Fishing fools

Last week saw the county host a youth fishing event at the local percolation ponds. It was a overcast day (see below) with intermittent showers, but the event was very well attended.

We all went along, and my heart sank when I saw the huge strings of fish that other youthful fishermen were walking along with, but luckily our boys still managed to catch nothing in these heavily stocked ponds!*

* to be fair to the boys we didnt really have the right tackle for catching trout in a pond - but we had fun neverthe less. We saw lots of birds landing and taking off from the ponds which is always fun, saw a large carp taunting us from the shallows, and a couple of turtles.

More socks

The latest round of socks...

Here are a pair of Cookie A's Monkey socks. I've knitted the pattern previously, but the old socks felted in the wash and I think no sock wardrobe is complete without a pair of Monkey socks (I dont know if it's the most popular sock pattern but it certainly feels like it).


The yarn is some unidentified wool I bought from Green Planet Yarn in Campbell. I lost the label so I'm hoping it is superwash. I think it's likely as these days I really don't buy handwash sock yarn any more...I am happy to handwash woolens...my problem is remembering which socks require handwashing...hence the felting problem!

The socks below are for Adam - shorty socks as usual for him. My usual pattern knitted over 54 stitches.



The yarn is Pagewood mills merino superwash in Denim, left over from Nigel's similar short socks. This I know washes beautifully and retains its drape after several washes. That makes it worth while knitting the yarn which was rather splitty. Adam is most pleased that he and Nigel have matching socks.

I left my heart (again)...

..I think you all know the lyrics.




My parents minded the boys for a weekend while Nigel and I spent a child-free weekend in San Francsico. As usual we did not do a whole lot. We walked to the Coit Tower and enjoyed the view, then walked down the steps to the Embarcadero.



I like the photo below as it shows how steep Telegraph Hill is. While we were walking down we met a US Census agent preparing for the 2010 (I think) Census. She was trying to reconcile postal addresses with the 'street' address...not an easy job in that area I should think.



We stayed at the Serrano Hotel which was great. Our suite had this view from one of the windows...we could see the cable car crossing on California, especially at night.


We ate one night at the hotel's restaurant Ponzu which we enjoyed and returned home on Sunday refreshed, revitalised and looking forward to seeing the boys! We visited during a record-breaking heatwave in California so it was pretty warm in the city, and nice to get home to the pool...now open for the season.

Socks

While we have had visitors my knitting has focussed on socks... As well as a secret pair for my dad in Dream in Color Smooshy (no picture) Finlay received another pair of socks.



In Kaffe Fasset's colours for Regia, these are the 6-ply sock yarn. Basic recipe as usual. I also knitted a short pair for Nigel from Tess's designer yarn. This is yarn that I particularly dislike for it's colour bleeding issues, but love for it's longevity!



The usual pattern - knitted short for summer.

I also repaired Finlay's celtic socks. I noticed that they were very short and realized they had felted and shrunk so I cut off the toes, picked up the stitches again (which was very painful as they had felted - but I used a darning needle which worked OK), and knitted the toe again 2" longer. I was disproportionally pleased with myself.

There were other socks too - but I have not yet taken picures so will need to wait for another post.

One of the birthdays

I don't seem to have any photos of my birthday which I also celebrated in April, but we had a lovely day out on my Mum's birthday.

She requested a day out on the bay, so we headed up to San Francsisco and took the ferry to Tiburon. We (Ferretworld) had never been there, but the journey was really the main event.

It was a glorious day out on the water with hundreds of boats out in force. I asked my parents if they missed sailing - but they said not, even on such a perfect sailing day. After a nice lunch on the waterfront in Tiburon we headed back to the terminal and got an old trolley bus back to the Ferry Building. San Francsico has a fleet of these rejuvenated trollies (trams) that run on some of the lines. We traveled in a 1936 trolley from Pittsburg. We grabbed a coffee at an Italian bar in the Ferry Building (picture above) before heading home for cake.

Banana cake from Icing on the Cake - this is the highlight of a birthday as far as the boys are concerned.

Where in the world...part two

A photo-heavy post from our spring break trip.

We were, of course, in lovely San Diego. This lovely couple are part of a series of sculptures and other public artwork depicting San Diego's role as a wartime naval base.

The boys definitely took the vacation business seriously. This is the outfit Finlay planned to travel in - but decided to save it for the proper holiday.

We went here of course, however I think we were all a little disappointed with SeaWorld. We were expecting more aquarium than theme park...but we all enjoyed the Shamu show.

What we really enjoyed was visting some of the ships in the harbour. We spent a long time on the USS Midway - Finlay's favourite part = the brig! Here they are in a plane cabin on the mid-deck.

We also spent a day at the Maritime Museum visiting the Foxtrot class submarine, the Star of India Clipper, and the HMS Surprise which is a replica of HMS Rose that was used in the Master and Commander movie. Since I have an abiding interest in the maritime novels of Patrick O'Brien, and the boys have heard a great deal about Napoleonic-era naval warfare, we all enjoyed the visit.

We also took a harbour tour on a 1914 pilot boat which was excellent. If anyone plans to visit San Diego the Maritime Museum and harbour tour is excellent value as well as excellent.

Finally we made some time for this:

An excellent vacation!

Where in the world was Ferretworld?

As it turns out pretty close to home...but rather busy. For the last several weeks we have had visitors, which combined with a ski trip, spring break, easter, and two birthdays, seem to have kept us busy.

My parents are visiting from the UK. We took advantage of the spring skiing up at Bear which was lovely and sunny.

I think all the resorts are closing this weekend so this was probably our last trip of the season - but it was a good one.

Mother's Day

My mother's visit co-incided with the UK Mother's Day this year, and although we can't actually get Mother's day cards here - I did knit Mammie a vest.

Here she is modeling the Back to School U-necked vest by Stephanie Japel.

It's knitted in Cascade 220 Heathers in the appealingly named colour 9449. I knitted the 39" bust although I would probably have been better to knit a smaller size as the vest suits a moderate negative ease, whereas the 39" is a generous ease on my Mum.

Gone Fishing

A few weeks ago Finlay went to a birthday party where the entertainment was a fishing trip to Capitola. He came back with a fishing rod and a new enthusiasm! We got Adam a rod and they have both been practising casting in the pool.

Last week the boys both got good school reports, so as a reward we took them over to the sea for a family fishing expedition.

The weather was glorious - here we are baking on Capitola pier, in the background you might be able to see folks swimming from the beach. Finlay in particular was very keen to show off his prowess..."watch carefully Mummy while I demonstrate again"...they loved that I was useless at the casting.

We had plenty of visitors: this fellow hung around for a while, and we also saw seat otters as well as lots of birds.

The catch? not so much... two bits of seaweed...

Did not diminish the enjoyment - and we had our fish with chips for dinner at the restaurant on the pier.

November in March

During the final week of my big project I was on a 5-day teleconference (!) to which I needed to listen and pay attention. I lined up a large simple piece of knitting to occupy me and keep me alert. I finished the ruffle last night and so here is my November Ruffle Wrap by Kate Jackson. (Ravelry link)




It's knitted in Rowan Felted Tweed in colour SH153 held with Rowan Kid Classic in colour 832. I used 4 skeins of the felted tweed (764 yards) and 5 of the Kid Classic (765 yards). I knitted it almost according to the pattern, although I cast on 10 more stitches for a little extra length. I also knitted the rufffle until the yarn ran out - rather than for 5" as specified in the pattern.

I fastened it with a carved stick that I bought at Stitches. The finished wrap is lovely and snuggly and I think I will wear it a lot (since I wear my clapotis wrap a lot), but it was terribly boring to knit! The stockinette portion was OK as it was quick and besides, I was looking for a boring project, but the ruffles took an eternity and I hate to knit rib!

I had to buy an additional needle to knit this so bought a 10.5 mm harmony wooden tip from Knitpicks. It was quite a pointy tip, which was good for knitting two strands of yarn, and I was really impressed by how smooth it was to knit with.

So overall a successful project, which thanks to my teleconference, was completed in just over a week.

I have the best boss

Last week I concluded a large project which was rather stressful for me (but fortunately successful). This morning the UPS van drew up with a large box containing this:



It's a 'spa day' kit that my boss had put together; bath goodies, body lotions, chocolate, herb tea, cookies, magazine...everything I needed for a wind-down day! She is a working mother and I think truly understands what I would appreciate.

Sign of the times

The Lamborghini dealership in town has closed down.

Off the needles: February Lady Sweater

I squeaked into February with my Feburary lady sweater - I sewed the buttons on March 1st - but finished the knitting the night before!

As I post this I am reminded yet again that I need to organize some more flattering photos of me in my handknit garments! This is about the worst - bed hair, clashing colours. poor lighting...still you can see the cardi quite well. In fact I was prompted to get Nigel to take another photo of me in the sweater in some more complementary colours (above).

I am pretty pleased with this cardi; I used stash yarn and I think its a useful garment. I wear my Loppem cardigan a lot which prompted me to knit the FLS with short sleeves. As the FLS is knit top-down I could try it on and then stop the sleeves at a point I felt was best. It's quite swingy and I think the yarn (Elann Highland Silk) was a good match for the project.

12 years ago today

12 years ago, on March 1st 1997, I moved to the USA. I arrived with 2 cases and moved into my rented house which at the time contained 1 bed, 1 plate, 1 mug, and a kettle!

I sat on the floor in my living room and cried, things have got a lot better since then!

Small socks

I knited up the yarn that Adam dyed a few weeks ago. At his request they are super-short socks...which always makes knitting for him quick.

He immediately wore them to school, and was pleased to tell me that one of his friends wanted some. Adam explained that his friend could dye his own yarn with Kool-Aid.

Here's one I made before

I have been dying to introduce sticky-backed-plastic* into my repetoire...and finally a chance to do so.

I had been talking with the boys about creating some stencilled tops for themselves - using a technique of cutting the stencil into freezer paper and then ironing it onto the t-shirt as a resistant area for fabric paint. Anyway, it turns out that freezer paper is pretty well unknown in Los Gatos so I ended up using sticky-backed-plastic, which worked pretty well.


The boys selected images for themselves online, mostly we searched for "Star Wars Stencils" which turned up some very fancy images and some more workable ones intended for pumpkin carving. They chose the colour shirt and fabric paint. I carved the stencil using a sharp scalpel on a cutting mat. We simplified the Darth Vader design; I traced the outline with a sharpie and made our adjustments.


Here is Adam's Darth Vader shirt:




We stuck the contact paper carefully onto the shirts and the boys then applied the fabric paint. We used special stencil brushes which have a hardish blunt end, and a "pouncing" technique which is more like dabbing the paint on, this make sure that the paint does not go under the edges of the stencil. If you do this at home, make sure you put something (piece of card) between the front and back of the t-shirt as the paint will otherwise seep through to the back.


We let the fabric paint dry and then carefully peeled off the contact paper. They boys are really pleased with the effect - they are planning to wear them tomorrow when the meet a friend who will understand all the Star Wars symbols!


This is Finlay's shirt - the symbol is the rebel insignia (the good guys)




It was a fun project and successful. Although I had to cut the stencils for them, it did not take long, and they had been involved in all the decision making. After we completed the shirts Adam commented that he now understood why I had been advising against some of the more complex designs. He had not understood my explanation of why it would be hard - but having seen the stencils work he now agreed that too many details would not look as good.

*Known as contact paper in the USA, and for all I know in the UK (altho it did use to be Fablon)... anyway the reference will be clear to those of us of a certain age who grew up with Blue Peter

Celtic 0 - 0 Rangers*

Maybe they would have done better if they had Finlay's socks?


Completed socks using my normal recipe for my son's enormous feet (7"). The yarn is Knitpicks Bare superwash sock, dyed by Finlay and I using food colouring. This was the only position I could get him to pose in, and every time I tried to straighten the socks he said it tickled and wiggled around...so I'll call it an artistic shot.

* Rangers held Celtic to a scoreless draw on Sunday in the "Old Firm" match between the two Glasgow football teams. Thanks to Christina for pointing out that the socks are Celtic colours.

Progress

I am getting on with the FLS.



So far I am really enjoying the knitting - the lace pattern is simple enough to be knitted in autopilot - but more interesting than stockinette, and the colour is lovely!

Since I started this another 155 people have knitted it on Ravelry... I do love to be on a bandwagon!

The puppetmaster

Finlay was home sick a couple of days this week. Because we were both busy at work he had to entertain himself (without the TV, computer, or DS!). One of his activities (which occupied him for hours) was creating this set of puppets.

They represent his and Adam's favourite soft toys and are all clearly labelled.

He thought this up himself and completed the project without any help. He plans to put on a puppet show with Adam this weekend.



You can compare them to thier namesakes pictured below.

Weasel is my favourite

What a surprise

Previously in "on the needles" I have showed off this item... claiming it to be a baby garment.



Well, here it is all finished off.


The pattern is Elizabeth Zimmerman's classic Baby Surprise Jacket. Knitted in Cascade Superwash paints. Buttons from my tin!

It's intended for Adam's 1st grade teacher who is expecting her first baby in April. She is a beginning knitter so I think she will appreciate this.

Off the needles

I've been doing a little knitting of small items lately. These are Miss Potter's Mittens from the Yarn Forward magazine knitted in Rowan Tapestry in colour 170.

They worked out very pretty if a bit frilly for me - however Christina assures me that they are not too frilly for her, and since she sent me the wool, that works out nicely. The pattern had errors in, but it was pretty easy to correct them (error in the thumb guesset). The yarn is really pretty, but I found it rather splitty to knit with.

This hat was a last-minute choice. I bought the yarn: Green Sheep organic rambouillet from Green planet yarn when we attended the sock machine demo. Its somewhat rustic, but still resonable soft.

The pattern is an adaptation of the robins egg hat with adjustments for tension. I really like the button trim, buttons from my tin!

Finally, I also finished these socks. They have been on my sock needles for ages, for no real reason. Its a basic 3 x 1 rib knitted according to my usual recipe. These socks are for me.

The yarn is from Lynne and it's her own dyed yarn. She sells it through her web site and also through her Etsy shop. If you have not used Etsy before it's worth a look for hand-crafted items. I had a key chain made for Nigel for our anniversary at a very reasonable price.

Anyway the yarn is 75% wool/25% nylon, nice and soft, non-splitty, and I love the chocolate cherries colour.

On the needles: February Lady Sweater in February

Well I am joining the other 3902 (and rising) people on Ravelry who are knitting the February Lady Sweater. It's a free pattern available from Flintknits for a 3/4 sleeved, swingy, lace cardigan.





I am knitting it in Elann Highland Silk in Pumpkin colour. I bought this yarn for $30 for a bag of 10 balls and have been hoarding it for about a year. This week someone emailed me to see if they could buy it to add to their own bag. I didn't want to sell it - but it did prompt me to actually cast on something with it.

To dye for dahling

A couple of weeks ago the boys and I were at a loose end and decided to start our sock dying project. Ages ago I bought some undyed sock wool from Knitpicks with the intention of the boys dying it and me knitting the result into socks.



Finlay and I had previously tried to dye it using beetroot (Beetroot) but the resulting pale pink was not an option for socks for Finlay.



The boys wanted socks with actual stripes, so our first step was re-skeining the yarn into long skeins.


This step was not as easy as I expected (or hoped) and the yarn got hopelessly tangled both during this and the re-winding phase!

We then dyed the yarn using Koolaid and food colouring. We soaked the wool in a strong vinegar solution as a mordant, then dyed the yarn in 2 halves.

Adam chose blue and orange koolaid, Finlay chose green food colouring, then lost interest!

Here is their dyed yarn drying. I have already started Finlay' socks. I managed to actually create a longer skeing with this yarn and so the stripes are really working out well.

Adam's yarn is likely to be a more mottled effect as the skein was much shorter. The difference between the skeins might well be attributed to me winding Finlay's skein without assistance!!