Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Finished.....





I just finished the Hip in Hemp Skirt that has been on the needles since 2011. I'm happy with the results; I won't hold a grudge---it's not the skirt's fault that it took me so long.

I did take Mere's advice (thank you!) and knit a few extra inches before I cast off, and thanks to Ravelry readers' notes, I realized I had not copied the cast off instructions, which required 10 rows of garter stitch. That added an inch to the length and thank goodness, I had enough yarn.

This skirt kept getting fuller as it got longer, and I was worried that I would need one of these to wear it properly.


If only I had read the other knitters' comments on this skirt BEFORE I started the skirt I would have known how to make it longer without making it wider, and at the same time, maintain the desired shape of the skirt. And I could have skipped all the math and logic and painful thinking that doing the calculations myself entailed:



If I were a more experienced knitter, I would have been able to figure out with my own little brain how to make the changes I needed to make with. It was embarrassingly easy! Just add one extra stockinette row between the increase rows---4 rows instead of 5. Duh.

This skirt took forever and a month to knit, has one bazillion stitches and I LOVE it!

Monday, June 18, 2012

The Never-Ending Linen Skirt

I started this skirt after Stitches South, 2011. Here we are, in June of 2012, and I'm still knitting it. Claudia of Claudia Hand Painted Yarn told me that I should make it long enough to cover the tops of my boots. "No leg showing," was how she put it. Well, I am tired of knitting this and it just now only covers my knees.I went online last night to determine what Fashion says about the proper length of skirts with cowboy boots (older daughter, who lives in Texas, says that there, they just call them "boots") and this is representative of what I found:
I didn't find any pictures of anyone wearing longer skirts. Unfortunately, I think that Fashion doesn't deal with um....elderly...no, that's not right.....Mature (that's it!) mature women wearing boots.

I have most of one skein of linen remaining, so I can knit on and on and on and........

...but I don't think I will. I'll try it on once more and then decide where to stop. I had thought of doing a picot bind off until I remembered that I have a million and ten stitches on the needle. No picot for me.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Publix Thanks Pioneer Woman

Or at least they should.

Yesterday, in a fit of rainy day boredom, I downloaded PW's list of things she keeps on hand in order to be able to make a meal without going to the grocery store. I hate going to the grocery store, and as a result, I go there more often than I'd like. I'm not organized, can't figure out in advance what to cook and go to the store almost daily when inspiration hits...if it hits. If it doesn't hit, I still end up at the store wandering the aisles, looking for inspiration. Or I go to Fresh Market and buy something that just needs the minimum of preparation.

Today I went through the list and bought the things that apply to my cooking. My pantry is nearly full. Maybe this system will work.

In preparation for this shopping extravaganza, I dug all my reusable grocery bags out of the trunk. I have lots of bags, not because I'm such a good environmentalist, but because I generally forget to take them into the store and then buy more. So I have a lot, and from a lot of different stores, including my local UPS store. And a couple from Mexico. I've decided that if I keep them on the passenger seat of my car I am less likely to forget them.

We'll see......

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Rainy Day Ramblings


It's raining, thank goodness! We have had so many years of drought that it is nice to have rainy days...whole days of rain.

So I have nothing much to report. It's a day to stay in pajamas all day, although I did shower and get dressed, but I didn't make the bed---yet---so there's that bit of laziness.

I saw in yesterday's AJC a comment from someone: Crabby people should, instead of complaining about whatever, say nice things to three people each day. I don't write about philosophies, politics, religion or anything else deep; there are already people who do that better than I ever could, but I do think that if crabby people (and non-crabby people, as well) did what the writer advised, a whole lot of people would be happier.

I sometimes think that I should get my cat a cat, someone besides my husband and me that he could play with. He's three years old now and still VERY playful. He needs a new victim playmate. But a friend who is a real cat-lover and who has rescued and fostered many cats, says that Baxter is the king of the house, and that he wouldn't appreciate a new cat. Baxter is an indoor cat and I think that living indoors for a cat is like a reader being told that he could only read the first page of the same book, over and over and over. Nothing more than that one page. That has nothing to do with getting Baxter a friend; it's just that I think his life is already sort of limited and poor thing, he doesn't even have a friend to share his limited life with. Just us humans.

My husband redeemed his Groupon yesterday and took a flight over the city of Atlanta in this biplane:
I bought him the coupon for Christmas, he finally redeemed it and said it was fun. Maybe that's what I should get him for every gift-giving occasion. I've given him a few duds: the race car drive he didn't take and the remote-controlled helicopter that the clerk
TOLD me not to give him. He has never successfully flown it. It is apparently very complicated, which I why the clerk advised me---repeatedly---to get him one that to me looked like a child's toy. But did I listen??? No. And every flight attempt has resulted in broken blades.

Yay for the interwebs! At Stitches South, Lucille and I bought mesh, zippered pouches which are great for various knitting supplies and you can see what is in them. Yesterday I thought that one would make a great holder for my cell phone for when (or if) I ride my bike. I have a basket, but I learned the first time I tried to ride to a destination (the library to return books) that when I fall off the bike, the stuff in the basket falls as well. Not so bad for the books, but bad for an iPhone. I looked for the label in the mesh pouch and then searched the internet. There they were! I ordered the correct size and it's already been shipped. Once I add a carabiner I'll be ready to go.

I wish I could see my grandchildren more often; they are just so much fun to spend time with. Even Elizabeth, who has in the past been referred to as the honey-badger (it's not a compliment; don't watch the video if you don't like gross, brutal nature), is no longer a honey badger; she's a DOLL. She talks all of the time and is really interesting and funny. It has been a treat to watch all four grow up and change. Soon they'll be teenagers, bored to tears when they have to spend time with their old grandparents. Do we h.a.a.a.a.v.e to???

As promised: ramblings.


The End.

Oh, I forgot to say: It is possible to spend WAY too much time on the interwebs, but in my defense, it is still raining.

The End.


Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Sunday, June 3, 2012

How Old Are You?

That's what my husband asked when he noticed my newly-polished nails yesterday.

I ignored his question.
They coordinate with my knitting!
And with one of my rugs!
And my purse!
And my walls!
And my lunch plate!
And my iPod!
I like turquoise.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Elizabeth's Ruffled Dress


Finally!

This dress has been a test of wills since before I started it, when the store that had the yarn I needed had just the amount the pattern called for. Not one extra skein.

And it turns out that whether you make a size four (like this dress) or a size ten (as Sallyknit did), there is barely enough yarn to make the dress. Actually there isn't enough yarn which is why Sallyknit and I both added stripes in the secondary color in order to make the main color go far enough. She had six inches of the main color left; I had a bit more remaining because I made the dress shorter in order to fit Elizabeth, who isn't quite into size four clothing yet.

Phew....

And Lucille, knitter and crocheter extraordinaire, made the beautiful flower and leaves for the dress and taught me how to do the crochet edging for it. Thank you Lucille!

So now off in the mail it goes, with a warning to my daughter. Be careful where Elizabeth wears it. It has to be washed by hand and laid flat to dry and it takes forever and a year to dry. Kind of a nuisance for a mom of four, I know, but I didn't know this before I made it. Sorry H!

The flower: