Steveio The Lumberjack – Saturday Project

We had a pretty nice elm tree that we planted about 10 years ago, in the front yard that died this past summer... and the woodpeckers were making a huge mess of it, stripping the bark off to get to the inside where the bugs are.  It was rotting out pretty bad.   

Steve put in one cut with the chain saw and able to PUSH the tree over.

 

Better to get it down in the direction AWAY from the house than towards itWhat a strong guy! 

We even got a HE-MAN grunt grunt flex pose outta him too!  LOL

Added in March 2009....   We added it the birdfeeder to the stump and filled it up.  In no time a little chickadee came to check it out.  How cute is that? 

Great needle knit sock pattern….

 

Okay, Janna from  http://tinteepeelogcabin.blogspot.com/  gave me an idea.  She mentioned she wanted to learn to knit socks.   This is a GREAT RVing past-time as socks can be knit on needles, tucked into a zip lock bag and taken along everywhere and anywhere.  I knit by the campfire, in the passenger seat, when waiting for appointments, or just along with coffee in the morning before getting on with the day.

This is my favorite needle knit sock pattern.  If you are a basic knitter, you can do these socks!   What is so great about this pattern is that they are:

1. Toe Up…. means you start at the toe and knit till are done at the calf or ankle.   no more running outta yarn with 4 rows to go at a toe!   ARGH!  You knit upwards instead.

2. Knit To Fit…..  you increase enough to make the right circumference for your foot… you can carefully try these one with the needles in place and be sure they fit the intended foot as you knit along.  And you can adjust accordingly.

3. This pattern works for tiny baby socks as well as big people socks.  You just increase around till it’s the right diameter

4. No heel flaps, gussets or stitchholding needed like in other fancy sock patterns.  It’s a simple knit sock foot using increases, then back and forth for the heel called *short row* method… You only need to know how to knit and purl.  The leg is just alternating knits and purls to make ribbing.  Very easy.

5. With the toe up pattern, it ends with a ribbed top of the leg, you don’t have a too-tight or too-loose cast on band of knitting.  Easy sewn bind-off lets you end the sock without too tight or too loose edge.

You can even use this pattern for hats… they are really just big big toes from a sock!  (without a heel)

 

 

Here is the pattern:

Toe-Up, Ribbed for Fit, Short-Row Heel Socks
Here's a pattern for my favorite thick wonderful Socks.

Materials:
2 Balls worsted-weight wool yarn or whatever yarn you have in your basket and do double or triple strands to reach gauge. Size 8 double-pointed needles (5 needles needed) Knit with two strands throughout. Unless your yarn is thick enough to do one strand.      Gauge: 4 stitches=1", but don't worry since you're knitting to fit.

Short, Pithy Version:
Cast on 4 stitches, knit a small square. Pick up 4 stitches on each side of this square. Knitting now with four needles in work and one for knitting onto.  Increase 1 stitch each end of each needle, every other row, until you have 8 stitches on each needle. Knit for one inch. (move stitches from needle to needle, to space them on the needles so they center over the toe, 2 needles for top of foot and two for sole of foot, like a diamond shape when looking from the end of toe).
Increase one stitch per needle randomly as you knit foot for shaping foot. Try on and knit to fit, increase another stitch or two if you need to.
Knit until it's long enough to start the heel.   Try to have 9 stitches per needle.
Do short rows for heel over 1/2 of the heel stitches, then pick them up again. Add 2 stitches in spaces at each corner.  10 stitches per needle. Continue knit  for 5 rows.
Start 2 x2 ribbing for all stitches, continue until leg part is long enough.
Use a sewn bind off, loosely.

Longer, More Explanatory Version:
Toe: Cast on 4 stitches.
*Row 1: knit.
Row 2: purl.* Repeat rows 1 and 2 until you have 6 rows, counting the cast-on row (you're ending on a knit row). Call this needle 1. Pick up 4 stitches in each side of square, using new needle for each side. 16 stitches, or 4 stitches on each of 4 needles.
*Round 1: Knit.
Round 2: For each needle, knit 1, increase 1, knit to next-to-last stitch, increase 1, knit 1. *You now have 6 stitches on each of 4 needles, 24 total. Repeat rounds 1 & 2 until 8 stitches on each needle, 32 total.
Knit around until you have 1 inch from the end of the increases, about 4 rows.
[First fitting: Try it on. If it's too tight, rip back and do more increases, if it's too loose, rip and do less increases. Don't worry, it's only an inch.]
(move stitches from needle to needle, to space them on the needles so they center over the toe, 2 needles for top of foot and two for sole of foot, like a diamond shape when looking from the end of toe).
Increase one stitch per needle randomly as you knit foot for shaping foot. Try on and knit to fit, increase another stitch or two if you need to.
Continue knitting until ready to start heel.   Try to have nine stitches per needle.
[Second fitting: Try it on again. You're ready to start the heel when the sock is long enough that the ribbing barely touches where your ankle turns into your shin.]

Heel: Work short rows on just the two needles with the heel stitches. *Knit across to last knit stitch. Bring yarn forward as if to purl, slip last stitch, turn work. Slip the
stitch again, so that the yarn has wrapped around it. Purl to last stitch, bring yarn to back as if to knit, slip last stitch, turn. Repeat from *, turning 1 stitch before the turning stitch of the previous turn.
Repeat until you have 4 turning stitches on each side of the heel. About half of the 8 or 9, unless you added more, say 5 turning on each side if you used 10 per needle.
Then reverse the process, picking up the stitches this way: *Knit to first turning stitch. Knit into the stitch and the yarn that wraps around it, turn. Slip this stitch, then purl to next turning stitch. Purl into the stitch and the yarn that wraps around it, turn. Repeat from * until you have picked up all the short rows.

Helpful hint: if you have a gap in the stitches between the heel stitches and the top of the foot stitches, try to pick up two stitches in the gap on each side. Now you should have 10 sitiches per needle.  Try to end up with a number of total stitches divided by 4.. such as 32, 36, 40 or 44.
Then the 2x2 ribbing for leg is easily spaced.
Continue knitting  for five rows above the heel.
[Next fitting: Try it on for foot length. Redo heel if necessary.]
Leg:  Do 2x2 ribbing all around. Continue until the sock is long enough.
Bind off loosely, using sewn bind off. Using blunt needle and  3 ft of end yarn, sew into last two stitches, and come back out last stitch, slipping off needle. Go all the way around the whole top, each time sliding the last stitch off the needle.  Double loop through the last stitch and hide end down a row of ribbing.

MY BEST HINT FOR WRAPPING SHORT ROWS
As for the heels, I am NO where near an expert, but maybe this hint will help. When I get ready to *wrap* I look at what stitch I am doing and wrap the opposite way.....
I say to myself:
“Self, you are knitting, now before you turn you need to get ready to purl.......”
So if I am on a knitting row, I bring the yarn forward as if to purl.. then slip the stitch to be wrapped to the right needle, wrap around to the back and slip it back on the left needle. Then I turn my work around and continue (now purling across the heel from the inside) with the first stitch one the left needle...... NOT the one on the right needle you just wrapped.....
So....now when I am purling across ..... I come to the spot to wrap, I would say again:
“Self, you are now purling and need to get ready to knit".... I would put the yarn to the back... slip the next stitch needing to be wrapped, bring the yarn around to the front, slip the stitch back and turn......
I work back and forth the short rows till it looks good, usually half the stitches on a needle looks good for a heel, then I reverse and go back, picking them up each time. One other thing I do is when I go back to pick up the stitches, I wrap the next stitch too...same way I did the wrapping on the way down...... I wrap on the way back to the next stitch.. no holes then. Someone told me to pick up the stitch AND the wrapped part, but I just can't figure that out.
I also write on a piece of paper as I am knitting.... a number *1* when I wrap the first stitch, then another *1* when I wrap the first stitch on the other side of that row...
Then on the next row I write *2* for the next wrap and then *2* when I wrap the other side. and so on. THEN when I go back to pick them up... I cross them off one by one too in reverse order. Helps when someone interupts  my knitting! GRRRRRRRR

--

 

Check out Steveio… enjoying his warm wooly socks by the fire….  

now THAT is LOVE to make your man a pair of nice socks with your own hands…awwwwwww

 

Taking off the old solar panel and a Lopsided Chipmunk Face

Ok... last part of title first.

Yesterday I cracked a molar... OUCH!   Called our dentist and got in within an hour.  Nice to be in a small town sometimes.   Soooo  in I went.   He started to pull it, broke some more. Took four needles of *stuff* to finally numb it enough.   Ended up with three pieces  and now a very swollen jaw from his wrenching me back and forth.  ACK   Don't hurt, but just swollen now.   NO pictures.   LOL


Yesterday Steveio and his buddy got up on the roof and pulled off our existing 75 watt solar panel.   They had a bit of struggle loosening the nuts, but finally got it. The solar panel came off fine, it was just the nuts on the brackets that gave them grief.   Glad I wasn't helping.   I was in the house dosing from the pain meds for my dentist trip, so I was not the appointed GOPHER.

We put it up on Ebay for sale, for sale with the controller too.   It worked great to top off our four 6V golf cart batteries when boondocking.  

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300397964158&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT


Steveio is going to install four big 100W solar panels with a bigger controller and trimetric gauge (digital readout of exactly how many amp hours are left at any given time)   Bit by bit, we are getting set up for fulltiming.  We will also increase our battery bank from four to six of the 6volt golf cart batteries.   Then we don't have to be so careful and stingy with our power consumption.


Had a nice weekend with all three grandkids...  we saw Chelsea on Friday, babysat Jameson overnight on friday night, brought him home Saturday and went to see Allegra on Saturday afternoon.  Wheeee a 3 Grandkid Weekend!

Got some snow over the weekend too.... so everything is bright and white again and not so crusty and dirty black snow along the roads.  

But I think we are getting Spring Fever pretty bad.  On Sunday when we were out in the motorhome doing a few things, we turned on the new heater, turned on the tv, and curled up and watched a movie!    We were pretending we were somewhere... anywhere....  

Last year at this time we were basking in the heat of Florida, 

camping at Fore Lake in the Ocala National Forest! 

We camped in such a lovely campsite... all covered with live oaks, spanish moss and very quiet and removed from the hustle and bustle!  Makes us daydream of being there right now.

My folks camped in the next site over with their Holiday Endevour motorhome.   Then a few days later our friends Barrie and Claire joined us too for a day with their motorhome in the site on the other side.   We cooked together and laughed together and just plain old enjoyed ourselves.....   Barrie and Clair had to drive back to Massachusetts in between snow storms, and we had to bide our time to head north too between ice storms and snow storms in Tennessee and Indiana.   We sure didn't want to leave the sunshine and the warmth!

(left to right: Dad, Barrie, Steve, Claire, Me - with wine, and Mom)

Steveio made sure he was well-rested for the trip home to Wisconsin......

(Do you think he was dreaming of snow in Wisconsin?) 

Today’s Motorhome Modification – removing our step cover

 

Soooo the new catalytic heater is in place, but we are thinking the air flow to the rear of the motorhome might be blocked somewhat by this crazy step-cover device, (which we never use anyhow)

 

 

 

The hinge portion removed easily, the carpet layer was cut with a utility knife, and the trim strip removed to lay the edge of the carpeting underneath.  Put the screws back in the  trim strip and it looks great, like original factory install.  Easy Peasy!

 

Also, it’s Valentine’s Day… we woke up with fresh ground Jamaican coffee beans from Erin and Mark, brewing in the coffee maker.  I baked some cinnamon twists with pink icing from a Pillsbury roll,  and Steveio had brought me a vase of lovely flowers!

(the vase can come apart to eat the candy hearts, and be refilled with other items for various holiday themes… cool!  

 

(p.s. Steveio got a pair of musical boxer shorts… playing *YOU’RE STILL THE ONE* )

Little Red Camping Chairs

 

ahhhhh FINALLY!!!    i have saved this for a long long time!!!

Yesterday, we hauled up the two little red camping chairs!

 

 

 

These were Erin and Heathers little red personalized camping chairs from 25 yeas ago.   I got them in the 1980's by saving babyfood labels from Heintz babyfood jars. 

 

They have many many miles on them, and many many little butts sat in them around campfires.... not to mention all the Some-Mores, Pudgy-Pies, hot dogs, and PuppyChow treats (a.k.a. Garbage) .  We would even bring them to restaurants as booster seats, as there is another strap that can go through the bottom legs and strap to a chair seat. 

  

So I brought them up from storage .... and we will keep them now in the motorhome.  

 

Jameson thought he would try out the one Chelsea was sitting in, and is checking out their construction, durability and if he can make it fold. 

They lasted 25 years, here is to hoping they last 25 more!

 

 

The chairs will now enjoy a whole new slew of little grandchildren butts~!!