Major Knitter

Four for the Road

I finally managed to get the four little nieces and nephews together at one time with their Wonderful Wallabies.  Check it out. 

Gracie, RaeAnna, Pierce and Benjamin are all smiles with their handknit Wonderful Wallabies.

Aunt Jennifer with the Wild and Wacky Wallaby Wearers

Everyone has a group hug to share in the happiness of the handknit sweaters.  BTW - today Benjamin had on a long sleeved t-shirt, so his Wallaby wasn't so itchy.

You can see why it's so much fun to knit for this group. 

  

Origins

This is the first time I've spent Thanksgiving with my family since I was in college.  It's been a very nice visit and I've enjoyed seeing so many family members.  What I didn't count on was the feeling of restlessness I had.  I couldn't figure it out.  Then it came to me last night.  Despite the fact that my parents have been gone (Mom for 15 years and Dad for 2), I was somehow expecting to come 'home" and have them here for Thanksgiving.  It's so funny how the mind and heart work.

But I do enjoy coming home to Iowa.  It's such a change from Connecticut.  I love the simpler life.  By that, I don't mean the people.  I mean the pace.  Everything is 12 minutes away (max) and Midwesterners are truly friendly in a genuine way in everything they do.  No one's overstressed, overworked, stuck in traffic for 3 hours, suffering road rage, etc.  There's no 67 minute commute home after work each day.  People can actually have lunch at home (if they choose).  There's no competition to see who can drive this year's fanciest foreign luxury automobile.  In fact, in Sioux City, there are mostly American car dealerships (plus one Honda and one Nissan dealer).  If you look at this map that BF showed me, you'll see that Sioux City is about as protected from the recession as anyone can be in this country. There's a certain peace to all that.

I woke up this morning  and looked out the window of our hotel room to a beautiful sunrise casting a golden glow on the old Combination Bridge (this "new" 30+ year old bridge probably has a different name now) as it glistens on the Missouri River.  There's a pavilion and lots of grass and landscaping alongside the river.  From this view, it's quite picturesque.  There's a huge American flag on the Iowa side of the bridge.  The sky dawns a beautiful blue.  There's no ice in the river - yet - but there will be in the weeks to come.  The open spaces here offer some tranquility, too.

So this year for Thanksgiving, I guess you could say I'm thankful for my origins.  I'm glad to have come from a small town in America and am happy I get the opportunity to come back and visit.

Twin Wallabies for the Twins

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  The family get together continues.  I enjoy family gatherings, especially as it pertains to the kids.  There are 13 grandchildren in my family.  My boys fall right smack in the middle of all the cousins, so it's a joy to watch them interact with cousins who are 5-9 years older than they are - as well as cousins who are 5-9 years younger than they are.  They've got range!  Today I presented the two youngest with their handknit Wonderful Wallabies.

 

Here are Benjamin and RaeAnna modeling their custom-knit sweaters.

The kids in the hood.  RaeAnna loves her sweater.  It's quite possible that she'll wear it the entire weekend without taking it off.  Pink is her favorite color.  Benjamin on the other hand informed me that I got his wrong.  "Yew-ow" is his favorite color or maybe "bwue".  And "it itches". Of course, I reminded him that when I asked him, red was his favorite color.  What a character.  Gotta love kids and their honesty.

As you may have already guessed - these twins are night and day.  Benjamin is a pistol and RaeAnna is a cuddler. Tomorrow you might get a group shot with four kiddos and four Wallabies.  

Happy Thanksgiving.  I hope you enjoy your family gatherings today.

Gracie's Wonderful Wallaby

All I can say is "Whew!  It fits!"  I was pretty certain after I gave Pierce his Wonderful Wallaby that Grace's sweater would be too small for her... even though she's 6 and I made a size 10 sweater that she could grow in.  Honestly, she'll be able to wear it just this season - but I'm so thrilled, I'll take it.

 

Here's Gracie opening her sweater.

Gracie models her Wonderful Wallaby.  Don't you just love the head tilt?

Gracie is all smiles with her new hooded sweatshirt.

Gracie commented to her Mom "Now I have handknit socks and a handknit sweatshirt.  All I need is handknit pants and I'll have a whole outfit!"

Details:

• Wonderful Wallaby size 10
• 4 skeins Plymouth Encore worsted weight in "Faded  Print"
• US Sizes 5 and 7 circular needles
• One very happy little girl   

 

The Red Scarf Project

This summer Lisa and I decided to knit some red scarves for Norma's wonderful Red Scarf Project.  This week we finally wrapped them and shipped them off with a nice note and some extra goodies attached.

 

Here's a closer view of our scarves

 

Hmmm - hard to photograph.  Lisa made the Palindrome Scarf on the left using Berroco Comfort DK.  It's so soft and comfy and beautifully knit.  I'm inspired to make one, too.  Mine is my Mistake Rib Scarf knit in Plymouth Yarn Baby Bunny.  This is a great mid-season scarf that can be worn indoors or outdoors.

I wish the recipients the best of luck and that these little red scarves provide each future owner with a little hug and boost of energy when needed.  Good luck!

Sticks and String

BF and I drove home from the City the other day and he casually remarked "Do you want to go check out that new LYS in Scarsdale?"  At first I was tired and thinking he just wanted to head home, so I said "No, it's OK." but then I changed my mind.  I'm so glad I did.  We drove by many lovely homes and chatted about "the good ole days" before parking downtown and strolling around until we found the LYS.

 

Look at this cute fall display in the window of Sticks and Strings - doesn't it just make you want to knit a pumpkin for the holidays?

I enjoyed perusing the fiber selections inside (and was thrilled to see Trish's Tanglewood Fiber Creations proudly displayed in the store).  I settled on the following yarns for my souvenir purchase:

 

• 4 skeins of jil eaton's MinnowMerino worsted in Orangini
• 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in Jeans

It was a lovely little detour on our way home.  Don't you just love the way BF thinks?

Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum

BF and I spent Saturday morning aboard the USS Intrepid in midtown Manhattan with our good friend Judy.  You can see the wonderful photo montage Judy made on her photo website.   Here are a few favorites that I snapped.

 

Cute, huh?  We all live in a yellow submarine helicopter.

 

When Judy's involved, there must be some zoo animals.

 

Semper fi Marines.  Semper fi!

 

And I snapped this picture for Terry.  For some reason, I always think of her when I see blue things.

It was a wonderful adventure.  If you go to New York, you should definitely stop and see the Intrepid.  The kids love it.  The boys generally go wild!  Even some of the girls (Moms, knitters, Majors, you get the idea) go wild, too.  

CraftWestport

This weekend is the Westport Young Woman's League's annual craft fair at Staples High School.  This is our big fundraiser where all the proceeds go to local charities.  It's the perfect way to get your holiday shopping done early, see some amazing crafts, and do a good deed all in one stop.  What could be better?

I went last night to help the vendors set up and got my own little sneak preview.  There were many amazing new vendors and lots of favorites, too.  

• Saturday, November 21 - 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Sunday, November 22 - 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Staples High School
• 70 North Avenue
• Westport, CT 06880

Hope you'll come shop with us today and tomorrow.

308 sts, One Stitch at a Time

OK - this is a different sort of Finishing Friday.  Since I started this KAL, I decided to give myself some goals of where I want to be each Friday.  My goal for today is to finish the hem of the cable strip.

I'm loving the hem on the bottom of the cable.  It's slow-going, what with 308 sts and all, but it's turning out nicely.  I naively thought I'd be done knitting the hem this morning and be ready to show you a pre-invisible-sewing post.  Was I incredibly arrogant, naive, or delusional about the amount of time it takes to knit 3080 sts?  I came close, but not quite done.  Take a peek.

 

It's very hard to see, but there are 5 rows of stockinette stitch, one reverse stockinette (to help the hem fold easily) and then 5 more rows of stockinette stitch.  I think I have 2 more rows to go before I bind off.  Then I have the onerous task of sewing these 308 sts invisibly.  It will be well worth it, so I should go look through my Netflix DVDs and see which ones I have lying around waiting to entertain me while I knit and sew and knit and sew.

I hope your Finishing Friday plans are on track.  Oh, perhaps you're sidetracked by the New Moon release?  I'm waiting until next week when the crowds have died down a bit.  I can hardly wait.  No, I won't be knitting during that movie.  

Moving Right Along

While watching Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End (I swear this was before discovering Johnny Depp had been named People's Sexiest Man Alive.  Swear.  Pinky Swear!), I finally managed to finish the twenty repeats of the cable that never seemingly ended.  Whew!  Then I prepared to pick up the 308 sts along the side.  This task is not for the feint of heart.  First I picked up some little safety pin stitch markers and placed them every 2 cable repeats - dividing my work into ten (10) sections.  This made it rather easy.

 

Since the cable's so long (60+ inches) it's really spread out.  Here's a close up to give you a better idea.

 

You probably already figured out that 308 isn't easily divided by 10.  So I picked up 31 sts between every set of st markers except 2 - where I only picked up 30.  This gave me the perfect total I was looking for - 308.  Now to begin the stockinette back and forth, back and forth.  

This sweater is all about baby steps.  I just have to focus on the here and now and before I know it I'll finish this step and be on to the next.  Here and now.  Here and now.  Focus.

A Little R&R&R

Today I took it easy and I think I'm back on my feet from the weekend's cold.  Fortunately, it's just a common cold and nothing more.  Two full days of rest, relaxation and a little reading (plus some NyQuil, of course) put me right back on my feet.  I did a teeny bit of knitting on my Faery Ring cable, but nothing to post yet.  Instead, I want to tell you about the great book I read:

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa.  It's a book my book club is reading this coming January and is also part of my townwide book group discussion called WestportReads.

I highly recommend it as a book the whole family will enjoy.  It's truly delightful with a message for all of us.  Getting a handle on the math, is an added plus (no pun intended).

In Other News

Or "Where I Went to Boston in a Nor'easter and Caught a Cold"

 

I took the youngest half of the Boy Scout Troop to Boston this weekend for work on Citizenship in the Nation merit badge.  I probably should have looked for some sort of merit badge on Weather Survival Techniques as we took our tour in the midst of a Nor'easter.  Fortunately for us, we were led around town by the fabulous "Capt Daniel Malcolm" aka Josh Rudy of The Freedom Trail Foundation.  He walked us around Boston in the rain, regaling us with historical facts, jokes, and a fair amount of friendly harassment which we all enjoyed.  The boys were focused and had fun despite the wet, wet weather.  Thanks Capt. Daniel!

Unfortunately, I didn't accomplish any knitting this weekend.  It probably would have felted in my hands with all that rain, anyway, so it's just as well.  But I did bring something home with me - yes, a souvenir cold.  Drat.  I've just canceled everything on my calendar for today and tomorrow in the hopes that I can crawl back into bed and beat this thing.  Wish me luck!  I might be quiet for a few more days, so, go ahead, knit amongst yourselves.

Forgetful Friday

Hey, I forgot to post today.  Imagine that!  I don't really have much to share on the knitting front.  I cast on for the Dubbelmossa and I am only two cable repeats away from finishing the cable on the Faery Ring Cardigan.  But, there's not really much to show.  So just imagine a little more progress since I last shared pictures with you and you'll get the idea.  Hope you all have great plans for the weekend.  Mine's going to be wet and wild (aren't they all?)

Dubbelmossa

Lynn is teaching another great class at Knitting Central - so I did what any obsessed avid knitter would do:  I immediately signed up.  Never mind that my list of UFOs is large.  Never mind that I'm in the midst of a KAL.  Never mind that I should be knitting those final 2 Wonderful Wallabies for my niece and nephew for Thanksgiving.  No, I get distracted by the bright shiny object known as Meg Swansen's Dubbelmossa.  It's a super thick hat that will be perfect for my winter campouts.  

 

Purple and a variegated lilac mix.  It's the new official color of BSA.  : )

Happy Veteran's Day!

Today I had a friend thank me for my service "even though you told me that was trite" to say.  Hmmm.  I don't remember saying that, but as a Marine who has been stateside my entire career, I can say this:  It's common for those of us who have never served overseas to feel like we're not "real Marines".  It's not true, but I feel slightly inadequate, compared to, say, my nephew, who is currently serving his third tour in Iraq as an infantryman.  I feel even more inadequate when I compare myself to one of the most noble and honorable Master Gunnery Sergeants I know (he worked for me when he was a sergeant and I was a lieutenant).  He has been to Iraq time and time again (I'm sure it's more than five) - and at least two of those tours were after he was torn to pieces by an IED that should have been the end of him.  Tough son-of-a-gun wouldn't let that IED get the best of him.  These Marines, and many like them, are the ones I admire and look up to.  They are junior to me in rank, but made of tougher stuff than I could ever imagine.

I honor them, and their families (who might even be a hair tougher than these mighty Marines) on this Veteran's Day.  I remember and am eternally grateful to all who have gone before us.  

God bless and semper fidelis.  Happy 234th Birthday Marines!

BTW, I sent my nephew his favorite cookies in a care package a few weeks ago.  They arrived practically intact and he was very glad for the goodies.  So, I feel like I'm doing my part, one cookie at a time.

The Long and Winding Road

I'm 75% of the way done with these seemingly never ending cables.  

This yarn is pretty scratchy.  I'm hoping it will soften up when I wash it.  The Faery Ring is a jacket-type-sweater, so I'll be fine no matter, but everything else I touch after knitting with this feels like pure cashmere.  I was knitting while the boys were playing the new COD game last night.  Secundogeniture touched my knitting (after asking if it was a sleeve) and offered me this advice "Mom, you should sleep with it, because when I wear my new socks they're a little itchy at first, but when I wear them to bed, they feel fine in the morning."

Spoken like a true genius.

With a Tongue Like That...

You probably were wondering what Wilma's been up to these past two weeks.  She's up to her usual tricks.  Sleeping, sticking her tongue out, eating, sleeping, sticking her tongue out some more, and sleeping.   

 
  

Wilma has a very good life indeed.

I'm On a Roll

I did quite a bit of knitting on my Faery Ring KAL with Lorette on Friday and Saturday.  In fact, I'm now at 10 repeats of the cable pattern - with only ten more to go until I'm done with the first part of this sweater.  I'm trying not to think of all those sts I have to pick up for the next step.  I'm just focusing on the here and now.  

Today promises to be the perfect knitting day, so stay tuned for more intriguing cables.

The Good and Bad of New England's Leaf Peaking Season

New England is renowned for its beautiful leaf peaking season.  We have trees.  We have color.  We have vistas.  What's not to like?  That's the good part.  The bad part is this "What is up, must come down".  So today was leaf raking time.  We bagged dozens of tall leaf bags.  Last week, nearly the same amount of leaves were raked and removed.  Guess what folks, we're not done yet.  I believe I still see about a third of the leaves stuck to the trees, laughing at me, taunting me, daring me to declare that leaf raking season is over.

 

Today the Boy Scouts came over to help me rake leaves.  Now, that's not a normal practice, the Scouts raking up the Scoutmaster's leaves.  But in this case, the boys had auctioned off a Troop Clean-Up Day (Spring or Fall) at our 40th Anniversary last February and I got into a bidding war with another person, and happily won.  So today was the fall clean-up day.  It was a gorgeous November day - in fact many of us worked in t-shirts.  We spent 2 hours and raked and bagged more than 50 bags filled to the brim with New England Fall Foliage.  Not bad for just a few hours.  I rewarded the Scouts with a batch of my home baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  

Maybe next year we'll be hiring out as a Troop fundraiser.  It was fun and easy and the boys did a fantastic job.

Handmade Christmas Gifts

Dear Readers:  

From November 1st to January 15th I get inundated with requests for patterns for all those cute dolls that were given or received as holiday gifts.  I have decided that this year I will be making my patterns available to you so you can share the excitement with some little girl in your life.

 

Here's the Red Checker Block Blanket for your 18" doll.

  

Here's the blanket neatly folded at the foot of the bed, just like a grown up bed.

 

Here's a close-up of the detail of the checker block pattern knit with worsted weight yarn.  

If you'd like this pattern please email me at majorknitter at yahoo dot com.  I'm still working on setting up the PayPal button.  $5 includes this knitting pattern for the red blanket above, a striped version and a throw pillow pattern.  Your doll's bed will be ready for its very own fashion shoot!

Enabling, Encabling

Doing a KAL is really all about enabling one another. Lorette and I are doing a good job of that.  What I think we're really doing with this sweater, though, is encabling.  Look at this cable.  It goes on, and on, and on.  

 

Now that I've got it memorized, it's an easy cable pattern to knit.  I'll steam and block this long cable strip before I pick up the 300+ sts on the bottom of it to form the bottom seam and then the 300+ sts on the top to begin knitting the stockinette stitch skirt of the sweater.  I might have to rent a really good mini-series on Netflix to get me through that portion of the knitting.

Little Miss Sadie

I shipped off the handknit gifts to my MIL this past week and she sent a photo  of little Miss Sadie modeling the goods:

1. Mistake Rib Scarf (my design) in Great Adirondack Yarn Co Bamboo Cotton - Tropicana color
2. Chutes and Ladder Socks designed by Danni Conway in Lorna's Laces - Woodlawn color

Don't tell Wilma.  She might get a bit jealous.

Italian Brownies

Yesterday was election day and that meant no school.  I left the boys home while I went out to run errands.  They were given instructions and the OK to make lunch and brownies.  When I came back from running errands I was met with one question:

Boys - "Is it OK to use olive oil in brownies?"

Me - "Um, no."

Fortunately, our local Stop & Shop was having a 10 for $10 sale on brownie mixes.  We threw that batch out and the boys made another batch of delicious brownies.  This time, sans olive oil.  

P.S.  OK - you learn something new every day.  Many of you use olive oil in your brownies.  It's simply not something I would do.  I like a strong flavored olive oil - which I prefer to use on everything cooked, sauteed, roasted, etc.  I go through lots of olive oil on my salads, meats, and vegetables, but not on sweets.

I Voted!

It's only 6:33 a.m. and I've already been out and voted in my local elections.  In fact, BF and I were first in line.  BF is always surprised that I don't volunteer to help out with the elections.  I will, one day, but not while I still have the boys at home with no school days.  I enjoy those days with my boys, even if it's just to drive them around and serve as short order cook.  

Enjoy your day.  Don't forget to vote.  Enjoy your time with the people you love.

The First of Many

Determined to knit a great deal on the bottom cable band of my Faery Ring sweater, I got waylaid after a mere 1/2 inch.  I looked and looked at the cable graph, dug out my cable stitch dictionary and other reference books and couldn't make sense of the graph to save my life.  I'll admit to being a bit embarrassed as I used to be a cable maverick in the day.  OK, my cable phase was twenty years ago, but I thought there was really something to that physical memory.  Which knitting teacher repeatedly tells me "The hands never forget" - well the hands and the brain forgot.

After leaving my knitting for several hours and repeatedly returning to it to see if things were any clearer, it suddenly dawned on me that there is a Faery Ring KAL group on Ravelry.  Surely they have the answer to this.  I spent a good part of the Phillies-Yankees game reading up on the chat boards about the cable issues.  Sure enough, there is an errata page.  To be fair, Mary Scott Huff's lovely pattern is free and she clearly states that it's not a final pattern.  It's so beautiful that we are willingly entering the Beta Phase of testing with her because we want to knit this sweater so badly.

 

After printing out the new graph, progress was rather quick.  Unfortunately, it was already late at night and my energy was starting to wane.  I did manage to finish two repeats of the cable.  Now I just have 18 to go.

Let the Knitting Begin!

It's Sunday, November 1st.  Do you know what that means?  It means it's time to begin my Faery Ring Sweater KAL with Lorette aka The Knitting Doctor.  I'm making the same one that Designer Mary Scott Huff made for her mother.  Check it out HERE.  Isn't it gorgeous?  All those cables.  All those interesting shapes.  All that hoody goodness.  I can't wait to get started.

Details:

• Mary Scott Huff's Faery Ring Sweater
• US Size 7 and 5 needles
• 13 skeins of Black Water Abbey Yarn - Wine 
• 9 gorgeous Faery Buttons by Minnowcreek Studio

Maybe all this leftover Halloween Candy will rev me up for faster knitting.  What do you think?  Will you be joining us for this Faery Ring KAL?

Still Alice

I'm ahead on my homework assignment.  I read November's book club selection and October's not even finished.  I don't know the last time I did that.  This one was an easy read.  It's a tough subject that hit close to home.  

Still Alice by Lisa Genova is a thoughtfully written book about a 50-year old Harvard professor struggling with the news that she has early onset Alzheimer's disease.

Lisa Genova's website is another gem.  If you have someone in your life suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's disease, I highly recommend checking out her site for support, insight, guidance, and ideas.

In our town of Westport, CT, we had a wonderful success story yesterday about a 75-year-old woman suffering from dementia who was last seen at one part of town.  Our Reverse-9-1-1- system sent out a computerized automatic phone call to every registered home and cell phone in town alerting residents of the missing person.  One alert mother coming home from her child's Halloween party at school noticed the woman wandering down by the beach about 5 miles from where she was last seen.  You can read three lovely accounts of this story here, here and here.

I love a story with a happy ending.

Finishing Friday - a Review

I managed to check off quite a few things from my To Do List this week.  

First I finished Secundogeniture's school socks

 

Then I managed to finish my Knitting Central Sock Club socks by Danni Conway - Chutes and Ladders

 

And finally, I finished a special order for some Boy Scout Vintage Sock Ornaments which is part of our great scholarship fundraiser.  Woohoo.

C'mon now, sing along with me.  I Feel Good!  Nanananananana.  I knew that I would now.

Hope your Finishing Friday goes half as well.

Chutes and Ladders - End Game

It only took me 54 weeks, but I finally finished the Chutes and Ladders socks by Danni Conway.  This pattern is for sale on Ravelry - click HERE.  It's a fun pattern that never gets boring and elicits memories of my childhood with this happy game.

 

• US Size 1 Turbo Addis
• Magic Loop method
• Toe Up
• Lorna's Laces Woodlawn colorway

There.  I have brought my WIP list down to a somewhat manageable (or ignorable) amount - twelve.  I don't start my KAL until Sunday.  There's a slight chance I could finish one more project before then.  Hmmmmm.  I'm thinking.  I'm thinking.

Just in the Nick of Time

With a bit of determination and a goal, I managed to finish a pair of socks

 

 

 

 

Wilma approves!