Stacy Knits

It's been a long time!

2006-11-29T21:23:00.000-05:00

I'm alive and still knitting. Kind of. A lot has happened over these past few months, and I've been so busy that blogging and even knitting has taken a backseat. It's all good though. After being absolutely miserable in my career path over the last few years, I accepted a new job. I'm not practicing law anymore (YAY!) and accepted a job as a corporate tax consultant. I've been doing it since July. So far, I really enjoy it, although the career change growing pains have been rough at times. The biggest move though was that I moved from Kentucky (where I have lived all my life) to Atlanta. I never really thought I wanted to live in the ATL but as I started investigating it as part of the job offer, I thought I love it. And I do! What little of it I've seen anyway...

I haven't actually moved here yet. My firm has been letting me commute back and forth until my house sells. I'm very lucky. I fly in Sunday nights, leave Thursday nights. The job does involve a decent amount of travel, so I've spent weeks in there in Florida, North Carolina (twice), Texas, and Nebraska. My last job had no travel so I really love the travel aspect. It's all slowing down though because my cute little house finally sold, and I am making the official move at the end of December!

I actually have 3 whole weeks to find a place to live in Atlanta. No pressure! It will be nice to get my dogs here with me. They stay with grandma and grandpa during the week. They love that!

You'd think with all the time I spend in airports and on planes, I would have gotten a ton of knitting done. Not a chance! I finished the Alphabet Baby Blanket for my nephew Dylan. I really think that burned me out on knitting for awhile. But here it is, completed in July, 2006. Started in October, 2005 but there were a lot of things completed in that time. Baby was born April 20, 2006.

The finished blanket...

The blanket as a background to this cutie...

Pattern: Debbie Bliss Baby Knits Alphabet Blanket
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine (I don't remember how many skeins. 11 or 12.)
Needles: Size 4 bamboo circs

Pattern Notes: You can see from the picture below that I left out the triangle border. I was so sick of knitting it, and since it was for a boy, I thought a simple border was more appropriate. I had planned to do a simple crocheted edging but it layed perfectly flat without it so I just let it go.

It wasn't that bad of a pattern to knit. It was actually pretty enjoyable for most of it, although the pressure of getting it done before the kid goes to kindergarten and the sheer size of it did make it get tiresome. The biggest lesson learned: don't stress over mistakes you discover rows later. No one will notice. There's a mistake that glares at me everytime I look at the picture but in the end, I think you can only tell if you are looking for it.

I met the Yarn Harlot!

2006-04-30T11:53:00.000-04:00

And all I got was this crappy camera phone pic! This is even bad for a camera phone pic. I'm not sure what is up here.

She appeared at a book festival in Lex yesterday! Unfortunately (or maybe not so, given the plans), I had to skip the knitting session but did have her sign a copy of her latest book, Knitting Rules. I just knew I'd meet her and be all cool and memorable. I was doing very well until I mentioned something about my blog. She asked who I was, and I told her Stacy but "you've never visited my blog." "You'd be surprised. Haven't you left a comment for me? I get to all of those."

And that's when I turned into a blubbering idiot.

I actually told the Yarn Harlot that the reason I couldn't go to the special knitting session was because I had to go to Louisville to go out with a hot fireman (I'm sure she will confirm that those were my exact words). I was so embarassed that I would miss out on a celebrity knit-a-thon that I had to give her the one and only thing that I felt justified my absence. And quite frankly, when you're 31 and single, choosing knitting over dating will send your Mom into fits of despair that you just don't want to deal with.

I didn't have my knitting with me, and I didn't have on a single handknit. I am an outcast. Since I had plans that night and errands to run that day, I didn't get all knitted up like I would have otherwise. Not to mention how freaking humid it was yesterday!

When I first started knitting, blogging, and reading the Yarn Harlot's blog, I enjoyed it but for some reason, never really cared to read her books (please don't pass out YET everyone). I couldn't figure out how knitting could be humorous and couldn't I just get it on her blog? How wrong I was!!! I finally read her previous books a couple of months ago and was hooked. They are really funny, and I had trouble putting them down.

I haven't had a chance to read the new one and really haven't even skimmed through it a whole lot since I just got it yesterday but so far, I have to say that it could be my favorite yet. The humor is still there but this one is more of a everything you need to know about knitting type book. It's not an instruction manual like SNB but it looks like something I would have loved to have had when I first started in addition to the books teaching me to do the knitting thing. So buy it.

And Yarn Harlot, if you come across this, I hope you enjoyed your trip to beautiful Lexington! The weather ended up being quite decent. I hope the sock got some nice action shots and got to ride a horse or something. I would have suggested a nice picture of the sock resting on the Rupp Arena basketball court since it was mere feet away from said mecca but I think I'm the only person around blogland that would tear up at the sight.

Oh, about that fireman. Yes, that was a true story, not something I made up off the top of my head. It ended up not happening. I was going to Louisville with friends for another friend's birthday. He was hoping he'd be able to get away for the night but unfortunately, he couldn't. Firemen work some funky hours. We'll try again soon.

A Real Kentucky Weekend...

2006-04-10T20:17:00.000-04:00

Not much knitting to report but I had a one of the best weekends I've had since football season (or at least since things ended up with the ex in January). A gathering of a few friends for the opening weekend of Keeneland developed into a 30 person LimoBus renting extravaganza. I packed the dogs off for grandma and grandpa's house for the weekend so I could spend the day out and not have to worry about them. You don't have to love horse racing to love Keeneland but if you do love racing, there's no place better.

The day started out nasty, cold and dreary but by the time the second race rolled around, the sky was bright blue, and the sun had warmed it to a comfortable temperature. I happened to meet a very cute doctor while tailgating pre-races, a college friend of a friend of mine, that became my companion for the rest of the day (from out of state, I doubt I'll ever see him again but it was fun while it lasted!).

One thing that makes Keeneland so neat is that many people still get dressed up. You'll see just about anything worn but I'm in the camp of people that loves to dress up and see what others are wearing. For example, this guy, rocking his plaid blazer and matching plaid tie. Our favorite outfit of the day!

The Paddock. One of the prettiest spots on earth. Seriously. During the October meet, the leaves on the trees are changing into beautiful fall colors. In the spring, things are in bloom. Not a whole lot is blooming this early in April but in a couple of weeks, it will be perfect. Still, it's gorgeous.

Most tracks don't have this area open to the public like Keeneland does, which lets you get close to the horses and watch the owners and trainers get the horses and jockeys ready for the race.

After the track was to a Japanese restaurant for sushi and even more fun. This is only about half of our group. We had another group in that next room. It was huge!

There I am in the bottom right corner.

And finally, mugging for the camera with my friend (right) and the cute doctor (left)

It was a long day, starting early and going late but it was a blast all the way through!

Is Salina Cursed?

2006-04-06T10:01:00.000-04:00

I'm not particularly superstitious except when it comes to watching sports but I'm beginning to wonder about poor Salina. I think she's been cursed. Why else would I have had so many problems with this simple, straight forward pattern?

It started out well enough. I finished the back piece quickly and went ahead and blocked it. It grew! It went from about 13 1/2 inches to over 15 (much too long for this type of sweater for me) and expanded out at the bottom, though the chest was still the width I wanted. I tried reblocking, with the same results. The one time I actually washed the swatch to make sure it wouldn't do this, it happens. How? I even reblocked, taking extra special care to scrunch it into shape, and it didn't help. The gauge has relaxed enough that I'll probably have to reknit the whole thing rather than simply taking out a few rows to shorten it.

Resigned to having to re-knit the back, I do the sleeves. Have I mentioned how much I hate sleeves? Thinking of how the back stretched, I make the sleeves a little shorter. Off to blocking, feeling pretty smug about how I'd outsmarted the yarn. Do they grow? Not one bit. I can probably block some extra length into them so I'm not too worried but thinking about it, I knit them as the pattern specified which is probably going to make them appear "too short" rather than "bracelet length" on my short arms and also too wide around the bottom. So there may be some sleeve reknitting (working from the cast on down, more likely).

The front piece started off well enough. I got through the seed stitch on size 2 needles, and it became my carry along knitting project. On evening, I pulled some papers out of my work bag and noticed a coffee stain on them. I frantically reached for my knitting, and there it was, a big coffee stain on it. I'd tossed my travel mug in without it being shut. I put a little detergent on the spot and soaked to no avail. I decided to risk if some stain remover would get it out or leave a spot and fortunately, it did work.

But knowing that getting the front piece done is likely not the end of my knitting has made it almost impossible for me to pick this up. As a result, I haven't been working on anything. It's kind of been stressing me out! Knitting's for relaxation for me, I don't put a lot of goals or deadlines on my knitting but for some reason, this is bugging me.

I decided that it's probably best to put Salina down for a bit. It wouldn't get a lot of wear until the fall anyway. The baby blanket still has a ton more work, and I need to get it done for baby nephew's pending arrival (or within a couple months of said arrival!). It's about time I get back to working on Apricot since it's spring and the perfect time to wear this sweater. I only have half of a front and a sleeve left to knit on it, and finishing looks relatively simple. It would be nice to actually have a finish item. I've finished a whopping 3 projects this year, one of those I did most of LAST year. Sock #2 is coming along great but it's my on the go knitting (that don't share a bag with my travel mug) so they just get a few rows done from time to time.

So that's the plan for now, to actually finish a couple of projects AND preserve my sanity!!! I'll post a pic of the baby blanket soon. It's going to be tough to get a good one because of its size and the lack of blocking. It is absolutely gorgeous though I'm not quite sure how useful it will be (lots of little holes for kiddo to get his fingers stuck in).

AWOL Knitter

2006-03-26T14:45:00.000-05:00

Sorry to have disappeared for awhile! While you may assume that I've been lulled into a basketball induced stupor, that's only partially correct. I'm getting over a nasty stomach flu and speaking in words greater than two syllables has been beyond my capabilities for a few days now. I've curled up on my couch watching a whole lot of basketball though! The Sweet Sixteen was the most amazing Sweet Sixteen in memory. All of the close games and overtimes made it so exciting. I'm thrilled for LSU making it to the Final Four and hoping Florida does too. I always pull for fellow Southeastern Conference teams.

Unfortunately, my beloved Kentucky didn't pull it out against UConn. But I was so proud of the effort they gave. I figured we'd win our first round against UAB. We're Kentucky. We don't lose first round NCAA games (not since 1987 anyway). UConn was a different story. I thought we could be competitive against any of the other #1 seeds but didn't think we could stay on the court with UConn because of the matchup problems they presented us. The only team that can beat UConn is UConn, so they like to say. When we got down by 13 and since UConn was playing a good game, I thought it was going to get ugly.

Our guys fought back and made it close. We lost by 4 but if a couple of bad calls and rebounds had gone our way, I truly think we would have pulled it out. I was so proud!

I'm talking about basketball because there's not much knitting to report! I haven't felt like knitting and haven't done much. I've done a little on Sock #2. I'm almost to the armholes of Salina. I'll probably post a picture of the Baby Blanket soon. It's going to be so nice but pictures aren't going to capture it well at this point.

So hopefully soon I'll have progress to show off!

She did it...

2006-03-14T09:50:00.000-05:00

And you thought I couldn't...

So it wasn't you guys with doubts, it was me! I knew I had the ability to knit a sock and even the patience but was starting to question if I had a sock mental block! But it's done, and the fit is near perfect. If you think I have issues resizing sweaters to fit my 4'11 self, you should see me pondering the fit of a sock to fit my size 5 foot. And I like socks to fit really snug. Most of the standard sock patterns call for casting on 64 at a gauge of 8 st/in. After measuring my foot, I decided to cast on 56. It worked very well. If I want a pair to come up a little higher on my calf, I'll definitely need to start with a few more stitches and decrease down. I've got little feet and big, bulky calves!

I finished this while watching basketball over the weekend. See...

I even cast on for Sock #2, avoiding second sock syndrome and you guys having to yell at me! Meet Sock @#2, watching my basketball love, Jay Bilas, on ESPN.
I don't think I'm going to have a problem finishing Sock #2! I can't wait to wear these. I always wear socks around the house, preferably soft, warm, wool socks, and these are gonna be great. I had trouble taking off Sock #1!

The Cats lost in the semis of the SEC tournament to South Carolina who was playing out of their minds this week. We ended up with a #8 seed in the brackets. I don't remember the last time we were seeded this low. We're usually a 1 or 2! That's how bad this season has been. Oh well, maybe they'll put together a miracle run. Gotta have hope.

Madness Ensues!

2006-03-11T11:33:00.000-05:00

Ah, it's here! March Madness is here, and we're ready. It's Conference Tournament week with the Brackets coming out tomorrow night. I'm pumped. It's my favorite time of the year. My beloved Cats won their SEC Quarterfinal game yesterday, playing a miserable first half and getting down by 10 points two different times in the last 7-8 minutes. They showed so much heart and determination to win that game. Heart is something that's been woefully lacking in this team this year.

The NCAA tournament is a relatively solitary thing for me. I love getting together with people to watch regular season games but with so much riding on tournament games (one loss, your season is done), I hate to watch with anyone. I get so into it. I get so stressed when the Cats play. And I love to watch as many games as I can.

That leads to a ton of knitting time! The best UK game projects are simple stockinette with not a lot of counting, something that keeps my hands moving (that calms me) but doesn't require attention. And something that I can put down at any time should cheering (or jeering) necessitate it and pick right back up. For other teams' games, I can do something a little bit more complex but there can be no complicated cable or lace knitting during the games! And I really need to get some projects finished too, especially if I want to wear them before next fall/winter. So here's the March Madness knitting plan...

1. Get the Alphabet Baby Blanket halfway done
2. Finish Salina (half the front and half a cuff remain)
3. Pick up and finish Apricot. For real. (one front and one sleeve remain)
4. Finish my socks (Sock #1 is merely rows from completion!)
5. Cabled bag for my friend Steph
6. Finish "mystery project" I wrote about not long ago. It's not much of a mystery since I decided I won't be giving it away unless it's too small which is entirely possible judging from what I've got done (Odessa from Grumperina).

It's not likely I'll get all this done during March, and that's not really the goal. I do have some projects I'm itching to start like the BSA Cotton Cardigan I almost did during the Knitting Olympics. And the Cabled Turtleneck from Rebecca #30. And I ripped out the Jaywalker socks I had started and want to give them another shot. Of course, the temptation is pretty strong to cast on for them.

But I will not even touch the yarn for any of these until I've accomplished 4 of the 6 things on this list. True story! And feel free to call me on it if I do! :)

A Quick Lil FO

2006-03-08T22:53:00.000-05:00

Sunday, my friend e-mailed me and told me to pull my nose out of my new "The New Crewel Book" (so cool!) and get to work on making these bags. I quickly figured out the pattern (it's not that complicated, pretty simple actually for a $150 purse!) and got to work on Monday. I happened to have a skein of Brown Sheep Bulky that I bought over a year ago for a project I changed my mind one. I happened to have some really pretty fabric from my learning to sew phase that never took off. And a snap that I ended up never putting into a felted bag. Add in a handle and ribbon, and this is what I got:

Not bad for a couple of evenings, huh? It took me almost as much time to do the lining as it did to knit the thing.

Pattern: Made it up as I went along (I later learned that there was a thread on Craftster awhile back, I'm not sure if a pattern was ever posted there)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Bulky in Aztec Turquoise, a little less than 1 skein
Needles: Size 10.5 Circular
Notes: Very simple. The original is a super cute bag but incredibly easy for anyone who's been knitting for anytime at all to "knock off." I can't believe a $150 is that easy to replicate. I'm making one for my friend and another for myself in cotton, making a few minor changes. It would be a great summer bag. I think the thing I like about it most is that it looks like something I would buy in a store, not like a handknit. Not that looking handknit is a bad thing, of course!
I did 2 new things with this project, pretty amazing for such a simple knit:
1. Sewed in a lining. I'm not a seamstress but it doesn't look too bad.
2. Cabled without a cable needle. To be honest, I've always wondered why bother, it's not like a cable needle is difficult. I had practiced it on swatches. But in a project with 6 cables like this, it did go faster. I'm a definite convert!

I'm not officially in Project Spectrum but since I am the queen of pink, it's pretty obvious that I'd be touching something that fits this month's theme. One thing about being a single woman is that you can have all the pink in your house that you want. See my bright pink guest bedroom wall in the picture of the bag above! And my bed below...

I don't believe in spoiling my dogs

If I took pictures of all the pink in my house, you'd be stuck here forever!

I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit...

2006-03-06T20:55:00.000-05:00

I will write it on the chalkboard 500 times...

I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks.

My blog friends have almost all knit socks. Lolly seems to have a new sock done every time I visit her blog! But for some inexplicable reason, I seem incapable of finishing a pair. We're not talking about second sock syndrome here. I don't even get that far. Let's review my previous attempts. There was the Cabled Sock from IK Spring '05 in Brown Sheep Cotton Fine leftover from Lucky. I made it about 3". There was the next attempt in Knit Picks Sock Garden, a simple ribbed sock. Another 2". I ripped that out in favor of the raved about Jaywalkers. Those haven't been ripped out yet but they have stalled out at about 2".

One sad little failed attempt

Why is this? I have no clue. Small needles don't bother me. DPN's don't bother me. I love warm, soft socks, and everyone claims handknit ones are the best. I've always told myself that if I don't enjoy knitting a project for myself, I have no need to suffer through so I don't feel pressure to finish a pair if I hate knitting them. But I can't say I don't enjoy knitting them! I do like them. Part of it may be bad timing. With the Cotton Fine socks, I wasn't knitting a lot in the summer anyway and may have been tired of the yarn after finishing Lucky. The Knit Picks yarn feels nice but may be suffering from a color selection. You see, I'm not a bold color, stripey socks kind of girl. I tend to wear only dark/neutral/white socks. When picking out the Knit Picks yarn, I chose a color that best fit this but had some color. The shades are nice, don't get me wrong, just not my favorite colors to knit with. I like bright or light colors for knitting! Mostly pink of course.

Never one to give up that easily, I left my LYS the other day with 2 skeins of Lang Jawoll sock yarn in colors that I love (shades of pink, gray and white) and decided to have another go at it. The result:

It's not done yet but I have turned the heel! I'm getting ready to pick up stitches for the gusset. I'm about 1/4 of the way toward a finished pair of socks!

The yarn's forming a really nice, subtle striping pattern. I thought it would be more variegated but this is even better than expected. It's a nice yarn to work with. It comes with reinforcing thread for the heels and toes. I may not need it but more than likely, my handknit socks will be worn around the house a lot so I figure it can't hurt to use it.

It looks like I should finish Sock #1. If I even hesitate to cast on for sock #2, you guys have to yell at me, threaten me, do whatever it takes to make me do it! :)

And a question for you sock knitters. I am using Size 1 bamboo needles which I do like a lot. However, I've already broken one and another looks like it's about ready to go. I have some Size 0 Pony Pearl needles that I like a lot but my LYS is always out of the Size 1. Is there any type of DPN that you guys like best?

The Aftermath

2006-03-04T13:48:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much for the compliments on my Not-So-Ruffly Rebecca Wrap Cardi. I really appreciate it! Karma asked if GGH Soft Kid was soft enough to wear against the skin. It is! It's so soft, and I just want to snuggle into it. Even though I'm not overly sensitive to itchy yarn, mohair is the one that tends to bug me but I'd use this again in a heartbeat. I love it that much!

From what I'm reading, it doesn't sound like I'm the only one suffering from a little post-Olympics fatigue. I've knit a little bit this week but have very little to show for it! I didn't touch Salina. I did a couple of rows on the Baby Blanket. I decided to knit a quick hat but ran out of yarn near the top so ripped back in order to make a couple of alterations. On the agenda for the near future includes, in order, finishing Salina (1/2 of the front and one cuff remains to knit), the Baby Blanket, and the Apricot Jacket (1 sleeve and 1 front remain, I want to wear this in the spring!).

Finishing any project on the list entitles me to a trip to the yarn shop for a new project. Right? I have several bigger things going on so picked up yarn for a pair of socks and for a secret project. It's only secret because it may end up being gifted away to someone that may or may not read this blog. I'm not sure yet if the color is more suited to me or said person.

I'm a relatively fearless knitter. My first project was a ribbed hat. Project #3 was a hat knit in the round. Sweater #2 was at a different gauge than the pattern's. Sweater #3 was cabled. Sweater #4 was lace on size 2 needles. You get the point! I don't really understand why people are afraid to undertake certain projects. I figure that if it doesn't work out, I can rip it out and use the yarn for something that will.

That said, there is one technique out there that, while not exactly intimidated by it, I haven't been able to talk myself into attempting even though I'm crazy about it. Secret project is just that!

Rebecca Ruffled Jacket

2006-02-27T08:55:00.000-05:00

After some anxious moments staring at the tiny, weird shaped pieces, thinking there was no way they were going to work out to be a sweater that fits and pondering if it was possible to rip out a mohair sweater, I present...

Pattern: Rebecca #30, Wrap Jacket with Flounce Edging (Pattern 37)
Yarn: GGH Soft Kid, about 5 1/2 balls (pattern calls for 7 for the small)
Needles: Size 5 Addis
Alterations: Very minor ones. My gauge was 22 rather than the pattern's 21. Since my row gauge with those needles was on, and row gauge mattered in this pattern and after calculating to make sure the fit would still be okay, I went with it. It blocked out to almost the same measurements. I slightly shortened the body, sleeves, and armholes.

Other notes:
*The pattern was very easy to decipher. Yes, it really was a Rebecca pattern!
*I love this yarn. It's wonderful to work with (not so if you want to rip out though) and makes a cuddly, warm, soft sweater. Too warm unless you're one of these that's always cold like me. I'm anxious to use it again.
*My ruffle isn't particularly ruffly. I think that's because I messed up the bind off. You're supposed to slip the 2 purl stitches while binding off, and I, forgetting that step, just bound off normally. I realized it about 2/3rds of the way through the almost 600 st bind-off and there was no way I was making the change. The shape of the sweater and yarn was what drew me in originally, and I was afraid the ruffle would be too much anyway. I even left off the ruffle on the sleeve. I may go back and add that later but even without it, the sleeves hang nicely, no rolling.
*There really aren't many changes I'd make. The pattern was sized almost perfectly for me. I'd add a couple of stitches onto the sleeves. The final measurement at the top is a bit over 11", and that's kind of small, even for a stretchy sleeve like this one.
*I am glad I didn't mess with the measurements of the back piece. The bottom of it starts out at 20" and decreases relatively quickly up to the waist. I wasn't sure that would work and thought it would leave a big hip-emphasizing peplum type thing hanging there but I decided to go with it. Glad I did, it's perfect
*Oh yeah, you may noticed mine crosses over on the opposite side from the original sweater. I seamed the first side, forgetting to add the slit. I just put it on the other side.

All in all, a huge success! It's the best fitting sweater I've done so far because I really took the time to deal with the armhole and shoulder sizing, which is where I run into the most problems with the fit of my handknits. Wrap sweaters seem to be the most difficult to get to fit properly, whether knit or store bought, and this one works better than any I've owned.

I'm really proud of this sweater. I had to figure this one out on my own since I haven't seen another one online. My finishing is getting better with every sweater (and fluffy mohair hides a lot of sins :). When deciding what garments to knit, I've realized that I stay out of "won't wear it" trouble if I knit things only if I would buy the same item in a store. This one would be one I'd definitely buy!

It's done!

2006-02-27T08:53:00.000-05:00

The Ruffled Cardi is done, and I'm wearing her today. Pictures and details to follow later this evening...

A little on the Knitting Olympics. All in all, a fun little thing to do, to work feverishly toward the deadline. I'm not so sure I'd participate in another one however. I tend to have 3-4 projects going at any one time, projects of varying types, some more complex like lace, some bigger but mindless like stockinette sweaters, some smaller like hats or scarves. I pick them up in the evenings depending on what my mood is at the time. Setting this deadline, I had to work on this same project just about any time I knit. It was fun this time but deadlines like Christmas gift giving usually take a project from an enjoyable knit to one that I am struggling on and cannot wait to be through with. This sweater was already starting to take on that for me.

And even though I finished last minute, would I have gotten it done if that one front piece wouldn't have been completed going in? Sure! The front pieces took probably under 4 hours each, they knit up that quickly. I didn't knit a whole lot on the weeknights but given the deadline, I definitely would have. I'm such a procrastinator but usually manage to make my deadlines but the skin of my teeth.

I look forward to seeing everyone else's completed projects!

The last progress report

2006-02-25T10:51:00.000-05:00

Let's hope it's the last and the next post is a fully complete Ruffled Sweater!!!

And down the stretch they come (er, that's horse racing, not Winter Olympics. And it will be nice to make a post without silly sports metaphors. We're all doing it, I've noticed! :) ) The knitting's all done. The blocking is done. Next step: seaming.

I am still incapable of getting a picture that shows the color accurately. I've tried different rooms, different lights, flash or not, and the result is the same. They are mostly too bright and too orangey. Imagine the rosy red color of a raspberry and you've got it.

You may notice the shaggy overgrown Parker Cairn observing my work. You may also noticed plain guest bed mattress that serves as my blocking board. If you remember from a couple of weeks ago, Elly Cairn had a bladder infection and her 4th recurrence of bladder stones. All was pretty well within a couple of days, leading me perhaps to a bit of false security. One evening, she was whining around. Elly does that often if she wants me to pet her. I was busy and didn't. Oops, that wasn't a "pet me" whine, that was a "gotta go" whine. Usually I'm excellent at Elly to English translation but I blew this one. She jumped up onto the bed and peed a river. I watched in horror as my lovely back piece was under Elly as she peed. All was well, the piece was dry, and I didn't even mind having to rip off the sheets AND the bedskirt and clean the carpet.

Today's plans: Lunch with the grandparents. Stop to get some thread to seam this baby with (I have no desire to do that with the mohair!). Knit the ties that I had completely forgotten when saying that I was done with the knitting (14" stockinette, no biggie). Try to finish seaming. If I have time, pick up stitches and get started on the ruffle. Tomorrow, I'll finish the ruffle. And maybe have pics posted by tomorrow night. Don't hold your breath but that is the goal!

I'm thinking I'll even do a little on Salina's front this afternoon. The Cats have a big game with LSU at 3:45, and there is no way I'll be able to seam during that if I haven't finished it by that point. I'll probably finish the ties during the first half. It's a big game and knitting keeps me calm and from throwing things at the TV (yes, I have done that. I remove all hard objects from reach of my lucky game watching spot. Yes, there is one of those)

Good luck on finishing everyone!

P.S. Thanks for birthday greetings!!! Yes, CupcakeQueen, the Cats gave me a great birthday present with a HUGE 40 point win where my favorite player, Rajon Rondo, came out of a big slump he's been in with 12 assists! It happened to be his birthday too. February 22nd was a good day. :) I'll pretend that his nasty dunk during the game was a little birthday shoutout for me!

Happy birthday to me!

2006-02-23T16:08:00.000-05:00

Actually, it was yesterday, not today. I was so stuffed from my birthday dinner (sushi) that I didn't even eat my favorite red velvet cupcakes. 31 seemed so old when I was a kid. But now, I don't feel or (hopefully) look that old!

I've stalled out on the sleeve of my Knitting Olympic cardi. I hate sleeves! I'm about 11 inches in but I cast on for this thing late Sunday night. Hopefully I'll get it finished tonight and tomorrow for seaming on Saturday and ruffling on Sunday!

The back and front pieces are blocked and ready to be seamed. I may do a little of that tonight to break up the sleeve monotony and see how it fits. In spite of how much I hate doing sleeves, I love being at this phase of a sweater...the phase where you know that you're going to have a brand new handknit sweater pretty soon!

Progress Report...

2006-02-20T08:55:00.000-05:00

One week to go! I've made great progress on my Ruffled Cardi. I've completed the back, both front pieces, and one sleeve piece. I thought I would try to complete both sleeves by this weekend and to leave only the quick knitting front piece to go for the week. But since the front piece has some type of shaping on almost every row, requiring me to closely track where I am, I figured it would be best to do it over the weekend. I do like to carry my project with me during the week in case I have a chance to work on it, and tracking sleeve increases is a lot easier than this.

(I'll try to snap some pics later)

So technically, after casting on for the final sleeve last night, I'm just one day behind from my intended schedule. That's pretty good with just one piece left to go. Finishing is going to be the killer on this! But it should be do-able over just a weekend if push comes to shove.

I'm not so sure I want to put every project on a deadline like this but it has been fun, knitting like crazy to get it done.

The Cats beat South Carolina Saturday in a great game, where they played like the Cats of old. It amazes even me how much better of a mood I'm in when they win. Patrick Sparks was on fire in the second half, hitting 6 3's. If this guy played on any other team, I would despise him that his cocky little smirk he gets when he's on fire. But he's ours and as frustrated as I get with his streaky shooting, I love the guy.

Progress, Day 6

2006-02-16T19:43:00.000-05:00

We almost had a tragic Knitting Olympics equipment failure. The other night, a peaceful, quiet evening at home with me on the phone, Elly Cairn resting on the couch, and Parker Cairn ripping pieces from his favorite stuffed animal. Only when I turned around, it wasn't his favorite stuffie. Parker had a ball of expensive GGH Soft Kid, trying to rip the ball band out, all in his way be damned even if it was fluffy soft pricy yarn. The boy loves him some paper products, and ball bands are high on his list of fine dining. I grabbed the yarn, expecting to see scores of 5 inch pieces but amazingly, all that was ripped from the skein was a couple of yards.

Of course I'm already late on my planned Olympics progress schedule. It wouldn't be ME if I wasn't! I'm not too far behind however. I wanted to finish the back on Monday. In reality, I finished it mostly on Tuesday except for binding off which I did on Wednesday. I started the first sleeve on Wednesday as well and have about 3 inches done so far. I want to have both sleeves done by Sunday which is definitely possible given the weekend. Here she is, the back piece...

For the life of me, I can't get a great shot of the color of this yarn, no matter what light I take it in. Look at that cool ruffle at the bottom! This ruffle wasn't bad to knit but I only bound off about 300 stitches with it. I imagine the final ruffle isn't going to go by nearly so quickly.

This is really going quickly compared to Salina which is knit at the exact same gauge and has similar measurements. Maybe it's just my imagination. Or maybe I've flying because I love this yarn so much.

On another note, it got up to 70 degrees today. It's February in Kentucky, that just doesn't happen! But as they say, if you don't like the weather here, stick around. It will change tomorrow. It will be in the 30's tomorrow. Nice. But on a really comfortable day out, I actually broke out Lucky!

Finally, the first posted FO of 2006!

2006-02-13T08:32:00.000-05:00

Olympic progress report: about 4 inches left to go on the back plus the ruffle. Right on target! Today is my goal for finishing the first piece.

It's quite pathetic that I haven't posted a single FO this year! Actually, up until this, I have only finished one thing, the Loopy Cowl I made for my co-worker. I didn't even take a picture of it since it was something I'd made before.

This is Ruffles for my friend Stephanie. It's been mostly finished since mid-January but she just got it from me last week. Yeah, it was SUPPOSED to be a Christmas gift! I was holding off handing it over until she was in town but after her trip in was cancelled, I mailed it. Otherwise, she would have had it much earlier.

But here she is, another finished Ruffles ...

The color's really darker than this

Pattern: Scarf Style by Pam Allen
Yarn: Berroco Softtwist, 3 skeins
Needles: Size 7
Started/Finished: Mid-December/Mid-January
Notes: I didn't make any revisions. The scarf ended up measuring about 66". The pattern calls for about 400 yards but this was a nice length for this scarf. The yarn was somewhat splitty but I'm not too bothered by splitty yarn. If you are, beware. It's not as splitty as Cotton Twist though! I'm not sure I'd use it for a sweater because I kind of hate the feel of rayon but I did wash it, and it has a nice, soft, slinky texture that is nice for this scarf.

That makes for my 2nd Ruffles. Will I do another one? Maybe! This second one was torture near the end but that's probably because it was my second one in a month! But it's a good, mindless project and I love the final result. So while I won't do another now, maybe down the road sometime as a gift.

My other projects from Scarf Style: Ruffles #1 and Backyard Leaves

Today's Knitting Climate

2006-02-12T11:51:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh, it's a blizzard!!! Four whole inches. You east coasters are snickering madly when you're looking at 12+ but hey, this is the most we've had in ages. I was thinking, I moved into my house about 4 years ago and haven't had to shovel my driveway once. My driveway record is still intact because none stuck to the roads or sidewalks.

A snowy day plus a sick dog (more below) made for a perfect time to make some great progress on my Olympic cardi. I'm about 10 inches up on the back piece. I would love to finish it up tonight. So far, the pattern is very straight forward. Even Rebecca finds an acorn from time to time. I've read through the rest of it, and all seems well.

I hope to take about 4 days for the back (including ruffle), 6 days for the 2 sleeves (including ruffles) and 2 days for the front right which will leave 5 days for the finishing, building in some extra time if I get off schedule (and to let me pretend that even if that giant funny shaped swatch wasn't a perfect fit for the left front piece, I would have finished anyway).

My Elly-Girl

If you've read my blog for awhile, you may remember my Elly-Cairn's surgery for bladder stones last April. That was bladder stone surgery #3 in 2 1/2 years. We've taken lots of steps each time to try to prevent them but when I got home Tuesday evening, I found two places where she had peed in the house. This dog never pees in the house. Unless there is a problem. A urine sample delivered to the vet Wednesday morning showed lots of crystals (a precursor to stones), and Thursday, I dropped her off for x-rays. I told him to give me a call with the results but went ahead and signed off on the releases to do surgery. Being down this road before, I knew she'd need it. An anxious hour later, I still hadn't heard from them so I called. They had just finished with her and had great news for me.

NO SURGERY!!! He found a couple of small stones on the x-ray but decided we'd try to dissolve them with diet instead of surgery (you can do both things but in the past, we've opted for the surgery route as the best treatment). She had a couple of rough days (though she's acting just fine, for the most part) but this morning, she seemed to pee normally. She's on antibiotics and a special prescription for a month and after that time, we'll x-ray again and hope the stones are gone.

This dog has been with me through so much. I got her my senior year of college. I love both of my dogs equally and dearly but in different ways. Parker's my baby. I love nothing more than to snuggle and love on him. Elly's my best friend, my lil soulmate. Parker's 7, I've had him since he was 1 (actually, he came home 6 years ago this weekend!). Elly's 9, and I've had her since she was an itty bitty 4 lb ball of fire. Her first night at home...

To not leave my Parkie-guy out, here's a picture from the week I brought him home, in his very favorite position. You can't resist rubbing this belly, I promise!

Kentucky lost again yesterday. This time to Vanderbilt. Again. Swept by Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt. The school that disbanded their athletics department a couple of years ago. This sucks. Big time. I've joined the chorus of people saying that our coach needs to make some BIG changes at the end of the season in recruiting, coaching staff (fire at least 1 or 2 of the assistants), conditioning (they fired the strength and conditioning coach a month ago, the first casualty of this pathetic season, a move about 7 years overdue), and even within his own coaching philosophy. If he can't do that, I want him gone. This is bogus. We're Kentucky. We're the winningest basketball program of all time. We shouldn't have seasons like this. An off year for us means a 5 seed in the NCAA tournament, not not making the tournament which is what we're facing this year.

Craziness

2006-02-10T13:39:00.000-05:00

Y'all, to paraphrase my Mamaw, I might could be crazy. For non-Eastern Kentuckians, my Mamaw is my grandma and might could be crazy means that I quite possibly am out of my mind. I started experiencing a few pre-Olympic jitters. I haven't finished Salina, I haven't finished the baby cardi (but there's not a lot of hours left to finish that one). And if I make my Olympic cardi, there's no way I'll get to the project in my stash I want to wear most, the Ruffly Cardi from Rebecca #30, by the end of winter. Don't get me wrong, I love the Blue Sky cardi but since it's cotton, I can wear it well into May and even on cooler summer days in an air conditioned office. A mohair cardi is probably going to be put up sometime in March. I really, really want to wear it this winter. Like, really bad. And with the weekend snowstorm we have coming in (translation: 2 inches predicted), I would love to settle in knitting a nice fluffy mohair sweater.

A lesser person would declare her Olympic dreams over, with the games commencing mere minutes from now. I, however, will do no such thing. My Olympic project will be the Rebecca Ruffly Cardi. That piece I knit already, nah, that wasn't the left front of the cardi. Nope, that was a big, funny shaped swatch.

Obviously, I am not above cheating.

If I HAVE to, to preserve the integrity of the games and to prevent myself from being ostracized from blogland entirely, I'll reknit the first piece.

At the end.

Once I know that I will get done by the closing ceremonies.

In all seriousness, this project is probably a bigger challenge, even with completed left front, and I'll call that well within the spirit of the games. It's a Rebecca pattern. It's at a smaller gauge and thus is going to take much longer. Finishing is bound to be annoying. Did I mention the final ruffly bindoff of about 600 stitches? It's not like a project I've been working on for a couple of weeks already. I did one piece, put it down, and haven't touched it since (that's a lie, I like to fondle it)

So off we go...well, later today anyway. I'm not one of those that took a day off work for this monumental event. Not that I didn't consider it though. :)

Olympic Training

2006-02-04T17:32:00.000-05:00

The Knitting Olympics are just days away! I've got the yarn...

I've got the swatch...

I've got the needles (you don't need a picture, do you? Addi Turbos, Size 7)

I think I'm ready to get started on my Snap Cardigan!

I've decided not to add any shaping for this project since the ribbing hits almost to my waist and because I'm going to size it down to make it a slimmer fitting sweater than the almost 40" small in the pattern. I don't find shaping quite as necessary for me when I'm dealing with a cardi instead of a pullover. So that much of the planning is done! I'm really happy with the color I chose. It's a pastel-ish shade but to me, it's a hint more grown up than a baby pastel.

My swatch looks a little rumpled in the picture. After measuring it carefully, I decided to give it a test. Typically, I'd wash a sweater like this on the gentle cycle and lay it flat to dry (or perhaps dry on gentle). I wanted to see how it would work with regular washing and drying in case I want to use leftover yarn for project for the new nephew. I don't want to give new parents any more work than necessary so I tested it with washing abuse. I tossed it in with a load of sheets and towels, with hot water and bleach. Then I dried it normally along with the load. It didn't shrink at all (plus!). It looks a little rumpled but that's really because of how the stockinette rolls at the edges. Following their actual instructions to dry until damp and block would work better. The ribbing looks pretty good. It still feels so soft.

Why this project is a challenge...

One thing the Yarn Harlot said about the Knitting Olympics is that every knitter should choose a project that will challenge them in some way. Truly, a worsted weight cardigan in 16 days isn't a huge challenge, provided I set my mind to it. But it does have some challenging aspects. The first is a couple of days visit from a friend. My birthday falls in there too so that will be some more time away from knitting.

Another is the yarn selected and the pattern selected. Blue Sky Cotton is so soft to work with but cotton isn't as forgiving as wool. The pattern has a lot of ribbing, and while swatching, I had to be very careful that the edge of my ribbing wasn't loose. So I can't just rush through the knitting.

I've decided that I want to put a zipper in this rather than the snap tape. It will be my first zipper, and that's the big challenge on this project. I'm a little afraid to do it but there are several great tutorials online. If all else fails on the installation, I'll need to get it done as quickly as possible to have time to drop it off at the tailor. :)

Really, I'm ready to go. I bought a zipper that hopefully will work. It's white which I think will work just fine with the light color. If I end up not liking it, I'll look into ordering a custom one.

Salina probably is not going to be done by Friday. I've got about 6 inches of the front piece done. I did finish one cuff and have the other to do. If I make good progress on my Olympic project, I'll work on Salina throughout that time too.

I ended up going to the basketball game last night. I should have stayed home and worked on Salina. We lost yet again. This basketball season is KILLING me. We're 15-8 which is a really pathetic record for the winningest program in college basketball history. It may be crazy for living and dying with a sports team but I grew up on this stuff. I grew up going to games with my Dad. I grew up sneaking my headphones into bed so I could listen to the postgame radio shows. I cried after every loss. One of the happiest, most exciting moments of my life was being at the 1996 NCAA Final Four when we won the whole thing. And yet now, our season is spiraling out of control, and there is not a thing I can do about it.

From a game in January, one of my favorite Rupp Arena traditions, the big K flag with the bank playing the theme from 2001

It looks like a sweater!

2006-02-04T17:23:00.000-05:00

I really want Salina done before the Knitting Olympics begin which will be a huge challenge in and of itself. It's the Olympic Qualifying Competition, perhaps! I've got the back done and both sleeves. I've started on the front. After that, it's just seaming it up and doing the cuffs and collar. At least I have the dreaded sleeves done.

There's not a lot done on the front yet. It's a cold, wet, and snowy day here in Kentucky and while I've bummed around most of the day, I plan to curl up on the couch tonight to knit. My knitting time this week may be a bit limited, and if I want this thing done (or mostly done) by Olympic torch lighting on Friday, I had better get cracking!

Go Steelers!!!

Randomness

2006-01-31T08:43:00.000-05:00

Found at Karma's Blog. You can get your own here.

Showing off...

My friend's baby modeling the Anouk I made. An irresistable combo, right? This really is an adorable pattern. I made the booties too! It's really neat to wear your own knits. But it's even cooler to see someone else using something you've made for them!

Oh, no, not another project!

Smart, real smart!!! The Olympics are coming fast, I want to get Salina done before then, and what do I do? Cast on for something else, of course!!! It's really not that big of a project. I mentioned recently that it appears my baby nephew will make his grand debut earlier than anticipated. The Alphabet Baby Blanket is gorgeous but there's no way it will be done before he's born, unless I drop all other projects to finish it. The shower is at the end of February, and I'd like to send a handknit something. So I picked up a skein of very inexpensive (but soft!) Bernat baby yarn and cast on. I'm kind of combining patterns and making a couple of my own changes to get what I want. And what I want is very simple, a little hooded cardi, in a teeny tiny newborn size, and I'll do a lil hat to match. My thinking on this is that it will work if the baby is preemie or born closer to its due date. I'll save the fancier stuff for once the kid is born, we know his size, and he'll get some use out of it!

This shouldn't tax me too much even with the Olympics starting next week! Salina before then, however is a pretty lofty goal. Since I didn't get much done this weekend. But of course, the less knitting I do on weekends, the better weekend I've probably had!

Rebecca Ruffly Jacket

2006-01-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

As soon as I got the yarn in my hot little hands, I said I wouldn't be able to resist beginning this project. I know myself too well. I really want to get Salina done before the Knitting Olympics begin so I probably won't do too much more on it for now but I had to start, just to try out the pattern.

Here's the completed left front:

So far, so good but it's hard to believe from the funny looking thing in the picture that it's going to be a well-fitting sweater! My gauge is slightly off (22 st/4 in versus 21 as the pattern calls for) but when I measured it according to the pattern schematics, it's pretty close. One nice thing is that I'm not having to make pattern adjustments at all! The pattern sizing looks to be perfect. I have to do that with almost all my sweaters. Even if they are designed for my chest size, I often have to size down because they allow too much ease. It's not an "I'm so skinny" thing because I'm definitely not. I've got curves! But I'm really short and with a small frame, don't like more than a couple of inches of ease even in sweaters that are supposed to be more oversized.

This yarn is gorgeous! It's so soft and light. Knitting with it is great, not like the mohairs I've used in the past. I haven't had to do any frogging yet, knock on wood. The color is different than I thought it would be. From the picture, I thought it was going to be a brighter, medium pink shade but it's more of a deep red. The color is called Raspberry, and it's the color of a raspberry, go figure! Even though it's not what I expected, it's very pretty. I always get compliments when I wear red so I think it will look good on me as well. I'm having trouble getting a picture that shows the color well (my digital stinks) but imagine the deep pinkish-red of a nice ripe strawberry.

I quickly figured out the numbers on the ruffly edging that, except for the back bottom and sleeves, is done by picking up stitches along the front, around the neck, and down the other front. I should be binding off about 600 stitches when it's complete. Eek! But I thought it was going to be worse. That's why I figured the numbers, to find out what was ahead of me. At least it doesn't have to be seamed on!

You Go Girls!

Props to UK Hoops (the team formally known as the Kentucky Lady Cats) for beating #1 ranked Tennessee!!! In spite of being a huge college basketball fan, I just don't enjoy watching woman's basketball. It tends to be a more fundamentally sound game than the men's but I find it a lil' dull. Anyone who is a college basketball fan would have enjoyed this game. It was well played and came down to the last seconds. When we grabbed the final rebound to seal the deal, I found myself flying off the couch, screaming, just like I would for a men's game! When I logged onto the UK website/message board I frequent, I expected to see some "who cares, it's just women" posts but I saw none of that. Everyone else was as excited as I was! I can't wait to follow the women's team through the rest of the season. Go Cats!!!

And I leave you with a picture of Elly Cairn and the guest bed that serves as my fancy-schmancy blocking board. My dogs are such productive little citizens. She loves to be helpful as I am hard at work. See?

STEELERS!!!

2006-01-22T19:43:00.000-05:00

AFC Champs! Super Bowl bound, baby!

And I got the first sleeve of Salina almost done during the game.

Pretty, Pretty Salina

2006-01-21T18:36:00.000-05:00

Finally, I am gonna talk about my lovely Salina. In all this yarn stashing and Knitting Olympics excitement, she's kind of been put on the back burner (on my blog, not in my heart, of course). I got the back done pretty quickly and decided to move onto a sleeve next. For some reason, sleeves kill me. Maybe it's because I FEEL like they should take no time compared to backs and fronts. Soooo not true but mentally, I get so tired of them. I thought I'd try to get at least one of them done before moving onto the front. The front's always my favorite part of a sweater. All the shaping that goes into it entertains me or something. But the sleeves...I hate them!

I've stalled a little bit on Salina, trying to finish up a couple of smaller projects and because I HAD to start my new ruffled Soft Kid Cardi. I told you I wouldn't be able to resist at least casting on or doing an entire front in that wonderful yarn! And because of some medical issues, it appears that my lil nephew may arrive sooner than his expected May debut so I dragged the baby blanket out and worked on it some too.

But here we go, the back:

I went ahead and blocked it. For some reason, I can't resist getting that out of the way as I get done with each piece. Plus, it lets me mess with measurements and making sure that the yarn doesn't do any funny things (I did actually wash the swatch, just in case it decided to!). I had a momentary terror when it was hugely wide when I first laid it out (I like to soak the pieces, blot the water out as much as possible, and spread them on a bed to dry). But it dried back down to the intended measurements.

After laying it out, I started to fear that I'd made it a little too long. I'm short and used the same length of the pattern. So I pulled out a sweater whose length I think is good for this pattern and measured it. Perfect!

Had tickets to the Cats game versus South Carolina today. We've been slumping but had a solid win Tuesday and the offense looked good today, even though our usually great defense looked suspect at points. 9 seconds left, down by 1, we have the ball. Now, what you want is my imaginary boyfriend, Rajon Rondo, taking the ball and driving into the lane for an easy layup or foul. What you don't want is Rondo fumbling the ball around with no other options as time expires except to shoot the three. He's one of the best point guards in the country but not a good shooter. He'd already airballed a couple of wide open threes early in the game.

Well, we got the latter, the nightmarish off balance three. And it went in! The Arena went CRAZY! It was awesome! I love my Cats! And I really love Rajon Rondo.

I just got a hard slap on the leg from an Elly dog. It's 30 minutes past dinnertime, and she does not like her dinner to be late. She's also not shy about letting you know it. Funny girl!

The Knitting Olympics!!!

2006-01-18T19:44:00.000-05:00

Knitters all over the place are jumping all over this. I think almost every blogger is plotting their entry. It's the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics. You pick a project and cast on during the opening ceremonies (February 10th). You have to complete it by the end (February 26th) to get a Gold Medal. We all know that I may be the worst knit-alonger in blogland but I can't resist a challenge and before I knew it, there was my "I'm in!!!" in the comments section before I'd even finished reading her post!

I have (or have ordered) yarn for 3 separate sweater projects so it will be one of them. They are the Rebecca ruffled wrap sweater, Blue Sky Alpacas Snap Cardigan, and Rebecca Cabled sweater.

I got the GGH Soft Kid yarn for the wrap sweater today and promptly marked it off my list for the Olympics. I know I won't be able to resist that long! This yarn is fabulous! I couldn't even resist knitting a little swatch. Plus, when I looked over the directions, they seemed a little odd in spots (like Rebecca patterns tend to be) so I figure there will be some frogging.

The Rebecca Cabled sweater pattern looks a little more straight forward than the wrap sweater. It's made in GGH cashmere and at a cost of $340 at KnitHappens, it was slightly out of budget. Just a lil bit. I went with a very unromantic, unexciting, very non-yarn snob choice: Plymouth Encore. I picked this for its washability and cost. It's soft, holds up pretty well, and I mostly want this sweater to be a weekend, trip to the mall, wear around town kind of sweater Thus I really want to be able to wash it. The fact that I've spent quite on yarn lately led me toward this option instead of a superwash wool.

And then there's the other choice, the Snap Cardi. I got the pattern with my Knit Happens order. I am leaning toward it over the Rebecca cabled pattern. Any sweater pattern will be a challenge to complete in that time frame but I think this one is a little more achieveable. Doing it for the challenge will benefit the project in another way. I've decided that I'll likely put a zipper in it instead of the snap tape. I'm scared of zippers. But if I have a goal to finish it, there's no way it will linger at the bottom of my knitting basket, unworn, until I get the nerve to install a zipper!

I do need to work out some shaping and sizing issues for the Snap Cardi. The smallest size is a 39.5 so I'll need to size it down. I should be okay simply subtracting the multiple of stitches between that and the next largest size, maybe adding on one or two on each edge. That would give me a couple inches of ease. It also doesn't have any shaping, and I really like cardisthat have a little shaping. That's no big deal to add, usually, but I need to figure out how to work that with the 5X2 ribbing that makes up the bottom 5" of the sweater.

From last night's basketball game. Patrick Sparks (#22) has a big game to end his horrid season long shooting slump and leaves the game with a big smile on his face, getting a giant bear hug from the Coach and butt pats from his teammates. I got tears in my eyes. I'm a sap. That's why I love the Olympics. I love all the patriotism and sappiness.

Comments, comments!

2006-01-15T14:22:00.000-05:00

To respond to a couple of comments:

I have pretty much decided to go with Aloe in the Blue Sky Alpacas Cotton. It was a tough choice because all the colors are so pretty and none of them really stood out as being the must have. Well, except Honeydew that looks soooo pretty but the color probably wouldn't look that good on me. I haven't ordered the yarn yet but did order the pattern! This should be a great knit for me since my recent sweaters and tanks have all been at smaller gauges. I can't wait to use this yarn. I felt it up a couple of months ago, and it feels so amazing, coming from someone who isn't crazy about cotton!

Check out Melissa's finished cashmere Lucky. *drools* I loved knitting Lucky, up until the 1x1 ribbed band and the seaming so I admire anyone who can manage another one!

Who is this random person coming to my blog asking about her Christmas gift? You think of all people, I would put off one of my bestest, longest term friends ever on her Christmas gift, just because I wasn't going to see her for awhile and put off finishing her gift to work on other things? Me? Nah, not me!!! Pssst, Steph, it's almost finished, it's taken me longer than I thought it would. I'm thinking I should get it to the post office Tuesday so start checking your mail on Wednesday.

You know you are having a rough basketball season when someone puts your Coach up for auction on eBay. We're used to rough football seasons but a 10-6 basketball record is not something we're used to, and we don't take too kindly to it. It's truly depressing, as silly as that may sound. Kentucky basketball has been such an important part of my life for most of it. I was raised on it, and my Dad and I rarely have a conversation that doesn't start with the latest basketball info (even in the off season). My brother and I don't talk a whole lot since he's across country but nothing draws us together like the Cats losing. Some of my favorite childhood memories involve trips to Lexington, just me and my Dad, to watch the Cats play. It's ugly right now. I've been a big supporter of our coach for his entire tenure, when he's come under some criticism, but he's losing me now. He's one of the best human beings in the game but I'm not so sure he's right for the job.

BTW, if you see the movie Glory Road, here's a great article that places the game that is the subject of the movie in a non-Disneyfied historical context. Because Kentucky was the opponent in that infamous game, we've all been a little nervous about how we would be portrayed. According to reports from those that have seen it, it doesn't sound like we have been portrayed too poorly, just as the powerful villian you should be cheering against in the movie (but I'll be cheering for them, even though the outcome won't be in doubt. :). It also wasn't even close to the biggest upset in NCAA championship history like the movie claims. I do want to see the movie. My Dad, on the other hand, has no desire to. He saw it the game when it was played and doesn't care to see it again. As a local radio guy said, "I can turn on the TV and watch the Cats lose for free." :(

It all comes together...

2006-01-14T11:48:00.000-05:00

Weirdest thing happened to me this week. The planets all aligned over a knitting pattern, and I knew that it was meant to be. Let's start back earlier this fall. I bought a mohair blend wrap sweater at Ann Taylor Loft. Much to my mohair-hating surprise, I have worn this thing like crazy. It's so cuddly and soft. In fact, if not for sympathy for my co-workers and the fact that I really hate dirty looks, I'd wear it everyday.

Pondering my love for this sweater, a lightbulb went off. I will knit a mohair cardigan! But not just any mohair, it has to be soft and cuddly like the cardi. Of course, the first thought was Rowan Kidsilk Haze. I searched for patterns and really didn't find one that I liked. The idea kind of slipped my mind until I was browsing Elizabeth's blog the other day and noticed she had bought GGH Soft Kid and a Rebecca Soft Kid magazine for a cardigan. And there went another light bulb! The cardigan she chose was lovely but I didn't think it would be flattering on my shape. That didn't stop me from some more searches for Soft Kid. I was even thinking about doing the infamous Rebecca Wrap cardigan, just lengthening the sleeves.

I finally came up with this pattern:

It's from Rebecca #30. Adding to the coincidence factor, I haven't seen a single picture of it online, other than one on an eBay auction (that isn't even posted anymore. I had to scan this photo!). I've been thinking about this cardi almost all week long, seriously. I finally dashed out of work and made it to my LYS just minutes before closing to buy the issue of Rebecca. I'm not sure how much of a ruffly girl I am but it's so cute that I have to have it.

While searching for the Blue Sky Alpacas Snap Cardigan pattern, I saw that KnitHappens was having a 20% off sale this weekend. They sell GGH Soft Kid. I happen to have a few extra dollars of Christmas money remaining. And conveniently, I need to order the Snap Cardi pattern (Webs that I have the GC for has the yarn, not the pattern). See how all these pieces fell together?

I imagined it in the pale pink shade but since they only had one ball left and because the medium pink looks to be about the same color as the inspiration sweater in my closet, I went for the darker raspberry color. I placed the order and hope to have my yarn soon (I will not start until I finish Salina, I will not...er, why bother? I know I will, even if just to cast on and work on after Salina).

I was showing it to the owner, a sweet older German lady who showed it to a friend that was helping her out that day. She said that it would be perfect for me because I'm so cute. Hehehe. Again, it kills me to pay $17 for a magazine that I may make only one pattern from but glancing through the many oddball patterns Rebecca seems to have, I saw another pattern that is EXACTLY what I've been wanting, a cabled turtleneck, and it's my favorite one I've seen yet. Add this to the to do list...

There are several other things from the magazine I like as well but for now, this will be it. The to do list keeps growing and growing. It's outrageously long right now. But this Rebecca cardigan and cabled turtleneck are the next two things on the list, along with the Snap Cardigan. Yeah, yeah, along with finishing Apricot (half of one front and a sleeve left) and a blue Silky Wool Pullover I started LAST year but have been a little indifferent on whether to finish the last sleeve or rip it out and make something else.

On a side note, I wonder if the Rebecca German to English translations just don't work right sometimes. Case in point:

My own little island in the ocean. We're two pirate brides, and this is our hideout. It is from this island that we set out on our ransacking travels.

At least I got a great laugh out of that!

The Day is Here!

2006-01-10T21:29:00.000-05:00

Ahhh, in a couple of minutes, Randolph Morris will be back! My basketball loving heart has been breaking this season with the Cats' poor season so far (except for a big win over wayyy overrated Louisville) so our potential All-American returning from the half season NCAA suspensio n has me pretty excited. And if this Wisconsin-Minnesota game on ESPN now goes into overtime, I'm going to flip!

I need help. I want to order Blue Sky Alpacas Cotton and can't decide on the color. I've only seen it in person once and didn't pay much attention to which colors I liked most (I was too busy feeling it up!). I want to make the Snap Cardi (probably with a zipper or buttons or hidden snaps. I'm not crazy about the snap tape). So please, help me pick! Here's another view of the colors. My choices are Aloe, Honeydew, Lotus, or Thistle. Blonde hair, blue eyes, I look really good in light blues and pinks and bright colors. I'm leaning toward Honeydew. It's so pretty and very different than anything I've ever worn before. I'm wondering how pale it really is because if it's too pale and too yellowy, I would look really bad in it. I like Aloe a lot too. It looks a little brighter and more blue (a fo from another blog). I have another pink cardi I made so Lotus is probably out but I'm a sucker for pink. And Thistle is nice too. Decisions, decisions!

Gift Giving Props

2006-01-07T16:20:00.000-05:00

I made a SNB Velez Loopy Cowl for my co-worker, Donna. She was out when I went by her office the other day so I left it on her desk. I headed across the street for Starbucks and by the time I got back, there was a message to call her. Before I had a chance, my phone rang, and it was her. She went crazy over it! I was almost embarassed about how many times she thanked me. Doesn't that make you feel good? Some people really appreciate nice hand knit gifts. She wanted to pay me for it but I won't let her. I told her that I already had the yarn, and as you guys all know, we couldn't ask a reasonable amount of money to reimburse us for the time we put in on the things we make!!! So knowing that people enjoy them and the process of making things is payment enough.

I didn't get a picture of the one I gave her but here's a pic of one I made for myself last year.

Pattern: Velez Loopy Cowl from Stitch N Bitch
Yarn: Lion Wool-Ease in a sparkly white (much less than 2 skeins, probably around 250 yards)
Needles: Size 6, 16" circulars
Changes to pattern: I used the smaller needles to try to make it fit a little more snug. In the end, if I did another, I'd cast on fewer stitches. My gauge was spot on. On my first one, I made it according to the pattern. You do a row of loop stitches and 4 rows of stockinette then repeat. The loops looked kind of sickly. For this, I only did 2 rows of stockinette in between loops, and it looks better.

The recipient loves it, and that's what matters most!

Up next, an update on Salina. I love this sweater and love this yarn!

2005 in Review

2006-01-02T13:10:00.000-05:00

Stealing this from Lesley's blog...

Favorites of 2005

Favorite New Technique: I really hadn't done anything outside of knitting and purling until this year so I think I've made a lot of progress. I'll have to say cables though. I love making cables!

Favorite Finished Object: Simply Marilyn. I love this sweater and get so many compliments on it.

Favorite Knit Along: Lucky KAL. Lace on size 2 needles, and it was one case when I needed it!

Favorite Shop: I've only ordered yarn online once outside of eBay, and that was from Knitpicks.com so I'll go with that. I am very pleased with the quality and price of Shine and the sock yarn. Otherwise, it's my LYS.

Favorite Tool: My little makeup bag full of little supplies that is still missing. Before it going missing, my favorite would be my Addi Turbos. Working with Silky Wool on bamboo needles make me love Addis even more. I'm going to buy size 4's to make finishing Salina more comfy.

Projects Finished in 2005

Sweaters: 5
Tanks/Camis: 4
Scarves: 6
Hats: 3
Capelets: 2 (Why? I never wear them!)
Felted bags: 3
Slippers: 2
Baby/Kiddie stuff: 6
Other: 1 (yoga mat bag)

Goals for 2006

Really, very few. Knitting's nothing more than a stress relieving hobby for me. So my goal is to knit what I want to knit when I want to knit it! I really want to get better at finishing my sweaters. My seaming leaves a little to be desired at times. I do need to have the Alphabet Baby Blanket finished for my nephew's anticipated arrival in May! I don't have a lot of it done but the first blocks have taken shape. I'll post pictures sometime soon.

Resolutions

2005-12-31T10:38:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month, I resolved to be more neat with my knitting supplies. Needles would be neatly organized in a plastic box, yarn stash would be tidy, and all my little knitting supplies would be kept neatly in a small makeup bag. Things would be put up instead of scattered about the house. I am proud to say that I have kept that up but have been reminded in the meantime why I don't make New Year's resolutions. That neat little bag of supplies...it's gone. I have no clue where it went. I can't remember taking it anywhere so it must be buried around the house somewhere. Perhaps at work but it hasn't turned up there. All my small things, the stitch markers, tapestry needles, scissors, etc. are gone.

I discovered this missing bag last Wednesday. Backyard Leaves was finished for Thursday's Secret Santa gift exchange, just a few ends to weave in. I couldn't find a needle! It was 10:00 at night, and a trip to the 24 hour Walmart was inevitable. I got the bright idea to check the couch cushions, and lo and behold, I found a lone needle and a couple of stitch markers. You know you are a knitter when, buried in your couch cushions, instead of coins, you find supplies. I know the surest way to find the bag is to go buy all new stuff but I haven't yet. I'm determined to find it.

Ooh, what do we have here?

I ended up spending my LYS gift certificate on yarn for Salina from Rowan Vintage Knits. I've loved Salina ever since I saw it on Becky's blog and bought the book mostly for this pattern (and fortunately, there are several others I want to knit too and some I love but can't see myself knitting/wearing). It's a green shade in the book but I pictured it in a darker shade, burgundy or dark plum. My LYS doesn't carry Rowan but I thought Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool would be perfect. They only had 3 skeins of the plummy shade I really loved and wanted but when I laid eyes on this blue-green color, I decided to go for it instead. It's gorgeous, and my blue eyes tend to take on whatever color blue I am wearing so it will be a good color on me too.

I cast on for the Loopy Velez Cowl my co-worker asked me to make for her. It's in some stash white with a sparkly thread running through it Wool-Ease. I made one of these before, same yarn, (see picture here) and forgot just how annoying these loops can be! It's a mess. I somehow dropped 2 stitches in the first row of loops but didn't catch it until a couple rows later. I did just discover these directions for knitting the loop stitch that are a little different from the ones in SNB and are a little easier for my thread. The problem I was having is that the yarn is a little splitty because of that sparkly thread and K2Tog was tough. I was watching a basketball game at the same time so I wasn't paying super close attention either. I ripped out a couple hours of work but hopefully the rest will go more quickly!

Have a happy New Year everyone!

A Belated Merry Christmas!

2005-12-27T18:24:00.000-05:00

In the hustle and bustle of last week, I never did get around to posting to wish everyone a Merry Christmas/Happy Holiday! After a very late night at BF's company Christmas party Friday the 16th and having to drive back home for my cousin's Saturday wedding, I was pooped and had trouble recovering. I think I'm getting old. :) I even fell asleep late that night watching the tape of Kentucky clobbering Louisville in basketball. Can you believe it? Not only did someone schedule a wedding on this most sacred of days, I went to the wedding and only listened to it on the radio in the car driving there. I was too elated that we clobbered them to even complain too much!

I hope it was a good holiday all around. I had a very nice weekend, spent mostly at my parents' new house here, just outside of Lex. They just moved in last Friday. The house is beautiful, pretty much their dream house (within reason!), while being warm and cozy at the same time. We spent Christmas Eve with my Dad's parents and Christmas Day with my Mom's. The best present given: a treadmill from my parents to my Dad's parents. My grandpa had open heart surgery in August and went from being pretty active to not doing a thing. We hope this will get him moving again.

I got lots of wonderful things but most important, for this blog, were gift certificates to my LYS and one to WEBS! My LYS has their annual 20% off everything in the store sale starting tomorrow, and I will be there, armed with my g.c.! Ahhh, what to knit, what to knit?!?

Fortunately, I have some ideas! I got a g.c. from Barnes and Noble and finally splurged on the Vintage Style book I'd been wanting. It kills me to pay $25 for a book I may knit one or two things from but since the g.c. was the same price as the book, I figured it was time! First up will be either Salina, Elise, or Magnolia. It will probably be Salina or Elise but Magnolia looks like such a big, fluffy, cozy sweater.

Oh yeah, all that Christmas knitting. I only had 2 gifts that I HAD to have done by Christmas. One was Backyard Leaves for my work Secret Santa, and the other was a Crystal Palace Splash scarf for my cousin Amy. Both went over great! The work SS makes jewelry so I knew she would enjoy something handmade. My cousin LOVED her fluffy scarf. She told me that she had just told our grandmother on Christmas Eve that she had wanted me to do a scarf for her but had never followed up with me on it. Lucky I drew her name, right? Her 9 year old daughter, Brooke, grabbed the scarf and wore it around. She loved it! My Mom got her a kid's knitting machine kit so hopefully that will peak some interest. I don't see her that often but next time there is a family gathering, I'm going to take some stash yarn and needles and see if she wants to learn.

I didn't get a chance to take pics of either of these projects before they were given away. I can say that I LOVED Backyard Leaves and would love to make another for myself anytime!

The Christmas knitting rush begins...

2005-12-10T11:45:00.000-05:00

What's this I see? New yarn for gifts? Next time, we'll start this in August. Hahaha, right. I had one nice knit gift for a very special person planned but the list has grown as people have started dropping hints. If you are on my knitlist, I don't care if you look at this picture, what you are getting from said yarn (and this is not all of the skeins) will still be a surprise. Except for the Crystal Palace Splash. That could only be one thing, a scarf. Since I doubt my cousin Amy reads my blog, we're safe. I'm not a novelty yarn fan but the one Splash scarf I made, I really liked.

The only non-surprise is the creamy colored yarn in the front. It's America's Alpaca Glimmer. It's a super soft alpaca yarn with small bits of sparkle along it. That's something for me, the Opera scarf from Blue Sky Alpacas. I thought the yarn was so pretty and the pattern so elegant. I intended to use Blue Sky's Alpaca Silk but I am crazy over this. It knits at only a slightly smaller gauge, and I loved the sparkle. I'm a sucker for sparkle.

I cannot work on it until after Christmas knitting is done. I don't care how much I want to wear it.
I cannot work on it until after Christmas knitting is done. I don't care how much I want to wear it.
I cannot work on it until after Christmas knitting is done. I don't care how much I want to wear it.

I have cast on and worked at least a few rows on each of the Christmas projects so hopefully that keeps me going on everything.

The "need to have Backyard Leaves finished by" date has been moved from the 16th to the 22nd. On one hand, it's good I don't have to rush through it AND through another project I want done by next week. On the other hand, it probably means I'll mess around and be frantically blocking it on the 21st.

I blocked the first half and tried to snap a decent picture of it. I pinned the sides out gently, not stretching it a whole lot. The edges pull in a little and have a nice soft wave. Have I mentioned that I love this pattern?

The color looks reasonably accurate on my computer monitor, perhaps a little on the light side.

Let's try for an up close shot. My camera doesn't capture the details well but maybe you can get an idea. If not, check out the Keyboard Biologist's blog. Her closeup of the same scarf looks really good!

Gift Knitting

2005-12-07T20:04:00.000-05:00

We're under our first snow storm watch of the year. From what I'm hearing, a whopping 2-4" is predicted but that's plenty to send LexVegas Kroger stores into a bread/milk shopping frenzy. I plan to spend tomorrow night inside, curled on the couch with Survivor, the Apprentice, and knitting. The local weather guy is probably soiling his pants with excitement right now. You know how they get.

Has anyone ever knit anything on a whim, thinking they wouldn't get much use of it, really just wanted to try the pattern, and find they use it constantly? The Velez Loopy Cowl from SNB has been this for me. I started it last year because I'd only done a couple of things on circs and thought the loops looked pretty cool. I had some sparkly white Wool-Ease that I didn't have planned for anything else so away I went. A couple of weeks ago, I pulled it out and wore it. It's so warm! You can really snuggle into it on a windy, cold day.

A co-worker saw my Cowl and went crazy over it. She told me that she wants one just like it, same yarn and everything. I happen to have plenty of the yarn left. I was going to do a scarf as a Christmas present for her anyway but it was going to be a novelty yarn quickie type scarf. The loops take awhile but otherwise it's a quick, mindless knit. She is one of those people that will really appreciate a handknit gift so I'm thrilled to get to do it for her. She's insisting on paying me for it but I say no. It's stash Wool-Ease so it's not like it's breaking me up.

The Backyard Leaves scarf for the work Secret Santa is coming along great. I finished the first half and plan to cast on for the second tonight. I decided to go ahead and block it because I am so anxious to see what it looks like once blocked. It looks great! Blocking makes a huge difference. I soaked it then pinned it out on the bed to dry. The pattern calls for 11 repeats of the leaf pattern and says that the scarf should end up 36" per piece. I did 10 repeats and my first piece is 39". Someone's row gauge is off! I only have 330 yards of yarn, and the pattern calls for 400 so there's a chance I may not get as many repeats before running out in my other half. We'll see. I tried to figure how many repeats to do so that I get the scarf as long as I can without running out of yarn since I bought the last 3 balls of this color at my LYS.

Oh yeah, Plymouth Suri Alpaca is so soft after blocking! I was afraid it would be a bit fuzzy to show the pattern well but it looks really good. I'm not sure that this yarn would hold up well without pilling in sweaters but I think it's going to be wonderful for scarves. At about $5 for 110 yards, the price is more than reasonable. The colors are nice, and it feels really good to knit.

In lieu of knitting photos, a picture of me and my guy from this weekend at my friend's band's show. Aren't we cute? :)

Backyard Leaves

2005-12-04T13:09:00.000-05:00

Being a small town southern girl that spent almost every fall Friday evening from the age of 5 until graduation at my high school's football games, I must scream this from the rooftop of my blog.

RUSSELL HIGH SCHOOL, 2005 KENTUCKY STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS!

The last time we won was 1978 when I hadn't even attended my first game yet! I could have sworn our coach was 100 years old because he was old when I was there over 10 years ago but in reality, it's just 67. Whatever his age, it's good for him to get another one of these things. And it took some sting off the horrid UK basketball loss earlier in the day.

I'm making some really good progress on Backyard Leaves. The pattern is a lot of fun to work on and now that I've gotten going, has been smooth sailing.. If you aren't familiar with it, it's knit in 2 pieces and seamed at the middle. It makes the leaves go the same direction on both sides. It's really a smart design by Annie Modesitt. I've done 7 repeats so far. The pattern says to do 11 per side. I'm not sure if I'll do that many. The pattern calls for almost 400 yards of yarn, and I only have 330. It's plenty for a scarf with some good length but I'll have to pay attention to make sure I don't run out before finishing end #2.

To demonstrate yet again how I cannot take pictures and have the color come out the same in any two, especially on a dreary Kentucky day, here are 2 pictures. The top picture is probably closer to accurate. Blocking will make a huge difference in the finished product.

I need to have this done by the 16th. I should be okay because it's moving quickly. I haven't done a bit on it this weekend but I've had a great weekend nonetheless. In spite of the terrible UK loss Saturday. :( Friday night, it was dinner and shopping with my Mom. Saturday, I went to a sports bar to watch the UK game. It was a miserable game but good company at least.

Saturday night, we went to dinner with a fellow exec in the BF's company and then the BF and I went to see Tim Wilson at Comedy Off Broadway. He's hilarious, and I'm not a big fan of redneck humor, usually. He was really good. After that, we went to a little karaoke place to watch a friend's first performance with his band, to benefit Toys for Tots. We had a blast!

You know, the less knitting I get done on the weekends probably means I've had a better weekend!

When the knitting gets bad...

2005-11-28T17:51:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have those times when it feels like none of your knitting is going right? If not for the humongo hit, Ruffles, I'd be in that mode. Of course, I even ripped out 12 inches of Ruffles because I thought it felt too loose! Then there was my Cashmerino hat to match Ruffles. I wore it out today on a cold day and realized my head was still cold! It's too big and not quite long enough. Rip, rip time. Thank goodness it was a quick knit and I have some extra yarn left from Ruffles if I need more.

I decided that my next new project was also to be from Scarf Style, the Backyard Leaves scarf. Didn't I say once I wasn't going to do anymore scarves? We drew names for a Secret Santa at work this year, and of course I would have to pick the person that lists charitable contributions on her wishlist! But she's super sweet and I am sure she'd enjoy a handknit item. She makes jewelry herself. Plus I'm going to drop a few dollars to one of the charities. I decided Backyard Leaves would be perfect for her. I picked up Plymouth Suri Merino in the light gray color. She usually wears black so thought gray would work.

I got it home and started to knit. About 8 inches in, I wasn't going anymore. The color is dull and drab. The yarn is nice and soft but a little fuzzy. The pattern barely showed at all! I decided to block the bit I had done, and it looked okay but still not great. I went back to my LYS, exchanged the yarn for the same yarn in a burgundy color that is prettier and seems a little less fuzzy than the original. So far, so good!

I'm such a dork with this pattern! I enlarged the repeat section of the chart and made copies of it for each repeat I'd be doing (about 22 in all). That way I can highlight the rows as I finish them. It's not a mindless knit but it's not too bad. I can still do it in front of the TV, although not to anything I want to pay close attention to.

Ruffles is done!

2005-11-26T17:18:00.000-05:00

She's done, and I love her! I am so crazy about this scarf. It's different and was fun to knit, even for someone that usually hates knitting scarves. I have a feeling there are going to be a couple of these given as Christmas gifts. So if you are on my Christmas gift list and hate this scarf, you had better comment now!

I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, on size 6 needles. I'm such a loose knitter (um, hush). I started with size 8 but it was so floppy that I went down. My 7 needles were being used for something else so 6 it was. I used about 3 1/2 balls and ended up with a really long scarf, about 92 inches. That's fine for this pattern because with the scarf being relatively thin, it's nice to double it up, like I have here. Three balls of Cashmerino would have been plenty for a nice long scarf too.

I snapped a couple of pictures of myself wearing Ruffles to post on the blog, after today's football game (just taking a break here, we're headed back out, unfortunately to drown our sorrows after another football loss but we did score lower level basketball tickets for Tuesday night from the darling elderly couple that sits in front of us at the football games). I didn't want to show off the scarf with this pic because it blends in with my Kentucky shirt but I thought it was such a cute picture that I had to post it!

Fuzzy Feet

2005-11-20T12:19:00.000-05:00

Crazy Aunt Purl has been talking up Fuzzy Feet for some time now, and it reminded me that I wore the pair I knit last year so much I wore a hole in them. I bought the yarn last weekend and made them this week. I didn't join the FuzzyFeetAlong because I'm the worst knit alonger in the history of knit alongs. I'll make one post to the Along, never to appear again, sometimes not even finishing (see: Socktoberfest). Anywho, I love this pattern, and my always cold feet love the finished slippers. I got my pair done in about 3 evenings of TV knitting.

Before felting

After felting (yes, my feet really are that small. You'd think I'd be able to finish a sock).

I like how Cascade 220 Quattro looks felted. I like how all the colors blend. It's a little more interesting than a single color but not stripey like Noro would be.

My Ruffles Scarf is also coming along really well. It's about 1/3 of the way done. I need to get busy since I want to wear it next weekend to the final football game of the season. It's going to be so cold. We're looking at temps in the 30's at gametime (which is the afternoon) and even colder during pre-game tailgating. The color of blue isn't really UK blue but it's close enough. It will clash with my Kentucky t-shirt but with a coat on, who will notice?

It's not as slow of a knit as I thought it would be but while I'm knitting, it seems like progress should go quicker. I guess that's scarf knitting for you. It's good, mindless knitting, and with the Bengals playing Indianapolis late this afternoon and Kentucky playing basketball on ESPN Monday and Tuesday nights, I should have plenty of sports watching time to work on it, not to mention our usual lazy Thanksgiving Day.

Project Overload

2005-11-13T12:01:00.000-05:00

My goal was 10 rows per week on the beautiful Alphabet Baby Blanket. I figure that's a leisurely pace, and it would be done well in advance of baby niece/nephew's anticipated May arrival.

It was a nice goal while it lasted. I should have about 60 rows done by this point. Instead, I'm somewhere around row 20. Really though, it's no big deal. I have plenty of time.

You can see the letters beginning to form. That's a diamond on the far right with the Z beside it. KnitPicks Shine is perfect for a baby blanket!

I have been a busy little knitter though! It's been a long time since I've taken on a fun, instant gratification project for myself. Skylar's tale of woe of her Cashmerino sweater piling in my comments section pushed me over the edge on what to do with my blue Cashmerino. It would be perfect for a scarf and hat combo. And I figure that with the color and how cold it's probably gonna be, it will be perfect to wear to the last football game of the season, Thanksgiving weekend. Ah ha, we have a plan!

I picked up the book Scarf Style. I borrowed this from the library late last winter. I didn't think it would be a book I'd ever buy because I'm not a big scarf knitter but there are so many designs in here that I really loved. So I finally got it. I had planned to use my Cashmerino for Backyard Leaves but glancing through the book, realized I'd completely forgotten about the scarf I loved most in it, Ruffles!

So I present the beginnings of my Ruffles Scarf...

So far, it's going really quickly. I thought it would be a lot slower but since most rows, you aren't knitting a lot of stitches, it flies. I could see doing several of these as gifts. I still want to do Backyard Leaves but that can wait.

I had to have a little hat to go along with it and pumped that out really quickly. It's just a simple roll brim hat. I really didn't even use a pattern, just cast on 88 and began decreasing when it got as long as I wanted it. Since it's Sunday at noon, and I still haven't changed from my pajamas yet, the lovely hat is being modelled by a glass bowl.
I could post 15 pictures of any project, and the color would look different in everyone of them. The scarf pic looks too bright, the hat one is closer but maybe a little dark.

Yay, basketball season officially begins tonight! I've got tickets to tonight and tomorrow's games. Getting Kentucky basketball tickets is no small feat, even for games against lesser opponents so we'll definitely have fun. I may even hear my new hat. We went to the exhibition game Wednesday, and everyone here is so excited for the season, especially after the emergence of Relakin Sims. And we won another football game yesterday! Woo, we're 3-6! Ah, the joys of being a Kentucky football fan. We do have the same conference record as Tennessee, hehehe.

More proof!

2005-11-07T18:57:00.000-05:00

Gift #2 has been received to rave reviews. It's yet another baby sweater, for my friend Juls. When picking out something to do for a knitter, it's tough because I feel like it needs to be a bit more complex than what you'd do for the average Joe. I knew I'd hit on it as soon as I laid eyes on a cute little seed stitch cabled baby sweater pattern at my local yarn shop. With it being for a boy and Juls' tastes (and my own, I confess!), I didn't want any pastel baby colors. I picked navy and gold for Cal because she's a fan. I think it was a success.

Because it's hard to see the adorable details no matter how much I lighten the navy, here is the picture from the pattern designer's website

The hat hasn't been finished yet but it's coming, Juls, I promise!

In other knitting news, I pulled out Apricot yesterday and worked on it a little. I didn't get more than an inch or so done but at least it's moving along.

The weekend was gorgeous. It's just not supposed to be upper 70's and sunny in November in Kentucky! Compared to last week's football game when it was in the 30's, there are no complaints. We did the Kentucky-Auburn football game and dinner at one of our usual places afterward. We skipped tailgating because 1:00 football games are not conducive to tailgating for lazy people like us. The Cats lost but that was expected. Overall, it was a good day.

Sucker!

2005-11-05T10:18:00.000-05:00

I can be such a sucker sometimes. The other day, I was in Louisville, and after an appointment went well, decided to stop in a yarn shop there to take a little peak. With the baby gifts on small needles and the weather getting colder, I've been wanting to knit a soft and cozy scarf and hat. Ya know, something easy and quick. I picked out 4 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, paid, and walked out of the store. I'm thinking Backyard Leaves from Scarf Style. I fell in love with a denimy blue shade. Yes, everyone has knitted this in green, and it makes no sense in blue but I'm just not a green person. And the blue kind of looks like a muted, faded Kentucky blue, and I can always use more Kentucky blue to wear on gamedays.

As I was wandering to my car, I glanced in my bag and realized that I really liked the color. Wouldn't I love to have a sweater in that color? It's probably going to be cold for the last football game of the season against Tennessee, so it would be nice to have that cute little cardi I've been thinking of, right? I hopped right back into the store and picked out 3 more skeins. This will be enough to do another Cardi from the Yarn Girls' Guide (this time, adding some shaping). Perfect, huh?

Not so fast! Cashmerino is so lovely and soft but didn't I vow to never, ever use it for a sweater after reading some bad reviews at Wiseneedle? People are saying that it looked bad within a couple of wearings and some even said it looked bad before they were done knitting it. It apparently pills like crazy, right? I'm a sucker. I can lose all sense of self control when holding super soft yarn.

Now I'm a little torn. I can return some of the skeins and carry on with my scarf plan. Or take my sweater chances. So I set out to try to destroy a swatch I made. I handwashed it, rubbing it and thrashing it around. Later on , I threw it in the washer with a load of darks (not in the gentle cycle) then tossed it in the dryer. Again, no gentle cycle here. I handwashed it again. If anyone ever abuses their handknits like this, I feel for their poor little knits. I then stuck it in the waistband of my yoga pants while lounging around the house, figuring it would get a lot of rubbing when sitting and moving around. I think this poor swatch has gone through enough.

My little experiment has shown that the stockinette side looks pretty good. It's a bit fuzzy but no piling so far. The reverse side looks much more worn but who is going to see that side?

I love how it feels, I love the color, I just don't want to spend all the time knitting a cardi and all the money on this yarn for it to look like crap in a month! Ahh, what to do?

Gifties #1...

2005-11-02T20:11:00.000-05:00

Posting at halftime of our first basketball game. Woohoo, the season has started!!!

Finally, I can post proof that I'm actually capable of finishing an item! These were gifts to my friend Kimm whose baby girl, Hannah, is scheduled to arrive Friday. I think the fact that I knitted something for her was a surprise!

All of these were done in Plymouth Dreambaby yarn...

This is the Anouk pattern from Knitty. I made a few changes. One of the biggest was that my gauge was different. I had planned to use the yarn called for in the pattern but after I put off ordering it, I decided to just get it from my LYS so I could shop immediately. Thus the supersoft Dreambaby yarn and smaller gauge. Another thing was after seeing a couple of these actually on babies in other blogs, I wasn't crazy about how in the pattern, the sides aren't seamed. There are 2 little tabs that hold it shut. I just thought it looked funny. So I seamed the sides and left out the tabs. That takes away the idea of it being a jumper now and a tunic in the future like she says in the pattern but I think this looks cuter.

I don't know why but this knit bored me to tears as I got closer to the end! It took me forever to finally finish it. And I don't like intarsia!

I had to do a matching hat and booties. BTW, the colors are most realistic in the jumper photo above than the other shots.

Like my UK football mug as a body double for a baby head? The hat is this pattern which is basically the same pattern as the SNB Umbilical Cord Baby Hat. This is really such a great pattern. You can do it plain or add the fair isle designs. It's so quick. It couldn't have taken more than a couple of hours. The booties are from the book Simple Knits for Cherished Babies. I borrowed this book from the library, and this is a nice bootie pattern. I prefer it to the chunky booties in SNB-Nation, and the time it takes to do them isn't too different (about 2 hours versus about 1). I'm not a huge fan of the book itself but mostly because I am turned off by baby books whose designs are cashmere and other unwashable yarns. The designs are otherwise classic but unexciting.

In spite of not liking intarsia, I liked doing fair isle! Add the Fairly Easy Fair Isle sweater from SNB-Nation to my ever growing list!

Back to the basketball game. Is this the face of the best point guard in the country or what? Go Cats!

First place is...

2005-10-30T13:01:00.000-05:00

I present to you, my very first running trophy! 1st place in my group***, baby!!! I was crazy for being up at 7 a.m. and out of the house in 31 degree weather but at least I came home with a trophy and it was for a good cause. I didn't even hear my name called. My Mom had to shove me forward to collect my trophy.

***Yes, my group only had 3 in it, and 2 of those were walkers. But who's counting?

It was one of those Saturdays that show that God has smiled down on Kentucky in October...Keeneland during the day (with the leaves changed and looking gorgeous) and football game at night. It was only 31 at 8 a.m. but fortunately warmed up just enough to be a nice day at the track, if you were in the sun. The boys were on some kind of win streak while betting and refused to move from their lucky spot. As it started to get more shaded as the afternoon moved on, we girls inched further and further away from them into the sun. I broke out my mini Koigu Clapotis for the football game. It gets prettier every time I look at it. It's not for really cold weather since it's tiny and thin but it's enough to keep my neck warm and looks great.

I think I need to go in business. I could make a fortune. The fashion accessory must have for every female Big Blue fan is apparently Kentucky blue Fun Fur-esque scarves. I noticed a ton of them last night. It's no secret that I'm not a fan of Fun Fur but by the end of the evening, I found myself wanting one. Peer pressure, ya know. Trendsetter Aura is so fun and sparkly, and they have a royal blue color that is close to UK blue. All the ladies at the game will be soooo jealous (except for the one with the big blue and white pom pom scarf. It was much cooler than anything I could dare produce).

There WILL be knitting pictures this week, I promise! I have produced something that will be a sort of completed item for the great Socktoberfest. If I would stop blogging and head off to watch the football game, I may actually get it done.
Off to watch the Bengals game and knit. Happy Halloween everyone!

Heather, thanks for your comment on Mariah. I think you are right, to do it in a smaller gauge will be easier. Don't be too jealous of the smallest size thing. I'm only 4'11, and sweater patterns can be a nuisance because I have to resize so many of them. Now to choose a yarn...

Lauren saves the day! I checked out the designer's website, and sure enough, there is a 33" size. Perfect! I was really hoping to do this sweater in a worsted weight yarn, in lieu of all the fine gauge things I've been doing lately. So now I can!

Mariah Knitters, Help!

2005-10-26T12:21:00.000-04:00

Ah, so we've gone from short sleeves and sunshine to sweaters and coats and freezing rain overnight. Gotta love Kentucky. There is no in between weather for us. It was kind of nice Sunday. Not outside, that was nasty, cold, and rainy. But I didn't have anything to do so I curled up inside, knitted, and watched the Steelers/Bengals football game.

This weather isn't a bad thing though because I'm starting to crave knitting again! I'm plotting out some winter projects (I plot projects all the time. About 1/100th of them actually get made). One at the top of the list is Mariah from Knitty. I love this sweater and all the pictures I've seen of completed ones.

I have a problem that someone that has knit Mariah may be able to help with (Karma!!! See her gorgeous FO). The sizing of the pattern is going to make the smallest size too big for me. Would it be easier for me to simply use a smaller gauge yarn (22 st/in rather than the pattern's 20) or to refigure the numbers for a smaller size? I'm comfortable doing either one with most sweaters but with the cable pattern, I realize that refiguring it could get tricky.

Another question: does it really use as much yarn as the pattern says? That seems like an awful lot for this cardi.

At the VERY top of my list though will be to finally finish Apricot and the last sleeve of the Silky Wool sweater I started last March and got mostly done before realizing I wouldn't get to wear it until fall, putting it aside in favor of Lucky, Honeymoon Camis and oops, not knitting at all.

There should be pictures of my finished knits in the next few days! I've mentioned my gifties but haven't described them in case the giftees read my blog. One is done, one just needs a bit of finishing, and they will be handed over. I hope they are loved. I think they are great but I may be a little biased.

Kentucky in the fall...

2005-10-16T21:35:00.000-04:00

There is no better place to be in October than Kentucky. It's the fall meet at Keeneland, and even if you don't care about horse racing, it's so much fun. It's one of the most beautiful spots you'll ever find too. Last weekend was the opening weekend, and we didn't go out because the weather was bad. But this weekend was perfect Keeneland weather! Saturday, we got out there right before the 6th race, and while it was packed (see: perfect Keeneland weather), it wasn't too bad.

I saw Elizabethtown today. It's getting some bad reviews but I really liked it. Maybe it's because it's another one of those Kentucky things. While the movie was based on Elizabethtown, KY, most of it was actually filmed here in the Lexington area. It was fun to see the little Kentucky things that popped up in the movie.

I'm working on finishing up the gifts I've been working on! Hopefully they'll be ready by next weekend. I think the recipients are really going to love them because they're so cute. In the meantime, I signed up for Lolly's Soctoberfest. I got 2 skeins of Knitpicks Sock Landcapes and am working on a simple ribbed sock pattern with it.

I also said I was going to do at least 10 rows a week on the Alphabet Baby Blanket. Here are the first 11 rows! I can't wait until it really begins to take shape. It's a fun knit so far.

Call me crazy!

2005-10-09T14:48:00.000-04:00

13 of these
(slinky, silky, soft Knitpicks Shine)

Plus

One of these
(that's a size 4, baby)

Equals

Me in a couple of months

The beautiful Debbie Bliss Baby Knits Alphabet Blanket. Isn't it stunning?

How this came about...my first niece or nephew is due in May, and I'm pretty excited. I decided that any baby related to me (the only knitter in the family) needed a special baby blanket. I checked out several books from the library, browsed the internet, and leafed through patterns at my LYS. Nothing grabbed me until I saw this.

It's perfect. It's good for a boy or a girl. Since they don't know what they are having yet nor has nursery stuff been picked out (to my knowledge anyway), it made the answer to what color to make it easy. It's also not your typical baby blanket. Not that all handmade baby gifts aren't special but this one is just so nice. This is the one.

258 rows of the chart, not including the edging, at 6 st/inch. 187 stitches per row. What am I getting myself into??? That means 48,246 stitches just for the main part, not including the edging that isn't a small feat itself. At least I have until May! If I average about 10 rows a week, that leaves a few rows before baby's born to do the edging, and Baby H can come home from the hospital wrapped in a gift from Auntie Stacy (er, since Baby is due in May, maybe not. But the thought is nice).

I woke up yesterday morning and wasn't feeling so hot. The horrific display by the Kentucky football team didn't make me feel any better. So rather than do anything productive or actually leave my house, I began work on the blanket. Shine is so nice to work with. It's definitely deserving of all the raves it's gotten.

I cast on (187 stitches per row!) and did 4 rows. Oops, screwed up the whole RS/WS thing. Rip it out and do another 4 rows. Oops, should have purled that row way back there at the beginning, instead of knitting it. Eh, it doesn't looks so out of place given the border. No one will ever notice, right? Forge ahead and complete 7 rows. Of course, someone will notice. I NOTICE and can't take my eyes off the mistake. What if baby is as anal as me? Rip back and prepare to begin again. It's a simple chart, my mind just wasn't functioning yesterday. Let's hope I can make it past row 4 without any more major mistakes!

Speaking of the horror that is the University of Kentucky football team...

President Bush is trying to persuade Kentucky Head Coach Rich Brooks to take over as permanent FEMA Director based on his ability to evacuate 65,000 people from a stadium in less than thirty minutes.

In recent weeks, they have been so bad it was almost comical. Yesterday, it wasn't funny. Not even close. I love my Cats and will always love them but it's no wonder people are giving up season tickets in droves (not us, we're suckers). Thank goodness for basketball starting in only 5 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes, 36, no...33, no...29 seconds (you get the point) according to UKathletics! The boy's gotten me into the Pittsburgh Steelers this season, and I have always liked the Bengals. At least both of those teams are doing well so football season hasn't been a total wash.

We have progress!

2005-10-01T12:42:00.000-04:00

I'm making great progress on my knitting gifties. I hope the recipients-to-be love them! Still can't post pictures but October is when they are to be gifted so it should be soon.

One of the gifts is almost entirely seed stitch. I hate doing seed stitch (or 1x1 rib), although I love the look of it. If I knit continental, it wouldn't be as bad but it's pretty clunky for a "thrower" like me. I just can't get the hang of continental. I should try to figure it out for these purposes, even if I never use it any other time. I've tried,and it just seems slower than my tried and true method. I still love doing cables though!

My week's knitting progress has to be directly related to the new season of all my favorite TV shows. I am so happy the Amazing Race, Survivor, and the Apprentice is back. The Amazing Race is my favorite show but I was prepared to hate this new family edition. Whadda ya know, I didn't mind it at all. I thought kids would ruin this show but there is only one team of kids in the show remaining. I think it may get old since I've heard that they don't go around the world like in other seasons, staying mostly in the US. Who knows, it may be fun to see what they can do in the US, although seeing new countries and customs is one of the reasons I love the show so much. My favorite are the Linzes. They are a lot of fun. Who dey!

E-mail I got this week:

Lexington, KY (AP) - A seven-year-old boy was at the center of a courtroom drama in Lexington yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents, and initially the judge awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the degree possible.

The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed his aunt beat him more than his parents and adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him.

After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the University of Kentucky Wildcats football team whom the boy firmly believes is not capable of beating anyone.

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. I love my Cats, as bad as they may be. And at least the Countdown to Basketball season has begun on UKAthletics.com. We're looking forward to another great year to take our minds off football!

Thanks for the comments on the photo and our trip! Truly, I wasn't as impressed with Eugene as I thought I would be. The University of Oregon campus was beautiful but otherwise, it reminded me of any other city, just with mountains on either side of it. We did eat at a really good Thai restaurant. The atmosphere was kind of fun given the big game against #1 USC in town. My opinion may change if we'd spent more time there! From what I saw of Portland, it is gorgeous! What I saw involved driving on the interstate to the airport, but it was so pretty even in that short stretch.

She knits!

2005-09-26T23:33:00.000-04:00

There is a nasty rumor flying around that I still remember how to knit. I must confess, it's true! I have picked the needles back up! I'm working on two fun projects right now. One has cables. I love me some cables!

I'm sure you'd LOVE to see the pics of these fabulous things that have drawn me out of my knitting slump but alas, they are gifts for people that may or may not read my blog. Just in case, I'd better not give details or post pictures. When they are done and the gifts are given, I'll brag proudly!

I worked on both projects on a trip to Eugene, Oregon this past weekend. I got a lot done in the airports and on the plane. My brother got married in a small, relatively casual ceremony, and in lieu of knitting pictures, here's my family from Saturday:

I'm exhausted after the trip! We flew out of Louisville at 6:30 Thursday evening and after a 1 hour delay in our layover, landed in Portland at 12:00 their time, 2 our time. It was 5 a.m. eastern time before we got in bed in our hotel in Eugene! We took the red eye back Saturday night, arriving back at my house at 12:30 Sunday afternoon. Then I had to make the 40 minute each way trip to get the dogs at the kennel and headed off to watch the Steelers-Patriots game on TV. It came on at 4. I finally got home after 9. It was a wild weekend!

I really need to get back to Apricot soon. The weather's going to cool down soon, and I can't wait to wear it!

Jinx!

2005-09-14T21:57:00.000-04:00

Don't get too close to me, you may need surgery. My grandpa, the guy, and my little dog Parker all have had or have to have surgery this week. What a week! Papaw and the guy are doing well, and hopefully Parker will be doing well Friday when he goes in. The poor kid has to have a little lump removed from his chest. Here's hoping it's not anything more than a cyst!

Still no knitting. So lookie here, I'll show off the first thing I ever knit. It was almost 2 years ago when I bought Stitch and Bitch and finally figured this whole knitting thing out! I'd tried before but never caught on until this book.

This pattern was in Real Simple magazine a couple of years ago. I knew nothing about yarn substitutions or gauge swatches so lucked out when I found the Tahki Baby yarn this called for. Most people start with Red Heart, I started with $30 of expensive yarn! Most people start with a garter stitch scarf. Me, a ribbed hat. I am either very brave or very stupid! I still love this hat, even though the top ribbing is way screwed up! The yarn is so soft.

Fall's just around the corner

2005-09-06T19:34:00.000-04:00

Pretty sad that the last time I knit a single stitch was to finish the Honeymoon Cami posted below. This hot, humid summer just hasn't been that conducive to knitting for me! Fall's almost here, and the knitting bug is again starting to take hold. Yeah, it's still in the mid-80's or higher everyday but hey, the nights are cooler and it's FOOTBALL season! My beloved little Kentucky Wildcats, feared and admired on the basketball court, the laughingstock of the college football world, are back. Bless their little hearts.

Labor Day weekend was wonderful! The weather was perfect. Friday evening, my Mom and I relaxed after a long week by getting manicures and pedicures. Saturday night, the boy and I had dinner on the patio of one of our favorite places with his friends. It was almost cool out as the night went on.

Then came Sunday, the day everyone here's been looking forward to for weeks! Kentucky versus Louisville football! Tailgating began early Sunday, and I've gotta say, the boy's got some good tailgate connections. Most tailgaters had burgers, fried chicken, brats, barbeque, and the like. Our tailgate had pork loin and prime rib. Mmmmmm. Our sole contribution to this was a case of beer and a bottle of Maker's Mark. The seats this year are awesome too! We had a blast before, during, and after the game. It's so much fun to see old friends you only see at football games. It was a great gameday, and the crowd at Commonwealth Stadium was one of the best I've seen in years. We screamed the whole time.

There is little in this world I hate as much as losing to Louisville in anything but we were pretty pleased by the 7 point lost since we were predicted to lose by 22. If our QB wouldn't have fumbled the ball on the 2 yard line on a drive that would have tied or put us ahead, it would have been better. But their fans were the depressed ones after the game, in spite of their win, not us, so ya gotta love that! I even bought a Louisville Sucks t-shirt after the game.

Now we do it all over again on Saturday!

Oh yeah, in case you're wondering, I didn't even seriously consider knitting a tank to wear to the game. I bought a blue t-shirt!

Ah, in knitting news, I'm plotting some winter projects. I mentioned below that I want to do Trellis from Knitty for a friend. I haven't been able to find the Cotton-Ease I'd planned for this in town so I think I'm going to use Caron's Simply Soft or some similar acrylic. I want it to be washable, and I'm not terribly concerned about durability because it's a kid thing.

I need to finish poor Apricot since I'll be able to wear her soon. I really want to make the Vintage Pink Cardigan from the spring Interweave Knits. After that, I'm not quite sure what I want to do. But I'm sure I'll come up with something. Winter knits are so much more fun, and I love the instant gratification of a chunky hat or scarf too.

Thanks for keeping up with my blog everyone, in spite of my long absence! I've been reading almost everyday and try to comment on my favorite people's blogs whenever I can but haven't been that great about it this summer. Once the weather gets colder, I will be back into the blog world, I'm sure.

Brace yourselves

2005-08-07T22:45:00.000-04:00

Prepare for the shock. Are you sitting down?

I have a finished object. Yes, I actually completed, sewed in ends, and wore a knitted item. That's my first in a loooonnnnggggg time. I even wore it out last night!

I present to you, my latest Honeymoon Cami!

Pattern: Knitty.com
Yarn: Berroco Cotton Twist
Needles: Size 5 circs
Notes: If you remember my first Honeymoon Cami, it was way too big. I've never worn it. I made the smallest size in that one, a size 32, and my bust is 31.5-32 (since I've lost about an inch in it with all this training I've been doing. Yeah!). Now granted, I don't look like a 32 bust in this picture. I'm a C cup so that clues you in to just how small my frame is and why I have so much trouble with the fit of knit patterns in the armholes and shoulders. So what I did was subtracted down another size, casting on 9 fewer stitches than the smallest size. Then I decreased a couple more times between the best and the armhole shaping to try to make that fit a little tighter. It's still bulky underneath the arms but isn't too bad. It fits much better, and I think I'll wear it often.

Now I guess I gotta get back to Apricot!

It's official. I'm in a slump

2005-07-25T21:18:00.000-04:00

I feel like UK's Patrick Sparks during basketball season. I'm either super hot or as cold as ice. I'm knitting a ton or not doing it at all. But ah-ha, it hit me, why I can churn things out like crazy during the winter and can barely force myself to pick up the needles right now. It's the project, not knitting itself! It's not even that I hate my only current project, the Apricot Jacket. I love it, I really do! It's so pretty and an easy (but not boring) knit, once you figure out the &@^$# pattern.

But here's the kicker. The heat index today was 107. My office is usually warm. Thus Apricot won't be worn for another couple of months, at least. I am a person who does this for the stuff. I like making something I can wear and show off proudly. I love getting a compliment on my sweater and with a sweet grin, tell them I made it myself. It gives me strength to fly through something, just waiting for that day I get to wear it. I don't have that with Apricot right now.

Or it could just be the fact that I usually knit while watching TV and there is nothing on TV right now. I may be overanalyzing this.

But anyhoo, I think this revelation means I need to start a couple of new projects, things that are good for now. I have some ideas!

First is another Honeymoon Cami done in Berocco Cotton Twist in the pretty pinky coral that I've had for a couple of months. Since I've never worn the FIRST Honeymoon Cami I made, I'll correct the sizing issue with this one by making it a couple of sizes smaller. I've learned my lesson on knitting with cotton...you can go smaller with it.

The next idea is a Kentucky blue tank, maybe the Mud Flap Girl tank from SNB-Nation. I'm thinking royal blue so I have it to wear to the Kentucky football opening game (finally, season tickets!). If I got really into it, I'd do a big white school logo K in the middle. Or that could be really dorky. It's always so hot the first couple of games of the season, and I gotta wear blue. I also have these dreams of having it on at a basketball game, being spotted by Ashley Judd, who must have her own, being whisked off to Hollywood, marrying my boyfriend Matthew McConaughey, and living happily ever after.

Or I could just buy this. It would cost less.

Another thing that I need to get started on soon if I decide to do it is Trellis from Knitty for a friend's kid. It's a surprise for the friend, and the only hint I'll give is that the kid is born. I'm going to have either a couple of people breathing a sigh of relief that isn't for their kid or else have some unhappy friends who talked them into believing it was for them. Why this pattern? I think it's awfully cute, and I'd love to try an aran. I'm not into arans for myself since most of the patterns I've seen are horribly unflattering to my frame but a little kiddie version may be nice.

That in mind, I knit up a swatch. It's Bernat Cotton Tots which is not the yarn I'll be using since it's too fluffy for this type of pattern. I was just trying to get an idea of what gauge I got with it.

I'm thinking of doing it in Cotton Ease.

PS, don't let the color of it give away who the gift is for. Mine will probably be a different color, and this little sweater is cute for a little boy or girl.

Lots of stuff but I'm already feeling more motivated to knit!

In book news, I picked up the new Sophie Kinsella book, Undomestic Goddess. I love her books, and so far, so good on this one! I've had a few times as a lawyer that I wanted to run far, far away, and I swear, I was getting stressed just reading her schedule in the beginning. If you can deal with an implausible storyline, it's very funny (so far).

I'm trying, I promise!

2005-07-13T22:44:00.000-04:00

Poor Apricot. Yeah, she's as annoying as all get out but once I get things figured out, she's a nice easy little knit. So why can't I seem to pick her up and work on her? I did finish the sleeve. Woo! I just have the right front and second sleeve to do now. Maybe I can manage at least one of those pieces this week. It would have been such a perfect day to wear her today too. It was cool and rainy out.

Yes, you really read that right. It was rainy! We haven't had rain in months! It's Kentucky, not Arizona, we're supposed to have rain here, people. My grass is brown and dying but the weeds are managing to not only survive but to go big and green. How on earth is that possible? Yay for the remnants of Dennis for stalling over us! I wanna go out and dance!

The Race Report

2005-07-04T11:39:00.000-04:00

Woohoo, my first race! I ran the Bluegrass 10,000 in Lexington, KY this morning! It's a 10K (6.2 miles) and I set a goal to run it in under 1 hour, 10 minutes. Yes, I'm slooooowwwww. That's an 11 min/mile pace. I ended up running it in 1 hour, 5 minutes! I was so thrilled with that time. It's a 10:30 min/mile pace exactly. I felt really good all the way through and was able to gun it near the end.

That's the short of it. Can I keep it at that? Of course not!!! Here's the long version (you'd think I ran a marathon or something!):

I wanted to run this race as my first because my Dad ran this race every year when I was a kid. It was great fun for us to come to Lexington for a couple of days every year because we stayed in the "fancy" hotel downtown. It was fancy in our eyes because it has an indoor pool, of course! It's a pretty big race with over 3400 registered. I wanted to run it last year but a stress fracture in my leg derailed that plan, and I never really got my mileage built back up until the last couple of months.

My Dad said he'd run but he didn't plan to register. He hasn't run much in recent months because of an injury and developing a love of bike riding too so he didn't want to push himself too much. We showed up at about 7:45 for the 8:00 race. My Dad hung out with me at the starting line even though he intended to move up at race time and start up with the faster people. I kept picking out people that I knew I could beat. The lady in the muu muu and white knee socks was at the top of my "can beat" list.

We heard the gun and headed to line up. We kept walking and walking, following the crowd, and suddenly, we realized that the race had started! He's run hundreds of these things and even he didn't realize that it had started. They started it a couple minutes early so we weren't prepared. Thank goodness for chips that only time from when you cross the starting line to the time you finish! My time from my watch was 3 minutes shorter than official race time because it took 3 minutes before I got to the starting line.

I said good bye to my Dad (who flew by me) and off I went. A couple blocks in, I was smoked by a guy pushing triplets in a stroller. Nice.

Here I am right past mile #1. I ran it in 10 minutes. My pace was probably a bit under that because it was so crowded and there were a few times I had to dodge strollers and rows of walkers 4-5 deep. It's my first race, and I've already developed pet peeves! Another one is a weird one: barbeque. There's a 4th festival downtown, and they'd just fired up the smokers at about a mile and a half in. Not good. Fortunately, the smell didn't linger long.

My Mom was the photo-taking machine. She's a runner herself but thought she'd sit this one out. A couple blocks past the barbeque, she caught up with me for another photo.

I missed the first water stop because I was too busy mugging for the camera. No prob, I was still feeling good.

Another 3/4 mile in, and I was hanging well with the top runners. Here I am with the race leaders at the 23 min. mark. That's me on the right, the leaders on the left.

No one needs to know that the top 3 racers were on their way back on an out and back course. They had a little over 1 mile left, I had almost 4.

From here to about mile 5, it was relatively uneventful. There were people cheering for you and standing in their front yards with their water hoses out to spray you off. It was hot and humid! My Mom was no where to be found with the camera so I managed to make it through a couple of water stops. I did the turn to come back into downtown and a lady yelled out at the big group of us, "it's all downhill from here!"

Liar!

Even I knew that the worst was yet to come! It's not a course full of steep hills but it has gradual very long inclines in several spots. Real runners tell me it's a tough course. I knew that once I hit about mile 5, it truly was downhill. My Mom met me at about 4 1/2 miles and ran the rest of the way.

My Dad met up with us at Mile 5 to run the rest of the way in. My Mom and I theorized that he wasn't running as well as he'd wanted and was using me as an excuse.

I did get a few laughs when I posed with Mile Marker 5. It probably cost me 6 seconds. More below on that.

Here I am crossing the finish line. Ignore the time there, this is the time from when they fired the starting gun. My official time is about 3 minutes less, judging from the times called out at the mile markers. I felt good at the finish and even sped up for the last couple blocks. I didn't hear a thing at the finish line. I was in a zone! My last mile was at a 9-something pace which is really fast for me.

I finished in 1 hour, 5 minutes, 6 seconds. If I wouldn't have mugged for the camera a couple of times and posed with the 5 mile marker, I probably would have beat 1:05! But I had fun and beat my goal by almost 5 minutes so I'm thrilled.

Here I am posing with my Dad after the race. I must be proud of myself if I'm posting this frightening post race photo!

Updates all around...

2005-07-01T20:48:00.000-04:00

Yikes! Has it really been over a week since I've posted to my blog? Things should be calming down a little about now so hopefully I'll get back to knitting more and talking more about it! I've been helping out with a summer camp for middle schoolers a couple of days this week, and I had no clue how tired it would leave me! It was fun though. Some of the kids were from disadvantaged homes, some were from a poorer county, and others were minorities and this was designed to inspire them academically.

As Parker demonstrates, my Apricot progress is slow enough to put the most energetic soul to sleep so this will be short and sweet. I thought I'd make some big progress at a 2 day seminar this week but wrote down the wrong days on my calendar so instead of a guaranteed 2 days of straight knitting, I only had 1. But knitting through the seminar was great. I had hesitated since I think it looks rude to the non-knitter and since it's a professional thing, I want to make a good impression but I was still able to pay attention.

I ended up getting the sleeve done almost up to the cap. I'll get it done this weekend and post photos. And start sleeve #2! In spite of how long it's taking me and the pattern frustrations, I'm really enjoying this project. It has just enough variation to make it interesting but not enough that I can't do it somewhat mindlessly.

In the meantime, check out Sarah Nicole's finished Apricot (and nice, new blog). Doesn't it look great?

My biggest excitement of the week was seeing the famous person I'd like to meet above all others, Tubby Smith, on UK's campus. He's the Kentucky basketball coach, by the way. He's a great coach but an even better person. I was talking to one of the kid's mothers, and he walked by, headed over to his basketball camp. Both of us were squealing! I wish I'd had my camera with me. He probably would have gladly posed for a photo. He's like that (or so I've heard). Instead, one of my favorite Tubby photos. Hehehe. I love this man.

I'm still working out with the trainer! It's been about 6 weeks now, and I don't hurt anymore. Yeah! I'm making great progress, though I've lost a grand total of 1 lb. That's just fine with me. I don't really care if I lose pounds as long as I lose body fat, and I am. I'm getting stronger, running faster, and definitely firming up. People are starting to notice. I am up to running 7 miles as my long run (up from 3 when I started), and I've cut over a minute off my time for slower distances. I run my first race Monday! Should be fun. I have people I know on the lookout for me, and my Mom will be taking pictures, so I should have a nice little cheering section going on. I'm pretty excited.

Dinner time!

2005-06-23T10:58:00.000-04:00

My Cairn Terror Elly's funniest trait may be her intense desire to have dinner at 7:00 every night. That's not 7:05, not 7:10, and definitely not 7:30. 7:00 on the dot. She'll give you 5 minutes, but after that, she will let you have it. She whines, she cries, she whimpers, she screeches, she slaps, she begs. She pretty much acts as obnoxious as her Terrier self can be until she eats dinner. She's never been a stray and never missed a meal in her life so it's not like she has any real fear of not getting her dinner. I have been out all evening and when I got in, watching a little of the game and came in to read my e-mail. A few minutes later, in came Elly. She did her sit up and beg thing and screeched. I knew immediately that I'd forgotten to feed her. Poor kid, it was 10:00! I ran off to the kitchen, with her hot on my heels. The food was gone within a minute of it hitting the bowl (chewing ruins the experience, ya know).

I have part of the Apricot sleeve done. I haven't even had to rip out a row yet. *knocks on desktop*

If you haven't already, you've gotta see Skylar's first socks. Aren't these awesome? And if you know me well, don't these colors just scream my name? I'm stalking Knit Pixie for this colorway of Vesper Sock Yarn to come back in stock. In the meantime, I'm really loving Midnight Knitter but will resist for the time being to see if I can be a Skylar copy cat!

She still knits!

2005-06-19T22:43:00.000-04:00

In spite of the lack of actual knitting content over the past couple of weeks, I still knit. Some. I finished the Apricot left front and started one of the sleeves. Remember, I ripped out the left front a couple of weeks ago, down to the ribbing, because I purled instead of knitted and it was driving me crazy! It was much easier the second time around. Here she is (obviously not blocked yet):

Since the carpet is about the best background I have, sometimes I end up with funny things in my pictures. See Parker above. He laid right down by it but refused to look at me until I said "carrot." The boy loves carrots. I'm a cruel Momma. I taunted him and never did get him a carrot.

The biggest reason for the lack of knitting is because of working out so hard! I'm doing really well with it but by the time I get home from the gym in the evenings and eat dinner, I just want to lay on the couch and not move!

Which brings me to another issue, thanks for all the nice comments in my blog. I'm a little behind in visiting and commenting but will get around to that this week (just don't make any new posts and make it easier for me, okay? :).

Birdie Rescue

This morning, I glanced outside and saw a little baby bird laying on my driveway, as still as could be. A kid walked by and when he noticed it not moving (but alive and well), he tried to see if it was okay. That's when I went out to check on the poor thing. It let me get right up to it before walking away and flapping its wings some. It appeared that nothing was broken so I called the Humane Society to see what to do. They told me that as long as Momma bird was still around, Baby would be fine, that Momma would still watch over him. I was warned not to touch him though. I managed to chase the little guy away from the driveway and sidewalk. He ended up in my neighbor's bushes later on, a good thing because they are headed on vacation. I came home from a run and saw him on the driveway yet again but he disappeared soon after. Earlier this evening, he was hanging out in the yard, watching Momma bird and friend do whatever Momma birds and friends do. I hope the little guy will be okay! He's a cutie.

I've been out talking to him a couple of times today. The neighbors now think I've officially lost it.

I've been tagged again

2005-06-14T21:35:00.000-04:00

I feel so popular. Okay, so I'm the last blogger out there being tagged but I'll pretend anyway. :) Skylar and Liss tagged me in the same day!

Here goes, the Book Meme. Like many other knit bloggers, I love to read so this one is fun.

1) Total number of books I own?
Really, I have no clue. Maybe 100, give or take a few? I just got rid of a bunch of paperbacks so it's not as bad as it was. I borrow most books now from the library and exchange with friends. I used to buy tons but this is a lot cheaper!

2) The last book I bought?
The Jane Austen Book Club. Bought it yesterday actually. It had been on my list of things to read, and Steph mentioned it in Target when we were in there yesterday so home it came.

3) The last book I read?

Derailed by James Siegal. Great mystery! I finally read it, after listening to my friend and her mother both rave about it.

I currently am reading 2 books, Winter Prey by John Sandford and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Ann Fadiman. Winter Prey is okay. I'm not a huge John Sandford fan. The Spirit Catches You was recommended to me by someone in the medical field. It's about the child of Hmong immigrants to the US from Laos who had epilepsy. It's about the difficulties between her parents and the medical field, both groups wanting the best for the child but communication and beliefs being different. It's pretty good so far.

I tend to read a lot of fluff because , starting in law school and continuing today, I've had to do enough reading of depressing crap and heavy stuff daily that I read almost solely for escapism.

4) 5 books that mean a lot to me? (this is tough!)

1. The Bible: The book that's had the most profound effect on my life. I'm Christian though not particularly religious, but my beliefs and the beliefs of most of my family members have been shaped by the Bible.

2. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery: I loved this series of books as pre-teen and even into my teenage years! A couple of my friends also were obsessed, and we had a little mini-book club going on with as much as we talked about them.

3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: My alltime favorite book. The story is so simple but so wonderful. I re-read it every couple of years and enjoy it more and more each time.

4. Stitch N Bitch by Debbie Stoller : Knit bloggers won't laugh (I don't think) but I've gotta add it in here. I'd wanted to knit for ages and never managed to figure it out, in multiple attempts. This book was when it finally clicked.

5. Trail of Tears by John Ehle: About the forced removal of the Cherokee tribe from the east to the west. I honestly haven't even read all of this book but hwat I have is heartbreaking and particularly meaningful because my great-grandmother was Cherokee. I've been told that her grandfather or great-grandfather was a tribal leader. My brother took the book when he moved, and I need to get it to finish it and also read more about the topic itself.

5) Tag 5 people and have them fill this out in their blogs:

Again, I'm probably the last person in knit blog land to finish this. I'm going to tag Juls even though she's already been tagged. I'm just doing it to spur her into action. Steph, my favoritest learning to knit friend, I don't know if you do these kind of things on Livejournal but if you do, I'll tag you too.

Patience, my dear

2005-06-10T23:19:00.000-04:00

Liss commented below about how she doesn't think she has the patience to knit. I thought I'd let the knitters respond! I'm definitely not known for my patience, and I get frustrated really easily when things aren't going my way. Learning was tough and sometimes even now, learning a new technique can be trying but I love to knit! It's so relaxing 99% of the time. I had a conversation with my LYS owner awhile back about Lucky (tiny yarn, tiny needles), and she told me to enjoy the process. Every knitter ends up falling into a groove about what they like to knit and what they don't like, yarns they like, needles they don't like, etc. I personally love knitting sweaters with thinner yarns on smaller needles. Others do nothing but quicker, bulky knits that they can finish off in mere days or hours. Instant gratification isn't a big deal for me, others need it. We just all knit what makes us feel good. Even in having to tear out hours of work on my Apricot Jacket, I've loved working on it, and it's so relaxing. So girl, get out that Knitting for Dummies book you got for Christmas and learn! It's a great stress reliever.

I've been tagged by Juls! (my first ever tag!)

Choose five things from the list below and complete the sentence.

If I could be a scientist, I'd invent a superduper basketball shoe that would let the player jump 6 feet in the air and give them perfect form on their shot everytime, from inside the 3 point line or out. I'd hold an exclusive patent, and ONLY the Kentucky basketball team would be able to wear them.

If I could be a farmer, my farm would be a huge horse farm in Lexington with acres of hills and miles of white fences.

If I could be a psychologist, I wouldn't even know where to begin. So many psychoanalysis, so little time.

If I could be a librarian

If I could be a professor

If I could be a writer, my books would be a wildly popular and very funny knockoff of Janet Evanovich's, only my Stephanie Plum would be a short blonde lawyer from Kentucky.

If I could be a llama-rider

If I could be a bonnie pirate

If I could be an astronaut

If I could be a world famous blogger

If I could be a justice on any one court in the world

If I could be married to any current famous political figure

If I could be an innkeeper, my office would be a cabana on the beach in front of my beachfront inn. And I'd hire a world class chocolate chef.

I think this one's been around! I'm cheating and tagging anyone who hasn't done it.I'm lazy. But you know who you are!

Extreme Makeover!

2005-06-08T22:46:00.000-04:00

Getting tired of the "needs grooming badly" disclaimer in front of all of Parker's pictures and kind of feeling sorry for the wooly mammoth now that it's getting hot, I dragged the boy off to the groomer.

Parker before:

Parker after:

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.

He looks 10 years younger.

Such a sweet guy! Cairn grooming can be such a nuisance. I don't like them clipped, I like them handstripped which is the traditional way to groom a Cairn. It involves pulling their dead hairs out. I hate doing it myself. Parker turns into rabid dog when I do. Not many groomers do it but I'm lucky that one in town does, and they do a great job too. He pulled him down to his undercoat, which makes all the tiger-like stripes. He's bright copper under there! His outer coat, when it grows back in, is dark.

Apricot's left front is STILL unfinished! I've been so exhausted in the evenings that I'm getting next to no knitting (or blogging and reading blogs!) done. I'm hoping I can get more done this weekend.

I think I'm exhausted because I'm working my butt off at the gym! I ran 6 1/2 miles Sunday night and could barely move my legs by the end of the day Monday. Not because they were sore but because they were so tired! I've been roped into kickboxing class tomorrow. I like this teacher, he walks around the room and lets you kick and punch him. Now that's fun! I'm going to take the plunge and run my first race, a 10K on the 4th of July!!!

I've been tagged by Juls but haven't had a chance to respond. Will do that tomorrow, I promise!

Apricot is still alive...

2005-06-05T13:42:00.000-04:00

She didn't get a whole lot closer to completion since the last post but I did manage to finish the back piece. I've been pretty tired in the evenings this week and haven't gotten much knitting done. I've been lucky to do 2-3 rows. Last night, my plans fell through so I stayed home and finished the back piece while watching National Treasure. Knitting amazingly increases my super short attention span so I can actually sit through a movie without zoning out, getting up to do something else, or dozing off. I'm not brave enough to take my knitting into a theater yet.

It's two steps forward, one step back. That little purled instead of knitted in the 1st pattern row of the left front was bothering me too much and below is the result. Now I get to figure out the pattern yet again! Whee! It shouldn't be too bad this time through. The front piece knit up sooo quickly.

On the agenda today is to plant some flowers and a rosemary plant I got at the Farmer's Market yesterday, go for a 5-6 mile run, and spend the evening knitting to see if I can finish up that left front piece. I was all looking forward to knitting while watching the Pistons/Heat series Game 6 tonight but learned just a few minutes ago it was last night. Go Pistons! Hopefully I can get Apricot done in the next 2 weeks! I can't wait to wear her, especially after seeing Diana's completed sweater, done in the same yarn I'm using! I really love this piece, and the trials and tribulations of the pattern should be worth it in the end.

The lovely Apricot Jacket and my not so lovely knitting

2005-05-30T12:05:00.000-04:00

It's a good thing I love the finished product as much as I do because if I didn't, it would have ended up down the disposal days ago. Everyone and their mother has made this Jacket, and 95% of them have complained about the pattern. Here I am to add to the chorus! It's horribly written. Are all Rebecca patterns like this? This is my first.

As a public service to the self esteem of other knitters, especially those that may be joining the Knit Along at Craftster, here's my Apricot Jacket back timeline.

1. Cast on. Rib, rib, rib for about 7" (I'm shortening it some from the pattern because I'm short). Start knitting from chart.

2. Someone must not get the concept of an edge stitch because if she follows the chart with her ribbing, it's gonna be off center a stitch. For someone so anal about symmetry, at this gauge, that ain't gonna fly.

3. Contemplate ways of increasing or decreasing to get it centered. Determine nothing's saving this. Rip out 7 inches of ribbing.

Ripping in progress

4. Here we go! Cast on again. We're ribbing, we're ribbing! Start the chart. It works!!! It's even! Pop open a bottle of champagne!

5. Work first 8 rows of pattern. Look down to admire work and see a big uh-oh. Yep, I K2tog instead of Sl1, K1, psso. Too anal to let that go. Rip out almost 8 rows, back to mistake.

See my mistake? More ripping.

6. Work first row of pattern. Forget to work first row of stitches in stockinette. Did it in pattern. Rip out row.

7. Now we're flying!!! From here on, hopefully no ripping! That's a lofty goal given my past Apricot history but hey, it sounds good! I'd hoped to get a little more done over the long weekend but I didn't spend much knitting time and what I did spend was done rip, rip, ripping. Luckily, it's a quick knit! Here's what I managed to get done (and a great example of "why block").

Pretty in pink...

I present to you a completed Apricot left front. I finished this last week with fewer big rip outs than the back piece. It took some time to figure out exactly why I was to knit 8cm after the shoulder bind off but once I realized it was for the neckband, I was able to do it and bind off.

Not so fast! Apricot, we have a problem. See it?

I purled there when I should have knitted. It's near the beginning of where the pattern begins but I didn't catch it until almost done. Would the average person pick that error out? Nope. If it was on the back piece, would it bother me much? Nope. But where it is on the front, everytime I look down to admire my lovely cardi, that's going to stick out like a sore thumb. I will likely frog the piece to that point and redo it. It only took a couple of evenings and I don't have to rip back all the way so I'm not particularly distraught.

Errata for the pattern is on Rebecca's website. Don't expect it to help all that much, just clear up some crazy numbers! It's really helped me so far to look at other completed Apricots. Becky's is great because she has pictures of each piece. She also gives a tip to place stitch markers around the center 22 stitches because once you reach those after repeating rows 1-8, you'll begin rows 9-10. The pattern's pretty vague on this. Shocking, I know!

Starting with a smaller piece is a good idea too, to get an idea of how it's supposed to look. Karma started with a sleeve. I started with the left front. On second thought, I'm not so sure it helped because I still had to rip out a ton on the back piece I worked on second!

The moral of the Apricot Jacket story is to go into it knowing you're probably gonna have to do a lot of pattern guesswork on your own. If you're comfortable with that, go for it. Don't get too frustrated with ripping out row after row because it's all part of the process. It's a fun knit and is going to be a great learning experience in doing what feels and looks right rather than blindly following the pattern.

Compared to my last few garment projects, Lucky on size 2 needles and others with size 5's, this on size 7's is flying along so all this ripping back isn't phasing me at all!

Finished Chevron Rib Tank!!!

2005-05-29T13:57:00.000-04:00

Other bloggers have photos of their knits modeled with backgrounds of flowers, trees, beaches, and sunsets. But where else do you get knits displayed against a fence and a hint of a heat pump?

Pattern: Chevron Rib Tank (free pattern from Interweave)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Malibu Blue, a little less than 2 skeins
Needles: Size 5
Changes to pattern: I knit this at a tighter gauge than the pattern calls for, to size it down some from the schematic. It fits pretty well. It says to crochet around the neck and armhole edges. I did the armholes but decided that the neck looked fine without it. An honest opinion or sheer laziness? You be the judge.

I wasn't sure what to do with these 2 skeins of Cotton Fleece and really liked how this looked. I wasn't sure how flattering it would be on my hourglass shaped figure and was a bit afraid it would make me look like Dolly. It kind of does in this picture but you short, shortwaisted girls with big boobs know how almost every picture does that to you! In real life, it looks pretty nice. I think I'll wear this a lot, even though I'm a little paranoid about what I'm showing off to the world in the back (it's shorter than the front and doesn't have that point). Just don't walk behind me, and your view will be fine.

This was easy to knit and wouldn't have taken much time at all if I had done it straight through.

Lipbalm Addicts!

Lesley came out of the lipbalm closet in my comments section yesterday. I should have known when I started a blog that there would be at least one post extolling my favorite lipbalm. Lesley likes Kiehl's, and I do too. (BTW, you referred to yourself as an enabler. You aren't by chance a member of MakeupAlley, are you?)

But my very favorite is Smith's Rosebud Salve. I've been using it for a few years now and love it! Unbeknownst to be until a few months ago, my family has used this stuff for many years. This is kind of neat. My grandma was at my house one day and saw my tin of Rosebud Salve on my nightstand. She was shocked that it was still around because it had been years. She told me that they used to use it when they were children. My great-grandfather owned a small country store in eastern Kentucky (where I'm from), and she thinks they sold this there. I gave my grandma a tin (my Rosebud Salve stash is bigger than any yarn stash I have), and she's loving it still too! I use it for lipbalm and even cuticle cream in a pinch.

Obligatory Dog Picture

I leave you with a photo of how to make a boy Terrier very happy. We planted a few bushes in my backyard last week. That equals 4 prime new toilet spots for the Parkie-Man. He spends all his time sticking his head in the new bushes and lifting his leg on them. It takes so little to make him happy. I'll spare you the Parker lifting his leg pic, in favor of "Parker the Investigator."

A learning experience...

2005-05-27T23:45:00.000-04:00

Things I have learned in my first two weeks of working out with my personal trainer (a.k.a. Killa)...

- Killa was on the US National Track team. I didn't ask what he did. Is midget tossing an Olympic event?
- Flintstones Vitamins taste as good as I had remembered. Must remember what Mom always said, "they are not candy."
- Must always have tinted lipbalm since Killa would make fun of me if I wore lipgloss and I'm never without color on my lips.
- I'm a clutz.
- Strike that last one, I already knew that. But it came to a head when I fell off the side of the treadmill, simply stepping onto it. Killa swore he's never seen anyone else do that. I've tripped on the flat carpet, gotten stuck on a machine, rolled off of the exercise ball, you name it, I've managed it. And on the leg press machine, no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get the whole push the weight out while pulling up on the lever to catch the weight concept.
- Getting Killa to talk about his dog buys a few more seconds of rest in between sets.
- Just when I think I can't hurt anymore, I can.
- I sound like the lead horse at Keeneland in a stakes race when I run on the treadmill. *clomp, clomp, clomp, clomp*
- 100m sprints when you're 8 are easy and fun. They aren't when you're 30.
- Spinning sucks***. Spinning after a 25 minute intense treadmill interval run and 25 minutes of lifting and core work really sucks. Spinning after a 25 minute intense treadmill interval run and 25 minutes of core training when Killa is all excited to show off his new spinning bikes, well, words cannot fully explain that suckage.
- A way to make planks on the exercise ball feel better. Do the plank the normal way. It hurts. Then have someone roll the ball away a couple of inches, without falling (you, not the person moving the ball). That hurts more. So when you go back to the normal way, it feels almost easy!

And most importantly, I have learned that my soft, non-athletic body is capable of a lot more than I have given it credit for and to push it to the max and to lift the weights I have and run the speeds I have as I have makes me pretty proud.Apricot Jacket update later. Oh boy do I have a lot to say about it.

***This refers to spinning in the riding on an exercise bike until your legs cannot move anymore, not spinning yarn. I have never spun yarn so it may very well be agonizing but given the number of people who blog about it, it seems to be a lovely thing

Poor poor little neglected blog

2005-05-25T23:35:00.000-04:00

I have been ignoring you, poor blog. Mainly because I have been ignoring you, poor knitting projects.

I have been working out with a personal trainer (hereinafter referred to as "The Killa") at the gym (hereinafter, the "Torture Chamber"), starting last Monday. I walked in on Day 2, and he cackled, "you're going to hurt so bad tomorrow." When I came back on Day 3 and told him I didn't hurt that bad, poor guy, he looked so disappointed. On Day 4, he told me he was trying to figure out how hard he could push me until he breaks me. He wants me to lift lots of heavy weights and when I'm too tired to lift anymore, go run on the treadmill. And he thinks all of this is fun! He loves pain! You know it's bad when your parents' neighbors are laughing at you as you walk your dogs down the street because you cannot bend your arms. Perhaps choosing a trainer who doesn't also train a couple of NBA and NFL players and part of the local police force would have made more sense for a weakling like me. I'm already making some good progress, I must admit. I'm lifting more than I thought I would and running pretty fast on the treadmill to boot.

I posted a new, better photo of Lucky below. I still love her!

I've been doing so little knitting. I've been exhausted in the evenings. I finished up the knitting on the Chevron Rib Tank but put off the seaming (simple shoulders and sides!) for awhile and stil haven't done the crochet edging. The good news is that it fits, good because I was working at a smaller gauge to get a smaller size. Here's a pic of the front, just to look like I've done something.

You'd think a still uncompleted item, a pair of uncompleted socks, and a couple of projects not even on the needles yet would stop me from starting something new. Right? If you answered "no", you might be a knitter.

I found Rebecca #27 at my LYS a couple of weeks ago and decided to start the Apricot Jacket(it's the apricot colored cardi in the far right photo if you can't figure it out). I was torn on yarn to use and ended up with Lion Cotton-Ease in the pale pink color. Yarn snobs are running away in horror but I like how this feels and the color is exactly what I wanted. It's also better for the budget, after having to spring for last month's doggie surgery. My gauge is a little off but I'm wanting it to be a little smaller than the pattern so I'm doing the front left side first to see how that turns out.

My massive progress so far!

Using size 7 needles and a gauge of 18 st/4 in feels huge compared to Lucky!

The owner of the LYS was working on the pale blue lace and cable pullove r from this issue. The girl in the 2nd pic from the right, sitting at the picnic table is wearing it. It's gorgeous, and the photo doesn't do it justice. I definitely want to make it, probably for winter in merino or something else soft and warm rather than the cotton the LYS was using. She says the pattern repeat isn't complicated and is easy to memorize once you get going.

I got Lucky in Kentucky

2005-05-17T23:35:00.000-04:00

Here it is, the long awaited Lucky! The only thing left to be done is to sew in the ribbons on the inside. I need to get ribbon!

Edited to add better pic...

Pattern: Lucky Lace Clover Wrap from Stitch and Bitch Nation. Designed by Melissa.
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fine in Prairie Lupine, 5 skeins plus a bit of a second.
Needles: Size 2 circulars (knit flat)
Changes to pattern: I made the 32 inch size but didn't do all the increases after the waist shaping. It would be 34" finished, and for something like this, I don't want that much ease. This ended up being about 33" finished, and it's fine. I don't like bell sleeves on me so I cast on 58 and increased to 76 stitches. I also ended up with 3/4 length sleeves by accident (silly measuring mistake!) but I like them. The pattern's sleeve length would be fine for me but others are having to lengthen them.
Notes: I followed the instructions from Winnie's blog on seaming it to get more of a V-neck. Mine's still on the boatneck side of things and a little too big in the back but that's fine and not the fault of the pattern. I just have really small shoulders!

Overall, this was a fun knit! The seaming and knitting the tie went slowly but it was worth it. I think this will be a sweater I wear a lot in the summer.

Caution, doggie content
I commented on Carrieoke's blog that her Bella looks like my Parker in the face. Here's a picture for her of my little badly in need of grooming Parkie-poo (and you thought "schmoo" was bad!)

I can't leave out my Els-bells. Elly's in her sit up and beg position here. She can sit like this for hours.

I just started working out with a personal trainer, so my posts for the next few days are likely going to contain only cries of pain and immense whining. You've been warned! His theory on weight lifting is apparently to lift the heaviest weight you can possibly hold up and repeat until it hurts. When you walk in, and he looks at you and says, "you're gonna hurt tomorrow" and laughs, you know you are in for it.

The day is finally here...

2005-05-16T23:55:00.000-04:00

Lucky is done! I'll post pictures tomorrow. I loooove her!

No one will believe it...

2005-05-13T10:47:00.000-04:00

We have Lucky progress!

I finished the neckband and started seaming it. It's a long process but so far, so good!

I was browsing Banana Republic and came across this sweater that I really like.

One of the side effects of learning to knit has been that anytime I see something handknit in a store, I think, "I could do that." Given the $70 sale price of this sweater, I started thinking. And swatching...

I noticed the sweater's lace pattern looked a little like the lace pattern from the SNB-Nation Om Yoga Mat Bag that I made for my Mom. It's not exact but close enough.

Then I got to thinking that it could be really tough to do the armhole and waist shapings in this particular lace pattern. But it shouldn't be too bad. It's a 4 stitch repeat, and I'll just have to make sure I don't lose or add stitches in a row. It's a simple repeat once you get going.

The edgings are just ribbing, and I think I'd use a thin ribbon around the waist rather than a knit tie. It looks like the buttonbands are ribbed and then sewn on rather than stitches being picked up and ribbed from there. It has a little lace edging at the neckline, and I'm sure I could replicate that or leave it out. The overall shape looks like nothing more than a basic cardigan pattern.

I did the above swatch in some leftover Paton's Grace yarn. I like how it came out a lot so I may use that for the full thing. I haven't knit anything pink in awhile which bothers the pink lover in me but I'm seeing this in light blue. I kind of like the white one too.

Am I crazy?

The Amazing Race Finale!

2005-05-11T09:11:00.000-04:00

Yay Uchenna and Joyce! I love them and am so happy they won!!! What a great couple they are. Uchenna is such a sweetie. He should be a motivational speaker. He was keeping ME going through the show! I was so afraid they were going to be out of it.

I wasn't a Rob and Amber fan at all through Survivor but I came through this show liking them. I didn't want them to win but they are really sweet together, and both seem like they'd be fun to hang out with.

In my hours of American Idol and Amazing Race watching (and don't forget, Law and Order SVU taping), I sucked it up and worked on my Lucky neckband. I have 43 of 62 inches done. Woohoo! There may be a completed Lucky in the near future!

I'm getting ready to head out for an eye doctor appointment. The yarn shop is right across the street. Can I resist slipping in for a little looksie? Nope, can't, gotta get some other things done first. Hehehe.

Without heading into too much of a rant, I HATE the NBA. They have to do something to control the early entry of high school and college players that have no business going. They are so busy caring about "potential" that they ignore actual performance. And kids who have no business going are declaring and some are ruining their lives because of bad advice from people without the player's best interest. Randolph Morris, I hope to see you back at UK. I really hope you're doing this to test your status and what you need to do before declaring next year (like we all expected you to do, just not this year). And it's not just Randolph, there are players all over making the same move, some of them hiring an agent so they can't come back. Every year it gets more ridiculous.

Can I trick them?

2005-05-10T10:05:00.000-04:00

If I post lots of yarn and project pictures, maybe no one will notice the lack of a completed Lucky.

I was across town the other day to pick up a Mother's Day gift for my grandma and decided to give this one little LYS another shot. I wasn't looking to really buy anything, just check it out again. The deal is that it intimidates me. The owner is a sweet lady but the other two times I've been in, a couple of her friends have been sitting around knitting in the tiny shop, making me feel like I'm intruding on some private family gathering. And she doesn't list prices anywhere so if I want something, I have to ask how much it is. For more common yarns, I have an idea but she carries a lot of European yarns that I am not familiar with so I have no clue.

But I had a great experience Friday! There weren't any other people in the shop, and she and I had a nice chat about knitting. The lady is really sweet and really encouraged me to not be afraid to try more complicated projects. I told her about Lucky on size 2 needles, and she said I would be really pleased with it in the end. I agree with her that while bulky knits give great quick satisfaction, the smaller yarns and needles look better (at least on me). I really hadn't planned on buying anything but I came across a great pinky coral shade of Berroco Cotton Twist and lo and behold, I'll be doing another Honeymoon Cami. I'll see if I can make it fit better than the first one.

I started on my first pair of socks! A smart person would probably start with a basic stockinette pattern on slightly bigger needles. Not me! I go for cables and ribbing! I love the Cable Rib socks from the Spring IK so that's what I'm doing. I got gauge with the Brown Sheep Cotton Fine leftover from Lucky on size 0 needles. I barely knit at all over the weekend so most of what you see below is from Thursday and Sunday nights. This is stretched out over my foot. You really can't see the cable otherwise.

Double pointed needles aren't nearly as scary as some people make them out to be!

Whew, all this on my knitting plate. What do I do? Start something new, of course! I came across the Chevron Rib Tank pattern while browsing blogs and had to try it. I have some Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece I'd bought to make a shell to go under a suit but decided it was meant for this tank instead. I couldn't quite get the pattern's gauge but the pattern's smallest size is a little bigger than I want it to be so that work out great.

I just had to start with the front first because it looked more interesting than the back. This couple of inches took almost no time to do last night so this should be a really fast project. Gotta love simple knits and purls and increases/decreases that make something look a lot more complicated than it is!

After working on size 2 and size 0 needles for the socks and Lucky, the size 5 needles of the tank feel like logs in my hands.

I guess I have to talk about Lucky, don't I? I've got 24 inches of the 62" tie done. 1x1 ribbing on size 2 needles bores me to tears. I'll get it finished and seamed by the end of the week.

Um, didn't I say that last week?

I'm soooo tired of seaming

2005-05-06T11:55:00.000-04:00

I didn't mind knitting a sweater on size 2 needles but seaming hasn't been fun. I still haven't gotten to the neckband/tie but here's an extra special sneak peak of Lucky.

Lucky basking in the glow of a sunny Kentucky spring evening...

It looks much better minus the black t-shirt underneath. I didn't feel like changing into something slinkier for this pic.

The good news is that it fits perfectly! It's really wide at the shoulders in this pic but the neckband will cinch that in to make it a nice v-neck. I love it! There is no telling when I'll get it done but it should be soon enough. I can't wait to wear it.

When trying this bad boy on, I realized that one of my shoulders (my left one) is smaller than and slopes a lot more than the other one. I never noticed this before. How could I have gone through life never noticing this? I can see a zit popping up 3 days before it makes its appearance but never saw this deformity?

Up next after Lucky: Cable Ribbed socks from the Spring '05 Interweave Knits and a cardi/shell that I know what I want it to look like and can't find any patterns that look just like that. This could be interesting...

If you haven't seen this yet, for your laugh of the day. If you've knit Martha's Poncho, you can now knit the Runaway Bride's Blanket. Hilarious.

Let the seaming begin...

2005-05-04T19:58:00.000-04:00

Woo! All the pieces of Lucky are finished and blocked (except the 62" tie, I'll work on that off and on) and seaming has begun! Seaming this baby isn't going to be fun. I'm trying to go slowly to make sure it's very well done. I have to say, raglan sleeves are sooo much easier to seam than set-in sleeves.

I went to the library last night and while there, checked out the selection of knitting books. I came across Vintage Knits. I almost bought this from Amazon a couple of months ago. I love vintage inspired clothing and was taken in by the lovely lacy camisole on the front. After looking through it that I'm think I'm glad I didn't buy it. I'm not sure I'd wear many of the things in the book. Some of the details are very vintage but the shaping really wasn't. I do still love the lace camisole (but again am not sure I'd wear it) and a couple of the cardigans were nice. Sometimes with books though, I don't like a lot on the first go through but they grow on me. Maybe that will be the case with this one.

Since there are no knitting pictures tonight, here's one of the act of animal cruelty I commited earlier in the week. Bathtime makes for two very pathetic Cairn Terriers.

Off to watch the American Idol results show and to work on seaming. Please let it be Scott voted off tonight.

Not a lot of progress

2005-05-03T10:27:00.000-04:00

I really hoped to get started seaming Lucky this weekend but that didn't happen! I didn't even get the last sleeve done. I worked on it some last night and got almost to shaping the sleeve cap. I should get it done tonight watching Tuesday night TV (American Idol, the Amazing Race, Law and Order SVU, and I thought I watched too much TV?). I got the first sleeve done in just a couple of days but haven't had the time to work on this one as much.

No pictures, who really wants to see a half completed Lucky sleeve?

Sunday, I went hiking at Natural Bridge in southeastern Kentucky, about an hour from my house. It was really nice to get away from the world a little and get some exercise. My calves are still killing me! Seems I managed to take the steepest, most difficult trail up, and climbed all over everything on the way down. I told my Mom we'd go running tonight, so that could be interesting. At least it's not my knitting hands.

But isn't it gorgeous? You get the greatest view from the top of the arch.

I'm thinking ahead to my next project. For my birthday in February, Juls, the Wayward Blogger, sent me this yarn, Schachenmayr Solero. It's a DK microfiber yarn that is so soft and drapey but feels a little like suede too.

I love the color, it's a minty green but not a baby pastel mint green. I don't own anything that's this color. I've been searching for patterns, and nothing has screamed at me. I would love a cute summer cardi and tank to go underneath so decided to do a cardi from Ann Budd's Knitter's Guide to Sweater Patterns and will do a little lace edging instead of ribbing. I have an idea in mind about how I want it to look so we'll see if it works out that way!

I will have 2 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fine leftover from my Lucky. I am going to use it to make a bold step into the wonderful world of sock knitting with the Cable Rib Sock from the Spring Interweave Knits. I'm really wanting to find out what the big deal about sock knitting and handknit sock wearing is, and I thought these looked great. They probably aren't the best pattern for a first pair of socks but oh well, you are reading the words of a person whose very first knit project was a 2x2 ribbed hat.

Here goes nothing...

2005-04-28T16:08:00.000-04:00

Yet another rainy dreary day. I want it to warm up, NOW! I just got an e-mail from the local running shop. The owner is turning 70 tomorrow and is running a half marathon to celebrate. How awesome is that? It made me smile!

Modeling my Honeymoon Cami. If you saw the woeful post about its fit the other day,you'll be able to see the details. If you didn't see it scroll down or else I'll summarize: it's too big.

Moi in my Cami. It looks good here, huh? I even look like I've got muscles in my scrawny arms so who cares that I look drugged. I love the color of the yarn (it will look fab with a tan!) and love the look of the finished camis a lot.

Not bad. But here's the bad news. Look underneath the arms. They gape open an inch or two on each side, and it looks sloppy (unless I'm holding my arms down. Hmmm, there's an option). You can see a bit of the problem above and I took a better shot of the issue below. I always lose a little weight in the summer too because I start running more so it may be that much bigger in a few weeks.

I made the XS, and my gauge was spot on. So here's what I'm gonna do. I still need to shorten the straps. I've tried pinning them up there, and that helps the fit a little. Then I'm going to crochet an edging around the armholes to see if that helps. Then I'll wear it. If I find that I don't wear it because of the fit, I'll frog it and start over. I'm really thinking about doing another with some Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece I have and making some adjustments to fix the sizing.

I'm surprisingly at peace with the idea of having to rip this out. It's kind of a boring pattern to knit with all its stockinette but it moves so quickly that it's not that bad of a knit.

Lucky is moving along...

2005-04-28T12:15:00.000-04:00

I usually knit in the evenings while watching TV. Now that I've admitted that in my blog, everyone knows that I watch wayyyyy too much TV. The number of hours during the week I watch Law and Order SVU alone is frightening. At least I have a bunch of nice knit stuff to show for it. I used to read a lot. I don't read that much anymore, knitting has taken its place. I think I'm addicted.

I finished one sleeve of Lucky and got a few inches done on the second. After that, I'm just the dreaded 1x1 62" ribbed tie and seaming away. I can't wait to wear it, especially after seeing a few completed ones.

Here's the blocking sleeve and front piece...

And a closeup of the lace. Ooh, pretty! I love this clover lace. When I first started, I thought I'd have to rip out rows on end but once you get going, it's easy to see what comes next.

And a shot of what it will look like once put together! I took a bunch of pictures because I've had trouble getting a good shot of the color. The color looks closest to accurate on my monitor here.

I just noticed that my little weather girl is saying it's 57 and sunny while my ISP's site says 49 and raining. I now know not to use the weather girl when deciding what to wear!

Cami Shot

2005-04-24T16:39:00.000-04:00

It seems weird to be talking about a cami when it's snowing outside. We go from 75 and sunny to snow in under 48 hours. Gotta love Kentucky. But on the bright side, I did get to wear my beloved Simply Marilyn one more time for the season yesterday when I wore her to church. I love this sweater. I may very well make another one next winter.

Look at Winnie's blog, it's a completed Lucky! Doesn't it look great? Now I'm really inspired to finish mine up soon. I just need to do the sleeves. I did the 18" side tie and about 12" of the 62" one. That's a lot of 1x1 rib on size 2 needles so I've been working on it some when I don't feel like doing much else. 62 ", 10 rows per inch, 13 stitches per row=8060 stitches in the 62" band.

Here's my Honeymoon Cami!

Cute, isn't she? The shaping is wonderful! Not so fast though. I'll post photos of me wearing her later. I love the look of the pattern, it's just a little too big. Well, way too big under the arms even though it fits okay in the bust. I made the XS, and this isn't the pattern's fault, if anyone is worried. It's my own weird shaped body. I'm short and small framed but really curvy. I have small armholes and shoulders but am a C cup which means that many knit patterns are way too big in the shoulder/armhole area. I'm thinking a crocheted border along the armholes may pull it in a little. It doesn't look bad, it just doesn't fit quite like I wanted! I'm even thinking about ripping it out and redoing it. It will be awhile before I can wear this so that gives me a chance to stew on it a bit before deciding what to do.

I still need to shorten the straps some. That would be the ends you see hanging off the top, although if the practice of not weaving in ends would come into fashion, I'd be all over that trend!

Recipe Time!

2005-04-22T11:18:00.000-04:00

I finished my Honeymoon Cami! I'll take pictures later. It's cute.

Since I have nothing else much to say today and with Derby coming up in a couple of weeks, I thought I'd post my family's Derby Pie recipe. Er, not really Derby Pie which is a trademarked name that only the pie maker can call the ones they sell but I like this recipe because it tastes more like the original than many others. It's easy to make. My Dad even makes it all the time. I've made it (but I'll usually just buy one of the real thing to take, it's just as cheap as making it!). Anyway, this is the best dessert ever. It's like the biggest, gooey-est chocolate chip cookie you'll ever have.

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup walnuts
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Mix in order given; pour into an unbaked 9 inch pie shell.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes.

Finished Pink Bucket Hat

2005-04-19T11:21:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting a pink hat for summer so made it for myself. I used Plymouth Fantasy Naturale mercerized cotton but realized I may come up a little short so used a little leftover Paton's Grace, doubled up, in a champagne color to add a few stripes. It's cute. My only problem with it is that garter stitch in the round in cotton gets a little lumpy in spots so it's not perfect (and I'm a perfectionist) but I still like it.

I use the pattern from Chic Knits. My only suggestion to anyone making this would be to make a size smaller than your the size you think you need. I've made 2 bucket hats now and made the medium in each. Both are a little big. Not too bad but I'd rather them be a little smaller.

Finally finishing some things

2005-04-18T11:40:00.000-04:00

I guess the biggest problem with doing something that takes as long as Lucky is that I haven't finished much lately. I'm usually one that has a few projects going but finishes quickly. I'm too obsessive compulsive not to get them done. This weekend, I managed to finish up a couple of things, when I should have been out doing yard work. Sorry neighbors. Here's my Mom's Om Yoga Mat Bag from Stitch and Bitch Nation...

I was excited when she said she was taking a yoga class, and she bought a mat without a bag. I had to make one. It's pretty pathetic that I was considering taking up yoga myself, just to be able to knit this cute project! It was really a simple lace pattern, and although I cast on for it about a week and a half ago, it didn't take long at all to make. I barely worked on it in the meantime. It probably would have taken 3 evenings of TV knitting to get it done. I rushed on it yesterday evening so she could take it to her class tonight. I used the pattern's called for Lion Cotton and used less than 1 skein, even though the pattern calls for 2.

I also finally finished up my pink cotton bucket hat. I didn't snap a picture of me wearing it last night. I was sporting my lovely post-run, no makeup, nasty hair look, and I don't think anyone really wants to see that. I'll take a picture this evening! It's cute.

Now back to the Honeymoon Cami. I'm hoping I can get this done by the weekend. It moves so quickly. I'll probably cast on for Lucky's sleeves sometime this week too.

Honeymoon Cami Progress

2005-04-15T15:02:00.000-04:00

I'm moving along on the Honeymoon Cami. I'd love to get it done by next weekend to wear to Keeneland if we go and if it's warm enough. April in Kentucky is so unpredictable!

Isn't it pretty? I love this yarn! It's Berroco Cotton Twist in #8338, and it comes in the prettiest colors with such a nice sheen. I was afraid it was going to be a nightmare to work with because the reviews at Wiseneedle are bad and others have said it's splitty but I don't mind it. It is loose and splits quite a bit if not careful but since I got going, I've had no problems.

I need to finish my Mom's Yoga Mat Bag this weekend but I only have a couple of inches left of the lace plus the strap. I still would love to finish Lucky by the end of the month but I wanted to try a couple of quick projects in between.

Elly got her stitches out yesterday! The vet said she is amazing (referring to how she was trying to run in the backyard like normal, just 2 days after the surgery).

Here's Elly, post stitch removal yesterday:

Compare to Elly post surgery last week!

I feel like Parker's been neglected so here's one of him from yesterday. He loves the warm, sunny weather. He may have taken Elly's surgery hardest of all of us! He is crazy about Elly. When I walked in the door with her after her quick trip to the vet yesterday, he began running around in circles, he was so excited.

Rainy Day Ramblings

2005-04-13T12:16:00.000-04:00

I talked to the vet yesterday. He talked to some specialists who believe that Elly's recurring bladder stones are caused by one of two things, a persistent bladder infection or Cushing's Disease. Fortunately, she displays none of the symptoms of Cushing's so we are going to keep a close eye on bladder infections. She's never shown symptoms until stones are formed so we're doing to do monthly urinalysis. She'll keep eating her regular prescription diet for stones and drink distilled water. I'm just glad to have some other options. She'll go in tomorrow or Friday to get her stitches out.

A couple of weeks ago, my Mom was talking to my aunt about my knitting and she exclaimed that I start several projects before finishing. Apparently she thinks that a knitter should complete one project before beginning a second. I'm sure that's funny to the rest of you! Right now, I have on the needles the Lucky Clover Wrap from Stitch and Bitch Nation, the Honeymoon Cami (couldn't sleep last night so got cast on and a few rows done), and the Yoga Mat Bag for my Mom. I have a Minisweater on the needles but I'm not so sure I'll wear it. So that may get ripped out in favor of doing a cute tank with the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece yarn.

I was searching for a pattern for a friend the other day and came across a knitting blog that left me unsure whether to laugh or cry. In the end, laughter was the choice! I guess I never realized that there was dissension between younger knitters and um, more seasoned knitters. In this blog and the ensuing comments, they started by trashing Fun Fur which led to trashing Knitty and its "crap" projects, throwing in a few insults at HYUK's (hip young urban knitters. I'm glad it was explained, I'd never heard that). They really went off on the steering wheel cover and Cleaves. There was a snarky comment about Ipod Cozies (that serve a very practical purpose, to protect an expensive piece of equipment). Now I'm not a Fun Fur fan (hate the scarves made of it!) and I just don't get Cleaves but basically the implication is that these "HYUK projects" are ruining the craft and that they wished these "hip" Knitty-type patterns would go away. I don't really care what some random grandmothers online think about what I choose to knit but it made me giggle at how these commenters sounded like a combination of the "Old School Knitter" and "Holier than Thou Knitter" that Debbie Stoller writes about in SNB.

I checked out the blog owner's personal projects, and don't get me wrong, they were exquisitely done and I hope to have skills like that someday. But geesh, there wasn't a thing I would even think about wearing. Boxy sweaters and lace shawls aren't my thing? Which is a better advertisement for the craft? Spending months and months on an intricate lace shawl that will be worn outside the house once or wearing a big boxy Aran sweater that overwhelms my small frame OR spending that same amount of time doing a tanktop, a bulky weight sweater, a purse, a furry scarf, a steering wheel cover, and an Ipod cozy, things that I will wear/use often and enjoy? To each her own, when it comes to personal style, right?

This whole thing just struck me as very funny!

The Sun Does Funny Things to Me

2005-04-12T22:56:00.000-04:00

I was sitting at a Lexington Legends baseball game Sunday, in the nice warm sun, when it hit me. I NEED a Honeymoon Cam i. I've admired this pattern but have never really thought to make it. After looking through the designer's Honeymoon photo gallery, I knew I needed it. Off to my LYS to buy yarn. I was planning to use Tahki Cotton Classic but ended up with Berroco Cotton Twist in a great turquoise color. I love how soft and shiny it is. I figure I need a nice quick fix after working on Lucky for so long. It's a little darker than in this photo but isn't it pretty?

I also realized at that same baseball game that I really need to get working on the pink cotton bucket hat I want for summer and cast on for that. I love how this pattern comes out but it's such a pain, having to do garter stitch in the round using size 3 needles for cotton!

I did a bit of shopping over the last couple of days. I got a new pair of running shoes, Mizuno Wave Precisions. My Dad, a better runner than I ever dream of being, is a recent Mizuno convert so I gave up my previously beloved Nike Air Pegasus to try these. I haven't run in them yet but they are so comfy! They fit really well. The guy at the running shop told me that Mizunos tend to run a little narrow which is good for my small foot. I've had trouble finding shoes that fit well. New Balance, Sauconys, and the other biggest just don't. This is a nice lightweight shoe, perfect to take me into racing season. Now I've never run a race in my life but it sounds good, huh?

I went to Ulta to blow a gift certificate and use a 20% off coupon. Look at this! It's the cutest little thing ever! It's a mini foundation! It was only $4. I wish more companies would make little samples like this.

It matches my cutie pie Keychain Lipgloss

Beautiful day here!

2005-04-09T13:45:00.000-04:00

The weather is gorgeous, and what am I doing? Bumming around inside of course. I've had an exhausting week. I need to mow the lawn but it just may wait until some evening this week. I'm going to go run a little later this afternoon. Parker's outside sunbathing. Elly's inside laying in whatever beams of sun she can find. She's not allowed outside off of her leash still since she can't control her urges to run the fence and bark at the neighbor dog. Parker can't either but he didn't have surgery Tuesday. Otherwise, Elly is doing great.

I finished the left front of Lucky! I had to put up a picture of the left and right fronts to show the huge difference between blocked and unblocked pieces of this. See how smooth the one on the left is. The one on the right is the left front that I just finished up, no blocking. Now, onto the sleeves. For some reason, I hate doing sleeves.

I started the Stitch and Bitch Nation Om Yoga Mat Bag for my Mom's yoga mat. This is knitting up really quickly, and the yarn is cheap. 2 skeins of Lion Cotton in red, and I don't think it's going to require much, if any of the second skein. I'll make a washcloth or dishcloth of any leftover.

2 lace projects at once. Who would have thunk it?

The New Knitty is Up

2005-04-07T23:06:00.000-04:00

Yay! Not long after I had posted earlier today, I got the e-mail that the new Knitty was up. There were a few things in it that I really want to make. The biggest two are Spring Fling and Via Diagonale to satisfy my desire for a summery knit purse. I have a cute little crocheted purse that I bought a few years back that I've gotten more compliments on. It's kind of beat up so a knit version is definitely needed. Cocktail Monkey is really cute too. I'm kind of liking the monkeys although they really aren't me.

I love little tanks so Soliel and W may also be must haves. I'm crazy about Xback but it's not super wearable for me. I have to wear a bra, no doubt about it, and don't like strapless ones.

And then, Shade and Wheelie may be perfect quick little knits that I can really use. In fact, I have a lamp in my bedroom that is screaming out for a new knit lampshade!

Elly continues to do great. I called the vet to tattle on her today. I can't keep her from jumping and running. This is what happens when you get a terrier! She's not really hyper like some terriers, luckily, but she is happy go lucky and energetic. The vet said not to worry about it. Parker's still not sure what to think.

On a UK basketball note, our leading scorer, Kelenna Azubuike (he who is really hot without his shirt on) has announced that he's leaving one year early for the NBA. He's hired an agent so it's bye bye Kelenna. I thought he may declare for the draft but not hire an agent which would leave the option of returning. I don't think he's ready and may not even be drafted but with some family problems he's had this season, it may be the best decision for him. Best wishes Kelenna! We'll be fine without him with our depth at his position (aren't you glad you stayed, Joe Crawford?), but it's still a little surprising.

Gettin' Better

2005-04-07T11:25:00.000-04:00

Elly continues to improve. Dogs amaze me. Almost 48 hours ago to the minute, the vet called to let me know she had just come out of surgery just fine. Last night, I was struggling to keep her from jumping on the couch and bed. Outside, she was trying to run. She didn't eat much of her breakfast but by evening, her full appetite had returned and she was nagging me about wanting her dinner. If a human had surgery this major, we'd still be in bed unable to move much. Hopefully we'll be able to kick these bladder stones once and for all.

I'm plugging along on Lucky. I had to rip out my bind off on the right front and knit a few more rows. Someone lost count of her rows and wasn't paying close attention to the schematic.

I'm thinking I can get it done by the end of April. It will be perfect for our May weather. I also need to go ahead and finish the Hip to Knit turtleneck that has evolved into more of a boatneck sweater. I only have one sleeve left to go. I hate having almost finished objects around, I'm much too obsessive, so I want to get that done. I've been enjoying Lucky so much so far that I haven't picked anything else up. I can't believe I am enjoying lace on size 2 needles but I am.

What to do next? I have this mint green yarn that I plan on turning into a tank and slim fitting summer cardigan. I have 2 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece that I think is going to end up as a Minisweater, minus the edging. I'll have to refigure the pattern for a smaller gauge, and I'm not fond of the puffy sleeves so I think I'll have plenty of yarn. I guess I could knit it double stranded but for summery things and being short and small framed, I really prefer the look of the smaller gauge.

After that, I am liking Cable 8 from the Spring Interweave Knits and then there are a couple of things in the upcoming summer IK that I like. And my Mom's taken up yoga and has a bagless mat. The shame! She needs the Stitch and Bitch Nation yoga mat bag. It should be a cheap (Lion Cotton) and relatively quick pattern to do.

The new Knitty will most likely have a project or two I can't resist as well. By the time I'm done with all of this, it will be time to start plotting knits for next fall and winter!

My girl is home!

2005-04-05T20:04:00.000-04:00

Elly's home! She's groggy but in true Elly fashion, when I mentioned getting Parker's dinner for him, her ears perked up. The dog loves to eat. The vet said I could give her a little, and she ate that up. She seems to be getting a little life to her.

She was so funny leaving the vet's office. I was standing at the front desk with her on her leash, and she was staring out the door, waiting to go. When I opened it, she was out of there. She walked to the car just fine. When we got home, Parker was so excited. He jumped around to get at her but after sniffing her a bit, he's stayed away from her. I think he's a little afraid to hurt her. He isn't taking his eyes off of her though, and he's so much happier than he was earlier.

Since this is the 3rd time she's had stones and we've switched her diet and to distilled water, the vet is going to talk to some specialists for other prevention ideas for me.

A post surgery pic:

Elly Update

2005-04-05T14:24:00.000-04:00

She's fine and out of surgery! I get to pick her up at 4-ish!

Nervous Day

2005-04-05T09:53:00.000-04:00

I dropped Elly off at the vet about an hour and a half ago. She was so chipper and upbeat, her typical Elly self. That makes it all the harder! The receptionist was fawning all over her. Elly loves that. She had a rough evening yesterday. She was really struggling trying to potty and peeing a lot when she did. I'm not sure why since she was okay up until yesterday. I guess it just all came to a head yesterday.

Parker will be depressed without her. She's his idol. When she comes home, he'll be so excited. I'll post again as I get word on Elly.

I finished the right front of Lucky during the basketball game last night. Once you hit the neckline and raglan decreases on this front, it flies. I went ahead and blocked it because I'm anal. I think this is typical of lace knitting but pre-blocking, it looked awful. I wet blocked it, and this morning, it's smooth and pretty. For the next piece, I'll take a pre-blocking versus finished photo. It's an amazing difference. I didn't feel like casting on for the left front so I cast on 13 stitches and began working on the ribbed band. 80 inches total of 1x1 rib for the band and other tie. Eek!

I think I'm going to have enough Cotton Fine leftover to attempt my first socks. The reviews on Wise Needle say that this is a good yarn for socks.

Great basketball game last night. I thought Illinois could pull it off but they didn't. I really didn't want UNC to win but that's mostly selfish reasons more than any big issues with them (I used to despise Dean Smith but I *cough cough* like *cough* Roy Williams). We're #1 in alltime wins, they are #2, about 50 wins behind us. I want to stay far, far ahead!

Why did CBS change One Shining Moment a few years ago? This used to bring me to tears every year even if we didn't win. They had to bring in star power with Luther Vandross who doesn't sing it with nearly the emotion of the old one. You know, I never have seen the 1996 One Shining Moment. We won that year but I was at the Final Four and of course didn't see it on TV that night (we were too busy celebrating). I'd love to see it, that was a fun basketball season because we were so good. We would have killed the two Championship game teams this year with that team but that's not really a knock on them as much as it is a knock on the changes in college basketball.

Prayers for my Elly-Dog Please

2005-04-04T16:39:00.000-04:00

Elly peed in the house last week and again last night. That's really unusual for her. The only other times she's pottied inside since she was a puppy was when she had bladder stones. Off to the vet today. There wasn't any blood in her urine last night but she peed on the floor at the vet and there was some. I feel pretty bad for missing it for so long, and the vet told me not to beat myself up over it. He said that as Elly was tugging at the leash, trying to get someone to pet her, so it's not like she was acting differently. I have to say that I suspected something was up last week when it seemed like she was taking forever to potty.

She'll be having surgery tomorrow morning. It's her 3rd bladder stone surgery in about 2 1/2 years. It's been 3 years since her last one though (the first recurrence was within 6 months!).

We saw another Cairn at the vet! It's one of the few Cairns Elly has ever met. Elly really doesn't care for dogs that much (except Parker, the rest are below her) but she got a kick out of this one. I wondered if she thought she was looking in a mirror. A guy had a little long haired Doxie in the waiting room, sitting on his lap. Elly went over to sniff around, and the Doxie looked down and gave Elly a big lick on the nose. She's a kisser herself and seemed to think that was pretty great. It was the cutest thing.

Not much going on

2005-04-03T13:53:00.000-04:00

It's so hard to come up with a title when you are just going to say a bunch of random stuff! I just talked to my Mom. The felted bag below was for her friend Karen as a little thank you for helping me with names and e-mails of people to invite to my Mom's surprise party back in December. She loves it. It's so nice to knit something as a gift and have the person like it!

I haven't knit much the last couple of days. My wrist has been bothering me. I have had flare ups of tendinitis since I was in college, and sometimes it just gets bad. This is the first time in awhile so I'm not too worried about it affecting my knitting or having to try continental. Many swear by knitting continental but I just don't like it and oddly go slower when I do it. I'm going to work on Lucky some tonight. I'd like to get the right front piece done this week.

The Lucky pattern shows a sleeve that is wider at the wrist than at the top. I think I'm going to reverse that, making it taper like a normal sleeve and also possibly make it 3/4 length.

I'm enjoying the lace knitting of Lucky but the pattern calls for a 60-some inch tie in 1x1 rib. That's NOT going to be fun! I did a scarf in 1x1 rib and said never again. I'm thinking about getting another set of size 2 needles so I can work on it when I want mindless knitting from time to time. Maybe that will make it more bearable, if I can do it in bits and pieces. Seaming on this is going to be a nightmare too. But it will be all worth it in the end.

Louisville lost last night. Pitino's biggest coaching weaknesses came out. If the three isn't falling, they are in trouble. If his game plan isn't working well, he can't make adjustments (Illinois ate their zone defense alive). He's a master motivator and great at devising a game plan but like every coach, he has his weaknesses. These aren't criticisms based on bitterness that he took the UL job. He was criticized for this at UK too.

Random rant: I've been reading some sports blogs during the tournament and have seen a couple that talk about how Tubby Smith is on the hot seat at UK and how he isn't happy here and fans aren't happy with him. This is absolute total BS. Why people perpetuate this, I don't know. It was perhaps true at one time, especially when Pitino was trying to get Tubby out so he could get his old job back after leaving the Celtics but no longer. 90% of UK fans are crazy about the guy. The rest, well, every fanbase has its idiots. His secretary who has worked in the basketball office for many years has said that he gets less hate mail than any of the prior coaches.

Final Four Decision

2005-04-01T15:59:00.000-05:00

I have made a decision. I've had a change of heart. I will be cheering for Louisville in the Final Four and hope they win it all. I should be proud that they are from Kentucky. Garcia is such a pleasure to watch. I wish our players acted more like him on the court. Wonder if we could trade Randolph Morris for UL's Otis George? Rick Pitino is a class act and quite frankly, I wish he was still coaching UK. Tubby Smith should take the Virginia coaching job because the guy just can't coach, and Mitch Barnhart should be at Pitino's doorstep in minutes to replace him.

APRIL FOOL'S!!!

Man, that even hurt to write.

I finished another felted bag last night. I used the Felted Marsupial Tote pattern for the bottom, replacing the handle with i-cord straps instead. I also made stripes of gray, black, rose, light blue, and violet Cascade 220 since I like how this look with a little bit of color (and it's nice to use up some scraps of yarn :). I overfelted it some and thought it was a bit too small but my Mom thought it looked good. It resembles the Booga Bag I made for her.

Lucky and Elly

2005-03-30T22:20:00.000-05:00

Here it is, the finished back of Lucky:

I think it looks pretty good! The yarn (Brown Sheep Cotton Fine) is really soft and it has a nice feel to it, knit up. It's not heavy like a lot of cottons. If you like this pattern but are terrified of the amount of time a sweater on size 3 needles (size 2 in my case) will take, never fear. It moves really quickly. I got another 6 inches or so done on the planes and in the airport Monday and Tuesday.

I'm recovering from the UK loss. In Cleveland, it seemed like everyone I told I was from Kentucky responded with, "did you see that game?" I didn't crawl into a corner and cry, that's a sign I'm on my way to recovery! 199 days until Midnight Madness!

It was a beautiful day here today. It got into the 70's and was sunny. I stuck the dogs outside this evening. Elly is a dog that wants to be where I am at all times and doesn't particularly care for the great outdoors. I came back into the living room to find her staring in the door, practically pleading with me to let her in. Look at that poor face. I'm such a mean Mom!

And it comes to an end...

2005-03-28T00:52:00.000-05:00

Obligatory Knitting Content: I finished the back piece of Lucky. I have to go out of town for a couple of days and hope to make some decent progress on the plane! I'll post pictures when I return.

We lost in double overtime to a hot Michigan State team whose often maligned seniors had a lot to prove. We sent it into OT with one of the most amazing last second 3 pointers I've ever seen. With 12 seconds to go, Patrick got the ball, shot and missed. Kelenna got the ball, quickly dribbled out to the 3 point line, shot and missed. As 3 point shots frequently do, the rebound kicked off long straight into the hands of Patrick who threw it up with 0.5 seconds left on the clock. It bounced around the rim 4 times and looked like it was going to roll out but went in. Then there was an excruciating 6 minute wait while the refs reviewed the video to make sure his toe was behind the line. In overtime, we had some chances but foul trouble on Chuck and MSU's experience versus our mostly freshman lineup took over. Not placing blame on our freshmen since without them, we would have lost by 20 but sometimes, experience matters and this was one of those times.

I'm emotionally drained. Not only was there the crazy, long game, but one of our guys took a really bad hit in the last minute of regulation, and that was scary. Trainers from both teams ran out to assist. He was on the ground for what seemed like forever. The idiots on the UK boards are out in full force. Every loss for some people is reason to fire our coach and bring back that Traitor who is now coaching Louisville (in the Final Four which REALLY stinks but since it's their first time in 19 years to get to the Final Four, that "blind squirrel finds a nut" analogy is particularly fitting). They start all their posts the same way: "I love Tubby but..." Tubby is one of the best in the game and an amazing human being to boot. He's not perfect but we're competitive every year, and we've had some bad breaks with players that don't turn out, injuries, and even the death of a recruit that have hampered him, not to mention how the Traitor left the program empty of young players when he moved off to the Celtics job.

I'm most sad for Chuck Hayes, who never won a national title or got us to the Final Four, but he epitomizes everything college basketball should be about. There are threads dedicated to him on a couple of our rival teams' boards already, and that is saying a lot. Part of why I like Michigan State is the class they showed when Chuck left the game with under a second to go. Their player (Torbert was it?) waiting to shoot free throws walked all the way toward the UK bench to hug him, as did a couple of their other players. Their coach did the same. There was no jersey tugging or taunting, just celebrating their victory (as they should be). The picture that really started the tears flowing for me is MSU's Tom Izzo comforting Chuck postgame.

Not that Chuck is out reading knitting blogs but just in case, Chuck, I love you. You're one of my alltime favorites. You're one of those rare players that I fall in love with from the second you first set foot on the court during March Madness and the more I hear about you, the more I love you. You epitomize what a student athlete should be, and college basketball needs more Chuck Hayeses. You know what Kentucky basketball means, and not a lot of people outside of UK do. You're not a Californian anymore, big guy. You'll always be a Kentuckian from now on.

Go Michigan State! Go Illinois! Go Carolina! (in that order). LOSE Louisville and lose bad.

And next year, watch out for the Cats! We lose Chuck but I fully expect Sheray gain his strength back and be a force. He's learned from the best in the business in Chuck. Rondo and Morris will continue to shine, and how can any UK fan not be excited about the progess Crawford and Bradley made at the end of the season? Combine with the leadership of Kelenna, Ravi, and Bobby, and we'll be unstoppable!

Sweater Design for Dummies

2005-03-26T13:11:00.000-05:00

At what point does modifying a pattern become your own design? I'm curious. I decided to make the Dreamy Turtleneck from the book Hip to Knit. It's a slim fitting, shaped sweater with a big turtleneck. I got Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool which is a DK yarn. The pattern calls for a worsted so I recalculated it to work with my new gauge, sizing it down about an inch in the chest from the pattern's smallest size. I knit the body on circular needles instead of flat. When I got to the sleeves, I decided that the pattern's sleeves would be too big for that style on my scrawny arms so I had to do some calculations for the sleeve cap.

After all that, I got the first sleeve sewed on and decided that I like the neckline how it is and don't want to add the turtleneck. My feelings could still change but now, it's a wide scoop neck that I really like. I need to put an edging on it, either a few rows of 1x1 rib or single crochet. In the end, it doesn't look a thing like the pattern but I like it a lot.

I haven't knit a lot this week. I did a bit on Lucky this morning and finished up that sleeve but that's all. I need to finish a felted bag for a gift this week (not mentioning who or what it's for in case she's reading this!) so I'll probably cast on for that this afternoon or tomorrow. I think I'm going to do the Sophie bag with doubled up yarn to make it go faster. I have to go out of town for a couple of days this week so I could probably get that done on the plane.

The Cats are in the Elite 8! We had what was to be a tough matchup against Utah last night and their player Andrew Bogut, a 7 foot All American who may be the #1 draft pick in the NBA this year. He's a bigtime scorer but also a great passer. Tubby's gameplan was brilliant. He played Bogut straight up, knowing that there is no way Bogut had faced a team with 3 7 footers, like we have and that he can hurt you most by getting the other players involved if you double or triple team him. Bogut scored 18 and had 11 rebounds but his shooting percentage was way down and no one else scored more than 10. Bogut had no assists.

I have to say that I despise this Utah team. I always liked them when Majerus was at the helm. His team played with a lot of class. Bogut talked smack the whole week, and our inside guys didn't particularly like hearing that he'd "punish" them. This Utah team played thug ball much of the night, and their comments postgame refuse to give UK any credit. They act as though Bogut got a ton of great looks at the basket but his shots weren't falling. They weren't falling much of the time because our big guys were playing great defense and forcing him to alter his shot. Utah didn't hit their free throws but neither did UK. The Utes looked so tired in the second half, and when you are tired, free throw shooting goes downhill.

The so-called analysts (I'm not talking to you Seth Davis. My dogs could give a better game analysis than you) are giving us NO credit, and I love it. No one except Jay Bilas (*swoon* even if he is a Dookie) has picked us to go to the Final Four. Most analysts picked Cincinnati and Utah to win the games over us and most are picking Michigan State in Sunday's games. We're the most overlooked #2 seed in the tournament. All of the other #2's and 2 of the #1's are at home watching the games on TV now.

GO BIG BLUE!!!

Knitting Quiz

2005-03-25T12:03:00.000-05:00

Stolen from another blog...

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.
http://marniemaclean.com

What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

If you've ever wondered why...

2005-03-23T00:32:00.000-05:00

My Parkie dog isn't allowed outside unattended in the backyard for long periods of time when it's damp outside, this may give you a clue:

I offered up a belly rub for the chance to take a picture of his nasty muddy paws and face. Parker would give his left ear for a belly rub. After I washed him, the bathtub was caked with mud, and I had company coming over for dinner. I'm sure if you asked Cairn owners what phrase they said most to their Cairn (that could be repeated in polite company), it would be "you're lucky you're cute."

In knitting news, I have about 9 inches done on the back of the Lucky lace wrap sweater. I'm a little surprised at just how quickly this knits up once you get going. I haven't really worked on it that much.

SNB Felted Marsupial Tote FO

2005-03-22T09:39:00.000-05:00

I finished my SNB Felted Marsupial Tote this weekend. Told ya I would get a lot done during March Madness. I love all the bright colors of the completed ones I've seen and usually am a bright colors fan but wanted this one to be something I could carry with just about everything I wear. I did add a small stripe of purple to get some color in there.

This was a really quick, fun knit! I think I'm going to adapt all my felted bag patterns for bigger needles and doubled yarn! I used size 13 needles since I didn't have 15 as the pattern calls for and really didn't want to buy new ones. I used Cascade 220. The yarn requirements are WAY off in the book. I used way less than 2 skeins of dark gray and about a half skein of black. If you used Brown Sheep Worsted as called for in the book, you'd easily be able to do it in 2 skeins of the main color, 1 skein of the contrasting color.

Caution: Dog Content Ahead

2005-03-20T17:07:00.000-05:00

Sky says I need to post more dog pics. Never one to be quiet about my dogs, here goes!

This is not long after I got Parker (he was 1, Elly was 3). They were playing. Really. It's their usual, Parker flops onto his back so Elly can crawl over him and bite him. I called up his breeder a few weeks after getting home and asked if it was normal that they growled a lot while playing. She said that's just them being Terriers. They've really never even gotten in a fight, 5 years later. They are a great mesh of personalities. Elly is loving, assertive, and energetic, Parker is very sweet, playful, and laid back.

Morning hair

Parker tangled in yarn. He was funny. He was rolling around on his back with the yarn wrapped around his paws, having a great time.

How are the NCAA brackets, everyone? Needless to say, I won't be winning any pools. I've already lost UConn and Gonzaga from my Final Four. Oops. But the Cats are in the Sweet Sixteen! Woooo! This has been a fun tournament so far. Unless you are a Kansas, Syracuse, UConn, or Wake Forest fan.

Yarn Girls' Guide Summer in the City Tank FO

2005-03-20T01:52:00.000-05:00

I'm glad this is done even though it won't get much wear until summer. This tank is just one of those patterns that spoke to me. The recommended yarn wasn't available but Crystal Palace Waikiki was a suggested replacement on the Yarn Girls'website. I'm so glad I used it. I love Waikiki so much I'm tempted to get more of it for this summer top!

Overall, it's a really simple pattern to work up. I ended up knitting straps with 4 stitches and doing a thin crochet edge of only Waikiki around them and the neckline. Waikiki looks great crocheted too. I used size 8 needles, Paton's Grace in Champagne, and Waikiki in #2889 (shades of champage, cream, mauve, lime green, and violet).

I decided when I blocked it to lay something down over the rolling edges to see if it could hold them down a bit. I finally found a use for some of those old books from law school! Juls and any other lawyers will get a kick out of this. The UCC book even has tabs still in it from my last final.