Crossing the Finish Line

Phew, all the ponchos are done! Well, I've got to weave in a few ends and attempt to block them. I say attempt because of course these were made of Homespun, but from what I've been seeing as I continue to work with acrylic I feel that anything that was knit needs a good soak to show it's true beauty and work out some of the wonks.

I'm halfway through the wing on MS3. I'm a bit bummed I didnt get it finished before Mystic Waters KAL launched. I've been a busy girl. At least I'm not in a funk :)

I have a favor to ask of anyone stopping by, please take a minute to pray/send good thoughts toward my hometown - San Diego. My sister, an uncle & his fam, an aunt & her dh, and too many friends have been evacuated. So far their homes are all still standing - but they were good and are following orders. The aunt and uncle plus their respective families are all at my dad's so I'm sure things are interesting over there. And my sister is staying with friends and thankfully she's in an area that doesnt have much of the smoke/debris fallout (her asthma was acting up). I'm also very thankful that my mom's place is next to an evacuation center so I can easily check on her safety without calling her all day ;) And a super big thank you to the local ABC station out there for streaming live news on http://www.10news.com/ The Santa Ana winds will hopefully break Wednesday and finally give everyone some relief!

I love you guys!

I am so excited, I've started the wing on MS3! It gets more beautiful every row I add and I'm so glad I'm sticking with it :)

I have yet to cast on for my new mystery lace partly because

• I've been busy running around - my BIL is a HS Football coach and a trip to see his game this morning turned into an all day play with the cousins event - also, it was 90 (f) today in CHICAGO! in OCTOBER!!! we are all slightly sunburnt and sun fatigued but it felt great to get our bones warm one more time ;)
• I've picked up another commisioned project - my MIL wants me to knit capes for her DIL and Grand-daughter and she's knitting her son a scarf because...
• I just taught my MIL and her best friend to knit! (that was really fun)
• technical difficulties...I've discovered the yarn I bought for Chrysopolis is not very evenly spun. Since this is a "mystery" I dont know how well that will work for this project, so I will just have to repurpose it. So I placed an order with Knit Picks, and it came in the mail today - I got my Campfire!

Ok, well back to work
sorry for no pics, too busy...

Coffee Question

As I was pouring my morning cup of life - 2 kids under 4 = must. drink. coffee. around here.
actually, it's my NEED to have some "me" time that keeps me up til 12:30 and Jess generally wanting a feeding at some point between 12:30 and 6:30 that has necessitated coffee in my life. Before then, it was a casual enjoyment.

I emptied the carafe into my mug. I poured the water into the reservoir for 3 cups, and my mug accepted it all. Now, I don't drink a tankard by any means. And I generally feel that my cup is avg sized.

So the question arose: When people say they drink 2-3 cups a day, do they mean what was measured into the coffee maker? or how many "cups" they poured?

If it's the latter, boy is that a lot of coffee y'all.

Now, mind you, this is my musing as I'm fueling up, so thank you for staying with me here.

Speaking of coffee, I have got to get myself over to Starbucks soon - I hear the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back.

So the lace addiction is being more than properly fed. I am an excited member of Secret of Chrysopolis (in German - and yes, Google Translate is my friend as I do not know German), Secret of the Stole, and Mystic Waters KAL - and am still finishing off MS3.

Secret of Chrysopolis is amazingly beautiful so far - membership closes this Friday; we get clue 1 of Secret of the Stole this Friday - membership closes midnight Thursday!!! and Mystic Waters will be underway starting the 24th - this one releases clues on Wednesdays :)

For anyone stopping by who hasn't tried lace yet - I highly suggest finding a lace KAL. The members go above and beyond to help. If you do a mystery lace KAL, you get the pattern only pieces at a time so you don't feel overwhelmed. And everyone else shares where they struggled and what helped them get through it, and often times I've found myself very surprised at how many people struggle with the same parts I do.

OK, well I'm off to wind some hanks into balls and then the girls and I are off to story time!

Stash Enhancing

I wrote this last night. As I attempted to add photos my browser crashed on me and said it was time for me to go to bed. The natives have been restless today so this was my first chance to finish this up :)

As I've been attempting to catalogue what stash I do have (when the kiddos give me literally a second), I have been chastising myself that I need to do a better job at waiting to buy nicer yarn instead of instant gratification cheapo yarn.



My DH continually nags at me about the bins of yarn I have when I tell him I'd like to get more yarn. He doesn't get that 80% of what I have I got off a freecycler 2 years ago, and 19% I got when I went crazy at a Joann clearance sale - who can resist half off clearance price? There is very little in my stash that is high quality. I keep trying to get rid of this yarn, but I just cant. For the most part it's great for afghans, charity, and kids wear so I'm afraid I'll miss it if I let it go. I'm a work in progress on the pack rat tendency.



The biggest problem I have is that I keep spending money first on patterns and magazines and I need to start waiting to be able to afford the yarn for the projects I really want to knit instead of trying to force Caron Simply Soft to be my "go to" yarn for every project. Not that there is anything wrong with Simply Soft - I rather like it and for the most part it has behaved as well as could be expected.



Today I finally placed my first order with Knitpicks - I KNOW!!! I cant believe it has taken me so long either. I'm oddly phobic about paying for shipping if I don't have to so I was always trying to put together the $45 order and I finally realized today that paying $3 to ship is not the end of my world. So I ordered 3 skeins of Shadow in Sunset, 4 skeins of Essential, 2 skeins Riverbed and 2 skeins of Tuscany Multi. I just got paid for those blankets so I figured why not get started on Christmas socks too?



So what is the Sunset for? Well, I'm in on the Secret. Will you come join us? Sign up closes Oct 4 and first hint is whispered Oct 5 (2007).

Warning: the group is really bad at enabling further purchasing of lace weight. I am barely resisting ordering more Shadow in Campfire and Oregon Coast. I don't think I'll last much longer, both are very pretty and calling to me.



Also, I must admit that the siren that is Joann got me again today with her Labor Day Sale. I came home today with Bernat Handicrafter Cotton for fall dishcloths,

4 skeins of Patons Classic Merino (2 in rosewood and 2 in regency) for scarves,


and some novelty Caron Simply Soft Boucle for a scarf for Grace - she picked it out and it was clearanced for .97/skein!

this is pretty true to color - she is 3 yrs old after all, pink rules!

And I nearly shopped at Wool & Company today too, but darn it, they were closed for Labor Day!

MS3 Progress

I forgot to add my current place for MS3 earlier today. I'm on row 225 - mid Chart E. I haven't really reached decision time yet, but it is looming near. I find the idea of an asymmetrical stole very appealing, but am not sure if this particular design is something that will work for me. It would be great to make and drape on a mannequin and call art. I could probably wear it a few times. I just don't know...some of the ones I've seen make me want to really try the wing and then there are a few of the symmetrical one that are just as appealing. I think I have 100 rows to figure it out.



I have a feeling I'm going to go with how it was designed and see if it pleasantly surprises me. I really like the feather pattern in the wing and wont get to enjoy it if I make it symmetrical. I may still do the lifeline so I have a reference point to decide after I work it up. The Skacel Merino Lace weight has not been very finicky with me so far, so I think it will handle being worked up and pulled back if need be w/out showing wear.

next time I'll get a picture with better contrast for background ;)

Sweet, sleeping babies

Thank goodness, my kiddos are sleeping - at the same time! Hooray!!!

I just got to spend an unheard of amount of time on Ravelry - how do I love thee.

Just thought I'd pop in - since they are still asleep - before I get a few rows in on the library book bag and share the progress photo:



Hope you are enjoying your Labor Day Weekend!

September?!

That was fast...I could swear it was just Grace's birthday (you know, back in June (11))! Well, I guess there is no fighting it, so I'll roll with it. Boy does life exponentially escalate as you add children!

Ok, so time for August wrap up. My awesome MS3 progress was greatly delayed by a commissioned project (sorry, still no pics). I picked up crochet again - and I'm in love. It is really nice to switch back and forth between knit and crochet. Before when a project was getting to me, I wasnt able to shake it off so well because I was still knitting and sometimes I'd feel like the bad mojo would transfer to the other project(s). Since crochet is just different enough, I feel like I'm shaking it off much better. Now I just need to figure out how to read and knit/crochet at the same time - like I'm not already doing too much at once already ;)

I finished 2 toddler size blankets. My own design. And nearly designed a library book bag (I've re-thought the original pattern - yarn matchup).

Jess started also started crawling this month.

Now for September Goals:

1. get pics of gwankies (blankets)

2. finish library bag

3. get patterns written up

4. post patterns and remember to ask for corrections if found (since didnt write up as worked like you planned).

5. finish MS3

6. get some scarves running off the needles/hook to pair with gloves for sale on eBay

7. figure out if should open etsy acct - if do get scarves up there as well.

I think thats enough for one month ;)

Getting Antsy

Yes, I'm talking about Ravelry, and yes I'm very upset with myself that I didnt sign up forever ago before the buzz got so loud. I think I was intimidated by thinking it was for a richer knitter than myself. And since then I've realized that was just silly of me. I also think I didnt fully get the idea until so many people were telling exactly what it does - I blame it on sleep deprivation. So, at least there are only 385 ahead of me (I think that means I should get my invite next round, hooray!).

...and, yep, I disappeared again. Just as thing were getting exciting with MS3, a friend called me with a blankie emergency. What started as high alert that her kids' gwankies were falling apart, went to emergency level when her youngest's gwankie mysteriously disappeared.

I've finally completed my first pieces for pay, and I think I'm going to go ahead and get my feet in the water and actively look for more projects. I'm going to try to keep it simple to start. So we'll see. I'm not turning it into a "job" yet though ;) For starters we bought a wholesale lot of Italian leather gloves and I'm going to knit/crochet up some scarves to bundle with and see if that helps them move.

Aside from that, I'm back to MS3. I think I'm about halfway through, in the pas de chat section. The wing was nearly what I expected of Melanie. I was cautious about it, and it does look interesting when it is just laid out, but I really like how it looks once worn - and that's where it matters in my book. I'm not creating artwork for may walls/furniture with this one.

Til next time - knit something :)

MS3 pulls me out of hiding!

Yep, I'm part of the MS3 phenomenon that is raging through the knitting community! But I do want to point out that I have taken part in this adventure from the beginning. Leda's Dream was my first lace adventure and Sheherazade (sp?) was my first zephyr adventure...unfortunately, neither made it all the way for whatever reason, I cannibalized the projects for other lace (in fact I'm using my Leda's Dream choice for MS3). I think sometimes yarn just wants to be something other than what you are trying to mold it into.

In this case for example, the Skacel Merino Laceweight I bought for MS1 was just looking "flat" and I just want happy with it, but now in MS3 where it is being accented with beads...oh, I'm in love again!

It is funny how I'm finding that yarn can be like children, no matter how much you want it to do something "your" way, their way just might be ok too...and sometimes even better.

I am very much loving MS3, I finished clue 2 last night and even found my camera and got some ok pics this morning (we are having a t-storm/flood watch right now, so the lighting isnt the best). As Clue 1 grew to Clue 2, I was still trying to figure out the shape and finally it hit me that it's a taper - which I wouldnt have considered until now as I'm seeing this grow - the taper is really growing on me.

I am so excited that this project got me into incorporating beads in my knitting! I love how it makes this design "pop" and it's kinda fun too :)

I must also confess that I've recently picked up crocheting again! I'm finding it to be a nice change of pace. And is something I can do with both girls up and not have to think to hard about what I'm doing or worry about losing my place. So far I've stitched up a couple bibs for Jess and I'm also working on some dishcloths for my kitchen!

My first adventures with yarn were with a crochet hook in hand, but it used to irritate my wrist and elbow. Apparently all the conditioning those joints got through knitting have made them more ready for crochet again. I just picked up the latest Interweave Crochet and am now in search of the Fall issue with the Josephine pattern. I'm really excited about the possibilities in combining knit and crochet!

So, yes I'm still around. We're just very busy lately with 2 kiddos and Jess still isnt quite sleeping through the night yet...so to cope I've had to let a few of my extra things slide. I think we are finally working things out and I'm getting more "me" time so hopefully I can get back to blogging - I miss it so!

Off to put in a lifeline and start on Clue 3!