The Sweet Life

It's been a very busy week (including sickness), so here's some yarn pictures for you all to enjoy.
All Sweet Georgia yarn, as promised in the last post. Most of the yarn is sport weight, but the two blue skeins at the bottom are fingering weight. I wish I could remember the colorways, but alas, I cannot. The yarns aren't marked with the colorways either.
I like Sweet Georgia's slogan, if you will. Unapologetic color. It truly is amazing color. Soft and squishy yarn too. It's too bad that I can't take decent pictures for you. I really should start to bribe the hubby into taking my knitting photos, and/or making me a light box.

I have a surprise to share with you next post. I can't wait to share it! No, it's not a completed FLS, or even anything to do with knitting....but it's wonderful, and I can't wait to tell you about it. Stay tuned, and
enjoy the weekend! We're having a touch of warmer weather here, for which I am eternally grateful.

Mindless Knitting

I'll admit it. I am cheating on the FLS. Last night, after spending all day with my sick daughter, and then having a pager attached to my side (it's attached until 8:00 am this morning), I needed something mindless to do with my hands. I don't consider the gull lace pattern of the FLS to be mindless. While it's certainly not the most intricate lace pattern I've ever knit, it does beg my full attention. So, last night I cast on for a scarf for my SIL. I had promised her the one that was being knit in Yarn Pirate fingering wt yarn, but it's another 16 row repeat of lace, and not mindless either. So, I cast on for this lovely in Malabrigo. It's the Hummingbird colorway. This colorway is very pretty, and it has the lime green in it that will match her winter coat (it's also hard to photograph, but most everything is for me). The pattern is the very effective, Scrunchable scarf pattern. Quick. Easy. Simple. Just what I needed. And Malabrigo..........mmmmm......one of my favorites!

Moving Right Along

Moving right along with the FLS. I'm finally past the sleeve division (for the second time). The picture is pretty dark (surprise, isn't it), but the colors are fabulous! Thanks to Blue Moon for putting two of my favorite colors together tastefully! The colorway I'm using is "Thraven," and it's considered one of their Raven colorways (meaning it has its roots in the color black).
I'm currently working on the body, I'm hopeful that I'll be able to knit at least 2-3 lace repeats each night this week.
Here's hoping you have a great week! Later this week, I'll try to post some pretty Sweet Georgia yarn that I was lucky enough to procure last week in her latest update (a minor miracle of sorts).

TINK

TINK = To unknit, to unravel. Or IMHO, to pull out your hair when you realize you've done 24 repeats of two rows, instead of actually reading the pattern to see that it says, do a TOTAL of 24 repeats (which means actually doing 23 repeats). I spent 2.5 hours TINKING (see above knitter's definition) 2 rows of garter stitch to unknit 8 stitches from my count (please note there were 291 stitches instead of 283 at the end of my increase rows - UGH). So.............I'm almost finshed with yoke.
No pictures today, but I can reccomend watching "The Secret Life of Bees." You can read it too, which I did a long time ago. The movie is a pretty darn good adaptation of the book, and I was pleasantly surprised with the chosen cast of characters. Rent it or buy on blue ray or DVD today! :)
Next post with pictures, I promise!

Third Time's A Charm

Confession time.
I have never knit an adult garment (ok, an adult sweater). I tried to knit one this fall, and it's still on the needles. This confession has been rather hard for me, as I don't consider myself to be an advanced knitter, but I should be able to knit an adult sweater, even a stockinette stitch one.
I got to thinking about trying new things, and how I usually stick within my comfort zone. And then I saw the February Lady Sweater (FLS) KAL on Ravelry - specifically with STR heavyweight. I had this in my stash. I figured now must be the time. It is, afterall, the month of February.
So, February 2, 2009, I cast on for the sweater. Once. This is good, usually you just cast on a project once, and knit the project. Nope, not me. I failed the buttonhole miserably.
Enter February 3, 2009 - I cast on again, but this time I armed myself with practice sessions in knitting buttonholes. I knit the one shown in the tutorial on the FLS sweater pattern. It's actually published by Maggie Rhigetti, in her famous chapter entitled, "Buttonholes are Bastards." I must say, that while I disapprove of the language, I agree wholeheartedly that buttonholes are difficult and can be fiddly.
I knit to almost 10 repeats of the garter stitch yoke - you know, the one that goes on forever, when I realized that my stitch count was a bit off - so I frogged back again (only, guess what - the stitch count wasn't off. I was).
Enter this morning - I cast on for the third time, and have sailed past that first buttonhole.
My STR is hard to photograph (ok, most things are hard to capture for me, but I have a Kodak Easyshare, so give me a break). It's the Thraven Colorway. It's black with a small amount of a teal color. Gorgeous! I love knitting with it too.
But, I tell you, if this sweater does not fit me, I will not post about it. So, if you see a finished FLS, you know I was successful. And if not......well, there's always socks! :)
PS - Working the next 6 days in a row. Is it Tuesday yet? That's my next day off work!

SSP for a SS Daughter

Stats:
Super Secret Project for a Super Special Daughter
Claudia's Handpainted Sport Weight in the Steelers Colorway
Needles: Size US #2 Addi Turbo
Started: 1/24/09
Finished: 1/31/09.
I finished just in time for the big game tonight.
You see, my oldest daughter is a sports phanatic. She loves to watch football and baseball especially. We originally thought it might be an exciting thing to have two Pennsylvania teams compete in the Super Bowl, but the Eagles, well, we don't talk about that around these parts anymore. It would have been a great year for a Pennsylvania Super Bowl, with the Phillies already claiming the World Series Title.
Anyway, back to the socks. I think, or at least hope, that she has no clue that I've knit these for her. I ordered the yarn right after the Steelers secured their position as one of the Super Bowl teams. The yarn arrived just in time for me to start them last weekend. I was seriously disturbed with myself when I hadn't finished the first sock by Thursday (work is really busy). But alas, I finished it, and spent some late nights knitting, and working on the second sock pretty much non-stop. There is a lot to be said about knitting monogamy, because I haven't touched another project all week. Last night around 10:00pm, I managed to finish the second sock. I might add that I put in 3 hours of work yesterday, a major trip to the grocery store, and played 6 games of volleyball in between the knitting. Thank heavens for a fabulous husband who did our laundry this week!
For those of you not familiar with my oldest daughter, she is indeed super special. She was born with a rare, genetic disorder. She's the second diagnosed American patient with this disorder. When she was first born, doctors predicted that she wouldn't live to be a year old. Today, she is sixteen, and most times, a joy to behold. She is quite small (I keep telling her that good things come in small packages), and has quite a laundry list of special needs, including learning disabilities. As a parent of a second child where things come a bit easier and quicker, it sometimes seems as though life is not fair (even though the second child started out as a peanut too, weighing a whopping 1.5 lbs at 24 weeks gestation). It's been a bit hard to balance the different needs of each child, even when special needs are not involved.
So, Lauren, the oldest child of my heart, these socks are for you. I said a prayer for you with each stitch I knit. You are an inspiration to me. You touch so many lives with your love. I'm proud to be your Mom.
PS - GO STEELERS!