First sleeve done, second one started, but that is it.... not even quite sure what kept me from knitting.

Probably getting a new LG VX8300 cell-phone.
Just busy playing with all the expanded features, especially trying to load a Gig of songs onto the microSD card I put in it, searching out hacks and backdoors is just too much fun. Helping Jimmy with the same.
We are actually seriously considering flashing the firmware to V02 while waiting to see if Verizon will ever release it or the V03 that is rumored to be coming down the pike from LG. Should improve the sound, ability to work with Bluetooth headphones, etc. Found a great blog right here that spurred much of this research that lead to us to much freeware/shareware that is better than some of the software we had paid for in the past (instead of ever renewing DataPilot, I'll probably stick to BitPim... besides synching contacts/calendars, this can also help make MP3s into clips for ringtones that can be loaded into the phone through USB, can get into the phone's program files and edit to improve or unlock functions.... just good stuff)

Almost finished the first sleeve for the faux-denim baby jacket.
The striping yarn from Knit-Picks arrived yesterday, but before I start the baby pullover (and matching socks??) with it (or even chose not to make it at all), I must finish MY sweater from last year.
The cranberry colored chevron stitched button collar pullover.

I had 1/2 sleeve made, and actually did all the finishing work on the button-fronts and collar. You would think a sleeve goes quickly, but I was getting annoyed with making the edge increases at the same time working the chevron patterns. But I can always use another piece of clothing, so I had better get to it.

Was contemplating making sweaters for the kids out of WoolEase chunky, however after attending Open House at their school, I am thinking that they need SUMMER clothes to stay in that building. Stifling is not even the word. So this year I think I will NOT be doing much holiday knitting. Just not convinced that anyone appreciates it at all.

Knitting and meeting new [little] people

So yesterday we were to travel to take out James and his sister Michelle for lunch. With some time to kill, we were going from craft store to craft store to see if any of them had the Bernat book for the denim jacket...you got it, I forgot it at home and I could not recall to what number you continue to increase, or sleeve length to begin armhole shaping (at least I did ALL the finishing work on the jacket body/collar/button bands/pocket flaps...even hand sewed one steek and CUT IT IN A MOVING CAR with my kid's craft scissors, OY!).... anyway, Jimmy gets a cell call, and the secret was out. Larry is back from the USAF in the United Arab Emirates, and is 'hiding out' for the weekend in Michelle's house WITH Noel and the baby!

Man, I grabbed 10.5 Clovers, and a skein of that LB VelvetChenille, started casting-on in front of the very amused cashier at Michael's, and in the short time while Jimmy food shopped for the full house in Modena, I made a warm baby cap off the ball-band pattern in Lilac. I figured with Earnesto coming through, the temps were suddenly dropping, and being from southern Ohio, they probably only had summer clothes for Arianna with them. Luckily we already had the pink sweater/booties (FINISHED!) with us to leave with Michelle, so we were not empty handed.

Arianna is a very cute little girl, I think she looks more like her mom. Man, what a hugh smile Jimmy had when he held his granddaughter. Somewhere I have to find the cord to download the one cell-phone picture that I took yesterday. If it looks like anything, I will post it here too.

You'd think with the kids at school, I would have done massive amounts of knitting, but alas no, just began the first sleeve of the denim jacket.

Against all I wanted to accomplish, I now have a pile of UFOs waiting for finishing touches. I mean stupid stuff, like Icord or crochet laces for booties, cut steeks and sew in sleeves. Let me see if I can at least get the laces done, so I can drop off the pink sweater/booties set when we p/u James tomorrow. Larry should be out of USAF in a few days (cross all your fingers!), and he, Noel and Ariana are due to move to New Windsor early October, so she will need knitted goods. Especially since neither will have a job/income, they will need whatever the family can help them with.

I caved, and ordered some closeout striped sock-yarn from KnitPicks... make the free Baby pullover with it, and if leftover yarn, socks to match. Figured the Autum colorway is good for boy or girl, so this will definitely be aimed as a pass-around-the-family item.

What I am thrilled to have accomplished is that I got the parts for an External HD, and FINALLY have a FULL backup of my computer put away. And this is SO MUCH FASTER than CDs or DVDs, and probably cheaper than tape backups.

Must dig out the camera....

Have the body of the little 'denim' jacket done. Button bands on, and I knitted on the collar and the pocket flaps directly. Cannot decide if I am lazy, or smart as heck for inventing/unventing ways to NOT have to sew/weave/graft parts on at the end.
I will of course have to play with cutting the steeks and sewing in the sleeves (or do I? Can I cut the steeks, and find a way to make the shaped sleeve cap using shortrows top down and from picked up stitches at the steek? I am sure somewhere I heard of finishing the cut edge with I cord.....)

Been more busy this week working on updating my financial things... I even found two things I never changed my name on, and tomorrow is my 5th anniversary!
But I do so like having upgraded my Microsoft Money software... much easier to keep track of more of my financial doings (like I have so much, HA!)

School starts tomorrow!!!!!
Amazingly, the school assigned both twins to the same Homeroom teacher, and schedule. First time for us. I am psyched that they will both be doing the same homework every night, which should lower the intensity of having each whining at the same time for help with their very different homework. And scheduling parent teacher conferences will be a snap, no more fighting that I went as chaperone on one kid's class trip but not the other's... oh, this will be an interesting year!
Also, this year I can access much of their records on-line, and they both know it, so there will be no hiding tests or anything!

Getting back into the Groove

So, I am not the greatest lecturer... but the Junior GS got the idea, and helped hand full a sample piece I brought along. At the end, I cut it up into teeny pieces, gave one to each so they could see how it did not shred apart (strength), and that even while drying, it was not COLD the way other fabrics would be.
I think I should write up a better proposal for use in future programs, so that anyone, even a non-knitter could easily demonstrate the skill and illustrate to the kids why a fulling machine was invented, and why it would save so much time.

Seems I have been designated the "Master Chemist". Somehow I ended up working with Lye and Nitrogen and then the dyes so that all the GS (Brownies/Juniors/adult Counsellors & Program Aides) in the camp could make spiral Tie-Dyed shirts. At least they ALL came out the way they should! The one I made was designated for hubby, but somehow ended up on the back of my 16 YO step-son. At least it was liked enough to be worn (and in a turn of fate, he wore it to Woodstock, NY.... where else is more appropriate than that town for tie-dyed shirts???????!!!)

I did bring along the Bernat faux-denim jacket I was working on... KIPPING around kids is a great way to bring the loners in... those that were not participating with the group seemed drawn to come over, touch, ask questions. And even had the side effect of a girl, and one of the Program Aides start bringing their knitting in.

So, at this point the body is made (steeking the arm-holes later), 1 and a 1/2 button bands are done. All this while upstate NY in Saugerties and the Hunter Mountain Irish/Scottish Festival this past weekend.

ONE WEEK TO THE START OF SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Should I practice the Happy Dance now, or should I wait till the kids are not here to see and get a complex???????

Funny thing...
I was 'shanghai-ed' into working at a GS day camp. The Junior group will be learning about inventions today, and in perusing the teaching guide, I noticed an entire page will be dedicated to the concept of the water-wheel driven Fulling machine.
You KNOW that I had to offer to bring in pre-and post hand fulled knitting, so that the kids could actually see what is involved in hand-fulling, and then why the invention of the fulling machine was so fortuitous.

Has it really been this long?
Summer and knitting just don't mix for me. The humidity and sweat just don't allow yarn to flow.

So, things must be getting better because I started a jacket for Arianna. It is in a Bernat acrylic baby yarn/pattern, will look a bit like a denim jacket and skirt, complete with topstitched 'seams'.

Of course, I am making the jacket body in one piece, instead of the three pieces it was written for. No one would know it was me if I did not do that!
I was contemplating doing the sleeves from shoulder down so that there would be NO sewing at the end, but in thinking about it more, that would not look natural for a denim jacket, so I will sew the sleeves in at the shoulder so that there will be a very defined seam.

Ka-Ching

Sold and mailed out 2 skeins of discontinued Red Heart Baby Sport in "Starbright" colorway.
It is gorgeous, but I made my baby bunting with matching tam out of it years ago, don't wish to make another.
Hope my teeny stash reduction found a great new home.

Found a few more "Want It Nows" on Ebay, so I posted a few more acrylic yarns from my SABLE that just don't speak to me....but they must speak to someone!

Ah, the A/C in Jimmy's car is fine.
Fine enough that I was able to finish the Homespun bias baby blanket even though temps outside hit over 100 degrees in spots during the drive to Brooklyn.

Brooklyn was relatively quiet....guess the 'bungalow colony crowd' was all upstate NY.

Got to visit a few minutes with Tanta Sarah... first weekend alone in her apt after weeks in ICU and then staying with my parents. She looks pretty damn good for someone who could have 'left us' just a month, month and a half (and $186,000+ insurance dollars) ago.

Kids start Summer Academy today.
Every M-F for 5 weeks, 8A-12P. They don't see it as punishment, or as some kind of label on them, they truly enjoy school, and this will help them retain what they learned through the 4th grade, and even get a leg-up on math/literature for 5th grade.

FIRST SALE

I did it, made my first sale, and my SABLE stash reduction has begun.
As well as putting funds back in the bank.

Cool.....helps me, and seems to have fulfilled a great knitting need of my buyer.

Stash reduction? MAYBE

Tried something new today.

Been doodling around with Ebay since I realised "A" will need a clarinet for school, and it may pay to get one that is lightly used and/or in refurbished state, rather than spend WELL over $260/year to rent one.....but I accidentally tripped over an interesting feature, the "Want it Now" section, which is basically wishes posted, hoping that someone will put up that item.

Guess what?

I found a section on YARN wishes, and actually had two of them in my stash!

Took some digital pictures, stumbled around with the on-line selling features, and I now have my first two items listed on Ebay.
Hopefully the 'wishers' will find these to their liking and make some offers.

Hope to find more things I can winnow down this way.

No knitting news lately...kids are out of school, yarn is sticking to my hands!

However, I feel a sense of accomplishment, won two items at E-Bay, a pair each of Brown and Black Paddock boots for the kids to use at Girl Scout camp. They need safe heeled boots for the horse program they are going to, and they can be used for other wear too.

Makes me want to take out my old riding boots...too bad my calves are no longer SLIM!

Hm....maybe I should put THEM up on E-Bay????

Weather woes

It's been almost unseasonably hot.
90, humid.
Between feeling washed out and drained, the darned Homespun sticks to my hands!

I am tired of baby blankets. When I finish the lilac, I don't know if I can face making the melon/white stripped yet.
Have to get to the post office and mail off all the baby gifts (as well as my hard-drive cooler, which stopped cooling just at the temperatures spiked, OY!)

One good thing....
Last week hubby's SUV died. While he personally rebuilt the transmission two years ago (his first try!), this time the job just was not worth it. The truck is a '92. So thanks to the generosity of my MIL, we picked up a '98 Explorer XLT.
Now I am not stuck at home [because he needed my SUV to get to work and fire calls]...especially good in that school ends on the 9th, they don't go back 'till Aug 28. Could you imagine being stuck on top of a mountain for 2.5 months with two whiney kids????

If I never made it plain, yes, the blue 'diamonds' baby blanket is done. Just have to get to the post office with it....a bit difficult, as we are currently down to one vehicle, and DH needs mine to get to work.

Passed the halfway point on the lilac Homespun bias blanket.
I started that thing three times.
First I was doing garter stitch, then I decided to try it in stockinette for the body with garter edges....then I ripped that out and went back to all garter. I am STILL not sure which way I liked it better.
When this one is done, I am supposed to start on the melon/white stripped baby blanket.
It is PC to say I am getting sick and tired of making blanket after blanket????

The 5-hour sweater got its second sleeve, buttons, and even a 'made by' tag done, with at least an hour to spare .
And the baby shower was a big surprise to Vered....we snuck it in the middle of a Hebrew School Lag B'Omer picnic.
The striped blanket seemed to be a hugh hit with the ladies there.

Pictures to follow.

Started a lilac Homespun bias baby-blanket, but realised that I need to get the button-bands done on the baby-bunting, so that is next.

One of these days I will need to clear off a spot, get out the sewing machine, and do the steeked armholes on the bunting, and the snowflake sweater (also the neckline for that)

Ooh ooh....BIG GIRL KNITS arrived, and is this ever a fun and interesting book.
Written for 'size 14 and up', this book is still a valuable aid for those under that size who have "boob, bell or butt" issues and wish to find what are the best shapes, and yarn weights to enhance your shape, and how to add shaping to established patterns.

Amusingly written, sometimes a bit "in your face", this book should be on every serious knitter's shelf, whatever his or her size.

And may I again complement Amazon.com. The price was excellent, but even taking advantage of the free shipping offer, the books arrived in three days from ordering!

7/8th done.

5 inches left to go (appx 3 inches of pattern, 2 inch of garter border)

My fingers hurt!

Since the camera is out....

Purple Bias blanket made from Bernat Baby Coordinates.