Twenty Ten

Yeah, OK Ive jumped on the bandwagon and posted my 2010 knitting goals....

1. Cast on (and finish) an intermediate shawl. Ive done a couple of the easier ones and will undoubtedly knit more of those quick & simple shawls. Its the intricate lacy ones that are so gorgeous - but intimidating to me. So far I haven't had the confidence to make one yet. This is the year! It may be from the book A Gathering of Lace that I have or maybe a large circular shawl from Ravelry. Definitely making the Ishbel and will cast that on first.

2. Knit a jacket/sweater that actually fits me. Ive made 2.5 sweaters for my self. The finished 2 just hang on me, the third is almost done and I can tell already its not the right size. I over compensate and make the bigger size or use larger needles - or both. Once blocked they just grow. This time I SWEAR I will swatch - WASH & BLOCK.

3. Pick out a Selbuvotter pattern, cast on and finish a pair of mittens. Ive had this book for a few months and I just cant seem to decide on a pattern, they are all so beautiful.

4. Finish up the 52 pair plunge by cranking out a dozen or so baby socks. I want to use the book New Pathways for Sock Knitters by Cat Bordhi. Its suggested to work through the patterns in baby size to learn all the different techniques. Sounds like this book and the 52 pair plunge were made for each other.

5. Organize my downloaded Ravelry and printed patterns. I bought some binders and need to sort the the printed patterns I want to keep & make some labels for the binders for easier locating. I hate it when I think Ive printed a pattern out cant find it then print a 2nd copy. I also definitely need to clear out all the patterns on my PC that I will never make. When I first got on Ravelry I wanted them all and either downloaded or printed them many that I now know I will never knit.

6. Begin the annual charity knitting no later than June 1, 2010.

7. Figure out what to do with my sock yarn leftovers and start the project. I may not finish it in 2010 but I gotta get something started!

I think thats it - for now, wish me luck!

This Should Clear Things Up

I avoided saying goodbye as long as possible, but the time came. I kept saying to myself its not active duty which made our hour long ride home completly silent.

Now on my day off I get the package of his clothes and personal belongings. Im in tears all over again. Im not sure why but I cant open it.

Miss you already kiddo.

Catch Me If You Can

Since I haven't posted for a month I thought I'd include something extra. Ive been busy getting a head start on the latest 52 pair plunge. I knew I'd need a quick and easy pattern so I made one up.

It's a simple & free cuff down pattern I just posted on Ravelry. Easy enough to memorize - from cuff to toe.

I was able to make a pair a night and bring them to the day care in the building I work in to "size them up". Having tons of tiny feet for sizing was very useful.

Catch Me If You Can

Pattern is available for download on Ravelry for free.




























Plunge count now at 16.


Only thirty six more pairs to go ~~~ Catch me if you can ........

If they only had this 28 years ago...

INSTALLING A HUSBAND

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and I noticed a distinct slowdown in the overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewellery applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as? Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5,and then installed undesirable programs such as? NBA 5.0, ?NFL 3.0 ?and Golf Clubs 4.1.Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6simply crashes the system.Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?

Signed, Desperate


DEAR DESPERATE,

First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system. Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt3.0 update.? If that application works as designed,Husband1.0 ?should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, HappyHour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6. 1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall theBoyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend:? Cooking 3.0 and? Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck Desperate!

Tech Support

Big Knitting Secret

The annual conference/seminars for work went well. I'm officially a C5P. Hmmmm time for a raise? This year was at the downtown Boston Park Plaza.

Beautiful room with 2 full baths… yep 2 FULL BATHS. That’s 1 more than one person needs, so of course I rotated use. LMAO.





I took the train in so I avoided driving and parking in the city. Best idea ever, even though I drove in downtown Boston daily and have documentation proving I can cut off a taxi driver AND I survived.

Any way the big secret is I haven't been knitting much!

Just a lil on the Lace Ribbon Scarf (J. Knits/Washington)

I finished up two pairs of socks - one, possibly both are gifts.

A third pair on the needles is definitely for me & a fourth is another gift. I need to clear the needles though for a Sock KAL I signed up for starting in June. I have 2 more skeins of J Knits slated for it and one skein Paigewood Farm. I need to shop for the rest since I plan on making at least a dozen pairs. YIKES!

But this is what I have spent my weekends & evenings doing........ trying to launch a boat! Well DH and I and we had some help from #1 son.










We purchased the 22 footer for a song last fall and it sat for the Winter. We pulled it out three weeks ago, stripped it down, replaced some things (the pretty blue carpeting and some of the seating), then put it back together, then added some more stuff.



Absolutely worth the time & effort!
We turned off the cell phones and towed it up to camp this weekend.I already picked a spot for my Summer knitting!

Knitters Opinion Needed

I love this yarn from Schaeffer - great color way and it’s softer than other sock yarns - So I made a cowl with it. The cowl pattern was absolutely awful. It was a free download from Knit Picks and it didn’t work out well at ALL. Ripped…

I decided on socks. Still love the yarn and the pattern has been in my Ravelry queue forever. The perfect match ….so I thought. I got both socks to the heel on size 1’s and worked the gusset on one of the socks and tried it on. Way too tight. The legs snug, but wearable, getting it over my heel is another story.

I’ve ripped back to the leg and am now deciding. Do I just go with fingerless mitts?

Or somehow figure out a bigger heel? And if the choice is socks with a bigger heel/gusset how do I do that? Going up a needle size will help, but will it fix it? Do I need to make the gusset in 3's?

Such a dilemma…..

Awesome day for a ride!

We bundled up and left around 10 this morning and went on our 1st ride around the big lake (Lake Winnipesaukee).








It’s actually a favorite ride for us during the summer too. But in April - long before “ice-out” it’s a bit chilly. A beautiful ride anytime though. In most of the lake its thin ice with very few solid areas left, both Alton & Meredith Bays have open water which means riding season is fast approaching!











We make a few stops on the way; one definite stop is at the Harley shop to look at the new models and a warm up. Todays destination was lunch at the Mill in Meredith. Giuseppe’s Pizza is next to where the melted snow runs off and flows into the lake.




This year’s mountain snow is melting fast!





And I got to use one of the Xmas gifts DH got me. Its a drink holder for my bike!
I’m a slow coffee drinker and end up drinking ½ the cup and throw the other ½ out to get back on the road. Problem solved. While I wouldn’t recommend riding one handed all the time, but on a steady, low traffic, straight stretch of a road this holder rocks! I can now kick back, sip coffee and crank my favorite CD while I cruise, what could be better?

An email from Amy...

Hi, Lisa!

Thanks so much for your submission. It's very clever! I especially like the different variations, and think you've done a great job. We receive many more submissions than we are able to publish at Knitty, and that means we must make some hard choices. Unfortunately, that means we won't be able to use your submission this time.But I really like your style! Thank you for taking the time to prepare it and send it in and hope we'll see something from you again in the future!

Best, Amy

Possibly a form letter but I dont care, I'm so glad I tried!

I thought it was too easy of a pattern and never would have even tried if it were not for KnittingSamurai and MeowMeowHead in the local knitting group confirming it was a unique idea. Thanks for the encouragement! Ive posted the pattern on my Ravelry page WickedPyssa and will post on here soon.

Hmmmmm Maybe my sister can use it on her website http://www.yarn2buy.com/index.html

Such an idiot...

Yep that’s me, the short explanation…. I clicked a button and the PDF is now posted for my Holey Cowl Pattern on Ravelry.

And no one could be more shocked than me...

Got this from a friends blog

What's Your Word?

Your Word is "Peace"
You see life as precious, and you wish everyone was safe, happy, and taken care of.Social justice, human rights, and peace for all nations are all important to you.While you can't stop war, you try to be as calm and compassionate as possible in your everyday life.You promote harmony and cooperation. You're always willing to meet someone a little more than halfway.

You can stop laughing now K!

Chill'n Out

Since my last post, “Start as Many Things as You Can!” I’ve started 5 items! 4 are knitted gifts - 3 out of 4 of them are already off the needles with the last almost completed too. I guess I still like to finish what’s fun on the needles before picking up an older project.


What started all this was a weekend with the opportunity to knit to my hearts content but I did very little knitting because nothing I had on the needle excited me. Instead we went to an ice sculpture exhibit in Portland ME.

There’s Rachel wearing the hat I knit for her for xmas 07 and she LOVES. Its the most used item I’ve ever knit, at least that’s what she tells her mom.

And all of us in the Yellow Submarine.

Then we went even further north to the camp for snowmobiling. We all had a great time, then sat by the camp fire and watched the ice fishers for a bit, visited with neighbors, and generally had a relaxing time. I think Rachel, up from NYC, certainly needed some down time.

Who thinks we had too many Butter Ball shots?

Butter Balls
Use equal parts of Butter Rum Snapps & Baileys
Mix em up, pour & relax but DON’T DRIVE – even snowmobile!

Makes Sense to me, I think...

Since I finished my latest projects, two Holey Cowls (my first pattern design), two pairs of socks (one for me and one to give away), and another pair of fingerless gloves (Porphyrias) I feel like I’ve nothing fun to knit anymore!

I’ve decided to take the advice of an article I read in the Spring 2009 IK by Vicki Square

Start as Many New Projects as You Can

I’m going to try it anyway and see how it goes….. I shouldnt get bored this way right?

My First Pattern

Holey Cowl

Scarfs can fly away, but a buttoned cowl stays put. This cowl is started on the button hole end, allowing ample time to discover the perfect buttons. The cowl pattern was inspired by a sock design of Lucy Nearby’s.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
5 inches X 26 or desired length

MATERIALS
Any worsted weight yarn will work, pictured in hand dyed Knit Picks Bare Superwash Merino [100% superwash merino wool 100g ball]; 1 ball

US # 7/4.5mm straight or circular needle

4 ¾ Inch Decorative Buttons
Tapestry needle

GAUGE
22 sts / 33 rows = 4" (10 cm) in stockinette stitch using US #7 needles (gauge is not crucial).

Using long tail cast on, CO 44.

Scalloped Edge
ROW 1
Knit all stitches

ROW 2
*K3, slip last stitch knitted from right needle back to left needle, pass the next 6 stitches on left needle (one at a time) over this stitch and off needle lengthening stitch as necessary to accommodate all the stitches, yo, k3 rep from *

ROW 3
*k3, (k1, yo, k1) into yo, k2; rep from *

ROWS 4-6
Knit all stitches

32 stitches

Button Hole Rows
ROW 1
Knit all stitches

ROW 2
k4 *K2, slit last stitch knitted from right needle back to left needle, pull next 5 stitches on left needle, one at a times over this stitch and off the needle lengthening stitch as necessary to accommodate all the stitches yo, k2; repeat from * k4

ROW 3
K6, (k1, yo, k1, yo, k1) into yo, dropping loop from left needle, k3; repeat from * K2.

ROWS 4-6
Knit all stitches

ROW 7
*K2, slit last stitch knitted from right needle back to left needle, pull next 5 stitches on left needle, one at a times over this stitch and off the needle lengthening stitch as necessary to accommodate all the stitches yo, k2; repeat from *

ROW 8
K2, (k1, yo, k1, yo, k1) into yo, dropping loop from left needle, k3; repeat from *K1.

ROWS 9-11
Knit all stitches

Repeat button holes rows 2-11 if desired for additional button hole rows.


Cowl Body
ROW 1
Knit 1, *wyf sl2 one at a time, knit 4* repeat to last stitch, knit1.

ROW 2
Purl 4, *wyb sl2 one at a time, purl 4* repeat to last 4 stitches, wyb sl2 one at a time purl 2.

ROW 3
Knit 3, *wyf sl2 one at a time, knit 4* repeat to last 5 stitches, wyf sl2 one at a time, knit 3.

ROW 4
Purl 2, *wyb sl2 one at a time, purl 4* repeat to last 6 stitches, wyb sl2 one at a time purl 4.

ROW 5
Knit 5, *wyf sl2 one at a time, knit 4* repeat to last 3 stitches, wyf sl2 one at a time, knit 1.

ROW 6
Purl 1, wyb sl1, purl 4, *wyb sl2 one at a time, purl 4* repeat to last 2 stitches, wyb sl1, purl 1.

Repeat the 6 row pattern for 20 inches or desired length. Pattern repeat is worked 5 times in each row with one salvage stitch at beginning and end of every row.

Knit 10 rows of garter stitch & BO all stitches loosely. Weave in ends, lightly block, sew buttons in place.

16 Hours of Knitting

I can’t wait; I just booked my annual seminar at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston. Two days of LIHTC Compliance, Sec 42 of the tax code, fair housing & state monitoring rules & regulations. Sounds like HELL huh?


Oh no, no, no, no, no!



I look forward to this each year! This is my fifth year so I have tested out, like many of the attendees. All we need to do is sign in and be in the room and for me - knit. Its two days of knitting (interrupted every 45+/- mins for a coffee/stretch break or lunch). The breaks are routinely spent trying to convince the newbie’s they will recover from the overload. OMG I remember my first year. But for us veterans of the program, it’s two evenings at the bar networking and socializing - not preparing for the test. Another bonus is that’s this is all just a few blocks away from a couple of LYS I’ve never been too.

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/WickedPyssa/celtic-triskele-charts

Last year I made this project/sock bag.

I need to start hunting for a simple two color stranded pattern for socks or should I do another project bag?

Busy Day - Doing Nothing

Yeah ok so I mis-spoke last night when bragging to friends about my “bad” news. The flooring contractors were not done installing my new floors yesterday so that meant it was my turn to be available today– meaning I had to stay home and knit all day....poor me huh? Because they were in the kitchen & dining room – basically cutting off ½ of the first floor (and access to laundry) I thought I was trapped with only with my iPod & knitting for the day. The PC was available for emailing work and of course Ravelry. But my planned knitting included working on my Bubbalicious Socks

and some mittens for me. I knit over a dozen pairs already this season but had none for me after the holoday gifts were wrapped up & given out.






Anyway, long story short, they are still not done with the flooring




but completed enough of the job before they had to leave for me to spend my afternoon reorganizing and cleaning the crystal.


I use to sell Princess House Crystal so I have tons of this stuff. A few years ago I sold boxes of it at a yard sale for a song, this is most of whats left.

The new dining room floor looks GREAT!




The kitchen has a bit to go. Moving and/or installing the flooring around the appliances and island was more time consuming than originally thought so I guess I have 3/4's of a kitchen floor for the weekend.




I did to do a little more knitting today while my Holey Cowl blocked & dried. I dont have final pics of that but I used the yarn above, which I dyed this fall. I found out that I was approved to add the pattern on Ravelry so once I finish writing it up I will – just need to stop procrastinating, maybe after all the crystal shines and I organize my knitting that’s been scattered throughout the assigned space …......

Getting there, almost done. Oh yeah, now I need to call my kids and let them know their cousin had a baby girl this morning! And then call my sister and remind her to apply for AARP since shes' a grandma now!