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It's Like Christmas!

Now I know many people cringe when others start talking about Christmas.  Yes, it is 4 months and 7 days away, but for the knitter, this is very important.  We must start knitting soon, or risk not finishing all of our presents.  I will not have a repeat of last year when my brother's scarf was still damp when I wrapped it for him. So, I've ordered some of my "Christmas Yarn" and it arrived Friday.

I also received my replacement needles.

I was able to start again on the "Project That Shall Not Be Named" which is excellent!

Plus, my other yarn order was delivered Frinday evening, as well...

It really is like Christmas!  I love getting things in the mail.  It's so much fun!  That green yarn is Caron Simply Soft worsted weight yarn, and the white is a beautiful sequined lace weight from Patons.

I love them all, and I've already gotten started on one of the projects.

This is the first repeat of the pattern Tea Time Afghan by Carole Prior in the Big Book of Quick Knit Afghans.  It's a lovely pattern and very quick to knit up.  I like all of the patterns in the book and this is actually the first pattern.  I would very much like to work my way through all 24 of them.

So far, I'm on track, how about you?

Happy Knitting!

Happy Birthday To...

Me!  That's right, it's my birthday today.  What are my plans, you ask?  (Though I'm sure you really aren't asking that.)  Well, I'll tell ya.  I plan to make another batch of Pumpkin Treats for my Sierra, have lunch with Mum, maybe do a little shopping and I'm thinking about watching some of my favorite movies.  Then to finish out the day, go to karaoke and have fun with some of my friends and family.  I think that sounds like a pretty awesome day.

May everyone have a "Super-Fantastic-Awesome" Day!

My Favorite Harlot

I just wanted to give a shout out to Stephanie, my favorite Harlot.  She has gone above and beyond with her "Very Long Bike Ride."  And though we've never met, I know for a fact that she is a wonderful and kind person.  Way to go Stephanie, I'm glad you made it home and that you didn't fall off your bike. :)

Multiple Projects...

I have recently found the benefit of working on multiple projects at one time.  I love the "Project That Shall Not Be Named", but when it starts taking a half hour to finish one row because it's so long, it does begin to get boring.  *Gasp!* you say?  "Knitting should never be boring!"  I know!  But sometimes, there's just nothing that can be done about it.  It also feels like you're not really accomplishing anything.  I mean a whole freaking hour of knitting and you only have 2 rows to show for it.  What can you do about it?  At least with multiple projects, I can continue knitting, while switching them around to help alleviate the boredom.  So here's to multiple projects in the works!

Also...I was a productive knitter this morning.  I finished ten rows on a shawl that I started last night and enjoyed a nice cup of tea before heading in to the office.

I have the most awesome Mum!

My mum just gave me an early birthday present tonight!  She gave me Lion Brand stress relief gloves and the Early Fall 2012 Vogue Knitting Magazine!  Isn't she the best?  I love you Mom!

Side project

So yesterday, I mentioned beginning a side project while I waited for my hand to heal and for my new needles to arrive.  Well, here it is...

It seems to be turning out ok.  We'll have to see how it goes.

Bubba

Occasionally, I give Thor (AKA Bubba) some scrap yarn to play with to keep him out of my stash.

He does like to play with the yarn.  It's one of the few things, aside from food, that will get him excited. 

Poor fat Bubba, a few minutes of play and he's out for the count.

Snoring away...any minute now, his tongue will fall out...

If it isn't one thing, it's another

Two weeks ago I started to have a little bit of random pain in my left (non-dominant) hand.  I had no idea what was causing it, but I thought it might be the fact that I had been working on this latest project for so long-and it is starting to get heavy and a bit hard to move along on my circulars-so I set it down for most of that week, not picking it up again until last Saturday.  I don't even get two and a half rows in when my cord breaks.  WTF!  I mean, really, I was hoping to get it done by this weekend so that I could get it washed, blocked and ready to go.  I still have plenty of time, but I didn't what to have to wait until the last minute like I did with my brother's scarf. If that wasn't enough, by that evening, I couldn't put any weight on my left hand.  It hurt so much that I could not do anything with it.  I couldn't knit, wash dishes (big loss there, right?), I even had trouble typing, and I have an office job.  I decided it might be a good idea to immobilize it for a few days with an old brace we had and switch knitting projects.  Well, it's not like I could work on my "secret" project anyway, my circulars broke.  Anyway, the reason I'm sharing this with you I figured out how I hurt myself and I want to post it as a sort of warning.  My stitches never did move easily along on my circulars and as the project got bigger and heavier, it became more and more difficult to move them along as I knit.  The force I was having to use to move the stitches caused me to strain either a muscle or tendon in my hand.  Then add in the repetitive motion, and it became a much bigger problem than it needed to be.  So please, to anyone who reads this, be careful.  Pay attention to your body language, if it hurts, stop.  This applies to most everything we do.  Even exercise, though yes, there is supposed to be a certain amount of pain with that, but always, always, always, pay attention to what your body is telling you.

Oh, and as a side note, this is the project I switched to while waiting for my new circulars to be delivered.  It is from Staci at verypink.com.  As it is so small, it hasn't added to any of the pain in my hand and I think it is helping me to work my left hand without causing any new damage.

The Pup-Pup

On a totally unrelated note, I just have to rave about Pumpkin Dog Treats for dogs with sensitive stomachs.  I found this recipe on Pinterest and my Sierra, pictured above, loves them.  The treats recipe is incredibly simple.  The only thing my local store didn't carry was the brown rice flour, but it can easily be found at stores like Whole Foods and Central Market.  They make the kitchen smell wonderful, if you like pumpkin that is.  My precious likes to get into things like the cats' litter box and after it's been raining, she likes to "hunt" for toads in the back yard.  These things really irritate her stomach and her hips stiffen up so that she has trouble walking.  We haven't had any toads yet, but it has helped with her "litter raiding parties" that she engages in on occasion. She has also had more energy and is moving better in general.  I highly recommend these if you have some of the same issues with your pups that I have with mine.

Lost in Lace Update

After working on this as yet unnamed lace project, I have found that I am making fewer mistakes, and none so bad as the 1st couple of times I had to frog it.  I must say, I am very thankful for that.  It is turning out well, and I can't wait to finish it and post a picture of it.  Of course, that's going to have to wait until after the recipient's birthday. :-)

Knitting with Cats...

I used to have a cat, but I didn't start knitting until after she had "left" us.  For years now, I have only had a dog and she generally leaves my knitting alone, though sometimes, she will lay on it if it's long enough.  Recently, we acquired a roommate and her 2 cats.  I was concerned at first because I had heard some "horror" stories about cats and knitting, but for the most part, they leave my projects alone.  I can even leave my knitting on the couch unattended and they will not bother it at all.  But boy, if you are knitting while they are on the couch and they see that yarn move, watch out!  You can see their eyes get huge as they intently stare at the moving yarn, then suddenly BAM!  You've got a cat tangled up in your yarn.  It is kind of funny, but definitely a new experience for me.

Lost in Lace

I've recently started a new pattern that has a very nice lace pattern.  I start out well, no mistakes.  The 1st time, it was within the 1st few rows of the pattern, my stitch count was off and I had to either make, or decrease stitches to fit the pattern, the second time I made it all the way through the 1st repeat of the pattern and began the second when something went horribly wrong and suddenly my stitch count is off again and there are too few stitches for the pattern.  I've had to frog it twice now and I honestly do not have a clue as to what mistakes I've made to cause this.  Since it occurred in two different sections of the pattern, I know these are my mistakes and not mistakes in the pattern, but I am still at a loss as to what I've done.  Hopefully, with this 3rd restart, I will be able to correct whatever mistakes I am making and complete the pattern.  I will definitely have to post how it goes.  If there are any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate them.

Very Pink Knitting

I've recently discovered a website called verypink.com.  It's a lady in Austin, TX who makes her living at knitting and how to videos.  She is extremely helpful and informative.  Staci has many wonderful patterns, some of which are available for free, and the rest may be purchased for a reasonable amount.  She also has many free short tutorials.  Staci is an excellent source of information and help.  I encourage anyone interested in knitting or learning to knit to check out her website.

1st Blog

So, I've decided to try out this whole blogging thing.  And since I've decided to learn how to knit, I figured I would write about that.  It has been a little less than a year now since I got the bug up my bum to teach myself how to knit.  I will admit, I haven't been very consistent with it.  Part of that being school as well as work, then as the family knows, the headaches started shortly before that time.  But I have completed one project, I made a scarf for my brother for Christmas.  It turned out well, though it was a bit of a beating since it involved 2 different colors.  But it was great actually finishing a piece.  I'm currently working on another project that I cannot actually discuss at this time because it is a gift for someone.  I'm already through two sets of the pattern and I have started on the third.  I really just thought this might be a good place to write down my experiences so that others who are teaching themselves or are interested in learning, can maybe learn my experiences.