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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Please Help

Posted on May 9, 2007 | Comments Off on Please Help

This is strange for me and not at all related to fiber arts. I was reading blogs from my list of ‘Read Often’ sites that sits in a file on Firefox toolbar. I went to read “I Give Good Shot” by Anna in Alabama. The link did not work. The WordPress link said she deleted her blog. The Blogspot search, where she moved, could not locate her blog. I have searched my files and done a google search trying to locate her with no success.

If anyone knows where she moved or has heard from her, please let me know. Her absence from the blogosphere is worrisome.

Thank you in advance for any and all help with this.

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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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Socks

Posted on May 2, 2007 | Comments Off on Socks

My original plan today included working on the second sock of my first pair. My logic was that since it is my day off in the middle of the week and I have no plans to go anywhere, then there should be plenty of time to knit. I have not made it that far at this time. There were a few things that interfered with doing so:

  • cleaning the kitchen

  • reading e-mail

  • taking a nap

  • looking up information for my husband on-line

  • de-cluttering and vacuuming the living

  • paying some bills

  • exploring the idea of upgrading one of my blogs to having CSS

  • doing laundry

I will eventually get to the sock. It is at the point where the toe is being shaped. The rows alternate between a decrease row and a plain knitting row. In order to keep myself from getting confused I normally knit two rows before stopping.

A week or so ago I bought this some Hill Country Instant Gratification Superwash Sock Yarn in the Country Caribean colorway. I made the mistake of starting the sock on #6 needles. I have learned from talking with those more knowledgeable about sock knitting at the Socknitters Group on Yahoo that this was not the best thing to do. The sock has been frogged and the yarn is waiting for me to do a gauge swatch on smaller needles. Once this is done, a new sock will be started. :) Right now it looks like the new sock will be worked on tomorrow.

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Sidebar and Learning

Posted on April 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Sidebar and Learning

I have been playing around with computers as a hobby  in one way or another since the early days of the Apple 2c.  There is so much to learn and do that it is still a mind stretching hobby.   A few months ago have decided to spruce up this blog by adding buttons to the sidebar.  The first button or two took what seemed like forever to place just where and how I wanted it.  That was chalked up to learning. It was hard learning but it also good.  I still remember how proud I was of myself when the first button was in place.

My most recent decision is to join some net rings for the purpose of being connected to others who enjoy the fiber arts .  Once again I am in the position of adding buttons to the sidebar of this blog. It is not such a difficult task as it was the first time or two.  I am still learning and stretching my brain muscles a bit….I know there is no actual muscle tissue in the brain, after all I am a nurse. But you get my point. This whole process of blogging can be and is at times a real learning experience. It is fun learning and helps keep me young.

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Week End Fun

Posted on April 23, 2007 | 4 comments

This weekend proved to be very fun and interesting. On Saturday we explored a historic part of one of the nearby towns. It has several antique shops most of which are in some of the old houses. Our goals were to:

  1. Have a good time.

  2. Do some treasure hunting.

  3. Maybe learn some history.

  4. Have some good family time.

All of those things happened. We explored until we were tired and ready to come home. I found some soon to be containers for hooks and needles:

Needleholders

Sunday found us at a flea market a little less than an hour from home. My husband and I have been talking about going there for a long time. This place was much larger than we has anticipated so it turned out to be quite an adventure. It would have been worth the time if we had not purchased anything. My treasure was a bunch of needle arts books. Here are pictures of a few of them:

Booksa

Booksb

More books

bookse.jpg

booksf.jpg

The lady from whom they were purchased said they originally belonged to a friend of hers who had to move out of her home. After a bit of negotiation, I paid $18 for more than one hundred books and magazines. As you can tell there are both knitting and crocheting books here. Some a newer and others are a bit older. Each is a treasure in its own right. Together they are an amazing find. :)

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About Me

Posted on April 22, 2007 | 1 comment

About Me

My roles in life include being a wife; a home school parent; an RN, and a member of the community. I am a Christian.

My primary role is that of wife and mother. We became a homeschooling family in 2000 in response to our child’s need. Our decision was not made lightly and was done after prayer, soul searching and obtaining counsel of trusted people. Our only regrets are that we did not do this before sending our child to school.

Homeschooling is not something we do during specified hours of the day, but instead is a lifestyle. Our philosophy is that learning is a lifelong process.

I am also an avid knitter and crocheter who has enjoyed both arts for more than 40 years. I can and will knit or crochet almost anything that suits my wants or needs. I will alter a pattern to suit my needs or wants and have written a few of my own. I enjoy writing and doing research about anything that interests my family, friends or myself.

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Spring Fever Follow-up

Posted on April 20, 2007 | 1 comment

My last day off did not work out the way it was planned. Life got in the way with the result that I did not accomplish many of the items on my original list.

The closet in the computer/craft/homeschool supply room was cleaned out a bit. This room contains so much it will take more time to clean it out. There is a pile of items in the living waiting drop off at a local charity.

The only knitting goal I accomplished was knitting on the mate for the first sock. In the past few days the gusset decreases have been completed and the remainder of the foot is being worked on. The other items on the list are still waiting for my attention.  They will eventually get done.

The weather in our area is supposed to be beautiful  this weekend with sunny skies and temperatures in the 70’s. It is my weekend off so my hunch is that knitting time will be limited.

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Spring Fever

Posted on April 17, 2007 | Comments Off on Spring Fever

I have a case of Spring Fever. It usually hits about this time every year. The only difference this time is that it is a lot more intense than it has been for years. I am not completely sure why this is the case.

My goal for this spring is to tackle one area of the house a week for a couple of hours and see how much cleaning and uncluttering can be done.

Last week’s victim was our living room and hallway. It was vacuumed, dusted and de-cluttered to such an extent that my family was amazed. The best part was that it only took a couple hours.

Later today I will be cleaning out the closet in the computer/craft/homeschool supply room. My destination is the closet shelf which is home to an assortment of items ranging from books to yarn. My goal is to see what is there and get rid of items no longer wanted or needed. Yarn will most likely not be touched. I do know that there are some latch hook rug kits that can go.   The rest remains to be seen.

Another goal for today is to allow myself some knitting project time. Here is my list of knitting projects to work on today:

1. Work on the mate for the first sock.

2. Weave in loose ends on some of the scarves made a few           weeks ago.

3. Work on the first sock of another pair of socks.

4. Knit a while on a scarf that has been on the needles for a          couple of weeks.

It sounds like a fun day. :)

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Slipper Socks and LIfe

Posted on April 13, 2007 | Comments Off on Slipper Socks and LIfe

The second slipper sock is almost finished. It only needs to have the final stitches on the toe woven in. My original plan was to finish it today, but there were not enough hours in this day to accomplish that.

Most of the morning was spent cleaning. First on the agenda was  deep cleaning in the living room. All of the furniture that I could move was moved, dusted and vacuumed behind. The floor of the entryway was washed by hand. The kitchen floor and the hallway were also vacuumed. It was a time consuming project even with help from my family.

The late morning and early afternoon hours found us running errand such as grocery shopping and taking recyclables to our town’s Recycle Center. These were not exciting or fun tasks but are just part of life.

There was a little knitting time this afternoon to work on a scarf that has been on the needles for a while. Between the socks and slipper socks, there has not been enough time to complete it. I will post pictures another time.

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