I Have New Socks !

 Hi Dear Blog Readers.
I have new socks.  First ones I have made for myself
in a couple of years. 
Pattern is Carmanah

These are toe up, but I knit top down and reversed
the chart.

Knit the foot in a plain
KTBL, K2, KTBL, P2
Not sure if all of the work of TBL was worth
it...

The leg is a thick pattern so I didn't want to continue
it down the foot. Plus, I was bored with it.
Martha gave me this yarn a couple of years ago and when
she sees them in person she is going to be sorry she
gave the yarn away.  Thanks ,Martha!!

My concentration this week was getting the
socks done.   Today I started working on the
first sweater sleeve. I have short arms, so it
will go fast.

The totally brainless project is perking along.
I work on it in the mornings when I get up...
no concentration needed.

Ruth finished her sweater!

 Shenandoah fiber yarn, Colors for a Cloudy Day.
Yellowcosmo designs, Connie Peng.

I love it!  And the fit is great!

She started a pair of mittens called Lucy after
her kitty.
Mitten pattern is out of the Big Book of Knitted Mittens
Jorid Linvik. Pattern is called Cat Mittens.
So cute!

 Martha is interrupting her sock knitting for the
moment. Here is her current progress:

She is working on a skirt for her daughter.

This is what she has so far. It's going to be so nice!

In other news:

Joe has made a lot of beautiful ice fishing jigs this year.
this is his winter hobby when he can't go fishing.
Each one takes a long time.....

In person they are soooo nice and shiny.
That is what attracts the fish.

I like it when he will pose for the blog!  :)

I did some comfort food cooking again this weekend.
Yesterday I made beef stew with dumplings. Delish!
Today I went to make bread and noticed this on the
bag of flour:

Who  knew they put wheat flour in a bag that
resembles white!  Hmmm. That was all I had so
I used it.  Not bad...but definitely "wheaty".

Also made stuffed peppers for tonight. Enough for a couple
of meals.

I am itching to start a baby sweater for Joe's nephew
so I better get my sweater done....I'm off to work on the
sleeve. Have a great week dear blog readers! 

Miscellaneous

Did you make any Knitting Goals this year dear
blog readers?  I was going to try and get another sweater done and
I want to teach myself a new technique.  All of a sudden I have a lot
of baby things to make. Joe's nephew that got married in September
is expecting a baby boy in July.  I have yarn for a hoodie sweater
for him.  Joe's niece asked me to make sweaters for her two girls...
size 6 and 8.  I think I'll make Wallaby's for them. So that is three
and I think there might be another baby before the end of the year.
Some people may not get socks this year! 

So I need to finish up my things.  I am not rushing my
Mariechen sweater. I want it to come out nice.

Have bound off the bottom, and working on the first
sleeve.

Thank goodness sleeves go fast.
This picture is a little wonky.

Two repeats done on the Carmanah second sock.
Luckily I'm not messing this one up.

And the totally brainless sock has had some love this week.
Added in another color.

It's so soft.

 Really did not get a lot of knitting time this week.
Our washer died so a lot of time was spent reseaching
a new one. Thankfully, that issue is resolved.

Ruth has the bottom colorwork done on her sweater.

Shenandoah fiber yarn, Colors for a Cloudy Day.
Yellowcosmo designs, Connie Peng.

 I think it is absolutely STUNNING.

Martha is working on her emerging cable socks.

They look so soft!

As I was working on my sock this week, I was thinking....

why do we do stockinette on bottom of sock. Wouldn't the
sock be more comfy if we had the knit stitches on the inside
where the foot is?  I might try that next pair I make. What do
you think?

Benny came to visit today.
He's a good boy.

Tinking or Ripping ??? That is the Question....

 When we left off last week, I had finished up my sweater repeats, and

I was going to block it to see how much it grew, and to see if I was good,

or had to go back.  Well, after blocking and a couple of days to dry,

it was decided that it was the perfect length, which meant I had to go

back some rows so I could add in ribbing.  

Side note here:  Apparently wet wool is an attractor

for cute kitties. Had a hard time keeping Mickey off 

of the sweater as it was drying.  UGH x 100000

Anyway, Joe took a picture and I sent it on to Ruth.

The three of us decided it had to be  ripped back so it

would be this same size with ribbing.  That is eight rows.

Some of them complex. So I  could not do until this

weekend so I could really concentrate.

Here is the result, waiting to start the ribbing.

Mariechen sweater.

This was definitely a TINK back and not a RIP.

I had to make sure I knew where I was.

Side note # 2 here: The yarn got softer after blocking.

Sigh...so nice.

While the sweater was blocking, I worked on
sock #2.  Ribbing is K2, P2, with the knits
through the back loop (tbl).  I got one repeat of the
pattern done, and had to rip  back to the ribbing.
That was two nights worth of  knitting!  I made so
many mistakes because I was so tired.
the pattern was TBL, K, K, TBL, P, P
How can I mess that up?  But I did. That was definitely
a RIP.  I picked up the ribbing, and then tinked back
a row, now ready to start pattern again.

Ruth is ready to start short rows on her sweater:
 Shenandoah yarns and pattern is Colors for a Cloudy Day by Connie Peng
Next week we may see colorwork!

Martha is working along on her Emerging Cable socks.
The heel gusset is different, and difficult, so she is
ripping and tinking back. She hopes to be done soon so
she can start fresh.

In other news:
I did a lot of cooking and cleaning today.
Joe even helped he felt sorry for me.

Side Note #3 here:  When there is not knitting news..insert cooking
news so the blog is not so dull)

Roasted brussel sprouts...yummmmm

Bread

Applesauce

Potato salad

Chicken noodle soup

I've been going to the gym after work so I wanted
good meal prep for the week. 

Mickey was looking out the window towards the
neighbors..wishing for Spring like the rest of us.

Happy New Year

Hi Dear Blog Readers....
This has been a weird week....I've been busy, but not knitting.

Monday: Made sauce for New Year's day.
Probably the only day I actually relaxed a little all vacation.
Joe was fishing...no fish to report.

Tuesday:  Made pizza for New Years Eve Party

Wednesday:  New Years Day Party...Made sauce and had
the family over - great start to the New Year.

Thursday:  Went to work...ugh...felt like a Monday

Friday: Went to work...ugh

So here is the knitting progress:

I knit two more repeats on the Mariechen sweater and put
it on a string and blocked it. This picture is pre-blocking.
The markers on the side are where I increased on each
side to fit my womanly hips.  :)

I am blocking  to see how much it "grows" so I can either
add another pattern repeat, or start the ribbing. Worst case
scenario is I have to tink back on repeat. Let's hope that does
not need to happen.

The Carmanah sock is almost done.
I am decreasing for the toe.

I wasn't sure if the
KTBL, K2, KTBL, P2 was worth it.
The KTBL's I mean. But, I think they really make the
pattern pop so I guess worth it. They are a little slower
than a regular knit stitch.

The totally brainless project has not seen much action.
I have decided to carry the copper color throughout.

Ruth is working away on her sweater.
It's hard to see progress in this picture, but she
is much further than she was last week.

Martha is working on her socks.

Here are hers:
One more pattern repeat and she will start the heel.

She is going to make this skirt for her daughter:

I think that will be quite the project.....
She is going to use this shiny black yarn:

She said Emma loved the doggie mittens, and her son loved
his hat..so a big win there!

In other news:

I got most of the Christmas stuff put away today.
The real tree is down and cleaned up.
I'm too tired to tackle the   fake tree  ... maybe this weekend.
Here are some of the things to put away until next year.

I put it all in a big pile on the counter and pack away.

Joe and his nephew went fishing on Friday. After a while they
found the perch and caught a big mess of them.
Nice...

Mickey is so cute. He sat on top of the Bose stereo
today looking out of the window. I think it must have been
warm.

Have a great week dear blog readers...
This is our season:  Knitting!!!!