V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N ...... is OVER

Today is the last day of my 10 day vacation. We didn't go anywhere special, but I got to relax (I really needed that), read, and knit.

On the knitting front, I was away on business in Baltimore (the week before vacation) and took along an afghan that I started awhile ago. You knit it in strips and sew it together. It's a really easy pattern so it was great to take along on this trip. I got quite a lot knitted so I kept going with it this past week.

I'm using Reynolds Utopia yarn and will knit three navy strips and two camel strips. Three down and two to go. The picture below shows how the strips would look once they are sewed together. I will add a navy strip on the end of each camel strip.

This is the fourth strip I am working on. Only 36 stitches on the needle, so it knits up fast. Just like knitting a dishcloth only longer. My goal for completing this is the end of August.

I worked on my shrug. It's going better now and getting longer. The picture is a little blury, but here it is.

I have been progressing on my half-pi shawl, but didn't really knit anything this week since I was on a roll with the afghan. I am going to have to block this once it's completed. I never did that before. Wonder if anyone has a great recommendation for a blocking board or some other means of doing that?


I was able to finish three books this week. I read the following:

The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger (good book but maybe a little over the top - although I am sure there are some bosses who are like that).

Everyone Worth Knowing - Lauren Weisberger (enjoyed this one too).

Twelve Sharp - Janet Evanvich ( loved this one and I read it fairly quickly, now I have to wait forever for her next one).

I started to read Swapping Lives by Jane Green.

Well, I have my to do list to get through today since I procrastinated all week. Hopefully, I can get some knitting in today.

Rain Rain Go Away

Geez, all it does is rain. It's not April, it's June! Well, let it rain this week, but it better be nice next week cause I have off.

I have to go to Baltimore this week for meetings. It should be fun. We are going to John Hopkins University for three days. I have been so organized that I can't stand it. I have already started packing. We went shopping this morning and I found a mini super soaker squirt gun. So, I have my ammunition in case I need it. The plan is to get someone wet. What a great stress reliever!

I have been progressing on my half-pi shawl. I really like knitting with the Zephr yarn. The pattern is not difficult so I haven't been having trouble with it. What a relief. I had a couple of close calls with dropped stitches, but I recovered quickly and easily.

My shrug is also getting bigger. Luckily I haven't been having any problems and I'm now past the point where I began to frog. Maybe it stopped giving me trouble since I started using lifelines. I just hope that I have enough yarn.

Check this out:

I got this from the Mason Dixon website. It's my blog address in graphic format. You can find how do this here . I think it's cool!

Well, time to start thinking about bedtime as I have to get up at 5:30 in the morning. Five days until vacation. Yippee!

Amazing Lace Challenge #2

Amazing Lace #2

Yeah, i finally got this started after many failed tries. A very nice sista from Dishclothsrus gave me the tip to use bamboo needles. What a difference! I finished row 16 of 121 rows. I still have a long way to go, but I am really enjoying knitting this with the zephr yarn. So much so that I am starting to look for my next lace project. There are so many nice lace projects that I am so overwhelmed. After I pick the project I will have to choose between either using the zephr again or I found a Silk Seaweed yarn that looks yummy. See what joining the Amazing Lace has done to me.....it's made me a lace addict!

Ocean City MD

Ocean City MD

Boy, could would I have loved to be here today. It was over 90 degrees today. It was even too hot to sit outside. So, I stayed indoors to read and knit.

I finished the book ManEater by Gigi Levangie Grazer this week. It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't the best. The story was about a girl looking to marry a rich man and got duped thinking that the guy she found was rich. She landed out loving him anyway and he did make a lot of money in the end.

I am currently reading, of all things, Gabriel's Angel by Nora Roberts. It's really a Christmas book, but it is a short read and a good read. I will probably finish the book tomorrow.

I am working on my Black Shrug using Berrocco's Softy yarn. So far so good. I'm almost back to where I had to rip it out and start over again. I have to look at every stitch I knit to make sure that I'm knitting or purling the right stitch. I will post pictures later this week. But I'm glad I'm not ripping anymore. I am using lifelines this time.

It's Sunday Again!

What happened? The week went so fast that we are back to Sunday!

I did get through my early Monday morning trek to Ocean City, Maryland. Other than the weather (it was not nice until later in the week), it was a productive meeting and we even had a little fun.


Ripple Stripe Dishcloth


While we drove home from Maryland I worked on this dishcloth. I really liked the pattern and it was easy to do. If you don't know it yet, I am a dishcloth fanatic. They are quick projects, easy to do and allow you to learn new stitches.















I did recently purchase these two new Dishcloth books. One is by Rhonda White who has a great dishcloth site called KnittingKnonsense and the other is by Melissa Bergland burnham who has the dishcloth site Melissa's Knit Dishcloths . Both of these are great sites for dishcloths.

I have to get back to my Amazing Lace project. I did purchase some bamboo circular needles. Hopefully this will make my life a little easier and get me started on this project.

At least I have a four day week this week. I am off on Friday and I'm looking forward to that.

Sunday Night Blues

The weekend is over. I'm leaving for a meeting in Ocean City, Maryland bright and early in the morning. Like about 6:15 AM from work. Ugh! And, to top it off, I am not having a good Sunday.

First, I am printing out something I needed for the meeting and found out that the numbering was incorrect after I was half way through. I have to start all over again. I'm printing in color too and that does go slower.

Second, I was trying to start my half pi shawl and was having trouble working with the yarn. The zephyr yarn is thin and it's difficult getting started. I was almost on my way and messed it up. I was trying to work on this in between printing and after that didn't work out, I figured I better stop while I was ahead.

I will be gone the whole week returning Friday, so the shawl will have to wait until next weekend when I'm less stressed.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Amazing Lace Challenge #1

Meet Team Karin

I have been green with envy over the lace projects I have seen on other blogs and decided to take the plunge into it as well. I had subscribed to the Knitty D and the City podcast and viewed Knitty D's and Wendy's sites (yes you gals do make a difference) and was so impressed. So, I called Rosies Yarn Cellar in Philadelphia and ordered the Half Pi Shawl pattern (I will be making Grace's version). I ordered Zephr yarn in agean blue. This weekend I will cast on and it will be the start of the summer of lace.

Of course if I was going to do this I had to join Amazing Lace. This will give me the encouragement I need to complete the shawl. Thanks to Rachel and Theresa for making this happen!

Four Days Off

I'm learning slowing on how this blogging thing works. I have to do some reading and hopefully I will be able to post more links.

I hope to have some pictures uploaded by this weekend.

I am currently working on knitting a shrug. It's the shrug from "hell". I found the pattern on the Berroco site and I'm using their Softy yarn. The yarn is nice and the pattern is simple, but I either am short stitches or I have too many stitches. I will post a picture this weekend with my progress.

I have had 4 days off from work and it has been heaven. We had great weather and I got to read and knit on my screened in porch. I read two books: Overboard and Metro Girl by Janet Evanovitch. I just love her books. Both of these books were light reading. Just what I needed for this mini vacation. I also started the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.

My husband and I had to take our two year Cocker Spaniel Sadie to the vet today in Philadelphia. It's about an hour and twenty minute drive from home. She has allergies, so I had to take her to an allergist. Can you believe that!

Here is a picture of my Sadie girl:

This is the third Cocker Spaniel we have owned and she has been the best. I found her on the Internet from a breeder in Wilkes Barre called Cocoas Cockers.

Well, it's back to work tomorrow, so I better sign off for today.

The Beginning

Well, I've done it. I've joined the blogging community. I figure this will give me a way to keep track of my knitting projects and anything else I decide to write about. Blogs are interesting and they have helped to give me ideas on what knitting projects I'd like to take on. I have already decided to knit a lace shawl. I have learned a lot from others, so I hope others can learn from me. Let's see what happens.