Wordless Wednesday

My table is completed!

So excited that the table is finished. It came in way ahead of Steve's projected due date. I love it. It's made of oak and matches the china hutch perfectly. I can't wait for the next knitting group meet up. The table will sit up to ten people.  Eight fit comfortably. No more card tables. Yay!



 I hadn't realized that it also matches our floor until I watched the video.  Check out Steve's blog to see the rest of the pictures.

Wordless Wednesday

And this is why sock monkey for toddlers was a disaster. You just can't knit around a one year old. (No, she does not have the pointy end poking in her eye and yes, I did take them away from her... eventually when she let me.)

At the Etsy Store

For a cloudy, overcast, cold, somewhat rainy day, I got a heck of a lot done. The pictures were taken for the Etsy store. I took a gazillion pictures of Alicia wearing the Scott Pilgrim hat. She's as bad as Evelyn in that she is always on the move. Ninety percent of her pictures came out blurry. I got at least a few. Then I made Joey model. I only had to take three pictures. Each one came out perfect.  He was finished in under two minutes.

I also got the pictures taken for the latest vases that Steve has made and they are now listed as is the jewelry box.

Last but not least I listed the sock monkey hat. It is for a large head, but it actually did fit Evelyn too. I would have loved to have taken her picture with the hat, but she was to shy and ran from the camera.

Had a great time with the women at the spinning group yesterday, but there was one thing that was mentioned that bothered me a little. It has to do with stashes. So much money is spent on fabric stashes, yarn stashes, bead stashes, etc.

I really don't want that in my house. I am making a resolution that I will no longer buy yarn or fabric unless I have a specific project in mind. I don't care if the items are on sale. The money I save on not buying supplies I'm not ever going to use will more than make up for paying full price.

Today I cleaned out the trunk that I was storing yarn and a few stashes of fabric and UFO projects. I took my lovely brown sweater that everyone disliked because I had poof sleeves and popped it in the trash. I had cut the sleeves but I just couldn't get it unwound. Same as a strap I had knitted. It kept knotting at the ends when I tried to unravel it. There will be no recycling this time around.

I still have a lot of unused yarn, so no more new yarn for awhile. No more pattern books either. I have three new books not to mention all the older books that I've knitted a single thing from.

Here's the knitting plan:

1. Finish knitting Scott Pilgrim Hat.
2. Knit a smaller gray sock monkey hat.
3. Knit the sweater from neck down pattern.
4. Knit Bolo for friend.

That should keep me busy for a while along with writing the novel, reading books, and chasing babies. 

New table is coming along.

We've had our dining room table for thirty years. We were lucky to find one that was exactly what we wanted at the time. Of course, as the years have passed, the kids have gotten bigger and our family size has increased. Currently we just throw up a card table at the end of the table to accommodate the extra guests. It works, but its kinda crummy as the card table is not at all solid.

I've been shopping for  years now for a new table and I haven't liked anything I saw. The answer was obvious. I just needed to tell Steve what it was that I wanted. He took the  suggestions and improved it to be even better.  And so it begins.

Here's a brace. (I think that's what he said.)

Pounding on something. (Glad it's not me.)

Coming together.

Hot diggity. It's a table!

But this isn't the end of it.  Soon, somehow (I have no idea how) there will be a scissor leaf added and the table length will double in size. I'm very excited about that. Almost as excited as I am about the new chairs he will build to go with it.

Wordless Wednesday

My Wood Bowl

I spent the late afternoon creating a new blog for the husband and then found out I couldn't switch the new blog to the domain name. I remember a time when I lived on the computer and knew all about html and code. Those days are over which is actually a good thing, but now that I have a little more time, I'm at least figuring out a few things.  The big one was giving my self to permission to post blog entries on his blog from my dashboard here. Sweet. Also something I knew I could do except I forgot about it.

The good news is that I cleaned it up a bit. I did really like the wood background that it had previously but the bottom line is that it distracted from the pictures and I added the jewelry box he made last month. It is so pretty.

It is made with mahogany  and poplar. Tomorrow I'll add it to his Etsy store. If you would like to see more pictures of this jewelry box along with the other he made, you can go to his website at mywoodbowl.com

Sock Monkey Hat is Complete!

Hooray! The sock monkey is complete. It is huge and I love it! Granted that it looks like it overwhelms my little wig head but it isn't that bad. It fits comfortably on an adult. The ears are not according to the pattern but I like them this way just fine. The ears were a booger to knit. The hardest part of the whole hat. I'm not use to knitting with only three double pointed needles.

I gotta say it turned out a lot better than I thought it would.

Now I need to decide if I want to keep it or put it up for sale at the Etsy store. Anyone interested in it?

 I'm currently knitting the Scott Pilgrim hat but as soon as it is finished, I'll make another sock monkey hat in a smaller size using a different color. I think maybe I'll try it with the darker brown (?)

I'm so glad I learned to knit. Thank you Stephanie for teaching me!

Success with the block of the month

This was my first attempt at the asterisk pattern for January's block of the month class. It was surprisingly easy and I did enjoy it.

The second block was called the wobbly which I very much did not enjoy. I don't know if it was the fabric I chose or just that I was no longer focused on it. I ripped out seam after seam after seam and when it was done, it looked bleah.

I was quite fed up with it and put everything away for the night, but it nagged at me. It nagged a lot. I knew I couldn't use this square as it stood and that it would need to be redone. So after a night's sleep, (I'd like to say it was good, but that would be a lie) and waking up to a caffeine withdrawal headache, I took some ibuprofen and got back to work on this block.

It was easy as pie, almost as calming as knitting. I made two mistakes and I can live with both of them. The first mistake was I used the same fabric as the first block. Oops. I can live with that as I simply won't put the two blocks next to each other (Or maybe I will)  The second mistake was the last step.

The blocks are to be trimmed at 12 1/2" and I trimmed them to 12". Again, I can live with that. 

Here's is my second attempt at the wobbly pattern. It isn't very wobbly and again, I am quite good with that. The off balance wobbly just makes my eyes cross. 

I'm looking forward to having a new quilt at the end of the year. It's been decades since I made my last one. My sister-in-law Jan sews  beautiful quilts. She has the talent to be extremely precise in her seams and has a good eye for fabric pattern choices.  There are times I wish I could sew like she does, but that would take more effort than I'm willing to give. I just don't have the eye for detail as she does. 

That doesn't stop me from trying though. I can't wait to see what the new blocks for February will be. 

It's not to late for you to join the class too. Leave me a note in the comment section below and I'd love to see what your blocks look like. 

One other thing, there seems to be a problem with being able to download the patterns at the website. I have a PDF copy. Just drop me an email if you would like a copy. 

Happy sewing, knitting, embroidering,  or whatever it is that is keeping your mind at peace and your hands busy. 

Just crazy! Crazy I tell ya!

What if those are regular knitting needles and she just happens to be a teeny tiny miniature person living in a tiny doll house?

In retrospect, I should keep this in mind. If I find that I can't spin worth a dime, I'll have to find a use for the roving that I have.

2012, What challenge are you accepting this year?

I was tossing and turning last night. The year 2012 is upon us and I had no idea what new challenge I would take on. Last year was the big one with learning how to spin yarn. Mind you, I have a lot to learn and even more need to practice before I become decent with it but I do know how to do it now.

Then somewhere at sometime today, I found a link about a class for quilting a block a month. I gotta say that off hand, I think this will be the ugliest scrap quilt I have ever seen although I have only seen two blocks of it so far. But Hey! That's not the point.

The point is that you learn these different techniques. Two blocks a month for ten months. Months eleven and twelve are for putting it all together, batting, binding, etc.  Plus the bonus is that it's FREE!

I've already watched the first video class and yes I did learn new techniques. I'm excited to learn more. Tomorrow I'll hit my office, find my scrap fabric, and get my supplies together. It'll be fun. Come join me.

It's at craftsy.com  and you can see some samples of the class.

Meanwhile, I'm still loving my knitting group and my book club. I'm still trudging through the second draft of my novel but I really picked up speed with today's work. I'm still knitting away on my hats and I'm ready to perhaps start knitting something other than the Scott Pilgrim hats.

Although I will say that the Scott Pilgrim hats are a pleasure to knit. I swear I get a little on the mean side when I've been away from them to long, but they do take an awful long time for me to knit. I'd love to be able to do a hat in a few days.  I'll think about that later.

Hell's Kitchen Slouch Hat Completed

I cannot believe that I forgot to take pictures of the new slouch hat before I packed it up for shipping. Auuggg!  The hat is the pattern as the Scott Pilgrim Hat except it was done in solid black. Wow! What a difference the color makes. Black is most definitely slimming. I was concerned because it looked so much smaller and that was confusing as I was using the same Patton's 100% wool yarn.

It was a simple illusion. Putting the black hat on the regular blue and brown hat showed they were still the same exact size.

I named this hat Hell's Kitchen Slouch Hat as I watched four seasons of Hell's Kitchen while knitting it. I think I might have knitted faster without that show being on. Where do they find these people? I can't say how many times I sat there staring at the boob tube with my mouth gaping open. I now understand that I would never want to work or be anywhere near Hell's Kitchen. It's like passing a horrible car accident. You don't want to look but you just can't help your self. I only have four more seasons to watch before I will be set free again.

Meanwhile back on the needles is Mister Sock Monkey Hat.  I am loving it. The main hat is completed and I have done the red trim on the bottom along with adding to the two braids on the side.

I still need to knit the ears and the mouth and do the pom pom for the top which I will work on tonight. I've got the grandkids for the day and I still have no idea how any parent can write when they are called away from the keyboard every few minutes.  Seriously, I started this post over thirty minutes ago.

On a final note: Here's my plug for Netflix and Hulu Plus.  I love Netflix for it's selection. Yes, it could have a larger selection, but what it has is satisfying.

Hulu Plus was better than I expected.  The con is that it does have commercials but they are only a few and the best part of their commercials is that they don't blast you when they come on. In fact, it's just the opposite. The commercials are actually lower than the show's volume. That is a big plus in my book.  I haven't explored the selection a lot but I know Hulu has the old series Time Tunnel which is a kick in the pants.

I tried Hulu Plus for the free first week trial. I am pleased with what they have provided so far. It's a keeper in addition to the Netflix online streaming.

side note:
Interruptions consisted of:
Must go outside to play with gc
gc needs cleaner to clean windows
gc needs paper towel
gc needs to be picked up to reach
gc needs paper towel picked up from floor
gc needs to change pants as someone didn't make it to the bathroom in time
gc needs dvd started
gc needs hot dog
gc needs hot dog cooked and cut
gc needs fork
Need to find where gc put window cleaner

Blog entry finished. No more interruptions.

Hells Kitchen Slouch Hat

I should change the name of my Scott Pilgrim Hat that I'm knitting to Hell's Kitchen Slouch Hat. I knitted all day today while watching Hell's Kitchen season 2. Yesterday was all of season 1. I have to say that I think Hell's Kitchen looks as if it is going to be like Survivor in the sense that each season the contestants  try to be bigger obnoxious assholes than the previous season. Such a shame.

I will say that show has opened my eyes to behind the scenes. Not just the yelling that goes on or the politics or whatever, just the hard tedious work. So glad I didn't choose that as a career. I also realized that with all the swearing, the name calling, the insults that are hurled by Gordon Ramsey, I gotta say that they all had it coming. I'm surprised he doesn't throw them out before the night is out.

I got an email today from one of  the husband's best friend, Roy Bean,  promoting his completed books now available on the Kindle at Amazon. Augg! I'm so jealous, but I'm also happy for him.  I'm also happy for Klayton who has finished his first novel and is working on his second.  Meanwhile, I'm still working on the 2nd draft of Redemption. I was hoping to do more writing this week, but I really do prefer the knitting. Thank goodness I  have Jennifer who is also writing her novel.  Joining a group and setting up that once a week deadline guarantees progress.

No more sleeping in. Gotta get the most out of the time I have available. No more iPad in the morning. That puppy will keep me in bed til noon.

Callussed finger and on the tube

Oh wow! The Scott Pilgrim hat in solid black looks fantastic. Knitted all day and my wrist feels great. That might be due to my having it wrapped all day yesterday. However, there is not much feeling in the tip of my primary finger that holds the needle I got a 25 rows knitted on the hat and I ddi an additional few rows on the sock monkey hat.

On the tube was Conan. I was hesitant to watch it mainly due to the trailers that were lack luster and the eyeliner that Conan was encrusted in. turns out that eyeliner was just for the posters.

I was pleased to hear Morgan Freeman's voice as the narrator. I love his voice. Makes me feel all comfy cozy. Ron Perlman was wonderful although his character looked more like a caveman. The film wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was forgettable. I was disappointed at the death of the witch. It seemed a bit anticlimactic. Action scenes abounded but so did the flaws. Once Conan had what the King wanted, he didn't need to look for him. The King would have come to him and yet they send this woman off on her own with no escort. Raise your hand if you were surprised she was captured.  I'll watch it a second time but probably not again. As I said it is forgettable.

Also watched the first season of Hell's Kitchen for the first time. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. Not that I would ever want to participate in that show. (lol)

Sock monkey on hold

I did get to knit some more on sock monkey hat today, but then I got an order for the scott pilgrim hat in solid black. That should be interesting. Meanwhile sock monkey has to be put on hold. I'm sure I'll still add a couple of rows when I get a chance. I've moved up to the white color. It is so exciting watching it come together.

On the tube, Harper's Island. That was a cool mini series. Got boring after a while as each episode knocked off another resident, but I did really like the ending. Made it all worth the boring parts.

I missed a blog entry a couple days ago. It really bugged me. I'm still working on what kind of blog this should be and I don't think I'll ever settle for one thing. Just my randomness and that will have to be good enough.

Crazy sock monkey and on the tube

Tell me again why I chose to knit a sock monkey hat? It is going to look crazy as well as anyone who would wear it. Just as I am crazy for knitting hours on end on it. I kept saying, "One more row. Just one more row." Of course, after that row, there was one more row.  I can feel that nerve pull all the way up to my elbow. I must be crazy cause  I still want to knit that one more row.

On the tube tonight is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Granted it has subtitles, but I've watched it enough times that I could still knit and enjoy the film. The new version is soon to be released. I've mixed feelings about it. The new version is not so much a remake, but a different adaptation of the book. There is more focus on the accident that blocked the bridge when Harriet disappeared. I wonder if they will also be making new films on the other two books.

Score! Best find ever!

I finally got the nerve to talk to the neighbors down the street and asked if they wanted to sell the Little Tykes playhouse that they had in the front yard. Hooray! They said yes and they only wanted ten dollars for it. Super Score! I even had ten bucks in my wallet.

That said wallet is now empty and I have one happy grand daughter.

Her grandpa went down and dismantled it to bring it home. The bad thing about Little Tykes products is that they are not meant to be disassembled once they've been assembled. Grandpa had a problem with the bolts and washers. Not that it kept him from doing the job.

House is assembled and she loves it. Unfortunately she also wanted to take it home with her at the end of the day. The word no did not please her at all.

I loved how she went inside and used the phone to call her mommy. She opened and closed the windows. Simple child's play. It was fabulous.

Minimal knitting done as the baby needed a bit more bouncing and attention than normal. I got my double pointed needles today. Oops. Wrong size. I needed size ten. I ordered ten inch size 10.5. I'm not going to worry about it considering I've adapted the needles to begin with.

Spent some time in the kitchen today. I made bacon and sausage in the oven for the first time. First I checked out youtube to see how to do the bacon. Four different videos gave me four different ways. I chose tin foiled covered cookie sheet, 350 degrees for 20 minutes. I didn't turn over.

Bacon came out crispy. No limpness to it, but not burnt. Cleanup was nice. No grease on the stove to clean up and my kitchen didn't get all smokey like it usually does. Those are all pros in my book. The sausage came out ok too.  Very hard not to eat it all up before the party.

On the tube: Ghost of Mars Off the tube: Ghost of Mars
Cheap cheap ass sets. It makes me think of watching a film from the sixties. Bad acting due to bad script. Surprising cast assemble with zero chemistry.   I won't be wasting my time watching the whole film considering it starts with an investigating court with the soul survivor of the event.  That pretty much tells me the cast gets killed.  I know that it's an organism that possesses the body.  I don't have the patience for the flash backs in such a short film. Not on my watch again, but I think I will do a fast forward followed by a hot shower. (TMI?)

Off the needles and on again

I totally get now why the ear flaps are knitted on double pointed needles. That said, I am as much a fan of new patterns as I am of taking a test on any subject. I don't know why I freak at the thought of a test, but I do. Any and all knowledge I have of a topic goes flying out the window the moment the word test is said. If I know there will be a test before I begin to study, I will only see a blank page. Happens every time and I did not ever grow out of it.

So it goes with following a new knitting pattern. The pattern called for an increase in stitches at both the beginning and end of the row. I missed the part about the end of the row and so I ended up with an ear flap large enough for an elephant. Perhaps that is a tad bit of an exaggeration, but not much. If I was knitting an elephant, it would have been the perfect size.

After completing said two gargantuan ear flaps, I realized something was very wrong. I had two right ear flaps. I admit that I saw it coming, but I had to see it completed before I looked at the pattern to see what went wrong.  Found the error of my ways. That little extra stitch at the end made all the difference in the world. Cut my rows down to twenty instead of thirty-five reducing the gargantiousness of it. (yeah, I made up that word or just misspelled it) Then it came to knitting the flaps onto the circular needles.

That took some back and forth off the needles as I didn't use the double pointed needles. I didn't have them in the size I was needed, so I used regular ones.  Back and forth I went, till I got it right. Almost right.
After knitting the first flap and adding 18 stitches, I knitted the second flap on. Then I realized I was using the wrong strand of yarn. Instead of picking up from the ball, I had picked up the leader yarn from the ear flap.  Auggg!

I hate picking up stitches. I ripped the ear flap from needles and threw the whole thing to the side.  The little voice in my head told me not to lose my temper and rip out everything.  I know I would rather go to the dentist and have teeth pulled then pick up stitches, but tomorrow is another day. Things always look better in the morning.

I've lived long enough to know to listen to the little voice.

Morning came and I was glad that I hadn't ripped it all out.  With the rising sun, I figured out a way to fake the double pointed needles and got all the stitches where they should be.  So easy, when you pay attention to what you are doing and not blanking out because there might be a test.

Next came the joining. Do not twist. I said DO NOT TWIST. For the seventh time, DO NOT FRICKING TWIST! Wheh!  All is on the needle as it should be without twisting. Like I heard my self the first time. Maybe the voice could have told the yarn instead of yelling at me. Sheesh.

Now it's the easy part. (Famous last words?) No, really. It's just simple knitting in the round for the three to four inches.

I still think it's going to be a lot bigger than I expected, but an adult may be able to wear it comfortably. Alicia said she would wear it. She is a crazy person.

On the tube, NADA. The Vampire Diaries were ok, but I would rather have the peace and quiet for the time being. Threw the Lord of The Rings DVD on earlier today. Watched none of it.

On the Needles and The Vampire Diaries

The first thing I did this morning was get my new black and white floral storage box and filled it with all the yarn and needles and supplies including the patterns for the sock monkey, and the Scott Pilgrim hat. The material for the sweater is there, but I'll deal with that later.

Watched some videos about the knit forward and backward to add a stitch. That worked out pretty well. I started the sock monkey hat. It will probably be huge. I'm using a different yarn than recommended. It called for size 5 needles, but my swatch ended up being seven inches instead of four. I've increased the needles size to ten. So far, it looks good, but I think it's going to be huge.

On the tube, The Vampire Diaries. Believe it or not, as much I love my vampire flicks, I've never watched it. My impression of the first show was great beginning which quickly went to (snore) Twilight without the werewolf but I think I'm only in it for ten minutes so far and then I see it going towards the cast of Buffy without the slayer. What's with the fog that comes and goes? Perhaps a little Alfred Hitchock and The Birds?  I guess so cause that's what Elaina just said.

I won't bore you with a minute by minute call on this show as I'm watching it. That's what Twitter is for. (lol) I would just like to say it feels so much like Twilight. I will scream if this vampire sparkles.

Off the needles and on the tube

I read somewhere once, I can't recall where, someone said that it's not a bad thing when we have to rip out what we knitted. It's actually a good thing because that means we get to knit more and since we love to knit, that's a win/win situation.

Someone needs to to smack that person upside the head with a rolled up newspaper. Is she crazy or what? Ripping out rows is simple as pie. Picking up all those stitches is a whole other story. Picking up stitches is not knitting.

I had to rip out two rows yesterday and I spent a good couple hours picking up those darn stitches. It is not the same as knitting. It's time consuming and you really got to watch what you are doing. I would rather rip out the whole thing and start completely fresh than pick up stitches.

In this particular case I had 120 rows completed out of 135. I bit the bullet and picked up the stitches and I'm happy to say that the hat is now complete and ready to get listed at Etsy.

Now I'm torn. I want a new sweater, but I want to knit the sock monkey hat, and I do need to start a new Scott Pilgrim hat. The question is, do I choose one or start all three?

Meanwhile, on the tube, I sat down and watched Scream. Yep, the first one. I always got upset when Drew Barrymore's character was killed. It was a bit brutal and I like Drew. I couldn't bring my self  to watch it. I didn't have a problem with Scream 2,3, or 4. Just the first one.  Of course after, the first murder, it wasn't that bad at all and it had it's funny moments. More like ridiculous moments. I think Scary movie pretty much covered it. I can't believe she tried to get through the dog door and who has a dog door.





 I also  watched Scream 4 a few weeks back. All I could think of was CSI while watching the end. She obviously didn't think of the autopsy that would be performed. How do you explain shooting the guy in the groin and in the head when he is in the prone position? A little personal, don'tcha think? But the big giveaway would be the adhesive on his skin from the friggen duct tape. So obvious. Not that it mattered cause the bad guy always dies in Scream.

Speaking of duct tape, did you know that duct tape now comes in pretty girly colors now? It's true. Saw it at Lowe's today.

Time to hit the kitchen and make some spagetti, decorate the tree, wrap gifts, and contemplate the knitting.
Any suggestions as to what I should do?

On the needles and on the tube

Augg! Hat not going to be completed tonight after all. Somehow, somewhere, my yarn got weirded out. I ended up with brown knits where blue knits should be and vice versa. I have no idea what I did and whereas this pattern is forgiving when you skip a stitch or two, there is no way that this can be skipped over. That means I get the fun of ripping out a couple of rows and picking it up.

On the tube, perhaps one of the reasons why the stitches got messed up, was the film "The Horde".  I didn't realize at the time of choosing it that this was filmed in French with English subtitles. That made knitting go a lot slower.

Not a horrible flick, kept me a little on edge. I jumped mainly when someone walked in the room and even when the dog walked by. This is a zombie movie with a tiny twist. The zombies move fast as all get out. I'm not use to fast zombies.

I thought the casting was well done. Interesting characters. It had two huge flaws. One was the instant population of thousands of zombies. How did that happen? One moment everything is ok, the next moment the city is burning and what was with the explosions? The other flaw is the building's attraction to the zombies. The building is a multiple story condemned apartment complex. No one should live there but there are a few occupants. So in a large populated city, albeit a burning city, why would thousands of zombies be attracted to this one building?

Another  flaw I see in modern zombie movies is when the characters shoot twenty times into the body torso. Who on Earth doesn't know you take out the head? Even after they kill, the first couple ones, they still shoot at the body and they don't leave a final bullet for their self when they are being bombarded by the zombies. It just doesn't make sense.

On the needles and on the tube

I'm happy to say that I'm almost finished with the latest Scott Pilgrim hat. I'm hoping I'll have it finished tomorrow and definitely by Sunday. Once I get it listed, I'll start a new one with a ten row daily quota and also start knitting the sock monkey hat. I'm nervous about it. I've never been good at following patterns.

The Stitch N Bitch is next Thursday. It was really hard not to go overboard on the menu. We're having breakfast for dinner. I had to settle for scrambled eggs, pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, sausage and bacon. I wanted to add french toast and waffles but no one is going to eat that much food.

On the tube tonight is a movie titled Half Light. Demi Moore is the star of this film and it is a really nice spooky suspense film. Demi plays a novelist who lost her son to an unfortunate accident (always makes me cry). Her marriage ends and she goes to a deserted cottage with a light house nearby. Ghostly things happen. I love the twist at the end. It's not what you may think it is. I really do like this film. It's not a slasher/screamer. Just good old fashion suspense and a little creepy.



Now I'm back to the needles.

Crazy Winds

Only got a few rows knitted today but today was one of those unexpected nothing goes as planned days which kicked me completely out of whack with any possible time track schedule I had planned.

It started with the winds, big powerful, not ending, rip off your roof tiles, bang bang shebang against the walls all night winds. Woke up with no electrical power and I take much comfort in knowing I'm not the only person who laughs at the lack of power and then immediately tries to switch on the light. Walk out of the room, come back in and flip the switch yet again. Let's not forget getting the water ready and popping it into the microwave. Ug! Enough. I head over to my daughter's to watch the girls and hooray. Today is a short day just a couple of hours.

Wrong. Their fence was totally demolished. Well, mostly. What it did mean was that it would not be a short day, but a full day. So I packed up the kids and brought them back here and we had a busy day of running about which was challenging as there was no tv, no iPad, and people running in and out of the door.  I will say it was nice not having to listen to the bell on Blue's Clues which sounds exactly like a text message alert and Miss Dora the Explorer will never be missed with her "oh man".

Having no power has it's perks. No heat is not a perk and I was very very happy when the power came on. I sympathize with those who are still without power. I am grateful all our trees are still standing although they are leaveless  butt naked now whereas last week they had full beautiful red and orange leaves.

The news is full of coverages about trees coming down on cars and houses. A lot of damage has been done and even if the homeowner's coverage will pay for it, there is that big chunk of change known as a deductible.

As far as I know the worse is over. Wind alert until tomorrow at 3. Winds at 30 mph are much better than 80 mph. I think I'll be able to sleep tonight.

Wordless Wednesday

On the needles and on the tube

Happy to say that once again I reached the 25 row quota today. Actually even made it to row 26. Most of it was a few stitches here and a few stitches there and while the kids were napping.

One thing the hubby can never understand is how I can watch the Godfather a hundred zillion times. Now mind you that it's a great movie, but the thing is, I don't actually sit down and watch it. I catch glimpses of it and mainly listen as I do with most shows. I don't know how many times I had watched the series Jekyll until I caught a glimpse of the two of them in the car at the same time. Why? Cause I don't really watch it.

Tonight's viewing pleasure was the old classic The Pit and the Pendulam with Vincent Price. Goes to show I don't pay attention or retain what's on the screen because I, for the life of me, could not remember if the guy escaped or ended up mice meat on the rack. Next on the boob tube is the series Angel.  I need something a little light after watching this weeks' episode of The Walking Dead.

So I've been thinking about the blog and something I read. I suppose if I want to build up my readers, I need to be more focused on a specific topic instead of all over the board like I do. Yeah, I tried that before. It didn't really work out for me, but considering this is day 29, that means I've blogged everyday for almost three months. It's all about routine and habit.

More I need to think about on that topic.

On Knitting

Thrilled that my last Scott Pilgrim Hat sold last week before I even had a chance to list it. (g) But that means I need to get to knitting a new one to put on Etsy. I had made a goal of knitting ten rows a day but I'm trying to kick that up to a minimum of 20 daily. So far, two days in a row have worked. I'm hoping hoping to get it finished by Friday, but probably won't happen as I want to go Christmas tree shopping on Thursday and that means tree decorating, lights going up and all the rest which probably means no knitting or ten rows at the most.

Monday for sure I'm hoping to get the Scott Pilgrim hat listed. I love the new yarn I got from the last order. The brown is much richer and deeper.

I made the mistake of washing my sweaters in the machine and throwing them in the dryer. Now they are way to small. I loved the gray sweater I had knitted but the armholes are to tight and they are much tighter since the trip to the dryer. I think I'll dump them all and start over.

I have a ton of white yarn and I think I'm going to design a specific pattern that goes between the bust line and waist line. I just have to decide what. So much I want to knit and not enough time.

On the cooking side of the day, I made my very first Micky Mouse pancake. Without saying anything, I gave it to my grand daughter.  She paused while she looked at it, and then said, "Micky Mouse" Hooray! She recognized it.

All in all, an excellent day and I still have a couple more hours tonight that I can be knitting.

Happy Holidays and The FaceBook Virus

I will surround my self with positive thoughts  to ward off the second round of sore throat, congestion, coughing crud and what the heck is with the dry skin between the eyes. I will be thankful that this time around, I only have the crud stuck in my throat and not the burning every time you swallow pain like I did on the first round when I had this a week or two ago.

Hubby is settled in his chair watching football. He woke up with his  crud on Thanksgiving morning, but he did his best to keep his distance from people. 

I visited with my 92 year old mother in law and she is sick too. Perhaps I stayed too long and that's why I'm going for round two with this crud. 

Seems everyone is sick and I've found a common factor.  It's Face Book! Yes! Its true. Everyone who is sick has either been on Facebook or has been with someone who has been on Facebook. It explains why so many people are sick.

The cycle needs to be broken. We just keep reinfecting each other. I don't have a cure for it, but I think from now on, perhaps we should wear disposable gloves and face masks when going on Facebook and see if that can cut back on the spread a bit and definitely more hand washing after every use.

Any other suggestions?

I didn't mean to pass that on to my kids.

As we gathered about the kitchen chatting away, the discussion soon turn to granddaughter  Evelyn and my daughter mentioned that she was almost four years old.

"The heck you say!" was my response. She's only three years old.

"No, she's three and a half and that's close enough to being four."

I strongly disagreed and that brought the response of "Remember when I was fourteen and you said sixteen and I said fourteen and you said close enough?"

"No, I don't recall that at all," which is of course a big fat lie. However, I defend my position. There is a huge difference between three years old and four years old compared to a fourteen and sixteen year old. You get to a point in your life and depending on your maturity, a year or two doesn't make that big of a difference.

Still, it got me to thinking that in the short time of six months, my three year old will be four years old which means add one year and she'll be five years old. I told you before math is not my friend. I know my daughter agrees with me  that we both can't believe how quickly the time has flown by.

I am going to hold each precious moment close as I can because next thing I know, Evelyn will be a tween and I can only hope that she still thinks her grandma is the bestest game in town.

The Day After Thanksgiving. Let the blood flow.

When will the madness stop? Thanksgiving day is a day where you gather your loved ones, over feed them to the best of your ability, play and chat and make a ton of dirty dishes. Beautiful day, especially if you are lucky enough to see those you love that you don't normally have the opportunity to visit with.

Yet, the day after all this love, we find the crazies out looking for that special bargain. Stores are now opening at midnight to give you that one in a million find and good luck battling the crowds to do so. Headlines abound. Grandfather knocked unconscious by security.  Good heavens!  I get that they thought he might be shoplifting as he popped that object in his waist band. According to the family, he was trying to protect his grandson from the crowd and just put it there so he could have his hands free. I buy that story, but even if I didn't,  there was no reason to knock the man unconscious  and bloody his nose. For one thing, a crime had not actually been committed. It ain't shoplifting until you walk out the door or at the very least leave the register area.

This is followed by the woman who sprayed everyone with pepper spray. What was she thinking? Now she's got the cops looking for her. That isn't a bargain by any means.

I find it so disgusting. I hold the stores fully responsible for creating this mayhem by offering unbelievable deals for a limited few items that hundreds of people are going to want to purchase.

Frankly, there is not an object on this planet that I would want  knowing that the gift giver had knocked someone on their butt for it. It really is not what Christmas is suppose to be about.

I am simply disgusted as I am this time every year at the inhumanity and greed that is shown. I would love to hear a few stories about the generosity that is shown. I know people like that still exists.

I know there are stories about people who go out of their way to help those people who are home bound, the elderly that are spending their last days in nursing homes with families who no longer come by. I suppose we call them the unsung heroes. Still, it would be nice to hear more about them.

Happy Thanksgiving

Before the hour passes and I miss blogging today, I shall set aside my knitting to give my thanks.

I am thankful that my family was here to spend it with me. My children have grown and yet they have not flown away. They still love me and will remain in the same room with me. It is sad that so many people in the world do not have that simple pleasure. I am thankful I am allowed to see my grandchildren and be a part of their lives.

I am thankful for my brothers and sister and that I don't question for one moment if they would be there for me at a moments notice even though they live on the other side of the country.

I am thankful for my friends. I am thankful for the Internet and that it was the tool to find friends that were once long lost.

I am thankful to have a good marriage, to have a strong spouse who keeps me stable and yet gives me the room to grow and explore with full support. A husband who is crazy to put up with my nonsense and still love me all the same. Very thankful for him as he allows me to be the spoiled child I am.

I am thankful for my health and the years I've lived.

I am thankful for today.

I am thankful for the simple things in life as well as the less mundane things.

It is easy to be thankful when you look around and see so many who do not have the simple things as family, health, trust, happiness.

Or even knitting needles.


- KG

Wordless Wednesday

My favorite toddler and baby iPad Apps

The iPad is not a cheap toy by any means and the thought of handing it over to a one year old or younger is mind boggling. Why would you take the chance of the iPad being broken? What a waste of money!!!

And yet... what a fantastic investment in a child's education. Believe it or not, the iPad is incredibly durable. The toddler hitting the screen with their hands won't crack it. The iPad dropping on the floor from a toddler's height won't break it. Dropping the iPad from the height of the kitchen counter onto a tile floor is another story.

What I'm trying to say here is to not be afraid to give the iPad/iPhone to your baby or toddler. It keeps them entertained, educates them, and keeps them very happy for a long time.

This my list of aps for the little ones:

• Itsy Bitsy Spider: Based on the Itsy Bitsy song, there are multiple places to touch the screen and see the action happen. The window opens and something springs out. Find out what's behind the hedge. Watch the spider go up the spout.  Up on the roof, the cloud blows, the rain falls, and a little squirrel gathers nuts. Back down the drain, the caterpillar eats the cupcake and eventually turns into a butterfly. Collect the colored eggs and drop the hats from the birds. All along, Cloey the fly (who doesn't look much like a fly at all) explains about the rain, the rainbow, etc when clicked on. A nice non annoying tune plays in the back ground. This is an all time favorite.
• Old McDonald:  Similar to the Itsy Bitsy ap, you touch the screen and watch the figures take action. This has the theme song playing through out. 
• Wheels On the Bus Interactive book: Ha ha ha. My three year old just showed me that you can honk the horn on the bus. I've had this ap since she was six months old and it never occurred to me to try the horn. This is another favorite.  Cute characters, bright colors, and can be played in multiple languages.  As with the others, you touch the screen for action. For example, the wipers on the bus go swish swish swish all over town. You touch the wipers and slide them back and forth.
• Alpha Baby: Love this ap for babies. You start with a blank screen. When you touch the screen, either a letter, a number, or a photo will appear and the ap will say out loud what the item is. You can stretch the size of the object or send it bouncing across the screen. You can record the name of the object in the photo as well. I used this with my granddaughter adding pictures of family members. The recording feature is great because you can choose what level of excitement you want the tone to be. 
• Monkey Preschool Lunchbox: I've had this since Evelyn was a year old. It includes memory games, puzzles, colors, sizes, and numbers. It has the cutest little monkey who does flips when you solve the task at hand.  Stickers are awarded at the end of the set. I thought it would be a bit advanced for her, but she adapted to it well.

These are just a few of the aps I have. They have remained favorites for the years I have had them.  As Evelyn has gotten older, I've added several more. The puzzles and memory games are her favorites. 

One ap not to neglect is the Netflix ap.  I'm not sure how Evelyn found the shows she did, I've discovered a few kid shows I wasn't aware of. She is currently watching Baby First and is mesmerized by it. I can't say anything about it yet, but I know that I'm not hearing annoying sounds like the repetitious 'BACKPACK BACKPACK!" and "Oh MAN!" from Dora The Explorer show.

As great as the iPad is, we can not  forget that the simple things in life still make the best toys. Something like grandma's purse and a set of keys. 

A shopping I must go

Yay! I had a repeat customer for my Scott Pilgrim style hat. One of my customers lost his hat or perhaps it might have been taken which is not good news but I'm so happy he looked me up again. Even happier that the hat I was knitting was almost finished and he won't have to wait long. In fact, I finished it today!

You know what that means? It means I go shopping. I bought some more stitch markers from bead passion@ Etsy. I've made two purchases from her before and love her products. The new ones are little dolls.

Good thing I dropped in at Amazon cause all the books I had ordered for Evelyn for Xmas were not shipped or available.  And I had stuff in my shopping cart that I guess I hadn't checked out. Oops.

Guess I better get back to knitting again so I can go shopping again.

What's on my iPad

My friend Rebecca asked what she can do to make the most of her iPad. I've had my iPad for over a year and my iPhone for over three years.  These are the aps on mine that have remained the duration of time.

For productivity must have:

• HD Pocket Informant: Calendar and task list. The calendar syncs with the google calendar. Includes alarms and repeat features.
• Line 2: This is a phone feature for the iPad/iphone and requires 3G or wireless connection. For only $9.99 a month, you get a phone line and unlimited text messaging.
• Shop Shop: Grocery list. You can have more than one list. It memorizes what you list so that you don't have to type it in each time.
• Gas Cubby: Tracks your mpg along with service for your car. You can list more than one car.
• Awesome Note: It is just that. AWESOME!  This is a notebook. As many folders as you like. You can password protect individual folders if you want to. There is a variety of formats for your folders. You can have a to do list, a journal, a diary, a list, photo, or thumbnail. You can add photos.  This one is a lifesaver for me. 
• Kindle: You can't go wrong getting the Kindle on your iPad. Instant access to books and so many books out there that are free. Plus the Kindle ap is free.
• Flixster: See what is showing at your local theater, what's being released on DVD, and watch trailers.
• What's on: TV guide
• Pages: Affordable word processor that will also save your pages to Word format. Easy to share the files.
• Numbers: Similar to Excel worksheet
• Days Until: This is a nice little gadget that I don't use as often except for the little things like how many days until my mortgage is paid off (1,197), how many days til I go on vacation, how many days until Christmas. 

Tomorrow I'll write about apps for the kids.

Concur With Big Sister Advice

Every now and then, a person can find their self in a rut. That rut begins to drag them down. They become depressed and continue what they are doing which makes their depression even deeper.

Ardee wrote an article on Open Salon that listed her best platitudes that she shared with her sister and as a reminder to her self that these apply to her as well as others.

My two favorite ones are:

1. Make lists.  Lots and lots of lists.  I cannot begin to fathom how I would get along without my lists. My lists keep me focused and things actually get accomplished. I'm not talking about your standard task "to do" chore list. There are other lists of things:
 Big purchases I would like.
Places I want to Go.
Renovations I want.
Books I want to read.

You add dates to that list and you've got a winner. You are also more likely to do them in my opinion.

The other platitude I liked is: Try not to spend too much time watching or reading the news.


It's not like they give unbiased news coverage. You don't get all the facts and what snippet they do give may or may not be filled with inaccuracies. The sensationalism and focus on the negative is enough to scare you from walking out your front door. Or maybe that's just me. 


Check out the link to read the whole article. It wouldn't be a bad idea to print it out and tape it next to your mirror. 

When we talk about love

The book's title is "When we talk about love" by Raymond Carver published in 1989. It is several short stories about pathetic people who have a wee bit of a problem with their alcohol. The stories are depressing because they are so true to life. There is no romantic fantasy in these stories. There is no happily ever after ending.  It is about loss, despair, regret, and a few woulda shoulda's.

You will not feel uplifted after reading this book, and yet the writing is spot on. I read this book for our monthly book club. This book inspired the best, most exciting viewpoint exchanges. It even brought that nostalgic pitter patter rapid heart beat  of memories from the innocence young love and life beginning from the story, "Why don't you dance?".

I was incredibly lucky to have two members know more about the history of the stories from the writer Raymond Carver which also gave more merit to the discussion.

I highly recommend this book if you are participating in a group discussion. It's a fast read. I read it in one day. Some people couldn't stomach the stories. Some refused to read past the first few. But that just goes to show how good the writing is. The fact that it can invoke such emotions proves Mr. Carver was an excellent writer.  People did not want to go to the dark place in humanity that he led them to.

I don't know that I'll read this book a second time. I think it is a little like child birth. You need a little time between to forget the pain before you choose to attempt again.

On a personal note, perhaps the young couple down the street from me should read this book. Maybe if they can see them selves, they could change for the better.  I wish.

The first fight I heard from them was "F U. I hate you" and yet I could hear in the tone "I love you"
This morning's fight was "F U. I want a divorce." Sad, I still hear the "I love you," but the tone was "not as much."

I am positive if this couple went to marriage counseling they could save their marriage, but I don't see that happening. They are still to young which is a shame because I know they do love each other. I'll just keep my fingers crossed for them.

How to Kill the Inner Critic

As I sit and work on the 2nd draft of Redemption, I find my self dragging through each sentence. I hear the knitting needles call. There is an old movie playing called The Maze that I've never seen before. The dog is hogging my side of the couch.  A few distractions to say the least, but they bring me comfort and a reason to whine as to why the writing isn't being done.

I've made a commitment though. One or two chapters are due every Friday. Friday is a full day of working with the girls and no writing will be done which leaves today and only a few hours at that before I leave for the book club.

Behind all those distractions and wanting to do other things is that little inner critic telling me to go right ahead and do those things. There is no real need to finish the second draft. It really isn't even long enough to be a real book since the first half was cut out. No one is even going to read the stupid thing except for maybe my daughter and we all know she doesn't have time to read a book any more than I have time to write a book.

Stupid inner critic. Lucky for me that I have the other critic that actually likes me. It likes my story too. It reminds me that I actually do want to finish the second draft if for no other reason so that it won't be eating at my brains as a must do on my task list. The big challenge will be the third draft. That last statement comes from the inner critic who laughs at me as if the third draft is even a possibility.

Perhaps my next novel will be about the inner critic and it's demise. I know it can't be killed, but perhaps it can be locked up in a bottle as an evil genie. Things to ponder.

Wordless Wednesday

First attempt at waffles. Can you believe it at my age?

Hard to believe at my age that I've never made waffles. Those freezer ones you pop in the toaster don't count.

The first thing I did was buy a cast iron as all the reviews for the electric ones talked about the waffles being raw in sections. Besides, the last thing I need is an additional cord. Cast iron it is. All the better to smack someone upside the head when they say I'm not cooking fast enough. (Not that anyone would say such a thing in this house.)

I used the Bisquick recipe as I didn't have buttermilk or the desire to whip up a substitute.

First waffle: disaster. Not cooked and stuck completely to pan. More than a few moments were taken to clean and start over.

Second waffle: better. Cooked on one side, stuck but not as much.

Third waffle: Distraction at hand. Daughter supervising which means I overflowed the pan.

(Daughter, if you attempt retaliation for me posting your picture, 

I will feed all my disaster waffles to your dog Finney. He will be fat and happy.) 

Lesson learned: do not spray aerosol oil over open flame.
Fire pretty.
Fire bad.

Result: Almost cooked on one side. Burnt on other. The good news is  NO STICKING. YAY!

Fourth waffle: perfect on one side. No stick. No golden brown on other side

Fifth and last waffle cause the baby is now awake. 3 min med heat side one. 3 min side 2

Ack!! Side 1 burnt. Side 2 cooked but no even coloring.

Today's lesson is over. Baby says, I WANT ATTENTION NOW!

I haven't given up. I will get the hang of the timing and flame height. I'm just thrilled the waffles aren't sticking. That and the fact that I didn't burn the house down. That's always a good thing.

I'm pregnant and all alone

“I’m pregnant and all alone in this. Come back here and take responsibility. You’re leaving? You don’t want your baby?”

This is what I heard from the crying young woman on the sidewalk in front of my house. She’s a beautiful girl and it broke my heart to watch her despair.

 I wanted to tell her that she  isn’t alone. She’s not the first to fall in love and believe that he will stand by her and take care of her should something like this happen. She’s not the first to be surprised that he ran with his tail tucked between his legs. She’s not the first to be blamed and told that it is all her problem. 

I wanted to tell her that she isn’t alone. Her family will still love her, will love her child, and will be there to help her through this all. She isn’t alone. Someone out there will help her. 

Her life will be different. No doubt about that, but reality is that her life would be different as the years go by anyway, with or without a baby. She’ll meet new people, find new loves, and she’ll get through this. 

My heart breaks for her. 

Poison races through my blood to the young coward who abandoned her. How hard is it to realize that if a girl is old enough to have sex, she is old enough to get pregnant? Why can’t you be man enough to take responsibility to prevent that? 

Alas, that is a question that has probably been asked since the beginning of civilization. Teen pregnancy is nothing new. I don’t have the answers. 

On the market!

I'm happy to say that I'm feeling much better today. The throat is a little closed up, but yahoo!, it is not burning and I'm good with that. Dishes are done, laundry is done, and the pictures of the new hat taken.

Yep, the Scott Pilgrim Hat is back on the market at Etsy. I like this one. I got the yarn from JoAnn's online instead of going to the store. The brown is darker and richer. I liked the color of the blue from the super wash wool but I did not like how it felted up. Still the two colors that I used do look great together.

I've been looking at books on Amazon again. I know. It is a bad thing, but I had to check out a book I had seen at Sam's Club called Welcome Home Baby. It looked really fantastic but then I saw that she uses size 17 needles. Ack! For a hat? Really? I can't imagine knitting a hat with size 17 needles. I think I'll pass on the book for a while. I'm pretty sure that I'll still buy it. Perhaps I'll just wait for the price to drop.

Who had the germs?

I woke up this morning come around four o'clock with a familiar burning in my throat. I give tremendous thanks that it is nothing like what I endured earlier this year and that I have a couple of days off from the girls. I should be able to do nothing but rest and plenty of fluids which should keep it at bay.

I went shopping yesterday and I will admit that I did have a moment of pause when I saw how full the parking lot was. A full lot equals a store full of people and people tend to share their germs. Alas, I shopped anyways. I should have washed my hands more often but instead I had used gloves when packing up the meat for the freezer.

The lesson here is to wash your hands often.

Dementia 13 for a cold dark evening

I'm pleased with having a productive day. Day off from the grandkids was a day off indeed. No dishes washed today, thank you very much. I will have to make up for that tomorrow, but for today I'm not even going to look at them.

I filled the freezer with meat, edited two chapters of my novel Redemption, added the movie vault channel to the Roku, and will now settle down with my knitting while watching Dementia 13.

This was the film I watched in 1967 that forever has kept me from swimming at night. Louise went for a swim. She found something in the depth of the pond that sent her screaming to the top. A man was waiting at the top with an ax. I had always thought that he cut her head off. That's how I remembered it, but he did not.

I never liked to swim at night after that. Decades have passed since I first saw the film, but I still always suspect that an unwanted stranger will appear at the side of the pool. Sometimes, I'll force my self to swim especially on those very hot nights, but it is only for a few minutes and I regret that I can't let my self relax and enjoy the cool water and the bright moon.

Dementia 13 is one of my favorite black and white horror films. I love the castle and the grounds that was filmed. I kept waiting for the Frankenstein monster to appear as the castle stone walls reminds me of the laboratory.

I'm safe for now. No swimming at night required since summer has passed for the year. I'll just cozy up in my chair with my knitting and enjoy the horror flicks of my youth.

Super Wash = Super Fail

I completed the Scott Pilgrim hat using the Super Wash wool. It was nice to knit with. A bit stretchier and a bit softer. I'm glad I washed it before putting it on Etsy for sale. I washed it with a load of laundry and it was a lint magnet. Even more lint attached to it after putting it in the dryer. Two more washes and dried in the dryer resulted in a hat that was a lot tighter than before I washed it. The hat didn't felt, but the ridges were much less noticeable.

I'm glad that I tried the different yarn since I hadn't used it before, but I will stick to the regular 100% wool with hand washing and air drying.

Wordless Wednesday

Why Hand-Made is more expensive

Lex is a fantastic clothes designer. I wish I had her figure, but it's a good thing that I don't or I would be broke from buying her custom designs all the time. Last August, she wrote a fantastic article about pricing her items.

“$70 for a t-shirt?!”

“I love your website, but everything on it is overpriced!”

“Your stuff is too expensive.”

“Are you rich or something?”

“I could make that for $5.

I know I've thought this with certain items. Not that I ever got around to making those items. I've also second guessed my self when potential clients say that my hats are to expensive.  I very much appreciated Lex's article. (You can read the full article here)  

What I've learned from the article is that my price is fair. It wasn't made in a sweat shop. The yarn if thick, the hat full that wind will not cut into. It will keep you warm.

When someone tells me the hat is to expensive for them, I don't take it personal. I'm sorry that I didn't make the sale, but I hear what they are saying. They simply can't afford it. Just like I can afford to buy Prada boots. More than a few people can, I'm not one of them.  More than a few people can afford to buy my hats at the price I charge. Those who can't won't be my customers. It's business, not personal. 

Pattern for the Helmet Liner / wooly pulley /ski mask

"HELMETLINER" KNITTING INSTRUCTIONS

(Known as a "Wooly Pulleys" or "Ski Masks" by our Armed Forces)

Materials:

Any soft, worsted (100 grams/3.5 ounces) wool yarn that will knit to gauge, such as Cascade 220 or equivalent. The label should state that for size 7 needle, 5 stitches per 1 inch, and for size 8 needle, 4-1/2 stitches per 1 inch. Approx. 175 yds. 

Only 100% soft wool yarn will be accepted, because our Armed Forces are not allowed to wear synthetic fibers outside the wire. Wool is inherently non-flammable and won’t melt against the skin in the event of an accident and is warm even when wet.

Do NOT use "super wash" wool, as the characteristics that make it non-flammable are removed when it is treated to be washable.

Color: ONLY black or coyote brown 

Size 8 – 16” circular needle, or size to get gauge

Size 8 - Double point needles

Size 6 - 16” circular needles for the ribbings

1 stitch marker.

Gauge: 4.5 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch

Be sure to check your gauge to ensure the helmetliner will fit properly when worn. 

Neck Ribbing: With smaller circular needle, cast on 84 stitches loosely. Place marker. Join in round and knit in 2x2 (meaning knit 2, purl 2) ribbing for 6 inches.

Cap: With larger circular needle, knit 32 stitches off smaller needle onto the larger size 8 circular needle. Leave smaller circular needle in the rest of the stitches. The smaller circular needle will just act as a stitch holder while you complete the cap portion with the size 8 circular and double-point needles. 

Cast on 59 additional stitches, place marker to mark beginning of round, join in round, knit even for 4”. ("Knit even" means to knit every stitch). 

Be sure to check your gauge. Even being off 1/2 stitch per inch will make the helmetliner useless, as it will not fit properly.

1^st decrease row: *Knit 11, Knit 2 together,* repeat to end of round.

Next row: Knit even.

2^nd decrease row: *K10, K2 together,* repeat to end. 

Next row: knit even, meaning to knit every stitch. Change to double point (DP) needles when necessary.

Continue decreases as established until knit 2, knit 2 together. After this, decrease every row until a total of 7 stitches remain on the double point needles. Cut yarn 8-9” long, feed through remaining stitches and weave in.

Face Ribbing: With size 6 circular needle that is still in neck portion, pick up the 59 stitches that you cast on when starting the cap portion. Join in circle and do Knit 2, Purl 2 ribbing for 1 inch. On last row of ribbing, decrease about 4 stitches by purl 2 together in 4 locations around the face. You may need to increase or decrease the number of times you decrease (purl 2 together) so that it isn't too tight or too loose in the face ribbing. This keeps the wind from whipping underneath it.

Cast off. Weave in ends. 

(The original pattern was designed by Bonnie Long, Knit Wits, 3419 Chatham Rd. Springfield, IL 62704. 217-698-6100. Revised 1-19-05. All rights reserved. Copies may be made only for the purpose of donating helmets to our active service personnel. In any case design attribution must remain. Operation Helmetliner, Inc. has made changes to the original pattern for clarity and to incorporate suggestions from our Armed Forces).

Donating to our troops: (See the post for complete update information 

Helmetliners": To answer your question about the current shipping address, it is "Sewing for Troops", P.O. Box 104, Dahlgren, IL 62828-0104. HOWEVER, we will accept helmetliners and scarves for our troops on a couple of conditions: (Sorry.) Because of our lack of funds, we need to receive donations (Checks may be made payable to "Sewing for Troops"). to cover costs and please ask your readers to make sure they follow the pattern exactly with a couple of updates. 1) ONLY black, dark brown or dark beige colors are allowed. 2) No "super wash" wool, as it is flammable. The treatment to make wool washable makes it flammable. We ship to our troops who are in remote, austere conditions, i.e. firebases, where explosions are a possibility. We don't want to increase their risk of injuries by using synthetics or sueprwash wool. Please attach the yarn label to EACH piece.