Knitamazoo(tm)

Is this thing on? Hello. My name is Knitamazoo and I am a poor blogger. There, I’ve admited it. I have no excuses for being such a bad blogger, at least not any good excuses. But the following is my story. Grab a bowl of popcorn, something to drink and pull up a comfortable chair . . . it’s story time.

A long time ago, I was being a very good blogger and was blogging often about my progress on the Secret of the Stole II. I got to clue 5 and was happily knitting along when I discovered this:

See the lovely color variation? Oh Malabrigo, how I hate to love thee. I love this yarn, really I do. I picked up an extra hank, from the same LYS where I bought the first 3, verified I had the same dye lot and I got this. I was hoping that the lighter yarn was the rogue hank, but no the darker one was. So I put this aside and . . . cast on again. Yes, I cast on again. I knit like a mad woman. I knit every free moment I could. On weekends I would sequester myself in the basement and knit. I knit until I thought my fingers would fall off. But it was totally worth it. I managed to catch up by the last hint and ended up with a gorgeous stole.

I am still knitting lace. I am furiously trying to finish my Mystic Waters shawl. I am almost done with chart H and then it’s on to the last chart. But I have hit a snag and have a mistake that I couldn’t figure out Sunday. (I’m thinking it has more to do with the fact that I was hormonal and forgot to take my “happy pills” the night before, but I could be wrong.) So I’ve been waiting for some quiet time to sit down and see if I can do lace surgery. Maybe I’ll even take pictures and blog about it.

I have cast on and started Moroccan Days, a stunning stole pattern by Susan Pandorf. This is my first time knitting with beads and I’m loving it. The process is a bit slow but the final product is so worth it.

I am also working on the Shoulder Shawl from Victorian Lace Today in Claudia Handpaints silk lace yarn. Totally yummy! This is a great pattern for variagated yarn as the colors have not obscured the lace pattern at all. I’ll have to get a picture up.

I am also toying with the idea of stopping by the LYS tonight to grab some lace weight in white. I would like to knit up Fibertrend’s Angel Lace Shawl for my mom. The only problem with that is I would be on a definite schedule. The parental units are coming to vist us the first weekend in May and I would love to present this as a Mother’s Day gift. Am I setting myself up for disaster?

So my Year of Lace continues as spring has sprung here in southwest Michigan. The trees are budding, the birds are singing and the Red Wings are in the playoffs. Gotta love spring in Michigan! GO WINGS!

I’m running out of witty post titles to go along with all this lace I’m knitting. (Truth be told, my post titles are never very witty to begin with.) Post titles aside, the lace knitting continues.

Friday brought about the next clue in the Secret of the Stole ii (SotSii) and I had to fight the urge to blow off work and knit. My boss kept me pretty busy for a Friday though. So when I got home the knitting commenced. I worked on the stole for several hours Friday evening and Saturday. On Sunday I only had a few rows to go and I finished it up in the early afternoon. The more I knit this pattern the more I love it! Now I can’t wait for next Friday and the new clue! The picture is kind of dark (what can I do? It’s winter in Michigan . . . no sun). But it gives you a good idea of what the pattern looks like. I just love watching the pattern emerge from my needles. I am smitten with lace!

So now that I’ve finished clue 3 in the SotSii, I had to have lace to work on. Right now my Mystic Waters is kind of languishing. The rows are getting so long and I just don’t want to work on it. What to do? Cast on of course! For another lace shawl! I have the pattern for the Flower Basket shawl by Evelyn Clark. I pulled out some Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud that I had and started this shawl. I’ve been having issues with one of the rows and I’m not sure that I really like the yarn knitted up. I may look through my yarn stash and use something different. So many options.

First the lace. Clue #2 for the Secret of the Stole II came out on Friday. I sat down after work Friday night and dove right in. After 15 minutes of trying to figure out why I didn’t have the right number of stitches (lost a YO somewhere), I fixed the issue and went on my merry way. I worked on it for several hours Friday night, Saturday afternoon and finished up the clue on Sunday. I am totally loving how this stole is turning out. I can’t wait for the next clue. Just another reason to love Fridays!

Nicki, (eastskye on Ravelry) has tagged me. I haven’t been tagged in quite awhile so this will be fun.

4 Jobs I’ve Held:

1. greenhouse/farm labor
2. library assistant
3. secretary/receptionist
4. computer technician

4 Movies I’ve Watched Over and Over Again:

1. Pirates of the Carribbean
2. Sound of Music
3. Princess Bride
4. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Christmas eve tradition)

4 Places I’ve Been:

1. Hawaii
2. Cancun
3. Canada
4. California

4 Places I’ve Lived:

1. Wrightstown, NJ
2. Frederick, MD
3. Honolulu, HI
4. Kalamazoo, MI

Part A: 4 TV Shows I Watch:

1. CSI: Vegas
2. CSI: NY
3. Bones
4. Dr. Who 

Part B: 4 Radio Shows I Listen To:

1. I don’t listen to the radio on any regular basis. 

4 Things I Look Forward To:

1. Visiting my family
2. Vacation
3. Knitting
4. Relaxing

4 Favorite Foods:

1. Chocolate
2. Pasta
3. Strawberries (especially paired with chocolate!)
4. Apples

4 Places I’d Rather Be:

1. Warm, tropical beach
2. Hawaii
3. Home
4. With family

4 People I email regularly:

1. I only email my mom regularly . . . I’m really bad with the email
    

4 People to Tag:
Gee, I don’t know 4 people well enough to tag. I am just now getting back into blogging. I’ll have to think on this for a bit.

I am totally addicted! I got paid for teaching at my LYS last night and in true fashion I spent my earnings on more yarn. Now usually I pick up sock yarn or yarn for a particular sweater project, but not last night. I did pick up some Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Solid in lilac, but all the rest was lace yarn. It seems that my lace yarn stash wants to compete with my sock yarn stash. I must be crazy!

I picked up some Skacel Merino Lace in a light gray, Baruffa Cashwool in a lovely purple, and I couldn’t pass up the Mmmmmmmmalabrigo Lace Weight in a gorgeous colorway called Forest. It just sorta jumped into my arms and begged me to take it home and make it into something fabulous. I’m not sure what it wants to be yet, but I do know that I will enjoy petting it and loving it until it tells me. And maybe I’ll even call it George.

Just a quick post to share the pictures of my SotSii. Enjoy!

And a close up.

I am in love with lace knitting. I used to want to knit socks all the time (and I still love socks) but right now it is all about the lace. I am finally at a point in my knitting journey where lace patterns are really starting to make sense to me. Now I’ve done feather and fan and other small lace patterns on socks. (Lace socks - double the love!) But I have always wanted to knit intricate lace shawls and such. I missed some lace KAL’s last year and sadly sat on the sidelines wishing I could be part of the fun. I got very excited when I managed to sign up for Mystic Waters before membership was closed but was not able to cast on with everyone else. I am still behind on that one. I have completed 228 rows out of 367. Someday it will be done. I hope.

I also managed to get signed up for the Secret of the Stole II. Clue #1 came out Friday and I finished it on Friday! How’s that for excitement? I’m using Malabrigo Lace weight yarn in the Dark Earth colorway. I’m knitting the stole on size 4 Addi Lace needles. I am totally in love with this stole too. I couldn’t stop knitting Friday until I had finished it. Now I can’t wait for the next clue to come out. At least I have my Mystic Waters to work on. And I’ve now realized that I never uploaded a picture of SotSii to my server. I’ll try to do that tonight.

I have also signed up for the Mystic Light KAL. Sign-ups are still open for that one. You can visit Anna’s website for more information on sign-ups. Mystic Waters is so lovely that I can’t wait to see how this one turns out! Looks like I’ll be knitting lace for a good long time!

Sleep. Something your body needs. Some bodies need more than others. Some bodies can function on little to no sleep. Not this body. I have always been an 8 hour a night girl. I can function on 7 but 8 is my preferred goal. I have not acheived this goal in a very long time. I go to bed at a fairly decent hour (around 10 most nights), I fall asleep pretty quickly, I usually do fine until about 1:30 or 2:00am. I wake up. It could be I’m hot (or cold but mostly hot) or I need to use the uh . . . “facilities” but most likely I just wake up. No reason. I just wake up. I can usually go back to sleep but then I toss and turn and wake up every half hour or so. Fitful, interrupted sleep is just as bad as no sleep for this body. I have my suspicions on why this is happening (and I’m seeing my doctor in a couple of weeks). I have started taking magnesium, which should help but it’s not really working.

I feel like a zombie most of the time. I am constantly tired and cranky. Why is a good night’s sleep so ellusive? And I won’t even get into knitting while you’re this tired. Well maybe I will (but just a little). I am still working on the Mystic Waters Lace Shawl. I completed row 200 last night and thought it was a good place for a lifeline. I started counting my stitches to make sure all was well. Up to the first marker . . . good . . . up to the center stitch marker . . . good . . . up to the next marker . . . over one stitch. Hmmmmm . . . maybe the marker got moved, let me count the remaining stitches . . . just exactly what I should have. How did I get one stitch off? I counted and re-counted. Same number of stitches each time. I checked my sitches against the chart and all seemed well, so why did I have an extra stitch? I finally gave up and put it away for the night. Today I went back to the chart and counted the stitches in the section in question. Guess what? It was the exact number of stitches I had on my needle! Never count stitches (on the chart or your needle) when you haven’t gotten enough sleep.

You see, I’m not sure what month it is. Really . . . the calendar says January. Last week we got 18″ of snow. Beautiful, fluffy white snow. The world was a winter wonderland and it felt like the first part of January.

Sunday came and with it warmer air. The snow began to melt and caused a nice thick fog. By Monday, we had hit 60F and the snow was gone. Last night, we had severe (yes, I said severe) thunderstorms and even tornado warnings! Here is a shot of the radar from around 10:30pm last night. It seemed like the middle of August with all the lightning and thunder going on. I hunkered down in the basement rec room and knit.

Today, is still wet and rainy but warm. They are calling for another high temperature around 60F. Then tonight the bottom drops out and it starts snowing again.

Mother Nature must be going through PMS or something. She can’t seem to make up her mind and it has left me very confused and befuddled.

Despite my confusion, last night was a wonderful knitting night. I am zooming along on my Mystic Waters Shawl. The KAL has finished but I’m still plugging away at it. I want to get as much done as I can over the next couple of weeks because the Secret of the Stole II starts on January 18th. I need to swatch for that yet too. So much lace, so little time. I am planning on using my Malabrigo Lace yarn in the Dark Earth colorway for this one. I will leave you with a progress pic of my Mystic Waters Shawl . . . I am totally in love with this pattern!

After a late night of partying with friends watching a hockey game and lying on the couch until the ball dropped, I woke up this morning to this. Lots and lots of snow. It looks like a fresh new start to the new year. They are calling for more snow today and it could snow in amounts only measurable by feet for all I care since I have nowhere to go today. The plan is to sit at home and work on this.

“This” is my Mystic Waters Lace Shawl, a mystery shawl KAL that started last year, October or November, and finished up just before Christmas. Since I had Christmas knitting and secret sock pal knitting that just had to be done, I had to wait to cast on for it. I am now up through row 122 and I’m loving it! I wanted to work on it during my Christmas holiday, but with the inlaws here (and their dog) it was nigh near impossible to get any knitting done. So, while I have a few days off for New Year’s, I’ve been working on it all I can.

It still seems like Christmas around here, even though the decorations came down on Sunday. Santa made one more stop at our house yesterday and dropped off this. We’ve needed a new refrigerator for years. We’ve been talking about a new refrigerator for years. Finally this year when my husband won his fantasy football league, he said that his winnings would go towards a brand new refrigerator. Off to the store we went and picked out this beauty (which was on sale I might add). We absolutely love it and I’m so happy to be rid of the creamy/yellow one that has been here since we moved in 10 years ago. Now all of our appliances match and the kitchen looks good. There was some question about whether or not it would fit though the archway that separates the hall from the kitchen. We measured it without the doors and it would fit. What we didn’t know was that once the doors were off there were still a couple of pieces of metal that stuck out and the guys finally had to remove them in order to get it in the kitchen. I had to hide with the cats as I was afraid that it would have to go back to the store. But the delivery guys were fantastic and they got it in for us. It cooled down quickly and I was able to load it up yesterday afternoon.

In other knitting news, I’ve been working on a pair of River Rapids socks from Sockbug for myself. I knit this pattern for my secret sock pal and loved it. It’s an easily memorized pattern that makes wonderfully stretchy socks. I’m working them in Koigu KPPPM in a lovely blue colorway. I’m using US size 2 needles and I switched to size 1 for the heel and sole. The first one is done and fits beautifully! I can’t wait to get the other one done.

Now that the guests have gone home, the decorations have been put away for another year, the cats have returned to a normal state (well, normal for them anyway) and the snow has fallen, it’s time to put on some tea, wrap up in a blanket and knit til my heart’s content. May 2008 be a year of peace, happiness and prosperity for you and yours. Happy New Year!

Procrastination is definitely my achiles heel. I am a born procrastinator. I have always procrastinated . . . for everything. But not this time. I was not going to wait until the last possible minute to knit up the socks for my SSK pal. I made plans. I made schedules (you know, I will have the cuff knit by this day, the leg by this day, finish the gusset then, etc.). I actually stuck to the schedule. In fact I even blew the schedule out of the water by finishing some parts early. And my reward? A beautiful pair of socks finished . . . wait for it . . . 3 weeks before the due date!! I must admit that they are not totally finished. I need to kitchner the toe on the second sock and weave in the ends, but all of the knitting is finished and I can relax and knit what I want to now.

So, since I acheived my goal, I sat down yesterday afternoon and cast on for my Mystic Waters shawl KAL. It’s a mystery shawl with the “clues” coming out every Wednesday. I am 3 weeks behind, but only because I refused to let myself cast-on for it until the socks were finished. I knit around 55 rows yesterday and I am loving it! I don’t mind being behind most others in the KAL. It just means that I have the benefit of learning from their experiences, getting corrected charts before knitting them and seeing everyone’s beautiful progress pictures. I am using Baruffa Cashwool in a lovely dark blue and knitting it on US 4 Addi Lace needles. It’s a gorgeous pattern and I’m really excited about knitting it!

Now that the socks are done, I will return to knitting on Mr. Greenjeans. I am down to the ribbed cable pattern on the bottom of the sweater. This is a fun, easy pattern that it good for tv knitting. And of course the Malabrigo yarn I’m using is so incredibly soft that knitting this sweater is pure heaven. But last night I decided to knit a few rows on the Jersey Shore Weekender since I haven’t knit on it in awhile. No picture as it hasn’t changed much at all.