Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Passing through...

Things are way too exciting right now work-wise and I haven't found a way to justify blogging as something reasonable to bill for, thus this is just something really quick to say:

1) I've started lots more projects then I thought possible and I'm really happy because now I have something to fit my every mood.

2) Snakewoman, I have been meaning to email you and ask how everything is going but that hasn't happened yet; I do think about it lots though... while entering in endless data...

3) My daughter has told me some interesting things.

4) Little Guy's favorite word is "no." He was singing it this morning.

5) I literally don't know how my life will be in 1.5 weeks so I'm glad I know what I'll be knitting somewhat. One of the 6 projects most likely.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The fabric of our lives




They are titled "Ziggy" (if you look really close you can see the zig-zags), "Ribbed Delight" (with added crochet trim to use up the yarn and give it more a feminine look), "Vanilla Ice Cream," and "Fiesta." They are not my patterns, just some I got off the various cotton labels and searching the internet. They are lots of fun to use and now that I have them finished I have a little more room in the stash bin!

Monday, May 18, 2009

A stitch in time... takes way too long sometimes!

Working on the birthday gift for M-i-l. Figuring out cross-stitch might not be for me, or at least not at the moment. Or maybe it's because when I picked out the pattern I didn't look at the gauge of the fabric and didn't realize that it's not the big square cross stitch, it's the little square cross stitch, and it's going to take a lot of those little squares to make the big picture. (I'm sure there are better technical terms to use rather than "big square" and "little square" but life is a little hectic right now and I'm trying to keep it simple. Plus, it gets the point across and that's all I'm good for at the moment.)

I am getting the pictures of the dishcloths together and a picture of the lacey scarf. LMSS's blanket doesn't look much different because, even though I have done several more rows, it takes FOREVER as well. It looks great but is definitely another long term project. I'm glad Hubby's sweater didn't work out because I'd rather focus on this.

Speaking of Hubby's sweater, I was thinking of knitting it anyway, using the EZ method. Just measure the guy and knit the darn thing according to the gauge you get on whatever needles you want. All he wants is a plain sweater. Maybe get some more yarn and double it up so it's the equivalent of a worsted weight and I won't have to work with #00 needles?

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Sister, you fight my baby tonight

I'm having trouble wanting to knit. I'm actually wanting to sit on the couch and not do anything? Is it progress? It is a problem?

However, I have found something else to do that needs to be done by M-i-l's birthday. I bought her something I'm going to cross-stitch and frame. This seems like a perfect opportunity and I've already organized the floss to start it. Hmmm... Maybe just a knitting break?

(I think the knitting strike is due to it being TOO DARN HOT here in May. 93 degrees isn't funny when you've been enjoying the high 70s and it's hard to get excited about anything that has to do with warmth and cuddling.)

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Saying my piece

Dear Facebook (and MySpace, if you consort with that also):

I dearly love the way you help me keep in touch with my friends and family. It's entertaining. It's also nice to connect with people that I have not seen in ages and those that I only just met. You provide so many opportunities for everyone to express themselves, create awareness for causes, and be as active (or inactive) as they want.

I do have one issue, though. There are some people that I chose not to be friends with anymore years ago for a very good reason, whether that former friends acknowledges it or not. It is rather uncomfortable when these people suddenly (after years and years of blissful separation) get in touch. There are also people I stopped dating for several good reasons (will not go into details here) and it can be more uncomfortable when these people somehow find me and I have to dig into my memory to recall who they were and why did I shudder at that name. Why are they looking for me? I don't know. At least it amused my husband until the same thing was happening to him.

I have no problem selecting "Ignore" for the requests. I do have a problem with having to deal with it in the first place. I'm not totally blaming you. You provide so many more positive aspects than negative to your function and for that I will accept the way things are and move on. I simply had to get this off my chest in the name of communication.

Sincerely,
Suzylee28 (who will not put her maiden name, just in case; those who need me know where to find me!)

Monday, May 11, 2009

Removing the obstruction

I think I am finally getting over my sock-block. I have finished using the cotton yarn that I had bought for dishcloths (they are so pretty!), pulled the yarn I'm going to use up for AAnt's queen-sized afghan, started on my pretty, lacey scarf I have been wanting to do just to do it and have it as a wardrobe option, and did a good basic rearranging of the yarn stash. During the last thing mentioned I noticed my sock yarn bag and started thinking... those looked like fun. They are such pretty colors... Maybe do something different? A pattern? Color change? Maybe just enjoy knitting a pair of socks without having to teach the class at the same time? There are so many possibilities... Plus, my picture of Austin, TX downtown just wasn't complete without the sock-project-in-tow (I love that: SPIT. I just made it up.)

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Stick your chin out

This totally has nothing to do with knitting but I did want to share: We were at Crochet Queen's house last night (she's not an expert at crocheting but ever since I taught her she can figure out how to make anything; she's amazing) playing with the kids on their swingset/slide/playground thing-y and Hubby said "Hey, do a chin-up." I laughed at him. That's been one of my long term fitness goals, ever since... ever and I've never been able to do it. (One-handed push-ups is my other, even though Hubby says those are really just for show, there isn't much extra full-body strength in them.) While laughing I went over to the bars (they weren't very far above my head) and pulled. AND I PULLED MYSELF UP!!!!! I couldn't believe it! James was so excited and said for me to do it again. And I could! I tried to see how many I could do and had to stop at 4 but I DID IT!

There was still some question on if I could do real chin ups because I wasn't pulling myself up from a straight-armed hang so later, while Hubby was shaving and I should have been getting ready for bed, I went to our pull-up bar in the house and tried it out. I DID IT!!!! I was so excited I burst in on Hubby in the bathroom (surprising him but he thankfully had finished shaving and was doing the mouthwash thing; marks to him for not spitting it out) jumping up and down. He was really happy for me and wanted me to show him again and I COULD DO IT AGAIN!!!! I CAN DO CHIN-UPS!!!! YAY!!!!

Monday, May 4, 2009

But that's ok...

1. I have lost the puppy's leash but that's ok. She didn't like it anyway.

2. I spilled goat's milk all over myself but that's ok. It didn't get on the keyboard.

3. I no longer have my Accord but that's ok. We now have a new Honda Insight! Hybrid cars are so cool!

4. I took Little Guy to the pet store today to see the animals, including a 30 ft. python and very friendly parrot but that's ok. They weren't in the same cage together. I even contemplated the rabbits, and that's not ok. Even though I am a rabbit person, we have a dog. After all the fuss I've made about the dog, if I came home with a rabbit I think Hubby would not be happy.

5. I didn't knit much this weekend but that's ok. I was doing lots else and when I did knit it was on a really cute dishcloth. I'll have pictures of the dishcloths up soon. They just make me smile, especially when I pull one out of the drawer to use.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Confessions of a moody knit-o-holic

Ok, so I typed up the pattern all nice and lovely with knitting term definitions (as in what I exactly mean when I say "seed stitch" and "psso" because you would not believe how some patterns ASSUME (and we know what ASSUME stands for) the reader knows what they are talking about), headers, footers, and row by row instructions and even saved it in pdf form. Then, I got on here and for the life of me could not figure out how in the world to get a link from my blog to the pdf pattern. Trying to keep my cool, and really not wanting to retype everything in the blog window, I tried to cut-and-paste. No dice. It would go in all nice and pretty but when I hit the button to "post" it send me a "does not compute" message with "error" in red and all my typing was suddenly in computer-ese.

Any suggestions on what to do? I would like to have a link to my pattern rather than a post. If posting is my only option, so be it. I'll wait until I have more time and will type it in.

I delivered the hats today. She loved it and they looked great on her. Felt good to move those along...

I started working on the Muppet wig (LMSS's baby blanket) this morning. I sort of forgot that with lace you have to make a note on where you are at in the pattern because sometimes you can't figure it out by just looking at it. Good thing was I was on the row where you purl the whole way and there was a post-it marking what I had done before that so it was fairly simple to pick back up.

Last night I decided to start on Hunky Hubby's sweater. I had promised him. I had already bought all the possible sizes of 32" circular needles I might need to get gauge so I sat down and tried to get gauge. The pattern was British so it took a little reading and converting but basically the gauge needed to be 7 sts per 1" and they were calling for US#3 (they gave the UK size but I don't remember it; I have a book for those kind of conversions anyway.) My stitch is fairly loose and I ALWAYS have to go a size smaller on needles (2 sizes actually, unless I'm knitting with cotton or double points) so I tried the US#1. Result: 5.5 sts per inch. Ok, so the US#0 (me slightly cringing at the idea of doing a sweater in US#0; I'll do it for Hubby but I'm not usually that masochistic). Result: only 6 sts per inch. I sat there and looked at everything. Was I willing to see if there are US#00s or [gasp] #0000s in 32" circular needles? Was I willing to knit a MAN's sweater, the man in subject being very basic in his tastes and ONLY WANTING STOCKINETTE TO BE THE STITCH? Think of that, #0000 needles, size medium mens, stockinette stitch SWEATER.

Nope. I couldn't think of it. I decided this just wasn't do-able, apologized to Hubby, put everything away for future reference (LMSS, you are getting the men's sweater pattern book; your stitch is tighter than mine), and am still on the hunt for Hubby's sweater. The yarn I had picked out would still work (light weight (DK, I think), dark grayish, acrylic/polymide, something that would keep him warm but not be heavy at all; he's VERY warm natured) but I think I just have to wait for the right pattern. One with at most 6 sts per inch. Here's to hope!