Progress, but not too much...

I did make a little knitting progress this weekend, but not much. I have a really good reason however. This is all I got done-the heel on the sock. I am now on the leg.









This weekend M and I went down to Old Lyme, CT to his cousin's beach house. Did we touch sand this weekend?

Nope, but I did see the beach. It really wasn't beach weather and that was probably good, because then we were not tempted to abandon the really giant craft project we worked on all weekend.

M has been playing in a marathon softball game for at least ten years the day before Fathers Day and this is the fortieth year of the game.

They used to have an old scoreboard and lost it somewhere. This year, in honor of the 40th year and a player who passed away a few years ago, M's cousin decided to re-make it. We went down to help them. I think that it turned out very well.













This is the lovely kitty we came home to. He wasn't there, but was in another of his spots when we came home. He has now apparently had enough of us and is back on top of the box with yarn in it.








Happy Knitting and other crafting!

I haven't been knitting enough to make this interesting....

I haven't been knitting enough to make this interesting and these are why










I started to run with my husband, Michael. He is a great runner and has been very patient with me, including running with me at my pace outside. I was making great progress, following a runner's world training program for a 5k. It was going along swimmingly.

I am training to run a 5k on June 27. It is around the Charles River and supposed to be pretty flat. I wasn't feeling particularly confident after a terrible running day on Tuesday. On Tuesday, I couldn't even run a mile. I did my 5 minute warm up, walking at 2.5 on the treadmill. I then started to run at my normal pace and a slight incline. I only made it .75 miles before a side stitch did me in. I was also dragging in energy. It was the proverbial set back.

I made up for it today. I did my 5 minute walk warm up and then I ran 3.1 miles at my normal pace!!!! That'y my race distance! Sure, it was on the treadmill and sure it was inside and sure I was sweating like mad, but I did it! I now feel confident that I will run the entire 5k which has been my goal from the start.

Knitting wise?
All I have done is get to the heel for the Grandpa sock and start it. I'm almost done with the gusset. It's going along.












I hope you have some happy knitting and whatever you do for exercise! I promise more progress on these soon!

Then, it will be another baby blanket and a bunch o' finishing and the bike thing for my brother, E.

Knitting? Not so much

I haven't managed to knit that much this past week. I've been very busy dealing with some things that needed to be dealt with.

I have made some progress on my sock for my Grandpa.










It's not that exciting knitting.

However, we did go to Newbury Street in Boston yesterday and walked around.

I am starting to run with my husband, so we went to Marathon Sports and picked me up some running shoes.

They are hopefully going to be good for me, so if this continues, you will probably get some running stories on here too now.

Happy Knitting!

Knitting Galore!

I have done a fair bit of knitting lately, so I have lots to show you. Unfortunately, I did not take a final picture of the socks I knit for my mother, which is also my first design ever, so I will have that pattern for you at some point soon.

Here is in an in progress shot. My Mom says she will get pictures for me sometime soon of her wearing the finished project.









I did finish some other projects.

I finished a Gail/Nightsongs in Mini Mochi.










Here it is blocking. It's now off the blocking wires and I wore it today. It is so light and warm.










I also finished a scarf for my brother based on the movie Harry Potter, the scarves that the students wore in the later years. Here he is in the scarf, I think you can tell that he likes it.












This is one of my current projects. It is a pair of socks for my Grandpa. I hope they fit since I don't have his foot measurements, only his shoe size.









I am also working on his hat for my niece, who can now say my name! She is growing up so fast!










Happy Knitting....

I know I have been gone for a while.

I have been knitting.

It was secret knitting for a long time, so I couldn't post on here.

I finished this baby blanket for my friend Heather. It's been gifted at a shower a month ago so it can be posted now. Heather is having a boy, so I picked a good blue in Cascade 220 superwash.













I am almost done with this Harry Potter scarf for my brother. I have now cast off and have to do some weaving in ends and some fringe.













I am almost three quarters of the way done with these socks for my Mom. On this sock you see below, I am up to the point where I will start the gusset and heel.












One is done as you can see. I think I will write up this pattern, as it has been my own design and the people at my knitting group seemed to like it.












Happy Knitting, I will be casting on a little shawlette with my Mini Mochi tomorrow because I need another project and something for me.

I Win!

Well, I have an FO and I won a blog contest on Grumperina's blog!


Here is the FO!











Yes, I finished the blanket!

Ok, that is only half of it. The finished and unwashed/blocked blanket is 23 X 46.

Here is the entire thing....is it big enough for a baby?




















Now that I am done with the blanket I will be working on this scarf for my brother: It's a Gryffindor scarf, the style worn by the students in their later years at school.















What did I win in a contest on Grumperina's blog?














I won this copy of toe-up! It's a new sock bock by Chrissy Gardiner that allows you to take control of your own toe-up sock knitting.

It has excellent instruction sections(6 of them!) and a list of patterns.

It also has some excellent charts in the back for the heels and toes outlined in the instruction sections from the heels and toes parts to make them fit your foot perfectly.

It also has a number of patterns I would like to knit. The one drawback to this book? It only has heels that involve the wrap and turn and an afterthought heel. I avoid the wrap and turn like the plague and use a heel from wendyknits free patterns generally and have yet to use an afterthought heel. I would have liked to see a heel like the one from wendyknits, she has a fingering weight toe-up sock pattern on her website for free that I use all the time in all my socks regardless of what the pattern calls for.

I would still recommend this book for the person who wants to have most of the options for toe-up socks laid out in front of them to use any stitch pattern in a sock and just have to punch in the numbers. Some of these sock patterns are definitely worth it as well. This would be a good book for the beginning toe-up sock knitter as well, it has some easy patterns and very clear instructions.

My secret unpictured project is coming along well, I'm about to start the heel on the first one and that is the last real step before I can write a complete pattern for it. Just have to crunch the numbers.

As always, Happy Knitting!

I've been away from you for awhile

But I have been knitting

I finished a pair of socks (gifted to my little sister) and a scarf (gifted to my big sister).

I'm 70% or so through a baby blanket.














I am using my new Addi Clicks. I really like these needles. The kit comes with a good variety of sizes for me and three lengths of cord. I wish it came with more but you can buy more. I really like the push and turn method of locking. You take the cord and push the tip down onto it and turn the needle and it locks in place. It hasn't come loose once knitting that entire amount so far. Their is a small place where yarn could snag at the join but I haven't had a problem with it. The needles are very smooth like the regular Addis, which I still use. I think these needles are definitely worth it if you use a wide variety of needle size and like the regular Addi needles. I am probably going to give away my Knit Picks set and use these and fixed needles solely.

Here, you can see the needle and the join.














I have also been fixing Michael's knitting issues since he started working on his blanket for his sister again. He didn't flip his knitting around here and since he was using a circular needle when he started knitting at the wrong end he joined his work into a circle on accident. He isn't comfortable with tinking so I did it for him.














I also started another scarf for my older brother. He wants a Gryffindor scarf from the later years. I am using this pattern (http://crochetandy.blogspot.com/2007/08/honorable-hufflepuff-house-scarf-free.html) and using Cascade 220 in colorway 2401 for the main color and Mirasol Kacha in Shade 1209 for the contrast color.

Ravelry Link for the Pattern http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/harry-potter-poa-scarf-on-the-round

As you can see, I just started it.
















Over the holidays we cooked and baked a lot, including these cookies which were finished and looked really funny after we were done. I do not have cookie decorating skills.














Happy Knitting in 2010!

I also have a pair of socks I am working on that is my own design. It's turning out really well, so I may have a pattern up for it at some point. I'm holding off on pictures until I have one done and figured out how to write down the knitting instructions.