Random Wednesday ...

O.k., I stole that concept from Cate but it works for today.

First, we have my mother's day lamb. Pictured lamb was purchased after I thought that Mike and the Female Child had continued riding down to the tip of Manhattan. They tricked me! Please note that the lamb is now sans head.








Then we have the Female child cozily curled up with a book ... in her new Summer Socks. (Knitpicks Dancing in Rumba color. One ball made both sockettes to fit a women's size 5.





























Then Male child had a migraine at the end of the school day on Monday which resulted in my telling their caregiver to take a cab up to my school with them instead of taking them home on the subway. This worked just fine but I later discovered that said caregiver did not know how to hail a cab. Female child taught her how to do this. I guess it is a geographic thing. Our caregiver is a Queens kid and we are Manhattanittes. Female child learned how to hail a cab when she was two.

This led to a quick quiz of both children to make sure that they can navigate from school to either home or my school by both cab and public transportation. Now to make sure that their cell phones are charged. (Just curious, do any NYC readers see a small contradiction in what I do as a parent and what I must say and do as a public school administrator?)

Knit Cast

Last summer, while looking for ways to stretch my Audible credits, I discovered the world of Podcasting. I found a few favorites and would download them to listen to while skating along the Hudson in search of fitness. One of my favorites was Knit Cast. I say was because once skating weather ended, so did the need to stretch the Audible credits and I ceased to listen to podcasts.

Skating weather is now upon us again and I look forward to catching up on all of the episodes that I missed in the last 10 months.

Where is this going ... well, one afternoon a couple of weeks ago I was quietly sitting at my desk, probably working, when my assistant annouced that a "Marie" was on the phone. I answered with my usual "Good Afternoon, how may I help you," assuming that it was a call gone astray. (I usually know my callers.) The woman introduced herself and asked me about an interview I had given over a year ago for a U.K. newspaper. The subject matter had gotten a little mixed up in the transition and so I could not help the caller with her quest for a story on a noble subject. We chatted for a few more minutes, then it hit me. "Marie" was Marie Irshad of Knit Cast. I think I sounded like a wacko fan and got a bit tongue tied but there it was. Very, very cool. I tried to share my excitement with my assistant but she just does not get the whole Podcast / Blogging world. She did get the idea of being called by a celebrity but still, I know she was a bit confused by my excitement.

I hope, however that you, dear blog reader, get it. Now to figure out how to download podcasts to my Treo so I can catch up. I recently realized that I could listen to the Treo in the car if I closed the windows and put the Treo volume on maximum. This avoids the whole having to connect the headphone jack to my car which risks triggering the ^&(&* weak point in the Treo.

Procrastination

Some pretty daisies ... just for the heck of it.

I am delaying doing my morning exercise. Please understand that it involves climbing on the road bike that we have set up on a trainer. Think about yesterday and the bumping involved in actually riding a bike on the road versus a trainer. This is why I am delaying. There is very little padding on that part of my body. I could just say "hey, it's Mothers Day ..." or "hey, I did the trainer AND 16 road miles yesterday ..." I really can't count yesterday's miles. They were done so slowly and mostly at a coast as we paced the kids that I do not know if those miles counted as exercise.

As promised yesterday, Knitting content!Woven! It has about 10 inches done so far and is slowly getting there. Remember, I am knitting the entire body in one piece so it will take longer. Right?


Female Child's summer socks. The second sock is actually much further along, I took this picture yesterday before I turned the heel. Maybe, just maybe she will have a new pair of socks today.

And, for your viewing pleasure ... my tomatoes.
There are actually small gree tomatoes on both plants though the ones on the bottom plant (Husk Cherry) are actually visable to the naked eye but not yet the naked camera.

I really will get on the bike now. I mean, hey, I have my spinning to take my mind off of other areas ...

How to lose ...

one shoelace. A brief tale about a boy and his ability to lose just one of a pair. Inspired by blueadt and her singly shod daughter.

One morning as the Male child was putting his shoes on, I noticed that he was missing a single shoelace. Since Male child only removes his shoes at home ... we have no idea how the shoelace went missing from the shoe that was on his foot.

Then there was the glove ... One afternoon as Grandma was walking the children home from school the Male child suddenly started crying. It seems that his glove had gone missing. From his hand. The one that was holding his lunch box. The lunch box, please note, was still in his, now gloveless, hand. We are convinced that the next item of clothing lost will be his underwear -- while he is still in his pants.

To give him the credit that he is due, please read a bit further regarding our adventures this morning.

At the end of last summer we decided that Female child deserved yet another new bike if we were to attempt any sort of longish bike trip this summer. The issue was not actually the Female child's need of a better bike but the Male child's need of one. His bike was a single speed mountain-type bike that had been a birthday present to Female child a few years back. The Female child was riding a somewhat larger mountain-type bike which had a decent gearing system. So, the decision was made to upgrade Female child to the smallest road bike available and move Male child on to the now vacent, better, mountian bike.

Fast forward to this spring when Female child actually put a few miles on the new bike in a quest for really good chocolate. (No, she was not neglecting the bike, my kids cannot go out to play on their own yet. They are not quite old enough to traipse around NYC alone and the weather was not cooperating when we had the time and visa versa.) Ever since the day of chocolate she has been itching to ride a decent distance and so we come forward to today.

Despite the overcast conditions and threat of rain we all mounted up and left the apartment about 10:00 a.m. We made fairly good time to the first distance point, a playground in the mid 70's, riding along the path on the banks of the Hudson River. After a brief see-saw break (I swear they are the only see-saws left in Manhattan) both kids wanted to go further so we headed up towards the Hippo playground in the 90's. Oops, overshot it. When we realized this we were already at 104th street and Male child was feeling really good about how far he was riding. So ... sneaky mom that I am (I want them "training" for a potential bike trip this summer) I suggested that we continue on to Fairway's (major supermarket at 125th Street). Male child quickly did the math in his head and decided that not only could he do it, but that it would be really cool to go that far and back.

And here he is. (Female child and father were inside doing the shopping when this was snapped with the aid of my wonderful cellphone.) (Please note: at the time of this picture, his helmet was sitting on the back of my bike. He did wear it for the entire time he was actually mounted on the bike. We all wear helmets -- they save lives!)

We then cycled the return trip and then some, overshooting our home exit and going all the way down to Chambers street. In total, Male child and I did about 16 miles and Female child and Mike did about 18 miles, putting on an extra two just for the heck of it and hitting the southern tip of Manhattan in the process.

Tomorrow, I promise knitting content!

They are over!

The AP exams kind of ended today. I say kind of because we are administering two late exams next week. All of the others, however, are now packed up and ready for UPS to pick up on Monday. Woo hoo!

To celebrate, I left work after only 8 hours and then cruised through East Harlem in my mini van with my windows down, blasting the soundtrack from Pippen on the stereo. Now just try to get that picture out of your head!

Female child and I then attempted to do some self-striping dying in the ROY G. B(I)V colorway. After getting the yarn in to the ROY baggies, we gave up trying to separate the various skeinettes and just dumped the remaining blue and purple dye all over the remaining yarn.

After 30 minutes in the steamer it is now cooling and I will detail the proceedings and results in a day or so.

Small Things

She may not knit but boy can she sew! Below is my pride and joy holding her latest handmade stuffed animal -- Sparkle.
On my own project front, I have nothing finished to show. The second Summer sock is coming along as is the second Plain Sock. Absolutely no progress has been made on Pomatamous in over a week due to very little playground time this past weekend. Woven is progressing nicely but is not really exciting to show. I still have several inches to go before the arm holes. I did decide to knit the body all in one piece instead of dealing with having to match patterning later.

I have decided that the striped socks will not go to my sister-in-law (sorry Andrea) but will go to someone I have never met who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I have no idea if they will fit but since they are made for a women's medium ... I can always hope. I know her husband and he seems to be a good man -- no one should have to go through this and if she can do so with warmer feet ... so be it.

And now I must figure out how to word the note I want to go with it and then comb my closet to see if I have some toys for their kids ...

Dye-o-rama Meme

My first Meme! (How is meme pronounced?)

Questions specific to this swap:

Your favorite colors?

Red, Pinks and Purples

Preferred yarn weight (Fingering, Sport, DK, maybe even Worsted)?

I am not prejudiced against any weight of yarn. I embrace them all for their inherent Yarnly Goodness. Lace weight and Bulky live side by side in my stash.

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?

I have a weakness for multicolored yarn but this is not always a good thing since I cannot knit many of the lovely sock patterns with them, so solids are wonderful. Again, they all have Yarnly Goodness so how can any yarn be bad?

If your buddy is able to do so, would you like a variegated, self-striping, or self-patterning yarn?

Yarn buddy -- do what ever pleases you!

Would you be interested in a wool blend sock yarn (nylon, tencel, silk, acrylic, alpaca, etc.)?

Yes but plain vanilla (dyed of course) sock yarn is just fine.

Imagine the perfect colorway. What would you name it?

Raspberry Parfait

What was the biggest appeal to you for joining this dye-along?

The challenge. I love to learn new things and this is giving me the push to do so and to meet others at the same time (another challenge for me).

General yarn/fiber questions:

Have you dyed yarn/fiber before?

Yes, using Jello and Wilton's type food colors.

If so, what i’s your favorite dye and method?

No favorites yet but I do prefer top of stove to microwave.

Do you spin?

YES!

Have you knit socks before?

Yes.

Do you use sock yarn for just socks or in other patterns too?

I am open to other uses but mainly sock yarn is used for socks. Other yarns, however, also get used for socks. So, my socks really do not care if a yarn is labeled for their use or not. (My feet do not care either.)

What are some of your favorite yarns?

Right now I am enamored of the Cascade 220s for basic knitting. Otherwise I like to play around.

What yarn do you totally covet?

All of them.

Favorite patterns?

Those that take changes readily.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?

Not that I can think of. Any suggestions?

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?

I fully admit to being an Addi Turbo snob with Crystal Palace bamboos for my dpns.

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?

I'd be Cascade 220 -- not superwash. I come in a huge array of colors for all moods and am good for almost anything but I still want to be handled gently.


Nothing to do with knitting/yarn/fiber in any way but seemed kinda fun:

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?

CHOCOLATE!!!

What'’s your favorite animal?

Sheep of course ... turtles run a close second.

Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages?

Turtles -- the house turtle is Gym, the border turtle is Natasha and the Female Child's turtle is Sparky. Boy, boy, girl (yes, Natasha is a boy ... his owner is Boris). Gym and Natasha are ageless (no idea) and Sparky is about 3.

If you were a color what color would you be?

Rose

Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else'’s).

A basic silk blouse. Solid enough to hide the most obtrusive undergarment but soft enough to drape elegantly.

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?

Waterfalls. In the winter when they are frozen they are at their most awe inspiring. The Gorges at Cornell University boast some of the prettiest and most accessible falls that I have ever seen.

Tell me the best quote you've ever heard or read.

"You can't fight evil with a macaroni duck." Arthur in The Tick

Do you have a wishlist?

No.

Anything else you'’d like to share with the group today?

Not today, thank you.

Week Two, Here We Go

Fillyjonk suggested that my yarn-buying mania was stress induced. I highly suspect that she is right but I think that the AP exams were only the trigger not the underlying cause. This is the first year that these exams have made me quite so edgy and I suspect that the reason is due to One-who-is-gone.

Around here, we measure years in several different ways. The main way, however, is from September to June -- the school year. Two educators and two students in a family will cause this kind of focus. July and August are really just a very long weekend.

At the end of the last school year my mother-in-law fell ill and then passed away. As she had taken care of my kids on a daily (school day) basis since their birth, each school-year "milestone" hurts. The AP exams are a milestone for me since I started coordinating my school's testing upon returning to work after the Female Child's birth -- almost 11 years ago. AP exams meant that I dropped the kids off early and picked them up late and that Mom*was very understanding even though we did not pay her any more for these extra hours. (Hey, $0 plus $0 dollars is a really good rate!) The AP exams also mean that the end of the year is quickly approaching with all of the evening events honoring various groups of students -- all of which Mom used to "work" with good humor.

Yup. The AP exams have triggered a whole mess of stress. I am acknowledging this and will not try to curb my coping mechanisms -- knitting socks incessantly and buying yarn -- until we roll in to July. I also, however, will try not to go overboard on the yarn acquisition.

* The word "Mom" is used in this context to represent my dear-departed-mother-in-law. Usually it is used to represent my Wonderful Mom who is married to Dear Dad. My actual mother is rarely, if ever, mentioned at all in this blog. It gets confusing so I will usually refrain from referring to my mother-in-law as Mom.

Save Me from Myself!

I do not need more stuff. I do not need more stuff. I do not need more stuff -- including yarn?

This is the mantra I am supposed to be practicing until after our renovations this summer. We forced the kids to go through their books and toys and have dispersed and discarded much, much stuff. Meanwhile, I have added something like 40 skeins of yarn to my stash in 2 weeks. The latest is on the left. I kind of fell in to it at Knitty City yesterday and even Female Child (usually my yarn buying conscience) admited that I had to buy it for the Male Child. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Bee Stripe and Male child has a thing for the word "Bumblebee." (He does not have a thing for live Bumblebee's, just the word and concept of Bumblebee.) I was going to make him a pair of these using my newly acquired Palette yarns but then we stumbled in to Knitty City after Shabbat services and found the aptly named yarn. They will go on the needles as soon as I am finished with Plain Socks 2 and Female Child's Summer Socks.

On the Knitting front ...

Yesterday I turned the heel on the second Plain sock and and the first Summer Sock. There was a lot of walking (Plain sock) and blog surfing (Summer sock) done yesterday. Only 3 rows of Woven were knit but hey! 2 heels in one day! on thin sock yarn!

I also worked on my Dye-o-rama project. This is my attempt at making self-striping yarn without first warping the yarn in to a humongous skein. I suspect that I am not saving any time but ... time will tell. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)









I have also started washing all of our sweaters in preparation for bagging for summer. I do not usually wash and store sweaters -- they usually just ferment in place over the summer -- but the more time I spend with wool, the more likely I am to care for it properly. The storage -- in sweater bags (I think) is mainly to keep the construction dust off of them. I know that grit will get in to everything no matter how careful our contractor is. Since the zone of construction MUST be passed through in order to get from the front door to any room in the house, tracking the dust will be inevitable.

Below is a sweater that my mother-in-law knit for me many, many years ago. It is cozy and warm and gets much use over the winter. I will try to photograph the other sweaters as I wash them, one a night.

Knitting content

On top, Female Child's summer sock in Dancing Rumba. It looks really narrow but fits just fine when I make her try it on. This is my "blog surfing" project and it sits on my lounge chair for progress during other people's long and interesting posts.

On the bottom, Woven. I decided to go with the first swatch -- garter stitch for the Jacob yarn -- and am really happy with how it is progressing. It makes me feel all warm and cozy just to knit it.

I am hoping to play with my Dye-o-rama project today. I have an idea for doing self striping without first winding to a warping board. It may be an utter disaster but I have to give it a try. The thought of the huge skeins scares me.

The Advanced Placement exams are now half over and I am so glad. My feet and legs were so tired last night that once I sat down I did not want to get up. Thinking about it later, I realized that the AP period is a warm-up for summer. Over the summer I walk miles and miles in sneakers and sandals. During the AP period, I walk miles and miles in dress shoes. For the Calculus exam, add lots and lots of stairs as I walk back and forth from my office to the church basement across the street. This year I wore heels for the Calculus exam. (Stupid, I know, but I had a meeting with some VIPs in the middle of it all.) My office is almost 2 blocks (0.1 mile) from the test room and up one flight of stairs. I go back and forth at least 3 times for each test ... I could go on but just trying to add up the milage exhausts me. The point is, I think, that it is more tiring to walk the milage in dress shoes (thin Enzo flats for the most part) on hard tile-over-concrete floors then it is to walk the same milage in sneakers or comfy Mephisto sandals.

I love my job but I am always happy when the APs are over. Not only is the walking exhausting but I hate seeing the kids all stressed out. If you know a kid going through this -- again, I suggest Ice Cream.

Testing, Testing ...

This is a test of the emergency blogging system. Should your blogger be too beat to post creatively, the emergency blogging system will take effect. Suggested emergency blogging topics may run from a link like this, to references on to how to protect yourself from the dreaded Were-Squid.

This blogger, being exhausted and only making small strides on any project, will return with more engaging posts and pictures soon.

Meanwhile, if you know any high school students who are suffering through the Advanced Placement exams this (and next) week -- give them a hug. I plan on buying at least one of them ice cream tomorrow. And, if you know of anyone administering the same exams ... give them a hug, too! (And maybe a stiff drink.)

I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

Dueling Violins

Well, maybe they weren't dueling but they were playing beautifully. Above is the Male Child . His piece was a Gavotte in G minor by Bach and he was amazing! The kid started out just fine and then went a bit wonky. That, apparently was not his fault, as his E string suddenly went out of tune. He tried to compensate and was doing a pretty good job when his teacher stopped him and retuned the instrument. He then started over and played practically note-perfect!

Female Child (not pictured as the photo made her look like the devil) closed the individual portion of the recital with Concerto in A minor 3rd movement by Vivaldi. She was wonderful! So much so that she made her grandparents cry. Standing there, looking poised and beautiful and playing a difficult, long piece as the closing act (always the most advanced student) she created lovely music and even managed to smile though her heart was pounding with nerves.

When we made the decision to have children neither of us had any idea that two brief expressions of our love for each other would result in these young beings who provide us with so much love and joy and pride every day of their lives. After marrying Mike, deciding to reproduce was the best and smartest decision of my life. And, I could not have the latter without the former.

Hug those you love and hold them tight tonight. One never knows what tomorrow will bring.

Knitting for Sanity

As I was blog surfing earlier, I discovered this:

It was created by SilverRose in response to a post by Mamacate.

I, too, knit socks for sanity. Last summer when my mother-in-law was suddenly hospitalized I found myself in the emergency room desperately knitting the sock that I always carry along with me. The attending physician even commented that I would get a lot done on it. The next day, nearing the end of the sock and pair in progress, I found myself at work for an hour. Under my desk was a large bag of sock yarn intended for my knitting club. Hey, I was desperate and under extreme stress. I figured I could take a skein and replace it later (I am good that way). Stressed out as I was I could not decide on which skein to take so ... I took the whole bag. Well, it was the end of the school year, no one would need it until September so I would just store it at home for the summer. Yeah, right.

Later that day I grabbed a pink striped Opal ball and cast on the pair that I am wearing right now. Over the next few days as I kept Mike company in the waiting room of MICU, I bounced from project to project but the socks were always with me. I knit them while attending the kids' end of year parties and while stopped at traffic lights. After mom's passing, I knit incessently while out and about, even while walking the kids to camp. Always socks while on the move. I took a second ball from the school stash (I still had not gotten to a store to purchase any) and knit a pair of socks for my brother-in-law. (Steve, if you are reading this then keep reading to understand why you never got them.) I was so tense while knitting them that the 72 stitches that used to work for Mike's feet wound up far too tight. If you know anyone with a size 12, narrow foot, let me know, I have a great pair of socks for them. That was the pair that I was working on in the corn maze. It was also that pair that was knit so fast that I found myself calling home to make sure that Mike grabbed the heel yarn so that I could turn the heel during the kids' gymnastics show (not while they were performing). (I was on the road and did not think I would get up the foot quite as fast as I did.)

Finally I found myself at Labidie Looms in Pennsylvania and picked up a beautiful skein of soft purple hand-dyed sock yarn and knit the Angel's Rest sock. I do not think I realized the significance of the pattern name until right now. Now, I continue to knit socks but a little less intensly. They helped me get through a difficult summer and for that I am grateful.

Today I cast on a new pair for my darling daughter after she fell and gained two boo boos. Just a plain pair but the act of casting on made me feel better and brought a small smile to her face through the tears.

Tomorrow ... a tale of a mother's pride in both of her children.

Yarn!

O.k., this isn't yarn but I liked the look of this pile of petals and new grass that I passed on my way to the post office to pick up this:

On top, some Knitpicks undyed yarn for Dye-o-rama and some of their Dancing sock yarn in the Rhomba colorway. This will become socks for the Female Child. Below is the entire Palatte collection purchased in order to push the order over the $40 minimum for free shipping. Yeah, right. I am thinking that this pile is all I need for our trip to Kentucky and Indiana this summer. Think of the socks and mittens I can knit! How many different variations on a squid theme do you think I can get?

Female child is practicing her yarn defending skills ... Mine!

And today we end with a simple Poem since today was Poem-in-Your-Pocket day at my school. (The adults appreciated this but my students did not grasp the subtlty.)

Elephants, by Male Child

Elephants
Land
With
A
Thud!

For some poetry written by my Female child, click here.

Still Swatching

Last night was all about swatching. I am on my third version of woven and figure on attempting one more version before making a decision. So far we have, from bottom to top, the basic pattern but using the ??? yarn for the main vertical elements and the Jacob is knit in garter stitch resulting in raised horizontal bars for it. The middle piece has those two reversed -- the ??? is worked in garter and is now the horizontal element. The top piece is worked in stockinette and the color choices are the same as for the bottom.

I know, I need at least one more pattern repeat on the top swatch to see if I like the flatish effect -- there will be some 3-D because of the puckering caused by the mosaic stitch which is what I want. The fourth piece will be also in stockinette but with the colors reversed.

So far I am favoring the bottom coloration and have not decided on the flat vs garter effect. I may try another variation in all garter but I think the mosaic will look wonky. My goal (HA!) is to finish the swatch tonight and give it a nice bath and gentle blocking to see if I like ANY of them. The idea is a basic sweater for jeans -- a house sweater -- so simple is good.

(Now that I have looked at the photo I think I like the first swatch the best so far -- the garter bars of the darker Jacob seem to make the color differences more distinct -- the flatter version on top looks more washed out.)

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a cute (to me) picture of two of our 3 turtles. On the left is Gym and on the right is Natasha (both male). Natasha is a border turtle, his owner (Boris) is in Sweden working on his Masters degree. Apparently it was too difficult to take Natasha so we are turtle sitting for a few years. Our third turtle, Sparky, is in Female child's room. We keep her segregated from the male turtles, not really wanting little turtles.
If anyone knows what kind of turtle Natasha is, could you please let me know? We really can't figure it out -- he might be a snake-neck. Gym is a red-eared slider.

Reality

Reality has set in and I now understand that no amount of prayer will provide me with the amount of yarn needed to complete my mitered sweater at the size I am aiming for. I could order more roving for it but then I would have to immediately spin it and that is too far removed for me right now. Instead, I will wait until October and purchase the necessary rovings at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival. In the meanwhile, I am swatching this:
The yarns are handspun Jacob (the darker) and ???. The Jacob was spindle spun on my walnut Emily mostly while riding the stationary bike and doing laundry (not at the same time). The ??? was purchased last year at the Connecticut Sheep and Wool festival and spun at a low ratio on my minstrel. Both yarns were triple plied on my Journey Wheel. There is about 1200 yards of the Jacob and an undetermined amount of the mystery -- it has 4 skeins so far and 2 almost full bobbins with a third about to be started, still in progress.

I have spent much time looking for a pattern for the Jacob and finally settled on Woven Weekenders from Knitter's Winter '99. I like the way the two yarns are working together and think that this will be a keeper in whatever the gauge winds up being on these needles. I will adapt the pattern if necessary because I like the fabric.

Meanwhile, I have added "Parking Lot Manager" to my list of duties at work and today figured out how to free a blocked car without actually moving the car doing the blocking. I guess all those hours of playing games of a similar nature finally paid off. So, now we have in my job description: Squirrel Catcher, Construction liaison, Parking Lot Manager, Lock Picker / Lock Clipper, Elevator Operator ... (We will ignore the more mundane titles that actually occupy 90% of my time. Only the funny ones count.)

Oops!

Obviously the "Back to work" post that I referenced was not referring to winter break but rather to the post that disappeared in to the ether on Sunday night when Blogger went down. Sorry about that!

Back to Work

Gee, I titled another post with this -- probably right after mid-winter break -- oh well, I think it is o.k. to reuse blog titles. After all, the title is the hardest part. Right?

Please remind me to stay in bed on the Monday after a school break. Inevitably I walk in to ... you really do not want to know what. From now on I will not even pretend to do anything other then collect "what the contractors did this weekend" data on a Monday. This will apply for the next 2 years. Blah. (FYI, my school building is undergoing MAJOR renovations and I am the point person for all complaints from the staff regarding the contractors and visa versa hence the throwaway comments about contractors and such. At least until the renovations on my apartment start in July. Anyone want to adopt me?) For the record ... Things are much better then I initially feared ... so far.

Here is the first Pomatomous sock and the next plain sock. Much progress was made on the plain sock during a lovely clarinet and piano concert that I attended on Saturday.My foot is mostly better -- still a bit achy in work shoes but fine in sneakers / hiking shoes. I am grateful for small things like this. While sitting with ice on the injured limb, I did much web shopping and am now waiting for a too large shipment from Knitpicks. The Palette sampler box caught my eye and then my credit card. I am knitting as fast as I can in anticipation of soon being overwhelmed with LOTS of yarn.

Happy knitting!

Back to Work

What did I accomplish over the last week and a half?
Did I write the Guide to Character socks? Nope
Did I use up massive amounts of yarn? Nope
Did I spend lots of quality time with my family? Yup.

We went hiking / geocaching and found 4 more caches. We did the tourist thing with family from out of town. We spent sunny days in the playground and rainy days cleaning the apartment. Female child and I did a proper Tea.

We are all moving slowly this morning as we attempt to get back in to the swing of things. By the time next week rolls around we should be ready to tackle the "worst-two-weeks-of-my-year.*" I already have a knot in my stomach but this, too, will pass as it always does.

No pictures today but trust me when I say that I finished the first Pomatomous sock and am ready to turn the heel on the next plain sock. I also added a square or two to my sweater(?) and am contemplating how to insert armholes given that I went with an odd number of mitered squares instead of an even one. I also think I have found a pattern or two to go with my Jacob yarn.

Have a happy Monday.

(*Defined as: the period of time in which Devorah supervises the administration of the Advanced Placement exams in her school and follows all of the rules and regulations and keeps the staff and students relatively happy without losing her mind.)

Back to Work

What did I accomplish over the last week and a half?
Did I write the Guide to Character socks? Nope
Did I use up massive amounts of yarn? Nope
Did I spend lots of quality time with my family? Yup.

We went hiking / geocaching and found 4 more caches. We did the tourist thing with family from out of town. We spent sunny days in the playground and rainy days cleaning the apartment. Female child and I did a proper Tea.

We are all moving slowly this morning as we attempt to get back in to the swing of things. By the time next week rolls around we should be ready to tackle the "worst-two-weeks-of-my-year.*" I already have a knot in my stomach but this, too, will pass as it always does.

No pictures today but trust me when I say that I finished the first Pomatomous sock and am ready to turn the heel on the next plain sock. I also added a square or two to my sweater(?) and am contemplating how to insert armholes given that I went with an odd number of mitered squares instead of an even one. I also think I have found a pattern or two to go with my Jacob yarn.

Have a happy Monday.

(*Defined as: the period of time in which Devorah supervises the administration of the Advanced Placement exams in her school and follows all of the rules and regulations and keeps the staff and students relatively happy without losing her mind.)

I joined!

I have decided to become a dye-o-rama lemming! On order, 4 skeins of Knitpicks dye-your-own sock yarn. This, of course, led to me ordering far more yarn in order to meet the $40 minimum for free shipping. Also on order ... 2 balls of Dancing and the Palette Sampler (with 2 patterns to use it with).

Yesterday started out great (and actually did not end so crummy). We all trooped up to our favorite museum and then left Male child there with a friend and the friend's mom while the rest of us headed in to the park to do some geocaching.

Just as we completed crossing the street ... Ouch! All 3 of us stumbled on a piece of uneven sidewalk (imagine a sudden drop of over an inch). My foot twisted under, leaving me in considerable pain. Since the initial ache did abate after a few minutes of sitting -- while Mike figured out why the GPS was not working (I was paying more attention to the GPS then the sidewalk when this happened) -- we continued with our adventure. We headed in to the park, with me limping somewhat, and found the two caches we were after. I then decided that sitting at home with my foot up and on ice was probably the smartest move and so home we went.

Mike and Female child were very solicitous and after making sure I was o.k., they headed out on a bike ride and brought back this:from Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven. YUM!

I spent the day in my easy chair with my foot up -- alternating ice and no ice -- knitting baby socks and more mini-socks for our geocaching. The big socks in the picture are the finished plain socks. They will go to my sister-in-law in Kentucky who is expecting. If the baby is a girl, then she will get the matching baby socks. If the baby is a boy ... Then someone else will get the baby socks. The mini-socks will go in to geocaches so they do not have to be anywhere near the same size. Female child complained about the size of the small one so I made the next one a bit larger.Today, Female Child and I are heading to the T Salon to have a girls lunch / tea out. I am trying to persuade her that this is the way to go for her birthday gathering.

Meanwhile, I will just sit here with my feet up and knit while I read blogs.

What does a Peacock say?

Meow! No, really! These guys:
were meowing up a storm at the Bronx Zoo today. Mating call, maybe?

Then there were these guys -- the felonious horses.(I really love that picture -- tough to tell where the tail-ends are.)

And, lots and lots of butterflies!(O.k., I'm only putting up two pictures of them, take my word -- there were LOTS of butterflies.)

Here is the current plain sock in front of the bug Carosel. It was an absolutely fabulous day to be at the zoo but the crowds were, well ... zooey. Wednesday is the free day and given the wonderful weather, the crowds were out in force. We usually pass on Wednesdays but we were spending quality time with family from out of town. A good time was had by all and we seem to have avoided sunburn. (Thank you Coppertone!)

On other subjects, I'm jumping in to Kat's contest feet first.

Name 5 places other than your house or a knitting store where you have knit...

1. In a corn-maze while actually walking the maze. I turned a heel!

2. In the Statue of Liberty (her pedestal, actually) (see yesterday's post).

3. In Carnegie Hall (during intermission and before the concert).

4. In quite a few of the art galleries here in Chelsea.

5. While walking the streets of Manhattan.

And, as seems to be the norm, in doctors offices, the post office, on the subway, in a car, in the playground ... and so on.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

Yes, I am someone who goes to Liberty Island and takes a picture of Lady Liberty's tush. It's artistic.

Yesterday was spent in pursuit of our American Heritage as we toured Ellis and Liberty Islands. The kids and I joined up with my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin and cousin's family in Jersey City and took the ferry from Liberty State Park. Guys -- if you ever want to visit these places, THIS is the way to do it. Avoid Castle Clinton (the Manhattan ferry landing) and traipse to Jersey. I've done it both ways and Jersey is simply more civilized. (Gasp!) And, for out of towners, parking is MUCH less expensive. ($5 versus at least $35) And ... If you do the islands quickly (we did not) you can play in Liberty State Park.

We have been to Ellis Island a few times and never bothered with Liberty Island. I admit it, we are line snobs. I HATE standing on line and since you cannot climb all the way to her crown I have had no desire to venture inside since they reopened the Lady. I am content with the view from afar. Eventually, however, one must go and yesterday was the day. The line to get in to the pedestal was quite slow due to the bomb sniffing machines that everyone has to pass through. That was an interesting experience and before we got to them we were briefly evacuated. My public view is that we encountered a drill. My private view ... I wanted to get off the Island. I live far to close to Ground Zero to be comfortable with an evacuation from a National Monument.

This is why I knit, the plain sock now has a heel (see below) and is a few stripes up the cuff.

I expect to make one more trip to Ellis Island in the next year or so after Male Child finishes his immigration unit and wants to see it more in depth. Female child was able to act as a tour guide, having been there 3 times before (twice with us and once with school).

Overall it was a lovely day. The family came back into Manhattan and we fed them Indian food and then chowed down on Ben and Jerry's. Today -- the Bronx Zoo!

And now for those of you that need your fiber content ... The Mitered Sweater

And the plain sock (the second sock).

Spring Break Day 5 ...

is not much different from Day 3. Progress has been made on all knitting fronts and some spinning has been accomplished. The Daisies and Tomatoes are still alive (yes, this is something to celebrate) and my cold is starting to abate.

Yesterday we ventured in to New Jersey and did some geocaching in the Tenafly Nature Center. We had a nice easy hike and Mike found the caches pretty quickly. An al fresco meal of yogurt and matzah filled Female child's need for a picnic. The day wrapped up with some quality playground time during which I almost finished the first Pomatomous gusset. The kids and I played catch and I am happy to report that Male child can now throw and catch a ball at an acceptable level. (Yes, this was an issue.)

(Male child holding the second cache of the day.)

Today was supposed to involve a bike ride but Female child and I are still wiped out from our colds so a walk to the shoe store is more up our alley. Later we have the thrill of the kids' annual physicals followed by a trip to Chelsea Market for some fresh fish for dinner. Yum!

Spring Break Day 3

Accomplished so far this break:

Finished 1 plain sock and started mate.

Completed leg of first Pomatomous sock.

Planted Daisies. (Gerbera)

O.k., maybe the fog muted light was not the best way to photograph the socks. My kids thought I was a bit odd for putting them on the plants. Wait until the tomatoes get bigger!



Started playing with Mitered Squares. I think this will be a sweater or a vest. It all depends on when I run out of yarn. This is using the rest of the handspun coopsworth. The inspiration is from Ginger Luter's Module Magic.

Planted Tomatoes. (Sunsugar on the right and Husk Cherries on the left.)








Stayed up most of the night with a stuffy nose and spent all of today handcuffed to a box of Kleenex and a garbage bag for the used ones. I am hoping to be dry enough tomorrow to persuade Mike to go hiking / geocaching out in Jersey. This, by the way, was my view of New Jersey this morning:
Yup, it was so foggy that we could not even see our side of the river. Now, we have a view clear across to Hoboken. (O.k., I'm not really sure what city is directly across from us so don't quote me on that.)

Spring Break!

In the interests of full disclosure, the last two nights have looked something like this:

This is from the first night of Pesach (Passover) at our place. (The second night looked somewhat similar but for more people and at my parents' apartment in Queens.) Yes, there is a small amount of wine on the table. Please be assured that it was replenished frequently over the course of the evening. In the decanter is Manshevitz Concord Grape as practically required by tradition. A second decanter of grape juice joined the wine for the kids. The good wine was imbibed by Mike and my brothers-in-law. An amusing time was had by all at both seders and we are now in recovery mode.

On the way to Queens for the second seder, we got caught in icky traffic and I got much work done on the plain sock (some variety of Trekking XXL).


On the left is Pomatomous which received many loving stitches while in the playground earlier in the day. I show them on a lifeless window box in hopes of showing them again in the next day or so on a filled window box. I have the daisies, I just need to refresh the soil and plant them.

I like to have plant life on my terrace and even try to grow food out there -- tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers. Usually I wind up losing most of the plants by early August due to some sort of insect infestation. My plans were to totally replace all of my planting supplies this year and start with fresh, clean stuff in hopes of avoiding the annual plague (very Passover-like) but I have to keep my garden small this year since the terrace will be used for storage for much of July due to construction in the apartment. (We are knocking down a wall and doing major closet demo.) So, instead, I will have my daisies and maybe a tomato plant or two. These daisies seemed insect resistant last year and the tomatoes always do fine so maybe I will have an insect-free summer (at least on my terrace).

This is the view from my terrace facing northwestish:

That is the Hudson River and New Jersey on the far side. Next time I will show you the less enticing southwestish view and the new tower blocking Mike's sky. (It doesn't bother me, I just look north.)

Holiday Time!

Wishing everyone a good Holiday and a Happy Spring. For those of you spending quality time with your kids for the next week or so I wish a modicum of sanity and a plethora of Hugs. Please remember to enjoy your time with the younger ones -- they grow up far too fast.

We will be doing a Seder here with Mike's sister and family tonight and tomorrow will be at my folks with most of my siblings. The only knitting occurring will happen while driving out to the folks (I get to be a passenger) so don't expect great things of me until the weekend.

Our plans for the break are simple -- relax, relax, get Camp physicals (kids), visit with my Aunt and Cousin (and families) and relax some more. If the weather cooperates I would like to drag the kids with our bikes and get some milage in on the Hudson River and maybe find a few geocaches.

I have a little work to do but I will try to do it early and get it out of the way. I might even try to accomplish it today (at work (gasp!)) but I suspect that I just jinxed any available time by putting this in writing.

Enjoy your Holidays, enjoy your Families, enjoy Spring!

Stop the Day, I want to get off!

This was the saddest sight of my day. The poor flower was detached from its parent plant last night while some one (s) vandalized my school. I think it says it all.

(Actually, there was a sadder sight, but I didn't stop to photograph my son as he suffered through the nastiest migraine he has had in a while. Poor kid.)

Other things went wrong today but ultimately no one died and no blood was spilled so it was actually a good day. Male child is feeling fine now and Mike surprised me with a Bluetooth headset that will work with both the phone and audio players in my Treo. This means that I no longer have to worry about the stupid dongle switch breaking again! Woo Hoo!!!

Now to work on Pomatomous! (I hope I spelled that correctly.)

Gloucester!

(O.k., this is not the greatest picture -- I see that one of the buttons is trying to play hide-and-seek -- but at least my facial expression is decent. I have a slightly better photo of the sweater but my face looks like I ate something nasty.)

Finished! I finally confronted my fears and finished Gloucester. Thursday and Friday evenings were spent recrocheting the first rounds that I had to rip out and finishing the edging. Saturday lost over an hour to washing and carefully, tape measure in hand, blocking it out on my bed. Please note that Saturday was a damp, icy, icky day here in NYC and NOT the best conditions for a sweater to dry in before bed time. Keeping this in mind, I shifted Gloucester to my side of the bed before leaving the house to take Male Child to a birthday party. (He saw Ice Age 2 in which the word Squid is used often!)

When I returned, five hours later, Gloucester was still not dry despite the overhead fan going full force. Gee, who would have guessed! (please note sarcasm there) While my side of the comforter was icky damp, the sheets were dry so I was able to use another blanket without having to remake the bed. Phew!

Gloucester, meanwhile was gently folded in its damp towel and set aside for the night.

This morning I lay it out again while I did the laundry and then, being able to wait no longer, tried it on. IT FITS!!! It flares a little at the bottom and ultimately needed 4 fewer buttons but IT FITS!!! Gloucester will make its public debut tomorrow at work and then again on Thursday for the second Seder.

Project notes:

Pattern: Gloucester from Jean Frost's Jackets

Yarn: Cascade 220 4.5 skeins used in main color and .5 used of each of the contrast colors

Changes made: 4 stitches fewer then called for were cast on and ultimately used in the back. It did not make a difference as the back flares a bit anyway. This was a mistake that I decided not to fix.

Like factor: It is nice but I think I may not be a Chanel type of gal. I think it is a bit too blocky looking once on. I will wear it and it will be a part of my regular work wardrobe and will not be relegated to the "never wear" pile. However, I will look for a different style next time.

On other fronts I also managed to skein up and wash four skeins of the Jacob and will skein up the remaining four this evening. I think I have the pattern for it (Boylston, also from Jean Frost's Jackets)but it first requires a trip to Knitty City for contrast yarn. I am going to try to hold off on this until Friday and use up some other yarns before I bring something new in to the house.

Another Proud Mommy Moment

Leave quickly unless you wish to be assaulted by a mother's bragging. (And scroll down two posts for the Futurama Socks.)

This is another "Proud Mommy" post. At the start of 4th grade, my daughter's cohort was told that they could choose band or chorus. If they went for band then they would have to give up one recess a week for extra instruction. Since both children already play an instrument (violin) I figured that Female child would choose to sing instead of play.

Nope, she chose band and started a path to maturity that I could not have imagined. First, after being told that she would be learning the trumpet -- her third choice, and that we would have to obtain one on our own, she exercised a new-found confidence and told her teacher that she could get a clarinet (second choice) from her violin teacher (free) and would much
rather play that then the trumpet. She did this in lieu of handing over the note from mom that said "call me." Said teacher was lovely and let her use the clarinet. (Her violin teacher has now said that Female child can keep the clarinet for good -- it is apparently a good clarinet so this is not a frivolous gift.)

Then, she showed an aptitude for her new instrument that had her figuring out songs on her own much as she had already done on both the violin and piano.

Fast forward to two weeks ago when she was selected, with 5 other students, to take additional, afterschool lessons which would lead to a featured spot in the Spring concert and ... Playing at graduation. Yesterday the 5th graders treated their families to a lovely Spring Concert and when Female Child stood up for the featured passage, I cried.

It is both wonderful and sad to see your child grow up and I am so proud of her for pursuing her passions that it overwhelms me. If you have a child, go to them and hug them hard. They are young for so short a time.

To Share or Not to Share ...

*** Scroll down to the previous post if you are looking for the Futurama socks. ***

A few people have suggested that I make my patterns available to the public. As much as I am flattered by the suggestion I cannot do so. The last two pairs of socks represent copyright protected characters and while I am reasonably certain that I am on a safe legal footing making them for my husband, (and yes, I have studied this section of the copyright law), it would absolutely be illegal for me to publish the patterns. What I am thinking of doing, however, is creating a guide to making cartoon socks. This guide would cover the basic principles and techniques that I employ when designing something of this nature for personal use. The examples I would use would be of my own creation. (This idea now has my mind churning as to new Squid sock ideas!)

Keep your eyes out for future postings which will describe either the full process or how the explanation can be obtained. I have a week-and-a-half spring break coming up when I can devote some time to making a proper product.

Meanwhile, for those of you who appreciate Elizabeth Zimmerman-style "pithy" directions:

Figure out your gauge in desired yarn.

Take a good look at the subject to be copied. You might want to start with creatures with simple features such as Squid.

Either: print the picture on top of knitting graph paper, sized to fit the number of stitches you have or ...

Keep the picture nearby to consult as you wing it. (I went with the second option). Knit. Place features where they belong. Finish sock. Knit second sock using same or similar methods.

To work the intarsia areas I knit flat for those sections and then sewed up the hole on the side of the eye / mouth afterwards.

Embroider any accents such as pupils and teeth.

Knit I-cord for tentacles -- keep sock at hand so that you can compare how it will look as the i-cord grows.

Sew on appendages and hide all ends.

Wear and enjoy! Be sure to photograph and email me so I can see!

New Socks!

I was going to show you this:

It was an excuse for not having anything finished to show you. (Tangled mess = obvious reason not to finish socks.)

Then, however, I spent several hours in the playground and can now show you this:

and this:

and, as a pair, these:They are, the Futurama socks. The Grey guy is Bender and the Red guy is Dr. Zoidberg. Futurama was an animated program on FOX that went off the air and in to syndication several years ago. There is no official website and hence, no link. I will not link to fan sites since I have found some offensive (to me) material on some of them. According to Slashdot there will be new episodes coming soon.

Dr. Z. was the original inspiration for these socks since, as you can see, he is somewhat Squid like. (Let us forget for a moment that he is also rather Crab-like.)

The socks are knit out of Cascade 220 superwash and fit Mike's size 11 feet. Dr. Z's tentacles are I-cord as is Bender's visor. Yes, Bender really has 3 rows of teeth.

*****

It turns out that I have a bit of an avoidance issue with Gloucester. Right now it is a bit too small and is fitting snuggly. I blocked my swatch using shawl techniques (LOTS of pins, stretched to its absolute limit) and think that it will block out just fine. Keep your fingers crossed and do not even think of looking for a picture of the finished object before Sunday. I need to allow a full day for it to dry while severely pinned to my bed. Obviously I cannot do this in the evening and I do not dare risk doing it in the early morning when I do not have a full set of wits about me.
I might do some crocheting on it tonight or I might instead work on Pomatomus. I admit it, I have jumped on the pomatomus bandwagon with some wonderful merino purchased for another, aborted, project. I do not usually jump on pattern bandwagons but after seeing them on another blog I realized that this is what this yarn was calling out to be -- and so it will.
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