Big Green Socks

Finally, here are the guy socks. The turn out to be a perfect fit. He love them. They were for my friend Daron.

We played poker last night at a fun raiser for Pee Wee football. I was hoping that these would be lucky socks for him but unfortunately this was not to be. Even so the poker was a lot of fun. I lasted about an hour longer than he did but alas I was downed by 3 aces and 2 8's over my 3 aces and 2 3's. Of course I went all in...with 3 aces how could I not.

Oh well, it was for the kids and it was much better than having them come to my door with candy bars and making me feel bad for not buying them. I have adopted a strict policy now that I do not buy from kids at the door anymore. I used to buy from them all but the last couple of times I did and had to pay up front the merchandise never showed up at my door. The other reason is that I feel if you want your kid to play ball, cheer lead, whatever, I do not want to pay for it. You need to pony up the extra money for them to participate in that activity.


As you can see I have changed my template. Not sure I like not having more color but have not finished tweaking it yet. I like the stretched format I am think of other things I can do to spruce it up and will do so as time permits. Let me know what you think and if you have suggestions.

Finally Blogger let me upload these pictures. I have had them ready to show you for a while. Thanks Blogger for cooperating this time....please remember how you did this so we can do it again this easily next time.

Here is the Criss Cross scarf I am working on. It is simple yet looks complicated. The first 66 rows are a combination of garter stitch and seed stitch that are then divided into strips of 5 stitches each that follow the same stitch patterns. When done with it is back to putting everything together to create the part that goes around the next. Once again you do the split for the strips and repeat as the others then when they are completed you weave then. To finish up you put them stitches back together again and mirror the 66 rows from the beginning. I am about 50% done with it.

Ah...the big bag. Here it is in all its glory. I have not felted it because, can you believe I am not sure it is deep enough. I think I may finish it off with a darker trip so the BO's may be coming out. I want to do some more pockets too before the grand felting. I think it is going to turn out great.

And now for my newest favorite. This is the scarf I am doing in the Lion Brand Incredible. The colors really to not show well her but the are beautiful. I really like the gold, teal, and cranberry. The Incredible is not my favorite to work with but I like the affect so it is worth it. The only thing I really do not like is the way it twists.

The guy socks are done washed and ready to give to the recipient. I am playing in a Texas Hold'm fund raiser tonight to raise only for little league football. The guy who is receiving the socks will be there and I am betting (pun intended) that these will be his lucky socks. I am anxious to see how they fit and how much he likes then. I think he is expecting something very wild but I think he will be surprised at how tame they are.

Once again, I have started another pair of socks. I am using the Tofutsie that I got in Columbia at Hill Creek. I am finding it interesting to knit with. I for the most part like the feel of it but it does split easily. More on this next time.

A Little Bit of Progress

So here is the back of the yellow sweater. Yes, I finally got it going. I did this last night so it is going pretty fast. I love how the Mirco Spun feels but I still and not thrilled with how it knits. You really have to watch it for splitting. The good thing is that if you need to fix a stitch it works really well to drop down many row to fix it. The fabric heals very well. All you have to do is smooth the stitches out and you can't even tell that you dropped the stitch.

I wanted to post a cople more pictures but blogger would not cooperate. I have the big tote bag read to felt. It is going to be pretty big. I am anxious to see now it felts. Will probably do the felting this week some time.

and I have started a scarf from Lion Brand Incredible Copper Penny. Very pretty but I am not sure I like knitting with it. I have not done a ribbon before. It tends to twist pretty badly. This make it a much slower knit for me.

These are all my things for Stitches. Hope to have several more things done by then.

Inventory Time

I have decided that I am going to make a list of the projects I want to compelte for Stitches. I want to think about the level of effort to complete each then I can prioritize them. Maybe that will help me get them done.

Here is what I have decided so far.

1. Yellow Sweater-WIP The front is yet to be completed.
2. Criss Cross Scarf-WIP 50% done
3. Felted Tote-WIP (almost ready to felt) 95% don
4. Clapotis-I have been wanting to do one for a while
5. Another Short Sleeve Sweater
6. Felted Evening bag-In the One Skein Wonders
7. Socks-Maybe using the Tofootie I got at Hill Creek

I think this completely doable. The first three should be done very soon. The socks and evening bag should be quick knits. The Clapotis and other sweater could be project for my trip to Cape Hatteras. I think I am going to have a lot of knitting time there.

At the office I do not have a cubicle. Where the contractors sit is a bull pin so we have 6 of us in the same area. As you might guess there is no privacy. It is like being in a fish bowl. Now that the weather has turned nice I have been going to Dean and Deluca's at lunch to get a salad then sitting in the park. It is nice to get away from the office for a while where it is quiet. I sit and knit for a bit then back to work. It makes a nice break in the day.

What have I been working on?

Here is my lates new thing I am working. The number of my WIPs is growing. This one will be a quicky. I have decided to do a felted tote to take to Stitches. I think it is going to be very interesting. I am using Lion Brands Landscape which is wool and acrylic. The neat things is when it felts the acrylic of course does not. The result creates a nubby texture to the fabric. I did a booga bag in this yarn that I really liked. I have two different shades of the same color family so it will be striped. I am anxious to get it completed and felted. That is the thing I love about felting, the end product has so many possiblities.




Also on my WIP list is the yellow sweater. I have the back and sleeves completed and will start on the front probably tomorrow. Should have it completed very soon so I can put it together. I hope to get another sweater done to before Stitches. I have some yarn that was originally purchased for another sweater but once I got it started I did not like the pattern. I think this is a frog situation to be used for something I will like better.



My focus right now is to get some things made to have for Stitches. I would like to have something for each day to wear. I know there are going to be many interesting things to see there.

In my wandering through bloggs I ran across this collar. I immediately thought of my friend Chelle. She loves to do freeform and I think this is the ultimate freemform project. Any number of varieties of leaves could be included. The novelty yarns add such a flair. It is called the Indian Summer Color http://www.magknits.com/Jan07/patterns/indiansummer.htm . I think it would be fun to make but not sure I would wear it.

What's new? Not Much

Yesterday was a very exciting day. I wrote the big check to pay off my house. It is all mine now (as soon as I get the deed and cancled mortgage). I was so moved with I dropped the check in the mail. It was such an accomplishment. Something I did by myself. I have now been in this house for 20 years. I never dreamt that this time would come.

When I bought my house I looked at it as an investment and that I would be here only a couple of years then move on to somewhere else. You know how it is you start out and go day-to-day. All of a sudden you turn around and it is 20 years later.

My plan is to be totally debt free by the end of the year. I think this is doable. All this is to position myself to semi-retire by the time I am 60. That is 5 mor years. Hope I can make it. Wish me luck.

I really have not have much going on lately. I am almost totally recovered from my recent illnes. The problem is that I have been going to work then coming home and going to sleep. Now that I am much better I am trying get myself out and doing something after I get home.

I and my friends Chelle and Mary have started a Woman In Training program throught St. Lukes East Hospital. It is a training program to ready us to do a 5K walk. Last night is was rainy and cool but we walked anyway. My goal was a mile but I did not make it the full mile. I did do 1/2 though. This is good for me since I have been sick and also have not been doing a lot of walking this winter. I am going to make more of an effort to get out after work for longer walks so that I can work up to the 3 mile total goal. I know that this will happen one step at a time. I have complete confidence. This is a good thing.

Since I have been sleeping so much I have not been knitting very much in the last few weeks. I am still working on the guy socks for my friend. I am waiting for foot measurements to complete them. I now have two socks with no toes. When I do get the measurements I can finish them up.

I have the back and one sleeve done for my yellow sweater. I will start working this week on the rest of the sweater to get it completed. I like this pattern and will probably make another out of a different yarn. Maybe KnitPicks Shine Sport. I like the feel of he Lion Brand Microspun but it is difficult to knit with.

I think my next endeavor will be a shawl. I think I might need one to take to Sticthes. You never know, even in the summer, what the temp will be in hotels.