Weekend in pictures

Saturday






Sunday










May not seem all that exciting but I had a blast!

Lil Miss Muffet

Lil Miss Saun sat in her office chair, planning to eat her mid-morning snack.
She opened her lunch bag and out came a spider that made Miss Saun jump back.


That was my sad attempt at Lil Miss Muffet . Nevertheless that was my tale from work on Monday. I swear I must have done something to upset the balance of the insect world, because they are out to destroy me.

Let's see now..... I don't have any pictures today. Everything I'm working on looks like a big blob of yarn so there isn't anything good to take pictures of. I will tell you about my latest yarn purchase from Jannette's Rare Yarns. If you get on her email list, she occasionally sends out special sales. The latest deal a bag (10 skeins) of Chunky Yorkshire Tweed for $40 with shipping included. I couldn't pass that up.

The end of April is fast approaching (this year is just flying by) and I hope to have my two projects done by the end of April. I want to use May as my "clean-up" month. There are projects I need to finish or fix and I never seem to get to them.

I hoping for good weather this weekend. I want to just sit on my deck, listen to some music, knit, and relax. What are you plans for the weekend?

Are you having trouble reading my blog?

I'm not sure if this is the best way to ask because if you are having trouble then you probably can't read this but I'm gonna ask it anyway. Is anyone having trouble reading my blog, leaving comments, or buying patterns?

I've had one person tell about an issue and I want to know if it's a consistent problem.


I'll be back tomorrow with updates. We had such nice weather over then weekend that I didn't get much done indoors. Not even any knitting or tv/netflix watching. And since you know those 2 things rank high on my list, it must have been great outdoor weather.

Focus on the good things

While the news media likes to dwell on tragedy, I try not to. You should definitely be mindful/respectful of the loss and learn from it. I just don't think people should focus on trying to understand it. Here is my rationale: Only crazy people understand crazy and unless you are crazy you will NEVER understand it, so don't even try.

So with that, I'm going to focus on the good things....

.. like the fact that an old college friend found my blog and left me a smart a$$ message. He wanted me to remove it but I'm not going to. It made me laugh. It reminded me of the good times we all used to have. We were a sarcastic bunch with lots of jokes. Awwww.....the good old days.


... like the nice african violet plant that Liz gave me at knit night Thursday. It's in a special orchid pot, which I would have never known to get. Hopefully I can keep this plant alive. My last plant "Daisy" lasted 6 months. I'm hoping this one will last for years.



... like the nice time I had at the Temples and Tombs Egyptian Art exhibit I saw Friday. A friend invited me to attend the festival the NC Art Museum was having for the opening of the exhibit. There were vendors, music, and dancing. The greatest part was that everyone was able to see the exhibit for free. As a souvenir, I got my name in printed in heiroglyphics.


... like the fact that I got these two fortunes with my Chinese food Friday night.


... like the fact that my Habu tunic is coming along nicely.



So focus on the good things going on in your life, because you are lucky enough to have one to live.

Introducing Billie

BILLIE


MATERIALS

Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8 , 100% Merino Wool
98 yds (90 m)
Cropped: 9[10, 10, 12, 15, 16 ] skeins
Regular: 12[15, 15, 18, 22, 25 ] skeins

Yarn Substitutions: Any worsted weight yarn with 18st/26 row st-st gauge

Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm) straight needles
US 6 (4.0 mm) straight needles

Supplies:
1 yd horsehair braid -1 inch wide (for collar),
14 in or 20 in separating zipper

Gauge: 25sts-26 rows per 4 inch(10cm) in honeycomb cable pattern

Sizes: XS [S, M, L, 1X, 2X]
Finished Bust: 30[34, 38, 42, 46,50]

Skill Level: Experienced

Shown: Cropped jacket, size M, color 885



Price: $6.00 US



You will receive an email from E-Junkie with a link to the PDF file.

Bugs

So as it turns out that nasty bit of food poisoning I thought I had a few weeks ago wasn't food poisoning after all. After 3 weeks and 2 trips to the doctor's office (I really hate giving them my money), it seems that my illness was due to a bug bite. After a week my symptoms had not gone away which I thought was weird for food poisoning. Plus I had this weird all-over itch that is similar to an allergic reaction. Doctor #1 couldn't piece that symptom together with my other symptoms and told me that things should just resolve themselves. (Did I really need to pay for this useless opinion?)

After another week, the nausea was gone but the weird itch persisted. Then I noticed this painful bump on my ankle that hurt when I walk or touched it. I was literally limping. Doctor #2 looked at the bump and my previous blood work and deduced it was all the result of some vicious bug. I'm not sure what bug it was since it happened 3 weeks ago but this reaffirms my notion that I don't like nature.


This is the scene of the vicious attack on my life. I was attempting to get a little more exercise in my life and go walking on a local trail. I'm not too sure I'll be going back.


Now onto a different "bug". This is the current state of the Butterfly cami. Not much has been done. Earlier today I had the idea to frog it and give up, but here is the thing. I want the cami, I just don't really want to make it. I want it to appear out of nowhere all finished and ready to wear.


Since I don't have magical powers I guess I should get knittin'.

check,check,check.....check it out.

Hey Folks! Did everyone have a good weekend? Mine was good.

On Friday I found out that my article for Black Purl Magazine was officially published. I wrote about my volunteer experience at the Raleigh Girls Club and included a pattern that I made for the girls. I enjoyed writing it, eventhough I'm not really a writer. I promised the girls that whatever money was made from the article would be used to give them a party. They've already decided that they want a pizza party, except for one girl, who is determined to have a sleepover at my house. Crazy girl....12 little girls at my house...overnight. I like my sanity.


I also got these in the mail.


I've been putting off getting real labels for awhile. There is a 4 week delivery date and for some odd reason I was too impatient to wait. Not the most brillant rational so I went ahead and ordered some from NameMaker. They were 50 for $22. Not a bad investment. It's good to have your own labels, especially if you are a gifter.

A look at Billie

Here's a glimpse at where it all began back in October......
I was working from home and an idea popped into my head. I took a break and began to sketch before it left my head. I didn't really think about it for a few weeks. I had to let the idea marinate. Later I saw the stitch pattern on a sweater in a Vogue magazine and knew I wanted to use it for this jacket.

Working this design was a little tricky. I started with a swatch (Sahara's wise voice rings true) but there was something my small swatch could not predict. This particular stitch pattern draws the fabric inward the more repeats you do. After some tinkering, I was able to get my measurements together.



It took a bit more yarn than I thought - 10 balls of Aurora 8. It's partially due to the fact that the wraps take up more. The collar, cuffs, and lower band are also done like a folded hem which uses more yarn.




I'm contemplating what to do about the pattern. I'm thinking that I'll add an option to make the jacket longer. This will probably make the jacket more wearable for the bustier, curvier girls. It'll be ready in a week or two.

Let's catch up...

I took a little time away from the blog. It seems that my blog voice was gone and I didn't have much to say. In any event, I'll give you an update.

First thing.....I'm a red-head now or a partial red-head to be specific.

My new motto is "It's only hair. It will grow back". I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I took the chance and had the front of my hair dyed red. I figured if I didn't like it, I would just cut it off. The good thing is that I like it. I've gotten quite a few complements so I think I made a good choice.


This is the sock that I am calling the "everlasting gobstopper". Willy Wonka would be so proud. This pair of socks is neverending. I've been working on them since last October. I just finished the first sock. I plan to finish the second in the next week or two. I want to start a new pair with my "Socks That Rock".


These are my new find. If you ever have a problem with your toes hurting in high heels, there is a chance that your feet are slipping down into your shoe. This happens to me alot but especially in the summer when I wear sandals with bare feet. I found these in the shoe section at Target.


I've started working on my first official project for Project Spectrum. I didn't get in on the first two but I definitely have a pink project for the next two months. One is Butterfly, the other is a top I want to make out of my Habu cotton.

I worked up a small swatch on US 6s. It gets about 5 sts/1 inch.


I finished to Billie Jacket. The bottom band gave me fits and I had to rework it twice but it's done now. I'll post some pics in the next day or so.