5,940 Stitches Wasted

No that I was counting or anything! Really. Denial is a powerful thing, so is stupidity. I started my second sock on Friday night. I finished the first one at MJ's Knit Fest. An annual tradition, where I won a gift card to the local LYS (so did the other two chicks in attendance). So I cast on the second sock on Friday. On Saturday I picked it up intending to make great progress. It wasn't striping like the previous sock. "It will catch on," yeah right. Last night in a fit of anger I ripped 5,940 stitches and started over this morning. Grrr. However, now with only two more sets of 10 to go, it is striping correctly. Back to my knitting!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.....

Well it appears to be over, (the holiday, not the snow) and I think I survived. The last 4 days have been sort of blur. On Saturday (the 22nd) we brought our traditional pizza to the swim team after the 12 days of Christmas practice, then we came back home to wrap, bake, clean and do laundry while waiting and worrying about GBT on the road coming home from Houghton. She arrived about 6pm after 6+ hours on the road in the fog and freezing rain. To celebrate, we took her to our fav restaurant, Cancun. (Thanks guild girls we really enjoyed dinner!). Sunday (the 23rd) despite the nasty snow and forecast for more snow, we loaded the 'burban, put it in 4 wheel drive and off to Hayward we went. Kids, dogs and presents in tow. It took us 2 hours 15 minutes, which is only 15 minutes longer than normal, which is not bad considering we stopped in Rice Lake for gas and a diet coke for me. We spent a snow filled day watching the Packers (grrr-can't believe we lost to the Bears twice!) and the Vikings (yeah-one more loss and no plays offs for them--he he he). Christmas eve was spent eating, watching TV, eating and knitting. I am almost done with the blue and black mittens for an ECA stars player. They are really pretty, I hope she likes them. Yesterday we raced home and made Christmas dinner for the MIL. By 6pm last night I was shot. Ready for the holiday to be over.
So here we are back to reality today. I just sent the boy off to swim practice, the girls are lying on the couch watching TV and I am, of course, cleaning up the house, doing laundry and trying to find time today to knit.

Going Green?

Explain to me why I decided that small gifts to non knitters could be wrapped in newly knit dishcloths . . . . F.O.R P.E.T.E.S. S.A.K.E.!!!!!!!

Christmas Knitting

No time to blog, shop, knit, bake, knit, clean, knit. You get the picture!

Ask ASJ how many pairs of Norwegian mittens she knit for Christmas. I am in awe . . . I would be sick of knitting them too if I were her.

A little ASJ in all of us

Rather than work on my socks for the KAL that were supposed to done in October or work on my 1/2 sweater I decided to cast on some fair isle mittens (a little comfort knitting). I thought to myself, let's try ASJ's method of knitting the mittens on a circular needle. Teaching an old dog new tricks can be difficult, but I set out on my mission. After I completed the twisted German purl cast on I thought-- I can do this. It took me a few rows (ok, through the cuff and into the mitten) to hit my stride, but I eventually got it. I finished a lovely magenta and grey snowflake mitten today during the Packer game (it should be noted though that knitting during the Packer game is not a good idea). The ASJ method makes a better mitten, there is not that line or seam where the needles meet. I think it will take me through the 2nd mitten to really feel comfortable with the new process, but I am optimistic.
Yesterday, ASJ and I (with MMT in tow) made a quick trip to Color Crossing in Roberts for yarn (it was a guild sponsored event even though only ASJ and I went, we had orders from NK and CB). They recognized us as part of the "chicks" when we walked through the door (I think that is a good thing right). The place was hopping with knitters, weavers and other crafty people checking out the holiday craft fair they were hosting. We bought our yarn, (ASJ bought some Kathmandu, I was well behaved) some home made soap, stopped at the Baldwin DQ and were home by 3:30. A great way to spend the afternoon.

Brrrr. . . . Baby it’s cold outside!

Igloo sweater today man. Gotta keep warm. Each chick has knit one of these babies and let me tell you they are wonderful in this frigid weather!

Christmas knitting! Oy, I don’t know how it happened but I think I am behind. I am currently whittling away on a cabled sock for my sister. I turned the heel last night, and I still have one sock to go. However, I have a really, really bad feeling about this sock. Two stitches have mysteriously disappeared. I don’t know where they went. I have searched and searched for dropped stitches but I can’t find any. I thought maybe the dropped stitched were hiding in the cable. Nope . . . where did these two stinking stitches go? How on earth did I manage to lose them? So I knit on. Hopefully the Bad Knitting Fairy does not come up from behind and smack me one. Only the socks have me worried. I have been laying in stores of slippers, scarves, dish cloths, etc for non knitters on my gift list.

The Christmas Knitting means I had to put down and stop knitting on my EZ baby surprise sweater. ASJ and I will teaching this class with a friend who is a knitting master (who we will lean on heavily). So I figured I had better whip one out quickly before the class starts in January. So I will have to knit fast post-Christmas to get it done. Maybe I can finish it in a weekend.

If you check the right hand side of the blog you will see we have determined we are going eastward to Green Bay for our knitting trip in February. If you know of any great yarn shops or restaurants along the way or in Green Bay let us know so we can plan accordingly!

Wrap yourself in wool and stay warm!