Warning Labels

Warning labels can be found on almost everything we purchase. My coffee cup warns me that my coffee is hot. My sleeping pills warn me that they may cause drowsiness and my new knitting needles came with a warning.

"Knitting needles are intended for knitting purposes only. The knitting needles are sharp and should be handled with care, stored with the pointed ends down, out of the reach of children and should not be left on the floor. The knitting needles should also be carried with the pointed end down. The knitting needles should not be used in a moving vehicle due to the possibility they could cause the puncture of the person or airbags in case of an accident. The needles should not be stuck in the ear or in other body parts"

I choose to ignore the warning to not knit in the car. Long road trips are the perfect time for uninterrupted knitting.

Leaving needles on the floor while knitting is attached can accidentally cause the knitting to come off the needles when someone trips over the yarn. Rather than putting all those stitches back on the needle, I think I'll store the knitting....with the points down.

There should be a clarification on the final warning.
"If I catch anyone sticking my knitting needles in his ear or any other body part, the damage that I inflict upon him will be far greater than any self inflicted damage."

So why doesn't sock yarn come with a warning?

"This product may cause uncontrollable shopping. Sock yarn must be kept in large groups for ultimate happiness. If knit, it will require the purchasing of several more skeins to replace the skein that was removed from the stash. Single sock syndrome, also known as second sock syndrome may result from use of this product."

I like my socks to match

So it will not be a surprise to anyone who knows me, that I go to great lengths to make my socks match.

When I am knitting with a self striping yarn, I pull the yarn out of two balls until they match and then start knitting. If I am using a 100 gram ball, I will knit two pair of socks because I know that the colours for the second pair are already lined up.

Friday night, as I was frantically starting another Christmas gift, I started to organise the yarn. After spreading half a ball of yarn all over the floor, I realised that one ball needed to be re-wound . The patterning was reversed. One ball started from the outside, and one from the inside. A minor delay and I was determined to make the socks match.

I knit all day Saturday, and all day Sunday. I took a break to knit a pair of mittens and continued on the socks.

Sunday evening, as I was working on the foot of the second sock, I realised that stripes on the socks weren't lining up.

All my great plans for perfectly matched socks were gone. There was a knot...in the first sock...The patterning had been changed.



I thought about ripping the first sock back but I will not.
I believe that the recipient of these socks will not mind that that they don't match. In fact, if his sister doesn't tell him, he will probably never know.

The next step? Wearing mismatched socks? Deliberately making only one sock of each pair? Only time will tell.

December 12, 2008

Panic sets in as I realise that I have yet to start my Christmas knitting. How long does it take to knit three, no four pair of socks and one pair of mittens. The scarves have been deleted from the list.

December 13, 2008

Panic avoided. I remembered to check the bin of knitting where I have been placing finished socks, hats and baby sweaters. There were fortunately, socks for two in the bin. Two pair of socks are doable in 12 days, even with another pair of mitts. Besides, OK is too warm for mitts anyway!

Insomnia

The other night I was lying awake, trying to fall back to sleep, but couldn't. Strange thoughts kept running through my mind.

What was I concerned about that was preventing me from sleeping? Was it the political scheming that was happening in Ottawa? No, not that.

Was it the fear of a economic downturn and the falling stock market? No, not that either.

Perhaps the quickly approaching holiday and the knowledge that many things have to happen before December 25. Close, but not that either.

It was the yarn. It had been sitting quietly in the Stash for the last year but decided that it was time to be heard.

"We are here and we demand to be knit! You have the pattern. You picked all the colours of yarn. You even started this sweater once and ripped it out because you didn't like the way it looked. Enough waiting. We want to become that sweater. NOW!"

I tried to reason with the yarn. I explained patiently that since Christmas was coming, I needed to be knitting socks for people.

The yarn didn't care.

I tried again. I vowed that I would start the sweater as soon as I finished my Berry-beautiful shawl. No, that just wasn't good enough. No compromise would work. The next morning, I cast on 286 stitches.




Saga Rose Cardigan from Jamieson's Shetland Knitting Book 3.

I have also been knitting the Berry-Beautiful shawl. Don't tell the sweater!

CONFLICTED

I have been knitting for a long time and while I am not a fast knitter, I am an obsessed knitter. (Big surprise there to anyone who knows me) I have often thought that if I could knit faster, I could knit more.

Recently, I went to the Make 1 retreat at Kananaskis and signed up for a class with Stephanie Pearl MacPhee AKA the Yarn Harlot. I signed up for the class not knowing what the topic was going to be so I was very excited to find out that it was a class on Knitting for Speed and Efficiency.

After a timing my knitting, I quickly realised that, yes, I am average. I spent the day examining my technique and learning new techniques to speed up my knitting. Stephanie insisted that if we practised for 15 minutes every day, after 28 days we would feel comfortable with the new techniques and be able to knit faster. This may be the longest 28 days of my life.

I am now undecided if I really do want to knit faster. I am comfortable with the way I knit and do accomplish a fair number of projects(see sidebar for 2008 list)

With the alternate techniques, my ability to knit evenly has disappeared.

My shoulders are sore and I'm missing shows on TV because I have to watch what my hands are doing.

I knit in my usual way for 16 hours on Sunday and only managed to get through 30 rows on this. I was sure I was going to be able to finish it but I didn't complete it until Monday.



Yes I know there are many, many stitches in those final rows of a triangular shawl but I really thought I should be able to finish it faster.



I have more projects with deadlines on them. I will admit that they are deadlines that I have set in my own warped brain and they can be delayed...especially if I see a new project that insists that I cast on immediately.

I was looking at my Stash this morning and it actually made me sad, knowing that there are so many wonderful yarns that I want to knit but that I don't have enough time to knit everything that I want to knit.

If I learn how to knit faster, I can finish more projects, but will I enjoy the process.

Oh Hell....I think I'll just go bake a batch of muffins and avoid the whole issue. Banana chocolate chips muffins solve all the problems.

Seeing Double

I will admit, that I have bought the same colourway of a sock yarn more than once. I may have bought a magazine a second time. I was not prepared to see this.

I even placed the new copy of the book right beside the first copy on the shelf and still didn't notice.


I suspect that I will find my knitting in the fridge soon.

Until then, does anyone need a copy of "The Natural Knitter".

I've been tagged
Michelle, aka knittinggrammy thinks that the world is interested in six quirky but unspectacular things about me. I disagree, but in an attempt to play fair, I will invent some.

1. I hate cooked turnips. I don't just mildly dislike turnips. I hate them. D's family thinks it's funny to dump a spoonful on my plate so that I have to eat them. I won't. There aren't many foods I won't eat but cooked turnips are at the top of my list.

2.I like raw turnips.

3. I am afraid of heights. In the past I have avoided the Capillano Suspension Bridge and the cave at Grotto Canyon because they were too high.

4. I'm stubborn. (just ask Sandra if you don't believe me) This is why I now have stood on the glass window at the Calgary Tower, on the top of Chichen Itza, and climbed all the stairs to stand outside at St Paul's Cathedral in London. I may only have one chance to see the sights and you always get the best view from high up. I refuse to let my fear of heights spoil the view. Next on my list is the Sydney Harbour Bridge but that one might be too high.

5. I believe that the law giving pedestrians the 'right of way' should be changed.

6. I watch lots of reality shows on TV. Survivor, Amazing Race, Hell's kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Big Brother. I watch them all.

Vegetable sister #2 and Gingersnaps can consider themselves tagged.

I am a Procrastinator

I have gone shopping for Birthday gifts on the day of the birthday...if not the day after. I have entered damp socks in the Stampede because I hadn't blocked them early enough...even though the knitting was completed much earlier. I have started Christmas knitting on December 23.

I have the best of intentions to become more organised and not leave things until the last possible moment, but I get sidetracked and something more interesting will pull me away.

I confess, I was going to post this morning but my knitting and a crappy movie on TV made me delay until now.

I tell you this because there is an anomaly in my house. Why is my Christmas cactus blooming in October?



We just barely finished the turkey soup after Thanksgiving and I haven't bought my Halloween candy yet.

This wrong....unless it's really an Easter cactus and is procrastinating too.

Did you ever wonder????



how many people Kinneared The Yarn Harlot at Rhinebeck this past weekend??????

THE RHINEBECK/NYC ADVENTURE

Back in August, when we started planning our trip to NY, we realised that there wouldn't be enough time to see everything that Seven Knitters wanted to see. We didn't even come close.

But we rode the subway....from Hoboken to Manhatten to Battery Park, to Brooklyn and back again.

I missed Central Park where I was going to go jogging and find a body because on Law and Order they always find bodies in Central Park. Got my TV fix last night and the body was found in Battery Park. Now that was some good planning.



We looked at statues.



We ate. Then we ate some more. And for a break, we would have a glass of wine. And then we ate.



We had time to contemplate life in beautiful surroundings.



And we also went to the NY Sheep and Wool Festival.


We can rest before our next great adventure.

ZOMBIES ON THE LOOSE

While most of the citizens were happily eating turkey and mashed potatoes, a horrific scene was occurring on the streets of our fair city.


The Zombies were running amok.(okay, zombies don't run. They were walking slowly and creating mayhem)

But fear not.

One brave soul, armed only with his trusty toaster was there to save us.

He fought valiantly, and vanquished the foe. We can now rest easy and return to our pumpkin pie and spend the rest of the weekend knitting. We are safe!

FINISHED....AGAIN

On Monday I finished my Tilted Duster. As I was taking the picture to post on Ravelry, I realised that I didn't like the buttons that I had found in my stash, and I didn't like the way the collar bunched up around my neck, and it needed a snap right at the edge to make it close neatly.
Today I ripped it back and reknit it. I am much happier with the new closing. I now have the perfect sweater on which to wear this.
My shawl pin beaded for me by my friend Lorraine.

Sometimes a pattern just needs to be changed.

Tilted Dusted from Interweave knits 2007
Yarn - Berroco Peruvio 100% wool
Other alterations- Ribbing added to the bottom of the sweater to prevent rolling of the stocking stitch sections
-Sleeves were made one size larger.

A BRILLIANT IDEA

Every so often, I get an idea. Once in awhile, I get a good idea. Sometimes, I get a brilliant idea.

That's what happened back in July when I thought we should have a sock exchange.

The not so brilliant part of the idea was assuming that everyone checks their email as often as I do. Some people missed out but those of us who decided to exchange socks had fun.

These are my socks, knit by the wonderful mtlaise. They're perfect. They are Dreaming in Color Smooshy and match the sweater that I knit in the spring.



Pretty spiffy socks for Angele's third pair of socks. And now they're MINE!

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN, JIGGIDITY JIG

6163 - Total Kilometres travelled.

States driven through - Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Kansas. Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana.

Hours spent in the truck - too many to count.

Surprising sites - The windmills in Montana. There are fields full of windmills, that looked like some creature from outer space. Those things are huge.  And they looked even stranger on Tuesday when they weren't moving - at all.

Antelopes on the prairies.  There were hundreds and hundreds of antelopes. There were more antelopes than cows in the pastures.  We saw so many that we stopped pointing them out.

The Feed Lots in Kansas. Kansas around Dodge City is home to many many feed lots.  I'm not talking about small feed lots either.  They were huge!  Fortunately, on our trip home we drove through a very different part of Kansas that was very picturesque, with rolling prairie, and sunflower fields.

Mount Rushmore. Defiantly worth the trip.

And why did we drive to Bartlesville?


So that Grandmas could walk to the park.


So someone could crawl through the tunnel.


And since the one of the reasons for this road trip was to see sites that were written about in Western Novels, someone had to ride a horse.


We went to Bartlesville to visit, and relax and hangout.


The typical tourist photo - no sock included.

KNITTING ON THE ROAD - PART 2

I had planned to knit my Tilted Duster on the way home.



My plans have now changed.

Knitting on the Road

Day 1 - I thought I would start simply with a sock. Of course I didn't have a pattern and had to guess on the size.


536 kilometres later we were in Great Falls, MT and I had a sock. Just one. I left the second one until I could try on the sample sock.

Day 2 - and a second project to start. This time I had a pattern. I was determined to complete the body of the sweater before we stopped for the night. I also had a broken knitting needle. Each time the needle came apart and five or six stitches dropped off, I wondered if I should admit defeat. It was after all, a little difficult to pick up stitches in the dark.


I'm no quitter. 1101 kilometers later we were in Torrington, WY and I was finished the body of the sweater.

The sleaves should be finished easily in ine day.



Lamar CO, 759 kilometers. Two sleeves, neck ribbing and a correction from the day before.




I finally got around to trying on the sweater today. LD has grown more than I thought and tomorrow I will lengthen the sleeves by couple of inches.

The socks also need to be bigger.

The last 749 kilometers I knit my Tilted Duster. I should have pictures after the trip home.....we're taking the long way home.

Packing for a Road trip

My dilemma - what to pack? What would be the best projects to work on and still enjoy the scenery and conversation. I'm not driving and therefore will be able to knit for 30 solid hours. The possibilities are endless.


My daughter warned me that the in-laws might not appreciate being impaled with a needle if I get frustrated and choose to throw my knitting. Putting beads on lace will not work in the back seat of the truck.

Simpler projects are key.

While it may appear that I am bringing far too many projects, I know that the driver of the truck may be convinced to stop and look at mountains, lakes or historic viewpoints. I can also convince him that we need to stop for food and a bathroom break. I doubt that we will be stopping for a set of dpns in a different size or an extra ball of yarn if I run out.

I need a bigger suitcase.

Two years later and still learning

It was two years ago today that I started working at Make 1 Yarn Studio, and in the time spent there, I have learnt many things.

I used to knit all my sweaters from the bottom up. I have learnt that they can be knit from the top down.

I used to knit all my socks from the top down. I have learnt that they can be knit from the toe up.

I used to believe that pairs of things like socks, should match. I would pull the yarn out of two balls in order to make sure that both socks matched exactly. I now know that socks don't have to match. They can even be knit from two different balls of yarn.

That is the reasoning that I am going to use to explain why I went out shopping today like this.


Some people might suggest a different reason for me forgetting how to dress myself but I believe that artist creativity is the best reason and I'm sticking with it. At least I'm still wearing my underwear under my clothes. (ask Knitting Grammy about that one!)

I have learned that some questions that arise out of discussions on Tuesday evenings are better answered by Wikipedia than by family members.

I have learned that top down socks is the best way to knit socks.

I have learned that if I don't want to swatch, I must be prepared to rip.

I have learnt that not all acrylic is bad.

The most valuable thing I have learned is that the new friends that I have made during the last two years are some of the most fun loving, crazy (in a good way) big hearted, generous people that I know.

It has been a great two years.

Heritage Park Fall Fair


will never be they same. The Volunteers, staff and many tourists from Canada and other countries were serenaded as we walked from the Canmore Opera house where our knitting was displayed, to the Bank where we picked up our Prize Money and then back to the Opera house to pick up our entries.

What song did we sing? It was an charming ditty, that was made up as we walked. The words and melody changed each time we sang. "We won! We won! We picked up our money from the bank. We have ribbons! We have 14 dollars and 50 cents. We bought candy from the candy store."

It was a great afternoon spent with friends. Next year, we can create a greater scene when there are even more knitters at the Park. Fifteen - no twenty knitters all singing "We won! We entered the Fall Fair and we won! We won!"

Long Weekend Camping

We headed out this past weekend for the last long weekend of the summer.  The weather forecast was for rain in Calgary so we drove up the QE2 towards Edmonton, turned off at Lacombe, and headed north again until finally we came to to our camping spot for the weekend.

We found sunshine, and wind and no rain. The golfers were thrilled.

I skipped out on the golfing to start this.  I love the Jade Palace cashmere yarn. It is so soft and cuddly that I was stopping everyone who walked by to make them feel the yarn.  It's wonderful.

I finished two socks on the way to New Norway so I had to start another on the way home. This is "Baudelaire revisited" It's also known as "Upsidedown Baudelaire". I happy with the third start on the sock. I hoping the heel I have planned will also work out.

The Tina shawl is done!I started this shawl in 2005 or maybe in 2004. Who's counting?Kathy Baker from Nier Lake Farms saved the neck wool from her Shetland Sheep for two years until she had enough to take the fleece to Innisfail to have the yarn spun into 2-ply lace weight.I found the pattern for this wonderful yarn and started knitting.I got side tracked by other patterns and other yarns. The shawl rested. It sat on the shelf for years, patiently waiting. It knew that it would be brought out to be finished one day. That day came three weeks ago. Once I started working on it again, I realised how much I had done on it. I also realised that I could actually finish it in a reasonable amount of time.
I think I'll go look through the shelves to see what else is there waiting for it's day in the sun.

Once upon a time... There was a house that had a kitchen. It was a new house with a nice new shiny kitchen. But many years passed, and the machines in the kitchen weren't working the the way they once did. The dishes no longer came out of dishwasher being very clean. The microwave worked, but at the speed of a conventional oven. The fridge kept food cold but was suffering from incontinence. Life would have continued on in the house if the owner could have found some giant sized "Depends" for the fridge. Change had happen. New Appliances were found. Of course, they didn't fit into the spots that the old appliances were in. New cupboards were next on the list of necessities. Oh, and by the way, the seals are gone on the windows so those might as well be changed too. Money Pit sound familiar?This is what my kitchen looked like on Thursday afternoon.This is where the fridge and stove used to be.This is where everything that was in my kitchen is now. And the fridge is in the garage.

Just another typical windy day in Calgary.

It's almost August. Let's knit socks

In a never ending attempt to increase my physical fitness, and to loose ten pounds, I have been walking. An extra 10,000 steps per day. Okay, I'll admit it, some days are closer to the 10,000 number than others but I'm trying.
While I'm out walking, my mind wanders and I contemplate buying resort property in Huatulco. I design lace patterns in my head. I renovate my kitchen. (that last one was a really bad one to get started on.) Today's thought was that we should have a sock exchange.

Crazy? Yes! but it's almost August and a time for crazy ideas. If you read this and want to take part, Send me your name, email address, shoe size and a secret code name. If you have any other colour likes or dislikes, or other preferences, include thoses as well. I'll pass that info along to the person knitting your sock. There are no guarantees. It's just fun to have someone else knit a pair of socks for me.

I'll be conning an unsuspecting member of my family to help me organise this so I can play too. You won't know who is knitting socks for you but you also won't know who you are knitting socks for.

There is a short deadline because I didn't think of this until today. Get your info to me by Friday. You already know if you want to participate or not so just send the email today. I'll get the sock requests to you by the end of next weekend and then we can start knitting.

Completion date for the socks will be Sept. 13. We can get together and drink wine and try on our socks in my new kitchen which hopefully will be done too.

my email?? yarndiva05athotmaildotcom or send me a message on ravelry.

I'd like to think that I'm not the only crazy knitter out there.

I'M GOING TO RHINEBECK!!!!

The following conversation occurred in our house, early Thursday morning when D was trying to get out of the house to make enough money for my crazy schemes....often the best time to have conversations.

M - I'm thinking of going to Rhinebeck.
D - Germany?
M - No, Maryland.(It's okay, I've got it figured out now) It's a Sheep and Wool Festival.
D - When? (said slowly with a great deal of trepidation)
M - October.
D - Sounds good. You go in October and I'll go the Grey Cup in November.

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to which event is going to involve more wine drinking?...and shopping?....and fun?

BIG Weekend
Campers came from near and far for the fourth annual Bonar Invitational Golf Weekend. Many golfers drove into Silver Creek Golf course on Thursday and the weekend was off to a flying start. My team did not fare well in the final standings.But we had fun.
Perhaps someone should have told me earlier that Oven mitts do not necessary to achieve the longest drive.
I did have one perfect shot for the day. I took out my toaster-on-a-stick for the par 3, 85 yard drive. My teammates thought I had lost my mind as they had used their 5 woods. Mine was the only ball to land on the green and Mark easily made the 6 foot putt for the Birdie.

We didn't come in last.

Their reward for a hard day's work was to have someone suggest that they should take up a new sport.

Count for the weekend 28 Golfers, 6 campers who only came to visit, 1 photographer, 8 mice who decided that they needed to share our trailer, 4 new knitters!

Parade day Road Trip

The day dawned bright and sunny. It was the perfect day for a Parade. It was an even better day for a Road Trip. The group of intrepid knitters followed their Supreme Leader out to the wilderness that is known as Banff, with a few stops along the way.


We were stopped by some surly construction workers and Michelle took advantage of the time to knit a few stitches on her sock.



We fought the Wiley Muskox and came away with yarn. To protect the innocent and the guilty, pictures of the Stash will not be displayed.



Sandra enjoyed a different Road Trip.