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December 28, 2005

Well, Law and Order Christmas went well...but it went by so quickly I don't remember taking pics of the scarves!!

Let's see...altogether there was a lovely, long, blue, chenille keyhole, a variegated waterfall scarf, a silk slimmie scarf, and one of the lovely scarves made of ribbon and polka dot yarns from Exquisite Knits, all dolled up with earrings and/or bracelets. That took care of all the women in the family with the exception of the one I just got some Burt's Bees items. I did have one other scarf left though and I have someone else in mind for that. The men got Craftsman gift cards. Not bad if I do say so myself.

At any rate, I know they'll be loved and hopefully I will get pics of the family at some other time wearing them.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Knitting too!

Posted by stacey at 09:55 PM | Comments (1)

December 12, 2005

Odd picture, you think? Maybe.

Ever notice how in a microwave world where we can get something as complex as a turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce warm in a matter of six minutes (albeit in the small little squares) that simple little things take so much time till you get nothing done? Case in point, I was going to meet my husband at his mother's house and I needed to stop by the gas station for a tiny bit of gas and a lot of suds because my car was nasty dirty. Even if the in-laws weren't home, I definitely didn't want them showing up to see my car like that for the fifth week in a row. Peer pressure-or in-law pressure in this case, is a pain. In-law pressure in particular, can drive you out of your mind if you let it.

As I pulled up, I'm noticing there were only three vehicles in line. No biggie. I paid for the car wash and as I left the counter I noticed two more cars inching up behind what was supposed to be my spot. That's okay.

I sit in line and am so grateful that my little one is asleep. No woman wants to sit in line at a car wash with a screaming baby yelling her little head off no matter how pretty it is. I looked at the clock. Seven minutes later the car that went in is still in the car wash. Finally, around the ninth minute, the next one is about to go in. Seven minutes later it comes out. At this point, I pull out my knitting.

I was thinking about what I'd blog about since I had to stop knitting on the master level for a minute to put together some last minute knitted gifts. I like the yarn I'm knitting with. I got it from a friend who I used to work with at my current job. I don't know what kind of yarn it is. But it is so strong and so soft!! I can't break it with my hands, but I don't believe it's synthetic either. At any rate, the colors were beautiful, till I started attempting to make it into a scarf. Then it got all blocky looking. Like a brick formation. I don't know that I like that all that much. But it will make a quick gift. Especially since it gets tangled so easily...

...and since I can't break it and figure out an easy way to get it into a ball again, I am going to take the path of least resistance and just start a new one. What can I say? I'm the Queen of Procrastination and I've got a lot of people to knit for this Christmas. So off the needles already with the scarf. The Queen has spoken.

I never knew how much knitting could get done at a car wash. Granted, it wasn't like the car washes were 15 minutes each or anything. But my goodness, time was creeping by so slowly. For some reason, forty-five minutes had slipped right by me!

Apparently the lapse in time was making me a lose some control of some of my faculties. Knitting and time can make you think you can do very supernatural things. Must be the meditative state it puts you in. I started thinking if I tried shifting my needle just under the van in front of me, somehow if I could just get it shoved in the right crevice, I could lift it out of the way and sit it safely to the side just long enough for me to be able to start the car and move up a bit to take it's spot. I guess these queenly sceptres, aren't that strong after all. Next time, maybe I'll try the addi turbos.

Posted by stacey at 02:18 PM | Comments (2)

December 07, 2005

I got this pic from Law and Order SVU site although the blurriness was homemade by me (:)). Ever noticed those really nice, knit scarves on Law & Order? I’m thinking this year’s Christmas theme is going to be Law & Order and everyone is getting handknit scarves. DH turned me on to the show some time after we got married. I think my favorite scarf is Casey’s purple one…

Posted by stacey at 01:02 PM | Comments (0)

December 05, 2005

I made some progress on my Level 1 swatches up until after the Thanksgiving break.

I got up to Swatch #8 before I got all discombobulated.

So let's tally up the distraction factor:

1 I had to go out of town for the job. Last minute. Commuting to and from. But who's complaining?

2 Attended the presentation for my son as he was honored as Student of the Month,

3 directly followed by the Christmas presentation at his school.

4 Baby girl started at a new babysitter. I'm just too scared to put her back in daycare at this time. RSV nearly killed me. I know she's the one who suffered it. But it nearly killed me!!

5 A million to-do's at the job: reporting, assessing, compiling, organizing, board kissing-upping.

Yeah, I think that's enough to distract me from the knit! But I do plan to get back to it this week.

So far I've noticed some things about my swatches though:

My seed stitch stitches aren't quite as uniform as I'd like to see them at this point. I'm always using this stitch for cotton wash cloths so you'd think it would be better at this. Sucks, huh? Well, at least the edges are straight.

And here's that k2, p2 rib I posted about on the Master Knitting Forum at TKGA. I've tried every way I've read about: combined, tugging up...Whatever you can think of, I've tried it. Still get this. And this is the best of it too! Nah, I won't kill myself over it. After all, it is waaaayyyyy better than what it was when I first started knitting.

Hey! I almost forgot! Notice the blue gingham behind the swatches. Uh-huh! Made my own blocking board with a kit from SWS. I'm so happy with the way it turned out. And if you have ever tried to follow those directions you know what I mean! DH and I were going batty over them. But it was all good.

I'll post a little more later. Right now the baby girl is asking for some attention...

Happy knitting.

Posted by stacey at 07:18 PM | Comments (2)