Tag Archives: Crocheting

Field Trip

Posted on June 3, 2007 | Comments Off on Field Trip

Yesterday was a most delightful day spent with some very special friends. They are members of the St. Louis Crochet Club.  Some of us met here in Missouri and traveled the short distance to meet with others in Fairview Heights, Illinois.

The day was bright and sunny, which made for a perfect day to take a field trip. The company of long time friends and some new to me friends was most delightful.

Ronnie graciously gave me a ride both ways. The time spent visiting with her and catching up on each others lives was most pleasant.

I was fortunate to find some skeins of discontinued  Caron Cozi. It will make some beautiful and warm scarves for winter.

For a much better account of the days events I refer you to Crochet News @ CraftGossip. My friend Joani tells the tale far better than I would.

All in all it was a wonderful treat and a great way to spend a Saturday!

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Knitting & Priorities

Posted on May 19, 2007 | Comments Off on Knitting & Priorities

Since returning to the working world, I have been faced with the fact that it takes effort, at least for me, to keep my priorities in order.  I will explain.

I am glad to be back at work for a lot of reasons, of which money is only. There is a sense of being needed and wanted by colleagues and co-workers that is  important. There is also the normal sense of being busy that I thrive on. This means there is no time for boredom. :) The list could  continue almost infinitely.

However, this is where knitting and the fiber arts come in. I realized this week that I have not picked up my beloved hooks or needles in the past 2 weeks. Even though I needed a break from them, 2 weeks is feeling like forever. The last time was during a trip to a local emergency room. While there, I nearly finished the second sock of my very first pair ever. It only needs about 15-20 more minutes of work. There are other projects in various stages of completeness. None of them have been touched.

Sure, I have enjoyed the break in many ways, but something is missing in my life.  Could it possibly be the pleasurable feel of hooks and needles? I think so.

Now the problem has been identified. My course of action is simple. It’s time to pick up where I left off, at least sort of anyway. Completing the sock will have to wait until there is time to sit at the kitchen table and do it properly. I just happen to have some empty size # 7 DPNs and a lot of acrylic yarn. The combination of the two will make a great pair of slipper socks to be donated to a local charity. The hard part of this is going to be choosing the yarn and casting on the first stitch Once that is done the rest will be easy.

There are errands to be done today that are saved for my weekend off. Since we are dong them as a family I will have sitting time in the car. This means fiber time, or in this situation, knitting time.  I will see how far I get later today.

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Spring and Knitting

Posted on May 9, 2007 | Comments Off on Spring and Knitting

Wow! It’s Wednesday already. I almost can’t believe the past week has gone by so quickly. Life has been a bit busy around here to say the least.

Since it is Spring, I am in my usual Spring cleaning mode. This activity has dominated a good portion of my free time. Most recently this has meant catching up on laundry that has been ignore in the laundry room, de-cluttering the homeschool/computer/craft room and helping as needed in the cleaning of son’s room. My next day off will find me moving the living room furniture, cleaning baseboards in the living room and that sort of thing. My husband did  some of the same sorts of things in the bedrooms this past week end.  None of this is exciting, but it is part of life in my family.

There was time last week for knitting, so I almost finished the second sock of my first pair. It is down to taking the last eight stitches off the needles and weaving in the loose ends. I’ll do that on my day off in the middle of the week in a couple of days.  I also have a gauge swatch for another pair on the needles. At the rate I am going, it will be my day off before it gets completed and the next pair of socks gets started.

Knitting and crocheting are two of my passions, but at this time of the year, I normally take a bit of a break from them. Nothing is wrong. I just need a bit of a break for a  week or two.

In the meantime, I have decided it is time to catch up on some reading and to learn HTML, CSS and about web design. Since computing has been one of my hobbies for a long time, this is a natural progression. The knowledge gained doing this will be for my own use and for fun. It is one of those areas I have wanted to explore for a long time.

Last week I read Debbie MacComber’s ‘Back on Blossom Street’. I have started, but not finished ‘Susannah’s Garden’. These have proven to be good relaxing reading in my opinion.  ( I have no connection, financial or otherwise to these books or the author. )

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2007 Knitting and Crochet Goals

Posted on December 25, 2006 | Comments Off on 2007 Knitting and Crochet Goals

I have been thinking about my goals related to knitting and crocheting for the upcoming year. This includes projects to finish and do; books and other items to buy; changes to make to my blogs; and new yarns/threads to try.

I would like to finish:

    • Weaving in loose ends on and mail squares for a group project in which I am participating.
    • The scarf on my needles for the Red Scarf Project
    • The pair of socks started last year
    • An afghan for myself started a couple of years ago.

Some items I would like to buy are:

    • A digital camera.

Here is a list of books I want to add to my collection of fiber related books:

    • Any and all of the Harmony Guide to Knitting found here or here

Most of the fiber related tools and books will come from a favorite LYS or nearby bookstore.

I want to try out some of the novelty yarns that I have not been able to purchase while I was not working. The list is long and will change as I explore some LYS’s and other places.

Another goal is to post to all of my blogs more regularly and often. Purchasing a digital camera will make it possible to post pictures of projects while making them and once they are done.

Some of the items I want to make this year are:

    • Scarves for the Red Scarf project
    • At least one more pair of socks after completing the unfinished pair
    • At least a dozen dishcloths for my sister
    • More dishcloths for my household
    • Keeping up with the Monthly Dishcloth KAL
    • Trying out patterns in my copy of the Mason Dixon Book that I have not yet tried.

This list does not include other items made that go to charities. My philosophy is to keep charity giving a private matter, with two exceptions. The first is my support of the Red Scarf project. The second is that I will discuss it with a charity related online group to which I belong.
Some techniques I would like to learn or improve my skills with are:

    • Knitting lace. This might be a scarf or shawl. I don’t know yet, but my favorite LYS will be able to help with this project.
    • Tunisian Crochet
    • Sock making
    • Use of double pointed knitting needles
    • Intarsia knitting and crochet

The year 2007 promises to be a very busy people and fiber filled year. It sounds like fun. :)

What about yours?

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Yeah!!!

Posted on November 2, 2006 | Comments Off on Yeah!!!

It has taken most of the morning; a lot of experimenting and playing around to accomplish this. At least it is done.

My time this afternoon will be spent setting up house here. There are links to add; a header to customize; a sidebar to set up and a few other things to do. Right now I am not even sure what Theme I want to use.

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Busy!

Posted on September 25, 2006 | Comments Off on Busy!

I realized a few minutes ago that I have not been writing about knitting or crocheting here in the past several weeks. There are a few reasons for this which all come down to life getting in the way.

The hard drive on the computer quit working the Friday of Labor Day weekend. My plans were to gets a lot of things done on the computer that weekend. We have a ‘new to us’ computer purchased from my favorite store: EPC. They are the best in our entire area in my opinion.

Another reason for not posting is that I have not been knitting or crocheting very much. We have been taking a lot more family time for talking, playing games like Scrabble and family reading. We are home schoolers and those activities take priority. There are times when I knit or crochet during family times, but I have not done so recently.

The last reason for not posting here is because there is a new blog in my life. It is:
Dish and Wash Cloth Mania. I am collecting lists of free Dish and Wash Cloth patterns found on the internet. When I began the project my original site was here:Dish and Wash Cloth Mania.
The lists of patterns grew very quickly and I chose to move it to a home that would allow for its growth. My free time is being spent adding to it. At the moment it mostly has knitted cloths on it. I am working on adding more crocheted ones to it. This weekend a lot were added. It is taking longer than planned because there are only so many hours in a day.

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Hard Drive Quit

Posted on September 20, 2006 | Comments Off on Hard Drive Quit

Wow!!!
The past few weeks have been so very busy. It’s hard to believe that it has been so long since I have written anything here.

The main reason for this is that my old hard drive quit working on the Friday of Labor Day weekend. That was a real bummer because my original plan to to spend lots of time on my blogs over that weekend. Oh well….Life happens like that sometimes.

Instead of lots of computer time for me and lots of video game time for the guys, we had lots of family time. That was a very good thing. Since the computer is home now, I am getting caught up on blogging and emails.

I have been busy knitting some ballband dishcloths to replace my supply of dishcloths that are wearing out. Crochet projects include weaving in some loose ends on squares for a charity project. There are also a bunch of hats with loose ends waiting to be woven in before it gets any cooler outside. Those are going to a local charity.

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Long Time

Posted on August 26, 2006 | Comments Off on Long Time

It feels like it has been forever since I have written anything here. Life has just been busy.

We have geared up academics now that the end of August has arrived. This means me concentrating on being organized and preparing lesson ideas a few days in advance. Even if they are not written down, they are in my head…..What a scary place to be. LOL!

For the past few weeks my only knitting or crochet time is in the car with my husband on the way to and from work. Mostly I am making some MDK Ballband dishcloths. Not only are they an addiction, but since I make them using 33 or 39 stitches, they fit my hands easily and well. There are more than a dozen in my kitchen. This way I don’t hesitate to be particular about changing them often.

Today I realized that the last week of August is approaching. This means that I had better get busy and start making some dishcloths as Christmas gifts for some people on my gift list. I can’t name them in case they happen to read this. It is also time to get busy making some red scarves for the Orphan Foundation of America. Last year I did not learn about this until a few weeks before scarves needed to be dropped off for them. This year I want to be prepared for this event by having some scarves made in advance. Once it gets to be a little bit cooler my needles will start having red yarn them.

I have rambled enough for now…..More will come later.

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Squares

Posted on August 8, 2006 | Comments Off on Squares

I haven’t been knitting or crocheting much at all in the past few days. There a some squares with loose ends waiting to be woven in. The stack needs to be finished tomorrow so it can be mailed ASAP….Hopefully my family will be open to the idea of Family Reading time this evening. If they are, then I will weave in the loose ends during this time. We have plenty of books in our ‘To be read’ pile for such times. The hard part is choosing which one of many to read.

Once the squares are completed I will move on to completing the Ball Band cloth that is on my needles….I look forward to posting a picture of it. The colors are nice. The yarn so soft!! It may end up as a facecloth rather than a washcloth. After that is done, I have not decided what to make……Perhaps another dishcloth. I don’t know yet.

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New Site

Posted on August 7, 2006 | Comments Off on New Site

I decided to move my new site Dish and Wash Cloth Mania to a new home because of the difficulty finding a template that fits my goals for it. You may find it here :
Dish and Wash Cloth Mania.

 

This is still my main site for fiber arts. and other topics.
I haven’t done much knitting or crocheting done in the past few days. I spent a bit of time on Saturday evening weaving in loose ends on some squares that need to be mailed in the next or so. I have also been working on another Mason Dixon Ballband dishcloth. I’ll post pictures of that when it is done. At the rate I am going, it will be a few days.
This evening after my husband gets home from work we are spending the evening mowing the lawn and doing some basic yard cleanup. Today is being spent working on blogs, doing dishes and straightening the house. They aren’t exciting things, but still need to be done.

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