Yawn...

Boring blog. Boring week. I have been working late a lot this week, and falling asleep on the couch when I get home. Not good! I have been knitting a little, but I can't post about it yet since it is a gift.

I have finished two projects, a pair of birthday socks for my Dad and a birthday/Christmas (haven't decided which yet) hat for a friend. I will post photos and details of them Sunday. I am driving to my parents house tonight and getting new tires put on my car tomorrow. Isn't my life exciting? =)

Everybody have a good weekend!

Fall is here...

A few weeks ago, Mom and I did a Breast Cancer Walk in Cedar Rapids. Note my lovely hat, and how well it matches my shirt! (I have decided to keep it and knit another one for my Grandma. It would be too big for her anyway.) It was chilly, but not as cold as it has been in past years.



I am on the left.



I also finished a hat for Papa, using Wool-ease and numbers from the Handy Book of Patterns. It went really quickly, so I am going to make one for Steve too.

Food for Thought

I was feeling a little philosophical at work today and started thinking about how I knit. Specifically, how I knit loosely and have trouble getting the right gauge. I always have to go down a needle size or two. Worsted weight? 7's. Socks? Size 0, and sometimes that seems a little too loose. What does this have to do with anything? Well, let me start with telling you how I learned to knit.

*** queue flashback sequence ***

I decided rather suddenly about 3 years ago that I wanted to learn how to knit. This was without even knowing that knitting was becoming "the" thing to do. With no one to show me how, I chose Melanie Falick's fantastic Kids Knitting book as my teacher, figuring anything geared towards kids could not be too intimidating. I went out and purchased yarn and needles that I liked at Hobby Lobby (both chosen by color - cream yarn, silver needles). When I received the book from Amazon, I sat right down and tried to learn. This is the first thing I ever knitted:





Fantastic, you say. What does this have to do with anything? Well, the yarn and needles I had chosen where Lion Brand Chunky and size 8 needles. The recommended needle size on that particular yarn is 10.

Do you think learning with needles too small for the yarn many have had some impact on why I knit loosely now?

Not that it matters... just something to think about.

Little Things

I put a little "knit by" label in Omi's birthday hat before sending it home with Mom this weekend to give to her. My sewing skills leave much to be desired, but I think it looks all right, and most importantly, you can't see any of the stitches from the right side.





I needed a small NASCAR knitting project for the race last Sunday and decided to try something new instead of doing the logical thing and working on a project that is already in progress! I used a little bit of yarn left over from the Diamond Socks to make this little cell phone sleeve*:





I have wanted to make one for a while to keep my phone from getting scratched by keys, sunglasses or random pens in my purse. Since I like purses that are basically just an open bag, things always end up jumbled at the bottom and a few times I have found my phone flipped open in there. We'll see how well it stays on. I am considering adding a little button to the top but only if it really does not want to stay in on its own.

Do you like my Spongebob pajama pants? I put them on at 5:30 when I got home from work. (Then I fell asleep on the couch for two and a half hours.) Gotta get over this cold so I can sleep at night like a normal person!

Today was a federal holiday but unlike Wendy, I didn't get the day off. =( Of course, I can't really complain since I worked on purpose to get comp time for later this month. I CAN complain that the power and air handling system were off in the morning so it was 90 degrees in the lab the rest of the day. Blah.

**It's not really a case and I'm sure not going to call it a cozy!

Winter Hats (already?!)

I picked up a skein of Plymouth Encore Colorspun the other week to make a winter hat for Omi's birthday (my Grandma). I really love the colorspun Encore. Here is the ribby hat I made for her:





I had almost half the skein left over after finishing so I thought I would use the rest to make a hat for my other Grandma. Unfortunatly, I think it is going to be a little too big for her since it is almost too big for me. I'll have to buy some more yarn and try again - 'cause I'm not taking this one apart! =)





Hmm... sorry for the strange photo; I'll have to get someone to take another one for me. (Hey - is my nose really that crooked?? Hopefully it is just the camera angle...)

I know who my secret pal is!

Many thanks to Erin in WA who was a great secret pal! Here are the contents of the package I received from her yesterday:





Too much fun. I'm not sure what I want to try first!

I remembered that since I was at Lakeside Labs when I received her second package, I never posted the contents here. There were some great things in it, include a bag she made for me!





Inside the bag (which now contains sock knitting) were some birthday goodies such as lip balm, lotion, and candles, including the ones below which are fitting in nicely on my knitting shelf.





Once again, thanks so much Erin!