Knit on

Hey,
Just had to share this. Isn't it hysterical?

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

And of course these!



Specs:
Pattern:
Embossed Leaves - Mona Schmidt in Favorite Socks from Interweave
Yarn: Socks That Rock Mediumweight in Jade
Needles: size 2
Started: March 10, 2008
Finished: March 26, 2008


Woohoo! That's two pairs of socks in March. Yay for me. :) Cuz well they are both FOR me. ;)

I have another FO to share.

Specs:
Pattern:
Fiber Trends Felted Clogs
Yarn: Cascade 220 in a Raspberry and a Raspberry Twist. I've no color the color ID
Needles: size 13
Started: March 27, 2008
Finished: March 31, 2008

Well it's an almost FO. I still need to felt them, but I've been doing laundry all day so the washer was actually in use!


Here's a picture to show pre-felt size. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get them felted. :) Sorry about the crappy rainy day light. I have a size 9 women's foot. These are the Women's medium sized. And don't fall over, but these are Christmas knits babeeee! Yep, they are for the MIL. Check off one gift! :D


And yep those are my Embossed leaves. They are THE most comfortable socks I've ever knit. I adore them. Now I'm on to knitting a ballband washrag from Mason Dixon just to fill some time. I don't want to start another pair of socks yet..since I'll be doing at least one next month (May) for the Pentathlon.

Whew, it's been an incredibly great knitting month...oh! And I have another FO. I finished the woven scarf I started. It's gorgeous, so soft. I'm letting my 4 year old wear it, but I can steal it back next winter and wear it more as a collar. Hmm must get pictures of it! So a total of 4? FOs. yay! :)

Hope you've been as productive. I think it has do to with me avoiding looking out the windows at the crap weather!

Sharing the sillies...

Just a few odd things I had to share.

http://www.lileks.com/institute/sears1973/index.html

You MUST go look at this. It's the Sears 1973 catalog. It's hysterical.

Are you watching Idol? If you are and haven't read this, PLEASE do. I thought I was going to hyperventilate., specifically the recap of 3/24 on Archuletta. Priceless.

http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/Shows/American-Idol

Then there is the good ole' LOL Cats. Classic silliness.

http://icanhascheezburger.com/


For those shopoholics
http://fredflare.com/customer/home_nextbigthing08.php?siteID=null
Where there are fantastic things like

animal vacuums



bacon and egg bandaids. No really.


cake roll wash rags

And finally a new podcast, oh my.

Y-Knit

Get it, listen, laugh..in that order :) Oh, and have a great weekend while I'm telling you what to do. ;)

Seriously?

I'm moving...thhhbbbttt!

Thursday Night
	Blustery. Periods of snow and chance of rain in the evening...then snow likely after midnight. Snow accumulation around 2 to 4 inches. Total snow accumulation 4 to 8 inches. Lows around 30. Northeast winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 80 percent.

Lovin It!

Happy Easter. :)

Here's #1 of my Embossed Leaves. This is my favorite sock ever. I think I've knit something like 10 pair but this pattern in this colorway?

Gorgeous! :D

Now I'm off to cast #2 on!

Spring!

Hahahahahahahaha...
Sorry. This is spring Wisconsin style. 12 inches later.... Ugh. That was yesterday.

This is today. We went sledding, it really was gorgeous.

The kids had a great time and I got to knit a bit while waiting for them in the van. I HATE snow. Seriously. There's now way in hell I'm getting out in it. Thank goodness the DH is from here, so he goes out with them.

I finished my cross stitch. I'm going to give it to my Mom for her birthday. It's really pretty. It's roughly 3x3.

On the knitting front I finished my Jacobean socks from the Sock Knitters Pentathalon.

Specs:
Pattern:
Jacobean Socks- Julie Persinger
Yarn: Socks That Rock Mediumweight in Lover's Leap
Needles: size 2
Started: March 3, 2008
Finished: March 18, 2008


One of my goals in life is to find the 'Perfect' knitting bag. And you know what? I think I've come pretty damn close! This is an Eddie Bauer bag I bought at one of their outlets. I can't find it anywhere online to link to it.

I am SO in love. It's the perfect size, zips closed, has exterior and interior pockets and it made from material knitting needles won't pierce. Oh and it's liliac! Whoot. :)




Love love love it and the fact it was only 25 bucks just adds to the joy. :)

Last but not least, by any stretch, are my Embossed Leaves in medium weight STR in the Jade colorway. It's all good!


I've turned the heel and am now onto the foot. I can't wait to wear these! But for now I'm off to dye eggs. Have a wonderful Easter!

More goodies..

I have more things to share! Sorry it took awhile, we went to the Wisconsin Dells for the weekend. I am SO loving this quasi-Spring weather. Look!


THAT my friends is something green, no not the extension cord for the Christmas deer that are still in the yard (they are frozen there), but the other green thing! It's something growing, I'm guessing hyacinth. They come up really early...well for Wisconsin. And also note the snow is receding! Wohoo!

We've also had an addition to the household..well actually 3. This is the first one.


A Wii! My DH got it for his birthday. It is very fun. The other 2 additions are our 'hammies'. We bought 2 Chinese dwarf hamsters for our daughters. Fluffy and Cookie. Cookie bites, but loves to run in the exercise ball, and Fluffy is very gentle. I'm not sure who likes them more, me or the girls! I'll try to get some picts of them to share. They tend to hide and the light has been so horrible recently.

Now on to some crafting!

I bought myself a cross stitch stand. Serious marketing there. I am NOT that old!!


Here it is by my chair. I really love having it, I'm able to stitch faster and longer. No more wrist aches!




This is my current project. It's much further along. I plan on giving it to my Mom for Mother's Day.

I finished my JOY stitching. Now I just need to get the little frames for it. They are roughly 18 bucks a pop, so I'll be getting them over the next few months!


Finally an amazing photo of the Lunar Eclipse on March 3rd that my husband took with our dinky little digital camera. Isn't it amazing! I'm so proud of him. :)


Ok! I think I've finally exhausted all my back logged photos. So off I go to work and make more. :)

Yay! I'm baaaaack..

Did you miss me? :)

I've continued to keep up on what you are doing, but wasn't able to post pictures until now. So be prepared!

Here's my Misti from my birthday. Absolutely yummy.

My friends also gave me two hanks of Angora. I'm thinking fetching or something like that.

I used my birthday money to buy the Options set from Knitpicks. They are so LIGHT! I hadn't heard that about them. I haven't used them yet, but can't wait.

I am making the Misti into a woven scarf. I think it really shows off the colors.

It's so squishy and soft!

I also bought myself some Claudia Handpaint from the Loopy Ewe. It's called Peppermint Mocha. I LOVE it.


I finished one of my mom's jaywalkers made from Silkie STR. I finished a hat for my older daughter, only to find it fits my younger daughter. Ooops. At least it fits someone! I'll try to get some pictures of it.

I joined the Sock Pentathlon that started on Ravelry. We'll be knitting 5 pairs of socks during 08. The first is a gansey pattern. Very fun and cute.



I'm using STR Lover's Leap in medium weight. I goofed on the 2nd and 3rd diamond from the toe. I missed 2 rows of the pattern so they are smooshed together. Ooops.

You can see some of my birthday stitch markers too. It's so nice to have pretty ones!

Well that's a start. I still have some Cross Stitching to share, so I'll do that soon!

Creativity, Connection and Cynicism

These things have been swirling around in my head.
creating.
I've done it my entire life. I've always enjoyed crafting and making things. I honestly can't imagine life without this. What do other people DO with their time? It's a release for me to create something that I think is beautiful or useful. I want to leave a mark on this world in someway and goodness knows I'm not going to find a cure for cancer or lead the whole world to peace..but I might be able to leave my family a few items they will love and treasure for years to come.

connection and cynicism

I bill myself as a cynic and am the majority of the time. I hate lovey dovey kinda stuff and sweet just makes me smirk..but every now and again the cynic in me has to shut up. One of the things that does this, is the connection I feel every time I pick up a needle of any sort and create. I feel the connection from my hands running back through my grandmothers' hands and their mothers' hands etc. I feel it. I imagine women sitting with their embroidery hoops in medieval times stitching samplers.
It's there.
The connection.
It's real and I'm thankful for it.

I've been busy stitching and knitting some as well, but my laptop is still sick. :P It went to Compaq, came back and is shipping BACK to them as we speak. What a PITA. I have an older desk top that I can still check mail and read blogs, but I can't work with photos or update my iPod. Seriously. NO iPod updates. Do you have any idea how crappy that is? Erg. I'm hoping it will be back and functional in the next week. I am glad I have a fall back, but DAMN I want my laptop!!!

Thanks for all the sweet thoughts and kind words on my hands! Not having the laptop has been good for my wrists as well as taking a wee break from knitting. I finished up the hat I was working on and have cast on a pair of socks tonight, so we'll see how they feel after a few days. :) Luckily the cross stitching doesn't seem to be effecting them at all. I bought a stand for my hoop and my wrists are pain free. Yay!

I've also been wondering about how other people blog. Do you tell all about your process or just your successes or spectacular failures? When I've finished a great project and am looking around for a new one, it takes me so much longer to find what I want. It drives me crazy! I have a skein of Euroflax that I still can't figure out what to do with. I tried to make the everlasting bagstopper with it. I didn't get far, there are to many K2Togs for my wrists to handle right now. So it went back to marinate in the stash. I then remembered my basic little let's learn crochet book had a crochet version which would be much easier and much faster. I cast on and it seemed to be going well, but then I realized that I should have used a stitch marker and the previous rows were off. So again Frog. Again banished back to the stash. Most of the time I think I should blog about it, but it's come and gone and I forget. :)

Forgive me for rambling!!

When things go bad...

Bad things really do come in groups, don't they?

I have tendinitis in my hands. At least I'm pretty sure it's not carpal, the symptoms lean more towards the tendinitis.. Anyway! Both of my wrists have flared up. I've been doing a bunch of knitting at a small gauge, plus I've been working on my Cross-stitch. So poof.. I'm down for the count. Fingers prickling, hands swollen every time I wake up. Blah.

I put myself on a craft hiatus from last Thursday until yesterday. I let myself cross stitch a bit, but no knitting as of yet. Which sucks because Saturday was my birthday (yay I'm old) and I have an awesome group of girlfriends. I have a gorgeous hank of Mist Alpaca HANDPAINTED Chunky. It's just calling to me. It's in the Delphinium colorway. Here would be a picture of said goodness but remember? Bad things happen in groups..

My wireless curled over and died in my laptop. :P So we had to pack it up and ship it to HP since it was under warranty still (the silver lining I suppose). I'm happy to have my own IT department (DH) and they got me up and running on one of our older desktops. They even ran ethernet into the spare room so I don't have to freeze my toosh off in the basement. But it doesn't have any of my graphics crap on it, so no pictures.

So no knitting/crafting, limiting my typing/surfing online to help the wrist and the fact I don't have my laptop..not much to blog about!

I will have photos up of my birthday goodness soon. OH! And I ordered a set of KnitPicks Options. I can't WAIT to get them. :) That's when I'm going to let myself knit again. My Malabrigo laceweight is sooooo calling to me. I've caked it up and it sits by my chair, calling to me. :)

Hope everyone in the 'heartland' is staying warm. I am beyond sick of winter. I'm no longer mad at the season, just resigned and sad. Ugh 13 degree high today, and 12 for tomorrow and 15 on Thursday. This is ridiculous! Most of the local cities are out of salt. Yes I said OUT of salt. The roads are a rink. :P

Happy/Sad

These make me happy. Jimmies just make me smile.

These make my husband happy. Peanut squares are cupcakes turned upside down, smeared on all sides but the bottom with frosting and then smashed up peanuts are dribbled all over.

This does not make me happy. I'm learning to live with it, but I still don't have to like it.


Seriously look at that mailbox! And we are supposed to get another 3 inches tonight. UGH. Stupid groundhog...

I want to change my advent calendar..or rather how the girls hang ornaments on it. Now we use straight pins, not the safest or easiest thing. Today I tried to use gold pony style beads..

They looked cute but it wasn't easy to hang things from them. I only sewed on 3, so it didn't take much for me to take them off. I'm now thinking of buttons..maybe small shank style buttons or even regular buttons. Not sure if I'll go gold, or maybe rainbow colors so they look like tree lights. I'll have to poke around the button aisle.

I've restarted A's spiral hat. Hopefully it will fit this time! I've also finished my 'O' cross stitch and have moved onto 'Y'! Yay me. :) Looks like it will actually be done by next Christmas. ;)

Hope you are all staying warm and being creative!

Tons of Stuff!

This is a packed entry..packed mainly full of photos! I've been busy so I'm a bit behind.

I've been recognized by two of my fellow bloggers!

Peggy who Chases Bunny all over
I Love Peg, I feel like she and I could plunk down in a starbucks somewhere and knit along happily. Her blog keeps me entertained and teaches me new things as well.

and Nora who thinks she's Knot Much of Knitter
but I'm not convinced! She makes me laugh quite a bit and almost always makes me think.

Thank you ladies!

Of course there are strings attached - I now get to nominate 10 bloggers who make my day, so they can pass on the fun. Of course some people will be nominated more than once, so try to be a good sport if you’re a popular one! Here’s my list:

1.The Woman Who Says " Knit "

2. The Knitting Moose -

3. More Than One Way to Knit A Hat

4. Minestrone Soup

5. Knits with a silent K

6. Kerry Knits

7. Just A Knit Wit

8. Flatlander

9.dogged.

10. Crimson Purl

Now onto the promised pictures of various crafting!

I finished J and am working on O.

I've actually grown to enjoy the linen. It softens as you work with it and isn't as harsh as Aida cloth.

I reorganized my stash and felt a need to work some of it. I'd always wanted to make a felted bowl and I had 2 balls of Noro Kureyon just sitting there!

Here it is pre-felted.

And after a toss in the wash. Noro takes quite a bit of washing to get it to felt all the way. I like it when you completely lose stitch definition.

For all of it's vegetable matter, Noro is still a wonder to knit with.

Specs:
Pattern:
Large Shallow Bowl - Deborah Does Navel-Gazing
Yarn: 2 skeins Noro Kureyon - held double
Needles: size 13
Started: January 20 2008
Finished: January 23 2008

While stash diving, I found the yarn I'd purchased to make a stuffed owl. It was for a Harry Potter KAL for book 7..and well I was so busy reading I didn't knit! It's made with Bernat Boa, a very odd yarn. It's similar to Fun Fur, but actually easier to knit with. The pattern is from the Family Circle book of Easy Toys.


I still need to make his wings, tail, feet and attach his eyes. It's a cute pattern. I'll let you see what it's like finished when I'm done.


A liked V's Spiral Hat so much she wanted one for her. A's 7 and has 'outgrown' pink then purple and now she's an orange girl. ORANGE! I swear this Trekking colorway reminds me of all the 70's kitchen colors thrownup on yarn. But she likes it...so I'll make it for her! Unfortunately the above had to be completely frogged because it was too big. The yarn is resting in a time out and I'll start again in a few days.

My friends C and J drug (kicking and screaming no less) me to one of our LYS. And this jumped into my arms.

Malabrigo Lace Weight. Oh My. It's so light! It's so squishy! I am not normally a lace person. It's futzy and I can't imagine wearing a shawl so I've stayed away from it in the past. But this? This is Malabrigo, so I'll make an exception! These colors screamed spring to me.


I found two very pretty lace scarf patterns online. One is the Easy Flame Scarf by Wendy of Knit and Tonic. The other is a free Ravelry download. Leaf Lace Scarf by Janet D. Russell.

Finally I had an Oh shit moment.
These are the first pair of STR I knit, Sauvie Island
I swear this physically hurt me. *sniff* It must have been picked on something. Luckily the hole is just in the toe color and I have the left overs. I need to pick out the toe and reknit it, so it could have been worse!
I know socks are knit to be worn and all will eventually wear out, but it really sucks!

Currently we are holed up in our house waiting out the Winter Storm from Hell (tm). We are projected to get 14 inches when all is said and done...whenever THAT is. (June?)

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. :)