lolajl: August 2005 Archives

I've been following the Hurricane Katrina, and it looks like one heck of a storm and headed straight for New Orleans. If you have relatives in NO, please encourage them to leave NOW. Here's a good blog to keep track of news (he lives in Indiana, so he's well out of the path): Brendan Loy.

Realizing that September 15 is going to be here before I knew it, I went back to my swatch, observed that the gauge was 7 stitches/inch with size 3mm needles, rechecked my sock pal's circumference, and cast on 70 stitches. Well . . . the 2x2 ribbing looks a bit big to me - about 5 3/4 inches, which would make it closer to 11 or 12 inches in circumference. Auugggh . . . back to the drawing board, with less stitches to cast on. And still need to look through my chart pattern book . . .

Last night Bruce talked with his brother and niece, who is expecting a boy any minute now. We gave her this blog url so she can keep up with what's happening here in our corner. So, it's time to go back into the family photo archive, and look for a picture of A and A's father. A and A, I have more pictures if you'd like me to send you these.

It looks like visitors have been leaving comments, and I got to respond to these. So, here goes . . .

Carola suggests that I stay armed with my knitting needles against all those crimes. Well . . . I've got something better . . . my pair of single-tine wool combs. Now, I'm not going to say where I have it put away in my home; let's just say that is easily accessible in the middle of the night if there's a prowler. The prowler had better make sure his tetanus shots are up to date. Oh, and there's an Eris knitalong in English at <http://www.livejournal.com/community/eris_rogue_kal/>. And here's kniteris on Yahoo Groups.

Yes, Genia, mother made both of these quilts. She's been making quilts for years. All the quilts that I have hanging in my living room were made by her.

Where can one get that pattern of the car blanket, Cindy D asks. This particular pattern came from InKnitters, Winter 2003 issue, Vo. 3, No. 11. Dawn Adcock (Dawn's Dream Designs) created this pattern. I think back issues are still available from InKnitters. Failing that, I think it shouldn't be too hard to come up with your own design, using your favorite stitch pattern book for inspiration and calculating the gauge. The pocket flap uses the seed stitch, and the hood is constructed using a Dutch heel.

I've finished my swatch for the Sockapalooza socks. I'm not entirely happy with what I came up with. I used one of the 2-color patterns from the Nancy Bush sock book and it is a bit too busy for the variegated yarn. The design makes sense when you use two solid colors, but turns into chaos when variegated yarn is used. I think I would be better off using a simple peerie pattern. Also, the fair-isle portion seems awfully bulky due to the thickness of the yarn. So, I don't think I'm going to go with knitting the top part in fair isle, then folding it down over the rest of the leg. I need to take a picture of the swatch so you all can see what I mean.

Updated: Here's the swatch. What do y'all think?

I only just learned today, but it seems that Ty Pennington from one of my favorite tv shows, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, has been working for the past week on a home in Capitol Heights, just miles away from home. Gee, if I'd known, I would have taken a day off from work so I could try to get a glimpse of Ty. Okay . . . I admit it, I've got a crush on him (psssttt . . . don't tell Bruce!) and wouldn't mind in the least being yelled at with his megaphone next to my hearing aid.

Unfortunately, crime in Prince Georges County is still around, as what happened to one of the crew's wife, who was pistol-whipped in an armed robbery at the hotel they were staying.

After Hotel Attack, It's On With the Reality Show:

They got off to a roaring start yesterday morning, demolishing Veronica Ginyard's dilapidated two-bedroom home to make way for a three-story, six-bedroom house. But even before they started, the crews got a rough reminder of Prince George's crime problems.

I'd like to apologize to the cast for the poor job that the county supervisor is doing in getting a handle on the crime problem and not supporting the police adequately.

In the article, it states that the single mother of eight got ripped off by a contractor who took the money and left the house in even worse shape than ever (such as, exposed wire poking out of drywall, holes in the wall, and so forth). What is it about those contractors who pull off stunts like this? I surely hope he's not in the area anymore. Word has it that this will be a two hour special. Since it is likely that I'm not going to be there for that “Move that bus!” moment, I'll have to make do and mark off the days on the calendar till the fall season starts up again.

And meanwhile, I've now lost another knitted garment - my warm cardigan. Sigh . . . It wasn't one of my best projects ever, since the yarn pilled terribly, but was it warm. Well, guess I'll have to knit another one. And I better get started on the socks, now that the extra bamboo needles have come in.

The baby shower went very well, I think, and everybody really enjoyed it. There were a lot of gifts for Baby Boy Hall. This one, with the house, is going to be used as a cover, I believe. And the one with the train is intended to be hung on the wall. He's going to be lucky to have these as heirlooms when he gets older. And no, I don't know what the name is - they're not telling till he is born. Should be the end of September before I find out for certain.

And there's my buddy, Caroline Nina - a big thank you for recording the gifts and giftee as these were opened. Oh, and the blanket? She really liked it. Now I need to get it all washed up and the pocket sewn in.

When Rick was here last month, he bought along an album which he'd been given after his father passed away. This album belonged to his grandmother, and it is quite a treasure trove as there are several pictures of Bruce, and his brothers and sister, ad children. Here's one that I really nice. He thinks he was about 12 or 13 when this was taken. He has the same smile, now as ever.

Meanwhile, I've been busy making a swatch for the SockaPal sock. And the extra set of bamboo needles are supposed to arrive soon. And then I'll get cracking, with the goal to have the socks finished before end of the month.

The yarns that I selected for my pal have finally arrived. I'm planning to start off with a blue ribbing, then put in a fair isle pattern for the cuff, then turn the socks inside out and continue with blue for the rest of the leg and feet. I really like the color combination and I think my pal will like it as well. Since I seem to suffer from the Two Sock Syndrome, I better put in an order for two bamboo circs as well. Yes, that's a lot of $$, but it will be well worth it as I'm not going to stop making socks any time soon.

The shower went very well - more people came than expected but we managed to have enough for everyone, and even to have some left over. The blanket was a hit as well. I'm so looking forward to seeing my nephew all swaddled up in the blanket! God willing, I will soon be able to post a picture of him sleeping, all snug in this blanket. I'm already thinking about a tomten jacket for him as an Xmas gift . . .

No, I don't know his name yet. Sister doesn't want to announce it before he's born. Oh, well, at least it's good to know that it's going to be a boy so that I can get used to doing all those stuff that male munchkins do.

I've finally finished the car blanket in time for the shower. Well . . . almost. I haven't the time to wash and block it and so will have to do it afterwards. Still, here's a picture for y'all . . .

I've been a little quiet lately. Here's the reason why . . . I've been busy working on this to finish it in time for my sister's baby shower. You'll see this more in detail tomorrow, if I remember to take a picture of it.