Saturday, June 15, 2013

On and Off the Needles

I just realized that I finished the pomegranate colored Lucia Tee summer sweater (see this post) and did not take a picture.  I was so excited about how it turned out that I called the recipient and immediately delivered it to her.  She was thrilled with the color!!  It turned out really nice!!  The yarn was CotlLin from Knit Picks and it's a really nice yarn to work.with!

Another project I recently finished was this little dress and jacket for The Daughter's baby.




The pattern for the dress is out of last summer's Debbie Bliss magazine.  You knit the top then add a fabric skirt.  I added the little jacket because Wyoming can get snow even in the summer time lol!

This is a scarf I started the other day.  It's a little slow going but I love the way the colors are coming out!  The yarn is some really nice fingering weight superwash merino and cashmere that my husband got me for my birthday when we were still dating.  He knows what I like!!


And finally, this is a shawl I made as a sample for the shop.  The one yarn is some of my hand dyed lace weight merino yarn and the other is some of SWTC's new yarn I sell in my shop called String Me Along--a novelty yarn featuring sequins that comes in a million colors. 

I love the way it turned out!! (sorry the pictures aren't so great.  The camera on my phone is not the best)


The pattern for the shawl can be found on Ravelry Here.  It's a really simple pattern that works up quickly.  Depending on the yarn it can look a lot like peacock feathers.

And that wraps up the past couple of weeks :)  Right now on the needles is a pair of glittens--my pattern--for my dad for Father's Day.

Happy Knitting!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

On and Off the Needles

To start it off I thought I would show you the latest FO.  I've been knitting like crazy lately--unfortunately also STARTING a lot of knitting project lately.  I have at least 10 new projects I've started the past two weeks :/  I hate start-itis!  I love finish-itis, but it doesn't happen as often as start-itis.

My daughter is due to have her first baby in August so ya, you guessed it!  Baby knitting projects galore! Just finished this one last night.


It was SO easy and quick to make.  The booties, of course, only took about an hour.  The sweater only took about 4 or 5 hours.  I love the yarn and the pattern was WONDERFUL.  Both are free patterns from Ravelry.  I did some modifications to the booties to make them a little more girlish.  The yarn is some hand painted worsted weight wool/alpaca blend yarn I picked up from WEBS a year or two ago.  Made both the sweater and booties from one skein (219 yards).

The project that is still on the needles but has to be done by Monday are these socks I designed for my niece who is turning 11 next week.  I hope she likes them.  They are quite colorful!

These have been WAY fun to make!!!  I will try to get a pattern written up and listed on Ravelry, Craftsy, and in my etsy store sometime in the next few weeks.  So if you are interested in making a pair check those locations in the coming weeks.  

Of course there are quite a few other projects still on the needles, but there isn't time and space for ALL of them :)

My health situation has improved.  Pretty sure it was ulcers that had gone way to far and were giving me all sorts of esophagus and stomach problems.  The pain was off the chart causing my blood pressure to sky rocket.  A very boring diet and lots of ulcer medication has made a big difference.  Can't wait to go back to eating real food!!!!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Baby Bunting and Update

Here is a picture of the baby bunting I made, with the baby in it :)


Pretty cute!  Won't fit him for long, but it was a fun cute project!

Going in to see a cardiologist tomorrow.  I don't know if I hope they find something or not.  After all, if a cardiologist finds something it's not a good thing.  But at the same time, I REALLY would like to go back to feeling normal.  I miss working out, not feeling nauseous most of the day, knitting, relaxing, etc.  Not to mention, if the cardiologist doesn't find anything then I'll be off to see if I have some sort of ulcers or esophagus issues--which doesn't appeal to me at all.

More updates tomorrow.

Friday, April 19, 2013

What's New?

Had another doctor's appointment yesterday.  All my lab work came back normal.  Which is good and bad. Good because that means I am not dying of a heart attack, liver problems, kidney problems, thyroid problems, Lyme disease, Rocky Mtn. Spotted Fever, etc.  Bad because the only thing we DO know is that whatever is going on is not all fixed with a dose of anxiety medication.  Meaning that I have SOMETHING besides anxiety causing me health problems we just still don't know what.  So, back to the lab for more tests :/

I have been able to sit still a little bit and do some knitting finally.  (As you recall, sitting still was bringing on the episodes and still is it's just that the anxiety medication keeps it from bothering me to the point that I can't function).  The Daughter is going to be having a baby girl in August so I have been trying to put together some baby stuff for her.  I made the baby booties from the book "Last Minute Knitted Gifts".   Not really the best bootie pattern in the world, but fun to make.  I have also made three cotton chenille wash clothes using this pattern that I found on Ravelry.  The pattern is REALLY easy to memorize and works up quick.  I'll post pic's of them all when I give them to The Daughter at her baby shower coming up next Saturday--don't want to ruin the surprise in case she gets on here and reads the blog :)

The T-shirt sweater is in "black hole knitting" mode right now.  I think I have knit on it through three movies and only added two inches to the length.  I hate when progress is slow!  If I can ever get the body of the sweater to 16 inches long I can consider it practically done.  The lace yoke part, even though there are considerably more stitches at first, goes fairly fast and before you know it you are done!!  I am looking forward to moving on to some other projects!

Happy Knitting!  And thanks for all the hugs!


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Throwing This Out There......

Ok, so where did I go after my last post?  Well, I don't know.  I ended up in the emergency room at the hospital twice, two different doctors offices, had eight vials of blood samples taken, was given all sorts of medications that were supposed to stop what was going on, and I still have the whole whatever it is going on.

The ER doc is absolutely sure it's anxiety attacks (apparently you can get these for no reason what so ever--they can just happen). My regular doctor has no idea but had two pages worth of lab tests run on me.  Thyroid tests came back normal.  The rest of the tests haven't come back yet I guess.  My blood pressure is higher than normal (which is really no surprise since I am freaking out because I am having unexplained chest pains, occasionally shaking like I'm having a seizure, can't focus AT ALL, my vision keeps going blurry, I keep having the sensation that burning hot water is being poured over my shoulders, down my arms and then it stops as it hits the bottom of my rib cage, nausea to the point I can't eat and even water is difficult to get my throat to swallow, my sense of smell is off the chart which is NOT helping my nausea AT ALL!)  When I went into the first doctor my blood pressure was WAY high--152 over 100. And of course, each time "the episode of burning hot water-nausea-blurry vision-chest pains" happens my blood pressure spikes.

Naturally I can't get a doctor to talk to me and get me help immediately, mostly because none of them can figure out what's going on.  I mean how many times can they get away with saying, "Well, it's probably just anxiety attacks and the medicine SHOULD be making the symptoms to disappear. I don't know why the symptoms are coming in waves still even though you took the medicine...."  The ER doc is certain that if I can just come to terms with whatever it is that I am so anxious about then they will stop.  WELL THAT WOULD ALL BE WELL AND FINE IF I KNEW WHAT WAS STRESSING ME OUT!!!  All that's stressing me out is these stupid episodes!!

So ridiculous!!  I really would like for it to just go away and leave me alone.  I don't know why I need any of it to be going on in the first place.  I hate doctors and I do not like taking prescription medications!!  I don't even take over the counter medicine unless something gets so bad I'm pretty sure I will die if I don't.

Ya, so not much knitting going on :(  I keep trying, but it's almost impossible to stay focused on it.  Even my stand by "mindless" knitting in the round projects are too much for me.  As weird as it sounds, the more relaxing the activity the more frequent and severe these episodes become.  Which makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE!  OH! I just had an idea, maybe I'm knitting the wrong things!  I've been focusing on RELAXING projects.  Maybe I need to make a pair of Turkish Stockings where you have anywhere from six to twelve colors to work with on each round!  (Made a pair of these before--what a tedious nightmare!)  Or a lace table cloth with thousands and thousands of stitches and lace stitches to work every round!  And I could use bamboo needles--which I CANNOT stand because the yarn doesn't slide on them.  That would make the project even more difficult and irritating!

Pretty sure I'm loosing my mind..............

If anyone, anywhere, out there in the online world has ever experienced these medical symptoms and knows what is going on PLEASE COMMENT!!!! If you have experienced these symptoms and still do not know what is going on LET'S TALK!!!  Maybe talking will help, or not.  I don't know.......

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

New Yarn!

I just spent most of my day listing all the new yarn in my etsy store.  I actually dyed and got the new hemp yarn in October, but I am just now getting around to listing it online.  IT IS SO TIME CONSUMING TO CREATE LISTINGS.  Etsy makes it as streamlined as possible but it still takes FOREVER!

Here are a few of the exciting yarns now available in my online shop :)

My hand dyed self striping yarn :)



Some of the new fingering weight hemp yarns in GREAT colors


And then a couple of cones of undyed natural hemp in DK and fingering weight.


I also listed the new yarn colors from Dale of Norway's Daletta and Baby Ull.  A REALLY dark espresso colored yarn and a soft mint green.  If you're looking for some yarn for your next project, check out twistedharefiberarts.etsy.com!

Happy Knitting!

Saturday, March 30, 2013

What's On the Needles/Hook

Since December I have been making custom orders left and right.  Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, but it has kept me BUSY.  Now, unless I get more I am finally seeing a completion of all the orders :)  I have made bath mitts, facial scrubbies, six pairs of socks, and now I am in the middle of a sweater and a cute crochet baby bunting.


This is the sweater I am currently making.  It is the Lucia Tee from Knit One Crochet Two.  The one I am making is with a solid "pomegranate" colored yarn from KnitPicks.  It's turning out really nice!  


And this is the baby bunting I am making.  My cousin had seen a pic of it on Facebook and immediately asked if I could make one for her up-coming grandchild. It is crocheted and she sent me a lovely superwash wool yarn also from KnitPicks for it.  It's going REALLY fast and I expect to have it done in the next day or two.

 
In addition to the custom orders, my new brother-in-law is getting ready to go on a backpacking trip next month.  Naturally I was concerned that he have "proper" socks so I am in the middle of making a wonderful pair of socks for him--size 13 in men's.  He was thrilled and selected a GREAT tonal green yarn that looks like a really pale camo design.  I didn't think I would like the color until I started knitting it up, but it has turned out to look really good!  The pattern is a modified (modified because it's a size 13) version of my "Ultimate Basic Sock" pattern.   I will try to get a pic up of them when they are done.

Of course there are also the other WIP's and UFO's.....but we won't talk about them lol.

Happy knitting!

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Playin Ketch Up

Wow!  Had no idea it's been more than a year since I blogged last!  My how time flies when you are having fun.  And I have been having fun!!

This past May I opened a brick N mortar yarn shop here in Wyoming.  It's been a little slow because I didn't want to take out a business loan and I hate paying for advertising.  So my stock is what I've been selling on Etsy over the years and I have just slowly been adding to it--my hand dyed sock yarns, lace weight yarns and of course Dale of Norway yarns, my patterns, fibers, etc.  Slowly but surely the store has grown mostly by word of mouth and in another month I will celebrating my first year!!



In addition to that bit of exciting fun, two of my original sock designs are pictured in the new book out by Rita Taylor called "A Stitch in Time; Heirloom Knitting Skills".  My "Krotasokkar" design and "Autumn Leaves" design are the two socks.  I was/am THRILLED needless to say!!




And as if all that wasn't exciting enough, I got married December 5th!!  Yes!  I am SO happy.  I have never been this happy in my entire life, all the years combined.  Mr. Wonderful is....well...WONDERFUL! We have actually known each other for 4 years in May. I didn't think it was possible to be this happy, but I am.

I've said it before, but I'm saying it again, I am going to try to write here more often.

Happy Knitting!