Year End Sale....Hurrah!!!

Alrighty then, I have not really spent any real time blogging in the past 6 months and I guess it is about damn time that I get caught up. I will try and review a few of the FO's from the past few months, there aren't too many of them, since I seem to have a pretty severe case of "finish-itis". I still have plenty of UFO's on the needles, but it seems that things are making progress each time I pull something from its current project bag.

Speaking of project bags, I have to say that I am now the proud owner of some of the coolest and (if I do say so myself) prettiest project bags that I have ever seen (other than Lara that is). Got two from Momma for Christmas/Chanukah, four from Carissa for my birthday and a few that I got on the pre-Thanksgiving trip to Momma's. As soon as I can wrangle a camera to borrow or impose on someone to take some pictures, I will post them here for all to see. The good ol' crackberry just doesn't do them justice at all.

So, anyway, back to FO's and UFO's. I have finished a hat or two, one scarf (the Hamburger Scarf), a few pairs of fingerless in varying patterns. I think somewhere along the way, I finished a "toy" bag (which has never been used). Other than that, it seems like everything else is still a WIP and trudging along slowly.

Have a Clapotis in progress, along with a Movie Shawl for my stepmom, midway up the calf on the second Neverending Knee High, a few inches into the Convertible Shawl (from the CEY Make it Modern pattern book). Have made marginal progress on the Pi Shawl, but lordy...that is the never ending project from Hell. I'm sure there are other things that are on the needles at the present time, but do to lack of sleep and exhaustion, I just can't seem to recount what all of them are.

I keep hearing the siren call of a new"er" queen size bed in my newly aquired larger apartment. I may have bitten off more than I can chew, thinking that I could post a coherent blog after only a mere 3 hours of sleep last night. For now, I think I am gonna hit the save button and come back this afternoon after I have taken a much needed nap.

Be back soon.....

Been gone too long....

Ok, it has been way too long since I have last blogged. In my own defense, it has mostly been that I don't have access to this website from work anymore and by the time I get home, I have no desire to do anything all that productive online. LOL

I have just today discovered how to post a blog from my handy, dandy CrackBerry that I so dearly love and cherish.

Anyway, now that I have the means and the knowledge I will do my best to try and post once in a while....so long as I don't wear out my thumbs in the attempt.

I was a bad, bad girl....

I promised myself I wouldn't buy anymore yarn for at least a month or two and especially not until the SnB Swap was over....but I just couldn't resist. I was at the Woolie Ewe yesterday (no shock there), but I was feeling the shopping urge. It was STRONG!!!

There, right on the floor, near the register...my temptation sat. It was a basket of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool. I just could not resist the temptation, especially when it was at half off of $7.95. I had originally intended to only purchase one ball of yarn yesterday. It was gonna be the Debbie Bliss wool/cotton that I had found in the clearance section for a mere three dollars and change.

I was weak though, and I did succumb to the siren call of the Silky Wool, two skeins worth. It is a really pretty rust color and I think it will make a lovely fall scarf for me. If all else fails, I could even gift it after the fact. The decision now becomes...what stitch will I knit it up with? I am torn between a Mock Cable and a Simple Woven Stitch. My goal is to find a stitch that will highlight the tweedy-ness (is that even a word) of the yarn and show off the pretty color, yet make sure that the scarf lays flat when I wear it.

Now that I have confessed my yarn shopping sin...I feel much better.

On another note, I am almost done with the baby blanket and only have about 1 ball of yarn left. It has been decided, that the bind off will be a crocheted border resembling a scalloped edge. I am really looking forward to seeing what it will look like in the end. I will say, if I ever do this pattern again, instead of YO's for increases, I will just do a Kfb instead, so that the blanket has no holes, but still has the pretty swirl patter that I like so much. (must make mods)

In other news, the cupcake hat has been bound off, but the swirl-y topping has not been completed yet. I am on a quest for some white or cream colored DK weight yarn so that I can knit several feet of I-Cord and sew it on and be done with this insane idea. Maybe I will find a small amount of this at the Stash Swap this weekend....here's hoping.

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.

Thump...thump...thump...

There is the slow, dull...yet consistent sound of "thumping" coming from my desk at work today. I have the distinct impression that it is me, pounding my head against the desk in the vain attempt to put myself out of my misery and end this HELL of a Monday as soon as possible....

Ugghhhh....will the agony never end???? I'm sure it will in a mere 3 hours.....

Riddle me this....

Ok, I am usually not a big fan of the survey for blogs...but hey, saw this and thought..."what the heck, I'm bored at work." So, here goes.....I found this survey from another blog "The Black Yarn Swap", just so know one thinks that I came up with this on my own....

1. Do you knit, crochet, or both?
Primarily Knit, I know how to Crochet, but do not do it well or enjoy it.
2. What do you prefer to knit or crochet? (socks? sweaters? cables?) What would you like to try to knit or crochet?
I prefer to knit socks and hats, just about anything in the round. I would like to try more garments in the future.
3. What are your hobbies outside of knitting or crocheting?
I love to read and watch movies
4. Do you have any fiber allergies? Fiber preferances?
No allergies, that I know of. I prefer Merino, Bamboo and Cotton
5. Do you have any favourite books, music, or tv shows? If so, what are they?
I love Emma Holly and most fiction. TV shows are tough, because it changes so much. Currently I like Survivor, Dancing with the Stars, CSI and most thinks on SPEED Channel
6. Do you have any pets?
Nope, no pets...
7. Do you prefer salty or sweet snacks?
Depends on my mood, I like salty stuff...but I am a complete sucker for Ice Cream
8. Do you prefer coffee or tea?
COFFEE!!!!! Definitely
9. Aside black, which colours do you like/dislike?
Magenta and Teal
10. What is your favourite time of the year? (season-wise or holiday-wise)
I like winter and fall...pretty much anytime of the year that it is cold and I can wear a jacket, jeans and a set of wrist warmers
11. What is your favourite scent?
Oranges and citrus...along with clean man (that always works for me, too)
12. What do you collect?
Hehehehe, you mean other than yarn? I guess I collect purses, watches and books.
13. If there's anything else you'd like people to know, list them here:
I am a sucker for a comfy place to sit and knit, good hugs, great music, chocolate cake and a truck stop that serves steak & eggs for breakfast!

And the sweater begins....or should that be saga???

To be more specific, it is a cardigan. I have bit the bullet and finally broken down and decided to knit a sweater for myself. The original impetus for this happened a few weeks back at a SnB, when I decided to wear a skirt and cute shirt. It was a bit chilly out and lo and behold, I had nothing to wear over my shirt other than my H-D (not really the look I was going for), so I decided it was time to start looking for a pattern and decide on a yarn to use.

Well, almost 2 weeks later and I have found the yarn. I opted for K1C2, Babyboo in Bright Aqua. I am still debating on the pattern, even though I think I have a general idea of what I am wanting to do. I really like the style of Tahoe pattern from Knitty.com, but I know for sure that I would adapt this to have 3/4 length sleeves. There is no way that I could wear this sweater in the spring and summer seasons, here in Texas with long sleeves....it is just way too warm for that.

So, I have swatched the yarn, managed to get gauge and now I just have to find someway to work out the pattern to work with the yarn I want to use. Par for the course with me, never follow the directions...LOL!

Anyway, cross your fingers and wish me luck. I am going to take all the info, along with the yarn and needles (so graciously loaned to me by Kenny) with me this weekend when I take a trip to see Mom up in Oklahoma. Hopefully between Lara and Mom there will be guidance as to how I should proceed with this endeavor... One day I will figure out why it is that I don't just take the well traveled road and stick with a pattern that is established and tested to work...(shaking my head at myself).

Too long gone....

Well, it has been a week...I didn't fall off of the planet, albeit I feel like have. I think this allergy season is just about to kick my ever lovin' ass.

I have been trying to knit in the evenings to get some of the never ending projects off of the needles, but no matter how hard I try I just can't seem to get caught up.

Thanks to Miss Knotty, the spiral hat is in the finishing stages. I did the ribbing last night and am stopping before I get back to the colors in the ball that I don't really like. I just gotta figure out the best way to bind off so I don't shrink the hat too much.

After I get the hat off the needles I am going to cast on a new set of fingerless mitts for my friend Brett. He bought the coolest colorway of Cascade 220, it is olive green and black heather....should be lots of fun to see how they turn out.

I know I said I would never knit for anyone else again, but I guess I consider this an exception to the rule....Mainly since he is learning to knit right now and hasn't really progressed to knitting in the round yet and I have knitted 2 sets of these already and they work up pretty quick...lastly, I really wanted to try the Cascade 220 and this is as good a reason as ever to get my hands on a skein of it, without having to actually buy any...LOL!!!!

Coffee??? Where is the coffee???

I haven't slept nearly enough hours in the past few days, not sure if this post is even gonna make any sense at all. I figured I would give it my best effort and try anyway.

Was definitely a fun day this past Sunday at Cafe Express, there was much winding and very little knitting on my part. I have to say, I would have actually been better off leaving my knitting at home. I got absolutely nothing accomplished and what I did get accomplished wasn't on pattern and should probably be taken out and done over....but that remains to be seen.


I have determined that the ribbing on my knee-high will go, as according to the original plan, and I will knit it like I do everything else. Thanks to Lara, the spiral hat has had a round frogged and corrected so that I can start in on it again when I have some quiet time and can pay attention to my counting. I really don't want to rip that, and I know she doesn't either.

Anyway, I should be able to tackle a few more knitting projects the rest of the week, since I will be back in my own apartment as of tonight...not sure if I want to just sleep the night away or actually go to knit night and knit my little fingers off....who knows, I guess I will have to wait to see what happens at 5 o'clock.

Bringing a newbie into the fold...

I have begun the conversion of another knitter. That's right folks, I was converted and brought into the fold roughly two years ago, and it was about time that I brought my first convert over to the dark side.

The convert in question is a very dear and sweet friend of mine from work. He has long heard me blather on and on about the joys of knitting and fondling yarn. So, this past Wednesday, he finally agreed to meet me at my LYS and I sat him down around the knitting table with two balls of Berroco Comfort in the most shocking color of green (it is SO his color, too) and a set of Bamboo needles in 9.

Sue, the knitting wizard at The Woolie Ewe, had him start with a Long Tail Cast-on. He took to it like a duck to water. It was so awesome to watch him sit there, so focused, cast on each and every one of those stitches. I started to notice the odd silence from the direction of his chair, so I turned and there he is, 5 or 6 rows of garter into his first scarf. I felt like a new mom, just overcome with joy that he was actually having FUN and had a big smile on his face!!! THIS ROCKS!!!!

There have been a few hiccups along the way, there was some unraveling, a few dropped stitches, frogging of the entire project and a new cast-on this morning. But, all in all, things seemed to be a success so far. I was a little worried at the frogging point...I had this fear that he was gonna text message me that he really didn't like the idea of knitting and was gonna just drop the idea entirely....but NOPE, he asked me to help him out and he was gonna give it another go....YOU GO BOY!!! KNIT ON!!!

I'm so happy for him...I just can't express how much it makes me smile. There is some serious knitting love in me today...even though I can't bring myself to work on any projects today. I opted to bring a book with me instead.

grrr.....frustration and knitting....

In the spirit of having a decent sense of humor left after being frustrated at my current project, not much to say and my extreme love of knitting...here is something that I think everyone should watch....I don't usually surf YouTube all that much, but someone showed this one to me, and I just feel compelled to share it. Enjoy!!!!



Just figured I would throw a picture or two of the current project that leaves me vexed and perplexed....

ok....Alpaca Redux....no dice

Well, the plan was to use the Baby Alpaca to try out the cupcake hat. Yet again, not my best plan or idea. I have never knit with alpaca and I seriously overestimate my skill along with underestimating the slick and fluid texture of the yarn I am trying to "tame".

So, that idea was scrapped...but I have rethought the plan and am going to put the Alpaca back into stash hibernation, yet again. But....I am still going to knit up the Fauxstess, there is no doubt in my mind about that!!!

I am going to try the cupcake with some Berrocco Comfort and Comfort DK. I think this would make an ideal media for the hat and I am also going to rework the pattern to make it more my own and slightly more my style...I will share my plan when the idea is at least on the needles and taking more of a physical shape.

On a brighter note, though....I did cast on at least one project tonight. I cast on some Noro Kureyon (colorway 139). Not my favorite yarn to knit with, but the colors are just so pretty I could not resist. On top of the fact that I really needed some work knitting for the morning since things have been so slow at work lately and I can only surf Ravelry so much without feeling compelled to start a new project.

The idea behind this new project is to do a spiral pattern hat. Like the other hat that I have done and loved so very much, I am starting this one in top down fashion and knitting in Magic Loop until I have it to 80 sts and then I will just knit in the round until I get to the length I want and will either finish with rib knit, seed stitch or just maybe i might finish it with a picot bind off...who knows? I'm sure I will have decided by the time I get to that point.

Anyway, it is late and I am sure that sleep is a long time in coming for me tonight and the knitting will all to me from the couch while I try to sleep, but I must at least make the pathetic attempt to count the sheep....or maybe just the balls of sock yarn I wish to add to my stash.

Hmmm..one ball of Regia Silk, two skeins or Shibui Knits, three balls of On-Lein sock yarn, four balls of Jawool.....ZZZzzzzzzzzz

Yummy....I wanna be called "cupcake"....

I found this pattern in Ravelry and I am completely and TOTALLY in LOVE (love, love, love) with it...it is called the "Fauxstess". I must knit this as soon as possible.

I think I even have the yarn in stash to do this....even better, right? Thinking of using the Misti Alpaca - Baby Alpaca in black that didn't work out so well for my first cable attempt. I know for sure that it would make a really soft and snuggly hat.

I normally wouldn't knit something quite this "kitschy", but I just can't resist. The picture just seemed to call out to me...knit me, knit me...knit me, damnit!!! So, yet again, I will answer the siren call of the yarn and cast it on tonight....hell, it's a hat...I could probably have it done by the weekend if I put my other projects down for a bit. I might even get brave and try it on DPN's instead of my much loved circulars.

Only bummer about knitting a hat in April (in Texas, no less) is that I won't get to wear it till it starts to get cold again....at the END OF OCTOBER!!!!

Anyway, I guess I will head back scouring Ravelry some more for patterns, that I most likely won't have time to knit...but if it distracts me from the massive headache I have had all morning, so much the better!!!

Progress, I say....Yes, progress....

Ok....so, I got at least 4 more repeats done on the fan & feather shawl/wrap last night, while sitting home watching the boob tube. I tried to start the ribbing on the knee-high, but due to the fact that I knit weird, the ribbing was not working out correctly.

I have since gone to my favorite website for help with the icky dilemma, knittinghelp.com!!! I think every knitter should have this website bookmarked and easily accessible at any given time. I have always known that I knit a bit different that others, and from Lara's educated guess, I have watched her knit enough, that I picked up combination knitting without even realizing it. Good grief, as if I don't do enough things differently already, now add knitting to the mix.

Well, luckily knittinghelp has videos on this very dilemma. The conundrum is that when I "knit" in the round, everything works out fine. When I "knit and purl" flat pieces, that too works out without any problems. The problem started when I tried knitting "ribs" in the round. For some reason I wasn't wrapping the yarn correctly so, half of my stitches were becoming twisted. Not a total tragedy in my opinion, since I liked the way it looked and made the ribs a bit more snug (a good thing, in IMHO).

The catch with all this mess, is that I am starting on the ribbing for my knee-high socks, and I really want these bad boys to be PERFECT!!!! I am still on the fence as to whether I should do 1x1 ribbing or 2x2 ribbing.

So....I started the ribbing last night (I am VERY thankful that I put a lifeline in before I started) when I was sitting at the Woolie Ewe, after the second round I knew there was something slightly amiss. I stopped work on them as soon as I noticed there was a problem, so tonight when I go to knit night, I am going to have to rip out what I started (yet again, thanking my life line) and start again, but this time keeping in mind what I learned on the website about how to wrap the yarn on the purl stitches....WOOO HOOO...I'm not a FREAK!!! YAY!!! Cheers all around....

Now back to your normally scheduled programming....