Been Awhile

Lots of life changes can cause one to neglect one's blog.  So, I will not make any excuses and simply start blogging again.  I've set several goals for myself that scare the mess out of me, but I'm gonna do it.  Ever feel like you might make the wrong choice for fear of failure? Well I've decided to try something like oh, making the choice and being able to say I tried it, it worked and by golly I can do it again! Pray for me!  LOL  Ill be back later with some knitting photos.

Heart...

Sometimes we come across people in the strangest ways and they affect us in a way we weren't expecting.  Today was that day for me.  I was in the grocery store this morning with the mister. and we were doing our usual laughing and talking while shopping.  Making jokes and such - but the mister made a joke to a woman and she burst into tears around the corner.  He said oh no - she's crying!!!

We went to comfort her and she just spilled out her story.  She said that she is taking care of her father and and needs some help she has been awake for 12 hours and she was just overwhelmed.  She was taking care of her father and how her brother would come over and spend time and then leave.  She was just grateful for a trip to the store to breathe.  We let her get it all out and spoke to her until she was calmed down.  We offered to help her around the store and she said no but thank you for just listening.  She gave me a hug and blew the mister a kiss and walked off.  My heart went out to her. I can't imagine what she is going through.  I am lucky because my parents have decent enough health that they don't need my help yet.

We take our health for granted until, well we cant.  It hurt me to see someone else in pain like that - with what seemed like no resources to help get her some relief.  I will no longer take my health for granted.

New Nephew...

So um I haven't been here in awhile.  I feel like I abandoned my blog.  I will have to work on that.  Well um how have y'all been?  I've been in a knitting funk (again?!?). I've knit some dishcloths and I'm currently working on a blanket for my dare I say great nephew to be.  He is due on my birthday in June - so that would be cool it if he actually waited until then to show up. 

I tried to get his mom to name him Nicholas but um Dad vetoed that and said he will be named Junior - I had to try (tee hee).  Anyway this is the blanket I'm working on for him.  I may actually finish it by the time the baby shower rolls around in May.  


I can never seem to get these things done on time and maybe it's because I like the small needles.  They seem to make a squishier denser fabric.  I think the big needs are cheating - but then if it was easy for me to do - I wouldn't want to do it.  The colors are placed randomly and I used a size five needle and cast on 322 stitches and went for it.  I know it sounds crazy - but it was a pattern that had a whole lot of definition and I didn't like the pattern so I ripped it out to the border and continued on the with the colors I had for that blanket.   One of these days I will actually like to finish one of those complicated intarsia patterns that I love to start and finish before I get bored with it.  I do have one in mind that has bunnies on it.  And I do intend to finish the elephant parade - which I sadly had to rip out due to the gigantic hole in it.


So what are on your needles and hooks today?

Purple Elephant Parade

Hello....anybody out there? I'm still here. I'm not baking like my folks in the south with their 100 plus days of summer - but it's been pretty warm and the weather is amazing!!!!

Like any other nutcase knitter I am knitting blankets in this heat. But not because I'm cold or have new cousins coming - I like the challenge of working a pattern and ripping it out. (Ok not the ripping part) Anywho...my newest challenge is....drum roll please....Elephant Blanket.

I am now a steek lover!!! if you havent tried it go for it! Throw pattern intimidation out the window and just go for it. I know i know - it's easy for me to say now but I too was a pattern coward.

I'll upload some photos as soon as I figure out how to get them off my phone...

Dotty

Happy 4th y'all!!! So I am almost with Dotty! Whew! I just have to do the binding. Making the cut was really scary but you know what? It didn't fall apart! Way easier than I thought. If you ever feel like you want a challenge but arent sure if you can do it - this pattern is found in the second Mason-Dixon Outside the Lines book. It's called Dotty. The pattern they wrote was not as complicated as I made this one. My mods were as follows:

1. Cast on double the size of what the pattern calls for
2. Used a cotton blend yarn (Lion Brand Cotton Ease)
3. Had lots of cussing sessions for dropping stitches in weird placed (ok not really)
4. TRUSTED the pattern to do what it said it would do
5. Had fun and love the outcome!

Give it a try - it's very easy to do!

What are y'all working on?

Quilting Bug

Look what MamaC gave me!!!!! It's a great looking sewing machine. And why did she give this to me? Because I've been bitten by the quilting bug!!!!! I found myself missing my Granny and was looking around to see how I could feel closer to her. Quilting was one of the many things that she did well. Lawd have mercy I miss her peach cobblers! Whew.....I digress.

Quilting is something that I figured I could try to see if my creative genius (tee hee) would continue to flow with. I am finding that the older I get the more I want to create things with my hands. I want to make gifts for people that will last longer than the fleeting moment of a gift card. Anyway - my first attempt with be something simple. It's called the Plus Quilt. MamaC and I will definately have some fun working on this one.

Choosing fabric is just as hard as choosing yarn for a project. I won't even tell you about the millions of choices and patterns. It's definately gonna be a journey. I won't however be putting my knitting needles down anytime soon.

The Blues!

The Blues!, originally uploaded by missthg.

OMG!!!! This here pattern has given me the blues!!!! You know the kind...my dog is dead and my woman done left me blues. I have ripped back and re-knit from the beginning about 60 eleven dozen times!!! The pattern is called Prairie Blanket by Oat Couture. If you have any tips please share. I consider myself to be a pretty good knitter, this made me feel like I couldn't count. Could read, couldnt tell a knit from a purl...UGH!!! Maybe I'm just not ready to knit it yet...yeah that's the ticket!!! HMPH!

Baby Dotty

, originally uploaded by missthg.

Ok I'm just on a knitting roll!!! This is the Baby Dotty Blanket - or my version of it from the Mason Dixon book Knitting Outside the lines. It's a start. We shall see how long this one takes...

Bookman is finished!!!

I finished the Bookman Blanket today!!! I cant wait to give it as a gift. As soon as I figure out how to load more photos I will. This blanket was easy to do. If you can knit and purl - you can do this!!! Do not let the pattern intimidate you!! If you are on Ravelry - I do have more photos there. This is my first finished project for 2011!!!

Pattern: Bookman Blanket by Megan Bayonet. This pattern was found in the Interweave Knits Holiday 2010 issue. It's also listed on Ravelry.

Bookman

Bookman, originally uploaded by missthg.

This is the Bookman Blanket coming along. I have two more tiers and I will be finished with this one! I can't wait until I'm done and can take some of those drapey photos like the original!

Bookman Blanket

Hey Y'all!!!! It's a new year and with a new year comes new projects! Ok I have a case of starteritis - and I'm not trying to control it anymore. It's just what knitters do. I have started working on the Bookman Blanket for someone who's birthday is in May in my family. And I am crazy enough to have started two of them. One is doubled and the other is single yarn. Both are made from cotton ease one in white and the other in lime green. I don't have photos to show yet as they are both coming along quite nicely. The pattern is found in the Interweave Holiday Knits magazine as well as here on Ravelry.

This is the copy in the magazine. Mine is not quite there yet - I'm on row three...

I didnt use the yarn from the pattern because well....I have too much yarn already and decided to shop from my stash. I found that I have enough to do both blankets and can't wait to see how they knit up. I'm just hard headed enough to do the larger size pattern. These squares are huge!! I had no idea that 40 row 20 stitch squares could be so big!!!! I will definitely take some photos later to show you what I mean.

The pattern is not hard at all. If you can knit, purl & pick up stitches you too can enjoy the joys of entrelac. I recommend using stitch markers when knitting the letter portion of your version of this. Photos to come later.

What are y'all working on?

Merry Christmas!

Missoni

I finished it! YAY!!! This project is soooo easy! I saw it done in a rainbow fashion and really wanted to do the same - but alas due to the economy I am on a yarn budget. I would however consider recycling some of my other yarn to do another one. Possibly the Lizard ridge I have hiding in the closet.

Another little something I'm working on...

I know two posts in one day is a big deal. I must have gotten my mojo back because I found a pattern that I love! The original was knit with some fabulously expensive cotton yarn. Well since I don't have fabulous expensive money - but lots of white and black lion brand cotton ease, I decided to do it in two colors. This pattern is one of those that look complicated but is so easy it's almost addictive. The pattern is called Missoni Chevron Blanket. Her colors are stunning. Maybe next time. I'm sure that I will do this one again.

Kitchen Stuff

Here are some photos of some of the dishcloths I made for my kitchen. I was bored with one color cloths but I needed something easy to help pull me outta my knitting funk. It worked!!! I have about seven or eight more clothes and then used the scraps to make one big towel to dry the dishes with.

Susan G. Komen

So this weekend I attempted to complete a 60 mile walk for Breast Cancer. I had a friend that was dear to me that passed away in May of this year to this terrible disease. I say attempted because of the 60 miles - I was only able to complete 20.1 miles. I felt like I failed for about two hours and then realized - I didnt fail - I still got out there and walked. By myself. Not with a team. No one had to tell me this was something I needed to do. Any you know what - I had a blast! Granted the last five miles uphill were grueling - but there was so much encouragement from the others who were walking and I even got pushed uphill for a few feet, and the cheering stations were awesome!!!! I plan to do this again next year and actually complete it. If you've never experienced this walk - I urge you to attend. Even though I went alone - I was not lonely nor was I alone. There were some special people that I met along the way who seemed like angels to me at the time. I met a lady names Trish who had her radiation treatment on the way to the walk. WOW! I meet another lady who lives in Santa Cruz Mountains who has lost approximately five people in her family to breast cancer. I met a lady who said I thank you on behalf of my boobies I thank you! Now that lady was hilarious!!!! Anyway - There were so many amazing people that I met - that I am just overwhelmed. There are five people who are doing every single walk!!!! That's a whole lotta walking and fund raising!!! Anyway if you know someone who is effected or a friend of someone who is effected by this horrible disease - please please please - dont hestitate to donate or participate in any way what you can. Feel free to share with your friends and family as well!

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR?px=5192374&pg=personal&fr_id=1470&s_tafId=237763

I really do have some more stuff

Hey ya'll! I seemed to have hit a knitting slump these past few months! I've only been able to crank out dishcloths. I think the stresses of life just didnt allow me to have my mind settled enough to finish anything that required real brain power! Somebody send me some kntting mojo!!!!

I'm here!

So what have y’all been up to? Me – I’ve been working on the Bliss Blanket and some dish cloths. I’ve been reading all of the other blogs and trying to get my mojo back. It’s slowly creeping up and I’m getting to the swing of things. When I started Bliss I didn’t have anyone to give it too, so I wasn’t hard pressed to finish it. Now one of my co-workers is having a baby in November and leaving in October for maternity leave so I am now motivated to get it done. I am making myself crazy trying to find my next project. I thought about doing Tree of Life in baby size, or the Yggdrasil Blanket – but there is a lot of thinking involved in all of that. I need something easy – but not boring. Any suggestions?

Oh yeah – I participated in a Caps for a Cure round of chemo and the ladies in this group are fantastic! They donated a whopping 225 hats for the round of May/June and I dropped them off in stages at the hospital where I work. It was a lot of fun participating in this particular group and I will continue to do so often as I can.

I will be posting some photos of some completed projects soon – I promise. This yarn diet business is painful but if I don’t continue being on one – I’ll never finish anything! Am I the only one on a yarn diet? Michael’s has sugar and cream on sale 4 for $5 this week.

Bliss

Bliss, originally uploaded by missthg.

Well Ok - I've been a bit lax on the blogging - and feel like I've hit a knitting slump. I was recently asked what inspires me to knit. Well sometimes it the strips on a bag, the colors on a shirt. I love it when inspiration hits and I have money to buy the yarn to complete the project. I have many unfinished projects because of those whims. So for the rest of the year - I'm on a yarn diet. I am going to only work on the projects I have - and I'm sure that I have plenty of yarn to finish all of my projects.

Anyway - inspiration can hit in the oddest of places. A train ride, a church dress or the grocery store. I'm not usually looking for it - so it's just one of those things that just hits me. It kinda hit me when I started making this blanket. I had on a shirt that had these colors in it.

There is some brown in there now - but I haven't taken a photo yet. I will be finishing these soon. I'm feeling like I lost my knitting mojo. If y'all see it - tell it to come home.

The Lizard Grows!

The Lizard Grows!, originally uploaded by missthg.

The Lizard is growing. Very slowly I might add because it is no long portable on the train. It probably is - but I'm making two other blankets at the same time. What are y'all working on!