Pictures!!!!

So, lets grab some pictures! Lets see....


This is my finished iPod cover for my lovely little new green nano. Its my daily companion when I exercise. Thankfully, some of those MIA podcasters have come back, so I have something to listen to. I'm a bit bummed - I seem to have plateaued in my weight. So, I've upped my exercise a bit (dang pains go from my ankles to my knees when I walked, I've gone back to the stationary bike for the last 2 days), and cut my food. Being hungry is good, right?

Anyway, now I can see the iPod screen, but have a nice secure hook keeping it attached to me and all. And see how nicely I've learned how to blanket stitch! Thanks, Lisa!

What else should I show you? Hmm. How about the headcovering I made for myself? Don't you just love the swirl? And the shiny white beads and the clear silver lined beads have so much sparkle in real life.

The dress for the Bar Mitzvah is white and shiny silver, with beads around the neck and under the bustline. This should work well, it picks up the colors nicely.

My friend SRZ called this week. He offered to buy me yarn while on vacation, but the shop's online system only had fabric, so I couldn't tell him anything. Its just as well - my yarn and projects-in-my-head are far exceeding my actual ability to knit anything. Anyway, he then told me I still owe him a project - to which I replied, "They are done!" I think I shocked him. Anyway, if he's looking, here's a picture of them still in progress. I think you can get the idea.



Thats enough for now. Keep your eyes here, I've got something good coming, you may want in!

Podcasts?

Again, with no pictures. I'm feeling lazy.

Its been a totally busy summer so far. I'm making progress on the head coverings for the Bar Mitzvah of DS #1, perhaps not as many as I intended, but they are moving along. I blocked out 14 of them last night (that was all the small plastic bowls we had), and this weekend I'll do the remaining dozen or so. Then, its on to weaving in ends (bad me!) and sewing on combs.

All the dieting and exercising is going well. I'm down 15 pounds!!! 20 more to go to get to the level of the government's chart, but a little at a time. But what is with all the podcasters? Their podcasts are the only way I can get through those 40 minutes of exercise each morning, and they all seem to have gone on vacation at the same time! I don't know what I'll listen to tomorrow morning. So, come on David and Brenda and Marly -- give me some new podcasts to listen to!

Did some knitting up at Boy Scout camp again. Two exciting nights and 3 days of fun in the back woods. Really not so terrible. Those Handsome Devil socks for DFIL are slow going though. Probably only did 1.5 inches in 2 days of constant work. Two-socks-on-one-circ with 4 yarns hanging off just is messy and tangly. I would move it all to dpns, but the dpns in the correct size are being held hostage by the long-neglected Snicket socks. I thought there was a second set of that size floating around, but they must be in some other UFO. And its not like I'm going to finish them by midnight tonight, the deadline to enter the six sox knitalong. Hey, new sock coming out tomorrow!

Tomorrow's quick project is going to be a felted case for my new iPod Nano. In green, of course. Not sure what I'll do for a clip just yet, but I can't seem to find a pre-made case that does what I want it to do, at least at a price I'm willing to pay. That clear vinyl I bought a few years ago is getting some good use.

Maybe those pictures I promised will appear later this week....

Ravelry Camping

Wow, we are all totally exhausted here. This weekend we went off to High Point State Park here in NJ for a Ravelry Campout!!!! The weekend was organized by Knitthatpuppy (aka Kathleen) and there were at least 7 Ravelers there. We dyed yarn with Kool Aid, knit, and everyone seemed to enjoy using my swift and winder.

The pictures are lurking in the camera, and I'm just too tired right now to get them off. Tomorrow.

Its going to be good to sleep in my own bed tonight.

Updates

So, I'm a bad blogger. I never could keep a diary either. And I have been documenting my projects -- over at Ravelry, of course.

The knitting is getting overwhelming. I have so much I either want to make, have to make, or have started but not finished. I'll list them here, public admission of WIP always helps me move them along:

WIP: The Snicket socks I started last November, before the trip to Puerto Rico. The first sock is all the way up the leg, the second is only a few inches above the ankle. Once the knitting is done on these, I want to re-dye the top 2 sections so there is more contrast. I even bought more of the Wilton dye to do this. Now if I could only work on the knitting part.....

WIP: The rainbow-toed socks for SRZ. I'm past the rainbow part on both, but not quite at the heel turn. I must make a note of the proper foot length and then just get knitting. Time to pull out Charlene Schurch's chart.

WIP: Butterflies 'n Bees for the Six Sox KAL. Turned the heel yesterday, and have a few more rounds to work off the gusset sts. Then its just a matter of deciding how long the leg will be before I make butterflies. Working 2 on a size 0 circular - great way to do this pattern. Bought a whole bunch of the fixed length Options last week when I discovered I didn't have the right size for these (had a huge urge to make them 2 on one circ that wouldn't go away. The class at the LYS went well though).

Queued: A whole lot of women's headcoverings. Worked out a new design over the weekend. Needs some refining, but will look very nice. Haven't figured out where to put the comb yet....

Queued: The Goddess Anniversary Mystery shawl - in the Letttuce Malabrigo Laceweight. Will start in late June.

Queued: The Mystic Meadows shawl - need to sign up and send my money. ** Note: I finished Mystic Light, but Mystic Water is just sitting around undone. **

"Resting" - The Alison shawl. The yarn is just a pain in the neck with the 3 different types all spooling out at different tensions. Its about 2/3rd's done, will probably come out again this summer.

Also queued - a whole lot of socks. Can I go up to Rhinebeck and buy more if I haven't used almost anything that I bought last year? (Love, love, love that Jamie Harmon yarn!)

Long time no post!

Wow, its been a long time. No, I haven't stopped knitting. Nor have I stopped doing all sorts of other fibery activities either. Lets just blame the lack of blogging on Rhinebeck recovery and Ravelry addiction.

Where to start? The most recent, I suppose. Last night, I'm knitting along on my Mystic Waters Shawl (more to say later), and I don't even feel it, but suddenly there is a collection of stitches in my lap, instead of on the cable of my circular needle. Darn it, its Knit Picks Harmony failure. I wasn't shocked, after all I've read about it on Ravelry quite a bit. But how annoying. The wood simply came out of the metal sleeve on one of the size 4 tips, so the needle is no longer connected to the cable.

Thank goodness I'm no lace newbie. I pulled out my binder, found the size 4 Options tip, and put it on the cable. Now, I have to reconstruct the 20 or so stitches that have fallen. Only 3 or 4 of them had run really far down, so after some quiet cursing, I was able to save it and re-knit it correctly. Why is it always a lace project when the needle fails?

My hubby says the only thing that will hold metal and wood is epoxy. The failure is nice and clean, no trace of any glue in there, so perhaps he'll get the opportunity to glue it all back together. In the meantime, customer service was efficient this morning when I called and a new one is being sent.

So, that brings us to Mystic Waters. No, I'm not keeping up on this KAL - I'm trying to stay on track with the Secret of the Stole KAL, and thats plenty. But having finished SotS on Tuesday this week, I had a few days to get going on Mystic Waters. I have the cone of Wool Crepe in a nice medium blue that I bought just a bit back at the Silk City Fibers Outlet. As with most stuff there, its pretty thin, just perfect for a lace project. So, I start knitting. After a day, I just know it isn't working. Its got such a tight twist, it feels so rough when you knit it. And its got a lot of spring from the twist, I don't know if it will hold a block. The sample I knit back in the summer has a definite bias to it. I've got the sample re-blocking, all pinned and stretched, but the yarn was just making me too nervous. Its time to dive into the stash. Not much in laceweight there, but then I find the Mountain Colors Wool Crepe that I picked up for half price at my LYS about 1.5 years ago. Its dark blue, with streaks of copper, green, purple, etc. Bumpy in texture, but a whole lot softer than the coned yarn. So, here are the two yarns taking shape.....

One word game

I got an e-mail chain letter thats interesting. You basically send it to your friends and ask them to describe you in one word. Its a tough thing to do. Makes you really think about what you see in your friend, consider why the friendship persists.

My friend clearly gave it a lot of thought, and I've found their words to be quite uplifting. I thought I'd post them here so I could read them anytime I was feeling down and needed a boost of their love.

Loyal
Strong (x2)
Honest
Energetic
Wonderful
Nurturing

Now, I would have described myself as "Creative". Its really interesting to see yourself through others eyes.

Weaving in loose ends

First off, happy birthday to me! I got another year younger this past weekend. DH actually remembered and ordered a cake at the Shoprite bakery (for a grocery store, they make really good cakes) and invited both sides of the family over. Its been hot and humid here in NJ, more like August than October, so we spent the day eating cake and chips & dip - so much for the diets - and swimming in the pool. Now, we haven't been in the pool since very early Sept., so you can only imagine how warm it is around here. Mom & Dad gave me a black and white flowered SportSac bag, which are great for knitting bags. (Like I need another knitting bag :-) .... must start something new, right?) An old friend came over in the evening and we all went for dinner at the local diner, so it was a nice day all round.

I finally buckled down and finished the commission work I've had sitting in my house all summer. I hated the yarn, a very splitty chunky weight cotton, and have been putting it off despite calls from the project's owner. And then I re-wove a whole bunch of the ends that the owner had done poorly. Just an icky kind of job, especially when it isn't your own. But its done now, and ready to get out of here.


I also used yesterday afternoon to finish my Knitting Needle Bag. It came out soooo well. I'm very pleased. I ended up making the knitting needles from dowels, but the natural wood was too bright. A quick dip in some diluted food coloring, and they are so much better. The lining fit in well, and I'm going to use this everyday, I think.

The lining fit in well, and I'm going to use this everyday, I think.

And to keep the FO theme going... I also finished clue 1 of the Secret of the Stole (SOTS) knitalong. You can only imagine how my fingers were itching last night after all this finishing, so I grabbed the 3 pairs of socks that have been lurking in my knitting drawer and wove the ends on them too. After all, when I finished them in June/July/August, there was no urgency. Now, they might actually get worn in the next few weeks. This actually concludes my list of finished objects waiting around for the last 10 minutes of work. But don't worry, there are at least 2 abandoned UFO's sitting by the couch. I'm going to push myself and pick up that Lace Top from Gathering of Lace that I started probably back in 2002. All it needs are the sleeves and the neckline to be finished. Its just sad that I haven't finished it off in all this time. It even held my size 8 Addi needles hostage for years. I'll put it back onto my Options, it should just fly along, although I'll have to magic loop it. Perhaps a picture of it on the blocking board will show up soon. And I even have the right spaghetti strap top to go under it, another reason why I probably never finished it back then.

Okay, I've stated it all publicly, now I'll have to carry through, right?