Not Destashing

Still not getting much knitting done. Puppies are a handful, especially this one! Here is a picture of the dishcloth I am knitting. Its a pattern from the Yahoo Monthly Dishcloth KAL group.

I am also knitting a scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It's called the Chevron Scarf and you use two different color yarns. I am using Socks that Rock Farmhouse and Watermelon Tourmaline. This is the first time I am knitting with two different colors at the same time.

What I am really excited about was being able to purchase yarn from the Yarn Pirate. I had signed up for her mailing list for any notifications. She was stocking her Etsy shop this past Saturday. The yarn went fast and I didn't think I was going to get any, but much to my surprise I was able to buy the following skeins below:

1 skein of Paris:

2 skeins of Dogwood:

3 skeins of Cannon Beach:

I had to be really quick on getting them into my cart and making sure they were all mine. Now, I can't wait until they get here so I can figure out what I will make with them. I am still dreaming of getting the following two colors:

Crocus:

Somona:

I'll either have to be quick to get them or see if I can special order them. Glad I'm not destashing. I am a Yarn slut!

Frogging Away - Rip it, Rip it, Rip it

Well, Maggie May is a ball of fire. She sure keeps me hopping! She's not quite three months old and already she has attempted going down steps. We had three other dogs and I had to teach them how to go down steps! I don't think she fears anything, although the other day she got her head stuck between the back of the desk and the wall and started screaming. I did get her out and the good news is that she doesn't go under the desk and chew on any wires that are there anymore. Hmmm, now if I could just get her to stop chewing my bedroom slippers.

I have been knitting more. I am currently working on the February mid-month dishcloth KAL (I know, I'm a little behind) from my monthly dishcloth group. I really like the pattern, but I keep messing up one row and having to frog it. I come up one stitch short and I know it's the yarn over's. You would think that I would get it by now.

I got my Socks that Rock yarn and started the chevron scarf. This is the first time I am knitting something where you change yarn colors. I also got the first installment of the Socks that Rock Club for this year. Really nice notebook and yarn came this time. I will post pictures next time I write.

I am also working on the Candle Flame Shawl from knitpicks. I had to frog that all the way back because I messed up and didn't know where. At least it was towards the begginning and not further along. There seems to be a pattern here with having to frog so much.

Maggie May

We have a new addition to the family. Her name is Maggie and she is a handful! I like calling her Maggie May. She is a very loving puppy and loves to be held, but she is a puppy and has lots of energy. We have her about a week now and she keeps me hopping. She's a cutie though. I usually like a black dog only, but I love the white that she has on her. I'm just hoping she remains a healthy pet for a long time.

I haven't had much time for knitting since we got her, but I did finally finish some projects:

There are the fetching gloves:

I also completed a dishcloth from the Monthly dishcloth group. It was the pattern from the beginning of February.

And I finished off the snuggly baby blanket I was making:

I have a few things on the needles, but I am waiting for some yarn I ordered from Blue Mountain Fibers (Socks that Rock). I plan on knitting the Chevron scarf that is making it's way around the blogging world from the book Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

I also joined a bookmark knit-a-long group that is on yahoo. Since I love to read and knit, I thought it was a perfect fit. I recently finished the new Barbara Delinsky book, Family Tree. I really enjoyed the book, but then again, I love all of Barbara's books.

Speaking of books, there are a lot of new knitting books coming out. I am anxiously awaiting their arrival as I am sure I won't resist the urge to get them.

Well, I'm back to blogging. Now I just have to get back to knitting.

To Catch a COLD

Haven't blogged lately since I had got a bad cold. I caught it from my darling husband. I am finally feeling like my self again. It hasn't helped either that the weather has turned bitter cold here. Hopefully, it will warm up next week. By warm I mean in the 30's.

On the knitting front, I am finishing up a dishcloth and working on a baby afghan. I need to get back into the knitting mode since I have several projects close to being completed. I haven't even been to knitting class for three weeks! I am getting the shakes. Hopefully, I will be going this week.

Finished reading the series of knitting novels by Maggie Sefton. They are Knit One, Kill Two; Needled to Death; and A Deadly Yarn. I really enjoyed all of them and wish there were more. I have a couple of other knitting novels by other authors that I can read. I also heard that Debbie Macomber is coming out with a new book in April called Back on Blossom Street. I can't wait. I just love her books.

I recently purchased the book Cables Untangled by Melissa Leapman. There are really nice illustrations on cabling and different types of cable patterns. I might try the reversable scarf as my first project. What a great project for a cold day!

Knitting for my Sanity

Well, even with all that has been going on in my life, I am still knitting. I finished the monthly KAL for one dishcloth knitting group.

I completed another dishcloth from Harvest Moon Designs for a Dishcloth swap in another knitting group.

I really enjoyed knitting this dishcloth. It was challenging because I kept making mistakes, but it really is a pretty cloth for Valentines Day.

I also, am finishing up my scarf using the mistake rib pattern.

So, I have been keeping busy. It has kept me sane and calm. Which is a good thing.

A Tribute

Sadie

1/25/04 - 1/19/07

What a shock! Our Sadie is gone. She was diagnosed with Auto-Immune Disease at the beginning of the month and went quickly. She was a wonderful dog. I can describe her as a loving, obedient, happy, giving, vocal, animated dog. She will be greatly missed and it has put a big hole in our hearts. We love you Sadie and always will. You are in a better place now and will be there to greet us when it's time.

A Tail that Wags

What a week it has been. It is all revolving around a 23 pound cocker spaniel named Sadie. She means the world to us and she is sick. After taking her to the vet we found out that several things could be going on with her and one of them didn't look good at all. Of course the vet was leaning towards the worse case scenario. He took urine and blood samples and sent them off to the lab. We don't have all the test results back, but the good news is that he is pretty confident that the worst case scenario isn't in the cards. What was it? Auto immune disease or AIDS. With that option, she would have about a 50-50 chance. Fortunately, for us she is improving with the medication (steroids and antibiotics), but slowly. Today was the happiest day of my life when I came home from work and her tail was waging. I haven't seen that since before last Thursday. She stopped waging her tail for now, but at least I can hang on to that vision when I came home and it gives me hope.

With her being sick, I have been knitting to keep me from losing it. I finished the one dishcloth for an exchange and then completed another one for another exchange. However, I have noticed a mistake on the second dishcloth. So, I guess I will be frogging it. Fortunately, it's not too far from the end and I can live with frogging after seeing that tail wag.

Reflections

It was a great holiday week. I had off for most of the week and really enjoyed the time away from work. My husband was wonderful to me as always and got me an Ashford Joy spinning wheel, with a wooly winder. Of course he had input from me. He also surprised me with some little gifts and I was really touched that he had kept them from me and even made a half decent attempt at gift wrapping. Now, I have to spend time learning how to spin.

2007 has arrived uneventfully here, but it is time to look back at what I accomplished as far as knitting is concerned. I knit 17 dishcloths, 1 coaster, 1 baby afghan, 1 regular afghan, 1 pair of socks, 2 scarves, 1 lace shawl, and 1 poncho.

I also read 28 books (4 less than last year). I have been keeping track of the books I have read since 1985. It's interesting to look back and see how many books I have read through the years. So, at the end of last year I decided to keep track of what I knit for 2006. The best book I read was the Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells.

As far as New Year resolutions go, I am bad at keeping them. But, I do want to knit more, read more and learn to spin. I have a large stash, but I am not participating in the knitting from my stash this year because I don't want to be confined to not buying yarn.....at least not yet (even though I should be). I also want to try and knit each dishcloth for the knit a long's in the Monthly Dish Cloth KAL yahoo group. Lastly, I want to be a better blogger. I want to post more and take more pictures of my finished and in process projects. At least it will be a record of what I am knitting (or crocheting and spinning). Oh, did I tell you that I also wanted to try to go back to crocheting too?

I am proud that I did finish up projects that I had in progress. However, I couldn't stand it any longer and have started on several new projects. Of course, I am knitting dishcloths. I love the patterns that are posted for sale on the Harvest Moon blog and Knitwits Heaven. Here are two that I am making for an exchange:

I'm also working on a mistake rib scarf using Manos (this yarn is so dreamy that I couldn't help myself).

And a baby blanket using Sirdar Snowflake Chunky. I'm told that baby's just love this yarn because it's so soft. Isn't the striping cool? I love the colors.

I also want to start on a lace scarf made with the qiviut that I got from the Arctic Lace KAL. The yarn is really beautiful. I wanted to start it this week, but I need size 3 needles and don't have any. So, I may need to wait until the weekend to buy some. I was able to get two skeins, plus a tote bag and an issue of Wild Fibers Magazine. I'm so excited to start this project.

So, it'll be interesting to come back here on January 1, 2008 and see what changes are in store for me, what I have accomplished and what new resolutions I will try and keep.

Eeek.....it's almost Christmas

Well, best laid plans of mice and men. I had hoped to give some knitted gifts for Christmas this year, but that isn't going to happen. Work has just been crazy and I'm lucky I find time to knit at all.

I was doing so well catching up on WIP's; however, I went crazy and started several projects. Added to my list is now a baby blanket knit in Sidar Snowflake Chunky. I am still working on the second Fetching glove, but should finish it over the weekend. I hope to start another pair in Aurora 8 in black.

I was busy tonight wrapping Christmas presents for my husband to take into work. At least that is now complete. I still have to wrap his gifts. Oh, for a moment alone! I guess that tomorrow is another day. I will look forward to Saturday when I am off for a week (except for a one day training session). I am dreaming of a relaxing holiday week.

Lessons Learned

I'm close to finishing the shrug. I have very little to do, but have been side tracked because I started the Fetching gloves. They are a little tricky to do at the thumb. My knitting instructor had to help me. I think I know now what I need to do on the next thumb. One glove down and I'm working on a second. I don't know if I will get three pairs done for Christmas. The last two weeks I have been traveling for business, so that hasn't helped. At least I'm home now for the next two weeks. I need to start sooner on knitting for Christmas.

I did get the qivuit yarn that I was drooling over. Two skeins of a dark purple. It is soooo soft. I really need to get started on knitting that too.

I am so excited! I have been looking for the Interweave Knits magazine for Summer 2004. I think I have found a copy. At least I ordered it. Hope I get it. Last time I did this they canceled the order because they were out of stock. It has the pattern for the Madli shawl by Nancy Bush that I would like to knit. The ironic thing about this is that I probably had the magazine but threw it away. That was in my early knitting days and I didn't know the importance of hanging on to my knitting magazines. I have learned my lesson.

I have been reading more. I finished Black Notice and Point of Origin by Patricia Cornwell and Motor Mouth by Janet Evanovitch. I enjoyed them very much.

Time Flies.....and so do the stitches

The week has flown by. Where did it go?

Spent time learning to spin on Tuesday. It went better than Monday. At least I got how the treadles work. Handling the yarn is getting better. Practice is definately necessary. Judy was really a nice person and very informative. I learned a lot from her.

Thanksgiving we went out to dinner with family. There were 10 of us and it was an enjoyable dinner. Only problem was that it took forever to get our food. Our reservations were for 1:30 PM and we got out of the restaurant around 4:30 PM. Food was good though and hubby got to eat a turkey dinner. I had crab cakes.

On the knitting front, I am on my last skein of yarn for the shrug. I had hoped to finish it up this week, but that didn't happen. The end is in sight though. I did start on the fingerless gloves on Saturday when I went to knitting class. They should finish up quick enough. The tricky part will be around the thumb. I think I will wait until next Saturday to finish up the one glove.

I also started the Candle Flame shawl from Knitpicks. I have a business trip this week and wanted to take some knitting with me, so I figured that this was light enough and would keep me busy at night. I leave tomorrow and will be back late on Wednesday. I am just hoping for good flights, no delays, and no bad weather.

I'm looking forward to Christmas vacation. Still have a lot to do for Christmas, but I should get through it. I have cookies and a ham ordered and we made our reservations for New Years Eve dinner. Nothing like planning ahead.

Spinnin' Wheel got to go 'round

Ah, Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Brings back great memories. What a group they were!

Yeah, I'm on vacation! As much as I am glad, I feel that this week is going to fly. I remember when I was a child and the time went by so slow! I wish I could put the brakes on now!

Today, I had my first experience with spinning. I tried two different types of wheels: an Ashford traveler and an Ashford Joy. I really liked the Joy. I was able to see my feet better and had a clear view of the bobbin. So, I bought the Joy. It's a combination Birthday and Christmas gift. I got it for a better price with the cover than I saw on the Internet, so my darling husband even let me buy a spinning chair.

The first hard time I had was learning to use the treadles. It took me a little while to get started, but then I got the hang of it. The second part and the most crucial part is twisting the roving to the right thickness and feeding it into the bobbin. You have to get your feet moving just right, let the yarn twist and pull the roving to the right thickness all at the same time. Needless to say, I bought a pound of roving to practice.

Tomorrow, I will be visiting with someone who I met on a Yahoo spinning group. I am sure that spending a couple of hours with her will help get me on track. It is amazing what I have picked up by just reading information on the Internet. Now, I guess the only thing I need yet is a niddy noddy and practice, practice, practice.

On the knitting front, I am diligently working on my shrug. I am determined to finish it this week because I want to start on the Fetching fingerless gloves found on Knitty.com as a Christmas present for my nieces. Plus, I would also like to start on the Candle Flame shawl found on knitpicks.com.

On another good note, I did join the Arctic Lace KAL and was able to order the kit, which includes 2 skeins of qivuit yarn in twilight (a purple color). I won't receive the kit for several weeks, but that is okay. I probably won't be able to start a project with it until Christmas is over.

More to come on my spinning and knitting later this week. Hopefully, I can get this song out of my head by then.

......Talkin' 'bout your troubles it's a cryin' sin.
Ride a painted pony let the spinnin' wheel spin

My Head is Spinning

What a week it has been. First I received an order of books from Barnes and Noble. I got the new Victorian Lace Today and Artic Lace. These are two beautiful books. I am currently reading Artic Lace and really would love to buy the qiviut yarn; however, it is soooo expensive. I may just cave and buy two skeins though. There is a pattern for a beautiful shawl, but it takes 6 skeins. Oh, to be rich!

I finished another dishcloth. This time it was a turkey and I'm currently working on a dishcloth that has a Christmas ornament on it from Harvest Moon Designs. It was a free pattern and is very pretty. I still need to finish the shrug though. One of these days very soon I will just do that.

I have been reading a lot about Spinning and toying with the idea of trying it. Well, I joined a yahoo group called Spinning and got some good direction. I found a local store that sells spinning wheels and gives lessons. I really need to try before I would even think of buying. I also heard from a couple of the members and one lives close to me and we are going to meet up the week of Thanksgiving so she can show me how to spin. Looks like my vacation is filling up fast. One more week to go!

NO Stitches East - But I do have yarn!

It's been a busy week but I finally got through it. Two more weeks and it's Thanksgiving. Time is sure flying. At least I will have vacation that week.

I wanted to go to Stitches East, but alas I couldn't go. Hopefully, they will have it close next year so I can make an attempt to go. But, that didn't stop me from buying yarn. I was quite busy ordering yarn for some future projects:

For Scarves (maybe my so called scarf?) Manos - I just love the colors!

For a shawl - Handmaiden Sea Silk in pumpkin:

For a hat - Brown sheep Burley Spun (Sorry, the colors are dark and a little hard to see).

And, I got my Socks that Rock from the Rockin Sock Club:

Projects I have completed:

THE PONCHO:

Some Dishcloths:

A Cat:

An Apple:

A Pear:

I have also been searching for the pattern for this slipper:

Someone had made this for me years ago and I wanted to attempt to find it. It's on the Needlebettle web site and is called Aunt Alms dorm boot. It appears that the pattern is very close and the person who did the boot for me adjusted it a little.

So, I'm knitting along and getting projects completed. I am still currently working on the shrug. I have passed the half-way mark. Finishing is in sight.

While I have bought quite a bit of yarn for projects, my next project will be Fetching from Knitty.com

I figure that this would make a great Christmas present for my nieces and have been told that they knit up quickly. Quick projects are good right now.

I'm also proud of myself. I believe that I am finally getting the hang of using Flicker with Blogger! I better go back to knitting before my head swells too much.

Catch Up

What a knitting week! I finished the poncho and knit two dishcloths plus started another. I will post pictures later today. My WIP's are going down. Next is the shrug.

I started to order yarn for projects. I got Handmaiden sea silk in pumpkin for a shawl, Manos in several colorways (boy are they gorgeous) for scarves and Brown Sheep burly spun for a hat. Can't wait for it to come.

I haven't been to knitting class in two weeks but got there on Saturday. I really enjoy those sessions.

I had a long weekend this weekend (4 days). It's been really nice and helped me to work on knitting and catch up on other things. Next vacation is Thanksgiving week. Can't wait.

Picky, Picky, Picky......Sadie is being Picky

Couldn't go to knitting class this week. Sadie had a grooming appointment and I had to pick her up. All of a sudden she doesn't want to eat her food. Had to get her chicken and cook it. I'm using that until I get to call the vet on Monday. It's funny, she picks out the food she wants in her bowl and doesn't eat her regular food. As a result, I couldn't get the poncho done. Can't wait to see what we have to go through with her now. She is so picky!

I did order a smaller blocking board from Joann's. They had a 50% off coupon and I took advantage of it.

Satisfaction is finding something you want on the internet. I wanted the fall 2004 Interweave Press issue. After some digging, I found it at the Mannings online. Yeah!

So many projects are dancing in my head. I really want to make a couple of scarves, fingerless gloves and another lace shawl. But, I want to be so good and finish the UFO's.

Can't wait until this weekend. I have off for 4 days and I will go to kntting class this week. Monday and Tuesday will be crazy, but Wednesday and Thursday should be wonderful. Then I can knit, knit, knit.

Knitting away.....

Finished up the poncho except for sewing the seams. I will take it to my knitting class next week to make sure that I'm doing that right. I always have trouble finishing up.

I was able to knit a dishcloth from my monthly dishcloth group that has knit-a-longs. It was a cat. I used an orange cotton yarn. Will try and post a picture later in the week. A new knit a long starts tomorrow. I'm not sure that I will participate in that one.

I am currently working on my shrug. I am almost half way completed with it. I need to put a lifeline in since the yarn is tricky to use and I have made mistakes in the past. Ripping is not fun without a lifeline with this yarn (Bernat Softy). I wasn't sure that I would have enough yarn to finish it, but it looks like I will be okay - thank God! I am so proud of myself that I am working away at these works in progress and actually finishing them up.

I ordered the knitpick needles and got them very quickly. Haven't tried them yet since I haven't started anything new.

Finishing - Close to the end

I'm getting closer to the end of the poncho. I have about 6 more inches to knit and then I can finish the shrug. I'm dreaming of lace after that and maybe a scarf.

I even completed a dishcloth from my monthly dishcloth knit a long. It was a cat. I like knit a longs where you only work on so many rows a day. I hate knit a longs where you are on your own. There is no incentive. I am also working on a square for a comfortghan. It's for my other dishcloth group.

It's so nice to be finishing projects.

I ordered the knit pick's options needles. Can't wait to get them.

On a Roll

I'm working on my poncho and have passed the half-way mark. Cheers! Once I complete this, I will start again on my shrug.

I did start on a new dishcloth with the Monthly Dishcloth group and I'm working on a comfortghan square for my other dishcloth group.

It makes me feel good to be able to start something new. These two projects are short and sweet and won't detract from finishing the poncho.

I want to start on another lace project. Maybe after the poncho is complete.

Finished!

Many things got finished this week of vacation. It was pretty productive week:

1. I finished the afghan I was knitting.

2. I finished the half-pi shawl and I'm now blocking it. Blocking is not as easy as I thought it would be.

3. I read a great book by Jeannette Walls called The Glass Castle. What a book! I highly recommend it. It's about a family that has dysfunctional parents. Actually, the parents are irresponsible and only think about themselves and not about their children. While this is a negative, there were many good things about the story that is a biography of Jeannette Wells and her upbringing. It just goes to prove that if you put your mind to something, you can succeed.

4. I am getting better at figuring out how to post things to this blog (i.e. the sidebar). I certainly need to read more about html, but I'm slowly getting it after making a few mistakes. The tricky part was trying to post tags on the sidebar. What an accomplishment to have figured it out. I feel as if I'm back to the old days when you had to put codes into a word processing program for line breaks, capital letters, and other punctuation.

5. And, last but not least, vacation is finished. That is a sad thing. I enjoyed this week and got to relax and do what I wanted to do (well, most of the time).

Now, I am working on a poncho and shrug. These are two more things that I started a long time ago and never finished. I am now down to 8 projects from 17. Not bad. After I complete these two, I will start something new.

Well, this week will be crazy after a week off. I will have alot of catching up to do.