Socks, Mittens, and Carbide

I am finally finished with both of my sister's Christmas mittens!

My husband is sponsoring a foreign officer from Jordan.  We were supposed to show him around the area and introduce him to American culture.  We had him over for dinner 2 weeks ago, and I made the most American dinner that I could think of- Roasted Chicken.  I also made hummus to try to honor his culture (though I'm certain that it was not as good as he is used to!).  In Middle Eastern culture, it is rude not to return an invitation, so even though this gentleman is staying in a hotel and doesn't have a kitchen to cook a meal in, he insisted on taking us out to dinner.  The Jordanian restaurant that we wanted to go to is apparently closed, so we ended up going to a Palestinian restaurant in downtown Washington DC called Mama Aisha's.  It was awesome!  We had hummus, baba ganoush and tabbouleh just to start with!  I had a fantastic beef and eggplant thing for dinner.  We basically forced down some dessert (baklava for them, rice pudding for me).  I was so stuffed that I couldn't even think about food.  The Jordanian officer we were dining with started speaking in arabic to the owner of the restaurant.  I obviously didn't know what they were saying, but they seemed to become fast friends.  When we were about to leave, another tray of desserts appeared on our table!  I understand that in Middle Eastern culture, being a good host/hostess is sacred-but I didn't know that that extended to restaurant owners as well!  I had the tough job of choking down another enormous portion of baklava (I know, feel sorry for me!).  After that, when we dropped him back off at his hotel, he insisted that we come up and try the cookies that his wife baked for him and sent along in his suitcase.  Seriously?!?!  She made two kinds, so he insisted that I try both.  His wife is obviously a fantastic baker, and both were amazing.  I didn't think that I would be able to eat for 3 days, but I was hungry again the next day- at, like, 5:00 PM!  What a feast!  What a fun night!    

I have started trying to use my wheel!  I obviously don't know what I am doing yet, but it is fun to learn something new!

Please excuse my mess!  As you can see, I have yarn, knitting books and knitting needles everywhere!  The hubbs was up all night on Friday and Saturday working on his thesis, so I was up all night (literally all night- until 0600!) playing with fiber.  Tough life.  Really tough.  By next August, he will have a Masters degree, and I will have about 100 handknit socks.  I wonder if I can put that on my resume'?

I have started a new project! 

My dad and I recently got back in touch. I couldn’t be happier. Anyway-Christmas is coming and he makes a lot of money, so he already has bought or can buy anything that he wants. I thought it would be nice for me to make something for him-like I did when I was a kid. (But hopefully a little nicer!)
He lives in Florida and commutes every week to Texas for work. I have always lived in the north and I’m not sure really of what to knit for warmer climates. Also-he was recently diagnosed with Diabetes. When I think of Diabetes, I think of two things. The first is cake, because I would be sad if I couldn’t eat it. The second is feet, because I always hear about bad things that happen to people’s feet who have Diabetes. I decided that he should have some really special socks for his feet.
He wears dress pants and a button up shirt to work, so I decided to stick with a black background for these socks. His favorite color is blue, so I wanted to knit these socks in different shades of blue. I realize that the aqua color is a tad girly-but my dad really loves sailing, and the name of that color is “Caribbean Blue”, so I decided to run with it. The other blue is called “Deep Water” which I thought was also a good choice for a sailing enthusiast.
I researched different kinds of cooler sock yarns (rather than the merino wool that I used to make them for the hubbs). I learned that bamboo is naturally anti-bacterial, which makes it a great choice for socks. Also, these are made of cotton and a little elastic nylon for stretch. Unfortunately, to get the gauge, I have to knit these bad boys with size 0 needles! Wha wha.
I plan to wrap them in blue tissue paper with some gorgeous blue wrapping paper and ribbon. I hope that he likes them.

Also, I was speaking with my mother on the phone yesterday about what she might like to have for Christmas.  She said that she has been looking to buy something for a while, but was hesitant to tell me about it fearing that I might try to MAKE it for her, and she "didn't want to trouble me".  Sure.  I've heard THAT before!  Anyway- she has apparently been searching high and low for the PERFECT white sweater.  She likes v-necks (she doesn't like anything near her neck).  She also gets hot with bulky wool and would like something cotton.  She is "long waisted" (longer torso than legs) so many sweaters are a tad short on her, and she would prefer it a bit on the long side anyway.  I told her that I would design a sweater for her.  Super sweet of me, hey?  Too bad that I really don't know how to knit a sweater!  I went to the library and checked out a book on sweater design called The Sweater Workshop.  I'm not sure about this, now!  Also, we are driving up to see my family for Thanksgiving and celebrating Christmas THEN- so I actually have a month less than I would if I was making this for Christmas!  I sent her some pics of sweaters to see what kinds of things she likes and dislikes.  She picked the MOST BORING SWEATER on the earth!  It is just a (I think) 7x1 or 7x2 ribbed, v neck sweater.  I am trying to sway her to liking this one:

This sweater is knit in a DK weight wool, so it won't be as hot as some sweaters can be.  Also, I could extend the bottom ribbing of the sweater and make it longer for her.  And it is super cute and sexy!  But, my opinion really doesn't matter-she would be the one wearing it. 

And finally, the hubbs and I got some sad news this week.  Our little angel, Carbide, isn't doing so well.  It turns out that he has shoulder and hip dysplasia.  The poor dear needed to be knocked out in order to do the x-rays (this is, apparently the way that it is always done, but I didn't know that).  I know that Newfies are prone to orthopedic troubles, but I wasn't expecting this with Carbide for a few years yet.  He isn't even 3 years old!  Poor thing.  I will be visiting vetinerary orthopedic surgeons this week to see what they can make of our situation and what they think would be best for Carbide.  I love that little dog!  When I first got out of the Air Force and moved to Columbus, I didn't have a job (the Navy had claimed that I would go straight from the Air Force into the Navy-in fact, they jerked me around for a month and a half and I didn't know what was going to happen).  Also, my Meme' had just passed away, which is still the worst thing that has ever happened in my life.  And I didn't know anyone in Columbus- no job, school hadn't started yet.  No friends.  Jaimie was stationed in Germany.  It was a pretty dark time in my life.  But then there was little Carbide.  I had just gotten him.  All 18 pounds of fur that he was back then.  I know that this sounds really dramatic, but he was the reason that I got up in the morning.  As really, really sad as I was, I understood that I was responsible for that little creature.  Things would have been so much worse had it not been for him.  He took care of me.  Now, I will take care of him.  Maybe it is a blessing that I am not working now (since I am waiting on a military medical board).  I can be with him while he goes through this process and help him rehabilitate. 

We don't usually give him McDonald's obviously, but he had such a rough day at the vet's office that we decided to make an exception.  He was such a good boy and still waited for his release command before he inhaled that cheeseburger!  (ONE BITE!  I'm not kidding!)  Then I set up a little nest for him.  He loves to lay on the tile near the fireplace or the front door, or in the kitchen or bathroom since his fur keeps him so hot.  But I think that his joints are really starting to hurt him because he has been laying on the carpet more lately.  I put a fan on the floor and pointed it towards him- and he seemed to like it a lot.  Poor little guy.  He is also, as it turns out, allergic to Maryland, and we have to put this goop in his eyes twice a day for a few weeks.  AND he has had ear trouble since he was a puppy-which has flared back up and he now needs goop in his ears as well!  This poor little dear just can't catch a break!  I can't even imagine what it must be like to have a child-I am so upset over our dog being sick.  Motherhood must be heart wrenching!

My Birthday Present!!!

My birthday present from the hubbs arrived in the mail today!  He ordered it from the Woolery in KY on Thursday or Friday, and it arrived on Monday!  Free shipping!  I would like to do more business with that company!

I am super pumped!  I can't wait to start spinning on this sexy hunk of wood!  I still have a bunch of Christmas gifts to finish up, and we might be going up to Boston to visit my family for an early Christmas (first week of November) since we will be spending Christmas with the hubb's family this year.  So I need to get cracking!  Not that I'm complaining!  I am very blessed to have it be a "problem" to decide which craft/hobby to do first.  I am beginning to see this transitional time as more of a blessing than I had previously!

Mittens and More Mittens

I am 95% finished with Elyssa's Dragonfly Mittens!

You might be thinking, "Gee Erika, those look pretty finished to me".  Good point, dear reader.  Good point.  I was trying to resolve the "these are the scratchiest damn mittens on the Earth" issue by washing and drying them a few times (they are superwash wool).  The nice lady at FreshIsleFibers.com told me that it would help a lot.  She was right.  Unfortunately, it also shrunk them down just a bit-and they are now to small.  So I ripped out the taper stitches in one of the thumbs in order to add 3 rows of length and then re-taper and finish the thumb.  I threw it in the washer and dryer-and the thumb fits a lot better now.  But I am wondering if the length is too short (for the hand) now.  I might need to do the same thing for the hands.  I was hoping that wouldn't be the case since that will require ripping out pattern stitches which will be much more of a pain to re-do, but if it needs it, it needs it.  Also, the cuff is too loose... and I'm not sure of how to fix that without just starting all over again with fewer cast on stitches for the cuff?  I'll keep you posted.

Our cat Mischief doesn't seem to mind all of the problems with them!  Also-the sister that they are going to is probably his favorite human on the planet.

In other mitten news, I am almost done with my other sister Erin's Twilight mittens!  I love this pattern-and I know that my sister will love it as a Christmas gift. The problem was that Bella’s actual mittens in the movie Twilight are not stockinette stitched in the palms. They have some sort of textured stitch. When I have looked at alternative patterns for these mittens, I found that the designers brought the textured stitch all the way around to where the cables are on the top of the mittens-which also isn’t correct. It took some doing (about 5-6 complete rip outs of the hands) but finally I got a textured stitch on the palms of the hands, while maintaining the ribbing on the sides of the cables and the cables themselves. Tiresome work! But now my sister’s mittens will look much more like the real ones worn in the movie!

I am pretty excited about this cardigan.

I have never knit or crocheted something for myself that I actually have finished.  I have a lot of patterns stored up that I would like to someday make- even yarn for some of them, but I just always have some other project that I would like to make for my sisters or my husband that takes priority.  Not this time.  I forgot to put this picture up a week or two ago when I finished this cardigan, so here it is.  I have worn it 3-4 times already, and people always compliment it.  That really makes be happy since I have never worn anything I have made before, so I never know how people respond to the items.  Anyway-just wanted to include this cardigan because I love it and I am really proud of it.  By the way, the patern is from Teva Durham's Loop-d-Loop Crochet book. 

And finally- I really must include some pictures of the hubbs and our super cute dog.  It has been a bit chilly at night here recently, so we have been getting ample use out of our fireplace.  These are pictures of my boys this past Saturday night.

Getting Caught Up

As I wrote in my last post, I managed to lose my battery charger for my camera during the move. That made it so that I couldn't upload my pictures from the things which I was writing about. That situation is resloved now!


These are the my first ever fair isle gloves which I was attempting to make for myself. I loved the colors of the yarn and had pretty much decided that these would be the most beautiful gloves the world had ever seen. One small problem. Since I had never worked with fair isle, I was unsure about tension. They seemed much too small for my hands. Even at the beginning of this project, I considered ripping the whole thing out and starting from scratch with larger needles or less tension. But in the instructions the author wrote that, as with all color work, these would stretch with blocking. So I kept knitting away. But in my gut I knew that something was wrong. I should have listened! I learned from the ladies at my knitting group that they don't actually stretch THAT MUCH, and I will, in fact have to rip the whole darn thing out. Bummer! Here are some better pictures (since the last ones were taken on my cell phone)!

Also, last weekend Jaimie and I went on a hike with our room mate and his girlfriend.  Here are some pictures of the beautiful scenery!

After our hike/photo op, we stopped at a restaurant called Pier 1 in a town called North East, MD for brunch.  It was really wonderful.  We all thought that we were super hungry, so we each ordered biscuits and gravy along with some kind of pancake or french toast.  None of us were able to finish all of that food, but it wasn't for lack of trying!  By far the best biscuits and gravy I have ever had!

This past weekend was the big Annapolis Boat Show.  My dad and step-mother flew up to visit he hubbs and I as well as check out some gorgeous sail boats!  I fell in love with one of them- too bad that it costs $2 million!  My major gripe with sailboats is that the galleys are so small!  I love to cook and I don't think that I could live for any length of time in a place where I had basically a small kitchenette to work with.  The $2 million boat had a decent kitchen, though.  I'll start saving my pennies.

My dad adored our dog, Carbide.  He kept playing with him and talking to him.  Very cute.  I hope that he likes his real grandkids that much when we have children someday!

They seemed to have a really good time, which made me happy.  I cooked a TON of food in preparation for the trip, and they seemed to really like it.  I made my dad's favorite "cookie"- hermits.  I brought those to pick them up from the airport.  For dinner I made Roasted Red Pepper Humms and pita chips, New England Clam Chowder, Roasted Chicken (my step mother's favorite) with baby red potatoes and artichokes.  For dessert- Angel Food Cake.  I hadn't made a homemade angel food cake since I was 7 and made it for my father's birthday.  That was before I understood how vital beating the egg whites was!  I thought that I had been beating them for long enough and it was time to do something else- needless to say, the cake was only about 2 inches tall.  Oops.  This one turned out much better-and was much taller. 

Since this is supposed to be a knitting blog, I suppose that I should blog about some knitting!  I am very nearly done with my youngest sister's Christmas gift which is some illusion dragonfly knit mittens- to match her scarf from last Christmas.  I thought that a pattern for dragonfly mittens would be the easiest pattern on the earth to find-but that turned out to be incorrect!  I actually had to combine the dragonfly illusion knit pattern from her scarf last year with an illusion mitten pattern which I purchased from Fresh Isle Fibers.  It worked out beautifully because I only had to fudge one stitch!  (The dragonfly patter is 31 stitches across at its widest point, and I was allowed 30 stitches across for the mitten top.) 

Unfortunately, when the yarn arrived, there were two problems.  The first was that the color of the yarn was a VERY pinkish purple (more of a magenta than a true purple) so it is not the same color as the scarf that I knit for her last year.  (It looked much different in person than on the computer when I ordered it.  Go figure).  The second problem was that the yarn is very, VERY scratchy.  So scratchy, in fact that I think I might have to sew a fleece liner or something inside of it so the scratchy yarn isn't up against her skin.  The good thing, though is that the yarn can both be washed and dryed, so once I am done knitting, I might try that a few times to see if I can soften it up a bit.

And finally, yesterday my friend Dharma and I went up to PA to check out a knitting and spinning wonderland called The Mannings.  It.  Was.  Amazing.  They had every kind of yarn and wheel.  I really love the old fashioned looking spinning wheels that remind me of Sleeping Beauty from when I was a kid.  There was a particularaly gorgeous Kromski that I was really into.  There was an exceptionally knowledgeable gentleman there (Mr. Knisley, who teaches all of the spinning classes) and he walked us through the differences between all of the wheels.  He had me sit down at that Kromski and tell him if I felt like there was a problem.  The first thing that I noticed was that a large part of the wheel juts out at you and is about 2 inches away from your left knee.  I felt a little boxed in.  Also, since I am tall, he thought that the wheels with a lower orafice might be difficult for me to work with.  I had mostly come to check out the Ashfords since you can buy them unfinished, finish them yourself and save some money.  The Traditional wasn't as nice as I thought it might be, but the Traveler seemed like a great wheel.  At The Mannings, they don't sell it unfinished, so I couldn't really save the money there.  Also, the Lazy Kate that it has built in isn't tensioned, so I would actually have to buy another Lazy Kate in order to ply my yarn. 

There was another wheel there-the one that my friend Dharma is in love with and will be buying.  I walked right past it and thought nothing of it.  It was plain as plain could be.  Light colored wood.  Vertical layout.  Nothing ornate or fancy.  I couldn't understand why she made such a fuss ofer this Lendrum spinning wheel.  That is, of course, until I sat down at it and started spinning (or at least trying to). 

This wheel was brilliant in its simplicity! 

It is very smooth to treadle.  It comes with a super fast flyer and 4 bobbins as well as a tensioned lazy kate for $622.  That is more than we were planning to spend, but it really does include everything.  It folds almost completely in half, and can slide under my bed or be easily transported.  Also, the orafice is very high (the highest I saw yesterday) so I won't be hunched over to spin with it.  And the whole top piece (everything except for the treadles) are angled forward towards the spinner about 30 degrees or so.  I didn't understand why until I spun with wheels that didn't have that angle.  It is so you can see the yarn that you have spun and know when you need to adjust your hook to let the yarn feed onto the next space down on your bobbin.  Cool, huh?  My name is now on the waiting list!