Jaywalker love

I decided it was high time that I cast on for that second Jaywalker sock. I decided that it was high time that I stopped being so non-productive with that sock, and do something about it.

So I have about 1 1/2" done on the sock and am going strong. I should have these done by the end of the month. Maybe sooner. And then I will give them to the intended recipient, my sister.

This is all I am working on. I want to work on only it when I sit down to knit something. That way I don't get distracted.

Tonight I have a few things going up at Necessitae ... some crocheted items, actually.

You have already met Sayae:

This is Momoka:

And then there is a lone cupcake:

That is what I have been working on these past few weeks. I have a lot of fun crocheting because it all comes together so quickly. Sure, there is more sewing and construction, but I feel that I have come a long way in that department.

Have a good Wednesday ... make it count!

It's the end of the world as we know it

Yes ... you read that right.

It IS the end of the world.

Lock your doors. Bring the pets in. Make sure you have enough water and food at your house. And make sure your kids are safe.

Because the self-proclaimed one-sock wonder has ....

Drumroll please....

FINISHED A PAIR OF SOCKS FOR HERSELF!!!



yes ... you read that right. I have finished a pair of socks for moi.

And to prove that I did, here are BOTH feet in the shot, and no those aren't photoshopped in to make it look like I am wearing a pair of socks when I had only made one sock. Those are my feet ... right and left.

And those are two socks on those two feet.

I will be starting a new pair this weekend. I can't wait! I love to have a completed project that I can wear.

Frikkin' frakkin' dropped stitch

I was sailing through my second Bellatrix sock. I was so proud of myself for voluntarily casting on, for sailing through it and enjoying it and then I looked at it ... on the foot ... there is a DROPPED STITCH!

I mean come on! Who DROPS stitches, people? Seriously? And it wasn't right near where I was. Nooooo.. it was a good two inches down the foot.

So I frogged back. And then I got mad because my yarn knotted up when I was trying to get it back into the ball I have been working with.

But all is good again in Bellatrix-land. I will move on. I will perservere! I will FINISH it before the 31st.

Then I will cast on a pair of socks for my husband, and I will move through those faster. It is my promise to myself.

I am trying to decide if I will be making him the Earl Grey or the Lighthouse Gansey Socks. I could ask him, I suppose.

But where is the fun in that, I ask? For some reason, I want to surprise him. Of course, I knit directly in front of him, so there will be no huge surprise.

This week, I will be having an overnight guest and her daughters. This is a friend of mine I have only met online ... Shana. I am so looking forward to meeting her, seeing who she is, matching the online to the in life persona. It will be a lot of fun! She is travelling to her sister's in Philly, and I am the half-way point for her. The girls and my kids will have a great time with one another. I just hope her girls don't leave, scarred for life. LOL!

I need to order some sock yarn for some knee-high socks that I am not too anxious to make. I don't know why.... maybe because I have a hard enough time making my OWN socks, now I have to make someone else some socks and I have never attempted to make knee highs before? Maybe something like that ...

Ok. I need to take advantage of this no-kid time and get some real life work done.

Later ...

A little crocheting never hurt a knitter

When I learned how to knit, I frustrated VERY easily. But then I finally "got" it. Sure, I made mistakes along the way ... a lot of them. Shoot, I STILL make mistakes that make me scratch my head and wonder how.

But I picked it up, and I loved it.

I decided that I would tackle crocheting. I decided that knitting didn't tackle me, so I could certainly learn how to crochet. I have friends who can do both, and do both wonderfully. Why couldn't I be one of them?

So I bought the same book that I bought for knitting, except well ... you know ... for crocheting. And I looked at it. And I tried.

And I gave up. I couldn't wrap my head around the concept. I could crochet a chain, but that was the extent of my knowledge-base.

Then our senior center was offering a "learn to crochet" class. I was the only person under 50 in there, but by golly, I was going to LEARN from the masters.

Until the master showed up with her dishcloth books and cotton yarn, and said "if you need any help, let me know."

Well really? Isn't the point of this class to TEACH me how to crochet? If I wanted to learn with a dishcloth book and some Sugar and Cream yarn, I would have stayed home because I have those there.

Then the master started to get flustered because apparently, I was not the only one who showed up to learn something. So she called in her friend, the one who knows more on how to instruct people. But she was no help, either.

Flustered and mad that I had spent 2 hours in this place, I got up and muttered something about teaching myself at home, and I left.

And I taught myself. That day. I told myself I would not be defeated by a stupid piece of metal and yarn. I had already mastered the yarn part. It was that darn hook. And knowing where to insert it. And knowing what to do with it once it was inserted, and then what to do with it once it had yarn wrapped around it.

And now I crochet. I don't crochet as well as I knit. But I am pretty proud of my crochet skills. They are utilitarian, but I can understand what I need to do now.

And I recommend to any knitter out there who hasn't learned how to do it, and who are getting burned out with knitting, to give it a whirl. It really is therapeutic.... once you get past the frustrating part.

And here is that crochet project I worked on ... isn't she cute?

FO!

A finished object:

The Wristers for our choir accompanist. Giving to her tomorrow night.



One thing lopped off of my stash game. A bazillion more to go.

What is your inspiration? and a shout out

Do you look at a skein of yarn and say "I will use that to make X."

Or do you just buy a skein of yarn because you just want it, and know you can put it to good use at some point?

I have my purchases where I know exactly what I want and need for a project.

Then I have those yarn purchases where I just need the yarn, no matter what the project.

And it seems that there are more of those purchases, from the looks of my yarn stash. I really need to stop buying yarn. But I can't.

I just received my latest purchase in today's mail from Morwenna's (Mosaic Moon) latest stocking. It is a three ply merino in her Elements colorway. Very pretty.

I didn't have anything in mind for it. I was going to wait until it arrived to see how it spoke to me.

And I have decided .... I will make my Calorimetry from it. I said I wanted one, and I better get to it if I want to get it finished up before the winds stop howling in Northwest Ohio.

I would love to make some mittens with it, too. But I know I would be asking too much from one skein of yarn. However, I do believe that there might be one lonely little skein sitting in Morwenna's store that matches. If so, I will be getting it and making some matching mittens.

Now that doesn't help me with the Wooly Wonder Forums stash game because I am already -8 points into the game because of that purchase. But it is so much fun... and I love getting mail.

Oh and ... here's a shout out to my across the street, newly met friend AmyJ. It appears that Amy and I have been hanging around the same haunts and had no idea of one another's existence.

The New Blog

I guess when I posted over at WP, I threw my employer's name into a Google Alert ... and I didn't want them to go over there and read about my knitting life.

So here I am. I have been here before, but not under this name. I will see how I like to be back on Blogger. I am most positive it will be just fine.

So off to update some people .... just so they don't think I have dropped off the face of the earth. Or something like that.