Hodge Podge

As you know, I'm not responsible for my online purchases. There is usually a blog that "made me do it". I've been seeing ornaments across blog land. All those pretty pictures. So I ordered the JCS Christmas editions from 2004 to 2007. I already had 2008 and 2009. They're a great value. Where else can you get so many patterns for one low price? This was a cost effective purchase!

I've been missing having a sock on the needles so I cast on for one late Saturday. Plain vanilla. Mindless. Just perfect. I love red and I love the stitch definition that this yarn gives. Right now I don't have the brain cells for anything remotely complicated.

Last year, Greg and the boys and I went to see the Luminaries. While we had a great family time, the luminaries were a huge disappointment. This year Greg and I went to St. Augustine to ride the Holly Jolly Trolley around town with some of my coworkers and their families. It's wasn't a long ride but it was fun and downtown St. Augustine was beautiful. One evening I'd love to go there and go from pub to pub listening to all the live music.

I'm in Florida so the open air trolley really was not a problem. It messes with the hair though!

This is the Basilica. I've never paid too much attention to it but at night it is amazing!

Somehow our holiday preparations are getting done. We spent hours over the weekend wrapping up gifts after finishing up our shopping. I have 2 gifts that should be delivered this week and a very large gift for Chris to wrap and then I'll be pretty much done with all that except for stocking stuffers. I have an emergency hair appointment tomorrow - it is absolutely driving me crazy. Why does short hair seem to grow so fast? Especially once it starts (coughcough) to turn gray?

As you can tell, this post is all over the place. I think that is typical for me this time of year!

I'd like to thank all of you for this year of reading my blog, commenting, and getting to know me. I never expected that a blog would bring me friendships but it has. What a nice surprise! I've also learned so much from your blogs. Thank you for sharing your tips, tricks, lessons learned and your stories. It's been a pleasure to get to know YOU in 2009! I wish each of you a safe and happy holiday and new year!
Hugs,
Jackie

Tired but in a Good Way

It's Sunday night and I'm pleasantly tired after a busy weekend. It most likely has to do with spending an hour and a half at the gym late today though. I have a feeling I'm going to sleep well tonight! Yesterday G and I went to Weight Watchers and spent most of the rest of the early afternoon running errands, then coming home and getting ready for a party at a coworkers house. Had a great time - the food was good and the company was even better! Lots of fun.

There has been playing with fiber going on. I've fully turned the heel and working on the foot of the 2nd of my No Purl Monkey Socks (Ravelry Link). These have been a lot of fun! I'm already wondering what sock to cast on for next.......

I've done some sewing and rotary cutting. These aren't as wonky as they seem. They're unpressed and I wanted to quickly take a photo so I didn't worry about straightening them up.

I also bought some more reds for a future quilt. I'm taking these with me on vacation. Maybe I'll buy some more fabric to go with it while we're gone. I'm thinking I'd like to do this with simple squares set on point. I need to find a tutorial that shows me how to do that. If you know of one, please let me know!

Remember in a prior post, I mentioned that the reds made my muslin seem yellow? I end back and purchased the muslin I passed over before as it seemed to be blinding white. Look at the difference! The one on the right doesn't look bad on it's own. Put it next to a true white and it looks really, really yellow.

LESSON LEARNED: Don't trust my memory when selecting fabric!

I've spent the last 2 weeks thinking about the sewing and knitting to take on vacation. Lots of ideas. Printing away patterns. Thinking about yarns. Making sure I have thread. Looking through books. I honestly think I'll be taking more books and fiber stuff than I will clothes! Early this week, I'll start the written lists (right now it's all in my head) and pulling stuff out. Thankfully G understands and won't say once "Are you sure you need this?" or "You're taking too much stuff". Don't you just love a man who supports your fiber habits?!

Good Enough is Sometimes Good Enough

This morning I sat down in my dining room and cut out the pieces to sew the Turkey Tracks block over again. If you remember, my first attempt was horrible. My second attempt is slightly less wonky. The points still don't match (but they ARE better) and as you can see there is a spot up top that is way off. But you know what I decided? My second attempt is good enough. This is only my 3rd quilt and Y seams are not exactly a beginning lesson from what I've been told. So this block stays. I don't think my neice (who the quilt is for) will care. If I was a more experienced quilter it would probably bug me but I'm not. So it doesn't. What would you do? Keep at it or move on?

Lesson Learned: You don't have to be perfect. It's ok to be a little wonky!

I finally finished my Waving Ribbing Socks (Ravelry Link) from More Sensational Knitted Socks. I did these 2 at a time on one circular needle. I don't think I'll do that again. Why? I missed the high of completing the first sock and the high of casting on for a new one. This project also seemed to take FOREVER. I have yet to suffer from Second Sock Syndrome so there really isn't any point for doing them both at once. I've been trying out each method of making socks and DPN's still seem to be my thing.

The striping of the yarn is odd on the foot. They look more similar on the leg. Honestly, I don't worry about this at all as no one will really notice-it's just not worth fretting over IMO. Knitting is fun - not frustrating! I finished these up yesterday while hanging out at my LYS and even though I said they were going to have to sit in time out for a while (for taking so long), I'm wearing them now and they're quite comfy!

So with one project finished, what did I do? Of course, I cast on for another one. This time using my own hand dyed yarn! I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying these! They're going to be No Purl Monkey socks (Ravelry line) by the wonderful Cookie A. Here is how much I had done about 30 minutes after I got home. These are knitting up FAST! Whoot! A big change over the socks I just finished. Maybe I should always dye my own yarn!!!

I also cast on for the Obi Scarf (Ravelry Link) by Veronique Avery. I absolutely fell in love with this when I first started knitting. The yarn and the book have been quietly sitting in my bookcase since. This project is a challenge for me because the pattern is reversible. So it will be slow going.
What I found interesting is that the pattern starts out as above with 6 rows of garter stitch. Then the pattern starts and slowly the scalloped edge just appears. It was fun to watch!

Not a good picture of the scalloped edge but you get the general idea!

As you can see, I had a stress free weekend. Today the guys laid sod in the backyard. I got the better end of that deal! But they weren't complaining. I actually could hear them laughing and talking while I was inside sitting at the sewing machine even though the windows were closed. Sometimes what you're doing does not have to be fun to enjoy yourself and to enjoy the people around you. I hope each of you find a bit of fun in your day!

Finally!

It's FINALLY cool enough here in Florida for me to wear a pair of socks! Yipppeee! I started knitting in Janaury. By the time I got around to finishing a pair of socks it was just too darn hot to wear them! This morning was super cold (in the high 30's I think) and I got to wear these:

These are the first pair of socks I ever attempted to make. Just plain janes knit on DPNs. Nothing fancy at all. But warm. Soft. I didn't anticipate how good it would feel to wear them!

Everyone should have a pair of hand knit socks!

Socks for my Husband

My husband has been wanting me to knit him some socks. At the beginning of the year, he even picked out the yarn! A couple of days ago, I cast on thinking how great it was that my knitting skills were going to yield such a great pair of socks for him. He tried them on. Too big, he says. So I start over. Yesterday after getting about 4 or 5 inches on the needles, I had him try them on again. Remember Cinderella and the evil stepsister who insisted the glass slipper fit her? Yep, that was my husband last night. He INSISTED that the sock was going to fit him when it was very obvious that it wasn't going too. He was tugging so hard that I actually thought it was going to pop a hole. No amount of wiggling and squirming was going to get that sock around his heel. None. He, however, left the room insisting that the sock was going to be just fine.

Today, I am left with this:




I added 8 more stitches and started over. I feel good about it.