Due to unfortunate circumstances....

I got NOTHIN' for ya people. No knittin', not one exciting picture, just plain nothin'! I was having a lot of hand pain late last week so I took a little knitting break. Then when I was finally feeling better, along came the unfortunate circumstances (and we're not talking regular busy holiday weekend stuff!). Yeah, last night I thought I would finally be able to knit. Then.....(insert scary music here).....

We went to my sister's for dinner. Not exactly sure what caused it, but I had an allergic reaction to something. A bad one. My throat started closing up and I was quite uncomfortable. Now that is scary people! Really, really scary! Hubby drove me to the ER, and no, there was not one doctor that even came close to being as cute as Drs. Carter, Kovac, or Barnett. Barnett (go look, he is too cute) is the hottest by the way. Oh yeah! They gave me an IV with some power Benedryl, some steroids and a flush, watched me for a bit. Then they sent me home with strict instructions that if I started feeling any worse, to come right back! Well thankfully it didn't get any worse. The Bendryl kicked in and about knocked me out. Went to bed and woke up feeling much better. I have to continue with the Benedryl and steroids for a few days and take ibuprophen for the awful sore throat and I should be good to go. Good to go knitting that is. Gosh, I am having withdrawals like crazy. Life is just not as fun without knitting.

I did get my stash reorganized though....at least that's somethin'.

You guys ROCK!

Wow, wow and WOW! You guys are great! Thanks so much for all the comments and emails. I have been having so much fun reading all of them. Heehee, I guess you all like the socks. I am typing like crazy to get the pattern finished, in between answering all the emails and comments I am getting. By the way, I can't see your email address from your comments, so if you have a question, email me directly. There is a link in the sidebar and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can. I truly can't believe how many people emailed and asked to buy the pattern. You guys are all so nice....awwww.

Last nights knitting progress:



Embossed Leaves pattern from the Winter 2005 IK. Yarn is Socks That Rock in Falcon's Eye. This pattern is gorgeous! If you haven't tried it yet, go for it!

About the dishcloths....because so many of you have asked, I found the pattern here. It can also be found in the Mason Dixon book. I used the free pattern (by the way, the picture there doesn't do it justice at all), and modified it to 33 sts. I used Sugar and Cream cotton. Have fun with the color combos! This pattern is a great way to use up leftover cotton. The background color doesn't use much yarn at all. I hope I covered all your questions. Email me if you have more. Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

Cockadoodle-doo

Okay, I was trying to be good and not mock any more knitting or crochet patterns, but um, who could resist this one?

Girl or strange bird. Just sayin'. Yeah, COCKADOODLE-DOO!

Haha, on to better things. Like my FINISHED (woo hoo) lace socks! Love em. Wearin' em. It's only going to be 75 degrees today, but who cares? I will hang out in air-conditioned places.



I immediately cast on for another pair. Let's just say I jumped on a bandwagon...can you guess what pattern I picked. I'll give you a hint....my yarn is Falcon's Eye STR.

Ow!

My hand hurts like crazy! I even woke up during the night with hand pain. Goodness, I better not have arthritis or something else as equally horrifying that would prohibit knitting. Even when not fully awake and in pain, the first thing I think about is whether or not it will affect my knitting. Hehe, now that spells addiction! I am taking Aleve so hopefully it will feel better soon. It has to! I will lay off the cotton dishcloths for a while, maybe that will help too.

I am excited! My friend's mom is going to give me a refresher sewing lesson. I have not sewn in years! I hope it is like riding a bike (my luck I will need a tricycle). I am hoping to sew a few things like purses for my girls, a new knitting bag for me and I'm sure I can think of some more projects. Now I hope my machine actually still works. It hasn't seen the light of day for quite a while.

Still socking along on the blue lace socks. I am almost to the toe. Hopefully I will have a finished pic tomorrow. At a standstill on the sweater, those sleeves are kicking my butt. I feel like such a dumb knitter on this sweater. It is taking me forever, with no good reason! GAH!

Wow that was quite the rambly (yes I know that's not a real word) post, wasn't it?

Did I hear someone's having a BIRTHDAY!?

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Jeanie
Happy Birthday to you!!!!

Yeah, it's my friend Jeanie's birthday tomorrow. So everybody sing to her with me! Isn't that a darlin' little yarny cake?

You may have heard of her. She is the owner of the Townsend Sock Kal. She is the creator of the famous Cascading Leaves socks. Tons of her patterns have been knit all over blogland. She is one amazing lady! So hop on over to her blog and wish her a big Happy Birthday! She certainly deserves it! She has provided many knitters with beautiful sock patterns, all for free. If you want to get in on the action, join her group. All of her free patterns are available there. She also created the Lisa's Lace socks that I knit earlier. Can ya tell I just love her to pieces?

I am plugging away at the lace socks. I should have them finished by tomorrow...YAY! I already know I love them. Ahhh, STR socks. What could be bettter.....

Color Me Purple

I finished Alex's bitty little shrug last night. She loves it!



She will probably kill me for putting these pictures up. She had just crawled out of bed this morning when I made her model it for me. It wasn't even fully light out when I took them. I will take pics later of her modeling it over her dress, without glasses and with hair actually combed. Anyhoo....we both love it! Talk about an easy project.

More purple goodness.....my lilac tree in the backyard is just starting to pop. For some reason my tree always blooms later than the rest of the lilacs in the area. I LOVE lilacs!



And close up....

YAY! The joys of spring!

This is the tree in my front yard...

I am so lucky to have a hubby with a green thumb!

Relaxing weekend...

YEAH RIGHT! NOT! We had a super busy weekend. Saturday was the church service project until noon, then a soccer game (40 min from our house....lasted about 1 1/4 hrs), then on to a graduation open house. Whew...bed time. Sunday I had to be to church early, then to another open house. Pooped again. Took a major power nap. Trust me, I needed it! Today I am actually awake after that crazy weekend. Amazing!

On to the knitting:
Alex didn't like the little cardi I had started for her....RRIIIIPP.....on to plan B.



I started a new little shrug for her. This is the kind with very minimal sleeves. I am knitting the straight section now, then I will do the ribbing on the other end. To finish I will need to sew up the ribbing section on each end to make sleeves, and hopefully it will fit. Excuse the really bad pic, and I still have to fix that bad stitch in the ribbing. This yarn isn't easy to make perfect stitches with. When I block it I know it will look much better.

I was only able to knit a few rows on the socks at the soccer game. I wish I could have done more but that game was too intense. Alex's team lost for the first time. Bummer. The other team was great. The girls played hard, but it was definitely an "off" day for them. Sorry, got sidetracked again. Back to the socks......



I'm almost to the heel. Hopefully I will have more knitting time this week.

Pssst....don't tell my hubby.....I got more yarn!!

It's a sock!

I think I love socks with sport weight yarn. Wow do they go fast! I was able to knit the second half of my sock at a choir concert last night. I finished the toe when I got home. It's amazing that I was able to get even one sock done this week between choir concerts, 2 meetings for church, soccer practices, room mom duties, 2 ortho appts. and all the regular stuff. And sigh, Sat will be even worse. Service project, then soccer game, then a graduation open house. Can I just stay home for a while? Sorry, whine over. On to happier things like pictures.



I love the lace pattern. I think lace socks are my favorite. My last two pairs have been lace. It's kind of addicting.

Speaking of addicting.....here's my little dishcloths all lined up. Aren't they cute? I probably should do another pattern for a while. Maybe. Ya think? Or, maybe not.



I don't even want to give these away. Don't worry, I will, after I just look at them for a while.

Good News!

The camera is back in my posession. YAY! I will have some new pics tomorrow.

I've been making some knitting progress, and I am knitting with my friend Sally again tomorrow. She is cheering me on to finish the sweater that I am no longer excited about. (Ok, I admit it, I am bored with it. I think it's all that dreaded ribbing.) I wish I was a finisher. I wish I was a finisher. I wish I was a finisher. (Think that will work?)

Other good news: In case you didn't notice, I have a couple of blog rings in the sidebar now. So if you're bored, go do yourself some surfin'. Go ahead, the water's warm and the surf's up, right "J"?




Blog surfin' that is.......


I found a couple of new hideous knitting patterns today, but I will be nice and not mock them publicly.

I miss my camera!

Yeah, it is still at my sister's house. Hopefully I will have time to run and get it sometime later today. In the meantime, you get stuck with more el-crapo scanner pics.

Still dishclothin' (I know that's not technically a word).....I sure hope there's a support group for dishcloth addicts. (Yeah, I admit it.)


These are the latest two. I love the PINK one. Did I mention I love PINK!

I started a new sock last night. I was having such bad sock withdrawals.



What do you think? I like it. Tried a random stitch pattern with STR in Stonewash (I think).

Started another project today too. I know. I am terrible. Like I don't have enough going already! I want to make my daughter one of these to go over her 8th grade graduation dress in case it's chilly. This is what I have so far. (By the way, my lame-o scanner refuses to pick up the color of the yarn. It is a soft dusty purple. Not the puke grey color you see.)


Well now I have to go help my mom pick out some carpet. Sigh.....just when the knittin' was gittin' good.

Enough already!

Okay people, I am sick, sick, sick of ugly knitting patterns! I mean, who actually knits this stuff much less wears it. Case in point.


You might say "that's not so bad", but it screams
baby chick to me. Yellow, fuzzy, ewwww....and those sleeves. Come on, admit it, you see the similarities too.



Grandma! I found your lampshade! That girl stole it. She thinks it's a hat!



Yeah, I was driving down the road, and I come upon some roadkill. I say "Hey, that would make a good sweater!"

Okay, now that is scary ugly! I think I might hurl.

I can't wait for the beach this summer.

Cuz I am going to look so totally hot in that!

I give up.

Dishes anyone?

Who wouldn't want to wash dishes with these?



They are so cute! I can't stop thinking about all the color combos that are possible!













I truly think I have a new obsession! These things are so fun to make. I whipped both of them out in a couple hours of knitting last night.


I was dying to try the Mason Dixon Ballband Dishcloth, but I didn't have the book yet. Someone sent me a link to this one and I think it's the same one. I love it! I think I will give these to my mother-in-law.

(Sorry for the absolutely crud-like pictures. Alex left the camera at my sister's yesterday, so I had to scan the cloths.)

Yeah, I'll be at Walmart or Hobby Lobby today buying lots of cotton!

Saratoga X 2

The STR socks in the Saratoga colorway are done. WOOT!

Boy did I have to put myself in an, um, awkward postition to get that 2nd pic. I love these socks! I'm not going to take them off (even though I am wearing a turquoise fleece shirt that clashes horribly). They are just too nice!

I would have had them done sooner, but I've been busy doing this:

We have been putting together the office. We are also moving all of our stuff back where it belongs, now that the carpets are all dry. This cabinet is going to be the most fun to fill. You can see what I'm planning to put in there. Yay! YARN! I can fit lots of it in there! The taller cabinet needs some doors on it yet, but let me tell you, there has been enough assemblage in this house for a few days! Did I tell you how much I HATE assembling anything?! I am just not good at it people!

Awwww.....

Baby love...



It's only a hat and baby washcloth yet, but they are still cute. (I have another washcloth somewhere..... Do you think I can find it right now? NO!) I need an emergency baby gift, so I will go with the old standby of a hat, a couple of cloths and socks. I just started the socks, but have only a couple of rows done so far.

TURNED THE CORNER......
On the STR socks. 2nd sock is now past the heel. Smooth sailing from here!



I just CANNOT WAIT to wear these!

The sweater sleeves are about 8 inches into that disgustingly annoying and tedious, K4, P4 ribbing. (Yeah, I really do hate it, especially with cotton!) I won't even bore you with a picture. Ughhh...only 3 more inches to go until I can switch to the lace pattern. (pout...my hands hurt)

The Phantom was totally awesome Wed night! We had such a blast. I was a little disappointed that the understudy was doing the role of The Phantom that night, but it turned out he was really good anyway. The girl who played Christine had a phenomenal voice. Loved it!

Got my carpets cleaned today. WOO HOO! This is just our way of putting off the inevitable carpet replacement. We need new floor coverings really bad (as you can tell from the hideous carpet in the baby stuff pic), but I just hate spending all that money! So now we have really ugly, but clean carpet. Oh well. I can live with it a little longer. Stuff isn't all that important to me. Faith, family, friends, and fun are worth so much more!

Later I have to put all the stuff that I moved for the carpet cleaners back to where it should be. Right now it is crammed all over the place. It is DRIVING ME NUTS!

Answers....

I thought I would answer a couple of questions today. Some of you have left comments or emailed me with these:

I see you use circs. Have you tried dpns and just prefer circs?

I have used both. I used to be a dpn girl all the way. Then I met the Magic Loop and it was all over for me and the dpns. I am much faster with the circular and it is just easier to manage for me.

When will you have the pattern for the short row heel?

I wish I could tell ya. Hopefully soon. I will tell you that it is a double wrap short row heel and Ann says that it is quite common. So if you just can't wait, I suppose you could look for it somewhere else, but I'm not sure where. (Sorry)

Is the Saratoga STR still available?

According to Toni at The Fold it is available through Blue Moon. You just have to ask for it.

Is the pattern available for Sally's Bed Socks?

Not really, I just winged them. Maybe someday I will write it all down though. Maybe.

Any more questions?

Sorry for the quickie post. I am headed to see the Phantom of the Opera tonight with my daughter Lauren, my friend Sally and her daughter. Woo hoo! I can't wait!

The egg survived!

(I will apologize right now....I forgot to take the picture that goes with this post. That is just a dummy egg over there.) But anyway, yarn rocks! Yeah, we knew that already right? But.......get this, it has just earned itself a much higher level of appreciation with my family today. Yes they already knew how wonderful yarn can be. They like the socks. They like the slippers. They are impressed with felting. Blah blah blah. On to the egg.....

My DD Alex had a science project due today. The one where you try to protect an egg from breaking because it will be dropped off the roof of the school. Yeah, no kidding. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, the kids have to find a way to have an egg survive being dropped off the school roof. They have to somehow package it safely (in a container with X amount of volume) so that it doesn't break. These kids try everything. Encasing the egg in Jello, packing peanuts, cotton balls, you name it, they try it. Only about 25% of the eggs survive. Enough about that, on to the yarn......

Yarn obsessed mother that I am, I suggested carefully tucking our egg in the box with yarn. So I took my handy-dandy little ball winder and made a very loose ball with it. (I used some of that ugly acryl-ick that has been very near to the trash several times and somehow managed to survive. And no, I am not a yarn snob, acrylic yarn has it's place. I have "good" acrylic too, but this was some really nasty stuff! Sorry, sidetracked again...) I placed the egg on the top of the ball winder and carefully slid the yarn off and onto the egg. Then I pulled the edges of the ball up and around the top and bottom of the egg. It made such a nice little yarny nest for the egg. At this point I think the egg was happy. It didn't know it would later be mercilessly hurled from the roof and need to survive. Then we put it in the box and carfully tucked some even uglier yarn around the yarn ball. Closed it. Taped it up. Hoped it would survive. She wanted an "A". If the egg survives, you get an "A".

Well, I said, "yarn rocks!!", "knitters rule!!!", and many more (embarassing to my daughter) yarny comments (accompanied by even more embarassing arm movements). I knew it would work. It had to. The yarn wouldn't let me down right? Right. She got an "A". It was perfect.........

Yay, I finished the first sock! Love it! Love it! Love it!



Now to get the other one done.....

I got my new Interweave in the mail yesterday. I really like a couple of the patterns. I think I will make these two (if I have time).

Aren't they pretty?

And, yeah, isn't this a little fugly?

I don't think I want to wear anything that screams felted military helmet. Do you?

And for some strange reason, it reminds me of this:

Maybe you don't see the resemblance, but I swear it is there.

Misc.

A few of you have asked me about the short row heel I am using on the STR socks. My friend Ann wrote some directions down for me so I could try this heel. She said as soon a couple more people test knit it for her, she will give me permission to share it with anyone who wants it. She just wants to make sure it is easy to understand and error free first. I have no idea how others make their short row heels. This is only the second one I have tried. Um, the first one looked like, well, basically really crappy? So this will be the method for me.

Thanks for all the compliments on the socks too! I think this will end up being my favorite pair, at least for a while (hehe). I have so many more ideas for socks in my head. The trouble is that I have no time to knit them all, much less write up the patterns for them. In fact you are getting this quickie post today because I just got back from a bridal shower, now I have to quickly clean my house, then a soccer game, then dinner with friends after that. Like I said.....no knitting time around here. Sigh....

Oh yeah!

I am so excited! I learned something new last night. My wonderful friend Ann taught me how to do a short-row heel. It turned out so good! I love it! If you remember from my last post, I was having MAJOR pooling issues in the gusset area of my sock and I was not happy. Trust me, it got even worse after I took that photo. The yellows and taupes were pooling together and it literally looked like barf! It would have been right on the top of my foot too. ICK!! I would never have been able to live with that. So, I ripped back to the heel and wah lah, a new heel!



It looks so much bettah, doesn't it? And now the close-up:



Isn't it pretty? Yippee yahooie! I love love love it! No pooling on this sock baby! Sigh....I love this yarn......I love my new heel.....I love my sock.

Not nearly enough...

That is how much knitting progress I have made. NOT NEARLY ENOUGH! I have managed to do a little bit, among all the appointments I have had lately. Good grief. I am never home! I have been taking my sock with me and it is growing a little.



I am not liking the pooling in the gusset area, but I still haven't mastered the short-row heel thing, so I will have to live with it. I'm still loving the pattern though. I will probably write it up sometime with a couple pattern variations. I have lots of ideas, just no time to get them written down.

The sleeves aren't growing much. I am hoping to get to work on them today or tomorrow.



Oooh, I found a new temptation. I just may have to buy (shhh...I won't say it out loud)..... a crochet book. It is whispering to me..."you have not crocheted lately...come back". We will see if I have the willpower to resist.... but all those beautiful crocheted sweaters......I love them! Blogland has been sporting some cute ones from here:
















Like I need any more projects.............

A child of the 70's

Yupp, that's me. I read an email today that made me smile and brought the memories back. If you're a child of the 70's too, see if any of these sound familiar. I added a bunch of my own to the original email list. I would love to hear your memories too. Leave me some comments!

You had that Fisher Price Doctor's Kit with a stethoscope that actually worked.

You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it.

You learned to skate with actual skates that were all metal and strapped on over your shoes.

You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute (admit it!)

Love's Baby Soft was the first "real" perfume you ever owned

You had nightmares after watching Fantasy Island.

You had rubber boots for rainy days and Moon boots for snowy days.

You had either a "bowl cut" or "pixie," not to mention the "Dorothy Hamill" because your Mom was sick of braiding your hair.

Your Holly Hobby sleeping bag was your most prized possession.

You wore a poncho, gauchos, and knickers.

You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon.

You had the Donnie and Marie dolls with those pink and purple satiny shredded outfits.

You spent hours in your backyard on your metal swing set with the trapeze. The swing set tipped over at least once.

You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color.

You had a pair of Doctor Scholl's sandals (the ones with hard sole & the buckle).

You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; you wore that little House on the Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffle shirt with the high neck in at least one school picture; and you despised Nellie Olson!

You wanted your first kiss to be at a roller rink.

Your hairstyle was described as having "wings" or "feathers."

You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie.

You carried a Muppets lunch box to school and it was metal, not plastic.

You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend. (BO!!)

It was a big event in your household each year when the "Wizard of Oz" would come on TV.

You often asked your Magic-8 ball the question: "Who will I marry. Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, or Rick Springfield?" (ohhhhh it was such an incredibly tough choice!)

You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack cassettes.

You tried to do lots of arts and crafts, like yarn and Popsicle-sticks, decoupage, or those weird potholders made on a plastic loom.

You made Shrinky-Dinks and put iron-on kittens on your t-shirts!

You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker.

You couldn't wait to get the free animal poster that came when you ordered books from the Weekly Reader book club.

You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues from Judy Blume books (Are you there God, It's me, Margaret.)

You thought Olivia Newton John's song "Physical" was about aerobics.

You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rainbow designs.

You had a Big Wheel with a brake on the side, and a Sit-n-Spin.

You had subscriptions to Dynamite and Tiger Beat.

You had a Rubik's Cube and a Slinky.

You loved your Easy Bake Oven. You probably even thought the cake tasted good.

You had a jewelry box with a little ballerina that twirled around inside.

You collected something dumb like rocks, napkins, matchbooks or something else that was totally worthless.

You fed your Baby Alive and watched it poop colors.

You thought baby blue eye shadow was the coolest thing ever!

You probably had at least one really bad perm that looked like you stuck your finger in a light socket. You carried a HUGE comb in your back pocket to go with it.

Your halloween costume had a freaky plastic cape with a hard plastic mask and it was probably a Disney character.

You loved Scooby Doo. (You were Daphne and you were in love with Fred)

The list could go on and on.......

This sure brightened my day. Hope it makes you smile too!