The Big 4

Wow. It has been a week since my last post. So sorry. I have absolutly no knitting content to share. I spent the weekend in Rolla for my nieces slumber party. I ended up staying for neph#1's birthday party. He turned 4 on Sunday, and since he told me he wanted to share his cake with me, I couldn't resist. By the time I got home I was beat. I went straight to bed.

I had brought a sock to work on, but Purl decided she was mad at me.

So she played with my yarn. Pretty, isn't it. I did finally cast on for the second half of my Seaman's Scarf. I won't put pictures up of the last bit, because, really, the only thing different from the last time I showed it is rows and rows of ribbing. Not very exciting.

Almost doesn't count

I almost went for a walk yesterday. I woke up early, got dressed, and took Purl out. We made it half way down the street before I realized that I was under dressed for the weather, so we turned around and I got back in bed for another hour. I didn't even try to take out in the evening - I was way to crabby to take a hyper dog for a walk. I did manage to get 2 more miles in tonight, even though I am still a bit on the crabby side.
I am still tinking the flower basket shawl. It is slow going, basically because I don't want to do it. I forced myself to do a row tonight, so it is getting done. My usual MO is to just ignore projects that need repairs, so this is an improvement for me, really. I really have no progress to show on anything else. Apparently avoiding one project requires that I avoid the others as well for a bit.
I am going to Rolla this weekend to help with a slumber party for my oldest niece, so I don't know when I'll post again. I have a feeling I will need a few days to recuperate before I can string together words coherently.

Football!

This was a bad week, walk wise. Between the cold weather and me being lazy, Purl and I only walked 7.8 miles. When I write it out, it sounds way more then it actually was. We only went for 3 walks. Today I had planned on taking Purl for a very long walk to make up for this last week, but there was snow on the ground. Purl likes snow WAY too much, and spent the whole time jumping up and down, kicking the snow up, and trying to gallop off after what she had kicked up. This all would have been fine, except I was attached to her, so we ended up cutting the walk short by at least a mile.
In knitting news, I am once again unknitting the FBS. This time, though, I am going to put a life line in before I start knitting. I am determined to finish this, because I love the pattern, like the yarn, and know that I am capable of making lace. I have also, finally, cast on for the second Anastasia sock. I needed a portable project that I really don't need to pay attention to. The scarf is too big to carry around, and the shawl requires way to much attention. I love the sock pattern, and really do want to finish the pair, so now I have three objects on the needles.
I'm off to watch a football game.

Scratch That

So, what I said yesterday about the 4th time being the charm? Nevermind.

4th times a charm

I managed to get a walk in today, after taking 2 days off. Monday was just too cold, and I didn't get home from class until after 8:30. Honestly, I have gone on walks later then that with Purl, but I just didn't feel like it last night. Poor Purl. I took pity on her tonight and made myself go. I'm up to 24.1 miles so far, which I was feeling pretty good about until I looked at everyone else's mileage. I just have to remind myself that I am competing against myself and no one else.
I finally finished the 6th repeat on the Flower Basket Shawl. I once again ended up with an extra stitch, but after tinking and reknitting the same row 3 times I gave up and just added an extra decrease. 4 rows later everything looks fine, so I'm just going to pretend it never happened, at least from here on out.
Well, I'm off to the grocery store. We are having a food day at work tomorrow, so I have to go find something to bring.

Progress!

Look, my scarf grew! And there is snow! I am working on the neck ribbing right now, then I will start the second half.
Progress on the shawl is sort of stalled right now. I knit 2 rows, then tink one, so it's going slow right now. It is also frustrating, which is why the scarf is growing so much faster.
Now: back to work!

Ice, Ice Baby

This is the scene from my back porch. I've been lucky and still have my electricity, but the neighborhood behind me isn't so lucky.

Purl and I decided to not take this street. There are trees down everywhere.

We managed to get two walks in this weekend, despite all the ice. Luckily, Purl is not scared of the rain, but she was a little unsure of the frozen grass.

Hey there

Just thought I'd drop in and say hi. Real posting will continue tomorrow.

Stash Dive

Those of you who know me, know that I am not exactly manogamous when it comes to my knitting. I get frusterated easily, and often just need a break from my current project. I decided that I needed something a little less frusterating then lace after Saturday's event, so I went to my stash.

When I purchased this yarn, Lana Grande by Cascade, back in October, I knew that I wanted to make a scarf. And since I really didn't know how to make cables, I knew I wanted a cabley pattern. I just had to find a pattern that I both liked, and that would work well with the thickness of the yarn (2 stitchs/inch, on size 17's). Behold the Seaman's Sarf, by knitpicks. I've already finished one ball of yarn and added several inches to the scarf (there are 2 full repeats here - I have finished 6). So far, I love both the pattern and the yarn. I tend to like reds, so I love this shade. It is very bright and bold. It is a little to thick for a sweater, but just perfect for a scarf. It also acomplishes one of my goals for the year - learn how to cable!

100 miles

Yes, there is another new button on the sidebar. Apparently I can't stop joining things. I joined the run/walk/swim along runagogo. The goal is to do 100 miles by April 1st. I logged over 6.2 last week - since I'm not sure how much over I am claiming just the 6.2. I figured out the lengths of the routes I take Purl on each day. The short one is 2.1, so I'm pretty sure I can do this. I'm hoping that between this and Purl I can stay motivated to walk each day. We'll see. I already have 3.2 for this week, and it just started! In order to make the goal I need to do 8.6 miles each week.

Wicked, Wicked Dog

First - I added a button to my side bar about fun fur killing Muppet's. It is a evil and horrible practice that needs to stop. I stole the button from JenLa Knits (actually, I stole it from someone else, but they stole it from JenLa).
Second - I have a very stubborn dog, who is bad a hiding things. Yesterday on our walk she picked up a piece of trash that she absolutely refused to drop. Instead of dropping when I yelled at her, she laid down on the sidewalk and would not walk, or make eye contact with me (which is usually how I catch her with something in her mouth - she will not look at me, because if she does not look at me, obviously I can't see her). A lovely, wonderful driver by drove past me, then turned around and came back because she was worried that my dog was hurt. I had to explain that, no, she is not hurt, just wicked.
Also, on the same walk, I saw kids PRETENDING to beat up each other. They were on the side of a busy road trying to get attention from the cars driving by. I was very disturbed.
That is all.

sigh, part II

So, about being in the middle of my 6th repeat? Forget that. Once again, extra stitches magically appeared. Luckily, I have good friends. Deb spent the evening tinking out many rows of lace for me, partially because she is a wonderful person, and partially because her project was not interesting.

Sigh

I am beginning to loose faith in my ability to read a pattern. I am in the middle of the 6th repeat in the flower basket shawl, and somehow, I ended up with 3 less stitches then I am supposed to have (this is after repeatedly ending up with one extra stitch during all the other repeats).











Here is a picture of the progress to date. As you can see, the shawl is growing nicely. I'm going to have to find something new to lay the shawl on for the next picture, I believe.

And here is a close up of where I am trying to fix the mistake - I refuse to frog lace. I am not picking up those stitches, it just is not happening. It doesn't look too bad. I think I must have been in the middle of a repeat and ended up starting the repeat over. I will probably end up with a wonky looking flower petal, but unless someone looks really closely, or I point out the mistake, (why do we do this - say no one will notice my mistake, then continuously point it out to anyone looking at the object. I constantly do this) no one will notice.

In other news, my classes start on Monday for the quarter. I will be taking Development and Cultural Policy for the next 9 weeks. Since I am interested in pursuing development as a career, I am looking forward to this class.
Oh, and the check engine light is on in my car. Let's hope that it doesn't turn out to be too expansive, shall we, since I need my car very badly.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Beginnings

I've decided that I am not going to look back at the last year here, for several reasons. One, I just stared this blog in December, so there's not a lot to look back on blog wise. Second, while this year has brought several little good things, it has also delivered a couple crushing blows. I've also never really been good at new year's resolutions. For the past two years I've said I want to continue living healthy. For the most part I have stuck to this, though it probably wouldn't hurt to eat at home more - and I don't mean picking up take out and bringing it back home to eat. I used to enjoy cooking, but I got tired of making grilled chicken and vegetables. I don't like leftovers, so I need to make things that have small portions. I've also recently gotten into the habit of taking Purl on walks every night. I started doing this for both our mental health's after He Who Shall Not Be Named decided to leave. Purl was used to having someone around to play with during the day, so she had some excess energy to work off. They're not long walks, usually around 1/2 hour, but they help. I want to keep this up into the new year, maybe add distance or leg weights for added benefit.
I want to finish more of the projects that I start. I also want to try more things. I am working on my first lace piece, so finishing the Flower Basket Shawl will cover both those goals. I also want to try cables, and to knit a sweater.
I need to start following a budget. I'm thinking about joining knit-knacks's yarn-focus challenge #2. It's easier to follow than a yarn diet, but with the same effect. I'm hoping the challenge will help keep me motivated.
Vogue's new preview is up. There are a couple things in there that I like, as well as a few that I can't imagine anyone actually wearing, which is pretty typical for a Vogue issue.
In Flower Basket news, I have finished my 5th repeat of the pattern (you might not think this is exciting, but believe me, for me, this is speed knitting). I'll post pictures next time, promise.