Two months and no posts.....talk about slacking off on the blogging~I can't believe it's been that long. I've been pretty busy with other things such as beginning a new and healthier eating program, exercising (UGH!) every other day, and doing some weights as well. Add to that that I'm a busy grandmom at times and I plead the 5th.
I have however, begun my little munchkin' Matty's Christmas stocking. I have charted out a Santa's face, a Christmas tree, and either a Snowman or icicles depending on how much of what colors I have left at that point. I'm using size 8 straight needles until I get down to the foot area and then I'll switch to dpns and just sew up the leg portion....it seems to work out better for me this way.
My yarn is Araucania Nature Wool Chunky and since I didn't have any of this yarn in white, I've substituted white angora which works just fine. If I buckle down and work on this consistently, I should finish it by the end of October, if not sooner.
I haven't done much on Matty's baby sweater but I haven't given up on it completely....let's say it's one of my projects for the future. I do like knitting with the Encore yarn and also Vanna's choice for his sweater. I think I began it using Encore in a medium blue but have several colors to incorporate when I get to the Fair Isle portion of the sweater.
Well, I'm headed to the food market after I finish some cleaning. It sure does cost money to eat healthy on a regular basis. Veggies, fruits, seafood, lean cuts of meat and poultry, but overall I have to say I feel much better and have lost 4 pounds thus far which was a much needed kick in the anterior since I was stuck in limbo for the past 6 months or better. Wish me luck!
Well, it's official, the Regia 'never ending socks'' have finally ended and I can say that I'm thrilled with them and their sheer comfort, especially with the garter stitch short row heels. One thing about Regia sock yarn is that they wear like iron and always snap back to their original shape after washing and air drying. My next pair will be for my mother for Christmas and they will be made using the same yarn (but in a different colorway this time) that I used to make these for her a few years ago.
This yarn is more of a DK or a light worsted so it's substantially toastier and lofty to wear which keeps my mom's tootsies nice and warm throughout the winter time. She wore the ones in the picture above so often that I had to perform some 'sock surgery' on them as best I could to keep them going for her this past winter.
I'm now working on 2 projects (trying to keep it down to 2 and not beginning anything else until at least 1 is completed). One is a Symbol CAL I'm doing at Ravelry . It's a mystery garment and the purpose is to learn how to read the symbols used in crocheting when the pattern is charted out, rather than using only the written patterns. It is a challenge I needed to take because I usually avoid crochet (or knitting for that matter) symbols like the plague since they have made very little sense to me in the past. Things are going along pretty well though since the gals on the Learn Crochet forum are the best.....always willing and able to answer all sorts of questions and hold our collective cyber hands as we attempt to actually 'get it'.
My other current project is a pullover sweater for my recently born grandson. I'm using Encore yarn so it has some wool but can also be washer and dryer friendly. I'm knitting it in the round from the bottom up and will incorporate some Fair Isle patterning into it, via EZ in her Knitting Workshop series. Starting it off in a medium blue and haven't decided on the other 2 colors I'll use for the patterning yet. Pictures will follow when there is enough done to show you. Until then, knit on and live each and every moment as it unfolds. Life is precious!
I tried this Pineapple pattern out once again to see how it would fly this time around. I've made 2 or 3 before but always with some difficulty understanding certain parts of the pattern, ergo, mistakes hither and yon. This time things went surprisingly well and I'm pleased with the outcome. My dear sweet friend, Kay, has asked me to make a new one for her since she has used the heck out of the former one I gave her and she (being the sweet person she is) didn't even mind the mistakes in it.
20 Of My Favorite Things
1. Color----All Shades of Purple
2. Dessert----Chocolate Silk Pie
3. Smell-----Honeysuckle Bush
4. Flower-----Pansies
5. Animal-----Cat
6. Month-----August
7. Beverage----Grape Juice with Lemon Slices
8. Pair of shoes----Clark's Slides
9. Snack-----Wasabi Rice Crackers
10. Song-----Bohemian Rhapsody
11. Book-----Leaving Home by Arthur Cavanaugh
12. Fruit----Peaches
13. Hairstyle-----Curly & Full
14. Piece of clothing------Silk Manadarin Collared Suit Jacket
15. Store to clothes shop---None Really16. Season-----Winter
17. Hobby----Knitting & Crocheting
18. Thing to collect-----Teapots
19. Movie-----Godfather Part II
20. Restaurant--My Own Kitchen
These are the rose bushes on our patio out back......who wouldn't love waking up to this explosion of vibrant color. My husband pruned them last fall and they were dwarfy little things when he was finished. I thought they might not bloom as much as last year but my suspicions were obviously unfounded. God has truly created such beauty for each one of us to gaze upon if we only have the eyes for it.
I've been working on my Regia socks and after much fiddling, finally completed my short row heels. I'm not sure what I did but I got all discombobulated (I think that's how it's spelled, LOL) and twisted around and had to take the heel stitches off the circular needles more than one time. Now it's just a matter of knitting the feet and completing the kitchener stitch on both and viola......a new pair of socks that can be worn with black slacks! Pictures will follow, I promise.
The weather in my neck of the woods has been hot and a bit humid too. When this time of the year rolls around I stay close to home so that I can partake of our wonderful AC......therefore, my walking has to be on the treadmill nine out of ten times because it's just too gosh darn hot for me to take it outside. I do miss looking at all the lovely trees, flowers, and bushes in my neighbor's yards though.
Until next time dear readers, I leave you with this gem of wisdom: "This above all, to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man" Shakespeare
Many things happening on the home front since I posted last. The biggest announcment is the arrival of our brand spankin' new grandson, Matthew, who came into the world on April 26, 2009, weighing in at 8 pounds, 10-1/2 oz. and 20" long. He is as cute as a button and the entire family is thrilled beyond words that he is here and all is well. We have been truly blessed!
I've been crocheting more than knitting but I did manage to finish a pair of socks (one seen here) using a mystery yarn from my stash which I didn't have enough of, and had to get creative and add an agreeable color for the larger portion of the toe area. All in all they turned out well but I'm not a big fan of a short legged sock but since there wasn't a lot of yarn to go around, the leg is about 5-1/2" long rather than my standard 7"to 8'". At least I used up another ball of stash sock yarn, of which I have many......too many!
Today I am going to continue working on the Regia socks (2 on 2 circulars) which I began a short time ago (pictured in post below). I've made some progress with them since the last picture I posted and I"m about 3/4 of the way down the leg area and headed toward the heel. I think I'll do short row heels again as I did in the sock pictured above. I really like the way it feels on the foot rather than the standard heel. I'm using size 3 Addi Turbo circulars and I'm pleased with the way they're coming along.
Drum roll please......the baby sweater, two hats, a pair of socks, and a blanket are finished! I gave my daughter-in-law the sweater set and the socks at her baby shower last Saturday and she loved them. I just completed the baby blanket today and will add pictures tomorrow once I block it out a bit. I crocheted textured squares about 10'" wide and 8" high using a size I hook and as I mentioned in my previous post, Bernat Softee Chunky yarn so that it can be put in the washer and dryer to make it as easy as possible for the new Mom and Dad to be. The whole process was a labor of love and I'm already plotting what I'm going to make next, with which yarn and when.
I'm also fixing one sock of a pair that I knit for my Mom a couple of years ago. There were two holes in it and these socks are her favorite ones for warmth. Trouble is I can't find the yarn for sale anywhere so if anyone reading this has some of this yarn they'd be willing to sell me, please let me know....color is not an issue. Anyway, after hours of trying to fix this sock, I came to the conclusion that the only thing to do was rip it out completely which was no easy task, by the way. However, it's on it's way with about 4" of the leg completed so even though this sock will be a bit shorter in the leg than the other, who's going to notice, and my mother isn't a bit concerned as long as she gets her favorite socks back as a two-some.
I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted here and already February is more than half over! The worst of it is, I have NO knitting content to share with you as I've been crocheting since before Christmas and I'm still at it. Above is a picture of the baby sweater I'm making for my soon to be new grandbaby so if any of my other kids are reading this, MUM is the word until I present it to my daughter in law at her baby shower.
I'm more than halfway finished as this is an older picture so it should be done in about a week, counting the button band, collar, and body finishing. Then I plan to make a little cap to go with it and even though I know it will be large on the little one for now, he/or she can grow into it and get some use out of it. The picture above is before the sleeves were added on so it looks a bit different now. I used a size G hook and Bernat Baby Chunky and I've really enjoyed working with this yarn.
Next up is the baby blanket to go with the sweater set made using the same yarn but a size J hook. I'm crocheting squares and will put it together next week, although I'm not sure just what method I'll use to sew the squares together....any suggestions are welcome. I promise a picture of the completed set as soon as I'm finished for your perusal.
Once again, the holidays came and went in a flurry of rush, rush, rush, and just like that, they're gone! We took down all of our decorations this past weekend and I do miss seeing our beautiful tree with all of it's lights twinkling, especially in the evenings. On the plus side however, our home looks much less 'cluttered'. I picture myself at this time of the year, with the weather outside looking like the photo above, churning out all sorts of beautiful hand knit and hand crocheted items for those I love, all snug with a steaming hot cup of tea right next to me as I craft the hours away!
I'm in the process of crocheting (yes, no knitting content this time around) 2 baby blankets for my grandchild to be (expected in April). One is a ripple stitch blanket and the other is assorted squares using different, yet similar looking patterns. For the ripple I'm using Red Heart Strata in 'Bambino' (very appropriate, I think), and for the squares I'm using Bernat Baby Chunky in all white so that perhaps my son and his lovely wife might decide to use that one for the christening, who knows, but at least they'll have the option to do so.
My New Year's resolutions are few but I'm the type of person who definitely benefits from sitting down and thinking through which things I want and need to work on and which things don't. I only have a few to mention and they are thusly:
1. Continue on my weight loss journey and in so doing, lose 25 pounds in the upcoming year, which shouldn't be too lofty a goal since that only works out to be a half pound per week and even my sluggish metabolism should be able to pull that off.
2. Get back to Mass on a weekly (preferably daily) basis, and I'm thinking that this resolution should probably be in the #1 spot.
3. Exercise at least 3 times a week without fail and stop making so many excuses not to do so.
So, there they are, just three hopefuls but they're biggies and I will try very hard to live up to each one of them. I wish any of you who read my blog much success with your own resolutions if you make them, and if not, a very happy, healthy year with many rainbows in your future!
It's official, I'm finished knitting the two gifts I'm giving this Christmas and they are even wrapped with 6 days to spare. I managed to secure some yarn for my mother's socks from my dear local yarn shop owner who had about 1/2 a skein left but not in the same colorway. I didn't mind different colors at all, but did want the same yarn and was thrilled to get it......thanks so much, Jackie. Below are the completed socks, in all their colorful glory!!
I think she'll be very happy with them and her feet will be toasty as well! Then, I completed my grandson, Matthew's beautiful stocking and I know his parents will be asking me why I made it so big......for more presents to put inside of it, of course. This should last him a lifetime and maybe one day long into the future he can tell his kids, "my Mimi made this for me".....how wonderful!
In closing, I wish each one of you everything your heart desires along with good health and happiness in 2010.
