Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Happy Memorial Day

Hello everyone....I hope everyone had a great and relaxing Memorial Day weekend....Thank You to all our service men and women for all that you do. I just realized that last week I called my post Maniac Monday and it was a Tuesday....I guess that is just one way to show it really was a Maniac week since I did not even know what day it was. I had a great relaxing weekend.....I went to Chalk Bluff with my boyfriend, Jaime, and his boys. I invited Paige and Antonio, but she did not want to come and she had to work. Plus, this past weekend was Antonio's Dad's birthday...so it was good that Antonio got to go to the lake with his dad. Here was my knitting view for most of the weekend:

I have been having problems with my clothes dryer lately...it was making a very loud noise (the bearings rubbing together or something like that) and then it started ruining clothes....there was a piece of felt at the back of the drum that came started hanging and then got tangled with clothes and it was pulled out (the dryer is only 6 years old), well, after the felt was gone, the clothes started to get stuck between the drum and the back wall, when you pulled your clothes out...you would have black marks all over it....then, it started to tear the clothes.  The straw broke when it tore Antonio's favorite Nijna Turtle shirt, and Paige sent me a text with this picture.


So what does a good grandma do?  She orders 2 new ninja turtles shirts....


and shops for a new dryer.  I got another one almost exactly like my own....mostly because I did not want to buy a whole new washer/dryer set (since my other house still has not sold) but I wanted the new dryer to fit on my existing pedestal, and kind of match my washer....it is not an exact match, the new one is a little lighter of a 'platinum' color, but it fits on the pedestal and looks okay (I think).


For knitting this week, I finished the gussets of both of the green socks.....not just 2 lengths of the foot in all knit, 2 toes and I should be good to go.....new tour de sock starts Sunday so I better get with it if I want these finished before the next tour!



I also finished the Hiya Hiya Shadowboxing Socks KAL...I wanted them finished before Camp Loopy and Tour De Socks too.....




So, a little more news on mine and my daughter's moving and living arrangements....the original plan was that my daughter and her best friend would live in my house (the one I just moved into) and I would eventually move in with my boyfriend, Jaime.....well, without making a really long story (and this is pretty much not knitting related, but ties to it at the end)...everyone has realized that it might be better Paige to live on her own with Antonio...so Paige found a cute 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment that she thinks she can afford....and I will live in my house alone with my 3 dogs (one of the reasons for me not to move to Jaime's).  I am actually really excited about this.....my son was worried that I would not like it and I told him "Do you know what it feels like to walk into the kitchen and if there is a dirty bowl on the counter then you put it there and only you put it there?" and he replied, "No" and I replied, "Neither do I but I am looking forward to it!"

So what does this have to do with knitting?

As Paige and I are going through the house as to what couch she can take and what we will need to buy she asked me if I would make her some place mats.  I logged her on to ravelry and she picked out these Sunday Brunch place mats.  I ordered the book and started this past weekend...I love it when Paige asks me to knit her something!





So I have one of four place mats done (that spot in middle is a lobster claw stitch marker from Vanessa at Vintage Rose)......if a finished object is a FO and a half finished object is a HO, is a quarter finished object a QUO or QO??

After posting all those pictures, I see that I am wearing my new PJ's in all the pictures but the last one....I really got these new PJ's them for my soon to be knitting retreat at my sister's lakehouse (in 2 weeks), but I ended up wearing the majority of this past weekend.....So, to all of you who think I knit so fast....I really don't....I just knit all the time (and obviously do not get out of my PJ's ever).....ha, ha!

I hope everyone has an awesome week....I will be a knitting fool every minute I can to get ready for Camp Loopy and Tour De Sock...my Tour De Sock team is Team Roasted....I am getting a new Bag Set and sock sack from Awesome Grannie with Coffee material....She put up lots of Sock Socks this past weekend and some new patterns....you should check them out...I have my eye on the sundae sock sack!



Happy Happy Happy Knitting everyone.....and GO SPURS GO!  BEAT THE THUNDER!!!

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Maniac Monday

So....I feel like I have been running around like a maniac....and I think I have gotten a bit of knitting done over the weekend.  I went to see my son, Erich, this past weekend so I was hoping for lots of knitting time in the car (6-7 hours one way).  My daughter, Paige, and grand daughter, Celeste, went with me.  However, the car knitting was not meant to me.  I drove the first two hours there, then Paige took over, but it was too dark for me to knit.  I tried to sleep, but couldn't....then I drove the whole way home.  I did get some knitting in over the weekend.

I finished my Samadhi:


I worked a bit on my Spire (I know it does not look much bigger, but I promise it is)...sorry the lighting is weird:


I worked on my Hiya Hiya Shadowboxing socks (not much but a repeat and a half done on one sock):


And then the 'OLD' sock....I mentioned this before, but I started this sock about a year ago for Tour de Sock and I kind of want to get it finished before this years Tour de Sock starts....I finished the cable pattern on one leg (about 10-12 rows) and then got both of the socks thru the heel flap and heel turn.  I picked up stitches and am about to start my gusset.  The cable pattern was supposed to be finished on the foot of the sock, but I am not going to do that.  I am going to go with plain stockinette....I hope it does not look too weird just stopping the pattern, but that is the plan.  These socks will probably go to Paige...she does not like a long leg and these are like 8" (my longest leg ever I think), but she loves green....so she wins....or they go in the gift basket!


Okay, so I have a couple of Miss Babs Yarn enhancements.....I have a friend that used to live here in SA and she now lives in VA...she went the Maryland Sheep Fiber festival and knows how much I love Miss Babs Yarn, so she got me a skein in the exclusive colorway for the show.....THANK YOU SARA....I miss you!!


Now this next enhancement has a story...these pics are from the lady I got the yarn from (her name is Carina):



The story starts when Carina (crini23 on ravelry) posted in the Miss Babs Forum how she had a skein of this yarn and wanted to make her daughter a Miss Winkle...but the colors were so different because her skein was very orange and her daughter did not like orange...I posted how much I love orange and jokingly told her to send the scarf my way (I thought the scarf was completed and she had already offered it to her daughter who did not like it) and that I was also planning on making a Miss Winkle shawl with my Deep Sea Jellyfish yarn I had in the Cosmic base....well, she posted pictures and proposed a swap...she said her Miss Winkle was already started but she could frog the yarn.  I agreed to the swap and told her to just sent it the way it was and I would try to match her gauge....what I did not know what she had already knitted almost 1/2 of the skein (there is 53.5 grams not knitted)...so, I will see if I can match her gauge and see if I can finish it....she also sent me some of my favorites from Germany.  I loved the package (which I got today).   I do have to admit that when I first opened it, I felt like such a putz because I did not offer to send her anything from the USA...I just sent the yarn...and look at all the goodies she sent me....I had told her I was born in Germany and asked me what some of my favorite items were....and then she sent them to me.....Some days I really need to pull my head out of my you know what and think of these awesome gestures!  I was in such a hurry to ship it to her since I know how long it takes to go from USA to Germany, that I only sent the yarn.....Carina....I cannot say THANK YOU enough!!  And I am sorry your package was 'just yarn'!  I will ship your knitting needle back, so I hope to send some goodies then!



On the non knitting front, I got Antonio a Play Doh Fun Facory Deluxe set....he loves it!  Celeste loved it too and now there is one ordered from her Dad on the way to her house.....I only snapped a pic of Antonio playing with it (I was not quick enough to get one with Celeste)...plus, Antonio is much more of a ham and says 'Cheese' for me.



I did get a picture of Celeste riding Antonio's mini tricycle, and Antonio dressed up as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle......




Happy Happy Happy Knitting!



Thursday, May 15, 2014

Enhancements Week(s)!

Happy Thursday everyone!  Did you have a great Mother's Day?  I hope you did!  Paige got me some beautiful flowers with a home made card and I got a card from my son too!


I have not done as much knitting as I usually do....I guess I have been busier than normal.  I did work on finished some socks for Darlene....she is crazy busy sewing bags for her new shop and I wanted to help her out (since she does SOOOOO much for me, it was a tiny way to say thank you).....these are for 2 of her grandkids.....



I knitted a little on my Samadhi...I am just about 1/2 way done and have about 58 grams left.


I know I have been telling you guys what a sock kick I am on....well, I could not resist casting on for the Shadowboxing socks in the Hiya Hiya May/June KAL....when I went to my nephew's confirmation a few weeks ago, I was knitting on socks and my mom was bragging on me a little (hey, she is proud of me!) and telling the ladies that I do not really sell any of my stuff (because I do not want to turn my love into a chore) but that I just enjoy knitting the items and most of the time I give the items away (which is all true).....so my sister's sister-in-law (follow that?) mentioned how much she would love a pair and that her favorite color was purple.....I resisted and resisted and resisted, telling myself that I will make her the first pair of socks for Tour de Sock out of purple...but I caved.....and I casted these on (my first Tour de Sock will still be in purple out of that Invictus yarn I showed you guys last Friday....so we will see which pair she gets).




Sadly, that is just about all on my knitting front...but I have quite a few stash enhancements to share with you.....I was kicking myself when I did not take advantage of the sport weight felici sock yarn that Knit Picks discontinued over a year ago...so this time I wanted some sock weight before it is discontinued....I got Jingle and Lighthouse...



Then, when Darlene heard me talk about starting a new pair of purple socks for my sister's sister-in-law, she offered me this yarn in Foxglove....I may still keep it ;)


When I ordered my camp loopy yarn, I could not decide on the color at the time and also ordered Cobalt Hydroxide and Kinetic Energy (pictures from The Loopy Ewe)....



But in the end, the XRay won and it will be my Camp Loopy Yarn for Project 1....I have always found it fascinating the difference between how yarn looks twisted up in a hank and wound out into a cake.....Here is Xray both ways...what a difference.



Again on the lines of being on a sock kick...Stacie from MustStash, had some preorder for her Martian Rainbow...I could not resist....and I am glad I did not resist...I love this yarn!


Vanesa's Vintage Rose Loves shop finally reopened after the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival....so I stocked up.....I love all her markers!  I got lots of lobster claw ones this time.


I also got in my Hostess prize from Hiya Hiya for hostessing the Waves Scarf KAL....Thank you Qianer and Hiya Hiya....I now have both the small and large interchangeable sets with my name lasered on the needles!!  LOVE THESE!




My last stash enhancement(s) from the last couple of weeks are Bags from Bags by AwesomeGrannie.....she is my best friend and I am super proud of her for getting her shop opened...I had to snag a couple of bags just for me.......I got a cute critter sock sack:



Matching Critter bag set...I love the paw prints inside:



Camp Loopy in White:


Market Days:


And one of my favorites (that I cannot believe has not sold out).....the Circus!!!!!


I know, I know....I am a Bag Ho!!!  But can one really ever have enough bags?

Well, I am sure this post has been far too long for you....sorry about that, but it is mostly pictures.  I hope everyone saw my free sock pattern I posted a few days ago here....may by catch my sock kick bug.



Happy Happy Happy Knitting!