Knitting Therapy

Today is a bad day. We all have them, and some are definitely worse than others. I know it will get better, but trust me, this is just a bad, awful day.

Bad days make me appreciate the lovely soothing repetitive motion of knitting. There's something about the rhythm that you develop with sticks and string that settles the mind and centers your emotions.

Can knitting make bad situations better? No....at least not usually. Can knitting make you calmer and more emotionally able to deal with bad situations? It works for me, thank goodness.

So off I go to knit through the rest of my lunch break and center myself. Tomorrow will be better.

Swiffer Cloth Success!

I finally managed to knit a Swiffer floor cloth with the shape and size I wanted! Only took me five tries. *LOL* This final version is a slight variation on the "Purly Lace Swiffer Cover" available on Ravelry. I put the instructions for my variation over in my "Freebies" patterns (see link at the right of this page). I have a couple more of these to knit for little gifts, then I can get back to my other projects. In fact, I'm already halfway through the next Swiffer cloth. Once I figured out what to do, they go really quickly!

Oho, the Wells Fargo Wagon is A-Comin' Down the Street

Oh please let it be for meeeeeeeeee! (If you don't understand that reference, you need to watch "The Music Man". *LOL*)

The FedEx tracking site says that my KnitPicks order is "out for delivery". So, this means I might or might not get it today. Here's why: the final leg of the FedEx delivery is passed off to the local post office. Depending on which mail carrier is delivering mail in my neck of the woods today, he or she will either 1) leave the package on my doorstep (which I requested in writing long ago) or 2) take it back to the post office and leave a little note in my mailbox telling me that I can pick up the package after 8:00 tomorrow morning.

The suspense would be maddening if I wasn't so terribly busy today. *L*

Oh, I must tell you about my latest knitting disaster. Well, not really a disaster, I guess since it's not of earth-shattering importance, but a GOOF all the same! Last night I finished my latest incarnation of the knitted Swiffer cloth. It was looking really, really great, and I was happier than I'd been with any of the previous versions I'd knitted (this was the fourth one in the series). I finished it up while watching TV, hid the ends, and happily slipped it on my Swiffer.

It was too long. *beating head on monitor* WHY didn't I check it before I sewed up the pocket seams and hid the ends? Dunce. Total dunce. I checked the width, but not the length.

Soooooooooo....last night I cast on the fifth one, making adjustments that I think will work. You can bet, though, that after a reasonable number of rows have been completed I'll be holding the next one against the Swiffer to see if I'm on the right track. Dunce.

I brought my little gray socks to work with me today so I can knit a bit on them while munching my lunch. So, I'll cut this entry short so I can hopefully finish reknitting the toes today!

Waiting for Yarn

How insane is it that I'm waiting for yarn to be delivered before starting my next sizable project? I have BASKETS full of yarn. There's a term for this that I read on the Yarn Harlot's blog called "SABLE": Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.

And, even though my stash has come dangerously near SABLE status, I find myself checking online to see when my next KnitPicks order is due to arrive. Hopeless, I tell you, I'm just plain hopeless. Oh well. A yarn addiction is a relatively harmless one.

The yarn I'm waiting for is to knit a TARDIS. For those of you uninitiated into the world of Doctor Who, a TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space) is a time machine used by Doctor Who and his companion(s) to travel through time and space to provide assistance to others. The TARDIS looks like a 1950's London police box; if you've never seen a photo of one of those, it looks something like a large-ish blue old-style telephone booth. You know, the kind that Superman used to change into his tights and cape back in the day.

Back to the knitting issue: I HAD some worsted yarn on hand that I thought would work, but this proved to be problematic on a couple of counts. First of all, it really wasn't the right color. I needed some dark blue yarn and some darker blue yarn, along with a small bit of white. As it turns out, the yarn I thought would work was MUCH too light, and it just didn't look right at all. Additionally, the worsted weight yarn was going to make this a BIG ol' TARDIS, much larger than I'd intended. So, KnitPicks to the rescue. I went online and selected some fingering weight yarn that I thought would be a better color. As always, the price was very reasonable and I had enough stashed on my Wish List there to bring my order up to the minimum order for free shipping. (I ALWAYS have something on my Wish List there....*LOL*)

And now I'm waiting. I have plenty to keep me busy until the new yarn arrives, of course. Actually I guess I SHOULD be working on some decluttering I'd promised myself I'd get finished.

But then again, there's a pair of socks I want to start.....

I Won Again!

I can't believe it, but I've won another contest! *happy dance* IdaW of The Evolving Sock Knitter ran a contest on her wonderful blog to give away two Trekking "Egg-stra" Special Sock Kits. This sock was designed by Rosemary “Chappy” Chapman in honor of Susanne Skacel, a three-year survivor of ovarian cancer. The yarn in the kit is a glorious shade of teal that was dyed to match the color of the ribbons used to represent support for the fight against ovarian cancer.

WEBS and Skacel Collection, Inc. are both donating the entire proceeds of the sale of these kits ($25 per kit) to the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research. I know that lately it seems like everyone's been asking for donations, but if you have any funds left in your yarn stash, maybe you'd like to have a look at this beautiful sock kit by clicking HERE and considering placing an order.

Thanks so much, IdaW, for giving me the opportunity to put my name "in the hat" for this terrific giveaway!

BSJ 3 All Finished

As I'd hoped, last night I was able to finish my third Baby Surprise Jacket last night. I'm very happy with the results. The first one I did was a solid color and the second and third were made with variegated yarns. I think I'll do the next one with stripes. *happily planning* I must take some time and get photos made of the jackets. Not tonight, but hopefully within the next few days.

However, before I knit another baby jacket I simply MUST get some work done on my Christmas knitting. It's August already, and Christmas will be here before we know it! *yipes* The stealth knitting will now begin!!

BSJ 3 Nearly Complete!

Last Thursday I headed to the wood for another camping weekend and got in some very good knitting time. I had a few rows completed on my third Baby Surprise Jacket, so I took it along so that I could get some work done on it.

As it turned out, I didn't work on much of anything except the BSJ; it was going so well that I didn't want to stop to work on anything else. The only exception was that I attended a birthday party for Smokey the Bear (HONEST!), and I took along my plain vanilla socks to work on there so I wouldn't have to carry a pattern with me.

All I need to do tonight is sew up the shoulder seams, crochet around the neck, weave in the ends, and sew on the buttons. If all goes well, I should finish it up before bedtime tonight.

Christmas in July, and another BSJ

Saturday I received my "Christmas in July" present I won on Pretty Knitty's blog....such fun! She sent me two skeins of lovely sock yarn (that'll be my next pair cast on!), some Cascade 220 with Kool-Aid to use to dye it (more about that later), some little butterfly note cards, a sample of skin cream, a keychain calculator, and a beautiful row counter set with stitch markers. So much great stuff!!

Yesterday I decided to dye the Cascade 220; this was my first attempt to dye yarn, and it was sooooooooo much fun! I used the microwave method to dye it with the Kool-Aid, and it's turned out to be a beautiful variegated blue. Now I just have to decide what I'm going to knit with it! Maybe a skinny scarf for myself. I've given away all but one of my scarves that I've knit; the only one I've kept is the very first one I knit, so maybe it's time to knit another one to keep. :-)

I've finished my second Baby Surprise Jacket, and am very pleased with the results. In fact, I've already cast on a third one, using Pretty Knitty's row counter and stitch markers on it. The next BSJ is white with wee splashes of pale blue and green. I think it will work up very nicely. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. :-)

I have to admit that I was completely befuddled by the Baby Surprise Jacket pattern (no offense to the genius of Elizabeth Zimmerman, who would have been 100 years old today), and am just amazed and delighted that I've now (with the help of the Ravelry group) completed two of them. It's been so much fun to learn!

I managed to knit on my plain vanilla socks during my lunch break today. I've decided that the only way I'm going to get in any sock knitting time is to carry my socks to work instead of the Baby Surprise Jacket. On the current week, I have a grand total of 30 minutes sock knitting time. Pitiful, just pitiful. I'm KNITTING, mind you, just not knitting much on socks. This will change, of course. But for now my sock knitting time is looking really sad.

I Won!

I actually won a contest! And I never win ANYTHING! *LOL* A very nice lady known as Pretty Knitty makes beautiful knitting and crochet row counters that she sells on her site on Etsy. She also write a very entertaining blog, which I read regularly.

On July 24, she announced a Christmas in July contest, which I entered with no thoughts of actually winning, because I honestly just don't have much luck when it comes to winning things. (This is the reason I still work for a living in spite of years of buying an occasional lottery ticket.)

Yesterday I was super-busy and didn't have time to do my usual daily blog and e-mail reading, so I didn't learn until this morning that I'd WON! *happy dance*

Pretty, you've put a shine on a drab Monday morning. Many thanks!