And just like that...

They popped right off the needles.

Well, after a few hours of working on them steadily. I had thought at the end of 8 pattern repeats the sleeves were long enough. In reality I hadn't read the pattern close enough. I finished my sleeves after 12 pattern repeats of the wishbone cable that I ran up the center of the sleeves and added 2 more rows. Personal preference of how I like to see cables finished at the top. When I've left them uncrossed at the end, they tend to open up too wide for my comfort level. I also like the idea of the sleeves looking more like the body of the sweater. Why the wishbone cable wasn't originally on them, is beyond me.

And yes, I cast right on for the body of the sweater right away. And as is my choice, I'm knitting all three sections at the same time again. Front right, back and left front separated by edge stitches and stitch holders. Once it's finished I'll use the mattress stitch to make a fake seam.

And true to my current Knitting ADD....I found 4 pounds of cotton to cast on my needles for a new idea. We'll see how that works out. And how long I'll continue to flit from one project to the next before anything else gets finished. Stay tuned.

Never ending sleeves

I'm thinking these are the sleeves that will not finish! I've knit and knit and knit and I can't seem to get them long enough. Well....at first I thought I was about 2 rows away from the end, the other day...

But I was only up to here when I formulated that silly concept!

I have also decided that I want to knit them long enough to cuff up the sleeves and wear it more like a jacket sweater. Looks like I have a ways to go.

I do so very much like the way the Cascade 220 makes the stitch definition POP! right out in this pattern. The cables seem to stand right at attention all on their very own. Nicely done.

But why is it that when I start a sweater, and by that I mean when I generally start a sweater with a lot of cables in it, I have this goofy notion in my head that it's going to be a quick knit and I should be wearing the thing two weeks after I've made my first cast on row?

Clearly I have a false sense of timing here. AND, now that I'm deeply into the second skein on each of these sleeves I can tell it's going to be a warm sweater with all the wool it's sucking up to get it made! I'm very happy that I've altered the pattern a wee bit. Just love the looks of the mushroom cable going up the center of the sleeve and really feel good about the ribs that I've borrowed from Mom's cable sweater (from back in 2008).

As a reminder, I'm knitting the Yankee Aran Sweater (pattern #20) by Melinda Goodfellow as a cardigan in Cascade 220. I've subbed out the seed stitch and Blackberry stitch and put the Wishbone Cable on the sleeves to match the front of the sweater. And, I am knitting the two sleeves at a time so they'll match each other row for row.

See? My knitting, my choices, pattern as a guideline. We'll see how this all plays out down the road. I've also started thinking about lining it in some warm flannel when it's done, but that's nothing more than a mere thought at this time.

And just like that...

...the phone rang the moment I hit the send button, and I was off to knit a Puffy Basketweave Dishcloth for little brother. Don't you just love it when your day starts with a surprise phone call? The sweater can wait.

Knitting ADD

Back in June as I was picked up from the airport, we drove directly to a yarn store that was new to me. Check out these cute tags I picked up. Can't read the green line?


Here's a close up picture.

In case you want the details, I took a picture of the back label, too.

Too cute? Next time I'll have to remember to take pictures of the store! (Apple Valley Yarn Company in Freeland, MI )

Over the weekend, I found myself at Joann's and spent a bit of time going through a stack of new to me knitting books. (yes, I have quite the wish list now!) One of the ideas that grabbed me was an afghan pattern that I thought would really bust some stash. It's the Knit Together Afghan from the book, "Fashionable Projects for the New Knitter." Because I have been knitting since the arrival of the dinosaurs here on Earth, I have a lot of left overs. Before I found Hobby Lobby's I love this Yarn! for my new beat the heck out of afghans, I used a lot of Red Heart's Super Saver yarn. I thought knitting up squares from my left overs would be a great way to use the yarn for some future charity donation. I started with the yarn I used on the slipper socks I made last month. Now to locate the rest of the Red Heart stash! But I am noticing how scratchy it feels. Funny, I never noticed it before I started using the 'snooty' yarn. Break out the hand lotion!

I've also started using up some of the cotton skeins that I picked up back two years ago when my son graduated from Law School in Indiana. I had been to Hobby Lobby and found kits of three 14oz size skeins of Lily's Sugar 'n Cream in coordinating colors. They've pretty much just been sitting in my garage after I started ordering the Peaches and Creme cones by color. After a little 'show and tell' session with the ladies at Mom's day care center I committed to knitting up some sack socks for their needs. This is the same place my niece and I visited and then sent the dishcloths for. Stacey picked purple, green and blue as the colors they have in their kitchen room. I thought this one in Purple Camo with the green and purple mixed would fit the bill.

I'm finding that lately I've been flipping from one project to another without spending a whole lot of time on any one at a time. Talk about knitting ADD! My Ravelry projects page has 13 projects on the needles right now. The actual count is much higher. Do you ever find yourself doing this? I am often thinking about Major Knitter and her Finish it or Frogg it Fridays. I would rate a big old fat fail in that category. Maybe when I feel a little more settled down the road I won't feel so scatter brained. I really would like to get my grey sweater ready for the fall season to wear! Seems I can only get a couple of rows down on those sleeves at a time. My goal today, is to finish the sleeves. I am very close, if I can just stay focused for a wee bit longer. Wish me luck!

And while you're at it..wish my son luck, too. More on that down the road. Just remember to Breathe, Believe and repeat. I do!

Catching up-yet again

Now that I'm back with a better Internet speed, I can play catch up. Once I get my land legs back under me, I can feel normal once again. In the mean time, I am loving nap time!


I have a niece who loves to leave sand messages...what a sweetheart!

Here's how I was working on that airplane knitting...smart cookies who figured it out! Like the red hem?I just couldn't resist!

Mom, Dad and I spent a fair amount of time sitting outside the first week I got to Michigan. Here's Dad sporting his Yankee's hat prior to Melissa's arrival from Syracuse. I did mention to him when they wanted to take his driver's license picture for the state of Michigan, he shouldn't wear it. The DMV lady agreed. (no hats are allowed, but that was beside the point since he wasn't wearing his Tiger's hat!)

You want to make Dad happy? Give him cake. Here we were with their Mall walking group celebrating an 80th birthday and a 49th wedding anniversary. This group LOVES to make cakes to celebrate!


My niece and I went to see Mom's new Day care group one afternoon. She was really excited to have us there the day the 'guitar man' came for his last day for the summer season. He sings and plays songs many of the group remember from back then. Mom loves it when some of the group get up to dance. It was one of the things she told me about prior to my trip that she wanted me to see with her. I'm glad we went!


This trip wasn't all about Mom and Dad, I did take a few moments here and there to play catch up with a couple of friends I'd not see face to face in about 30 ish years. Here's Mary! The night we went to dinner, she became a Grandma for the first time! The last time I'd seen her, she'd just become a Mom herself...and now her 2nd 'baby' had her first! We laughed a lot. Not to mention we'd already had several phone calls before I hopped on the plane that cause a few tired days at work. Opps! I take that as a signal to visit and talk catch up more often than every 30 years.

Want to make Mom happy? It's ice cream all the way! Here we are with extra family meeting at Mama Lupo's in Bay City.

My Uncle with his Granddaughter and Great-Granddaughter(cousins!). Now I ask you, how can you pick a flavor? Well, you go several times!

Later that evening, Ashley and Christine and I met over at Vet's Park for the River Roar concert. Now, I ask you, does it make you feel old when the lead singer ends up sitting down to sing at a Rock Concert? I didn't feel so bad about sitting after wards.

Towards the later part of the concert when the girls had to head back home up north, I moved down onto the 'floor' to hang out with Jeff and Shawn-more cousins! The second band didn't sit for their sets. ;-)

One of the things I remember very clearly growing up was my visits to the Farmer's Market in town with Mom. She used to buy big old bushels of pickling cucumbers to make Bread and Butter Pickles. The Farmer's Market is down to just a handful of farmers coming into town, but I still love buying fruits and veggies in the summer that way. You just can't get it fresher than that!

My niece has recently switched from a vampire lover to a werewolf fan...and was sporting her 'like' shirt the night we went to more family's house for a Pampered Chef party. (which I forgot to take pictures of ...can you imagine that?)

Know what this is? One of the very first dishcloths that I'd knit up for Mom, probably 15-20 years ago. Now that's a testament to how long knitted dishcloths will last. And I'm not certain this one actually 'wore' out, I'm thinking it was caught on a knife. It wasn't in that shape when I left back in March. The only ones I've lost along the way, have been the ones that have met an untimely demise from an encounter with the garbage disposal. (never a good thing!)

More cousin encounters-Melissa arrived and Kristine stopped off and brought more ice cream back to Mom and Dads. Yep, we are an ice cream loving family!

Before they had some fun putting Mom to bed one evening. When my kids were little, Mom used to crawl into bed and sing the 'la la la' song-it was Brahms Lullaby without the words. So, now the tables were turned, and they were able to serenade her to sleep.

The day Melissa left, the huge tree was taken down next door. It was needed, a huge part of it had died and was hanging over the garage. It was only a matter of time prior to it coming down. Making it safer for those in the area, always a good thing.

Here's a couple of 'hot girls'. At 68-86% humidity? sheshhh...3 generations of really hot girls getting Melissa all packed and on her way.

She took with her the first part of the Christmas Lace Dishcloth and Kitchen Hanging Hand Towel set that she had me knit for her friend's wedding in a couple of days.

When my kids were little and we were able to go with my parents to the airport for their arrival and departures and sit at the gates, Mom always made sure they had a window seat. She found that if she used a tissue while waving in the windows we could see them from inside the terminal. Today, we try and still use the signal when leaving. Our timing was a little bit off when Melissa drove out-she had her tissue handy as well, but Mom's balance isn't so great these days...So, hello cell phones with a picture ability! I quickly snapped a picture and sent it to Melissa to see when she stopped for gas! (smart-eh?)

Airplane knitting for the beginning of the trip finished, had to wait for 'little' brother to come over for his modeling moment. First he was 'too cool' before we were both laughing. Nice fit? I'm hoping it will keep him warm next winter as he's out plowing out the schools in town at 2am before the kids have to go to school. It certainly was warm on that 98* day!


Next was Dad's 82nd Birthday. Corner pieces of cake with LOTS of frosting is a must for my Dad! check out the swirls this one had. My niece and I really liked it.

Here's Mom showing her crocheting. She's not picked up a hook in probably 12-15 years. Muscle Memory is true! Now, I have to brush up on crochet information, because I don't know enough to help with what she used to do all the time. But she was happy to sit with a lot of cotton working away as I was knitting up for Melissa's wedding gifts.

Here's another long lost friend-Janet. She and I used to spend a LOT of time together in Junior high school and freshman year of high school. I went over to her house one 'evening' to help her cut costumes that she's is costuming for a play opening this weekend, as a matter of fact. At 4:17 AM! We looked at the clocked and I thought hmmm....where did the time fly? Lots of good visiting in between her sewing and my cutting...again...not going to wait another 30 plus years between visits, I promise!

Here's the Christmas Lace Sack Sock and a couple of Tribbles all finished and ready to pop into the mail to meet up with the rest of the knitting I'd sent along with Melissa. Love that wine color.


And another angle of it in hanging form.

When Mom goes to her Day Care center (Golden Horizons) she loves to help with the dishes after lunch. I thought the fastest way to thank them for their care of Mom, was to start knitting up a couple of dishcloths. From the top left I used : Mom's Broken Rib Dishcloth, Take Two!, Puffy Basketweave Dishcloth, Christmas Lace Dishcloth, and NYD '05, Ver. 2 Dishcloth. All patterns are on my side bar (<----)


I have also finished another mushroom hat (#15) out of the left over cranberry Encore from my sweater.


Here are two pictures of my socks! YEA! They fit! the ones on, were taken at night when I had just finished, the next picture was outside the next day to see how the colors actually look. They're Zitron Trekking xxL sock yarn and Fiber trend's Railroad pattern. I love 'em. Look out sock yarn stash..now that I have the 'hand' figured out, you're days are numbered! No longer going to be just sitting there looking 'cute'! (actually, I want to make some yellow socks very soon for Mom)

Here's the first of some hotpads that I want to felt for me! Now, I"ll get the rest done (or at least a few) more knitted up before I send 'em off to the hot tub.

Ok, so I'm back...and have a better signal-let's see if I can post more often. (eh, it's a good plan).

Do you know what this is?

This is the 'face' of aericept working for my Mom! She crocheted today for the first time in years! Thank you aericept and her doctor for putting her on it 2 weeks ago! I can't tell you how excited it makes me to see this!