Ketch-up

Kind of a ketch-up sort of color, don't you think?

Here's my clue 3 from the Spring Shawl Surprise. I actually finished this last week sometime, and plunged into clue 4. I was hoping to get it done last weekend, but hardly even picked it up. Not for lack of desire, just something more pressing took my attention. I am almost done with clue 4, and if work goes as it's been, I will finish it before the end of the week. Now that I am past clue 2, things are going so much better. It was really kicking my butt, and I have come to terms with it's victory and doubled my efforts to achieve some sense of accomplishment. The group has just issued clue 8, so I am only sort of behind. I can still catch the group if I progress as I have over the last few weeks, and put my head down and just keep pedaling ( I'll be at the top of the hill in no time...if it doesn't kill me first).

BTW, the night out with my Sweetie was WONDERFUL! We went out to dinner and a movie, without kids in tow. My husband is already planning on a repeat in a month or so for our anniversary. It will be fun.

Happy Valentine's Day

From my Sweetie.

I actually received them yesterday, and any time you get flowers from your sweetie, well to quote someone famous " It's a good thing!"

I have them at work so I can enjoy them all day ( and besides, so far I was the only one to get flowers at work. OK girls, eat you heart out!!!).

We will be going out for dinner on Sunday, just the 2 of us, so I am getting kind of excited about tghe idea. It's been a long time since we've been able to go out without the girls coming too.

happy Valentine's Day everyone, now go out and hug someone.

I May Need To Re-think This

I know New Year's resolutions are made to be broken, so I try, as a rule, to not mke them. This year, I decided there were a few things I needed to change so I made "Promises to do better".

1. Be better at paying the bills on time- it's not so much that I don't have the money (although there have been things have been pretty darn tight). Just lazy at sitting down with the bills AND the checkbook at the same time.

2. Post more regularly. Keep better tabs on where I'm at, and what I'm up to.

3. Try to reduce the stash. Any stash. This is my year to de-clutter. Oh sure, I did buy more yarn in January, but it doesn't count (any knitting fiend will atest to that!). But, in general, I want to start eliminating some of the piles I have built up around me, and find better homes for the stuff I am not using, haven't used inyears, and won't use in the foreseeable future.

4. Try to finish what I start. This kind of works in conjunction with #2. If I can finish some of the projects I've started, I could use up some of the stuff I have in my stash, waiting for my attention.

5. Not jump on every boat with the intials K-A-L. I am addicted to them. I have signed up for too many this spring, and now some of them are really kicking my butt!

A - The Spring Shawl Surprise is the first to come to mind. Althought this started at the beginning of January, I am only half way through clue2. I have had to re-start this a few times, them stop in progress to go back and fix things. It's a grewat pattern, but I refuse to let it get the best of me! I keep trying to move along ( just slower to hopefully reduce the mistakes).

B - The Secret of the Stole II -Clue 2 shown above. This one knits up nice. I like this one. Here I have just finished clue 2, and will embark on clue 3. The group has released Clue 3 and will release clue 4 on Friday (tomorrow). The good thing is once I start working on this, it knits up nicely. Fun to knit.

C - Dem-Fischer-sin-fru This one just started up 2 weeks ago, and I am only just casting on ( I was waiting for yarn to arrive). I'm not sure about the hshape, but I like the challange of the pattern none-the-less.

D - Mystery Shawl#6 - half way through clue 4 (so much for posting the completed clue anytime soon). In my last post I showed a picture through clue 3, and it's looking pretty good. I should just concentrate on finishing this off, but I have other things that need to take precedence. This might get shifted to the UFO drawer until later in the spring (at least until after Easter).

E - Galveston Shawl. Yes, I'm still plugging away on this. I am on around row 20 of 34 for clue 6 ( before starting the knit on border). This thing is hugh - before blocking. It will be larger then large once blocked. Although the idea does kind of excite me and makes me want to finish it. i can almost see an end in sight... the thought of completeing something has me kind of giddy. I can't think of any project I'v finished yet since the New Year....started many, completed few.

What is the New Year anyway, but another date on the calander. See if these were resolutions, I would not be making too much progress, but sice they are simply Promises, I feel like I am keeping my own or slowly making progress.

Clue One Done

Here's the first clue done. It's kind of hard to tell from the photo, but this is a purplish navy, not the "True Navy" it was labeled. I really like it. Since the yarn was very tin, I used it doubled, on a US 2. I started with straight needles, and quickly switched to a circular needle. I am not too far behind on this one. I have started the 2nd clue already, and the third clue doesn't come out until Friday. There's hope...

On the green winter Mystery Shawl, I'm still on clue 4. It's slow going. I am excited to get it done, just lost a little momentum. I really am so close, and all the pictures I've seen of the finished project is beautiful.

I said I would, so here goes

I managed to finish clue 3 of the Mystery Shawl#6. I actually finished Friday night, but couldn't get to the computer due to DH and DD. They tend to hog the computer for their on-line games. It's looking good. I am just about to start clue 4, and hope to finish that clue by the end of this week. I have already signed up for the next Mystery Shawl that starts in March(? I think. It could be February).

I went to Reno this last weekend to visit Family, and took along my Spring Shawl Surprise. I thought I had everything sorted out and was progressing nicely(after ripping out several rows last week), but noticed something is messed up (again along the right side of the middle design. I tried to un-knit a small portion but had to stop, as it looked like I was messing it up further. I wanted to wait until I had better light and less distraction before picking that up again.

On the good news side, I also took along my Galveston Shawl, and was able to finish clue 5, and start on clue 6 (which seems to knit faster). The sides are getting big, so knitting a round seems to take quite a bit of time. I am getting excited about finishing this off(even though if I stop to think about it, I have about 30 rows of clue 6 to do, then the border around this piece, so we are still talking about a lot of knitting on this project, but an end is insight). As I work on this, I often dream about what color I would have liked to have done this in. Right now it is a vanilla color, but I am thinking of dying it a Wedgwood/french blue when done. We'll see.

I am loving the knitting. It's good to be clicking the needles again after a dry (knitting project wise) holiday. Now after several hours of knitting, I am slowed bu aching hands, bummer, but to be expected ( we're talking 4-5 hours of knitting). I guess one doesn't live on knitting along.....

Better Late Then Never

I feel like I haven't done much lately, but I do have Clue 2 for the Mystery Shawl#6 to show. I am almost done with clue 3, I hope to post pictures by the end of this week. I am very please with how this is coming along.

I also have clue #1 of the Spring Shawl Surprise done. I had about half of clue 2 done when I found I had a problem that really needed to be frogged back and corrected. Since this meant time and concentration, I had put it aside for about a week. Unfortunately these things done fix themselves (I kept hoping the knitting elves would make a secrete appearance, but to no avail). Finally I bit the bullet and proceeded to fix my problem on the piece. I ended up un-knitting 12 rows of the piece. While i was re-rolling the yarn back on the spool, I managed to knock over my fresh cup of coffee...all over everything on the desk(at least this time I missed my keyboard, unlike last week).

And ii finally found my Galveston Shawl, and slowly am working on this as well. I had it before Christmas, but then couldn't find it for several weeks there ( I had put it one of the Xmas ornament boxes, so it was put back in the garage for the whole holiday period. I was so frustrated, because I had seen it one day, and not the next, and had a vague image of me putting somewhere that made sense at the time (dope. I can't even blame the well-meaning-but-often-clueless-when-it-comes-to- knitting guy. Nope, I'm pretty sure it was me). At least i have it now. I have 4-5 rows to go on clue 5, then 6 and 7 to finish. It is making progress, albeit slow.

As much as I love the holidays, and this year was good-relaxing and fun, I sure am glad it's over and things are sort of back to normal. kids are back to school, and work is going. I am a little worried about work, but I'll either have a job or I wont. You keep hearing stories about the economy going bad, and we sort of see it, but by-and-large, we don't quite yet. I sometimes panic about losing my job then trying to make the end smeet with the kids tuition and the house payment. I just have to calm myself down, and remind myself, we have a little nest egg for just such emergencies. things will work themselves out...one way or another.

Back to the needles for now. I do fine if I take life, one stitch at a time.

Keep Smiling.

Another Holiday Has Come...

The aftermath, the carnage, Oh it was pretty gruesome! Christams this year seem to go on for days. This was probably just my imagination (that and having to stay home with the kids those few days after Christmas), but now I am almost (choke) looking forward to returning to work on Wednesday.

It was a full holiday season with 2 Christmas pagents for the Kids ( one each), plus parties for friends and family, plus working full time leading up to the day and trying like the dickens NOT to be sick(again) for Christmas. There were football games to go to(I just had to scream and holler for my team...to the point of losing my voice carrying-on such). It was all great fun, until the 2 days before Christmas when the cold hit hard. At least I was slightly better then my husband, who got hit hard with it shortly after me. I was able to cook the Christmas dinner for the family, and try to generally help the kids to enjoy the holiday. In the end it was a good thing I was off for the 3 days after Christmas, to stay home and try and shake the bug.

During all this time at home, I haven't done much on the craft front. My COS shawl is still sitting half way through clue 4(I ended one ball of yarn, and haven't dug the second ball out of the stash pile...). The Daffodil is still sitting around the same place I left it earlier this year. I am just about to embark on several KALs that are scheduled to start at the New Year, but I am wondering if that's a good idea.....


Here is clue one from the Mystery Shawl #6, this group started to work on it back at the beginning of December, and I am only this far along (not bad I guess considering I only started it after Christmas)...

Ok, I have to go, with everyone home, they wait until I get on the computer to decide they need it too. Ugh.

I will try agian later to post more news of what's been going on.

Hope your holidays were Merry.