Bragging!

That’s okay, right? It’s especially right when it’s one of your own children you’re bragging about, isn’t it?

Check out my daughter’s brand new blog. You can find “Yummy Mummy Adventures” by clicking on the blog title.

Blogging is Fun!

I wish I could tell you there’s been knitting happening around here but, honestly, there hasn’t been much. Oh, a couple more rows have been added to the Metalouse shawl today but, other than that, nothing. Absolutely nothing. I haven’t even been looking at knitting patterns!

So, what have I been doing? Blogging.

Seriously, I’ve been blogging. Just not here. I’ve started two blogs this week, one of which is mine. The other is for a customer at work who really wants a web presence but hasn’t a clue where or how to start. So, I offered to help her. I’ve set up a blog as her business website. Now, I’ll have to teach her how to post, or at least maintain the blog. That shouldn’t be too difficult, I hope.

Please, feel free to check out Electrolysis by Cynthia (if for no other reason than to check out what I set up for her). If you feel so inclined, leave Cynthia a quick hello, a welcome to the world wide interwebs.

The second blog I started, the one for myself, is for prose. I’ve always had the urge to write but I really didn’t feel that this blog was the place to do it. This week, that urge to write was completely unavoidable and I finally did it. Started writing, that is. The blog is there to “put it out there”. I’m not sure how often I’ll write something but when I do, I’ll have a place to put it. Care to check it out? You can find out what’s Blowing Through My Mind.

I’ve also reincarnated my photo blog, Clicks ‘n Things, again switching over to WordPress and giving it an entirely new look. I’m hoping that by doing this, it will kick start the creative juices again. So far, I’ve been having a lot of fun going through my archives and finding some great pictures, some I’d completely forgotten about.

The important thing, I suppose, is that I’m having fun, enjoying myself immensely.

By the way, don’t forget to leave a comment on any of the posts on this blog to be entered to win the Metalouse shawl. Only 19 days left till the draw!

Before I Head for Bed…

I did accomplish one thing I wanted to do today. I finished John’s recycled socks! Now, I can concentrate on the Metalouse shawl.

Done, done, and done! The details? I used 4-ply Patons Kroy on 2.5 mm dpns. The original sock was knitted on 60 stitches; I cut off the foot, picked up the stitches and worked my way back down the foot. As a result, John doesn’t have any extra socks to wear but I did give a pair of worn out socks a new lease on life. These would be the perfect wedding socks… “something old, something new”. I know, I’m getting silly. Almost time for bed!

Before I head for bed, though, I do have another small project to share with you. I must tell you in advance, though, I really don’t like hand sewing!

This is a thread holder, especially for those times you’re doing some sewing (with your sewing machine!) and you need a place to toss all those little bits of thread (the spools are in there only for photography purposes; they’re not being disposed of) that accumulate. The final seams, the ones that look so messy, really should have been hand sewn. I did 3/4 of one seam and was thoroughly frustrated so I did the rest by machine.

It is kind of cute, though. And it’s another finished item!

A Little Obsession

Yup, I’ve become a little obsessed with my sewing machine. Is this a bad thing?? The fabric I blogged about yesterday has been cut up and turned into a few little things.

 

The snappy bag with a zippered pouch turned out even better than I’d anticipated! I am REALLY happy with this little bag! The only thing I could critique was that the zipper pull was a little small, but making a beaded pull solved that little problem.

 

These were some beads from my stash; I probably didn’t make it the way it “should” be made but it works and I think it accents the bag nicely. Once I had the bag done, I did some online browsing and found another simple little project that I think will come in handy.

 

I have… oh… four or five pairs of reading glasses. Between here and work, I have glasses handy just about everywhere. None of them have cases, though (well, except for my new sunglasses).  This glasses cover, and the sunglasses cover below were both made using the tutorial I found over at Mommy’s Nap Time and both came together in less than an hour. It’s an easy pattern to customize, depending on the size of your glasses.

 

I may be making a couple more of these and may even customize one for my iPod Touch. I can honestly say I’m having a lot of fun but I have got to get some knitting done.

And then there’s the sourdough bread that won’t bake itself…. *sigh*

What? No Cooking??

It’s Saturday again. This week has absolutely flown by! All of a sudden, we’ve passed the middle of January and February is coming fast! I wish I could say I’ve made good progress on John’s recycled socks, but some evenings were spent watching TV shows on the computer with John rather than knitting. I did spend a couple of evenings in the recliner, though, listening to an audio book (One Second After by William R. Forstchen… scary stuff, but sure makes you think!) and knitting the heel on the second sock while John did research on the computer.

As you can see, there’s definitely been progress. I will probably have these finished this weekend. That’s my goal. I have a shawl to finish, after all.

Speaking of the shawl, I think I will change the original “rules” of the giveaway just slightly. Until February 14, anyone that comments on any blog post will be entered into the draw unless you specifically tell me that you really don’t want to be included. So, if you would like an opportunity to receive the shawl, be sure to comment.

Enough about the draw.

This week, I also made the trek across the road from where I work to visit the quilt shop situated there. I picked up a little more fabric for my growing stash of craft fabric. I refuse to call it quilt fabric as I don’t, and won’t, quilt. I do, however, like making the little snappy bags (as seen in this post); they’re cute and fun to make. I’d like to make one with a zippered pocket on one side and another one to use as a case for my glasses. Wow, do they ever have some gorgeous fabrics! It’s always a difficult decision and I have to stop myself from buying more than I can use.

Here’s what I came home with…

Aren’t they gorgeous? All but the orange fabric also have metallic gold accents. I’m so looking forward to creating something interesting with these fabrics. All I need now is some thread (I seem to be a little short on thread for some reason) and a couple of zippers. That means an outing today!

Finally Some Progress

Wow! There has been knitting going on around here! I can honestly say that my knitting mojo has returned. Friday night saw one of John’s recycled socks completed, as you can see in the gallery below. On Thursday night, I had him try on the ninja sock of death (his description of a sock in progress) to see if it was going to fit him properly. As you can see, it does!

The second sock is now on the needles and ready for the foot, too. Once the heel is finished, it becomes TV knitting, or listen-to-an-audiobook knitting; we don’t have cable, nor do we have a TV anymore so we watch the occasional TV show over the internet on the iMac.

It fits! (The sexy foot pose)

One down, one to go!

Ready to knit!

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before but the socks above were given to John by my mother. They were knitted for my father by one of my aunts in the Netherlands. When my father was hospitalized, he could no longer wear handknit socks as his ankles were so swollen the socks would no longer fit. Seeing as John loves his handknit socks, Mom gave them to John. When they wore out, and did they ever, he held them up with a wry look on his face and asked if they were destined for the garbage. Normally, I would have said yes but, in this case, the leg of each sock where it met the heel was still in very good condition and I thought I could recover the stitches easily so I decided to re-knit the foot, a first for me. John commented that he wasn’t fussy about the colour; he would even have been happy with red. Fortunately, I do not happen to have red sock yarn in my stash.

In other knitting, and yes, there has been other knitting, I’ve finished the pair of Malabrigo wristwarmers for myself. I’m thinking of leaving them at work because that’s where I’ll be using them primarily.

 

They could use a bit of blocking, I know (see the loose stitch on the castoff edge?) but once on my wrist, it isn’t noticeable at all. I’m always surprised at just how much this little bit of fabric around the wrist can make a huge difference in the comfort level of the body. I’ve met people who scoff at that but once they try on a pair of wrist warmers, they’re converted.

I’ve also started another pair of wristwarmers for myself. You can never have too many, as far as I’m concerned, especially when your favourite ones are become a little threadbare.

 

I’m using a Fair Isle pattern, this one from Alice Starmore’s book, “Charts for Coloured Knitting”. As you can see in the Excel printout, I’m planning on reversing the colours in bands. There are 13 rows to the pattern; I’m not sure how long I’ll make these; it will be a minimum of three repeats and a maximum of five (for the sake of pattern balance). I’m using sock yarn (4 ply fingering) on 3.0 mm double-pointed needles. Don’t ask me about the yarn; the ball bands have long since disappeared. If I remember correctly, the yarn on the right is a Fleece Artist yarn; my memory, though, when it comes to things like this, is shaky. It’s knitting up quickly and these should be a nice warm pair of wristwarmers.

Finally, the Metalouse shawl has been relaxing in my knitting basket this past week; it’s resting beside my chair but will be finished in time for next month’s giveaway. If you haven’t read about it yet, you can read about it here, on the old blog. If you’re interested in owning this shawl (and perhaps a Valentines surprise or two), leave a comment on the first post of this blog (yesterday’s post, found here). Details of the draw are in the same post. The winner will be drawn using a random number generator on February 14 and will be announced on February 15. Make sure you leave your comment to be automatically entered.

Now, it’s time to get this day moving. There’s knitting to be done!

Welcome to My New Web Home

Welcome to Strings ‘n Things, Two. The title, obviously, comes from my original blog, Strings ‘n Things. This is Strings ‘n Things, too… or Two. This is my new home on the web. If you arrived here through SnT, you will know that I have nothing against Blogger, but I’m happier with the WordPress interface.

It’s taken me a while to make this decision; it was not a snap decision. In the last few months, I’ve been trying to make some changes to my Blogger account and I’ve been having a terrible time finding what I’ve been looking for. In pretty much all cases, I gave up. And now, I’m here.

As announced on the “other” blog, to celebrate the new blog and the new look, let’s have a contest. Here’s the scoop.

If you’ve been reading the original blog, you’ll know about this little project…

If you’re new to the blog, you may wonder why I’ve been calling it the “Hamburger shawl”; well, simply put, it’s all about the colours… red, yellow, green, and brown… they, of course, correspond to all of the hamburger fixings… ketchup, mustard, relish (or pickles), and the patty. Those of you who read my blog will know that I’m of two minds with this shawl. I love it. But. I doubt I’ll ever wear it now that all I see is a hamburger.

And so, to the contest. For the next month, anyone who leaves a comment on this post will be entered into a draw to receive this very shawl. Call it what you will… Metalouse (which is its official name) or the Hamburger shawl… it’s up for grabs.

At the moment, it’s not quite finished but is nearing completion. It will be done, blocked, and ready for mailing well before the draw date. Today is January 12… Let’s have the draw on Valentine’s Day, February 14. I’ll put a countdown in the sidebar (you can do that with WordPress!) and the winner will be announced the next morning, February 15 (I do have to work, after all, and it IS Valentine’s Day; John and I might actually decide to DO something this year!)

So… leave a comment. Tell me what you think of my new home. Congratulate me. Chide me. Introduce yourself if you’re a first time commenter. Fill my inbox!

Let’s have some fun!