Boxes for the Troops

Sunday, during coffee time at church, we packed some boxes to send overseas. This is about the 3rd time we've done this and the group we have sent to before are soon to be coming home from Iraq. As a result, we looked for new names. My nephew--worlds greatest 1st Lt.--is currently in Afgahnistan. Since he could not get extra names for us, he suggested sending the the chaplian at his base. So as we speak, one box for the Super Nephew, and four boxes for the chaplain are on the way now.
Our priest, looking over the contents, stated that if an army marches on its stomach, they will be able to travel a long way. Yeah, they were long on treats and sweets, and maybe a little light on other items this time, but its the thought that counts. I was sorely tempted to stick in a skein of yarn and some sock needles, but thought I would see if that one would recieve approval from the "man in the field." I did e-mail my nephew and see if he thought it would be useful to anyone.
As for my own knitting, I am approaching the heel on the cross stitch sock, and also have quite a bit done on the chevron sock. Plus I worked several repeats on the Sonoma Shawl. I hope to have that one done for Easter, so when home I am concentrating on that. More and maybe pictures later on that one.
If I spend too much time blogging, I can't spend any time knitting.

"They Seek Him Here

They seek him there.
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere."

But I know where to find him. The Scarlet Pimpernel will be on TCM tonight at 8pm. So you know I will be glued to the tube knitting on the Sonoma Shawl, or something.

Three cheers for Leslie Howard!

That's Entertainment!

I have extolled the joys of old movies in the past, and probably will again. Here are a few more great movies I have discovered or rediscovered since childhood.

The Women--not the new one but the 1939 version
The Santa Fe Trail, with Errol Flynn, Olivia DeHavilland and Ron Reagan
Pygmalion, with Leslie Howard
Dinner at Eight. What a romp!
The Scarlet Pimpernel, also with Leslie Howard, (what a wonderful simpering voice)
Those great 60's Elvis movies--Blue Hawaii, Girls, Girls, Girls, and what was the name of the car racing one with Ann Margaret? Spin-Out maybe?
Knute Rockne-All American. ( I cried.)
A Night at the Opera. The Marx brothers--what can I say, I laughed and laughed

I love old movies. Have I mentioned it before?

Cast On!!

Well, nothing like a new project. I took the plunge again. I wanted to find a quick, fairly easy pattern, and the Sonoma Shawl was already wound and waiting in my basket to go. My MaidenShawl is a bit difficult for knitting when around others. My pink socks were at the point of needing the cross stitch section. And I just wanted to start something new.

This Sonoma Shawl was a kit I picked up at Knit Michigan this past February. The yarn is so yummy soft and fuzzy.

The colors are a bit brighter than they look on the picture, but the yarn has a wonderful bloom already. I'm gonna love this when it is done.

I started this while at Knit Night last night and have done fairly well so far. May not have been the smartest place to try to cast on, but I managed.

We also met in the Undercroft, as another place had the Mission Center. It was a bit chilly, but still a good place, once we found parking.

I Still Prefer Wheels

A comment on a previous post is trying to convince me of the superiority of spindles for spinning over a wheel.  Well--thanks Valley, but I'm just not buying it. 

Now don't get me wrong, I have bought, and will probably continue to by drop spindles occaisonally.  It took me long enough to figure out the process of a drop spindle, but I do enjoy it.  But while I can possibly spin while riding in a car and such, I find that knitting socks and such is a much better portable project for pulling out while waiting in lines--Dr. visit, Christmas check out at Wal-Mart, even during a sermon.  It is quiet, after you manage the zipper on the bag and remove your project--during church it must be done during a hymn.  (Did I mention I always sit in the back?  Better to manage my self appointed task of catching the door so it doesn't bang shut after the kids, or to be close to the prayer bench which I cover during communion.)
I am too much afraid of a swinging spindle banging into a pew, or dropping agains the kneeler to chance spinning in church.  Besides, I like to get more out of my time spinning.  I can fill a bobbin on my Joy or Traditional wheels much faster than that spindle seems to fill up. 

But now that the subject has come up--has anyone seen any nice square drop spindles?  I have been sort of thinking they sound like a great idea.  No rolling around after they drop you know.

 

At Our New Location--Knit Nite

I haven't show the group now that we are meeting for Knit Nite at my church. Lots of room in the mission center. Lots of light, no squinting at dark yarn.

Mary brought her new spinning wheel Tuesday, that she got a REAL bargain on. A Traditional like mine. Good old farm hubby helped her tune and tighten and now it spinns like a dream.

Can you tell how the flyer and drive wheel are speeding along?

We had a good turn out--even a Knitting Knewbie--Danielle had just taught herself to knit out of a book and came to knit with us. We gave some tips and pointers, including the bit about loosening the grip of death on the yarn. Before she left she had quite a bit done, including some "design elements." Good going Danielle!

I have been working on my Pink February Lady sweater at Knit Nite, although it is getting too large and warm to work on comfortably there. I may need to wait till AC season so its cooler to finish it. I have however done lots of work on my pink sock and the gray chevron socks. See?
I did not continue the cross stitch part of the pattern after the heel, just continuing the mistake rib portion down the instep. I just may get this pair done yet, now that I have finally found a good pattern for the yarn.



The chevron is another simple, but nice looking pattern. I do not need to look at the card anymore with the chart on it. It is only a 2 row pattern, and easy to memorize.

Losing It

Well that is what I thought anyway. 

As I got ready to leave for work today, I could not find the keys.  Searched in yesterday's jeans pockets.  Searched in jackets, even though I clearly rememembered that the last time I was in the car, I did NOT have on a jacket.  (It was that warm yesterday!)

I even went so far as to check the pockets in other jeans that I also knew full well I did not wear.  Finally grabbed spare keys and left for work. 

Called hubby to say I might be home for lunch, and to see if I dropped keys in my winter boots, which are located just below the nail I hang my kees on.  That makes them a very handy location to look when I miss the nail.  Nothing there.

Finally as I got in the car to come back to work, I looked around the seats again.  There, wedged in tight to the console, were---MY KEYS!!!

I guess it doesn't pay to look in the dark garage, when looking for lost items.

 

So the spare keys were left with hubby, with orders not to lose, while I grabbed my regular set and dashed back.

Yea. 

Who every said prayer doesn't work?  Not I.

 

Dare I Say It?

I looked around.

Actual green grass popping up. Enough to pluck and feed to Bunnie Sadie.

Real buds on my lilac bush. And they don't look frozen.
Kitties lolling on the grass in the sun.

Could spring be close?

Dang. I'm gonna mist the snow.

Knitting to Do

I wanted to so the progress on the socks started this past weekend. Here are pics of both the pink Cross Stitch Block and the Gray Chevron.

I so think they are going very nicely. I may jump back down to size one needles on the gray pair, I'm using size 1.5 now.

Next up, I have to pack up the computer and start a bottle cozy. We finally have some diet pop in the breakroom. Cute little 12 oz bottles of Diet Coke. I have some pink Shepherd's Shades that should knit up quickly into a little cozy that will help keep the pop cold.

A Weekend in the Frog Pond

That was me this weekend. Instead of working on the MaidenShawl and the Pink Lady sweater, I spend it working on, and frogging socks. Well, not all was ripped out, I did finish the Peony socks. S0000 comfy!

Remember the pink cable socks started way back in October? I was making baby cables once, and ripped them out and restarted with a yarn over cable. Looked nice, but were too tight. I perservered however and turned the heel this weekend. A few rows later, I tried them on. Yup, gut feelings were right--too tight. So "rip-it" back to the begging. Here is the skein with the excess wound back around it. Lots of yarn.

But I found another pattern--cross stitch cable from Sensational Socks. I already have over 4 inches done--picture of that will follow.

Then I started some gray chevron pattern with some Lion Brand Sock-Ease. I like the zig zag that is developing. Of course before I landed that pattern, I had about 3 inches of another zig-zag pattern that was to tight a gauge. So that too was frogged away and restarted, as snown on this ball with the winded up yarn.

What else was going on this weekend, besides the cursed time change? Rain. Here is a current picture of our pasture again. Lake Hagen. Luckily it drains much more quickly with our current neighbor. The previous owner blocked the drainage tubes and the water hung all all spring to early summer.

Rain, Rain, go AWAY!!

Time But No Time

With my supervisor out of work for a while (She is laid up with a very severe sprained ankle, along with a chipped bone and hairline fracture.) I have been getting in more hours. As a result, while the pay check may be bigger, the completed knitting is less.
I haven't had time alone to work on Maidenshawl, so it is still languishing at the end of the seed stitch section, waiting for me to start the first patterned section.
I managed to start the sleeve on the February Pink Lady at Knit Nite last Tuesday, but only because I got to the end of the skein on the body, so decided to start the sleeves before the project got too heavy.
I finally started the heel flap on the second Peony Sock at lunch today. I had about an inch past the ribbing and ripped it all out. I decided the colors were sort of muddy, so I rewound to the other end of the ball, and am betting better color transitions, with some brightness on the leg. I don't care if the toes are muddy. Maybe I can even finish these by Monday. I don't go back to work now till next Tuesday, so may be able to find time to get them done, as well as some on the others. I can usually get some serious knitting done during the races on TV.

Daylight Shifting Time--Yuck!

Have I ever mentioned in this blog that I really HATE Daylight Saving Time? Probably every spring and fall since I've started this blog.
All it accomplishes is using the lights that much longer in the morning. Students have to wait for the bus in the dark. The sun won't even rise until after 8am starting next week. and of course it will be light till 8pm or after. At least that is better than mid summer when it is still daylight at 10pm. No getting to bed early then!
The sun isn't even overhead till after 2pm! What sense is there in that?

Granted, part of the problem maybe because Michigan is on the westernmost side of the time zone. At times like these I would like to do like parts of Indiana used to do (if they don't anymore--I'm not sure) and just not change. That is what the farm where my son works does. Instead of shifting the cattle over to being milked an hour earlier, they just change the milking shifts so the people come in an hour later. If we must change clocks, why can't we just adjust the time we do things?

It was bad enough when the clocks had to shift the end of April, but now we are doing it the beginning of March? Give me a break.

I hate Daylight Savings---did I mention that?

A Sock in a Week

In what has to be a record for me, I finished the first sock in the Mini Mochi yarn. I called them the Peony socks, but the colors branched into a light blue and orangey red as well as the peony pink and green. As a true avoider of second sock syndrom, I immediately cast on the second. It is soooooo soft and yummy.

I did manage to work on the February Pink Lady this weekend as well, while watching the NASCAR race Sunday. I also spent some time admiring my new batch of roving from the fiber club. Yummy Corridale this month.