Wednesday, February 23, 2011

WIP Wednesday

The whole week flew by last week and I didn't blog a single time!  I'm not really sure where the time went, but I know that I was up each morning and seemed to have something that took me out of the house every day.  Then Poof!  The week was over.


I did get some knitting done, but not as much as I was hoping.  On the Flint sweater I am just about ready to split off the sleeves.  Just a couple more rows and I think I'll be good to go for that.  Then this will be the perfect project to take in the car while I power through the stockinette body.
On the Winter Wonder Mittens I am about 6 rows from decreasing for the point.  I'm magic looping these but I'm not sure that was the best decision.  I'm having a hard time carrying the white between the front and back with enough length.  I think I'll change to dpn's for the second mitten to see if that helps.
Here's the palm side.  I love how the palm and back of the hand are different,and I like them both!
I'm cruising along on the Hedera socks.  I need to finish them by the end of the month for them to count for Knit. Sock. Love KAL.  I think that's very do-able :-)
Apparantly my case of Startitis wasn't quite over!  I got the first shipment for the Cookie A Sock Club last week.  All I can say is WOW WOW WOW!  I am so glad I joined this club!  I started one of the patterns using yarn from my stash.
I don't think this gives away too much from the club.  I think all my US friends should have their shipment in hand, but just in case you're reading from Canada or overseas I'll keep quiet about the details until Friday!

I hope you're all having a great week.  My son is on school vacation this week.  He and DH have gone snowmobiling with friends so I am home alone. Well, as alone as you can be with 3 dogs :-) You'd think I'd spend the time reading a good book, knitting and watching movies, but I decided this would be a good time to move the kids' bedrooms around and paint.  I hope to have some good pictures to show you later of the end result!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

10 on Tuesday

10 Favorite Cocktails/Mocktails

1. White Russian
2. Frozen Mudslide
3. Toasted Almond
4. Seabreeze
5. Cosmopolitan
6. Tom Collins
7. Rum and Coke (or caffeine-free Diet Pepsi in this house :-))
8. Electric Lemonade
9. Bob Marley - DH & I enjoyed a few of these when we were vacationing in Cancun
10. Hot Chocolate with Peppermint Schnapps

These are some of my favorite drinks.  What are yours?

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Mystery Solved!

The Mystery Monday socks are finished!  These were a fun KAL. I think the pattern has a beautiful blend of cables and lace that compliment each other very well. Here are a few things that I loved along the way:

After the second clue was complete there were quite a few comments that the pattern looked like owl eyes.  I didn't notice that on my own, but once it was mentioned it was all I could see :-)
I loved how the cables on the heel flap wound back out to the sides of the foot.......
and how that was mirrored on the instep too.
Here they are complete!  Yay, new socks for me!
Pattern: Gentian by Lisa Stichweh
yarn: Hazel Knits Artisan
Color: Cascade Canopy
Needles: 2.75mm
Mods:None, but if I were to make these again I would probably go down a needle size on the foot.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

WIP Wednesday

I had a serious case of Startitis in January.  Last month I cast on 3 pairs of socks, a pair of mittens and a sweater.  Two of the socks are finished.  I showed you the first pair of socks, Twisted Mockery, last week.  Last night I finished the second pair of socks which I'll show you tomorrow.  The mittens and sweater didn't get much attention this past week so they really don't look much different than the last time I posted them.  Hopefully next week I'll have some noticeable progress to show you on those.

What I do have to show you though is the 3rd pair of socks I cast on in January!  This is Hedera by Cookie A.  This is one of the patterns in her new book Knit. Sock. Love. Hedera is one of the patterns that she updated and added sizes.  It's been in my queue for a long time but never found it's way onto my needles.  The Knit.Sock. Love. Group on Ravelry started a KAL in January to work their way through her book, casting on a pattern a month, but you have 2 months to get it finished.  I'm going to try to keep up, TRY I'm sure being the key word :-)  January's pattern was Hedera and I cast on at the last minute!
I'm using Lime N Violet Sasquatch Superwash which was a gift/prize from Mapleweave.  The color is Olivia d'Havilland.  I love the color but I'm struggling just a little with the yarn.  It's not quite as tightly spun as the yarns I typically choose, so I find I have to be careful I don't split it while I'm knitting.  Other than that small issue,  I'm enjoying it!  Thanks Christine!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

10 on Tuesday - The Oscar Edition

10 Favorite Oscar Winning Movies

I love movies! I especially love to watch movies when I knit on the weekends.  I thought this topic was going to be really tough for me though, because although I love movies, I wasn't sure I could even name 10 that had nominations, never mind had won!  Thank goodness for Google! I'm also including movies that won in categories other than best picture.  An Oscar is an Oscar regardless of the category!

I'll start with my favorites that have won Best Picture:
1. Driving Miss Daisy
2. The Sound of Music
3.Kramer vs. Kramer
4. Rainman
5. Forrest Gump
6. Titanic
Continuing with awards in other categories.....
7. On Golden Pond - Henry Fonda for Best Actor & Katharine Hepburn for Best Actress
8. The Blind Side - Sandra Bullock for Best Actress
9. Erin Brockovich - Julia Roberts for Best Actress
10. The Fugitive - Tommy Lee Jones for Supporting Actor

I wonder what movies will win this year?  The only movie I've seen that's nominated for Best Picture is Toy Story 3.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Twisted Mockery

I have a new pair of socks to add to the drawer!  This is a really great pattern.  There is so much going on with cables, twisted stitches, cables with twisted stitches, twisted ribbing, stockinette, some purl background and knit background.
It was hard to get a good picture of them.  Pictures on a sock blocker really don't show off everything that's going on.  I am just not flexible enough to get a good picture of them while on my feet!
You can click on this picture to enlarge it.  It's probably the best picture I have that shows all the different design elements.
Here are the details!
Pattern: Twisted Mockery by Lisa Stichweh
Yarn: Hazel Knits Artisan Sock
Color: Cloudy Day (December 2010 Club color)
Needles: 2.75mm for the leg and 2.5mm for the heel and foot
Mods: None

I thought it would be fun to keep an actual tally of finished socks this year.  2011 tally so far is 3!

I hope everybody survived the Blizzaster safe and warm!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Ten on Tuesday

10 Things on my Nightstand/Bedside Table

1. Bose Wave Radio
2. Remote for the Bose
3. Box of Tissues
4. Cordless Phone
5. Books (if I count these individually I might actually get to 10 things)
6. Remote for the TV
7. Remote for the DVR/cable box
So these are the things ON my bedside table, but it has drawers, so I'll continue with what's inside...

8. Remote for the Bose 3-2-1 system
9. Remote for the Bose Link system, which connects the satellite radio & ipod dock, etc. from the living room to the bedroom system. 
10. Odd-ball knitting supplies.  Like the needles I don't really like but won't throw away because what if I need that size and all the ones I like are being used for other projects?  Or the couple balls of yarn that I decided I really don't care for, but won't get rid of because I liked it once, and who knows, maybe I'll like it again one day?  You know what I mean.  You all have a drawer like that somewhere too :-)

I think I should be embarrassed.  That's a lot of remotes!  My husband does love his A/V toys!  And I admit that it's nice to be able to enjoy them too.  My Master Bedroom is big enough to have a small sitting area that looks out over the lake.  I think of it as my little retreat with all the amenities :-)

Want to play along?  You can sign up for Ten on Tuesday here.

Happy Tuesday!