Tuesday, March 29
*Update* Yeah, still sick. :-(
Anyway, due to the lack of energy as a result of my previously mentioned illness, I have not knitted since Sunday. I did, however, FINALLY manage to felt the Booga bag that my friend Lisa gave me a few months ago. This is what it looked like after two rounds in the washer. Isn't it cute??? It has been drying since Sunday... who knows, maybe tomorrow I'll muster up enough energy to attach the i-cord.
Now, to Lolly- Thanks for your sweet comment yesterday! :-)
Monday, March 28
How is it that I can be fine one day and have a fever, a sore throat and laryngitis the next day? I feel TERRIBLE! :-(
I'm going to bed in an attempt to sleep off the sickies. My theory is that I can reverse this... since I felt (relatively) fine before I went to bed last night and woke up feeling rotten this morning, MAYBE I will wake up tomorrow and be back to normal. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
There will probably be a real blog entry some time tomorrow- including pictures of my first felted project, courtesy of Lisa- the girl who does not blog. Hint, hint ;-)
Good night.
Sunday, March 27
Happy Easter!
~Thank you to The Blue Ewe for this great image.
Wednesday, March 23
As requested by Lisa (who knits but does not yet have a blog) here is a picture of La Chica. It is done on 19's in seed stitch (k1 p1). I still have a long way to go, but I'm feeling encouraged!
This is a bad mood day. The weather has a tendancy to do this to me. Yesterday there was a glimmer of hope; a taste of spring. It was sunny and 54 degrees and the boys and I took full advantage of that by spending (almost) the whole day outside. Today is rainy, damp, cold, dreary and miserable. We are stuck inside because I have no desire to take them out in this mess- not even to go to Starbucks. Now THAT is pathetic. Rain SUCKS!
Another thing adding to my mood is that there is an extra Stitch-n-Bitch tonight and because Steve is away (AGAIN) and because I don't have a sitter, I can't go. It's the rain's fault. I think I should blame everything annoying me today on the rain. Wait a second... I feel a flashback coming on. Yeah, Milli Vanilli said to "Blame It On the Rain" and I fully intend to do just that!
On the knitting front, I'm about 18 inches into La Chica. At least I am half way done. So I guess my hoping to have it finished by yesterday didn't exactly pan out... but the older boy was sick with a stomach virus on Monday (which I'm sure will be going through the rest of our family in time for Easter) and we were outside all day yesterday, so that's why it was cast aside for two days. I have been trying to work on it today, but the children are going crazy because of being stuck inside and I have (on more than one occasion) been forced to throw it down so as to intervene in the brawls that have been breaking out as a result.
Again I say, rain SUCKS!
Saturday, March 19
Ahhhhh.... I am in the zone. I had a 40 minute massage this afternoon. Jeannie from Bodyworks (will post a link when one becomes available) did a wonderful job and I am definitely feeling more relaxed as a result. Would it be COMPLETELY unreasonable of me to expect a massage every week?
La Chica is coming along nicely. I am hoping to have it done by Tuesday-ish. We'll see. I fear that may be a little too optimistic. There is an extra Stitch-n-Bitch on Wednesday and I'd love to take it with me (if I have a sitter) so my knitting friends can show me how to do the fringe on it. It's probably very easy to do, however I am a visual person and need to see it being done rather than reading about it and trying it myself. Following directions is not one of my strengths!
With 118 days left until Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince hits the bookshelves, I am starting to get some heat from Steve about finishing book 5. I am truly torn on this one... do I read a little bit to appease him, or do I work on La Chica so I have a chance to finish it by Tuesday or Wednesday? Here's the thing. I have over 3 months until book 6 is out, so what's the rush? Hey- can someone invent something that will allow me to read and knit at the same time? If someone does invent such a device, please keep in mind that I'll be needing 40% of the profits as it was my idea. How's THAT for an incentive? LOL.
Thursday, March 17
Thank you for all of the great comments about the new look of my blog. I am really pleased with it and highly recommend Amy or Liz over at Quixotic Pixels for your web designing needs. How's that for a shameless plug? ;-)
(This entry will be relatively short because I am sleep deprived and pretty stressed out as a result of Steve's travelling AGAIN.) Ok, so Stitch-n-Bitch was great on Tuesday night. It did me a world of good to be away from the boys for the night and to get a break from the bed time routine. Although there wasn't much stitching getting done... everyone brought a project to frog, including me; though it was not intentional. I brought my La Chica poncho to work on, but after taking a poll, we all decided it was too thick for what I wanted and I ripped it out to start all over again. Thankfully, Rosie and her ball winder helped me organize the ratty mess that my two strands of Esprit had formed. It was actually starting to scare my fellow knitting friends! Anyway, we all agreed that I needed a thinner, flatter yarn to piece with the Esprit to get the desired openess I am looking for in this spring poncho. When I got home, I found that I had a ball of sage green Brilliant by Patons in my stash that looks quite nice with it. And so La Chica was started again yesterday. Sorry for the lack of pictures, but the husband left our digital camera in his car which is at the airport. I will post some once more progress is made and once I have the camera back.
Now I must go place the children into their rooms for some much needed quiet/mommy time... pray for me.
Monday, March 14
And here it is- the new look of the "JavaGirl Knits!" blog. I LOVE it!
Thank you, Liz!!! :-)
Sunday, March 13
You know, it's funny. I used to like the look of my blog. Although plain, it was/is pink and girly and I was ok with that. That has changed. I saw the new look of Jackie's blog and I became hungry. Suddenly, the shades of pink were not good enough for me anymore. I contacted Amy at Quixotic Pixels who had designed Jackie's blog and asked her to design a new one for me. She introduced me to Liz who took over the project and has been working on it ever since. It's a great business- I gave them an idea of a theme and some colors I like and they ran with it. What Liz has made so far looks GREAT and I can't wait for it to be on my blog. I can't show you what it looks like yet, but can tell you that it's centered around the JavaGirl Knits name.
So I went to Noble Knits yesterday and chose the yarn for my La Chica Poncho. I intended to buy the Zanziba and Isis yarn the pattern called for but it was $22.50 per skein and I would have needed four. Because I have so much yarn in my yarn drawers in the laundry room, I can tell you with 100% certainty that Steve would NOT have been happy! So I bought some Esprit from GGH in a soft, sage green. It's similar to this color. It's very soft and will be a VERY pretty spring poncho.
Thursday, March 10
Tada!!!!
It's a day of firsts.... I cast on using the double cast on method for the first time, I knitted the right way for the first time, and I made a stockinette stitch correctly for the first time. Yay me!!!! I'm going to keep practicing for a little while and then I will start my first real project in time for Stitch-n-Bitch on Tuesday. It's the La Chica Poncho from Noble Knits.
Now I must go because the ac adaptor on my laptop broke and the battery is about to run out. LOVELY! I'm not sure how long it will be before I am back online but in looking at the bright side of things, I realize that being unchained to my laptop for a little while will give me more time to knit....... it better only be for a little while. :-/
Wednesday, March 9
Yeah.... so it's official. I knit backwards. That is why my stitches are a little twisted. So, Nicole- I am not only your twisted sister, but I am your backwards buddy too! I think we should start a Backward Knitters Anonymous group... since I knit using the Continental method and you knit the English way, we can cover all the bases! The scary question is, are there more of us out there?
So anyway, with my baby's birthday today I haven't had a chance to work on untwisted stitches, unbackwards knitting or purling. However, every free chance I've had today I have been watching the videos over at Knitting Help. I think it's starting to click. What a WONDERFUL website! I wish I had known about it last year when I was first learning how to knit. Perhaps I wouldn't have been so intimidated by the thought of trying new things. Maybe (just maybe) I wouldn't have gotten stuck in the scarf rut. Who knows? The important thing is that now I am working to try new things and branch out. That's what matters, right?
It's the birthday boy!
Jeffrey is 3 today. Happy birthday, little man!
My son is a wonderful blessing, a treasure from above. He’s laughter, warmth and special charm; he’s thoughtfulness and love. My son brings a special joy that comes from deep inside and as he grows to manhood, he'll fill my heart with pride. With every year that passes, he’s more special than before. Through every stage, through every age, I love him even more. No words can describe the warm memories, the pride and gratitude that comes from having a son to love and cherish… just like you!
~Unknown
Love,
Mommy
Monday, March 7
My first attempt at stockinette.
I've taken the first step. I've learned how to purl thanks to the AWESOME videos at www.knittinghelp.com. I have been practicing it for about a half hour now; it's a bit awkward, but so was knitting when I first began. I'm sure if I keep working on it it will feel more natural over time. I'm not making anything yet, I'm just practicing with some scrap yarn that I hate. Unfortunately, I didn't remember that I hated it until I picked it up and started working with it again. Now I know why there was almost a whole ball of it in the scrap yarn pile! I can't even remember what it's called, but all I know is that it's VERY tight and it easily shreds/seperates. Anyway, I have been practicing the purl stitch by doing stockinette- it's so cute! I love the little v's it makes! Small steps people... small steps.
Sunday, March 6
We're baaaack!
We had a WONDERFUL trip to Cancun and are now back to reality. Yes, this week consisted of a business trip for the husband, another doctors appointment for my 4 year old son who has yet another ear infection, more trips to the pharmacy as a result of said ear infection, a 3 hour long evaluation to release my 3 year old son from the speech services he was receiving through Early Intervention and (last but not least) registering the older son for kindergarten for the 2005/2006 school year. And all the while, I kept torturing myself by thinking, "This time last week I was laying by the pool or this time last week I was getting a massage." Why did I do this to myself? Because I am a glutton for punishment, that's why!
Cancun was our first trip alone together since our honeymoon and although leaving the boys for the first time was difficult for me, I got over it rather quickly. When we arrived, it was sunny and in the mid 80's. The perfect getaway from snowy Philadelphia! People were handing me flowers and drinks from the moment we arrived at our hotel. Over the next 3 days, we swam with the dolphins, went to formal dinners and breakfast meetings (for Steve's company) took an ATV tour of the jungle.... I had spa treatments nearly everyday. It was the best trip I've ever been on; probably because all expenses including the spa treatments were paid for. I really could have gotten used to that! Now do you see why I have been torturing myself all week???
In all of the busy-ness I haven't had the chance to knit. I am pouring through some magazines and my Stitch-n-Bitch book to find some patterns. That's right people, I'm branching out. I am sick of scarves and I've finally gotten to a point where no one is asking me for any, so I'm seizing the opportunity. If anyone has any suggestions for a non complicated pattern for a somewhat new knitter, I'd appreciate it. In the meantime, I'll keep my eye out for one.
The above picture of the view from our hotel room at sunrise. <::wistful sigh::>
