Nothing to show for it!

I just got back from a walk with my dog. And, it kind of made me want to burst into a rendition of "Oh What a Beautiful Morning," but then it would not have been a beautiful morning when others heard "my" singing. However, beautiful the day is. That gorgeous Colorado blue sky, only 58 degrees, no one else was out on the trail except a runner. I didn't run into any coyotes this morning. And I saw 4 hot air balloons out over Chatfield lake. Yes, a beautiful morning. And the house is still quiet, but I am sure not for long...

I have been retired for 2 months and how time has passed that fast I do not know. I have had the boys now for the past almost 4 weeks 24/7 and, well, that has been an adjustment for me. To go from working full time to all these years, to having kids around, who do not do what I say immediately, well, let's just say, mom has been "pissed." And my workout routine has gone out the window, and the knitting time has decreased immensely and I feel completely unorganized. I guess that sums it up.

So, I have nothing to show for my knitting time. No FOs. I know I have been knitting. I have been knitting on a pair of socks, a shawl, another shawl, a sweater, a skirt, and who knows what else. But there is not one FO and frankly, I don't remember my last FO. It might be a shawl. I did join a group on Ravelry - WIP Wrestlemania 2009. You try to finish as many of your WIPs in July. I have high hopes, but it's the second of July. Let's see if I'm smiling on July 31st!

On another note. I have a new acquisition. Her name is Bella. She is my new Schacht Cherry Matchless spinning wheel. Whoo Hoo! I had my name down on a waiting list for one of these wheels and they finally came in last week, so I picked mine up on Saturday. I start spinning lessons this month up in Boulder.

Well, the house is starting to wake up. Happy July everyone!

Added at 6PM. Oh, my goodness, you just have to check this out! Just don't have anything in your mouth when you do, just saying!

http://pictureisunrelated.com/2009/06/30/made-for-the-modern-woman-about-town/

Musings on a Monday

Boy, it's pretty outside. A beautiful, almost summer morning. Can you believe it's almost the first day of summer? I for one, am tired of all the thunderstorms we have been having. Very unusual. I just went out and examined the garden for hail damage and of course, the big, beautiful Hosta is shredded. And there is some damage to the leaves of the vegetables. Oh well, it could be worse. I think though, whenever I'm thinking the Hosta is looking great this year, that's a cue for hail.

The boys have been off from school for a week, and we have started our summer exploration. There are 42 state parks in the state of Colorado, and we are trying to see how many we can visit during their vacation. Last week we started with Eldorado Canyon, which the boys really loved. We saw Prairie Falcons and mountain lion tracks. The boys waved to the rock climbers as we hiked along a trail. The next park we explored was Golden Gate Canyon after we went to Lookout Mountain and visited Buffalo Bill's grave. We had a great view of the Continental Divide from Panoramic Point and enjoyed hiking until rain chased as off the trail. The last park we explored last week was Chatfield Lake. The boys had fun in the lake until another thunderstorm came up and we raced for the truck. We have more exploring planned for this week.

We went to the Estes Park Wool Festival on Sunday. The oldest fell in love with the Jacob sheep and the youngest wanted a Vicuna. I bought some mohair from Neota Designs in the colorway Purple Mountain Majesty for a shawl, and bought some beautiful grey alpaca from Paradise Valley Alpaca Ranch for a scarf for DH. I'm thinking the shawl will knit up fast. We ran in to Joanne at the festival - Hi Joanne!

Well, time to figure out what we are doing today. Have a great week everyone.

Happy June 1

Okay, where did May go? I know I for one thought I was going to get SO many things done in May, including finishing many knitted items. So where did it go, because, I'm looking around and I'm not seeing ANY FOs!

Well, I do know that I did not spend as much time knitting as I thought I would. I am still trying to get into some sort of routine. I have gone on school field trips with the boys. I am trying to work out more. I have spent a lot of time out in the yard. The bush beans have come up and are now about 2 to 3 inches high. I have yellow flowers on the tomatoes. The squash and zuccini have new leaves. The cucumber is very slow growing. I have not seen anything yet of the sun flowers or the corn. Hmm, I wonder why? And, the new rose bush is in, all the rose bushes have been fed, and all but the new one have rose buds. So, we have progress outside.

The knitting, well, that is another story. I have knit on my Sasha skirt. The inner lining is a stockinette tube, which is I think, 190 stitches around, and goes forever since I am making the 30 inch skirt. So, I knit on the lining for a while until I want to poke my eyes out. I have knit on some lace. I have knit on a couple of sweaters. And, I worked on some toe-up Monkey socks.

Okay people, WHY AM I SO PICKY ABOUT SOCKS? They are just socks for goodness sake! I hate the heel on these. I've turned the heel and thrown the sock down. Disgusted. I haven't decided if I will rip the whole thing out or just put another heel in and just rip this heel out. Right now the heel has me IRRITATED!

I am going to organize the yarn room this week. I need more room. I'm also drooling over an Elna 7300 sewing machine. Guess why I need more room?

Finally!

You know, knitting blogs should have knitting content. And it's not like I haven't been knitting because, I knit every day. But, was there something to write about? I have something today.

Meet, Olivia, my new dress form. Quite attractive eh? I have been wanting a dress form for the longest time. I have been knitting on sweaters and not finishing them. I have a list of UFOs that would make you run away screaming. And most of that is due to the fact, that I have gotten so particular about my knitting, that the sweater MUST fit the way I see it in my mind. And I am short waisted. Probably at least an inch shorter than most commercial fitted garments are made. And most knitting patterns are written. So things just do not fit. So, for the past 2 years I have been searching for a dress form. And, I debated the duct tape method of making one. I also debated having a dress form made. Now, I wasn't deterred by the expense of having one made, but, you were stuck with the size. So to alter it if you lost weight, or heaven forbid, added a few pounds, good luck. Enter "My Double" Deluxe. The size small, which I purchased has adjustments for bust, waist, hips, back waist length (Can we say Hallelujah?) and neck. So I added a bra and some "padding" to get the right cup size, and DH helped me measure her and set the stand to exactly my height and I'm ready. And, I'm going to start sewing again, because now I can alter patterns and things will fit! This model even allows you to fit pants and skirts. Cute summer cotton skirts are in my future. And you know the best part? I had a 40% off coupon and a gift card, which knocked a lot off the price. So, now I can knit my coats to fit. And my sweaters. And if I get in better shape, I just change the adjustments and off I go. Yes, I'm a happy girl! Oh man, I just thought of something, I can now knit my Ann McCauley dress to fit. So cool.

So, what else is new? I'm retired. Yep! As of April 30th. What am I doing? I'm SLOWLY cleaning the house, bit by bit. I planted a vegetable garden with summer squash, zucchini, early girl and cherry tomatoes, bush green beans, cucumbers, corn and some sun flowers. I have planted stargazer lilies and anemones and 3 other flowering bushes in the garden. I am waiting on a new rose bush to arrive, a gorgeous lavender rose, Sweetness, which is the 2009 Grandiflora rose of the year, which will replace a rose bush I lost over the winter. Oh, I love lavender roses!

I bought a sock knitting machine. I haven't played with it yet. But I have LOTS of time. And, lots of sock yarn.

I'm buying a spinning wheel. A Schacht Cherry Matchless. I don't know how to spin. But I will. I'm going to take classes from Maggie Casey this summer.

I'm knitting. Mostly on linen and cotton right now. I bought lots at Stitches South. Oh, did Leanne and I have a GOOD time! So, I have cast on some new Maggi Knits in her Maggi's Linen. And, I cast on a pair of socks on Mother's Day at the Rockies game. I need to work on those socks.... And, I have sweaters to work on :) The boys started baseball practice this week. Four practices a week for now and then the games start. A lot of prime knitting time.

She's back........................................

Now you know....

Well, two people in less than a week asked me about my blogging, and I have to admit I have been remiss about sitting down and writing. There are several reasons for the lack of blogging but a few main ones.

The first one is Ravelry. Because I go on every day and talk to people in a few groups I’m active in, I forget to blog. Or, I feel like it’s already been said and that blogging about it is repeating myself. The second reason is, I forget to blog. I went into Blogger a few weeks ago to try to make some changes to my page. The changes were not working and I got frustrated and just logged off without making an entry. And then I forget about my blog and get busy with something else, and weeks go by.

The third main reason is that about a month or so ago, DH and I came to the decision that it is time for me to retire from my job with the Federal Government. Stick a fork in me. I’m done! I had reached the point where I didn’t want to go into to work in the morning and would lie in bed when I woke up trying to think of excuses not to do so. I have worked 50 hour work weeks for over twenty years. Throw two kids and a husband in the mix and I finally reached the point where it was too much. I was leaving the house before 5 in the morning and picking the kids up from after school care at 5pm. Then it was a rush home to either do homework, or eat and off to swim lessons or baseball practice or football practice. And along the way, I became a mom who easily lost patience and yelled. So, enough is enough and I will be retiring on April 30th.

Along the way I have been knitting. I am trying to finish sweaters this year. And I am buying a sock knitting machine. And I’m thinking about teaching knitting again. I haven’t taught in over six months.

So now you know. Big changes this year. And I’m celebrating my upcoming retirement at Stitches South. Anyone going?

January and the Damn Sweater

It’s been a while and I have meant to post, and have even written the posts in my head, but just haven’t sat down to write. And now January is almost over, one month of 2009 already gone and it’s been a month since Christmas. Time sure goes faster when you are older, doesn’t it?

I’m now eligible to retire. It’s nice having that bullet proof feeling. That I can walk out the door when I want. I wish the economy was better, and that I could find a part-time job during school hours. So for now, I wait and figure out what is best for me, yet I know I am tired of having 12-hour days when you add in my commute to my 10 hour work days.

Knitting, oh, let’s talk about knitting. And the damn sweater. Have I told you about this sweater? Well, here goes…

I’m trying to remember when this started. You see, I started dating DH in 1994 and then we broke up and then got back together, and sometime in that period between 1994 and 1998, we bought some yarn in a store which no longer exists, called Placerville Yarns. It was a lovely yarn store, in a mountain town on the way to Lake Tahoe that I used to stop at when I lived in California whenever we went skiing. Anyway, I told DH I would knit him a sweater and he picked out some Lorna’s Lace’s Shepherd Sport in a lovely color way Pewter, and a complicated aran pattern which was to be knitted on size 4 needles. (To tell you how old this yarn is, Lorna still owned the company and dyed the yarn at her home in Placerville!)

Enter the problem. The pattern has errors. This is a raglan. Knitted in pieces. The pattern of the cables does not match up when the pieces are knit. There are cables that run up the front and the sleeves that look like arrows and they are to merge into each other. I think it only works in one pattern size of the instructions. I have knit and ripped out this sweater more than once. I have changed it and knit it in the round. I even asked Meg Swansen for advice about this sweater. So it gets knit again, and banished again, and knit again and banished again, back to a closed closet in the yarn room. And I know it’s been over a year since I re-knit it for the 4th time. And stopped again.

So, Saturday morning. I frogged it again. Yep, the WHOLE THING. This is a man’s 44 inch sweater. Knit 4 times. Frogged again. All the yarn had a day-long bath. It is now dried. Sunday, I cast on again, after converting the whole mess to a top down raglan, using the charts from the original pattern. I think the sleeve charts are the problem from the beginning.

I don’t like it. Back to the Frog Pond. Number 5.

I’m looking for a new pattern. I surrender.

The Florida Gators are again the National Champs!

It's Great to be a Florida Gator!!! It doesn't matter that I graduated from Florida a long time ago, I'm still an obnoxious Florida Fan!

2009 is just around the corner...

Another year has just about come and gone. Just flew by didn't it?

I have decided not to come up with any resolutions, or look back at what I did or didn't do over the past year.

What I decided to do is come up with a list of things that I am looking forward to in 2009. So here are some of the things I came up with:

• Starting something new careerwise, and walking away and shutting the door on this chapter in my life
• Finishing some beautiful sweaters, as many as I want, and enjoying wearing them and saying proudly, "why yes, I did knit this sweater"
• Knitting more small projects and finishing them - gloves, socks, things that just need one or two balls of yarn
• Going to Stitches South with dear friends, seeing knitting friends from around the country, and seeing my college roommate Lorretta
• Planting different types of flowers in the garden and tending to my roses
• Maybe taking the summer off and spending it with the boys
• Being in better shape, back to where I was before I let myself get too busy
• Trying the new contacts to see if finally there is a type that works for me
• Finding a new knitting retreat (I have one or two in mind for October.......)
• Reading more books and finding more authors I like
• Less stress and more patience
• Spending time with friends
• Exploring different parts of Colorado with my family

I think that is a pretty good start to what I am looking forward to. I wish all of you a Happy and Healthy 2009!

Okay, I just had to add this link, just do not drink anything while you watch it or you make spit it all over your computer screen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWiXy55OHyY

Forever 39

Okay, I will get to the title a bit later, but first I need to get to a VERY LONG OVER DUE THANK YOU!

Approximately a month ago, I received this package. I was one of the lucky three winners on Coggie's Blog Anniversary give-away over at her blog, http://www.coggiesyarntale.blogspot.com/. And it has been sitting right next to the computer, waiting for me to take a picture to show off all of my goodies and say thanks. And being a very bad blogger, I haven't blogged much, and alas, my thanks are way over due. Miss Manners would be appalled. So, I am going to thank Coggie here - THANK YOU and privately, and now I will show off my goodies. I have kitty sticky notes, and two other note pads. I have a button with my Ravelry picture on it that I can now wear to Stitches South - so Cool! I have candy that I am not going to share, never mind that I stole the Milk Duds out of my kids' treat or treat bags, these are MOMS!!!! And I have Gold Nuggets which are ChocoRocks which I know youngest son will try to snag, but then, I am faster than him even though he says he is the King of Chocolate. Never mind that I am the Queen of Everything! Anyway, back to goodies, I have new yarn, which is not entered into the enormous stash of hell yet, but oh, this is NEW yarn which I have never seen before. It is Socktails by Carpe Dye 'Em (Cute name eh?) in the color Royal Matador. Now isn't that fitting for the Queen of Everything? 400 yards. Oh, Coggie, are you trying to make me finish a pair of socks and enough already with the orphans? Okay, back to the goodies, the last thing is a wraps per inch key from Hornshaw Wood Works http://www.hornshawwoodworks.com/ (by the way go over there and look at the swift and the sock blockers), which is great because guess who wants to learn how to spin in 2009? And asked for donations for a wheel for Christmas instead of presents? So, again, thank you Coggie, what a great package, and I apologize for being a slug.

By the way CoggieTM and BammerKT have a great podcast - The High Fiber Diet. Go over to ITunes and check it out.

Okay, what other thank yous? Thank you all who wished me a Happy Birthday this week. I'm staying 39 forever, like Jack Benny. I think he celebrated his 39th birthday 41 times. Some of you know how many times I have celebrated it don't you? But I'm younger than you!

Knitting, shall I call it project flitting or knitting ADD? I think the reason that I cannot really concentrate on one project is that I am trying to figure out what I am going to do. I want to retire as soon as possible, but I need to do something else. That something else is the problem because I don't know what it is. I know I want to work part-time. I am done with working 50 hours a week. Anyone got any ideas? Know of any positions? Have any friends?

Some FOs

Here are a couple of FOs just in time for the last day of November. The first one is my Langsjalid Barur. My 8 year old son took the picture yesterday out in the snow.

The second FO is my Norwegian Woods Shawl. I had finished it earlier in the month, but had not posted about it. There are alot of beads in the edging, but they are red and blend in with the red Malabrigo lace weight in the picture.

Enjoying a lazy day today while it is snowing again. I am working on some mitered squares for now, but may choose another project for later that involves some thinking.

You're from Colorado...

A winter statistic:
98% OF AMERICANS SCREAM BEFORE GOING IN THE DITCH ON A SLIPPERY ROAD. THE OTHER 2% ARE FROM COLORADO AND THEY SAY, 'HOLD MY SODA AND WATCH THIS.

You're from Colorado if You'll eat ice cream in the winter.

When the weather report says it's going to be 65 degrees, you shave your legs and wear a skirt.

It snows 5 inches and you don't expect school to be canceled.

You'll wear flip flops every day of the year, regardless of temperature. (My DH thinks I'm nuts!)

You have no accent at all, but can hear other people's. And then you make fun of them.

'Humid' is over 25%.

Your sense of direction is: Toward the mountains and Away from the mountains.

You say 'the interstate' and everybody knows which one.

You think that May is a totally normal month for a blizzard.

You buy your flowers to set out on Mother's day, but try and hold off planting them until just
before Father's day.

You grew up planning your Halloween costumes around your coat. (This was the first year the kids had shorts on underneath their costumes).

You know what and where the Continental Divide is.

You don't think Coors beer is that big of a deal.

You went to Casa Bonita as a kid, and as an adult.

You've gone off-roading in a vehicle that was never intended for such activities.

You always know the elevation of where you are.

You wake up to a beautiful, 80 degree day and you wonder if it's going to snow tomorrow.

**You don't care that some company renamed it, the Broncos still play at Mile High**

Every movie theater has military and student discounts.

You actually know that ** South Park ** is a real place not just a show on TV.

You know what a 'trust fund hippy' is, and you know its natural habitat is Boulder.

You know you're talking to a fellow Coloradoan when they call it Elitches, not Six Flags.

A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you.

Your two favorite teams are the Broncos and whoever is beating the crap out of the Raiders.

When people out East tell you they have mountains in their state too, you just laugh.

You go anywhere else on the planet and the air feels 'sticky' and you notice the sky is no longer
blue.

Stitches East

Wow, is it the 10th of November already? Where did this month go and better yet, where did the year go?

I just got back from Stitches East last night. I’m tired. A lot of staying up late and too little sleep. And there were travel issues this time too, not for me, but for my friend Robin who didn’t get to fly home on the same plane as me and had to get to DC from Baltimore on a bus to catch another plane because United switched her reservation. Not fun!

I took classes – Bohus Strickning, wow were the sweaters beautiful, a beaded bag class, a toe-up sock class, and a long-needle knitting class.

There was stash enhancement even though the market seemed smaller this year. Yarn for a shawl, 3 sweaters and a skirt. Two of the sweaters are versions of a sweater from AlterKnits and one is a new Vivian Hoxboro design. The skirt is a linen skirt to go with one of the sweaters. The shawl is one made out of some JoJoland yarn.

I wasn’t too impressed with the fashion show this year. Only bought the pattern for the skirt. Usually I see more sweaters or shawls that catch my eye. There were pretty things in the student fashion show. Brenda from Philadelphia had a gorgeous geisha inspired wrap that was just stunning and there were some beautiful Fair Isle sweaters. I modeled my Rowan denim skirt and my Sivia Harding shawl.

So I’m back. And back to work.

NaKniSweMo

Every year, http://www.knitgrrl.com/ readers knit alongside the writers over at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). So this year, I decided to join in the fun, and I'm throwing down the gauntlet to all my friends. I dare you to join in the fun!

How it works with NaNoWriMo is that the authors have to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. As they say on that page: "This is not as scary as it sounds." Okay, I'm not writing, but I will knit.

So, for you knitters joining NaKniSweMo, you have to knit a 50,000-stitch sweater in a month. If you divide your chosen sweater pattern's rows or rounds by 30, you'll have an idea of how many rows you need to knit each day to make it. I know, counting all those stitches is crazy, but I think it's going to be fun.

So, I am going to try to finish as MANY sweaters as I can in one month. I did cast on a new sweater 2 days ago, and I'm hopefully going to resist casting on the new one that should arrive from Jane Slicer-Smith any day now. And, did I add, I'm going to Stitches East with Robin next week, and those of you who know me, know that I usually cast on a sweater while I'm somewhere on a knitting "va-cay?"

Join me. Go to the NaKniSweMo group on Ravelry and join in on the fun. I DARE YOU!

It all starts tomorrow.

Hey a Contest!

Over there at Rhythm of the Needles, my friend Joanne is holding a contest. And, you can win some yarn! Go check it out and see what you think. Hurry, it's only for like 2 days!

http://rhythmoftheneedles.blogspot.com/

Joanne and I will be at Stitches South together in April. Whoo Hoo!

What to knit? What to do?

I hear the rain outside, and I keep checking to see if it has turned to snow, but not so far. It's about time for our pre-Halloween snow, I still have roses on the bushes and there's a few tomatoes on the vines, but it's cold out there. And maybe we will have a little snow tonight and that's fine, because it's a three day weekend for me and I don't have to work tomorrow.

All this uncertainty about the economy has made me wonder about what I am going to do about retiring and when I am going to do it. I know I do not want to work 50 hours a week anymore, but it's hard to make that leap from a secure job to another when the market is so bad and everyone has taken such a hit. So I sit and think, and try to figure out what to do, knowing that I am not sure and really wishing I was. Crossroads, choices.

And I think the uncertainty has spilled over unto my knitting. I have drifted from one sweater project to another this weekend, and finally picked up the Norwegian Woods Shawl and worked on that for a few hours. And I think about teaching, and if I want to continue teaching knitting, or if I just want to knit what I want and not worry about anything else.

But right now it's so easy not to think about things and just read blogs and knit, so I don't have to make decisions. Chicken.

Texture

My knitting and focus on projects has been a little different lately. Those that know me, know that I am a small needle girl, most of my projects, we are talking sweaters here, are knit on size 2 through size four needles. And, I am a fan of colorwork and complicated designs.

But lately, I have becomed enamored with texture. And I am using worsted weight yarn on size 7 needles for almost all of these sweaters. I have one sweater, the February Lady Sweater, that has the lace body. I have the Silver Belle on needles, that is just one cable after the other, as is the Aran Wrap from the Fall issue of Vogue Knitting.

And then throw in two Norah Gaughn designs. One is a coat, and the other a cardigan.

Texture, texture, texture. I just can't seem to get enough of it. Yes, a different focus for me, but I like it. Luckily I have been able to fit in a lot of knitting lately, at the boys' football practice, at their games, and at the Rockies game last night, because I have so much on the needles that I want to WEAR!!! And class projects to finish, but we won't go there right now will we?

It's Fall, isn't it?

I'm sitting here looking out the window, and it's overcast, so I'm thinking that today might not be as pretty a fall day as yesterday, but oh well, I have SO much knitting to do, and there is football to watch later today, so no big deal.

I have been knitting for the past 2 hours, I woke up at 5:00AM and have taken advantage of a quiet house and been in the yarn room listening to podcasts and working on a class sample for a class I'm teaching next month at String. I listened to The High Fiber Diet this morning which is a new podcast. They are having problems with the sound quality, but once they iron the bugs out, I think it will be one on my continuous download list. Two gals in Michigan who love to knit.

I have so many things I want to get done. I made a list of the high priority items and holy crap I think I have 17 sweaters on it to finish. I have several that I would like to get done to wear to Stitches East, so we will see. I cast on Silver Belle this week, the yarn has been in the yarn room for a year, and as much as I love to knit cables, it was time to cast it on. So between it and lace, I am trying to work on a million other projects. And, I told the boys yesterday that I was going to knit them Transformers hats, so I need to get the yarn for those. Luckily I knit stranded knitting fast so I can get those done before our pre-Halloween snow that we always get in early October.

Youngest son's football game was postponed yesterday due to the field being wet, poor guy was so disappointed, especially since his brother's game went on as scheduled - his team won. Hey more knitting time for mom!

I was one of the lucky few that got in the Wollemeise sock club (actually got in by way of the 2nd lottery drawing - I didn't think I got in) and received the first package this week. Two skeins of beautiful yarn, one in elderbush and the other in box wreath, some Holz & Stein DPNs, a ruler, a piece of candy (okay I ate it already - yummy) a beautiful sock pattern and a letter from Claudia. SO COOL!!!! I am being good though. I am going to finish September's socks - just turned the heel on the first sock yesterday, before I even think about another pair. Oh that's right, add socks to the mountain of knitting to finish..............................

Well, the sons just came downstairs to see mommy, my quiet time is over.

Have a good day everyone.

Well, lookey here, she posted!

What have you been up to?

I don’t know about you, but 2008 has just seemed to fly on by. It’s almost September already, and where has the time gone? I certainly have do not have the pile of finished objects that I thought for sure was going to happen this year. I walked into the yarn room the other day and wondered, what happened?

I know I have been knitting, because I knit Every Day. I knit on the bus and train to work, I knit at lunch, and then I knit on the way home. If I am lucky, I get some knitting time at night, either while the boys are at some type of sporting practice, or while I am watching TV. (Speaking of TV, did you watch last night’s Project Runway with the Drag Queens? Oh my goodness, that was a hoot!)

But where are the FOs? I still have too many things on the needles. I have sorted things into high priority projects – the things that I had really hoped would be finished this year. And I had hoped there was going to be some designing going on. Hmm, things did not happen. Now, I know I am not good with project monogamy. Okay, I know I SUCK at project monogamy, but I have worked steadily on a number of projects.

I need to go back in the yarn room and figure this out. And make a plan. Before I cast on. The mittens from the cover of the latest Vogue. And before my yarn arrives for the Aran Wrap. From the same issue of Vogue. Yep. I need to figure this out.

Yeah, Yeah, I Know!

I know it's been ages since I have blogged. But, I have a good excuse. See who is looking at my Kauni sweater (okay - yes that is me with big hair, I was in Wisconsin you know where there is HUMIDITY)? Yes, that is Meg Swansen. Holding my knitting. Yep. Cool, huh? I think so. I was asking her some questions about the hem I had put in, because she recommends 10% less stitches for hems and I wanted her opinion if she thought I should rip mine out (she said no, I had a nice loose cast on, asked me how I had done it).

You see, I was at Knitting Camp with Robin, Leanne, and Pam. We had a great time. Now, I will not bore you with the travel NIGHTMARES that I had getting there and getting home, and the details of my solo 225 mile drive from Milwaukee to Knitting Camp while Robin and Leanne got to fly there (flight screw ups). But I will tell you that we had a great time. Meg of course is fantastic. Joyce Williams is awesome. Amy Deitjen is a hoot and the reigning Queen of Purple (someone will have to ask about a purple starter kit comment), and Spotted Cow is the beer to drink when in Wisconsin! The girls across the table can knit with us any time.

A good time was had by All!

Okay, so it's been a while!

I know, I know, it's been a long time since I have posted. All I can say is that I have been knitting.

But, I'm also trying to finish things in a ridiculously short period of time. For instance, Tuesday night I bought yarn to knit a skirt. To bring to knitting camp. This week. Knit a skirt in a week. I don't even know if it will fit or look good on me. Then there is the other knitted knit that is halfway done. I am trying to finish that skirt. To bring to knitting camp. This week. I leave Thursday morning.

I leave Thursday morning with Leanne, Robin and Pam. I bet they are not knitting 2 skirts last minute.

What am I, an idiot?

Andrea, aka dnaprice on Ravelry, advised me yesterday, ala Brenda Dayne, to "Knit, Knit Like the Wind." I'm trying, though it didn't help that I ripped out 20 plus rows on the new skirt yesterday because I miscounted some increases.

Back to my knitting.....