Knitting, Unknitting and Reknitting

Well then.
I think it would be gross to fill those bunny nuggets with salsa.  They would get all soggy.  Eew.

I finished the latest ruffly scarf, the one with the German directions.  I tried it on and it seems short.  I can't loop it around my neck and still have enough to hang down enough to look lovely.  There was no specification in the directions for how many stitches to make for the scarf, so I used eight, since that was what I had used for the girls' scarves.  Now I think eight was too many.  So I un-knit it.  Boo.

Using my wicked math skillz, I decided that if the scarf were 4 feet long (just an estimate, I didn't measure) with eight stitches, and I decreased to six stitches, then the length would increase by a quarter.  Whether it's really true or not, just go with me here.  It makes sense to me.  If it were eight and I went to four, wouldn't the scarf be twice as long?  That's my logic anyhow.

So I've started again with six stitches.  I'll take it with me when I go to my soccer coach class this week and see how much I can get done during our down time.  I may be too sore at the end of the day to do anything but take a hot bath and go to bed.  We have to play soccer all afternoon.  I'm not in shape for that.

I also started on a pig, but it's on double pointed needles, and was a little trickier to start than I expected.  We'll see how that one goes.  Pig is on hold until scarf is done.  Oh, and I promised to finish the second little log cabin quilt for a silent auction on the 12th, so I have to get that done soon!

1.75 hours for me Saturday and yesterday, 9.5 total.

Margie

5... 5 fabulous seams!

I had in mind that I would do 10 seams today, which would finish the third and fourth blocks of 12x2, and then sew up three of the big blocks to make half of the quilt. However, I had a really frustrating time with the 6th seam - sewing it three times and removing the stitches three times as the fabric moves a bit after pinning each time - and so decided to take a nap. I did finish the third 12x2 block, but the rest will have to wait. Grump.

2:40 today, 33:40 total
Catherine

Meeting adjourned!

And now I am back at home, to tackle the increasingly annoying quilt. Today I sewed up the two 8's and two 4's to make a single 12x2 block, then sewed up 6 squares of four to make another 12x2 block. I had grand plans to finish two more of those, and perhaps even sew three of the big blocks together (to make half of the quilt!), but I got stuck on a seam that refuses to obey the laws of physics. Here is a picture.

For reals - I measured the 7 inches from the middle seam on both pieces of fabric, and then stuck them together and sewed it just like I wanted, and then measured again (just for fun, you know) and suddenly the distances were 6 and 7/8". ?? So I took it out and remeasured and remarked everything and resewed it, sewing (again) just like I wanted, and then measured and suddenly everything is 7 and 1/16".

????

Clearly a sign to call it quits for the day.


4:45 today, so 31 hours total.

Catherine

P.S. Yes, the bright and colorful pants! Clown pants, almost. I loved them too, but they wore out.

I Love Scientific Meetings

Especially when Catherine is the one attending them!

Mwa-ha-ha!

I took advantage of time at the eye doctor, dance class and my doctor appointment yesterday and today to rack up a whole...90 minutes of knitting!  Wild and crazy, I know.

I'm getting close to finishing the last ruffly scarf.  Luckily for me, I ordered a set of double pointed needles that I can use to make Bunny Nuggets.  That's right, bunny nuggets.  Here's a picture:

I tell you what, they're pretty cute.  I may put catnip in some and give them to the kitties.

I also have some farm animals to make for Smallest, and a beaded scarf for Middle.  We bought yarn and beads, but I couldn't get the beads to go onto the yarn, which makes it rather hard to make a beaded scarf.  So I will have to go back to the Yarn Store.  Gee, what a shame!

Anyhow, that's all I have for now.

1.5 hours for me, 9.25 hours total (that 7.45 should have been 7.75, as in 7 and 3/4).

Margie

Yowza!

Look at you go!  You need to go out of town.

I'm trying to think what patchwork pants you mean.  Perhaps those horrid green and black ones?  What a mistake those were.  Oh, maybe the very bright and colorful pants that I loved so much.  Darling didn't like them much, but that made them even more fun to wear.

I got to knit for 45 minutes while Smallest was at her ballroom lesson on Saturday.  Woo-hoo!

I think I'm in trouble here.

Soccer starts again tomorrow night, which will also cut into my free time.  Sigh.

Anyhow, I am tired and need to go to bed.

45 minutes for me.  7:45 total.

I did start teaching Smallest how to knit on Friday.  That should prove entertaining!

Margie

Germs, begone!!!

I send them out of you. Get better soon!

I had a most frustrating sewing day. I was hoping to finish sewing the pairs and the fours, but the seams for the fours were being ornery - I ended up sewing some of them more than 3 times before I could figure out how to get a seam that was perpendicular to the other axis and didn't make a giant mess. I think I finally have a good system figured out (the last two seams succeeded on the first try), but I'm calling it quits for the night. I did finish the last column of pairs, and did 2.5 columns of fours, so more than halfway done with the fours. Blergh indeed.

My machine also started squeaking again - this time we (i.e., me and evil twin) figured out how to get access to the moving parts and so used grease instead of spray to fix it. A bad side effect was that a nut fell into the machine and it was much work to retrieve it and put it back in place.

All of that took 4:30.

I also have a bit of hoarding to report - on Monday I took a look at my existing quilt (made from T-shirts of high school performances and such), figured out where the holes/worn pieces are and went through my fabric stash to find some replacements. Fortunately almost all of the problems are at the edge, so I hope I won't have to disassemble the whole thing. The funny thing for you, seester, is that some of the fabric I might use is from an old pair of patchwork pants you had and gave to me. The pants went out of style but I loved the fabric and kept it just in case!

That took about 30 minutes.

So, 26:15 total.

Catherine

Blergh

I have some illness creeping up on me.

Oh well.

I have been working on the next fluffy scarf.  It was the least intuitive yarn of the three, and the instructions on the band were all in German.  Not helpful when you took French in school.
I found the directions on the website of the yarn maker, so I'm on my way.

Not very fast though.

Maybe this weekend.  It's a holiday on Monday, which means I don't have to spend Sunday preparing for a class I'm teaching this semester.  Cutting severely into my fun time.

I spent too much time today on the Ikea kitchen planning website.  Evil!  We are buying a house, and I think it's better to redo the kitchen before we move in than after.
Just earlier this evening, I went to the Container Store website and was playing with their Elfa closet system planner too.  The closet in my bedroom is a converted other room (from an earlier renovation) and it's a little sad.  Would be nice to have something spiffy and pretty.

Anyhow, that's about it for me.  I'm not being very accurate with my time keeping.  Oh well again!

45 minutes recently, 7 hours total.

Margie