before I can carry out my intention to read more blogs, I will have to tidy up my blog lists--many of them haven't posted over a year, so I will reluctantly delete these.  It's interesting how you can enjoy reading a blog, and yet not have much to comment. But I will try.

At the end of March, my Catholic Women's League Council is hosting the annual Zone Meeting.  As a gift to the attendees, I have decided to make about 25 of the Pocket Crosses.  I give these to the children who receive First Communion each year.

This isn't getting at my resolutions, so ,
Till next time:  The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness. (Honore de Balzac)

Near the End of another Good Year

A good year with mostly good health--more aches and pains but that's what I get for getting close to the  3 score and 10 birthday, and for sitting around with my knitting/crocheting too much.  First I'll update the project news:
Six more pairs of Crocodile Stitch boots:
 for niece:

 For oldest granddaughter

For DD3

For DD1 (rose) and a grand-niece (blue)

For GD2

Converse-like for Nephew-in-Law

For DS and DD3's BF, I added a sturdy sole of crocheted thermal stitch.  The boys were over-the-moon about these.  I really made them as a joke, since neither one wears slippers, but they didn't take them off all day.  I took a basic (poorly-translated) pattern from Ravelry, modified it for better fit, and added the sole and the band around the sole.  I am thinking about writing up a complete pattern.  I will definitely write a pattern for the sole.

These pictures are of two different pairs--the top is darker red.

Now for some other good news.  Master Knitter Level 2 came back.  All the projects were accepted, but I have to improve 4 swatches and clarify some written work.  The big written pieces:  4 book reviews and a report on the History of Knitting were accepted.  As soon as I get those results back it will be on with Level 3.

And the best news of all.  I've had a design accepted for publication in a magazine. I got the news a week before Christmas.  They immediately ordered yarn for the sample garment.  As of today it has not arrived.  I have to have the good draft of the pattern, with charts and schematics as well as the sample sweater, back in Ohio no later than January 24/2013.  The yarn is a pale color of KnitPicks Palette  I've been swatching with another color of the same yarn and have based the pattern calculations on that gauge.  Hope the color difference doesn't present me with a gauge difference.
I work well on adrenaline rushes.

I signed up for two

Two out of three  seed orders are in, the plants for the greenhouse have been ordered for a long time.  We will be starting that work mid-February.

Craftsy Classes -- one is on double-knitting and one is on using Excel to calculate pattern sizing.  Since my next design is a double-knit vest, and I am doing lots of patterns, you can guess why I chose these.  But I haven't had time to work through them yet.

I'm only about 300 m short of 30 000 metres knit this year (see Knitmeter widget on right side of page).  I'm hurrying through DD3's purse, that'll put me over before the New Year.

New Year's resolutions:
--post more often on this blog.
--finish Master Knitter Level 3--or at least most of it.
--continue with year 3 of the yarn diet (I'm loving shopping in the stash).
--fitness and weight resolutions
--get back to sewing
--get my last bit of renos finished
--lots of unfinished projects finished.
--added:  to read and comment on my friends' blogs more often.

Till next time:  I wish you all a belated Merry Christmas, a glorious, healthy, productive, prosperous,  Happy New Year.

The White Stuff is Here

Winter came, though it's been pleasant except for drivers.  This week the temperatures are warm and that brings rain, which freezes --no further description necessary.

That means I have very little outdoor work calling me.  Just some in the greenhouse, which I work on when the weather is sunny, since the sun warms up the air inside the greenhouses.

So I've been busy inside.

First I have to--absolutely have to--get my crown mouldings finished before Christmas, preferably before the end of November.  First I had to remove some stipple from the ceiling so the mouldings can sit well, then I had to tape off the lower line to make levelling easier--some of these are almost 14 feet long-- and mark the studs on the tape, then I measured the walls to the nearest 1/8 ".  All the corners are interior, and these are easy to fill if the mouldings are a wee bit short.  Not all the fasteners need to hit studs, but some definitely have to.  I will use finishing nails over some of the studs and my air nailer for the others.  On the longest walls the ceiling joists run the same direction as the wall, so if there doesn't happen to be a joist at the point where the top of the moulding touches the ceiling, there isn't much holding power in nailing into the drywall (although I will put some nails in with the air gun, but in different directions).  The mouldings are in the garage, where the miter saw is, and it's -12 degrees C today, so I won't be cutting lumber.  I have to bring them in before mounting to paint them, as I don't want to paint them once they're up--just touch up the little holes.

 I've been busy with other types of renovations, also.  Sweater renos.  This customer got a new sweater--and a new puppy.  Need I say more?  The damage was a shredded area about 4" in diameter.  No yarn to be salvaged.  I went through my stash of Jamieson and Smith fingering yarns and blended 3 strands as needed to get a close match in color, although it is a bit thicker.  Hardly noticeable.

Kubota Man had a favorite old sweater that had been loved and finally worn for work, and it has definitely seen better days.  I was going to junk it, but he had a very forlorn look on his face.  I didn't have the time or yarn in stash to make a new one (I am on a self-imposed yarn diet to use up my stash), but I did have yarn for repairs.  So here are a couple of "before" shots:

And the "after".  He's a happy man.

I have the patterns for the Winnie the Pooh characters, and plan to make some sets for future grand- and great-grand kids.  But the patterns are quite challenging, and people on Ravelry keep asking me for help.  These are not patterns where you can easily figure it out by the written pattern--you have to do it, so everytime someone asks for help, I make another character.  I had made the original  Tigger for DD3, then the next Tigger came last year in response to a cry for help.  That one was made with Aran yarn and a 4 mm hook.  

The latest--I named him Tigger Jr. was made with a soft worsted and 3.5 mm hook, so he is smaller.  Tigger and Tigger Jr. seem to have a lot to say to one another.

No one needed help, but I was in the mood so I whipped up Piglet.  I should have stuffed him more firmly to give his face more character, but everything is assembled as you go, and opening the head to add more stuffing would have meant doing the ears again.  So I left it alone and made notes for next time.

Piglet is sitting on a Log Cabin blanket in progress.  I am using scraps, some of the squares have unfinished granny square parts I inherited from my MIL.  I am planning to make one for each of the kids.  I like the denim main color between the randomly-colored squares.  Behind Piglet is a shawl waiting to be blocked.

And there are more scrap-- and stash-busting Log Cabin blankets in progress.  Each of the kids is getting one of those unless I run out of yarn (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA). 

So now I'm off to:
1. Steam clean the traffic areas in the Living Room.  We are getting new flooring but not before Christmas--mainly because I can't make up my mind between hardwood (more hygienic) and carpet (chemical off-gases, harder to keep clean, but SOO SOFT AND WARM ON MY OLD FEET--slippers just aren't the same).  And since we had planned new flooring I didn't steam clean in spring, and we weren't particularly careful to look after spots and spills.
2.  Tape and measure the smaller bedroom for its crown mouldings.
3.  Make apple pies and/or other goodies to use up the blemished apples from our tree.
4.  Finish 3 more pairs of Crocodile Stitch Boots.  One pair only needs buttons, two pairs need cuffs and buttons but I ran out of yarn for one so I have to go "shopping" in the storage unit.  That's where the buttons are, too.

/Till next time: Kids overheard talking:  "My mom only spends $25 for her jeans but her genes are priceless".

Log Cabins and Crocodiles

For a while, I'll keep the suspense about the log cabins and crocodiles.  I can't believe how long it is since I've posted here.  Here's an update:
1.  The Prairie Gardens Cardigan pattern is up for sale on Ravelry.  That was an incredible amount of work, and in spite of testing and tech-editing, a couple of gremlins have crept into the pattern, and I've made several updates.  The problem is two-fold:  in writing it to  PDF, some of the chart symbols went wonky, but they were fine in the original word document--and the tech editors had copies of the word document.  Then in another set of charts that I hand-drew, it appears that in the wee hours I don't know how to count, so I had the charts start on the wrong stitch.  Fingers and needles crossed.  Have sold quite a few patterns.  One of the buyers is re-doing it in other shades, it is turning out beautifully.

2. I sent off Level 2 of the Master Knitter Program today.  I don't expect it back until early in the New Year, since it has to be mailed around to 3 people for adjudication and then back to me.  One of the projects was an Argyle Sock:  we were not allowed to seam the leg:

Another project was a vest.  I had made a cardigan of this pattern many years ago, and since I am a bit wider now, decided to make it a bit longer.  I regret that, but it's OK.  When it comes back, I will take off the armbands and add some long sleeves with a surprise element at the cuff.

 

I completed a Log Cabin Blanket , which was quickly snatched up by DD2--but that's OK because there is one in the works for each of the kids.  I am addicted to these.
It was so well-received on Ravelry, with lots of questions about construction and joining, so I'm taking step-by-step photos of a block and making a tutorial pattern, which I will offer for free on Ravelry.

Here's step 1 of the process:

I

I fell in love with the Crocodile Stitch Boots, and decided that I would make all my girls (4 daughters and 3 granddaughters) each a pair.  Then I added my sister to the list.  These are finished so far (sorry about the blurry photos).
Brown for my sister (delivered).

Black for DGD 3:

Hot pink with bling for DGD 4:

 Some really ugly ones where I really misjudged the color combo:  likely for charity.

 Denim ones for DD2:

This week we went to Wainwright to visit Kubota Man's sister who had come up from Ontario to spend time with her daughter and grandkids.  Two of the grandkids had birthdays this week, so I made them these Crocodile Stitch Boots Children's Sizes
For the 5-year old boy:

And the 8-year old girl:

Their 12-year old sister really liked them  so I will make a pair for her and send them up.  The list has now grown from 7 pairs to 12 pairs.  These are great stash busters.

What's up next?  Some work in the greenhouse, seed orders by end of Month.
Trying to finish off a lot of WIP's (works in progress, or unfinished knitting projects).
More Log Cabin Blankets.  These are made of acrylic leftovers from years of my, my sister's, and my mom's knitting.  But for those bits that aren't long enough for Log Cabin blankets, there will be some Granny Square Blankets, too.  I'm loving this one with denim joining color:

After Mom died, I made up my mind to do volunteer work at the Long Term care center.  The need is so great.  This first involved undergoing a criminal check.  Mostly I've been going on "field trips" with residents on the Handi-bus.  What stories some of these old folks can tell.  And during those outings I feel I'm with Mom and at the same time I miss her greatly.  In September we had a family reunion/Bday party in honor of Mom.  This was organized by some grandchildren, and will become an annual affair.

Add that to my Thursday afternoon volunteer work at school, teaching Religion, and I barely have time for housework or any of those other things.  I truly believe unwashed windows make the house stronger.

Oh, yes, I hear my ripening tomatoes calling me to freeze them, too.  (Tomorrow morning's job).

Till next time:  Mirror Mirror on the wall, I am my Mother after all.