Monday, April 30, 2007

Moebius completed on Sunday......... Back to sock land.............

I finished the moebius while my husband painted the room for his aunt. I bound off the last stitch at the same moment he finished the wall. The knitting came out better than I had thought it would. There will be another one in my future, but a bit longer to cover the upper arms better. I need to figure out how to do some increasing to the pattern first. It should not be too hard to do. If I increase the pattern 16 stitches evenly around, there should be enough of a drape over the shoulders and arms. The plan is to do another one the same way as the first, but instead of binding off, work in the increases and repeat the whole 20 rows of the lace pattern. Then do the edging again and bind off. Need to play with this idea some more before actually doing it.

Now it's back to sock land. I want to make a pair from Lace Style and several from Favorite Socks. I had picked out a hand painted yarn from Jessicaarts, but don't think it will work for the lace socks. The colors are too bright. I need to check my stash for a more calmer, muted color. Maybe a solid. I'm going now to do that and then call it a night. It's been a long day.

Weigh in went well. Last week was challenging and I only lost a half pound. Pizza was the supper of choice after. I haven't had pizza for a long time. It was soooooooo good!!!!! I love the garlic dipping sauce from Papa John's. Tomorrow is yogurt and fruit for breakfast, turkey sandwich and salad for lunch, and chicken for supper. Back on plan. One meal at a time...........


Friday, April 27, 2007

Moebius is growing......

I already finished 12 rounds on the moebius since Tuesday. I had 8 rounds done by yesterday, but did manage to get 4 more done between lunch break and this evening. I think I might actually get it finished in a few days. Depending on what comes up this weekend.

I was hoping to go to CT for the festival in Vernon, but, unfortunately, that's not going to happen. My husband has a commitment to paint a room for his aunt, so we will be there for a good portion of the weekend. At least I can take my knitting with me to visit. lol

After I switch the clothes in the washer to the dryer, I will get back to another round. Round 15 is my goal for tonight. I think I can make it. :)

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Socks finished.....On to the Moebius.........

My Maple Leaf Socks are finished and look wonderful!. Now, I'm working on the moebius in some of Jessicaart's hand painted yarn in a colorway named "Concord Grape". It has dark shades of purples, a bit of blue and a bit of burgundy in it. I also see a little bit of a sort of dark rusty color. It's a Peruvian yarn and very nice to work with. I am enjoying the project, but, have to admit to being surprised it is taking some time to do. The pattern is only about 30 rounds. It take some time to get around it each time though. I started it Tuesday night, late. Round 9 is finished already and I hope to get it finished this weekend. Maybe I will take a road trip with my hubby and knit on it in the car. It's only one pattern row and a plain knit row for 20 rows. Then there are 6 rows of a lace pattern before a few rows to make a nice edging before binding off.

My mind keeps going back to the yarn waiting to be made into socks. I have so much of it now. Also the alpaca scarf is screaming for completion. The Malabrigo yarn is crying to be made into a scarf as well. I don't usually do more than 2 projects at a time, but may have to start that scarf. I need to wind the skeins into balls first, but I keep putting it off for now. I can't get to the winder right now with other stuff in the way in the room.... major clean out/re-arrangement needed again for the craft room thanks to hubby putting stuff in there. lol

I just found out tonight about the CT fiber festival this weekend. I need to check for directions to see how far it is from here so I can decide if it is feasible to go. The plan is to get to a couple of festivals this year. Maybe NH and MA as well as the new one planned for here in RI.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Still in sock land........

I'm still knitting the same socks as last week. The heel and gusset are done and I just need to finish the foot section on the second one. Then I can start my moebius. Also, waiting in the wings to be finished is the alpaca scarf I started last year.

Last night was devoted to plying the rest of my singles I had done a while ago. It appears to me that they are not as nice as the first bobbin I did while at Jonne's store. I had a problem getting them to feed onto the bobbin, but eventually, it happened. There was no problem with the knitty knoddy. I had 38 yards on the first bobbin and 36 yards on this one. I still have to spin the last couple of ounces of roving and ply them to finish the original bag of fiber. Then it all gets to be washed. There should be enough for a hat hopefully. Might have to be lacy though.

We have the returned kitty here for good. His human mama can't take care of him with his medical condition, so she gave him back to us. She knows he will be safe and well cared for here. He is a "talker" and loves attention. The vet said he is doing well, but needs to be on a special food for at least a month to make sure there are no more crystals in his bladder. The others are still in the transition stage of accepting him back to the household. His brothers, sister, and Tucker are adjusting well, but the old witch, Megan, is being difficult. She doesn't like anyone, animal or human, except me. And that is more of a tolerance.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Sock knitting along nicely.....

I am still knitting socks. I finished my Cherry Bomb tank top and have gone back to the socks. Right now, I am knitting a pair of Maple Leaves socks. Cute pattern that shows up well on the hand painted yarn I'm using. I already met my goal for the Lime and Violet KAL using your sock yarn. I also have been very busy falling in love with some more hand painted sock yarn I bought from Jessicaart on eBay. She also has an online shop, http://www.digitechpatterns.com/ , which has the same yarns and roving along with screen painted items. Absolutely breathtaking to see. As I told a couple of other people, I have the greatest urge to drool on the monitor screen while looking at this stuff. I resist by simply "petting" the yarn screen images. lol

Last weekend, April 7th, was the annual sale for The Stained Glass Emporium in Rehoboth, MA. I decided to get there early and only buy what I absolutely needed. Well, I got the Rehoboth at 8:15 a.m. The store doesn't open until 9 a.m., so I went to Warren to buy soup at the Blount Soup Store. I thought they opened at 8:30 and got a surprise since they also open at 9 a.m. I grabbed a bag of French Onion soup for me and two bags of the Portuguese soup for dear hubby. They have three gluten free soups available in the store, the Portuguese soup, a cook's chili, and Chicken Tortilla. . He already has lots of chili, so I passed on that one. Blount makes about four kinds of chili. I did get a small container of Chicken Tortilla for him to try. I love their Southwest Shrimp and Corn, but still have some in the freezer. The soups are frozen and good for one year from the date stamped on the bags. Four pints are in each bag. I cut up the bags into fourths and repackage them in freezer bags. Not easy to cut frozen blocks of stuff. lol

After the soup visit, I went to the glass shop and only bought three pieces, two of which were in the clearance bin and marked lower during the sale. That's the best I have ever been as far as restraint in that store! I have done some serious shopping in there in the past.

On the way there, I remembered Sakonnet Purls is in Tiverton, so I decided to add them to my shopping day. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to get there. After calling my husband and getting directions by phone from him from Yahoo Maps, I arrived there without any problems. This is a wonderful yarn shop. I bought some Claudia yarn, but when I returned home, I realized I have two other skeins very similar to it. A couple of days later, I called and asked if I could return it for a credit or exchange. The owner was very gracious and had no problem letting me get a store credit to use whenever I wanted. Today was a stormy day and we took a ride to do the exchange. My husband sat patiently in the car while I shopped. I ended up with two books that were on my wish list, Folk Socks and Lace Wrap, along with some adorable button from Incomparable Buttons. Their website in http://www.buttonmad.com/ and I really like a lot of their products. The price of them was very reasonable as well for ceramic buttons. Of course, mine are cats.

Puppy Pooh is growing in leaps and bounds. He is fresh sometimes and wants his own way, but is learning to share and behave. In order to cut his nails, I had to put a towel over his head while holding him. Leaving a paw out for the clipping, struggling to hold him still, and him screaming like we were killing him were all part of this episode. He should have won an Oscar for his performance. The older two dogs even came near the table to see what was happening. Hubby clipped about an eighth of an in inch from each nail successfully. We get to do this again next week. Oh boy!! Pooh is actually a sweet heart except for the nail issue. He gives kisses on command now, too. He almost has the stay command down as well.

All my other animals are fine. We do have a visitor right now though. Our kittens' brother is visiting after a medical emergency. He had crystals in his bladder and had to spend the night at the emergency vet a couple of nights ago. This is a life threatening problem with male cats sometimes. He is here for recuperation, but may be staying, because his human mommy can't really take care of him right now. We have to monitor the litter box activity for a few days and contact the vet if there are any problems. So far, so good. My guys forgot who he is and we are having a growling fest right now. I will put him back in the other room before I call it a night. Don't need a cat fight later.