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We found a place to put the mixer!
It involved rearranging, cleaning, and organizing the pantry closet.
Criminy - we've got alot of stuff in there.
And I tossed some really outdated goods.
Which led to rearranging, cleaning and organizing the fridge.
We put together the two bottles of Irish Cream we found hiding in the dark back corners.
Hanging out in the far back, deepest corner of the fridge was this bottle of Bartles and Jaymes berry wine cooler.
Neither Paul nor I have ever liked wine coolers. We used to keep some in the fridge for a visiting friend.
However, this particular bottle of berry cooler was purchased two houses ago - in 1994. How do they age? Do they improve like fine wine? Now we have to keep it, don't you think?
How 'bout you? Whats the oldest thing in your fridge?
Back to that mixer:
We purchased it at Kitchen Collection at the Medford, MN outlet mall. It looks like they have locations all over in outlet malls. This is the one we bought - it's refurbished and only has a six month warranty. But it was a heck of a good price, and we figure it's been looked over in detail, so it should stand up. So far, so good!
Our last mixer, a Mixmaster, lasted about a year. If this one lasts two years, we're about the same on yearly mixer expenditure - so we'll gamble on the refurb...
We were out for a walk today.
Paul's Retrofit sweater is just the right weight for this 30 degree weather.
(And I think he looks darn good in it!)
It's been another frigid weekend. That makes for good weather to stay in and finish long postponed projects!
The most recent Baby Surprise Jacket was sewn together, buttons and all.
Two baby sweaters that waited patiently for a very long time, had their buttons attached
.
Paul's Retrofit sweater became a finished, zippered sweater.
He modeled it, then promptly sat down to read. I guess he likes it!
(It is much better, now that it's the proper gauge, isn't it?)
My Rogue sweater got the sleeves sewn in, and the zipper inserted.
Girl of the House models it. She might borrow it, but it's too big for her, really.
Well, that took close to a year to complete. Whew...
And the "Easter Egg" roving was plyed, and is hanging to dry.
280 yards, 167 grams.
By the way, if you think using a tear away stabilizer would make zipper insertion easier, be really sure it tears away easily!
Also, a good tweezers is also a useful knitting accessory!
Just saying...
On the long drive to Wyoming, I got quite a bit of knitting done. We took two days to get there, staying overnight in Billings, MT. Paul did all the driving those two days. Driving made him happy, knitting pleased me.
On the way home, we alternated driving, as we came straight through. Interestingly, it was 1228 miles out and 1225 miles back. I guess the difference was the trip off the highway to the hotel. Surprising how close that mileage was.
(One of the amazingly similar, compulsive things Paul and I both did, prior to meeting each other 16 years ago, was keep detailed mileage records in our vehicles. Still do.)
There was still plenty of knitting time, even sharing the driving.
I finished, for the second time, the body of his Retrofit sweater. I left the sleeves at home, though, so I couldn't do any assembly. (That's OK, it's not the fun part.)
It looks like it will actually fit this time around!
I started a Lopi sweater for me. I've been wearing a heavy Dale of Norway cardigan sweater as my outdoor jacket this winter, only occasionally throwing my shell over it to fight the wind. I thought a Lopi cardigan would be a bit warmer.
I don't particularly care for the accent colors as I chose them. The red and green look too Christmasy. I've ordered a few new colors. When they arrive, I'll 'try them on for size'.
I'm liking the weight of the sweater, though. It'll be a good jacket sweater.
Ben's girlfriend Bekky has been visiting since New Years Day. She's very patient/polite with our lifestyle, even playing Fluxx with us in the evening. We enjoy having her here very much! She's a good fit...
They'll return to school sometime today. The house'll be pretty quiet after having Ben home for two weeks!
Yesterday, we made it to "Christmas at Luther". Last year we were snowed in, and unable to go.
No photos were allowed. TPT2 from St. Paul was there filming the concert for broadcast on PBS. (You can see it on your local PBS station, beginning Dec. 22 - check for local listings)
It was a marvelous concert, aurally and visually. Symphony, band, six choirs and a handbell group.
Ben is in the Collegiate choir.
So, what do they wear under their choir robes?
If you are a reading addict, you strap a book to your back with an ace wrap.
Then you are always ready for any downtime!
Four and a half hours of driving time, and two hours of concert gives plenty of knitting time.
The only simple stockinette (good for knitting in the dark) project in the works, is Paul's Retrofit sweater.
I finished the second sleeve, and began the body (for the second time).
I'm just reknitting right from the old. No point in spending time raveling and reballing! That last little bit of old sleeve is rapidly disappearing.
I let the roving and fleece cool in the crockpot overnight, and pulled it out Monday evening. It's hanging to dry on the rack in the (rarely used) bathtub.
Because I dyed the roving in a ball, you can see that the dye penetrated unevenly. I'm happy with that effect, it'll make for interesting spinning.
I reswatched the yarn for Paul's Retrofit sweater. I went down two sizes - to a 6.
So, from 70% complete to about 5%. Yikes. I'll have to update my sidebar...
For my friend, Nutty Knitter, I'll have to do posts on crockpot dyeing and navajo plying. Give me a little time...
Knitting along on the sleeve of Paul's Retrofit sweater, I thought it felt a bit "sleezy".
Measured the gauge - OH NO!
I've got 18 stitches/4 inches. It should be 20 stitches/4 inches. I'm off 1/2 stitch per inch.
When I started the sweater, I thought that 5 stitches/inch on size 8 needles seemed a bit strange. After I knitted a few inches, I measured. Yup, 5 stitches an inch. Great!
Now, bear in mind that I started this sweater the day my dad was in the hospital having surgery. Think the situation might lead to tighter knitting? Apparently so! Part way up the body, my knitting became relaxed, and the gauge loosened.
Really, 1/2 stitch per inch shouldn't make much of a difference, should it?
Well, let's do the math: I want a 42" chest. At my gauge as knitted, I'll get almost 47". WAY too loose. 
Rather than immediately ravel and re-knit, I did what I should have done in the beginning. I SWATCHED on the size 8 needles. Then I abused the heck out of the swatch - hot water bath, cold water rinse. No change in size. Hot water bath, cold water rinse, then into the dryer. No change in gauge. AAAARGH! j
I could try again, with even more abuse. But I know that while that would result in greater stitches per inch, it would also increase the rows per inch. I'd have a narrower sweater, but it would also be a shorter sweater. Not good.
Now I need to convince myself that I'm a process knitter. That product is nice, but it's the knitting I most enjoy. While this is primarily true, I have all kinds of projects lined up and was really looking forward to being done with this easy little sweater. 
So, it sits in the basket, patiently awaiting a decision...
In spinning progress, I navajo plied the wool on the wheel.
I couldn't fit all the yarn from the one bobbin, back onto one bobbin when I plied it. I had this last bit of fiber to make a small skein with.
It had been on the bobbin for awhile, so when I plied it, it kinked up and looked hopeless. However, I was pretty confident it was a balanced yarn - it just needed a warm bath to relax.
(Sometimes, I need a warm bath to relax!)
It came out quite nice.
Six ounces, 190 yards. I like the way the color changes are maintained with the navajo plying.
Dad made it home from the hospital on Friday. He's doing very well.
Mom, however, is another story...
Saturday morning Mom went into the hosital with what appeared to be a bad GI flu.
They needed to call the ambulance to bring her in, as Dad being postop recovery,
can't drive yet. I drove to Wisconsin to check on the two of them.
Once it seemed that Mom was stable, and would need to be treated for a day or two, we headed back to their house. We sat on the deck, enjoying the amazing November weather. It's always lovely overlooking the lake.
This morning, Mom called before we got to the hospital to visit. She had chest pain during the night and apparently had an MI. They were shipping her to St. Paul by ambulance for more treatment.
Currently, she's comfortable in CCU, awaiting an angiogram in the morning. Treatment will be planned based on the results. Dad's staying with me, and my brother will bring him to the hospital in the morning.
Waiting is always the worst...
It helps to have something for the hands to do though, doesn't it?
My dad had back surgery in Rochester on Monday.
Yes, at the world famous Mayo.
He needed to report at 7:15 am. They finally took him to surgery at 11:45.
I waited with Mom. We had lots of nice visiting, and knitting, time.
He returned to his room at 7:00 pm. He's doing well, and we all look forward to his back feeling much better in the near future.I finished a baby sweater.
It's one of my favorite baby patterns to knit - the Babies and Bears Sweater by Cottage Creations. It's a very quick, fun knit.
I like to use Plymouth Encore, 75% Acrylic and 25% Wool. It's a good washable yarn for babies. The pattern uses a bit more than one skein of Encore (200 yds per skein).
I still need to pick some buttons.
I started a sweater for Paul.
This will be Retrofit, from the most recent edition of Knitty.
The pattern called for knitting it in pieces. As I hate seaming sweaters, I'm knitting it in one piece, to the division for the arms.
I've also knitted the hem together, rather than sewing it up later.
The baby sweater goes into the "just in case" pile.
It will replace this little sweater going out to a work friend with a new baby girl.
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