Another Friday Fill-In

I really like these.  Here’s the latest.  Play along, copy and paste to your blog and fill in the blanks.  Leave a comment with a link to your blog so we can read yours!

1. My favorite food seasoning is seasoned salt.
2. Small children’s laughter is music to my ears.
3. Lucky is finding your favorite yarn on sale  .
4. Treating others with respect is something I take very seriously.
5. Many people should have to take parenting classes and pass a final exam before being allowed to reproduce.
6. Halloween candy was the last thing I bought at the store.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to catching up on sleep, tomorrow my plans include cleaning some and Sunday, I want to enjoy the beautiful weather!

 

Ok, still mad at my Christmas sock so don’t even ask.  Now working on a wrist warmer pattern.  These haven’t been blocked yet, but here’s a little of what they look like. 

I’m superstitious about showing the whole thing before the pattern writing process is finished.  Will post better pics after they’ve been blocked and after the pattern is closer to finished.  Otherwise something might go wrong….maybe that’s what happened to the stupid Christmas sock?!  Bad mojo!!  Aww, maybe I shouldn’t even show the wrist warmer…..

 

Finally, some knitting

My latest project is a pattern for some Christmas-themed socks.  Trying to get them turned out and the pattern polished very soon.  Here’s a sneak peek:

It’s not blocked yet, but here’s a little more:

The ones I’m making for the pattern illustrations are out of Louet Gems Sport (Opal), one 225 yd. skein in Cream and one in Cherry Red.  Yummy-soft.  And the red is perfect for a Santa/Christmas red!  More coming soon…..

Oh, in case you’re wondering, I got out my trusty digital camera to take these pics!

 

Back to normal.

Well, things are getting cleaned up, power is being restored, and things are returning to a semblance of normalcy post-Ike.  Thanks to readers for being patient and for checking back in. 

So…our cell phone contract FINALLY ran out with the crappy Right-Hand-Doesn’t-Know-What-the-Left-Hand-Is-Doing company.  Got a new cell phone in the switch and found out there is no such thing as a cell phone without a camera anymore.  Geez, just when I think I’m getting the hang of technology along comes something new.  The Kid laughs hysterically when I keep pointing the dang thing backwards and can’t find the %$^@# button. 

I was way excited to have a camera just like this one as a kid, it was high-tech then.  A “pocket” camera.  Still have that little beauty in a drawer somewhere.

Managed to get some ok pics of the latest knitting and a little crafting.  Some ornaments for Christmas from leftover sock yarn.  Knitted and filled and waiting for bows & hooks:

Have also been playing with polymer clay, here’s a first attempt at beads. I know the pic’s not good, just be glad for me that I found the %$^@# shutter button.  Will have to get out the other camera and take some better pics for the next post 🙂 

Need to make some stitch markers out of the footballs for knitting while watching football!! 

 

Knitting + Olympics = Much Tinking

This year’s Olympics have caused much tinking in my knitting.  Too much going on to list all my favorites, but definitely the most exciting has been Michael Phelps’ phenomenal swimming, beating one competitor by 1/100 of a second.    No, that’s not a typo- the electronic sensor confirmed that he touched the wall one one-hundredth of a second before the dude who appeared to have won.  Phelps has won 8 gold medals, beating Mark Spitz’ record of winning 7 gold medals in a single Olympic year.      

Phelps is so popular now that when I typed his name to search for a photo for this post, one of the choices was a search for  “Michael Phelps Girlfriend.”For those of you who are interested, no he doesn’t have one.   I’m sure he already has lots of offers by now.   Judging from interviews he seems to be a pretty humble guy, hopefully he will stay that way.

Then there’s Dara Torres the 41 year old swimmer.  I can’t decide whether to be proud of her for her accomplishments or angry with her for making me feel like I should get up off my fat 40something butt and exercise.  Maybe I can rationalize that she’s an anomaly.  Yea, that’s it!

 

Ped/Anklet Pattern

Ta-daaa!

  My second pattern is published and available: the Sporty Ped.  Another toe-up, no short row, no heel flap, no gusset sock.   This one has a closer fit on the ankle and can also easily be altered to make a taller-cuffed sock (just make the ribbing taller).  That’s basically how I made the socks for my grandfather.   Anyone who buys the Sporty Ped pattern can also enter the contest for some yummy yarn (link here).

Also very exciting, my Roll Top Shortie Sock has been featured on Lime & Violet’s The Daily Chum     Very nice write-up.

 

Not much knitting has been done the past couple of days.  My Grandaddy had his 90th birthday and we’ve been partying all weekend with him!  Not to worry, he’s not the least bit wild.  Just lots of family, lots of food, lots of laughter, and a little watching of the Olympics together 🙂  Oh and lots of playing with the newest baby of the family!  She just turned one and is a little ham 🙂

 

Blue fingers and chocolate

I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to knit for a few days.  This was after several washings. 

On the bright side, I got a blue french manicure out of the deal.

    The guy at the store was very accomodating in helping me and The Kid pick out exactly the right type of color she could try for the fun of it, you know, those non-hair colors like blue, green, regular red.  She just wanted a strip of blue on the hair in the back on the underside.  A lot better than asking for a tattoo I say.  The store guy said it would wash out in a few washings.  What he FAILED to tell me is that it is prudent to wear GLOVES when coloring one’s hair.  It didn’t come with gloves so I didn’t even think about it until it was too late.  Oh, well.  More came off while doing dishes, enough to knit soon I think.  Besides, chocolate fixes anything.

    Messy but ooohhh soooo goood!!  Yep, those were some of the dishes that got washed.

Not even chocolate can keep me from thinking about knitting for too long, though.  Latest FO, more socks.  I like that the striping makes each sock looks slightly different from the other.  The yarn is Regina Silk Color, a merino/silk/polyamide blend.    Nice for wearing with tennies in the summer.

 

Other fun stuff

Ahhh, just got back from a couple of days in the country.  Scrapbooking retreat, though I’m not fond of the term scrapbooking.  There should be a new verb made to describe the activity of taking one’s pictures and preserving them in a crafty way instead of adding “-ing” to the end of an existing noun.  Oh, well, I still enjoy the process.  Have been a little out of practice though, thank goodness I took some knitting.  It’s such a great idea, getting away and doing nothing but fun crafty stuff with about 10 other like-minded ladies.  One room is set up with a bunch of tables where we just leave our stuff out all weekend.  No husbands, kids or pets to bother anything.  No bills in the other room screaming to be paid.  No one waiting to be fed.  Nothing waited to be cleaned.

I had more knitting mojo than scrapping but did get some cards made and a little album for current pictures.  Now to put all the supplies away. 

The retreat location was such a quiet place that I was able to organize ideas for another sock pattern that’s been rolling around in my head.  Got it sketched out and started knitting it.  There goes the knitter’s ADD again, another UFO added to the list!

 

Randomness

So many random thoughts, so little time.  Her uterus fell out?  The lady on tv says it’s true.  Twitter?  What the hell is that?  I just got the hang of blogging.  Damn gas prices.  Remember when the government decided to do something about Americans killing themselves with cigarettes?  They hiked up the taxes and prices so much that smokers felt “squeezed” into curbing their habits or even quitting altogether.  I have a sneaking suspicion that the same thing is happening with our gas prices.  Yes, it’s much more complicated than that, but nothing else has curbed American’s gasoline consumption the way outrageous prices have.   That’s my little theory.  Ass implants?  Who in their right mind would get fat put INto their butt?  Jesse Jackson is gonna cut Barack Obama’s n**s off?  What, he didn’t know there was a huge microphone under his nose and cameras in front of his face? 

Ok, now maybe I can concentrate on something that makes sense, a little knitting.  Latest project, socks in Regina Silk:

 

I like the yarn alright but the newness has worn off and am now anxious to get to some other yarn I haven’t played with yet.  Knitter’s ADD 🙂

 

UFOs and Beadwranglers

Do you ever just think funny thoughts?  Like Dudley Moore in the movie Arthur?  Two words that conjure up funny images for me are UFOs and Beadwranglers.  I envision a flying saucer has landed on earth and a little old lady rides in on her beading loom to lasso one of the little green monsters with her sparkly rope. 

I began ordering Ranbow Elastic thread  through a website called 7beads.com.  The lady that owns it calls herself The Beadwrangler.   Isn’t she cute??  I know, hard to tell from the picture, but you get the idea.  I just got my second order from her.   Both orders came lickety-split-fast & both invoices had  a hand-written note AND a detailed, colorful,  picture:

 She uses several colors of sparkly ink to draw the picture.  Who takes that kind of time and care anymore?  I don’t know how she does it, but her personal touch has made a loyal customer out of me.  This pic isn’t as good but it shows the sparkle in the ink:  Cruising her website I found that she has instructions on “bead crochet” and “bead knit”  and, I don’t know what I’m gonna do with it, but have to have some some pearl cotton, too!   I already have enough UFOs, I don’t need to start something new.  Please, somebody STOP me before I buy more stuff and start yet another project!!!

 Speaking of UFOs, do any of you dislike blocking as much as I do?  I usually don’t knit bigger-project garments but love the Classic  Elite Premiere yarn so much I had to have something to wear out of it.  And so sits the unfinished shell, it even has tails yet to be woven in………………Oh, poop, the camera is acting up.  Will post a pic of the shell soon……… 

Anyway, the words “UFOs” and “Beadwranglers.”  They make me think of funny stuff 🙂

 

Old Friends

I didn’t make this afghan, my mom did.  Yes I know it’s a little ratty, but that’s sort of the point.  It’s like an old friend who has been with me for a lot of years.  And it’s made with……steady yourself…..acrylic yarn.  In her defense, that was really all we knew then.  I say that tounge-in-cheek because I’m really not a yarn snob.  It just reminds me of how much things have changed.  This was made in 1982, before personal computers, before online shopping or LYSs to choose from.   I know she put careful thought into all aspects of making the afghan because I was going off to college, and she wanted it to be special.

 

She designed it herself, though we didn’t think of it as designing.  She has always been able to make exactly what’s in her imagination, especially with fabric.  I hope I’m like that, too.  I get images that just seem to pop into my head and bug me until I figure out exactly how to make them.  Back to the afghan,  I even found some of Mom’s notes tucked away in an old crafting book:  I love looking through old books!!  Yes, I was pilfering through her stuff not too long ago, hehehe.  I love that I have these notes to go with my afghan.  The papers now have ragged edges where they stuck out of the book all these years, and that just makes it even better. 

Enough sappiness.  Check out some of the pictures from the book: 

          Oh, baby, those collars!!  And check out the skin-tight blue jeans!!  Bet he can’t get into those now!!

And, who didn’t make this afghan?: 

I’d love to hear from those of you who remember the same things!!