1.06.2008

FO



Here the first finished FO for 2008. It's a scarf made with Lion Brand 100% wool. It was a simple chevron pattern I found on the Crystal Palace website. This yarn knit up well with no splitting and it was very soft. It took almost 2 skeins of yarn knitted on size 10 needles. I started it in late December, but was not able to work on it too much due to the silly season craziness. So I finished it a couple of days ago. It's already been gifted ,so I have this picture to add to my knitting journal. I try to keep a journal with pictures and info on each project, but I don't always add them to the journal right away, so...

some day!. Of course being a creative knitter (lol) I have another use for this scarf...
The Kitty Shawl! Note the reluctant model or is that "Strike a Pose"?
P.S I didn't finish this post until after midnight. I almost forgot to post. I went out to dinner with friends and decided to see a movie. I saw "I am Legend" starring Will Smith. Intense!!!
361 knitting and blogging

1.04.2008

New Year , New KAL


It's not even a week into the New Year and I've already signed up for a knit-along!

After the fun of Melanie's Mystery Stole 3 last summer, I'm ready for another one. Mind you, I still need to block the the stole from it. The theme turned out to be "Swan Lake". It was my first experience with lace and I really enjoyed it. After this one, I'll be ready to work on the Here Be Dragone shawl. I still have a few UFO's from 2007 that are nearly finished that I'm working to turn into FO's. I don't know what's gotten into me, but I'm actually enjoying working one these. Sometimes, I get a case of "startitis" and then abandon one project to start a new one! Short post tonight cuz my stomach is growling and I see Chinese food in my immediate future.

362 knitting and blogging

1.03.2008

Gunslingers, Towers and Quests...No Knitting.

I learned to read at a very young age and have never stopped since. In elementary school it was fairytales, short stories for children and comic books. My grandfather brought me my first comics and I enjoyed them so much, I started asking for one everytime we went near any place that sold them! I liked the comics for "girls", but I really loved the superhero comics. Batman,spiderman, and others not as famous. As I got older, I traded comics and fairytales for the Secret Garden,Anne of Green Gables, and stories of the supernatural (ohhhhhhhh scary!). I loved scareing the crap out of myself with my blanket pulled up over my head, imagining there were ghost in my room . The closet door was always SHUT, because you never know what's hiding in there, damn closet monsters! I used to check it twice, just to be sure.


Let me loose in a bookstore and you'd have to send a search party in to find me. To this day, When I say: "I'm just going in the book store for a minute..." The answer I get from friends/family "We'll meet you at the_________" or from my smartass sister "Did you Pack some food and bring a sleeping bag?" My sister didn't read for enjoyment until she was an adult. Until that point, a book was like her own personal kryptonite. "NO,NO get that book away from me, your killing me! I don't need no stinkin books!"( only exaggerating a little B-> )

Right now I'm reading the last book in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. If you think Harry Potter fans are a dedicated lot (I read all those books too). It ain't nothing compared to Rowland Fans. The first in the series of 7 books came out in 1982 and the last book in the series was published in 2004! I didn't come across the book until 1986. I wasn't even sure I wanted to read it. It was different then Carrie and another one I'd read. I had loved the Carrie book! Wow, to have telekinetic powers!!! Anyway, one rainy day, I started reading the Dark Tower: The Gunslinger and have been a faithful reader since. Unlike Rowling, who published a book every one to two years, King really teased and tortured his readers by writing the next in the series every 4 years. After Wizards and Glass, he took a 6 or 7 year break and he even stated in the afterward of the 4th book he might not complete it and leave the story where it ended! What? What!!! Are you F*%$#ing kidding me? What kind of Bullshit is this?! Luckily he came to his senses. Though he didn't come to his senses until after he was nearly killed by a hit and run driver! I don't know if his life flashing before him had any influence, I'm just saying... I'm glad he he got better from the accident and got around to finishing the damn book!







If you haven't read any of this series, what are you waiting for? Get thee to a library, used book store or friend's bookshelf. Thank ye sai and if your reading this post, its Ka. What am I talking about sai? Ka? Get the book!!! The story has influences of Lord of the Rings, Arthur legend, and a poem by Robert Browning called "Childe Rowland to the Dark Tower Came". The main character is Rowland, a gunslinger. A kind of knight of the Round Table. He is the last of his kind and on a quest. Along the way he meets 3 other characters who will become very important to his quest of reaching the Dark Tower and have their own personal demons to conquer. It's how they meet and become a band of gunslingers to be reckoned with that gets and keeps the reader invested in these characters. Just like Harry Potter, I'm going to miss these characters when the adventure ends! Some of the other science fiction, fantasy, and horror writers I enjoy are Graham Masterton, F. Paul Wilson, Dean Koontz, and Theodore Sturgeon (The Dreaming Jewels), and Terry Brooks. There are many more, but enough about me. What do you like to read? I'm always up for reading new authors (anyway, new to me ).

363 Knitting and blogging

1.02.2008

Reducing your stash? Let me help!

I've given up on New Year's resolutions. That way, I can't fail and feel bad that I couldn't stick to them! Last year, I posted that I was going to not buy any yarn. I lasted about three months, before I found myself standing at the cash register of my LYS with an armful of yarn, reaching into a bag to see what my discount would be (Damn mystery discount sales!). I got all that fiber goodness for 50% off. How can you argue with that? It's like getting yarn for free!



Joining Ravelry made me take a good look at my yarn inventory. It's too large to call a "stash" anymore. I think of a stash as a little (yarn, money etc..) something you can put away for a rainy day. My "stash" is not small enough to hide away (lol). My plan this year is to knit some of it up. So, I'm on the look out for patterns. Like I really need more patterns!!! We won't go there today.



Here's one very nice neck warmer to help reduce that stash and keep you toasty on a winter's day! I found this today on Veronik Avery's blog. It's a Chevron Neck Warmer. She didn't write a formal pattern, but provided her notes on making it. These notes and chart are very easy to understand. According to her blog, people saw her wearing it and requested a pattern.

I know exactly what yarn I'll be using and where I can get some buttons ! Go visit Avery's blog and get knitting that stash down. I'd love to see other's neck warmers. So, post it to your blog so I can see ! I'll Post mine too.

364 knitting and blogging

1.01.2008

Only 364 more days to go...




Reading my blog post title, you'd think I'm anxious for 2009 to arrive, but I'm really not. Instead, I've just lost my mind and signed up for blog 365 ! I've seen badges for this on other blogs and my curiosity got the best of me . The premise is to blog every single day for 2008. Currently over 600 people have signed up. This will be quite a challenge for me seeing as I only blogged 24 times for all of 2007. This means more knitting posts than ever before AND you'll get to know more about me than you ever have or maybe want know!!! I have to have something to write about daily!

365 and knitting/blogging!