I got books!

This is as close to crafting as I've gotten since the arthritis caused by the finger ailment put me on Remicade treatments in December. Did I ever mention the ordeal of the finger caused an outbreak of psoriasis which lead to an extremely debilitating case of psoriatic arthritis for which I've been undergoing treatment since December? If I didn't before, I have now. The finger still doesn't work worth a darn, but at least I can mostly use it to do mostly normal things like holding cups and cutting my own meat. Anyway, I've finally perked up enough to be interested in knitting again and I ordered two books which arrived yesterday. I really like both of them. I'm toying with the idea of scarves in people's futures.



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Now playing: Loreena McKennitt - Kecharitomene
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The Friday Night Knitting Club

Wonderful feel good tear jerker chick lit.

(I do have a quibble about the tear jerker part. I thought it was forced and unnecessary and it spoiled what was otherwise an enjoyable quick read.)

Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!

Would you believe this little bit of yarn is going to be a teddy bear? Doesn't look like much, does it?


I had already had half the body done and set aside when I realized I'd made a serious mistake on it. I frogged the piece and that little ball of yarn is how much half the body took. I'm almost done with the other half.

This is just a test to see how complicated knitting a bear is. I suspect the knitting part will be easy and the construction part will be . . . well . . . pardon the pun . . . a bear. I have no idea whether the local Hobby Lobby or even WalMart carry the safety eyes for stuffed animals or the joints to give them movable parts. I will probably find that out tomorrow. If I can't find any of that stuff locally, it may be a while before a finished bear wanders in and makes himself at home.

The pattern for the bear comes from this book:

The Knitted Teddy Bear, Sandra Polley

The thing I'm doing for me

This formless puddle of green lace weight yarn


is going to be a scarf based on the Bird's Nest shawl pattern


from this book

that I'm making for myself. I've made enough socks for everybody else, I decided to make a pretty for myself and the scarf fit the bill. However, it is taking all of my will power not to rip out the 20 odd rows I've already done because I discovered I had one stitch too many when I got to the 7th row of the pattern. I'd counted my stitches twice to make sure I had the right number and I guess I made the same counting mistake twice since I'm one stitch off. It's not a significant error, but my German perfectionism is screaming at me and my American laziness is trying to ignore it. So far, the lazy American is winning.

I'm knitting the scarf on US 6 Clover bamboo needles.

Got another Christmas present

This is the second book the Best Friend ordered for me for Christmas. It arrived today. Is very pretty.

And more books

The cross stitch book is my Christmas present from the Best Friend. The knitting books I indulged in myself.

I have a pair of socks in the works, but I've only been working on them during my lunch break at work. Right now I'm caught up in re-reading George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire books. I've finished the first two and I'm about 100 pages into the third while the fourth waits patiently for me to get to it.

Funny thing about the books, though. I pretty much remembered what happened in the first two books, but I seem to have wiped the memory of the third book from my mind. I really don't remember what happens in the third book. Oh, well.

More books

Can't get enough of those knitting books!

Not a lot of knitting

I've been blessed with one heck of a cold so I haven't done a whole lot of knitting in the last two or three days. The one orange sock is done, but the second is only about 1/3 done. I'm still working on the leg. Knitting and NyQuil just don't go really well together.

I did get a new knitting book in the mail today. It looked interesting so I ordered it. I'm not sure when I'll tackle a sweater.

Sock-knit-aholic

This is becoming an addiction. I've started my third pair of socks. In one of the multi-green yarns I got the other day. The lighter one, as a matter of fact. This one has a pattern as well although I don't think it shows up well in the photos. The book calls it twisted stocking stitch. It looks lovely in person. Basically, you knit one round into the back of every stitch and the next round is knit normally.




I got the two books yesterday. They are absolutely wonderful. I'd really like to get the other books in the Harmony Guides series. (Hint, hint, oh Best Friend of mine. The books are on my wishlist. Speaking of which, have you updated yours yet? Christmas is fast approaching, you know.) The magazine arrived today and is the first issue of my subscription to Interweave Knits. I picked up one of the magazines at a Barnes & Noble and thought it was neato so I treated myself to a subscription.

I've become such a knit-aholic.

;D

Christmas came early

Woohoo!

Guess what was waiting at the post office for me when I got home from work tonight? Three prezzies from me to me. I got my box of Lebkuchen, my three new Patricia A. McKillip books, and two - yep, two! - skeins of hand dyed Merino sock yarn for making more wonderful socks. I'm such a happy little camper!

If wishes were yarn . . .

I'd have another couple of skeins of the Merino in my stash so I could actually make this entrelac scarf.


As always, my picture taking does not do the project justice. Not that it's really a project since I don't have enough yarn to finish it and it's highly unlikely that I will get anymore of it since it is hand dyed.

But anyway . . . When I first got Scarf Style by Pam Allen, I was a little put off by the entrelac scarf. It just looked way too complicated - sort of like making the heel for a pair of socks did. So when I finished the socks and I was done playing on the computer, I thought I might just give the instructions a try with the little bit of Merino I had left over to see if I could get the hang of it.

Obviously, I did. And just like the socks, this pattern is so easy I can almost do it in my sleep. So now I'm left wishing I had more yarn so I could make the scarf for me. I've been such a good girl making presents for everyone else, I deserve a pretty scarf. Really, I do. Just ask me.

I guess I will just have to find some other yarn, in sufficient quantity once I figure out what that is, to make this pretty for myself.

It's a pair!

The socks are done. I officially have my first pair. Woohoo!


And, of course, Heru has to protect my sock book from any unscrupulous knitters who might sneak into my house and try to use it while I'm busy snapping pics of my socks.


The socks are from the first pattern, Starter Stockinette, in Knit Socks! by Betsy Lee McCarthy.

Where do I get my scarf patterns from?

This magazine that my mother got years and years ago when she was still knitting. She was going to throw it out but I took it from her even though it was in German. I remember enough of it that I could figure out most of the pattern instructions. The patterns for all the things I've knit this year, except for the open weave scarf I made for my XMIL, came from this book. The open weave pattern my mother showed me back in the Dark Ages when I was still a teenager.

Splurged again

I got good news on my blood pressure(*) so I splurged a little at Hobby Lobby. I bought two swatches of DMC fabric and a book for stitching greeting cards but that has some lovely Christmas-y things in it I can turn into ornaments. The fabric on the left is called 3033 and the fabric on the right is called ecru.



(*) If you haven't been keeping up with my blood pressure saga on my other blog, it's been on the high side and I couldn't start work until it was back down to normal. It's finally in the normal range so I should be able to start my new job, with any luck, on Monday, but I haven't confirmed that yet with either the industrial clinic or the HR department at the new job. I'm waiting for lunch time to be over before I call.

Updated at 6:39 pm: I've been cleared. I start work at 8 a.m. Monday morning. Woohoo!

A bit of shopping and the guardian cat

Since I worked on the butterfly fairy on Monday and Friday, I took today off to do other things like treat myself to lunch and dig around the local Hobby Lobby for stuff. The stuff I found includes the following items being zealously guarded by my own personal guardian cat:



Not being content to just keep a vary, watchful eye on my recent purchases, Heru decided he needed to guard the items, precious as they are, with his very body.



I don't know what I would do without Heru to make sure my possessions don't get up and walk off while I'm not looking.

I treated myself

I had the pre-orientation meeting for my new job this morning, and on the way home I stopped by Michael's to look around. I was completely underwhelmed by their cross stitch and knitting yarn selections, but I did find some books and magazines to drool over. I decided I deserved a treat so I bought them.



I'm going to fix myself a nice cup of tea and spend the rest of the afternoon reading through the magazines.

I can't believe how relaxed I feel. I wish I could bottle the feeling and share it with everyone.

More new books

I got a couple of books from amazon.com today.

200 Crochet blocks for blankets, throws, and afghans, Jan Eaton

This one has some really nice squares to crochet, but some of the colors she's chosen leave a lot to be desired. There are even some mix and match afghans and pillowcases already laid out for you, but some of them leave a little to be desired as well. But then, it wasn't for the color schemes that I bought the book but for the patterns. I've already got visions of afghans swimming in my head.

The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches, Readers' Digest

Not anywhere near the ultimate sourcebook, at least as far as the knitting stitches go, but it does run a close 3rd or 4th. I can't say how comprehensive it is on the crochet stitches because this is the first book I've ever bought that showed anything other than straight single, double, etc. stitches. It is a nice, handy reference for the price.

Sometimes a migraine is a good thing

This weekend started out with me trying for yet another migraine to ruin it, but I nipped it in the bud. I took myself to IHOP for breakfast where I consumed vast quantities of coffee - as well as an omelet and toast - and then I went to the post office to check my mail and then I swung by the Hobby Lobby to pick up some DMC 425 and 426 which I was dangerously close to being out of. While at Hobby Lobby, I picked up another roll of 22 count Monaco so I can start the second butterfly fairy when I finish the first and the Shadow Knitting book by Vivian Høxbro. And when I paid, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the book and fabric were on sale. I walked away with paying less, including tax, for all four items than the untaxed, full price of just the book. AND, I don't have a migraine or even just a plain old annoying headache. So I'm off to stitch!



And just for good measure, here's a snap of my lovely Gobzilla sunning herself.

Two new books arrived

the knitter's handy book of sweater patterns,
Basic designs in Multiple Sizes & Gauges
by Ann Budd

This looks like a nifty book. I've just thumbed through it and it looks like the kind of thing I need to get me started knitting sweaters. I need instructions to tell me what to do for shaping a neck and arms and such. I don't need pattern instructions.

The Best of Knitter's Magazine
shawls and scarves
edited by Nancy J. Thomas

This looks like a wonderful book. Unfortunately, with just a very quick glance through it, it appears the book gives the kind of instructions that are quite literally Greek to me. Those pretty diagrams don't mean a thing to me.

Went shopping

As I mentioned in my other blog, I received some money for participating in several surveys, so I took my ill gotten gains to Hobb Lobby to see what I could spend it on. Not only did I spend the survey cash, but I racked up a bit more to get all the stuff I wanted.

Firstly, I picked up a copy of this mitten book 'cause I've never knitted mittens before and it looked to be simple enough to understand.






And then I picked this book up because it looked nifty and it explained all those knitting codes I never learned because my mum taught me to knit and we always worked things out for ourselves.





So then naturally I had to pick this book up as well because one must always have one's bible to work from.






I also picked up American School of Needlework leaflet 1359: Knit Socks Whatever the Yarn!, Annie's Attic leaflet 873692: The Ultimate Book of Knit Socks, and Lanarte by Leisure Arts leaflet #3698: Butterfly Fairies. The Lanarte leaflet is two cross stitch projects I'm thinking of working up for my granddaughter.