Secret Pal 10 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I love super soft yarn and I’m really open to trying different kinds. I lean towards natural fibers. The only kinds I’m not fond of are scratchy and overly sparkly. Not a big fan of novelty yarns or Red Heart.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? Right now they live in a plastic bin or in the plastic grocery bag that’s holding my current project….I’ve been meaning to remedy that but haven’t yet.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? My grandmother taught me when I was 12 but I only got really hooked about a year ago. I think of myself as a beginner with intermediate leanings and advanced moments.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Yep...it's over there, on the side....in all it's glory.

5. What's your favorite scent? I love lavender, roses, Ylang Ylang, honeysuckle, lemon….herb or light fresh scents. Not really fond of overly fruity things.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I LOVE sweets but I’m diabetic….yep…it sucks. so sugarfree candy works for me....although I've been known to have a piece of really dark chocolate every once in awhile and sugarfree gummy bears rock my world.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? No spinning but I'd love to learn….I have a knitting board which I love and I make soap and candles and jewelry.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) Classic rock, blues, New Orleans Jazz, Zydeco…funky stuff.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? Not really a ‘pink’ girl….love blues, greens, orange…rust and earth tones.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I’m married, have two grown children (a son and a daughter) two grandchildren (both girls) and two boxers (Brutus and Janis). I'm a complete and total dog person and one of my boxers (Janis) is my show dog i.e 'money pit'.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Yes, yes and yes! I love fingerless gloves best of all….and ponchos ROCK (ok....stop laughing....no really...stop) ;) I love hats but they have to be right for my head because I have curly red hair and i'm not going for that bozo the clown puffy earmuff head thing.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? SOCKS! By far my favorite.

13. What are you knitting right now? Socks… the never ending blanket from hell, and a poncho (yes I’m hopelessly lost in the 70’s...and really stop with the laughing already).

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Homemade gifts are great.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I think I own every size of straight needles (bamboo) and my mother just got me a Denise interchangeable needle set...which rock and are so much fun to knit with. Bamboo or plastic are my favorites.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? No to both….again it’s on my list of gadgets to get.

17. How old is your oldest UFO? a blanket for granddaughter #1....the ugliest thing on the face of the earth, about a year old.

18. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween, I love it...it use to be because of the chocolate ;) now it’s because of the granddaughters.

19. Is there anything that you collect? Wade 'whimsey-on-why' houses, Boxer dog figurines, and anything 'tea' related.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? No subscriptions yet…and I’m so new at this I’m dying to get my hands on anything…

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Toe up socks and to knit two socks on two circular needles.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yep…US woman’s size 7 ½ average

23. When is your birthday? August 18th

Poncho Love-land

I should actually be getting caught up on the pile of paperwork stacked up on my desk….yep, that’s going to happen. Instead while seeing how much time I can waste surfing da-internets…I ran across this site http://faerycrafty.blogdrive.com/archive/199.html I know, I know, Ponchos are so last year. But holy cow look at all of them! I’m thinking (hoping) that Ponchos will go the way of bellbottoms and leggings and make a remarkable comeback right about the time I finally breakdown and throw all my old ones away. So….70’s hippy throw back or not, I want a damn poncho and a poncho I will have.

It’s our weekend with Sweetness….she’s sick and was cuddled up on my bed dozing when I left for work this morning coughing and sneezing. Mr. Man has plenty of juice and crackers and an arsenal of kids cold and flu meds. She’ll go home to her mother’s house on Sunday and start feeling better….Mr. Man and I will catch ‘the crud’ and be sick as dogs next week….because that’s just the kind of karma we have. **note to self: stock up on Emer’gen-C.

Off to eat my oatmeal….

Work is kicking my butt

And as a result I’ve been lacking in the ‘post’ department. I’m afraid I’ll be hit or miss until this festival is over and done.

I’m dying to use my brand new Denise Interchangeable Needles that my Mom (let me just say again….my mom rocks) sent me as surprise. I haven’t used them yet except to play around with them….no project started but I have one I’m itching to get going on. It’s a poncho…I need to go out and buy 12 skeins of some yummy yarn but lack of money right now is the root of all evil. So it will have to wait.

I did mange to knit up two washcloths this weekend in 100% cotton…..pictures will be sent when I get home from work. They were off the needles for less then a minute when Mr. Man insisted on using one. It survived in fine form and is hanging up on its very own hock drying even as we speak.

So right now I’m project-less (other then the never-ending-blanket from hell that I will end up working on until I’m eighty)….which sucks.


Weight is basically the same…..no change. My BG is up one minute down the next….again….the same as is usually for me. Work is stressing me out….and it shows.

They are done….huge but finished

Hunters socks…thick and bulky (I wish I could remember what the yarn was called but I lost the band from it) knitted with 3.5mm double points. They fit Mr. Man perfectly.

Unplugged and other thrilling stuff

I took the day off yesterday…..it’s the calm before the storm (festival season) and might very well be the last time I get this kind of time off until after SXSW. Yes I might actually get a day off here and there….what I mean by ‘this kind of time off’ is that I went completely ‘unplugged’. No phone, no cell phone, no computer (ok I DID watch some boob-tube, but I’m not counting that….so there) just me and my knitting. It was heaven….really….truly. I should do that more often. I put dinner (carnitas…yummy) in the slow cooker, climbed back in bed, made sure my knitting was handy, turned off the phones, turned on the TV and that was all-she-wrote. Loved it.

I made a serious dent in the ‘oh my gawd those are huge’ socks I’ve been working on as my SAM3 February sockage. Yes I named them….and as the name implies these suckers are HUGE so once again they will belong to Mr. Man, who tried them on for me yesterday…..yes damn it, they fit him perfectly. Really must learn to check gauge….either that or just resolve myself to NEVER knitting myself a pair of socks. I’m entering the homestretch, toe decreases are all I have left to do.

Played around with my brand spanking new knitting board (the smaller one)….experimented with different yarns….I really think that bulky works better. I’m getting the hang of it and trying out different stitches. Once I get the socks finished I’m going to start on a sweater using the big board. Meanwhile I’m just practicing knitting up swatches, learning to knit loosely and seeing what I can come up with.

Joined Secret Pal 10….this is my first secret pal and I’m really looking forward to it. I just love the idea of spoiling another knitter with cool fun stuff and of course getting spoiled in return.

I’m going to be a lazy sod and post this to all three blogs….so there.

They came….they came!

The knitting boards my mother got me arrived….just now! I’m so jazzed. They are beautiful….wonderful craftsmanship. I can’t wait to go home and use them.

Of coarse I’m stuck at work until 6:30….drat. I left my camera at home so pictures of my new toys will have to wait until manana.

Woo fricking hoo….happy dancing all over the place.

Thanks Mom….you rock.

SAM3 Sock progress

6 inches knitted…heels are turned…stitches picked up…gusset decrease happening tonight. All of that and I only ripped them apart once.

That’s pretty good from me…

Pictures soon.

Saturday plans

My 3 o’clock cancelled and the daughter just called to let me know that she won’t need me to pick her up at 7 so I’m free….done for the day.

Think I’ll head to Hill Country Weavers to pick up some of that yummy yarn I visited the other day.

I owe the daughter a pair of fetching…I’ve been putting these off and now I’m starting to feel guilty about it. Sweetness (the granddaughter) has repeatedly asked me to make her a pair of slippers….so off to find just the right wooly goodness for her.

My February socks are coming along fine, after a slight setback. I got all the way to the heel flap and hated the pattern….it was just too big, so I frogged them….both….again. sheesh. But that’s what I get for not checking gauge. This yarn I’m using (really need to find the label so I know what the heck it is) is really ‘busy’ so most patterns get lost. I decided to just stick to a real basic K1, P1 for the entire thing….and hopeful with it being that simple I can actually finish the damn pair.

Oh and my mother not only bought me the 28” knitting board but also the 11”….they should be here in a week. I’m pretty darn excited.

Enough rambling….off to spend money….shhhh….don’t tell Mr. Man.

**tomorrow is the Knitty Gritty marathon, I plan on spending my day in my pj’s with knitting in hand, glued to the tube. Vickie will be blogging live during the marathon....check it out http://blogs.diynetwork.com/diy/knit/

Yummy

Teal....cashmere....I must have this. Actually I have a pattern in mind that this yarn would be prefect for. mmmm....softness.

Let there be sockage

Got up at the ungodly hour of 4am....just couldn't will myself back to sleep so instead I grabbed my needles and yarn and started my February socks for the Sock-a-month-Knit-along. That's them....below. Yes I did start both at the same time....I'm just whacky that way.




I'm not really following a set pattern....K1, P1 rib for 1 1/2 inches and then a garter rib after that....beyond that I'm just winging it.