Jofrog is Knitfrog!
January 31 2005
I had an amazingly wonderful winter weekend. It was beautiful out, I didn't have to work (much), and I got to see almost all of my amazing friends! Saturday was spent ice skating at Lars Anderson Park (the same park we got married at). For such a beautiful day, there were surprisingly few people there. Just perfect if you ask me!
Saturday night, of course, I had a fun little knit night at my house. It was all that I'd expected, good food, knitting, and with the crowd, good conversation was inevitable!
Yeserday I went cross country skiing for the first time. I'm a downhill skier. I raced in high school, I taught for a while, I can do that. Cross country skiing is totally different! It didn't take long for me to fall, as in about three feet from where I stepped into my bindings and then a whole lot more after that. Once I realized that it was a whole new thing, and convinced my feet that they had no clue what they were doing, I was fine. Luckilly I was with the very experienced Miranda and her somewhat experienced fiance Mike. It was a lot of work, but not as much as I'd expected. By the time we stopped I was tired, but not exhausted. I could have kept going, but was happy to stop! It's definitely something I'll try again.
I had too much fun this weekend to even think about taking pictures, so you'll have to take my word for it. It was fun and just what the doctor ordered!Wonderful Winter Weekend
January 28 2005
I spent yesterday morning on the phone with customer service, car insurance, health insurance, the electric company; I talked with them all. I spent last night on the phone with my friend Jon in Seattle. The whole time was handsfree and I knit.
Now that I'm so far into my diamond FI the stitches just roll off of the needles with minimal effort. Think of how far I could be if I didn't rip out all of that work on Sunday.
Look at Tuesday's post for a reference. That's a crap ton of knitting people!
This will be a big knitty weekend spent with some of my favorite knitting people, Melanie, Debbie, Terri, and Dana on Saturday night, and the Knitsmiths on Sunday as usual.The Wonders of a Handsfree Headset
January 27 2005
I read on the knitlette yesterday about the Mother Bear Project. Have you heard of this? They knit bears from one specific pattern and send them to children suffering from HIV/AIDS in Africa. What a great idea! I usually like to act locally, but this project really tug at my heart. What about you?
In other much less important news, I got my hair cut yesterday! When I showed off my Juliet Cap Savannah Chik Jodi mentioned that my hair was getting long, well Jodi, you are right, but not any more!
Thanks to Anthony at Twighlight Hair Salon. If you are in Boston, and want a Newbury Street haircut at a reasonable price go check them out!
In Diamond FI knitting news... well, see for yourself.
Bad dog! Really of course she's a wonderful dog, and thanks for all of your sweet comments yesterday. I'm happy to save my dog's life as many times as she needs me to!
Have you Heard?
It was late by the time this pic was taken, it looks even better for real.
January 26 2005
My dog Naomi choked on a cookie last night. She gets a cookie before bed every night and decided to jump up onto her bed with it. (Quite a jump for a little dog, especially with a cookie in her mouth.) Her bed is in the same room with the computer, where I was checking up on blogs of course. She came in, jumped up on her bed, and started rubbing her mouth and nose with her paws. I didn't know what she had, (I hadn't given her the cookie), but I knew that it was something bad. After a minute or so of sticking my fingers in her mouth and down her throught I came up with a big, unchewed piece of cookie. Once again my dog owes me her life.
Once again you say? Oh yes, two winters ago, on a warmer day, we went down to a beautiful park around here. Part of this park is a bird sanctuary where the dogs are not allowed... if only the dogs could read the signs. Naomi ran in there and across the frozen pond after a duck. She got to the other side of the pond and saw that the ice was not solid so rather than jumping to the land, she turned around to run across the pond again. Right about smack in the middle of the pond she fell through the ice. She struggled for a moment, but couldn't get back up and couldn't break the ice. She did what I never thought she'd ever do, she gave up. My tough little dog gave up. What was I to do? I jumped in of course. **Breaking News: Woman drowns in Boston pond while trying to save her dog.** Yes I did know how stupid this was, but I was not going to let my dog drown without trying to save her. I broke the ice as far as I could go while still standing and then reached out to break it as close to her as I could. There was about a 12" difference between where my arm could reach and she was, and she found the strength to break that ice and swim to me. No wonder she doesn't like swimming!
Cats have nine lives, how many do rescued Puerto Rican dogs have?She's Alive!
January 25 2005
Super Sunday Knitting + Minimal Monday Knitting = one full repeat!
It's great to be working on this sweater in larger chunks. Last week was so busy the most I was able to sit and do at one time was three rounds. That makes a sweater like this take FOREVER! My gauge is on track now and all is well. This week will only be normal busy, not crazy busy, so expect some more progress. Who thinks that I can complete one more repeat by the end of this week?Excuse Me, Can You Repeat That?
January 24 2005
I'm out of denial. My gauge is WAY off on my Diamond Cardi. I was thinking that it would grow enough when I washed it, but I know that's just wrong. I can't count on that, and if I want this sweater to fit, which of course I do, I needed to start over after the bottom border.
A bit later:
Sad but true. The good news is that I didn't have to teach my beginning knitting class yesterday, nor go to work because of the blizzard. I actually had a full day off. Something I never thought I'd appreciate so much. After knitting on and off all day, I'm almost back to where I was pre-ripping. Not so bad.
I was planning on joining Alison's February Fix-a-thon. I guess I started a bit early. There are still one or two more projects that are waiting to be totally ripped out. I was just waiting for the motivation. I knew I could count on you Alison!
I've Left Egypt
January 21 2005
I was asked by someone, that I'd never met before, to finish a Christmas stocking that she'd started this winter. They had heard that I love doing little details, beading, and finishing work. The knitting is all done, but there is a ton of finishing work to do involving duplicate stitch in multiple colors, embroidery, and lots of bead work.
Here is where it is now, and what it will look like in the end. She left the price up to me. I've got an idea of what I should charge, and got one other opinion, but what do you think? (She did mention that price was not an object and she just wanted to get it done.)
Commissioned Work
January 20 2005
This week has been one of my craziest ever! I've been working earlier and babysitting later than normal, and all in one day! Tonight is another very early morning and very late night.
In between this I am knitting though and will try to update you all on that soon.
Just wanted you all to know that I'm still here. Sleep some extra hours for me, I can use it!The Craziest Week
January 18 2005
My Diamond FI sweater is progressing, but with all of those tiny stitches, and a way too overextended work schedule, it's progressing slowly. In lieu of sweater pictures, I present you with the new sheets for the dog's daybed. Yup, that's right, the dog's daybed. Really it's just a daybed for sitting on in the office and for company to sleep on, but the majority of the time it's where Naomi sleeps.
Off to work, maybe some knitting around 1AM when I get home after being out since 9:30AM... I doubt it!Nothing About Anything
January 17 2005
So, in response to all of you who are resisting stash enhancement, my mom sent me this last
week.
Top Ten Reasons to Buy Yarn (as if you needed it)
I didn't do any stash enhancement over the weekend but I did buy two books. First was
Knitting For Two. It's Erika Knight's newest book. Just for Melanie, here are some of my
favorite designs. Here's hoping that you can use some of them soon.No Yarn Buying Nonsence
January 13 2005
Here's a little peek at my Diamond FI in progress.
Bring on the poppy, amber, and ginger! Body here I come!A Little Peek
January 12 2005
As a break to my tinking the other day, and an alternative project to work on at knitsmiths, I finished my Juliet Hat. All of the details can be found in my January 5th entry.
It matches my jacket well and may actually get me to wear hats! Now back to the main tent and the Diamond FI sweater. Expect pictures tomorrow!Juliet Hat is Done!
January 11 2005
The past three days have had very little knitting time, but when I have had time, and the ability to concentrate, I've been knitting up the hem on my Diamond FI sweater. Of course, this was complicated a bit by the fact that the row that I can knit it up on isn't a plain knitting row, it's a two color row.
All was going along fine, slowly but fine, until yesterday. Yesterday I realized that two rows before, about one fifth from the end of the round, I'd gotten off of the chart. I did the last row accordingly so there were two rows of stitches that had to be fixed. Normally I'd undo those two rows and be on with it, but I was more than four fifths of the way done with knitting up my hem, and I was not going to re-do it. Instead I spend the next almost two hours, tinking it back, dropping stitches, picking them up in the right color, two rows down on size 1 needles! I almost lost my mind!
The upshot of this is I'm now on my way, progressing again. I did a few rows last night and I'll be done with the bottom border very soon. (That is if I ever get any knitting time, tonight is looking good so far. Especially if I put dinner in the crock pot right now.)
May all of your charted knitting have no errors!Two Hours of Tinking
January 7 2005
The Diamond FI sweater is well on its way! I turned the picot edge last night and am finally far enough to start the first two colored section! ...of course now it's time for work so it will have to wait for tonight.
The red is where I started and will be knit in to turn the hem as soon as I'm far enough on the front. Only a few more rows before that can happen, and I can't wait because right now it really curls and gets under my hands when I knit. Once the hem is set it should give some real body to the piece.
Happy Knitting, have a great weekend. Check back for more progress on Monday.Picot-boo
January 6 2005
Need I say more?Let the Diamonds Begin
January 5 2005
This is the first project to be started and completed in 2005. Presenting "Snow Falling on Ceders" bookmark. It's blocking now, but I think that I'm going to starch it to make it more practical.
Yesterday I picked up this yarn at my LYS
to make "The Juliet Cap" from Gifted Hands.
I started last night and I've made it through one set of diamonds.
Wanna see? The color is a lot more true in the first picture, but this one showed the detail best. Just another fun and fast knit until my yarn for the Diamonds FI sweater gets here! Maybe today? First in 2005
January 4 2005
I started the first pattern in the pattern a day callender. It's a bookmark called "Snow Falling On Ceders". This is still a waiting for yarn and passing the time project.
I'm using #10 crochet cotton, and size 0 needles so it's coming out a bit tighter than shown in the picture, but with blocking and probably starching it will be even better than theirs!
I would have finished this last night, but instead I went out to dinner with my two best friends (who were coincidentally my bridesmaids) to celebrate Miranda's new engagement! Miranda, I couldn't be happier for you two! Yeah!The Snow is Done Falling
January 3 2005
Well, I had a lot of knitting time this weekend and only one project with me. Those two facts lead to the logical conclusion. The baby hoodie towel is finished.
This came as a kit from Cottage Knits with Cotton Chenille yarn. The pattern is very easy, but was not enjoyable, it was totally boring, but now that it's done, I'm still waiting for my yarn, and I'm still looking for knitting projects to take up some time.
I started on the first pattern from the "Knitting Pattern A Day" callender that everyone got for Christmas this year. The pattern is poorly written. I hope that new knitters don't decide to start with this one! After a bit I figured out what was up and it's about half finished now. Can I complete two projects, start to finish, before my yarn gets to me? It sure seems like a possibility! Stay tuned.
PS. If you've been wondering, my photo hosting site is having problems again. They say it's due to unusually high traffic from people looking for Tsunami pictures. Hopefully all of the pictures, including my frog background, will come back soon.Lotsa Knitting Time
