Aunty Tink

2012-01-05T09:12:00.002-07:00

The Perfect Christmas Gift

In March, I received the kit for this small shawl. DD2 immediately grabbed it and requested that I make it for her.

Now when I say requested, I really mean that the nagging was about to start. All summer long and into the fall I heard about how pretty the shawl was. Did I know that blue was her favorite color? Did I know that "Little Women" is one of her favorite books? Once November arrived, this shawl was at the top of the list.

I knew I would be knitting it for Christmas but I had to have a plan. I could knit it while DD2 was at school but she's very suspicious. I wanted to keep the surprise from being spoiled.

I also knew that there were other people in Calgary who had received the same kit. I had my plan. I borrowed the yarn from my friend and then left it in a very prominent spot in the family room. I had the shawl done and wrapped and still she had no clue.

I started "Babette" and was greeted with a morose "What's that?" Obviously not knitting her her shawl, I answered " A new project."

I knew the deception was working when I was told that since I wouldn't have time to knit it before Christmas, I could just wrap up the pattern and yarn.

The look of pure surprise on Christmas morning told me that the planning was worth it. I should have had my camera ready when she was opening her gifts. I haven't seen a look of happiness like that since she was a little girl.

Her smile put her on the Knitworthy List.

2011-12-04T15:16:00.003-07:00

Never say "Never"

Once upon a time, in a land close to home, my friend Alana crocheted a blanket called "Babette". She gave it away.

Then she decided to make another one. The second Babette was crocheted from all the small balls of sock yarn left over from numerous pairs of socks. It was beautiful. Alana decided to enter it into the Stampede where the judges saw the beauty in it and awarded it a ribbon. And a medal. They decreed that it was the best crocheted item in whole competition.

Others decided that the Babette was a good way to use up numerous small balls of sock yarn. Annie started a Babette. Rose and Michelle also thought this was a good idea. I wasn't so sure. I crocheted one square and ripped it apart. I then gave away many, many small balls of sock yarn.

Correna decided to crochete a Babette out of Wollmeise sock yarn. I thought to myself that the project might be a good one after all. I crocheted another square. I gave the square to Annie for her Babette and my balls of Wollmeise to Correna.

I swore up and down and sideways that I was not going to make a Babette. The mere idea of sewing together 120 little squares would drive me to drink and I was not that crazy. Besides, I had given away all my small balls of sock yarn. I couldn't possibly make a Babette.

But, when you knit many pairs of socks, you soon get more little balls of sock yarn. I now had a small ball of red left over from MrB's Grey Cup socks. I had white left over from my kneehigh socks. I would soon have a green ball left over from the second pair of Brainless.

I thought I would try one more square.

Yesterday I asked Correna if she would mind giving back the WM that I had given her three weeks ago.

Also, keeping with the theme of "Never Say Never" DD#1 picked out this yarn. It looked pink in the skein.

2011-11-14T11:04:00.002-07:00

I knit Mr.B a pair of socks to wear to the Grey Cup game.

I now have two weeks to knit a new pair...in green and gold.

2011-05-30T10:17:00.002-06:00

The Green Mile

One mile = 1760 yards
One skein of Wollmeise lace = 300 grams = 1722 yards

My shawl used 383 grams of yarn. 2198.42 yards

1.249 miles of yarn. Each stitch used 1/2 an inch of yarn.

I'm not sure if my calculations make me feel better or just question my sanity more.

The next project will be smaller because if I make one that's bigger, I'm going to need a bigger room to block it in.

2011-05-10T09:59:00.002-06:00

I Should Have Known

My SIL came for a visit. I needed to start a pair of Roundy-Rounds. My lace shawl was too involved for the Thursday Knit night and even though my SIL is a knitter, she has never tackled socks. I thought I had the perfect solution. I would knit her a pair of socks.

I asked her what her favorite colour was. Pink.

That was a good color for socks. But then, I had a momentary lapse of judgment. I told her that she should pick the color that she wanted. I opened the door to my yarn room and told her to pick whatever she liked.

Surrounded by yarn in almost every colour of the rainbow, She found it.

Yes, I had a skein of purple yarn. Not just any shade of purple but the one I most often refer to as "Mother-of-the-Groom " purple.*

It has been tough knitting these socks. Not only have I been knitting with a colour I don't like, I have had to answer numerous questions.

No, I am not going over to the evil purple side. I do not like purple.* The yarn came in a sock club. I did not willingly buy it.

I started another pair of socks. This yarn also came in a sock club.

I can't decide if I kind of like the mix of colours or if it is the ugliest yarn I have seen in a year. Yes, there is purple in the mix.

I decided to knit it because sometimes it's better of get rid of the yarn you don't like instead of letting it take up room on the shelf.

*My SIL wore black to her son's wedding. The dress she wore to her daughter's wedding was the same colour as the socks.

**I've decided that my dislike for purple is hereditary. My Dad absolutely hated purple. The only time that I ever saw my Mom wear a purple dress was to my brother's wedding.

2011-04-13T17:13:00.007-06:00

What do you do when you have big boxes of yarn in your house?

Make castles of course!

Invite all the knights and horses over.

And the movie stars too!

The yarn was moved over to the store. The truck almost wasn't big enough.
I hope the kids aren't too mad tomorrow when they find out that their castle is gone.

2011-03-31T08:49:00.002-06:00

Just one more pair

I had a sweater in my closet that was taking up room and and thought this would be a better use for the yarn.

The hardest part about knitting these slippers was not matching up the yarn. I really really wanted to make them match.

2011-03-14T08:10:00.004-06:00

I had a plan.

My slippers were starting to wear out so I thought I would knit a new pair.

If one pair is good,

and three pair is better,

then why do people think I'm obsessed when I continue to knit slippers?

When I started this project, I had several single balls of Cascade 220 and slippers with holes in them. I thought that it would be good to reduce the Stash and knit some warm fuzzy slippers at the same time.

But a strange thing has happened. Mr. B. who normally does not know what project I am working on has started to pay attention. He has never questioned the stack of shawls or the never ending socks that come off the needles but he has started to ask questions. Questions like "How many pairs of slippers do you need?" and "Don't you already have slippers?" and "Who are you making all those slippers for?"

While knitting these slippers I learned several things. I learned that if I change needles after knitting the first slipper that the second slipper will not be the same size.

I also learned that even if I have knit five slippers, I still need to refer to the pattern so that the sixth slipper matches the fifth one.

I also realized that I need to put the slippers away in the closet as I finish each pair. It is the two-day drying time that makes it obvious that I have been on a bit of a slipper kick.

I am taking a break from knitting slippers. I still have yarn left but I have also started to take apart old sweaters. I have been spotted looking at new colors of Cascade at the LYS. I will not admit to being obsessed but maybe I will knit socks for a few days.

2011-01-17T15:45:00.002-07:00

Enough Already!!!!

On Thursday the bread machine died. We decided that we didn't need fresh baked buns.

On Saturday, the shredder decided that it was time to jam beyond all possible hope of unjamming. Perhaps, those tax returns from 1973 were just a little too much for my trusty shredder.

Today, less than 48 hours after the last mechanical malfunction, disaster struck. The ball winder jammed. In my attempt to untangle the "Bugga" it fell apart completely.

Now knitters will readily understand which one I am most upset about. It is also the only one that has a hope of being repaired. If necessary, all three will be replaced.

I could probably learn to make bread by hand. I also know of some very good bakeries where I can buy a loaf or two.

I have scissors and can shred my receipts slowly. I can save those tax forms for a few more years. Perhaps, there was a reason that the sign at the local UPS outlet caught my eye on Saturday morning. They will shred my papers for me.

Winding a 1500 yard skein of lace weight yarn will take at least two hours. That's two hours of knitting time that I'm not prepared to give up.

If you own a ball winder, I may be coming over for coffee.

2010-12-24T12:34:00.003-07:00

I have a plan

It's Christmas Eve and once again I am wrapping a gift with the knitting needles still in the stitches. My son will understand that he isn't getting one lonely sock. He will be happy to get the second sock.... eventually.

I thought things were under control and all gifts would be complete. Perhaps I should have started my Christmas knitting before December 1st.

I have a better plan for next year. Before January 1st I will go through my stash and put kits together for gifts. There will be sock kits and scarf kits all packaged together in zip-lock bags with sticky notes attached. It will be my personal gift club.

Another key element of "the Plan" is the calendar that has all the knit-worthy Birthdays and Christmas gifts listed. If I complete one gift each month, I should have all my gifts wrapped long before Christmas.

I realize that there are difficulties with my plan. New babies will not be on the calendar. Any new arrivals might possibly mess up the whole system.
A second more worrisome possible occurrence is that I will find the perfect shawl pattern that I must knit. I might decide that I need to knit myself an extra pair of socks, or I might find another sweater that will not let me rest until I knit it.

It is much easier to get organized than it is to stay organized.

2010-12-06T12:01:00.004-07:00

False Advertising

It was December 1st. The Christmas knitting rush had started. I needed to knit another pair of socks and while the logical part of my brain told me that I should knit Roundy-rounds, the insane half said to pick a pattern. After all, I had many simple patterns in my stash and I would be much happier knitting a pattern that had a bit of challenge to it.

I grabbed the pattern and the yarn and I cast on. I ripped it out and cast on again. I ripped it out again. Finally, after the third try, I was happy with the toe. Yes, I was attempting to knit another pair of toe-up socks. I was not happy with the result in the past but this time it would be different.

I continued up the foot. I ripped it back again. I knit some more.

I was at the heel without further incident. Cautiously I started on the heel. The directions seemed to make sense. I knit on. I made stupid mistakes and ripped back. I found the section of the heel where the directions were not so clear and ripped back...again.

I was past the heel and starting on the leg...the home stretch. And I ripped back again. This time I ripped it out because I didn't like the design.

My stitches are all picked up again and I am hoping that I remember all the changes I made so I can duplicate them for the second sock.

And what was this simple pattern? Brainless.

I think the next pattern I knit will be "If I only had a Brain"

2010-11-12T09:31:00.002-07:00

Success and changing plans

My wallet went on a road trip. I didn't plan for it to take a vacation and I certainly didn't plan to be without my driver's licence, debit card or various charge cards for the week. My plans for the week had included buying groceries and stopping off at the farmer's market. My plans had to change. And with no groceries, I couldn't possibly be expected to cook anything.

I had a new plan. I had no choice but to cozy up in my favorite chair and spend the week knitting. I finished the Baby Cable shawl. The pattern got a little boring but the yarn was marvelous to knit. 70% bamboo, 15 % bison and 15% silk. It is so soft and the drape from the bamboo is glorious.

I'm in love with this shawl.

This sweater also was cast off....sort of. My original plan was to knit Ruby Red from Knitty, fall 2009. I knit the body and then realised that I wouldn't be happy with it. I changed the sleeves, and the neck, and the front edging. I'm still not happy with the front edging and I have to figure out a closure for it but it needs some rest time first.

Three skeins of Katydid "Bugga" were wonderful to knit with but caused some of the problems. I'm left with maybe 25 yards and I don't think that there is enough to knit the edging that I'm thinking of. There is also more negative ease than I like. I hoping that blocking will help it.

But, I did finish two projects, plus I lengthened the sleeves on P's sweater so I felt perfectly justified in starting some new projects.

This is "Maia" in Wollmeise Pinie. The beads are too small for the yarn and a struggle to put in so while I like the effect, it may hit the frog pond.

I think this yarn really wants to become socks.

"Electra" in Malibrigo sock is also destined for frogging. The beads don't show up and the yarn is pooling. Part of me say to knit it for awhile longer and allow the pooling to shift but the logical part of me says "RIP".

I realise that as I knit things, they don't always turn out the way they were planned. There is a greater possibility of success if I follow the pattern exactly and use the same yarn and color as the original project. That philosophy works if the project is the ultimate goal.

Sometimes the process of discovery is part of the enjoyment of knitting. Experimenting with different colors and beads and stitches may take more time and involve more ripping but it also leads to a greater sense of accomplishment with the project.

Today is going to be busy. My wallet comes home today and I can't postpone the errands any longer. But I also have some new shawls to cast on.

2010-11-05T09:29:00.003-06:00

It's Still Not Purple!

The "Jewel " sweater is finished....sort of.

I will be taking the rolled hem off the sleeves and adding an inch of length to them.

Not only is it difficult to find knitting time with toddlers in the house, it is also diifcult to get them to pose for pictures.

2010-10-06T14:37:00.002-06:00

All Things Change

On September 12, 2006, I started working at Make 1 Fibre Studio. Since that day, I have learnt more about knitting and spinning and dying yarn than I ever thought that I would. I have also learnt that I still dislike computers and Macs are not better than PCs.

What I treasure the most about my time working is without question the friendships that I have made. I have been amazed by the skills and talents of knitters. I have met so many people that I now count amoung my closest friends.
And I have laughed. It has been four years filled with much laughter. There have also been moments when I have worried with my friends and sometimes cried, but there have been far more hours spent laughing.

This is where I now draw a cheesy comparison to knitting so feel free to skip the next sentence.
Would we really enjoy the finished knitted project, if we didn't have to rip out our knitting once in awhile?

I am taking an extended leave while I wait for my name to come to the top of the list for Cataract surgery. This doesn't mean that you won't be seing me. I will be around. I will still be going to Guild meetings and various knitting days. I just won't be at work on Tuesdays.
Thank you Amy and Sandra for opening the amazing store that is Make 1 and for hiring me initially. Thank you Bess for buying the store and and for letting me continue to work there. Thank to everyone who ever worked there and helped me in my never-ending battle with the computer.

Excuse me while I now climb onto my soapbox.
Cateracts are often thought of as a disease of the elderly. They are becoming common in younger people because of lack of eye protection in childhood.
Get those sunglasses out! Put them on your kids. Protect your eyes.
Cataract surgery is a fairly routine proceedure and my eyesite should be corrected completely. Surgery dates are not actually being booked yet for for next year but I am looking at a seven month wait. This strikes me as slightly ridiculous.

So for the next year, I forsee that I will be driving less, and knitting more. I guess it's not all bad.

2010-10-01T10:52:00.001-06:00

The "It's Not Purple" sweater

I have proof. The ball-band tells me that the colour is "Jewel". I sure hope that Paige likes her pink, fuchsia, and magenta sweater.

2010-09-19T07:34:00.006-06:00

FOR SALE
Only used for eight days and 113 miles.

I'm back from my little walking trip across England. I now realize that I had several misconceptions when I started this whole trek.
I thought I was in fairly decent physical shape.
I thought I had done enough training. We had been up and down the ravines of Nose Hill several times.
I had seen pictures of English landscapes and thought it was going to be gently rolling countryside that we were walking through. I had even been to Stonehenge before. I had seen the terrain.
Someone even told me that it should be easy because England is a small country.
I thought I was prepared with good boots and my wool socks.
I was wrong.

I actually thought that I might have time to knit while stopped at a lovely English meadow while we had our lovely sandwiches and tea. We would have time to check out some of the towns and perhaps even have a chance for a pint in one of the local pubs.

We started out and I soon realized how wrong I was. There were no rolling hills. They are straight up...and straight down.
While we did walk through some pastures, we carefully stepped around sheep and cow droppings. Sometimes we missed.

There were paths through the woods where we crossed streams and dodged tree roots.

We did have time at the end of the day to stop for a pint, and this was the only time on the walk that the sock actually got pulled out and knit upon.

This was the Roman Road. Now the term "road" makes it sound like it should be easy to walk on. Another misconception. Approximately seven miles of hills and stones. Each step was on a loose stone that twisted our feet and made us sure we were going to twist an ankle. That was the first day I seriously began to doubt the worth of my boots. I began to develop a third layer of blisters.

Each day the bus came to get us to take us back to our B&B for a wonderful dinner and a rest before the next day's walk.....except for the day they forgot us. I was going to visit the Fish and Chip stand across the road but was told it would spoil my supper.

See that path up the hill? We had just walked down that path after walking up one equally as long and steep on the other side of the hill. That was also the third hill of the day.
We walked up many similar hills. We saw fields of heather, monuments to Cook and the patchwork quilt that is the English landscape.

But we finished. There were thirteen of us and our leader when we started and only ten of us made it the full way.
English walkers are completely different people. Their idea of fun is to go for a 15 mile stroll on a Sunday...every Sunday.

For example:
Ann (front row far left) walked 1800 miles last year and her goal for this year is to walk 2000. She's 76 years old and never quit. We would sit down every chance we got but she would stand and then keep going. She never said a word of complaint even when we were walking through the pouring rain and all getting soaked.
Next to her is Sarah. She climbed over every stile even if there was a gate we could walk through. and kept track of the numbers. There were 150 stiles on our walk. The rest of us probably went over only 100.

I realize that it may sound like I had a horrible trip. Not so.
We had great weather. The first seven days, the sun was shining and there were a few clouds so that it didn't get too hot. The last day it rained but that only proved to us how fortunate we were for the first days of our walk.

It was an incredible trip and while I have never been so exhausted in my life, I'm glad that I did it. There were days when we would sit down to eat lunch and I was too tired to eat. The last mile of every day was torture. I felt like sitting on a rock and crying rather than continuing on. I knew that there was no choice but to have a drink and a snack and continue on.

Would I walk across England again? No way! Once was enough.
We have talked about doing other walks and I would recommend the trip to others IF they have trained enough before.
It was a walk that I'm glad I made but I don't want to make it again.
My next vacation will be on a beach where I don't even have to walk to the bar for a Margarita.

2010-08-26T07:41:00.002-06:00

Not Everything gets Ripped

You may have seen this picture before. It is my Heroine jacket. It was quick to knit and the perfect project to take knit on it the car. It has nice square pieces and is knit on big needles.

Okay, you may have looked at the picture and have wondered why I didn't rip it out. It's seems like it is the perfect candidate for the RRRRIIIIPPPPP.

This is what Heroine looks like after having a vigorous bath in the washing machine and drying for three days.
The sleeves were still a little long after the original felting so I wet them with my plant mister and threw the whole thing in the dryer for ten minutes. They shrank another inch and are now the perfect length.

I am going to make another slight modification. Instead of the front flaps being folded over, I will be removing the buttons on the right side of the jacket and sewing buttons on the inside. The two front flaps work perfectly when overlapped to create a very warm jacket.

Ahhh Moonfleet. This was a mystery stole based on the book Moonfleet. It was interesting to knit because the pattern changed several times, but unlike may other shawls and stoles, the patterns all flowed smoothly so there was never a distinctive break between the patterns. The borders are two completely different patterns but they still match each other.
My one disappointment with this shawl is with the color of yarn that I picked. I knit from four closely shaded yarns but they were so close in color that It appears as though I only knit from two mismatched balls of the same color.

And socks have been knit.

Green Roundy Rounds out of Fleece Artist Casbar (81% merino, 9% cashmere and 10% nylon).

After ten months of allowing the yarn to age and mature on the shelf I knit the teal Roundy Rounds out of Bugga (70% superwash, 20% cashmere and 10% nylon)

The orange socks are Glynis and are knit out of shibui.

I now will go rip out my Geodesic cardigan.

2010-08-23T09:23:00.002-06:00

"Ophelia, you're breaking my heart.
You're shaking my confidence daily" *

"Using the long-tail cast-on, Cast on 626 stitches." ** The next step was to join the stitches and knit in the round. I thought that if I used a provisional cast-on, I could then graft the stitches at the end and avoid a seam down the middle of the shawl. After five rows, I decided it wasn't going to work.
I went back to the original design and cast on 626 stitches with the long-tail cast-on. I joined them in a round and started knitting. Five rows later, I checked to make sure that the stitches weren't twisted. You know they were.

Again I cast on all 626 stitches and started knitting again. I pinned the cast on edge onto a pillow so I could be sure they weren't twisted. I knit, I increased stitches and after two days I checked.

They were twisted again. I don't know how. I don't know why. They should have been straight.

I forced them into the right direction and continued on.

I have been knitting this shawl for ever. It never ends. It needs some time out in the basket.

Aeolean had been rescued from the basket but it is going back until I can get more beads. I have knit one and a half tubes of beads so far and I have ordered more. The last half tube of beads will be kept until the new ones come in and I can mix them together if there is a color difference.

The only thing I can do now is start a new project.

*with apologies to Simon and Garfunkle.

**Ophelia is started at the center, knit in the round to the outside edge and then seamed in the middle.

2010-08-05T06:43:00.002-06:00

I Hate These Socks!

Or , to be more accurate, I hate this one sock...no, half sock.

I got this yarn in a sock club last year and I dutifully cast on the correct number of stitches. I worked away on the pattern that was sent with the yarn but soon realized that I was not thrilled. The sock went into the bad knitting basket.

Several months later, I knew that I would not finish them using the original pattern. I ripped.

I started again with the good old Eleanor pattern. It has worked before, It would work this time.

I wasn't feeling the love. The foot was too loose, so I changed to a smaller size needle . I thought I could salvage the work the had gone into the sock so far.

So, if you have read this blog before, you know where my story is heading.

Maybe this yarn really wants to be a scarf.

2010-07-27T08:03:00.005-06:00

Best Laid Plans....

Once upon a time, back in June to be more exact, I got brilliant idea. I had a trip planned to OK at the end of June and I thought that if I ordered a Kindle, I could bring it back with me and avoid the shipping charges and the Duty charges that would be added if I had it sent here.

I logged into the Amazon site and ordered my Kindle. They were in stock and with more than a week before my plane landed in OK, there was lots of time for it to arrive. There were a few other things on my wish-list that my daughter had placed there. I thought I might as well order them too. I was sure that they were all very important items or she wouldn't have added them to my wish-list.

A week later, I arrived to find that the kid's golf game was waiting for me. Annie's Kindle that she ordered after I ordered mine was there.

Two days later, the Tyrannosaurus hand puppet arrived.

My Kindle was nowhere to be seen.

It arrived two days after I left. So much for brilliant plans.

Why did it take so long? There was one more item on the wish list.

My Chia pet golf ball head. I'm sure it will look much less ridiculous once it has a full head of green grass hair.

And my Kindle arrived safely too.

2010-07-10T15:42:00.004-06:00

How Many Is Too Many?

I have been contemplating my knitting life and have come to the conclusion that I am surrounded by my knitting. When I pulled down the bin of finished socks, I wondered if I should knit any more for perhaps I already have too many pair. And that's not counting the six or maybe seven pair that are still on the needles. I will need a bigger bin when they get finished.*

Which leads me to my next question. How many WIP are too many? Last year, my knitting guild sponsored a friendly competition in which we attempted to complete many of our dusty UFO's . I finished 10 projects, which was fewer than half of my uncompleted projects. I have added to that number since then. Have I exceeded the maximum number of projects to still be considered sane and normal?**

In a previous post, I admitted to having a few too many shawls, stoles and scarves. I haven't stopped knitting them, but instead have found several more that I wish to knit. I have restrained myself from casting on more only because I don't want to add to the pile of projects in the basket.

How many is too many?

And can you really belong to too many sock, shawl and yarn clubs? I've been told that perhaps, just perhaps, I signed up for a few too many. Since that last intervention, I have dropped some club memberships. Which leads me to this.

I was asked a few weeks ago how many skeins of Wollmeise did I have. I took a wild guess and was wrong. I needed to double my answer.
My yarn stash is growing at a faster rate than I thought. Do I have too much? I don't think so especially since I know several people who have far more yarn than I do. (I won't name my fellow collectors. We all know who they are)

I have seriously thought about destashing but then I begin to fear that If I don't have the will power to stop buying yarn, I also might not have the will power to stop selling it. The mere thought that I could sell all my yarn and come home to empty shelves gives me slight panic attack.

So fellow knitters, the questions have been asked.

*Since most of my yarn stash is sock yarn, It is quite likely that I will be knitting more socks. A bigger sock bin is definitely in my future.

**It's a vicious circle. If I finish all my UFOs, I will then realize that my needle collection has outgrown the cases that they used to fit in. Extra question for bonus points. How many Needles are too many?

2010-05-13T08:36:00.003-06:00

I can live with some mistakes.

I was knitting my Evenstar shawl. I was only on clue five and I knew that others were already working on clue seven and the edging. I kept plugging away.

I knew that I knit my towers in an unique manner. I was prepared to call it a design element.

There is another error just before the switch from 280 stitches to 560 stitches but since I had corrected that one with a couple of decreases, I decided it was an acceptable fix.

Then, while I was knitting the seventh row of clue five, I saw it

Back on clue three. I thought about restarting, from the beginning with a different yarn but I will rip.....41 rows ... 21,850 stitches. I will then attempt to pick up those 260 and to find my place on the pattern. Did I put in a "lifeline"? Of course not.

I can live with some mistakes but not with others.

40 grams of yarn, 400 yards and 2 hours later....I'm still working on it.

2010-05-12T08:27:00.005-06:00

Searching for the perfect project

I have been ripping out alot of knitting lately...and I mean ALOT. I have been searching for the perfect project and not been succeeding.

I go through my stash and pick the perfect yarn and match it up with the perfect pattern. The next step is to find the perfect needles. They must have a nice point and a smooth join and be the exact right length for the project. Invariably, they are in a WIP and must be rescued from the Bad Knitting Basket.

Once I have all the elements ready, I start knitting.

After I spend one or two afternoons knitting, I realize that once again, I have failed in my quest for the perfect project.

Clapotis was the latest project to earn my disfavor. I love the yarn. Bugga is a wonderful soft yarn and each stitch was a joy to knit.

I was using my favorite ebony needles.

It was the pattern. While I liked the wraps that others had knit, I could not see my self spending another moment on a pattern that I was not enjoying knitting and that would probably not see the light of day once it was finished.

I ripped.

The yarn is now being knit into a Ruby Red. It appears as though it is close enough to perfection to avoid being ripped.

I am now looking at my Cleopatra shawl. Once again, I love the yarn. I'm having fun knitting all the sparkly little beads into the lace, and even though I wasn't using my favorite needles, they were suitable for the project.

The unique shaping that appealed to me before I started now just looks silly.

I don't need a collar on my shawl. If I really did feel that a collar was necessary, I would knit it so that the right side of the collar was the first thing that was seen, not the wrong side.

It is in the Basket now but it will soon revert back to the skein.

It's been five days since I've ripped anything and the fingers are getting itchy. You might want to keep a tight grip on your knitting.

The lost has been found
Flirty Ruffles is back where it belongs....folded up neatly on the shelf with the rest of the shawls.
Actually, I cannot lie. It was there the whole time, tucked under all the other shawls I wasn't wearing, waiting for me to find it. I don't remember putting it there. and I am sure that I looked on that shelf not once, but three times.
Before you ask, I have taken the test.

2010-05-02T11:10:00.002-06:00

It Had to Happen

I was was pulling some supplies together for a class I was teaching and had to make several trips into the sewing room.* I was pulling beads and Zephyr and plastic bags. I finally had everything together and was heading down the stairs for the last time when I caught something moving and I turned around to see this.

There it was. The yarn that wanted to be knit and was not happy at being left behind. It jumped off the shelf and was starting to follow me down the stairs.

I will admit that I had laughed at my friend when she had an avalanche in her yarn room. I was sure that I didn't have nearly as much yarn as Crafty Grammy .
I was smug in the knowledge that unlike Knittingrammy I hadn't misplaced my Koigu because I had so much yarn I would loose track of where it was.

And yet, the evidence was there....right behind me. The yarn was tired of waiting and was going to chase me until I cast on a new pair of socks.

Perhaps "Nutkins"

*No sewing occurs in the sewing room. It's more like a giant closet for yarn and books etc. There is a sewing machine in there but it doesn't get pulled out often. When the machine is used, I sew at the Kitchen table. Perhaps it's time to rename the room.

2010-04-30T11:15:00.004-06:00

Fridays are for Ripping.

Last Friday the socks were the victims.

Circle socks were the first to go. I should have knit them on 2.5 mm needles and rather than continue on and give them to someone with smaller feet, I ripped.

About the same time I realized that I wasn't enjoying knitting Dreaming socks out of a brown yarn. This was the second attempt at finding the perfect yarn for what is a really nice yarn. I was just not feeling the love for it . I am now looking for a new sock pattern.

Today was finally the day to say goodbye to Norwegian woods. I have been fighting with this shawl since the day I started it. I didn't have enough yarn in the first color that I started with.

Then I misread the pattern and it was too small. I thought everything was perfect on the third start until I realized that while I had enough yarn, I also had two very different shades of the same color. They were the same dye lot, but different colors.

It has been taunting me for too long. I could hear it calling me every time I walked into the sewing room. It was time to silence it. .

Frost flowers is another project that I have spent far too much time on.

I started this one back in 2005 as part of a Yahoo group KAL. When I started, I did not realize how big this shawl actually was. After I started, I found a picture in which it was used as a canopy for a wedding.
I had completed only four of the seven repeats and there was an edging to knit after that. I had already knit 98.7 gms of yarn into a shawl that I don't particularilly like. As I was ripping, I did momentarilly stop and think about finishing the repeat that I was on and just casting off the edge. It would have been big enough.

Nope, I was done with it. It's gone.

Come back next week to see what's next to hit the floor.

2010-04-15T12:21:00.006-06:00

Festivus for the rest of us

This is the Festivus stole. It started out as an interesting project to knit. It was a good project to take on the airplane. The chart was large and easy to follow.

Perhaps too easy. By the time I was a quarter of the way through, I was no longer thrilled with it. At the half way point, I was annoyed because the color in the second ball of yarn did not start out in a controlled way. I pulled out part of the ball and knit on....reluctantly.

The knot that i ran into annoyed me more. Again I pulled out part of the ball of yarn and tried to match stripes so I could have identical stripes. By this time, I was really not enjoying the knitting and had started calling it Crapicus. I wanted it to be finished.

But it wasn't long enough. I thought about making a short stole but I knew I wouldn't be happy with it and I would have yarn left over. I kept knitting.

I finished it. I really didn't take me that long to knit it but it did make me think about the kind of knitter that I am.

I love starting new projects. I love finishing projects. I get bogged down in the middle.

Long, repetitive patterns like this stole are not the kind of projects that I should start. Lace projects that continually change are better than stocking stitch patterns.

Hurani was as close to being a perfect pattern. I finished it in less than a week so it didn't hang around taunting me for a long time. Long before I got bored with the repetitive easy first chart, the pattern switched and I was into the edging. The second chart was finished in a flash and I was on to the crocheted cast off.

It's a great little shawlette to wear, I love the color and the only thing that would make it better would be some beads.

I have started another pair of socks. I'm not loving them. It's the third time I've knit the Eleanor socks and while I like the pattern, there are very few patterns that should be knit more than once or twice. You may hear me call them the Crapinor socks before I'm done.

2010-03-31T07:39:00.003-06:00

Swallow your morning coffee before listening.

Never not knitting

2010-03-26T11:28:00.001-06:00

And 2010 continues...
In the past 7 seven days, I have been knitting two sweaters for a very cute little girl.

I will spend this afternoon ripping them out.

One step closer to scrap booking.

2010-03-16T08:23:00.005-06:00

2010 has been a Baaaddd knitting year. I knit. I rip. I knit more and I rip more.

I spent a day knitting the Snow Queen, a beautiful circular Estonian shawl. I spent 5 hours perfecting a circular cast-on and nupps.
The next day, I decided that if I continued, it would be smaller than I wanted. It's gone.

I started the Fern shawl. A lovely triangular shawl with more nupps. Another five hours gone.

And it's not just lace shawls that are driving me to start scrapbooking.

I started a pair of socks from the cuff edge and totally ignored that they had been designed toe-up. That was my first mistake. I ripped them out and started them again from the toe up. The toe was done and I had finished one pattern repeat. My knitting friends convinced me that if I continued to knit on the needles I was using, that they would never fit. I ripped again.

I pulled the needles out of another pair of socks that were just plain ugly. The time I had spent knitting them was less than the time I would need to spend to finish them. I refused to listen to the taunting any longer. The yarn has been designated to be a different project.

I thought that I would start a simple wrap. It would be my travel project. I would be able to knit and still carry on a conversation. What I didn't realize was that I had forgotten how to read. If the pattern says to cast on 189 stitches, I didn't need to cast on 289. Another one gone.

Evenstar is temporarily out of the bad knitting basket. After the fourth time I cast on, I was finally happy with the needle size. Clue 1 was completed without problems. Clue 2 has been ripped back a couple of times but it is done and I am working on Clue 3. The second half of Clue 3 has some strange symbols on the chart.

Tomorrow will be a better day to face the challenge.

Today I will be casting on a new project. I will attempt to defeat the Baaaddd Knitting karma by casting on a very simple baby sweater...top down...on big needles. My friend Alana assures me that it can be knit in a day.

I hope she's right.

2010-02-25T09:03:00.002-07:00

Closing Ceremonies

All things must come to an end. Some events have grand closing ceremonies with music and fireworks. There is cheering in the stands as thousands watch in fasination. The cameras flash and there are smiling faces everywhere.

Other endings happen on cold mornings in February in a quiet kitchens. There are no marching bands. There are no flags waving. There is only the realization that what was once looked forward to with great anticipation has ended.

Farewell to "Whistler"

2010-02-20T09:04:00.002-07:00

Olympic Knitting

The Challenge - To cast on a new project during the opening ceremonies and finish knitting before the end of the Olympics and the closing ceremonies.
My project was a pair of gloves. I cast on at the appropriate time. I had limited knitting time during the first weekend but I was well on my way to Olympic Knitting Gold.

Tuesday. Disaster. Tragedy. I found a mistake. I thought that I could live with it but like the super-G racer who missed a gate or the figure skater who broke a shoelace, I knew that I was out of the competition.

It was time to change events. I cast on a new project.

This stole was going so smoothly, that I knew I would be finished in time. I blinked. I lost my focus.

I cast on another project.

I can get them done. I will succeed.

I should not have spent three hours last night casting on yet another new project.

Today I am back on track.

Can someone please tell my family that we will have groceries in the house again....after next Sunday.

2010-02-11T09:34:00.002-07:00

I am not Olympic Athlete....just in case you thought I might become one.

Olympic Athletes, in addition to having skills and talents to achieve great heights, also have the motivation to succeed at all costs. They will ignore pain and injury to focus on the final goal. They have the knowledge that whatever they give up in training, will ultimately result in a prize that makes all their hardships worthwhile.

I, on the other hand, focus on the short term goal. I am easily distracted and the next challenge will grab all of my attention as I casually toss aside the current project. A minor setback will cause me to fail or at least change direction and focus all of my efforts in a totally new direction.

"Whistler" is my evidence. Initially, I thought this would be easily knit before the start of the Vancouver games. I would cast on on January1 and have six weeks to knit the sweater. No problem. I had, after all, knit the Turin sweater in two weeks.

My pattern arrived on January 6.

I started. I ripped. I started again on January8. I still had lots of time.

I started other projects. I was sure that I could knit a cowl and still have time to finish.

I knit another cowl....and the fingerless gloves.

I ran off to Mexico for a week. A colourwork sweater is not a good airplane knitting project.

The socks were a Christmas present. It was important to finish those!

I finally had to admit it. The love for Whistler was gone. I didn't like the way the stitches were lying. I thought that part of the problem was caused by the superwash yarn that I was knitting with. To prove my theory, I had to start another project.

This hat matches the sweater that Dale of Norway designed for the Vancouver Olympics. It was necessary to finish this before the start of the games.

Whistler waits.

2010-02-05T15:29:00.001-07:00

I'm back from vacation. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video should be worth a million.

I'll be back with those pictures soon.

2010-01-21T08:47:00.002-07:00

I've heard this all before

At Tuesday's Knit night, the conversation once again came around to knitting on Airplanes. Since I am planning a trip soon, I was interested and had already thought of ways to sneak my bamboo dpns on board with me. I knew they wouldn't set off any alarms as I went through the metal scanner but I had not thought of the random pat-downs. Five hours on a plane with no knitting seemed to be in my future.

January 20, the regulations were adjusted.* I can take my knitting!!! My latest sock project falls under the category of "knitting needles (when wool is present)"

Does this mean that if I attempt to bring Phentex on the plane with me that I will be hauled off never to be seen again?

Does this mean that knitting needles by themselves are dangerous and it is the wool that calms them? Sound like a good reason to add the stash on a particularly stressful day. I can justify purchases by saying that Transport Canada made me buy this yarn.

I was surprised to read that knitting is not considered part of your carry-on luggage and is to be carried separately rather than packed in a larger bag. Knitting needles might look like weapons in x-ray scans. Perhaps too many knitters were getting cranky when the security people carelessly pulled their knitting off the needles in attempt to see what those 14" metal single points actually were.

I will be taking knitting on my next flight. I won't be knitting "Whistler".

*for a full list, check Calgaryairport I am now allowed to take my Tuba too...as long as it's in its case, but my knitting bag is too big to be considered a purse.

2010-01-17T09:36:00.004-07:00

I get some of my best ideas while enjoying a glass of wine. The next day, I realise that someone should have stopped me.

Flashback to 2005.
I was in London and chatting with my friend and travelling companion about other travel possibilities. Wine was involved. We discussed the possibility of walking across England. The Holiday company would ferry our main luggage to various B&B's. We would only have to carry our day packs which would of course have our prepared lunches in them and very little else.
When I arrived home and told Mr.B of the wonderful plan, he told me I that I had lost all semblance of sanity and for once, I agreed with him.

Fast forward to 2010.
Somehow, late last year, the idea of walking across England was brought up for discussion again. Wine may have been involved. We did not hear the "Your crazy!" response.

We paid our deposit and in September will be walking. Eight days of walking. West coast to East coast. Our day packs will have to hold more than our lunches.

Obviously, training is necessary. Sitting on the couch and knitting, unfortunately does not count as training.. Last weekend, Mr. B and I walked the ravine from MacEwan to the Edgemont superstore. We have walked this route many times. In the summer, it takes about 45 minutes to walk up the hill to the store. and slightly less to get home...down hill the whole way. The paths were snow covered and icy. We needed to find a better route.

Yesterday, we thought we would tackle Nose Hill. After all. the Chinook had been around for an additional week. There would be less snow up on top of the hill since the wind would have blown much of it away. and the warm sunshine would have melted the rest of it off of the paths.

It was a great day for a walk.
The sunshine was warm. There was no wind which is unusual for the top of the hill.

Our theories about the paths being clear were wrong.

Two and half hours later, we had walked from 14th st at 64th Ave to the Edgemont parking lot and back again. We took the scenic route back as we headed north and were close to the Beddington parking lot before we turned south and walked on deer trails and coyote paths to get back to our car.

We checked the map when we got home. Close to 6 miles was covered. Many feet of elevation were involved. I missed the descriptive part of "Nose Hill"

Today we are looking for a shorter path...on level ground. Are the bike paths by the river still covered in ice?

We're leaving Nose Hill until March.

Training is cutting into my knitting time.

2010-01-16T10:15:00.005-07:00

In January 2009, I thought it would be fun to join some sock clubs. I checked sites out on Ravelry. I asked other knitters. I looked at colors in Etsy shops.

I signed up for a few sock clubs. I signed up for a few lace clubs too but that is a different post. I heard alot about the number of sock clubs that I had joined from my knitting friends.
I also got emergency phone calls.
"XYZ is having sign ups for their knitting club in 20 minutes. You have to sign up. Their yarn is great!"
I signed up. I got purple yarn. Nice yarn but purple. Tangledarts is now the happy owner of that purple yarn and strangely enough, she is also the person who phoned to tell me about the sign up. hmmmnnn???

Some of the yarn came with extra goodies. I now have a fabulous collection of stitch markers, project bags, notebooks, magnets and various other knitting gadgets. I also have many more patterns for socks and other small projects.

But my main reason for joining sock clubs was for the yarn. I got some fabulous yarns from dyers that I didn't know about before.

These are people who dye yarn who have a great sense of how colors work together. They also realise that you can't just throw dye on yarn and make good yarn.

The colors are vibrant and clear and made me want to cast on a new pair of socks immediately.

Other dyers are not so good. These skeins remind me my the first skeins that I dyed in class last July. My thought then was that I needed to re-dye my yarn and I feel the same way about these skeins.

I recognise that we all have our own likes and dislikes and that someone may actually like these colors but I don't.

And there is not a speck of purple in those three skeins.

Colors I like and want to knit can be vibrant or pale. If you check the top photo, not only is there purple in one skein, the other one is completely, totally unapologetic purple. It has a future as the cuff and toes for the matching sock yarn.

I have recently signed up for 2010 sock clubs. The number is smaller.

2010-01-16T09:20:00.003-07:00

On January 14th, I finished a Christmas Gift.

I started knitting back in December, got side tracked by Christmas, changed my mind about who should get these socks, started a sweater, finished a wrap and changed my mind again about who should receive these socks.
Can you tell that they are not my favorites?

Now this....

is my favorite.*

I knit this wrap once before. I was reminded that while I was knitting the first one, I complained bitterly. I hated knitting all those little squares. Constantly picking up stitches and knitting short rows and turning my work drove me batty.

This time I enjoyed knitting it. It was a good project to pick up and knit after a busy day.

I will admit that I was not happy to rip it out and restart it after I was on the third ball of yarn because I skipped a row of the instructions. I wasn't happy all the other times when I thought I knew what direction that I was knitting in and had to rip out more rows. I wasn't happy when I knit one ball of yarn four times.

But I am happy now. I love the colour. I love the yarn. I love the slight halo and the softness that I got by throwing it in the dryer (wet knitting, towel, dryer balls and no heat for 20 minutes)

I'm keeping this one.

* The color in the photo is off. There is no purple in this wrap. I think I need a new camera, or perhaps a filter. Do they make filters to block purple?

2010-01-12T06:18:00.004-07:00

2009 Replay

It was a busy year. There was a new baby. There was a wedding. There were trips down south to visit Grandchildren, and a trip to Portland to take part in the first ever Sock Summit.

As the year began, I thought I was was going to be joining the unemployed. I kept showing up at work, no one sent me home and I still got paid. I guess you could say that I'm still working.

In many ways, the more that things changed this past year, the more they stay the same. I knit through it all.
Totals for the year:
18 pairs of socks
5 shawls
3 adult sweaters
5 little people sweaters
2 baby blankets
1 Hat and 1 pair of fingerless mitts.
1 shawl lost*

And just in case you were keeping track of really stupid resolutions that I may or may not have made back in January 1009, I broke them all. I am still procrastinating.

*I'm missing my Red Flirty Ruffles Shawl. I have a suspicion that I lent it to someone. Any Ideas????

2010-01-07T05:24:00.002-07:00

Whistler has been ripped out. Back to the beginning. Back to square one.

No, I didn't twist my stitches as I joined them to knit in the round. That would have been an understandable mistake.

I miscounted when I first cast on. I didn't find my error until I was at the first row of colourwork. I was so busy checking to make sure that my stitches weren't twisted that I didn't notice that I had too many stitches.

Now I realise that you are all thinking that I am too much of a perfectionist and that I could have just knit two together to get rid of a couple of stitches and moved on.

I thought of that. But, I could not get rid of 50....yes I said Fifty extra stitches. I had placed markers as I cast on in groups of 50 and somehow forgot how to count to five. I had cast on one extra group.

I thought about making a larger size sweater but in the end, I knew I had to start again.

I am happy that I realised my mistake when I got to the first row of colourwork. I wonder how far I would have knit if the numbers on that first row had worked out.

And with fewer stitches on the needle, my tension has relaxed and the whole sweater should be much quicker to knit.

The scariest part about ripping this back was that one of my first thoughts was "Now I have something to blog about."
I'll be back when I have pictures that are more than rows and rows of Black stockinette.

2010-01-06T08:37:00.002-07:00

The Olympics are coming and I'm Panicking

I've started my sweater. Originally, it sounded like a good idea. I would start on January 1 and have lots of time to finish my sweater before the opening Ceremonies in Vancouver.

I got my pattern on January 4. I got my yarn that day as well.

The knitting has been slow.

But my Christmas tree is put away and I am ninety percent done my latest Targello.

I may spend the next three weeks thinking up more excuses as to why my Whistler isn't finished.

2009-12-25T08:34:00.002-07:00

It's 8:00 on Christmas morning and every else is till sleeping.

I'm enjoying the calm of the morning and knitting...on Christmas gifts. I'm not finished. Not even close.

My plans were to knit four pairs of socks. I have one pair done, as well as half of the second pair, and almost half of the third pair. The yarn for the fourth pair did not even get wound into a cake.

BUT...the gifts are wrapped, and the holubtsi is cooked. The shortbread is baked and the house is decorated. I'm guessing that people will wait for their socks.

Merry Christmas to all. I hope you have a day filled with love and Laughter.

2009-12-22T10:27:00.002-07:00

Knitters are wonderful

Within a day of posting my SOS, I had a message back from Anna that she had the book I was looking for.

I had also sent out a couple of messages on Ravelry to people who had knit projects out of the book. I got positive replies from ladies in Arizona and Edmonton. I have not met either one of these ladies but they were both willing to trust that I would knit the sweater and then return their books.

I also got a message from Donna. She had found the link where I could order the whole kit.

I have no excuses now for not casting on on January 1.

2009-12-18T07:52:00.002-07:00

ISO

I am on a mission. I decided that with the Olympics being in Canada this year, I should knit a sweater to wear while watching the games. No, I'm not going to Vancouver. I will watch my TV and enjoy the games while knitting.

Of course, the pattern that I have decided to knit is out of print. I could knit another Dale of Norway sweater but I have decided that the only sweater I want to do is the Whistler Sweater*.

So I am on a search for the pattern. I checked sources on Ravelry...no luck.
I sent messages to other knitters who knit projects out of the book....still waiting for replies.
My only other hope is that someone who reads this will have a copy of the book. Or know someone who has the book.

* I couldn't get the link to work. Dale of Norway Commemorative Collection #85001

2009-12-09T10:26:00.003-07:00

Imagine, if you will, a 24 piece band and Dean Martin holding a mug of
eggnog-

"Oh the weather outside is frightful

But the fire is so delightful

And since we've no place to go,

Let it Snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!"

I hate winter.

I don't like the cold weather or feeling like a pumpkin when I put on enough layers to keep warm.

I hate being stuck in traffic for three and a half hours when the trip home should only have taken 25 minutes.

I hate the crowded malls and the bozos who don't realise that if traffic rules make sense on the roads, then those same rules are logical when navigating through the mall.

Slower walkers should keep to the right to keep the passing lanes free. Don't come to a dead stop unless you want me to run into your ankles with my shopping cart. Don't stop in the middle of the road to chit chat. Look before you change lanes and SIGNAL!

Rant over.

This miserable cold weather is good for knitting. For several years now, my rule has been that if the thermometer hits -15, it's too cold to go out. There have been many days this past week when I have deemed it too cold and miserable to go out. I have had some good knitting days. I finished Mystic Star.
It's too bad that shawls are easier to wear during warmer weather.

I finished Muffin's sweater for Christmas. I will have to leave the house to go find the perfect button for it. But at least I will have a hat to wear.

I did go outside this morning to take pictures. I probably should have been wearing something other than my pyjamas if I didn't want the neighbors to think I had lost my mind completely.

Mystic Star - designed by Anna Dalvi

Wollmeise Lace - Pfefferminz Prinz

Little sweet peas -Sirdar #332

Naturally Merino et Soie

Selbu Modern

Claudia Handpaints - Lipstick

and black something

2009-12-04T08:06:00.002-07:00

Dear Hubby:

You haven't dropped any hints for Christmas. Wandering through the malls looking for the perfect gift without any guidelines is seriously cutting into my knitting time. I have socks to knit before December 25 and I am starting to panic.

So to preserve the last bit of sanity, I have come to the conclusion that you would like a new knitting bag wrapped up under the tree. And that you would not complain at all, if that bag was filled with yarn...silk and cashmere.

I have also come to realise that the only thing that you hate more than shopping is returning gifts so your Christmas gift might just land in my sewing room. So, because I am a thoughtful loving wife, I will make sure that I pick colours that I like.

Love, M

2009-11-15T15:39:00.003-07:00

A slight case of over packing

I am home from my retreat* and once again, I find that there are projects that I took to work on that never made it out of my bin.

I did start this hat...formerly known as the End Paper Mitts. I'm thinking that if this had been the only project I had taken, I would have been finished it.

This is my 10 stitch blanket...3rd time lucky. If it had been the only project that I packed, I wouldn't be finished but I would be further along than on the second colour.

This was a good choice to pull out of the bin. The pattern is simple enough that I could still visit with my friends and see progress on the shawl.

I also knit on another Lady Eleanor shawl for a short time. The other projects were only pulled out to show other knitters what a yarn looked like. I didn't knit a stitch on them. I also didn't look through the books I brought.

Perhaps the real problem is overestimating how many hours there are in a weekend.

*The retreat was sponsored by The Calgary Guild of Needle and Fibre Arts.

2009-11-13T09:40:00.004-07:00

Packing for a Retreat

Yesterday, while I was out knitting with my friends, I found myself in a dire predicament. I ran out of knitting.
It started innocently enough. I ripped out my 10 stitch blanket...my second start at the 10 stitch blanket. This is not a difficult project. I had slipped the stitches purlwise instead of knitwise and it changed the whole look of the blanket. It had to go.
I ripped out my End Paper mitts. They have been hibernating for a year or two and I just wasn't feeling the love for them. They were the next project to be ripped out.
I was left with my Dorothy Gale socks. I knit on the first sock until I realised that I had left the pattern at home.

I was out of knitting. There was nothing I could do except go home. (we will totally ignore the fact that I was knitting in a yarn store and that I could have started a new project...which I just realised now)

This leads me to the subject of this post. I am packing to go on a two day retreat. I will be away from the city and any yarn shops, without my car, and I will have to knit only only the projects I have managed to stuff in my Rubbermaid tote.

Keeping mind that this is only a two day retreat, I have packed

Ladybug Socks (they might get ripped out and turned into Nutkins)
Dorothy Gale Socks (pattern is packed)
Fern Leaf Shawl
Mystic Light Shawl
10 stitch blanket (started for the third time...I think I've finally gotten the hang of it
Lady Eleanor
Raining Cats and Dogs Socks
the hat that used to be End Paper Mitts

I was also going to pack Mystic Roses and the Crown Prince Shawl but then I remembered that I was only going to be gone for two days and that I had to leave room for the wine, chocolate and chips.

2009-11-09T08:50:00.003-07:00

A Multiple choice Quiz

This is
A) The Breakfast of Champions?
b) the lunch blue plate special?
c) an elegant desert after the evening's dining?
d) a nice light snack?
e) leftovers from the previous night's potluck?

It's a trick question because the correct answer is all of the above.

Pumpkin Cobbler... a great recipe*

And I wonder why my jeans are tight!

*send me a message on Ravelry with your real address and I'll send the recipe as an attachment. No more typing than is absolutely necessary.

2009-10-30T08:54:00.003-06:00

Destined to fail?

More Math?

It Ain't gonna happin! All possible titles for this post.

We headed up to Edmonton on Wednesday. I was sure that I was going to have 2 and half hours uninterrupted knitting time on the way there and then again on Thursday. We were heading up to visit a relative in the hospital and since they only allowed two visitors at a time, I would have more knitting time in the waiting room. There would be nothing to prevent me from finishing Dracula's Bride.

As we drove past Balzac, I pulled out my knitting to discover that I had left the pattern at home. I knew exactly where it was. Mr. B asked if I wanted to go home to get the pattern but I realised that I didn't want to add an hour onto the total driving time.
I was disappointed but I since there were only seven rows, I was pretty sure I could finish them when I got home.

Last night three more rows were done and I woke up early this morning to finish the last four rows. It was still doable. Finish knitting before 9, wash and block it and it would be ready to wear to Make 1's Halloween party at 5.

There was this little doubt that kept bothering me. The pattern had no instructions for the final edge. I had printed the original pattern fours year earlier and there were comments on the Yahoo group that the last clue was just blocking instructions. I still didn't feel comfortable. I downloaded the pattern and my worst fears were realised. There was another whole chart that I had been missing. 28 more rows. 17948 more stitches.

I may come up with some crazy ideas, but I do know when to admit defeat.

And what did I do while on my way up to Edmonton? Started a new sock of course. I thought I was packing too many projects for a quick trip, but it pays to have multiple projects around at all times.

edited to correct the math...again.

2009-10-28T08:27:00.002-06:00

9 rows.
5373 stitches. I will then cast off Dracula's Bride.

16. The number of new projects that I have planned while knitting this shawl.

2009-10-26T08:37:00.003-06:00

I am not a fast knitter

I am an obsessed knitter but not a fast one. So when I decided that I should knit a shawl for Halloween, I realised that I was making an unwise ...no, an insane decision..

I started anyway...last Saturday. Yes, on the 17 of October, I thought I would have enough time to knit a shawl. Finished measurements 84 X 41. Total stitches (not including the ones that I knit twice) are 62,156.

At midnight, I had knit 46224 stitches at least once.

74% of the shawl is complete.

How much time did I spend figuring out the math? Too much! I must get back to knitting now. It's a busy week ahead and I didn't account for blocking time.

Warning -Rant ahead
Does anyone else believe that if the powers that be want us all to get flu shots, that they shouldn't make it so difficult?
Four flu clinics for a city with a population of over a million?
The addresses of the clinics were listed in the paper but if you wanted to know the times that they were open, you had to go on-line. How many people don't have access to computers?
If I go and stand in line at 6:00, will the doors close before I get to the front of the line at 8:00?

*edited to correct the math!

2009-10-21T08:52:00.001-06:00

Dare to Dream....

Madrona fiber arts

2009-10-19T07:15:00.005-06:00

Nefertiti is done...almost

Early Saturday morning, I finished knitting Nefertiti. Normally, I would have blocked it and then taken a artistic shot with it draped around a manikin or at least over the railing on the deck.

Instead, it is being sent to the bad knitting basket.

When I started this wrap, I thought that I had the perfect yarn. I loved the color and while it was hand dyed, I thought that the variegation in it would not detract from the overall design.

I started knitting and all was well until I got to the widest part of the wrap. Then the colors started to pool. Lucy urged me to rip it out but I though that it would be work out.

I hoped that somehow, magically, bad knitting would turn into good knitting. It didn't. I continued knitting. The pooling continued.

I don't mind pooling. I usually like to see how the spots of color line up with each other and make big spots of color. Unfortunately, the color that was most prevalent was...you guessed it...purple.

The plan is to now dye the wrap. Spinknit said that I should kettle dye it teal, and since she is the dying goddess that dyed the yarn in the first place, I would be smart to listen to her advice.

I'm going to postpone the decision for awhile.

I have started a new shawl. Dracula's Bride is a shawl that I originally stared a few years ago when it was published as a Mystery Shawl. I ripped it out when I realised that I didn't like the beads that I had chosen or the fact that I hadn't mirrored it. I also was disappointed that it didn't have any bats on it since it was called a Halloween mystery shawl.

If you don't see me for the next two weeks. it's because I'm home, knitting. If you do see me, it's because I've realised that once again, this was a really silly idea.

2009-10-07T10:41:00.003-06:00

It has been a busy summer!

I didn't think that I had much time to knit but then I realised that I had completed not one but two sweaters...large sweaters.

This is my Camelot Coat....also known as Spamalot. It was knit longer than it needed to be and then fulled in the dryer. Fulling is always a scary proposition. Many, many hours of knitting can be shrunk beyond hope in minutes. Fortunately, that was not the case with this sweater. Fulling it made the stitches tighter and the fabric warmer.

I also finished my top down Swing Coat. I'm so happy that I listened to the advice of my Knitting Friends (although I complained bitterly about it when I was getting close to the end) and knit an extra three inches onto the length.

There is one more button to be sewn onto it. I forgot that I had knit 7 buttonholes instead of 6, went back to Make 1, bought another button and then put it someplace safe. I will find it eventually.

I have two sweaters to wear now that the weather has turned cooler . It's almost as if I had planned for things to turn out this way.
I didn't. I started both sweaters with the idea that I would finish them eventually....next year even. I'm glad my plan was altered.

We had a wedding. Some elements were traditional,

and some were not !

Last Thursday, I decided that I needed to knit a sweater for my Muffin, and bought the yarn.
Friday, I borrowed the pattern and people told me I was crazy (big surprise there). Friday night we had the rehearsal dinner at my house.

Saturday was the wedding. I thought about taking my knitting but realised that it would not be a good idea.

Sunday morning we had a brunch at the house and said goodbye to the out-of-town rellies.

Sunday night. I finally got to start the sweater.

Monday. Stupid cell phones gave up the ghost and we spent valuable knitting time sitting in the Telus store.

Tuesday morning.

We left for the airport at 9:30

2009-09-18T17:58:00.002-06:00

Fighting my way out of a Knitting Black Hole

We've all run into it at one time or another, the knitting project that seems like it will never end. I am working on not one, but two black hole projects.

This is a top down sweater in which the number of stitches increased every sixth row.

I knit. I measured. I knit and knit and knit. When I measured the length again, it was still the same length. I had started new balls of yarn and increased the number of stitches, but the length still seemed to not be growing.

I had to resort to putting a pin in on Tuesday morning. By the end of the day, I had proof that I had accomplished something.

Another pin was attached to my knitting on Wednesday morning. I could see progress and was motivated to continue.

I followed the advice of my knitting buddies and knit longer than the pattern said to. It was good advice.

Around the same time that the Swing Coat was started, I fell victim to peer pressure and started Camelot. I thought it was a good idea.
I didn't realise how big this sweater was.

There is a ton of Stocking stitch in this sweater and a shitload of seaming.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and am pretty sure that by the time the weather turns cold, I will have two spiffy new sweaters to keep the chill out.

And if mine looks as good as this one does when it's finished, I won't care if I'm warm.

2009-09-13T04:57:00.002-06:00

Counting sheep...

....need to sleep....

2009-09-10T12:09:00.002-06:00

How do you store your circ's?

I have decided to give away my old circular needles to my SIL but I don't think that throwing them into a bag with a needle gauge is a really good idea. If I had kept all the individual cases, I could just include them, but in a previous organising binge, I was sure I wouldn't need them.

They currently reside in pencil cases that are linked together with binder rings. I have written the size of the needles on the outside of each pencil case. While there is room for all the needles and the dpns in the pencil cases, I'm not sure if I want to give them away too. It has been a good system but it is really too big to carry around.

My Addis and ebony needles are in a Lexie Barnes circular needle case and it is packed. One day the zipper is going to burst and there is going to be knitting needle vomit all over...and I mean all over everything.

Has anyone out there tried the 'Circular Solution'? Is it something that looks better than it actually is?

I need the perfect organizational system? Does it exist?

2009-08-24T08:24:00.003-06:00

Another machine knit done

Recently, a lady came into make 1 yarns where several of my shawls are on display. She said she wanted to make a wrap so Bess suggested that she look at the many shawls that are hanging around the store and that perhaps she could fine inspiration in one of them.

The reply? "Oh well, yes, but they're not very inspiring because they are all machine made."

My automatic response when I heard of the conversation was to laugh. When I relayed the story to others, I got different responses.

Some people also thought it was funny.
Some people thought it was insulting to have hand knitting compared to machine knitting.
Others thought that I should take it as a compliment that she thought my tension was so even that it could only be knit by a machine.

I actually had a knitting machine for a period of time. I bought it at a friend's garage sale, tried it a couple of times and hid it in the closet. After it collected dust for four years, I sold it to another friend. *

The only way I enjoy knitting is with two needles (or 1 or 4 as the project may dictate) not with a hundred hooks in a frame.

I'm not sure how I feel about the individuals who can't tell the difference between hand and machine knitting.

Creideamh (cre-div is the Gaelic word for Faith) designed by Renee Livingstone for Woolgirl Embrace the Lace Club

Hand knit in Miss Babs Yearning in the Sandstone colourway.

*The knitting machine is in a new closet. It still isn't being knit on.

2009-08-19T10:16:00.003-06:00

Okay, I've been home for over a week so it's time to post something about Sock Summit 2009. It was AMAZING. It was well organised with tons of activities and classes. We were surrounded by friendly knitters for Five days. We knit.

We knit for the Guinness book of World Records. (900 knitters continuously knitting for 15 minutes straight) That's the Tsarina of Socks sitting beside Trish.

We did the Stroll at the Sock Hop while wearing our Poodle skirts, and had our picture taken with The Yarn Harlot.

And of course, we shopped. We bought yarn. We bought more yarn. And just in case our stashes suddenly disappeared while we were gone, we bought more yarn.

I also found some other treasures.

The perfect project bag.

The perfect stitch markers. This is a great idea for markers. They also had markers for the left and right decreases.

And just for fun, I bought a bracelet.

It's almost as hard to get a good picture of your hand as it is to get a good picture of socks that you are wearing.

There have been all kinds of rumours floating around for the past week or so. Mainly, that there will be another Sock Summit but not next year. The location may be moved...to Toronto?

Portland was the perfect location. The Convention center is huge. There are many hotels nearby. There is a direct flight from Calgary to Portland and driving home was the perfect length of time to get one sock knit.

The only thing that was missing? Next time we have to convince a few more friends that they need to join us.

2009-08-11T07:19:00.002-06:00

I don't believe in Conspiracy Theories.

I don't believe that there was another shooter on the grassy knoll on that November Day in Dallis back in '63.
I don't believe that Neil Armstrong took his "giant leap for mankind" on a sound stage in Hollywood.
And I don't believe that 9-11 was an inside job.

I am, however, becoming very suspicious that there is plot against me. People from near and far are conspiring against me in the most nefarious way.

Anyone who knows me, even for a short period of time, realises that I don't like the colour purple. I don't wear purple clothes. I don't knit with purple yarn. I don't even put grape jelly on my toast. It's just too purple.

But is there really a plot against me? The evidence will prove it.

March - My STR sock kit arrived. Fraggle socks could have been red or lime green.

Nope...purple.

My favorite size of needles to knit socks with has always been 2.5mm. Sure, Signature Needle Arts makes wonderful needles and I love knitting with them.
but did they have to make the 2.5mm needles purple?

I heard that the Plucky Knitter is a wonderful indi-dyer. In June I decided to join her lace club so I could see for myself the goodness that is Plucky. Just last week the skein of 'Vintage Glass' came to my door. 900 yards of purple single ply.

Perhaps it's all a coincidence.

Not when the people that I see often, in my own city, are in on the plot too.

I finally got my hands on an elusive skein of Wollmeise in a lovely shade of green. It was gorgeous. I was asked if I would trade it and since I was trading a superwash yarn for a 80/20 yarn I thought it would be a good trade.
Who knew that Petit Poison #5 dark was ...you guessed it ...purple.

I gave up. I ran away to Sock Summit where I avoided any and all yarns with even the slightest hit of lavender, violet, or aubergine.

But the mailman had delivered a package to my door while I was gone. The first sock from the Peanuts sock club had arrived.

Happiness - Schnappiness. The purplest yarn that I have ever seen. It couldn't be more purple. If there was such a thing as a neon purple this is it.

I will not give up. I will not fold. I will continue in my quest to keep my stash purple free.

But maybe, just maybe, 'Men in Black' really do exist.

2009-07-29T07:29:00.002-06:00

Is it a Mudpuddle?

or a wonderful place to play that didn't exist the day before?

Camping in Drumheller, July 24-26, 2009

2009-07-23T10:08:00.002-06:00

Guess who came to visit.
The new sweater, knit in the 12 month size almost fits.

2009-07-20T09:54:00.005-06:00

Once again, I have a guest blogger.

So this week my Mom asked me to write her blog. (Okay, so I nagged her.)

This past weekend was the Bonar Invitational Golf Weekend Or BIG Weekend for short, which means we drink alot of beer, eat alot of food, and play golf.

My Mom golfs once or twice a year. She rather be knitting , but she is a good sport, she plays and has fun with it.

So the hottest day of this summer (so far.) My Mom decided that this year she wanted to win the cup.

Her team won the cup... but she still rather be Knitting!

All I can say is Thank goodness for Best Ball tournaments. It's the only way my name was ever going to get on that trophy. AuntyTink

2009-07-13T09:36:00.002-06:00

Cowboys and Horses aren't the only things you can find at the Stampede.

You can also find yarn.
Buffalo Gold. 40% Bison down, 20% cashmere, 20% silk 15% Tencel. Soft squishy yarn in laceweight. I think it's destined to be the Heartland shawl....the one with all the hoofprints on it....a perfect match.

2009-07-07T16:10:00.008-06:00

Mom asked me to do a guest blog...sorry, this blog doesn’t include much about knitting, well maybe a little bit, sort of...I’m on the hunt for some cute crochet baby hats, you know those cute trendy ones – do any of you knitters know where I can find some in this city?? Also, the only knitting talk around the house these days is the lack of knitting that is getting done...I don't think Grandma is too unhappy about that!!

Hello from Oklahoma...we’re here, and funny enough, we heard those words during the first few minutes of the stampede parade from a cowboy on his horse! We enjoyed watching the floats and big horses go by, and Carson made Grandpa’s day when he was dancing to the bagpipes! Heather treated us to a Tim's coffee (which I've been dreaming about for 6 months), and tim bits ('cake') for Carson...leave it to Auntie to get him hopped up on sugar!!! We’ve also made it to a pancake breakfast where C charmed the line-ups with his dancing! Paige has been smiling so much, she must be a Canadian at heart! She is sleeping a lot, which I can’t complain about, and she rolled over for the first time just the other day! I think Carson reallllllly impressed his Uncle B when he sang that the "pirates on the bus go yar,yar,yar!". Both Grandparents have been playing hard, and due for some time to sleep!! So many things to do while we’re here, including a bus ride, the zoo, Riley park, Nose Hill...and of course relax and put our feet up!

Kari
PS. no time to edit video today, so hopefully I can add it tomorrow!!

2009-07-04T21:37:00.003-06:00

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Tonight it rained again.

My Rainbow socks are finished.

They are the first socks from the Wizard of Oz Sock club.
They took longer to knit than I thought they would. Originally, I started with 2.5 needles. They were the perfect project to take to a guild meeting. I had the pattern memorized and I was past the heel so I could knit without worrying about making a mistake. I was confident that I wouldn't need to rip out the sock the morning after the meeting.
What I hadn't considered in all my careful plans was that everyone I was sitting with was going to tell me that the socks were knit too loosely and that I should rip them out. I had the whole leg done. I was past the heel. There was no reasoning with my fellow knitters. Good Grief, before I knew it, Lucy had pulled out the needles and I was ripping the whole sock back...back to the beginning.

I started again with 2mm needles.

I'm not feeling the love for these socks. I agree that they had to be knit at a smaller gauge, but I liked the pattern of the yarn more when it was knit on the 2.5 needles. They will wear longer than a minute and a half but the colours are all mixed up. The short row heel keeps the pattern of the yarn more consistent but I like the way a round heel fits. The toe is just plain weird but it fits with the rest of the sock.

If there's a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, I haven't found it yet.

2009-07-04T20:58:00.003-06:00

<
The 10 days just before the Stampede are some of the longest.

For those of us who enter our projects in the competition, the days drag on. We wait anxiously until Sneak-a-Peak so we can find out who won in the various categories. Will there be a red ribbon beside our stitching? A blue ribbon beside the socks we knit? We are the ones who are waiting at 6:00 for the doors to open, pacing, impatiently waiting.

The 10 days before Stampede are also very long days for the volunteers on the Creative Arts and Crafts Committee.

It starts the last Wednesday in June when people line up to enter their projects. Invariably there are mix ups with the computer registrations, projects that have been entered in incorrect categories, Artists who didn't read the books and who have to be told that their projects are ineligible for one reason or another.

The space is in such a disarray, it doesn't seem as though it will ever be ready in time.

Before 8:00 that night, all the entries will have been delivered to Hall D. Over the next two days, Judges will arrive, and every item will be examined.

The Volunteers continue. You might get a day off for Canada Day but the displays must be ready and there are no days off for Volunteers.

Finally, on July 2, at 6:00, the doors open.

We race, past the vegi-matics and the sham-wows.

There, in the middle, are my socks.

And there's my shawl.

The Committee works on. They are the people who are walking around the displays constantly cleaning the fingerprints off the glass. They are also the first one's to hear complaints about the displays or disagreements with Judging.

When you go down to check out the display, tip your hat to the ladies with the spray bottles. Once again, they have done an amazing job.

* Thank you SpinKnit for the pictures of the display. I haven't been down to the grounds yet. It's on the calendar for next Sunday!

2009-06-30T07:46:00.002-06:00

Dying Sock Yarn...Not as easy as it looks.

I went to Olds Fibre Week this past weekend and took a two day class in painting yarn.

I came home with samples, experimental mini-skeins and yarn.This is my sock yarn. I dyed Superwash. I dyed a merino,bamboo, nylon blend. I also experimented with a merino seacell blend.

They need to be over-dyed. I like the colours. I don't like the white spots.

But, unlike my normal experiments, I kept notes. I know which colours I used. I also have my samples to refer to. It should be easy to fix the skeins.
Please refrain from laughing until I leave the room.

These were my mini-skeins. I used the same yarns and dyed them with two different types of yarn. The yarns were blends and I now have record of how the dyes work with the yarns.

This is a hemp cotton lace-weight. I did not loose my mind completely and think that this would be a pretty colour. It is not the colour I thought it was going to be. It was supposed to be green. Lime green, but still green. The turquoise washed out and I was left with a colour that is reminiscent of my last round of stomach flu.

It will be over-dyed.

It was a fun weekend and I came home with a whole new appreciation of the talents of dyers. It's not as easy as it looks.

2009-06-17T09:16:00.002-06:00

I was looking for a shawl.

I knew where it was. It was on the shelf with the rest of the shawls. But, it was at the back of the shelf and I had to pull numerous other shawls out to find it.

This happens often. Actually, this happens almost every time I decide to wear a shawl. I end up pulling everything out and then I have to put it all back. This pile of shawls also develops as I try to decide which shawl to wear. (It's especially frustrating when I pull them all out and then decide to wear a hoodie instead.)

Now a logical conclusion would be that I have too many shawls. Or at least, that I have enough and should quit knitting them. Sure that makes sense until you look at this.

This yarn started put as a "Mother-of-the-bride" lilac. I hated it.

SpinKnit worked her magic and made it perfect for a wrap named for an Egyptian Queen. It is now destined to become Nefertiti.

In my previous post, I questioned whether I should cast on a new pair of socks. Actually, the question should have been "how many socks would I put on the needles?"

These are Fraggle Squiggle Socks from STR.

These are the Over the Rainbow socks from the Oz Sock Club.

I should be receiving the My Fair Lady kit from Sock Cinema club today.

I expect the Men in the white coats will also be arriving at my door soon.

2009-06-14T08:29:00.002-06:00

FINISHED!

At 9:32 last evening, the final sock was done.

There are no socks on needles, on spare stitch holders, or on lengths of yarn. There are no more single socks in my house, waiting for me to knit the mate.

13 pairs of socks - DONE!

The oldest socks that I pulled out of a drawer were started in 2001.

This was the last pair. They are also the newest pair to have been started.
These were the April shipment from the Woolgirl Sock club. The June shipment was being mailed yesterday.

So today I have a choice. I can either continue to work on UFO's and possibly complete some of the many lace projects that are waiting impatiently or I can cast on some new sock yarn. Hmmmm??

2009-05-23T09:03:00.002-06:00

Progress

I am winning the battle of the single socks and WIP. For several weeks, my house has been overrun with socks talking to me. At first, it was just a whisper."We're here. We're waiting."

Then, the socks got louder."Are you ever going to finish us?"
My favorite chair became surrounded by UFOs. I couldn't cast on anything new because all my needles were in socks. The socks were mocking me.

I have now completed more pairs of socks than the socks that need to be knit. I realise that I am tempting fate by declaring this publicly but I feel that the battle has turned in my favour. I will win this war.

The single socks have sent for reinforcements. The STR shipment should arrive on Monday.

2009-05-18T17:26:00.002-06:00

"Only in Canada, you Say?"

The May Long weekend is the unofficial start of the Camping season. We decided that even though it was early this year, we would pack everything we needed and escape from the city for the weekend.

We have gone camping during the May Long before so we knew that we had to pack many things. I had shorts and sandals. I had packed rainboots and sweaters. I even had my winter coat and mittens. I thought I was ready for anything.

On Saturday, we drove to the nearby village to get more propane, more beer, and a new ax. (The old one is still in the garage.)

Saturday night, Doug built his fire.

Sunday morning I enjoyed some quiet knitting time in front of my fire.

Sunday afternoon we realised that we forgot the sun screen.

After we listened to the weather forcast, we came back to the city early.

We realised that we had left the snow shovel at home.

2009-05-07T07:14:00.003-06:00

One of Those Days

I'm sitting here with my morning cuppa and feeling like I haven't accomplished much lately. Perhaps because in the past week I have started three new pairs of socks and not finished any. I have also added to the collection of sock and lace yarn but haven't finished any lace either. Ditto for the baby sweaters.

Yes, I remember that I did finish Hermia on Tuesday, but it didn't make a dent in the list of projects I want to complete.

I'm not feeling the love for this sweater yet. Perhaps I'm still bitter over how long it took to knit those sleeves.

The first sleeve was almost done when I realised that the gauge was wrong. I used the same size needle but because I had all the stitches squished onto a 12" needle, the gauge was way tighter than on the body of the sweater.

The pattern calls for the sleeve hem to be started when the length of the sleeve was 13". I knit 15" and then knit the hem.

I'm not tall. I will, under pressure, actually admit that yes, I am short. So why did I have to rip back the hem and knit another two inches onto those sleeves.
(Please resist the urge to make comments about "Monkey arms" and "Ape-like appendages")

17" inch sleeves before the picot hem. Sleeves from Hell.

Pattern: Hermia, Knitty, fall 2008
Yarn: Blue Sky Skinny Cotton - Sprout.

2009-04-29T09:46:00.002-06:00

Project #10 is finished
file under "What the Hell was I thinking?"

Back in January, The Gillihook Heritage Knitters started a UFO challenge. We listed ten unfinished projects that we wished to complete in the next year. Each month, a number is drawn, and that's the project we are supposed to have finished by the next guild meeting.*

I was optimistic. Okay, maybe I was delusional. I had enough unfinished projects for two lists. I filled one sheet and then I doubled up and put two projects on some lines. I actually thought that I might complete more than one UFO per month. A small amount of sanity came back and I scribbled a line through the second project.**

Project #10 was to be finished by the third Wednesday in May. It's not going to happen.

When pulled my Forest Path Stole out of the closet, I realised that I was only on tier four. There are twenty three tiers in total. After two weeks, I have only completed tier six. In this Entrelac stole, there are 103 lace rectangles. I have completed 27.
It's going back in the closet. I admit defeat.

It is not a total defeat. I did finish the socks that I started years ago...seven or eight years ago.

I also finished this scarf that I started last October. I had planned to give it as a Christmas gift. Now I have my first gift ready for next Christmas.

I would have taken a picture of my Snowdrop Stole that I finished for the April Guild Meeting and rescued from kidnappers but I can't find it right now. I'm fairly certain it is in my house, somewhere, and since the kidnapper hasn't been here recently, I think it's safe....

Project #10 is not safe. I'm thinking of pulling it off the needles. It's mocking my failure to complete it.

*Finishing the project is not our only reward. When we complete a project, our name is put into a draw for a prize. There is also a grand prize at the end of the year. The more projects we complete, the more chances we have to win. My chances of winning this draw are slightly better than winning the 649, but just slightly.

**How delusional was I? The Unst Bridal Shawl, The Frost Flowers shawl and The Beaded Diamond Shawl were listed as second projects. These are all huge projects. I can't believe that I actually thought I might finish them as well as the first project I had listed.

2009-04-25T08:01:00.002-06:00

"de gustibus non est disputandum"

I started this blog back in 2006. I really didn't think that anyone would ever read it and until I found Ravelry and linked it to my friends list, very few people did read it. No one ever asked me about the description under the title until this week.

I always assumed that the reason I was never asked about it was either that everyone was a Latin scholar and already knew what it meant, or people really didn't understand a lot of what I was blathering about and that was normal.

The rough translation? In matters of taste, there is no disputing. There isn't a better sentence to describe the variety of knitting techniques, patterns, choices of yarn etc.

I have spent the last hour of valuable knitting time looking for a new quote. Before you ask, No I have not ever studied Latin.

quidquid latine dictum sil altum viditur - what ever is said in Latin sounds profound.

I contemplated this one. Malum consilium quod mutari non potest. It's a bad plan that can't be changed. It could apply to either a knitting pattern or the whole project. It might fit for some people but not for someone who doesn't change patterns.

Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae There is no one great ability without a mixture of madness. No explanation needed for this quote.

Bonitas non est pessimis esse meliorem It is not goodness to be better than the worst. Too vague.

Damnant quod non intellegunt. They condemn what they do not understand. Do you think Cicero was referring to toe-up socks when he uttered this phrase? or was he referring to all non-knitters?

Stecius accident. Shit happens sounds like the perfect phrase for the project that needs to be ripped out or for the socks that need to be tossed because they have developed holes but not quite right for most days.

For now, I will stick with the original description. It seems to still fit the best, especially since I know that out there, in the big world, someone is crocheting toe up socks with purple acrylic yarn.

Omnia mutatur, noset mutamur in illis. All things change and we change with them.

2009-04-13T14:02:00.003-06:00

Spring was here on Saturday

To celebrate, Spinknit and I went to a sheep shearing.

We saw the cutest little lambs.

We met Rolf, who really thinks he`s a dog and loves to have his chin scratched.

And we bought fleece. We went vowing to keep each other on the straight and narrow path and not buy any fleece. I was done in by a beautiful gray cotswold fleece. It`s in the garage right now calling my name. It wants to be washed so I can see what it really looks like. And then it will probably be yelling at me until I spin and dye it.

These are my new rubber boots that I bought specifically for the trip out to the farm. They were initiated in the sheep pen. I`m really happy that Doug had the power washer out just as I came home.

2009-04-05T07:53:00.003-06:00

Finished a Pair of Socks

Last night I finished knitting my upside down Baudelaires. No, you are not imagining things. They are two different colours. No, I did not choose to step outside the box and knit out of two different colours of yarn.

The sock on the left was my airplane knitting last October. When I returned home and was throwing the laundry in the machine, the sock was accidentally added to the washer and the dryer. I noticed immediately that the yarn had become slightly fuzzy and that the sock had shrunk slightly...still a wearable sock. I threw it in my knitting basket to rest for awhile.

Five months later, I was ready to start the second sock. Once again, I had no written notes for the first sock and I had changed the original pattern.

I pulled the sock out. The colour was so different, I actually went through the stash to see if I had pulled the correct yarn. I had.

Perhaps I should have taken this experience as one of life's little lessons. I could have kept the one sock as a constant reminder of the care needed in washing hand knit socks. I could have turned it into a very nice sock puppet. I could have finally decided that my socks don't have to match. (Come on, let's not get too ridiculous).

No, I have taken a chance. Not quite as drastic as Sky diving or bungee jumping, but considering the valuable nature of time spent on knitting projects, it was still a risky proposition.
I knit the sock.

I'm now off to do battle with the washing machine. With luck, I will be able to recreate the conditions in which the first sock was washed.

2009-03-31T06:44:00.002-06:00

No more Monkeys Jumping on the bed!

We're back from a busy 12 days in B'ville. We had received word that the weather in Calgary was, to say the least, crappy. Just to make everyone feel better, I'm posting a picture of the snow that fell on Saturday. Now you might think that this isn't alot of snow but in Southern US, this is enough to call a "Snow Day". K and I went to the local mall and it was empty. The day before, there were lineups at Walmart as everyone tried to stock up for the blizzard. There was a constant warning scrolling on the bottom of the TV screen on Friday and Saturday night. This was the heaviest snowfall that fell all winter.

It was all made much worst because a week earlier I had been sitting in the sun, listening to the birds, enjoying the spring flowers in the parks.

We had a busy vacation. We spent lots of time playing with the kids.

K and I got dressed up and took Paige out for her first party.

Paige loves to cuddle and have someone talk to her. I've heard the you can't spoil a baby by holding her too much. We did our best.

"Gumpa" got to paint pictures, play "hockey", watch "Rats" (Ratatouille) and "Buzz" (Toy Story) and even got to play a couple of rounds of golf.

What did we do while we were gone? Not much. One quick trip into Tulsa. One quick trip to the mall. Three walks in the nearby park. Lots and Lots of hugs and stories and giggles. The time flew by.

The house is very quiet.

2009-03-19T18:24:00.002-06:00

Those pink sweaters will come in handy

Our precious Paige Evalise made her appearance this morning.

Big brother is thrilled with his new sister.

She weighed 7lb 9oz and is 20in long.
Mom an Dad are doing fine, even with only four hours of sleep last night. They should all be home tomorrow afternoon.

I love the ribbon in her hair.

2009-03-16T08:45:00.003-06:00

A Canadian Care Package

When you spend alot of time in one place, you get used to certain everyday essentials that you believe you will always have access to. It isn't until you move to a foreign country that you realise that certain items are a little harder to find.

Many people believe that Canada and The United States of American are identical, and that anything we can find here can be found in the states. Not True. USA is a foreign country that doesn't have all the essentials.

As I started to pack my suitcase for a trip down south, I realised very quickly that I would have to take the "Big" suitcase.

I had knitting to bring.

And more knitting to bring.

I had been sent a shopping listof essentials. Sunny Boy and Gripe water are purely Canadian. The Small Planet cleanser is made in Calgary.

If you haven't tried Sobey's Raspberry Lime with Vodka drizzler, you really should. Great on icecream or plain cheesecake and worth every bit of room that it takes up in the suitcase.

Vegeta is a soup base that is imported from Croatia and a key ingredient is a certain soup I'm hoping to taste while we are visiting.

There are also a few things in the suitcase that weren't on the list but Cheezies and Smarties are too Canadian to be left behind.

There is going to be very little room in my suitcase for clothes and knitting but I'm not worried since I will have an empty suitcase for the trip home. I'm sure I can find a little bit of time to go shopping to fill it from the other side.

Edited: I need a bigger suitcase.

2009-03-07T08:54:00.003-07:00

Things I never thought I'd see in a knitting Blog

Important Safety Note: On Wednesday, I mentioned that I had borrowed a set of needlefelting needles from a friend. Actually, this is not a very safe thing to do—you should never share your needles, as the risk of poking yourself and possibly spreading infection is real—these are VERY sharp tools. So please craft safely, and don't share needles.

Let's be careful out there.

2009-03-06T10:01:00.002-07:00

It's all about the Bling!

I got a new sock kit.

I felt like a kid on Christmas morning as I pulled one treasure after another out of the parcel.

My kit contained:
A Glinda accessory bag
A Glinda Notepad
A Glinda stitchmarker
A Glinda Bookmark
A Silver Pencil stamped with "Are you a good Witch or a Bad Witch?"
A Good Witch Soap wand
Good and Plenty candies
Cookies cutters in a star and Crown shape complete with the recipe.

Since it is a sock club, I also got a skein of yummy Madelinetosh sock Yarn and Twisted Cable sock pattern.

I now also have my very own magic wand so I can cast spells on the wicked witch. I wonder if the magic is stong enough to repel yarn vomit?

It's a good thing that I finished my Queen of Beads Socks

They were the January Sock from the STR sock club and great fun to knit. I wondered about putting the beads on the foot of the sock but since they fit well in my Birks, all is well. They are tight in my boots but I don't care. The Bling is key. Even if I will be handwashing these socks, so that the beads don't loose their colour, I still love these socks.

I wonder what the Mailman is going to bring me today?

2009-02-23T17:27:00.002-07:00

Damn You Food Network!!!

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching Judge Judy on TV and happily knitting. JJ was a rerun so I started flipping through the channels and stopped for a moment on the Food Channel. That was my first mistake.

You may think that watching the food channel is an innocent enough pastime but I'm warning you that it is a dangerous spiral that I may never recover from.

I watched a show on exotic ingredients in everyday cooking. The specific show was on water chestnuts. I have used water chestnuts for many years but always opened a can to get them. I now had a mission; to find fresh water chestnuts and to see how they were different from the canned variety.

Two weeks later and many stores later, I have my fresh water chestnuts. And it only took me another hour to find the recipe on-line that started the whole quest in the first place*.

All of this cooking and going to specialty stores is taking far too much time away from my knitting.

On a positive note, we had a wicked Roasted Garlic and Tomato Pasta last night and the Pesto Stuffed Chicken wrapped in Prosciutto was pretty good too.

Now if Judy Judy would quit showing reruns, I could get back to more important things.

*I'll be making "Endive Water Chestnut Salad" just as soon as I find the endive.

2009-02-19T08:32:00.002-07:00

I've been here before....

dé·jà vu
Pronunciation: \ˌdā-ˌzhä-ˈvü, -ˈvue\
Function: noun
Etymology: French, adjective, literally, already seen
Date: 1903
1 a: the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first time b: a feeling that one has seen or heard something before
2: something overly or unpleasantly familiar

I'm knitting a Superman sweater. I've knit this pattern before.

I'm using "Baycrest Sayelle". I've knit with yarn before. This was my yarn of choice for many sweaters I knit when my kids were little and the nieces and nephews were little.

I'm using my straight needles....size 8....old size 8. I'm using Aero needles out of my collection. These were my favorite needles. I was a needle snob. I wouldn't spend my time knitting with poor quality plastic needles.

I've been here before.

2009-02-11T08:46:00.002-07:00

Finished Projects and a decision

In this heart, the baby's name will be embroidered.....if she is the kind of baby that likes pink blankets. If he doesn't like pink, this blanket will be put on the shelf to wait.

This blanket was so much fun to knit. The pattern was written on four pages and I had to flip back and forth to keep the heart looking like a heart. The bamboo has a nice weight and I think it will be perfect for those OK evenings.

When I saw this skein of hand-dyed bamboo in New York, I knew that it was the perfect yarn for this sweater. Unfortunately, just not quite enough yarn for the size I decided to knit.

I used a garter stitch hem instead of the picot hem and eliminated ten rows. I wanted to use an I-cord for the ties instead of the garter stich cord the pattern called for.

So now that I've done some Grandma knitting, I can knit a sweater for me! I'm torn between "Hey Teach" from Knitty in a silk yarn that is in my stash, or some new Cashmerino Aran. Maybe I should knit "Hermia" also from Knitty. I have some Cotton Cashmere in my yarn drawer or there is some lovely green cotton at Make 1 that has been calling my name. I started "Loppem" by Norah Gaughan but I'm not feeling the love for it and I will be ripping out the ten row that I have knit.

I have a new STR kit with heavenly blue yarn and beads that my fingers are itching to start.

Or, I could just work on some old UFOs. They aren't nearly as exciting, but it will feel great to cross some more of those off the list.

2009-02-03T08:59:00.002-07:00

File under "If you're not going to knit a swatch..."

...you have to be prepared to rip out your project.

Who would have thought that .25mm would make a difference?

2009-02-02T09:55:00.002-07:00

Weekend knitting.

I had planned to work on UFO's this weekend but the call of the new projects was too loud.

All these pictures are in the wrong order but the only thing I didn't try was making a separate post for each picture. Read the post backwards if you really must see them in chronological order.

I finished these socks late Sunday evening. They were started in ~2002. For some strange reason, I decided to ignore the suggested needle size for the yarn and knit the 6-ply yarn with 2.5 needles. They almost stand up by themselves but they are never going to wear out.

I cast on for this Blanket on Saturday evening. I am using Baby Bamboo. The pattern is from Sirdar's "The Baby Blanket Book" It's a great pattern to knit with lots of change in the patterns.

This was cast on Saturday morning. It's "Helena" from Knitty and the yarn is hand dyed bamboo that I bought in New York for this sweater.

I'm not hinting by knitting "pink". We still don't know if the new baby is a boy or a girl. I'm just tired of the yellow, green and white knitting.

Finally, or first of all, depending on how you are reading this, I cast on for these fingerless mitts on Friday. They are "Can Cans" and the yarn is SpinKnit's* hand dyed. Now that Balzac Billy saw his shadow and we are going to have six more weeks of winter, I may even get these finished and be able to wear them.

This was I weekend in which I planned to do nothing but watch TV and knit. Cooking meals, laundry, cleaning were all NOT on the planned list of activities. Leaving the house or even getting dressed was going to be optional. My plans changed on Saturday morning when I remembered that I had signed up for a one day retreat with my Stitching Guild**.

I might have knit more if I had stayed home but it was a great day with friends who share an interest...no, passion for all things fibre. When Mary told us she was looking for towels in DMC 223, we immediately could visualise the colour she was looking for. When Ann asked for our advice on the project that was going to run off the fabric, we could all put in our two cents worth since we had all run into similar problems and all had different solutions.

*spinknitthefiberqueen.blogspot.com
**Calgary Guild of Needle and Fibre Arts.

2009-01-29T08:47:00.003-07:00

File under "I should Have Known Better"

I have a knitting journal with pages for a needle inventory, pages of size charts for friends and family, and many, many, pages for notes on projects. I actually have more than one knitting journal with similar pages in them. They are all pristine. I have never written on a single page. I should have been writing in these books, especially on some projects.

I started these socks several years ago. The printing date on the book is 2001 so I'm guessing that I started them in 2002. I didn't knit exactly according to the pattern which is why I should have been writing deviations down...somewhere...even on the pattern.

When these socks when into the resting drawer, I had pulled out the needles to use on a different pair of socks, and placed the stitches on a thread. I think I have the right size back on the stitches. I'm hoping I have the right size. They look the same. For some strange reason, I believe I used a 2.5 mm needle originally instead of the 2.75 that the pattern called for.

I also changed the heel from the original. Did I write down the changes? Of course not. Did I even look at the heel on the first sock before I had completed the second heel? Why would I do that?

After ripping out the heel, I did stop to look at the first sock (which is just past the heel to realise that I hadn't followed the pattern for the sole of the foot either.

It is much easier to follow a sock pattern than it is to knit a sock from a half finished one.

Am I using the knitting Journal now? Not yet but I will just as soon as I start my next project.

2009-01-21T09:40:00.002-07:00

The call of the Cashmere was just too loud.

I had planned to treat myself with knitting one repeat of the border each day. That was on Friday. By knitting one repeat each day, I could enjoy knitting this pattern and this yarn for fourteen day... two weeks of knitting Utopia. By Monday night, I had finished the shawl.

It was worth it.

The next project will be a completed UFO. The Gillihook Heritage Knitting Guild is challenging us to finish us unfinished projects. We are to list ten projects and only ten projects. Each month a number will be drawn and that is the project we are to have completed by the next meeting. I am fairly certain that the first project that I should have to finish will not be a single sock but instead the massive shawl that has been languishing on the shelf for three years.

I made a list. I went through cupboards, and closets and drawers and made my list. I now have to choose ten UFOs off the list. I could put several socks on the list since I have six single socks and when I last checked, I do have two feet.

I could put all my lace projects on the list but that would be silly. I wouldn't be able to leave my house for the year as I knit the seven started shawls and one Christening gown.

Two sweaters, one baby blanket, one pair of mitts and a couple of other projects. Before I knew it, my list was twenty items long and logically,I have no hope of completing them all in a year.

And that isn't counting all the projects that I have the yarn for that I'm just itching to start.

Start? Did someone say "Start"? Now that's a much better idea. I think I'll go cast on the new sock yarn that I got last night. Socks are little. They don't take much time to knit. I'll be finished it in no time.

2009-01-16T09:47:00.002-07:00

The story of a conflicted knitter.

I've been working on these socks even though I don't like the color and I'm not thrilled with the pattern. They are not what I want to be knitting.

I've been working on this blanket because the new baby will be here in less than two months. It is not what I want to be knitting.

I really want to be knitting this shawl.

I love this shawl. I love the soft yarn that caresses my fingers with each stitch (Jade Sapphire cashmere). I love the pattern that changes enough to maintain my interest (Harbour Lights by Sivia Harding)

I even love the silver beads that came out of my stash to add the perfect amount of sparkle to the knitting. I love knitting this shawl, which is why I am avoiding it. I love knitting it so much that I don't want it to be finished. I'm sure it will be pretty when it is all blocked out and the lace is shown in all it's glory, but I will be finished knitting it. I won't ever have the same connection to it.
If I knit one repeat of the edging each day and only one repeat, I can enjoy knitting this shawl for another fourteen days.

2009-01-01T10:32:00.002-07:00

Reflections and Resolutions

At the end of January last year, I joined a Ravelry group called Mission Possible 2008. I listed 12 projects that I wanted to finish within the year by what ever means were necessary. I could actually finish knitting them, or I could rip the project out and put the yarn back on the shelf or give the whole thing away to someone else, in any stage of completion.

This morning I looked at my list. I completed 10 of the 12 projects. Of the two remaining projects, the Unst Bridal shawl was knit on, but it didn't get past the second border. My Kauni Rainbow cardigan did not see daylight. I'm not ready to deal with it yet. Maybe next year.

In the last year, I completed 31 projects of varying sizes. Included in that total are 6 lace shawls/stoles, 10 pairs of socks (I thought I had knit more...perhaps if I put all the single socks into pairs, that number will look better),4 pairs of mitts, 4 baby sweaters and 1 entrelac stole.

The oldest project that I completed was my Tina shawl. I started in 2005 or maybe 2004. I know that it was sitting on the shelf for awhile.

2009 - Resolutions.

This is the year that I want to become a better spinner. I have a lovely collection of Spindles and two wheels. They need to do more than collect dust.
I was given some very precious quiviet down and Silk Hankies for Christmas. I won't spin those wonderful fibers until I can spin them into wonderful yarn.

More Baby Blankets need to be knit and quickly. I usually knit to deadlines but March 20 is quickly approaching.

The gym? Diet? Getting organised? No point in being unrealistic!

Have a very Happy and Peaceful New Year.

2008-12-27T07:11:00.007-07:00

Warning Labels

Warning labels can be found on almost everything we purchase. My coffee cup warns me that my coffee is hot. My sleeping pills warn me that they may cause drowsiness and my new knitting needles came with a warning.

"Knitting needles are intended for knitting purposes only. The knitting needles are sharp and should be handled with care, stored with the pointed ends down, out of the reach of children and should not be left on the floor. The knitting needles should also be carried with the pointed end down. The knitting needles should not be used in a moving vehicle due to the possibility they could cause the puncture of the person or airbags in case of an accident. The needles should not be stuck in the ear or in other body parts"

I choose to ignore the warning to not knit in the car. Long road trips are the perfect time for uninterrupted knitting.

Leaving needles on the floor while knitting is attached can accidentally cause the knitting to come off the needles when someone trips over the yarn. Rather than putting all those stitches back on the needle, I think I'll store the knitting....with the points down.

There should be a clarification on the final warning.
"If I catch anyone sticking my knitting needles in his ear or any other body part, the damage that I inflict upon him will be far greater than any self inflicted damage."

So why doesn't sock yarn come with a warning?

"This product may cause uncontrollable shopping. Sock yarn must be kept in large groups for ultimate happiness. If knit, it will require the purchasing of several more skeins to replace the skein that was removed from the stash. Single sock syndrome, also known as second sock syndrome may result from use of this product."

2008-12-16T07:11:00.003-07:00

I like my socks to match

So it will not be a surprise to anyone who knows me, that I go to great lengths to make my socks match.

When I am knitting with a self striping yarn, I pull the yarn out of two balls until they match and then start knitting. If I am using a 100 gram ball, I will knit two pair of socks because I know that the colours for the second pair are already lined up.

Friday night, as I was frantically starting another Christmas gift, I started to organise the yarn. After spreading half a ball of yarn all over the floor, I realised that one ball needed to be re-wound . The patterning was reversed. One ball started from the outside, and one from the inside. A minor delay and I was determined to make the socks match.

I knit all day Saturday, and all day Sunday. I took a break to knit a pair of mittens and continued on the socks.

Sunday evening, as I was working on the foot of the second sock, I realised that stripes on the socks weren't lining up.

All my great plans for perfectly matched socks were gone. There was a knot...in the first sock...The patterning had been changed.

I thought about ripping the first sock back but I will not.
I believe that the recipient of these socks will not mind that that they don't match. In fact, if his sister doesn't tell him, he will probably never know.

The next step? Wearing mismatched socks? Deliberately making only one sock of each pair? Only time will tell.

2008-12-11T13:31:00.002-07:00

December 12, 2008

Panic sets in as I realise that I have yet to start my Christmas knitting. How long does it take to knit three, no four pair of socks and one pair of mittens. The scarves have been deleted from the list.

December 13, 2008

Panic avoided. I remembered to check the bin of knitting where I have been placing finished socks, hats and baby sweaters. There were fortunately, socks for two in the bin. Two pair of socks are doable in 12 days, even with another pair of mitts. Besides, OK is too warm for mitts anyway!

2008-12-08T15:19:00.002-07:00

Insomnia

The other night I was lying awake, trying to fall back to sleep, but couldn't. Strange thoughts kept running through my mind.

What was I concerned about that was preventing me from sleeping? Was it the political scheming that was happening in Ottawa? No, not that.

Was it the fear of a economic downturn and the falling stock market? No, not that either.

Perhaps the quickly approaching holiday and the knowledge that many things have to happen before December 25. Close, but not that either.

It was the yarn. It had been sitting quietly in the Stash for the last year but decided that it was time to be heard.

"We are here and we demand to be knit! You have the pattern. You picked all the colours of yarn. You even started this sweater once and ripped it out because you didn't like the way it looked. Enough waiting. We want to become that sweater. NOW!"

I tried to reason with the yarn. I explained patiently that since Christmas was coming, I needed to be knitting socks for people.

The yarn didn't care.

I tried again. I vowed that I would start the sweater as soon as I finished my Berry-beautiful shawl. No, that just wasn't good enough. No compromise would work. The next morning, I cast on 286 stitches.

Saga Rose Cardigan from Jamieson's Shetland Knitting Book 3.

I have also been knitting the Berry-Beautiful shawl. Don't tell the sweater!

2008-11-20T10:49:00.002-07:00

CONFLICTED

I have been knitting for a long time and while I am not a fast knitter, I am an obsessed knitter. (Big surprise there to anyone who knows me) I have often thought that if I could knit faster, I could knit more.

Recently, I went to the Make 1 retreat at Kananaskis and signed up for a class with Stephanie Pearl MacPhee AKA the Yarn Harlot. I signed up for the class not knowing what the topic was going to be so I was very excited to find out that it was a class on Knitting for Speed and Efficiency.

After a timing my knitting, I quickly realised that, yes, I am average. I spent the day examining my technique and learning new techniques to speed up my knitting. Stephanie insisted that if we practised for 15 minutes every day, after 28 days we would feel comfortable with the new techniques and be able to knit faster. This may be the longest 28 days of my life.

I am now undecided if I really do want to knit faster. I am comfortable with the way I knit and do accomplish a fair number of projects(see sidebar for 2008 list)

With the alternate techniques, my ability to knit evenly has disappeared.

My shoulders are sore and I'm missing shows on TV because I have to watch what my hands are doing.

I knit in my usual way for 16 hours on Sunday and only managed to get through 30 rows on this. I was sure I was going to be able to finish it but I didn't complete it until Monday.

Yes I know there are many, many stitches in those final rows of a triangular shawl but I really thought I should be able to finish it faster.

I have more projects with deadlines on them. I will admit that they are deadlines that I have set in my own warped brain and they can be delayed...especially if I see a new project that insists that I cast on immediately.

I was looking at my Stash this morning and it actually made me sad, knowing that there are so many wonderful yarns that I want to knit but that I don't have enough time to knit everything that I want to knit.

If I learn how to knit faster, I can finish more projects, but will I enjoy the process.

Oh Hell....I think I'll just go bake a batch of muffins and avoid the whole issue. Banana chocolate chips muffins solve all the problems.

2008-10-29T09:13:00.002-06:00

Seeing Double

I will admit, that I have bought the same colourway of a sock yarn more than once. I may have bought a magazine a second time. I was not prepared to see this.

I even placed the new copy of the book right beside the first copy on the shelf and still didn't notice.

I suspect that I will find my knitting in the fridge soon.

Until then, does anyone need a copy of "The Natural Knitter".

2008-10-29T08:43:00.002-06:00

I've been tagged
Michelle, aka knittinggrammy thinks that the world is interested in six quirky but unspectacular things about me. I disagree, but in an attempt to play fair, I will invent some.

1. I hate cooked turnips. I don't just mildly dislike turnips. I hate them. D's family thinks it's funny to dump a spoonful on my plate so that I have to eat them. I won't. There aren't many foods I won't eat but cooked turnips are at the top of my list.

2.I like raw turnips.

3. I am afraid of heights. In the past I have avoided the Capillano Suspension Bridge and the cave at Grotto Canyon because they were too high.

4. I'm stubborn. (just ask Sandra if you don't believe me) This is why I now have stood on the glass window at the Calgary Tower, on the top of Chichen Itza, and climbed all the stairs to stand outside at St Paul's Cathedral in London. I may only have one chance to see the sights and you always get the best view from high up. I refuse to let my fear of heights spoil the view. Next on my list is the Sydney Harbour Bridge but that one might be too high.

5. I believe that the law giving pedestrians the 'right of way' should be changed.

6. I watch lots of reality shows on TV. Survivor, Amazing Race, Hell's kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Big Brother. I watch them all.

Vegetable sister #2 and Gingersnaps can consider themselves tagged.

2008-10-26T19:04:00.002-06:00

I am a Procrastinator

I have gone shopping for Birthday gifts on the day of the birthday...if not the day after. I have entered damp socks in the Stampede because I hadn't blocked them early enough...even though the knitting was completed much earlier. I have started Christmas knitting on December 23.

I have the best of intentions to become more organised and not leave things until the last possible moment, but I get sidetracked and something more interesting will pull me away.

I confess, I was going to post this morning but my knitting and a crappy movie on TV made me delay until now.

I tell you this because there is an anomaly in my house. Why is my Christmas cactus blooming in October?

We just barely finished the turkey soup after Thanksgiving and I haven't bought my Halloween candy yet.

This wrong....unless it's really an Easter cactus and is procrastinating too.

2008-10-22T09:49:00.002-06:00

Did you ever wonder????

how many people Kinneared The Yarn Harlot at Rhinebeck this past weekend??????