I can has sock

Yesterday was a nice day for a drive. The Boyfriend and I always love riding in the car together. It seems to be when we have our best conversations.

When we got home the boys were so happy to see us. After napping and unpacking, we four settled in for some TV and knitting (ok I’m the only one knitting and technically The Boyfriend had a computer and two cats on his lap/chest but we were all together on the couch).

So there I was knitting along and then sneak attack MacOban was under the table attaching my big toe in it’s hand knit sock. Rather than try and twist my foot away from him I opted to cut my loses and slip my foot out of the sock. Mac ran off with the sock to extract his vengeance. The poor sock! And yes that is my favorite pair of socks, the Bulldogust socks!

I finished the Native Vest I’ve been slogging through the finishing on. That just leaves 11 hibernating projects in the Decagon Decision Challenge. SO if I can finish off one more project today I’ll have achieved my goal of just 10 hibernating projects on the needles.

Happy Thanksgiving

Dinner’s been served and dishes have been washed.


The sounds of football on the TV and poker in the dinning room fill the house.


Grammy and Baby Kason are napping.


The family photo has been taken and the ladies have gone for a walk around the block.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Doing Better

Monday morning was just like any Monday –get up go to knitting class and then head to Mum and Dad’s. Things were not normal when I arrive to find my mother with her fully packed suitcase. My aunt was on the phone saying ‘come now’. Two weeks ago my uncle had a valve in his heart replaced with a titanium valve. It’s been a slow recovery which included a two day stint in the local hospital because of chest pain. Eventually they sent him by helicopter ambulance to a major cardio hospital. Things did not look good and my aunt and cousin needed us. Mum and I formed a convey and headed to the hospital 2 hours away.

The car ride was a roller coaster ride of emotion. Knowing that the worst was possible and hoping against all hopes that it wouldn't happen. My uncle’s blood pressure was so low that when he arrived they performed emergency surgery in the ER without anesthesia or pain medication. Everyone involved said “it was one for the record books”. My uncle’s first words to Mum and I was that it would’ve made a great episode of ER with blood flying everywhere.

On the second day we saw a change in him. And as the day wore on he was eating and joking. Tonight they moved him out of ICU and into his own room. We four girls were like a comedy routine, laughing and making him laugh. It was just such a relief to be with him after fearing the worst. He even sang the chipmunk Christmas song to us which was completely unexpected but thoroughly appreciated.

Tomorrow we head home, in the new target clothes I had to buy since I didn’t have time to pack before we left. I’ll have to do some quick laundry, baking and packing of knitting supplies before we head to Northampton, MA for Thanksgiving with The Boyfriend’s side of the family. Can you guess where I’m going on black Friday?

No More Cold Neck!!!

Check out my neckwarmer! It was in Holiday Gifts 08, and I’ve been drooling over it for the past month. I used The Fibre Company Khroma yarn. It’s a 50/50 Alpaca/Wool yarn. I love how soft it is and the pattern was great. I think I want to make a dozen more, at least one more for a certain grade school teacher who has duty in Northern Maine.

Frogging never Felt so good!!!

I’ve been busily working on the blanket of insanity with J. We’re going for a square a day. Did I mention it’s a blanket knit with leftover sock yarn on size 2 needles. For more details on the pattern check out the designers blog.

I’ve been a busy girl this week, running everywhere and doing everything it seems. Which is ok except that the monthly challenge I set for myself is falling way behind.

Monday I finished off the pink baby booties.

And Wednesday I finished the front of the native vest, which means I just need a collar, shoulder seams, tassels and viola…ready to wear.

Today I trashed the Spoiled girl slippers. See, I really did it. Here they are in the trash. They were beyond help and too sad to look at.

I also ripped out the Dexter sock, which wasn’t on the list of hibernating projects but realistically I wont make these socks. 8 hours for an inch. I may be crazy for making the blanket but I’m not crazy enough to put 100 hours into one pair of socks that I feel indifferent toward. I may try them again with DK weight yarn since they are part of the favorite sock book.

Next I frogged the Hardly Know Her Hat. It would’ve been cute but I had just completed the cast on edge and had 10” of colorwork to go. It’s nice to frog and reclaim needles.

I also frogged the blue baby blanket, I had done this a month or so back when I wanted the brown for a stranded sweater that never got beyond swatching.

SO visually here is where I stand on the challenge. Slashes are frogged or trashed. Hearts are finished. Half hearts are in progress again. 13 Hybernating projects, and just 9 days to get that down to 10. I’d give 50-50 odds on that happening.

Oh and December's Challenge is going to be to knit 7 squares a week for the blanket!

I'm Linus!

You're Linus!

You may lack some courage outside your comfort zone but with a little security you can accomplish anything. Your smart, intelligent, and care about your friends. Keep up your strong faith because its a part of you that is unique.

Funny, I thought the small yellow fuzzy thing with four legs was Linus.

Take the Quiz you're self.

LuLu

Yeah, it was a great trip and Miss Lulu is now safely in her new home.

Although she did tell us for the first 3 hours this morning how much she hated the moving car. Just when I was ready to kill her, MMH told me how great I was to tolerate it. (rye smile)

I think Lulu sensed my frustration because she soon fell asleep, alternating between MMH’s shoulder and mine. She looked incredibly cute sleeping but she did still express a few minor protests.

I am however, remarkably tired for someone who road in the car for two days...doing nothing but knitting...Good Trip!

Friday's activities

11:21am
I’m working on a super secret project. It’s a day off for me, but I was up at 6am charting out the pattern too excited not to cast on immediately. I’m about half done now and just took a break to make some white chili. My house smells amazing right now!

1:30pm
Decided to go to Pennsylvania to pick up Lulu. This will require some knitting/food/clothing preparation. Finished super secret project, at least part 1….mehahahaha

3:00pm
Cookies have been baked, washer is running and project is blocking. I absolutely had to do laundry today. I only had one clean pair of hand knit socks left and wearing the store bought kind is so tiresome. So the laundry room is an array of color as the different socks hang drying.

4:00pm darned some socks and loaded the I-pod with new music and audiobooks...sci-fi fantasy which is both of our favorites.

6:37pm finished packing the knitting projects and limited myself to just 5 projects for 36 hours. Hopefully that’ll be enough. One of those projects will be an insane sock yarn blanket that Julie hypnotized me into doing. She had to twist my arm really hard. You know me, sock project and my eyes glaze over and my fingers start moving. As I type this I'm cast on the first square. First off will be NYC & Kansas.

Mark your calendars

I just don’t feel like knitting tonight. This has happened one other time in the last 3 years that I can think of. I really need to update the Devon Rex website and can’t due to software issues which is totally stressing me out. I have swatches, and patterns, and gifts, and stuff for me that all needs to be done but right now I just want to read blogs. Crazy!

Frog Slumber Party

The last two nights, The Boyfriend and I have had a slumber party. We’re both a bit goofy and thought it would be fun to make up the air mattress in the living room and sleep down there for a night…and then another. We had originally meant to do this in October but time got away from us. We bought the condo 3 years ago this October and had slept on the air mattress on the floor in the living room for the first week until we actually moved in. The boys loved playing on it all day yesterday. While they did that I was busy working through some of those hibernating projects.
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First off I frogged My Jacobean Floral Felted Bag, so now what do I do with 10 skeins of chocolate brown knit picks wool of the Andes? Any suggestions?
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Brilliant Sachet Trio has been repurposed to be a patch on my new bag. It was a great free bag but advertising for the shoe store doesn’t appeal to me.
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Finally the Blue Boucle Booties were finished. Originally cast on in March 2007, the booties had been sitting without tops. So I made a little hat to go with them and finished them off. So cute!
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4th the Braided Scarf was frogged and trashed with a vengeance!!! And it felt damn good. Who picked out glitter and fun fur? Pink of all colors! 4 Stupid skinny scarves all braided together! Well they're gone now!
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Lastly the Twisty Turn shrug was frogged. A pair of mittens in malabrigo I made this summer look a million years old after wearing them five times. This shrug was knit as a 10 foot look scarf using malabrigo. I had a foot completed and fear of pilling overcame the desire to knit a 10 foot scarf. Really not hard since I hate scarves. So it’s been frogged.

That's 5 more off the total leaving 16 projects that are currently hibernating. Those remaining really need to be finished and not frogged. I don’t expect to have another productive day like today again. But I will definitely keep at it since it feels so good to clean them out. I might even make room for some more yarn in the yarn closet once all the bulky UFOs are gone. I Kid I Kid, I Joke With You!

Sizzlin’ Serpents

Snakes are sometimes kept as pets. They can be very low maintenance, requiring minimal space, as most common species do not exceed five feet in length, and can be fed once every five to fourteen days. Certain snakes have a life span of more than forty years.

While snakes are uncomplicated pets, they are even easier to care for when they adorn a pair of hand knit socks. Although I can not vouch for a forty year existence that would need some amazing yarn.

If you would like your own serpent adorned socks check out http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17110745 The pattern for anklets knits up quickly and it's interesting to watch as the snake wraps itself around the foot while you work.

The First of Many

Today was the first day I worked on one of the Decagon Decision projects. It was the infamous Ivy League Vest which has been sitting in the closet with ends needing to be woven in and steeks needing to be tacked down since…August 29th. One of my knit sibs chastised me for ignoring it this long. It was the push I needed.

Right now it’s blocking full of pins to convince the armhole ribbing that it wants to lay flat.

One down, leaving 21 hibernating projects, and 11 more in need of finishing or froging in order to achieve Decagon status.

I’ve been designing some socks. Well there not just any socks, I’m calling them…"there’s something in my shoe" socks. One is done and I’m “test knitting” the second one to make sure the pattern is perfect before I share it with you all. I absolutely love them!

Cat House

So What do think, would The Boyfriend go for something like this?



http://www.cathouseonthekings.com

November Decagon Decision Challenge

Are you wondering about the November Challenge for the Knitting Samurai? I thought you might be.

You see the Samurai has been coming clean about a lot lately, bonnets, socks, and piles of yarn, etc. In that spirit there is something else I’d like to unburden myself of. There are currently 22 hibernating knitting projects. By hibernating I mean that these are unfinished projects that I’ve set aside in favor of some other more interesting project. This is a photo of 20 of those projects (2 are super secret surprises so they’re not included).

Some of these projects have been sitting for years, and others for months.

Some are winter projects (sweaters, hats, mittens) that I could finish and wear this season.

Some are things I’m never going to make that are just taking up space in my closet.

Therefore, November’s Challenge will be Decagon Decision. In case you were wondering, a decagon is a polygon with ten angles and ten sides.

During the month of November I shall attempt to become a UFO Decagon instead of a twenty-two-agon, actually that’d probably be a circle at that point but you get my meaning.

Frog’em or Finish’em! Which means I’ll need to be making decisions and working through 2.5 UFOs a week. This should make for some interesting blogging…

Obama's ontop of it!

I felted the bag on Sunday night. I treated it very gentle as I waited for it to dry...taking it to knitting class and showing it to everyone who came to the house. I still need to sew on a button at the top but for now I'm very proud of the Obama-Rama Bag. I'm certain I'll be able to wear it tomorrow!

Therin Head Band

Ta Da...here is my first J. Knits Pattern. It's available for free download from the website.

It's Therin's Head Band.

Check it out. It's a snap to knit and looks great on everyone!!

Where's the coffee table?

It’s finally reached a boiling point. I typically leave a project or two lying around on the couch or on the coffee table. Wherever I last worked on it, ready to be picked up again without any searching or rooting around in my knitting bag. The Boyfriend has never said anything. As you know I went a little crazy for Sock-toe-bar and now have 7 different socks on the needles as well as the bag, several swatches, a hat, another hat, a wrap, a neck warmer, a mitten, and a headband. And this is just what I’m considering Works In Progress (WIPs).

Friday night, as he tried to find space on the table for the laptop he suggested I do something about the yarn. My heart skipped a beat. No, after years of living with yarn he was asking me to put away my second greatest love? How could it be? Thankfully I’d jumped ahead of him and upon explanation he just thought it’d be nice to see the coffee table again...something that’s been impossible for longer than I’m willing to admit...ok at least 10 days.

This lit a proverbial fire under my A$%. It forced me to realize that 14 WIPs is more than I want. It’s a bit stressful feeling like you have to do this, do that, and do the other thing all at once. More than once in the last week I’ve thought I need a second set of hands and shortly after thinking that I’ve considered casting on another must have project. It’s a sickness really it is. So fire blazing I set to work to clear off the table and finish off some WIPs.

First to go was AP’s Slipper Sock. I just had a couple of inches left on the leg so I banged that out. Next came the adult Cisco hat with Frog Tree Alpaca. That took a while but after a month of half existence it was completed and ready to wear. Did you know, I knit myself a frickin baby bonnet?!?! Once I had it on and looked in the mirror all I could do was laugh. Who knits an adult baby bonnet?? Seriously!

The Obama bag was a push but I finished off the back with some stars but promptly ran out of navy yarn with no possible substitute. The Boyfriend stopped at Michael’s for me and got some Lion Wool for the handle which should be done this morning. I hear the washing machine calling.

Next the Freaks and Geeks sock was frogged. The yarn was just too heavily contrasting to show the intricate lace pattern. Which begs the question, why work your butt off knitting the lace if no one but you will know it’s there...rippppppp.

Lastly I completed the headband. I just need the perfect button now. Hello Yarn Basket... I think Linus wanted one of his own. Or he was so proud of me that he wanted to kiss my nose.

That brings me down to 9 WIPs. I typically run with 6 to 8 so it is still a bit high but no worries, the fire is still burning. Although I must admit, last night I was like a crow drawn to some road kill (ewww, where did that mental image come from?!?) . After ripping the sock out I had a spare pair of size 2s lying about. That just wouldn’t do so I began designing a pair of socks. For now all I’m going to tell you about it is that there will be a little something extra in my shoes...

Takes me back