I’ll Buy That Tinking Machine!

How did Wendy know I was posting about STOOOOPID tinking today. She’s talking about how someone needs to invent a tinking machine… among other wonderful things that would make our knitting lives easier.

The tinking machine – I’d be all over that if it could tink lace….. Errrrr. Nothing will put the brakes on my lace knitting faster than finding a mistake and having to tink back.

I can hardly knit lace forward, as much as I love knitting lace for some insane reason, but tinking it backwards takes every brain cell I can scrounge. Like I’ve got a lot of those to spare. Not to mention, it would help if I had magnifying eyes…. even with the granny glasses – argh!

So, see the piece to the left… where up at the top I lost my mind for a second and didn’t finish that middle medallion before going ahead with the next two on the sides? Well, it sat there for about a week-and-a-half, waiting for me to get the guts to tink back four rows of lace. Four stinkin’ rows. That’s it. We’re not talking half a scarf or anything, just four stupid rows. And this is SIMPLE lace! But for days, I just couldn’t muster the brain cells. After that, all I had was about 10 minutes more of knitting and I was done. DONE, finished, fini…., but did that make me pick it up and tink away…. nah.

The lesson learned…. NEVER get so cocky as to assume I can forego the lifeline. ALWAYS keep moving up that lifeline. The minute I don’t, that’s when I forget to do a yarn-over, or my personal nemesis, pass that darned slipped stitch over…. I sing it in my head, “slip one, knit two, pass the slipped stitch over.” That PSSO – it gets me every time.

But, I’m nothing, if not stubborn –

So, last night I unknit, then reknit, and finished the Sister Scarf for my MIL. I had to. Her birthday is next week and I have to mail it to Texas.

Another lesson learned…. the pattern is probably written that way for a reason. The body of the scarf between the little motifs was supposed to be done in garter stitch. Me, I think it’d be prettier in stockinette, so that’s what I do. So, of course, what do I find out too late (anything that would cause me to start over is what I consider too late!) – duh, stockinette curls!

yeah, I know, we all know that… even I know that….

So, I blocked it like crazy, and it doesn’t curl too bad while you’re wearing it. I considered doing an edging, maybe crochet around the whole thing, but I don’t think it would have helped. So, it is what it is.

I do like it. I think I’ll do another one with just the horseshoe lace pattern from the bottom edges of the scarf. And follow the directions. And remember my lifeline.

So, with another lace project under my belt, and cocky knitter that I am, I’m picking up the Snowdrop Shawl again. It’s still the size of a Barbie shawl. I need to work on it a little. So I have visions of grandeur…. what are you trying to say? I’ll finish it – some day. I’m in no hurry. This is laceweight though… not to fuzzy, but WAY too small for my eyes to see to tink back… so I’d better not wait too long, the eyes aren’t getting any younger. I’m just making sure I move up that lifeline before I even knit a stitch.

This old dog can still learn trick or two, it just takes longer!

Read Full Post »

I’m Jaywalking!

Do I have a jaywalking story? Why, thanks for asking, yes I do.

On one our trips to the airport, sending Grandma and Grandpa off on one of their far away destinations, we had parked the car and were hoofing it off to the terminal to see them onto their plane, and stand at the big window and wave goodbye. I don’t know how old I was, grade school age, probably just old enough I didn’t have to be holding someone’s hand…

We were waiting at crosswalk, waiting for the light to turn green, and I saw Grandpa start across, so I started across with him, just to hear my parents and grandparents yell, “Lynda, get back here! What do you think you’re doing?”

It wasn’t Grandpa I was following, just another bald-headed grandpa traveler…. wrong Grandpa.

This may or may not have been the trip where I was sure we were lost while driving around LA on our way to the airport, and I was getting a little worried. Grandpa was teasing and said something like, “maybe we are lost, I think we’re in China!” – when just then we turned the corner and who might be standing on the corner but a nice Oriental family….. I started to cry, oh NO!! – we were lost! – lost in CHINA…

I guess I was a gullible child.

But, these new Jaywalker socks of mine – I love them!

Here’s the specs:
Pattern: Jaywalker, by Grumperina.
Yarn: KnitPicks Sock Landscape in RedWood Forest – two skeins
Needle: Size 2 DPN’s
I made them the smaller of the two sizes, casting on 76 stitches.

I really do love this pattern – I can totally understand the hype. Enough that I’ve already cast on my next pair. The pattern is easy enough that I can knit it without taking the pattern with me, and it’s just interesting enough to keep me from getting bored. No long, boring stockinette sections. That’s where the socks usually stall for me. With these, no stalling.

I love the yarn, also. It pools a little, or maybe just does large swirls, around the tops and the gusset decreases, but I’m one of those who really doesn’t mind pooling.

I’m wearing these babies right now, and they’re warm and comfy. I’m wearing them with my brown leather Simple clogs (the ones that look like baked potatoes on my feet) – you know, hippie style, just so I can hear the girls groan as soon as they see them. It’s all about embarrassing the kids. Yep. It’s my job, and I’m a pro.

Read Full Post »

People, Really, I’m Not That Interesting!!

I’ve been tagged again! Twice! By Karyn, and Jeanie. Today, I’ll do the easy one… maybe later next week I’ll tackle the harder one. And, to prove to you how boring I am, except for places I’ve been on vacation and favorite foods, I couldn’t come up with more than four in any of the other categories! ok, well, maybe movies…

Four Jobs You Have Had In Your Life:
1. McDonalds, first job, worked up to shift manager
2. Medical front/back office
3. EEG technician
4. Medical transcriber – last 17 yrs.

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:
1. Gone With The Wind
2. O Brother Where Art Thou
3. Princess Bride
4. Napoleon Dynamite (sad, I know)

Four Places You Have Lived:
1. El Paso, Texas (born, lived there six months)
2. Ventura, California
3. Oxnard, California
4. current So Cal Location

Four TV Shows You Love To Watch:
1. ER
2. Survivor
3. Gilmore Girls
4. Law and Order, all versions

Four Places You Have Been On Vacation:
1. Europe (LOTS of different places in Europe)
2. Alaska (Homer, Soldatna, Anchorage)
3. Manhattan, New York
4. Seattle – and MANY more

4 Websites You Visit Daily:
1. Bloglines (about 10 must-read knit blogs)
2. Google (has virtually made my VERY expensive collection of medical dictionaries and PDR obsolete!)
3. My banking website

Four Of Your Favorite Foods:
1. Chocolate-chip bread pudding
2. McDonalds french fries
3. Diet Coke
4. Pot Roast

Four Places You Would Rather Be Right Now:
1. Zion
2. Camping anywhere with the hubby
3. On vacation in Manhattan with my girls
4. Solvang

Four Bloggers You Are Tagging: Hmmm, this is harder – don’t feel obligated, I’ll forgive you…
1. Kirsten
2. Chris
3. Talitha
4. Kaity (she actually asked to be tagged)

And, to play along with Kaity’s new meme she’s starting, -here’s a childhood pic of me. And, don’t read ANYTHING into the fact that I’m old enough that all my baby pictures are in black and white! (Kaity said, “Whoa Mom, those are some serious bangs!)

Read Full Post »

I’m Hit!

Tagged by Ruth!

List five quirky things about me… hmmm. Do inquiring minds really want to know?

1. I eat my fries by size, and my M&Ms by color… I’ve posted about this before… (11/02/05)

2. If we’re sleeping in a strange bed (hotel, etc), I can’t tell which side of the bed is mine.

3. If one of my girls cracks open my crisp new InStyle magazine before me, it ruins it. Makes me crazy.

4. I am always on time. Even when I had three kids under the age of four. It especially bugs me that in a small town of 4 square miles, people can’t be on time. It only takes a maximum of five minutes to get anywhere in town. Come on people!

5. I HAVE to have an hour’s worth of down time to myself at night, ALONE. I go to bed twice most nights to achieve this. The hubby is an early-to-bed person, not me. So, I go to bed with him, get up after he falls asleep, then veg… usually in front of the TV, and knit, and unwind…. I must have about an hour alone at night where it’s ONLY me, no one wanting anything from me, to stay sane.

I’m only tagging three (do I risk 7 years of back luck or something for only choosing three? is it like a chain letter… none of our wishes will come true now? Make that #6 on my list… I’m NOT superstitious). See small print below… yada, yada, yada

So, here we go, I’m tagging Kaity, Linda, and Marion. Spill it sisters!

This weekend I hope to finish up my Jaywalkers and Sister’s scarf, so hopefully some pictures of FO’s next week!!!

***Ground Rules: The first player of this “game” starts with the topic “5 weird habits of yours” and people who get tagged need to write a blog entry about their 5 quirky habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names.***

Read Full Post »

Ok, I’ll Keep Her

So…. how do you like the new look? Trying to redeem herself and get back into my good graces, the needlebreaker vamped up the look of my blog!

I love it! Thank you Kaity Doozer!

And, maybe someday in the future I’ll let you borrow needles again… we’ll see.

Read Full Post »

Watch out!

Oh, THAT child. You know who I’m talking about… I ask her to PLEASE bring my FAVORITE #2 bamboo DPN’s down from her from room (I know they’re scared up there), the ones I so kindly allowed her to borrow. This is what she brings me…

Not only that… she tried to pass these off as a set of four… hmmm, one is broken, and another seems to be shorter…

That child has gotten entirely too big for her britches. She mocked my pain, and then went skipping off with my #2 circulars! AND, I could hear her taunting, “what are you gonna do about it?” Oh yes she did…. Little Miss I-can-get-away-with-whatever-I-want-in-knitting-world-because-you-need me.”

Yeah? Well, I may be old, but I’m learning stuff. I can fix almost all of my own mistakes now, and I’m slowly figuring out all that voodoo-HTML stuff on my side bar. And, she was even asking ME to help her with a lace pattern the other day. What now! Hey, I even changed my own “listening to” pictures on my side bar the other day. All by myself, thank you very much. Get Me. That uppity chick will be out of a job soon, and the mother-daughter-time-space-continuum thingy will be back as it should be, with ME in control!

Be afraid, Kaity…. be very afraid…

Read Full Post »

Turn, Turn, Turn

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

To everything, turn, turn, turn…

When my kids were about 6, 7, and 9 I took over our church’s Childrens Choir. I had a great resource for music which included a version of the music tracks for the Byrds song, “Turn, turn, turn.” I had about 25 kids in the choir, ages 5 to about 15, and actually ended up being able to teach them all parts and harmonies – and they all got up makeshift bleachers one morning and performed as part of the service. Swaying and singing, turn, turn turn.

It is truly one of my favorite memories.

It was great, it was uplifting, it was challenging, it was “real,” and I think touched the hearts of everyone who was present that day. When I hear that song now, I still think of those kids, and how hard they worked.

So, here’s the segue…. wait for it….. Turn, turn, turn….. I LOVE turning heels. It’s my favorite part of knitting a sock. Heel flapping, not so much… for as simple as that is, I ALWAYS mess it up, somehow…. but I love the magic of turning the heel. Love it, love it.

I turned the heel on my second Jaywalker last night, now I’m on the home stretch with pair #6.

Also – I just wanted to say THANKS to all who have joined Count Your Socks so far! We have 33 people counting their socks, with a grand starting total of at least 215 pairs of socks!!! Check out the “Visit Fellow Sock Counters” and you can see who has joined so far – go visit their blogs and check ’em out!

Count Your Socks will run indefinitely – so It’s Never Too Late to Join! Just drop me a line.

Turn, turn turn….
“a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:2-8 (NIV)

Read Full Post »

I Love… Cake

The conversations in our house are heavily interspersed with lines from our favorite movies. Mostly Princess Bride, O’ Brother Where Art Thou, and Napoleon Dynamite (yeah – we’re real culture freaks around here) – but we glean a line or two from most movies we watch, and some TV. The line “I Love Cake” is from The 70’s Show, where Donna tells Eric she loves him, for the first time, and he’s caught off guard and stammers “I love….. cake.” Whenever anyone in the house says “I love….whatever” someone evitably states they love cake – or my hubby says “then why don’t you marry it!” (PeeWee’s Fun House reference). Yep, we’re a class act here.

ok – wait, at least O’Brother is loosely based on Homer’s Odyssey…. there ya go, a classic thrown in the mix.

The wasted brain space in our combined family brains, filled with stupid movie quotes, is scary. We could be watching and quoting Shakespeare, or any number of cultured things…. but no, around here it’s lines shot off from “Blazing Saddles” (the funniest, and most irreverent and politically incorrect movie of all time – I can’t believe I just outed myself on that one….it’s bad, really) ,”Sand Lot” (your’re killing me Smalls!) and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

My poor children, they don’t stand a chance. Thankfully, they have a lot of Bible verses tucked away in their brains and hearts, and the verses to sooo many hymns and praise songs…. they’ll be okay.

Anyway, I had a point…… oh yeah, well, I like my yarn in cakes. I LOVE the ball winder that was gifted to us by a fabu blogger/friend. I can’t stand to see a hank of yarn – it must be wound into a cake. I like to stack them up and look at them….. I just like them in cake form.

They sit on my desk and taunt me, these little cakes – every day they want to be something different. One day the purple one wants to be a scarf, then next day it wants to be wrist warmers. The Knit-and-Tonic Vesper sock yarn won’t quiet down about wanting to be next…., when it knows the Trekking XXL has pushed it’s way to the front and is acting so smug about being the next pair of Jaywalkers. And that purple/pink/green lace weight that just keeps harping at me, trying to convince me it’s really not as ugly as I think it is….. an ugly duckling, promising to be a swan. They try to get me to stop working and knit. And they REALLY try to get me to be a multi-project kind of gal…. They’re incorrigible, really. So far, I’m stronger than they are, I have NOT cast any of them on until it’s their turn…. but they’re growing in numbers, and it’s inevitable that someday they’ll overpower me. THIS is why I don’t have a large stash. I couldn’t take the taunting and pressure. I.am.weak.

Read Full Post »

Nooooo!

No, there’s nothing wrong with this knitting, it’s my stooooopid carpal tunnel syndrome, back with a vengeance! If you look closely you can see a lovely scar running up my wrist and into my palm. I have a matching one on the other hand. Between typing all day for a livin’, and knitting whenever I can find a free moment, I guess it was inevitable.

I had surgery 15 years ago, and it was the best thing I ever did… however about five years ago I started noticing the dreaded tingling coming back. My neurosurgeon said I would be his first repeat customer (I guess it’s somewhat unusual for it to come back), and he would be happy to do surgery whenever I was ready. The point is – I’ve been putting it off for the last five years because I DON’T WANT to have surgery again!

Because:
#1 – It HURTS after surgery!
#2 – They have to do both wrists separately (unless you want to be totally helpless and have someone do EVERYTHING for you while you have no use of your hands for weeks – I mean, the hubby loves me, but he draws the line at wiping my butt) – so for the first three weeks you can’t use one hand, then they go and debilitate your “good hand.” So, you’re pretty much out of commission for awhile. Not fun.
3# – The surgeon said since it would be a re-do surgery the incision and scar would be more extensive than last time (read, bigger, longer and hurt more!)
#4 – I couldn’t knit!!!!! Now normally sitting around recovering from surgery would be the perfect time to get LOTS of knitting done – but sitting around when you can’t use your hands is completely frustrating. And to not knit!!! I’d go crazy.

So, I’m going to continue in denial and continue postponing surgery – for the rest of my life if possible. I’ll try everything to avoid that again. I’ve still gotta type, I’ve still gotta knit, but I’ll knit things that don’t require a lot of wrestling – really thick yarns, or stuff that sticks to the needles…. I’ll figure out something. I’ll play the piano less. I’ll take ibuprofen around the clock until my stomach revolts. I’ll even wear the dreaded splints at night… anything. Oyyyyy, I’ll even lose weight. That would be good for me anyway.

Okay, enough whining – sorry….

Speaking of knitting. My Sister’s Scarf is coming along nicely, but look at this puppy curl up!! The pattern calls for you to knit it in two separate halves and then graft it together, so it’s all matchy-matchy, so I think before I knit the other half I’ll block this half and make sure it’ll lie flat.

And, did you know it is De-Lurking Week??? Neither did I, until I read it on Donna’s site! What a great idea!

So, if you’ve been out there lurking, stop in and just say “Hi” today – it’s time to delurk!

Read Full Post »

Random Knitting

This post is not about me. I am NOT a random knitter, you know that by now…. it’s about Kaity.

The other night, Kaity’s getting ready to go over to a friends to sleep over….

Me: Kaity, you’re not going anywhere until you pick up all the random knitting you’ve got all over the downstairs.

Kaity: Hey, I do NOT have “random” knitting…. no – wait – all my knitting’s random!

(laugh, laugh)

Me: I tell ya- this is gonna work itself into my blog someday – I’m taking pictures of all this.

Kaity: You wouldn’t do that. You don’t want them to see your messy house…

Me: It WOULDN’T BE MESSY if your knitting wasn’t laying all over the place!!!

Kaity: You know you love me…

Yeah – I know I do.

Everytime you try to sit down, anywhere, you have to move Kaity’s knitting. It covers everything in the family room, and MY office. Everyone knows you do not sit down without looking very carefully – I can just see the day one of us ends up in the ER with a DPN up the you-know-what.

My MIL last weekend said, “Kaity, everytime I see you you’re knitting something different!”

My FIL was reclining on the couch (after I cleared him off a spot) and his pocket knife and nail clippers fell out of his pocket while he was sleeping, and fell through the couch into that never-never-land under the couch. He got up and started to look under there to find his pocketknife…. I jumped up to save his life – “Pa!, Don’t! there’s no telling what’s under there!!!” I’ll tell you what was under there… random knitting, a couple of lost DPN’s “borrowed” by you-know-who, many stitch markers, YARDS of snipped threads, needles she didn’t even know were lost, and enough cat hair to build another cat (okay, well that’s not Kaity’s fault)! Oh yeah, and his knife and nail clippers. Just a little embarrassing in front of the in-laws.

This is what was gathered up from one day’s “random” knitting:

Tomorrow there will be a whole NEW set of random knitting… spread all over.

And she wonders why I cringe when she asks if she can borrow ANOTHER set of DPNS’s…. it literally makes my stomach hurt. She, however, couldn’t be happier – she thrives in disorganization and her knitting ADHD.

We won’t even talk about what’s up in her room. Ten times worse – and all tangled together.

It’s a good thing she has her finer points, like keeping my blog up and running, and making me blog buttons, and getting me out of all my knitting mishaps. That’s the problem… she knows she irreplacable!

Read Full Post »