SP9 Short Story Contest

As per my SP9 hostess, there is a short story contest going on in which you must make up a story using only 6 words, at least one of them fiber related.  Here’s mine:

Knitting is my therapy.  Gotta problem?

Hee hee hee, can you tell I’m from NJ?  It’s time for a new season of Sopranos, don’t you think?

Finally, some pictures….hope they’re worth the wait!

I’m not so good at placing the pictures within the text, so I am going to explain all the pictures here and then they will appear wherever they want to.  I have completed my felted pumpkin bag and DD is quite smitten with it.  She loves to carry it around and swing it by the handle.  She asks for her pumpkin whenever she sees one on TV or we are outside and someone has it on their lawn, etc.  It’s rather cute and I can’t say I’m not too proud of it!  HA!  I am also part of a KAL for the Cabin Fever Braids cardigan.  I started a month ago, but the pumpkin (and life) got in the way.  I am also trying to upload a close up of the braid portion, which I have to say, I really like the way it looks.  In case anyone is wondering, I am using Jo Sharp DK Tweed Wool for the worsted pattern and it’s working out fine (I hope!).  This yarn is nice and stiff, not what I expected for a wool, but I am hoping (well, maybe praying) that this will soften up later.  It will be over something anyway.  I love the color, very subtle.

In my compulsiveness I cast on for DD’s Christmas hat.  Well, it was my compulsiveness and the fact that she kept trying to rip the bag open to get inside it (it came as a kit, Debby Ware–very cute!).  It’s going quite quickly, which makes me happy.  I hope to also make DD a nicer hat and mittens for Christmas, too.  Need to dig into my library to see if I have anything I like before trekking out to the lys again. 

A very productive knitting night!

Even though I was almost an hour late to my knitting gathering, I was able to accomplish a lot tonight!  I am most proud.  I weaved in the ends to my stitch sampler scarf (just needs blocking), took the trendsetter scarf off the needles and onto waste yarn to see if it stretched out to where I wanted it (it didn’t, so I am back to the knitting store again–oh, bother, I know, how awful for me–NOT!  LOL), and I sewed the handles on to my felted pumpkin bag/basket.  I will be taking pictures later, it’s too late to do it now.   I still have to sew together a baby sweater I made and add the button, but that’s it and I am caught up to date.  Now I can knit whatever I want without something hanging over my head.  I had forgotten that I purchased one of those Christmas hat kits from Debby Ware and took it out of the yarn bureau the other day.  DD has been playing with the bag ever since, she heads right for it whenever she gets into the room.  I guess I should really cast it on and try to make it for this Christmas.  It shouldn’t take long, I suppose.

DD had her first haircut this morning.  She was sooooo good.  Going in I had no idea how she would react, she was terrified of the dentist last week, so this could have gone either way.  She was excited to sit in the train chair and sat perfectly still the whole time.  She looks so adorable, too.  I’m glad I did it, I was going to just let it grow out a bit more, but it looks so much better this way–she has little bangs now and looks like a little doll.  I’m so proud of her!

Well, it’s off to catch some ZZZzzzzssss–LATER!

UUUGGHHHH!!!!

Well, I started to felt my pumpkin basket for DD for Halloween.  Well, it’s scary alright!  I attached the I-cord handle to the inside of the bag and threw it in the wash (sorry forgot to take pictures).  When it came out, the handle was not really felting to the bag very well and you could see the stitches I used to hold it on!  I have made bags before and didn’t have that happen, but I guess that’s the fun thing about felting–you never can predict….Anyway, in a bold move, I decided to snip off the handle and refelt them again separately.  I would love to attach these handles back on to the bag somehow, but I’ m not sure of the best way to do that.  Uggh, I really wanted to get her Halloween pics done this week, I hope it’s a simple solution.  Any suggestions?  Please help me out here–leave a comment on my blog, I would really appreciate it.  I will post pictures of the pieces as soon as they are out of the washer again.

Celebrity collage–ok, I HAVE to post this one, ROFLOL

http://www.myheritage.com

so now you see why I had to post this–Christie Brinkley?  I still have to laugh when I see this.  Who is Nikki Cox, anyway?……

EDITED TO ADD:

ok, obviously I am blogging-challenged tonight, but you will have to take my word for it. My celebrities were Christie Brinkley, Nikki Cox, Jena Malone and Michele Williams. Come to think of it, Christie Brinkley is the only one I recognize–any help figuring out the rest of them?

A quick post

I am posting super-quickly today, because I have a lot of errands to run and need to get going.  DD has her first dentist appt today.  Hope everything goes well.  Before that we have a MOMS Club meeting at the library–I always check out the book sale and have gotten some good stuff (books and movies and puzzles) for real cheap!  After that, I am hoping that DD will nap like a champ, so I can clean up around here and answer emails, etc.  It’s been a little crazy here the past few days as my FIL is doing poorly and my MIL was in the hospital for a few days. 

Anyway, onto happier knitting items.  I moved two of my projects (beaded scarf and opal tiger socks) over to the new knitpicks needles.  Not the set, but the individual needles, since they don’t make them in that small a diameter.  I have to say I am most impressed!  I love them and I never thought I would love any other needles than my addi’s….It has made a world of difference on the beaded lace scarf, I was getting so frustrated with that, it was just hanging around lookin’ pretty and not getting knit.  The socks as well were greatly improved–it’s definitely the sharp points that are making the difference, although I am loving that the cables don’t kink up on you.  I never really wanted to get any of the interchangeable sets, but I am ready to give them a try.  Hint, hint for b-day or Christmas?  LOL 

OK, that’s all I have time for, TTFN!

My favorite finished object-SP9 hostess request

I have to say that most of the items I knit are given away.  I don’t know why, I always made stuff that I ended up gifting, and I have only a couple of things for myself.  I am also bad at taking pictures of my FO’s.   I do have a felted entrelac backpack that I love, but it is in a closet atm, and my DD is sleeping in that room, so I can’t get it to take a picture right now.  I am posting a picture of me w/DD in a sweater that I made her.  The sweater has a story behind it and that’s one reason that it is one of my favorite things that I knit.  I was only 30 weeks pregnant and just diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and put on bedrest.  Now some people may think of bedrest as a time to finally get to relax, but I was none of that!  I was an anxious, lonely worry-wort the whole time.  Only allowed to go up and down our stairs once a day, quick trips to the bathroom and kitchen to make myself some food or get a drink.  By the second week, I was sick of the daytime shows on HGTV and I got my DH to set up an old laptop for me so I could at least surf the web.  I joined a yahoo group called babysweaters and they were just starting a mystery knitalong, so I joined in–had some yarn and needles that fit the requirements perfectly and I went on my merry way.  Each day I was waiting with baited breath to see what the next set of directions were and it kept my mind busy a bit.  I also made her two hats and some bootees with only 2 skeins of cotton that I also dug up from my stash and that was the extent of my baby knitting before my DD was born.  For some reason I was superstitious enough not to want to knit while I was pregnant, but needed the comfort of it while I was on bedrest.  So that’s the whole story and this will be the only picture that I post of myself and my DD (she looks nothing like this anymore!  😦  )  Enjoy!

SECRET PAL 9 QUESTIONNAIRE

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?  I love to knit with soft wools or wool blends.  I can’t knit with many cottons as they are difficult on my hands (I have arthritis in my wrists), but I have found a couple of cotton blends that have worked in the past.  I try to use non-itchy/scratchy wools for my daughter as she has eczema and should only wear cottons.  I also love 100% wools for felting projects.  I’m a big fan of felting and have a whole bin of feltable wools for whenever the mood strikes 🙂

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?  I use mostly circular needles exclusively.  I have each size needle in a separate zip-lock baggy with the size written in marker on the outside.  I know, it’s not fancy, but it’s worked so far.  I tried the Addi circular needle storage system, but I just have far too many needles for it to work for me.  I am very intrigrued by the KnitPicks Options needles and storage system.  Maybe some day I will wean out my addi’s and simplify my life a little….ROFL

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?  I knit when I was very young–my grandmother taught me, but I lost the skills as I got older.  When I graduated college, I moved out on my own to Baltimore and I worked 12 hour nights as a nurse there, I had no family or friends there when I first got there and I was really lonely and bored.  I went to the all-night WalMart there and picked up a book and some yarn and needles and tried to figure it out on my own.  Well, I could figure out how to crochet again, but could not get the cast on right for knitting.  I later took a class at Michael’s and it was like riding a bicycle.  She showed me once how to cast on and it was like a lightening bolt hit me in the head, I instantly remembered!  I’ve been obsessed ever since.  That was about 6 or 7 years ago and I have been learning new things as much as I can.  That’s what intrigues me most about knitting, you can continue to learn new things or just relax and knit something easier.  I would consider myself an advanced intermediate, only because there are certain things that I haven’t tried to do yet, but I’m sure I could do them if I put my mind to it!

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?  I do have an amazon wish list and it’s filled with knitting books and books for my daughter, lol.  The link is here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/17H78JG5U5LUK/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go/104-7180628-7010322?ie=UTF8  Good thing I just looked at it!  There were several things I already had still on the list!  I see my husband added something for my new IPod , too, please disregard…lol

5. What’s your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)  I love citrus smells, but I’m not a big fan of candles and bath soaps, etc.  They often give me a headache due to the strong smells.  I do like natural bath products, though, like calendula oils, etc.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?  I’m not big into candy, but I like kitkats

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?  I am recently into beading and have been into scrapbooking for a while.  My scrapbooking stash could rival the yarn stash….

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)  I’m pretty eclectic with my music, I like from classical to heavy metal and rap, I don’t care for country music, though.  I recently acquired an IPod, but it’s mostly filled with my daughter’s music, lol.  I’m not sure if my stereo will play CD’s made from MP3’s, but I know my computer can, and I will just upload the songs to my IPod

9. What’s your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can’t stand?  I love purples, blues, greens, reds(bluish not orangey) and pastels of those colors.  Bright colors and oranges and browns are not the best colors for me.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?  I am a SAHM to my daughter, 17 months now, and have been married to my husband since 2002.  My beloved dog passed away last November and with a toddler I haven’t thought it was fair to bring in a new dog or puppy right now, but I am keeping my options open and if the right dog comes along, it’s mine!  I miss my dog so much, still, it hurts, her picture is still on the desk right next to me as I am writing this.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?  I love scarves and a variety of them, it seems every time I knit one, I end up giving it away…I prefer gloves to mittens or the pop-up paws are good, too.  I would love a poncho,  I even have the yarn for one, but just never got around to knitting it for me.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?  I pretty much like knitting everything, but I tend to get bored with scarves and blankets.  My poor daughter doesn’t even have a hand-knit blanket (by me), it’s sad.  I have made her plenty of sweaters and hats to make up for it.

13. What are you knitting right now?  I have a cardigan for me (Cabin Fever Braids), a pumpkin bag to be felted for my daughter and the heart scarf from Knitty on the needles, atm.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?  LOVE them!  But rarely get them.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?  I’m a die hard Addi fan, don’t own straights or DPN’s.  Occassionally, I will use a wood or bamboo needle, but I have a hard time finding ones with joins that I can live with–any suggestions?

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?  I have both

17. How old is your oldest UFO?  Ick–do you have to ask?  LOL  Probably the scarf I started as my first project when I learned to knit, it’s out of Lion Brands Wool-Ease and I have since become a fiber snob, lol.    Actually, it’s really the pattern that is holding me back, it’s just I have to look at the pattern for each row (it’s a complicated basketweave) and I just don’t have the patience for it right now with my toddler running around.

18. What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas, without a doubt!  But, really, any holiday that I get together with my family is good to me!  I recently lost my uncle and this year the holidays will be especially hard for our family

19. Is there anything that you collect?  Yarn!  LOL  knitting gadgets, scrapbooking stuff

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?  Umm, right now, I am pretty happy with my book collection with a few exceptions (see Amazon list), but I am open to any interesting patterns, fair isle, cable, for toddler or ample women.  I get Knitter’s, VK, IK and I think I stopped the rest of my subscriptions

21. Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn?  I know how to do fair isle, but haven’t made an entire garment out of it, and I really want to learn to steek, especially without a sewing machine, since I don’t own one.  I’m really into modular knitting, too, there’s something so satisfying about completing a little section at a time, which seems to be all the knitting time I have for myself!

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?  I’ve tried socks, but I wasn’t too into them.  I wear a size 7 1/2 wide, I can measure more precisely if needed.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) December 5th

Fear not needles!

For I do not like the noddy knitter!  How annoying, I just decided to make the I-cord with my circular needles.  I-cord is in the works and then felting–YAY!

Still plugging away at my cardigan and my tapestry scarf.  Knit a few rows on the tapestry scarf on the way to Sesame Place yesterday. 

DD enjoyed Sesame Place immensely.  It was difficult to pry her away from Elmo at the meet and greet site.  We were suckered into buying the season pass for next year as it also allows for free admission to Busch Gardens and Sea World, so I imagine Elmo will know DD by her first name after next summer.  It’s so much fun to watch her get excited about these things.  I also took her to Turtleback Zoo this past week.  I feel the need to get all these things in before the weather turns too cold and now that all the kids are back in school, it makes for a much more enjoyable experience.  DD loved the part where she could roam with the sheep and goats the best of all.  She went up to each animal, squated down to their level (they were small goats and the sheep were laying down) and gave them a little smooch (in the air, of course, not on their faces).  She would then gingerly walk around to their side and pet them very gently.  It’s absolutely priceless to watch!  I didn’t let her feed them, the goats get a little too rowdy for her and they would knock her down, but someday, I’m sure she will be right in there with them.  We also saw some alpacas and she liked watching them eat, but you were not allowed to get in their stall with them.  Then it was a quick view of the penguins and some very large turtles and that was the highlight of the zoo.  Sigh, I wish it could stay like this weather for another 3 months.

Well, I’m off to catch up on emails and try to get some more knitting done.  TTFN