WIP Wednesday: Doomsday Mitts

First and foremost:

a very Happy 8th Birthday to my niece, Sophie!

And now back to the regularly scheduled post:

One of the projects I’m working on right now is a dk weight fingerless mittens, that I’ve dubbed the Zombie Doomsday Mitts. The pattern, Rose Tyler Wrist Warmers (Ravelry link), were inspired by a pair of fingerless gloves worn by the Doctor’s Companion in the episode Doomsday. I’m working on them as a knit a long (KAL) for the Walking Dead fan group I belong to on Ravelry. Put those things together and Zombie Doomsday seemed a great name for them.


The mitts have a beautiful cable pattern that creates several large diamonds, filled in with seed stitch down the middle. The diamonds are flanked by a single cable on either side. I’m making them out of Silky Merino yarn from Malabrigo in a greenish-yellow color.

Knitting these as a KAL project has helped immensely, I’m pretty sure that they would have ended up frogged by now if not for the support of the group. I don’t know why exactly these have been so troublesome, I’ve done projects that were considerably more complicated before, but for some reason I have ran into problem after problem with them. Extra stitches have appeared on my needles, cables have been mistwisted, I started the pattern on the wrong row. The most current problem I have encountered has been large holes at the thumb gusset increases. I changed to the very nearly Invisible increase from the TechKnitting Blog, which seems to have solved the problem.

Now that I’ve gotten the hang of the pattern, things seem to be going a bit more smoothly. I’ve completely finished one mitt and have just finished the thumb gusset increases on the second.

 

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WIP Wednesday: Bigger on the Inside

By now it is no secret, I love my iPad. For day to day use, it has replaced my laptop (though I still need the laptop for a couple of things, including printing). When I first got my iPad, I purchased a couple of accessories to ensure that it was protected (especially after the nasty screen-cracking-even-when-in-a-case incident with my Kindle…I’m still pissed about that). I bought one of those bendy magnetic covers that also props it up in a couple of different positions and a back rubber shell. I went all out and got the back piece that is designed to absorb shock when dropped (something I’m very likely to do) and holds the iPad on the hood of a car when driving 45 mph (something I’m not really likely to do, but good to know just the same). I figured that eventually, I would also get a sleeve for it, something I could pull over the two covers for that added layer of protection, especially when tossing it into a bag. But I wanted to take my time and be sure I found the prefect sleeve for my iPad.


Because I’m me, my first thought was to knit a sleeve, an idea I took and ran with. While browsing Ravelry, it hit me, a TARDIS themed cover would be absolutely perfect.

For those of you not in the know, TARDIS stands for time and relative dimension in space, and is the time machine/spaceship of a certain time traveling alien known as The Doctor. And if you are still unsure what I’m talking about, watch Dr. Who. Anyways, the TARDIS, because of a problem with the Chameleon Circuit (seriously, just watch the show) looks like a blue police box, the kind that were common in England once upon a time. And the TARDIS is bigger on the inside.

Now, my iPad is not very big, but inside it contains games, videos, documents, apps, music, photos, knitting patterns, and the entire internet. Clearly, it too is bigger on the inside. a TARDIS sleeve would be the perfect companion to my iPad.

I found a pattern through Ravelry, and made a few modifications to make it work for me. I’m making it out of Comfy yarn from Knit Picks. I’m up to the windows on it now, which is pretty good, considering I cast on Saturday and had to rip it out once.

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The View from the Podium

Look at this:

That is a completed February Lady Sweater, it is done. And by done, I mean done, except for the buttons. Ends have been woven in, and it has been washed and blocked and I have already picked out and purchased the buttons, so I’m calling it done.

And, I finished with a week to spare as part of the Ravelympics. That gave me plenty of time to devote to my second Ravelympic project. For project number two, I decided to make a pair of fingerless gloves. The pattern is called Zombie Vixen, which under any circumstances be almost enough reason for me to make them, but they are also super cute. This project is intended to be a gift, but I like the pattern so much, I think I’m going to have to make a pair for myself. Plus, I always need more fingerless gloves, I love fingerless gloves. The gloves went quickly, and I was able to finish those Friday night and wove in the ends Saturday morning.

However, success at the Ravelympic projects has come at the cost of progress on other projects, namely socks. My Michigan Lakeshore socks are idling at a standstill. I was almost to the heel of the second one when I discovered a problem that forced me to rip back to the cuff. Seeing as how those socks are my mom’s birthday present, and my mom’s birthday was July 27, I might want to get those done some day.

I’m not going to worry about those things now, instead, I’m just going to bask in my Ravelympic success.

I'm on the podium for several events:

WIP Wrestling

One Skein Sprint

Cable Steeplechase

And, Mitten Medly

 

 

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Fibery Exhibitionism

I’ve been knitting for almost ten years now, and my skills have developed considerably from the time I started. Like any artist, I’m proud of my accomplishments and try to take advantage of opportunities to showcase my work. Usually this comes in one of two forms, either posting pictures on various social media outlets (primarily Ravelry, Twitter, and Facebook) or dragging the knitted goods around with me and showing them to anyone who looks even remotely interested. This year, I took advantage of another method of showing off my work, I entered several pieces into the county fair.


I come from (and still live in) rural Wisconsin and I can remember while growing up, the county fair was an extremely big deal. It has lost some of its luster now, but still includes a variety of events, including a needle work contest. Every year, I think about entering items into it, but usually not until after the entry deadline has passed.

This year, I managed to be on top of things and got the entry form in on time (and by on time I mean the day before it was due). I decided to enter pieces in five categories (knitters are limited to one item per category). I entered my Invisibility Wrap, my Llama Chullo hat, my Spatterdash fingerless gloves, my Carry-All Tote and my Cubist socks shawl. That seemed to offer a fair cross-section of my knitting abilities.

By the time I dug out the pieces, washed and reblocked the ones that needed it, I was pleased with my entries. I felt there were a couple of pieces that had a chance of winning a ribbon. I dropped off the pieces at the fairgrounds and went back Friday after the judging had been completed.

I was surprised to find that out of five pieces, I had won five ribbons. Yup, every piece had one something. My Llama hat and my Carry-All tote both took firsts, with the Llama hat also winning a Special Merit Award. The socks, Invisibility wrap, and Spatterdash mitts all took seconds.

Entering the pieces in the fair wasn’t about winning ribbons, and with my prizes adding up to a grand total of about $9, it certainly wasn’t about the prize money. However, I would like to think that it wasn’t just about ego, either. For me, a big part of knitting is the tradition. Knitters today are doing basically the same thing that they’ve been doing for generations. We might be doing them for different reasons (because we want to rather than we need to), we might have newer tools, and a wider variety of materials available; but the process is still the same. Generations of knitters have been making socks, mittens, hats, purses, and other things. And generations of knitters have been entering their best work into county fairs and other exhibitions for the feeling of pride that comes from knowing that you have a skill and you are good at the skill.

And, a lot of it is ego.

 

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It's the Most Wonderful Time of Every Four Years

Hello, my name is Nicole and I’m an Olympic Junkie. I love, love, love the Olympics. With the start of the summer games in London just hours away as I write this, I am looking forward to the next two weeks of Olympic goodness.

And with the Olympics come the Ravelympics, or the Ravellenic Games. Honestly, I’m not sure which one the official name was, weeks ago there was a big dust up with copyright and the U.S. Olympic Committee. I’m not going to get into the whole thing, but the USOC learned that insulting and upsetting knitters is not a good idea.

The Ravellenic Games are celebration of both the Olympic games and of the fiber arts held on Ravelry (a social networking site for fiber artists). Teams compete in such events as the Afghan Marathon, Sock Put, Work in Progress Wrestling (believe me there are a lot more too). It runs from the opening ceremonies to the closing ceremonies.

I’ll be competing first and foremost in the WIP wrestling. My goal is to finish the February Lady Sweater, which I have not touched since March. If, by some miracle, I finish that, I’ll be casting on in the Sock Put event, but I’m not holding my breath on that one.

I might be able to accomplish more than I think though. Next Thursday, Husband leaves on his annual golf trip. This means I will be left to my own devices Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and part of Sunday. Even factoring in that I have to work at the bank on Saturday, and I am available to work at the grocery store Saturday and Sunday, there should be plenty of knitting time (especially when I factor in that I have Thursday off from both jobs).

So, if anybody needs me the next two weeks, and I’m not at work; you will most likely find my happily curled up on my couch, enjoying two of my favorite things, knitting and the Olympics.

Life is good.

 

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Renewing a Commitment

I'd love to be one of those people who absolutely love to exercise. I wish my solution to a bad day was to hit them gym, that would make staying healthy so much easier.

Unfortunately, I am not one of those people. I've tired several times to get onto the exercise bandwagon, but it never seems to stick. Back in late winter/early spring, I again made a go of it, I went consistently for about four or five weeks, and then stopped. It seems so much easier to break a habit than to start one.

I wanted to get back into going, but needed motivation. My health insurance offers a $100 credit twice a year for consistent attendance at a gym or fitness center, and the second period started July 1, so marked that as a starting point.

However, July 1 fell in the middle of a massive heat wave. Yes, my fitness center has ac, but we're talking about extreme, suck the life out of you heat. I deeply admire anyone who finds motivation to do anything besides hide in their air conditioned house during this weather.

It's a little tough to see, but on my calendar widget for
my phone, the gym is scheduled.

Monday, then, I laced up my shoes and went back. I scheduled it in my calendar, and forced myself to go (I seem to better at going when it is in my calendar). I've made it three times this week, with another scheduled trip for this weekend. Maybe this time it will stick.

In hopes of sustaining motivation, I also decided to address one of the bigger excuses I used before for skipping the gym, my iPod. I have a iPod touch, which I used at the gym to listen to podcasts and audiobooks while at the gym (I found this to be more motivation than music). But I've had my iPod for awhile now, and it doesn't take long for the battery to drain. I could leave it sit for a couple hours and there would be no power. Instead I found an app on my android phone that does the same thing. In addition to eliminating an excuse, it also is one less thing that I have to carry to the gym; a win-win (don't worry though, between car and home use, the iPod is still seeing plenty of use).

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Yes, I Can!

Rainier cherries, all year long, or while supplies last.

I absolutely love Rainier cherries, love, love, love them. If heaven has a flavor, I'm pretty sure it is the flavor of Rainier cherries. The problem is, living in Wisconsin, this type of cherry is only available for about a month, and usually costs somewhere between 7 and 8 dollars a pound. My local grocery store usually has them on sale for about one week a year, and in the past, I eat all the cherries I can that week and dream about them

But this year, I decided to change all that. I decided to stock up and can the cherries. Last year, I canned peaches, pears, and homemade salsa, all with good results (which reminds me, I need to pick up some peaches and can those, too), so I was reasonably sure that I could handle cherries as well.

I didn't go overboard at the store, I bought about 5 or 6 pounds of Rainier cherries (and ate a fair amount of those). I opted to can whole cherries, with the pits, for two reasons, 1, I plan on eating them whole anyways, and spitting out the pit is no big deal, and mostly, 2, I'm lazy and didn't want to pit 5 ponds of cherries.

Ready to be canned!

Yesterday, I settled in, cranked my iPod and assembled all my canning supplies (which isn't all that much, I'm still new to canning). I removed stems, washed, and poked all the cherries (to prevent splitting). I prepared an extra, extra light syrup (I used about a third of the sugar called for I the recipe for extra light syrup). I debated about using sugar at all. I researched and found it was safe to can in just water, but sugar helps to maintain the color and firmness. I decided I'd use a little bit of sugar, and hopefully find the middle ground between limited sugar and maintaining the deliciousness of the fruit.

Once it was all ready, I packed the cans with cherries and syrup, processed them and let them cool. I ended up with ten pint jars of cherries, and I figured there are 25-30 cherries in each jar, so I canned somewhere between 250 and 300 cherries. That should be enough to last me at least a couple months.

For anybody interested in getting started with canning, I have found several resources to be very helpful, particularly the Simply Canning website and the National Center for Home Food Preservation (a division of the USDA). Check them out to get started!

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Door County Weekend

Peninsula State Park

Husband and I decide to take a little mini-vacation together this summer. Seeing as how the last time the two of us took a weekend away together, without other family, and without needing to was way back when Husband won a two night stay in the Dells at a work Christmas party, when he still worked at the resort, so it was at least 4 years ago, we figured we were due for a little get away.


We opted to take a trip across the state to Door County (for those unfamiliar with Wisconsin geography, Door County is the peninsula that divides Green Bay from Lake Michigan, the "thumb" of the hand that is Wisconsin). We had spent a couple of days there right after our wedding, and always talked about going back, but never gotten around to it. We knew from previous experience that it is a pretty dog friendly place, so I tossed out the idea of bringing Pippin along. We had only attempted to travel with Pippin once before, an ill fated camping trip cut short by spending an night of storms in a tent with a thunder phobic dog and were pretty nervous about doing it again, so decided that we better only plan on making this a weekend trip, just in case.
The first step in all of this was to find a dog-friendly place to stay. It didn’t take too much searching before I discovered the Beachfront Inn in Bailey’s Harbor. Not only did they allow dogs, they offered a special package catering to guests with dogs. Excellent. The package included a two night stay at the hotel, a gift certificate to a local restaurant that had dog-friendly outdoor dining, a day pass to a state park, and a gift certificate from the Door County Visitor’s Bureau. It all sounded good, and they had one dog-friendly room available for the weekend we needed. We booked the stay and I started to research additional animal-friendly things to do.

Day One

In the car and ready to go!

It’s a four and a half hour drive from our home to Bailey’s Harbor. That’s a long time in a car for Husband and me, and an impossible amount of time for Pippin. I needed to make sure we provided him with enough chances to get out, stretch, and bathroom. I worked out stops about every hour to hour and a half on the way, which seemed just about right for Pippin. When we packed up the car, we made sure that Pippin had the whole backseat to himself (with the exception of my knitting bag and his supplies), and found a canvas seat cover to protect the back seats.

Our first stop was in Steven’s Point, where we picked up lunch, and ate and visited with Husband’s aunt, uncle, and cousin. It was nice to catch up with everyone, and Pippin enjoyed a bowl of water, some ice cream, and a walk around their yard.

Stop number two was in Appleton, at the Outagamie County Dog Park. This was Pippin’s first experience with a dog park, so we were a little bit nervous about it. Our concerns turned out to be pointless, as Pippin thoroughly enjoyed himself at the dog park. I think he would have been perfectly happy to stay there all weekend.

We continued on our way, making a third stop in Sturgeon Bay. Fist Husband took Pippin for a walk while I browsed at a local yarn store, Spin of Door County and bought myself a lovely skein of handpainted sock yarn. The color way is called sea wash and it combines teal blues, greys, whites, and browns. We also stopped at Stove Dog Bakery; which, as the name suggests, if a canine bakery and store. Pippin left there with a bag of homemade cookies, a new bandana, and a walking harness. The staff there was wonderful, letting Pippin browse with us, supplying a bowl of water for dogs, and allowing us to remove the harness from the packaging in order to make sure it fit Pippin (he tends to fall between sizes for doggie clothing).



The beach at Beachfront Inn

Finally, just before dinnertime, we checked into our hotel in Bailey’s Harbor. To say that the Beachfront Inn is merely dog friendly, would be an understatement. From the welcome treats in our room, the off leash beach area, and the lobby where the owner’s dogs allowed visitors, this was very much a hotel for dogs and the people that love them.

Dinner that night was just down the block from our hotel at the Harbor Fish Market and Grille. Pippin enjoyed his own bowl of water, complimentary dog treats and a hamburger, without a bun, served on a bed of kibble.

Day Two

After a lousy night’s sleep (unfortunately, our hotel room was directly below a patio, and the scraping of chairs scared Pippin and kept us up), we headed out to begin our day. First stop was for breakfast, a little place in Ephraim, called Good Eggs. It was basically a little place in a converted garage, but the food was fantastic.

Checking out Eagle Bluff Lighthouse

The majority of the morning was spent at Peninsula State Park. We drove along Shore Road, making several stops to enjoy the beautiful scenery, including one at the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse. We then parked by the Eagle Tower, and enjoyed a hike through the woods and along the lakeshore. While the nice breeze off of Green Bay was nice, it still was pretty warm out there. By the time we got back to the car all three of us were beat!

Eagle Bluff Lighthouse

We grabbed lunch at a place just outside of the park, Julie’s Park Motel and Café, which had a dog friendly patio. Pippin enjoyed both his bowl of water and the dog treat given to him by a complete stranger. We then decided to head back to the hotel to catch a nap and escape the hottest part of the day.

With renewed energy, we headed out to explore downtown Fish Creek. We grabbed some frozen custard at a little shop called Not Licked Yet, where Pippin enjoyed a complimentary doggie ice cream cone. I was a little bummed because we had missed the Heritage Days celebration, but we browsed through several of the little shops until it was time for dinner. We had decided on a place in Fish Creek called Gibraltar Grille. They not only had a pet friendly patio, but run a monthly “Dog Pals” contest on Facebook. The food there was amazing; I recommend the Scallops and red pepper risotto, which was delicious.

Cana Island Lighthouse

We enjoyed the cool evening breeze off of Lake Michigan while exploring a county park beach and the Cana Island Lighthouse just outside of Bailey’s Harbor. The lighthouse and grounds were beautiful and the wind coming off of the lake felt refreshing after the hot day we had. Despite our midday rest, we were exhausted from the day and headed back to the hotel.

Enjoying the wildflowers at Cana Island

Day Three

Day three we headed for home, but not before enjoying some fantastic pastries and coffee at the Door County Coffee and Tea Company in Carlsville. We had wanted to hit a couple of shops near there, but we got going a little too early on a Sunday morning. We did, however, browse at the coffee shop where I picked up some coffee beans (roasted on site) and some local cherry jam. We also hit a store called Grandma Tommy’s, where we grabbed some local cherry wine before heading out for home.

You could tell Pippin was tired for most of the ride home. We made a second stop at the Outagamie Dog Park in Appleton, and another at a rest area, but the drive was pretty uneventful. We were all happy to be home.

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic get away for us all. I was impressed with the number of pet-friendly places for us. We’re already planning on going back next year, but this time renting a cabin and staying for a little longer.

Sock in progress

Surprisingly, despite the long drive, I didn't get much knitting done. I did some work on my sweater (for which the deadline has now passed) and started a new pair of socks. The socks are a pattern called Michigan Lakeshore, which seemed fitting considering that we were staying on the shore of Lake Michigan. They are made from Adorn sock by Three Irish Girls. The color way is Father Time, a blend of blues, brown, grey, with a little green and white mixed in.

The grounds at Cana Island Lighthouse

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Strawberry!

Strawberry

Just a happy little picture of the first strawberry from my Earthbox!

Wouldn't You Know It?

I'm a big fan of wooden knitting needles,they have a much better feel than plastic and are much warmer (and less noisy) than metal. With the exception of socks,* almost all of my projects are knitted on wooden needles.



But, one problem with wooden needles is that they can break. In my experience, they don't break often, just when you do things like step on them. Thankfully, breakage is usually pretty rare.

However, I'm knitting on a deadline right now. So, breakage was inevitable. Husband forgot that a house rule is to check for stray needles before sitting (though Husband would say that it was my fault for leaving my knitting of the couch). I was left with a broken stump of a needle, and a half finished sweater.

I was forced to order replacement needle tips, and of course, I had to include some yarn (I needed to qualify for free shipping after all). The package took about a week to arrive, so that forced gave me the opportunity to complete my Citron shawl. It worked out well, actually, I bound off the shawl on the same day the box arrived.

Still, that was a week with no progress on the sweater, and now the wedding is only 13 days away. I have divided for the armholes and have about seven inches left on the body, plus the sleeves, and the ruffle trim. As a precaution, today I ordered a cardigan that would also work well with the skirt.

*As a side note , I would love to knit socks on wooden needles as well, but when they are that tiny, wooden needles just don't withstand the wear and tear I inflect upon them (and yes, I'm reasonably certain that the problem is me, not the needles.

 

It's Going to Be a Great Day!

There are few better ways to start a Saturday than to find a box from Knitpicks waiting on my front porch. Contents include some Wool of the Andes Tonal in Gypsy Queen (red) for the Milk Run Shawl (Rav. Link) and some Comfy Worsted in Celestial (blue), white, and black for a Tardis iPad sleeve, and my replacement needle tips in size 8.

Life is good.

 

Long Overdue Sheepcote Photos

Okay, so I finished this sweater way back in March.

I just never got around to posting the pictures of it, which have been sitting on my camera since March. But here they are now. Late winter/early spring was a bit of a blah time for me, but hopefully spring and summer will renew my interest in both knitting and blogging and get me back on track with some other things as well.

Anyways, I am vey happy with the way the sweater turned out. It could have been a size smaller, but it is still very cute and wearable. There is something satisfying about finishing projects and about being able to say, "Thanks, I made it," to compliments.

I have two sweaters currently on the needles. The much anticipated February Lady Sweater is about halfway done. However, it is on pause as I race to finish another cardigan, the Teal Top-Down Cardigan (in yellow) for a wedding in the beginning of June. I also have the Citron shawl on the needles, but I'm waiting for another ball of yarn to arrive in order to finish it.

Hopefully, updates n those projects won't be so delayed.

 

How Does My Garden Grow?

I love growing plants. Or maybe, I just love the idea of growing plants. Either way, since about high school, I've spent time and money on attempting to get plants to grow, with varying degrees of success. Currently, the oldest plant in the house is a hibiscus plant Pippin and the cats gave me last year for Mother's Day (though in all fairness, before that, I had a shamrock plant I had kept alive through college until Bode decided to eat it, knock the pot off the counter, and scatter the roots beyond all repair).

Anyways, for many years, I've spent this time of year browsing around various garden centers, planning for the day when I had my own home and could grow all kinds of things in my own yard.

So, now I have my own home, and I started planning my garden. I picked out a patch of the yard, it was kind of low-lying, so I figured we should build a raised garden bed. I researched it, and started to plan it out...

And that was as far as I got. Husband and I just never got around to getting the materials, the thought of weeding wasn't impressing me (chalk that one up to hours of my childhood spent in a giant flower bed, pulling what I thought were weeds, but usually turned out to be the plants that were supposed,to be growing there).

After taking those factors into consideration, I decided that container gardening might be a better option. After all, we have a big, beautiful porch that gets very little use. I invested in some Earthboxes, plus wrangled up two more from a previous (failed) experiment with container gardening. Then, I went out and got soil, fertilizer and plant and got set up for planting.

Knowing that he'd spend the entire time barking if I didn't, I figured a way to allow Pippin to join me on the porch. I looped his leash around one of the rungs on the deck railing, and brought him out a bowl of water. Pippin then spent my planting time happily assisting and napping (mostly napping). Once the dog was situated, I set about planting.

It didn't take too long for me to realize just how heavy a cubic foot of dirt is (because , face it, you can call it potting soil or potting mix, or whatever you'd like, but really, it is dirt). Of course, it wasn't until I had two of the four boxes planted that I remembered that my mom gave me a pair of gardening gloves last year. At that point, my hands were so caked with dirt that it seemed pointless to up them on. Next time, I'll remember, really, I will. By the end of my project, I noticed the huge mess I had created on my porch. But the plants were planted.

My Earthboxes were filled with tomatoes, zucchini, bell and jalapeño peppers, and strawberries, there are two hanging planters on my porch railing with dahlia bulbs, and we put in a flower bed with some lily bulbs in front of the fence (though I'm starting to doubt that those will grow).

Now, if I just can remember to water everything.

 

 

Ambition or Insanity?

The other weekend, my mom and I went shopping. It was Mother’s Day and although it is one of the four days I have agreed to golf with minimal complaining and whining (the other three are my mom’s birthday, the Parent/Child Tournament, and a Breast Cancer Outing), we got through one hole when she decided she didn’t want to golf, so we went shopping instead (no complaints here). While shopping, I came across a really cute skirt, that I could justify purchasing for a couple of reasons: 1. I could wear it to work and 2. Jeff’s cousin was getting married in June and I could wear it to the wedding. In my head, the skirt would go great with a summer weight yellow cardigan. For the remainder of the day, I fruitlessly searched for that elusive cardigan, with no luck. Then I went home and searched online for the cardigan, with the same results.

Then it occurred to me.

I’m a knitter.

Why don’t I just find a pattern for the cardigan that I like and make it out of a summer fiber (as in cotton or linen)? That would be way easier than searching for a cardigan that may or may not even exist. After some digging on my Ravelry queue, I discovered that I had already purchased the perfect pattern, the Teal Top-Down Cardigan and purchased yarn to make the cardigan. And what kind of yarn did I buy? A cotton, model, silk blend in a light butter yellow. All the stars were in alignment.If I’m being perfectly honest, I must admit; the pattern isn’t exactly what I wanted and I envisioned a bright sun shine yellow, not a soft butter yellow, but those were concessions I was willing to make. So I dug out the yarn, set up the pattern in Knit Companion (which, by the way, I completely and totally love and must write an entry about it, but not today), cast on, and began knitting away.

And then it occurred to me.

I’m knitting a sweater for an event that is less than a month away.

That is a serious deadline. And I don’t always do well with deadlines.

I spent the next couple of days trying to convince myself that; while taking on the project was indeed ambitious, there were several factors that prevented it from crossing over into crazy. I kept reminding myself that the project was knit with a worsted weight yarn on size 8 needles, that would make it go quickly and the majority of the cardigan is knit in stockinette, which makes it a pretty mindless project, and I do have backups for what I can wear with the skirt, if needed.

So, I’m still plugging away at it, and with the wedding only 25 days away, I’ve gotten this much done.

Maybe I am crazy.

 

 

And There Goes the Day...

Since this month’s schedule came out, I’ve been looking forward to today. A day off, during the week, no meetings to attend, no lunches to cover, just a day off where I could get things done. And I had the day planned, I was going to go to the gym, groom the dog, deep clean the upstairs bathroom, catch up on laundry, do my grocery shopping, do a full change on the litter boxes (we have scoopable litter, so I usually just scoop every night and add more litter when necessary, but every once in a while I still need to completely empty the boxes, wash them out, scrub down the litter closet, and put everything back together filled with fresh, clean litter), and get the laptop moved upstairs (putting my laptop upstairs as the house computer was one of the conditions of getting the iPad). Oh yeah, and I needed to go online and order some new bras, I’ve had to toss a couple in the past few weeks.

And yes, I do realize that there was no way all of that was going to get done today under the best of circumstances, especially when you consider that I’m a lazy procrastinator that is way too fond of sitting on the couch, knitting (or playing with my iPad) and watching SportsCenter, I was still optimistic that I would at least get a couple of things done.

So, I still got up at the usual time, let Puppy out, started the coffee and stayed up to have coffee with Husband before he left for work. Then it happened, my phone rang, and the caller id said it was Boss Lady. That is never a good sign, let alone at 7:45 in the morning. And sure enough, someone had called in sick and could I go in to our branch way out in Nowhere Land from one to five. Dammit, of course I could. And, yes I know I could have just said no, but I'm bad at telling people no. Plus, there wasn't really a good reason for me not to come in.

Okay, so the bad news was, no day off. However, the good news was, I didn’t have to be at work until 1, so I could get a couple of things crossed off my list. You know, provided I got moving. And did that happen? Of course not, after an hour of playing on my iPad and watching SportsCenter (in my defense, I did purchase some new bras during that time), I decided that the best use of part of my morning off would be to take a nap, but just a little one. We all know how that goes, another hour later, I forced my lazy ass out of bed and drug myself, complaining the whole while to the gym. By that point, there was only time left to shower, get ready for work, and enjoy half a lunch with Husband.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I do like my job. But I was so looking forward to the day off. My position is limited full time, meaning I can get anywhere from 30 to 39 hours per week. That means, I tend to get some half day shifts (or when I’m covering lunches for our Motor Bank, quarter day) which means I don’t usually get a full day off in exchange for my monthly Saturday. And then couple of times I have gotten a day off, it has been on a day where I still had to go in for a staff meeting or the like. This was going to be a whole day completely off.

Sigh. I had such high hopes for the day too. And please, Department of Health and Human Services, keep in mind that I was planning on cleaning today before you declare my bathroom a health hazard.

Massive Writer's Block

It’s been awhile on here, but to be completely honest, I’ve suffered from a bit of a writer’s block. And by a bit of a writer’s block, I clearly mean one that could encompass the state of Texas in its shadow. Lots has been going on, but nothing to write about. There have been several times that I’ve set down, determined to write a post, only to discover that there was nothing going on in my head but a tumbleweed blowing around, putting words on paper (or in my case, on a laptop screen) seemed to be an impossible task.
But, I figured, the only way to move past this was to sit down and actually write something, anything. Actually get words onto the paper (or screen). So here I am, staring at the screen, waiting for words to come to me, and I’ve got nothing. Zip, zilch, nada. So we’re just going to go with some general life updates and hope that the writing muse comes back to me.

Life at the bank is still going pretty good. I’ve now passed the 90 days of work mark, which means not only to I now get PTO, but I also am able to sign money orders and sell prepaid gift cards. Now there’s a reason to get out of bed in the morning. As time passes, I’m feeling more and more at home with my co-workers. It just takes a while for me to warm up to new people. And every day I feel more and more like maybe I might know what I’m doing (which is usually followed by a moment where I do something so unbelievably stupid that I feel like a complete and total moron). Overall, I’m feeling much more comfortable, and it seems much less likely that I’ll search too terribly hard for a teaching job come fall. I’m content to have a job to fill somewhere between 30 and 40 hours per week, supply Husband and I with decent benefits, and leave me with free time to do things I like to do (you know, like write blog entries).

Most of my free time lately has been absorbed by my latest toy, Husband finally gave in and let me get an iPad. Since its arrival at the house, I’ve spent lots and lots of time getting it set up, learning how to use it, and finding apps to make my life easier (or just apps that do cool stuff). I have found some apps that quickly became indispensable in my life, but that’s most likely a whole separate post (yay, stuff to write about!).

I’m also planning out a garden for this spring. The spot Husband and I have picked out for it was rather low lying, so I think we’re going to put a little extra effort into it and build a raised garden. After my excellent experiences with canning last fall, I’m excited to grow my own stuff to can for next fall. Especially the ingredients for salsa, that turned out super yummy! I’ll also be either digging in or building a flower bed for some lilies in front of our fence, but that should be easy enough to do. I also took a little time to read the Hunger Games trilogy. Despite no longer being a teacher, I haven’t lost my fascination with literature geared toward young adults, just my primary excuse to read it (however, one of the beautiful things about a Kindle, or other e-reader, is that no one has any idea what you’re reading).

Despite being enamored with the iPad, I have, of course made at least a little time for knitting. I have discovered that I’m deeply unhappy with the current socks I’m working on. I intend to frog them, but somehow just haven’t gotten around to it. I’m waiting for inspiration to strike on what socks I’m going to make next, so for the moment, they are just sitting on the needles, waiting. I finally finished the Sheetcote pullover and cast on for the February Lady sweater, which was a personal victory, because I bought the yarn for it a long time ago and it’s been on my Ravelry queue for even longer than that. I’m extremely pleased with how the Sheepcote pullover ended up, and somewhere between pleased and annoyed that it turned out I could have made it at least one size smaller.
Speaking of one size smaller, my new year’s quest to become healthier was going great, but I’ve hit a bit of a stumbling block as of late. I had been consistently making it to the gym, at least three times a week, and doing yoga at home on a less consistent basis. I managed to drop almost 20 pounds and about 2 inches, but then hit a wall. I wasn’t feeling the greatest for a couple of days, compounded with an increased number of evenings where I’m scheduled at work until later, and my gym attendance dropped. I’ve made a promise to myself to get back into the habit of going, however. I’ve just got to grit my teeth and get through it on the days I don’t feel like going and adjust to going later in the evening on days when I work later. I’ve just got to renew my commitment to a healthier lifestyle and stick to it.

That’s pretty much the highlights of what’s going on now. Let’s hope I also get over this writer’s block and back into the habit of regular posts.

Adventures in Pattern Writing: Episode 4, Put It All Together

See this?

Do you know what this is?

If you guessed that it was a draft version of the pattern for my Packer socks, you would be correct! After knitting and reknitting, procrastination, deciphering notes and scribbles, charting and recharting, fighting with computers, cutting and pasting, writing and re writing, with some cursing and hair-pulling mixed in for good measure, I was able to hit print on the first draft of this pattern.


I would celebrate, but it is only the first draft. The next step will be to knit another pair of the socks, using the pattern and making note of any changes that need to be made.  I haven't even started the test knitting, and I already have a list of necessary edits. I'm still not totally happy with the instructions for the short-row heel, I'm going to dig through some sources and make notes as I knit and hope to be able to refine the language a bit. I also need to measure the gauge once this pair is completed.  


The graphs might need to be adapted for use by a right handed knitter. Because I am left handed I knit backwards from left to right instead of from right to left, the way a right hander would. This sometimes changes the way graphs are read.

Despite these minor setbacks, I feel I'm making good progress on the pattern over the past few weeks. As soon as I finish the pair of socks on my needles, I will start work on the test pair, and make further notes about what needs to be changed or clarified. I've yet to decide on what player's number will be on the back of the socks and who the recipient will be. I'm not sure if I should keep them, as I already have a pair of lucky Packer socks (though are they still lucky despite now having seen two losses?). However, in my world, few people are actually qualified to own handknit socks. The pattern is designed for a foot wearing a woman's size 8 shoes, which does limit potential wears. I'll have to think about it.

Project Talk: Some Assembly Required

As a process knitter, I’m not a huge fan of finishing work. Why waste the time doing silly things like blocking, weaving in ends, and sewing seams when you could be actually knitting. I would think finding the motivation to finish would be easier for project orientated knitters, as it is a vital step in having a completed project (but seeing as I’m not a project orientated knitter, I cannot be sure. Anybody want to verify?).



Spatterdash Mitts, Done!

Thankfully, most of the projects I choose to work on don’t require too much in the way of finishing work. There are exceptions, the Carry-All Tote and Hey Teach! cardigan being the freshest ones in my mind. Thankfully, the Spatterdash fingerless gloves from Knitty.com didn’t require all that much finishing work. Just the usual blocking, weaving a couple of ends, two seams, and some buttons.  Okay, not some buttons, many buttons, a lot of buttons, 14 buttons per glove.

Definently worth the finishing.

But the end result is worth it. They turned out beautifully! The yarn is Imagination Hand-painted Sock yarn from KnitPicks.com in the colorway Wicked Witch, and it is amazing! I’m not a huge fan of it for socks, I have trouble with shrinkage and felting (I line dry, but machine wash, which might be part most of the problem), but the colors are amazing and the yarn comes out so soft after blocking! I think I’ll stick to using it for non-sock accessories. Stroll, also from Knit Picks, is my absolute favorite for socks, just in case anyone was wondering.

Sheepcote sleeves and start of the main body.

In other project news, I’ve completed the second sleeve and cast of for the body of the Sheepcote pullover, from the Twist Collective and am on the leg of the second of my Surfin’ Peacock socks, so I’m making progress, little by little. Once finished with the Peacock socks, I’ll be (hopefully) testing my Packer Sock pattern and after Sheepcote, I am absolutely, no excuses, finally getting to the February Lady sweater.

And a side note about the sleeves of the Sheepcote, the are 3/4 length sleeves on a yolked sweater. So I know that they look short and chunky, but I've tried them on and they are going to work out great for the sweater.

Adventures in Pattern Writing: Episode 3, Perfectionism Rears Its Ugly Head (Again)

I'm what you might call a selective perfectionist. Some things I can just slap together and not care, but when it comes to knitting, I'll redo, redo, redo until I'm happy with the results.

While this tendency can product some particularly excellent results, but it also has been the cause of massive amounts of frustration, and copious amounts of inappropriate, foul, colorful language.

After finally conquering inserting my charts from Microsoft Excel into Word, I started working on importing all of the heel charts (numbers 0 to 9) into the pattern. Then I looked at my Matthews jersey, hanging on the drying rack, I looked at the 52, I looked at the charts for the 5 and 2, I looked back at the 52, back at the charts. They didn't look the same.

Sure, the 5 and 2 I charted looked like a 5 and a 2, but not like the ones on the jersey. The numbers on the jersey were, blockier, had more straight edges. At that point, I already knew what was coming, but I fought it for awhile. Maybe it was the jersey's problem, not mine. I decided to compare the numbers on my Rodgers jersey (yes, mom, MY Rodgers jersey). Again, my charted 1 and 2 looked like a 1 and a 2, but not like the ones on the jersey. Crap.

The Original Five

I wasn't ready to face reality just quite yet, though. Clearly, I must own two faulty jerseys, so I dug out Husband's jersey, and the dog's jersey. Nope, the numbers were consistent from jersey to jersey and not the same as the ones on my socks.

Once again, I fought the inevitable. It wasn't really going to matter, I told myself. No one is going to look at the numbers on the heels of these socks and point out that they are not shaped exactly like the numbers on the players' jerseys. What kind of person notices that sort of thing? Most likely no one would ever know, and if they know, it is even more likely that no one would ever care.

Edited Five

Except for me. I would know. And I cared. And I knew what I had to do.

I printed out ten blank heel charts. Then I went to the Packer's website to find pictures of jerseys, and I recharted all of the numbers. And the process started all over again, hand drawing, charting in Excel, cutting and pasting (using Paste Special, at least I remember that) into Word.

And, I'm glad I did it. Otherwise it would have bothered me, and I would have ended up doing it at some point anyway. We all know I'm crazy like that.

In other news, the knitting on the Spatterdash fingerless gloves is done and I was lucky enough to find buttons for them. I just need to block, weave in ends, and assemble. Yay!