Noolie Knits

Wednesday Night Bullet Post

~~Last night was another fun Chicks with Sticks night.  Most of the usual crowd was there and we had a visitor, Aricka who was a lot of fun.  She had stopped in the shop earlier in the day and saw the shop sample of my Tulips Scarf and Hat.  She wanted to buy it or learn to make it.

~~Turns out she did both!  Patti didn't have a copy of my pattern in the shop, but it's so simple I was able to write it out and show her how to make it.  She had crocheted in the past, so I really just had to give her a little refresher.  She used a beautiful rose  color of Ultra Alpaca and got quite a bit done while there.  She did a great job and she seemed quite pleased, which pleased me.  I just love it when someone gets so excited over a project, especially when it's my design :-)

~~Several of the regulars of CWS have recently taken up spinning.  Since there doesn't seem to be a local spinning group, we decided to start our own.  Patti offered to host it at the shop and we'll be getting together once a week to spin.  I can't wait; it's a great group of friends and it's nice to have an excuse to meet a second night each week :-)

~~I started another sweater for Clover the other night.  I knit a few inches on it thinking I was using the size 8 needles that I'd just finished using on her other sweater.  Granted, they didn't look like 8's, but that was the size I had put in my knitting bag when finishing the other sweater.  I wasn't liking how tight it was knitting up and decided I'd try a size 9.  I took out my Harmony tips and that's when it hit me - I had ripped out the Lisha Lace Scarf  the night before (we will not speak of this other than to say the pattern is great; I just can't count) and threw those needles (size 5) in my knitting bag.  The size 8's had already been put away.

~~No wonder it was tight!  Needless to say, I ripped out and restarted the sweater using the size 8's.  That was yesterday afternoon before CWS.  Here's where it's at after CWS (just a couple inches left on the back):

I've given this the very imaginative name of "Watermelon Pullover" Am I clever or what?

~~I bought this yarn from Zonda about a year or so ago when she mentioned that she had extra and wouldn't be using it.  It's Freshisle Fibers Suffolk Wool.  Along with the watermelon self-striping, she also had the solid watermelon red (which I used on the seed stitch border) and the solid watermelon pink, which I think I'll use for the sleeves.

~~I'm hoping that tonight I'll finally finish spinning the singles of the Campfire fiber I bought from Heather last month at Fiber Revival.  I really can't believe  how long it's taking me to spin.  It seemed like I was really moving along quickly there in the beginning.

~~It may have seemed that way because after spinning for a while, I weighed the fiber I had left and thought that I had already spun 2 1/2 of the original 4 ounces.  I thought it went pretty fast and the bobbin didn't look all that full but I changed bobbins and began spinning the "second half".  

~~A couple days later, Samm wanted to see what I had for fiber so I went into my fiber closet and guess what I found.  Yep, the actual "other half" of the fiber was in the closet.  I had only spun 1/2 an ounce on the first bobbin - DUH. 

~~Why yes, I am rather brain dead at times, why do you ask?

~~Go ahead, laugh at me.  I can take it.  I'd laugh if it were you instead of me.

WNBP (Wednesday Night Bullet Post)

• Another week, another hat. This time it's the Banana Republic Hat Knockoff.
  

• Mine is done in Lamb's Pide Bulky in the Pistachio colorway.
  Needles: Size 8 for the seed stitch band; Size 10 1/2 for the rest of the hat.

• It's an easy and enjoyable hat to make. I'm one of those people who likes doing seed stitch, so the band was my favorite part.

• This is my 8th hat for the 300 Hat Project and my 2nd hat towards my "8 more hats this summer" goal.

• This morning, I cast on for hat #9 The Amanda Hat  in the handspun yarn given to me last week by a friend and coworker.

• It will now be set aside until next Tuesday night because when I finish this post, I'm going to begin this , Lisha Lace Scarf.  I'll be using the gorgeous cashmere yarn which was a birthday gift from Gina. I'm pretty excited to get going on this.

• You may have noticed that both these patterns were designed by Gina; she's one very talented woman!

• At some point tonight, I'll also get in at least 10 minutes of spinning. This may end up being the only night that 10 minutes really is only 10 minutes. After all, there are just so many minutes in a day, you know.

• I finished a third bobbin of the cotton candy the other night, but it was kind of a nightmare. I was spinning away, happy as could be, when suddenly I realized I was WAAAAAYYYY over spinning it. It was terrible! I remembered Amy telling me that when you do that you can run it through in the opposite direction being careful not to take out too much of the twist.

• Can you guess what happened? Yep, took out too much of the twist. Sent it back through again and think I finally got the twist pretty much okay.

• It was like I hadn't ever spun this fiber (or any other fiber for that matter) before in my life - never mind the fact that I'd been spinning this fiber for the last week and 1/2. Oh well; whatcha gonna do, huh? I have one bobbin left to spin and then a decision to make about plying.

• ~Kristie brings up a good point about using the singles; she mentions I might want to avoid that if they aren't nice and balanced. HA! I guess we know how this is going to turn out, don't we?

• Since tonight is Wednesday (as noted by the WNBP), that must mean last night was Tuesday and Chicks with Sticks. It was a smallish group, but a lively one.

• The Sheep came down for her weekly S.O.C.K.S. Program (2nd paragraph). I like to give her grief for having summers off, but really I'm glad she does. Otherwise there would be no S.O.C.K.S. Program and no Tuesday night Sheepie visits. That would just be sad.

• What was sad, was that Patti couldn't be there again last night. She was in San Antonio at a conference. She's expected home tonight though and that's a good thing. I miss my friend     :-(

• Speaking of Patti, last word I heard was that her Dad had taken a bit of a turn for the better. This is good news, but he still needs lots of your good thoughts and prayers sent his way, if you can spare them. He has a long road ahead of him.
  
  

WNBP

It's Wednesday and that means it's time for some randomness in the form of a Wednesday Night Bullet Post!

• Yesterday, I received yet another Birthday present in the mail.  This one was from Dana and Dianne.

(photo shamelessly swiped from Dana)
It's a gorgeous pendant made by Sonya Forte'.
Thank you so much, Dana and Dianne; you know how much I LOVE it!

• Yesterday was Tuesday, which means last night was Chicks with Sticks at my favorite LYS.  I look forward to CWS all week.  It's always a good time with good friends.

• Not only is CWS fun, but sometimes a person might even learn something new.

• I learned something new last night. I'm probably the last knitter on earth to learn this.  Did you know that if you are using interchangeable needles (like my new Harmony needles) that are assembled with the little metal thingy (yes, that is the technical term) that you stick through the hole to tighten the cable to the needle,  you can thread a lifeline through that hole and knit it right into your row?  No stopping to thread a needle and having to be extra careful to make sure you go through every stitch and yarn over.

• I was close to the end of a repeat on Twinings, so I finished up the couple of rows I needed to this morning and tried out that new little bit of knowledge.  It was a little difficult getting the lifeline through the tiny hole, but I just used the little metal thingy to shove it through and guess what - it worked!  YAY! 
  

• Speaking of Twinings, I am now back to where I was before having to rip it out; three measley repeats complete.  I just don't know where my time is going, but I don't feel like I'm getting in the knitting time I want (and need).

• Yesterday, I knit another hat for the 300 Hats Project.  Everyone knows that I am not capable of knitting lace at CWS, so that has become my night to knit hats.  I arrived last night with the stitches cast on and the first row knit and finished this in the few hours that I was there:

Avalanche Hat

• That was Yesterday. 

• Today - well, let's just say that some days it'd just be better to stay at home with the people you love - know what I mean?
  

• I really need to just win PowerBall and be done with it.

 

 

Yes, I'm Still Here

Apparently when I write, "I'll give you a real post this weekend," it really means "I'll give you a real post eventually."  But you knew that, didn't you? Let's catch up a little, shall we? 

Last Monday was Patriots' Day, which is a holiday here in Maine and also in Massachusettes {and no Patti, it is not to celebrate the football team ;-)}.  I decided to take the Friday before it and the Tuesday after as vacation time so that I would have a nice loooong weekend; kind of a mini-vacation.  I figured I'd sleep in every day and I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish.  So, what did I do?  I woke up every morning by 6 or 6:30 (even 4:30 one day!), but at least I wasn't waking up to the obnoxious sound of the alarm clock.  I didn't do a single thing that was on my list either. 

In other words, I did what I felt like, when I felt like it.  It was WONDERFUL!

I started my mini-vacation by taking a trip with Patti to Yarn and Fiber for their Friday Night Knitting Club led by the wonderful Gina.

What a great way to kick off a vacation; it was a really good time.  Of course, knitting with a group of friends is always a good time; knitting with this group of friends always makes my face hurt from all the laughing.  Here are a few pics:

 
The Gang
(Sorry Ericka & Chris; I seem to have only captured the backs of your heads)

 
Lora (with her gorgeous new do) & Heather with Stitches
    


Melissa brought Rusty and he actually let me take his picture!  Any other time I've tried to take his picture, he's run away from me.  I guess that means he likes me now :-)


Of course, he had no choice about this  picture; after an evening of romping around the store with Stitches, he was pooped right out!

Naturally, there was yarn purchased.  I went with the intention of picking up some yarn to crochet another shawl like this one.  For that, I picked up some Silky Wool.

  The yarn feels wonderful and it's just the color (or lack thereof) that I was looking for.  I started the shawl that night and have only worked on it at Chicks with Sticks on Tuesday night.  There's not much done yet, but here's a shot of what there is.

I also picked up 2 balls of Kauni Effektgarn

(Yes, the one on the right really is that bright!) I'm thinking smallish wraps or shawls out of both of these.  Time will tell.

That's how I began my mini-vacation; can you guess how I ended it?  Why, by knitting with friends on Tuesday night of course.  Tuesday was an extra special Chicks with Sticks night.  It was school vacation week here in Maine and when it's school vacation, a certain Sheep must knit with others (really, it's the law).  Not only was the Sheep there, but Melissa joined us again and Mel was also there (while Mel is a regular, he has been very busy lately and we haven't seen much of him, so it was a treat to see him).  Melissa, of course, brought Rusty who amazed us all with his drinking water from a bottle capabilities.

(Too bad my camera wouldn't cooperate and take a clear picture; sorry about the blur.)

So, I started and ended my mini-vacation with good friends and spent the time in between spending more time than usual with the world's sweetest baby, 

 

 

and enjoying just doing whatever I wanted to do (or doing nothing). 

What could be better?

WNBP

YAY for Wednesday and the WNBP format that the Sheep so graciously allowed me to steal from her.  Let's get right to it, shall we?

• Last night was our weekly Chicks with Sticks knit night (I just typed knit knight) which I look forward to every week.  I was especially looking forward to it this week because I knew we were going to have a very special friend visiting us.  Melissa was in Maine visiting her brother (the best weatherman ever even if he is predicting a nasty weekend for us) and decided a trip to The Yarn Sellar was in order.  Unfortunately, Rusty stayed with Melissa's brother and nephew for some male bonding time, so I didn't get to see him.  I'm pretty sure he begged her not to bring him; I don't think he really likes me very much. 
• Another member of our group decided to grace us with his presence. Mel's been very busy lately and we haven't seen much of him.  He's been terribly missed and we were all very happy to see him last night!  He showed us the beginnings of his gorgeous kilt hose (we even got to see it on his rather sexy leg!).
• Progress has been made on the lace wrap; I've completed the first of 11 repeats of the second chart.  I brought it with me last night, but I'm not stupid enough to think I can knit lace at knit night.  Fellow chick, Kit, knits lace at knit night all the time and it never ceases to amaze me how she can concentrate!
• I only had 1 other project on the needles, a sock, and I haven't really been feeling like knitting socks lately. (You may have noticed that I've not knit a single pair of socks this year!) 
• I had to find something else to knit, but what? "V" was the logical choice.  It's Amy's V-neck pullover pattern that came free with the purchase of this gorgeous yarn at SPA.  I'm cold all the time and the colors are "Spingy" enough that I'll still be able to wear it once I finish it. 
• It will be my Tuesday night knitting and "taking a break from lace" knitting until it is finished. Of course, I gabbed so much last night that all I managed to accomplish was the 6 rows of ribbing and about 10 rows of stockinette.  Sounds like a lot, doesn't it?  Don't be fooled; this pattern starts out with the sleeves.  Obviously, that's not enough to post a picture; that will have to come later.
• Weight Watchers has been going well; as of last Saturday, I've lost a total of 14.4 pounds (in 7 weeks).  Like I mentioned the last time I posted about WW, it really does help to have someone else on program in the house.  Samm's doing incredibly well, too; she looks fantastic!
• Another thing that has helped immensely with my motivation lately, is the Ravelry group "Less W8 in 08".  I'm currently involved in a competition in that group.  There are 4 teams of 5 people and we each earn points for eating fruits and veggies and for exercising.  Last week was the first week and I did pretty well in the fruit and veggie department, but was sorely lacking in the exercise dept. 
• I'm working on getting my exercise mojo back. Samm and Clover met me  at lunch today, and we went for a half hour walk and I went to the gym with Patti tonight, so that'll earn me (and my team) some points!  I'm hoping Samm will come walk with me a few days a week at lunch time; it felt pretty good.
• I've saved the most important (in my opinion) bullet post item for last.  Yesterday, I was reading my good friend, Dana's, blog, and she got me to thinking.  I know, hard to believe, but every now and then I do think.  She wrote about how we often put much unnecessary pressure on ourselves to do so much more with our craft, than is reasonable.  Please, you really MUST read her post; she says it much better than I.  Go ahead, go now; I'll wait.
• Dana has decided to stop the madness, and set four simple goals for herself, and I have decided to do the same.  With her permission, I reprint those goals for you to read and think about.

1. I will enjoy knitting first and foremost;
2. I will not press myself to complete the project;
3. I will not apologize when my life supercedes my knitting time a.k.a. "if it takes me twelve months to finish, that's perfectly fine;" and
4. I will commit to no more than I can reasonably accomplish.

I'll end on that note.  Have a great night!

WNBP

It's Wednesday and that means it's time for the Wednesday Night Bullet Post, so let's get right to it, shall we?

• As you all know (because I won't stop telling you) I am still fairly far behind on my blog reading.  Because of this, I hadn't read my friend Debby's post about her "Get Your Guts in Gear" fundraiser before posting about helping friends yesterday.  Debby's husband, Chris, suffers with IBD and her lovely spokescat from last year, Charlie, had IBD.  Sadly, Charlie passed away from IBD-related leukemia last fall (apparently this can happen in cats, but not people). Chris is going to be riding in a 210 mile/3 day bike ride to raise awareness and funds for patients suffering with these diseases.  Please read Debby's post here and help if you can.  She's even offering prizes including some yarn dyed in memory of Charlie - it's gorgeous.

• It seems that Wednesday (in our part of the country at least), means it's not only time for the WNBP, but it's also time for more effing snow/sleet/rain and just plain crappy weather. I'm trying very hard to believe that winter really will end sometime (and not just on the calendar), but I'm finding it harder and harder with each storm.  There's no accumulation today, but I'm so sick of the wet and dreary weather I could just scream!

• I'm dreaming of the days of floating in my pool, with the bright, hot sun beating down on me, and a nice Stoli orange vodka & tonic in the cup holder on my float.  Please tell me those days will be here eventually.

• Just as I had hoped, Patti brought her spinning to Chicks with Sticks last night and I was able to get a couple of pictures. 

 

• Can you believe how nicely her yarn is coming out?  She's a natural, I tell ya.  She even mentioned that she'd like a lesson on my back deck with Alice in the Summer.  Of course, she said the summer of 2010, but I know she meant summer of 2008!

• I had hoped to be able to show you a finished Neverending Sweater today, but alas, it truly is never ending.  Actually, I only have about 2 inches left to knit on the hood and I'm hoping to be able to stay awake long enough to knit that tonight.

• Speaking of being able to stay awake; just a couple of days after telling you that I thought I was catching up on my sleep, I took a turn for the worse in that department.  Not that I wasn't getting enough sleep; I've been sleeping really well through the night lately (sometimes going to bed as early as 7 or 8) and I haven't even had any help from sleeping aids for the last week or so.  The problem now is that even though I'm sleeping ALL.THE.TIME (at least it feels that way), I'm still exhausted by lunchtime.  I was scheduled for a recheck with the doctor next week, but have been having some pain in the front of my neck for about a month now, and hubby convinced me to push the appointment up.  Seems I may have an issue with my thyroid (doesn't sound serious); I'm going for some blood work tomorrow.

• Samm got an adorable tattoo yesterday; it's a 4-leaf clover on the inside of her ankle.  It's beautiful!  She wants it to heal completely before I can get a picture to show you, so you'll just have to wait a little while.  Shouldn't be too long.

• There have been rumors of a Dunkin Donuts going in very, very close to my house (not in my town; we're too snobby for chain restaurants), but only about 3 minutes away in the neighboring town.  I checked with my Assessor friend there yesterday to find out for sure, and YIPEEEEEEE; it should be opening in May.  (Why yes, I do like the DD coffee; why do you ask?)  I think I'll be changing my route into work ever so slightly in a couple of months :-)

• Speaking of coffee, I've still been very good about no late afternoon or evening coffee unless I have to teach a class at night (which has only been once since limiting the coffee) and on Tuesday nights so that I don't fall asleep at Chicks with Sticks.  I buy my last coffee on my way back to work after lunch (12:30) and sip it for about an hour or so and that's it.  Any of you who know me, know what a HUGE accomplishment that is.

• Hopefully, my car will remember to turn on my road on the way home from work instead of going straight for another couple of miles once DD opens :-)

I guess that's enough of the random for one night. 

Have a good one!

Two Days

Until SPA.  Not that I'm counting down the days or anything.  Not that I've done ANYthing to prepare either.  What's the rush?  I have Friday off and we won't be leaving until the afternoon so I have all morning to get ready.  I am the Queen of Procrastination!  I haven't yet decided what to bring with me for knitting; I'm thinking maybe I'll start a sock with my Sweet Clover sock yarn for Samm (I'd like to make a pair for her and for Clover with this very special yarn).  Any knitting that I do bring will have to be mindless knitting.  I plan to bring my spindles and Alice.  I'll bring fiber for the spindles (2 already have some on them), but I think I'll wait until I get there and buy something to spin on Alice. 

Knitting Update:

Samm's Hoodie

Guess I didn't quite reach my goal of having it finished by the end of the long weekend, did I?  As a matter of fact, I barely knit on it all weekend long.  I did finish one thing though:

Clover's Sea Turtle (before and after felting). 

It's about time, wouldn't you say?  This silly little knit took me FOREVER to finish.  (I started it January 28th!) It's not like it was difficult or anything; it just couldn't seem to hold my interest for very long.  Weird.  It's just the first sea creature for a mobile I want to make for Clover.  At this rate, I may finish it in time to gift it to her for her high school graduation.

Last night's Chicks with Sticks was a particularly fun one.  Since it is  school vacation week here in Maine (a time in which teachers and sheep are able to stay up past their normal bedtimes), a certain Sheep (complete with her pretty blue hands) decided to come to York and knit with us.  It's always entertaining when you're in the company of The Sheep, especially when topics such as childbirth and menopause are discussed ;-) 

Have a great day!

A Great Surprise

I have an FO to show you, but I can only take credit for part of it.  Before I show it to you, let me give you some background.

We all know that buying a Christmas present for a knitting friend is usually fairly easy - just find some really nice yarn and maybe some neat knitting notions and you're good to go.  But what about when your friend is also the owner of a yarn shop (the best LYS ever!)?  Hmmm, this makes it a little trickier to find just the right gift.

You may remember that before Christmas I was rushing to finishing spinning some beautiful blue and green fiber that Manise had gifted to me when she brought Alice (my wheel) to my house. (phew! can you say run on sentence?)  I told you at the time that I needed to finish it because I had plans for it, but I don't think I ever mentioned what those plans were. I'm sure that by now you've figured it out; that handspun yarn was gifted to Patti.  I wasn't so sure about the quality of the yarn; it wasn't the most evenly spun yarn around.  I was sure about one thing though; I was sure that Patti would appreciate my effort. 

Apparently, I was right about that - last night at Chicks with Sticks, Patti announced that she had some show and tell and pulled this FO out of her knitting bag:

Maine Morning Mitts knit with the yarn I spun for her!

I can't tell you how happy that made me; I was like a little kid on Christmas morning. I was so excited to see that she had actually KNIT WITH MY HANDSPUN YARN!  And, she said it was nice to knit with!  It gets even better - even though we see each other or talk to each other nearly every day, I never knew she was knitting them.  What a cool surprise.

Thanks for making my night, Patti!

Stealing Again

Again, I’m stealing the Sheep’s WNBP format. My excuse this time is that my brain is in a fog due to a horrendous cold and I am incapable of smoothly transitioning from paragraph to paragraph.

 

•  I woke up in the middle of the night Monday night (guess it was technically Tuesday morning) feeling like someone had snuck into my room while I was sleeping and scraped a layer or two of skin off the back of my throat. Holy Crap, it hurt! I knew as soon as I felt the pain that it was the start of a snot-filled week and a half. I get this same sore throat at the beginning of most bad colds. I’m all doped up on cold medicine and still I cannot breathe. Ugh!

•   We had a guest speaker at Chicks with Sticks last night. Doctor Chris from York Chiropractic Health Center spoke to us about ways to prevent the common pains we knitters get in our necks, backs, shoulders, hands, etc. He also showed us some very easy things we can do to help alleviate the pain because as Patti told him, “You can’t always teach old dogs new tricks.” He realizes that it’s nearly impossible to knit without holding your head in the downward position (I’m sure there are some out there who don’t have to look at their knitting, but I’m certainly not one of them). The stretches he showed us will come in very handy at the office too.

•  Mel brought his completed Koolhaas with him. What a beautiful hat, and soft, OMG is it soft!

•  I started and am about two thirds of the way through a Christmas stocking for Clover. I wanted her to have something that she could keep forever in the very special colorway that Heather created in her honor, “Sweet Clover”, and figured what better than a Christmas stocking. Heather was nice enough to dye some up in a worsted weight superwash merino and to also dye some coordinating green for me to use for the top, heel, and toe. Here it is:

 

What do you think?

I’m going to put her name on it in duplicate stitch (in pale pink or white) and there’s one other little surprise that is going on at Samm’s request – a pocket in the front. Why a pocket? Because the stocking that Samm has had all her life (until last year when I made one for her) has a pocket in the front and each year Santa brought a new little stuffed animal to put in it.

• There hasn’t been a whole lot of progress made on the socks I’m knitting for my BIL (aka Bob Socks). I’ve knit about two more inches on the first one; I’m thinking I should get busy working on that again sometime soon. After all, Christmas will be here before you know it and I also want to knit him a pair of convertible mittens.

• I’m teaching a mitten class at The Yarn Sellar, so naturally I decided that I need a new pair of mittens.  I knit on them when I could during the class and haven’t looked at them since (the class was last Wednesday). The final class is next Wednesday and I’d like to have one finished and one at the point of where I told the class to be (decreases at top of the hand). Maybe I will; maybe I won’t.  I haven’t taken any pictures of the mitten in progress yet. Maybe next post, then again, maybe not.

• That's all I've got.

• Have a great night!

 

WNBP - Modified Version

I'm going to steal the Sheep's WNBP (Wednesday Night Bullet Post) format  today (again), but I guess mine should be called WMBP, since it's morning right now.

Here goes:

• There has been progress on the Ice Cream Sweater (more since taking  these pictures).  I can't tell you how much I am loving this sweater!  What could be a very tedious knit (fingering weight yarn on size 2 needles) is actually very fun; I'm loving watching it take shape.  I love watching the color changes.  I know, simple things, simple minds; yada yada yada

• There has been considerable progress on the secret crochet project.  For obvious reasons, I can't post a picture here, but if you are on Ravelry, you can see a picture that was taken 2 days ago.  There has been a bit more progress since taking that picture.  (Can you tell that I had planned to post these pictures earlier?)

• Saturdays have been spinning days lately.  I spent quite a bit of time on Saturday afternoon covering myself in silk fuzz spinning this silk.  It's a bit challenging, but I think it's coming out okay.

• Speaking of spinning, Alice is no longer a visitor at my house. Nope, she's not.  She is now a permanent resident of the Noolie household. Yipee!  Carole offered to sell her to me and after the time we've spent together, I knew she just had to be my first wheel.  She has been residing in the guest room (translation: my junk spare room) because I was afraid of what the kitties might do to her.  After a full day in the living room on Saturday, I decided to leave her there overnight and see how things went (I didn't dare attempt that until I had made the decision to keep her).  I worried for nothing; the kitties didn't bother her at all.  The closest any of them got was Cindy sleeping up against her leg.  She now resides in the living room all the time.

• Have you heard about this contest?  You have until midnight (Pacific Daylight Time) tonight to enter.  To sum it up, all you have to do is send pictures of hands knitting.  I heard about the contest yesterday afternoon, and since last night was Chicks with Sticks night, there was no question about entering.  Here's a collage of the photos I'm sending:

Mel, Laura, Amanda, Patti
Kit, Ellen, Me, Roger

Can you guess which one of these pics is not like the others? (Does anyone else have the Sesame Street song stuck in their head now?)  One of them is a fake.  Don't worry though; I promise not to cheat with it.

I guess that's enough for today.  Have a great one!

Where has the week gone?

Can it really be Thursday already?  The last several days have just flown by!  I've meant to post; really, I have, but there just aren't enough hours in the day.  I'm also incredibly behind on my blog reading and e-mails.  I thought that with two weeks off work I'd be able to keep up with things.  Wrong! 

So, what have I been doing with all my free time?  Well, the weather has been absolutely perfect for several days now so I'm sure you can all guess where I've spent a good amount of my time.  Yep, the pool.  It's been great, very relaxing.  I've spent a couple of hours each afternoon just floating and reading a very good book.

I've also completed some projects and started some new ones.

I crocheted a couple of granny squares for Colleen; she's putting blankets together for her local children's hospital.

I started a new sweater for Clover on Tuesday; I was just feeling a very strong need to make her a sweater NOW.  So while at Chicks with Sticks, I picked up some yarn in a really pretty mint green color with flecks of pink to make the Baby Kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting.  I took a picture of my progress so far, but it is a really crappy picture so I don't think I'll post it here.  This is such a quick knit, I should be able to show you the finished picture real soon (unless I've just jinxed myself by saying that!) 

Speaking of Chicks with Sticks, Mel and The Sheep were unable to attend and both were really missed :-(    We did have a special, first time visitor this week, though.  Mel's partner, David, joined us; it was great to finally meet him and hopefully he'll join us again.

Yesterday, I finally finished the test knit I've been working on; it's currently drying on the blocking board.  It'll be a couple of weeks before I can show you pictures, but believe me when I say, it'll be worth the wait.  I am very happy with this FO.

This one's for you Patti; also finished yesterday:

School Socks

(this is a strange picture; guess I won't stand the socks up to take pictures again)

Yarn:  Soctoberfest by Scout
Needles:  Crystal Palace size 1 1/2 dpn
Pattern:  Plain ole stockinette on 64 stitches

These are my August socks for SAM4; finished just in time.  The first sock only took 2 days of classroom knitting to complete; the second sock took almost a month!

 

That brings us to today.  I got a new hairdo this morning (no pictures until after the cold sore from hell is gone).  Spent a couple of hours in the pool this afternoon and then spent some time with Alice on the deck.  After my lesson with Cheryl and Manise on Saturday, I put Alice away until the test knit was complete.  Now that I've finished that, I can spend some time getting to know her better.  I sat on the deck spinning for about 1 1/2 hours; I must have looked pretty funny sitting there in my bathing suit spinning away.  Good thing I have a nice private back yard.  Here's what I accomplished:

(Apparently, I'm a lousy photographer; the colors are actually more purple than this photo shows.)
The fiber is some BFL I got from Amy in a "Learn to Spin" spindle kit that I bought back in the fall.  This is about one ounce; there's a total of 4 to spin.  I think I'm doing pretty well, although there are some overspun and underspun bits.  I think I'm getting the hang of it though. 

That brings us up to date; I'm hoping to spend some time tomorrow and over the weekend catching up on some blog reading and e-mails.   

I'll try to be better about posting, too.  No promises though :-)

Shamelessly Stealing Ideas

It's Wednesday (for about another hour) and I've decided to steal the idea follow the lead of the Sheep and do a WNBP (Wednesday Night Bullet Post).  Here goes:

• Today was a holiday here in the U.S. - Independence Day, better known as "the Fourth of July".  Most people celebrate with BBQ's and fireworks; not me.  What'd I do today?  I went to the gym with Patti first thing this morning, came home and floated in the pool for a couple hours, took a nap on the couch for a couple hours, had takeout from "York's Best Roast Beef & Seafood Rest." (that's really the name) for dinner - YUMMY, knit for a while, and now posting on the blog.



• I know you are all wondering how I can stand all the excitement, but to me, this was a perfect day.



• I finally posted the Haymarket Bag pattern.  There's a link in the sidebar. (If you make it and find a mistake, please let me know)

• I started my Sockapalooza pal's socks on Sunday and finished the first one tonight. 

Yarn:  Socks that Rock, medium weight, Monsoon colorway (Feb 07 club yarn)

Pattern:  Waffle Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch

• We had a great "Chicks with Sticks" night last night at the Yarn Sellar. Mel and Annie were there, as well as Doug (whose in town for a few weeks). It was really a good time. Annie, Patti, and I ended up staying for quite a while afterward just chatting.  It was a really good night and I only had to rip out a few rows of the sock.  I guess I can't do anything more complicated than straight stockinette when I'm gabbing.



• I reserved my room for SPA 6 today.  It's going to be in Freeport in February.  Hurry and make your reservations if you're going (and you definitely should be going if at all possible)!



• Amanda is having a contest; all you have to do is answer some questions (all the answers are in her previous posts). 



• My first spindle spun yarn:

(sorry the pic is so blurry)

I finished this on Saturday and soaked it and hung it to dry overnight.  I'm not sure how much there is, certainly enough for a baby hat or something small.  I still have more of the same fiber to spin.  I love the colors and I'm pretty happy with the yarn (although you can definitely tell which part is the beginning!).

• Bloglines tells me I have 147 posts to read.  I had planned on catching up today, but was busy floating and sleeping and eating.  Guess I'll have to catch up tomorrow.



• I am taking vacation time tomorrow and Friday; my plan was to float in the pool, but given the forecast, I don't think there'll be much of that.  Oh well at least I won't be working :-)



• It is now almost Thursday so I guess I'll stop here and go to bed.

Goodnight.

Busy!

Sorry I haven't been posting as regularly as I should or responding to all the comments like I should.  I feel like I have no free time anymore and I can't figure out why.  I can blame Ravelry for some of it; but since I've only been on that for a week, that's not really it.  Do you ever have times in your life like that, when it feels like you'll never have enough time to do all the things you want to do?  Oh well, I'll just keep doing what I can and try not to worry about the things I don't have time for.

Another thing taking up my time is the spindle spinning. I've been doing quite a bit of it lately. I've pretty much filled up the spindle with my first real spinning (even though it is a bit thick and thin) and I've been working with my new spindle and the fiber Gina gave me.  I brought it with me to Chicks with Sticks last night so I could show off my new skills.  Can you guess what happened?  That's right; I couldn't spin without the yarn breaking to save my life.  I blame it all on Roger; he put a jinx on me (just kidding, Roger; I still love you. But don't tell Patti).

This new spindle is quite a bit lighter than the other one, and I've been able to spin some pretty fine yarn; fine as in skinny, although I think it is mighty fine looking too :-)

I've also gotten quite a bit done on the Simple Knitted Bodice. I'm at the garter ridges before beginning the lace section. I tried it on when I joined it and it seems like it'll be a good fit. The garter ridges and lace portion are knit in a smaller needle size (of course I didn't do a gauge swatch for the smaller needle size so keep your fingers crossed for me).



The V-neck turned out a bit lower than I wanted, but not quite as low as the pattern called for. I guess I'll have to wear a cami under it after all. Although, with the lace section in the middle, I probably would have anyway.

The second River Valley sock for Sockamania hasn't seen much action lately. I've completed 2 1/2 pattern repeats in the cuff (nothing picture worthy) and will be ready to turn the heel after I finish the third repeat. I don't really need a lot of time to finish this; I just need to pick it up again. Perhaps tonight.

That's it for today. Be sure to tune in tomorrow; I'll be announcing a contest!

Chicks with Sticks

This is kind of part 2 to the last post.  If ever you are in or around York on a Tuesday night, you absolutely must come to the Yarn Sellar at 7pm to knit with the Chicks with Sticks. You don't even have to be a Chick, men are welcome; as a matter of fact, I've been wanting a guy to start knitting with us just so we can change the name of the group to "Chicks and Dicks with Sticks" ;-)  This is a great group of fun people to knit and chat and laugh with.  We give each other encouragement, help, suggestions, ideas, and most of all, friendship. 

Here's a picture of just some of the Chicks:
From left to right: Debbie, Carol, Melissa, Lisa, and Patsy.  This picture was taken before everyone got there.  By 8:00, that table was FULL!  Unfortunately, I'm a bad blogger and didn't get a picture then.

Every Tuesday night is a good time, but this past Tuesday was especially nice.  We had a couple of visitors:

 Melissa and her baby, Rusty. This isn't the best shot, but I was trying really hard to get a picture of Rusty. He's a bit camera shy. Every time he spotted the camera in my hands, he'd turn around. I followed that little guy all night trying to get a decent photo of him.

 

I swear, for every one of those pictures he was looking right at me until I went to click the picture! When I finally did catch him he went and turned on his devil eyes! He really doesn't have evil red eyes. He's such a cutie and he was really well behaved.

We were pleasantly surprised with the return of one of our Chicks who winters in Florida. You could have at least brought some of that warm Florida weather back for us, Carol!

Oh well, welcome back anyway :-)

Lisa brought in the shawl she finished, but she refused to model it for me (brat).

Here's Patti and Debbie holding it up in all it's glory:  

and a close up
Isn't it pretty? And soft! She used Cabana by JCA/Reynolds in some of the loveliest colors. She made this up as she went along. Wonderful, wonderful job, Lisa!

Oh yeah, I can't end this post without showing you the work of one of my star pupils:

Patti has been taking each of the crochet classes I've taught and here she models the Tulip Hat and Scarf she made. She did a fantastic job even with a less than perfect pattern. And I learned why it's important to have someone test any patterns I design! (I've made corrections to the patterns if you're interested.)

There has been knitting going on and squares coming in.  Pictures next time.  Have a great day!

Chicks with Sticks meet the Manchvegas Knitters

What a fun day I had yesterday!  Gina's Manchvegas Knitters group came to York to have lunch and spend the day knitting with the Chicks with Sticks at The Yarn Sellar.  We ate at the Chinese restaurant, Greenleaves, next door to the yarn shop.  Luckily (for the other patrons) we were located in the bar area by ourselves.  Quiet is not exactly how this group would be described :)  Once we were done eating some very good food, we went back to the Yarn Sellar where we spent the entire afternoon knitting and yakking and laughing.  There was A LOT of laughing. 

Sitting from left to right: Lauren, Gaye, Ericka, Gina, Me, Melissa, Amanda, Chris (Amanda's hubby), Chris (Ericka's fiance), Heather, Mary. Standing from left to right: Patti, Lisa, Jackie, Lora

Thank you Roger, for being our photographer. 

He stood on that stool and took the group picture with 5 or 6 different cameras.  What a good Doobie!

 

Gina fondles yarn (pink, of course).

Gina gives Roger a neck massage

A great big thank you to Patti and Roger for hosting this get together!

I finally finished my Round 2 socks for Sock Madness.

I started these on Thursday around 5:30pm and knit almost the entire first leg Thursday night. I stopped to take a look at the Flickr site where some closeup pictures were posted, then took another look at the pattern and realized I had done the leg WRONG! I had to rip back to cuff.  Friday on the way to my meeting in Augusta I managed to get back to where I was before ripping.  I finished the socks this morning around 11 while at work at the gym and had to wait an hour to go home and upload the picture.  I didn't see my opponent's socks, but I could have missed them, so I won't know for sure if I've made it to Round 3 until there is an official post on the Sock Madness blog.

I didn't do much knitting at all this afternoon; just a few rounds on Betty's hat. I spent some time trying to catch up on blog reading; it's hard to keep up with the blogs when your in the heat of a knitting battle!

Tune in tomorrow when I tell you why it's a miracle that I have any hair at all left on my head!

LET THE MADNESS BEGIN, again

I'm ready! I have my supplies:

 
Spunky Eclectic's "Maine" yarn in the Vineyard colorway and Crystal Palace size 2 dpn's.  You may recognize that colorway from the Big Balls Sweater.  I will have no excuse to be wearing socks that clash with it anymore!

The pattern for round 2 of Sock Madness is due out today between 4pm and 10pm. I'm hoping it comes out on the early side of that so I can get going on them this evening. I'm not sure how well I will fare during this round. Tomorrow I'll be in Augusta all day at a meeting. This is not a meeting during which I can knit; we'll be discussing some property tax law changes that need a lot of clearing up. It's kind of important that I pay attention and take notes, as it directly affects how I do my job. Poo, I hate meetings where I have to pay attention! I should be able to get some knitting done in the car though; I'm driving up with a co-worker and I told him I'll pick him up, but he has to drive the car because I HAVE KNITTING TO DO! It takes about 1 3/4 hours to get there, so I should be able to accomplish a bit.

Then on Saturday, Gina's knitting group, The Manchvegas Knitters, are coming to town to have lunch and knit with The Chicks with Sticks. YAY! It's going to be so much fun. I just hope that the sock pattern isn't too terribly complicated so that I can work on it while chatting and laughing and carrying on.

During the first round, we were knitting against all the other knitters in our bracket; this time it's one on one!

Wish me luck!

I've got FO's for you!

Some of mine and one of a friend's.  First, Lisa's new sweater. 

This is especially awesome because she just made her first sweater back in November! She's made three (I think) since then. What a knitting machine she is! This sweater is one of the Knitting Pure and Simple top down sweaters that she modified. Yes, she is already modifying patterns to suit her needs. She didn't want the plain roll bottom, neck, and sleeves, so she looked through this book and chose a pattern she liked and worked the bottom and the sleeve ends in it.  Here's a close up:

Isn't it pretty? Then she finished off the neck by just picking up stitches and turning around and binding off. Great job, Lisa! You've come so far in such a short time.

My FO's pale in comparison, but I'll show you anyway. This first is the baby sweater I started Saturday night. This sweater was so fast, it's amazing (of course, it is the 0-3month size). I worked on it Saturday night, Sunday Morning, and then for another hour on Monday morning before work!

Samm didn't want me to put buttons on it because she worried about buttons with a baby, so I crocheted a couple little circles and sewed them on and sewed some snaps to the inside. There is a bit of a jog where the blue stripe begins on the bottom, but it really isn't as obvious in person (in sweater?) as it looks in this picture. Details:

Pattern: Amy's Little Sister Sweater

Yarn:  Plymouth Encore

Needles:  Addi turbo size 8

I have another baby-to-be who needs a sweater and I think I'll use this same pattern.  Such an easy, quick knit!

It's kind of cheating to call the next two items FO's, but they are :)

Colleen is collecting Spare Squares to make blankets for her local Children's Hospital, so I figured I could spare a few squares.  She'll be collecting them all year; can you spare a square?  She's even having monthly drawings for prizes.  Check it out; it's a great way to use up some scraps.  I'm hoping to send at least two a month. Here are my first two squares:

Yes, those are crocheted squares; and yes, they are square.  They don't look perfectly square yet because I haven't blocked them.  That's happening tonight and they are going in the mail Saturday.  The one on the left is crocheted diagonal shell stitches and the one on the right is a plain old boring granny square. I used a size G hook and left over yarn from the baby sweater on both squares.

 

Feast your eyes on this beautiful new yarn I picked up last night at "Chicks with Sticks".The color is pretty accurate. I forgot to take a picutre of it before I wound it into this ball. It's Malabrigo (don't have the tag right here so can't give you the colorway). Those of you who have used Malabrigo know how incredibly soft it is. I wanted to purchase this yarn to make Betty a new hat because she had to begin more chemo this week. She loves wild colors and I thought she'd really like this colorway. As you know if you've been reading here for a while, Betty is a teacher's aide at the middle school in Town. She not only had my daughter in her class years ago, but she had Patti's (LYS owner) son a couple years ago, as well. Patti donated the yarn for the hat; wasn't that sweet? She said that Betty helped her son and she wanted to do something for her too. So, this hat will be from the two of us - I think that will really please Betty. Speaking of Betty, please keep the good thoughts coming. She's having a tough time right now and needs all the good thoughts and prayers she can get.