I am going to cheat...

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

You probably remember Stitches Midwest, where I purchased two skeins each of two different Kauni colorways (and where you *ALSO* purchased Kauni yarn, but in a different colorway, to make the same sweater :-)

The night I got home from Stitches, I re-wound all of my Kauni skeins into "cakes," so that I could clearly see what colors lurked inside:Fun! Just a note...the two skeins I bought in the purply colorway were wound in opposite directions -- the one shown in the photo goes from gray to black to purple working from the inside out, whereas the second skein goes from purple to black to gray. That isn't going to matter, because the whole idea of the Kauni is that the yarn is sort of random and the colors present themselves how they will.

So, I started knitting the infamous Kauni Cardigan (which is totally THE CURE for anybody who might have lost the *knitting mojo*) , and was rather pleased with how things were going regarding the color pattern that was happening *UNTIL* I got to a point in which there wasn't really enough contrast to see the fancy shmancy colorwork -- In this photo, you can see that the stripe on the top looks like a messy blur instead of a row of squares:

In this next photo, you can sort of see the squares in the top row, maybe if you squint:

So, I decided to take out the last stripe and cut the yarn from the blue skein, skip a bunch of the darker blue yarn as it is coming out of the skein, and re-join it once it starts to get a little bit lighter to allow for more contrast with the black/dark gray. Did that make sense? I did some checking on Ravelry, and some of the sweaters there have areas with low contrast which I don't really care for, yet others have nice contrast throughout. I don't know if people are cheating by cutting out sections of color from the skeins in order to achieve a nice contrast throughout, but I AM GOING TO. So there.

A couple of other notes about this sweater/yarn/pattern:

1.) When I was casting on, I must have tugged the yarn too much, and it tore, so I had to re-start. Fortunately, I was only a few stitches into the cast on when that happened, but beware to not yank the yarn, it might be fragile.

2.) Cast on using the color which is going to be *purled* in your corrugated ribbing. I cast on with blue, and my ribbing is *K1 purple, P1 blue*. That way, you won't have an odd colored purl "bump" all along your first row of ribbing...

3.) THE SLEEVES! Yikes. Not sure how I am going to handle those, but I am definitely going to stray from the pattern. Several of the entries on Ravelry speak to the fact that there seems to be a lot of excess fabric in the underarm, so I read ahead in the pattern and it is quite clear why people are complaining about the sleeves... I think I know what I'm going to do to revise the pattern, and it is going to involve purling in colorwork, but only for a couple of inches. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right?! I'll talk more about the sleeves in my next post.

4.) There is also some discussion on Ravelry regarding the neck area being a bit generous, so I have to figure out if I'm going to stray from the pattern on that or not... Stay tuned :-) (What did we ever do before Ravelry?)

In the meantime, here is a sock fresh off the needles:

It is not just any sock -- it is Loretta's *first sock* :-)

I met Loretta in the library when she was bringing her grandson and I was bringing my son to story time there a few years ago. We started talking about knitting, and Loretta made a really nice hat. Fast forward to the summer of 2009, when I ran into her at the swimming pool and was able to convince her of the virtue of sock knitting. So, Loretta started her first sock more than a year ago, and then Autumn was upon us, and the sock went into hibernation. I saw Loretta again this past summer at the swimming pool, and she brought her sock back with her, and now it is finished! YAY! Way to go, Loretta! Excellent fortitude there, and the first one is the hardest! Loretta is definitely on the slippery slope toward being completely addicted to this whole knitting thing....heh heh...

Okay, so I have to do some ripping and make some color decisions on my Kauni Cardigan, so I'll ramble more later, probably again next weekend. By then I'll have my color contrast and sleeve dilemmas worked out, I hope.

Have a great week!

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

There is a reason...

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

I laughed at your most recent blog post, and totally agree that when somebody makes a special request for a knitted item, especially an adorable little girl, there is really no choice but to deliver...

Just a quick post today. I have the morning "off," which means I will be cramming a week's worth of errands/projects into four short hours...

ENE'S SCARF is finished! The obligatory photo of it blocking:

And the reason I am not a model and my son is not a photographer:

In the category of "fun times at my house," we had a few too many fruit flies, and I finally figured out the source was one particular onion in the onion drawer which was getting smelly...so I promptly disposed of that, but still had several of the pesky flies swarming around a week later, so I checked online for some strategies to get rid of them and ended up making a couple of traps:

Both traps worked equally well I would say. The one on the left is cider vinegar in a little bit of water with dish soap covered with plastic wrap which has fork holes poked into it. The one on the right is a now-evaporated bowl of white wine with a little dish soap in it. An empty beer can sitting next to the traps on the counter also attracted quite a few of the little flies, but was not able to actually *capture* even one... I haven't seen a live fruit fly in a couple of days now, so that's nice!

I hope your weather in Indiana is as glorious as ours in south central Wisconsin right now! Have a great Friday!

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

All I can say is that I was unprepared......

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Oh your Ene scarf looks great! A beautiful thing indeed!

On Friday, I took the day off and went to Shipshewana Indiana with my sil and her four-year-old granddaughter Lydia. We had a great day! One of the stores we went to was a yarn store, where Chris wanted me to see several projects that she either liked or was ready to start on. I browsed around and found a back issue of a magazine I had been looking for, and some herbs to keep moths away. I was about to get away relatively unscathed when Lydia brought me a ball of yarn and said, "Aunt Cyn-tee-a, would you make me a wainbow cawf with this yawn?"

Well.

Yes Lydia, I will absolutely make you a rainbow scarf with that yarn.

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Home Stretch on Ene

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

WOW - Your hexagon socks look *fantastic* and I'm so glad the weaving in of the ends is behind you now! Perhaps you might share a photo of the handmade bag you got in that trade? I'd love to see it, too!

My kids are back in school now, so things are a little calmer around here. And, I have Friday mornings *off* from being in the clinic, so I may spend that time *however I wish*... Today, I am spending it picking up around the house to reduce the overall feeling of clutter... Also, putting this blog post together.

Living with boys, there are always little surprises around the house, and I never know what is going to turn up where. For example, just outside the master bathroom:

At least this is in the corner. My general rule of thumb around here is to "watch your step," because traipsing over a Lego, which might have been left in the middle of the main pathway of the house, in my bare feet can be painful, just sayin'.

You'll be happy to know that the Ugly Socks are finished, and I don't think they are really that ugly. I'll definitely wear these -- I mean, they'll match just about anything, right? Thank you Kaffe Fassett:

So, I started another pair of socks for my "take anywhere" mindless knitting:Ene's scarf is moving right along. For those of you who are math geeks like myself, only 125 stitches on the needles right now (down from 375 initially), and I'm on row 126 (out of 170 total). I really like this construction, and the fact that the rows are getting shorter instead of longer. It's a rather easy pattern -- especially after getting through the initial border rows. Can you tell by the coloring where I changed from the first to the second ball of yarn in the photo?:

I'm using "Jezebel" yarn, by SouthWest Trading Company, and it says on the yarn wrapper that it is 'Hand Dyed Merino Wool for Lace, Socks, & Beautiful Things." Okay then...

We've been riding bikes with our kids, and a patient told me about one of the "rails to trails" converted railroad bike paths having a tunnel in it that is so dark and long that you need a flashlight to go through it:

That was really fun, but my 10 year old was concerned that it was going to cave in on us once we got in the middle of it. I told him that it's been there for over 100 years, so not to worry. He said that since it's so old, there's even more of a chance of it caving in. Yes, my son has MY exact same hang-ups, only exaggerated...poor guy...

I'm still working up to running a 5 mile race in October, though my training schedule has fallen apart a little bit. Some days I have to get notes for the clinic done in the morning, so I decided that it was okay to be, er, *flexible* with my running schedule, as long as I'm trying to get some longer distance runs in. This morning's weather is glorious -- sunny and cool -- so as soon as the kids get on the bus, I'm gonna be out there.

A couple of exercise tips:

1.) If you miss a day, don't sweat it. However, also DON'T let it give you "permission" to give up on your program entirely. Just do what you can when you can. An imperfect exercise routine is still better than not exercising at all :-)

2.) Sign up for a 5K walk or run, even better if it supports a cause you believe in. This will give you a clear, timely goal for your training, and you will find it motivating. Plus, free tee-shirt with your entry fee :-)

My 10 year old and I ran a 5K a couple of weeks ago -- it was his first 5K race, and he finished a minute and 40 seconds before I did... However, just signing up for the race got him out there training with me prior to it. It was very fun.

I hope you (all) have a great weekend!

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

I still don't like chunky yarn....

Greetings and Dear Laura:

I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend! I had a QUIET weekend, and that was just what I was hoping for. I watched some baseball, did some housework, laundry, napping, and finished two knitting projects! Can't beat that....

First of all, I finished the Hexagon Socks! YAY!! Overall, I enjoyed knitting them. The heels just about killed me tho. I thought after I finally got it figured out on the first heel that the second one would be a breeze, but I was mistaken. That diagram was just plain difficult. On one hand, I liked the modular part - making a hexagon didn't take long! On the other hand, by the end I was tired of picking up stitches and almost immediately sewing in ends. Now that they're done, I'm glad I did them - but I won't be doing them again anytime soon!

I think when we were together at Stitches I showed you the hat that I was working on. It's from the "Dream Club" that I'm doing. Dream In Color Yarns puts out a kit each month - it's one skein of a specially-dyed yarn and a pattern that can be made from that skein. We get together at Knitting Today and cast on together, and that's really fun. When I cast on the hat, I was madly trying to hit a couple of deadlines, so at first I put it aside. However, it turned out to be perfect 'train and hotel' knitting for my trip to Stitches, so I was able to finish it in August.

Last Thursday, we met to cast on for September's project, which was slipper socks in a chunky weight yarn. It was a project that I had a use for - my mom needs slippers (long story, but I 'over-felted' the ones she had!) We were told that we could get a pair of slippers from the one skein, but only just. I decided that, since the yarn supply was tight, I would make mine from the toe-up instead of as the pattern was written. I got them done in just 4 days (YAY!) and I did have some yarn left over. I think that since I did a short-row heel instead of a flap-heel, I used less yarn. They could probably have used a few more rows before I started the ribbing, but mom has tried them on and likes them, so I'm happy. FOUR DAYS!! Still, I prefer finer yarns, even if it takes longer......

I'm working on my February Lady Sweater this week, and then this weekend I'll start working on my list for the rest of this year. I need a sweater for a one-year old, 3 more toys, 2 kids hats and gifts for the twins due in December. That will finish out this year - the year of Toys For Birthday Gifts.

As we discussed, 2011 is going to be the year of Store-Bought Birthday Gifts! And the year of Socks for Me! It's going to be fun!!

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Catching up!

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Well, I always have good intentions. I think, "This is it - today I'll blog. For sure. Today." One day, I actually built the photo mosaic and got it added to blogger (the jury is still out on whether or not you can see it!) That day looked promising. But alas, the day gets away, and I'm falling asleep at the computer, and it isn't done.

I had a wonderful time at Stitches! It was so great to see you and catch up in person. We don't get that chance nearly often enough.

As you can see, I've worked on some small projects this summer - booties and bracelets, some socks and stuffed animals - even a hat! I still have a second sock to finish of the Norwegian Rose Socks, and I have seven more hexagons to finish that pair. That's my goal for this weekend - our County Fair is at the end of this month, and I'm gathering/finishing projects to take.

There is a picture of one of the Teddy Bear's with his stuffing hanging out.....I got that back for a second repair job. I had sewn up a hole in its bottom once before, and they assured me that the dog hadn't been around it since. This time they discovered the true problem. When I made the first few bears, I was unable to locate the poly pellets that it called for, so I substituted a little bag filled with uncooked rice. Turns out they had a mouse, and the mouse liked rice! Oh my. Anyway, it is now stuffed with poly pellets, and has a patch and some embroidery and is all set to go!

Also shown are some purchases from Stitches! I love my green Namaste bag, and as soon as I finish my February Lady sweater, I'm definitely starting Kauni. I'm also completely besotted with the Adventure bag pattern and handles - I picked up the yarn last night. I debated about the color; I love the harvest gold that I saw at Stitches, but I was worried about dirt. I plan to use it as an overnight bag, and I've had enough bags get grungy in the trunk or when someone tosses it on the ground that I was concerned. I found a lovely purply-brown called "Midnight Lake" by Shepherds Wool, and so now I'm very anxious to get started. It's bulky crochet, so it should go quickly!!

It's cooled down here, so the holiday weekend should be great! Hope you have a great weekend there - and I'll talk to you again soon!

Keep knitting!!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Stitches Midwest 2010 edition

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

Can you name the two people in this photo, taken at Stitches Midwest in Schaumburg IL?

So, let's review some of the hotel room amenities. Can you identify the $4.00 bottle of water in this photo? (HINT: It is in a CLEAR GLASS BOTTLE, and it doesn't even hold as much as the metal water bottle I generally haul around with me...)

Find the TV hidden inside the bathroom mirror:

Weird to turn on the bathroom light and have the TV automatically turn on at the same time... I have never seen anything like it before...

Okay, so onward to the business at hand. My goal, to accomplish before next summer, is to complete the two shawls I have on my needles right now AND knit three of the projects I purchased materials for at the Stitches Marketplace.

First up, a necklace/bracelet wire/bead knitting kit. I've never knit with wire before, and the store samples were just sooo pretty. I selected a kit having silver wire and beads that are pearl and quartz:

Since it was way too hot to be wearing hand knit sweaters or socks today, perhaps next year at this time I will sport my new necklace, just so that I am wearing *something* handknit to the big show :-)

Next up is four skeins of Kauni yarn to knit the Kauni Cardigan which was so popular a couple of years ago. (As is typical, I'm a little bit behind the craze...) I selected colors which were a little more subdued than the rainbow version, and you can't see how the color changes within the skein by looking at this photo, but I'll wind them into "cakes" and then show you the grays, blacks, and lighter blues which phase in and out throughout the lengths of yarn. Also note my new shawl pin in this photo:
I also selected another triangle shawl pattern, which uses a construction I haven't tried before. I like this pattern because it starts at the tip of the triangle at the bottom of the shawl, and works up from there in horizontal rows. That way, I can use a skein of sock yarn (which I already have in my stash) and just stop knitting when I am about to run out of yarn at the top edge:
Finally, a copy of the Cassidy pattern. It is unlikely that I'll make this sweater during the coming year, but I prefer to have the pattern in this hard copy, card stock format (versus purchasing it online at the Chic Knits site and receiving a pdf file of it to print out on separate sheets...).

So, great companionship (and was fun to meet your knitting cronies), fun shopping, and a nice change of scenery for me yesterday and today! Now, back to reality and putting together a grocery list so that I can go shopping and get ready for the coming week... I hope that you have a great week!

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

We have a Winner!

Greetings and Dear Cynthia,

Just a quick post today... I apologize for the delay in announcing the winner to my little contest about guessing what this mug represents:

Congratulations to Sus (a temporary citizen of Milwaukee when she was going to school there, but now no longer in God's Country), whose winning entry of a "lumbar vertebra" won her some, er, spectacular prizes...

First, a sample of Malibrigo Silky Merino which I picked up today at the Stitches Midwest Market:

Second, a pamphlet for making five different sock styles, each in three different yarn weights:

(Picture is blurry because I had to turn off the flash to avoid big white blobs on the shiny booklet cover while taking the photo...but you get the idea...)

And finally, a book of scarf patterns:

Thank you to all of you who either commented or sent an e-mail with your entries for the contest!!

I apologize for the delay in announcing the winner... I once again feel a little bit behind in everything, as I am now on a full time clinical assignment, and I am finding it challenging in several ways.

First, adjusting to a full time schedule and keeping things at home running smoothly has presented some challenges for me and my family, though this should ease up after the boys are back in school very soon.

Second, I am reminded of the discomfort of being less than competent. When I first started my engineering job fresh out of college back in the 1980s's, there was quite a learning curve, but I eventually became competent at what I was doing and comfortable in my decision making at work. Now, at this stage in my life, I feel like I should *still* be competent, though in this new field of PT, I once again find myself on the steep part of the learning curve, and I really, really miss the feeling of competence. I have been daily reminding myself of a quote from Kristin Armstrong's blog, in which she says, "If we want to get better, we have to deal with being uncomfortable." Very true. Not easy for me right now, but time for me to step it up....

Coming soon - a report from our experiences at Stitches Midwest!

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

Ene's Scarf...and a contest

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

I mentioned that I thought the gauge on my Ene's Scarf was running a bit on the tight side, and the "holes" weren't "popping" the way I hoped they would using the size 7 needles specified in the pattern...

Yuck...so, I ripped the whole things out and used the "S" word --> SWATCH...with size 8 needles, and this is what it looked like:
Also yuck. Actually, worse...so I decided to stay with the size 7 needles and work to consciously reduce my tension. (I've noticed over the past several months that I've been holding my working yarn much tighter, and I think it is because of all of the 2x2 ribbing I've been knitting on socks -- keeping the yarn especially tight, to avoid the "loose" column of stitches common at the transitions from the knit stitches to the purl stitches in the ribbing...) Now I'm finally getting somewhere:
Charts 1 and 2 completed - 32 rows done out of 179 total, started with 375 stitches on the needle and already down to only 313! Each successive row takes less time to work than the previous row -- LOVE THAT! And, only 147 rows to go...

So (abrupt transition), in the category of "what's not getting done at my house since I started 'working' full time on my first clinical assignment...I used to sort of have an inventory in my head of the food in our house. I had a sense of when we were close to being out of milk, and had a rough idea of how many eggs were in our fridge. Yesterday, I started making lunch for the boys and realized that we had one slice of bread in the whole house... (I remember having three loaves of bread in the freezer about a week ago -- what happened to all of those?) I rummaged through the freezer and found an assortment of bun packages, each having a couple of buns remaining from when it was initially opened a month or two ago:
Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? So, I made grilled cheese sandwiches out of buns, using the "inside" of the buns for the "outside" of the sandwiches:

Unconventional, definitely not gourmet, but my seven year old told me, "Hey, these are really good," as though he was surprised that I could make something he liked...

And in the category of really fun, my mom and dad gave me this mug:
Correctly identify what it is (as specifically as you are able to), and I'll randomly select one winner from the correct answers and send out a (modest) prize related to knitting...

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

Diary of a knitter on vacation...

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

We spent the past week in DC (Door County) on Wisconsin's peninsula...which is north and east of the city of Green Bay on this map:

Sunday, July 25, 12:00pm: Decide to start a new shawl as a "vacation project" and see how far I can get on it during the relaxing week away from home; envision that it will *almost be completed* by the time I return home on Friday.

12:30pm: Begin knitting Ene's Scarf, because I've always wanted to knit a triangular shawl which begins at the outside edges (longest rows) and works its way toward the middle (shortest rows), and this will be perfect vacation knitting.

2:30pm, during stop in Ripon WI: Decide that we will get our Christmas card photo at some point during this vacation. Manage to take "self portrait" on park swing (I hold camera at arms length "backwards" and the four of us huddle together to try to all fit into the picture) which appears to have all four of us captured in it and might be cute for our Christmas cards. Upon closer examination, realize that ten year old was sticking his tongue out in the photo. Consider that the week is just beginning, and there will be many other photo opportunities.

6:00pm, still en route to DC: Start to question whether or not the lace on my Ene's Scarf is "popping" the way it should; realize that I did not bring any needles which are larger diameter to fix the problem and so continue knitting with the existing needles hoping that the holes will "pop" more after I've knit a few more rows.

Realize this is a futile proposition and set Ene's Scarf aside to re-start after I get home in a week. Fortunately I brought along enough sock yarn to keep me going...

Monday, July 26, 4:30am: Awaken via my kids, who decided that I would enjoy driving to the other side of the peninsula to watch the sun rise over Lake Michigan on this day, my birthday. Get up and quickly dress without showering; realize that I will have bad hair all day as a result of no morning grooming, and determine that Christmas card photo-op probably will not occur today. Enjoy the sunrise with my family -- really lovely.

Receive scarf from ten year old which he knit using a loom and which is my birthday present -- also really lovely:

6:30am: Since we're already up anyway, drive to Peninsula State Park and bike 9.6 miles. Note that I am the only one in our party of four having a crate on my bike rack, so my *bike* is very popular when it is snack time, or when a map is required, or when clothing is doffed and cannot be carried by youngster while riding on his bike:

9:00am: Enjoy watching my two boys skip stones into the Green Bay of Lake Michigan. Wonder how a ten year old can skip a stone six or seven times and a 46 year old can only manage to throw it into the water so that it disappears on the first "plop."

Spend the afternoon swimming in a pool, and then playing at the beach. Have a nice dinner at Shipwrecked - a brewery/restaurant a few blocks from where we are staying. Best birthday ever!

Tuesday, July 27: Get up and run four miles, because that is what my new 10K training program says I must do on Tuesdays. Take shower, blow dry hair. Don baseball cap and spend the morning at a farm. Spend afternoon on another beach; hike and get caught in the rain. No Christmas card photo-ops today because hair is a mess. Plan to make s'mores and have "family movie night" in hotel room in the evening. Start setting out s'mores ingredients and wonder what can be used for marshmallow skewers. Note that weather is again beginning to look ominous. Place marshmallows on forks and roast over electric stove:

Wednesday, July 28: Get up and run three miles. Shower, and realize that styling my hair in the morning is no match for my bike helmet, baseball cap, and wind, so decide to stop blow-drying hair. Throw head-band on wet hair and apply sunscreen for another day of biking at a "wilderness" state park. Get attacked by mosquitoes; make futile attempt to deter them by spraying on two layers of bug repellant. Thoroughly enjoy early evening showing of "Life on the Mississippi" (with live music) at American Folklore Theater in the woods.

Thursday, July 29: Get up and run four miles. Figure out that there is no shampoo in the middle of taking a shower, so use bar soap to clean hair instead. Reflect that it doesn't really matter, anyway, because hair is low on priority scale when playing in nature. Return to Peninsula State Park and hike trail having rating of "difficult"; be amazed that I was able to contain my fear of heights, and be equally amazed that my kids having legs much shorter than mine were able to navigate the rocky cliff-side paths carefully and safely:

8:00pm: Attend amazing Big Band program at Birch Creek Music Performance Center featuring music instructors from all over the country playing awesome big band tunes together -- So awesome, and great fun!

Friday, July 30: Drive home from Door County, knitting most of the way. Analyze knitting progress for the week and figure out that I managed to knit roughly half of one sock in the past five days. I know -- WOW...

Feel fortunate for having had a nice vacation with lots of fun diversions which aren't so accessible at home. Unpack, get laundry started, and get ready to relax with one of my souvenirs -- A Cherry Wheat Ale from Shipwrecked. They put cherries in everything in Door County...

I hope everybody had a great week!

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

"Winner" Sock Pattern

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

After years of knitting socks using various techniques / patterns / types of needles, I think I've finally assembled a combination of elements into a basic pattern that I will refer to as my "Winner." These techniques are probably familiar to most sock knitters who are experienced knitting socks from the toe up; I am just publishing this combination of techniques in this post so that I can refer to it in the future (row counts, number of stitches to cast on to fit my foot, etc), and in case it might be helpful to any of you. This is rough, and does not include every single detail, but hopefully you get the idea of my standard cobbled together sock pattern from it. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have questions regarding any additional details.

These socks are knit using the "magic loop" technique. Note that I actually prefer using double pointed needles (dpn's) to knit socks, though practically speaking, socks are the easiest thing for me to "take-along" to my kids' activities and warrant preventive strategies such as using one really long circular needle instead of five tiny little pointy sticks... (We're *all* familiar with bleachers at a baseball diamond, right? -- No good can come from dropping a dpn while sitting in the bleachers!)

Using a size one 47" circular needle, begin with a Turkish cast-on as given in this excellent tutorial - cast on 36 stitches (there will be 18 stitches on each needle). (Note that the tutorial shows one bamboo needle and one metal needle; for these socks, just hold both ends of the long circular needle together as the yarn is wrapped around the needles to cast on the stitches...)

Row 1: Knit one round.

Row 2: *K1, M1B (by performing M1 by picking up stitch from back to front), knit to one stitch before end of first needle, M1F (by performing M1 by picking up stitch by inserting needle from front to back), K1*; repeat once.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until there are 72 stitches total (36 stitches on each needle).

Foot section pattern: Knit 36 stitches (all of the stitches on the first needle); on second needle K3, P2, *K2 P2* seven times, K3. This completes one round.

Repeat "Foot section pattern" until 75 rounds have been completed, or until foot of sock is desired length minus 2.25 inches.

Work short row heel using yarn-over method, as given in Interweave Knits Summer 2007 magazine. If you don't have access to this magazine, there are some online tutorials which don't spell things out quite as nicely, but which utilize the YO technique for doing short rows and may suffice. I like this tutorial in particular, though there are several out there (search on "yarn over short row heel"). Work the first half of the heel (increasing section) until there are 14 unpaired stitches on the middle of the needle. If everything has worked out properly, there will be 14 unpaired stitches after working a right side row; after working this row, do *not* turn work. Begin working second half of heel (decreasing section) as given in directions for YO short row technique...

After the heel is worked, return to working "Foot section pattern" for 14 rows. On next row, switch to standard 2x2 ribbing for the rest of the sock. Work 75 rows total of 2x2 ribbing, or until desired length has been achieved. Bind off using Russian Bind-off.

Make second sock to match.

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

Doorbells and exhaust fans...

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

When I was walking down the street one day with my kids, they picked up the irony of this car being parked next to the sign and they thought I should take a photo of it, so I did the best I could with my cell phone:

(Sign says "NO PARKING ANY TIME." Hopefully this bodes well for them when they start parking their own cars (starting in six years). Thankfully it's not *my* car...because I totally didn't catch this... (Perhaps riding my bike or the bus to school for the past two years has ruined my ability to read/comprehend signs regarding parking...)

So, our doorbell was ringing only sometimes when the button was pushed. This would have been great if it *didn't work* when the person ringing the bell was a politician with viewpoints in opposition to mine, and if it *did* work when it was the Publishers Clearinghouse coming to tell me that I was the big winner. However, one of our babysitters ended up standing outside for five minutes one day before we figured out she was even there, so time to get the problem taken care of. Here is the old doorbell:

It is laying on the kitchen floor. Note that the brown cover typically fell to the floor every time one of my kids got mad and slammed the bathroom door upstairs.

Here is the new doorbell, installed in the same place as the old one, by a nice electrician. Notice how it is smaller, and there is a bolt sticking out from the wall an inch above it (remains of the mounting hardware from the old doorbell). Not too bad, though someday I'll remove the bolt, patch the hole, and re-paint...but not today:
I *do* appreciate that it does not have the fake chimes on it.

In other riveting news, the master bathroom fan had a serious bearing problem, and here is the new fan installed by the same electrician:
It works really well, much better than the old one, and I only notice that it is a different size and shape than the old one when I look up....(which, oddly, happens more than you might think...) Not too big of a deal. Again, some day I'll re-paint...

Not as exciting as knitting...

...but that's what's going on at our house :-)

I did start a new knitting project today, but I am so mad at it right now and still have a few missed yarn-overs to fix.... but in the next day or two I might be able to bring myself to take a photo of it and share it with you. Until then, I hope that you have a great week!

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)