More FINISHED projects

Here's the towel (Mason Dixon) and dishcloths I made using the new organic cotton (worsted weight) from KnitPicks. I wasn't planning on posting pictures, but my dear sister Jan MADE me! I really like the way the towel turned out and will be a making more.

Today I've been working on a prototype of a recipe box I've designed. Yes, you'll see pictures...Jan has shamed me into uploading more. (and she's the baby sister)

Knitting Frenzie

I've been knitting like crazy with the KnitPicks new cotton yarn.

Here's the Market Bag I just finished. (the pattern was free with my Market Bag kit and organic cotton I purchased from KnitPicks) I really like how it turned out. I plan to use it as my carry-on bag when Kendra & I head to Chicago next week.

Dishcloths and a hanging towel were also the products of the yarn but I didn't think they warranted a picture...rather boring.

Bill is definitely his mother's son. He's really enjoying his bird feeders. Here's one of the yellow finches that come around. He's still working on getting a good picture of the pair of cardinals that keep hanging out in our backyard. Earlier in the week we even had a hummingbird. At first, the hummingbird went to my petunias (hanging next to the feeder), then it found the sugar water solution. I've never before seen a hummingbird eat and NOT flap their wings. It was actually just hovering by the feeder. We could really see how tiny they are. Now that would have been an awesome picture.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Wow...it's May already. The kids are coming over for a cook out today. We're doing flank steak and salmon. (Kendra has never liked steak) Since it's MY day, I'll have her throw together a salad and figure out what the boys can make.

I'm almost finished with a 2nd sock. I started the first one last year. I needed a 'car' project and I found the 1st sock in a ziplock bag. Actually, the 1st isn't quite done. I'm to the toe decrease. When I get the 2nd sock to that point, I'm going to 'magic loop' them for the decrease so they're the same size!

I started yet another shawl. It's rectangular and, yes, it has 'damn yarn overs'. It's a simple 6 stitch repeat and I've put yarn stitch marker between each repeat. I'm sure it will be thrown in my purse quite frequently since the pattern is pretty much a no-brainer.

Off to do more knitting.

...March

...another month gone by. March has left me rather stagnant in my knitting. I did start an off-white lace shawl. Said I'd never do 'damn yarn-overs' again, but guess what? Yes, it's got them. I'm hoping that this pattern will be better and won't drive me too crazy.

Yesterday offspring #1 was over. He reminded me that I never made the pj's/robe I promised. I gave him 2 pieces of flannel for Christmas. To be quite honest, I completely forgot about it. So, I made him get the pattern and help me cut out the pieces. The fabric is currently on the dining room table, waiting to be cut. My excuse now is the need to buy some interfacing. (if I wait long enough, it will be too warm for him to wear them and I'll have a few more months to procrastinate!)

I've become addicted to books on tape. DH borrows from the library. The First Patient was really good. I'm almost finished listening to Deep Waters. It sure makes for a better commute than listening to the same radio channels. (I'm not lucky enough to have satellite radio) I'm also re-reading all of the Kathleen Woodiwiss books, in order. I've got to quit reading them...I don't want to do anything else!

March brought yet another birthday...mine. Bill & I went to Benihana the night before, then we took all 3 kids to Cap City Diner on my birthday. Way too much food, but it was all great, esp. the chocolate cake from Cap City.

Off to do a few things before Jack Bauer is on.

I'm Done!! Vacation was Great!!

I'm done!!
Parker's socks got done last week on our way down to Daphne Alabama. WOW...must have had 30" of knitting on size 1 needles! Kendra was over last night and I showed her the completed pair and she just shook her head and smiled. I put them next to her and they easily went to her knees, but I'm sure if she put them on they'd be longer.

It's been a while since I've taken the time to post anything. Knitting is still going well. I'm definitely suffering from 'Wintertime Sleepiness' and don't do much when I get home from work except 'plop and watch'. Bill & I have a love of NCIS and it's now on every weeknight at 5:00 with 3 back-to-back episodes. The pathetic part is we've seen them all before!

Vacation was Great!
Bill picked me up from work at 3:30 on Feb. 17 (Tues) and we headed south to finally make it to my sister Jo's place in Daphne, Alabama (only been trying to get there for several years). We drove just south of Nashville and spent the night, then finished up the trip on Wed. morning. We got all but 1 chapter of John Grisham's Appeal listened to on the drive. We had a great time. Walked the beach. Ate at some great restaurants. Toured the USS Alabama. Went to Mobile for a Mardi Gras parade. Went to Biloxi MS to a casino. Of course, I wasn't as lucky as everyone else. Bill got into a poker tourney and came in 3rd place ($140 with a $30 buy-in...not bad for 3-4 hours) Dick immediately won $100 at a quarter slot machine. Jo & I spent the entire time playing penny slots and having a great time. She was up about $35 at the end of the day. I was down a little under $20...BUT...actually I was UP $80. On the way into the casino, I (kiddingly) asked Bill if he was going to support my gambling and he took out his wallet and gave me a $100 bill. So...I used MY $20 bill to start gambling...hence I ended up a winner, too!

The food was absolutely fabulous. Ate way too much fried food but it was sooo good. One day for lunch we went to 'LuLu's' which is Jimmy Buffett's sister's restaurant. Jo had her cookbook, and after looking thru it, I decided to buy one, too. There's the history of LuLu's in the front, which is a really neat story. I would highly recommend dining there if you ever find yourself in Daphne, AL.

We got up early on Sunday and drove the entire way home. We made great time. Only problem was a 20 min. delay near Covington KY. Even tho Bill did all the driving, I was extremely tired. I hated to face reality and go to work on Monday!

I completed most of a worsted weight shawl on the trip home. I'd started it last fall and it was just waiting patiently with other UFO's. I need to go through my stash to see if I've got another skein so I can do the decorative finishing edge, otherwise need to search ravelry and see if I can find a skein to purchase/swap. It's triangular and looks really neat. I've probably got it about the right size but need to put it on waste-yarn and try it on. Figured it may as well get done so I can wear it before warm weather sets in. My next shawl is going to be with lace weight yarn and probably rectangular. Now to find a pattern. I'm NOT doing 'yarn-overs' since I find them a royal pain in the butt. I know they look great, but I need more of a 'no brainer' when I knit. That will probably be my summer 'car' project on our trips to the boat on Lake Erie.

Time to make a black raspberry (aka yum-yum) pie for Marshall's birthday dinner tomorrow.

More socks...

Well, it's January 8th and I've completed 4 socks (that sounds like more than 2 pair) and I've started on the BIG ones. Yes, I've begun the pair for Parker's size 15 feet. I'm using KnitPicks Felici in Dakota and doing 2-at-once-on-one needle.

When Parker got home from work today, I made him take his socks off so I could measure what I'd done, to see how much more I needed to work on the toe before I was done with the increases. Low and behold...it was right where it needed to be to stop the increases and work on the (loonnnggg) foot. They are turning out really neat. The colorway has earthy tones, along with a little pit of purple. Yes, he likes it. This is the boy that has a very pink dress shirt (hey...who can ridicule a guy that's 6'6" and weighs over 260lbs). With the other knitting that I know I'll end up doing, I'm hoping to have the foot part done by the 3rd week in Feb. when Bill & I head to Daphne AL to visit my dear sister Jo and hubby Dick. Since we're driving, that will give me plenty of sock knitting time.

I met several other (ravelry) knitters at lunch yesterday. We're going to try to meet the 1st and 3rd Wed. of the month. I felt like the 'mother hen' since they were all young enough to be my daughters! But, we had a great time and I look forward to our next lunch/knitting together.

Kendra's going with her dad to the Ohio State basketball game tomorrow evening so I'll actually get to catch up on some dvr watching. This time of the year it seems like most of the tv watching is college basketball or shows we record and fast-forward thru the commercials. (we'd be very hard pressed to watch a regular show and watch the commercials)

3 more days till Jack Bauer. Hooray! I know Marshall's coming over to watch on the big tv, but I'm not sure about Kendra. She came over to watch Redemption, so I'm assuming she'll be over both Sunday & Monday night and bring little miss Darby with her.

Speaking of Darby. She now has her official name. It is Darbocet SH Spotsworth. We all know that Darbocet is because she can be a royal pain, SH is for the 'shit head' she can sometimes be, and Spotsworth for Maggie's legacy to live on.

One of these days I'll actually takes pictures of my completed projects and post them...

Stash Knit Down 2009

Well...I joined the "Stash Knit Down 2009" on Ravelry. Now to see how well I can do! Using up 100 skeins/balls of yarn from my stash sounds great, however, that's A LOT of knitting without buying any more yarn.

I began my first stash knitting yesterday on January 1st. I started a pair of worsted weight socks for myself. Since I never wear shoes in the house, I need to keep the digits cozy with socks. I picked a butt ugly green (originally bought [I thought] to use in a felted purse). The only reason I used that yarn was it was already wound in a ball . I'm doing magic loop, toe-up but am doing 1 sock at a time since I probably don't have enough green for a complete pair. I'm just going to knit away at socks till I use up the single skeins of worsted that I had to purchase. I might even get adventuresome and make toes/heels a different color. I really don't care if the socks match...that makes them more fun to wear.

I've got a hair appointment today so I know I'll get some knitting in while my hair cooks. I'm hoping to have the 1st sock done by tomorrow. The sock count down has begun!!

I also need to start the socks I'm test knitting, again from ravelry, Big & Tall group. Parker's getting a neat pair of colorful size 15. I don't know if I'll like the pattern though since the pattern is top-down. Those big socks are going to take forever with sock weight yarn using size 1 or 2 needles!! They are definitely getting done 2-at-a-time...I'd never finish the 2nd one!!

Off to start a spreadsheet for my yarn de-stashing.