A Nice Day Off

Today I have called in so that I can have a nice, quiet day off. I have two massive blisters on each big toe courtesy of skating yesterday too, so they don't feel very good to walk on. I am approaching the end of the blasted slog. It's so close to completion that I think I can finish the knitting part today for sure and may even be able to do a lot of the seaming. We'll see.

So, since I am at home and have rediculously slow dial-up, there will be no pictures for today. Hopefully I will have a finished slog to show you on Monday. If not, then it'll be really close.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Oh, and updated dragon shawl pictures on Monday! You can see a tail! Woot!

Knit on...

An Alternate

Yesterday went about as well as I thought it would go. Luanne's mother didn't even come to her own daughter's funeral, but she'll have to answer for that later on. The one good thing is that I was able to knit to and from the funeral and I got this much done on the slog:I was pretty happy to get the first foot done on the thing. Only four more feet and some armholes to go and I'll be done, finito, fin, adios, um, can you tell how I feel about this stupid thing? Never again will I take on commission work unless they are willing to pay me around a million dollars. It's another thing entirely to make something for someone because you want to. With this project, I feel like I have to because I'm getting paid. When it's all said and done, I'll add up the total hours knitting on it and I'm willing to bet that I am making about a dollar and hour for this...my own fault there.

On Monday night, I went to play poker to try to qualify for the final tournament which is tonight. I would like to be able to play in that tournament because the grand prize is a nice LCD flat screen TV that you can hang on a wall. Of course I drool at those things every time I'm in Best Buy or anywhere else that has them, so to have a 1 in 24 chance of getting one seems good to me. Well, on Monday, they were taking the top two finishers to get in to the tournament automatically. Of course I finished third, but third landed me an alternate seat. So in other words, if someone bails at the last minute, I can play. If not, then I'll go home and do some more knitting.

I also have to have a cavity filled this afternoon. Joy.

Knit on...

Stitching, Bitching, and a Good Riesling

You can never go wrong with that combination. Yesterday at lunch, I went to SnB with Kim, Kathy, Sarah, and Nicki and managed to get the heel turned on the Jaywalker sock.Sorry it's not a very clear picture, but there really is a heel there and I should be doing gusset decreases here shortly. I did find out that the sock is a bit snug, so for the next pair that I make (yes, I have already planned out Jaywalkers the second) I think I'll be making the large size. I like my socks to be snug, but not cut-off-my-circulation snug.

I also worked on the slog. After working on it last night at SnB at Jane's, I threw the pieces on the floor and we all concluded that it looked like a pile of black homespun barf.Yep, lovely. I was happy though since I finished the first front panel.I have a pretty good van ride this afternoon to Luanne's memorial in Indiana, so I'll be working on the second front panel the entire way there and back. I'm really hoping that I can get this blasted sweater done by this weekend. I think it's possibly. The sooner that I can seam it up and get it out of my life, the better.

Gwen at work yesterday gave me something that just tickled me to death. She had been roller skating in the parking lot at work and I said that I would love to skate again, but since I broke my ankle, rollerblades have just been out of the cards. I told her that if she was out garage sale-ing and found a pair that would fit my ginormous feet, to pick them up and I would skate with her. Well...Sure enough, she found a pair. They looked brand new too and they work well. The operator however doesn't work so well. I took them out on the sidewalk yesterday after work and tried them out. Yep, my coordination has not improved much when it comes to rolling objects and my body, but I had fun and I didn't fall flat on my arse or anything. Tomorrow at lunch, we're going to skate the parking lot with another girl from work who wants to get in on the skating in the parking lot action. I felt like a little kid. The neighbors are probably still laughing about seeing the lady next door on roller derby roller skates, arms flailing, and curses coming from her mouth.

At least no one tried to hit on me thinking that I was roller girl. Heather Graham I am not :oP

Knit on...

Back to the Grind

I'm back in after taking yesterday off work to help set up for Luanne's memorial yesterday afternoon. The memorial was really nice. It was rather informal, with Jimmy Buffett playing in the background. People just stood up and told stories about Luanne and we all laughed and enjoyed it. I think that was important and that was what everyone needed to hear.

Luanne's main family didn't come to the service. She had an aunt and two cousins who showed up who said that this would be the real service, not the one on Wednesday. They said that Luanne's mom should have been there so she could have heard all the good stories and nice things that were said about Luanne. Looks like a good chunk of people are going to go to the service on Wednesday, so that will be a good thing. Maybe her mom will see then how many people cared for her.

I haven't done much knitting. I've been too busy to do much. I'm almost done with the front panel of the slog and may be done with the first panel by tomorrow. I'm not going to kill myself to try to get it done, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for this project, and I'm very ready to be done so that I can concentrate on the dragon shawl which has remained un-knit-on for the past week or so.

Today is SnB at lunch, so I'm looking forward to that. I brought the Jaywalkers with me so that I could try to finish the heel and start the foot on the first one. Pictures tomorrow.

Knit on...

Slogging, Knitting, Remembering

Yesterday was really hard for me. I was packing up Luanne's things at work since some of her family will be coming in town next week and I wanted to make sure that everything at work was taken care of. As I was packing, I realized that she kept everything I ever gave her, even if it was just a piece of paper with something silly written on it. I really feel sorry for the new girl who started on Wednesday this week since she's been sitting here, watching me get more emotional by the minute :oP

While going through her things, I found this:

I had forgotten that I taught her how to knit. She had started a scarf for her mom, but when she told her mom about it, the lady ripped into her about how she didn't need a scarf and that the idea of her knitting was just silly. First, I don't know how you could ever say something like that to your child. Talking with Luanne's friends yesterday, that was just one in a never-ending series of chiding from her mom. Really sad. What's even sadder is that Luanne stopped knitting the day that her mom said that. So, last night, I picked up a couple of dropped stitches that happened back in the scarf and I knit some on it. It gave me a lot of comfort to knit on this some, knowing that it was what Luanne had worked on. I really want to finish the scarf for her. I want her to know that someone wanted this scarf and loved her.

I also slogged.

I'm still aggravated with the homespun. See the color difference? It's not that bad in natural non-camera-flash light, but it's still a different shade. It came from the same dye lot according to the labels...go figure. I'm really hoping to be done with the first front panel by this weekend so that I can start the second panel next week sometime.

The Jaywalkers have sat in my purse the past two days with no progress. Once I finish this panel on the slog, I'll turn the Jaywalker heel and get that moving again.

Go hug your kids if you have some and let them know that you love them and never take for granted anything that you ever give someone. You may be one of the only ones who has ever reached out to them.

Knit on...

When there are no words...

Luanne Davis

Great friend, good person, untimely death.

She was 49 years old if my memory serves me right. She had a massive heart attack yesterday morning and left this world. I hope she's doing the haunting of certain people that she always talked about.

She never had it easy. She always struggled with her weight and was embarrassed by it, but when it came to being a friend, she would go out of her way to do whatever she could. When DBF and I had our store, she would come out once a week and we'd sit and eat chocolate malt balls from the candy store next door. She said it was her treat since that mall was so goddamn boring and chocolate would fix that for me.

Within one week, I've lost two coworkers. I worked with Theola, but Luanne I considered to be a good friend. The relationship went beyond work and I hated seeing her destroy her body the way she did. The last month that she was at work, I cooked lunches for me and her so that she wouldn't eat out. It was selfish, but I wanted to make sure that she didn't eat out and that at least I could say that I tried to help her with her problem. I don't think it helped her physically, but maybe mentally she knew that there were people who loved her, even if her family treated her like crap.

Sometimes life sucks. Thank God there's knitting.

Puppies and Yarn

OK, so, big puppies anyways...

I'm going to be dog sitting for at least tonight and possibly tomorrow for my friend Kathy who has to go to a business meeting. I went over there last night to meet the dogs while she was there and they liked me, so that's always a good thing. They like to play and lick you, so it's kind of fun too.

I also went to the dentist yesterday and found out that I have a cavity. It's always a joy to have to sit in a waiting room for 30 minutes, then have your teeth yanked and scraped, only to find out that there's a cavity, so I'll have to go back on Monday and repeat that whole process. On the bright side, I did get some knitting done in the waiting room. I started working the heel flap on the Jaywalkers, but since that's not really interesting, here's a close-up of the fabric.

Have I mentioned that I am loving Lorna's Laces? I can see more purchases in my future when I have extra money to blow (savings, pheh, who needs that?!).

I also worked some on the slog. It's progressing a little bit each day. I finished three more repeats.

It's still really hard to see a cable there, but trust me, you can see it when it's not a photograph.

Anyways, on to work. We've got a new temp starting today and I want to get a bunch of crap done before they get here to start.

Knit on...

Back to Work

Yep, things are getting back to normal today. We all have to get our work done, so it's time to get to it. I've been moved to another department for at least a month, so I'm really swamped now. Anyways, the funeral was really nice yesterday, but there is a finality about gravesite services that make them much harder than other ones. A lot of people from work came out to it, so it was nice to see a good show from here. On the way to and from the cemetery, I knit.

The Jaywalker is almost to the heel flap part, so I guess I should look up how the pattern goes from there :oP I'm really liking this sock.

Today at lunch, it's SnB time, so I'll drag out the slog and get to work on that. At least I'll get a few stitches done on it and maybe even a pattern repeat. I'll have pictures of that tomorrow.

Knit on...

Short Monday

I won't be able to have a long post today since I have a ton I need to get done before we leave for the funeral. Today is Theola's funeral and most of the office is going. We technically can't shut down the office for a day, but there will only be a couple of people here anyways.

I'll have a longer post tomorrow with details of the weekend and some knitting pictures. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Knit on...

Happy Friday

Happy Friday to everyone. I'm sore as hell this morning because I ran for the first time in a couple of weeks last night and I probably ran too far. I almost made it two miles before I had to stop because it was starting to sprinkle, but at least I ran. I feel much better about myself now that I did some exercise. Matter of fact, I feel so good that after I get done with this post, I'm going to take a walk while it's nice and cool outside.

Yesterday I did some knitting and some more spinning. I knit on the slog and it's growing at least. This thing doesn't even warrant good pictures anymore....Yep, there it is in all its glory...

I also worked on the jaywalkers a little bit on my breaks. I am fascinated with the gray stripe that is curling its way down the sock.Hooray, Jaywalkers!

I also worked some on the dragon shawl last night. I'm up to row 51 now.I played some with stretching it out last night and it actually looks like a tail. I'm a little concerned with that first row of horizontal stitches on the bottom there since it has a slight gap between it and the rest of the pattern. Hopefully some good blocking and tugging will take care of that. I'll be damned before I rip back that far. I also put in another lifeline last night for good measure. I'm rather paranoid about this thing.

I also finished off the woodstock spinning and plied them together. I took a crummy picture of it this morning, but I'll take a better shot when they finish drying and I can put them in a skein.Hope everyone has a good weekend! I'm off to the joy of working...

Knit on...

Spinning As Therapy

So last night when I got home from work, I wasn't in much of a mood to knit at all, so I grabbed my spinning wheel and parked it in front of the couch, leaned back, and spun.I spun a lot. I spun a second bobbin of singles for the llama, plied the two bobbins of singles, then I spun up two more bobbins of singles out of the wool/soysilk batt that I picked up at ReBelle on Tuesday. After working with the llama so much here recently, I forgot just how easy it is to spin wool. The soysilk was interesting too since I had never even tried that before.
The colorway on the batt was called Woodstock. I think it looks like the ocean and I'm looking forward to plying it tonight once I wind the two finished bobbins of llama into a skein and give it a good washing.I still can't believe how much llama fiber I still have too. It feels like a never ending supply.

Everyone is still down at the office. We're all taking off on Monday to go to the funeral.

So, I'll leave you with a video of Spooky pretending that she's a cat...


Knit on...

In Memory

Today has been a very sad day. At 8 this morning, the entire office was called into the meeting room where we were told that Theola, one of our coworkers, had died last night.

This really came as a shock to me. She was only 44. She had a hernia and was scheduled for surgery in July to repair it, but it ruptured this weekend and infection set in. No one really realized that it was that serious.

Theola would often sit out on breaks with me and comment on my knitting. She was always fascinated with how socks were knit. I have a little of the sockotta cotton left that she was particularly enthralled with, so I think that I will make a tiny sock or two to leave her as a gift. It still hasn't really sunk in that she's gone.

She leaves behind two kids around my age and I know that they must really be grieving since their mom was the center of that family. Keep them in your prayers.

All Better

I'm all better today, so there's some good news! I rested yesterday evening and just sat on the couch and knit. Before I did that though, I finished my dad's socks.I finished weaving in the sock ends yesterday on my afternoon break, so they are in a mailing envelope now and are about to be mailed out in a couple of hours when the post office opens up. I really liked how these turned out and the feel of the Trekking sock yarn. This is my second pair of Trekking socks and I think that I like this pair better than the blue ones even. And since I have this obsession that a pair of socks must always be on the needles at all times, I started a new pair last night.Yep, I'm finally making a pair of Jaywalkers. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Black Purl colorway. I'm fascinated with the random lighter gray stripe that is curling its way around the sock. I'm also really liking the Jaywalker pattern. I think that next time I make this pattern, I will use a self-striping sock yarn that is a lighter colorway than this. But for now, I'm liking this.

I also picked up some roving at ReBelle yesterday for that Virtual Vacation Swap that I signed up for. It is hand-dyed and carded by a local artisan and it's 75% wool, 25% soy silk, so that should be nice to spin up.The colorway is called Woodstock and I intend to spin it up as soon as I spin up another bobbin of llama and can get that off the bobbins and plied.

Gotta go update my stash on Ravelry now. I finally took pictures.

Knit on...

I finally made it in...

I was sick last night, so I finally drug myself out of bed and made it in to work. My grandmother was sick yesterday morning when I took her to the airport, so I'm thinking that I may have caught whatever she had. I'm finally feeling better, but now I'm without a voice. Oh well.

At least I won't have to miss SnB Tuesday :oP

Pictures tomorrow of finished socks and slogs.

Knit on...

Birds, A Slog, A Sock, and a Dragon's Tail

I think I may have covered the entire weekend in the title just there. On Friday night, DBF and I went to a ballgame with my grandparents. We left in the seventh inning while our team was up 7-1, but when I checked the paper the next day, I realized that we ended up losing that game 8-7. I'm rather glad we didn't stay to see that...

Saturday, DBF and I went to a local park and hopped on a paddle boat and played on the lake for a while. We only got slightly sunburned. While there, we did some bird watching. There were tons of ducks everywhere, but one caught my eye almost immediately.
That blurry duck in the foreground is a wood duck. I've never seen one around here before, so that was kinda nice. He was very pretty. Sunday, DBF and I just took it easy and went and saw the movie Knocked Up. All the reviews said it was just hysterical, so we thought it might be fun to go see. It had its funny moments, but it wasn't as funny as all the reviews said it was. Oh well.

I also did some knitting this weekend. I finished four more cable repeats on the slog.I also turned the heel on Dad's father's day socks. I'm hoping to be done with these by tomorrow.I also worked up to row 40 on the dragon shawl. I'm starting to be able to tell that there is a tail starting to form.Ah, the joy of unblocked lace...

One other review for you today. Last week on Thursday, I received my invite to check out Ravelry.com. So, I checked it out to see what it was like. Let me tell you, if you have not put your name on the waitlist for it yet, please, go and do so. I'll wait, so go ahead...

OK, now that you're back, let me tell you about Ravelry and my experience with it so far. The only thing I had any catches with at all when I first started was loading pictures up there since I wasn't too familiar with flickr.com yet. After a quick email question, I was up and running. The site is amazing. I organized all my projects and then looked and saw who all else was knitting the same thing that I was. It was really cool to see that I'm only the second person on there who is attempting the dragon shawl, and I am one of only a few who have made the MDK After Dark Nightie. It's cool to see that 100+ people have made the baby kimono and the best part? You can see how theirs turned out without having to do a massive blog search. The knitting library is really nice, the pattern finder is incredible, and the whole site just really rocks. Get on the waiting list, you'll be glad you did when you get your invite.

Knit on...

Two Tired People

I learned last night why I haven't even had much of a desire to have a kid up to now. I got a call two nights ago from my friend Courtney from high school. I haven't seen Courtney is around 2 years now. She said that she, her husband, and their 2.9 year old were coming up this way on a vacation and wanted to know if I wanted to have dinner with them. I said sure, so last night we went out to eat and to the bookstore. Here is tired Momma:

The reason that Momma is so tired? Well, there's this:

That is child #2 cooking. And then there's this:

That is child #1 which would tire anyone out. Of course children do that to me no matter what their age is :oP

It was nice to see them again. We let child #1 run off some steam while Courtney and I talked and her hubby looked up hotels for them to stay at last night.

On top of all that last night, I still managed to knit!

Two more cable repeats done on the slog. Have I mentioned I'll be very happy when this thing is done?

Dad's sock is getting nearer heel status, so that is good. And since I worked on both of those...

I worked up to row 25 on the dragon shawl and took this blurry picture. That was my night in a nutshell. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Knit on...

Knitter's Virtual Vacation Swap

I signed up for this swap today since it seemed like it could be a lot of fun. I don't know if I'll be able to have a vacation this summer or not, so I thought this could be a neat way to "visit" a different area of the country or another country all together.

For Contest: I live in Kentucky, USA.

1. If you could visit any state in the US, which would it be and why? I'd like to visit California or New York I think since they are both big areas and I've never been before.

2. If you could visit any country in the world, other than your own, which would it be and why? Ireland, because my family is from there.

3. Have you ever driven across several states/providence/countries? I've driven through the Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Florida before.

4. Have you ever visited someplace you consider exotic? Where was it? Unless you count growing up in Orlando, Florida exotic, nope.

5. What was your favorite "travel" vacation? Why? I really enjoyed getting to go to Colorado as a kid one summer. I had never seen mountains that size before and I was really awed by that.

6. Have you ever played tourist in your own home city/state (if international, country)? Explain. I lived in Orlando and would play tourist every now and again when people would come visit me.

7. Are you a museum visitor, beach comer or an amusement seeker? All of the above.

8. What's your favorite type of yarn? Sock yarns, but I really like Lorna's Laces or Trekking XXL

9. What's your least favorite type of yarn? Acrylic

10. What items do you like to knit/crochet? I like to try everything at least once. Currently I'm knitting a sloggy sweater, a sock, and some lace. I would like to try a crochet lace doily sometime.

11. What do you pack, knit/crochet wise when you go on vacation? Socks

12. What other crafts do you do/would like to do other than Knit/Crochet? I cross-stitch every now and again. I also am a spinner and would like to try needle felting sometime.

13. Are you allergic to anything? (Yarn wise or treat wise): Any meat (this includes flavorings, especially chicken broth) Stick to vegan treats for me (although I do love milk chocolate)

14. What is your favorite color? Least Favorite? Blues are my favorite color. I really despise pinks and reds mainly because I don't see them very well (red/green colorblind)

15. Sweet or Savory (Treat not personality)? Sweet

16. Anything else we are forgetting to ask that you think your partner desperately needs to know? Can't think of anything off the top of my head. If I do, I'll post it here.

Yep, I did it...

I worked on every project I have going last night! I cast on for the front panel of the slog and got through two cable repeats. It's right around 4 inches now.

Once again it photographs about as well as arse, but look, I worked on it! Then I finished the ribbing on the second sock for my dad.

I really like this color of trekking xxl. It's very masculine, but different enough to keep me interested in knitting it.

So, to reward myself for working on all the different things, I worked 15 rows of the dragon shawl.

I have made a pact with myself. I can work as many stitches on the dragon shawl as I work on the slog. If I knit twenty rows on the slog, then I can do the equivalent amount on the dragon shawl. I think that seems fair to me. I may work solely on the sock and the slog tonight though just so that I can make some more headway there. I'm hoping that I can be done with Dad's socks by Monday when my grandmother flies down there so that I can send them home with her.

I got a call last night from my friend Courtney too. She may be popping in town for lunch today while they are on their way up to see relatives, so that would be nice. I haven't seen her kid in two years too, so I'm willing to bet that he has grown some, huh?

Knit on...

Lacy Karma

I was karma's bitch last night it seems. I didn't take any pictures of the mess that is one skein of Helen's Lace, but while at SnB last night, I thought that I would just go ahead and wind up one skein into a center-pull ball. So, I borrowed Jane's swift and went to town. I always wind my skeins into a ball first and then rewind them a second time so that if they are stored, the yarn won't stretch out as bad as it would if I left it in its original state.

I had said that I wouldn't cast on for the dragon shawl last night, but truth be told, I was probably going to. I was going to have a ball of yarn and needles there with me along with the pattern, so it was inevitable. So while I was winding the ball for the second time, karma slapped me in the face and told me to finish the damn slog before I go any further with the lace.

The first skein of Helen's lace is now in three smaller center-pull balls because it turned into one giant knot and broke on me three times. Thankfully, I bought two skeins of the stuff to be able to have enough for the pattern. One skein may have been enough, but I figure I can always use the extra for something else later on. Now it may be used for a lace scarf or something once the shawl is done.

So I went home after that and wound the other skein up into a ball to store it nicely. I swore I wouldn't cast on.

And I didn't. This is how this pattern is going to sit for a while until I can convince karma to leave me alone. I better work on the slog soon. I also am about to finish my dad's first sock for father's day.And here's a picture of the bobbin of llama I spun up on Monday. I'll be trying to get another bobbin done tonight so that I can ply them and have two more skeins done.

Yeah, it's blurry. The other good picture wouldn't load. Karma...

Oh, and if you see karma somewhere, give her a good kick in the arse for me...

Knit on...

Random Tuesday

I'm too lazy to think up a good name for today's post, so there ya go. Deal with it...

Last night, I was greeted on the way home by this sky (yeah, for the first time, I wish I had a diesel engine...):

A cloud? Rain? Could it be? I drove home as quickly as I could and managed to walk in the door when the storm popped loose. Spooky was outside on the back porch and she didn't like the storm very much at all. I managed to get her in her cage, but that was a feat since she was squished up in the back corner. Poor bunny.

That little cloud produced hail and lightning and rain. It was very welcomed though since we've been so dry. That makes two days in a row where we've had rain, so at least it's a start! The zuchinni outside is loving it for sure.

I knit a bunch on my dad's sock last night. I managed to turn the heel and do the gusset decreases, so now it's on to the foot today. I did some spinning last night of more llama fiber, but I forgot to take a picture of it. I'll try to get a picture of it tonight so I can post one tomorrow. Today is SnB and I get to pick up my Helen's Laces from my favorite LYS. Hopefully I can resist the urge to cast on for the shawl as soon as I get home tonight...

Knit on...

My Computer Lives

And it produced pictures again!Grandma's finished socks. Yarn is some sort of unknown Opal that I picked up from Jane at SnB one night in a trade. I really like it though. Size 1 US needles, 72 stitch basic sock pattern.

Dad's started sock. I really like this Trekking colorway since it is very masculine, but stripey enough to keep me entertained and not bore me to death. The sock has already doubled in size courtesy of lunchtime knitting.

My computer did have a virus on there, but it also had some switch turned on that would keep me from getting internet access. The computer guy at work fixed it and put on some new anti-virus software for me (DBF, I'll hook you up so you can get rid of that stupid Panda message thing) that caught the dumb thing. At least now I know that it is all OK.

And on the bright side, the computer didn't need to be stripped. It would have sucked to back up 6 gigs of Itunes if it came to that...

Knit on...

Why Do I Have 100 GB Again?

I have a pretty big laptop at 100 gb. I've been very happy with it until this weekend. I think I may have a virus on there that is somehow preventing me from getting on the internet. That rather sucks. Just in case, I'm going through the backup process right now so that I can have everything on CD just in case I have to re-install windows or something along those lines.

The reason I am even mentioning this is because I couldn't get my pictures to download from my camera to my computer this morning. I finished my grandma's socks and started a new pair for my dad for father's day. I also went out last night and purchased the book Victorian Lace Today. Emily had recommended the book and after thumbing through it last night at the bookstore, I can see why. They really have some good shawls and other lacy tidbits in there and I saw many things that I would like to make. I also got an email from my LYS saying that my special order of Helen's Lace is in. Now I'm drooling over the prospect of starting that dragon shawl. I need to finish the slog first though.

It wouldn't hurt if I cast on for it though, would it? :oP

Knit on...

Happy Friday

Happy Friday to everyone. My post today will be rather short. I worked on the sock last night while visiting with Erica. She's got an interview today, so hopefully all will go well there. Here's the sock:

I should meet my goal of being done with it by today, so that's good. I've got a ton to do at work today, so I'm off. have a good weekend!

Knit on...