Spring is busting out!

Nothing profound or even yarn-related - just some pretty flowers in my garden.

New profile pic

I figure it's high time I put up a better profile picture, so here goes!

WIPs

Well, after taking some time away from my sock with the afterthought heel, I'm thinking that maybe it's ok. Opinions? I was thinking it looked a little whonky . . . but now that I've been away from it for a while, maybe it doesn't look so bad. That, and I seem to have an epileptic reaction to frogging. :-p







This is the baby blanket I've started. It's two strands of the blue stuff. Frankly, there was a sale at JoAnn's and I liked the feel of it and I couldn't resist. Don't know what I'll do with it when I'm done . . . but it will most likely go to the same friend who is getting the baby sweater, hat and booties that I knit a month or two ago. I don't know anyone else, really, who has/is having a baby boy . . .

That's all I have on the needles at this point. My son is clamoring for another pair of socks, but it's nearly summer and he'll be a whole different size by the time he is wearing socks again, knowing him.

I did make a Little Surprise for Slang, and hope to get it in the mail today. ;-)

Where do you knit?

Kat-knits is having a contest, and here is my list of "places I've knitted". I've only been knitting since January . . .

1. The bank, waiting to talk to a loan officer.
2. In the drive-through line at McD's (also at Wendy's, Arby's and Subway)
3. In the library (well, duh! Actually, I've now knit inside 5 different libraries! LOL)
4. In my car outside Bob's Bar (my sister forbade me to bring it inside)
5. In my office while writing performance appraisals, to help my mind work through the wordings.

In other news . . . I hate the heels on my socks, so I'm going to have to start them over. Sigh.

Changes . . .

Well, I've added some more links to the side . . . and I even figured out that I could put in those cool headings. Yay!

WIPs . . . and cats

Sometimes the best thing to do when you're feeling sick is start a new project! I didn't feel like commiting to anything larger, so I did a little talisman bag for my friend for her birthday present . . . but I've already given it to her (with a silver dollar inside) so there are no piccies. I'll be making more, though. Using almost exactly half the stitches as you need in the round for a sock, the patterned yarn comes out really cool looking! Then I finished it off with a little glass bead fastener and a few dangling beads off the bottom, and strung it on some artificial leather lacing. Nice!

I also did this hat over the weekend. DH is modeling it. I plan to give it to the Dulaan Project that my friend
Knitting Brow is working on. It's such a great idea to use up the stash this way! I love the way the yarns worked together, so I think I'll try a few different patterns using the rest of those yarns together. I do need to be patient and make the body of the hat longer.



Next on the needles is this whimsical little scarfy thing. I have a friend who's been admiring my red boa scarf from my MIL (that's you, Jennie!) and I saw this feathery red and black stuff on sale . . . and I can't resist a sale! The only thing better than getting cool yarn on sale is if they'd have some free glasses or steak knives in the bargain! This is supposed to be my "don't have to concentrate" project, but turns out the stuff is tricky to see/knit with, so I have to concentrate, drat it all.


My good/fun/challenging project are these toe-up socks. I'd started this sock yarn in a cuff-down patterm just like the other socks I've knit, but then I frogged it and made myself learn to cast on for toe-up. The second toe looks much better than the first. They will not be perfect matches, though. one is starting with the blue spotty part, and the other was started at the gray spotty part. Hopefully (if the plan goes well) they'll look like cool partners, though.



Here are just a few piccies of our adorable kitties.


Rosie is stretched out on top of the computer, and the sluggard in my computer chair is Samwise. The little darlings. If only they could learn to relax.

Wild Goose Blog Chase

Knit Blog Scavenger Hunt
Rules:

1. -Your finds must come from knit blogs.
2. -You may not use a blog for more than one item
3. -all items must come from different sources.
4. -Finds can come from current entries or archives.
5. -You must post your answers with the title of the blogs they were found on and a link to the blog/item (permalinks where appropriate) on your blog. If no permalink is available, give us the post date.
6. -Do not steal anyone’s bandwidth which means you should not hotlink pictures.
7. -You need to comment and let us know when you have completed this meme (at the JenLa blog)

1. A blog which you think people have not discovered. Slang's!
2. A blog whose author lives close to you physically. Just get as close as you can, it’s all relative. My friend, whom I call Toad for historical reasons.
3. An unusual or weird animal picture. From Aunt Gerry: Dear departed Priscilla in her lovely hat.
4. An entry that made you laugh and got you strange looks from family or co-workers. Everything on this site makes me laugh out loud!
5. An idea you wish you’d thought of. Great hat!
6. Something you’d like to knit. A sweater this pretty!
7. A picture of something you consider beautiful: Beautiful!
8. A blog whose author you’d like to one day meet in person. My dear friend, Gwen!
9. A blog of someone you have already met in person. My friend who got me into this mess! Thanks!

Now, be sure to leave a comment (here, and at the JenLa blog) so we (and others) know to go check out your finds! Happy hunting!

Leg Warmers of Chaos!

I knew I wanted to try a lot of different stitches, and I wanted to make these very colorful leg warmers. They were so much fun! I tried two different kinds of cabling . .. the white and the blue, as you can see.
















I really enjoy the look of the bobbles, too. Aran stitching is a lot of fun! I don't know if I have the patience for a big sweater all in white, though. I'm thinking some really cool, very special socks for my parents or something.





Rosie thought the camera was out to snap her again - and was curious as to whether or not the knitting would be comfy to lie on. I never let her find out.




The thing about lots of colors, though, is all the weaving in at the end. It made for a nice pile of snippings, though! I also have enough of the yarn to make some fun little things, too, so I'm on the lookout for good "small" projects. Hmmm . . .

Now I need to decide what to do next! Yay!

felted bag and WIP

These are the wild legwarmers I'm working on now. I'm trying out lots of different stitch patterns, and, obviously, different combinations of the colors. :-)











This is the felted booga bag I made. I do like the pattern, but the yarn didn't felt up well. I used Ecoyarn, and it's OK, but I had an allergic reaction to it, and it didn't even felt right. I read, afterwards, that white often doesn't felt as well as other colors . . . but in this case none of it was doing much felting.







This is one of the potato chip scarves . . . except I obviously didn't make it long enough to actually be a scarf. Any suggestions for what to do with it?

Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts

Simon on his first Boy Scout campout. They went to Mammoth Caves. Cool!












Simon entertained the other boys by drawing their pictures. :-)

















Spring has finally sprung (a little)! These crocus are in our front garden.












These last are from Simon's Blue and Gold Banquet - the last of the year - when he crossed over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. The 4 boys who crossed over got to be the color guard together one last time.









Simon getting his "Arrow of Light" award.














Mike and Simon - aren't they adorable? Two peas in a pod.

Baby Sweater done!

The baby sweater is now done! Yay! Isn't it cute? I used colored paper to show where the buttons will go, and to highlight the pocket. :D I'm waiting to hear the gender of the baby (they were supposed to find out last week) before adding buttons. I have a full skein of yarn left, and might make booties or socks to match. I might also use the yarn to make one of those "potato chip" scarves (even though I don't like the idea of making scarves all the time I keep stumbling upon cool patterns for them). Time will tell.


This is the booga bag I cast on Saturday evening. It is going well! Big problem, though, is that I think I might be allergic to the wool. My eyes are watering and I'm getting stuffy in the head when I knit with it for too long. Good excuse to cast on another project for breaks! I'm thinking more socks!

On the needles

I currently have 3 projects going. The big one is the baby sweater for my friend, due in August. I had to stop and wait for more yarn . . . and it's just come in so after posting I'm off to the LYS to get it! Yay! I will cast on the stitches from the stitch holder on the right shoulder and do the rest of that sleeve and the front quickly. I did put in the spot for the pocket on the right . . . hard to see in this pic . . . but I think I'll skip the left one.





This second project is just a whimsy. I had yarn from my M-I-L's stash and just got these huge (13) needles, and had to try something fun. Every 6th row you wrap the yarn around 2 times after each stitch, and the next row you drop those wraps. Lovely effect. I'll make it as long as it takes to use up the yarn I have.








The third project is the one that frustrates me. I started this pair of socks for my son so he wouldn't have to wear the ones with purple . . . but a.) he likes those other socks now . . . and b.) he is in a growth spurt and when he tried on this sock last night he declared it too tight. Hmph.

Anyone know a kid for this sock? Problem: I've lost the motivation to finish.

Advice?

Our trip to Cleveland

Here's my Aunt Ginny (GAG) and Uncle Bob (GUB) with Simon, discussing his drawings. And then this is GUB as he was talking to me.


GUB is showing me how his antique Bullet camera would work. You can't even get that type of film anymore. We talked for quite a while about the old processing of film, etc, and how he learned from his mother (my grandmother who died before I was born), as she was someone who processed Xrays at the hospital, apparently. This is new information for me!




This is my sister and Gag - talking about life.

It was an excellent trip.

Second Pair of Socks!

Ack! I don't know why this picture is all yellowy . . . but anyway, here is my second pair of socks. The colors aren't so yellow - they're really pretty white/black/purple with blue specks. They're cotton/wool/nylon Italian yarn - Sockotta. I liked the self-patterning feature, largely because it gave me something different to look at while I was knitting. It kinda bugs me that I was unable to stripe the indentically . . . even though I tried. Also, I'm really no good at makng them exactly the same size yet. Of course, as it's only my second project perhaps I should employ some grace here.

The second picture shows the colors better. Aren't they pretty? Can someone please explain to me the reason for blocking? What is it, how do you do it and why? I just don't see a need.

Anyway, as my son has declared purple to be "too girly", these socks are, perhaps, unless I can find someone else with small feetsies like mine, for me. I have already cast on another pair of red socks for my son, and I plan to add some stripes or something in the cuffs (as well as just bite the bullet and be patient and make the cuffs longer). I found a fun book that has patterns for putting words into the stitching, so I might snag my good friend http://www.knittingbrow.com/ and get him to explain what it all means. I keep glazing over when trying to read knitting patterns. Is this normal, Doctor?

Lessons learned:
1. Measure your darn foot and do the math so the cuffs won't be so loose.
2. Be patient and make the cuffs longer, darnit.
3. Never stick the dpn in your mouth while knitting in the car because you might accidentally hit it in and hurt your pallette (ouch).
4. Learn how to knit both socks at once so you don't have length differences.

The First Pair of Socks!

Ha! I finished these socks - my first knitting project in about 10 years, and maybe my 4th project in my life! They are red "Wool-Ease" with nubs of other colors (blue, yellow), and, of course, gray heels and toes. To be honest, I wasn't sure I was going to get any pictures of just the socks (sans hubby's feet) because once he'd put them on he was very reluctant to remove them. He loves them! I was trying to make them for me, but they are too long in the foot for me. I'm going to make some notes: instep should only be about 5 1/2 inches for my foot, 6 1/2 inches for hubby's foot . . . probably 5 inches for my son's foot, but he's growing so quickly that 5 1/2 would probably work just as well.

I know they don't really look like the same size, but in general they are. You can tell the first sock by the ruffly cuff top (trying to figure it out). Also I did the cuffs a little short . . . but they work for my first pair.

Magic Shoes

These are my extra-special magic shoes. For obvious reasons (i.e. they are sparkly and colorful), but also because 1. I got them on a girl's night out with my best girlfriend, Carol, and 2. they were on a huge sale!!!!! I got them for less than $20 when they were originally priced thrice that! Ack!

more cute cat pix

Samwise loves the webcam! It makes such a lovely pillow. Rosie prefers to stretch out more.

Aren't they sweet?

OK - now for the pic of the cake. This is for the Annual Cub Scout Cake Decorating Contest and Fund-Raising Auction . . . we're entering in the "Sports" category! Can you tell what it is? We had fun making it - mostly because it didn't take much time. :-)

Rosie and Samwise 

Lovely Puma 

Ok - these are pictures of me. The first is from a few years ago . . . and the other is Halloween this past year (2005).

This is chalk art done by my son. I've wanted to put this up for a while on my other blog, but it won't let me put up pictures for various reasons. Now that I know this will work, I'm going to add more! Yay!