.post-title { margin:.25em 0; font:bold 130%/1.4em Georgia,Serif; color:#333; } .post-title a, .post-title strong { background:url("http://www.blogblog.com/dots/bg_post_title.gif") no-repeat 0 .25em; display:block; color:#333; text-decoration:none; padding:0 0 1px 45px; } .post-title a:hover { color:#000; } Knittingupastorm: October 2006
 

Knitting Up A Storm!


Monday, October 30, 2006

Bad blogger I am, I know, sorry, but life is nuts around my neck of the woods and I can't seem to find time to knit, or breathe, or pee. Was that more info than you needed to know? Wish I had a FO or more progress shots to show ya, but not today my friends. Secret knitting is also a drag because I can't post details or pictures. But I am working on Christmas presents when I have a chance. This year I am only making two things for one person. Both are started and it is a set for this person. That is all I'm saying.

That is all there is for today - hope everyone's day is less crazy than mine. Have a good one!

posted by Lisa @ 9:25 a.m. 

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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

FO Report:

Quickie project for Julianna - Newsboy Cable hat from SnB Nation book. I used Patons Classic Merino and she likes it, see:


I have falling into the log cabin blanket making trap, except my first pass is a bit gross. Looking at it now makes me think I picked up way TOO many stitches. What do you think?

posted by Lisa @ 10:59 a.m. 

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Monday, October 23, 2006

If you could see me you would see me doing the happy dance because I finished the back of the cabled cardi:

I also finished another beanie hat for a total of four made:

This is for Maddie and I used the Brooks Farm left over yarn from my clapotis. I am trying to use up my stash which is the goal of most knitters! Maybe tomorrow I'll have another FO?

BTW - thanks for your comments regarding to knit Rogue or Eris next. I am still undecided and the folks who put their two cents in voted pretty much half and half! Man, decisions, decisions. If tortured I would have to probably say Rogue, because I am looking for a more casual jacket type. But then Laura suggested Eris because it is knit at a tighter gauge which might help the Patons Classic Merino from pilling. I have a few projects on the needles, so there is a whack of time to decide.

Cheers.

posted by Lisa @ 9:47 a.m. 

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Thursday, October 19, 2006

This little 'rant' was sent to me by a good friend and at the end of reading it, I was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down my face. It is a long one, but worth the read. Enjoy.
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When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning, uphill BOTH ways... yadda, yadda, yadda.

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

BUT NOW THAT I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damned Utopia! And I hate to say, it but you kids today, you don't know just how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!! There was no email! We had to actually write somebody a letter... With a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and screw it all up!

And talk about hardship? You couldn't just download porn! You had to steal it from your brother or bribe some homeless dude to buy you a copy of "Hustler" at the 7-11! Those were your options!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

Don't get me started on the cell phone for kids issue. We have all fallen into the trap of "it's for their safety". But it is amazing that we came and went and never had a phone on us and we all lived. A cell phone, hell, back then phones at home still had cords on them. Imagine being tied to one spot. Roaming charges... yeah, we had those... when we strayed too far from home we got charged with it and got our butts beat... there are some roaming charges for you!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like "Space Invaders" and "asteroids" and the graphics sucked a$$! Your guy was a little square! Youactually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever, and you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE !

Nowadays kids have a million activities after school and on the weekends that they need to be taken to. When we were young, our Mom's didn't take us anywhere, except to the grocery store (and back then they didn't even have to take us in, they could just leave us in the car!). Heck they didn't even drive us to school... Your transportation was your stinking little feet.

Not to mention they would never have paid money for al of those activities. We were told, "What do you think? We are just made of money?" The answer was no, and we walked to where we wanted to go.

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no on screen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your a$$ and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

And now there are DVD players in the cars! God forbid they just stare out the window like we did. Now Mom's can't say, "If you don't behave, " I am going to come across this seat and beat your butt". No, because they would hit their heads on the damn DVD player! And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire... Imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that Stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake
it over the stove forever like an idiot. That's exactly what I'm talking about!'

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

posted by Lisa @ 9:15 a.m. 

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Wednesday, October 18, 2006

2nd post in one day because I have a serious dilemma people. I have 1575 yards of Patons Classic Merino in a beautiful sage green colour and undecided what to knit with it. One ball of it has been knit into the back piece of the Rebecca Shawl Collar sweater, which frankly I do not love all that much. And if I am being this frank, I doubt I'll wear it much. So I believe I'll be ripping this little sucker very shortly. So, now I have 15 balls in the stash just waiting for a great project. The two are:
  • Rogue Cardi Version
  • Eris Cardi Version

Both written by thegirlfromauntie and both are awesome. I'm so not fooling myself into thinking I'll wear a pull over, so I'll make a cardi. Man, this decision bugs me a lot. Help me damn it make up my mind.

Cheers.

posted by Lisa @ 4:01 p.m. 

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Never thought this statement would come out of my mouth considering I love plain boring projects, but cables are so much freaking fun! It is quite easy to see what comes next which makes the progress going at an alarming rate. Here I am on the Sandra, October 2005 Issue, cabled cardi:

I tried to stretch it out so the cables pop. Almost done the back and will immediately cast on for the left front. Since the cardi is asymmetrical, the left one should be a breeze to complete. All in all, that is about all the knitting I have been working on.

Cheers.

posted by Lisa @ 9:53 a.m. 

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006

My first toe up sock is done:


I had issues with it, but they were soon resolved when Laura came to the rescue. There is a tiny hole when I re-joined the stitches to knit the leg, but Dani gave me some advice and hopefully the 2nd one will turn out much better.

Cheers.

posted by Lisa @ 5:52 p.m. 

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Friday, October 13, 2006

http://www.cosmicpluto.com/blog/is a freaking genius. I do hope more people know about her blog because man is she a talented knitter. I read her blog regularly and totally forgot she posted a pictorial on short row heels. She kindly pointed it out to me and I've completed my first short row heel sans holes! Thanks Laura, much appreciated.

However, I do have two little holes when I joined the sock up in the round, but I'll darn those ones closed. Once I get a bit more practice, I'm sure those will disappear. The ribbing on the cuff is almost done so the 2nd one will get cracking soon enough. I'm working on a mini clapotis for a Christmas gift using the Katia Promo Fini my husband brought me from France. It is turning out nicely and I;m about to start the straight rows. Sorry, no pics because the freaking battery died so I'll get them up next week.

Cheers!

posted by Lisa @ 8:57 a.m. 

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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

My first toe up socks:

Not bad, er, WRONG. Look at these short rows, pretty sucky I must say:

This is my third attempt and believe it or not my best one yet. I've decided to keep going and give the heel a go to see if my short rows improve. I wonder what I did wrong to create such large holes. How in the hell does Wendy do it? Hers look perfecto, whereas mine look like crap. I guess practice makes perfect, or so they say.

Have a freaking good day.

posted by Lisa @ 12:25 p.m. 

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Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Another FO in a week? Woo freaking hoo! Only a pair of sucks which I hate. The toes are way too tight and I am NOT taking them out to re-knit them. When I stated this fact to my husband last night "These are the worst socks I've knit" he responded "Why, the colour?". Ha ha ha. It is not the colour buddy, it is the fit. Obviously someone doesn't like the colour.

In other knitting news, I am about to decrease for the armholes on the Shawl Collar sweater from Rebecca 29. For some reason, I can't seem to understand the instructions for the armhole decreases. The pattern states to decrease 4 stitches at each side once on the RS, then 3 stitches at each side once on the RS, etc. But I know I can't bind off at the end of the row, so I assume I'll have to bind off on each row even though the pattern states on each RS row.

Does this sound right?

Now I know what to do with this lovely stuff my awesome friend Katherine gave me:

I gifted her with some long ass medal needles I will never use (about 6 pairs) and this her way of saying thank you. She only likes working with straight needles, I don't, so they are in a good home.

Anyhoo, that is all the news I have today. If anyone can help me with the armhole decreases instructions, that would be great. I've made quite a few sweaters, and really I can't seem to get these decreases down pat in my head!

Have a good day.

posted by Lisa @ 10:36 a.m. 

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Friday, October 06, 2006

I really like knitting cables. Didn't think that would be the case considering I am one of those knitters that like mindless knitting most of the time. For me, knitting cables means concentrating, not mindless knitting but I'm loving the process. Here is my progress on the cabled cardi:

It certainly is going fast, but to be fair I'm using 6mm needles. This is the back of the cardi and I am a bit afraid it will be too small. I assume the cables are pulled in and will open up after blocking. I'll hold my breath and hope for the best.

Have a good one.

posted by Lisa @ 9:04 a.m. 

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Thursday, October 05, 2006

I finished my friend's 2x2 ribbed socks last night and put them on her desk this morning. Man, what a relief it is to finish something. Even if that something is only a pair of socks. It counts.

The 2nd sock syndrome which a lot of people confess to have doesn't usually hit me, thankfully. As long as the 2nd sock is cast on and a few rounds are knit, I'm on my way to a finished pair. I cast on the 2nd yellow sock last night and I am almost at the heel. Just in time, because they weather here in Toronto is mighty cold. There might be a lot of sock knitting talk on this blog because my youngest wants wool socks. Actually she asked for loads of them. Great. I guess she appreciates them, so I don't mind.

This afternoon I go to the dentist to have him look at one of my lower back teeth because it is turning black. Yeah, what fun people. I've had a few root canals performed on this tooth, and I think it is time to have it yanked. This one of the options 9 years ago, and I opted not to do it. But this time, I will. The amount of money I have put into this one little freaking tooth is unbelievable, and I refuse to pay anymore. Well, after they yeank it and put a new one in.

Anyone watch Farscape? My husband has turned me on to it, so much so I want to watch the damn show every second we can. Tonight is CSI, so watching another episode is out of the question, but man, it feels like going through withdrawal. I say this now, but I"m sure an episode will get put on the screen.

Have a good one.

posted by Lisa @ 9:23 a.m. 

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Wednesday, October 04, 2006

This picture was taken at Maddie's family birthday party on September 22nd. Looks like any regular family picture, right? If you answered yes, you are correct, but notice there are no men in the picture, well except my newphew. In my family this is a tradition my Mom started when Julianna (the girl in the pink shirt) turned one take pics of the moms of the family.

My mom suggested we take a picture with the two grannies, myself and Julianna on her 1st b-day. (I didn't have a digital then so I can't post it.) We then did it again on her 2nd, then Maddie came along, and we took another one with the same ladies of the family. And now look at how many moms are in the picture and how great this tradition has become.

Thanks Mom for the idea - I look forward to looking at the pictures to see how are family has grown and how big the kidlets have gotten over time.

Knitting content? Not much, but here is a picture of the cable cardi I want to make:

And the progress I've made on it:
Not much, but we all have to start somewhere. Have a great day.

posted by Lisa @ 10:45 a.m. 

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Monday, October 02, 2006

My daughter, J was lucky enough to attend a skating afternoon with Vicki Sunahara, Assistant Captain of the Women's Olympic Hockey team this past Saturday. She had such a great time, can you tell:

This was taken today right before heading off to school to present to her class for show and tell. She was so excited to attend on Saturday and was even more estatic when she got to hold Vicki's three Olympic medals! I think that was the highlight of the day, at least for her. Of course she was on the ice for two hours with Vicki, but my little miss J has her eye on the prize. That being the medals. Not only did Vicki bring in her Olympic ones, but 17 of her lifetime achievement ones. What inspiration and motivation for the 50 girls attending the event.

After my last post re: loss of my knitting mojo, I don't think it has come back 100%, but it is slowing creeping back. Here is a picture of the two socks I finished yesterday:

The blue one is for a friend, which fits perfectly. The yellow one for me. It fits okay, but the toe is a bit squishy feeling. Oh well. I'm not ripping it out and re-knitting it, I'll wear it just the way it is. The mate to the blue is at the heel section and I hope to finish it this week. I don't think it will be problem because I had a SnB at work today, one tomorrow night and maybe Tuesday at lunch. So plenty of time - I just have to find the energy to work on it and NOT make stupid freaking errors.

Have a great day.

posted by Lisa @ 10:30 a.m. 

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