Dumb and Dumber

This takes the cake.

So I was starting a hat last night and needed size 10 needles. I go to my Denise set and look for the tens. Something isn't quite right in there. There is one size 10 needle and one size 10 1/2 needle in there. And the matching needles are nowhere to be found. I'm so confused! Who would take one of each out of there? MOI. That's who. Guess where they are?

Oh yeah. Right here. No wonder it looked sort of funky. No wonder I ran out of yarn right before it was finished. I used two different needles the entire time. What am I going to do about it? Not a darn thing... except finish it when the yarn comes. Ugh.

Progress on Alpaca Shawl

This has really been a fun knit. It's quick and easy. And I'm really loving the yarn. (even though the fibers do go up my nose!) Everyone is telling me that gray is the color for Fall so I guess I'll be right in style. I can't wait to finish and block this.

You can find the free pattern here:

http://www.kraemeryarns.com/patterns/pdfs/vintage-shawl.pdf

I thought I had an entire weekend off (which would be almost unheard of) but it ends up that I have to speak about real estate to an alumni group at the Penn State campus here. So.. I guess I better go give that some thought and decide what I'm going to say. A public speaker I'm not.

On miracles...

I am an excellent driver. I must be. I've never had an accident or a speeding ticket. I'm sure I would qualify for those safe driver discounts that the insurance companies offer. I probably have a safe driver discount and I'd know that if I paid any attention to any of our bills, which I don't. So, with such a driving record, I can't believe that I almost killed a man today with my car, but I did.

I do have to say that most days I am extremely busy, a little stressed out and in a hurry. Today was just the opposite. I was having a nice, quiet, calm day. I left the office to go put a "SOLD" sign on a listing. I was sitting at a stop sign, looked both ways, and pulled out. As I was pulling out, I saw a motorcycle coming right at me. Right at my driver side. By some kind of absolute miracle, he missed hitting me. I pulled out right in front of him. I never saw him when I looked. I remember that the two little yellow lights on either side of the headlight were lit up when he almost hit me, but his headlight was not on. I never saw him coming.

I was so in shock that I had to pull over. He never stopped. I shook for 20 minutes. It's amazing how fast something like that can happen. If I had hesitated one extra second, he'd surely have hit me broadside. He may have died and my life would never have been the same... in one brief second.

So I'm sitting here thinking... if motorcycles are that easy to miss... why would you ride one? I don't mean to be passing the blame to the motorcycle person. I'm not at all. I'm simply saying.. do they know how hard they are to see at times? It was on a tree lined street with lots of foliage so there was lots of background scenery. He just blended in. I wish he could know how sorry I am that I did it.

I come from a long line of non-motorcycle people. I think my nephew went through a motorcycle phase once but it was short lived. I've never thought much about them until today.
I'm glad that no one I love rides a motorcycle.

When Catie was little she made a few trips to the orthopedic surgeon for a problem with her hips. I remember that he had a sign up in his office that said, "Buy Your Child A Motorcycle... For His Last Birthday". I think I get it.

.... and baby makes two

Below you will find the patterns on the new Knitty for Fall that I LOVE.

This would be so perfect for my son's girlfriend. I could totally see her loving this purse.




















And this would be perfect for ME. I love it. And so simple too!

And this is by far the cutest hat I've ever seen knit. I have to knit this for Colin's little brother or sister.

Yep... I'm going to be a grandma... again! Look out Colin. Your world is about to be rocked!

Remembering 9/11

I was thinking not long ago that it was only a couple of years ago.

When I realized it was 2001, I couldn't believe that time had gone

so fast. So much has happened since then and nothing has happened.

I remember when we started the war on terror, I had it in my head

that we'd kick their butts in a year or so and show them who's boss

and they'd think twice about messing with us again. How naive of me. I

had no clue who we were dealing with. I still don't think I do. I have

trouble understanding that type of insanity. I'm not sure how you

fight insanity or if you CAN fight insanity. The one thing I know for sure...

You do have to try. You certainly have to try.

Out of Control...

I've never had so many projects going at one time. So what do I do? Start another one, of course.

I've been dying to start this and I just couldn't put it off any longer. It's done in Kraemer yarns alpaca blend (another fiber up your nose type yarn... yippee) and I'm lovin it so far. My plan is to really whip this one out and then go back to the others. This is going to be fast and furious knitting. I hope. I should get tons of mileage out of this. It's charcoal gray and it will go with almost everything I wear. Come to think of it, I should be brightening up my wardrobe, not adding to the darkness. Oh well. Maybe I'll make a red one next. Or not.

Spa Socks

I'm not sure why they call these spa socks. Most spas I've been in give you little thongy things to wear and you'd look pretty stupid walking around in these. But they are cute and they make great slipper socks for around the house. The pattern calls for Blue Sky Alpalca's Dyed Cotton yarn. We found the correct yarn for the pattern at the LYS in Colorado not far from where we were (as I mentioned in the previous post). Anyhow, a word of advice about the yarn... the loose fibers go up your nose and they set up camp and make it their mission to drive you insane. In all my years of knitting, I have never worked with a yarn that had me constantly sneezing and rubbing my nose and just going crazy in general. It looks good, it feels great, but it's a pain in the butt (or nose) to work with. Never again. I'll substitute for the next pair.

In other knitting news, I'm still stuck on Colin's sweater, I'm still waiting for my addi turbos for lace knitting for the lace wrap, and I'm still working on the cotton socks that I started in Colorado. I've been mulling over some holiday projects but I think I'll give myself a break this year and declare Christmas 2007 a non-knitted gift year. I'm going to try hard to squeeze in one felted purse for my son's girl friend but I'll be lucky to get it in and I'm not going to stress about it if I don't. That's why God created shopping malls.

Our 7th Annual Golf Tournament for MS was a huge success last Thursday. We had a beautiful day and tons of support from the local community. With so many charity golf tournaments going on, we are truly blessed to have so many people show up at ours. We had tons of great prizes too and what did I win? A dozen golf balls. Oh well, it made my husband happy.

Rocky Mountain Knitting

We had a great time in Colorado. Lots of knitting was accomplished but not on the intended project. I am still struggling with the Zoe Mellor pattern I'm trying to do for Colin. I thought we had the bugs worked out, but as I proceded, I realized we didn't. I finally sent her a snail mail letter to ask about errata since her email address is nowhere to be found.

I started a pair of "spa socks" from this magazine:

These shortie socks are very cute and very quick done in Blue Sky Alpaca's Dyed Cotton yarn on size 8 needles. My sister had the magazine, and we lucked into the yarn the pattern called for here:

The Yarn Studio

The spa socks are in aqua. The other sock shown is more Colorado knitting done in yarn my super secret pal from last year sent me. It took me a while but I knew I'd get to it.

Here's my new Vera Bradley knitting bag (birthday present) from my # 1 daughter... I just love it.

Here we are at the top of Beaver Creek mountain with the Gore Range in the background.

It's beautiful in Colorado.

Vacation Time!

Yay! Off to Colorado for a much needed break. I'm all packed. But I'm stressing about what knitting project to take.

Stay tuned for the Colorado knitting report ... probably Sept. 4th.

Have a great week, and knit on.

Someone Knit For Me!!!

Happy Birthday to me! My daughter knit me a scarf with a cable in it! She is just learning so I am pretty impressed! I am gladly doing the blocking honors. It's done in a Wool In The Woods wool acylic blend. Although you can't see the big cable in this photo...it's really there!

Thank you Kelly!

PS... I think we may have a new addict on our hands.

Fall Knitting and Yukky Weather

It would have been nice if the rain could have been spread out a little at a time over the summer instead of coming all at once. There is flooding everywhere here. And it is cold. And when it gets cold, all I can think about is winter knitting. This didn't help:

I think this is a great issue. There are several things in here I would knit. (If I had time)

This is one of them:

I think I have enough of the yarn from Ireland left over to do this sweater. I'm going to have to measure it out. This would be great with jeans.

There was another cable V-neck sweater I liked in this issue but it is too similar to something you buy at T.J. Maxx to take the time to knit it. I have a rule about knitting sweaters. If the pattern is something you could buy very easily, then why bother knitting it? Case in point:

Very cute. Very "me". But I could walk into any store and buy a very similar sweater. The sweater above is unusual and unique. I couldn't find that anywhere so might as well knit it.

There is another very unique cardigan in this issue that I'd knit. It has a tangled cable yoke. Cute cute cute.

The beach was great. I want to go back.

Off to the beach!

As for beach knitting, I'll be taking it. I just don't know if I'll be DOING it.

I've been working on some spa cloths... experimenting with different patterns... more about that later. Kertzer Butterfly Cotton is an awesome yarn for those cloths if anyone is thinking of getting started on some Christmas gifts.

And the surprise project is....

Knitty's Monkey Hat!

Pattern: Sock Monkey Hat by Sheryl Lange (on knitty.com)

Done is size M

Materials Used: Kraemer Summit Hill superwash wool - worsted weight - two strands held together throughout.

Colors: Topaz, Pearl, Ruby (I used left over black yarn for the eyes and nose)

notes: I started the small for Colin and realized it was too small. I did the medium and it barely fits. However, I used substitute yarn and I did not check gauge so that's what happens. I'd knit the large for a toddler if I was doing it all over again with this yarn. The yarn the pattern calls for is no longer available.

Yay! Friday!

I'm not sure what I'm "yaying" about because I have an insane work day and an insane work weekend ahead of me. I guess it just sounds good. Friday. Thank God it's Friday. I can dream.

Anyhow, I have a secret project. I'll share it when it's finished but it's a surprise for someone who lurks here from time to time. It's so darn cute I can't stand it. And of course it wormed it's way in among all the other things I have started and put the kabosh to those projects. I guess that's what knitting is all about. I will say one thing about it. I'm knitting it with worsted weight superwash wool (Summit Hill) by Kraemer Yarns. That is one nice yarn. It feels good and looks good. I'm not knitting a sweater, but this yarn would make an awesome sweater. I got it here:
Victoria's House of Needleart

I'm still stuck on Colin's sweater. The dirctions are so wrong. I think. I'm going to try hard to find time to get some help tomorrow. I was zipping right along on that until dang row 14 of pattern. It's so wrong. And no errata to be found anywhere. That is so frustrating.

Have a great weekend! Knit on.

C'mon n' Vogue

It's out. I wait for this. I'm always fascinated by this magazine. If someone said to me... There will only ever be one knitting magazine printed again and you can choose which one, this would be it. The patterns are incredible. The modeling and photography are awesome. I think what sets it apart is the presentation. It's what you would expect from Vogue.

Now, having said all this, here's the thing.... If it was the only knitting magazine ever printed again, I'd be up the creek. I KNIT from other magazines. I utilize them. I wear them out. I've never knit anything from a Vogue Knitting magazine in my life. But I keep a pile of them a mile high. I throw other magazines out after time. I keep these.

I'll never figure it out. When I analyse it, I think that these patterns are patterns I aspire to someday when I get good. (and, really, they aren't that hard!) Do they just seem intimidating because some super fashion model with weird lipstick and eye make-up has them on? Do I attempt even more difficult patterns from Interweave Knits because the people wearing them look like they might have walked out of the house next door?

Interesting. Huh?

Oh, by the way, there is a really neat Debbie Bliss cabled jacket in this issue and the pattern can be downloaded free at www.vogueknitting .com. (I don't know if I'd use the DB cashmerino aran yarn it calls for though... from the looks of things, the sleeves in the photo are already looking a tad fuzzy)

Weekend Knitting... and lots of it!

I was a bad bad girl. I neglected housework. I neglected the shopping I needed to do. But I did knit. Since I didn't have any socks on needles I decided to stash bust with a pair of little toddler socks. I forgot about all the pink in that Trekking yarn when I started them for Colin. So, now, I may just include them in some charity knitting.

As you can see, the back of Colin's sweater is coming. I am on row 14 (after the moss stitch border) and it isn't making any sense at all so I'm wondering if there is a mistake in the pattern (or, more likely, a mistake in my brain) These cable patterns usually flow, and you can tell what you're doing makes sense, and this row is not making sense. I've knit it and ripped it 5 times now. I guess the next step is ...HELP!

I put a few rows on the never ending pink lace shawl too. I think I'm done with that until my new needles come. I need POINTS!!

Thank Goodness For Lifelines

In the last two weeks, I have ripped down to the lifeline 3 times on my shawl. I'm not sure what my problem has been after not making any mistakes on it for months. But those lifelines sure are handy little things. I've even gone so far as to keep two lifelines in the piece just in case. (I'm a little neurotic)

















I keep thinking that if I had known about lifelines when I started (and started, and started, and started) the Michaela shawl, I'd be wearing it now instead of having it on the "to do" list.

Colin's sweater is a blast. I LOVE cables! It's going to be so cute. Photos soon!

Colin's Sweater

I started Colin's new sweater last night. On size 2's. Ugh. It's going to be a long haul. I bought this book last year and I'm happy to be using it. She wanted the pullover for him so that's what it will be. It's being done in Kraemer yarn's Tattamy Tweed (dk) which I have used before.

As for the pink lace shawl, I'm using the rationale that it has to be put on hold until I get the proper tool to finish it. I ordered a new addi turbo circular needle specifically designed for lace knitting with much pointier tips than the needles I had been using.

I bought a book last night with patterns for knit toys. I'm sure that was a wise investment. Because I have so much time to sit and knit toys. :-)

The latest Meme

BLAST FROM THE PAST
Blast From the Past
A High School Meme, borrowed from CHERYL

1. Who was your best friend? I had two.. Terrie and Linda
2. What sports did you play? Softball and Tennis (not well either)
3. What kind of car did you drive? My mother’s Buick something or other.
4. It’s Friday night, where were you? Probably at Terrie's house.
5. Were you a party animal? No.
6. Were you considered a flirt? No.
7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? I think I was in the chorus.
8. Were you a nerd? I wouldn't say nerd. But I was probably one step away.
9. Did you get suspended/expelled? Oh, I was WAY too boring for that.
10. Can you sing the fight song? We had an alma mater. Not a fight song. I know the first line.
11. Who was your favorite teacher? Mr. Thompson. He taught personal typing. I took one year.
It was the most intelligent thing I could have done. No other class has served me so well.
12. School mascot? A tiger
13. Did you go to Prom? yes
14. If you could go back and do it over, would you? I wouldn't go back, but if I had to, I'd do it
a lot differently.
15. What do you remember most about graduation? It was inside due to weather and I kept thinking my boyfriend, who was in the Air Force would show up and surprise me. He didn't.
16. Where were you on senior skip day? There was no senior skip day. Or if there was, I was
unaware.
17. Did you have a job your senior year? Yes, I worked at Grant's department store.
18. Where did you go most often for lunch? No one left the building. Lunch was the cafeteria
and ONLY the cafeteria.
19. Have you gained weight since then? I was never thin. But to answer the question, yes.
20. What did you do after graduation? Went to college for one year.. then work.
21. Who was your Senior prom date? My boyfriend at the time, Tim.
22. Are you going / did you go to your 10 year reunion? I went. I'm over it now.
23. Who was your home room teacher? I remember one. He was gay when no one was gay.
24. Who will repost this after you? Beats me.

Finally Socks

It seemed to take forever for these socks. First of all, it was the first pair I ever did two at a time using two sets of dp's. I made the mistake of cutting the yarn every time I started work on the second sock instead of separating the yarn into two balls to start. So that was a mistake that created a lot of unnecessary loose ends to weave in at the end. Lesson learned. It was nice to have a pair of socks at the end of my knitting but I have to say that I may go back to one at a time. These were made using Tofutsie yarn available here:
Victoria's House of Needleart

I have misplaced my blue trellis and vine wrap. I spent about an hour looking for it the other day and I'm just sick that I mgiht have accidently left it somewhere. It's the perfect wrap for cool nights at the beach with a white shirt and jeans. So tonight I will go through some boxes of winter clothes (I can't believe I would have put it away) and tear apart a few closets in search of it.

I am STILL plugging away at the lace shawl. Every night I have to fight with myself to work on it and not start something new. I know for a fact that I won't finish it before I do start something new but the game now is to see how long I can last before I do it.

I've watched the last two edisodes of "Saving Grace" with Holly Hunter. There was so much hype about that show and I have to say that I'm sort of up in the air with it. I can't decide whether I like it or hate it. I really like Holly Hunter. But if push came to shove, I think I'd have to say ... two thumbs down. It's not that I don't like the whole fantasy angel thing. I just think the writing is below average.

I think it's time to get some work done. But I'd love to go home and knit.

note added later: I finally got Colin's chest measurement. It's looking bad for the pink lace shawl!