Another Leaf Day

So, while I was writing the last post, the nephews and crew arrived in the neighborhood and commenced with the Big Leaf Day. Seriously, Margie has a lot of leaves. So, being the dutiful aunt that I am, I couldn't help but start snapping away:
They're all pretty self explanatory, I don't think captions are really needed. Alright, don't want to overload you on the cute, we'll move on to the boring. The knitting. Let's just get the orange out of the way first.
Yesterday I managed to work most of the foot at work. I was counting down the pumpkins I had left to work, which probably made it seem to take longer than it actually did. Just the toe left to do (yay!) which will probably get done today at work - hey, what else is there to do while sitting at 2 basketball practices?
Maddie gave her approval of the socks, and would like to get a bit more attention. She is very neglected after all.

I was wrong the other day about my Tapestry Cowl. I only worked 3 more rows (to finish the patterning) and then the border.
And then it was onto Kitchenering 220 stitches. 220. I know that most of my readers are non-knitters and really don't know what I'm talking about, but knitters - you will understand. 220 stitches. Oi. And at one point, I was seriously concerned that I hadn't left a long enough tail!
But all was well. And the cowl is great. I'll show a pic of me wearing it another day, so that you'll know that if I had done the 20 more rows that the pattern called for, it would have covered my entire face.

And now for a new project. After the cowl was done, I needed something new. So I started a hat:
Looks like a hat doesn't it? Ellie was most confused - but she was highly distracted by the fact that her fantasy players weren't getting her enough points (haha - she didn't check her roster and had a player and her defense on bye!). Anyway, that's what it looked like Sunday night. By Monday afternoon, it looked like this:
More hat-like right? Very interesting construction. By Tuesday afternoon, it looked like this:
Yay, done hat! Boo, it's too big. So Ellie might be getting this one. It's very soft and I'm sure crazy warm (50/50 wool/llama will do that). The Cascade Pastaza probably wasn't the best choice of yarn - it's such an in between weight. It's listed as Aran, but definitely works more like a chunky or bulky. I'll probably make another one of these, but with different yarn, and hopefully it will fit me. Oh yeah, the pattern is Quincy from the Made in Brooklyn booklet.

Another new knit, is a Christmas gift. But Bridget doesn't read the blog, so I can show it. Soon, there won't be much that I'll be able to show so I should get it in now.
That's the start of an Ishbel. That is soon to be ripped out. Confession time: What I hate about my knitting. I hate that I have bad tension between my knits and purls. (Enough with the weird knitting jargon already!) Let me show you.
See those wonky stitches? That's what's causing most of the puckering in the first picture. Yeah, that doesn't go away with blocking. Basically what needs to happen is that when I re-do this, one needle needs to be smaller than the other so that the stitches will end up being the same size. And the finished object will be pretty. And I will be happy. Yes I am a perfectionist when it comes to little things like this. I can control it, therefore I can be obsessive. You'll see it again, and it will be pretty.

Officially

Fall season is officially over. Volleyball lost a heartbreaker yesterday in 5. Last Saturday (can't believe I didn't blog this week), football lost - they were winning the entire game, until the last 1:22. Ugg. And then boys soccer went on to lose as well - no one really expected them to beat that team - they were just too good, and they moved down from DII this year. So it's now officially winter. Boys basketball and hockey (varsity level) started on Friday.

I'm officially trying to fight off some kind of cold like bug. Lots of nasty icky tasting things to combat it. Lots of sleep. But so far, it seems to be working. If I can just hold it off so it can't take hold of my entire system, I think I'll be okay.

I'm officially annoyed with my fantasy football team. I'm currently in 4th place. My sister is still in 1st. And there isn't a flippin tight end worth anything available to add to my lineup. Several of the kids at work have offered to try to help me. I try to tell them that I'm doing what I need to do, I've got the best I can get. They say no, and then they look at my league and what's available and then they agree - I've got the best that I can have.

I'm officially out $15-$20 on the Amazing Race pool. It's been long enough that it shouldn't be a spoiler any more. 45 minutes. You can't force yourself down a water slide in 45 minutes!?! That's all I'm going to say, or I'll get annoyed, again.

I'm officially a bit crazy. When the "classes" came out this month on Ravelry, I came up with something to do for all of them. Again. And I somehow think that I'm going to get all of them done, and maintain sanity. hahahaha.

I'm officially 72% done with my slogging cowl:
Yeah, it's that bad that I'm figuring out the exact percentage based on number of rows I've done. But it's really pretty. And I may not do the whole pattern, it's getting kinda long. I'll work a bit more and try it on and ask for opinions then decide. Here's the inside:
Still so cool that it's reversible. I officially still love it. And can't wait to have it done.

Here's where the crazy starts. I decided that for the one class that's a WIP (work in progress) assignment, I would finally finish this:
Officially Crazy. With a capital C. The long languishing Mystic Waters shawl. Yeah, looked it up on my pattern page, started this bad boy in February 2008. Yikes. And I'm not really that far from being done. These pics were taken as the before.
Can you believe it? 28 inches from top to bottom, and I'm not done yet. And it's not blocked. Imagine if I were doing the large size. It would be longer than I am tall. Not hard to do, but still. So officially, I'm about 80% done with this one. Since the photos, I finished a few rows, which puts me at having completed 250. The last row I have to work before bind off for the small size is 289. See not that bad? Still crazy though.

I am officially in love with this next project. Officially. Don't want to work on anything else. Actually want to cast on another one, in different yarn and rework the edge I couldn't get to work the night I started this, but since have had a brain wave about. May be the first pattern I ever design and release. Crazy talk right?
How could you not love it? It's handspun! It's entrelac! It's gorgeous! It's soft! It's not for me. However, if mom leaves the house without wearing it, I may snag it every now and then (but don't tell her that).
Yes, this is part of her Christmas present. And yes she reads the blog. But she already knew about this. And the other part that I finished but haven't photo'd to feature here (note to self). And she knows about the other part, that will probably be used before Christmas. But hey, it's all good, she doesn't mind (at least I don't think she minds, she hasn't said she does). I can probably say that I'm officially at the 30% mark with this one. Not entirely sure, we'll see how long it ends up. First attempt at this kind of thing, and it's not so easy to stretch out in mock blocking.

Here is the official pic with orange in it. To continue the trend started in October.
I'm at the heel flap which means I'm almost officially 50% done with this sock. Yay. Still digging the orange. Which is weird for me. I think it might be the Wollmeise fumes. They get to you.

I also have 7, yes I said seven, hats to make this month. Haha. That's the other part that makes me crazy. 3 of them are color work, 2 of which I still need to work charts out for. 3 of them are kiddo sized, 2 of which I need to decide on a pattern for, 1 is going to be tricky just because of the materials (ooh, the mystery!). And one will be for me. Maybe - that's up for debate. Christmas is coming after all. Officially only 46 days left. Maybe I should go knit....

Mid Month Report

How is it the middle of October already? And why does it feel more like the middle of November weather-wise?

Last week was rainy and chilly, this week it's been rainy and cold. There's a difference. How can you tell the difference? This week, the fire got turned on. That's the difference. Last Friday was was chilly and rainy, so what better to do than go apple picking?
Miss Kaylee is an excellent apple picker - I really wish I had taken video so that you could hear her, "I can twist and pull! I did it! I put it in your bag Aunt Annie!"
She also picked a lovely pumpkin. Can you tell that she's a bit of a ham? Perfectly posing herself for the camera.

Last Saturday was homecoming, and... first football win! Boys soccer also won that morning, as well. Football plays again tonight - in Ashtabula. Might be a bit rough. My best two linemen are injured. One isn't playing at all, and the other one is going to try - he's promised to take himself out if his elbow (which requires micro-fracture surgery, that he's putting off until after basketball season) hurts too much. Which we all know won't happen, so if he reverts to his, I'm-not-moving-my-arm-while-playing pose, I'll sit him. All 6'7" of him. Good times. Did I mention that there's a chance for rain/snow mix tonight? Can't wait!

But having the game tonight means that I've got tomorrow to myself for knitting and college football! Good games tomorrow - Texas/Oklahoma and then the big one, ND/USC. Fingers crossed. Before football though, I'm supposed to go apple picking again, with my nephews - keep your fingers crossed that the weather permits the outing. I'm hoping to up the adorable pictures with some in the pumpkin patch...

Speaking of pumpkins, I finished the first Kleine Kurbisse sock.
Here's the stitch pattern unstretched - doesn't look like much right?
But when you stretch it out, you really see the pumpkins. I love it.
I also finished up a pair of slippers for Aubrey - why is it that anything knit in baby sizes is automatically cuter?
They are to match the slippers I'm making for Peggy (her birthday present, as requested) which are currently in progress:
I've started the second one, hoping to go to Ellie's sometime this weekend or maybe Monday to felt them so I can finish them.
That picture was just for scale, the mama slippers are seriously ginormous. I got an order in from Webs yesterday, which means that after the second slipper is done, I can start another project, which is (hopefully) going to be awesome. In my head it is awesome, which sometimes worries me, other people tend to give me the "crazy look" when I think a project is this awesome.
Very excited about that pattern booklet too, it's awesome as well. Especially for this sweater - can't wait to make one. That photo, btw, gives no hint to the awesome project. You'll have to wait on that one.

The last project I though was particularly awesome - still to be featured on the blog, it hasn't been gifted yet - earned me a prize on the Harry Potter Rav group, which arrived in the mail yesterday (it was a good mail day!)
Stitch markers that are inspired by Professor Trelawney (crazy Divination teacher from the books) and are themed on tea leaf readings. Very cool.

I've been slowly adding to my Tapestry Cowl this week. It's such a time suck, just to get the 3 rounds a day. It doesn't help that I'm easily distracted while knitting it. Need to not watch anything interesting on tv while knitting on it.
But it's really pretty, and so soft, I'll be happy to wear it when it's done. I need to get going on some spinning this weekend as well.
Pretty Fire fiber. Hoping for a 2-ply DK to worsted weight yarn out of this. We'll see how it goes. This is the order that the fiber will be spun, attempting to spin the 2 halves in the same order, so there's another four bits that look just like this.
Going to be really cool, and very season appropriate. Good for football watching - because Sunday is Browns/Steelers, followed by Halloween card crafting with Meagan - it's going to be a good weekend! Hope everyone else has a good one too - especially the Jersey folks, Mom is visiting this weekend for Miss Sarah's birthday party! So jealous!

Definitely Autumn

Long silence, I know. Slightly busy, it's the time of year. Had another football game - 2 hrs each way on the bus, rained again, lost again - so we're keeping fingers crossed that it doesn't rain for the Homecoming game on Saturday. Because I'm not really sure that I can handle 3 straight games in the rain, not to mention that the soccer game is before the football game, which would mean lots of time in the rain. I did have something to help with the autumn chill last game:

Managed to have just the hat done in time for the game, got most of the first mitt done on the bus ride. Finished the second mitt on Monday, so they're ready for action. Used the pattern Cairn, from the Whimsical Little Knits booklet, and am calling them my Sideline Spirit, as they are in school colors.
During the Steelers game on Sunday night (btw, Steelers - enough with the 4th quarter meltdowns!) I finished my mittens:
Which meant that this week I needed to cast on for the semi-matching cowl. I'm doing the Tapestry Cowl, which is gorgeous, but time consuming, as double-knitting tends to be.
I figured that to have it done by the end of the month, I need to do 3 rows a day. I can handle 3 rows - well, technically they're rounds, but whatever. Much more than the 3/day and my hands, particularly my left thumb, start to hurt. The price you pay for gorgeous knits.
See, I've started the pattern rows, yippee. Only 64 more to go! Also in the line of new knits (can you tell it's a new month?) are my amazing new socks.
Now known as Kleine Kurbisse (there's supposed to be an umlaut over that u, but I don't know how to do that). Why the Deutsch? I'm using the infamous Wollmeise yarn in the colorway "Kurbis" which is German for pumpkin, and the pattern is "Little Pumpkins", so I translated that into German, and voila! The yarn is amazing, seriously, I know that people go on about it, and now I get it.
Can you see the pumpkins? (They're sideways, didn't mean for that to be posted like that, sorry.) Aren't they adorable? I know, another example of Annie being way too easily amused. I realized that I haven't gotten around to showing you the famed Baktus of black-hole-knitting-on-the-bus fame, so here it is:
So Euro. Love it. I think it will come in very handy this winter in the new training room - as I have no idea as to what the heating situation in the new building will be, probably chilly, we'll have spent too much money on the new building to afford the heating costs. Not to mention, I love it. And I'll probably make more - so put in your Christmas orders now (family members only please, until they figure out how to add hours to the day).
See the pretty new fiber? Water shipment in the the fiber club. So pretty, I'm such a sucker for blues and greens. Just have to find time to work on spinning it.

Lost in the blog silence was Mason's birthday party. He was having an Aunt Ellen day - clung to her like no other.
See? Too cute. Went way over on points that day. And here was the present of the day, courtesy of Aunt Ellen.
That picture makes it seem like they actually played "together", hahahaha. Sadly, a planned trip to apple/pumpkin picking with the kiddos was rained out last weekend, hoping to go next weekend. though