Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Ok you've waited patiently to find out what on earth could distract me from all my WIPs and here it is:

My First Sock!



yeah it's not done yet, big surprise, but it is damn cool! I so understand why people get caught up in making socks. It's easy, you see progress quickly, and being that I am using Regia Jaquard, it's got stripey goodness. Yes, I have been seduced. In order to regain control of my knitting life again, I have decided that Stripey has to go sit in the car. I will only work on it while I am out driving with the family. Otherwise nothing else will get done. It is because of this sock that Sonnet's sleeves are not done.

Here's an updated picture of Sonnet:



and a close-up of the buttons I picked up for it:



Must finish sleeves, must resist the lure of the stripes....

I was thrilled yesterday to discover this blog, Yarn Harlot. It is none other than Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, she of Knitlist fame. I always loved her missives to the Knitlist, they were so creative and humorous. In fact, I have most of them saved on my computer. If you need a good chuckle (and if you think you don't then you really do) go check her out.

Monday, March 29, 2004

Miss me?

I didn't actually mean to take a vacation from blogging, but I only got to post once while my store was in inventory. Then immediately following inventory, I went on vacation. I would love to say that I caught up on all my projects and cleared the decks so I could begin some fun new things for Spring...but that would be a lie. What I did do was clean, clean and clean some more. Now this may not seem odd to any of you because you don't know me well but it is very, very odd. I hate to clean. I usually get by doing the bare minimum. I often excuse myself by saying that I prefer to play with my kids, or knit or do things that are more personally fulfilling than having an immaculate home. While that may be true, it's really just that I hate cleaning. This past week however I was in a cleaning frenzy. Papers were sorted, filed or tossed. Clothes were packed in plastic bins for sentiment or potential later use, while the remaining items were dropped in clothing drop off bins. Toys that have not been played with in over a year were disposed of. I was a force to be reckoned with!

Now that it's over, I'm glad I did it. I am something of a pack rat and the accumulated stuff of 4 people is a bit too much to have around in a New York apartment (albeit a very large Bronx apartment...it still ain't a house!). I have this amazing amount of room in my bedroom. My sons have room for both of them to play in their room. I am very pleased.

All of this means however that I am a week behind on the Shapely Tank Knit-a-long. The sleeves on Sonnet are not quite done, the towel set is no closer to completion than before. As for the baby blanket squares let's just not go there. I did of course start something new, because what else does one do when faced with all of these unfinished products. I will show you pictures of my guilty secret tomorrow...

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Long time no blog, sorry we've been doing inventory here at work and I haven't had much time in my office. I have not finished Sonnet but I am close. I am on the left side piece. Once I finish that I am actually going to stitch up the shoulders so I can see how it looks on my mother in law. Then I will move on to the sleeves. I have actually been weaving in the ends as I go along so there will be only seaming left at the end.

Everyone should go visit Liz or Wendy's sites and join the Critter Knitters Knit-a-thon. They are asking for knitting blankets to be donated to shelter animals. It for the Critter Knitters Coalition. The knit-a-thon runs until July 31, so time isn't an issue. It's a great cause, especially for those of us who wish we could adopt all the animals in the shelters but know that we can't. At least we can offer them warmth and comfort. I also want to mention that I knew Liz in Junior High and she's good people, and while I am completely impressed by her pulling this together, I am not at all surprised by her skill and generosity.

Saturday, March 13, 2004

Just a few fun sites for the weekend.

Lion Brand has the coolest screen saver with people knitting at the bus stop. I gather it's the cover of their new catalog (which I haven't seen yet). I have it on my computer at work and it's adorable. You can download it here:

Lion Brand

My cousin sent me this link and it gave me a good chuckle. Those sneaky smiley faces...I never knew:

The back of a smiley

Enjoy the weekend!

Friday, March 12, 2004

Ok it's Friday how well do you think I did on my objectives?

Well here's the IPod Cozy:



so far so good...and here's the tiny Kureyon purse:



my progress on Sonnet:



really close to halfway on that...and the baby blanket squares:



well 3 out 4 ain't bad...

My mother in law trying to be helpful, threw out all the boxes I was saving so I had nothing to block the squares on, poor poor pitiful me. I better get in gear this weekend. Oh and did I mention that we have one more baby blanket to do here at work, so yes that means more squares. I have already made it very clear that I will not be assembling this one!

I spruced up the blog a bit for Spring, although it occurred to me later that all the green really seems to be in honor of St. Patrick's Day next week, that Irish blood will crop up when you least expect it...

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Still not having much luck with the productivity. I did not felt the tiny Kureyon purse, nor did I felt the IPod cozy. Pure laziness. As small as they are and the fact that my washing machine sits right in my kitchen. There really is no excuse.
I did work on Sonnet but I completed the box stitch section on the back and when I looked at it I realized that I sure as hell hadn't done box stitch on the front portion. I had in fact done double seed stitch (I alternated rows of K2, P2 instead of doing K2, P2 for one row then two rows of P2, K2 and back to K2,P2). So I asked my husband which he thought looked better, since my opinion was undoubtedly biased by the idea of ripping out 2.5 inches or 10.5 inches. Lucky me he thought the double seed looked better, as did I, so I ripped out the box stitch rows and started re-doing them in double seed.

Now one would think that with everything I have currently on my plate, and the obvious knitting malaise I am suffering from, that I would not start planning more projects. Wrong. I have joined the Shapely Tank Knit Along that Jessica is hosting. I really love the idea of working on projects as a group and who can resist Jessica's enthusiasm. Hey it will probably still be on the needles by the time I get on the boat in April so it can still be cruise knitting.

The birthday present for Maribel went well...too well. I got her this colorway of Regia:

plus some Brittany Dpns in 2 and 3 so she can play with her gauge a bit. So of course she cast on that night using the pattern in this month's Knit It. She had 3/4 of an inch done when I spoke to her yesterday morning. I better cast on for a sock soon so I can catch up!

So on tonight's agenda:

Work on Sonnet. I need to get at least halfway done by tonight if I have any chance of finishing it by this weekend.
Felt the two small projects. Avery has tap class today so I get home a little bit earlier than usual. I was going to do laundry anyway so this shouldn't be a problem.
Get to blocking some squares. I know I say this everyday. I gave my husband the assignment yesterday to cut some 3"x3" squares out of the boxes that I have been saving for just that purpose. He didn't do it last night but hopefully tonight.

Let's see how much actually gets done...

Monday, March 08, 2004

In case you hadn't figured it out I did not work on the baby blanket at all this weekend, bad Nancy, bad girl. The only knitting I worked on was the IPod Cozy so it would be ready for felting, which it now is. I am going to pop it in the washing machine tonight along with the tiny Kureyon purse.

I picked up Sonnet this morning for my subway knitting. I think I will be going exclusive with it for this week. It's so easy and straight forward I suspect I might finish it this weekend if I do. Which would be cool. Of course I should spend my evenings blocking squares!

I have joined Joy's Spring Knit-Up. I figure that is exactly what I need. Finish off the projects that are slowing me down so I can move on to more fun and exciting things. I have pretty much decided that the Sonata that was liberated in the Rip Along should be a Shapely Tank. Interestingly enough Jessica is planning on having a Knit Along for it, which came about after I decided to make one. I'm not sure I'll join since this is my designated Cruise knitting.

Speaking of Cruise knitting, I realized that with all the things going on right now I am really going to need this trip. I will be taking the Majesty of the Seas on the last weekend of April. I am so ready!

I am going to Seaport Yarn at lunchtime with Tisha. It's my best friend Maribel's birthday tomorrow and she has been talking about trying to knit socks. I am going to go find her some cool sock yarn and some bamboo dpns and make it into a nice gift basket for her. Maybe then I can pull out the Regia in my stash and we can learn together...

Friday, March 05, 2004

No Knitting Just Bad News

We found out last night that my eldest son's Kindergarten/First Grade teacher died. She slipped into a coma yesterday after having had surgery last week and died late yesterday. The school is very small and she was one of the founders (it is an alternative public school started by parents and teachers). I and the entire school community are devastated... and yes she was a knitter.

My mother also decided not to go ahead with chemo. She feels she wants to "enjoy life" while she can and just let the cancer run it's course. It's still early and she only just found out so I am hoping she will change her mind but I do believe that it is her decision to make.

I have to say I am so ready for this week to be over...

Thursday, March 04, 2004

It's been a few days but you had to see it coming...yet another quiz!!

Rerun
You are Rerun!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I have to say I am super happy with this one. I only had to take it once and I got my favorite character. I have adored Rerun since the first strip I ever saw him in on the back of his dad's (or mom's bike).

There has been a secret lurking in my sidebar for a few weeks now. You may notice that the baby blanket that my co-workers and I have been working on has been hovering at the 90% finished stage for awhile now. Why is this you may ask? Mostly because I am quite intimidated by the idea of blocking and stitching together 56 3"x3" squares. In fact intimidated may be putting it mildly. I did lay it out to figure out the color configuration but then I put it away. Having been made by 4 different knitters the squares are extremely different and aren't all 3"x3", close yes, but not quite. Problem is the baby has been born and he needs his blanket! Guess what I'll be doing this weekend...

Wednesday, March 03, 2004

So my mother's cancer has recurred, but it seems to be quite small, although it has spread to her liver and lungs which kind of freaks me out. I lost my dad to lung cancer five years ago. The doctor says he believes she will respond very well to chemo, so that's a good thing. I would have preferred surgery again myself, but she is actually happier that it turned out like this. The last surgery was a horrible experience for her. She was very concerned about losing her hair so I said, "hey I will make you chemo caps!" so now I need to find some nice light weight cottons yarn to make her some caps for the warm spring weather.

I feel I must add because of Bron's bad experience, that if you don't appreciate a blog entry that goes off the subject a bit then perhaps you should stick to blogs more your style. I do take it very seriously that this is a knitting blog and most of what I write is strictly that, but I also feel that we are a community and many of us friends and I care about other aspects of people's lives. Sometimes life gets a bit larger than just my hobby and I feel a need to vent and this being my blog I will. If you don't want to know about my personal life at all wait a few days and we will go back to your regularly scheduled knitting content...


As a quick aside on the weight loss topic, I found the most hystrical site. I suppose there is a certain truth to the idea it is espousing but all I could do was chuckle...
My Pet Fat

Monday, March 01, 2004

Very little being done on the knitting front. I've had a potentially bad family situation that has come up with my mother. I will blog again on Wednesday because I will know by then how bad it really is. In the meantime as a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan I couldn't resist sharing this link with all of you. It was posted to the knitlist last week:

I've Got a Theory, Knitting Style


Also be sure to visit the new online knitting magazine Magknits which boasts a cute felted bag pattern from Julie and a great sweater from Alison.

And of course thanks to Brooks for this quiz ('cause she must know I can't resist):

You like blue sock yarn. You are a fellow. You don't like bars, you prefer pubs.
What color of sock yarn do you prefer?

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