Where Am I?

My laptop is in the repair shop having an operation to remove two memory resident viruses.

First I tried to ignore it. It got worse. Then I tried to fix it myself. I spent hours and hours for naught and got very frustrated.

Now it's in the competent hands of "Yes, I can fix that!" Richard waiting its turn to be attended to in his one man repair shop.

Meanwhile, I'm using a ten year old laptop from the closet. Some of the keys don't work unless they're pounded on. It only has one USB port, no functional battery so I have to set the date and time everytime I turn it on, and it's slow, slow, slow.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down

Thinking ahead, I've been scouting out yarn for Metro by Connie Chang Chinchio from the Fall 2010 Twist Collective. It calls for a heavy worsted to knit up at 18 stitches/4 inches.


Included in my last Knitpicks order was a skein of City Tweed to swatch.

First impression is WOW. It's soft, it's easy to knit, stitch and row gauge are right on perfect, and I love the tweed look.


Disclaimer: I reserve the right to change my mind after I wash the swatch. I need to do that soon before I have a keyboard spasm and order enough yarn for the sweater. Last time I swatched with a single skein Knitpicks broke my heart by discontinuing the yarn before I could order enough for the intended sweater.


I love my coral and aqua stitch marker pins. They slide in and out of stitches with ease and every project I knit is full of them. I hook them in stitches to keep track of the row count, to mark increases and decreases, to mark the first row of a stitch pattern, and to slide on the needles and mark divisions in a row.

To get my last Knitpicks order into the free shipping dollar range, I happily ordered TWO packs of their (assumed) identical marker pins.


They're so awful they're unusable. The points are not sharp and not smooth. They snag my stitches. For fingering weight socks, I can't even slide these pins into a stitch because of the excess plastic that didn't get trimmed off the tips.

Don't buy these things! They're worthless.

Chat Back for April 23

Responding to comments left since the last time I did Chat Back.

Kathy B. asked . . .

What was your main tip to me about losing weight??? Do you have one?

Losing weight is all about the calories. I write down what I eat and add up the calories as I go along making sure I leave enough for a 300 to 400 calorie dinner and a 100 calorie bedtime minibagel so I don’t have to go to bed hungry.

My magic number is 1200 calories a day. I lose about a little less than a pound a week at 1200 calories and I can still eat enough so I don’t feel like I’m starving, although I do have moments when I get hungry.

After eating my calorie limit at a meal I rarely feel full and am always ready to eat more, so instead I fiddle around making and drinking a cup of tea. By the time that’s all done, I’m over the urge to keep eating.

Think I’ll go fix some tea right now. Do I especially like tea? No. But it’s the fiddling around with it that works for distraction.

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NMjewel asked . . .

I'm betting you could get another 'matching' pair from that yarn. Will there be enough?

Even with Mom's short, five inch cuffs, there was not enough yarn left from the Zauberball Socks for a second pair.

There were two very long sections of black that I cut out and didn't use.

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MomSue84 asked . . .

Just wondering how you like knitting with KP Stroll as opposed to Slackford Studio sock yarn?

I've enjoyed knitting with Stroll, but enough time hasn't passed yet for a wash and wear verdict.

Stroll seems to be a good workhorse sock yarn, but for beautiful soft socks with no fuzz after many washings, good wear, and super excellent stitch definition there is no comparison to my favorite sock yarn, Stalwart from Slackford Studio.

Your question prompted me to search the stash, and I found some Stalwart in a bluish gray color to use for Heather's birthday socks instead of the untested Stroll.


Yes, I'm knitting another pair of BFF socks. The pattern is so perfect for gift socks that I couldn't resist. Makes for uninteresting blogging, though.

The color is Steelyard Blues.

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Laurie asked . . .

I enjoy your blog very much, and I wanted to let you know that you inspired me to knit my very first pair that I just finished. I was not really sure what was the best brand of yarn to use, so I used Happy Feet by Plymouth. I haven’t washed them or worn them and the socks seem very fuzzy to me. Do you think that this is because of the yarn (should I have spent more money) or is that just the way all sock yarn is? I loved making the socks, and only like to knit with wool, but don’t like the fuzzy look that I got.

Any advise that you could give me would be much appreciated.

I had trouble with this question because wool does have a natural tendency to be fuzzy. Still, some sock yarns are fuzzier than others.

Opal, Regia, and Stalwart (from Slackford Studio) are tightly spun and three of the less fuzzy yarns. They are a bit expensive, but my socks from these yarns last for many years. Some of my old Opal socks are over ten years old now and still going strong without being fuzzy.

The worst yarn I ever bought and used was Austermann Step with Aloe Vera and Jojoba. Over several washings (I do machine, not gentle by hand) it fuzzed and pilled to the point I couldn't see the stitch pattern. Just yesterday I asked myself why I was saving those socks and pitched them in the wastebasket.

Congratulations on your first pair of socks! I've found sock knitting to be an addictive hobby and there are so many patterns it never has to get boring.

Wednesday Wings - Yellow-shafted Flicker, Male

Last week I spotted this Flicker in the grass celebrating spring by eating ants, his favorite food.

His head is a little blurry because he was bobbing it up and down so fast.


The female Flicker has been coming to the suet feeder since March, but this is the first time I've spotted the male. (See the female eating suet here.)

The male looks exactly like the female except for the black mustache extending out from his beak.


The pictures were taken between two bars of the porch railing which are showing on the picture edges.

Needless to say, I'm very excited to have a pair. Maybe they'll bring their young to the suet feeder. There's no season as optimistic as the beginning of spring.

Brandywine Back

I debated. Knit it in one piece and have easy finishing? Or, knit it in pieces and have easy knitting? I felt like knitting the pieces one by one, so that's the way I'm doing it. Since I'm never happy with the look of sewn in sleeves, I may sew the fronts and back together and knit the sleeves top down in the round.


The back is unblocked, but I have a blocked swatch to give me confidence the sweater is going to look nice when it's done. And, hopefully fit.

Pattern: Brandywine

Yarn: Knitpicks Gloss DK, 70% Merino wool 30% silk.

Color: Woodland Sage.

Needles: Options #5.

Gauge: 22 stitches and 31 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette.