Hats and dresses and onesies, oh my!

We've survived the first major round of gift giving this year.
My sisters-in-law have back to back birthdays, and both are runners, so I though a Calorimetry would make a good gift - keep their ears warm, but not as much stuff on your head as a hat.



Pattern: Calorimetry from Knitty
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran - just over 1/2 a skein of each color).
Needles: Sz US 7 Clover Bamboo Circulars
Dates: Both started and finished February 24-25
Mods: For the purple one I cast on 90 stitches, and it was close to being too tight on me. For the green one I cast on 98, and it seemed the perfect size. I also did 12 repeats of the short rows instead of the 16 called for in the pattern.
Thoughts: Again, a favorite pattern in the rotation. A great gift - cute and warm and quick!


We had already gifted the blue baby hat (from a few posts back), but the pink one was gifted today. Also gifted (to a different mama) were these cuties:


Pattern: Strawberry Hat from Ann Norling
Yarn: Takhi somethingorother for the red (cotton/acrylic) and Red Heart Sport for the green bits.
Needles: Sz US 7 Boye Metal needles, 16" circular
Dates: sometime in the last 1/2 of February
Mods: I duplicate stitched on the "seeds"
Thoughts: very cute, though something about this yarn makes it not very "rolly" - the brim doesn't roll as much as I would like.


Pattern: Anouk from Knitty
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Candy Blue (I think) and Banana
Needles: Sz US 7 Susan Bates Circulars
Dates: late January to March 3
Mods: I left off the pockets
Thoughts: again, very cute! Hubbo helped choose the buttons (JCA from JoAnn's), and I think they work very well with the colors. The mama and papa loved it, so a success all around! I do think I'll try a different dress pattern next time - there are so many out there!


We (hubbo and I) also whipped up these cute onesies for part of the gift - mama is a school librarian, so we choose some of our favorite book characters. Olivia and Eloise sadly didn't survive the transfer process.

Now I've got to finish up hubbo's pirate hat before we leave for Colorado in a few days!

Under the wire

I finished up these with an hour of February to spare - just in time to get my "F" for the Sock-a-Month 3 KAL, and Socktopia.

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in the Bright Charcoal colorway
Needles: ChiaGoo Bamboo DPN's - size 2.75 mm
Pattern: Simple stockinette sock over 60 stitches
Dates: Saturday February 3-February 28
Mods: n/a
Thoughts: This yarn is a delight - very soft and squishy, with a lovely stretch. That said, I'm not crazy about most of the colors. I'm hoping they expand the line. These will go with many of my outfits, as I tend to wear a lot of black and grey in the winter. I knit them on the 2.75 needles, as the yarn seemed thick in the skein. If I knit another pair, I'd probably go down to 2.5 or 2.25. I was nervous about my yardage (only 280 meters in a skein), so I knit a 6 inch cuff instead of my usual 7-8 inches. I had plenty of yarn left over.
More knitting excitement tomorrow!

Madness

Sometime in my fuzzy haze of sickness and stress, I signed up for Sock Madness. The dork in me is unreasonably excited about this (I have an unhealthy love for brackets - it's one of my favorite things about the NCAA playoffs), while the knitter in me is too well acquainted with my KAL failure rate to have very high hopes of success. I do think I can make it through the first round, as the pattern will be released on the first day of Spring Break (only 6 more teaching days!), and I have a very long car ride to Colorado to look forward to (with no driving! Woot!) and knit my little fingers off.
However, I am frustrated by the yarn requirements.

One of the socks requires sport weight yarn - preferably variegated.

Two pairs of socks require one skein each of solid and variegated fingering weight. One of them will be greatly enhanced if the yarns you choose have a high degree of contrast.

Two pairs of socks require variegated fingering weight yarn. Find something that makes you happy.

The remaining 2 pairs of socks use fingering yarn and they’ll probably look best if you use a solid.

I've got the varigated and solid fingerings well within the stash. It's the sport weight and the one skein of solid and one of varigated that has me frustrated (and that I have to have 2 sets of these - but I can't just pull yarns from the stash, 'cause then I'll have two pairs of matching socks). The yarns I posted about for the Fiesta socks? Those took me weeks to decide on. I don't have weeks. I have days. 10 of 'em. I've pulled every color combo from my LYS, so it looks like it's ordering time. But what to order? And how can I tell if they really match from crappy computer pictures? And not many places sell the 50g skeins these days - all the lovely indie dyers sell 100g skeins (except Sweet Georgia, but she's no longer dyeing). I don't really want a half a skein of leftovers (I'm trying to use up the stash here folks!)

Also, I have no sport weight, as I don't usually need super warm/thick socks. I've already discussed my desire not to use Claudia's sport weight as it is a bit cost-prohibitive. As is Toasty Toes, which pretty much leaves me with Lorna's Shepherd Sport.

So, I need your advice. What colors would you put together? What yarn suggestions do you have? Sport weight yarn? What is your favorite online sock source? Help!!!!

Oh, and for the curious - here are the socks currently on the needles - and three socks are missing from this photo. Must get a pair of size 2 needles free for the madness!

ETA: Blogger isn't letting folks leave comments - feel free to email me at knitnlitATgmailDOTcom. Thanks!

Hours to go before I sleep

This is the current state of the hourglass sweater - a few inches away from the armholes. The astute among you will remember that this is my "24" sweater - something to knit (and hopefully finish) during "24" this spring. I thought I was doing well, but I'm afraid that the sleeves will take longer than I anticipate. That said, I am an hour behind on the sweater as I was too tired to work on it last Monday. I'll make up the time sometime this week, but right now I'm trying to finish up a pair of socks before it becomes March!

Those who can't knit

buy yarn.........



Some lovely grey Jaeger Trinity. Will hopefully be a lovely sweater someday. Perfect Project Spectrum colors.


Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4 ply. I've been wanting this for some time, and when we stopped by the store with the giant sale, hubbo picked it all up for me (this was day 15 million of the bad day cycle). No plans for it - just loved the color and the slight tweed. More Project Spectrum colors. Perhaps if I can't complete a project in the monthly colorways I can buy yarn in each color? Whaddya think?


Yarn for my Fiesta socks - I'm taking my first knitting class for these socks and I have homework to do! Love the combination - Louet fine/sport weight and Claudia's Handpainted.

I ordered some great Kona Bay Wool from Pure Knits - what a deal! All of this was $20.00! It's going to grow up to be the Cable Down Raglan from the new Interweave. I love the color and it's very soft - great buy!


I won a prize! I was the lucky winner in the Sock-a-Month 2 January drawing! Chrissy sent this pretty Opal sock yarn - I love the Opal, and the colors are great.


Whew! That's it - I think that's plenty. I'm certainly going to be way off on my in/out totals this month. Oh well. It's only yarn. There is knitting content too - I can hardly believe it myself!

C'est Fini!

Our final list of updates begins now!

Amy finished a Calorimetry and crocheted several cute flowers for her scarf - very nice!

Shannon is working on a crocheted afghan - I wish I knew how to crochet!

Emilee posted pictures of her cute February heart socks.

Carrie whipped up a cute bucket tote from an old pair of jeans and has a great start to her Wobbly Tote.

Kris finished up a simple sweater - love the color!

Mamma is having a bear of a time blocking her Scheherazade shawl - but it's so red and pretty!

Nessa finished a lovely pair of endpaper mitts - love the blues!

BeccaU has been very busy! She's finished a Fake-Isle Hat, her My So-Called Scarf, started Hourglass, and whipped up a new hat for her her dog! Whew!

Bronwyn finished a cute pair of Regia Silk socks - yum!

Oz Knitter finished up another pair of socks - she's stocking that drawer for winter!

Missy Joon is working on a cute pair of mittens and lovely socks.

Prairie Girl has been very busy - working on a variety of projects. Good luck getting them all finished!

Rahime has been busy in the land of socks as well - they look great!

Chrispy finished up Wicked - I keep seeing these pop up and they are all great - I may have to add it to the list!

Elizabeth finished Icarus and it is gorgeous!

Laverna finished up some simple socks - my favorite kind!

Smug Sheep also finished Wicked - see what I mean about seeing them everywhere?

Karla is having sock gauge issues.

Julia finished up her Monkey socks - I love this pattern!

Yvonne finished up some fancy cuffs and her Bejeweled scarf.

Katherine finished up some super bright socks and a lovely Malabrigo gift set.

Theresa is having darn sock problems - literally!

Debby's progress on Miss Bellis grows - such a pretty pink!

Abigail has been infecting the world with new sock knitters!

Lu has been busy finishing up some UFOs.

Michelle is ohsoclose to having a finished Starsky - looks great!

Terri finished her Bejeweled Scarf and has a lovely sock finished.

I think I got in everyone who has posted something about their projects for themselves - PLEASE let me know if I forgot you and I'll edit the post.

It's been great knitting along with you - I hope you finished (or at least started) something for yourselves! See you next year - same bat time, same bat channel!

Anybody out there?

Tap, tap, tap.

Is this thing on?

Anybody out there?


Well. Just how do you come back from an unexpected blogging break?
My week that was bad turned horrid over the weekend and just kept getting worse.
On Friday my allergies kicked in. Then we tried to see "Breach" and 10 people from the ticket agent it sold out (which is probably a good thing since we were at the godawful Rave theater in the mall and it was a nuthouse).
I woke up Saturday unable to breathe and feeing like I was going to be sick. I spent Saturday on the couch, asleep for most of the day. Sunday brought more of the same, though I did force myself to sit up and write lesson plans and grade papers in small chunks of time.
I dragged my butt off to school Monday only to discover that I would be having my evaluation on Wednesday morning. With the lamest math lesson ever already planned.
Monday afternoon the kicker came about 2:30 when my AP walked in and told me that I needed to get ready for a sub for the next day - I had to help administer the standardized test the upper grades would be taking the next day.
Sure, no problem. I can spend at least an hour getting ready for a sub. Oh, and my grades are still due by 9 am Tuesday? And I have to do them at school since I don't have a PC at home that will take a 3.5" floppy? And I'm still getting evaluated at 9:00 Wednesday morning? No problem.
I ended up with one of the worst subs EVER, and my grades got done on time (it was literally all I was capable of doing Monday night - I feel asleep before 9), and my evaluation is over.

Knitting? Who has time? I did finally start to think about knitting a little bit yesterday, so I know that the worst of the stress is over. Let's see how fast I can crank out two birthday gifts and two baby shower gifts. Good thing babies are small.

My apologies to all in the KAL - I just couldn't do it on Saturday. I'll post our last update this week, so get those emails in to me if you're blogless or post a progress shot on your blog.

No knitty, no bloggy

There has been almost no knitting time in the last 72 hours, which makes for a very boring knitting blog. Hubbo and I celebrated V-day early on Tuesday with a lovely dinner out, and I've been doing schoolwork the rest of the time. It's the end of our grading period, which makes for lots of grading, averaging of grades, etc. It also means that I have to do regular weekly lesson plans and plan my next 6 week lessons in Science, Social Studies, etc. Add some standardized testing on top of that, conferences with parents of children who might have to repeat first grade, The Girl getting Salmonella poisoning from the peanut butter and having strep at the same time, AND finding out that I will be formally evaluated sometime in the next 10 days or so, and you've got one stressed out Jenn. Of course, the stress leads to me not eating, not sleeping, having terrible nightmares when I do sleep, and not knitting. I know we're supposed to knit on through all crisis, but I can't knit and write at the same time, so it's just not happening.

I did work a bit on my "24" hourglass sweater Monday night, and if the batteries in both cameras weren't dead, I'd show you that I'm almost to the armholes. I also started a sleeve/swatch for Salina tonight during The Office (hey, I was at school for 12 hours, I deserve a 1/2 hour of knitting time). So far, so good. I haven't ripped out what I had done on the back yet, just in case. I'll keep you posted. Other than that it's been a few rounds on hubbo's socks during the ride to and from school, but very few, as it's been too cold to knit in the car this week.

Hi, I'm Debbie Downer, welcome to my world. Oh, and I'm totally jealous of all the snow y'all are getting. Send some here please. I could use a mental health day. And if you can't send the snow here, chocolate would be a nice substitute. With a side of tequila.

What a long, strange trip it's been

Today is my two year blogiversary (just how do you spell that?).

It's been a crazy ride. I'm certain that I would not be the knitter I am today if not for the knit blog world. The inspiration, the encouragement, the stash......it's all so wonderful.

I've been so lucky to meet some of you and I look forward to meeting more of you someday!

I don't really have anything especially wonderful to say today, but I wanted to thank you all for being there - for reading, for writing, for the beautiful projects and yarn and well, for everything. I look forward to many years to come!

March of the babies

More baby knits finished:


Pattern: Simple Baby Hat from Itty Bitty Hats
Yarn: Plymouth Dreambaby DK - leftover from the Cupcake Hat
Needles: Bryson Sz 4 Circular and Susan Bates DPNs
Dates: late January to Saturday February 10 (on and off)
Mods: Adjusted for a smaller needle size - knit a newborn size over 80 stitches
Thoughts: Glad it's done - the yarn is OK, but too acrylicly feeling for me



Pattern: Baby bib from Mason Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Leftovers of dishcloth cotton (not sure what brand)
Needles: Susan Bates Sz 8 DPNs (I like the shorter size for these smaller projects)
Dates: late January to Saturday February 10 (on and off)
Mods: Used 3 different colors, and a larger needle size
Thoughts: Not in love with the way it looks, but it will do its job and (hopefully) be appreciated.


And I have the front of Anouk done, on to the back, and another gift will be crossed off the list!

Knitting for ourselves

Amy has been busy knitting up some accessories - a pair of Fetching mitts for herself and a Calorimetry.

Morgan is thisclose to finishing her third sweater of the year - wow!

Lauren has some yummy Koigu and a yummy scarf in progress.

Sarah Janet has finished the body of Rogue - looks great!

Mamma is working on a brand new red shawl in some delightful Misti Alpaca - one of my favorite yarns.

Send healing thoughts to Bronwyn - she was in a car accident this week.

Missy is working on her Poppy - can't wait to see it with the Silk Garden!

Rahime finished her socks - love the colors!

Elizabeth finished up some colorful Thujas and is binding off her Icarus shawl - can't wait to see it all finished!

LaVerna is hosting a "crash your stash" swap - check out her blog for more details!

Smug Sheep is motoring along on her Wicked.

Karla finished her Chain Link socks - they look great!

Julia posted pictures of her Cashmere Neckwarmer - looks delightful!

Katherine finished up her lovely red scarf and some great purple TCU socks!

Minty finished up a pair of Fetching Mitts and a great pair of green socks - she's a FO machine!

Debby is working on a pink tank and some lovely lace pillowcase edgings. She and her hubby are also raising money for Crohn's disease - go visit her blog to check it out!

All you others - go knit for yourselves this weekend!

The wearin' 'o the knits

A few days ago Jared posted about the actual usage we get out of our knits. Ironically, I was thinking about this at almost the same time, as I have worn several sweaters recently.

A few Fridays ago I wore Ribby to school, and my art teacher, an aspiring knitter, asked if I had made it and said it was "cute." Awww. Last week, when it was cold, I also wore Chrysalis and Licorice Whip and my Assistant Principal commented that I had been wearing "the cutest sweaters." Of course, because I am me, I couldn't tell her that I had made them, something hubbo chastisted me for.

I also usually wear my Central Park Hoodie every Friday - I just love it and my Clerk told me that she "just loves that green sweater."

I'm pleased with Chrysalis - I do think it makes me look a bit like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, but it is comfy and soft, so I get over it. And I was surprised by my enjoyment of wearing Licorice Whip. I had decided that the sleeves just weren't right, so I had shelved it for a while. I wore with a white button down shirt under (for warmth and to see if it worked with something besides a tank underneath), and it looked very cute. And the sleeves didn't bother me at all.

Both are wearing very well, though Licorice has a tendency to shed quite a bit. I do wish I wore the V-neck sweater (in the same post as Chrysalis) a bit more, but it is quite short and very warm, so it has to be very cold here to wear.

The enjoyment of wearing the sweaters does make me want to make more, despite the recent gauge issues, so I'm not down and out yet!

Arrrgh!

No, this time I'm not talking about gauge - it's time to knit hubbo's Pirate Hat.

The very, very astute of you may remember that I knit this once several months ago. There's a reason it never appeared as a "full" FO - it was way too small. It may fit an infant, but no amount of blocking would make it near big enough for an adult head.

I was planning to reknit it without hubbo knowing about the size debacle, but then Miles destroyed one of the balls of yarn while we were on vacation last summer, and I kept putting it off, as I would have to buy more yarn. Finally I fessed up to the disaster, and hubbo chose new yarn (in basically the same colors), and it's been sitting since before Christmas, waiting for it's turn. Somehow I had decided that I had to knit it in February (perhaps that's because I knit mine in February?)


Here we go again. One needle size larger, and I'm being very conscious of knitting loosely.
I'm hoping to have it done for Valentine's Day - we don't do "real" gifts, but I like to do a little something.

Oh, and our beautiful blue skies and warm weather? Yeah, grey skies today, and barely 40 degrees. More of the same in the forecast. I knew it was too good to keep.

Blue Skies

Today was another gorgeous day (as was yesterday), and I spent some quality time outside after school with the puppies, my sock and my blogs.


Sadly, my daffodils and tulips are sprouting already. This happened last year, and then it froze again and I didn't have any pretty flowers.

It is supposed to get chillier again this weekend, but hopefully not enough to kill the lovelies!

My evil mistress

Gauge has struck again. I had to rip out the Marseilles Pullover this weekend (which I realize I haven't even taken a picture of yet) because it was too big. Not just too big, but huge. But I swatched and got perfect gauge. Argh.

I'm also concerned that Salina is going to be too big. I couldn't get gauge, so I am making a different size than I need to compensate. This worked out OK last spring for the Chrysalis Pullover, and my fingers were crossed that it would work again. The jury's still out on this one.

There's a reason you see so many socks 'round these parts - I rarely have to rip them due to gauge issues.

New Yarn Monday

Again, I've got nothin' knitting wise to share today - I hope this trend of knitting-less Mondays doesn't continue.

Instead - new yarn!


I keeping with my general inability to knit up faster than I can take in.....a yummy new skein of laceweight yarn - Jade Sapphire Lacy Lamb. Yum. I had petted some of this back in Indiana in November, but didn't buy any. I was very excited to see it at the store on Thursday night and had to have this ball - love the color.


And in perfect Jenn colors - Koigu KPPPM from Jen for sitting on her dogs this weekend. Such cheery colors this February day.

And to taunt most of you - it was 65 degrees today. Come visit if you're in need of warm weather!

Weekend starteritis

I find that most weekends I am casting on new projects. Perhaps it is the promise of two days full of knitting time, perhaps it is avoidance of all the housework/schoolwork/etc. that I should be doing. Either way, I often find myself on Sunday night with a pile of new projects. This weekend was no different.


New socks in Colinette Jitterbug "Dark Charcoal" ready to begin the heel flap.


New socks in Hill Country Yarns Sweet Feet yarn with a simple cable pattern.


New socks for Project Spectrum in Yarn Pirate Malamute in the Feather and Fan pattern.

A yummy new cabled scarf in Baby Alpaca.


And a finished baby hat for one of the many babies due around here.

Pattern: Simple baby hat from Itty Bitty Hats
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton - less than one skein
Needles: Sz US 7 circulars and dpns.
Mods: none
Dates: last weekend to Sunday February 3.
Thoughts - quick and cute! Many more of these to come.


The astute among you will notice that I didn't post any knitting goals for January. I don't think I will this month either. I don't find that I stick to them too much, and invariably, they make me feel guilty at the end of the month when I haven't "done enough." And I don't need to feel guilty about my knitting.

I do, however, want to keep tabs on the stash, so I'll be doing a "in/out" inventory each month. This month's is particularly bad - let's hope I can improve in the coming months!
In: 68 skeins
Out: 10 skeins

I am only counting them when the object is finished, so although I knit up a few balls into other projects, those won't count until I'm done. I need to work on my completion rate though - in December I managed to knit up 19 skeins, in November 13 and in September 14, and before that I don't get over 10/month until March and February of last year. Yikes. Fingers crossed that I can improve my rate this year!

Chock full of knittin' goodness

A jam-packed update this week - set aside some time and take a gander at some of these lovely projects!

The Smug Sheep finished a gorgeous Booga Bag - love the colors!

Tara has been swatching for a lovely blue cabled sweater.

Zanti Miss Knit has been working on some lacy socks and finished a felted bag - busy girl!

Sarah Janet has a rogue cable problem on her Rogue and has a yummy green sock started. She also started the Mountain Peaks Shawl in some lovely silk.

Prairie Girl finished her Irish Hiking scarf, a felted bag for her camera, and one sock - lovely projects!

Emilee finished her Snowflake socks and is testing out a heart lace pattern for her February Socktopia socks.

Bronwyn has been busy finishing up knits for others, and swatching for a new project. I hope this one's for you!

Doborah finished two pairs of stripy socks - so good to have warm feet.

Nessa finished up a stripey Jaywalker from Lorna's Laces and received an abundance of Socks that Rock - soooo jealous!

Leisel has been busy crocheting up a snowman, making sock toes, swatching and knitting up a red scarf.

Theresa has started Rowena in a lovely pink color - love the ruffle!

Karen knit up a super pair of oh-so-warm mittens.

Debby finished up her Lacy Serpentine Shawl - it's so pretty in a slightly varigated yarn!

Carrie has gotten her supplies for the Wobbly Tote ready - yummy colors!

Mamma has another Starsky crisis - I hope there's no bad juju attached to this sweater! She has come out just fine from the previous problems, so I have all confidence that it'll all work out this time too. Good luck!

Liz is doing some fair isle swatching.

Ozknitter started some new blue Project Spectrum socks.

Scout finished a pair of matching Calorimetrys for her and Supergirl - super cute!

Abigail has found Mr. sock mojo and already has a finished pair of socks! Love the colors!

Rachel finished up a cute pair of mittens that match her hat!

Morgan has finished up a lovely new cardigan.

Minty has posted a new pattern for an awfully cute scarf. Go check it out!

BeccaU finished up a great pair of monkey socks - mmmmmmmm, green..............

Juls knit up a yummy cashmere treat!

Karla is oh-so-close to finishing up her Chain Link socks.

Lauren finished her first pair of socks! They look great!

Rahime finished up a pair of socks all for her!

Yvonne has finished one fancy fingerless glove.

Amy completed a lovely Bejewled scarf.

Chrispy finished up a pretty pair of fingerless gloves and is one sleeve away from a finished Wicked.

Missy finished up her bejewled scarf and a pair of fingerless gloves.

Whew! I really hope I got in everyone who completed something for themselves (and a few that are still WIPs!). Please leave a comment or email me if I somehow missed you and I'll make sure you're in next week's update!

Only a few more weeks to "officially" knit for ourselves - get those needles busy!

All about I

As I was not knitting last night, and perusing my itunes song list, I noticed that I have a lot of songs that start with "I." I thought this would make a great meme, so here goes:

I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow - The Soggy Bottom Boys
I Am I Said - Neil Diamond
I Am The Man Who Loves You - Wilco
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart - Wilco
I Asked For Water He Gave Me Gasoline - Lucinda Williams
I Believe in Love - Dixie Chicks
I Can Love You Better - Dixie Chicks
I Can Wait - Steve Earle
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do - ABBA
I Don't Know What It Is - Rufus Wainwright
I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now - Emmylou Harris
I Don't Want To Lose You Yet - Steve Earle
I Dream A Highway - Gillian Welch
I Envy The Wind - Lucinda Williams
I Feel Fine - The Beatles
I Guess I Planted - Billy Bragg & Wilco
I Hear Them All - Old Crow Medicine Show
I Hope - Dixie Chicks
I Just Wanted To See You So Bad - Lucinda Williams
I Like It - Dixie Chicks
I Lost It - Lucinda Williams
I Love Everybody - Lyle Lovett
I Loved You Yesterday - Lyle Lovett
I Send My Love To You - Bonnie "Prince" Billy
I Shall Believe - Sheryl Crow
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
I Still Pray - Kasey Chambers
I Think You Know What I Mean - Lyle Lovett
I Try - Macy Gray
I Want To Hold Your Hand - The Beatles
I Want To Sing That Rock And Roll - Gillian Welch
I Want You - Bob Dylan
I Will - The Beatles
I Will Follow - U2
I'll Fly Away - Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch
I'll Take Care Of You - Dixie Chicks
I'm a Believer - Neil Diamond
I'm A Wheel - Wilco
I'm Alive - Neil Diamond
I'm Always In Love - Wilco
I'm Going to the Place - Lyle Lovett
I'm Going to Wait - Lyle Lovett
I'm Not Afraid To Die - Gillian Welch
I've Got The Blues - Lyle Lovett
I've Got To See You Again - Norah Jones


Who else?

Missing: Knitting Mojo

I've been staring blankly into space for much of the evening. No urge to knit. What's wrong?

So I bring you edge of your seat excitement: 5 Things Most People Don't Know About Me

1. I am a very particular sleeper. I must sleep on my right side or stomach. In either position I must have one knee pulled up to my chest and the other stretched straight out.

2. I hate to do housework. Hate it. With a burning passion. I would love to have a housekeeper, but they would have to come every day, and also, they would see the mess. It's a big one most of the time.

3. I hate jelly. I only eat peanut butter sandwiches. No jelly.

4. I once dated a guy who only had one ear. His nickname (given so lovingly by my sister)? One-eared Dave. Nice.

5. You know how most people "discover" themselves in college? Not me. Not until after graduation. I allowed myself to get sucked along in college and it wasn't until after graduation that I realized how much I disliked most of what I said/did/"believed."

Eh. Pretty boring really. I've got nothing. Apologies all around.

Just in the knit of time

Finished up Hubbo's hat just in time for cold weather to return!

Pattern: Basic seaman/watchcap
Yarn: Paton's Classic Merino
Needles: Sz US 7 circular and dpns
Mods: made it a skotch longer
Thoughts: He loves it!


In other news I barely survived today. Add 1 sick teacher to 3 days off to 2 hours of lesson planning, one parent conference at 7:20 this morning, mix in a dash of progress reports due today or tomorrow with a sprinkling of no grades recorded since last week and top it off with 2 NEW STUDENTS TODAY and you have one very stressed out teacher. I honestly almost cried when one of the administration walked in to observe me this morning. Hubbo says that God has a twisted sense of humor, and today, I agree. Fingers crossed for a better day tomorrow!

Honestly, I'm so stressed out that I haven't knit a stitch - haven't had time!

All socks, all the time

I've been working on lots of socks lately - more than usual it seems. For a while, I was only working on my socks in the car, but the past few days I've been working on them at home too. Funny how much more work you can get done, when you actually work on them!


One Regia Bamboo sock finished - I'm enjoying the yarn and the colors.








And one pair of Claudia Handpainted socks!

Yarn: Claudia Handpainted Sport in the Oops! colorway - one skein
Pattern: 2x2 rib for the leg, plain stockinette feet.
Needles: Chiagoo Bamboo US 2s.
Dates: Before Christmas to Sunday January 28.
Mods: none
Thoughts: The yarn is very soft and nice to work with. But the yardage sucks. For $23 a skein, I wasn't buying two. My cuff is very short and I did run out of yarn four rows short of the toe of the second sock. But I like them anyway. I won't be buying the sportweight yarn again any time soon, but I am interested in trying the fingering weight. They are very warm, though short.


And, to answer all those questions, yes. I was allowed to knit in the courthouse. And this is how much knitting you can get done in a three day trial. (I know it looked like I had a bit done before I left for jury duty, but I discovered Wednesday morning that I had screwed up the pattern and had to rip back to the ribbing.

I only knit while in the hallway waiting to be called into the courtroom on Wednesday and in the jury room on Thursday and Friday. Most of this was done Wednesday and Friday. I love the yarn and pattern (Vesper sock yarn and the Dublin Bay pattern). Can't wait to have these done!

Please forgive

Mama is tired and needs to rest and catch up. Plus she is fighting a bit of a cold. She promises a super-duper update next week.

What is a duper?

That's Madam Foreperson to you

Yep. Got seated. Three day trial. Finally done.

And what's better than coming home to new sock yarn?



What? I'm not supposed to be buying yarn? Huh, I don't recall saying that. Perhaps I need to be cross-examined.

The top two are Fearless Fibers in smoke and sublime. Bottom are sKNITiches in Collegiate and Yarn Pirate in Malamute from The Loopy Ewe. All is fab. Will not calculate the new milage of the sock yarn tonight. Will not.

Ready for justice

The sock and I are ready for tomorrow's adventure. We have packed the necessary knitting, and a book just in case the knitting is confiscated (hey, I've been reading up, and apparently this is all too common. Please. As if my 5" 2.25mm bamboo needles are more dangerous than my car keys.).

Unfortunately, I discovered today that if I am dismissed before noon I have to go back to school. Granted, I get the rest of the day as a "work" day (ie I don't have to teach and my sub doesn't lose a half day's pay), but still. C'mon people - don't you know that half the "fun" of jury duty is the possiblity that you'll be excused and get the day off? Oh, and I have to prove that I have jury duty or get docked a personal day - I have to turn in a copy of my summons and a copy of my "dismissal form" that has the time I was excused on it. Great. No way out of that one.

I figure one of two things will happen: I will be dismissed at 11:59, or I will be seated on a jury. Every teacher I've spoken to in the past few days who's had jury duty within the last year has been seated on a jury, and missed 2-5 days of school. Fab. Apparently they like the teachers.

Ah well. Fingers crossed for lots of good knitting time at any rate.


P.S. The spring Interweave preview is up. There are a few that look promising. Too bad I'm not buying any yarn right now.
Thanks for all the sweet comments on the green hoodie - I've been wearing it a lot and I've decided that if I want to wear it every day, that's OK! I made it damnit! I think this will be one I literally wear out.

Houston, we have a problem

The first sock from the Claudia's Handpainted.


The rest of the yarn.

It is a gift!

It's that time of year again. The breeders are at work, and we have several friends and co-workers who are expecting this spring. Time to get busy on those baby knits!


This weekend I started a simple pink hat, a bib, and Anouk.


The tiny blue blob is a flower washcloth from Weekend Knitting, as there are several other gifty occasions coming up.


To assist in all this upcoming gift knitting, a few new books were picked up this weekend.


One of the Borders stores near us is closing, and this weekend they had everything in the store 40% off. We did pretty well at restraining ourselves, and got several gifts. I brought home Itty-Bitty Hats (which is really really cute), Simply Baby, Toys to Knit and One Skein Wonders. I was lucky enough to get Greetings from the Knit Cafe for $4.99 from Amazon a few weeks ago, and I picked up the Jo Sharp Knit 1 from the yarn store Thursday night. I love this pattern book, and since I'm trying not to buy yarn, I thought I'd satisfy that urge with a book. There are several great patterns in here that I can't wait to get to. But first, must finish what is on the needles, and use up some of that stash!

Git yer updates here!

Here we go - hang on to your hats!

Smug Sheep started a lovely pink sock - yum!

ZantiMissKnit has several WIPs in her basket - I hope some are for her!

Sarah Janet has started a lovely Mountain Peaks shawl and is working on Rogue - it looks great!

Prairie Girl is working on her Irish Hiking Scarf and Samus - love the colors!

Go wish Emilee a Happy Birthday - and check out her Clapotis and new socks!

Bronwyn has spun up some gorgeous yarn!

Nessa is having sock frustration and pooling issues. Advice?

Leisel has a great felted bag - and I think I have some of that colorway in the stash....hmmmm......

Theresa finished a pretty pink Branching Out - all the scarf you need in San Diego!

Karen finished up a pretty picot-edged Picovoli this week - another out of the UFO basket!

Elizabeth took inventory of her sock yarn stash - you know, I'm pretty sure it's acceptable to give away to use it up for the marathon. I'm sure we could find someone who would take those lovelies off your hands!

Mamma has been crazy busy! She knit Starsky, had a minor rust crisis (though I would have freaked out!), but all seems well. She's also working on quite a few other projects - very inspiring!

Kenyatta also had a happy birthday yesterday! And she decided to keep her great Monkey socks for herself - right on!

Liz is having some Jaywalker issues - what's up with the socks lately? Poor folks with socky issues! That sucks!

Abigail has lost her sock mojo as well! If you see Mr. Sock Mojo, could you point him in the direction of Arizona? She did finish a pair of felted booties, which I'm sure are keeping her tootsies warm in the snow they're getting!

Katherine received lots of yummy yarn - can we come over and roll around in it?

Lu is working on seaming her Debbie Bliss Simple Jacket - sending seaming mojo!

Rachel is working on an amazing cardi - go see!

Morgan needs our love right now. Send good thoughts.

Minty has a lovely neck 'hug' to keep her warm in the snow they finally got!

BeccaU has a good lesson for us - if it doesn't fit you, it must fit someone!

Juls finished a cute martini dishcloth.

Karla finished her Broadripple Hybrids and is working on her new socks - cute!

Lauren is working on a great blue basketweave scarf.

Amaryllis started the Nantucket Jacket - love this sweater!

Rahime is working hard on her new socks - love the striping!


We have a few newbies this week!

Amy is working on some great socks for herself!

Mary is working hard on her yoke sweater - hopefully she'll see the finish line soon!

cath_r1n is working on a sweater for herself - she's through the back!

Spasmo is working on Lady E - all for her! I love that knit - can't wait to see it!

Yvonne is working on fingerless gloves, very nice socks with a lace pattern and the Bejeweled scarf.

Whew! Have a great week - finish some of those knits for yourself!

Green with delight

It's done! And I love it!

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie from fall '06 Knitscene.
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic in "Leaf Green" (no color names, just numbers)
Needles: Clover Bamboo US 7s & 9s.
Dates: Started Labor Day weekend. The back was finished way back in November, after much neglect. And I started the sleeves & fronts after the Christmas knitting was done. Took a while, but overall, not a great deal of knitting time.
Mods: I had to go up a needle size to get gauge, but other than that, none!
Thoughts: Love it. It is just the color green I wanted, the cables look great, without being "too" done. I knit the 40", and it's just perfect. I opted for no fasteners, and I like it. I had purchased some buttons for it, but I decided that they were too much for the sweater, so I left them off. The sleeves are a great length, which is very important for me.

The yarn is fab - an amazing selection of colors, and it is soooooo soft and nice after blocking. I cannot wait to use it again.

Enjoy your weekends - hunker down if you're in the path of the storm!

Advice

This is My So Called Scarf. I love the yarn (Brook Farms Four Play) and I mostly like the stitch pattern, but I'm not sure if the two work together. The fabric feels a bit firm (I'm using a US 8 needle), and the edge is rolling. I feel like a scarf should have a bit more give. The general consensus at knitting tonight was to rip and go up a few needle sizes. What do y'all think? Or do you have another pattern suggestion for this yarn?


Hopefully we'll make it home before dark tomorrow so I can get good shots of the Central Park Hoodie. I wore it today and I love it.

It won't be long before we'll all be there with snow

A most glorious, blessed event happened here today. It snowed.


Rarely do we get "real" snow. The astute among you no doubt noticed the sleety/ice on the ground in the sock picture. Today though, most unexpectedly, it snowed.



Last night they told us it would keep south of us, and I was complaining to hubbo that we never get "weather." It always seems to miss us - snow, rain, sleet, ice. We get some in tiny amounts, but never real "weather." Not even enough necessarily to have a day off from school (which we had today, of course, being Texas and all, we don't have the stuff to plow the roads in a timely manner), but just something besides 70 degrees would be nice every once in a while.


Yesterday, at dismissal, I was chilly and my ears were cold because my hat didn't pull down enough over my ponytail to cover my ears. Solution?


Pattern: Calorimetry from winter '06 Knitty.
Yarn: Knitpicks Andean Silk in Sangria
Needles: Sz US 7 Clover Bamboo
Dates: Tuesday January 16.

Mods: I only cast on 108 stitches (instead of the 120), and only knit 12 repeats of the middle section. Still, it is a bit too big. Luckily, I can put the button through any of the holes created by the short rows, so I can make it work. I will be casting on fewer stitches for future editions.

Thoughts: A great very simple pattern, with a wonderful result. I bought this yarn to be make a Christmas gift, and ended up cutting it from the list. I am using the Andean Silk for my Hourglass sweater, and it is just soooooooo nice, so when I remembered that I had one odd ball of it in the stash, I quick dug it out and cast on. I used just over 1/2 a ball (enough to deduct it from the stash total!), and I see many more of these in my future. My ears were nice and warm during today's sledding and snowman building, and it is also great for layering, if it were to be very very cold outside.

Snow days are also great for blocking. Gee, what could I be blocking?

Tick tock, tick tock

Call me crazy. I decided Sunday that it would be fun to knit one entire project during the time I watch "24" this spring. In 24 hours.

But what to knit? I thought about socks, but unless they're plain, they might take too much concentration, and plain is out, as I already have too many pairs of those on the needles.

I finally settled on a sweater. A stockinette sweater that may be "boring" any other time, but works perfectly for "24" knitting (doesn't distract me from helping Jack Bauer save the world).

The chosen sweater? The Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Really, it's the only choice, what with the name and all.

After the two night premiere I'm into the waist shaping. Here's hoping I can knit as fast as Jack can get himself into and out of trouble.

And yet again, I'm making my sweater the same color as the one in the picture. It's a sickness really.

Finally, a FO! (oh, and someone won the contest!)

My first finished object of the year! And one a long time coming.
Pattern: Generic sock over 72 stitches
Yarn: Trekking XXL 129
Needles: ChiaGoo Bamboo DPNs sz US 1
Dates: End of July 2006 to Saturday January 13, 2007
Mods: n/a
Thoughts: one of my most favorite pairs of socks yet - I love the colors in these socks. And they are even more special, since the yarn was bought with Ms. Scout!

They did take way too long to knit up, but I attribute that mostly to the fact that they were car knitting for several weeks - a few rounds to and from school was all the action they have seen in a while. But it does show that those few rounds can really add up! I cannot wait to wear them to school tomorrow - nice and chilly here, perfect wool sock weather!


There may be another FO lurking around these parts, check back soon!


Oh, and I'll bet y'all want to know who won the contest, huh? Guesses really ran the gauntlet - from very low to just a few too many. Surprisingly, two people were very close, but one was closer.

With a guess of 613, Jennie is the winner! Before the great falling off the wagon, I had 604 balls of yarn in the stash. Congrats Jennie! Email me your address so I can send your prize!

I'll admit that I was a bit horrified with this number. It seems SOOOOOO big. I'm trying to make myself feel better by justifying that several sweaters worth of yarn included in that number are knitpicks yarns, with their low yardages. That makes it better, right?

A few of you wanted to know about my spreadsheet - I just made columns for Brand, type, color, weight, number of skeins and yardage. Easy cheesy. I'd be happy to email it to any of you who want it, but really, it's pretty basic.

I was also horrified to discover that I have over 20 miles of sock yarn. I think I need an intervention.

Weekend Update

May I suggest you spend some time this weekend visiting the blogs of our KALers? Snuggle in with a blanket, coffee and your lovely internet. Here are some teasers to get you started!

Tara finished a very bright pair of Koigu socks. They look great!

ZantiMissKnit also finished a pair of socks - all shades of green. She's getting ready for her next project!

Sarah Janet is working on her Rogue, in hopes that it will keep her warm this winter - sounds like the perfect winter knit!

Emilee bought a condo! Woo Hoo for home ownership! (I know, it has nothing to do with knitting, but it's exciting!)

Leisel posted pictures of her My So-Called Scarf - it looks great and her daughter is pretty cute!

Karen is movin' right along on her sock and on Bejeweled - they both look great!

Debby is working hard on her Lacy Serpentine Shawl - yum!

Elizabeth finished her Snakes on a Sock socks - they look very snakey!

Mamma finished her Walking Away socks - love the pattern and the yarn is gorgeous!

Ozknitter finished a yummy pair of Trekking socks - my favorite!

Rachel has discovered self-striping sock yarn. Welcome to the dark side!

Minty is have a terrible trouble with the length of her Cambrige Jacket - go give her some advice.

BeccaU finished a very sweet pair of Sweet Georgia socks.

Rahime has started a sock for herself - but she was feeling guilty for not working on socks for her dad. It's OK to knit for yourself!

OK - just a quickie this week. Off to push through CPH - it's the perfect weather to wear it, it needs to get done! Have a great weekend, and don't forget to guess for the contest before tomorrow night!

Conflicted

Recently I've been feeling torn about my work life v. my knitting 'life.' Being a teacher is a unique job - it is as much or as little as you want it to be. Many teachers do just what they are required to do. However, there are just as many of us who drag home tons of work every day, who stay late and arrive early, and spend weekends writing lengthy lesson plans, coming up with new and exciting units/games/centers/etc. And as much as I want to be the best teacher I can be, and give my students a great experience, some days I resent myself for not spending more time doing things at home (mostly knitting).

I'm not sure there's an easy solution to this - mostly I keep doing the school work and reminding myself that I have all summer to knit (although I know I'll be writing plans for the upcoming school year).


I also have some conflicted feelings about my current WIPs - which one do I knit first? Is there a priority order? What about gifts - do I have to do them first? And I know - I don't have to knit anything I don't want to. But the other night, when I messed up the secret knit and was too tired to work on it, I put all the knitting away. I felt compelled to only work on the secret knit, and guilty for working on the hoodie (or any other project). However, not working on anything made me crabby. Agh!


Okay - enough poopiness - how about a cute dog picture? Rocky (our small dog) is often crabby and doesn't like the bigger dogs. But he has been curled up next to Miles in our bed in the morning, and he jumped up next to him on the couch a few days ago. Awww!

Have a great Friday - I'm looking forward to a three day weekend!

What day is it?

This firs week back to work has been a bit nuts - we're testing (I know - the first week after 2 1/2 weeks off!), and I can't seem to remember what day it is since we're not in our regular routine.

Some scattered thoughts:

1. My computer is back! Yay! And for the low, low price of $511.07 I have a new LCD. We were really hoping it was the backlight cable (a piece less than $100.00), but sadly, it was not. We also had to buy a new charger for $86.79. With these new costs, the memory and new battery we put in last year, I've almost bought an entire second computer. Oh well. I really like my little (old) ibook, so it's fine. It's almost five years old - so it's served me really well in that time.

2. I got a new camera a few weeks ago - not really a Christmas present, but a right after purchase. I've been wanting a smaller one for blogging purposes, being able to take one with me everyday, and so hubbo and I don't both need to take the better camera to school on the same days. It's a Kodak EasyShare C533. I'm very pleased with it - it's easy to use and the quality of the pictures is good. Best part? It cost $129.00 at Target.

3. The two new projects are Salina (in the green - it's Rowan felted tweed, and I am IN LOVE with it. I love the moss stitch, and the tweedy bits. Yum), and a simple top down cardigan in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky. I'm hoping that this turns out to be a cozy cardigan for the classroom - it's so soft!


4. One of our "to do" items for this year (my list of things that I wanted to accomplish in 2007 is crazy long, so hubbo and I decided that it was our to do list instead of a list of resolutions), is to plan our meals and branch out. We usually eat from the same 7-8 items each week - pork, chicken, turkey and the occasional fish. We cook a lot on the grill (since it's so warm year round here), which is fine, but limiting in the number of ways to cook something. So far this week (our first week), we've had Jambalaya, trout with red potatoes and asparagus, shrimp tacos and chicken enchiladas with tomatillo sauce and mexican rice. It has all been wonderful, and we have some simple comfort foods planned for the rest of the week. Hubbo is really enjoying himself (except for all the extra time it takes, since he hasn't made these before), and my tummy is very happy.

5. None of the recent pictures of the hoodie are an accurate color. It really is a leaf green. Hopefully tomorrow we will get home when the sun is still out and I can take a better picture. But so you know that I've been working on it, and not those new projects, here's a shot 4 1/2 inches into the hood. Oooooh. Ahhh. Only 7 more inches to go.


6. I've spent way too much time the last few days on a secret project that is a bit frustrating - I had to rip out ten rows last night, but I kept on and I am only about 20 rows from the end. Hoping to be done by Friday night.

Must run to pack my lunch and my knitting bag. And to find something to wear. What day is it?