What I’ve Been Up To

Well, there’s the (very fuzzy/sideways photo of) progress on the Temperature Blanket. I’m over a month behind on this one. April and May were BRUTAL on my crafting. I basically was lucky if I could sit down and get part of a row in. I’m catching up now though. I’m figuring that once I get through April’s temperatures, I’ll be finishing this blanket. It will be about 6 feet in length by then. That should be plenty long enough.

My Chocolate and Pink Socks are also suffering from very little progress. I’ve basically knit just a few rounds beyond the waste yarn of the “heel”. And. No matter how much I knit on them, they don’t seem to get any length beyond that waste yarn. I’m not sure where those stitches go, but it’s definitely not onto the length of those darn socks! And. NOW, I remember why I don’t like to knit socks!

I almost forgot I had started this Red Lady Kina mentioned in this post. I found it hiding in the back of the closet. It apparently does not want to be finished. I haven’t even gotten to the point where I can divide for the sleeves. I KNEW there was a reason I had a sweater phobia!

Speaking of sweaters, I started this shrug-type sweater. It’s Lion brand yarn’s fault. They are the ones that kept sending me emails of cute shrug-type sweaters. I couldn’t get the idea out of my head. I had to start a new sweater. I couldn’t even remember I had this sweater phobia thing.

So, that’s where we are today. PLENTY of projects to work on! What’s your WIPs look like? Got any fun projects you’re working on?

Breakfast on-the-Go

It’s been awhile (again) since I’ve written a post. I think I’ve mentioned, this is a crazy time of year for me. This year has been EXTREMELY crazy for me. Without going into detail, let me just say, not everyone in management understands what goes into running a garden center. Cutting back on your labor costs is not the best place to cut your budget. You know, unless you don’t care if your nursery is full of dead plants……Rant over.

Needless to say, I’ve been busy. Busier than usual. And. Breakfast is not always something I take the time to do (I know. I know!). But. In March, I bought this cool little Ceramic Egg Cooker and in around 2 minutes, I can cook a 2 to 4 egg omelet in the microwave! Okay, you can also cook an omelet in any mug…..BUT. There’s something about the lid (with a hole to let steam escape) that keeps the eggs from getting rubbery tasting like they do in a mug.

I’ve also done blueberry muffins. So good!

And. Oatmeal. I didn’t have any bananas, so, I just cooked the oatmeal without the bananas and added strawberries and dark chocolate chunks. It was AMAZING!

Want cake for breakfast? This Chocolate Mug Cake is really good (especially with whipped cream!) Or. Duncan Hines has a new line of cake/muffin mixes! I can’t wait to try them all! What’s for breakfast at your house?

Chocolate and Pink Socks

Recently I finished my first pair of “successful” socks. And. By “successful”, I mean they fit and they’re wearable. But. They’re not exactly perfect…..

You might not notice it, but the stitches are loose-ish. MUCH better than when I try to knit with just a single strand of sock yarn….Here’s one of the epic fails in my sock knitting adventures. Don’t laugh, but this might be my worst knitting disaster EVAH! Who even knows what went wrong with these?!?! Now you know why I gave up knitting socks!

But. After I finished these Doubled-yarn Socks and they kind of looked like socks. And seem wearable. And were a pleasure to knit. I decided to make a few changes to my “pattern” to see if the next pair would be even better. SO. I cast on the same amount of stitches onto size 2 needles (instead of the size 4 I had used before). The fabric seems much tighter and I’m enjoying these socks even more than the pair before. I just might become a sock knitter yet. Which will be good, because for a non-sock knitter, I’ve amassed quite a stash of sock yarn……

Finished Socks!

I finished these socks recently. Whoohoo! I also have to report, the method I used made knitting socks more enjoyable for me. I’m not going to lie, there’s some things I don’t like about the finished product. BUT. They’re finished. They’re wearable. And. They were actually a pleasure to knit! In fact, I started a new pair of socks yesterday. I took the things I didn’t like about these socks and did some modifications for the new pair. I’ll post the changes and progress soon. Oh happy day! I might become a sock knitter yet!

Sock Progress

I hadn’t realized this, but I haven’t written a post since March 4th. Okay. Granted, I’ve been busy….but, March 4th. That’s well over a month! That means I missed Saint Patrick’s Day, the First day of Spring and Easter (and anything else I missed!)….. So, I hope everyone had a great March and first half of April.

I know this is a busy time of the year in my life as I work in the nursery department of our local hardware store. At this time of year, it’s all plants, patio furniture, BBQ’s, fountains, soils and garden chemicals in my life. Ordering, watering, loading, stocking, selling, re-stocking….you get the idea. But. I don’t want to neglect the blog either. I’ll try to do better. 😉

This morning I’m starting the heel of my socks (as mentioned in this post). An AfterThought Heel to be exact. It’s really the only heel I’ve ever done, as I’ve only ever knit 2 pairs (of epic fail) socks before. AND. I like it! If I’m going to knit socks (and I might, because this 2 sock yarns held together is working out really well for me so far), this is the heel I choose!

It’s great for me, because I just knit around and around until I get to where the heel should start. Knit the heel stitches onto waste yarn, knit around and around until I bind off the cuffs (it could be done the other way too if you wanted to start with a cuff down sock….) with a Stretchy Bind-off.

Now, I just come back to the waste yarn, pick up the stitches above and below the waste yarn. Remove waste yarn and now I have an open hole to knit the heel with….

It’s genius really! And perfect for those of us who can’t figure out what’s going on with a “real heel”!

Well. That’s all for now folks….I’ve got heels to knit. Hopefully soon, I’ll have finished socks to show you!

Projects and Progress

I previously mentioned my phobia about knitting sweaters. Well, I’m pleased to say, I found a sweater project I think might help me overcome that phobia. Lady Kina. I decided I should knit something easy-ish so I would get some confidence in this sweater-making category. I think this pattern will be that project. We shall see……

Then. An email with a  Bernat pattern for Family Knit Work Socks showed up in my inbox. I printed off the pattern because they were cute. Even though I don’t like to knit socks. I’ve had tensioning issues with sock yarn/socks. But. This was pattern was knit from worsted weight and I said to myself “that might not be bad if they’re made from a worsted weight yarn”. So. I dug out some sock yarn and decided to hold it double to get a “sort-of worsted weight”. I might regret this project/decision. Not like it hasn’t happened before….

I can’t really complete a progress report without mentioning the Temperature Blanket. It’s coming along. Although, I should mention I’m about 10 days behind at this point (I should have seen this coming….). I need to spend part of my weekend getting caught up on this, I guess.

How’s your projects coming along?

A Diamond Shawl is FINISHED!

Pattern: Elizabeth’s Diamond Shawl

Yarn: Serenity Sock Yarn

It’s FINISHED! My shawl for the Knit-along 2017. I have to say, I’m not sure why I waited SO long to knit a beaded project. It really adds to the project!

It’s very pretty.

And. It makes me feel like an Artist. That’s the sign of a good project….don’t you agree?