How Green is my Gansey

The photo isn't that great but is does show the color of the Gansey Socks pretty well. The yarn is Dream in Color Sock in Happy Forest. The bright leafy greens make me smile. I have the first leg done but need a camera battery. The pattern really pops in the semi solid colorway.

I now have all the gift knitting done with the exception of my in laws. I still have time too. I really should knit another pair of socks for Hubby too, and maybe socks for the kids, and something for the teacher... Yeah maybe I'm not so much done. I do have the must knits done so at least that's something. Right.

I took a part time job. I am working 3 nights a week from 6-9:30 and one day on the weekend. My first real work day is Sunday. The hours are perfect. Still lots of family time.

One more thing... VOTE! Sorry to scream but please go vote next week. It really is important.

Update

So life just keeps moving here at the funhouse. I am starting a part time job tonight. We really need the money and I need time out of the house so its win/win. Hubby's show closes Friday night so I will more nights free to work. I just hope I can still find time to hang out with Hubby once in a while.

In knitting news: I got new winter hats knit for MB and myself. MG's still has hers from last winter and Hubby still loves his We call em Pirates I made last winter. The gift knitting is almost done. And the muff has been frogged yet again. I just did not like the way it looked so back to the drawing board for that one. The turtle neck warmer pattern is done. I will post it soon.

In shop news: There are some new colors in the shop right now. Go check them out. Please?

Politics: 1 week to go! Make sure you get out and vote. I had a call from Lee Terry(R house NE) last night. he was doing a tell- town hall type thing. I found it very off putting. I hung up only to have them call back and leave 5 minutes worth on my voice mail. The dude will not even say what party he is with. Looks like he may lose next week. The national press is not even talking about Nebraska but I think it could go either way. There are no McCain/Palin signs out but lots of Obama signs. Could NE go blue? Unlikely but I bet Omaha/Lincoln will. I plan to take MB and vote right after I drop the kids at school. I am guessing the lines will be long but I don't care I will wait as long as it takes.

Turtleneck Warmer

Here it is. What do you think? I hate the color on me so this one will be gifted this year but I love the fit and everything else about this project. MG took the picture for me. Not bad eh?

This pattern is my own. I will write it up today and get someone to look it over for me before posting it. Pattern will call for about 350 yards of worsted weight. ( I used Artyarns Supermerino). This yarn seems to stretch quite a bit with blocking but is soft and warm.

2 new patterns in 10 days time. Go Me!

Silly Season Poltics

I just feel the need to comment on the latest political news. $150,000.00 for clothes for the Sarah Palin? At a time when 95% of American families are hurting? Bad move RNC. And Obama is the elitist? Yeah right.
I can not wait for this election to be over. I sure hope my team wins. I worry about what will happen if they don't.

Socks for Dad

Here are Dads socks. This colorway is so hard to get a good photo of. The yarn is BMFA Socks That Rock. The colorway is Rauen form the Raven line. I have found that my STR socks grow a little with washing. These fit Hubby fine so fitting Dad should be no problem. You know the theroy that us girls Marry a guy much like our father? Well I did. Hubby and Dad have the same shoe/sock size.

I have started a new pair of socks already. The Lighthouse Gansey socks for Knitty. It is a fun pattern but slow going for me. I have to keep looking at the chart. So far so good. The pattern is well written and easy to follow. More on those when there is something to show.

My other projects are all moving forward. The new neck warmer should be done this week and then back to the muff. I resolved the gauge issue. I am pleased.

Holiday sock kits

Here is a new item I will be putting up in the shop this weekend. A little gift bag for the sock knitters! The kit includes a skein of BunkyBobo's Superwash Merino sock yarn. Colorway shown is Jangle

A set of 2.25mm dpn's, a sock blocker key chain, darning needle, a split ring marker, a tube of Bunky Girl Lip Balm and a little surprise. All in a cute little canvas bag. What do you think? cute eh? And the price is right at $28.00.

In other shop news, every skein you order in October comes with a free Bunky Girl Lip Balm!

I will have more fun shop news later today! Stay tuned.

In knitting news: MG took the Squared Mitts I finished the other day. She grabbed them the minute they came off the needles and has had them on since so I guess they are a hit. I need to make myself a pair. The new neck warmer pattern is coming along. This one will fit an adult human and not get bunched up under a coat. I am not crazy about the color though so I may try to over dye it when its finished. I hope to get it done today. The December bride muff had to be frogged. The gauge was way off so that one is back to the drawing board. There are new socks in the works too but that will have to wait. I have a play date with Monster Boy.

Squared Mitts a Free Pattern.

I give you a new pattern by me, Squared Mitts



Yarn: color 1: Knit Picks Merino Style, black. any worsted wool will do for both colors.

color 2: Blue Moon Fiber Arts STR Heavyweight. Don't remember the colorway. Leftovers from socks.

A note about the yarn. You can use and 2 worsted wools you have in your stash for these. You could also knit the cuff in the main color. That big lump in the picture is my watch. sorry about that.
Gauge: I knit these at 6 1/2 stitches to the inch over the colorwork.


Needles US size 6 dpn's


With Color 2, Cast on 40 stitches. Join to knit in the round. Knit 10 rounds of K2,P2 rib. Knit one round. Switch to color 1, knit one round.


Next round starts color pattern. ( I have not found a good way to get the charts on the blog. If you need the charts leave me a comment and I will e-mail it to you. I tried to write it out here. Please let me know if you see any problems. )



chart 1
row 1:* K2 Color 1, K2 color 2* repeat to end of the round
row 2: same as row 1
row 3: *K2 color 2, K2 color 1 *repeat to end of the round
row 4: same as row 3
row 5: same as row 1
row 6: same as row 1
Row 7: knit all stitches in color 1

chart 2
row 1: *K1 in color 1, K3 in color 2, Knit 2 in color 1* repeat to end of round K1 in color 1
row 2: repeat row 1
row 3: repeat row 1
row 4 K all in color 1

repeat chart 2 twice more
Knit 15 rounds with color 1

thumb: I used the Thumb Trick from Elizabeth Zimmermann. On the thumb set opening round I knit the first 7 stitches on to waste yarn. Then slip those 7 sts back on the needle and knit the round like normal.

Knit 5 more rounds with color 1
Work chart 1
Knit 8 rounds of K2,P2 ribbing.
Bind off all stitches.

Thumb: Pick out the waste yarn at the thumb opening. (You should have 8 stitches on top and 7 on the bottom of the opening)Pick up the live stitches picking up an extra stitch in the gap between the top and bottom rows of live stitches (17 st total) knit 8 rows K1,P1 ribbing. Bind off. Weave in ends and block lightly. If you find any problems with the pattern please let me know. I am new to the whole pattern writing thing.

I am going to knit at least 2 more pairs of these. Bunky wants a pair for herself and I think her teacher might like one too. Best part is you need very little yarn. Yeah stash busting.

More Gifts

Here we have the Feather and Fan Scarf I have been knitting all summer. It blocked out nicely. The yarn is Rio De La Plata. Its a sock weight yarn knit on size 5 needles. Easy mindless. This one will find a new home at Christmas.

I have started a muff for a December bride. I am using the yarn from the red sweater. It is the perfect color for this and I should still have enough for the sweater. I could not find a pattern I liked so I am making it up as I go along. So far so good.

Free the Knitters

Dear Government People,

We knitters need this stuff in the picture. Pretty yarn. Pretty yarn we knit into socks to keep our family's feet warm in the cold winter ahead. We can't afford to heat our houses so wool socks are vital to our heath and well being. We need to feel like it is ok to spend our money. Please tell us in plain English how you are going to fix this mess and do it. I am tired of feeling sick every time I watch the news. I need to feel better about the outlook for my kids future. If I feel better about that future I will feel better about today. If I feel better about today I will buy more yarn. This will help the artist whose yarn I buy. Which in many cases allows them to go out and buy more yarn and knit more socks. Isn't this sort of thing good for the economy? Help a knitter out. You see you are also scaring all my buyers away. I think a lot of fiber artist would tell you the same thing. I don't want to know who made the mess anymore just sit down and fix it. Put your bickering aside and do what ever it is you are going to do. Act like grown ups and get something done that shows us how things are going to get better. We know its going to take a little time but some hope would be good right about now. Some good news. Some problem solving, some showing of progress somewhere that shows you folks are not once again blowing smoke up my butt. Come on guys you make a good living to get next to nothing real done. Come on show me how life in America is going to be better for my children and their children. Get our country moving so they get a better world. The knitters need to have money at the end of the month for the yarn for the socks. We need to be able to feed those family's and send them to good schools. We need them to have air to breath and wild places to explore. Come on help us out. That's what we pay you for. That's what you are asking us to vote for you to do.

updates

The cops are now driving past my house every hour or so. I am glad they are watching, those people make me nervous.

The babysitting scammer had the balls to send me another e-mail asking me to hurry and send my info. I have reported them to everyone I could find including Craig's list and g-mail. I am tempted to write back and ask them just how dumb they think I am.

Knitting: Dad's 2nd sock was almost done until I realized I had made the leg 10 rows longer than the 1st sock. Duh Sandy maybe you should learn how to count. Lucky for me the yarn holds up to frogging well. I will re knit the heel tonight. I finished another of the gift hats too. I put the Red Lady sweater on hold till I get the gift knitting done. I will not fall into the late night Christmas eve knitting like last year.

Too good to be true

I have placed several adds on my local Craig's list looking for daycare clients. Last week I got an e-mail from a woman in London who told me she was coming to town to work on a movie and would I send her some information about daycare for her 5 year old daughter. I did not think much of it at the time and sent her an e-mail back. I send pretty much the same e-mail to anyone who inquires about this. It includes my rate as well as a few lines about me and my family. Well she wrote back asking for my bank info (red flag#1) so her husband could transfer money to me. She then asked me to hold onto my fee and transfer the rest of the money to her travel agent for her plane tickets and such(red flag#2) This is of coarse a big scam to get into my bank account. The scammer even went so far as to send photos of "her child." Now I am not dumb, I have no plan to do what she asks me to do, even if she did get my bank info she would find nothing there. Where do these people get off trying to scam money from folks who are trying so hard to just to keep the lights on and food on the table? I am so upset this. I wonder if whoever the child in the photos knows she is being used by dishonest bastards like this. I would post the picture but I am afraid to download it. I am posting about this because my blog link is in my e-mail signature. If you are reading this scammer I hope you get yours soon. I will post all over the Internet about your sick little game in the hope that someone catches you. I understand there is very little chance of this. I also know that karma or fate or whatever god you may believe in will get you for this. I hope karma Kicks Your Ass! And I bless the good sense my Momma gave me that I didn't fall for it.

Bad Boys Bad Boys

There has been drama at the park behind the house latley. 2 Drug busts. I have suspected for a while that the people 2 houses down were selling hard drugs. There are always (and I do mean all the time) cars parked in front of the house with people waiting in them. Someone comes out of the house, talkes to whoever is in the car and goes back inside. Then someelse comes out leans in the car and the car leaves. After watching The Wire. I know this is done to keep the $$ and the product apart. The gal who lives next door to us said Vice visited her and asked her to write down plate numbers and such so I know the cops know something is still going on. Last night someone was honking their horn at 4:00 am. I looked out my window and am pretty sure I saw a deal going down. I am not at all happy about this going on so close to my house and my kids. I have not seen the cops raid the house but I feel that must be coming. I have also seen the cops digging through trash cans at the park. Needless to say I do not let the kids go to the park by them selves. they have to walk right by the house in question to get there. I am also pretty sure they know we all know what is up but I have not said anything. I really don't want any trouble. There are lots of little kids around here so I hope the cops get this delt with sooner rather than later.

It must be Fall!

I woke up this morning to find it was 64 degrees in my house. Not to big a deal as I keep the heat pretty low anyway. This morning I pulled out knit hats for the kids and wool socks for me. Yeah! I always feel better in the cooler weather.

In knitting news: After a quick call to Mom last night I was able to finish Dads first sock. Sock #2 will get cast on today. When these are done I will have only 4 more Holiday gift items to knit. WooHoo! and 3 of them are hats. the 4th is yet to be chosen but I still have lots of time. I also want to knit some socks for the MK's. I wonder if I should send Dads socks early. I am pretty sure he knows he is getting socks after Mom went and measured his foot for me. Besides Daddy needs warm feet too. If I keep up this pace with the socks I may have time to get another pair done for Mom too.

I have decided that all my Holiday gifts will be Hand Made this year. Should save us some money, and give the kids plenty of crafting time. I have some great ideas for kid crafts for Christmas. This should be fun.

One other bit of news: I have been working on a product for Happy Housewife. HH is my friend Miss Violet's company. She makes her own perfume oils and soap. Really great stuff. I never wore perfume much before MissV started this, but I really like her stuff. My favorites right now are Dirty Jack, and Apple Crush. OOO I smell so good. We have a few things to work out yet (labels and such) but we should have it up in another week or so. Trust me its going to be good!

One other quick thing: I have added International shipping prices to my shop. So overseas folks won't have to convo for a shipping quote. There is lots of great stuff in the shop now.