History Making Event

I swatched for the Formal Boot Bag in Bag Style last night, and made gauge right out of the gate. This is definitely a first; I usually have to go up one needle size, and even then, I rarely get both stitch and row gauge at the same time. So, after picking my jaw up off the floor, I proceeded to cast on. The bottom is finished, and I'm five rounds up the side, woohoo! I also had a money saving idea as I was once again perusing the book. I'm already planning on making the Knitting Needle Knitting Bag next, and have purchased the handle needles for it with my 40% off coupon on Michael's. But if I want to make a second (or more) bag from that pattern, I plan to purchase a hardwood dowel rod in the correct diameter (10 mm) and finish the (unpointed) ends with wooden beads (or glass, if I can figure out how to best attach them). Have I mentioned how much I like this book?

Whoa, Nellie!

What is up with the price of gas (no pun intended)? Ten days ago it was $2.69 a gallon, and now it's $2.99, a thirty cent jump. If it gets any more expensive, I may have to take to pogo stick riding to get around!

Today was election day - did you vote? If not, then you have NO business complaining about the government.

Okay, now off the soapbox...


Remember that scarf for the Red Scarf Project, the one for which I went off the yarn diet? Well, here it is in it's two halves, being checked out by senior cat inspector Tigger. I thought I was almost done, only needing to graft the two halves together. Wrongo, moose breath! I couldn't figure out how to graft the ribbing to make it look right; it's always half a stitch off. Of course, I had no one to blame but myself. I'm the one with the bright idea to do it in two halves, instead of end to end like the instructions called for. In my defense, I decided to do it that way because of all the mistakes in the first half of the pattern that I had needed to correct; I really didn't want to have to do that for the rest of the scarf. Anyway, long story short, it is now languishing in the UFO's while I decide what I want to do with it, since it's now past the deadline. Oh well, live and learn.

At Long Last...Blog?

Okay, just what is it about blogging that's keeping me from getting it done? You would think it was as exciting as root canal surgery or something...sheesh! Perhaps I should try something I did to finally get in the habit of flossing my teeth. I'll let you know if it works. (Obviously, if I don't let you know, it didn't work.)

Let's see, where should I begin...how about what's currently OTN/H? I'm on the home stretch on the afghan squares I'm knitting for Close Knit Hugs. Just seven more to do and I'll have enough to send in for an entire afghan. Several six inch granny squares have been on the hook for Share a Square. I'm also going to be swatching tonight (during Heroes and Journeyman) for the bag on the cover of Bag Style.

Well, that's it for now, time to watch TV (prime knitting time!).

GO ROCKIES!!!

Yarn Diet "Slip"

Well, as you can see from the graphic above, I had a little "slip" in the Yarn Diet. I'm not feeling too guilty, however, as it was for a good cause. After a thorough search of my yarn stash, I found that I had NO machine washable, soft, worsted weight red yarn to use for the Red Scarf Project. My solution? The use of two 40% off coupons for Michael's, each used on one skein of Red Heart Soft in a deep wine color. Total cost for the yarn, including tax, was $4.24. I'm using the "Hugs & Kisses Seaman's Scarf" pattern adapted from Besotted Scarf by helloyarn.com. Pictures soon to follow, I promise!

How weird are you?

You Are 50% Weird

Normal enough to know that you're weird... But too damn weird to do anything about it!

How Weird Are You?

Happy Birthday, USA!

I only hope we can survive until January 2009!

Heeere's Nancy!

Yes, I know, I haven't posted in forever over two months. I offer no excuses, I just haven't gotten it done; but like Finnegan, I begin again.

Let's start small, shall we; how about a cute kitty picture? From left to right, this is Tigger, Charlie and Shadow, sometimes known as the Three Musketeers.

Well, that will have to do for now. More later, I promise.

FO's, AFO's and WIP's

As promised, here are some pix:


First, the FO's...these are a couple of pairs of handwarmers/wristwarmers/fingerless gloves that I made earlier this year, but hadn't yet posted. Both are made from Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky. The pair on the left are my size, the ones on the right are about an inch bigger around for what I guess would be a size large. (I made them for my voice teacher, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis.)

Next, the AFO's (almost finished objects, because the knitting is done, but they need to be felted). The top picture is of two pot holders and an oven mitt that I made for my niece. The other picture is of my second project started in the Magic Moebius class, the Butt Basket or Moebiass. I did not, however, choose to make it in pink, so it doesn't look quite so much like its name.

Finally, the WIP's. The red project is the Shawl Collared Cardigan from the December 2006/January 2007 issue of Knitnet, knit from the same Lamb's Pride Bulky as the wristwarmers. The green project is a vest for the Warm Woolies charity. Last, but definitely not least, is a hat for DS, made from a wonderfully soft fingering weight alpaca, quadruple stranded. And if that yarn wasn't so soft (and warm), I would have pitched it in the trash long ago. I've had to splice it dozens of times when one or more of the three plies has been broken in the skein. But the kid really likes it, so hopefully it will have been worthwhile!

Well, that's enough for now, since 6:45 will be here an hour earlier than it should be, thanks to those yoyos in Congress.

New Beginnings

Isn't life wonderful? Every day we get a new beginning, a fresh chance to start again.


And such a beautiful start to a new day this morning!

Just wanted to see if I remembered how to do this, since it's been so long since I last posted. The last week and a half could have been titled, "The Puke and Snot Show," and it's not even Renaissance Festival time yet! But I think I'm finally (reasonably) healthy again, so will post pix in the next day or two of some FO's not yet seen by you, my adoring public {snort}. But it's nearly midnight now, and 5:40 comes really early. Later...

F.O. Report

First, though, the sky from last Saturday; yes, I was up early! Had to be up to get ready for the second of my three Moebius classes. I had gotten a few more rounds done on my hat, but was nowhere near done, as I had hoped to be. But the two hours of uninterrupted knitting time in class were just what I needed. I came home with only fifteen rounds left to do, and finished up that evening. So, may I present my fourth finished (knitted) object of the year, the Reversible Lotus Blossom Hat.


Yes, I know, I haven't posted pix of any of the other F.O.s. I'll try to remedy that situation soon. Now it's time to start my second moebius project, so that I can get help in class if I run into any problems.

In other news, I did some yarn dyeing this week with my two favorite Koolaid colors, Berry Blue and Cherry, as well as some Wilton's frosting color in Violet. The Koolaid yarn came out great, just as I had envisioned. The Wilton color did not dye as I had hoped; it's more of a variegated blue and purple, but I still like it. Now I'll have to try again for a deep purple. I, of course, forgot to take pictures of the yarn before winding it into balls, so this picture will have to do...
Yes, as a matter of fact, I do enjoy bright colors; why do you ask?

Onward!

Of Moebius and Migraine

Oh, yeah, and that Saturday sky thing; notice much difference between this pic and the shot from my last post? The more things change, the more they stay the same, at least as far as the weather is concerned.

Had my first Magical Moebius class on the 27th; we're doing the hat from Cat Bordhi's "A Treasury of Magical Knitting" to start, then we'll each pick what other project we want to do. I've only gotten as far as the beginning of the crown, which is what I completed in class (see semi-crappy picture). All knitting, as well as pretty much everything else in life, came to a screeching halt Sunday morning when I woke up with a magnificent migraine, complete with up-chucking (TMI?). Missed singing at church (obviously), and spent all day Sunday and part of Monday in bed. Way to get the work done, Woo Hoo! Finally felt halfway decent yesterday, so we were able to go up to my folks' house to finally exchange Christmas gifts. Now, if the weather and everyone's schedule will cooperate, we might be able to get down to the Springs to do the present thing with Bev and Nick. Hope springs eternal...

Saturgrayday

Oh, look, another gray Saturday; at least it isn't snowing (yet)! Just the kind of day to make a pot of soup and do some baking to help warm the house. Why is it that the same temperature inside feels colder when it's cold outside? Inquiring minds want to know! Anyway, think I'll put a chicken in the oven in preparation for soup making, and maybe get some navy beans soaking, too. I would probably be happy having soup for supper every night when it's cold, especially with some fresh baked bread - yum!

We had an intruder alert this morning. Our cats are strictly indoors, but our neighbors to the east let their cat wander free. Said cat seems to enjoy coming over to our deck and harassing our cats through the sliding glass door, which especially upsets Tigger. There was much fur raising, tail lashing and caterwauling for several minutes until she apparently got bored and moved on. Such a fuss!


Don't you just love the expression on Tigger's face!?!
Well, back to the grindstone...onward!

The Paralysis of Perfectionism

I am a perfectionist. This is not exactly a news flash to my immediate family or probably even close friends. Now, a modicum of perfectionism (if there is such a thing) is not necessarily a bad thing. But when "anything worth doing, is worth doing well" becomes "if it can't be done perfectly, there's no sense in doing it at all," then life can be quite difficult. Case in point: I haven't posted anything to this blog in almost seven weeks. The reason, actually reasons? I can't get my pictures in the post the way I want them, I can't think of a good title for the post, I don't have any good pictures to post, I don't have anything "witty" to say, etc., etc. I think you get the idea. So I've decided to do something I don't normally do; I'm going to make a couple of New Year's resolutions, even though we're already well into the new year. First, I'm going to start posting on a regular basis, even if my posts aren't "perfect." Second, I'll be working on taming the perfection monster in other areas of my life, as well. Remember, you heard it here first. LOL

It's that Saturday sky again!

And no, the lens of the camera isn't dirty; those spots are fat flakes of snow. We haven't yet gotten rid of the snow from the storm earlier this week, so this isn't exactly what I wanted to see when I got up this morning. The snow probably won't melt for awhile, either, since tomorrow's high won't be above freezing. Oh, well, what can you do?

My answer to that is, I can knit! I finished the hat that matches this Touch of Whimsy scarf that I made for ISE3, but I still have to wash and block the hat, so no pix of it yet.

I've also been knitting Freedom Warshrags from the Mason Dixon Ballband Dishcloth pattern, in blue, of course! I've finished one and am 3/4 done with the second one, after which I'll be knitting some non-disposable Swiffer cloths. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rock On!

Giving thanks (a week late)

What a marvelous Thanksgiving sunrise; how can I not be thankful for such beauty!?

Other things I am thankful for? My parents still being alive, especially after my father surviving a second battle with cancer, and living near enough to see them regularly. My sister & BIL living in Colorado Springs, and their daughter & her fiance' in Ft. Collins, so that I can see them semi-regularly (though not often enough :-). A wonderful DH who never questions the size of my fabric or yarn stash. A loving DS, now cooking for us on a regular basis. Five crazy feline furballs and one Cockatiel, endlessly entertaining and amusing us. Abundance in just about every category I can think of. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the idea...

Saturday Sky

Well, would you look at that; she's actually posting a Saturday Sky picture on Saturday! Even the same Saturday that the picture was taken! Wow, what's next, pictures of FO's and updates on life in general?!?




Well, not tonight, at least. Just a picture of Tigger flipping me off. There, now you've had your kitty porn for the day...

Saturday Sky x 2

Yes, I'm incredibly far behind on posting...deal with it. Here are my Saturday Sky pix for 11/11 and 11/18. I'll be posting more stuff later on, as soon as I take another break from the excitement of laundry.

Sad Day

Today we had to have our dog put down. Kaitu was about a year old when my husband got him "at a discount" from a Malamute breeder. Kaitu was injured as a young puppy when his mother picked him up incorrectly by his head. As a result, he was brain damaged. We often called him "dumber than a box of rocks," but he was the sweetest dog you could imagine. We had more than eleven wonderful years with him, a fairly long life for a dog his size. But now he's no longer in pain, and he's crossed the Rainbow Bridge to be with Sitka again, where they both can run and play freely while they wait for us.
Rest in peace, Kaitu; you will be greatly missed and loved always.

Make Your Voice Heard!

Did you vote today? I did. If you are a US citizen eligible to vote, I hope you did too. If you didn't, you have NO BUSINESS complaining about your government, be it local, state or national.

Okay, now for some knitting related content. About three weeks ago, I woke up with a muscle spasm in my neck that made knitting wonderfully painful. I did make a couple Cof attempts to knit through the pain, since I was facing my ISE3 deadline of 1 November. But my doctor told me to stop knitting for a couple of weeks, as it was exacerbating the problem. Stop knitting? But I have a deadline to meet! Oh well, s*** happens! Anyway, I am now knitting again, but I still need to limit how long at one time that I work. As a result, I haven't yet finished the scarf, but I do have about 45 inches completed (I'll post pix when it's done).

DH's scarf
did get finished before my hiatus; here he is, proudly modeling it, and a closeup of the stitch pattern:

Had the opportunity to meet and talk with Cheryl Oberle last night at one of our local Barnes & Noble bookstores. They were having a "Knit with Cheryl Oberle" night, and she had signed copies of her books for people to purchase. I already owned Folk Shawls , so I took it along for her to sign, and I purchased Folk Vests while I was there. Cheryl was wonderfully friendly and down-to-earth, and I really enjoyed speaking with her. She even gave me some great tips for avoiding seaming in garments that are not made circularly in one piece. For example, instead of sewing side seams in a sweater, you can pick up stitches along the selvages of the front and back pieces, and then do a 3-needle bind-off on each side. I don't think I would ever have thought of that! Cheryl is working on her third book, this time about jackets, which is to be published in Fall 2008. I know I'll be wanting to add it to my knitting library!