Knit'nat

Bright and Shiny? We Think Not.

When we last left our heroine, she mentioned she was distracted by something bright and shiny.  Not so, we tell you...not so.

What I was distracted by is something more of a brown/tan color.  And there are reasons behind it.

There has been a lot of bad juju in my office these last few weeks and I have had some negativity running through my veins because of it.  Everybody seemed to have piss poor attitudes - a lot of yelling, a lot of mistakes being made, a lot of finger pointing.  Then on Monday, I decided that I should focus my energy into something positive...so I made Bad Juju.  I made it in brown because my boss is full of crap, and with every stitch, I thought of how annoying he is.  And amazingly, with every stitch I felt much better.  I've had a positively glowing outlook all week, focusing all of my bad feelings into this little guy. 

I have also managed to work another couple of rounds on Coffee Faucet Sock deux, and will continue to work on it sporadically. 

Other knitting progress includes completing the Cherry Bomb sleeveless top from Big Girl Knits.  I completed knitting/seaming yesterday and wove in the ends this morning.  I love this top.  I am planning on wearing it to work this week, and will also be wearing it during our trip to Washington, DC.  The yarn was yummy to work with. 

I have a picture of the work in progress, and hope to be able to post a picture of the finished product actually on my person tonight or tomorrow.

Additional progress has been made on the Norwegian Woods Scarf and the Goddess Anniversary Shawl knit along:

I will not be at the 2nd Wednesday meeting of the Hurricane Knitters tomorrow; my youngest is turning 11.  Yes, both of my boys were July babies.  On Friday, we are heading out to DC to do the tourist thing and see Dani.  I am in a serious quandry about what knitting to take - probably just the coffee faucet sock #2 and the goddess shawl.  I don't foresee a lot of knitting time, but I do have hope. 

Bloglines is on Crack. (And SP12 Questions 4 & 5).

Yes, you heard me.  Bloglines is on crack. 

Why do I say that?  The last couple of weeks, it's been acting crazy.  There for a while, it didn't recognize that I had posted to my blog, and suddenly 4 or so of my posts appeared on the same day.  Sometimes it tells me that there are new entries to be read...and sometimes it doesn't, even when there are.  And then today, there was this:

Really, 200 entries?  I think not.  And when I clicked - there were 0 new items. 

I have tried Google Reader and I'm not sure that I like it, plus the fact that I don't like to stay signed in to Google while I'm at work, because people around here are nebby.

Onward!

I'm behind in my answers for the Secret Pal questions. 

Question 4:

1) What yarn (that you don’t have/haven’t used) would make your stash “complete”?
2) What yarn do you never want to be without?

I'll answer this in reverse order. 

What yarn I don't ever want to be without is Cascade 220.  What a great workhorse yarn.  I've used it for the Cardigan for Arwen, for felted bowls, for a felted purse, for a felted sling bag - and I'm in love with it.  It performs beautifully and is a joy to knit with, and I don't believe I've ever run across a knot in the middle of it, which is more than I can say for some higher priced yarns. 

What yarn would make my stash complete?  I was reading Mason-Dixon Knitting's blog and saw the post about denim yarn.  I left a comment about how I had the opportunity to buy some once but bypassed it, and now am kicking myself as I've progressed in my knitterly skills.  I'd like to add some of that to my stash.  And perhaps some linen and/or bamboo yarn would give me a well-rounded stash. 

Question 5:

1) Where is your favorite place to go for vacation/holiday?
2) Where is one place you’d like to go?

My favorite place to go for vacation?  I don't think I have one.  I've loved everywhere I've ever visited.  This year, we are taking the kids to Washington, DC (and plan to visit with Dani while we're down there).  We love going to Florida and hanging out in Sanibel, or Orlando.  We adore Tennessee.  I love Kentucky, too (it's so green!). 

One place I'd like to go?  Do I really have to be limited to one?  IrelandScotlandEnglandItalyThailandTexasCaliforniaWashingtonRoute66MontanaOklahomaTorontoEmlentonDubai.

----

Looking ahead:  I am still working on lace and cherry bomb and coffee faucet and of course I was distracted by a bright shiny object...and will post about it with pictures.  Today, being rainy, is not a good picture day.

Does Your Harbour Light Still Shine?*

Mine does, THANK YOU to my Secret Pal!!

I received a LOVELY surprise in my email this evening...a copy of the latest Sivia Harding pattern, Harbour Lights.  With the help of Sivia herself and Sarah, I am conquering my fear of lace and laceweight yarn.  Sivia encouraged me to ditch the Diamond Fantasy (I wasn't in love with the yarn) and dive into the Norwegian Woods shawl.  I'm still working on the first section of the shawl, but I have yarn I'm in love with and everything is going really well (knocking on pressed wood product just to scare away the goonies, in case they want to steal the mojo away).  Sarah encouraged me to join the Goddess Knits anniversary shawl knitalong, which is a pi shawl (no purling!).  I've successfully completed the 1st 2 charts on that and am ready to dive in to chart #3.  I have 288 stitches on my needles and have gone from 2 circulars to just 1 circular now.  I have had some issues, yes, have had to tink back, but it is going well.  I've learned that I can knit with lace weight and that I own the yarn, it doesn't own me.  It might think it does, but it's got another thing coming.  (The same, however, cannot be said for my cat.  He owns me). 

Okay...where was I?

Oh yes.

THANK YOU SECRET PAL!  I am beyond tickled with this gift.  With any luck, I'll have that 8.5 miles of laceweight yarn down to 5 in no time!!  :) 

While yesterday was spent with friends, I did get some knitting in -- mostly in the form of teaching my friend Christina to knit.  Christina is a very talented crocheter, and has wanted to learn to knit.  She picked up on it right away, and is knitting continental style.  I'm a "thrower" so I'm hoping that I don't have any issues when I teach her the purl stitch.  Continental knitters -- any thougths out there? 

I also cast on for the 2nd Coffee Faucet sock.  Yes, Sock #1 is done!! 

My mom and stepdad are coming for a visit tomorrow.  Today was spent giving the house a deep clean.  I scrubbed every available surface and then some.  Purchased some new stuff just to perk the place up a bit.  And I have removed some old, nasty vertical blinds that were driving me nuts.  Now I just need to find something to replace them with.  We have a big old drapery rod in the attic that belongs over the window...I just need to make some window treatments. 

Anyway...

THANK YOU AGAIN to my secret pal.  You have truly made my day with your generous surprise!!  And surprise me it did.  I'm so happy!! 

Enjoy the rest of the long weekend, y'all.

*Fans of The Clarks should recognize that line from Scott Blaisey's solo album, Shine.

This Week's Secret Pal Question

I've kind of put off answering this week's question, because it's one that's really made me think.  The first one was easy (favorite drink) - the 2nd one wasn't too bad, either.  This one, though...well.  Here:

What would you consider the perfect amount of stash?

What would I consider the perfect amount of stash??  That's tough.  Sometimes I sweat that I have too much in the stash as it is.  I mean...how many miles of laceweight do I have?  Nearly 9.  And I don't want to start thinking about the sock yarn.  I have oodles of sock yarn and I am not very quick at knitting socks.  I think I manage about 2 pr. a year.  Or something like that.  But what is the perfect amount of stash?

Enough to knit a couple sweaters, a couple of wraps/shawls, a year's worth of socks, and odds and ends for scarves and hats? 

Enough to last me a lifetime so that I don't have to go to the yarn store ever again?  No, that's not it at all.  I wouldn't ever want that to happen.  I love my LYS. 

I think the stash that I have is the perfect amount.  I don't have enough that I can just root through the stash and yank out enough for the perfect new sweater, but I have enough to know that if I don't have money for yarn for a while, I'm good.  I also have enough to keep me in projects for a while.  That "while" may be a year, may be six months.  But I've got enough yarn that I'm okay with not buying any...

...until Rhinebeck. 

It's Been Awhile

Things are still lumbering along.  The SS Schleprock continues to churn through murky waters, and I continue to hang out on the bow, hoping to see land soon. 

In the meantime, there has been knitting:

This picture makes the sock look really long, although it isn't.  This is the coffee faucet sock, knit with Kaffe Fassett designer yarn, gifted from Jane.  I didn't think I'd like the color combinations but once I got going on it, I was like WOW! 

I am now on the toe and hope to be finished with this sock by the end of the weekend, so that I can move on to sock #2 and hopefully be done with the pair by the end of summer.  I am a notoriously slow sock knitter. 

(Oh, that pink blurb on the side?  That is actually a handy dandy sock pal tote my friend Donna made for me.  I love it.)

As for the other socks -- the monkeys, I'm so close to being done with them!  Why don't I finish?  What is my problem?  I really need to get them off the needles.  I think I'm at the toe of Sock 2.  You see what I mean?  What is my holdup!!?   The rock & weave socks are no further along, either.  I think my problem there is that I'm faced with truly how big my legs are.  It'll happen, eventually.  My goal is to finish all these socks by the end of the summer.  Tune in for updates.

In lace knitting, here's the result of the first clue in the Goddess Knits Anniversary Shawl KnitAlong:

Ignore that huge hole there toward the center.  It's a really big ladder.  I'll fix that in the blocking. 

I started on 2 circulars, went to 3 DPNs and then put it on one circular for this photo, then went back to 2 circulars.  I'm now on the 2nd clue and about halfway through with it.  I need to knit this when it's relatively quiet or there are few distractions around the house -- and considering it is summertime and the boys are staying up later, that's not always happening.

I am still working on the Norwegian Woods shawl from Sivia Harding; I REALLY need to be able to concentrate on that one, but I absolutely love that shawl.  I'm hoping to have some time to put in on it over the weekend, as well.

Jenn mentioned to me the last time that I saw her that I needed to put up a few more pictures of the kitten.  Peanut's badness level is extraordinarily high for someone of his size, but he is a bit of a cutie, nonetheless.

He and Milo hang out together and get on rather well, as you can see.

I cannot believe this is June 27th.  What happened to the month?!  Where did it go?

There is also a new secret pal question out, but I'll save that for a weekend post.

In the meantime, I leave you with this, from my Dove Promise:

Secret Pal Question - Week 2

And the weekly question is:

As a kid, what did you look forward to most about summer vacation/
break/holiday?

We lived in Conneaut, OH, which is on the shore of Lake Erie.  I would say I most looked forward to being able to spend time on the beach.  My dad worked swing shift, so if he was home, we were likely doing chores -- weeding the garden, yard work, painting the barn, etc.  But if he wasn't home, Mom would take us to the beach nearly every day.  Sometimes we'd have a picnic, but mostly, we would just hang out in the water or on the playground, then go home, exhausted and happy.

Good Things

I know I've focused on some not-so-happy moments the last couple of posts, so I thought I'd take a few minutes and just kind of refocus myself on the positives in my life.

1. I have two good kids, who are each smart, thoughtful, and gracious.
2. I have a job, and a car to get there in.
3. I have a husband who, while he may not always do exactly what I want him to do, does more than some husbands.  He does laundry!  He is a mechanic and can fix my car!  And he loves me.
4. I have the ability to knit.
5. My knitting has put me in touch with some of the best people I know.   If you are reading this blog, you are one of them. 
6. I have pets, and they are a constant source of entertainment.
7. I can put food on the table, both because I work and because I can cook.
8. Because I can cook well, I don't have to rely on a lot of prepackaged meals.  Sure, we may eat dinner at 7:30/8:00, if not later, but I'm not putting a lot of preservatives in our systems.
9. I have a great yarn store at which to shop, which is owned by and staffed by friends.
10. I have my health. 
11. I have both of my parents. 
12. I have a pretty good life, when I stop and think about it.

Thank you.

Knitting news:  I'm about 75% done on Cherry Bomb.  I really should take a picture of that!  I also started the Goddess Knits anniversary shawl KAL today.  Do you know what that means? 

I'm knitting lace.

I'm using stash lace weight yarn.

I've got not ONE, but TWO lace projects going on.

Somebody stop me!

:)

This Ain't the Love Boat

Oh, no.  I'm on board the SS Schleprock, destined for ports unknown, but they are all guaranteed to be dreary, depressing, dark, dank, and full of bad luck.

Case in point:  2008.

Let's see...Vehicle problems:  Check and double check.  Hell, triple and quadruple check.  Quintuple check?  (Transmission gave out on my Jeep plus being pulled over by the police in the big off road Jeep, and let's not forget the little incident where the pulley went kwhap, and oh yeah, there was that time when I got pulled over and the police removed the sticker on the vehicle...and say hello to your new Ford Taurus.)

Knitting Problems:  A cardigan for Arwen.  Need I say more?  Let's hear it for miscrossed cables!  And looking like a stuffed sausage!!  (Okay, all in all, the cardi did turn out beautifully.  Plus I love it.)  How about Sonnet?  Talk about wrong yarn for this project.  But I won't let it go. It is a warm, warm sweater, even if it hangs funny.   

Miscellaneous Problems:  (Please forgive the forthcoming vulgarity) The dude who broke into the vehicle, stole the cell phone, the faceplate, and the knitting.  Various and sundry school issues with the children (thankyousomeone, it's over).  Money issues (like my ex husband, a spectacular example of a douche-sip if ever there was one, who was fired from his job, and is dragging me back to court because he can't pay the child support now.  Huh.)  Death of Purl, beloved companion.  Sunburn last weekend, and this weekend I'm looking like Molt from A Bug's Life. 

 Gotta love Molt.

This week alone:  I've blown a blood vessel in my eye (no, it doesn't hurt).  That happened on Wednesday, I think.  No, Tuesday; Robert saw it Tuesday evening.  The blood is still draining.  Right now I can't decide if the eye looks jaundiced, injured, or both.  It's a lovely combination of pale yellow and scarlet red.  And today, two things:  I was eating dinner, felt something weird in my mouth, and low and behold, I've broken a tooth.  Oh, joy (I dislike going to the dentist).  Then I was watering the plants, and yanked on the hose, which was wrapped around an old cat littler bucket which, unbeknownst to me, contained about 6 quarts of used motor oil that my husband was planning on recycling.  Said yank caused the container to tip sidewise, thus spilling its contents all over the ground between the garage and the house.  It looks like the Exxon Valdese out there.  If there were penguins, Greenpeace would be all over my heiney.  Fortunately, I don't think there are penguins in Butler.  I did go to Target, bought 2 bags of clay kitty litter, and proceeded to dump it all over the spill.  How much help this was, I have no clue, because about 1/2 hour later, it decided to downpour. 

At least my car windows are up.

I think.

So My SP Hostess Asked...

My secret pal hostess posed a question today that we are supposed to answer on our blogs. 

"What is your favorite summertime drink?"

Hmm.  That just depends!

If we're talking nonalcoholic, I drink a lot of water, and I drink a lot of tea (southern style, no lemon, thank you).  I also drink a fair amount of iced coffee/iced lattes.  I love my little Bialetti espresso pot!  It gets quite a bit of use. 

If we're talking alcohol, it has to be a mojito, hands down.  I am a lover of all things minty, and the mojito is just -- ahh.  I haven't ever had a mint julep, but plan to change that as soon as I can get some bourbon.  I know, I know, all it takes is a trip to the liquor store, but I need to find time to do that. 

I'm also a fan of jello punch (lemon), but I don't make it all that often because it's one of those things that I'd just stick my head in the bowl and slurp it all up. 

Another standby recipe that goes quickly at our house is one I clipped from Taste of Home magazine quite a few years ago:

Aunt Frances' Lemonade

• 5 lemons
• 5 limes
• 5 oranges
• 3 qt. water
• 1.5 - 2 c. sugar

Squeeze the juice from 4 of each of the fruits; put into a gallon container.  Slice the remaining fruit; place about 1/2 in the same container and save the rest for garnish.  Add the sugar and water and mix well.  Chill.  Enjoy over ice, with a fruit slice for garnish.

So what about YOU?  What's your favorite summertime drink?

Secret Pal 12 - The Answers

With heartfelt apologies to my spoiler for being late, here are my answers to the questionnaire.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I can knit with pretty much anything.  I'm not too fond of Lion Brand's "Suede" or "Homespun" but do like their microfiber and cotton ease.  I love Cascade 220 & Malabrigo.  Am not thrilled with "squeaky" acrylics.

*Edit:  I do not like Noro.  I just can't get around the scratchiness of it.   

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

Circs are in a Bass Pro shop lure thingamajig.  Straights are in a wine gift box.  DPNs are in a DPN roll.  Crochet hooks are in a travel toothbrush holder.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I have been knitting approximately 3 years.  I learned way back in 3rd grade but didn't have anybody for guidance.  I re-taught myself with a book for 8 to 12 year olds. 

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Nope.

5. What's your favorite scent?

It depends.  Baking bread.  Freshly baked cookies.  Apple pie.  Lilacs.  Heather.  Thyme.  Lemongrass.  (do you notice a food trend?  Egad.)   I like things that smell fresh and/or citrusy.  Grapefruit.  Lime.  Ginger!

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Yes, I have a sweet tooth.  I don't really have a favorite candy.  I like to try new things.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I like to quilt.  I can cross stitch and embroider.  I have been crocheting since I was 6, but I like to knit more. 

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I listen to most all music.  I'm not a big fan of rap but do listen to some.  My car cannot play MP3's but my computer certainly does!

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

I'm not a huge fan of yellow.  I like purples, greens, reds, jewel tones.  Not many pastels catch my eyes but I do like pink.  Not a fan of pastel blue. 

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

Married, 2 children, 3 cats, 1 dog.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

Yes, yes, yes, no.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

I love to knit anything, really.  I'm slow when knitting some items (like socks) and afraid to knit other items (like lace) but haven't really knit anything I've hated.

13. What are you knitting right now?

Monkey socks, baby cable rib socks, rock and weave socks, Norwegian Woods shawl, and the Cherry Bomb sleeveless sweater.  I'm also in the Goddess Anniversary Mystery Shawl KAL.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Who doesn't!?

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I prefer circular, Addi's, of course.  I have a few pair of everything, though.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

Yes and yes.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

Over a year.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

No specific favorite.

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Longaberger baskets.  Dust?  heehee.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

Not that I can think of (well, maybe the Bohus book that Stephanie Pearl-McPhee talked about last year or so, and Knitting Around), and I have a subscription to Interweave Knits.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

Stranded Knitting. 

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

Yes, albeit a slow one.  My foot is a 8.5 women's.

23. When is your birthday?

November 15.

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?

Yes - KnitNat.