Learning Lessons

Warning:  This post is about knitting!!  If you aren't interested, now is the time to abandon ship.  Don't say I didn't warn you....


Recently, I've become addicted to knitting.  Just ask my family.  I've made scarves, neck-warmers, and what I call a couch potato blanket.  These are all basically rectangles.  I learned to make button-holes for the neck-warmer.  But in the end, they all called for simply the basic ability to knit or purl back and forth.  I wanted something more challenging . . . . more creative.

Then I discovered double pointed needles, which give one the ability to knit seamless tubes (like socks and hats).  I've made a couple of socks (not a pair, mind you, just 2 different socks out of yarn left over from other projects!) I think I've got the hang of the heel-turning technique.

This weekend, I was reminded of how double pointed needles came to my attention in the first place.  There was a review of a pattern that I saw on-line for a pair of open-toed socks.  The pattern called for the socks to be knit flat and then seamed  at the back to make the tube shape.  The commenter said that she liked the pattern, but she had made hers on double pointed needles to eliminate the seam.  I had no idea what that meant, but it sounded good to me.  I found that I could order a set online and get them delivered in my mailbox quicker than if I waited until the next time I was in Mobile.  (See my first project)

Now that I know how DPNs work, I decided I'd try to convert a flat, seamed pattern to one knitted in the round. I didn't want to try the socks, but I remembered some wrist warmers constructed the same way so I decided to give them a try.  I learned some lessons in the process that I thought I'd collect and pass along here. And the first 2 are for those of you non-knitters who, despite the "Knitters Only" warning, have persevered this far:

1. (just a generalization to start off with)  Google is a wonderful thing!  For just about anything that you want to learn how to do, there is a video or forum on-line that will give you more information than you thought possible.  People love to show you what they know how to do. 
2. (another generalization) Don't be afraid to try something new, just because you've never done it before.  If it doesn't work, see if you can figure out why.  Begin by expecting a learning curve.  Start small.  Start with a trial sample.  Start by using what you already have.  This applies to so many things in life.  (knitting, sourdough baking, and driving a standard transmission come most immediately to mind) 
3. (now for some knitting specific stuff) When I first started knitting and had to lay the work down, I wasn't sure which direction to go when I picked it back up.  I've learned that after the 1st stitch, the working yarn always comes from the right needle.  At least in the Continental style that I use.  The best way to tell is to work some stitches and pay attention to which side the working yarn is coming from.  Remember what you see and know that it will always be that way in a regular row.
4. Knitting in the round instructions always say to distribute the cast-on stitches evenly on the (usually 3) needles.  In the beginning, I thought that meant divide by 3 and come as close as you can.  I have learned that it is best to divide the stitches in a way that works with your pattern.  In the wrist warmers I made, I cast on 28 stitches and the first several rows were worked in a K2-P2 ribbing.  That's a 4 stitch pattern.  Instead of distributing the stitches mathematically evenly (9+9+10), I did it "pattern-wise" evenly (8+8+12) in multiples of 4.  That way, I always start a new needle with the beginning of the pattern.  No more "did I just K1 or K2 or P2?"  (ex: Your pattern says to cast on 30, and calls for a K2P1 ribbing.  You would need to divide the stitches in multiples of 3.  Not the obvious 10+10+10, but rather 9+9+12)
5. The wrist warmers needed a hole for my thumb.  I had ignored this for as long as possible, but there came a point that I had to address it.  If I had been using the pattern as written, I would have simply left a gap in the seam.  Now, however they were seamless, but still needed a gap.  I remembered from my sock-making that when making the heel, there was back and forth knitting using the regular method.  After thinking it through, I decided that if I could knit all around using 3 needles, I should also be able to stop and reverse (i.e.turn and purl around using those same 3 needles.)  So that's what I did.  I turned the work and purled back to the marker, then turned again and knitted to the marker, then turned and ...You get the picture.  When the gap was about an inch or so high, and I was on a knit (rather than a purl) row, I stitched across the gap to close up the top of the thumb hole and was back to knitting in the round again.

I warned you that this was really a knitter's only post!!
And I realized that I started this several days ago and had never quite finished it.  It's time to get it out there and I'll follow it with the actual pattern I came up with for the wrist warmers and a picture of them.

Becoming Something Else

Recently, a friend gave me a bread starter.  It was a Herman starter.  I made several loaves from this recipe and even made some cinnamon rolls.  I liked it, but I wanted something else. 
When I think of sourdough, I don't think "sweet." And Herman is definitely a Sweetie.

So I did some research and discovered that you can convert one starter to a different type of starter simply by changing its diet. 

Now for those of you who aren't up on sourdough care and feeding, you probably aren't aware that "care and feeding" are even necessary steps to certain types of bread-making.  Sourdough starters are alive:  they eat and they breathe.

So, I am attempting to convert Herman into something not so sweet .... something more .... what? 

This called for a trip to the thesaurus. 

And there, I found that the antonyms for sweet were not what I was looking for:  acid, bitter, salty, sour, mean, unfriendly, unpleasant, (it gets worse), malodorous, stinking, stinky, cacophonous, discordant, ugly.  I think I just go with "savory."

Anyway, instead of feeding Herman sugar and spud flakes, he got a half cup of "highly fermentable" (according to The Bread Bakers Forum) rye flour with his drink of warm water.  We shall see what becomes of Herman.

This made me start thinking:  Aren't we all defined by what we consume?  If you live on junk food, your body starts to look and act and feel like junk.  And that goes for your spirit, too.  Are you feeding your spirit what it needs to thrive?  Living Water and the Bread of Life are great spiritual health foods.

Oh, back to Herman.  He may need a new name to go with his new identity.

How about Harrye?

Car Trick

This is so WEIRD!!


We are big Top Gear fans at our house.

Not too long ago we watched an episode with this segment in it:




Something about the way they filmed it made me think it was a trick.

Tonight we watched another episode filmed after the one above.  People were writing in with possible explanations for the bizarre phenomenon.

That did it.  We had to go outside and try it.

Mr. H got the remote for the Speed 3 and the entire family went out into the yard.  He found the distance where the signal was apparently out of range.  Several tries and nothing.  He held it to his head and it worked!  Then he moved about half that distance again away  and held it to his head:  it STILL worked!  He took off to the edge of the road, which was about twice the initial out-of-range distance, held the remote to his head and IT STILL WORKED!!

Now.....

I dare you....

Things That Make Me Smile

I was walking over to the Education Building to put some GA material in the room they use.  That room got me to thinking:  there have been several things that made me smile this morning.

1) There is a room at our church that is officially known as the "Zebra Room." (I just looked for a picture and I don't have one.)

2) The smell of living in George County:  flowers, grass, hay, dirt, even the cows.  (you can tell that no one has fertilized a field lately!)

3) As I was looking through family pictures for one of my mom, I came across this instead:

4) Working with a bunch of folks who love the Lord and enjoy and take pride in their work:  Dr. T, Mark, Dusty, Nick, Mrs. Mac, the Maintenance Guru and the Housekeeper Extraordinaire.

5) a family that enjoys being together (I hope we're always like that)

P.S. If El's face and posture in the picture above don't make you smile, too, then you need to lighten up.

Wx Challenge National Championship Team

Today in the Palmeiro Center at MSU, there was a recognition  party for the Wx Challenge National Championship Team.  For the 3rd year in a row, MSU has won this challenge.  Go Dawgs!!

That's my eldest on the far left side.

After we left the party, we had to run by the bookstore to pick up her cap and gown.  There was a photo shoot set-up nearby.  You could have your graduation portrait taken while holding the Egg Bowl trophy or the Gator Bowl Trophy.

For a background you could choose the Stadium or the Chapel of Memories (or I suppose a standard gray background.)

Now why would my girl want her picture taken with a football trophy?

Here she is with the National Championship trophy that she helped secure!

Hmmmm.... I wonder if I can work on removing that background clutter and add in a bolt of lightning or a small funnel cloud....

Fizzer Is Lowered!!

Monday afternoon, I heard a familiar voice in the hallway at work.  It was our neighborhood UPS man walking through to unlock the door at the other end of the building.  After holding the door for him to unload Sunday School literature, I asked him to see if he had a package headed to my house.   Sure enough, there it was:  the lowering block and shorter side stand for my new bike.

I called Mr. H, who had the day off, and let him know.  He had everything ready for the transformation by the time the parts arrived in his hands.  But I had an IMPORTANT mission to accomplish for some friends before the task was finished and didn't get to ride it that evening. 

Yesterday evening was El's Middle School band concert, and I still didn't get to ride.  Tonight is church night and things were not looking up for me to get on the bike before I turned 51 years old!

However . . .  I am married to the most wonderful man in the world!

He is working from home today and suggested that he could ride the bike to me at lunchtime and let me take it for a spin!  Oooo . . . great idea!

I was wondering if the weather was going to hold out.  I've heard about tornadoes all morning in various parts of the state, but so far, so good. 

He arrived and gave me a warning about vicious winds and suggested the road across from the church (which I am grateful has been renamed in recent years to Harmon Pope Road rather than Cemetery Road.  Wouldn't that have been horrible to have an incident on my first time out on Cemetery Road?)

Anyway, I took off down Harmon Pope and, for the first time, shifted it up above 3rd gear!  This bike is really smooth and quiet.  Very nice! 

That's when I saw the serpent lying across the road . . . in my lane!

Yes, I squealed.

No, I didn't run over it.  I have such a fear of snakes that I believe they have the ability to do incredible things. . .   like fold in half when my tire rolls over them, enabling them to reach back and inject me with their venomous fangs.  No thanks!

Well, on with my ride, having avoided certain death at the hands (or fangs) of a serpent.

I rode almost to the end of the road, but wasn't sure that I could turn around in the width of the pavement.  Most of the driveways down there are gravel and I knew I wasn't attempting that.  I saw a cleared patch of hard red dirt on the right side and decided to pull off there and aim myself back toward the church.  My intention was to do a three point turn - back up, using my feet to reverse, then pull forward in the other direction.  I learned something:  I don't have enough foot traction to reverse in the dirt!  So  v--e--r--y slowly I inched around, with my feet on the ground, because I really DID NOT want to have to walk back up the road and get the guys that had been watching me ride off to come help me pick that bike back up.

And besides there was that serpent in the road back there. 

I am happy to report that there was no bike dropping for me today. 

I am also happy to report that the maintenance guru checked on the serpent situation and it has been dispatched.

All in all, a good day!

I Have a Fizzer

Last Sunday, Mr. H and I made a trip to Ocean Springs to pick up my new bike.  It's a 2009 FZ6R (we'll call it the Fizzer.)

It's a tad too tall for me at present, but a lowering block is on it's way via UPS. 

Yesterday afternoon, after delivering my previous bike to my friend, Old Bopper, Mr. H and I decided to take the Fizzer for a spin. 

I'm used to riding with him on the back of his Honda ST1300.  Big seat for me and a sissy bar (back rest).  Do you see anything like that in the above picture?  I haven't held on to him that tightly in quite a while.

We went up to Lucedale to the old WalMart parking lot and I actually rode my bike for the first time.  The height of the bike is really only an issue when getting it up from the side stand.  One really does need 2 feet on the ground for that.  Being very careful, I managed to stand it up.  I took off under my own power!

The first thing I noticed was that I couldn't find the foot pegs!!  My Rebel was rather cruiser-ish, with the pegs out front (think of a straight-line down from elbows with arms in riding position).  This bike is more sporty, with the pegs much farther back (almost straight down from my hips.)  Once I located the pegs, and correspondingly, the shifter, I was off to the races (so to speak).

The next thing I noticed was how easy it was to change gears.  I struggled with changing gears on the Rebel.  I thought maybe my foot just wasn't strong enough to raise that shifter lever.  Not so with the Fizzer!  It just took a slight flick of the toes and there you are in 2nd and then 3rd.   I could feel the large smile on my face spreading!

I made several trips around the empty part of the lot, avoiding the gravely bits and the occasional pothole.  When I came back up to Mr. H and stopped, I didn't even realize that I had just put my left foot down flat and kept the right on the peg with the brake.  I thought that was something I was going to have to work at!

When he saw that I wasn't having much difficulty, Mr. H offered to head back to the house and get his Honda, so we could ride the roads a bit.  My next pass around the parking lot led us to re-think that idea!  I came around in a wide circle and decided to do a quick stop in front of Mr. H.  I made the stop, but apparently didn't have something under control and the bike went slowly over.  The only thing you can do is let it go.  I rolled out of the way and picked myself up laughing. 

I do need to work on being able to pick it back up when it happens again.  It may not happen soon, but it will happen.  And if that lady in the link can pick up a Harley,  I should be able to manage the lighter Fizzer.

Well, that's about it for the first day's adventures.  I'll keep you posted.