And now as promised... PICTURES!!!

Yes! I've actually got the photographic proof that I've been accomplishing something around here. The only thing that didn't make it into this shoot was my new sock design. I'm going to keep that under wraps for the moment. I've uploaded blog-sized photos here, but if you are interested in seeing the larger versions, you can view them on my Flickr account. I also have some recent family shots added there as well.

Here's the finished photo of the socks I made for Derek's boss as a thank you for all the help and such they've given us. I hope he likes them! I even included a little card titled: "The Care and Feeding of your Hand-Knit Socks"!


Here's where I currently am with my first laceweight project, Steph's "Snowdrop Lace Shawl" done in Clea on 4 mm needles.


This is the current state of my blue shawl. It's around 16" and I've used up 2 balls of Patons Glittallic on it so far. Derek chose the yarn and the pattern, so I'm looking forward to finishing this one.

2 balls down... ? to go???

I've been nursing my *illness* today mainly by knitting away on stuff. I've just finished the second ball of Patons Glittallic in my "Blue Stole". I have no idea how much of this stuff I still have lying around, but I'm guesstimating that there's at least 8 in total since the original pattern called for 6. It's going to be very nice once completed, and will actually be useful somewhat.

I've also done the first lace repeat of my new sock design, and did a repeat on my snowdrop shawl. I didn't get any pictures taken because I didn't feel up to going outside for a photo shoot, but I did get my template updated a bit to reflect my recent progress.

Nineteen and counting!!!

Well, it's official now... I've finished my nineteenth pair of socks this year. The "Boss" Work Socks are done. I'll be taking pictures the morning and posting them then, but I just had to brag now!!! I've cast on another pair of work socks of course! This pair is an oatmeal pair with green stripes for Derek. Until I get my initial order from Briggs & Little for the store, I only have one more pair's worth of Tuffy left in my stash. I *finally* started my paperwork for becoming a retailer, so hopefully that will all be getting off the ground very soon. I also cast on a pair using the yarn that Derek bought for me when he was in Winnipeg last month. This pair will be one of the new designs I'm hoping to feature at the store when I get it back online.

Lace, lace, and more lace!!!

My snowdrop shawl is slowly progressing, and I've rescued another shawl from the UFO pile.

The rescued shawl is wide stole done in a diamond stitch with Patons Glittalic. I started it before I found Rams, so I'd guesstimate the yarn was bought around 2 years ago. I've gotten about two repeats done on it this weekend, and I'll keep working on it until I stop finding balls of the Glittalic lying around!!!

I'm working on my intital snowdrop lace repeat. It seems to be going okay, but I still think that the lace made out of laceweight thread looks like a bunch of barf! I'm just going to have to trust that it will block out nicely! I'll have new pictures of it up soon.

I stopped in at the LYS in Brandon yesterday. I was thrilled to find out that she's usually open long before her posted 9:30 am, which is good news to me. I picked up a set of Addi bamboos to try out and ordered an Addi lace needle to try on this shawl. I hope it doesn't take too long to come in, and I am really looking forward to seeing how they compare to the Turbos. We discussed my wants/needs for laceweight and came to the decision that we'll order in Fleece Artist for me when I have a pattern in front of me. She doesn't normally stock laceweight, and the one line that she can get in easily is extremely pricey for me... around $25 for under 400 yards. I would have gone for it if it was about 800 yards, but ordering $75 worth of laceweight for one project simply isn't doable right now.

The Year of the Shawl

2007 has certainly turned out to be the year of the sock for me! 18 pairs so far and still counting. I've joined a few shawl groups, and have decided that 2008 will be the year of the shawl for me. I'm kicking this off by casting on my Snowdrop Shawl today {picture below}. I've got it listed in my projects on Ravelry, and have a larger picture linked there from my Flickr. The thread is Clea 1000 that I bought at Ram Wools during their January sale, and I'm using 4.0 mm needles for it. Just from the cast on I can see the truism about knitted lace... it *does* look like shit!!! I know it will block out nice, and I have some hopes for this shawl that I'm knitting into it. I'm hoping to make this project one of my "storylines" for NaBloPoMo as well. Wish me luck!

Ready... Set... Go NaBloPoMo!!!

Well I've signed up for NaBloPoMo. What's that you ask? Well it's a challenge to post to your blog every day for the month of November. I'm gonna try for it even though my dial-up connection and Blogger don't get along very well. Wish me luck! I'm hoping that it will keep me moving fast on my various online and knitting goals, even if it drives everyone in the house nuts with not being able to use the phone!

A shawl is born!!!

I'm waiting until there's good light to take a picture, but I had to announce that Princess Lissa has a completed shawl at long last! I finished it off this afternoon, and will be fighting to get a higher resolution photo of the completed shawl up in the next day or so. It ended up being about 32" from tip to tip across the neck, 22" from middle back to the point, and 42" from tip to point on either side. It *is* a bit big for her tiny body, but she should get a couple of years wear out of it before it's too small to be useful.

A little dab will do ya!

Well the last few days have been a little bit of this, and a little bit of that... the sum total of which is actual progress!!!

I've been knitting mostly on Lissa's shawl. I've finished off the first ball of yarn, and am now well into the second. It's now measuring around 34" across the top. I've decided to work on that rather than her sweater until it's done. At this rate, that should only be a few days. My goal is to have it done before my weekend ends.

My other accomplishment this "week" has been completing my Tofu sock #1, and starting the second sock. Since I have at-home projects that I'm focussing on, this will be mainly done as an at-work project. I'm looking forward to having another finished pair of socks soon!

You oughta be in pictures!!! Part Four

Now in the last installment, I bring you stash shots!!! This is the yarn that Derek bought for me when he was in Winnipeg for the weekend in mid-September.


This is one of the Super Soxx Surprise packages from Ram's... it was Derek's initial reason for going there to begin with. As he was making out his list of stuff to do and get in Winnipeg, he asked me if I'd like one... of course I said "YES!!!"


This is one of the two skeins of Tuffy that he bought as well. I mentioned to him that if he was going to Ram's anyway, it would be nice if he picked himself up some more sock wool... I only have enough for one other pair right now!

You oughta be in pictures!!! Part Three

In this installment I bring you Lissa's shawl!


This is the overall view of her shawl in progress. From middle back to the outer edge is about 11" at this point. I haven't decided on final length yet as I'm about halfway through the first ball of yarn for this project.


A closer view of the Cat's Paw pattern that I'm using for her shawl. I think it adds just the right touch for a little girl's shawl.

You oughta be in pictures!!! Part Two

Part two of today pictorial... this one has my scrap yarn projects, namely the Ripple Afghan and the Cotton Floor Mat.


This is an overhead shot of the afghan. It's currently around 20" in length. I haven't decided yet how long I will make it. It's hard to tell how wide it is due to the relatively short length of the circ I'm using.


A closer shot to highlight the pattern that I'm using for the afghan.


This is the current status of my cotton floor mat. It's about 10"x16" at this point. I haven't decided how large I'll be going, but at least twice this size for sure.

You oughta be in pictures!!!

I've been busy with another one of my weekend goals... PICTURES!!! The quality ain't the best, but that's about all I can do with the dial-up. I'm gonna separate this into a couple of posts so that I don't overwhelm my system! This post will be my current socks.


These are Henry's socks... nearly done! The gusset stitches for sock #2 have already been all picked up, so it's just a matter of knitting the foot and weaving in ends on this one.


This is the first sock for Henry's wife. It will be staying at this point until I find out what her shoe size is.


This is the first picture of my Tofu socks. The pooling is... well... interesting. The tiny needles and resulting tiny guage is driving me crazy!


This shows the other side of my first Tofu sock. The pooling between the two sides makes me think of a 60's flower power design!!!

Pause, regroup, continue.

I was sooo thrilled yesterday about Lissa's sweater that it was devastating when I had to stop cold after finishing up the sewing. Alas, I could only find 3 of my 6.5 mm dpns, and since I would need at least 4, I couldn't do the other sleeve cuff. Then I wanted to sew the buttons on so that I could decide if I wanted the fur trim on the button band, and only 2 kitten buttons were to be found! I *know* that I bought at *least* three different sets of at least 4 buttons for this sweater, but they are all obviously in a safe place. The sweater is now on the side of Derek's computer desk until I can buy another set of dpns and some buttons on Saturday morning at work.

After that disaster, I created another one by hunting for Lissa's shawl. I *knew* that I had been working on it in Calgary, so it wouldn't have been *too* badly buried, and should be in a box that I could at least identify as me having packed it. I tore through our bedroom, as the shawl was last in our bedroom in Winnipeg... no luck. Next stop of course is the craft room. After a bit of digging around, I had a brain wave... yes, that's scary I know, but I digress! I had a box that was still taped up that was labelled "shawls"... whoodathunkit??? Yup, the shawl, the pattern, *and* the other ball of yarn for it were all in a bag in the box. YAY!!! I'm knitting away on that now and have my fingers crossed that I'll have this done soon... that will mean *another* search and destroy mission when I go hunting for the yarn and pattern for the Snowdrop shawl I'm making next on these needles!!!

HOLY CRAP!!! IT FITS!!!

Yes... I realize I'm using all caps... I'm YELLING!!! I can't yell it loud enough!!! It's gonna fit!!! Well actually, it's more of a "Thank God I made it a size 4 instead of 2" kind of moment, but I'll take what I can get. What in the world is she talking about are you wondering??? I'm talking about Lissa's long-forgotten Dot Stitch Cardigan. The original posts about it are on the May 2006 archives. I haven't done more than look inside the bag since coming back from Thompson in June 2006, so it's wonderful that Lissa will still be able to get some use out of this cute sweater.

I hauled it out of my room this afternoon after I got the gusset stitches picked up on the Boss Socks. Inside the bag were the parts of the sweater, the pattern, and a partial skien of Fun Fur. After trying it on Lissa, I looked over the pattern and what I had to see whether or not this was doable... and it is!!! I'm currently sewing the second sleeve in, and will work on ends before hunting down what I need. I'm probably going to undo the cast off on the other sleeve cuff as it's kind of snug. I will do that at the same time as I knit the cuff on this sleeve. The fun fur fabric really stretches, so I want to cast them off with a larger needle. I also need to decide if I am going to do the trim along the side of the front edge or not as well. After that it's simply a matter of finding the buttons and sewing them on.

One weekend knitting goal met!!!

I set myself quite a few goals to get done on my weekend, and the first of the knitting goals has been met... the heel turn has been done on the Boss Work Socks, and gusset stitches picked up. Now I need to go find the two Lissa UFOs and assess what needs to be done there. GO ME!!!

What's a woman to do???

I'm having trouble trying to decide what to do, and what to work on. Don't we all seem to have that problem from time to time? I have a couple of projects that have been hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles and I still can't seem to get moving on them.

Two of my most troubling ones {at this moment in time} are for Lissa. The first is a really cute cardigan with a "fur" collar that I started well over a year ago. I knit up 95% of it really quick, and the finishing of it has been stagnating ever since. I don't think I've even touched it since I was in Thompson... if you look back to my May or June archives in 2006, I'm pretty sure I have pics of it there since I was indecisive about which buttons to use for it. I think it would take me about 2-3 days devoted to it to finish it, but I would have to evaluate it first.

The second is a shawl that I *had* wanted to finish for Lissa over a little more than a week. It was to be for her to wear to the kid's Christmas party for Derek's work. {If you are on my MSN list, you can see what she *did* wear as my avatar} At that time, the goal seemed quite attainable, but as life tends to do, it got in the way. The reason story I'm sticking to is that right after starting it, I was sent to do the Portage la Prairie store set-up, and the 3 hours of driving time every day cut into my home-knitting time too much. Since putting it down right after the party, I've only picked it up a few times to work maybe a repeat or three of the pattern. If I'm not in one of the cat's paw rows, it's a mindless knit, and I really should get working on it. What gets me, is that I've promised myself that I won't buy another 4.5 mm Addi to start a shawl for me... I *have* to finish this, since putting the shawl on waste yarn to rescue the needle will doom this shawl to UFO status permanently.

Do any of you get like this? Do any of you have any suggestions for me? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Random Wednesday

It may be Wednesday for you, but it's Friday for me!!! I'm *really* hating the stupid days off I've been given. I guess I'm just frustrated because I was *so* close to getting *real* weekends off back in Winnipeg, and I was counting on getting day shift out here. Anyhoo... off with the rant, and on to the randomness!!!

I'm knitting again in bits and pieces. I can't handle very long at a stretch, but some knitting is better than no knitting. Crocheting is still off-limits for the time being. I've been playing on Ravelry, and adding groups and working on my notebook. I'm gonna be taking some pictures on my weekend of my WIPs and getting them up here and on Rav. Sheri's socks are still on hold until I find out her shoe size. Henry's second sock has been started, and I should be turning the heel during my weekend. I'm about 60 rounds down the foot of Tofutsies #1, but with the tiny guage, I can see my usual 60-65 round foot easily becoming 80 or more. *sigh* I've resisted the temptation to start another pair of socks, and have been knitting away on my afghan.

The yarn shop is still a WIP... having two mortgages is a *HUGE* drain on the finances, and I need that money to put in my initial yarn orders. Cross your fingers for me that the house sells soon!!!

The other thing I've been working on is *finally* getting around to working on my podcast. I have gotten majorly side-tracked on that project, and it's beyond time to get it going. I'm looking for topics, and have a few essay ideas to work on.

And now for something completely different!!!

Yes... something completely different... a post where I don't spend 99% of it bitching about my crappy interweb!!!

First the bad news... I've developed a repetitive motion injury from using my boxcutter at work. That means I'm not supposed to allowed to knit. That only caused a temporary stop to my work, and I'm back knitting again, albeit carefully choosing projects, and limiting my time on them.

I finished another dishcloth at the flea market. I managed to sell a little bit, but not enough to pay for my first B&L order like I had originally hoped. No fear though, I am damned and determined to get that order in!!!

I've gotten the first work sock done for Derek's boss, and finally got through all the gusset decreases on my Tofu socks. I started a pair of plain stockinette for Sheri {boss' wife} out of some stash sock yarn; Dazzle Super Socks in a blue/teal/green jacquard colourway. I've just finished the gusset decreases on the first one of those.

I've gotten a few more colour repeats done on the ripple afghan for the living room. It measures about 14-16" now. Once my wrist can handle more knitting, I'll be able to get back to my goal of 2-4 repeats a week on it. The kitchen floor mat out of my cotton yarn leftovers is currently stalled. I use pencil hold for crocheting, and that's just *not* doable right now.

And now, the best for last... I'M ON RAVELRY!!!! Yes, I *am* yelling! There Lyz... you can SHUT UP NOW!!! I'm on there... I'm *still* not spinning though! *sticks tongue out at best friend*