A Wavy Cable Pattern

As promised I have just listed a new pattern on my Raverly Designer page . It is a Wavy Cable Washcloth. The key learning component of this washcloth is the 9 stitch cable. At first it did seem a bit daunting, but after doing 3 of the cables in the pattern, the fourth one was much easier. This would make a good gift for someone paired with a nice bar of soap for a birthday or the holidays. I will try to list it in my etsy shop soon, but until then this link will work well.

Please feel free to share this pattern link with friends who like to knit wash cloths and other small 1 skein projects. I have a picture of the finished washcloth below. I used Sugar and Creme in a solid color, any worsted weight yarn in cotton will do.

Well it has been a very long day and the house is quiet so it is time to call it a night.





A New Begining

Birthdays always bring out a spark in me. This year is no different.  After some input from some very good knitters, it has been decided that this year I will study, peruse and learn new knitting stitches.  To this end I will try to create at least 12 one skein wonders that will be useful.  Using one or more new to me stitches.  I will share them with my fellow guild members. After that they will go on my Raverly designer page and in my Esty shop. The first one will be released  Thursday afternoon.  I hope you will join me in this journey.  

Off to a Great Week

Well today was a very busy one here. I started the house work at 7:30. Then I went on to do other things that needed to be done around the house today.  I took pictures of Thursdays guild project and for the very first time decided something would really look a whole lot better blocked. I am really pleased how the pattern turned out. I will release the new pattern on Raverly and Etsy after the OPK luncheon on Thursday. I am thinking a price point in the $2.00 price range.

I tried my hand at Moroccan food tonight. The verdict is in, yes we will add it to our rotation. I think it will be a good meal for easy swallow nights. I want to make it again before I share the recipe. Tonight I was just hoping that it would turn out good. I know I had a hit when John went back for seconds. I also have enough coccus left over for breakfast.

John and I actually got to enjoy some TV time together tonight. We caught up on a few shows while I did the set up rows for a couple of extra projects for Thursday just in case I did not reach everyone. I will also do some partials tomorrow night so I can show off the design  in stages. In all probability the extra projects will be available for purchase when the next Taglit fundraiser occurs. By the way Taglit is the name of Eric's day program which he just loves.

Speaking of fundraisers, it has come to my attention that a small non-profit called Halos of Hope has run in to some funding issues. They distribute chemo hats of all kinds around the country.  They make their money through the sale of patterns which of course are copy righted. The problem came about when some unidentified LYS's bought a single copy of a pattern and then photo copied and distributed the pattern for free with yarn purchases. On the surface it may not seem wrong, after all the people did buy yarn from the store. But if a pattern has a copy right that says you may not distribute it with out the express permission of the copy right holder it is wrong in so many ways. This has left Halos of Hope short on funds to send hats out to where they are needed most.  I am including a link to there donation page of Halos of Hope where a $6.00 donation will send out 15 chemo hats to those going through a bad time. Would you be willing to give up just 2 cups of coffee to help 15 people? Just skip going out Saturday night and your dinner money could send out over 60 hats. Any amount will help. If you would like to make some hats that would be wonderful too, just be sure to follow the guide lines posted on the site.

Now it is time to count my blessings before bed and settle Eric down, hopefully before midnight tonight.

Happy Fathers Day and More

I would like to start out by saying Happy Fathers Day to John. The day did not quite go as planned but I hope it was a good day. I also really missed my call to my dad today. It still does not seem right that both our fathers are no longer with us. I hope my dad is having a day that is "a little bit better than perfect".

This was also a birthday weekend around here too. I have a new Fit Bit to try as soon as John sets it up for me. My friend Lisa made a cake for me. Teri Called us. We also did something completely out of charter for us. Last night John and I actually went to dinner and a movie. Yes, we really did stay out past 7:00pm.. It has been more than a decade since we have done that. We really had a great time. We saw "Now You See It", I would like to recommend this movie if you have not seen it. It was good enough to make me put my knitting back into the my knitting bag. The only thing that would have made the experience even better is if the nameless movie theater would have bothered to pick up the trash between showings or the people would have taken their trash out with them. It was kinda of yucky tripping over other peoples trash in a darkened theater. We never have that on the 1st or 2nd showing of the day, our usual time to see a movie.

Today Eric was not feeling well and slept most of the day. I spent a good 3 hours in his room trying to make him comfortable tonight. I think I finally succeeded. I also managed to get another 2 inches done on a charity scarf. Maybe I spoke too soon. I really hope he sleeps tonight.

A Pretty Good Day

I had a pretty good day despite the flare up. There was knitting with friends. Followed by a surprise birthday lunch. Followed by shopping. Eric had a great day at his day program with the exception of not swimming. John picked up dinner so I did not have to cook. Followed by more shopping. Even with the flare up I managed to walk 4 miles today. Now for the aspirin to kick in so I can try to get some sleep.

Red Tape

Well I took a slow body day. About the only thing I can say that I truly accomplished was starting the process for Eric's new wheelchair yet again. I hope the third time is the charm.  Apparently it is not enough to have a valid prescription from the doctor, but you have to be evaluated by a qualified therapist to see if you really need the chair. With all the insurance fraud that has been going on around wheelchairs, the company's have added extra layers, which of course add to the over all price of the chair. It did not seem to matter that Eric got his first chair at age 3 so he could take the bus to preschool. It also does not matter that in my humble opinion that Eric will not be learning to walk anytime soon. Or that he has worn out the chair he got when he was 17 or 18. Did I mention that he grew 5 inches since we got his last chair? With all the phone calls going back and forth it took 2 hours just to get the information I needed to give the doctor so that she could write the request.  That is 2 hours that I am not going to get back. Now to wait for an opening for the evaluation. Then another 2 to 3 months for the new chair.

Did you know it was easier to get Eric a new placard for special parking permit when his was stolen. All we needed was the MVD* Supervisors signature on the form. She said that since it was a replacement and that Eric was still in the chair no doctors letter was needed. We did not even have to go wait in a long line.

I think that the system is totally screwed up when it is easier to deal with the MVD then the insurance company's rules and regulations. I am hoping that we can get measured for the new chair very soon. Well I think that it is time to put this to rest for the night.

*MVD is the Arizona Motor Vehicle Department

How Not to Write a Pattern

I am still working out the best ways for me to put my knitting patterns to paper. I am currently working on a pattern that I started writing a few days ago. So I went through a dictionary of knitting stitch patterns. This is good because I know what direction I want to go. I know I am working on a wash cloth so I know that I need to cast on 40 stitches. This is very good so far. This gives me a boarder of 5 stitches on each side and enough for 2 pattern repeats in the center of the washcloth with the stitch I picked out.

Things are still going great I have knit the first 8 rows for the bottom of the wash cloth. I like to knit the pattern as I am designing it. I need feed back from the yarn and the pattern. So I get the next 16 rows done and it looks wonderful. Now this is where things start getting wonky.

Eric had an asthma attack so I gave him his first dose of medicine and went to grab the note book that I was writing in plus the knitting pattern under way. Yes I moved everything into Eric's room. I figure once he had the meds he would settle down. I started knitting like I had done hundreds of time in his room. Of course I was not writing a knitting pattern but rather doing mindless knitting on ponchos, scarfs or caps. Some where along the way in the next 2 hours of popping up and down from the rocking chair aka the knitting chair and Eric's bed to get him in a better position to breath I screwed up on my row count.

My first reaction was that the knitting dictionary was wrong. I could not possibly make a mistake like that. My row count and the books row count for the second half of the pattern did not match. Just to prove that I was right and the book was wrong. I sent out a call on Facebook and Twitter for a couple of test knitters. This is where I have to give a really huge thank you to Jen. In less than 24 hours she managed to not only knit up the pattern but find all the mistakes. So I started a second one following the corrections so far so good.

So to sum this up don't expect to write of coherent or cohesive pattern while taking care of a sick child. Calm and quite are necessary. As to the question can you see the wonky pattern the answer is no. I am still some what of a perfectionist at heart on somethings. If you want to take the pattern and make it wonky go right ahead. It will be out sometime around the 20th of this month.