On the move

I think the title is deceiving as I'm not really on the move since I really jacked my back up from my obsessive spinning last Saturday. My lower back is very sore and tired feeling. Got a massage earlier this week which helped, and I'm keeping ice on it. Moral of the story: proper chair and lots of small breaks. Must remember this.

In the knitting world, I'm working on the monster project from hell with renewed excitement. I have put the beautiful Max-damaged socks to the wayside for now as I'm still too bitter to look at them. Beautiful DK sock yarn has arrived and is in the basket on my table taunting me with their brilliant colors. I will get to them in due time but I'm too busy acting on the momentum from the project from hell.

Holiday weekend here I come!

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

Take me out back and beat me senseless. Call me a fool. Tell me I should never go near needles again. What's the saying, "(something or other) me once shame on you, (something or other) again, shame on me."

See that BEAUTIFUL sock below that's pink and green with hints of butter cream yellow? It has two HUGE holes in it from the freakin' schnoodle. How many times will it take before I learn. Hell, the damn dog was right beside me (as was the sock). I took for granted that the dog wouldn't be stupid enough to chew it up while he laid beside me, so I didn't even catch him in the act. I didn't even find the holes until 2 hours later.

I quit. I quit. I quit. Anyone want to adopt an adorable puppy that chews up WIP's?

Stupid me!

Bonding

Victoria and I bonded today. It started about 10:00 a.m. when I got her out and realized she wasn't going to cooperate, so I introduced her to my boys.



That's my five year-old twins taking her for a spin. Seth is at the helm, and Eli the engineer is breaking down the mechanics of the wheel. Seth's first words when he treadled for the first time "Mom, I could do this forever" (I shit you not!!! that's what he said).

Then I called Gwen the Enabler for help getting Victoria to cooperate. She tried, and then we called Donna for help. They are officially, without a doubt, the nicest and most generous enablers I've ever known in my entire life. Truly. These are amazing women! Did you know that Donna drove an HOUR to solve Victoria's problems and sell me a $4.00 spring for Victoria? I am beyond lucky two have these two wise women in my life.

So I went home where Victoria and I bonded under the shade of our sweet gum in the front yard.




I turned piles of beautiful pink roving (created by Gwen the Enabler) into this.





This is my very first ever full bobbin of homespun. It's riddled with inconsistencies, but it's absolutely positively beautiful, don't you agree?!


Then when I ran out of pink roving, I plunged into a big bag of brown pencil roving and made this.



Then I looked up, realized that 3 hours had passed. It was time to feed and bathe my children (and myself), but most importantly, I needed to call Gwen the Enabler to get more roving tomorrow!

Yep, Victoria and I bonded and it's a really really cool thing!

One down, one to go

And this is my first "one down" made from Painted Skeins (http://www.paintedskeins.com/) yarn "Pimento" purchased on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/).



I took this pic in the middle of the day in full-on sun so you can't fully appreciate the colors which are pink and green with hints of butter cream yellow.

The best part is that it validates my self-worth as a sock knitter. I started this sock Sunday and finished it today. True it's a sportweight yarn, but really, one sock shouldn't take 2 months to knit like the *&#^$%* toe-up/top-down socks below.

Doing this Snoopy dance!

Isn't it ironic?

You may recall that I took a toe-up sock class in early July, and in early August I ripped them out after coming to turns with the fact that I was completely disenchanted with the toe-up process. Toe-up just isn't natural for me. It should not have taken me 4 weeks to figure this out, and by the time I ripped them out and started them again (this time top-down) it was another 3 weeks before I finished them. Finish them I indeed did on Saturday. Aren't they pretty??? Two months to finish a pair of socks.

You would never think, by looking at them, that they had such bad mojo. And as I pulled them off the needles, I guilty looked at the leftover yarn lamenting that I wouldn't have leftover yarn if I'd only made them toe-up.

THEN I found

the MOST horrifying thing...

Max the damn dog had attacked them:

Isn't it ironic that had I not switched to top-down I wouldn't have had enough yarn to rip back and re-do the toe? I did just that last night...ripped 'em back, put them back on SIZE 1's (eghads) and started again.

Isn't it ironic?

I'm being invaded by 1st graders

Today we celebrate the 7th birthday of my eldest angel son.

Alas, his birthday was in July but holidays, vacations, etc. have interfered. However, tonight we will have 6 little boys here to celebrate the birthday by watching the premiere of High School Musical 2. Have any of you had your TV's on the Disney Channel today? They actually have a freakin' countdown clock for the premiere. Marketing machine at work, eh?

Until then I knit on my socks. Haven't picked up the BSJ since I cast on the other night. I think I'm in denial.

A knitter? and Ann Budd

Maybe I'm not a Knitter but rather just a knitter. Why? Well, I picked up my BSJ after 4 days and promptly realized that I couldn't tell heads from tails and so I ripped. It. Out. This makes 2 rippings and a 3rd start on the same freaking WIP...although really. Really. Really? Really is it a WIP if you can't seem to make any progress on the work in progress? 3rd time has got to be a charm, right? I just don't think my life is conducive to following a written pattern (that isn't something like "knit 3 in. st. st.") -- the boys circle around me, the phone rings, the doorbell rings, the laundry beeps...you know the drill. HOWEVER with this, my 3rd attempt at the BSJ, I will pick up a pen and make notes marking where I stopped and what I need to do next. I know that Knitters have been doing this for years..but remember, I'm just a knitter. ;-) Besides, after reading Chocolate Sheep today, it looks like we'll be starting at the same time since all I've done so far is cast-on. I need my BSJ buddy. Really.

I bought a new knitting book. I bought it on impulse after I fell in love with her newest book. Her who? Ann Budd. I've quickly learned that Ann Budd is a brilliantly wise and experienced knitter. I have been knitting socks for a while, but I've been itching for a resource that will give me size 101 and gauge 101 with various yarns. That problem was solved with Getting Started Knitting Socks, and just when I was thinking that there was no way in hell I would ever tackle a sweater, I stumbled upon the knitters handy book of sweater patterns (I promise the title is in lower case, promise). Both of these books are wonderful resources to have on hand when you're thinking about knitting socks or sweaters or want to modify an existing pattern. Ann is nothing short of thorough and she's definitely a Wise Woman.

Go forth and buy.