Wednesday, November 28, 2007

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.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

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!

Monday, November 12, 2007

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.