Other Knitterly Goodness

This is Lola. She is one of the belated Christmas gifts I received from my mom. I asked for a head form for blocking hats and mom bequeathed Lola to me. Lola has been with my mom for many, many years as the resting place of my mom's wig. When my mom started teaching in the early 1960's female teachers always had to wear dresses and always had to have their hair done "just so". Mom didn't always have time to do her hair so she invested in a wig and in Lola. Since she's not needed to worry about being "just so" for awhile and she's been retired for over ten years she decided that she could part with Lola since I promised she'd be well taken care of and put to good use. In addition to Lola, I also received this:

It is a wire blocking kit for lace. I'm very excited to have this because I think it will come in handy when I'm blocking the scarf I'm working on for my aunt. Also, because it is something that I will use for other projects in the future. Speaking of the scarf I'm working on, mom also gave me something that else that is handy for this project:

It's a magnetic chart board! I'm thrilled with this because it saves me a lot of trouble and eye strain. I photocopied the charts from the book and then I can use the magnet to see where I am in the chart. Here's a close up:

See! The chart for this scarf is on two pages in the book, which is a bit of a pain. And I was using a post it note to guide me which I kept having to shuffle around all the time. This way I could cut and paste so the whole chart is together on one thing where I can follow the whole line to the end. It is the best thing ever! It makes my life so much easier!

So, we've had three days of no school due to icy and hazardous conditions. Three days off in some ways sounds like a gift but in other ways it is a challenge. The weather is not nice so going outside isn't really an option. This third day we're going to have to make up, which is a bummer. For folks like my sister it presents a child care problem. The good side of this was I got an opportunity to spend some fun time with my nephews. This morning I was trying to convince them that when they grow up and have children that they should name them Margaret regardless of whether the baby is a girl or a boy and that all the children that both of them have should have this name. Oddly enough, they disagreed with this notion. They told me that I was silly. I also spent some time casting on a new sock:

Its a toe up from the book The Eclectic Sole. But, I don't like how the cast on has worked. It is a figure 8 cast on, and this was my first try at that. I found a video on-line that I'm going to follow and try again. So, this is getting frogged, I'm just waiting for DH to do it because he gets such pleasure out of frogging things for me. That's as much as I'm going to say about this project because it is for someone other than myself. The boys told me that I knit too much. I told them they play on their DSes (?) too much. They seemed to think these were not equal points. We agreed to disagree.

F.O. - Jocasta's Blanket

Finally! It is done, I have finished it! This is a blanket for my cousin's daughter Jocasta. When my sister was pregnant with the boys I started this tradition of crocheting blankets for babies in the family. I made one for each of the boys. Then my cousin Fiona had a baby and I made him one. Then my brother-in-law and his wife had twins the same year that my cousin Niamh had a son. Then Fiona had twins. Then Niamh had Jocasta and my cousin Ben's partner had a baby girl. Now my cousin Ben's partner has had another baby, a boy. Jocasta turned two last weekend. So, I'm behind schedule, by two blankets. What happened? Well, when I started this tradition I didn't know how to knit. I have since learned to knit and really enjoy knitting and have many, many projects I am wanting to do all the time. So, things get set aside. I have been working on this blanket, in a very on and off fashion for about a year. Normally I'm very fast at crochet, but this project tripped me up a bit. The yarn I used is Lion Brand Homespun yarn. I like Homespun because it comes in vibrant colors, it is machine washable and dryable, it is very soft and cozy. The trouble is that its fuzzy and it splits easy and that slows things down tremendously.

There is only one thing left to do with the blanket before I mail it to Jocasta in Ireland. As soon as I put the blanket down to photograph it this happened:

Winston saw a fuzzy opportunity. At first it seemed like he would just wander across the blanket with his manta ray. But, then he decided to do this:

So, I need to remove Winston from the blanket and then wash it in a vain attempt to try to remove all of Winston's hair that is already on the blanket. He really liked the fuzziness of the yarn too, as I worked on it I found it very hard to keep him off!

Jocasta, I hope that the blanket becomes a treasured gift that you use and love for awhile, even if it is two years late!

What To Do When It's -10F

DH likes to barbecue! What makes more sense than that?!?! We're trying our best to adapt to our third week of sub zero high temperatures. I still can't imagine how people live in Fairbanks, don't know if DH would be willing to BBQ at -40F.

In other fun, my friend Allison alerted me to this fun website:

Sarah Palin Name Generator

It is a site where you can go and put in your name and then find out what your name would be if you were being named by our famous governor, Sarah Palin. (For anyone who doesn't know, she chooses unusual names for her kids - Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig - her first grandchild is named Tripp so its somehow genetic to give your kids crazy names)

Signing Off -
Knife Pile Palin

Still REALLY, REALLY, REALLY Cold!

I don't have new photos to illustrate this, but trust me it is COLD! It was -21 degrees outside when we got up today. I know there are places in Alaska that are MUCH COLDER - shout out to my friends in Fairbanks (I don't know how you live there!) - but still, this is really, uncomfortably cold. It also leads to a rash of house fires. People in an attempt to get warm do dangerous things that lead to fires and sometimes deaths. Very bad.

This morning on the news they were warning that if you don't have to go outside you really shouldn't because it isn't safe. This led me to the question, "than why is school in session today?", I thought about all those poor kids standing outside at bus stops in this crazy weather - YIKES! Add to that the car trouble that the cold brings, including school buses, so then the poor kids are standing out there even longer waiting for a bus that ain't coming or is coming really late. They won't be kids anymore, they'll be Popsicles! This is a matter of public safety, not just the rant of a woman who would rather stay warm under the covers of her bed with her cuddly puppy watching a movie and knitting something cozy - I promise!

Back at work I have the coldest office in the building. I can't complain because I also have more windows than anyone else. So I sit and work, with a space heater pointed at me, wearing long underwear that I got for Christmas (Bless you Santa!), drinking hot tea, and still freezing my toushie off! Okay, I'll quit whining and get back to knitting...

I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU!

If you don't know what a Triple Dog Dare is than you haven't seen A Christmas Story. It is the most extreme of the dares. And I wouldn't let a TDD trick me into putting my tongue on this lightpost! It continues to be COLD in Anchorage! Our high temperatures for the next few days are not expecting to reach above zero...BRRRR!!!

First F.O. of 2009!

These were actually finished on New Year's Day. They are Jaywalker socks, they are my mom's birthday gift. Her birthday was Christmas Eve, but at that time I had one sock done and was finished with the leg of the other sock. So, I wrapped the finished one up so she could see it and told her there would be a completed pair soon. It was a fun and easy pattern to knit. I think the yarn worked particularly well with the pattern and mom was really pleased, that's the most important part. She asked me if I picked this yarn for her and I totally did; I bought the yarn a year ago, when I saw it the yarn was yelling "MOM" at me. Here are the details:

Pattern: Jaywalker Socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock lightweight
Color: Crazy Stripes
Needles: US 1 and US 2
Method: Magic Loop
Modifications: the pattern calls for US 1 needles, but I'd heard from a couple of folks that the pattern didn't have a lot of give to it and that it could be tight in places. So, the last 3/4 inch of the leg through the heel and gusset and a few rows beyond I used a US 2 needle and then switched back to US 1 to finish the foot and toe

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year! I hoped to have photos of finished socks to share, I'm on the toe of the second sock, but I needed a break so next time. We had a quiet New Year's at home, but we managed to stay up till midnight to watch the giant ball drop on TV. We've been in a deep freeze for almost a week now with subzero temperatures at night and highs of like 2 degrees. Bitter cold! That's been keeping us in layers and keeping us indoors! I have a few New Year's Resolutions for 2009:

1. Don't buy any yarn until November 30th (see earlier post).

2. STASH REDUCTION - not buying yarn should help with this, but finishing projects is also an integral part of it. Of course I have some specific items in mind for this, my knit-o-lutions if you will -
a. Dave's top down sweater
b. The sweater I first saw in my head at Madrona 2008
c. Knee high socks for Laura
d. 4 pairs of socks for 4 different good friends
e. a much belated birthday gift for a good buddy
f. socks for Irish babies
g. baby surprise jacket, because I need to figure out this crazy pattern!
h. the 2008 RSC socks that I have yet to finish
i. the freakin' baby blankets I bought yarn for over two years ago - they are now toddler blankets!
j. something to surprise me
These don't have to be in this order, that is probably not going to happen, I'm not that organized in my knitting. But, if I get even a fraction of this accomplished I'll be doing really good. And I'll have a lot less unused yarn sitting around.

3. Try not to get a sinus infection in 2009 - I'm not sure how I'm going to do this, but 2008 involved two really bad sinus infections that had symptoms that lasted well beyond the antibiotics to the point where I kind of feel like my whole year was a giant sinus problem, but I know this is hyperbole. I'm just tired of feeling less than well.

4. Take better care of myself and my family. This is kind of tied to #3, but it's bigger in scope. Not that I've been neglectful or harmful to myself or my family this past year, but I know I can do better. And lately I've been in a bit of a rut. I'm ready to get out of the rut. As I've learned from many things I've read and experienced personally in the past, if you want things to change you have to be willing to change too.

5. Be more consistent with my blog. I have spurts and then dry spells. Need to work on that.

That's pretty much it. It's in some ways a short list, but I feel like its really a lot. Something to work on everyday, for all 365 of them. Did you make any resolutions for this year? What are they? I'm hoping that actually putting the buggers in writing will help me remember my own goals.

Tomorrow is Alaska's birthday - 50 years of statehood. There's a big gala downtown that I didn't want to pay $200 per person to attend, too cheap I guess. But, there is also a huge free public party on the 3rd which will involve the largest fireworks display ever seen in the state. DH and I have decided that we don't want to miss that! Our Times Square at midnight if you will! Happy 2009 everybody!