I've reached an all time low.......

.....so, lets get to some grossness, but I swear I'll have you laughing (or sympathizing) when I'm all done. Last night, I'm just hanging out, winding down from the weekend, knitting, when it hits me.......this is an emergency of catastrophic proportions if I "don't make it" in time, so....I run! whew.....just made it......out of the blue, no warning signs, and I am violently ill......but still knitting. that's how tough I am......20 minutes later I'm laughing on the phone with Micah about it and It hits me again, I hung up on him (I could hear him laughing all the way there) and grabbed the sock I was working all the ends in on and sat........and wove in the ends......cause I was going to be there a while......and I was........I also refuse to believe that I am the only knitting junkie that has ever worked out a project; on the "throne".

The socks are beautiful. Yarn is knit picks bare super wash DK , knit up at 6 sts per inch and dyed by me......at that gauge these are going to be some warm socks. They are for my loving wife, who is a tolerant soul. and she seems to love them. it was my first attempt at an adult pair of socks using the toe up afterthought heel method and if you haven't figure it out, I'm hooked......here's the final product.....

I am a big fan of the method, but I had been advised by my local sock guru's that I needed to work more than half the total stitches for the heel to improve the fit.....

That is where this pair comes in.....

When not working on an Eco wool swatch on the throne periodically today, I decided to rock the afterthought on the B/G sock (blue green, witty huh?) so I have more yarn to brag about.........

dig on these:

Somehow the pic turned pretty blurry, who knows....I don't think my camera is liking all the color....Maybe it's ready to be retired and upgraded to the Nikon D40.....one day I'll give one a new home. back to the socks, do I think working 6 extra stitches has helped the fit...who knows, I don't have a pair to compare to, but I know it feels right, so I'm sticking with it....

If I get another sick day at home tomorrow, I'll get to another post about dyeing with out vinegar....but until then, It'll have to wait till later in the week....but wait till you see the muted earth tones I came up with!

enjoy, and watch what you eat! You might just get a day at home on the throne.............

and then, there were sirens.........

So, I was on the phone with my brother from the same mother happily cranking away at the pair of knucks I've been on, waiting for the BBQ to heat up so I can start basting the babyback ribs (that were cut fresh at the butcher yesterday) that I'd been par-boiling for 3 hours, (I think thats a personal best run-on sentence) when the air raid sirens went off, letting me know there were tornados happening! No, I didn't take shelter, I shut off the grill, and grabbed a fresh beer and the camera! I'm telling you, one day when I can leave the midwest, I'm gonna miss the storms. That's about all I'll miss. It was a wild storm though, it literally wrapped it's way in a "V" shape around my neighborhood and pounded the rest of the city. We got about 5 minutes of heavy rain, and else where, huge hail, downed trees, the whole 9.

In other news, I spent my breakfast/coffee time this morning sewing in the ends of the knucks for my 9 year old.....


What I don't get about the pattern, is how in the world they were ever intended to fit adults. I'm getting a consistent 6 sts per inch, out of some thick DK (almost like worsted really) and am knitting the adult size in the pattern. The gauge calls for 6.5 to the inch. someone must have some little hands in her family if thats the large....... Who knows. Out of curiosity, I measured my hand right below the fingers.....yep, 10" around. I's a god damned bear paw, not a hand. suprisingly enough, my right hand (hammer holding hand) is just a bit smaller.....I would have thought it'd be the other way around....nature, hmmmm.
In my humble opinion, They provided this really nice chart in which it lists all the necessary measurements needed to knit them, use it. I have not been able to make a pair fit really well yet (all 3 previous pair have been tight) when I've followed the pattern and you all know how frusterating that is. I took all the necessary measurements, multiplied that by MY gauge, and followed that chart and set of the numbers I generated to the tee, loosely following the directions. I have to say, they fit the little man perfectly, and theres just a bit of room left to grow throughout the upcoming winter. Now, the trick will be to make the matching mate, although, I think I've got it. I do need to point out that Steve is the reighning champ at knitting these and has more pairs knit than anyone I know.........if you need advice on these, I suggest you ask him!
Behave this week, and don't drive through the high water.........

And 9 days later......

.....I was ready to post again, but really, I think progress photos tend to bore you 5 (micah, ger, david, don, dave) loyalists.....As some of you well know, I went camping, fishing, and drinking last weekend, after meeting the fellas for breakfast. I gotta say, I was an entirely more relaxed guy this week and definately needed it. Cast on the needles this week, since I finished the wifes socks, are a fresh pair of knucks.........

Yarn: KnitPicks Bare

100% merino DK

Dyed with Jacquard dyes

Theres a nice subtle color difference between the "fire red" and "Vermillion". I believe I overdyed the whole skein with yellow to try to liven the colors a bit, but I don't remember. At this point, It'd be best if I started recording this kind of info in a journal of some sort. I cast these on wednsday night for some variety.

On the other needles ar my Blue/Green socks. Still chugging away, just a bit burned out on them. lets see, I knit socks for B, another for me, then another for her, now the B/G socks, and I have another pair of bright yellow/cabled socks for her hogging the needles (aren't I nice?) so burned out on socks is a good description. here's progress on mine anyhow.:

I took this pic of the bottom not just to show all the light spots,(f-off, I like them) but to show the afterthought heel in progress. Micah and I both agree that half the stitches was not enough to put on the waste yarn (see-cider moon waste yarn leftovers) but that it might fit a bit better if more were included. I picked up an additional 6 stitches, 3 per side to decrease later when I unravel the whole thing. I'll take pics when I do it this time, I promise.

It's not only hot, but wet here now, which means humidity, and lots of it. the AC is running full tilt and all the boys (dog & cats)are sacked out napping. Man, that sounds good, but I got stuff to do tonight, (it is friday? right?) so enjoy your weekend, have some drinks and get prepared for fall!

A view from my office & FO!

.....So, sometimes, working for the who's who takes me to some fun places, over the top designed houses, and sometimes I even get "what it costs is what it costs" no budget types of projects. It's been a long time since I've said, "I've never seen anything like it"......or "it's the biggest one yet." but even at my relatively young age of 33, I never expected those 2 sentences to run on together.....This new one is not only going to be my biggest but the most detailed and expensive yet and it's the penthouse of a new 20 story building. So, do you want to see the ribbed watch cap, or the big building first? I thought so......




So, here is the Reality style photo from a few blocks away........yep, thats me on the left and the building on the right. The best part of the day is getting up to the top floor. Since the elevators haven't been inspected yet, and there's hundreds of people that need to get themselves, coffee, tools, lunchbuckets, brainbuckets (hard hats), materials, you name it up to their floor, there is a neat temporary elevator installed on the outside of the building. It runs along a single track, bolted to the structure and there is a really nice man who's job it is to stand in the dark box and run it up and down all day, except between 12-12:30 cause thats when he eats. Also, his last run is at 3:30, so if you aren't ready to leave, you had better have eaten a big lunch, cause theres 20 floors of steps to hike down if you miss it.









Here's a better pic of the elevator.......see it up there? Yep, right there on the left........thats it......

Now, "riding the box" is a real treat, totally enclosed on all sides, except the ends, let in this miniscule amount of light.

The ride stops here on the 20th floor.......See, I told you, Nice office view huh?.....It gets better, trust me. At 6:30, the sunrise is spectacular, but the clouds got me instead today, so I'll give you this instead.

The columbus skyline isn't so bad, and I think I'll enjoy the view for a few months and I'll share more as it progresses. I did promise a finished object, so here it is.

Since I suck at taking pics of finished objects, Here's the ribbed watch cap IU've been picking up and putting down since june.

Cider Moon, Glacier in Aubergine color

Just a simple ribbed watch cap.....

Cause, my feet are big, and one skein just won't cut it, so at least my head won't be cold this winter when I work outside.

Enjoy your week, and behave........

First.....You cut a hole in the box.....

.....So, for this week, I'll have more photos to share than writing, well, because I don't have much to say since I have spent an entire week knitting at all hours of the night with a sick dog.....I know he loves stealing the cats occasional treat of 9lives wet food, but I only turned my back on him for a second. I had a feeling something was really wrong here when both cats were eating out of the dogs dish, and the dog was happily wagging his tail next to them, licking his chops, like, "Hey dad, look! The kitties and I traded lunches!" Yep, good times for sure. At least nobody died.......

Alright, after that last morbid thought, I will set upon more lobying to get Chris to dye yarn and I think this one will do it. I finally got both B's socks to the point where I could throw in a stripe and get both rolling at the same time on 2 circs, just for the learning experience. Dig this:

I'm telling you, this is way easier than I thought it was going to be, But I think if I am not able to pay close attention, it's something that can be screwed up pretty easy. Out of the dye pots came some awesome charcoal grey for toes and heels and since I was chomping at the bit to see how the Blue/Greenish knit up, I put everything on hold last night, and cast on. By midnight, I was falling asleep, and had this for show and tell this morning.....Chris, get out your credit card and log on, you are going to need it.......

That's what I'm talkin'bout Willis!

this pic dosen't do the colors justice, but man are they ever cool. The "man tension" is in full effect and I am getting a solid 6 sts per inch out of the Kramer "Judy" superwash Merino DK (271 yards, 4oz.) and absolutely love knitting with the stuff. These are destined to become one of those "can't put them down" kind of projects for certain. I used some new wacky cast on Don turned me on to one night which is cast on 8 sts turkish style, knit one round and knit the next round with the tail end also, then on the next round, knit all 32 loops on both needles. I continued on with my normal directional increases all the way to 66 sts and started k3p3 ribbing for the top of the foot. I really like the 3x3 rib for 2 reasons. 1-it speeds up the ribbing considerably, and 2-It ends up looking more like a really wide wale corduroy. I just like it. I do.

That's all from the land of heat index's and humidity. I have been outside in this heat all week, and I plan to sit here at the kitchen table, Drink water and knit. By the way, does anyone know how many days till Maryland Sheep & Wool? Don't worry, I don't think we missed it.

cats vs. dogs

So, it's really early (almost 4AM), and if you have dogs, this has happened to you I'm sure. I keep wet food around for my cats just so when I run out of dry food, or they look like they need a treat, I can hook them up with some disgusting concoction. Problem is, the dog loves it. I can't leave the room or the cats get mugged of their meal. this apparently happened friday night, since he had "an upset stomach". this continued all weekend and was getting better, the only exception being the frequency of his "upset stomach" bouts. so here I am, just cleaned up the "upset stomach" destruction in the front hallway of my house, and am now debating on wether I should even go back to bed. At least he woke me up before round 2 hit.
on dyeing and knitting, I split a skein in 3rds, giving me about 90 yards apeice for each, specifically for toe/heel colors. I mixed up the correct formula, based on the mini skeins. There were no light spots this time from tying too tight, but it definately did not dye evenly. I have pics to follow this post but it almost looks like the gradiated dyeing I did a few weeks back. hmmmmmm..... the only thing I can think of is that the water was really hot when the yarn went in the bath. it soaked it up in like 2 minutes to the almost clear water part. who knows.
Dave? Any suggestions..........

Yeah, more dyeing........So, completely envious of Micah's striped socks, I had to give it a try on myself. I got the idea from See Eunny Knit, and what a slick little method this is. I stopped by the Merc yesterday for lunch and to snag some more yarn to boil up before heading home to get busy. These pics don't do the color saturation any justice, but I am relatively pleased:

Yarn:Kreamer "Judy"

100% Merino superwash

Dye: ProChemical

Like I said, I'm pretty pleased, but I did get a few light spots from where I tied it way too tight, but I was all riled up getting started so who knows. The blue-ish color is very even but the green is sort of verigated.....hopefully, it'll be a nice effect. I wound this puppy into a skein around my nule post and a chair placed 12' away. I dyed it in 2 stages, and I have to say, that skeins this long hanging to dry in this heat, take no time at all! Not much else to report here, I think I'll spend the morning hammering away at the second sock for the wife so I can get to casting on these! Enjoy .....

So, Let me first say that a few really good people e-mailed me and persuaded me to keep blogging, so here I am. I really do like getting comments, but no one likes being picked on, so heres my mini lecture. if you don't enjoy the content, don't come back...if you feel like being an asshole, please keep in mind that knitting is a small world, and I might just run into you somewhere, and may just decide to whip your ass because sensitivity and good judgement are not attributes that come easily to me, making rash decisions however I do very well. Enough about that. lets get to the yarn...
I got my first order in the mail from Pro Chemical today! I cannot say enough about their service. I even got to talk to someone on the phone about a question I had and man were they nice.....I can't say enough about them. Just look at all those colors....brown(I refuse to say mocachino), charcoal, avacado, mallard green, olive drab, and sun yellow.....that one, ummm, must have been a mistake, I check into that one later.

This colorful display was brought on by one of my little ones, who was lobbying for a new pair of knucks. That was all the excuse I needed to dye some up. I used Jacquard dyes and knit picks bare merino DK. I have some kraemer waiting for me this weekend though. I can't wait!
This was some leftover Dye I had lying around in a jar thatwhen diluted, made a really nice rose color, and the wife was begging for gloves knit from it. This yarn I scored from the wooster Ohio fiber festival back in june and although a bit scratchy, dyes well and isn't terrible to knit with.

All in all, dyeing has been one fun experiment, but I still haven't dyed for myself yet. This weekend, it's all about selfish dyeing and knitting!