The Traveling Knitter

ISE Progress Pictures!

2009-01-09T16:25:00.000-08:00

Do I look cold? Here I'm out on my dad's land, playing with snow and some Bambi's and Thumper's. It was gorgeous out there except when we backed out, started sliding down hill, got stuck in a small ditch, and I had to get out and push. We got out safely and with no damage, so it was all good.

Progress pictures of my ISE scarf. I decided to go with a curvy looking scarf that could go with anything. I think it's going to be good.

Here is a close up. I am probably more than half way done with it. Should be done way ahead of schedule. Some people are already finishing up! Not even a month in! Damned overachievers!

Could you please point me to the Exit?

2009-01-05T00:51:00.000-08:00

I know it's a normal everyday word but, the above sign always makes me smile.

After several disgusting encounters with Air France personnel and subsequent fairly peaceful flights. I am in Berlin!

My Dad came to pick me up and drive me back to Krakow, the most beautiful city in Poland in my opinion. Here we see him in his natural habitat....coffee...cafe....cigar....conversation.

And here I am in mine.....forgive the awful picture.....I have jet lag!!!! I'm pictured here with my scarf pals project. I decided against the Midwest Moonlight pattern, it seemed to get lost in all the black wool. So I ripped it and started something that I'm liking much better.

Successful Chirstmas Present

2008-12-26T20:47:00.000-08:00

I made my third and final "Martha's Scarf", and gifted it to an aunt this week. She was thrilled with it. Blow are some pics:

(Sorry for the sideways picture. It's late, and I'm not all that awake)

I think I've decided what scarf to make for my International Scarf Exchange secret pal. I will be making Midwest Moonlight from Scarf Style in Malabrigo in Black. I saw a scarf like this on Ravelry and it looked nice and like something my pal would wear (I hope). I've not yet been contacted by the scarf pal that will be making a scarf for me, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Ok am falling on my face sleepy. Goodnight.

An FO....

2008-12-18T11:47:00.000-08:00

In October (I think) I was "commissioned" (I'm laughing my ass off at the thought of that) to make a baby blanket for a friend so she could give it as a gift. I'm charging basically what the yarn cost me, but I don't have the heart to charge more. Here we have a shot as it's drying....sorry couldn't get a better one as it had to go out the door 2 seconds later.

The following marks my first try at ruffles. I formally would wince at ruffles, but I'm a convert now.

I took the following shot the other day.....he looks so peaceful! We consider him our "smart" cat....the brightest bulb in the bunch. He does look like he's thinking about something here.

Lastly, I'm proud to say that the traveling knitter will need these two books desperately in the very near future.

Winter Knitty Rocks

2008-12-17T11:09:00.001-08:00

I just viewed the patterns for that issue and let me tell you they rock hard.

Check them out for yourself here

I want to start on several instantly. I have to stop myself from dropping everything to work on them.

My International Scarf Exchange 7 Match hasn't been sent yet. I wonder if it's going to be cancelled....hope not....was sorta looking forward to it.

Pictures next time...I hope.

Martha's Scarf

2008-12-12T08:52:00.000-08:00

One of the things I did during my prolonged absence to Blogger is writte a pattern....I'm posting it here for free.

And here is a picture....

I had made up the pattern using Barbara Walker's stitch dictionary to give as a gift and the folks at Yarntopia liked it so much that I wrote a pattern for it and taught a class. I had a great time.

Why can't that cat just leave me alone

2008-12-11T14:32:00.000-08:00

So I'm trying to get back to reading blogs and the following discribes the past couple of years.

"I once developed a theory of how life works. In this theory, the universe is a cat and we are its toy. It makes perfect sense. You know how there are times where it feels that every time you try to get up, you get knocked down again? Am I the only one who thinks that’s exactly how a cat keeps batting away at a toy (or mouse) over and over again, patiently waiting between each swat until the "subject" starts twitching again? Until you just can't do it anymore and roll over, bear your throat (yes, I’m aware that’s for dogs, work with me) and whimper uncle. At this point, the universe/cat gets back up, an expression of "well, all you had to do was say you needed a break" and walks away to wash its face while you catch your breath. When you're back up again, this time with feet firmly planted on the ground, it comes back and meows in your face to play some more. And that is the Cat Toy Theory in a nutshell."

I got this quote from Lene. This is our life in a nutshell if it's not a job change, then it's a house sale and move, then it's a death, then it's an injury. I need a breath.....I never thought I'd say this but CAT GO AWAY! We used to have months where the biggest decision was what movie to watch on the weekend.....now it seems like life or death (literally and figuratively) situations every day!

I am trying to get back to blogging.....and as a motivator I've joined International Scarf Exchange 7 so I will be somewhat motivated to update the blog for my knitee. I haven't gotten a match yet, so hopefully the hostesses got my application.

Changes Abound....

2007-07-02T14:11:00.000-07:00

Life seems to be stuck on Fast Forward these days. Some knitting is getting done...Of course not as much as I would like. As a result of life on Fast Forward, changes seem to be blooming all over the place. Case in point.....

I have purchase one of the above. I have not done so since grade school. I do in fact fit into it (just barely). To date, I've lost over 75 lbs in the last year and a half and I'm still going. I'm very proud of this, but the change sometimes leave me scracthing my head. When I showed my husband this purchase he asked me would I wear it in public and where.....head scratching was had by all.

This is my current WIP. I love the colors (most accurate in the following photo). Of course, sock one is done and since I don't suffer from SSS the second one is on the needles. I'm on a timeline for these, so they are first in priority on the assembly line.

The yarn is Gypsy Girl Creations in Color Back Draft. It was obtained from Toni at The (world famous) Fold.

One last look at this socky goodness. It is rather long....definately longer than what I usually do, but I decided to do this and make a "slouch" sock, and I'm rather liking it.

One last shot for the cat lovers of the group....you know who you are (cough...Sue...cough).

One last word on changes....I have some whoppers coming up....even if you think you know, you may still be surprised...and NO I'M NOT PREGNANT!

Do over!

2007-06-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Ok lets try this blogging thing again shall we? Since Jan, lots has happened I'll catch you up in the coming entries.

The sock visited a new airport today!!! Fort Smith Arkansas, I've never seen an airport like you before.

Can you believe this? Can this be my living room instead of the boarding area for Delta?

Raise your hands how many of you have a sitting area like this in YOUR bathroom?

And finally, if your flight gets delayed, evidently you can browe the in-airport museum! They had these areas all over the place!

Craptastic photos brought to you by my cell phone. An evil tyranical client is keeping my camera hostage. Demands yet to be made.

Next we have yet another Photo made with my cell phone, at work....

In the knitting department we have a shocker.....a sock-in-progress.....

Stay tuned for exciting news from this knitter!!!

Missing Knitting!!!

2007-01-17T06:38:00.000-08:00

How many days does it take without your knitting before you get twitchy?

I've been twitchy for many days now.....I guess lack of sleep could also be a factor. Sleep is sort of hard to get when clients call you at 1:30am.

[Sigh] More later.

Keep your blood donations coming in!!!!!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

2006-12-30T23:22:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of me and my "cake". I don't like real cake so this is a frozen cheese cake courtesy of Sara Lee. My expression is due to the fact that the candles on the cake had a tendancy to relight themselves. This was post Birthday Meal at nice Indian resturant. Good food, good friends, good gifts (including yarn and knitting books) , life is good! :)

An FO

Yarn: Rowan Linen Print

Color: Crush

Pattern: One I made up consisting of lots of k2tog and YO's

Mods: It was ALL mods. :)

I wore it to my birthday....I love it...Rowan is a dream to knit and a dream to wear! Perfect for Houston winters. I really need something like this in Blue....

And in the spirit of Birthdays and gift giving Pierce would like to announce that Kristen has won the first Knitbloggers for Blood drawing!!!! Keep the donations coming! The next prize will be announced soon....

South of the Boarder

2006-12-12T11:17:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, Martha has asked me (Her South-of-the-border alter ego) to do today's post since she was busy all last week dealing with this client:

I've been out of the country and very busy lately, but I'll be back full force shortly!

Vacation pics are on hold sort of....below I have some progress pics of wips on the last day of the cruise.

The lace THING is growing!! This will become the lovely Wendy's Fir Cone Wrap

This is what it's supposed to look like when it grows up....anyone see any mistakes yet?

The above is the start of a wrap made out of Rowan's Linen Print colorway Crush....stand by for more progress.

And tah-dah!! Uncle socks are completed, and recieved. The recipient is happy with warm feet!

Yarn: Regia's Strato Color

Colorway: Well it's a number but it has bits of light brown, darker brown, grey, and black.

Pattern: Nancy Bush's Gentleman's Fancy socks From knitting vintage socks...I believe.

Mods: Short row toe and heel...of course!

Blood donation drawing next time!!!

Some Vacation Shots....To Be Continued.

2006-11-20T18:25:00.000-08:00

The most perfect ship in the world The MS Noordam! Absolutely lovely ship!

Here is proof that I did indeed finish some more socks! Dad (looking lovely in his robe) did NOT want to be in the pic...he's shy.

This is how I showed up to our safety drill. :)

You know you're in Wisconsin when....

2006-11-09T12:45:00.000-08:00

....you leave the airport and the first thing that hits you is the smell of cow manure. (I don't mean that in a bad way! I was a resident Cheesehead for a time!)

I have bent to the masses (ha!) and finished the Hubby sock! In my opinion, he seemed to be underwhelmed....sigh...oh well. I do like thses socks though, if I do say so myself....here are the best shots I could get.

Yarn: Lorna's Laces
Color: Denim
Pattern: Gentleman's Shooting Sock
Mods: You know I did Short row toes and heels!

Update on Knitbloggers for Blood:

-The lovely lady of Chewy Spaghetti has donated a prize for the drawing! So get donating, so you can win! Go to her Blog and link to her esty shop....I'll post a link soon.

-Kristen made a new button for the blog! Go steal it from the sidebar now...

Some of my lovely readers have requested an updated pic, showing my weight loss progress, so on our way out to a wedding this weekend, my hub snapped this.

Does it look ok?

Now for a question....what is THIS.....

....and HOW did it get here?!!!

Isn't the Traveling Knitter a sock knitter? Isn't that all we've seen here, on this blog? Where did this lace come from? What REALLY blows my mind is that this is over 1000 stitches already and it looks like NOTHING! Well, maybe there will be more progress on this lace THING, since I'm going on VACATION!!!!! I may have limited access to the internet but I'll try to post to show you where I am.

Last but not least.....hey Jes If I threw all the socks from my last post together, would that count as a "Sock Mountain"? Would Jordan enjoy that or would the pointy sticks be too much for her? :)

Some of these things are not like the others....

2006-11-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

Some of these things just don't belong
Can you tell which thing(s) are not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

Yes the words are a bit different:), but here are SOME of my WIPs. ONLY SOME, PEOPLE!

From Right to left: Cotton Blend sock in Dancing from Knitpicks, Giant Man sock for my Uncle, Socks That Rock sock for me (that may turn into mom's since she's displayed interest in it...how can I say no!?), Thick Ski sock for a Cousin, Giant Man sock for the hubby (he has desperately been wanting to have, FINALLY!), and on the other end, cablely sock that will eventually be dad's (if it fits him...it's a bit on the small side)

Now can you see which ones from the top don't belong? These are ALL second socks except for the ones on the end. Thank you for playing our game. So, for your amusement and mine I'm going to have a blog poll to see which pair of socks I should complete first. Vote now!

Blogger vs. Bloglines.

2006-11-02T10:38:00.000-08:00

Does anyone know why Bloglines sometimes doesn't update with your newest post? Is it a Blogger issue?

Practicing New Stitches.

2006-11-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

I really have nothing on the knitting front (even though there has been a good amount of knitting done) to show you guys, this is why. My knitting ADD is totally out of control! I have many projects on the needles, and I can work on 3 different projects in the same hour. THREE! It's so bad my husband has even commented on my inability to stay on one project for longer than 10 min. On the road I've been known to have as many as 8 projects with me "just in case"! I am a sick individual...call the padded wagon....while you do that I will show you some new stitches that I practiced on some washrags that I made for birthday gifts this year.

Pessimistic question of the day:

Why are we supposed to be happy that "every cloud has a silver lining"? Doesn't a silver lining mean you are about to get rained on? Just sayin!

Interesting blood fact of the day:

Since a pint of blood is a pound, you lose a pound every time you donate blood.

Duuuuuude....Where is my nearest blood bank!

Speaking of weight loss....I bet you guys think that since I stopped talking about it that have given up that New Years resolution....NOT SO! Since January, I've lost 50 LBS! Unfortunately, I can't budge that number in the last few weeks, but I feel great!

That's it from the news desk....Keep those Blood donations coming.

The Prize? Lorna's Laces BABY!

2006-10-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the continued support for "Knitbloggers for Blood"! I've got some blood donations coming in, as well as prize donations from Yarntopia and Mama Llama. The first prize is out of my personal stash of Lorna's Laces....Color: Uptown.

Keep the entries coming so I can send these babies out! I will keep doing these drawings as long as I get donations! Enter as many times as you donate!!!

What else have I been knitting? Well, I knit these Chemo caps for my mom to wear while she is temporarily hair deprived.

The brown one is Shedir and the blue one is Odessa. Both were very enjoyable knits in two colors of the LOVELY Rowan Calmer yarn. Odessa was an easy knit with a pattern that is easy to memorize. Sedir was only a bit more complicated because of the chart involved.

A word about charts....I used to believe that I could only knit with charts at home with a magnifying glass with lots of light and a fist full of post-its. NOT so! I knit Shedir mostly on planes. I simply brought Scotch tape with me and taped the chart to the tray table in front of me and it worked Perfectly! It was even better than being at home because, the cozyiness of airplane seats let the the chart be right at eye level IN my face.

Odessa was altered slightly by not adding the beads. I felt that it may cause some irritation with a sensitive bald scalp, but I can't wait to make one WITH the beads.

I'll leave you all with a taste of fall from Illinios!

Buttons!

2006-10-26T06:11:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for everyone's support! I've added buttons for the contest in the side bar.

Next time.....I'l reveal the first prize....and yes there will be actual knitting content. :)

Wonderful news!!!

2006-10-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

The doctor has told my mom that she had her last round of Chemo last Friday!! We were expecting at least 2 more rounds, but the doc says that the CT scan looks great!

We are all happy, most of all Mom. Thank you for all your prayers and good wishes. She is not considered "Cancer-Free", but we are getting there.

With this happy news I want to start a CONTEST! I am calling it "Knitbloggers for Blood". Here's how it works....

-Donate blood (or a blood product, ie platlets, plasma) yourself!
-Take a friend, husband, adult child (you get my drift)
-Send me a notification of your donation(s) including: your name, e-mail address, location (region of the country is fine), and who you roped into donating with you. Edited to add: You get one entry into the contest per donation! So if you take yourself and your hubby you get two entries!!
-Duration: Donations given today or after.
-I will draw a random name once approximately every 25 donations.
-Prizes will be knitting related (duh!)

Please consider making a donation! Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming and blood will be needed especially during those times! If you would like to donate a prize, that will also be appreciated, just let me know.

The last thing....Please spread the word...Please make an announcment on your blogs, let people know. It's for a good cause, the families of those in the hospital waiting for blood will thank you with tears of joy....I know I did.

It Ain't all bad...

2006-10-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

This week me and the sock begrudgingly boarded a flight for the Hoosier state, very apprehensive about this weeks' work. And come to find out, I was totally right to be apprehensive....I was met at the airport with line "cutters", dealing with lost bags, dealing with work issues, getting yelled at very publicly for something totally not my fault, a very stiff neck from being hunched over a picnic table all day, and covered in oil from the floor. I thought the rest of the week was doomed, and it still may be (it ain't over yet!), but I walked into the hotel today and found out that I was the "guest of the day" and got upgraded to this...

It may not cancel out all the bad stuff, but it helps. BTW I had to restrain the sock from jumping right in!

Knitting stuff? You got it....this is what I'm working on right now.

Very nice diamond pattern from "Knitting Vintage Socks" By our friend Nancy Bush. Even though the yarn is varigated, the pattern doesn't seem to get lost in the colors...at least it seems like that to me....

Trying To Find Beauty And Joy...

2006-10-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

In the middle of a physical and mental rain storm we are serching for beauty and joy at The Traveling Knitter today.

Thankfully we siezed the one rain free day on Saturday to take a ride in a park in the middle of Houston. I don't know about you but I'm sort of impressed. Being a Chicagoan at heart Houston is sort of a let down, but these sights helped lift the mood. :)

At this stop, I had to fight the urge to plant my butt on the bench and veg out with the sock, but the purpose of going on the bike ride was to work out and I am proud to say....goal accomplished! :)

Before I go any further I gotta thank my readers for the support. Mom's Cancer is very stressful and is taking it's toll on me. Please don't think I'm ignoring you if I don't respond quickly!

And now for some FO's! During my abence I've done some knitting and the following is just part of some of my work.

Yarn: Socks That Rock Sock Candy
Pattern: Simple Toe-up Short Row Toe and Heel out of my head
Colorway: Don't remember sorry
Mods: The whole project was a mod! :)
Recipient: An Auntie

Comments on Yarn: I gotta say I have some mixed feelings about this yarn. I LOVE the colors. I love the thickness. I love that it's Cotton and summery. I DON'T love the roughness during knitting...maybe it's just me. I guess I just need a cotton yarn blend....but let me tell ya the dye job is what will keep me coming back!

The Very Delayed Sock Posse Socks!

Yarn: Fleece Artist Sock yarn
Pattern: Mata Hari
Colorway: Yarntopia
Mods: None since it was more like a stitch pattern.
Recipient: Mom. As you can see from the pic, they were finished at her bedside in the hospital, and I gave them to her two seconds after they were off the needles.

Comments on Yarn: Love the yarn.....don't know which I love more STR or Fleece Artist. I'm leaning towards STR but I will be experimenting with both in the future, as the both live in my stash.

I leave you dear ones with a question...what are the opinions out there on Mountain Colors Bearfoot? Does the Mohair content make it scratchy?

Socks Of Sorrow

2006-10-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

Done
Yarn: Socks That Rock
Colorway: Tonalite
Pattern: Jaywalkers
Mods: Short Row heel and toe (DANGER, DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!)

After my long absence I am back and hope to resume blogging. This has been, unquestionably the worst summer of my life. I'm glad it's come to a close, and hopefully I'll see the BEST holiday season of my life because my family and I definately need it.

My Mom was diagnosed with Angioimmunoblastic T-cell Lymphoma. She is on Chemo (Chop)and is physically doing ok. We are currently in a depression cycle of the illness process. Outlook for going into remission is gaurdedly optimistic.

My Debut back are my "SOCKS OF SORROW" I call them that for many reasons: they were knit during MANY family disagreements including tears and name calling, they were knit while in the hospital, they were knit while I was really too tired to knit and had to be frogged 3 times in an hour. Not surprisingly they have an issue, the short row feature of the socks do not work well with the jawalker stitch pattern....there is NO stretch. I was the only one who could battle them on my feet so they become mine, flaws and all.

I want to get back in to the swing of things and reconnect with my "peeps" so if you read this please let me know that you are out there.

I think it is significant that I (totally randomly)chose Friday the 13th for a comeback...start the ominous music.

2006-06-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

My Mom is in the hospital and needs blood ASAP, and may need a lot more in the coming weeks. PLEASE IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO IS A NEGATIVE PLEASE PLEASE ASK THEM TO DONATE ASAP. The blood has to go thru a bunch of screenings and stuff before she can get it so it will be a while before she can even get it.

Please make announcements where you can...at work...at church....at your knitting group....where ever.....I am very desperate.

When you donate say you want this to go to:

Elizabeth Miodonski

In Cook County Hospital in Chicago.

Thank you very very much.

Blog activity

2006-06-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

Blog activity will be stopping for a while....My Mom is very sick. Please send prayers/good thoughts.

Hello is the Seat on this Bandwagon taken?

2006-06-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

Cuz I'm a jumpin' on! Grumperina's contest has prompted me to join in the fun and maybe I'll have a chance in hell of winning prize number 500...cuz I need more yarn...like a hole in the head.

Progess pics:

Yarn:Socks that Rock in the Tonalite Colorway
Pattern: duh, Jaywalkers, dude
Needles: Some new needles I bought recently, shorty Addi DPN's in sz 0...I really didn't think I would like the "shortys" but they are really working out for me!!!

After a weekend full of drama and stress involving a lost cat among other issues, my jaywalker looks like this:

This is the most dense sock I've ever knitted....it is extremely full of stress....I just hope the second sock turns out to look similar.

At least she is home. We found her in the neighbors' yard looking like a wet wad of dryer lint.

Well this week I'm off working in a new place. The sock was sitting in the pasenger seat, he was supposed to keep me company on my drive to Grayville (I kid you not, that is the real name), but alas, he was snoring away as I was stuck in traffic taking the following picture....1 guess where I am.

Speaking of Socks...Uh I Mean Fathers' Day

2006-06-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

Look what I made!

Pattern: Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Made from: Paton's Kroy Sock Yarn in Some sort of grey I freaking don't remember.
Needles: 2.5mm Addi Turbos (I think)
Mods: Short row heels baby!

They will be the gift of honor for my Grand-Father-in-law on Fathers' day! I'm hoping they will be a big hit. He was very jealous when I gave a clapotis to my mother-in-law on mothers day...he requested a shawl of his own....little did he know that these babies were on the way!

I haven't blocked/washed them yet, but when I do, I'll be blocking them on my newly made SOCK BLOCKERS!!! YOU TOO can make these babies! I conned my hubby into making them, and it took him 5 min to make these 5!!!! You want some yet? Ok go HERE!

Top fashion model simply known as "Pierce" agreed to model them for the general reading public. Be sure to leave a comment and let him know what you think....

P.S. The giant thing I was kitting in this entry is trying to be a warm hole-y shawl.

The sock has visited a new state!!!!

2006-06-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

The sock would have been in the picture, but he insisted on TAKING the picture since he considers my picture taking abilities to be abysmal.

A Day At The Auction.

2006-06-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

I heard from someone that June 10th was a "Knit in Public Day". Since, I will be at work on Jun 10th (and my clients don't appreciate me knitting at work, especially since I don't knit for a living, oh but only if that were true!!!) I decided to do my Knitting in Public Day early....so I present a day at the auction!

Here we see my Dad and I at a Richie Bros. Auction. And what is that? YES I am knitting a sock! Shocker, eh? Don't you love my Dad's camo shorts? Richie Bros is one of the world's largest auction companies. What? Never heard of them? Well you wouldn't have unless you were interested in buying a backhoe, and I don't mean the street-walking kind (but if you could, wouldn't THAT be an interesting auction). BTW RB Auctions is second only to this auction house. ;)

I've also decided, since I'm the Traveling Knitter, that I am going to do installments of the traveling sock a la Yarn Harlot, and for your viewing pleasure I have the first episode.

Here we see The Sock trying to jump into a boat, thank goodness my dad and his friend Robert (YES IT TOOK BOTH OF THEM!!) was there to catch it before things got out of hand. The sock is in my Dad's hand you can barely see it because he is embarrassed to be holding it.

In some further misadventures, The Sock insisted I pull over and let it have a picture of the Harley.

Dad's not QUITE as embarrassed about the holding the sock thing here...but he still didn't want to do it....he just did it so he could get on with life, because it would be futile to argue with me.

So how did you spend YOUR knitting in public day?

P.S. Jess I took your advice! I went from #1's to #35's to help with the hand pain! :)

My fleece has been shorn!!!!

2006-06-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

This has been a FO A LOOOOOONG YEAR AND A HALF in the making! I'm so happy it's finally happened....

Before

AND AFTER!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

This really has nothing to do with knitting (besides the relation to "fleeces" being "shorn"), and NO the fleece is not going to be SPUN! I started growing my hair for Lock of Love. These folks collect human hair to make wigs for children with diseases like cancer that makes them loose their hair. I normally like my hair short, and it was tourture to have it so long. The heat in the last couple of days has pushed me over the edge to get it cut.

Here is a front shot.

And the final product, going off to a needy child!!

For those intersted, my "friend" is Lili. Besides my obsession with knitting, I'm also a some-time animal rescuer for Cat Haven, and today I spent the day at Petsmart trying to find Lili and Company a new home. Lili just crawled right up my shoulder and into my heart.

"Pick me, pick me!!!! I want to come home with you and play with your yarn!!!"

Time For a Break?

2006-06-01T16:57:00.000-07:00

I've been working (clicking a mouse in a non ergonomically friendly enviroment for what feels like 24/7) and knitting ALOT recently, and as a result my RIGHT (ie clicking hand) is sore. Sooooooooo I'm here, after work, in my hotel room, in El Paso with a whole night ahead of me. So what is the recommendation? Rest and relaxation? Sleep to get rid of the bags and redness around the eyes?

Noooooo all I can think about is doing this......

These are plain vanilla short row toe and heel with 4x4 ribbing socks....just one of my many WIP's.

[Sigh] Ok, well since we all know how obsessed I am about knitting go here and take a look at my Mata Hari sock progress.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to get rid of hand soreness, please let me know!!!

I know, I know....BAD BLOGGER!

2006-05-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

Yes I've been gone a long time but I'm back now, so lets move on to the knitting shall we?

We've had a new yarn shop opening here in the Houston area: Yarntopia!!! Well, Fleece Artist HAND CRAFTED a new colorway for the shop called: Yarntopia (DUH). The shop owners have created a group called the Sock Posse with it's own blog and all, and we have all commited to knitting up a pair of socks in the Yarntopia colorway and have a party at the end of the summer, cool, eh? Well I've cheated and started early...take a look at my progress in my latest entry

Note: For the interested parties out there (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) these socks will not have thumbs knitted into them.

So what have I been knitting during my absence? Well alot actually....alot of FO's have been finished and given away....some even without me having have taken pictures! Here is a preview of one of my FO's.....

Socks That Rock, just totttttallly ROCK dude!!

More to come, but I'll leave you with Pierce who decided that clean clothing in a drawer are more comfortable than, say, a cat bed.

Home Depot as a Knitting Supply Store? Yea Baby!

2006-03-15T12:13:00.000-08:00

Here we see common O-rings available at most Home Depot Plumming Departments:

Here we see common O-rings used in my knitting!!! Yea baby! Knitting supplies from the Depot!!!! Hey what can I say I was desperate!

Ok, Work in progress pics of my clappy!

Aren't the colors the most hideous that you've ever seen? Don't worry about hurting my feelings...

The following is the yarn for my next clappy which will be MINE....it will be my first knitted object that I made, that I can wear without sniggering from the crowds.

News Flash! Since these pics were taken MY FIRST CLAPOTIS is now officially a FO! Pics are coming

Lastly, This is what I've been working on...Dishcloths/Face cloths for the leaders of a group my hubby and I are in....the beauty of them is I can learn new stitchs and "knitting moves", without the pain!

Catch up post

2006-03-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

Yes Ladies (and dare I say Gentleman) I have much information to share, unfortunately this post, too, will be picture-less. This morning with coffee cup in hand I got up from my knitting spot to pose some knitting projects for my adoring fans, and I got the battery drained message....so after a few explatives and a calming bath I decided to do it picture-less.

First up, (and yes this topic does have knitting in it although it doesn't show up till the end) I'm down 16 pounds...seems like I've been stuck at 16lbs for weeks, hopefully it's just my imagination. My hubby is the reward master, at every ten pounds lost I get a prize! At ten pounds I got some sorely needed Nikes (the really cool Shox kind!). At 20 pounds (just 4 lbs away) I was going to get TIVO (believe me with the traveling I do I really need it for the 2 or 3 guilty pleasures, um I mean, shows I actually DO want to watch (Dancing with the Stars, anyone? Fess up!), plus you can DOWNLOAD THEM ONTO YOUR COMPUTER SO I CAN WATCH THEM LATER ON THE ROAD! How cool is THAT!!), and at 30lbs lost I was going to get extra cash to spend at Maryland Sheep and Wool....but disparaged at the lack of weight loss and alarmed at how much weight I would have to lose in the time given for the extra cash, I conned my honey to give me the extra cash for MS&W at 20lbs lost and TIVO at 30lbs....I think I got a good deal on that one!!! Ok break out the extra suitecase!!!

I'm making great time on my Clappy...too bad you can't see it! WAHHHH! I love the pattern just like EVERYONE else does! I'm using a very user friendly check list style chart that I printed out from the Clapotis along on Yahoo Groups, Trust me it ROCKS! I already have the yarn for my next Clappy that will be for ME AND ME ALONE! I've realized that I don't have a single thing that I've knit for MYSELF! This second clappy I'm making (as God is my witness)will be MINE.

I've been toying with the idea of making an ODESSA from Kathy's (Grumperina) site, but I have the wrong yarn. I have 4 ply which would be the wrong gauge....oh damn need to go to the yarn shop! I already have the beads (which I hope are the right size!) so I'm almost ready to go.

I'm also almost ready to cast on for my husbands Anniversary Sweater that I've wanted to make FOREVER. I am in a weird phase with fitted garments. Although my attempts are getting decidedly better (the newest of which a human can actually wear with out getting laughed at), I am aprehensive about casting on for my hubby who I love very much and want this to be perfect for him. Does anyone else have this issue?

Ok Tah tah for now....hopefully next time I'll see you I'll have pics!

P.S Jenni the pattern for the infamous baby socks can be found here. The picture showes how they are SUPPOSED to look, I say HA, not mine!

Stuck in Hell!

2006-03-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

I am currently stuck in work Hell, which is currently located IN Hell (aka North Jersey)....this is my least favorite state BY FAR!!!

Anyway, while sitting here in HELL....I've been thinking about the fact that I'M GOING TO MARYLAND SHEEP AND WOOL!!! I am so excited that I'm going, I can bearly stand it. My friend Marlanea and I will be flying away to Baltimore for KNITTERS' CHRISTMAS! While we are there I hope to meet up with my blog pal Jess...also very exciting!

Ok back to work....Next time....hopefully....pics of my clapotis in progress and a new quick project.

Baby Crazy

2006-02-25T10:46:00.000-08:00

First off some old business....below are some lovely roses my Valentine gave me!!! Aren't they lovely??

This lone blossom fell off in transport, so it gets its own vase. :)

Here is the full view.

Speaking of full views.....below is what I've been working on for the last couple of weeks. It was just supposed to be 4 socks for a pair of twins but it turned into hats too, since I had yarn left over. I hope that this parade of baby socks is over but who knows....plus they are fun to make!

Close up of the hat...Whatcha think? It was my first attempt at a hat EVER.

They were easy to make. The pattern can be found here.

One last shot at the socks....next time I'll show the progress on my Clapotis....I'm working away on it. I hope it looks ok once I start dropping stitches.

My Beautiful ISE Scarf!!!!!!!!!!

2006-02-10T16:19:00.000-08:00

Oh my! This will be a catch up entry too! I just can't believe how much time is flying. Part of it is Weight Watchers! WW is TAKING OVER MY LIFE!! It's all good though...as of THIS morning the scale says that I'm 12 pounds down. Depressingly slow but encouraging, when I hit the plateau I'm really going to need some support. I've also started dabbling in scrapbooking, but I don't see it taking over my life like knitting....but it is fun.

Random questions of the day:

So do we like the new colors of the ol' blog?

Does anyone celebrate St. Patty's day?

Is anyone ELSE obsessed with DANCING WITH THE STARS? (I'm so ashamed)

Ok on to the knitting!

This is my Gorgous ISE Scraf that I got from my Secret Pal Rhonda!!! Our Exchange wasn't EXACTLY INTERNATIONAL....her scarf came from, at most, 300 miles away! I don't mind especially since the package was filled with CASHMERE goodness!!! It's made out of Makalu handpainted cashmere And the pattern is from Tahki Stacy Charles...it is lovely....I'm wearing it as we speak....I'm in Oklahoma at the moment were I'm wondering if my anti-freeze is freezeing, but Rhonda the scarf works!!! It's keeping my neck warm!!!!

Next up:

A photo from my knitting group!!!! This is a SLIGHTLY better photo of my peeps than my first one. :)

More Knitting:

I'm continuing knitting on the Mitered Square rug (while I'm on my eliptical machine, see told you WW was taking over my life), no pics to post since it's the same as before just more squares....I'll post pics when it looks more impressive.

EVEN More Knitting:

I've been asked to knit TWO MORE PAIRS of the Baby socks (for twins) from my FO's in the side bar.....here we see the progress....at least THESE are a different color. :) Still knitting them in Classic Elite Premier Yarn which still ROCKS!!! I love the lavender/purple color (you really can't tell from the pic). Is there such thing as 4th sock syndrome?

Ok, Down Right Crazy Knitting:

So because I don't have ANY thing else to do, I've started a Clapotis. This is how far I've gotten....any friendly advice? The pic doesn't acurately portray the color, but give me a break I'm photographing from a hotel room! I've joined the Clapotis-a-long, so I'm on Clapotis overload.

Time Machine

2006-02-09T12:58:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone, I have been a victim of a vicious time machine....I remember clicking "Publish Post" and I've been fast forwarded to today. What the heck happened? It doesn't even seem like I've done any knitting since then but I must have since I have two FO's to show you!

But first we have the WIPs:

These are my lovely Socks That Rock! I've finally started them. I was using the magic loop method originally but I went back to 2 cirular needles because the needles I had were not long enough and I would avoid working on them at all costs. So now that I have the right tools I'm going to try to speed away on these.

Secondly, I'm working on squares for the rug for my living room. I am totally insane to do this project because I hate sewing up projects (and this will be a dozey onece it's done), but I couldn't resist because of the portablity of the squares! I can do them ANYWHERE!!!! EVEN ON MY ELIPTICAL EXERSICE MACHINE!!!! It really makes time fly. (And no there will be NO pictures of me on the machine with my knitting)

Now on to the FO's!

Here is my ISE scarf blocked and all ready to be packed away....to fly off to the East Coast!!! I really had a hard road with this scarf....it was supposed to be "Branching out" but I decided that lace was going to have to just wait for another day when I feel more confident in my skills(plus, this scarf will be warmer because of the less holey nature!) Enjoy ISE buddy!

And here we have the long awaited socks for my "now not so pregnant" Aunt! Welcome to the world PJ (Peter Jr.), and have a great time while you are here! The socks are a bit shorter than I would have liked but "thems the breaks".

And for the "fun shot" of the day we have Pierce the cat modeling the newly made ISE Scarf. Work that camera BABY!

Another Meme for Me.

2006-01-24T17:26:00.000-08:00

Not much going on, on the knitting front...Sorry just slow progress on wips... I'll keep you updated.

So today.....

I've been tagged by Donna to do this one!

***Ground Rules: The first player of this "game" starts with the topic "5 weird habits of yours" and people who get tagged need to write a blog entry about their 5 quirky habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names.***

1. I don't like talking on the phone. Four years of working at Continental Airlines Reservations cured me of that. I love IMing....I'm actually required to use MSN Messenger at work.

2. I call my boss Yogi Bear occasionally....only because he calls me Boo boo. I only assume he is referring to Yogi and Boo-boo, because if he is actually calling me "a boo boo" I would be mad.

3. I would enjoy movies like The Mummy more if they lowered the volume....I hate being scared with the loud noises!

4. I love watching re-runs of Murder She Wrote....I know how embarrassing!!! Brian purchased the first two seasons for me that are available.

5. I will drink day old coffee cold if that is the only thing available.....I'll even drink INSTANT COFFEE when forced to.

I'm tagging the following people because I want to know more about them. :)

Marlanea
Jenni
Catherine
Brynne
Sarah (come on post!!! You can do it!!)

The ticker is not displaying correctly but I've lost 6.5 lbs on WW!!!!!!!

Back to work.

2006-01-19T20:22:00.000-08:00

Well I'm on the road again and I have another edition of adventures on the road....but I have knitting progress pics before I start that:

First up this morning folks, is my International Scarf Pal Progress...so far I've used over one skein of Elizabeth Lavold Silky Wool on this. I'm trying to get it to a length that I will be happy with, without blocking it to within an inch of it's life. Does anyone know if this yarn grows after it takes a bath? Also, what is the best soap to have it come out great smelling? I'm pretty happy with the progress and I hope my pal is too.

Next up, the progress on the second pair of booties, for my pregnant aunt.....they will be done soon...and the best part: NO BLOCKING!!! Into the mail they will go all the way to lovely Chicago, IL. For those of you who would notice, the cuff is way shorter on these because I'm running out of this yarn. ;) I LOVE LOVE LOVE Classic Elite Yarns Premiere! The knitted fabric is heavenly soft!

And now ladies and gentlemen we have Martha's travels thru New England. I wish I had more time to go on a multi-state yarn crawl but it was not to be this time.

Martha, why are we taking photos of random houses/resturants in Vermont? Well ladies and gentlemen, THIS is the Rutland, VT AIRPORT!!!! That's it folks....it's about as big as my HOUSE!!!! I love it!!! They had 3 tiny desks shoved in there, one for Continental, one for Alamo Rent a car, and one for Hertz......and the Continental desk had a fish tank on it!!!! When I checked in the lady behind the counter offered me a cup of coffee along with my boarding pass....you know cuz she'd just made some in the kitchen....um wait I mean "in back". In the "gate area" there were magazines all over like a waiting room, except all of them were current. "Baggage claim" was 5 feet from the "gate". When I got there ONE GUY was the ticket counter, ground crew, Baggage office, and rental car person.....what would they do if he got sick?????

Next to the charming airport, there was the above sign. So is a Rabbitry like a place where they raise Rabbits? I was tempted to go in and buy....um I mean "pet" rabbits, but the Rabbitry was a trailer that didn't look very welcoming.

Other notable events....I had to drive from Rutland,VT to Boston because my flight was cancelled (maybe the one guy that works there was sick???). On the way I was flipping stations and I HEARD A RADIO AD FOR A YARN SHOP!!!! I had to calm down and fight not to turn the car around to find this place!!! When was the last time you heard a radio commercial like THAT????? Also on the way, I saw another first! A MOOSE crossing sign!!! I would have stopped to take a pic but it was too snowy/rainy for me to do so.

Overall, it's been a pretty exciting week......Next time....I promise.....a MEME!!!! Now aren't we all excited?

Tahoe Synopsis...with pics BEWARE!

2006-01-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

Ok this may get long and rambly so forgive me....Unfortunately, there will be no knitting content today.

One of the first things we did was go to ski school to learn to ski. Our instructor told me that I could skip level 2 and go straight to level 3! I'm not considered "athletic" at all so this just blew me away.....Until the knee injury that I've already mentioned. Doh!

Here is a pic of me and the hubby at ski school.....isn't he handsome?

The next day we took the day off from skiing and went snowmobiling! It was fun!!! I was shocked that I liked it, because I hate motorcycles....so I thought that I would hate this.

Here is Brian and me at the top of the mountain. The picture implies that Brian actually got to drive....HA!!! I was driving for 90% of the time! :)

Then Later in the week, we went on a drive around the lake with some beautiful views!

Now how many times do you see the above sign along the road?

This was toward the end of our drive the sun was setting and we stopped every ten feet to take a pic.

And we made some friends along the way....I couldn't resist snapping this adorable kitty.

Here is our friend Colin, being silly taking a pic of me taking a pic of him in the car, during the million times we stopped to take in various views.

On the last day the weather turn to this:

It's ok....I love the snow! It was awesome! We were in the store for half an hour and there were 5 inchs accumulated on our car!!!

One last pic from our last day.....Heavenly! (For those not familar with Tahoe, Heavenly is a ski resort.)

Ice Pack Explaination

2006-01-16T08:12:00.000-08:00

Thanks for everyone's concern!!! I had a huge fall at the top of a rather large mountain chair lift. My skis got tangled with Brian's as we were getting off and we both went down but I couldn't get up. They had to pop off my skis and I had to limp out of the way of lift chair "traffic". Unfortunately, I couldn't ski the rest of the week but I can walk....speaking of which I'm off to work...sorry I have knitting news but no time to post about it. Also, I'm starting Weight Watchers again strictly, so I can ski for more than two days next time. :)

Just a few Photos to tease....

2006-01-13T13:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the sideways view....
In our room.....WHY YES those ARE two ice packs on my knees.

More knitting in The Alpen Sierra Cafe.....scarf is so long I have to wear it while I knit it!

Sigh........What can I say?

Tahoe or Bust!

2006-01-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

Can you tell I'm excited about my trip to Tahoe!!!??

First some show and tell....I got gifties for my birthday from knitting divias Brynne and Jenni! You ladies Rock!!!

Hot Chocolate (which made it's way into my suitcase somehow....I think it's poltergist) on the left from Brynne, and the bag from Jenni which contained.....

This Book and totally great smelling camomile soap!!!! I have some great friends!!!

Here we see one cat wanting to come WITH US......

And here we see one that WANTS US TO STAY! He said the suitcase was NOT going to be opened as long as he was in this house!

Will try to post during the week!!!

Note To Self....

2006-01-06T00:14:00.000-08:00

DO NOT DRINK 20 OZ OF COFFEE LATE IN THE EVENING.

I went to a impromptu SnB tonight and had a coffee. I got home and couldn't sleep. On the plus side I figured out how to put FOs in the sidebar!!!! Check it out!!! ----------->

What could I accomplish with a gallon of coffee in my system? ;)

Edited EVEN LATER: I also added the cool progress bars!!!! Coffee is my friend!!!

Just a WIP Udate

2006-01-05T10:21:00.000-08:00

First up today.....

I've been thinking about the rug I've mentioned that I've been thinking about making. As you can see I've swatched part of a square. My problem has been that I can't find the right yarn. I've asked at various yarn shops about a useable yarn but everything has had the wrong gauge. I've found yarns that have the right gauge online, but I hesitate in making such a big purchase without petting the yarn first. The yarn above is plain old Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick. It's fiber content is 80%/20% acrylic/wool, but the up side is that it is soft and I think it would feel awesome under food, plus there is the cost advantage....I don't know what do to.....Please help!!!! I've considered making another rug from this book, but the yarn from that rug is discontinued too!!!! Does anyone know of good substitute for Classic Elite Yarn Waterspun Weekend?

The above is the scarf I'm making for my Internation Scarf Exchange pal. It's Silky Wool and taking forever....but it looks pretty good I think, no? I think my pal my know who I am but OH well, we are not the CIA here at Martha's house.

Here is a closer look. I can't seem to take a good picture....this was the best of the bunch.

And yes here we have YET ANOTHER PAIR OF BABY SOCKS STARTED!!!! Oh my it's a sickness.

And drumroll please....

I think that this will be my first pair of Socks That Rock that I will be knitting up. And my first pair of Addi Turbos that I will be using. I am trying to keep from casting on till our vacation in Tahoe (STARTING THIS SUNDAY!!!), but the desire is great! Patience young Luke Skyknitter.....get it? SKYKNITTER? Hee hee...Cuz you know I'm the TRAVELING KNITTER??? You know like Sky=Airplanes!!?? Hee hee.....I think that I enjoyed that just a wee bit too much. :) Ok I think I'm going to have to Hide the Zubrowka (Very good Polish Vodka, that makes my current favorite drink of the moment (IT TASTES LIKE APPLE PIE!)) I'm acting way too silly for this early in the day. :)

And finally dear knitters....today's photo of the day....

I know this is dark but I couldn't risk putting on the lights and waking all the parties up in this pic. If you look really hard there is a sleeping cat on both couches (on the head rest parts) and a sleeping husband in the middle.

Record breaking FO in the new year!

2006-01-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

My Hubby and I spent New Years Eve at one of our best friends house. Most of the time I was knitting and Brian our friends were playing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on PS2....I claimed that I had to finish the socks for all the babies I'm knitting for. :) I was knitting these for an Aunt but My friend has a friend who's baby was due on New Years Day, so I let her have them when I was finished so she could send them right away....because they won't fit the baby for long! Speaking of finishing...I finished these socks about 5 min after New Year! Is that a record breaking FO or what!!!??? I think this year I'm going to keep track of my FO in the Side bar....I just have to learn how....any volunteers to teach me or point me in the right direction?

Here we see my friend with the FOs in question.

Here is a close up for your inspection. :)

And here is an even closer look. :)

On New Years Eve, during the day, my wonderful friend Catherine thought of me on her way to one of our local yarn shops for a sale!!!! I hitched a ride with her and her very cute son Brandon. It was wonderful. Then afterwords, we went to an absolutely YUMMY Mexican resturant to eat with some of Catherines friends and family.

The following is my haul from the yarn shop

I've already knit a stole from this book, and I loved it so much I decided to get it so I don't have to keep borrowing this book.

Here we have more Addi Turbos in even more sizes!!!! I can't wait to start!!! Above the needles are a lovely surprise from Catherine for a birthday gift to make socks! It's Rowan (I believe) Cashcotton 4 ply Cotton/Cashmere blend, in a light lavender color, for the perfect warm weather socks! Thank you Catherine!
Since I'm the Traveling Knitter I have to have a guide to all the shops in the US right? This was an obvious choice. My hubby just shook his head when he saw this one.

Here is some more Classic Elite Yarns Premiere that I mentioned in an earlier post....it's what the baby socks are made of....so I decided I deserved big person socks out of this heavenly stuff too. :) The color is really a deep plum, the color in the pic is not really represented correctly. The book was actually a birthday present from the friend with the baby socks above.....she's already requested that I knit her a sweater from the book!!!

Speaking of my birthday, it was a wonderful party!!!! Everyone had fun (I think, I hope). And some people got a bit toasted....ok alot toasted....ok maybe it was the author of this blog. Don't look at me like that....it was my birthday and I could drink if I wanted to! :)

Ta Ta for now.....

Happy Brithday to Meeeeeeee!!!

2005-12-30T11:56:00.000-08:00

Well another year has gone by like a blur....I don't even remember how old I am...and my mom wants to forget because that makes her 20-something years older than me!!! :)

Before we get to the knitting, I wanted to do a holiday season in review type thing.....and then there will be some knitting at the end I promise!!!

Here we see one of my favorite "aunties" passed out on our porch on Thanksgiving. She'd already had a nip at the ol' hip flask, before she even got to our house.

And here we see her husband passed out right next to her....he wanted to keep her company...awe isn't that sweet. :)

Here we see a person who will remain nameless' closet o' shoes.....if you can believe it this is only one of several!!!!

This sleepy Pierce has been really tuckered out by all these holiday celebrations.....I'm considering having an intervention and sending him to sleepers annonymous. :)

Here we see my honey(s) passed out.....Pierce was totally passed out, but the sounds from the camera made him open his eyes and say "Huh! What? I'm awake!!!"

And now to the knitting......

These came for me over the holidays!!! The cotton is just your basic dishcloth cotton, that various family members have requested. Then we have...my first three pairs of Addi Turbos (sizes 1,2, and 3)!!!!! I can't wait to get knitting.....I think my first project on these may be the following Socks That Rock!!

You guys knew I'd deliver the details on my adventure to The Fold!!!!! Let me just tell you that this shop was just AWESOME!!! Toni was just wonderful. I called her from Chicago to let her know that I was on my way and that I may be there a little before closing time.....she said "No problem, I'll keep the shop open since I know you are coming!!!" She was wonderful! I conned my Dad into driving out there and we were greeted by Toni and her friendly German Shepard!!! I walked around the shop and drooled over everything. Toni and I being fiber addicts petted and discussed the merits of certain yarns vs. others (mostly it was her educating me, and me throwing in a smartass remark). My DAD even had fun. He remarked that it was a very pleasant expierence, even though he doesn't knit!!!! I had a great time, bought lots of yarn, got some stuff for free, and came away with a huge yarn high. The above picture is just part of my Socks that Rock haul (2 skeins of Cotton Candy and Spring Fling).

Here we see some Austrailian Heirloom Breeze Shade 13 yarn that is 30/69.6 wool/cotton with .4% Lycra thrown in for elasticity....there was a sock made of it at the store and it made a really pleasant fabric that would be great for Houston weater. The other two skeins are Socks that Rock that I brought back for Cathrine as a request (Colors: Farmhouse, and Watermelon Tourmaline)....Just beautiful!!

And here we see some more Socks That Rock for me!!!! Colors are ( from left to right): Tonalite, Ms. LaRock, Peacock, and Black Onyx. I can't wait to knit these up but I don't feel like my knitting will do these colorways justice.

The above I got the other day at Barnes and Noble.....IT WAS HALF PRICE!!!! Along with all the other calenders so you crocheters and scrapbookers get down there and scoop these up!!!

Why is it that I can't stop knitting tiny socks? I got this one skein of Classic Elite Yarns Premiere to test out and it is JUST FREAKING WONDERFUL!!!! I like it even better than Calmer! It's wonderful....it's 50% Pima Cotton and 50% Tencel, color: 5226. The fabric is so soft and lovely and the color is just perfect for my new Cousin. If I had more time I'd do a baby blanket but she's due in Jan.....I don't think I'd have enough time.

Well that's it for now...I'll post later on since I don't go to work for like 3 weeks....Plus, in the near future we will be going on vacation to Tahoe....get ready for pics of Martha on skis trying not to fall on her butt!

Chirstmas Gifts!

2005-12-27T15:52:00.000-08:00

The picture of the blue sweater below, was the major part of my Christmas knitting (for my Dad). The knitting was done 2 months ago but I did the finishing while I was in Chicago.....I hated every second....it wasn't done til the day after Christmas.

Look how excited he looks about his new sweater!!!

And here is the rear view. :) (Notice all the ends that needed to be weaved in.....Mom did that, bless her.)

But the above picture is how he really feels about the sweater. The sweater turned out to be a bit big, but he doesn't seem to mind.

In the picture below we have a scarf that I am working on for a gift...it's the Irish Hiking Scarf! I love this Scarf!!! I love the pattern and the yarn (Debbie Bliss Merino Aran). The one thing I don't like is the color.....I don't like it but it's one of the recipient's favorite colors.

VIEW 1:

View 2:

I think Aran knitting is my niche, I really enjoy it.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I had a great time in Chicago (the most awesomest place in the world). I visited the sacred place known as "THE FOLD". Toni and her lovely German Shepard were so welcoming and lovely!!! More about my adventure next time.

Sock Yarn: MIA

2005-12-17T17:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Travelling Sock Yarn,

You should have told me that you wanted to continue travelling without me. I would have understood. Hiding in the seat back pocket on that plane was very childish of you. If you didn't want to be turned into the stripey sock (that Catherine loves) I would have understood. I would have set you free and ordered a new skein. Instead you hid from me.....when I realized that you were gone I was frantic. I turned my other skeins lives upside down. There were tears. I thought I had FORGOTTEN YOU ON A PLANE!!!! But alas I now know that you wanted to spread your wings and fly away from me. No worries....I'm not bitter....much....you have been replaced with just a few clicks of a mouse and a enterprising Ebay seller. So I hope you are happy now......I hope some flight attendant found you and depsoited you in the bag with the dirty cups and peanut wrappers (where you belong).

Regards,

Martha

P.S. Should you turn up and should all this be a charade to stress me out, you will be destroyed.

Unexpected disaster

2005-12-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

Ok well I flew into Philly on Monday and was going about my business getting a car and I reached down to get my rolling bag from the car rental shuttle and pulled it up and felt such spectatcular pain that I have never felt....I sat down on the stairs to the shuttle for a few min because I was paralyzed. So after waiting in a line for 45 min with my back screaming to get my car (hint: NEVER NEVER NEVER RENT FROM DOLLAR AT THE PHILLY AIRPORT!!!) I decided that I didn't want to search the city for a hospital so I drove up to my work site and found a hospital there....Oh my god they were wonderful and there was NO ONE there.....with a shot in my butt I was out of there in under 2 hours!!! I didn't even have time to haul out my knitting! I went to work the next day, but flew home the day after that because there was no way I could do more work, Thank God for my Boss!!! He found someone else to do it for me....have I mentioned that I love him!? Anyway that is my sorted story....so I'm at home trying not to plant myself on the couch and knit because that would just make my back stiffen up.....but it's getting to the point of "would it be so bad for me to become ONE WITH THE COUCH?" Because on the plus side, I would get a hell of a lot of knitting done!

Unexpected Treat.

2005-12-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

Due to a Boo Boo on the part of my boss, I got to be home for 24 hours AND on a day that my knit group meets!!! Whoo Whooo.

Now I'm back on the road again where my last second is scheduled......I'm in LA today and I guess there are worse places to be. However, let me share this.....I knit on my sock OVER half the time I was DRIVING.....most of it on the highway. My average speed was maybe 15 mph. [sigh] At least I'm getting work done on my sock (which will go to my mom for Christmas if it looks good or I will keep if it looks like crap, ripping out a sock right now would make me cry).

Those that may or may not be wondering about my knitting "crisis" from next time....well I didn't rip my wip's.....I'm trying to finish them as soon as possible so I can start on projects that are "correct". The bad news is that I cast on for "Branching Out" from Knitty like 6 times and I'm going to have to do something different for my secret pal from the ISE. It just didn't look right and I didn't have the courage to continue.....I think I've lost some knitting confidence. However, Catherine asked me to teach her a new (to her) knitting concept!!! That's a confidence boost. She, in return, will be teaching me "Magic Loop"!! Whooo Score....

I've had a sweater for my dad done for 2 months except for seaming......Do you think he would mind gettting a sweater for Christmas that hasn't been seamed? Ok just the picture in my head with my dad and threaded needle in his hand makes me laugh....But I still don't want to do it!!!!!

Baby steps

2005-12-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

After a disscussion with one of my knitting friends, I have come to the realization that what I thought was "the knit stitch" is actually knitting thru the back loop, resulting in having all my stitches being twisted. Doing the actual knit stitch feels as foreign to me as driving on the wrong side of the road, and after doing months of the wrong thing and getting comfortable with it, it kills me that I have to start over now (because my perfectionist nature won't let me continue to do things the "wrong" way). I have to stop myself from ripping all my works in progress out. I feel really down about this and part of me doesn't want to start over.

WIP's Galore!

2005-11-22T10:17:00.000-08:00

I've been working on mostly socks as you see below.

The two on the far right are done waiting to get Kitchener stiched. (BTW the back ground is our new floor that my husband is putting in!)

Since I'm going to attempt to complete a Branching out scarf, I decided to try a small lace project as you can see in the above lacey sock.....the pooling is awful but I think the lace turned out ok. The sock will be sent off to an aunt who is very pregnant. (Btw I think that I'm going to join the Branching Out Knit along, if you want to join the fun go here)

As we can see this is a later photo all Kitchenered.....it was my first attempt ever and man did it look BAD! But it's the toe and it's small so it is good enough! I did it via tutorial online by the Stitch Diva.....it was by far the best one I found!

In other knitting news, my dad's sweater that I've been knitting went into blocking. I wasn't going to even block it (since it is done in Wool-ease) but the rolling up of the Stockenette was not going to be fun during seaming.

Here we see part of my mess, the trick to doing this in my house was finding a flat surface big enough that won't be danced on by cats.....as you can imagine the furry children just *LOVE* to explore my knitted peices. Taking the picture above was difficult since I had to stand on the toilet to get everything in.

The back side had to blocked in a completely different room!!

So since we now have wonderfull new floors, my hubby and I discussed the rug situation. I said that I wanted to knit us a rug from the below book, but that it would take me a while. He said "Well then I think we should just buy a rug", because he doesn't want to wait. I must have had a horrified look on my face, because we re-negociated that one quickly. He said I could buy the yarn if I knitted it quickly....works for me!

So I think that we've decided to knit the Mitered Square Patchwork Rug from the cover of the book. My only issue now is what yarn to use.....since the Artful Yarns' Dance that the designer used is discontinued. I got online and the two yarns in the running are Wool Pak 14 Ply Baabajoes or Reynolds Lopi. Any imput out there on these two?

Fun stuf for toady!!! More pictures from the new cat tree!!!

Hi Mom!!!

I like seeing you eye to eye!!!

Here we see Pierce and Annie having a spat. Comments heard were "You are a jerk, and I will NEVER share my greenies with you again!" and "Your fur makes you look fat!!"

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!!

Gotta love Half Price!

2005-11-14T10:49:00.000-08:00

Here in Texas (and possibly one or two other states) we have a little store called Half Price Books....you go in with your old books they buy them from you and then resell them for half the price on the cover (plus they sell other brand new books). I usually go to Half Price looking for non-knitting related books, because the knitting section sucks because no sane person would sell their precious knitting books......well imagine my surprise to find:

I don't already have it either!!!

And this!!!!

And what about this!!????

This last one I got at Hobby Lobby but it was still half off because they were having a sale.

Finally, I got a knitting related thing but I can't share here because it's for my Secret Pal for the International Scarf Exchange 2. I finally got my assignment!!! I am so excited. I am still in the thinking stages of figureing out what to make....my pal prefers lace scarves. Any ideas? I have done ZERO lace, and am at a loss.....I am thinking a basic intro to lace type scarf with a little heavier than lace weight yarn? Any help would be apperciated. :) Really I could just make a ribbed scarf in a fluffy cuddly yarn but why waste the chance to learn something new? Or am I deluding myself?

Well some of you may have noticed that there is a lack of updates on WIP's. Well it's not because I'm not working on my WIP's.....it's just that I'm working on all of my projects and not making extraordinary progress on any one of them. Does this happen to anyone else?

Beautiful PA! And Newsflash!

2005-11-10T07:34:00.000-08:00

I have work in PA this week and let me tell you it is beautiful up here.....anyone who appreciates color (and what knitter doesn't?) is in heaven up here....the leaves are all different colors. It's been so long since I've seen these lovely sights!!!

Newsflash! I've joined the International Scarf Exchange 2 today! The cutoff date was today so it was literally at the last moment! I am so excited.....I can't wait to get my secret pal info....we should be getting them by Nov. 15.

Since I know you can't have enough Alpaca....these are the photos that blogger wouldn't load no matter how much I begged.

Here are some other new buds.

I'm ready for my close-up (In reality, I'm pissed off....see my ears?)

And this was the only way this one would be friendly with me....I came with bribes (I am definately not above bribery.....ask Brynne. )

Look what I saw the other day!

And it's a good thing because I saw these guys heading for the curb!!! I love seeing our tax dollars at work!!!

Boerne was a blast! (WARNING PICTURE INTENSIVE!)

2005-11-08T08:39:00.000-08:00

Kid n Ewe this year was fun for me.....not for alot of other people. The Festival people didn't get the contract signed securing the space untill very late last month, so alot of the vendors backed out and not many people showed up to browse. However, this was good for me because if there were alot more (i.e. vendors, people) my eyes would have glazed over and I wouldn't have known where to start. I bought yarn (of course), but I am most proud of my newly aquired drop spindle!!!! Yes I have gone over to the dark side!

Here are some shots of some new friends.

Here is my hubby with Mr. Alpaca......

Here are some ladies who had just bought new wheels!!

One more shot.

Ironically there were not kids ewes, or llamas at the KID N' EWE AND LLAMAS TOO fest....however as you can see there were alpacas.

On the way home we stopped on the side of the highway (yes very classy showroom) and bought this. We'd been looking for a while and when ahead and took the plunge.

Good thing the kids like it.

Mememe among other things.

2005-11-05T09:11:00.000-08:00

Ok, as Marlanea has explained, since Brynne tagged us both for meme's we decided to post meme's about our friendship. Please feel free to ask us questions about the more confusing points. :)

1. Our house in Rockport was known as the “sausage board of the south” thus all sausage related decisions are made there.

2. No commercially available sausage in Texas is good enough for a Polish recipe

3. I have made a joke funny enough to make Marlanea snort lemonade through her nose.

4. The only blind date I’ve ever been on (the one Marlanea set me up on) asked me to marry him on the first date…..there are so many things that went wrong that evening.

5. One other thing that went wrong that evening is that M&M (Marlanea and Martha), and Blind Date ate seafood and then immediately afterwards went on some sort of vomit inducing carnival ride.

6. Marlanea taught me that soy sauce and egg drop soup do in fact go together.

7. Cranberry juice is not only M&M’s drink of choice, but it’s also a known aphrodisiac.

8. My parents’ nickname for Marlanea is “Malina” which means Raspberry in Polish.

9. Contrary to Marlanea’s belief, I AM THE LEADER AND I SAY WHEN! This has been a source of dissent ever since we saw the Aristocats for the first time.

10. Marlanea has seen our “Deca Dad” take a picture of my back side as I was half in the fake stream at the putt putt course trying to retrieve a stray golf ball.

11. M&M have been on a couple of airplanes WITH Mickey ears firmly on our heads.

12. Marlanea choose Martha to her date at the fancy schmancy Christmas dance in high school since her boyfriend (now husband) was in Austin.

13. Because of Marlanea, I will forever have nightmares about consuming sushi….she demanded I try it by jamming some sort of fish roll down my throat.

14. M & M have an erie knack for preparing the exact thing that the other’s spouse hates for dinner.

15. The other card game at the “house of sex” was VC aka Vietnamese Cards…. which has different rules depending on who you ask.

16. No matter what anyone says, making animal crakers pose in pornographic positions is never appropriate behavior during a film in government class.

17. If one enters a discussion about wearing make up completing a woman, with Marlanea, prepare to see steam come out of her ears.

18. I don’t think anyone will ever forget the day that Marlanea asked “I wonder what would happen if I took my top off in here?” at the Calypso Café at the Corpus Christi Half Price Books.

19. Never ask Marlanea what something means….go look it up….she will lie to you.

20. M&M have won state Championships in high school for DECA, which is a nationwide competion for marketing. Our event consisted of preparing a lengthy marketing improvement proposal.

21. Winning this championship enabled us to go to Nationals, and thus missing our senior prom…it was definitely for the best, because I didn’t have to find an excuse to say NO to Billy who asked me to prom! Whatever happened to him? Do you k1. now Marly?

22. Marlanea is very amused when I talk to my parents on the phone in Polish and throw in an English word every now and then…..I think it reassures her that we are not in fact talking about HER.

23. The first time I met Marlanea I, too thought she was a bitch.

24. At one point in time, we both belonged to the RFHS Science Club (yes we were total geeks). For one unfortunate period I was President of said Science Club.

25. If possible, the magic of yarn and knitting have brought us closer together…. with many more memories to come!!

After the tragedy of the socks that won't come out to be the same size, I started questioning my skills as a knitter....and frankly wheather I should actively carry on the obsession. I am really excited to report that I have launched into a new Sock that included THREE new techniques that I have never tried!!! I decided baby socks were just right, because they are small (so not as much of a time commitment if things go south), and one of my aunts is VERY pregnant at the moment so they make handy baby gifts......well I looked online and found this pattern. It was great!!! They are toe up socks with short row heels, neither of which I have attempted before. The pattern also calls for a lacey leg part and I tried it but it didn't work with the cotton yarn that I was using, this was a new concept for me and it worked but just didn't look right (and I don't recall the name of the yarn at the moment). I am so excited that I have these new skills, and I am in love with these tiny socks, but I need some advice from the ladies out there with children. The yarn in 100% cotton and has almost zero give....is the momma gonna be able to stuff the foot into them?

Sorry about the quality of the picture but I finished them in the car on the way to Boerne, TX (and just had to take a picture and blog about them) for the Kid n' Ewe and Llamas too fesitval! So as you can see I am not giving up the obsession! I'll be sure to blog about this event next time!

Life would also not be complete without a cute cat picture either...so here goes.....

Mario In a Box (close cousin of Jack-in-the box)

Our sweet furchild loves to jump into empty boxes. As a side note, you can see the book "The Knitted Rug" by Donna Druchunas trying to get in the picture. I bought it because we are putting down flooring, and getting rid of carpet so I am looking forward to knitting a bunch of area rugs! Does anyone have any experience in this area? Does anyone have any advice on yarn type or yarn brand I should use? Any advice would be appreciated.

Well I'm off to pet the woolie creatures! Ta ta!

In Mourning.

2005-11-03T05:22:00.000-08:00

In my Oct 14th post I described an event that causes sadness in every knitters' heart....the socks I've been knitting do not match in size and shape. I had the sock ripped and I quickly reknit it so I could send off the socks to a dear Aunt in England for her birthday this month.....and horror of horrors the sock did not match again.....FOR THE SECOND TIME!!!!! I've decided that the sock pattern that is plaguing me should be put aside to defeat another day. I made this decision while having a minor break down that I decided was entirely caused by knitting. I mean what else could have caused my breakdown? Could it be that my house is complete ruin due to painting and putting down floors? Nah! Could it be that all the "renovations" need to be completed by Thanksgiving, because I am hosting the whole family? No WAY! Could it be that I am traveling the whole month and thus unable to help speed things along? Definitely not! Maybe it's the fact that I have no "thanksgiving-type" recipes to make for the family that I love? COULDN'T BE! It must have been the cursed sock!

Ok enough of that.....Next time.....a mememe that I got tagged by Brynne to do.

I Love Lucy!

2005-10-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

Well I got this new book called Cool Socks, Warm Feet....and guess what....I found out what that wierd thing my lastest socks were doing was the "laddering affect" or some variation of that phrase. Why is this the FIRST time I am having this problem!? Oh well, here they (well, it's only one sock so here IT is) for your viewing pleasure.

I don't know if you can see the ladders....they aren't that bad but they are driving me batty knowing that they are there.

I learned this, among many interesting things about knitting socks in Cool Socks, Warm Feet. This book just makes me realize how truly little I know about knitting. :) Lucy Neatby is a wonderful knitter....I love Lucy!

On to a different topic.....how does one combat knitters arse (you know the pheonomenon where your butt expands because you are knitting so much)? Has anyone come up with any solutions? I'm taking suggestions! Would it be possible to exercise while knitting? Like on a treadmill? Has anyone tried this? The problem is out of control and must be delt with.

I got these in Los Angeles....If you must have some too contact the Knit Cafe.

This Box came in the mail the other day...

...it is making me happy knowing that these poor skeins made it to my house where they will be well cared for....and not abused......My husband is worried.....he thinks I need therapy.

GO ASTROS!!!

2005-10-20T06:03:00.000-07:00

I don't have time for a full post today. However, I wanted to pose the following question out there in cyberspace.

Since the season is OVER for the Saint Louis Cardinals, and they have alot of time on their hands, I am posing suggestions for new names for the team:

-The Saint Louis Do Do Birds (You know, cuz they went the way of the Do Do! Total Extinction! HA!)

-The Saint Louis Ostriches (For when they stick their heads in the sand...which was frequently this last series, evidently!)

...and my personal favorite

-The Saint Louis TURKEYS!!!!! (Well, for OBVIOUS reasons)

Looking towards the future....my loyalties are split because I was born and raised in Chicago.....I don't know who to root for!?

Pierce

2005-10-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

First on the agenda today, as promised, SECRETS OF A PIERCE CAT!!! ;) I belong to several online groups using piercethecat as my username. This has been the source of some confusion and today I am here to clear it up (in reality it's mostly because I love my Pierce and love any chance to post pictures of him. :) ). In one group it was suggested that the "pierce" in "piercethecat" was supposed to be a verb....as in taking a sharp pointy stick (not unlike a knitting needle) and poking a hole in him!!!! EEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEE NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I cleared that up pretty quickly.....who ever that was must have been a cat hater!!! Another person suggested that perhaps "pierce" means that my dear kitten has some chic body piercings. Alas, this is also not the case. Pierce is actually named after one of the most gorgous men on this planet (number 2 right next my husband)....Pierce Brosnan (you know the OLD James Bond)....don't you see the resemblance?

What? Not even a little bit? What about all the similarities? The blue eyes!!! The dark hair!! Still no? Ok nevermind then.......

Second on the agenda today.....answer to Two Truths and a Lie!

-I've been to a communist country. TRUE! When I was a kid my parents used to take me to Poland (before the wall fell), in fact we used to fly to West Germany and drive through East Germany, so technically I've been to TWO communist countries.

-I have two BBA's (business degrees). TRUE! I have a degree in Marketing and Operations Management.....not that either of those does me any good. :)

-I'm a computer geek....I know everything there is to know. LIE!!! Even though I work for a software company I am a computer novice! I can't even reformat my own hard drive!!! :)

Thirdly, I have gotten some sort of nastly head cold...you know...the kind that makes your TEETH and HAIR hurt. I am taking some kick ass vitimins to battle the cold and I would tell you all about it except that Norma has already done it for me......read this post print it out and make it your cold and flu bible, it works!! By the way, the above picture of Pierce (the cat) is one that I took as he was comforting his mom in bed while she was sick.

Fourthly, Astros....you just better wrap things up in St. Louis tonight!!!

It does not escape me that this post had nothing to do with knitting. However, we will be back strong with knitting next time! I will even show ya'll progress on my stripey sock!!!!

Question: Who has a touch of the bird flu?

2005-10-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

Answer: The Saint Louis Cardinals!!!! HHHHHHHAAAAAAA!!!!!

I am so not a Baseball fan, except when the Astro's play Saint Louis....one of my good friends is from Saint Louis and is a die hard fan......I love to rub the salt in his wounds (he especially loves all referances to "bird flu")!

Well, I've decided to put the horror of the mismatched socks behind me and start on some new socks while I'm in Oklahoma City this weekend for work. What do ya think so far?

It is truely wonderous how much faster socks go on No. 3's vs. No. 1's! :) I know it looks like there is a wierd thing going on where one needle ends and another begins but I think that will look fine once I'm done (at least that is what I'm telling myself....I can't handle another sock tragedy right now). As a side note, there are some (Hint) who think that Kinky will be our next Gov. I don't know anything about him so I figured one of his mysteries would be the most painless of introductions (thus the stowaway in the pic above). :)

I've also decided to wait till next time I blog to do the conclusion of Two Truths and a Lie (for those of you on the edge of your seat), since some people don't actually check blogs on the weekends (What is that about!?)

On my first post I mentioned a sweater that I'm making for my dad....well it's gettting closer to done and I have some time, so here is a hint of what it looks like (only one sleeve showing since that is the only part of the sweater I could bring on the plane to Oklahoma with me).

There was some discussion at the SnB in Katy about the color of this, since it's for a MAN. I know it's a daring color....but my dad has blue eyes....I think it will be ok. It is knitted in Wool-ease, YES the one that has ACRYLIC in it! (GASP) However, let me ask you this....what other yarn would you use to make a sweater for a man who does his own laundry....case closed.

For those of you with back issues of Vouge Knitting and would like to see the sweater, it is in Winter '00/'01 #20

Next time.....secrets of a Pierce cat. :)

All sorts of news!

2005-10-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday one of my oldest friends Marlanea and I went over to Zebo's in Katy to check out the Stitch and Bitch there......man were we pleasantly surprised. It was a miricle that it happened at all.....I am usually not even in the state of Texas on Thursdays and Marlanea lives in LAPORTE (it took all sorts of bribery to get her to get over here)! Well let me just tell you ladies.....YOU ROCK! I have some pics below but I'm a moron with names and I can't remember them or I assign them to the wrong person....so I'm sorry for the lack of captions!

As you can see I'm also a terrible photographer (gimmie a break it was dark! :) ). As a side note, we should SOOOOOOO caravan to the Kid N Ewe fest! My husband is willing to drive so we can knit! Isn't he lovely. :)

Ok time for a little game!!!! TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE!!!! I was reminded about this game last night and decided to give it a spin on the old blog.

Which of the following is a lie?
-I've been to a communist country.
-I have two BBA's (business degrees).
-I'm a computer geek....I know everything there is to know.

Back to knitting... I am new to the whole sock thing. I finished my 3rd pair of socks a few days ago and showed Pierce (one of the loves of my life).....the following is a documentation of his inspection.....

Uhhhhhh....this is INTERESTING.

Mom....I hope you don't with hold the Greenies for what I'm about to say but.....there is a small problem here.

Alas he was right......Ok so the bigger less comfortable sock needed to be ripped....but I surely wasn't going to undo hours of my life......I've given the sock to my husband....he promises that he will return it in a center pull ball. [Insert weeping here] Don't really know WHY my knitting was looser on the FIRST sock but there you have it. I used the same needles and Kroy sock yarn!!!!! Most of it from the same skein!!!!! I love the pattern which is "After Bertha" from SOCKS, SOCKS, SOCKS, but I'm obviously having some disfunction here.....hopefully it will work out on the second go-round.

One of the joys of my job is traveling all over the country hence to many a YARN SHOP. The following is my haul from Knoxville Tenn. from the Knit N Purl. Definately worth a stop when in the area.....I was only limited by my checked baggage allowance...otherwise there would be a TON more.

Sorry for the photo intensive post. Answer to "Two truths and a lie" next time!

AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHH

2005-10-10T18:23:00.000-07:00

Ok so my Dad calls me and askes me to "help" him with something. I'm supposed to write a legal document (I DIDN'T FREAKIN GO TO LAW SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) for him for his business. So being a good daughter, I agreed cringing all the way. Three hours later....after sending drafts back and forth over e-mail......I am about to drive a pen in my eye just so I would have an excuse to get off the phone!

On the plus side.....The Anniversary Sweater is still on the docket to get made. The yarn is bought!!! It will be mostly navy with a white stripe. I can't wait. I have a problem though, the largest size is LARGE and my husband is a XXL and 6 foot tall....ok so any advice? Is there a service that will help me rewrite the pattern? PLEASE HELP ME!

There are other projects on the needles, but as I am traveling in Nowheresville, TN, you will see them some other day.

I jacked this from another blogger. Hi Deena!

2005-10-08T21:29:00.000-07:00

You are Merino Wool.You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to
keep you close because you are so softhearted.
You love to be comfortable and warm from your
head to your toes.

What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by

I'm back!

2005-10-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

When one travels alot, one tends to develop certain likes and dislikes for the cities one visits, especially if one goes there alot. Lemme tell you I was NOT a fan of Los Angeles....I disliked everything about it.....the traffic, the smog, the heat, the long distances between towns (nice talk from someone from Texas!). HOWEVER, I would drop everything and pack up and move there in a second if for only one reason....The Knit Cafe. I attended one of their "Group Therapy" sessions and had a really good time. I met so many really nice and interesting knitters including Deena. Who inspired me to blog again after I gave up because I was the only one reading my blog. :) . So lets try this again.....I'll be back....soon....I hope..... :)

Odd day at work

2005-08-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

I'm not going into specifics because they are boring but I've never had so much down time when "on location" at work. Basically I get to my assigned worksite and I work till my fingers fall off. But today I, for the first time, KNITTED while AT WORK, and let me tell ya I could get used to that. :)

As you see in the picture above I have my two laptops up and on one there is nothing open (the flowers you see are my wallpaper) this is my WORK computer, and on the other one there is a knitting blog up(Reading Blogs is addictive....) And, what is that there? Why it's the purple scarf that won't let me bind off. I don't know why It's taking me soooo long....I'll blame it on the cables (it is my first time doing them!)

Also on the agenda today was cruising Knitty's archives. I am seriously thinking about making the husband this It's called the "Anniversary Sweater". It is made from Katia Pisco which is a cotton blend, which is perfect because my second anniversary is coming up and supposedly the traditional 2nd year gift is COTTON. How cool would that be if I could actually finish this for my anniversary? How likely is that to happen? Ok you can stop laughing now. The REAL question is what is my husband getting me for my anniversary gift, and will it be yarn related? Stay tuned.

On the road again!!!!

2005-08-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

I am working!!!!!! My two week forced vacation with out pay is over!!!!!! I hate being a contractor, I only get paid when I work and work is not ALWAYS plentiful! Anyway, this morning I flew into beautiful Nashville TN. At 10am while walking thru the terminal there was a live band playing country tunes! On a WEDNESDAY!!! If I'd had enough coffee on board I would have stopped to take a picture, instead I stopped and stared for a few seconds and proceeded to sniff out a coffee provider.

On the knitting front I am in the space-time continum where you knit on a peice and it never actually GETS LONGER. I'll keep you posted. My husband doesn't seem to understand the space-time thing. I bought some some needles off ebay a few weeks back and he's wondering why I haven't started using them....it's because I can't seem to finish a single project and I have a BUNCH on the needles....I know I'm pathetic.

When is summer going to be over?

2005-08-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

We live in Houston, so I should be used to this....but WHEN IS SUMMER GOING TO BE OVER!!!!! I hate this heat and humidity......it sucks for trying to knit sweaters! Haven't done much except for make the purple scarf longer. Will have to try to diversify my time. :)

Since summer refuses to leave let's think about Christmas......how many handknits do I want to make to give away this year?

Motorcycles vs.Yarn

2005-08-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

Although this has nothing at all to do with knitting....I was on my first motorcycle yesterday. For reasons that blow my mind my MIL has one and my husband took me for a ride yesterday....let me just tell ya....I hated it. I told my husband if it came down to a choice between buying a motorcycle or more yarn.....I'd live in the yarn store.

Ok ladies and gentlemen.....progress on my first cable scarf....drum roll please....

So what do ya think?

As a side note: does anyone know how to change the date on these pictures!? I promise I didn't do these in 2002! :)

Vist from the yarn fairy.

2005-08-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

Ok no the yarn fairy didn't visit me but that's what we will be telling my husband! :) No that charge from the yarn shop just has to be a mistake! So here is what I bought:

The Purple will become a lovely scarf for a friend (shhh don't tell her) it will be my first flirtation with the cable needle....wish me luck. The blue....I don't know... socks for me? The magazine....well it has a really nice jacket type thing I may attempt.....I'll let you know. Next time join us for the progress on the cable scarf! It's on a dead line.....

What's in a name?

2005-08-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

The name of this very short-lived blog has come as a result of some public knitting I have done, yes, but it is largely a result of PRIVATE knitting! Yes in the comfort of my own home I have been ridiculed and shamed because I am a knitter! A parade of aunts and uncles have deemed me "an old grandma" for knitting. My knitting inspired an aunt of mine to pick up needles after many years, after doing so she got heckled so much she put them away again! So dear readers, this is why I am so defensive when it comes to my knitting....I have yet to form any knitting friendships (although I'm hoping to change that) so I am solo in my persuit of knitting nirvana.

Ok enough ranting. :) Personal info about me? I am a female, I know I may seem to be male with the job I do....I get that ALL the time....I have to prove I'm as good as a male to every single new client of mine. I have a cuddly teddy bear of a husband. I also provide the care and maintanence for 3 kitties that consent to live here, and one doggie (who was a package deal with the husband.) :) Pictures you ask? Well if you insist.....

I am much too sleepy to talk to you!

I look mean but I'm really the professor....very smart.

I am the princess, you all must bow to me (or just pet me alot).

I am a silly dog who spins like a top when I want to go outside.

Under the weather

2005-08-04T23:04:00.000-07:00

Definately feeling like life has run me over by a mack truck today.....so gotta look at the positives right!? Ok this is a picture of my first ever completed socks! I am so proud! And the recipient (my dad) seems pretty happy with them too if I do say so my self! :) He got exactly what he ordered....Thick winter socks to wear during cold Polish winters.....so what that I gave them to him in june....don't look at me like that.

Ok so I have a question....when sock patterns start the instructions for "short rows" what the heck to they mean by "contiune in this manner"? If it were me.....ALL THE FREAKING ROWS WOULD BE SPELLED OUT!!!!!

Ta Dah!

2005-08-02T19:59:00.000-07:00

Basically, I started this blog to talk about my adventures in knitting. Most of the time I travel for work and I take my knitting with me and I get strange looks when I whip it out and start working. Then sometimes I get the opposite reaction where people get really excited and start fondling my project (A flight attendent got a bit too entusiastic about a scarf I was making)! Anyway, it won't be all travel all the time because sometimes (like now) I don't have any work and I get to sit at home and not earn any yarn money. :(

Anyway, WIP include:

-Royal Blue Sweater (eventually for my dad)
-Really thick bed socks (for a sick aunt)
-Afgan (wanted to give it to mom but don't think it will be done for THIS Christmas!)
-Horizontal knit scarf (I've already made a ton of these and this one if finally for me!!!)
-Tweed sweater (will be for me! :) )

More details to follow!