Knitting Mojo

I have to say there is nothing like a few fun projects with a few good knitting friends to bring back your knitting mojo. Yesterday I spent the day at Pick Up Sticks. A 2 hour class turned into a 5 or 6 hour knit and chat time. It was so nice!

I have all these plans in my head now of things I want to do. Projects I want to finish. Projects I want to rip off the needles (ahem a certain pink tee that was a gift from hubby--and will become something else!)

I have added progress bars to the sidebar. I used to have them but when I changed the blog layout they were of course lost in the abyss. They do not reflect my REAL number of unfinished projects but I think it will keep me honest about the bin stashed in the closet. I will finish one of those projects and then add a new one from the bin until I at least feel most of the way caught up.

As far as finished projects go here is my dipped infinity hat and scarf! Ignore me in the picture. My hubby was laughing that I took a picture of myself and says I look very uncomfortable and I told him he wasn't here to help me.



The hat is a little short but I knit until I could knit no more (as in no more yarn)



I do have a little bit left over that Connie found kickin' around a the store and once I untangle it I want to add about an inch to the bottom edge so it covers my ears better.

Last night I went to the movies with hubby. We had a pass given to us for Christmas that included popcorn and everything. I was excited to go out of the house to watch a movie. There aren't too many movies that I think "I have to see that in the theatre" I am usually quite content to wait and rent it and curl up on my couch. Last night I was reminded of why I like to stay home.

1. No teenage kids that are determined to prove to everyone how cool they are and how little they care about what people think of them so they talk and swear and giggle and shout across to people they recognize across the theatre. Then at the end of the movie walk out talking about how people sitting in front of them were so loud it was really annoying knowing full well they were sitting in front of me and they were the annoying ones.

2. No lady a few seats down from me who's cell phone is ringing and who actually ANSWERS IT! I understand that sometimes people forget to turn the ringer off or something but if my phone ever rang in a movie theatre I would be embarrassed and turn it off a.s.a.p. Not this one though. She answers her phone. "Hello? I'm in the movie theatre" SO GET OFF YOUR PHONE!

3. My couch. My PJs. My knitting. I think those seats are more uncomfortable than ever.

4. Popcorn and drinks that were too expensive at $12 are now $21 (plus 72 cents for butter). This one I just don't understand. Fountain pop and Popcorn! How does it cost that much?

I think all of those might actually be summed up with number 5.

5. You only watch the movie with people you WANT to be with and not the people that drive you crazy.

So now that this short story has gotten a little longer than planned I will bring it back to my point. I think I have decided that going out to the movies is not a relaxing way to spend my evening and I will wait until I can rent it.

Bad moods are contagious

This morning when I left for work I was a little later than I like to be. Don't read that to mean that I was late because I had lots of time to get to work but I like to be there early.

Anyway I came to one of the busy streets I take. It was 2 lanes and another lane merging on. I was coming straight through a light in the left lane and a person coming on the merging lane decided the person in the right lane was going to slow. So she pulled directly across into the lane that I was in. Cutting over the 2 lanes and just missing the front end of my truck. I gave her the horn and wished I could have given her a piece of my mind. We got to the light up the road a little and I could see that she had a bumper sticker on the back of her car so I moved close enough to read it. This is what it said...

"Happy people are hiding something"

So is she trying to infect me with her bad attitude by being rude?

P.S. sorry if I am passing on the negativity but I wanted to let it out!

You know you love a pattern when...

I know for sure that I must really like the pattern for Dipped Infinity because I spent a good portion of the Vikings game (yuck) knitting the hat to match the scarf. And after lunch today it looked like this.

But without hesitation or procrastination....Here we go again.

I was running out of yarn a little too quickly (I knew it was a little close) so I decided to use more of the darker colours and I had to pull back almost 4 inches.

But the scarf is blocking upstairs waiting for me to wear it.

It must be love I tell ya!

Weakness continues

I have been neglecting my husband and neglecting my house work because I can't seem to stop myself. I'm am hooked on Dipped Infinity.

I love everything about this pattern. I am hoping I have enough yarn to make a hat a to match it but I'm not getting my hopes up.

I also have some Tanis Yellow Label upstairs (ok a lot) in purples and I might try to do this. I think it is so gorgeous (hubby disagrees but what does he know) we shall how things go because my WIP list is in the 20s now.

1 out of 2 ain't bad

Ok just call me weak! I was so good all weekend about not casting on Dipped Infinity (you can already guess where this is going) The weekend was when I was alone without a husband to say "what are you knitting now?"..."what about the baby sweater?" I could have hidden my shame and only knit on dipped infinity when he was not around/at work etc. but no!

I resisted all weekend, I resisted last night while I was at Pick up Sticks for knit night (at this point I knew I was bored of my little cardi) but last night after having a few long days at work, a hot bath and a glass of wine I thought what better way to relax before bed than to have that satisfying feeling of something new.

Ah... that's better!

Now the only problem is that I'm preoccupied with it. Such a simple and interesting pattern. Last night before bed I had only cast on and knit the first row. So I took it to bed and thought I will only knit one more round....one round of over 200 stitches .

I'm being good....(so far)

I am resisting temptation so far. But I'm always looking....thinking about just testing my gauge....thinking etc. But I have finished my plain black hat.

Not a great picture (of me, of the hat, lighting) but you get the idea.

I am hoping that it isn't too big for the person who will have this hat. It fits me but it looks big when it it not on because it is slouchy fabric. I'm worried that I will be knitting this again. We shall see.

So one down and one left before I can cast on Dipped Infinity....Sigh.

(And here is Oscar watching T.V. with me yesterday. One of his favourite shows - The Dog Whisperer)

When the Cat's away....

I am relaxing on the couch with Oscar tonight. I have my knitting here beside me. I have "chick flicks" ready to watch. Hubby has gone to his mom's for the weekend and I have to say I am loving the thought of just having some time to myself.

I know I have to do some house work tomorrow but I plan on doing a LOT of knitting. I hope things go as planned.

Part of this plan is to finish a hat and the Ribbon Edged Cardigan. I thought that casting on for the Dipped Infinity Scarf could be a reward for finishing those two projects and would push me to work fast but.....

Is it motivation or temptation? hmmmm

Sick Days

Thursday I had a migraine and ended up staying home. I worry a lot of the day when I am away from work. Strange maybe but I find it easier to be at work than to take a day off. Anyway I spent Thursday sleeping and looking online at all things knitting.

This was not good for my plan to finish as many UFOs as I can stand before starting sometime new for myself. I saw so many things that I thought I need to have/make.

I was reminded however that is important that I start to finish what I start because I had a lot of trouble sleeping that night. I moved downstairs to the couch. I curled up with the throw we have on the back of the couch I realized I need to finish one of the blankets that I have on the go at the moment. If I pulled the throw up to my neck my toes stuck out the bottom. If I covered my feet my neck felt cold. I ended up sleeping the whole night on the couch and I was curled in a ball on my side. It is funny how you can feel so comfy as you fall asleep but wake up so uncomfortable. The side of the couch was putting pressure on my knee and I was so stiff in the morning.

On the other hand I have remembered how much I love Sirdar Baby Bamboo.

I'm working on a late baby gift for my brother in law's baby who is now 7 months. Yikes how did she get to bes 7 months already. So I am knitting the 12-24 months of the Debbie Bliss Ribbon-Edged Cardigan. Such a cute little sweater and a simple but sweet stitch pattern.

The first picture is closer to the actual colour of the yarn.

What a way to start the week

I'm back to work after my 2 week holiday. Yesterday I made my way to work (a little later than I usually do--can you tell I was hesitant?) and the roads were snowy and slippery. There was more traffic than there usually is (a product of the snow and leaving later). I got to work and always seem to have a lot of things that I am taking with me (purse, lunch bag, work bag, and often a small knitting bag). So as I make my way into work carrying all of my things (including today a pair of mittens and shoes that wouldn't fit into any of my bags) I stopped to pick up some things in the mail room. There was more than usual but I thought I could handle it in one trip instead of coming back. By now I'm sure you can see where this is going but... I dropped some of my stuff which included a pile of paper that went everywhere. So I re-thought things, put everything back my mailbox to come back for. I went back, picked up my pile of things got almost all the way back to my room and dropped some of the paper again! Not a great Monday. Particularly the first Monday of the new year, the first Monday with a new boss, and a few other little surprises that seemed to throw me off my game more than they usually would, but I muddled through my day.


Now today started with me making breakfast (a new years resolution to eat breakfast everyday). I'm heating some water and waiting for it to get hot enough to poach my egg. I went to the fridge....no eggs. Is this a sign of how my day today is going to go? Because I have a presentation to do today at my staff meeting, another first in front of my new boss.


So I'm off to work now and hope that today goes smoothly.

Happy New Year

What a beautiful sight to wake up to this New Years Day morning.

I am not one to make a lot of new years resolutions but I have a few in my head of course. I sat down to catch up on reading some of the blogs and can't help but notice I'm not the only one who has not been posting with the same frequency.

I finally finished the baby sweater for my neighbor who's baby is now 3 months old. I ripped and re knit this sweater 3 times and only due to stupidity. We are a Toronto Maple Leafs family at this house but next door is a different story. The little one's Daddy is a Bruins fan (yea I know) so I made them this little number

This is hubby helping out. He made the buttons for this project. He claims that he is not into arts and crafts but this is not the first project he has been in on. In fact he takes an interest in quite a few things that I do. Particularly if there is math involved or a problem to be solved.

Happy New year knitting everyone!

Mommy, can I go again

Yesterday my hubby had to work again. (Probably every Saturday until the new year but....) So I decided it would be a great time to try out the Louet Hand Dyed Sock kit that I won at Serenity Knits Christmas Open house last weekend.

I chose a green dye kit and was a little nervous when the first colour I mixed up looked very far from green. It is hard to see in this picture but it was a rich blue/purple.

The second colour looked like what the label said" olive and then the third colour looked like this.

I was really feeling unsure. As a first timer of this method (I've died some fleece before that I never spun to find out how it looked) and I made my stripes of colour a little thicker than what the directions suggested.

When I wrapped the skeins up it looked like the colour would sorta squish which I guess was the point of the small stripes. Because when I unwrapped everything I couldn't help but think...Hmmm there is still a lot of blue in there.

But after hanging them to set and dry last night and washing them again this morning this is what I am left with.

I had a lot of fun doing this and want to do it again. I have some more dye with my spinning stuff and I wonder if I have more plain yarn upstairs in my stash to play with. I really don't know what I'm doing so I am interested to see how this knits up but I want to learn some more about hand dying.

Then last night I went to a hockey game. We got tickets through my nephew's school. It was a great idea for a fundraiser. They raised over $3000 dollars in ticket sales. The kiddies got to sing O'Canada on the ice too.

My only thought would have been that they should have put the tickets that the families were able to purchase closer to the side of the rink that the kids were on. This was the closest I could zoom in.

I just can't stop.

I am addicted to mittens. (not a bad thing to be addicted to considering how scary close Christmas is) However I was not going to do much Christmas knitting and now I want everyone to have mittens but not just any old st st mittens they must be Fiddlehead Mittens.

Well they could be another pattern but I am into the colour work right now. I can't believe that I am saying that because I was never interested in colour work in any way. I didn't mind doing the odd little motif (like the biker baby sweater) but a whole project was not something that caught my eye. I must eat my words because it is all I want to do right now. I also have cast on (A while ago and never touched) the Ivy League vest (after Christmas I will pick it up again).

This pair of Fiddleheads is my first. The yarn is Tanis Fiber Arts Yellow Label that I purchased in a kit with the pattern at Pick up Sticks (have you been to the new location yet?) I have since purchased more yarn, almost the same colour combination, to make more mittens and downloaded more mitten patterns too.

They are a gift for my friend Mindy. She was one of my bridesmaids and I have been missing her. I'm not great at picking up the phone and calling. I feel like I have been so busy with work and tutoring and "life" that when I get home the last thing I want to do is sit on the phone. I think the whole way home in the car some days about calling her but then when I get home and start making dinner I end up putting the idea out of my head. It has been a while since we talked. I don't think she reads my blog but I hope she knows that even if we haven't chatted in a bit she is still very important to me and when she gets her Christmas gift she will realize how much I have been thinking about her.

She is a teacher and I know how cold yard duty can be some days so a warm, lined pair of mittens will come in handy ( haha mittens... handy). I also know that mittens sometimes like to grow legs and get lost so I knit her initials into the lining.

I wanted to knit these so much that I was knitting them in the truck on the way to the hockey game Saturday night. We drove part of the way in my hubbies truck with his friend but there are only three seats so I got the pleasure of sitting in the cramped middle seat. I worked away quietly balancing two colours on my lap hoping the balls didn't roll away onto the floor. I didn't take them into the ACC with me for the game but it was temping.

The game was a lot of fun even if the Leafs lost :( I haven't been to a game since I was kid. It was a date with my husband. We don't tend to go out that much because we are trying to save money. He called me one day before I got home from work last week and asked me what I was doing on Saturday. I said I didn't think there was anything we needed to do. "I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me" he said. How cute. My husband asking me on a date. "like out of the house? " I asked surprised. Our dates generally consist of renting a movie and popping a frozen pizza in the oven. It was a nice time.

Ok enough for now....I think I can get a few rows in before I have to get ready to go to work.

Honey where are my needles?

I just finished another tulip sweater for the baby shower I'm going to this weekend. I never get tired of this sweater. I even use the shape for this sweater to make other baby sweaters.
So I was wanting to start another similar sweater and need the same needles. The same needles I was just using a few sleeves ago. I can't seem to find them (of course all my other sets of needles that are the same size are somewhere in my unfinished project tub).

My husband walked in the house and I was looking around for these needles. I looked up and said to him "Honey have you seen a set of needles around here?"

I wish I could find the words to describe the look on his face as he told me "There's needles all over this house, what kind of question is that to ask me"

Long Time No Blogging

It feels a little strange to sit here and write a post. I haven't blogged in such a long time and if I am being honest, until this week I havn't missed it. I haven't been knitting all that much and there have been other things going on in my life. All of them are good things! Just busy things.

I am not making excuses because...well who really cares. I was just at a point where blogging was not a priority for me. I have been very focused on work at school this year and have reorganized a lot of things. I have been working a lot on myself at home as well. Trying some healthier eating habits and different exercise than what I was doing before. I was finding that going to my gym and everything that I had going on was being more stressfull than "health-ful" and that was the opposite of what I was trying to accomplish. So it was time for a change.

Now I am getting to the point were I'm am feeling like I have gotten into a new routine that I am happy with. It is an actual routine now and not chaos. That is exactly how I was feeling. Now that I write it down I realize I felt like I was in complete chaos and turmoil.

I am happy in my job. I am more balanced about my eating. I am sleeping well. I am reading books for enjoyment again (realizing how much I missed it). I have more time for friends, more time for my hobbies and ultimately ....more time for ME!

Addictive knitting

I have been knitting and I have proof.

Even more of an accomplishment because I had to rip out half of the first side and do the whole thing over again. Silly me did two very silly mistakes. Mistake number one was that I cast on the number of stitches for the wrong size. I did not notice mistake number one until after I noticed mistake #2.

I looked at my work and counted my stitches. I was almost done the decreases. The excitement builds. We have almost finished the majority of the stockinette stitch and am that much closer to the fun stuff.

But wait....I think I have too few stitches too fast. Count....count again.....look at pattern. Ooooh crap. I had been decreasing for the front panel the same way I did the back ( on each side ) but because it is only one side I should have only been decreasing at the side of course. Silly knitter.

So now the brain starts to work out how to fix this rather large mistake with the least amount of work to do/work lost. My hubby suggests "just rip the whole thing out and start again". I glare at him.

My brain decided to drop a few stitches down the side where I should not have been decreasing and pick that section back up without the decreases. Of course because this little section ( inches and inches of a section) had been gradually decreasing in stitches the work is gradually getting tighter and tighter. But I persevere. I'm not sure I'm happy but maybe when I'm finished I can work at the stitches to even them out.

All picked back up again ready to go I do another count. Hmmmm....count again....look at the pattern again.... There it is MISTAKE #1 you cast on the wrong number of stitches for your size you twit. AHHHHHHHHHHH.

So hubby did not say "I told you so" but.... I did have to rip the whole thing out after all.

Today I am happily working again and just roaring along. This is my problem now. I can't stop. I'm on the pattern section of the sweater and I had to make myself put it down at 10pm....11pm....midnight.

Crafty

I haven't been posting but I have been being very crafty. I don't have many great exciting knitting pictures because for all the knitting I have been doing trying to finish my UFOs I haven't had a lot of focus. I have been working a little bit here and there and not making any real progress on any one thing.

I have also been trying a few new hobbies. The thing with having the summers off is that you find new ways to fill your time and spend your money.

First was the sewing. I pulled out grandma's sewing machine again and did some experimenting. I ended up watching this video online. and changed a few things about it, added and iron-on and voila! A skirt!

The other crafty thing I have been up to is a little drawing and painting. It started with me starting to design a new tattoo for myself. Then I started to do a little painting.

The one on the right is the one I did first. I learned a bit doing that one and then did the one on the left a little later. I like the one on the left better but my hubby likes the one on the right.

I haven't completely stuck by my promise to myself not to start anything new. But I have a good reason. There are two babies coming that need little sweaters and then there is this one.

I even love the stockinette stitch of the back. Spud and Chloe is so nice to work with. Psst I know where you can get some ;)

Ranting

Let me start by saying that there is no knitting content in this post. Let me also add that whatever I say here I say with no real understanding of that things are like for my hubby right now.

That said, here we go.......

There are many things that I love about my husband. One thing that I could live without is the smoking. Since we have moved in together he has not smoked in our house he always goes outside but... as a non smoker I can really notice when he comes inside and when I kiss him.

He has tried to quit a few times over the years that I have known him but he has been smoking since he was 13 or 14? He has (in my opinion) gotten past the hardest parts of quitting only to start again.

I do not claim to understand. I never say "I know it's hard" because what I do understand is that there is no way I could possibly understand. I do tell him how proud I am of him for doing what he has so far and to some extent I wait on him hand and foot to keep his stress down and his happiness up.

Because he is not smoking his is eating. Boy oh boy is he eating. So I buy him snacks that I don't like to keep in the house because I like to eat them too. Cookies, chips, pudding, and as strange as it sounds KD and instant mashed potatoes. When he says he is hungry I make him what he asks for (even if it gets in the way of my knitting time). When he tells me he is dying and that he wants a smoke I smile and say "you're not dying hunny, can I get you something?" Ugh...I frustrate myself but I think it is for the greater good.

We had planned to maybe go to see a movie tonight. I was going to meet him after work and go to an early show. He called me after he finished work to tell me he had a bad day and just wanted to go home.

I made him a snack when he got home (dinner was going to take an hour in the oven) he still asked me after for a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. I made him both served with a cold beer.

Then when dinner was ready (lasagna) he started to eat it...looked at it funny and asked if mine was still cold in the middle ("no") we ate a little longer. "Where did we get this lasagna from?... I cant eat this" Then like a silly little wife I offer to make him something else. He didn't want anything else but.....grrrrrr. Now he is sitting here on the couch and is he ever cranky.

He has had one cigarette today and has had 2 or 3 every day for the last (almost) 2 weeks. I am starting to get just as cranky as he is.

If anyone else out there has any suggestions for me about how I can be supportive and not lose my mind please let me know because sometimes I feel about as shaky as he is.

P.S. Just as I was spell checking this the dog rang the bell to go out.....I just wanted to post before I took him out. Hubby asked me if I was going to let him out ("yes") He rang the bell 4 times what are you doing("blogging. I don't see you getting up to let him out") Fine ("I'm going now") Then I'm going to the store (This would imply he was going to buy cigarettes but he instead lay down on the couch.)

Too Busy to Blog

When you go on vacation you have a list of all the things you will get done because you will have all this time on your hands. What happens to that time? Why do you still never seem to have enough?

I have been a busy little bee this week and a bit. When I got better I was talking to a friend that I don't see very often (sometimes only once a year) and we made plans to meet at her cottage. I was very excited and I wanted to take her a birthday present and also a present for her 10 month old baby.

I'm sure you can see where this is going. As a knitter I thought I would make something! Won't that be nice! So I had a week to start and finish 2 projects but hey....I'm on vacation so I have time.

Project #1 : ITV Digital Monkey. I found the pattern on Ravelry and thought how cute it was.

It is cute but.....there are many pieces.

I made changes to the mouth that were suggested by a few other people who made this monkey. I still wasn't completely happy with the shape of the mouth but overall the monkey is cute. But I don't think I will ever make one again.

I loved my Milkweed shawl so much and it was so fast I thought it would be perfect for my friend so....

Project #2 : Milkweed Shawl (x2)

I loved this one just as much as the one as I made for myself. Perhaps more because mine has not yet been blocked.

But wait there is still more.

Project #3 (yes I know): Leaves of Grass Scarf

When I was sick I didn't get the scarf finished in time for my friend's birthday. I hopefully will be seeing her tonight or this month sometime so no excuses. It is finished.

I have often thought I could use blocking wires but I never buy them for myself. I could have really used them for this project. I tried to keep the sides as straight as possible but it was a challenge and I think I put pins in, took them out and moved them at lease 3 times.

I am happy with the way it turned out. I hope my friend likes her gift because I was worried she might like a little brighter blue more but I think she will be happy.

I have a few things on my list now that are not knitting related and without a deadline I have no excuse to ignore my housework any longer.

Sick, Yuck

I haven't been blogging or doing much of anything lately because I have been sicker than I can remember being for a long time. I told my husband I almost wish it was the flu because at least you can tell when you are fixed because you stop being sick.

I have strep throat. YUCK! I haven't had this since I was going to school. It was so painful to talk and swallow a few days ago that I could cry. I had a fever of 100.9 F. I take my last antibiotic today and I'm still not completely better. I might have to go back to the doctor next week. But the last two days have been so much better than the days before. I think because I was trying so hard make it through my last few staff meetings for the year that I wasn't getting the rest I needed.

Friday I got home from work around 3 and slept on the couch until 5, then went to my bed for another hour. Then I had a bit of dinner (more than freezees and popcicles anyway) and fell asleep again on the couch. Then hubby suggested bed at 9:30 and I still slept all night until 6am and then napped on the couch until 7:30. I obviously wasn't getting the rest that I needed to heal.

But why is it that when the woman gets sick nothing gets done. No dishes get washed, nothing gets put away and the house might even fall apart. My Hubby might even starve because he has barely had more real food than I have.

Because I haven't got a lot of knitting done I didn't finish the scarf in time for my friend's birthday. I am getting close though. I can't wait to see it blocked.

But I needed something to work on during the end of the year staff meetings on Thursday and Friday and I couldn't work on her scarf in front of her so....I have a new project that I am in love with at the moment.

The Milkweed Shawl
I am using Dream in Color Starry. I fell in love with the colour (Punky Fuchsia) and had to make something with it and Milkweed is perfect. I am really enjoying it.

Baby baby!

I was cutting it close but the two baby surprise sweaters were finished just in time for the shower.

This one was very unisex because mommy and daddy are waiting for the worlds greatest surprise.

This one will be for a little girl with an incredible mom. I know she will be a lovely little girl because her mom is lovely.


And a quick pick of the two of them together.


The children in my class saw me wrapping them at lunch (I told you I was cutting it close) and the asked me about them. When I told them they were for two other teachers one of my kids asked "how are they going to fit them?" I guess I needed to be a little more clear. Some didn't notice that they were pregnant at all. They are so sweet.

The gifts were very well received and appreciated. Every baby needs at least one knit gift.