Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Ouch

The back of my 'Perfect Sweater'

I have been spanked. And it hurts. Ugh.
I cast on the front of the 'Perfect Sweater' and chugged on for about 5 inches, started my decrease and realized I had cast on 10 stitches short. I misread my freaking pattern.
So I frogged and cursed. (do those always come together?)
And then I went blog surfing and saw this on Moth Heaven's site. My goodness it's like we are a 'Hive Mind' or something!
Bless her, she said it perfectly. Now I'm going to hunt around for a small project to do with stash yarn.
You should never rip and begin in the same session because it leaves a bruise, and it takes longer to heal than if you just take the hit and walk away.
So don't mind me as I go hide in the corner and lick my wounds. I WILL finish this sweater, I'm just taking a small vaca from it first!

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Bad Blogger..bad blogger

Meaning myself, not 'The Blogger Site', just to clarify.

I'm working on my 'Perfect Sweater'. The back is done and the front caston. What is it with people like Wendy?? In her latest entry she said she Spun some this weekend, AND knit a front and back of a sweater. Aiieeee! Come on folks. If you honestly knit that fast Don't TELL the rest of us!!! *grin*

I'll try to put a picture up in the next day or so. :)

Happy Thanksgiving, hope you all had fun and spent time with loved ones.

Squirrel Update. He is still around and doing SO much better. He can even situp and eat like a normal squirrel with only a little bit of a shiver. But no flopping over! Yaya!

Sunday, November 19, 2006

We perfectly go along...

Loki got his kitty reward and seems to love it. Now he just sits in the basket and watches me knitting my 'Perfect Sweater'.
I know, I know, there's nothing fun, no colorwork, not a cable or rib to even be found.


I;m plugging along in the SS. It really is a form of torture. You can mentailly shut off and let you eyes roam, but if I do that more than I should becuase I start doing things like splitting the yarn. I hate that. Anyway the fabric islovely and falling off the needles with grace..but I have no idea how long this is going to take. I cast this on on Nov 15th. I might have to branch out slightly and do a pair of socks on the side (shhe doen't let the swaeter know. I want her.I desire her, but want to be onthe top of my game when I'm with her}'
'

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Knitting?

So I was browsing blogs, and then glanced at my own. Not much knitting content lately! Shame on me. Granted my camera was AWOL for a bit and then I've been flat out lazy. So onto an FO and work in progress!

Kitty Pi
What a fun, easy knit! The increases are easy and I used the Stripe Generator that Flatlander mentioned. Pretty cool toy. I doubled Cascade 220 and used size 11 needles.
Here it is in the beginning.


Finished, pre-felting.


Loki giving it a test drive.


I have this great insert for my dryer. You can lay things on it and it is exposed to the heat but doesn't tumble. Awesome for felting!

The finished product! Loki has slept in it all day and it's still a tad damp. Think I might put it back in the dryer again to warm it up.



Now that the bed's an FO, I moved onto my sweater. It's the 'Perfect Sweater' from Mason-Dixon.
You use a crochet provisional cast on, which is always interesting. The red is the cast on. This is the hem of the back.


Here is the completed two color picot edging. The yarn is Cascade 220, The Heathers. One is a denim color and the other lovely sagey kinda thing. The green is the main color.

And now onto the boring SS forEVER. But darn it, I want this sweater. I might throw a stripe into it, just to insure I don't go comatose!!

Finally I have a photo of the odd squirrel in my front yard. I've observed him 'tipping over' for about a week now. He seems fine otherwise, he just well...tilts. His fur is great, he is pleasantly plump being one of the largest squirrels in the area. I gave him some peanuts today and snapped this shot.


I promise you from the bottom of my heart, this squirrel is not dead. :) He layed there on his side gnawing on the peanut. Eventually he got up and scampered up the tree. I called the Humane Society and they don't believe it's rabies or distemper, more likely he fell and bonked his head and has a concussion. He is showing improvement and if he starts to decline I can get a live trap from them and take him in. But for now he's just..well tottering.
I hate to admit it, but it's pretty damn entertaining.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

MeMe

A survey lifted from Kitten.

1. Flip to page 18, paragraph 4 in the book closest to you right now, what does it say?

"Why do so many of us object to purling? Is it because as children we were taught to knit first, and are then presented with purling as the second and more difficult step? Who knows? Who is willing to take an innocent child and teach it to purl first? You must admit it's the trickier of the two." Knitting with out Tears - Elizabeth Zimmermann

2. If you stretch out your left arm - as far as possible, what are you touching?
Wall and window blind.

3. What'’s the last program you watched on tv?

Law and Order :CI as I type

4. Without looking, guess what time it is.
11:15, actually 11:11. Not bad.

5. Except the computer, what can you hear right now?

TV I'm watching, the tv in the other room and the hum of my laptop.

6. When was the last time you were outside and what did you do?

Went to my local Guild Meeting held at a college. It's a nice stroll on the campus.

7. What are you wearing?

Velour comfy jammy pants and a grey t shirt.

8. Did you dream last night? If you did, what about?

damn. I know I did but I can't recall.. this is going to drive me crazy.

9. When was the last time you laughed?

Tonight with my girlfriends at dinner. Lovely dinner talk with SAHMs about things like boobs, poop and diapers. Yay, that kind of stuff.

10. What's on the walls, in the room you'’re in right now? cheap print of victorians in the rain,
a 'Gobble til you Wobble' sign and a rag wreath.


11. Have you seen anything strange lately?
Yes. I have a strange squirrel in my yard. He seems to have had a stroke or something. He tilts and falls over, but otherwise seems ok. I'm keeping away from him as are my kids in case it's rabies. It's a bit odd to watch a squirrel run away from you and get about 2 feet before floppin on his side.


12. What do you think about this meme?

random.

13. What'’s the last film you saw?

Flushed Away. Cute movie, the girls liked it.

14. If you became a multimillionaire, what would you do with the money?

get debt free, get family members debt free. set my family in a situation where money would not be a problem in the future. Not a billion dollar home, but a 400 k on that's paid off. Travel. Etc.

15. Tell us something about yourself that most people don't know.

Knitting soothes me. It calms me and helps me feel more grounded and like I'm making a difference both physically and emotially. Cheesey yes, but true.

16. If you could change ONE THING in this world, without regarding politics or bad guilt - what would it be?

stop fast food chains from becoming such a part of people's lives.

19. What do you want your children'’s names to be, girl/boy?

I've named mine. Abigail Jane and Valerie Lynne

17. Do you like dancing?
No. I'm too uncomfortable and uptight. So I guess I drunk dance..but dont' drink much so it's a rarity.

18. George Bush?
disappointment but not surprise


20. Would you ever consider living abroad?

Yes. I lived in Panama for 2 years and would like to go somewhere else. UK or maybe Amsterdam.

21. What do you want God to tell you, when you come to heaven?
It's all ok. No, seriously, it's all going to be ok.

22. Who should do this meme?

Somone without something to fill their time for 15 mins. :)

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Socks That Rock!

As in 2 socks. A pair! A duo!
And an FO!
Mark that off the list. So I didn't finish in October, but then again I wasn't an 'official' participant of Socktoberfest. Next year!

Project: Blue Moon Sauvie Island
Materials: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock mediumweight
1 skein Cove Light
1 skein Rock My World
Needles: 2s - Crystal Palace, 1s (heel flap) Clovers
Began: October 24, 2006
Finished: November 11, 2006
Modifications: I co 64 as directed but decreased to 60 after the 4th chart. I chose the anatomically correct toes, which I adore.


And you KNOW you want to see the wrong side. If weren't that type of person, you sure wouldn't be reading knitting blogs, now would you? So here is the mandatory private side shot.

Sexy, hmm?

Ok so now onto Loki's Kitty Pi! And I'm going to continue to dream about what sweater I'm going to do for myself. I stumbled across this website, Black Water Abbey Yarn, thanks to Moth Dreams recent post. Their pullover patterns are to die for. I ordered a color card to mull further. Cables do sound like a serious possibility.

Any suggestions on yarn/patterns?

Thursday, November 9, 2006

Early Friday Eye Candy....and SSS

My daughters were flower girls in my SILs wedding a few weeks ago. This shot was so sweet and I can't wait to see the professional ones. They posed so well!

Anyway as mentioned SSS has struck. How can that be? I'm on the foot for goodness sake's! I have maybe 2 1/2 more inches of SS and then the toe. And I LOVE the first one and want the pair so badly. :P
Maybe it's just the gorgeous weather we've had here, hasn't been entirely conducive to knitting. Instead the younger daughter and I hit the Zoo, including the mini-train and the carosel. Nice toasty 60 degrees and sunshine..but of course the forecast is for snow in the next two days. I swear the animals at the zoo were frolicking, they KNOW that was the last nice day until..ugh..next April? March if we're lucky?

I have Kitty Pi to bang out this weekend and then I think I'm going to tackle the Perfect Sweater from the Mason-Dixon Blog. I realized I don't have a sweater for myself and I'd like a simple classic one that won't break the bank. It calls for Cascade 220, can't get much more reasonable than that! And oooh the colors to choose from for Cascade! I love the Heathers, they are beautiful. Maybe a purple..or a chocolate brown..or or!

Hopefully my camera will be back soon and I'll have a nice pict of my completed (heaven help me) pair of socks!!!

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

What kind of knitter are you?


What kind of knitter are you?
Totally Monogamous - 1 project at a time baby! No more, no less. Nothing lurking on needles in a basket by your chair or in the closet.
Almost Monogomous - 1 serious project going, perhaps one or two things tucked away that for some reason you lost interest in and MIGHT return to.
Mildly Polygamous - 2 projects going, perhaps one at home and one to travel with. No more than 3 items on the needles.
Totally Polygamous - You are all over the place, starting projects here, there and everywhere. You couldn't tally them all if you had to!
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Monday, November 6, 2006

One Sock Done!

So one Sock that Rocks is done and off the needles! Whoot. But you'll all have to just believe me since my camera is on loan. Doh! So I'm tearing off on the second. I'm so glad SSS (Second Sock Syndrome) didn't hit me. Fair Isle is just so fun to do, it's not bothering me. :)

Hope to show some picts of the pair by the end of the week!

Friday, November 3, 2006

Progress

On all fronts, we have progress. From this to...

This..very important in the eyes of the girls!
And on the knitting front, we turned a heel. No matter how many times you do it, you still feel clever. :) I went with a traditional heel flap rather than short rows. Flaps always seem to fit me better. Now down the foot and cast on the next one!