Snow day

I don't have a picture of the cloudy cold today. It depresses me. I don't know why this year especially, I am so over the snow.

I have completed my redo of my daughter's scarf. Here's to kids not acting like puppies and pulling on it again. I wish it was just a little longer, but it works out okay.

I also love Knitty Cat. I picked up some Noro Silk Garden the other day. I was inspired by a light colored yarn vs a dark colored yarn scarf, so I thought I would make one. Knitty Cat is having a sale in June and I couldn't bring myself to buy yarns that will be on sale then, even though the light colored Kureyon better. Sock yarn too is going to be on sale. I hope they get more in before the sale.

Last night I started my wine bottle cozy. I don't think I have enough of this yarn to make it completely olive green, so I used some Lamb's Pride on the bottom and depending on how tall this turns out I may use it for the top cuff and maybe a handle. I think this green yarn is going to felt wonderfully. It is fun to watch how the colors mesh together as I knit.

Other than that, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I'm not sure by what. Relationship woes, car woes, tax woes, kid woes, work woes. Just a lot of woes.

My second yarn blogiversary is in May. I'm not sure what day, that's okay. As much as I think I can live online, I can't, although I do try. I think this year, since I didn't even acknowledge it last year I may have a contest...some just random number contest. I'll keep you posted.

I'm still into my sock yarn buying craze, although I think I'm starting to slow down as i run out of room to store it. I need to knit from my stash a bit before I start collecting more. However, I've said this before too. I would like to start a toe up sock with some Noro that I've stashed, although that has been kind of put on the back burner since I started another 1x1 rib Noro scarf. Someday I will update my Ravelry.

Today Starbug Knits delivered. Lovely orange and black, and pink and black sock yarn.

Maddening

A few weeks ago I went to Hobby Lobby looking for some more skeins for the blanket I was crocheting since I had a gift card. I found one but I didn't find the other. I thought that the other may be exclusive toWal-Mart. Rats.

Today I went to Wal-Mart and I couldn't find the Bernet self striping yarn at all. So, being my wonderfully stubborn self, I went to Michaels. No luck there either. The bad news is that the blanket I was working on for my son I had put down and then picked up again...with the wrong crochet hook size. As a matter of fact, I have no idea what size I was using. So I finished the second skein of the blanket only to realize that it seemed as though it was shrinking in size. Damn, I think it was a J or K I was using and not an I.

Last night I proceeded to frog that part of the blanket. Well, it didn't go well. Can I reiterate my loathing for boucle style yarn? I just *knew* I should have knit this thing. 1 ball of yarn turned into 4 balls of yarn with no end in site yet. I thought I'd just throw awaywhat I did thus far and just start over. That, of course isn't going to happen if I can't find the yarn.

*grumble*

Update

I found some of the yarn at another Wal-Mart. I have 5 skeins. I bet I'm going to be short anyway. Oh well, at least I found some to do something with.

I was trying to get a few things in order...or at least try and find out what plastic bag I stowed them in...for girl child's birthday party coming up soon.

What I realized was I had a small disaster in my "craft" closet. So I organized.

Only to discover that I'm not satisfied with my organization and that my quilting/sewing items are in my garage. Also, I really do have enough stuff to start a small craft store. If I don't start letting the kids into the craft items that I've gotten for them over the years, I will be run over by them.

If you don't hear from me, I have been buried from the stuff in my closet, please send help.

Open! Open! Open!

Actually posted on 09/13/07

Remember those commercials of once upon a time? I think it was a Mervyn's commercial where a woman stood eagerly at the locked door waiting for the store to open and the sale to begin. That's me right now, although the store is not Mervyns. Ever since Imbrium introduced me this glorious item, I have been obsessing ever since. I haven't hand spun in months. In fact my poor little drop spindle has been decorating my basket of remembering, where I keep my keys and other items I shouldn't lose, for months now. So last Saturday she brought her spinning wheel that we had joked about at Estes 2 years ago. The jist of the conversation was that we should get them and the controversy was that we didn't really have the funds nor the room in our respective homes.

I must acquire a wheel I have decided. I've spun on a spinning wheel exacty 2 times. I think I'll do okay without lessons. I'm brave. Besides the place where I would like to go is about an hour or more away from me and to be there by 6:00 pm I'd have to leave work by 4:30 pm and find a sitter for the kids. Oh well, I can learn from the internet right? Haha. It's more the aintenance stuff about spinning wheels that I am unsure of.

The store I want to go to will be having a sale soon...but not as in this weekend soon...rats. So I have to wait. Well, not really, but I should wait. So in order to keep my excitement to a mere crawl, which isn't working all that well, but I'm trying, I'm hand spinning. Like I mentioned before I haven't spun for a few months now. Since last Saturday I've been trying to spin every day. So much so, that I noticed that I haven't been putting enough spin in some of the yarn I've been spinning. So today at lunch I wound it off of the spindle onto my niddy noddy and I am respinning it...if that is possible...I guess the better term is that I am adding more twist to what I have spun. Kind of OCD of me dontcha think? I mean I could have left it alone and just plyied it when the time came, but something kept bugging me that perhaps it would pull apart or something. Want to guess the percentage that I most likely place the yarn on the drop spindle on to a bobbin when I get a spinning wheel?

Sadly, I must admit that my UFOs are greatly suffering due to my interest obsession with spinning. After finishing the baby blanket for M and C, I started a blanket for my friend's kid E. I had this yarn in my stash, I had originally purchased it for a co-worker who had purchased socks from me for his new nephew. I thought he might be interested in a blanket, after all he had mentioned it in passing, and really who am I to give up a chance to buy some yarn? However, my co-worker was recruited and I didn't hear from him again. So, I thought this yarn would look nifty using a wave crochet stitch...and it does! I was so excited about this stitch I had to make another one. This time for my son because the only blanket he has made by me is the one I made before he was born. I was convinced he was going to be a girl so it's white and pastel with a baby blue border.

Now I swore I would never crochet with a boucle type yarn again, but here I am...and this time oddly enough...it's not turning out nearly as horrible as I thought.

Snow day

So I got a chance to visit Knitty Cat a LYS that carries Alchemy Yarn. I didn't get a skein of Alchemy, I didn't like the colors, but I did pick up some Desert. It's calling "scarf" to me. At some point, I'm thinking, online, I will have to acquire some Alchemy. The bamboo was so soft. But I like their Migrations. That just looks nifty. I think I also want to acquire some linen yarn as well.

I also found some Lorna's Laces in Embers. Couldn't live without it. I think it will make a dandy pair of socks. I like the colorway so much I may have to acquire another skein.

My daughter also found a skein she didn't want to leave without. It is now her pet. :)

I came home and found this...

And what is that? Why that is my ceiling in my apartment kitchen peeling. It didn't feel wet. I'm hoping that it's not a leak. Well, at least if it is, I'm hoping that it was due to the rain and not a pipe.

Finally, some knitted objects. A hat and 1 bootie for now for my friend and his wife. One more to go. Not sure if I like the bootie pattern though. It was knit on two needles, it was a bit tight to manipulate.

This is a scarf...it soon will be a big ball of yarn. Bummer to frog so much, but the basket weave pattern isn't showing up at all, and it's a little wider than I expected.

Back from the beyond...

...well mostly.

I have been sick. My lovely flu turned into walking pnemonia and took me out of work for about a week and a half. I feel so behind right now, at work, at home, in my life. However, slowly but surely things are returning to normal. Slower than I would prefer of course.

I didn't get much knitting done while I was out. I did watch a lot of TV and napped. I don't think that people who have never had children really understand the scope of being sick. Going to work for 8 hours and then come home to work another 8 hours getting the kids, fed, washed, played with, read to, put to bed. Getting a good 6-8 hours of sleep just isn't enough to get better.

This is the progress on the blanket so far. It's a little bigger.

My spinning has been going slow. But I do love this dragon spindle.



My son graduated to a big boy bed. He's been doing fairly good at staying put at night. *sniff* Babies grow up too fast.



I think the most I've gotten since I got sick has been *finally* replacing my dishes. My dish set was a Noritake Colorwave in plum. It was nice. It was basically picked for me by my former mother-in-law. I thought we would go to 2-3 stores for dinnerware when she offered to buy us some, but we went to 1 store, and I thought the set was okay. Frankly, it was too expensive in my opinion. I wanted a black set I saw at Target, but we never made it there.

So, finally now after, what 2 years, of being divorced I have replaced that set with a set I do like, and that didn't cost a small fortune. They're teal and black and lovely AND something I picked.



I especially like my little fish dipping set. Target is so much fun.

Just the voices in my head

The buzzing in the wall is at "medium" right now. It was at a going to go fucking insane "loud" for about 3 hours. Now it's cough tolerable going to go crazy because of the stupid noise, I hate apartments.

So this week...I've been dealing with lovely drama bullshit from the X. Gotta love X's. Our perceptions of the world are so very different. I think he's a jackass and he thinks he's a saint.

But on to better things...why dwell on crap that you can't change especially after the phone was hung up on me for the umpteenth time? This was my Valentine's day present. Flannel sheets that were the wrong size that turned into satin sheets because he thought they were soft and they reminded him of me. A lacqeured rose and a plastic piece he shaped in a heart. Actually I got the heart last night, but I lumped into Valentine's day. It was a very nice day actually. First nice Valentine's day I ever had in my whole life. It's not that the other ones were comparable...in fact they were so craptastic that I think I have some emotional damage from them...that is if I were in fact to muse over them for any length of time.

On the knitting front...I hate to report my slow going. I think at this time I have truly run out of things to knit. I picked up a new lace pattern book which is wonderful, and I'm lacking the needles and the lace yarn to start any of them. And my patience has been lacking lately due to asshat. However, my progress on this little guy keeps progressing...I'm not sure into what. I'm making it up as I go. Seems to not be making ruffles on me this time...can't remember the word for it...making ruffles...new word, yay!

I actually thought brilliantly to myself that I should make tissue box covers. I think I'm getting desperate. Hehe...come to my house I knitted a couch cozy! Well, not yet... ;)

Still kickin'

Frogs. Lovely little critters. My children pretend that the house is over run and they have to chase them out the door.

However, the little blanket below...

This is what it looks like frogged. Notice the lovely wannabe stripes.

I have since restarted the blanket. It's turning out better this time. Last time it started puckering some.

What is it that I have been up to lately? Updates for my 3 loyal readers. Not much sad to say. World of Warcraft. I have recently started knitting again. Can you believe I'm having a difficult time thinking of what to knit? Enjoying time with friends.

The picture to the right...someone thought that I was funny.

What?

The cola cap fit.

Well, I think it'll turn out okay

It's a baby blanket in progress. Self striping yarn...interesting. It's going much slower than expected.

Because...

I'm an elf baby!

Which makes me wonder. Why am I so fascinated with the stats on my leather pants, and the pretty yellow numbers of DOT?

Why do I blog?

Well, that's a good fucking question. If anyone has ideas please let me know. It's a weird little exhibitionism quirk in my brain I suppose. It's not as though I really want people to know what I'm thinking. It would be truly fun to be completely anonymous and let it all fly. Just one of those moods after getting off a phone call with my favorite person, because it's always my fault.

On to other items though. Here is the scarf I finished for my friend. He loved it and wears it all the time now. He says it's warm. It matches his jacket too. I wasn't too sure about the orange and black combo, but it seemed to work okay. It may be the last time I ever knit a scarf lengthwise though. First time I ever knitted anything for a man who was not related to me. Not even the X got anything out of me. But then again, I never thought he'd truly appreciate something from one's heart and hands.

I finally finished the blanket I started 2 years ago. It will be sent in a package to my sister. How odd it is as an adult to know now that I have a sister. Especially after being raised an only child.

A closer view of the Korean and English. The variegated yarn made interesting patterns once you stand back.

Hehe...I must work on my photography skills. I tend to get in a hurry and suddenly you notice a baby buggy wheel in the corner or extremely clashing colors or background texture.

I must remember that single crochet on a G hook takes a long time. But I admit I am not the world's fastest knitter or crocheter...I just enjoy the process.

A picture of the edging. She had a baby girl, if I understand correctly. When I designed it, it was going to be for a woman I hardly knew who was going to have a boy. However, this seems a much more appropriate present for my sister than for this woman who I have now lost touch with. I thought the lacy edge would be a good touch.

Going forward onto projects that I'm working on now...well, this blanket is taking the lead right now. I love self striping yarn. Have a mentioned this before? Haha. It's turning out well, now that I've figured out how many stitches to pick up on the side roughly...since I'm making this up as I go along. Fun stuff! Should be more interesting as I progress.

I finished one of two socks. Is it just me or is it always harder to knit the second sock...motivation wise really. I'll take a picture when the second one is done...heck, he's waited 4 years so far, what's 4 more?

Snow...is still the topic of the day

Ah...


Thursday was a snow day. I haven't had a snow day since I was in high school. Something about 2+ feet of snow and the city was shut down. I still could have made it into the office. The plus and minus of living about 2 minutes from work. However, I must admit I was happy to have a snow day, even though I didn't have anyone else in my home since the kids were visiting others. What other better thing to do when there is a ton of snow outside? Knitting of course!


I finally finished the set of slippers for my daughter...these shrunk up quick too...I'm glad I checked them after 5 minutes. I also worked on the black and orange scarf. I didn't actually finish that until 12/23. But the recipient greeted it with much enthusiam. And of course, in true fashion I forgot my camera and therefore I do not have a picture of the final product. He did say he'd stop by and I'll have to take pictures then.

The next day at work on 12/22, greeted us with open parking lots. There was so much snow off the top parking lot that you can't really tell that this picture to the left is a parking garage. You could just hop off the top and slide on down.


Lastly, I have made stich markers, 3 sets actually, this is only the blue set. I'm still organizing my mass chaos I call, beads, but it's working out. I received new organizing boxes for Christmas. Grand things I'm sure will occur.

Well, it started out as a good thought.

For those of you who read this blog...here's another picture of slippers. Same like the ones below, but a bigger size so hopefully this time I will not shrink them too much. I am curious as to who reads this blog. I know of perhaps 2 or 3.


Lately, I've been going through this lonely phase. Not sure what that is about...other than I feel sort of bored. I know I have tons of things to do...like the bottom sole of the slipper and the scarf to your right. I somehow keep finding new things to do though. I hate when I start to wander...things just end up piling up. And really, these two items need be done by the end of next week.


The scarf is for my friend. I think he'll like it. I've never knit anything for a man before...well my dad I did...but someone outside the family? I hope I get it done. I'm doing a lengthwise garter

stitch...it seemed like a good idea at first. I am finding that it is taking longer than I thought. Also I didn't plan out how I was going to sew in the ends very well because I wasn't going to put fringe on this. I will go on the theory no one will notice.




So, when I was in high school, I had a business making jewelry. When I moved out of my parent's house I boxed up all of my stuff which had been sitting for a long time gathering dust since my interest had waned due to college and thinking that drinking beer was more interesting. And as moving things...well...moves them, stuff got all jumbled up.

I spent last weekend sorting out seed beads...thousands of them...by color...it's a sickness I know :). It's good to know it'll be carried on by the next generation too...since my girl kept asking me, "Mama, can I sort some beads for you?"

So, then, as I nosed on the internet, I thought, "oh...stitch markers look nifty...I should make hundreds some."

Well, I learned a few things. 1) Just because a picture looks nifty does not make it easy. 2) Memory wire is evil. 3) Seed beeds are a pain in the ass. 4) I don't think my eyesight is what it used to be.

But in the end I created this...and it turned out okay. I don't know how many I will make one.

Mantra

knitting is relaxing...

knitting is relaxing...

So yesterday I got to catch up with some friends and we happily played cards until yawn 3 AM. Always seems like an awesome thing until I have to deal with that ball of fire in the sky the next day. Anywhoo...I then couldn't sleep after they left...so I watched some Star Trek: TNG and knitted. I finished my girl's first slipper. Hmm...my yarn senses are tingling...I think somethings missing...oh well...I'm sleepy.

Snore...Zzzz

The next morning came...I wander to go find out what time it is...pick up said slipper and stare at it and the pattern...something's wrong...keep in mind...I frogged it Thursday night because the toe was 2 stitches off...I was thinking about just keeping it that way and then my the need to frog overwhelmed me and I frogged off the toe and did it again...

I continue to stare and make the slipper nervous...I had finished the cuff and bound it off last night...

crap



The purls seem to have crawled *inside* the slipper. Rats. How'd that happen .

So...do I 1) frog, 2) felt it inside out, 3) felt it right side out and pick up on the side stitches when I combine the outer sole...

Did I say ?

Curse you perfectionism!

I've been busy

So, I've been pretty bad at updating my blog. There are reasons for this. They aren't great reasons, but they are "life" reasons.

1) I work a lot. My job seems to take up more of my precious knitting time.

2) I have these two smallish people who call me "mom" and follow me home...ALL the time! ;)

3) I've been dating a man on a regular basis. I guess you could say he's my boyfriend. Freaky huh? It amuses me to no end really. We dropped off my girl over at a birthday party in a part of town neither of us were familiar with. Would you believe he noticed the yarn store before I did and he pointed it out to me and encouraged me to go back and check it out. I like this guy.

So in the time I've been playing hooky. I've finished plying the wool I spun that I purchased in Estes Park. I can't wait until the fiber festival comes back next summer. I keep seeing all this lovely fluff online and I'm just trying to wait until summer. But I think it turned out pretty good.

So, there I was thinking that I was done for awhile spinning yarn because I needed to start on Christmas presents. Most importantly two pairs of slippers for my children and a scarf for my...ahem...boyfriend.

But then I was seduced by this gorgeous spindle Imbrium gave me. It spins amazingly smooth.

I've had to put it up on a shelf. Out of sight out of mind right?

But it spins so thinly...and fast...and and...

So then I started a slipper for my girl. It's with bulky Lamb's Pride and Malabrigo. I thought the kids needed matching slippers. My girl, "Is that for me?" Well, yes, do you like it? "Well you can give that to my brother because I want to have slippers made out of the yarn you're spinning for me." That's not going to be thick enough (see picture above). "Oh, well I guess that can be for me."

This coming from the girl who told me she likes green. Well, she is 7 and a girl...mind changes constantly. Santa is in for a big job.

This was the first project I ever felted. I prepared my washer, stuck the slippers in a pillowcase and started the machine. I checked it after about a minute and it seemed as though the process was starting. I was surprised at the amount of wool that had already come off in the pillowcase. I put them back in thinking to myself that if I watch it I'm going to go nuts. So, I went and sat down and watched TV for 5 minutes. I came back. And wah-la...slippers. The size...for my son. Rats. I tried fitting them on my sleeping girl to see if they would fit. Nope. Tried when she woke up this morning...nope. Rats. Back to the knitting needles to make a pair for my girl. At least I started with her in mind.