Updates

I am on the second pink ribbon sock, working down the leg, I had to frog back to the cuff last night, made too many mistakes while talking at knit night. But I am on my way now.

This is my first pink ribbon sock, it went so quick and looks so lovely.



I had a crisis of faith before the Olympics started and pulled out of Teammn and the wipswrestling, I did finish one of those projects anyway.

My new goal with knitting is to finish my pink ribbon socks by Saturday and then finish my last secret sock by the end of the Olympics, hopefully even cast on a slipper.

Last night we had quite a showing at knit night, I was so happy to see someone I had become worried about, had not seen or heard from her in a while. She made the cutest little hat for our expectant mommy, in Italian flag colors which is where our EM is from.

My sock will not finish it's self (it would if I were Mrs. Weasley), I am not magical. They are swimming at the Olympics and I am knitting my little heart out.

I will write more later, perhaps when my second sock is complete.

Happy stitches.

Ravelympics, sock club and more

I joined the Ravelympics, I know, it sounds funny. I am on two teams, sugarbunnyblvd, sock put and teammn, wipswrestling. So now I need to complete my secret socks (not in the ravelympics), my campanula socks and Bri's slippers for wipswrestling and my SBB pink ribbon socks for the sugarbunnyblvd sock put. I think I can get them all done by the deadline, which is the end of the oplympics, but I cannot start working on them until the start of the Olympics.


I changed my ravatar to the SBB logo, that was before I joined the Minnesota team for wich I do not have a ravatar. Isn't it cute.

Wish me luck, I will need it.


Saturday was sock club, we have a dragonfly sock to make for this month, I will leave this for after ravelympics.

After sock club a few of us went to Knitter's Palette, it is so nice there, open, Zen. anyway I of course purchased the new Vogue knitting magazine with the article on Ravelry. Good article, it amazes me how short a time span, just one year or so that Ravelry has been around and how much it has grown. There are 160,899 registered Ravelry users as of todays check. That is a lot of people in several countries around the world and the numbers grow daily.

Tazsmonn, my happy house mate is always promoting Ravelry at work, whenever he sees anyone knittingor crocheting. Ravelers promote Ravelry daily to anyone in the knit and crochet community.

Well that was digression for you.

After the Knitter's Palette, We went to lunch at Red Robin, lunch was very good we like the strawberry lemonade) the it was on to Three Kittens to check out thier moving sale, lovely people there as well.

I am continuing to go through things around the house, purging the excess and making life more simple. Today's project is one of the dressers in the bedroom, I have stuff on top and thngs other than clothes in the drawers, like cd's, a cd player and junk like that. It's a bit slow because I have a bad allergy headache again today, this on too of slight athsma issues, oh well keep pluggging along I say, and pray for medications to take better hold.

I have become a laundry fanatic lately, I do wash everyday. No more end of the week laundry back up.


Happy stitches

Road trip and needle progress

My needles have been clicking away and have managed to.......... complete a washcloth, begin the second half of the Lisa Lloyd sister scarf I am making, start a second slipper for my Niece Bri, make progress on my secret sock (I know Jen, it's a secret).

This past Wednesday, I spent a few hours at The Linden Hills Yarn shop in Linden Hills. I had a lovely time visiting with a few of the regulars, some of whom are on Ravelry, and Jan the owner. I picked up a lovely skein of Malabrigo lace yarn in a yellow called Cadmium, Love it! I could not stop touching it for a while, it had called my name for a few hours before I gave in and bought it. I Believe it wants to become a Swallow tail shawl, the project is in my cue and the pattern is ready.

I think I would like to pick up a self patterning yarn that looked as though it was a worsted weight, for a hat or two for Christmas presents. It looked pretty good, oh, and I could find some yarn to make the sock monkey hat.

I had a very nice time at Linden Hills yarn and plan on going a bit more frequently, everyone was friendly and engaging. The Malabrigo lace yarn is dangerous for me though, eeeee, all teh yarn is dangerous. Oh the things we must suffer and the dangers at hand!

Perhaps another road trip like the one I took yesterday would help me complete some of the above projects and more. A group of friends and I decided to take a road trip to Rochester yesterday. to visit a couple of shops there.

If you have spent any time at the Mayo clinic or St. Marys hospital (where I practically grew up), you will find a couple of nice places to divert your attention and uplift your spirits. I am grateful I do not have a reason to hang out around there now, but a visit now and then is a happy way to spend a day.

Both shops are within walking distance of St. Mary's Hospital, Kristen Knits is on Second Street which runs in front of St. Mary's, perhaps two blocks to past going East on Second st, on the North side of the road.

Kristen's is having a sale, 25% off, because they no longer have a lease. Rochester is planning a new project in the area and displacing a few shops temporarily or permanently. Kristen needs to be out by September 1st, I hope she relocates and remains available to the knitting public, and those who only have a few minutes to run over from the hospital.

Just A little Something is on 6th Street about four blocks behind St Mary's, where they offer choices in quilting on the first floor and yarn on the second floor.

This is the historic house and shop, where you will find "Just A Little Something."


In the past I was always in more of a daze, taking a break from surgery waiting, post op, or intensive care when my Dad was in the hospital. I have to say that I enjoyed yesterdays visit much more, no stress or worry.

I did manage to add to my stash, of course. I picked up three skeins of ella rae for making winter bed socks aka. slippers at Kristens, and at JALS, I picked up three skeins of Cascade "The Heathers", in Periwinkle. I was seeing scarf and hat for a Christmas present with this.

Happy stitches everyone, hope your stitches are all going well.

Secret

I have a stitching secret (insert musical notes here). I am making a pair of secret socks, these socks are coming along well, I am making them to enter in the "think outside the sox" sock contest. No pictures, because it is secret for now.

The socks are a cuff down fair isle and, I am working down the foot of the first sock, after which I will of course make the second sock. I had not knitted a lot of fair isle in the past, however I was very inspired to do this sock. This is my first sock design and I am so excited about it.

I am now thinking of a pair for breast cancer or donation. I have been inspired for this one by another blogger and fellow Raveler M. M is dedicated to the cause and helping out, which I like.

Completed:

Diamond lace set, head band, hand warmers and scarf (to be available on Ravelry soon.)

Hundertwasser knit-a-long hand warmers, I like these a lot and have decided they are for me.









Bottoms up tea pot cozy, I will add a picture later.(don't have one yet)


This lovely purple piece is the back of my baby doll top. I am making slow progress, I add a few rows a day on this but focus more on other items, like my secret sock, yeah.









Have fabulous fiber fun.

Patterns created

I am working on publishing some knit patterns that I have created in the past couple of years. A couple of years ago I designed and knitted a headband for my sister Heidi. I have knitted another head band and have created a matching pair of hand warmers and scarf as well. I am putting them on Ravelry and hope that everyone likes them. These are quick and easy patterns to knit using a worsted weight yarn.

The hand warmers and headband ear warmer are the same yarn, the pictures do seem to look different. I will have pictures of the scarf soon, I am finishing up knitting that one.

I am in the process of adding them to Ravelry, this is a new process for me so... hopefully I will be finished soon.












Now back to the Linden Hill Yarns Hundertwasser knit along, One hand warmer complete, the second one is on needles and coming along nicely.

They will not quite match in color pattern, because I did not pull the yarn up to the same starting pint as the first one. I like the changes in the coloring of the yarn.

I am truley not the best photographer and have so much to learn, but still you are able to see abit of the patterning and the color changes.

projects and family

The fourth was hard on Sadie, my little poodle. All those fireworks made her tremble until they were over; she tried to become more a part of me than usual during the noise. As soon as the fireworks were over, she decided it was time to go out.

I did not hear as many fireworks around the neighborhood, like as in years past. There were many festivities in Richfield for the Fourth of July, including a Veterans memorial dedication at Soldiers Field.

I am working on a lace pattern for a matching headband, scarf and hand warmers, which I would like to put on Ravelry. I need to finish the scarf and convert the pattern into PDF format for publishing. I created the headband pattern a couple of years ago for as a Christmas gift for one of my sisters;I have added the matching pair of hand warmers and scarf. I have pictures of the head band, but need pictures of the other pieces. The other pattern I am working on getting on Ravelry is a baby doll top and pantie set I made for Sadie, I have pictures of that now, so I just need to put it into PDF format.

My latest finished object is a pair of lace hand warmers; which is a collaborative with Tamara of DelSonno Enterprises, to be sold on the clickity sticks website. They hand warmers do need to be blocked, but are still pretty. Perhaps a head band to go with them (like I need another project), hmmm, I don't think I have enough yarn, but if I do I will publish it.










I have been trying to work a couple of rows on each project that I have going, each day as well as applying a bit more focus on one of them. Hopefully this will help me make progress and finish a few things I have on needles.


I joined the Hunderwasser knit along at Linden Hills Yarn & Textile Design Ltd. You can make whatever you want, using the Opal yarn Hundertwasser colorway called Road to Socialism. Being a Socialist is not a requisite, you just need to use the colorway mentioned in the sock yarn. The project needs to be finished by the end of the 2008 olympics to have your name entered in the drawing. I had a crisis of faith with the pattern I am using, but I did get over it and move forward. I am on the wrist of the first hand warmer (definitely a pattern here)and the colorway is turning out like a happy walk through bright colors. I should keep these, they will be cheerful this winter.
the unevenness of the lines as they are coming our in the fabric, lovely and unique. I am looking forward to the finished pair. A cool scarf to go with them would be fun, I wonder if the colorway will ever be made in a heavier weight yarn?

I have been thinking of my Dad and missing him a lot again, I don't stop missing him, the feeling comes in heavier waves from time to time. This was the time of year he would start water fights with us, he was very spontaneous with things like that. He would begin with a sneak attack using a little water gun, which would progress and escalate into a full fledged drenching of each other and the water hose. He was a funny guy, one time he dropped against the kitchen door frame at grandpa and grandmas, and began to talk the words to bullet in my shoulder, one of his sisters was mad at him.

Like many in he and his parents generations, he used to say "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well." I remember his dad saying that as well.

When we were little, our families would go to my dad's parent's house to celebrate the Fourth of July, we would have sparklers and the adults would light firecrackers, have a picnic and watch fireworks at the lake. I remember sitting on blankets watching fireworks across the lake, those night were lovely and simple, not complicated by adulthood and life.

Funny memory of my grandfather, when I was young our house caught fire, my family was split up a bit during the renovations and I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. one night I remember him sitting at the dining room table; this was where he sat and drank coffee, which was a beverage he drank throughout the day. Grandpa had a teaspoon and a bottle of ketchup; he filled the teaspoon with ketchup and ate it. I had never seen anyone do that, so I asked him what he was doing, he said, "eating ketchup" and offered me some. This habit was not for me, I declined not seeing any reason to eat plain ketchup. He was probably teasing me, like our uncle did with snuff, only that was worse. I had seen my Dad's brother in law uncle Bill, chew snuff and spit it out, eew. I witnessed him offer the substance to kids, everyone fell for it. When asked, he would say he was chewing candy and offer the asking child a bit of it from the tin, the offending substance was always spit back out right away. It was awful, what was the point, why chew something that tasted so bad? He did eventually drop the habit of chewing snuff, as well as offering it to kids; I think he got into a bit of trouble offering it to kids.

My Dad's mom used to knit, although she did not teach us how, I remember she knitted some sweaters. My Dad's sister Zelma crochets, she sewed and quilted as well; I do not know if she ever knitted. I would go to visit her and stitched while visiting, I enjoyed it a lot.

Here's to project completion.

Monday of FO's

I finished a few items, quick knits all.

First, hand warmers with a bracelet knitted in to them. Kits and pattern for these will be available through Clickitysticks.com
I used Jitterbug sock yarn and a metallic yarn. accenting the bracelet with beads.

I think these will be a gift, one of my sisters admired them and there is always Christmas. Or just because! I think they are going to Stitches first though. At least that was the plan.



Next, bed socks. Soft, warm and cozy bed socks. The pattern is called winter socks by Bev Galeskas and can be found in the Fiber Trends booklet #2013 The Magic Loop. I used a lovely acrylic wool blend yarn by Ella Rae called Amity. Both the yarn and booklet were purchased at Knitter's Palette in Lakeville.



These went very quickly, can be done in two or three days for the pair.

I want to make another pair before winter, maybe add some fair isle work to it.



My most recent FO is a cute little coin purse called "Change your socks" I purchased the kit by CiDesigns at Knitter's Palette and I used Noro Kureyon from my stash to make the little sock. So cute, so quick and gratifying.

Oh, knit this up in a few hours. perfect little last minute gift.

I was so excited, I had to put coins in right away. I could make a few more pairs with this skein of Noro. These would make cute gifts, I htink the next one will drop a needle size, I did get the guage for the ribbing, but the sockseems a bit larger than the samples that were at Knitter's Palette.

Happy Stitching