Saturday, March 28, 2009

Lots of Knitting

I finished the baby blanket that I was working on for a family member. However, I didn't feel it fit the Mom to be and I came up with another idea so I've decided to give that blanket to a lady at work who is expecting and make a new one in different (more appropriate colors) for the family member. Knowing that the blanket only took me 10 days and I have a few months until the little ones arrive I feel that I can make the new blanket in plenty of time.
My Shawl has got a work out. With this funky weather we have been having, I find it to be the perfect carry along incase I get cold. However, with the color of my shawl, and my inability to understand how to coordinate colors, I find that a black shirt and jeans have been my only option.
I went to a Murder Mystery Dinner, I played the part of Babe Ruth's Widow in 1948. I wore a gray dress with black shoes, I found the wool half cable hat I knit at the last part of last year that almost matched my shawl. I paired it all together and I think it worked out good enough.

Speaking of Lots of Knitting. The Murder Mystery Dinner was a group work activity planned to unite employees and promote a happier environment in the office. I gotta give it to the Doctors they really don't have to do these kinds of things but they do. I feel that it is very sweet and kind of them.
As I was getting ready for the dinner I continued to watch the constant predictions of inches and inches of snow (and even blizzard conditions) heading our way. My friend who was suppose to come do my hair was sick so I was stuck with trying to fix my mop by myself. As you can see from the picture I just tucked in under and plopped on my hat. I was split between calling in and refusing to go or continue with make-up and costume. I decided to give it my all. Before I left I grabbed a pair of socks I've been knitting on and threw them in my bag (along with a pair of emergency clothes in case something bad happened). Then I headed up to the office to meet the rest of the group. They were great! I loved everyone’s costume. They really did a good job and put a lot of effort into what they were doing. I was very proud of the group. We did have a few that "Called in Sick" and they probably were sick, because a bug has been going around.
The drive to the Bed and Breakfast was a little far but not to bad. It was just the next town up on I-35. The drive was nice and we had nice little small talk on the way.
When we pulled up to the Stone Lion Inn it didn't look much like the picture on the website. It seemed the picture took place about 20 years ago. But keep in mind it was sleeting and gray outside. (Can houses be airbrushed?)
When we first stat down I didn't bring my knitting in, I felt like it may segregate me from my group a little. Then a few people came up and asked me why I wasn't knitting that it fit my part. THAT WAS ALL I NEEDED.... YEAH!!! I went out and got my knitting, plopped down in a semi comfortable chair and begun knitting. I didn't stop until dinner time. After dinner I decided to put my knitting aside again because it was time for the action. The boss lady tugged on my shoulder and said "you should be knitting, it looks great and fits your part really well" BINGO that again was all the reassurance I needed to continue my socks. Thank goodness too, because the murder mystery was a mess. There were a couple of other groups besides ours that attended the party and let me just say... IF you are going to drag your spouse unwilling to a Murder Mystery please inform the host of this lack of wanting to participate so she can give them a different assignment other than a main part. Come on people. It sort of ruined the experience when the main charter can't be found because he got drunk and passed out! Oh and let’s not forget the girl who laid down and feel a sleep in the middle of the living room floor, or the girl in the bathroom praying to the porcelain gods, or the husbands of such ladies huddle in the back drinking and talking, or another group of ladies who got the giggles anytime one of their group had to read a clue. I kind of felt sorry for the host, by the end of the night I bet she yelled CUT about a hundred times and had to switch from "please be quite" to SHUT UP! to even get a response from the giggle girls, that felt the need to whisper loudly to one another.
So my word of advice if you want to do a murder mystery dinner is take enough friends that you know will participate, and fill the character list, or go with the idea in mind that the other guests are NOT professionals and that if drinking is allowed be prepared for a long night.

On the plus side, I knit and knit and knit, if I hadn't been able to there might have been a real murder....

Oh and it didn't start snowing until after I was home safe and ready to go to bed. When I got up this morning we maybe got a half inch of sweet wet snow.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Week 1 working on the Baby Blanket



This picture doesn't give the blanket its justice. It is really turning out wonderful. It's cotton and soft and I only have three more rows of squares then the border and it will be finished in plenty of time for the baby's arrival. The Mother to be has no idea this blanket is for her baby. So I hope she likes it. I didn't even ask if she would like these colors.


I have a lady at work who is having a baby in a couple of months. I'm thinking of doing this pattern with different shades of pink, white and red. If I can find the colors in the same weight of yarn, I think she would really like it. Maybe I could do a gingham pattern. I would have to look and see how many colors would make that kind of pattern. (If I only knew how to die yarn I could just make my own colors, maybe that should be something to put on my "want to learn how to do" list.)


I love the fact that each block takes less than 25 minutes if I'm not interrupted. The blanket has 100 blocks so that means it only takes 2500 minutes for the blanket. That would be 41 1/2 hours. That is awesome for this size of blanket. But that isn't counting the border. I have no idea how long that will take! I'm going to do an i-cord bind off using three stitches at a time. It may take me 3 or 4 hours to do the border.


I've decided to make a list of different knitting patterns, projects and techniques I want to learn how to do. With this blanket I learned how to knit backwards so I didn't have to purl except on the last row of each square. I was amazed at how easy it was to knit back. I wish I would have taken the time to learn this little technique a long time ago. After this project I want to work more on color work projects. Changing colors without messing up my gauge would be a good thing. Then I can take a try at Fair Isle!


I had a plan for the aran afghan that I was working on and basically I got side tracked with the shawl, socks and baby blanked and I have neglected the afghan so long that I'm going to have to give myself another due date. I think I will change it from 3 years to 4. I've already been working on it for over a year and a half. But the afghan is for me and no one is waiting on it. I guess I can take as long as I want to finish it.

I started the knitting group at work and the ladies learn to cast on and they learned the knit stitch all in the first lesson. I'm so proud of them! They are excited and already talking about next weeks class.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

I finished the Lace Shawl I was working on and it is beautiful. I’m very proud of myself. I wore it yesterday and got several wonderful comments. I felt like a knitting Master!
I started on a baby blanket for a family member. It’s a mitered square pattern with five different colors. I’m knitting it with I Love this Cotton from Hobby Lobby. This is my first time using this yarn and so far so good. I love the way it feels, it’s soft and the colors are sweet and pretty, making it prefect for a baby blanket.

I’m starting a knitting group at work. I’ve placed the order for needles and yarn from Knit Picks and as soon as they arrive we will begin the lessons. So far I have 5 women ready to start knitting. I believe they are very excited, especially after they viewed some of my creations.
I’ve found some new applications for my iPhone. iKnit Ndlszr is a wonderful program that makes it easy to size your needles. Having it on my phone has come in handy. It has saved time from having to look for my sizer hidden someplace in my knitting closet. YarnPirateer is also a new program I found. I’m still playing around with it. I haven’t found the time to enter all my yarn in the program yet. But once that gets going I think it will be a cool tool to have.