The good. The bad. And the sickie...

Eric got home on Friday. Yay! But he's got to be back in Dayton on the 6th. Doh. And he's still sick. In fact, he's gotten a bit worse. Double doh. And now I'm sick too! *sniffle*

Oh well... that's more time in bed, snuggling, for the both of us. I ended up taking the day off from work today. I might have been able to go in but honestly... it's better to lose the sick day and stay home than to go in, get even worse and lose more sick days.

So that means I haven't been doing much knitting all weekend. I'm about half way done with one of those scarves though. It's coming out pretty nice. I'll post a pic later on... *sniffle* I have to go have some tea.

Too True. :)

Eric gets home tonight so I can't even think straight right now... I'm at work... want to knit... can't do anything but stare at the clock wondering when it will be time for me to go to the airport. *wink* So instead, I bring you quizzes!


You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer.
You are through those knitting growing pains and
feeling more adventurous. You can follow a
standard pattern if it's not too complicated
and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've
started to experiment with different fibers and
you might be eyeing a book with a cool
technique you've never tried. Perhaps you
prefer to stick to other people's patterns but
you are trying to challenge yourself more.
Regardless of your preference, you are
continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as
well you should since your non-knitting friends
are probably dropping some serious hints, these
days.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

And...


You are bamboo.
Warm, cozy, and thoughtful, you take your time and
enjoy how things feel, smell, and taste. You
love the craft and beauty of traditional
things, and you value the comfort and
experience of knitting as much as the results.
But while you are reveling in your warm cozies,
don't get stuck. Warm is wonderful, but so is
the whole wide world!


What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Now I've gone and done it!

I -finally- went down to the new gym in the area and signed up for a membership. I've been in there a few times before since they gave me a free 14 day pass. A really nice place, I know I'll be able to go and -finally- get my ass in shape! I'm so out of shape... it's not even funny. *snicker*

Eric gets home tomorrow. I'm really excited. I've been missing him pretty fierce this past week. Of course, this means that I've been pretty focused on my knitting. I started a scarf for the troops. See...:



It's too bad that the flash brightened it a bit. You can't see the detail that way since it negated most of the shadows. I tried to take a pic without the flash but you can't see anything that way. Oh well, when it's done, I'll take a pic of it under sunlight and maybe you'll be able to see the real color.

Well... back to the needles.

Penguiny goodness.

I finished the other Pasha! I'm really pleased with how this second one came out. Here's a few pics:







I'm glad I finally finished it. I had really wanted to finish this some time ago but I got kind of stalled by other projects. For all the time I let it sit, it really didn't take all that long to make it. I bet I could make one in one day... easy! I had planned to make three total for the Children's Hospital but I'll be honest, I think I'm going to move on to some other toys. Or maybe some hats for the Cancer Center... *ponder* I'm making hats for the Troops... I can space those with some Chemo Caps. :)

On the home front, Eric will be home Friday night. All I can say is... "!!!!!" Sorry Azuredrake, but I won't be at the Stitch N' Bitch on Saturday. ;)

Oh, I found out that the gal I am Secret Pal for got her box and she's happy with everything I got her. Whew! I was honestly worried she wouldn't like it. I'm so happy! The yarn I ordered for her second box, arrived today. I got it from Elann and it was most certainly a fabulous price, but the colors are just not what they looked like online. They looked more vibrant online than they do here in the house. Oh well. I should have known that you take your chances when buying yarn online. I'm sure she'll still like them though. I'm having such a good time with this Secret Pal! I'm shopping for a person I have never met and may never meet, since she lives across the Atlantic, but it's so much fun!

Oh and by the way Koh commented: LOL I really hope thats not your foot in the sock in that picture...did you stuff it? or has the camera just made it look puffy?

Yes that is my foot in the pic. When I took it, I was sitting on the floor, cross legged and the picture was taken at a slight angle. So yeah, I guess the camera did make my foot look puffy. :)

Well... back to that other sock.

*Bounce!* Wheeeeee!

I had a pretty good day today... until I got home. That's when I saw two packages sitting in my mail box. Curious, I looked at both and realized that one was the package of needles I got from an eBay auction and the other was from my Secret Pal! There were a few bills too but who cares about those? *dismissing wave* I got something from my Secret Pal! The day was even better now! :)

So I ran inside (literally) and tore open the box and this is what I saw:



Look at the bag she made me! Isn't it lovely? I know exactly what I am going to use it for... :) And double pointed needles. I needed more of those! :)



And the stitch markers... They are so wonderful. I love the stitch markers. I needed some too. ;) I love the red color... so pretty and I love the kitty! I'm gushing I know, but they are so great!



The outside of the card. So pretty. :)



And the inside. A Happy January indeed! Thanks oh Secret Pal o' mine!

Weekend update... all that there is anyway.

This weekend had it's ups, it's downs and it's ups again.

Saturday:

Early morning, I took the cat to the vet for her yearly check up and shots. She's still not talking to me today but she did come up for some snuggles while I was napping on the futon.

Then the ice started coming down. The roads got a bit bad but nothing I couldn't handle.

In the afternoon, I went to the Stitch N' Bitch in Carboro at Tyler's. It's a nice place. I'll definitely have to go back. I got to see Azuredrake from the Knitty Board again. *Big wave!* (I love how your Skully bag is turning out by the way! And yes I did wave at the screen like you were wondering on your page.) *giggle* :) There were some other gals there too doing some amazing stuff! This one gal named Hannah was making a sweater with a sideways knit... just gorgeous! I wish I had brought my camera. I think that the next few times I go, I really need to bring my camera. :)

After the Stitch N' Bitch, I stopped by Yarns Etc and picked up some yarn for the hats and scarves I'm going to make for the troops. Finally! :P

Later on that night, friends of ours, Justin and Nik, came over. We watched some movies. Had a few drinks. It was nice to see them both. I haven't seen either of them since before the holidays... I was glad to see that they were both doing so well.

And then in the wee hours of the morning, my medication took a turn for the worse...

Sunday:

Early, early AM, I start to have a really adverse reaction to the antibiotics I'm on. Massive (and I mean massive!) mood swings. I started to cry and scream for about an hour. I couldn't stop shaking all over... I was having a panic attack. For no reason what so ever. I couldn't stop and I was so scared... I finally fell asleep at 4AM. When I woke up later on this morning, I Googled the drug name and looked at the side effects. Yup... malaise, panic attacks, digestive troubles and lots of other wonderful crap. Great. No wonder I've had an upset stomach for the past week and a half. So I called the ENT clinic and spoke to the on-call physician. He confirmed for me, I was having some bad side effects and advised me to stop taking it. I have no problem with that! Sadly though, he said there was nothing he could give me to counter the effects... they just had to work themselves out of my system. Poo.

Then Eric called. Oh perfect timing. He's missing me so much... he was talking about just quitting and coming home even though he's done with his training in five days. We were on the phone for a good two hours. Crying almost the whole time (I was still coming down off the side effects of this medication). I wish I could be there with him... But after those two hours, we were both feeling better. I let him go as he had some studying to do. He's only got five days left to go but PSA Airlines is very strict in their training (which is a good thing). He's got two written tests, one safety drill test and then a final exam all in those five days! I hope he feels better enough to study so he does well on his tests... He told me he was a bit worried about the safety drill exam but that is on Wednesday so he should have plenty of time to get that down pat. He's done very well on all this other tests. It would be a shame to do bad on that one test and have to go home.

Then his father called. I love his father. Such a kind and giving man. He and his wife. They are both really good people. It was nice to hear from him. I know I should have called him to let him know how Eric was doing but I'll be honest... it just never really crossed my mind. *shrug*

Then Eric called back a few hours later. He still sounded sad but not nearly as much as he did earlier. :) We chatted and then I let him go for the evening since he's really got to study.

So after the emotional rollercoaster that was this weekend, I was finally able to pick up my needles and fix that sock! Here it is:



I got the idea for how to fix it from Entrelac and bensmumma from the Knitty Board. Thanks so much! While it's not perfect, it definitely looks better! I have started on the second sock too. I've only done two of the squares for the cuff... but I'm working on it. I'm going to try and do at least two more this evening just so I can start joining them tomorrow.

I give you sock!

Whoo hoo! I finished one sock! Here it is on my foot:



And another shot:



So I know what you're going to say... and yes, I will start on the other sock tonight. I swear. Totally. I will. In a bit. ;)

I'll be honest, for my second pair of socks, I'm overall pleased with how this first sock came out. But... I'm upset because of what happened here:



This is where I picked up stitches and began the decreases for the gusset, the stitches are really loose. It looks like poo. I'm wondering if it's because it's the side that I dropped those two stitches on. *ponder* I'm going to have to figure out how to fix that. Here's the other side:



Overall, though, not too bad for my third ever sock. :) And I learned at lot of things so that when I start on the socks for my Sockapalooza buddy, they will come out a lot nicer.

Well, I should go start on that second cuff... Gonna have a drink first though.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy, busy day. I'm going to go get some books from the used book store to send to some troops overseas. I'm also going to get some yarn to start some hats and scarves for them as well. Hopefully the yarn for my Sockapalooza socks comes in... I'm itching to start on those too. Then, I need to take the cat to the vet. 0_0 She's not going to be happy with me tomorrow...

*falls on the floor*... *twitch*... *twitch*

So I'm sitting on the futon, admiring my handiwork on some pulse warmers I made for a gal in my office. Happy with how they came out, I put them in my knitting bag and pulled out my sock. This sock:



It's coming along nicely. I turned the heel today on my lunch break at work. I decided I would turn it right side out (like in the pic) and try it on. I slide my foot in and it fits nicely. I wiggle my toes happy and then scream in horror! Two, count them two stitches have dropped... and are dropping with every twitch of my foot. It took me nearly five minutes to get it off my foot and calm myself down enough to assess the damage. Two stitches... dropped five rows. O_o

Thankfully, I was able to pick them up and put them back on the needle with almost no trouble. After that, I put my knitting down for the night.

Talk about a close one!

My first Stitch N' Bitch

Well I went to my first ever Stitch N' Bitch this evening. It was a lot of fun! We ended up with about ten people there. They were working on all sorts of projects too. A few hats. A sweater. Some scarves. My socks. A few ponchos.

We all chatted about the various yarns stores we'd been to. What projects we were working on. Work. School (for those getting their Masters and PhD's). I really liked everyone there. Truly a friendly bunch of people. :)

Of course while I was there... I was knitting. Lookie how far I got on my sock today!



Oh we're cooking with gas now! I'd start on turning the heel tonight but... I'm soooooo sleepy!

Lazy day...

So yesterday I didn't get hardly anything done. Eric was online all day and well into the night so we chatted via our instant messengers. It was nice to talk to him. :)

Although I did get out and mailed off my first box to my Secret Pal. I'm already looking at what I want to send her in the second and third boxes. :)

I also stopped by a place called Needle Works in Burlington. (Sorry, they have no website or I'd attach a link.) Their prices on needles (especially bamboo needles) is fantastic! I actually had to ask to make sure that they were correct. I'm definitely buying all my needles there from now on! And they had a good selection of needles too. Too many times, I have walked into a store and they either had a pitiful selection (at almost no selection) or they had plenty of needles but all the same size! I once walked into a store and saw 12 pairs of size 6 double pointed needles. That was it! So yeah, I'll become a faithful shopper at Needle Works. And while they didn't have a huge selection of yarn for sale, what yarns they do have are mostly yarns that I can't find at some of the other stores I've been to.

While I was at Needle Works, I sat down and worked on my sock a bit more. While I was there, about four or five women came up to me to see what I was working on. We chatted and they were all extremely nice (including the two gals working there) but each and every one of them was shocked that I was using double pointed needles to make a sock. *Laugh* Is it that rare? Or are that many people afraid to try double pointed needles? *shrug* It's not like I have a huge amount of experience knitting, but I really don't find double pointed needles all that hard to use. *shrug again*

Not too long ago I bought the 2005 Knitting Pattern-a-Day calendar. I flipped the day over and voila! Something I decided to try. This:



Here's a shot of it on my wrist:



This was my first time knitting with beads, knitting off a chart and doing a three needle bind off. I'm very pleased with how it turned out! And it took only a few hours to do.

The cat didn't do much today either.



This is her sleeping on the stairs. (Yes, she does this at night too so traversing stairs in our house can be dangerous.) She was in such a deep sleep, I was able to walk past her a few times before she gave me a big, toothy yawn as a hello. She won't be so calm by this time next week... she's got an appointment to see the vet!

It's coming down out there!

That is one thing that sometimes still shocks me about this area... the way it rains! It's coming straight down. The pounding on the roof is amazing! I have never lived anywhere else where it rains like this. It's pounding on the roof so hard, I have to turn the tv up so I can actually hear the show I am watching. One nice thing about it, it does make it very easy to sleep. :)

But enough about the rain. I met someone today! I met another person from the Knitty Board! Azuredrake is her username. It was a real meeting of chance too. We both visit the boards and commonly post on there. I don't remember exactly what the subject of the thread was but she posted something about working at UNC. I was shocked. At UNC?! I work there too! After a bit of messaging back and forth with her, I got the chance to meet her today. We hung out in my office during lunch and really chatted it up. :) I could have kept chatting all day. Too bad I was at work and well... I had work to do. :P One of the things that really had me laughing was the fact that she said she had seen "someone that looked like me" in the research clinic. (she has visited my blog. *Waves* in case you are reading it now.) Once again, I laughed. I -was- at that clinic only this morning. I tell you, it's amazing how small the world is sometimes.

On to knitting news: I got the information on my Sockapalooza buddy today too. I have already picked the pattern. I'm definitely going to have to get some yarn for this project. I have nothing in my stash that will suit her wants and needs. That's okay though. Any excuse to go to the yarn store is a good excuse!

I made some more progress on the sock I am knitting now:



I don't know if you can see it (but I sure can!) I'm getting a bit of laddering on one row. *grumble* This is my second pair of socks I've ever knit and the last pair was made with a thicker yarn so that's probably why I didn't notice any laddering on that pair. That's okay though. This pair is for me. I'll love them no matter what. They are coming out great! Right now, you can see that it's inside out. The cuff will fold down over the 2X2 ribbing and will help cover some of that nasty laddering.

I even picked up my needles and did some more work on that second Pasha. :)

I'm sending out the first box for my Secret Pal this weekend. Man I wish I could post pics of what I am sending her! *laugh* I hope she likes everything...

Slow but steady wins the sock.

It's been a blah day. I got home from work and just laid on the futon. I've had no motivation to do anything this evening. The cat is happy though... she's been snuggling on my lap the whole time.

Actually, I did get some more work done on that sock:



I think it's coming along nicely. :)

Ugh...

Well I -was- feeling perfectly fine yesterday morning. I had an appointment at the ENT Clinic for allergy testing. So I grabbed my knitting bag, and strolled on over to the clinic for what I thought would be about an hour. Whoo hoo, was I wrong! An hour after I got there, I still hadn't even been called into the exam room! I called my office to let them know I would be later than I thought and sat back down, pulled out my knitting again, and worked a little more on those socks. Knit in a hospital... you'll get attention even faster than knitting in a coffee shop or restaurant! *laugh*

So about a half an hour later, and after being questioned by a few older ladies as to what I was doing, I get called into the exam room. The doctor comes in and does the normal stuff. Looks in my ears, looks in my throat, takes a peek up my nose. That's when he tells me he wants to force some air and then some medicated liquid up my nose so he can put a scope up there!!! *blink* Whaaaa?! Needless to say... I was not agreeable but, whatcha gonna do? I was there for a check up to see if I needed treatment after all. So he puts this scope up my nose. All the way up my nose. He's in there poking around with this scope and my eyes started to water. A lot. Of course, whatever the heck he pumped up there is starting to come out of my nose onto my face and out of my mouth! Gack! He's in there poking around and I can taste this stuff going down the back of my throat. It burns, it's making me gag and he's still pushing this scope in. And it's really, really uncomfortable. I tell him I'm about to cough and sneeze figuring he'd want to take the equipment out and/or at least get out of the way... He says "Go for it". (Like I've got a choice in this matter! I was just trying to be polite and let him know he's about to get covered if he doesn't move...) So I'm coughing, hacking and sneezing, with this scope still up my nose! Of course every time I do, I can see a burst of light in the eye on the side of my face the scope is in. (I'm assuming it was from the light on the end of the scope.) He pulls the scope out, and kind of sits back. Now you can imagine what this looks like right? I've got all sorts of stuff pouring out of every orifice on my face, I'm hacking badly now and he's standing there chatting at me. I'm thinking, fabulous but um... tissue please? I actually had to ask for one! He hands me a box of tissues and says "Your sinuses are the worst I have ever seen." Here I am... I must look horrible because of all this stuff. I'm blowing my nose and making awful sounds getting all that stuff out of there and I couldn't help but bust out laughing (with a lot of hacking too) and say "Why, thank you!" LOL!

So after all this, I still have to show up on Wednesday for the needle prick test. Why do I have to go back? Because they didn't realize I was sitting in the waiting room for as long as I was or they could have done it then. (The nurse actually told me this!) He put me on some antibiotics and scheduled me for a CAT scan too. Can you believe it? A CAT scan for my sinuses. I was pretty surprised...

So I'm done in the clinic and I head back to my office. For the rest of the day at work, I was drowsy, my throat was burning and I couldn't stop coughing. I had an appointment to go to Guilford College to speak with them about Adult Education and I was feeling so awful, I almost considered calling to cancel. My Karma must be in pretty good shape right now though because they actually called me to tell me that they needed to reschedule. :) Yay! So I got to go home and rest.

Oh, I didn't mention what he said when he was telling me about the side affects of the antibiotic.

Him: 'Don't ingest large portions of calcium while you are taking these.'
Me: 'Um... I'm taking calcium supplements every morning.'
Him: 'Good. Keep taking them. Take this antibiotic in the evening.'
Me: *blink* 'Okay.'
Him: 'These might make you a little drowsy if you take them with alcohol so I would recommend against drinking when you take them.'
Me: 'Okay. Makes sense.'

For the record, those damn things knocked me out within 15 minutes of taking them. Now I know my body reacts strongly to any medication, but damn! I'm assuming part of that reaction was to whatever he had given me earlier. I was just so drowsy and tired that I was not so sure I could drive home yesterday. I ended up chugging a 20 oz. Mt. Dew right before I had to walk to my car. That pepped me up enough for the drive home. :)

Needless to say, I didn't really get any knitting done. The only time I knit yesterday was while I was in the clinic's waiting room. (So that's why there are no pics today...) I just didn't have the energy when I got home to even keep the cat from snuggling on my neck. She was happy that I was so medicated. She got snuggles all night!

Thankfully, I am feeling much better today. I can actually still smell that stuff he put up my nose though... *blick!*

Busy, busy day!

Today was a great day. I slept in... that was nice. I chatted with Eric for a while. That was even nicer. He's still in Ohio, but it's really nice to 'talk' to him. His hotel is so cheap... he has to pay $7 for 24 hours of wireless internet access. *grumblegrumble* Even worse? Not matter what time you buy it though, it's going to cut you off at noon the next day! So when he bought it last night at 8Pm... it shut off at noon today. That's not 24 hours!!! *grumble even more* So we milked every minute out of it we could. I would have just called him but he's got a cold and it's hard for him to speak. I hope his throat is well soon... I miss his voice.

Well, after his internet access was shut off, I went out to the IBS Bead show. This little town of Mebane is just amazing. 7,200 people and yet they have an international bead show at least twice a year. Well, at least I've only realized it twice so far since we bought the house. :P The place was packed with booths and every vendor had a surplus of beads of all types, shapes and sizes. Plastic, glass, pearls, semi-precious stones and some vendors even had precious stone beads. Of course, they were not gem quality precious stone beads but they were still gorgeous! And the prices were fabulous! I got some nice beads for really, really cheap! I had recently gotten Knitting With Beads and I had yet to try out any of the patterns.

I've gotten a bit further with these socks:



Wow this is taking longer than I thought. But then, I did mess up the pattern and had to frog two whole squares. Yeah... that had me swearing a bit. A lotta bit. But now that it's all joined up and I've started on the main part of the sock, I'm feeling pretty pleased with the cuff. :)

I stopped by Yarns Etc. in Carboro today and sat down to knit for about two hours. A few other women and one man were there knitting. When one woman realized what I was doing, she was just shocked! Even more so when she found out I have been knitting only a few months now. She asked me why I would try something so difficult when she's been knitting 20 years and never tried it herself. My reply? "Well... I've never done it before and I wanted to learn so I'm trying it." She called me adventurous. I took it as a compliment. :P There was a good sale on sock yarn too. I really, really wanted to get a whole bunch, but I showed restraint (and only bought two skeins). *laugh*

I've been so focused on these socks that I haven't done anything on my second Pasha. I really should finish the little guy... I'll try and do that by this Friday.

I joined Sockapalooza too! I'm itching to get my sock buddy's name and measurements so I can start a pair of socks for him/her. :) I'm also part of Knitty's Secret Pal 3. I can't wait for that to start either!

Wow, this is turning out to be a full knitting month for me. :)

Rainy day...

I wasn't able to sleep last night so I was up until about 2:30. It started raining outside and the rhythmic pounding of the rain on our tin roof was the perfect sound to put me right to sleep. I didn't wake up until about 10:30 this morning!

But awake, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I finished the Airy scarf! Yay! I would have blocked it but Eric took the iron with him when he went for his training. Doh! So here's a shot of it unblocked:



And nope, it's not me at all. But at least it's done! It was one of those projects that just screamed to be completed... I'm glad it's done. I can focus on those socks and the second Pasha. The socks are taking an amazing amount of time! Those little squares... well lets' just say, I would have thought I would be done with one cuff by now but I'm not. Here's how far I've gotten:



I think they'll be fabulous though! I think it's taking me so long because:

A. I've never done any double decreases before so it's a lot of brow wrinkling, biting of bottom lip, hoping my yarn doesn't slip off my metal needle and then when it does, much swearing!

B. I've never tried knitting things together before. What I mean is I've never knitted two separate items, then picked up stitches on both and then knit them together by knitting a third item. I think I'm getting the hang of it though... the last square actually went pretty fast. I think part of it is I have to keep referring to the pattern. It's 24 rows for one square. If I could memorize the pattern, it would probably knit up faster because I wouldn't have to keep referring to the pattern every other minute.

Well, back to the socks!

Got my sock on...

Alrighty. I thought about it all day long and I've decided to do two different pairs of socks. The first one's I will do are the Cut Your Teeth Socks from Knitty. The pattern calls for 12 squares per sock. Here's one!



Once these are done, I'll do a set of striped socks with the other colors. I think they'll be great!

The Airy Scarf is coming along nicely. I would have finished it this evening but the cat (and I) needed some snuggles. Eric is out of town for a month. He's been gone for four days and well... we're both missing him.

The second Pasha is coming along nicely too. I'm able to focus on it when I'm at work so it's been the project I'm taking with me each day. I think I'm only going to do three total then I think I'll move on to something else. Maybe some hats for the Canter Center...

Through one of the gals in my office, I have a lead on a new yarn store. I was shocked to know that there is another one within 15 miles of my house! It's in a town called Burlington. I think I've only been there a handful of times so I'm going to try and find the place tomorrow and scope it out. :)

Well, I'm going to cut this entry short as it's after midnight and well... I have to work in the morning!

So now what?

I've been working on that Airy Scarf and it's coming along nicely. I had hoped to finish it tonight but, wow, that mohair will slow you down! I had about five people call dibs on it almost immediately. *laugh* I guess it will have a good home after all...

So of course, as I am knitting one project, my mind begins to wander and I begin to wonder what I will work on next. I recently found out about a scarf called a "Magic Scarf" that can be worn like a scarf or a cowl. It's neat! The one I saw had been done on one of those circular knitting looms with a fun fur yarn. One of the gals in my office just went nuts when she saw it and of course I thought... I'll try and find this pattern and surprise her with one. Nope, I can't find a pattern to save my life. So I think this might be the first thing I end up 'free knitting'.

But of course, I still have this yarn too:



I got it along with the Mohair yarn that I am using now. It's been sitting in my stash waiting for a sock pattern I wanted to try. It's a lovely cotton/wool blend that I can't help but squeeze! But what pattern to use? I've downloaded so many free patterns and there are so many in the books I have... I think I may have given myself too many choices! So I'm thinking, something cute and simple... wide stripes? *shrug* I plan to make this pair for myself. The only other pair of socks I've ever knit I gave to afghans for Afghans. (Sorry no pic... I sent them out without taking one.)

So... stripes?

I have no idea who it's for.

I've been working on this:



Here's a close up:



It's the Airy scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I'm making it with Plymouth Yarn Outback Mohair. I got the yarn as part of a prize from a knit-along I was part of this past October/November. It sat in my stash just taunting me. I really had no idea what to do with it. I had thought of sending it to a friend of mine but for some reason, I held on to it.

I was digging through my stash, wondering what I was going to try next when I thought of the scarf and I thought, bingo! So out came the needles, and a-casting on and a-knitting I went. It's my first time working with mohair and my first time lace knitting. The mohair is harder to work with than I originally thought it would be, but I'm getting the hang of it now. I'm really enjoying the lace work though. But as I work on this scarf, I'm not so sure I'm going to want it when it's done. It just doesn't call to me but for some reason, I have to finish it! I keep trying to work on that other Pasha and I just can't seem to focus! My mind keeps straying to this scarf. *shrug* Maybe once it's done, I'll figure out who to give it to. Or maybe I'll fall in love with it. Hey... stranger things have happened!

HTML make head woozy...

Okay, I think I have this down now.
WIP's? Check.
Progress trackers? Check.
Trackback? Check. (But it ate the previous comments. Dang. Oh well, at least there weren't too many.)
Links? Check.
Buttons? Check.
Time to take a nap on the futon? Check!

And where is my crazy animal through all this? You know, when mommy needs some snuggles? See for yourself...



Sleeping as usual. Thanks for the support. Hmm, I guess I should put the wrapping paper away now huh?

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

HTML... oh my head hurts!

Well, I've been reading all day long about how to edit in HTML so I could add a sidebar, change my header and more. My blog looks a bit better though if I do say so myself. :) Now for a vodka and cranberry...

Hello, hello!

Well here it goes. My first entry on my blog. I'll be frank with everyone... this blog is about knitting but it will include pics and stories about my family, house and cat.

So here we go. Here's a pic of me for all to see:



This was this past December and lookie what I have... a copy of Knit Wit! :) No it's not the best shot of me but hey... I'm normally the one behind the camera.

The family:



This is myself and my husband Eric. Once again, not the best pic of either of us but it's the only one I have right now. But we now own a digital camera so I'm sure that's going to change real soon. ;)

The cat (a.k.a. My Crazy Pussy, Princess Headbutt):



Her name is actually Trouble. As you can see... she is the mighty huntress of straws. For some reason, they vex her... *shrug*

On to the knitting! Okay, here are a few things I've finished recently. I had a bunch of stuff that I made that went out without a pic but I promise, from here on in, I'll take pics of everything I make.

Here's a scarf I made for Eric in a basket weave pattern:



It's the first thing I ever made for him. He originally wanted me to felt it but once he saw the finished product... he decided to leave it as is.

Here's some a few ornaments I made from the book Last Minute Knitted Gifts:



I did a whole bunch of these this year. They went over so well, I may start making some now for next year as well. :)

And here is my Pasha!:



I made him in Carolina Blue since I work at UNC Chapel Hill. I'm not a Tarheel fan per se, but since I plan to make a few more and give them away at the Children's Hospital, I thought the kids might like that it's Carolina Blue.

Well that's it for now. Thanks so much for stopping by!