Everyone is sick....

I have been surrounded by sick people at work for the past two weeks. So it wasn't surprising that I spent my weekend with a sick daughter-high fever and throwing up. When Tori gets sick, it is never pretty. Now she has given it to me. So, no knitting news today. I will update on my secret pal, sockapalooza socks, and status of my WIPs when I feel human again. Please let that be soon.

Secret Pal 4 questionaire

That was weird. I created a post on Monday and lost connection to the internet. I was tired and cranky (PMS) and figured it would just be lost. Guess what?!? It's there. Look below and you can see my "lost" post. I thought it was gone forever.

Here is the Secret Pals 4 questionaire:

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high- a nd/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
I am a bit of a snob. I prefer natural fibers and tend to lean towards those. I will purchase blends for washability and wear (especially for the kids).

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I haven't tried spinning yet, but am interested in learning. I think that I will have to wait on this one as the husband is a bit overwhelmed with all of the yarn I currently own! I do crochet. Not as often as I knit, but I do have some crochet projects lined up for the near future.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
I am allergic to dogs and cats, but I have them anyway!! The worst for me is tree pollen....I don't do well in the spring.

4. How long have you been knitting?
I have been knitting for about 5 years.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Of course! That's the only what to let my hubby know what I want as presents!!

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I prefer light scents. Florals or something fresh.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
Crazy question!!! I love chocolate.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
Pretty much just knitting and crocheting.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like a real variety of music, but alternative rock is my fave.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?
Favorite colors are blue and green. I prefer the darker shades like navy blue or forest green. I have also started to like pinks, plums, and reds.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I live in a big house with my DH of 16 years, 2 kids (son-15, daughter-11), my MIL (yes, she is nice to live with) and my BIL. This is what happens when you buy a big house!! I also have two dogs and a crazy cat.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
I would love to stay home full time and devote myself to my knitting! hehe......I know, how am I going to pay for my yarn addiction???

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
Hard to say on this one. I love Debbie Bliss and Jo Sharp yarns. I also love Karabella and Rowan.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I am not fond of 100% arcrylic. I have found it to be hard to work with. That doesn't mean that I will not use it. Just that it would be my last choice.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
I definitely have obsessions! I really love knitting socks, lace, shawls, and sweaters. Just a few things. I would definitely have to say that shawls and socks are my fave right now. Not that it won't change depending on the mood.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
see above!!!

17. What are you knitting right now?
Where do I start???? Currently knitting two shawls, a pair of socks, a serape, a long cardigan, and a teddy bear. Also working on the THING.

18. What do you think about ponchos?
I like them. I can wear them with T-shirts. I also wear them around the house when it gets cold.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Definitely circulars.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Aluminum is my fave (have lots of addi turbos). I will use wood or plastic dpns (Brittany Birch and Bryspun) for socks.

21. Are you a sock knitter?
Definitely!

22. How did you learn to knit?
I taught myself! Used Vogue Knitting and found lots of help online.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
If you want to count this one.....I will never complete it. A tunisian crochet afghan that I started about 10 years ago. It sits in the bottom of a basket as a liner now. Other than that, the oldest is an afghan for my husband that I started in October 2004.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I love Tigger!!! I also love to play Pokemon with my kids, so the favorite from that series would be Pikachu!

25. What is your favorite holiday?
I would have to say Christmas. It is the time of year that I get to spend with my family.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
Pretty much yarn and needles!!

Well, that's it for now. I will post some pictures of what I have been working on later this week. Tomorrow night is Stitch n Bitch with my friend Lauren. This is going to be a good week!

No Pictures Today

I have been busy working on my projects, but can't post pictures. My husband is working in the office and has stuff everywhere, so I am on an ancient laptop trying to post (OS=Windows 98). At least I can read my emails!!

I have finally started my son's serape. He is quite pleased that I am working on this, however, I have had to make some adjustments for his height. The pattern calls for a length of 19.5 inches for the front half. Well, DS is 6'1" and 170+ lbs. This means the 19.5 inches is above the belly button! Not going to work. Instead, I am making the front 27 inches.....I think I will have to go to Filati's to pick up more yarn! I have also been working on DD's sweater. I finally finished the back, all 48" in length. It wouldn't be so bad if the pattern was interesting, but it's all stockinette. Can get really boring. Actually both kids wanted plain knits from Mom.

My fun projects have been shoalwater shawl and my sockapalooza socks. I have gotten through the first chart and will be able to start the first repeat for my shawl. I have learned so much by working on this pattern. I can now read charts and have learned a provisional cast on. Both things I had been afraid of before. The socks have been fun as this is the first time working with size one needles. The yarn is fun to work with and I love the colors. I will post pictures of both of these projects as soon as I am able.

I was so excited today to get an IM from my friend Lauren. Lauren and I use to work together and hadn't talked to each other in ages. Well, I found out today that she started knitting in October!!! Looks like I may have a knitting buddy now!! We are going to go to the Stitch n Bitch meeting in downtown Sacramento on Thursday. I also told her about the Stitches West Market and the special offer from Amtrack. Fun stuff.

I will post again soon as I have to get the survey done for Secret Pals 4. If you haven't signed up for this yet, sorry, it is now closed. But, if you are a member of the forums at Knitters Review, you can still sign up for Knitter's Review Secret Pal 3.

Brrrr!

Been cold (for California) here this week. No sun + lots of fog= cold weather. Now I know that people in other parts of the world would think that our weather is beautiful, but I am not use to weather in the 40s all week. So, to combat the cold, my DD and George are pictured below, snuggling up on the couch, while we watched Harry Potter for the umpteenth time.

Happy Kids

George was especially happy since he (an indoor cat) had escaped, unknown to all, and spent the night outside. Poor kitty. He was so happy to be in. I can't remember a time when he wanted to spend so much time with everyone, including DH!

Now guess what I have gone and done. I am such a groupie. I have joined Knitter's Review Secret Pals 3. I know what you are thinking: another one??? Just call me crazy. I read about this on Linda's page, so I blame her. If you are thinking about joining me in this craze, make sure that you sign up by Feb. 15.

Faith's Sweater


Look! It's all done. Faith's sweater is ready to be shipped. Only problem: no tape to close up box. Going to the store tonight with DH to pick up packing tape. Was smart and went to USPS and purchased the mailing labels and printed that out at home. Now I just have to buy tape, tape up those boxes, drop off the boxes at the Post Office and not stand in line all day. I am usually really bad about getting letters and packages sent because I hate going to the post office. But this is going to be really easy now.

Finishing Faith's sweater brought up something I had forgotten: I hate to seam. It's been a while since I had knit a sweater. Well, last one was in September so not really that long ago. That is the whole reason I wanted to knit THING. I have been bad and have been neglecting my thing. (That sounded funny....anyway!) I have just let it sit there, wondering when I will put down one of my many projects and finish it. I promise that I will get it done by the end of the month! Hear that Amy???

Now I am off to go and purchase that packing tape. Did I mention that I also ordered the packaging supplies from USPS and it is free?? That is my favorite price!

Lots of Pictures!!!

I really should post more often. So much has been going on this past week. I am now part of the Knitting Blogs Web Ring!! That was a nice surprise. I started on some new projects that are pictured below, and I took my first knitting class.

Sock Class


My first knitting class was a basic sock class held at Filati . The little sock pictured above is what we made. The class really gave me a better way to make socks and has given me a better understanding of reading the sock patterns. The class was taught by Nancy England. If anyone ever gets the chance to take one of her classes, please do! I learned so much. Now my Sockapalooza pal will get some terrific socks!!!


Look Ma! Intarsia!


This is the front of Faith's sweater. I actually finished itthis week like I had wanted. This was the first time that I had tried intarsia. Much easier than I thought it would be. I am so glad that I finally tried it. Now I will have to try out more color work. I am going to get the sleeves done tonight and tomorrow so that I can seam it up and send it off. I think her mom will be really surprised that I got it done so quickly.

New Shawl


I started this shawl Wednesday. I found the pattern in Knitter's Winter 2000 magazine. This is a great issue as it has many shawl and sweater patterns. I was thumbing through it last month and rediscovered this pattern. The yarn I am using is Collinette Prism. I was lucky enough to find the skeins I needed on eBay and paid less than half price at other yarn shops online.

Start of Shoalwater Shawl

I finally started my Shoalwater Shawl from the shawl club by Joslyn's Fiber Farm. I haven't worked with lace weight yarn before. This made me really nervous. I was afraid that I wouldn't do very well and would get frustrated. Of course, this made it really hard for me to start it up. I decided to forget that and go ahead and start. I have made a very small start, but this has really boosted my confidence. I am actually understanding the charts much more that I had been before. Makes a big difference in my confidence level. I also love the yarn. It is a handpainted 2-ply that has a really nice hand. Makes the tiny stitches worth it.

Sockaplooza!!!


Ok, so I was at Filati so I had to buy something!! So I purchased the sock yarn for my Sockapalooza pal. I hope that she likes these colors. When I saw this yarn, I immediately thought spring. I also read her blog to make sure that these would be colors that she likes. Now I have to decide on a pattern. Elann has some free patterns for self striping socks and I also picked up Folk Solks that has a classic sock pattern that was suggested by Nancy, the sock class instructor. Fortunately, I have a little bit of time to decide.

Ok...the kids and hubby are patiently (not really) waiting for dinner. I really need to post more often so that I cut down on the amount of pictures!!!

Got here before the kids...

Sad day for knitting as it was the last day of my daughter's knitting club at school. The facilitator, Tracy Nelson, is pregnant and should be going on maternity leave soon. Since Tori will be in *gasp* Jr. High next year, this was her last day with the club. On a good note, she has really learned a lot about knitting and wants to work with Mom.

Here are the promised pictures:

THING!!


Here it is. THING in all its glory. I really just need to spend some time finishing this one, but I keep avoiding it. At least I'm not alone....Amy and I are at the same point. One of us has to get past it. It is the cardigan border. I think because there is not a picture, I am having a hard time visualizing this.


Faith's sweater


I have been working on Faith's (my niece) sweater for the past couple of days. Really easy, hardly any shaping, can do it while watching tv kind of project. I should finish the back tonight and start on the front. Hopefully, I will have started the intarsia heart tonight. I want to have this done by the weekend. I want to send it and the scarf pictured below early next week.

Tracy's scarf


This scarf is for my SIL Tracy. I attributed this scarf to part of the Think Pink knitalong. I would also like to knit some of the patterns from Knitty's special issue for Breast Cancer. Should be easy since I really like the color pink!!

Drift


And this is Drift. Basically this will be a floor length cardigan in stockinette stitch. Believe it or not, I have about 24 inches of the back completed. Plan is to finish the back this weekend. Let's hope! The good thing about this sweater is that it is really oversized, so if Tori gets tired of it, I can wear it!

Well, off to gymnastics. At least I get to knit while I watch......

I have learned

that having a husband, a teenager, and a pre-teen means that you cannot get on the computer in the evenings! I had all these grand plans yesterday of updating my sidebar, posting pictures, etc. Crazy me! I thought that I would actually get to the computer last night. We have TWO computers in our office. Both were in use all night. So, my goal tonight is to get to the computer before anyone else, then I can post pictures. I am going to try and update my sidebar at work today. Since I work at a construction office and it is pouring here in CA, I know that I will have some time to play!

For some fun news, I have recently been asked to be an official member of the Fiber RAOK. What a wonderful group. I am glad to see that people in this world still think of others. I am quite excited to be a part of all of this.

I have also joined Petite Purls. This is an ongoing knitalong that makes different types of clothing for stillborn babies and loss of an infant. I should have a link to my sidebar up today.

I have also been knitting. I started my niece's sweater last night. My SIL bought me some yarn to make her one. I am using the 'sweatheart sweater' pattern from Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick. The yarn that SIL bought is Plymouth Encore in sage for the body and purple for the intarsia heart. I am almost done with the back. I have also been working on 'Drift' for my daughter from Rowan #30. Long, long cardigan in all black. I should have both of these done this month. They are easy stockinette, just have to make sure that I don't get bored.

For all of you Thingalong knitters, I have gotten to the cardigan border and have lost some of my momentum. I think I will work on it for an hour tonight so that I can get past that. I will also try and post a picture of my 'thing' tonight.

Goal tonight: update blog with pictures! Get on computer before kids and hubby do!

Where Have I Been???

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.....I have actually been really busy. Last week, my husband and I hosted a dinner party for his office. Had 18 people over for a sit down dinner at my house. Talk about busy! Had to plan the menu, order food, clean and cook. Not to mention having to go through my house and make sure that I had all of the necessary plates, napkins, glasses, etc. etc! That left little time for knitting, blogging, or reading emails. Now that it is over, and I have almost recouperated, I can read the many emails that I have received (over 100) and post some pictures to my blog!

During this time, I was able to fit in some knitting. I actually finished the EZ garter stitch scarf I was knitting for my SIL. I just need to send it to her this week. I also made a pair of baby booties for the organizer of my DD's knitting club at school. We had a surprise baby shower for her Saturday. I didn't take a picture (my bad) but she is going to bring them to knitting club Tuesday, so hopefully I will remember to bring my camera.

I will post later today (when I get home from work!). I hope to have some pics and to update my sidebar.

Goals for the New Year

With the start of the New Year, lots of people like to set goals, make resolutions, find ways to improve their lives......and like the rest of the sheep, I like to do that too! Sometimes these resolutions actually have an impact on me. It usually happens when I announce to my hubby that I have these goals for myself. Not all are met, but, if I post it here, maybe I will be held more accountable for my goals!

So, here goes......

1. Eat healthy and exercise!
I know, I know....everyone has this goal. But, I really need to do this. I see my mom and she is in such good shape. Woman is...well, can't announce her age....she is much older than me. And she looks great! She takes care of herself, takes her vitamins, walks the dog every night....looks 25 years younger than she is.....I want to be like Mom!!

2. Control my yarn buying....
All knitters and crocheters out there know exactly what I am saying. I have a spare bedroom that is slowing being taken over by my stash. All of my purchases at Elann and eBay are a big part of the problem. The shopper in me sees a great deal and I can't resist! So, I have to learn to control my yarn addiction and only buy if I need. Do they have AA for knitters???

3. Do a better job of staying in contact with friends and family.
This is an important goal. I want my kids to know their cousins. I want to spend time with my Mom and Dad while they are still around. I don't want to lose contact with my friends. Sometimes we just get so busy with everyday, we forget those around us. I want to make sure that doesn't happen.

4. Donate more time and money to church and charities
We in the US have so much money (compared to most of the world).....and time is something that I am so good at wasting! After all that has happened in the world, especially in the last few weeks, donating time and money are the least that I can do.

Well, that's it. Keeping it short and sweet makes it more attainable. Let's see how I do. I think that item 2 will be the hardest.

Exciting knitting news.......

Got two knitterly emails today. The first for Secret Pals 4. This will be starting up Feb. 1. Since I have been reading blogs for a while, but just started blogging myself, I was quite intrigued about the whole secret pal thing. Not knowing many knitters and having the chance to get to know someone with a similar obsession, how could I resist???

Second email that I got was for !!! I was reading blogs (shocker!) and happened to get lucky enough to sign up for this one in time!! Unfortunately, this has been closed to more participants, but maybe there will be another one if this one goes well.

Also want to say "thank you" to Nathania of Purls Beyond Price. She sent me a gift certificate for Adiago Teas. I love tea! So of course I used it right away and am patiently waiting for my teas to arrive.... (Actually, I'm more of an instant gratification kind of person)

Happy New Year!

Ended 2004 and started 2005 on the right foot!!! I was able to complete 2 projects: Cozy and Union Square from Weekend Knitting. Both had been on hold due to the holidays. So once I finished my Christmas knitting, I was able to work on these.


Cozy



Weekend Knitting-Union Square



Union Square


I am still debating as to whether I should block Cozy. I had originally thought that I should. But since it is so long, I would rather not block it on my bed right now. Probably wouldn't dry completely by bedtime!

So, off to other projects!!