Back to school means back to work!

Where has the summer gone? For that matter where has the year gone?!! It seems like it was only March a few days ago.

The kids started school last Thursday, and Derek went back to work yesterday, so today is my first "real" day of work since some time in May. My ISP has been extremely "helpful" in making sure I was productive today... my rocket stick isn't working!! I found out after a few calls to their useless customer service line that they are working on the cell tower by my house. There is no tower redundancy out here in the middle of nowhere, so I'm stuck with just my mobile phone (from a different company). Gotta love modern technology!!!

Even though it's been quite a while since I have released any new patterns, I *am* still busy designing. My most recent release was on Knit Picks in July, "By the Sea" socks: http://www.knitpicks.com/patterns/By_the_Sea_Socks__D11821220.html I have two more sock patterns in the works, and three finished sock patterns that are currently on hold until I get the results of the design contest they were entered in.

I picked up a new hobby this spring, quilting/ sewing. Derek bought me a shiny new sewing machine for Mother's Day, and I've put quite a few miles on that the last few months. Speaking of miles, check out my current tally of yarn consumed!! I have a couple things to add to the meters, but I'm well over 11 km used between knitting and crocheting.

I'm trying to decide what to work on next. I've always been an "Oooh! Shiny!!" type of person, so it's hard to stay focused on just one or two things. We shall see what the new school year brings...


Till next time,
Nicole =o)


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Works in progress...

Just like all of my socks right now, this blog is another work in progress! It's definitely going to take me a bit of time to get all the settings just how I want them. The advantage is that a lot of the content will be dynamic... which means less time needed when I'm doing updates down the road. The source coding is a lot more than what I'm used to, so I will have to decipher it all before I can start fixing it! I'm still encouraging comments and feedback for all of it.

Back to the socks...

I am trucking along on my KD-IDP sample. I was sort-of hoping that I would have it finished today, but no luck there. I have gotten it past the heel turn, and only have a couple gusset decreases left. Fingers are crossed for completion tomorrow, and casting on of the second sock. I really want to have these done by the weekend so that I can get them washed, blocked, photographed, and sent off next week. That will be very satisfying personally, and as an added bonus, another 422 metres on the knitmeter!

I was able to knit a stripe's worth on my Felici sock yesterday too. I want to get at least the first sock done before Derek leaves next Monday. Wednesday I head off to Winnipeg to pick him up from the airport, but he's only home 4½ days this time around. It's looking like my trips into town will only be once a month from now on instead of every two weeks. That means I have a ton of running around to do before the airport. I just hope that Winnipeg Trading Post is open at 9 or 9:30. I want to check out their bead selection. I wasn't able to find them online, and I do recall that they used to do mail order. I'm hoping to find some glass beads larger than the 6/0 I can get here. I also need to run into Ram Wools. I am hunting for some inspirational sock yarns, specifically some Durasport; a yarn swift; and hopefully some circulars for socks. If I still have time, I will be hopping over to Wolseley Wool as well. I haven't gotten an email from them yet, but my fingers are crossed that my crochet hook set is in.

I've been injured!!!

Yuppers... I have a spring cleaning-related injury of all things! It's bad enough how I jab the nerves of my finger with my dpns, and have built up a fairly thick knitting callous, but now I've been damaged by my cleaning rags! I guess I use a lot of strength when wringing it out, since I now have two very tender, and very raw spots on my right hand, exactly where the cloth rubs! I forced myself to finish off the back hallway despite my "disability". That was the goal I had for the day, and I was damned and determined to finish it. However, until my fingers heal up, 90% of the cleaning is up to the kids. Lord, help me with that!!! Dishes and wiping the counters, etc. will be about the extent of my efforts until a healing layer is present. This really derails my momentum, and I certainly hope that I will be able to continue on with my plans by Thursday. That would mean I would only be losing one real day of scrubbing, and since I already had a lot of errands to run, and last minute things to do around here, I am unsure if I would have been able to get much done tomorrow anyway. Wednesday, of course, I will be travelling back and forth to Winnipeg, so nothing can get done around here then.

I had February goals???

Yes, apparently I did! Although you'd never know it by looking at what I planned to work on and what I actually did work on!

What did I do in February?

Note: As of this writing, a lot/ most of the updated pictures I have, haven't been uploaded to Ravelry yet. I will be working on that over the weekend for many of them. I didn't want to delay this post any longer.
Checking my Rav project page, I have only two FOs to report: my Little Bit Irish Cardigan; and Derek's At-Home Slippers. I worked on my Felici socks while Derek and I were out together, but haven't made much overall progress on them. They are in my purse at all times, so I can always grab my sock and do a round or three when I have an idle moment. I am reconsidering the name I gave them however, "Nearly Instant Gratification" seems to be turning into "Slog Until You Die"!! I started my While Shrug just over a week ago, shortly after finishing my Little Bit Irish cardigan. I had done the swatching for Lissa's ruffled cardigan, but put it aside after getting gauge. I need to follow the pattern for that sweater, and a project like that just doesn't fit in right now. The shrug does because most of it is just stockinette, and it's perfect for something other than a sock when I need no-brain knitting. I started a new design for Ram Wools' Footwork Design contest prior to recieving my KP-IDP yarn Wednesday. I'm really liking how it's turning out, but there won't be project pages (or at least ones with pics other than just the yarn) until much later on this year.

I guess the worst thing about my February progress is that not a single stitch was done on a single afghan or shawl. I do have good afghan news though... The Monsterghan was finally delivered to the recipient, and I placed an order for the Popcorn MAM yarn. Gotta love a 29% off sale, it took care of the outrageous shipping and then some! Of course there's other goodies in there as well!

What will I do in March?

I can sum up that question in one word: SOCKS!! Socks are my biggest priority from now until the contest closing in mid-May. Anything else will simply be as a diversion, or to give my hands a rest from tiny needles. I have my first Footwork design started, and it seems to be going well. That pattern is going to need a lot of editing and clarification for sure... I'm using some new-to-me techniques, and loving every minute of it, but that makes for a few headaches when trying to explain what I'm doing! I have 3 or 4 more in the planning stages written into my notebook, and will be stopping in at Ram's when I'm in Winnipeg next week to source out a few more yarns. I also finally received my KP-IDP yarn support for another design, and while that project is also coming along, I'm having a lot of misgivings on how the colour is pooling. I'm going to get another full repeat or two done before I make my final evaluation on it though. My knitting callous is going to be taking a real beating from tiny needles!!!


Nicole =o)