Thursday, August 31, 2006

Believe it or not?

I was reading the instructions in Knitting Rules for the Plain sock pattern, and realized that I should be knitting a 2x2 ribbing instead of 1x1. Ok, now this did bug me. So I'm sitting in a nice comfy chair and I'm knitting on my practice so-called sock, thinking to myself this should be done 2x2 and not 1x1 and guess what happened? Yep, I ended up with a knit stitch instead of a purl on one half of my round. So, I decided that I am going to go back and tink (big mistake). Well, I screwed it up again! Rather than frogging it to reuse the wool, I cut that baby loose. I should measure it to find out how far along I got. So... I casted-on yet again. I counted and re-counted the number of stitches on each side of the needle (good thing I did, one side was over and the other short). Back to knitting, I am not knitting 2x2 ribbing and liking the looks of it a lot better than I had previously done. Could this be the reason that I kept making all these mistakes, the so-called sock knew that it was the wrong pattern and decided to send me messages. Well it is finally clear, yes, you belong in 2x2 ribbing. Okay, how long before the next goof? Tonight I am going to Union Grove to work as a receptionist for Judy for her Thursday night meeting. I have my change fund ready, am I ready? Who knows, it's been awhile since I've worked as a receptionist. Hopefully, things will go swimmingly and there won't be any misadventures to tell about.

Magic Loop Lists

Well I did figure out how to do the Magic Loop, but kept running into problems. 1. Not enough stitches on the needle. (You would think that I would know how to count before I start stitching. 2. Needle kept slipping out of the stitches. (For the life of me, I could not manage to put the tiny stitches back on the needle. 3. The two sides decided to join together to make one big loop. (I couldn't figure out where I had started from.) 4. I dropped a stitch but kept going and going. This is what I have decided: 1. This is just practice, no need to be perfect. 2. I am not going to let this drive me crazy. 3. If this actually looks like a sock, then I am going to do the snoopy dance. 4. If this actually gets finished, then see the second part of #3. 5. If I actually finish this and it fits, then see the second part of #3. 6. Even though this is driving me crazy, I am enjoying sock knitting. 7. I will cast-on for another sock. 8. Hubby will get a pair of hand knit socks. He told me last night some nice thick ones to keep his feet warm. 9. This practice sock is not going to kick my a**. 10. Yep, I'm definitely hooked (on socks that is). Can I do the Snoopy dance now? On to the Magic Loop tale: Well I do have my practice sock OTN. I did make a mistake but just kept knitting. I dropped a stitch. For the life of me I could not figure where that little loop went. So I somehow just picked it up and continued on. Well guess what? I figured out where that loop went, on the last stitch of the round I had just completed. So, I had to figure out a way to add another stitch on to my sock and keep going. I had thought about frogging the thing again, but decided against it. I figured out how to work it all in and that is when I decided that this is my practice sock! By the way, I am doing the pattern from Knit Rules By the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I have about an inch knitted in 1x1 ribbing.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Ana and the Magic Loop

I tried during lunch to learn the magic loop method for knitting socks but struck failure. Yesterday was sort of a non-knitting kind of day. I ended up having paperwork all over the diningroom table. I had to fix the tally from Sunday's meeting. We were $19 over and my receptionist and I figured out what was missing. A lifetime member for $10 weekly fee that bought two boxes of bars. So I fixed the tally and talked to my receptionist to let her in on the scoop of what I was doing. I got the tally all filled out and now all it needs is just her signature and I can send it off. My darling daughter is still having her adventures in knitting. The thing that she is knitting ended up increasing like you wouldn't believe. At some point she decided that she was simply going to start over. I believe this where she ended up dropping several stitches and in her frustration decided to frog the thing. She also decided that she wanted different yarn. I will give up my acrylic for her but she is not touching the good stuff. Well we ended up finding some Red Heart Kids yarn in some bright rainbow colors. So yet I casted on some more for her. I knitted the first row and a half for and sent her on her merry way. About this time, I decided that I was going to learn how to the magic loop method for knitting socks. I went to knittinghelp.com to see the video for learning this method. I did learn how to do the magic loop method. When I first started the loop I ended up knitting the stitches well I forgot that I was supposed to do knit one purl one for the ribbing for the cuff. So I tinked the first few stitches and then continued on. Somehow this morning when I was counting the stitches I ended up with a couple of extra stitches so I ended up frogging it this morning. I casted-on again and I am going to start again during lunch. I only have one ball of yarn in this colorway and should go back to the Loop Yarn to pick up another ball for the second sock. I am knitting this without checking gauge, I figure that the sock will end up fitting someone once I'm done. At least there was no tangled blob to deal with last night. I still need to cast on for My So Called Scarf. My Knit Picks order should be coming today, so now I'll have the needles to do the buttonhole bag that I want to knit. I also need to felt my Booga Bag. Pictures should be coming soon!

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

The Tangled Blob

Over the weekend, I decided that I was going to cast-on the Lacy Edge Tee that I got the pattern from Knit Picks. Well things didn't go quite according to plan. I actually got the first repeat done and then was working on the second and I dropped a stitch somewhere. So rather than frogging the whole thing, I decided that I was just going to cut it off and give it to the garbage. So I casted-on again, same thing happened only this time I didn't get quite that far. I must have casted-on about 6 times maybe more before I finally decided that I am just going to put it away and maybe attempt to do it at another time. I wasn't too happy with the yarn either. The color ended up having kind of a dirty look to it. Over the weekend, my daughter and I ended up visiting two LYS on Saturday and went back to one on Sunday. The first one is the Loop Yarn shop in Milwaukee. I bought some more Noro Kureyon in colorway 165. I should do a search in the Booga Bag gallery to maybe get an inkling as to what the colorway will actually look like. No such luck on the colorway search. I also ended up buying the rest of the Italian Cotton that they had in their clearance bin. I also got a pouch for my knitting notions. The mint color one that I was using was just too small for everything that I had. After we were done at the Loop, we decided that we were going to go over to KnitWits because I was thinking about picking up some more Opal for socks. Much to our surprise, she was closed and the place was cleaned out. When we went back to the Loop on Sunday, I found out that she basically closed up shop without notifying her customers and moved to another state. From there, we went to Barbara's Yarn Garden in Racine. This time the owner seemed a lot more helpful. She seems to carry a lot of Cascade. I ended up buying some wool for my daugther to knit a scarf. She picked a lime green color. I figured that could knit up a garter stitch scarf. I ended up spending a lot more money than I had intended but I invested in a lot of different sock yarn. Sunday after my weight watcher meeting, we went back to the Loop and I picked up some Noro Sakura yarn in colorway #3. I figured that I would use that to knit up the My So Called Scarf. I just bought two skeins on Sunday. I took my daughter out for lunch and we went briefly walking around the mall. After the yarn shop, we went to Regency Mall and I picked up a pair of shoes for her. Monday morning started out perfectly. I decided that I was going to cast-on during lunch for the My So Called Scarf but first I had to wind the yarn into a ball from the hank. Now this is totally where the fun starts! I thought that I would get the hank wound so I can take it to work. That was the plan, but the hank had another thought in mind. Wouldn't you know it, I got a quarter to a half of the hank wound when it decided that it was going to become a tangled mess. Well I had to go to work so I just put the tangled blob on the computer desk and went to work. During lunch, I tried to teach myself to knit using the magic loop method. That didn't work out too well, but I definitely was on the right track. I actually found a nice cozy place to knit. I stopped at the Weight Watchers center on my way home from work, I stopped to check to see if they got the new products that were coming in. I hit pay dirt. I picked up almost all the new products, now I can tell everyone how they actually are. Once I got home, I started working on the Tangle Blob. I actually got a brillant idea that worked. I took one of the larger bobbins that I had and found the loose end and started working backwards. It took me about 4 hours of patience but I untangled that blob. The blob is no more but a neat little pancake ball. Sunday, night I tried to teach my daughter the long-tail method for casting-on. She couldn't get it. So it looks like if she wants to do any knitting projects I am going to be doing the casting-on for her. I taught her the knit stitch. I was surprised at how quickly she picked it up. The only thing that she has a lot of problems with is turning it around to knit a new row. She knits with a very tight tension, I can hear the yarn squeaking. She gets very frustrated when she screws up at the end of the row. One of these times I am going to have to sit down with her and teach her how to fix that mistake and how to turn the row correctly. I am also going to go on a hunt for a solid light colored yarn, I figure that maybe help. I am not going to let her touch that lime green cascade yarn until she gets a lot better. I had a devil of a time to figure out how to work the stitches in the My So Called Scarf. I posted a question about it on the Knitter's Review Forum and I finally got the detailed instructions that I need. I am not sure if I want to cast-on the scarf or the socks during lunch today. I might just do the scarf or who knows maybe both. By the way, I have one more hank of Noro Sakura to wind into a ball. This time, I am going to make my DD stand with her arms out while I wind it up and keep my fingers crossed for no Blob2.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Decisions and Rain

So, don't go into shock, two posts in one week, what is this world coming to! I finished the Italian cotton dish/wash cloth. It isn't as big as I would have liked it to be but it'll do. Remember the tangled mess? Well the yarn that I threw away from the blob would have made this bigger. Oh well, it still looks real pretty. One of these days I am going to have to take a picture and post it on here so you can see everything I have completed. With the exception of the one dishcloth that I gave my mom, which she still has to use. I stayed up last night to finish this, needless to say I am very happy with the finished results. I still have to weave in the two ends but I consider this pretty much done. Before, I settled in to complete my dish/washcloth I had to make a decision, if I didn't find my next project I was going to have nothing to do at the next Knit together that I am attending tonight. So the decision and quest was on....WHAT TO KNIT NEXT? I remember about some Lion Print Wool that I had bought and thought about these cute Buttonhole Bags that I had seen. My thoughts, perfect this will be my next project. But where had I seen the bag? I pulled my Mason Dixon book to start there, no bag. Next came the Stitch 'N Bitch book could it be there? No Buttonhole bag in that book. I remembered that it had to be Mason Dixon, so it was time to do a search on the internet. Googled buttonhole bag and hit pay dirt. The pattern is on the Mason Dixon website. Would have to wait until morning when I get to work to print it up. Started taking a look at the supply list, 3 skeins of wool, sure hope I have that. Now where did I stash the wool, oh yes, the basement. I trekked downstairs found the Lion Brand Incredible for the ribbon tank that I want to make, that bag can come upstairs. Found the stitch savers I had bought and thought about finding, snagged those to bring up also. I found the wool, 3 skeins I'm in luck. Ok, next item size 15 circulars....hmmmm I wonder to what size the Knit Picks Options set goes to? Size 11, could I do the bag in 11 instead of 15? Might be small, but could try and could always frog it if it's too small. Ok, time to wind the wool. I wound all three skeins, the last two wound look a lot better than the first but hey, I'm learning. Time to pack the knitting bag for tomorrow. I was going to bring the Incredible yarn but decided against it. I decided at while I was pulling the patterns out to bring a couple of skeins of the Knit Picks Pima Cotton and the Sisu Fantasy Sock yarn with me. I put the Options set in my bag and went through the folder with my patterns and pulled out a couple to bring with. Knitting bag is packed and ready to go. Time to finish that Italian wash/dishcloth. I also finished reading the book that I started. Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich. About 2 this morning there was a loud boom, and the power went briefly out. It poured like you wouldn't believe. Normally I sleep through all this activity but not this time. This morning, I made my lunch and wound the two skeins of the Knit Picks Pima Cotton to take with me tonight. I have decided that I am going to cast-on the Lacy Edge Tee in a pretty azure color and work on that tonight. I placed an order to Knit Picks for the remaining larger needles that I need/want, a couple more cables and a pattern for a dishcloth, dish towel and mitt and a few skeins of yarn to play with. This morning, I forgot a book to read and my computer for while I wait at Panera for 7 to come after work. So it looks like a trip to the bookstore for a good book to read. Hmmmm, maybe I'll get the book by Geneen Roth. If you eat out of the refrigerator, pull up a chair. Otherwise, it will be a long wait. It's supposed to rain all day today. I got a good lightning show on the way in. One girl here said that the radio said that there were over 2,000 lightning strikes. I forgot in what time frame.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Tangled Mess

Another week has gone by, and what a week that it has been! Last week Tuesday, I ended up leaving work early and did three Weight Watcher meetings in a row. Never again am I going to do that. By the third meeting, my tongue was running away with my mouth! I lost all the questions that I wanted to ask. Remember, I had all ready done two meetings previously so that meeting should have been a piece of cake, right? Wrong! The last group just sat there looking at me like I had grown a tail, horns or something! Then to top it all off there were three women that were off to my right, all related, and they started whispering and the next thing I know they are getting up and walking out. Made me think, was it something I said? So, I trudged on and finished the meeting and then vowed that I am never doing three meetings again on a day that I have to work at my full-time job. Thursday night, I had to go home and pick up my daughter and get her registered for middle school. That ran a whopping $96 (ouch). After that, she decided that she was going to go to the Kenosha County Fair with her friend. I went to the Lake County Knitting Meet-up. I had a lot of fun at that meeting. I was working on the I-cord for my Booga Bag. Which by the way is now completely knitted. I just need to do the felting now for it. I bought the zippered pillow case this weekend. Now, I just need a couple of pair of jeans to throw in with the bag. Those are going to be some clean jeans by the time I get done with the bag. I'm kind of afraid to throw the bag in with the jeans. The instructions are for hot water, so just how bad will the jeans shrink from the hot water? Guess that's a question for the Knitter's Review Forum. Friday, I ended up going into work at about 1:30. My son is now registered for school. He is taking four classes for a total of 8 credits. I just hope that he does well in school and enjoys himself. Saturday's Weight Watcher meeting, attendance was down by 50% and only two people stayed for the meeting, both were men. So we had a very productive meeting. I enjoyed myself a lot. Saturday, while my son and I were at the bank cashing in his savings bonds for school, I ran into one of the woman that had left the meeting early and I couldn't resist asking her if it was something that I said that had caused her to leave the meeting early. She said that it wasn't. That was a huge relief. Although, she is not going to be at this week's meeting. I am so happy that I ran into her otherwise, I would have been thinking that it was something that I had said to make her leave the meeting. Sunday's meeting went a lot better. Membership was up a bit and we actually had more than two people stay for the meeting. I am worried about the attendance, I sure hope that it starts to go back up otherwise I am going to lose these meetings. Yesterday, I took a vacation day. The morning was nice, no one was home. So the night before I had started a washcloth using a Lion Brand pattern and some Italian Cotton yarn. I am loving the feel of this yarn. I had got it on clearance at the Loop Yarn in Milwaukee for $3 a skein. I bought the remainder of a certain color now I wish I would have gotten more. Well, I had noticed a mistake and tried to rip out a few rows. When I came time to put the needle back on I began to have problems. So I thought ok, no problem I'll just frog the whole thing and rewind the ball of yarn on my new ball winder. I had originally done the skein that way. Well this is where the all the fun begins. Some how I managed to get it in one big tangled mess. I swear I worked on that mess for about 2 hours. Well one way wasn't working so I decided to start on the other end. I began winding the yarn around my completed work. Then I got to one big huge knot that I couldn't get out. Well at this point, I was getting hungry so my daughter and I went to Subway for lunch and to Kohls and Walmart for shopping. During this time away from the tangled monstrosity I had decided that I am going to simply cut the mangled blob and rewind what I had all ready saved and see how far that gets me on a new washrag/dishcloth. Even rewinding was an interesting experience. I wasn't using the tension guide and the yarn was winding wrong. Once I figured the correct way then it went a whole lot better. So, I casted on again and knock on wood things are going well. I also managed to get laundry finished yesterday. Still have to put away my clothes. I also started cleaning up the livingroom and diningroom. I don't know if hubby was in shock or not by the work I was doing. I had completely forgotten that it was my week to do laundry until hubby asked me Sunday afternoon if I was planning on finishing laundry any time soon. I was so happy that I had the day off yesterday! Watched my favorite show last night, it was the finale, Treasure Hunters. I would have never thought that the The Geniuses would have won. The finale was a good show, a lot of laughs. Well now that you're up to date. I'm doing two meetings tonight after work. More later.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Always catching up

Well it's been two weeks since my last entry. I should really be making more and also adding some photos. Knitting stuff first, I attended my first Lake County Knit Together on the 3rd and had a lot of fun. I am planning on attending this Thursday and bringing my daughter with me. I guess that I am secretly hoping that she will get addicted to knitting. I finished the dishcloth that I was knitting at the knit together with no problem at all except one. I have a little loop in the corner. I used P&C peppermint. I was half way done with the washcloth by the time I left the knit together. I had started and completed two Mason Dixon warshrags. I used a purple and a varigated purple. I used S&C for those. On the last one that I did, I somehow messed up and reversed the pattern. I didn't notice it until after I had all ready binded off. My DD was going to do dishes and I had asked her if she would like to use one of the dishcloths that I had knitted and she said yes! She fell in love with it right away and is hooked. I gave her the last dishcloth that I had made which had that lovely mistake in it. Sometime during making the warshrags, I had decided to start my Booga bag. I am knitting that using Noro Kureyon #40. Well I got the bottom rectangle done and promptly got stuck. How do I pick up stitches all around the bag? Well I started to ask around and found a post on Knitters Review Forum and found a post about a Booga bag that someone was talking about. Well I got the answer that I was looking for and continued onward with the Booga Bag. The Booga Bag is OTN right now. I am almost done with the bag and getting ready to do the i-cord. I already have dreams of the next Booga Bag. I can not believe how simple they are to make. DD saw the bag last night and said that it was so cool. DD is only 13 so that is the ultimate compliment. I am all ready starting to think about my next project. My thoughts are to attempt to do some socks. I have a size 0 40 inch addi turbo circular to learn how to do the magic loop method. I got some sock yarn that isn't too expensive. I ordered a few things from Knitpicks last Monday and received the order on Friday. I kind of surprised myself and didn't rip into the box right away to check out all the goodies. I waited until almost bedtime and then played with the Options Needle set that I had ordered. I had also ordered some Crayon yarn in a beautiful azure color to make a sweater (another future endeavor). I checked to make sure that the cables fit into the joins correctly. It is a nice set and the binder that came with it is absolutely gorgeous. I am going to have to order more pages though so I can keep my Addi's in there also. On the Weight Watcher front, last week I did a total of 4 meetings. My trainer showed up at my meeting on Saturday. The meeting went fairly well, although I do have a few things to work on. I got told to lose my notes that I use during the meeting. I had all ready decided to do that. She said that it's okay to have a few but not to solely rely on them which I had been doing. Sunday's meeting went very well. I did approximately 95% of the meeting without using notes. The numbers for that meeting are not doing very well. My thoughts are that I was competing with State Fair and the weather. I am hoping that they start climbing again. If they don't, I might just get removed from the meeting. From what Laura says though, this happens everytime during this time frame. On a brighter note, Deb sent out her FYI newsletter and Laura and I were the number one team in sales for the area out of all the other center locations. I knew that we would be. We had over 13 dollars per paid attendance. Today I am doing 3 meetings in a row. I am subbing for two different leaders. I'll probably be wiped out when I am done with them. I out did myself exercising yesterday and boy do I feel it. Yesterday, I ended up walking for one minute at 3mph then bumped it up to 3.5mph for another minute. Then I jogged at a speed of 4mph for a total of 30 minutes which was 2 miles. That is the longest time or distance that I have ran in a very long time. I am going to stay at that speed and time for about a month and then I am going to start bumping the speed up. DH picked up DD to go to the gym with us. They were all ready on the treadmills when I got there. It was kind of funny running on a treadmill next to her. They of course were done long before I was. After we got done running, she kept asking me what I was going to do next and I didn't know. She wanted to try the stairmaster so I did it with her. We both did about 5 minutes I forgot which level I picked, but it sure kicked my butt. I am certainly feeling it in my hamstrings this morning. Another challenge! That's it for now. I will somehow find the time to get some pictures of my work and post them. This blog kind of seems bleh without them.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Happenings

It's been a week since my last post. Where to begin. Thursday I did make it to the gym again. I my upper body workout. I was able to lift the weights that I normally lift; which totally surprised me. It was a good surprise. After the upper body workout, I decided that I would attempt to do some cardio. That turned out to be a bigger surprise. I jumped on a treadmill (well not exactly jump) and started walking. I forgot what I started at I ended up walking for about 3 minutes and decided to bump the speed up to 4 mph. Usually at this speed I'm doing a fast walk, well I decided that I was going to run. It took a little bit but I finally got in a good rhythm thanks to one of my play lists. When I was doing the Body for Life routine, I would only be able to run for a couple of minutes (4 at the most). Well I ended up running for 10 minutes. I finished by walking I forgot the speed. I was very pleased with my workout but ended up being sore. Saturday's meeting went very well. I put the chairs in a circle. The group was very surprised by the configuration. I think they were even more surprised when I sat down in the group with them. It was a very intimate setting. The conversation just flowed from there. I was very happy with the meeting. I got home from my meeting and decided that I was going to pull weeds. It was hot outside, a little bit too hot to be pulling weeds. I couldn't help it though. I got tired of looking at all the weeds that run the length of the house and getting out of my car and getting attacked by fuzzies. Nothing like wearing black pants and having fuzzies all over the place. The afternoon, I spent in the beauty salon. I got my hair cut and foiled. I can't believe how short my hair is now and how dark. It looks good, but it is something that I am going to have to get used to. The curl just wasn't laying right and add the humidity in there and I've got a problem. Sunday, I ended up going early for my meeting. The meeting totally flopped. I was not happy with it at all. I am in the process of re-working it for tomorrow night. I am pretty much going to keep the questions the same but rather than using a train theme I am going to use dancing instead. I think the problem is that people really can't relate to trains and train trips. Yesterday, after work it was time to hit the gym. After I got of work though I couldn't believe the heat. It felt kind of good but nothing that I would want to stay outside in for too long. I decided that I was just going to run yesterday and that is what I did. So I hopped on the treadmill, pushed quick start and started out at 3 mph after one minute bumped it up to 3.5 mph after another minute went to 4 and there I stayed for awhile. I had decided in my mind that I was going to see how I felt after 10 minutes if I wanted to continue on. Ten minutes came and I decided that I was going to continue for a total of 15 minutes (including walking time.) 15 minutes came and I was close to running a mile, so I decided that I wanted to go for it. Well I did it, I ran for a mile. I ended up walking and running for a total of 22 minutes.