My new love and I quit

So yesterday I went to the Sheep & Wool Festival at Mount Bruce Station with my buddy Amanda. While there I met the new love of my life.


Isn't it beautiful? It is 55% angora/45% merino and is called Orchid Mist. I keep petting it because it is the softest thing I have ever felt. Now I need to practice my spinning so I do not mess this beautiful roving up!



So I feel like a horrible person but I have given up on the scarf for the Red Scarf Project. I HATE the Vanna's Choice yarn! So much so I will be returning the unused ball to Michael's. It knits up very stiff and is splits like hell! I know myself well enough to know that I will not finish the scarf by the deadline so I quit. Maybe next year I will be able to get my butt in gear sooner so I can donate something to this very wonderful project.

Starting tomorrow Lolly brings us her annual ode to socks - Socktoberfest. I am still plugging away on my first sock using the Yarn Harlot's basic recipe. I have finished the ribbing for the cuff and started the stockinette foot portion. I hope to have the first sock finished before the end of the month.

I have also decided that I need to get working on my Icarus shawl. I really want to wear this to church on Christmas Eve so I need to get going on it. I do not know if it will be done by that deadline but I am going to try. Until next time ....

I went to the doctor and got good news for a change ...

but I AM NOT pregnant! I went to the doctor on Friday though and finally got some good news. My A1C Hemoglobin, which test how steady your blood sugar is over a 6-12 week period, in finally under 6. So what does this mean you ask? It means that I can finally, after 6 months of waiting, go on my fertility drug. It also means that my chance of have a baby with abnormailties is now the same as a woman without diabetes and, more importantly, my chance of having a baby over 10 lbs is drastically reduced. Now this is really good news to me since babies are big in my family without the diabetes risk. My sister and I were both over 9 lbs and my brother was over 8 lbs. So I am excited and scared about this next step but my eggs are not getting any younger here!

So I have started a My So Called Scarf for the Red Scarf project and I need to get moving to get it finished in time. I am using Vanna's Choice yarn by Lion Brand and I am not happy with it. It is very splitty and does not hold up to frogging very well. Oh well, live and learn I guess. Until next time ....

FO Alert: His Hat

So I finished the hat I have been promising my hubby for almost 2 years now.


This was my first hat and first completed project using DPNs. I improvised a bit on the pattern. I did not continue the ribbing during the decreases because I simply forgot. However, I still think it looks ok. There are some mistakes I can see but that is to be expected in a first DPN project. Hubby loved it and says it will get a lot of use this winter. Details on both my FO Blog and on Ravelry.

Up next a My So Called Scarf for the Red Scarf Project and my Fake-A-Gamo Bag. First I have to untangle the skein of yarn for the bag. It is a huge mess! Note to self, do not be lazy and use the ball winder without the swift because it will cost you a lot of time in the future. Until next time ....

Knitty Fall 2007

So I was impressed with the Fall issue of Knitty. There were several patterns I liked but here are my favorites.


Muir by Rosemary Hill. I love this shawl and it is my favorite pattern in the issue. Although the fact that you have to download a separate file for the chart scares me.





Totally Autumn by Anne Hanson. I love the idea of snuggling up with this throw, my hubby and a scary movie on Halloween.







Mr Greenjeans by Amy Swenson. A nice, classic sweater pattern. If I made this I would choose a solid color though. I would also shorten the ribbing on the cuffs.



Woodins by Anna Hrachovec. I do not know if I would actually ever knit this pattern but they are to cute for words.


Now from the WTF files I present the Pecan Pie Beret.


This is just ugly. No scratch that - it is fugly!

Knitterpalooza

What a great time it was. Amby and Kristi put on a great party. Here is the whole gaggle of knitters, photo take courtesy of Kristi's husband.










I was a very good girl and did not go crazy at the yarn stores.

I bought some Classic Elite Skye Tweed and size 13 DPNs to make the Felted Triangular bag from the Knitting Pattern a Day Calender (Sept 4th entry). I also bought some size 3 circulars to make my Bombshell and a skein of Louet Gems in Grape. I also went to Michael's afterwards to use the 25% coupon I was gifted with by one of my knitting girls, Kimlien. I got some findings and beads to make jewelry and two balls of Vanna's Choice in Brick to make a scarf for the Red Scarf Project.

I finished hubby's hat at knitting on Wednesday but I have not been able to block it yet. He did try it on and approved highly. I guess I should block it for him since he took me out for a yummy breakfast this morning. Although I was bummed that they do not have their pumpkin pancakes yet. Oh well I guess we will have to go back next month when they are finally available. Until next time ....

Remembering

It was August 22, 2001. I was in New York City with my sister, Amy, and our 8 year old niece, Nicole. I do not remember a lot about that day but I do know that we were doing the downtown double decker bus tour. Eventually we ended up at the World Trade Center and went in. We were hungry so we went to Sbarro in the building and had pizza. It was about 2pm but it was very crowded. There were men in ties and women in pantsuits scarfing down a slice before heading back to their offices on the upper floors. When we were done we walked over to a little camera stand to buy film for Nicole's camera. As we were walking to get to the line for the observation deck we passed a Ben & Jerry's stand and stopped to get ice cream. There were revolving doors between the two main towers and my sister went through and Nicole followed right behind. Unfortuntely my sister did not see her trying to get in the door with her and Nicole's arm got stuck between the two compartments. I yelled for Amy to stop, which she did, and Nicole held onto that ice cream sandwich like her life depended on it! Thank goodness she was just scared and not hurt. We got in line to go up to the observation deck and waited. There was a nice young man who was taking tickets at the elevator who was really sweet to Nicole. We rode up to the top of the world and entered the glassed in deck. It was a very clear day and we could see forever. There were steps that led down to benches where we sat and looked out over the city. We were lucky because the open deck was open that day, it was often closed because of high winds. We went up there but it was hard to see anything because you are not close to the edge like at the Empire State Building. Before we left I decided to buy a beautiful pencil drawing of the two towers. The building where I used to work at in East Lansing was also designed by the man who designed the WTC, Minoru Yamasaki, so I thought it was cool to have that drawing. We left and went on with the rest of our sightseeing. Nicole loved being at the WTC. She even asked to have it in the background of her picture that we took on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty the next day.

Fast forward 20 days to September 11, 2001. I was at work that day when I received a call from my boyfriend, now husband, stating that two planes had just been flown into the Trade Center. I was in shock. A bunch of my co-workers and I went to one of the conference rooms to watch the TV in there. All I kept saying over and over was "I was just there, I was just there." Every year on this day I think back and wonder. Wonder about the people I saw there that day. Did the young man who took our tickets survive? Where did that guy in the blue shirt at Sbarro work? Did he make it out? What happened to the people who worked on the observation deck? Were they up there even though the deck did not open for another hour? What about the cute old man we bought the film from? Where were those people I saw coming and going on the elevators while I was waiting in line when the planes hit and the towers fell? I know I will never know the answers to these questions. However, I also know that every year on September 11th until I die I will ask those questions and wonder.

A fun day

So today was the first Detroit Stitch n Pitch. I went with my friend Christine and we had a great time. It was nice to see all those people in their orange Knitting Detroit Together shirts stitching away. If they do this again next year we will be there for sure. I did not get many pictures but here is one of the field I did get.










While there I worked on the hat for my hubby.

I am really happy with how it is going. I am now ready to begin the decreases. After a year and a half my hubby will finally have a nice hand knit hat to wear this winter.




Until next time ...

Drive By Blogging

Just a quick update.

1) I am still working my way through Ravelry. I am having so much fun looking at other people's projects that I have not uploaded most of my own! I did get my 3 current WIPS (Icarus, Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock Recipe and His Hat) in but nothing older. I think I need a plan of attack but I am to tired to come up with one.
2) I did not get to work on my Ravelry account because I had a busy weekend. MSU football on Saturday afternoon, 50th anniversary party for my aunt and uncle that evening and another party with my family on Sunday. It was nice to see my aunts, uncles and cousins who I do not get to see very often.
3) Yesterday was spent recovering from the weekend. I ate really badly and got totally off schedule with my meals so I felt like crap all day. I still have a slight headache and feel crabby but I hope all the bad stuff is processing through my system.
4) This upcoming weekend is going to be crazy also. I have another MSU football game Saturday at noon, the Rocky Horror Show Saturday night and Stitch and Pitch on Sunday afternoon. I am tired thinking about it already!
5) If you are in the area and free on the 15th please come to Knitterpalooza. This is going to be so much fun. There will be a yarn crawl, prizes and BBQ. Check out Amby's blog for details.

Until next time ....