Knitting

FO Friday, What To Do Next?, Pretty!

August 22, 2014August 22, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE NEEDLES

My Guernsey Wrap

It’s unblocked and I’m sure the stitches will really pop after blocking, but I’m so excited to have something finished for today that I couldn’t wait. I’ll post another photo, I promise.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

What next? Socks maybe? Another wrap? A sweater? Maybe one of each?

SHINY!

This is my anniversary gift from Mr. Iknead. We’re renewing our vows next week with son in law Clefton officiating. Thirty-five years and he’s still my best friend. (I’m leaving out the lover stuff because it grosses the kids out.) He’s getting better at his gift giving, but he still needs more practice ;). I saw this when we went to get our wedding rings cleaned and resized, and I loved it. I never dreamed I’d have it on my finger! I can’t stop admiring it!

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday, Booklove

August 20, 2014August 20, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

Though it looks the same as it did last week, I have made progress on My Guernsey Wrap and hopefully will have knitted the last stitch in time to post it as a FO on Friday. If I didn’t jinx it by saying that, that is. You can read more about it here.

BOOKLOVE

Man, I’ve been burning through the downloaded library books this week. So far, I’ve finished Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg, Grey Wolf by Simon Dunstan, Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld and started Delicious, by Ruth Reichl. All great books, but I think my favorite is going to be Delicious, but really, it’s too soon to tell.

FIXED

I had a challenge or two with my last post with a couple of pictures missing. It’s fixed (I hope) and if you’d like to give it another look, it’s here.

I’m linking with Ginny’s Yarn Along, Tami and Frontier Dreams.

Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way. Booker Washington

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday

August 13, 2014August 13, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

Guernsey Wrap

I’m just a little over halfway finished on this project and it’s been a surprisingly quick knit and the yarn, which I bought mostly because it was on sale, has been perfect for the pattern, both in texture and color. Even though I don’t care much for shades of orange, I’m looking forward to finishing this and wearing it as the weather cools. I have project details here and pattern details are here.

I’m linking with Tami and Frontier Dreams today.

As we grow as unique persons, we learn to respect the uniqueness of others. Robert Schuller

Knitting

FO Friday 03/01/13, A Stash Tour

March 1, 2013March 4, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE NEEDLES

It’s finished and is all I’d hoped for and more! Introducing –

Etched Rio Wrap! TA DA!

I love it – it’s the perfect weight (not too hot, not too cool), the perfect color (love caramel), it stays put (not falling off one of my narrow to the point of almost nonexistent shoulders or the other) and the drape (OMG). After some initial misbehavior on the yarn’s part, we came to an understanding and this project truly became a labor of love.

STEP UP, STEP RIGHT UP

After reading a post on uknit2, I decided to document my stash status and share a little of it here. At the moment, it’s relatively neat and more or less organized, sock yarn, sport weight, lace weight, bulky, you get it, you’re a knitter but the more I looked the more odd I thought part of my stash was. Here, you be the judge.

Sock Yarn

Sport Weight

Odds and Ends

Here’s what I think is sort of odd

A Ziploc/Shopping Bag Stash

Actually, come to think of it, it’s not odd at all that I hoard ziplocs and shopping bags. After all, fiberphiles use more ziplocs than anyone else on the planet and for your safety, don’t get between me and a nice, heavy, handled shopping bag. I won’t pretend to speak for other crafty types, I’m trying to stick with what I know – but no, it’s not odd at all, it’s more than a little smart, green and best of all, frees up more bucks for my fiber fixation. So, strike the odd. Smarter than the average bear, us fiberphiles. I rest my totally turned around case.

IN THE OVEN

Not yet, kneading takes more than a little energy and I’m still promising Mr. Iknead to take it easy, but soon, very soon there will be fresh bread. I knead it (get it?)! I know, I love a corny play on words.

Fly by Tami Amis for more FO Friday treats – you’ll be glad you did!

Live so that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip. Will Rogers

FLASH – Bigmommy and the babies are in town and are headed over!! Pics and report tomorrow! Yay, getting a little lonesome!

Knitting

WIP Wednesday 2/27/13 and the Setting in of Antsiness

February 27, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

WHAT’S UP

Me, that’s what. Today’s the first day I’ve really felt nearly back to normal, at least as close to normal as possible being only a week out from major (from what I’ve been told) abdominal surgery. Yeah, every once in a while, mostly when Josie needs to be more comfortable, my belly reminds me that it’s been much put upon in the past week or so and that perhaps I need to give up being the official recliner/throne/bed of the Empress, at least for an hour or so. All things considered, I do think I’m doing well, but I’m getting restless, not really bored, but I want to do a bunch of things Mr. Iknead has made me promise not to do for a while and, well, I try to keep my promises so today I had to be satisfied with piddling around in the kitchen but not baking and making a grocery list, but not shopping. I’m sort of embarrassed to complain about things like that, just being retired and learning to be a SAHW, but I love taking care of my home, my husband and my family. There. I said it and I’m glad I did. I’m a closet housewife and proud of it!

NEARLY OFF THE NEEDLES

The Rio Wrap is nearly finished. It’s been measured and remeasured, examined and reexamined and finally, bound off. The joining together will be done tomorrow (I hate the mattress stitch), blocking will begin and I hope by Friday will be finished and ready for show and tell. Here’s how it looks unfinished but off the needles. Boring, I know.

Today, A Pile of Stockinette

Tomorrow, Hopefully an Etched Rio Wrap!

THE GRANDS

Not as much contact with the babies as I’d like, with us all passing around a nasty upper respiratory thing and the hospital, but here’s a recent favorite –

Isn’t he handsome and isn’t she gorgeous??

Don’t forget to check out Tami Amis for more WIPW 2/27/13.

By believing passionately in something that does not yet exist, we create it. Nikos Kazantzakis

Knitting

WIPW 2/13/13, Whew, Slight Case of Nerves

February 13, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

BYE-BYE

I think I mentioned last week that we finally made the decision and had our landline removed. Mr. Iknead and I finally had enough of those super annoying robocalls, telemarketers, wrong numbers (a misprint on some kind of card gave the whole world our phone number, area code and all) instead of the correct number for Holy Redeemer Credit Union in Costa Rica. I swear, I’m not making this up. People would call our number (the misprint) over and over, getting angrier and angrier when they were informed that “No, this wasn’t Holy Redeemer Credit Union” and “No, I don’t know the correct number for Holy Redeemer Credit Union” and eventually, “Don’t call this number again, I will have you reported to the police and charge you with telephone harassment”. Been cussed out in Spanish more times than I can remember. So, as of Monday evening, we no longer have a landline phone and are basking in the peace and quiet of home. Still, when Mr. Iknead called to set up whatever had to be set up to remove it, the guy told him that we’d had the number since 1977, 36 YEARS! You can understand why I have a little nostalgia mixed with my relief, can’t you? I get emotionally invested, what can I say?

ON THE NEEDLES

Etched Rio Wrap

Fifteen of the required 28 repeats of the pattern are finished, over half the way through, the end is barely in sight and I’m still loving this. I’m happy to say that there have been no yarn barf crises since Sunday and I’m watching the yarn like a hawk, knowing now that it likes to misbehave. If you missed the pics of its previous misbehavior, take a look at last Friday’s blog entry, titled %#$%^&*(, for the full effect.

WHAT’S COMING UP

I’ve really not blogged about it too much, other than just a mention now and then, but I’ve had ischemic colitis for years and coped with it pretty well. Now, though, the attacks are becoming more and more frequent and more and more severe, putting me in the hospital twice for a week each time, in the past nine months. My GI doctor defines it as “pretty much a heart attack” in the colon, with damage and scarring, which sets me up even more for another bout and on and on. After much, much thought and just as much research (doncha just love Wikipedia?), I’m scheduled to have my colon removed this coming Tuesday, February 19. My surgeon has promised that I’ll have enough colon left to hook everything back up, but if I have to have an ostomy, I’ll just count that as part of the cost of no more midnight ambulance rides, all night visits to the ER and hospital admissions. I’m a little nervous, after it’s done, there’s no going back, but now the pros outweigh the cons and I’m ready to get it over with. I told Mr. Iknead that he’d have to step into my blogging shoes for a couple of days (he thought I was kidding) but hope to be feeling well enough to take over again before too long.

BY THE BOOK

I finished the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society yesterday and it was wonderful. I couldn’t listen fast enough, it was an audiobook and I kept up the pretense of “As soon as this chapter closes, I’m going to get up and do XYZ,” knowing full well that I had no intention of doing that and just kept listening. Loved this book! I don’t have any definite idea of what next to read. Any ideas?

Don’t forget to check out Tami Ami’s and Ginny’s Yarn Along blog.

Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts and never hope more than you work. Rita Mae Brown

Knitting

From WIP to 02/08/13 FO Friday Ready in Just One Hour

February 8, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON AND OFF THE NEEDLES

Still working hard at the Etched Rio Wrap, I’ve done ten repeats of the 28 repeats the pattern calls for and I’m still loving both yarn and pattern. The knitted yarn has amazing drape and softness, the only thing I can think of in the con category is that it’s very “grabby” and requires care not to become entangled with itself. This happened with the first skein, it got very tangled and by the time I got it sorted out, the yarn had lost some of its sheen and was a little what I call pilly. I’m trying to decide whether to bite the bullet and buy another skein (if I can find a matching dye lot) or go ahead and use the previously tangled yarn, probably at the very end where hopefully it won’t be too noticeable. Here’s what I mean:

Looks even worse than I thought. What’s your opinion? Use or not?

Now, on a happier note. In my efforts to find the misplaced yarn, I ran across a couple of WIPs that just needed to be cast off with the ends woven in. That’s how a project goes from WIP to FO in an hour; why did I procrastinate on this, that’s not usually how I am, did I get distracted by a newer, sexier yarn or pattern, did I put it down and lose it in the mess of the stash (this seems much more likely) or was it abducted by aliens and returned last week?