Little Update

Sorry guys, no pics this time. I've been somewhat busy with school work and haven't had much time to take pics or even do a lot of knitting.

I've been working on Get Ziggy, and have the majority of it finished (it's a quick knit), but I need to finish it completely before the 30th. The sweater is for my best friend's sister who is having a baby in December, and her babyshower is on the 30th. I have no doubts in my mind that it will be finished before then - possibly even by this weekend.

Today we had our first snow of the season. There wasn't much at first and it was only sticking on the grass. However, it was windy and cold too. The snow was a wet sticky one, so it wasn't the nicest really. The day was quite blustery, and even tonight it's the same. I have a feeling the roads are probably somewhat slippery out there. The salt trucks haven't been around yet, but I'm sure they will be by morning. Thankfully we have someone come and plow out our driveway, so we just have to do the front step (2 steps) and the walkway...and the end of the driveway if the plow goes by after buddy has already plowed the driveway.

So, I realized I needed some protection on my hands. It was mightly cold cleaning off the car - even though it didn't take too long. I started a pair of mittens for myself using sock yarn. I know they might not be the warmest, but they will suffice for now. I only got a few rows knit on the first one this morning, however. Then I had to go to class. Hopefully it won't take me long to make these puppies!

Well, it's been a bit since I've posted and just wanted to d o a little update. Hope to have some pics of my WIPs to show you soon!

Happy knitting!

SP13 Questionnaire

The questionnaire is up for SP13 and thought I'd post my answers. I'll have to get back to this again soon and update some things. For the most part, my answers are below...


1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I like most yarns, though I don't care for acrylics at all. Even though my current WIP (or one of them) is in acrylic, I don't particularly like working with them. I've become a yarn snob!

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I have a small needle holder for DPNs.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I have been knitting pretty much since 2001/2002. I learned to do the knit and purl stitch as a young child in brownies, but that was all. I eventually taught myself to knit with a bit of help from a friend. I would consider myself an intermediate knitter.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

I have a Loopy Ewe wish list on the side bar.

5. What's your favorite scent?

Love fruit flavour scents. I am allergic to many flowery type scents.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

I definitely have a sweet tooth! I love milk chocolate (don't care for dark or white) and I love Swedish Berries and most things chocolate or sweet, sour patch kids.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I can crochet, I am into making cards and I can spin a little, though I haven't worked on it in a year (couldn't fit it in my suitcase when I went to Korea for a year, and haven't had the opportunity to work on it since coming back). I have a drop spindle, and not a wheel.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I mostly listen to Christian/Worship music. My computer can play mp3 (I think) and I do have an mp3 player.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

Fav colour is purple but I also like blues, greens, varigated, pastels, jewel tones. Don't care for browns, rusts, neon colours, not too fond of orange (though some mixed in with other colours is nice sometimes).

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I'm single (waahhh!) and I have a cat named Tinker Belle.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

I wear scarves, mittens, gloves...no hats (my hair if fine and gets extremely staticy in winter) and no ponchos. I do like to knit hats though.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

socks, baby items, hats, scarves

13. What are you knitting right now?

a scarf, socks, baby sweater (Get Ziggy to be exact)

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

yes

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I like both straight and circular, though I prefer circular for hats. I like bamboo, aluminum...not plastic though. I do have a couple pairs of plastic needles and they are ok, but not my favourites to use.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

I have a newly purchased yarn winder (no swift though).

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

gosh...I'm not sure...maybe a year and a half to two years?

18. What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe?

Fav. holiday is Christmas, followed by my birthday (see below), and I observe Christmas. Not sure what other winter holidays are out there...lol

19. Is there anything that you collect?

yarn (of course, lol), cats

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

No subscriptions to any magazines, though I love many of them (not too fussy with the magazines). Many books, yarns, needles, patterns I'm yearning for. Keep checking back and I'll try to update this a little more. There are so many new yarns out there that I'd like (see my Loopy Ewe wish list in the side bar), Malabrigo sounds great and I'd like to try that, as well as STR. Patterns...again, so many to choose from!

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

Always wanting to learn new techniques. I want to learn to knit socks on 2 circs at the same time. I have a DVD that shows how...just need to sit down and watch it!

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

Definitely a sock knitter. I have a US size 8 foot (well, two of them actually, lol).

23. When is your birthday?

January 20

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?

Yes, I'm on Ravelry. My ID is Tabby2004 (at least I think that's what it is...that's what I use to sign on with. Hmm...feeling quite computer illiterate right about now...think I must have lost some brain cells along the way...hehehe.

So, Secret Pal, if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask! Looking forward to getting to know you!

Under Construction

As you can see, I've changed my background (again). I'm still tweeking it and trying to figure out how to make the font in the sidebar darker so as to make it easier to read. I realize that in the body of the post I will have to make things bold and dark so it shows up pretty good.

At any rate, I may be playing around with it some so what you see might not necessarily be the final product!

In knitting news, not much has been going on. I've been slowly working at the scarf I started a couple of weeks ago. I've been busy with school work so I haven't had as much time to do any knitting. Oh, and I got a ball winder the other day (finally!) and that makes me a happy camper!

Just keeping this brief and will hopefully be back soon with more of an update!

Yup, You Guessed It...

I finished another hat the other night. This one is the Lace Lieutenant by Kimberley of Woven 'n Spun. I enjoyed making this hat, and it was easy and quick (when I could sit down and work at it). I really must apologize for the terrible pictures of this hat. The yarn was quite difficult to photograph, and the pics came out blurry. Also, I don't have a model for hats (and they look terrible on me so that's not even an option) so I'm stuck using the corner of pillows or laying them flat.

Specs:

Yarn: Peruvian Pure Alpaca

Purchased from: Elann.com

Colourway: 784 (a sort of rust/brown colour)

Needle size: 4.0 mm (I think)

Yardage: a little less than 50g

This is a cute hat, and I can see myself making this pattern

again using other yarns. Sorry again for the terrible pics. I'll be adding this hat to my items for the mitten tree at the church.

I've since started another scarf (last night actually), but don't have enough worthy to be photographed just yet. I was watching season 7 of Stargate SG-1 last night and wanted something to work on. I didn't feel like working on socks and thought a simple scarf would do the trick. However, I couldn't find one that wouldn't require me to pay attention to, so I continued working on the second baby frilled hat (like the one in the previous post).

This morning when I got up, I surfed through Ravelry to find something and came across one and started it. It uses Rowan Tapestry, and I just happened to have a ball of that in my stash (from when I bought it while in Seoul one day last winter). The pattern calls for size 6.0mm needles, but I couldn't find mine. My stuff is all packed away from being in Korea (stuff as in my knitting things, books, etc.) and I don't know where everything is. I did happen across some 5.5mm plastic or acrylic type needles, so I'm using those instead. Hopefully I'll have some pictures of the scarf soon. I don't anticipate it taking a long time to knit since it only uses one skein/ball and it's a repeat of two rows. It's perfect for knitting on when watching TV...I think. I'll be working on it tonight when I watch more of Stargate tonight.

In other news...ok, it's not really news, but whatever, lol. Last night was Halloween. I was kind of looking forward to it this year - seeing the kids all dressed up - since this is something that isn't celebrated in South Korea. I talked about it with my classes some last year, and even brought some candy in for them. However, it just wasn't the same. Anyway, all we had come to the door was a total of 21 kids, and 1 adult who was collecting food for the food bank.

Actually, the one collecting for the food bank goes to the university I'm attending (for my B.Ed.). I had seen signs posted around the school about their food drive, so I prepared for that just in case. I don't live too far from the school, so I figured they would probably be in my area. I had packed some canned goods in a shopping bag and left that by the door just in case. Poor guy, he barely got the words out of his mouth and I was telling him I figured they'd be around and had got some stuff prepared for them. He laughed and seemed thankful it didn't take him long at the door. See, I didn't want to have to make anyone wait in the cold (it wasn't freezing, but it was a little cold last night) while I ran up to the cupboard looking for something to give, so I wanted to be prepared. I hope they got a lot of items for the food bank last night!

Ok, well I'm going to head off now and attempt to work on some school work, or maybe take a nap or knit...or all of the above. Happy Knitting!