Big Blue and a shawl too!

I finally got an accurate measurement of the big blue sweater and I only over knit approximately 1 inch...I can live with that. So, I will rip that back to where it needs to be and then join the ends together. Next, I will have to block it and sew the back on and then knit the sleeves. Doesn't sound to bad now does it.

I love my shawl and it is really a quick knit. I will admit, that for my first shawl, I picked a really simple design and one that fits my life style. I am not a lacey girl, I am more of a jeans and cowboy boots kinda girl.

Bryce is going to Horse Camp this week...AMEN! I well deserved break for me.

I have a staff meeting for the shop tomorrow and I believe that I am working on Thursday.

I am putting together a list of all my favorite yarns so far and will post soon.

The boys went off somewhere, I am going to knit for a bit....

The progress of the Shawl....

I am so in love with this yarn. It will be the perfect accessory for Fall...don't you think?

Holy Cow, I won the SG yarn lottery!

Things are looking up! I waited to get to the library to log onto Ravelry and guess what, I won a GC to The Sanguine Gryphon via a yarn lottery that I entered on a whim....what a way to start the day. Now I will post a SG yarn for someone else to win and the fun will continue.

My shawl is coming along and I love the yarn....Bugga, of course!

I may have over knit Big Blue...going to measure again. It's somewhat difficult to measure.

Knitting group was great as always. These ladies mean the world to me.

Knitting friendships.....

One of the most wonderful benefits of  finding my LYS and knitting group are the very special friendships that I have developed throughout this last year. It really has made such a difference in my life. Woman friends are right up there with the air we breathe. I am truly, every so thankful for these women.

Today is Wednesday and that means knitting group night. It's the most wonderful day of the week! I am hoping to graft together "Big Blue" and get her blocked so that I can sew her to the back and start on the sleeves. I hope to start on the sleeves by Sunday...keep your fingers crossed.

I have not been knitting in the last couple of days, just not moved in that direction. I have found that some Aran yarn I bought for several sweaters is just a bit too much for the look I am trying to get and am in search of a nice worsted weight to replace. I think that I might have to do it in Inca Gold....unless something else pops out at me. I will also need to find projects for the Aran yarn I do have.

In praise of the "Bugga"...

While trying to figure out if I should block big blue...my sweater, I have started a lace shawl with this yarn from The Sanguine Gryphon called Bugga! Although I am having some difficulty with the placement of my YOs, the yarn is definitely my favorite. It feels so lovely and is a dream to work with...it's got some cashmere in there. If you get a chance to get yourself some Bugga, I promise that it will not disappoint. I am sure that Wollmeise will be up there too, I just haven't caked it yet, as I love it in its hanked form so much.

I will be heading to the shop today to see where my difficulty lies and then I want to get cranking on the shawl.

Last night, inspiration never found me. I worked on a scarf for a bit and then watched trash TV.

More later...

Lost my get up and go....

Is there such a thing as mid summer blues? If so, then I have them. I just feel so tired all of the time lately and have pretty much zero enthusiasm for much, well, actually housework of any kind and cooking. Maybe it's just that I am sick of doing it all kinda moment...and this too shall pass.

We, Bryce and I, had to be at the MD office at 8:30 this morning and it has turned into one long day. I'd like to thank the nurse who took my blood and blew my vein...always a lovely sight in the summer. I even got some yarn in the mail and that didn't really phase me...I just don't know what's going on with me.

Honestly, I just got nothing! I wish I was going to Sock Summit 2011! I wish Bryce was at camp....I could fill this entire blog with "I wishes"....I wish I could get my shawl off and running...

Perhaps I will feel inspired later....

The movie and the sweaters! :-)

The movie was good, a bit long in some areas, but overall I would give it a 7 and whomever picked out the sweaters for one of the characters....a 10++. I had to keep pausing the movie to look at the sweaters and then I would tell myself, you  are just a little bit nuts! Why be normal when nuts is so much more fun.

The boys are back and my peace and quiet are over. I am glad that I did what I wanted with the time I had.

On a knitting note, while watching the movie, I did grab my cable scarf to work on  as I seem to be at a pause in the big knitting projects and the YO's are giving me fits. It's not the YO's per say, it's that they are not lining up like they are suppose to.

The boys are not speaking to each other....I must referee the situation, as usual.

The Ugh of it . . .

It's still really hot out and I am ready for fall, or at least temps in the 80's.

The boys went to Hagerstown yesterday for a Monster Truck event and that included a sleepover, which ment...I have the house to myself moment. I have enjoyed it. I worked yesterday and the heat just did me in, so when I got home I just kinda chilled. Had a wonderful nights sleep, and yet I still feel tired.

It's 12:41pm and they sill are not home, so I thought earlier that I would watch a Netflix movie that has been sitting here for, I don't know, 3 months and then I saw it...my, dare I say it, my exercise DVD. Hmmm, nobody is home, let's do it. I head upstairs to find the ugly clothes, you know the ones I mean. The bra that turns two body parts into one blob and the stretchy pants. Dressed and ready...I made it one mile and I thought I was going to DIE. I am now showered, powdered and back into my pajamas, because I declare this pajama day. My thoughts on exercise is something is better than nothing...don't you agree?

So now I am going to pop in the movie, I don't even remember what it is. I just went to look and it is The Jane Austin Book club. I don't feel like doing much else today and that includes knitting. I'll let you know if the movie was a hit of miss.

Happy Mail....

The new kids in the stash are from Left to Right:

The Sanguine Gryphon "Bugga" in Smiley Face Spider
Madeline Tosh Sock in Oak
Wollmeise in Lavendel
The Sanguine Gryphon "Edios" in Physics and Reality

I love me some happy mail!! The SG on the immediate left is going to be a shawl..the colors are to die for.

I also have news. I am proud to announce that I am officially working at my LYS. How exciting is that? It's been a good week and with special events this weekend for the shop off site, I will be holding down the fort or the yarn in the La Plata shop. Maybe I'll bring my knitting....LOL!

Enjoy the pictures, I wish you could feel it. The SG Bugga is 70% Superwash Merino, 20% Cashmere and 10% nylon....it feels so darn good, especially in something up close to the skin. Just because I love to share the love, here is their website:

www.sanguinegryphon.com

Treat yourself, it's hotter than hell out there!

Happy Mail...!

Today was a wonderful day for so many reasons. It brought happy mail from The Sanguine Gryphon...a little Bugga goes a long way! Hubby took the day off and took Bryce to see the Red Sox play the Orioles in Baltimore. In case you were wondering, we are die hard RED SOX fans and we won! I had the house to myself and did some much needed cleaning without interruption.

Today was also Wednesday and that means "Girls Night" at the shop. So many laughs...these are some great people who I just adore.

Not a big day for knitting and that's ok. I really need to organize my knitting projects and my future projects.

Did I mention that it is hotter than heck here...! I have a busy day tomorrow and must get some groceries into the house. I need to start my TO DO LIST for the next several days.

Off to make my list before I go to bed....

Hotter than heck....

The temperature outside is rising and I can honestly say that I would love some cooler weather. The sweater project that isin my lap at night is so warm, despite the air conditioning, that a lace project would be a welcome change. The only problem with lace is that I need total concentration and there is no peace or quiet here. Maybe I will run away to my bedroom...more likely to fall asleep and there is no refrigerator up there...dilemma.

I will take a picture of the sweater's progress and post it. It has come along way, with only 2 skeins to go.

There was no happy mail today..big sad face. Maybe tomorrow. I did stop by the shop today and wind one of the skeins of Old Aunt Maiden...the colors are so beautiful, and picked up some stitch markers from my friend Sandy for the lace project.

I just measured my sweater parts...LOL...and I am close. The length needs to be at 48.5 inches and I am at approximately 47 inches...YEAH. I will bring this with me tomorrow night for the "experts" and I mean Karen (who told me, just knit it) to measure. Then all I have to do is join it to the back piece and add sleeves. So exciting! Now if only some fun mail would show up!! I mean the kind from Germany. Heaven only knows when that will show up...or how much it cost, exactly. I won't be doing that again any time soon!

Off to knit a bit before bed. Wanted to take a picture of my progress, but can't find the camera.

Got Patterns?

Summer is not a very productive knitting time for me. It is however, a good time to cruise the internet looking for interesting patterns. I just finished printing about 5 different shawl patterns and I love them all...that's not including the 5 I printed last week. Ambition is good, diversity is better!

I was going to give the current shawl another go round, but I really need smaller, more delicate stitch markers. So, tonight I will continue on with the Pole sweater because I said I would finish a sweater before the end of August and it will happen.

The DESTASH page still beckons and I still here its call. I did get a wonderful email from The Sanguine Gryphon telling me in their great way that there was a "smell of yarn in the air",...their way of saying your yarn has shipped! Oh, happy day! Pictures to follow of course. I kinda see this all as payment for all the child care services I am providing this summer since camp never really happened and some people are getting off easy.

I am off to get cozy and knit.

Damn you Yarn Overs...

Oy...this pattern looked so simple and the lining up of the yarn overs is making me nuts. The pattern is really simple, I just need to be less tired and not dealing with a migraine. I will try again tomorrow.

Still knitting the Pole sweater and that is going great.

I am off to bed. Better yarn overs tomorrow.

The Weekend....

What a glorious weekend weather wise. Yesterday I hung out at the shop for a couple of hours and then my friend Angie and I headed into DC for some girlfriend time. We had a great afternoon and a delicious meal in the Dupont Circle area. I hope we can do it on a monthly basis.

I am starting a new project today. It is my first shawl and its beautiful. I am going to do it in one of my less expensive yarn first, but after looking at the pattern and reading it, it looks really easy. The shawl is called

Multnomah Shawl and it is a free Ravelry download.

 

My sweater is coming along great, but I need something else to work on. I have been off Ravelry for a day with no side effects, so I think I will be ok...LOL! I am only allowing myself to cruise the patterns. So shawl knitting during the day and sweater knitting at night, sounds good to me.

Eeeeek...I've done it again!

I am truly a woman possessed and completely head over heels for this German yarn, Wollmeise. It is beautiful and highly coveted. I have added my 2 gorgeous skeins to my "stash" on Ravelry and people are sending me messages to see if I would sell it?? Hello.....NO!!! It is 520 yards of heaven!

So last night I was knitting like a good knitter and the sweater is going along swimmingly and I am thinking about some shawls I would like to make and getting a bit sidetracked...hence my ADD knitting. Hubby heads up to bed and leaves the computer on next to me.....I try to resist the urge to go onto Ravely, and I really do try, but I am weak I tell you.

Next thing you know I am looking at more shawls and that is ok, but then like magic, I am on the DESTASH page again where I find a to die for lavender Wollmeise and promptly email to see if it is available...of course it is and now it is mine. Also ended up with some Madeline Tosh Sock...ooops!
Got off the damn computer and went to bed.

I actually had a dream that Kyle was holding up a skein of Wollmeise and saying, "look what I found"...he looked happy in my dream....LOL!

Heading to the shop today and looking forward to seeing my girls and showing off the fibers.

I will be off the computer for the rest of the day.  :-P

Banned from Ravelry....self imposed!

I have been on the computer more that I have been knitting...not good! Also, I forgot that I bought this...

This is so lovely, and yes, it's Wollmeise! Darker than the Teal one I got the other day (slight yelp from me). I have been downloading all sorts of shawls and I am done with Ravelry until something starts flying off the needles and on to some body part. I tell you, it's that lack of routine that is messing with me. Damn you summer. I must exhibit some self imposed self control. The world will not run out of yarn. The sheep are still grazing, it will be there when I work through some of my stash and decide I need more.

Only the yarn gods know what I did this morning on the Wollmeise website. I am apparently getting 2 skeins..slight giggle...but I went to the currency calculator and it was not too bad....! I honestly thought I could just watch, watch it all fly right off the website in 5 minutes flat. Hell no, I needed a piece of that action. Again, there are worse things I could do. There's shoes, handbags, drugs.....need I say more.  :-)

On an different note, my shoulder feels so much better. It must have needed some yarn therapy! Whatever gets me through.

I see a lot of knitting Christmas gifts this year!

I must go and find my child and feed him dinner, I am starving!

So, I will be blogging and not buying....!  That's all folks

Talk about manic shopping....wollmeise style!

I am sure that you all will find this funny, with the exception of my husband. On Friday mornings at 11:00, Wollmeise puts up Grab Bags and it is like a suicide mission trying to get one. I read all the instructions and was waiting paitiently for this to unfold. The website went on-line at 11:05 and it was nuts. I did get something, I actually have no idea what the hell I got, except that it is green and 100% wool. There were no pictures...! Another fun fact, you are going to love this, I have no idea how much it cost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did just recieve my order confirmation email, so I guess we will be surprised together.  :-)

I am off to take Bryce to the movies and ponder my extreme Wollmeise purchase.

See what unstructured days lead to, madness I tell ya! I should not be allowed to wander the internet unsupervised. It could be worse, it could be really, really expensive shoes! That though just pulled me out of the guilt abyss.

Wollmeise wonderful.....

For the love of yarn and family!

My son and I are at the library for craft time....! I will have to agree with Bryce, that it is extremely LAME...his word of the week. It's a beautiful day here and all he wants is his Daddy home to go fishing. There are 2 things I just refuse to do and they are, put on a bathing suit and bait a hook, I just won't budge on these. I am trying to keep the youngster entertained, but the library has excellent WiFi and I am using is for evil.....! I just went to the Sanguine Gryphon website and got myself some yarn that was calling me. I had to get it because it is a Seasonal Colorway and I see a shawl that it would look fantastic in. You understand, don't you.

I am praying that I don't get an email from the German's regarding the Wollmeise yarn that I definitely want more of.

I would love to hear what you guys think and WELCOME comments of all types. I only have a few followers and that's OK, but I would love to hear from you.

I have to leave my WiFi heaven as son is bored and checking out half the library.

I'll keep you posted as to what might show up in the mail!!!

Wollmeise has arrived!

There are just so many words to describe this fiber. I have been a woman on a mission and now that I finally have a skein, you know I want more. I would take a picture, but I can't put it down to take a picture, it's still to new. The color is a gorgeous teal and I do see it as a shawl, as it is a very generous 500+ yards.

While Bryce was meeting with his tutor at the library, I was getting the skinny on Ravelry about obtaining "grab bags" of this fabulous fiber. You basically have to be on German time when the site is updated and basically, POUNCE on it. This might be tricky since we basically have the equivalent of dial-up for Internet. I must brainstorm this one and figure out a master plan of attack!

The Old Aunt Maiden is something that I will definately want more of. My friend Lynne showed my some yarn tonight on the internet that was so beautiful, they will only give you the prices once you place your order. That is going to be on serious ass bill at the end....better start harvesting some organs. The website was really beautifully done and did a fantastic job of sucking you in....smart people. I am not there yet!!

WIP's are going well. My sweater is coming along nicely. I am getting ready to cast on for another and socks are still on hold for the moment. Picture of new yarn tomorrow.

Isn't it lovely, isn't it wonderful.....

This really doe not do it justice. Love, love, love!!!!!

You know you have a problem when.....

The first thing you do is get up, get your coffee, grab the computer and hit the DESTASH page on Ravelry......is there a pill I can take for this. It seems I have way too much unstructured time and for this reason, I dislike summer.

You can imagine how much knitting I have done since the DESTASH page has come along, yep, nothing. I really need to get a grip.

Gotta go, Bryce is going to tell me about his bad dream.

Old Aunt Maiden has arrived...

The postman made my day!! The Old Aunt Maiden yarn has arrived and she was definitely worth waiting for. She is more gray than I had thought, but when I looked in better light, there are lovely hints of blue and it is so soft and wonderful, I am so happy that I was determined to find it.

I bought this cute storage type box the other day and I thought I could store all my "yarn" in it.....my SOCK yarn only apparently and I'm not sure that all of it is in there. Only recently have I started to stash larger quantities of yarn for sweaters. I have yarn for approximately 2 sweaters and a vest and I was feeling guilty until I saw pictures of other people's yarn rooms and my stash is completely under control. I do have enough sock yarn to sink a ship, but you can do lots of things with sock yarn besides socks...so no guilt.

I really have to stay off Ravelry....that DESTASH page is killing me. It just keeps calling me with all this beautiful yarn and I admit that I am weak! After I placed all the sock yarn in its' place and have more coming...destash page again....my shoulder had better be feeling better soon. I did get a chance to see what a lovely and diverse collection I have.

I will put a picture up of the Old Aunt Maiden next chance I get! I'm off to the needles!

Out of Control....in a yarn kinda way!

Oh man, I have discovered the holy grail on Ravelry, the DESTASH page...yikes! I have to admit that I have hit it rather hard getting some yarns that I have been dying to try, but that are not readily available to me. Today's mail should bring my beautiful Old Aunt Maiden yarn from Scotland and then some German yarn is coming...should be a fun week, mail wise. I did receive some birthday money, but I think that it is all gone. I had fun spending it.

I didn't end up knitting at all last night. Kyle and I watched the movie "The Social Network". It was interesting and I was tired. I suspect that the founder of Facebook might be slightly on the Autism spectrum, at least that is how he appeared in the movie...genius non the less.

A lovely day and some surprises!

Today was my birthday and I had a lovely day with my boys. They let me sleep late, which was a treat and we went to lunch, just lovely. Now we are the gift portion of the day and although I did provide a wish list this year, to no avail, I did however hear my husband mention...wait for it... SOCK SUMMIT.....I just about had a heart attack right there. No, I am not going, but he heard me mention it and I might have even blogged about it, but he actually looked into it....DAMN, that was impressive!! I did however get and gift certificate for Amtrak to NYC...been dying to go for years and I think that I might meet my mom there and take in a show. Bryce gave me a gift that he later took back and told me he accidentally gave it to me...LOL!

SOCK SUMMIT....honestly, I can barely stand it that he looked into that. If he had told me I was going, I think I would have died and my cranky shoulder would have cried. It's definitely on the "bucket list".

I took the day off from knitting and didn't even have any car knitting....I can tell you that I felt completely vulnerable without it. I am going to go and get into my jammies and then plant myself on the couch and do some knitting,

A good thing and gauge!

I have been knitting up a storm and my shoulder is now in agony. I admit, I over did it! My sweater is at the 1/2 way mark and I achieved gauge on another sweater that I want to start soon. My friends at the shop are laughing because I said, "no more garments" after my first sweater and then began my manic sock knitting, which got derailed because of the shoulder, enter garments and bigger needles. I will take a day or two off and see if the situation calms down, but I think I should resume the physical therapy that was really helping.

I have been wanting to get my hands on some yarn that seems to be heaven to work with, but difficult to obtain. I love a challenge! First, I lurked in stashes on Ravelry and found a lovely Teal. It was still available and I got it. It is from Germany and it is called Wollemeise 80/20. I think this yarn has my moms name on it. Also, a fellow knitter from our LYS is heading to Germany...what luck...and she will be on the lookout for me.

Well, tomorrow is my birthday and it's one of those birthdays that ends in a 5, I'm OK with it! Although, with the cranky shoulder, I kinda feel it for the moment. Looking forward to spending the day with my boys!!!

Details to follow.....

A lovely, but late night...

Last night was knitting night at the yarn shop and I must say that it is my favorite part of the week. We had a casual pot luck night and the conversation was pretty hysterical as usual. When we all get together, you just never know what might come up. Everyone is working on such beautiful and interesting projects, I always leave inspired.

The evening took a turn for me when my DH called and asked me to pick up Bryce at the ball field because it was running later than expected. By the time I picked him up, got home and rescued the poor dog who had been in her crate for 8 hours, it was 10:30 pm. Thankfully, Bryce showered and basically went to bed, but the dog was wired and I was not. So when I put her back to bed at 11:30 pm, she basically said No Way and was barking and carrying on, so we thought if we put her in bed with us, maybe she would sleep with us. She thought that was an even better form of playtime, jumping on the adults trying to sleep. I am hoping for a nap today.

More later....

OMG..it does exsist and I am getting it!

Wonders just never cease. I have been dying to make the "Ishbel" shawl and I really, really wanted to do it in the yarn shown in the photograph, which is Old Maiden Aunt Aplaca Merino 4 ply, coloway, Moody. I have been lurking in people's stashes on Ravelry and even contacted the supplier, but was told that it was discontinued. So ever since, I have been on the hunt for a suitable replacement, with NO LUCK! I totally had my heart set on what I wanted. So, with other projects in the works, that search and project were on hold.

Well, I decided to look into it again, on Ravelry, on a whim and guess what, someone was selling 2 skeins in exactly what I wanted, colorway and all!!!! I can barely sit still.  I am so flipping happy! I also paid $45 and that is a rather signifigant number for me in a few days....! There are no coincidences!!! Thank you to the yarn gods for bringing me such yarn joy!! Of course I will be posting a picture when these arrive in the mail.

I wish I could insert a BIG SMIEY FACE RIGHT HERE!

Happy July 4th....!

It's been a lovely day here in southern MD. Bryce had Lego camp and hubby and I had "date afternoon", which involved a trip to TJ Maxx and other assorted errands. Quiet time is precious around here. You kind of have to do these types of things when you can actually have a complete thought and recite it, without having to write it down, before you forget it.

I have been watching movies at night and knitting like a woman possessed. Last night we watched storms roll on by...love watching storms.

It's been a very mellow weekend and that is just fine with me. I think I will get in my jammies and park butt in chair and knit!

Enjoy the day!

It's begining to look like a sweater!

What a week. Bryce had camp and I hung out at the LYS almost everyday...what a treat. I have been stitching the day and night away and the payoff is that I can NOW see how my sweater is forming.

I know, I know, cool! I am really excited about this and the yarn is super yummy. Also this week at the shop, they had a 4th of July sale...yeah, I hit that. There is even a picture of me hitting the sale bin in a big way. I did get enough yarn for 2 more sweaters, which I started to swatch last night. I am such a tight knitter. I need 4.5 sts/inch and I am getting 4 on a Size 10. Going to have to whip out the 10.5 needles.

Friday night was a real treat for me. After hanging out in the shop all day, a couple of us went for dinner. So much fun. I just love the ladies I knit with!!! They are some of the best people I know. I am so blessed that they are in my life.

I need to get some more PT for the cranky shoulder, as my sock yarn keeps calling my name and wants to know why I have been buying "other" yarn.

The thing about this sweater is that I just want to knit it all the time! Once you stop over thinking the damn thing, and get past that messy "beginning of a project" area, you are smooth sailing right on through.

Friday, Friday....

Happy July to all! June flew by rather quickly. Hubby is home for the next 4 days and I hope to get alot of knitting done. Although, last night I had a pretty good stretch of alone time and I found myself watching trash TV and playing with our puppy. The sweater is progressing, slowly and I am already wanting to swatch for the next one. I need to have more FO's, but with my son home, knitting has been severely impacted.

I am sitting in our sunroom, having my morning coffee watching the bluebirds that have made a nest in my clothespin holder on my clothesline. There is a single egg in there. I love nature but not the groundhog who has feasted on my garden.

Heading to LYS later to hang out and knit.