I am 0 for 2!

I had a great weekend...and I felt like I got a lot of knitting done (even though I should have been packing). However, by the end of Saturday and the end of Sunday, I felt partially defeated.

Saturday, I was knitting on my daughters cardigan/sweater when all of a sudden I see the end of my circular cord and look and my cord has broken from the needle...no warning, no "SNAP", nothing....just my stitches slowly starting to drop more and more......and this was my Signature needle.  I am not sure if you remember, but back on March 25th of this year, I blogged that this happened to a Signature needle and I lost all my work and had to start over.  Now, if these were cheaper needles, maybe I could accept and/or expect it...but these needles are not cheap!  I have spent a pretty penny on all the Signature needles I have and now I am kind of scared to use another circular one.  I lost about 4 rows, tinked a couple more to make sure my lace pattern was on track, and then had to re knit.....I was frustrated.  I contacted the company with a pretty lengthy email and since this has happened to me before, I knew they would ask for a picture, the needle size, and cord length along with the address to mail a replacement to.  I put all of that in an email.  I got a generic email back saying that breaking cords is not the normal and to please send them a picture of the broken needle, the needle size, length of the cord and the address I want the replacement mailed to....I feel like they did not even take the time to read my email and just gave some crappy standard response....even more frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I put my work on my Chiaogoo's (which have NEVER broken) and moved on .....

What did I move on to you ask?  I moved onto socks.....I wanted to do LOLLIPOLOOZA!  This is the first year I have been able to get any Lollipop yarn.  I have 3 skeins.....Doo Wah Diddy, Witchy Woman, and H"owl"'-o-ween.....I decided to use Doo Wah Diddy (DWD).  The pattern for Lollipolooza was posted and I got to work....

12 rows of ribbing....Check

Start pattern.....Check

See pattern starting to show.......No Check!  I was looking at my sock and thinking, "There is no way a diamond is going to appear out of this!".  The pattern is called Fruit Stripe Gum.....I LOVE the pattern...it is SUPER AWESOME, and the designer is super awesome for sharing it for free.  But it was not working for me.

I posted in the KAL forum, and she got back to me....the size I had cast on for was not test knitted and I needed two more stitches for the pattern to show.....I also realized I had cast on for the wrong size....so what did I do?  Yup, I had to frog the whole thing.

Then I recast on at lunch today and used a 3.25 mm needle instead of 2.5...I'm telling you, I cannot win!

Paige also asked me to make her some leg warmers......I'm pretty excited about it, but need to try a few things before I try to design a pattern (of course I also have to finish her cardigan first!).

Well, now that I did not wait weeks to post again, I do not have a mile long blog....that is really all that is going on with knitting.....I have lots of packing I still need to do to get ready for "The Move"!

I leave you with two super cute buttons I got at Kid N Ewe:

Happy Happy Knitting!

Another with no end in sight....................

Yup, I have had many more crazy weeks and I think they continue for a few more weeks.  It has been two weeks since I wrote (so sorry Ruby...and thank you for being a dedicated reader) so I have lots to share!

My mini-vacation to Big Bend was Awesome.  We did not even go to the Chili Cook off (the whole reason we picked the first weekend in November).  It appears the cook off is more for the contestants and judges, and not really bystanders.  We would have paid $10-$20 per person to get in and then not even get a bowl of chili....crazy!  The weekend was not wasted....we rode on the motorcycles and enjoyed the scenery.  Here is a picture of "The Window" from the lodge in Big Bend National Park at sunset.

Here is a small red fox that greeted us on the way to dinner....I think he really wanted to see people leaving with a to go container, but the park had several signs that said not to feed wildlife!

While in Terlingua, Jaime saw a rug he really wanted.  It was $110.00.  I told him that maybe if I could get into weaving or borrow a loom I could make him one....what was I thinking?  Take away from my precious knitting time?  Who knows...maybe I will like it as much as knitting (I doubt it).....here is a picture of the rug:

Now....my Nuvem is.....drum roll please.....DONE!  I started binding off while in the hotel room...then I got some pictures of it 1/2 bound off on the drive home...the table the Nuvem is on looks terrible because it is at a rest stop at the Pecos River...then, I have a picture of the 9 grams left....and a picture of it blocking.  I did wear it to the wedding this past Saturday and I love this shawl....I am ready to cast on another one right away!

I should have had someone snap of pic of me and Jaime at the wedding, but I forgot....so sorry!

OK, so do you remember the Imperial  Sand color Paige picked out for the house we are moving into?  Well, against the pinky/orangish teracotta tile in the house, she said it make the walls look too pink.  So we had to get another color...she picked Brooklyn Brownstone (far left) and Posh Red...but we went with Sea Lion Brown and Posh Red...I was afraid the Brooklyn Brownstone would be too dark and I am glad we went with Sea Lion Brown because I think it is dark enough (at times, I think it is too dark, but I like it).

Then....after vacation, I had one crazy day at work (trying to catch up) and Jury Duty on Wednesday the 6th...and as luck would have it, yup....I got picked on a 6 person jury duty for a DWI charge (we, the jury, found the defendant not guilty)......it took Wednesday, Thursday and 1/2 the day Friday....it was a very interesting process for me.  It was also very educational.  Here in Texas, the Jury summons specifically states no "knitting/embroidery needles" but I put the cardigan I am knitting for Paige on some plastic Denise Interchangeable needles and I was able to knit a little on Wednesday when in the Central Jury room.  Once the trial started, I was not able to knit.  My BF Darlene also got me the COOLEST row counter that is a ring......I LOVE IT and it is orange....here is a picture of my knitting on Wednesday.

Now is about when I would wrap things up...but I have MORE to talk about.

This past weekend was a fiber festival kind of event called Kid N Ewe and Llamas too.....it is only about 30 min from San Antonio.  I went with Evelyn, Barbara, and Darlene.  I saw SHAMA from LSSK!  This woman is the greatest most inspirational person I have ever met....I love her so much!  I also ran into Stacie from the Must Stash Podcast (I was hoping to see Steph too, but I only saw Stacie).  Stacie had some of her hand dyed yarn...it was enough for her to walk around with, but not enough for a full update at her store...so I snagged an awesome skein of Candy Crush.

I got to see Alisha at the Alisha goes Round area and snagged some Thrace colorway yarn....I love this yarn!

In the first building there were these awesome baskets that are made by farmers in Ghana, Africa....I got this big beauty for $35 bucks....yup, $35...I could not believe it.  I have the yarn inside and outside the basket so you can see how big this basket is.

I had a great time at Kid N Ewe with Darlene, Evelyn and Barbara....I hope they had just as good of a time as I did (my feet were hurting when we were done).

Lastly.......I finished a pair of fingerless mitts I have been working on as a test knit.  Paige offered to model them while I took a picture, but Antonio thought "If my mom is going to model them, I am going to model them too!" and he did....and while I love my daughter to death....I must say that he is a much cuter fingerless mitt model!  What do you think?

OK, I am finally done!  I am sorry it has taken so long for me to post....it has been crazy for me and I think it is only going to get crazier as I get closer and closer to moving (hopefully in about 2 weeks).  Plus, with vacation and jury duty, I almost felt like I was not even me...I was so far out of my routine, it felt strange!

OK, I leave you with one of the buttons I got at Kid N Ewe....it is my favorite:

Happy Happy Happy knitting!

The weeks are getting crazier....

It has been another one of those crazy weeks....I just do not know where to start......

I am about to go on vacation this coming Thursday - Sunday (I know, that is a mini vacation, but hey...at least I do not have to go to work).  So what do I get in the mail?  A jury duty summons for Wednesday (the day BEFORE I go on vacation).  I called them and asked if I could come the next week....can you believe they said yes?  So I got it moved to the 6th of November instead of the 31st of October.

Then, it was Antonio's 2nd birthday on Wednesday.  Paige got him a small basketball set....and his halloween costume came in...he is going to be a skeleton...he was wearing the smiling skeleton hat and playing basketball...the pics are a little blurry, but he was on the move!

Yesterday was his birthday party.  Paige decided to have it at Peter Piper Pizza...he had such a great time.  Paige made him a Tres Leches cake FROM SCRATCH!  I am sooooo proud of her.  She is a wonderful mom!  Here are some pics of Cataleya, Celeste and the birthday boy.

Before Antonio's bday party, I got to knit in the morning to early afternoon....I worked on my Nuvem.  I actually got to the ruffle.  I did 1080 kfb's (knit front and back of the stitch) which now makes 2160 stitches on my 60" needle...those stitches are packed on there.  I am so excited....I cannot wait to bind off this puppy...but first I have 12,960 to 15,120 stitches to still knit!

My renters have moved out and I want to do some painting to the house, so I ran by Lowe's really quick and had Paige pick a color...first it was timeless taupe, then Toast...she wanted them to mix those two (which they can't do) so Imperial Sand won!

We are going to Big Bend this week.  Leaving Thursday and coming back Sunday or Monday (I took Monday off of work to just recouperate).  I will take pics and let you know how it goes.  I am taking my knitting and while I am sure I will be able to knit on the way there and on the way back....I am not sure I will get any knitting done while I am there....but I have so many things I want to knit on!

Oh, and the pom pom blanket for my friend, Jill, is done.  I told her over a year ago that I would make her one...but you know how selfish knitting always seems to get in the way!

I also had a stash enhancement this week that I am ITCHING to cast on to something....probably the Bay of Fundy (which I will call BOF scarf/shawl). This is Ancient Arts Yarn in Calico Cat colorway....portion of proceeds go to the meow foundation....I just love the color!!!!

I know I have had much more going on.....Precious (my Yorkie dog got a yeast infection on her back...I did not know you could get one on your back....weird), and a bunch of other running around I will not bore you with....but now it is time to get ready for my small vacation....I am super excited.  Jaime and I are going to borrow my friend's (Darlene) trailer tonight so we can trailer the motorcycles.  That is a funny story in itself...it was stolen 4 months ago and Bruce (Darlene's wonderful hubby) saw a guy with it hooked to his truck the other day so he followed it and it was his (he had his driver's license number welded into it) and got it back and then I asked to borrow it and they were so wonderful to say yes.....then it is time to pack, pack, pack.....I cannot wait to get the heck out of dodge and just relax (and knit) for a few days!!

You guys have a great week!  BIG BEND HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Happy Knitting!

I'm doing a little better

Well, I went a long time between posts last time, so this time I am trying to make up for it.  I have had lots going on (even though it has only been a few days).  Remember that scarf swap scarf I made?  Well, the night before the recipient got it, I had a strange dream....I will not go into all of the dream but at the end of the dream I was eating cheesecake with 3 of the ladies from LSSK.  I did tell the LSSK list all about the dream and of course they probably all think I am a quack.....well, this past weekend was the end of my area's yarn crawl and guess what?  Yup, my 3 cheesecake buddies came to SA and we went to have lunch. We had a great time!!!  Thank you ladies for coming to see me!  The pictures are not the greatest, but I think that is because the wall was a pretty bright yellow, so it washed us out a bit.

Then......Jaime got a new dog....yup, can you believe it?  She is super cute (I know why he fell in love with her).  He named her Brandy...I am not sure if he is spelling it Brandy or Brandi?  Isn't she cute!

Then.....the surprises continue, I got my scarf from the lady who knitted for me.  Her name is Joyce and she made me a beautiful cowl.  It is made out of Berroco Maya yarn (85% Pima Cotton, 15% Baby Alpaca) and OH SO SOFT!  In colorway 5629, it is a nice terra cotta orange and I love it!  The pattern is called The Purl Ridge Scarf by Stephen West.  She also included in the box some (orange) Mini Knit Klips, Garment Knit Labels, and Long Circular Stitch Holder.....I LOVE IT ALL!!  I am one lucky girl.  I am even wearing it today to work!

Lastly, I finished the Cowl I was knitting with my bonus yarn from The Loopy Ewe for Camp Loopy.  The pattern is Downtown Cowl and it looks awesome with this yarn.  I am entering this in the MuststashPodcast Rhinebeck or Bust KAL....I hope I win something!

For now...that is all that I have.  I need to get a moving on my Nuvem.  I am a bit behind on my gram count because I finished the cowl.  I hope to be on the ruffle this time next week!

Happy Happy Happy knitting everyone!!!

And another one.....

It has been another crazy week, and it has also been 10 days since I last posted.....so sorry!

I mailed out my Scarf Swap on Tuesday of this week...She got it yesterday and loved it.  She said she wore it all the rest of the day except when she ate...she even wore it to vacuum!!!

I am sooooo happy she liked it.

This will be a short post....I have been knitting on Nuvem.....making progress.  I also finally frogged the first nuvem I started and I am much happier with the new one.....  Here are some shots of the differences and the old one being frogged (the old one on the bottom of the first picture).

Old one increases:

New one increases:

Old ball of yarn (before ripping) vs new ball of yarn (to left) with much more completed:

Ball of yarn with nuvem before frogging (but needles have been removed) :

 

During Frogging:

After Frogging:

It was not as bad as I thought it would be.

I got a new Namaste Bag during the yarn crawl last weekend (it is the only store and only purchase I made for the Yarn Crawl this year)...then I headed to Junction.....I relaxed, knitted a bunch on my nuvem (because I was behind on my gram count) and took my new .22 Magnum to shoot it for the first time...it did not kick any where near like the .38 did, but it was super loud (but I love it).  I also got to feed my 'boyfriend' a couple of apples:

Isn't he a handsome boyfriend?  His name is Yo Yo.

OK, I really did not have much this week....but I did fill you up with picture over load.....I will try to post early next week....I hope I get lots of knitting done this weekend!

Happy Happy Happy knitting to you all.....let me know of any of you know where a market like this is: