Friday, November 30, 2007

Success!

I finally was able to turn the heel on the Baudelaire. That was this morning. It finally clicked for me...all hail Cookie A., Queen of the Socks! For whatever reason, it wasn't working for me yesterday. I was taking too many of the directions and adding them together.

I'm hoping the Baby I.Q. Afghan will have some progress this weekend. I was going to see my friend yesterday, but her little one had a touch of jaundice, so they were heading to the doctor instead. I hope that when I get over to her place, the blanket will be done.

I still need to finish Sheldon for another friend. I also have a Christmas present on the needles, and plans for at least one more. I'd like to get 2 more done, but that might be pushing it. We'll see what gets done.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

The land of tomorrow today

I'm trying something new...something to hopefully help with NoBloPoMo. I didn't realize this was an option before...so I'm testing it out this time. We'll see if this actually posts tomorrow (I'm writing this Wednesday for a fast Thursday post).

This didn't work quite like I had anticipated. Apparently I didn't set it correctly. Perhaps I can fix it and try again.

Ugh...my head.

I think the change in the pollen is making my head hurt. My car needs to be fixed, since I had a flat tire Monday night. Hubby is supposed to be fixing it, but the fact that the rim is bent isn't helping. I did nothing last night, other than sit and watch a movie. If you haven't seen it, you should watch Muriel's Wedding.

It's cute, and a great chick flick. It's the kind of movie you should watch with at least one of your best girl friends curled up on the couch, in your pj's with popcorn. I didn't have that last night, but it was still good.

I'm off to take something for this headache before it gets worse.





Wednesday, November 28, 2007

7 out of 16, and seaming issues

I have 7 out of 16 squares done for the Baby I.Q. Afghan. It's not quite passing, but it's almost 50% done. At least the squares are almost 50% done. Realizing that each square takes about an hour, I have 9 hours left for the squares. Then there's another 4 hours for seaming and edging.

The Baby I.Q. Afghan I made for my little one is having issues where I seamed it. I'm trying to figure out if taking it all out and re-doing it is better than just repairing what needs mending. I might do a little of both. I can just reseam it while I'm fixing it, right? Hopefully I'll have pictures once I get that done, and I won't have to repair it anymore for a very long time.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Creativity

I've been in a creative mode, or trying to be. Is that contradictory? In any case, last night I started writing. I think I'm trying to create from what I have. There are so many projects lying around the house waiting for me to get started, or get finishing. In any case, I'm hoping to get some things accomplished, instead of looking for something new to start. I have cross-stitch, crochet, knit, and sewing/quilting projects to work on, and hopefully I can get some of them finished. I also hope to incorporate some painting, drawing, cooking, baking, and writing into the mix.

My friend had her son yesterday, so the Baby I.Q. Afghan is needed quickly. Guess what I'll be working on for the next couple of days?! I hope I can get it done this week! I don't know how so many people get so much done and flip FOs off their needles with such speed! Do they work outside the home? If I worked at home, I could be making stuff all the time. Even just one day a week would propel my knitting and crocheting into a whole new dimension.

I think I'm going to go with Renee, and try to Pay It Forward. Here's the deal:


The idea of the exchange is I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on this blog post requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet, and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise (probably sooner rather than later however)! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog - this means you must have a blog, sorry blogless readers.


Enjoy!

Monday, November 26, 2007

Blech...

That's the best way to describe the weather around here. It's cold, wet and rainy. I've been knitting on the Baudelaire sock. It's coming along fairly well. I'm up to the gusset on the sock. I might be able to finish it this week, and hopefully I can finish another project this week as well, or at least half of it. My friend is being induced today, so I should probably get cracking on her second son's blanket. I also saw some friends at church who had a baby girl back in September. I havea to finish the Sheldon for her as well. Now that I've changed sock patterns, the needles I was using for Sheldon are available again. Maybe before Christmas I'll have some FOs to show.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Baudelaire

Well, the Baudelaire socks are well on their way. It looks like the Cascade 220 Superwash is doing well in it. I haven't decided about the hot pink Cascade yet...perhaps another one of Cookie's patterns.

Hopefully Christmas will be lots of knitting related items. I also asked for some quilting things, but mostly knitting items. I put on there needles, books, yarn, and some kits. I probably shouldn't sit so long to knit, but it's one of the few things I do for myself. I do housework and play mom, not to mention being at work. I was saved from myself today. I went by the LYS and they were closed. I was hoping to find them open and I was going to check out some sock yarn for the little one and possibly some new needles. The #2s I have are split. Well, one of the needles splintered on the end, and it's EXTREMELY sharp and painful if caught under a nail on accident. On the bright side, it would keep potential theives out of my purse...simply by being stabbed by knitting.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Update - Day 21 of NoBloPoMo or whatever...



Here is what was done (albeit a bad picture) of the progress of the Black Diamond Sock. It is no more. The back wasn't looking nice (not comfy next to the foot) and although I could have started it over - AGAIN - it just wasn't happening. I think the Cascade wants to be something else. I'm going to check through my patterns, and I'm thinking about attempting the Baudelaire with it. I have family coming for Thanksgiving, and I'm hoping to get in some knitting time before they arrive and while we wait on the turkey tomorrow. I have a Christmas list to make, and TONS of stuff to do tonight. There's a cheesecake to bake, dressing to make, a table to set and decorate, and cleaning to be done. It will be a late night, but I can sleep in in the morning. More updates to follow!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Not happy

I'm really not happy with the Black Diamond Sock. It's just not coming together the way I hoped. I'm thinking I might frog it and make some other socks. I only got down to the heel; I just turned it, and that's where it just isn't working for me. Maybe I can make it with different yarn some other time. I'll try and post a picture later today or tomorrow.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Pattern stash

I have realized I have 94 sock patterns...just sock patterns! If I made a pair of socks in 2 weeks, it would take me over 3 YEARS to knit ONE pair of every sock pattern. I think that's a little obsessive. This does not include the sweater patterns, skirt patterns, baby, afghan, toy, and other patterns I have. All of these, I would also like to mention, are FREE online. I have not paid for ANY of these patterns. I have no idea when I'll ever make these patterns, nor do I know where the the yarn for these patterns will come from. How insane is this?! Some collect yarn; I collect patterns.

Sick Baby

I was home all weekend, with a sick baby. I did get one more square done for the Baby I.Q. Afghan for a friend who's due December 1st, but decided to be induced November 26th. She completely messed up my schedule...argh...now I havea week less to finish it. :) No biggie...it'll be done in time. If it's not done when she actually delivers, I'll run it by their house soon after she's home. I'm thinking maybe stopping by and delivering dinner too would be nice. One night when neither she or her husband have to worry about what's for dinner and taking care of 3 little ones. I love my crock pot...and left overs. It's amazing what you can do with some leftovers and a little ingenuity. I might get some more done on the afghan today if I can keep my eyes open. Little man wouldn't sleep soundly last night until I held him for a couple of hours. That means Mommy is sleepy today.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Catch-up

Well, I repaired the Baby I.Q. Afghan for my baby...for some reason some of the seams have a tendency to come out. I fixed that. I also trimmed it...fringe was sprouting. I also started on the heel for the Black Diamond Sock; I have 3 or 4 rows left. I think next year I'm going to try and do one pair of socks a month. Then, I'll have 12 pairs of socks at the end of the year. Of course, I probably won't have any other projects done. I'm trying to use up all the yarn I have. I have some projects in queue, and I hope to get them finished before too long. I have lots of bits and pieces that will probably get put in an afghan.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Bad knitter...no cookie!

I did nothing last night on the Black Diamond sock. I'm a terrible knitter. I went to bed early. Today, I've been working on crochet squares for the Baby I.Q. Afghan for a friend who's due in December. I should be able to easily get it done by December 1, which is when she's due.

I've been listening to Lime & Violet (hence the title), and now I'm curious about spinning. I've checked out a few places online, and even looked at a few classes in some shops around town. I would like to talk to a spinner before I get started in it, and watch a spinner. Maybe I'll check out the local SNB and see if there's a spinner working there.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Today

I have now finished the first part of the first sock of the Black Diamond Socks from the Six Sox Knitting group. It actually looks really good. I'm excited about it. I'm trying to figure out if I'll have enough yarn to finish these socks AND knit another pair. I'm thinking probably not. I'm doing them in Cascade 220 Superwash, but I don't think there'll be enough.

I've asked for knitting stuff for Christmas. Hopefully I'll get something good. :0)

Monday, November 12, 2007

One step forward, two steps back

I was almost done with the second repeat on the first Black Diamond Sock...and realized I got off somewhere. So, I ripped it back (I wasn't sure I liked the transition from the first repeat to the second anyway) and started it again. I haven't had much time today to make progress on it. I finished about 2 rows...so I'm starting the second repeat and am on about row 4 of that. Hopefully, I'll have a completed sock by the end of the week...hopefully.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

The room with a view

I finally got some progress in the craft room. I know how I want it set up, and all I need is to get the stuff out of there that doesn't belong and put the rest of the stuff away. I moved some of the furniture (the sewing table, the cutting table and the file-cabinet-o-patterns) and decided what needs to go in the rest of the space. I can even relinquish some of the space for a half bath later. Once we get the money (probably in a few years, but hey, it's our house...we can take our time with getting it the way we want it), we can refinish the basement the way it needs to be done (read: the way it should have been done in the first place). It looks like someone quickly slapped a few walls up here and there in order to add square footage to it. On the bright side, it gave us a good idea of the potential. On the down side, there is stuff that needs to be ripped out and replaced. there's also some vermin issues that we will deal with as we progress. I'm hoping to get to some knitting tonight...or crochet. I seem to have craft ADHD recently. I even picked up some cross-stitch last night and started on that...again. Maybe I'll pick one project and work on getting it completed this weekend. We're skipping church tomorrow morning, to have some family time. That means no rushing around tonight and no hurried morning. I can stay up a little later and work on something. I've been busy today, and yesterday I got one box of patterns organized. There are several others, but one is a step in the right direction. I'm hoping to get more boxes organized as the weeks progress. Work is really slow, so I'm hoping that between that and the upcoming holidays I can make some headway.

Friday, November 09, 2007

No knitting for you

I did not get to knit any last night. Instead, I got to sit in traffic for 2 hours for a 45 minute trip while police searched cars for a bank robber. That's right; they shut down a major highway during rush hour to search for a guy who had traded a note for a bag of money (don't you wish you could do that without repercussions?) and did a car-to-car search. They were literally walking from car to car, searching each one for the robber. So, I didn't get to do much of anything last night, other than sit in the car (I was driving) and wait. It was sad. I did however, manage to get some stuff together for a productive day today. Hopefully, by the time I get home, patterns will be organized. :0)

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Finally...decisions made and organizing beginning

I've been thinking about storing patterns recently. A friend of mine, who's going through the nesting phase of her third pregnancy, came over and started going through my patterns. She couldn't nest in her own home (due to there's nothing really to nest...she cleaned out everything back in January) so she started on mine. No worries. Her suggestion was to put all my patterns in page protectors and store them in binders. Good idea...with one minor problem. I have over 400 patterns, just on my computer alone. Added in to the ones from yarn labels, and others I never stored on my computer, and we're probably talking about a good 1,000 patterns, and that's probably just knit and crochet patterns! That doesn't even include the gazillion cross-stitch, few beadwork and tatting patterns I have as well. At $12 per box of 100 page protectors, that gets to be a mighty expensive storage solution. While some people might have a money tree in their backyard, I don't. So, we're going for a cheaper option. Here's the plan: I have a nice-sized file cabinet. I have file folders. The patterns are going to be categorized (sweaters, scarves, hats, stoles, etc.), put in file folders, and put in the file cabinet. I have plans to make sure all the craft patterns are downstairs in the craft room in the file cabinet, and all the financial files (tax returns, legal documents, etc) are upstairs in the desk. Those files will also require a copy in a fire box or safety deposit box of some sort. That will come in good time. I also managed last night to sort through some of said financial papers and get the trash gone (like envelopes, fliers, and those nasty little inserts they always manage to stick in there). Most everything went easily into some folders I had lying around, and a box of 100 file folders is cheaper and will go farther than the box of page protectors. Don't get me wrong...I love the page protectors. I'm planning on keeping a few of them around and storing the current WIP patterns in them, and putting those with all the yarn for the project (see how organized I can be?!). I did some of that last night as well. This weekend will prove to be interesting...I'm still half tempted to tell hubby to take Little Man and go visit his parents, and leave me at home to clean, organize, and do the grocery shopping. However, I don't think that will fly with him. So, in that case, I have lots to do between tonight and Monday. There's got to be a way to clone myself so I can be in two places at once.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Overwhelmed with projects

Ever cast on so many projects and then get completely overwhelmed? Here's a list of what's currently in progress:

Cromarty
Baby I.Q. Afghan (2 of them actually, although one for a gift)
Sheldon
Christmas project #1 (surprise gift...shhhh!)
Black Diamond Socks
Blue baby blanket (Sedge Stitch afghan)
Starbucks bird

Some of these should be done by December, and others just need to be done by Christmas. I'm still working on the design of the Starbucks bird in knit...it's those increases that are killing me. Mathematically, on paper, they work. It's in the actual fabric that you can't have it look decent with that many increases in one row. Is there some formula as to how many stitches to increase over how many rows so it looks normal and not like a freak of knitting? Perhaps that questions isn't coherent. I know what I'm trying to say...it's just not coming out right.

I've been listening to Lime and Violet the past couple of days. I love the world of podcasts. It makes me feel like there are close friends near me when I'm at work.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

So much for posting daily...

For whatever reason, I just haven't been able to post regularly. I did however, add photos to my Flickr account, and I cast on for a new project. The Black Diamond Socks from the Six Sox Knitalong...that aren't in black. I'm actually making them in this gorgeous bright pink and cream. Another Christmas gift? Possibly. We'll see...I might just keep them for myself.

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Pictures!

In trying to be a better worker, and not be under the watchful eye of Big Brother, I am now trying to reserve my posting for home. The problem with this is once at home, I have a tendency to get distracted by regular things (dinner, baby, cleaning, and crafting) and never manage to get around to it. Now I am making a point of it, since I signed up for NoBloPoMo. This is going to be a trip. Here's Billy Idol, who decided to make an appearance at our house for Halloween.
Isn't he just adorable?! I'm working on a secret project, and since I think the gift recipient will be watching this blog for a time (due to pictures of Billy being posted) I'll just let you have a secret update...it's going well. :0) I'll post pictures after Christmas of them, but they'll be on Ravelry.

Friday, November 02, 2007

I missed one day, but if I do two posts today, does it count?

I joined the NoBloPoMo challenge...here's hoping I can make it everyday! I'll just have to make time on Saturday and Sunday. I have pictures from Halloween (little man was TOO cute as Billy Idol!) and that might give me some incentive. I do have a knitting update too. Maybe I can do that either later this afternoon or tomorrow.