In The Hopes

In the hopes that fellow bloggers will post something to entertain me (Cough, TDC) I will put a little something out there myself.

The knitting world just gets smaller and smaller...I was reading the Yarn Harlot the other day and enjoyed hearing about her latest sock. I followed her link and considered purchasing the pattern; I still might, but I actually have to check and see if I already did. ;o)
And the story kept running through my mind...mmmm, something's familiar about all this...

Ah Hah! I said. I have that yarn! The name felt good, but really it was the colour that called to me. (I love the names of yarn; sometimes that's about the only reason I buy it; it's not like I need it or anything, but you already knew that.) I decided to make some wrist warmers for a friend of mine; I have the first one completed and have started on the second, but I gotta say...I really like these, and I'm a little doubtful (and feeling guilty about my hesitation) that they'll actually get to the person that I started them for. I'm a baaaad knitter, or maybe just a bad friend.

Seascape Update:

Have completed the 6 repeats that the pattern called for and have begun #7. I anticipate completing #8 before I begin the end chart and blocking. Two weeks to go...I hope I make it. True to Noro form there's a colour glitch and I'm just living with this one. I have, however, taken the appropriate steps to ensure consistency in the rest of the wrap.

Because that's what I do.

Also to be completed in the next two weeks. :o)

"A Bamboo Tank Top" using Dye-Version Bamboo Sock. It's 93% Bamboo and 7% Lycra; therefore, there is a real spring to this yarn. It is absolutely wonderful to work with and I have no trouble staying true to working with it daily.

At this point in the pattern I'm working a simple 4 row repeat, and 3 of those rows are knit. Why then when I sat down earlier did I have to tink 3/4 of a 210 sts. row because I couldn't work the one round of 'YO, K2tog" a few times? Simple right? Geez! I'm sure glad it's so pretty; I was happy to spend the extra time with it.

Hyper and Unfocused

Must be left over from Halloween! Or maybe this little lady cast a spell on us all...

This will be a bit of a random post in keeping with the "unfocused" theme.

I wasn't feeling well for the past couple of days; turns out there is actually something going around where you're tired, have a runny nose and a headache that makes it feel like your head is going to fall off.

Even if no wine was involved.

So yesterday, after a serious afternoon nap, I actually had some energy to make a decent dinner and I was so pleased with myself that I made sure that I had evidential proof of said dinner.

It's Chicken and Pears with Almonds and Gorgonzola, loosely based on a recipe from the Alive magazine available at you local health food store. When I showed my husband the picture of the original he said mine was better. Brownie points for him.

I invented this side dish of lightly steamed broccoli and cauliflower tossed with leaks and garlic that had been sauteed in the pan used to prepare the chicken dish.

The evening went kind of hairy after that. Later on I was helping my son try to find his ski boots, which we never did, but that led us into some uncharted territory that is 'the crawl space'. I don't often get down there, because whoever built this house saw fit to build a crawl space where you can't stand up straight and it hurts all of our backs to go in there! So stuff gets shoved in there and moved around and forgotten about and added to etc. etc.
This is particularly not helpful for those of us who are prone to the 'hoarding' factor; especially with yarn.
I found yarn in the crawl space. I sort of knew it was there. I sort of remembered that I had it. I just don't ever remember feeling that overwhelmed by it before.
I have my studio stash...which is plentiful.
I have a few (cough-several) rubbermaid containers waiting to go---either to the crawl space or away; again, plentiful.
And once again I've encountered the Crawl Space Yarn. CSY.
**New t.v. show idea: CSI-CSY! Starring....me? The following show contains material that may be offensive to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
Anyway, I guess not being able to find the boots and seeing all that yarn that I still actually remember what it was that I wanted to do with it all left me feeling a bit unsettled. Put that together with an afternoon nap, late evening dessert and a snoring husband and you've got a night full of second guessing and self negative talk.
I was setting myself up for quite a tailspin and feeling pretty badly about myself and my short-comings and choices I've made, projects I will never complete...dreams that will never come true. NOT A GOOD NIGHT!!!
So, I got up, made another cup of Bedtime Tea and, "Thank God for Knitting", is all I have to say. I quietly worked on Seascsape and found my rhythm once again. I was able to quiet the voices that tell me "I'll never finish all this!" And shortly after midnight I was able to get to sleep.
This morning I awoke embracing the Hope for Creativity that I count on to get me through the hustle and bustle of the life we are a part of. (This morning's mantra is, "Thank God for Sunshine".) If Hope for Creativity looks like too much yarn to some people, well so be it. I'll get to it someday. (It's funny, that same Alive magazine where I found the chicken recipe also had an article on procrastination, and it was written by somebody that somehow got inside my head and shared with everybody how my thoughts and days go by! Scarey.)
A few hours later I find myself sitting at Tim Hortons checking emails and there is one waiting for me with one of my favourite subject lines:
Knitting Question.
"...What do you ladies do with your left thumb when you are knitting? In particular when you are doing the purl stitch. Does it sit nicely in the palm of your left hand, does it leap back and forth to the needle, does it do something in between? Inquiring minds want to know."

Well, was my face red!! Here I was in a coffee shop, reading an email about knitting and me without my knitting!! I tried knitting in mid air without yarn and needles, but it really wasn't very helpful. I didn't care that maybe I looked like one of those crazy ladies; I just wasn't getting the proper results to give my inquiring minded friend the answer she deserved and needed!

So, here's a picture to put it all into perspective. Mostly my thumb stays pretty much in this position. It might move back and forth a little bit, but usually it sits here to do the job at hand.

I picked up an addition to my knitting library the other day.

I'll tell you more about it another day...maybe I'll bring it to knitting on Thursday...but I have to get going now. There's a dog that wants fed and a girl who doesn't have her dance stuff to get ready for her 3 hour dance class after her Volleyball tryout.

That's Seascape peeking at the corner there. I think I'm going to do a couple of extra repeats on that because I don't see how it's going to block to the given dimensions on the pattern and I think that that's a reasonable conclusion since the yarn is quite a bit different than the one called for.

I've really enjoyed writing and sharing this with you today. Thanks for taking the time to read.

Let's Do The Time Warp...

Everybody make that sound you make when you're traveling back in time. You know kind of Twilight Zoney.

It's still October. In fact Halloween started on or about the 28th this year; so here's a recap...

I went out and had lunch with my dad on Thursday and stopped at a couple of shops in Shelburne on the way home. Yes, I should have been coming straight home, but I chose to honour my mother and myself and stop at a couple of shops we would've both enjoyed.

Shop #1: Cobwebs and Caviar. I went in for Halloween decorations and found quilting fabric. It's nice how things work out sometimes.

They had quite a nice little selection of cats and yarn fabric...it had to come home with me.

Shop #2: Woolly's Yarns. I went in just to look and to cheer up a bit; it worked! Well, the cheering up part did, but the just looking part? Not so much.

The lady at the store asked me what I was going to make with the yarn? I told her I'll find something in that magazine. Still looking.
The Halloween cat is new this year to my collection. Funny, the ladies in the store where I got it were quite happy to see it go. It plays Black Magic Woman. My husband is happy to see it go away too.

October 29th, 2010. (Imagine some kind of ticker tape noice)
I went to carve a pumpkin with my 4 year old niece. We had a great time and because I was in the area...I stopped at Georgetown Yarn and Crafts. I've been meaning to get there for years, and again, instead of coming straight home I visited yet another yarn shop.

I mostly hit the sale bin there...but not everything makes it to a blog photo shoot, now does it?

Hohoho!

So we're right on Halloween's tail; I've visited two yarn shops and continue to knit for Mexico. You know what else I did, keeping in the spirit of the Big Day?

I spun Orange Yarn. Blood Orange Yarn by Dyehard Yarns, from Pick Up Sticks to be exact. It smells like an orange too, because I rinsed it in Citrus Soak.

It's fine. I know it's fine, but I honestly thought I was doing a lot better on this one. I probably was when I WAS ALONE AND NOT BEING INTERRUPTED EVERY 5 MINUTES!! "What ya doin'?" "Can you take me to Courtney's now?" "How about now?" "That's gonna take forever!" "Now?"

"What's for dinner?"

So enough about yarn (Like there can actually ever be enough about yarn!), here's a question for you.

Who are these people???

Hint: "Out Damn Spot! Out!"