Adios May Hola June

Well goodbye to the month of May. Sadly, this May brought more showers than April and very little in the way of flowers here. However, I did get several things finished to donate to the preemie project.



The two hats on the left went to the Iowa chapter and the two on the right went to the Michigan chapter. All in all a semi-productive month despite all that has been going on. I kept it simple most of the things were knitted using the pattern for Michelle's Hat and booties . I did however use a variety of yarns. The green solid (from an earlier post is made with Carron Simply soft (which I like a lot). The light yellow is made with red heart baby soft (which I am not at all fond of it seems really scratching). The yellow and white stripes are made with Bernat's self-striping yarn which I am very excited about.

I did try the pattern created by Wool Windings . It is pictured below



I really liked this pattern. However, I think the self-striping yarn obscures the pattern. I also tried to modify the pattern so that the twisting continued all the way to the top. Needless to say it didn't go well. I think I am close and will try again with some solid colored yarn soon!

A yarning we will go.....

Wishing everyone a pleasant Memorial Day. I haven't posted in a while. Let's just say that as the funeral wrapped up and I returned home I was overwhelmed with a case of the mean reds. I have still been knitting but it has been kind of slow lately.

My husband, in an attempt to snap me out of the mean reds, has been taking an active interest in the knitting. On Friday we were talking about Wool Windings' blog. In particular, I was explaining the concept of "yarning" to him. He apparently was inspired as this weekend he took me to beutiful historic Galena where we went yarning at a store called Fiber Wild.

The store was beautiful! Walls and walls of bins filled with every type of natural fiber I could think of. I NEED some bamboo yarn! To date I had logged many hours in the local Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's Fabrics, Ben Franklin, and yes the local Wal-Mart. In addition, I have spent countless hours staring at online fabrics. However, this was the first time I was turned loose to "pet" the yarns. It was blissful. I spent several hours walking around and touching things. The picture below is the bounty I brought home with me!




The proprieter was also really nice. She helped me work on my lace pattern for the Amazing Lace KAL. In addition, she encouraged me to try a sweater. So I bought a book which features sweater patterns for little ones and some yarn (the olive colored yarn in the picture) and am going to make a sweater for baby Zach. I also got some Trekking XXL for Trek Along with Me . The thing that I am most excited about however, is my very first set of Addi Turbo needles! They are a size 6 and 40 inches long. They are meant to host the triangle shawl that I am making for the amazing lace KAL! All in all I feel loved.

I'm shameless

Okay so the hubby got a new camera for father's day (a bit early). He has been taking pictures (mostly of our little ones). However, he is sad that noone has looked at his pictures on flikr. Therefore, this is a shameless plug to look at his pictures. It will make him very very happy!

His flikr name is mrwhit_52245.

or you can just follow this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/55606949@N00/

There done with my shameless plug!

Behold the power of caffiene

Okay, so sleep isn't forthcoming. However, this has allowed me to get a donation set for the preemie project done!I am excited about this project for many reasons. First, I learned how to pick up dropped stitches (properly) while knitting this set. Second, the booties are project spectrum compliant because they are GREEN. Third, I have discovered that I love Carron Simply Soft yarn. It is incredibly easy to work with and very soft. I took a picture of the booties and hat on the diet coke I drank last night to finish them.

Project: Michelle's hat and booties

Needle Size: 5 (double pointed)

Yarn: Carron Simply Soft in Sage

Made For: Preemie Project

When the going gets tough.....

The tough (or at least I) get knitting. For me this means that I finished a project I started a while ago. By a while I mean that I managed to have a child in the space of time that it took me to finish this project.

Project: Harry Potter Scarf (Gryffindor)

Yarn: Red Heart acrylic

Made for: Tracy

Missioned Accomplished

I have done it! I have taught myself to knit properly. Granted, it is as slow as molases and as frustrating as looking for your keys when you are late for work. But, I have finished an object, check it out!

Project: Three Cross Cloth

Yarn: Sugar n'Cream

Made for: Papa's Quilt

On proper knitting

I am a self taught knitter. Although (and perhaps because) I have been knitting a long time, I have never done so properly. Things have always been a little crooked, but I have alway shrugged and said good 'nuff and moved on.

However, I am currently in the midst of knitting something very important to me. Therefore, I am trying to teach myself the proper way to knit.

Let's just say that this endeavor has me about ready to rip out every strand of hair in my head!

I have a home!

Finally the muses have sung and I have been inspired enough to create a blog address that is more public! Welcome to my new home :)