Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime...

It's taken nearly a month for me to finally feel like I'm on vacation. Usually the first few weeks is spent dealing with all the stuff you've put off "until I have a moment (or several hours) to deal with it". Oil change in the car, hair, dr appts, blood donations, etc. And then you need to get out and pick up that stuff that wasn't quite necessary, but would be nice to get fixed, stock up on, etc. Costco, hardware store, kitchen stuff, etc. Catch up on the emails you've been meaning to send and the websites on the list to explore, the music/books you've been meaning to pick up.

Then there's the retirement parties, graduations, college orientations, and some professional presentations to prep for.

No wonder I'm exhausted from my "vacation"!

There has been knitting during this time, believe it or not.

Proof:

Finally finished the (no-longer-secret) Retirement blanket - each strip was made by a different person. I gave 6 other crocheters/knitters a skein (or two) of yarn and said something along the lines of "choose any stitch pattern you like, and make it about 7 inches wide and as long as the yarn holds out". Turned out that everyone's ended up being about 50 inches long. Mattress stitched the strips together and single crocheted edging, and there is a lot of love stitched into this blanket.

Citron shawl:
1.25 skeins of Dream in Color Baby, 8 repeats
Color: Into the Mystic
Needle: size 6 (4.0 mm)
Started: June 10, 2010
Finished: June 28, 2010
(but not yet blocked or photographed)

Also working still on the Susie Hoodie and my Purple Vanilla Rib socks, but no new pics.

The Dork also finished his first knitting project: the Horizontal Rib scarf (Ravelry link, even though he's not on Ravelry - yet) in Dream in Color Classy in Deep Seaflower.



He is one of the loosest knitters that I know! This was worsted weight yarn that I had to have him work on size 5 needles, and probably should have gone down to 4's. But, it's a finished object and he's already given it away to a friend!

Next up for me: Tour de Fleece. My goal is just to spin each day and see how far I can get into the stash of fiber! I've got at least 3-4 pounds of fiber of all different types & colors that I want to get to. There's Polwarth, Targhee, superwash merino, BFL, merino/tencel, merino/bamboo, various batts of unremembered fiber, etc.

But I'm heading to Southern California this weekend for a little get-together of some high school friends, many of whom I haven't seen in more than 25 years. [Love the House of Mom & Dad, too.] Should I take my wheel, or just my knitting? Hmmm, do I have knitting at the right stage of mindlessness... Oh no, maybe I need to cast on something!

Happy 4th of July to all US readers and Happy belated Canada Day to the Canadians! Happy Friday to everyone and watch out for invading grapevines!

Sometimes you win...

 (Warning: picture-heavy post)

Working my way backwards in the Win Column:

Graduation: Class of 2010. The Dork will be heading to San Francisco State next year. Now if he'll just get a job to help pay for it!

Prom:Aren't they cute? They decided to go with a bit of steampunk aesthetic in their outfits, so I made his vest. I also found the perfect buttons in my button box with which to make cufflinks! So super easy using this tutorial.

For the win, this was the amount of thread left on my bobbin when I finished the vest, except for a bit of hand-sewing. 

Both my guys are knitting up a storm! I find it very amusing that The Hubby has been spending more time at Purlescence Yarns than I have! (Courtesy of his work schedule for the last few months.) He is working on a vest out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Twisted in Muddy Autumn Rainbow, and The Dork is working on a scarf for himself in Colourscape Chunky.

At Stitches West (waaaay back when, after I last posted), I also won because The Hubby bought me some Glow sock yarn from WabiSabi in a gorgeous purple (of course). He bought more yarn at Stitches than I did - he definitely won! I bought fiber instead...

Oh, you came to see what I was up to knit-wise?

 Two retirement scarves are in the works: on the left is an Irish Hiking Scarf in Cascade Sierra; on the right is a Strangling Vine scarf in Naturally Caron Spa. Trying to get the lavender one done by Tuesday so it can be blocked on Wednesday and presented to the retiree on Friday, her last official day of work! The other one is going to be shipped up to Washington for a teacher who retired last year.

My Susie Hoodie is going along, the 2nd purple 3x1 rib sock is started, I saw the Sally Rand pattern from the Twist Collective and had to start that right away too (Pictures on that later when I figure out which bag I threw it into when cleaning.)

Then I realized that I really needed to get to a repair that has been sitting for the last couple months. My boss' daughter-in-law's grandmother had made her a crocheted afghan when she was little, and there were a couple of damaged rows; could I fix it? Sure!

The separated row goes almost all the way across. Upon further close inspection, it turned out to involve parts of 3 rows. So I ripped out the damaged yarn and single-crocheted the rows. Luckily, the blanket seemed to have been made in Red Heart acrylic, and I found a great match in the last yarn swap.

Before I crocheted the last row, I put in a sock yarn life line; it was a smooth contrasting yarn threaded through the bottom loops of the row above the last row I removed. Unfortunately in crochet, to remove a row that is above the damaged area, you have to carefully remove it loop by loop, not unzipping it as you could normally would if you were ripping from the top down.

Make your stitch as normal.

BUT, before making the next stitch, remove the hook from the final loop. Insert a slightly smaller hook from left to right through the bottom 2 loops of the stitch in the row above (that is on your lifeline). Grab the final loop of the stitch you just made and pull it through, making sure it's not twisted.

Remove the smaller hook, use the regular hook and make the next stitch, repeating the steps above until you're finished. Weave in any ends of old and new yarn that need to disappear, and take a bow! 

Here is the completed afghan. You can see the new yarn under the name, but it's actually a very good match, considering the original blanket is almost 30 years old!

So, how have you all been doing?

Oh dear -- another month gone!

So, this month has zoomed by, much quicker than anticipated. Of course, being sick for 2 weeks will make the time go quickly. Actually I was really only sick for a couple days. The aftermath asthma has kicked my butt for the rest of the time. Lack of oxygen will do that. Love my inhaler and cough meds! Luckily (or unluckily) this past week was vacation from school, and I didn't have anything planned!

But there has been lots of knitting over the last month! This is the back of my Minimalist Cardigan. The fronts and back are finished and I'm working on sleeve one. I'd like to get this done in time for Stitches West in a couple weeks.

There is also a Secret Blanket, which (shame on me) still isn't quite done, so no photos. These 2 are part of the 3 projects I designated for this month's #UFOSmackdown 2010. The 3rd project was finished right at the beginning of the month - Hubby Socks. They're in the laundry right now, so I'll photograph them later.

And then there are the other projects... Here is the first Fine Cabled Mitt that is destined for The Hubby. Only have about an inch to go on the hand and the thumb to finish.

Since the mitt isn't quite "knit in the dark" material, and I was going to see the new Cirque du Soleil show "Ovo" last week, I cast on a vanilla 3x1 rib sock to carry in my purse. Through a doctor appointment for me, a visit to urgent care with Mari and the show (fabulous and recommended), all on Thursday, I'm up to the gusset increases. This is Rabbitworks Fibre Studio Toe Jam sock yarn in Black Orchid. Love, love, love how the fabric is working up! (And she'll be at Stitches West, so I can get some more...)

And then I promised myself that there would be no Knitting Olympics or Ravelympics knitting this time around, due to the timing of the other projects that need doing. But then I was watching the opening ceremonies and before I knew it, Spanish Dancer had appeared on the needles. I loved how the yarn (Ellen's Half-pint farm's merino silk blend) patterned when it was wound. I'm about 2 inches into the garter portion right now. (No, Kathy -- must work on blanket....!)

In the "other creative stuff" category, I decorated this mailbox (found at Target) with some rub-ons that I had. Destined for my secret pal at school, I stuffed it with some other gifts, including chocolate, and I think it turned out adorably! Will have to keep this gift in mind for others...

Remember this scarf (Ravelry link)? I gave it to my hairdresser as a Valentine's Day gift and he was so excited by it that he immediately put it on and declared that he was going to wear it all day! Isn't he cute?!

 

Another creative thing happening is by The Dork! He liked the horizontal rib scarf (from One More Skein) so much that he wanted to cast one on, but in a chunky weight. He's using Rowan Colourscape in the Storm colorway and doing a great job with it. 

And one last picture for you -- last month I ripped out 4 different projects that were never going to be finished, a twin-bed sized blanket, a shrug, a vest and a shawl. The yarn for the 2 larger projects are gone, out of the stash, out of my life...good riddance!

I really should go and get something done today besides sit on the couch and knit. Oh, but I guess I have - I've written a blog post...

Fun stuff

A super quick post before I head to bed.

Finished Object #1 for UFO Smackdown 2010

Fingerless mitts (Ravelry link - based on Jacoby)
Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks Kona Superwash sock yarn in color Evergreen
US size 1 needles
Approx. 186 yards
Started Dec. 29, 2009
Finished Jan. 12, 2010

The second mitt took 2 days to knit. Of course, that was over the weekend with nothing else to do but knit!


Now I can justify casting on one of the two sweaters I'm itching to work on: Minimalist Cardigan or Cece.

Here's a funny one for you:

Can't read it too well? Try this: 

And yes, it belongs to The Dork. A friend of his got it for him as a combo Christmas/birthday gift. Those of you that know him know that it's a perfect shirt!

(Funny, that zombie unicorn sort of looks like something Bill Peet might have drawn.)

Odds and Ends...

Wrap-up of projects:

The Dork's homework project (a Shinto shrine) that he and his class partner decided to make out of Legos:
Side view. The roof wasn't quite right because they didn't quite have all the pieces they wanted.

(And yes, that is a stormtrooper on the roof!)


Bird's eye view, including interior








Front










From the other side












Dork placed 3rd (tied) in a saber competition. He's the one on the right, and he's giving me the "don't take my picture, Mom" look.



As a reward, we ate at Joe's Cable Car Restaurant (mmm, patty melt and onion rings).



I've finished my fingerless mitts (and have been commissioned for 3 more pairs by members of my family).






New Stuff:
Started a Scrunchable Scarf in Mirasol K'acha as a mindless project to take to the theater when we saw the Reduced Shakespeare Company in "The complete works of William Shakespeare (abridged)". Fun yarn (not purple!), fun pattern, even more fun show!


I've started (and restarted, and restarted) a baby blanket that needs to be gifted by Dec. 16th. Nothing that I've tried has really resonated with me and I'm getting bored after only 2-3 inches. I may give up on the dk weight yarn I'm using and find enough worsted-weight and just crochet a fast giant granny square to get it over with! The older brother got a giant granny square blanket from me 3 years ago. Or I'm intrigued with the thought of knitting random stripes...

I'm thankful that I have enough yarn in stash that I can change my mind.
I'm thankful that my family is healthy and happy.
I'm thankful that I'm happily employed and that my husband is too.
I'm thankful that we have a happy, well-adjusted Dork Teen.
I'm thankful that I have great friends that I can laugh and cry with.
I'm thankful that we have a roof over our heads.
I'm thankful that we have enough food to eat and clothing to wear.
I'm thankful that we have a producing vegetable garden and access to fresh local produce.
I'm thankful that we have access to this fabulous communication and research system called The Internet.
I'm thankful that I have enough brains (usually) to solve minor house repair issues (the kitchen faucet this time) by searching the Internet for information.

I'm thankful that I can contribute to other people's fund-raising efforts. Stacie is raising money for the Lymphoma Research Foundation through her Etsy shop. I sent over a scarf for her to sell (and I'm looking for a couple other ones that I know I have around here somewhere...). You must see her Incredibly Soft Vibrating Scarf!

And with that, I'm thankful that we have options for our Thanksgiving meal this year. It will only be the 3 of us and an out-of-commission oven. We were smart enough to realize that we don't have to heat the entire smoked turkey at once, so I carved the turkey when it arrived home Tuesday. We have a small convection oven that we've been using, but there was no way to get even a smallish turkey into it! The bonus: getting to eat leftovers before we've even had Thanksgiving dinner!

Hope your Thanksgiving is a joyful one for you!

Homework

Homework report heard this afternoon:

"Mom, I have to create a Shinto shrine by Wednesday. And I want to do it in Legos.














Yeah, I know I need to get the bin out of my closet. I think it'll be mostly white and red.

I kinda got the idea from this Lego Golden Temple."



I'd forgotten just how many Legos we owned! The blue bin is a 30-gallon tote.

And how crazy is it that my Librarian brain said "we should probably sort them out better...hmmm - by size, color, type of piece (windows, angled roof, Technics...)"

Brownies!

Yup, The Dork is making brownies. He requested them for a club meeting tomorrow and was told that if he wanted them, he had to make them.

It smells really good in here right now!

(He wants to learn to cook more. Chalk it up to his dad's influence!)

Senior

How did this happen, this "growing up" thing? And how did it happen so fast?





"Mom, stop taking my picture! I don't understand why you have to do that."

"It's a mom thing. This is the last time I'm going to take your picture on the first day of school, so deal with it!"

(I couldn't find the kindergarten picture...so you get one of him in 4th grade.)

At the end of their senior year, students (usually their moms) make a collage of pictures from their school years. I have a feeling that many of us will be verklempt going through the photos. Now, where's that box?

July?!

(Warning - picture-heavy post)

Okay, where did June disappear to?! It's been a busy, busy month, with very little down time, even though school ended during the first week.

Let's see, there have been 2 professional presentations, one each at school and the public library. 3 more are coming up - in about the next 10 days. (But 2 of them are reprises of the one on databases I've already done; one is storytelling.)

We also traveled to SoCal for my father-in-law's funeral. He was 82 and had a good life. Raised 2 great kids, enjoyed his grandkids... This picture was taken 4 years ago, and it's one of my favorites of him and the kids.


DH, his mom and sister, the grandkids and 2 of their cousins. I don't think I've ever had them all in the same place for more than a few minutes!


And yes, there has been knitting!

Finished and delivered the shawl to my friend who needed and loves it!

Pattern: Shawl that Jazz
Yarn: Woobu in Nyame
Needle: size 8 US
Started: May 10, 2009
Finished: June 7, 2009

Finished some socks for me!
Pattern: Fleegle toe-up socks on 56 stitches
Yarn: Socks that rock Lightweight in Peaseblossom
Needles: size 1 US
Started: ?? sometime in the last year
Finished: June 12, 2009

Originally I had knit toe-up Monkeys from this yarn last year, but ripped them out. I like the color striping much better this way.

The Sea & Shells stole is coming along. I think I'm about halfway done with it so far.






Other projects on the needles include 2 new pairs of socks, one is Primavera. The other is CookieA's Summer Sox pattern (no pic of that yet).



Was itching to get back to a crochet project, and oh, gee, darn, shucks, if Purlescence didn't just get some DMC Cebelia thread in! I'm almost done with it - should finish it today.


In other news, the garden is going like gangbusters!

This adorable little pumpkin from 2 weeks ago, is quickly becoming a huge pumpkin. As of this morning, it's about 14 inches across!

Tomatoes










Look, a strawberry!










Several quarts of blackberries were picked.










And an abundance of squash.

Clearly, summer is now upon us in the Bay Area.

The dove nest I posted about last time has unfortunately been abandoned. There are no eggs in it, so I don't know what happened. Maybe next year...


Oh yeah -- I also now officially have a College Student Dork boy. He's taking a summer class at one of the local community colleges before his senior year in high school. I think it will be a good experience for him, and give him some good prep before the real thing in the fall of 2010.

Okay, I guess I now know where June went...