Baby Michael got to go to the pumpkin patch for the first time. Here he is with mom P.J.. Note the shades which he does not like. Reports are that he had a great time and got to take home three pumpkins, one for himself, one for Charlie and one for Saka. Charlie and Saka are the four legged brothers who watch over Michael.It’s been a bad day, a really bad day. I won’t go into details, just take my word for it. It’s been a bad day.
I have totally learned today not to try to knit when your mind is thousands of miles away.
I started a shawl with much help from Beth M. I was so proud of myself, just reading that chart like an old pro. Then, doom sets in, I don’t know where to go next. Beth helped me AGAIN and I was ready to plod forward. Came home and started the new chart, knit fourteen stitches and screwed up royally. I have learned not to try to frog anything except knit and purl stitches so I immediately dropped that damn shawl and e-mailed Beth. Her instructions (and I could hear her weeping through the e-mail) DON’t ATTEMP TO FROG IT, I’LL HELP YOU!!!!!!!!!Poor thing, she spends most of her time correcting mistakes I make. I did as told and have not touched it since.
Well, I thought, I must have something to knit so I picked up a pair of socks that were almost finished. Being the Sock Princess, what could I screw up here? Well, let me tell you what I screwed up. I turned the heel twice, yes my friends, twice. Once I turned it where it should be turned and again where the toe should be. I am so angry with myself for not taking a picture but I never thought of it until I had ripped out the second heel and finished the toe. Beth allows me to rip out my own socks because she thinks I know what I’m doing. Point being, never trust anyone who turns two heel on one sock. The socks are finished, blocked and drying. I’ll post a pic when they’re dry.
So you can see it was a pissy day. Hope tomorrow will be better and I promise not to touch the shawl.
Hope you had a better day than I did. But, I am still alive so I can rise tomorrow and attempt to make it a better day. Am I full of XXXX or what?
Many of you know that I DO NOT like to travel. I had to finally break down and go to California to see the grandbaby girls (12 yrs old and 9 yrs old but they are my baby girls.) We sat and waited for our pilots in Columbus for an hour. Got on the plane and waited another hour for something,we know not what. Did I mention that Mike booked these flights and got center and window seats. Guess who got the center seat? The flight out was not pretty. The fellow in the aisle seat must have thought he paid for his seat and mine. If he had elbowed me one more time, I’m pretty sure I would have become really mean. The second leg of the flight went even worse. The plane was pretty tiny with no leg room. If you tired to move your legs you were sure to need knee surgery. Now, did I mention who booked these seats? Anyway, we arrive in Hermosa Beach to find lovely weather. What else would Hermosa Beach have…The girls are growing fast. I think I may have caught a glimpse or two of them during our stay. It’s hard to say for sure. They are at the age that they have many more important things to do than sit with Grandma. I did see the ocean from the hotel room window. I’d have walked down and dipped my toes in the water but was smart enough to remember I had to also walk back up (did I mention that Mike dropped me in Hermosa and took off for a Hot Wheel Convention in another city?) Anyway, we start home, had an extra easy time getting through LAX only to be told we were having mechanical problems and our flight was delayed. This wasn’t sounding good. When we finally took off, I had a nice guy sitting in the aisle seat, he was from Waldo, who realized I also purchased a ticket. Mike and I made it home more or less speaking. If I ever travel again, I swear it will be first class for me. Mike can sit in the far back of the plane in the center seat. As all of you know I’ve always loved knitting socks. I adore my double points and I adore my socks. I couldn’t begin to count the pairs I’ve patiently knitted. I really like plain socks, no frills, just socks. I am now giving up the title of Sock Princess. I will now be known as P.S.K. (pitiful sock knitter) This dramatic change is occurring as a result of my going on Ravelry and seeing what socks should really look like. I’ve never seen so much lace in my life. A simple plain old sock cannot be found. It must take those people months to knit just one. I have never in my life seen such beautiful socks (except for Julie G. and a few of my knitting buddies.) I am totally depressed, just totally depressed. No wait a minute, it’s not depression, it’s admiration, ya, that’s it. I admire those knitters. They have all given me the determination to knit a real sock, not a Plain Jane, a real sock. Lace, cables, fancy toes and heels. By golly I’ll do it. You bet I will, I’ll knit a sock that looks like their socks. I’ll finish and I’ll post them on Ravelry, people will weep with envy. Plain old sock knitters will be depressed, totally depressed. Yes sir that’s what I’ll do and then I’ll wake up from my dream and go back to my Plan Jane socks. Someone has to keep the knitting world real.
I had good intentions, was going to show you all the new socks I’ve finished in the last three weeks. What is it they say about good intentions? I can’t remember the saying but mine went to hell. Some little problem with my camera and my computer not getting along at the moment. I’ll figure out the problem and post all my fun, colorful socks later.
I do have a baby Michael update. We went to Pittsburgh yesterday for a visit. Each time we see Mr. Michael he has grown and starting to do new fun things. He cut a tooth the day before we arrived, just in time for Grams and Grandpa to ohh and ahh about what a smart boy he is. Like he had anything to do with cutting that darling little tooth. He’s also sitting up (well, almost) by himself. We’re so pleased with his vision. It looks like he can see about three yards in front of him. Of course we won’t really know until he’s older. He is reaching for toys placed that distance from his face and he will track to both sides at that distance. For a little fellow with his challanges, he’s doing great. He also learned to spit his food when he’s eating so he’s developing into a little boy just like his dad. We are just so blessed to have this little guy. Enough about our baby, I could go on for hours. We’ll be going to Hermosa Beach in two weeks to visit with our wonderful little girls so I’ll report about all the happenings out there. I understand the girls already have a full schedule for Grandma. I imagine some of the time will consist of shopping as the girls know a softie when they see one. That’s what grandmas are for, spoil them and leave them.
The Yellow Springs Fiber Show was great fun. I bought more roving than I’ll ever need, but I couldn’t pass it up.
Keep knitting friends, keep knitting.
We had a great time with all the grandkids here for a week. If you’ve never seen the California bunch, they are pictured. Jeff, P.J. and Michael came in Saturday around noon. We went to the airport to pick up David from California around four. The next day, my California girls and their mom arrived at noon from Indiana where they had been visiting Grandma Gloria. I hadn’t seen them in almost two years and couldn’t believe how big they were. Aunt Karlee took over Michael and did a great job. The girls took over little Mac and he was worn out by the time they left five days later. We did all the fun things grandparents do with grandkids and we loved every minute of it. The girls took a refresher course in knitting and were really good at it. Morgan enjoyed spinning more than knitting and put several miles on the wheel. It was great fun having all the kids here and we’ll do it again at Christmas. Have to admit though, the silence is pretty nice.
Mike seldom takes a day off (He’s a workaholic and I’m a yarnaholic and as long as he keeps working all is well.) Yesterday he was to meet Jeff halfway to Pittsburgh to deliver Charlie and Saka. Great-he left a 9 in the morning and was to get back around 12:30. Our mailman doesn’t get here until around 4 in the afternoon. It was safe for me to leave home for a few hours. Oh no dear friends, it was not safe!!!! Mike gets home just as the mailman arrives, so many packages he had to drive the truck to the front door. Oh dear me—BUSTED BIG TIME. Bless his heart, Mike just grinned and said I had a FEW packages in the house. Sometimes I want to bop him on the head and other times I want to give him a hug. This was hug time.
Just finished the blue socks done with Duet yarn. Enough matching color to do the heels and toes. I’ve used the yarn several times a really like it.
Also pictured are the contents of the packages, yarns from Misty Mountain Farms, Yarntini, Spritely Goods, Posh Yarns, Fiesta Boomerang and Madelinetosh hand dyed yarns. I’ve only used Yarntini before but am anxious to try all the others. How many pairs of socks can I knit in a lifetime?
Also got this really fun spindle. It’s a Slpindolyn and you hold it between your legs to spin. (we won’t go there with jokes or smart comments) I’ll let you know how it works.
Oh lordy-the mailman just came with another package—don’t panic-it was only my meds. They also come in a pretty large package. Getting old really sucks!!!!
Knit on buddies!
I may have spoken too soon when I called my beautiful yarn bulky. Mike has examined it and determined it to be “rope” not yarn. He’s pretty sure we could use it to pull a skier behind the boat. He may not be far from the truth. Still, the yarn or rope or whatever is beautiful to me. I’m thinking about knitting him a tie with it and making him wear it to work. Make fun of my handspun yarn and you pay for it.
At long last I’ve spun enough yarn to show you. It’s not lace, it’s not fingering, it’s not DK, it’s not even worsted, let’s just call it what it is BULKY. One good thing though, it may be thick but it’s not lumpy. Thanks to Beth, I finally figured out what I was doing wrong. Spun this on my old Traditional. The old one seems much easier for me to use. I’ll get the hang of the Kiwi soon. Question is, what do I do with this rather bulky stuff? I’m thinking a really nice warm winter hat. It’ll be just fine if we move to Alaska.
On another front, just how many dogs are too many? All know that I’m the biggest dog lover there is in the entire world. Dogs and little kids make me happy. Well, we’ve been baby sitting our four legged grandkids-Saka and Charlie. I can now truly answer the question of how many are too many. If I stick to my four I’m fine, add two 60 pound wonderful doggies and that’s too many. Saka and Charlie are great dogs but it seems they don’t know that they’re as large as they are. Little Mac has learned to jump on the chair when the running starts. He’s also smart enough to stand back until the thundering herd has gone through the door. Since both grandkids eat only veggies and pasta (don’t panic they take vitamins) feeding time is a zoo. My boys think they should get pasta, Charlie and Saka want the boys dry food, it’s just a mess. After an entire week I’ve trained my boys to wait in the hall until I call them. Charlie and Saka patiently wait in their places. I put those bowls down and run like hell. No injuries so far. The kids go home this weekend and I’ll miss them. (I tried to keep Michael instead of the dogs but no luck) I’ll really miss the puppies but I won’t miss getting up at 5 to let them out.
Keep knitting
Just finished another pair of socks. Think they were done with Hill Country Yarns but I could be mistaken. I kept the label for weeks and then threw it away! Way to go Kay!!
Well, here is the wheel. It’s a Kiwi and lots of fun to spin on. I do need some lessons on tension, etc. but I’m having fun. When I have enough yarn to make a skein, I’ll post it. The word is that you should knit something with your first spinning no matter how awful it is. Look out, thong socks may be on the way. Take that back, just a thong maybe. I’d never spin enough for socks. (anyone volunteer to model the thong?)
We had a great visit with our Michael on his first trip to Columbus. He’s getting so much bigger and very alert. He’s reaching for things but has to learn to reach above his head. That’s the new lesson for this week. He and his dad went to the Children’s Museum yesterday. Seems Michael slept through most of the visit. They met friends there, three babies under six months. Suppose you’re never too young for knowledge. I’m very proud of our Jeff, he’s such a great dad. I’m sure he’ll hate to go back to school next month and have to give Michael back to the sitter during the day.
Our California girls are coming in soon. We’re so anxious to see them. Makena will be 12 soon and Morg and K.k. will be 10. Where does the time go? I haven’t seen the girls for over a year and I miss them so much. We talk on the phone all the time but that’s not like a big old hug and kiss from the most precious little girls in the world. I’ll post pics of them as soon as I get new one.
Keep knitting friends
