A real Hero

So last week in history marked a special event... Friday was National Obervance of POW/MIA - and as luck would have it.. i was within 4 feet of a true american hero on Friday...A POW, now aged 90.. survived the Bataan Death March & was a POW for 3 years.....and I was too chicken to tap him on the shoulder and say "hi"..... next time... i will and ask him to take my picture with me.... if you can.. buy a copy of Soldier Slave by James W. Parkinson and Lee Benson.... and grab a box of tissue...

SFS knitting

I've been trying really hard to keep up on my SFS knitting and have signed up for and got a mentor...i need that accountability... my local yarn shop does not carry the regulation yarn, so i either have to order a bag of 10 balls (not bad, realy), or order via SFS... so here we have my first "kit" - the yarn is no longer officially used, and I used some of it to warp my loom; the Lambs Pride (3 balls/greyish in color), i believe is still used, but cant recall if its for regulation socks or leisure socks.. and finally - a BBS or big black stock on the needles... sadly, this yarn is no longer used and it may become a pair of socks for me... SFS socks have a 12" leg - then the heal... and then the foot.. and why oh why do soldiers have such large feet... i think every knitter wishes she had married a man with small feet...ok. loom is being stupid; no official yarn for SFS, so back to baby sweater knitting today.

Staying on Track

Well, I've had the best of intentions, really I have...Life just continues to get in my way.
I requested and got a mentor for my Socks for Soldiers group - just to stay on track, be accountable and have someone to report in to. It's been a bust. My LYS did not have in stock the regulation yarn (Regia #124), but I can order it thru the SFS group. IF I can remember my password to my old email account, which I can't. Tried too many times to guess last night and it locked me out for 12 hours! CRAP!

I set aside a realy cute baby sweater (the peanut is due 10/17) to knit up a beanie cap for a friend's b-day. Going to buy buttons tonight and then its in the mail...

I'll post pictures tonight of my SFS stuff, and some baby stuff...its all on my laptop at home.

Bad Habits

I promised several times to be more frequent in my postings, but this time i mean it...i swear.. taking pics this weekend.. promise.

Weaving's AhhhHaaa momment

You know that real bummer part of dressing your loom (Ashford, ridgid heddle), when you've got your yarn all squared away and it's time to wrap it up on the beam...and you need someone to hold the ends while you wind it up?? Sometimes spouse is not around, or its like 11 at night and neighbors are not too keen about your knock on the door, "say, can you help me out with my loom?" Not a very good idea.... and then - as I watch the video for putting together my new Julia loom.... I see the nice lady wrapping up ALL BY HERSELF!! How is that possible you ask?? By doing this:

How stinking brilliant is that?? A simple weight at the end of your warp yarn!! This weight was taken off my antique circular sock knitting machine... but you could run over to your handy dandy Ace Hardware, buy yourself a big ole "S" hook and some big ole bolts and/or washers and spiffy just like that - you can dress your loom 24/7 with no help!! Whhhoo Hooo. This little bit of stuff (50/50 cotton/linen) will be a set of 3 wash clothes - using a cool technique to put little nubby loops in it, just like your run of the mill store type wash clothes and towels..

Lace Dress is DONE

Well, it has taken at least one year.. I found a picture taken Feb. 9, 2009 of just the skirt part being done...if nothing else, I am persistant.....I am happy with out it turned out...it fit, thank G*d...after ripping and decreasing needle sizes.. the recipient is a widget in size, can't tell from the pictures, but (and The Girl, if she reads this, don't be mad) but seriously, there are some 7th graders bigger than this 25 year old. If I were to dunk her in water, she'd maybe be 99lbs.. so, see, its a small dress and smaller than the original patttern's smallest size.. hence a year in the making... It's done and now on to other things.. Like that horrid Tree of Life afgan from Lion Brand, who they say has no errors in the pattern, so, I guess it's just vague and ambiguous then.... rat bastards...

Military Mail

OK, not sure who is in charge of processing military mail coming from overseas.... but last week I got a card from a military person, postmarked Jan 4th - well, that's reasonable... but today, January 25th.. I get a Christmas card from the same person, dated 12/15/09 and post marked December 24th...hmmmmmm.. governmental efficiency?? oxymoron?? you decide.

Stuff...

First, to avoid confusion to a family member whose blog i just posted to... I am not really crazy. This blog was created for the purpose of knitting exchanges, etc. Hence the rather one subject posting bits....I had to out myself to post on your blog...it's cute..

Second: To my friend who thought that weaving would be a good hobby - thinking a loom would not take up too much room, nearly causing me to pee my pants... I have pictures to post... stay tuned.. emailing them now from cell phone to email.....check back in a few min.