Emptyknitster

This is the 38th pair of socks I've knit this year. WOW! For someone who thought knitting socks was crazy, I've really gone off the deep end! I now have a new philosophy, SOCKS ROCK!! 1) I still maintain socks take almost as long to knit as a sweater but even with the $30 a skein yarn they are much more economical to knit. 2) I can try unusual patterns and colorways. I'm enthusiastic about dyeing yarn for my socks but would hesitate to dye a sweater's worth of yarn. 3) Even if the recipient doesn't love the color or pattern knit into the socks they will wear the pair because they can easily be covered by boots and pants. Knitting and knitted socks are the best! I dyed this sock blank with blue and dotted stripes going horizontally. The next pair I dye I want to put the solid colors out either edge vertically with the dots of color in the center. I think it will produce narrower stripes. Pattern: Pin Striped Socks by Julia Swart Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Bla...

It has taken longer than I thought to get the new siding up. Many months of waiting to get started and two months of the process, but finally we have our house back in one piece! The siding is just a bit darker than the original and there is a new coat of paint on the front door: The garage is now a three car garage. We took out a window and  when installing the new doors the one on the right became a two car garage. It is NOW finally big enough to house Hubby's truck! In the spring we'll add the Juliet balcony at the side of the house and call it good. It will be fun to see what the family thinks!

While knitting the Bunco Christmas Ornament Sweaters I remembered a small sweater of Mom's I had tucked away. Mom's penpal, Karin, made it for her many years ago. Karin lived in Norway and must have been a very talented knitter, just look at those socks! They wrote to each other throughout their high school years until  WWII. In the midst of the war Karin's letters stopped arriving. Mom tried to get in contact with Karin after the war but was never able to find her. The only evidence I have of their correspondence is this photo of Karin and the little sweater she knit and sent to Mom.

I am told this is the first "no school day" since the governor closed schools statewide in 1980 when Mount St. Helens erupted. This eruption was on May 18th but as the ash drifted over Montana it looked like a snowy winter day with flakes softly falling to the ground. But today the school closure was because of real snow and very icy roads. Just think of all the happy children, a  real Snow Day - they must think Santa has come early! I kept thinking about the movie "Snow Day" which is a favorite kids movie of mine, featuring the snowplow driver as the villian! Just a half mile up the road a school bus slid off the road and caused all sorts of problems - including several wrecks, closing the road until the snowplow arrived (several hours).   This morning Hubby was happy to have his newly repaired four wheeler back home as he cleared the driveway and hill. I think he was enjoying it just a bit!

Denali's second Christmas. One and a half years old

After putting my thirty ninth pair of socks this year in time out I began to wonder just what I was going to knit??!! I did a little searching and decided to explore scarf knitting. Pattern: ZickZack Scarf by Cristy Kamm Yarn: Premier Yarns Deborah Norville Serenity Sock Weight Colorway: Chili and Violas Needle Size: US Size 4 I used a larger needle than called for. I’m very pleased with the way this scarf turned out. I used markers between the pattern repeats and perhaps they stretched the yarn a bit but this only makes the overall scarf even more pleasing!

Two summers ago I bought this hand dyed alpaca yarn in Helena at the Saturday Farmer's Market. I loved the yarn and pattern but was lazy getting started.  When I finally decided to get to work on the cowl the pattern was only available in German.  Because I was certain at one point the pattern had been available in English, I contacted the designer. She very kindly sent me the English version. I did some modifications: Size 5 US needles, cast on 195 stitches in I-cord, knit the entire cowl in the round and didn't use beads on each vertical I-cord. It looks great with my new gray coat. Pattern: Loop-I-Lux Yarn: Three Farmer's Wives Kitchen Colorway: Gray Needle Size: US Size 5