Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The End of a Lovely Weekend

Boy, I enjoy those long weekends! I unfortunately lost one day of it to a migraine (phooey), but otherwise it was a lovely relaxing few days.

I didn't get to do as much knitting as I'd hoped, but I did start a bear for the Mother Bear project. I'd printed some directions on knitting it in the round instead of having to seam it up, but couldn't find them....I'm sure I put them "someplace safe" and they'll never be seen again. So, for my first bear I decided to just knit it up by the regular directions. I'm about halfway through it; hopefully by the time I'm ready to knit Bear # 2 I'll have found my circular directions. *LOL*

I managed to knit several more rows on my Basic Sweater. I need to measure again before I go any further to be sure the fit is still what I expect. I just love the feel of the CotLin yarn as I knit. So soft! The contrast between it and the acrylic I'm using for the bear is just startling.

Off to do a few household chores now so that I can relax with my knitting for a bit before bedtime!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

What I've Been Up To

So, once again I've fallen behind in my blogging....bad, BAD Cricket!! In my defense, though, I have been pretty busy.

I've been battling tendonitis in my leg which makes it painful to sit at my home computer for more than just a few minutes at a time. I finally realized that I don't HAVE to sit in the chair. I have a wireless mouse and keyboard and can actually use the computer from the bed, where I can prop up all comfy-cozy with pillows, blankies, knitting, and MeggieDog. I'm a bit better now, and hope to be out of pain soon.

A friend asked me to help him with a project for his father (Father's Day gift) which turned into more work than I'd anticipated, but that's coming along nicely. Just time consuming.

On top of that, I'm working four 10-hour days at the office this summer....it's great because I'm off every Friday, but BOY am I bushed when I get home. Between the extra-long workdays and the anti-inflammatory meds I've been taking for my leg, I've been fairly unproductive in the evenings after work. I'm adjusting, though, so hopefully I'll be back on schedule with knitting and blogging soon.

Knitting.....I'm knitting the "Basic Sweater" from Jacqueline Fee's wonderful The Sweater Workshop. It's my very first sweater, and I ADORE the yarn. It's Knit Picks' CotLin in a marvelous color called Pomegranate. I could just sit and cuddle this yarn. I hope it's as comfy after knitting it up! Because of all the stuff listed above, I've only knit about 7 inches or so from the bottom, but it's going well so far. We'll see if I panic as I approach sleeves for the first time. *LOL*

I have a couple of pairs of socks on needles that I've barely touched in the past month. They wait so patiently for me.....

A friend at work is knitting mittens. I hadn't knitted a pair in months and had, in fact, learned to knit on DPNs since knitting my mittens, which were knit on straight needles. I poked around on the internet a bit and found that Kate Atherley, who wrote the wonderful "Socks 101" on knitty.com which is my sock bible, had also written "Mittens 101". JOY!!! The other night during a particularly bad bout with my leg (during which I didn't want to risk messing up my sweater-in-progress at 3:00 am), I knit the "Training Mitt Pattern" in Kate's wonderful instructions. What a joy it was to knit a mitten without sewing a single seam! So now I want to knit more mittens.

Of course, first I should finish my sweater.....and those two pairs of socks I started.....and a Mother Bear or two or three or four because I have the pattern and haven't started a single solitary bear.....and a baby blanket for a friend who's going to be a grandmother soon.....and a couple of birthday gifts....not to mention that I should start my Christmas knitting soon. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!

Okay, Cricket, one step at a time. So right now I'm going to throw a load of laundry in the washer, have a little dinner, take a nice relaxing bath, and crawl into my recliner with MeggieDog, my remote control, a glass of tea, and my knitting....the Basic Sweater, I think. Makes me feel more relaxed just to think of it. *happy contented sigh*

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

My Sampler's Finished!


I finished my Sampler yesterday....what a great learning experience! I've just cast on my very first sweater, so keep your fingers crossed for me.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Catching Up

I've been slow about posting, I know. I've really been having a tough time with pain in my leg and even had to cancel some plans with friends yesterday because I just didn't feel well enough. I don't mind getting older, but I really resent FEELING it!!

Now, what knitting have a been up to since my last blog post? Let's see.....I have two pairs of socks on needles: one pair of "Spiral Socks" from Jackie Fee's wonderful "The Sweater Workshop" book and one pair of "Socks 101" (I just love that "recipe") in a denim jacquard. I've not made a lot of progress on either pair lately, because I'm working on the fun, fun, fun Sampler from "The Sweater Workshop".

I had to order some needles from Knit Picks to do the Sampler, so it took awhile for me to get started on it. But, oh, what I've learned so far! I felt so bad yesterday that I didn't work on it at all, and really resented losing the knitting time on it. I'm anxious to finish the Sampler so I can actually work on a real, honest-to-goodness SWEATER.

If any of my readers have already worked their way through the Sampler, I'm at the point of working the bar increases. I hit a little snag when I got to the cardigan border, through no fault except my own. I'd tried to work it while I was tired (rough day at the office), and that's never a good idea. However, with a little online reading I worked it out and now have a beautiful buttonhole.

My sock knitting is considerably slowed since I spend all my "at home" knitting time on the Sampler. I just do sock knitting during my lunch break at work, so it's a good thing it's a long time until Fall and I don't really need new socks right now. *LOL*