Wednesday, December 31, 2008

test

This is a blog test. If you can read this, then blogging from my BlackJack is a possibility and even a probability. Hmmmm....interesting.

goodbye '08

Well, well, well. So, I broke down and ordered the Noro yarn (with speedy delivery, I might add), so that I could cease my bad habit beginning tomorrow. Guess what? Uncle Stan the Mailman failed me today and did not bring my package (ok, so I know it isn't his fault, and I shouldn't shoot the messenger, but isn't it just easier?) Tonight at the stroke of midnight the leftovers in my pack will meet with the trashcan and I won't have my Noro to go to. Whatever am I to do? I'm a bit freaked out. I have been working on the second mitten I started on months ago (ended up trashing the original second one due to the mess Maddie made of my yarn - see old post). I will probably work on it when the 'smoking jones' hits me. Still, would be more exciting if I had a new project to begin when this awful habit ends!

Speaking of said second mitten, this one isn't go so well either. It looks a little wonky. Maybe I should frog it today while I still am a smoker because if I wait until tomorrow to fix the 'wonkiness', frankly, it may drive me over the edge.

Goodbye 2008, goodbye nasty habit. Hello 2009.

Oh Crap. 2009. I've kind of been dreading this year. My first baby graduates high school in May and will be going off to college (somewhere - that's a blog discussion for another day) this summer and I.AM.JUST.NOT.READY.

I'm going to go outside and have a smoke.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Commit to Quit

I am making the commitment to quit smoking on January 1. Not for a New Year's Resolution, but because my friend, Natalie, tells me that the almanac lists it as the day to quit (according to the moon).

Here's why I'm going to quit:
1. I will live longer.

2. My children will live longer.

3. I will breathe better.

4. I will feel better.

5. My home will smell better.

6. I will no longer feel like a hypocrite when I encourage my students to stop/not start to smoke.

7. I will have fewer wrinkles than if I continue to smoke.

8. My Cardiologist will be happy.

9. My fingers will not be yellow.

10. My teeth will not be yellow.

11. Life will smell better.

12. I will be able to allow people who don't smoke to ride in my car. Right now the odor embarrasses me.

13. I will no longer go to work smelling like an ashtray and worrying about it.

14. I will save money and I can use it to buy yarn. (Think about it - a pack a day is around $4.00. I could buy two balls of sock yarn a week!)

15. I won't have to worry that my finished objects stink. (Like smoke, that is. They may very well continue to stink in the proverbial sense.)

16. When I stress out because I need a cigarette, I can knit; thereby increasing the amount of finished objects I turn out.

17. I will no longer scout any area, looking desperately for the smoking section.

18. Food will taste better.

19. My children will be proud of me.

20. I will be proud of myself.


And here is how I will quit:
I have wanted for a while to knit a beautiful Noro scarf. While I could never justify $45.00 for yarn for one scarf, my very wise friend Anita pointed out to me that I could use it to my advantage. She advised me to buy the yarn, but said that I should not start knitting the scarf until my 'quit day'. Every time I feel the urge to smoke, I should sit down and knit a row (or two. Or seven. Or 29. Whatever.)

By the time I have finished the scarf (which frankly, may get knitted up very quickly!), I will have a beautiful (although expensive) reminder of the feat that I have accomplished. The money I have saved on cigarettes will more than pay for the cost of the yarn I spent for the project. I will know that I can and will be able to break this nasty habit. And I will have a stunning scarf to show for it.

Thanks Nat and Anita for the encouragement. Everyone else, please bear with me.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

stripes in the round





OK - I need some help. The first pic above shows the stripes with no added 'fix' for the stripes - just straight knitting in the round. )The stripes look BAD where they meet up. I attempted in the second hat (pic 2) to slip the first stitch on the first row of the color change (but not slipping the first stitch of second row of each color change). While I think it looks slightly better than the first pic, it still isn't the results I want. Can you help???? Do you have any advice? Thanks!!!!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

C and R's London Beanies







Here are the London Beanies I made for the boys. Originally the hats were supposed to be for J. The Blue and Gray stripe one was made first using Caron Super Soft and I think that's why it came out so small. It fit J's head, but didn't cover his ears. Turns out it fits 5 year old R just fine though and he is happy as can be with it! The second hat was made with Lion Brand Wool, which of course is thicker. I didn't think about that ahead of time and I added 5 mores rows before I got to the stripes, so to be sure to cover J's ears. It fits J, but he thinks it looks like a chemo cap (and the stripes begin 5 rows higher on the head, so it looks kind of dorky anyway.) However, it also fits 7 year old C (who has a Charlie Brown head, God love him), and he doesn't care how it looks on him - he loves the hat. J is just a little bit more picky. (Or a lot more picky!) So, I'm going to try again on the beanie for J. I'm going back to the Caron yarn (is softer and machine washable). Pics in a few days!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Doomed

The second mitten was doomed from the start, apparently. After spending hours untangling the mess that Maddie made of my yarn, then balling it back up again (into two balls because somehow she broke it off somewhere in the middle - I'm blaming her, anyway), I set to work again on the mitten. I had to frog what was left of mitten #2 because I couldn't figure out where I had been in the pattern when all H-E-double hockeysticks broke loose. So I frogged the mitten and began again. I've finished the mitten and I won't even disturb you by posting pics of it - somehow it is considerably smaller than mitten #1. Hmmm....maybe it will block out. I worked on weaving the ends in, during a particularly harrowing evening of two little boys who didn't want to and wouldn't go to sleep (and instead spent two hours annoying the you-know-what out of each other and their mother!) I barely gave it a thought when I weaved the ends in at the top of the mitten until I finished and went to turn it right-side-out. WHAT!?!?!?! It was already right side out. Yes, I had woven and snipped and it looks downright ugly.

What to do?

I'm going to order another ball of yarn and try again.

In the meantime, I'm working on a sock, and some dishcloths, and making my own DPN's and I am going to start on John's London Beanie. The Purl Bee has a pattern for an adorable (and I do mean adorable) little girl's dress (and you're right - I have no little girls - but I know some!). The pattern is for crochet though, and I don't crochet. Yet.....

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Anyone want a cat?






Just kidding - kind of. I love my cat. She's a part of the family. She also apparently loves Baby Alpaca yarn, so really, how can I not love her? (She never messed with my acrylic yarns this way.)

I was so excited to get up this morning and take pictures for you of the Women's Open Palm Mitten. (Yes, just one mitten - I know what you are thinking. Give me time. I'm a busy woman.) I worked the mitten in Knit Picks Andean Treasure, 100% Baby Alpaca, colorway Midnight. It is soft and blue and green and lovely and -- can you tell? -- I love it! Little did I know that Maddie would love it as well.

I'm sure I placed the whole caboodle snug inside it's ziploc resting place last night before bed. OK, so maybe I forgot to seal it. Really though, I would have thought that at Maddie's age (nine) she would know better. She's like a kid. And these kids, I tell you...

Where was I? Oh yes...instead of waking up and pulling out my prized mitten for pictures--Instead of that...I awoke to find this lovely scene. Grrrr! I then spent at least 30 minutes trying to un-knot the whole mess, while Maddie looked on (she can be so callous sometimes). See that smug look on her face. I realize now, after looking at the pictures, she does know better, she just simply does not care.

See if I knit anything for her.

PS - the fact that my pattern (see last pic) has a picture of a cat on it is not lost on me.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

A Pair









Oh, what joy! Ok...so maybe a pair of hand-knit socks shouldn't inspire 'joy' in a person, exactly. (I mean...what does that say about me? We'll save that conversation for another day.) Last night I finished the second sock (forgot to mention the pattern is Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock Recipe found in her book Knitting Rules!). While the socks fit, they could stand to be a wee bit longer in the foot, and so while I'm at it, I would add a wee bit more to the leg as well, just for grins. I also would do more than two inches of ribbing at the top. The socks seem to slouch a little at the ankle, and I'm not sure what would help that, unless I was to decrease a little bit there. Honestly, a smarter person could probably do that. I'm not sure I could figure out where to decrease, and then how best to increase again before I got to the heel. I would have to play with it a little (or a lot) before I could get that right. I'm going to do another pair (just waiting on my Knit Picks order).

In the meantime, I have a scarf to finish (the Irish Hiking Scarf in Lion Brand Wool, color: Sage). This scarf was going gang-busters in the beginning, but then I stopped to work on the socks, and now I'm having trouble getting back into it. Originally, it was to be a going away gift, but since that person already 'went away', I'm now calling it a 'we miss you - Christmas gift'. Sounds like a plan, right?



Monday, August 11, 2008

First sock, first post



Finally!




When I first taught myself to knit, it was with the intention of learning how to knit socks. I'm pretty crazy about taking on more than I probably should, but I knew better than to try to start with socks. I started, like everyone else, with scarves. Then moved on to shawls. Next came hats. Eventually, I made a pair of mittens. Then three baby sweaters. Hmmm....what to knit next? I took a deep breath. "I think I might be ready to knit socks." I didn't think socks could be much more difficult than sweaters (correct thinking there! Those sweaters were tough!) A couple of weeks ago I ordered my first sock yarn (Knit Picks Essential 755 Superwash Wool, 25% Nylon in Tuscany Multi).




My first sock took me 6 days! 6 days?!? (Mind you, I have children, so my knitting time is oft interrupted!) Surely my next sock would go more quickly, right? 10 days later, I'm about 2/3 done with the second sock. It is a LOT easier this time, I just haven't had as much time. I go back to work on Friday. I'm setting a goal for myself. I will be wearing my new socks to work on Friday. (OK. I hope to be wearing my new socks.) Wish me luck...