Saturday, September 25, 2010

Operation K-A-T 2010

 
 Pine St. Inn Knit-a-thon 2010

In preparation of attending this years 4th Annal Pine Street Knit-a-thon (Operation K-A-T) November 7, 2010 at the Massachusetts State House, I've been knitting my 9x9" squares. I'm proud to say this is my fourth year of square knitting for the Pine St. Inn Knit-a-thon. I'm very excited to go back again this year to help put the blankets together. We had so much fun last year I just had to do it again. Besides it is such a great cause and Farley does such a great job organizing the event. I'm certain this years K-A-T will be a great success.

Usually I just knit plain garter stitch squares, but this year I thought I would try knitting them in the round after seeing the patterns listed on the Pine Street Knit-a-thon website. You know me...I LOVE garter stitch, so I made some modifications to the pattern doing the whole square in garter stitch. The first one I did I cast on so as to work from the outside edge to the center, but found I liked starting in the center and work my way out to the outside edge much better. I even learned how to use two circular needles instead of double points because my aluminum dpns were so slippery I got very frustrated and thought that it was time to learn a new way! Check out this website which makes it very easy to learn how. I have no idea why I never tried this small diameter circular knitting technique earlier. Live and learn.

Pine St. Inn Knit-a-thon 2010


















Stay tuned...there will be more squares to show you. I'm not finished yet
happy knitting :)

Copyright ©2006-2010 hakucho, All Rights Reserved.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

What a relief!

Yes, it is a great relief to finally finish these socks. While I am happy with the finished product, I do have to admit that I did not enjoy knitting them. I based my socks on the stitch pattern from the November Sock pattern. Way back in July, the 10th to be exact I began these socks. I used the basic toe-up sock recipe from my toe-up totem pattern, figuring two maybe three weeks tops and they should be done, but that was not the case. All I can say is that the stitch pattern was just plain awkward to knit and I would get tired of them and give up. Well, I trudged on and I am now so glad they are finally finished. I think I'll refrain from any sock knitting for a while. Here's the finished product:

November Socks
November Socks

I really like the yarn though. It's "soles and more" from Joann's. It's an inexpensive yarn, but is so soft and enjoyable to knit. Did you notice....both feet match? This time I was very determined to make sure both feet matched. Now I know to never forget an important step before knitting socks with a pattern or stripe. Take a few extra minutes to pull your yarn out from each skein and match it up with each other. The first ball I used from the center pull and the other I had to start from the outside in order to make it match. I found it amusing to think that if I had knit them as is, both from the center pull, they couldn't possibly ever had matched. I am really excited this tedious project finished. Now I'm free to pursue other projects.

Happy Knitting :)

Copyright ©2006-2010 hakucho, All Rights Reserved.

Saturday, September 04, 2010

A very fast summer!

I can't believe just how fast this summer went by! This post is long over due. There was so much I had planned to do this summer, but not much got done including knitting. Now that school has started I am hopeful that I can get into some good routines that include keeping up with my blogging. Things are good, very good right now. Hope it lasts :)

What did I do over my summer? Now let me think. I rushed my husband to the hospital because he was in incredible pain....low and behold he was passing a kidney stone, a first for him and hopefully his last. Here's the proof:
IMG_0644

I moved my father again, but this time it was a good, very good move. I can report that my 93 year old Dad is finally doing very well. He had his gangrenous finger tips amputated and now he has pain free fingers. Hind sight is 20-20, and we now acknowledge that this surgery should have been done sooner. He has healed beautifully and is much happier now that he has been moved back into a regular room at his assisted living, playing bingo, etc. I even like his new room better than his old one.
Things work out for the better most of the time.

We spent 2 weeks on Cape Cod, one week in July and one week in August. Left my middle son home alone for the first time. He got a job finally(!!!) and was lucky enough to work full time all summer. Working agreed with him and he seemed to be a much easier kid to get along with.

I also nursemaided my middle son after he got his four impacted wisdom teeth removed. The oral surgeon really had to dig out the teeth on the bottom and he had a bad reaction to the anesthesia. He didn't have it easy, but he survived.

Moved my middle son into college. It was a very easy move compared to when my older son moved into college. He is pursuing engineering like his older brother, though he is not sure of the type of engineering yet. He started classes this past Wednesday and seems happy. He is only an hour away from home, so he can come home whenever he wants.

My youngest started his sophomore year in high school, also this past Wednesday and seem very happy with all his new teachers. He'll be playing tuba this year in band and hopefully trombone in the jazz band. I've been helping with the band uniforms (fitting, altering, etc) again this year. I was more involved start to finish which included taking and picking up all the uniforms from the cleaners. Having only one son home this year should prove to be much easier with less driving and fighting and cooking ;)

As far as knitting goes, I don't have much to show you except for another finished baby prayer blanket for church:
IMG_0657
and a stack of washcloths....very boring. IMG_0656
All white ones, except for the last one I used scrap yarn to finish because I ran out of white yarn. Sometimes though boring knitting is good for your psyche, but I must admit there is nothing like an exciting project to get you motivated. Looking forward to becoming motivated again ....soon!

I am almost finished with a pair of socks. I've been trying to finish them, but I can't quite get there. I am not liking the pattern I chose very much, but will stick to it until the end....I am almost there! This has not been a summer for knitting unfortunately! My sister who lives in Oregon sent me another skein of her handspun yarn for my birthday in June. She never forgets me :) IMG_0639
Look how soft it is...I really need to find a project for all of her handspun yarn that I have been hoarding. Must put my thinking cap on some day and find a pattern(s).

In my future I do see lots of knitting, so hopefully I'll have more to blog about later. Until next time...happy knitting :)

Copyright ©2006-2010 hakucho, All Rights Reserved.