Day: July 15, 2005

I posted a new photo to WorksinProgressPhotos.

Sometimes small groups are the best way to go, a bit more intimate, a bit more loose. Last night was such a night. Tracy, Suzanne, Betsy & I all had a lovely evening chatting, knitting & doing a bit of laughing. Topics of conversation were all over the place, from knitting of course to reality tv, to anatomically correct knitting (loud laughing included) and many other subjects that we just laughed about.

Oh, yeah one thing! Tracy & Betsy are both a bit addicted to the Lifetime networks & all of the lovely b-movies! I am so glad that Tracy can have someone else to discuss them with cuz I just don’t care!

I did miss seeing the larger group though!
Thuy you have been in town but I haven’t seen you yet! Where are you???

There is this yarn that I keep seeing in one of our LYS and its making me really itch to start spinning again! I have all this roving but knitting just seems so much more fulfilling right now! So my plan is to move my spindle & roving inside the house next to my chair instead of having it hide out in the office. See? Sometimes I can be smart!

Speaking of knitting, I am about 4″ away from completing the first front piece of the camping sweater. The back is complete. I am enjoying this pattern. The yarn is a boucle so it splits but overall it’s not terrible to work with. It makes counting rows nearly impossible but I can bs my way through that! I have completed all pieces to all tank tops I had on the needles. Now I just have to sew them together. Right, and that will happen when hell freezes over, and since we are in a global warming era I don’t think it will happen anytime soon! But to make me feel a little better I am posting pics so that you all can see that there are pieces to sew together!

 

 

Coming soon for the Mother in law….homespun crocheted fan shawl. I have 8 skeins of homespun in a deep red color so I think if I use them all I will have a nice LARGE shawl for her to wear in her bed. Li’l bit of background; she has had diabetes for over 30 years, never dealt with it until she went blind 10 years ago. In the last year she has had a kidney transplant, major open heart surgery, an artificial heart valve installed, a pacemaker put in then promptly removed 5 weeks later after an insane infection (she was the only person in the state of CA to have the infection at that time), been to & from UCLA to Santa Barbara 3 times, um….what else….oh! She may or may not have had multiple strokes in the meantime. So now she is in a convalescent hospital trying to recover to get home to Solvang but things aren’t going as quickly as she would like. So while she is in bed I thought it would be nice for her to have some thing cuddly to snuggle with. And what better than a homespun shawl??? My plans are to start it & take it on the plane to Idaho, work on it & finish it on the trip. Not that I would be the least bit surprised if I didn’t get one iota done on it.

Okay enough of that talk. I think I will go get ready for knitting tonight. I have to decide what project to take & it’s not too tough of a choice. The bag, since I can knit & talk in the round no problem!

 

I did finish a few things this weekend! Woohoo! I completed the drop stitch scarf after ripping it out twice to change needle size & stitch number. SO I ended up casting on 60 on #10 circ’s & using 436 yards of pot surprise. Finished length before I dropped every other stitch was about 34″. Now it is 6.5 feet long, unstretched. Who knows how long once it is stretched out. I did find that I can actually use one end as a hat & then wrap the rest as a scarf. That will be really handy in Idaho next week.

I am 2/3 of the way done with the last of my niece’s bags. I did put the handles on my sisters bag also. I will post pics of all of these wonderful items later in the day, or tomorrow. Let’s be honest I am not feeling too motivated right now. I need to work on the ab fab throw but it’s not gonna happen today I don’t think. Depends on how tired I am after knitting group tonight. I will be going, unless something unfortunate doesn’t permit me. But as of now I think I am good to go.

Oh I blocked the polka dot pot surprise scarf also. Love it, I will be wearing it this evening! I was hoping I would have enough yarn left to make a couple cute pompoms for the corners but alas I do not. Oh well, it’s good plain. I am not a big fan of knitting scarves but I am pleased with these 2.

So there you have it. I really want to finish that bag today & get it felted, then put the handles on.

Oh & Summers came over with goody books this morning. She received her SnB Nation from Amazon. Mine & Tracy’s will be here on Thursday. And she purchased . We have gone in together on 2 books, this being one of them. So it’s nice to share, co-op-er-a-tion people! Reminds me of sesame street! Happy times! There are so many projects that I want to do now! But I can’t yet. I must finish all Christmas cheer first. Then on to the really fun stuff! For now I am off to work on another bag!

 

Why are some motions so rhythmic, so soothing…Laura (from Mondays at Java Station) has felt the lure of the spindle. Yes…it’s so soothing…nice to watch it go round & round. It makes me feel like a little baby just fascinated with a ceiling fan.  Yeah, like that!

Having not posted for a few days I guess there is a little catching up to do. On Monday night I was thinking I was just so damn smart because I brought my digital camera with pics of finished projects that I didn’t want to lug around with me & toot my own horn, but I forgot to get a picture of the group. It would have been a good picture too because there were more ladies ( I use that word loosely b/c we are all different ages) than usual. So next Monday I will try to remember. My mom always teases me because I have a horrible memory. She says it is ok for her to have a bad memory because they are “senior moments”. That wasn’t even accurate when she started saying it b/c she was in her 40’s. I digress, she likes to tease me is my point.  On with knitting news. I received some of the silk yarn I have been waiting for, 3oo of 700 grams that are coming. So I got it balled & I want to swatch it but I am afraid to start another project considering I can’t really knock too much off of my current projects list. And I did start a Christmas gift that will take a bit of work b/c it is a new pattern & a lot of stockinette through the body, which tends to get really boring. And the sweater for George is all straight stockinette too. But I had a grand idea. I have the front & back complete, I could do something interesting on the sleeves. He is a bit of a plain jane but I think that a stripe of cables up the middle of the sleeve would add just a touch of interest. He isn’t one for skull & crossbones or even hearts   So cables it is. Now to pick which kind….if you can’t tell I am making this up as I type, no prior thought went into the sleeves. Now you can all see how my thought process works! <slow drawl> Interestin’ ain’t I?

Okay so I went to Michaels on Monday before our group since I have shopped myself sick at our other lys. Got some fun new bernat soft boucle, in Carnival shades, that will work up quick into a fun sweater. Those are the best! I also ordered Rowan It’s a Tape Thing because I love the Clara sweater! And of course Fluffa’s came out so perfect I must be makin’ me one of those! I am not one of those people that have a problem with acrylic. As a matter of fact, I think acrylic is neccesary for the art of knitting & crocheting to continue. I learned on red heart & the likes & if it hadn’t been available then I would not have continued in the art at all. Not everyone can spend a lot of $$ on yarn when they first start to knit. So that is my opinion…just thought I would share that with ya…

Tonight my goal is to get at least 3″ done on the in the round sweater I am doing. Also now that I have decided what to do on the sleeves of George’s sweater, I need to start working on those. So if my spindle doesn’t call me too loudly I should be able to get that accomplished & get the kids dinner & get them washed up & get them ready for bed, then finally in bed to (hours later) fall asleep. That is my night, hope all you out there have a more fun evening than me

I just have to say how happy I am to finally have fellow knitters that can complete my sentences & thoughts for me (that’s you Laura ;o)) I finished the front of my rainbow version of the peppermint twist sweater out of S&B. So happy with how it turned out, especially since I decided to be daring & do my own stripe pattern after I screwed up the order given in the pattern. Very happy with it. I will get a pic posted tomorrow. Right nowI am waiting for the laundry to be done so I can go to bed. The men need work clothes!!

School is out so I am hoping to have many long days at home before I have to go to Idaho for our family reunion. I am hoping to find some fun yarn shops with something new to knit up on the trip. The drive alone should let me get at least one project done on the trip, 17 hours!!  Scary just thinking about it!

I also started an afghan for myself since I am the only one in the family that doesn’t have one yet! Something simple but fun, I will get a pic posted of what I started today.

So off to finish laundry & then bed!

Oh & Disneyland really is the happiest place on earth in case anyone is wondering!!

 

I am really excited about all the new tasty yarns & patterns coming my way lately. I have a stash of labrador yarn that is begging me to hurry up & make something, anything, to wear!

I will get some pics of my yarn stash to share the wealth with all other yarnaholics out there. I just can’t stop buying. Although I have made my best friend(who has only been a knitter for a couple of months) just as bad as me.

Projects of the moment:

*antique red shawl for mother in law

*blue homespun bulky poncho for equestrian mother

*mohair airy sweater for myself (since it’s for me I may never finish it)

*stripey sweater that may end up a halter or tank

*baby blanket, cotton chenille doubled with 6/2 astro dye yarn in a large square pattern

*finish a baby blanket that my blind mother in law started & is now unable to finish (she went through a kidney transplant 9 weeks ago, in which my father in law was the oldest donor in history, 70, at UCLA).

*and of course there are all the hats that are demanded of me constantly by my husband & all his band of brothers (cousins & friends really)

So if that weren’t enough I have all fun new yarns that I am dying to start projects with! Not enough time in the day for all the knitting!

I posted a new photo to knittingphotos.