Pictures galore!!!

So today I will post a whole slew of pictures for your enjoyment. Or rather mine as I appear to be the only one who reads this blog. LOL

so let me see if I can figure out how to put a picture into the CENTER of a post using blogger and not using Hello. Not bloodly likely but I'll give it that old college try.

well shoot I just found a button for inserting an image. well do I feel dumb.

So now I guess i'll go ahead and try posting that picture now. If I postpone it a bit though I will be pospoining my feeling of frustration when it does not work.

Here is a pic of my mom in the vintage capelet http://www.spunmag.com/article/050410vintagecapelet

hmmm it did not end up at the end of the link but at the top of the page. wonder if i can get it to insert in the right spot this time? Isn't this fun? yea, right.

Oh My! When I used the insert image button it went on the left at the beginning. Then I tried again and it went in FRONT of the original picture (mom full in the shot) and centered. then I chose the magical edit html button. Then being the brilliant copy and cut and paste person I am I did just that! THEN oh my THEN I clicked on compose again and lo and behold i can type right next to my mom's picture. Wowzers! And it has only taken me a gadzillion bunch of days and 68 posts to figure that out.


Well let me get even more daring and try to post a picture of a close up of the bintage capelet. By the way, I loved knitting it so much that I bought 2 more skeins of the olive green to make one for me and 4 skeins of the white in the Berroco Softtwist. discontinued I do believe.
Close up time.

Teehee oh that worked too. More Cut and paste going on there. Now I need to remember what other pictures I was going to post today. Oh yea, I have pictures of the capelet blocking, and on the chair and with the lifelines showing. Can you tell I was really in love with this capelet? I could knit a dozen of them! Maybe I'll watch for a sale on the disco'd Berroco SoftTwist and do just that. But in the meantime, I have more pictures for you...... don't I?

hmmm ahve tried twice and don't see anymore pictures being added. so back to the publish and write again and then play with the posting times to get them in the right order. sigh that is what i get for getting over confident at finding and pushing the "insert image" button.

Those pesky missing pictures

Those pesky missing pictures.... hopefully here they are... pushing insert image button. hey! WHERE did the image button go? Oh wait there it is. gosh it moved to the other side of the screen. what goes on here? do I really want to know? I think not. I'll just go with the moving button flow and insert those images now.

Lace Lessons Learned

oh no, the three L's!

So today I have managed to

block the vintage capelet (lovely enough to warrant a phone call to mom to make a lunch date for tomorrow teehee)

finish and felt the knit exchange bag... fuzzy and will need a razoring job but ooooh so nice and perfect for the recipient!

currently blocking the giftie for my sp5

So the Lessons Learned about LACE?

You will always forget at least one end to work in prior to blocking

The foam board (silver sided insulation foam) you have available to use for blocking will never be big enough (even though the vintage capelet had gobs of extra room on it!) for a very small lacey over the shoulders and for just a bit more coverage when wearing something strapless thingie.

Do not raise the blocking board above shoulder height when moving from the living room to the outdoors unless you want the ceiling fan to beat pieces of it off!

You never have enough pins!

1 1/2 hours putting the pins in for blocking of a full sized shawl posted by someone else now sounds "GOOD"!

The camera will not cooperate when you want a before and after shot of blocking (yesterday's post and lifelines)

Watch the skies for rain clouds when blocking an item outside in Florida in the afternoon! (just a precaution as it is sure looking like rain!)

Increasing every row on both ends of the aforementioned small cover up thingie is too much increasing! Note to self: Self, next time increase every other row! or just at the end of rows which will make it every other row. But NOT at both the beginning and ending of each row.... tooo much.

Patterns are not always right. :(

Do NOT lay down your current lace project to do other deadline specific items and expect to be able to figure out just what the heck you were doing! (I even had a check off sheet and a life line and still no clue what the heck I'm doing sigh... it is the mysterystolealong one too) Now that these three things: vintage capelet for mom, lacey small cover up thingie for sp5, and felted project bag for the knit exchange are done I jsut could NOT figure it out.

Lizards will wonder what you are doing on THEIR hammock sunning spot

Dogs will be uninterested

and lastly......
lace is addicting and now I want to cast on for another shrug or capelet

Just a knitting lesson in general. If you finish three projects in less than a 24 hour period you will find you have nothing "easy" to work on when you sit in the chiropractor's office.

well off to shoo the lizards off the hammock and let the dog chase the lizards around the palm trees!

pics to follow after the lacey small cover up thingie is done!
denise/deBRAT
aka grandma brattie-to-be

Funny thing happend while gazing at the job classifieds....

I just have to share.... I sent off my resume' to a company I'd adore to work for on Saturday. On Sunday I made mention to my husband while he was reading the paper the name of the company so he would not think it was a "sales" call and hang up on them! horrors!! So helpful man that he is, he hands me this teen tiny piece of the newspaper for me to apply for a marketing director job. "oh honey, I love the marketing department but I'm not qualified for marketing DIRECTOR" he then reads it to me and yes I'd be qualified. Oh, I forgot to mention the opening is at some resort in my area.

so I put this tiny bit of paper off to the side to get lost and later looked for.

dh on the other hand, manages to go on line and check out the site for the resort.

"oh dear? did you go to that C...... resort's website?"

"No dear, why?"

"well, it is a nudist resort"

LOL!!!

Two thoughts come to mind on this.

The first was it is my experience that those that are willing to bare all are generally not worth seeing in their nothing-ness.

Secondly, on an up note, it would sure help on the new wardrobe I would suddenly need if the marketing director also went in the buff, eh?

Oh well, obviously no pictures on this one. Thank goodness. But I thought of a good link that even my very G rated personality can handle. Let me find the link. I promise you it will not embarass you.

http://www.sofoto.com/

hope you enjoyed the story and wish me well as I look for a full-time or a second part-time job. I have a child going off to college don't you know?

knit something fun today. and possibly later I'll have a knitting related post. But this one just HAD to make the memories part of blogging, don't you think?

Oh and if this one does not get any comments I'll just KNOW noone reads my blog.... sigh... are you out there?

denise

Vintage Capelet progress

So today, at 4 pm I finished the Vintage Capelet for my mom! I went to take a picture of it with all the lifelines in it and the battery is "exhausted". That is what the camera screen says. I can't find the spare battery. I can locate both chargers but not the second battery. This is NOT a good thing. I need the battery. In the meantime, as I really want a pic with the lifelines IN it I will pick up the knitexchange bag for David. I was really close to finished on it last weekend when I got this sudden urge to make my mom this capelet for her b'day on Tuesday.

http://www.spunmag.com/article/050410vintagecapelet

I did do the buttonhole option for jsut in case but I really think she should wear it with any one of the many brooches she owns.

Well off to see just where I was on the bag for the exchange..... on a pocket I do believe.

enjoy the rest of your weekend,
denise/deBRAT

Shall we play a game?

And just what COULD this be? Shall we play a guessing game? Not sure enough people read my blog to play a game yet but just in case here it is! Be the first to guess what this actually is and I'll send you a little "treat". Hope this works. I don't know how to answer to people who post to my blog yet so guess I need to figure a way for you to reach me.... hmmmm how about at debrat at tampabay dot rr dot com surely I can't end up with worse emails then I already get without posting my email anywhere, eh? So have a grand and glorious day all I will be! denise/deBRAT aka grandma brattie-to-be

I made 28 stitch markers at Wannabead http://www.mokaglass.com/Location.htm
They look much cooler in person. there is a close up pic below that might show them off better. They are for special extra "thanks for participating" prizes for the lace scarf contest that just ended over on traditionalknitting on yahoo groups. What absolutely gorgeous entries there were.

How is it that I can use the word gorgeous over and over in writing about knitting and not feel too much guilt about overuse of a word in a "paper"? While my writing may not reflect it now, I'm soooo out of practice, I wrote very well back in my high school years. When I was very young, less than six, our neighbor at the time told me I have a very vivid imagination. And I still do!

I really must clean my writing "act" up once more and write more. At one point I wrote quite a bit of poetry. Sure wish I could find that stuff, but I believe it was tossed out in a fit of cleaning one garage-is-too-full day.

So I must do more on the project mentioned in the "contest" as it has a deadline. ooooOOhh was that a hint?

brat!

hugs y'all
denise

A close Up of the 4 different stitch markers I made.

They are done!!

Oh yippeee skippee the pair of birthin' socks is done AND the matching baby booties too! I purchased this yarn last Saturday, Cast on on Sunday, Made the silly mistakes you will see in the pictures below and then on Wednesday morning cast on for the final time for the adult socks. I am modeling them in the picture but they are a bit too long for me. They are very very comfy! Momma and baby should feel good in them. And now the part we all wait for!!!! the pictures!

This is a bunch of cast ons in progress as I worked through the size needles and gauge and number of stitches and yarn combo. the yarn is NOT orange. for some reason the flash was giving me a red creepiness to it. grrr expensive camera and it takes a college course to get it right sometimes!

Top: The first ones cast on using the print off from sock wizard from the LYS. VERY confusing to me and in the size 6 needles which met gauge (at this point I had cast on 3 swatches for gauge) they were too tiny for a mouse! Certainly they were not going to fit the momma to be who's foot is larger than mine

Bottom left: 41 sts cast on with Fizz yarn carried with the Kordall Fancy on size 8 needles. HUGE .... STOP..... REJECT

Bottom Right: size 7 needles 41 sts no open fold over cuff still not what i wanted but getting closer.

FINAL specs
Yarn Kordall Fancy by Laines du Nord in color 1212
needles: size 7 dpns
37 sts
6 rows = 1 "
4.5 sts = 1"
closed cuff

socks are a total combination of the sock wizard pattern printed off for me at the LYS, Fiber Trends house socks pattern by Evelyn A. Clark, and good ole fashion knitting make-it-work-edness! hope you enjoy the pics. I ahve to say this yarn knit up so quickly that I did not mind all the cast ons to get what I wanted. That included 3 cast ons for gauge three additional cast ons for sts count and yarn combination before the 7th cast on resulted in a finished sock! Each sock was knit up through the body of the ankle and some through the heel flap before they were rejected.

Enjoy the pictures! Off to teach quilting class today. Turning 20.

This is a picture of the version with the FIZZ worked along with the Kordall Fancy in the fold over cuff. Someone at knitting group had an apt description for it... looks like you haev not shaved your legs! ugh! glad I did not go with the funky version originally planned for.

In this picture I'm just goofing around. Without the heel shaping yet. The heel flap is under my hand and I'm really considering making these for my hands to drive with in winter! The yarn knits up so fast!

On my feet! Hard to get a in-use picture these days the quilting studio is sooo messy. maybe tomorrow needs to be clean up day, a-gain. but aren't they soooo cute and comfy looking? And trust me they ARE comfy! I plan to make some for myself! Now that I have all the cast on numbers right teehee

To my viewer they look more mauvey then the peachy tones they truly are. But here are both socks all done! The mommy socks have a semi right and left toe shaping to them. Can't wait to hear from the intendee if it really worked for her feet. they are too long on mine. Good thing too because I might have had to go buy her some pampers or something instead of giving them up!

Close up of the tiny bootie in my hand. This yarn has been on my hands/wrists alot in this process, hasn't it?

just the booties snuggling close to their mommy socks :)

And here are the adoreable baby socks exerting their independence already and posing all alone! The yarn again, Laines Du Nord Kordall Fancy 1212 885 color/lot

How to say this.....

How should I say this? Recently I purchased some Cascade Fixation yarn. I spent quite a bit of knitting time on a Cabled Tube top (pattern by Cascade for Fixation yarn). I just thought you should know, the pattern is not properly written and the yarn did NOT bounce back after being put on. Obviously I cannot send my SP5 the absolutely gorgeous with tons of cables tube top to wear of this as it may be an embarrassment to her in public, IF she even made it out of the house.

So buyer beware of Cascade Fixation Cabled Tube Top pattern and Cascade Fixation yarn.

Yes, I did contact my LYS and no offering was forthcoming to replace the yarn or pattern. I wrote to Cascade and they have not had the courtesy to even acknowledge my complaint.

So now I am feverishly knitting a different giftie for my SP5 and looking at the other project I had cast on for myself and not wanting to put anymore time into that one to have it respond in the same manner as the gift one did--not bouncing back that is.

So now off you go to have a wonderful day. Mine has to go up from here... I've just had a root canal done and that was not fun. Now for a nap so the pain killers can kick in.

knitting forth more cautiously,
denise/debrat aka grandma brattie-to-be She's PINK!

Color of the Day

Today's color of the day is..... PINK! now blue but PINK!!! Phil and Ashley will have a PINK baby come December 2nd-ish..... Now to find someone to teach me smocking. And to choose a Christening shawl that can become a wedding day shawl if wanted later in life.... I just got the book Folk Shawls so perhaps that Russian Christening one that is in there. I really need to look at the charts first though as I am a beginning knitter and have only done one small lace project so far. Want to make sure that I will love the pattern and keep at it! I do love that Seaside Shawl one though. And Ashley is a Florida gal so it would be appropriate to her "heritage" ohhhh the choices the choices...

The other news is, it is NOT twins. gasp that was worrisome but would have been a wonderful double blessing :)

well off to see what I can make for a baby quilt. I had a "picture" in my mind for a BLUE quilt but a PINK quilt will require some studious discovery of patterns.

hugs all
denise aka grandma brattie-to-be she's PINK!

Later on more July 8th musings

So I have picked up one of those "gifties" for someone I am making and it dawns on me that I can "air" my feelings regarding this project online here! After all it is MY blog, eh?

I am making the Opera Scarf http://www.blueskyalpacas.com/freepatterns/operascarf.html

I happen to be making it out of Lion Brand's Homespun in sort of a mix of Oatmeal colors as it was clearanced and fit my mood recently. First I made this friend a new purse from it and some Moda Dea. Lovely. I'll post some pictures of it flat later on. Now I am making her a stole to wear when she travels next wednesday to Finland. I figure a Florida gal might need a stole on her shoulders to ward off the weather in Finland which is a wee bit more north than us on the hot weather/globe thingie.

well I cast on 31 stitches. I remember this because I cast on the same number as her age. Got to use every trick you can when knitting with changes so you can recall correctly. Well I started with 31 stitches and nearly 4 feet later I still have 31 stitches. but somewhere along the line I wound up with two of the "gathering areas" not really cables joining and becoming just one gathering area. perhaps in later pics this will make more sense. So how does one start with and still have the same number of pics but wind up with one less gathering area? Now that is a topic of serious contemplation for so late on a Friday night. Good thing I have all weekend to puzzle on it in my mind. Alas, I have only all weekend to get the other 2 feet or so knit on this thing.

How is it that when we have a project on the needles in our hands with a deadline all we can think of is the new projects i want to cast on for? I can't wait to cast on for my knit exchange Bag ( I got a guy!) later on this weekend. But first I need to finish this stole.
work a swatch from the sugar n cream and test kool aid dye it.
work on my secret pal 5 giftie for july so it can mail sometime in this month.

Around that I should be working on my eldest son's b'day quilt. But it has been a work in progress for several years now. I am onto the applique part and I just don't love applique at all.

well i have traveled to quilting so it must be time to get off of here.

now to go and post some pics!

more hugs all
denise

A close up of all the cabling. I guess that is why it took so long. It took less time to straight knit 3 rows than to do one row of cables. lovely to look at delightful to hold but it won't hold up so to the ripping back pile it goes!

Here it is being worked up in the neon green cascade fixation yarn. Guess what? it does NOT hold its form and it stretched all out after I knit it! 10 days of knitting on it and it cannot be worn. more sighing....

the pattern i'm making as a gift which did NOT work out. sigh....

The purse for JoAnna all knitted and waiting to be kitchenered to itself! then I lined it too. It looks really hip? Is it okay for a late 40's to use that word? Anyway I really like it. It will look cool with the stole if I can just get it done in time for her trip.

in its fake done looking mode. flap folded over.

Confused musings...

Today I made a trip to the LYS. I had a lovely time fondling yarns, some multiple times and finally a few decided to come home with me. It dawns on me that I can't post here what I bought as I purchased for:

~my secret pal 5 (my first time in the group and loving it!)

~something to make for someone in my knitting group and she reads this occasionally i think

~something to make for my sister-in-law because it was such a huge splurge it HAS to be a gift for her LOL

~some more little things for my secret pal 5

~one thing for me that is the same as for my sp5 so I can't say I finally even found one of these

~something for my middle son's gf, Ashley and she just might read this. I know the eldest son's gf, Jen reads this.

So what to write about?

The pending hurricane dennis? It will miss us here in the tampa bay area but we will get wet for a few days starting today. I don't think so it is depressing to think of all the stress I was under last year during Hurricane Season. Like it is a fruit and you can pick it teehee

Should I write about the number things I have OTN? well most are gifties.

How about I tell you about our Tuesday knitting group? We meet at a library that is brand new and we just made a donation to the library and our name, Blooming Knitters 2005 will be on the gorgeous heart that will hang in the lobby. I'll try to remember to bring my camera and take a picture of the wall and later of "our" heart hanging there.

This group is also working on a baby afghan to be donated. we will be using sugar n cream yarn and making 9" blocks. If we each make 3 of them we will have enough for a blanket about 40" x 60".

I can tell you I had a chiropractic adjustment today and one of my muscles is protesting big times. So I am in a lot of pain. hoping to be able to sleep tonight and let the muscle get some "down" time.

I found an odd looking spider on my car cover the other day. It's head looks like it is of silver foil, or more like the tin man's head in Wizard of Oz. its body portion is black and silver striped which go "off" of its head not around its body. hmmmm making sense? i could not find it anywhere on line and I am only reminded of it when I look down at the keyboard because it is in a plastic ziplock baggie sitting on the keyboard! I do NOT like spiders and this one was gratefully already dead when I found it on the car cover. I would have smooshed it too hard to be recognizable if it had not been already deceased!


gosh this is so boring without pictures! okay I'm off to watch Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind while i attempt to download a BUNCH of pics from the camera.

thanks for putting up with my drivel. leave a comment and let me know you read this junk? I'm going to come up with some kind of contest but need to come up with the particulars first.

'til later
knit on!
hugs
denise/deBrat

July 3rd ... musing again

Hey all

Today is Sunday, July 3rd. I managed to have a productive and yet relaxing day today. I caught up on some of my email digests this morning. Then I went to my gf's to use her Stretch sewing machine on a Grace table to quilt a quilt for a quilt student turned friend. all went surprisingly well for the first quilt on the machine and I'm maybe going to fall in love with this thing afterall.

Today is the 2nd anniversary of her father's death and they will remember him tonight by dining on lobster. Poppy LOVED lobster so I told her "nice touch" and then proceded to make sure she had some of that bubbly grape stuff from Sam's Club he liked too. Non-alcoholic. I toasted him with his family on the last b'day he celebrated in December of 2002.

I came home soooo hungry. I had only had 3 peanut butter cookies (store bought of course) this morning and so we had a nice chicken dinner dh had cooked. That is why it was nice, because I did not cook it. I'm a terrible cook. I have burned water! And that is the least harmful and smelling thing I've managed to ruin.

After dinner I went outside to make a cell phone call hoping to chat with my sister in upstate NY but alas they were not home yet. So I went floating in the pool. Well the float is busted so I hugged the pillow insert from the float and sort of ran around the perimeter of the pool chasing whatever bugs managed to kamakazie (sp?) in to making them go into the skimmer. We have an above ground 24 foot across pool. It has served us well.

The neighbor is putting up a screen room on his back cement patio. Perhaps he finds he needs a screen room to PROTECT his patio from my dh and ds as they spent about 1/2 an hour standing there last week when they got caught in the pouring down rain while replacing the fencing between our two yards. Now there is only a small section that has not been replaced yet. Just in time for the Hurricane season to come and try to ripped it all down again.

And now I am sitting here watching some dumb movie requiring no thought processes and updating my blog and knitting on a test bag for the August laptop bag pattern at bag_a_holics@yahoogroups.com this will be really really cute. It is for Jen, my eldest ds's gf. Her b'day is August 1st and I hope to finish it early enough to mail it to her. She loves pink and orange so it is just that LOTS of pink with orange accents.

well again i have no pictures so this is going to bore you to death. I have a LOT of pictures in the digital but that will take me a long long time to download and rename and file appropriately. Maybe tomorrow. we don't leave for the BBQ at Gary's until 3:30pm Sounds like a plan.

Have a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July!
denise/debrat aka grandma brattie-to-be who found out on Thursday there is a possiblity of twins!