Best Laid Plans...

Okay - today's post was supposed to read something like this:

"Yeah - rack up an 'A' for me on SAM5 - the Jacobean's are all done - Whoot Whoot!" Then I would give you all of the glorious details on the yarn, needle size, etc. Well - that was the plan.

Let's go back about 24 hours shall we... "Yeah - almost finished... only 13 rows of ribbing to do - no worries, I can knock that out in a short amount of time. Yeah boy - I'm gonna finish another pair of socks. Oh yeah - right on track, blah blah blah" There may have even been some celebratory dancing.

Then the 'little voice' starts speaking. If only I could just tell that voice to SHUT UP!!

Little Voice: "Hey - this sock is a wee bit smaller than the other sock"

Me: "Nope - I can stretch it out when I block it. The recipient's foot is smaller than mine. No worries..."

Little Voice: "Nope - I think something's seriously wrong..."

Me: "Nope - just a tighter gauge here for some odd reason..." Knit on, Knit on - blindly knitting away...

Then - I decided to check & compare this sock to sock #1. Hmmm - fits tightly on the sock blocker. Hmmmm - leg is going to be much longer than sock #1 - how can that be? I still have ribbing yet to do. Houston - we have a problem.

Then it hits me like a wet salmon - I started the short row heel one pattern repeat too early. ARGHHHH. So - rip, rip, rip I went. Back to repeat #3.... Only 3 more repeats (of 20 rows), a heel, and 2" of cuff + ribbing to do.

Sure I'll finish before April's over. NOT. Part of me wanted to continue and ignore the gross oversight just so I could receive April credit - how sad... So, I must have progressed as a knitter because I did the knitterly right thing to do - ripped back & will continue anew. Just not today. The pain is still too raw.

On the bright side - the 22" (yes - the 16" I reported earlier was a gross under estimate) of snow is melting away quite nicely & the sun is shining.

Here - look at Raja:
So much for knitting on the sweater today.

Ciao~

Ridiculous

Okay - this is absolutely ridiculous. I apologize in advance for what may seem as a continuation of my last post. IT SNOWED AGAIN!!!!!! Just when we thought spring was finally here, a storm "stalled" over the south central region of Alaska. Umm... stalled? Where were the other weather systems? Don't you know when you see someone stalled that it is polite and kind to help get them moving along? Hello - other weather systems? Where were you?

Anchorage received over a foot of snow. I can only provide accurate accounts for the east side of Anchorage - we received over 16 inches - IN LESS THAN 12 HOURS!! WTF?? (Why that's fantastic) The photo to the left is what I had to scape at the end of the school day. Actually - it's what I had to scrape after about 2.5 hours - I'd already scraped once, moved my car, went to coach my JV soccer game (at an indoor facility thankfully), and then returned to school.
Yes - Adidas Sambas (indoor, flat soccer shoes) are not meant for walking through deep snow. I didn't pack boots into the car (they are a permanent fixture there in the winter for safety reasons) as the weather forecast predicted rain mixed with some snow and (now get this) no accumulation expected. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Here's what the railing of our back deck looked like:
Now I know many of you might be thinking - "Hey, you chose to live in Alaska, deal with it". Some may also think I'm just making this crap up & using pictures taken back in December. There is no way I'm creative enough to make this up. Yes, we did choose to live in Alaska - actually chose to return here after 5 years of college in sunny San Diego of all places. Its a beautiful state & I do love & enjoy winter & the snow. So many fun things to do. But come on - April 25th? For crying out loud - enough is enough. It think it's fate laughing at my decision to return to coaching soccer. Have I mentioned we have yet to hold an outdoor practice? I've been trying to train 18 girls to play soccer in our high school gym. It's very difficult to teach positioning and space when you don't have any. What a shock when we play at the indoor facility. We were fortunate enough to play one outdoor game - last Wednesday - in sunny 60° weather!! Luckily they're a great, fun, good-natured bunch and are able to go with the flow.

Okay - enough of my whining. I have been doing some knitting - just no blogging. Don't know what it is (besides the crazy busy schedule), but I haven't felt like plugging in the camera, uploading photos, and sitting down to blog. So sorry - here take a look at knitting - it always makes me feel better.

Progress on the pair of Jacobean socks I'm knitting for the SKP 2008. These will be a gift. They are toe-ups (I'm liking that!!) where I used the figure-8 cast on (so cool). The yarn is Spring Thaw (now that's ironic) from Shibui knits. It is fab yarn - mostly solid with just a hint of light striping.

A little shot of the stitch pattern...

Have I mentioned how much I love the short row heel? It is so cool & fits so well.

Okay - here's what I had to do before I could knit more today. The temps are lots warmer - so the snow is wet & heavy. However, it also helps the driveway to dry more quickly.

And... I might actually finish an adult sized sweater! Hazaah! This is the front of the "Not Your Basic Sweatshirt, Take Two" from The Yarn Girls - Beyond the Basics book. I'm at the point where I can decrease for the armholes & then separate for the v-neck. Yeah - I think I might have to ask for local knitter help when I need to seam this thing together - any takers?

Well - battery is running low & I only have a few more days to finish the Jacobeans for the April credit for SAM5.

Happy Winter, uh, I mean Spring.

Ciao ~

Did I oversleep?

Okay - please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it APRIL???? Did I sleep through the summer (and if I did - was it fun? Are we totally broke from spending all of our money on gas? Were the RUSH concerts fun? How about the family reunion in Wisconsin - how'd that go?) The reason I ask is that Anchorage & the surroundings have received over a foot of new snow over the past few days? I mean "WTF?!?" - (For those who don't know that totally means "Why, That's Fantastic!")

I knew we were premature in thinking spring had actually arrived in Anchorage. All throughout March I kept thinking, even as the ice was melting and the grass was emerging "just wait - more is on the way." It never fails; Ma nature lures us into a false sense of security thinking it's safe to put away the parkas, take the studded tires off the vehicles, and time to rake the lawn. - Then WHAMO! Sometime in the middle of March we're hit with a late season snowstorm that blankets Anchorage. Never fails. Until this year - Anchorage residents were believing more and more that yes, Global Warming is real. Snow was melting - lawns were visible and we were thinking that in no time - we'd be able to have soccer games outside - as they were intended.

Not so fast.... Saturday morning, April 5th, the weather forecast in the paper predicted 3 - 6 inches of snow. Yeah, right. But - lo' and behold, the snow was falling & sho' nuff - we had an accumulation around 6 inches. But.... the sun started to peek from around the clouds and the mercury was on the rise. The snow left behind after my shovel job quickly melted away - streets were clear and dry by the evening. Okay - just a little last minute hic-cup. I can live with that.

Well - Mother Nature wasn't through yet; spring forward to this morning, April 9th when my father calls at 6:15am. He was supposed to come into Anchorage (he lives about 45 minutes North) to pick up something from me at school. He'd call to say he wasn't going to come in because he'd heard Anchorage was expecting 6 - 12 more inches of snow! What?!? As I looked out the window, I thought he was smokin' crack since there was nary a snowflake to be seen falling from the sky. That didn't last for long. As my husband was headed out the door, he came in to tell me that yes - the weather forecasters were right - snow was falling and with a vengeance.

Roads were slicker than snot & it took me over an hour to take the boys to school & then get to work. Along the way there were several ditch divers and scores of cars fish tailing as they turning. Due to the hazardous road conditions - all after school activities were cancelled & outdoor soccer games are cancelled until Monday. Arghhhh

Please wake me when it's spring....

PS - The few nice things about the snow are everything is very clean looking and I feel a renewed need to knit. I'm past the heel of my Jacobean toe-up socks - more to report later... (including pictures - I just needed to vent...)

March Madness

Whew - I'm so glad March is just about over! Hopefully things will settle down & I'll be able to post with better regularity! I've felt so bad about my lack of blogging & worse yet - lack of knitting content.

Hopefully this post will make up for it. May I present to you a FO! Finally! I thought I'd finish these socks long ago w/time to knit perhaps another. Yeah - right. With the end of 3rd quarter, a spring break trip to San Diego for fun & a wedding, the beginning of soccer season (I'm coaching the JV girls team), my son's 8th birthday, and parent-teacher conferences, there just hasn't been time to knit. Geez - where are my priorities?

May I present to you my socks for March? They are my submission for March credit for Socks-of-the-Month 5.

Details:

Pattern: Penllyn Socks by Wildhorse Farm Designs

Yarn: Socks That Rock, lightweight "Footzey Foo"

Needles: Addi Turbo, Size 1 (2.50mm)

A super easy, super quick knit. (If you actually knit them & not set them down to take care of other responsibilities in your life). I love how the pattern gives the illusion of cables. Yet - no cable needle - just strategically placed yo and psso.

I fell in love with short row heels when I knit the Serendipity Socks by Adrienne Fong. The pattern called for a standard heel flap, but I've fallen head over heels with the short row heel. No gusset, no stitch markers, no stitches to pick up. Pretty slick, fast, and I love the way they fit. I knit the short rows until there are 12 stitches left un-worked. Leaves just the right enough room for my heel - not too deep, not too shallow.

I don't know what it is with me and STR yarn. No matter what I knit, I always end up with a fraternal pair of socks. Remember the 'Funky Monkeys'? Wow! This pair of socks produced a sock w/a swirl & a sock w/lots of pooling. I checked my gauge - and obtained 8 stitches/inch on the stockinette. What is this yarn supposed to do? Stripe? Hmm? The yarn is so fabulous to knit with, that I think I'm also beginning to enjoy the mystery the finished object will present. Will the stripes match? Will there be pooling? Who knows. I think I'm getting the correct gauge, but I'm still stumped.


I ran across the Sock Knitters Pentathlon the other day in blogland. So sorry - I wish I could give the proper credit. It sounded pretty cool, so I joined the yahoo group. The premise is sock knitters knit 5 different pairs of socks throughout the year to challenge their sock knitting skills. I'm always up for a challenge & SKP2008 spoke to my competitive nature. I joined late, so I'm sure I'm out of the competition, but it sounded like a fun KAL. The first pattern is the Jacobean pattern - a pattern I was contemplating knitting even before I found this KAL! So - I think it was meant to be. So - I'm going to try to work these in while I'm knitting the March Rockin' Sock Club kit.

Other knitting news: This week is state testing. Since students test all morning, our alternative school uses the afternoon time to provide different workshops for students to explore new hobbies, skills, and interests. I'm teaching a beginning knitting class, just like last year. For students who arrive without supplies, I've purchased some materials so they can make their own knitting needles. The wooden dowels I bought should make a pair of needles close to a size 7 US. I'll report later on how this all works out.

Well - off to send of the weekly email to my JV team - our first game is in one week! Eek!

Happy Knitting!

Ciao~

Getting Lucky in Anchorage!

I knew that would get your attention! Sorry - totally knitting related as "Lucky" refers to this month's Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club sock kit. I love coming home to yarn goodies waiting on the doorstep. I've been dancing around the house singing "I Got Lucky! I Got Lucky!" - poor DH, totally disappointed.

The colorway is called "Lucky" and is ab-fab one of my favorite colors - just right for the month of March. Of course, I've already cast on & have almost completed a pair of green socks for March, so these may have to wait a smidge.

Are you anxious to see what is actually inside the package? Come on, I know you wanna see! If not - shield your eyes or quickly click elsewhere- don't say you haven't been fairly warned.

Ain't it purdy?

Ready for my close-up.

I haven't knit with the STR mediumweight yet and am anxious to try. As soon as I finish the Penillyn socks (hopefully by the end of next weekend - I'm shooting for March credit in SAM5),

I'll be casting on with gusto!

Okay - off to read bedtime stories & do some serious back-blogging.

Ciao~

Temporarily Insane

What was I thinking when I agreed to letting my son invite 9 other 8-year olds to our home for a sleep over in honor of his 8th birthday? Egads! Ever have those moments when something seems like a good idea at the time? Yeah - this was one of those moments. To try to steer my child away from a Chuck E. Cheese fiasco or a reenactment of the 80's at a local skating rink, I thought (I must stop doing that) having a sleep over might be more fun. Sure - if there were perhaps only a couple of other children, not 9! What was I thinking?

Orion is fabulous - such a sweet kid and a friend to everyone. He didn't want anyone to feel left out. I think if he had his druthers, he would have invited every kid from school and his soccer team. I told him he had to narrow it down, so he narrowed it down to 9. Being the great mom I try to be, I agreed. What was I thinking?

What's a party without a few party favors? After all, a sleep-over should be fairly low-key and low budget. When I spied the whoopee cushions at buy 2 - get 1 free, I thought (there I go again) perfect - just what every 8-year old boy needs. I threw some super balls in for good measure, hackey-sacks, plastic bubbles, and soccer stickers rounded out the loot. Then something happened on my way to aisle 8. I think I dropped my brain and other shoppers didn't quite know how to respond. (It's like when you've just met someone and they have a great big gob of green spinach stuck between their two front teeth - how do you politely point it out?) What happened while my brain took leave of my body? I picked up 12 party horns. What was I thinking?

Imagine how much noise 9 8-year olds can make. Now imagine 9 of them blowing with all of their 8-year old might into party horns simultaneously. If any of you were startled from a peaceful sleep - I wholeheartedly apologize. I swear those were the party horns that could be heard around the world.

After cake, ice-cream and the 5-minutes of ear piercing horns, we adjourned outside for the party poppers. At least I had the common sense to have the boys do these outside. The kids loved pulling the cords & watching the confetti burst out with a bang.

Poor Orion - he's so short, you can barely see him behind the railing. The orange behind the white lattice is his shirt.

The fabulous thing about inviting a gaggle of boys for a party is that they pretty much entertain themselves. Wade took them to the park before sundown to play soccer, football, and capture the flag. The weather was nice - a balmy 35°F (spring is here!) and the sun was shining. Keeping boys happy is pretty easy - feed them! We ate homemade pizza, cake, chips, and homemade milkshakes. In the morning they scarfed down homemade Belgian waffles. The boys were happy building legos, playing Wii sports, and then settling down in their sleeping bags for movies (Pokemon & Chicken Little). Finally sleep overtook them around midnight.

What was I thinking? Well - that I love Orion & wanted him to have a happy 8th birthday. Mission accomplished!

Student of the Week

One of the highlights of being a 2nd grader at my son's school is the opportunity to be Student of the Week. All elders (2nd graders in the mixed-grade classes) have the opportunity to share mementos representing who they are. The items are displayed throughout the week and then on Friday, there is a Q&A session with the student and their family. Families get to choose the week they prefer and normally choose a week close to the student's birthday. During the Q&A, the teacher writes down the 'facts' about the student and uses them as a writing assignment. The drawings and writings completed by the class are then compiled into a lovely book for the Student of the Week to keep. Pretty darned cool.

Today (okay - last week, I'm doing some serious back-posting) was the end of Orion's Student of the Week and our family Q&A. Some items he chose to display were his medals for soccer, ski 4 kids, and running club. He hung up a poster of a Triceratops because it's his favorite dinosaur (his bedroom has a dino theme). We put out his baby book & a scrap book, photos of our family, his first Halloween costume (a lion), his favorite books (Calvin & Hobbes, Asterix, and Geronimo Stilton) and some Pokemon cards.

His classmates asked all sorts of questions. "What was a funny incident?" was the most popular question - I was only prepared for one answer, so when the question arose several times, we were a bit stumped. Orion never crawled - his preferred mode of transportation was the "Butt Scoot". He'd sit up and use his heels to pull himself around the room. It was quite entertaining & he actually wore holes into his little soft baby shoes. We showed a clip of him scooting around - his class loved that! I'll have to find a way to post that video, it's too darned cute.

What a great way to honor kids! I know we'll always look through Orion's memory book and have fond memories.

Here's a quick peek of what's on the needles. I hope to have a finished object to show soon:

I'll leave you guessing as to the details for now.

Ciao ~