Thursday, May 15, 2008
Yarn love
Berroco Love It - for a summer sweater
Noro Sock Yarn
Schaeffer Yarns Heather sock yarn
Ahhhhhhh yarn. Its almost better than chocolate.
Hopefully this weekend I will finish Rusted Root. It sure is pretty. And hopefully I don't run out of yarn. We won't think about that.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Summertime Tunic
Summertime Tunic, Interweave Knits (Its a PDF)
Size: 33.5
Needles: Size 6 for body, size 4 for ribbing
Yarn: Valley Yarns Southwick, 7 skeins (probably a little less)
Color: Margari
Cast on: 4/11/08; Cast off: 4/25/08 - For a total of two weeks start to finish!
I love this pattern! And I looooove this sweater! The stockinette can get tiresome if you get bored easily, but I just watched some good TV/movies and knit while distracted. It flew off the needles. I hate the 1 x 1 ribbing on small needles, but after I got past that I was good to go. There was no seaming (bonus!) and whipstitching the casing down was a breeze. Love it, adore it, will wear it always. I'm glad I did the 33.5 even though that is crazily below what I would typically wear, so take heed if you are considering this pattern, it does run quite big. Its still a little big on me, which I don't mind.
So what am I doing now that this little beauty is done? Rusted Root. Oh yeah baby, Zephyr Style ROCKS! Think I can do it in two weeks?
What? Stop laughing! ;)
Monday, April 21, 2008
Finished!
Its too hot now for me to worry about doing it this instant. But I will.
Why no head? Well. Because I needed a shower. Badly. And I couldn't bear to show a pic on here that is that bad. That being said, I put it on Ravelry. My logic is flawed I know.
Meanwhile.....
I started the Summertime Tunic!
I'm so much farther than this now, matter of fact I am about 15 rows from splitting the front and back.
I'm sad though, cause I'm cruising through this and my knitting partner (Kristin, of Caitlin KAL), is not cruising through it quite as quickly. I kinda feel bad for whipping through it.
But, then there is Nikki (Knitting Student, FPS!!!!) who is through the ribbing! She started on THURSDAY. THURSDAY PEOPLE!!!! So, I can't slow down. Or she will catch me and beat me! The student cannot beat the teacher.
See, this competition thing works out well for me ;)
Oh yeah....my mom said the sweater is "baby poop green." Can you slap your mom?
Monday, April 07, 2008
100 Things
2. I laid in bed last night thinking of what I’d put on this list. Now my mind is blank.
3. I love roller coasters.
4. I type 110 words per minute.
5. My favorite color is purple and always has been. I am also fond of green.
6. I have given birth to four children. Three girls and one boy.
7. I am the baby of the family. I have three brothers and a sister.
8. I am pretty spoiled. But I don’t think I’m a brat.
9. I still remember my first real boyfriend’s phone number. I’d never try to call him though.
10. This is obvious, but I love to knit.
11. I used to love to swim when I was little. I was even on the swim team. Now, you couldn’t pay me to get in a pool.
12. I am horrible with money. If I have it, typically I spend it.
13. I think my husband is the best looking guy I have ever dated, even if his Facebook picture is embarrassing.
14. I check Ravelry way too often.
15. I have a dog named Bella.
16. Yarn is Kellie like crack is to crack addicts.
17. I probably have more yarn that I could ever knit. That doesn’t stop me from buying more.
18. Unless its sock yarn, I won’t buy yarn unless I know exactly what I am going to use it for.
19. I hated high school. Now I’d do anything to go back and do it again.
20. My dad died when I was ten. And I miss him. A lot.
21. There are songs that make me cry every time I hear them. Even if I only hear a little bit.
22. I love to sing.
23. I used to be a worship leader.
24. My best friend for a few years was my ex-pastor and his wife. I really miss them.
25. I wish my old church hadn’t changed.
26. I don’t read the bible as much as I used to. And I intend to change that.
27. I try to be a good friend, but probably fail miserably. But my friends are so cool, they would never tell me if I did.
28. I worked as a teacher in the daycare at my old church. I wasn’t very good at it.
29. I’m still breastfeeding Wyatt, and have no intention of stopping any time soon.
30. I used to co-sleep and wish I still did.
31. I love to cook, but rarely do because I’ve gotten so lazy.
32. I’m Irish and I hope people can tell.
33. I want to be a Forensic Psychologist.
34. Patricia Cornwell is my favorite writer.
35. I want to learn sign language really badly.
36. I’m apparently OCD because I will want to arrange this list so that no subject occurs twice in a row. But I am too lazy to do it. So it will just bother me forever that I didn't.
37. I love to organize, but my house is a disaster organizationally.
38. I am a horrible housekeeper, but I have gotten better in the past few months.
39. I think that guys who stutter are hot. It that politically incorrect to admit?
40. I hate politics but I am obsessed with the elections this year.
41. “An Inconvenient Truth” scared the hell out of me.
42. I will buy something just because they donate to breast cancer research.
43. I worry about what the world will be like when my kids are older.
44. I think dogs are annoying most times.
45. We own chickens and I love them.
46. I have three tattoos. I’m thinking of covering one of them because I don’t like it so much. It was a whim.
47. It makes me sad that Chris can’t wear his wedding ring at work. And I know it shouldn’t bother me.
48. I have way more guilt about things that I should have about past things in my life.
49. I say I am sorry to everything and it drives my family nuts.
50. Chris thinks I am way more talented than I am, but I would never let him know he is wrong.
51. I love The Princess Bride.
52. I wish I knew how to be a better mom. I’d like to get it perfect, even though it is unreasonable to want to.
53. I want to learn how to ballroom dance.
54. I love Prince.
55. I have been on a cruise and would love to go on another one.
56. I got married in
57. I’m way too much of a pleaser.
58. I love the Food Network, even though I don’t make a whole bunch of things I see.
59. I make a mean meatloaf.
60. I’m not a fan of smoking.
61. I hate to do dishes.
62. I love to vacuum.
63. I am scared to death of the dentist. I have no reason, I just am.
64. Even though I get burnt out on it, I really do like my job.
65. I had a crush on my middle school science teacher. He still teaches there.
66. I lived in
67. I love the snow.
68. I am not a big fan of the beach.
69. I hate thunderstorms. They scare me really bad.
70. I love cows.
71. The only peas I will eat are Leseur peas.
72. I mix my peas in my mashed potatoes, and that is the only way I will eat them.
73. I have to have toast with my eggs or I won’t eat them.
74. I love chicken wings.
75. I’m lactose intolerant.
76. I think it is adorable that Wyatt’s hair has so much red in it.
77. I think it is crazy that I have been driving a mini van since I was 22 years old.
78. I love celebrity gossip.
79. I use to have hair down past my bottom and sometimes wish I still did.
80. I have had to dye my hair since I was in my early 20s.
81. I love Barry Manilow.
82. The thought of speaking in public makes me sick.
83. If I am at a get together with more than two people that I don’t know, I can’t stand it and have to leave.
84. I was afraid to tell my mom I was pregnant all four times.
85. I love Dr. Pepper.
86. There are very few pictures of me which I would consider "good."
87. I want a completely flat stomach, but I am in no way, shape, or form considering exercising to get it.
88. I am (or was) a pretty good roller skater. I still have my skates.
89. I used to be able to bowl. But last time I went, my ex-husband whipped me so bad I'm considering never bowling again.
90. Typically, I do not find British comedy at all humorous, in fact I find it completely annoying most times. And I realize I am in a minority with that fact.
91. I just spelled "humorous" wrong in that I spelled it as "humerus" which is a bone. Bet you can't tell I work in the medical field.
92. I can do many crafts, but don't find myself to be particularly good at any of them.
93. I have very low self esteem, and think I am probably bad at most things.
94. My hands are always cold.
95. I think Pulp Fiction was pointless and stupid.
96. Rarely do I put ice in my drinks at home. I tolerate it when I go out, but usually drink it fast because the ice melting into my drink really irritates me.
97. I only drank water when I was pregnant.
98. I think orange juice with pulp in it is disgusting.
99. I hate beer, but love wine.
100. I miss my friend Brian from high school. We were always together back then, but I'm afraid to get in touch with him because what if he doesn't like me now that we are older?
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Short row heel, check
And I think it is safe to say that I very well may like it a lot more than I like a heel flap. I enjoyed doing it, I figured out the wrap and turns pretty easily, and it looks wonderful!!
See?
I'm still trying out this new camera. It is definitely not as good as my other one. Or actually, I definitely haven't sat down and tried to figure it out so my pics will be the best they can be LOL Laziness.
Here is the entire sock, as it stands just finishing up the heel.
I love this yarn! I wasn't exactly jumping up and down about a yarn that stripes, but it has grown on me and I am 100% in love.
More knitting for me!! Maybe I can finish this pair up shortly, in between working on my Monkeys that I am plugging along on as well. So many WIPs, so little time.
Update on Caitlin progress next time! WOOHOOO!
Friday, April 04, 2008
Just keep knitting!
My Rockin' Sock Club first installment socks have been on my needles for some time now. I stopped knitting cause of my elbow so they just sat. I decided to pick them up to see how I could manage with knitting them. I got all the way to the heel, which is a short row heel, read the instructions, and immediately commenced to freaking out.
I ran to Rav, searched for pattern errata because certainly it had to be wrong. All signs pointed to "just blind knit the pattern, it isn't wrong." DO WHAT??????? I can't blind knit! I have to KNOW what I'm doing!!!! How can I knit something that doesn't make sense? Why does it tell me to knit over 39 stitches but on the first row I only knit 35 of them then do a W&T?? What in the world?????? And oh hey, what the heck is a wrap and turn anyway?
Crap. Time to figure out how the heck to do a wrap and turn. I couldn't find it on knittinghelp.com. Ok, maybe I didn't look hard enough, but it wasn't out there with a big bold sign saying KELLIE LOOK RIGHT HERE!! THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR OH IMPATIENT ONE!!!! But alas, despite myself, I found it somewhere. No clue where. Didn't believe it was just put the yarn to the front (or back if purling), slip the next stitch, put the yarn back in the back and turn. That can't be a wrap and turn. That wasn't a wrap. That was a strangling of a stitch. It should be called strangle and turn if that is what you are supposed to do. Ok so it appears as if this is really a wrap and turn so I can handle that.
But really, this pattern has to have an error. I can't be working a heel over 39 stitches but only knit 35 of them in the first row. It makes no sense. I went to the Rockin' Sock Club Blog. And I read their questions on heel help.
Suddenly, in the midst of scouring for information, as if slammed in the head with a 2 x 4, I thought to myself. DING DING DING...I think I get it. I'll just blind knit and see what happens! (Yeah, ok. So I'm slow.)
Then I did something, which impressed even myself. I put in a lifeline. Couldn't believe it, but I did. I am not a fan of ripping back, especially in the round, so I put in a lifeline *just in case* everyone was wrong and the blind knitting didn't work out.
But oh hey. It turns out that the pattern wasn't wrong. You just gotta blind knit and it will all make sense.
Yep. I'm rolling my eyes too. Its knitting people, not rocket science. I just try to make it seem that way.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Caitlin - the sleeve
I started out doing this magic loop method. I just wasn't willing to pull out the DPN's, and I wanted to try out magic loop to see how I liked it. I really enjoyed it at first. It was easier than DPNs I think, and similar to doing it on two circs. It just still seemed to be taking me longer than I had hoped.
I finally made it through the colorwork, with some minor problems with reading the colored chart. Some of the colors are just so similar, unless you knit in a brightly lit spot, it is easy to screw up the chart. I'm kinda sad, because I missed some of the pretty red down in the middle of the pattern, but I didn't get sad enough to rip it out and fix it. So I just noted on the chart what colors I had actually used so I could duplicate my error on the second sleeve. I will maybe toss in a bit of extra red in the yolk maybe, but I'm not completely sold on that idea either. But here is what it looked like almost to the end of the 50 some rows of colorwork.
Not too shabby I don't think. Goodness the ends I have to weave in. We won't speak of that again.
I really like the way it turned out. The colors are very me, with the purples and greens.
Of course, then the great fall of 2008 happened and my knitting came to a screeching halt.
My friend Kristin did her sleeves in the round on 12" circulars, which is a FANTASTIC idea. I swear, that woman is like a knitting goddess or something. When I tried to pick this back up to knit again (because I realized that I was becoming quite cranky and that the Ravatar that my friend Deb had that said "I knit so I don't kill people" is actually quite close to the truth for me), I found that the magic loop was killing my elbow. And DPN's were just not an option. Those really would have hurt me. I had to find a way to keep my right arm still and do all the motion with my left hand. I ordered myself four pairs of 12" circs. Yes, I only needed ONE pair for this sweater. But you know, a girl can never have too many small circumference circs I am finding. Kristin told me this, but I failed to listen immediately. I now know that what she says is probably true. So I ordered some in size 0 11", size 1 11", size 6 12", and size 7 12". I got them in yesterday and put the sleeve on them today. Again, I owe Kristin dinner. This sleeve is literally flying off the needles. I am probably 3/4 of the way done with it at this point, and in fact I can hold my right arm completely still and make my left arm do all of the work. We won't talk about the knot that I now have in my left shoulder. Its a small price to pay for sanity.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Caitlin
I had Caitlin in my queue for a bit, when someone on Ravelry PM'd me that she had seen her on my queue and fell in love with her as well. Somehow it came about that we would do a knit along together on this project. I was so excited!! I had already ordered my yarn so Kristin ordered hers as well and we set a date of somewhere around the middle of March for a finish date.
I am doing her in the colors suggested, because I suck at matching colors to be quite honest. The only change I had to make, and Kristin had to make as well (basically because we were impatient and didn't want to wait another month to start), was instead of using Sea Spray as the main color, we substituted a slightly darker shade of blue. Turns out, neither of us are terribly fond of the darkness of the substituted blue. Its not ugly mind you, its just not as crisp as we would like. Although, I think that we would be complaining had we been able to get Sea Spray as it is a very light blue and would have shown all kinds of dirt it might have picked up. I still say we went the right route, albeit a bit darker than we had hoped.
The pattern is written to be knitted front and back separately, but Kristin and I both aren't too fond of seaming (case in point, my CPH is still being neglected, probably mad at me, with two sleeves being knitted at once, because I shutter to think of what it is going to be like when I am done with said sleeves and have to actually seam the sucker together. But, I digress). We decided (read: Kristin convinced me and has been dragging me kicking and screaming along the way) to knit it in the round instead. Smart move. That Kristin is a smart girl, and had to put up with a lot of "OH MY GOSH what the heck do I do here" text messages to get me through this. Quite honestly, I'm shocked the poor girl even answers my text messages anymore. "OMG Kristin, how many do I cast on??" or "OMG Kristin, which kind of increases are you doing?" or "OMG now what kind of decreases do I do?" Looking back, I think I owe her dinner. Or yarn. Something must be done to repay her patience. Its not that it is hard, I just had massive freak out attacks because I wasn't following the pattern exactly!
So, after a small bit of 1 x 1 ribbing (ICK!), some fun with pretend fair isle, and miles and miles of blue stockinette, I had the body of Caitlin. And just for the record, I didn't freak out when it was time to divide the front and back again for the arm hole decreases. I think I actually managed to figure that one out on my own. See?
GO ME!!
Arm hurting. Will post about the sleeve tomorrow. And note....yes, I said sleeve. Check the date. Its less than 12 hours away from April. My deadline obviously wasn't met. But, I will say that Kristin was able to pull it off. AND HERS IS BEAUTIFUL!!! Maybe she'll let me show you pics. ;)
Friday, March 21, 2008
Wanna do it in public with me?
I checked the site but there is no one hosting an official KIP day around here, heck in Virginia even, but I am sure that is bound to change.
Any of my local ladies wanna hook up and do it in public? ;)
My elbow should be better by then......
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
What knitting?
Chris came home on 2/16. We promptly went to the ER with him. Walking pneumonia and double ear infections.
Back to the doctor the next week, still messed up ears. Additionally, a sick Madison. Out of school for a week.
That weekend, a sick Wyatt. Stomach virus.
Chris is working 6 days a week.
Weekend before last, I was walking in to Target holding Little Man, little M walked in front of me and I did not see her. Down I went, holding Wyatt. Luckily he was ok. And I was shocked, still am shocked, that I fell outside of Target, right between the out door and in door, onto the concrete, holding a baby...NO ONE STOPPED to ask if I needed help. All in all I came out well, pretty bruised up knees, oh yeah and that pesky FRACTURED ELBOW.
No work.
Whats worse. No knitting.
Go back to the doc on 4/11.
Went in to town yesterday to take Little Man to the doc for his check up and one shot.
Cost of the visit to the doctor: $91 dollars. (damn deductible!!!)
Cost of two new tires when something jammed into the side wall of my back right tire: $250 dollars.
Coming home to find surprise yarn in the mailbox, a "get well soon" gift from my friend Kristin: Priceless.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
We have two winners!
And the winner of the skein of yarn from my stash is: Joy Michelle! YAY!!
Thank you to everyone who commented on my blog for the bloggy giveaway. It was a blast. Who would have thought so many people liked the idea of getting a knitted hat and/or sock yarn! I hope you ladies enjoy your prizes. I will have to be sure to do another contest soon.
Oh yeah, and anyone who commented and is interested in Forbidden Fleece, I'll give you free shipping on any order in the next two weeks, because I love that I had so many comments. Comments make me happy. :)
Don't forget to send me an email with your shipping addresses ladies! I will leave you a comment on your blogs with my email address.
And thanks again to everyone who entered!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Everyone loves free stuff, right?
What could you win? Well something hand knit by me, of course!! A hat. A really cute little hat I might add. In neutral colors so as to match whatever!! The knitting is in progress (started about an hour ago) and I'm 1/3 of the way through it. So, it will be all knitted up and waiting on you to claim it!
How do you enter? In order to enter you need to visit my Etsy page at http://www.ForbiddenFleece.etsy.com and choose your very favorite colorway. Then, pop on back over here and leave me a comment on this blog, to this post, telling me what your favorite colorway is. And if you really want to be impressive, give me a suggestion of a colorway that you think I should dye up!
Oh, I should also mention, tonight I will be listing a bunch of new yarn, so you might want to check later on tonight before you decide on your favorite.
Details, details:
- On Friday, February 1st at 11:59 PM EST, comments will close and a winner will be selected using a random number generator. The winner will be posted on Sunday, February 3rd.
- Duplicate comments will be deleted. (Gotta be fair!)
- This giveaway is open to bloggers and non bloggers alike.
- The winner will be notified on Saturday, February 2nd via email.
- The winner will have five days to respond with a shipping address. If I don't hear from the winner, another winner will be chosen by random number.
- Feel free to comment whether you are a knitter or not, but if you happen to be a knitter and might want some free sock yarn, leave me that tidbit of info also because you never know, I might be giving away some stashed sock yarn also.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
I stink at it, and I'm ok with that
I like the concept. Its a neat one. But out of five attempts, ONE has turned out decent. The first, well just research the blog to find that one. It was early in my blogging journey. And it was a KAL with some mommy friends. Lets just say......its tucked away in Maddie's closet. My booga bag, was a great success! Then Chris tried a double-sized booga. Not so good. Then he tried a regular size booga with non-Noro yarn. Again. Not so good. The other day I was going through my closet (read: trying to figure out what the heck to do with all of this yarn for sweaters that I *somehow* acquired), I found a bag that all I had to do was knit the handles and felt. This is my year to start what I finished so I spent two days finishing it and it just came out of the washer.
This is what it started out as (before handles)
Are you laughing? Stop laughing. Surely it would look better felted! Those pieces just hanging there at the top, well you just pick up behind all of those little tentacles and you knit the handles. Then you felt it. So surely, much better felted.
Um. No. I don't even have the heart to take a picture post-felting. My knitting ego is blown all to heck now.
This really sucks....cause I have the yarn for the Celtic Tote (Rav link here, non-Rav link here). Maybe I just need felting supervision.
Back to sweaters and socks for me.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
First FO!
Here is the FO......
Pattern: Fetching, Knitty Summer 2006
Yarn: Cascade 220 (Stash yarn even!)
Needles: Size 6 DPNs
Date started: Cast on 1/18/08 in the afternoon
Date completed: Finished 2nd glove on 1/19/08 in the afternoon
Sometimes you just need a little instant gratification. I wish I was that fast on socks.
Next time I will go down to size 5s or cut out five stitches. My hands are freakishly small. So they are just slightly loose at the cuff and fingers. I still love them. Will knit them again.
As far as my other projects go....
CPH - I am done with the back, left front, and right front. I am now stalled. I'm so bored with it probably because I'm not sure I love the yarn. Its ok though, I will pick it back up tomorrow I am sure. I have only sleeves, hood, and button band to knit. I will block the other pieces and seam a little bit in the process. I've never blocked before. This should be fun.
Wicked - It actually looks like a sweater, and I even put it on some waste yarn and tried it on. It looks small but it appears to fit. We shall see. Good thing Maddie will be able to wear it if I don't fit into it. It would suck to frog it. I love the pattern, love the yarn, love the color. Its one big wicked love fest.
I got my yarn for the Harvest Pullover, Kaitlin Pullover, and I also ordered some yarn for Thermal. I know. Yarn whore.
Today I dyed two skeins of yarn, one of which will make its way into the mail on Monday. The other is for me. All mine. Its so pretty. I believe it is destined to become monkeys. We shall see. I do have two other pairs of Monkeys that are slated to be knit as gifts, so those will of course take priority.
Also, in my stash, I found the yarn for yet another sweater! Go me! Stash yarn!! Who would have thought? See, sometimes I do check my stash. (Why mention that I also found yarn slated for two other Dale of Norway patterns, two other sweater kits, and yarn slated for three Lily Chin patterns?) Oh....and I listed a boatload of stash yarn for sale on Ravelry. Hey, gotta pay for those new sweater yarns somehow ;)
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Socks? What are socks?
I know. Its crazy isn't it? I thought for sure it wouldn't happen. But hey, there are so many great patterns, I couldn't resist.
On the needles:
(please excuse the bad picture)
Central Park Hoodie
Donegal Tweed, dark purple in color
Back is finished, and I also finished the left front just last night. That puts me at about 50% done. I LOVE THIS PATTERN!!!!!! Its so easy, but its so fun. Yes, I said a cabled pattern was easy. I told you, something weird has happened.
Wicked
Cascade 220, fantastically gorgeous amazing red
I just cast on last night after I finished my left front on the CPH. I wanted something knit in the round and I couldn't resist the red lusciousnesses of the yarn. I'm only on my second row. It looks to be a fun knit, and a quick one as its the worsted weight version. And I am doing the long sleeved version. Not a cable in sight on this one, just pretty twisted kinda stitch thing going on.
Also, I have Corsica on the needles.
Cascade 220 Heathers (noticing a fascination with 220???)
This one is going to be a bit more on the challenging side for me. I fell in love with this sweater the first time I saw it. It has an interesting construction to it as well. You begin with that cabled band in the middle, and the entire sweater is sort of built around it. I'm not finding it difficult so much as its just a lot of different stuff going on. So, this won't be mindless middle of the night knitting. This will be a Wyatt is napping and I have extra brain energy to burn kind of project. But it sure is pretty. I'm quite sure I won't be wearing it this winter though.
There are also two other sweaters in the queue with yarn on order for them (I'm such a yarn whore). This heavenly sweater, and then this equally delicious one (its the first one on the list). Colorwork and cables. Who'da thunk? The yarn was temptingly inexpensive so I was weak.
What else am I drooling over pattern wise?? Check these out!!
Olive branch - 2nd on the list
Glee
Poppy - this sweater makes me giddy!!
Equinox Yolk Pullover - cover sweater
Think I have enough ideas in my head to keep me busy for six weeks while Chris is away in Atlanta????