OCD....Knitting

Breaking the Silence

2008-09-26T14:30:00.002-04:00

It's been too long. I've enjoyed my summer, I've started and finished quite a few projects, and I guess now it's time to start talking about them again.

This will be brief, I don't need to dive into this with some huge post. I was told pictures and captions are acceptable, so that sounds like a great way to get back into the groove. Thanks Kelli!

I had to check my Ravelry page to see exactly how many projects I did over the summer, so here's the list: (hmm, after checking it seems that I haven't registered all the projects, so I'll post the ones most notable)

The most recently completed was the Lotus Blossom Tank from Best of Interweave Knits. All of the details are listed on Rav so I won't take the time to duplicate that info here.

Prior to that I completed the Lillian Tank. This came out really well and I incorporated some newly learnt (yes, that's on purpose) mad crochet skills. I still need a model shot of that one, but I've been wearing it quite a bit, so that shouldn't be difficult. We all know self portraits ALWAYS come out super flattering so hang in there for this one!

I need to check my journal because I made a cabled tank too and that isn't in Ravelry. I've also made a hooded baby blanket but that also isn't posted since I haven't gifted it to the recipient yet. Those details will follow.

Knitterpalooza was a few weeks back, and I still need to put a complete list of all attendees (swimmers) up on Rav and I'll post it here as well. I was sick last week and while I managed to do some spinning and crafting in that time, I avoided the computer.

I will also take pics of some contract spinning I did for a friend, and will post those here to brag of my newly acquired skill: Navajo plying. The yarn is absolutely gorgeous (straining to pat myself on the back), the colors are to die for, and it's super soft and smooshy. I have two more bobbins to finish up and hope to deliver that work next week.

I'm off to the lake this weekend, it's that time again to clean and put away the boat and we'll be celebrating my FIL's 70th birthday. Enjoy your weekend, and thanks for checking in on me!

Happy Memorial Day!

2008-05-27T11:15:00.003-04:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. Mine consisted of this:
this:

and this:

Who could ask for anything more?

More knitting updates to follow soon!

Totally obvious!

2008-05-11T02:54:00.001-04:00

For those that are, for those that want to be, and for those that involuntarily mother others, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Hug a mom today!

I love Michigan!

2008-04-30T00:28:00.005-04:00

Ok, so that had to be the shortest spring/summer possible. We're back down to the 20's and 30's and frost advisories so the open-toed shoes have been set aside (again) for the warmer closed- toe varieties. I refuse to bust out the long johns again, so needless to say I've been kinda cold recently. I did yardwork on Sunday, just in time for the freezing cold temps. Oh well, go with the flow, that's all you can do in the mitten state.

I've been pretty stressed these last few days since I'm traveling to New York this weekend with my daughter's drama club. I'm so excited but nervous at the same time. The trip promises to be very exciting with 2 Broadway shows and great opportunities for the kids to get some up close and personal contact with a real Broadway cast for an improv workshop. But I'm nervous because I don't travel a lot, other than up north all the time, so I always get nervous in unfamiliar territory. What do I pack for clothes? The weather has been so goofy lately that's a tough call. How much is too much? I'm a chronic overpacker so I have to be careful not to bring everything I own. What to wear for the all day walking and schlepping that will still look presentable at the theater each of the first 2 nights? Sheesh. So what have I done? Not much. Suitcases are still in the basement and the only packing I've done is in my head. Oh well, I work better under pressure, so Thursday will be the night to get it all together.

I whipped out a beaded mohair wrap on the knitting machine for my daughter to wear while in New York. I have the Diamond Fantasy Shawl and I borrowed one from my good friend Lynne, so I'm prepared for the theater and it's unpredictable temps. But my daughter needed something too. So the trusty knitting machine was put into action. It took about 5 hours total for 200 rows with 15 beads every 5th row and 2 skeins of Kid Seta. Not too bad if I say so myself. I'm just finishing the last edge with garter stitch and will block it tomorrow night so it will be packable by Thursday night.

Check it:

Me likey. It has nice drape and the beads give it some stability. I got really good at threading beads on with a copper wire hook I made, since my smallest crochet hook was still too big to use.

I'm off to sleep, cuz tomorrow is another busy day.

Take care and I'll post when I get back from the Big Apple!

Spring Fever!

2008-04-17T14:25:00.003-04:00

It's that time of year. It's getting warmer so the urge to roll down the car window or leave the back door open is here. The dogs can stay out for longer than 2.4 minutes without freezing their paws off.

I have this huge need to clean, everything. I've been cleaning stuff at work. I think about cleaning stuff at home, but unfortunately by the time I get there at night I can only concentrate on the firmness of my couch cushions. They need to be cleaned by the way. I got a postcard for a charity looking to pick up clothes. I got it 2 weeks ago. The pick up was today. Oops. I meant to gather stuff and leave it by the curb. Maybe this weekend, and I can call to find out their next pickup.

I have this huge need to clean myself too, and while checking other blogs today I see I'm not alone on this. I've recently purchased what I consider to be better quality makeup (not the $2 cheap drugstore stuff), I'm looking into a line of skin care that will hopefully do for my skin what the celebrity claims it has done for hers (she's older than me, swears she's had no surgical enhancements AND looks awesome, so I'm kinda buying into the whole thing). I've been trying to exercise more seriously, because as I said to a trainer recently, I feel like I've just been dabbling in this whole exercise thing for the last 4 or 5 years.

My 40th birthday came and went, without any fanfare or any real feeling about it on my part. But this next one is coming up, pretty fast and I'm not sure that I'm ready to be ok with that one. This one seems like it may hurt a little more.

I know this is supposed to be about knitting, but all of these things affect my leisurely knitting/spinning/crafting as well. When I'm so exhausted just from a day of work and come home and become comatose in front of the tube, to avoid phones and people and demanding bosses, it's somehow too much to pick up a project and work thru a tricky chart or major stitch counting. I'm bummed when I get up for work the next day, knowing that nothing, creatively, was accomplished the night before. I'm hoping by getting my exercise routine established it will help with my stamina, creativity, and overall productivity.

Let me know what works for you. Walking the dog? Riding bikes? Rollerblading (kinda out of the question for me since I live on a dirt road)? What gets your motor running and gives you the adrenaline to alphabetize your spice cupboard or finally admit that "those" clothes will never fit again and box them up for charity? Let me hear what works, for you.

I'm hoping that one or all of these types of cleaning will help cure my case of Spring Fever. That seemingly endless frustration that changes are needed, drawers should be cleaned, clutter should be lessened. Wish me luck!

Oh, and just a side note, I got a call from my friend that received the Felted Clogs. They fit, perfectly. She said it was like I had her foot with me the whole time I was making them. Phew!

Rain, Rain Go Away!

2008-04-11T00:23:00.002-04:00

It stays light longer these days but it still feels like there isn't enough time to accomplish anything. I spend more time during the day wishing I was knitting, crafting and spinning and then by the time I get home to do it, I'm tired, have to do laundry or just plain wanna veg on the couch. It is very frustrating!

I have managed to finish a few things lately though. I finished the felted clogs I was making for a friend and popped them in the mail today. Hopefully they fit! Also I made another hat for the SO, the fair isle one that he loved so much. I made some mods to the pattern including making it smaller and making the hem longer inside to cover the stranding. Of course it's probably too warm for him to fully test it but if we get the weather they're calling for this weekend he may get a few wears out of it yet. Also the toddler sundress I was test knitting has been done, I just need to get it ON my niece to take some pics.

I played around with making a mohair wrap on my knitting machine, but frogged it (gotta love frogging mohair) to make it longer and somewhat narrower. I think I have it mapped out in my head how I want/need to do it this time, including incorporating a type of ribbing along the longer edges to prevent rolling and I will throw in some beads for added interest. I just need to sit down in front of the dang thing and crank it out again.

I'm also working on a wrap from my Autumn Colors handspun. It's the Frida poncho pattern and like others have done on Ravelry I am bypassing the poncho portion of the pattern and knitting the main panel longer in order to have a wrap. I'm going to New York in a few weeks and I want to have a couple of different wraps to tuck in my bag as we will be attending the theater twice while we're there. This should be a very exciting trip and can't wait to share pics of all the great sights we saw!

My lovely daughter recently proclaimed "I have nothing to knit" so I promptly fished in my stash, found her some sock yarn and a pattern and she is merrily knitting along on a pair of socks, for me, that I have not taken the time to make myself. How lucky am I?

On the work front, lately it has seemed that my company is caught up in some kind of Bermuda Triangle of the utility companies. Between having water issues, and being grossly overcharged for gas AND water, and having intermittent phone and internet services, it's amazing that anything can be accomplished with my regular duties. In the last several months, for our phone and internet service we have lost service TWICE because idiots have dug up the buried cables and cut them to sell for the copper. I did learn recently that they caught ONE idiot, because he had a fire pit in his back yard and was melting the plastic off the wires and a neighbor called in to report a fire/smoke. TWO times our phones got knocked out because delivery trucks ripped our wires off the pole when they were making deliveries to our neighboring party store. And now another problem is some sign was partly demolished by another truck making a delivery and pieces of the broken sign were rubbing against the wires causing sporadic service. Will this ever end? At what point does this become ridiculous and we say enough is enough. In light of all the wonderful things going on in THE CITY as it is, it's no wonder that all public services are in the shitter! Had less time been spent on say, text messages and more on actually improving the city, we wouldn't be where we are today.

I don't mean to complain, this is not what I like to use this blog for, but sometimes I just have to vent.

Also, in the name of venting, isn't it a shame that MagKnits just shut down? I am really sad to see this free publication just GONE. The pattern archives simply vanished and there is nothing left of that site. Was this because of uncontrolled slamming of the magazine on Ravelry? Who knows. It's just a shame that someone can't post about a legitimate problem without countless people jumping on the bitchin bandwagon and tearing someone to shreds. The original complaint seemed valid, Kerrie even attempted to resolve the problem by addressing the writer's complaint, but it was too late. She, personally, got attacked and accused of stealing people's designs and there was no coming back from it. A small can of worms got opened and turned into a giant frenzy of bashing by people that were looking for someone to bash. Are we that frustrated in our own lives that it's pure entertainment to look for an opportunity that may not even apply to us and use it to gain some form of relief or reprieve from our own real problems? While it seems Kerrie and others involved with MK will carry on with new ventures and get thru this relatively unscathed, is it fair to the rest of us, who enjoyed this magazine, submitted designs AND properly got paid for them, to completely lose this as a resource for current, stylish and more importantly FREE patterns? It just so happens the Frida wrap I'm working on is a MagKnits pattern, and fortunately for me, I have several printed copies of this, so I'll be able to finish this project without any trouble. I don't have any hard feelings for the people of MK for pulling the plug on the archives, it seems that couldn't be helped. But do the bitchers realize how much they may have inconvenienced those knitters that were counting on those archives for future projects? Was it worth it to them? Do they even care, or have they moved on in search of their next bitchin bandwagon to hop a ride on? This got longer than I intended, but it really saddens me when people can't find the good in something and have to amplify the negative, even if it doesn't directly impact their lives. To bitch just for the sake of bitching. Very sad.

Well, I need to find something positive to think about now, so I'm going to fondle my stash and dream of future projects and hope I already have the patterns printed for the stuff in my queue.

Take care, enjoy the weekend!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-21T13:31:00.001-04:00

Happy Easter to all who celebrate! I'll be hiding in the woods, coloring eggs, lounging in front of the fireplace, and knitting too!

Don't eat too many peeps!

Is it soup yet?

2008-03-12T14:01:00.003-04:00

I have been somewhat persuaded to enjoy the snow season in Michigan by my SO. I used to strongly protest all things snowy, icy and cold. But over the last several years I have adjusted and decided if I couldn't beat em join em. So I have been skiing and more recently snowmobiling. It's great fun, once I get over the initial terror of things like ski lifts, and tree crashing. With that said, enough already. I've had my fill of snow, ice and freezing cold temps. I'm ready for spring. Is anyone listening??!!

I think because of the weather, and because I've been gone so much lately, I've gotten into a little bit of a funk. I'm tired, unfocused and because of that when I sit down to knit or spin, I just kinda stare at it and then crash in front of my tv. Not cool. I'm planning to stay in town this weekend, although I'll be out and about, so I'm hoping I'll recharge my battery a little by allowing myself to sleep in, in my own bed and not feel like I'm constantly late for something.

I'm still working on the test knitting I'm doing and it seems to be taking me forever, especially since I haven't been working on it very much. I started another pair of Shaq slippers for my up north neighbor, and I have one knit and am starting the second. I picked up some plasti-dip from the hardware store and have about 3 coats on the bottom of MY slippers and will check it out tonight and see if that makes them non-skid. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I have several projects lined up for the knitting machine, but again that requires me to actually sit in front of it, to accomplish anything. I'm hoping this will be the weekend for some of that.

If anyone is still out there, thanks for checking in and I hope to have some real knitting progress soon!

Happy Monday!

2008-02-25T11:04:00.002-05:00

It seems that when I don't post very regularly I get nagged. Nagged here. Nagged there. Ok, ok I get the hint already. I'm posting. I just don't know that I have anything much to say.

I've been spending a lot of time up north in the woods. We've had a fair amount of snow up north lately, and now that our sleds are running (knocking on wood as I type) we've been trying to enjoy them before it's all gone. I actually got to ride for about 3 hours on Saturday, and with the sun out and milder temps it was very pleasant.

I didn't get to knit much this past weekend, since we had friends up and altogether there were 7 kids ranging from 9 months to 13 years. Holy crap, the noise was incredible. I escaped the commotion for a bit of a nap on Saturday, but didn't get one Sunday and ended up driving home pretty tired last night. I use that time away to catch up on sleep from the week and I feel I lost out this time. Oh well. It was nice to see these friends we had sort of lost touch with, and I guess I'll sleep some other time.

Currently I'm working on a test knit project of a toddler sundress by someone I "met" on Ravelry. It's kind of slow going since it's stockinette for about 10 inches and it's NOT in the round. I may have to suggest she offer that option since I personally HATE purling, especially 100 stitches at a crack. Luckily it's only about 10", so I should have the BACK done fairly soon, but then I get to do the front. I shouldn't complain, it's a very cute style, but my natural instinct is to see a pattern, and immediately change what I don't like to indulge my own selfish needs, and when testing a pattern, this is not an option. Oh well, enough of that, it's going to be adorable when it's finished and I can't wait to go find the perfect buttons!!

I also recently completed one mitten of the fabulous pom mittens by a very talented knitter! It's in Cascade 220, and I really like the feel of these mittens. I'm making myself finish the test project before I let myself (see, I boss ME around as much as I boss others around) cast on for the second mitten. Hopefully I can have these finished before the end of winter.

I finished my Shaq slippers, affectionately named by my SO, and felted them to just my size. I need some puffy paint for the soles, since I can already tell my minimally carpeted house will be too dangerous without. I can't wait to start wearing these and test their durability so I can make a pair for one of our up north neighbors. She bakes constantly for the kids, and it's the least I could do for her kindness.

I have 2 more hats up next to knit, one a Star Wars hat for my nephew who's a huge fan, and another fair isle for the SO, since he raved so much about the last one.

Sadly, I haven't been home much at all, so I've done very little spinning and I need to resolve that soon, since I'm working on something in trade for some sewing services and I hate having that hanging over my head. Darn job!! It really keeps getting in the way of my life.

I'm sorry for not posting pictures, but all of them are on my home computer and I'm squeezing this post in from work today. For those of you on Ravelry, go check them all out there!!

Have a wonderful week, and pray for more snow! hehehe Sorry Miranda!

New hats!

2008-02-05T13:40:00.000-05:00

More FO's. Go check it out~http://www.ocdknittingfo.blogspot.com/

I love Michigan!

2008-01-31T12:48:00.000-05:00

I keep saying this over and over. What's not to love? 7 degrees one day, 40 the next. I can't figure out why everyone keeps getting sick!! I {knocking on wood} keep a full bottle of Zicam at the ready for whenever I encounter someone with sniffles, sneezing, coughing or if they just look germ-y. I even discovered that Meijer is cheaper than the drug store or Kroger, so I'm in Zicam heaven. Faced with the potential of 6-10 inches overnight, I'm partly excited and partly bummed, since I may still have to make the trek to the West side in the a.m. to get DD to school. Please pray that we get all 6-10 before 6:30 a.m.. Kay?

I am the proud owner of an Ashford Traditional wheel. Oh, does this sound like deja vu? Let me correct that. I am the proud owner of TWO Ashford Traditional wheels! Whoo hoo!! I love craigslist, and my pal Miranda, she's the bestest enabler I've ever known. She found the listing but couldn't swing it, so I snapped it up in a New York minute (that means super fast!). And let me tell you, the seller, Mary is totally awesome. She was great on the phone, super nice in person and I got an excellent deal. Turns out she travels up north quite a bit (sounds familiar) and needed a portable wheel, so her hubby bought her a Schacht Ladybug. Very cute in person I may add (the wheel, didn't see the hubby). And so she was faced with the dilemma of having to divide her time between two wheels, shun one as it sits lifeless and fiberless in the corner, or sell it for a great price to ME!! Guess which one she chose? She also spoke very highly of Beth at the Spinning Loft in Howell so this is yet another reason I need to make the trip out to her store.

Of course it would be selfish of me to claim BOTH wheels for my own, since my daughter does spin and knit, so I'm selflessly giving the second one over to her, so she'll quit trying to kick me off MINE!!

In spite of the deep freeze I have managed to get a few things done. I finished another thicker hat for SO, since he's lucky enough to work outdoors in these frigid temps. Of course the day I gave it to him, we warmed up to 30's and 40's. Go figure. I need to ask him if he's worn it yet. He HAS been wearing the cowboy style safety hat I got him for Christmas. He loves being a spectacle and he's been getting lots of comments and attention for his safety gear. Hey, whatever gets him to protect that noggin I say. Kinda like it to stay in one piece. Better for pictures and hat wearin and all.

I bought some yummy new yarn from Artisan's in Grosse Pointe recently and promptly casted on for another pair of socks for me. Of course I bought 2 skeins, one for me and one for SO. As long as there is constantly something being made for him, he gives me less grief about my obsession. I need to cast his on but have to decide on a pattern first. Any faves for your men?

I'm also stash diving to test out a simple (I hope) fair isle hat pattern by a guy on Ravelry. I've wanted to try fair isle and this hat spoke to me, especially when I remembered I might have the perfect yarn in my stash. I hope to cast on for this hat this weekend, while we're again up north attempting to play in the snow. We've had a terrible spot of luck with our snowmobiles and poor SO deserves a tiny break. As in, maybe the sleds could STOP breaking for a couple of days so he can actually play with the snow that's up there. Before we know it, it will be mud season, and not good for snowmobiles. We'll see.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Get your shovels ready, drive carefully and remember, winter is very short but some of us still like to play in it!

A new FO!

2008-01-14T08:55:00.000-05:00

Go check it out www.ocdknittingfo.blogspot.com

Are we sure it's January?

2008-01-13T02:25:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how much I've been slacking off. Ravelry has been consuming most of my free computer time. I have been knitting, and actually finishing stuff too. I've been spinning, both on Ms. Ashley and my trusty travel-ready drop spindle. I just haven't taken the time to post about it here.

I just finished the fabulous Twinners socks by my friend Lynne Wardrop. They are made from Lorna's Shepherd Worsted. If you haven't seen/felt this yarn yet, you're truly missing out. It's squooshy, soft and the colors are PRETTY! Check it out.

I have finished pictures on the camera, coming soon.

I finished my SO's boot socks in Cascade 220 Superwash. It's not the softest yarn, but I suspect it will get softer after a wash or 2.

Next up for him, same sock pattern out of Knit Picks Swish. Now that's some soft yarn!

I finished spinning the Autumn Colors singles and have 2-plyed it into 566 yards. I will take pictures after it dries. pretty pretty pretty pretty Just looking for the right pattern for this colorway - Lynne!

I can't believe it's January. With all this mild weather I have to keep checking the calendar to be sure. Most likely it's my fault. We have 2 snowmobiles ready to ride AND I got new skis for Christmas, so we will probably have very little snow this year. Sorry to those that actually like winter sports.

Have a great rest of the weekend.

Ahh Wednesday!

2007-12-27T01:16:00.000-05:00

I made it! I kept telling myself, hold on for Wednesday, it will be here before you know it. It's here and I'm thoroughly exhausted, but alive!!

Christmas is always very hectic, not necessarily a fun kinda hectic. With the shared custody, for both me and my SO, it's a bittersweet time of the ultimate rule we learned as kids. SHARING. And like any 5 year old will tell you, sharing sucks! Especially when it's your coolest toy or your favoritist (only) child. But we survived, with no bloodshed, so all is well in our world again.

I'm looking forward to the weekend, cuz as per usual, we'll be spending New Years up north. I got new skis for Christmas so I'll be testing those out, and we also got a new (for us) snowmobile, so I might actually get to ride this year! Not sure if there's snow up there, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. If not, I always have sewing/knitting projects to keep me busy, and since our kids have the coolest parents ever! we'll be taking our new Wii up there too, along with all the games including Guitar Hero III, which I can honestly say is super addictive. I can't wait for a week of down-time to ring in the new year with all my favorite peeps!

I finished the Touch Me gloves in the nick of time and sent them off for Christmas Eve delivery. I haven't heard yet, but I hope they made it and I hope they fit the recipient. I'll know this weekend. I must say, they came out WAY nicer than mine did, much more fitted and seemingly softer too! I'd be happy to get them, I hope she is too!

I'm still working on SO's boot socks, into the home stretch now since I'm on the foot. It's been slow, but when you only get to do a row or two at a time, they take forever to finish. I've found a balaclava pattern that will suit my step-son for snowboarding, so I'll be starting that soon, maybe in time for our snow adventures up north.

I have no pictures of anything right now, cuz stupidly I packaged up the gloves for the waiting UPS man and didn't make him wait longer by taking pictures. I hope to get one or two when I see her, so I'll update my FO's then.

Happy New Year to all! May 2008 bring endless stash, tireless knitting, and some cool new patterns too!

Is it summer yet?

2007-12-07T00:09:00.000-05:00

I think we got spoiled by the really mild temps for so long, and my body seems completely unwilling to adjust to the colder temperatures. I'm the type of person that starts wearing long johns and dressing in layers about October, that way by the time December rolls around I've acclimated. It isn't working this time. I constantly find myself cold and I HATE to be cold. We either better get a heckuva lotta snow soon to justify these cold temps or we better just zip forward to spring, toot sweet!

I've been MIA for a little while. I haven't updated my blog or Ravelry. I've been knitting, some, but life has been a little hectic these past few weeks. DD is in a play at school, which is this weekend and we're getting down to the final hour. I'm very excited to see the production, an adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It sounds like it will be very entertaining, not to mention really funny. I had to give DD a lesson in makeup, since she takes after me at that age (12) and she's not really a girly girl. In fact she's a little bummed about one aspect of the show and that is she has to wear some hideous DRESS! Totally uncool by her standards. I've already been instructed that there are to be no pictures of her in said hideous dress. We'll see.

Anyway. I've been knitting. I've got 2 pairs of socks going and still plugging along on the Touch Me gloves, although not as diligently as I should. Winter is here, and I'm sure my friend would love to give them to her daughter, while the weather is relevant. They probably won't be that well received in say, May. I need to kick myself in the butt and get moving on them. Also I've been doing some knitting on my Ultimate Sweater Machine. I made a felted laptop bag, and have decided it needs a flap. No problem, I can whip out 40 or so rows in almost no time. I just made a baby blanket out of some Joann's Rainbow Boucle, and have only to finish the edges off. I'm thinking of an i-cord edging, to keep the edges from rolling. It's 4 feet long and it really only took me 2 evenings to do 48" of stockinette. I promise to take pictures of all my WIP's very soon. I'm sure after the final show on Sunday, life will return to somewhat normal. Whatever that means.

That's all for now. It's after midnight and we have to get up early since DD is supposed to arrive at school by 7 a.m. in full makeup for a final dress rehearsal to be performed in front of the entire student body. Of course it's supposed to snow like mad, so wish me luck that we actually make it there in one piece.

Take care, and stay tuned for real knitting content!

I'm still here..

2007-11-26T01:36:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how fast this month is flying by! I'm still around, just slammed from every direction it seems. I have my new laptop working, I just haven't had much time to play with it. I've been knitting, but haven't taken any new pictures recently. I'll try to be better, I promise. I'm currently working on another pair of Boot Socks, for my SO, the Touch Me gloves for a friend (but the notes from my first pair are up north, so I'll have to wing it-yikes!) and I just cast on for a pair of socks for ME in the Lorna's Shepherd sock yarn, which I absolutely love. I'll post details for that pattern and some pics very soon!

Hope everyone had a great Turkey Day and I also hope you got some shopping done, if that's what you're into.

Take care!

Phew!

2007-11-11T11:12:00.000-05:00

Okey dokey kids, I'm on Ravelry (OCD Knitting) AND I'm now online at home!! I picked up my new notebook, and I'm working thru all the set up of everything, so look out, I'm on my way!

More to follow, this is just the beginning!

I HAVE MADE IT!!!

2007-11-05T09:33:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not a millionaire. No, I'm not going to be on reality tv any time soon, thank goodness for that.

I am FINALLY on Ravelry. I'm OCD Knitting, shocker, but don't get your hopes up, there's not much there yet. I have to get busy!!

Whoo hoo!! {happy dancing all over the place}

See you soon!

Guilt free snapping!

2007-10-30T13:07:00.000-04:00

First of all, thanks for the well wishes and all. The dizzyness is subsiding and I'm starting to feel like myself more and more with each passing day. I took it super-easy this past weekend and have been trying to catch up on sleep and that seems to be making a world of difference with my head. I never mentioned that I actually hit my head, pretty hard, and that's what caused this BPPV, so slow down, don't be in such a rush, cuz that's how I went about banging my head. Hurrying to get from here to there! And look where it got me. I still have a follow-up test next week, so hopefully I'll get thru that with flying colors!

Anyway, on the knitting front, I'm happy to say I can now hog the digital camera ALL I WANT since I wisely bought the SO his own, newer snazzier camera to-call-his-own for his recent birthday. So, now I can snap snap snap to my heart's content and won't have to hear one word from him about how HE never gets to use the camera (for what I have no idea) cuz now his is actually nicer, newer, etc. and will probably sit on his dresser and collect dust! A small price to pay to have nag-free photo documentation! Of course I have nothing to show you, since I haven't actually documented anything recently except his birthday, but that will come with time.

I have been knitting, some. I am working on the Touch Me gloves for my friend's daughter. I'm doing both at once and taking very careful notes this time, since I so carelessly winged it the first time thru for myself. That's how I am any time I make stuff for me, sewing, cooking, etc. Just throw it all together and see what happens. But I am making myself slow down, write exact notes, so when all is said and done I may actually have a real pattern at the end of this. And, if I can repeat this pattern successfully then I'll happily post it on my blog. Probably for free, since I don't think it's one I need to sell. I'll sell what I spin, but this pattern will probably stay a freebie. So look for that in the future.

I'm also spinning a little. I'm still working on the batt that Miranda carded up for me. I'm about 2/3's thru that and hope to ply that up, maybe this weekend. This weekend is the last riding weekend up north before hunting season so we'll be packing the kids and heading up for one last time before it's time to put the dirt bikes away until spring. I'm sure all the colors have peaked but the weather has been so crazy I'm anxious to see how it looks up there.

That's all I have for now. Take it easy, watch your head, and have a great Halloween!! BOO!!

I always knew I had a screw loose...

2007-10-24T11:55:00.000-04:00

So, this will be a non-knitting post. Sorry about that. I went to the ENT yesterday, and finally figured out what the heck is wrong with my head. I have BPPV, and there is no medicine to treat it. Simply a repositioning done by the doctor, crazy sleeping positions for me for 48 hours and a few exercises, and then a follow up test in 2 weeks, and hopefully I'm all better. Sometimes the repositioning needs to be done again, in severe cases, but we'll see in a few days. So for now, I'm on the down low. No aerobics, no crazy head movements, but at least knitting and spinning are not banned from my activities. Phew!! There would have been HELL to pay for that I tell ya!

I always knew I had a screw loose, but displaced crystals? Who'd a thunk it?!! Take care not to hit your head, that's what caused mine.

Have a great, non-dizzy day! I'll try to do the same.

You woke me up for this?

2007-10-22T11:29:00.000-04:00

I think, if I ever believed in reincarnation I'd like to come back as a dog. They have such a pampered life. Sleep all day, no real requirements of them, and do something little like sit or lay down and you get a pat on the head. How rough could that be? This is Marvin's life, most of the time.

We got to spend another beautiful weekend up north. I'm not really feeling better but the SO had promised to take the kids riding and I didn't want to stay home by myself so I went along and slept till 12:30 on Saturday and basically lazed around all day. I spun, I knitted, and did very little else.

This is the view out our front door.
Horrible isn't it?

This is the driveway off to the right.

And I looked up until it made me too dizzy

Couldn't help myself though, Crayola doesn't make a blue that pretty!!

I started spinning some fiber that Miranda gifted me, it's really pretty with a little bit of sparkle in it. It's some kind of eclectic mix of who.knows.what, but who cares, it's really pretty to look at don't you think?

Oh, and for those that are interested the boot socks fit my mechanic friend "like they were made for me", umm yeah duh!, so I just need to finish the toes, wash 'em and send them on their merry way. I love when I guess right!

Hey Marvin, can you say hello? He's not amused. I interrupted nap time.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. Talk to you again soon.

"Jane, Get Me Off This Crazy Thing!!"

2007-10-18T10:34:00.000-04:00

Remember back in the day when your mom or dad would take you to the park and you'd get on the merry-go-round and they would push it and you would spin and laugh and yell "MORE, MORE, Love.To.Spin!" then you'd get off and your parents would laugh cuz you'd be walking around like a drunken sailor just off the bar stool. Well, this has been my life for the last 2 weeks. But without the merry-go-round and without the alcohol. Apparently I have some kind of middle ear infection or some crap, that causes me to be dizzy and stumble and fall over, for no apparent reason. Even laying in bed causes the room to spin uncontrollably. And not in a fun way. I even went and got a brain scan last week, and shocker of all things, I actually have one up there, but nothing else was wrong so they're still considering it to be a middle ear infection. Today I finished my 10 days of antibiotics and I still feel like crap. They switched my motion sickness medicine from Antivert to Valium which means I can't take them during the day unless my boss doesn't mind me napping at my desk, which I can't see him accepting, so no remedies for me during the day. And all the Valium really does is make me sleep, which I did ALL weekend, last weekend except for a few hours here and there, so other than feeling well rested the symptoms are not gone and we're going on two weeks here. Total DRAG!!

I did manage to get some knitting and some spinning done, and I actually have some pictures to document the fruits of my labor.

Way back, for some holiday (I suck at remembering stuff) Amby got me silk hankies. And no, these aren't the dainty kind you blow your nose with and then pray they come clean in the laundry. These are the awesome hand dyed silk cocoon kind that you have to delicately peel apart (after exfoliating the hell out of your hands cuz even air causes it to snag) and then pre-draft and then spin. I started spinning this on my drop spindle but because the staple length of silk is so incredibly long and because this fiber is so intensely strong it was really taking its toll on my wrist. So this past weekend I peeled every single layer apart, pre-drafted each one and then spun it all up on Ms. Ashley. Then I plied it, steamed it and voila!! Gorgeous, 125 yards worth of spun silk! Whaddya think?

I also finished the boot socks for my mechanic friend, I just need him to try them on before I kitchener the toe. These were a pretty quick knit, considering that I didn't work on them every day, but doing both at the same time was really nice as to avoid SSS. The yarn is Knit Picks Swish Superwash, and I really really like this yarn. I'm anxious to wash these and see how they look after a good washing.

I had posted previously about my silk dyeing class I took at Mt. Bruce a few weeks back and teased you with this photo. Well, I unwrapped it and took a few pictures and this is what I got:

It was Rit dye so the colors aren't super vibrant, and I'm kinda on the fence about the fold lines, but the pleats are super cool for sure. I need to order some blanks and try some different dye and some kool-aid too, for some super bright colors!! I think these would make cool gifts, so I need to get my booty in gear if I'm going to get any done for Christmas.

I also finally started the Touch Me gloves for a friend of mine, and since I was in the 2 socks.at.the.same.time mode, I thought hey, genius (this is how I refer to myself of course) why not do two gloves at once, at least until you get to the tricky part. Great idea!!
One small problem though. Since I am not really following a true pattern, and I winged it on the first pair, I was guessing on a few things, like needle size, since I failed to make note of that on my "pattern". I only just checked back thru my blog archives TODAY and discovered I had used size 2 Addi's, and these gloves were cast on to size 4 Addi's. CRAP! Oh well, it was a good practice run, but I thought they felt kinda loose. This frees up my 4's for some socks for me, and now I just have to find my 2's. I must get thru these gloves first though, before I start socks for me! Crap, I hate these kinds of obligations. But cold weather is coming, and I promised these gloves quite some time ago.

That's all I have for now. I'll leave you with these great pictures from 2 weekends ago up north. The colors are changing and it's really hard to come home with such beautiful surroundings. (click any to make them bigger)

The riding gang!

I love rainbows!

It's October, and they're swimming!

Friday!

2007-10-05T09:54:00.000-04:00

Yep, I'm famous for stating the obvious. It's been a draggy week. I've had a cold, thanks to Chunky Monkey at work (the boss' nephew) who appears to be opposed to personal hygiene and spreads germs at every opportunity. 3 nights this week I've gone home and gone straight to bed. That's so not me. Plus I taught my exercise class, and per usual, I kicked my own booty. That's cool though, if I feel it, they feel it. As long as they keep coming back.

I have some show and tell. I went to Mt. Bruce last weekend. What a gorgeous day! It was sunny but somewhat cool, so it made for a very comfortable fiber shopping day. I bought, I fondled, I smelled (soaps not fiber) and took a fab class on Shibori silk scarf dyeing. Mary was a great instructor and Miranda and I had a great time, once we got invited to the big people's table (long story).

Here's the before shot:

Oh, were you hoping for an after shot? Yeah well, I haven't taken it yet. I unwrapped the scarf and didn't like the fold lines so I pinned it out and lightly steamed it, so you'll have to wait for it to dry. Sorry! This was a super cool class, and other than trying to constantly bonk Miranda with my pole (oops!) I had a great time, learned a LOT and can't wait to do this again. I'm going to order some silk blanks and try my hand at some more silk dyeing.

Here's some fiber-y goodness that spoke to me as I was wandering around thru the different vendors.

Can you see the glitter? It's called Strawberry Sundae, and it's Mohair, Alpaca, Wool and Silk. So luscious!!

Here, let me give you a better look.
Of course I started spinning it!

I bought a whole pound, I just couldn't help myself. I'm picturing some kind of open weave type sweater, to wear over long sleeve shirts. Any pattern suggestions? Throw them in my comments. If I use your idea? It may win you a skein of sock yarn. I'm not big on contests, but if something truly catches my eye, I'll reward you properly!

Also, a big shout out to Marj for some fab looking earrings. Go check out her Etsy store she does great work!!

I bought some angora/merino from Mt. Bruce, but it's for my daughter. She liked what I bought last year so much, that she requested some for herself, since she couldn't go with me. Check it!
She hasn't seen it yet, it's waiting on her bed for her, hope she likes it!!

I'm on the heel flaps for the hunter socks (KnitPicks pattern) for my mechanic friend. I'm loving the KP Swish Superwash, and doing both socks at the same time means no SSS, whoo hoo!! I'm going to have to get some Swish for me in girly colors, but not till I whip out a pair for the SO first.

Well, that's about all I have for now. We're taking the kids up north, I thought to enjoy some fall goodness, but they're calling for 80's so who knows what we'll get up there. Either way, away is good!! Have a great weekend!

Amateur photo shoot

2007-09-25T11:39:00.000-04:00

I always have ideas about how I WANT the photos to look, but pulling them off (alone) isn't always possible. So, picture this, I dropped my daughter off at school this morning and I start driving around the neighborhood looking for a scenic spot to photograph my FO and so I pull into an apartment complex that overlooks a swamp, I mean pond, and pull over. Imagine the look on the landscaper's faces as I get out, position my shawl on the park bench near the pond, and start snapping pictures. Sure, I do this all the time, this is a perfectly normal day. Anyway, I still need some better shots but you'll get the idea of how it came out.

Here's some pre-blocked pictures first:

I need to re-calculate, but I think I only have about 5 yards left of the malabrigio, which is not too bad. I was worried I'd have a lot more left over.

Now for the tah-dah!! I blocked this sucker within centimeters of it's life and at any moment was expecting it to rip right down the center. I even worried when I unpinned it that it would sproing back and loudly proclaim "HAH, sucker! I'm staying small!" But fortunately, it stayed exactly as I pinned it. I re-pinned the bottom point and spread out the tail section to show off the stitch definition a little better, so I'm really pleased with the way that came out.

Ok, I'll stop blabbing and get to the good stuff.

I absolutely love the pattern, would make it again, in the larger size though, just for the drapey goodness of it all. I'm so happy happy happy this is finally in my FO list.

On that happy note, I'll leave you with this. My daughter and I were greeted with this beauty as we pulled into school.

How could anyone have a bad day after seeing that?

DIAMOND FANTASY IS FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!

2007-09-24T09:14:00.000-04:00

It's blocking, as we speak. I blocked the crap out of it, and will unpin it tonight and take pictures post-blocking.

I will post pictures, hopefully tomorrow, of before and after. Stay tuned!!

Oh, and Sonya tagged me so here goes:

So, here are the rules.
1. Link to your tagger and post rules
2. Share 7 facts about yourself, some random and some weird
3. Tag 7 people at the end of post and list their names
4. Let them know they were tagged by a comment on their blog

I'm pretty random AND weird but I'm not sure what's left to tell. I'll give it a shot.

1. I'm very shy around new people. I will literally have hot flashes if I am going to meet crowds of people I've never met (eg. Sweetwaters, Yarn Harlot in AA (not HER-you guys), Knitterpalooza Lansing).

2. It's not as bad now, but when I was younger I wouldn't go into a store by myself if I'd never been in there before (drug store, party store) because I would get nervous that I wouldn't be able to find what I was looking for and I would never have the nerve to ask for help.

3. I like flamingos. I used to have one on the balcony of my apartment so my friends knew where I lived.

4. I don't drink coffee. I've been a Pepsi drinker since high school. I only drink coffee if I'm trying to stay awake driving home from up north, since we always wait until the last possible second to leave, since we like it up there better.

5. I get migraines. Sometimes they last a day, sometimes they'd last for several days. The drugs are better now, so usually they're gone within the hour.

6. The older I get, the more impatient I get. When I want something, I want it now! Not later, not in a minute. NOW!! Doesn't matter what IT is.

7. I'm still amazed that people actually care to read what I write. So thanks for humoring me.

I'll tag 7 people

Kristyn
Janette
Kelli
Amanda
Miranda
Tina
Susie
Karen in Toledo

Okey dokey, off to comment them and I'll be posting pictures tomorrow!!

Blogging, what blogging?

2007-09-18T10:58:00.000-04:00

So, this is what this feels like. It's been so very long since I've performed this task, I have truly forgotten. I'd like to say hi to all my friends out in BlogLand, I've missed you all.

I have been knitting, really. And boating, and spending time at the cabin, and doing other fun summertime activities, and now the kids are back in school and we're all settling back into our routines, so I guess blogging should fall into that category too. Actually, work has been hectic, and that's usually when I blog, so I'm looking into a laptop for home so I can start doing my surfing at home and stop trying to cram it into my lunch and free time at work. That would certainly make my boss happier, and I won't have to do such stealth drive-by posts that I have to wonder about their content or if they actually make sense (kind of like now).

I'm still {still} working on the Diamond Fantasy Shawl. I still {still} love the pattern, but holy crap, this laceweight malabrigio is lasting freakin forever. Who knew that 470 yards would carry me through 8 (EIGHT) repeats of this chart. I'm about 3 rows away from finishing the 8th repeat, then all that's left is to finish the corners and then do the i-cord bind off. So keep your fingers crossed that this never-ending laceweight actually makes it through to the end of all that. Now I'm getting kind of nervous. I had grand plans to measure it out and spoke to the designer (thanks Sivia) about guesstimating the approximate yardage required to do the i-cord bind off and that all sounded like a whole lot of work, and considering that I'm kind of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants girl, I said screw all that, so now I'll just sweat it out through to the end and really really really hope it works for me. Gosh I hope it does. I pre-blocked a tiny section to keep my incentive going and this is what it looks like:

Excuse the poor blocking, it was dry, and I was just trying to get an idea of size. I really hope it grows in size once it's wet and properly blocked, because for 8 times through, it's not really that big, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

I have been solely working on the DFS and I'll be honest, I can't wait for this to be finished so I can work on a few other projects at the same time. I have socks, and Touch Me gloves to make and this has been consuming all of my spare knitting time. I haven't even squeaked out a soap sac or dishcloth, because I really want to finish my first lace project!! Dang job!!

I was fortunate enough to have been invited to participate in Knitterpalooza 2007 in Lansing this past weekend, and let me tell you, what an absolute blast! Food, fun and fiber was had by all. I got to hold babies, pet doggies and fondle delectable fibers. I even bought a little. I'll try to take some pictures of my stash enhancement for my next post!

Gotta run, work is calling. I'll try to post more frequently. Talk to you soon!

To dye for!

2007-07-30T10:31:00.000-04:00

Well, at least the camera gods are smiling on me. I FOUND the camera. Without having to tell the SO that it MIGHT be lost. Phew!

So, that said, I did a little dyeing recently. Some Knit Picks sock yarn and {gasp} my unspun alpaca roving. Eh, I've had it for over a year so maybe this will motivate me to spin it into something useful. Or sell-able. I just used kool-aid and easter egg dyes, nothing too difficult or fancy, but now that I see the possibilities, I'm totally hooked.
The alpaca roving

And the Knit Picks sock yarn

Very fun, and not nearly as hard as I thought.

I've been working on the Diamond Fantasy Shawl, but since I've been tinking it's not really progress. I'm about 1 row away from the start of the second chart (for the second time through) and then I will humbly install a lifeline. I'm not really sure what happened, since I was flying thru it pretty quickly, but somewhere I went wrong, and since I've only been able to tink 1 row at a time per sitting, it's taken me several days to undo about 6 rows. Hopefully I'll be moving forward again soon.

We got to spend some time outdoors this weekend, even if it wasn't up north. We went to a graduation party on Saturday, and Sunday we spent the day on the lake with the family. The best part? Watching the sun set on a beautiful day.
The chitlins: My SO and daughter
They're bad pics cuz once again just the camera phone, but you get the idea.
It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful day!

Almost Friday..

2007-07-19T13:33:00.000-04:00

Corset T? Cabled Tank top? Not so much.

Diamond Fantasy Shawl?

Yeah baby!! Can't find the camera at the moment, so this is all you get. Colors are not even close really, but I slid the blocking wires in for a quick peak at the shape, and here you go. I'm really enjoying the pattern. 6 repeats make the "scarf" which is perfect for the malabrigio yardage, and blocking severely per the instructions should wield a big enough shawl for my liking. Hopefully I'll get some serious quiet time this weekend and can knock this baby out. Wish me luck!

Pictures!!

2007-07-12T11:12:00.000-04:00

I still have possession of the camera, so I managed to snap a few photos this morning. I took some pics of some super cool birthday presents I got so here they are.

First of all, my SO picked up on my very obvious hints the last time we were shopping for motorcross gear for his son and he decided a Fox Racing knittingbag was the only acceptable way for me to carry my knitting to and fro.

And of course, the hints I had really dropped was on the everyday purse, since I don't own a white purse and I thought it was really cute so he also got me this:

Oh honey, what a surprise!! lol

And check this out.

Uh, no, I didn't get socks as a present. I got these: Fancy-shmancy sock blockers. No more wire hangers!!! And for my regular sushi fixes I got this:

Amby got me the super-duper sock blockers and Amanda gave me the gorgeously perfect sushi set for 2!! You two are awesome, thanks soooo much!!

I got money from the in-laws and money from my parents, music from the kids and my sister got me a super cute card and lip gloss that goes perfectly with my tan!! Color me happy, this was a great birthday!

And, look what else I've been doing:

NOT killing my flowers or tomato plants! Who knew? Fresh salsa anyone?

I meant to take pics of my WIPs but oh yeah, I forgot. Sorry guys!

Have a great weekend, I'll be up at the lake working on my tan!!

Wow, 7-11, Where has the time gone?

2007-07-11T11:11:00.000-04:00

Ok, I want to update my blog more frequently, but given the crackdown of personal computer time at the prison, I mean my job, time is limited. Of course I don't have a computer at home, I'm on one all day. No computer, no phone, no way!!

I've been knitting. I've had a birthday. Oh yeah, and the lawn mower is broken again. Such is my life. I'm clearly not meant for yard work.

I'm almost finished with the Corset T. I'm experimenting with incorporating the detail from the neckline to the bottom of the corset, to spice it up a bit. It will involve kitchener-ing the whole thing together, so wish me luck-it's 199 stitches. But, if I pull it off, I think it will look really cool, and Annie will appreciate the deviation from her pattern. I can never just do it the "right" way, gotta add my touch to it.

The cable tank is on hold, since it requires size 5's which are currently in use on the corset t. I got tired of switching back and forth, and the corset t is a little fun-ner to work on at the moment. The cotton ease for the tank is ok, but with the cables it seems to take forever.

Sorry for my absence, but the boss-man thinks I should WORK the whole time I'm here, and we're having issues with his idea vs. mine. He can pay his nephew to be an absolute idiot, and a burden to everyone, but if I take a few mental/computer breaks thru-out my day, ALERT THE MEDIA-we have a slacker! Whatever.

Miss you guys, I'll try to do better. Oh yeah, and I'll try to take some pictures one of these days....

Happy First Day of Summer!

2007-06-21T10:44:00.000-04:00

On this gray, cloudy, storm-brewing day, go figure. Aw, I can't complain, we've had beautiful weather, many many days in a row, and I guess a little rain is good for the grass and stuff. And now, since I have a riding lawn mower, thanks to my brilliant SO for fixing the one he bought for me last year, I don't even mind if the grass grows a little. I went from 5 hours of weekly maintenance to about an hour and a half, just like that! I'll take it!

I'm here, I've been knitting, I've been spinning, and I've been working my butt off like a madwoman. School is done, school year activities are finished, and I even turned down an aerobics gig for the summer, to really try to relax and slow down from the normal rush rush of kids, school and work.

I said I've been knitting, but of course I have no proof, since I haven't thought to take pictures of any of it recently. WIP's include 70% completion of Corset T from Annie Modessitt (I think I spelled her name wrong, too lazy to check-sorry Annie), and about 40% completion of a cotton cabled tank. The cotton is cotton ease, and it's a beautiful shade of robin egg-ish blue and the cable is really pretty, but holy crap it's taking freakin forever to finish. Tempting, with all it's ribbing was a much faster knit by far. I have a couple of random socks going too, but have really been focusing on the tank, since it's warm enough to wear now. One of these days I'll get smart and start this crap in April, so come June, I can WEAR it and not just be working on it.

I've been spinning some gorgeous Autumn color wool I bought at the fiber festival from May, and I'm loving the colors! I've filled up one bobbin and need to put an empty one on Miss Ashley, and get thru the rest of it. I can't wait to see it plied, it's going to be really gorgeous. At least my spinning is more on schedule, since this will be yarn in time for fall, and it has lovely shades of green, orange, brown, and will represent fall knitting beautifully.

Another shout out to Susie of ToKnitPerchance, she sent me another package of gorgeous sock yarn, my daughter cast on for her pair last night at knitting group, and I'm excited to see the colors develop as she knits. I'm trying to talk my daughter into making me a pair too, since we got 2 skeins of the same color, but we're still in negotiations for that.

Not much else going on here (that's so far from the truth, it's ridiculous-but nothing really blog-worthy so I'll spare you the drama).

I hope to check back in a little more frequently (sorry Kelli), I miss hearing from everyone, and if I don't post, I figured out I don't get comments (duh!).

Have a great day!

Tag, I'm it.

2007-05-21T10:50:00.000-04:00

Amy was kind enough to tag me with this, so here goes.

For the record, I don't normally participate in these types of exercises. I'm very private but also very opinionated, and usually only my very close friends get to see this (lucky them!) Sometimes I'm misunderstood as arrogant, or harsh, but I'm really shy and get along with most everybody. I decided it was ok to put a little "me" out there, so thanks for reading.

Here are the rules: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

1. I have Celiac Disease which means I can't ingest wheat, rye, barley, oats or malt. If I accidently eat any of these things, I get violently ill, which is super fun! I found out when my daughter was a year old, and I went in to the hospital weighing 80 pounds (down from my then-normal weight of 115 pounds), at 5'8" tall. That was the scariest time of my whole life. I didn't know if I would be ok, having never been hospitalized except for the birth of my daughter, and I was in for 11 days. It took them 8 days to figure out what was wrong with me, and even after being sent home I was scary thin and very sick for months after. I had my daughter tested when she was 2, and thankfully she does not have it. I'm pretty positive my dad had it, but he died from complications of arthritis at 49, before it was a known disease. Physically he and I are very alike, so it seems likely if I have it, he did too. Mickey Redmond of the Red Wings has it too, and that's why he stopped traveling with the team to away games, because eating out can be very challenging.

2. I played Cha-Cha DiGregorio in my high school's performance of Grease. I got to steal the show with the lead (Danny) by performing the winning dance at the prom.

3. I was in the Miss Michigan USA pageant and Miss Grand Prix Detroit back in my younger, bigger hair days. I didn't win either one, and I'm really ok with that. I learned right away that wasn't my scene.

4. There are days when I'd really love to have another baby. I absolutely loved being pregnant with my daughter, had an easy delivery, made all of her baby food, and took her everywhere with me, even to work, for the first 6 months of her life. That was something I was really good at, and I miss how all that feels. She's great, I don't want to take anything away from her, but at 11 (and 5'2") she's not as easy (or willing) to snuggle with. My SO is a great guy and a great father, and together I could see great things with us having a baby. Then I wake up and thank God the brat screaming at the grocery store, in church, or at the soccer field isn't mine.

5. I can picture myself moving up north, and crafting full time. My SO and I have already discussed moving up north as soon as we can ie. when the kids are old enough (custody stuff) and making our home away from the city life. I have visions of opening a craft store (hard to find up north) or working from home in some sort of fiber category. Selling handspun yarn, or selling handknits, anything in that line would make me very happy.

6. I teach aerobics and total body conditioning. I've been teaching for about 6 years now, and only missed about a year when I broke my ankle. I decided it was better to get paid to exercise than to do the paying, and it's great motivation, since I can't just skip a class due to laziness. I could see making that part of my moving up north plan and supplementing my income by continuing to teach, although I'm not sure how big the demand is up there. I'm thinking of starting up a llama aerobics class-what do you think?

7. I miss my dad. He was my buddy growing up and I was the son he never had. I wish he could see my daughter, and I'm sure he would have yelled at me for picking out the jerk that is her father. I would have appreciated it (maybe not then, but certainly now). He taught me how to change the oil and I got good at changing out wall plugs. I chose to hang out with him rather than go shopping at the mall with my mom and sisters. Hardly a day goes by that I don't think of him, and I can still cry when he comes into my thoughts. Life is precious, and losing him when I was 20 has been very hard on me.

I'm supposed to tag others, but being so late on this, I think everyone I know has already been tagged.

A plea to the knitting community....

2007-04-24T15:34:00.000-04:00

Aww, that sounds so pathetic and desperate. It's really not that serious. I'm looking for 3 skeins of Touch Me in the purple color. A friend has asked me to make gloves for her daughter, and the LYS in my area doesn't have that color and might not get it any time soon.

I am posting this in case someone has this in their stash, and they don't plan to use it, for whatever reason. I KNOW I can purchase this online, so please don't send me a gazillion links for it (unless you have some reliable source that is super discounted-this stuff is kinda pricey!).

I was hoping to find someone looking to get rid of theirs and this way it would be a win-win for both of us!

If you have 3 skeins, in purple (there's a few different shades, I'll have to check with my friend for final approval of color), send me an e-mail with a picture if possible or at least the color number from the band. You can reach me at mnangel13 at yahoo dot com (make the appropriate changes for e-mail).

Thanks very much for your help! Have a great one!

T.G.I.F.

2007-04-20T10:59:00.000-04:00

At least I wear my hand knits. Nobody can say different.

This is to distract from the real stuff I'm supposed to post. I have decided that I suck at photographing knitting instructions. My hat is off to those that can. I took about 30 really blurry un-informative pictures of my toe up method this morning, and only about the last 3 are actually viewable. But since you need the front end of that whole process the last 3 are pointless. I'll try again over the weekend and see what I can do.

Have a great weekend-it's supposed to be great weather here in the mitten state!

Toe up socks

2007-04-17T13:31:00.000-04:00

These pictures were taken, this morning, pre-caffeine (this is important to know). Please note some of the challenging angles one faces when attempting to photograph one's own foot. Photogenically. Luckily the blinds were drawn on the door wall or the neighbors may be ordering up a paddy wagon.

My first toe up sock.

(Well, first as in the first-one-I'm-actually-keeping, since I frogged it about a hunnert times).

Nearly invisible increases along the edges.

My first short row heel (I only frogged it once).

I would have tried to photograph the other side too, but you know, no caffeine, too early for yoga.

Almost done:

Still not finished, but dang she's purty!! And it fits like a glove... I mean a custom built sock! I'm thinking of some sort of picot bind off for the top. Does anyone have a favorite they like?

When I cast on for the second sock, I will attempt to photograph the steps to document my New-Made-Up-Way-for-Toe-Ups, that way if anyone has seen it done before they can correct me.

Also, for those that are interested, I have compiled a list of all the Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and surrounding area bloggers that attended the last Yarn Harlot visit to Ann Arbor, MI. Forgive the longhand links, I cut and pasted the list and didn't take the time to go in and list everyone's proper blog name.

If any links are broken, leave me a comment and I'll work to fix it. Also, if you were in AA and I don't have you listed, leave me a comment and I'll be sure to revise the list. I think I have 2 or 3 bloggers that I couldn't locate links for, so I'll go back thru my pictures to check it out.

Have a great day!

ETA: The above blogs are in no apparent order, just my normal random slapping of links on a page. (Amby!)

I'm baaaaccckkkk!

2007-04-16T13:45:00.000-04:00

Did you miss me? I'd say I missed you, but would you believe me?

Hopefully you all had a great Easter/Passover. Mine was awesome.

Oh and before I forget, SO and I celebrated our 5th anniversary recently. 5 years together, 4 engaged, on 4/5. Maybe we'll actually get married one day. AND live under the same roof. Now that would be nice.

I did lots of knitting on my vacation. I made up a new toe up sock method-I think-since I haven't seen it done this way on any other toe up patterns. I missed the Knitty Gritty episode with Cookie doing the figure 8 cast-on, that would have been a great one to watch. (I'll post my new way as soon as I can document it with pictures-then you can tell me if you've seen this method before.)

I finished another pair of socks for SO, cast on the Diamond Fantasy Shawl, have another sock in progress for SO (dang, he's a lucky guy) and am up to the leg on my first toe up sock. I'm so excited by toe ups, that I can't wait to cast on for some ankle socks I've been wanting to make. I also successfully completed a short-row heel, and only had to rip it out once. Progress!

I am proud to say that my future step-son (12) has now started knitting. I even took him to Michael's yesterday so he could have needles of his own. He's making a blanket (for his dad) and he's embarking on a hat for himself. He's a very ambitious young man. Circular knitting scared the crap out of me at first. I'll keep you posted on his progress. I didn't want to take pictures of him knitting in case it spooked him. Take my word for it, he's doing it AND enjoying it. Pretty cool.

The weather was fairly nice up north, if 6 inches of snow is your thing. Luckily, the kids were digging it, so all was good in their world. It put a slight damper on my plans to check out the new LYS in Gaylord, but oh well, I'll try again next time I'm up.

I'll post again soon, with pictures, so hang in there just a little bit longer. Take care!

So I don't get yelled at!

2007-04-05T14:20:00.000-04:00

By Kelli, no less, I will be out of town for the next week and therefore will NOT be updating my blog. But 3 posts in one week should impress the heck out of you!

I am still compiling my list of Michigan (and surrounding) bloggers that attended the YH convention in Ann Arbor last weekend. I haven't even gotten to the pictures of name tags yet, and I'm already up to 30 on the list. I will try try try to complete it by tomorrow, but if not, as soon as I get back in town.

I've been doing lots of knitting with zero to show for it. I've gotten thisclose to achieving toe up skills, and they're actually looking less sucky than when I started. Still looks a little moth-holey but much better on each attempt. I'm trying it with Iris and I think part of why I don't like it is the colors don't line up with the short rows. So I'm going to try a different method (read, I'm going to make something up and see if it works) with the stripey Iris and try the traditional short rows with a more solid Lorna's Laces that I made my hippo socks out of. I should have enough for ankle socks, so I'm anxious to knock those out. Without the whole leg part they should go pretty fast.

I need to start planning my up north knitting bag too. Who knows what the weather will be like so I want to make sure I have enough variety to keep me entertained. I'm hoping the Diamond Fantasy shawl pattern shows up by Saturday, since that's what I'll be using the laceweight Malabrigio for. It met the yardage requirements, and since I saw that YH made one for herself I thought that would be a fitting momento from her recent visit. Plus it's just so dang pretty, who can resist?

I will keep plugging along on the blogger list, so be patient my pretties! Cuz the dang job is still getting in the way!

Take care.

Two in a row?

2007-04-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

Ok Kelli, hold on to your socks. Two posts in two days? Amazing!

First of all, hi to everyone that commented. It's so nice to come to work in the morning and see hello's from all my new friends!! It brightens up this otherwise gloomy weather day.

Hi Pat, thanks again for the compliment on Tempting. If you check out my FO page, and scroll down to the February 23 entry, you can see all the details for this sweater.

Hi Teyla, it was great meeting you too! Actually, as I told everyone when I was handing out the name tags, it was completely self-serving. I'm incredibly nosey, and I just couldn't stand the thought of attending another big YH event without knowing who blogs, who doesn't, who I read, and who I may be missing out on! But if you all think I did it for you, then major bonus!! And yes Karen, it falls into the OCD category just a little bit. Which reminds me of one particular blogger that I photographed. Her blog name is Indecisive Knitter, and while this fits my personality as well, the thing that comes to mind is that as she was writing her name tag, she asked me for a second one, since apparently she didn't like how she wrote the first one!

Totally perfect!

Hi Kathy from Colorado, your socks look fabulous! I can't wait to get my toe up's right so I can enjoy the colorway as well. Hey Sue, uh yeah, I'm not sure if it's an OCD thing, or just my inability to short row, but the toe ups aren't looking so good, so no classes have been scheduled at this time. But hopefully in the near future.

I need to give Amby the proper credit, because she actually came up with the phrase "get your dork on", and she graciously allowed me to throw it around like I invented it. Thanks!

Hi Beth, thanks for allowing me to photograph your chest. I will be sure to include your blog in the list, as soon as I can get it together.

It was so funny to see everyone's expression change as soon as I whipped my camera out to photograph their name tags, and I let them adjust themselves, their hair, their smile and then AFTER I snapped the picture I pointed out that I wasn't really aiming on their face.

See:

But thanks for smiling at me anyway ladies!!

And yes, Kristi, I'm definitely up for a summer blogger reunion. Maybe to Threadbear?? Keep me posted!

I'm so sorry you missed it Amy, I really hope you're feeling better!

Hey Miranda, go ahead and make dork-page part of your vocabulary. That's what knitters do, we come up with great ideas and pass them around for our friends to share!

Don't worry Tracey, you weren't in the way at all, great hoodie! And for the record I found these in my files as well:

Lookin good!

That's all I have for now, have a great day!

Hello My Name Is.....

2007-04-02T13:30:00.000-04:00

Well, I couldn't find the ones that said Hello My Name Is...so I had to settle just for Hello stickers. (sorry about the rock and the finger-it's windy today)

I truly went on a dork-page and handed out stickers to any and all that would take them from me. I didn't even mind the occasional strange looks I got when I asked if there were any knitbloggers in the vicinity. Apparently, shocking as this seems, not EVERYONE talks about their knitting accomplishments on the infamous World Wide Web. Go figure! But I'm pretty dang sure that everyone that was in attendance to see Ms. Harlot, that blogs, got a sticker from me. To the point I think I was almost ridiculous about it. I went to the overflow room, not once, but TWICE, to make sure they weren't left out of my blog report. I photographed a whole lot of chests, to be sure to document all the bloggers in attendance. I will compile this list and post it here, within the next few days.

Also, thanks to my long-lost buddy Kelli, for coming prepared with stickers of her own, to be sure no blogger went sticker-less.

Holy crap! What a fabulous weekend I had. Since my friends and I have been looking forward to this since the second Amby spotted the Harlot's visit to our state, we have been planning and planning and planning. We got a room on the outskirts of downtown and arrived in AA early Saturday afternoon. We checked out a great sushi restaurant for a late lunch and then decided to pay Busy Hands a visit Saturday, knowing how slammed they would be on Sunday. Rebecca (not sure if I spelled that right), the owner of Busy Hands, was on hand and you could see the anticipation in her expression when the subject of the Yarn Harlot came up. I made a few purchases, because face it, it was a knitting weekend, and I discovered 2 fabulous yarns I'd never seen before. The first was a Malabrigio laceweight, in the Velvet Grapes colorway.
I cast on for toe up socks but I'm thinking this might be too delicate for socks, and will have to re-think it's final destiny. I'm open to any lacey suggestions, so leave them in the comments.

Then Amby and I discovered this amazing laceweight Merino/Silk blend with 1500 yards of glorious softness.

It's so gorgeous, you have to just squeeze it for yourself.

And this next purchase was purely impulsive, but the colors were too pretty to pass up. Maybe a shrug, or a little sassy wooden handled purse of sorts.

Decisions, decisions!

While we were waiting for Stephanie to move mountains and such to make her way BACK to Detroit for the second time in the same day, we were entertained by a parade of youngsters that were participating in a hat making adventure in honor of April Fools Day.

Because I am not keen on posting pics of children I'll only put a couple up here, but trust me when I say, this was a win-win for everyone. It kept the knitters entertained and somewhat distracted and the children were so well-received and obviously comfortable with parading in their costumes

that they came back for a second pass.

And finally, the moment we had all been waiting for. Roughly 3 hours late we were surprised by this:

She came running in at top speed in true people-pleaser form and the first word out of her mouth as she got her camera ready was "Crap!"

How else do you start an event after the day that she'd had? It was very cool that she did all that she did when it would have been so much simpler to throw up her hands and say, yep I tried, but I just can't get there. She even took her life into her hands by accepting a ride from a total stranger (although she did reveal that his mom AND wife are both knitters, so he must have felt obliged to help her, for his own safety).

And just so you don't think we were alone in our endeavors, Ms. Yarn Harlot herself agreed to get her dork on and put on a name tag too! How cool is that?! AND, she remembered that I was the one she created the petition for previously as I showed her my digital camera and told her I had acquired it with absolutely zero resistance from my SO! He didn't give me a funny look when I told him I was going to Ann Arbor and why! He even told me to have a good time! Now that's true progress.

I got so caught up in the moment that I took a picture of HER, but completely forgot to get my picture taken WITH her. Duh! Oh, silly little star-struck knitter.

It was a very long day, but so worth it. I even got to meet the infamous, blogless Rams, and it was awesome to meet Kristi, since I had participated in the virtual baby shower, Knitter (previously) Unkown.

I'd like to say hi to my new friend Nia (thanks for the safety pin by the way), hello again to Barb (possibly blogless-I'm still checking my pictures) from previous Knitter's Night Out events at Have You Any Wool, and of course a big hello to Kelli, and I promise to try to blog more frequently. I'm glad at least YOU think I have interesting things to blog about! Thanks for the vote of confidence. Oh, and thanks again Karen for the compliment on Tempting! It was great meeting you too.

Oh, I almost forgot. I got my sock yarn in the Iris colorway, from my new favorite online source for sock yarn To Knit, Perchance. I just loved the bright colors and had to have this.

I cast on for toe up socks, since I'm desperately trying to learn how to do this. Short rows may be the death of me. I have officially gone back on my yarn diet, after this weekends adventures!

That's all for now. I need to organize my pictures and compile my blogger's list, and hope to have that up here in a few days. Once again, dang JOB getting in my way!!

Have a great day, enjoy the sunshine and GO Tigers! (that's for you Amanda)

The Harlot is coming!

2007-03-26T14:18:00.000-04:00

I'm so excited to see the Yarn Harlot again and I want to better prepared to meet all of my blogsisters that I've exchanged comments or e-mails with. But the question that plagued me last year was "How do we let people know who we are?" Name tags, tote bags with our blog on it, permanent marker on the forehead? (I'm voting no on the last one, so don't go busting out your Sharpies just yet)

Any ideas?

Spinning!

2007-03-20T13:46:00.000-04:00

Well, Ms. Ashley and I have been pretty busy the last few weeks. I purchased some angora/merino from the Mt. Bruce Station fiber festival last fall and it's taken me a while to actually spin thru all of it. I decided to leave it as a single but ply it with metallic thread to dress it up a bit. I don't know my overall yardage yet, as I still have a full bobbin to ply. Here is a small sampling of what I have finished. I believe it to be about 90 yards worth, and I knit a small swatch just to see how it looks. I still have to set the twist but I was too anxious for all of that last night.

We went from this:

To this:

And finally ended up with this:
The color is the truest in the last photo since I took advantage of the sun and posed Ms. Glitter outside and used a real camera instead of my phone. Whadddya think?

It's measuring out to 18 wpi's and 12 stitches equals 1 3/4" on size 3's. That's laceweight, near as I can tell, but correct me if I'm wrong.

I can't wait to finish up the rest of it and pick my project based on yardage.

Enjoy the sunshine, it probably won't last long!!

Touch me follow-up

2007-03-12T13:32:00.000-04:00

A while back I made a pair of Touch Me gloves as part of the Knitting Olympics. For those of you that may be interested in making some, but have hesitated due to their hefty price tag, I thought I would direct this to you. I have been wearing these gloves practically non-stop since completion. They fulfill two main requirements, they are Purple, and they're equally warm and soft. I washed them twice during the Finishing process and was totally scared both times. I have been wanting to wash them again, since they have seen lots of different surfaces (read germs) and then more recently because I felt the need to dump a cup of hot chocolate on them (stupid stupid). I wanted to wash them inside out because the only real complaint I have about the Touch Me is that it's been pretty fuzzy on the inside. Get-caught-in-your-nails fuzzy and pull-out-big-globs-of-fuzz-every-time-you-remove-them fuzzy. So, I flipped them inside out and threw them in a lingerie bag and in the washer. My old fears returned after their initial run thru the dryer. They were somewhat damp when I pulled them out and since I was getting ready to leave the house I felt compelled to leave them on top of the dryer inside out, shrivelled up and rather hard looking/feeling. I had that same sinking feeling in my stomach that I had gotten the first 2 times I washed these gloves, sure that I had ruined them, and holy crap what a pricey mistake. When I returned home again, I sucked it up, shoved them right side out (still kinda stiff at this point) put them BACK in the lingerie bag and stuck them back in the dryer. There is something magical that happens in the last 10 minutes or so of drying these Touch Me gloves. When I pulled them back out, they were dry, the right size, and luxuriously soft. And CLEAN!! I still love my gloves, I hope to be a little brave-r the next time they need washing and if not, I hope I remember to read back thru this post to see that I survived it before, so I'll survive it again.

Here's the proof: That was then

And this is now:

IMO they look as good today as they did when I finished them last year. Whoo hoo!!

In other news, Ms. Ashley and I spent quite a bit of time together yesterday and I have almost finished spinning my angora/merino roving. I picked up some metallic thread from Joann and as soon as the single is finished I will attempt to ply it with the metallic thread. I have no idea what the finished yardage will be since I'm still so new to this whole thing, but I'm hoping it will be enough for a shawl of some sort. Wish me luck!

Happy Monday if you're into that sort of thing, and all I can say is my ladies are doomed since I'm NOT and I AM teaching a class tonight. Rest up, that's all I can say!!

Leg Warmers are complete!

2007-02-27T16:19:00.001-05:00

Go check out my FO's page.

Leg Warmers are complete!

2007-02-27T16:19:00.000-05:00

Go check out my FO's page.

I'm still here.

2007-02-23T12:56:00.000-05:00

Awww, have you been missing me? I've been here, sort of.

I was sick before we left for our cruise and once I got back I was thoroughly exhausted and have been trying to sleep off the rest of my cold. The cruise was wonderful, just way too short. We lost out on one day, since Sunday at sea was very windy and chilly. (see the whitecaps)

So, no basking in the sun as our group had previously planned-we were restricted to indoor activities. I used that time to work out, laze around and knit by the pool in the solarium and we took in a movie as well. Key West and Cozumel were both great days and the weather was very cooperative for those excursions.

For those interested I will post the specifics of Tempting on my FO page. Go check it out.

And now, it's like Christmas again. In the mail today was this: It's more of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, like what I made Tempting out of. I LOVED working with this yarn so much that when I saw this listed on the Destash blog, I jumped on it. There is enough to make another Tempting, this time in a long sleeve version, so as soon as I tidy up some other WIP's I'll be casting on for Tempting-2. It's a salmon/coral color and I think it will be a good color for my newly tanned complexion!! I wore Tempting at dinner Sunday evening on the cruise ship and since it was a little cooler outside it was the perfect choice. I received many compliments on it and it was cute to see my man telling people "hey, she made that" and "do you know that she made her sweater?". He is a great cheerleader! I can't wait to make the second one.

I've also been working on a quicky hat for my man's work partner, as he's feeling somewhat unloved by seeing the hats my man has been sporting lately. And on the needles is my second attempt at some leg/ankle warmers that I'm whipping up out of some Patons Soy Wool Stripes. The first attempt resulted in elephantitis of the ankles as they were done on size 13 needles and slouched horribly below my pant legs. I'm making the second attempt on 10-1/2's and they look more like my size. I'm calling them ankle warmers because they are only going to be about 9" in length and they are meant to be worn with my sassy shoes, so I can be stylish yet still warm. And they will tuck neatly under my pant legs/jeans so it will be my little secret! Shhhh!

I've also put a few more rows on Peacock but nothing really camera worthy so I'll spare you the in-progess lack of progress shots.

We're off skiing again this weekend, before all the snow melts. Have a great weekend! I'll catch ya later!

And the verdict is....

2007-02-07T14:20:00.000-05:00

It FITS!!

I'll post specs later on my FO's page. I have some packing to do. Bon Voyage!!

A Tempting Teaser....

2007-02-05T13:55:00.000-05:00

Winter has arrived.

2007-01-22T12:10:00.000-05:00

We spent the weekend up north and the "boys" got to play in the snow. Thank goodness. Even the 80 year old neighbor was happy to have "playmates". Nothing like whiney grown men complaining about the lack of snow in which to play in. I spent the weekend sewing since I came up with the brilliant idea to take my daughter's sewing machine up north as a spare for projects here and there. Here and there turned into the whole weekend of me fabbing up curtains to replace the hideous 70's orange/brown numbers that have been gracing those windows since I-don't-know-when. Most of the back room has been transformed. That's the bad part about having a "hunter's" cabin. All the wives from previous generations clean house by sending all of their "perfectly fine" curtains, furniture, dishes, etc. up north with the men and because they have no fashion sense they hang it, use it, and don't know any better. I'm not turning this into a girly place by any means, the new curtains are a plain milkshake brown, but at least they're new, clean and don't require batteries for the colors. Plus 2/3 of the membership approved them so we're all set.

All that sewing did cramp my otherwise planned weekend of knitting in front of the fireplace, watching chick flicks to my heart's content, but I did manage to do a little. I did 2 rows on Peacock to test out my new magnetic chart holder from Knit Picks. It worked well, but it's kinda small and if I had spent more time looking I could have picked a slightly larger version based on dimensions. But I still made it work. I also received my Knit Picks yarn on Friday so I can start the Corset T from Annie M, but I chose to leave it behind to make myself finish Tempting before casting on something new. Such restraint. Speaking of I also attached the sleeves to Tempting and am about 1/2 way thru the 5" of knitting for the yoke. I know, the colors look terrible, you're just gonna have to take my word on it, it's a beautiful rich deep red.

I can't wait to do the Audrey neckline for this sweater, it's going to look fab! I also whipped out one dishcloth for my self-imposed obligatory knitting for the cabin. I found a pattern that uses reverse yarn-overs without creating a hole so I got just a nice square non-holey dish cloth. I'll have to work on a larger version though, cuz the 43 stitch ones aren't wide enough for my liking.

That was it on the knitting front. I'm off to exercise tonight since I'm down to teaching one night a week and it's up to me to exercise on the "off" nights if I'm gonna look decent in my swim suit for the cruise next month. 17 days and counting!!

Have a great Monday!!

Another FO!

2007-01-10T14:25:00.000-05:00

Go check out my FO's page. Another one is finished!

www.ocdknittingfo.blogspot.com

Happy New Year! 2007

2007-01-04T13:46:00.000-05:00

Ok, I already have a headache and I've only been back to work for a few hours. This is not cool.

Actually, I can't complain. We had a wonderful time up north even without a single solitary speck of snow! I knitted. I slept as late as I wanted. I napped. I engaged in a few cocktails. I watched movies. It was the BEST vacation. And now I'm back at work. {sigh} Oh well, it was bound to end.

I did do some knitting while in the woods. I reincarnated the ever-elusive Peacock shawl. After frogging back to the last chart (I'm SO glad I was smart enough-insecure enough in my own ability to read a chart-to install a lifeline) I have now moved past where I was at the point of error detection (one too many YO's gone astray) and feel like I'm actually grasping the whole chart thing. I am also employing stitch markers (after 80 rows of not) to keep better track of the pattern repeats. Say it with me. DUH! I know, I'm a slow learner and that should have been a no-brainer.
Here's an FO for you too.

I know, it's dark and poor quality. It's my camera phone though, don't even get me started on where MY/OUR digital camera is. I've surrendered it, to sit lifeless on a book shelf cuz I've heard ONE TOO MANY TIMES, "it's OUR camera but she's always using it to take knitting pictures". I'm buying MY OWN. And, I may not even help him figure out to use HIS. So there.

Anyway, back to the FO, this is my mom's shawl. It's a surprise and I'm hoping to give it to her this weekend. This is Karabella's New Magic in a gold/beigey/white colorway. Very pretty and incredibly soft. I can't wait to start mine in a metallic sage green color. Perhaps in time for my upcoming cruise. Oh, didn't I mention that before? You see, at our company Christmas party my boss decided to surprise the retiring partner (my future FIL) with a cruise. He invited all the 10 year guys to attend such cruise. Since my guy has been around since the company's inception, I'm IN!! Too cool or what?!! So, I have now until about February 1 to plan my cruise wardrobe and to incorporate hand knits wherever possible. Since we're going to Cozumel, I won't be needing any sweaters, but I'm working on Tempting out of DB Cashmerino Aran and since it's short sleeved but still full-coverage it might just be perfect for those overly A/C'd formal dinners on board ship. And speaking of DB, I absolutely love this yarn. I'm about 10" into a 2x2 ribbing and this stuff doesn't split, doesn't twist, and generally behaves exactly as it should. It's great! I will definitely use this product again in the future.

Happy New Year everyone. I hope that you find whatever happiness you are looking for!

Things I SHOULD have said....

2006-12-28T11:32:00.000-05:00

Well maybe you’d like it better if I sat around farting or playing fart noises on my computer and analyzed every unit of electricity that runs thru this building, all in the name of productivity?

Clearly you’re under pressure, and I happen to be the lucky idiot that answered the phone.

I’m sorry that YOU screwed up big time on one of your jobs, but trying to blame it on me won’t fix it.

It must really suck to have to get up at a normal time in order to run your company, for a change.

Oh, so this is what 8 a.m. looks like!

Merry Day After Christmas

2006-12-26T11:13:00.000-05:00

I meant to post before Christmas, but the new Beta Blogger didn't want to let me so now that the rush is over, Merry Christmas! I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday with family and friends.

I've been knitting. But not a lot. I DID manage to finish my mom's shawl out of the Karabella New Magic. I need to weave and block, and since she's out of town till next week, I'm technically not late for the holidays. It feels good to have that finished and I might even cast on for my shawl while the mood is striking me. I have been knitting casually on a sock for my SO, but have happily ignored his sweater during the holiday rush. I'll be up north for a few days for New Years and that will allow some time to catch up on some lagging projects, including the Peacock Shawl.

I'm exhausted today and am truly looking forward to going home at a decent time today and sleeping!! Have a great day!

Happy December to all!!

2006-12-11T12:39:00.000-05:00

Yep, blew right past my blogiversary and am smack dab into December. How did that happen?

Well, I've been busy. I've been sick. I've been knitting. And I've been working. A lot. And I don't think it's slowing down at all. I don't have any pictures to show for any of it. I'm sure you're grateful for no pictures of the Me Sick part of the above, but maybe knitting pictures would be nice. I have been knitting though. I finished the first sock of SO's second pair. I have almost completed the second sleeve of SO's first sweater. Yep it's still boring, but I'm plugging along. I'm about 1/2 way thru my mom's shawl. This was after discovering that almost all the way thru the second ball of a 3-ball shawl, I was doing it wrong. Yikes! At least I know it's right now, so I'm trying to quickly make my way thru it, in time for Christmas. I made 1 glove for myself from the One Skein book and cast on for the second, but haven't touched it in days. Christmas shopping just doesn't make time for knitting, but I'm trying to fit it all in.

This week are the last classes for aerobics till January, and let me tell you I'm so happy to be hanging up my weights for a few weeks. I missed a week of classes when I was down with the flu, and let me tell you, last week's class about killed me. I'm still sore. I hope to make it thru tonight without totally wrecking my body, and maybe I'll be able to walk again soon without flinching. All in the name of good health right?

I went out with my friends to HYAW for their Knitter's Night Out. If you haven't checked it out, you need to. It's a small group, but it's so much fun. We went out for dinner and drinks after, and were able to knit in the smoke-free environment. Very enjoyable! That was the ONLY knitting I really did all weekend though, the rest of the time was spent cleaning and shopping.

Sheesh this holiday is flying up fast. I hope everyone else is finding a way to enjoy it, I'm hoping just to live thru it.

November Rain? still....

2006-11-16T13:16:00.000-05:00

Sheesh, it's raining again. What's up with that? I know one thing, it's kicking the crap out of my sinuses. Enough already.

I finished both sweaters for the Dutchicans. The darker one is the same as the lighter one, but the details are murky due to the crappy indoor lighting. And last night at the group in Troy I did this: I'll make one more exactly like it and the package will be ready to get sent out. I know the boys will be too small to wear these for a while, but they'll be waiting for them as soon as they are bigger.

I'm still plugging along on the shawl for my mom, and ordered a 52" cable from Denise and an extra set of size 15's. I'm going with the glue spec to tacky them up a bit, and I hope the ginormous cable will be big enough to get thru the rest of the shawl. It's pretty scrunched up on the 29" it's on now. I need to pick up the SO's sweater again, I don't know WHY that thing is just dragging. I'm actually thinking of casting on a pair of socks for him to work on at the same time, just to combat boredom.

I spun for about an hour last night, and I tell you what, that was really relaxing. There's something very calming about the spin-spin-spinning of a well oiled wheel and watching the beautiful single flow out of merino and angora in a heavenly silver gray color. I wonder what it's going to be..... I hope to spin some more this weekend, I've missed it. I still wish I could figure out some way to quit my job and do that full time, I'd be so relaxed I wouldn't recognize myself. I'll keep dreaming.

Have a great day! Oh, and my blogiversary is coming up the end of this month. I can hardly believe I've been doing this blogging thing for a whole year now. Take care!

November Rain?

2006-11-07T10:11:00.000-05:00

At least you don't have to shovel it. Yesterday, in contrast, was absolutely beautiful, so I'll take 'em when I can get 'em.

We got to take the kids up north which translates into extended knitting time for me usually. I was able to finish Odessa (for me) and Dutchican's sweater #1. I need to zip thru the second one and get it in the mail. Go check out my FO's page to see pics and stats.

I am plugging along on SO's sweater, or at least his second sleeve. Once I cast on for the body I'll feel like I'm really making progress. I'm also moving slowly on my mom's shawl. I sharpened the tips of the bamboo needles and then clear coated them with nail polish. Now I'm worried the cable won't be long enough. I think I bought the 29" and I might really need a 40". Arghh! I'll be a pro by the time I get around to MY shawl, this one has been educational to say the least. But I got thru the first ball of New Magic, and am working on the second, so it's progress. I still have 2 sweaters in the wings for myself, and SO is bugging for another pair of socks since he finally busted out and wore the first pair I made him, while up north on a boy's weekend. Gee honey, they're really warm and comfy, can I have another pair? Uh-oh, now I've gone and done it. I've gotten him hooked on hand knitted socks. I myself am sporting a couple of pairs so I understand the attraction. I bought some hand painted something or other from Susie up in Grayling, so they're in my bag to cast on for him. I might have to whip out some Wool-Ease socks for him too, and make him feel really loved. (Those are less hassle for him than to remember to wash in cold and hang to dry). But if he loves ME, he'll remember to do that whenever necessary. God help him if he wrecks a pair of hand knitted socks!

Have a great day, and don't forget to VOTE! I won't even tell you which way, just do it!! Use your voice!

This one was like work!

2006-10-23T09:21:00.000-04:00

A new FO! Go check it out!

Feeling lucky punk?

2006-10-18T14:17:00.000-04:00

Ummm, not so much.

Do you ever find yourself knitting s-l-o-w-e-r toward the end of a project, like when you're not sure you'll have enough yarn to finish? Uh yeah, that's where I'm at. It occurred to me sometime yesterday afternoon that the skein of Silk Garden I'm making Fetching out of was not a full skein. I remembered that in order to complete a hat for SO, I had to dip into the second skein I bought for such emergencies. {Sigh} I'm at the thumb and I have 14 more rows to complete and not a lot of yarn left. See? (the colors are terrible cuz I was discreetly photographing this in my trunk at work).
The upper left corner has a darker blue scrap yarn which indicates the start of the thumb. Here is the remainder of the skein: (again the colors are totally off)
And this is a scrap left from SO's hat and some
random piece that came out of the working skein:
Cutting it kinda close huh? Now I have another color of Silk Garden that will probably work, and I have some leftover Zara from SO's socks that I was thinking of tipping the thumb and upper hand part with, but still. Can't it ever be simple?

In happier news I did actually find a pair of bamboo circs at Joann the other day to try out on my mom's shawl. I will probably rough them up a bit with some sand paper, and I might even make the tip pointier, for ease of M1 making. I'll let you know how they work. If that doesn't work I was seriously considering layering the Denise needle with a thin coat of Elmer's glue (did you ever use to make glue gloves in school? I wasted HOURS at school on that in eighth grade. Spread it on, let it dry, peel it off. Rinse wash repeat. Ah, those were the days.) and let it dry. I'm assuming it will feel a little tacky which will aid in gripping the yarn from hell ....errr Karabella Magic.

I have a class tonight and if I'm up to it my weekly meetup with the girls. I'm battling a tiny cold and I'm hoping to sweat it out tonight. Have a good one!

Can you believe the Tigers?

2006-10-16T11:35:00.000-04:00

They are kicking some serious baseball butt! I'm not a big fan, but I have to tip my hat to them. I'd much rather play it than watch it on tv, but it's very exciting that they're doing so well.

Luckily for them and ME we had a nice weekend weather-wise since I had two soccer games to go to. We won both of them, and I got a little knitting it during the warm ups. Here's what I did.

One Fetching down and one more to go. I'm using Noro Silk Garden, cuz I love how it knits into hats. I don't think the colors are going to match for the second one, but I'm trying to make it work at least a little. I saved the small portion of purple in the skein for the thumbs, so at least they'll match. I haven't decided if I like the picot bind off yet, and when I get farther along on the second one I may actually go back and lengthen the first one and just do a sewn bind off instead with no bumpy picots. I'll know more when I make sure I have enough yarn and how the colors are working. That's the second sleeve for SO's sweater, I finally cast it on. It goes pretty fast once I get it on the needles. And it's almost big enough to do away with the magic loop and just knit round and round. I discovered that Denise cables don't like the colder weather, so I struggled a bit with that while out for the soccer games. I didn't want to put too much pressure on them, so I was extra careful. There's nothing worse than snapping a cable mid row.

I'm running into Joann tonight to see if they have any bamboo circs at a reasonable price. I think this will be exactly what I need to get thru the Magic Shawl for my mom. I tried a pair at HYAW on Friday night at the Knitter's Night Out but didn't love the hefty price tag. It was nice to have a girl's night out, since I missed my meetup last Wednesday, and any day that ends in martinis classifies as a good day in my book. I got to hang out with Beth, Sonya, Amy, Amanda, and met 2 new people that I think are regulars at HYAW. The shop owner came in to, and shocked me by asking about my daughter and how she was doing. That's good customer relations I tell ya!

Speaking of daughter, this is why you DON'T let your 11 year old "see" your camera phone.
I look thrilled, don't I?

I discovered it this morning while uploading my WIP's. It made me laugh, and it made me miss her at the same time. I hope Friday gets here fast!

I have 2 classes to teach this week, and not much other free time to speak of, with the last week of soccer practice to get thru. I hope to have an FO to show you soon!

Talk to you again real soon!

Winter doldrums?

2006-10-13T13:10:00.000-04:00

Who'd a thunk I would be having them already. It's only the 13th of October forcryingoutloud! I'm cranky, frustrated and just wanna knit already. Every night this week I've piled on layers of clothes and more blankets, cuz the freakin window a/c is still in my bedroom window and it's making it like the Arctic Zone in my room at night. Take it out you say? Oh, sure, that WOULD be the perfect solution except I'm too tired every night to even think about conquering that beast! So blankets and layers it's been. Maybe this weekend (pulling a window a/c out during a rain storm is WAY funner than managing it only when it's cold). I know how to have fun.

I wish I could say I was making skads of progress on my new projects, but alas that would be a lie. I need to cast on the second sleeve of SO's sweater, so I can enjoy mindless stockinette knitting while I'm out and about. But I haven't had the time to be able to sit down and actually cast on! I was at ginnastics (a friend's child always pronounces it that way, so it stuck) last night and spent the whole dang 2 hours that I was there on 1 row of the Magic Shawl. Oh yeah, it's Magic all right! Like it will be a frickin miracle if I don't toss it out the window while cruising down the e-way at 80. (Fortunately the price of the yarn will guarantee it's safety) So the plan I had to work on that for an hour and then spend the second hour casting on the second sleeve and casting on for Tempting didn't happen.

I have also spent a little (very little) time reconstructing a knitted item that has just been languishing in my drawer, in a semi unwearable state. I hope to have that handled pretty soon and will post pics to document the process.

I AM going to Knitter's Night Out tonight and meeting up with some friends since I missed my regular Wednesday meet up, so my plan is to cast on for Tempting AND the second sleeve and go from there. I'm thinking Magic Shawl won't be making an appearance tonight. I can't wait to just sit and knit, and actually have something to show for it at the end of the night.

I know I have been totally obsessed with knitting, since I haven't really been able to get anything done lately. I know this because while driving down the road today I swore that someone in front of me had a license plate that said ACRYLIC. Not my fiber of choice, mind you, but it just kinda jumped out at me. Upon further investigation of course it didn't say that at all, but that led me to think I'm truly tired and pre-occupied with this hobby that I just can't seem to fit in sometimes. Very frustrating. Dang job.

Bundle up all my fellow Michiganders. We're not looking at warmer temps for a few days, and the rain this weekend should make it even better. ??

Have a great weekend!

Wow!

2006-10-10T10:50:00.000-04:00

My problems are so insignificant when I read blogs like this: Amish Victims

Please, do what you can. I'm blown away by the truly amazing knitters/spinners/bloggers that I'm fortunate enough to come in contact with. Or even read about.

They need spinners, so if you can, lend a hand.

Wow!

Busy busy!

2006-10-06T13:26:00.000-04:00

I'm so happy to be on to new projects!! I pulled the SO's sweater out of procrastination time out and managed to whip thru almost his whole sleeve last night. He was extremely happy to see progress on it. (Geez it's about time, it's almost winter already!) When I set it down to combat boredom and do a row on the Magic Shawl he was real quick to say "HEY, I've been waiting on this sweater WAY longer than your mom and her shawl". Picture the pouty lip that accompanied that statement. I said "Relax dear, I'm just giving my hands a break, and only doing 1 row". He seemed content with that. (Well, maybe if you wait long enough it will be ready by NEXT winter!) Holy crap, it IS pretty boring though. I'm happy it's chunky yarn on size 10's! The picture came out really dark, since it's black yarn and it's laid out on his camo blanket (which I made him-he really acts like I do NOTHING for him).
Actually, the pictures are very telling, since it really is just a big black blob!

Here's a picture of the shawl in progress.

Every other row calls for K1,M1 and that's kinda tricky with this particular yarn. I did the last row as K1,Knit front and back thru back loop and don't see a definite difference. Has anyone else tried this, and will I be frogging soon cuz I goofed up? Let me know what you think.

I'm hoping to cast on for Audrey this weekend, so I'll have the 3 projects to bounce between. I'll go from straight stockinette in black, to K1,M1 in metallic yarn, to 2x2 ribbing in Calmer. Hmmm, which one will push me over the edge? Better stock up on happy beverages for the test!

I haven't been spinning much lately, but I did start the merino/angora roving that I got from the Romeo Fiber Festival a few weeks ago. I'll have to remember to snap a pic, it's coming out very nicely with a somewhat metallic gray look. I'm thinking of keeping it as a single and make a shawl or wrap of sorts with it. I'll keep you posted on that progress.

Have a great weekend everybody!!

Finally!

2006-10-05T14:07:00.000-04:00

I thought these were literally going to be the end of me. I met up with my girls last night at Caribou in Troy and knocked out the last few rows of the toe. Check it:

I need to transfer this and the Silk shrug over to my FO's page with all the details if I can remember to grab my notebook that has the info. I like the socks but I'm still not crazy about the way I finish off the toe. I have the Kitchener down but it's that pesky last stitch that always seems to kinda stick out and make a pointy nuisance of itself. I try to weave in the ends in a manner that smooshes the point down, but I still always feel like an amateur at that particular step. Any tips? I already do the "slip the end stitch over it's neighbor on all four sides" but it still comes out kinda square.

I have two sweaters lined up for my next big project and I also intend to pull my SO's sweater out of procrastinator's time out. I need to just do his already. For myself I will be making Tempting by Jenna Adorno out of a beatiful deep red Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, and I will be trading in some pink Calmer for 3 additional skeins of the dark purple Calmer I purchased for another project and that will become Audrey. I'm very excited to be making a sweater for myself finally. Granted, I only made one, but it was for DD and not me. I hope Audrey suits me, as I can see myself making it in a wool yarn as well. I can't wait to get started.

I also scored big time today by catching an error on an online craft seller. I won't mention their name, but thanks to my inquisitive phone call I scored 2 sets of Addis, size 1 and size 4 for a really good price. The 1's are to replace Amby's 1's that she lent me, since some child or animal sat on my sock bag and bent hers more than I could stand. The 4's are just to enhance my collection since I'm periodically searching for 4's and have to settle with my Denise 5's. Don't hate me for getting lucky once in a while.

Have a great day!!

F.O., F.O., another one to show!

2006-10-04T10:08:00.000-04:00

Finally, an accomplishment to show. Here's the finished Sari Silk Shrug in all it's glory.

But I'm still Grumpy (ha ha), cuz my Hippo sock is taunting me with it's un-F.O.'d status. I'm so close it's killing me. I even contemplated getting up at 5 a.m. the other morning when the storm woke me up, just to finish it. Fortunately good sense kicked in and I went back to sleep, but it's bugging me that much.

I went to the Sewing Expo in Novi over the weekend with my mom and City Knits had a booth there. My mom fell in love with a shawl that was on display and found the color of Karabella's New Magic that she liked but they only had one ball. My buddy Lynn from my knitting group happens to work at CK so I paid her a visit yesterday and she hooked me up with the pattern and the yarn. My intent is to knit it for my mom and surprise her with it. It's a very simple shawl pattern and the yarn makes it look tricky. I hope it goes fast. I cast on for it yesterday and completed a few rows, but it's quite shocking to go from size 1 needles to a size 15 and I'm having some slippage issues. I hope once I get a little further along I'll have more to hold onto. Has anyone else made this shawl?

The Sewing Expo was really cool and it reaffirms my need to quit my regular job so I can spend all my waking moments on all things crafty. Dang job!

Back to the shrug. I actually received several compliments at work including multiple comments from my boss, Mr. I-have-absolutely-no-fashion-sense- whatsoever. Wonders never cease. It was really comfortable and I will probably be making another incarnation of it in the near future. I did the sewn bind off and am very pleased with the stretchy comfortable edge that provided. My llama shrug pulls a little since there's no elasticity in the llama and I'm seriously considering blowing out the edging and re-doing it with a sewn bind off. I have enough yardage to do it, and might even switch it to the seed stitch edging instead of the ribbing. We'll see, that's my perfectionist mentality working overtime again.

Have a great day. I hope to have another FO to add very soon!!

The end is near....

2006-10-02T17:04:00.000-04:00

for the dreaded Hippo Beast socks, that is. More to follow soon!

Happy Friday!

2006-09-22T08:56:00.000-04:00

I'm so happy the weekend is here! The weather is supposed to be kinda crappy, but I can deal with that.

A few have asked and yep, I'll be at the Sheep and Wool Festival in Romeo on Saturday. My plan is to be there kinda early, noon-ish. I hope I run into lots of knitter/fiber friends. I'm anxious to buy some more llama for spinning, since the last batch spun up so beautifully. I'm hoping to actually experience the Angora Rabbits this time too, since they so rudely blew off the festival last Spring. I just hope the weather cooperates, cuz it's pretty tough to fondle fiber in a downpour!

I had a great evening on Wednesday, hanging out with my Knitster-Buds at the 'Bou. I really needed to just "hang out" and do the chick thing, and of course my friends came thru for me. Thanks ladies!

I'm looking forward to a little knitting time this weekend, but with the festival on Saturday and a party on Sunday (uh yeah, I still have to clean the house) I'm not expecting to get much done. The second OSW is almost finished, with the recent acquisition of some coordinating silk/wool blend for the sleeve trim and neck edging. I can't wait till it's an FO.

I get my dog back today!! The neighbor from up north that has been watching him for me just so happens to have a daughter in Northville and he's coming in today to visit with her and offered to deliver my dog for me! How cool is that?! I can't wait to see the little guy, but he might not be so happy when he goes back to the ole grind of just dog food. I guess they've been spoiling him silly up north, indulging him in such things as bacon, and hamburger and chicken (off the bone, of course). It will still be good to see my baby again. At 13, he's definitely part of the fam, and it will be great to have him back home.

Have a great weekend everybody, and if you're in Romeo tomorrow, I'll be the tall dorky one drooling over all the fibery goodness the festival has to offer! See ya!

FO, FO, it's off to LYS I go!

2006-09-19T13:20:00.000-04:00

I finally have an FO, go check it: Done, done, done, done!

I can't really go to the LYS, since my stash is so large, but I need a little sumpin sumpin to finish the WIP I'm currently on.

OK, Blogger is really pissing me off, since it is refusing to download my pictures in any sort of timely fashion. I'd kick it but I'm wearing handknit socks and don't want to risk snagging them on my USB cable!

(Amazing, as soon as you start bad-mouthing Blogger it starts working)

Here is a picture of the second OSW in progress, with the pain-in-the-butt Sari silk.

A close-up of the jewel tones:

And because of a suggestion from the owner of Sweet Celeste's in Mt. Clemens, I'm using a carry-along fiber as well. It's nylon and stretchy and gives the silk a little more stability (I hope). It blends completely so it's undetectable. But, if you notice, the ball on the left is pretty small and I won't have enough to finish the sleeve detail or ribbed edge with the silk, so I'm thinking about using Debbie Bliss Pure Silk for the edging. I'll be stopping by Ewe-Nique in RO tonight and see what they have.

I mentioned Sweet Celeste's and if you are in the area you should really go check it out. The store owner (Kathleen-I think) is really nice and extremely helpful and her shop has a lot to offer. I was in Mt. Clemens for jury duty and was fortunate enough to stumble across her shop on my lunch. A great way to make the best of the situation if you ask me!

Hi to Marj, Jen, Amy, Kelli and Chris who recently left me comments. Have a great day everybody!

Almost a month!

2006-09-12T12:22:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it has been almost 30 days since my last post. I know they say time flies when you're having fun, but it ZOOMS by when it's not so fun. Hopefully that's God's way of just getting me thru the crap and rushing me ahead to better times.

Now onto happier thoughts!

First of all, my baby girl is 11 TODAY!! Firmly planted into double digits now, she's growing like a weed and skillfully making her way thru the joys of Middle School. I think it's harder on me especially when I see school calendars listing DANCES on them as part of their activities. Dances? In 6th grade? C'mon, surely I'm at least 3 or 4 years away from that stuff aren't I? {sigh} I need my vitamins, and my glasses so I can fill out my AARP application. And turn that music DOWN for crying out loud! Yikes, I sound like my parents.

We spent 10 glorious days tucked away in the woods, and had a wonderfully boring, calm, relaxing time. I don't mean boring in a bad way, but more so in a way that there was no hustle bustle of city life, and it was fantastic! The kids rode dirt bikes, shot bows, we went fishing, and just generally hung out. I slept in till 10 or 11 EVERY day, and life was grand. On a somber note though, my dog ran away and I was really worried that something bad happened to him. I kept hearing stories of coyotes and large birds that could make off with a Sheltie of his size and I thought I'd never see him again. I was hoping that somebody simply picked him up, since he was clearly a house dog, and that because he didn't have tags they would just give him a good home and he would be well cared for and loved, even if not by me. We had to drive home, without him, which was really hard, since he's been with me for all of his 13 years of life, save the first 6 weeks before I got him. As luck would have it, and because I blabbed to EVERYONE in the woods about my missing dog, we got a call the day after we came home, that in fact, a logger guy picked him up and was caring for him and searching for his owner. Thank goodness I have such a big mouth, because in his beginning door to door search effort, the first house he went to knew about me and my missing dog. The rescuer said he was in rough shape when he found him, and I haven't figured out yet how many days he was in the woods before being found, but the rescuer brushed him, bathed him and extracted a porcupine quill from his chest. He is in the care of a neighbor up north, until I'm able to get back up there to pick him up. Darn job. Always in the way. I hope he can tell me about the whole porcupine thing....

I have been knitting, some, but not nearly as much as I expected while holed up in the woods. I made the OSW from Glampyre and realized it fit my daughter PERFECTLY, which was not my goal, so me and Kermie had a chat, and now it's the right size. I made it from my handspun llama, and will take a pic as soon as I'm able (I'm currently in possession of the digital by the way, but that is probably only temporary-in case anyone was checking). I am starting a second OSW with the sari silk I bought in AA, and holy crap, does anyone else have a horror story about this yarn? I had to really work at getting it untangled and couldn't wind it from my swift on to the ball winder, so I wound it by hand, and it kept separating. Like it didn't have enough twist. And now as I'm knitting with it, it's STILL separating. There's gonna be a gazillion knots in this stuff by the time I'm done! I'm not even sure I have enough to make the whole OSW with it, but I was going to attempt it anyway. The colors are beautiful, but it's really tricky to work with.

The Hippo Sock is still around, and I just finished the gusset decreases and pick it up here and there, when I'm frustrated with the OSW. I swatched the yarn I got online from Perchance and have decided to try the men's sock pattern from Knitty. They may be somewhat thin, being knit on 6's, but the colors are great and it's a nice pattern too. At least I won't hear SO say "You want me to wear thick wool socks in the summer?!", since these will definitely be lighter weight. I have yet to revive his sweater, but still keep thinking I will. I'm not sure what really caused that project to stall, except it's just kinda boring stockinette. I'm knitting the sleeve first, in the round so I don't have to seam it or purl at all. I'm early enough into it that I may do a purl stitch as a fake seam like I read about on YH's site during her gansey knitting.

I'm so far behind on reading everyone's blogs too. I feel so out of touch. I'm hoping to be caught up soon, and then I can see what everyone has been up to, without me. I'll try to ease back into it all, including blogging, so thanks for hanging in there with me.

Have a great day!

This is my title!

2006-08-15T12:01:00.000-04:00

Does anyone else have trouble coming up with a title every post? Some days it's just obvious, but other days I come up with.....nothing. Today is one of those days. I have things to say, just no snazzy catchy title. The creativity gods aren't smiling on me I guess.

We took the kids camping last weekend, and had a great time. The weather was nice, we all got along well together (which can be tricky when you have 4 individuals in a tent) and our new screen tent was a smart purchase. It kept the bugs away, gave us room to work, and didn't clog up our site too much. The only thing we forgot was a can opener. Oops, thank goodness for kindly neighbors in ginormous trailers that have more than everything. Like tv and stuff. Now that's camping! We also all got to enjoy our new air beds. There's nothing worse than waking up on a flat mattress. It was almost decadent.

I'd like to say hi to the celiac knitbloggers that have made their way to my site. One is Chris, hey Chris!! And the other one that comes to mind is Lynne who stopped in from Down Under. G'day Lynne! If there are any others don't be afraid to speak up. Also I'd like to send a shout out to Susan. Hiya Susan!! She's not a celiac but she's from Grayling, which is close to where we spend a lot of our lake-time weekends. She's got my blog spotlighted on her blog, and if you go check her out, make sure to check out her Etsy store too, she has some beautiful handpainted yarns for sale. I'm waiting for a skein to hit my door any day now. Ooooh, I love shopping online! Speaking of, DD's order from Old Navy just got delivered so mom is off the hook for clothes for about 5 minutes. Maybe 4, a new season is right around the corner.

I am zooming along on my Hippo sock, and I must say it's a relief that I'm not suffering from SSS. The trick is to have a challenging pattern and that way by the second sock, you're so thrilled you're not tinking back every 2 seconds, that it just flies by, since you figured out all the tricks on the first sock. I'm getting much closer to my next pair of socks, which will be toe ups on my new Knit Picks needles. Don't worry Lisa, I'll tell you as soon as I know if I like them or not. I'm really anxious to see if they fare better than the Addis. I ended up buying some Inox needles for the Peacock shawl, due to the snubby nature of Addi tips. Too many yarn overs with lace weight silk had me pulling my hair out. It seems that Skacel is listening to our requests though as plans are in the works for pointier tips to accomodate lace knitters. Hooray! A company that really cares! Also, gotta love Grumperina for putting her proverbial foot (needles?) down!!

I survived another Monday, which means I survived another exercise class! I'm still not sure who's getting more of a workout....my students or me? Well, as long as they keep showing up, that's a good thing. It's kinda silly to dance around and bark out instructions (like a drill sargeant-right Amanda?) all by yourself. Could give a girl a complex.

I don't really have any pics to post, as I haven't really taken pictures of anything lately. I hope too soon though since I just purchased the One Skein Wonder from Glampyre, and will be using my handpainted (by others) handspun (by me!) llama. I might even make a second one using the skein of Sari silk I bought while in AA for YH. Gotta love talking in code. Makes me feel so high tech. "Hey Betty, yep I conquered the tricky YO's while in AA visiting with YH, which means I'll have another FO soon!" Roger, out! OK, yes, I'm a dork. Self proclaimed and not even remotely ashamed of said dorkdom. It works for me.

Ok, well this dork has to get back to work. Have a great day!

Another quickie!

2006-08-08T10:39:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to show you my first finished Hippo sock, and the start of the second one. How's it look?

I think the reflection of the bars from the window is a nice touch. Gotta love working in the ghetto. I love the colors in these socks, but don't love using size 1 Addi's with their blunt tip. I just recently purchased size 1's from Knit Picks and am anxious to try them on my next pair, for comparison. I'll let you know when I try them.

That's all for now. I'm pretty wiped out from last night, I taught class and squoze (it's a word) a little (very little) yard work in before it was pitch black out and it became somewhat ridiculous that I was still out there. Tonight we're going shopping for some more camping necessities since we're taking the kids this weekend.

Have a good one! (Is it 5 yet?)

This crazy thing called blogging!

2006-08-07T11:20:00.000-04:00

Wow! What a boost to a girl's ego. I came in to work this morning and there were no less than 14 comments to my last post! Holy crap, did I feel special on an otherwise crappy Monday morning.

First of all, for the weekend, we went up to the lake Friday night and I actually slept in till 12:30 Saturday. That's what happens when we don't have the kids, I can actually SLEEP IN. The SO was restless long before that so he was up and about doing his own thing, and I got the whole bed to myself and despite a little noise interruption due to other houseguests I fell back to sleep and happily woke up at 12:30. It felt awesome!! I was long overdue. I had frogged my first Hippo sock, cuz every time I tried it on to admire my work, I couldn't help but notice the toe was a bit snug. And it nagged at me. And I couldn't have it nagging at me that way. So, since this project has been a very educational experience to say the least, I decided to teach myself something else. Frogging an already kitchener'd toe back to the beginning toe decreases and lengthening the toe. It worked. And despite the fact that I didn't have the kitchener directions handy, I did it from memory and I think it came out ok. The toe is a bit roomier, and I should be much happier with this. It sucks to be a perfectionist. But since I've been doing so much with this pair of socks, it only seemed right to get them exactly right. After much struggling with the toe up method of socks, and after a brief conversation with the pattern designer, Cookie convinced me that toe ups for the second Hippo Sock would be too tough to pull off. So I frogged the second sock and cast on for the top down, a repeat of the first sock. I've survived the 10 rows of 1x1 ribbing and have happily moved on to the now familiar chart for the leg.

I'm also moving forward on the little white Knitty sweater that I started eons ago. I realized that it stalled because the directions were somewhat unclear and because of all the trouble I was having with the hippo socks, I couldn't bear the thought of frogging another project and starting over. I installed a lifeline at the point the pattern directions changed, and that's where it sat. I picked it back up last week, decided I knew what I was doing and have moved forward once again.

I've started to keep a knitting journal, because I've realized that sometimes too much time passes from the start of a project to when I actually pick it back up, and if I can keep notes, without trashing the pattern itself, it might be helpful. I used it to note the mods I did to the hippo toe, so when I get to it for the second sock it will be the same-hopefully. Also, I'm going to make notes when I swatch (when I swatch!) to keep track of needle sizes and gauge and all of that stuff you're supposed to keep track of, for sizing purposes. I'm running into that with the KSH cami from Weekend Knitting. I did the swatch months ago, and can't remember what size needle I ended up getting gauge with. ARGHH!! But never again. I'll be prepared next time. It will also give me a chance to see just how long certain projects take me, since my memory is for crap on those kinds of details.

Now, to address all the comments to my last post. It was great to hear from all of you!! I really appreciated that you came out to "see" me. But ladies, easy does it on the SO. I know it's fun to jump on the "man-haters bandwagon" and they're usually such easy targets so it's not like we have to work at thinking up things to hate, but in my SO's unknowing defense: he is a really good guy! He's a great dad to his and mine, he's very good to me, he's just slightly oblivious to the whole knit-blogging, photo taking of FO's/WIP's craze that we knitters consider "normal". And for those that have asked, no I haven't been given the digital camera back yet, but then again, I haven't asked, since I haven't presented him with the Petition as of yet. It's all about timing ladies. We all know not to present certain things at the wrong time (say anything in the middle of a critical football game), as that could be damaging to future endeavors. Maybe about the time I haul his sweater back out and start on it again, then I'll be able to ask for the camera, to document progress and give him the Petition as cause for doing so. This way, we'll both win, since he's been bugging me for a sweater forever, and I'll be justified in getting the camera back. Except, his sweater is gonna be a huge drag, as it's primarily stockinette that will go on forever, considering his stocky man's build. Oh the price I'll pay for fabulous broad shoulders {sigh}.

I want to say hi to Elli, as I've discovered she was the mystery Pomatomus sock knitter I met in line at the YH event in A2. It was great to put a blog with a face, and now I can watch her progress on Pomatomus. Check out her blog, she's very talented, and has lots of FO's to show for it!

Also, hi to everyone else who hit me with comments, I enjoyed reading all of your posts, and snuck over to check out your blogs too!

Also, for clarification it wasn't MY idea to wear name tags listing our blogs, it was actually Amby's idea. I just flapped my big mouth about it, before she could. But we were in agreement, it was disappointing not to put more blogs with faces in A2. Maybe next time we're at an event we'll try neon or something flashy like that. Because we realized that our personalities didn't just send out the proper blog identification. Neon is a much better idea. What do you think?

Also, I am looking for some suggestions. While in A2, I finally broke down and bought a skein of recycled sari silk, and am looking for a purpose. Any suggestions for this beautiful fiber would be welcomed. I purchased some Rowan Summer Tweed in a lovely lavendar color, but again, have no specific pattern in mind. I'm looking for a simple summer top, but don't know exactly what it's destined to become. Again, any suggestions would be welcomed.

I hope to have some pictures for you on my next post (I have a camera phone at least), to keep it a little more interesting. I've got aerobics tonight, and maybe some yard work too, but we'll see who poops out first-me or the daylight! Have a great night!

This darn job!

2006-07-31T15:58:00.000-04:00

Don't you just hate when you've had a really good weekend, but Monday comes along and you have no time to post about your really good weekend? My day has been like that. And then of course the 'puter chose to be it's typical uncooperative self, so I couldn't get pictures into my blog either.

I got to meet YH in Ann Arbor. It was the coolest thing ever. I haven't been in the right place at the right time to meet other celebs in the area and I'm ok with that....now. I must have been earning much celeb karma points or something, because not only did I get to see her, hear her talk, she will hopefully remember me because of what she did for ME. She was up there talking about her book and cracking us up no end (like when my 10 year old piped up during the Willy Warmer part and said loudly "What's that?") After I crawled back out from under my chair she shared some more humorous stories with us about her book tour and radio interviews. At the end she gave us an opportunity to ask questions. I figured with all of her experience with radio hosts and interviewers who are non-knitters (as if) she would be the perfect person to answer my question. I asked her "What do you tell non-knitters when they don't understand why knitters feel the need to blog or document their WIP's or FO's?" I went on to explain that my fiance doesn't understand the obsession with knitting, but is completely baffled by our (knitters) need to talk about it, type about it and take pictures of it all. I even mentioned how he asked for the digital camera back because "all you do is take pictures of knitting with it anyway". Stephanie immediately took charge of the situation, and instead of a few purls(lol) of wisdom or a witty comeback she said "What, do you want a note or something?" and as I was thinking about that she immediately dictated a petition to whomever was quick enough to grab pen and paper (thank you to the fast writer) and after she finished dictating said petition she directed everyone (I mean EVERYONE) in the room to sign it. Needless to say I left there armed with a personally dicated petition, signed by practically everyone in attendance, including Stephanie herself. I'm picking my moment, to spring it on SO, the next time he gets uppity about my "little hobby". Or thinks I'm silly for wanting to meet an author who won't remember me anyway. Hmmmph!

I was able to get my picture taken with YH, thanks to my friend/personal photographer. I also got my
picture taken with another knitter standing in line, working on the same hippo beast sock I am. She was still on the first, but the gold color and the recognizable pattern caught my eye instantly. I only wish I had gotten her name.

I was able to finally put a face with a blog, when I met Ms. Frottez herself .
She was kind enough to join some of Knit Detroit (she wasn't in the picture though) after, for a bite to eat at Parthenon and then we wandered over to Busy Hands, hoping YH was not too wiped out to make an appearance. We didn't see her, but we enjoyed 20% off of our purchases, so all was not lost!

It was so nice to see so many people there, I only wish we had name tags or something that had our blog names on them, cuz then we could have made so many more friends in person, and not just in cyber space. What a great group, it was a fantastic experience.

I can't believe how much energy Stephanie must have, she stayed well past 6 to sign every book and pose for umpteen million photos, no bathroom or food breaks. She's truly an amazing person, very real, very everyday. We were all very lucky to meet such a person.

Where's the summer going?

2006-07-26T15:24:00.000-04:00

I can't believe how fast this summer is flying by. I have been here, there and almost everywhere (not really, just feels like it) and knitting when I can. I'm almost finished with the first Hippo Beast sock, just about to the toe decreases-finally. I should avoid SSS since I'll be doing the second sock toe up to keep the pattern symmetrical. Sounds good anyway.

I have pictures to post, but no time for the slow process of uploading them to my blog, so I promise, those will appear soon. I have birthday pictures, Hippo progress pictures, and maybe some others that I've forgotten.

I'm back to teaching an exercise class for the rest of the summer, to gear up for my regular class that starts up in the fall. If only we could have cocktails AND work out at the same time, now that's time management! Oh well, it makes the drive home more bearable though, knowing I can pig out and have a drink when I get home. There's more to life than alcohol, I certainly don't think I have a problem with it or anything, but nothing tops off a workout better.

Hope you're all doing well.

Have I lost my mind?

2006-07-10T13:29:00.000-04:00

Just because I saw someone crocheting a dishcloth, does that mean I have to monkey-see and make my own? I guess so. This baby was handled on our drive back up to the lake Saturday morning. (Not a bad deal-work 2 days and head back to the lake for 2 days-I could get used to that schedule) While I normally despise crochet, this was a very quick fix for those never ending FO's that seem to be taunting me with their in-complete-ness. So there! Plus I like the colors and it will be less dreary when I have to clean my kitchen next. (Crap, I think I left some dishes in the sink-those will be waiting for me tonight!)

Speaking of never ending FO's, here's another progress shot of the Hippo sock. I chose not to torture you all by snapping another lakeside photo, although Saturday and Sunday's weather made last week pale in comparison. I'm sporting the glowing skin to prove it.

I am 3 rows away from finishing the leg chart and starting the heel flap-finally. I only managed to get this far on such a beautiful, boat worthy weekend, because I got to enjoy a couple of hours of quiet knitting time whilst enjoying I think the second Mission Impossible movie at the glorious Grayling, MI Emergency Room, all the while convincing my SO that leaving was not a good idea, since it wasn't going to fix itself - Men! Yepper, you heard (read) me right, the ER. He decided our weekend needed a bit more excitement so he livened it up by slicing his leg open on the boat prop, about 10 p.m. Saturday night. He had been working on the boat all day and he and his brother took it out for a test spin, and after encountering more troubles with the engine and fixing them on the water, brought the boat back to shore, was covering it for the evening due to impending storms, and hit the prop with his knee on his way off the back of the boat into the water. Let me tell you, I've heard of others injuring themselves on boat propellors before but until I actually saw the aftermath, I will never view a boat prop as casually again. I even looked at the prop the next day, while it sat motionless in the water, and I shuddered just visualizing the previous evening's event. For something seemingly dull and thick it sure made a mess of his knee. Fortunately he didn't cut anything really important, so the bleeding was under control before we went to the hospital, only to be aggravated by the doctor. I'm not sure if he felt better messing it all up again, to achieve a greater sense of accomplishment once the bleeding was controlled again or what. I was there, close at hand to monitor the repair work and when the nurse had produced a suture needle too small for him to use, I offered up a yarn needle since I had my knitting with me, but he politely declined and waited for the proper size suture needle. I feel pretty confident that should the need arise, I could step in with my embroidery needles (yarn needles are probably too big for suturing) and handle the procedure on my own. I'll add that to my usual medical kit of duct tape and super glue and go confidently on my way. I'll be sure to offer my services to all the guys at work, since they come to me on occasion for minor cuts and splinters and the like. They'll be very happy to learn that I have a new skill to show off. Anyway, this is why I was able to make progress on my Hippo sock, considering that I didn't do much knitting this weekend due to beautiful weather. SO is limping along, not a very happy camper today back at work for sure, but upon inspection his beautifully sutured smiley face under his left knee cap is going to be fine in a few weeks. As long as he doesn't get silly and try any superhero work stuff to interfere with the healing. Still, I can't help but clutch my knee every time I visualize his accident. Sheesh!

I have to teach my Total Body Conditioning class in Royal Oak, so while I didn't exercise last week I'll at least have a snazzy tan and maybe they won't notice me huffing and puffing up front. Wish me luck.

Have a great night!

Hello Reality!

2006-07-06T12:48:00.000-04:00

Well, my birthday, I mean my vacation is now over and I'm back to work. Yippee!! I'll try to contain my excitement and keep my cartwheels to a minimum for your sake! How come you're always tired-er (it's a word) when you get back from vacation? Like you need a day off to recover from crossing over that point of vacation to non-vacation territory? Today will be a long day, to say the least, and I'm just eating my lunch.

I took 2 pictures while on vacation, because frankly, I was lazy and didn't feel like struggling to document my trip. I took 2 to prove that I was a.) knitting, b.) at the lake, and c.) consuming alcohol. All vacation attributes for sure.
See:

These are those pesky Poma, Pota, Hippo socks that have been really giving me a workout. I've frogged them (ok, Amby did it) tinked back, used lifelines and now I'm finally (I hope) on the upward swing. Good thing, since I'm about to repeat the chart for the 3rd and final time. And no, you can't prove that simultaneous alcohol consumption had ANYTHING to do with my progress (or lack of). Anyway, I have idle knitting time to look forward to tonight, while darling daughter flips her little heart out at gymnastics. I hope to survive the chart stone cold sober.

So, anyway, happy birthday to ME, I'm deciding to be 29 again, give or take a decade, since I figure I'm old enough now to pick my age or repeat any that were somewhat memorable. 29 was a good/bad year. I discovered I was a Celiac after my daughter's first birthday. I almost died, I think. You decide. I'm 5'8" and I checked into the hospital at 88 pounds. I couldn't eat, sleep or hold my baby. It felt like near-death. It took them 8 days to determine I was a celiac. Those days felt like years, since every day I got weaker and couldn't see/hold my baby and I had a spouse that was "afraid" of hospitals. I had family and friends around me, luckily, and they are the only thing that kept me strong. On the 8th day they figured it out, changed my diet, weaned me off the steroids that they swore were going to "fix" me and released me on the 11th day. I went home, weak, sickly and scared to death to eat anything that may cause a relapse. I caught everything under the sun over the next several months, including pink eye (gotta love daycare sometimes), strep throat, sinus infections and the like. It took me months to get some weight on me, all the while trying to raise an active 1 year old, almost by myself. But I got better, I got stronger, and now I think I'm pretty healthy. And DD doesn't have it, she was tested at age 2, and will never go thru what I did, thank God. So that was a pretty monumental year for me, good and bad. And dammit, if I choose to repeat that age, I think I've earned it!

Anyway, back to work for me, hope you all had a great 4th!

Women be shopping!

2006-06-27T10:25:00.000-04:00

That's the saying anyway! Well, I went yarn shopping but ONLY because Rowan was 20% off. Gotta love KSH on sale! I've been holding out forever to make the camisole out of Weekend Knitting, plus the little wrap I got from Knitting on an Island (more practical than the cowl I think), and at 20% off, I'm on my way!!

Here's what I bought (not the full quantity of each though). Of course I already said what the KSH was for. The cotton glace is for a tank I'm making up, probably on the knitting machine, as well as the Calmer which I'll be combining somehow with another color of Calmer I have left from Marnie's tank.

The Rowan tweed is something I've been drooling over for some time, and this color was really pretty. I don't have a specific pattern for that yet, but I'm thinking of a simple knit tee. Any suggestions?

Here's my swatch of the KSH on size 10's. I did it on 11's first and it was way off. On 10's the row gauge is right but the stitch gauge is still off. I might try it on 9's and decide from there which is best.

I measured out the skein of llama that I spun and unfortunately it only comes out to about 205 yards. I really don't want to waste it on a scarf, but I'm really stumped if there's any other garment that I can turn it into with such low yardage. Maybe some wrist warmers, I had seen some cabled ones somewhere that I liked. The colors are so beautiful and I just don't think a scarf would do it justice. I'm open to any ideas on how best to use my first real handspun yarn!

I'm very excited about having everyone to my house tomorrow, I only hope the weather cooperates, as my tiny house may be bursting at the seams if we're all trapped inside. I just thought having all my friends over, knitting in the backyard was a great way to enjoy this beautiful weather we've been having. Oh yes, and there will be alcohol. What more could I ask for?

Llama=Finito!!

2006-06-23T09:57:00.000-04:00

I couldn't wait any longer. I had to ply the llama and I stayed up till 1 a.m. last night to do it. I plied it, steamed it, and this is what it looks like today. The colors aren't quite accurate in the pics, but you will get the idea. I am still going to actually submerge it, and "wash" it, but I probably won't get to that till this weekend.

The first one is kinda blurry, but the colors are a little more distinctive. Overall it's much greener than I expected it to be. When I bought it, I did so because of the purple shades and bright peacock blue that was running throughout, but maybe when I knit it up it will pop out a little more.

After I wash it I will re-skein it and measure it. I'm not sure of the yardage yet, so that will ultimately determine what it becomes. I might have to peruse the One Skein book and see if something in there speaks to me. It's really soft, and will probably soften even more when washed. It's a little furry, but nothing I can't handle.

Oh, and just for the locals, I am hosting a knitting meetup/Tupperware catalog perusal at my house next Wednesday. Everyone local is welcome to partake in knitting, cocktails, Tupperware fun and great people!! E-mail me at mnangel13 at yahoo dot com, if you need directions! The more the merrier. I haven't pissed off my neighbors yet this summer, so come help me out!

Have a great weekend!

Just stopping by...

2006-06-22T09:24:00.000-04:00

Just stopping in to tell you about a great store I visited last night. It's in Sterling Heights, and it's somewhat tucked away in a strip mall, and I am kicking myself for not ever "finding" it sooner. I had heard the name of the store before and casually looked into where it was on the map, but then just never got there. This great store is "Indigo Rose", named for the owner Rose. I was on my way to our weekly meetup at Caribou last night and since I had to run some errands in the area first I thought I'd take a quick look at what IR carried. I was checking it out not only for myself but for my friends that I knit with. My quick look turned into over an hour of talking with Rose, her associate Anita (who knows Devon by the way, and told me to tell him hi) and checking out their yarn selection. Rose is a spinner, and as soon as she found out I was a new spinner, flooded me with info and flyers for a Spinners Guild that she said I would love and even gifted me with fabulous roving, one of which she wasn't sure of the content, the other was "top" and she said I would love it. She has extensive knowledge of dyeing fiber, and gave me a quick lesson on how easy it is to do. She also carries some beautiful Kid Mohair, which I will be going back for. Some of it is dyed, but she says she can barely keep it in stock, and the other is natural, but simple to dye, so she says.

Fabulous store, decent yarn selection (Rowan, Dale of Norway, Annie Blatt, Classic Elite, plus many others) but the atmosphere alone would bring me back in.

Indigo Rose is located on Van Dyke, just North of 16 mile, in a strip mall next to Shogun Steak house. They have awesome hours, several nights open till 9. Gotta love a yarn store that acknowledges those of us who have JOBS, so we can pay for our stash enhancement!

If you stop in, tell Rose I sent you.

There's an addition to my family!

2006-06-20T13:34:00.000-04:00

With all the celebrity babies popping out everywhere and new talk of Brangelina adopting yet another underprivileged child, I decided to hop on the pop bandwagon and expand my somewhat tiny family.
I am please to introduce the latest addition to my family....{eyeroll... errrr drumroll please}

Ms. Ashley!

Ms. Ashley is of the Ashford Traditional family and I refer to her as Ms. because she has ummm a few miles on her, as she is a couple of years old. Not to say she is by any means used up, but I'm not her FIRST family. She was well cared for in her previous home and she came to me with much love and appreciation for my interest in spinning. I believe she has found a good home, and look forward to many years together. (I took the liberty of cropping my head out of this picture as I had about the dorkiest look on my face that I've ever seen). Here are a few more action shots thanks to my personal photographer.

The first picture is the best, it's from BEHIND me. So no dorky expressions are visible. The second one gives the appearance that I actually have a clue what I'm doing. And the third, shows results. I've been spinning here and there when I've had time, so this bobbin is almost full, and I only have about a handful of roving left to spin. I'll be plying that with the first bobbin that I skeined (or skanked if you know JenLa) on the Schacht at Ewe-Nique Knits a few weeks back. I'm anxious to see how much yardage I end up with, so I can start figuring out for sure what it will become.

I actually started this post yesterday, and got very ambitious last night and spun the rest of the handpainted llama. These pics are just with my camera phone, so the colors aren't completely accurate. The top bobbin is more purple
and brighter than shown. The bottom bobbin is more of a green than the blue that shows. The bobbins aren't even, so I'm going to have to figure out the best way to even them out and then ply it so I run out of each single at approximately the same time.

I'll leave you kids with that for now! Have a great night!

I HAVE SOCKS!!

2006-06-13T11:31:00.000-04:00

Poor Jasmine. I give her crap publicly (on my blog) and then I fail to post immediately that I RECEIVED MY PACKAGE!! It was smugly waiting for me on my front porch Friday when I rolled into the neighborhood and I saw it immediately. My breath stopped for a sec and I could barely get thru checking my mail and then I ran to the front porch to scoop up my precious cargo. What a fabulous feeling, to know that someone did something especially for ME. Is this how my sock pal felt when her package arrived? Gosh, I really hope so! This was what I saw when I opened the box:

Holy-packed-with-goodies box! Not only did I get a pair of hand-made-especially-for-me socks, but I also got sock yarn for 2 more pair (one pair will be out of Koigu, I've been so coveting me some Koigu), some fabulous Virginia peanut brittle (of course I opened it immediately, I had to make sure that greedy mailman didn't find it) Jellie Bellies (still unopened, for the moment) and a pin from the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. And a note signed The Worst Sock Pal Ever. Not true. TWSPE would never have compensated for a little tardiness by including all the fab extras! Thank you Thank you Thank you. You made my day!

Oh yeah, and here are the socks.

And the verdict is: the foot is the perfect length, and I really like the detailed cuff. They are a smidge loose on my ankles, so they may be good house socks for quick on and off-ness. But I love the colors and as I said the foot is the perfect length, as if she had me trying them on thru the whole-foot-making-process. I'm a pretty light sleeper, so I think I would know if she were sneaking in during the night to have me try it on. So, I'm guessing she just stuck to my measurements and it worked out perfectly.

In other news, I'm {this close} to getting a spinning wheel. I've spun on several different wheels over the last month, and found a gently used Ashford Traditional that appears to have my name all over it. I'm going Thursday to take it for a spin, err I mean, test drive, I mean I'm gonna try it out. I have spun on a Traditional before, and liked it, so I don't think this one will feel much different. I'm very excited and if all goes well I'll be strapping that sucker into my car Thursday night and driving her home. It's about time too, cuz I've got some serious fiber stash building up, and I need to get spinning. I'm going to take my handpainted llama, to test it with, as I've spun that on my spindle, and on the Schacht I was trying out, and it's got a great feel to it, so the Traditional should show thru as I'm already familiar with the fiber. It's such a great deal, and she's throwing in a bunch of extras, and I already have 4 Ashford bobbins, so with the 6 or so she's giving me, I should be pretty well set for a while. It's too good to pass up, and if I do let it go, I'll never forgive myself. I can't wait till Thursday!! Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Talk to you next time!

It's a new month!

2006-06-06T14:52:00.000-04:00

It seems that the last couple of posts may appear to be a little on the negative side. I'll try to be more positive in this picture-less post.

I have been knitting some, but more so I've been spinning on my drop spindle. When I took the class a month or so ago to learn to spin I purchased some fiber, and the mere act of looking at it day after day, has motivated me to work thru some of it. I'm currently spinning up some gorgeous purple roving, which will become socks someday, as soon as I figure out what I want to ply it together with. Also, I've spun up some handpainted llama on the spindle to swatch it and it's gorgeous, but will not become socks as originally intended. It's a little too furry and the thought of all that fuzz gathering between my toes whilst inside shoes is not very appealing. I'm thinking maybe the "boobholder" sweater from Glampyre instead.

I went Saturday with my daughter and Amby to Heritage in Lake Orion to check out some spinning wheels and of course their fabulous fiber supply. I met several great ladies there, and Crystal especially took me under her wing and helped me spin on a few different wheels. Since I've been actively looking for a wheel, I thought it would be wise to spin on different ones to see which ones I like, and more importantly which ones I don't. The Schacht was nice, but way too pricey for my meager budget. I spun on the Ashford Joy, but didn't really like it's small frame. I kept thinking I was going to knock it over or something, and the wheel kept backspinning on me. I think I need a little more wheel to feel comfortable sitting at it. I have met a really nice person who is selling an Ashford Traditional so keep your fingers crossed that I can get all my ducks in a row and take it off her hands for her. I've used both the Ashford Traditional and Traveller and feel comfortable with either one. My daughter and I went to Ewe-nique Knits after Heritage and rented a Schacht for 2 1/2 hours. I got about 1/2 of my llama spun, while my daughter kicked some serious fiber butt, by getting thru most of her bright yellow roving. She does me proud, that girl!

While at Heritage, I bought some fun pink, black and white COTTON to try my hand at spinning that. I know what you're thinking. Cotton is very hard to spin and not for the weak fingered or newbie spinner. What can I say? I like to get the hard stuff out of the way early on. Maybe that's why my first two major knitting projects after the scarf break-in period was a sweater and a pair of socks. I enjoy the challenge and don't buy into the "it's too hard for beginners" that is floating around out there. I'm hoping to free up my spindle soon so I can get that cotton flying!

This is the last week of school for my darling 5th grader! Whoo hoo! I'm happy for her, even if I still have to go to work every day. I have 2 more aerobics classes and then I'm off till the end of July. I'm looking forward to the break and to having our evenings almost completely commitment free. More time for knitting, spinning and just out and out playing. That's always a good thing.

No socks yet, but I did get an e-mail from my sock pal that she was almost finished with the socks and they should be mailing out soon. I'll keep you posted!

Have a great day!

Is slacking contagious?

2006-05-23T13:20:00.000-04:00

I should talk. It's been a while since I have checked in with my fellow knitters, and I too have been slacking I suppose. I read today that the Sockapaloooza (3 o's to represent the 3rd exchange) Exchange is at 90% completion. While this is a great success, I can't help but feel a slight twinge of disappointment that I happen to be in the 10% of people who have not received their socks. Out of 606 participants, approximately 60 or so people still have not gotten to experience the thrill of the package arriving in the mail, and wondering what goodies might have been carefully put together especially for them. I know I was very excited to put my package together and send off to Sydney, and I was even more excited to read her post about receiving the socks I had made, just for her. But enough already, when is it MY turn?? I'm whining and don't mean to, but hey if Grumperina can shame her sock pal into at least e-mailing her about where her socks are, I can post a little about my impatience, right? To her credit, my sock pal DID e-mail me to say she was running behind. But when I check her blog (ok, so I figured out who she is-what can I say? I'm determined) and see zero updates about socks, I can't help but feel sad. I was very worried about letting down my sock pal, cuz I have always been habitually tardy. But I set my mind to it, and finished, not on time, but a week early, and mailed them out exactly on the right day. Oh well, it's sandal season anyway. Hopefully I'll have 'em by fall.

I have been knitting some, but mostly I've been working on my spinning skills. I have gotten more consistent with my drafting and have finally gotten the Andean plying technique figured out. I even tried Navajo plying and will be trying that again soon, to see if it's better the second time around. I went to the Spring Fiber Day at Mt. Bruce Station in Romeo over the weekend. The weather was perfect for a drive out in the country, and the kids enjoyed checking out the animals. I was expecting more vendors but I did get some lovely glycerin soaps and purchased some handpainted llama, to try my hand at something other than "gray wool". I spun a small sample on the drop spindle and it handled very well, and plied nicely. I'll be spinning that up pretty soon, even if it is on the spindle and not a wheel. It's a bit fuzzy so I'm not sure that it will become socks as I originally thought, but I have a few ideas in mind for its destiny.

I've got my ears open for spinning wheels for sale, and have been checking e-bay regularly. My hopes are to find a used wheel, in good condition, somewhat locally, because on e-bay most sellers are out of the country. If anyone has any tips, send me a comment and I'll check it out.

I hope to have pictures soon of what I've been working on, I just need to get my butt in gear and set it all up to photograph.

Enjoy this sunny day!

It's a waiting game!

2006-05-09T13:30:00.000-04:00

But how do we know when to stop playing? What are you waiting for?

I was doing yard work over the weekend. Every time I am forced to perform such tasks I am given a lot of free time to mentally wander thru these types of questions. First of all, let me start by saying this. My lawnmower decided to take a dive last week. I HATE relying on others to fix stuff or get me out of a jam. I’m very independent by nature. I found out the part I needed was about $35 and that didn’t include shipping. My SO said he’d look at it for me, but of course when the mower croaked my lawn was already about 3 weeks overdue for a trim. My impatient nature (which battles regularly with my independent nature) decided to look at it myself. So I went into my tool box and pulled out what every single woman should have in theirs, duct tape and super glue. And I went to work. By some stroke of luck, a little duct tape, a little more super glue and a handy pair of pliers, I got the power drive cable thingy (technical term-straight from the manual I think) reconnected so that I could once again steer my mower with my little finger and no longer have to push what seemed like a small car across the lawn. Oh, and by the way, I prayed. Seriously. A pathetic type of prayer that went something like this: “Dear God, I know this is really not high on your list of priorities, but it’s kind of important to me to get my overgrown lawn cut to satisfy MY anal retentive needs, and I really don’t know that I know how to fix this thing myself, but I’d like to think I can, and since you’re probably the only man who hasn’t let me down lately [I know there’s no proof that He is a man, for all the feminists out there, but I’m traditional, and since we pray to Him and He forgives us etc., I’m just going with that] could you find it in your heart to cut me a little slack here?” I guess He couldn’t kick me, knowing I was already down, so needless to say, my mower is fixed, even if only temporarily, and the WHOLE lawn is cut, since I just HAD to pick a corner lot with more grass than 3 houses normally have-did I mention I love yard work? Why I didn’t pick a condo I’ll never know-glutton for punishment I guess.

Anyway, while all that was going on I had plenty of time to think about things. It seems that we are always waiting for something. That ever-elusive “opportunity just around the corner”, the raise your boss never seems to give you, the vacation that is always far away or that never seems to get planned. Whatever it is, we never seem to be happy with the “right here, right now”. When couples get married, the first function they attend after the nuptials seems to invoke everyone’s favorite question “When are you starting a family?” After they have the first member of said family the next question is always “When are you having another one?” Why are we like this? Aren’t we ever just happy for people as they are right now? When someone graduates high school, the first question is “Where will you be attending college?” Or with a college soon-to-be graduate “Where will you be accepting a position?” Can’t we just let them settle into their most recent accomplishment without placing additional pressure on them. Obviously these are questions they are asking themselves, do we need to state the obvious? If they are ambitious enough to graduate high school or college, do people really think they are just going to turn into perpetual couch potatoes and simply reduce themselves to channel surfing? Not likely.

There’s an e-mail that’s been floating around for years about someone preparing a loved one for a funeral and choosing a beautiful dress that’s been hanging in the closet, never worn, being saved for a special occasion. The bottom line of the mail is to use your good dishes, sit on your furniture without plastic covers and live your life every day as if it were your last. We should do that. I was half tempted to bust out my satin strappy sandals for work but thought better of it. They wouldn't go with my jeans. And I might revive the term "working girl". Not what I was going for. But you get my point.

I’ve been feeling very frustrated lately because I feel as if I’m constantly waiting for whatever is around the bend or over the next hill and frankly I’m tired of waiting. I have a bunch of crap coming up that is unavoidable and I am going to do my best to live my life in spite of what is most likely about to suck a whole lot. I'm going to continue to be a great mother to my daughter, enjoy my friends, my hobbies, my relationship, and if more comes of any of them, great. If not, I’m happy with the way things are, except for the stuff that's going to suck a whole lot-that I could do without.

There are days when I wish I had an easier life. You know, the kind you see on tv where the husbands go off to work, bring home a fat paycheck, and still manage to find time to cut the grass and keep the cars running. They have what is perceived as the perfect family with 2.5 kids (as an accountant I’ve always had trouble with this number), family functions are a joyous event shared by all, and other than more money, they have no real wants, they are happy just as they are. Then I look around me and think nah! I’m glad my dad raised me to think for myself, do for myself, and taught me that girls COULD learn how to work on cars or use tools, if they wanted to. So I did. I feel that life is a huge uphill struggle sometimes, but for every new plateau I reach, I feel very proud of my accomplishments, knowing I got there by myself. I’m not financially dependent on anyone, and while my life may not be the way others think it should be, it’s the best life I know how to live, and I love my daughter with every ounce of my being and I have no doubt she knows she’s loved. I teach her to think for herself, to be independent, and not to follow the crowd unless it’s what she really wants to do. She stands up for herself and I know that she feels the same pride as I do in a job well done.

I wonder if June Cleaver could say the same about her life.

Well, the grass should be fine for about a week, so hopefully the next post sticks mainly to knitting. I did get a nice e-mail from my sock pal, my socks should be on their way shortly, and I think I've figured out who they're coming from, so I should know soon if I'm right. I haven't seen that my sock pal got HER socks yet, so hopefully she does soon! Can't stand the pressure!

Take care all, send out some good vibes and prayers for me, got a rough morning tomorrow, and then hopefully smooth sailing the rest of the week.

Drive by posting

2006-04-28T09:22:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to brag a little. I actually beat my deadline by a week! I was finished with my sock pal socks Tuesday evening, now they are washed, dry and ready to be shipped. Check it:

I really hope my pal likes them, I'm very pleased with how they turned out. I can't WAIT till next week, I'll be checking my mail every day, anxiously awaiting MY socks. Whoo hoo!! Oh, and {wink wink} I don't know HOW that "S" keychain happened in the picture, it's in no way a CLUE as to who may be receiving them. It stands for ummm, hmmmm, SOCKS, yep that's it! "S" for socks, that's what I'm talking about!

Have a great weekend all!

My first attempt at lace

2006-04-19T09:44:00.000-04:00

Here it is....my first attempt at knitting with dental floss, I mean silk. It was difficult at first, but I'm kinda getting the hang of it, and I haven't wanted to throw it out the window.....yet.

The first one shows the color definition pretty well, and the second picture was my attempt at a "natural light" shot but it doesn't capture all the colors as well. It's still kind of pretty though. This is just the pattern swatch to determine gauge and needle size, so I'm not really seeing much of a pattern develop, but I have 2 more repeats of the 8-row pattern and then I can start for real. The girl I work with says it just looks like a bunch of knots. Cool! That's definitely the look I was going for. If you've forgotten I'm making this with this beautiful silk. I really feel this pattern will show off the color changes. This pattern is from the good folks at Fiddlesticks Knitting. I'm debating about trying bamboo circs or something other than Addi's. I really like Addi's for socks, everything flows very smoothly with those needles and cables, but the points aren't very pointy. I think I might buy some bamboo circs this weekend and give it a shot. I was half tempted to stick my Addi in the pencil sharpener, but I'm thinking they wouldn't honor any warranty on it after that. But I thought about it.

As far as my sock pal sock, I'm just about to turn the heel on the second sock, so I'm hoping to have this puppy done by this weekend. That would be ahead of schedule, which is SO not like me, but hey, I'm working hard at it, and I am not allowing myself to start my shawl or any other socks till these babies are in a box, ready to mail. That's motivation in itself.

I'm really looking forward to the drop spindle class at Ewe-Nique Knits this weeekend. We have a few spots available still, so if anyone is interested in joining us let me or Amby know, we'll save you a seat! Luckily I talked her out of adopting a sheep yesterday, she's kinda scaring me with her intensity. I'm just not sure how she'd explain that to the neighbors, when she's out walking BaaBaa the Black Sheep. Great visual though!

Have a great day!

Done, duh-duh duh done!!

2006-04-13T12:19:00.000-04:00

At least the first one is finished! Hooray for the small victories in life!
If you click on the second one to make it larger, you'll see the glimmer of the nylon thread at the heel and again at the toe. Very cool!! It was kind of a pain to work with, but if it makes
'em last longer, it's worth it!
I can't say it enough, I love this color and this pattern was very fun! I can't wait to make mine!!

As promised, here is a picture of my daughter's FIRST SOCK!! Did I mention she is only 10? She's putting me to shame, but I'm loving it and I'm SO proud of her accomplishment. Lookout world, she's well on her way!!

I'm off tomorrow, so I'll get to enjoy a nice long weekend. Happy Easter and God Bless!

Who blinked?

2006-04-12T14:50:00.000-04:00

It's raining today. So much for the milder temps. I guess I should just get used to the "April showers bring May flowers" thing and suck it up. Except that means I'll actually have to start cutting the grass again. So NOT my favorite thing to do. It IS considered an aerobic workout though, since I live on a corner lot, with a large back yard, side yard, front yard and ditches to maneuver for some added fun! Still not looking forward to it though. I should get married, then I won't have to deal with that anymore. Someday....but not today.

Here's a progress shot of my sock pal sock. I would have finished them last night but I'm using nylon thread at the heel and toe, and it's so fine it slowed me down a bit on the toe, so all that's left is to Kitchener the toe. That will be handled tonight.
The second pic is kinda blurry, but shows the color more accurately than the first. I really like this pattern, it's fun, easy to memorize and moves rather quickly. Can't wait to see if the second sock goes as quickly. I would consider making a pair for myself in this pattern. I'm using Dale of Norway Baby Ull, and haven't even gotten thru the first skein yet, so buying 3 skeins was a great move, as I'll have enough left over to make myself a pair. Maybe I'll try toe up and then I can just knit till I run out. I'd be happy with a shorter sock in this great color.

Also, my 10 year old daughter completed her FIRST sock last night, I'll have to get a picture of her modeling it tonight. I'm so proud of her!! She cast on for the second one on our ride to school this morning, so she'll be sailing along on that one!

Have a great day!!

Spring Fever!

2006-04-11T14:47:00.000-04:00

Is it just me, or does anyone else get "Spring Fever"? I can feel myself getting really antsy, like I need to do a complete "top floor to bottom floor" cleaning, or simply rearrange closets or do some crazy thing like yard work! I sit at work, staring out the window, and the beautiful weather (yes, it's still pretty here in the 'hood) and think "Where's my lawn chair? Why am I NOT outside?" Oh yeah, forgot, s'posed to be WORKING! Check.

Got a little knitting done this weekend. This picture was from a few days ago. I only have about 3/4" left on the first sock now, then I decrease for the toe, and we all know, once it's that far, it's as good as done. I hope to cast on for the second sock before the weekend starts.

Want to send a little shout out to the nice folks at Ewe-Nique Knits (sure, they could be reading my blog...it could happen). I went there on Sunday with my daughter and the enabler Amby (thanks girlfriend) and bought some absolutely positively gorgeous 100% handpainted silk in an even gorgeous-er (yes, it's a word) colorway with my fave, purple all up in it!! But even better, Marilyn, one of the owners took time away from her sale to have a one-on-one mini demonstration with my daughter on how to spin. It was so exciting to watch, and I couldn't help but appreciate the time and effort Marilyn put into showing my daughter about fiber, drop spindles, and even the spinning wheel. She spoke TO my daughter (who is only 10) and not THRU me to her. She treated her with the respect that we as adults would like receive. She didn't dismiss her as merely a child, but was caught up by her enthusiasm to learn something new. We are all very excited about taking a drop spindle class, and we're working to put something together soon. So any locals that are interested, drop me a line, and we'll put your name in. Amby is working on the same task so letting either of us know will work. Marilyn spoke at great length about the task of spinning dog hair, and since I have a Sheltie, we have an immediate source to learn spinning with. She was knitting up a scarf from some neighbor's dogs, and it was really cool to see it and handle it. And it didn't smell like anything, at all, which made it more appealing yet. My daughter (we'll call her K) K is already brushing the dog day and night. He'll either be bald by the weekend, or his poor body will start growing it back furiously to make up for all the loss. We'll see how it goes. Anyway, thanks again Marilyn, you were absolutely awesome to talk to. We'll be seeing you for sure!

I've been having incredible luck with personal service these days, let me tell you. After purchasing that gorgeous silk in that gorgeous-er color (see, the more you say it, the more natural it sounds) I went searching for the perfect shawl pattern to compliment the colors of the silk. I first thought about Adamus from Knit Picks, as I had my sights on this pattern originally as my "first shawl pattern". But after careful scrutiny and some outside opinions I didn't think this pattern would quite showcase the gorgeous-ness (it's spreading) of this yarn. So, then I went and looked at Peacock shawl from the good folks at Fiddlesticks Knitting and immediately fell in love with it. It would show the color changes beautifully and be challenging at the same time. The only problem I found was that it calls for 1260 yards of yarn and the skein I bought is 1093 yards. But after exchanging e-mails with the designer (yes, the ACTUAL designer herself) I think I can make certain adjustments and make it work. Because the designer (Dorothy Siemens) took the time to help me out with this, I HAD to give it a shot. I mean, talk about personal service, she definitely deserves my business! Can't wait to get the pattern.

And, speaking of designers, Marnie Mclean e-mailed me yesterday, and the pattern I test knitted for her is now PUBLISHED! Go check it out! She sent me my official Published copy and I'll be making the second one for myself. The first one is going to a friend of mine.

It's been a busy couple of days, and the week isn't even close to over yet! Get out and enjoy the sunshine. It's Michigan after all, blink and it might change!

Quickie post!

2006-04-07T09:50:00.000-04:00

Just stopping in to post 2 FO's to my FO page. Go check em out. I also got a nice comment from Amy of Frottez, guess she keeps up on who's knitting her stuff. Hey, why not, I'd be interested too! Actually I knit 2 of her phone cases, one for me and one for my new friend Kimlien. She seemed very happy about it, and that's what I was going for!!

Going to another gymnastics meet tomorrow, which means lots of sitting around/waiting/knitting for me!! Hooray for being a mom!

Have a great weekend.

Sock update!

2006-04-03T15:48:00.000-04:00

I'm not a procrastinator, I tell ya! I just sometimes get sidetracked and do everything but what I'm supposed to be doing. But here it is, proof that I've at least started my pal's socks.
I absolutely love the color of these socks and will have to pick up some more of this color for umm, MYSELF!! Yes, as a treat for a job well done of course.

I also made this snazzy little phone case for my new Razr, thanks to the design by Amy Polcyn. It came out so nice I made another one for a certain someone I know who happens to have ordered the same phone. I hope to surprise her/him with it this week!

Looky!

Mine is on the left and my friend's is on the right and missing a strap, but still very cute! I think my friend's came out better than mine, but I had practice! Hope my friend likes it!

And, for anyone who cares, here's my puppy. Ok Ok, he's almost 12, but he'll always be my puppy. His eye is doing much better, and he's pretty clean in this picture too!
Miles

I swiped the camera again, so I can go home tonight and take a few more pics of other finished items, like my sandal socks, with and without the sandals so I can finally shut up about them.

I just received an e-mail that I have 22 people signed up for my new aerobics class which starts Wednesday, and now with my blessing (and the fact I teach in a large gym) that could expand as high as 30 people!! Holy cow! Thank goodness I spent the weekend putting together a new routine, so my returning students won't be bored and so I can wow the new people into thinking I'm brilliant! Shhh, don't tell em the truth!

Have a great night everyone, and here's hoping Tuesday is better than my Monday has been!

Yep, still on the planet.

2006-03-31T15:20:00.000-05:00

I am still here, haven't jumped off the edge or anything....at least not yet. I don't have much to report in the way of knitting, but I'm trying like crazy to get to it, life is just not cooperating that much.

A few things to talk about: first of all, I bit the bullet and decided to stay with my current cellular provider and buy myself a snazzy, real phone. Instead of making due with the crappy free, cuz they suck phones. Here's what I got:
Dana's new phone Pretty cool huh? I opted for the titanium one as opposed to the girly pink one, cuz some days I don't feel like wearing pink, and I would rather look cool than trendy.

I went to the dentist this week and that's always a fun experience. I suffer from TMJ (trust me, the word is waaaayyy too long for me to spell out for ya) and I'm really doing a number on my teeth. So, I've ordered a new sexy mouth piece to sleep in. Try not to be jealous of my cool-ness. But hey, who wants totally flat molars when they're facing a large juicy steak.

I don't have any pictures to show, as I'm once again without the camera. I have a new camera phone, but just haven't taken the time to set up shots of stuff I've managed to find time to work on. Currently, I'm almost finished with a new mosaic phone case for the Razr, I finished my sandal socks since Candie's season is almost upon us, and I finally .....tah dah!! started my sock pal socks. I love the color and wish they were for me.

It's not the clearest picture, as I'm still learning how to work the ole phone/camera but you can get an idea of the color. It's Baby Ull, and kinda splitty, but I'm getting the hang of it. I am actually further along into the pattern than this picture shows, but that will have to wait till my next post.

The proudest moment of my weekend was my daughter's gymnastics meet. She was just at exhibition level, but she had a great time and gained important experience for her next meet. Gotta love this grin:

And no, Roger Rabbit is not her father. I feel very strongly about not posting pictures of children on public websites, so I used a handy feature and turned her into a cartoon. This way, you can see her fabulous smile, her medal, and her salute (the pose) but it's still not exactly HER. With a smile like that, who could ever tell her no? I sat around at her meet from 10:30 am until about 4:00 pm, even though her portion lasted at best, an hour. I got some knitting done so that was worth it.

I'm off to cheer on the Wings tonight, and hopefully indulge in some good food in Mexican Town. Have a great weekend all, and I hope to have pictures to show you next week.

Calling all Knitters!

2006-03-20T16:54:00.000-05:00

I have a small request. I am looking for Rowan's Magazine #37, Spring 2005. If anyone has this and would be interested in working out a trade, please send me a comment.

On a side note, Miles is doing fine, and looks much better after his bath yesterday. No trip to the vet was needed. Hooray!! More money for yarn!!

That's all for now!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

2006-03-17T12:49:00.000-05:00

And the Luck of the Irish to you and all that malarkey! I just wanted a reason to say malarkey. Any other time of the year that word would bring strange looks, but not today! I fit right in!!

Hopefully I'll be blowing off early from work and joining the crowds in the celebrating. But that is still yet to be determined. I'm working my angles now.

On another note, I just wanted to take a sec to post about my puppy. I call him puppy but he's actually going to be 12 in July. He's a Sheltie, and I've had him since he was about 6 weeks old-he was literally all nose and ears then, and not much else. Oh, and his name is Miles. Anyway, my daughter pointed out Wednesday morning that Miles had something wrong with him. Truth be told, he looked like he duked it out in the yard with a squirrel or something, cuz he has a goose egg under his left eye. It was puffing up so much that his eye was actually squinching closed. Well I've been keeping my eye on him the last two days, and it hasn't really changed at all. I thought maybe he got bit by something or the bone he was chewing on irritated something in his mouth - he always looks like he's about to swallow them whole.

Well, this morning I let him outside as usual and when he came back in I noticed he was bleeding from the big puffy goose egg. Poor guy, he probably had about enough of that "thing" on his face, and tried to rub it off in the grass. He was kinda batting at it with his paw every time I examined him, like "hey ma, could you get this thing off my face?" Anyway so he was bleeding and I had to help him. I laid him down on the bathroom floor with a roll of paper towels and the peroxide and went to work. Holy cow, that was nasty. It was blood mixed with I-don't-know-what kinda oozey stuff. So I kept wiping and squeezing (gently of course) trying to work the yuck outta him. He's so good about that kind of stuff, very patient and all but I couldn't help notice the look on his face that said, "hey ummm any time you're done poking with my face, I'd really rather be anywhere but here". So as I was putzing around his eye, the only thing that came to mind was Rocky Balboa (ok, so I've seen all the movies about a hundred times-Yo Adrian!) and his trainer in the corner during his first title fight, and his eye is swollen shut and he says "cut me Mick, I gotta see". I opted not to take that route, and just wiped it up and cleaned it with peroxide. I'm guessing a trip to the vet will be in order. Luckily, he stays in his cage all day so at least I won't go home to a St. Patrick's day massacre scene or anything!

Anyway, that's what I have going on right now. Not alot of knitting to report, I "finished" the striped hat for the coach at my daughter's gym, but when I tried it on last night it looked suitable for the Coneheads, so I'm guessing I need to rip back one or two color changes and start the decreases a bit sooner than the pattern called for. I was working on my socks last night, and obviously fell asleep while doing them, cuz I woke up this morning with them shoved onto the floor and I may have dropped a stitch in the process. So, I'll need to look at that too! Probably not tonight though, don't know if green beer and knitting would be such a great combo. Actually, no green beer for me as us Celiacs have to avoid that, but I'm sure I'll come up with something suitable.

Oh, speaking of Celiacs, I have to give a shout-out to my new favorite store that finally opened up. It's Belcibo (pronounced Bell-Cheebo) in Clawson. They have carry-out pizza for freaks like me!! Too cool! I'll be there this weekend at some point for sure!

Have a great weekend!

Lest ye think I've been slacking...

2006-03-15T12:20:00.000-05:00

I just love chunky knitting! This is the hat for the coach at my daughter's gym, and it's just zooming right along. I'm hoping to have it complete enough for him to try it on tomorrow night, and then the scarf should be a snap, except for weaving in the ends. The only drawback to multi-color knitting. But, it's going fast enough that I think I can handle a little weaving to finish it.
These are the socks I was talking about in my last post.
Cute huh?
This is how the first one came out. I'm using some leftover sock yarn, so it's not as brightly colored as the above pic, but my Candie's are black so it won't show anyway, and if it peeks out a bit, it's color coordinated...like I planned it or sumthin!

Speaking of socks, here's my Lorna's socks. I got impatient with the idea of only doing 1 at a time, so I cast on for the second one at the dentist yesterday (my daughter got a sparkling report, as usual!) and did the cuff while they cleaned her teeth. I transferred it to the 2 circs when I got home last night and started in on the pattern repeats on both.
The colors seemed to be pretty fairly represented in the photos and in person are even brighter, which I love! It's been kinda gloomy lately, so this little boost
of color has been a welcome change.
It's been curling up a bit on me but I'm hoping once I get a little further along the weight will pull it straight.

Enjoy the sun while we have it. After all, it's Michigan and as they say "If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes and it will change on ya!"

Have a great day, Friday is only 2 days away!

Finishing something is soooo rewarding!

2006-03-13T12:38:00.000-05:00

I love it when I'm able to put a big check mark next to that list in my head of works in progress! I don't even mind shoving the pen thru my brain to do it! It's such a great feeling to say, oh yes, I've finished another project. I was test knitting a top for Marnie Maclean and sent her the pics today, for her approval. Here is a sneak peak at what I made: The front: And here is a closeup of the back:
And a full size of the back: I still need to knit the straps, and now I have the proper placement marked as the intended recipient tried it on (at work, yep, my boss is gone AGAIN!).

I sent some pics off to the designer, gave her a couple of my comments, and there you go!

I also made 1 of these this weekend: Sandal socks. I have a pair of Candie's that I love love love, but they hurt - A LOT! And that just won't do, so with some leftover sock yarn I have attempted to remedy that. I will post pics of those in and out of the shoes when they are complete.

I also started my next pair of socks, out of that lovely Lornas in the pink/purples that I posted previously. Can't wait to see the pattern develop. I decided to copy Amby and make mine out of the same pattern she's using for her next pair. Eh, I wasn't feeling too creative and those looked like they'd go quickly but not be boring.

I managed to finally find some Tang, so I can now create the yummy Tang-tini/Science Experiment that Amby so kindly posted recently. I love going shopping and employing the help of the workers there. It's good to be a girl. "Excuse me sir, where might I find some Tang?" As he scurries off to look I'm able to continue shopping and then said gentleman comes back, out of breath, saying "Oh, it was buried on the bottom shelf , and there were other products in front of it." Now, can you picture me crawling around on the floor reaching toward the back of a shelf, trying to find something I've never bought before? NO? Me either. It's good to be a girl. And when I asked this same gentleman about some bacon that seems to be discontinued, he said he would check into it for me as I continued shopping. Several aisles later, he found me once again, and said "here, this is very similar to the discontinued item, would you like to try it?" It's good to be a girl. So, needless to say, I had a very productive shopping trip to the local Kroger yesterday, and all is well in the grocery world. It's good to be a girl. Now, if only they carried garment steamers. Or maybe that guy could go work at Joann's....there's an idea!

Happy Monday all!

It's all about instant gratification.

2006-03-07T11:51:00.000-05:00

After some of the projects that have been hanging on forever, I decided to reward myself with something fast and pretty. Saturday's shopping in Birmingham proved to be very enjoyable and I saw this lovely shade of Noro Silk Garden. Actually, I think it called out to me, "hey lady, I'd look great on your head, you know how much you like purple, and besides, I'll match your gloves!" No, I hadn't been drinking yet. But that's what I heard. And of course, with Kirsti enabling me "you should, it's lovely" I HAD to. No choice about it. So this lovely color begged me to become this:
See, this is why I had to have it! The sunlight makes it look wonderful. Never mind that I was out front at work snapping pictures and the gang at the party store probably thought I was nuts! They look much better with natural light! (My FO's, NOT the gang at the party store!)

These are my official FO photo of my SO's socks, and to prevent any previously un-proven borrowing of other socks, his initial is on each one, so there's no mistake those are HIS socks!

Here's some more of my stash enhancement from our "Yarn Experience" in Birmingham. I won't bore you with all the details, as my friend Amby has already eloquently detailed the day. But this is what I found.
This was my first venture into Lorna-territory and again the colors were just calling me! Can you see a trend here?

Next, I decided to add to my collection the felted clog pattern and the black Cascade 220. I had the purple Cascade 220 already, and the black will make a proper "sole" for these cute slippers.

I too, decided to indulge in the sock yarn with Aloe in it, so JP and I will just have to consult each other before we wear our matching socks.

I took several pictures of the sweaters I claimed as my own at the thrift stores we visited on Saturday, but the pictures were too dark to show the detail. But trust me, for not a lot of money, I walked out with some really nice future projects. One of them is 100% silk, and after searching some links yesterday about recycling yarn, I'm inspired to deconstruct and re-use this beautiful fiber. One sweater I'm probably not going to destroy though bore this tag. There are absolutely no seams in this sweater, and the sleeves look very much like the gusset of a sock, with stitches picked up. I'll be bringing this sweater to the next meetup and will give everyone an opportunity to analyze this gentleman's craftsmanship. I highly doubt I'll have the heart to deconstruct it, but who knows, maybe I was meant to learn from it and then put it to good use.

All in all, it was a great shopping day, and having received 1/2 off the already affordable sweaters just topped my day. We had a great early dinner of sushi in Troy, and I spent a few hours trying to deconstruct the silk sweater. I say "trying" cuz I didn't make much progress until last night after I checked out some links about this process. I have renewed faith that I will be able to pull this off. Some people even sell their fiber on e-bay. I'm always looking for new ways to quit my job, so who knows!

Have a great day!

What a day for driving!

2006-03-02T12:11:00.000-05:00

I love Michigan! It's such a great place to live. Are you convinced? Neither am I. A little freezing rain falls and people freak out like it's 10 feet of snow or something. It's only snow people!! And I'm betting today wasn't your first day in it!! So needless to say, I had a fabulous commute this morning. Can't wait to get out there and do it again later.

I am kinda excited to get outta here tonight though, cuz I'm hoping to go check out Munro Crafts in Berkley. The ladies at Haberman's in Royal Oak couldn't say enough about their selection and one lady even described their collection as "orgasmic". Holy cow, we ARE still talking about beads right? Well, since my recent attempts at beading, I'm bitten and am anxious to find nicer beads to work with than our local Joann's can offer.

I worked up a swatch last night to test out the yarn and my ability to change colors for the hat/scarf combo I'm going to make for the guy at my daughter's gym. Here's where I'm at:
This is the pattern I'm using, and by holding 2 strands together of the acrylic (he's young and on a budget) that he bought me, I am getting very close to the same gauge that's called for in the pattern. If you open up the pic so it's larger can you see the lines of black that are showing up on the white? Yeah, I can, and it's bugging me. So, I decided to employ a technique I have read about in many different places. Jogless knitting I think it's called. The idea is to knit (only) the first row of color change instead of following the ribbing pattern written in the pattern. The results are this:
I like this much better!

And this is how the wrong side looks:
I think at least for the hat this is a better way to go. The scarf done this way will have a more definitive right side and wrong side, and I might choose to do the scarf the standard way to minimize the funky pattern.

That's all for now-drive carefully everyone....It's Sleeting!! Oh, and just cuz you drive an SUV or something doesn't make you invincible, so slow down dummy! And quit tail-gating too! It gets on my nerves!

I don't need to explain this....

2006-02-28T16:12:00.000-05:00

Greetings All!

2006-02-28T12:35:00.000-05:00

From D-Dawg Knittin Fool, so dubbed by my posse of sorts. Guess we're going to have to think about re-naming our Michigan Detroit Chapter to something a little more phat! That's p-h-a-t , for clarification to any sensitive peeps out there, we're not talking about thighs or anything!

We all have choices. We choose to go to work or not (course that "not getting paid" thing usually motivates us in the right direction), order tea or latte, eat Mickey D's or Wendy's and the like.

Knitters have choices too. We can make do with some of the tools that Joann's or Michael's provides for us for minimal cash, OR we can take our creativity to a whole new level, and expand our minds.

Would you rather knit with these? The ring on the far left is actually from a now dead battery operated toothbrush, used to mark which brush head is yours. Hey, I'm into recycling...

Or these?
Ooh, aahhh, c'mon say it with me!!

And look how they jazz up my otherwise dull black wool socks.....
And speaking
of aforementioned socks:

They are finally starting to look like they might get finished sometime soon! (Never mind that this picture appears to have been taken on my desk at work-did I mention the bosses are on vacay?) As I run dangerously close to end of my yarn I am almost ready to decrease for the toes! Whoo hoo!! Not that I wouldn't want an excuse to go to the yarn store, I really don't need the temptation as I have a very full stash at the moment and several projects awaiting the completion of these "longer than I anticipated to be knitting" socks.

I am thinking about posting a message on The Knitter's Review Board about my Touch Me questions, but feel free to leave me a comment if you have any tips!

Oh, and to let you know how super special the above socks will be for their recipient, I'm choosing not to pick out the JRH (Jack Russell Hair) that I picked up in them over the weekend. Thanks Amby! I'll be sure to have the SO send you a thank you note!

Have a great day all! I'm so excited to check out Yarn Harlot tomorrow, she says there will be prizes; I thought my gloves were my prize!! Hooray and wish me luck!

Gimme the GOLD baby!!

2006-02-27T14:09:00.000-05:00

The first picture shows what a dork I am, the second one is
my "pretend Vanna" pose showing off
the lovely cabinet behind me,
and the last pose is cuz I work in Detroit and I want to send a "shout out" to my peeps!!

I came, I saw and I conquered. My official end time for knitting was about 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, and the rest of the day/evening was spent washing, flinching, freaking, stuffing the fingers, freaking a little more, and a short trip thru the dryer. I've never dealt with Touch Me before, and the washing process scared me so much that I truly believed these gloves were going to be given to the nearest Barbie doll, as they shriveled up immensely. Hence the stuffing the fingers, and freaking out as the next process. I am happy that they aren't too small, and in fact I'm considering washing and actually fully drying them this time, in order to tighten em up a bit. They're very soft, but just a little too loose now. If anyone has experience with Touch Me, please let me know if the drying acts to loosen/soften the fabric or if that contributes to more shrinkage. I might just knit a 3 x 3 swatch and test it that way, but for all the work I did, I'd like these to fit just a tiny bit tighter. I also have started cutting up the purple leather gloves I mentioned previously, and will at a later date, sew these to the palm of the gloves, as soon as I've figured out the "will I wash em again/won't I" dilemma.

I went to a great party yesterday and celebrated with other Olympians, some who finished their projects, some who did not, but made commendable progress on their projects. A fun and happy time was had by all!

My next post will include some stitch markers that I whipped up over the weekend, and you will see noticeable improvements from the first to the last ones I made, as my wire bending skills got alot better by the 10th or so time.

Congratulations to all the Olympians, knitting and otherwise, we have all made history in our own ways!!

And another one gone...

2006-02-23T15:39:00.000-05:00

This was where I left off last night at Caribou in Troy with all the knitters. The pinky was complete and I was almost halfway up the ring finger. As of today I'm proud to say the ring finger is now complete and I'm halfway up the middle finger. That leaves only 1 finger and 1 thumb to completion!! Then weaving in ends and felting/drying for the final unveiling/wearing on Sunday. Go ME!!

Oops, forgot to say thanks to Amby for taking the lovely photo above, thanks for helping me out!!

We had a great time at the 'bou last night, I believe Kirsti said she counted 11 in all. We're getting large enough that we may have to request the entire coffee shop to ourselves, now if we could just get the heating problem resolved and get them to quit all that annoying coffee bean grinding. I mean really, can't they see we are trying to carry on a perfectly respectable conversation and they are interrupting!! Can you talk over a bean grinder? I certainly can't.

I'm anxious for this project to be complete as I have several other pending WIP's that have been cast aside for the chance at GOLD!! I will feel more complete when some of these other lingering projects have been cast off and given to their respective new owners and I am really going to try not to have too many projects going at once. My poor little pathetic self esteem can't take that many balls (skeins) in the air, so to speak. One or two at a time, and the second can be no larger than socks. Or a hat. Or another pair of Touch Me gloves, this time for my daughter. Really, I must resolve myself to this form of limitation. It's for my own good. And I will achieve a greater sense of accomplishment when I actually finish a project, instead of being overwhelmed by all the little "not quite done" things staring at me.

Maybe I'll have pics tomorrow, not sure, since I'm once again camera-less. Dang SO and his need to have action shots of him and his son snowmobiling in the great outdoors of Up North!! I mean really, it's snow. How exciting can that be? It's all white, seen it once-seen it a million times.

Have a great one!