I finished the Beginner Seaman scarf last night. Tonight, I’ll be typing up the pattern and getting stuff together for my beginning class that starts tomorrow. It looks really nice and is very simple. I know I brought this project upon myself when I decided to have my students make the scarf in the class, but it always feels nice to check another project off the list.

Now I’m down to five projects – Bryan’s 2nd sock, the Hobo sweater, Pagan sweater, Glint sweater and the Barbara shawl. I don’t remember the last time that I only had five projects in the works, it will feel really great when I’m down to three projects, like that will ever happen, maybe in 20 years. :) It does help that I have decided to rip out Petula and use the yarn for another similar type summer-type sweater. I do have another project that is itching to be started, but I keep reminding myself that I need to finish what I’ve started. I also have to remember Meredith’s replacement hat. She lost the brown hat that I made her about four years ago and I told her I would knit a replacement for her, which I haven’t even started. Once I start it, I know it will take me about two to three days to do, it’s just a matter of doing it. Maybe I’ll do it this weekend while Bryan is working.

I am proud of myself regarding the projects I have, I am working on Pagan again, so I am making some progress on it. And I’ve knitted several rows here and there on the Hobo sweater, which is coming along nicely. I have about 39 cm of the body worked on the first piece. A couple of rows here and there seem to add up pretty quickly when I’m working on Hobo. I just have to try not to measure every five or six rows. It’s a sweater that I want to wear but I know I have at least another year’s work to do on it. One year, at least!

That’s right, for all of you who don’t remember what day it is, it’s Tuesday. I couldn’t think of a different title, so I just thought of something very obvious.

I was feeling very guilty last night about starting something new when I have so many projects to work on. So I pulled out the yarn and needles for Pagan and started the front of the sweater. I finished all of the lace and eyelets and now it’s straight knitting with a few decreases and increases for a while. I hadn’t worked on it for almost two years that it feels like starting a new sweater. I had forgotten how nice Rowan’s Calmer yarn is to work with. It’s so soft and very flexible, which is nice for lace. Hopefully, I’ll have it finished by spring or summer and can finally wear it.

Petula just wasn’t ready to be ripped out. I think I might just start over completely and make it without the horizontal waist band, I don’t need anything drawing more attention to my hips.

Pagan is all that I worked on last night, I had to work late. Tonight, I will finish the Beginner Seaman scarf for class and start putting together my class materials so that I am prepared for Thursday.

I finished Michael’s scarf on Saturday night. Figure skating was on, so it was the perfect opportunity to work on something that was basic knitting. I finished the scarf about 10 minutes after Michelle Kwan won her 9th national title.

So that means I have to finish the beginner scarf, which I will probably finish tonight. I am more than 3/4 finished with it and have about another hour and a half of work to do on it.

Now I’m faced with the dilemma. Do I start another sweater for me or do I work on something that I already have on the needles? I know that I have to make a replacement hat for Meredith. And I’m thinking I should work on Pagan so that I can finish something that I’m already working on and mark another project off my list before I start something new. I’m really itching to start something new, like a ear-flap hat for Bryan. Maybe I should compromise with myself, isn’t this terrible, but I will start Meredith’s hat, the hat for Bryan and work on the Pagan sweater. That sounds like a deal to me. Then I have something that’s been on my list for a while, a new project and a must-make (Meredith’s hat).

And to add to the “imitation” drama I’m creating for myself, Petula is going to turn into a frog. I’m going to rip it out soon. I was trying to see if my sister or my mom wanted it before I ripped, but neither of them are interested, my mom already has a very similar sweater. So now I have about 6 balls of Rowan’s Linen Drape to use for something else. :)

Well, I’ve talked about the Giraffe blanket so much recently, I figured I should share some photos.

Close up of a giraffe, complete with legs, spots and eye.

This is the hat to match the Daydream sweater

I’ve mentioned a few times lately that I’m designing a beginner seaman scarf for my students to make in the beginning classes.

It’s a very simple stockinette with garter-stitched edges. I’m using some leftover Interlacements yarn that I’ve had for a while. Last night, I finished the first panel and started on the ribbing around the neck, I have about 3 1/2″ of ribbin finished. I was worried that I wouldn’t have the scarf done before my beginning class starts on Thursday, but at the rate I’m going, I know I’ll be finished.

I’ve given myself permission to start something new now that the Giraffe blanket is done and once the beginner seaman scarf is done, I should wait till I’m finished with Michael’s scarf too, but what the hey. I had been planning to start a sweater or something, but I think I might start a feather & fan shawl for my mom. I found some really great mohair in my stash last night and I think it would be beautiful for a shawl. It’s amazing what you find in your stash when you start to look through it. I found some beautiful alpaca that I’d forgotten I had to make a nice cable sweater. I can’t decide because I feel like I should be working on my Master Knitting swatches for Level 2 or even start the vest for Level 2. Oh, choices, choices. I’ll figure it out after I finish the beginning seaman scarf and Michael’s scarf. Although, I feel a bit guilty starting anything new when I still have all of the following to work on:
Bryan’s second sock

the Hobo sweater

Pagan

Glint

and the Barbara Shawl

Maybe posting these photos will encourage me to work on them, so that I can show you progress in a few weeks. :)

George and Chloe were looking extra sweet sleeping under the end table the other day.

Chloe is very upset that she has to wear an E-collar right now. She had been licking her tail a lot and ended up with some lovely scabs that she wouldn’t leave alone. Trying to make her tail feel better, she licked it more till it was bloody and scabby (not sure if scabby is a word, but it will be today). And because she kept licking the scabs they got infected, hence the reason for the E-collar. It would be off by now if she hadn’t ended up with a sore on her belly. She has FIV so any little infection can become a big deal. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to take the E-collar off by the middle of next week.

Have a happy knitting weekend. It’s very cold here this weekend, so a perfect weekend to stay in and knit! :)

Well, the Giraffe blanket is officially finished. I say officially because it’s been sent to the baby/kid that it’s for. I have photos that I will post soon. (I lost my camera, okay maybe lost isn’t the right word, I couldn’t see it in an obvious spot in my apartment.) I can’t wait to hear back from the mom. I’m so excited that it’s finally been sent! It turned out so adorable.

I started the scarf that I’ll be having my students make in the beginning class. It’s just a simple stockinette seaman scarf with garter edging. I figured a seaman scarf would be a good project because it’s a scarf for those that don’t want to make a hat and it requires them to do a few decreases, increases and ribbing. I’m writing the pattern as I go. I’m sure there is a pattern out there for the scarf, but I want to write my own so that I don’t get into copyright issues. I already have about 9 inches of the first panel done, each panel is about 18 inches, then the ribbing and then, of course, the second panel worked the same as the first. Bryan was lovely enough to let me watch taped episodes of Days of Our Lives for a while, so I got a lot of knitting done. I am using some “leftover” Interlacements yarn from a shawl that I made several years ago. I said “leftover” because the shawl only took about 1/3 of the hank of yarn. If you haven’t discovered Interlacements yarn, you’re missing out. The hank of yarn that I purchased for the shawl was 1100 yards of Merino wool for $24. It’s beautiful hand-dyed yarn. I was just looking at their website and it appears that their prices have increased and the yardage has decreased.

I worked a lot of the scarf for Michael last night when I first got home. I’m not 3/4 of the way through the scarf. It’s gone pretty quickly, but as usual I’m impatient and want to finish it very quickly. I don’t know who I’m racing against but I seem to feel like I should finish something every week. I don’t know where that started, maybe part of it comes from when I was going to knit night every week and saw the store owner with a finished sweater what seemed like every week. Then again, she had a lot more time to knit than I do. :) I also think that part of it stems from the fact that there are so many things I want to make and I want to get to those sooner rather than later. I should just enjoy the act of knitting and not race against time.

Must eat some lunch.

I’m back, I found this on Nake-id Knits yesterday. So I must participate.
Grooming Products
Shampoo–depends on day – Aveda’s Rosemary & Mint, Aveda’s Scalp Benefits
Moisturizer–Aveda’s Tourmaline Charged Protecting Lotion
Cologne–none, I use body lotion
Razor–Venus
Toothpaste–Tom’s of Maine

Electronics
Cell phone–some flip phone from Sprint PCS
Computer–Tangerine iBook and a older Gateway PC
Television–It’s medium-sized and has a remote
Stereo–All components I bought more than 10 years ago.

Home
Sheets–Organice Cotton, they are LOVELY
Coffee-maker–don’t do coffee
Car–Honda Civic
Stationery–usually a handmade card

Beverages
Bottled water–only at work, at home – Pur water filter on tap
Coffee–don’t do coffee
Vodka–only if mixed with something else
Beer–Free State Brewery in Kansas

Clothes
Jeans–blue, I don’t know the brand
T-shirt–usually a turtleneck
Briefcase or tote–brown that I picked up at Target
Sneakers–New Balance
Watch–stainless steel Kenneth Cole, a gift

Favorite Places
my apartment (when clean), Nova Scotia, my parents’ house.

Necessary Extravagance
Books, yarn before I had a huge stash, music cds.

You must believe! Yes, the Giraffe blanket is finally finished, done, completed. I sewed the little eyes on the giraffes last night and sewed my tag onto the blanket. Tonight, I will be making a card to send with it complete with care instructions. I don’t know the last time that I was so excited to have a project finished. It was quite an even to take the little tape flag in my journal off of the Giraffe blanket’s page. Now I only have two projects that I’m seriously actively working on that I know will be done in the next two or three months.

Tonight I must start the scarf that I’ll have my students making for their projects. I’ve tried to have them make hats and we’re always rushing the last night of class to sew up the hat. There are always several people who complain that they don’t look good in hats and can’t they make something else. So I’m going to have them make a seaman’s scarf or they can choose to make a hat, if they so desire. The six-week classes are a bit easier, as far as student projects go, but I think for four-week classes, they will only have the option of making the scarf.

It’s been a few days since I last wrote because Bryan and I were both off work the last two days, we took a few vacation days. I usually don’t write on the weekends, unless something major takes place. I didn’t do any knitting on those days, so there wasn’t anything to write anyway. My hands have been a bit sore from finishing the student’s sweater, which I finished on time.

I guess I could have knit yesterday on our trip to Champaign-Urbana, but I wanted to read. I read a chapter from The Soul of Money to Bryan part of the way down.

I completely blame Amie and Lauren for my not being completely productive for the last 1/2 hour. I’m thinking about my yearly goals and keep thinking of some to add to my list. I’m blaming Amie and Lauren (in a good way) for these two additions to the list – 1) I want to get out the fiber I have that I learned how to spin with over a year ago, get out my drop spindle and play with it. 2) I want to make a hat with the yarn that I spin with my drop spindle. I may have to call my friend, Dawn, and have her help me get back up to speed on spinning.

I have several blogs that I read regularly and the list has grown in recent months, so I’ve had to alphabetize them. I’ve also added several in the last month or so. It’s so addicting to read other people’s blogs. You may have never met them, in fact, I have never met any of the people whose blogs I read, but I feel like I could just sit down with them and have a conversation. It’s interesting how well you start to feel like you know them without having met them.

Meredith just called me and apologize for losing the brown hat that I made her several years ago.

She sounded so sad and said it was her favorite hat and that she wears it almost everyday. I told her that I could make her a new one, I still have balls of yarn that I bought when I was going to make the hats to sell, but never did. I hope to get a new hat to her soon. It’s cold out there.
Here’s a photo of Meredith and my late grandma in their hats.

(photo from Christmas 2001)

It’s been an interesting last few days. They sent us home from work early on Wednesday because of the snow. Wednesday evening, Bryan and I were going to get new tires for my car. I wasn’t about to set foot outside after the drive home on Wednesday. Yesterday, Bryan scraped our windows then wakes me up and says, “You’re not going to work today.” I have to say, it was a nice wake-up. So yesterday afternoon, we spent a couple of hours at National Tire & Battery getting new tires put on my car. I could tell a difference when we were driving home. So I made it to work safe this morning, of course, there was a close call this morning with a near pile-up. A woman had either lost control of her car and plowed up and over the curb or her car died, but this was in a blind spot around a curve and there were several of us that almost ended up hitting each other trying to pull over and slow way down. I was really unnerving to be skidding on the snow and praying that I didn’t hit the person in front of me and/or the person behind me didn’t hit me. So I made it to work safely.

I didn’t do as much knitting as I would have liked yesterday. I did do about 1 to 2 cm of work on the Hobo sweater, so I have about 37 cm done on the body.

Last night, I met with a former student with the intent of showing her how to sew her sweater together. I ended up walking out with a finishing project that she wants by Saturday for her daughter’s birthday. I’ve now decided that I’m going to have to be “mean” teacher and not meet many of my students outside of class. I had to reknit one of the tops of the sleeves because she was in a hurry and didn’t cap the top of the sleeve. But I just keep reminding myself – $15 an hour, $15 an hour.

Also on the teaching front, my beginning class at one of the places I teach is so popular that the first class sold out in four days. Wow! I think that’s record timing for me. They asked me to set up another class, which is 1/2 full already too. It’s so exciting that the classes are so popular.

I will be working on the finishing for the student’s sweater tonight ($15 an hour…$15 an hour) and maybe working on the Giraffe blanket tonight. I have to finish the Giraffe blanket by the weekend, so that I can get it sent soon. The Giraffe blanket needs to have three legs sewn and four eyes sewn, it shouldn’t take too long, the keyword being “shouldn’t.” Yeah, just like how the Giraffe blanket was only going to take me a month to knit. Ha ha, that’s the last time I trust myself in estimating the length of time it will take me to knit anything. :)

I just realized it’s Friday. My being out of the office yesterday and having a short week really has messed me up.