This is August?

     I got two sweaters finished last week and, thanks to Marion, on their way to the shop.  The first one is a size 1 Fair Isle cardigan, knit from the neck-down with Mary Maxim's Baby Blankie, a self-patterning acrylic, in "Bluebells".  I have to 'cut and paste' the 

yarn to get  the pattern to end evenly but it works out pretty well.  I thought I had blue buttons for this sweater but when I went to sew them on in the morning I realized they were green so I used the white pearly ones.  The second sweater is another

raglan knit from the neck down, this time with Red
Heart's 'Perfect Pink' in 
a design I called 'Flowers and Lace'.  The flowers are embroidered in purple and have yellow french knots for centers.  The leaves are done in spring green.  It is a size 2.  Both sweaters are hand-knit with acrylic yarn and are machine wash and dry-able.  My sweater display was pretty heavy with 'little boy' sweaters so these two girly sweaters should lighten things up!  (Marion was scheduled to work this week so I asked her if she could stop by and pick them up for me.  Saved me a trip to Cooperstown!)
   With those sweaters on their way, I started a Christmas sweater in size 4.  It's with Red Heart Turqua and has a lady snowman on the front.  But as I was working on it I was reminded that my hat display was rather empty so I put that aside and started making hats.  I did 6 hats in 2 days and boy, did the tendinitis in my left hand disagree with this move!  I did a new design...a rolled brim with a bow but the bow is knit into the hatband. (I was cold and 

I guess I was thinking of winter coz this is definitely a winter hat!)  Then it was time for pumpkin hats and finally, baseball hats.  The baseball hat is the only one that requires special attention after it's knit.  The stitching is embroidered.  With the hats finished I decided not to bother Marion

again but to mail them to Judy.  Since the 6 hats weighed less than 1 lb they could go First Class mail for a little more than $4. (A good deal!)  In 2 days my hat display will be a lot more full than it is right now!  I had to have my monthly INR done yesterday so I went to the post office afterwards and sent them on their way.  (I really prefer going to the clinic and having the INR done rather than doing the self-testing.  It's faster.  When I was self-testing, I had to do it twice a month no matter what the last test result was.  Now as long as I stay in range, I can go a month between tests.)
  My hands hurt so much yesterday I didn't knit at all.  I spent most of the afternoon after I got home reading a book with my left hand clutching a hot cup of coffee or wrapped in my heatable bean bag.  It feels a lot better today but I think I'll still take today off and not knit.  Maybe by tomorrow I'll knit.  I want to finish that Christmas sweater so I can take it to the shop when I work next week. Besides my cousin Ed is coming over for supper tonight and I should clean the house a little.  At least sweep the floor.  Maybe even shut some of these windows, too!  It sure doesn't feel like the end of August.  I almost expected to see frost on the leaves this morning! 
   Oh, Jeff's fishing trip with his brother and nephew got postponed.  His nephew's business got busy and they couldn't take the time off.  They're planning on trying again in September.   Ocean fishing in late September?  Sounds cold to me! 

Building a Bait Trap

   When I got home from the shop last night Jeff tried to explain to me a bait trap he wanted to build but I couldn't get it thru my head.  Tonight he tried again and this time I got it!  We started with a 24" square of cardboard that I marked a pattern on according to the 

directions Jeff found on a YouTube video.  He cut a 24" square of wire hardware cloth and put it over the pattern.  Then
came the real fun part:  with me holding the hardware cloth on the pattern, Jeff zip-tied the wall to the floor following the pattern.  Ten feet of hardware cloth went around the pattern making a cloverleaf shape.  There was

just enough in a 10 ft roll to go around...with a 2-

3" overlap. (Why go thru the bother of cutting it off?)  Here's what I couldn't understand last night...we had started with 4 24" sides so how come the finished dimension changed?  (Each side has a 8 1/2"  dent in it, for a total of 17"/side,  that's why!)  Jeff's used over 100 zip-ties so far to fasten the floor to the wall!  After the floor and sides are well fastened, 

a tube will be attached in the center to hold bait and a 24" top floor will be attached.  Then the cube will be cut in two to make 2 traps and 2 more 24" floors will be attached. 

  Entrances still have to be cut so the bait fish can swim in and not out and so turtles can't get in, and small bungee cords will be used to maintain the cage's stability and keep the entrance doors shut.  That's the cardboard pattern on top!

   Jeff will then have to find a secluded spot on the river to place a cage overnight.  He's got a couple of spots in mind in the river and in the swamp ponds along the canal.  Hopefully, by placing only 1 cage at a time, he'll capture enough fish to use as bait without having the cage stolen.  We'll see.

An Uneventful Ride But Still A Good Day!

8/17:     Spent a long day in the shop yesterday after an uneventful drive to Cooperstown...except that McD's in Richfield was experiencing an internet failure and their drive-thru was backed up from the order booth to the service window while they took orders with paper and pencil!  I gave up and passed on my usual large morning Sweet Tea (that lasted thru lunch) and got a Coke at Stewart's when I stopped for gas for
the car.  I still made it to Cooperstown and had the shop open by 9:30am.  It was a slow morning but picked up during the day until our credit card machine ran out of paper with my last sale of the day and I screwed up something putting in a new roll.  Had to call for assistance before I got the machine back on line to 'Batch Out'...the way to clear the day's sales...so I didn't get out of there will 5:45pm.  The day's sales were pretty good...especially that last sale (Thank you, Ladies!).  Unfortunately, none of it was mine BUT I did get my Pin-Stripe Hoodie finished and on the hanger! (It sold on Sun., 8/18!)

Pin-stripe Hoodie

(Boy, did my hands hurt after that sweater!)  I tried calling home when I started out because I was getting such a late start...and about every 15 minutes all the way to Herkimer...but Jeff had had enough of telemarketers and had given up answering the phone(s).  
   The dogs were really excited when I did get home (couldn't tell with him) but there was a big, pot of fresh coffee...with cinnamon...waiting for me.  Boy, did that taste good!  (My last cup of coffee had been about 8am that morning!!!)
  Jeff tried to explain to me a bait trap he had seen on YouTube that he wanted to build but it wasn't sinking in.  I managed to build a paper model ok but couldn't understand how the dimensions changed as the building process progressed.  Finally he decided he really needed more wire mesh and I suggested if he was going to town to get some how about stopping someplace...anyplace...even McD's for something to eat (it was after 8pm by now) so we all bundled into the car.  He got his wire mesh and we ended up at McD...just in time to be followed into the parking lot by a police car with the lights flashing!  No, he wasn't after us.  He was after another car who had done something.  Never figured out what exactly but they got a ticket and we got something to eat.
  McD's has computer ordering stations when you first enter and we tried it but soon gave up and just went to the counter...and our order was still screwed up.  Seems they're running a special...buy a fish for regular price get the 2nd one for $1...so Jeff said 2 of that deal...with ff and drinks.  Came to $18 and they gave us a number.  When we finally got our food it wasn't that hot and we were short 2 fish!  Got that straightened out...those 2 fish were hot!  But I think that will probably be the last time we go there for a meal.  Oh, the girls got chicken nuggets...6 for $2...which they happily ate while Jeff complained (BK's are larger and although you only get 5, they're cheaper).  And when we got home, Jeff turned on the YouTube video and we watched some guy build a bait trap and now I finally understand how the dimensions change!
   About a week ago I had asked some of the other fabric artists at the shop if the next time they went to JoAnn Fabrics if they would check out the novelty buttons for me.  (I didn't want to suggest a trip to Utica to Jeff because that would evolve into a side trip to ProBass Shoppe and probably lunch somewhere and we'd end up spending an entire day shopping.) Most of the others suggested ordering online either from JoAnn or Amazon but 2 said they were considering a trip for themselves and would be happy to look for me if I gave them the button info (no special label, 7/8" with shanks, in the shape of a baseball).  Marion was the first to actually make the trip (yesterday) and she cleaned out JoAnn and Hobby Lobby (I never thought of them!) spending a total of $ 16.26 w/tax for 52 buttons.  I now have enough baseball buttons for 17 hoodies with Henley neck openings (with 1 button leftover).  I'd say I have enough buttons for the rest of this year and probably several more years.  I could even do a v-neck cardigan or two if I want!  Thanks, Marion!  and the cost per button...less than $.32 each.  Now you can't beat that...even on Amazon!!

An Unusual Day

   Today has been an unusual day.  Jeff decided he had had enough waiting for the mice that have infested our little house in the little wood to find the D-con, eat it and died.  We've had to be especially careful where we put the packets of D-con because Zoey is small enough to go under a lot of the furniture in the house and she is really into chasing the mice!  Yesterday he came home with some mouse traps and baited 4 of them last night with peanut butter and put them on the kitchen counter...1 next to the Ronco rotisserie, 2 in front of  the bread machine and 1 behind the crock pot.  This morning he had 2 dead mice.  He reset the traps and within an hour or so he got another.  Later in the afternoon we heard a trap snap, but that mouse wouldn't die.  It kept flopping around...scarring Zoey something awful!  Jeff tried to put the mouse in the garbage pail but it jumped when he released the trap and ran away.  (Great,huh?)   Anyway, the 4 traps are set again and hopefully we'll get some more tonight.  Jeff said he wished trapping had been this easy when he use to walk a line.  I just want to get rid of the majority of the mice then I'll go back to using D-con and hopefully that will keep them gone!
   This morning our washing machine refused to work so Jeff watched a couple of videos on YouTube and started to take it apart.  We found almost $1 in coins in the trap and a some ducktape!  He got the washer to drain properly but it still won't go thru a cycle.  He said at supper tonight he wants to turn it around and open the back and see if he can find what's going on in there.  I just want to finish the load of laundry that's in the machine!!  Even if I have to go to the laundomat!!
   While Jeff was working on the washer, I was knitting by my bedroom window and a NYS trooper car drove up and parked across from our house.  I told Jeff we had 'unusual' company and went to answer the door. It was a very nice woman officer.  Zoey couldn't wait to get outside to get close to her but Fanny didn't want anything to do with her...a stranger...as usual.  It seems a man was seen jogging on our road with his dog when he ran into the yard of a house and put his dog in the dog pen that was in the yard and left him there.  There was a car waiting for the jogger on the road and they drove off.  Later the jogger came back and released the dog and they left together.  The owner of the house has security cameras up and got this all on tape!  The officer wanted to know if we could ID the man or dog or had noticed either of them on the road.  (No, to all questions.)  The house is on the other end of our road and while I knew who lived there years ago, I'm not sure they are still the owners.  It's fairly close to Little Falls and Middleville, too, so there is really no way of telling where this guy came from or where he was heading.
   I started a navy and white Pin-stripe Hoodie today.  Got the hood done and I'm trying to get the neck ribbing started but I think it's time to stop for the day because I'm having trouble seeing the stitches with the navy yarn...even with the light shining on my work!  That's ok because my left thumb is starting to hurt so it's time to give it a rest.  I don't know what size this hoodie will be...2 or 4...they both start with the same number of stitches and I don't have to decide until I'm finished with the increases for the sleeves.  The last one I made was a size 2 so this one should really be a size 4.  We'll see how it goes.  Right now I think I'll watch some PBS...if Zoey lets me sit in the armchair!

Back to Normal....

    Yesterday was my day to work in the shop and I actually made it to Cooperstown.  The Forester drove beautifully!  Not a flashing red light on the dashboard the entire 35 mile trip!  I had planned extra time 'in case' and got to Cooperstown around 9:15am.  The 'FREE' 15-min parking space on the corner by the bakery was empty and I took that as a 'sign' to visit the bakery.  I had brought meatballs (leftover from supper the night before) for my lunch but needed a roll of some kind.  Then I decided as long as I was at the bakery how about a donut to go with what was left of my coffee?  One roll (which turned out to be delicious) and one Old-Fashion Glazed donut cost $3.  I think that was my once yearly stop at that bakery.  Delicious but expensive.
    I had gotten 2 hoodies almost finished this week so they were in my bag.  The Train Hoodie was a size 2, knit with Red Heart acrylic worsted on US7's.  I managed to get the back zipper sewed in

Thursday night and collected all the buttons.  Had to search thru my button boxes for the 2 small buttons for the engine so I sewed them on before I lost them.  The rest of the buttons went into the bag to be sewed on at the shop.  All the yarn ends had been worked in so there was nothing left to do but sew on the buttons.  So I did.
    Then it was time to finish the Red-White-Blue Baseball Hoodie.  It's a size 4, knit with Red Heart

worsted weight acrylic yarn on US7's.  I hadn't gotten to the bottom ribbing yet...it's on a US5...and I couldn't put it off any longer so after lunch I started ribbing.  124 stitches on US5's with worsted yarn isn't usually too hard on my hands but when I'm finishing my second sweater in 4 days my left thumb didn't agree.  I finally got it finished and sewed on the 3 baseball buttons on the Henley neck.  Most of the yarn ends had already been worked in so I just made sure there were none left just handing there.  
   Jeff had told me to call home when I got to the shop and when I did he said I should check the water level in the car's radiator after it cooled off.  I checked it after 4pm and had to put in some water...not much...and made it home without that red light flashing.  I walked into the house to the aroma of a pork pot roast in the crock pot...but it wasn't quite finished cooking and wouldn't be until 7:30 or so, so I suggested we go to Crazy Otto's for supper.  (Pork crock pot roast will be for supper tonight!)  I have a WCNY ConnectCard and entries are '2 for 1' at Otto's.  Last week Jeff got stuffed peppers but this week we both got fish fry.  We have definitely found a new favorite spot for fish fries!
   I'm suppose to work in the shop on again this Friday and I think it may be time for another Pin-stripe Hoodie...if I buy the yarn today!  It will be the last baseball sweater for a while because it will use the last 3 BB buttons I have.  That means either a trip to JoAnn Fabrics or an order to the button company for more buttons before I can do any more.  Gee, what a nice excuse not to do anymore baseball sweaters right away.  Ah, well, we'll see.  

And The Forester Goes On!

      Jeff spent the majority of today flushing the radiator on the Forester...multiple times until the water came out as clear as it was poured in...instead of green-tinted with antifreeze.  (He had to let the engine heat up and cool off before he drained off the water each time.)  Then he mixed up a sealant and poured that in and let the engine heat it up.  Again he had to flush it out multiple times (again until the water ran clear) and now he has to let the radiator and the system air-dry overnight.  Tomorrow he'll flush it again several times and eventually add fresh antifreeze.  But before he could do any of this he had to find the 'out' sprout on the underside of the Forester.  It took a couple of videos on YouTube to locate it.  (You've got to remember, everything is on the opposite side with a Subaru and the sprout was actually a plug...with a Phillips screw head!)  While all this was happening our neighbor, Wally, who is a trained mechanic, stopped by and told Jeff that if there had been a cracked block antifreeze would have gotten into the oil pan. (Nothing there but oil!) Wally also told Jeff that we weren't the only customers of Hillslide that have been disappointed with their service lately.  He thinks it's the mechanics' not the owner who're making mistakes.  Anyway, Jeff is going to have a 'little talk' with Dave when he takes my payment down for the last job they did.  I don't care what Dave thinks but I'm not going to make it 'Paid in Full' right now, either.  I had to buy antifreeze, the sealant and a tank of gas so Jeff could keep the engine running while the process occurred, not to mention the stress of having the red engine hot light coming on repeatedly.  I'll pay the balance next month.

  Between carrying out gallons of water and glasses of soda for Jeff I managed to finish my Train Hoodie...except for the back zipper and all the buttons that are the train wheels!  I'll finish that when I can get to town and buy some more buttons!  Today I started another baseball hoodie but I won't need a zipper for that one.  It will be a size 4 and the Henley neck opening will be big enough to go over a kid's head.  (Photos to follow.)  I got word today that 

my Navy and White Pin-stripe Hoodie sold today, too.  I might try to get another one done before Labor Day...maybe.  Oh, and the baby sweater that was a special order that I had to mail to Indiana was delivered today.  The woman liked it and may want more sweaters!