Life – Page 2 – Ms Lindz – My little corner of the internet

Maryland Sheep & Wool

Posted on May 6, 2009 by mslindz

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to get to go to Maryland Sheep & Wool! Jessica was nice enough to let me stay with her for the weekend and go up for the fest. I met Jessica through Ravelry in the Vesper Yarn Lovers group and we got to know each other through there (and Twitter and Plurk). I’ve been able to get to know a lot of fantastic folks through Ravelry, Plurk, and Twitter – it’s been really fantastic!

Anyhow…

MDSW was great! We went on Saturday. There were a lot of people and it rained for a little while in the morning, but wasn’t bad the rest of the day. There was TONS of stuff I wanted to get, but I only had so much money to spend, so of course I couldn’t get everything I wanted. You can see all of my photos here, but here are a few of my favorites:

Baby goats

Baby bunnies

Teeswater Sheep

Brooks Farm booth

Golding Spindles

Golding Wheel

This photo just might be my favorite, though. While at the fest on Saturday, I got to meet Laura!! We became fast friends through Ravelry and it’s been really great getting to know her. I’m so glad we were able to finally meet and spend some time together at the fest and it looks like I’ll get even more time to hang out with her this fall at Rhinebeck – we’re already making plans :o)

Left to right: Me, Jessica and Laura

The drive to VA and back wasn’t bad at all. The way back I had to drive through a lot of rain, but the drive out was nice the entire way. I was sad that Jessica (a different one!) wasn’t able to make it out to MDSW this year, but I’m hoping we’ll get to meet at Rhinebeck. Send lots of good thoughts her way, if you can! She’s having surgery next week and I know any extra thoughts/prayers/whatever would be well appreciated. Surgery isn’t an easy thing to go through… all the nervousness, stress, and anxiety leading up to it, then the recovery. NOT easy!!

Speaking of which, I feel pretty good about my own surgery. I’m doing great. I have times where I’m more sore or have a little pain, but it’s nothing like before. Had my doctors appointment on Monday of this week and things went well. He said I’m doing quite well, which was good to hear! I go to the PT people tomorrow, then next week I’ll be back at work. I think the toughest part will be keeping up the walking, but since I have an hour lunch, I should have no problem getting in a walk then on the days I work.

So, MDSW was great! Totally want to do it again next year! Next time I’ll show you what came home with me and my finished Leyburn socks :o)

Current Projects

Marlene, Stripey Socks, and Project Bags

Posted on April 16, 2009 by mslindz

I’ve been knitting on Decimal quite a bit this week, but I’ve been taking breaks occasionally and knitting on the two socks I’m working on. At first I was knitting more on the stripey Vesper socks because I wasn’t sure how much I liked Marlene. I had tried it on early in the week and just felt “meh” about it. I was considering ripping it out then decided I should let it sit for a few days before deciding. Today I put it back on and decided it’s a keeper.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the fit. I was worried that it was a little loose and not quite right. I was really close to ripping it out! Glad I decided to let it sit for a few days and see how I feel.

While Marlene waited my decision, I knit quite a bit on the stripey Vesper sock. Monday I turned the heel and I’m getting close to the ribbing now.

Since my sock books arrived on Tuesday, I’ve been itching to start another pair. I just kept flipping through the books trying to decided on one to start, but finally decided that I should finish one of the pairs I’m working on before starting a new one. The books sit fairly close to me, though, so I’ve been taking breaks and looking through the books. Good thing for the above socks that I’m indecisive and can’t settle on a pattern!

I was going to blog about this on Monday, then I was waiting to finish the last one I’d cut fabric for, but I don’t know when I’ll get to that last one… so here are the project bags I spent some time sewing on Monday.

The first two are drawstring bags>

The third one I made is a box bag. I have fabric cut for a fourth one, but I haven’t sewn it up yet.

All the sewing was fun to do, but now I have so many project bags I don’t know what to do with them all! I think the box bags are my favorite, though they do take a bit more time to make.

This week I’ve done a lot more knitting and sewing then I have in what seems like a long time. Surgery recovery has been going good overall. Good days and bad days, of course, though this week seems like I’ve had more good days. I’ve been walking a few times a day and slowly building up longer walks. The rest of the time I spend knitting, watching things on Hulu, and doing some napping. It’s been rather nice to focus on just getting better. I feel like I’m almost back to normal. I’m able to do most things on my own again, including put on my shoes again (though it does take a while still!). Today I managed to do the dishes without trouble (just takes a while) and I even drove to Matt’s work to have lunch with him since my driving restriction has been lifted! It was a little weird to drive again after what feels like forever. I feel comfortable driving, though, so that’s great news to me. I’m sure I’ll be back to normal life soon enough, but for now I’m just taking time to take care of me :o)

Current Projects

Stripey Goodness and Marlene Progress

Posted on April 12, 2009 by mslindz

After almost a week of resisting casting on a pair of socks with the Vesper self-striping sock yarn I have, I caved yesterday and cast on another pair of toe-up stripey socks with the “Sweet Water” colorway that was calling me from my stash.

They’re knitting up a lot faster than I thought they would, but I suppose it’s just because I’ve had a lot of time to sit around and knit. I’m a little over half way to the heel already!

Marlene is moving right along, too. I was a little surprised when I picked it up yesterday to find that I was ready to start the heel.

For two projects I started this week, it feels like they’re moving along at lightning speed.

Yesterday my knitterly friend Jessy came by and hung out for part of the afternoon. She brought a delicious blackberry tart that I would probably eat all in one sitting if I didn’t know what was best for me! We had pizza, watched Matt play some video games (Matt and I were playing Little Big Planet when she arrived) while we knit, and watched Dollhouse. My mom, sisters, and grandpa came by for a while a bit after Jessy left. I do love having visitors and it’s been nice to since I can’t really go anywhere still. It feels like I’ve been home for a few weeks, but I know it’s only been a week. Almost like time is just standing still!

Today is Easter and if I were allowed to get in a car and go anywhere, we’d probably be going to a get together with Matt’s dad (and that side of the family). I’m a little sad about not going, but it’s also kind of nice not to have any obligations today.

Here’s a cool Easter-related treat for you: Peeps Show III. Peeps are one of my favorite Easter treats even though I know they have them pretty much year round now. I loved these as a kid and I still love them as an adult. I think when Matt goes to the store today, I’ll make sure he picks some up for me!

Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

Current Projects

Doing Better Each Day

Posted on April 10, 2009 by mslindz

About this time last week, I was on my way home from the hospital after surgery. The surgery itself went great (took about 2 hours total), but the first few days home were difficult. It was hard for me to move or do much on my own and I think the anesthesia didn’t agree well with me (whenever I slept, I’d wake up feeling nauseous), but I was walking pretty good and even went outside to walk on Saturday and Sunday. Matt went back to work on Monday and by then I was mostly able to do things on my own. He’s been home each day for lunch, which has been nice since I’ve been getting bored at home.

Tuesday my mom and sister came by and kept me company all afternoon. Wednesday some of my knitterly friends came by – Karen, Lani, Alita and Lisa. Lani was kind enough to bring some frozen meals for Matt and I, which was very much appreciated since I can’t do much housework or cooking still. Plus, the time with friends was great since I didn’t get to go to knitting group this week. My friend, Grace, stopped by Wednesday as well. She brought us dinner before she went to a yoga class. It was nice to have her come over and visit. Tomorrow Jessy is stopping by and I think my mom and sisters will be by this weekend, too.

Took a few days before I knit much after getting back home because I wasn’t feeling much like sitting up at first (mostly laid down and napped). Now, though, I’m back to knitting and I’ve been doing a lot of it! I’ll get to that part, but first I’ll show you what arrived in the mail just before I had surgery last week and since I’ve been home.

Last Wednesday, my Chevron Love Mitten Kit came in the mail from Knitterly Things. I can’t wait to knit these up! Should be a lot of fun even though I won’t be wearing them again until next winter. I got the “Tiny Dancer” kit. Irresistible combination of colors I had to have!

I ordered a pattern from The Loopy Ewe that was waiting for me in the mailbox when we got home last Friday. The pattern is Swedish Fish Socks. I already have some stash yarn in mind for it.

On Monday, I received yarn from The Yarn Bearer from the “Nightmares” sock club. This month’s theme is “Falling.”

I’ve really enjoyed being part of The Yarn Bearer’s club. The yarn’s I have received are beautiful! So glad I decided to join :o)

As for what I’ve been knitting… I’m still working on Decimal and it’s coming right along. I’m at the waist shaping portion. Seems like the more I knit, the less spittly this yarn is (though it’s still a bit splitty). I’m loving the resulting knit fabric, regardless of the splittiness of the yarn, though. The color, too!

I was working on the Baudelaire socks, but decided to rip them out. I had turned the heel when I decided I just didn’t love them. It was a combination of the yarn being a bit fuzzy/splitty and just not really loving the pattern. Wednesday I ripped them out and it felt liberating! Since I no longer had a pair of socks on the needles after ripping the Baudelaire socks out, I cast-on for another pair with the yarn I got Monday (above). I decided on the Marlene pattern by Cookie A. in the Fall/Winter 2008 issue of knit.1. I wasn’t sure how the yarn and pattern would go together, but I was pleasantly surprised with the lovely result.

Initially I cast-on using US 1’s, but I couldn’t get the sock over my heel after two chart repeats, so I had to rip it out. Went up to US 2’s and it seems perfect now. The pattern has been an easy and fun knit so far. I think I have 2 more chart repeats before the heel, so it’s even further along then the picture above shows.

Haven’t been working on much else. I’ve been spending a lot of time watching TV, online, and knitting. Of course I’ve been doing a fair amount of walking, too, since that’s a big part of my recovery. I have a while before I go back to work and recovering is my main focus. Each day I’m walking and doing a little more!

Completed Projects, Current Projects

Lucky Socks (FO), Decimal, and Baudelaire Socks

Posted on April 1, 2009 by mslindz

I know I promised pictures of recent stash acquisitions in this post, but I haven’t had time to compile a proper post, so today I’ll show you my Lucky Surgery Socks and current WIPs!

Pattern: Generic toe-up pattern, 64 stitches around (My Ravelry project page.)
Started: March 18, 2009
Completed: March 30, 2009
Yarn: Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the “Shamrockin’ ” colorway
Needles: US 1 birch DPN’s
Notes: None. Once again I have to say how much I love these striping socks and Vesper yarn. Only down side was that the dark green yarn stained my needles. Not surprised as dark green tends to do that with wood, but I’m always a little bummed when it happens. I’m so glad I was able to get these done in time! Even got to wash and block them.

In my last post, I mentioned Decimal. I got the yarn and started it almost right away. So far it’s been a pretty easy knit. I like how the yarn knits up, but I’m not a big fan on how splitty it gets at times. Hasn’t been too much of an issue, but occasionally it gets me. I’m just past the lace border. I decided to do 3 repeats like others have and I’m glad I did. I like how it is progressing.

I’ve been working away on my Baudelaire socks. Just started the gusset increases. The photo is from just before I started the gusset increases, but it shows the color of the yarn pretty well (compared to my last black and white photo of it).

I’m keeping this post fairly short today. With surgery tomorrow, I have a lot going on that needs to get done before I go in at 5:30 am. Wish me luck! Any extra healing thoughts or prayers are definitely welcome. I’ll be sure to update here as soon as I’m able – I’m guessing/hoping sometime this weekend. Until next time… happy crafting! :o)

Completed Projects, Current Projects

Big Thing Upcoming, Vesper Socks (FO), and Other Projects

Posted on March 18, 2009 by mslindz

Well hello there!

It’s been a while since I last posted, but there’s been so much going on in my life lately and I feel like I can hardly keep up. The biggest thing is coming up, quite quickly. In two weeks, I am going to be having surgery. This has been a long time coming for me and I haven’t really mentioned it here, but dealing with all that’s going on with it in the past few months has kept me pretty occupied. I will be having a spinal fusion done on Thursday, April 2, 2009. I’ve never had surgery before, so I’m really quite nervous about it! The condensed version is this: I’ve had constant low back pain that goes all the way down my right leg for almost 4 years, following a car accident (though it was on and off pain before that – from 2002 to May 2005 when it became constant). The has not responded to non-surgical treatments and some things actually made it worse, so it was decided it was time for surgery. L4/L5/S1 have very bad tears, are herniated and have degenerative disc disease. They are pressing on my nerves causing me lots of pain in my low back and right leg. So, after debating it and getting second opinions, I will be having a flexible spinal fusion done.

The doctor will be using the Dynesys Dynamic Stabilization System, which means instead of the standard solid fusion, I will be having a flexible fusion meaning I should retain all of my range of motion (solid fusion would mean I would lose range of motion). I should only be in the hospital overnight, but I will be out of work for 4 to 6 weeks. I feel like I have a lot to do between now and the time I have surgery. I’m worried and stressed (who wouldn’t be?), but I have a fantastic support network that have really been keeping me going. Matt has been especially great through all of this. He is my rock, who I lean on when I need to and who is always there to hold me up and help me in any way he can! I’ve been rather emotional lately, too, so just typing that made me tear up! *sniff*

Anyway! That’s the big deal thing coming up in my life. I’ll probably be offline for a few days, but Matt will probably update Twitter and Plurk for me (mslindz both places) and talk to anyone who calls to let them know how I’m doing. Gosh, two weeks is going to come so quickly! I probably won’t talk too much about it, but I do know it will be a pretty long recovery process. On the upside, I’ll have lots of time to knit and blog in the coming weeks!

Even though I’ve been away from my blog for almost a month without posting some knitting content for you, I have been knitting! Lots of knitting, in fact!

Before I get to that, though, there’s upcoming blog changes that I’ll be working on! The big news regarding the blog is that I finally bought my own domain!! It’s currently working and forwarding you to my blog here on TypePad, while I work on getting WordPress set up. The new address that you can access my blog from is http://www.mslindz.com you can also type in just mslindz.com and it will work the same way (you don’t have to use the “www” part). As I get things ready for my new blog to go live, I’ll keep you updated because after I make the switch from TypePad to WordPress on my own hosting (well Matt will be taking care of that stuff), I will be disabling my TypePad account. I’m pretty excited about it!!

Alright, knitting content!

First, I have an FO to show you. I didn’t even post about these on the blog, but I loved knitting them and they didn’t take much time at all.

Pattern: Generic toe-up pattern, 63 stitches around (My Ravelry project page.)
Started: February 17, 2009
Completed: March 7, 2009
Yarn: Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the “Love Stinks (Yeah Yeah)” colorway
Needles: US 1 Knit Picks DPN’s
Notes: None! I just loved knitting these socks. I love the strips and the colors and the way the yarn feels! I think I’m officially addicted to this yarn and can’t wait to knit up what I have in my statsh :o)

I recently finished the Lakeside socks, but I’m going to have Matt take some better photos for me before I send them off to Anaya. I finished knitting on Monday and all that’s left is putting in the elastic band at the tops. Here’s a sneak peak at the finished socks!

I’m currently working on a few new things. I started the Rainy Day gloves and I was able to finish knitting the first one in about two days. I’m using various colors of Knit Picks Palette.

I also started Baudelaire. I’m using Malabrigo Sock yarn in Indiecita. It’s been difficult to photograph because inside it has been blue and green, but in the sunlight it has been purple, green and a bit of yellow, so here’s a black and white photo of my progress since I couldn’t seem to get the colors right.

I actually have a few more repeats going now on it and I’m about to start the heel. The yarn is starting to fuzz quite a bit and I’m considering frogging, using a different yarn, and making something else with this, but we’ll see.

The last thing I’ve been working on (again) is my Starlight sweater. I’m determined to finish it up by the end of the year! I’m currently working on one of the front pieces.

I am going to be starting another new project soon! When the new issue of Knitty came out, I fell in love with Decimal. So did a bunch of other people I know! Many in my knitting group wanted to knit it, so we started our own KAL. Karen and I ordered the yarn together to save on shipping and it arrived today. The yarn we are both using is Lara from Elann.com. I’m excited to get started on it!

I’ve had some recent stash acquisitions (including The Loopy Ewe Sock Club shipment!) and I started some seeds for this years container gardn, which I’ll show you in the next post so that I don’t make this one longer! Until next time, happy crafting!

Knit Ramblings

Klean Kanteens – A Review

Posted on February 27, 2009 by mslindz

Today I wanted to do a little review of a product I recently purchased. Not something I’d normally do, especially since it’s not even knitting or crafting related, but I have been quite smitten with this recent purchase, so I wanted to share!

I drink a lot of water. I’m probably one of those few exceptions since it seems like so many people tell me they don’t drink much water. I grew up drinking lots of ice water, so even now it’s a staple for me, especially at work. It has to be COLD, though. I don’t like drinking room temperature water at all. I’ll do it, but much prefer it cold or iced. At work, we have a water and ice dispensing machine. For quite a while I was using that and my Nalgene bottle every day while I was there. Some time last year, the water machine started tasting off to me after they had someone come “fix” it. The guy came out a second and I think a third time, but it still just didn’t taste right. In fact it tasted downright disgusting to me. I couldn’t handle it. So, I started buying bottled water and bringing it to work with me. I was going through about 3 bottles on average per day. Since I work somewhere that’s very environmentally conscious, recycling the bottles just didn’t seem enough to me after a while.

I started to look at other options, since using the water machine just wasn’t one of them. I tried and tried again to drink that water, but I can’t. The taste and aftertaste are just not bearable for me. I decided I could bring water from home, but how? I already had one Nalgene bottle, but with the amount of water I drink per day and the fact that I couldn’t have cold water at my desk all day with just one 40 oz Nalgene bottle, I knew I needed to get more based on my needs. I’d looked into getting a Sigg, but they are a bit out of my price range and unless you have a special ice maker, you can’t get ice cubes in them because the opening is so small. Thought about getting an additional Nalgene, but I was worried a bout BPA’s (though I’m fairly sure they have changed materials now). Then, Matt pointed me to Klean Kanteen. I wanted to order, but hadn’t really heard much about them. After a while, I gave up and stuck to plastic bottles.

This month, it started bothering me again. I went back to the Klean Kanteen and saw one of their banners at the bottom that read something like “The average person consumes 168 bottles of water in a year.” I immediately thought, “I must drink double, maybe tripple that amount!” It struck me pretty hard and knew I just needed to make the switch. So, last week I ordered three Klean Kanteens. Two in the 27 oz size and one in the 40 oz size. One 27 oz bottle was for Matt, and the other two were for me.

The black one is Matt’s and the two pink ones are mine.

They arrived on Monday. I was surprised that they showed up with sports caps along with the loop caps. I didn’t see anything on their website about this or that they were supposed to come with one. The colored ones don’t specify a cap type, but the all metal ones do. Hm. Anyway, I was pretty excited that they arrived with both caps. I’ve used them all week at work and I have to say, I love them!

The sports caps are really great. They don’t leak at all! When you turn them upside down when it’s open, you do get a steady drip, but not a pour. When you drink from them, you do have to suck a little. When you tip them over (yes I did try this to see how much they’d spill), you get very, very little spillage, if any at all (depending on how it falls). Otherwise, they are leakproof when closed. They stay nice and cold, too. Much longer than plastic bottles, especially if you have ice in them. What I do for work is fill my 40 oz one with water and my 27 oz one full to the top with ice, then water. I keep the 27 oz one at my desk and the 40 oz one in the fridge at work. When I need a refill, I just pour from my 40 oz one into my 27 oz one (which is actually really easy and not a mess at all). The prices are quite reasonable (especially if comparing with Sigg) and you get a discount if you buy two of the same size bottle. Shipping was really quick and they are easy to care for (dishwasher safe!). The only thing I could even mention about improving is the opening. I’d like it to be just a little bit bigger if I were going to drink directly from it rather than from the sports cap. Overall, I’m very happy with the bottles so far! I’m also glad I can stop buying all that bottled water :o)

Completed Projects, Current Projects

Pescovegetarian Mittens, 2009 Goals, Lakeside Socks, & Toe-Up Socks

Posted on February 17, 2009 by mslindz

This weekend, I decided it was time I knit myself a new pair of mittens. I lost one of them a few weeks ago when we got slammed with snow. I had hoped I would find it, but after a few weeks of looking, I figured it was gone for good and it was time for a new pair. It was really time for a new pair anyway since these were getting pretty worn out. The pair I had were the pair I knit back when I was still pretty new to knitting, so they are at least 3 years old, probably more. They’ve seen quite a few winters and were starting to felt pretty good!

I came across the Pescovegetarian mittens pattern a week ago and knew right away this was the pattern I wanted to use to make my replacement mittens. I had some Patons Classic Wool in my stash for just this purpose. A very pretty purple. I knew I wanted bulky mittens, similar to my last ones, which were also knit with Patons Classic Wool (in bright pink), held double. My plan was to use the Patons Classic Wool held double. Looking at the mittens, they seemed a bit bulky and I was afraid that using US 10’s might make the fabric a bit too loose or be too loose on my hands (I have fairly small hands). So, I decided to make some modifications. The modifications I made ended up turning out great and I love the end result!

Pattern: Pescovegetarian mittens
Started: February 14, 2009
Completed: February 16, 2009
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool, Royal Purple (used 1/2 of each of 2 skeins, about 1 full skein total used)
Needles: US 8 & 9 bamboo DPN’s
Notes: There are a number of notes for this one! I did change some things to make them fit my hands better – that’s the best part about knitting, right? Totally customizable! I used smaller needles (US 8 & 9 instead of US 9 & 10) size needles and followed most of the directions. Here’s my mods:

After knitting the two rounds after the 2nd increase round, do another increase round like this: at the beginning of the second needle, k1, m1, k6, m1, knit to end of round.
After the increase round, work 8 rounds (or until you get to the base of your thumb).
I chose to kitchner/graft the top of my mitten because I couldn’t get the yarn tight enough to make no gap. I ended up liking the way this looks better.
For the thumb, work as indicated, picking up the 6 stitches above and around the thumb hole. The very first round, decrease those 6 stitches to 4 so you have a total of 12 stitches.
Work as many rows as needed to get to the tip of your thumb then work two decrease rounds as follows: 1st round, ssk, k2, k2tog, ssk, k2, k2tog, k2. 2nd round, ssk, k2tog, ssk, k2tog, k1. 5 stitches remain, pull yarn through the 5 stitches and pull tight to close up. I liked the way this looked better than decreasing them all at once.

I really love how these turned out. They fit great! I got to try them out this morning since it was about 25 degrees out! Kept my hands nice and toasty just like the old ones did.

~~~~~

I thought I’d give a brief update on how I’m doing with the goals I gave myself this year.

In this post, I outlined what my goals were for this year:

Read at least 12 books this year
Take one photo per day (Plurk Craft 365)
Blog more (personal and here)
Do more colorwork knitting
Knit something that requires steeking
Knit more sweaters and lace
Wear socks that I’ve knit
Try one new recipe per week using the crockpot

So far I have:

Read 1 book for the month of January (Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel) and I’m a good way through my second book for February (Enchantment by Orson Scott Card). I’m also reading Getting Things Done by David Allen, but it’s taking me a while to get through it.
I have kept up with the one photo per day goal.
I think I’ve done a good job blogging (though I’d like to be more “regular” here still).
I knit a swatch for a sweater, but decided it looked to much like Christmas colors. There’s a new KAL coming up for colorwork, though, so I have plenty of time to get that in (after all, it is only February).
Haven’t done steeking yet.
Haven’t knit a sweater or lace yet.
Haven’t worn my handknit socks yet.
Did 3 meals in the crockpot, but ended up scratching this goal.

The reason I bring any of this up is that last one there. The crockpotting. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the crockpot. Matt wasn’t really wrong when he said I was trying to go too far with it, too exotic for a crockpot (with things like lasagna that ended up really greasy and not very good). He’s right. There’s plenty of things I could make that I already know that I like and maybe expand a bit from there. Perhaps I was approaching it totally wrong. It’s okay, though. My crockpot hasn’t been banished from the kitchen, but I have a much better idea what I’d like to do with it. Soups, stews, chili, roasts, whole chickens… that sort of thing. Haven’t done it yet, but soon!

~~~~~

I’ve been moving right along on the Lakeside socks. Nothing really to note about them. I’m following the pattern pretty much exactly (except for the mix up about using needles 1 & 4 and I used needles 1 & 2). I’m working on the gusset now. Here’s some progress shots:

I started a pair of socks for the Knitting Purls Toe-Up KAL that started today. I decided to use the Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the “Love Stinks (Yeah Yeah)” colorway. I like how it’s going so far. I started with 24 stitches (12 each side) and knit the first row, increased every row for 6 rows, and now I’m working on increasing every other row until I get the number of stitches I want (haven’t determined that yet). Kinda making it up as I go along!

That’s all I’m working on right now. Juno Regina is still on the needles, but taking a bit of a vacation for now! I did a colorwork swatch that I’ll share when I can figure out what colors I’ll be doing instead. And, no, Matt, I will not be doing the 80’s colors you suggested… Knit Picks doesn’t make the colors I need :oP

Completed Projects, Current Projects

Shedir Hat, Cigar Gloves, Lakeside Socks, New Pattern, & a Lost Mitten

Posted on February 4, 2009 by mslindz

I have two finished projects to share today!

The first one is a hat I was commissioned to make for a friend. I had kept it rather hush-hush here on the blog because she said I could use whatever pattern and yarn I wanted, so I wanted it to be a surprise. Well, she received it in the mail yesterday and took a fantastically fun picture for me today! (The picture and the hat totally suit her!)

Pattern: Shedir from Knitty’s Fall 2004 Surprise
Started: January 16, 2009
Completed: January 28, 2009
Yarn: Cascade Heritage in red
Needles: US 3 bamboo circular and DPN’s
Notes: I did one more repeat of the main cable portion then I typically do and I think it worked out well. Other than that, no changes! I really do love how this hat comes out and no matter how many times I’ve knit it (this would be the 4th if you’re counting), it’s still enjoyable.

Also, in this photo, she’s wearing a scarf she knit! She just started knitting not too long ago and she’s already addicted. Another knitter added to the fold! :o)

Pattern: Cigar, modified to have full fingers/thumbs
Started: January 18, 2009
Completed: February 3, 2009
Yarn: Berroco Comfort DK in black
Needles: US 3 bamboo DPN’s
Notes: The only big change that I made is to make the thumb and fingers closed instead of open (full fingers/thumbs). On the second glove, I decided to pick up more stitches on the cast on edges of the fingers/thumb and then decrease them the very next round. This helped close up the gaps much better and if I ever do gloves again, I will do it this way. Doing it like that made for less holes I needed to close up when weaving in the ends. This was my first time making gloves. I have to say it was a bit fiddly to do all the fingers and thumbs, but wasn’t too bad (and went quickly!). There were a lot of ends to weave in!

One thing I did learn in making these is how to weave in ends “properly.” I’m sure however I’ve been doing it works just as well, too, but I never really did know how to weave in ends “the right way” or the best way, so I did the “fake it til you make it” method up until this point. Being curious about it when face with so many ends to weave in, I Googled it and found this very helpful Knitty article. I guess I had just never really put that much thought into it before now. I think it looks a lot neater this way and I’m glad I bothered to look it up.

Since I finished up the gloves last night, I cast on the pair of Lakeside socks I’ve promised to the same friend pictured above with the hat!

Today, I was checking my Google Reader and saw a post by Grumperina showing a beautiful scarf. As soon as I saw it, I wanted to knit it. As I read more, I saw that this is a new pattern from her. The pattern is Mother of Pearl and it’s a free pattern from Crystal Palace Yarns. Very pretty! I have just the yarn for it already sitting in my stash.

This morning, as I was leaving the house, I realized one of my mittens were missing. I searched around the kitchen table where I would have left it and couldn’t find it. Searched a few other places in the house and I still couldn’t find it. I didn’t think much of it, just figured I’d left it in the car, but when I got to the car, it wasn’t there either! I’ll look again when I get home tonight. I’m pretty sure I’ve somehow lost it between getting out of my car and going into the house last night. Thankfully I was already planning on making myself new mittens and have the yarn for them. I just wasn’t planning on having to make them so soon. I was more planning on making them by next winter, but I may need to move that date up if we keep getting snow like we have been!

Current Projects

Just Arrived

Posted on January 23, 2009 by mslindz

I stayed home sick today. I woke up a bunch last night and at 4:30 am I decided that it would be best if I just stayed home and relaxed. My throat was hurting so bad it was hard for me to talk without sounding awful anyhow, so having to talk to people all day would not exactly be my idea of fun! It ended up being for the best because I got some much needed sleep during the day along with lots of sneezing, coughing, and blowing my nose. Fun! (NOT!)

Since I was home, I finally got a chance to wind some yarn that’s been waiting for me.

This will become socks for a friend. Specifically the Lakeside socks from Knotions, Winter 2008. I’ve not used Knit Picks Gloss before, but it feels nice and I think I will like working with it.

I’ve been moving right along on the gloves for Matt.

I actually finished all the fingers (not the thumb), but when he tried them on, 3 of the fingers were too long and need to be taken out. Shouldn’t take too long to fix, but I wasn’t overly excited to get right on it. Fingers on gloves are fiddly if you ask me, but I love him to bits, so I’ll fix it! Besides, why waste time on something that won’t be used? Best to fix it. I just needed to put it aside and work on something else for a bit.

So, today I worked on a hat that’s going to be sent off to someone. I’d post about it, but I’m making it a total surprise, so you’ll have to wait to see! I do like how it’s coming out, though.

I did venture out to Barnes & Noble today to see if the Simply Knitting magazine with the Sack Boy from Little Big Planet was there. I also wanted to see if the new Vogue Knitting was available. Both were, so I got them, along with the Never Not Knitting! page-a-day calendar from the Yarn Harlot because it was 50% off. I’ve been looking for it on clearance somewhere, but hadn’t seen it. It will go good on my desk at work!

Anyhow, while I was there, I saw this:

Just Arrived: President Obama! How could I pass up this shot? I simply love it.

Last night I had a dream that I actually was online when there was a Wollmeise update and was able to get two skeins. Then I was contacted about another skein, which I promptly said I’d take. I was clutching it my chest when I woke up and found that I was actually clutching my blanket to my chest. This was at 4:30 am. On a whim, I decided to check online to see if maybe there’d been a site update. Well, there was! And I’d missed it by about an hour. There was actually some natural, undyed yarn left along with some skeins of black. Not something I was interested in, so I passed. So funny that I’d dream about it and there was an actual update!

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