Kinko's is my friend

I've been wanting to do this for a while. I've found so many free patterns on the internet - especially now through Ravelry. They quickly get out of control. Especially some of the new shawl patterns are several pages with charts. Interweave Knits also published a multi-page 5 Top Patterns. I have them all saved on disk, but I like having the hard-copies. But don't want to kill to many trees, reprinting them. What to do?



Bind those babies! FedExKinko's is about 1 mile from my house. The trip was worth it - I brought my little expandable folder of patterns. And 9 bindings later I was a happy girl. I bound several lace shawl patterns, a great Shetland Lace book I bought on Etsy by Elizabeth Lovick. A great little mini-lace class with scarf, bookmarks, shawl, charts, lots of great info. But 65 pages, too much to manage loose leaf.

I'm going to bind some more when I have time to sort it out. It's easier to work with. I might even bind some knitting magazines - it would be much easier to work with the pattern when I can fold it flat. I wouldn't want to do it for every magazine. Just the ones with several patterns I love.

I'm making progress on my socks - Two of my socks who started the week at the gusset are now almost to the toe! Here is one of them, an Opal Rainforest yarn with colors I Love. Why did I take so long to get these on my feet!



Opal yarn is as good as it's reputation. It's deceptively soft, and I believe it will wear well. It just looks solid and durable. But the colors are lovely. Especially in their Rainforest series. This sock was the Peacock yarn, I need to decide what animal I will knit up next. I like the caterpillar yarn - a nice green with browns and yellows. Maybe that one.

And Doreen reminded me of a project that is over 10 years old. I dug it out to post pictures on Ravelry. I had one of these given to me as a little girl. I played with it in church, and Doreen did too. When I saw the pattern - before I had my babies - I knew I had to crochet it.



Everything except a bit of cardboard inside for stability and the doll is crocheted. I made this 10 years ago before I knew of "nice" yarn. I want to make it again with some lovely fingering. Maybe some hand-painted sock yarns?



It has a hidden basket in the bottom for extra clothes and dolls.


I
This tells you how much I used to crochet before I discovered knitting. It's a great art form - and I love it for projects like toys. It's sturdy and durable. Even though this is over 10 years old, and endured a toddler/little girl play from my oldest. It looks as good as the first day, except a few ends I need to weave back in. Of course - Red Heart yarn doesn't hurt. You can't damage the stuff from what I can see. Back then, Red Heart was all I knew!

I have several afghans I need to photo and upload to Ravelry, and I know I gave several away that I don't have any record of. It makes me a bit nostalgic for crochet. Maybe I need to find a nice crochet pattern to mix into my WIPs.

"Only the Lonely"

Only the lonely sock, knows how it feels........

I have a bad 2nd sock syndrome going on. As I have been cataloging stash, I've been finding various socks in progress - none of them complete. June and July are dedicated to completing these socks pairs......

A little ode to my lonely socks. Here is to several new sock pairs over the next two months.

I know I should knit 2 at a time, but I have a huge mental block against it. I guess I think it will reduce the portability having 2 long needles and two balls of yarn. Plus, I'm worried it will end up in a tangled mess.

I also love sock yarn - there are so many pretty yarns out there and it's so easy to cast on.....

Lastly - I always get stuck at the gusset. I go so fast on the leg and the foot, but the gusset bores me for some reason. If I could figure out the short-row heel perhaps I could jump over this hurdle. But for some reason I've never been able to complete one that I thought looked as good as a gusset heel.

Update: Check out my Meez! I've seen them on other sites, so I had to get me one. She's a little thicker - like Me. :) I couldn't get the face and eyes just right, it was taking too much time. I'll have to work on her when I have some more time.

Hemlock Anyone?

She's done!!!!



And I get to use my Mother's Day gift - Knitter's Block! It's not big enough - so she spills over the sides. But I love it!



Jada loves Hemlock too!



As previously mentioned, the cast off takes a while, but after you get used to it, it is not too bad. I will still use the crochet cast-off for any future versions.



And - Hemlock has a sister Rona that is coming along....




I lurve Rona. She is silky and sexy.



And she is not boring, while it's pretty easy to see what is going on. Each row is sort of different. There is some knitted lace, some lace knitting, even some ribbing which I had not done in lace before. She keeps you going each round. I only wish she had a chart - too many words! But not to difficult to visualize and follow what is going on.

Baby girl has rice all over her face, Babee Tenda and bib. I question how much is in her stomach. Back to being a mommy.

Things not to do when you are tired

1. Knit lace. I had to take a break from knitting lace before I made a mistake - and especially since I have no life line.



I will leave SanDiego on row 58 of the Rona Lace Shawl. I got to attend NONE of the conference I came to attend and I didn't get to go back to LaJolla or see the Ocean. Waah. Instead - I spent the week in the hotel room with a cold. Use my best Godfather voice in phone meetings and work on my shawl.



In case you missed my ravings about Curious Creek Meru - this is one nice yarn. I have loved every moment of knitting with this and will absolutely luv wearing it.

3. Suduko. I stink at suduko when tired.

4. Find a movie on TV, there is never anything good to find on TV when tired.

5. Listen to NPR. Love, love NPR. But not when I'm tired.

6. Take surveys to test your smartness. for some fun - I saw this on Dani's and Jane's blogs. It gave me a headache, because I was tired and was trying to think. Mistake.





I'm not sure if I'm 19% Stupid. But I am 99% tired.

7. Blog. Nuff said.

Good Night.

Historic Night

There are not too many times in your life you witness history being made.

I can recall September 11, 2001 and the tragic realization that I would remember that day the rest of my life. It was the first time I had the feeling of being a part of history, even just by witnessing the news on TV.

But tonight is a proud historic moment. As an African-American my heart soars and the tears fall. I will remember this day for the rest of my life.