Friday, July 27, 2012

Congrats! It's a . . .

Sweater!!!

Completely Finished Jordan Sweater!
As seen above, I have finished my FIRST sweater.  Yes I have been knitting for close to 10 years.  Yes I have knit way more complicated things than this sweater.  So why this was my first ever knit sweater is beyond me!!

This was one of the easiest knits I have ever done.  The lace was interesting enough to keep me entertained.  It is knit in the round - which means absolutely NO sizing issues for fronts and backs!!  The seaming was minimal.  And best of all it fits me nicely!

I think the main reason for my success with this knit was joining the knitalong at yarnability.  The knitalong provided me with the structure I needed to complete this project.  Each week I could get support from Susan or other knitters.  My competitive spirit came out as other knitters moved ahead of me.  I learned from their mistakes design features.

The other key to my success - time!  I have a lot of free time on my hands.  One of the many perks of being a teacher! 

Susan is starting another knitalong in August for the Swirl sweaters.  The knit, Swirl trunk show has begun at yarnability.  The jackets are GORGEOUS! (Looking at you Rachel - I think you would love them.)

Click on the yarnability link to get all the details for this trunk show and knitalong

However the knitalong is beginning in August!!  I will be starting back to school in August!!  This two factors make for a disaster waiting to happen.  My knitting time will take a major hit.  I will be spending my "spare" time writing lesson plans or grading papers. So unfortunately I will not be joining in on this knitalong.

So for my knitting I will be working on my Summer Flies shawl (very appropriate since I have only 20 days of vacation left!!) and on my Origami Sweater.  Pics will be forthcoming as I make some progress.

For now I will leave you with:

Countdown to Tennessee Football Kickoff - 35 days!!  

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Not So Relaxing Vacation

I am back after two weeks of vacation.  I have been knitting - just not home long enough to blog.  I spent the week Bman was at Scout Camp catching up with many friends!  I had breakfast, lunch and dinner "dates" with some amazing ladies!  Started my week with sushi at Kobe and ended with breakfast at Bettys in Shepherdstown. 

I have stopped using my paper calendar and started using my Google Calendar.  Yes I am jumping into the 21st century!!  So when I planned all these fun outings, I did remember to add them to my calendar (with reminders).  However I never stopped to look at the week as a whole.  By Friday afternoon, I realized that I may have overbooked myself.  Thank goodness for vacation starting on Saturday - or so I thought!

We decided to travel to Williamsburg for a week of relaxing at Greensprings Resort.  Thinking that entertaining a 14 year old all week might be a tad difficult - Bman was allowed to bring a friend. 

Looking back, I realize that this might not have been my brightest idea.  Bman is an only child. At least at my house, he is.  He had spent a week at Scout camp with 20 other boys.  He then had to spend a week with another friend.  Can we say people overload??

By Wednesday the honeymoon period had ended.  We had the One Up contest going.  There was so much testosterone being flung about that ducking and covering really wasn't an option.  Thank goodness for knitting and for teenagers sleeping until noon everyday!!  I got about 4 hours every morning to sit quietly and knit! 

On Tuesday, I finished the body of Jordan.  I must say this really was a quick & easy knit.  And the linen yarn has been great to work with - not as scratchy as I thought it would be.  I can't wait to see how this yarn will soften as I wash it.
Jordan Sweater body
Immediately after I finished the body.  I cast on both sleeves.  This is the first time I have knit a pair of items at the same time.  I usually knit my socks one at a time.  I definitely like the idea of both sleeves being finished at the same time.  I can also see this will help make sure both sleeves are the same length - always a good thing!!

One of the sleeves
On Thursday, I woke up and visited Knitting Sisters. This was my second visit to this great shop in Williamsburg.  I came away with some great Lorna's Laces sock yarn and Prism Lace Wool.

Prism Lace Wool - Sedona colorway & Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock - Maple Grove colorway
When I entered the shop, there was a group of knitters having a social knitting time.  After making my purchases, I wasn't ready to head back to the boys.  I joined in with the ladies. They welcomed me and oohhed and aahhed appropriately at my sweater.  So very glad knitters are a friendly group!  I felt like I was among my people again!

Now I am back home with no more travel plans for the summer.  I hope to finish my Jordan sweater before school starts.  Because once August gets here, I have a feeling my knitting time will be taking a hit as I will .be busy planning for my first year as a 5th grade teacher.  Thank goodness for the Origami Sweater!  Mindless 1x1 ribbing for miles!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Gotta be G-Free

I mentioned in my last post that my son will be headed to Boy Scout Camp next week.  He leaves tomorrow and will be gone until Friday.  For most parents this is a stress-free occasion.  The boy gets camping things ready (with some guidance from Mom).  The parent drops them off at designated drop off site.  Away they go for a week of fun & excitement.

Enter in a child with a gluten intolerance! 

I called the Camp Director at the end of May (yes I was being VERY proactive) to see how food intolerances/allergies would be handled.  I was very impressed with his response.  Bman would be given training on kitchen procedures as soon as he gets checked in.  There will be a special area designated for preparation of special foods and for storage of food.  At every meal, the director will escort boys to food area and they will prepare the meal.

Great I think!  This guy really gets what a struggle this is.  Bman will be able to have a great week at camp. 

Then it hits me.  I have to provide all this food for Bman to eat.  Again not a problem - after a  few deep breaths and some wine, I sit down with Bman to explain the situation.  He creates his meal plan (again with LOTS of guidance from Mom).  He would be content eating peanut butter cups all week. 

Now comes the hard part.  Preparing, packaging & labeling all of the food.  I get up this morning ready to spend all day in the kitchen.  I have the rice cooking, the chicken boiling & baking, the microwave running & all the Ziploc containers lined up.  (Stock in Ziploc should have been purchased yesterday!!)


Food for Camp
 After only an hour spent cooking, I had most of Bman's meals ready to go.  I was shocked that I was finished and the kitchen was clean by 11:00 AM.  Now if I could just get into the habit of doing this every Saturday or Sunday for all our meals, I think my life would be much easier!

In knitting news, I am making great progress on my sweater - Jordan. 

Jordan Sweater 7.7.12
I have finshed one repeat of each of the lace sections.  This would be halfway finished on the body section.  I am really enjoying knitting this.  It is going rather quickly.  Who knows I might actually have a finished sweater before Christmas!!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Slight Addiction

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

I started my morning off with a trip to the grocery store.  OK so not my smartest move.  Since I did NOT make a list, I will probably be back at the store several times in the next few days.  Bman leaves for Scout Camp on Sunday.  His gluten free diet means pre-planning all his meals for the week, cooking them all, and packaging them so the camp doesn't get in trouble with the health department.

I do have to give him credit.  He sat down and mapped out what he wanted to eat each day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  And I didn't have to ask 15 million times.  Guess food is very important to a 14 year old!!

After winding down from the craziness at the grocery store, I realized I needed to finish reorganizing my yarn.  I have upgraded to THREE of the 58 Quart Sterilite plastic containers for my stash.  One of these containers has nothing but sock yarn in it. 

WARNING!!  Do not decide to make an "inventory" of your sock yarn that includes price paid on excel. 

Mountain Collection of Sock Yarn
I have always enjoyed knitting socks.  I think I may enjoy buying sock yarn a BIT more than I enjoy knitting socks.  I mean who can resist it!  Only one skein needed! Lots of great colors! Super yummy yarn! Can you see where this might lead to a Sock Yarn Addiction!?!? 

So my friends I have decided I might need to take a break from purchasing sock yarn.  If you see me walking into a yarn store, feel free to follow me around and take any means necessary to stop me remind me gently to step away from the sock yarn.
The rest of the collection
Of course this declaration (he he) comes just days before I visit Williamsburg for a week.  I was really looking forward to a visit to Knitting Sisters.  Well maybe I can say it was vacation yarn & we all know vacation yarn doesn't count anyway! Right??

Also when one works at a yarn store, payment in sock yarn doesn't count either!!  OK I can totally see that I might need an intervention!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun day!  I am headed to Shepherd University to watch TWO of the Contemporary American Theatre Festival plays this evening. 

Monday, July 2, 2012

Sweater Class Success

Any of my knitting friends will tell you, I am deathly afraid not a sweater knitting kind of person!  I site reasons such as "way too much commitment" or "I am a sock knitter - much more effective use of my limited knitting time".  So imagine the surprise when I decided to join a knitalong at yarnability. (Peer pressure always get the best of me at the yarn store!! - Can we say Origami Sweater, Kim & Audrey??)

I decided on knitting the Jordan sweater seen below.  The pattern can be purchase on Ravelry.  This pattern calls for a linen yarn, which is perfect for summer.  Next came the task of choosing a color (see what I mean about commitment!!).  I went with a purple color whose name I cannot remember and I don't seem to have the tag. 

Jordan Sweater - pattern on Ravelry
Claudia Handpaints - Linen
I went to the first knitalong class and cast on.  I had to miss the next two weeks for my brother's wedding and another reason I can't remember now.  Hey I am a teacher and summer brain has really kicked in!!  So after my two week absence I had about 3 inches of the first lace section finished.

Here is where I realized something wasn't right with the cast on edge!!  There were strange loops along the bottom of the piece.  I stopped knitting and took a few deep breaths. 

Last Thursday, I headed to the knitalong class a little early and showed Susan the edge.  I told her she needed to talk me down off the ledge or give me a big push.  A minute and one big push later, I was ripping my work off the needles and starting over!!  This is about the time I remembered exactly why I am an a sweater class flunky.

I cast back on all 200+ stitches and started over.  As you can see below, no more weird loops on the bottom.  I knit along happily for two hours that night and for two more hours the next morring at ssk. I can now say I have almost four inches of this lace pattern finished and am getting ready to start the next section.


Fingers are crossed that I will be finishing this sweater!!


 I mentioned earlier that my brother got married a few weeks ago.  This picture is of the sunset from the night of the rehearsal dinner.  It was gorgeous, as was the wedding and the bride. 


Sunset at Stonebridge

Congrats Jamie & Krista!!