Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Okay here goes...

Well, Sweetie Man is home!!!!! I am happy. I'll be showing you pictures of my newly painted kitchen vs. my old kitchen as soon as the old pics are hopefully saved from my sick computer but for now, you get to see one corner with sweetie man in it! (I made the apron for him too)
You cannot really appreciate what the Kitchen is like unless you've seen the old one...but here's a taste of the new....
And as my guy is the best cook I know and loves to cook in the kitchen, here is a pic of the delicious shrimp-ka-bobs that he whipped up for dinner tonight and served on rice....yummy!!!!
Now for some great pics of some things my sweetie man brought me from Mexico. First is this awesome stash of yarn.
The only problem is is that we have no idea what it is. There was no labels on it or anything. It's very thin almost like a fingering weight tho I'm going to do a swatch and try to find out. It all has this small thin silver like thread wrapped around each color as you can possibly see from the close up.
If any of you know what this may be or what I can make with it (crochet or knit) please let me know . It's so neat tho.
Next I got this incredible handspun, hand dyed wool.
He saw a demonstration of how they make it too. Some of it is actually dyed with a type of bug for the red. There is alot of it to say the least and at least three different colors . Now they use this for weaving as it is in pieces not one long piece. If I use it for crocheting I will have to tie it but I thought the knots would make what I crochet interesting....I'll have to play around with this one and see what I come up with.
Next are a couple of purses he got for me. The first is a really great beach bag sorta thing with a nice zipper...very colorful.
The second is a hand weaved purse. Sweetie man actually met the lady who weaved it. It's really beautiful.
He got me another purse that I forgot to take a pic of and which I am currently using. My man knows what I like.....yarn and purses.
Well, I hoped you enjoyed the pics and the stories...if you have any suggestions on my yarn, I'll be happy to hear them.
Oh, and before I leave here is a little riddle from the sweetie man to yunz guys....(answer tomorrow)
If I have a million dollars and I give you a quarter of it....how much will you have? (he made it up so think "corny") Gotta love him!!! Okay, till tomorrow....I'm BAAAACCCCK!

I'm back....

Okay...I'm back. BUT this is just an "appetizer" post as I wanted to blog yesterday and the old laptop I'm working off of is giving us trouble. Hopefully by the weekend we'll either have a new computer or the old main computer will be fixed. This is killing me. I have some pics to post and the computer won't cooperate...AAARRRRGGGGGG! So keep your fingers crossed and I'll try to get something on tonight. Oh, ya....sweetie man is BACK and life is GOOD!!! Till later....

Friday, May 26, 2006

A little big of romance...

Okay...if you ever read my profile, you will see that I planned to talk about a little bit of crafting, a little about my son.....and a little bit of romance. Well, today is the "romance." Most of you know that my sweetie man is coming home today after a month long absence and I am totally excited and cannot wait. I've done some things that I cannot post pics of yet, but I will next week, which include the painting of my yucky kitchen which is now a beautiful pepper themed extravaganza! (and if I don't get my main computer back in one piece, as it is in the hands of the repair guy, you won't see the before pics!) Anyway, I came back to work from lunch yesterday only to find this huge box that was for me....and this was what was inside:

A dozen beautiful purple/mauve colored roses. I nearly cried. They are from my sweetie man celebrating the start of his weekend home. I've never had anyone treat me like this. Even after being with him for the past 6 years, he treats me as tho we just started dating. We'll be getting married probably the same year my son graduates from college if not sooner and I cannot wait. I don't want to say or dwell on my previous marriage as my ex and I are still friendly towards each other, but I truly think it was a case of "we could be friends but not marriage partners." I've learned alot and have grown even more in the past 6 years and have truly become the person that I knew I was inside....hence my love of butterflies and their emerging out of cocoons. So that's all I want and need to say today as I'm going to get ready to head off to the airport....so if I don't post for a day....don't worry.....I'll be enjoying my weekend with my sweetie man. Hope you all enjoy our weekend.....and hope you have loads of SUNSHINE....cause I will whether it is raining or not. Tootles!

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Ok...I finally did it...

I finally did it...I turned on the air conditioner. I realized it's not all that warm outside BUT the one thing about my house is that I have no attic meaning the upstairs is like an attic. There can sometimes be a big difference between the first floor and the second floor only because of the lack of an attic. The house looks like a little victorian and is way different from any other house on the block...built we think in the 1920's.....I just love it! There must be something about older things that I like. For instance, I've been investigating and reading up on spinning yarn with a drop spindle. I think that is fascinating. I even found a site in which you could make your own drop spindle. Though I found a yarn store about a half hour from my house and I'm wondering if these yarn stores have wool for spinning and/or the drop spindles. I've never actually been in a yarn store. I've only gone to stores like JoAnns, etc... that sell yarn in addtion to other crafts and fabrics. I think I'm going try and have sweetie man take me over to this store. I'm not sure where it is, so being as I don't like to get lost while I'm driving, I'll take him along. He can drive and I'll "NAG-ivate" as he calls it. If anyone has any suggestions or has tried the drop spindle technique or knows any good sites to purchase the wool, let me know. I'd love to hear about it.
Okay...been spending alot of time outside since the weather is so nice, just sitting on my porch knitting/crocheting or reading. Karen asked me if the noise bothers me in the area. No....I sit in the evening and actually enjoy watching the cars go up and down my somewhat busy street. I think since I grew up with the noise, I actually have come to welcome it. I hear boats on the riever and trains blowing horns in the middle of the night and it's so peaceful. Plus we have a number of churches within walking distance that ring their bells sometimes playing a song. I'm so close to my new neighbors, that when they are out on their porch, I can still sit on my swing and talk with them. That's not to say I don't enjoy the quiet......when we go to Michigan and visit, the peacefulness is beautiful. So, I guess I like both...hey, I'm not difficult to get along with.
So, till tomorrow and the almost start of a long holiday weekend (and the weekend my sweetie man returns home....HOORAY!!!!)....tootle-lu!!!

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

It's getting warmer...

Oh yeah...the weather is breaking and it's becoming more spring like in Pennsylvania. Still a little cool but not so cool that I didn't spend a little time today on my front porch swing knitting my sock for the swap. It was great especially after all the cool temps and rain. Tho this morning we did have a little frost as we are in a valley. You can actually see the hills putting us in the valley from the picture I took this morning from my back yard window.



My town is made up of alot of older homes so it is a bit unusual to see a new home being built in my neighborhood. So I was sorta excited to see this huge crane looming over the back alley placing basement walls in the new home that is being built there. There used to be a very very old home that became run down and was eventually demolished. Now a new home is being built. I never actually saw how a home is built, so I thought I would take a couple of pics. As you can see we are surrounded by beautiful hills, which each have names, believe it or not. When I go on vacation it is quite unusual to see flat land since I've lived in the valley all my life pretty much. It does keep us a bit safer from things like tornados but we have had our share of bad weather. But I do just love the hills.
And just so you don't forget this is a crochet/knitting blog, here is a picture of another purse for a little girl that my niece took an order for.

This is the pattern from the Lion Brand site and I believe it's the blossom purse done in Microspun. I couldn't find the color I needed in Microspun so I made this one in Sugar and Cream crochet cotton. It worked up just as nice if not nicer than the Microspun. It's a Crochet Dude pattern. Extremely easy too!
So that's it for tonight. Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer than today, so I'll be visiting my porch swing again...oh yeah! I think it's finally Spring!!!!!
And for all you Idol fans...."SOUL PATROL....SOUL PATROL!!!"

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Last lonely Saturday...

Oh yeah...the week I've been waiting for...the return of SWEETIE MAN from his month away which means that next Saturday at this time guaranteed....I WILL NOT BE BLOGGING!!! (OR CROCHETING OR KNITTING) I feel like it's Christmas and I'm a little kid. I hate when he goes away but hey...it's part of the job.
Okay....tomorrow I'm going to a birthday party. I'm not a party person. I'm a sit at home, one on one person. Not that I'm an introvert.....I'm just a real homebody. I am sorta shy until you get to know me and then I'm crazy....okay, not crazy....but no longer shy. Anyway, the party is for a friend of mine who is actually a 4th cousin way back. She is turning 50 and the party is a surprise. (she doesn't read my blog so I'm not worried) Anyway, she only lives a block away but I dont' really see her that often. She even works about a block from me. We occasionally email things but that is about it. But she is the first friend I remember having....my earliest recollection was being about 4, sucking my thumb, and her being over. She was probably one of the only people beside my family that knew I sucked my thumb. There are just so many memories of things I did with her....crazy things. Like when we would sunbath on the roof of my house outside my bedroom window....or we would paint our toenails flourescent orange.....hide from boys she didn't want to go out with.....and how I would go on blind dates that she would fix me up with (that's a whole other blog!) . I could really go on and on about her....she is different to say the least...she could tell you something bad that happened to her and make it sound so hilarious that you couldn't help from laughing. I guess it was just the way she told it. My mom would always say I got sick after coming back from playing with her...which was nonense. We went to school for eight years together and her family's house was less than a block from mine. We were never best friends.....just lasting friends...if that makes sense. So many funny times to remember with her that I figured as much as I don't care to go to parties.....I just couldn't miss the opportunity to rub it in that she turned 50 before me.....Happy Birthday, Elaine!!! (aka The Crumb!)

Friday, May 19, 2006

A little Dr. Seuss...

Knox in box.
Fox in socks.
Knox on fox in socks in box.
Socks on Knox and Knox in box.
Fox in socks on box on Knox.
And with that said....this is my completed FIRST SOCK...ta-da!!!!!
Okay...so there's a little furry stuffed fox in it....just wanted to make you smile when you saw it, cause I certainly did...even without the fox.
Now there are alot of little boo-boos in it and that toe is certainly not the tightest...but I got the idea of how to make a sock and I've already started on the one a little different in style and colors for the swap which by the way is going very nicely and much easier. I really don't know if I'll make a match to this one since it isn't the most perfect one, but I may make another pair like it for myself. It is a warm sock but I can't seem to quite use the fingering yarn yet. I'd like to try a sport weight next and gradually go to thinner. I can't do 5 dpn yet...this one was only 4 dpn. I've never attempted a round needle yet...but I'll learn...hey, I taught myself to knit and this is really a big accomplishment for me.
So with that ....I'm gonna chill a bit. Most of my work is done with the Kitchen tho I can't show you the pics yet...but I will, not to worry. Oh, and thanks for all the knitting/crocheting tips on how to get more done. You guys are great!
Okay, till tomorrow and my last weekend without my sweetie man as he will be returning next weekend....and I hate to tell you this but....I may have to skip a few days of blogging next weekend.....and ya all know what I'm talkin' about!!!
Okay, till tomorrow...and sleeping in!!!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Hey y'all..

Not much to say today. Cleaning up this and that in the house and a few small draws and cupboards so that the house looks great when my sweetie man gets home next week. Plus the more I get done...the more I can just relax with him. Tho he keeps telling me I'm going too far...I need to rest. But I do...not to worry.
But I do have one question for everyone. How do you all get so many projects done so fast? I feel like I take forever to finish something. I wondered that about reading books also. I love to read, but it seems like it takes me forever to read a book. The book listed on my blog, I am still reading. So, what I want to know is whether you only crochet/knit at home...(or read if you do)...or if you do it whenever....like do you take it with you everywhere in a separate bag and carry it with you so you can crochet or knit while waiting for someone or the kids or waiting at the mall? How do you guys/gals get your projects done so fast. I really envy you. I would love some hints and tips. It seems, for example, one day someone shows a project started on their blog...next day it's done! How do you do it? I have so many projects I want to do but it seems like I'm just slow...or am I not taking good opportunities to work on my project. I'd love to hear from you all. Being as I'm getting close to or just about done with my kitchen and cleaning up things...I really want to invest my spare time in my yarn projects.
So, with that...I'm going to head to bed....looking forward to your answers...till tomorrow!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

The return of Goose and Duck...

Goose and Duck were actually meant to appear as a Mother's Day picture on Sunday. But seeing as my lovely lap top computer was not functioning up to snuff....they are appearing for your enjoyment a few days late.

The picture isn't all that great as the weather has been rainy...rainy...did I say, rainy!!!! We actually did see a bright light in the sky today in the afternoon.....someone said that it is called...the SUN? mmmm...interesting! Hope we get to see it again....it was nice!Anyway, as before, Goose's attire is from the Month of May section of Annie's Attic Goose and Gander Parade Crochet. Duck on the other hand is a creation of my own. Yeah...really...I did that one all by myself. That's really not like me as I'm a die-hard pattern person...gotta have the pattern in front of me. But I created the bee outfit. I put Duck in front of me and just kept measuring the outfit as I was crocheting. Cool eh?
Okay...that's it for now.....let's hope we see that bright light in the sky soon....I miss my porch swing (I've actually had the furnace on today...brrrrr) Till tomorrow.....stay warm (if you live in PA anyway!)

Monday, May 15, 2006

It's prom time!

Well, my computer connection to the internet is getting better. Unfortunately the weather is not. It's cold, it's damp.....and it's MAY??? Oh, well, leaves me more time to sit inside and post a couple of prom pictures that I promised you last week.
This is my son and his lovely lovely date (not to be confused with the gal pal.....which is literally what the name inplies....Pal who happens to be a Gal) So I guess you can say that his date for the prom is also his "gal pal" but not the "gal pal" I usually speak of. Anyway this is them before the prom...
Aren't they just the cutest? But what prom couple isn't? They are all so darn cute!!!!
Okay...next pic is Mom (me) and the Aunt (my sister) posing with "the man" (my son). Not as cute as the first pic...but I thought I would throw it in as a bonus! (it's not one of my better pics as I was unprepared and had just come from cutting the grass).....
Now my son's date is a senior in high school and as you know my son just finished his first year in college. So that was sorta cool that he got to go and visit with some of the kids he knew when he was a senior. They did it a little different. Used to be the prom was an all nighter but this time the kids were bussed to Pittsburgh's Hard Rock Cafe till midnight. They were bussed back and most just went out to breakfast and headed home. Seems like everyone had a safe and fun night!
Well, that's it for tonight. I'm off work tomorrow for election day, so after I vote, I think I'll just chill, crochet, knit, and rearrange some stuff in the Kitchen which is coming along really really nice. Can't show you any pics though until sweetie man sees it in a little less than two weeks...cause he reads my blog and I told him it was a BIG surprise.
So, till tomorrow...tootles!

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Happy Mom's Day....

HAPPY HAPPY MOM'S DAY
TO EVERYONE!!

I'm just wanted to be sure I told you all that. My computer is not being nice and I'm being very cautious with it right now. For the last couple of days it was on and off with it. I wanted to download some pics of the prom and a special Mom's Day picture but I can't take the chance right yet till I know this is working back to normal. Especially since my main computer is on the blink and I'm on the laptop.
So, please understand...hopefully all will be back to normal tomorrow and this snafu is caused by all the Mom's who are getting wonderful messages online from their children.....commonly referred to as "online overload"!
Keep your fingers crossed and hope you had a Mom's Day as great as I did!!!! Till tomorrow....

Friday, May 12, 2006

I'm a pepper, you're a pepper...

....wouldn't you like to be a pepper too!! Okay, please tell me someone out there remembers that song??????? Oh, well, even if you don't, you will certainly like the little gems I received in the mail today from two of my favorite people. Actually they are for my sweetie man and me and our newly painted kitchen.
First, a surprise I received in the mail today was an awesome pepper potholder crocheted by my online little sis, Courtney from Candel in the Wind. Thank you soooooo much LG!
Now I have to say I had made a similar one but wanted another (or more) cause I really liked this potholder as did my sweetie man. So without lifting a finger, I got one. Her's is much brighter than mine which I really like and actually crocheted much neater than mine. But she's got them thar youngin fingers so that's probably the reason!!! Love ya , Court....thank you again! You are the best ever!!! And sooooooooo Sweet!
Next....another one of my favorite people is my darling niece who, on the same day I received my pepper potholder, sent me and my sweetie man, a great array of pepper this and that's for our kitchen. I love them ALL!
Everything was so cute from the pepper chinese lantern to the little salt dishes for margaritas....mmmmm.....as well as a pepper tray and some little dishes and a trivet. We will use all of this I can tell you that for sure! She also send a few little gardening do-dads for ME..ME...ME! I plan on using them on the front porch as that is sorta my space with regards to gardening....sweetie man got the back yard. The tins off to the side, she sent for me as well and I will use them in some other crafts (which you may be seeing on our upcoming website in which we will sell some stuff!) So, thank you Alexis.....I love ya bunches....you are the best niece ever.....and Happy Birthday on Monday!!!! (thought I didn't know that...didn't ya!!)
Okay....off I go to do whatever.....it's the weekend and I'm hoping to catch up on all my emails and blogs I've neglected for awhile. Things are getting back to normal and I'm starting to get organized again....so I'm glad about that one! Okay...till tomorrow....and hopefully some prom pics of my son!!!! Tootles!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

The sock...almost!

I think this is one of the first days that I haven't picked up a paintbrush. I do have a little bit more to paint and I may have my sweetie man do a couple of areas when he comes home since he'll have a little vacation......like behind the fridge and stove.....let me tell you though...my house does not have normal straight walls like the more modern houses. Any of you that have a house that is very old....we're thinking mine is over 80 years old....you will know what I'm talking about. So if you are thinking...heck, if I were painting that kitchen, it would have been done in one day....I'd like to know your trick!

Anyway, I did manage to work on my sock a bit on my front porch cause the evening was so warm and beautiful. I'm working on the instep now. Here's what it looks like at this point. (check out that beautiful heel!)




I think my sock swap partner will get something else since this color isn't too exciting. But now that I know how basic sock knitting works...I think the next one will go alot quicker. I'll probably finish off this one sock and start her pair then finish the match to this one after that. I learned alot with this sock. So it's not perfect but I did learn out to fix things like dropped stitches and why I somehow picked up another stitch from somewhere. I also learned new stitches where when I started I knew only knit and purl and couldn't do them in the same row. But I gotta tell ya....I'm really hooked on this....it's fun! If you are patient and can pace yourself and teach yourself things (which I've done with most crafts if not all that I know) then definately go slow and try sock knitting! It's awesome! I don't know why...maybe it releases some special happy brain cells....but it is addicting!

Okay...off to bed and maybe ......shhhhh....a couple more rows of the sock before I turn in!

Till tomorrow!

even shorter post...

hey...didn't forget yunz guys!!! Just got busy last night and was too pooped to post!!! Catch me later for a pic of my sock...HONEST!!!

Monday, May 08, 2006

I'm here...

Short post...I'm here...I'm tired...I'm going to bed. Worked really hard on my Kitchen today cause I was a bit frustrated over some parent/son situation. Don't worry, my son and I made up and myKitchen is just about done aside from the decorating I plan on doing. It's good sometimes when I get mad about something....cause I get a ton done! When I'm happy I'm lazier. Anyway, the only othere thing is that my main computer is unconsious right now...we think the fan died causing the mother board to burn out. Meanwhile I'm on an old laptop luckily. Hopefully I won't lose all my stuff in there cause I put the pictures of the BEFORE kitchen......I really wanted to show you all the difference in it. Sorry about all the Kitchen talk...but I'm just so excited that it's finally getting done. I love it!!! Okay...I'm falling asleep here...so till tomorrow and I promise I'll show you my sock...hey, I got past the heel and survived....couple of little boo-boos but I think I may have fixed them. It's really starting to look like a sock! Okay.....check ya all out tomorrow.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Nothing new to me...

Yep...I figured I wasn't Type A. I'm far from Type A. Found this quiz at Debs Down Time. So I have to say, if you want to know me...read the Type B personality. I don't know about the guru part though! (okay, maybe not always calm and level headed either...is there a Type C????)

You Have A Type B Personality

You're as laid back as they come...
Your baseline mood is calm and level headed
Creativity and philosophy tend to be your forte

Like a natural sedative, you have a soothing effect on people
Friends and family often turn to you first with their problems
You have the personality to be a spiritual or psychological guru

I was going to show you a pic of my sock but I think I'm going get past the heel first and see how that goes...I'm not going to jinx this one! So stay chilled cause tomorrow is Monday and the start of another exciting week of work and playing with yarn! Till tomorrow...

I JUST WANNA "DYE"!

....Yarn, that is!!! And I did and had a alot of fun doing it cause it really was easy and quick. This is the first time I've done this but I think my little tutorial may entice you to try your hand at it.
First, this is a pic of newly untangled Knit Pick yarn...you know, the one that took me two hours to untangle?
I tied off sections with some cotton yarn to be sure I didn't have another mess.
Then I soaked the yarn in a bowl of warm water and a glug of vinegar...and that' exactly how the instructions said to do it...."Glug"! (mmm....for some reason I feel like spaghettti for dinner)
Next I got my kool aid ready using lemonade, orange, and cherry watermelon. Next time I think I'll go for a little more difference in colors....they did tend to run into each other more than I thought.
The amount is one package to 1/4 cup of warm water...I ended up using 5 packages of each. Then I donned my handy-dandy plastic glove so I wouldn't have kool aid colored hands.
Sorta stupid for a person who is pretty much letting herself be covered in paint from painting the Kitchen.
Then the fun began. I used a baster for the application of kool aid but the instructions said you can use anything from a sponge brush to whatever!
Then it was ready for 2 minutes on high in the microwave...rest 2 minutes...then 2 more minutes.
It was pretty warm when it came out so I let it cool a bit on my porch outside.
I rinsed it in the temperature of water that it was at the time after being cooled till the water ran clear then hung it outside to dry for the afternoon.
Here is a closeup of the yarn hanging. I sorta moved it every so often as it was hanging thinking it may dry faster and it did.
So that's it. Not too bad for a first try. Now I think I'm gonna make me some socks with it. The more I do sock knitting the easier it's becoming....I really like it. And making a sock with yarn I dyed myself will be really cool. Let's see....maybe I could get me some sheep in my back yard.....spin my own wool.....mmmmm! Okay, okay....till tomorrow....and a sneak peek at my next attempt at sock knitting....take care ya'll!

Friday, May 05, 2006

Well, I don't know how many hits I'll get on my blog today or this weekend cause it seems like alot of the blogs I read, everyone and their brother are going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival (or is that Wool and Sheep). This is the first time I've ever heard of it but it seems pretty cool by the website. I'm actually only 4 hours away from that....but I'm not much of a distance driver....I'm a distance passenger....or as my sweetie man calls it, his "nag-avator"! Hey, I'm first to admit I'm a bit of a back seat driver...just a bit.
Anyway, been working on the kitchen still. You probably won't see pics of the finished product for at least a week or two. The weather in PA is perfect for painting. 60-70 degrees during the day and 40-50 at night. With the windows open those nasty fumes go right outside.
I did spent a good two hours tho untangling dye your own yarn from Knit Picks. I don't know what the heck I did...but I did it Good! It was so tangled! I thought I would open the package and it would unfold into this perfect hank that I would just straighten out a bit....but it didn't...or I didn't do it right. Anyway....after I untangled it and rolled it into a ball...I wrapped it around a chair top for a perfectly formed hank ready for dying in the kool aid tomorrow! (in between starting the other half of my Kitchen painting) So I'll take pics of that project and you can see the results. Hey, maybe it's not as exciting as the Maryland Festival....but what do ya want for a small town blogger in PA! Okay...I'm heading off to dreamland....catch ya on the flip-flop!

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Get this!!!

Okay, remember that cute little sock that I showed you a picture of yesterday....the one that I spent 3 days doing 8 rows, or whatever,....that sock I was going to use for a swap....the sock that I was so proud of cause I got so far???? IT'S GONE!!!!! ZIP!!! ZILCH.....GONE!!!! And you know why it is gone? Because I thought I didn't have to give 100% to paying attention to every stitch I was doing....I said to myself, "gosh, I'm getting the hang of this...I can let my mind wonder a bit!" WRONG!!!! Next thing I knew I had TWO EMPTY NEEDLES IN MY HAND...NOT ONE...TWO!!! I can't tell you what came out of my mouth...okay....I said, "OH, CRAP!" I convinced myself that it just wasn't meant to be cause thanks to Sydney's comment on yesterday's blog, I think I may have been using the wrong size needles for the weight of my yarn. But never fear....I happened to have some nice gray wool yarn that I think will work on these # 3 needles...and I've already started on the new pair! So, hopefully I'll show you my progress in an upcoming blog.
On a happier note.....I just had to show you a picture of the cutest little cookie....that's what I said COOKIE!


Don't you just want to eat them up!!!! And I did....they taste the same as the real size without the calories. Check them out if you are a weight watcher like me (yep, I watch my weight go UP....and I watch my weight go DOWN....unfortunately the UP is ahead of the DOWN....but I'm trying!)
Okay, enough for tonight....I'll talk to yunz all tomorrow....tootle-lu!

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Shawls and Socks

With a title like that you know there's gonna be pics.
First...now that the shawl I made is safely in my swap buddy's arms, (with many thanks from her) I can show you the pic.


It was a lion brand pattern from their site...I believe it was the Easy Triangle Shawl. Crocheted with 2 strands of crochet thread held together, it was really easy. I did it in an off white. I was really pleased with the outcome.
Second, I'm going to show you a pic of my first sock and the book it came from.


I think I may have use the wrong type of yarn tho the gauge was right. So I'm just going to keep on keeping on with it. I made it with Knit Picks Dancing Yarn. I'm telling you that Knit Picks is the BEST! They are super cheap and quick in deliverying. I'm very pleased with them anyway.
Tell me what you think about the sock and be honest. I'm so afraid it's going to be too small tho there is this thin elastic thread that runs through it to make it very elastic.
I'd also like to know the difference in sock yarns. I understand they should be wool or have some wool in them but what is DK mean? And, what needles are best with what yarns....I've only seen the #3 DPNS....what sizes to these come in? Okay, that's it on socks. I do have to say that knitting these socks is really Addicting!!!!! And fun!
Last but not least, I want to give a big SHOUT OUT to my wonderful niece who reads my blog daily (what a trooper!) because she emailed me thinking that I went to that big CRAFT STORE in the sky cause I didn't blog one day. I told her I was just pooped from painting. I'm starting to pace myself on this painting project....a little each day....so don't worry....even if I talk about nothing, I'll blog!!! Oh, and before I forget...thanks to all yunz guys who told be how to kill the spam.
Okay, till tomorrow.....happy yarning!

Monday, May 01, 2006

Questions, questions, questions...

I just have to say this....I salute all of you knitters who make these fabulous looking socks....gorgeous designed socks.....beautiful colorful perfectly looking knitted socks!!!!!! I've done many kinds of crafts in the last 45 years of my life, but there are few that were so difficult that I couldn't manage them. Knitting socks is ONE of them!!! I've ripped out the pair I've started about 5 times already but I'm not giving up...this won't beat me!!! Just tell me if I'm going crazy, or did all of you sock knitters have a difficult time working with 4 needles at one time? I'm trying to concentrate on the needles I'm working on, but I seem to every once in awhile, and as careful as I am, to pick up stitches!!! I'm making the most basic sock from a learn to knit socks book.....I mean it's like the "Dick and Jane" of knitting....ya know...Puff and Spot!!!! This is nuts! If any of you know of a trick or secret tips to doing this....or maybe want to tell me your first time stories, I will most definately welcome the help. I'm not giving up at all.....it seems like the more I do it the more rows I'm getting through before I get frustrated and frog!
Also, another question....any of you that use blogger, do you know if there is something to prevent spam...I'm actually starting to get comments that direct me to a landscape site or some non-existent craft site......what's that about????? The only spam I wanna see on my blog comes from a can!!!!
And please be patient with me if I haven't been leaving comments on your blogs....I'm having a heck of time sometimes leaving comments.....must be just slow out there or something. But I'm reading you all and I'll let you know when the computer isn't being a poo-poo head!!!
Well, that's it for now. Just some questions I wanted to throw out there. Hope you can help cause I really really want to knit socks (among all the other zillions of things I want to do!)
Oh, and don't forget your daily trip to Mexico at The Funny Peppers! Till tomorrow...