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).