Blogging by the Dozen

My Sock is Finished!

By Tilly

My sock is officially finished. I was going to blog yesterday but I forgot.

My sock <3 It actually fits too!

This was when I'd first started it. This is I think 56 stitches, but then I ripped it out. 

This is the pattern for my sock. 

Cast one 50 stitches on size 3 needles using sock yarn. Divide evenly on three needles. Rib 16 rows (or however many you want) purl one row (because I like the way it looks better) then knit 3 inches. put 22 stitches on a holder needle (or whatever it's called) put the other 28 on a needle together. Knit 27, turn, purl 26, turn, knit 25, turn, keep doing this until you have 10 stitches between turning, ending on a right side row. Knit 10, pick up one stitch, knit into it, knit one stitch, turn. Purl 2 together, purl 10 (i think that's the right number. I wasn't writing it down as I went.) , pick up one stitch, purl into it, purl one, turn. continue until all the stitches are worked. divide all your stitches evenly on 3 needles again. Knit approximately 6 inches. you have to finish your sock however, because i did mine weird, and you probably don't want to do it the same way. 

 

Then make another one.

I'm making another one. It's not the same yarn though. It's striped, green and brown. I'm almost to the beginning of the heel. It's acrylic and nylon. It's SUPER soft! The stuff I made my finished sock out of was a cashmere/acrylic/something else I forget blend, and it was so soft, but the green and brown stuff is even softer. I got it at Apple Yarns. 

A really pretty house

I did not do anything to this picture. I just cropped it. my camera makes the colors look a little different sometimes, but it was a perfect blue sky! Yes, it's January. Yes, it's winter. But it doesn't seem like it!

I don't know why there are lines all over this picture. 

cute house

Two horses. The 2nd one is turned around so you can't see it's face. 

If you're looking for a good book to read, you should read The City Of Ember. There are 4 books in the series. The second is The People of Sparks, then there's the Diamond Of Darkhold, and The Prophet of Yonwood. The last one is not about Doon and Lina like the rest. I don't like it as much. But the City Of Ember is one of the BEST books ever! And if you read those you should watch the movie too, because it's really awesome and follows the book really well. One thing I like is that it's about the first book, and it's not all the books combined. It's really good. 

Socks, Snakes and Science

By Tilly

First, my sock. I got the best sock yarn ever at Michaels the other day. I finally started the sock.

This is my sock. I got this far and then it was looking too big so I took it apart.

I cast on 56 stitches and then ribbed until the pink was almost finished. then I purled a row, because I like how that looks, and then I started knitting. 

The more I ripped out the bigger it looked. I started over again today and cast on 50 stitches. I'm still doing the ribbing but I think it will work. 

About snakes. I'm talking about my ring. One of the gold jewels fell off.

That was really annoying. I hope the other ones don't fall out. 

Now for science. We've been making slides and looking at them under the microscope. 

A tiny bug.

a thing that was alive and swimming around but then dried up.

fly wing and leg.

fly head

Spit.

more spit.

bubbles in the spit. They looked super cool.

bubbles in the spit after they dried.

I'll post pictures of my sock later.

socks

By Tilly

My first sock, Adalia's first sock.

My second sock. I jsut halved the first sock. Pretty simple...but when it says to knit 6, knit 2 together does that mean you should knit 3 then knit 1 together? Well, it turned out ok anyways. It doesn't fit Apollo.

My first socks....I do think my second is maybe a little less than just half the size of the first? Even though I just cut the pattern in half....

Adalia knitting.

Random knitting stuff

By Adalia

I was working on a blog post with the recipe for our cinnamon rolls... but I got tired of working on it, and I wanted to blog about one of my most favorite things ever... Knitting!

Right now I have 4 projects going. A hand warmer, which I need to rip out because I decided I didn't want to finished it. A sock out of my lace weight, which has horseshoe cabling, and so far looks to be just the right size! My purple hat... which I am almost done with, but I needed to do some math to figure out the decreases, so I got lazy, and shoved it in the corner. And a blanket... the first one I've ever tried to knit. It's going to be a random size, because I cast on 200 stitches, and started knitting. But I figured you can't go too wrong with a blanket... and the yarn was just perfect for it. I don't know what exactly you call it, but it's fuzzy, silky, and shiny. Really cool looking. And I have 8 skeins of it. When its knit up, it doesn't look knit, so I figured it was perfect for a blanket.

Yesterday and today I have been knitting like crazy. I knit up 2 of the skeins yesterday, and so far one today. I also figured out the perfect excuse for avoiding every possible thing you don't want to do. Knitting. I could have spent all my knitting time doing something that some people would think more useful, actually I guess most of them are thing that I should do, but sort of want to put off. I could be doing pilates, writing, going on a walk, and other various small things. But why? I mean, knitting is way more fun than any of that (at least, it is right now). Just think, you can already see me putting off one thing that I should be doing. I should be finishing my post about cinnamon rolls, but instead I am going on and on about my knitting. But that is because I love my knitting. I don't really love my cinnamon rolls.  

My sock has been coming along very well, except for the fact that the pattern wants me to work the cabling 18 times... and I got sick of it. Actually, I just wanted to get on with the project, so I said to myself 'Well, I am starting to get tired of this, and I have to make another whole sock, and so I will have to work this cabling all over again, as many times as I do now. And I really want to finish this sock. So I think it is perfectly reasonable to stop right now, I mean I guess I don't want really long socks, even if they would look incredible, and beautiful...' anyway, I managed to convince myself. Which was really way to easy.

For the past time that I have been knitting patterns that I must keep track of rounds (I don't remember the exact date...), I have kept track of them on my phone calendar. Which involves unlocking the key pad, clicking over to tool, and then calendar, and then clicking on the date, and then entering a number, and then repeating the sequence whenever I finish the next round. My mom apparently noticed this, and in my stocking this year I got two stitch counters. These little guys are life savers. Every time I quickly turned the dial after completing a row, I would gush on and on in adoration about how ingenious and wonderful they are (okay, okay, maybe I am exaggerating a little bit, but you get the picture).Along with them, I also got a skein of yarn that is the closest I have ever seen to my dream yarn. It goes from burgundy, to red, to orange, and finally to pale yellow. It is truly beautiful. So thank you again mom! 

I also got an Apple Yarns gift card (thank you Jewels!) And 10, yes TEN skeins of yarn in a package from New Zealand (thank you Ben!). Needless to say, I was thrilled. Seriously, I mean it was like yarn heaven over here! I really couldn't wait to start knitting with the silky, shiny stuff I described earlier (from the package) so that's why I cast on the blanket.  

Happy holidays, and may the odds be ever in your favor!!!! (for Hunger Games fans everywhere) 

My SOCK!!!

by Tilly

I made a sock! I actually did it.

This is my first attempt at a sock. I never actually finished it.

This is the sock I just made today. 

It's prettier than it looks. My point and shoot, which I generally use, makes the colors look wacky.

Sock in progress. I got this pretty yarn in my stocking.

The heel was all weird but I fixed it. 

My hat. I started it Sunday afternoon and I was almost finished with it and was already decreasing when I realized it was WAY to big, so I took it out and then started again. I was barely past the ribbing on my hat this morning, but then I finished it (It looks way better than before!) And made my sock. It was AWESOME and I am totally going to make another sock sometime! Soon. Just not with the same yarn because there's barely any left :( Oh well. I got an awesome hat and my first sock out of it. And it's so soft and pretty. Thank you mom :)

Photos by Mom    Adalia, me, Kalina, Jubilee and Tucker on Christmas Eve. 

 Photo By Mom        Jubilee, Hezzy, Tucker, Adalia, Cai, Me and Kalina. 

Photos By Mom           Adalia, Jubilee and Adalia, Me.

Photo By Mom                       Isn't he just the most Adorable baby ever? If you didn't believe it before you gotta believe it now! He's so sweet <3

The Dead Deer and The Lowercase 'e'

By Tilly

...And some other stuff. 

Now, about the dead deer. Adalia saw it when she was taking a walk, so then me and Enoch went to see it and I took a few pictures.

Don't worry, it's not gory. No blood or wounds or anything. It's just frozen. I'm not sure what happened to it.

Doesn't it look a little bit like a kangaroo? A little... well, I think so anyways :)

See, it's not bad. No blood.

close-up;)

Pretty sky.

Poor pathetic baby :( But we're working on getting him fixed. As in, figuring out what's wrong and fixing it ;)

latest Duck Tape project.

It's a pencil holder.

When we went to Fred Myers on Saturday, I bought two new rolls of Duck tape (sorry for the lousy picture quality! I'm not a full time 'nice' photographer ;)

I'm running out of space.

The beginning of a sock. I ripped it out.

Our door :) I can't remember if it was mine or Adalia's idea, but it's brilliant! (i think ;)

And now for The Lowercase 'e' story.

Pretty, huh? I guess it was worth it :)

Notice how the edges of these are white?

And the edges of these are cardboard-brown?

Well. That's because I need both my hands to paint the top and sides of the cardboard letters white. Notice how the 'e' in 'Virtue' is capital? 

That's because I was doing something stupid and cut myself.

I know they're lousy pictures, but my camera wasn't behaving for my left hand. I cut my right hand and my point and shoot wouldn't focus properly, so I used my nice camera and I had to put it in Manual because in Auto it wouldn't focus. After spending, like, 10 minutes trying to take a picture of this cut, I realized that I could have just asked someone else to take the picture- FAIL! :p Whatever!

So, I was trying to make a hole in the lowercase 'e' and was pushing really hard, and my thumb was up against the edge of the scissors, pushing really hard against the edge. No problem, right? Um, no problem....if it's the dull edge of the scissors. No, this was the blade edge. The sharp edge. Oops. 

So that's the story of The Lowercase 'e'.

Knitting Commitment

By Adalia

Earlier today I was accused by a family member of not being committed to my knitting. Here is why.

This is the first fingerless glove I was working on. I quit a few days ago. But I had a good reason, the glove is wayyy to big. Big enough that my mom suggested I either try to felt it, or gain 30 pounds. Not only that, but when I counted my stitches, there was a big difference between my number, and the pattern. I haven't ripped it out yet, but I can honestly say that I won't mind a bit. It was fun to knit with lace weight, but I will have to find a different project to use this yarn for. 

Anyways, take a look at this picture

You can't see it as well in this picture, but this sock is big. And when I say big, I mean really, really big.  This sock was supposed to fit me. Now from the start, I had a problem. My pattern calls for size 5 needles, and I was going to use size 9, so I did a whole bunch of confusing math, to get the gauge right for size 9 needles. Then I cast on and knit happily away until I got to the heel. Suddenly the pattern got quite a bit harder, and very confusing. But I knit and turned the heel anyway, and then started on the foot. I had done probably about two rows on the foot when I realized I had a problem. I tried the sock on. It wouldn't go on, it was too small, and there was barley any heel. I was annoyed, I mean all that math for nothing. But you see, I liked knitting this sock, and I wanted a pair of socks that were not baby socks. So I ripped it out. All the way out. Then I cast on the correct number of stitches and knit away. I knit on the way up to Baker, and I knit after the kids went to bed when I was babysitting, and this morning I was ready to do the heel! I knit up the heel flap, and started turning the heel. This is where it got confusing again. I ended up ripping rows three times before I finally figured out the pattern. And right here is where I started to have the sinking suspicion that something was wrong. I kept knitting, and got part way done with the foot (where it is right now) and now I could clearly see that I was having the Over-sized Sock Problem. What will I do about it? Probably keep knitting. I like my sock a lot, and hey, a big sock is better than no sock, right? 

Now for the dress (no, I did not knit a dress, that would take far too long, and be way to see through for my comfort)

Here it is. This dress went down to maybe mid calf on me, and it was too low in the front, and I didn't particularly love it. We had a christmas party on the 8th, and I decided to redo my dress for it. I trimmed off about 5 inches, and then hemmed it up. I sewed some little bows on for decoration.

Here is the finished dress.

See, tiny bows on each sleeve.

Here I am in the finished dress, ready for the party. I like the dress wayyy better now, and am really happy with how it turned out.

 

 

Knitting Adventures

By Adalia

It was a couple of weeks ago after mom and dad had put the little kids to bed, Tilly and I were in our room, and I wanted to knit. I was going to knit little baby socks out of the blue yarn I mentioned in my last knitting post. I had my yarn, all I needed were needles. I didn't have any in my room, so I checked mom's knitting basket for the knitting box, which had the needles I needed. No box. I checked all the places it might be (ledges, couch, dining room counter, mom and dad's room, the play room, etc.) but I still couldn't find the knitting box. Mom didn't know where it was either. At this point I started getting quite worried... I mean, I was planning on knitting until bed time, and now I couldn't find needles. Sure, I guess I could have read or done something else, but I had been knitting the past few nights, and knitting is very relaxing and peaceful, so when I couldn't find needles... well it was SO not cool.

I can't find my needles!

What am I supposed to do now? You can't knit without needles (all right, some people might argue that you can finger knit, but that is not the same as knitting).

And then, all of a sudden I had a brilliant idea. What are knitting needles really? Sticks. So maybe I can find something to use instead! Using kindling had already crossed my mind, but it's way to rough, and my yarn would catch on it, and I didn't have a pocket knife to get them the right shape. But I did have something!

What are these? Skinny sticks... exactly! Actually, they are reeds, and they're there to diffuse that smelly blue stuff into the room, but they're just the right size, all they need is pointy ends! I was totally thrilled, it would be so cool to knit a whole sock on these things...

(oh yeah, notice the cacti? I got them at Lowes for $1.79 each (they were on sale) and they are the perfect plants for me, they are very hardy, and barley have to be watered. The last plant I had was an african violet, and it died quite soon after I got it.)

I pulled out 4 of the 6 sticks, and rolled them on the carpet to get them dry ( I figured I would get the carpet smelling nice while I was at it. May as well kill two birds with one stone).

Then, with reckless abandon, I snipped at the ends of the reeds, until they somewhat resembled points.

See, not really nice points, but I really did think they would work.

then I cast on the right number of stitches, knit one and a half rows, and realized this was not going to work. The reeds were flexible and bendy, not sharp enough, and pretty rough. (sorry for the horrid picture quality...)

Here it is partly ripped out, I started ripping the stitches back, and then I realized that I should take a photo before I completely ruined it. At this point, I take this as a challenge to see if I can find something other then needles to knit with. I start feeling quite creative.

Safety pins perhaps? They're sharp, and smooth... the should work great!

But it doesn't work quite as well as I hoped... the needles are now too sharp, and the yarn keeps getting wispy and then breaking.

Another horrid picture.

Anyways, after this, I give up. I can't find anything else to use, although I did think about using pencils but my gauge would be wayyyy off. I would suggest you don't try this at home, it doesn't work. But if you ever find a way to knit with something other than knitting needles, do tell me about it, I would love to hear all about your needless knitting. 

Guess what, the very next day I found the knitting box under the couch downstairs. Wow. I only wish I would have found it the day before, but oh well. Now I will admit I did go a little bit (all right, maybe a lot) crazy  with this, but it was sort of fun.

Now for part two, in which I go yarn shopping, and knit with real needles.I should tell you about the reason I wanted to go yarn shopping so badly before I get on with the story.

First of all, I knit up every scrap of yarn in the house that I could use. And that meant that I had no knitting. Not knitting anything is fine, if it's your choice, but I can't even describe the horrible feeling of wanting to knit so bad, and not having anything to knit. Not fun.  And I was in the middle of a wonderful project which I was very committed to. It was a shruglet, and because whenever I say I am making a shruglet, no one knows what I am talking about, here is a link to a photo of a shruglet from the exact pattern I am using.  I am making it out of the blue yarn I was going to make baby socks out of, and I love working on it.

So this Saturday we went yarn shopping. First we went to Michael's, where they had a bunch of yarn sales. Originally I had 10 skeins, but I downsized to 5 (I almost always do that when shopping, get a bunch of stuff, and then put like half of it back when I get to the cash register). 4 skeins of nice acrylic, and one skein of lace weight yarn, because I had never knit with lace weight before, and I really wanted to. 

Then we headed over to Handspun Yarns, where I got 3 skeins. One alpaca and merino blend, one red and gray and black, that I totally fell in love with, and finally a skein of 100% merino for only $3.75, because it was on sale. I was very, very happy with that purchase. Now for some pictures of my yarn ( nice ones too, because Tilly took them).

Me with my wonderful yarn.

Again.

Here you can see all my yarn, and you can also see my current project, which is lace weight fingerless gloves.

And this is the end of a very long blog post...