Knitting Caboodle

I finished a pair of socks.

Sock glamor:

Do you know how hard it is to get a decent sock shot using your own feet? I suspect sock knitters all know.

This shot looks like my feet are shy… or I have to goooo.

I took these pictures in the middle of the day, and I’m wearing shark jammies.

Sock info:

Yarn: Berroco Comfort Sock (50% nylon, 50% acrylic)
Pattern: Classic Sock Pattern from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush
Needles: No. 3 steel dpns… how I wish I had some light bamboo No.3’s!

These are classic (hence the pattern name) top-down socks with heel flaps. I have big ankles (but not cankles… I hope) so I used the largest pattern size. It is a smidge loose so halfway between the medium and the large would have been a better size for me. Not that that stopped me from immediately starting another pair in the same large size.  I refuse to stray from the pattern after losing my knitting mojo a couple months ago. I definitely recommend Nancy Bush’s book… it is working wonders for my sock mojo!

The yarn is okay.  If you need a cool sock, this will do the trick.  If you need warm socks, don’t use this yarn.  The day I tried these socks on it was 63F in my house and my tootsies were so cold.  Now it is 83F and my tootsies are comfy.  Not that I’m wearing socks today because it is too hot… bare feet are the order for hot days when your a/c is broken.

The weather this past Friday was awful… there were tornado and thunderstorm warnings all day. We spent the day inside… BC spent his time grousing about what was on tv while I groused (to myself) about grocery bags. Plastic grocery bags are wonderful and awful at the same time.  Wonderful because they are so thin and utile.  Awful because they are plastic and will never go away.  You’d think I would have already solved my personal grocery bag dilemma seeing as how I make tote bags and such. But, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m lazy. Being stuck inside all day with a ton of unfinished housework finally propelled me 3 feet across the office from computer to sewing machine.

My mission: an easy-to-make but strong grocery bag that MC and I will actually use. I had 2 basic patterns in mind: one based on plastic grocery bags, and one tote-bag style. An additional goal was to use stash fabric or recycled fabric.

Bag #1: This first design was based on plastic grocery bags. I took apart a plastic bag to make the pattern. I used a thrifted bed sheet as the fabric of choice.

(no, that is not my hairy arm in the picture!)

Results: Exactly like a plastic grocery bag… except that the handles are a bit cumbersome because fabric doesn’t squish down like plastic does. The recycled bed sheet was awesome except the color and pattern were too emasculating for any man to carry even with the best of green intentions.  At least that was my interpretation of MC’s reaction which went along the lines of “You made this one for me?! Couldn’t you use more macho colors??”

The pattern was also a pain in my neck (except it wasn’t my neck that was in pain, the pain was at the other end of my spine). Curves and single piece handles were awkward and required too much work for my peace of mind.

On to style number 2 (which I was hoping would not be number 2 like the first style).

Bag #2: This design is a tote bag… but different from the style of tote bags that I usually make.

Results: We have a winner (the man held the bag so it looks wonky but it lays perfectly flat). I modified the bag design because the original tote bag I based it on was made from heavier, unlined fabric. I used newly purchased fat quarters for this bag and some muslin from my stash. I didn’t have enough “manly” stash fabric, and Joann’s was having a sale, and BC was pitching a tantrum about something so I distracted him by asking him to pick some fat quarters for daddy. Whew! That was a mouthful… and then we went to the park for 2 hours where I managed to get a sunburn despite being bundled up because it was in the 50’s and the wind was blowing straight through my clothes and I was freezing, and why was I the only one there wearing something heavier than a sweatshirt including my family? Seriously.  They didn’t get a sunburn either.

Bottom line: This style was quick and easy to sew. The seams are strong. The material is strong because it is lined. The handles may be too short but I won’t know till the man actually uses them for groceries. I didn’t tell him about the handles because I didn’t want to influence his evaluation, and I don’t want to take the bag apart to put longer handles in (lazy, remember?). I did manage to use some of my stash… I can use more stash when I make bags for myself seeing as how I like feminine colors and patterns.  And wear sunblock if you are going to spend 2 hours at the park.

As you can see, I liked the pattern enough to duplicate it.

The colors are still “cute” according to the man but what do you expect when you let a 5yo pick them out after you stirred up a hornet’s nest of a temper tantrum… at least they aren’t emasculating pink flowers.

(BTW, BC insisted on putting back his original choice after MC said how much he liked the fabric… me thinks the boy wanted daddy to suffer.)

The house is still a mess… I’m thinking I need at least 10 of these bags!

I am so happy to be home. Vacation is exhausting… especially with a 5yo in tow. I am wiped out! But we had a great time visiting snow while we were there.

One very happy 5yo:

I took this picture of BC several hours after the snow started falling. The day before rain had melted all the snow. By the time the storm was over, the courtyard here was about 6 inches deep in snow with more falling. That may not be much for you all that live in snowy areas but it was plenty for one very happy little boy from Florida.

I had plenty of time for a vacation sock:

One sock… I finished the toe at home. As you can see, the second sock is on the way… can I avoid second sock syndrome?  If I do, I’ll show it to you a modeled picture.

There was one very major mishap on the road. Fortunately, I had my medical supplies handy.

Lamb suffered a rear leg blow out. BC handed him to me and told me I could fix it. Such confidence! I had no sewing supplies with me and yarn was not going to do the job. Lamb got a bandaid. I was completely surprised that the bandaid worked!  It is still working.
Lamb is a trooper.

Please pardon the quality of these photos… I really did try to take better pictures but my camera was having its little laugh.

When knitting took a nosedive, I picked up my embroidery needles. These works were my first attempts at this type of embroidery… faux jacobean.

I copied the first two patterns from a picture in my embroidery book. I chose different colors and different stitches but the patterns are similar.

This was my first attempt at creating a pattern that is mostly my own (I borrowed elements from other places but the arrangement is mine). I thought it would be cool to do a monochromatic pattern. As you can see, it is impossible to see photos of gold thread on gold lame… brilliant. It was that hard to see the pattern as I was stitching too. I used two different lamps to see the pencil marks… you can just see some of the white marks on the upper right side where I missed a small group of berries.

I need botox to get rid of my new squint lines!

I didn’t say much about making Lamb when I posted his/her (a little of both according to BC) pictures… too busy being lazy, I think.  The pattern is easy peasy with some caveats.  If you use flannel (or another loose weave fabric), you might want to apply interfacing on the backside.  Lamb’s stitches are pulling out in the most embarrassing places.  Also, if you are hand stitching, make it worth your while and use small, back stitches (or something similar).  Oh, and mark your seam allowance… trust me.  Learn from my exploits or you too will have a misshapen lambkin that is pulling seams and tearing its weave open.  Despite her idiosyncrasies, Lamb is much-loved.

Hi, there!

Do I know you?

I came from Pattern Bee.

My name is “Lamb”.

I live on a cliff.

It’s not a real cliff.

Bye!

I’ve been busy here at Chez Caboodle.

Not too long after the last post, I took the kitties to their vet. Since these kitties are senior citizen cats, I had a full blood panel done to check for any problems, and to give us a baseline for their remaining years.

Marble is 12 years old. He’s my one-eyed, old-man cat. Even though he is a very strong, robust cat, he has always had delicate health so I was quite surprised when the vet announced him the apparent picture of health! Except that he has gained weight the last few years. He is mostly an indoor cat now, he used to be a mostly outdoor cat. Very little tree climbing goes on inside the house.

Frazzle is 13 years old. She is exceptionally dumb but so sweet, I don’t really care she can’t figure out that I moved the litter box over 2 feet. She has always been our healthy cat so I was surprised to find that she has signs of kidney problems. I’m not totally surprised since this is fairly common to cats. I lost one cat several years ago due to kidney problems. She lived many healthy years before it got the best of her. I anticipate that Frazzle has several healthy years ahead of her. In the meantime, I have banned our neighbor’s cat, Sammy, from sneaking in since he likes to chase Frazzle. She doesn’t need the stress (I don’t either).

Mr. Caboodle and I also managed to celebrate our 11th anniversary. We went to a nice restaurant for drinks and dinner. It doesn’t sound like much but it is because BC stayed with the in-laws without any drama. That is huge for us… and it’s a fairly new development.

MC gave me yarn for our anniversary. Isn’t he the sweetest? He obviously didn’t get the memo that I’m trying to do some stash busting. Oh well, I’ll suffer through it!

I managed to use some stash to complete a hat. Here is a very sick BC modeling it (he has a virus, a black eye, and a dirty face… the trifecta of childhood):

The pattern is Frivol. The stash yarn is Lionbrand Woolease.

I got the idea to knit Frivol from Nuttnbunny. Her version is much more colorful. And you can see the cables and bobbles better in her pictures.

Frivol is a very fun knit. I finally learned to make bobbles. I didn’t make them according to the directions but they seem very bobble-like despite that detail.

Since I’ve managed to mention just about every member of our family besides her… I leave you with the world’s most lickingest dog:

Shark jammies… seriously, who would want to change into jeans when you have shark jammies! (I did end up changing out of my pj’s yesterday. I had to buy food. I’m still in them this morning and it’s getting late.) I made the pattern up from an old pair of the world’s most comfy pj’s that were falling apart a couple of years ago. I must remember to add more tush next time…

This is the latest scarf from the Sirdar stash. I knit it lengthwise… ouch. Now I know why I avoid lengthwise knitting, it takes forever and ever to finish a row. And this was a short, 5-year old size.

A better shot of the stripes.

It is a two-sided, broken rib pattern. Basically, you knit two or three rows of 1×1 rib then offset the next two to three rows of 1×1 rib… repeat, repeat, repeat. I still have enough Sirdar yarn for another scarf or a couple of hats but I was getting bored with it. So I started a new scarf last night using the remains of the Noro Cotton Iroha from the sweater Banff. It’s so soft and lovely to hold and cuddle while you knit.

Oh, resolution #2 has been modified. Green tea in the afternoon has been making me green. So it’s either white tea (black if I’m desperate) or nothing. Or water. Water is good.

Look! It’s Autumn in Florida.

My maple tree shed its leaves this past week.

Last year, the weather was so warm, the maple shed its leave one week and put out new leaves the next. It’s a bit colder this year.

Today the high is going to be in the mid-40’s. Tonight, the lows will be in the teens. If it is that cold here, you all farther north must be completely frozen. Drink lots of hot chocolate and stay warm, ok?

I’m still knitting my way through the Sirdar yarn in my stash. I knit two versions of My So-Called Scarf. I got the idea to do a solid version after seeing the one Sandra knit. I knit the striped scarf after seeing one on Ravelry.

I hope Sandra sees this because I cannot leave comments on her blog… my computer crashes everytime. I’m not sure whether it is my computer, Firefox, or my internet provider. Anyway… Hi, Sandra!

In closing, I want to introduce Organization to Chaos…

In this case, Chaos’s name is Frazzle. She is sitting on the bags I was attempting to keep away from the cats.

I finished the reconstruction of Banff. I added 3 inches of stockinette then reknit the 2×2 rib bottom. It fits! And it is so comfy and warm. I have been wearing since the cold blast of arctic weather arrived this week.

If you look at the middle of the reconstructed sweater (on the right), there is a horizontal line where I started the reknit. The line was not created by as a result of reconstruction. It was created by accidentally using US3’s instead of the larger size required.

I used the smaller circs to pick up the stitches before cutting, and then forgot to replace them with larger needles. If I wasn’t lazy, I would have unknit back to those stitches and started again. But I am lazy. And the lazy in me has decided that the stitches will loosen themselves up over time without my help. This yarn is so limp, it might work.

Pattern: Banff
Yarn: Noro Cotton Iroha (70% cotton, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon). Probably discontinued.  I have 5 skeins left in my stash.

Next up, a scarf:

The lace is a simple, 2-sided pattern: yo, k2tog, repeat.

I think the yarn in my stash is multiplying on its own. I keep knitting using this Sirdar yarn but the pile never seems to get smaller. I used all but one skein of navy to make this scarf.

Pattern: Openwork Scarf from Vogue Knitting Scarves Two (a big thanks goes to Kristen at AudioKnits for this book!)
Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly Aran (55% nylon, 45% acrylic)

And my clutter revisited. You all had great suggestions on how to handle clutter.  Thank you so much for your ideas.

I may have mislead you though… I do have storage. I have very little organization but I have storage. Like the smalled plastic drawers on wheels that Lisa, the Domestic Diva, suggested. I have other types of plastic drawers as well. By the way, if you need help reorganizing your craft space, definitely visit Lisa!

I also have shelves on the wall next to my sewing machine. Ribbons and fabric scraps are in ziploc bags. Larger pieces of fabric are folded and stacked (oh so carefully too). The green pillow on the bottom says something about cats at work, but the dog sleeps there.

I have more shelves behind me and across the room. The wire shelves hold my son’s toys (smaller toys are contained in baskets).

I still need to reorganize all these shelves.  I can never find what I need.

Currently, I have decided to keep the bag parts on a big board that I can pick up without disturbing the fabric. When I want to sew, I can move it temporarily.  After I put use this stash, I won’t be cutting out multiple bags parts again… only what I need for one bag at a time.