One month to go...

...until the baby (should) be born. It is so hard to believe I just let time slip by so much between updates for my blog. But I have had to realize in the last few weeks that I need to slow myself down. I am so freakin' independent and headstrong that I am always trying to do so many things. But my body is telling me, woah. I was getting nauseous just grocery shopping today (after other errands of course). But it is getting tougher and tougher to get stuff done.

In the last few days, I can feel the baby starting to push his head down (the beginning of lightening). It is right on time, according to baby websites.

A friend of mine in one of my knitting groups told me about the hooter hider. So I am going to try to make one. Let's hope my sewing curse does not rear up.

I did finish DH's socks in time for his birthday. I have put away my camera so it is ready to go to the hospital. Let's just say he was thrilled. He has waited WAY too long for those. AND I have frogged back the EZ baby surprise jacket for the 7th time or so, and it is slowly going. It is hard to knit as often when my most comfortable prone position is to lay down on my side.

The nursery is pretty much done. It is time to put away the power tools and set up the lamp and air purifier. :) Maybe then it will be picture worthy.

So much better...

My back healed up fine by the next day. No pain at all. I don't know how that is possible; it must be some sort of baby miracle. Either the bath and tylenol worked, or the same hormones that make your joints all lose and drop things also helped my back to loosen itself up. All I can say is thank goodness. Because normally I would be fighting the pain for 3-4 days (or longer at the worst case).

I am trying to get my knitting mojo back. I think it is slowly. I am trying to fit some knitting back into my mornings while drinking my coffee and watching the news. Then I can still spend most of my time later in the day still "getting ready for baby" (GRFB). Part of it is some finishitis (DH's socks) and startitis (Baby Surprise Sweater).

DH's socks are the Garter Stitch socks I have been working on forever. I am finally past the gusset and working on the foot. He will be so happy now since the weather was 78 degrees yesterday and I am finally finishing his first pair of wool socks! (Yeah, doh!)

My baby-chemical addled brain is easily tricked by the sketchy instructions of the EZ Baby Surprise Sweater. Bare with me if I sound like a whiner; I honestly don't mean to. I am normally very good at less than obvious instructions that lead to math, hence the engineering degree. I am just easily confused right now and when I have a tendency to set this down for a week at a time, I forget where I was. The colors are actually much deeper and intense in person.

Pattern: EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket

Yarn: Yarn By Mills Worsted Hand-Dyed

(sorry, I can't find the label)

Needles: Size 5, 36" circ Addi Turbos

And my new STR kit came in! It is gorgeous. I will post about it soon.

My peeps...

I am following Isis' theme for a post, since I am slow on the knitting progress lately.



I dearly miss the North West, especially my hometown. Someday I hope to move to Washington or somewhere.



Here is a picture of my hometown. And here are some others. You can see why I miss it. Don't get me wrong, this part of the country is pretty perfect when it comes to weather, but I still wish it was a bit cooler. I have to figure out somewhere cooler to live that is not a royal pain to live, because my DH cannot take alot of heat anymore. I suspect he is an undiagnosed heat casualty of some sort. Anytime he works outside in the heat, it knocks him out for at least a day.



I have not been knitting so much lately, due to HOA and block parties, volunteer work and shoulder/back pain. Mostly it is the pain that holds me back. I did weave in the ends on the first sock, and have started the second sock, but have not made much progress on it.



In great knitting news, I passed the first installment of my Basics, Basics, Basics course. Now I need to knuckle down and start the second installment here. I should set a goal to start this week. Maybe on Thursday, because today and tomorrow are CRAZY. I think I have four or more appointments tomorrow!

A little nervous again...

I am interviewing for a position today. It is with a local nonprofit. It is an unexpected opportunity that I stumbled across, and I think I am the last person they are interviewing. My fear is that I may be overqualified or not the right fit. I do have the right education, and some of the right experience. All of my experience will be applicable. But the position may be intended for someone without an MBA, for someone who is starting out. The job description seems a little ambiguous that way. And I have not interviewed in quite awhile, and I fear that all that time crunching numbers as affected my eloquence (that is a bit true...I fear language centers atrophy when you spend all day working and discussing numbers. :) ). I really shouldn't be so nervous. I am fortunate enough that I don't have to work, but I would like to work doing something that I love and enjoy doing. And let's face it, no one particularly likes being rejected. :) So, wish me luck. Think positive thoughts.

I have finished my husband's first sock, all except for the kitchener stitch on the toes and weaving in the ends. I want him to try it on first before I seal it up. One of the suckiest things in knitting is frogging a completed kitchener stitch (I have done it a few times). I really would like to avoid that. :)

Did you ever notice...

that friends and family call you more when you have alot of work to do? Not that I don't want my friends and family calling, but it is like they have a sixth sense of perfect timing to call at the most inconvenient times. Especially when you have just stepped out of the shower, are way late in watering your flowers (it is 11 am already!), and have to get going on your market research before you have to go do your other volunteer hours!

I really can't talk too much about the market research I am doing. I know I have told some of my friends in person, but I don't want to get everyone's hopes up about what I am working on. I am just doing some market research and feasibility analysis for a local nonprofit I am involved with. It is good to do free business "consulting" as it keeps my skills going without having to start back at work just yet.

However, I am getting antsy and may start applying for some jobs here. I have tried before to get back into engineering by apply to just a few jobs, but I did not get any takers. :) Oh well. It is not easy when you are in a town that is close to the state's best engineering school, you have been out of it awhile, and your experience is in other states that have different regs. Not sure why employers think that the same skills you had 3 years ago are all of a sudden gone. The same skills that helped you learn your job and do things well so quickly in the past. :) But enough about that.

I am still working on that sock for my husband. Slow going with all of my volunteer work. They are the garter rib socks from Sensational Knitted Socks. I like the garter stitch trim on the heel.

Where has the summer gone? Time has just flown by. I have been so busy, but it is as though I can't remember what I have really been busy doing. I am spread between so many things. :)

And if you haven't already heard, drinking more than one soda a day can kill you. At least, that is how the journalists are reporting these stories. But it seems more research needs to be done before we all panic. I think I already knew that drinking alot of soda was bad, as I have tried not to drink more than one a day my whole life. I agree with the journalists though, basically consuming anything with calories can kill you. So why eat? :)

Oh crap! And now I just saw a report that low bad cholesterol may increase cancer risk. Who can win?

Movin' along...

I am so happy....I have finished my first Christmas 2007 present...the modified Father Daughter Hat for my dad. I just hope that it really is big enough to fit his head the way he wants it to.

Pattern: Father Daughter Hat

Yarn: Alaskan Alpaca, sport weight
Source: I can't remember, my mom
Needle: Size 5 16" Addi Turbos

My lovely model, Bruce, decided to model it for me. It is not blocked, but I don't think that would make a huge difference in how it photographs.

I have also finished the 5 swatches for my Basics course. I still need to block them, label them and do their write ups. So, there is much work to be done still.

And I have given in to the guilt trips. My DH is so sad that I have still not knit a pair of socks for him YET. He says he has been so patient waiting for me to knit something for him. I am a bit of a selfish knitter...So I *had* to cast on a pair. I could not find my Lorna's Laces to knit the boyfriend socks for him. I don't know where the heck that yarn is...usually my stash is pretty organized, so I don't know where it is. So instead, I casted on the Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the Sweet Pea colorway and am doing the garter stitch rib from Sensational Knitted Socks.

I feel like my knitting progress is unimpressive (which it is! :) ). I may break down and hire my old PT as a personal trainer for a few days a month. Because I feel a little desperate after the last few weeks. Since my hives, I have been consistently working out, but the lower back pain is persistent. I have even made a cranial-sacral therapy appointment. If anyone has experience with cranial-sacral, let me know. I hear great things about it from several friends.

And now some time for viewer mail.....

Fiberitis said...
Beautiful roses. Are you still planning to do the Master Gardener program?

Yes. I have so many interests, that some other schooling may either overtake or be squished in with the master gardener program. So I am going to have to see how things develop here. Either way, it is still on my mind.

Oh, and of course, the japanese beetles are still attacking my roses. Fortunately, only one at a time. So I go out there and start wacking my poor rosebuds in effort to get the beetles off. So I cut one of my new white ones early. I hope in a few days to take a picture of the white rose bush with a few buds in bloom. Then I cut them and take them inside to protect them from those pesky beetles!

A bird has made a nest in my crepe myrtle. So I don't know if I can spray it for the beetles without getting an aerial attack. It got a little risky a few days ago just spraying the myrtle with soap water! :) I heard enough fluttering and chirping that I decided I better head inside before my head got pecked. I love birds, but they can be a pain when one is trying to maintain their trees.

I have the bestest....

SP10 pal EVAAAAAARRRRRR! (Yes, to show my happiness I will risk sounding like a 'tweener.)

I was a little worried when my SP10 pal posted on my blog that she had sent me a package at the beginning of June. Because I have been so sick, I have not been to the old PO Box in two weeks. I was worried that they may have >gasp<>

But no, it was there waiting for me. Of course, I got into my car and opened it right away. (Those box cutters I keep in there to do my weekly recycling runs come in handy for surprise packages!) And here it is.....

Squeeeeeeee!!!! She ordered for me the Cookie A. sock pattern, Twisted Flower, that I wanted mostest mostest mostest. I know you could not have had a camera in my house...because I had just showed this pattern to my husband last week when I was home sick catching up on Knitty Gritty episodes. I was explaining to him how Cookie A. is the most amazing sock designer, and how I wanted to do this pattern. He thought I was a bit touched, being how complicated it is. :) But me being a bit touched goes without sayin'....But he is so sweet and a bit touched too with his faith in me that he thinks I will be able to do amazing designs someday too.

And the EXACT yarn that it calls for (Louet Gems, which I am looking forward to trying finally), and a set of uber cool lantern moon sox stix. I bet you didn't know that this was my favorite color of green when I was little? My favorite color was green, and I just loved loved loved emerald green. Now, I love all greens. But anyway, I felt like a little kiddie in a candy store. While I was driving, I would pet the yarn. Oooh. Of course, she also sent me two delicious truffles, which I have already eaten (and hence, no pic).

All I can say is, SP10 Pal, you are one cool chica. You must really be stalking my blog. :)

And yes, you are contributing to my knitting ADHD. I am really itching to break out the ball winder and swift (and I will probably break down later today). But I will always forgive you. I don't mind being spoiled so well.

P.S. My dad is from Massachusetts. And I love Boston and my favorite team is the BoSox. :) I used to watch their games with my grandfather. Definitely not just a post-championship bandwaggoner fan here.

There is alot to be excited about today...but also some sad news

Bovidae Farm Trip, FO, new sock yarn, Stitches East signups, and I think some more....

On Saturday I trekked up to Bovidae Farm in Mars Hill, NC with some members of our local knitting groups. It is best to visit Bovidae Farm in a group, because they like for you to call ahead and arrange a visit since they are a real-working farm and have alot of work to do! Anyway, we all made lunch dishes and drove up there and ate lunch on their wrap around porch, and petted their corriedale and merino sheep. Most of the flock is corriedale. I forgot my camera, so I will post some pictures when one of the other ladies on the trip sends some to me. They process and dye their own wool, as well as sell some other yarns in a little yarn shop in their cabin. Very nice people...what else can you say about people who let a group take over their house and knit! Hey, at least we brought food! I picked out some worsted weight in their Lichen colorway (dark sage greens and brown to match my eyes) for the rogue sweater. I will have to wash it first because the lanolin in the yarn will drive my allergies nuts.

It is funny, but in this light it looks more of an emerald green. Anyway, it will look great on me no matter what the lighting is.

We decided to leave Bovidae early to visit a yarn store up the road called Yummi Yarns in Burnsville, NC. The ladies in the store were very nice (I think they let us take over their shop for two hours), and they have an impressive selection of yarn, from high end to more modest yarns. Louisa Harding, Rowan, Noro, Hanne Falkenberg Kits, Colinette, Lamb's Pride, etc.. Too many to remember. Anyway, I had fun playing fashion model for the Hanne Falkenberg Trunk Show. I am glad it was there, because I got to try on many styles and narrow down what Iwould really buy if I was ever lucky enough to do so...some day I will own Diva or Mermaid. Man, am I a sucker for scandinavian designs. I will really need to save up for them, as they run ~$250 per kit!

They don't have a website yet, so I will post the info here: Yummi Yarns, 7 So. Main Street, Burnsville, NC 28714, 828 678 9890

I also finished my Inside Outs yesterday! Finally! It took forever since I have been working on many projects and traveling too much!

Yesterday, I also received my Sundara Yarn Petals Collection for May. It is gorgeous! Let me tell you, this girl has an eye for color you won't believe. And this kit is modeled on Dahlias, which I love. I have even planted some this year. I am so tempted to jump into this right away.

And last but not least, I signed up for my Stitches East classes this morning! And I got all of my first choices!! squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! I am going to take alot of design classes this year, to work on my New Years Knitting Resolutions. It is time to take off the training wheels and dive in. I know I can do it and already understand some design. But I have not really done much of that yet. Mary and I also have already reserved a hotel, so we are good to go!

We found out last week that our best local yarn shop, IMO, Yarns Forever, is closing its brick and mortar doors. I am saddened by this, but realize that this is also an opportunity for the owner. She is going to instead focus on expanding her growing wholesale and retail hand dyed yarn business, and on starting an alpaca farm. Have no fear, she will keep selling yarn through her websites for Yarns Forever and Creatively Dyed. It is unfortunate, but the local market is not enough to support the overhead of a bricks and mortar store. So, to all of my local readers, please go by and support her while she closes out the store. I know that many of you have not had the time to go there yet, but please make the time. She is open for a few hours on Saturdays, so please try to fit it into your schedules.

My red daylillies are totally in bloom now. Each has about 3-4 flowers per plant, and more buds waiting to bloom. I am excited. It is time to go and feed them some liquid fertilizer, and to plant my tomatoes and herbs.

I think it is time to slow down and spend some time at home. I have been on the road way too much. I need to feel a little more grounded. :) Plus, DH is starting to forget who I am!

I am not shim-shammin man....

I have been pretty scarce with the DH birthday jubilee this week. But I have been getting some things done.

A quilt block for Thimbleberries (this is for February, so you can see I am two months behind. Gasp!). I just received the April Kit today, so I am going to try to start on that here in the next week. It is a house and should not be too hard.

A little further on the Inside Out sock. I am a little further along than this picture, so I am deciding on how much ribbing to do before I bind off.

Golly, the flash makes everything look ickier.

And we have had something like 4 new member to the Alaskan Knitters ring in the last week. That is so exciting.

The Asheville Yarn Crawl is tomorrow. Unfortunately, only 6 of us can go. Boohoo...but at least we will be a lean, mean yarn buying machine all packed into one minivan! And we are all in trouble with me as the Cruise Ship Activities Director. (I will try NOT to revert to my old cranky ma'amerific ways learned in the Army...no really, I think I will be so sleep deprived it will not be an issue. And everyone is too cool. I just get cranky when I am around lazy idiots. And I am a sleep deprived officer working 5 jobs.) I will ensure bliss by buying a Starbucks sugar free, nonfat, no whip Cinnamon Dolce Latte. And I am probably going to buy my weight in truffles at The Chocolate Fetish. (That alone should boost my mood.) At least that was DH's directive to me. And hey, he is the bday boy and it is chocolate, so who am I to disobey?

Honestly, their chocolates are so good that if I lived in Asheville, I would probably try to work there. Maybe smelling all the chocolate would stop me from eating it so much?!

I'm a little scarce right now

I am calling these 9 days the jubilee celebration of my husband's birthday. He is having such a stressful time at work that I am planning surprises for him every day. So far it is going very well, but because of it I am going to be a little scarce the next week. I have completed two cable repeats on my Inside Out Monsoon Socks for the STR club. It is fun, but don't try doing a 5/1/5 cable with alot of action going on around you, especially on metal needles! Whoops! and they stitches you just cabled slide right off. It could be stressful if you are not good a picking up dropped stitches. Thank goodness, now I am on size one needles for these, so it is going a bit faster....



Meanwhile, the Alaskan Knitters blog ring has grown by two more members! Slowly but surely, we will unite all the Alaskan Knitters out there. :) It is fun to see what everyone is working on.

I also just have to say how much I am loving my Ott lamp. I no longer have eye strain when I work on my knitting in bed...and reading is nice too!

See you in a few days. Asheville yarn crawl this weekend! Woohoo!

Sad, sad times...

I finally did hear back from Brooks Farm today. They do not have any more of my dyelot. C'est la vie. They do so many shows, I knew not to hope. My choices are:
1. Continue knitting and pray I have enough yarn. Then frog if needed as described in step 2.
2. Try on garment, mark where I can eliminate extra middle section repeats. Go ahead and frog and rip back middle section repeats. Pick up dropped stitches and rock on.

Husband is an advocate to #1. If I do #2, I would probably want his help on marking the garment with stitch markers anyway. I think I will think about this and wait until tonight.

Inside Out sockie is progressing. I have to go to a stinkin' homeowners association meeting tonight, and I swore to DH that I am bringing my sock with me, I don't care what people say. Because we all know that I will be stuck there for hours in some uncomfortable folding chair, hoping to successfully fight the desire to self-lobotimize with my DPNs. I will have flashbacks to high school where I fought that same urge, only with pencils. Ugh. My neighbor (bless her heart) is trying to get me to run for the board because of my numbers background. I say nay. I have enough drama in my life. I made some excuse about needing to take more classes to get ready for graduate school (partly true) and that I am working on some business ideas (partly true too). I do not need to serve on the board with my neighbors whose dog keeps pooing in my yard and they never pick it up, etc., etc.. Okay, enough with that but you get the idea. I don't want to be a slave to people who are miserable and petty. If I wanted that, I would still be working as an FA in some silly pressure cooker company.

Oh, and a warning, the next statement may offend some: The assumption that a person who does not work a "regular" job and who does not have kids has all the time in the world to take on all the other crap in the world that others do not want to do annoys the crud out of me. And that I don't have enough other very important stuff going on that I am really into. I can draw two parallel situations, one of which I have been in:

1. The single person working for a company gets asked to work through holiday vacation plans, nights, weekends for any emergency that comes up because your personal time is not as valuable as those who are married (with or without kids). This applies no matter how many years of experience you have and where you are in the pecking order.

2. Mothers with children who get asked to take on all sorts of stuff at school, church, whatever (whether they work or not). Because it is assumed they "wouldn't mind" helping out, or taking on just a few more kids other than your own for an afternoon. As if you have a ton of free time yourself. (I've seen this happen to my mom and friends.)

Enough said. (You can feel free to submit your own rants on the same topic to me. I will appreciate all views.)

The Project Spectrum colors for the next two months are:
April / May: Green, Yellow, Pink
And Sundara's Bird of Paradise Yarn fits perfectly. Only I am not on gage. So I will have to frog back and start again. On socks, you can see a trend. I love to live dangerously and check gage as I knit. :)

The weather is supposed to dip much colder the next few days. I am not happy about that, but I knew it was a possibility. I just planted some dahlias, daisies, daylillies, basil and impatiens. The dahlias, daisies and basil are in pots and can be brought into the garage for refuge. The daylillies should be okay. I only planted two impatiens, so no biggie. But still. I knew I was living dangerously, but I don't want to wait till next month to plant in that heat.

And now for some viewer mail:

Beverly said...
" Not only do you have a lot of gardners in your guild, there are several master gardeners. I was definitely impressed."

I agree. I am going to go to the garden organizations with some of them. I am going to see if I want to go through the master gardener program myself or not. Growing up where I did in Alaska, the soil is so rich all you have to do is plant something and fertilize it. Here, it is much tougher and I feel I could stand to learn alot more. I also have friends and family who will think I have lost my mind undertaking such a thing; they will think I am wasting my time. I don't care. I defy stereotypes and expectations all the time as it is. :) And I have always had a natural green thumb, even for a city girl. There are also some other areas of interest I am going to pursue this year as well, but I am keeping those to myself. :)

This is going to take awhile...

I have been diligently working on my STR Inside Out pattern. But I knew I was in trouble but kind of in denial and the whole let's wait and see how it fits before I decide situation. Basically, I am probably knitting this pattern TOO LOOSE. Yeah, wtf? Notice the UBER-pooling situation in the pics below.

And how the ribbing barely stretches on my little baby feet.

So I bit the bullet this morning and took these pics, and then frogged it back to within 1/2 inch of the start of the ribbing (because you all know that I do not want to accidentally frog all they way back to where the provisional cast on stitches were picked up and end up accidentally dropping those too far). At least now the color striping seems to be more satisfactory.

Finally pics of my dream swatch...my apologies to all of you sweet people out there who have been waiting to see it. I wore it out and about last week. I am sure some people thought it was unusual. DH thinks it is cute. With my medium-length hair, it makes another bad hairday option possible. The pics are a little blurry because I had to take them myself.

I still haven't really looked at my More Sensational Knitted Socks book. I have a legitimate excuse. I have started working on my garden, going out and buying flowers and pulling those that did not make it through the winter out of my beds. I bought daylillies, gerber daisies, africian daisies, and impatiens. Thing is, I am now really scared because between a bad fall in aikido and gardening, I may have really killed my knee again. About 1/3 of my knee is bruised today. I almost cried yesterday, worried that I may need to get another knee surgery. So I am trying not to stress the knee too much. I will try to go just do some planting in my large pots, so that I hope that I do not have to crouch or kneel to work them.

I am probably going to join some local gardening societies too, to help me learn more. I am thinking about doing that, especially since some of my knitting friends are big gardeners and are already involved in the organizations. Growing up where I did in Alaska, I did not have to learn much. The soil is so rich that you plant something and it grows like gangbusters. Here in the hard red clays of SC, one has alot more work to do!

Cedar Creek Socks done!

Yay! I *finally* finished my Cedar Creek Socks. I strayed away from these because I really wanted to get started on that Clapotis and other things. And I started to get bored doing the second sock, which does not usually happen to me. I think I am one month behind on my sock a month goal. Oh well. All I can do is push on. One of the socks is a little tighter than the other.....ugh. I am too much of a tight knitter sometimes.
Pattern: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Cedar Creek
Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight in "Lucy" Colorway

Source: Blue Moon Fiber Arts

Needle: Size 2 Bamboo DPNs

Hey, that reminds me that Brooks Farm still hasn't written back to me regarding getting more yarn for my Clapotis. That is not cool. If I don't hear from them within a week, I am going to have to start calling.

I am close to finishing the Dream Swatch. I hope to finish later today and post it soon. It is quite pretty. I just hope it looks decent on me! That I do it justice. :)

Squeeee! STR club package arrived!

So as not to spoil it for those who have not received their package yet, I will place in some blank space. For those who want to see, scroll down....

Isn't it beautiful? I stopped by my PO Box on the way to my knitting group last night, and it was there! I called my STR Club buddy in Florida while I opened the package. Immediately, I decided these colors are right up my alley since I love greens, blacks and some browns. But then when I looked at it again last night, I decided it reminded me of my old army fatigues. And I decided, since I owe my husband some socks, maybe I would just make these for him. They seem like they would be perfect for a man, especially since the pattern calls for extra arch support, toe and heel padding. The pattern is also reversible. Since my husband wears through socks like kleenex, this pattern may be best for him. :) He is tough on the toes and heels of his socks. It is only fair too, since the Sundara Petals Yarn is more suited for me. :) Oh, I don't know. He doesn't wear this color of green really. I am torn.

I love the new binder, to put all of my sock patterns in one place! Perfect! I will put the button on one of my knitting bags. I don't really want to use the bumper sticker on my new car...who knows. And I love the 10% off an order coupon. BMFA makes fun of their old bank on it. I am going to have to save it and prioritize which colors I am going to buy out of the ton that I love.

I also really need to start my applique block today for my class on Thursday, so I am torn. Start on these socks? But I have never done toe up before (but want to). Or start my block and put off that bias strip I don't want to do. Aiaiai. I think maybe both?

I finally frogged back about four rows on my Clapotis yesterday, so I have restarted that. I am two rows away from the third section of the pattern. Yay!

Halfway done on Cedar Creek...yay!

I do not like to get into political opinions or commentary on my blog, because it tends to be too divisive. Many people cannot have a friendly debate in which they keep political beliefs separate from judgements about personal character. Or personal attacks. I do not judge people as being worthy of my kindness and friendship based on their political opinions; my friends are from all points in the spectrum. That may have something to do with growing up in Alaska where people are BIG individualists and love to have friendly debates. But on my blog I will occasionally delve into social commentary. I think we all do; we voice our frustrations in our blogs. Enough of Anna Nicole Smith already! This ongoing 24-7 coverage of her tragic life and death is too much! There are people dying all over the world from genocide, starvation and disease, and this is what our media chooses to feed us. To keep us as ignorant and stupid about the world as we want to be. Argh! This is why I like to look at foreign media sometimes. And exactly why I spend more of my time watching the financial news than regular news.

Enough said for today. Just please, I hope that you all make it a point in your life to branch out and seek knowledge from other sources of your own choosing. Whatever they may be.

I finished the first of the pair of Cedar Creek socks yesterday. I have already casted on the second sock, and it is too funny. The picot edge on the SS took me maybe a few minutes, when the first time I did it it must have taken 2o minutes to half an hour? Granted, I was really exhausted the first time I did it because I felt under the weather. That is the great thing about sock knitting, getting better and faster on the SS.

I also showed off my Sockentine Swap socks at my Monday Needleworkers Anonymous meeting. Everyone loved them. My pal did a great job!

I am totally inspired yet again by Knitosaurus to try to do the Rogue pattern (sometime this year). (An aside: the Knitosaurus knitters do some of the cutest knits and I love their beautiful pictures modeling their knits against SE Alaska backdrops. They are too cute.) I know some of my NwAnon friends want to do it someday too. Torn between Jamieson's Aran and Green Mountain Spinnery's Mountain Mohair since I have heard both of these work well for the pattern. Jamieson's would be cheaper. I don't really want to substitute a yarn cheaper than Jamieson's, unless I hear of one that absolutely holds up and retains beautiful cable work. I figure if I am going to do that much work on a sweater, it is worth investing in a gorgeous yarn so that it will last a long time and I will want to wear it more. Let me know if you all have any opinions out there in blogland.

I may have to disappear for a few days, as I need to clean my house and try to accomplish as much work on an applique square as humanly possible before my class on Thursday. I have not started AT ALL. Oh well. I just take too many classes at once to get everything done.

Sunday update

Sorry I have not posted in a few days. I was feeling a bit rundown. And I didn't want to tortue y'all with my babblings when they are less energetic and coherent. I did manage to butch up and make it to Aikido yesterday. But I could not have done it without my DH's surprise emergency caffeine-infusion via a serving of a Starbucks nonfat sugar-free dolce latte. Bless his heart.

The great news is that I received my Sockentine Pal's socks in a carepackage yesterday. I managed to drive by the post office on my way home from Aikido in my exhausted state, and I was sure glad I did. Here is what she sent to me:

Aren't they beeeyuuuteeful? Such gorgeous lacework. Earthchick, you totally rock! And of course, they are purple because she is a Furman Grad from lovely Greenville SC. How perfect? I am wearing them around the house today. Even my DH says they are wonderful and amazing. She also sent Lindor truffles which I absolutely adore and am actively hiding from certain houseguests who love to eat them too. At least until I get to savor a few with my morning coffee, then I can share the rest. :) And I love the pastel pink mug.

I am nearing the end of my first Cedar Creek Sock. I will show it when I get if finished. I also managed to finally finish the Jan 2007 Thimbleberries heart block, now that my sewing machine tension is perfect. Yes, this is still primarily a knitting blog, but I thought it would be nice to show it since I have been stressing about it the last few posts.

For our free pattern for February, we were given a smaller heart potholder design to make with this same block. I am going to make some as gifts for my mom and MIL. How awesome! Especially with the red and white fabric my MIL just gave to me. :)

Here is a quote I think you all will enjoy. I know it applies to my DH, and I hope you are lifted by it as well.

"Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood."- H.L. Mencken

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. I received a Valentine's theme quilt gift from my MIL. I will try to take a pic and post it later. For now, I just wanted to answer some comment questions before I have to run off to my Local Quilt Shop for cutting help.

Here is the pic:

It is a heart-shaped mug with red and white fat quarters in it.

kat said...
i'm really tossing around taking a stab at quilting (because i need more craft projects) i love the math part of knitting so perhaps it would be right for me

The only thing about quilting is that it is even more capital intensive (especially fixed costs) than knitting. So, depending on how much you want to get into buying your tools and sewing machine and really high quality fabric, it ends up being more expensive than knitting. But like knitting, you can reuse most of that stuff. My advice is to see if you can find a Local Quilt Store where they can let you use a machine or buy an inexpensive machine and take a few beginning quilting classes to see if you like it. My first machine only cost around $100, and it was a general sewing machine, not one made specifically for quilting.

Lily said...
I was thinking of the World Market down the street from me. They have such nifty stuff. I can't believe I didn't get goodie there for my sock swap pal....

You are so right! I usually go there for make your own gift baskety stuff. But somehow I only think of that stuff for my inlaws.

I made some progress on my Cedar Creek Socks. I am almost done doing the gusset decreases.

I promise to really try to make it to the post office today, dear swap pals. I forgot yesterday, and then the weather became really stormy and nasty. I will run by before I go to the quilt store.

Yarn P0rn Friday and Loppyness

See Yarngineer's hand.

See Lisa Souza Sock! Merino.
See Yarngineer's hand pet the pretty Sock! Merino.
Isn't it just lovely? The color is GingerPeach. This is the yarn that Lisa Souza comp'd me since I had problems with the burgandy Sock! yarn bleeding onto my hands and needles. I have been hauling this skein around like a tribble, taking it out for my friends to pet it like yarn p0rn.


I believe I have made a mistake in my Clapotis. Not a major one....I just must have been hallucinating due to improper caffeination of my cardiovascular system, thinking that I had place in stitch markers in my last Second Section repeat. Alas, no. The total number of stitches is correct, but maybe lopsided in distribution between the two ends of the piece. So, I will frog back a few rows and try to handle by business better.




I have also completed the heel flap for my first Cedar Creek. Isn't it beautiful? I love how the color has a sort of checker effect, due to alternating slips, knits and purls between the two sides of the work. I had started the heel, but frogie-olahed back again, because I was lopsided on the two sides as to the # of unworked stitches.

Wait, I see a trend of lopsidedness here. The need to drink more coffee and be more strict about my counting of the pattern! Well, I better skeedaddle if I am going to make it to the Lizard Ridge KAL.

Sockentine, Sockentine, oh dear Sockentine

One sockie down, one to go.

The sockie looks so lonely without its mate, and without its sockentine.

Just casted on the second Monkey. It is a fun pattern, and I highly recommend it. There weren't any errors in the pattern, so it is easy to follow.

The weather is cruddy here today, so I am pent up inside the house. Doing tons of laundry, trying to do some knitting. Not getting very far on the latter. I also need to pick up the house some more, but I am getting frustrated there. Seems we keep making messes and I can't keep up right now.

Inspired by my sock swap pal, I am thinking of doing some easy kool aid dying. That way I don't have to worry about toxicity of the dye for now and just do something small to get my feet wet. I will be taking a self-striping sock yarn dying class at Yarns Forever in March, so I will get really messy soon enough! :)

Merry New Year!!!!

I'm baaaaaack!

My DH and I really enjoyed being away for a few days. And it is nice that he had about a week off, because now he is actually rested and motivated to clean up some things around the house! Yeeeeee! (That is a squeal of excitement.) We spend Dec 30th and 31st purging closets and drawers of even more items to donate to Goodwill. I do donate all year long, but the whole year end thing was a real incentive for him to do more on his part. Nothing like reducing clutter to make one feel happier.

It has been very rainy the last few days, so I finally took some pictures this morning since I finally had some decent sunlight!

I finished the Bob's Meadowlark Socks. Here is a picture.

I received the Sundara Yarn Sock Club package! Oooh...is it gorgeous. The inspiration this time was the Lenten Rose. I will probably have to put off starting these until I finish my Sockentine socks....

For my Sockentine, I have started on the Knitty Monkey Pattern. Unfortunately, I started to get ladders since the Lisa Souza yarn is not very elastic and the stitches at the needles joins are purl stitches (there is only so tight you can pull those). So I had to frog back to the cuff and will try again, maybe tonight.

In the meantime, I started on my Fleece Artist Ribbed Jacket (now sold under a different name, Lady of the Lake, and now using a different yarn in that kit). Yet again, the pattern instructions leave something to be desired. After having knitted several Fleece Artist samples for my friend's store, I can honestly say that Fleece Artist needs to work on their pattern proofreading. It is a shame, as their yarns are so beautiful. I would hate to see new knitters get so turned off if they try knitting one of the Fleece Artist patterns on their own.

Anyway, you can see the Fleece Artist Colors are gorgeous. Royal Blue, powder blue, periwinkle, khaki, forest green, and some mustard. Soooo pretty. I can't wait to wear it when it is done.

Oooh! I almost forgot. I went back to Why Knot Knit in Atlanta. I purchased this gorgeous Great Adirondack Yarn Co. Soxie Yarn. Unfortunately, they had received the shipment about a week earlier than my visit. By the time I went there, I only had 5 colors left to choose from. But honestly, those 5 colorways were so gorgeous, I was definitely not left out in the cold. So check it out for yourself.

I think I will post my knitting resolutions later this week. This is enough for one post! :)