Summer Daze

There hasn't been a lot going on in my knitting world lately. Or I should say, not as much as I wish there was! (Preemie hats are on temporary haitus). It would be nice if I could say it's because I've been out skydiving, water skiing, or mountain climbing, (I WISH) but it's only because of my usual health issues, having a harder time with some inflammation, and trying new meds for some relief.

I definitely have a few things on my "to-do" list for the holidays and want to get a jump on things, but that may have to be a "let's wait and see" thing. Slowly but surely I did manage to get my Red Heart Socks done:


Red Heart Heart & Sole Sock Yarn - This says it has Aloe but I personally didn't notice it like I did in another yarn I used a long time ago.
Colorway: Spring Stripe
68 st cast on
I just love this colorway for some reason. I only wish it had more of that bright pink in it. I just washed them and haven't worn them yet so I'm not sure how they'll wear. They aren't as soft as I was hoping, but I still love the colors.

The scarf I started for my Mom has been on vacation too. I've had a hard time trying to find just the "right" pattern for the yarn I chose (Malabrigo Sock). I've printed out tons of patterns, but when I try knitting a swatch, I change my mind again. I know the right one will come along, or I'll have to switch yarns at some point.

I didn't make my last knitting hookup date, I had completely forgotten it was Father's Day weekend!! We went to the in-laws so I hope to make the next meeting.
So, better late than never:
Happy (Late) Fathers Day Big Guy!!! We love you!

Rain Rain Go Away....

PLEASE!!!!!

I know people around here are used to these storms, but OMG. This has been happening ALL summer! If you're lucky enough to just be HOT and DRY, I really think you have a lot to be grateful for. Yesterday we even had tornado warnings to add to the party too! Lucky! Lucky! Today is more of the same, LOTS of rumbling, rain, and constant warnings for severe weather. Where's that magic genie bottle to get me out of here....

Not much knitting going on. I did dye some yarn the other day but have yet to wind it. I had to do it twice because I don't measure things (my bad) so I had to reset the dye by heating it again. It worked thankfully. I also didn't use my gloves so I had blue fingernails for a couple of days. That was kind of funny. I haven't worked much on my socks, and haven't worked at all on my preemie hats. But my knitting meeting is this weekend so I'll take them with me and try to get something done. (I hope, I do tend to have more fun laughing and gabbing)...

I didn't participate in WWKIP day, there was only one event I knew of but it was too far away. So I did the next best thing and went shopping for yarn (Hobby Lobby). I'd just placed the LAST item I wanted in my basket when their power went out. (Pitch black! Thank goodness for cell phones!) We left to eat thinking it would come back on but when we got back it was the ONLY store in the whole shopping center that was still out so they just closed shop. Luckily, my hubby is a sweetie and drove me clear across town to the other one. Needless to say, it made for a LONG errand running day and my body cursed me for it with the fibro/AI pain.

Well, if you're nice and dry, ENJOY! And if you're Knitting! ENJOY!! Send me a postcard saying "Wish You Were Here!"

10 On Tuesday

Ten Favorite Things to Do During "Me" Time

(Since I don't have much of a life I seem to have more Me time than most I guess. Here's what I came up with.)

1. Knit

2. SLEEP (because it's so hard to come by)

3. Read (my library rocks)

4. Go to my Knitting meetings (the best bunch of ladies)

5. Take a hot bath (ahhhhhhh)

6. Walk (love to be outside when it's nice)

7. Play my Nintendo DS (my crosswords game is a blast)

8. Ride my bike (doesn't hurt my joints as much)

9. Clean house or declutter something (I know, that's an odd one but I like order)

10. Shop for ANYthing but groceries or kids school clothes (anything knitting related makes my heart pitter patter).

Happy Tuesday!

Doing What I Can

Well, sometimes you just have to hang in there, even when you don't feel like it.
My Auto-Immune-Fibro junk has body slammed me (again). It's been a rough few weeks, my pain scale is really high. I don't think I've been this bad since the summer of 2007. I haven't been able to go for my walks but the regular occuring evening thunderstorms have made me feel less guilty about that, plus my legs wouldn't hold me up even if I wanted to go. It's also terribly humid, not a great time to be outdoors for people who already feel like crap. I have two doctor appts next week but honestly, my hope is waning that I'll ever get any answers, or any meds that actually DO something to help the pain. I guess I'm just feeling tired of hearing the same ol' stuff. Sigh. Trying to keep good thoughts.... trying...trying....trying....

I'm barely knitting, but I did manage to start my Mom's scarf for Christmas. I hope I can get it done in time. I want to try to do one 20-row repeat a day so I should make it by then! Thank you Dawn for helping me with the pattern.

I'm using some dark brown Malabrigo Sock yarn (which looks like just a black dot on my screen). It's got subtle shading and varigation to it, so I'm thinking this will look so pretty worked up this way. I hope I like it once I have more to see!

I'm also working on my other project, this is from Sandy as posted on Ravelry: "The University of Alabama fans at Serendipity Needleworks in Tuscaloosa, AL have challenged the University of Tennessee fans at The Yarn Haven, here in Knoxville, TN to participate in their 2009 Yarn Bowl Challenge. This is a competition pitting knitters and crocheters supporting the Crimson Tide against those who knit, crochet and cheer for the Tennessee Volunteers. Between now and Saturday, October 17 we will be making preemie caps to see which team can make the most caps. I hope you’ll want to join us as we seek to win this challenge and help high risk infants at the same time. At the end of the Challenge, the caps will be divided equally between the 2 shops and we’ll be able to donate our share to the East TN Children’s Hospital for distribution in their neonatal intensive care unit. So, Vol fans, are you ready to start making preemie caps? Caps must be made of very, very soft yarn that is washable. They must be between 9-12” in circumference and 4-5” in height. I will need to have the caps delivered to The Yarn Haven by Friday, October 16 as I will be mailing them to the Alabama shop the next day. If you need a pattern or have any questions, then please PM me. Come on Vols…let’s help out these little Tiders and little Volunteers!"


So, here I go:

I'm on my 18th one so far. The first 10 I had already made and was planning on donating anyway so the timing is awesome for me. My goal is two a week, I'm slightly behind right now with my health issues, but they're so fast to make I hope to catch up soon.

That's it. Just simple knitting. No socks right now, the scarf yarn is enough tiny string for me at this point. Happy Knitting. Ooooh, here comes another storm. Time to get cozy.

More socks.

I'm in sock mode again.

Simple Stockinette Socks
Yarn: Patons Kroy Stripes - Mulberry
Size 1 magic loop - 64 st cast on.
This yarn is a bit "odd" feeling to me, but they washed up nicely, got a tad bit softer, so we'll see how they wear.


The picture on top is with photo editing, the bottom is without, and the reality is somewhere in between! It's been cloudy all day today, we've gotten 8+ inches of rain in May alone. Now is the time for the standard southern afternoon/evening "pop-up" thunderstorms. There should be another one along any minute now. I'm just tired of everyone mowing every 5 minutes. sigh.

Memorial Day I had a 50% coupon for AC Moore so we went and I got these. I scored Cookie's book for 1/2 off! I'd been seeing the The Red Heart Sock yarn on Ravelry and I just love these colors knit up. I can't wait to make my own socks out of it so I can smile when I see them on my own feet.

That's it. I've got other projects in my mind (and the yarn wound up ready to go) but all I seem to be doing is socks lately.

Happy Knitting!

Soft Waves Afghan

She's all done.

Finito.
All mine.

If I ever say I want to make another afghan, just throw something at me to bring me to my senses please.

Taking on big projects is like labor to me. You forget how much time, pain, and angst you went through when you see that finished product. In both cases, the babies you create just make you forget it all. Zap! It's all gone!

All those arm cramps, all the pain of lugging this thing around while it grew and got heavier and heavier, all the times I wondered when it would just be over with. All those blasted hours I spent yesterday to Just. Get. It. Done.

In the end you have this wonderful thing that is too precious for words and you have to go snuggle. So. I shall go snuggle now....

Pattern: Soft Waves from the book 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns
(Yarns used are on my Rav project page).
Size H crochet hook
Time: Almost a year to finish. Yikes.

Yarn Swap

I can't believe I forgot to post about the yarn swap! I had a total blast, but I think we all had a ball going through each other's orphans! I took this bag:

And came home with the same bag. Only now it's only 3/4 of the way full. (pat on back!)
I mostly brought home bits and bobs of other peoples left overs. "THE PLAN" has been
- and is - to make my girls each a patchwork Christmas Stocking. It's been nagging at my mind for..oh...maybe 3+ years now. I know I have plenty of stash for it, but there were some pretty reds and greens I just couldn't pass up! (Yes, I brought home pinks too!)

This year I'm really going to try to get my yarns together and just get them done. I hate when things nag at my mind. Especially when it seems like a really cool idea. They're both pretty special little people to me, I think they'll love them if I ever can get them done. I also got a few full skeins of baby yarn for the preemie hats I make so I scored nicely.

This isn't all of us, we had more show up, and we had the table to the right (that's barely in the picture) covered in yarn too. These ladies are so sweet and I've always felt so welcome. They probably don't realize how much they cheered this knitter up. I know that we're all in different places, we have our worries, our happy times, our troubles. But we come together for a couple of days a month and just talk and knit. It's uplifting to just be around each other. There is something really powerful about fiber arts and community.

The funny part of our meeting was that the power was out at the library. Oh my gosh, that was one HOT room we were in and it wasn't just me this time with my hot flashes! It eventually did come back on but our room never quite cooled off after that. Goes to show Knitters have fortitude. We stayed huddled in there with ALL of us, and ALL that yarn because, by golly, it was WORTH it!

It seems like every time we have a meeting lately it's like this:

But, like I said, not much can keep knitters from their scheduled rendezvous.

Today is just like this except my patio furniture is now scattered all over the back yard. It didn't look like much on the weather channel, but geez, it sure packed a punch this evening! The good thing is that now I can't walk today. My pain scale shot way UP again so now I don't feel guilty for skipping today. All I need is for lightning to strike me when I have so much yarn to knit.

I'm off to work on something....I'm not sure yet what I'm in the mood for, or even how long I'll be able to hold my needles up with my arm pain, but rainy weather makes good knitting weather.

Happy Knitting.