One Sock Down

Thank you for all the sewing comments and emails! I bought my sewing machine with the money I got for my high school graduation in 1987. I really started to sew once I had my own machine. My Mom sewed A LOT and so you couldn't get near her machine to try and practice, unless it was that one time my sister sewed her index finger. Um...that sister HATES sewing to this day!

I bought my serger (3 spool, the 4 spools didn't come out until MUCH later) in 1988. It is the same model my Mom had and bought new a few years earlier for much more money. Mine was used but I think whoever bought it never actually used it. The store put me on a payment plan, since I was in college and $300 was a huge amount of money. I think I paid $50 a month for 6 months and I don't think they charged interest. Probably because my Mom spent so much money there they gave me a break.

Both machines are Bernina's with all metal parts. They have not needed any work, except for the replacement of the part that holds the thread on the serger in the 18 years I have owned them. I asked a lady at Joann's that works in the sewing machine section how the basic machines would compare to my older "basic" Bernina. She said it was like comparing a Mercedes to a Yugo.

I sewed a lot in college & grad school. Especially in grad school when I worked at Hancock Fabrics. I don't sew as much as I'd like for a few of reasons.

1. I have nowhere to leave the machines set up.
2. I get too much help from the kids.
3. There is no money saving in sewing. It is a hobby. Ok...I did save money on the curtains I made for our formal living room but they were still not cheap to make!
4. Knitting is portable and doesn't take up a lot of space.

I think I will make another couple of bags this week and not mess with getting the serger out because they are "relative" patterns and I will eventually cover the seams with a nice top stitched seam.

I finished sock #1 this morning and will start on Sock #2 this afternoon or while I stand in line at Best Buy to get our new PC. That place always has a line, even if you have pre-ordered and paid for the darned thing!

Why yes, this sock does seem GI-NORMOUS but I have have big feet and it fits fine. I do think part of it is the fact that this is pretty heavy sock yarn.

The kitchener stitch turned out fantastic. Can't even see the join. Thanks Knitting Help.
On my foot! Not showing a side view because my ankle looks the size of a small compact car.
I can tell you they are REALLY SLIPPERY on the laminate. I had it on to show David and it was a slip/slide event.

He looked at it and said I could have bought a PAIR for $1 at the store. Yep, I could, but it is the knitting process! ;)

Crafty Saturday

David was in Yuma all day Saturday. He left the house at 5:30 am and got home at 10:30 pm. Needless to say, it was a long, long day for him.

With him being gone, I ALMOST had the day to myself. Hannah was at her sleepover until about 3 pm (which amazed me). Simon pretended to take a nap for about an hour so in that time, I set up my sewing machine & serger to make one of those small sock bags I have seen online for $15.

Apparently I have not used my serger in awhile because it still has the rolled hem foot on it and I could not find the regular serger foot so I had to make do with the rolled hem foot which is ok except for some reason my serger was becoming unthreaded! Ick...if there is one thing I hate is threading my serger.

I once taught a sewing class where you made a cute jacket from a throw. A serger was really paramount to doing it quickly. There were 4 ladies in the class and NONE OF THEM knew how to thread their borrowed sergers so I spent the better part of 2 hours threading their sergers when they got buggered up. Needless to say, for future classes a note was added that you must know how to thread your own serger!

While I was working on it, Heather called to say she was able to pick up another hank of yarn from Fiber Factory for the Cherry Leaf Shawl pattern. After she told me she got the yarn she informed me her hubby was going to make her a drop spindle. Um, I have one (bought at a SWTC fire sale last year) that I am NEVER going to use and some wool roving I picked up in Ottawa last year at Yarn Forward. So, she came over and traded my my yarn for the roving and spindle. Best of luck with spinning!
I am working on the sock again....but the heel seems really big again. Other than that, it fits pretty well. I think it will turn out ok. I kept the ribbing on the instep which should help it fit a little tighter. This is a la Illanna and her socks from last week at SnB.
Finally, the small knitting bag I finished yesterday. It is a little bigger than I would want for the sock bag but a nice size all around. I think I may do some additional top stitching but that is about it. I am pretty happy with how it turned out, especially since I didn't use a pattern and had to wing it.

A Chemo Cap & Music Mix

I have a friend just starting a new round of chemo so.....I made her a hat yesterday.

It is the Honeybear Hat from Exquisite Little Knits. I used Cream Stork Yarn (Dale of Norway) and Crystal Palace Waikiki in Fern.

A very soft hat and stretchy too. Hopefully, this will be soft and not too warm.

Yesterday we were listening to the Blend Station on satellite radio on Direct TV and they played the following four songs.

Cher: Believe
Culture Club: Time
Keith Urban: Making Memories of Us
Donna Summer: Hot Stuff
38 Special: Caught Up in You

I liked all the songs, could sing along to them but really thought they were an odd blend.

However, Donna Summer is now on my ipod! ;)

To The Frog Pond!

There was something telling me for the last day on this sock that there was something not right. I couldn't put my finger on it and I am bang on gauge wise, but it just seemed too big.

So, the sock is now this!!! A nice ball of yarn. I think part of my problem is that this yarn is thicker than other sock yarn in my stash and so, made a much denser fabric than the thinner sock yarn. Anyway, I think it will be socks just on bigger needles and different pattern.
In political news, whenI lived in Fargo, there was 1 clinic in North Dakota and located in Fargo. Those in the Bible belt wanted to make ND an abortion free state by closing that one down (they have yet to succeed). I just don't understand WHY this is such a big issue. However, South Dakota is now on the same road as can be seen in an article here (courtesy of Melanie).

It's Tuesday Again

Another good night at knitting. Here is Pam's first hat and the respective parts of the new hat for her Aunt on top. Notice she is also wearing her wrist warmers and a crocheted scarf in a lovely reddish color.
That is Eva working on her Olympic hat, Jessica to the left and Heather's child sweater in the middle surrounded by her sock yarn.
Here is Kiki's gift from Steve. It is so cool and is lined with some of her hand made paper. Illanna was working on some Kool Aid Dyed socks last night. They were going really quickly!!!
And the Jaywalker socks. Here they are as I turn the heel. I really like this heel as it seems very firm.
And, a close up of the heel.
I have knit a couple of rounds this morning and it is looking pretty good but I am hoping the plain knitting on the bottom kind of tightens up the foot part or the sock might be too big.

Funny Political Song

If you are a fan of Dick Cheney then don't click on this link.

If you aren't, then enjoy!!!!

Weekend Knitting Review

This is one ball finished of the red shawl. I will DEFINITELY need a 3rd ball of yarn to make it big enough. It is going really well and it is interesting knit that has some thought but not all engrossing that I can't talk or watch TV.
I started the ubiquitous Jaywalker Socks last night. It is quite easy but....I made a boo boo in the pattern when I started knitting the pattern section. It wasn't painfully obvious to me that the two knit in front & back loops are supposed to be side by side (the pattern needs one little asterisk after the end of the pattern repeat) until you count how many stitches the repeat was 5 rows later. So, I had to (GASP!) rip back to the end of the ribbing and fix it. Once I figured that out, it is a really easy knit so far. I think I'll do a few more inches and than start the heel.
My baby boy has an ear infection. He woke up on Saturday & Sunday night screaming that his ear hurt (first night, wondered if it was a fluke) but after spending 3 hours up and down with him, I knew we were on our way to the doctor yesterday. Why, yes, he did have an ear infection but is in a better mood after starting the antibiotics and taking a 3 hour nap.

Sunday

It has been one of those days.....Simon has a bit of a cold and is in a real cruddy mood. As I was going to see if he was taking a nap, I see this in Hannah's room. Um, I guess Obie is just making himself comfortable on Hannah's bed.

I had to go out and get some ribbon to finish some booties that I am making for a client so I took Hannah with me. We also went to Target to get her a new bike helmet. If you can imagine me, standing about 5 foot away from Hannah while I take this photo, you can see how close she was to me most of the outing. Um, am I already persona non-grata at AGE 7!? If so, she can stay home....with Dad from now on when I run errands on the weekend.
The finished hat & booties. The hat is a mixture of two patterns, the yarn is Dale of Norway Stork yarn (100% cotton) and the bootie pattern is the stay on baby booties from the 2005 knitting pattern a day calendar.
David & I are hoping to plan our adult only vacation for the beginning of April. However, the package we bought at a fundraiser to this resort, is not panning out like it should because Continental can't get us to Curacao except for once a week and we only have 4 nights hotel. If we take the 1X per week flight, we also will be required to spend an additional night coming and going in scenic Newark, NJ. The only positive thing might be that we can have dinner with Kristina & Andy.

I am hoping the nice lady I spoke with yesterday can come up with another solution. We don't mind going somewhere else in the Carribbean but we definitely want an all inclusive resort, including adult beverages! ;)

Prayer Shawl Saturday

I went over the the Prayer Shawl knitting group this morning for a bit of fellowship and knitting. Here is Rachel, our pied piper, working with some brown Homespun.

Cathy is working on a red & white with sparkle shawl. She got the yarn for $3 out at the Mesa Swap Mart. Hmmm...I gotta go to that yarn shop. It sounds like the kind of prices I LOVE!
Marcia (not shown) is working on a shawl with the Lion Brand Mohair and Marie is working on a couple of crocheted shawls in Homespun.

Here are a couple of Marie's shawls from "scrap" yarn. The orange one is aptly named, Orange Sherbet. Marie is a master at using up small amounts of yarn to make gorgeous shawls!
Here she is modeling a shawl for her Granddaughter in Homespun. I think she said it was named Blue Ocean.
Here is my prayer shawl destined for Hawaii in the future. This is 4 repeats of the pattern. After you have done it once, it is easy to figure out how it goes and whether you have made a mistake or not.
Here is a close up. I really like this pattern a lot. It is pertty yet an easy lacey type pattern.

Two bumper stickers....

On the same car.

First one:

All Trash
No Trailer

Second one:

A village in Texas is missing an idiot.

I used that quote on this blog to make a comment. It seemed so appropriate!

Thursday Knitting

Alison was in town last night and visited us for some knitting at Coffee Rush. Here she is with her old roommate who we could not convince to knit....better luck next time!

There was a good group last night. Pam who was working on a flower pillow and had brought the cutest crocheted Loch Ness Monster with a beaded sombrero! Doh, I forgot to take a photo!

Heather was working on a baby sweater, Michelle on Bobbi Bear, Melanie on a felted bag, Eva on her knitting Olympic hat, Alison on her sweater for her hubby, and Karen on a pair of urban fingerless gloves for her upcoming trip to London & Paris. (I am so jealous!)

Karen was also sweet enough to remember the memory card and batteries from her dead camera, which is still a working camera over at our house! Thank you so much!

I finished the preemie hat & booties last night for the Preemie Project. There is also a little contest....look at that basket!!
And...here is the yarn I am going to use to make the Cherry Leaf Scarf into a shawl for a friend in Hawaii. It is red/orange mercerized cotton in DK weight. Can't send a wool shawl to Hawaii!

Sock Yarn

A couple of weeks ago I won sock yarn from Sedie! Ironically, it was the same day or the day after I finished the 1 self striping sock and figured out I did not have enough yarn for another sock...maybe another toe but not a whole sock. This is Sock Memories from Knitpicks in Spring Prairie.

It came in the mail today and I have wound it into balls...there was a great bit of teeth gnashing of teeth by the kids who were fighting over the ball winder. I don't mind them helping but they aren't so good with the whole tension thing and then yarn ends up getting stuck at least once on the ball winder and if I don't catch it quick enough, then I have to undo a knot or cut it and then I have a big knot with grease on it!

Thanks Sedie! I gotta finish a baby hat & booties before I can start a pair of socks. I saw a cute pair in the IK Spring 2006 issue. I don't think they would look good in a varigated yarn so I will pick another pattern from here.

Arizona Living

The show was taped this morning and will air tomorrow on a local station in Phoenix.

Here is the display of some of my bags and knitting "stuff" on the set. I think the towel racks looked really good and made it so you could see the bags.

Laurel D'Antoni and I on the couch.
After the taping I figured I was SSSOOOO CLOSE to this great restaurant by my old work. This intersection brought back many memories from when I first moved to Phoenix 11 years ago. I used to hit this intersection at 35th Avenue & Thomas every day on my way to work in the 'hood.
I had lunch at this Mexican restaurant. Their carnitas burritos are to die for and their salsa usually is really spicy without being bum kicking. The carnitas was as good as always but the salsa was a bit meek for me. Almost GRINGO! I did have their green salsa that is really creamy. Although it was good, the salsa was not as I remembered. I guess nothing ever is the same as you remember but.......still a nice trip down Memory Lane.

Happy 7th Birthday Hannah!

This was our baby at 6 weeks. Where, oh where, has the time gone? I remember holding up her bum to get this photo. She still sleeps with the blanket underneath her that I made before she was born. It is getting a wee bit worse for the wear.

This photo was at the Asthma walk last April.


This morning....opening her presents from us in the robe her Grandma made for her to match the blanket she got for Christmas.
Happy Birthday honey! We love you so much.

Tuesday Morning

I have been wondering how I can display the bags while a table next week so I went to Tuesday Morning and found this Valet Stand that works perfectly. However, they only had 1 and even though they said they had more at another one, it was actually a free standing toilet paper holder.

Alas, I am off to Bed Bath & Beyond this week to pick up a couple more.

During my travels at the numerous Tuesday Morning's (3 to be exact), I saw these but resisted buying them. They are straight Balene needles. There is a set of 5 sizes (10, 9, 8, 7 & 6) for $5.99!!! Tempting but I already have those sizes, exept 10 in aluminum. However, these were available in Ahwatukee & Gilbert.
The Gilbert store also had orange & yellow Cottonease and pink & blue polar spun. I did find Cottonease in the blue at the Ahwatukee store and bought two bags.
Another thing I saw at the Ahwatukee store and resisted buy in was 2 circular needle rolls by Elizabeth Arden. This is the same brand I bought at FF at their sale in Jan. 2005. One was $14.99 and one was $9.99. I have no idea what the difference was but since I already had 2 of them, I did not buy another. They also had some quilted Elizabeth Arden knitting bags. There was one with Zebra's that reminded me of Kelli but it was still $17.99 (a bit too expensive for a yarn bag) so if you are in the market, there is clearance Lion Brand at all the stores but only one bag of the blue left in Ahwahtukee!!!

Hannah's 7th Birthday Party

Hannah had her 7th birthday party at McDonald's on Saturday.

Here are some random shots of the birthday girl! and her friends.

Kathly, Jocob, Zhoonie, Hannah, Jenny, Erica & Reece.

Cutting the birthday cake. Her friends were very helpful getting all the cake distributed. They are all big sisters and must help at home!

Erica & Zhoonie.
Hananh with Wendy, Jenny & Simon.
Hananh, Wendy, Kathlyn & Erica in the bubble.
Jacob, the token boy other than Simon. All the girls were chasing him and he was LOVING it!

Jacob used to call Hannah almost every day last year when they were in kindergarten together.
Erica, Kathlyn & Victoria.
We had a fun time and I was tired when we went home!

Brain Injury Association

David & I attended the Brain Injury Association Dinner last night.

Before dinner they had a silent auction out on the patio.

The Key Club from Brophy High School helped with the auction. The event was held at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort.
David with last year's chairwoman & her husband and Rick D'Amico on the right.
David & I.
The lovely frame we were given which is now part of David's Valentine gift. I can say that because he doesn't or rarely reads my blog.
Rick & the Speaker/Magician Tim Paccirillo. David introduced Rick, the emcee for the evening. It was a nice evening but we sure missed seeing Ruth D'Amico!