Dawn Brocco's Life & Design Blog

The past 3+ days had me scrambling to get 2 good design ideas swatched and plotted for a book submission.

I worked right up until bedtime last night, which was way too much work for my still energy-deficient body, but it had to be done.

So I ended up with a screamer of a headache and then couldn't sleep, so at 3:30 this morning came downstairs and took 2 no-no Ibuprofen, telling myself, screw the edema, as Tylenol just wasn't gonna do it, then curled up on the loveseat to try and fall asleep (as I didn't want to get my heart rate up going up the stairs to bed), and continued with my painful, non-sleeping night from hell.

I rushed off the submission this morning while having my tomato soup (coffee and me don't get on much any more), then I looked in the bathroom mirror.

It's official. I look like I feel - something the cat barfed up.

Mamma Mia! was on again the other day, so, of course, I have a song stuck in my head. Sing along with me - Thank you fudda music...

I'm trying to get inspired to design, but am falling flat. No desire, no inspiration. If only this house would sell, I'd finally have something to be excited about, which would surely spark my creative juices. In the meantime, they're more like creative mud.

So, simple knits. Always. Need. Socks. Especially socks that will fit in my new-ish shoes. Yeah, they're a year old, but my shoes last forever as I don't get many chances to wear them!

So, as I had some of that Sirri Yarn I have previously posted about here, I thought it would be perfect for sturdy and rustic (boy is this yarn rustic!) socks.

It has no stretch, so a size 4 (3.5 mm) ndl was the smallest I was comfortable using. You could go tighter, but the yarn is rough, so if your hands are up to it, go for it! Mine aren't up to it right now.

The pair weighs just 97 grams. I didn't weigh the 2 colors beforehand, as I didn't realize then what I was gonna knit and if I'd want to post about it. So, from the looks of it, I'd say about 2/3 of it is the natural cream color and 1/3 is the sheep's grey color.

The yarn comes in 100 gram hanks. I got it here.

They only have 1 color and weight on the site now, which by the yardage looks to be the heavier weight - a worsted. This 3-ply is more like a DK in thickness.

Here's the importer where you can also order online.

Here's another shop that has it, but not the 3-ply.

Here's a site that calls it Viking yarn - I like that. No yarn that I can see, just garments.

And on that site are these Faroese slippers just like in, oh geez, one of my Nordic design books, which are all packed away, but I think it's in Nordic Knitting.

They came off the ndls and went onto my feet - so take pity on the pic quality as they are unwashed/unblocked.

OK, pattern.

Size: woman's medium
Finished Dimensions: 8" circ foot, 10" long from back of heel with sock folded flat

Size 4 (3.5 mm) dpns
1 hank each 2 colors of the 3-ply Sirri yarn, sheep's grey (A) and cream (B)
Gauge:5.5 sts/1" in Stockinette

Cuff
Long Tail CO in k1, p1 rib 44 sts in A. Rib 2 more rnds.
(Rib 2 rnds in B. Rib 3 rnds in A.) 2x.

Leg
Knit 17 rnds B.

Heel Flap
The heel flap is in a simple 2-st diced pattern.


(K1 A, k1 B) across next 22 sts, turn. Evenly distribute remaining sts on 2 ndls.
(P1 A grey, p1 B) across, turn.
Repeat last 2 rows 7x more = 16 rows done, end after finishing a WS row.

V-Heel Turn.
The heel turn is divided down the center in 2 colors. Even if you can do v-heels in your sleep, go slowly, so you remember to strand the unworked color across, thus padding your heel.

Pattern 11 sts, ssk B, k1 B, turn.
Sl 1, k1 B, p2tog A, p1 A, turn.
Sl 1, k1 A, k1 B, ssk B, k1 B, turn.
Sl 1, p2 B, p1 A, p2tog A, p1 A, turn.
Sl 1, k2 A, k2 B, ssk B, k1 B, turn.
Sl 1, p3 B, p2 A, p2tog A, p1 A, turn.
Sl 1, k3 A, k3 B, ssk B, k1 B, turn.
Sl 1, p4 B, p3 A, p2tog A, p1 A, turn.
Sl 1, k4 A, k4 B, ssk B, k1 B, turn.
Sl 1, p5 B, p4 A, p2tog A, p1 A, turn = 12 sts remaining.

Gussets
Sl 1, with A, knit remaining heel sts, and pick up and knit 11 sts along right gusset. Knit across 22 instep sts. Pick up and knit 11 sts at left gusset and with same ndl knit 6 of the heel sts. Rnds now begin at center heel.

Knit 1 rnd A. On next rnd, with A, knit to 3 sts before instep and ssk, k1, lnit across instep then k1, k2tog, finish rnd.

With B, knit 1 rnd. Then knit 1 rnd, work decreases as before.

Continue alternating 3 rnds A with 2 rnds B, ending with 3 rnds A, decreasing at the gussets on every other rnd until the original 44 sts remain.

Foot
Knit 17 rnds B.
Repeat 13-row stripe pattern: 3 rows A, 2 rows B) 2x, 3 rows A,.

Knit 9 rnds B.

Dawn's 6-Point Star/Round Toe
On next rnd, dec 2 sts evenly = 42 sts. Knit 1 rnd even.
(K5, k2tog (or ssk, if you prefer)) 6x = 36 sts. Knit 2 rnds even.
(K4, k2tog) 6x = 30 sts. Knit 2 rnds.
(K3, k2tog) 6x = 24 sts.
(K2, k2tog) 6x = 18 sts.
(K1, k2tog) 6x = 12 sts.
(K2tog) 6x = 6 sts.

Break yarn leaving a tail. Thread yarn onto tapestry ndl and pull through remaining sts.

Then bring yarn across top of toe and stitch under 2 halves of the sts opposite where the yarn exits that last st. Weave in on the WS or do as I now do and find a column of sts nearby and weave in and out of the ditch between 2 columns of sts about 5x. Then weave back up through the same ditch twice. Cut off yarn end.

The yarn end will disappear into this ditch, but can be found, if and when the toe needs to be reknit. It also keeps that yarn end from irritating your toes.

Góøur Knitting!

Labels: Sirri yarn, Viking Wool Socks

Today was a a tired and resting day, until 2 pm, when I dragged myself off the loveseat and spent 3+ hours making a roast beef, gravy, glazed carrots, mashed potatoes and sauteed onions, while hubby was off at his 2nd job.

I also whipped up a batch of yogurt smoothie, which helps me take all these pills!, and a batch of iced tea. Dessert is the apple crisp I made yesterday. Boy, I'm good!

Back to the loveseat and some knitting, while hubby cleans up the cooking mess.

I did catch the last few minutes of a PBS cooking show (I hadn't seen before) with a woman (I don't know who she was) making Julia's Beouf Bourguignon. One of these days I'll make one.

I have a small sirloin roast in the freezer I can cut up for it - just need wine, mushrooms and more bacon, as I cooked the package of bacon I had yesterday, despite hubby insisting that *he* was gonna do it, as my first attempt was much less that perfect.

But I finally got it right. Very low heat and drain all the fat from each batch of bacon before putting in more strips, or else the pan ends up with enough fat to swim in and splatters like mad.

America's Test Kitchen was doing maple-glazed pork tenderloins and thick, pan cooked pork chops. I'm not a big pork fan, it's just so hard to digest.


Lidia was doing a chicken with beer recipe and dumplings with speck. Eh on the beer. There was chicken stock and unfiltered apple cider to simmer the chicken in, which sounded good, but beer? I've never liked beer.

And the dumplings, like German knödel, looked really yummy - milk-soaked old bread cubes, grated cheese (looked like parmesan), cooked diced speck (prosciuto) and it looked like onions (missed bits of this show while I was cooking), chopped parsley and chives, salt, pepper, a little flour to bind it all. Make soft balls, roll in flour, then boil til they float, coat in melted butter, sprinkle on more cheese. Gotta try these one day.

I'm as irritated by infomercials as the next person.

But one infomercial has been scratching at my designing mind, and that's the draft stopper made of what looks like plastic and foam inserts which slides under doors and windows to keep the drafts out. Draft stoppers in general have been permeating my head lately - just the nature of that beast we call Winter, and it's co-hort, The Heating Bill, particularly this year, with all this single digit and low double digit temps.

For awhile now, every time I see it, all I see is 2 tubes of I-cord with a stockinette section in the middle. And as this sounded familiar, I pulled out my 4 EZ books, and lo and behold, she did something similar - her I-cord belt.

Except. Her belt was in garter stitch, which is too thick for this application, and it was only 7 sts wide, with 2, 3-st I-cords and 1 separating stitch.

Now, I figured that, even if I could get a useful draft stopper made, it probably wouldn't suit for under doors, BUT, most people have way more windows than doors to stop up every autumn, and as a stationary piece, this might actually do the job.

Because lordie, I do hate having to caulk 40 some odd windows every autumn, then uncaulk them in the spring.

So, I began swatching. I figured 3-st I-cords would be a bit too skimpy. So I tried 4-st cords. And the stockinette section in the middle has to be wide enough to fit under a window, but not too wide, as, ideally, the I-cord poofs should be taught against the window and windowsill, when the window is lowered onto the draft stopper.

I began with some Country Roving by Briggs & Little. Love the wool, not good for this app - too thick and not easy to pull those I-cord sts tight.

So I swatched again with B&L's Atlantic and  size 10.5 (6.5 mm) ndls. Ah. Nice sturdy wool, 3-ply. And as one would want these things to last many years, it should be able to take a licking and keep on ticking.

Now unlike typical I-cord, there is not sliding of the sts to the other end of the ndl. The pattern would be a 2-row pattern, but easy to remember.

My window frame is 1.5" thick, so, serendipity reigned, as I had put 5 sts between my 2 cords and when flattened out (as the window will do) it spanned the 1.5" tautly. (At least in the swatch that worked, I later had to rip out1 row of cord and add 2 more rows.)

But after a few inches the inevitable struck. The middle stockinette section was buckling. Why? Those cord ends were only worked on every other row, but the middle was worked on every row. So *that's why* EZ used garter stitch - smart woman!

OK, not to be defeated yet, I tried k1, p1 in the middle - no go. Then I tried a sl 1, k1 pattern - which worked, but made the middle part too thick.

In a thinner yarn, the garter stitch center panel would probably be fine, but a thinner yarn would make a smaller I-cord.

So, back to the drawing board. It turns out that a simple long stockinette strip with applied I-cord at both of the long edges works best, and won't be too fiddly to knit in a roving into the center of the I-cord. So that it resembles that infomercial item and the extra wool padding means extra insulation, making the I-cord tubing do its job better to keep air from creeping under the windows.

But. Isn't there always a but?! The darn thing doesn't work. The swatch worked. I could close the window tight and still close the window lock, but when trying to close and lock the window against an entire strip of wool fabric, I couldn't close the window tight enough to lock it.


Some ideas do this. They sound good, but the execution of them leaves much to be desired.


But. Another but.


The Stuffed I-cord idea is enticing me. I immediately thought of making a long Stuffed I-cord strip for a rug, coiled up and sewn together, or maybe crocheted together - who wants to sew?


Right now I'm working on a smaller version - a mug mat, to see if it works.


I would have posted yesterday, but had a phone conference AKD board meeting (Association of Knitwear Designers) and spent much of the rest of the day emailing each other like mad with ideas and thoughts.

I'm a board member and on a couple committees. We're the behind-the-scenes worker bees turning our organization into something it's never been before - THE organization to belong to if you're a knitting pattern designer. It can take alot of time and work, but is well worth it.

Labels: AKD, Stuffed I-cord

I've been good lately about posting every day, and don't want you all to think I'm slipping. I'm working on a long post and a free pattern. But first gotta finish the sample, block it and see if the idea actually works.

If it does work, well, actually, even if it doesn't, it has the germ of another good idea in it - all sidetracking that Fana design a bit. But when the muses begin to sing, one dare not ignore their melody!

Later today the earliest, maybe tomorrow...

Every other evening, I put 2 qts of water to boil to steep iced tea. I could drink the whole half gallon every day, but I try and be good and compromise by drinking just a quart's worth and a quart of water every day.

In the morning, I strain the bags, add sugar, heat it up a bit to dissolve the sugar, add lemon juice, and refrigerate.

Except this morning.

I took the lid off the pot. And there was no tea!  OK, who took my tea? And left just a pot of water sitting here (insert sound of foot tapping.) Fleeting images of hubby running off with a jiggling, splooshing pot of tea, just to confuse me, runs through my head  Then I remember. Oh duh.

I wasn't totally happy with my new pic - looked like I had huge dark circles under my eyes.

Vain. Yes. I admit it. Take away my Feminist card! So, I changed the pic again. Not perfect, but I think I like it more than the other one.


Now onto more important work.

No joke!

Since I turned 40, a whopping decade ago, I've been forced, by my body, to try and figure out what it needs. Until then, I just went through life, eating as well as I could and running myself ragged, as most mothers with 2 careers do! And the bod just behaved, for the most part. Then 40 hit and the game changed.

Of course, what the bod needs changes. Especially through those 10 peri-menopausal years. I'm finally past that hump, (Insert happy dance.) but this last year, it was all exacerbated by the Cancer. Menopause and Cancer at the same time is no easy task. And completely confusing to the body and the owner of said body.

But I've learned. To Listen. VERY Closely. To My Body.

And I think I've discovered something new.

I hadn't been sleeping well for about 2 weeks. Change in magnesium formula and lackadaisical progesterone supplementation = toss and turn and wake up in the bleak hours unable to easily return to lala land. And my weight was up a few lbs. With the edema, I never know if it's *real* weight or water weight. It hardly matters, as the jeans don't discriminate by weight cause, they just won't fit, regardless.

I can't tell you how this is so not like me. Anyone that knows me knows I sleep like a rock. I like to do everything with passion, even sleep!

I recently switched to a liquid progesterone formula, instead of the creams I have been using for years. The liquid is super cheap as it lasts forever, and does the job. But I'd usually take it during the day, as that was easiest for me to remember.

So, a couple nights ago, I decided to try taking 1 drop (the usual dose) under my tongue or on the inside of my cheek 1/2 an hour before bed, and take a 1/2 pill of this new magnesium (I'm incrementally increasing the dose, trying to see if I can handle full doses).

(I had tried this with the progesterone cream, but it didn't work the same way. I have read that the cream on your neck or face before bed helps you sleep. Ha, not me it didn't!)
 
Now I'm back to sleeping like a rock. And, I've lost those extra lbs and an extra one on top of it. I haven't seen 137 in? can't remember when. Haven't exercised (the edema works overtime when I work up a sweat, and that's another gripe I have with this stupid edema - I'd like some muscle tone back.) I haven't dieted. In fact, yesterday, I had pasta with chunks of melted mozzarella for lunch AND dinner, and a small piece of marshmallow-iced chocolate cake.

So, I googled, Sleep and weight loss.

Looks like it's not my imagination! So, if anyone else struggles with weight (don't we all?), look at your sleep patterns and see if there isn't room for improving the quality of your sleep. Could be a simple fix out there, to not only get us the sleep we desperately need, but make those jeans fit a bit more comfortably. I love killing 2 birds with one stone!

I'll report back periodically, to let you know if it's still working.

It's infuriating.

That in our society, we are led to believe that we can have blind faith in doctors.

That because they did all those years of study, they actually know what's good for us.

But there's 2 lessons my mother taught me, which are ingrained in me: Choose your friends carefully, and Question Authority.

As an Aries, I almost don't need to be reminded to question authority, it comes naturally. And I'm grateful for that.

Because if we let them, doctors will have their way with us, ruining us a bit at a time, 'til we're completely dependent on them and hospitals for survival. Survival, not Living.

True there are exceptions, but they are few and far between. Most doctors don't think outside the box. Cut 'em up and drug 'em is what they know. My anathema for them grows, as I see, yet another person afflicted with side effects of an idiotic and unnecessary drug recommendation.

We have, finally, a strong-enough Earth/Eco movement, growing slowly, but growing, and this time, not likely to fall by the wayside as it did in the 80's.

But what we also need is a larger network of health care professionals, like my radiology oncologist and my nurse-midwife gyn, who not only don't pooh-pooh alternative health practises, but advise them, when applicable. As adjuncts to traditional Western medicine. Depending on the problem, start with Nature. Start with remedies that aren't alien to the body, start with Nutrition and herbs.

We've chemicalled our world into a dying state. We're chemicalling our bodies into a dying state. We can no longer trust that other people know what is best for us. But then, I'm not sure there ever is or was a time we should trust someone else's judgment over our own.

A healthy Earth populated by healthy humans. It shouldn't be just an ideal, a dream. As with all ideals, they are powered by individuals. You, me, us. Demanding more. From ourselves and the professionals we rely on. Until Change Comes.

Ha.

Tried to take a new picture of myself to post instead of the baby pic that's been here and Shaun, on Twitter.

Oy.

I'm not half bad to look at, but am NOT photogenic. Especially with this droopy eye from the retina surgery. (By the time you get to be old, all these doctors have rearranged your face and body til it's not recognizable any more.)

So, after about 100 attempts to capture a decent representation of my countenance, one thing seems to be blatantly clear. I'm in my "candlelight" years and should be avoiding bright daylight like a vampire.

So as all the pics made me want to hurl, I had hubby take some pics, and it only took him about 25 pics to get a decent one. Whew!