A little knitting, a lotta reading

It's been raining for 3 days.  Makes me miss Southern California sunshine. Since I can't work in the garden, I've spent time knitting and actually finished something!

 

Hubby is happy since they were custom fit.  And I've managed to impress my MIL who is normally not impressed with me - at.all.  She lived with us for 3 months and never noticed that I knit rather well??  Oops, patience....perhaps she's forgotten (at 86, her memory is fading).

I've made time for another favorite hobby in the last two weeks - reading. And instead of buying, I went to the local library (pat myself on the back).

I drooled over thumbed through A Gathering of Lace for a few days.

 

So many patterns I would love to knit but I've put myself on a yarn diet (more about that another time) and do not have yarn for any of the projects.  Drats.  Book is now on my wish list.

And I've managed to catch up on fiction reading (don't you just love the library!?) 

With hubby away helping to pack his Mother's house in Dallas, I'm hitting the library again tomorrow to see what else I've missed.  Suggestions? 

Time to read is bliss!

Further attitude adjustment

Insurance and contractor woes seem to be taken care of (crossing fingers and toes) but no repairs can be started because it's been raining for a week!! lolololol <-----hysterical laughter

OK...fine...whatever!

Further attitude adjustment needed.

I bought these needle keepers from a really nice person on Etsy to hold socks-in-progress while in knitting bag (great concept!)



and Louet Gems in this color

Looks a little like sunshine don't ya think?

This run of bad luck as got to stop before I go broke.

Socks anyone? :D

Attitude adjustment

The aftermath of the fire continues to provide for unwanted entertainment in the form of a dishonest contractor. For the past two weeks, I have alternated between anger, frustration, and depression. Neither attitude bodes well for knitting.

Today, I have to frog and re-knit a project which demonstrates my moods - alternating between loose stitches, then very tight stitches. Great if I want to teach about tension in knitting, but sucks for a finished project. Dang!

What I need is an attitude adjustment. Since we can't spend a lot of money on a great vacation (nor is there time since we have to be here for the honest contractors to work), it comes in the form of an inexpensive treat. Summer knitting for me!




Thanks Denise for the reminder of this book! :)

Monday Madness

Last week's insanity is this Monday's madness. In other words...more of the same.

Insurance adjuster,



contractor's for repairs on the workshop siding, the swim pool equipment, the workshop AC, the fence....

and the unending telephone calls...from me/husband and for me/husband. Down with telephones!



I'm cranky and my blood pressure is soaring to new heights. And I'm even more behind on deadlines then ever. My solution?



Knit a sock. Hopefully I'll be less behind by the end of the week. ;)

Tempting

No secret that I love knitting socks. So I'm surprised that I missed knowing about the Socks A La Carte book. (Must have been the move, the settling-in, and the broken ankle.)

I do know that it looks very interesting as the pages flip so that you basically are creating your own pattern. Sounds similar to Sensational Socks books but with pictures as you can create a visual to see how a cuff, body design, heel, etc., will look when put together.

Is it a good book? No idea. But I am tempted to find out!

If you have an opinion, let me know.

Why....

....do I watch sad movies when I'm depressed? Do you? Seems like we'd pop a wonderfully hilarious movie into the DVD player instead to cheer us up. But no.

Instead I watched Philadelphia today (we're home with a stomach bug and not in the mood to be happy).

I did start a simple, no-brainer sock pattern with discontinued (and inexpensive) Magic Stripes.

I have no mental capacity for anything past a k2, p2, and do not want to blow it with a better yarn.

Feel sorry for me yet?

Kureyon sock yarn sighting

I wasn't fast enough to find Noro Kureyon sock yarn in stock when it was released. But it's in stock once again at Simply Socks Yarn Company and this time I got there before it sold out!! Yippee! That's the good news. The bad news? I'm suppose to be on a sock yarn diet...so I ordered only two skeins. Moderation, ya know? hehe

Harry Potter sock yarn from Opal

Now I know what I want for Christmas. ;-)

Hookin' Month

Although I'm a dedicated knitter..especially socks...my first yarn experience was with crochet (hooking). Once I learned to knit, the texture of crochet stopped being as appealing to me. So I might finish one or two crochet projects a year (not counting bead crochet).

But today....I saw an advertisement for the next issue of Crochet magazine.



I'm loving the top on the front cover. Potentially something that I'd love to finish. OK, that project is enough to entice me to see what other projects are in this issue.

As I browse Interweave Crochet Magazine website with other project pictures, I find this...



Oooohhhhhh! I want to do those too! Looks like April will be a hookin' month.

Good grief......

....it's Thursday already. Fast paced week here, but then most weeks are like that. I managed to finish a pair of socks this week.



This is crosshatch lace from More Sensational Knitted Socks. Yarn is Lornas Lace (I forgot the colorway name). I love the colors (very spring-ish) but the lace pattern is lost in the variegated colors. I have another hank for a 2nd pair of ankle socks. I think the 2nd pair should be a simple pattern to show off the colors.

Loads of other creative musing going on here...but nothing that can be shown yet (a little tease haha).

Yarn experiment

What happens when you start one sock with the center pull of a skein, and the 2nd one from the skein's outside end?



The stripes are reversed! Yes, I did it on purpose. Who says socks have to be exactly the same?

A soap opera (plus a little fun)

The month of November was particularly difficult for my mother-in-law. She had some health issues which had her in the hospital. While recovering at her sister's house, her home was burglarized. And if that's not enough, she fell on Friday and broke her wrist. Really, it's like a soap opera in which she has landed the role as the "long, suffering heroine." And she's not enjoying it!

While we're working to make life a little easier for her, I'll be absent from blog-world. But I am knitting since that's how I handle stress.

Here's what I've been working on.

A sample knit for Knit Picks....



...which is a beautiful pattern. I'll have it finished before we leave on our trip. And as soon as it's live on Knit Picks website, I'll post the link so you can see just how nice it is.

Then there's the "life is stressful so I must knit socks"...



...from More Sensational Socks. I just need to close the toe on this one. Then knit it's mate.

For the trip, I think I'll pack nothing but sock yarn to keep stress at a minimum. I suppose I'm thinking that as long as feet are pampered, life is good. ;-)

*****************************************************************
For fun:

This will boggle your mind and you will keep trying it
over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but you can't!
It's preprogrammed in your brain!

1. WITHOUT anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......) and while sitting where you are at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand.

Your foot will change direction.

I told you so!!! And there's nothing you can do about it!

You and I both know how stupid it is, but before the day is done you are going to try it again, if you've not already done so.

Ravelry

After receiving my invitation last July, I'm finally (a little) active over at ravelry.com. Yeah, yeah....I receive the coveted invitation and then do nothing about it. What can I say? My reality includes so many things to knit and bead that online discussion of it tends to be the last thought I have. (You mean you haven't noticed by the lack of blog entries? hehe)

And the push to become active is due to a pal who is hosting a (loom) KAL. So if you're a member, look for knitting muse and you'll find me.



For now, I'm just hanging out in the loom knit group and (of course!) two sock groups. One must knit socks!!

A fellow?? mmm...nope

What color of sock yarn do you prefer?

You like blue sock yarn. You are a fellow. You don't like bars, you prefer pubs.
Take this quiz!

Hand painted yarn

One of my summer goals is to give hand painting yarn a whirl. And Scout's appearance on Knitty Gritty has encouraged me.

I've given hubby a new "honey do" to make it easier. It may take a couple of weeks for him to get time but that's OK....I'll wait. In the meanwhile, I'll knit socks with my new Tofusies



(the colors are great but the picture is terrible!) and play with beads.

I did it!

I finally overcame my loathing of DPNs. I tried them about 20 years ago when I was still a novice knitter. They felt awkward and the stitches were sloppy (that much I remember). And since I had little patience, I gave them up quickly.

Luckily I found two circular needles easy for making socks. And I can even convert most patterns from dpn's to circulars. But really - I teach knitting and should have no fear. So I decided it was time for me to give DPNs another try.

It took a couple of false starts before I realized the root of my problem...casting on to 3 or 4 needles! I can't do it and get nice even stitches. My solution? Cast on to one of the needles, then slip the cast on stitches to the other needles. Dang. How simple. Am I the last to know this?! sigh.

You saw the finished results in this post (scroll down a bit). I didn't mention that the dishcloth was made on dpns just in case it was blind luck the first time. But look at this!!!



Socks on DPNs! Yippee skippee!

OK, I had to celebrate. I headed to the Yarn store while in Durango, Colorado and bought myself some Lorna's Laces and Rosewood DPNs.


The yarn is gorgeous! And aren't these needles BEEEE-utiful!??!!

Colorful Colorado

We left Texas on Saturday and decided to spend a couple of days in Durango, CO before heading home. This area is beautiful. And there is a yarn shop which is calling to me (if time allows). We want to take the train ride to Silverton and hubby wants to do some more metal detecting (his hobby).

I didn't get a large amount of knitting done while in Texas. There was so much to say to my Mother, older sister, and neice that I lost my voice in a period of 4 days hehe. But I did get the socks finished for SWTC and mailed them while in Henderson.



This picture shows the color more accurately then the previous picture. I love it - it says "spring time" to me.

On the drive to Colorado, I loom knitted a dishcloth. But I'm not entirely happy with the finished design and need to change it a bit. That's for later, however, since I'm going through needle withdrawal (socks! YAY!)

Howdy ya'll

Well, we made it. We're in Dallas. The drive here was really smooth....lovely weather. We pulled into our RV spot earlier this afternoon and spent some time "housekeeping" and settling in. A's job was to vacuum.



Most of this week will be spent visiting hubby's family and friends before heading to Henderson area (my hometown).

I have some FO to show! Round face cloth (knitted)



Pearl bangle bracelet (bead crochet)



And I'm ready to turn the heel on these models for SWTC knitted with one of the new colors of TOFUtsies



I love this color!

Since hubby prefers to do the driving during these road trips (and I'm just fine with that), I get plenty of time to knit, crochet, and/or read. Lucky me!

Break from classes is over

I took some time off recently from teaching at Michaels because I was exhausted. In the past 4 months, I have written two magazine articles that included 4 patterns. And a pattern booklet for a publisher (which should be published later this year) filled with loom knitting patterns. In the midst of it all, I taught classes every weekend. I averaged 4 to 6 hours of sleep a night and was never seen without a knitting loom in my hands (even on Christmas Day). I just needed some time off. So I cancelled all classes for the last two weeks in February.

How does one relax after such a crazy few months?

By working on hats for a brain trauma center....

....sewing crochet squares together for an afghan for an pediatric infusion center...

....and putting your feet up for a few minutes each evening before bed and working on a pair of socks. (Now that's relaxing!)


I should have some new loom knit patterns ready to post soon.


And classes resume this coming weekend! CYA there.

Not much knitting....

....and way too much "got to do" stuff like doctor appointments, running errands, laundry....etc.

I did decide on "new" sock yarn to try! I found Tofusies yarn to order!





Nice colors, eh?

There were so many suggestions of yarn to buy (some I haven't tried yet!) I really need more time to knit.