Who'da thunk it???

Well, if you had asked me a few months ago, if anyone actually read this drivel that I type here...I would have said. "Are you kidding me? Maybe one or two folks, three...TOPS!!!" Apparently, though, there are more of you than I had realized, and I can't begin to tell you how happy that makes me. For whatever reason you may choose to read this, I thank you.

Anyway...onto more knit-worthy news. The Babyboo sweater has been cast on...I did the 19 rows of 141 sts of seed stitch starting on Friday night, finished it at Sunday's SnB and progressed to moving up the body of the sweater last night at the final Woolie Ewe "Knit Night" (until end of summer...insert sadness here). I am really happy with the progress to this point. I know I have miles to go before it even remotely begins to look like a sweater, but I feel like a champ for even having gotten it cast on and gotten it into the WIP column finally.

The baby blanket is making progress, steadily...I have decided that I want to do a scallop bind-off on the edge of it when I am done. This is assuming that I can figure out how to crochet the edging when Sue shows me how (Lord help that woman for being willing and patient enough to teach me anything...), but here is hoping. If all else fails, I can always fall back on the Picot bind-off I had been originally planning, since both options are gonna take at least half of the last ball of yarn.

I don't think there is too much progress on any other projects to speak of at this point. There are about 5 different project bags in the big bag, so I am sure that I am working on other things. It just seems that everything else is, for the most part, on the back burner right now and percolating just a bit. It is kind of nice to have a variety of things to work on at any given time. \

In other news, since I guess it is a well known fact that I am a complete Stitch Marker "ho", so to speak. The lovely Brenda from Sunday SnB, has given me the most lovely set of Celtic Stitch Markers. I really appreciate the lovely knitting bling, I know I will use them often and as soon as I can get a chance, I will take a picture of them, along with everything else I talked about and get it posted here. Just been a bit frazzled lately with other personal stuff keeping the brain a bit distracted and addled.

I was gonna write about some other stuff today, but being that my brain is not fully functional and I have yet to finish the first cup of coffee for the morning...I think I will get to doing that and starting the dreaded work day, at least it is Hump Day today....on the down hill slide to Friday!!!!

Got me some new shiny bits....

Yup, that's right folks...I finally got the much anticipated and long awaited stitch marker perfection today! I could not be happier with a set of stitch markers if I tried. They are a set of 20 colored (blue, green, teal and purple) markers for a mere $5. No knitting notion could possibly make me happier. Might even have to buy more of them when I get some more spare cash....LOL

Bad yarn...Very bad yarn....

I jokingly call this bad yarn, but I know full well that there is no such thing as bad yarn, just a bad knitter. In the case of this lovely chenille "stuff" from Hobby Lobby, I know full well that it is me the knitter, that is the problem here. I have never before knitted with anything even remotely like this fiber (if you can really call it that), and I am not likely to try it again any time soon.

I have been working on the cupcake hat, and thought I was well into the home stretch. Finally figured out how to get the ribbing to fit my head (dropped down not one, but TWO needle sizes to get the stitches to shrink up enough to fit my "itty bitty head". Then, when I thought I had enough ribbing and was ready to bind off, I did so...in pattern, no less....and HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS SACRED!!!! that thing is so small now it won't even fit on a small child!!!!

Not that I would want to torture a small child so much as to put this atrocity on their head....but sheesh.... So, now at some point tonight, I get to take out the binding and try again. Maybe with a sewn bind off? That would probably work, since there are only 56 or so stitches to bind off and it would at least keep the integrity of the ribbing.

All of this being said....I reiterate, I will not ever voluntarily knit with this chenille stuff again....chuckle.....

Somedays, nothing makes it better....

For the most part, on any given day...if I am feeling shitty or just plain cranky, knitting can make it better. It is just one of those things that takes me to another place in my mind. It is sort of like my own personal Zen meditation, clears all the clutter from my mind. This weekend though, it just wasn't working. Nothing I could do or say, no amount of knitting or hanging out with friends was getting my head clear or coming close to putting a smile back on my face.

Suffice to say things have gotten a little chaotic lately in my life. I am trying to take one step at a time and clear the decks as needed, but sometimes it just seems like no matter how hard I try, I'm gonna trip and fall over something...usually ending up with me falling flat on my face.

I am very thankful though that I have understanding friends, that put up with my moods and ever changing array of issues. Whether it be the current issues on my mind or something as trivial as a boy that hurt my feelings.

So, that being said...there was an attempt this weekend at some "kitch" knitting...you know, that stuff that serves no real purpose other than to make you laugh when it is done. Well, my version of that is the hat that is supposed to turn out like a Hostess cupcake.

I got it on the needles and I am to the point of ribbing for the end and it really holds no resemblance to a cupcake...but I am not giving up hope...I am just gonna have to work at it for a bit. I will not let the Hobby Lobby chenille beat me!!!

Also on the needles is the co-workers baby blanket, after having ripped it and restarted it, I am actually seeing progress and I think it looks really good and will totally turn out to the desired plan. I haven't worked much on my Pi Shawl or my second sock, but both of those still have some time, neither of which am I in a hurry for.

Also spending time in the isolation booth is the Fan & Feather shawl that I still haven't corrected from my silly mistake. Other than those projects, I don't think I have any other projects to update. I keep meaning to get the sweater cast-on, but I just haven't gotten to it yet....oh well, not like the yarn is gonna run away or anything.

Totally unrelated...

but, I just had to share some pictures from this past weekend at the Dallas Trocars 6th Annual Casket Races.....I know it isn't knitting related, but I still had a lot of fun!!!! Thanks for the great pictures Amy.

One step forward and two steps back....

This is how I do the knitting dance. Yes sirree....I thought I was making progress on the spiral baby blanket and then realized that instead of having the 10 sections it was supposed to have, it only had 5. Which would explain why the center of the blanket was creating such an extreme peak and not laying flat, as it should.

So, even though I had already knitted one full ball and started on my second, there I sat at work yesterday, listening to the mind numbing chatter of the girl on the other side of the cube from me.... (I'll save that for another post), frogging the entire thing and re-winding the ball. I proceeded to cast on and this time the correct number of sections and I have started over again. I have hope for this, since it only took me 2 days to knit that far the first time, I truly think that if I knuckle down and get to it...I could probably have the project finished in about 3 weeks...realistically.

Anyway, in other news, I have begun to cast on for my sweater. I say "started" simply for the fact that casting on 141 stitches to begin seed stitch was just too mind numbing for me to continue last night and may have to be started on a Friday evening or sometime over the weekend. Who knows...

In other news, I have finally broken down and bought the second ball of sock yarn for my SECOND pair of knee highs last night while I was at knit night. It is this nifty bright green, dark green and orange self-striping stuff from OnLein that I have been thinking about for a long time. The point is that I have had one ball sitting in stash for a while now and it finally has a mate to cuddle up with. I figure, once I get the second 9 mile sock done, I can get started on a pair of these.

Well, I don't think the coffee has fully kicked in so, that is probably all my brain is able to spew out this early in the morning...there might be a venture onto Etsy sometime this morning...I'm on a quest for some really simple and easy to use stitch markers, that have no dangling pieces and will fit over most of my needles. Basically all purpose stitch markers that also look pretty.

Out with the old and in with the new....

First off, Friday night was a momentous occasion...finally finished knee-high number one!!! I have to say, I am really happy with the way that it turned out. Plenty of ribbing at the top, picot bind-off to finish it and the fit is PERFECT! I'm in love with it and there is no chance of second-sock syndrome, since the 2nd sock was cast-on Sunday at SnB. (Yes, there are pictures to prove it...I'm just waiting on the e-mail with the attachments)

Edit....


Along with casting on the 2nd sock, there is also a baby blanket in the works for a co-worker. I just couldn't resist the "knitting for others", when she was willing to buy the yarn (Sirdar Snuggly in Baby Bamboo....very pretty colors), a set of Addi Turbos and didn't mind if I picked the pattern for the blanket. Doesn't get much more accommodating than that.

So, now I have two new projects on the needles, but I still haven't cast on the Turquoise sweater that was supposed to be my summer project. I guess I will have to get to that sometime this week, since I don't think this baby blanket will take all that long to get done. Working that in a simple spiral pattern that Lara had suggested. At this point, now that it is bigger than the magic loop stage, it has become mindless knitting. Same thing goes for the 2nd sock, until it comes time to turn the heel (ick...).

I'm sitting here at work, typing away and trying to think if there are any other project that got started over the weekend....but I just can't seem to think of any.

The Pi Shawl is also on the needles, but that is somewhat mind numbing and for the time being has become somewhat of a back burner project for the simple fact that I can pick it up and put it down at any time....but it is handy that it is still small enough to fit in my bag and makes a good on the run project.

OK, so...now that I have done a run down on the current projects and I really don't have anything too new to tell, since the pictures haven't shown up yet...I am gonna get back to knitting..ummmm...I mean working....yeah, that's what they call that thing I do during the day Monday through Friday.