Another boring knitting update

Good Morning Knitters!

I'm not knitting nearly as much as I would like to (insert big heavy sigh here!) but I have been doing some. I started the little dog toy for my 5 year old. I started a pair of Jaywalker socks for myself. The messenger bag is done awaiting felting. I finished knitting the iPod cozy but it needs to be sewn up and, yes felted. That one can be hand felted so that will probably be felted before the bags.

That is my super exciting not to be missed knitting update! (NOT!)

I don't have any pictures of my knitting right now and I think a blog post looks better with a picture, don't you? So I'll give you another picture of my girls for now. :-)

Hard times....checking in

Hi knitters, just checking in again. Life has been difficult lately to say the least. My dad passed away on Friday, May 30, and his funeral was this past Tuesday. He had been ill for some time and was in a nursing home, so it wasn't totally unexpected yet we did not expect it just then. It went very fast. My 3 sisters and I were all there with him when he died. We were also all with my mom last July when she died. I never would have thought I would watch both my parents die in less than a year. I'm so thankful I got to be there with both of them though. My mom was 79 and would have been 80 last September, and my dad was also 79 and would have been 80 in November. They were the BEST parents ever and I miss them both so much! I am truly blessed to be their daughter.

I have managed to do a little knitting in the midst of everything, no pics right now though. I'm about 2/3 done with the Icord handle for my messenger bag then that will be done except for felting. I started an iPod cozy, simple garter stitch, which I will also felt. My Sophie bag is also awaiting felting. Ack! I'm about 2/3 done with that. I also on a whim decided I wanted to knit some stuffed animals so I bought the booklet Jean Greenhowe's Knitted Animals. I received that, then ordered some Paton's Astra yarn which hasn't arrived yet. I plan to make both my girls the puppy and I also want to make the frog. I got enough yarn to make all of that. I'm also wanting to start a new pair of socks with my Dyeabolical Neapolitan yarn soon. I just have to roll the yarn into a center pull ball. I think I'm going to try the Jaywalker pattern. I think I will be happiest being a monogamous knitter, so why am I starting all these new projects? :-)

My sweet daughter Lindsey turned 5 last Sunday. The day before we also celebrated the 4th anniversary of the day we first met her in China. Joy in the midst of sorow.



Here's to happier days ahead...

Just checking in.....

....to let you know I'm still alive! Knitting has been very s-l-o-w for me lately so I don't have much to report. I haven't been knitting 5 days a week per my resolutions, maybe 2-3 times per week. I've been so tired at night!

I finished the body of the messenger bag. I made a few mistakes on the cables in the first 10 rows or so but they look good after that.



The flap of the bag will actually be as wide as the bag - I just can't pull it out full-size for the picture otherwise it will come off the needles!

I don't like the cable needle I have. This is the only one they had at my LYS when I went to buy it. I had a hard time knitting from it. I thought it would be easier.



I have to make the I-cord handle and then felt it. I still haven't felted my Sophie bag!

I'm almost finished with the ballband dishcloth, just have to bind off and weave in the ends. I think I started it last year! so it's about time I get this thing done.



Sorry to be so boring!

I apologize for my pictures - my camera isn't that great and I don't have a lot of time to set up for pics - I just put a towel down, took the pics, and uploaded them. :-)

Podcasts, Podcasts, and More Podcasts!

These are all the knitting podcasts I listen to that I haven't talked about in previous posts (those are listed in my sidebar, I will update it with the new ones soon.)

• Arlene Tats & Knits
  
• Bark N Knit
• Belle of the Ball
• Crochet Locket
• Diva Knitting
• Faery Knitting
• Knit Obsession w/zknits
• Knit Grrl
• Knit Together
• Knitting Rose
• Knitty Nora's knitting natter
  
• Piscean Knits
• Y-Knit

I also started listening to some non-knitting podcasts, if you're interested in things other than knitting. (Other interests besides knitting????? Gasp!!!)

• American Idol Podcast (don't have a website link for this, just search on iTunes)
  
• The Big Boo Cast (LOVE this one, so funny!)
• Idol Thoughts 2008
• Journey for the Heart
• KidsWifeWorkLife
• Love Long and Prosper
• Pediacast
• The Divacast

Addicted to podcasts???? ME???? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You've got me mixed up with someone else! :-)

2008 Knitting Resolutions....and more

Dawn at Texas Purl Gurl just reviewed her 2008 knitting resolutions so I thought I would do the same here. This is what I wrote back on January 1:

1. Make 6 pair of socks.
2. Make matching spring ponchos for my girls (pattern suggestions welcome!)
3. Learn to cable in the first half of 2008.
4. Learn to do either intarsia or fair isle, sometime in the second half of 2008.
5. Knit at least one item for charity.
6. Learn to use dpns, at least do one project with them.
7. Knit 5 times a week (would love to knit every day but I think that's impossible).

And the update on each:

1. I have made 2 pair so far. I started the first pair in 2007 but finished them this year so I'm counting them in the total. Since it took me 3 months to knit them, and almost 7 weeks to knit the second pair, I know I am not going to make my goal of 6 pair this year. To meet that goal I'd almost have to knit nothing but socks and although I loved making both pairs, I do want to knit other things too. So I'm going to revise that goal to make 4 pairs.
2. I couldn't find a poncho pattern I like for the girls and even if I found one now, I will never finish them on time to wear this spring, which is what I wanted them for. So I'm taking this goal off my list and will possibly put in on my 2009 goals.
3. I am currently making a mini-messenger bag which has cables on the flap. I am ready to start the flap so I should meet this goal very soon. I haven't knit much at all in the last week! I haven't lost my "knitting mojo" or anything like that, it's just been busy or I've been really tired at night.
4. I still plan to learn intarsia or fair isle in the second half of this year. I haven't picked out a project yet for that. Any suggestions on a good beginner pattern for either technique?
5. I haven't knit anything for charity yet.
6. I haven't knit anything with dpns yet either. Any suggestions once again for a good beginner pattern? Mittens or something? I plan to start making some mittens about halfway through the summer so they are done for next winter.
7. I think I've knit 5 times a week the whole year so far up until the last week or so. So I'm doing pretty good on this goal.

So here are my official revised 2008 Knitting Resolutions:

1. Make 4 pair of socks.
2. Learn to cable in the first half of 2008.
   
3. Learn to do either intarsia or fair isle, sometime in the second half of 2008.
4. Knit at least one item for charity.
5. Learn to use dpns, at least do one project with them.
6. Knit 5 times a week (would love to knit every day but I think that's impossible).

I guess they're the same except I changed the number of socks and deleted the ponchos.

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In other news:

**Awhile back I mentioned I was making a gift for a friend but I couldn't say what it was until she received it. She got it a few months ago! but I forgot to post about it. It was a dishcloth. She lives in North Carolina so I made her this:

**Podcasts! My sidebar is so not up to date. I listen to many more podcasts than what I have listed. In addition to knitting podcasts I now listen to at least 10 other misc. podcasts. Call me a podcast junkie! I will try to update my sidebar soon and post about some of my favorites. My current favorite knitting podcast is Stitch It! More later....

Thanks! And Socks!

Thank you all for your kind comments encouraging me to continue blogging, even if it's not very often! You're all so sweet! Like I said I have been tossing around completely ending all my blogs, but then I think about all the friends I have made through them, and I don't want to do it. So I think I will just post as I am able, and make a better effort to comment on others' blogs. You're all the best!

I finished my Tidal Wave Socks a few weeks ago. It took me 4 weeks, knitting just about every day, just to finish the first sock! I then made it a goal to knit the second sock in 3 weeks, and I finished a few days ahead of schedule. So it took me about 6 1/2 weeks total to make the pair.

They turned out pretty well. The second sock ended up bigger than the first. I think I loosened up my knitting or something, because I kept track of how many rows in each section on the first sock and repeated it on the second. They both fit though and you can't tell when they're on that they're not quite the same size. The toe decrease section on the second sock is fairly loose. I don't like that. But they're still wearable.

I love the way the colors patterned themselves (can't think of the term to describe that!) in the leg of the first sock. In the second sock the colors pooled, didn't look the same as the first at all. Again it's fine with me, but I like the first sock so much better.

I'm now making the Mini Messenger bag from one of the One Skein books (can't think of the title at the moment, if it's the yarn shop one or the designer one) using Cascade 220. I finished the body of the bag and next will be the flap where the cables are. One of my New Year's Resolutions was to learn how to cable, so I thought this would be a good first project for that. I haven't taken any pictures of it yet.

I had originally bought some Cascade 220 yarn for the bag in a beautiful blue color. The first time I made something with that yarn (the Sophie bag I made which has yet to be felted!) my husband held the yarn for me while I wound it into a center pull ball. It went really well, no problems. So with this skein I decided to try to wind it into a ball without any help. BIG MISTAKE! It got all tangled up and after spending TWO HOURS trying to straighten it out, I finally threw most of the skein out! I hated to do it but I had no choice! I went to a different yarn shop to buy another skein and they didn't have the original color so I bought more in a green heather color. This time my husband helped me wind it into a ball and it went smoothly. :-)

Thanks again everyone for your input!

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I take terrible pictures. The sock in front is actually the first (and smaller) sock. But in this picture it looks bigger than the sock in back. You can see the difference in the way the yarn patterned in each sock. I like the one in front better.

Just a little while longer....

WOW, I haven't posted in over a month. I promise to update soon.

I have been tossing around deleting all my blogs. But I can't quite bring myself to end them either. I just don't have the time/energy/ambition to post much of the time. Things are going on in my personal life (the biggest one is my dad is ill) and with 2 active little girls and a teenager in his final year of (homeschooled) high school with college decisions being made, I just can't seem to do more than read other people's blogs. I don't think I have that many readers either, but if you're out there, please stick around! I really don't want to only talk to myself. :-) So anyway it remains up in the air what I'll end up doing. I will post an update here sooner or later.

Fyi, the Tidal Wave socks are done. :-)