Archive for February, 2009

A Welcome Trance

It’s been at least a week since I posted, so much has happened since then, and so little too. I’ll share that I’ve been, not feeling well for sometime now, and finally ended up at the emergency room last week. For now, the outlook is good, there are tests I’m taking, but I feel it will turn out fine. I literally lost touch with everything during this past week, dealing with my issue, which explains my neglection to my blog.

I’m finally getting back on track, and now can start replying to emails, posts, comments, etc. I have a late swap package to get out to my Love Bites swappee, I feel so bad that it’s late, but things kinda took a turn for the worse there, briefly.

I’ll have to admit though, I have been in a trance, which has been most welcomed.

I’ve had the first novel of the Twilight series for sometime now, and yet I had never picked it up. I carried it with me everywhere, never reading more than a few pages. But since I started feeling, not well, I had an urge to pick it up and hoped that I would get lost in it, a distraction really. I was more amazed at my reaction, I was literally glued to Twilight. I immediately bought every book in the series and continued reading. I read all 4 books from a Thursday to a Sunday evening, feeling sad when I finished Breaking Dawn, knowing it was the conclusion.

When I say trance, I mean it, all I did was read, and really imagine the story. I made it to see the Twilight movie last Friday, and I loved it, though it didn’t follow the book too closely, it was still one of my faves.

I’m now anxiously waiting for Midnight Sun, a character perspective, from Edward, his experiences with Bella. I’ve already read the first chapter, released on Stephenie Meyer’s site. I can’t thank her enough for sharing that chapter, but now I want more.

Because of my trance, I’ve completely neglected my knitting, and I feel horrible for doing so. My first true love has always been books, stories, reading, writing, all of it, before the fibery stuff came into my life. I think my hesitation to read Twilight originally came from me knowing I would have to fight my two passions, knitting & reading. I’m now trying to balance that and get my Swallowtail shawl finished in time for next week, Stitches West!

I’ll find a balance, and can’t wait to share my progress on my projects, oh and more to share of Rosie, my doggy. Thank you all for your comments on her, she really is a jewel for me, we love her so much. Pets, dog’s especially, bring out another level of emotion that, like Edward’s character in Twilight, you don’t you have until you experience it. Sometimes I wonder how I ever went through my childhood without a pet?

Well, I better get going, to finish my Swallowtail, and of course I’m re-reading the Twilight series again, I went through it so fast the first time, I need a second look, although I can now get out of my trance like state.

Anyone going to Stitches West?

The Rhythm in the needles

I have so many WIPs right now, including new projects I need to start. Awhile ago, Leslie, invited me to the Socks that Rawk “Leyburn KAL”. I quickly joined and was supposed to cast on back when I joined, but never did, as I gave more attention to the projects I had.

Well, this past Thursday, I kept thinking “I gotta get started on my Leyburns”, and I finally did. The purpose of the KAL is to have everyone participating in it knit in Socks that Rock yarn only, and in any colorway, hoping to get as many different colorways knitted up for the “Leyburn” sock pattern by Mintyfresh. It has a lattice pattern look, similar to the lattice you would see going across the top of some fenced homes.

I casted on Thursday evening, got the toe and foot started, and contined a teeny bit Friday, but not really, and the on Saturday, kind of did nothing. That is until later in the evening when I finished up other tasks I had to do, and I turned the heel, and started the leg. I was all fine to keep on knitting, but I was tired from cleaning and other random tasks I finished during the day, so I put my sock down.

Come Sunday morning, and I was flying along, like my heading says “The Rhythm in the needles”, and it certainly was. I had memorized the pattern and was knitting “blindly”. I finished my first sock by mid-morning, even weaved in the ends. The pattern really looks very nice in the Dragondance colorway, and wouldn’t yah know it, it’s the perfect color for Valentine’s Day!

Here’s how it started, TOE UP, my fave way now:

And then voila, I got one down and another one about 50% of the way done!

I quickly casted on for the 2nd sock, but had to put it down to take Rosie, my doggy, to the doggy park to play with other dogs. My hubby and I left and visited a dog park in North San Jose, one we hadn’t been to before, but it was perfect. Wide open, a bit smaller than a football field, with benches and chairs to sit. Rosie had a great time, she runs like a race horse and we call her Sea Biscuit when she runs like that. Golden Retrievers have amazing speed and agility, it’s really neat to see them in full stride. She was a good girl, and got along with all the other dogs, who all were behaved very well. Here, she’s resting, after having stole a tennis ball from another dog.

Oh, and she made plenty of friends, including this little guy who just wouldn’t stop following her around

When we arrived back home, I started working on finishing the toe, and again, the rhythm took over, and I stopped at the leg portion, which I’ll work on tomorrow. I should get these done by Tuesday, I’m giving myself some slack for working *-)

Now, I need to get my beauty sleep, work again tomorrow! And rain is in the forecast, which means I can bulk up with some of my knits, which I love!

The 2 hour handbag

For my Hogwarts swap I was tasked to create a pouch or bag for our Flying class. I’ve been playing catch up since I joined the swap late, so I’ve been fiercely trying to get on top of my homework! I’ve always been a honor student, and there’s no stopping me now

I improvised this pattern, used chunky yarn, and knitted this pouch up. The entire thing was knitted and crocheted from the same strand of working yarn, not once did I break to continue elsewhere, I figured out the best way to seam it up and add the crocheted embellishments plus the crocheted chained straps. I casted on just before the Superbowl yesterday, and finished up by the end of the game. The only part that wasn’t in the “2 hour” timeframe was the Golden Snitch emblem on the front, which I just crocheted a circle and then added wings, again improvisation on this. I’m just a beginner at crochet, but I can feel my skills gaining speed. I’m most proud of 2 things for this project 1) That I was able to knit & crochet the entire pouch from one working strand of yarn and 2) That I created something out of crochet that turned out so cute.

I don’t have a name for it, and I’ll put a pattern up on Ravelry for free if anyone wants it, just let me know

I hope my Professor Madam Jak likes my homework **crosses fingers**

And onto other fun news, here are some snapshots of my Swallowtail, yes, still on the Budding Lace, I just need to dedicate more time to it, but it is turning out so pretty.

I need to get busy on this, ooh, and guess who I found snoozing beside my bed…

Oops! I disturbed her sleep! Bad Mommy!

Darn, scared her away!

She has a look like she’s thinking about what to do, and yep, I did scare her away, “Bright Light” as Gizmo says!

More to come tomorrow Happy Monday!

An interesting day

What did a majority of American’s do today? Get ready to either host or attend or simply watch the NFL Superbowl, correct? That’s what we planned to do, host to be more specific. My hubby and I planned a little BBQ for the big day, inviting some close friends and family to share with, but our day didn’t start that way.

Late Saturday night my hubby’s cell phone rang, we weren’t in the mood to answer, so we let it go to voicemail. The next morning, about 6:00 a.m., we awoke, and enjoyed our morning relaxing in bed watching Howard Stern shows (yes a guilty pleasure of ours). At about 7:30 a.m., my hubby decided to check his voicemail, but before he could, the phone rang and it wasn’t good news. Apparantly, my Mother-in-Law’s husband, Ed, died Saturday night. The cause is not known yet, but based off of the description of how he was found and the position his body was in, it appears to be a heart attack or unfortunately drugs. I won’t be around the bush, my hubby’s Mother, I love her, and we get along like best friends, but she’s made her own choices in the last 10 or so years, so it’s been not that often we talk to her. We love her dearly, and her husband isn’t my husband’s Father nor was he ever considered a Step-Father by my hubby. It’s a troubled past, but an unfortunate end. We spent a portion of our morning checking on my husband’s little sister, she’s about 18 years, but slow, so she’s special, and visiting with my hubby’s Grandma. To make this more unfortunate, his Mother wasn’t around to know her husband died, she’s at the moment “taking a vacation”, which will hopefully end come tomorrow. I think most of us have that part of the family that just seems to have troubles. So that was our morning, by noon, we tried to shrug off the sadness and get ready for our little get together, but amidst all this, all I could think of was “I could never handle losing my husband, he’s my life, literally, he’s all that I cherish, him and my kids”, when things like this happen, it makes you stop and think. I’m so thankful to have to him here with me and I pray that God allows us to be with each other until were 90 years old.

Once things got going for the BBQ, our moods lightened, we had a few drinks that did help, and got into the game. I was rooting for Arizona, because I didn’t want Pittsburgh to win a 6th ring, but in the end, Arizona just couldn’t hold onto the lead, and Pittsburgh won. It was a rookie defense that needed to hold their ground until the play clock expired, but they didn’t and allowed Pittsburgh to score the winning touchdown. A slow starter game, but a good ending one, I did enjoy it regardless of the outcome.

In other swappy news, I received 2 great packages from 2 different spoilers in 2 different swap groups I’m in on Ravelry.

First off, my “Rubberswap Redux” swap, apart of the RR group on Ravelry. This is from AngelaRae, and I love everything in it.

–1lb of fresh 100% Fair Trade coffee from Planet Bean
I love this, and made a fresh brew this morning, very smooth and tasteful!
–1 bottle of real Canadian Maple Syrup
hmm… I’m thinking freshly homemade waffles next weekend!
–1 pure beeswax pinecone
This smells so fresh and is hanging in my office, it’s smells so nice now, it cleans out impurities in the air
–3 packages of Origami papers, for making different fishes, dinosaurs, and animals
My hubby and I already made 2 fishees
–1 bar of handmade soap in the shape of a sheep face?
I love this, smells awesome, AngelaRae can you share the store for this? I’d love to get some more
–1 pair of green earrings
Very pretty
–1 skein of 50% mohair, 50% merino in “disagreen” colorway
Very soft and a very gorgeous disagreen color
–A lovely card with a picture of the oldest church in Guelph
I love the story behind this, it’s a church believed to have a vortex in it that pulls people to Guelph, I love that type of stuff!

I can’t thank AngelaRae enough!

Onto my lovely “Love Bites” swap package from the group on Ravelry, this comes from Gherkin who is just an awesome spoiler.

-I received the most luscious fiber, 100% Imported British BFL, this is to die for, a full 6.7 ounces!
-3 cute white knitted sponges
-A cute decorative box
-The cutest knitted Vampire Heart that had a label “Careful he’s a biter!”, so cute!
-Custom Love Bites Stitch markers, one is heart with a bandaid, soo cute! Gherkin had these custom made by ScaryMerry on Etsy, you’ll have to check these out.
-The prettiest and coolest hand made bracelet by Gherkin herself, check out her wonderful Etsy shop
-A knitted/felted Skull keychain, this was so thoughtful of Gherkin knowing that my spoilee from my previous Day of the Dead swap flaked, she knitted/felted me the skull in honor of that swap
-Yummy chocolates & Valentine’s stickers
-And the funnest “pull me” yarn ball with a prize in the middle, can I say the yarn scraps from this ball are so nice, I think I can knit a a small pouch out of it, and inside was 2 cute magnets!
-Ooh and a 50% off coupon for Gherkin’s Bucket.

Such great packages I received, I couldn’t be more thankful. I have some other projects I’m working on, I’ll share soon. I need to get a bit more headway on before I share, and also I’ll need to provide some updates on my Swallowtail, which sadly has been moving slowly because of so many other things I’ve been working on. But I swear it will get done in order to show off at Stitches!

Hope you all had a good weekend, and now for the grown-up stuff, work 8)… I’ll post tomorrow.