now where was I...

For my family August has always been a month full of Birthdays and Anniversaries. Our numbers are dwindling but that doesn't mean that we don't celebrate every chance we get. First there was a three generation Birthday Lunch for my Sister and I. Then my Birthday was the 17th. The Photographer took the day off work and took me to Breakfast at The Cottage in La Jolla. Then we strolled over to Knitting in La Jolla where I was picking up more yarn for my Totem sweater.

I was tempted by a new shipment of Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock; I bought two skeins in the Devon colorway. It was my Birthday, I figured I could splurge.


My Older Daughter has us over for dinner. She has the best back yard, designed especially for summer evening entertaining. Curry marinated chicken skewers with lots of grilled vegetables and to finish homemade ice cream over brownies for desert. We had so much fun sitting and talking that I was surprised when we finally left to see that it was 11:30. For some reason I was hoarse the next morning.

Next day Younger Daughter brought over lunch from Solunto's. She then spent the afternoon baking my favorite cake. A very lushious Lemon Blueberry Cake! (Several years ago she found the recipe here. And it's requested whenever you can get fresh blueberries.) Plus she made a great dinner for us. A second wonderful party.

Sunday, the Photographer and I just took it easy; I knit and read most of the day. I finished The Friday Night Knitting Club. (I enjoyed the book but it wasn't what I expected. Like I'd never heard, "don't judge a book by it's covers" before.)

What did I get? Several Gift Certificates for Restaurants, Borders Book Store, Great News Cooking Store and a Yarn Store. Food, Books and Yarn; what more could I ask for!

I also received the Skein Winder I had been wanting


The Totem Sweater is my first Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern but I've recently been reading everything I can of hers. So receiving both the DVD and Book of her 1970s Workshop Show was perfectly timed.


The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz was a book I've wanted ever since I heard about it on a food blog. I have the weight gain to prove we all have gotten way too good at ice cream making.


And lastly, a way to work off the weight if I go out and use it, a gardening work seat that reverses to a kneeler


I am very grateful for all I received this year and I'm thankful I'm surrounded by so many that care about me. I don't take my blessing for granted.

Birthday Weekend

Don't ya just love it when your Birthday falls on a weekend! Friday was the day but it's been a three day Holiday around here. No time to suck the pictures out of the camera; there has been fibery presents, cake, a special batch of ice cream, breakfast out, yarn store shopping and barbecues.

More later when it cools down enough to be comfortable upstairs on my computer.

Thanks - They're Broadripples

The mystery UFO socks were identified by a dozen or so knitters from Socknitter's Yahoo Group as Knitty's Broadripple pattern. Thank you everyone that looked at the pictures and helped ID the pattern.

One of the difficulties in figuring out the pattern is that I had increased the number of stitches to 72 where the original pattern calls for 56. (Between every pattern repeat I added a couple stitches.) I worked on the sock last night; it took 15 - 20 minutes but I figured out what I had done and am now easily knitting away.

And baby bird is flying. She unsteadily follows Mama Bird from tree to tree but she's flying.

Sock ID needed plus Spinning Update

Last week I was so frustrated with having to unknit two projects that I couldn't figure out what to knit next. The indecision spurred me go through my UFO cupboard. First bag I pulled out was this sock knit in Cascade Fixation but no pattern in the bag - Oh No! I thought it was a Jaywalker Sock but after reading through the online instruction I don't believe it is.

These socks were knit approx. Fall 2005 and I'm thinking it was an online free pattern. If these pictures give you any ideas what the pattern is please let me know.

Here's the zig-zag cuff which is a garter stitch with a K2tog at the points


A shot of the leg


And a close up of the leg stitch pattern


The heel is a regular heel flap and gusset. Looks like the heel is knit in a Slip1, K1 pattern.

Any help ID-ing this pattern will be greatly appreciated. You can leave a comment or write to me at: tcty123 AT yahoo DOT com

Now on to Spinning.
Remember the super bright roving, I dyed for Tour de Fleece, that a varmint (turned out to be a squirrel) stole and tore into the red section? Here's a picture to refresh your memory.


Hope that wasn't too bright, should have warned you.

Trying to tone down the brightness I tried predrafting it and holding it with some predrafted white super wash merino while I spun. Came out barber pole-y didn't it.


Then the question of what to ply with this bobbin of still pretty bright singles. I remembered when I took a color class with Celia Quinn she said that you can always make a matching yarn by mixing all the colors together. So that's what I tried.


I loaded the cards with two parts yellow, one part green, one part red with wisps of white on both sides of the fiber on the cards. Then I carded trying to keep the fiber aligned; I originally tried spinning a rollag and found it too rough a single that didn't go with the smooth worsted spun first bobbin. Carefully lifting the fiber off the teeth kept it in a combed alignment. I usually had to reload the cards with this fiber to give it a second mix in order to get a semi-even distribution of color.


This is what I'm ending up with

really gold. I'm hoping these two bobbins will look good together.

We've had a dove nesting in a pot hanging in the Magnolia Tree. She's a really good Mama Bird as she sits on that next no matter how close we get. By accident she's been watered and knocked by the rack as we cleaned up the leaves and never left the nest. Baby Bird is looking like she'll fly away any day now.

The Sock, It Doesn't Fit

Grumble, grumble...

The first Ashes sock was done down to the toe decreases when I finally tried to get my foot in it - disaster! There was so little stretch to the fabric that I couldn't get my heel into it. I ripped it back last night and decided to make the heel flap longer but after thinking about it over night I'm afraid I'm going to have to rip the whole thing out. If you can't even get your heel down to the heel making the heel flap longer isn't going to help - duh!

I usually make a 64 stitch sock in fingering weight yarn; the ashes pattern has you cast on 64 stitches, do your 2/2 ribbing then decrease down to 60 stitches to do the pattern. The smaller number of stitches along with the not so stretchy pattern stitch equaled: the sock, it doesn't fit!

Haven't decided if I'll start over and increase to 66 stitches or just use another pattern altogether. [insert favorite curse word - see Ravelry]

I was really liking that sock and pattern stitch.

Just to end on something nice and cute, go to City Knitting and see their clever sheep logo. I'm so enamored of that sheep chart I may have to order their bag.