Quickie

I didn’t get around to writing last week. My 3 year old nephew was staying with my parents and we went to the Efteling (amusement park). It took him a while to get tired this time. By the time I got home I had to hurry to get ready that evening.

Meanwhile I’m working on clue 3 of the shawl.



I managed to spin about 10 minutes a day on the spindle. I calculated that if I keep this up it will take me until October 2011 to finish the 200 grams. That’s without plying, I don’t know how long that will keep me busy.

The magic of blocking

Finished another project, the Diamond Fantasy Scarf by Sivia Harding. You can make it into a shawl by adding more pattern repeats. Because I didn’t have enough yarn I went with the smaller version. Well, not that small apparently.

This is what it looked like right after I was finished.



And this is what I got after blocking.

Let the Games begin

I think I might have mentioned before that I have a problem. If not, this is my confession. I decided to join the YarnHarlot in the Olympic knitting this year. She did it 4 years ago with lots of other knitters. This time I’m in. Will I succeed? Probably not.



I’ve decided to knit the Linden Wrap. This is one from my project bin, so that’s a good thing. The idea is to start when the flame is lit. Well, that’s something I didn’t do. I wasn’t about to wait until 3 am to cast on. I cast on around 10 in the morning on Saturday. You can keep at it until the flame goes out. That gives me 16 days. Only I won’t be home (during the day) the last weekend of February and I have other appointments to keep. Oh yeah and I have to work full time as well.

I’ll put everything else on hold for awhile and try to get it finished. Isn’t there something about joining and winning?

Meanwhile I’m quite fed up with this. Where is the nice weather?

Don’t do it doesn’t work

You’d think that after almost 40 years I should know myself pretty well. I believe that I should lower the number of projects that float around this house to an acceptable amount. In my mind that should be about 5.

Telling myself not to start anything new is like saying that I won’t eat chocolate any more. Two new projects jumped on the needles. How bad am I?

I started with Belle Nuit. Beautiful design and I should have known that a design by Sivia Harding wouldn’t be really simple. Beside the normal decreases en yarn overs it contains small cables, beads and the occasional purl stitch. In other words, not a project for a suspense movie.



And then I started with this. My only excuse is that this one takes a whole year to finish and that should be sufficient time.

The game is afoot

I saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie last week, hence the title. I liked the movie a lot even though the Sherlock in the movie is quite the same Sherlock in the books. He’s gotten more active so to speak.

I’ve been free last week and finally got some good knitting done. I finished my Every Way Wrap.



And started a new shawl.



This one is from the book Victorian Lace Today.

Today I received the first clue for the Enchanted Wood KAL. I managed to knit two row so far.



It’s knit from the bottom up and I had forgotten how long it takes to cast on 375 stitches and to knit those. I have another kit here and I think I’ll knit them simultaneous. At least that’s what I think NOW. I’m blissfully ignoring the fact that I have to work and have more plans the coming week. The next clue won’t be out until January 22nd, so I do have a chance.

Made it!

The very best wishes for 2010. We made it to the New Year and there are lots of things waiting for us. I sure hope that most of it is going to be fun.

I managed to finish this on New Year’s Eve.



Okay, so I did absolutely nothing on any housework, but I have a whole new year to work on that. Maybe that should be a resolution for this year. Notice that I did say maybe.

The new year started out good for Isis, who went sick to the vet on the last day. The poor thing had an abscess and a high fever. I had to leave her at the vet for a few hours and got her back completely out of it from the anesthesia.



She herself again now.

On January 1st I started a shawl for the Ravelry group 10 shawls in 2010. I’ve made one before and wear it regularly at home.

Relaxed Sunday

It’s 88 degrees in the shade and overcast. Not really a day that invites you to be very active. I decided to sit outside with my knitting (a new shawl) and a podcast (Stash and Burn). I should be able to make some progress on a day like this.

Lady Eleanor went to live somewhere else. It’s a very pretty shawl but something is missing for me. It could be the colors, I don’t really know. It’s living with my mother who thinks it’s awesome. Of course I been busy with other stuff.

This is finally done and I think it’s awesome. It’s big and pretty and soft and warm and . . .

Mom took something home for me from her vacation. I have no idea what the brand of sheep is, but I think I might have another hobby. The bottom blob of wool is being washed right now.

Let the cast off begin

687 stitches. No kidding.

But I’m done and will be casting off quietly in front of the TV on the couch. There is a mistake in row 199 and 205 and I know I had a stitch too many in a earlier row. But it’s done and I made it into a unique item.

The next mystery has already started.

It’s going to be a bag. If the first clue is any indication how the next clues are going to be then I’ll be able to keep up and work on other projects as well.

Look what my parents brought back from their vacation. It makes me smile every time I look at it.

Shortage of brainenergy

As you can see my foot is still attached. And it looks like my other foot, only on that one the toes are in a reversed order. It still isn’t better. It’s slowly getting better and it seems to be using energy that I really need in other places. Like yesterday for example.

On Tuesdays I work from home so I can minimize the walking. On my calendar are two appointments: my SnB night and getting my parent’s mail while they’re on vacation. I did the mail part.

I’ve been thinking about which knitting project to take with me that night and which finished items I can show off (I’m a sucker for compliments). And I keep going with my day.

Until I realize that NCIS is on the TV on a Tuesday night and I shouldn’t be able to watch it. Hold on a minute.

I feed the cats, fix dinner, focus on this blob of black yarn and I seem to have forgotten what day it is.

Or am I too focused on this mystery project? There are 519 stitches on the needle and I can’t quite make out how it’s going to look.

Nah, that can’t be it. I’ve been knitting on my Lady Eleanor last night. That foot! It took all the energy out off my brains. And it has the guts not to be better.

21 more days to go

woodland_1
Originally uploaded by isis1207

And then this cast will come off. I’m allowed to put some weight on my foot starting this weekend. About 10 kilos they told me. Which part of me is about 10 kilos?
A few days after I got this cast I started on a new shawl. It’s the Ancient Woodland Shawl (Ravelry link). I’ve done a little more than half so it’s going pretty good. A plus about working at home is that every time I have to wait for my computer to respond I can sneak a few stitches. And I have an excellent travel time. If I shove my chair really hard it takes me about 15 seconds to get from the table to my couch. Normally it takes me about 30 minutes to get home.

Just keep going

Scarf VoD
Originally uploaded by isis1207

It’s not going well. Because of the challenge to knit a mile the focus has shifted from knitting so many rows to how long I can keep going a day and what will use up the most yarn. I figured that shawls will use up yarn very nicely. It went so nicely that I realized that I don’t have enough to finish the SSS. I calculated and recalculated many times just to make sure. Nope, it’s not enough. The only thing left is to frog the thing.
Myrtle is being left alone right now. Out of the almost 13 repeats (there are 40 in total) I’ve managed to knit two without obvious mistakes. It looks like bugs have been eating the leaves in several places. I’m still not sure if I want to continue or to start over.
So, what do we do? That’s right, we pick the next thing. The scarf comes from Knitting-Delight group. It’s a mini mystery project. The whole scarf has three clues. That I should be able to do. It’s also a good destination for the yarn from SSS.

Stash knit down 2008

shawls
Originally uploaded by isis1207

I signed up for the stash knit down 2008 group on Ravelry. The challenge for January is to knit a mile. I can do it if I finish my Myrtle Leaf and finish all the clues for SpringShawlSurpise (yes, I started a new project). Hmm, not sure if I reach that goal. The end date for the challenge is the 19th of February but Myrtle isn’t even halfway done and I’m well over 2 clues behind on SSS. I need more hours in the day. Or longer weekends.