Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas peeps!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. I've been quite busy learning how to spin yarn and knit my reception dress. Learning to spin was pretty fun. I am looking forward to getting either an Ashford or Lendrum spinning wheel. Real soon. The next thing for me to learn is to sew.


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Blocking

Here are the blocking mats I ordered from Knit Picks. I am so happy to finally have these. I have two shawls I know will need blocking. I already purchased a blocking kit that includes: yard ruler, t-pins, and wires at my LYS. Having the mats just put a cherry on top of everything. Now I can block to my hearts content. Or at least explore the whole blocking thing since I haven't done it before. This should prove interesting.

I have finished the Boneyard shawl for myself and started on a basic shawl for my mom. I also began Mara and finished Gabriel's Wings. Gabriel's Wings will need blocking. Seeing that Mara is all garter stitch its taking a while to finish. I probably will be making it a bit wider than the pattern says since I have more yarn. We'll see how that works out. I like big shawls anyway. Next will be a shawlette and "Eye's of Partridge". I can't wait to make the latter because its a new stitch to learn. How cool! Then after all of this I should be able to turn back to the Swallowtail shawl and finish it. Doing some basic shawls have prepared me to finish it. Now I know how a shawl is constructed and the importance of doing the increases before and after the center stitch. Yay! I feel more confidant now.

I hope to be able to post some picture's real soon of my shawls.

Knitting While Laid Off

In my stash I have 2 balls of Peruvian Tweed yarn. It yields 600 yards each and I had no idea what to do with them. I've been on a shawl kick and I wanted to make a more basic one than the Swallowtail Shawl (which is on hiatus). While trolling ravelry I came across the above Boneyard shawl. Some people have already used the said yarn for this project so I casted on. Very basic and a brain dead project for me. The yarn feels delicious and makes it a pleasure to knit with. I love getting to the ridge part which gives me a break from the stockinette. I can't wait to finish it. I wonder if I really need to block it at the end?
While I was at it, I decided to make my mom a shawl as well. Seeing that I will be using the same yarn, I wanted a different pattern so they didn't look so much alike. So, I found this above shawl "Frostberries" and decided that this would work for her. Very basic and should be a brain dead project, too. I hope she likes it. I plan on casting on for this when I am finished with mine.
Lastly, I saw this in the new "Interweave: Weekend Knits" magazine and decided to use sugar and cream yarn. I am trying to use some of my stash yarn as much as I can. Yeah...I will be indulging in some "new yarn", but will think before making a purchase. (Must pay bills 1st.) I will be doing more than knitting and crocheting while I'm laid off. I have an internship and I am planning on going back to school this Spring. I had to take the Fall off because I wanted to focus on my pending nuptials. Little did I know I would be laid off. Its a blessing in disguise though. More time to crochet/knit and there is my internship.

MyTouch

Here is my new MyTouch ph from T-Mobile. It is so thinner than my G1 and is totally touchscreen. Its basically like the G1, but with some cool apps: my account, sherpa, and video voicemail. The video voicemail is really cool. All in all I am happy I have the phone. I just need a new case for it and want to personalize it with my own skin. Hopefully, I will do that soon. I am still playing with it, though. I have to get used to not having the slide keypad and additional camera button on the side.


Oh, you gotta love the colors it comes in: Merlot, White, and Black. You guessed it...I got black. Not to big on the other colors even though they're hot, too.

Magic Loop, Plus a Baby Blanket

Above is my second attempt at a sock. This time around I'm doing the "magic loop" method. It seemed hard to do at first, when I saw others doing it. Then someone at my Crochet/Knit group showed some of us and after a while I decided to make an attempt. After the first couple of rounds it got easier. I really like it. I doubt I do two socks on one circ though. I may mess things up. I'm just doing a basic 2x2 rib sock. Hopefully, it turns out ok.

This is a baby blanket from, "Cute Crochet for Tiny Tots" by Helen Ardley. I'm making it for My BFF's niece that came early. The baby shower is next Saturday and I hope to have this all finished by then. Looks like it is really meant to be a crib blanket.

Baby Blanket

I'm currently working on a baby afghan for my best-friend's new niece. She is a premie and now I have to get the afghan finished by June 27th because thats when they are having the shower for her. I decided to do a star afghan I found on Ravelry. So far, so good....except I am a little stuck at Row 3. I'll figure it out and get this thing done by the due date.

My reception dress is still coming along. Slow, but surely. I am having a little fun making it though. I did decide not to take it to my Friday Night Knit group too often because I can't concentrate on it much. So, maybe I'll take Mr.'s Blanket there and try and finish it. (Yeah I haven't finished it yet, but I will.)

I'm back in school for the Summer Semester and taking my Field Placement II class and Group and Social Techniques II. I finished the Spring courses over a week ago and got 2 A's in Group and Social Skills II and Psychopathology. I am soooooo happy about my A's. I really thought I was gonna get a B or C. So, I am well on my way to completing my plan of actually finishing something and getting some form of a degree. Even if it is just an Associates degree.....at least I will have one. Then I'll focus on my next plan......my BSW.

Gadget Girl Strikes Again!

Above is my latest purchase. The Nintendo DSI. Its very light like the DS lite, but with no space for Gameboy and Gameboy Advance games. its strickly for DS games. I love the camera. It takes very clear pics and the features to play with your picutres is so fun. I haven't tried the music function yet, but either me or my fiance will.

You know I had to get the matte blue. I just couldn't do the black this time around. The set up is pretty easy and doesn't take up too much time. While playing, "Animal Crossing" I noticed the color is more clearer on the DSI than my original DS. Yeah......I never got the DS Lite......I still had the original......big deal.

I decided to give my six year old niece my old DS because 1) she's 6 and 2) she was getting a tad jealous of others having one. My baby is so excited to have one. She was even quiet in the car on the ride home her mom said.

All in all its a wonderful toy for me. Can't wait for the finace to play with it.

Yay!!!!!!!

Okay......I went to my Friday Night Knit Group and low and behold the Addi Clicks were there. I was looking at these things on the net for a month or so now and decided I had to have them. Hey, there Addi's, duh! I like the heart shape pen you get. You don't get that with any other interchangeable needle set. I am so gonna enjoy these. I think I am all set on cir's. I may look into getting additional cables later on. I would like a 16".

The set starts with sz. 4 and goes to sz 15. Cable lengths are 24, 32, and 40. Also, the cable is blue and more pliable than the old ones. Blue is such a plus for me.

So, if you love Addi's this is a good investment. Happy knitting!

Gadget Alert!!!!!

I heard about this some how and thought it was a good idea. I ordered mines through "yarn market" and it came this past Monday. I am pretty happy about the product . The only draw back is its pink and white. I don't like pink, but I will deal with it. Below is a picture of the back which holds scissors, stitch markers, and point protectors.Here is the picture of the front with row counter on top, crochet hook on the left, thread cutter upper right, and tape measure lower left. The row counter has a lock button right up under it....that is real handy. The tape measure has a button to release it and draw it back in.
Its a pretty good gadget. So, all of you gadget freaks go get it.

New Beginnings

I had the opportunity to clear up things from my past. I feel so much lighter now. Mentally and physically I feel so lighter. I never knew how helpful this could be. Go figure. What a surprise for me.

Greek Pride

Every so often I find myself thinking about my yr at CMU and pledging. As you can see to the right under my profile pic is my Sapphire Crest of Phi Delta Psi Fraternity, Inc. Yeah, I did Greek life...so what.

New Addition to the Knitting Book Collection

I saw this in a magazine and checked out her website and blog to see some of the projects. I really like how she does everything in the round. Her pants/tights are so cool. My niece is 12 and she will be getting a lot of items out of this book. I may even try to make some for myself. This girl rocks.

My New Toy

I have no idea why I wanted one, but I have it now. I saw a mini-netbook on a blog I frequent, "knitology". She had the Eee Pc in white. I started obsessing over it.....then thought I better not try and get it. After months of drooling over the Eee Pc and finding out Target had it, I made my decision to have one. Then I ended up at Costco and saw the Acer Aspire One. It was the same as the Eee Pc, but with a shiny finish. Plus, it looks more like a computer than the Eee Pc does.So, I went to Amazon and purchased it along with a router. I'm pretty happy with it and look forward to many days of playing with it. Of course I ended up getting it in Sapphire Blue and I got the 10 inch screen not 8.9. I so love it. Yay!

Lace

I figured I would try some more lace knitting. I chose the "Swallowtail" shawl below and boy is it giving me the flukes. I'm using JoJoland Melody and size 4 needles. I've frogged over 5x's now and may have to frog again. I will get this......I will. Hopefully, by the end I will still have my wits. Its just such a beautiful shawl. I have to have it. I'm obsessed with shawls at the moment.

I also will be casting on for this pretty soon. Its "Gale" and I will be using the remaining of my JoJoland Melody stash to complete this project. I saw this on my friend's project page on Ravelry and figured I could do it too.

So, I will be in lace land for a while.

Progress

Looking at Ravelry and seeing the new issue of Vogue I was struck by the cover project, "Lace Scarf". The bulk and length was enough to make me drool over it. I knew I had to make this thing. When I went to pick out yarn I decided to make some modifications to the scarf. First, I decided not to double strand the scarf. The bulk is nice, but I didn't want it to smother me. Second, I am using size 15 needles not 19. If I used 19 needles it would make the scarf too open. Third, I am going to use 7 skeins of Plymouth Encore Mega in a sea foam color(for now). When I run out of yarn and its not long enough I will go back and buy 3 more skeins.


So far I find the pattern easy to do. Seeing that I started a lace project last month, it made it easier for me. The chart is easy to read, but I will make a copy of it and enlarge so I can read it better. Also, so I won't mess up the magazine too much. I hope to finish this by the end of the month. I have no idea what March has in store for Michigan, but if it brings in some heavy duty cold wind I will definitely be ready for it. "March goes out like a Lion and April comes in like a Lamb."


Here is my Lace Dress from my two posts ago. I am on the second repeat and hope to finish the skirt by the end of this month or beginning of March. I have plenty of time to finish this. So I will be taking my time with it.

How Beautiful!!!!!

This is love. You can tell they really love each other. We have a "Black Camelot".

A Busy 2009

Well, Happy 2009! I've been busy getting back to work after 2 wks off and the adjustment is not going well. I did cast on for the Lace Dress by Shirley Paden from Vogue Knitting-Summer 2008. I've completed 10 rows so far. I just have to get used to looking at a chart while I knit. I'm using Plymouth Jeannee - worsted in light blue and started with the suggested needle SZ 8. I'm just gonna take my time with this.

Also, I found this pattern on Coats and Clark and will be casting on for this real soon in time for summer. I plan to use Plymouth Encore for this in color #7516. I LOVE this color and #7518. It'll take at least 14 or 15 skeins to finish. The pattern suggests a #6 and #7 needle so, I guess thats what I'll use. This will come in hand for some chilly summer nights.

And I am still working on the crochet blanket from Erika Knight's book, "Essential Crochet". Pray that I get this thing finished. It needs to be done before I kill myself or my boyfriend does.