Yesterday and today have been filled with knitting...the Scandinavian hat class hat that I am doing at Country Woolens in Lebanon, NH; the earflaps hat for Bob with many colors in it; the socks for the Ravelry Sock Madness competition.
Today was knitting group at Elsie's where I finished the first of two and a half pattern repeats on one sock and am nearly finished the first repeat on the second sock. I may finish that pattern repeat tonight then get rolling some more on the earflap hat, though that does not have a deadline as the other two projects do...well, next winter, I guess.
One other thing on my mind today is clearing off the sewing table so I can set up The Incredible Sweater Machine. I have a good mind to make myself a vest with it. We shall see.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
The Blanket is Finished
The charity blanket which our church ladies began in November is now off the needles and ready to give! Hooray! Many people participated in this project. A good third of these ladies were non-knitters when they started. When you look at the squares you can see that they learned very well. It is a joy to work together for the welfare of another soul...even if we do not know the beneficiary of our service.
Picture to follow when I figure out how to make it small enough...
These are the garter-stitch squares sewn into strips.
This is the completed blanket. You will notice the last two squares are sewn on for pockets if the person receiving the blanket uses it for a lap blanket sometimes. Great place for a handkerchief, a paperback book, or to hide a couple of chocolate bars from the kids!
Thank you to everyone who made the effort to knit these squares!
Picture to follow when I figure out how to make it small enough...
These are the garter-stitch squares sewn into strips.Thank you to everyone who made the effort to knit these squares!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Fun with Friends at Limerick Irish Eatery, plus knitting
To celebrate the birthday of a friend yesterday four of us got together for lunch at the new Limerick Irish Eatery in Quechee, Vermont. Very nice meal. Friendly server, and it was great to be able to chat with Jessica, the owner, for a few minutes. She is such a busy lady. It is always fun to be with friends...we chatted for 2 hours before we ran down enough to leave the restaurant, carrying the conversation into the parking lot.
One quick stop at the White River Coop (not Upper Valley Coop this time), where I picked up some tortillas and a couple other things to use for supper, then an even quicker stop at the bank to drop off a key to the safe deposit box then on to home for a nap.
Morning had come early. Before 6 AM I was at the Incredible Sweater Machine hoping to finish the strips for the Church blanket. In two hours I had three new strips made as well as hand-stitching together the parts of the previous two days' worth of struggling with the machine. Yay! I decided that four strips would be better than the six strips I previously planned to use. This way the border will not get lost in the strips. At least that is the idea.
Before leaving for lunch I had managed to sew together half of the strips. Sewing together is not my forte, but it will hold the blocks and strips together so I am going to stop agonizing about the job. After the nap I made burritos for supper: whole wheat wraps instead of tortillas, though I don't really recognize the difference, plus shredded cheddar on fat-free refried beans plus some homemade pico de gallo (which, by the way, I used chopped parsley for the greens instead of cilantro and have decided I despise...at least in this batch). For "dessert" I used a slice of lavash bread on which I spread cream cheese (it would have been more successful if I had removed the cream cheese from the refrigerator an hour earlier...!) and then grated on some Blueberry Cheddar cheese, then put in the microwave for one minutes. Really not bad at all! Liz suggested it at lunch.
After supper I settled into the great room upstairs along with the sewing/knitting project and A Touch of Frost on NetFlix. It took me two shows to complete stitching together the strips and begin picking up stitches around the edge for the border. I had to stop because I needed more cable on the needles to get all the stitches on. I think I will need about 100 inches of cable....
Just now, on Saturday morning, I have spoken with Lois at White River Yarns to see if she had such a needle. She didn't but told me that when she picked up stitches for a border on a beautiful large afghan she has in her shop, she used three needles with 40-inch cables and a fourth needle with 40-inch cable for the knitting, just like four giant double-pointed needles! Isn't she the smartest thing!! I am so thrilled. Now I need to see how many more I will need--based on how many circular needles I have with 40-inch cables!
Since I wrote that last bit I have knitted a swatch for the Scandinavian Hat class I am going to this afternoon at Country Woolens in Lebanon, NH. Using the size 3 circulars with very LONG cable, I got gauge the first time! Yay! That is good news. But that was knitting flat. Now I am working a gauge on double-pointed needles and size 4...since that is the size I am supposed to use for the River Chullo River Star hat that Bob actually wants. I will go along with the class and the Country Creations hat...small child size for some little person for next winter...mainly because if everyone else in the class is a beginner at this sort of hat/knitting style, I am afraid my knitting with 11 colors and an ear flap with be confusing. Far be it from me to confuse people when it is unnecessary.
After the class I will go work on the computer to enter do some Visiting Teaching work plus maybe some genealogy then go to Jonathan's after supper to pick up the bulk order that is being collected in Worcester today. So...off to work.
PS In case you are worried, I did make Bob a nice omelet for breakfast. I ate a great leftover salad...about 10:30.
One quick stop at the White River Coop (not Upper Valley Coop this time), where I picked up some tortillas and a couple other things to use for supper, then an even quicker stop at the bank to drop off a key to the safe deposit box then on to home for a nap.
Morning had come early. Before 6 AM I was at the Incredible Sweater Machine hoping to finish the strips for the Church blanket. In two hours I had three new strips made as well as hand-stitching together the parts of the previous two days' worth of struggling with the machine. Yay! I decided that four strips would be better than the six strips I previously planned to use. This way the border will not get lost in the strips. At least that is the idea.
Before leaving for lunch I had managed to sew together half of the strips. Sewing together is not my forte, but it will hold the blocks and strips together so I am going to stop agonizing about the job. After the nap I made burritos for supper: whole wheat wraps instead of tortillas, though I don't really recognize the difference, plus shredded cheddar on fat-free refried beans plus some homemade pico de gallo (which, by the way, I used chopped parsley for the greens instead of cilantro and have decided I despise...at least in this batch). For "dessert" I used a slice of lavash bread on which I spread cream cheese (it would have been more successful if I had removed the cream cheese from the refrigerator an hour earlier...!) and then grated on some Blueberry Cheddar cheese, then put in the microwave for one minutes. Really not bad at all! Liz suggested it at lunch.
After supper I settled into the great room upstairs along with the sewing/knitting project and A Touch of Frost on NetFlix. It took me two shows to complete stitching together the strips and begin picking up stitches around the edge for the border. I had to stop because I needed more cable on the needles to get all the stitches on. I think I will need about 100 inches of cable....
Just now, on Saturday morning, I have spoken with Lois at White River Yarns to see if she had such a needle. She didn't but told me that when she picked up stitches for a border on a beautiful large afghan she has in her shop, she used three needles with 40-inch cables and a fourth needle with 40-inch cable for the knitting, just like four giant double-pointed needles! Isn't she the smartest thing!! I am so thrilled. Now I need to see how many more I will need--based on how many circular needles I have with 40-inch cables!
Since I wrote that last bit I have knitted a swatch for the Scandinavian Hat class I am going to this afternoon at Country Woolens in Lebanon, NH. Using the size 3 circulars with very LONG cable, I got gauge the first time! Yay! That is good news. But that was knitting flat. Now I am working a gauge on double-pointed needles and size 4...since that is the size I am supposed to use for the River Chullo River Star hat that Bob actually wants. I will go along with the class and the Country Creations hat...small child size for some little person for next winter...mainly because if everyone else in the class is a beginner at this sort of hat/knitting style, I am afraid my knitting with 11 colors and an ear flap with be confusing. Far be it from me to confuse people when it is unnecessary.
After the class I will go work on the computer to enter do some Visiting Teaching work plus maybe some genealogy then go to Jonathan's after supper to pick up the bulk order that is being collected in Worcester today. So...off to work.
PS In case you are worried, I did make Bob a nice omelet for breakfast. I ate a great leftover salad...about 10:30.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Whoopee!
Today was a real changeable day: I woke up early after a very bad night...leg cramps, nightmares, too much pain everywhere, etc. I had a meeting to attend but had to beg off and spent a good deal of time in bed but by noon I felt a little better and started working with the knitting machine again...the one that the very kind lady on FREECYCLE gave me yesterday.
The first few strips I knit with the machine nearly made me tear my hair out, but I kept telling myself that I was smart enough to do it...same as yesterday. That really didn't help very much, actually. Eventually it occurred to me to try YouTube, and voila! There was a whole course on using the newer version of the knitting machine. The final strip attempt today was 36 inches long...needs to be 48 inches long, so I am making progress, though still a long way from getting 6 strips completed.
In the interest of sanity I stopped with the Incredible Knitting Machine around 2:30, picked up my bag of sock projects as well as the spinning workshop mitten project and went to Elsie's for knitting group. It was SO GOOD to see her and Sharon and Cameron again. It has been a whole month since I was there with them. Last week Elsie had a wonderful class at the library teaching kids to knit. She had 8 kids and one mom--7 girls and one boy who, by the way, picked up on Elsie's Continental knitting style and learned to do both knit and purl that way! Good for him.
Anyway, after knitting with Elsie, Sharon and Cameron and watching Cameron's slide show of his trip to Ghent, I batted out for a shortish set of errands to include getting another skein of yarn for the strips and border of the homeless blanket. I do not believe it will be completed by Monday night, but will be much closer.
So, after coming home I worked a bit more on the last strip then picked up the mitten project. and WHOOPEE!! I finished the first of them. It looks a little funny and it fits a little funnier, but I love it. I showed it to Bob and he said..so? in a very sweet and gentle way. I told him he should be impressed because it was the first project knitted with totally me-weighed/blended/carded/spun yarn. I am so happy to have it done. Parenthetically, I was so sad to hear that Bonnie, one of our spinners, was run into by a unthinking woman who was having her dogs drag her down a ski slope. When she ran into Bonnie she broke Bonnie's shoulder/upper arm. Bonnie's doctor says it will take about six months to heal before she can start spinning and knitting and weaving again. So sad. Plus she has missed her trip to Alaska and the Iditarod.
Mitten photo will be here soon.
The first few strips I knit with the machine nearly made me tear my hair out, but I kept telling myself that I was smart enough to do it...same as yesterday. That really didn't help very much, actually. Eventually it occurred to me to try YouTube, and voila! There was a whole course on using the newer version of the knitting machine. The final strip attempt today was 36 inches long...needs to be 48 inches long, so I am making progress, though still a long way from getting 6 strips completed.
In the interest of sanity I stopped with the Incredible Knitting Machine around 2:30, picked up my bag of sock projects as well as the spinning workshop mitten project and went to Elsie's for knitting group. It was SO GOOD to see her and Sharon and Cameron again. It has been a whole month since I was there with them. Last week Elsie had a wonderful class at the library teaching kids to knit. She had 8 kids and one mom--7 girls and one boy who, by the way, picked up on Elsie's Continental knitting style and learned to do both knit and purl that way! Good for him.
Anyway, after knitting with Elsie, Sharon and Cameron and watching Cameron's slide show of his trip to Ghent, I batted out for a shortish set of errands to include getting another skein of yarn for the strips and border of the homeless blanket. I do not believe it will be completed by Monday night, but will be much closer.
So, after coming home I worked a bit more on the last strip then picked up the mitten project. and WHOOPEE!! I finished the first of them. It looks a little funny and it fits a little funnier, but I love it. I showed it to Bob and he said..so? in a very sweet and gentle way. I told him he should be impressed because it was the first project knitted with totally me-weighed/blended/carded/spun yarn. I am so happy to have it done. Parenthetically, I was so sad to hear that Bonnie, one of our spinners, was run into by a unthinking woman who was having her dogs drag her down a ski slope. When she ran into Bonnie she broke Bonnie's shoulder/upper arm. Bonnie's doctor says it will take about six months to heal before she can start spinning and knitting and weaving again. So sad. Plus she has missed her trip to Alaska and the Iditarod.
Mitten photo will be here soon.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Yesterday and Today
Yesterday was a wonderful day at Church! The speakers and teachers were all so inspiring and motivating. They really made me want to be better. I spent the evening knitting with a friend who made me a delicious supper--lavash bread sandwich and the best wheat/coconut/chocolate cookies in the world. Really. She is working on some beautiful socks that she is knitting toe up. We thought she was at the point where the heel started but it looked like she needed three more rows. Maybe we can start the heel next time we get together. I did go over the pattern and write in the numbers at various places since she has a finer gauge than the pattern so changes in numbers were needed.
After the pepping up yesterday my plan was to visit two sisters with my companion but, when we looked out first thing this morning, sleet and freezing rain were hitting the road surfaces at an alarming rate and we just did not dare to go out (me) and children were home from school (my companion) so we will try again next week.
Since my planned church work was at a standstill I decided to spend the day profitably doing something else of real value and chose: family history consultant training. One nice thing about this training is that records are kept and you can see what modules you have already completed. That is also a bad thing about this training system: you discover that either you had not finished all the modules after all, OR there were new modules to do. So I went to work. I worked through several of them, taking time off to work on our own family history as part of the training. There again I found that some of the people I thought I had already entered in the system were not there, so now they are.
Now that it has already been a productive day I feel the need to pick up the charity knitting project and get rolling on getting the last of the sisters' squares sewn together. There is one more strip to go. On Saturday I had a brain flash that I was not going to get the blanket finished in time for the meeting on the 8th of March--well, that was not the brain flash...that was just common sense:there is too much knitting still to do to get it completed with hand-knitting. The brain flash came when it occurred to me to see if anyone on FREECYCLE had a knitting machine they would let me borrow, so I sent a message on Saturday evening. Yesterday there was a message and offer! Of course, I must drive to Springfield to get it and the roads were just too awful today; tomorrow I am going to the temple; so on Wednesday I am going to get up early and drive down there to pick it up before the potential knitting group meeting. I should be able to knit six strips pretty fast with that machine then pick up stitches to get a border around the whole thing. We shall see. Below is a picture of most of the squares.
After the pepping up yesterday my plan was to visit two sisters with my companion but, when we looked out first thing this morning, sleet and freezing rain were hitting the road surfaces at an alarming rate and we just did not dare to go out (me) and children were home from school (my companion) so we will try again next week.
Since my planned church work was at a standstill I decided to spend the day profitably doing something else of real value and chose: family history consultant training. One nice thing about this training is that records are kept and you can see what modules you have already completed. That is also a bad thing about this training system: you discover that either you had not finished all the modules after all, OR there were new modules to do. So I went to work. I worked through several of them, taking time off to work on our own family history as part of the training. There again I found that some of the people I thought I had already entered in the system were not there, so now they are.
Now that it has already been a productive day I feel the need to pick up the charity knitting project and get rolling on getting the last of the sisters' squares sewn together. There is one more strip to go. On Saturday I had a brain flash that I was not going to get the blanket finished in time for the meeting on the 8th of March--well, that was not the brain flash...that was just common sense:there is too much knitting still to do to get it completed with hand-knitting. The brain flash came when it occurred to me to see if anyone on FREECYCLE had a knitting machine they would let me borrow, so I sent a message on Saturday evening. Yesterday there was a message and offer! Of course, I must drive to Springfield to get it and the roads were just too awful today; tomorrow I am going to the temple; so on Wednesday I am going to get up early and drive down there to pick it up before the potential knitting group meeting. I should be able to knit six strips pretty fast with that machine then pick up stitches to get a border around the whole thing. We shall see. Below is a picture of most of the squares.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Satisfying
Today has been a somewhat satisfying day...to this point, and hopefully it will continue on in like fashion.
Up somewhat late-ish and made a quick breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, warmed in the microwave, for Bob. I ate a leftover sandwich from yesterday. With the energy derived from this food, I was at the computer by 8 AM and worked until after noon on the Visiting Teaching lists/emails/letters. The wonderful ladies have started responding already! Yay for them!
It was sunny and beautiful outside and almost got me out there but I was cold and headache-y so I took a nap instead. When I woke up the opportunity for a walk on a gorgeous day was gone. I hope Jonathan was able to get all his taps placed today while it was yet lovely out there. Of course, slogging through the extra foot of snow that came yesterday may have made it less than a pleasurable activity...
Next on the agenda was to make some Black Bean Chili. This is the recipe I used:
Up somewhat late-ish and made a quick breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, warmed in the microwave, for Bob. I ate a leftover sandwich from yesterday. With the energy derived from this food, I was at the computer by 8 AM and worked until after noon on the Visiting Teaching lists/emails/letters. The wonderful ladies have started responding already! Yay for them!
It was sunny and beautiful outside and almost got me out there but I was cold and headache-y so I took a nap instead. When I woke up the opportunity for a walk on a gorgeous day was gone. I hope Jonathan was able to get all his taps placed today while it was yet lovely out there. Of course, slogging through the extra foot of snow that came yesterday may have made it less than a pleasurable activity...
Next on the agenda was to make some Black Bean Chili. This is the recipe I used:
Black Bean Chili
www.grasslandmeats.com
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds boneless pork, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 15 1/2-oz. cans black beans, drained
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1 cup thick and chunky salsa
1 15 1/2-oz. can diced tomatoes, do not drain
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 8 hours.
www.grasslandmeats.com
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds boneless pork, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 15 1/2-oz. cans black beans, drained
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1 cup thick and chunky salsa
1 15 1/2-oz. can diced tomatoes, do not drain
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 8 hours.
This is what I did differently: instead of 1 cup of chunky salsa, I put in the whole jar. Since I have just ordered my Pampered Chef garlic press I passed on the garlic and instead used about a tablespoon of some granulated garlic/chili powder/granulated onion/ground cumin mix that I use to put on buttered popcorn. I added another teaspoon of straight chili powder and left out the crushed red pepper, though I am thinking of squirting in some chipotle sauce before serving this. It tasted good when I first put it into the pot. Oh...and I used a full 4 cups of cooked black beans and nearly two cups of chopped onions.
The proof in the pudding/chili will be if Bob likes it.
It is snowing outside! Great night to eat this chili...or at least some hot soup.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Busy
This photo is Egeblad, knit in ecru sport-weight cotton yarn from Mary Maxim.
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