A Delightful ball of energy

July 19th we all gathered at Borders for a extra Thursday night knit night (Tuesday nights are knit nights except when there is a special reason). We all were patenting waiting. Her plan landed late because of a storm in Atlanta. We got a little antsy, The Pattern Whisperer was trying to whisper a pattern, Joyous was busy contemplating knitting of course. Then they were stuck in traffic, proceeded with the usual yarn porn, aka show and tell aka the blessing of the yarn. Shared new books, patterns or tools acquired since last week, congratulated the ones that had finished objects and yes knitted. All waiting for the arrival of our special guest, our Sister from across the pond.

Then she appeared in front of us. There was Jo. So happy and bubbly, so excited even though some of us just met her for the first time, she hugged each one of us individually. I don' know where she got all her energy she was up for 20 some odd hours when we saw her. She was almost in tears because she had waited for so long to be with us. Our time together passed so quickly. Jo was able to spend the next two days with Angluna for 2 days on her world wind journey to Texas. She flew home on Sunday morning, we know she will come back to be with us again some day. I finished another square. This is just all simple seed stitch. Not very pretty but it used up some more yarn that was leftover.
This one is a diagonal stitch. This got a little wonkie it kept growing and growing even when I was decreasing. I did slack off for a bit and didn't knit squares for a while. I am making an effort to knit 10 rows a night.

And this is the progress I have made on Tim's sock, only 10 more inches to go before I can add 2 inches of ribbing. He's really happy with the way it's turning out. I am impressed with myself on the way it's turning out. Next sock yarn for him will be out of a different yarn. I have several skeins of sock yarn and want to start knitting socks for me but Nope... have to finish these for him.

This is the 3rd hexagon for the BaSalt tank I am going to knit half of one to put in at the bottom of #1. We will see if it turns out the way I want.

I am still working on finishing the shrug for Rene, I am not sure if it is turning out the way I want, one sure way is to finish it and then I will see.

Tomorrow is knit night, the highlight of the day.

Waiting for a Sister

The Sisters of the Wool are excitedly awaiting a visit from one of our Sisters that usually does not make it on Tuesday nights. We are having a very special second meeting this week to welcome one of our Sisters from far far away. Travel safely Jo. We will all get to meet you soon.

It's here!!! It's here!!!! It's here!!!!

My invitation to Ravelry is finally here!!!!!!! To find me on Ravelry look for KnitstressMary

I caught Smudge in the bathroom window, with the sunlight streaming in, he just looked so regal, so Smudgley, upon his throne of books. That is one of his many thrones. Now onto Knitting!!!! First the update on the DH's socks. Foot is done heel is turned and now onto the leg. He would like these up over his calf so I am not 100% how long I have to make it but the good thing about toe up I can keep trying them on. The back of the sock will have the same cable design, I am going to be adding stitches to the sides to that it will allow for his bigger calves. first now not sure how many stitches, but again toe up will help so I can check them once a day. He is thrilled with them so far, he loves it that it fits so well. I am pretty amazed at how well it's fitting.

Next update my Basalt Tank, I kind of frelled up on the second hexagons, some of the knitting was on the wrong side but it's going to be like that.

Also this week I am working on fixing my niece's shrug. I need to add about 3 or 4 inches to both sides of the shrug. I also am working on a square for charity. I will take more photos of things this week

I am only 205 people away from my Ravelry invite. I should have it by knit night. I did want to mention that I ordered yarn from someone new to me Cider Moon I ordered on the 12th and by the 14th it's in my freezer. I saw the right purple for the Baby Surprise Sweater that I am going to be knitting for a firend. I haven't even gotten the pattern yet but I have the yarn. So with service like that I have to put them on my list of people I will use.

Ravelry wait time

Found you!
You signed up on May 28, 2007
You are #5738 on the list.
205 people are ahead of you in line.
10559 people are behind you in line.
33% of the list has been invited so far

DH's First socks

I promised the DH a pair of socks after I was satisfied with making a pair that fit me. Well I finally learned and now the DH is getting a pair of red white and blue socks. When I found a pattern called the Boyfriend socks pattern The pattern was designed by a lovely person called the Slipped Stitch. Well... it was a knitting disaster for at least 3 days,the socks had to go into time out. it was just coming out way big. The stitch count was fine while I was increasing, but as soon as I started the pattern it grew by a quarter of an inch. It was quite vexing. I had to finally go down to size 1 needles, and medium size and finally it was coming out right. Well except for now, I just noticed an error I made in the pattern. Now do I leave it as it and call it a pattern alteration or do I frog again??? I will decide that later. At least I have a safety line in where the toe decreases stop. I also thought I would try doing things in 3 so I started with the increases on the 3rd stitch and not the second as I typically do, by the 6th time of increasing the sock started looking too boxie so I did the increases on the second stitch.

Tomorrow is knit night and I am going to take Rene's shrug with me because I have to add at least 3 inches to it maybe even 4. I have a few questions for my Sisters in Wool.



Still no invitation to Ravelry, but I had an email from them yesterday, there are about 1000 people in front of me so I guesstimate somewhere within two weeks I should be getting my invitation.


I have been experimenting with doing a rag rolled effect in the bathroom. I think I like this We will see how it looks on a whole wall.

And presenting the new floor in the guest bedroom. It's beautiful, it took DH and a friend about six hours to do. Our bathroom is done except for the shower rod and a new liner. I think we will need a new shower curtain in the hall bath. I will see when we have finished painting.

And now back to Knitting

First I knot it's been a while but when you work full time, work on remodeling the house part time there is little time left for knitting let alone blogging. We will start this episode with a cat and his modern day mouse. Smudge looked too sweet so of course I had to take advantage of the moment. But with no further adieu .....

My Baudelaire's! SKOŃCZONE!!! I used a pattern called Baudelaire.

The pattern is created by the very talented Cookie A and can be found in the Summer 2006 issue of Knitty.

I used one skein of Madeline Tosh Sock yarn in a colorway called Martha Stuart. Sorry everyone I am told the color is no longer available, there is one that is close called Robin's Nest. This was my first socks done with a Magic 8 cast on and knit on 2 Knit picks circulars size 2 and knit toe up. Thank you my Sisters of the Wool and the Pattern Whisperer for helping me when I got lost. The first one I knit in the large size, the second I knit in the medium size, I like the fit on the medium better. I have to learn when to stop knitting the foot so that I can start working the gusset. Remember to use safety lines. I will make these again but not next. the next set of socks are for the DH.

Now this next little pretty is the Very Berry T- Shirt found on Mag knits Look in the March 2007 issue to find it. This one is the one I made for my niece Bella. The yarn is The color is called Cotton Candy. I made and identical one for my other niece Jada out of a color called Sherbet. I had hoped her mom would send a photo of her in it but nothing yet. Bella's mom better take a picture of her in it.

Lastly my first real piece with cables. Called the Shell Tank, from the book Knitting Nature.
I made it out of Rowan's cotton knitting yarn. I can see in the photo that I did not have the same dye lot, oh well.

I have a plan for knitting. I get bored easily with one project. So I will have 3 projects on needles all the time. One will be socks. One can never have enough socks, one will be a new project and one will be a UFO.

If anyone has any patterns for toe up socks, women's or men's... can you please leave me the info I did not realize it was this difficult to find patterns that are toe up. We start phase 2 of the remodel tomorrow. Oh joy!!! This one involves the guest bedroom, the hallway and the hall bath.

I will try to blog again no later than a week from today. Enjoy and leave me comments.

End of SP10

The end of SP10 "Lucy" revealed herself to me. She is a wonderful person. Her name is Lora, she is brilliant, and extremely creative. She is also very caring. When she read about the "tornado knitting" she was so concerned that she had to email me to ask if I was ok.

She read my blog several times to find things out about me. She went through my wish list.

She's brilliant, she somehow figured out I like pirates, and sewed me this lovely pr irate bag and made me these awesome stitch markers.

I was speechless when I saw them, they are just perfect. Now all I need is one of these Yarn

and I am all set for Knit Night.

Lora, has a cute little shop on Etsy, so go forth to her store and buy her stuff! Lora's Keyhole

I'll have one more post before we start on phase 2 of the house remodel. Hall bath, guest bedroom and hall way. The computer room/husband cave is scheduled for August. Be safe and dry everyone.

Oh by the way the DFW area did not break a record for the most consecutive days it's rained. We have had rain every day for 10 days straight. We would have been tied at 11. It rained so hard on Tuesday there was at least 8 inches of water on the road that we had to go take to go home on. Thank the Goddess I married a man who's name is, Take the Scenic Route.

Lots of things

My wonderful SP10 in fact spoiled me. May's surprise included this beautiful hand knit bracelet, it is loaded with tiny seed beads. It's beautiful I love it!!! Everyone always compliments it and want to know where I got it. Sorry everyone my Secret Pal made it for me.

Then under the bracelet were these darling little faerie stitch holders. They are darling, I love them Thank you so much for spoiling me "Lucy". Memorial Day weekend, we were on our way to Scarborough Faire, we were driving down the road to the fair and saw this lump in the middle of the road. As we drove past it again, we noticed it was a turtle. So, we turned around and yes right there in the middle of a two lane road, was this lump, he looked whole, looked not to be damaged, just looked like he was taking a break. We could tried to figure out how to move him... Well we found out quickly that he was a snapping turtle. And not a happy turtle. Every time we tried to move him he either lunged or turned and snapped. I've never seen a turtle move that fast. The DH managed to slide him across the one lane and we got him up and over the curb. We thought he would be safe but... he started to follow us back across the road. I tried to push him towards the creek, but I only had an umbrella and was afraid of puncturing Mr. Grumpy Snappy T . Searching in the grass, we spy with our little eyes a piece of wood laminate flooring..... We have a plan.... If we can flip him over or get him to chomp down on the plank we can pull him closer to the creek. It worked slightly, he would not cooperate. I tried to distract him in the front, and DH tried to push him from behind. Every time Mr Grumpy Snappy T saw DH behind him he wanted DH and not me. Oh I didn't mention, DH was dressed in his kilt, kilt hose, boots, and ren shirt, me I was dressed as the fierce pirate captain Stormy O'Malley. Yup, pirate boots, velvet tights, a long vest, and a short chemise. So imagine what this looked like as you drove past us. The wood laminate flooring broke and we had managed to get Mr Grumpy into the tall grass. He should be safe there. We did not see any damage to him or his shell, his feet had some minor abrasions probably from walking across the asphalt. We were both pumped because we saved the life of this 20 pound snapper. Grandmother White Mouse would be proud of us.

Drum roll please!!! Ta DA!!! the new closet floor!!! Isn't it beautiful??? I cant wait to share the photos of the bedroom progress.

I believe either tomorrow or Friday I will have time to post photos from my SP10 present #3. My Lucy sent my present and I am totally floored. She picked the most perfect things. I know at least one of my sisters in wool on Tuesday will love the bag . I adore it!!! And the stitch markers.... MINE MINE MINE!!@!!@... and the yarn...l. mmmmmmm yummie.... I am the luckiest person to get such a wonderful SP10.... and now I finally get to read her blog!!! I don't know what's been driving me nuts not knowing who she is or not being able to get to know her better through her blog. Thank you Lucy, this has been very special to me.

!!!!1

One Sock

This is a photo of the Baudelaire socks that my knitting group knitted in our first knit along for 2007. I have one done completely and one all that is left is to put in the cuff. I am going to get very little knitting done over the next week. We are painting, and putting in flooring in the bedroom We started with the closet, My rather our closet is about 5 by 8 it's painted, and I have painted the trim. We still have the trim that surrounds the door and the door to work on. The DH is going to put flooring in, no it's not wood but a laminate. I am hoping that he is able to put the flooring in tomorrow so that when I get home from work we can put things back in the closets and start moving things out of the bedroom so that we can start that project. The bedroom is only 16 x15 ft and there is a cathedral ceiling. The builders down here put that Styrofoam crap on every ceiling, yes I know we could scrape it off but it's just way too much work to do that and put the floor in. Also down here, they put texture on the walls. I am getting very little knitting done right now. I am making some progress on my shell top but no where near finished. The sad thing is that I will be skipping knit night Tuesday night. I would love to go knit but I can leave the DH home alone and go off with my friends to knit. It's pretty much rained all weekend long maybe some day the sun will come out again.

I'm off to bed tomorrow another day of approving medical professionals to work.

This is what the new floor will look like.

BAUDELAIRE SOCKS!!!

We are close to having Baudelaire Socks!!! My Tuesday night knitting group is doing a Knit a long, we are all making the Baudelaire Socks by Cookie A. I love this pattern allot. I am feeling brave enough to try out some more of Cookie's sock patterns. The pattern can be found in the Summer 2006 issue of Knitty. Mine are in the back row, on the right side. I am using a yarn that I bought at the DFW Fiber Fest. It's a Madeline Tosh yarn. The colorway is called Martha Stewart.

This is the left foot ready to start the leg.

This is the right one I have one more pattern repeat and then the cuff.

This is a close up of the lace it travels up the back of the leg and the front of the leg. There are also cables on the inner leg and outer leg. Cables are part of the plan for this year. I have learned the figure 8 cast on and love it. This is a toe up sock and I am convinced that toe up is the only way to knit socks. I am also using two 16 inch cable needles and not the magic loop. Magic loop is nice but it's too much cable that is left loose for me and I wasn't happy doing that way. I always knit two socks at the same time because it's the only way I avoid the dreaded SSS (second sock syndrome). I will probably do this pattern again but in another colorway. I suddenly have an abundance of sock yarn

My goal for this weekend is to weave in the yarn on Rene's shrug, take photos of it and get it in the mail. I also want to work on the secret present and finish this square. Oh I have started knitting the Shell tank top from Knitting Nature in a bright yellow cotton. I have only started the back and have about 4 inches knit. This one may take a while.

Happy Birthday to Me!

May 6th was my birthday. It was a quiet remembrance. DH bought me roses, took me out to dinner, a dueling piano bar, I spent most of Saturday flat on my back, it appeared that it, my back, decided to go out that day. So any plans that we had were squelched. Today we went to Simpatico yarns and I didn't buy any yarn. They give you a 15% discount on your birthday. I couldn't find anything I liked and when I did they didn't have it in the color I wanted. So no yarn for me today.

This is a photo of the Baudlier socks that we are working on in my knitting group. Mine are the ones in the lower right hand corner. I haven't done much knitting this weekend. I think this week will be more productive.

Baudelaire

This is the beginning of my Baudelaire socks pattern by Cookie A. It's in the summer 2006 issue of Knitty. The yarn is by Madeline Tosh and the colorway is Martha Stewart. I was able to do both socks up to the gusset. I am so excited they are turning out better than I expected.

Coffee swap part 2

QUESTIONS1. Whole bean or ground?Ground is better 2. Fully-loaded or decaf?Fully - Loaded 3. Regular or flavored?I love flavored but will drink regular 4. How do you drink your coffee? Splenda and unsweetened creamer. 5. Favorite coffee ever?So far it's country harvest blend by Carolina Coffee Co http://carolinacoffeecompany.com/index.asp 6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do?Well somewhat fussy, I don't like the grocery store coffee and yes I have found some gourmet places that have better coffee than Starbucks. 7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee?Yarn, knitting needles. 8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? No, 9. Yarn/fiber you love?Alpaca, Merino STR, Koigue, Yarn Pirate, Wooly Bully Madeline Tosh. 10. Yarn/fiber you hate?itchy wool 11. What's on your needles?socks, shrug, thong, sweater, scarf, lace poncho I'm sure I'm missing something. 12. Favorite colors?Jewel tones, colorways that look like roses, purples, greens reds, blues 13. Allergies? No 14. Anything you really love, Briar Rose Fibers really don't like, or just need to get off your chest?When I think of something I will let you know.

Secret Pal presents! Mom's vest, and roses

I came home from work Wednesday night from work to find my first present from my Secret Pal better know to me as Lucy, a special name we decided on for her, I would rather call her Lucy than SP10. I was thrilled with the stitch markers she sent, I just love them they are cats. Then there was this adorable tiny sock form with a pattern to make a tiny sock key chain.

Then there was the yarn... the yummie scrumptious Cherry Tree Hill, Glitter Alpaca. The colorway is called Martha's vineyard, deep purples, soft greens, blueberry blues, and a touch of glitter. I know it will make a gorgeous pair of fingerless gloves....

Then a sweet bag to hold my new stash in. I love it love it love it!

Lucy your the best. She is so sweet that when she heard about the tornado's that touched down she emailed me to make sure we were safe. She's wonderful.



This is the first rose of spring. This rose bush is always the first. I have buds on the others also but they are still green. The oleander has buds and finally the Confederate jasmine is almost there too. I don't know if the tomatoes will make it because of the rain they are looking a little yellow. I'll have to wait and see what happens.

Well it's finished here is Mom's vest. Yes I changed the pattern a bit, she really liked the double seed stitch that was on the wrap so I put it on the edge of the vest. I also sewed the one of the pockets on, she has the other pocket. I hope that she likes this one. If not I'll be knitting her another.

The next installment of the 12 days of Yule. I now have Five golden rings. I am now working on Rene's shrug, the thong from knitty and another square. I am having problems with the thong, I've tried to do the short rows twice now and each time they are off. I am going to have to read some more on wraps and turns.

I've been working now for two weeks. I am either grasping it or making mistakes. I have been told they like the way I write my emails, I communicate well. They are the most meetingest company.... Let me get a routine down let me learn the ropes then let me start going to meetings. We are supposed to be working two weeks out and in my first full week of being on my own I am at two weeks out. I've had the managers come and tell me they hear I am doing well. I have befriended the Senior Analyst. I still feel unsure of things, but I will say one thing it's easier than mortgages.

Tomorrow I am going to get something I have missed sorely.... A PEDICURE!!!! It's sandal season here already.

Secret Pal 10 Robyn's group contest #3

My favorite pattern? I've noticed that knitters for some strange reason will become obsessed with certain patterns we have the sock knitters, sweater knitters, the dish cloth knitters etc. My knitting obsession is fingerless gloves. The moment I saw the Eowyn fingerless gloves in an issue of Rowan I knew I had to have the pattern. I bought the issue of Rowan but I also googled knitted fingerless glove pattern and found many patterns. I have printed them, put them in a page protector and put them into a binder Something about fingerless gloves just appeals to me, I think they look sexy especially the Eowyn. I've made 3 pairs of them and have been asked to make another.

Now for the least favorite. I don't know if it's the colorway or the pattern or my knitting but I am not happy at all with the way the Bella is coming out. I don't know it might be the energy that is associated with the yarn but I have decided to frog the whole thing. I will make it again but in a different color. I will also use the tips that I have been given and maybe this time it won't come out so wonkie and look terrible. I can't bring myself to work on it.

Mom's vest

First I am flattered very flattered Kathy from Irisheyes Knitting blog was so fascinated by the Tornado Knitting she referenced me in her blog. Thank you Kathy.
It's taking some time but I am working on Mom's vest. The back is completely finished. I work on it before I start work, during lunch, and on the drive home, Right we we are car pooling DH works about 15 minutes from where I work so for the next week we are going to car pool twice a week to see how it works, will it safe any money on gas? Don't know but I know I can knit while he drives (yes my sisters in knitting you see my diabolical evil plot!). But on those days that I drive, I do knit while I drive. Don't worry, I knit at red lights and Stop and go traffic. Most of the progress that I have had on Mom's vest is because I knit in traffic. I have changed the pattern a little bit, Mom liked the double seed stitch I put on her wrap, so I am putting that on the vest also. The original pattern is called the Albion Vest. She wanted something plain no buttons nothing at all, So I am not even making the ties. I'll just sew on the pocket she sent back

I have been working on my monthly KAL's in the evening This one is from the group From the Heart of Texas the designer is the very talented Kayleen Clements. You will have to join her group to get the pattern it's listed in the file section under monthly KALs & CAL. No I did not knit it out of cotton, I knitted it out of left over yarn. Yes another square to add to the afghan. I thought that 9 squares would be enough but it doesn't look right, so I will have to add 6 more for it to resemble an afghan, I need to get the afghan done and sent to The Lone Knitter before the end of June to be eligible to be in her contest. I need to start the Five golden rings square to add to the the blanket. I will work on it tomorrow. I also have to post something for the SP10, probably again tomorrow. I still have another coat of nail polish to put on my fingers.

Things happen so quickly sometimes

Lets see the last entry was for Tuesday well that evening I went to my knitting group at the Starbucks at I 20 and Forest Hill. It had been raining that day. Angele got rear ended but thankfully it was not too bad. So there we are 6 of us knitting, looking through books, going over that weeks yarn porn, drinking coffees, talking about husbands, jobs, cats, sock camp etc. The last thing we expected to hear was one of the employees coming up to us and saying, "Excuse me ladies, but we have been informed that we are under a tornado warning, and you have the choice of either going to sit it out in the bathroom or leaving, but we have to lock up. Well I have never heard of anyone out running a tornado so we choose to all go to the bathroom, it was in the back away from the windows and the building is cement. Six of us piled into the bath room the employees were in the back room. We had cell phones, coffee, water, a toilet, yarn, needles, books, a flash light, and each other. Thankfully, nothing happened. The Starbucks employees were wonderful and should be commended for doing a great job. We all were safe. When I got home I found out that there had been a tornado that touched down in the area and the Starbucks we were at had a hook of the tornado over it. We were very lucky.

The next day I received my swap from the knitting book swap exchange. The book is One Skein it actually has been on my wish list. Thank you!

Thursday was the start of my new job. Yes I have finally gotten a job after being unemployed for
almost a year. I was exhausted. It's not only a change in jobs but also fields. I took a cut in pay but I am getting paid what I expected for someone with my skills and changing in fields.

Saturday was and interesting day. It snowed yes it snowed here in Texas. It was opening day at Scarborough I had to go in my jarwoll socks, my hiking boots, black jeans, thermal long sleeve shirt, sweat shirt, and my winter fleece lined cloak. It was cold. I've got a all the photos in it in my flicker account but here are a few teasers.

Queen Margaret

Queen Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII catching snowflakes on his tongue. King Henry is quite playful especially when around the wenches.

I have made some progress on mom's vest, and actaully finished another square. I will have photos of them very soon.

Bluebonnies!!!

Today the mailman was nice to me, he brought me my package from the Yarn Junkies Unite Purple swap. And lookie lookie what I got. There is this beautiful sock yarn from J Knits. Looks like I have yarn porn to share at my knitting group tomorrow. We always start off with show and feel in our group. She also enclosed my first my one and only Fancy Schmancy Stitch marker. I don't buy these for myself because when one is unemployed it's a luxury one can live without. But I finally have one!!! There was also a little tube of lotion. Wow, did she look in the mirror with me this morning. I woke up and saw little faint lines around my eyes, No not the tiny crows feet in the corners the lines.!!! YIKES... who is this old crone in the mirror looking back at me? And now for a special treat, for those that don't know it the official state flower of Texas is the Blue Bonnet. The grow along the road sides, open pastures, fields etc. Literally there are patches of blue. It's a beautiful site. Last spring we got sickly blue bonnets because of the drought. This year, it rained for a few days, and the temps spiked up into the 80's and the blue bonnets popped! To give you an idea of how many is needed to make a sea of blue, here is a photo of one, just one blue bonnet.

This is allot more than one

And this too. Easter Sunday families will be out in force taking photos in their Easter clothes in the blue bonnets. No I didn't spell it wrong up on the title. When mom was able to fly and visit us she would come out here during the early spring because summer would be too hot for her. I told her that they were blue bonnets when she asked me what was that blue flower that was growing so beautifully. She repeated blue bonnies. And in our family, it's been blue bonnies ever since.

Speaking of mom, I have the entire back of her vest finished and have started the left front. I have both wrist bands done for Garren, and now working on the head band. I am also working on the Monthly KAL's for Monthly Dishcloths and the Heart of Texas groups.