Hats and Fuzzy Socks

My neighbor asked me to knit some fuzzy socks for her little boy. It seems he keeps stealing hers. She tried to find some for him at the store but nobody sells them for his size in "boy" colors. So I accepted the challenge and with some help from my friends at Rachels_Knitting_Room I was able to knit up a pair for the little guy.

Here the first one is about 7 rows in process. I used Baby Sparkle from Bernat and Boa from Bernat. I used one strand of each through out on size 3 dpns. I cast on 32 sts and just knitted for 9.5 inches at that point I k2tog around, then knitted the next round then k2tog around then cut the yarn and sewed the sock up.

They turned out very thick and warm. When I delivered them to my neighbor she was so excited and couldn't wait to give them to him on Christmas. I am pleased with how they turned out, but have decided if I knit them again I will use a sz 4 dpn, the 3 was just real tight and created a very firm sock. Live and learn.

On to hats. I was looking in the new Creative Knitting magazine and fell in love with the Cables and Bobbles Beret on page 32. I set about to knit it up for myself. Of course I didn't have the yarn they used so I used Softee Chunky from Bernat. I used it single strand since the gauge was so close. I love how mine turned out.

Scott liked how mine turned out so I made him one. I used Canadiana Tweeds from Patons for his. He says that it is nice and warm. Doesn't it look great on him?

KNITTING

Months ago I found some nice yarn at Big Lots for $1 a skein. So Scott decides he would like a cardigan sweater out of the yarn. Not just any cardigan but a cabled cardigan. I said sure I should be able to do that for you. I set about knitting the sweater up for my darling husband. This thing took weeks to knit, did I mention that I had only done one other cabled item.

So anyways I got it done and it looked a bit big, but that was ok I would just make adjustments to the sides. But before doing that I decided to wash and see if it would "shrink up" a bit. Oh NO not for me and my luck the darn thing GREW!!

It grew big enough for 2 people to climb in it at the same time. I am about to give up making the man a sweater. I have made him 3 now and 2 of them don't fit and the other one he doesn't like the collar. Oh well. The last picture shows the color the best.

Christmas knitting is something I have started doing in the last couple of years. I have a little 5 year old neighbor boy that is just adorable. His mom is one of my best friends. So this year I decided to knit up gifts for their family. I enjoyed knitting up this hat for him. I can't wait to see him in it.

Kitten Update

Ok as some of you already know, we lost one of the kitties last night. This was kitten A, the solid grey one. He was a cutie, every time he eat he wiggled his little ears, I t was the darnedest thing to watch.

Now on to the updates on the others.

KITTEN B,

weighing in at a healthy 7.25 oz. she is a sweetie, we have taken to calling her Bella.

KITTEN C

weighing in at a grand total of 7.5 oz. he is growing and changing. He does like to cuddle. WE haven't given him a name yet just can't think of one.

KITTEN D

Weighing in at a whooping 8.5 oz. He is a healthy eater and still talks to his food. He has the loudest purr ever. DD calls him Chunk.

Now for my knitting update as it is. I can't believe I forgot to post it but I took 2nd place at our county fair for a knitted felted bag. This was the first time I had entered anything I had made so I am proud. Not only did I win my ribbon but I also won $4.50.

I found a couple skeins of Patons Classic Wool in Rosewood Colorway and feel in love with it. Bought, brought it home and started knitting up a handbag. Little did I know that it really wasn't stripes but more camo. I 'm not a big camo fan but I have to say that it looks good like this. This is pre felting I will post a picture of it after the felting and lining. This isn't all the knitting I have been doing just all the pictures I have remembered to take. I am terrible about taking pictures of my knitting.

We Have Eyes!!!

Let me start by giving weight updates. All the new measurements where taken on Sunday Aug 26 around noon, the measurements are about 48 hours from the previous. Kitten A 6.5 oz, Kitten B 5.5 oz, Kitten C 6.5 and Kitten D 6 oz. I was a bit worried about kitten C but last night and today I have found the secret to feeding him, you have to hold him flat on your lap and let him find the bottle, just like his momma's nipple. He really is fun to feed since he gets so excited about his food and talks to the bottle the during the entire feeding.

Now the exciting news, we have eyes!!! They started opening up this morning, I figure their eyes should be completely open by tomorrow. We now figure them to be anywhere from 9 to 12 days old, I really think that they are only 9 days.

We called the Emergency Vet Hospital over the weekend to double check on the babies progress. The staff there informed us that we are doing everything right and should end up with a healthy bunch of kitties. They told us that judging by the fact that some still had the cord attached and their eyes were closed that they were mostly likely only 2 or 3 days old when Scott found them. I am just so grateful that Scott found them.

They had a bath today. Since they are going potty on their own now, they tend to have "stuff" on them that just won't come off with a good wipe down. So I gave them a bath and then blow dried them, they are little fluff balls. They will have long hair.

It's feeding time, so I will update again in a couple of days.

kitten update

So below are some pictures and stats on each of the kittens. There is one female and 3 males, one solid dark grey, one darker grey and white, and 2 lighter grey and white. The solid grey one looks to have a smoochy face while the others have more normal faces. They are all eating very well and moving about, which yesterday afternoon they weren't doing.



Kitten A, male, weighing in at 5.5 oz. He is the only solid grey one.

Kitten B, female, she weighs in at 4.7 oz. She is a little eater, but we are noticing that her appetite is growing, good news there.

Kitten C, male, weighs in at a whooping 6 oz. he has part of the cord still attached. He has a voice and will be heard above everyone else!!!!

Kitten D, male weighing in at 4.75 oz as you can see he still has part of the cord attached. Quite the little porker when eating, hoping this means he will start growing.

Look what hubby brought home

I was at home minding my own business when my DH called me and said that he has a minor emergency and would be home shortly. When he got here he was carrying a box that contained 4 tiny kittens. These babies are no more than 2 weeks old. I think that they are most likely less than a week old. So I quickly went about getting them set up in my "Girlie Room". Hubby went back to work and I began feeding them.

This part I am writing top the subhuman who dumped the babies next to the dumpster. I truly hope I never met you, I have a whole lot to say to you and your kind. Don't worry the babies are in great hands, I have tended to babies before. I managed to get a litter of 5 hand raised because their mom was killed, so the babies are in good hands. Now for you, you do not deserve to be a pet owner, you could have taken them to the pound or a vet office. But no you left them next to a dumpster in a very busy parking lot to get ran over or eaten by the stray dogs. What did you think, that they could tend to themselves, well they can't.

Needless to say I will be busy for a bit.

shopping bag pattern

shopping bag pattern

sz 13 circular needles 29"
sz 10 1/2 circular needles 24"
I used Sugar n Cream jumbo skein and cone yarns

BASE
With 2 strands cast on 20 stitches
Row 1 - Knit
Row 2 - k1, kfb, k to last 2 sts, kfb,k1
repeat rows 1 & 2 until 40 sts
work even 3 rows
Dec row 1 - k1, k2tog,k to last 2 sts, k2tog, k1
Dec row 2 - knit
repeat dec rows 1& 2 until 20 sts remain
place marker, pick up 20 sts along rounded edge, place marker, pick up 20 sts along straight edge, place marker, pick up 20 sts along rounded edge, place marker (80 sts)
(use different color marker for first marker)

BODY
Row 1- *k1, kfb* rep around (120 sts)
Rows 2 -10 - k

BODY PATTERN
Row 1 - *yo,k2tog* rep around
Row 2 & 3 - k
Row 4 - * yo,k2tog* rep around
Rows 5 & 6 - k
Row 7 - p
Rows 8 & 9 - k

Do 3 pattern repeats
Then k 2 rounds
next round k1, k2tog around (80 sts)
switch to sz 10 1/2 needles
purl around
knit around
purl around
knit around
k11, bo 9, k11 (place on holder), bo 9, k11 (place on holder), bo 9, k11 (place on holder), bo 9

HANDLES
Row 1- k2tog, k to end (10 sts)
Row 2- k2tog, k to end (9 sts)
Row 3- k
Row 4- k2tog, k to end (8 sts)
Row 5- k2tog, k to end (7 sts)
Row 6- k
applied I-cord handle
k4, bring yarn to front, sl next 3 sts purlwise, turn
repeat for 9"
Row 1- k
Row 2-kfb, k (8sts)
Row 3-kfb,k (9 sts)
Row 4- k
Row 5 -kfb, k (10sts)
Row 6 -kfb, k (11 sts)
place the live stitches from the holder one the same side of bag on the other end of the circular needle, use a 10 1/2 straight needle to do 3 needle bind off (hold the 2 needles with live stitches with one in front of the other, insert the third needle into the first stitch on both needles knitwise, wrap yarn around needle and draw through both loops, dropping the 2 live stitches off the needles, do this again then slip the first st on the right needle over the second stitch, repeat until all stitches are worked)
Cut yarn.

For second handle pick up the live stitches from one of the holders, and repeat above.

Weave in ends.

My shopping bags

So here you see the first shopping bag I made. I used KnitPicks pattern "Mary's Summer Bag", I used Bernat Handicrafter in over the rainbow and Sugar n Cream in white.

It is a good bag. I really do use this when we go grocery shopping, I am always amazed at how much I can get in it. The clerks at the store are usually pretty surprised as well.

Now keeping all that in mind I knew that I could make it better. I don't really like the fact that it doesn't have handles, or that it has a draw string. I felt that it was to tall and not wide enough. So a decided to play around until I came up with something I love.

So this is what I came up with. I used the same basic pattern as before but I made the base bigger, increased the sides to a size I liked, used double strand for the whole bag, and added two small handles. I used Sugar n Cream in key lime pie and Sugar n Cream in white.

I have no idea how much yarn I actually used on either bag since I used the jumbo skeins, something like 12 or 14 oz each skein, and the white came from a cone.

I can't wait to go grocery shopping tomorrow night. I think I have a winner with this one. It has the same open weave as the other but with it being shorter and wider it should work better for us, just have to go shopping to find out.

HUBBY'S SOCKS

Ok so Scott requested that I finish the socks that I started for him when we went on our trip. The only thing is he wanted them for Thursday morning of this week, I only had about 1 1/2 inches done, the scenery on the trip was to good to miss. So on Thursday last week I picked them up and did a little knitting on them. Then Friday I spent most of the day knitting.

We always go and walk at the Relay for Life. Can you guess when it was held this year, yep Friday and Saturday. So I was on a knitting roll and just couldn't put the sock down, after all I was past the heel and just starting the gusset when we left. So I wore a pair of cargo capris and stuck the yarn ball in my pocket and knitted away, while walking. I walked and knitted for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, the only reason I gave up was because it got dark. So I finished that sock on Saturday.

Saturday evening I cast on for the other sock and got most of the ribbing done. Sunday was a busy day, so very little knitting got done, maybe an inch or two. Then yesterday I spent the day knitting up a storm, by the time I went to bed I only had 2 1/2 inches plus the toe decrease to do. I finished this evening with 37 hours to spare.

I feel great about the fact that Scott will be wearing the socks that I made him while he is in surgery. The reason he wanted them done was so he could to quote him, "have you hugging my feet". He also said that they would bring back great memories of our trip.

So below are the socks. I used Sockotta yarn by Plymouth. The content is 45% cotton, 40% superwash wool, 15% nylon. I used size 2 needles.

The picture below is a little bit of a close up of the sock that I knit while walking, can you tell?

YARN

When we were on our trip we stopped at 2 yarn shops. The first is in Coos Bay, OR. It is called "My Yarn Shop". I had read about it in "Knitters Stash". I couldn't wait until we made a trip to Coos Bay to go in there. I was not disappointed. One of the owners was there, she is a nice lady and very helpful. Here are some shots from in the store.

Take a look at what I got. I chose Cascade Quatro so that I can make myself a "Coos Bay Hat", I have no idea what a "Coos Bay Hat" looks like because I haven't designed it yet...LOL.

The other shop we stopped at is in Crescent City, CA. It is called "A Perfect Yarn". Funny thing about this shop, when we got into Crescent City it was one of the first things I saw but of course we pulled in to town right after they closed. So on Wednesday morning we went by but of course they weren't open yet so we went and had breakfast then went back and waited in the parking lot for them to open. I was the first customer of the day. We were telling her that we had been by the night before and that she was closed, she said we should have stopped anyways cause she was there and would have helped us. So anyway here are some shots of the shop.

I know the date on the pictures is off but only by 12 hours, forgot to set the time when I replaced the batteries. So on to the yarn. I chose Four Seasons, which is a cotton/wool blend to make both Scott and I "Crescent City Hats". Again have know idea what they will look like but will be designing them soon. I also bought a pair of Brittany sz 7 needles. I LOVE these needles.....almost more than my bamboos. I have never felt such lite needles before.

Our Trip

So last week DH had vacation, we were going to go camping and fishing but with the rain we decided to just do a couple of day trips instead. We got up Tuesday and headed for the coast, we headed south once we got to Florence.

We made many stops along the way. We went all the way down the Oregon coast.

We stopped at Cape Arago.

We stopped at Cape Blanco, we couldn't get out to the light house, they were closing as we pulled in, maybe next time.

We stopped at Cape Sebastian, the rocks reminded of pictures of Ireland you really can't see in this picture, though.

We went across the tallest bridge in Oregon, hey that is only 345 ft down. We could feel the bridge swaying when we were taking pictures.

Look The sign says it all. We crossed over to Northern California.

Next stop was Battery Point in Crescent City. We spent the night in Crescent City, on Wednesday we got up and headed North to hwy 199 and came home by going through Grants Pass and bringing I-5 home.

We of course made stops on the way back.

We stopped to see the Redwoods. I was just like a little kid walking through the park we stopped at. Hubby looks so tiny in front of this tree.

We stopped along the Smith River to take pictures. It was breath taking.

Hey we are headed back home, we made it to Oregon!!!!

We are in the Illinois Valley, it is very different from our neck of the woods. It looked very dry and very brown. I don't think I could live there.

This was taken just North of Roseburg. We are almost home. I didn't take anymore pictures so I can't show you the changes in the valley.

So that was our day trip.

Update on my life

I realized this morning that I haven't posted in over a month. I don't have a good excuse other than just plain to busy to post.




So I will update for anyone who bothers to read my blog on my life.




On May 26 my wonderful daughter turned 18, boy was that a hard pill to swallow. Hubby and I made the whole day about her. We took her shopping, then she went out to the boyfriends house for a couple hours then we took the 2 of them to dinner at her favorite spot, RED ROBINS.




Then 2 weeks later she went and graduated with honors. We are very proud of her and all her hard work. In our lovely state we have a program called CIM and CAM, which is pretty well useless, but we have it and daughter received both her CIM and CAM. This requires extra work on the students part, they have to choose a field and complete extra tasks for the CAM, the CIM is all based on testing and meeting or exceeding state standards.



Here she is with the boyfriend with their diplomas. She cried the whole ceremony.







So hubby and I decided we needed to paint the house, now we have talked about this project for about 3 years. Then our neighbors said that they were going to paint last year so we talked with them and waited to pick our color until they picked theirs. The neighbors just happened to want both the main colors we did. So we spent the next year trying to find the right colors for us. They went with our second choice which was good, I really did want yellow and not tan.







So daughter and I decided on June 18th to start painting. We figured about a week and we would have all the main color on and hubby could do the trim. Boy were we wrong. This darn house and the darn color requires 2 count them 2 coats to get good coverage. Here it is June 28th and I still have about 36 feet left to finish up the second coat on. I have had a paint brush or roller in my hand everyday but 2 for the last 10 days. I no longer love yellow, I no longer want a freshly painted house, I no long enjoy painting and I want to be done. I do have to say though it does look good. We still have to do the trim work and that will be white the exact same white as our new vinyl windows. Have a look.














When we came home from church on Fathers Day we found out that our cat made a new friend. She spent about 3 hours talking with the bird. The silly thing (bird) never moved, it just hung out in this same spot all day.





And the last is the saddest of all, Our wonderful dog Taz, died on Monday, June 25th at about 6:15 pm. He was 11 1/2 years old and lived a very full life. His passing has caused a big void in our lives. We will never be able to replace him, he truly was a one of a kind.



We miss you baby boy. You filled our lives with joy and love.

So that my friends is my life for the last 4 weeks in a nutshell.