It's been awhile!

There has been a lot going on since my last post in January. It was my time to return to the workforce part-time. Which means less time for me and a little more money in the family budget. It has been a learning curve for everyone in the family. Some of the chores around the house have not been done on a daily basis. It was cute to hear my little guy ask me why I need to pay bills when he'd like to talk about Pokemon or how come his pants that he wore two days ago are not washed. My oldest is reacting differently. He tries to help out more with chores...when he's in the mood or looking for something. He also, has been pushing our buttons and acting like he doesn't care about school. Hopefully, it's a phase and we'll live through it.


On the knitting front there has been some progress. Last month, I knitted mittens with Reynolds Andean Alpaca Regal. The thumbs are a little tight where they join the mittens. I'll have to leave more stitches for the thumb on the next pair.

This bag was felted using Patons wool. It's big enough to hold the items that were in my purse but, not big enough to hold a project.

This sweater is in limbo right now. Some time soon there will be time set aside to join the sleeves to the sweater, calculate the yoke and the repeats. Right now, there just isn't enough time in the day.


I'm hoping these sleeves are not really baggy. They look a lot wider compaired to the sleeves on my other sweaters. I'm hoping when the sweater is put together and finished the sleeves are not as wide as they look. Worst case...I reknit the yoke and sleeves over the summer or next fall.

These Regia Tweed socks are for DH. The pattern is Gentleman Socks by Kristi. Sock number one has about 6+ inches left of the foot. Sock number two right now has about 5" done of the cuff. The picture was taken over the weekend. It's interesting using the DPNs for socks. All the other socks I've knitted have been done using CT&H method using two circular needles toe up. The DPNs seem to work up faster but, I'm not sure if I like finishing the sock at the toe. When the cuff was done it was a let down because the cuff of all my other socks was the finish line.

3.2 miles

The van went into the shop today for an inspection sticker, oil change, and brakes. Boy are those breaks costly. I dropped off the van and walked home. Several hours later I picked it up. The walk home was the worst of the two walks. It was 19 degrees out.

1st Finished Project of the New Year!

Yarn: Schoeller Esslinger Fortissia Cotton Colori 75% Cotton 25% Nylon

Needles: 2 Addi size 1 circulars from toe up to 1/4" of cuff
4 Knit Picks size 1 DPNs for cuff and size 2 DPNs for cast off

Pattern: Crazy Toes and Heels
Fan toe & short-row-up stockinette stitch heel
Knit 2 Purl 2 cuff




Last night I finished the cuff on my Fortissima Cotton Socks while DH watched the New England Patriots. The only thing left for me to do today was cast off and tie in the loose ends. There were a few lessons learned on this pair of socks. Watching my son play basketball and knitting socks don't equal progress. Last week during my son's game I was knitting happily away on the cuffs of my socks. Sure, I thought I was doing great...wrong. Both socks front and back ended up on one circular instead of the fronts on one circular and the backs on the other circular. Plus, some how I managed to tangle and knot both balls of yarn. The socks got tossed back in the bag to be fixed at a later time. A day or two later I decided they were going to DPN's. I never knitted socks with DPNs. One of the balls was so knotted that I left it alone for several hours and finally sat down for an hour to fix the mess. The DPN's seem to work up faster than the 2 circulars. However, every so often I end up with a yarn over here or there that needs to be knitted together with the next stitch. With the 2 circulars I was use to the cuffs always being the same length. Measuring the cuffs every so often on the DPN's kept them close in size.

My next pair of socks will be for DH and I'm tossing around the idea of making them cuff down on DPN's. I've never done this method. If I find it's faster than ciruclar needles I'll make his socks with DPNs. He wears a size 11 1/2 wide shoe and his socks take me 2-3 weeks longer to make than mine. If I can make them quicker he'll get more socks.

Walked 2 miles

My feet made it on the treadmill for 2 miles of walking. I have to get moving...the turtle below is moving at a snails pace.

Heels!!!

Both heels are completed on my Fortissima Cotton Socks. It won't be long before the cuffs are done and these wonderful socks are on my feet. They may even be done by the end of the weekend. There hasn't been much progress on the Collegiate Pullover. Right now there is about 7 inches of ribbing and stockinette. Another 6 or 7 inches and it will be time for the sleeves.

Today, I walked 2 miles on the treadmill. It was a long 2 miles. Yesterday, mother nature decided to give us ice. My driveway was very icy and my feet went out from under me. It was a hard fall. I'm okay but, my body is sore.

Ice Ice Go Away!

Ice Ice Go Away Don't Come Back Another Day! This winter hasn't really felt like winter in New England. Up until now, we really had a mild winter and broke some records with the temps reaching into the 60's and some places even made 70 degrees. Now it's payback time. New England was hit with rain, freezing rain, ice, sleet and snow. Here in southern New Hampshire we got the freezing rain and ice. I'd rather the cold, snow and sleet. Please Mother Nature no more freezing rain and ice. This is a picture of the street around the corner from my house. That's only one little tree being held up by the lines. There are more trees, limbs and lines down around the area and throughout New England.

Five Miles!!!!

It was a great 5 miles. Ran 3.31 miles and walked the rest. The body could have ran longer but, it dosn't need any injuries. Lowered the speed, increased the minutes and walked while talking with the kids. Before I knew it there was 5 miles on the display.