Monday, January 26, 2015

Finally, Some Knitting Time!

Well, almost all the sickies are out of my house, and I seem to have been able to fit in some knitting time this week.

I finished Antonio's socks....I also broke one of my new dyakcraft 3.5" Darn Pretty Needles, but DyakCraft is replacing it....no worries.



This past week was Darlene's birthday....we all know how much I love her and how much she does for me....so I wanted to get her something awesome (as awesome as she is).....Darlene watches The Walking Dead...and she loves Zombies....back in December, Susan from Desert Vista Dyeworks had a whole line of "Zombody's......"  There was Zombody's Love Ewe, Zombody's Poppin the Cork, Zombody, It's Cold Outside....But Darlene's favorite was Zombody's Kissing Santa Claus....I ordered her this yarn on December 6th....but it did not make it to me till January 20th.  I also got her a set of Signature DPN's.  While I prefer Magic Loop, she prefers DPN.....well, she loved it all and cast on right away...that always makes a gift giver feel good.


It all even went perfect with her Knit One, Sip Two wine glass and her ZOMBIE Bag by Awesome Grannie Project Bag.....

 She is truckin right along!



At the same time, I ordered myself some Poodle Skirt Yarn from Susan....now, this does not count as breaking my yarn diet, because I bought them back in December!


I also got myself some new sock knitting needles....I got the DyakCraft Heavy Metal Set.  The set comes with one set of tips in each size 0, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3....but I do not use 0, 2.5 or 3...so I asked for two pairs of 1 (2.25 mm), two pairs of 1.5 (2.50 mm) and two pairs of 2 (2.75 mm)....they are so wonderful at DyakCraf, that they said yes!!

Here is my set....but my 1.5's and 2's are both on pairs of socks already......


I started on my poodle skirt socks right away....and I started with my 1.5's....Darlene is so awesome, she made me a new medium bag set for my socks along with needle holders....I have always wanted needle holders....and I love them!



Once I finished the heels....I jumped up to my 2's....this is my first fish lips kiss heel.....I enjoyed knitting it.....so far it feels good....I need to finish an entire sock before the jury is out on this heel.




Since I freed up my 1.5 needles.....I was just in a sock addiction mode....and had to cast on my turtle purl yarn in the trench coat colorway (which is like burberry!)....I cannot get to the small stripe of red/burgundy!  So here are my 1.5's at use again!


Then......Darlene talked me into starting another Weigh It Shawl....I thought I would try the Weigh It Shawl 2......so I pulled out my Volcanic Eruption in Yowza and cast on


But I really like the shape of the Weigh It Shawl better....so I frogged and restarted.


Then, Darlene saw my Volcanic Eruption and she wanted to make a dark colored one....she she went through her stash and wound up her Masquerade and started that one as a Weigh It Shawl.....



I also have a skein of Masquerade in Yowza (and Katahdin).....so now I want to cast on with my Masquerade.....do you see this vicious cycle I get myself into?

Besides the shawl and two pairs of socks, the only other thing I have knit on was the 'A Day to Remember' shawl....It is coming along nicely....I was 9 days behind when I pulled it out this past weekend....so I will need to redo my calendar/chart so I can still get this one done by early February.


I have been doing pretty good on my yarn diet (hey, I made it 26 days so far)....then, in my inbox this morning was a link to some gorgeous self striping yarn for the super bowl....no, I cannot get the yarn in time for the super bowl....but my mother loves the seattle seahawks colors...and I want the patriots yarn for socks for me and Antonio....what is a girl on a yarn diet supposed to do?

 
Stay tuned for next week to see if I bought any!


My last knitting item is a stash enhancement from a wonderful lady in the UK.  Her name is Amanda (she is moo2moo on ravelry)....she and I are both on the RAK thread in the HiyaHiya Forum....she offered to make bags for some members and being the bag ho that I am, I jumped on the band wagon.  She asked me all sorts of questions as to what I wanted and sent me pictures along the way....well, my bags came.....I LOVE THEM.  They are part corduoy, and they are pink, purple, black and grey.  She has the cutest stitching on them too.  There is a top part that either just folds into the bag, or comes up with a drawstring closer....One of the straps on my crocheted bags broke, so this is a perfect filler....I have carried this large bag around since the day it came.  Thank you so much Amanda!  I hope you like your Hunter Hammersen Book I had sent to you as a RAK!





Well Ladies and Gentlemen....that is all I have.  I have a small surgery scheduled for this Wednesday so I hope it gives me some great knitting time......I will leave you with some cute sayings I got from Alice on the LSSK group (and I am sneaking in a picture of Antonio with a donut....I watched him most of this past weekend because his great grandmother was out of town).....




 My family knows better than this....they will not get hand knit items if they do this.


Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Whirlwind Week

WOW....I have had quite a week!  I hate to say it...but I have hardly knit a stitch in the last week.....It all started when Paige called Wednesday and said the daycare called and Antonio had a fever.  She asked if I could go pick him up.  I left work early to get him...he was okay....till the evening....his breathing became more and more labored and at 1 am off to the ER we went.....home at 4:30 am with prescriptions for inhaler, zyrtec, and nasonex.

I watched Antonio all day Thursday (Paige came in evening and spent the night...she missed the whole er visit because I did not call to wake her...no sense in both of us being up all night)....she worked Friday and I watched Antonio all Friday....she picked up Antonio late Friday night as I developed the sniffles and headache.  Saturday morning came with a very stuffy head, but I went to get Celeste, and we went out of town to visit my son Saturday and Sunday.  This is a long drive back and forth, so I came home late Sunday (still sick), dropped off Celeste at home and met Paige at my house for her to drop off Antonio again so I could watch him Monday.  Since it was Martin Luther King day, I had off work and daycare was closed and I watched Antonio all day yesterday.  During all this time, I did not knit a stitch......until yesterday....and yesterday I started some socks for Antonio.

When Paige brought Antonio on Sunday evening, she brought him in pajamas and slippers.  When we got up Monday, I realized that she had not packed socks or shoes....I found some shoes of his at my house, but no socks.  So, I started a pair and let him pick out the yarn.  I did not finish them (maybe today), but I was really going through knitting withdrawals and had to knit (yes, I had plenty of other things to knit on, but why not start something new?)

Here are Antonio's socks (they are a little big, but that boy is growing like a weed!)



Do you notice the new bag set?  Yup, I got a new bag set (yes, I am a bag ho!).....it is crosses and I love it! Darlene makes the most awesome bags!


The only other things I knitted in this week was the Piano Princess Shrug XII


And the A Day to Remember Shawl (I am not sure there is any change here from last week).


That is it in the knitting department....pretty lame for a self proclaimed 'knitphomaniac', but I did have a crazy week.  I hope to knit more this week!

My parents came by yesterday to bring me medicine and some home cooked soup from mom....they took Antonio for a couple of hours to a local park (that is when I got to knit on the socks).....my mother must really trust me because she left behind her perfect burnt orange brahmin purse (I love this purse....again, I know I am a bag/purse ho!)....


That is pretty much it for me....I did see some cute pictures on the internet/facebook I wanted to share....a wonderful knitting spot, and a game show question....did you know the answer?  Plus, a picture of Antonio Sleeping (that I think is just adorable) a couple of pictures of Antonio feeling better while at the park with my parents (yup, that is my mom pushing him in the swing).







Happy Happy Happy Knitting!

Monday, January 12, 2015

Monday Monday!

Well, it is the 2nd Monday of the year and things have been crazy for me....how about you?

I have lots to talk about to I better get with it!

I am going to start with some Stash Enhancements.....I have a few, but I have not bought any yarn (for myself) this year!  So I have kept to my yarn diet (Yes, I know it is only the 12th, but still!)

I have mentioned Darn Pretty Needles or DyakCraft needles to you in the past.....well, I got both sets of my Darn Pretties last week....and a set of the Northern Lights.  I love all these needles.  I already had the 5" hazelnut wood ones, but I sent them back tot he company to be changed from regular tip to lace tip....and I love these lace tips!  Then, I finally got in my 3.5" that I ordered in the Vermont Apple wood.....and, I also got my Northern Lights (metal).

5" Hazelnut

3.5" Vermont Apple


Case Color for the 3.5" needles.


Northern Lights 5"


And while on the topic of needles.....a friend of mine, Mickie, designed an interchangeable needle holder....well, I bribed her with yarn (the only skein of yarn I have purchased in 2015) to sew one for me (since I do not sew).  I put all my Hiya Hiya Needles in it and I LOVE it.  Thank you Mickie!





My next stash enhancement is a little different....it is like a scientific test tube....I got 25 of these and the reason I got them was to hold darning needles to weave in ends.  You all know I have a LOT of project bags and I wanted to put a Chibi in each bag....but by golly, those suckers are expensive!  So, Darlene also wanted to put Chibi's in each of her project bags, but again, they are expensive.  Now each of us have several darning needles.....but nothing to hold them in within the notions bag....so Darlene is really the one that found these.....and they are awesome....just a tiny test tube to hold a single needle with a screw top lid.


Aren't they cute?  I think they will do the trick perfectly!

Okay....so onto the knitting!

Remember the shawl I started last weekend?  It is the Weigh It Shawl by Susan B Anderson and Darlene (Awesome Grannie) is having a KAL for this shawl in her ravelry group.....well, I finished it...and I LOVE IT...it was such an easy knit and I almost feel like casting on another one because it wears so well!


Yup, I am wearing it today!



I also worked on my Shawl for my Miss Babs Final Destination to Argentina...this shawl is called A Day To Remember, and it is by Joji Locatelli.  It is also a very easy pattern and I am loving it.  I am really glad that I joined the Miss Babs Knitting tour again next year!  I would never have bought this weight of yarn on my own....I am just not a lace weight person...but this is coming out really nice!  The knitting tour is helping me step out of my comfort zones, and realize that I am okay with that.  It is Miss Babs Isadora, which is considered a heavy lace.....but I really like it.


I also worked on my Shrug for the HiyaHiya KAL.  There is a facebook KAL that I am hostessing for a Shrug Pattern called Piano Princess Shrug XII.  If you want to join us....come on over here.  Here is my progress so far.



Speaking of Facebook, the next thing on my list is to ask you for a favor!  This is for any followers that are also on Facebook.  I have entered a contest to try to win a skein of Must Stash Yarn.  In order to win, I need to have the most votes....so if you are on facebook, and I have not already bothered you to do this, please go here and vote for my picture.  Right now I have 40 votes, but the lead has 56....so I need more votes.  Thank you!


Well, I think that is all I have for now....I leave you with a 1 month old picture of Mario Alonzo Ramirez III and a picture of Paige and Antonio....Antonio was going to bed one night and told Paige to send this picture to me because he loves me.....I love that kid!  (Yes, Paige is wearing the cardigan I knit her!)