"To Knit With!"

When I first started dyeing yarn, about two years ago, it was on a whim. I was just playing with old wool yarn and Kool-Aid. It was fun and creative and I enjoyed it. I have since graduated to more sophisticated techniques, yarns, and dyes. I've surrounded myself with a small group of other talented individuals who also love to dye fibers and who are an inspiration to me. You know them as The Usual Suspects. We've gotten together probably a half dozen times to dye together, with each of us dyeing 400 to 600 grams of mostly sock weight yarn each time. That's a lot of yarn. My husband looks at it all the time and asks "What is it for?" My answer has usually been "I'm not sure." I've gifted some to other knitters. I've pushed some on some unlucky recipients. The failed attempt at black, silver, and green comes to mind and the lucky child who thought it looked like camouflage - not the look I was going for! But mostly it's been accumulating in the yarn room - waiting.

Until yesterday. These could be the fastest socks I ever knit. I love that even though I only used three colors when I dyed this yarn, there are hundreds of colors in the strands as I knit with it. I love that I picked the colors because I liked them - no other reason than that! I love that there will never, ever be a pair of socks just like these anywhere in the world because of the uniqueness of this yarn that I dyed. Every stitch makes me happy because I can't wait to see which of the little color variations pops up on the needle. I love that I can now answer the question "What is all that yarn for?"

"To knit with - duh!!"

Happy Feet!

"Check out the new socks!" "Oooh, pretty!" "How come we don't get socks like that?" "Because we don't wear socks at all." "Do you think she could make flipper warmers?"
"Hurry, Kathryn's coming!!" "C'mon Little Guy, you have to keep up!"
"This way to the penguin shelf."
"Don't worry. We'll pull you up. Hang on. We're pulling as hard as we can!"
"Safe at last. What escape? We've been here the whole time!"

Seed Stitch Rib socks in Colinette Jitterbug #117 Alizerine

Size 0, 32 " Addi Turbo circular needle

Toe-Up,Turkish Cast-On, Short-Row heel

Started May 30, 2007 -- Finished June 17, 2007

My feet are very happy indeed, especially since I finally lost the air conditioning war on Saturday. The penguins are happy too. But me, I'm freezing!!!

Five Dads

One thing our family does really well is dads. There are three of them, my father and two of my three brothers. Each one has his own parenting style which mirrors his personality. No one of the three is like the other. We gathered at my house last night for a celebration of the fathers. Of course we had to wait until the completion of the US Open to eat - because that's what we do.

My dad became a father nearly fifty years ago with the birth of his number one daughter, me. Five other children would follow in rapid succession. Dad is a sports guy. He spent his career filming professional and college sports. He is also an avid golfer. If you grew up with my dad, you knew sports. Even as a girl you knew the important things like how to read a defense, what club to use to reach the green, and where the top of the key is. But you also knew the important stuff too like, "Your daddy loves you" and the only sure fire birth control method in the world, "KYLC": Keep your legs crossed. I adore my dad,
My brother Dan, third kid in our family. Clueless. That's what he was when he came into parenthood 16 years ago. With twins. A boy and a girl. Then he was okay for a while when they were manageable. Now he's clueless again. Because they are 16. Dan's style has always been sort of "What?" as if he's forgotten all the stuff he did or that he had a childhood or the fact that compared to him, his kids are saints! He is a loving and wonderful dad; you only had to see his 16 year old daughter curl up in the chair with him last night to know that.
Dave, number four of the six kids. Dave has been a dad for 11 years. He has two darling daughters who Kathryn gets to see quite often as they live only 4 mile from us. Dave has a high-stress, high-finance, high-travel job. The kind that can ruin families and relationships. It hasn't. Dave, by sheer force of will and the love for his family, will not allow it. He's more of a strong, silent type. Not much for expressing emotion or words for that matter. Dave has inspired a sense of adventure in the girls that I wish I had. On weekends, they cook gourmet meals together. There isn't much that the girls won't eat.
After the US Open we ate. Pulled pork, potato salad, cole slaw, rustic bread and tomato salad, home-made ice cream cake. Wait, I said 5 dads ... that's only three.

Jon, Jon's dad, Jon's sister, Jenny. Confession time. Yesterday was not the day Jon wanted it to be. I caved to family (mom) pressure and the fact that my mom hosted the Mother's Day celebration. I couldn't say "no" when the call went out for a place to have a Father's Day celebration. Even though we had just talked about what to do on Father's Day minutes before, how he wanted to spend the day, what he wanted to do. Considering the only other choices (the other two moms) weren't even at the party yesterday....nope, I should have said no and I didn't. I'm really, really, sorry honey.

You know that in Kathryn's eyes you are the best of all the dads in the world. And if you promise not to tell my dad, I'll let you in on a little secret, I do too. Happy Father's Day!

Fiber Friday

I can be the biggest yarn snob ever at times - especially when it comes to mohair. But it's kind of a reverse snob thing since most mohair, for me, is so lovely to look at, but against my skin, not so much. Kidsilk Haze? Love it, love to look at it, hold it, knit it. Can't put it up against my skin. I have a whole bunch of Alchemy mohair in the stash that I guess I'm hoping will transmogrify into something else or everybody I know will be receiving fuchsia scarves for the next few years. This little gem however, is a goat of a different color. Crystal Palace, Kid Merino. I suspect its saving grace is its 44% micro/nylon content which you'd never guess when fondling this yarn. It still has the perfect amount of "mohairy-ness" to give it an airy look and feel, and merino wool to give it "uummph" and well, face it, something to actually hold on to the stitches. I bought it (on sale, important to remember) with this in mind. I probably won't do the Stevie Nicks ginormous bell sleeves, but the rest is OK. I think. And I don't think I would stand there looking so - uhm, frumpy if I were all dressed in pretty pink clothes. This is an Alchemy Pattern called "Femme Fatale". Oh, I get it! She's trying to look mysterious! Nope - I've seen the rest of the Alchemy pattern models, they all look frumpy and weird. Crystal Palace Kid Merino

28% Kid Mohair, 28% Merino, 44% Micro/Nylon

Color #4669, Blush; 240 yards

Retail price $5.70 Sale price $2.85 (Yeah baby!)

Thank you all for the kind words yesterday regarding my friend Helen. I feel very fortunate to have had the time I did with her and I know that I benefited greatly from the experience. I've been told that Brenda and I are welcome to go sit and knit in the bistro area anytime we want to. They have awesome cookies there so I'm thinking there's a Friday morning outing to the Sunrise Center in our future.

Have a great weekend. Wish a Happy Father's Day to the dad's around you.

Hats Off

She was told in early December of last year that she had three months to live. By the time we met her in March, Helen was one week shy of the date. "She's just looking for people to knit with her for an hour or so a week"; that's what the activities director at the assisted living center said when I responded to a phone message. "She's already a really good knitter, but no one here knits. We're mostly an Alzheimer's facility." That's how Brenda and I wound up knitting with Helen on Friday mornings.


It's a wonderful way to pass time for all of us. We sit and knit and chat. Helen knits a little bit but mostly now, she just wants to talk or to listen to us talk. While we're there, we're treated like royalty by the staff. "There are fresh baked cookies over here", "Can I get you some coffee or a soda?" Often, other residents come sit at the table just to see what's going on. Helen always shows off our work. Everyone there knows about Helen's knitting; they know that Helen has been knitting baby hats for the past several years. Up until this recent diagnosis she lived in Arizona with her son and knit upwards of 580 baby hats in three years which were sent back to Minnesota and donated to infant nurseries through the Visiting Nurse Association. Know she knits hats for staff members, babies born to staff member's families, other siblings of these babies - basically, you want a hat, Helen will knit it. She must knit a lot when we're not around because there are always quite a few finished ones on Fridays, even though she barely knits a few rounds with us. Regardless, both Brenda and I love this time so much.


The past couple of Friday mornings Helen hasn't felt like coming down to knit. Either she was visiting with her son or she was too tired. This morning I got a phone call from the assisted living center. Helen passed away yesterday afternoon, quietly, in her room, with her son by her side. The've saved her final hat at the center. I'm going over there this week to - I don't know - I guess, say goodbye, say a prayer - just something.

Air Wars

Thank you, thank you! The Sublime baby sweater is finished and ready to be presented tomorrow. And since I'm in desperate need of a hair cut, I couldn't be happier.

I love the little sailor collar on this sweater! What little guy wouldn't look cute wearing this?

Finishing the Larger Than Life bag is scheduled for today, seeing as Kathryn has already announced her plans to go elsewhere for the day to play. Then I can take "the book" out of its hiding place and curl up on the porch and read. Which brings me to the title of today's post.

The temperature has been hovering near 90 degrees for the past few days and while it's humid, but not oppressively so. I've been lucky thus far in my fight against turning on the air conditioning. I've always had a goal to make it to July 4th without turning it on but we've never made it. And I clearly admit that I should not be the family thermometer as I am always cold. Even in this heat wave, I've been wearing a light sweatshirt. My problem with the A/C in our house is twofold: the disparity in temperates from one place to another and the noise. The condenser for the unit is right outside the family room (where every one is) so when it runs (which is constantly when it's hot) you can't hear anything but that. So when the A/C is on, I usually retreat to the bedroom where it is warmer and quieter. Here's my question, if you have air conditioning - what's your threshold? When do you turn it on?

Can You Push Me?

I need the kind of push to get me going again. Like when the swing slows down and you need to get up really, really high so you jump really, really far. This is all that remains on the little green sweater, sewing down half of one side of the collar. But it just sits - two days away from having to be in its intended recipient's hands.

These two - well. Wouldn't they look nice together? All it would take is a bit of stitching around the top and, zip, zap, zing - DONE!

A double-lined lining even! Now this, this took time. And math, planning, cutting, sewing, re-sewing, ironing. I'm just sayin'....
So what is it that keeps me from getting these two "so close, but so far" to-do items completed. Some may say it's the fact that I spent a wonderful day yesterday at the club pool with a girlfriend and her girls, and Kathryn and her friend (yep, I'm spoiled).

I'm thinking the answer lies here.

Please note that there is no Oprah sticker on the book which means I have had this book since BEFORE she deemed it cool.

So - push me! Sorry about the weird color here today - weird sky!!

Left Hanging

Summer must be here because I'm alone already. Jon mentioned last night that it would be so quiet sitting by himself eating breakfast. So, I got up this morning to have breakfast with him before he left for work. We sat together for about three minutes before I realized I totally misread that comment. I'm a morning person; he's not a person in the morning.

Kathryn slept at a friend's house last night. She'll be home by 9 at which point another friend will be here and I'll loose her to a day full of girl activities. I'll only be required it they need transportation or the oven.

I reserved our home theatre room last night for the final episode of "The Sopranos" so my girlfriend and I could watch it in big screen, surround sound, HD comfort (just like boys do when they watch sports). Since I was the only one home, the reservation process was largely ceremonial but in case Jon's nephew's graduation got over early (right!) I didn't want him coming home early and trying to watch something lame on the National Geographic Channel!!

I logged on to one of my favorite news sites this morning and this picture was front and center. Not only is this one of my greatest fears in life, but it sums up how all the previously mentioned events have left me feeling - I'm left hanging.

AP

Schoo-oo-oo-ol's Out For Summer!

I'm interrupting Fiber Friday for a few pictures (and summary) from yesterdays year-end festivities at St. Therese. I arrived at the end of Field Day which, based on the appearance of all the children must have included nothing but water games. 400 wet children. Not just damp, but soaking wet, filthy children. Lunch was served promptly at 10:00 AM - in the morning - pretty much just after I had finished breakfast. In order to avoid whatever catastrophe occurred last year, the Family Picnic Planners had us declare our lunch selection way back in, like, April. I apparently declared a cheeseburger. I discovered however, a flaw in the system when I got to the food line and saw that there was no way they could enforce my choice. However, it's a Catholic school. And really, do you want a hot dog at 10:00 in the morning any more than a cheeseburger?? And yes, I realize too that they couldn't force me to eat anything - but I had paid for it - way back in, like, April!!!

The BFFs - Ella, Maggie, Kenzie

Can you spot the Family Picnic Planners Fatal Flaw #2? You got it - Sno-Cones. The already wet, filthy, children are now, sticky, but fruity smelling. But they have really cute blue tongues.

And while the parents ate their lunches - alone - on the grass, the children ran wildly around, ignoring their parents. I'm left wondering why we call this the "Family Picnic". I caught this young man, we'll call him, "John" (because that's his name) trying to get down off the car before his mom found him happily sitting atop it. He was unsuccessful. His mom hopes that "John" will one day grow up to marry Kathryn. He has kind of a cute butt!! And a devilish grin!!

I give you the very best 4th grade teacher EVER!! Thank you, Mrs. Vidmar!

And the newest 5th grader. Congratulations on a great year Kathryn!Ahhhhhhhh, summer is here at last. I have such plans for us. Lots to do and see. Places to go.

Looks like she has other plans. Have a great weekend. And to all those who are out of school today- YIPPEE, YAHOO, HOORAY!!

Strange Findings

The coast is clear and it's OK for Jon to come home. We even managed to have a sort-of decent dinner last night instead of cereal. Take out subs from Jimmy Johns. I said "sort-of decent". The process of cleaning up took much longer than I expected because I got so sidetracked along the way. The easiest thing to do was to just gather everything up and take it down stairs to my studio. That was just the beginning of the problem. There's so much fun stuff to play with there. I re-skeined a hand dyed hanks and - wow. Yarn that I had just been so-so about, took on a whole new look. I had to quickly stop that time killer. I stared organizing books on my shelves. Didn't know I had some that I had. I thought about book labeling all the books. Time killer.

Eventually, I got things put away and pulled out a few relics to begin work on the lining for the Larger than Life bag.

This is an IRON. Its metallic surface gets very hot. You press it on to cloth surfaces to make them flat and smooth.

This is a SEWING MACHINE. It is used to attach fabric pieces together with stitches.

I own both of these modern wonders. I don't currently posses the brain capacity to understand how to make the lining and will be ripping out the "practice lining" I made last night and trying again today or at some point. And yes, Vicki, I had to call my mom. She had to come over and show me how to thread the sewing machine, which, I might add, I had done correctly. There is some little dial on the back of said machine that allows its little feet to pop up and move the fabric along. Neither of us knew about that little bugger. Thankfully, Mom doesn't charge for house calls.

Oh, and look what I found along the way. Remember the Log Cabin Blanket? Neither did I. Good thing I located it. This blanket is going to become the "blankie" for my friend's adopted son, Lou, when he arrives in the States from Guatemala. He's scheduled to arrive sometime in June or July. Lucky I found it. It needs a few more rounds, a nice crochet edging and lots of love!

It's the last day of school (yippee!!). That means Field Day and Family Picnic (or "We're required to keep your kids for one more day and we really don't want to so what the hell, let's have some fun and invite you too!") . Do you want to see some pictures? See you tomorrow.

Dear Jon,

I know you've only been out of town since Monday, but a lot of things have happened since that time. Well, they haven't really happened so much as sort of - exploded around the house. And I was just wondering, as much as we miss you and everything, would there be any way at all that you could come home just a little bit later than you said...or at the very least, could you make sure to give us about six hours notice before you come home? And even with that, I'm not sure we I could undo the damage which has been done around here during your absence.


Monday I thought long and hard about putting the final seam in this sweater for Laura's baby. But I don't get my hair cut for two weeks. Well, that deadline is pretty far away. So. I just left that sweater out on the ottoman in the family room to ponder the situation and maybe think about some other stuff for a while.
Then I thought about this for a while. I got some interfacing from my mom on Sunday (when we went there to eat your chicken!) for the lining for my crochet bag. So I got the fabrics out and played around with my selections again and recalculated how much I would need as my bag is a titch smaller than in the pattern. But because I'm not finished with the bag, I had to put this on hold, so I left this stuff out. On the kitchen table. Where it still is now.

Here's the bag of my hand-dyed yarn I took to knitting group to show the girls yesterday morning. On the kitchen counter. Exactly where I left it. Yesterday morning.


I get kind of - distracted with you gone. It was really nice here yesterday and for a change no one was having their lawn mowed (I KNOW!!) so I spent some time on the porch enjoying the fresh air and working on my socks. Toe - up, seed stitch rib, in Jitterbug, Alizerine. I left them there. It's supposed to storm today so I'll probably rescue them at some point. (Mental note, get socks off porch before noon when storms are supposed to hit.)
Later when Kathryn was outside with Nicole eating her dinner of Cap'n Crunch cereal (don't worry, I had Grape Nuts), I worked on putting the panels together and crocheting the borders and side and bottom pieces for the Larger than Life bag. I finished it, and left it on the couch in the family room in kind of a heap. Just looked - yep still there. Cat sleeping on it.

This, this is SO not my fault. I believe the instructions were "Why don't you take those downstairs and we'll start a gallery of all your awesome school work there?" Pretty clever, eh? I mean really. Who wants her crap laying all over the house?

Car sock. But it's not working for me and I know I'll never make the second one. I need to find a better pattern for Lorna's Laces. In the mean time, I just left it in the car. Those needles are pretty sharp so don't sit on them or poke yourself with them.

So, bedtime last night and I can't find my socks to work on. Have you seen them? So I pull the Lutea Tank out. I'm having gauge issues. You understand those don't you honey? I'm on my third needle and this time it seems like it may work. In the mean time - yeah, it's upstairs on the bedside table. And so is the BIG knitting bag. The LL Bean one you trip over all the time? My room. My mess. I don't do into your work shop. Nuff said.

I'm glad you're coming home tomorrow. I miss you. But please, don't call today because I'm going to be pretty busy. It's pouring rain right now (10:15 AM CDT - the socks are wet! Why didn't you tell me it was raining??)

See you tomorrow.

Less than Zero

Jon is out of town all week so I have the morning drive to school. We're celebrating two birthdays with the Tuesday knitting group this morning (Happy Birthday Peggy and Sue!!). So basically, I'm in a hurry and I'm resorting to being a copy-cat.

Inspired by Mayhem's and Chaos' recent tummy shots, Tigger played along too.

"I told you that I do not have kitty man-boobs mom. Just a big, fat, fluffy tummy. Oh, and please tell Chris I heard that crack about being an alien!!

Not wishing to be left out, and always thinking there mght be a cookie in it for her, here's Holli's money shot too.

"I have some mom. The cat uses them all the time! Can I have a cookie?"

I may have a finished Larger than Life bag to show off by the end of the week. Cross your fingers for the sewing machine part! See you tomorrow.

Winding Down

I have a whole lot of nothing today - but I guess I can manage to wind it together in to a coherent post. I did some stealth dyeing last week (dyeing without my pals). I'm always reluctant to do this because I still feel as if I need constant adult supervision and guidance. So, second degree burns from boiling water on my hand not withstanding, I'm happy with my results.

I dyed these skeins for two friends who made the mistake of complimenting me on other yarn I had dyed.

Looks like Brenda will have to get more yarn now. For my troubles, Brenda rewarded me with with 3 1/2 hours of uninterrupted sitting, knitting and chatting time at Starbucks on Friday. And it was all unexpected and unplanned. The Hospice patient with whom we usually visit and knit on Friday mornings was not feeling up for the visit so we had some free time. This is how you feel when you're with Brenda.
We had two graduation parties this weekend - kids of friends. Kathryn's best friend's oldest brother (is that a stretch?) and the son of the friend who fixed Jon and I up on our first date. He (the son) was an usher in our wedding at 6-years old - that might have been about the last time I saw him. So, in between the $100-a-pop festive events I began going through my hand dyed stash. I'm now obsessed with re-skeining my collection and photographing it in its different stages. Jon is not thrilled with this project as the memory card on the camera keeps forgetting to download and erase itself after these little sessions. Oops.

For those of you kind enough to point out that not all of last Friday's yarn was show re-skeined, I'm sorry and here you go.