Here She Is!

Ignore the big person, the star is nestled in his arms. This is my nephew, Mike, I got him when I got Joe. Not complaining - he's quite the guy.

That little sugar plum is Bridget, his third child, second daughter and hereby declared to be my sweetheart. I love Megan (his eldest) and Jason (his doppelganger) but Bridget is going to belong to me. I think it was sweet of them to have a baby for me - a baby they will pay for, provide for and keep - but who belongs to me. Mazel Tov to the happy family and I will be over soon to get my baby (and bring her back when she needs changing.)

In knitting news, I am almost finished with the 'leaf' scarf. I started it a few months back and put it away because it uses size 13 needles and Cascade Magnum yarn which is really bulky and untwisted. It does work up quickly but it also works up heavy. The scarf in it's original pattern is more than 10 feet and I will do that but with a less expensive yarn - not to mention a lighter weight. But it is beautiful and I look forward to the photos. I don't want to spoil it with a teaser. OK, I don't want to mess with it until I have to; that thing will hurt a small child if it falls on them.

I know this will cause some of you to cringe but it's just six months to Christmas. I am using some Etsy guides to improve my store and traffic and this is the time to start thinking about and working on holiday gifts. It makes sense, especially if you are in one of the crafts that require some time. I was going through some books to find something I could point to and say 'gift' and the first thing I came across was an afghan that I started to make a while ago but I am going to start over with a nice chunky weight fiber. I went to the even better organized yarn stash and found I have a ton of this particular fiber so away I go.

Tomorrow, after church, I get to spend time with a couple of my peeps at a new place to knit. I should be able to work on the afghan because it's done in squares with a relatively easy cable pattern. Should be fun!

Petals, Petals, Petals

These are just so cute! Miss Marge called me a couple of weeks ago and asked me to make some kind of flower for the greeters to wear at church. I didn't understand it but Miss Marge told me to do it - so I did. We started the greeters this last Sunday and last Sunday morning I made two of them. Put a safety pin in the back and I wore one (because I was a greeter) and gave the other one to the other greeter.

They were a hit. I don't understand that, either. But they are awfully cute and I can see using these as embellishments for afghans, tee shirts, you can even string them together to make a necklace. The colors just make you happy - OK, you may be more normal than me - they make me happy.

The poncho is off the needles and I need another skein to do the fringe and it needs to be seriously blocked. I expected it to be longer and it fits the mannequin perfectly but somehow it still doesn't look quite right. But maybe after the fringe and the blocking. I will take the photo of it then. Another afghan has taken its place.

So, on the needles: two squares/blocks afghan and the homespun afghan - I've moved into an afghan phase, I guess. There are now 12 squares completed and even though I am continuing with the squares because I am doing two block afghans I am getting really eclectic and not keeping the squares from one book assigned to one afghan. I am going to mix them together and create something altogether different. Cause that's how I roll.

Donald Trump? Seriously?

Progress

I'm not quite sure what to make of this: I received some sales lit in the mail to switch my cellphone company to one called Credo because they are a progressive phone company and because my old cell phone company may have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to tea party and other candidates...

who knew owning a cell phone could be a social statement?

In any case, my real concern is that AT&T is set to buy T Mobile and I really liked T Mobile and have had it from the days they were Voice Stream so I am a little concerned because I used to work for AT&T - that came out wrong. My working for them made them a better company and I left it in better shape than when I came in.

I finished knitting the cable block without cable needles and I am not sure I will use one again - except when doing big ass cables a needle may come in handy. I am in the process of sewing in the beads - can you see them? Of course, blocking is going to make this look a heck of a lot better.

My next decision is whether or not to add some simple stockinette blocks to break up the pattern blocks. The 42 Square afghan uses a common color around each square to break up the patterns while the nanny square afghan uses the granny square as a common block to break up the other patterns. It gives them a different look - one more artsy and the other more rustic. I suppose if I combined them it would make the piece rusty - which I'm
pretty sure I don't want, either. You know, both of those afghans are really pretty. I have an idea of which style I am going to choose - if you'd like to voice your opinion or guess which one I'm going to take, please feel free to comment.

Block Head

That bobble lace block on the needles was giving me fits last night. I was coming up short on stitches even though I was certain I had the stitch count right. It took me three tries before I figured out I was reading the pattern incorrectly and not doing one of the stitches in the bobble. Once I had that figured out (which didn't involved too much swearing, I swear!) it has been pretty smooth sailing. The project is coming along nicely. There's a block missing - it's on the blocking pad. It takes about 5 minutes to do the right side row of the block - the private side is purl across (except I am knitting the first and last stitches because I'm a rebel.) It's 16 rows and has to be repeated four times. I am two rows from finishing the second repeat so I should be able to get this done during the free time I have today.

I wanted to have six squares done before I start the put together phase - there's no real logic behind my logic it's just what I decided. I am going to frame each square in green then slip stitch them together. The final size should be about 60x72.

I am also looking for ideas on what to make with my Nuro Kureyon. I have maybe a dozen balls in two colors that would work together. I want to be able to do small projects because I want portions of the proceeds to go to an agency helping on the ground in Japan. I am thinking fingerless gloves. I've never used the fiber before but it looks beautiful in the skein which means it probably knits us beautifully as well. If anyone has any ideas on small projects that can be used, I'd love to hear them!

Yadda, Yadda, Yadda

I need a head with hair. I put slouch hats on a hairless head and it looks like something that would only fit Gigantor's mama. It fits my head comfortably and I don't have much more hair than this head here but it would still be useful to have one that has a mane for instances just like this.

Woke up this morning and there was very little pain (note how I phrased that) and I thought this would be the day to test out the leg with just a little workout. I really miss the feeling that a workout brings so I thought just easing back into couldn't hurt.

I was wrong.

Not even 30 seconds into it and I was limping towards the easy chair. I relayed this info to Mr. Honey and he said something akin to my being a kook and it serving me right for not waiting. But exactly what would I be waiting for? I gave it a shot and didn't push it past a reasonable point. I think that was the right thing to do and maybe tomorrow I will get to 40 seconds. I am willing to take the baby steps.

I have two more hats that came off the needles. Both crochet. Both slouches. And I still have some more pics to photograph. Today is a good day for photography. It is in the upper 50s and overcast. I should get to taking photos today though it is another thing I will not push too much because it means stairs. But there is a cute granny square hat I want you to see and some other hats and a two toned gray cowl.

I also continued work on the intarsia afghan bedspread. The first strip is all done and one square from the second. I have decided this will not be rushed. I am using gigantic bobbins which are a really good help. I fill it up and I always have some left over and I am making leaves for the falling leaves afghan bedspread. I now have 17 of the 200 plus I will need.
Do not mock- the journey of 1000 steps yadda, yadda, yadda...

Snow Daze

Here's the backyard. Yes, that's the Adirondack chair almost covered with snow. Mr. Honey swathed a path for Duke which Duke appreciates as a launching place to try and get on top of the snow banks so he can snow dive. Dumb dog. I know he thinks it's fun but I think he's got a $3000 pin in his leg that I don't want to see matched with another one in the other leg.


I don't know if I showed you the ruffle scarf. Looks more festive in the picture. Looks more warm and cozy in person. Looks fun in person and in the picture. This was my second introduction to short rows and wrapping stitches - we first met on the baby bibs. It is the short rows that causes the spirals or ruffles that make the scarf look like it's one long row of Pringles.







I wish I had my camera when we went out for our date night last night. The piles of snow all over the place made the city look like a maze. What I found amazing was how clear some of the roads were. What I found unbelievable was how many streets were not. Driving through the Chicago streets, the main roads were clear and the same driving through River Grove. When we hit Maywood (where i grew up) some of the streets weren't even shoveled which meant people had to walk in the street. Not too much of a problem except the street was 1st ave which is a extremely busy street that actually runs quite a distance. Seriously, how do folks get out of their houses? How do they expect to get their mail? There were houses that still haven't been shoveled! I don't know how many may be empty but there were lights on in some of them. Wonder what that is all about.

I started a new afghan. This one will be a stash buster - I pulled eight skeins out to start. It is an intarsia pattern - a little more about that later and how you are to blame - the pattern calls for the center square to be the same color so I asked Mr. Honey to name a color.

Turquoise.

And then he smirked - until I pulled out a skein of turquoise yarn and then he walked into the bedroom defeated.

i used my trusty color wheel and pulled out some corresponding colors and I am on my way. Now, I am fully aware of the simpatico we knitters all share. So I am wondering why NONE of you dropped me a note saying: You really want to do that intarsia afghan again? Think of all the ends that will need to be woven in and think about how much you don't like that. That's why you never really completed it before. Don't go near it. Do something else.

But there was nothing. No one said anything. And I am into it now. So I start each session weaving in at least seven ends so it doesn't get out of hand by the time I finish the seven strips.

I have also been doing more slouch hats so I have that to fall back on when i can't make ends meet! Get it? A little finishing humor.

Never mind.

Day by Day

I was reading older posts (I sometimes do that just to see what I was up to) when I came across this photo under a posting called 'Nine Day Afghan'. The idea was that I would complete this afghan in nine days by doing a strip a day then sewing them all together.

It took 20 days. Still not bad considering how big that afghan turned out to be. But that's not the thing that got me. That post was done in 2008 - February 2008. Almost three years ago and this is one of those instances where I know the fate of this afghan.

Eventually the afghan made it into the shop where it remained. I blame the fact that it did not sale on my lack of marketing skills - I blame the fact for very few things selling on my marketing skills - it's really a stunning piece. But no one purchased it. So Joe selected it as the afghan to give to our neighbors for their wedding present.

So the afghan is next door. Now would be such a great time to put a photo of our neighbors with the afghan - alas, I did not know I was going to be writing this until I started writing this and could not plan. It being 8 on a Saturday morning, that happens to be the first day of the new year, I'm thinking it's not a good idea to stroll over with my camera and ask for one.

Somehow this reminds me of when Mr. Honey moved out of his parents' house. And moved right next door. We live next door to the house he grew up in - the same house the afghan now resides in. I'm sure it's cosmic though I cannot quite explain how. It would be more obvious if he knit the afghan but still...

I hope they enjoy that afghan. I can remember the work that went into it and how proud I was to tackle something like that on my own. The first time was a group effort and all I made was a strip of it. Come to think of it, I may not have been asked to do a strip at all. Memory fails. But I did all of this one and it's next door hopefully keeping the newlyweds cozy. Maybe they'll let me visit.

Less Than Desired

So, I had this idea these cute little bags would be great for bridesmaids. Order them in the color you want to match the dresses and the girls could be consistent while still having a little purse that could carry the keys, lipstick and cell phone. It needs to be blocked and lined for the entire cute effect to come into play.

it's cute enough and I will finish it out but I need another one to place in the shop - it's just kind of - dull. The next one I make will be in a lighter color - a color a bride or bridesmaid could see using.
That makes the eighth item I've made this month. Really cooking with gas before the New Year.
I have four squares done for the afghan and I figured out the afghan needed to be 56 squares. If I can get it done, it will turn into a Christmas present but that means I would have to get it done in the next 25 days. That would be quite the trick - and treat - since I have to work anyway might as well give it a shot.

I'm going to give credit to the speediness of the knitting to the signature needles. I know I am normally a swift knitter and I think they have sped up the knitting a little but there's no denying the squares are being finished faster. Since my hands and the fibers are the same, got to give it to the tools.

I've already used a skein of yarn and have another one started and I am starting the third skein because I need two colors for the next square. If this goes well, it won't just be a 56 square afghan, it will have some personalization because I am going to add names of the family members who will receive it. Wish me luck cause this will be a challenge!

Renewed Interest

My item of the day is a pair of Peacock Feather earrings by AfriqueLaChic. They are gorgeous...go take a peek at them!

So, I finished an afghan during the Holiday Shop and I immediately placed it in the holiday shop so I don't have the photo of the finished afghan.

That left me with nothing to knit. That couldn't last very long so i decided to pick up a WIP and I am having a blast knitting it. The blue afghan is knit with a yarn change every single row with some a length of yarn left at the end of each row. There's a wide range of blues and a white skein thrown in just to make a contrast. There's even a skein of fuzzy yarn. It's random - you take the number of different yarns you want and throw them in a bag - pull one out, knit a row, cut if off leaving a tail, add another ball leaving a another tail and so on.

Even though the photo is not the best you can see how gorgeous it's turning out to be. Because it's garter stitch, there's some cush. it's also going to be big. I don't yet have a size in mind but I do want to use up all the stash - which is about twelve skeins. I want it to be big enough to be cuddly and something that can be used when curled up in the chair watching the t and v or even in a small bed.

I have to say afghans are my favorite things to make. Making hats are a kick but afghans are big and soft and as Melissa and April stated, you can use them all year round. You can make them thicker for colder weather, thinner for chill chasers, smaller for kids and lap size for those who are confined to wheel chairs. You can make them in one piece, in strips or in squares, you can even make them circular.

I didn't expect getting back to it would be so much fun. I suspect it's because I don't have to think about it much. Knit a row. Stop. Knit another row. Simple, elegant and nice. I'm having a great time!

I have to get Mr. Honey's gift - he wants a car seat warmer - do not ask me. Believe it or not, they are sold in lots of places. I told him I would change my gift because he seems to be having a hard time with it so I was thinking about the Zephyr Acrylics or the Nickel plated interchangeable circular knitting needle sets - has anyone used them? Let me know which ones you used and how they work. I love the Addie Turbo needle I have but I think they are awfully expensive so I am willing to get some really good ones.

Let me hear from you!

Make The Bed, Duh.

Yes, you've seen this photo before - I don't have a new one to show you. I do want to say I took the swatch to the store to match up (the swatch on the right) and dark brown is the best background and now there are ten of those little squares made. And I started yesterday afternoon - not bad at all.

Today I am working on another square afghan but this one is all one color. I received a couple of questions at the last craft show whether the afghans would fit a twin bed. It was a little short but since I got the question more than once, I thought it was a sign. This sign was affirmed by the fact we currently have a hand made crocheted bedspread on our full size bed. One of the women in my late mother's-in-law group made it. And I got it for all of $40. That was years ago and it has stood up against the test of time.

I looked up the measurements of bed sizes and found I was really close to the standard sizes - one more column or two more rows and we've got ourselves some bedding. I know my tendency is to go inside my head and project this idea far off into the distance and then not do it because something else has captured my attention - so I won't do that. I will leave it at the afghan I am working on now has squares that are coming out ten inches square so making a 6x7 afghan will be big enough for a twin and full size bed - and the color - a nice cranberry - with some texture to the squares - will come out very nicely indeed. Three squares are already done and the fourth is on the needles.

I should also make good progress with the granny square afghan - which will be 80 squares and not big enough to fit on a bed - work will resume on that tomorrow. Since all the squares are the same, there's no design layout to worry about so putting it together can start tomorrow as well.

I have to go and get myself ready for the knitting group this evening. I have a couple of folks coming over. Melissa is supposed to give me a tutorial on making linings but I might put that off because I want to work on stuff for the show. (We can do it another time, Melissa, don't give me that face!)

I also have to make some seven layer bars. They are going to be my snack for tonight and tomorrow. Hey, we're supposed to have knitting in our hands.

The Ugly Duckling In the Window

Have you ever gotten hold of a skein of yarn and thought, 'Man, that's ugly?' But since you have a hold of it and it's yours (either by design or accident or someone playing a trick on you) you decide to swatch it up to see what happens and it comes out kinda....pretty.

Those are what I call Ugly Duckling yarns. It doesn't look all that great at first glance but then it takes off the glasses and lets down the hair and you look at it and say, "By Gosh, you're beautiful!"

So it was with the skein on the right and when I pulled it and made the granny square, I thought, boy this is better than it looks. The picture does not do it justice and it feels good to the touch as well. The photo doesn't do justice to the other square at either. The skein was always pretty but it squared up even better than I thought. I was thinking of combining the two into the same afghan but decided they would do better on their own. The one on the left would do well with a black background (I thought the black would absorb it, it doesn't) and the other a deep brown or really dark blue.

One of the truly fun things about granny squares is they are quick to do. This particular afghan requires 80 of these little buggers and this is one of those rare instances where a combination of sewing and crocheting them together makes for a faster assembly so I don't see a reason they won't be ready for the show either - at least one of them should be. I say this with calm and without dread. If it makes it that would be great if it doesn't - oh well.

As we begin the good-bye to this year and the hello to the next, I have not reached my resolution - which Aneha warned me about at the beginning of the year - she said they do not work. It wasn't that this one didn't work - it was a big order to begin with - to eliminate the stash. I can say with great confidence the stash will not be eliminated. Oh, I've made inroads. I've gotten rid of a box or two, but the stash will live on.

But so will the goal. I have not cried defeat. I have not written a concession speech. I have five skeins of the ugly duckling yarn to make the afghan and that's a help. When going stash shopping, I got some ideas from some of the skeins I saw so this is me not giving up. I will eliminate that stash. It's just gonna take a little more time than I thought. I have a new date - May 4, 2011. Our 15th anniversary. We'll see what damage can be done in five months.

In the meantime, I have to decide where I want my birthday dinner and I would like to go someplace new. Do you live in or know the Chicago area? Suggest a place for my birthday dinner this Sunday. Thanks!

Seriously...

Are we seriously so out of touch with ourselves that we are going to put into office:
Someone who believes there should be no law against racial discrimination?
Someone who believes that not only should the minimum wage be lowered but abolished?
Someone who believes that women shouldn't serve in the military because they are a distraction to men?
Someone who says to a group of Latino youth: "I'm not sure all of you are Latino. Some of you look Asian."

I don't care what party they belong to; we should not be so shallow in our thinking that we put them in office just because they are Republican or not a Democrat. I very rarely vote a straight ticket so I don't quite get the party loyalty at any cost but what is passing for Republican these days scares me.

We can't blame anyone but ourselves for this. For believing all the hype when a candidate says they can bring about massive change as if there aren't other branches of government which have a say and then turning on them when they don't live up to our unrealistic expectations the minute they step into office.

I was never on the Obama bandwagon. Having done some work on the board of the League of Women Voters of Chicago, the names he had surrounding him did not fill me with confidence that Washington would be changed in any great way. I don't drink Kool-Aid; I dye my yarn with it, so I was not swept up in the mania.

Still, I am impressed with how he's kept his cool. And to say he's done nothing would be way off base. He's done a great deal. Finally - healthcare. Had to continue with the bailout (because my money is in AIG.) I'm not thrilled with his position on Ashcroft. I think he's been too silent on the issue of race which is one of the reason the race baiting has gone on. And there needs to be a better explanation of why jobs are hard to come by and why some of them are not coming back. But he's had to work with a mess he walked into and then with a congress where both Democrats and Republicans have impeded progress. That they do so is not all that surprising.

But even I have been surprised at the hatred from this Congress. I am hard pressed to find a congressman (woman, person) who has not forgotten their job. Their job is to legislate regardless of who is in the White House or who is on the Supreme Court. This plan to just say no makes a mockery of government and a mockery of the citizenship. The hypocrisy is astounding: the stimulus doesn't work - but I want some of the money because it will work in my state. Healthcare should be repealed but send my state some of the money so we can give folks the benefits we'll take away later. The president should work with us but only if we're in the majority so we can overturn anything he wants to do.

This new crop of candidates have shaken both parties and now that we are getting a glimpse into just how backwards, out of touch and....well....dumb...they are - we're a little frightened, too. It just goes to show that being a business person - even a millionaire or billionaire - doesn't mean you're made to be a legislator.

This would be funny - if it were a reality show.

The good news is: knitting can always be relied on. I have finally completed the Feather and Fan scarf: I have no idea why this took almost two weeks to finish. Perhaps because I didn't work on it every day - but still.
I'm loving the Misti Alpaca. It took exactly two balls to finish it and the softness is beyond anything.




Another reason it may have taken so long to finish is because I decided I wanted to crochet another scarf because
I wanted to burn some of the Homespun I had on hand and didn't have
enough to make an afghan so, it took me about ten hours to make this one: The cool thing about this one is the color blocks on its own and Homespun isn't known to do that but it worked out almost perfectly.









And then one of the kids was adopted by another family. One of the kids, the wonderful Melissa defended in an earlier post: the nanny square afghan went and got itself sold last Friday and is on its way to New York to its new family.

So, the show is in eleven days - I have only 28 things ready to go and active projects - three of which I think will probably be done in time for the show on the 30th. I don't think that's enough (quit laughing, Melissa) but I am trying not to panic about it. There are still some items up in the office but seriously, I am trying to be cool and not obsessive. It's working. A little.

Friends

I don't have a photo of Ed and Lori or Rocco and Kathleen but the six of us were together over the weekend. Rocco and Kathleen live next door to us (in the house Mr. Honey grew up in) and Lori and Ed live next to Rocco and Kathleen. The six of us were together because Rocco and Kathleen were married on Saturday and the four us were fortunate enough to be invited to the nuptials.

First, they had a Ukrainian wedding - (think My Big Fat Greek Wedding almost) and we had to stand the whole two hours for the wedding ceremony. There are parts to the service. First the betrothal, then the vows, then the crossing of hands, then the crowning, then the walk, then the blessing and I'm sure I'm leaving something out. But it was a beautiful service. I have to confess that somewhere in hour two I said to God, I bet they're still legally married if I sit for a second. Sure enough they are.

And then the party.

I don't know what it was - maybe because it wasn't family - but we got on the dance floor. Mr. Honey says he has no rhythm but I made him go out for one dance - The Electric Slide - and I am here to say that Mr. Honey give credence to the stereotype about white men dancing. He truly has no rhythm but he has a lot of heart and he tried his best.

I also drank more that evening that I will do in the next year to come. Mr. H. said I was buzzed and we stayed later than we usually do at these things. I think it wasn't so much that it wasn't family but the crowd itself was older and so we were a bunch of old people out on the dance floor. No young folk to show us up. There were no children at the reception. There were some younger folks but no little kids that I could see. We sat at the same table and had a great time with the other five folks at our table (yes, it sat nine) who were friends of the bride's family.
I don't know if this contributed to my drinking more than usual but while I would not say I was drunk - I had all my wits about me - the next day I felt like I was hit by something on wheels.

On the heels of having cocktails at dinner on Thursday and Friday, the whole weekend was a lost weekend - but really fun. In the end, it was a great day and we wish Rocco and Kath the very best of God's blessings and to stand on the faith of the Lord as they continue through life together. And we are grateful that we have friends for neighbors and neighbors for friends.

On the other hand, I am knitting a scarf. I tried doing the afghan and it was giving me fits because the flowers are coming out crappy and I had to rework them so I need something I can conquer before I go back there...but I will go back there. In the mean time I am working on this: I am using the Misti Alpaca for it and since I spent some $17.50 a ball for it, I should either use it or invest it so this would seem to be a nice lacy project for it and since the suggested needle size for the fiber are size 7 needles and the project (from here) says it also should be made on size 7 needles, I'm thinking this is a good thing. I'm using hand painted color - can I just say I am not a fan of 'colorway' I have no idea why we need it. Anyhow, it's in shades of green. Despite the smallish needle size and the not quite worsted weight, this should be a relatively quick knit and I am looking forward to seeing the scarf fall off from the needles.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should also say I have started another granny square afghan (I was daydreaming of crocheting granny squares in black, grey and white so that's what I'm doing. What? I'm following the dream.) It requires 80 squares and I already have 30 done. I swear, I will get back to the other afghan and yes, I am using the yarn I was supposed to use for that one but it will all work itself out.

Have faith.

Crackers

When I was up in office sometime last week trying to sort through yarn - something akin to trying sort trees in Yosemite - I came across an afghan that had two completed strips and some granny squares waiting for their next step. I couldn't figure out why I abandoned the project - not that it would matter; sometimes there are no explanations that would make sense - call it knitter's (or crocheter's) prerogative. Or I can call on that explanation my mother used to give me when I asked why something happened the way it did:

"Cuz"
There you go.

In any case, I could not figure out what a throw that was 1/3 done should not be completed especially since I was looking for exactly such items to be sold in the shop and at the craft show. So, I pulled it out, went stash shopping and found there was still yarn to do with it (though I did have to go and get one skein more of a certain color) and completed the throw. I could have added one more row of seven squares and it would graduate from 'throw-dom' to 'afghan-hood' but I really didn't want to deal with it anymore. Which may be the reason it waited around so long to be completed.

The other bit of knitting goodness - I guess the throw would really be crochet goodness, wouldn't it? Anyhow, I said I would show the lacy shawl I had been working on that has been on the blocking board for the past week to ten days or something. I finally took it off the board and here it is. I am admitting to loving it. Not only is it soft as buh-ta but it's lush looking. I think this would make a great jacket - for someone else to do. It would also make a really lovely afghan or throw - which I can consider.

So with 35 days to go before the Guerin show, I don't have an afghan on the needles or hook. I do have a scarf that's in the last stages - Mr. Honey says I should do hats and scarves because they are quick for me to make and the date of the show comes at a time folks will start looking for those things for themselves and stocking stuffer gifts. (That actually made sense to me.) So, I would work on an afghan for part of the day and then start to hat/scarf thing. So, I am frogging an afghan gone bad into a scarf and hat before I start a new afghan.

An ugly afghan.

Melissa, April and Cheree convinced me I should at least give it a shot and I am thinking the pattern can be redeemed if I use just black and white instead of the dated color scheme. This is one of those times when someone will be wrong and someone will learn something.
Stay tuned.

Not What It Seems - Not Exactly

Note: I received some guest posts that I intended to run. Then I switched email systems and some emails went into the great unknown...I am in the process of pulling them all together again. So for those who sent guest posts - thank you and I will find them and post them - within a time frame that can be called soon.


I want you to know that this is not what it seems. I think we should first establish what you might think this is: this might look like it is a work in progress. I would have to say that it is indeed a work in progress. It is that. And it looks like a lovely piece of lace knitting and I would have to say it is that as well. And may I also add it took three attempts to get that sucker just right. I don't know what it was but the third time around when I cursed at it and told it I was going to rip it out and make something else it decided to cooperate.

I know I am not making my case but I want you all to know (especially the fabulous Melissa who has commented that I should no longer cheat on the NSA because she likes it) that this is not cheating on the NSA. Indeed, the Nanny Square Afghan had started to mock me.

I was making the last strip when I swore I heard it say it was almost done and then it wouldn't need me to schedule it into my life. Once complete it would be a total entity on to itself. I cannot explain the mockery especially when the last strip had not yet been attached but I felt the pain of it and started the shawl as a way to get it back in line.

Hah. Here is the completed Nanny Square Afghan and if you think it was easy trying to determine how many different yarns were used then you're nuts. It wasn't easy. I didn't have labels on everything and I am not always the best organized person when dealing with my own stuff. So I had to go square by square (the granny squares have seven rounds each - a new system must be devised.) I have determined there are 30 different yarns used. Odd thing is, the yarn stash doesn't seem that much smaller.

I don't know that I am in the mood to do another big square afghan. They are a lot of work. But I do love having done them. Bragging rights, you know. Having said that, I do have another granny square afghan in progress but the squares are smaller so they are moving at a faster pace. Good thing because there are 80 of them. Then, of course, I have the lace shawl to work on - since I used it to make the NSA jealous, it would only be the right thing to do to date it for a while.

Relationships. Geez.

Have a great weekend!

Back On Track

First, let me say we had a raunchy time at Tamale Hut last night. Between Melissa and Vicki, I got some really good ideas...

Here's the first look at the Nanny Square afghan. I must say that I am enjoying how it's coming together. So I suppose I am back on track with the project. I know I wasn't talking to it for one day and that could have become a cold war but it hung in there waiting patiently for me to return to it. And after the fling with the poncho, I did. The diversion was a good thing. There are four more of these squares on the blocking board and I think seven are waiting to be sewn together and one more on the needles - it is moving along quite nicely. Perhaps it's a good thing to have some fiber affairs when you're seeing a project - just so you know it's the one you want to take to the end. Of course, I usually go all the way with my projects. It's the kind of girl I am.

The blood sugar levels are way down in the normal range - less than 100 and I am feeling a whole lot better. Still eating the way I'm supposed to; yesterday was my free day so I had some ice cream (Naughty,naughty Melissa!) and some other stuff. You're supposed to have one day a week that you eat whatever you want but I go every eight days - just because I can't follow any pattern the way it's written.I was looking forward to that ice cream and it was chocolate from Baskins-Robbins. So good.

Yarndis - Redux

I was at a loss to explain it. Why I have WIPs up the wazoo now that I've cleaned up the living room. Why it couldn't stay uncluttered for a moment. Then just this morning as I was putting each project into it's own bag - Yarndis. The yarn goddess is playing with me. And not only does she have me working on 4 afghans - she has made each one of them hate me.

The first one - the 42 square afghan. I couldn't use the 12 inch squares because the measurements didn't add up but luckily I had more than enough of the other size squares. It just wasn't a good mix of crochet with knit squares but it all worked it self out and now I have just to add the last strip and then do an edging and it will be all done. It's trying to kill me because it was supposed to be easier than it's turning out to be. Don't ask me why I never learn the lesson that my imagination has much more energy than my dimensional self - but I never do. The last strip will be added in a few days when I get back around to the afghan. I know, I can just get it finished and over with but I am at the mercy of Yarndis who also wanted me to work on the crazy afghan.



This one really is trying to kill me. It's trying to suffocate me. It has grown since I started working on it and what started out as a cute little thing has morphed into a monster afghan. The pattern says to to until there are 85 shells across and since it's one increase per row, it should be 85 rows but that's not how it went but I couldn't bring myself to do one more increase so I am hoping it won't go wonky on me. I haven't even started the decreasing yet and the thing takes up the whole chair. I don't think this will be an afghan as much as it will be a bedspread. I went out to Hobby Lobby yesterday to purchase one more skein of each color just in case. The good thing is that I will be decreasing every row so it should so maybe the yarn will hold out. It took 6 skeins to get to this point but this one will definitely require an edge to it - I won't be surprised if it will need to eat another skein or two.

These last two you haven't seen yet but I have talked about them - the green crochet afghan and the knitted afghan that calls for duplicate stitch but I didn't want to duplicate stitch so I decided to do intarsia instead. Let me just say working with the bobbins are fun and the intarsia stitches are actually very textural. I expected them to lay flat in the piece and they are not. It's like they are being added on top - BONUS!!

The green afghan calls for front post stitching which makes for an interesting texture as well. While I was getting the yarn for the crazy afghan, I picked up three skeins of three different green colors (3 skeins total) just to supplement. I expect all the green I have will be used. These are trying to kill me by the sheer volume of it all.

Today I am working on the green afghan and I am tempting Yarndis by saying I am managing to keep the edges straight. I am grateful for that because it would just drive me bonkers - I am going to have to put an edge around this one, too, just to give it a nice finish so if it was a little off, edging could fix it but it would make me absolutely crazy and no one in the free world wants that.

Melissa noted Wednesday evening that I've picked up the crochet hook and I haven't put it down. Not quite true. Knitting remains my love but my world has opened up that much more and I have to admit I don't think of it as i did before - which is probably just the world correcting itself since I crocheted first.

Come Together Right Now

I am in awe of all those minds that first thought up knitting and crochet and those techniques for the rest of us to learn. The progress being made on the 42 square afghan makes me sit in wonder at the creative process.
The squares start out seemingly random and apart and then the joining starts and it changes into something else. That something else still isn't much to look at but then that's where creativity and trust have to intermingle and it doesn't seem like the two of them should be coworkers.

The needle arts are funny things. Stockinette stitches curl, and if you put too many crochet stitches around the edge of a knitted block, it gathers in and waves appear in the unexpected places. But that trust thing appears again and you have to go on.

Some other mind thought up blocking and sewing and edging and when you put them all together it starts to form a picture and the trust begins to pay off because you see things coming together. Then there's the smallest feeling of fear as you wonder if it really all come together or fall apart around the next bend. Trusting doesn't come easy to a knitter/crocheter but trust is really all we have and so we have to go and believe that we will get what it is we are after.

Some of the squares in this afghan were made years ago. Sometimes I get on a square jag and I make them with the thought of creating an afghan at some point. What is it called then when those squares are brought from those separate jags and come together to form a beautiful work?

There are still two more strips to be done on the afghan and I am really liking how it's turning out. It has a rustic, old fashioned feel, I believe I said in an earlier post that it reminds me of quilts. I look at the piece and I remember my grandmother, Charity, she had huge quilts on all the beds in her house and they provided a great deal of comfort. I ran into some trouble with a square and it's because I didn't do enough to tack down the intarsia ends. I believe I repaired it and I feel very comfortable with the whole thing. It will take two more sessions for me to be done and I have other projects I am working on - the biased crochet afghan and the crochet afghan made with all green colors.

This creativity and trust is a fun thing!

Of Mice and Men

The second shop we went to in Pittsburgh was Knit One and I picked up some gorgeous yarn. It is a really nice shop. It has the most wonderful knit space right by the window with big, cushy chairs and a sofa and the store is nicely laid out. For those of you who go to Chix With Stix - it is way bigger than CWS and for those Loopettes, it probably the size of Loopy but on one level.


I wanted something hand dyed or hand spun that I couldn't get by walking into my LYS and
the yarn I picked up is hand dyed by Schaefer yarn in Interlaken NY. The yarn is called Sandra and the color (a mix of blues and purples) is called Billie Holiday after the singer. It is 78% cotton and 22% rayon and I have no idea what I am going to make with it. I have 450 yards of it so that's enough for a hat and scarf. I don't remember what I paid for it but I do remember there's no sales tax on yarn in Pittsburgh!!

If you have any idea what I can do with 450 yards of cotton/rayon yarn, I'd be glad to entertain ideas. I am still on the afghan roll but I don't want to incorporate it - I would really like to use it on its own for a project. Trust me, I'll listen to any ideas - but can only follow one!!

Speaking of afghans - and I was - I know the plan was to finish the 42 square afghan but that didn't come off as planned however, it is 1/3 done and well on the way to being 1/2 done. The third strip is almost done. But even adding the second strip changes the whole demeanor and that was the point: to see how the progress happens. This is going to be a really neat afghan which you couldn't tell from just the first strip alone. I've held up the section of third strip next to these two and it's really going to be fun!

You know what I love about these block afghans? The rustic and quiltiness of them. It's fun and fanciful and almost anything goes. What really helps pull it together is a uniform color around the edge of all the blocks and it doesn't have to be any major edging, just one row of single crochet will do the trick. In this case, I chose a cranberry color because black or white would have been a little too flat.

The other thing I mentioned working on was a redo of the crochet afghan I had started because I wasn't feeling it. Well, I did start again and I am feeling this one a whole sight better than the first. I like the three colors instead of the hodgepodge I was doing. The gold, brown and white look really stunning and the fact I have only one skein of the gold and brown means nothing. There should be more at the Hobby Lobby and I will need some to finish this out and I am also thinking matching pillows would not be out of the question. They wouldn't be in the same pattern because that would be strobe light overkill but pillows using the same colors either in a block pattern or a solid pattern with one color on the front and another on the back - something like that would work very nicely.

And if yesterday wasn't enough of a success, I had a really good workout last night. My schedule said I was due for a workout and I put it off until after the rather exciting Cubs game, so I didn't work out until after 10pm and it was really great. I breathed hard and sweat and everything. I then watched Prince Caspian worked on the crochet afghan and then went to wash up and then straight to be for a nice sleep. I could do it all again because that was a really great day.

The Endless Do Over

If you have time (after you read this post, of course) you should take a peek at A Black Pepper. Not only is the knitting and photography amazing, but look how clean her house is. That woman is a saint!!

i know that time is finite. Everything will run out of time eventually but part of me believes in an almost endless supply of do overs. If I failed..again..I can just start all over. This happens a lot with my schedule. I have a schedule of things I am supposed to do on any given day and when it doesn't happen the way it was supposed to, I just start over, reposition the schedule to make it look neat and pretty and start all over.

It would be easier to be disciplined. This is what I am learning but haven't quite learned yet. I need to get it before that undo over hits. Don't do over just do. Don't go over - just go on.
I'll get it - hopefully before I run out of time.

You know one of the things I love about knitting? I love it when a WIP doesn't look like much of anything but you know in a little while it is going to be really pretty. This is the first strip of the 42 block afghan and it looks a little ragged but I've been down this road and it leads to great beauty. I was going to combine 8 inch squares with 12 inch squares but that's not going to work the way I want so they will have to have their own party and I am lucky I have enough squares to finish off the 42 square afghan without much trouble.

I've abandoned the crochet afghans at this point because I just wasn't feeling them and life is too short to knit/crochet joylessly. I will go back to it - in fact, once I am finished with this afghan I suspect I will start again on the crochet diagonal one. But I have in mind to use just three or four colors and make it a bit more color controlled than the random one that wasn't making me feel good.
When all other things fail, knitting should feel good. If you're not having a good time knitting (even with the frustrations it can bring) it's time to make an appointment with the closest thing to Dr. Phil that you have in the area and since I don't want that kind of drama in my life, knitting remains my sacred place. (Did you know if you transpose the 'a' and the 'c' in sacred it becomes an opposing word? Freaky, huh?)


I'm off to block some more of the squares for the 42 square afghan. I love the new steamer (did I already tell you?) It's faster and more versatile than the other one. (I loved that one, too!) I am going to try and finish it off today and that will be quite ambitious but I have 3 more hours of work scheduled today and some free time as well and there's no reason I can't use it to make an afghan. I will need it for the shows, after all, and it will be a great challenge for me. (And a great follow up to today's post about the caterpillar WIP becoming a butterfly FO!) I'm learning to be about the follow up!