and once again, my blog sues me for support

It's been crazy - the work stuff, the home stuff, the kid going to college stuff, the kid who plays football stuff...

For daughter going to college, we made a sweater



and a market bag



I made some socks, that sort of looked like these



and these



and these



and a sweater for my stepmom for xmas, that's nearly done - just have to block the sleeves, seam it all up, and do the ribbing around the v-neck. i hope she likes it!



I also have some shawl work done - at leasts one shawl.... but i never got to taking some pictures........

Blocking 101, a Tutorial

I'm on Ravelry - in case you didn't know. Every time I see a post asking for instructions how to block out the knitting, I post the same tutorial.

Today, someone asked if I had this on line, so they could link to it - so here it is.

BLOCKING 101

1. soak knitted shawl in cold water for 20-30 minutes. go raid your stash and plan your next project... you know you want to!
2. squeeze water out of soggy shawl - do not wring or twist, just squeeze and squeeze. change your mind on next project and look over at your stash.
3. lay big towel on the floor. chase away the cats. lay soggy shawl on towel, sort of spread out (no pulling). roll it up like a jellyroll.
4. step on one end of rolled up towel, and side step from one end to the other, so that you've stepped on all surfaces. now do it from the other end back to the beginning.
5. unroll towel, and take damp, soggy shawl out of it.
6. sling shawl over your shoulder, and go put away those piles of yarn on the spare bed (or whatever blocking surface you are using... i use the spare bed in my craft room, or my own bed (larger) if it's early in the day.
7. spread out damp shawl in the right shape. admire it. shoo the cats away. go find your pins (preferably rust free)
8. spread out one of the long ends (either the shoulder span on a triangle, or the long edge of rectangular). pin it out.
9. start pinning at the opposite end now - in a triangle, pull gently (or not so gently) on the bottom point until you like the size and how the lace looks, and pin it.
10. alternating sides, smooth out the shawl from center to edge, and pin the edges. if the edge has points, plan on using a pin for every point.
11. go take a break and go stash diving again.
12. in 1/2 hour or so, come back to the shawl, and start smoothing from the center - by now, you can probably remove the pins that are on the straight sides (no points), it'll pretty much keep it's shape and size. smooth from center to edges.
13. Check regularly (every hour or so) and admire. Do not dislocate shoulder by patting yourself on the back too vigorously.
14. go cast on some other project and come back in a couple of hours - it should be dry.
15. remove any remaining pins, grab your digital camera, and go outside (assuming it's daylight and not raining/snowing/sleeting) and take some artistic nature shots of shawl draped on fence, bush, or small child (as long as they're not eating something sticky)

ok, you're done.

time flies

i have no idea what happened. I've been knitting. working. doing my usual lunatic single mom thing.

and lost 3 months, somehow!

so let's see. daughter is finishing high school, has applied to some colleges, and we're waiting to hear - she's already been accepted to one, so we know she's going to college - now, it's just a question of which one.

son is finishing up 9th grade. got his bottom braces on, so now when he talks, i see metal all over the place. i feel stupidly proud that i'm able to do this for him.... something that so many kids take for granted, to me, this is a big deal. his mouth will be gorgeous when we get done.... not to mention uber expensive. he better get a great job, and make a ton of money. he owes me.

job goes well - still working on the new websites, but at least now, people are finally giving me the content... i've done my job, they should please to do theirs, as well.

and knitting....... i've been knitting and knitting.......

so let's share, shall we?

the thing I'm most proud of - this v-neck. the pattern was in french. my friend perle translated it for me. i love this sweater!


I made a baby sweater for my assistant at work. actually, she hasn't assisted a whole lot, which is disappointing... but she IS having a baby.



I finished my mom's sweater in time for xmas...



and made some socks...





so i'm working on dickinson, which is sort of death by cables....
and i'll leave you all with this one.

death by yarn.

MIA

ok, i know i've been MIA for a while. let's just say, on a personal level, things haven't gone too smoothly for a while now....

but i never give up hope that things will get better. they sort of have to, i think.

news on the family front - daughter is a senior in high school, and filling out college applications. her grades are mostly A's, which is lovely to see... and it'll help with the whole financial aid thing, we hope.

son is a freshman, plays football, and got braces over the summer. at his parent teacher conferences, all the teachers said how wonderful he is, and his lowest grade was a B+. mom is pleased.

on the knitting front...... let's see.

i finally finished the striped socks - yay me!


I traded, on ravelry, for a skein of the Noro Kureyon sock yarn, and made a shawl out of that:


Daughter and I went to the WI Sheep & Fiber festival, and I purchased some yummy cotton/rayon laceweight from Creatively Dyed - and I made a shawl out of that, as well:


let's see, what else...........
huh. did I show off my ene's scarf, made with bare laceweight that I dyed up myself? that came out pretty nicely too!


I'm still working on my mom's sweater - up to seaming all the parts into one sweater, then pick up the button band... hard to stay motivated on that one though, sorry mom!

and my newest project, started last monday, is a KAL for a shawl by a raveler named Pangea - it's a fingering weight, and i'm making it purple for son's football games (since I have 3 more years of football to go to)


I guess that's all for now - now I feel like i'm all caught up, and bored all of you with my knitting. i feel the need to cast on something new, since i finished my socks, and pangea doesn't release the next clue till tomorrow..... hmm, what to make, what to make? I bought some seacell laceweight, i think that one needs to be roadtested!

things I've been working on

not much to report, except my various craftiness - school starts in 2 weeks, football practices start tomorrow... did you know that someone actually makes a mouthguard specifically for kids with braces? who'da thunk it??

anyway... i'm making another pair of toe up socks, 2 at a time, magic loop.... i love the idea of it, and i think if i keep practicing, i'll get better at it...



and then, 2 days ago, one of my mystery shawl KAL's started... this one's a challenge - i thought i was pretty good at the lace thing, but have never tried to knit something as fine as this yarn! it's like knitting with carpet thread...
but the first clue is done, beads and all





and that's life in the not so big city this week - maybe by next week, i'll have pictures of mom's cardigan (back and one of the fronts is done)

i'm not a political person

generally, i won't discuss politics with anyone - it's just not worth the fight...

but my son called me in to see this tonight, and it's pretty funny - anyone remember rick astley?

Barack Roll


and if you don't want to get political, listen to mother

YAY!!

I finished the ene's scarf! it's blocking all over the spare bed - I'll try to get photos tomorrow in the sun - the ones with the light in the room were disasterous (and really really blurry)