things that get in the way of knitting

Vacations

Gardens

Shopping

and Walter

No, he was not named after the farting dog. We hit the jackpot at the Oregon Humane Society and we have all fallen head over heels for the newest member of our family. He is supposedly a 2 year old Shih-Tzu, but is a bit large for a Shih-Tzu. He has impeccable manners and loves to cuddle. How I do go on!

I have managed to finish a couple items

The previously mentioned Baby Surprise Jacket, knit out of Peaches and Cream Ombre. Cute and washable, can’t beat it!

I also finished a pair of plain vanilla socks out of Mountain Colors Bearfoot, one of my favorite sock yarns:

As for the raging case of startitis?

As my son would say, ” so….um, yeah.”

Hey – I’m here! :wave:

I attended the Knit-out and Crochet 2009 at the Tigard Public Library yesterday, and much fun was had by all. I sat with a group who needed no help, really, and we knitted and chatted the afternoon away quite happily. I passed around my blog card, all the while apologizing in advance for my lack of blogging over the summer. It was then pointed out to me that I’d better get busy because they were going to read it. That’s a good reason to get off my behind and get to blogging.

I do have knitting, but no pictures. Will get right on that. Made a very cute Baby Surprise Jacket…now which baby gets to be surprised? Also started another new project which officially puts me squarely in the face of a case of startitis. I had four projects going this week..aaack!

…and then there’s Walter, the latest addition to the family. Since he arrived, I just sit and stare at him, rub his little belly, and count my blessings. I did the same thing when the kids were babies. I could just sit and smell their heads all day. Walter has cast his spell and we will never be the same.

I will be posting again soon with some pictures of the latest. I’m blogging from Facebook today and I cannot see a place for putting pictures into posts.

Sock Summit 09

I had one afternoon for Sock Summit and it was to be spent at the marketplace.  My only rule was…

It has to fit in the bag.

Granted, it is a Hermosa, and that sucker can hold ALOT of sock yarn.  I was surprisingly restrained in my purchases, and thoroughly enjoyed the Sock Summit Marketplace. Everyone was so happy – not a single grump.  Well, knitters are happy people!

I was also happy because I achieved one of my goals for the afternoon. Remember the nicest person I never met?  Well, I met her!

This is Michele, of the blog PDXKnitterati, faithful commenter on WKD, and all-around great gal. It was so nice to finally meet her in person.

My other goal for the afternoon was to see my friend, Donna of Gardiner Yarnworks.

Donna and I attend the same knit night and, after listening to me gripe about how I can never get toe-up socks to fit me, said, “You really should try Chrissy’s new book“.  Well, here I go!   I ‘ve been looking through the book and it’s promising, that’s for sure. Lots of handy worksheets along with great patterns and instructions. I tell you, if this can’t help me nothing can.

As mentioned, my purchases were modest

The purple is from LavenderSheep. Its a blue-faced leicester that’s a bit thin to be a sock yarn, but I just loved the color, so it may be destined to be a scarf. The hazelknits sock yarn jumped out at me. Trust me,  there were many beautiful yarns at the marketplace, but I kept reminding myself of the 20 or so skeins of sock yarn I had waiting for me at home and resolved to only buy items that really spoke to me.

My Sock Summit experience this year was limited by time and finances, yet I had a great time. If it comes back, I hope to take a class or two. It was very well organized and well worth the time and effort that was put into it.  I even caught the eye of the Yarn Harlot herself. As my mother-in-law and I were entering the market place, she breezed by us. I caught her eye and smiled. She smiled back, with a look like, ” Do I know you from somewhere?”.  Of course, it could just as easily have been a “I’ll be nice, hope she’s not a stalker” look. Needless to say, she kept on moving. I thought, this must happen to her all the time, utter strangers smiling at her for no reason.

Especially at Sock Summit.

once more, with feeling

Hopefully, these videos will be free of the previous technical difficulties.  LM and I attended a marimba workshop at our church on Saturday, culminating in performances during worship on Sunday.  Yay!  I tried something new!  And it was FUN! 

For your viewing pleasure….

not dead yet

…I don’t want to get on the cart with the blog….there are still signs of life! Just when life seemed to be under control and moving along at a nice clip, I decided to go back to school, continuing my annoying personal habit of NOT BEING HAPPY WITH THINGS THE WAY THEY ARE. Lucky for me, my family is along for the ride.  We all survived summer term and will be enjoying some fun in the sun before fall term begins We have managed to have some outings and I have even managed to squeeze in a bit of knitting. Hope to get some pics up in the next few days.

ETA – just realized that the video does not show up on Firefox browsers, so here’s a link . Is this some weird new youtube wrinkle? I guess that what I get for leaving the blog for months on end.

Mother’s Day ‘09

Mother’s Day ‘09

Originally uploaded by knitterkate

..complete with cartoon noise in the background and a blatant commercial endorsement. I’m the happiest mum in the neighborhood

New socks

These are knit from a skein my son bought for me as a Christmas gift two years ago. It’s a  basic sock recipe and it was nice to make something that I didn’t have to rip back for a change. Let’s hope that this trend continues.

What a nice surprise!

I’ve been nominated for the Kreativ Blogger Award by PDXKnitterati, a local blogger who is a knitter extraordinaire with fabulous knitted objects and patterns everyone should go check out.  She and I chat back and forth via our blogs and I have to say she is one of the nicest people I’ve never met. That’s life in the internet age for ya!  I’m sure Michele and I will meet up IRL, as they say, one of these days. Probably at a PDXKnitblogger gathering of some sort :fingerscrossed:.   Thanks, Michele!

Here are the rules:

1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.
4. Link to those on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

And here are the blogs that I think you should check out:

1 and 2 are Deb on the Web and her podcast blog for At the Kitchen Table.  I’ve enjoyed Deb’s blog for awhile now, as she knits and cooks and gardens, which are all the things I love to read about on blogs.   With the recent establishment of Mt. Hood Fiber,  now she’s in  the fiber business!  I am enjoying her new podcast and look forward to the weekly updates on  her animals, her garden, and her projects.

3.  The Needle and the Damage Done I found Faith through her now-defunct podcast, The Knitting Cook. She profiled my brand new blog for which I shall be forever grateful. She writes eloquently of her life as a wife and mother to four young ones in Germany. I admire how she makes time for her fiber passion midst her very busy life.    Beware,  there are mouthwatering food photos!

4. Zebraknits I am new to this blog, but I just love her projects and she has amazing color sense. She also sews, which is a big plus in my book. I know her blog entries will always be a visual treat and an inspiration.

5. whatifknits When I first started blogging, Sarah-Hope found me and commented regularly. I was so appreciative, as there are many blogs out there and it’s nice to get comments.  She has a blogiversary raffle every year that raises money for various animal welfare and rescue organizations.

6. This Vintage Chica This is not a knitting blog (yet). I stumbled across this blog when I was looking for a rag rug tutorial.  Eren is an excellent writer and photographer. She has written posts that have brought me close to tears at times. She finds beauty in the details of everyday life through her words, her photography and her crafts.

7. One Year to an Organized Life Once again, not a knitting blog.  Marie is a friend of mine who is blogging her way through Regina Leeds’ One Year to an Organized Life. Kind of like Julie and Julia for those of us who need to clean out our closets.  It takes a brave lady to photograph her underwear drawer, but Marie is up for the challenge. I am a sucker for organizing things. It’s a curse.  I can’t wait to see what room Marie tackles next!

As for the rest of my day, well…um…these arrived yesterday

When I come out of the sugar coma, I may get around to finishing one of the myriad of UFO’s in my knitting basket.

It has occurred to me that if I had just focused on the Leyburns, I would be practically done with them by now.  As Steve Martin used to say  “But, Nooooo!” I had to start a new pair, and now I will have twice the Second Sock Syndrome to contend with shortly. I got a little antsy and cast on for a February Lady Sweater. I saw the picture so many times on Ravelry, I finally gave in and joined the thousands of other who have knit this sweater. Hopefully, I can finish it with some time to wear it this season.

Bad news good news

BAD news..

I ran out of yarn   I didn’t have enough to knit the Kiki Mariko up to 60″, as required in the pattern. I had a mini-freak out about the rug felting to something the size of a postage stamp, realized I was overreacting just a bit, then I hyperventilated about doubling the cost of this project just to have a lovely rug to cover a traffic area in my living room.  See, I would have to buy another round of all the colors to make that happen. Breathe in.  Breathe out.

I opted for letting fate decide the outcome.  Into the washing machine it went.  I have some opinions on the subject of felting. I have a front loading washing machine and I have read in several places that this is not the machine to felt in. I think experienced felting enthusiasts want to be able to stop the process at any time and at first blush, that does not seem possible with the front loading machine. I am a fan of the front loader, and the Kiki clinches it. I have a quick cycle that I use with hot water, and most of the projects I have felted have come out perfectly with one time through the quick wash.  This project had me a little nervous as Mason-Dixon noted that this rugs felts fast.  During Leigh Radford’s talk at the Tigard Knitting Guild, she had mentioned that there is a way to stop a front loader mid-cycle, so I tried it. I just pressed the STOP button. Now that wasn’t so bad…. and voila’ – the GOOD news!

It is barely felted…just enough for the fibers to stick to each other. Pre-felting, it was about 33″ by 50″. After felting, it is about 27″ by 41″, which is very close to the dimensions I wanted. I love it!

Pumpkin likes it, too!

I liked the colors so much, I did this with the leftovers….

Watch out, Martha Stewart!

I am such a badass

I need a nap!