In just 3 hours I will be embarking on a Character Building Exercise with the ladies from K&C... So I did a little yarn shopping today... I only got 2 skeins of yarn for my BSS and one extra skein that was pretty. :)

BUT, I also found this great knitting resource book, called The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques by Nancie M. Wiseman. It runs thorugh everything from casting on to buttonbands, from kitchener to increases and decreases, and even two worksheets to help you plan your projects. This is a wonderful little book!

Gotta love Texas weather. High in the 70s yesterday (it was WARM when I went to work!), got down to the 30s and 40s by the time I got off work.

Ah well, it just gives me more incentive to finish some of my projects. I got through the second skein of Homespun for the prayer shawl, so the shawl is more than 80% complete. I think I am just going to keep going until I get sick of it --- which will be soon now. :)

Knit along with the Baby Surprise Sweater

Well, in just 4 days we start the BSS project. I need to cast on the stitches before then, because we start the CBE (Character Building Exercise) at the same time - no buying yarn, needles, etc. and you have to finish at least one WIP for every new project you cast on. And this goes on for a whole month.

So...here's the WIP pile I want to focus on:

1. Prayer Shawl


2. Baby Surprise Sweater


3. 6 hour sweater


4. braided Barbie scarf


5. Jim's scarf

Most of the other WIPs I have are probably going to take trips to the frog pond. Rip it, rip it, rip it.... :D

Out of adversity comes triumph

Wooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooooo! And you can quote me on that. :) The Chorus director gave me the solo part I wanted in the Gospel Mass piece we're singing in the "mini" concert on the 6th. I would have liked to do it for the main concert that got recorded, but this will still be fun.

The adversity quote comes from the fact that earlier today I was working on a piece that I'd had on my Barbie Knit Hits machine that I never finished. After just a few rows, the piece fell off the needles (and there was almost 6 foot of material there, but I needed it to be 8 foot long). As I was picking it up off the floor, of course it started unraveling. I did manage to save some of it, and got it to the length I needed for a headband. Tomorrow I'll re-cast the piece that I was intending to crank out.

I feel like such a slug. Last week, I had 3 FOs on Saturday alone. This week, just one - for the whole week. Ah well, I got several more rows done on the shawl (it has to be finished this week). All in all it is about 4 or 5 foot long so far, and I am almost to the end of the second skein. The pattern calls for 2 1/2 skeins - since it is for a slender person I may not use as much, but I will try to get it as long as I can before she is back in the office.

I had so much fun with my friend Alisa last night - I haven't seen her in several months but she was up here for a convention. Headed out to a yuppie chinese place for dinner (great stuff) and talked for hours. I offered her the choice of scarves and hats from my collection (she lives in warmer climes and was rather cold :) so she chose the Noro hat with the barbie scarf. It looked good on her, too!

Of course, this morning it is below freezing and I am sick as a dog (I sincerely hope not food poisoning, cause it was a rather fancy restaurant), but at least I had fun yesterday. Weekend plans: off to Mom's, then back home for Superbowl Sunday!

Finally, it has gotten back to scarf and hat weather here. Not that that is really a good thing -- I hate the cold. Especially after less than 5 hours sleep.

Ah, well - a good friend is in town today, so maybe we'll go warm up later over some coffee at Kenny's. ...and can someone explain to me why, when it is 34 degrees Fahrenheit outdoors, that I really feel the need to have some Amy's ice cream?

The long awaited Noro hat

What a looooong day. Didn't get a lick of knitting done, but I did get a chance to relax and play canasta online for a while. Yup, I play online games - what a wild thing I am. :D

Fubb-tastic!

Ok, it is a little weird, in a City of the Lost Children sort of way, but it suits my mood on a Monday morning. ...and then tonight, spring rehearsals for the Austin Civic Chorus get under way. Time to drink more water. :)

What a wonderful day - the sun was shining but it was cool outside, and I got to wear my favorite scarf.

Quite a good afternoon for knitting, too - to further my New Years resolutions, I have gotten some work done on a couple of the projects I've cast on in the past several months but haven't finished. I also finished two projects -- that long awaited Noro hat, and the baby booties I started last night. The Noro hat is a little scratchier than I wanted, but it coordinated nicely with my fave scarf.

...and now, ice skating. :D

Started a new pair of baby booties last night (you can see them in the WIPs album under the PictureTrail link to the right), but I am not sure if I like them.

The pattern used is Aunt Lydia's Little Bits (from Coats and Clark) but either I put them together wrong or something happened, because they don't quite look the same (shaping for the top strap notwithstanding).

Ah, well - maybe I'll try making another pair tonight. Then again, maybe I'll just make one of these...

Move over Grandma here comes the boys

I love to see things shatter stereotypes! Of course, I love to be weird and unpredictable myself... :D

Yay - the baby moccasins are done! :D ...and a half a week early, too! Now, back to work on the prayer shawl. :)

Quote of the day:

"I may look sweet, but I wear leather underwear."
- Emma Bunton

Courtesy of my Wild Words from Wild Women desk calendar...

No milk today!

Frogged the second baby bootie last night - it was coming out all wonky. I think I added or missed a stitch somewhere, because the toe of the vamp was pointed in a slightly different direction than the toe of the sole. Ah well, I have all week to finish it.

Scarf it up, baby!

Today's inspiration: an announcement at church that next Sunday we will have a "baby shower" for the Pregnancy Crisis center here in town. I decided to get started on a cute pair of baby booties to donate - in a great moccasin pattern I got from an Annie's Attic pattern. The pic is in my PictureTrail album there on the right, in the WIPs and Chains book.

I've also added other pics to the knit album, including the great Barbie knitting machine scarves, and my nephew's London Beanie hat:

Clearance sales will be the death of me. I went to the mall, just to get my desk calendar (because they are 50% off after the 1st of the year) and happened to glance in at the clearance table of Deck the Walls. What did I see but the cutest 7x10" red toile print in a nice frame, at 75% off! I snapped it up as a gift for one of my bestest buds in the whole wide world (who has recently redecorated her bedroom with red toile as the main theme) and when I was checking out the clerk asked me if I'd seen the second one. A second one?!? Of course, I had to get that one, too...seeing as they were different patterns and all. Then I ran over to my friend's house to surprise her - and she loved them! I'm so happy. Her husband just laughed at the both of us. :D

The knit-in at HCW was nice and relaxing this afternoon, too - I finally finished the replacement hat for my nephew, and this one didn't have the "ladders" at the joins where I switched to DPNs! As usual, the conversation ranged from actual knitting, to sex (or lack thereof), to gag gifts and scarves. Man, we are a demented bunch. But fun!

In other news, I cranked out another scarf with my Barbie knit machine this morning. This one is worsted weight -- Red Heart Starbrights. It is really warm and I just love the colors! I think I'll keep it. Maybe even name it. Maybe I've had too much sugar....

Knitting on...

Oh...my. I've finally made it through all 158 (well, one or two less given that a couple weren't working) blogs on the Knitting Bloggers ring. Plus numerous sidetrips to visit their sites and some interesting links. Wow. I'm not sure if that is an impressive achievement, or if I need to get another hobby. LOL! :D

Sleepy Fridays should be outlawed. Or at least we should be able to go home when we really need a nap and our body just knows it is the end of the week, so why should it bother.

Today I've been passing time (between meetings and getting actual work done) by glancing through all of the blogs in the Knitting Bloggers ring. Ok, I haven't made it through ALL of them, but I started at the top (QueerJoe as of last count, I think) and I have made it as far as Tangles so far, which is number 87 of 158.

On this journey of ring discovery, I have discovered a lot of super talented knitters out there -- as well as some pretty kickin' web designers! I have also discovered that I simply MUST change my blog template, as cranberry socks seems to be a bit too popular among the other bloggers (gee, I wonder why? :). Ah well, maybe this weekend I can drag my web development kit out (...ooh, time to play with Dreamweaver...) or at the very least make a good background graphic with Photoshop.

Ellen inspired me to get my Barbie knitting machine out of the box (for the first time since I found it at Goodwill) and give it a whirl. It is amazing -- you can just keep cranking away for the longest time until you have a super-long scarf, or just make little "granny puffs" to make various items like hats, booties, or even afghans.

I think I've decided that I don't just want a long, skinny scarf, so I am going to experiment to see what else I can do with it. :D

Googlism is fun... :D

cynthia is a breathtaking example of beauty and poise combined with an extraordinary lyrical voice (how did they know?)
cynthia is probably right (woohoo!)
cynthia is still the best (and don't you forget it)
cynthia is still on the border (of what, insanity?)
cynthia is brought in undercover to infiltrate a counterfeit money operation at a local newspaper (yup, here comes that insanity plea)
cynthia is being silly now (always :)

I did start the prayer shawl last night after all, in shades of black and white. It may take longer than I'd estimated to finish, but hopefully I will have it done before she comes back.

Found out today that one of my co-worker's mother died. I feel for her - she's an only child and is now trying to organize her mother's estate. I wanted to do something for her, and found a link to the Prayer Shawl Ministry site. This sounds like something I can do for her and also something I'd like to get started at my church.

I owe, I owe - so off to work I go.

At least I got some knitting done last night (after I did some housework -- you may all now gasp and faint in disbelief) - I got 5 or so more rows done on the London Beanie for my nephew. It is coming along nicely -- I certainly hope this one is big enough for him!!!

The knit-in this afternoon was very relaxing, and I finished my Big Wool scarf! I've even published the pattern - check it out here. Feel free to link to the pattern but please do not copy it. I also got about 15 rows done on Anthony's new hat, and it seems to be going rather quickly. :D

Lazy days are here again, the sun is shining
Yes, and when
I need to go outside today
The birds are singing, telling me
It is such a beautiful day!

Okay, so my poetry needs work. But it is absotively gorgeous outside today, and although I need to get housework done, I think I'll skive off for a few hours. Besides, the knit group meets at HCW in a couple hours, so I can go and knit, and gossip, and generally forget that I broke a vase and a cake plate and still need to clean up the rest of the glass from my kitchen floor. *sigh*

Monkees fans need to see this: MSNBC's The Year in Pictures 2002. The Reader's Choice section uses a clip from "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" for one series of pics. Actually, everyone ought to take a peek at these pictures - the slideshows are very moving.

After viewing those, it feels almost trite to talk about my projects, but I did get another couple feet of work on my Big Wool scarf done last night. I'll post the pattern I made for the scarf once it is done. I also started a 6 hour sweater, of which I got the bottom ribbing for the front side done in about 45 minutes. This weekend I'll work on it more to see how long it really does take me.

BTW -- Happy New Year! My New Year's Resolutions:

1. To finish more projects than I start


2. To learn to sew with a machine (and maybe do a quilt)


3. To live healthier (and if I'm lucky, lose weight)

I think that's enough, no? I'd resolve to give up bad habits altogether, but we all know that will never happen. :D That first resolution alone may be a little difficult, but although I have plenty of WIMs, I am going to try to finish projects before starting new ones. As it is, I can count at least 20 WIPs and more than a few are rather old.

Ever had a really loooooooooong holiday? And not long in the good sense, necessarily.

Well, I guess it was partly good - even though I was a bit sick I got to hang out with a good friend and knit while she worked to refinish a windowpane. Plus we did have that shopping trip to Boerne, and a lot of good conversation.

Migraines suck.