WIP... uhm... Thursday?

I see all those WIP Wednesdays, and I always think it's a good idea. But, it seems I'm always busy on Wednesdays!!

I have been knitting, and I do have proof!

I have one sock done of the Embossed Leaves sock from Favorite Socks by Interweave Press. I am almost to the heel of the second one.

I also started the Hemlock Ring. I started the beginning using Magic Loop method. I have to say ... Magic Loop isn't my favorite of methods, but with this project, it was a lifesaver.

And it took forever to get pictures because Loverbunny kept bumping up against my arms and legs wanting attention.

Big Messes Everywhere

It seems like everywhere I look I have huge messes.

First of all, when one thing breaks, everything else goes with it. First, the laptop. Well, next was my car. It overheated on my way to work the other day.

$400 later.... it's fixed.

Then, today I was looking in the knitting basket I have sitting near my bed. Chaos. It's overflowing with leftovers, yarns I started something with yet never finished, and other misc. stuff. Huge mess.

I got out my ziploc baggies, and started organizing. I labeled each bag with the yarn name. I found a few things I plan on giving away to my fiber arts guild.

I feel so much better after this.

Blast From the Past

I got on the old desktop while our laptop was out of commission, and found a bunch of old pictures. I uploaded a ton of my late kitty, Amos to my Flickr.

I also found a picture of a gift I made for a family member. It was a little sachet thing of Noah's Ark done in needlepoint. (I used to be a huge needlepoint fan. But, knitting took over, and I think knitting is CHEAPER (and more practical).)

I had a really yucky day yesterday, and so when I got home I did a little retail therapy.  I bought some Cascade Ecological Wool from WEBS Anniversary Sale.  Whee!  Hopefully, I will do the Hemlock Ring Blanket.

Well, today is my allergy test day.  It's finally here, and a good thing too, because I spent most of the day with my arms broke out in hives yesterday.

If you don't like it, rip it.

After looking at the Swallowtail Shawl in my basket for weeks, I decided to rip it out. It's not the pattern, it's the yarn. I think this was Alpaca Cloud from KnitPicks. Just not my type of yarn.

I will make this shawl, but perhaps with something else. Maybe even some koigu sock yarn?
But, I will be giving this particular lace weight away to my friends at my knitting group.

FO: Garter Rib Socks

And Day 2 of no antihistamines.

I had one particular bad day last week, and to top it off... when I came home, my laptop wouldn't work. The power cord had gone bad, and our battery is sick. So these socks have been finished for a few days. I made them for my husband, and they are a little snug. I'm not sure he likes them... I hope they will loosen up with wear.
They are from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. It's in Handmaiden Casbah sock in Earth. I love this yarn.



This second picture is more color accurate.



And, as I mentioned I am on Day 2 of no antihistamines. I have my allergy testing next week. My eyes are pink and swollen, my head feels fulls, I keep sneezing, and my ears hurt. *sigh*

Yarn Harlot!

I got to see the Yarn Harlot yesterday. It was a blast. One of our fellow knitters in the KY group made us Ravelry name tags, and so people were wandering around finding out if we knew each other. One of the first things said to me was "Hey you are on my friends list!" and I knew then it was going to be a fun night. I met tons of people on my friends list, and had several more to add when I got home.



Stephanie was hilarious, as usual. Always worth seeing. She seemed tired though, and I felt kind of bad that she probably has the most serious jet lag ever. I mean, she was just in Denver, straight to us, and then she had to get up at 5am this morning to catch yet another flight. Writing knitting humor seems tiring.

I didn't make her wait for me to dig my sock out. You have no idea how long it would have taken me to dig out my sock in progress. Also, looking at this picture, all I can think is I need to go get my hair cut (which I've been planning to do for about a month now). And yes, I wore my Tangled Yoke, which Stephanie complimented and put me on cloud 9.



I also bought some new sock yarn yesterday because one of my LYS had a 20% off all sock yarn sale. I had being wanting some J. Knits for a long time. I had been checking out on the Loopy Ewe. I finally scored some! In the Miami colorway. I can't wait to knit with it.



Oh, I have to tell you about my horror hand story. I had blood drawn for my Thyroid levels on Friday. The girl is looking and looking, and says, "I can't find anything to draw from, but I see something in your hand... can I draw it from there?" The nurse part of me kicks in and says "Sure, draw it from wherever you can find something." As soon as she starts, my vein blows, and the knitter part of me kicks in and I think "My hand is going to be too sore to knit!" My hand hurt like hell for a few hours, but I did come home and put a warm compress on it and that helped. It was very very black afterwards, but it's fading very quickly. And I am able to knit, thankfully.

Charity Knitting

I finished up a baby hat for charity. They are taking them up at the Yarn Harlot event I'm going to tomorrow. When I finished, my husband said "But you didn't add cutsey stuff to it!" I didn't because I wanted it to be gender-neutral. That's why I picked this celery green, too. I want it to go to whatever gender needs it.

This is the Simple Baby Hat from Itty-Bitty hats by Susan B. Anderson. It's in Rowan Handknit Cotton, which is my favorite cotton yarn. It's fun to work with.

We had our leak fixed in our front porch roof, and it's a good thing. It's raining and raining and raining....