Cobblestone disaster averted

I completed the Cobblestone pullover and it fit me perfectly until I carefully hand washed it which caused the sweater to grow four sizes. In frustration I tossed the sweater in the washing machine on delicate and then put it in the dryer. As it happened the sweater came out perfectly!
After this I knitted a hat for my hiking buddy using Classic wool merino. It also grew about 4 sizes after washing so I attribute it to the wool. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the hat and have yet to take one of the sweater.
I'm currently working on another sweater for myself using Briggs & Little Heritage yarn. It's temporarily put aside so that I can work on DH's christmas socks while he's on course in Vancouver. I finished one sock earlier and am working on the second one. I'll have to work on the other pair while he's at work and hope that he gives me enough warning when he comes home for coffee. It isn't too comfortable to sit on those needles.
Once I'm done my sweater I'm planning to knit a sweater for DH. He knows about that and even put out one of his store bought sweaters which fits him nicely in order for me to take measurements while he is away. The wool still needs to be ordered and I'm planning to have it ready for his birthday in March.
Another project I'm working on is a scarf for my friend. I believe that she knows about this page so no details will be posted until she receives it.
So, back to socks. I promise that pictures shall be posted soon.

Time off!

I have taken a leave of absence from one of my jobs (I work as a receptionist for Weightwatchers) so now I have a bit more time to work on knitting projects on Tuesdays.
This morning I did make a fair amount of progress on my Cobblestone sweater plus I was able to do a bit of work on DH's Christmas socks. It is tough since he occasionally will arrive home for coffee or lunch breaks causing me to either end up sitting on the unfinished sock (so far no needle pokes!) or to get it put away at the last second.
It will be nice to finally get the sweater done and hopefully it will fit right this time around. The first time I made it, it was far too big for me even when it was done in the smallest size.
Once the sweater is done I'd like to work on my Fir cone square shawl as well as a toque for my hiking partner plus a scarf for my best friend. Of course I also have a "mindless" project which I have been working on. No offense Amy, but it is a fairly easy pattern which does not require a lot of concentration.
Look for pictures soon!

Wow, I never realized that so much time had gone by since my last post. Knitting tends to slow down over the summer anyhow with so many other things going on like backpacking and day hikes.
Truthfully, I did keep busy with sock knitting and even brought a pair to work on while we were backpacking in Strathcona Park. Unfortunately they spent the entire trip in the pack.
On a sock note: I had been working on a pair of toe up socks for myself around the end of August (this is the same pair that had escorted us to Strathcona Park). My son Eric and his wife Alisha came by to say goodbye since they were moving back to Alberta. I had been working on the sock which I carried out as they were leaving. I was a little upset to see them leave since DH Pat, Eric and I had been getting taking a lot of hikes together and I knew that I'd miss Eric and the hiking.
The next afternoon I realized that I wasn't able to find my sock (I forgot that I'd left it outside) and hunted high and low. I thought that, in the heat of saying goodbye, the sock had made its way into the moving truck.
I still thought that was where the sock and needless had gone when I looked outside and noticed that the neighbour was holding a ball of yarn, which looked a bit like my sock yarn. It still didn't twig that this could be my missing yarn. I was just excited that there possibly was another knitter on our block.
The day after this I started finding clues like a ball band between our houses and one of my wooden Brittany needles on the lawn. I called the neighbour and left her a message to call me if she had found the missing sock.
After work the neighbor came over with a sad looking mess of sock and yarn in her hand. She had found this mess on her front lawn and later that same evening she and her husband had gone door to door with the sock. They even enlisted another neighbour to help put the stitches back on the needles. Shortly before getting to our door they had to leave to meet some friends.
I believe that their mischievous kitten took this interesting thing thinking that it was a really neat play toy just for her.
Nonetheless it was quite exciting to be reunited again.
Now, with the cooler weather, I'm overwhelmed with projects. A friend asked for a toque in lieu of gas money when she drives on hiking day and another friend would like me to knit her a scarf. On top of that I'm working on a sweater for myself, a shawl in the event that one of my children gives me a grandchild, socks for my DH and a stack of UFOs which, thanks to me getting into Ravelry, I've been shamed into finishing.
Now that my son has shown me where to find my iPhotos, I will start saving them on my macbook again so that I can post them on here and on Ravelry.
I promise to try to post more often on here, when I force myself to take a break from knitting.

Well, time has flown by. The hat is (sort of) a finished project which is just waiting for a foot of snow and a pompom.
I once again indulged myself and bought a mac book. Yes, I have gone over to the "dark side". After owning the mac for only 24 hours I was considering how to toss it off the nearest overpass. After some help from my two evil children (both Mac users) I felt better and am now quite happy about this purchase.

On the knitting front I am working on the Fir Cone Square shawl from Cheryl Oberle's book "Folk Shawls". I've just completed the main body of the shawl and am starting on the outer border, which may drive me to drink. (Unfortunately I ran out of Screech over the weekend).
Last Saturday (June 9th) my lovely daughter and I headed to Victoria to see the one and only Yarn Harlot. Of course I had to forget my copy of her book so ended up buying another copy for Stephanie to sign.

Now I must get to bed since morning comes too early.

I finished paying off my various frivolities (camera, iPod) so am now back to knitting.
My first purchase was some of the Drops Alpaca yarn in order to knit this sleeveless jumper. The folks in the garnstudio forum have been really helpful and I'm looking forward to wearing the jumper to work next week, weather depending.
I also ordered some Harrisville Designs Shetland yarn in order to make the Fir Cone Square Shawl from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls. This and the upcoming "hiking" season should keep me busy for awhile.
I promise to post pictures of the sleeveless jumper as soon as it is done.

With the current challenge of not purchasing any more knitting related items I've been working hard on finishing projects that were just collecting dust.

One of these, the "Fair Isle Sampler hat" designed by Mary Jane Mucklestone from the Winter 2004 issue of Interweave Knits was something I had always wanted to make. I ordered the yarn from Jamieson & Smith soon after receiving the magazine but, after starting on the fair isle ribbing, decided that I'd go blind if I did this to give it a pass until a later date.

Once I picked it up again I realised how much fun fair isle was. I'm not sure if I'd want to try a full sweater in a fair isle design at this moment in time though.

Well J, the iPod and camera are nearly paid off and I'll be back to building up my stash again soon. :-)

I have been putting off adding to this blog mainly because I am not as exciting a read as some other bloggers in that I don't really design my own sweaters, unless you call tweaking a pattern "designing". I merely call it customizing to my own tastes.

Since the last entry I have completed a bunch of projects including: 2 pairs of fetching gloves, 2 pair of infant sized toe-up socks and 3 twisted rib watch caps which are to be sent to the Dulaan project and one teddy bear who is awaiting stuffing. These projects are all due to an ongoing bet of sorts with my son-in-law.
The story behind the non-monetary-but-honour-is-at-stake-bet is that I bought some expensive toys including an iPod while still paying off part of a camera. The intention was to pay them off using income earned from my part time job. This income also used to pay for my knitting addiction. I jokingly mentioned that I wouldn't be able to buy yarn for awhile, at least not until I paid off my debts. My SIL mumbled that I wouldn't be able to do it. Of course, with me being a very competitive type, I jumped on it. There have been some tough moments where I just wanted to run out for a ball of some yarn but stopped when I realized that SIL would gloat over his "victory". I am tougher than he is!
Hubby offered to pay off the bill but I insisted on reimbursing him (and his interest rates are better).
An upside to this yarn diet is that all my unfinished projects are now getting done.