Daily 5, Jan. 5, 2014

I may need to think of something more witty for titles pretty soon.

According to a FB page for a local tv station, the cold weather was delayed a few hours and is now hitting the area.  Lots of fancy talk, but the atmosphere is compressing and pushing down on us now and we are all supposed to feel sluggish. Hmmm ...

1. We have a new roo. Last night we received a call from the guy that we previously bought hens from.  At noon today my DH walked into the guys coop and picked out a roo for us. The guy was really nice, especially since we basically landed on his door step and said "Please sir, might we buy a roo from you?" :-)

Our new little man was pretty quiet all the way home. We brought him out to the coop and opened the box up and lifted him out. He is a beaut! I think he's about six months old.  But not certain. DH lifted our new boy up to the roost because we noticed Blackie was checking him out.

Sparks were flying between him and Blackie.

Once up there he started checking her out and trying to do his sidestep dance.  But I have a feeling he's not used to being up on a roost.  He seemed a bit unsteady. There was definite chemistry between the two.

He's not used to heights, I think. He doesn't have a name yet, but I'm thinking he's a Henry.  

He kept flapping his wings and trying do impress Blackie.  It just wasn't happening up on the roost. Then, out of nowhere, he crowed! He's got a pretty impressive crow. Did not think we would hear him crow so soon.

Within five minutes he was tooting his own horn.

We helped him down to the floor of the coop and, unfortunately, the girls started jumping on him.  No-tailed Red and Junior, the Barred Rock, were the worst. Then Junior jumped on the roo's back and rode him like a donkey.  The girls were shushed away from him and he got put up on top of the nesting boxes.  Blackie jumped down to comfort him.  They shared a meal and he tried to impress her, again, with his dance of desire. She was playing coy and I honestly think he wouldn't know what to do if she had said yes.

In the meantime he's got to prove himself to the girls.  Which means he can't take any crap from then. Right now he's *so* docile. My fingers are crossed that it won't take long before he takes charge. You can tell he wants to hang with the girls.

2. One of the fingerless mitts I started yesterday is done.  Woo hoo! I forgot just how quick of a knit these are. I'm using Caron's Simply Soft yarn and it's so soft and has a great sheen to it.

3. I decided on my winter Olympics project. The Pamuya shawl. I've had this pattern for a while, including the yarn (Though I don't know where the yarn is right now). It's time for me to knit that shawl.


4. Homemade bread. Yum! I made some artisan bread tonite for "second supper." I made this loaf of bread a new way. I cooked it in a pot. I got the inspiration from my friend who recently posted a picture of bread she made in a Le Crueset pot she picked up at a rummage sale for $2.50 (yes, you read that right.) It turned out good.  But next time I think I will double the loaf size, or use a smaller pot. The pot I used was also a rummage sale find.  Paid only 50 cents for a T-Fal pot and it's turned into our chicken pot when we bake chicken. It's just the right size.

I had a slice with peanut butter and a bit of homemade raspberry jam.  Delicious!
 

 5. Watching the first season of Amazing Race. I used my Christmas bonus to get a Roku and I now have Hulu+.  I noticed that all the seasons of Amazing Race are listed. This show has really come a long way from it's first season.  And since the first season is from near a decade ago I don't recall any of it so it's like discovering a brand new show.  It's mostly family friendly but there is some coarse language but not much  bleeped out. Also, the people are so easy to meltdown and freak out on this season.  So crabby.

All the school districts have officially closed for tomorrow. The whole family is going to be home tomorrow. Which makes me happy. I anticipate doing a bit of baking tomorrow.  Not sure what else though.  It will be hard to pull myself out of my cozy bed tomorrow morning.

Christmas knitting is done!

Wow.

I didn't finish by the end of November like I wanted. I was having second mitt syndrome and decided I *had* to work on the 3 a.m. cable hat, and my vanilla sock was suddenly very interesting to me.

But I finished! This past Monday I cast off and weaved in the ends of my second fingerless mitt that I am making for my nephew.

Pattern is my own design. Knit using Kathmandu DK yarn, color 408. This yarn is super soft. It's Merino woo, silk and cashmere. I did have a bit of a struggle knitting it with wooden DPNs though. I used DH as a model to get the sizing. One person at my work really likes the pattern and wants it. It's in my head right now screaming to be let out.


These are a pair of my vanilla socks that I made for my SIL. I couldn't get the color quite right. It's a really pretty deep turquise color. Knit using Berroco Vintage yarn.



Susie's reading mitts. Made for a coworker. I *heart* these mitts. I'm going to make a pair for myself.

Look at that adorable picot edging. Adorable!

And what would the gift giving season be without a pair of fetching mitts? This is another pattern I enjoy and have made several pairs of them. None for myself -- yet! I made this pair for my other coworker. Blue is her favorite color. Knit using -- what else -- Berocco Vintage yarn.

No I have two projects on the needles. My vanilla socks and the Wendyknits Pi Shawl.

The sock I'm working on here and there. The shawl ... I am *not* going to get this shawl done by the end of the month. I have transitioned to clue 4 and I have almost 600 stitches per round. It takes me quite a while just to do a all-knit row. But I have a lot of energy and focus on these two projects right now. So I'm going with it until I burn out again. I am breaking the shawl up into bite size pieces so it's not so overwhelming.

I will post updated photos of these two projects soon.

FO ~ Mittens for DS

It's been a while, but I have a finished object.

I made this mittens for DS. Looks like I finished the second one just in time. The weather has changed and now it feels like fall. I will probably need to add an I-cord to them so he doesn't lose them right away.

Publish Post

I ... got nothing ...

Well, that's actually not true, I got stuff, but no photos. I'm still working on the same three projects.

I was making good progress on the vanilla sock, but then I had some pretty tense weeks and it looked like my guage was getting a bit tighter on the sock. So rather than worry about having one sock looser than the other I took a break.

I'm *this* close to making the first pleat on my stole.

I have one mitten done and just need to start that second one. Is there a such thing as second mitten syndrome?

Can't remember the last time I worked with my wheel. That makes me a bit sad.

There is lots of other things going on though. My son started Headstart. He's just loving it. I'm slowly adjusting to be the parent of a child in school. I'm still in awe of the fact that it's been 4+ years since he was born.

We also got the redesign done for work. I think it's pretty amazing that we accomplished in 3 months what other newspapers usually mess around with for a year. The web site is scheduled to debut Oct. 1.

So, a lot of changes at work -- in the whole building actually. It's been a crazy year.

In short, lol, I'm still here. Just trying to make sense out of the crazy that my life was for a while. It's bound to be crazy for a while longer. It better, cause I really miss my wheel and knitting.

Current works in progress

A vanilla sock. Right now I'm thinking it may turn into a Christmas gift, but that could change. I started it last week but haven't really worked on it til this past weekend. Made with some vinca sock yarn (I think). I wanted this to be my work project, but so far almost everything I bring to the office to work on during breaks and stuff ... yeah, it doesn't happen.


The Float Stole. Slowly and bit by bit it's progressing. I'm starting row 14.


I love the little row of YO's. I think they look so sweet just sitting there waiting for the rest of the pattern so it can be shown off to it's best advantage. :-)



I did complete a mitten. I'm making a pair for DS for the coming winter. I'm making them with extra long cuffs and using a pattern "guide" thingy from a book someone was kind enough to loan me. I made the finger part of the mitten too long even though I had ripped it back significantly. The thumb gusset is perfect. I will rip the finger part *again.*


I have to admit though, I haven't been feeling much like knitting. I'm in the mood for reading. I requested the first book of the Stephanie Plum series from the library. Some of the women in my moms group have been tearing through them.

We have also been doing a little bit of geocaching. DS thinks the best part of geocaching has been finding the raspberries in the woods. We found one this weekend that was the start of a multicache. We haven't run across one of those before. I had no writing utensils or camera with me so we had to just put it back. DS said he wanted to find "treasures that had toys in them." :-) So you know where his mind was at.

FO ~ Fetching fingerless mitts

Fetching fingerless mitts. Actually I finished this a couple weeks ago.
I made these for my niece for her graduation. I figured these would be good as she walks across the college campus and studying.


I used knitpicks Andean silk yarn in the Merlin colorway. I loved the squishyness of this stuff.


I did an accidental modification on this. I used smaller needles. I realized something was amiss when I had plenty of yarn leftover when I finished the second mitt.

FO ~ Gossip Gloves

Pattern can be found here. Nice, eh?

I don't remember how I came across this pattern. I was probably googling fingerless mitts.

I seen this pattern and went "ah ha!" This pattern would be perfect for the handspun I've had just kind of sitting around and waiting for a pattern.


I think the only thing I would add to this pattern is maybe do a thumb gusset. I'm not sure how I would go about deciphering where in the pattern it would go so I will have to research that. I really do love fingerless mitts. This is the first pair for myself though. All the others have been gifts. The fiber is "bluebell" colonial top from Ashland Bay company.