Knitamazoo(tm)

I have a serious problem. I really do. You see, I started knitting a year ago because as an avid crocheter, I decided that I wanted to learn a new method for manipulating yarn to make wonderful things. (I can’t believe that a year has gone by already but that’s another problem.) My problem is this knitting. It has become an obsession and I can’t stop starting (see I told you I was insane) new projects. I confess, this weekend I became weak and cast-on yet another project. The lure of a fresh project on the needles was just too much for me and I caved. I am so ashamed.

But I do have a finished project and an almost finished project. (I was hoping that might make me feel better about starting a new one, but no. Sigh.) Anyway, I sat down yesterday, darning needle in hand, sewed the shoulder seams on the dickey and wove in the ends. I’m really happy with how this turned out and I hope that my Dad likes it too. I didn’t weave in the tail from my cast-on at the collar. I’m not sure if it is going to be too “thick” for my Dad’s liking. If it is, I’ll then be able to undo the cast-on edge a little easier and remove some of the collar and make if more of a mock-turtleneck. And if he likes it as it is, well then it will take me 2 minutes to weave the end in. One Christmas gift finished!

I also finished up one of the bed socks on Friday and am almost done with the mate. The gusset decreases are finished and it’s just down the foot to the toe. Too bad there isn’t a hockey game tonight. I’d finish it for sure! I just love how soft and warm the Elsebeth Lavold Angora yarn is. These are great socks to wear around the house when those temps dip. It’s been quite warm lately (mid to upper 60’s) so I have no use for them yet. But I’ll be prepared when that white, wet stuff falls from the sky.

So what new project did I cast-on for you ask? Why a pair of fuzzyfeet to keep my toes extra warm this winter! Apparently there is a new knit-a-long going for this project started up by Laurie, a.k.a. Crazy Aunt Purl. I didn’t know about this KAL when I purchased the yarn for my fuzzyfeet but it seems that I jumped on the bandwagon without knowing it. But how fun it is to knit gigantic socks! We had the King Kong Thong and now I’m knitting socks for Kong. At least that’s what they look like. I should have put something in the picture to give you some perspective as to how large this thing really is. I can’t wait to finish knitting them both up and then felt them. This is the first time I’ve used Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride worsted and I’m really surprised at how soft it is. With the mohair I was expecting it to be a little more rough or itchy but I was pleasantly surprised. I’m sure these will be done by the weekend. The picture here only shows about 1 1/2 hours of knitting.

Saturday we went to the Kalamazoo Nature Center and hiked some of the trails. My wonderful hubby took my up part of a trail that according to the map is “difficult.” But he said that the map claimed the view of the valley was spectacular especially in the fall. So up this vertical slope we went. Two twisted ankles later I stood atop this hill (as much as I’d like to call it a mountain I can’t). Now the view was very nice but not what I was hoping for. I took a picture but it was a little too hazy and the colors were not vibrant. Now I had to get down from this precipice. Hubby offered to go down in front of me so he could catch me if I fell. I told him no, that I would just end up taking him down the hill with me. After making it down the hill I got to thinking about it, and I realized that I should have let him go down in front of me. That way I could have used him like a sled to get to the bottom. All my best ideas always come too late.

We did see some lovely color as we were walking through the woods and I leave you with two pictures of the fall foliage.

I must be and after you hear what I have to tell you I’m sure you will agree with me. Look at the sidebar. See that section titled “What’s on the needles”? Notice anything? Yes, I started yet another sock yesterday. (sigh) I know, I know . . . how many socks can I have going at once. I just couldn’t bring myself to cast-on for the second Liberty sock right now. Those size 1 needles make me want to poke my eyes out. I needed to work on something with slightly larger needles. And yes, I have some projects cast on that use larger needles and I even have more Christmas gifts to do that require larger needles. But I just couldn’t help myself. I cast on the Elsebeth Lavold Angora yesterday morning to make another pair of bed socks from the Knitty Gritty pattern. This time I’m making the cuff a little longer (2 inches to be exact) so that it covers my ankle completely. So I sat down before work yesterday and cast on. Then on my break, I divided the stitches onto the other needles and did 3 rows of ribbing. After work I went to the UPS store to mail off the next package for my Secret Pal and made a detour to the yarn store (yarn pr0n forthcoming). I got home, had to feed the cats (I don’t know why I bother, they’re so fat), cleaned the litter box and gathered up the trash. By that time, hubby was home from work and I hadn’t even thought about dinner. Hubby wasn’t hungry so we drove down to MickyD’s and I grabbed dinner for myself. So finally around 7:30 I was able to sit down and knit. And this is what I accomplished. Four inches of 2×2 ribbing, the heel flap and turning the heel. I love how fast these go (worsted weight on size 7’s)! I picked up the gusset stitches this morning, knit the first round and am now ready to start the gusset decreases on my break today. There’s a hockey game tonight so I should be able to get in some good knitting time. GO WINGS! (Just had to toss that in there.)

I mentioned that I made a quick (read: lengthy) stop at the LYS on my way to the UPS store. I’ve been saving my spending money so I had some “yarn bucks” to spend. I didn’t spend them all but I spent a fair amount. I picked up 2 skeins of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride worsted in brown to make some Fuzzy Feet. I also picked up the Jamieson’s DK wool from the sale rack to make a pair of Voodoo wrist warmers. And to make those wrist warmers I needed some size 5 dpn’s as well. I’m sure I’ll be casting on soon enough for those as the weather is turning quite chilly and I know I’ll be needing them soon.

And will someone please remind me not to drink any caffeinated beverage after 3pm? Please? I totally forgot and had a diet Coke with my dinner at 7pm last night. That was enough to keep me awake until after 1am. It’s time to take a nap, right? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . .

Well I finally finished the first liberty sock. I just got in a sock groove this weekend and after knitting for a few hours on Sunday afternoon I finally had a complete sock. I’m afraid that now it will take me another 4 months to do the mate but hopefully not. I have the slip-stitch pattern memorized now (which means I should do the next sock soon before I forget it in my old age). Hopefully the next sock will go a bit faster not having to check the pattern so often. I do love the Lorna’s Laces Shepherd sock yarn though!

In other knitting news, I finished all the knitting on the dickey last night while watching the Red Wings beat up the Columbus Blue Jackets. I’m glad I finished the knitting in the first period as it was a pretty good hockey game. Now I have to sew the shoulders and weave in the ends. So the Christmas gifts are coming along nicely. I should have a picture of the finished dickey to post tomorrow.

Not much else to say today. Life has slowed down a bit (which is a very good thing). The only exciting thing is trying to figure out what to cast-on for next . . .

Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Words cannot express how wonderful my SP is! She has spoiled me completely rotten. Any SP I have after her will have a hard time living up to the standard she has set. I have no idea who she is and that is fine with me. Though I can’t wait until she reveals herself. So just to prove to you how wonderful she is, just check out all the lovely stuff she sent me.

When I arrived home from a long day at work, I spied a box sitting on my front porch. I knew immediately that it was from my SP and I hurried to scoop it up and take it inside where I could enjoy all it’s SP goodness. Again I had to delay opening it until I had fed the kitties. They would have continually annoyed me until I fed them and I wouldn’t be able to fully enjoy the experience of discovering what surprises my SP had sent me. Everything was wrapped neatly in tissue paper and I gently went through the box savoring each item. This picture shows the entire contents of the box.

The first thing I found upon opening the box was a card. The envelope said, “Read last.” So I set it aside and began digging into the box. The first thing I found was this lovely hat. I naturally assumed that my SP had knit it for me (and the card confirmed that). She did a lovely job and it will match my winter coat perfectly. I love it and everytime I wear it I will think of my SP and how special she is. I look horrible in this picture but I wanted to have a picture of me modeling the hat. Thank you, thank you SP for all the hard work you put into making this hat for me! I adore it and will wear it proudly!

The next item I found felt really strange when I took it out of the box. It turned out to be a bag of Hershey’s Special Dark Kisses. YUMMY! I love dark chocolate and with my nut allergies it’s hard to find uncontaminated chocolate. These are safe and so delicious. I found it hard not to eat the whole bag right then. Next was a package of point protectors and the cutest little tape measure. She also sent a lovely knitter’s journal so that I can keep a record of all the projects I knit. I think that maybe this weekend I’ll sit down with the Kisses and start filling out the journal. (c:

On the very bottom of the box were several sock patterns. One was a booklet put out by Lang with sock patterns for the whole family. My SP also took the time to look up some free patterns on the internet for me. They are great patterns that I hadn’t seen before and now I have to decide which ones to make with the lovely sock yarn she sent!! In the front are two skeins of Jawoll Cotton superwash by Lang in a lovely purple hue. The two balls that my SP wound for me are Shelridge Farms wool/nylon blend in a gorgeous green. The photo makes them look black but trust me they are a beautiful dark green. I can’t wait to cast on! I can’t thank my SP enough for her thoughtfulness and generosity. She’s the best!

I didn’t get to knit a lot last night. I was enjoying my goodies until my hubby got home and then we went to Wendy’s and Walmart. Something we like to call the “Old Married People Date.” I picked up a couple pairs of jeans and another pair of pants for work. But between last night and the time I have to knit before going to work, I did manage to get the back bib on the dickey for my Dad finished. Now I have the front and I’m done with his gift. I’m hoping that I can finish it up this weekend.

Well that’s all from my little place in the mitten. Have a great knitty weekend!

Let me begin with the leaves. My hubby sent me an email yesterday afternoon saying he was planning on leaf blowing our yard when he got home. I got to thinking about that and figured that since he doesn’t get home until just after 6pm that by the time he was half way finished it would be dark. So being the wonderful, loving wife I am, I decided that I would start the process for him. I went out to the garage and looked for the leaf blower. Ut oh . . . I forgot that he got rid of the electric blower and purchased a gas blower. I have no idea how to turn this thing on let alone which of the gazillion gas mixtures he has goes in it. So I did things the old fashioned way. I raked. And raked, and raked, and raked. I managed to get all the leaves in the front yard raked to the curb and had a fairly good start on the backyard by the time he got home. He showed me how to run the leaf blower and which gas to use but not before I managed to get 2 blisters.

I have a confession to make. I am sometimes not the best human to my cats. I have to say though, that I feel at least half the blame for this should go to the cat who was stupid enough to get in the closet in the first place. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Last night after I had brushed my teeth, I was walking down the hallway and the door to our (2×2 foot) coat closet was open. So I shut it. I never looked in it to be sure it was clear of kitties. I then went upstairs and went to bed. Around 3:30am I woke up, went downstairs to the bathroom, and went back to bed. Walking past this closet twice with no peep out of the cat inside. After getting back in bed I couldn’t fall asleep. I kept hearing strange noises that I couldn’t identify. I finally did go back to sleep. When I got up to take my shower, hubby asked me if I had seen our cat Cosmo. I said that no I hadn’t and that he hadn’t slept at my feet all night (which is unusual). Hubby said he had been hearing scratching noises since he had gotten up. We opened the closet door and out shot Cosmo. Poor kitty! He is doing fine despite his stressful experience. Though I’m sure he’ll be right back in the closet if he has a chance. He seemed a bit traumatized this morning but that could just be his normal neurosis, I’m not sure. He has been in the front window all morning but I think he’ll recover just fine. (I still think it’s partly his fault for being in the closet in the first place. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)

I’ve been making good progress on Dad’s Christmas gift. I finished the neverending six inches of 2×2 ribbing Monday night and started on the back bib yesterday morning. I didn’t get to work on it too much last night as the bandaid on my little finger covering my blister made it hard to tension the yarn. But it is coming along nicely and should be done by next week. Just click the picture if you want a larger view. This has become my TV knitting project as the 2×2 rib and stockinette is pretty mindless. I really enjoy the feel of the yarn as it moves through my fingers and the fabric it creates is so soft. This is definitely one of my favorite yarns to work with.

I’m going to close this with one of the funniest pictures I’ve seen in awhile. A friend of ours had this up on his fantasy football website and it just cracks me up. Welcome to the Mickey Mouse Club of the New Millennium . . .

Let’s start with the ranting and get that over with. For those who do not know, my job is to get problem tickets from the company helpdesk and then assign techs to work on the issue according to the particular campus the client is located on. We have 5 different campuses spread out over about 30 miles. So I get a high priority ticket for a client who’s location is listed as a building that has been unoccupied for over a year. I send the ticket back to the helpdesk asking them to verify the location since that is their job. They send it back with the comment “Verified location. Please assist.” So I figure this guy is over there for a meeting or something. I assign one of our techs to the ticket and let him know since this is an emergency. He calls the client and finds out that the client is located on our downtown campus about 10 miles away. So they lied to me. Did they think I wouldn’t find out? Another tech did the same thing last week. What is the point? If you didn’t verify the location the first time, just do it when I send the ticket back. Don’t lie about it. I let their management know so we’ll see how that works out. I’m also shorthanded on one of our busier campuses so that has been a mess too this morning. I’ve been looking for a nice solid brick wall to bang my head against but I haven’t found one I like yet.

Now on to some good stuff. Let’s start with the promised yarn pr0n. First up, from Knit Picks, we have Merino Style in Hollyberry for my Dad’s Christmas gift. I’ll be posting a picture of that WIP later. Then Wool of the Andes in Cloud for my Mom’s Christmas gift. She already knows what she is getting but I’m not going to post any pics until after Christmas. Then I also got some Wool of the Andes in Chestnut for a sweater for myself. I didn’t want to dig out all the balls I bought so you get a picture of one of each. I’m lazy, I know. But the stash is upstairs and I take the pictures downstairs and well I’m just lazy that’s all.

Next we have some yarn that I picked up at one of my local yarn stores. We have some Cascade Pastazza in a rust color to make mittens for my hubby. I let him pick out the color. I also picked up some Elsebeth Lavold Angora yarn in a lovely green to make some house socks for myself. I love the last pair I made with this yarn but I wish I had made the cuff longer. The pattern was for shorter socks but I want it to go above my ankle. More boring 2×2 rib, but these socks knit up quickly and are soft and warm. I am resisting the urge to cast on for them until I get Christmas gifts done.

I did manage to do some knitting this weekend. I started the dickey for my Dad for Christmas. It’s only 6 inches of 2×2 ribbing. I was happy that I was able to get it on a circular needle so I wouldn’t have to use dpn’s. I started out with the dpn’s but because the circle was not small like a sock or sleeve, the dpn’s flopped all around and I was always worried about twisting it. So while I might like making a mobieus, I’m not sure my Dad would like wearing one. So after two rounds on dpn’s I quickly switched over to circulars and have been happy ever since.

I also did some work on my Kiri. I have now finished section 1 and the first of 12 repeats of section 2. My lifeline has been inserted and I’m happily knitting along. I didn’t get it pinned out too well for this picture. I took it this morning before work and I was a little rushed for time. But I at least put it on a solid background so you can see the pattern this time. You can see a larger picture by clicking on it.

I also have a finished project. This is a really, really old project. In fact it isn’t knitting . . . it’s . . . crochet! Yes, I used to crochet all the time. I’ve had this afghan in the works for probably two years. It’s made with Lion Brand Homespun. I’ve left it languishing in a basket for at least a year and a half now. I decided yesterday to see if I could finish it up when my hands began to hurt from the endless 2×2 ribbing on the dickey. I wove in the ends this morning and it is now sitting in the washing machine. It was rather dusty after sitting in the basket for so long. Not the best for my allergies. But it’s soft and warm and will get lots of use while watching hockey in the basement rec room.

Since I started this post with a rant, it seems only fitting that I end it with a rant. What is up with blogger? I started this post at 10:46 this morning and have had nothing but problems getting my pictures uploaded. It’s now 12:20 and I am finally able to publish this. And it better publish . . . that’s all I have to say.

CHOCOLATE! I sure could use some right about now. Between the stress and PMS knocking on the door I think a large bowl of chocolate is in order.

Life news . . . well I took Monday and Tuesday off of work to well . . . uh . . . work. Work on cleaning house, packing and getting ready to move. We started Sunday and by Tuesday afternoon I had had enough. Our realtor had stopped by on Monday and had gone over some stuff with us and then on Tuesday afternoon we went to her office to sign the papers and get the house listed. Then the large pit in the stomach opened up and my stress level hit record highs. What happens if we get in a new house, this 2 month temporary job my hubby has doesn’t turn into something more permanent and I don’t have a job? New house, new mortgage and noone working . . . let the nightmares begin. By the time I went to bed I was a basketcase. The tears wouldn’t stop and I was so sick I wanted to die. As it turns out, hubby was having some of the same fears (though they weren’t manifesting themselves in uncontrollable tears and sobbing). We talked for a long time and finally came to the conclusion that we should wait until we have a better idea of what his job situation will be before we sell the house and move. So Wednesday morning he called our realtor and she pulled the listing for us. I felt badly about that but I feel so much better with our decision. And the best part . . . I’ve got a sparkling clean house that is organized! (Though half of my stuff is packed away.)

I didn’t do much knitting over my extended weekend. I sat down Sunday night and was so tired that I screwed up one of the Christmas gifts I’m working on. So all knitting was put on hold for a few days. Last night I fixed my mistake and managed to finish up that gift so I am making progress. No pictures because I don’t want the recipient to see it before Christmas. If you really want to see it let me know and I can email a picture to you. Tuesday my hubby took me to the LYS so I could buy yarn for some mittens he wants for Christmas. I let him pick out the color so I’m sure he’ll like it. I also managed to walk out of there with some more Elsebeth Lavold Angora to make myself another pair of house socks. I’ll try to take some pictures tonight and post the yarn pron for you all tomorrow.

Hubby started his new job today. He is in training today and tomorrow and will start on the helpdesk Monday morning. The hour drive each way will be a pain but he’ll be making considerably more than unemployment pays and I’m thankful that he was only off for a week and a half. Hopefully he’ll get something more steady and we’ll be able to move. (Especially after we did all that work.)

I’m going to finish up my hot cocoa and get back to work. It’s still freezing in my office area. Turn off the a/c already! I may need those socks to keep my feet warm at work this winter if they can’t figure out how to get the heat going. Sheesh!

We have pretty much decided that we are moving to the Grand Rapids area now. Hubby contacted our realtor yesterday and she is coming by on Monday and we’ll get the process started to put our house on the market and get a realtor up in Grand Rapids. I’ve taken Monday and Tuesday off from work so that we can clean house, start packing and get rid of clutter. Not my idea of a couple of days off but I thought it would be a good idea to have hubby’s help so I got to do it while he is still not working.

I placed an order with KnitPicks Monday night and it arrived yesterday. I didn’t get any pictures of my haul last night. Most of it was yarn for some Christmas gifts but I did get some yarn to make a sweater for me. I want to make this. I love the cable on the edge! I bought some KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in chestnut brown. It’s lovely and I can’t wait to get started but the Christmas gifts come first.

I started on my Mom’s gift last night. I can’t post pictures as she does read my blog (Hi Mom!) so you’ll have to wait until after Christmas to see what I’ve made for her. What I like about her gift is that it is simple enough to do while watching tv, especially hockey (Go WINGS!). For my Dad, I’m making a dickey. He prefers them to scarves. I bought KnitPicks Merino Style in a gorgeous red hue for it. His favorite color is red and the merino is so very, very soft. I hope it comes out nice.

I’m sitting in my new office at work freezing my tush off. Not that I can’t stand to lose some off of my tush, I’m just saying that it is arctic cold in here. It is 54 F (12 C) outside and the air conditioning is still on. Despite wearing a sweater, jeans and wool socks I am practically shivering. My toes are frozen solid and the only reason my fingers haven’t fallen off is that I’ve been typing to keep them warm. Maybe they’ll figure out how to turn on the heat over the weekend. In the meantime, I think it may be time for a knitting break to try to warm up. (wink)

Well maybe she did and I just choose to ignore her. Anywho, my life has been turned upside down lately. Last Friday was my hubby’s last day at work. His job has now been outsourced to India. Last week he was called back for a second interview for a job that sounded really great. So he drove back up to the Grand Rapids area (about 60 miles from our house) for a second interview, taking unpaid time off of work for this interview. He felt that it went really, really well and felt pretty confident that he would be offered the job. They told him they would make a decision either Friday or early this week. Well Monday came, no phone call . . . Tuesday, no phone call. Yesterday he got a letter in the mail thanking him for the opportunity to interview him but they had decided to go in a different direction. I was devastated. He then tells me that he had a weird vibe about the job after the second interview and maybe this is for the best. Now why didn’t he tell me that after the interview so I might not have set my hopes too high on this job? But things are looking up. Yesterday he interviewed for a temporary job with a company that is growing rapidly. It would be a two month contract but they hinted that there may be more opportunities after that contract is up. So he took the job since it’s better than unemployment and plans to keep looking in case he finds himself without any opportunities at this company. He starts with training next Thursday.

In the meantime we are contemplating selling our house and moving closer to where he will be working. I would plan on commuting until around the middle of December and then quitting my job and finding one closer to where we end up living. That will also hopefully give me the opportunity to spend some time with my family at Christmas since we are hosting my parents, my brother and his fiance this year. I’ve taken off work next Monday and Tuesday so that hubby and I can clean the house from top to bottom, start packing up some stuff and getting rid of the clutter. At least I’ll get paid!

In knitting news, a couple of things to report. This weekend was a bust as far as knitting was concerned. No matter what I worked on, I screwed it up. Apparently I did not pick up 294 stitches on my bolero as it’s not coming out right. So it’s sitting in my knitting bag hopefully adjusting it’s attitude. I have this beautiful autumn colored sock yarn so I decided to start a pair of quick socks. I managed to mess up sock number 1 somehow and I need to figure out if I’ll frog back or just keep going. Here’s a pic anyway and fortunately you can’t see the screwed up part. Maybe it will just become a design feature . . .

I also cast on for a lace shawl. I am determined that lace will not kick my butt this time. I decided to try the Kiri pattern. I got to row 29 and was short one stitch. Rassenfrassen . . . stupid lace. At least I had inserted a life line since I couldn’t figure out where I went wrong by tinking. So I frogged back to the lifeline and have managed to get past row 29 with the correct number of stitches. I know this picture isn’t all that good. The striped chair upholstery is not a very good background. Next picture I’ll try to find a solid background so the lace shows up better.

It boggles my mind to think that I have a burning desire to take on a knitted lace project when I have all this stress in my life. Do you think I’m masochistic in some weird, demented way?

Deena tagged me so here it is. (Deena, are you by chance my SP? Hmmm . . . my SP’s packages are post marked California and you’re from California . . . coincidence?)
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five people to do the same.

So I started backtracking to see if I could find the mistake. Well that was exciting!

Now, who to tag? How about Kirsti, Amylovie, Monkee, Helen and Stephy.