I'm awake!!

Greetings and Dear Laura:

I'm sorry I didn't reply on IM Friday night. Theoretically, I was knitting on a baby hat, but technically I had fallen asleep with yarn in hand! (And laptop on my lap - living dangerously!)

I did get the hat done in time for the baby shower on Sunday, which was great. I'm sorry for the poor quality picture, but please to imagine that it looked better than this! I was going for the "Fetching Inspired" hat that I've made several times. There was an accidental design change when I noticed that I had already knitted 6 rows from the first cables, and hadn't done cables again at 4 rows. So, I just cabled at row 6 and then 6 rows later and ended up with 3 cable rows more widely spaced. I liked it!
This

to this

in four days!

I'm making good progress on the Christmas Stocking that I'm knitting on commission. One week after starting, I'm 1/2 way done with the leg, which I guess is about 1/3 of the entire project. (I'm further along than the picture shows!) The best news is that trading off between the fair isle of the stocking, the ribbed scarf and the baby hat has really been helpful for my hands/wrists. That and daily anti-inflammatorys. But YAY! My hands 'fall asleep' much less frequently. (Of course, the same cannot be said of me! I fall asleep at the slightest opportunity!)


I love the Noro scarf, and I don't even pretend that I don't follow trends, knitting or otherwise. I'm enjoying watching the colors move through the fabric, and it's my first experience with Silk Garden - it's yummy soft!


We'll be exchanging names at Thanksgiving, and so once I have that name, I'll firm up what, if any, truly Christmas knitting I'm doing. To date, it's a rather vague "wouldn't it be nice" list. But I want to thank Lauren for her comment - she's always a good reality check! I also may be scaling back because my sil is having a baby in January, and she has recently been reminding me that this baby (unlike the last one born in May) will be needed lots of things to keep warm! You KNOW I can't resist such talk!

Besides the knitting, things are going well. We are having a smaller Thanksgiving gathering this year - one brother and sil are visiting my niece's family in Texas and another brother and sil are visiting my nephew in California. I already miss them, but I have to confess that smaller is a bit less daunting. And we girls are psyched for our annual shopping trip to Nashville Indiana. We're leaving Thursday after the dishes are done and returning on Saturday when the van is full! There are 2 yarn stops on this trip, so there could be some stash enhancement.

Besides the WEBS order that I'm holding Lauren responsible for!! :p

Keep Knitting!

Cynthia (aka DesignatedKnitter)

Lots to catch up on!

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Your 'Must Have Cardigan' looks great. I certainly can't see any loose stitches! I have GOT to get that sweater cast on!

I've been pretty busy lately - somehow November snuck up on me! Now that I'm over my cold, I've looked around and noticed that I've taken on several new roles at church, and it's getting close to year end, so I need to balance and audit the bookkeeping I do for my parents. My apartment looks like it threw up all over itself and we will NOT discuss my closets. And then there is the constant cast-on-itis and Christmas-knitting-insanity epidemic that is so common this year. I have the usual case, so nothing new there.

On top of all of that, I'm trying to cope with a flare-up of my carpal tunnel/repetitive injury issue. I put down the red lace shawl because I couldn't knit a full row without my fingers going numb. I also have problems holding the telephone for very long, driving, and sometimes sleeping, even with the braces. This is my warning to reduce what I'm doing. (I'm never very fond of that warning!)

The current "I want to knit and wouldn't that be nice by Christmas" list includes:
The blue toddler cardigan for Logan's 1st birthday on Dec 26.
The 'Must Have Cardigan' for mom
Crochet slippers for mom. (She wants slippers, and crochet would be quicker, a 'different' motion, and help stash bust!)
Scarf for my new niece-in-law.
Knee socks for my sil.
A sweater for my new niece/nephew due in January, and a blanket for that baby, and a quilt kit for that baby.
Oh! And we bought yarn to do a blanket for my dad. (HA! Like that's even possible.)
Remember that cool sock yarn that you unravel as you knit? It's calling my name.
Oh! There's a baby shower at church before Thanksgiving - wait, I think it's Sunday - and so I should have a baby thing knitted, right?
And we're adopting 2 families for Christmas, and so there are two mom's who would probably love a scarf.
I promised Lane a soap sweater.

Did I mention that I need more wool socks for this winter? And that it's snowing even as we speak?

Thursday I got a call from the owner of the LYS in Avilla. She asked if I would be interested in knitting 2 Christmas Stocking Kits for a commission. Of course, I mentally laughed myself silly, but I did listen to her. Someone had purchased these kits by Judy's Colors, and wanted to pay someone to knit them. (This entire concept is foreign to me. Buying a knitting kit and not knitting it? I do not understand! Although I have to say those kits are gorgeous.) However, the commission was enough to get my attention, so I agreed to look at the kits.

I stopped by on Friday and talked to her. She had thought of knitting them herself, and in the end, we decided to each do one of the kits. (And while obviously the person would like to have them for this year, it isn't required. While we're shooting for it, I wouldn't promise.) It worked out that I was intrigued by the "Red Velvet" kit, and she wanted to knit the "Fairy Tree" kit. They are Fair-Isle, and it's been a while since I did much of that.

So, I cast that on Saturday evening. It calls for a 16" circular for the leg, which I appreciate. It starts out with a knitted braid, which took two tries and plenty of head scratching to work out. Then I started the red portion - I always think that I would like to carry both yarns in my left hand, but that really only works if you use both colors at approximately the same rate. If you use one more than the other, or you cover long stretches, using the two hand method is much easier - and I remembered tips that you gave me for catching the color that is being carried, so that helped me get back in the rhythm. And as I hoped, carrying the yarn in both hands is a real change of motion - I was able to knit quite a bit, and my hands did not bother me at all.

Yesterday, I was at the point in all of my current projects that I didn't have anything completely mindless. The sock I'm working on is ready for a heel turn,

the blue cardigan is ready to decrease for the neck,

and the stocking is Fair Isle.........SO, I cast on this scarf! (I know, I have no self control!) My 'current' knitting basket now has 4 projects!

Since I am clearly insane, it would help me greatly if all you wonderful knitting bloggers could refrain from posting cool pictures of your knitting where I can see it because I can obviously not deal with this level of distraction. "Oh, my pretties..."
(I can usually resist tan colors. Just sayin')

;)

Keep Knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Must Have Cardigan Progress

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

I'm a bit behind these days, though am going to share some halloween photos, anyway:I dug out my "standard" duck costume again:The boys went as Pokemon characters, so I just sewed a little vest out of fleece for each of them, and they embellished their costumes with little props, so not very labor intensive for me, and they were pretty happy to participate in the whole "design" process. (I don't have any photos to show of the boys, because I'm paranoid and like to keep their faces off of the air.)

I've had a couple of grueling weeks at school, though my next test isn't for another week, so I have a few days to catch up on some other things (like blogging)! We have a neuroanatomy online quiz roughly once per week, and here is a sample of one of our practice questions to prepare for the online quiz:

Which statement is TRUE regarding the neurological deficit(s) that would be present following a lesion of the shaded area in the right brain stem?

	1)	inability to turn the right eye medially upon attempted gaze to the left
	2)	deviation of the jaw to the right upon jaw opening
	3)	loss of taste from right side of tongue, incoordination of right body, and ptosis of right eye lid
	4)	atrophy of the right medial rectus
	5)	two options are TRUE

Sometimes it takes me five minutes just to figure out what I'm looking at... The material is a bit convoluted/complicated, but quite relevant to some of the deficits a PT would regularly see in a clinic or hospital.

I've been plugging along on the Must Have Cardigan. Shortly after I started the back, about four inches into it, I was having the "it's going to be too small for me" panic, so I went ahead and soaked it, right on the needles, and blocked out that first four inches. I'm happy to report that it should be a good size for me, though the partial blocking is why the bottom looks so much wider in this photo. I'm also having problems with the looseness of the stitch immediately to the left of the skinniest pattern. Thank you for your tips on how to fix that; I was so far into the thing already, however, and I decided I wouldn't be able to notice it on a horse driving by it at 15 mph, so I left it as is, though I do plan to try your suggestion when I'm doing the fronts. Back almost done, and one sleeve completed:
I have some crazy idea I'll have this done in order to wear when we travel to visit our families during the Christmas season. Yeah, and I'm going to sew three matching fleece jackets for my dh and boys. A girl can dream...

I'm so glad the election is over, though it's odd to watch tv and not be bombarded with propaganda, saying terrible things about somebody, and then calmly voicing over with "I approve of this message."

Well, time to get rolling here today. We don't have much planned, though I'll easily fill the day getting caught up around the house and for school. With the flurries we've had the past day or two, and the coldness, I'm thinking a big pot of chili for dinner, maybe with some homemade pretzels...

Have a great weekend!
Warm regards,
Laura (YarnThrower)

Weekend fun

Greetings and Dear Laura:

First of all - Happy Election Day! (Lauren says I'm an election geek because I get excited about it, and go stand in line so that I can be one of the first voters in my precinct. I was 4th this year, which is a personal best! And I voted right behind a young first-time voter, which makes me happy too!)

Your sweater is looking beautiful! You do such lovely cable work.(I vote for the pink zipper as well!) It's getting to be sweater time, so I hope this zipper works the first time for you.

Wow, I had a fun Saturday! Earlier in the week, I had an email from Lea-Ann at Knitting Today, announcing a last-minute class taking place Saturday afternoon.

"Lorna Miser, knitwear designer and author and former owner of Lorna's Laces, is in Indiana right now and is available to teach a special class at Knitting Today this Saturday, November 1, from 1-4. It is going to be a class I had to leave out of the retreat offerings: Design for Baby,Knit for Baby."

It sounded like fun, and it really was - I'm very glad that I went. I have a Godson who is turning 1 at Christmas, and a sil who is expecting a baby in January (and hoping for a boy!) so I grabbed some superwash worsted in boy colors and headed off. Lorna handed out a basic template for a baby cardigan, and then talked about how to get inspiration for yarns, colors, textures etc. She showed us sweaters and the inspiration for them, which was really helpful. I had to laugh - after years of being told, "Knit the garment first and then you can see which buttons work the best," she told us "Pick some buttons you like and let that be your starting point!

I took that advice to heart - I found some cute "racecar" buttons, and the blue yarn that I had brought went well with it. I cast on for the 18 month size, since my Godson is quite the bruiser! I won't be able to do the entire sweater in the blue yarn, so I'm planning to do the body in blue and the sleeves in white.


Then I saw the cutest little tracker buttons, and since my brother and sil are farmers, I just couldn't resist them. I found a skein of Cascade 220 Superwash in a green that works with the buttons, so I'm prepared.


Lea-Ann was SO great - when I TRIED to pull the center of my yarn, I messed it up the worst I ever have. She got the ball winder and rescued me. At one point there were 5 little connected bunches of yarn on the floor, waiting their turn to be untangled! If not for Lea-Ann, I'd still be trying to fix the mess! Thanks!

I saw Laura, a knitter who lives in nearby Ari Indiana. I always enjoy running into her at knitting events (she reads our blog!) While I sometimes meet people who have heard of LaOtto (where I live) you have to be REALLY familiar with the area to know where Ari is! I myself have only been there a few times. (Hi Laura!)

I also finished off the Tulips cardigan on Saturday, and it is blocked and ready to be given to Whitny. I just love this pattern, and the yarn, and how it all turns out. I see me making more of these in the future. (Gotta use up all that Dream in Color!)

(I think Purl likes the sweater too!)

I have a really bad case of start-itis, which I think must be contagious, because it seems that lots of bloggers of suffering from it! I've decided to turn my back on monogamy for a bit, and I plan to cast on with reckless abandon! This should be fun!

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Zipper Zany (AAUGH)

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

School has been keeping me very busy, though I'm still enjoying it quite a bit. (It's going extremely fast! I've already completely nine weeks this semester, with six weeks of classes and a week of finals left.)

The past two weeks, I've been learning about muscle testing, neural tension testing, and lots of other stuff, but my biggest "take-away" so far in the PT program is that my own body is weak and full of tension. I'm assured that at some point, we'll learn how to fix all of these things. For the time being, I just have to laugh.

I LOVE taking the bus. Sometimes it is a bit of a "multisensory" experience, but it is a very social thing, relaxing, convenient, and has the added benefit of me not having to remember where I parked my car.

My knitting/blog reading is a bit sporadic, though a great way to relax when I have a few minutes. I sewed Ibenholt together completely (YAY! -- sleeves are attached to the body of the sweater, all but a few ends woven in), then whip stitched the front edges together (using thread in a contrasting color) in preparation for zipper installation:With all of the patterning in this sweater, it is critical that the cables are aligned on each side of the zipper, and sewing the fronts together before installing the zipper will assure this. (Plus, it was called for in the pattern.)

I needed a zipper which was 19", though my only available choices (without spending a lot for a custom zipper) were 18" or 20", so I violated my own cardinal rule and went with the longer length, thinking that I could extend the zipper into the one-inch undercollar, which can sort of be seen in this next photo:
The "undercollar" is an area in which there are only two ribbing stitches between cables, and it runs for about an inch. Then, the pattern is changed so that there are three ribbing stitches between each cable, so the collar flares/fans out a little bit.

I sewed the zipper into the sweater by machine, then removed the stitches which were basting the fronts together. It looked fine when completely zipped up. When unzipped, however, I thought the black zipper tape was just too much, especially at the neckline. So, I sewed a ribbon to cover the edges of the black zipper tape:
Don't get too attached to this photo, because I've already taken it all out! I hated the way it looked, and didn't like it that the ribbon ended one inch into the cabled section of the collar -- even though it is technically an "undercollar," it still looked ridiculous to end an inch after the start of the cables. It would be much more natural for it to end at the base of the collar, where the stitches are initially picked up.

So, I'm going to switch to the shorter zipper. This should alleviate a small amount of puckering which occured along the front edges, too, and if I'm extremely careful to not stretch the front even one iota as I'm sewing the zipper in, the length just might work... AAUGH!

Now, I need help deciding if I should change to a pink zipper, or the non-metallic black one shown below. What do you think?
My kids have off from school today. I have just a couple of finishing touches to sew today for their Halloween costumes, and we'll get together with friends to go Trick-or-Treating tonight. I bought candy to pass out at the house, but we're not going to be here, so oh well. (A few years ago, I tried putting out the candy in a big bowl with a note for the kids to limit themselves to one piece each, but apparently kids these days can't read and the candy mysteriously disappeared in record time, so I'm not going to bother with that.)

I have a lot of progress to show on the Must Have Cardi, but will show that in another post.

I'm still going to get on my soap box about the importance of exercise, too, but want to think about that for a little bit. For now, suffice it to say that there are incredible benefits to staying active, and so I would encourage everybody to at least start walking, even if only ten minutes a day is what you can handle at first -- no matter how little you do, there is still benefit. You can even do other things while you're walking/running, such as plan your menus in your head, make a grocery list, study 53 manual muscle tests for a "skill check" on Monday (just sayin'), etc. There are many changes our bodies naturally progress through as we age, and activity is one of the best things we can do in order to slow some of those processes.

Warm regards,
Laura (YarnThrower)

Flat Feet Yarn!

Flat Feet Yarn!
Originally uploaded by designatedknitter

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Wow. I so did not get that sleeve done last night as planned. And I have no idea if I'll have it done by the party tonight. Of course, blocking it is out. Hmm, I don't think I should give a one-year-old a sweater with the sharp pointy needles in it... maybe I could put the stitches on some waste yarn.....

Anyway. I was at Knitting Off Broadway twice in the last week. The first time, I noticed several panels (like the one pictured) hanging with the sock yarn. I was curious, and stopped to look, but I couldn't figure out HOW ON EARTH someone could dye yarn that would knit up to look like that. The gauge would have to be incredibly exact to get everything to line up for the patterns....they even had some that looked like random drops of dye on a background color. I looked around for skeins that might have been used to knit these samples, but I didn't see anything. Oh well. Moved on to what I was looking for.

Then I went back on Saturday with Libertine Knits and I heard people talking about them, and then it clicked. These are not knitted samples of yarn. This is Flat Feet Yarn - skeins of yarn that you knit from! They are machine knit panels with waste yarn on the edges, not bound off. Then the PANELS are hand-dyed. When you are ready to knit, you simply start unraveling the panel, and knit with the yarn. Some of the designs are basically stripes, or diagonal stripes, or other simple type patterns. The panels that I bought are from a limited edition series of special graphics. (There is another identical panel underneath this - you get two panels joined together with waste yarn. If you want to knit your socks "two at a time" you just cut the panels apart at the waste yarn, and unravel from both!)

I simply would have never conceived of such a thing! It's just quirky enough to make me fork over the extra $6 beyond my "most I will pay for yarn for a pair of socks" limit. I am DYING to cast on, but alas, I really have to finish a Tulips cardigan. And a "Must Have Cardigan." And..... you get the idea.

So, keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Typical.....

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Well, I'm closing in on finishing the Tulips Cardigan. As usual, the project would be going better if my brain were not half dead!

When I started this sweater, I needed size 4 & 6 needles. No problem, I have an entire set of Knit-Picks Options, which I LOVE! I am all about the slippery shiny metal with sharp points! I went to my handy storage case....and didn't have anything smaller than a size 10. I wandered around, checking UFO's for tips. Oddly, most of the needles in UFO's weren't part of the Options set. The truth is, when I finish a project, or finish swatching, I'm not very consistent about putting the tips back in the bag. I'll leave them in the basket with the yarn, or in the bag I was carrying the project in, etc.

I wanted to get started on this, so I turned to the lamp beside my chair. That's where I store my other circulars, dangling over the neck. (Knitters are usually amused by this lamp, non-knitters think it's weird.) I did manage to find the size 4 tips, so I was set for the edging. I found a size 6, 24" circular, and that worked fine for the body. When I got to the sleeves, I wanted to do magic loop instead of DPN's, so I made another search for the size 6 tips. I ended up with a size 6, 32" circular which was theoretically long enough for magic loop, but not long enough to do it comfortably. I decided that since this happens to me rather frequently, I would bite the bullet and order additional tips in size 5, 6 & 7, the most common ones that I can't find.

My first pass at a sleeve came while I was waiting for an additional colorway of yarn to arrive. When the yarn arrived, I was able to switch back to the body, and wait for the size 6 tips to arrive. I had hopes they would arrive on Friday, but no such luck. I did buckle down and finish the body and edging on Thursday, so Friday night I did a few sleeve rows with the 32" needle, then gave it up. The tips arrived on Saturday, but since I was out gallivanting with Libertine Knits (yay!) and enjoying Knitting at Lunch's wedding, no sleeve knitting happened! However, the tips did arrive while I was out and about.

Sunday, I sat down to conquer that first sleeve. I opened the package, put the tips on the 40" cable, and knit the sleeve from the short needle to the longer one. I turned to put the short needle on the lamp (you can see where this is going, can't you????) and there, dangling with the regular circular needles, I noticed the red cables of 2 Options needles. The size 6 and 7. Sitting there right beside me for the last 3 weeks. HOW I managed to search that conglomeration of needles and not notice them BEFORE - that remains a mystery.

But typical for me!

I finished that sleeve on Sunday, and before picking up the second sleeve, I stopped and wove in the ends. It looks much closer to "finished" without all those ends! Monday was busy however, and so now I am at Tuesday. The party is tomorrow. That means I have to finish the second sleeve, weave in those ends, and have it blocking e'er I sleep tonight!




Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Oh! And I can't WAIT to show you the sock yarn I got!! Soon, I promise!

The heat is on.....

The heat is on.....
Originally uploaded by designatedknitter

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Well, it's officially fall. I arrived home last night to find the indoor temperature at 61 degrees, and I gave in and turned on the furnace. I was hoping to last until November, but I've fallen a bit short!

Whitny's Tulips cardigan is moving along nicely. In the end, I decided that I really wanted the purple color. I also had JUST ENOUGH of the light green "Spring Tickle" colorway to finish this sweater, while I have enough of the remaining colors to make 10 sweaters, so I needed to reorder that. Having checked all three local yarn shops that carry Dream in Color, (Knitting Today, Sarah Jane's Yarn Shoppe and Knitting Off Broadway) I found that Simply Socks stocked the colors that I needed. While she doesn't have a storefront operation, this still qualifies as local, since she operates her online order business just a few miles from Fort Wayne. My order arrived last night, and so now I only have one body stripe plus the sleeves and edging to go.

Knitting at Lunch is counting down the days to her wedding on Saturday! (Stop by and see the shawl that she cast-off last night!) I was asked to RSVP which project I would be working on at the wedding/reception, and so I had chosen this cardigan, but now I have hopes of finishing before then, so I've had to ask for permission to substitute if necessary. One of her out-of-town friends (who is also a knit-blogger!) is flying in on Friday night, and so Jessica & I are planning an LYS "Yarn Crawl" for Saturday before the wedding. (Lauren has decided that having her hair and nails done, etc is going to take precedence over yarn shopping! I guess so......) I'm looking forward to meeting a new knitter and sharing our great shops!

Meanwhile, keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Cracker Jack Needles

Greetings and Dear Laura:

First of all - Thank you, Marit for your comment about my baby hat! It was worth the effort to get it right. Next time maybe I'll believe my own notes!

I know I haven't even mentioned the "Must Have Cardigan" lately, and you're probably almost done with yours....but I had to wait two weeks for the yarn. The mill was having a hard time keeping up with the orders, which is a testimony to how wonderful it is! (I wish there was a way to let people feel the softness over the internet!)

Feel how soft that is???? I picked up the yarn last Saturday, but instead of casting on the Cardigan, I got a little side tracked.

My great-niece Whitny is turning 1 on the 29th, and I'd been considering what to knit for her. (I always knit for their first birthday!) While I was at Knitting Today, I was completely tempted by the remaining "Dream In Color." (Ok, LeaAnn is SO smart - she has a laptop set up so you can check your Ravelry!) A quick check of my stash showed that I had 3 colors of the DIC Classy in stock, and so I purchased the 3 colors for the Tulip Cardigan that she had, and so long story short, I'm making a Tulip Cardigan for Whitny.

It's going pretty quickly, and I'm really enjoying it. Since I'm using 6 colors instead of 8, each stripe is 12 rows instead of 8. I have 4 1/2 stripes done, and hope to finish the body tonight. (Yes, it's an incredibly expensive baby sweater....but there are 4 more little girls in the family who don't have this sweater yet. Those will be free!)

I knitted a tulip sweater for my niece Missy, and I did the 9-month size that the kit allowed for. She is a 1 1/2 now, and she still wears it. (Don't you just love seeing a project in the wild? I stopped by one day last week and saw Missy toddling around wearing that sweater!) I bumped the size up to the 2-year for Whitny. It may be a bit big, but she should get lots of wear from it.

While I was at Knitting Today, I picked up a 40" #3 needle for magic looping some sport weight socks. I got the Hiya-Hiya needles, since I like them and they are priced right. I had recently noticed that my first set of needles had a sock pattern tucked in the package. I was curious, so I checked this package. This set included a stitch marker!

(I googled, and sure enough, each package includes a "promotional item.")

I'm gonna call them Crackerjack needles!

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Finished!

IMG_4842.JPG
Originally uploaded by designatedknitter

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Whoo hoo! I have a finished object. A baby hat...but still.

I like to have several baby hats on hand for those 'last minute' baby gifts. It doesn't seem like something that takes 9 months should really be unexpected, but I have been grateful to have stash of these on several occasions!

This is my old standby, a "Fetching-Inspired" hat. I love Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino for this. (When I make an adult hat, I like Debbie Bliss Cashmerino! Gotta love cashmere on your head!) I started this last spring, I think. It was always just something I worked on sporatically. I took it along on a road trip in late September. I finished it off on the way home, and held it up to show my brother (who offered to drive so I could knit! Best brother ever!)

He looked at it and said, "Awfully small baby." I tossed it to my SIL, who agreed that it was very small. No problem. I counted the stitches I had used (80) and frogged it and cast on again with 100, which did seem more like what I usually did. My brother asked what I was knitting now, and I showed him the ball of yarn that had been a hat a few minutes before. I said, "I'm knitting it over, but bigger."

His jaw dropped and he said, "You undid that whole hat???"

"Sure. It was too small."

He said, "I think I may puke!! All that work and you just ripped it out!?! I would have never said anything if I had known you'd do that!!"

There followed a lengthy discussion about process/product knitters, criteria for tinking, frogging and moving on, and loving to knit enough that you can re-knit a hat if need be. And for the record, if he had managed to make a major repair to a vehicle, and discovered he had done something wrong and it needed to be done again, he would most certainly re-do it. He would, however, be sick about it.

I finished the hat for the second time on Sunday evening. I noticed when I went to update my Ravelry that I had originally noted - "I cast on 100 as usual, but it looked large, so I frogged and cast on 80."

*rolled eyes*

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter!)

Tightening up that purl stitch!

Greetings and Dear Laura:

I thought I would post a quick tip on how I was able to snug up that pesky purl stitch following the cable!

I have a book by Annie Modesitt on Combination Knitting. She does a hybrid of American and Continental knitting which is very fast for her. I use it sporatically, depending on the situation. I do really like it for situations of knit/purl patterns where I'm going to knit the knits and purl the purls on the reverse side. You'll see why.

You can follow this link to see Annie's illustrations. Basically, what you want to do for this purl stitch is to scoop the yarn UNDER the right needle instead of wrapping over the TOP of the right needle. After you've slid the stitch off the left needle, then you can snug it up a bit. Going under instead of over uses a wee bit less yarn, and makes that stitch a bit tighter. (This effect is why I don't use it all the time for stockinette stitch - it changes my gauge coming back.)

The other effect of this is that this stitch is now seated incorrectly on the needle. However, it's easy enough to correct on the next side by knitting that stitch through the back loop. I hardly even pay attention any more, I just automatically knit those stitches as they come. This is the reason that I don't use the method on a true seed stitch, where I will be purling that stitch on the next row. Purling through the back loop to correct the seat saves time for no one!!

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter!)

Dangerous indeed....

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Oh my - things got really busy for a few weeks! Two family reunions, including road trips, a funeral, followed by the Fall 4-H Fair where my niece and nephew showed animals. (And speaking of the fair, I checked out the open class crafting exhibit and once again, I swear I am going to knit something for the fair next year! There were only about four crochet/knit entries, and nothing that really seemed at all intricate or complicated. I'm thinking I could run away with it all if I did, say, the Hemlock Ring blanket....)

This was followed by weekend houseguests, a Tastefully Simple party, and plenty of housecleaning in preparation, all of which resulted in my collapsing in my chair all weekend.....well, just didn't have much time for posting! (And I've fallen into the old trap of trying to catch up 3 weeks in a single post. Silly me.)

Anyway. I did work on the Must Have Cardigan for my mom, and yes, it is a dangerous pattern! I struggled with the first sleeve - I think I did the first repeat of the pattern 6 times! After I ripped the second or third time, I copied the pertinent pattern information a bit smaller and taped it to index cards.

That did help, but after I got to the end of the first repeat again, I noticed that the first purl stitch after some of the cable sections was really loose. I frogged and tried again, and I was able to snug that up so that I was finally happy with the fabric and pattern. At this point I measured the width of the sleeve and instead of 9 1/2", I had 8".

I had gauge in stockinette! I already felt this fabric was as loose as I wanted it to be, especially since this is Cotton Fleece yarn, and so isn't as elastic as I might like. A bigger needle was out of the question. I threw up my hands and decided that this yarn/pattern combination was not going to work. However, I'm hooked on the pattern, so...

I made a trip to Knitting Today, and found a WONDERFUL new worsted wool. It's called "Shepherd's Wool" and it is incredibly soft for 100% wool. I can't imagine my mom would find it in any way "scratchy." So I've ordered this yarn - they only had 4 of the 6 balls that I needed, and some lady ahead of me had her hands on them, so I'm trying to wait patiently. Meanwhile, I have my Kiri Shawl to keep me busy, and lots of inspiration working.....

That's all for now!
Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

DANGEROUS knitting pattern

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

Regarding the question of the sweater for your mom, my vote would be to knit what you think she would choose on her own. The Must Have Cardigan has set in sleeves (not the drop sleeves I see on a lot of aran sweaters), so you might like that look on your mom, too. As an added bonus, and in my own selfish interest, then you and I would be having our own little "knit along" across the miles, because look what I started:
Thank you to those of you who expressed thoughts about which project I should choose next. This is the first sleeve of Patons' "Must Have Cardigan," and this is a **dangerous** project. It has completely sucked me in, and I have plenty of reading and other homework which I **should** be working on **instead**, though I'm having a difficult time putting down the knitting. I just love it so far. I want to wear it tomorrow. However, wearing only half of a sleeve would not leave the sort of impression I'm typically going for... But I just really, really love it so far.

A quick note about the seamless baby bootie patterns... I knit a second bootie from the directions for the seamless "top down" pattern, and I confess that the ends of the short rows do have some little gaps/pulled stitches which I sort of "massaged" a little to close things up a bit. It's nothing serious, and only took a minute or two of adjustment, though it's not perfect. I much more strongly recommend the seamless "bottom up" pattern instead, even though I know some folks don't like using the cast-on method typical of many toe-up socks patterns...just my two cents worth. Still, this pair turned out very nice, and I was motivated to complete them because one of my friends just gave birth to a baby girl... Off to the post office this afternoon...

I also just love this dishcloth pattern:
It's much better in a solid color than in the variegated version I made first, just sayin'.

Our van has been acting up for about a year and a half, dying at will, typically when idling. I've had it looked at a few times, and the biggest problem is that the service garage has been unable to make it fail, so I bring the thing back home, and it continues with its erratic behavior. This past Tuesday, it conked out six times when I went to pick up the boys from school, bordering on dangerous as it has started to happen when I pull out into traffic, and so I took it to the service shop the very next day. I rejoiced that this time they experienced the problem, though they diagnosed it as the electronic control module -- you know, the part which costs $700 and requires another $300 for labor and other miscellaneous? It sounded like a lot of money, so we debated -- should we just keep on going, since the issue is intermittent and sometimes doesn't happen for weeks at a time, or should we bite the bullet and try to have the issue fixed once and for all. We opted for the latter.

Here's the best part of the story... The garage phoned me and said that when they called the dealer in order to purchase the required part, the dealer needed the vehicle ID number in order to know how to program the part, and said that it was covered under a service warranty (which had been "thrown in" as an incentive when we bought the vehicle -- 7 years, 100,000 miles on the powertrain), so if we took it over to the dealer, we could have it fixed for $100 deductible.

I did that this morning, and now I'm driving a vehicle that runs soooo much better. And, we've had this vehicle for just under seven years, and it has 90K miles on it. Phew. Nice that things work out this way sometimes!! And, I credit the first garage with letting me know about what the dealer told them, because they lost the revenue... There are honest garages out there!

Well, I'm going to work on some halloween costumes today while the boys are at school. My school load is intense in terms of activities during the school day (classes and labs), though this weekend I only have about six or seven chapters of reading, so very manageable...and tempting to keep on knitting my Must Have Cardigan... Hmmm....

Have a great weekend!
Warm Regards,
Laura (YarnThrower)

Socks done and begun...

Greetings and Dear Laura:

I really enjoyed reading what you've been up to. That is so cool that you were designing seamless booties at the same time that Knitting Guy did! (And coming from a trucking family, I enjoy that there is a knitting trucker! Hmm, wonder if I could get my brother to learn to knit?)

Your coin purse is so cool! I know what you mean about having loose change in the bottom of your backpack. It's so much handier to have a place to put your change, and then in turn have access to it when you need it. I like the loop - I'd hook it someplace in my purse so I could actually find it when I have a hand full of change!

I'm intrigued by the "Must Have Cardigan" pattern that you're looking at. My mom had a cotton sweater that looked similar to that. When it finally fell apart, she replaced it with an acrylic one that she paid very little for. It lasted a very little time. Recently I drove her to visit with some of her friends, and discovered that now for a sweater she is using a polyester sweatshirt/cardigan with snaps. She has had it for a long time and it is dingy and pill-y. So, I have decided that I have to knit her a sweater. I measured her up, and got some yarn and now I'm looking at patterns. (I know you shouldn't order the yarn until you have a pattern, but I knew I wanted Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in white, so I ordered 7 skeins, which should be enough for a medium women's sweater. I hope.)

The "Must Have Cardigan" looks like something she would choose. However, she is really petite, especially her shoulders, and a bulky sweater just seems to overwhelm her. I like the body structure of the Summer Braids Cardigan (I made one for my sil) but I think that either set-in or raglan sleeves would be more flattering on her. So I'm thinking of using a basic raglan pattern built using my "Handy Book of Sweater Patterns" and using the body ribs and cables of the Summer Braids.

What do you think? Maker her a sweater that she would choose, or one I think she'd look better in?? Knit for her or me? ;)

I did finish the Alizerine socks over the weekend. I had to quickly pick something else for mindless knitting, and since these where child's socks, I still had yarn left. My niece was visiting, so I traced the feet of her 2-year-old daughter, and just kept knitting with the same yarn. I have one sock done, and I'm almost to the heel of the second. Toddler socks go fast!!

And for tomorrow - amazing shawl knitting!! Stay tuned to local stations.....

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Coin Purse

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

Thank you for the information about the Hiya Hiya needles. At half the price of Addi's, it sounds like I should check them out the next time I need more needles, though it seems with all of the needles I own, I should have a "complete set" by now...but really, does anybody?

One of the comments I received on my Seamless Bottom Up Baby Booties pattern really caught my attention. Knitting Guy (author of Knitting On The Road) just happened to be designing his own seamless bottom-up pattern at roughly the same time I was, and his ideas regarding construction were very similar to mine. He is a long haul trucker, I am a stay at home mom/student, yet we each formulated a pattern for baby booties which was the same concept... Really! Follow the link to his blog and check it out! Very fun!

I spent a few minutes yesterday making a little coin purse:I've been throwing my small change into a pocket in my back pack, and I have to go digging for it when I need it, and I'm too cheap to buy a coin purse, so I made one out of stuff I had on hand. I followed a pattern I found in this book. Also, a little key ring may be placed on the ribbon shown on the top of this photo... It looks sort of weird, but it's quite functional.

Well, I'm two weeks into the fall semester. Earlier this week, my eight year old told me he was out of shorts. I suggested that he wear pants, because the weather is cooler. So, yesterday morning, he told me that not only is he out of shorts, but he is now *also* out of underwear. Then my five year old piped up and started telling me that he is running out of clean clothes to wear, too. I think I need to implement some sort of "process" for housework here, because I don't think my family is going to like my initial thoughts: "I'll have time for your laundry when the semester is over." Needless to say, it will be a weekend devoted to laundry...

Nothing else too exciting. I blocked Ibenholt, but it is still in three pieces, waiting to be sewn together. I'm contemplating my next projects, and have it narrowed down to three, all having yarn available in my stash:

• 1.) Must Have Cardigan, in the Patons "Street Smart" booklet, using Patons Classic Merino in the standard "Aran" color.
• 2.) Basic Chic Hoodie, by Bonne Marie Burns, using a two-tone (blues/grays) colorway of Cascade 220.
• 3.) Sienna, by Ann Smith, from Interweave Knits Fall 2006, using Mary Maxim 2-ply chunky weight acrylic.

I'm probably the least excited about option 3.), though acrylic doesn't necessarily mean "bad," though perhaps it does mean "not as nice?" The yarn was given to me by my son's preschool, because they had so much acrylic yarn on their hands and they were trying to just get rid of it. This yarn actually feels okay to the touch (meaning that it doesn't stick to the dry skin on my hands). Any inputs for which project to tackle next?

Well, time to get cracking on the stuff I put off until the weekend... It's raining right now, so it's a perfect day to be indoors...

Have a great weekend!
Warm regards,
Laura (YarnThrower)

Avoiding Second Sock Syndrome!

Avoiding Second Sock Syndrome!
Originally uploaded by designatedknitter

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Well, I'm moving along on my second Alizerine sock. I still really love knitting with the Collinette Jitterbug yarn. It's soft and squooshy, yet it has a solid feel that I really like. Why, oh WHY can't they throw some extra yardage on the skein so that it could be my favorite all-time sock yarn?????

I'm using new needles that I bought from Knitting Today last month. They are "Hiya-Hiya" needles. I'm always interested in trying different needles. I've always liked the feel of INOX needles, but I find the cables too stiff. I think I'm the only person to not like Addi Turbo's because my yarn hangs at the join, because other knitters love them! I did like the Addi Lace needles, but I noticed that my hands pick up a metallic smell. (I'm so picky!) I dearly love my KnitPicks interchangeable set! The cables are supple, the joins are fairly smooth and I love the sharp points. However, they don't come any smaller than a size 4, and so for my fingering weight sock yarn (using magic loop!) I still need 40" needles. And since I am not very 'project monogamous,' I can always use another needle.

I've become a fan of these "Hiya-Hiya" needles. (Other than feeling kind of goofy when I have to say the name!) They have a nice sharp point, the cable isn't TOO annoyingly stiff, and the join is the best I've used. I get distracted sometimes by that. As I switch needles for magic loop, I push the front needle back into the stitches and I have to stop and think, "Wow, that didn't snag on the join!" And as an added bonus, these are very affordable. Addi's run $13.50, but these are just $7.50. I see me switching!

In other news, my new glasses came in and I love the whole 'I can see clearly now' of it all. I'm adjusting to the new zones (bifocals, you know) but I don't have to tilt my head back to see the computer screen anymore, so bye-bye stiff neck. And Lauren says they're cute!

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Final Blanket Block

Final Blanket Block
Originally uploaded by designatedknitter

Greetings and Dear Laura:

The Omnivore 100 was kind of fun! Lauren, I got a chuckle out of your noticing that I've never had a PB&J! Thank you Marit, for your recommendation of Gjetost/brunost. I looked it up online, and it looks very yummy! One of the websites that I looked at said that it's available in the states, so I'm going to keep my eye out for it. I have to confess that when I was preparing my list, I had to look up a LOT of the items!

It turned out that my limits are poisonous (fugu) dirt (kaolin) and blow-your-head off hot (raw scotch bonnet pepper) although I might try a dish that CONTAINS the pepper. Just couldn't see eating the raw pepper.

I finished my final square for Jessica's Grandpa's Blanket. I had this ball of Cascade 220 that I wanted to try something new with. I believe that I did a double moss stitch, although it may have been a double rice stitch. I know I looked at them both!

So, now back to my Alizerine socks and planning more projects!

Keep Knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Omnivore's 100...

Ok, this looked like fun to me - I grabbed it from The Rebellious Pastor's Wife. Here are the instructions.

The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. And here are the instructions:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out (I ghosted them) any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/ linking to your results.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding (we call it blood pudding and I love this!)
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads (love, LOVE these!)
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe Beef
86. Hare (well, rabbit)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam (grossest thing on the menu)
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Have fun and keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)
**Edited to add:
No, it's not a mistake that I've never eaten PB&J. As a child, the list of things I wouldn't eat included eggs (cooked any way,) mustard, ketchup, pickles, anything with mayonnaise, and peanut butter. I will now eat eggs (but not over-easy) and ketchup, but those are the only changes.

Be Late for Something Day!

Be Late for Something Day!
Originally uploaded by designatedknitter

Greetings and Dear Laura:

YAY!! A holiday that is just my style! According to the calendar of bizarre holidays, today is "Be Late For Something" day. I got to work this morning and checked my holiday calendar and TA DA! I had already managed to celebrate the holiday. Nothing like getting that out of the way.

(Tomorrow is Fight Procrastination Day, but Saturday is my best procrastination day, so that probably won't work out so well.) I'm also late with posting to the blog, so maybe we can say that I'm "fighting procrastination" a day early!

First of all - Ibenholt is beautiful! And off the needles is such a wonderful feeling. Congratulations!

I did not have big plans for Labor Day, which was just fine by me. My parents were home unexpectedly - my dad had been to a routine doctors appointment, and diagnosed with pneumonia. A course of mega-antibiotics has him back to normal, so that's good. While he was resting, I took mom for a big grocery shopping on Saturday, took her to church on Sunday and then helped her with bookwork. Monday I took her to see her best friend from childhood who was visiting from her home in Iowa. Monday afternoon I did cooking and cleaning for the week ahead - so it was a good thing I had that extra day to get things done.

I had an eye doctor appointment on Wednesday - I was due for that last January. My new glasses should be here in about a week - I am SO looking forward to seeing more clearly. Hmm, maybe my lace knitting will be easier... I also ended up at the dentist on Wednesday. Over the weekend, I had a crown pop off, and I wanted to have it glued back. I was past due for a cleaning (are you seeing the procrastination theme here????) and it worked out I could schedule both things at one time. In the end, they also filled a cavity while I was there, so my mouth and eyes are good to go for a while.

By now you're probably asking yourself what any of this has to do with the picture of the sock. Not a thing! Just rambling on. The sock? I finished that last night at knit-in. I hadn't made it there in quite a while, so it was fun to see everyone again. A lot of them were working on sweaters. I got a lot of inspiration. Of course, I'm susceptible to inspiration. Here's a list of my current inspirations:

A baptismal gown for my great-niece Josie.
Squares for a blanket for my dad.
A sweater for my mom.
Socks for me.
Baby things for my new niece/nephew in January (THANK YOU for the seamless baby bootie pattern! I can't wait to try it out!!!!! I'll probably do that before anything else, even tho I should get the bigger things out of the way first. Say it with me, pro-cra-sti-nation??)

Hope your first week back at school has gone well. Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Ibenholt Off the Needles!

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

First, thank you Johanna for de-lurking and leaving your nice comment! I very much appreciated both hearing that you went back to school when your youngest went to kindergarten AND your encouragement for me. We're practically neighbors! I hope that I have a chance to meet you at the Sow's Ear sometime! Also, I'm taking it under advisement that it will be helpful to continue knitting throughout my school years to reduce the stress :-)

Second, I'm glad to hear that the baby bootie pattern is already in use (you go girl, Marit!), and that it does not "look like crap," a statement which made me laugh out loud when I read it on Lauren's blog.

Third, I went to "last Saturday knitting" (Johanna - hint hint) this past weekend, and cast OFF on the collar of Ibenholt. (Great fun, that Last Saturday knitting! Nice, nice bunch of ladies!)

Next I worked the "Front Plackets." If you've ever made a Dale of Norway sweater, then you are familiar with their somewhat, er, "unprolific" style of giving directions. Here is a spippet from the directions for the front plackets:

• ....pick up sts K-wise. Working back and forth, beg with a WS R and C OFF K-wise.

When I read through that the first time, I was sure that there had to be some steps missing; certainly I wouldn't pick up stitches and then turn around and cast them off again on the next row. However, I blindly did what was asked, and really am quite pleased with how the finished edge looks all the way up the front of the sweater. The zipper does *not* extend into the collar, though with the edge worked in this way, it all fits together nicely and looks good:Now all that remains is the weaving in of 13 more ends (don't know why I count, but it's what I do during dreaded tasks), the blocking, and the "sewing in" of the sleeves and zipper into the body of the sweater. (This means that I'll be embarking on the "great zipper hunt" in the next day or two. I hope I don't have to settle for black, though the photo in the pattern shows a natural colored sweater having a zipper which might be black with metal teeth -- I might try to find one with coil teeth... Ah, decisions....)

So, do you have big plans for Labor Day? First I'm going grocery shopping; then some more home organizing. I actually made some progress on getting things put in order before school starts, and I should try to capitalize on the "momentum" I had yesterday and really get some things done.

It is the first day of school tomorrow for the boys and me... I think we're all happy to be going back to school, and that's a good place to be.

Have a great Labor Day!
Warm regards,
Laura (YarnThrower)