New toy!

Jim got me an iPad for Christmas! I am learning how to use it and so far so good. I am hoping that it will make it easier to stay up with my blog and to upload pics. For instance! Tonight I am on the couch with my cats and my knitting. I am trying to figure out how to add a pic from my iPad to my blog. More later!

This time of year

Please make sure you are well rested before going to the store. Well rested = patience. And the people who are shopping in the store with you are probably not well rested.
Please, if you are in line and there is a person behind you with kids trying to get done and out of the store, let them go ahead of you. They will be forever grateful.

Almost the weekend!

It is almost the weekend. I was just reviewing in my head what I have to get done before Christmas and I think, if my memory is right, I am down to one pair of socks for my mom. I started those yesterday, so that will be my project to get done. I also have another quilt that Chris at the Quilted Moose finished for me and that is draped over a dining room chair and just needs the binding. So I can work on that too. Oh, and we have to wrap some presents and I have to get the Christmas cards ready to go out. So that is my to do list for the weekend:
1 pr of socks
1 quilt that needs binding
Christmas cards
Wrap presents
Not a bad list.
After I get the Christmas knitting done I will be concentrating on knitting mittens for Coats for Christmas. They distribute coats for children and adults in November...my friend in Ohio helps and I offered to knit some mitts to go with the coats. I have a whole tub of yarn I can use for that project. One of these days we will remodel my studio and it would help if it wasn't totally full at that point. But when I get a good deal on yarn, how am I to pass it up?

The new mixer

So we went to Kohl's on black Friday and I got a Kitchenaid mixer. The big kind, that sits on the counter and looks you in the face until you use it. I made bread with it tonight, pull apart garlic bread. It was wonderful...wasn't exactly pull apart, more like fall apart, but it was good. Next I think I will make snickerdoodles, maybe on Tuesday. We both have our colds back so I will be resting alot after work. The homemade chicken soup I made tonight was yummy too.
Lots of Christmas knitting left to do so Diva this weekend will be for knitting and not sewing. Gave the nieces and nephew their quilts, they liked them and made their aunt very happy.

Fnished this weekend:

5 pillowcases, 1 bag and 1 quilt. Although I do have to say I was off for the last 5 days because I don't work my birthday, and we were closed Friday so I took Thursday too, giving me 5 whole days to relax and sew and knit. Although I didn't get any knitting done.

Quilt top done and this weekend's to do list

The quilt top is done! I will try and get a good picture of it tonight. For this weekend I need to sew the quilt top for my nephew's quilt, and I have 6 pillowcases cut out to sew to match the quilt top I just finished. I also need to finish a Christmas baby hat I started. And the binding for the quilt top. I cut that out and it's ready to be made. So there it is:
binding for quilt
6 pillowcases
quilt top for nephew
finish handsewing binding on niece's quilt
finish handsewing binding on throw quilt
It helps to put the list up here, because then I actually do try and get things done!

Diva's this weekend at the Moose!

I am gearing up for diva's this weekend. Lots of projects to finish up, including a quilt for my nephew for Christmas. I have it cut out, just need to sew it. :-)

I had someone comment on my blog that she was new to town and a knitter. I would love to meet up, I'll be at the moose this Saturday, so if you can, stop by and introduce yourself! (I usually leave by 2, and I'll be sitting at the table by the cutting table)
Jill

Ooops

When at work and knitting on a sock, if you happen to mess up and need to rip back, paperclips will work in a pinch to help pick the stitches back up if you don't have smaller needles.

Not sure if I am going to keep knitting this sock or if I am going to rip out and start over, wasn't really keen on this pattern anyway.

Finished this weekend

I did get 2 projects finished and 1 quilt top ready for borders.
Newfie mitts finished:

Baby quilt binding finished:
And Gorby helped with the quilt top,

And even with her help I did get the top ready for the borders

So there are a few things off my to do list.

Weekend get it done list

Well, here is the list, let us see how much I get done on it:
Finish Newfie mitts (I am about 2/3's done with the 1st of the pair)
Handsew binding on Jim's great grandmother's quilt
Handsew binding on quilt for niece for Christmas
Handsew binding on baby quilt
Finish quilt top I started last weekend
Finish spinning brown wool and then next weekend I can ply it all
I think that's it. So now that I have posted this, hopefully that will be pressure to actually get something done!
And I am hoping the fabric gets here to finish the quilt top, I had to order it!

Time flies!

We had another busy weekend, 2 hockey games and I had a quilt class on Saturday. Not my normal colors, more "Jim" colors. Really like the way it is turning out though, and I ordered fabric last night for borders so I can make the quilt large enough for our bed, will be our fall quilt for next year. Eventually we will probably have a quilt for every month of the year! It is nice to change things up though.
Have another project underway. When I went to the quilt show I saw Newfie mittens for sale. I have been doing a little digging, and have found patterns for traditional Maine mittens also, but none for Michigan mittens. I am going to design my own and the pattern will then be available for free, my hope is that people will use the pattern to make mitts for charity, as well as for family. I have certain criteria in mind, at this point I am in the learning stage. I have just cast on a pair of Newfie mitts, I am going to knit a few pair of mitts from existing patterns and figure out what I like. And I do think the mitts will have directions for 2 needle and 4 needle....
But for now it's time to get ready for work.

Finished last weekend

I finished a few things last weekend. This week I finished the vest I was knitting for a commission, and now today I am taking a quilt class with Paige. Should be a great time. Can't believe that time is flying by so fast. Pretty soon it will be Christmas! Woke up thinking about what I needed to get done for Christmas this morning. The weather here has turned cold and we had to turn on the heat. I wanted to make it to October 1, missed it by one day. Maybe next year. Our new back door is on order and then we have to get it painted and then installed before the snow flies. Should help with the heating bill. (The baby hats were for a tiny little guy who needed a hat that fit, and the Halloween pillowcases were for our friends' children)

How cute is this?

The other night these two were snoozing on the couch, and no, I didn't pose them this way. It was adorable.

I guess they do like each other. At least when they are sleeping.
On another note I finished an afghan I was crocheting for a lady. It turned out really well, at first the edges didn't seem to be working out but as the afghan got heavier they evened out.

Misc....

Worked on an afghan this weekend, haven't crocheted this much in quite awhile and it's turning out very nice.
Went to Diva club on Saturday but only stayed a few hours. Sat in computer training all last week and can't wait to get to the chiro tomorrow. I have an office job but am certainly not used to sitting still that long, we are always up and down. Sitting still killed me, my back hurts like never before.
Had a nice long walk today with Jen, 4.2 miles. I google mapped it when I got home. Feels good to get out and stretch my legs and get fresh air. Soon it will be winter and we won't be able to walk like that, we'll have to find somewhere to walk inside. In Ohio people walked inside the mall which was nice. We'll figure something out.
Jim finished the siding on the garage, now he just has to put up a couple pieces of lattice on the front deck. The plants we ordered for the front bed should be shipped tomorrow, then we can get those in the ground before winter.

What a great weekend!

I had a 3 day weekend. Friday was Lakerpalooza and breakfast at the Lockview. Saturday was spent knitting on the deck and Jim worked on the garage, which is almost all done. The new siding looks great and it matches the house. Our plants are on order for the front flower bed and will be here the first part of September in time to be planted for the long winter. We're getting there, slow but sure. Oh, and the new gravel drive is gorgeous when it rains with the river stone they used.

Diva club ugly fabric challenge

So last year for Diva club we had an ugly fabric challenge. We eached rec'd a half yard of this:

I cut mine into strips and made it into a purse and lined it with some pretty peach fabric that showed through to the outside:

Paige, on the other hand, took a totally different route and it was fabulous and totally shocking to me that she did this. Paige is very direction oriented, and she pushed her limits. She saw a picture and was inspired.

Inspired by this picture:

And the best part? Paige's daugther Heather helped. Now that's cool.

The Brown Blob

There it is. In all it's glory. The brown blob of wool I have been spinning on for years. Literally. It moved with us from Ohio. It has sat in the bongo bag here without being touched for years. It's time that it transforms itself from the brown blob that it is into the beautiful yarn it can be. I know it can be beautiful yarn, because I have finished some of it in to a beautiful 2 ply.
I have pulled the brown blob out of the bongo bag. It is now living in a corner of the dining room where I can watch it. I just have this suspicion that left to it's own devices it will keep reproducing so I will never finish spinning it. So now it is being watched, and every day I get up and sit at the wheel and spin for a bit. And slowly, the brown blob will transformed. Just watch.

2 baby sweaters down, 2 to go

I have 2 baby sweaters finished and I have 2 more to go. It is nice to finish up some projects.I also have 2 pair of socks started for me and a sweater. So I need to get moving on those. And I need to work on my writing too, never enough hours in the day!
It's been hot here, but we got the brush cleared out around garage. Now we are waiting on the estimate for the drive (grade it and put in fresh gravel) and put in a front sidewalk (cement),and prep a nice big flower bed. It will be so nice to get this stuff done. We'll get there, one project at a time.

Daniel Silva holds my sock in progress!!!!

Ok, so I had Steve Hamilton, and now Daniel Silva! I find it funny that neither of them even questioned the fact they were holding my sock knitting, they just went with it.


I have to say I highly recommend reading Daniel Silva. And it's not just because he held my knitting. Jim and I drove down to see him at the Traverse City Opera House, and we would definitely do it again. We had a great time, the opera house is beautiful. It was 3 hours one way, and then we had to drive back that same night because I had to work the next day, but totally worth it.
Read his books in order, so you can see the character develop!

Writing

I fully intend to pursue my writing career. And the more I talk about it and the more I tell people, the more excited I get. I know I might fail, but I really don't want to be one of those people who looks back and thinks "What if". I want to surround myself with creative people, people who like to discuss and think and debate. I find myself more and more stuck in a routine which feels like a rut and that has to change. I'll be a happier person for it. I want to be creative and go sit on the beach or at the locks and knit and write. I want to be able to stay home when it's freezing out and curl up with the cats and my laptop. I want to work my ass off for something that will be "mine". And if I fail, I fail. And that will be mine also.

Steve Hamilton and my sock!!!

Here you go:

Published author Steve Hamilton holding my sock in progress. :-)
http://www.authorstevehamilton.com/ I love his books, they make me want to curl up with a bowl of popcorn under a quilt while I read. And he's very nice in person. So if you get a chance, check out his books!

So far, so good

I have started journaling everyday. Just a few lines, or more, depending on how tired I am and my mood. I am trying to make it a habit and so far I am doing well, I have only missed 1 day in the last couple of weeks. I think that's pretty good. And it is now starting to be part of my bedtime routine.
It's going to be muggy here again today. We put in central a/c when we moved here 4 years ago and we don't regret that decision at all. Nice to be able to flip a switch and cool off the whole house.
Today is a knitting day. And a napping day, and a grilling brats day and laughing with my husband day. :-) I love these days.

Weekend is over.

Back to work today. I worked on the baby sweaters this weekend. Both backs are done and the first front is to the armholes. Not bad. Sorted through some more magazines, it's nice to get all organized. Of course I am a long way from organized. :-) I work 5 days and then have a 3 day weekend, I want to get the baby sweaters done this week so I don't have to work on them this coming weekend. I would like to work on the sweater for me. Beautiful yarn, turquoise color and very soft.

Shade Cards

I received the yarn yesterday for two baby sweaters I have been commissioned to knit. I just wish that Berroco would put out shade cards for sale because the green I got isn't exactly a sage green, it's an olive and I have to see if that's ok today because the customer wanted sage. Oh well. I did start the first one last night and the back is almost completed. I decided this morning I would knit both sweaters at the same time, the back of the first, the back of the second, then both fronts. That way I get in a groove and I don't have to worry about starting all over to knit that 2nd sweater when the first one is done. I know, I know, it's psychological, but that's how I will do it. :-)
Off to work I go, 2 more days to get up early and I am free for the weekend.

Finished baby sweater

I finished a baby sweater, it's for a co-worker's grandbaby who isn't quite here yet. For once I am ahead of the game!


Today I am going to finish up a scarf, I need to put the fringe on and I need to sew the leg back on a turtle that I knit. He's had a bit of an accident.

Cabled Baby Sweater

I finished a cabled baby sweater the other day. It came out very cute. http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/baby_poonan/baby_poonan.html was the patter I used, and here are the pics:


I actually had to break out my peg counter, I got it years ago. It's a Susan Bates product and it helped me successfully keep track of the cable pattern on the front of the sweater. There are three different stitch patterns, one is a 4 row repeat, one an 8 row and one a 16 row. The board was wonderful!

I don't know if this product is still available, but it would certainly be worth picking up if you saw one, just to have it on hand just in case...

My weekend, from back to front

I am starting with today, and showing you the wonderful yarn I got. Much of it will be knitting into warm baby things for charity. The yarn shop in Mackinac City has closed it's doors, the owner has opened a new shop in Petoskey which is further away. She had a huge sale today, and I stocked up.





And all of it together.

Clue #2 finished

I finished clue #2. I really am enjoying knitting this shawl. The pattern is being posted clue by clue here:
http://wendyknits.net/

Not my weekend

I was all set to knit my sweater this weekend. Housework was caught up, I did my gauge swatch, this morning I got up and made a pot of coffee and cast on. Berroco Weekend yarn, the color was gorgeous. I found the first knot. I cut the yarn and kept going. I found the second knot. I cut the yarn and kept going. I found the third knot and emailed Berroco. I am waiting to hear back on Monday about what to do, I have 6 skeins and I have no idea if the other skeins have knots, and I am not even halfway into the first skein.
Then I thought the day was saved. I ordered a knitting book from amazon.co.uk, because the book isn't going to be available in the states till August and I wanted it Now with a capital "N". "The Gentle Art of Knitting". I follow Jane Brocket's blog and this is her latest book. It wasn't supposed to be here till after Memorial Day, but YEAH! It showed up today. I waited till after we went out for dinner to open it, and it's damaged. The dust jacket is tore a bit and so now I have to pay to send it back and then wait for reimbursement. And then I will wait until August when it comes out in the States.

Clue 1 finished

I have finished the first clue in the mystery shawlette. I like this. It's not too terribly difficult which is great because I am very tired from work. And it looks really cool so far. :-)

Mystery Shawlette

I just heard about this mystery shawlette KAL yesterday. So today I decided to go for it. The pattern is here on this blog: http://wendyknits.net/. So far it's knitting up nice, I am halfway through the first clue. You start off with tons of stitches and decrease, so the rows will get shorter and shorter. That appeals to me. The first step was to cast on and knit 2 rows, and that didn't look like much when I was done.

I will take a picture when I am done with the first clue. The next clue will be posted on Sunday. I will tell you that I am calling mine Watermelon Lace, because the colors of the yarn I am using look like watermelon.

Knitting

I went to quilting on Saturday and took my knitting. A co-worker has a new grandson and he is also a Detroit Tiger's fan, so here is what I came up with:


The buttons are little baseballs, hard to see in the picture.
Paige finished knitting a cute little skirt, and a sweater set!


I had a good time at the shop, it's always a nice break after working all week.

Once again....

Once again I have neglected my blog. And I was off all last week, and you would have thought I could squeeze out one post. But I didn't. I lay on my couch and felt horrid, I had a horrible virus and didn't even care anything about anything till about Wednesday night. I discovered a few things last week, and one of which is I love purple gatorade, low cal. It's yummy. And I still love popsicles, but not the cherry ones, grape first and then orange and the red ones last. I discovered again how wonderful my husband is when I tried to bribe him to go get me gatorade and he went anyway and didn't take the bribe. (I said he could order $100 in books if he went out in the storm to get me gatorade and he didn't even do it. Shocking) I discovered that my cats seem to be concerned when I am not acting normally. And my Shadow loves to cuddle more than anything. (Well, not more than her food, but that's still pretty good).

How?

How did we turn into "those" people? Those people who need a daily planner to keep up with life and all that is going on. Those people who have a marker board to keep track of lists of everything that needs to be done and is needed to be purchased and and and!!!
But then again, how did I spend all those years as a stay at home wife? :-)

The evolution of the bunny hat

The first one was too big and the ribbing was only K1P1 and that didn't work.

The next one was ok, but still a little bit big and I didn't like the shaping of the ears on the top and I didn't like the solid color.

The third one is just right. :-)

So this weekend I tweeked the design for the baby hats with bunny ears. I think it came out very cute and I will now go into "production" knitting mode to make enough for the breastfeeding peer counselor who requested them. And I want to finish another chemo hat. And I have my swatches to do for the master knitter level 2. I always have something to keep me busy!

Fun Furlough Friday and ghosts?

Tomorrow I have my furlough day and it's the first one that I don't have to go anywhere or have an appointment. My big plan is to sleep, and tuck up on the couch with my knitting. And my Nook, I have some library books on there that I want to read before they are due. No hockey, which is the first in a long time. I started cleaning my studio last night, trying to get ready for the cabinet that will be here in a couple months. I cannot believe how much fabric there is in there, knowing that when we left Ohio I didn't have any!
Has anyone ever thought they saw something out of the corner of their eye but there wasn't anyone or anything there? Very odd feeling, turning and expecting to see someone but no one is there.

Cysts

I had two cysts removed from my eye today, both inside the lower lid. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, only took 30 minutes of sick time and was back at work! A bit sore and itchy, but not bad at all. I was able to knit tonight on fingerless mitts for a co-worker, the pattern is from this book:

I love this book! I want to knit the Hooded House Coat too. And the presentation in this book is wonderful, I love to just look through it. Matter of fact I have been carrying it back and forth to work just to page through at lunch! I haven't used the Ella Rae yarns, but I have been looking at it online. I would have to order it and I hate to do that because it's hard to tell colors. I know I could order a sample card from somewhere, but for now I will just enjoy the book. (I would definitely buy this as a special treat!)

Zebra

I am knitting a zebra. That's all I am going to say. Except it's not black & white. Pictures to follow....

Debbie Bliss Spring/Summer Issue!!!

So what do you do when your favorite magazine only comes out two times a year? You bake scones, brew tea and light candles to enjoy your first browse thru, savoring every page.

The healing power of handmade items

I think that sometimes people underestimate the power of their creations. We all have some artistic bone in our bodies. My friend is a wonderful baker. My other friend is a very skilled knitter. My co-worker is a photographer, my other co-worker quilts, the list goes on. When we create something a bit of ourself is in the finished piece, and is given to the recipient of the item, be it a hat or mittens or a quilt. And that is a good thing. And wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone spent a little time creating something and then passed that item on? Think of the smiles we would create, the feeling of well being. So give it some thought, and see if you have time to create something to pass on. We all have talent, in all different areas. Make a card and send it to a friend who needs a lift. Write a poem and post it online for all to enjoy. Share a little piece of yourself and enjoy the reward of knowing that you might have just given someone a little sense of peace.

Finished!

COLD!

I knew it was cold this weekend, but I didn't realize how cold! The paper yesterday said the temp at the airport was -22. Which is only a few blocks from my house. I was out shopping, I guess I have acclimated and didn't realize how cold it actually was.
Tonight I am going to attempt snowshoeing, which is something I have wanted to try. so we will see how that goes. It has warmed up considerably, yesterday it was 1 degree when I was on my way to work.

CCHA Championship Cup!!!!

We went to the hockey game tonight, which was an awesome game, we won in a shootout.

But here is the best part:

That is the CCHA Championship cup, adorned with my knitting. It's a sock yarn scarf that I started at last night's game. And don't forget the celebration after the final goal:

Off Today!

That means a three day weekend and a whole list of things I would like to get done:
1. Fix Michelle's Sweater
2. Fix Jim's wood fire truck and clean it!!
3. Work on Harry Potter scarf
4. Make table runner for dining room table (I am getting a tealight holder that is on order and I want to clean up the dining room and actually start using the table, we never eat at the table because it's my "work" area!)
5. ???? I am sure I will come up with something here!

A few more finished projects

I have finished a few more projects and have more on the needles. It is hard to believe that time is flying by so quickly. It seems like it's just Friday and then it's Monday again, the weekend gone. Last weekend we had 2 hockey games for the college and went to Mike's game on Sunday for the city championship. They lost, but Mike did very well. He's a goalie and I remember watching him play when he wasn't even as tall as the cross bar and now he's past it.
Here is a finished pic:

A nice warm baby sweater and hat, very much needed this time of year. And Jim and I finally got a snowblower,

Also much needed this time of year. And as I write this the snow is falling. And falling.