Slow and Steady???

Last night DH and an out of town friend jammed upstairs and I just couldn’t resist the knitting any longer. So, with a new wrist brace that provides support but doesn’t totally restrict movement I got up to the decreases for the waist last night. Then, today I went to the LYS knitting tea. I wasn’t there too long, but I now have three of the five decreases completed. I’m hoping to finish that section here before I have to go to choir. Though I have to go through the music from Cabaret and erase any pencil markings so it is ready to turn in tonight so I get the music for the next concert at the end of May…

Now that I’m a ways up from the short rows I’m darned proud! And, I’m not going to apologize from being pleased with myself They look awesome and are very nearly invisible! Now if I only understood where to put the short row shaping for the bust. Though if I continue at this pace I won’t be to that point until next week probably…

A group of the gals from the knitting tea are taking a road trip to Brown Sheep’s factory next Tuesday. I *really* want to go, but am not sure my back will hold up to the nearly 6 hours on the road in one day, plus I’ll still have the last lesson for my classes to write next week. I do feel honored they included me though as it seems that group is always talking about phone calls and such they’ve had and I feel a little too on the outside yet. But, today was good. It is so nice to be included!

Oh, I almost forgot that I finished the Critter Knitter Blanket #1 on Saturday night while watching Lilo and Stitch with aforementioned out of town friend. It’s boring so I probably won’t post a pic of it - at least individually anyway…

Fort Collins Stitch-n-Bitch . . .

The first Fort Collins Stitch-n-Bitch gathering is taking place NEXT Monday, April 5th, at Cup of Colorado (formerly known as La Tea Da) next to The Pulse in Raintree Plaze at Drake and Shields, just a little over a mile south of CSU. It starts at 6pm and gets done when everyone is done knitting or they close their doors.

Spread the word if you know anyone in the area!

In Awe…

Since I’m still not making any notable knitting progress, I shall point you to something awe inspiring…

Stephanie aka Yarn Harlot has made the most beautiful, jaw-dropping, drool-dripping shawl and has the most touching story about its purpose as well…. Go check it out!

Wrist still sore…

I kept it low key today. Didn’t even do a lot of the stuff I should have, like finish writing my lessons and work on the support art examples. I figured staying off the computer was needed as well.

Tonight a few friends are coming by for build your own nachos and games. It should be fun and I’ve made some really good salsas today - whee!

Grandma B sent my birthday card and check already (two and half weeks early or so). In the letter she said she is going to have me go through all her knitting stuff when I go home in June! Boy, am I glad DH said he could handle my being gone for 2 weeks this time, the docket is already filling fast I don’t know that she used circs much and I knit almost exclusively on circs, but some friends were asking for me to teach them to knit so it’ll be nice to have lots of needles around. She said she has great grandma’s and her friend Virginia’s needles in addition to her own! Wow!

I’m thinking of getting a ball winder and the Denise Interchangables set with the money she sent me. Does anyone have the Denises? I *hate* with a passion the Lion Brand needles that are at all the craft stores now. Are the Denises less sticky than the Lion Brand? The Lion Brand slow me down almost 50% and I with some yarns I had a heck of time keeping an even guage and two of the three pairs I bought without having tried them first have catchy seams at the tips and they pretty much just suck for me. Input is very much appreciated!

Little Progress | Shopping Therapy

Well, I had a bit of extra time between replying to e-mails from my students and needing to leave for voice lessons this morning so I grabbed the shapely tank and knit another row. On the drive to voice lessons though, I noticed my right hand wrist was hurting (I have a manual transmission so there is no missing it). I did one more row this afternoon, but I think I’m going to have to call that all for today I’ve been icing and have it in a brace for typing so I’m not kinking it wierd (which is easy to do when on this lap top).

I’m not even sure if it was the nearly three hours at the knitting tea yesterday on these smaller needles, or perhaps some messed up typing position I was in late yesterday afternon while trying to get work done while also keeping the puppy calm during some thunder that is the problem. Likely a combination of the two…

So, what does a knitter do when they can’t knit? Buy more books with more patterns to knit - of course!

I’m sure you’re just dying to know what I purchased, yes?

Well I looked at Style at Large: Knitting Designs for Real Women but decided against. I’d be happy to get it as a gift for my birthday or something, but right now, I’m not ready buy at full price. I’d perhaps be tempted on a used copy. But, there were only a few of the sweaters that actually interested me and I think those are still a little beyond me at the moment.

I was kind of hoping to get a look at Knitting with Wire, but they didn’t appear to have it. Instead, I came hope with both The Knit Stitch and The Purl Stitch and then I couldn’t resist Zen and the Art of Knitting.

I’m hoping there is a cardigan or two between the two Melville books that DH would like. He keeps telling me he needs me to make him some cardigans. Since he’s allergic to synthetics his pickings in the stores can be kind of slim at times. So, it would be really good for me knit him some stuff.

That also makes me think. In the last day or two I’ve been thinking working on socks sounds good. I can’t believe it! I always thought I wouldn’t want to do that because of the small needles they require. But I think I will have to give them a try at some point.

Despite that thought and the new books, I will not start another project, I will not start another project, I will not start another project, I will not start another project, I will not start another project, I will not start another project, I will not start another project, I will not start another project, I will not start another project, I will not start another project, I will not start another project, I will not start another project, I will not start another project, I will not start another project

I think I might try finishing up the critter knitter blanket #1 with the brace on… There is something about the cotton that makes my right hand very tight when I hold the yarn. I’m not sure why. Perhaps I should try also holding a hackey sack or something in my hand to keep it from squeezing shut so tight??? Anyone else have that sort of trouble? This is my third project with cotton and it has been a problem with all three…

Yeah! I Did It!

Last night I cast on and did the garter stitch edging for the tank. I stopped there partially because DH wanted to go to bed and also because I thought I’d try figuring out the short row shaping at the knitting tea at my LYS today where there was a good chance that someone there had done them before and could help if I got stuck. But, I did it all by myself! I’ve now just completed the two rows of picking up the wrapped stitches.

This is where I’m at right now…

Here is a close up of the BEAUTIFUL short rows!

I cannot express how excited I am to have done this! I know it sounds silly. But I was really, really concerned that I was going in over my head on this to have my first garment ever include techniques that many more experienced knitters than I had never done before. I actually raised my arms and announced that I did at the knitting tea, LOL! Everyone is so wonderful there though so they celebrated with me

No more knitting for me today even though I really just want to keep going on the tank. But, my right index finger is thanking me. I have to get work done this afternoon and then DH and I are going to see Rent tonight! I’m also *very* excited about that.

November 1997 (I think that was the year) I drove down from Grand Forks and met up with Mom, Dad and Amber in St. Cloud and the next day we went into Minneapolis where Mom, Amber and Mom’s cousin, Dawn Rae and I went and saw Rent at the Ordway while dad took a nap at the hotel. Then we went to an awesome 4-star restaurant. The next day we went back up to St. Cloud and watched a Vikings vs. Packers game at a great sports bar there and then I made my way back up to Grand Forks. It was like our family Christmas gift for the year and is one of my fondest memories. After that, my sister and I were obsessed with Rent. I have the piano/vocal book and both Amber and I have the CD set. I think I had a t-shirt and hat at some point too. DH doesn’t understand the obsession, so when I heard it was playing here I got tickets. They aren’t great ones. We’re in the opera (but 4th row). But, if the staging is like that at the Ordway it shouldn’t make a big difference to be that far to the side. Even if I had heard earlier, we probably wouldn’t have gotten much better tickets because they have probably at least 3/4 of the seats sold as season tickets already. There are many people who purchase season tickets and don’t go. They are just in the cue for better seats when someone dies…

Amber is kind of jealous as she has tickets to see it again in April and has had them for some time and I’m going to see it again before her, LOL!

Long story short, I won’t be home watching TV tonight, or at Rainbow Chorus whish is the usual Tuesday night activity so there will be no more knitting today. I must crack the whip and get to work, I only have about 3 hours of work time before DH gets home…

Changes, Critter Knitter Progress…

If you’ve popped in while I’ve been moving around the furniture, I apoligize! I was goofing with having buttons for those blogs I read that have them, but I found it too distracting with all those images over there. Then I finally decided on a proper name and it took some tweaking to get that working properly. Then, the knitlette let me know that there was a problem reading the main portion of the blog! Yikes! I had looked great for me in Opera and Mozilla, my two main browsers I use and I had neglected to look at it in MSIE. Oops! :-} It’s looking okay for me in MSIE now, with a little tweaking of the CSS. Let me know if you still aren’t seeing the full central section of the blog, will you? Thanks!

I also made myself a button for anyone wishing to link back to me in the graphic form…

Back to the knitting world…

I decided quick, easy, and inexpensive was the key if I’m going to get many done inbetween all my other WIPs. So, as I mentioned I picked up Lion Brand Wool-ease Chunky. It has good body which makes it comfy, it makes a fairly dense fabric that shouldn’t be too troublesome for claws, it holds up well to multiple washings, it’s on big needles so offers a nice rest for my hands/wrists and goes fast, plus it is fairly inexpensive, which is a big concern for my pocketbook. I’m using the basic diagonal garter stitch with eyelet edging, which was the first thing I ever learned to knit way back when. It was actually the only thing I even knit until Novemeber…

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Lion Brand as a pattern for it in Homespun. I didn’t figure Homespun would stand up to claws and washings very well, which was why I opted for the Wool-Ease Thick & Quick. Because of the difference in gauge I’ve made a few adjustments. I’m working on an 18-inch square (the cat or small dog size) at the moment and it is going to be a very close call whether I can get one out of only one skein. I’m suspecting I’ll end being able to get thee 18-inch squares from four skeins (which of course means I need to go pick up more). I’ll keep you updated…

My Changes
SZ 13 US Needles
Guage = 9 stchs/4″

With the heavier yarn of the Wool-Wase Thick & Quick, I’m not happy with the beginning and ending corners, so I’m adjusting the pattern a bit for nicer corners and for the sizes Critter Knitters recommends…

CO 4 stchs
Row 1: K to end
Row 2: K1 M1 K2 M1 K1 (6) (use one of the invisible make one techniques, not just the YO)
Row 3: K3 YO K to end

Repeat until you are at 58 stchs for an 18-inch square blanket, 76 stchs for a 24-inch square, and 115 for a 36-inch square.

Begin decrease rows according to the directions until you have 6 stchs left then…

K1 K2TOG K2TOG K1 (4)
Bind Off

Have Fun!

Critter Knitter Update…

I picked up a few skeins of Chunky Wool Ease at M’s yesterday and started on a diagonal blanket. I’d show a picture, but they are using it as a prop for the silent auction as someone donated knitting lessons for 4. I’m only up to about 30 or stitches across, but that is more knitting than I thought I was going to do! It was great to have an excuse to make time to knit in all of this craziness.

In fact, I got sent home because they could tell my pain had flared so I think I’m going to do some more knitting today in hopes of keeping my nerves in check for the solo tonight…

I don’t need any frustration though, so I think I’ll either start another Critter Knitter blanket or work more on the drop stitch scarf. I need easy and rhythmic to calm my nerves….

What Am I Doing??

Why am I blogging my knitting? Couldn’t I just as well be doing it for myself and not on the net? Is there even anyone out there reading this?? Probably not… Why would anyone want to read my blog when I’ve only been knitting since November?? Perhaps I should just slink back to where I came from… I don’t have a lot of time for knitting right now and that won’t change significantly until mid-April really… So what in the heck am I going to write about?? Well, I need to write about the knit along once I actually get going on that I guess…

Done!

Okay, so it’s a little fib. I still need to stitch the lining into it, but the Southwest Purse is completed otherwise. The lining is even assembled so it’s just a matter of adding the lining…

Since I felt the colors were kind of Southwest inspired, I chose a Kokkipelli charm in pewter. I had originally used handles that were simlarily shaped, but went all the way across. It kept me from really be able to get into the purse. So I switched to these handles instead. Thank goodness Jo-Ann’s has had the purse handles on sale!

The fiber is a blend of three yarns that I got from my LYS. It’s labeled as Cotton, Silk, Merino and Alpaca, mostly cotton. I’m working on a drop stitch scarf of the same yarn to go with the purse.

No real knitting for me now until Sunday and Sunday is even slightly iffy. I have lessons to write yet before bed tonight and then tomorrow is taken up completely with preparations and actual task of setting up the Silent Auction and performing in The Cabaret… Sunday I’m sure to be pretty wiped and I have a Drop-In Journaling class from 4-6pm, but I’m hoping to cast on the Shapely Tank on Sunday evening….