progress

no pictures to share, but I have been knitting! SG#4 (earthy tones) was giving me problems, so I figured out something new ... SG#4 is now coded WW ... and it is 50% done. I gifted SG#1 this weekend; it was actually a birthday present for mom, so once she sends me a picture I'll post it. I was distracted from taking the picture myself this weekend. I have also made good progress on Wes' stocking ... I have finished the top and two of the five patterns. He is back on night shift so there is lots of time for knitting and staying up way too late, which is how I have gotten this much done already. I'm going to try and take some pictures tonight to post, then this will be a lot more interesting. Work has gotten busy too, so that is keeping me from regular updates as well and the holiday weekend was so fun, but I didn't get much knitting done at all except Sunday night while Wes was at work.
Wes, me, Kristen, Luke, Dad and Mom at the Anaheim Ducks vs. New Jersey Devils game on Friday, Nov. 24

break in the action

I finished my stocking on Tuesday night (it is enormous ... oh my gosh) and have been taking a little break since then. Wednesday night Wes and I went out to see The Guardian for date night and last night just relaxed and watched another movie at home that was a little too complex to be knitting through it. Though we did take a break in the middle to make a run to Marble Slab for peppermint ice cream with Oreos. Love at first bite ... anyway, plan to get back on track this weekend and start on Wes' green stocking and some more gifties. Will share pictures of my giant stocking soon ...

hurray for me!

I'm giving myself a gold star because I just did something that made me scared and nervous and I passed with flying colors!
Today has been really busy at work, and I didn't have time to take lunch until 3pm. So I planned to take a half-hour and knit on SG#3, but when I pulled it out, I was suprised to find out that I had forgotten to turn the cables on row 3 of the pattern repeat. This wouldn't usually be a problem because I have taken out one row stitch-by-stitch at a time, but the real problem was that I had also knit row 4, which means I had to pull out two rows. I knew I didnt' have the patience to take out 100 stitches one at a time so I held my breath and pulled out the needles, leaving all those stitches flying free in the breeze. Then I slowly ripped out the two rows and started placing stitches back on the needles. I was quite relieved when I reached the end of the row because I thought I got them all, but a quick count revealed only 49 stitches instead of 50! I turned my work over and found that stitch 7 out of 50 - one lone P stitch - had fallen to the back. I stuck an extra cable needle through it so it wouldn't drop until I could knit the first 42 stitches on the row and my brain performed a miracle in that I remembered to pick it up when I got to that stitch! So, since I only had a half-hour, I didn't really make any progress as far as my little record keeper to the right is concerned, but at least now all the rows are right and when I pick it up again tomorrow (not tonight - have to finish the stocking!) I will be able to keep moving forward! But for now ... back to work!

fill 'er up, Santa!

Last night while Wes was playing basketball I took the opportunity to make really good progress on my stocking. I finished the row of hearts, completed the row of holly and bound off the toe before I went to bed. This morning I was up early enough to weave in all the ends (lots of ends in fair isle!) and start on the heel. The heel on this pattern is an "after-thought heel" which means the heel stitches are knit initially with scrap yarn, then picked back up after the rest of the stocking is completed. It looks a little funny now - a big hole in the middle of my stocking - but it will turn out great. Once the heel is finished all I have left to do is duplicate stitch my name on top, then I can start on Wes' stocking!
I wanted to do mine first in case I messed up. I did mess up, but I didnt' realize it until I was more than half-way finished so I didn't go back. But in order to keep the stockings similar in size, I will have to make the same "mistake" on Wes' stocking. It's not a big deal - I just read the pattern wrong and where it said to knit rows 5-15, I thought it ment knit 15 new rows, so there are five extra rows in the top portion of the stocking (where the name will go). It's not a big deal, it just makes this large stocking even larger. Santa will have to come prepared when he comes to our house this year!!

I could make this, right?

I think this is so freakin' cute ... I could figure out how to make it, don't you think? and for a lot less than $36!! I have never designed anything before, so it might take a while ... I'll have to hang on to this idea until after Christmas knitting is finished, I'm afraid ...

i knit to save money

although knitting is an expensive hobby, today it actually saved me money ... instead of going out at lunch and buying these boots, I just knitted knitted knitted!! It's not as hot out today, so I made some more good progress on SG#3 without sweating through my clothes after two rows.
last night I worked some more on the Christmas stocking while catching up on two TiVoed episodes of "Justice." Because of the fair isle I have four balls of yarn attached to the stocking all the time, so it is a little hard to bring with me anywhere. SG#3 is perfect for lunch breaks and other short bursts of time during the day because it is small enough to fit in my bag.

November in California

It's almost 4pm in the 11th month of the year and outside it is 75 degrees (yesterday the high was a record-setting 90!) which is way too hot to sit in the car and knit on lunch break. Too bad because that was my plan, I even attempted making some progress on SG#3 (after my frustration with SG#4, I wanted to go back to something I knew I was good at), but although I initially found a spot in the shade, it didn't last long and I was sweating too much to continue knitting. So I came back to the air conditioned office and read of other people's knitting success ... Knit and Tonic and Pie Knits are two new favorites.
Anyway, I was anxious to get some knitting done after last night too ... I used the time I would normally be running to buy groceries for me and my handsome starving husband. Then I went home and whipped up some mac and cheese (perhaps the culprit behind my nausea later that night?) and started knitting my ass off on the first Christmas stocking. By the time the CMAs started I was finished with the top panel and ready to start on my first pattern - 19 rows that would result in green trees on a white background. Wes got home shortly after and polished off the rest of the cheesiest while I kept knitting like Christmas Eve was tomorrow and I wouldn't' get any presents without a stocking for Santa to put them in. When Wes (who gets up at 4am to go to work) starting making sleepy noises, I still had about six rows to go on the trees and wasn't tired yet, but since I had made "I miss you" whining earlier in the evening before he went to basketball, I felt like I should stay by his side so I turned off the TV and settled into bed with my latest amazing book. I was a little reluctant to go to bed for a couple reasons ... I hoped that sitting upright would keep my nausea in my stomach and not all over the bathroom, I wanted to keep knitting (I guess that little quiz was right, knitting is taking over the rest of my life) and had I stayed up, I wouldn't have first heard about Faith's freak-out on PopCandy ... but this book is so good and I do love my husband, even when he is sleeping, so i didn't really mind. Plus, Wes goes back to nights in a couple weeks ... then I will have plenty of opportunities to stay up too late knitting to the television. For now I am just worrying about how I will make it through tonight's mile repeats in this hotness ...

silly little quiz

What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are bamboo.Warm, cozy, and thoughtful, you take your time and enjoy how things feel, smell, and taste. You love the craft and beauty of traditional things, and you value the comfort and experience of knitting as much as the results. But while you are reveling in your warm cozies, don't get stuck. Warm is wonderful, but so is the whole wide world!
Take this quiz!

funny because bamboo is my prefered needle ... and also because when I get going on a project, I tend to forget about other stuff (nope, I didn't do the dishes last night!). Don't know how this result came from the answers I gave (what I order at Starbucks and the best kinds of secrets?) but it is suprisingly accurate!

I run so I can knit

sooo ... yesterday Tia and I ran a grueling eight miles. Part of the problem was that we went a little later than usual - Wes got to go into work later than usual so we had the opportunity to attend church together, a rarity on his current schedule, so I didn't want to pass that up. So Tia and I didn't' start our run until closer to 10 (when we're usually finishing) and it has been really hot the last few days. but, we finished strong and are looking forward to possibly running in Sycamore Canyon this weekend for something different and a little more challenging than running along the beach path. Anyway, the nice thing about getting up and running eight miles, is that I don't feel guilty about sitting around for a lot of the day knitting. On Saturday while Wes was watching football, I made good progress on SG#4 until I held it out and realized I didn't really like the intricate pattern on one side of it. So I pulled out the needles and sort of re-wrote the pattern to my liking. When I sat down on Sunday to follow my own pattern, I didn't plan exactly right, so now my own pattern isn't making me too happy either. I almost gave up knitting for the rest of the day and went into the kitchen to do dishes (yes, that's how frustrated I was ... I was almost cleaning). But instead I realized that I would have the whole month of December to work on Christmas presents and would love to be able to display homemade Christmas stockings for more than just Christmas Eve. So I pulled out the pattern book and red, green, cream and grey yarn and cast on for my Christmas stocking. I didn't get too far along before I had to start dinner for Wes, but I have a good start. I am glad I practiced on the tiny stocking last week so i am confident in my fair isle skills now and know I will have no problem "turning the heel" on the larger stockings. Since we ran so hard yesterday and have another hard run (mile repeats) planned for tomorrow, Tia and I are taking today off. Wes will be out playing basketball so I have another Monday night ahead of me for knitting ... but maybe I'll do the dishes first ...

extra Christmas-y Halloween

so I spent Halloween night knitting Christmas stockings. Well, a mini-Christmas stocking. I wanted to do a small sample before I took on the larger stocking with all the color swaping and heel turning. It took me most of the evening to knit this smaller one, but I was pleased with the way it turned out! I am excited to make the bigger ones now!
Tonight the Halloween/Christmas will continue - Wes and I are going to see The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D! I only saw this movie once, a long time ago at home so I am excited to see it in a theater and with the new special effects.
I also cast on for SG#4 last night and got a few rows in, probably won't get any more of that done tonight, but at least it is started ... I was having trouble attempting to knit in the round with two circular needles instead of dpns and eventually decided to go with what I am comforatable with. I think it was a good decision for this pattern anyway because it is broken into three parts, with each having specific instructions and to knit in the round on two circulars, the work is split only in two, so it would be harder to keep track of the three separate pattern repeats.