Weekend Knitting

So far so good…Diana hasn’t eaten anything else yet. edit: I Spoke too soon. Now she ate a box of tea light candles and my tube of conditioner that was almost gone. I guess we need to finish unpacking so there aren’t boxes of stuff lying around that she can get into. :-(

I got to meet up with Angie again on Saturday. I had to replace the needles that Diana ate and I had to get Angie the money for our joint order on Knit Picks (to get the free shipping) we had just placed. Good excuse to sit for a couple hours and knit, right? Angie was able to find a babysitter for J so we were able to stay a while. It was nice to just grab some lunch and chat. Angie said it pretty well today, its not all the time that we are able to get together because we live so far. It seems like we’re trying to get a knit night together though. We figured out that the Panera in The Avenues is pretty much half way for both of us. There is an AC Moore there too for when we need cheap yarn, and you know we need good cheap yarn since we are now in the “Broke Ass Knitters Club.” Angie is starting the Ravelry group after we were joking about being broke all the time. Ha.

I cast on for another sock on Saturday morning. I tried to cast on with 2 circulars but it wasn't working out for me so I tried magic loop with the 32" circular that my pal got me. Much easier, especially that trying to show Angie the problem I was having fixed it. I never did figure out what I was doing wrong but it works now. Since I was trying something new I didn't want to use one of my favorite yarns so I used some I got a while ago. It was from when I first wanted to knit socks. I was in a craft store and saw the yarn, Lion Brand Magic Stripes I think. It was really weird because I knew Angie had socks on the needles with the same yarn but when we compared them they are the same colorway and the exact same pattern too. It really was funny to compare them. Apparently I have to finish mine by November 17th for the Orlando Needleworks Show so we can wear matching hand knit socks. I know, we're geeks. As Lime & Violet would say...I'm waving my geek flag. Ha. I have been listening to a lot of L&V lately since I got my Zune. I downloaded a bunch of old episodes and have been catching up.

I have to get back to knitting on those socks!!

-Michele-

Random Thursday

Today was definitely a long day for me. I was running errands for work for a while. One of the things I did today was my interview for Big Brothers Big Sisters. I decided to volunteer there. I will be paired up with a child and I will spend an hour a week at their school helping them with school work and just being a friend. I am really excited to get started but I have to wait 4-6 weeks for my background check. Why does it have to take this long? Of course if it was my child I would want it to take every bit of 4-6 weeks. So sometime in the near future I will be paired up with my “little”

I have learned that dogs will eat anything. Last night while relaxing and knitting the hubby noticed that Diana was really quiet. Not barking at the cat or jumping on us, but quiet. I looked at my feet where she was and she was finishing off the bamboo knitting needle she was eating. She ate two of my needles, stolen right out of the bag by my feet. She couldn’t just eat two of the same size though. She ate on of each size that I needed for the Scrappy Hat and the Dream Swatch Scarf. She ate one of them she ate right out of my Dream Swatch. She shredded the end of it trying to get it out. I didn’t think she could actually consume the wood but all I found was the tip. At least I know that not floating around inside of her. I will have to remember not to leave my knitting out now. I had to unravel a few rows back on the Dream Swatch to save it but it is ok.

I am getting ready to mail off my most recent FO. On the drive to Islamorada I cast on for Calorimetry and finished it up before we got back. It was a quick knit and turned out great. I really thought about keeping it until I tried it on for the picture. I could not wait to get that thing off my head. It is cooling off here but not enough for that. I don’t think it will ever be cool enough for a wool head wrap in FL. It will find a good home with a friend of mine in MA.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Needles: 5.0mm straights

Pattern: Calorimetry (Knitty Winter 2006)

Pattern Designer: Kathryn Schoendorf

Date Finished: 10/21/2007

Hopefully I will be casting on for a Ballet Camisole soon. Angie and I are both knitting it. We are ordering our yarn this weekend and will have it soon, hopefully. We are ordering Shine Sport from Knit Picks and we all know how long their shipping takes. Until then, I will probably cast on for a pair of socks. Probably with circular needles.

Its about time to go home for me. Got to go see what the dog got into now :-)

-Michele-

Getting Back In The Groove

Why does it always seem like when you get back from a vacation things are crazier than when you left them? It seems like I am barley keeping afloat these days. It’s nothing extremely important but its all the little things that I never seem to have time for. I have piles of stuff to do.

Even though the stuff is all still here, we were able to forget it all while on vacation. I was perfect. Great weather, relaxing, and knitting…We stayed in a little cottage on the beach in Islamorada. Every morning and every evening we sat in the chairs on the beach enjoying the views and the breeze. We went with some friends as the “babysitters” since they were there for a wedding. Even the baby loved the breeze. He was so mellow in those times sitting on the beach. We had fun, ate too much food, relaxed by the pool. We even got to eat dinner on the beach at the Lorelei. It was everything a vacation is supposed to be. Except that we didn’t get out on the water. One of our friends did bring a boat but we were not there the days they did go fishing. Oh well, we said that we have to plan another mini vacation and drive all the way to Key West. We thought about driving there the last day we stayed but everyone told us that it wasn’t a good time because of Fantasy Fest. It would have taken us forever to get there and it would have been packed.

I worked on the Scrappy Hat while there. Since we were baby sitting I had to have something that I could stop mid-row and tend to the little one. He is not crawling yet and is really an easy baby compared to most so it was nice. Knitting on the beach is so relaxing. It would have been more relaxing if it weren’t for the coconuts we heard dropping around us off the trees. You have to be careful where you sit. We brought a bunch back to plant in the yard. If you plant the coconuts they will sprout and grow into coconut palms. Back to the knitting…The Scrappy hat is about 17 inches now. Just about big enough to fit around my head. Just a little farther and I can sew it all up. I did manage to finish the Horcrux socks before I left but did not get a chance to post about them. They look great and will get shipped off soon.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Needles: 5.0mm Dpns

Pattern: Horcrux Socks (worsted weight)

Pattern Designer: Susan Lawrence

Date Finished: 10/17/2007

I will have another FO tomorrow. I casted on for it on the drive South and finished it before we got home. Pretty nice huh. I will have details and pictures tomorrow.

As if I didn’t have too much going on already, we decided to add to it. Meet Diana. She is the newest addition to the family. She is a 2yr old Beagle that we rescued from Ziggy Beagle Rescue in Palm Bay, FL. She is a sweetheart! She is already making her self at home with us. Turns out that she is afraid of cats and Jessie is afraid of dogs. It definitely was funny when they first saw each other and Diana almost went through the screen door to get away from the cat and Jessie was hissing and puffed up. They are getting better now. Jessie has to be the boss and pick on Diana and Diana likes to tease Jessie to make her hiss. She sneaks up on her on the couch. It really is funny. They will be friends soon though. It definitely has been an improvement from when they first met!

Well I guess this post couldn’t get any longer. If you want to see all the pictures from the trip you can see the set here.

-Michele-

A Weekend Outdoors

Over the weekend I found out that I could walk 5K without passing out. Ha, really it wasn’t bad at all. Makes me want to walk more…

My company participated in the Making Strides for Breast Cancer walk this year. Angie even made it out and walked with us. It was a good time but I think there were more strollers than people there. We tried to raise a bunch of money and considering all the things going on in everyone’s personal lives right now, we did really well. I even got a T-shirt Angie did really well considering that I told her two days before the walk. You see, I have been distracted lately =). And it really did make me want to walk more. We will be participating in the walk again next year so hopefully we will be more prepared.

After the walk we had the great idea (as did everyone else that walked) to head over to Panera for lunch. It was a sea of pink…We managed to grab a few tables anyways and we all had a good time. After the crowds cleared Angie and I sat for a while to knit and talk. Her son is really well behaved. He of course wanted to be the center of attention but come on, he’s 3. He didn’t terrorize the place or anything, only stared at the people in the booth behind us. Maybe he was trying to play peek-a-boo with them.

Sunday was full of yard work. We had turned into the people that don’t mow their lawn so I bugged the hubby to go out with me and work on it. He mowed both the front and back and I pulled weeds. It looks a whole lot better now, at least until Wednesday when it will be a foot tall again. I did manage to squeeze in some knitting time. I am almost done with the second Horcrux Sock.

I will definitely be done with this by the time we leave for vacation. Yup, we leave on Thursday for Islamorada. It will be a blast. It doesn’t hurt that I will have about 5 hours of knitting time on the drive. Hopefully I can get a bunch done. I haven’t decided what I am bringing yet though.

I am trying to get back to posting Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays so I will have one more post before we leave. Hopefully it will have a FO!

-Michele-

She Did It Again

My pal outdid herself, again! I got my 2^nd package from my Secret Pal and it is awesome!! This has been an exciting few weeks for me. It seems like every time I post I have a new package to share. This package left me speechless, for about 2 seconds, and then I (talking a million miles a minute) told the hubby all about Yarn Pirate and why it is soo cool. He was not impressed. That’s right, I said Yarn Pirate. Did I mention my pal is the best?


My package not only had a skein of Yarn Pirate in the Calamity colorway, but also had Wendy’s Loopy Laces pattern, some beautiful stitch markers from Blumes Accessories, Some yummy smelling candles and a goody bag from her kids. Seeing as it was my birthday they got me a goody bag for my party. Sweet =)

I can’t wait to try out some of the cool yarn I have acquired lately but you probably won’t see them for a while. You see I am pretty new to sock knitting. I am only on my 2nd and 3rd pairs now and only one have really fit me. I am still getting the hang of sizing so I don’t want to use the really cool yarns until I am better at it. I still may frog the Jaywalker sock because it won’t fit over my big foot. I will get better at it soon and then I will try the cool yarns.

I am turning the heel on the Horcrux sock now and I should be on the foot by tonight. I put the instep stitches on waste yarn like the pattern said but I really don’t think that was necessary. That just means that I will have the extra step of picking all those stitches back up later. Probably shouldn’t have done that…It’s ok, as I have stated, I’m still learning. Next will be circulars for my socks. As soon as these are done I am casting on another pair. I didn’t forget about the Purple Eater sock though, I am just not thrilled with it.

Time to go now and finish my heel and watch Grey’s tonight.

-Michele-

Birthday Prizes

Well, I went and chopped off all my hair but it turned out great. It seems so short to me but it really isn’t that short. It is just past my shoulders now and I am loving the length. It is a big difference from before though.


I donated a little over 10 inches. Looking at the ponytail in my hand after cutting it was hard. Especially we had to do the color before the rest of the cut was finished. I got red highlights that really look natural. They sort of match the natural highlights I have. I played with the colors a bit to make the highlights stand out in this picture though.

Overall, I love it. We got to celebrate this weekend too. On Saturday I went out with the hubby and a friend of mine for a couple of drinks and dinner. We had a great time. I love that he really doesn’t like shellfish because he got the surf n turf and gave me the lobster tail. Yum! I will always accept that. He has no idea…

I finally got to work on the Horcrux Socks. I thought I wouldn’t get to knit all month. It has just been one thing after another right now. It’s hard to get anything done on a daily basis. I will have some days off coming up to catch up and relax. And I get to take a day off for my birthday (which was yesterday). I haven’t decided when that will be but it will be soon. I am about to start turning the heel now though. Hopefully then it will finish up pretty quickly.

Yesterday the hubby surprised me with a birthday present. I didn’t think he was going to get me anything since we went out for a nice dinner and I got a house too :-) He got me a Zune! It is so cool. I am already spending all my time customizing it. Now I can have all my music and podcasts on it. It can also keep pictures to show off my projects to anyone who may want to see them. Thanks Hun!!

That’s all for now. It’s been so busy lately that it’s hard to sit down and blog about it all. I sit here and think, “Where do I begin?” I’ll keep trying to get knitting done and keep trying to entertain you guys in the process. Heh, no need to tell me how entertaining I am, I know. (yeah right)

-Michele-

I Need A Change

It’s October 4^th and I haven’t touched the Horcrux Sock yet this month. I have been busy almost every day and I don’t see an end in sight. I will definitely have some great uninterrupted knitting time on the drive to The Keys in a couple weeks. We are leaving on Oct. 18^th. I can’t wait…

I have an updated picture of the Horcrux sock but it is from the last time I knit on it. I am about halfway through the pattern part of the leg now.


I seem to have a birthday coming up also…I got a lovely early present from my mom on Monday. I don’t know if I was supposed to open it or not but I did. It was awesome!! She knows me so well!


I got a crème brulee set that I had to bake with that night (Yummy!), some of my favorite Warm Vanilla Sugar stuff from Bath and Body Works, a beautiful pink sapphire Journey necklace and a beautiful amethyst necklace and bracelet.

This stuff was perfect! I only wish my mom was close by and we could go out and celebrate together. I miss you!

Another early present for my birthday will be tomorrow. I am finally getting my hair done. I have not cut it or changed the style in years. For any of you who have had the pleasure of meeting me will have noticed my long dark hair. It’s as far down as my butt now. It’s the thing I get the most compliments about. (not that I get a ton of them anyways…) I mean strangers have come up to me in stores and tell me how beautiful it is. I am going to chop it off and donate the hair. I am just so tired of all the work it is to have long hair. Let someone else who really needs it deal with it :-) I mean that in the nicest way possible. I will be cutting it a little longer than my shoulders and coloring it. Nothing dramatic, just playing off my natural colors. It is a huge deal for me since I have been trying to grow it out since high school but I feel like I need a change. It’s just hair, it will grow back anyway.

I will have before and after pictures in the next post for those of you who are interested. And hopefully knitting progress pictures.

-Michele-

What do you mean it’s October!?

Wow, I couldn’t believe it until I wrote the date for the first time today. It’s really October. Where did September go? And for that matter, where did 2007 go? It seem that every year goes by faster than the last. And to give you an idea of how crazy it is around here, I uploaded the pictures for this post on Friday but have not had time to post.

We are almost all moved in. There are just a few more boxes left that were stored in the other bedroom and out of sight for another day. It is really starting to look like home now. Since we had beautiful weather this weekend we were able to open up the house also. We have the perfect amount of windows to get a good breeze going through the house. It was nice.

I finished the first Horcrux Sock on Thursday evening and moved right on to the second sock. I figured out that they’re just a bit too small for my feet so they will be a gift now. I like this pattern so much that the knowledge that they do not fit me did not even stop me from casting on for the second sock.

I am a little farther along than this picture shows since this was from last Thursday, but you get the idea. The second sock is going smoothly and looks great. I can’t wait for this to be done so I can ship them off to the lucky recipient.


I also got some more Debbie Bliss on sale at my LYS and found out that it will not be on sale any longer after Saturday. I was a little disappointed because I thought were going to have it on sale until it sold out because they are not going to carry it any longer. They decided to purchase a few of the colors for the store again, so no more sale. Too bad…At least I got a bunch while it was on sale. I can’t seem to locate my cable to pull the pictures off my camera but I got 2 balls in black. Maybe another pair of Horcrux…

I also got a great early birthday present form my mom today. It was Awesome!!! It will have to wait for the next post because it’s raining now and that’s no good for pictures :-)

I hope everyone else had a good weekend!

-Michele-