Oooh it's cold

We're leaving for Florida at the end of the month.  All that's left to pack is our clothes.  I have been knitting and I've finished a few things.  I have projects laid out all around my office.  Jeff and Stacey are expecting twins in March.  I'm going to be a Grandma:)) and it's bloody cold here.

Florida here we come

Martin and I have friends who go to Clearwater, Florida every winter and have just bought a condo.  We'd never even discussed it but in a matter of few days we went and bought one too.  I'm finding myself wanting to rush summer to go and try it out:)

While we were there I promised Merle I would teach her how to make socks.  We cast on a baby sock and got right to it.  Before I left she had cast on a sock for herself.  She has now started the heel flap and I've been knitting a sock to catch up to her so I could take pictures. 

It's really too bad I don't have a live in photographer as taking a picture of oneself knitting is rather difficult.

Ok Merle these pictures are for you:) 

Click on picture to make larger.

This is the worst picture of the bunch, sorry.  Slip 1st stitch purlwise on public side of knitting.  The yarn is behind.

Picture #2, slipping the 1st stitch purlwise on the private side.  You can see the yarn is in the front. Another way to get the yarn in front is to use your working needle to move the yarn to the front.  If you somehow make a stitch you can just knit it together with the next stitch. 

I have finished heel flap and have turned the heel.  I'm showing the 1st part of the stitch to be  picked up, the 2nd loop is hidden behind my finger.

Out of order sorry, this one shows you the gap when turning the heel.  I've got the 1st stitch of the k 2 together and the gap and the 2nd stitch that when executing the k2tog will close up the gap.

I'm showing you the wrong side so that you can see the two loops that you need to pick up.  Often you will have to turn the knitting slightly so that you can see the loops.

The first stitch on the working needle is the extra stitch that I picked up so there would not be any holes when you get back to knitting in the round.  You are in the process of getting back into the round.  The 2nd is in the process of being picked up and you can see the 2 loops clearly.

This picture shows after you have picked up the stitches on the 2nd side and you have knitted half of the stitches of the turned heel.  Now place a marker, this is the start of the round from here on in.

What I'm trying to show you here is that the sole stitches are all on one needle.

The back view which clearly shows that the instep stitches are on one needle.  The majic loops are between the instep stitches and the sole stitches, never shall the twain meet. 

Finally figure out what to do with it

Years ago BR (before Ravelry) I used to spend quite a bit of time and money on EBay.  I bought about 10 lbs of Recycled Silk.   When it arrived Shawn (sister) said it was beautiful I should frame it.  I've knit a few swatches, started a few things but in the end I've ended up frogging them.  Today I threaded a warp and am starting a sample (swatch like in knitting).  I'm going to make a bedspread for a single bed.  I don't think Juanita (daughter) reads the blog so I think I'm safe, I'm also using a bulky weight wool/acrylic mix which used to be a sweater  for her.  It was boring and I'm afraid if it doesn't do anything for me it's frogville for the project.  I'll try and remember to take some pictures.  Since Ravelry I take pictures of all the yarn that comes into the house.  Slowly I'm adding older stash to Ravelry's database but it's a big job and I'd rather be doing other things.  If I've got any of the weaving terms wrong do forgive me cause I'm very new to this:)  I've made a runner for something, not sure what.  I have a big hobby already and was not sure I really wanted another one.  That darn Wendy, she talked me into it:)  Suzanne is making material in black alpaca for her and Norma and is going to sew the jackets.  I'm green with envy. 
I'll leave you with a picture of some Bugga which I managed to buy in a destash on Ravelry.

Haleluya

Haleluya I'm knitting again.  I could not figure out what was going on.  I've had a day or two now and again where I couldn't decide what to start next but this was the worst ever.  I worked on "Go with the Flow" by Fiona Ellis today and hopefully I'll be able to wear it this summer.  I'm nearly at the point where I start the decreases for the underarms.  I'm using Rowan 4ply Cotton, I usually avoid cotton like the plague but this one is not hard to take.  It's not rubbing the skin off my fingers:)

Martin's father died last week and he's off to the UK on Thursday.  It's much different in the UK than it is here.  We nearly missed his Mom's funeral cause we went to soon.  We had so hoped to see him at least one more time.  Papa was not happy being in the nursing home.  There is not the time to plan taking his ashes to Cornwall so we will probably go back in the summer and we'll all get together to celebrate his life.  Unfortunately I can't go for the funeral as we are too busy here with snow mobilers and we don't have any staff to leave in charge, so I'm it.  Once Martin comes back he's going to Sudbury with Brian to play in a bridge tournament and once he gets back I'm going to go and visit Mom and Dad in Florida for a few days to get some sun, "Glorious Sun".  Shawn and I have been going on a daily basis to their house to feed the deer, birds and the squirrels.  Usually Mom and Dad get up around 6:30 and the deer are waiting for them.  I don't get there till later in the afternoon.  This is picture of a deer Sadie and I saw on our walk behind Lakeshore.  Actually Sadie is too pokie she only noticed this one when it had started to run off.  Oh well she does love a chase.  Just in case you are worried, the deer is under no threat from Miss Sadie.

What to Knit

Since I published "Socks for His Nibs" I'm stuck.  I've had a couple of ideas for another pair or two of socks but can't seem to make up my mind.  Maybe I should devote some time to some lonely socks who need mates. Maybe then I'll get my knitting mojo back. 

This is one of the lonely socks, all the other one needs is a leg and then a sumptuous pair of cashmere socks by PoshYarns.  I'm knitting these toe up, majic loop.  When I switch needles, after the 2nd stitch, I give a hefty tug so as not to get any ladders and I've broken the yarn, twice!  I have a few other skeins by Posh and hope this is just me being too rough.  The yarn is sooo soft.
I'm off to study swatches:)

Socks for His Nibs is on Ravelry

Yeahhhhh  I finally figured out how to put Socks for His Nibs on Ravelry as a free download. Sandy sits at the help desk all the time except when she eats and sleeps.  My goodness there are sure a lot of dedicated people on Ravelry. 

Recycled Silk

Years ago on Ebay I bought some recycled silk made from remnants of Saris.  I tried knitting a few things with it but because it is so rustic, thick and thin it was very difficult to get gauge.  Now that the Weaving bug has bitten me on Monday I'm going to set up a loom at the weaving studio to make a bedspread for a single bed.  It will work up fairly quickly as it is so thick.  I would say it's a bulky weight. 
Not much to tell on the knitting front as I wait for Ravelry to connect "Socks for His Nibs".  Can't seem to start anything else at the moment. 
I got a new laptop which has a webcam on it.  I thought I'd have to read a manual to figure out how to use it but it's easy to use and had some fun with it last night. 

This is a picture of the baby Socks for His Nibs.  Blogger has sure made some improvements to their software.  It's much easier to insert pictures than it used to be. 

Nearly there

Socks for His Nibs has been edited so many times I've lost count.  I think I've figured out how to upload it on Ravelry and now we wait till it's finalized.  It's been quite the journey from idea to completion.  My friend Wendy and my new friend Sharon test knit for me.  They had so many suggestions and corrected so many of my mistakes I hate to think what it would have looked like without them.  I made 3 1/2 pairs of socks and 3 baby socks out of the pattern that I couldn't see the forest through the trees.  My friend Karen of Wynterblue Publishing did the final edit and made the file look presentable.  I might have posted the pattern sooner but I could not take a decent picture to save my soul.  Stephanie of Aloeroot Web Services helped me with getting the Word Document into a PDF File.  I've got my next pattern charted up and waiting for me to start.  I think this one will be a bit easier.  It's not a difficult pattern, it's toe up and the gusset is lovely.  Yarnissima (Marjan Hammink) is the designer who first came up with the unusual gusset.  I'd better go and check out what's happening on Ravelry:)))