Rip it, Rib it, Ribbit...

My footie is going to frog city. I know, I know. I should have known. I picked up waaaay too many stitches from the heel flap and the instep is large enough for an elephant. Silly me. Easy come, easy go. I think I'll rip back to the heel flap and have another go at it. I'm using 60 stitches around with size 3 needles and that seems a bit large. So, I may decrease down to 56 after the heel flap and see how that goes.

Flowers and knitting

First we have some gardening news! My yellow and purple petunias are blooming full steam ahead! The Lantana is bursting out red and orange. Very pretty. And the dwarf sun flowers are up to about 3" now. There's a total of four plants and they are lots of fun to watch.

I'm down to the toes on my most recent version of footies. These are for me and therefore are much bigger around than the purple pair. They are a combination of several patterns I found on the internet. Hopefully I'll kitchner the toes on this footies tonight and cast on for it's mate.

Some of you may know that I'm the Needlecrafts superintendent for our local county fair which is coming up the last week of July. I've been doing this for about six or seven years. ( I think) It's a lot of fun for not too much work. The department that I supervise covers clothing, knitting, crocheting, rug making, cross-stitch, crewel, and quilts. I enjoy getting to see the items up close during the judging.

I know that county fair judging has been a topic of conversation over the years on various discussing groups. In our case, we do whatever we can to encourage folks to enter their items. They seem to come in three categories: #1 - beautifully executed, well planned, items. #2 - things that were just put together. #3 - "Gee, what can I enter to win some money? Who cares if it's been used, dirty, or I entered it last year." My experience with the judges has been pretty good. They reward category No. 1, encourage category No. 2 to try to do better, and No. 3 just gets ignored, but still displayed.

The needlecrafts area covers a pretty broad range of items and we only have one judge. They tend to know a lot about a one or two subjects and have a working knowledge of the others. Over all it turns out pretty good. This year I did a MAJOR overhaul of the premium book categories. (Exactly what is a carriage robe, anyhow?) I tried to simplify, and broaden the categories and to take into consideration what has been entered over the past several years.

For instance, about ten years ago there was a major grouping for machine embroidery. Even had it's own Best of Show blue ribbon. Over the past five years, there has been very little entered in the way of machine embroidery, some of it pretty bad. So, machine embroidery became integrated with other categories. Knitting was expanded to be more updated to include socks, scarves, shawls, et cetera. So, far I think it's all working out. I've had calls from folks that have never entered things before. Hopefully we can generate more interest.

I'll be entering a live wreath in the Crafts department. I'll let you know how I do!

Happy 50th Anniversary Mom and Dad! Here's to the next fifty years.

See I have been knitting. First, is a dishcloth that I made for a friend who's doing me a favor. Everyone can use a new dishcloth and I just love the colors in this one. Sort of southwest, with just enough blue. This took two evenings of not very concentrated knitting.

Now, this is the start of a sock. The yarn is Meilenweit Fun, cotton blend. It's a Lana DeGrossa yarn that I picked up a year or so ago. It's been aging in my stash. The colors are real nice. The yarn is a cotton, wool, silk, superwash mix. I think the sock is going to have a feather and fan pattern, but that might change.

And next, but not last, here's the next pair of footies. Actually, I believe the pattern says golf socks. But, in that I never completely follow the pattern, I think they are going to wind up being a hybrid between two patterns. I'm planning a k2tog/YO pattern down the instep that I found on another pattern. Plus I'm using LynnH's no-purl heel flap. (I just love that!) Also, I think that I'm going to include the stripe right before I start the toe. Might as well use up the bits and pieces leftover from other socks.

I've been knitting really!

I read on another blog that it seems like there's not much knitting going on, just a lot of blogging about knitting. I for one have been knitting. And tomorrow I'll show you the pics! But for tonight, here's some sillyness that I can relate to...

You Know You're From central Pennsylvania When...

You think driving from Johnstown to Ebensburg is a long trip. "Hey Yuz Guyz" is a greeting. You take time off of work/school for the entire 3 days of doe season. You know the location of the following towns, know someone from them, and have spent time there: Altoona, Clearfield, Penns Valley, Port Matilda, Centre Hall, and Tyrone You've taken deliberate field trips to Penn's Cave and Horse Shoe Curve. You know what to do when your Mother tells you to "Red up your room." You feel the only good bands out there are Rude Dawg, Velvetta, Wrench and HotWax. You know the time and location of every Wing Night in a 10 mile radius. You complain about people who are on the news crying about their wet basements after a hard rain and reply with a comment like, "That's not a flood, Johnstown in '77 was a flood." There are pictures of you as a small child with the deer your dad or grandfather killed. You think people from Philly or Pittsburgh talk funny. You own an original Terrible Towel. You don't understand what all the hype is about for Rolling Rock. You've been drinking it for years. You consider an exotic vacation a trip to the Jersey Shore. Your version of the English language contains no form of the verb to be. For example, "the car needs washed" instead of "the car needs to be washed". You're 45 years old, have never been outside of Blair County, and don't see the need to leave. You don't understand why all sports commentators don't sound more like Myran Cope. Words like: hoagie; chipped ham; and pop actually mean something to you. You can use the phrase "Firehall Wedding" and not even bat an eye. You think Altoona is a "big city" You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from central Pennsylvania.

Get Your Own "You Know You're From" Meme Here



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Gauge! A fashion MUST for me for winter wear is a cream colored pullover sweater that I can various colored turtlenecks underneath. And so I have the pattern for the Just One More Row, Pacific Grove Pullover. It's a modular knit pullover that comes in many sizes. But, as the pattern points out, it's very important to check gauge. Also, since this is an item that gets lots of wear, it's necessary that it be very easy wash and wear. So, I picked up a skein of TLC cotton plus (I think that's what it's called.) It's a cotton/acrylic blend. Nice to work with and soft. I'm going to test out a block of four modules and run them through the washer and dryer to see how it all comes out.

Boo-Boo... The pattern is rather simple, but clever. However, it is important to count correctly so the row of stitches that runs up the middle of the block are all in the correct location, otherwise you wind up with a corner that looks just like mine, which is not good...

The purple footies are complete! Next pair up will definately be on Size 3 needles. The #2 needles just made the fabric a bit tight on this pair, but all in all I'm pleased with the results.

My pot of mixed purple and yellow petunias is taking off. Purple petunias are a real favorite of mine, not only for the color but they have such a nice sweet smell that other colors don't have.

I'm coming into the home stretch on the first Fluted Banister sock. It is an easy pattern to memorize. I'm knitting it in Elann's Esprit, but I'm about to run out of yarn. I knit the leg portion nice and long, so it looks like the toe will be knit with black. As you can see I'm using the two-circulars method and it's reminding me of why I'd rather knit with five double points. Doing the gusset was a real pain. The leg was knit with Size 4 double points, but I really needed to use Size 3 and that's why I switched. I'll be moving this project onto size 3's very soon!

Straight "A" average in all subjects -- way to go kid!

I spent a lovely evening last night reliving the late 70's. I watched The Eagles, farewell tour No.1. I was in heaven. I worked on the Fluted Banister sock and got to the heel. I'm using Size 4 needles and switched over to a Size 3 for the heel. (3 is really the right size) Coming right along.

Finally we have rhodendrons in bloom. The bushes are old and will require some tender loving care this summer, but they sure are producing some pretty blooms!

The strawberry basket is just loaded with tiny berries. That baby's gonna take a lot of water. But it's worth it because the berries are soooo sweet.