Category Archives: Uncategorized

Project Spectrum

Posted on February 1, 2008 | Comments Off on Project Spectrum

This is the first day of Project Spectrum Three. The theme this year is elements: Fire, Earth, Air, Water. Each of these has colors associated with it. The colors for February and March are:orange, red and pink.

I took some time today to go through my yarn stash to find some cotton yarns in these colors. I have decided to make some wash/dishcloths using these colors. The patterns I use will have a Spring based theme. That provided a good reason to search my pattern stash with the result that finding suitable patterns was easy enough.  The hard part was choosing what patterns to use. :)

Comments Off on Project Spectrum

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,

Home Safely

Posted on February 1, 2008 | Comments Off on Home Safely

Days like yesterday will never cease to amaze me. I went to work early today at my employer’s request. Out of habit and an internal need to be prepare, I packed some extra clothing; my medication ;an extra skein of cotton yarn and the current wash cloth being made with a ‘no brainer’ pattern. Since the weatherman was predicting a major winter storm coming our way, I wanted to be prepared to spend the night at work if necessary.

The snow had begun to fall by the time I left the house. That was all right.  It continued to snow off and on for my entire shift. We received updates on road and weather conditions from employees as they arrived. It was going to be fun night to drive home. Oh Yuck!! It goes with the territory, but I don’t have to like it. In typical fashion, the nurses, of which I am one, were the last ones to leave. We got our cars cleaned off and headed out for home.  A trip which normally takes about half an hour to make, took closer to an hour. I got off the highway as soon as possible and chose an alternate way home. It is easier that way in snowy or icy weather. The trip home was slow but steady  going. My vehicle and I made it safely home after what seemed like forever. That was such a good feeling. Nothing equals the feeling of arriving safely home after a perilous journey.

Outdoors looks beautiful now that I am safe and warm inside of my own home surrounded my family. Hopefully I will be up early enough to capture some pictures of the snow in the morning before it gets warm outside.

Comments Off on Home Safely

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , ,

Snow on the Way

Posted on January 31, 2008 | 2 comments

Weather in St. Louis is known for changing quickly. This week has been no exception to that. We had 70 degree temperatures on Tuesday afternoon that plummeted to 15 degrees by 9pm that evening. Today it is predicted that we will receive snow. The amounts we are to have vary depending on the area in which you live. At this point the average snowfall will be 8-10 inches across the region.  Today could prove to interesting.We will see what happens by tomorrow morning.

Have a great day!

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,

Week Of The Car and Knitting

Posted on January 25, 2008 | Comments Off on Week Of The Car and Knitting

Whew!! I am so glad today is Friday. This past week has been quite an adventure. :)

It all began last Friday when I decided to take advantage of January White Sales to get some much needed bath towels to replace the worn out ones in my house. Coming home from the store, which is about a fifteen minute drive from home, my car made a loud clunk like sound under the hood. I managed to drive it about five minutes to a safe location before calling for a tow. My wonderful husband was able to use his lunch hour to pick me up. We later learned that there were some serious, but repairable problems with this vehicle. It stayed in the shop the entire weekend, mostly waiting for a part to be delivered. I drove back and forth to work without problems on Monday.

Tuesday was a different story. We met some friends at a local library to visit and go to lunch. When we left for the restaurant, the  power steering was not working. Thanks to the help of a Good , our friends and my husband, we returned the car to the shop. The problem turned out to be a faulty power steering pump which was replaced without a fee to us.

I drove it to work yesterday only to discover steam coming out of the hood when I pulled into the parking lot. There was no time to worry at the moment. I was safe and had other things to do. A brief call to my husband assured me that he would meet me after work to follow me home. The trip home was delightful. My teenager and I enjoyed the time to talk while my husband followed us. The car ran fine until I pulled into the driveway. Once again there was steam coming from under the hood. A trip to the mechanic this morning has revealed a small leak in the cooling system which has been repaired for a very small fee. Hopefully this has taken care of the problem. The vehicle still has some repairs that need attention. We know what they are and  thankfully they can wait  a while to be handled.

Now for the knitting part of this post.  A couple of weeks ago, I posted some knitting goals for the weekend.  The only one which got met was this one:

It turned out to be a larger project than I realized at first. There were more than forty patterns that got printed out and placed in a notebook for future use.

There are eight cloths still waiting to be photographed and posted here and on Flickr. Maybe there will  be time to do  do it on the weekend.

At the moment I am working on three designs by Sue Schaeffer. They are each beautiful in their own way. With any luck, two of the three will be completed this weekend.  There is so much to do and so little time to do all of  it.

Have a great day!!

Comments Off on Week Of The Car and Knitting

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,

More Dishcloths

Posted on December 25, 2007 | 1 comment

I never did any pictures of the first big snow that hit our area about 10 days ago. Life decided to interfere with other priorities. It came quickly and seemed to leave almost as fast as it came. For this area that is typical.

I have spent as much time as possible in the past couple of weeks knitting. There was a challenge on one of the groups to which I belong on Ravelry to knit 10 dishcloths before Christmas. I met it, but just barely. The last two cloths were finished a couple of days ago. It was fun and did prove to be a bit of a challenge. Here are pictures of some of what was done:

Limestrpehv
This first one started out as a smaller cloth but grew into a large one
very quickly. It is for my Sister in Law who likes the cloths I make
for her. It is made with Sugar and Cream Lime stripes. I used my own
Hills and Valleys pattern partly because it is easy and partly because
I like the way it feels when it is wet.

Victrnhv_2
This is  the same pattern made with  Peaches and Creme Victorian yarn. My original goal for this  year was to  make a bunch of Christmas looking cloths for my home. I did not succeed, but there were other priorities.

Rnd1_2
This one was an experiment. I had never made a round dishcloth until this one. The pattern can be found here. What a treat it was to do. I was a bit worried to say the least about being able to follow the directions correctly for finishing it. This turned out to be an easy process. The cloth is not perfect, but the pattern is printed out and bookmarked for future use.

Smfclth These  next two cloths are part of my first experience of knitting with Chenille yarn. This is a bright pink made by Crystal Palace. The wash and care instructions say not to dry it in the machine. Ooops!! It got dried with the other cloths but other than being a bit smaller than originally, seemed to be all right. For this one i just used a basket weave stitch with a couple rows of garter stitch in between.

Spaclthbysschae_2
This cloth is made with the same yarn only using the Spa Cloth pattern from Sue Schaefer at Under a Harvest Moon. This is the pattern where using the Chenille proved to be a real learning experience. I learned almost immediately about the need to watch my work and the amount of tension placed on the yarn. I am now making a third cloth from the same yarn and am finding that it is much nicer to look at because of the                                   experiences I had with this one.

1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,

Fun Day

Posted on December 15, 2007 | Comments Off on Fun Day

What a fun day this has been. It has been snowing almost all day.
Our area has had it’s’ first real snowstorm of the season. The weather forecasters originally said we were going to get about five inches this weekend. In the past few hours that amount has been increased to an estimated nine inches. 

We originally had plans to run some errands today, but changed them once we saw how hard it was snowing. This has been a perfect day to get some knitting done. So far today I have :

  • Finished two cloths except for weaving in the loose ends. They are both knitted on the diagonal and are about 8 inches square.
  • Started another cloth. This one is on the diagonal and will be about 6 1/2  or  7 inches  square at the most. 
  • Frogged one cloth and started another in its place.

This is doesn’t sound like much on the surface. This has all been done
in between: spending time with my family; doing a bit of housekeeping;
reading and answering email; two fairly long conversations with my Mom.
There was also time for a mid morning nap. That was a real treat.

I will try to get some pictures taken of cloths and snowy weather in the morning so they can be posted here. By that time there will hopefully be another cloth or two done and another one started. There is some cotton Chenille calling my name.

Comments Off on Fun Day

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

Bugs and Knitting

Posted on December 13, 2007 | 4 comments

    This is my second day in a row to be home sick with a bug. All right, so that’s not very professional sounding. What else could I call it? I can think of some things like: The stuff everyone else at work or their families has or has had?  The creeping crud? A virus? The flu? A sore throat?  It all depends on your perspective…There is a list of  symptoms with which I will not bore you, except for one. I have little or no energy.  It is strange to feel like this since I am the resident Whirling Dervish on a normal day. Most other days you can combine that with Energized Bunny to describe me.

    If there are any psych nurse or health care workers, I am not  depressed. It’s just a bug, which should  hopefully  go away quickly. In the meantime, I am doing all of the right nursing measures like forcing fluids; resting; making myself eat; and knitting. Yes, knitting. :) It is good for the body, soul and spirit. Can you tell I think it has healing properties? Besides, it keeps me busy and from going totally stir crazy.

    So far here is what has been done:

  • Most of a washcloth for a CNA at work. It was ready for loose ends to be woven in when I discovered a dropped and live stitch about three fourths of the way down. It was tinked and is now about 3/4 of the way re-knitted. The pattern is my own from here. It is made with Baby Pink Peaches and Creme.
  • All but the last 10-12 rows of the  Ecru dishcloth in the Holly Kitchen Set from Elmore Pisgah. The pattern is easy to follow and works up quickly. This is one that will be used again even after the yarns from the kit are gone.
  • I have gotten caught up on three days worth of rows for a KAL.

    It has not been much, but it has helped keep me from being totally bored. I will try to post pictures this weekend.
    

4 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , ,

Delightful Adventure

Posted on December 6, 2007 | 3 comments

    Today is my day off in the middle of the week. I decided to take advantage of the good weather late this morning and go to the newest yarn store in our area, Knitting Couture.  I went looking for some cotton yarn, knitting needles  and ideas for what to learn next. I had heard good things about the store and had decided that if only half of it was true, then it must be a good place.

It  was all true and more.

    Upon entering the store I saw a lady sitting at a table reading knitting books. The table was nestled between two low setting book cases. Love at first look. :) I took off my coat and began browsing the shelves. There are  all six of Barbara Walker’s books, several by E. Zimmerman, some by Meg Swansen and others. The books alone are enough to draw me back to this store.

    The owner, Thi, was quick to greet and welcome me to her shop. The next thing she said was to " feel the yarn". And so I did. I spent at least an hour looking at books and yarns, including the swatches she has placed on a cabinet within feeling reach. Each yarn is more beautiful than the next, each with their own unique qualities.  Mixed with those activities was a wonderfully delightful conversation with  Thi and other customers.   

Thi very graciously answered my questions about making lace with needles. I examined several books about making lace before choosing to bring home Harmony Guide:Lace and Eyelets .
She also told me about the the Knit Along starting in January. The project is Elizabeth Z.’s Pi shawl. It sounds like it will be fun. I will keep you posted.

I left this store with a renewed sense of the fun of knitting. 
This was a delightful and wonderful adventure. :)   

3 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,

Still Here

Posted on December 6, 2007 | Comments Off on Still Here

The past three weeks have been more busier than usual with everyday activities taking priority. I have been in house cleaning mode for the past month or so. For me it means :

  • going through books in the basement and setting them in a spot for my husband to box them for delivery to a used bookstore in our area
  • doing a couple of loads of laundry almost everyday so it stays somewhat under control
  • setting up a better file system for important household documents
  • organizing and keeping up with patterns downloaded from the internet
  • putting away bits of my own yarn projects that tend to clutter my house

We have a new addition to our home in the form of a treadmill. Its’ arrival was long awaited and much needed. If you read this blog regularly you have me mention that I have heart disease. In my case it is due to a combination of genetics and a lifestyle of not taking proper care of myself. One of the key factors in the treatment of this is exercise, preferably in  the form of walking according to one of my doctors. This has been a real struggle for me. Now that the treadmill is here it has been much easier to do so. It is not as much fun as walking outside, but it is a lot more convenient, especially with the colder weather upon us. The only downside is that there are days when I have had to choose between walking and knitting. Walking has been winning.

Comments Off on Still Here

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,

Knitting Fun

Posted on November 13, 2007 | 1 comment

There was finally time to take some pictures of the dishcloths I have been making in the past few weeks.
The first several are examples of the Hills and Valleys Cloths of my own design. In typical fashion for me, their sizes vary.

Hillsandvalleys4
This one is made with Peaches and Creme #198 Black Cherry. It was fun to see how these colors played out.

Hvbrntor_5
  This one is made from  Peaches and Creme Burnt Orange . It looks bright and cheerful.

Hvsnflwr
This one was an experiment using a color I had never used before. It is Peaches and Creme Sunflower. The yarn for this was part of a large order of cones received several weeks ago. The colors are vibrant and beautiful. They are remind me of a pumpkin with the blend of orange, yellow and green. I am so glad there is a whole cone of this. :)

Hvsnflwra
This is a close up of the stitches from the previous cloth. I decided it was time to play with my camera and learn to use the Macros feature. This is some of the result of that.

Epscrubber
This pattern is the Peas and Carrots Scrubber Cloth posted at Elmore Pisgah.The dsigner is Maile Mauch. The yarn used is Lily Floral Prints. The edges on this cloth are very  uneven due to my  own  lack of  even tension. They are not the fault of the designer. The cloth  is vey heavy and sturdy. It is a pattern worth using again.

Rib1
This cloth pattern is one from the group : Cloth of the Week. This group is one of the best  which I have ever belonged. There is lots of fun and learning.
The yarn is Peaches and Creme Shades of Blue. This pattern is simply beautiful and will be used again. It was also fun to make.

Spaclthsscha
This is the Spa Cloth found at Harvest Moon Designs Upper Room. It is made with Peaches and Creme Gumdrops. If this gets given away, another will be made to replace it.

 

Weston1                        
This is called Weston and is another pattern from the Upper Room.
It is made from Lily Sugar and Cream Holiday Stripes. This is also a pattern that will be used again.

Please do not let the flaws of my knitting be a negative reflection on Sue or Maile. 

 

1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,