Webigail

So, we’ve been anxiously waiting to see what KnitPicks was going to come up with. We’ve all been waiting on the edge of our seats for an answer to the quest for a 16″ circular needle from KnitPicks. Those of us with the interchangeable kit (KnitPicks Options) were hoping that the solution would work with the existing kit.

After the long wait, KnitPicks released the 16″ circular needles, BUT they are classic needles. You have to buy separate needles, pretty much an entire set. Otherwise, you’ll just have to stick with using the “magic hoop” method, or use 2 circ needles for your smaller project.

I’m disappointed, but from a business stand point, I did not expect KnitPicks to resize the molds for the needle tips. That’s just not cause effective. *Sigh*

On the bright side, I still love, adore and treasure my KnitPicks Options set, so there’s no harm done.

Thanks anyway KnitPicks!

Making your own KnitPicks Options needle organizer is actually quite easy. You’ll only need a few things to get started:

1. Fabric of choice – solids seem to be easier to work with, as you need to see where your working lines are.
2. Ruler or tape measure
3. Cord elastic
4. Interfacing – I used a mid-weight, iron-on type, but I doubled it to make the insert super firm
5. Needle & thread
6. Fabric chalk or pencil
7. Straight pins
8. Sewing machine – If you don’t have one, you can sew the seams by hand, but it’s neater and more secure when you use your machine.
9. iron
10. #0 Grommet kit

    Note: Do NOT waste your money (or time) buying the grommet sets found at Joann’s or Michael’s, as the setters, the hole cutter, base and die, make or break the quality of your grommet. I researched and finally chose Set-it-Yourself Grommet Kit by C.S. Osborne, as it comes with everything you need to manually set your grommets without cracking, over curling, and they look machine quality. Also C.S. Osborne’s tools come highly recommended by most people, who use hand tools.

    The other kit that I purchased is Lord & Hodges Grommet Setting Kit, which gives the same quality results.

Steps:

1. Start by measuring one of your plastic inserts from the KnitPicks Options binder. This is what you use to determine the width and height of your needle organizer. My measurements are: 6 3/4 x 6.

2. Lay your interfacing out on a flat surface. Rather than fussing with sewing a front and back panel together, you’re going to fold your interfacing from the top down, so that the height is at least 6 inches. You are going to now cut your interfacing, based on our measurements.

Now, we’re going to move on to the actual binder. Hang on! No cutting yet.

3.You need to add at least a half an inch to the width and height. This allows for where you are going to sew. So, your final measurements will be 7 1/4 x 6 1/2. Again, you’re going to fold the fabric in half, ensuring that there is at least 6 1/2 inches height and you can cut your fabric.

4. Once you have your interface and your binder cut, you can center the two pieces and iron the interfacing in place. The added weight of the interfacing, not only serves to make your binder firm, but it adds strength and acts as a reinforcement to the area holding your elastic.

5. Fold your binder in half with the interfacing on the inside; use your straight pins to secure the edges together and iron the fold, creating a nice crease.

6. Measure about 1/2 an inch on each edge.This will be where you sew, closing up the binder later. You need to determine this area now, because we’re going to create markers for where we stitch our elastic in place.

7. On side A, using the crease as my starting point, I measure 1 1/2 inches from the top, drawing a line across the length of the binder. Then measure 2 inches below that, creating another line.

8. On side B, using the crease as the starting point draw a line across 1 1/2 from the top. Create two more lines: one inch down from the first line, and the last one an inch below the previous.

9. Now, we’re going to create “intersections” to mark where we want to stitch the elastic. Again, allowing at least half an inch from the edge, I start creating dashes that intersect my lines every half an inch, until I have 17 crosses. Make sure that you are creating an intersection on both lines at the same time, to be certain that they will line up when we’re ready to sew our elastic in place.

10. Flipping the fabric over, I start intersecting my lines every inch, starting a half an inch in from my edge, until there are eleven intersection. This side will accommodate the larger needles tips.

Hang on…we’re getting closer to the finish line

11. I used a good old fashioned thread and needle to sew my elastic cord in place. I tried using my machine, but cord rolls, never stays put, so it was easier to sew it on manually. To get started you need to cut five 7″ (or longer) pieces of elastic cord. Now, just stitch your elastic in place, where you have your intersections marked.

12. If you still have your straight pins in, pull them out. Fold your binder inside out, so the interfacing is now on the outside.

13. Starting a half an inch in, sew up the side of the binder; turn and sew the other side. The bottom, opposite side of the fold, should be the only seam left open at this time.

14. Before turning your binder to the right side, fold the hem up, so there is at least a half and inch on both side; pin it down and iron. Now, go ahead and turn the binder back to the right side.

15. With the hem turned in, sew across the last open seam.

16. Now, the grommets might be intimidating, if you haven’t used them, but I assure you that they very easy.

To ensure that you are putting the grommets in the right place, place your plastic binder on top of your new binder, lining it up corner-to-corner. Use your chalk to mark where the first grommet will go. DO NOT MOVE AHEAD!. The reason why you do not want to move ahead, is because although it seems as if you should just be able to mark all holes at one time. I tried this and once the grommets were set, things were off just enough to cause the binder to not line up with the binder rings.

Set your first grommet and re-align the plastic binder with the new binder. Continue this step until all of the grommets are set.

That’s IT! You’re ready to go. Pictures will be coming (as soon as I get them off of my camera).

After the loss of Maximus Von Hellion, the wonder pet and best bud to our rascal, we knew we had to get a new pup and FAST!

Well, it turns out that our rascal was in for an extra surprise. We just didn’t know it. After picking out a new male pup, turns out my mother not only picked out a new pup too, but this pup was coming by airplane and sooner than anyone expected.

So, we picked Penny up at 11:15pm and it was love at first site. She actually looks like Maxi when he was a puppy. However, Penny turns 6 months old today and only weighs about 3lbs. She’ll probably be no more than 4 lbs, full-grown.

It’s a long story, one in which I cannot bare to detail right now, but we’ve lost 3 of our pets, since the month of March. Two of these beloved family members were killed tragically.

I had already found a male ratty to replace our Maxi. What an absolute surprise!!! My mum found a female ratty for our son and now we’re going to have two!!. She’s TOO CUTE!!!

To all of you, who were nice enough to gently tap me on the shoulder…and to the few, who decided a kick in the fanny was more appropriate, I’ll have the directions for the organizer posted soon.

We’ve had a few family tragedies that have hit one, right after another. There has hardly been a dull moment, but I promise that as soon as things settle down (I pray that it’s very soon), I’ll get the directions posted.

Thanks!

As we sipped on Starbucks coffee, chit-chatting about the children, the laundry and what we’re making for dinner, the subject of credit cards came up. We were all trading “war stories,” when I noticed on thing in particular. Chase was ripping off the public. There is nothing worse than a bunch of women, hopped up on caffeine stewing over the injustices done to their purse-strings.

The worst anecdote made me rush home to reassess my own credit card. One friend mentioned that she has always used her card mainly like a charge card. She uses it as protection during online transactions and as a form of security for purchases that she’s uncertain of. She mentioned that she always pays in full, but noticed that each month there was a finance charge or late charge, despite having paid in full. Even more alarming were the late fees. Not only did she pay the charges in full, but she always paid early and in person, not relying on the “We didn’t get the payment yet,” excuse.

Each month, she had to call Chase’s customer service to ask why there were fees and late charges. Each time she called she was told, “We’ll remove it this time…” as if they were doing her a favor by eliminating bogus charges. Now my friend, is pretty laid back. It takes quite a bit to get her riled up, but after the third month of dealing with the arduous phone calls, she decided to go into the branch.

Get this. Chase tells her that although she pays in full, in person, in the branch, they have no control over when the payment actually reaches the payment center. Um…WHAT?! The next month, she noticed that there was a hidden charge. She added up all of her activities and discovered that there was a $30 charge that was unaccounted for. There was no answer for this mistake, other than…”we’ll remove this fee.”

Ultimately, she ended up closing her account, but even then Chase got the last word. They insisted that, despite her paying off the balance in full, she still owed a small balance. Then they even had the audacity to imply that they were dropping her as a customer. Um…WHAT?!

So, if you are considering opening up a Chase account, or already have one, watch your bills very, very carefully and be thee warned that there is nothing “free” about Chase Bank.”

It’s been a few months since Quiver was hit by a car. We buried him under a crimson, baby azalea plant. We placed him in his favorite spot in the yard; there was this one little spot that he claimed as his own, personal hunting ground.

I have been trying to adjust to not having Shang, or Quiver greet us in the mornings, when all of the pups go out for potty-time. I never imagined that a routine visit with family would result in us reclaiming Shanghai’s bloodline.

When I shared with my niece that Shang had kittens, she was so excited, as this would be her first pet. Naturally, I let her have pick of the litter and being a girl, after my own heart, she selected the very baby that I’d secretly picked for myself. I said nothing, but gave her the kitten, as either choice was a good choice.

Academics, being all too important, prevented my niece from caring for her cat adequately and she shyly asked if I would be interested in reclaiming “Shang’s last baby.” I feel terrible admitting this, but I nearly jumped out of my seat, could hardly contain my glee. What a terrible aunt! How could I be so callous? I wanted to share my niece’s pain, but I was just happy beyond belief that I would once again, have a part of Shanghai.

When I finally reclaimed my senses, I was able to console my brother’s daughter, assuring her that I would take good care of her kitten and she assured me that she knew I would.

So, we have returned home and we’re all trying to adjust to our new girl. It is as if we have been blessed with a combination of both of the cats we lost. A female bobtail, who happens to be the twin of her deceased brother. The only thing that would make us happier, is if we had never lost our kitties to begin with.

No more outdoor, yard cats for us.This cat will receive the red carpet treatment.

I’ve been working on one project that is about 1/3 done. It just seems to never end.

Part of my problem is the fact that I have had very little knitting time. With work, parental duties and working out at the gym, I have hardly had a moment to participate in my favorite past time.

Um…someone kick me for agreeing to make an afghan! No, seriously KICK ME!!

I’m a one-project-gal. What was I thinking?!!!!

I’m working on my first afghan, but I could not resist ordering some scrumptious lace wool from handpaintedyarn.com.

Their prices are phenomenal. They have an incredible color and weight selection. Alas, they have superb customer service. They make it difficult to not purchase from them.

Don’t panic. Animal Planet is not going off the air; I’m just not allowing it my house anymore.

I find myself watching shows about animals and crying, because one is injured, abused or suffers,  as a result of environmental unbalance.  I’ve decided to quit torturing myself by not watching animal shows.

I love animals and find it utterly painful to witness them in agony.