Cross Crafting...

I was telling Nora (Knot Much of Knitter) that one of the reasons I was so determined to get my last pair of socks done was I had an itch to stitch.

But not knit stitch, rather Cross Stitch.

When I dug out all of my craft things from the basement I found my floss and supplies. I've missed this craft, it's just difficult to do with smaller children around, but mine are finally big enough!

I dropped by a local Stitching Store (The Stitch Inn in Elm Grove, WI). It's very cute. I'd never been in a store dedicated entirely to stitching.

You HAVE to love the Village of Elm Grove. They have a Knitting Store (The Yarn House), a quilting store (Patched Works) and the stitching store (The Stitch Inn) within 'spitting distance' of one another. Seriously they are within a city block of one another. Those women of Elm Grove know how to do things! Just ask The Woman Who Says Knit. The other important thing in that block is Le Cakery. Yep, it's a dangerous neighborhood to live near!

Anyway! Back to the crafting...


This is the first time I've stitched on linen and I'm not sure I like it all that much. *shrug* I would like to try to stitch with silk though. This is just good ole' DMC.



The pattern is cute. It's the complete alphabet and there are other words I'd like to make. Right now I'm doing JOY which is what caught my attention in the store. I like to stitch but I've learned the hard way that my attention span is short! There's no way I'd finish one of those large framed pieces. I keep my stitching to ornaments for Christmas and other smaller items.

Do you cross craft?

Obligatory Knitting

I hate Obligatory Knitting. Hate it. Hate it because I hate it, yet want the item to gift to whomever. :P
Oh well! I have the pair of socks done for Ramona aka NoNo (don't you love that nickname? she's had it forever..she's in her 60's)

Specs:
Pattern:
Basic Sock
Yarn: Bernat Sox in Lime, Turquoise and a Multi of some kind
Needles: size 3
Started: January 17 2008
Finished: January 21 2008
Notes: I cast on 44 stitches, used a short row heel, ribbed 2x2 down the entire foot, with SS on the sole and decreased to a kitchenered the toe.

Literature!

I have 2 young daughters, I like to knit and I love to read. These things kind of cross each other out and you have to make choices and find run arounds. I have two that I really love!

My iPod!
Oh ya baby. As stupid as it sounds the iPod I got last Christmas really changed my life. Isn't that silly? I listen to a variety of podcasts: Craftlit, Escapepod, Pseudopod, A Prairie Home Companion:News from Lake Wobegon, The Classic Tales Podcast
I listen to a ton of knitting related podcasts, most listed in the sidebar, but we're talking lit. :)
I purchased a subscription to Audible.com and have listened to some great books! Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert is the current thing in my 'ears'. Past reads were Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, The Chopin Manuscript which was a book written for Audible by various mystery authors, Heartsick by Chelsea Cain, The Colour of Magic by Terry , The Wheel of Darkness by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston. Another way to listen to books is check them out from your library on CDs.
There are many different MP3 players that are good deals on the market. They don't have to have a huge memory, so if you don't have one and like to read, GET one! :D

PBS/DVR/Tivo
I feel like I'm freaking old, but PBS runs some amazing productions and I'd never really been able to catch them. Every local PBS station runs things at different times and it was a pain in the ass to try and track it all down. Now? With the advent of Tivo/DVR I've been able to watch so many lovely things! Currently Masterpiece Theater is running a marathon of Complete Works of Jane Austen. It's amazing. I watched Persuasions the other night. I LOVED it.

I also watch Agatha Christie's Miss Marple Mysteries, Nature and American Experience. I've become an old lady apparently! I sit in my chair, knit and watch PBS....and I love it!

Yep I'm old!

The socks for my mom's friend are moving along but I don't have my camera right now! The rest of my family is at the Wisconsin Dells for the weekend and took it, so pictures will have to come later. (I voluntarily stayed home. I don't 'DO' the cold, so the Flake Out Festival is not really my thang!)

Music Meme

I found this over at Knot Much of A Knitter
and couldn't NOT do it! I'll stick with her attitude of no one is 'tagged' but if you feel like joining in drop me a link!

1. First album/record you ever bought?

Hmm Elvira by Oak Ridge Boys. It was a 45 and I thought it was so fun to dance to. I must have been 6 or 7, so give me a break. ;) Another was Greatest American Hero.

2. Most embarrassing album you ever bought?

LOL. John Schneider's Christmas Album. Yes THAT John Schneider from Dukes of Hazzard! I was SO in love with him..again we are talking 78-80 somewhere in there.

3. High School Soundtrack?

Hrm. This is hard to stick down to one. My personals were Depeche Mode A Black Celebration and U2's Joshua Tree. For school itself itself it was Phantom of the Opera. That was the band's theme for their field performance! I wasn't in the band, but I dated someone who was! Oh and Dirty Dancing. I listened to that tons!d

4. College Soundtrack?

Hmm Enigma..Enya...Art of Noise..I enjoyed listening to music..as for fun stuff..hmm..Counting Crows..

5. Most Appalling Musical Moment?

Hmm. I loved the Monkees when they came 'back' in the late 80's. MTV played all their shows and I recorded them all. I listened to Barbara Streisand when I was in HS..not cool.
But Appalling? I suppose it'd be Stevie B. A boyfriend I dated while in HS loved him and I couldn't stand it but was forced to listen to him and knew all the lyrics!


Please join in and share!!

Moving on...

My mom has knee replacement surgery this coming weekend. She lives in Texas, I live in Wisconsin, so I'm not going to be there for her. To assuage some of my guilt I knit her a pair of socks to wear in the hospital and at home. I used left overs and they don't match, BUT they are soft and squishy, so I hope she'll like them!

Mom's House Socks

Specs:
Pattern:
Basic Sock w/short row heel
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL , 50/50 Alpaca/Wool
Needles: size 4
Started: January 2008
Finished: January 2008
Notes: These socks are made with leftovers. It took roughly 40 grams per sock. I cast on 44 stitches, used a short row heel, ribbed 2x2 down the entire foot, with SS on the sole and decreased to a kitchenered the toe.

It was a close call! I'm glad I managed to finish them.



We haven't seen tons of this in Milwaukee recently, but I had a snowflake land on my black wool coat. They really are amazing to look at!


I found a blanket my grandmother knit and duplicate stitch for me. It's very sweet and serves as a reminder to me of my crafty heritage. The things we create today will long outlive us and hopefully bring many smiles in the future. :) I just imagine her sitting in her rocker, knitting and then carefully stitching each square, all that time spent to create something for me.

Yea, I appreciate it so much more now.


Next on my needles are a quick pair of socks for the family friend who'll be helping out my mom during her recovery. :)

I'm a camel!

Camel – Consistent and inflexible
“Camel has very little elasticity, and it doesn’t felt easily. The fiber also doesn’t bleach easily, so you’ll normally find it used in yarns whose color either masks or enhances the natural tan shade of the camel fiber.” –The Knitter’s Book of Yarn

Camels are frank and straightforward in their manner. You know what you want and, while you are extremely polite and tactful, you have no difficulty being firm and definite. You are not very flexible or adaptable; you like things to be a certain way.


Not sure if this is good or not, but the quiz was cute!
What are you?

What Fiber are You?

An FO and hell....

I've been working on my mom's jaywalkers in STR's Silkie, but really haven't been enjoying it. I just wanted something else to knit. That's when I realized that my youngest daughter doesn't have a knit hat or mittens. I can fix that!

I tried to do something from my stash, but ended up shopping anyway. I used the Mode Dea Sassy Stripes.

Specs:
Pattern:
Swirly Hat from Not Just Socks For Kids by Sandi Rosner
Yarn: Sassy Stripes, Moda Dea
Needles: size 3
Started: January 2008
Finished: January 2008

She really likes it

The back is so cute!

The hat is done on 3's so it isn't super fast, but being a child's hat it's ok. The final product is really cute. :)

So that's the FO, where's the hell? Um right here..


Yay. That would be my 'craft closet'. As mentioned before the majority of our things were in storage for the past 2 years, so now I'm digging through it. I still have 2 or 3 boxes in the basement to sort out and then I can take a stab at organizing it all.

There's miniature painting things, baskets, tons of fabric, a blue and red blanket I started crocheting TWENTY years ago *cough*, some fiberfill and other various crud. Ugh.

One of these days it will be organized! I swear. :) At least it's getting out of the basement so I can actually see what I have.

Get your shit together 2008!

2008 Resolution

I'm not a huge resolution maker. I've always figured if you want to change something, you change it. I'm simple like that. But this year I'm going for it. And I'm putting it up on the blog to make it all official like.

Get Your Shit Together

Again, it's simple, like me. This will be my little mental note to myself when..say I pull the coupons out of the newspaper. Get Your Shit Together and cut them out and file them!! Same with doing laundry...filing bills..etc. It fits all over the place.

The last 2 years have been trying due to our various living situations. We lived with my In-laws (God bless em) when we sold our home and didn't have anywhere to live, put all our stuff in storage and then, 6 months later, moved into a home that was literally HALF the size of our previous one.

Needless to say my Shit has been all over and disorganized since. But now that we finished the attic conversion and I have my office/yarn room/spare room, it's easier for me to dig through aforementioned crap and deal with it.

So YAY for resolutions! Yay for a great 08!

Do you Blog in your head?

I am so bad about that. I totally blog in my head..you know 'Hmm. This is cool. I should take pictures and blog about it. I'll say 'blah blah blah' and put this picture there etc.' I even get so far as to take the photos, but do I post? Nope, I did it already in my head. You mean you can't read it? Damn.

Here's a recap of the last month.

I survived. That's really about all I can say with confidence. We finished our attic renovation ,that started 18 months ago, moved our 2 girls upstairs with all their massive amounts of crap, had my mom here for 10 days, got a sinus infection (me) and managed to survive the holidays. Gifts were given, happily unwrapped and I can't WAIT for both my girls to go back to school! One went today and the other goes next week. Whew.


My most exciting gift this year was MY ROOM. Yep, I inherited the room the girls had been using. It's my yarn/craft room/spare room. I love it. LOVE IT.


My friend, C, said it looks like a mini Yarn Store. Squeeee. Gotta love that. :)

I really haven't been knitting. I had a ton of trim to paint before we could have the carpet installed upstairs and that kills my hands. Last thing I want to do is knit. :P But I finally started the last few days and dug into Cat Bhordi's new book. Here are my little baby learning socks.



I struggled with these a bit because I tried to over think it. In other words I tried to figure out what the hell Cat was doing and fought it. DON'T fight Cat. She actually knows what the hell she's doing. :)

Sorry about the poor winter light. I wasn't the only one trying to find it...


Snow has fallen a few times here in Wisconsin. I hate the cold, but am thankful I have a reason to wear handknits, and damn snow can be beautiful.


I'm looking forward to a great 2008 and seeing what you are all up to!