July 2008 Archives

Even as busy as I've been - OF COURSE there's been time for knitting!

Let's see.... where to begin?

I finished a baby gift for one of my friends, by she reads this blog, so she's going to have to wait until her baby shower!  (Err - that reminds me - buy stamps tomorrow!)

I started a new pair of socks while I was at my conference 2 weekends ago at the Lake.  I bought the yarn - Happy Feet - at a little yarn shop in Osage Beach called the Yarn Basket.  It is temptingly located right next to a frozen custard shop, but I was there pretty early in the day so I resisted.  The owner is kind of old school - she doesn't really do the internet thing - but she was really nice and let me hang out there for over an hour killing time before my next meeting.  I had some really great knitting time during my meeting, but I ended up rippping it out and restarting with a new pattern.  It's the Go With the Flow pattern from Favorite Socks. 

Next up!  I cut out a bazillion squares for a scrap quilt. 

I'm just kind of making this up as I go.  I finished sewing the squares together last weekend.  I'm still trying to decide on the pattern for the quilting - any thoughts?

(Please keep in mind that I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to quilting.  I just wing it.  So nothing fancy, K?) 

Finally, I pulled out an old project and worked a little more on it.  I'm just going to put up a sneak peek since it will probably be a Christmas gift.    

I'm off on another bit of traveling... I have a conference in Chicago next week, and I'm taking advantage of the work-sponsored travel (as well as saving work a bit of money on the flight) and going a couple of days early to visit my friend Claire.   

Chicken Knits posted about her visit to Loopy Yarns earlier today, so that's definitely in my travel plans!  Any other suggestions while I'm there? 

 

Swim...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bike...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Run...

Clearly - I was moving too fast to be photographed!

Good times.... I think I will probably do another tri in about a month. My favorite thing about racing is how it inspires me to train even harder.

Anyone want to join me?  Here's the link to the Republic Tiger Tri. 

 

I've had an idea for a knitting pattern rattling around in my head for a few days now. Tonight after work I started working on the chart and knitting a swatch. I'd love to get it published, but at this point I don't even know how it will turn out.

Either way, if I get a decent looking finished project, I'll share it in some way!

By my count, this is my third - and certainly not last - pair of Monkey socks. Lene of Danceswithwool said last week that the Monkeys were her go-to, standard sock pattern at this point. I have to agree with her. They fit so well - especially now that I've realized that I have to go down to a size 1 needle to make them perfect.

Project Details:

Pattern: Monkey, by Cookie A.

Yarn: Three Waters Farm Handpainted Yarns, Superwash Merino Fingering Weight in the Mediterreanean colorway

Needle Size: Size 1 KnitPicks 32" circular

Pattern Modifications: magic loop; no purls; toe up; toe-up heel flap a la Wendy's Celebration Socks (free download)

Time to knit: Approx. 1 month

Final impressions: This might be my favorite pair of socks I've ever made. The toe-up heel flap is friggin awesome. (I learned how to do it from Wendy herself in the Loopy Ewe Spring Fling.)  This beautiful yarn was a gift from LauraB in the Loopy Ewe Spring Fling swap.

 

So...it's been a while since I posted.  I guess I'm just not really feeling inspired to write these days.  Probably has something to do with being out of the habit, right?  No promises on improving in that area, but I have been keeping pretty busy.  In no particular order, since I posted last, I've:

Traveled to Lake of the Ozarks for a Missouri Municipal Attorneys conference;

Traveled to Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia for a family reunion;

Been biking, running, and swimming to get ready for the Concreteman sprint triathlon next weekend;

Knitting (of course);

Working on a new household budget since my husband's promotion and raise have resulted in less income thanks to those fabulous self-employment taxes that now apply;

Buying baby gifts galore for all my fertile friends;

Cutting squares for a new baby quilt, which will have to get done in short order since apparently the baby is due a lot sooner than I thought;

Reading and working on my Style Statement for my book club;

Reading just the first chapter of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and wishing I lived on a farm and thinking that I should learn to can/freeze produce before my grandma gets too old to do it; 

Wrangling contracts and contractors at work 5 days a week;

and.... I guess that's about it.  =)   

Are you on twitter? I don't go crazy with it, but it's pretty fun, especially since you can link up your updated with facebook and updated them both at once. (I'm zarah, in case you couldn't guess.)

Anyway... today I twittered this: "Thinking of giving up sugar - real & fake. Crazy?"

I got more responses on facebook - like, within minutes! - than I ever get about ANYTHING. I guess anything in the direction of a diet really gets people's attention. Not that I'm going on a diet. Just trying to eat healthier. I have quite a sweet tooth, but it doesn't kick in until the first bite. Then I have 100 more bites. Really - it's bad. My husband just doesn't understand. He could have the same bowl of jelly beans on his desk for 6 months. I would go through them in one day.

ANYWAY..... I know there are hidden sugars in lots of stuff, and I don't have time or money or inclination to go all organic or make all my own food. So - I'll just try this no-sweets thing out for a while and see how it goes. I have a family reunion this weekend, so that will be a fun time to try it out. (Ha.)