The Leaves Have Fallen

Yup - they have fallen off the needles and onto my feet.

Here they are:

I tried to finish by last night so I could wear them today, but I ran short of time.

If you are interested, the pattern link is on the right side of this blog, after the list of blogs.

I used 2 balls of Elann Esprit in French Blue and #1 needles.

Tomorrow we perform Mozart's Coronation Mass and Exaltate Jubilate.

Since we dress in formal black, I guess there will be no blue socks for me tomorrow.

It is Mozart, and some of his great works, so it really is okay that I can't wear them yet.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Here's the Foot, Where's the Sock???

Not yet ready for the foot. I just started the heel flap today.

So here is my foot instead.

I can't believe it is already Wednesday - with a rehearsal Monday and a performance Tuesday, and lots of students today, this week has already flown by.

Sock soon, I promise.

Halfway Home

One Done!

Socks and Pansies

Yippee - I am closing in on the toes and might even be finished tonight!

Here are some pretty potted pansies for your perusal.

And these are my favorite colors:

Sock Progress

Here is my progress on the Yukon Leaves. I am loving this pattern - easy, interesting, and moves fast.

This pattern does the heel in a way new to me: after the heel flap, there is a heel band which reduces the width from 30 stitches to 22, and then turn the heel. Is there some name for this method?

The link where I got the pattern from Zippiknits blog is:

http://www.woolandwood.freewebspace.com/yukonleaves.htm

And this color is closer to reality.

Photos!!!

Thank you Blogger! I am soooooo happy you are back!!

Here are my spring socks on happy feet.
They felt great yesterday -
I hope they wash as well as they felt.


And here are the newest ones from a pattern is called Yukon Leaves. I am using Elann Esprit (French Blue even tho it looks a bit green) and #1 needles. This one goes very fast - I am on the fourth pattern repeat already!

This Grumpy Monkey is happy again. (And the phone is working too!!) All is well in electronic, digital technology telephone and computer world ~ for now. The stars are back in alignment.

Grumpy Monkey

Yes, that is me! I am so unhappy with Blogger right now since I cannot upload any pictures of the finished socks currently on my feet (yeah, Momma) or the new ones I just started! It has been since Saturday that the upload is not working.

And to top it off, our telephones have been out of service for HOURS! Same with the neighbors phones. I called the phone company and the wait time to talk to a person was over 15 minutes! I got on line (thankfully it is fiber optic and not connected at all to the phone) and tried to report the outage. What was the response? "Sorry, you cannot report this trouble on line. Please call blah blah blah!"

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Whew, now I feel better. But still no landline.

At Last!

My socks are ready for my feet!

For some reason, I cannot upload the picture of the pair on my feet. I'll try again in the next post. For the pattern, yarn and needle size information, please see the post on Feb. 26.

On to finish Leisel and Mom's shawl.

I just ordered some Addi Turbos in the (US) #5 and #6.

When they arrive I will be ready to swatch for the sweater (see Feb. 28 and March 2 posts).

Backstage

At the start of our youth concerts this week, three members of SAR

(Sons of the American Revolution) in full period dress presented the colors.

Since I am a DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution),

I struck up a conversation with these lovely gentlemen.

Here is the result:

The gentleman in the tux is the conductor and I am the chick holding an English horn.

Today Is My Birthday

And my husband gave me just what I asked for - a cargo net for my car!!

Woo Hoo - no more groceries rolling around in the back.
It is also my brother's 18th wedding anniversary.

Congratulations, Ed and Linda!

I am back to working on my sock while Mom's shawl is resting.

I just started the gusset decreases, so I hope to be done by tomorrow night or maybe Wednesday (gotta work tonight, tomorrow morning and tomorrow night and Wednesday morning too - during prime knitting time).

I am planning to wear them Thursday when the temp is a bit cooler, so I better finish soon!!

Marker Mania

This is my first attempt at handmade stitch markers:

I found it difficult to make the wires round, so I bought some toggle clasps and tried this next:

After thinking those were pretty good, I moved on to these:

Now I want to find some memory wire in the right diameter (so far I have only seen large at my craft stores) and see what I can come up with.

I also need to find some cool beads.

Instead of gouging cane and making reeds, I decided to have fun.

Tomorrow I will pay for the fun of today. Isn't that usually the way?

Must Finish

Oh my, I must finish that sock!

And Leisel.

And Mom's shawl.

Then I will let myself start the beeeeeeeeee-you-tiful sweater!

I know my personality: if I don't get these other projects off the needles, they will reside there for a very long time and we don't want that to happen.

Here is the shawl progress that I made last night. I had a lot more done earlier yesterday, but decided I needed a smaller needle so I started over. The pattern calls for #10.5 - these are #9 with Caron Simply Soft Brights. Here is the pattern link:
http://www.knitlist.com/2003/minishawl.htm

This weekend is not so busy, but we hit the ground running Monday. The upcoming week consists of 1 rehearsal for 3 children's concerts, 2 rehearsals for 2 Opera performances, 1 church rehearsal and 1 concert. Then we are on Monday again.

I am going to get these items done this weekend, since next week will be a busy one. Darn that work - It gets in the way of my knitting!!!

Oh yes- my friend loved her facecloths. She even knew what they were!

Quick update

A dear friend's birthday is Thursday, so I am knitting her two face cloths and buying some luscious soap to go with them. Here is first one:

And Mom wants a shawl that is pink or coral. Since she is a wash and wear gal, this is what I bought. The color is called Papaya:

The pattern will probably be the Weaver's Wool Mini Shawl. It looks easy and not too bulky. Pattern link to follow soon.....

A Little Bit Fried Tonight

We had a big concert last night: Mozart Symphony 35 (Haffner - written for the Haffner family wedding), Pokofiev Piano Concerto (I think maybe No.2?) , Dvorak Cello concerto and Resphigi Pines of Rome. The soloists were high school students who won the opportunity to play with a professional orchestra. The pianist was local, but the cellist was from Louisville. They were wonderful players that have a very bright future! The cellist was just accepted by the Curtis Institute (very prestigious conservatory).

Playing concertos is always a bit nerve wracking. Since you really never know what the soloist will do, you must be on your tippy toes at all times. And since the soloists were kids, you really don't know if they will perform the same way as in rehearsals. Our conductor is also fantastic accompanist, so all went well. The kids sounded great and the orchestra and audience applauded them mightily.

The Pines of Rome has huge solos for the winds - clarinet, trumpet, French horn (they played beautifully) and me on English horn (it's sort of a big oboe in a lower key.) This piece is an unusually a nervous one for me - unusual since I am not a nervous performer. But it went well; I was pretty happy with my performance, so today was the tiredness I felt from the release of all that adrenalin of Saturday.

I did manage to knit a few repeats on Liesel. She will be done very soon. I am at the gusset on the second sock and have been studying the Drops pattern. My knitting teacher is having a knit and stitch along at her home tomorrow, so I think I will go.

I will take Dainty Bess (remember her?) and see what Mary thinks. Since I left off a purl row near the beginning, the first repeat is one way and the rest are the other. I may just wind up starting over. We'll see.

New Yarn, New Project

WooHoo! My LYS was listed as one of the sellers for the yarn recommended in the Drops pattern 94-27. When I got there, they owner told me they no longer carry that brand. She was able to suggest 3 substitutions and I wound up with this:

It is a blend of 45% cotton, 45% acrylic and 10% viscose. I love the neutral color and sheen. And it was on sale for 50% off!!!!!

You can better see the little color flecks here:

I started the heel flap on my second sock this morning and plan (hope) to be finished by Sunday ~ if I can fit in some knitting even though I will be working the next 3 nights. Then I will be ready to swatch!!!!!

Okay, can you tell I am really excited about this one?!