Merry Belated Christmas!

First of all, happy "kidneyversary" to me. Six years and counting since the wife of a wonderful man agreed to donate her husband's kidneys after he was killed in an accident. Thank you, Carole!

Now, for your entertainment: http://tackychristmasyards.com/

OMG I love it!

I take it back. My neighbors' lights are not as bad as they could be.

We had a calm Christmas in Mifflintown, then I came home to some happy, happy cats.

Luckily for me, Mom had a wallet that she didn't want, because as I was transferring credits cards and things, I realized that my driver's license had EXPIRED at the beginning of the month. Who knew that licenses in PA are good for only four years. I'll swear on any number of Bibles, Korans, Torahs, you name it, I did NOT get a photo card application in the mail back in October! Thank heavens the license center in Pleasant Gap is open every day but Sunday! Of course, I "had" to check out some of the stores while I was that close. I did get some good pants and tops for school.

Knitting is moving on. Alisa requested "funky earflap caps" for herself and three friends. Oh dear, that means I'll "have" to go yarn shopping sometime soon!

My Birthday!

It's my birthday today.

Fifty-two years ago today, I was born in the William Beaumont Army Hospital to William and Betty Davis, a young military couple from Pennsylvania. Dad was in the Air Force and stationed in El Paso, Texas. He and Mom had gotten married at Front Royal, Virginia, on March 23, 1954, then had lived in California for about a year before he was transferred to Texas.

I'm a Designer!

I'm also very easily impressed with myself. I posted a link to the Melinda Hat on Ravelry. I am now a designer. Woo hoo!

I worked on the prototype a bit during school today. Students were impressed. Does that mean the hat has trans-generational appeal?

I should work on tweaking the numbers now for true bulky yarn.

Melinda's Chevron Hat from Ghost Whisperer on 11/23

So, I wonder how many knitters were watching last Friday when Melinda and Jim were camping. "Suddenly from across the land came up the cry, 'I want that hat pattern!'" First problem, no one could find any good still photos from that show. (Oops, okay, someone found one and there it is.) Second problem, no one else understood our collective angst. I'm sure others have come up with a pattern; here's mine.

This is very much "in progress" as I had to work with the yarn in stash. Luckily, I still had some Noro Kureyon, so I played with that. Remember I knit loosely. YM Will V! You may want to tweak numbers, as in change the caston count and the number of stitches on the flat sides of the chevrons for thinner or bulkier yarn.

So, let's get started already! On size 5 needles (or whatever you're comfortable with), cast on 84 stitches. Join, being careful not to twist, yada yada. Mark the first stitch, moving marker as needed.

Row One: Knit

Row Two: Purl

Row Three: Knit

Row Four: Purl

Row Five: Knit

Row Six: Purl

Rows Seven AND Eight, and all subsequent even rows: Knit.

Row Nine, and all subsequent odd rows until you're ready to decrease: *increase by picking up and twisting the bar between the stitches, k1, increase by picking up and twisting the bar between the stitches, k5, double decrease by slipping the next two stitches TOGETHER as if doing a k2tog, knit the next stitch, pass the slipped stitched back over the knit stitch so that the center of the three is stacked on top, k5* repeat between ** five more times, end k1 (the loop from the first increase) and slip marker showing beginning/end of round. BTW, if you want to throw in a purl row instead every ten rows or so, it looks pretty cool. On the "hat in question", there was a purl row about six rows up from the edging.

When the resulting tube is about ten inches long (otherwise known as "long enough"), begin your decrease rows on an odd row.

Decrease Row: Just don't do the increases! *Knit to one stitch before your DD line. Slip the next two stitches together, knit the next stitch, and pass the slipped stitches over.* Repeat around. Knit one row even.

Continue in this manner (switch to dpns when you need to) until you have completed the round that is k1, DD around. K2tog around. Cut the yarn, leaving yourself a generous tail. Thread a yarn sewing needle and go through all the remaining loops. Let them come off the needle and snug up the yarn. Work the needle through those final six loops again if possible, then go down through the "donut hole" in the center of the gathered stitches and sew in your end on the inside of the hat. Do the same with any remaining tail at the beginning.

Voila hat!

Another Sunday.

Thanksgiving is this Thursday. We're still waiting to hear from Bill and other Alaskans about their intended arrival time at HIA. (It's a good thing that I can take yarn and knit while waiting!)

Sissy spent three weeks at "grandma camp" and did a good job scaring mice, not so good a job at actually catching any. Next thing we're going to try is rotating "kitty blankets" between Saltillo and Helltown in an attempt to keep a cat smell in the house.

I did frog the sweater mentioned in the last post and turned it into four pairs of mittens of various sizes. I'm going to try to get them in the mail to the reservations, along with at least one pair from the Knitivity yarn I got a few weeks ago. Off to knit!

It's Sunday, and tomorrow is "Columbus Day" (sorry, I'm old-school, and Columbus Day is October 12!). SHC students have the day off while the teachers do some Act 80 inservice.

When I'm done here, I'm planning on catching the rest of "In the Kitchen with Bob" on QVC while knitting something for charity. I really like the idea... I think it was Bev Qualheim's.

I should work on some mittens or socks for A4A. Lord knows I have enough yarn around here! I may even have some wool upstairs... or I can frog the illusion sweater that's going nowhere and use that wool. It's sock wool, but doubled would provide some warmth.

School is going as well as can be expected. (Aargh! Third period! All boys! 'Nuff said!)

The cats are great. Mom's going to "borrow" Sissy for a week or so to either catch the mice that have moved into her house or scare them out by putting cat smells in.

Toodles! Will try to post at least once a week from now on. I really should report on the total fun I had last Saturday in Central Park in NYC!

It's Labor Day (in the US), so no school today. I'm still thinking about "afternoon entertainment", but as it's already after noon, I'd better get cracking!

I finished Brit's afghan and need to wash it before I give it to her. I've also come to the conclusion that the Morehouse Farm Dragon Scarf must be frogged and reknit on larger needles. Right now it's too stiff, which is surprising because I actually used the recommended needle size and I normally go down two!

The incision is still healing and is itchy today. I guess that's a good thing.

Four days of school this week, with Picture Day on Friday. Should be fun! (NOT)

Back to school again. I've been teaching at the same school since 1980, so I'm getting a lot of "how many more years" questions. My answer? I'm only 51 (52 in December). It's too soon for me to think of retiring, even if it's not too late to start planning.

FREE KNITTING PATTERN - Garter and Rib Basketweave Baby Blanket

This is not a precise pattern. It's an idea-generator.

Start with the yarn(s) you like and a needle size that works well with that fiber.

Cast on an uneven multiple of 8. With doubled worsted weight yarn, I cast on 120 stitches (8 x 15... I'm a little superstitious; 13 repetitions would have been wide enough, but...)

Rows 1 through 12: K8 *k1p1 four times, k8* repeat across.

Rows 13 through 24: K1p1 four times, *k8, k1p1 four times* repeat across.

Continue these 24 rows until your blankie is almost long enough, then repeat rows 1 through 12 one more time and bind off loosely.

You get a blanket with nicely scalloped edges, taking advantage of the natural tendancies of ribbing to suck in sideways and garter stitch to pull in top to bottom. When I did this with doubled yarn, the resulting blanket was nice and "cushy", but even the other single stranded ones were quite nice as well.

Enjoy!

Copyright 8/16/2007 by Lisa Davis

I WANT IT TO BE SPRING!!!

This picture was taken in my front yard last summer. Yes, I have submitted it to Birds and Blooms.

Snow on Saint Patrick's Day? Yuck!

I didn't even get a lot of knitting done... although the clapotis from the recycled rayon yarn is looking quite nice.

Just me and the cats enjoying a weekend in.