Halfway Down the Stairs

Look - it's Rasta Socks!



Pattern: My own made up! Yarn: Rasta Yarn from my friend Megan Color: Jamaica Flag! Needles: Kollage Yarns' Square DPN's US 3/3.25mm Started: May 21, 2009 Completed: May 27, 2009.

Note: Can you imagine a 12 year old with such giant feet? It's a made-up pattern from mama's mind. See that yarncake next to them? That's what's left! (Puck likes the heels and toes best!)

It's been a busy week, more Vet appointments, AC tech visits, grocery shopping two Lacrosse games and now it's the weekend already. One Lacrosse game was wonderful and the other was sad and now the High School team is done for the year (they beat Wayzata, but Minnetonka was amazing, Tonka won by one goal.)

We've planted some flowers last night and tonight we're going to grill and watch the first game of the Stanley Cup. (Go Pens!)

Sweater progress later in the week and stash enhancement tomorrow!

WIP Report:

Oh, seriously, I found another cardigan I LOVE. Check out Cosmicpluto. Of course, she hasn't written the pattern yet, but that shouldn't stand in my way!

Acer is progressing nicely. Butter Peeps really is a much lovelier colorway than this photo - way more buttery and peepy.

The Diminishing Rib Cardi is just starting to get interesting, but I came to the end of my first skein so I thought it was a good time to rotate projects. Yep, that's right. That is all just one gigantor skein of very soft yarn.

Copine was down watching the hockey game and didn't feel like coming out for a photograph. Maybe she'll show her face next week.

Swap Goodies!


My knitting group traded skeins of sock yarn and we knit each other a pair of socks from our partners' stash. Then we gifted them back with some other little goodies! The person that got to knit for me was Corgiknits (over on Rav). Yes her cute little baby boy joins us at knitting every other week!

Here are my lovely socks and my goodies!


My partner knit the Super Swag Sock out of my Vesper yarn in Lonely is the Night colorway! There were some yummy chocolate sheepies and she made me a super-cute bag out of two different fabrics - a toile and a floral pattern. It's packed and ready to go on the road this weekend. There's also a little sheepie mascot there and some beautiful violet yarn. I didn't get a chance to ask her if she spun it or dyed it, but it's very squooshy! Forgive the horrible photo, I was in a terrible hurry! However badly I photographed them, I love my new socks!

Got Any Ideas?

Puck saw this on my shelf and said, "I want some Rasta Socks!"


Well, thanks Megan! Puck will get his Rasta Socks - I'm thinking a plain vanilla pattern, the yarn is lively enough!

String Theory

Caper Sock in the Nectar color.



80% Superwash Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon.

Yum.

Hello!


Where has this week gone?

Down the rabbit hole, I am thinking. There have been haircuts and vet appointments, A/C service calls and cleaning of filing cabinets (that A/C warranty has to be somewhere....)

Regardless, the knitting has been on-going. I have some photographing to do, but I hope to leave you for the weekend tomorrow with a post documenting this week's progress. Of course, that will be after the 7th grade concert and the playoff Lacrosse game that happens tonight.

In the meantime - if you can get your hands on this book - I highly recommend it! ETA: I've been asked for a book report - I've not finished it yet but I'll do my best. This is a "spy" story set after the Revolutionary war when Washington was President and Jefferson and Hamilton were vying for power in the government. It's a story of two lives on opposite ends of a government situation. There are plots to ruin the newly created Bank of the United States and plots for revenge and rebellion by the poor and neglected. The story begins very quickly and has kept me very interested, thought I am currently only 3/4's of the way through! My smart-pants 17 year old looked at me askance as I spoke of the Whiskey Rebellion (my mother is so ignorant - eye roll), but if I ever learned of it I'd forgotten it and it's very interesting.

It's not available in paperback until June, however, I did get a discounted copy on my Kindle.

WIP Week - Final Installment



So the Dream in Color is going to be the Acer Cardigan.


The Cascade 200 is going to be Mason Dixon's Perfect Sweater (V-neck version, please.)

I'm finishing up the shoulders on Copine and I've split off for the sleeves on the Diminishing Rib Cardi - it's going to be sweater crazy over here! (Don't worry - the socks are still going to Wednesday morning knitting!) In the meantime I am trying to save the Boys' desktop computer which is succumbing to all sorts of viruses and anti-virus software (argh.)

JV Lacrosse is done for the season. They finished their season undefeated (although by now, I imagine you weren't expecting to hear anything else, right?) The Varsity team won their final game against Burnsville finishing first in their Division. They have a buy for the first round of the Playoffs and have their first Quarter Final game on Thursday. I can hardly wait! On top of that, our Youth program starts on Monday! Puck made the 7/8 A2 team - woot! (86 kids tried out - 21 kids on each A team, the remaining kids on the two B teams. The A1 team is made up entirely of 8th graders. (Yea, I'm braggin' just a little - my kid is really good at keeping people away from a net with a six-foot long pole :-)!)

Well, back to the desktop resuscitation.

WIP Week - Copine:

Warning - I watched a lot of television today, this post may contain a reality show spoiler!*


It may not look like it but that's 17 inches of 4x6 ribbing in a bulky yarn. Since I took this picture this afternoon, I watched Survivor (Yay! Douche, I mean Coach, is gone!), and the second halves of two hockey games! (Yay Wings, Boo Canes!) That equals an inch and a half of body and splitting off for the right front! I also finished a sock today and wound up yarn for NaKniSweMoDo sweaters 8 and 9! Of course that means I'll have 6,7,8 and 9 on the needles all at the same time. Somehow the idea of that situation kind of delights me; I'll be knitting crazily all over the place and all of a sudden I'll have a finished sweater. It's like I'm performing some kind of nutty magic trick.

I didn't make it to knitting group yesterday - it's been so long since I've been, I've forgotten which spot in our rotation we were supposed to be at. I'll be glad when this spat of dentist/ortho/vet/hair appointments are done. Sheesh. How's a gal supposed to get any knitting done?

The EP Lacrosse team again kicked it last night. JV won 5-2 and Varsity defeated Rosemount 16-2. The local paper drives me totally crazy. We've had one of the best teams in the state for 8-9 years (and we've been in the State Championship both years since Lacrosse became sanctioned two years ago.) Not that the ST pays much lip service to High School sports, but it usually has to have something to do with Football. Seriously, even in the Spring. So, we started the season ranked somewhere around 3-4th and are undefeated in our Division; now we are ranked 2nd. EP has had some seriously hurt players and beat most of the teams ranked higher than we were. Who does our local paper write about? The team that has dropped to the #3 ranking, oh, and the number 1 ranked team too (as it should be - but Tonka's been highlighted in the paper three times this season). The last regular-season game is Friday and then Playoffs start next week and I'm hoping these kids get a little recognition for what they've accomplished.


*Also? Rock it Adam Lambert! I cannot wait to hear what he sings next week.

Another WIP (I may have to cast on to make it the rest of the week...)

(Umm, Deb, pay no attention to that new bag under my knitting...) This is about seven inches of the Diminishing Rib Cardigan. I love this yarn so much I want to go to Blue Moon and buy a sweater's worth in a dozen more colors. Of course, that won't happen, at least not until I work my way through some of my lovely stash.


Maybe some Dream in Color in Butter Peeps?

I'm not sure the Feb Lady is the right style for me, but I'm lacking inspiration. I'll have to go cruise the patterns at Rav, methinks. Anybody else seen anything interesting lately?

It's going to be WIP Week here at Halfway...


I've had "Sock Innovation" by Cookie A. for a couple weeks now, but I was cleaning up the queue before I cast on anything new. I almost want to start at the beginning of the book and work my way to the end. Almost!

I started with eunice (that's a rav link), here's the Interweave page for the book. I'm using a skein of Emily Parson's Sophie's Toes. She's done a post on using her variegated colors today. I think my way is just fine. She's updating her Etsy shop tomorrow night. This is Rustic Cabin. Yum.

Hope everybody had a Happy Mom's Day yesterday- mine was lovely. Seventeen years ago on Mother's Day I celebrated by going into labor; then on May 11, 1992 my lovely Teen was born. What a gift he has been.

BMFA Peru*:



This is a truly lovely yarn. Very soft and silky, and look how this Tubular Cast-on is fluffy and beautiful. I only wish I'd started this earlier (The Diminishing Rib Cardigan) from the cover of Spring '09 IK. I don't hate EVERYTHING IK. I've actually knit about six more inches than this. I cast on some Cookie socks tonight too. Busy weekend, but I'll try to get a picture up tomorrow.

Wednesday night's Lacrosse games were the BEST EVER! JV did their usual workmanlike job and finished off their opponents 6-1. Teen had his usual eventful night, receiving the weirdest call of the game. (Seriously, many of the HS Lacrosse officials have crossed over from Basketball or Hockey and have had very limited training. Some of the calls and/or lack thereof, have been just bizarre!) Teen had his stick checked out of his hand and he bent over to pick it up, scooping a ground ball as he went(with his stick, not his hands) and he was called for playing without a stick. Ummm? No? Since Teen has been a Ref for two years now, the "Idiot" calls really infuriate him.

The Varsity game? Best Lacrosse game I've seen, ever! Both teams played hard the first two periods, keeping the score within two points either way. At the Half, EP was leading 9-7. Jefferson came in with a fury in the third period (the Jaguars have two Seniors that are going to play D2 next year out East - our D2-bound Senior is out for the season with a knee injury). So our little team that could - made up evenly of 8 Seniors, 8 Juniors and 8 Sophomores had to figure out how to answer them when the third period ended and EP was down by 3. It was looking tenuous for the "lads". Coach made a few adjustments, putting one of our toughest long-pole** Defensive players on one of the D2 scoring machines with one mission: keep him out of the "box". The EP boys proceeded to score 4 unanswered goals in 8 minutes in a most workmanlike manner. EP took possession of the ball in the last minute and effectively killed the rest of the period and held their lead. Our little group of moms huddled on a grassy hill at the side of the field burst out in huge cheers (mostly because we'd spent the entire game being heckled by a bunch of Bloomington STUDENTS and we were tired of it.) So exhilarating! Two more games next week and then the playoffs start.

**A standard Lacrosse pole used at Attack and Midfield (Middies) typically have a pole that is approximately 40-42 inches long, they cannot be shorter than 40". The Defense position is typically played with a longpole that can measure up to six feet long. The extra leverage can give down field passes extra distance and are a daunting defensive weapon. Teen plays Attack and Puck plays D. Thus ends your Lacrosse lesson for the day.

Back From the Missing Tuesday.


Pattern: Copper Penny Socks (Rav link) by Nancy Bush from Knitting with Handpainted Yarn Yarn: Pigeonroof Studios Superwash Merino Sock Yarn Color: Punk Needles:Knitpicks Harmony DPN's US 1/2.25mm Started: April 23, 2009 Completed: May 2, 2009.

Note: Started these as my new "Knitting Group" socks, but I haven't been able to go to group for a week or two (and I have to miss tomorrow as well - Dentist). Maybe because it was a nice break from all that ribbing that the Copine requires.

Speaking of Copine - I'm about 2/3 of the way through the ribbing so I'm getting inspired to get that stretch finished. In the meantime, I cast on the Diminishing Rib Cardigan from the Spring '09 IK and I am telling you - Yum. (I'll show you the beginning tomorrow, Oblique went by the wayside.)

Speaking of Interweave Knits, is anyone else as ambivalent as I am about the patterns in the Summer issue? I was pretty disgusted after one page-through, and it didn't get any better on the second or third try. I actually liked Annie Modesitt's pretty cardigan, but there's no way I'm wearing plaid and stripes together. Her skirt was cute too, but again, I'd maybe make it for my teenaged nieces (but the pattern was not small enough, those girls are skinny-minnies), but I would not wear it. The rest of the hole-filled, drop-stitched drek just made me really impatient. Hey IK - might be time for a marketing focus group study!

The boys' Lacrosse team both won their games on Friday night. One of the biggest challenges of the season is coming tomorrow. Jefferson Bloomington - they're picked to be one of the challengers in the state tournament in June.