Black Friday Confession

 

I totally get all the hoopla!  I was excited for the feast to be over with!  I bought the newspaper to scan my shopping options, made my list and got some sleep.

I went to a small neighborhood store less than two miles from my house to get the Black Friday coupon special of kitchen/bathroom cleanser – 2 for $1, and the dish soap special - buy one get one free. 

Yup!  What a thrill!  I got there late, didn’t have to stand in line, they had plenty and three bucks took care of everything I needed!

Maybe you are thinking, “Goodnightgram” should change her name to “Gram-on-the-cheap.”

Nah!  I’m old but not dead!

I took myself to my next stop and bought this:

                                                 . . . . . . . with matching earrings!

 

All this fun and I still got done in time to take Goodnight to her pediatrician’s office for her 12-year old shots.  (Hey, I gave her the birthday cake first.)  Six shots, three in each arm.

Poor lil’ lass!     

My Father’s Coat

My Father’s Coat

Mom’s been cleaning closets.

(Cuz dad’s been gone a while.)

She found, among her treasures,

A winter coat that’s still in style.

 

She took it off the hanger

And wondered what to do.

She called me on the phone, said,

“I’ll offer it to you.”

 

No space to really keep it.

I have a tiny place.

“I’ll bring it when I see you . . .

You know . . . I guess . . . in case.”

 

She brought it when she travelled.

I tried to do what’s right.

My work’s collecting warm things.

“You know . . . I think I might . . .

 

Just take it in and offer

My father’s coat to one

Who’ll need it more than I will

Before the winter’s done.

 

The gal who takes donations

Said, “ I just got this request

From a male who’s getting chilly

And isn’t warmly dressed.”

 

I turned to leave her office,

The tears had filled my eyes.

“The man”, she said, “will love it!

“Your dad’s coat is just his size.”

 (Thanks Dad!)

Twelve Candles

*The knitting and purling can wait ’til tomorrow,

For children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down needles, and yarn go to sleep.

‘Goodnight’ has a birthday, and birthdays don’t keep.

*Ruth Hulbert Hamilton wrote a lovely poem called Song for a Fifth Child. It’s popular with cross-stitchers.  I even stitched it myself when Goodnight’s mother was a baby.  You can find it here: http://holyjoe.org/poetry/hamilton.htm.  I changed the last stanza in honor of Goodnight’s birthday.

I made Goodnight’s cake to look like a cosmetig bag.  I am definitely NOT a pastry chef, so I limit my cake decorating to once a year and then it can be hit or miss.  The flowers were made from Lifesavers, Skittles, and bubble gum rolled flat and cut into petals.  The cake itself was delicious – a cranberry cake. (p.s. I knit the table runner.)

So . . . .she’s twelve now!

Gone Knitting . . .

Grandma’s Knitting Song

Dear Grandmamma is knitting with her fluffy ball of yarn,
And her needles are so slender and so bright.
She is knitting for the baby a wee shirt to keep him warm,
And the shining needles dance from left to right.

Click! sing the needles as they pull the yarn along,
And the shining points the faster dance and sing.
Softly click, click clicking over, under and around,
As the stitches into order fast they bring.

Now the happy task is finished ev’ry stitch and thread and seam,
Has been fashioned by those loving hands with care.
And the wool the old sheep gave us has by all this work been changed,
To a dainty shirt for baby dear to wear.

                . . . . . from Grandma Remembers Songbook by Judith Levy

Psssssst . . .

So it’s Friday and there’s been a little quiet time here at work.  What’s a knitter to do?  I decided to invent a challenge for myself:  knit something using what I had in the office.  Granted, there are needles stashed here, but I didn’t have any yarn so I went a-hunting.

Ta-daa!  String!

I also had an emergency travel sewing kit that came in handy at the end of my challenge.

I got to work and knit a bracelet.  There are bobbles on a seed stitch background.  What to do for a closure?  Here’s where the sewing kit came in handy.  I knit a button hole at the last second before I bound off, and used one of the travel-fix buttons.  Actually, it’s white and doesn’t show much, so it works.

Then I found some old earrrings that I keep in the office in case I’m not fully ‘dressed’ for the day.  I took the dangles and attached them to one of the bobbles.  They dangle freely that way because they stick out a little more.

Fun challenge!  Now back to work . . . . .

TGIF!!!!!

A picture is worth a thousand words, isn’t it?  Have a good one!

And then there’s music, of course . . .

Handel’s “Happy, Happy We  from Acis and Galetea

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QX0u1Vlrbk

 

Measure Twice, Cut Once

I guess that advice works well for knitting too.  I took the time to knit a gauge swatch.  The number of stitches per inch doesn’t matter as much for this scarf as the number of rows per inch.  I want the scarf to be at least 60 inches.

I’m using  #5 US  needles, and the gauge turned out to be 9 rows per inch (firm, but not bullet proof).  So for a 60-inch scarf, I would need at least 540 rows of knitting.

Next I needed to know how many rows of knitting would be used for the lettering and spaces because I want the cryptoquip centered on the scarf.  Whatever rows necessary to make up the length can be slipt in half and added to the ends.  That total is 342. (That’s the measure twice part.)

540 – 342 = 198

I rounded it up to 200, divided by two and that means I start with 100 rows of plain knitting before I start following the charts.  A couple extra rows is okay because it adds a little length.  I just didn’t want it under 60 inches.

There’s some techno stuff about doing charts on a two-sided piece like a scarf.  I solved that problem a couple of different ways with my scarves lately.  Garter stitch is tricky to knit lettering into without compromising the colors, so colors can only be introduced from on side.  The color change shows up on the purl bump on the front if you introduce the color change from the back.  Color changes can leave long floats on the back side, but I just knit them in the next time I get to the front.

For this scarf, however, I’m using garter stitch with a stockinette background for the lettering.  Still have the long floats, but they get hidden in my work. 

If all goes well, Iwill have only two dark ends to weave into the work when I’m done.  Much as I LOVE the finishing part of knitting, weaving in ends for lettering is a snore!

So now I’m on my way.  I got the 100 rows done and began my chart last night.  No more photos until I get the scarf done.  At that time you can see the scarf . . . and try to solve the crypto, too!

Smile!

Next comes the math

Hi all! 

The charts are done for the crypto scarf.

It’s not rocket science, but I love this part of knitting, too.

For The Math Of It

Counting stitches on my graph

Makes me giggle, makes me laugh.

Squares plus spaces, find the sums.

Hope I’m done ‘ere Christmas comes!

Knit the gauge, then count the rows.

Doing tasks a knitter knows.

Double work for double fun.

Keep sis warm when all is done.

While you wait for the next step in the crypto scarf, have a look at the hat I desigend to solve the problem of NOT losing my hand knit gloves when I come indoors.

The picture below shows my hat ‘open’.  You can see that I knit eyelets into the ribbing through which I ran a twisted cord.  Cord is tied in a bow.  You can see the cord running through the eyelets.

But when I take my hat and gloves off, I stick my gloves into my hat, pull the bow and hang it up.  This works great for Goodnight at school, too.

Have a great day.  Basketball practice tonight for Goodnight – $45.00 to participate in the season – and I get to knit during practices for 3 1/2 months.  Sorry, no knitting during the game.  I’m Gram all the way, then.   Cheap entertainment when you spread it out that far. 

Be ye glad!

Startin’ the Chartin’

Hi all,

Funny . . . earlier this morning I blogged about Time, so this will fit right in. 

I took the Time over my lunch break to begin charting the alpha characters for my sister’s Christmas scarf.  It will be a cryptoquip scarf.  I used a quote about big sisters and translated it into the crypto by substituting other letters.  You can see the crypto in the photo.  I haven’t given out the clue yet.  Although, real crypto officionados don’t use clues.  I haven’t decided if I’ll knit the clue in, or give it to her in her box.  I’ll have to wait until I chart everything and see what my row count will be – spacing an all.  You would think that a scarf that runs about 350 rows would be long enough to hold the clue, too.

Time will tell.

Time is of the essence. (I mail my gifts on the day after Thanksgiving when everyone else is shopping!!!)

Time to get back to work!

Once upon a . . . . .

Time!        

Some folks get more, some folks get less.

If left to me, I’d cheat, I guess.

I’d sneak an hour, beg a year,

Bring back loved ones gone from here.

I can’t . . . I know.   It’s up to Him.

So while I wait, I’ll knit a hymn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDzyPdzwtRE 

(click 2 hear hymn – but let mouse hover.  Graphic matches my theme.)

Sands of time knitted hour glass pattern is from: Charted Knitting Designs; A Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker.  I’ve hung it in my house to remind me to use whatever Time!  I have wisely and to be grateful for the Time!  I’ve had.

p.s. Poem by me. Thought of it on my way to work.