knitting update

So I discovered that I have been knitting on my Sweater O’Doom with a 5 instead of a 6. I almost have an entire sleeve done with it. Should I rip it up? It does seem to fit my arm, so I do not think size is an issue in that regard. Should I just keep knitting and do both sleeves with the 5. Would anyone notice that the body stitches are a different gauge than the sleeves? God I hate this sweater. I have totally put it aside. I have been working on my rib warmer, which I think is going to be huge. I don’t think it will be too a big a deal though, I would be wearing it over stuff anyway. It is a very pretty color. Although I do not think I will have enough of the Cascade 220 I am using. Sigh.
I am also working on my lace shawl. It is going pretty well. I know I have some mistakes in the beginning, but I have not had too many. I do not think anyone will notice since it is at the top. I am too far to rip it out. I have done about 7” or 8”.

Here is one last picture from Mostly Male:


Look out Ladies… I am ready to prowl the scene in my completely knit outfit.

Even the belt is knit!

Groovy!

Memorial day weekend

I had a great weekend! My Beloved Husband (CD) gave me the best anniversary presents. In the morning, he gave me Destroy All Humans 2 and said the other one had not arrived yet. I was still really happy with the game and played it until it was time to take the animals to the vet.
We always take all 4 at once, so it is really chaotic, but we get a 25% discount, so it is worth it. They all received a clean bill of health, even our oldest cat (she will be 17 this August). They did do some extra blood work on her and we will get the results today, so hopefully it will be okay. But the vet said they all looked good and were good weights…yeah!
After that, hubby and I went to lunch and then picked up The Girl (she had spent Friday night at a friend’s house). She was dressed like a pirate in celebration of “The Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, which she went to see with her girlfriend. We all went over to St. Paul to visit a scrap booking shop. She got some piratey paper so she could make some ATCs. CD and I have been making them for Swap-Bot and she wanted to join the fun. It was a really nice time.
When we got home, my other present was there! CD bought me Barbara Walker’s “Treasury of Knitting Pattern”! He is the best husband ever!
Then CD and I went downtown Minneapolis to one of our favorite restaurants, Vincent. We ordered the tasting menu. It was pricy, but divine. If you are ever in Minneapolis and looking for a good meal, I would highly recommend it. On weekdays, they have a prix fixe menu that is very reasonable and always good. I have never had anything bad there. The chef, Vincent, is from France and was trained there. The roast chicken is to die for.
So it was one of the best anniversaries ever.
The rest of the weekend was good too. I played a lot of my new game, worked on ATCs and did not do much knitting (which was the only downside).

Feeling Low

I am feeling a little off kilter today. On Tuesday I went and saw “28 Weeks Later”. It was a good movie, but very depressing and upsetting. It was not really scary in the traditional horror movie sense. I left feeling sad and queasy. I went by myself, since it was between work and the time I have my knitting group. I was glad DH was not there since he would not have liked it at all. It brought up all sorts of issues of family and survival. Not to mention military occupations. Would I die trying to save my loved ones? Or would I run like hell to save myself? Stuff like that is brought up.
No one showed up to my knitting group, so I just sat a knit on my lace shawl, which was okay. I was able to get through 8 rows without having to go back to my rescue line. Yeah! This is my 1st real large lace project. It is really kind of daunting. I was hoping to get it done for my one niece’s wedding (June 23rd), but I don’t know if that will happen.
Then last night’s Lost added to the feeling of melancholy. I love Lost. It is one of my all time favorite shows. We all watch it together as a family. Last night though, Charlie died, which of course was to be expected, but I sort of hoped that maybe there would be a reprieve. It looks like they are going to be rescued, but then there are 3 years left of the show… so perhaps not. But overall the worst part was the flash forward. Knowing that they get off the only to have it screw up Jack completely is really depressing. Perhaps it is an allegory for life in general… you know… we try to escape something in our lives only to find out that it was the best thing we ever had. Whose funeral was it? No doubt someone from the island and someone that no one would even attend their funeral… I think Ben.

On the plus side, my anniversary is on Saturday. I will have been married for 17 years. Wow. How did that happen? 17 years is a really long time.
Here are the recommended gifts according to About.com: Traditional Gifts: nothing, Modern Gifts: Furniture. Who the hell give furniture to your loved one? Here honey, have a chair! I don’t think so. That is a really bad gift.
According to wikipedia.org, here is the tradition gift from Britain (Turquoise) and the Modern (Watches). Now receiving either one of those gifts would be nice. I of course, bought my sweetie books, which is in fact the best gift I can get him. Oddly, books are nowhere on the lists unless you count paper in the 1st year. Hmmm I give books almost every year. Go figure.

8 random things

I was tagged by Paula at bassetknitter.blogspot.com

8 Random things about me.

1. I do not know enough people on line to tag anyone
2. I always thought that the life David Banner was leading in the Incredible Hulk was cool.
3. I am more responsible than anyone I know, in high school more than once I did not kill myself because I had to go to work that night and I did not know who they would get to fill in for me on such short notice.
4. I think my husband is the greatest man to walk the face of the Earth.
5. I still miss my grandmother who died 17 years ago.
6. I love dogs and can image why anyone would be cruel to them.
7. I wish I could have chickens, but my suburb has an ordinance against farm animals.
8. I love fresh watermelon and could eat it everyday.

More from Mostly Male…

Here are some more pictures from Mostly Male.
Here is one of the unisex sweaters. The one they show for the woman’s sweater is slightly better colors, but really this one is too bright for anyone over the age of 6.
Check out the cigarillo. He is TOO cool!













Is this guy getting in the pool? Shouldn’t he take off his sweater first? Although he really looks like he should be getting out, but then his sweater would be wet…
Either way, the sweater does not really go with the swim trunks and why would he need a sweater at an indoor pool?

Knitting's past

When I took up knitting, I started to look for patterns everywhere. I now have more patterns than I will ever knit, but I find it enjoyable to look at them, so I keep collecting. I love history and anything which gives a glance into the past… old books, old magazines, old pictures, etc. So naturally, I started to collect old knitting patterns. Sometimes they are things which I think I will knit when I learn how to convert them to my size (large American) or when I get a 26” waist, whichever comes first. Others I buy just because I love the pictures. It might be the outfit or it just might be the expressions which the models have. So I have decided to share some of these pictures with you out there in the blogsphere.
The first one is from a 1971 Brunswick pattern book called “Mostly Male”. This is the back cover.
One word… Shazam



I will post some more pictures tomorrow from this fine publication.

Mother's day weekend

I had a wonderful Mother’s day. The Girl made me a card declaring me the best mom/aunt in the world. How can it get better than that? Well, then we went and got our hair cut together! Her idea. And my lovely husband made my favorite grilled meal.
The Girl and I also went out and she drove me around a parking lot. Her first time behind the wheel. She did alright.
That was my Mother’s day.
On Saturday I went over to Shepard’s Harvest. It was great fun. I bought some llama yarn and a kit to make a tea cozy that looks like a sheep. I talked to some Alpaca farmers(?, not sure what they call themselves). I looked at a variety of sheep and goats and llamas. Next year I am going to drag my husband with. He had his improv class at noon and could not come with me.

Sweater of Doom

I am still knitting on my sweater. I am on the first sleeve. I swear to God that it is not getting longer no matter how much I knit. Arrrrhhh. I am also working on a shadow stripe hat. It is slow as well.
I am trying to think of something to knit for the “Joy Luck Club”, which was our reading selection for April on Knit the Classics. I have absolutely no inspiration. I am thinking of knitting my mom something for Mother’s day and submitting that, but I have to get in gear since the deadline is May 6th. I was far more inspired by “The Historian”, which we read right before. There is a shawl mentioned in that book that I want to create. I even bought some yarn at Yarnover I could use.
I had to rip out my rib warmer and start over, because it look odd with just the mohair. So now it will be Cascade 220 and mohair. I have not really worked on it lately because I was trying to get my sweater done. I hate that sweater. I know I will love it when it is done, but right now it is nothing but a black hole of doom.
The Girl is flunking out of school and has refused to go at all so far this week because she is sad. I have to say I am disappointed that she thinks so little of herself that she can not do better in school. I do not know how to fix this problem. Of course, one of the therapist at the hospital told us that we have solved too many of The Girl’s problems. It has not been easy to raise someone else’s kid. No matter what we do, we seem to be screwing her up… sigh. It is probably just as hard to raise your own kid; I just am not in that place.

New design and other news

I finished my hat I designed for my Swap-Bot partner. I personally think it is very cute. The picture does not due it justice. The skull and the stripes are both a very nice pale pink. It was knit in RYC Cashcotton DK. It is for a girl in CA and I thought it would be a little cooler than wool.

I have to give props to The Girl for the design idea. She suggested that I have a tilted skull off center. I did the rest.
The Girl seems to be doing better, although she was laid low with a head cold last week.
I went to the MN Knitter’s Guild Yarnover on Saturday. It was totally awesome. I had been on the committee, just a small part. I was not sure what to expect, but it was a really fun time.
I would highly recommend it to any one. Next year’s is on April 12th. So plan ahead.
I had a lace edging class with Jackie E-S and a wire knitting class with Annie Modisett. They were both excellent. The Girl was terribly impressed with the knitted wire and bead bracelet I made. She wants one. Plus she said that everyone at school would think it was too cool. Kids are too funny.
I am still working on the sweater. I do not know if I am really a sweater knitter. I need to figure out how to make it a quicker process. I am losing my interest.
I started a mitered dog blanket out of Annie Modisett’s book, “Men Who Knit And The Dogs Who Love Them”. I love this book. It is so hard to find nice men’s sweaters and vests. I intend to make the cabled vest that is in there for my Husband.

Updates

The Girl is doing okay. The meds are already helping; she starts back to school today. She was supposed to go back on the 30th, she got out of the hospital on the evening of the 29th, but she found out everyone at school knew and she could not face them all right then. Then last week was spring break. I did knit her a wrister; she only wanted one for the damaged wrist. I knit it out of Debbie Bliss Cathay (cotton, silk and viscose) so it was soft and breathable and of course red and black. Her colors! She wore it to cover up her stitches and cuts. She has a new therapist, whom she likes. So I think we are on the road to recovery. I was talking to her one night and she said that this boy she did this over had been in the psych ward twice. She then said that she would never have to say that because she never wanted to go back there. I see that as a good sign.
Other knitting news, I have the front and back done on my perfect sweater. I have one side seamed up and have started one arm. I see an end in sight. I have also cast on a rib warmer out of purple mohair. I do not know if it will be big enough. Obviously, Elizabeth Zimmerman was much smaller than me.
I have designed a hat to knit for one of my swap partners on Swap-bot. When I showed The Girl, she asked if she could design her own hat for me to knit. What a great sign! Maybe I can convince her knitting is cool!

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Sad news

Things have not been going well this week. The Girl sliced herself open over some stupid boy. I could kill him. Large portions of Monday and Tuesday were spent at the hospital. She is in the adolescent psych ward. On the plus side, she is cooperating because it is awful and she wants out. She actually misses school! She starts on medication today, hopeful we will all get through this mess.
On the knitting front, I have been too exhausted to knit much the last couple of days, but I need to get some wristers done for The Girl before she gets out so she can cover up her cuts.
One of the psychologists at the ward told us we have been enabling her by not giving her more stuff to do around the house. Of course, he also told us we could not tell her what to do. Therefore, I am not sure how these things will be completed, but we will see.
I am also working on my first sweater; it is the Mason-Dixon perfect sweater. I am taking a class. I missed Monday night’s class, and I am not a far as I had hoped to be. I have the back done and part of the front. I need to get cracking on it. I hope to have the front done by next week so I can start the arms, but I do not know if that will happen.

Here is a picture of a beret I knitted. It is from Folk Hats. I love that book!


I hope to start writing again on a more regular basis. I have been very busy the last couple of months.

A completed project

I have completed Chalk the mouse from Simply Knitting Spring 2006. It was fun to knit up, although I had the darnest time with the arms. All I could do was make right ones. I do not know what I did wrong, but I finally just made a right one with the opposite directions. I don't know if that sentence made sense. Oh Well. I knit it for my Knitting the Classics blog. It was one of the mice from The Woman in White. It was a pretty good book, but a little long in parts.
I finished my husband's mittens. They turned out lovely. I am now going to knit myself a scarf. I have already started.
I have had a productive month. I have already knit 2 scarves, a pair of mittens and a mouse. Not bad.
I am having camera problems, but I do have a picture of my mouse.


I also have some pictures of my loved ones wearing some of my gifts.

I am still alive

I know that I have not blogged in forever. Okay a month. Things have been very strange in my life.
First I would like to reflect on leaving a job. When I finally announced I was leaving, People who I hardly worked with came over and asked me all sorts of questions. It was disturbing. I was glad when I did not have to answer the questions any more. I do not know if it was because they wanted to leave as well or if it was just morbid curiosity. It was weird.
I love my new job. It is a fantastic place to work. It is so much calmer and it has a really good cafeteria. Yeah for me!
The Girl has revealed to us that she does not believe in God and she is a right to lifer. It has been a big week.

I have been trying to get knitting done. I did not get The Girl's poncho done in time for Christmas. It is knit now, but I need to do all the fringe. Yuck!
I just finished a fan and feather scarf that I am going to send to the Red Scarf Project. I have a ton of UFOs that I need to work on, but I have a bad case of startitis. I really want to start knitting a shawl for me. I suppose I should finish at least one of the projects I have started before I go one to yet another.
I am knitting a new scarf for my husband as he lost the last one I knit him. Sigh. He definitely needs one as it has finally gotten cold and snowy here in MN.

Anxiety

It’s 4 in the morning and I can not sleep. So I figured I would get some blogging done. I am going to give my notice today. I do not know why I should be nervous, but as the day has approached I have had more and more anxiety. I know it will be okay, but there is a part of me that just does not believe that. It is just change, which all people have trouble with. One of the tenets of Buddhism is that life is suffering, because life is change and change is suffering. I have found that this is a good thing to remember.
I have determined that I will not get my mom’s pillow done in time for Christmas. I just have too much left to do and I will have to block it and assembly it and ship it. I did however remember that I had a couple of little things I had picked up for her earlier in the year and I will give her those. I am also knitting her a dishcloth, which I know she loves. I will just let her know that I am working on something else and it will be coming later. Perhaps for her birthday.
On the plus side, I finished my mittens! Woo Hoo. Just in time for unseasonably warm weather! I wore them all weekend any way, just because I could!
I have like five projects going right now and I just need to finish something. I took Monday off of work to knit, but mostly I hung out w/ CD. I did get some knitting done; don’t get me wrong, but not as much as I had hoped.
However, I should be able to finish up my mom’s dishcloth today and perhaps The Girl’s fuzzy hat, which I am knitting on size 15 needles.
Of course I still need to get my hubby’s Christmas presents bought.
Ahhh, the holidays.

Ribbet Ribbet

I have sent my mother’s pillow to the frog pond so many times it will soon be getting warts! I have totally scraped my design pattern. I will do it sometime, but not for this Christmas. I have decided to make a striped pillow with a cabled front and a stockinette back. I hope it turns out okay.
I think I will have to take a day off to work on it, as well as my husband’s socks and The Girl’s poncho. I do not know how I will get I all done. I also want to finish my other mitten because it is getting really cold here in MN.
I have been very good. I have not been in any yarn shops lately and when I went last I only bought what I needed. However, I need to go find some ribbon yarn for The Girl’s poncho, so we will see what happens.
I finished “A Christmas Carol”, now I just need to knit something for it. I am thinking that I will knit a red lace scarf for The Red Scarf Project 2007. It needs to be unisex, but I think I might have found a pattern that will work. I will keep you all updated. That will need to be done by January.

Mitten!!!

I have a mitten! Look at me, I can knit mittens. Well, I can knit one mitten. I have cast on the second one. There are a couple of problems with it, as it seems a little short and the thumb a little large, but I will wear it with pride. I will make the second one perfect, I know it.
My in-laws were here a lot over the Thanksgiving weekend, so I was not been able to knit as much as I usually do. I even had Monday & Tuesday off and still did not get much done. They finally headed for home Wednesday morning. I was just exhausted by the time they left. I was too tired to knit last night and tonight I have been running like crazy. I had a job interview on Tuesday and I was offered the job today. I am so excited. I plan on staying at my current job through the end of the year. I have a bunch of forms that I need to fill out and send in to make it official.
I have not worked on my mom’s pillow at all. I am worried that I am going to wait until it is too late and then I will not get anything done. I do not want to sabotage myself. I think I am a little scared that I am doing it wrong. Maybe I will just do a striped pillow. I am going to try to go a little further on the pattern I created. If all else fails, her birthday is in March!
Isn’t life just too exciting?

Happy Thanksgiving

I just got back from walking my dogs. I wanted to get them worn down before the big feast. It is a lovely day here in MN. The neighborhood was quiet. No doubt people are sleeping in, making food or have left for other destinations. The silence allowed me to think about what today means. I am thankful that I have a roof over my head and food on the table, especially since I know there are those who do not. I am thankful for my husband, who is preparing the feast and for The Girl, who is in her room blasting her music. I am thankful for my dogs who provide me with unconditional love and comfort. I am thankful for our kitten who, even though she gets into my yarn, is too darn cute for words. I am thankful that my in-laws arrived safe and sound. But most of all I am thankful that I have lived to see another Thanksgiving. A little over a year ago I was not sure that I would make to the New Year. So I want to wish every one a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Knit On!

No Knitting Mojo

My knitting mojo is on vacation. I could not knit at all on Sunday or Monday. This morning I was trying to work on a toy for one of my dogs for Christmas and I had to rip it up twice! God, how depressing, I could not get more that 7 rows either time. Actually, I might have ripped it up 3 times. Uff Da.
I had a therapy session today and I always feel better after I talk to her, so hopefully tonight I will be back in form. I have my Knitter’s Guild meeting tonight, so we will see. I will be working on CD’s Christmas socks. I have 2 inches of ribbing. I think I will stop there. The pattern calls out 3 inches, but that seems like a lot of ribbing. I do not think any of his other socks have that much ribbing. Does it matter how much ribbing you have on socks? I have to say, I get really bored with 2x2 ribbing, although it is better than 1x1 ribbing.
CD moved all my yarn upstairs so my in-laws do not see it. So my area looks naked and that makes me sad as well. I like to be able to reach over and just pull out yarn and fondle it. I know… it is a sickness!
I do not know if it will even be able to come back downstairs until after the holidays. We are going to set up the Christmas tree where my chair currently resides, so there will not be room for all my yarn. Well, actually I did not have all my yarn down there, just the stuff I was “working” with.
I have a ton of stuff to do tonight. I have to pick up a pie and beer and wine for Thanksgiving dinner. I do not actually do any of the cooking (my husband cooks everything), but I have been tasked with delivering the aforementioned items. I came into work late and will have to leave on time (or a little early) to be able to get everything done before I go to the Guild meeting. I suppose I don’t have to go to Guild, but they are going to talk about machine knitting. I do not think I will ever use a machine to knit, but I have my grandmother’s machine in my attic and I want to know what to do with it.
I joined a new blog ring (I am not sure of the correct blogging term). It is called Knitting with Classics. In December we are reading Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” and then we knit something that goes with it. It will be too much fun. I love “A Christmas Carol”. I will keep you up to date what I am knitting for the book and I will also try to put an update on that blog as well.

Yarn shops and knitting status

I have to stay out of yarn shops! I went into the 3 Kittens on Tuesday afternoon to look for some ribbon yarn for The Girl's poncho. I did not find any I liked, but I still spent $65. How does that work?
I bought a kit of Sue the Sheep. I don't know why except it was really cute. Lord knows when I will have time to knit a sheep!







I also bought some sock yarn (Lorna Lace) and lace weight mohair (for mittens) and a mitten pattern. Why would I spend $4.50 on a mitten pattern? I do not know. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Of course, I have a bunch of patterns at home that cost me nothing and are just as good. I think I fall under some sort of spell when I enter a yarn shop. Sigh.


They are going to be pretty cool mittens though. Here is the swatch I made up with the yarn next to it.

















I did finish the jabot for my mother-in-law. It is quite nice, but I still need to block it.




I am working on my mom's pillow. So far I have knitted 7 inches of stockinette for the back. Only 3 more and I can start the actual pattern. Yeah!! Maybe tonight I will get there. I am also working on my nephew's hat and a pair of socks for CD. So many projects, so little time.
I did not get any of my stuff put together over the weekend. I do not even know what I did over the weekend, but it seemed to go by really fast.
The In-laws are going to be here in one week, so I do not know how I am going to get all their presents blocked and wrapped. Arrggh. Thanksgiving seemed so far away when I started. I might have to start working on some of that before I continue with my mom's present. I figure I have until 12/15 to ship it down to AZ.