I ran away...

Last week, my daughter sent me a picture of her Hearts on your Coffee Sleeve in use. She did say that it was a little bit loose on her Starbucks cup, so you may want to drop the needle sizes by one if you find that happening to you as well. I wasn't using that 'brand' of take out cup to test when I was making mine. I'll have to work up a couple soon and see how that works. When I get it done, I'll update the patterns and let you all know.

In the mean time, I've been knitting on what may become the 'never-ending' scarf for my son, also in frozen country. Remember, he wants to wrap it around his neck twice and have it long enough to hang down across his chest. It took a bit of a trip with me...

Scarf -meet a cow...

Scarf - meet the snow and -23*F wind chill!

See? I can dress for the weather up there! (and use my hand knits) Now, where did I go?


mmmmmmmmmmmm.....

I had the opportunity to 'run away' and visit the daughter up in frozen country this past weekend. I'm still trying to absorb the fact that at the last minute I was able to 'run over' for the weekend. She and her friend picked me up at the Buffalo airport .....

and we drove back to Syracuse.

Scarf, meet Up State New York!

The "GIRLS"...hey girls! It was a blast-thanks for letting me crash your movie night! Dinner was at the Dinosaur B-B-Q place we've been wanting to try every time I've been in town. Boy was it good!

(Check this out - did you know that 3 of these ladies are knitters? Ya think it might rub off on the daughter?)

Remember all the pumpkin that we filled her freezer with? Well, let me just say...mmmmmmmmm milk please! (notice the felted oven mitts? Gotta make me some soon!)

Shameless effort to get the daughter to email the better picture of us that she has on her camera.

This is why the daughter needed the care package last week..her favorite Tapitio goes rather quickly. That would be from Stella's! another fabulous place in town.

See where the 'pink heart for big sister' ended up? Too cute - huh? Right next to the picture of the two of them up on her walls.

Valentine's mug from the daughter.

More snow-but starting to melt before I left town.

I finished the last 3 baby washcloths for the AC4C project for January.

The current state of the Blustery Day scarf. At first I thought I was going to go to 84", but when I get there, I'll see if that will be enough. I have a feeling it won't be long enough. We'll see.

Now that I've left the daughter's place, it was time to make some pumpkin bread for me! Thank you Betty Crocker for the recipes! Yummooooooooo!

Then it was onto Apple Crisp-again...yummy and Betty Crocker and I are goooood friends, I tell ya!

I'm off to work on the scarf, so I can get to some of this 'souvenir' yarn from A.C. Moore that Megan took me to pick up while the daughter was at work. I have some plans for this! Can you see the new colors of that Bernat Cotton baby? Must.Knit.Faster.Son.is.still.cold.

*sigh* Today is/was my Grandpa's birthday. I miss him and my other Grandparents a lot.

I think she's gonna live

The prognosis has been switched to: probably will live long enough to add to her stash. ahahahaha.... Boy I tell you, that wasn't fun. Breathing...the ability to breathe, kinda important.

Meet my newest 'must have'...

...a Hepa air filter. I should have gotten one YEARS Ago!

So, with my 'new found' ability to breathe, what else does someone do, why they decide to kick up dust bunnies and re-organize the house..moving bookcases here, and boxes there...and finding out they have multiple copies of magazines...put together the bookcase that's been in a box for over 5 years. Because of course, causing another asthma attack is the THING to do!



Check out my daughter's first snowman by herself in NY. I think it's the best way to show off your hand knits! Yep, that's the very first Flaunt your Colors Scarf I ever knit up, as demonstrated by the snowman (or was that a snow girl?) I told her she's gotta teach her snow people to knit like the picture I saw on a blog the other day. (darned if I can remember which one-sorry)

This is the perfect way to pad a box before taking it to FED-EX to send the 'extras' she couldn't get weight-wise into her suitcases after the holidays. Good thing she's got a good friend who knits, since the scarf she started back in 2004 is still on her needles, and might be about 10" long, if that.

Continuing on with the ...I think I'm going to live department...I started cooking again...

Some cheeseburger pie....

...some peanut butter cookies.....

...and some beef stew- this time for me!

OK, onto the knitting....

I started the weekend with a little bit. Not anything near where I wanted to be...before I got the hepa thing. However, with the shuffling things around, I made up my mind. It's time to make SOCKS!

Here's the current thought process. If I finish another Slipper Sock for the Troops pattern that Beth in AC4C wrote out, they use a 4.0mm set of needles. That will give me a good reminder of the process and basic parts.

Next up...a baby sock on (US) 3's before heading to the good stuff and the 1's. I realllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy want to make socks for me that won't need swimming floaties to hold them up. I've yet to ever photograph the first pair I made ~ 6 years ago. With all the nice sock yarn I have...I just don't want to mess it up.

I'm using the 'Knit a Dozen Baby socks' book...and some left over Bernat Softee Baby yarn, check out these cuties!



Wish I'd known how to knit those when my kids were babies. Sheeshhhhhh...way too cute.



A bit of difference in size? Just a 'tad'...

Made yet more Spirals around your Coffee Sleeves....I think this ended up being my current favorite pattern...well, for this week on the coffee sleeves arena. Next week, who knows?

The sweater is a wee bit farther (darned shinny objects that keep my attention elsewhere..). But check out the clicks! You can use the short cable and the connector to hold the pockets! too cute.

I'm now up to 7 of the 10 baby washcloths I wanted to have by the end of the month. 3 more to go.



My son called me the other day from the frozen country needing more scarves. The first thing I thought was to make him an all black one to match his black coat in 100% wool. I took off for Michael's to pick up Paton's Classic merino wool. Here's where I am right now. If this works, I'll have a new pattern up for you all shortly. I'm dubbing it the 'Blustery Day Scarf' for now. Sound like a good name for the winter winds up there?

My girls up in the land of way too much snow already have 100% wool scarves, so it's time to bring the son up to par.

Which then leads me to this...I found the Kroy on sale (actually, on clearance) also at Michael's and figured it would be great to practice on before diving into the Kaffee Fassett and Wildfoote. What do you think? Better to rip and learn on 3.99 each, rather than the other stuff....

(US) 3, 64 sts, K2, P2 down the leg. So far, so good. But then again, I'm not at the foot, yet.

This is why I wanted my birks. I don't want to wear socks with flip flops. I think, I might have just figured these puppies out. Stay tuned. I'm soooooooooooooooo jazzed about this.

When your brain feels like a fuzzy picture of knitting...

Kinda like this picture looks...

And this stuff doesn't quite cut the 'mustard'...and you don't want an old fashioned 'mustard pack' laying on your chest...it's time one caves in and 'froggs' the old routine and tries something new. Like ripping out a project that just isn't working and...

...heads for the doctor's and gets a new 'pattern' to follow. Such as asthma drugs to open your lungs when a cold brings on the mother-of-all-attacks and you can't get air lower than your collarbone into your lungs to be able to sleep in 4 days. While I'm not in anyway back to fluff...I can say I'm on the healing side of this frogged prior treatment. And might I add...predizone can REALLY kick some serious butt! Within 15 minutes I could feel a difference and for the next 8 hours the warning of 'could make you jittery' was a gross understatement. Blessings on the knowledge that the medical community has that they can make in my lungs. Know what else feels good right now?

These, they're not just plain tissues...look closer....

plus lotion!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Makes your nose say...AHHHHHHHHHHHH.....

and this makes the back of my ripped throat say...AHHHHHHHHHH.....

and then when your nose opens up for a moment...and you can finally smell these, well, they help, too, go from AHHHHHHHHH...to AWWWWWWWWW..... (Monday night I would have called these funeral flowers, but today I'll call them 'Get better fast! flowers'. )

Anyway, now I can get back to the knitting-sorta, but I think I'm going to stick to some more of the baby washcloths that I've pledged for BOL as our monthly project on AC4C. I tried to do the 2nd pocket of the sweater from the Yarn Forward Magazine. Have you seen it yet?

My recent emailed newsletter from Threadbear (out of Lansing, Mi) even had a blurb on it. I really like this magazine (aside from the price tag, since it's from the UK. Anyway, the top picture on this post is the current look of both pockets. I couldn't figure out how to get them to match (thick, clogged brain...), so I've ripped them both out and will knit them at the same time. Shhhheessshh...I know better. Works so much better for me to knit things two at a time. Even when my brain's 'NOT ON DRUGS'....

When I saw this sweater (Classic Car Coat by Sue Hanmore) I wanted to make it, but for me it HAS to have buttons. I'm also debating on the cuffs of the sleeves. I made opt out for some regular ribbing. Not sure yet. I'm thinking a clear head would be better to wait on before making those decisions. (good idea?) I don't own a heavy coat for 'winter wear'. I have a jacket for going home to snow country. But so often I want a sweater to wear that covers my butt for that in between weather. The sweater that I've been wearing for the past 6 years, well, frankly needs to be replaced. So I have it on my to-do list to knit a couple that I can switch between. Really, when you're down to having a lot of yarn and the knitting skills, but you're wearing the same old tired sweater that now has one sleeve mended...it's time. agreed? Figures, I'd try to start the sweater in the midst of testing over the counter medicines-huh? timing. eh?

Back to the baby washcloths until my head (and lungs) clears to my normal. (I can hear you ask, What's Normal? har har...) Well, washcloths and a few long-awaited naps.

Spirals Around your Coffee Sleeves

Spirals around your Coffee Sleeve
© Cathy Waldie, January 1, 2009

left over amounts of wool yarn
(US) 6 (4.0mm) , (US) 8 (5.0mm), (US) 9 (5.5mm) double point needles
Chibi needle

C/O = Cast On
K = knit
P = purl
Tbl = through the back loop
B/O = Bind Off
2 x 2 Twisted Rib = Row 1: K2 tbl, P2 around, Row 2: K2, P2 around, repeat Rounds 1 and 2
* * repeat directions between *’s

Bottom Ribbing:
Using (US) 6 (4.0mm) needles and
Color A: C/O 36 stitches and join, being careful not to twist.
Knit 5 rounds in 2 x 2 Twisted Rib.

Middle Body:
Using (US) 8 (5.0mm) needles and
Round 1: Color A: Knit around, increasing 1 stitch in the middle of the round (37)
Round 2: *Color A: K2, Color B: K2* around, end last stitch, with Color A: K1
Round 3: A: K1, *B: K2, A: K2* around
Round 4: *B: K2, A: K2* around, end last stitch: B: K1
Round 5: B: K1, *A: K2, B: K2* around
Round 6: *A: K2, B: K2* around, end last stitch: A: K1
Round 7: A: knit around decreasing 1 stitch in the middle of the round (36)

Top Ribbing:
Using (US) 9 (5.5mm) needles and
Color A: knit 5 rounds in 2 x 2 Twisted Rib.
B/O in pattern.

Cut yarns and weave in ends.
Place around take out coffee cups to help protect fingers and hands from heat.

3rd time around

This is the 3rd time around with this stupid cold. Since yesterday morning, I've gone through 4 boxes of tissues. We won't talk about the condition of my stupid nose.

Man it came on hard and fast this time. How fast? Well.

In 2 days, this is the only knitting I've finished..the inside of one pocket. That's sad. I found this magazine at Barnes and Nobles and want to make the car coat. This may take awhile if I don't get any better.

I am up to 3 of 10 that I committed for the BOL project over at AC4C. I'm using up Lily Sugar and Cream cotton in Grandma's Favorite.

And I finished up another Christmas Eve Scarf out of Hemplewhite in Lion Brand Homespun before I got nailed again with this crud.



On Saturday, I finished 4 more coffee sleeves, but my brain is fighting with me when I try to type up the pattern. As soon as I feel better (or can put together a sentence...I'll get it up.) Can you tell where the new ones are?

Ok, I'm going back to the medicine cabinet. My throat is raw and my nose is just as bed. Stay warm and I'll try not to share the germs.

Hearts on your Coffee Sleeves

Hearts on your Coffee Sleeves
© Cathy Waldie, January 1, 2009

left over amounts of wool yarn
(US) 6 (4.0mm) , (US) 8 (5.0mm), (US) 9 (5.5mm) double point needles
Chibi needle

Gauge: 18 sts/28 rows in 4" stockinette stitch

C/O = Cast On
K = knit
P = purl
Tbl = through the back loop
B/O = Bind Off
2 x 2 Twisted Rib = Row 1: K2 tbl, P2 around, Row 2: K2, P2 around, repeat Rounds 1 and 2
* * repeat directions between *’s

Bottom Ribbing:
Using (US) 6 (4.0mm) needles and
Color A: C/O 36 stitches and join, being careful not to twist.
Knit 5 rounds in 2 x 2 Twisted Rib.

Middle Body:
Using (US) 8 (5.0mm) needles and
Round 1: Color A: Knit around
Round 2: Color A: K4, Color B: K1, *A: K6, B: K1* 4 times, A: K2
Round 3: A: K3, B: K3, *A: K4, B: K3* 4 times, A: K1
Round 4: A: K2, B: K5, *A: K2, B: K5* 4 times
Round 5: A: K2, B: K5, *A: K2, B: K5* 4 times
Round 6: A: K3, B: K1, A: K1, B: K1, *A: K4, B: K1, A: K1, B: K1* 4 times, A: K1
Round 7: A: knit around

Top Ribbing:
Using (US) 9 (5.5mm) needles and
Color A: knit 5 rounds in 2 x 2 Twisted Rib.
B/O in pattern.

Cut yarns and weave in ends.
Place around take out coffee cups to help protect fingers and hands from heat.

Arrows on your Coffee Sleeves

Arrows on your Coffee Sleeves
© Cathy Waldie, January 1, 2009

left over amounts of wool yarn
(US) 6 (4.0mm) , (US) 8 (5.0mm), (US) 9 (5.5mm) double point needles
Chibi needle
Gauge: 18 sts/ 28 rows in 4" of stockinette stitch

C/O = Cast On
K = knit
P = purl
Tbl = through the back loop
B/O = Bind Off
2 x 2 Twisted Rib = Row 1: K2 tbl, P2 around, Row 2: K2, P2 around, repeat Rounds 1 and 2
* * repeat directions between *’s

Bottom Ribbing:
Using (US) 6 (4.0mm) needles and
Color A: C/O 36 stitches and join, being careful not to twist.
Knit 5 rounds in 2 x 2 Twisted Rib.

Middle Body:
Using (US) 8 (5.0mm) needles and
Round 1: Color A: Knit around, decreasing 1 stitch in the middle of the round (35)
Round 2: *Color B: K1, Color A: K2* around, ending last 2 stitches: B: K1, A: K1
Round 3: A: K1, *B: K1, A: K2* around, ending last stitch: B: K1
Round 4: *A: K2, B: K1* around, ending last 2 stitches: A: K2
Round 5: A: K1, *B: K1, A: K2* around, ending last stitch: B: K1
Round 6: *B: K1, A: K2* around, ending last 2 stitches: B: K1, A: K1
Round 7: A: knit around increasing 1 stitch in the middle of the round (36)

Top Ribbing:
Using (US) 9 (5.5mm) needles and
Color A: knit 5 rounds in 2 x 2 Twisted Rib.
B/O in pattern.

Cut yarns and weave in ends.
Place around take out coffee cups to help protect fingers and hands from heat.