Half a Sleeve

I knit and knit on.  After dividing for the sleeves, I knit to the end of my skein, merely an inch or so more.  Rather than starting the next skein, I decided to start the sleeves.
I have discovered when knitting top-down one piece sweaters at least in my size, it is easier to not wait until the end to work the sleeves.  By the end the sweater is so bulky and heavy that I just find working the sleeves less of a pain when done earlier.
AI at any rate, I here present: half a sleeve.

Channeling Steve Urkel

"Did I do that?"
Oh, I guess I did.
Chalk it up to stress from losing 2 jobs the same day, crossed with trying to get a new one off the ground, then toss in some people to delight in driving a person crazy.
All I know was that one minute I noticed Knit Picks was having 40% off books sale.
And today these came.
Can I plead temporary insanity?

Sporto Grows!

Despite the cranky looking face, I love this sweater. I have a hard time trying to take my own picture. I'm concentrating too much on aiming the lense, and forget to smile.

I tried this a couple days ago. There is still some work to do on the length before dividing the sleeves. I couldn't believe the yoke wasn't long enough, or the sleeves wide enough, despite what my gauge and stitch count told me.

They were right, I was wrong.

I need to go about 5 more increase rounds before I should have the right length to do the sleeve divide. Even when you take in to consideration the curling stockinette, I need a bit more. Even Gertrude says so.
I hope to get these rows done soon. (LLLOOONNNNGGGGG rows!) Then I will let Gertrude try it on again before dividing. I need too many arms to decide while I am wearing but will see what Gertie says. I then want to try some short rows for a bit of shaping to accommodate the girls a bit better. Then back to the pattern, There is some unusual shaping in back that will take in some back bagginess.

And then, once the sleeves are off, there should be much faster progress. Loosing about 200 stitches per row tends to speed things up.

Return of Lake Hagen

Sort of anyway.
It's a good thing both sons are now out and on their own.  If not, I think they would be turning the pasture and Lake Hagen into a ice skating rink.
The wonderful snows of last week are gone.  Warmth and rain made short work of it all,and flooded the pasture along with ditches and hayfields.  And now all is ice.
So far, this winter is everything I hate about spring: rain, mud, up and down temps. Yuck.

Woo Hoo!

Hey! Look what I just found!
Took a night's sleep, plus some digging around whenever Hubby left the house (it is easier to hunt without his "help".) I finally sat down on the floor in front of the book shelf and checked book by book.  I thought it was an oversized book on top shelf.  Nope, regulation size on bottom shelf.

It's Driving Me Crazy

Now I know that I have a copy of Sock Knitting Master Class.  But where?
Some of my books were stacked near my knitting chair.  I was confident that Master Class was in the stack.  It wasn't.
Drat.
Nor was it on the bookcase of knitting books.  Or in the stack on the wool room floor; the books that wouldn't fit in the bookcase.  Not in any of my knitting bags.
Nowhere.
You know, it has even kept me from doing much knitting tonight, fretting about it.
It is going to drive me crazy.

Sporto Progress

I have been continuing to mostly knit my Sporto.  Now that I have Evelyn's pattern, the guilt is gone about using my "payment" yarn before I make her sweater.
Sorry, Evelyn.  But I am enjoying the process of making this top down raglan.  I threaded all  the stitches on a lllooonnnggg string last night, and tried it on.  I still have a ways to go yet before the sleeve divide. 
And I am kicking myself for not taking a picture when I had it on.
So, back on the needle, here is a shot taken on my phone camera.
And now I'm off to knit with Angela Langsbury, Frank Sinatra and The Manchurian Candidate.

The New History Center

Now that I have been officially removed from the library local history room and payroll, I can start looking toward a new job. And the one I have cooking at the moment, is a new History Center. For natives of Fremont, this picture may give a clue to the new location

The newly restored former ice cream parlor still has the marble counter that was brought from the World's Fair in Chicago many years ago. The other counter facing this will be the printing, copying station.

Furniture is being moved into place. We are working on getting data and materials in place and hope to open soon.

I Love This Weather

Finally, at long last, we got a touch of winter over the past couple days. Of course it is supposed to be in the upper 30's Monday, and possibly rainy. But I can enjoy this while it lasts.

The view from the back porch across the pasture is so.....pastoral. When the snow is proceeded by rain, it makes it stick to the trees and the pines look so heavy.

Even the wood pile was pretty well buried.

But it wasn't long before Hubby had the back blade on and was busily plowing out the drive. And as you can see, the garden as well. Once the ground freezes hard, Hubby can park his truck out there.

Knitting Weather

Now that winter has really arrived, knitting has taken on a life of its own.
I have sped along on Sporto, and clattered the needles on Evelyn's cardigan.  But in the last day, I have worked in Hubby's snowplowing socks.  These are the ones with replaceable sole.
I am finding the construction.....interesting. 
Tomorrow I'll show some pictures of the weather that has inspired all this knitting.  But here is a picture showing the instep flap, as well as the beginning of a heel flap.

This Swatch's For You

Yeah, Evelyn, I'm talking to you.
In exchange for the marvelous handspun I am using for the Jeweled Sporto, I had agreed to two projects for Evelyn.  One was a purple mohair boucle triangle I posted about last summer or so.  And now she has come up with the second pattern.
A fun swingy cardigan by DROPS Design and Garn Studio called (I think) Medieval.
The swatch though is what I wanted to share.  While I always swatch, I don't always make very generous swatches.  And I don't always wash and dry them.
Ok, I only did that once.
But this is a typical swatch.  I started with the suggested size needle.  That is the bottom section shown below.  Then, the reverse stockinette section is down to size 7.  Finally on the top we have a winner with size 6.
So, as soon as I sort out the tax papers to keep Hubby happy, I will be casting on.

Here I Go Again

So I was sitting around Saturday. A veritable knitting machine as I plugged away on my Jeweled Sporto hoodie. And suddenly it occurred to me that it was already the 7th of January and I had not even started one new project. Clearly an oversight.

Since I had recently purchased yarn to make my husband a pair of snowplowing socks, I decided to go with that project. While this stupid mild winter has not made snowplowing a priority yet, that doesn't mean it won't snow one of these days. I better get cracking.

The pattern is from the Favorite Socks book from Interweave and as you can see from the picture, the heel, toe and sole are made from a different yarn than the leg and instep. The plan is to use the Liberty Wool for the leg/instep for warmth, and Coffee Beenz , a tweedy wool blend for the high stress heels, toes and sole. Size 4 needles make the project fly, so I was able to make a good dent on the first sock, although this is still a backup project for the Sporto.

I may not have "startitis", but clearly a new project was in order.

And I hear rumors that Evelyn has picked out a pattern that was part of the barter that landed me the handspun for Sporto. Yup, another project starting soon.

If not more. There is another idea lurking in the back of my chubby little mind.

Clarification

After posting the previous blog, I noticed the empty tub back in the corner. The fact that it is empty is not an oversight. That smallish tub is my washing tub. It will hold one of my ample sized sweaters with plenty of water to soak in. The strainers that I pour off the water and project into to drain fit across the top of that tub. It works great.

As a bonus, it is the perfect size to use to soak a turkey in for thawing.

Sorting and Planning

I finally got all the yarn wound for the Jeweled Sporto hoodie. I have about 11 or 12 skeins total and plenty of yarn. I decided to just use this yarn for the hoodie, the 2 skeins that are plied on itself, with no white, I may use for a buttoned cowl. In the mean time, the stack of neat yarn cakes all wound up look pretty impressive. That is the start of the hood for my Sporto lying in front of the pile of yarn.

Here is the dark self-plied yarn that I am thinking of using for a cowl. It is a bit loftier and I am thinking I could make a simple short scarf, and add a button to close it to make a cowl to wear under a coat. See how rich the colors are? The roving used was Northern Lights in the Wild Iris colorway. I love these colors.

And as for the sorting part? I used up my gift certificate to get a new tub and shelving rack. Both the tub, (the red lid at the bottom of Gertrude's stack, and the shelves are already filled up. But the good news is that I found some yarn I forgot about (enough Toe-Footsie for a shawl; 3 skeins!)--and some roving I couldn't find (lush Raspberry Bunny, a luxury mix of wool, alpaca and angora).

Plus, look! more floor space!

Obstructions

I finally get a chance to get online, and wouldn't you know it?   I have to update my virus protection.
I did manage a quick update on The Cemetary Divas, my local history blog.  But then I thought I better give the computer a chance to update everything. Hopefully I won't need to take to town for a wireless download.  Sometimes dialup can take it a while.
So, gosh, I guess I'll have to knit.

The Best Laid Plans

I had PLANNED on going on line this afternoon, updating Ravelry, blogging, e-mailing, etc.
However, I hope you will forgive me but....after spending nearly 4 hours (not including a quick meal and phone call) on phone trying to reach unemployment office and filing claim...well, frankly I need to turn to my knitting and relax.
I'll try to do better tomorrow.
In the meantime, Jeweled Sporto, here I come.

Adapting to Change

You would think, having lost 8 jobs since 1995, that I would be accustomed to change.  Well, I may be getting a lot of chances to adapt, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.
Case in point (aside from the job fiascos): Presently my church has a supply priest who fills in on a fairly regular basis.  She had some traveling scheduled over the next two months.  So we have another priest lined up to fill in.  However, due to commitments to her regular parish, we will be celebrating our weekly services at 1pm for the next two months to accommodate her schedule. 
I am trying to be openminded here.  But it is hard to plan a noon meal, which is the main Sunday meal here.   Hubs doesn't come with me, so he is ready much earlier for lunch.  I had a plate of leftovers for him.  But it also doesn't help with maintaining blood sugar levels for this poor old diabetic.  I don't usually stay for coffee and it usually is something like cake or cookies.  Besides, I have to help clear the altar.  So it was 3pm when I got home.  I was in desperate need of protein and starch by then.
I'll wait out the two months, although I may miss the week of the Dayton 500.  But I don't think I'll like it.
But on a brighter note, the three wise men and their camels are still on their way to Bethlehem.  I think they will make it by Epiphany.
And did you notice the lack of snow yet at 2pm today?