Oh, yes

Oh, yes, they are DONE! Brian's socks are finished--finished them last night during Grey's, as a matter of fact. How fitting since they were my project for the Grey's Anatomy KAL. I'm pretty excited about that. Brian wore 'em into work today, and I have to give him credit... He wore a grey mock turtleneck to match the grey socks, and EVEN donned his black shoes, instead of his usual brown-with-anything look. Impressive, no? I am very proud. (If you didn't know, I sort of have a thing about grey and brown together; it just skives me out.) It either bugs you, too, or you have no idea why it bugs me. Can't explain it.


Yeah, yeah, I know it looks a little bunchy behind the heel. Not sure if it's the sock or how he's got his legs scrunched...I will check on that.





Not sure why he did the pose like this. I think because I did it before so my ankles wouldn't look fat? Again, not sure if it's because he just saw me do it, or because he's trying to make sure his ankles don't look fat. (His ankles aren't fat.)

In Megann's blog the other day, she referred to "the Kitchner Bitch", which I thought was pretty cute. I'm at my computer, and I read this and start giggling a bit. Brian asks me what's up, and I have to say that it's a knitting joke. He's all, "Oh." I ended up telling him what it was, figuring it wouldn't be that funny, and he started laughing, too! Hmmm...sometimes they surprise you. I guess he listens to my knitting rambles after all. He even brought it up again last night while I was finishing the socks up: "You gonna Kitchner Bitch them up?" Silly man.

So, today I cast on for Irene's hat. I really wanted to start another pair of socks, but I just can't put her hat and mittens off any longer. It's so darned cold here! It was about 32 degrees this morning when we left to bring her to school. Freezing temps really require mittens for 6 year olds, so I'd better get on the ball. Her request for her hat was that it match her new coat (duh) and that it have circles. I interpreted that to mean polka dots--not sure what she'd meant. Circles sounded like a color work nightmare. Polka dots can be repeated nicely, so as not to cause me any stress or Agata. Works for me. I'll take some pics, but right now it looks like a half inch of K1,P1 ribbing in dark purple. You can use your imaginations.

Are they growing?

Hmmm....Jen left a comment to the last post about the merits of knitting two socks at once, and I am all over it. I have got to figure out how to do this. A few questions are circling my head about it, though. 1) I realize there are all sorts of tutorials online to show me how to do the 2 socks at one time, but should I practice with one first? What do you think? Maybe get the hang of the circ needle idea for socks before I dive in with 2 socks simultaneously? 2) Also, does the book Socks Soar on Two Circs explain how to do one sock on two circs or TWO socks? I think I'd assumed it was one sock at a time, so I didn't order that one. (Ugh--I knew I should have just bought them both!) 3) Do you consider the socks on 1 or 2 circ's to be more or less portable than on double pointed needles? I realize this is a lot of questions, but I would love your input on the matter. There is a looming feeling (about learning this new technique) of doom advancing and I would love to outrun it, partially knitted pair of socks in hand. We shall see... Save. Your. Self.


On a more cheerful (and delicious) subject, my yummy yarn is beautiful. I'll take a few pics, but don't get your hopes up. My yarn cataloging talents have yet to be developed...

Here it is, all together.

and closer...


Knitpicks Swish DK in eggplant and cornflower to make Irene's hat and mittens. Should match her new winter coat, and looks good next to it.

And I ordered a couple sample balls of Knitpicks Andean Silk, just to see the colors. Now, they DO have a swatch card, but it's not available until January, if I remember correctly. Well, I am not willing to wait until Jan. to see the colors I am thinking about. I ordered mustard and orange, and I'm not sure what to do. I want to make the Retro Returns shawl collar cardigan from the Yarn Girls' newest book. The mustard in person is just too yucky. Probably a pretty color for many people, but for me it would not be flattering. Plus, you know how they sometimes say that breast-fed babies poops are grainy and mustardy? Ever heard that? It's true. And this yarn reminds me of that. Now I love my babies, and I don't mind changing their poops, especially when they're that young. But still, I just don't want to wear it around, you know? So Mustard is not going to work for me.

The Orange is really vibrant and pretty. And I LOVE orange. Really. Yes, I do know it sounds crazy...
It's pretty much my favorite color, and this shade of it is exquisite. However, I am not sure I'm wanting to invest this much time and money on a sweater that I want so badly, only to realize that it's really too bright and too flashy to wear very often at all. How sad! I've gone back and forth, and finally said that I should get a "neutral color" so that I can wear it more often. Brown? Already have it. Black? Got it. Navy? Check. Hmmm...what's left? Gray? Yeah, but how blah, right? So I am still on the fence about Orange. I may also order up a ball of the Lettuce green. It's a happy bright-ish color that is different, but still "fall", and wouldn't be so flashy, you know? What do you think? Oh, and did I mention that the yarn is amazing feeling? Like it feels so nice I want to knit up some quick undies out of it, and throw 'em right on. Whew--that's some soft and silky yarn!

Brian's socks:

They are coming along. I swear, the first sock is just growing. It's sitting in my bag, all nicely finished and lovely. And it grows. Seriously. It's like every time I measure the second one up against the first, it is bigger and I have even more yet to knit! (Probably some kind of secret plan of the knitting Gods to mess with me. I'm not surprised, since they also make swatches lie, hide your 4th double pointed needle, and cause my projects to be one ball short.) So here they are:



Brian has promised to let me take a picture of the finished one on his feet. It just never seems to happen, though. Perhaps he is trying to motivate me to complete the pair in his own sick little way? I assured him I am trying. (I think he bought it, too.) Maybe if I finish them tonight during Bionic Woman he'll let me get a good shot...

Back in Business

OK, the laptop is all right, I think. Finally, the charger plug thingy I needed (That's an industry term, by the way. You laymen may not have heard of it.) arrived this afternoon. I plugged it in and was relieved to see that it worked and there was nothing else wrong with my laptop after all. Whew! So I'm back in business.


Now, I did have limited access to the Internet for the past week. Not being able to access my pictures made it tough to blog, though. So I just kept waiting for the plug, not blogging. And feeling guilty about it. Why? Not sure, really, but I did feel bad about it. Tonight, I sat down to start this post and realized that I don't really have any pics ready to upload or sort or post. I'm going to pretty much post without pictures tonight. Not fun, right? But I'll tell you what I've been up to anyway. Please try not to point out that if I can blog without pics tonight that I probably could have blogged throughout the last week. I'm a little slow, but even I realize that now...


In knitting news, there is not much to report. I haven't had much time for knitting and when I did have time, I'm still working on the socks for Brian. Sadly, I did not finish them in time to post for October on the SAM knitalong, much as I tried. Once I concluded that it couldn't be done by midnight 10-31, it became harder to work on them. Mostly I sat around and sulked, annoyed at the socks and the absence of a power cord. I will take pictures and post them tomorrow, but you'll have to settle for a written summary for now. The first sock, as you know, is complete, and the second one is getting close. I just finished the gusset decreases, so now I have a rather l-a-r-g-e expanse of plain stockinette and then toe reductions. Not bad. I can't wait to finish.

Now, originally I felt bad that the socks are only plain gray, but here's the story. I picked gray to fit in with the Grey's KAL, and because I felt it was neutral enough that Brian would be able to wear them quite a bit, while keeping his manly dignity without lace or wild colors. When you put that much effort into a project, you don't want excuses not to wear them, am I right? Right. Well, turns out Brian thought they were sort of boring. Then I was heartbroken. I still worked on them, but I felt bad, and a bit guilty that they were too plain. Get this: a week or so ago, I was talking about my own socks or something, or maybe Bri just noticed them himself. But he realized that I wear my socks as...well, socks! Apparently, he thought they were just for cozying around the house or something. Like glorified slippers of some sort? Not sure. But the moment he realized that he was allowed to wear them anytime, as "actual socks" (yes, that's what he said), he was pretty psyched! And he was glad that they were so plain and neutral! So now he can wear them so much MORE!! Ha, ha! I am really not sure if my enthusiasm really comes through on this, but I have to say I am feeling much better about my yarn choice, and very pleased that he is so excited. Who knew a pair of socks could be this revolutionary?! Plus, the first one fits his foot to a "T"...

Really, there's not much else as far as actual knitting to report. I am "Ravelrous", and it's been occupying most of what little Internet time I could get this week. So what if that's not a real word? It's my word. Deal with it. I've managed to enter most of my projects from the last year or so, and most of my stash, too. I'm not too concerned with the "stash" that's already used for stuff...I just don't have that much time. And I've found a few friends, too, which is fun. Wendee, Megann, Jen, and Qutecowgirl are all on there.

The only other knitty news is that I've ordered some yarn for my daughter's mittens and hat, along with the Magic Loop book! I seriously cannot wait to figure out how to do two socks at one time. Please don't burst my bubble, but I think it will really help those socks speed along. The main reason I'm afraid to jump into a more difficult sock pattern (than plain stockinette, so I mean just about any sock pattern) is that I don't want to be overwhelmed and never finish the pair, you know? Hopefully this will help things. Perhaps I will try to make a pair of mittens first, since I know how to do them and they're quick and easy (ok, they're for a four-year-old, so this pair will be tiny) just to try out the technique. The order is not in yet. Please, please, please show up tomorrow...

I was going to tell you about my weekend, and some other new events, but I will wait, I think. Without any pictures, I'm afraid this is just terribly dull. I'll have to fill you in next time.

Happy Halloween!

I know I haven't been around much lately...one word: ravelry. Yes, I am finally in. Seems like it took forever, but really it probably wasn't so bad, compared to some. I am loving it and learning all I can about it. If you belong and are looking for me, my name is theJilly and I'd love for you to send me a quick message! Meanwhile, I'm trying to get recent projects cataloged and will start soon on yarn stash (which is really not very impressive, but at least I'll know what I have). Try not to tease poor little Jill, for not having the biggest, most expensive stash ever. I will not succumb to the pressure, I tell you.

Sadly, my poor laptop has pooped out on me! For some reason, it refuses to charge up, so the battery depleted fully this afternoon and I can't even turn it on. Brian is on the job, and will be using the regular PC upstairs to find out what's wrong and maybe order a new part or something. I'm sure that whatever is wrong with the charger thing you plug into the wall, lay across the floor where it gets kicked all around, stepped on, and picked up and dropped repeatedly, then plugs into the laptop itself is entirely not my fault. The point is, I cannot go and play on Ravelry, and I cannot even use this computer any longer, since Brian needs it to resuscitate my laptop. Humph. Finally in Ravelry, and I can't use it. Is the universe trying to tell me something? Well, yes--to knit, obviously.

Sturbridge Village

This week flew by! I cannot believe it's been a week since I blogged. May as well just hop back on the horse, right?

Last weekend we had lots of fun. On Saturday the five of us went to Old Sturbridge Village for the day, and after that enjoyed some time with my side of the family. My parents invited us over for dinner, and my sister and her family came as well. The next day, Brian's parents came to visit at our house. Rarely do we see both sides in the same weekend, so it was really great to see everyone, especially for the kids. Old Sturbridge Village provided us with lots to see and do, and I enjoyed telling Irene, Keegan and Spencer all I knew about "the old days". Hopefully, most of it was accurate. Originally our plan for the weekend was to go to Rhinebeck, but in the end we decided it was a little too far to do in one day, and all hotels insisted on a two night stay, which we couldn't do. Sadly, I had to give up my Rhinebeck dream for this year, but you better believe next year I'll be making it happen! OSV seemed a decent alternative. It's not far away. We've always talked about taking the kids there. The cost is much less than driving to New York. And we'd still be doing a "family" type of thing for the day. Every once in a while, I'd think that I was missing the yarny fun, but we enjoyed ourselves so thoroughly that I pretty much forgot about it. There were some reminders, however:

There was yarn. Hanging in the very first building we explored, an animal barn, we found these beauties...



There were spinning wheels and looms displayed:



As well as many nifty knitted items--socks, stockings, very l-o-n-g stockings, under garments, knitting needles, etc. Most of this was very cool to see and they're so delicate they truly inspired. Somehow the thought of being able to make these, or trying to make these smacked of fun, excitement even, but the thought of having to make these, every year, no-matter-what changed my tune. Seriously, those women were saints. Seriously.



We even found a sheepy friend in the kid's play area!



Of course, most of the day did not revolve around knitting at all...

We impersonated oxen working the cider press.





Helped press apples by hand, too.


You wouldn't believe how many wasps (bees) swarmed around this contraption! Luckily, they like the apple cider better than us. Brian wondered how many bees end up on average in a cup of cider...

We pretended to carry water from the well in the town center to our home.


Brian said it was surprisingly comfortable, but I did not try it myself.

We played old fashioned games of all sorts.


Probably the most fun thing we did, actually. This is Irene and I playing a game involving a wooden hoop, and two sticks each. You can see the hoop in the air. It doesn't take much to amuse me.

We even got to take a horse-drawn wagon ride!



And then we were pooped.



Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Yes. I did plan to do that when I took the poop picture. C'mon--you'd have done it, too!

Lately, I've been reading a lot of blog posts about fall (or the lack-there-of, in some parts). So I took some pretty New England autumn leaves pictures for you:

This is by the saw mill, which was pretty ingenious, really.


And a little closer, same trees:


Many photos didn't make the blog cut because they either had a bunch of other stuff going on in front of the trees that was plain ugly, or they just weren't capturing what I was going for. (Or I was in the picture and didn't look good) Hopefully these cheer up some one's day.

In knitting news, I have completed my niece Holli's hat and mitten set. The hat is the Baby, It's You pattern from the Yarn Girls' Guide to Kid Knits, and it was really fun to make. I'd lent the book to Krista, so I had to call her and get the gist of the pattern. Not a big deal, but I wasn't sure how to finish off or attach the three tassels. I think they turned out all right, but I am really wondering what the Yarn Girls wanted me to do with that...I'll check when I get the book back. It's killing me! Then I created mittens based on the Classic Mittens pattern, but incorporated the stitch repeat from the hat. What do you think?


Best shot with the tassels


"What in the world are these?"


Holli approves.
"Thanks Auntie Jill!"

Isn't she sweet? The mittens are a little longer than I planned, but I didn't like the stripes if they were cut too soon, so I went with this. At least she has room to grow...

Updates on Brian's sock coming soon. I've turned the heel and finished the short rowing, so I should be done soon. Oh, and don't worry--the wasps (bees!) seem to be gone.

What's the Buzz? (-ing)

All right, we have been finding some "bees" around here for a while. I say bees because I see yellow and black and flying, I think bees. That's all there is to it. Apparently, Yellow jackets is the correct term. Brian made sure I was getting it right tonight at dinner. I said, "Whatever, I just call 'em bees, but I get it, they're hornets." No. Not hornets. (Implied look at dinner table: Jill, you're a bonehead) They are wasps. Probably by now you're as bored of the whole conversation as I was. It's o.k., though--I still love ya, Bri!

Anyhow, we have been finding lots of bees (WASPS!) around the house, and I have been assuming it's because of the cold weather. They're just trying to get out of the cold, and I have an old, drafty house, so there are lots of little crannies for them to sneak into. Can't blame them, really--wasn't I just saying how cold it is around here the other day? Well, some turned into lots, and lots turned into a really yucky situation. I am blessed with a first floor laundry room, right off my kitchen. I was in this room on Tuesday, polishing the silver...
Just checking if you were paying attention. I was doing laundry. (I never polish silver.) Still with me? Good. I'm switching out my loads of laundry, which of course are never-ending. I hear the familiar buzz and start to look around. It's pretty loud, so I'm assuming that it's exceedingly close to my head, but hoping it's loud because the room is so tiny... I look to the right, to the left, down and all around. Then I look up. Up. That's when I see it. There is not a bee (wasp) flying around my head. It's in the light above. The drop ceiling has a fluorescent light with a large square of plastic. He's up there, IN the light. With about 30 of his friends.

Yup, there are a lot of them. And they are pretty pissed. It would seem that insects do not appreciate being trapped in light fixtures. Who knew? The buzzing is loud because the hornets (wasps) are swarming around above my ceiling. Discomfort overcomes me, and I don't know what to do. I can't really say I was afraid, on account of their being trapped. Instinct still told me get the heck out of there, though. I told Brian (who'd taken the day off to work next door) and he came to see. It's satisfying to report that I believe he was more freaked than I. We decide this is it and we really need to call someone. Instead of finding the occasion stray bee (wasp) trying to escape impending Winter, we found an infestation that appeared to be in our ceilings, under the floors, and most probably in our walls as well. Yuck. That's all I can say.

I left the light on in the hopes that the heat would pretty well fry the buggers, and it worked quite well.

Here they all are, dead.

The guy didn't come to deal with these "guests" until today, and boy, was I glad to see him! So now, we're all set, and I haven't seen any since maybe 11 am or so. We found 2 upstairs right after the man left, but I think they were just limping away, trying to escape. My sons and I captured them until two empty glasses from my bedside (good thing I didn't clean them up yet, right?) and left them for Brian. Kids enjoy looking at trapped bees (wasps) while they buzz around, attempting escape. I'm crossing my fingers that they're all gone, now. The worst was when I looked over at my son in his highchair at breakfast yesterday and saw one about an inch and half from his face, walking on his chair! Upsetting. Yes, upsetting is the word.

I wanted to update with some finished objects. And it's more pleasant subject than crazy, buzzing bees (wasps) so I'm ready to move on...

Spencer's mittens are finished and I did manage to get him to model them. Well, barely. People under two years old have difficulty with the idea of "showing" specific items. Here's the best I could do:



When I couldn't get him to hold out his hands and show off the mitts, I tried a different approach. I suggested he clap his hands. So I have lots of super cute pics of him, with his hands either together, not showing the mittens, or with his hands outstretched (pre-clap) and out of the field of vision. But he tried. And he said "clap", so that's something...



Another technique I tried was having him put his hands down on my leg, so I could take just the hands. He wasn't catching on. My daughter tried to help, by patting my leg, saying to lay them down right here. He put his head on my leg. I'm still laughing. Maybe I should put that pic in, too? Nah. Anyway, he finally got it. Both hands on my leg. I snap the picture! ...but not before he takes on hand away.



Wow, after that I was wiped out! Thank goodness that my older son is the model for the next pictures. So I get Keegan all set with his new winter hat on, although I still didn't get bells. Honestly, it's starting to grow on me without the bells. "OK, Keegs, let me take your picture so everyone can see your hat..."



Cute. Why do boys do this? And you can't even see the hat. Humph.
"All right, Keegs, tilt your head down, so I can see the hat, o.k.?"



Seriously. What a crazy kid.
"Can you turn your head to the side, so I can really see it for this one?"



Tongue still out!

I know you've seen the hat, now, but I have to continue...
It goes on like this...and I deleted a few, too! Check him out, it's bizarre--



And the tongue is always in a different spot, doing something different...
Astounding.



By this time, I'm cracking up. My camera will hardly stay steady, and the tears are rolling down my cheeks. But after all this, I've got to make sure I have one for the blog...
"How about one LAST one, from the back this time?"



His tongue is STILL out!!! Keegs kills me. He really does.

One thing I wanted to mention about the hat is that I did one thing differently. When I did my Tiffany Mittens, I found that the point where the round started did funny things. I didn't like the fair isle with the little jog. You know the way stripes make a jog when you're knitting in the round? Like that, but it made the pattern really odd to me. So I attempted to do a jog less stripe, in a sense. I knit the last stitch of the round with the stitch under the first (next) stitch of the round, so that it would pull the same row together at that join. I didn't look up how to do this before I started, although I know I've read it several places. (tsk, tsk, I know) I winged it, and this is how it turned out:



It's not perfect, but it's better to me. I will keep working on it. (And maybe look up exactly how to do it next time.)

The Walk

Well, thanks to many of you, I made my fundraising goal for the walk. So Sunday morning, I set off to meet my mom and sister feeling pretty darned pumped. It was a little early for me to be showered, dressed, and ready on a Sunday morning, but I did it. OK, it was 7:02 a.m. when I walked out the door, but I swear that's some sort of record for me. Not that I'm not up by then, I'm just unprepared to leave my home at that time...or take out the trash...or God-forbid someone knock on my door... I managed, though--granted, I had two (yes, I said two) travel mugs of coffee in my hands, but that's beside the point. To top it all off, I actually beat the two of them to our rendezvous point! That never happens. The stars were in alignment.

So, we drove to the closest station to catch the T into Boston. Kind of annoying--we couldn't go to the one 20 minutes from my house, because it's a commuter rail and, like me, doesn't get moving that early on a Sunday. So we drove 45 minutes to Riverside station. Of course, the station was very busy and there was line, but I'd expected as much. I did NOT expect that there would be only two machines. I did not expect that one of the two would be out of order. What?! I did not expect that the 20-some high school girls in front of us would hold up the line for 30 minutes while no one could figure out how to get a stinkin' pass out of the machine. All right, I am not crazy or super impatient. I realize that that's a lot of tickets to buy, and that they had to coordinate, etc. Seriously, if you were there, you'd have wanted to punt them. I did. But I was quiet. I did not say anything....I just made fun of them later. (I know, I'm a bad person.) It did not help things that they were coiffed up and plastered with makeup like they were some sort of NFL league cheerleaders. And no, they weren't cheerleaders; their shirts said ____ Soccer. (I will keep the poor town out of it, it's not that place's fault they were annoying.) Anyhow, we finally did get our tickets (quickly, I might add--we're very courteous) and get on the train.

Here's my mom and Ann at the station, waiting for a train. I won't tell you how many came and went while we were waiting in line for our tickets...


Here are the three of us in the train, on our way. I tried a new technique for self-photography. I held the camera up really high, like directly over us, so as to eliminate the double-chin effect I usually get when holding a camera as far out as I can while leaning closer to the other subject(s). I think it worked:


We started out for our 6 mile walk around 9:30 or so. All in all, I thought it strange that my 1 hour commute to Boston turned into 2.5 hours. At least we made it. The walk was fun, but a little quiet. (Even after all that coffee?) Beautiful weather--not too cold, not too hot, no rain. Or snow, this is New England, after all, so I think we were lucky.



By the end, I was awfully tired, but feeling good. One sad thing did bring me down from my "doing good for others" high. While we were crossing the finish line, the announcers on stage started talking to a little girl who was apparently lost. They told her to come toward the sound of their voices, and described how she was dressed, her name, etc. This upset and saddened the three of us to the cores. I looked around, but I didn't see anyone who matched the description or looked lost. Talk about the scariest thought you could have as a mother. You child lost in the middle of 40,0o0 walkers, thousands of volunteers, in the middle of Boston. I wish I knew if they found her. The voice in my head keeps saying they must have, but I believe it's just self-preservation. It's sort of just too horrific to think about, someone snatching your kiddo up while you're doing a fundraising walk with her. I came home and hugged up my own kiddos, very tightly.







How could I resist?

I didn't get much knitting done at all. Sort of a shame, since I did so much travelling, and I'd lugged Brian's sock all around RI and MA, but I'm dealing with it. I did cast on for a pair of mittens for Spencer, to try out a new pattern and see how the fit is. I finished the first one yesterday, and the fit is perfect. Almost too perfect--I think if he grows at all, they might be too small. Ah, I don't want to think about it. He's the baby--he's staying small forever. If I keep saying it, I swear it will come true. Tonight, after this, I will go and finish the second mitt. All that's left is the thumb. And I love the pattern, too. It's Classic Mittens from Free Vintage Knitting. My favorite part is that the pattern has directions for both 2-needle and in-the-round mitts (I went with in-the-round), and variations for different looks, like stripes and cute duplicate stitched snowmen. And I'm using Knitpicks Swish to match their hats, of course. Ribbing on US 3's, stockinette on 5's. Pics will be coming...maybe I can get him to model them. He put the first one on this morning and would NOT take it off. I tried to confiscate the mitten, but Spence started screaming, so I let him play a little more. Can't remember how I managed to get a hold of it again, but I'm guessing it might have involved some M&M's or something.

Keegan's hat is done, but for the bells. I will get some soon. Then I can start on my niece's hat and mittens, but I'll need another color for the pattern. Better get shopping!

Ps. For those of you who are thinking it's early to be knitting woolen mittens, I'll have you know that Monday when my daughter headed to school, I had to dig out her winter coat from last year. It was only 40 degrees outside!! Winter is coming...around here, at least.

Oh yes, one final thing (this is it, I promise!) the prizes have been sent out. I hit the post office today, so be on the lookout...I think for the most part they were all 2 or 3 day delivery, so you should all have them by Friday or Saturday, for sure. Start stalking the postman!