My new favorite thing!

For the past week I have been obsessively knitting these wrist cuffs. I have endless little balls of yarn in my stash, as we all do, and what better way to use them up? They are super quick and super portable.
Now that my fingers have learned the linen stitch, I can sit in the back yard, enjoy the weather and knit mindlessly.

Now the closures. Hmmm, I don't have a stash of buttons anymore so I went on a quest. I hit up the Red Barn ( our local flea market) and wandered all through that to find buttons. Somebody must have a jar of buttons like the one my momma had - right ? Oh sure, I ran across them, 18 bucks for a Mason jar full... really? I might have considered it if they had been some really old buttons, but they were just your run of the mill buttons cut off of run of the mill shirts! Bull Ca!!

Oh well... I guess if I want a button collection like the one mom used to let me play with, I'd better start saving them myself! 

I ended up at Michaels and Hancock Fabrics and found some cool looking buttons there. Some nice guy at Michaels gave me a 50% off coupon so that was a bonus!

~Hahaha here is the start of my collect~

I still have one cuff on the needles but here are my finished Pretty Twisted cuffs. My first one I used a size 1 needle, since that what I usually use for socks, but I discovered it was a pretty tight weave.

 Cuff # 2 ( the green one) was on size 3. It turned out to be quite a bit looser, so just like Goldilocks, I found size 2 to be just right! I was going to make all three but I decided 70 something stitches was too much to fool with on a single couple pointed needle and was too lazy to find a circular in a size 2.

I still have one on the needles but last night I went back to my wimple to finish the lace repeat I was on before I forget and loose my place...must knit wimple, must knit wimple, must knit wimple...


I am already looking for something new to get into, my affair with wrist cuffs is now over- no longer my favorite thing.

I keep thinking there must be something I can get into with the sea shells I keep picking up on the beach...ideas welcome!

A done do-over!

I think one of the most heart breaking things for me to deal with here, besides watching my formerly robust father fade away, is to watch him struggle to maintain a measure of independence.

I come home from work yesterday to discover this. Scared the bejeezes out of me I can tell you!

Dad trying to cut down a tree, with a reciprocating saw. I felt like I was the parent watching over the child while he was trying to cut the branches. [ the whole experience was nerve positively nerve wracking] 

Dad was trying not to notice me hovering while I was pretending not to hover over him.  Finally I managed to convince him to let me do it, without hurting his pride. "Let me try" I say.

Tomorrow I get to help him fix the leaky toilet tank! Yay!

I had some trouble getting the rhythm of the linen stitch [video link] Not because it is hard, but because my mind didn't want to pay attention to my work until my fingers got the memory down pat. Eventually I did get it down pat after I ripped the first one out and started over. No more bumps on the right side or rather in pattern speak, the wrong side (ws), or wait was that really the right side?? Like I wasn't confused enough in the first place! 

Bumpy side aka the side that started with row one ;-)

The only way I could get through it was to stop looking at the ws' and rs' and remember the purl side needed a stitch marker! Because to me the whole thing felt backwards. 

Cuffed is one of the Pretty Twisted Cuff's posted in Knitty's First Fall issue. What a great way to use up all those great little balls of sock yarn leftovers (Dawn your girls will love these).

Starts with a cable cast on [video link] and ends with icords. Clever little pattern!!

I am on to the next one. 

I am thinking of trolling the thrift stores for some really cool buttons. I think we have a thrift store damn near on every corner around here...like Kenosha with bars...haha

I think Raine needs some cuffs too!

'Cuffed' sans buttons.

Big Scary Bridge !

Last week I had to drive across that big scary bridge again...aka the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

This is me on the way up...

This is me at the top...(white knuckled of course)

And starting the descent- for some reason it is not quite as scary on the way down.

I know my pictures leave a lot to be desired, it is very difficult to take a picture while keeping both hand in a death grip on the steering wheel.  But I think the this next picture courtesy of Wikipedia gives a much better view!

SEE!?!?!? I told you... BIG SCARY BRIDGE!!!

Just over 4 miles of sheer terror...for me at least. Unfortunately my doctor happens to be on the other side of that bridge from me.  Did I happen mention they close  that bridge on a regular basis due to high winds?

In the mean time...

I am still plugging away at my wimple, I am nearing the end of the second repeat...geez louise!

And I decided to try something a little more, erm mindless...riiiiight

  I am trying my hand at a wrist band...specifically one of these Pretty Twisted Cuff's.

'cept, this will be my first attempt at linen stitch, and you know how I hate to pay attention. So while I'm thinking it looks pretty good on the 'wrong side',,,the 'right side' looks like this!

Not supposed to have bumps on this side...grrrrr!!

Do over!