Krafty1

SPRING!?!

Where is our spring?  We woke to snowfall AGAIN!!!

Thank goodness my Secret Pal decided to send a bit of spring.  Seed packets...flowers... yarn!

What a lovely parcel!!!  Thanks go to Wendy for spoiling me through a rather rough winter. 

Sorry about the silence this past week...we had some emotional stuff to get through...it was just a year ago that we were on our wonderful family vacation.  We had such a great time as a family then...five months later, he left us. And now, a year later, we're left to believe it was all hallucination except for the photographic evidence.  It was not much of a spring break this year...and the weather didn't help.

However, spring WILL be here soon.  And, much like the weather, my own version of "spring" is right around the corner.  I believe it!  (And may have to try a few of the suggested "98 Things a Woman Should Do in her Lifetime") 

Round 1 Complete

Ta Da!

Round 1 of Sock Madness completed.  Made it through to Round 2.  Baby steps...but it feels so good to be back in the game! 

The pattern: Tropical Mer-tini

The yarn: Koigu Kpppm

Thanks to all of you who sent your cheerleading messages my way!!!

Now, if only you'd be here when I come across spiders.  I've never mentioned it before, but I HATE spiders!  With the weather warming slightly, suddenly I've come across two in my house.  For a long time, I've believed that the only good spider was a dead spider.  However, until this weekend, someone else would take care of ridding the house of spiders.

And then, there one was creeping across my bathroom ceiling.  I was tempted to leave it but I had terrible dreams as a kid of spiders on the ceiling so I just couldn't!  Then, your cheers were in my head.  Sure, they were meant for Sock Madness, but I needed them to help me with the spider...and they did.  Thanks.

Round One complete in socks and in spiders.  Thanks to all of you, I feel like a winner!

Back in the Game

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt strong enough to be competitive.  I wasn’t even sure I’d be strong enough (especially with my allotted time) to sign up for Sock Madness 3.  But, sign up I did and am I ever glad of it!

There’s something about competitive knitting that does get the juices flowing again.  Look at me…I finished a sock in a day!  Just like the old days.  (You remember those…the ones where a pair of socks were cranked out each week!)  Better still, I’m learning new things along the way.  I learned how to Norwegian Purl.  It’s not a necessity but since the pattern has a lot of purling, I thought I’d give it a try.  (It is REALLY neat, but I’ve reverted to my traditional method for the time being.) Something the pattern DOES have is “afterthought heel” (hence the gaping hole in that particular area).  It’s amazing how fast a sock can be completed when you don’t have to stop to mess around with the heel!

If I don’t make it past Round One, it will all have been worth it anyway.  Learning new things and performing a bit of speed knitting has done my soul good.  It sure does feel good to be back in the game!!

One more for Wednesday

Murphy strikes again...
As soon as I posted my comic book hero Wednesday post, my real life Hero Brother comes along with a great video link. Enjoy!!!

Wednesday Traditions

I haven't completely given up on the Web Wednesday tradition...I just don't have as much time to search for interesting tidbits these days.  (And when I do find something, it might take me a bit to post about it.)

But this week, it's time for some good ol' fashioned fun.  And what could be more fun than a comic book? How about a comic book for knitters!?! Handknit Heroes is just such...now if only I could get my hands on one!

Since we're on the comic book/hero theme this week, how about designing your own character?

Thanks to Elemmaciltur for posting this link: The Hero Factory.  Check my secret identity out: Misses Supersonic Angel! (Gee, ironic that my secret identity has already claimed the title "Misses"while I'm struggling to remove the "Mrs." from my real identity!) All she needs yet are a pair of knitting needles in her right hand and a ball of yarn in her left...ah, but too bad those weren't options.

Soooooo, what's your secret identity?  I'll promise not to tell. Have fun!!!

(Bloglines, oh Bloglines...why are you linking this post to a post from THREE years ago!?!  Arghhh.)

Luck of the Irish

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all!

Did you get your "green" on?  Did you have corned beef & cabbage or maybe a pint of green beer? (Or maybe a Guinness?)

How much green do you have in your wardrobe?  Were you sufficiently festooned?

OR were you lucky?

That's right...there was a contest for which a drawing needs to be done. (Pull out the hand random number generator.)

For Question #1, the winner of The Friday Night Knitting Club is: Jenny. 

For Question #2, the winner of the handmade pair of socks is: Nikki 

Ladies send me an email (my address is in the sidebar) and we'll chat about getting your prizes to you.  Congratulations to you both on winning and for everyone who shared a story...the world is lucky to have you! Erin go bragh!

Everything a girl could ask for

Okay, here it is as promised.

Five months ago, I had a weekend off.  I went to Chicago and spent two wonderful days with Franklin for his first book signing.

Five months later, I had my first "kid free day" since Chicago.  I went to Madison for the day and spent it with the likes of Meg Swanson, Joyce Williams, and the Yarn Harlot herself! 

The Madison Knitters Guild held their annual Knit-In this past weekend.  We lived in Madison for nearly 15 years.  I miss it terribly.  I didn't knit when we lived there and now that we're gone, this group makes me wish we were back.  They have monthly meetings with amazing speakers at their meetings in addition to the Knit In.

It was pure joy to spend my morning with Meg & Joyce (and a room full of women).  The topic: "Not Exactly a Knit Class".  The room got to shoot out questions and the ladies shot back answers and humor.  My favorite bit: "Don't 'should' all over yourself."  Isn't that true? We worry about "should" instead of "could" or "would".

There also was a lovely on-camera demonstration of Meg's double decrease (SL2tog, K1, P2SSO) that is going to be a definite addition to my arsenal.

Then

the

afternoon

was

spent w/ Harlot! Stephanie Pearl McPhee is just as witty in person as she is on her blog...though much shorter than expected. (Must be that we think of her as larger than life.)  Personable...that would sum her up...then again, that could be said of a lot of knitters.

I've missed several of her speaking engagements in the past, and am ever so glad that I didn't miss this one!

There was also a bit of stash enhancement thanks to the Plucky Knitter, but that'll have to wait till next time.  Sorry, but my soul is refreshed and this could get long if I spilled everything all at once.

(Since I seem to get a break every five months...just think, five months from now is Sock Summit!!!  Imagine how refreshed my soul could get there!)

Pi in the Sky

Sorry I've been gone so long.  New posts to follow shortly...I promise. 

There's plenty to report, including:

-a day spent in one of my favorite cities (Madison)

-with some of my favorite people (knitters)

-one of my favorite authors (Yarn Harlot)

-and finishing the day at one of my favorite restaurants (The Hubbard Ave. Diner) in celebration of Pi Day. 

It was awesome!!!  There's a LOT to share...tomorrow...promise.

Twist it up

The new Twist Collective is up!

The baby stuff doesn't interest me...but walk me down the Primrose Path or

introduce me to Collette and I'll be a happy camper.

A new week...month...year (of socks)

The work of getting the house ready for sale is nearly complete...save for scrubbing the kitchen and craft room floors.  However, it got to be 5:30 PM on Saturday and that meant that it was time to quit working and start celebrating.  (I was born at 5:30 PM...my own personal "witching hour".)

The girls took me out for dinner (shouldn't have to cook on your birthday) at a local authentic English Pub.  Fried clams, a pint of hard cider, and a birthday cake of sticky toffee pudding celebrated with my girls!!!  What could be better than that!?! (Well, maybe remembering to bring your camera for blog photos...thank goodness for cell phones!  Thank you, Alexander Graham Bell...I'm sure this is what you had in mind when you invented the phone...bloggers in restaurants taking photos with their phones.)

And now it's Monday, it's March, and it's the beginning of my 46th year.  A new week, month, and year...and I have yet to finish a pair of socks for 2009!  Can you believe it!?!

Can you believe these socks!?! 

Can you believe that they belong to the daughter of a sock knitter!?! 

For shame, for shame!

I was shocked and am now even more determined to finish my first pair of socks of the new year.  Having a birthday shortly after New Year's is kind of nice...it gave me the opportunity to take stock and restart my year.  However, no goal of 52 pairs of socks for the year this year...12-20 pair would be more than satisfactory.

But maybe I should concentrate on finishing one pair before I start going for 20!