What A Week...and its not over yet!

This has been one of those life challenges see what your made of type of week. It started with me hand sewing my daughters choir dress during the weekend. Now that might not sound like a big deal to some but for me it was. It was one of those lovely two layer satin and gauzy type material dress with a lovely flare. Now mind you I am not a great sewer I can make a tote bag, a Halloween costume, even a pair of PJ bottoms, but this was one in my book was fine sewing mostly because of the material and not wanting to ruin it. I spent Saturday pinning this the dress and planned on sewing it on Sunday. Well I came home from work Sunday morning to my little man with a fever that just got worse as the day went on. Luckily on Monday afternoon the doctor had said it was not H1N1. Daughter and I make it to the choir concert Monday night while DH stayed at home with LM,she did great. Well that moment was a bit short lived when I came home afterward and tried to go to do some laundry down in the basement. I went down the stairs like it was a slide. Luckily I'm still here but boy do I hurt. Then that evening little man's fever was way up again. Little man is still not up to par yet and we are closely monitoring his cough. Most likely will have to take him in again to be rechecked tomorrow. Now some of you have already have heard this but for those of you that haven't there is the latest and not so greatest. This morning DH woke up not feeling so hot. So you know how they say it comes in threes.There is number three. Murphy is free to leave my house, actually I'm trying to kick him out but he doesn't want to leave.

So is this going to be one of those woe is me blog post? Not at all. In fact I am here to tell you during all of this there has been one comfort, new addition to the family. Meet Squishy! (LM named him)

Yep we have been converted to the wonders of the water bottle. Now I would say hot water bottle but since this one can be used hot or cold. Water bottle.. I mean Squishy is his name. He has been with my little man since Monday helping to keep his body temp down and yesterday was lent to me for my very sore swollen back. Squishy is the new household favorite and he hasn't even been warmed up yet.
So of course you know what that means...well since my knitting is very slow going (hurt my thumb on the way down) and I need something to distract from the pain. I have been looking at hot water bottle cover patterns. I know I have Christmas knitting to be done, UFO's lurking in the closet but right now I am drawn to looking at bottle cover patterns. Which brings me to ask a question can you use cotton to knit a hot water bottle cozy? I'm thinking of knitting two cozies one in cotton actually Knit Picks Simply Cotton for when it is used cold and Swish (which the purchase of Swish is going under necessity and not to be considered breaking my yarn diet) for when we need to use it warm. What do you think? I am really drawn to Tina's water bottle cover pattern and thought that would be neat using the four colors of the Simply Cotton. Let me know what you think.

On another more pleasant distracting note I thought I would share the two sock patterns that I did manage to cast on before Murphy moved in.

So did you notice?? Hmm...?? Yep I finally shrunk my pictures!! Yipee!! It only took how long? That's the good news but as you can see once again I'm knitting with dark yarn that is hard to take a photograph of.
Well both socks which are going to be gifted are from Wendy D. Johnson's book Socks from the Toe Up. This is a really good book. The copy I am using is from the library but this book is so good that I just bought it here from Knit Picks along with a 32" size US 0 (2mm). Now this also does not count as breaking my diet because one its a book and two its being used to make gifts. OK back to the socks.

The one on the left is called the Diamond Gansey Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential before it became Stroll Kettle Dyed in Jay
Needle Size US 1½ / 2.5 mm

The one on the right is called Traditional Gansey Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential before it became Stroll in Navy
Needle Size US 1 / 2.25 mm

Both the recipients love the color blue. Luckily these were in my stash. Hopefully I will get them done on time along with a few other Christmas knit gifts. Well that's all I have for now on the needles that are out besides the thrummed mittens. :)
Also I don't have an i-Pod but..
On my Zen: This weeks Knit Picks Podcast and Little Women

Hope you had a good day.

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Comment by Knit4Many on October 30, 2009 at 3:25pm: Just wanted to post an update. Little man has been diagnosis with the flu but at least his chest was clear for now.It was another rough night with high fevers last night, but the doctor says hopefully he should be feeling better by next week. DH is doing much better today. I also was able to go back to work today a bit more slow going than my usual pace but at least I'm able to go.My co-workers are so sweet they made a trick or treat basket for little man since it looks like he won't be going trick or treating tomorrow night. He was thrilled and really enjoyed it. I was also able to do my morning coffee knitting this morning and finish the heel on the Diamond Gansey Sock. Interesting technique. I really like how it came out. Came home from work today and it seems little mans fever is staying down hopefully it will be a better evening. *crossing fingers*

Comment by Knit4Many on October 29, 2009 at 8:07am: Susan: Thanks, me too getting ready to take him today and have that cough checked out. So hard especially at this age ,there were all these fun school activities this week that he is missing out on and he as been bummed about that. I keep telling him that he is not the only one to be absent from school but its still hard. Also Trick or Treating will be out this year so thinking of fun activities we can do at home.
I was really drawn to the slip stitch style heel of these toe up socks and I will let you know how the BO goes( that's part I am concerned about). The W/T wasn't to bad good written directions just have to pay attention when knitting that part.
Well gotta get going. Hope you have a good day.-K

Comment by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on October 29, 2009 at 7:20am: Knit4, I really hope LM gets to feeling better soon. At least the Tylenot is working.
I think the Simply Cotton would work fine!
I've only used Swish Worsted for one project, but loved working with it. My DH tried it on after I finished, and he could not believe it was made of wool.

I have only made one pair of toe up socks, and liked then except for the cuff - I am not crazy about short row heels - or should I say most patterns for short row heels - all that W/T just doesn't work for me. I'll keep that book in mind for my future purchases. --S

Comment by Knit4Many on October 29, 2009 at 7:00am: Susan: No kidding this morning LM fever was up again. He just can't seem to break it. As long as Tylenol is in him its under control but they don't let the kids go back to school here unless they are fever free for 24 hours & without the use of medication.
I love Simply Cotton. That beach/bag blanket I knit this summer as been used more as throw blanket around here and it does get softer every time I wash it. My thinking was would it work for the bottle cover since it is cotton and doesn't have that memory of wool. Does that make sense? The pattern is stockinette and ribbing so it should work right?
Swish is really nice too. I usually have to use washable wool for gift giving ( well except for the my DD's because they usually ask me to do the hand washing and blocking) and have used this yarn a few times. Usually I use the DK weight but the worsted should be just as nice I'm sure.
I knit one pair of toe up sock awhile back and it was with a short row heel. It was OK but I wasn't to wow about it. This book though had three different types of heels and five toe up cast on and four bind off plus all three methods for knitting socks. I also like the patterns in this book. Which I think are like 25? (its not in front of me) So for me that's a lot of bang for the buck especially with the KP book sale. Even at the regular retail though its a good buy I think. It will be a nice addition.
I'm knitting the socks in larger size needles( since that's what I have) in the smaller sizes and it seems to be working out so far. I was going to knit both pairs two at a time but I find it cumbersome carrying it in my bag. Need a bigger bag. :) So one is at home and the other is my carry along project.
Need more coffee. Everyone is resting now so will see what the day brings. Happy Knitting :) -Knit

Comment by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on October 28, 2009 at 8:55pm: Knit4, I am sorry about your week. Sick children and husbands are no fun I know. But hopefully they will be feeling better soon.

Re: Simply Cotton - I am a big fan of this yarn. I have used it for several things... Market Tote, Spa Cloth, Baby Blanket/Spa Blanket and each turned out wonderful. My daughter got the Spa Cloth, and she says that every time you wash it is feels even softer (good thing).
I also fell in love recently with Swish - so for me that is a no brainer.

Both socks are fantastic... dark yarns aside... I am no big fan of toe up socks, but these look fantastic. Will have to look into that book. Thanks for the tip. --S

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