Sad, Sorry, Year-End Yarn Tales

This December, Fred and I were, what I referred to as, the abandoned old folks.

#1 son in Hearst rarely comes south at Christmas time.  My DIL works retail and that  means lots of 9am - 9pm days throughout December and a 6 pm closing on Christmas Eve.  Add to that scenario the questionable weather and winter driving conditions  and they wisely stay home.

Son #2, living closer as he does, has always been home for Christmas. This year though, he and his Lady of Spain left Canada on December 19 to head to  her home  for a visit with the Spanish side of their family.  After a week on the Spain leg of their journey, they left for 10 days in Kenya.  Lady of Spain works for  Me to We.  With that organisation, she and Peter were going to spend 10 days in Kenya, visiting the Maasai Mamas that produce the bead work sold in the Me to We shops.

Luckily for Fred and me, my Peterborough Sis takes in abandoned old folks and feeds them Christmas dinner.   We even stayed overnight.  And what doesall this have to do with 'sad, sorry, year- end yarn tales'?

Well, after overnighting at Sis' house, we took advantage of having a spare set of keys to Peter's downtown Toronto Condo and treated ourselves to a couple of days in the big smoke.  On the Saturday we planned to lunch at my favourite, Saturday-in-Toronto lunch venue - The Rex.  The Rex is a great place with 24/7 music.  Every Saturday, 12 noon to 3pm, Danny Marks performs.  I love Danny. I have all his CDs - both of them.  He is a great entertainer, loves the audience and they love him.  He's not a bad singer either.

Now, you need to know that Romni Wools is conveniently located between  the condo and The Rex.  Remember the three most important things about real estate:  Location, Location, Location.    I left  the condo early so I could  spend an hour at Romni before meeting Fred at The Rex.  Little did I know that it was Romni's  Biggest Sale Day Of The Year.

My first clue came when  I walked in the door and a teenage girl was offering coat check services.  My second clue was when  I looked up to see Glenna C approaching the exit with a BIG bag of yarn.  "Oh, you made it" she said to me as if it were obvious  I had intended to come to the Biggest Sale Day Of The Year.    "I left you some yarn." she added.   Heading for the back of the store and the 'wall of worsted',  my third clue was the store-length line of customers waiting to check out and the incredibly crowded aisles.

If you know Romni Wools, you know that it doesn't take many shoppers  to fill the aisles and make shopping there an exercise in extreme gymnastics.  Whatever vision you may have of shopping at Romni,  multiply it many times over to get an idea of The Biggest Sale Day Of The Year.  It wasn't long before I couldn't stand the heat - literally - the temperature.  I headed to the basement.  Although cooler there, it was no less crowded.  I do not shop well under these extreme conditions, but eventually I did find a bag of '$2 a ball' yarn that had been  tossed onto the floor.  In it,  I found some gorgeous novelty yarn in spring shades of teal, orange and cream.  Three balls should be enough for a wonderful spring scarf, I thought and headed up the stairs.

The  line-up to pay now came all the way to the back of the store, crossed in front of the entire  'wall of worsted'  and  and snaked half way back towards the front of the store.  Yikes!  I glanced at my watch and still had lots of time, so chose to get in line.

It wasn't long before I overheard a customer talking  on her cell phone.  Her end of the conversation went something like this.  " Hi.  It's me.  Yea, I'm going to be late.  I've been in line at Romni Wools for half an hour and the line hasn't moved." 

That was enough for me.  I  wormed my way back to the far corner of the basement, returned my 3 balls of yarn to the $2 bag, retrieved my coat and left.  Sadly, empty handed.  But not before one of the clerks had told me that Romni was Canada's largest yarn store and the fourth largest store in North America.  All the more reason to avoid The Biggest Sale Day Of The Year.

And as often is the case, one sorry, sad yarn story leads to another.  When packing up to leave the condo at the end of our visit, I forgot my knitting bag.   FORGOT.    MY.    KNITTING.    BAG!    Never place your knitting bag in a hidden corner of the room.  My bag contains both sets of my needles of choice - my Knit Picks Needles and all their cables.  My entire set of sock knitting needles and my case with every double pointed needle I own. Thank goodness my Denise Needles were at home.

Two, sorry, sad, yarn tales to end my year.

Sensational Saturday.

A day in the big city is always exciting for this small town knitter. But a day in the the big city when Peter is having a show is really fun.

First up, is my mandatory picture. Other families probably have their name in big letters and bright lights ad nauseum, but Peter is our only claim to fame. Whenever he has a show, I can't go into the gallery without stopping to snap this photo.

This second shot might appear that I'm taking credit but believe me, absolutely none is due. It's just the proud Mama shot.

Inside the gallery, the art seemed to be much appreciated. This photo captures fellow blogger, Marie and her thoughtfully posed hubby, along with 'Sis', BIL and a couple of nieces.

When Peter has a show, my entire family shows up. Are they interested in buying art? Not always. But for sure, they're interested in the fun that follows. After the show there was music. Which in my family never happens without dancing.

Twenty year old niece Katie and her Mom.

And of course, Dad.

Three generations on the dance floor.

Remember Katie's request for a red hat? Saturday the hat was delivered,worn all day and by the look of it, loved.

Of course, car time always means knitting time. My Pumpkin Pie pully is almost at the underarms.

A great show, great fun and lots of knitting. A sensational day.

Side Tracked

Working two projects at once means I should discipline myself to not get side-tracked. But self-discipline, for me, anyway, is such an elusive feature. Side-tracked is exactly what happened to me when I spotted this issue of Knitscene the other day. I could not, not bring it home.

Knitscene has come a long way, since it's inception. Better patterns, better layout, designs more appropriate for my age group. It's one of the few magazines I regularly buy.

This issue caught my attention because of the design-your-own feature about sizing -to-fit for raglan sleeves.

It has some great tips for knitting sleeves to fit broad-shouldered women or large upper-armed women or women that are both and women that are neither. Design tips like these help me to take my sweaters from the vision stage to the great-fitting, sweater stage.

There are some lovely pattern too. Like this one, on the cover.

This one,

and this one, to mention a few.

If I promise to only read at the close of the day, when the hands and eyes are too tired to knit, I won't be too terribly side tracked. My story and I'm sticking to it. - Why not? Sooner or later, those stories of mine will have to work. I'm convinced.

Refreshemnt Routine

Borrowing a phrase from Chez Lizzie, my next 'project' is my 'refreshment routine'. Some of my sweaters need to be refreshed.

This one

needs to have buttonholes tightened up. An easy fix, I will take a sewing needle and thread to sew a stitch or two at one end of each buttonhole.

Lloie's cardigan needs a tightening of another sort. It suffers from, as I say in my sock book, 'gaposis'. Knit with Alpaca, which has less 'memory' than wool, the gaps at the end of the short rows are beginning to show more than I'd like.

A little tweaking with the same yarn should bring those stitches closer together. Another not too difficult fix.

This last fix however, will be, if not difficult, then, at least time consuming. The back neck on my Waterloo Fairisle rides too high.

Not uncomfortable when standing, it becomes quite uncomfortable when I sit. Not prepared to stand wherever I go when wearing Waterloo, I need to fix it. To do that, I will have to rip the button/hole bands on both sides, then the entire neck trim. Once the sweater is freed from it's trim, my plan is to cut - yes, cut - a deeper back neck. A bit of guesswork as to how much needs to be cut, but after experiencing the discomfort of the 'too high' neck, too low seems a better option.

Somehow, the 'refreshment routine' isn't nearly as much fun as the initial knitting routine. But without it, these sweaters might spend way too much time in the time out closet. That would never do.

From Us To You

Thanks you to all my readers for your faithfulness to my blog all through the year.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas, while visions of yarn and exciting new projects dance in you heads.

Doreen and Wilma are not in these pictures as I forgot to bring out the camera until after they had gone home.

The sweater's done. The felted hat almost. Modelled shots in the new year.

Free At Last

I saw something this morning I haven't seen for over a week. The sun! I think the storm is over.

Over enough that I intend to go to work this morning. Or at least intend to attempt to go. Fred is blowing the driveway as I write and has cautioned me to take extra warm clothes, the phone, food and a candle. Routine emergency items for winter travelling in our parts. Despite road conditions and weather, I am determined to go to work today.

It is the day of our Christmas luncheon. All the knitters who participated in KALs at the store throughout the fall are coming - or at least were invited to come - for lunch and show & tell today. Who would miss that?

On the knitting front , an 'anonymous' -sounded just like Peter- commenter yesterday cautioned that if I keep posting updates on 'the' sweater there won't be much of a surprise for him under the tree. Sorry, Pete, Stop reading now. Here's what the storm did.

I'm beginning to doubt the pattern, though and think I might rip and re-knit as per Elizabeth. The pattern calls for 83 stitches at the upper sleeve with a gauge of 5 stitches per inch. That makes the upper sleeve only about 16 inches around. Not very roomy for a muscular guy wanting a 'jacket' sweater. I'm still considering, but don't be surprised if I take it back.

Here's to safe driving on bare roads with sunny skies above.

Weather Watching

Help! I'm stuck and can't get out! Here are my dining room and kitchen windows at 7am this morning.

Once the light came, it looked like this.

That old Farmers Almanac adage about snow being a good insulator? Those of you with ancestors smart enough to avoid the great white north when they got off the boat might have never heard it, but supposedly snow makes a good insulator. What a bunch of hooey! Our hydro went out at 8pm last night, (That was a miracle in itself. With the high winds we had are having, I was surprised we had hydro that long.) and by 8:30 the house, surrounded by GOBS of snow, had cooled. I went to bed.

There was knitting though. Two sleeves, machine knit. One of them has to be ripped. Having knit the body by hand on a 4mm needle, I suspected that a stitch dial setting of either 4 or 4.5 would do. Rather than do a gauge swatch - they lie anyway - I knit one sleeve at each setting.
I think the 4 is the one I like best, so today - since I can't go anywhere - I'll rip and re-knit the second sleeve at stitch dial 4.

Machine knitting really rolls. Here's a better look.

Son Peter emailed, last night, to say Toronto has little to no snow. That's a mere two hours south. Grrrr.

Snowed In

Family and friends have been calling and emailing to ask about our snow. Do we have any yet? Are the roads open? Have we been skiing yet? Well, let's just say OH MY GOSH!!!

December 2nd, it started snowing here and it stopped for a bit of a breather on December 10. In that period we received 124 centimetres. That's 50 inches for those of us that still speak Imperial.

Yesterday it started again. The weatherman predicts another three days and 30 centimetres of snow. It is a good thing that Fred likes - or at least he used to, an overdose can kill any one's enthusiasm - using the snow blower. He has done little else for the last 10 days. Besides the driveway and the sidewalk to the front door, we are the only people I know that must also shovel the deck. We have a hot tub out there and if the snow isn't shovelled, the hot tub is impossible to access. Would Fred care? Nope. He's not a hot tub guy. It's me that likes the hot tub. There are just enough steps to the deck to prevent Fred hauling up the snow blower, so he shovels. During this never-ending snow storm, he almost gets the entire job of driveway, sidewalk and deck finished before it needs doing again.

And no, we haven't been skiing. Although the hills are just twelve minutes from home, we can't get there. "Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee" An easy job really - who the heck would come here?

It's impossible for me to convey the snow depth without braving the cold to take a measure tape to it, like Londoner Patti Ann did and I have no intentions of doing, but here are a couple of hots.

To say that I've had lots of knitting time, would be an understatement. Good thing, too, as I've promised Number Two Son, Peter, a sweater for Christmas. The storm and the sweater were started the same day. Peter chose Avast from Knitty. 14 of the 16 body inches are finished

and both sleeve cuffs started.

With house-bound hours in front of me today I am going to see if I can get identical gauge on the machine and do the sleeves the quick way.

I knit, Fred shovels. I knit some more, Fred shovels some more. Traditional roles work for me.

Two Fingers, One Hand

One of Fred's fishing mittens is done.

It's a strange looking item - even knowing that's not the middle finger!

Using both a glove pattern and a mitten pattern I jigged back and forth between the two to get my glitten. The pattern called for worsted weight yarn and mine being closer to aran makes the finished product look wide for it's length. I've been assured the fish won't mind.

Starting with the mitten pattern, I worked the cuff and thumb gusset. At that point, I switched to the glove pattern and made the first finger. With the finger complete, it was back to the mitten pattern to finish off.

Glitten number two to follow soon. In the meantime, take a look at our snow.

It went from this Friday evening

- the first, fun, soft, atmosphere-inspiring snowfall of the season, to this

by Tuesday morning. My laundry window - totally blocked by snow.

Of course, that is nothing compared to my friends back in London. 30 inches have fallen there. Stated by the weatherman and confirmed by my friend and her tape measure.

It gets old fast, doesn't it?

Knitters 100th

A friend emailed me recently to give me this hot new link. Knitters magazine is celebrating it's 100th issue with a free digital copy.

Take a Gravol before you open it. The digital reading made me queasy. Enjoy.

Socks Done. Box Gone.

James socks are done

and the box has gone.

What a wrapping frenzy, this morning. In order to keep track of gifts for the Hearsters without relying on my memory, nothing had been wrapped. Today was my personal deadline for getting the box to the post office. That meant an early morning rush to wrap the gifts, pack, tape and address the box, then shove Fred out the door, box in hand, in time to meet the 10:30am departure deadline. We made it!

You've heard me say - "I don't knit for others." You've heard me say "I don't do Christmas knitting." Well, 2010 seems to be a year of exceptions to my rule. Look at my Christmas knitting.

Hats with rabbit fur trim for Abi and Sarah. Socks with Possum fur for James. 'Morgan's Cardi for Abi and a pair of felted slippers for anyone they might fit. Nothing hand knit for Mom or Dad. Sorry. There's only so much these hands can do.

Insured and stamped, the box is leaving town as I write. Let's hope the postman delivers faster than I knit.

To Party Or To Knit

My knitting plans goal for the weekend was to finish the mate to the solo green sock I've knit for James for Christmas.

That box of gifts needs to leave Thornbury soon! My plans were well founded because we were off to visit my sister - a three hour drive from home. That's a total of six knitting hours.

Going over, I did well. I finished the leg AND the heel flap of sock number two! The heel turn and foot I left for later. Wrongly, as it turned out, expecting some quiet, conversational visiting/knitting time. Heck no! The four of us can still party hardy. Unfortunately, we don't recover quickly. There was no knitting time as Sis' house. No problem, there was still the three hour drive home.

As soon as I buckled the seat belt, I picked up the needles. A round heel was the aim, and knowing that my heel flap had 28 stitches, I knit across to two stitches past centre. A few rows later, I was out of stitches on one side and still had some left on the other. What the heck? Counting was required. Oops! I had spent the three hour drive over to Sis' house creating a heel flap on the incorrect number of stitches. Rip!

Picking up little, tiny, sock stitches in the car, with poor lighting and bumpy roads didn't go well. In the end, I gave in, put away the sock and slept. Home again, Fred was off to a Grey Cup affair. Me? My partying time was over. I stayed home to knit. The sock now has a correct heel flap, a turned heel, and most of a gusset.

The box has to go soon. Mid-week, perhaps.

Wager Anyone?

Was it just Wednesday that I brashly proclaimed to finish Abi's Cardi by the weekend?

Both Wednesday and Thursday evenings, I was tired. Really tired. Knitting was slow. The weekend is almost upon me and I have this much done.

That would be exactly this much.

Sadly for my knitting production, my weekends don't always lend themselves to staying home to knit. This weekend, I would like to take in the Pottawatomi Spinners and Weavers Sale in Owen Sound. While there, I should really stay to watch the lighting of the city for Christmas. And before all that, it is tradition for Fred and I to dine at Swiss Chalet. We like the Festive Special. Hmmm. There goes Friday.

Tomorrow, there is coffee with a friend before she leaves for the winter in Florida. Then a great Snowflake Bazaar just down the street. What about my commitment to take squash for 20 and a mince pie to a Church dinner? Hmmm. There goes Saturday.

Sunday it is my turn to read in Church. Then off to the Legion to help with the monthly Euchre party. Hmmm. There goes Sunday.

Well, exactly how much more knitting is required to finish this little cardi? The pattern, from Teens & Tweens - which Abi, just turning ten, isn't yet, calls for a 19 inch cardi. It is 16 inches to my waist, so 19 inches seems a bit excessive for my ten year old. How about 16? That should work. All of which means, these last two weeks of knitting sees me half way there. The most complicated half, mind you. So can I knit the other half in the next two days? Wagers anyone?

And because Laurie M asked for it, here are some pictures of my 90 year old, Jazz-loving, pony-tailed Dad.

In his legion uniform.

Showing off the cake at his 90th birthday celebration

and lastly, beating the pants off the great grand kids at Euchre.

Happy weekend to all.

My New Fall Fashion

I have a very wise friend who says that the most important fashion item for cold-climate people is the coat. In fact her philosophy is that every woman should have several coats. Forget what's underneath them as come cold weather, we seldom take the coat off when we go out.

Until I was introduced to her philosophy, I had one dress, winter coat. When I went out, I wore my coat. At the grocery store, the mall, the post office, the bank, the coat stayed on. All people ever saw was the coat. My same, same coat. Her philosophy is right.

Now, I have three coats. The latest being a purchase from Berry Ellen. I saw the Berry Ellen designs at the Meaford Craft Show the weekend before Thanksgiving and loved her coats. Unfortunately, her smallest size was too big for me. Read again. Her smallest size was too big for me. How great did that make me feel?

I asked about a custom size and she said "Of Course". Now I have my latest coat - teal canvas with dark, charcoal grey, velveteen trim. I love it. But of course it needed a scarf. Knowing my colour wheel (A girl can learn much from watching Colour Confidential) I decided the best colour for the teal coat scarf would be orange-ish.

Off to the stash I went and pulled out my bag of orange yarns. Having seen, on shop shelves, some very expensive yarns that were simply many different novelty yarns tied together, I decided to create my own.

One of my yarns, was plentiful, the others were just bits and pieces. Using the 'Old King Cole' measuring method of nose to finger tip, I created my designer yarn by alternating twice the amount of my plentiful yarn, with half amounts of the various bit and pieces. Then I simply tied them together - no special knot - and started to knit. When I came to the knot I knit one stitch with yarn, tails and knot, then let the rest of the tails hang out. Very hate-couture, don't you think?

The pattern is Sally Melville's Shape It Scarf, from her first book The Knit Stitch. I'm feeling very 'runway' with this.

Have a great weekend everyone. I'm off to the grocery store, the bank, the post office - wherever I can think, to show off my coat and scarf. Thanks for reading.

Behind Schedule

Behind schedule - the story of my life.

With a visitor from Hearst with us this week, it was much more fun last night to go out to dinner - especially since our guest was treating - than it was to stay home and knit.

That meant that this morning, being the first up, I was playing knitting-catch-up. By Thursday, the goal was to be finished the foot on Sis' Sock. Instead the foot was about half finished.

Now, after my pre-breakfast marathon of knitting, I am almost finished. The foot that is.

Close enough that I am sure to be able to finish the toe by bed-time tonight. Unless of course we are again invited out to eat.

All of this, as Thanksgiving approaches, makes me grateful. Grateful for needles and yarn. Grateful for eyes and fingers that still work. Grateful for a sister that appreciates my knitting.
Grateful for friends that treat us to dinner. Just plain grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers. And to non-Canadians readers, why not cook a turkey? Just for the sheer pleasure of the smell and taste.

Stamina Required.

Yesterday, when I posted about the Harris household marathons, you should know that those pictures were taken on Sunday.


Today is Tuesday.

Marathons require stamina. Not Fred's. He's fine. Mine. Two days working in a kitchen full of tools is not easy. "No use putting them away when they'll be needed again tomorrow."

But there is nothing like a salmon run in the Beaver River to spur one across the finish line.

See those green lights? It's working. The bottom has been left off - the better to see any leaks. And I have been shown where the main valve is so I can turn off the water in case of leaks. (Duh! ) And Fred? he's gone fishing!

Which leaves me free to complete my scarf marathon.

Scarf number three knit during the 50th Anniversary Sweater time out. But this marathon is finished. Back to the cardi now.