Gift Exchange Yummies!

The Yahoo Group KnittingParents that I'm on did a winter gift exchange. We were to make our giftee something out of a skein of yarn and send it to them. Look at the goodies I received!!!

There's a great card, mintey bath/shower gel, dark chocolate (YUM) and a gorgeous cloth AND hand made soap and bag. I am so spoiled! I am marking off Saturday morning to get re-aquainted with my bath tub and making the men in my life all leave the house so I can have an hour of peace!

Thank you so much Elizabeth!The pictures do not do show how wonderful the fabric and color is - part of me wants to save it and just admire it but I know the real beauty of knitted items is when they are loved and USED!

Wristlet for Gift Exchange

This is pair #5 of the pattern "Little Green Wristlets" from the book 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders edited by Judith Durant. I really like the pattern. My alterations were to not make the thumb on the first 4 pairs (pictures to follow from my nieces - I hope) and to only do two pattern repeats at the wrist.

Hallowig

I am very late in reporting this finished object. Chris intended to wear it for fun at Halloween but wound up dressing as something else instead. The yarn is Bernat in Acrylic and hurt my hands to knit. Well written pattern from Knitty.

Ear Cozies Hat for Jayden

Fiber Trends (CH-34) Ear Cozies hat made for new baby Jayden. I made it in the Medium size with Ella Rae Classic Print in color 203, 100% wool. It was a quick knit and as usual turned out gorgeous. It is all wrapped up and ready to present to Grandma today for delivery.

8 stitch socks are finished!

I have finished the socks for me! I did the same ribbing on the leg and top of the foot but on this sock I stopped at the toe decreases. I like it better than the first sock I did and it was much easier to just concentrate on the decreases instead of the ribbing AND decreases. I did the 3 needle bind off as well. I promise the next pair I'll try harder to do the kitchener. I have quite a bit of yarn left, hmmmm what to do.

Kid and Camera

Do you ever find odd things on your camera that you're sure you didn't take?

First Day of School

Oh my - We have a 7th grader and a 10th grader in the house!

Please forgive the pictures, they were impatient and hate this first day of school photo tradition of mine.

One down and one to go...

I finished the first sock of a pair of socks for me. I used the new Ann Budd book "Getting Started Knitting Socks" and her 8 stitches per inch pattern. I used Trekking XXL yarn and a size 2 US set of Bamboo DPN needles.The first 20 rows are K2, P2 ribbing (2 inches) and then I did the leg and the top of the foot in K3, P1 ribbing. It fits well, doesn't feel loose or tight so must be perfect. I tried the kitchener join on the toe but got frustrated and gave up. The 3 needle bind off inside was fine. Then I started sewing in the ends and discovered this random floater of yarn... must have entirely skipped a needle! ARGH.

Still chugging away on the socks...

I have finished 2 inches (20 rows) of Knit 2, Purl 2 ribbing.... another 6 1/2 inches of Knit 3, Purl 1 pattern on the leg... the heel... and the gusset. Now I'm doing the "knit plain" part of the foot until it is time to decrease for the toe. I'm continuing the K3, P1 leg pattern on the top of the foot. I'm hoping this helps hug my leg/foot and makes for no dropping socks. I'm anxious to try it on and see what it's like!

I am not a sock knitter.... I think

Let me clarify - I have knit a pair of "hunting" socks out of superwash worsted weight wool for my eldest son from a Lion Brand pattern. I have made a pair of footies out of sock weight yarn for my youngest son. Still no absolute NEED to make socks... however... the gorgeous sock yarn out there is calling to me! During the recent Knit Picks book sale, I bought this book by Ann Budd "Getting Started Knitting Socks". I was inspired. During our trip last weekend to a hockey tournament in Duluth, I started a pair of socks out of Trekking XXL in color 100. It is 75% wool and 25% nylon in pretty turquoise, gold, oranges, reds and greens. I'm really liking how it is turning out. Using size 2 needles and getting 8 stitches to the inch... I did 20 rows of Knit 2 Purl 2 and have now switched to Knit 3 Purl 1 for the main part of the leg. Can't wait to see how they turn out!I'm off on a plane tonight to spend some time teaching at our Idaho facility - and hanging out with my brother and his family. I hope my seat is conducive to plane knitting, otherwise I'll have to drool over the yarn and read a book instead.

Room Redo Number Two

Now the other son wanted his room redone - by rights it really was his turn in the first place. Last Friday we pulled everything out of the room, painted 3 walls blue and one tan... shampooed the carpeting and then put things back.

We put in a loft bed and got a small love seat couch for under it. Tom sanded the paint off his old nightstand and "modernized" it by making his own handle for the drawer.

He is all settled... now, have the elves done the sewing room yet?

The Great Room Switcheroo

I'm not sure whose bright idea this was to begin with - but it sure is a lot of work. Chris and I are switching rooms. He is getting what was my sewing/craft room in the basement, and I am getting his bedroom upstairs on the main floor. It will be nice to have the boys further apart and Chris goes to bed earlier than everyone else so will get more quiet at night... but so much work!

His new room downstairs has been completely emptied, repainted and furniture moved in. I still have one cabinet with items in it but he should be ready to fully unpack and get settled.

My new "activities" room upstairs? Well, let's just say almost everything is in there - but it's not even remotely close to being organized. I got rid of 5 huge garbage bags full of "treasures" and there's still a lot of items. I'm hopeful that the close proximity to the living area and our bedroom will enable me to get more time in the room to accomplish things. There's material I bought to make the boys clothes back when they were itty bitty that just never got done. Not to mention all the quilt materials, stained glass, painting, polar fleece, yarn. I need to get crackin' and produce some stuff out of all that stuff.

I'm still here!

Sorry it's been so long! Things are busy busy busy this summer - of course that's pretty normal around here. On July 11th our "baby" turned 13. THIRTEEN! How did that happen???

My brother (from Idaho)was in town for a visit and we got to celebrate Chris' birthday with him and the 4 gorgeous women in his life. It was great to have little ones splashing and having fun in the pool and to get cake and ice cream all over their faces.

Vacation at the cabin

Ahhhhhh - there is nothing like a week at the cabin. We were blessed with lots of sunshine and blue skies. We even were treated with a daily visit from our lake's resident swans and their 6 babies. We spent many hours lounging outside with friends and with just our immediate family. We watched Drake "fish" for hours and swim with the boys. We even did a little celebrating on July 4th with our cabin neighbors and others on the lake who shared their own firework displays.

The picture is of Tom sitting on our steps down to the lake, feeding the swans some corn right from his hand. They also love bread.

I read 3 books and finished the left side of my 2 button jacket. The right side is just a few short cm from being completed. Then it is on to the sleeves and collar and I'll be ready to wear it!

Cleaning house

My brother has decided his office is really his office, not a server room. As a result, our website hosting has been moved to go daddy DOT com.

You should be able to see the amsden DOT net page there with no problems. Now to find the time to update that old webpage!

Main page
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Chris
blog
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Minnesota Stars

Amanda's Squatty Sidekick Felted

I went to do laundry last night and discovered that our front loading washing machine had decided it didn't want to lock the door and spin out on high anymore. Looking on the bright side, I decided it was the perfect time to get Amanda's Squatty Sidekick felted since I could now open the door whenever I wanted and it would never spin a silly crease in the side.

Here's the results. It is about 11 1/2 inches wide by 5 1/2 inches high and then 4 1/2 inches deep. I am overall pleased with it, I will definitely make another one and plan out the decreases a little better if I double the depth of the bottom again. The one side seems to have had more decreases than the other and pulls in toward the handle more severely.

I was a little concerned about the short handle going around my arm so I have "hung" it to dry. I'm sure it will take days and days with this humid and hot MN weather!

Lamb's Pride Worsted in M-160 Dynamite Blue from Denise's Brown Sheep shopping trip. I still have about 1/2 the skein!

"Relaxing" Weekend?

I was planning a relaxing weekend.... I wound up leaving the cabin with youngest son shortly after 4:00 on Saturday headed to the ER. He and his older brother were on the jet ski and flew off and he tried to plant his face in the front hood. He has a gash on his chin, a sore nose and neck and managed to ram his two front teeth about 1/8 inch up into the bone that separates the teeth and nose. Fun huh!

We got to the ER around 5:00.... they put him in a neck brace and did a CAT scan and XRays, then left there at 9:40 pm for the Oral Surgery Center where the oral surgeon agreed to come in and do surgery on him that night. (What a doc!) We got home just before 1:00 am.

He's now on heavy pain medication but no black eyes yet and the wire on his braces is again straight. His nose and upper lip aren't as swollen this morning so that's good.

He can't chew anything harder than cooked pasta for 6 weeks, preferably all liquids for the first few days. With the super glue on his chin for his gash there, no swimming or baths for 5-10 days until the glue is totally worn off.

The oral surgeon is going to call his dentist and orthodontist on Monday for further follow up by them. He will probably need a root canal in both front teeth due to the blood supply being cut off to those teeth. $$$ ARGH $$$

Lamb's Pride felting - WOW

I have a front loading washer that locks and won't let you open the door until after the cycle is completely spun dry. In the past I have felted with Cascade 220 and Noro Kureyon yarn. Last night, I was washing blankets and towels from downstairs and thought I would throw the bag in for it's first run through the washer. It usually takes at least 3 times through.

Warning - Lamb's Pride Worsted is wonderful for felting! It came through the one wash cycle almost completey finished. However, it did felt to itself and get all creased in several areas. I've managed to pull it apart, but this next time I will need to use someone's top loader so I can check on it every 5 minutes. Another load through my washer I believe will be the end of it. I'll have a great creased felted sculpture.

Two Button Jacket

On Friday a friend and I took a little road trip at lunch and went to a LYS that is moving locations and having a sale. I found this pattern and the exact number of skeins of yarn I needed all for 75% off. I sure hope there aren't any surprises because there is no more yarn where this came from.

The yarn is Colourworks in yellows and oranges (shade 996), 100% Pure NZ Wool Hand Painted by Jan Gilray. I little brighter than I normally would pick but I thought it looked fun. They recommended alternating between 2 skeins every 2 rows to keep the color consistent so that's what I'm doing. So far I haven't had too many tangles. I have 10 inches of the back done after working on it this weekend. When I get to 13.5 inches I need to start decreasing for the arms.

Amanda's Squatty Sidekick

Last Saturday I drove 7 hours, round trip, for a wedding shower for my cousin. Mom, Grandma, my niece and my Aunt (Mother of the Bride) were all in the car so it was a great chance to catch up and have some time away. I cast on this cute little felted purse soon after leaving my house, and had all but the button flap done when I arrived back home. I finished the button flap one day last week and found a button at the LYS on Friday. Now.... to find the chance to go see if Mom will let me felt it in her top loading washer.

The yarn is the gorgeous royal blue Lamb's Pride from Denise's shopping trip for me (1.5 skeins). The pattern is by Amanda Berka and is available from Knitting Daily by Interweave Press.

The original bag is suppose to be 4.5 inches high, 10 inches long and 2 inches wide with a 14 inch handle. I made the bag bottom twice as many stitches wide so I'm hoping it's more like 4 inches wide.