Fun Stuff!

I knew my daughter had it in her to be crafty although she swears she's not! (Teenagers just hate to admit that they are anything like their relatives!) But she made this absolutely adorable tote bag yesterday. I promptly confiscated it for my own. I love it! it is so cute and she did a great job! I didn't know she even knew how to do applique, but there it is, a jack-o-lantern appliqued on the front of this cute bag. I am so proud of her!
This week's WIP's look a lot like the last couple of week's WIP's. The afghan is slowly getting finished. In fact I have a goal to have it done in two weeks--that is if I don't find another project to start instead. The October Sockamania project is half done and I have started the other sock now (the orange yarn project). And, I just couldn't help myself, I cast on for a pair of socks out of my swap yarn from Hege. There are many more WIP's sitting here on my desk, but none that I am working on this week. I took a poll for the Knitting Daily blog to see how many UFO's I had and discovered that I really need to get busy finishing some projects. I am so ashamed that I would even consider casting on another project with that number of unfinished projects laying around.

Finally, my order from KnitPicks got here, after spending all week last week in a "sortation center" in Denver. I am thrilled!!!to have it. The Selbvotter book is everything I every dreamed it could be. I love knitting, I love ethnic knitting, I love historical knitting articles, I love to read about knitting--especially historical, ethnic/cultural, well researched knitting books/articles that end with patterns for what you have been reading about. This is all of that!!!! If you are thinking about getting it, DON'T HESITATE ANY LONGER! It is fantastic and I am sure the afghan can wait until I have a few pairs of mittens and gloves made.

The white yarn in the order is to finish the afghan (someday) and the black is for HoneyBunny's special request hat--which is half done as of this morning.

All the fun I can handle for today!

Happy Knitting!

Yarn on Monday!!!

As I went to the mailbox today I was hoping for some yarn, as I do every Monday when my order did not show up on Friday (because for some stupid reason it had to spend all week last week in Denver). Anyway, to my great disappointment the keys for the package compartments in our neighborhood mailboxes were both in place--meaning that there were no package deliveries inside. With heavy heart I opened my 4 inch by 4 inch mailbox and, accompanied with squeals of delight, discovered my yarn swap package from Hege!!!!!! I practically ran home (for those of you who don't know me, I don't run, PERIOD). I examined the stamps--from Norway of course-- and then opened the package.........................LOOK WHAT I FOUND INSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not only did she send me four lovely skeins of yarn from Norway, but she also sent me a wonderful handmade card. I was so excited!!! I am so excited!!! I don't know whether I should knit it up or place it in some esteemed display in my house. (Yarn, to a Knitter, isn't always for knitting--a concept NOT understood by non-Knitters). I have to make at least one pair of socks with it because I am totally in love with the color combination!!!

So Hege, I have just one thing to say, "I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!" I wouldn't have been this excited or happy if I had found a package of 100 dollar bills in my mailbox. (Don't even try to understand THAT if you aren't a Knitter). Yarn--that I can't get here in Colorado--from Norway is priceless!

This Weeks WIP's

I missed my Wednesday WIP reporting so here it is today.

I finished spinning that wool yarn that I was planning to make the hooded sweater out of. Unfortunately there isn't enough of the brown. I still haven't figured out how to take a pile of fluff and figure out exactly how much of it I will need for a particular project. I either end up with way too much or too little. I know there is a way to figure it out, but I prefer the spinning "by the seat of my pants" approach where you just spin and hope you get what you want. I love the color that this yarn turned out! I will have to spin some off-white to go with it so that I have enough for my project.
I tried to promise myself not to start another project before I finished some others but I saw this shawl and all self control went out the window. Now I find myself working on it INSTEAD of the other projects. It is made from a DK weight yarn on US size 10 1/2 needles so it is coming along pretty fast. It is for some unsuspecting soul for Christmas. I can't say her name because it's a secret. I hope she will like it--what do you think--do you think she will?

And last--although not the only other WIP I have--is my socks for Sockamania. I wanted to make them pumpkin orange in honor of October. I have NOTHING that they will match and I am not fond of wearing this color, but I love the pattern. Note the little cable detail along the leg. They look great on!

The daughter's afghan is more than halfway finished. I am on the decreases and so the more I work on it the faster it seems to be going. It is going to be HUGE! and incredibly warm. It is a great project to work on in the early mornings and in the evening because it keeps me warm. I will post the picture of it when it is finished.

My yarn from Hege should be here any day. I can't wait to see it! Plus my (Christmas project) order should be here anyday as well. I can't believe I ordered yarn and books thinking that between now and December 25th I would be able to make that much stuff. Oh well, what doesn't get done I can give next year! I HAVE to make the one project for this Christmas no matter what--it's for HoneyBunny and it is a special request. More details later. In the mean time,

"Tend to your Knitting!"

Yeah for Halloween!!!!

It's no secret that Halloween is my favorite holiday. However, there are those who give you a funny look if you tell them that you like Halloween better than Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas, it's just that Christmas isn't ....... I don't know, it just isn't Halloween. Plus, being the "forever actress", I love to dress up!! Halloween was always so much fun for me even growing up. My mother always made us the best costumes--no princesses, clowns, fairies, etc.--no we had to be something scary. Dracula, vampires, ghosts, witches, mummies, etc., because, after all, "that is what Halloween is all about". See, we've forgotten that on All Hallows Eve all of the evil spirits come out and it takes a scary costume to keep their spirits away from us (this is the original belief and my mother believed that we should stick with tradition).

So...Here we are at my house during Halloween.....

1. Family portaits of Halloween past.

2. Welcome mat.

3. Welcome sign.

4. My witch hat, adorable fat toad, and new afghan. (Note the spider web curtains! Made them last year! LOVE THEM!)

5. Cauldron complete with fire underneath (thanks Martha! great idea) and wall decorations--yes that is a real, but quite dead, tarantula.

6. Plant stand and glowing pumpkin.

7. Front door decorations. Unfortuately for all of us that live in this house, the grim reaper guy scares each one of us at some point every year. You know, you get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, or worse--to see what's making that noise outside, and suddenly there he is peeking in the window. I have heard my son actually scream like a little girl at the sight of him in the night and then start giggling when he realized what he saw.

8. And last, the table display. The nifty little witch has graced my Halloween's all of my life. I don't know when my mom got her but she has been there every Halloween that I can remember and now she is there for my children's Halloween as well.

There you have it. Halloween at my house. I have a Halloween wish too. My favorite Halloween tale is "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", and for as long as I can remember I have wanted to dress up, all in black, and ride a black horse all around town, down the dark side streets carrying a lighted pumpkin on Halloween night. Wouldn't that be fun!!!!! I'll bet I could scare BIG kids with that one.

Yeah for Halloween!

Somebody Stop Me!

Please tell me that I am not the only knitter that is thinking that she can start now and handknit a Christmas gift for each of her family and friends. I honestly found myself looking at and ordering a large amount of yarn for Christmas gift projects. Who am I kidding? At this point I will be lucky if I finish the WIP's I have right now by Christmas! Not only was I ordering yarn and patterns, but I was digging in the stash (of books and yarn), like some kind of gofer or mouse, and actually putting yarn with patterns and saying to myself, "Oh! I'll make that for......and I 'll make this for..... and that would be perfect for......" I woke up this morning and looked around at the PILES of yarn and patterns that I dug up yesterday and buried my head back in the covers. Now that the madness has subsided a little I have a huge mess to clean up. At least I didn't cast on a few of the ideas, then the mess would be worse. You know what? The whole thing makes me feel like a little bird at "nesting" time--flittering and fluttering around, surrounding myself with bits of paper and string and sticks!!!!!!

Blogger is having problems so I will have to post my Halloween decor pictures later.

Happy Knitting!

Wonderful Wednesday

HoneyBunny invited me to go for a ride with him today for work. I love to go with him when ever I get the opportunity. I get to knit and sight see, and nothing pleases him more than to have me along for company when he is driving all day.

This is what the mouth of the canyon looks like that we drove through. Huge granite cliffs topped by red sandstone, lots of pinion pine trees and sage brush. This is my favorite canyon in the world!

This is the house that they are paving the driveway for. We decided that it is a log mansion, not cabin. It is absolutely beautiful!
The house sits at the bottom of this amazing little valley.

More of the view of the canyon drive.

I had a wonderful time and took a bunch of pictures of all of the fall colors. I love this canyon!


Ok. So, here are this weeks WIP's. This is a sock that I fully intend to finish in the next few weeks. I actually started it last winter and somehow it got shoved to the bottom of the UFO pile. It resurfaced when I finished those two black hole projects. So, now it has been promoted from UFO to WIP.

This is the Turkish sock that I have been working on--and off-- for the last couple of months. I absolutely love it and wish I had nothing to do but work on it until it was finished. Unfortunately, the daughter's afghan has sucked up a huge chunk of my knitting time. I am half way finished with it now. I may have it done before Christmas after all. For now it remains a WIP.

There you have it. I have decorated for Halloween and will post the pictures next time with pictures of my progress on the October Sockamania sock.

Happy Knitting!

The Good and Bad about Monday

Monday's are usually a mixed day for me. Most people just hate Monday because it means that the weekend is over and they have to go back to work or school. I used to hate Monday's for the same reason. However, now that I am (working) at home Monday's are weird. I am excited because, once again now that everyone is gone to work and school, my time is my own. I can knit when I want, get dressed when I want, eat when I want, go to town IF I want, etc. I don't like Monday's where HoneyBunny decides that since I am at home I am not busy. I have an entire day's worth of Honey-Do's! I HAVE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO HERE AT HOME! After all, the new Sockamania pattern comes out today, I started spinning some GORGEOUS yarn for a sweater and I am having a lovely time with it, the Turkish socks I started after my finger surgery are coming along very nicely, it's time to decorate for Halloween, and I am all excited about the sock yarn swap Hege and I are going to have (got some exciting ideas to surpise her with)!!!! I had a wonderful Monday all planned out and now I have to get myself together and go into town instead..................Maybe if I hurry really fast (within the speed that won't get me a ticket) I can make it back home before noon.

I'M OUT OF HERE!!

WIP--it Wednesday

So, not much has changed in the WIP area. I don't think I have knit one row on the daughters afghan (I do hope I get it done before Christmas!). However, I did finish the September Sockamania Socks. So that is a good thing.

They turned out really nice. My son has already confiscated them and is running around the house in them. I think he just said something about wearing them to school tomorrow. I have plenty of yarn left over and have some sock ideas I am going to try out. If they turn out well, I will post the pattern in my etsy store and a picture here.

It has been a very long day so this is going to have to be short. More later.

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Now THAT'S Knitting!

As I was reading some of my favorite blogs this morning Hege had a picture of some mittens she had made a few years ago. Not just any mittens, but beautiful mittens. She is incredibly talented! She also had a link to some museum pages--all in Norwegian--but there were some pictures I HAVE to share. All hand knit and all amazing! Now THAT'S knitting!
Isn't this the most beautiful pair of knit mittens you have ever seen!? Don't you wish you had a pair!


My grandfather was Norwegian and Danish and I would love to have been able to sit and visit with his parents (my great grandparents) about Norway and Denmark. We probably wouldn't have been able to understand each other though--they didn't speak english and I don't speak Norwegian (unfortunately).

If you would like to see all of the displays on the museums site it is here.

KnitPicks is selling a book called "Selbuvotter". It is all about the history and tradition of these incredible mittens and gloves that are 150 years old. There are 30+ projects in the book. Yes, I ordered it. I am so weak!

Happy Knitting!

PIF Exchange and Free Pattern Friday!!!!

I am so excited to announce that I am going to be a part of the "Pay it Forward" exchange!!!! Anni had posted it on her blog yesterday and I was fortunate enough to be one of the first three people to post a comment, which means that I get to participate. It is wonderful!

So, here is how it works:

It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based of the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on. You all know I’m already a PIF type of person. So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

So the first three to comment on this post and who say they would like to take part will be my recipients. If I don't know you and have your e-mail address already, please include your e-mail address in your post so I can get hold of you. Once I've got my 3 recipients, I'll e-mail you to get your home address and just some idea of your favorite colours, yarn type, etc. I don't just knit--so I will need to know a little about you, what you like, and maybe what you like to decorate your house with.

Now, for the free pattern!

This is nothing really exciting, but it is a very useful item and very effective.

KNITTED SCRUBBER:

Materials: Approx. 8-10 yards of nylon netting that is in a 3-inch wide strip. Size 10 (US) knitting needles. Large tapestry needle.

Round Scrubber:

Cast on 8 sts.

Row 1: Knit

Row 2: k 2 tog, yo, k 4, turn

Row 3: K 6

Row 4: k 2 tog, yo, k 2, turn

Row 5: K 4

Row 6: K 2 tog, yo, k 6

Repeat these 6 rows 9 times more. Bind off. Use tapestry needle to sew circle together and work in ends.

Happy Knitting!

Time for Some Changes

I thought I would give the blog an over-haul. I haven't made any changes in several months and with the change in seasons and my etsy store I thought I would spend the morning updating the blog. So, let me know what you think.

On a different note......Have you ever woke up in the morning and thought, "I think I will just sleep all day"? Your bed feels extra soft and comfy and you feel soooooo sleepy. You're not depressed or sad or anything like that you just don't want to get up. That is how I felt this morning. I did manage to pull myself out of bed in time to get the kids off to school, but I have accomplished little else. I told HoneyBunny, when I talked to him this morning, that all I want to do today is knit. I really can't think of ANYTHING I would rather do. He's so wonderful, you know what he said? "Go ahead, take a day off and just relax, rejuvinate, and take it easy." Ya, that's why I married him. He is one of the few men in this world that think that women work twice or three times (sometimes ten times) more than men because they have to take care of the house (a full time job), the kids (full time and sometime overtime job), take care of the husband (which can be a mostly full time job), and of course take care of themselves. He is constantly looking for ways to convince me to sit down and take a break--knitting and yarn activities are his best methods, "Tama why don't you come and sit here on the couch with me and knit while the news is on."

Today is going to be a great day! Happy Knitting!

Wednesday's WIP's

I have been surfing around the web looking at other knitting blogs and have really enjoyed seeing what other knitters are working on right now so I thought I would show off what I currently have on my needles (at least the ones that are sitting here on my desk in the way).

This is the pair of socks that I am making for the Sockamania KAL for September. I am afraid that the daughter thinks these are going to end up hers, but she is in for a surprise because I really like how they are turning out--plus I wear more brown than she does. These will also appear on the SAMKAL 4 blog site for September.

This is the blanket that I mentioned was for my daughters birthday. It is really pretty and EXTREMELY soft. I am combining KnitPicks Crayon and Suri for the main part and then the eyelash is KnitPicks Butterfly Kisses. It will be wonderful and warm when it's done--hopefully before Christmas.

So, that's what I am working on right now. There are more, but these two are the most pressing projects, as far as what needs to be done ASAP!

Happy Knitting!

Recovery Tuesday

Usually Monday's are my weekend recovery days. However, it poured rain Sunday and most of Monday which means that HoneyBunny couldn't work and would be home all day. Then the daughter had a doctor's appointment and somehow managed to convince us that she should get the whole day off from school. So Monday was more like Saturday.

I really could have used a Monday recovery this week. Last week was the daughter's birthday. Isn't interesting how children manage to make the most of this once a year event? We had to have a slumber party Friday, a regular party Saturday for all of her friends, a fun family outing Saturday night, and then a family party on Sunday. I don't remember seeing in the "child raising handbook" where children should have three birthday parties and an event of some sort each year in order for them to actually get a year older. I am still exhausted from just the slumber party! Now you see why I didn't manage to get another post in last week.

(this is a picture of the sockies I made for her)

So, now that HoneyBunny is back to work today, the daughter and son are at school, and all the parties are over I can take a deep breath and "enjoy the silence". Maybe I'll waste away the day knitting! Hey that's sounds like a really good idea. My new book showed up last week and I am so excited to make some of the socks I can barely sleep at night. (Please tell me I am not the only one that gets that excited about a knitting project).

It has been quite a few years since I purchased a sock book. Most of them are so boring--no offense--they are mostly for beginning sock knitters and contain patterns that I could knit in my sleep with both hands tied behind my back. Now don't get me wrong here, I love a good mindless sock once in a while, but I am at a point in my sock knitting career (?) that I want some excitement, something spicy and challenging, something that makes my pulse race, and keeps me awake thinking about it half of the night. This book has many patterns that fit this need. I can't put it down. Here I am trying to exercise a little self control by finishing one project at a time and I keep finding myself shopping for yarn to start my new projects or avoiding all of my knitting because what I have been working on is now boring. In fact--I am going to make a confession--I didn't finish my daughters blanket that she is dieing for me to finish for her (it was supposed to be for her birthday) because it has fallen into that "boring" catagory and, if I am not mistaken, I may have another black hole on my hands. Maybe she will get it for Christmas. When my yarn order gets here I don't know if I will be able to keep myself from starting some of those new socks or not. I am weak in the face of a new knitting book, but when faced with new yarn....

Happy Knitting!

Je suis fini!

You know, there is something to be said for "stick-to-it-iveness". I told myself a couple of months ago that these projects that have been haunting my desk for the last year HAD to go. Now, I wasn't real hip on just ripping them out and moving on since the projects were so close to being done. After finishing the "Black Hole" capelet I mentioned a few posts ago I figured I was invincible. No black hole was going to suck anymore stitches or rows out of my hard work. And LOOK!!!!!!! I finished the "Black Hole" summer tee! I realize that summer is pretty much over, but see, I had started this LAST summer hoping that I could wear it THIS summer. If I hadn't given in to the black hole I would have worn it this summer. Oh, well. It's still hot here so I will get to wear it a few times before it gets too cold.

Now, not only can knitting projects get sucked into black holes, but I have discovered that spinning projects can get sucked in as well. I have had this fiber (and eight other bags of it) for about two years. If I would just sit down and spin the yarn would get produced a lot faster, but knitting and housework have a way of interferring something terrible. However, after much persevering, the final bag is spun!!!!!! Yeah! I am ever so happy to finally be done with this stuff. Don't get me wrong, the money was good, but the fiber was awful!!!!! I have officially sworn off scratchy wool. (For those of you that aren't in the know--not all wool is scratchy--there is wool out there that I could easily pass off to you as cotton or silk or alpaca or leave you wondering what magical creature grows that soft, luxurious fiber that your socks or sweater is made out of).
So, now I can start a few new projects! Yeah! I love new projects. That means new YARN! and I really love new yarn. Oh! and new knitting books!! I love new knitting books! In fact, in anticipation of finishing all of this I ordered a bunch of NEW stuff. I will "show and tell" when it gets here.

Happy Knitting!!

Dog to the Vet

I have to take our dog to the vet today. No big deal right? It's not like what you have to go through to take the cat to the vet--all the craziness that proceeds even getting the cat in the car. However, though the dog is easily entreated to get in the car, she becomes a complete idiot as soon as we get out to go into the building. Actually, getting her into the C-A-R is interesting as well. She is about 100 pounds of nervous dogginess and I have a compact car. She litterally fills the back seat. Anyway, so we get out at the office and she imediately forgets that she is on a leash. Which dislocates my shoulder and tears all the muscles in my arm and shoulder area. Then we see another dog and the race is on. Now, normally Sierra (my dog) is well behaved--she doesn't bark unneccessarily or run away or do anything naughty (well REALLY naughty anyway, she got into my yarn one time and ate a bunch of it--I don't like to talk about what happened so let's just say that I threw yarn at her, screamed at her until I was hoarse, and then she spent the night outside in the dark by herself), but being in the presence of so many people and other dogs she loses all control and discipline. She is what I call a "High Need" animal. Which means that she wants to be petted by everyone that is within her sight and have all of the attention of all of the other animals that are around. This makes for an extremely irritating wait in the waiting room--not just for me, but for everyone. She pants and whines and lunges at people and whines and pants some more. By the time we are put into a room and they take her temperature she appears to be sick because she is running a temperature. She goes from wanting everyone to touch her to trying to hide in my lap at the sight of the vet. Which for a dog her size is not possible.

By the time I get home I am covered in dog hair and slobber and stink like a sweaty dog.

Well, we have to leave at 11:00 so I guess I better gear up. Here we go.........

My Favorite Time of the Year Starts Today!

I am so happy that it is finally September! I love autumn! There is just something about the leaves turning all shades of yellow, orange, and red, the weather cooling off, the feel of the air that I look forward to every year. I was out shopping the other day and all of the craft stores have the Halloween decorations out. For those of you that don't know this--I LOOOOOVVVVVEEEEE Halloween!!!!!!!!!! It is my favorite holiday. What's not to love? You get to dress up in fun costumes, eat lots of chocolate, and decorate your house with all sorts of fun spooky decorations. (As soon as mine is decorated I will post pictures!)

Of course, the best part of autumn--aside from Halloween--is with cooler weather comes a need for all of those divine, lucious, hand-knit sweaters, socks, mitten, hats, scarves, etc. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and you all know how I feel about that! I can't wait!

Unfortunately, it is still getting up to the 90's (F) during the day--no sweaters yet! The other day we had a simply beautiful late summer "gully washer" (that's where it pours rain for about 30 minutes and washes all of the gutters and gullies out!). As you can see from the picture it not only washed out my gutters but it flowed up into my yard to wash out my rock "gully". There is a nice sidewalk in front of the wood pieces under all of that water.
My Son decided he wanted to go play in the water. By this time the rain had stopped, but the "gully washer" was still flowing really nicely!--into my yard.

It didn't take long for it to go back down. Now all that's left is a nice layer of silt in my rock yard.

I thought I would put a couple of pictures of the yarn that is appearing in my etsy store over the next few days. The first picture if of some superwash wool sock yarn in "Rocket Red". This is great sock yarn! I love how the colors turned out!

This is superwash wool sock yarn as well and it is in the color "Summer Daze". It reminds me of sitting a the pool under the shade trees in the grass watching my kids swim. It knits up into nice little two row stripes with little white spots here and there that look like clouds.

I have more, but I still need to get pictures of them. Check out my etsy store--the link is in the side bar under "My favorite places" and click on the "Find my patterns...etc".

Happy knitting! Happy Fall!

My Knitting Fairy

My HoneyBunny and I were out shopping the other day and he found this adorable little fairy for me.

She has the sweetest little expression on her face! It's because she is knitting, of course. The little spool has a couple of buttons and a lady bug at the bottom. This was the best picture I could get of her--she is tiny! Anyway, I couldn't help but share this cute little figurine with the world. It's not everyday that you find little knitting knick-knacks. I love her!

Happy Knitting!

What a week!

The past week has been exhausting! Finally after 9 months of fighting a workman's compensation insurance company HoneyBunny got his final spine surgery ok'd. So Wednesday afternoon he went in. His condition has improved so much it's amazing. The results are much better than we had anticipated and we are so happy. Here is a picture of the screws that have been holding his lower vertebrae together for the last 2 1/2 years. (Sorry, yes I realize they are huge and that it is gross to imagine those screwed into someone's back bone.) I think that if they showed you the screws they were going to use before they put them in that the majority of the patients would chicken out of the surgery.
For some reason I thought that this surgery would allow me an obnoxious amount of knitting time, but the whole thing took so little time that I haven't had hardly any time to knit. I was in the waiting room only 20 some minutes when I was summoned to meet with the doctor. Then he was only in the hospital over-night (Note* the last two times he was in surgery for 5 hours then the next time 3 hours and spent 4 days and then the next time 5 1/2 days in the hospital). It's is nice to have things turn out right for once though!

I am almost finished with spinning the scratchiest wool on the planet--thank goodness! I am going to have to attempt to repeat the color on some of my soft and lovely wool. It is so beautiful! I am very fond of deep, rich blue colors anyway. I also have to get my socks for Sockamania finished!! I only have 3 days left.

I guess I better get back to work!!
Happy Knitting!

The Last of the "Steel" Wool...for now

I am finally finishing the last bag of that awful wool fiber I mentioned in a post a few months ago. Here it is ready to dye.

The tools. It's going to be pretty!

It turned out a beautiful denim blue! I have several skeins spun up. Remember, looks can be deceiving...

I love the color! It turned out so good! It's a shame...you could scrub baked-on cheese out of a pan with it.

My Philosophy

I have long thought, believed, and expressed to others the idea that everyone can (and should) knit. I have told countless beginners, as they struggled with each stitch, that within their DNA is a knowledge of how this works.

Here is my thinking: starting about a hundred years ago and then going backwards in time everyone knit, crocheted, spun yarn, and wove fabric for clothing. After all, if you didn't do one or all of these things you were wearing animal skins or running around in your birthday suit. When you needed socks, for example, there was no Target or Wal-Mart to go to and purchase a nice six-pack of white, cotton tube socks. You either made yourself a pair, was lucky enough to have a wife that had extra time on her hands (HA, HA!) and would make you a pair, you were royalty with tons of money at your disposal and you would pay the Master Knitter in the town to make you a pair, or you simply went without and had cold feet (which would be a real problem if you happened to live somewhere that was cold). Say you needed a winter hat, mittens, long johns, a warm coat (sweater), etc. Where would you get it? You made it! EVERYONE did this! That means that everyone on the planet today had ancestors that knew how to do this hand work.

**By the way, I am not the only person who believes this. I picked up Elizabeth Zimmerman's (for you non-knitters, Elizabeth is one of THE most well known knitters in the last 100 years) book "Knitters Almanac" the other day and was surprised, and pleased, to read that she believed this also. This book is really good and should be a part of every knitter's library! No wonder she is so revered. Not only was she a talented and accomplished knitter, but she was witty, clever, and very no-nonsense-straight forward. My kind of person!

So, somewhere hidden in your DNA is the ability and knowledge of how to knit, spin yarn , crochet, etc. If you haven't tried it, you should, and don't worry...your hands will remember what to do.

A "Black Hole" Project is Finally Finished

In her book "Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off" Stephanie describes a phenomena that occurs quite regularly in knitting called "Black Holes". I am sure many of you have experienced this. It occurs very frequently when you are just starting to learn how to knit--which is why so many beginners give up. What happens is you find a great project, that may or may not be a large project, that you are just dieing to make. You cast on, with great anticipation of the end result, and begin knitting furiously. You knit for several hours or even days and suddenly notice that you have only knit one or two inches into the item. Confused, you get annoyed, but you knit on, now obsessed with making progress. Hours and hundreds of rows or rounds later you stop and take another measurement. Still only about two inches. Very annoyed and feeling a little on the edge you now attack the knitting project. You may find yourself murmuring incoherently and bursting out in swear words occasionally at this point. Days, perhaps weeks have past. Dishes are piled high in the sink, no one has clean underthings to wear, and the children are cowering, white-haired gnomes that scamper about fearful everytime they sense another out burst coming from you. The husband has even given up asking if you will be cooking ever again and has assumed his position on the couch with the remote and a delivery pizza next to him. Suddenly you snap out of it, sort-of, and realize that you have a black hole project--a project that sucks all of the stitches you create into itself without ever getting bigger.

I have had just such a project for the last year or so (I have lost count of the exact amount of time because of how long it has taken). This was not a difficult project. It used decent sized needles--US 7, and aran weight yarn. It only needed to get to 11 inches before the shoulder decrease then 2 1/2 inches more in the pattern and three rows of ribbing. Simple right? So I thought. After knitting the first three inches I noticed that no matter how long I worked on this project I had clearly quit making progress. So when I snapped out of the insanity that a black hole project creates, I set the project aside on my desk. I have made 20 or 30 pairs of socks, two sweaters, several washcloths, and who know what else in an effort to get over the effects that this black hole project brought on.

I was feeling pretty confident about finishing a few months ago so I began knitting again. I did make some progress so I pushed on. Suddenly discovering that it was swallowing rows faster than I could knit them I immediately stopped and put it away--thus preventing the "crazy" cycle from starting all over.

So, I started my Sockamania project, finished the pair of socks that I featured in the last post, and did a bunch of housework.

Several days ago, feeling good about the project again, I said, "That's it! I am finishing this project and getting it off of my desk if it's the last thing I do!" A little dangerous I realize, but I was feeling a little rebelious, dangerous, on the edge--so what the heck--I pick it up and furiously attacked the project. Twenty-four hours later......TA-DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a lovely pattern. And my daughter totally loves it, even telling me thank you--as if I made it for her.

The pattern is in Interweave Press "Wrap Style". It is called "Spiral Shell" and the designer is Deborah Newton. She makes no mention of it being a potential "Black Hole" project so I will have to assume that I am the only one that experienced it with this pattern. I would offer one bit of advice, when you get to the ribbing, I would go one or two needle sizes smaller to knit it and then cast off pretty tight. I did not and had to put elastic thread though the top so that it would stay put.

The next "Black Hole" project.......

It's a great t-shirt, I just can't seem to get any farther.

How about you...any black holes in your knitting universe lately?

Knitting Forever!

My How Time Flies

Well, I do apologize. I did not realize that it has been almost two weeks since I posted. School is getting ready to start and that is a very crazy time of the year for me. School clothes shopping, school supply shopping, birthday present shopping, grocery shopping, and shopping. I used to love shopping about 20 some odd years ago. Now it's just not as much fun--spending my own money instead of someone else's changes the whole experience.

So, I had a birthday. I will neglect to mention which one, but as you can see from the picture I don't look too bad for my age--and no plastic surgery! There is something to be said for eating right (who am I kidding!? I believe in dessert first!) and taking care of your skin from a very young age.

I had a great week of--yes, you guessed it--shopping, going out to lunch with my daughter, and HoneyBunny took me for a beautiful drive, sent me the flowers that you see there on the table, and just spoiled me rotten with gifts (as usual). I even got a couple of new knitting books and some yarn--imagine that!
So I made him some socks. I love to knit for him! He thinks that I am the most talented, clever, and perfect woman on earth because I knit socks for him. Who doesn't want to knit for someone like that?

I must confess though that I am neglecting several WIP'S (that's Work In Progress for you non-knitters) that are beginning to complain loudly that I am avoiding them. I hope to work on them this week. However, I joined the Sockamania club and am thoroughly enjoying the socks I am making for it! I am a compulsive sock knitter, I admit it. I can't help it! You would think after making so many that I would get sick of them and stop for a while--not so!!! I just break it up by having three or four pair going at once and then mix it up with a poncho, sweater, and capelet or two.

It's terrible, my desk never collects dust because the surface is always covered with WIP's of all sizes and shapes.