2006 Knitting re-cap

I'm not going to bore you with pictures and comments. Here's the list. Pictures may be had by clicking the 2006 Knitting label in the sidebar. Not all items have pictures due to the inability of the knitter to remember to take pictures.

1. Beanie o' Flames for Kruz, Red Schachenmayr (??) & Black Silja
   
2. Miss KJ's Pink Odessa, DB Merino DK
   
3. Miss S's Purple Odessa, DB Merino DK
   
4. Miss K's Purple Sweater, RH SoftYarn
   
5. Zach's Trellis sweater, Bernat CottonTots
   
6. Rebecca's socks, KnitPicks Sock Landscape
   
7. Lap Blanket, Bernat Berella4
   
8. Erin's Clogs, KnitPicks Wool of the Andes
   
9. Rob's Clogs, KnitPicks Wool of the Andes
   
10. Acacia's Bonnet, Tahki Cotton Classic
    
11. Acacia's Bonnet, LB Microspun
    
12. Katie's rainbow sweater, Patons Melody
    
13. Kruz's Raglan sweater, Reynolds Utopia
    
14. Ruffled Blanket #2, KnitPicks Crayon
    
15. Wide Wale Socks, Knitpicks Dancing
    
16. Samantha's Sweater, Plymouth Encore
    
17. Samantha's Tank, Sirdar Snuggly DK
    
18. Baby Schaak's socks, KnitPicks Dancing
    
19. Charity scarf, Encore/Wool-Ease mix
    
20. Mom's Quick Wrap, Maggi's Mist Slub
    
21. Karen's Paws To Remember scarf, FrogTree Alpaca
    
22. Erin's Pirate Hat, LB Wool-Ease
    
23. Khylee's Bitty Baby Sweater, Red Heart Soft Yarn
    
24. Rebecca's Icarus Shawl, Rowan KSH Night

Merry Christmas!

It's after 5pm here in Vancouver. Rob & The Boy went to see Night at the Museum. Erin's at her mom's. I'm home at the computer.

Erin had her wisdom teeth out Friday and has been doing well enough to not need much V*cadin for the pain. She's been taking half doses if it gets to be more than ibuprofen can handle.

We met last night at one of the BIL's homes for the annual Christmas Eve gathering for Rob's side. Low key, fun and we got home around 10:30pm. Stayed up until midnight and opened our gifts. Normally, we'd wait until morning but with Erin heading over to her mom's before 7am we opted to get the midnight jump on the holiday.

My Christmas knitting is almost done. I still need to finish Kruz' hat, but I finished Miss K's sweater today (only needed the seaming). I'll post a picture of their gifts later.

The hats for Misses S & K are done. Here they are in the almost done stage. Knit in Debbie Bliss Merino DK using the Odessa pattern from Grumperina.

Miss S will get the purple hat and Miss K will get the pink hat. A fun knit and one that I would do again.

Well, off to watch Neat and try to finish the Christmas knitting before the day is officially over.

Mini update

Just finished The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Can't wait to read something else by her. I loved the imagery, the clarity of the story her words painted in my mind. I may need to find a used copy to keep since I'll need to return this one to the library.

Managed to check off item #22 last night. Sean turned 19 and we went out to Gustav's for dinner (his choice). He's making better choices than he was a year ago and has made the very adult decision to enter the Air Force. He's currently working at a local restaurant and working out to try to lose about 20 pounds.

I need to get a plan of attack ready for tomorrow. I have the day off and need to donate platelets at 6:30am, buy Kruz' shirt, buy beads, and maybe yarn, to make Odessa for the nieces, wrap gifts, and work on M&D's gift so I can mail it out no later than Monday if I want any chance of it making it to them by Christmas.

Upgraded and updated

Well, I moved to the new blogger format. Not bad. Still trying to get some things down. I'd like to be able to change the size of the font in the sidebar but have not yet been able to do so.

In the meantime, here are some pics:

First up is the Icarus shawl being blocked.

Pattern: Icarus by Miriam Felton from Interweave Knits, Summer 2006 issue

Size 3 and 1 needles (don't ask)

Knit in Rowan Kid Silk Haze

Recipient: Rebecca

Started back in early November, it bumped along quite nicely. I would make it again, but knit the entire thing with size 1 needles. It blocked out bigger than I wanted since the upper portion was done with the size 3 needles.

But Rebecca was thrilled with the result. She had wanted a shawl to take with her on a cruise for those dressier nights, the color needed to be dark but shiny and the Rowan KSH Night worked just right for this.

I offered to knit it for her since there was no way she'd get it done it time. As it was, I barely got it done - I blocked it out Thursday night and she left Saturday for San Diego.

Back in early October was Miss K's 4th birthday:

I did knit a little purple sweater for the Bitty Baby her Nanny and Aunties bought for her and had started on a matching sweater for Miss K.

But time got short and the sweater is still on the needles. It's going to be finished for Christmas and gifted to her then.

She was princess for a day at her party. Rob & I had great timing: we were late enough to miss the madness of games & lunch with a bunch of small children, but just in time to witness the opening of the presents and get some cake.

And just for kicks, here's Kruz in his Niner get-up.

small knitting update

 

Here's a quick look at the scarf I'm knitting for a friend. Frog Tree Alpaca. I'm almost through 2 skeins and have a 3rd ready to go. Paws to Remember pattern, modified to be not as wide as the pattern calls for and I'm wondering if I'll need that 3rd skein, but why not make it a little long?

I'd hoped to have camera shots from today's Portland Marathon that Chris the Sis ran today, but they haven't come through yet. And trying to sort through the pictures online is a pain! 

 

While I'm at small knitting updates, here's the pirate hat made for Erin's birthday. I used black and grey Wool-Ease and cut the repeat done by one since it was going to be bigger than the yarn used.

And that's Rob modeling the hat - Erin was unavailable for her photo shoot. 

Work sucks.

Not enough time in the day to do anything beyond the basics and even then, it feels like only half of those. A co-worker is going out on vacation for 4 days and while we're splitting his duties among the rest of us, there are only 4 in our department and only 3 that do actual work. So his vacation means there will be only 2 of us holding down the fort. Ugh.

Below is a pic of the Trellis sweater I knit for a co-worker's first child. She was always wearing cabled sweaters so this made sense to me. It's knit in Bernat's Cotton Tots. Picture courtesy of my camera phone.



Did I mention the new desk we bought a few months ago? Ikea's Mikael. Love, love, love it. Allows me to put tons of stuff around without cluttering it up too much.


You can see photos of the nieces and nephew, our wedding photo, the turtle planter I've had for over 20 years (Thanks, Mom!) and the little tortilla basket we use for office supplies.

And Mom, here's another grandson fix:


Art was changing him into clothes to go play in the water and Kruz looked bored with the whole process.

I noticed I'd forgotten to add a book to the list: Happily Ever After by Susan May Warren. Christian romance. I'm trying to branch out and read different authors and that includes more Christian writers. This was fun, interesting and enjoyable. Not a review to get you to pick it up, huh? Well, I liked the bookstore/coffee shop setting, the struggle with the main characters to accept God's grace for themselves even as they encouraged the other's faith (gosh, not something I struggle with at all *wink*) and that the characters felt compelled to hide portions of themselves even though they longed to pour out these areas of themselves and have them accepted. Don't we all wish for that unconditional acceptance and love from someone? Thankfully, we have God filling that very tall order.

True to my name

I have been a bit of a yarn pig lately.

I've been knitting as evidenced by the shot below:



What you see above is a tank for a niece who's birthday is at the end of the month (I'll also be working on a sweater to make a sort of twinset for her), a scarf for a friend and socks for a sister-in-law.

The tank is in Sirdar Snuggly DK in Lilac (0219) and the pattern is the June 15th pattern from the Knitting Pattern-A-Day. The scarf is being knit in Frog Tree Alpaca in shade #82 (a grayish purple) and the pattern is FiberTrends' Paws to Remember. The socks are from the sock yarn received for Christmas - KnitPicks Dancing sampler - in Swing (23592) and I'm using my Ann Norling pattern for Wide Wale socks.

I've been doing plenty of reading as well. I updated the reading list on the right and since the holiday weekend, when Rob and I made a pilgramage to Powells, I have 5 more to add.

Unhinged by Sarah Graves - part of the Home Repair is Homicide series and the first one I've read by her. Enjoyed it and plan to hunt down or borrow the rest of the series.

A Case of Bad Taste by Lori Copeland - first book in the Morning Shade Mystery series. Christian fiction and the mystery is more of a puzzler - no killers and the only deaths are the ones tracked in the obituaries by one of the older characters. Fun and encouraging.

To Die For by Linda Howard - I've usually enjoyed her books. This one was a little different - written in first person, a character I couldn't exactly relate to, I caught on to the identity of the mysterious shooter earlier than normal. It was OK. Glad I bought it used.

A Groom With A View by Jill Churchill - part of the Jane Jeffry series. Fun, light and enjoyable.

Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch by Haywood Smith - first book I've read by the author and it was fun! I can see why women enjoyed this book. And maybe it's a part of me getting older as well, but I can start to relate to characters in their middle-age (granted I just turned 37, so I'm not in my 50's like the main character). But I'm identifying less with the books I read in my 20's and finding a wider range to enjoy. Like this one.

Pictures to make it up to you

To start, yes I have been knitting. These were the most recent - baby bonnets. The pink on the left was made with Erin's pattern from LB Microspun. The one on the right is Tahki Cotton Classic noodled together from other patterns with simple eyelet pattern.



I did add ribbon to both hats, pale pink for the pink bonnet and hot pink for the white.

We (I) had plans to work in the yard this weekend. Clear out beds, lay down weed fabric, plant some shrubs. Draw up plans for a pergola-like thing down the west side of the house. I'll still do some of that, but it's not going to be as fun since we can't pack the Forester up. Erin had a slight accident:



Hit on the passenger side of our only (!) car while going to her Mom's to pick up more stuff. We live in Vancouver, her mom lives in SE Portland so this was the furthest Erin had driven by herself since getting her license.

It doesn't look like much until I explain that the other 3 tires are actually straight. This tire is pushed in and angled. Insurance had the car towed to a reputable shop and we'll hear from them on Monday. In the meantime, we have a lovely Neon from Enterprise.

On an upnote:



Don't you love a kid who enjoys his meals?

Still here!

So, March was my last post? Yipes! Let's see, what's happened since then?

Erin got her driver's license in April? May? Doesn't matter really, since it's all we can do to deal with the reality that she's a *licensed driver*, people! Actually, she's pretty good and gets better with each drive.

She also got accepted into the Running Start program and will be attending community college in the fall while still a junior in high school. We were brainstorming ideas for transportation when she decided to move *back* in with us. So, we have another in the house again. No biggie. She was only gone for 4 months tops.

Sean graduated from HS. Barely. He's working full time and we're praying continually he'll step up to the responsibilities of being an adult. He's going to have a rough road ahead of him if he doesn't, so keep him in your prayers.

Rob's been doing OK. He just went to see a Mariner's game on Father's Day. The Woolbright men went and had a blast. They rode tour buses up (courtesy of the alumni event tickets Rob bought), ate lots of junk, enjoyed a win sitting up behind home plate (300 level, but a great view) and had the fun of *not* driving back. We'll be going back up in July for another game for the Stitch & Pitch.

In August, we'll head down to San Diego for a visit with the 'rents. Mom scored tickets to the Chargers-Packers game and Rob's indebted now. We'll visit, see the sights, head back and then I'll fly out to Chicago to visit the sis.

I *have* been knitting. Finished socks for Rebecca, two little hats for a new grand-niece (yes, at 36 I have a grand-niece courtesy of Rob's family), a sample tank for KnitPicks, a Trellis sweater for a co-worker's baby, clogs for Rob and Erin.

Got a new digital camera, but I still need to load the software so I can show the pictures we have been taking.

Whew. It got up to 100 today and now at 8:30pm it's still 88 out. I'm going to get some sherbet and sit in front of the air conditioner.

New Beginnings

First off - Happy New Year! We managed to stay up last night to usher in the new year by watching I Love the 80's: 3D (TiVo'd earlier in the week). I was up this morning at 6:30 to get the Crock-Pot (TM) jambalaya going, let the dog out, got yesterday's mail and began the finishing of the 2nd blue Crayon baby blanket.

I have a total of 6 knitting WIPs I need to finish:
Blue Crayon blanket (gift)
Prairie Spring socks (gift)
Paws to Remember scarf (gift)
Buffalo plaid blanket (gift)
Alpaca mobius scarf
Acrylic lap blanket (charity)

And upcoming items:
Baby boy sweater (Feb)
Boy sweater (March)
Baby girl sweater (May)
Felted clogs for Rob

It's a new year and I'll be renewing my commitment to WW. I've lost (and maintained that loss) of 20 lbs so far. Twenty more to go and I'll be where I was when Rob and I first married. Twenty more past that and I'll be at the weight where I felt my most attractive and sexiest. I wasn't by any means "fit" at the goal weight, but I felt good. And that's what matters.

That's probably the only resolution this year. Last year's? Let's check:
* Increase my exercise: Not so good. I've announced my intention to get my lazy bum out of bed to the husband and the Sis. I'm going to have to make good.

* Eat healthy: Better. Lost the 20 pounds. Definitely need to slow down in eating again. I don't know what's going on, but I've scared myself choking a couple of times. (blech)

* Read more: I did borrow more, didn't reach the 2 new books/authors a month, but being a voracious and fast reader makes a difference in the end totals. Total of 58 books read in 2005.

* Knit something for me: Didn't.

* Blog more: hmmm. Probably better, but not great. Need to establish a day where I update.

Now I'm off to check the jambalaya and watch football with Rob.