Crash!

I have new socks to show, and other news, and my hard drive crashed.  Fortunately, there is the laptop, but it does not have the handy dandy little slot for my memory card.  Gotta figure out how I do this photo upload with this laptop.

Actually, the laptop is Husker's laptop, so I really do not know much about it.  With his current state of health, I am not asking for a tutorial.  By the way, we are finished with radiation and we start chemo on July 31st.  Going from a PC to a Mac Pro is a real brain teaser.

However, I can talk about my other news - at least news to other knitters.  I have finally said to self, "You have got to take time to do this."  So I did.  I have spent this afternoon practicing my Continental skills.  I have shied away from Continental technique because I simply could not get used to controlling the tension with my left hand.  I finished my latest project this morning, and looked at the remaining sock yarn, and said "It is time."  I am happy to say that I finally felt confident enough by evening to start a baby cap.  So far so good.

We Race for the Cure

Today was the Race for the Cure in west Fort Worth, a Komen race that serves 4 counties.  Husker and I showed up at 7 a.m. for our 8 a.m. family fun walk.  Since Husker is a polio survivor, we do the one-mile walk instead of the 5k.  It is unbelievable how big this Race for the Cure mentality has grown over the last 30 (?) years.  15,000 people showed up this morning! 

The crisp (low to mid 50s-60s) temperatures that start the event each year are just not warm enough for me.  This year was not too chilly (mid 60s), but many times I have needed a light jacket -- which I was ripping off by the end of the race.  Next year, Brenda is going to show up with her new pink arm warmers that she can strip off and store easily after the temperature starts to rise (which it does quickly!)  Why didn't I think of this before now?  I will model them on the arm warmers that I made for myself to wear during the crispy days of spring and fall on my neighborhood 4-mile walks.  The new pink arm warmers will come later, but here is a close-up of the spring-fall version that I already made.  These were knitted with double point needles, reversing to purl rows to create "bracelets" at the beginning, end, and on each side of the elbow bend.  I used Berroco Comfort yarn.


My thought for the pink arm warmers is to use a sock weight yarn in a silk blend so that they will not be too warm or too bulky.  I think these would be good for runners, too, on chilly days.  Suggestions from readers for yarn and style variations would be appreciated.  

Husker is about to leave for one of his volunteer gigs, and I am about to start a more rigorous and extensive walk through our very hilly neighborhood.  A one-mile stroll is okay for Husker, but it leaves me frustrated!  I gotta move like I mean it.  However, Husker has done something that I doubt I will ever do:   He has done the Race for the Cure in 8 states.   

Portuguese Knitting

I suppose that everyone who knits experiences pain in their hands at some point.  Well, mine were getting to be chronic and would last for hours and sometimes days.  I would have to put the knitting aside for a couple of days (not something I liked doing!)  I began to experiment with other techniques, beginning with Continental (or German) knitting technique.  While that helped, it did not eliminate the pain and my output did not look as good.

Then I stumbled across Portuguese Knitting and gave it a try.  Not only was it faster, better tension and better output, but the hands healed and do not bother me at all.  I knitted most of yesterday without pain!  If you want to learn more about this, there are two sources:  Youtube (search for Portuguese Knitting), or Andreawongknits.  I purchased a used copy of Andrea Wong's DVD through Amazon, but cannot get it to play on my PC.  However, I learned enough from Youtube to get right into this technique.

I love the speed and ease of knitting this way!  I was finishing up a girl's pullover that featured stockinette stitch for the torso and was able to zip through the tedious stockinette.  I was working in the round, and the knitting flew.  I wish I had found this technique before I began.

That brings me up to the latest finished project:  the girls' pullover based on Sarah Johnson's Rusted Root.  This should fit most girls of about 10 years of age (my estimate).  The puffed sleeves are the best feature.  Peggy of A Bit of String conceived the idea of making this version of Rusted Root, leaving off the "root" and using one size smaller needles.  However, I quickly realized that her version was too small for my intended recipient, so I started again and made the XS version of the original pattern.  It worked up very nicely in Cotton Ease.