Category: A little about knitting

So, we were in Mystic Sunday and Monday (Columbus Day).I found this yarn shop in a directory and just had to go! Can you guess my reaction when I read the sign on the door that said ‘Closed Sundays and Holidays’??? Here are some photos of my experience. Don’t you see the bars keeping me from getting into this shop? Can’t you feel my angst? Can you say ‘homicidal, boys and girls?’ Oh, somebody shoot me-or pour me a shot ’cause I think I’m-a gonna die!

From Cosmicknitter

Simply put, I love Ravelry because they refer to projects as WIPs – work in progress. Until I met Ravelry, these were always UFOs – unfinished objects. WIP = earnest knitter, slow but by all means steady, a real trooper. UFO = freak of nature, lazy knitter and all around ‘I am a loser’ vibe. WIPs tell the world that we are ambitious multi-tasking people who won’t settle for just one project! NO, bring ’em on…I can take it. UFOs conjure up images of ADD and fickle-pickles. Even when it comes to me, I am definitely a WIP (contrary to public opinion)!

The origin of this post was actually to test ‘blogging’ from my cell phone. I guess it worked since my irrelevant title made it to the page. Cool.
As shocking as this sounds, I managed to make 2 entries in a row. Way! It is a beautiful day here in Rhinebeck, so I came home and did a little yard work. Let’s see, I killed the grubs, but fed the grass; I killed the moss, but fed the rhodos and azaleas. The weeds…they don’t stand a snowballs chance in hell! What I love is knowing that I did my work so now I can play ; D
I am sure most of you are familiar with Ravelry. I joined a few group that share a love of knitting and gaming. How cool is that?!? You have no idea the amount of knittable items from Katamari!
Often the question comes up about how to balance all of our – dare I say – addictions. I gotta tell you, it is tough. I really try to take advantage of things like weather and such. If it is very nice out, I will work outside. If we are watching the Mets on TV, I’ll knit because I can do both at the same time (unless it is during the playoffs and we are BLOWING OUR LEAD!!!) ahem…as I was saying, when I am putzing around the house with laundry, gaming is easy to pick up and put down without losing your place. I would say the one hazard with that is when little paws (read: sons) pick up the controller when I am at the laundry room and take on the boss I have been waiting for since I started the game! NOOOOOO! Well, it is hard to find the balance. Try as I might it still sometimes becomes a little lopsided. None the less, I do think it all comes out in the wash since by some miracle we manage to do it all. Don’t we?
Happy Spring, and for all you good people going to the MD Sheep and Wool Festival, SHOP ‘TIL YOU DROP!
May the Force be with you.

Hey, it is baseball season once again. I love knitting during games-Ben’s little league games, games on television and, my personal favorite, while listening to the game on the radio. I don’t know about other knitters, but I actually listen better while I am knitting. Weird, huh? Like many knitters, I have the gigantic bag with all kinds of ‘stuff’ in it at the ready. Grab and go. I have knitting, reading and gaming at my disposal whenever there is a game. As my husband and I were waiting for my son’s first game to begin, I pulled out my latest project and began to knit. At that moment, the coach approached me and asked if I would keep pitch count. Last year I kept the book and the pitch count. I must have done a decent job, or just appeared like someone who cannot say ‘no’ because now I have that job at each game. For anyone who does not know about Little League pitch counts, regulations state that every pitch thrown by the pitchers must be counted and reconciled with the other team every 1/2 inning. This age group cannot exceed 95 pitches in a game. Needless to say, this job requires constant watching, recording and counting. There are about 5 minutes between innings where there is nothing to do, but other than that you are ‘on the job’. I have not done any knitting at all! None! Zip! The pathetic part is that I still bring my knitting bag and all my goodies to every game; whenever I leave it behind, I find myself with more time on my hands than I know what to do with! At least I can still knit during the Mets games.

I am so happy. Not only is it spring, but I am coming out of a unproductive funk only to discover Ravelry! This is such a COOL site. It combines all the good stuff in one spot. You can hang with other knitters, keep a virtual portfolio of your projects, inventory your needles and stash and other very groovy things. I am in the R&D stage of my notebook and have not added any photos to make it interesting. I found some ‘friends’ and love peeking into their stash. Ohh, I am so excited. I just hope I don’t bore people. Let me know if I do, really, I can spice it up a bit.

Where have I been for the past month? No really, I’m askin’. I have been a very busy beaver. Tis the season for knitting scarves for charity. Very satisfying indeed. I have made 3 in as many days. I took the opportunity to teach myself how to knit continental style. I have to say, I love it! I think that may be one of the reasons I was able to finish the scarves so quickly. I found my tension was better. I tend to knit loosely, making it hard for me to find the right needles to get the gauge I need. I had a much more consistent tension and knit truer to the gauge. I am 2/3 finished with the throw. I put it on hold while I worked on the seasonal and smaller projects. Let’s face it, that throw is getting pretty difficulty to tote around! I bought some beautiful alpaca wool at the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival. I will be knitting my honey a vest featured in the Fall 2007 issue of Interweave Knits. It is actually an excerpted pattern from Amy Singer’s book ‘No Sheep for You’. Even though the book focuses on patterns using yarn other than wool, this light weight alpaca will knit up beautifully.

I have 4 friends (shocking, I know) and we meet monthly for a very casual book group. We have now morphed into a very casual knitting group as well. I taught them all the basics and started them on the ubiquitous garter stitch scarf. They picked it up very quickly and many are on their way to different projects. How cool is that?!? There are some great videos on You Tube showing knitting techniques as well. These I use to supplement my hands on lessons. Let’s face it, if you knit in the evening and have to cast off but don’t know how, these videos are a great resource.

I hope all you knitters out there are enjoying the comfort of wool now that the weather has turned. Be well. Regina

Tomorrow is the first day of the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival. Just think… booth after booth of wool, wool garments, roving, patterns, demos…you name it, they have it! This is an amazing event for wool enthusiasts. I try to have a project in mind before I go because it is too hard for me to randomly pick wool; I would literally have one of each. When I return home I will post photos of what I bought and the pattern I will work it up with; until then…you just have to wait and see!
Don’t forget to check out all of the great shows on hauntings this month!
Be Well…
R

I don’t think I should knit during Mets games anymore!

Everybody sing with me…
So let’s rip, rip, rip for the home team…

Ah…the post-season; it’s like no other time of the year! (Assuming we make it that is!)