Random Monday....

How could I not love living here?

Lots of little stuff keeping me busy over the last two weeks.   Hence the random nature of this post.

• Diabetes, good.    It has not been difficult at all sticking to the Diabetes diet.   I know there will come a time when I really just want to toss the whole thing and do what I want but I am not there yet.    In fact, as of Friday morning I have lost 8 #'s.    Just by eating right and not sitting around as much.
• Finally, I got back to the Summer Open Cardigan.    One sleeve is done, the other half way there.   That and tucking of ends, and I will have a new sweater to wear.
• For the co-op, I have been making baby blankets out of pretty flannels and then crocheting an edging on them.   They come out very nice but I am going to give a try to knitting an attached edging instead.
• Finished a couple of good books lately (one read, the other listened to).    Women, Food, & God was very interesting.    I am not sure I agree with all of her conclusions but there were a few things that rang a bell.   I actually listened to it twice through.   It was definitely worth the time.  Eat, Pray, Love was great.   I know I am a bit behind the curve on this one.   I read it now so that I would have something to compare the movie to.    I really liked this book and will likely read others by this author.
• Our youngest has asked to be home-schooled for just this coming school year (8th grade).   In Florida we have Virtual School which makes the whole process easier (theoretically).    He is very (dare I say, over) responsible and drives himself harder than we would like.   That could make him just the right candidate for this program.    We have conditionally agreed (pending a discussion with his guidance counselor).    I like the idea in theory but am a bit nervous about what the reality will look like.   How do home-schooling moms manage time for themselves?

That's it for now.   Hopefully, my next post will feature a photo of my new sweater :-)

Does This Ever Happen to You....

Before I get to the question part of the program, let me tell you about my visit with the endocrinologist.   It went great.    He did confirm the diagnoses of diabetes, but said that it is "extremely mild".    Better diet and more activity has already made such a difference that my blood sugar is already in the normal range again.  Consequently, I have no need of meds, and only minimal testing (which, he says, is for my peace of mind).    I just need to keep doing what I am doing.  I am so relieved.

Now to the knitting part of things.   The Summer Open Cardigan is all done except for the (half) sleeves and the Zen Pi shawl is all done except for the last row of the edging.   Sounds good doesn't it?    The only problem is that both projects have been in just this place for two weeks or more.   Now that they are almost done, I have absolutely lost interest in them.   How weird is that?   Does this ever happen to you?

Hands Across the Sand

Hands Across the Sand

Jacksonville Beach

This Saturday we spent some time at the beach participating in a Hands Across the Sand event.  Hands across the sand is an international organization whose mission is to stop off shore drilling and keep our beaches beautiful.    We had wonderful weather and met some very nice people.  What I really loved about the day is how nice everyone was.    There were people on the beach who were not interested in "the cause". Some were very open about their support for off-shore drilling but no one, on either side of the issue, was anything but pleasant and respectful.    A couple of people even offered to take pictures for those of us participating.   It was a terrific experience all around.

On the knitting front, I did rip out the button band on the Summer Open Cardi.   After I re-knit it in the bigger needle size, it still pulled up in front.   My new plan, is to rip out the cast-off, and re-work that using Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Cast-off.   My hope is that, with a stretchier cast-off, I will be able to block the front into shape.  

Say it isn't so....

Summer Open Cardigan

Here I am happily working on my top down cardi and I hit a snag.   When I tried this baby on after finishing the body, it fit like a dream and I knew (knew!) that the rest was going to be a cake walk.   As instructed, I used a smaller needle to pick-up and knit the ribbed button band.    I could tell that something was not right as I was casting off but it was not until I tried it on again that I realized that the smaller needle size brought up the front by quite a bit.   In fact, it changed the whole shape of the cardi and not in a flattering way either.   The only hope is to rip out the button band and do it all over with a bigger needle.   Man...I hate it when that happens!

This is not the only knitting glitch I have encountered lately.    I have been, successfully, knitting these felted bags for the co-op, using  Paton's SWS and Bernat's Felting Wool.    After being asked for the pattern a couple of times, I decided to write it up and submit it to Knit Picks Independent Designer Program.   With that in mind, I gave a friend the pattern and some yarn and asked her to critique the pattern.   That went really well.   The next hurdle was figuring out how to create a PDF file.  Got that done (PDF for Dummies is a keeper).   Again, I thought the hard part was done.  All I had to do was knit up a sample in a Knit Picks yarn.  What I had not accounted for was the fact their yarn would felt differntly than the ones I had been using.   The fiber did felt in that it be came a solid piece, but shrank hardly at all which made it a much floopier bag than I am used to selling.   I have ordered more yarn and am going to try it doubled with a size bigger needle.   The other thing is that it did not felt in my new machine (a top loader) at all.   I tried it twice at home and then took it to a laundromat where the results were better but, as I said, too floopy.   With this next attempt, I will take it  straight to the laundromat in the hopes that I will get the nice firm fabric that I am used to.

Hubby and youngest are watching Gettysburg (T2 has to read Killer Angels for this summer).  I hate war movies.   Perhaps HGTV has something good to watch while I rip back that button band.

Random knitting minutia...

  

• Some time ago, I had the idea of using a zip-up bottle cozy for my sock-in-progress.  It has taken quite a while to find one that does not have a beer company logo on i,t but yesterday I hit pay-dirt.   At a local store that is going out of business, I found one that had been monogrammed but not picked up.   It is pink (good), wide-ish (good), and really cheap (very good).   True, the initials are not mine but I can deal with that.   The sock needle holders can be pushed all the way in. It fits in, in my bag, like a dream.   It only fits one sock-in-progress, so, I am still on the look out for another one.
• Continuing to work on P&S Summer Open Cardigan.   I decided not to go with the side shaping mostly because I knit past that point and did not feel like ripping back.
• Still working on the Kandinsky Cardigan.  Since I can only work on this when I can give it my full attention, it is really slow going.   I am really looking forward to wearing this in the Fall.
• Jitterbug sock is in my handbag.   I have not gotten very far with these.   
• For mindless, at home, knitting, I am working on a couple of felted bags for the co-op.

This has been a lovely slow week for me.   That is a good thing.

Look before you leap...

T1 was feeling left out because T2 is having pizza at a friends and Hubby & I hit a local Mexican place for lunch.  So, being the good mommy that I aspire to be, I brought him to our local Panera Bread for lunch and a couple of hours of high speed internet (our at-home options are sadly slow and limited).

As previously reported, I did finally start the Summer Open Cardigan.   I forget the name of the yarn I am using (I wound it for something else) but it is a worsted wt. cotton/wool blend.    So far, I really like it.  I would worry about the gauge being a bit loose for my taste but I think that will be less of an issue once the neck band is on.   This would be a quick knit were it not for a couple of things.    It is my take-along project, so I am not working on it at home.    At home, I either work on the Kandinsky cardi or the felted bags that are selling so well at the co-op.    Also, do you remember how I knit through the car purchase the other night?   It would have been more productive if I had remembered that I was right at the "divide for the arms" point.   Instead, I knit 6 inches too far and had to rip back.   Then, when I went to craft group on Tuesday morning, I did it again, and had to rip back 8 inches, (Eeeek!).   Now I have divided for the arms and am knitting away at the body.    There is some optional shaping further along.   I have not yet decided whether to go with that or not.

Baby Steps....

Usually, when I find a frog, lizard, etc. in the house, I shriek scream call hubby or the boys to come catch it and put it outside.   This morning when this baby was discovered in the guest bathroom, hubby had left for work, and Teen1 was sleeping.   Teen2 (fka Tween) was going to use Dad's method of throwing a towel over  it, but I had  a better idea.   I put a glass over it, tucked a greeting card (thanks boys) under it and just carried it out to the patio.   Yes, ladies, and gentlemen, I caught and released a frog all on my own.   I feel ridiculously  proud of myself.

Due to an unusual & persistent migraine, I never did get started on the Summer Cardigan.   I still have all the ingredients good to go, so maybe today will be the day.    What knitting I have worked on was for a organic cotton baby hat for the co-op (had some KP Simply Cotton in the stash).   I knit one with a US7 but did not like it.   Tore it out and am now working on the same basic roll brim hat with a US6.   I like the resulting  fabric much better.   I have enough for three hats.   I am waffling between ordering more Simply Cotton or switching to Comfy.  Both yarns are lovely.   Comfy has acrylic, is not organic, but is awesomely soft and comes in lots of bright colors.   Simply Cotton is organic, soft enough for a baby, but only comes in "organic" colors.  I like both, maybe the answer is to order less of each so that I can make some of each.

Time for something new....

This is that tote bag that I picked up at Epcot a couple of weeks ago.  With the baby blanket finished, and my disenchantment with Liesl,  it is time to move on to something new.    While visiting my LYS,last week, I came across the pattern for Knitting Pure & Simple's Summer Open Cardigan (here, second row/far right).   I have more than enough Cascade Yarns Sierra Quatro to get the job done.   It seems pretty simple (just my speed lately).   The last sweater I finished was the February Lady Sweater.   It is time.

So into my new tote bag goes eight yarn cakes of Quatro, the pattern,  relevent knitting needles, a handy dandy notions bag,notepad, and my netbook.   I am officially ready for crafty Tuesday.