Monday, January 31, 2005

I've Been Tagged by Madalyn

Madalyn has made her list. She was tagged by Colleen. Now Madalyn has tagged me. I'm honored that she thought of me.

As a lover of music, this was a list that was difficult for me to make. I'm sure once I post it, I will think of other songs...but I like these songs quite a bit. My taste in music varies from genre to genre. Basically, if it's got a nice melody, without degrading people or cursing every other word, I probably like it or can at least tolerate it.

Here goes:

1. What is the total amount of music files on your computer?
That would be zilch. I listen to the house stereo when I'm inside. I've burned a couple of CD's but never really saved music to the hard drive for keeps.

2. What was the last CD you bought?
I bought the latest Anita Baker CD, My Everything, for my hubby.

3. What was the last song you listened to before reading this message?

Hmmm...It was probably a kiddy song. We have a few CD's for my son.

4. List five songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.

Wow, only five...this is tough...
1. Someone to Love ~ Mint Condition
2. Couldn't Love You More ~ Sade
3. Old Friend ~ Phyllis Hyman
4. Wait For Love ~ Luther Vandross
5. How I Remember You ~ Michael Franks
***bonus 6. Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone ~ Bill Withers
I like these songs because I'm a romantic. It's evident in these songs that the writer loves his significant other.


Just for kicks, here are five instrumental or mostly insturmental songs I adore:
1. When Summer Comes ~ George Howard
2. Reunion ~ Jonathan Butler
3. Najee's Theme ~ Najee
4. Sekona ~ Jonathan Butler
5. Siempre Hay Esperanza ~ Sade


5. To whom will you pass the stick and why?

This is not an easy decision as I do not want to "tag" someone and have them completely ignore me.
With hope for an answered "list/questionnaire, I'm tagging Lu. She seems really nice, she knits for charity, and she's making the Wavy Boxes Blanket, which is a pattern I really like.

Monday, January 24, 2005

Socks for Me

I've got sock yarn.

Today's episode of Knitty Gritty is called "Sock It To Me." Unfortunately, the episode doesn't air until 10:30 pm Eastern, when I plan to be asleep. I'm going to tape the show for pointers. I think it will be good for me to see techniques performed by a real person rather than just reading them in a book.

Hopefully, there will be lots of good information with good camera angles of techniques being performed.

With a little luck, I'll get to watch the show tomorrow evening.

Socks are definitely in my future!

Saturday, January 22, 2005

For Jen Knitter

Jen, this is just a little something to cheer you up.


I made it with colors to compliment the colors you are using on your blog. If you change your blog colors and want a new button to match, let me know and I'll try to make something for you. Hopefully, one of these days, I'll have some cute litte knitting/crocheting graphics to add to buttons, but I'm having a hard time finding good ones.

Hope you like it.

***Special notice to anyone for whom I have made a button.
Please know, that if I make you a button, you are under no obligation to use it. It's just a gesture.

If you do use it, just remember to save it to your own server.

HTML

It's funny how if you look at your blog on one computer it looks one way but if you are at another computer, it can look very different. I am growing more and more displeased with the look of my blog. I've been meaning to change it for quite some time but have just not had the time to learn the HTML required to make it look the way that I want.

I had no idea that if someone is viewing my blog at a larger font (in their computer settings) that the whole page goes wacky! I think this is basically going to involve changing margins. Sounds simple...right? It's not simple when you know less than diddly about html.

So, in an effort to not have a wacky looking blog, I'm going to try to find some good info on html. I'll probably just learn enough to get by, for now, since I've got enough other projects too keep me occupied.

In knitting news, my Alpaca Cloud for my shawl from Knit Picks arrived. It is amazingly soft. The color is wonderful. (Picture to come shortly.) I've got to look over the shawl pattern again to see if this will become my new take-along project or if will be too much counting to try to knit it in public.

Since my son's skin is sensitive, and because I was quite curious, I called Knit Picks to see if they would be coming out with any cotton yarns. I was told there were definite plans for cotton, that they would possibly be releasing them in a couple of months! Sounds to me like it will be a "Spring release."

Spring sounds wonderful right now. We're expecting more snow. At least it's good knitting and crocheting weather.

Monday, January 17, 2005

Flurries...

I'm fighting the fatigue. It's only a little after 8:00 and I already want to got to bed.

The drive home today was a beast. I prayed the entire way. Snow is pretty in pictures, even in real life. I just don't like to go out in it, other than to play.

When I went out to my car this afternoon, I realized I had forgotten where I'd parked. I knew the section where I parked my car was close to the front but I couldn't remember the exact space. Unfortunately, all the cars looked like this:


I approached a car I thought was mine and happily laughed with delight when I was able to unlock the door! It took a few minutes to rid the car of snow but even longer to actually get out of the parking lot!

Of course they only predicted flurries today.

I took my yarn to work for the Ripple Afghan. I didn't take a lunch break, so I didn't get a chance to start it yet. I had planned something in bright, cheerful, crayon-like colors but Cotton-Ease doesn't offer as many colors as one would hope.



The yarn pictued above will be used for the afghan. I have some blue also that I'm debating about using but I really only wanted the blue if I could also have green. Hope it all works out when I crochet it.

The Elsie Hat that I started will be frogged. I had already frogged and reknit it several times since I was talking more than I was counting during my last knitting meeting. I just can't bear the thought of a seam in this hat, so once I can get to the store I'll be picking up some circular needles in 10.5 and 11. I'm really liking the Cork yarn, even if it does make my fingers itch a little.


Bargain Ahead
While scrolling through the textbooks, I thought I may as well scroll through the knitting books as well. Barnes and Noble, at some point, took a shot at getting in on the knitting bandwagon. I'm guessing it didn't go as well as planned because I picked up this book for less than $3.00. For three bucks, even if there's only one good thing about it, I don't feel like I was cheated.


If school is out tomorrow, my son and I will have a nice day together. We'll sleep late, do some reading, play in the snow, and bake cookies. If I can get him to take a nap, I'll try to start my Ripple Afghan. If not, while I crochet, my son, I'm hoping, will be entertained with a few school related activities. Sometimes I find cool stuff for him to read on the internet. On Martin Luther King's Birthday, we went to the Nickelodeon Jr. site to play a game and found a little booklet about Dr. King. I thought that was really nice that Nickelodeon took the time to show appreciation for diversity.
http://www.nickjr.com/parenting/parenting_features/mlk_day/thank_you_dr_king.jhtml?minibar=true
There are lots of choices for him. Hopefully, he'll pick one that involves time for me have a few "crochet and knitting moments."

Friday, January 14, 2005

It's been a while...

I went to my first non-guild Knitting Meeting this week. There were only three of us but it was really nice.

We met at a local book store. Since I think it's important to support the shop allowing us to hold our meetings at their facility, I ordered a piece of cake and some wonderful herbal tea. I also purchased a magazine and a box of the yummy herbal tea to be able to enjoy it at home.


I'm sure I was the oldest there, which wasn't really a problem. It was unusual but refreshing. EA was knitting mittens and EC was knitting a prayer shawl. I took my Cork yarn to start a hat, so I'd have something portable that wouldn't take up a lot of table space.

I'm looking forward to the next meeting!

Button made by Donna (Yarntomato)
I've decided to join a Crochet-Along. It's for making a Ripple Afghan. I haven't decided which ripple pattern to use but I've always wanted to make a Ripple Afghan. If you'd like to join, information can be found here.

I'll post a picture of my yarn either later today or tomorrow. Right now the camera is in the car and I don't have the energy to go get it. Also, lately, I've been really dissatisfied with the picture quality.

I'm also very excited about the new line of yarns at Knit Picks! Prices are great and they've even got some alpaca yarns. They've even added a new feature where if you click one of the Knit Pick Brand yarns you can see different projects that are recommended for that particular yarn.

I think I may try one of the alpaca yarns for a shawl. There was no white alpaca lace weight but I'm hoping one will be added soon. I ordered a little bit of black for a small stole/shawl so if I like it, and shawls are as enjoyable as I'm hoping, this could be the beginning of something great!


I've taken the Fair Isle sweater out of the knitting bag but sadly have not done anything else with it. If my health continues to improve and I find some energy, I'm going to try to find my place again in the pattern.

It's going to be good year for knitting and crocheting. I can feel it.


Re: Comments
To the seven people who left me comments on the last post, I sincerely thank you. I have never gotten 7 comments before. I know there are people who have been knitting for a long time, buy lots of yarn, and/or know lots of knitting techniques that get lots of comments all the time but for someone who has only been blogging for a few months, I'm extremely honored.

Lu, Ginger General, Madalyn, Maureen, Melissa, Jenni, and TopperArnold, I thank you. I am enjoying interacting with other knitters and I'm looking forward to all my projects, no matter how long they take me to make.

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Contemplating Crafts

I've been knitting, as in more than practicing stitches, for a about a year now. It has been wonderful. I've also restarted crocheting. As much as I've enjoyed these crafts, I need to consider a few things.

I've started more projects than I've finished. I signed up for Knit-Alongs and then was too bogged down with other issues to participate.

After looking at my starts, stalls, and such, I've realized I honestly don't have as much time to knit or crochet as I would like. I'm not a fast enough knitter or crocheter to whip out projects quickly enough to avoid frustration. In an attempt to avoid getting discouraged, I'm going to try to just concentrate on just enjoying the process. I'm no longer giving myself deadlines, except for hats. If I join a Knit/Crochet-Along, it will be one with a generous finishing date.

I've also realized that having a live person, in your presence, who appreciates knitting, really helps. Therefore, I'm going to try really hard to make it to my next Guild meeting and try to get to at least one other knitting meeting held locally. I'm also considering taking a class to boost my confidence, improve techniques, and to mingle with other knitters and crocheters.

I think I'll make a list of different things I want to learn so that I can get more satisfaction from the crafts I love so much. Then I'll make a realistic list of projects I want to make/finish this year.

Considering it's been an eventful year, I'm self-taught, and I had a very choppy beginning, my 2004 stats aren't really that bad.

2004 In Review

Finished Objects
3 pink hats for charity
1 blue hat for charity
1 hat for my son
1 scarf for my son
1 blanket for my son
1 rug
1 hat (will match my Klaralund sweater if I ever knit it)
4 squares for heathful throws


Started, still planning to finish
1 Fair Isle sweater for my son
1 Klaralund sweater for me
1 Pair of Seed Stitch Shoes
1 ABC Afghan

Finished except for seaming
1 pair of baby booties
1 short-rows hat

Finished but ripped seams at least twice
1 umbilical cord hat

Started and will most likely be frogged
1 tie (Who wears knitted ties?)

Knit-Alongs which I abandoned or did not finish before the deadline
Purse Slippers (still planning to knit but got concerned about slippery bottoms)
DNA Scarf (still plan to knit it, even have the supplies, just couldn't get started)
Klaralund (one sleeve started, still planning to knit it, keep getting distracted)

Knit-Alongs I completed
Men In Hats
Rug-Along

For now, it's nap time. Gotta concentrate on getting better.

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Happy New Year?

Happy New Year!
So far, it's been a tough one for me...and it's only been four days.

I'm still sick. Trying a new medication today. Oh the fun I'm having!

I've barely been out of bed. I've done some laundry, cooked a teeny bit, and I shower. That's about all I can handle.

I'm trying to go back to work tomorrow. Part-time with no benefits means when I miss work I get NADA.

Guess I'll have to work a little bit before I can donate anything to those that have been so horribly shaken by the recent tsunami.

Thank you Donna, Michelle, Melissa and Madalyn for thinking of me. I'm hoping to feel human again soon.