Thursday, May 31, 2007

My happy place

I do most of my knitting on the couch in front of the TV. It sounds almost shameful to me- plopped on the couch in front of the idiot box, the boob toob. It works for me because I can focus on the knitting, but I enjoy the TV in the background. I'd probably like listening to pod casts or audio books just as much, but I'm a bit of a technophobe- sadly iPod-less.


Sometimes I knit in the car on longer trips. This is a pretty good compromise for the multitasker in me. The only hang up is juggling all of my stuff in the car- especially the pattern and notes.


Of course, I knit at knit group. this is very fun knitting to be sure, but rarely the most productive. There's always the talking and eating and not so much with the the reading complicated charts of watching what I'm doing.


But in summer my very favorite place to knit is right here.




This is the deck on the pond at my in-laws' cabin. This is the only place where I knit with absolute, undivided attention. This is where complicated problems are solved, where lace charts are deciphered. The only sounds are the crickets and frogs and the dogs barking on the other side of the valley.

I'm near finished with Sockapalooza sock #1 after out visit to the cabin last weekend. I'll post a pic and details when I finish the toe.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

socks, interrupted

ok, so i haven't started my pal's socks yet...for those who asked i'm making hedera here's why i haven't cast on...

see...i kinda started a sweater.



pretty, isn't it? wanna see a close-up. ok, here you go...



it's the beginning of ivy . i'm actually using the yarn called for, peruvian quechua (i love elann). its super soft and has great drape. i'm not getting gauge so i've gone up a size, lets hope this works.

i've also finally stared my second anastasia sock. i made them into knee highs and i LOVE them!


ok i swear i'll cast on this week! don't worry sockpal, your socks are on their way!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

sigh...

why is it that i am not at all surprised i am the last one of us to post?

oh well...

i do, however have pretty pictures to show - i suppose that's my excuse. at least it sounds like a good one for now.

so while i haven't started my pal's socks just yet, i have the yarn and pattern (its a start right? right?)




pretty, eh?



it's cherry tree hill in slate, neither pic is the true color its a bit in between both. its actually a bit bluer than i expected. but gorgeous none the less. i've never used cth before, i'm excited!

unlike sarah, i'm usually pretty project monogamous, but wouldn't you know, now that i've actually got deadline knitting to work on i've got 2 other projects on the needles.

guess its time to make it three...

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

My name is Sarah, and I'm a knitting masochist

I am the kind of knitter that has 1000 projects planned.

I have 100 UFOs. I have a healthy stash, and plans for every last scrap.


Hell, I'm the kind of knitter still working on last year's Christmas gifts in May. Every year I swear that I will never again commit to any sort of deadline knitting.

Yeah, right.


I'm the kind of knitter with a problem. I have a knitting problem and it has grown beyond my control.


That is why, when Chris and Stephanie gently nudged me to sign up for my second Sockapalooza, I told them, "Probably not. I'm way behind right now."

That is also why, when they asked, "Are you sure?"

I said, "Oh, what the hell. I'll do it!"


Now, don't get me wrong, folks. I'm not the sort of person who would ever-EVER- flake on a sock pal. I love to figure out what my pal might like the most. I love to match pattern to yarn. I love the mystery of what I might receive.

So the juggling act begins. I got a strong early start, so hopefully I'll put this baby to bed with plenty of time to spare. Then I can get back to my 3 year old UFOs.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

In the beginning…

I suppose I should start out by giving a little background about our group. Sarah, the grandmother knitter of the group (not because of her age but because of her aptitude) sparked my interested in knitting about two years ago. Although she is an amazing knitter, her ability to teach someone how to knit leaves something to be desires, so I turned to my next door neighbor and the internet for help. Within a week I was off and running. Next comes Stephanie; a friend that I work with that swore she did not have a creative bone in her body. Well, after I helped her with one of those no sew fleece blankets that were ever so popular about 2 years ago she became a crafting convert and in no time was cajoled into learning how to knit. Being the patient teacher type that I am was on the job teaching her to knit using terms like “stab, poke and pierce”. From that point on she was hooked.

Our combined love for the Amazing Race and knitting quickly drew us together every Tuesday night to watch the Race and knit. Although the Amazing Race has changed nights and Sarah’s school schedule fluctuates we try to get together once a week to watch the Race, either live or DVR and knit. A knitting group was born…

OK well that brings us up to present day. Why now? Good question. We each individually thought having a blog and showing people what we were working on would be an interesting idea but none of us wanted the responsibility for having to keep one up. Then came the all anticipated Sockapolloza 4 and everything changed. Once we joined we immediately thought this would be a great reason to start us on our blogging adventure.

Our plan is to keep people up to date on what we are working on knitting wise and anything else that seems important like saving the planet, or stabilizing the world economy.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Break out the champagne!

it's thursday, so i guess this counts. the blog is official now. so...what to write.

next?