Dolly and Me

   I think I finally got the Dolly and Me Sweater set right. I knit and ripped
quite a few 'Dolly' size sweaters before I finally just sat down with my regular raglan from the neck down pattern, the doll sweater pattern I liked the best...or was it the one I disliked the least...and a calculator.  It took several tries but I finally got a sweater that actually looks like the child's sweater I make but quite a bit smaller...just the size for an 18" doll like an American Girl doll.  Then I stated the child's sweater and...ran out of yarn!  I was using Mary Maxim's Baby Blankie, an acrylic self-patterning acrylic yarn called Sweet Pea...but it's not available
locally so I did as much as I could on the child's sweater...a size 2...and put them both aside until I can order a skein of yarn.
  Today I made another Dolly size sweater...this time with Red Heart acrylic worsted in Minty leftover from a child size 2 I had made in a design I call Flowers and Lace. The doll sweater

looks so cute! A real miniature version of the child's sweater.  Only thing...the buttons look
too big on the doll sweater to me but I don't have any smaller pink buttons.  The other Dolly and Me set is a Black
Sheep Sweater set with the child's sweater a size 6. 

They are hand-knit with Red Heart acrylic worsted in Perfectly Pink.  The purple buttons look really too large on the doll sweater but will have to do for now!
  I'm not sure how these sets will sell so I think this should be enough to start the season.  The shop opens on April 11th so time is running out!!

Finally....

      I binged on 'Mama Mia' today...watched both DVD's (1 is better than 2, Cher adds nothing to the story) this afternoon while working on my hooded sweater.  Had to rip out what I accomplished today because the design was off a couple of stitches...and looked it...so I tried again tonight this time while watching A 'Thief of Time', a DVD of a Tony Hillerman mystery story.  I knit much better to a mystery than a musical.  Reknit all that I had to rip out plus a few more rows.  The pattern fits and looks good.    The cables form a diamond and when it's finished I'll 

embroider some flowers in the center of each diamond around the hood and down each front.  Haven't decided on the color for the flowers yet or the buttons, but the sweater is a size 2.  I'm working on US5 and 7 circulars with Red Heart Tourqua.  I really hope I finish it on Monday.  Time is running out...only 20 days until the shop reopens!

   

Oh, What A Night!

    A couple of days ago I saw a cute hooded sweater on FB and when I tried to download the pattern...as instructed...my PC froze.  I finally gave up and
instead, decided to try and put the cable pattern into my regular hooded raglan cardigan.  I got the hood finished...didn't really like the way the design fit...and when I tried to start the body of the cardigan, couldn't get the front to line up with the design.  I let the project sit on the needles for a day and last night I ripped it all out, rolled up the yarn and CO again for the hood. I moved the design in a little more, used less stitches in the cable and finished the hood.  This time I had more than enough stitches (using both ends of the hood) for the neck of the cardigan so I had to decrease/gather the ends of the hood to get it to fit the neckband but it looks cute.  Now I was ready to start the body of the raglan but since it was almost midnight I decided to let it go until this morning and go to bed.
   Zoey, our beagle, was sitting on my bed looking out the window as I got ready for bed.  Fanny, the Australian cattle dog, was stretched out, half- asleep already.  Suddenly Zoey started growling...and then barking and baying!  She crawled under the curtain...to get a better view of what was out there(?)...and really started barking.  Now, the view from that bedroom window is of the wooden lot that use to be a horse pasture between our house and our neighbor's garage, the driveway and what's left of our neighbor's apple orchard.  His house is at the far rear of the scene.  Zoey was standing on the windowsill and barking to beat the band!  Fanny looked over her shoulder and growled and barked in sympathy...or agreement...a couple of times but Zoey was definitely in charge!   Jeff came in and asked Zoey what's was wrong but she just came out from under the curtain and kept barking.  Fanny actually stood up now to join in the barking.  Jeff looked out the window and couldn't see anything unusual so he went back to his computer in the other room.  Fanny eventually settled down again and Zoey kept barking.  I tried talking to her, praising her for being such a good watch dog, etc hoping she'd shut up.  After half an hour or so, Zoey came out from under the curtain and settled against me but still looking out the window.  She kept up with a low growl every now and then until she finally fell asleep.
   I finally fell asleep in time for Fanny to have an allergy attack.  It starts with her shaking her head...her ear itches...and then she starts rubbing her ear against a rough blanket or a chair.   I
got up and gave her a Benadryl and wiped her ear out with a baby wipe.  Jeff let both dogs out and when they came in, Fanny started running around barking and rubbing her head against furniture.  I wiped her ear again and put in some of her eardrops.  She kept barking and shaking her head.  This went on for another 30-45mins until the Benadryl and eardrops kicked in.  Zoey tried to comfort her and got barked at for her effort but still tried to get close.  This doesn't happen often and the vet says I should up the dose of Benadryl...50gms for a 90lb dog isn't enough...but even if I give her 2 pills it still takes 20-30 mins to take effect.  I'm better off...and so is Fanny...if I keep the ear clean and give her 1 Benadryl at bedtime.  Since she was asleep before I was I didn't give her one when I went to bed.  I hate doping up my dog but then, 50gms is a low dose and she isn't actually doped up.  
   The house finally got quiet around 2am.  The night before I hadn't slept well, waking up every couple of hours because my hands and knees ached...arthritis and the latest storm was blowing in.  Two night with little sleep and I slept until 11am today.  Totally unusual...but delightful.  Both dogs were asleep beside me when I woke up...to the aroma of Jeff's cooking.  Don't get much knitting done sleeping to almost noon, now do I?  Better get busy!

Too Much Knitting, A Wee Bit of Grocery Shopping and Some Magic Words

    I finished another sweater yesterday.  It's a size 2  done on US 5 and 7's with Red Heart's Gray Heather and Pink.  Question is do we want pink or gray buttons?  Walmart had nothing!  Neither!! So I ordered gray buttons from Button.com (I already have pink ones).
It will take 5-7 days for them to get here and when they arrive and I get them sewed on I will repost a photo.
   After that I started a baby cocoon on US6's circulars with white Bernat Baby Sport.  Looks very boring, just knit.  I think I may put some design or texture stitches in towards the bottom.  Working on the 6's made my left hand ache more than normal, sooner than normal so after my shopping spree I started a another sweater on US 5 and 7's circulars in With Love from Red Heart in papaya.  This one will be a size 4 and probably be Flowers and Lace...haven't done one of them yet this year.  I was disappointed with the yarn selection at Walmart.  Not much was left of Red Heart's worsted weight skeins.  With Love is slightly more expensive but 1 skein will make a nice 4 sweater.  It was the only skein that jumped out at me as I walked down the yarn aisle.  And I've
got some nice white, pearly buttons that will finish it perfectly.  Photo to follow.
   While I was in Walmart I decided to look for some compression gloves.  I had checked online and they carry both the magnet and copper fused types.  I had tried copper back when I first had problems with carpal tunnel syndrome and well, it never made any difference, so I wasn't too excited about copper fused gloves.  Besides they are more expensive than the magnet fused models!  Anyway, Walmart was out of them, they should be restocked this week.  I don't know if I'll wait or if I'll check Rite-Aid.
  After I got home and hustled the bags into the house and everyone got their treat from Burger King, the dogs decided it was their time to go outside.  Since neither one of us wanted to go for a walk with them, they were taking turns going on the long leash.  Fanny was first and when she came in, Zoey was in a hurry to go out.  While Jeff was trying to hook up a squirming beagle Fanny decided she'd go
out with Zoey and slipped past Jeff.  Zoey saw that Fanny was loose and took off, too.  Jeff tried calling them but they stayed out of his reach...he was in bedroom slippers on the ice covered driveway!  Jeff
came in to change shoes and get a jacket and the dogs disappeared around the garage.  I thought for a minute, grabbed a walking leash and went out and stood next to the car.  I called the dogs, opened a car door and said the magic words 'who wants to go for a ride in the car?'  Both dogs came around the garage and Zoey jumped right in the car.  I grabbed her and clicked on the leash.  We walked back to the house with Fanny following.  Jeff met us at the door...surprised that they came back so fast.  I told him that I had learned to use the magic words with my Border Collie mix, Teddie, and they even worked on our camp neighbor's lab mix, Thor.  The girls got a treat from me and a stern taking to from Jeff before they all curled up for their afternoon naps and I went back to knitting.

Something New for the Shop!

   I seem to have my knitting mojo back in full force this week.  I finished something new...this toddler's dress, a size 2 with Red Heart's Minty on US 7's.  It took 2 days plus half an hour this morning to finish the bind off because I ripped out the skirt after I had worked about 4".  Once I restarted the skirt and knew what I was doing it just moved along nicely.  
   I had picked up a HUGE pile of DVD's that I had ordered from the library and have my choice of British detective show to knit by.  Instead of bingeing on 1 series, I watch 1 disc (that's 3 episodes) then change to another series.  Makes the time go quickly...except I've got to get a new desk chair!  This old one...brought with me from the library when I retired...is not that comfortable to knit in after a couple of hours.  The dogs have claimed  their chairs leaving me the desk chair!  We hadn't been able to  

buy any firewood at Tractor Supply for a couple of weeks because someone always seem to buy it all just before we get there.  (Once the man in front of me in line was 

buying 12 bundles, cleaning them out of firewood until their next delivery!)  When we don't get firewood from TS we don't have a fire in the woodstove in the TV room and that makes it too cold for me to sit in for long periods of time and knit.  (I'll watch the News on TV but that's about all I can manage.)  When we have firewood I can put a DVD in the machine and we can all sit in comfort in that room.  There is still wood in our shed but the plastic roof got ripped up in an earlier storm and the wood is buried in snow and frozen in place.  When we can get to it...not an easy task in itself, it's pretty near impossible to get any wood because it's all one big frozen lump!  Make that another reason why living in a little house in a little woods gets more difficult as you get older.    Oh, well, enough complaining, time to get back to work!

  

Guernsey Vests and Buttons

   I finished my 2nd Guernsey vest today.  This one, also a child's size 6, is hand-knit in Red Heart's Grey Heather, on US 8 circulars.  I like using Red Heart yarns because they are wash and dryable acrylics that wear well and can become family heirlooms.  The first vest was done in Red Heart's Soft Navy, the traditional color for a Guernsey, but I think I like it better in the Grey Heather.  You can't see the patterns very well

in either the photo but I still like the vests.  I had thought about doing another in purple but have decided to wait and see if either of these sells first.
   The rest of my button order came today so I have no excuses for not sewing buttons on cardigans.  

They almost look like some button candy I remember from my childhood...only a tad more expensive!  That's roughly $100 of buttons in the photo (between $200 and $300 in a store) and will finish 15-18 sweaters depending on the sizes. No excuses for not producing sweaters now!

It's Guernsey Time!

  I decided to do the cast on for my 2nd size 6 Guernsey vest yesterday...130 sts. on to a US8 circular needle with Red Heart Grey Heather.  I checked to make sure my work wasn't twisted, joined and purled the first row(it's worked in the round...no seams).  Then I set it aside to work on today.  I figured I'd get the  fancy rib rows around the bottom done this morning and work on the first pattern...Chart A...this afternoon.

   Well, I got thru the first pattern (10 rows of k2rows/p2rows in the round) and then discovered that although I had checked to make sure everything was ok when I joined my round, it wasn't and I had to rip it all out BUT my yarn was wrapped tightly around my work and nothing would move so I had to cut the yarn.  I cast on 130 sts. again, checked it twice to make sure everything was really straight before joining my round and did the pattern again.  Then I did the next pattern...working 14 rows of Chart A. And again I learned that repeating variations of '(k3, p4, p3)repeat around' is not as easy as it sounds.  I messed up my count a couple of times and had to rip out a few rows but eventually I got thru that chart.  With that done I can now knit the body of the vest in the round until the piece measures 10" from the cast on...good, old, mindless knitting!  Then comes the yokes and it's done.
   And I was right...the design shows up much clearer on the grey than it did on the navy.  I know navy is

the traditional color of Guernsey sweaters but I think I'm going to prefer grey.  Or maybe even purple.  These vests are unisex.

Birthday, Funerals and Other Stuff

Today is Jeff's birthday and I'm planning on taking him out for supper tonight. We've got to exchange one of the pairs of jeans I got him for his present (Tractor Supply-the only store that has his length/waist size) and go to the library before we go to Fat Cat's. The sun is shining and the temp is suppose to be in the 30's...above freezing...for a change. Tried to order flowers for my friend's funeral online w/o any luck so I called Massaro's...should have done that in the 1st place! More snow tomorrow and then again Sunday night. Is this March coming in like a lion?

   When you die don't expect me to attend your funeral...if it's not in Herkimer.  Funerals are not my thing to start with. I'd rather visit a cemetery any day than go to a funeral.  Maybe it comes from living so close to 4 of them for most of my life.  Maybe it's something I inherited from my father.  He avoided funerals whenever possible but walked our dogs thru the cemetery every day.  When he died we had a graveside service...military...but no church service for him.  (And I never could get the dog to walk in that cemetery again after that day.  Weird?)  When my mom was dying...after out-living her brothers and sisters, my dad, several nieces and nephews, many friends...she made it very clear she wanted no service at all.  It wasn't necessary...so I honored her wishes and had none.  And that's the way I want it when I die.  Just a simple cremation, and while I'd like my ashes to be spred along the shore of Lake Pleasant, I know that will be impossible so just bury them in the designated spot with my parents.  No fuss.  

   Now, this attitude doesn't always make me popular with family (what's left) and friends but honestly, I don't care anymore.  I think the funeral industry has gotten too big and too expensive.  It use to be a time to say good-bye, remember good and bad times, laugh and cry.  Then the Victorians got ahold of it and things started to get out of proportion.   Wife, mother, daughters were in mourning and wore full black for a year, then gray for 6 month, then maybe mauve for another 6 months before returning to their normal wardrobe and existence.  Jewelers created mourning brooches...lockets with strands of hair from the dead person in them...so a reminder of the dead person could be with you always (as if you needed help remembering them).  Funerals processions became parades.  Horses...used to draw the carriages...were decorated with black ribbons and big plumes of feathers.  Sometimes there'd be bagpipes or drums to accompany the casket on its final journey.  The length of time for calling hours kept getting longer...when I was a child it had stretched to 3 days and evenings.  (Why it's now it's back to 1 evening or a few hours before the service may have something to do with the cost...do you think the funeral director lets you use his facility free of charge...or the decrease in the number of people attending?)

   While I prefer going to graveside servies, I still go to calling hours when I can and send flowers when I can't but traveling to a funeral isn't somthing I'm 

willing to do anymore.  (Hell, traveling more than 30 minutes to anything isn't something I really enjoy.)  I never understood why my mom thought riding in a car for more half an hour to be a strain or what weather conditions had to do with anything but as

I've gotten older and developed my own set of aches and pains I've come to understand her reasoning.  It

takes me the entire day after I worked in the shop

to recover from the effort (and that's with a trip of only 35 miles each way.)  A trip to Utica is a major

excursion! All that traffic and those roads!  No, thank you!  If I can't do/buy/see what I'm looking for close to home I'll go online to find it.  Hey, maybe that's what we need...online funerals!