I'm Still Here

I've been terrible about blogging lately, I know, and I apologize. After I finished my Christmas "stealth" knitting, I can't seem to finish ANYTHING. I still have the same two pairs of socks on needles that I had started before I had surgery in November. I don't know what's wrong with me. Here it is, snowy ugly weather that should be absolutely perfect for knitting cozily in the recliner and I can't seem to get anything accomplished.

Not just my knitting, either. I promised myself that after I recovered from my surgery I'd start cleaning my closet and my "spare room" 15 minutes at a time (FlyLady style....do you know about FlyLady?). That hasn't happened either. I do manage to keep the daily household work done, but that's been about it.

I'm behind in my e-mail and blogging and I have no idea why, because I enjoy both.

So what's the problem? I blame it on this gray, ugly winter. Our local meteorologist reported last night that we've had 19.1 inches of snow this season, and the season average is 15 inches. And there's at least two more months of "snow season" left. (I've actually seen it snow here in April.)

By the time I get home from work and get unbundled, all I want to do is eat and go to bed.

So what's the solution to my winter doldrums? Action has always worked for me in the past, so I'm going to give that a try.

When I get home tonight, I'm going to set my kitchen timer for 15 minutes and do housework. Anything. Dusting is needed, so that's probably what I'll do. Then I'll fix myself some dinner and clean up my kitchen. Then I'm going to set my timer for 30 minutes, get in the recliner, and knit until the timer goes off.

For months, every time I got into the recliner I picked up my knitting. For some reason I got out of the habit. Lately I've found myself just vegged out in the recliner watching television. That brings up another thing I'm behind on....audiobooks!

So tonight I'll let TiVo save all the things I would've watched this evening. I'll put an audiobook into the Zune and pick up my sadly-neglected knitting. And GET BACK IN THE GROOVE.

I hope this post doesn't give you the impression that knitting is a chore. It's not. I love taking sticks and string and turning them into lovely, soft fabric. I just seem to be on the verge of becoming a recliner potato (a far worse vegetable than a couch potato) and feel the need to break this habit before it gets too deeply ingrained.

Get ready, socks, here I come!!

Snow and the End of Christmas Stealth Knitting

We have SNOW! LOTS of it! I swept 10" off my car yesterday afternoon, and there's still a light dusting of snow falling now.

And, since my Christmas stealth knitting is all finished, I can actually spend some time in my recliner, watching it snow, and getting back on knitting my socks! They've been neglected so long, and I'm happy to say that I'm nearly finished with the heel flap. I love it when I get to that point!

Now that the stealth knitting has all been completed, I'll tell you what I did:

• One "mistake rib" scarf
• One pair of plait cable mittens
• Four holiday dishcloths
• One pair of fingerless mittens
• Two pairs of "feeties"
• (Not knitting, but knitting-related) Two handmade row counters....a new project that turned out really well!

They all turned out really well, and I'm pleased with them. I should start next year's holiday knitting soon so I won't be so rushed next year....but not just yet. :-) The socks I'm working on today are my diagonal lace socks. I've always loved the look of them and will be very happy when I can actually put them on my feet!

Well, off to the recliner to get sip some hot cocoa, watch the snow, and knit a bit. Happy Holidays, Everyone!

I'm baaaaaaaack.....

Sorry I've been away so long. I had spinal surgery on November 17th and am just now getting caught up on home e-mail and blogging and such!!

The good news is that because I've been spending a lot of time in my recliner during recovery, I've finished my Christmas "stealth" knitting! I'll post more about that later in case anyone who might be receiving any of my knitted items is reading this blog. *LOL*

I guess I'm not officially finished with my Christmas knitting, since I realized I needed to knit two more holiday dishcloths. I got those started last night, though, and should get them finished in the next evening or two. I knit them two at a time, so they go really quickly.

Speaking of which, I guess I'd better hit the recliner and get back at them. :-) Happy holidays, everyone!

Busy, Busy Month

I feel like I've been knitting a lot, but I'm not getting many things finished!! I was off work last week but was tied up in a lot of medical appointments. Of course, waiting room time is knitting time, so I always had a pair of socks with me, which was good.

The only thing I actually finished last week is a pair of mittens. I've not photographed them yet, but will post a photo here as soon as I do. I found a skein of yarn in my stash that looked like it would make a nice scarf to go with them, so now I've started a Mistake Rib Stitch Scarf, too.

I really must stop starting new projects until I've finished the ones I've started.

Yeah. Right. I'll cut back on buying yarn, too. *ROTF*

Knit Purl Gurl and a WEBS Giveaway

One of the blogs I follow is one written by Knit Purl Gurl. I learned about her in a Ravelry group called Moving Beyond Rectangles that I joined immediately upon becoming a Ravelry member. She's the group administrator and gave me a warm welcome when I joined. When I learned about her blog I put her on my blog list and have always enjoyed reading it.

Currently she's hosting a wonderful WEBS giveaway on her blog. It's a beautiful Bamboo Interchangeable Knitting Set. All my interchangeables are nickel plated and I enjoy using them, but would love the opportunity to try a set of bamboo. I currently have only one set of DPNs in bamboo, but enjoy the way they warm in my hands so quickly.

To enter the giveaway, go to Knit Purl Gurl's blog by clicking HERE and following her wonderfully clear and simple instructions. Hurry, though, because the entry period ends Tuesday, October 13th at 11:59 pm EST. And good luck!

Finally Finished Objects!!

Last Saturday I finished my very first pair of two-at-a-time, toe-up Magic Loop socks. And I LOVE them. I was still working on a pair of top-down socks on DPNs and had to nudge myself a bit to put the Magic Loop down to work on them. :-) I have to say that I actually do enjoy working on double point needles, though. There's something a bit nostalgic about it. However there are several reasons for me to use Magic Loop instead:

1. I do a lot of knitting in doctors' waiting rooms these days. It's nice to know that if I drop something, a double point needle isn't going to roll under a chair and get lost. With Magic Loop that issue is completely eliminated. The only thing I might drop is a stitch. *L*
2. It's really easy to stop and start....handy if you get called from the waiting room to the examining room in the middle of a round.
3. It's a real conversation starter. I always get comments like "I used to knit, but I've never seen that kind of knitting before. What is it?" Really fun, and I've met a lot of wonderful people this way.

Last night I finished up my latest pair of top-down socks on DPNs. They're truly truly WILD. I need to make myself some sock blockers. I don't block my socks, but I'd like to have a set of blockers to make my socks easy to photograph. So far I've been taking pictures of them on my feet, but I'd really rather have blockers. I found a tutorial online on a way to make a set from an old placemat. I guess that should be my next "project".

Ah well, back to work. I wish the work day disappeared as quickly as lunch breaks. *L*

Socks Are Addictive

Here's what I just finished for my friend's grandson:


The hat, not the Raggedy Andy. *LOL* It's the "Simple Baby Hat" by Alison Williams, available for FREE at Ravelry. *here comes a shameless Ravelry plug* If you're a knitter and you've not joined Ravelry, you should. They have lots of wonderful helpful folks in groups who share just about any interest you might have. Not only that, but there are TONS of patterns. Back to the hat. My friend's grandson is growing so quickly that I wanted to find something I could knit up in a hurry. Since he'll outgrow it in no time at all, I didn't want to spend weeks on it, y'know? So, using Ravelry's helpful pattern search engine, I found this nifty little pattern and knitted it up last night.

The proud grandma isn't sure the hat is big enough, so I told her that's no problem. I'll just knit up another one in a slightly larger size tonight.

Now, let's see....what do I have on the needles currently?

1. Mom's cushion cover. The boucle she chose makes me knit a few rows on the cover, then I grab up a sock or something else I'm knitting from more comforting yarn. The fabric formed from the boucle looks lovely....all soft and plushy. But it's devilish to work with. If we're choosing yarn for another project in the future, I'm going to steer her away from boucle, for sure!
2. Socks 101 - fourth pair. I've had this pair of socks on DPNs forever! I'm not sure when I started them. I keep them at the office to work on during lunch breaks, so it's taking a loooong time to finish them. I'm fairly sick of looking at them, so I might take them home this weekend and finish them just so I can move onto something else. I'm about 3 inches down the leg of the second sock, so it shouldn't take long to polish them off and get them out of my hair.
3. My first pair of two-at-a-time, toe-up Magic Loop socks. There's nothing fancy about these....just vanilla colored k3p1 ribbed socks. But, OH, how I've enjoyed working on them. These socks gave me not only my first experience with Magic Loop, but my first experience with toe-up socks and knitting socks two at a time as well. Such fun! I call these my "waiting room" socks. I've been spending a lot of time in doctors' waiting rooms lately, and these socks are so simple that I can work on them without having to watch a pattern. Perfect for the waiting room!
4. Wendy D. Johnson's Diagonal Lace Socks. I found these in her wonderful book, Socks from the Toe Up, but just learned that you can find the pattern online free. Just click HERE. You're welcome. I have a small error in them, just as I was finishing the first set of the lace pattern. I keep debating over whether or not to go back and fix it. The more I think about it, the more I think I'm going to have to. It'll bug me if I don't. I'm knitting them from Knit Picks' yummy Stroll Tweed sock yarn in Ash. These are my "I'm tired...I need something to help me relax" socks. It's a simple pattern, and it makes me happy to watch the diagonal lace form in my hands. I'm a person of simple pleasures.

I think that's it. I guess that's enough, don't you? *LOL* Okay, lunch break's over, so I'd better get back to it.