Gentleman's Fancy Socks finished

These are my finished socks. The yarn has been in my possession for ages and finally found socks to be in. Actually it was coincidence that the yarn and the pattern go together so well as I had completely forgotten how it would knit up. The socks turned out almost identical, much to my delight. I have AIMED for identical of course once I saw how great sock one looked, but as I had just started knitting with whatever yarnend there was, I am pleased how well I matched the place in the repeat for sock 2.

This is the beginning of my red sweater. Actually it is the third beginning of that sweater. First there was Mrs CB's Camp Jacket: much too busy yarn for the pattern (Chicknits). Then I cast on Park from NoroKnits: I liked the changes I had made, but decided I did not want a hoodie after all. So this is the third cast on and I am winging it with EZ. I thought I would make a Hybrid, but with the waist shaping I am not sure the saddle shoulders would look good. Any comments or ideas on this?

And then there is this. That is the view out of my office at work. Luckily neither the trains nor the buses are all that loud and at least it easily reachable by public transport (=knitting or reading time).

Looking for a book

I am looking for a book that I held in hand the other day and now of course can not remember the author or the title. It was about a family that for one year tried to go with all the RIGHT choices as far as environmental, social and ethical effects of their lives were concerned. Does anyone know the title of this?

Thanks in advance.

I really need to get a booklet and a pen for my purse to write these things down.

One year of blogging

I only realized today that I have been blogging for over a year already. Yeah me! I did not think I would stick with it when I started, but even with my usual changes of interest I am still blogging ones in a while about all sorts of things.

I had a goal list then, it might be a good idea to start that up again.

Share reading

Click on the title and you will end up at green man press' blog and a wonderful picture for fantasy loving readers.

Gentleman's Fancy Socks

I have finished the first of my blog reading socks this morning and have to say I like it a lot. I have cast on for sock 2 and it seems that I have managed to at least make them closely related, though so far I am only 7 rows in. I am happy with those and can imagine that I will do more with this pattern at another time. I still love my Thuja pattern even more, but this is great too.

I am thinking about casting on Eunny's Chucks Cable Socks. As a matter of fact I joined the KAL. But the cast on is 76st and I normally do about 56, so I need to read the whole pattern to see if I will decrease or if I need to switch to much smaller needles than my usual 2.5mm ones. I also need to decide what colors to use, I am thinking black and turquois.

Eragon - the film

You might remember that I read the book in a frenzy to have it finished before the movie started showing in Germany. I liked the book quite a bit, even with all the bad rep it got for being a rip off of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Dragonriders of Pern. After all how many original ideas do you get in romance for example? I'd rather read a well written retake than a bad original in this case. I am looking forward to reading Eldest as part of my chunkster challenge.

But the movie, oh boy, so bad. It is naturally a very shortened version of the book, but it was in some places hardly recognizable at all. Jeremy Irons was good and I liked the look of the guy who played Murtagh, but apart from that it was deciedely blah. MyGuy has only seen the movie and he thought it was more a fairy tale for kids than a decent fantasy for grown ups. So while the dragon animation is good for the most part, the movie fell flat of our expectations both for the reader and the non-reader. We spent a nice evening, but this is not going anywhere on our recommendation list.

Flush and away which we saw the week before however was funny and I am sure will end up in our DVD collection.

Lost and Finished

I lost my brown knitted hat last week when dozens of people behind me leaving the bus and walking to the train did not see it fit to mention that my backpack was open. When I noticed and turned around to go find my knitting some "kind" soul said "you lost something back there". I was ready to strangle the bitch and I fill the urge whenever I see her commuting on the same train with me every damn day.... Anyway, at that time I did not notice that I should have walked further back and retrieved my hat somewhere too. So I did what any sensible knitter does: I knit a new one. I had been itching to make an Odessa from Grumperia. It did turn out nice, though you can not see too much in the photo. I left the beads of and knit the YO through the back to prevent holes and am happy with the result.

Catch-22 done

I have finished the third book from my Winter Stack Challenge: Catch-22. This is a book that I meant to read for quite some time and I actually enjoyed most of it. I liked the catch that if you are asking not to fly you are sane and have to fly. The deaths were sometimes gruesome but made it all the more believeable that Yossarian would not want to fly.

I decided to read this book after reading Beginner's Luck where it is mentioned. I do this quite a bit, read a book that I came across in another one. Does anyone else do this?

Because both my other stack books are heavy, I have snuck in a small one, I got the new Daisy Dalrymple mystery Death of a Philanderer and am looking forward to see Daisy and gang at the seashore. This is a favorite series of mine.

Chunkster Challenge - my way

Since the rules for the challenge are incredibly flexible I have decided to read at least 6 books with more than 400 pages for the Chunkster Challenge, though not necessarily one each month as the classics take up January and February. As a matter of fact Moby Dick, Night&Day and For Whom The Bells Toll all qualify for chunksters in the editions that I have. But I am going to read 6 more of the following list:

Jonathan Stranger & Mr. Norell
Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Prince
Voyager (by Diana Gabaldon)
Fiery Cross (dito)
Eldest
The amazing Adventure of Kavalier & Clay
Winter in Madrid
Carter Beats the Devil
Emporer The Gates of Rome
Little, Big
The Salteron Triology (1 book for me)
Seven Pillars of Wisdom

I hope to get all of these done next year, but will settle for 6 till the end of June.

This was one I could not resist:

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Chunkster Challenge

As you can see from my side bar I plan on joining another challenge. It is fairly flexible, and I will have Moby Dick from the classics as one of my chunksters. I am thinking of adding one each months for the 6 months the challenge is on, but I have to have a look at my books first to see which ones are over 400 pages. I might smuggle Eldest in there as Eragon was 496 pages in my edition. But I have to have a look see.

Any other reading challenges out there? Do you challenge yourself? What sort of challenges do you put on yourselves?

Finished Objects

This is the first of the finished objects: yellow Opal socks in Twin Rib. Done! I have to admit that I just wanted to get the yarn out of my stash. I like yellow for socks, but I growing less and less fond of the pseudo fair isle self patterning yarns. I am not buying anymore of that, but I love stripes, tweeding and (almost) solids.

For some one who does not like the yarn I seem to have quite a few pairs. The orange ones are stockinett top down, the green ones are my only pair of toe ups as I need to learn a different bind off before attempting this again, the blue ones are 2 by 2 rib and the pink ones are my favorites: Conway from Nancy Bush. This pattern I will certainly do again.

The other Finished Object is Eragon which I finished with almost a week to go till the deadline of the movie start in Germany. I have picked up Catch 22 and hope to finish it this time as it is part of my Winter Stack challenge. I need to finish 3 books this months, so I can attempt the classic challenge as well as the tbr challenge in the new year. Pooh, that should reduce the piles at least a tiny bit.

TBR Challenge

And here the list for the tbr challenge:

Ann Granger - Mord ist aller Laster Anfang
Anne Chaplet - Caruso singt nicht mehr
Abigail Padgett - Blue
Anthony Doerr - Shell Collector
Alistair McLean - Bear Island
Andrea Camilleri - Die Form des Wassers
Antal Szerb - Reise im Mondlicht
Anju Bahri - Bahrisons Chronicle of a Bookshop
Aaron Elkins - Dark Place
Asne Seiershad - Bookseller in Kabul
Alan Hollinghurst - A Line of Beauty
Angie Sarge - Magyk

Classics Challenge

I have decided to accept the classics challenge. This should likely count to my TBR challenge as well, but let me try stretching myself and adding those on.

I chose the following:

Moby Dick
Walden
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Night & Day
Silas Marner

That is likely rather ambitious, but at least it should get me started.

Bits and pages

In addition to the seaming (see yesterdays post) I also did the heel on my yellow opal twin rib sock, that is sock #2. The knitting is past the gusset and I am looking forward to some stupid easy knitting till the toe is reached. As usual I could not quite remember how I had done the heel and I think I placed it slightly different, but that will not be noticable with the jaquard yarn and the rib pattern.

I also have switched books and started reading Eragon, because when we were in Casino Royal I noticed that the movie will be showing in mid December and I wanted to read it before that. So the challenge books went on hold and I started Eragon which actually was in my stacks too. I have joined www.bookswappers.de to try and curb my book buying. I also have books listed on amazon. Bookswappers will get "nice" books and amazon "get rid" books, though at the moment I have listed some of my star trek books in the swap rather than in the sell category.

On Saturday I was in Freiburg to visit a friend. We hit the bookstores and I bought some kid's books for christmas. Additionally some non-fiction for myself. We went to the christmas fair, ate mexican food, I got to meet the new love interest and we watched a DVD. Entirely enjoyable, apart from the fact that I missed MyGuy.

Lilac FO

I am sure you are wondering where this came from as you have never seen it as a WIP. That is because the knitting has been done ages ago and I only took the time to seam it up today. A couple of hours of skiing on TV gets all sorts of things done... I have tried it on, with some trepidation as I thought lilac fluffy would look horrible, and apart from the shoulders being a bit wide and therefore the sleeves hanging down a bit lower than I wanted them to it is fine. Picture of it on my as soon as I get a photographer around here... I still have some of this Lana Grossa Fumo left, but am not sure this should be a scarf or a hat. It seems slightly itchy and that makes it a no go for both of these left over users. Any ideas?

Red Thujas finished

I was away at for a business meeting and since they supplied us with playdoh and other toys to keep us awake and alert I figured I was going to take my knitting in the meetings. That created more attention then I thought, but non negative. And now my red Thujas are finished.

I have upon returning home also tried to take a picture of my Bob sweater before it goes into storage, but standing in my bath tub on my toes with a three section mirror does not make for great photos possible.


I have finished reading three books since I last posted. Letter from Home by Carolyn Hart, Im Westen nichts Neues by Erich Maria Remarque (one from my November and Stack Challange list) and Fatal Tide by Iris Johanson which I got from my boyfriend. All three were good reads and I am glad I finally read Im Westen nichts Neues. Sitting around in airports and on planes you get an awful lot read. I am now reading Blind Assassin by Margret Atwood so I guess book 3 for the November challange (Catch 22) will not actually be read in November, but as it also counts for my Stack Challange I will read it in December.

Norovember

Naturally I had no sooner put the Norovember pic up on my blog that I did anything but knit on my Noro cardigan. I cast on a vest. I knit socks, I started my Sharfika version of Fetching... But not a stitch on my Noro. And nothing will get done on it next week when I am out of town for a business trip. I guess I will need Norcember, too.

A three way Tie

You scored as XIX: The Sun. This is the happiest card in the deck. It is full of joy and optimism, everything is right with the world. We are as innocent children playing in the fields without care. The Sun brings success, well-being and happiness in all spheres - material, emotional, spiritual -wherever our desires lay.When this card appears in a Tarot spread it indicates success, joy and happiness. Obstacles will be overcome, goals achieved.When badly aspected, it can indicate a stagnation through over-indulgence, too much of a good thing.

XIX: The Sun 63%
XVI: The Tower 63%
XIII: Death 63%
II - The High Priestess 56%
IV - The Emperor 56%
III - The Empress 56%
VI: The Lovers 50%
XI: Justice 50%
X - Wheel of Fortune 50%
I - Magician 44%
0 - The Fool 38%
VIII - Strength 31%
XV: The Devil 25%

Which Major Arcana Tarot Card Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

Book Meme

Meme Instructions : Look at the list of books below. Highlight in red the ones you’ve read, highlight in green the ones you might read, leave the ones you won’t read in black, italicize the ones on your book shelf, and place parentheses around the ones you’ve never even heard of.

The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
The Cacther in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Time Traveler's Wife by audry Niffenegger
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
1984 by George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaba by J.K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Crytonomicon by Neal Stephenson
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Sadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zago
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Dune by Frank Herbert
The History of Love by Nichole Krauss

I have no idea who came up with the list originally, but it was sort of interesting to see how many I actually have and how many are TBR.

Pat Barker's Another World

This is the first of my books that I wanted to read in November to remember WWI and WWII. I had read Barker's Regeneration Triology, but while Another World is an interesting book it is not as intense as the triology.

Nick is a man with a patchwork family and a pregnant wife as well as a sick grandfather who is while approaching death relives the horrors of WWI. While I liked the basic story and the voice of the book, I feel it fell short of what it could have been. There was a bit about Nick and his family's disfunctionalities reflected in the earlier owners of their house and a bit of the horror of Somme reflected in Geordie's story, but it remained superficial and none of the stories really drew me in.

But at least it is out of my stack now.

Reading Challanges

Kailana’s November Reading Challenge: “It will soon be the month of November, and I have been thinking about it a lot lately. In Canada, November is the month that Remembrance Day falls in, being November 11th. So, I got to thinking, I might do a reading challenge where I read books set in World War I and World War II.”

I have decided to have a go at this too:

1. Pat Barker's Another World (which has a WWI surviver in it and I will count it)
2. Catch 22
3. Im Westen nichts Neues

These are all in my book stack and so can count towards my From the Stacks Winter Reading Challenge. I will add two more to that one:

4. Widow for one Year
5. Blind Assassin

The challange here is to read 5 books from the stack by end of January. I am cheating in having my books in both challanges, but they qualify for both.

I have read this weekend the last two books of the Spiderwick series. I have enjoyed them, though they were not the best children's fantasy that I have read.

Wee One Pumpkins

Heart in Hand Pumpkins
Originally uploaded by kucki68.

This is the cross stitch that I actually finished stitching at the beginning of November. The colors are different than the leaflet and I wonder what's up with that as mine have photographed close to reality. The pattern is by Heart in Hands and was a quick and fun fall project. Naturally I messed up three places, but I dare you to find them and so I am not frogging.

I am not sure what I will do with it, but am currently considering making a whole year and turning them in a quilt. Or having one for each month in a small frame and switch through the year. Do you have any ideas?

Jaywalkers

Jaywalkers
Originally uploaded by kucki68.

These are my rendition of Grumperia's Jaywalkers from MagKnits. I completely missed the craze when Cara at January One had everyone knitting this pattern in Socks That Rock yarn, but I did like what I saw. After a false start with an Opal yarn these socks were done in Regia Cotton. I don't remember the colorway. Despite them being fraternal and having made the ribbed section to long, I like my Jaywalkers. I made each of the pattern repeats 2 stitches less and they fit very nicely.

Cutaway

Cutaway
Originally uploaded by kucki68.

As you can see I got MyGuy to take a picture of me in my cutaway. Obviously the man who takes wonderful pictures of landscapes and the like and I need to discuss his attention to detail for fashion shots as the cutaway looks better in real live. I am not sure he understood why I wanted a picture of my cardigan. ;^)

Cutaway is a pattern by Chicknits and I enjoyed knitting it.. If I make it again (and that is not impossible) I will have to make the sleeves a bit shorter. The yarn is darker and heathier than the photo shows. It is made of Schachenmayr nomotta Extra, 100% wool.

The two and a half left over balls will at some point become a red scarf for the Orphan's project, though it might be for 2008 or even later.

Photos?

Well, I bought one of the doodas for uploading pics from the memory stick in MyGuy's old camera and uploaded pics in Flickr. (Yeah me!) Now let's see if I can get them to show up in the blog.

Let's try with the pic of the quilt for my friend Andrea that I finally sent out to her. Only one months late...

The pattern is called FlickFlack and I was trying to get an effect of flowers on a meadow. My mom did the quilting and has crated petals in the flickflacks and blades of grass in the green border. She is great at quilting for me and I love to challenge her.

Cross Stitch Threads

Today's SBQ was suggested by Jan and is:How many different brands of "complete" embroidery floss sets do you own? How do you keep track of it? (i.e., spread sheet program, index cards, palm pilot, etc.)

I have a good bunch of Anchor, but no where to complete and I have a couple of Gather Sampler Threads and would love to have all of that. A geew Weeks Works added in and that is it. Pityful, hm?

Looking for a tutorial

I am getting fed up with all that GREEN here. Does anyone know a tutorial for me (no idea about any of this at this moment) to help me change the color of my template?

Thanks in advance.

Finishes and Semi-finishes

This weekend I did some of the things that I had been dragging my feet about: added a button to CeCe (wearing it now over a black longsleeved shirt), sewed around the button hole on my cutaway so that finally the button would stay closed and while I was at it I added the button on my white summer trousers back on. Now CeCe and Cutaway are finally finished.

On Friday I have finished the toes on my first Child's First Sock and on my first Thuja for me. I have also cast on for the second "Child" sock and a new Make Waves sock. I worked on the yellow opal sock in Twin Rib some more and while I like the yarn quality I think I will not buy this sort of self patterning yarn anymore. The black sock that I started for Petra's Witch Sock contest will have to be ripped as I messed the spideer chart up several times and am now in a position to no longer manage to finagle things. So the sock is in time out until next weekend when it will get ripped. This are the semi finishes.

Last week I joined the Red Sweater KAL and obviously that was all it needed for me to finally finish my red summer sweater. Bob (from Knitty) was bound of at 9pm and thanks to my alterations (knitting a Raglan in the round instead of in pieces flat) it was sewn up and all ends woven in by 9:40. It looks good too, so I am happy. Unfortunatelly with around 5 degrees Celsius it is a bit cold for short sleeves.

I finally got the old digi cam from MyGuy and took some pictures, but to upload them I need a loading station/cable and that I have to buy first. So it will take a bit longer until this is a blog with pics.

Socktober already on it's last day?

I have a serious case of STARTERITIS. That is why I need to follow Sarah in extending Socktober (see this entry: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/6626188). I still have the blue socks (child's first socks) with sock one close to the toe; I have started the witch socks that are due today for Petra's contest but due to work and the need to concentrate on two charts simultaniously that is far from the heel, but will look cool, maybe for next years Halloween; the yellow socks have not been touched at all, but will make nice mindless commuter knitting once I get over my love affair with Thujas; red Thuja for myself was started and is on it's way to the toe for the first sock.

Cross Stitching is even worse. I had a bunch of WIPs already: Flight Show, Reading Dragon, Santa (only beads missing), Fall scene, Heart by M Designs, Name Sign for my friend Monika, seahorses were all in different states off unfinished. Now I have added a Michael Powell's Mini design and by Heart in Hand Pumpkins. The last one might actually get finished stitching as it is fairly straight forward with lovely space died threads. But then it will join my Plant Kindness design in the cue to be finished. May be My Guy's father could make a frame for the kindness design.

Sewing: I need to finish my pj top as it is getting colder again. I also want to add some stars for friends and family to my christmas giving.

Christmas shopping will need to be done within the next 4 weeks, because I am NOT going shopping after 1st of December. I go to christmas markets, but for the Gluehwein not for shopping. So this Santa will have to make a list and check it twice.

What season am I - fits

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

Stitcher's Question of the week

This week’s SBQ was suggested by Vash and is:

Which way do you stitch, i.e. do you stitch /// followed by \\\ on top, or the other way around \\\ followed by ///? Are you left- or right-handed and do you think that this affects the way that you stitch?

I stitch \\\ followed by /// and I am right-handed.

My Guy socks done

In a fit of very concentrated knitting I finished the My Guy socks yesterday evening. Now they just need a little bath and they are ready for his Halloween birthday. I actually liked them very much once I had them on my feet and already bought yarn for another pair of Thuja from http://www.knitty.com Mine will not be the worlds most boring tan, but red tweed like socks. But they have to wait a bit.

Yesterday I cast on for my witch socks for Petra's (Woll Normal) witch contest. I am not sure I can get the one required sock done in time as it will not be mindless, but it will be fun even if it takes a bit longer... I am starting of with picot which I have never tried with a provisional cast on, another thing I have not really mastered yet. At least the cast on came off so I am now ready to knit the two set of stitches together. Then a bit of lace and some twitsted stitches... Actually I have a second idea that would be great, but that would probably require double knitting and I have never tried that either.

Sharfika is on the second ball and growing nicely. This was my project in front of My Guy while I was knitting his socks. If you only required a short scarf you could stop already, but i plan to wear mine with my navy winter coat and want it longer. The other day I realized that I had accidently switched to cables every 8 rows instead of the 10 in the pattern, but since I have done this since the second crossing, I will just keep going and make the last one a ten row repeat for symmetry.

No stitching done lately even though my fingers itch after seeing the Just Cross Stitch Christmas 10th anniversary book and some recent magazines.

Sharfik in pink = Sharfika

In preperation of winter and considering it is October and therefore breast cancer awareness is heightened I have cast on a Sharfik in a lovely slightly blueish rose. It fought me from the start: the set up row went wrong, then I did the first and last stitch wrong on the right side row while correcting the miscounting in the set up row, the yarn does not like to be cabled with three stitches across and I can not count to ten for the pattern repeat. To add insult to injury I was very doubtful at the beginning about how that whole thing would look. But now I am fine with the look and the pattern and I have made peace. There will be a pink sharfik here, I call it sharfika, because it is so girly. I am not sure if Grumperia's dad will like his many scarf so transformed...

The My Guy socks were ripped to the ribbing and restarted with the pattern from Thuja in knitty.com. The first one is now past the heel and great commuter knitting.

Last Saturday I was at my parents and went with my mom to her patchwork groups UFO day. I finished sewing up the ship and kaleidoscope blocks, so they can make a baby quilt if a kid will show up. I got advise on what to use for the binding in my ninepatch quilt, but have not actually attached it. And I started a star for a table "runner" (I do not know what it is called, it is for decoration and to put stuff like tea pots on.). I finished the star on Sunday and added the backing yesterday, so at least I have one FO.

I am still knitting on Bob even though the weather is by now decidedly autumn and I will not need a short sleeved sweater for a long time. But the yarn and the color make me happy and I am approaching a finished project there as well.

Socktober 06

A bit late but here we go:

When did you start making socks? I have no idea, but it must have been in school during home ec as I am sure I knit the first pair before I graduated from high school.
Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class? My mom defenitly taught me as she was my home ec teacher and I learned all my early crafts from her. We still share a love for handicrafts, but mostly she does patchwork these days.
What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time? I have no idea as this is more than 20 years ago.
What would you have done differently? Probably nothing, but I can not say for sure.
What yarns have you particularly enjoyed? In Germany we do not have the wide varity of hand died and variegated luxuries, but I particularily enjoyed Regia Silk.
Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method? I have tried DNPs, 2 circs and the Magic Loop and have returned to my 5 DPNs. I love circs for other things, but not for socks.
Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?) I have only done one short row heel when I also tried toe-up, it was okay, but I prefer flaps as they are more mindless for me. However I like the flap with slipped stitches since I found them on the net.
How many pairs have you made? No idea, I think I have ten pairs in my drawers, 2 in My Guy's and I made a pair as a gift for a friend at some point.

My Guy sock started

I have started the socks for My Guy yesterday. I changed my mind about the pattern I would use, but am still unsure if I decided on the right one. The sock is much wider after the ribbing and I am not sure this will work out, but I will knit a bit more and then reevaluate them. Maybe instead of a knit purl pattern I should use something that is more like ribbing... I am not going to do cables with it though as I have already noticed that it splits and that is not good for cabling without cable needle.

Socktober has started

I am looking forward to doing some sock knitting this month in celebration of Lolly's socktober festival. I have two pairs on the needles that I want to get done and a third pair that I need to cast on and get done for My Guy's birthday on Halloween. I also want to rework the pair he got for last years b-day as they were too long (and possibly too wide, too). The ones on the needle are both on the first sock: blue cotton Child's First Socks that live at My Guy's place and yellow Opal socks in Twin Rib that I had to rib the heel back because I did not remember that I had more stitches on the fourth needle and needed to take some of those into the heel to get the requisite half of the numbers.

Unfortunatelly I am currently in love with my little cross stich project and the socks remain ignored. I need to cast on for My Guy's socks so that I can take them on the train. I dislike casting on there as I tend to have needles slip out when wrangling the dnp porcupine through the inital set up. Afterwards I love my DNPs.

Another new project

I could no longer resist and have started the Michael Powell Mini Spanish Cottages 6 from an old Just Cross Stitch. The pircture shown is the one from the magazine, I only have done a tiniy bit on the tree and the houses. I love Powell's work and this one reminds me of our vacation, even if we were in Italy and not in Spain, the feeling was pretty much the same. I have in a current WOCS another of his Minis, this time from Greece.

Jaywalkers done

Watching soccer I finished my Jaywalkers. I love them, they are cotton Regia and I am already wearing them. Let's see if I can get My Guy to take a photo of them at some point the next couple of days.

I had a rather annoying TV evening as the cable channels have changed and my TV does not adjust them automatically. I have now more channels, but it was hard work to find the ones I had before again and save them on their old places on my TV. And I am still missing the second Swiss channel. Grr. If I can not find it this winter will be BAD. They are my favorite channel for downhill skiing.

I had an okay day yesterday and then went swimming a 1000 meters with a former collegue. That was good and we plan to do it more often. After that I did not see a very low step and fell, skinned my knee and twisted my ankle. Then they had changed my TV channels and I could not find my fifth ebony DPN. I used a metal one to finish the Jaywalkers, but was seriously annoyed. I love those needles. Luckily that one took a turn to the better this morning as I found needle #5 stuck in my sweater vest. Yeah!

This is especially good as I want to use the ebony's for My Guy's socks. I think I know what I want to do for them. Diamond frames in purl stitches on a stockinette background. Now what ribbing to use with that...

Knitting History

I am one lucky girl: I won a wonderful Japanese book from Julia at Knitting History! It's already here and great. Not that I understand a word of the Japanese but the pictures are inspiring. I am really looking forward to trying one of the hats or shawls.

Knitting:
- the first pair of Jaywalkers is nearing completion during my daily train trips, this morning I reached the toe of sock number 2
- since the weather is turning cool, rainy and very fall like I am determined to finish my Bob sweater (from http://knitty.com ): short sleeved and cotton. Yes, I too think that that is weird, but I love the yarn and the color... I am knitting the sleeves: two in the round at the same time, not my favorite method, but it beats the alternatives hands down. Luckily they are only 2" until I will join them to the body. Yes, I am taking liberties with the construction of that sweater.
- coming up: boyfriend socks as it is his birthday at the end of October. I got some nice neutral tan Jawoll yarn. That will be my first time knitting with that brand, usually Regia is what I can lay hands on. Let's see if I can make them so boring that he will actually wear them...

Cold Weather but no progress

With August we got cold and rainy weather but instead of crafting a lot, I went back to reading for a while.

I read David Lodge's Think, The Giver, a book by Deirdre Martin, another book (a romance I think) that I already sold via amazon and am currently close to the end of Neil Gaiman's Anasi Boys. I had not read any Lodge for some time and therefore enjoyed it, even though it is the same old topics of affairs and academics. Gaiman's book is great and I had read American Gods earlier which gave me an idea of what to expect. I plan on finally finishing Amy Tan's Saving Fish from Drowning next. Just a few chapters left...

I did knit a bit on my Jaywalkers and am up to the heel of the second sock. I also cast on once more with the tan cotton sock wool I have, but once again am not satisfied. I will have to go down a needle size with those, I think. I knit a bit on my Noro Cardigan, too, but am not satisfied with the instructions. They are vague and lacking a diagram. But I am past the armhole decreases, so the fronts should be finished soon and then I can guess how much yarn I will need to purchase to finish it.

I stitched not at all on my Frederic and very little on the Seahorses.

My quilt URGENTLY needs a border to then go to Mom for quilting, if I want to give it as a gift in October.

A row here a row there

that is the progress of my projects currently. Turned a heep on my blue Child's First Socks, turned a heel on my Jaywalker and did the increases on the fronts of my Noro cardigan. I still love all those projects, so they will go on. The blue socks at My Guy's place, the jaywalkers are my commuting project and the cardigan is my at home project when it is not too hot to knit wool.

We are planning on going to see Caveman, a comedy, on men and women. We had heard good things about it and are looking forward to it.

Summer of Stash rewards?

I have not yet gotten to the end of the Summer of Stash and already I am contmeplating getting more yarn: Noro Blossom for an Eloise and this Sock Club: http://www.poshyarn.co.uk/sockclub.html . But then I have not defined any rewards when I joined the summer of stash...

CeCe finished

My CeCe is finished and I have worn it already. It is just what I wanted. Now I need to get my photographer to snap a pic and I will finally try to post one.

Also finished is the first sleeve of my Noro cardigan. I have not cast on for the fronts yet.

Ripped: my yellow jaywalkers. Restarted with less stitches and a different sock yarn. Now I am afraid the fabric is too loose, but will keep it up for a bit.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

Summer Knitty Patterns

The summer knitty is out and I feel rather ambivalent about it. While the socks, hats and other accessoirs look great, I feel "cheated" that there are no short sleeved sweaters or tanks. I know it is free and the editors decision and I even can see that in summer you might need small stuff as it will not create the blanket effect of a large project, but still... That said, I like quite a few of the things and am sure they make great stash buster projects and I will refer back to this issue often.

Noro Silk Garden is yummy

I am currently knitting a cardigan in Silk Garden by Noro. In green purple colors: LOVELY. I did a sleeve as the gauge swatch and seem to have gotten lucky. This yarn was originally intended for Klaralund, but then got stashed and now I think I'd rather have a cardigan. I just hope there is enough yarn as the cables eat up yarn like crazy. But I can either knit a stockinett back or a uni one from a different yarn depending on how "bad" this gets. I am loving the sleeve, luckily I have taught myself after seeing this mentioned in the blogsphere how to cable with out a cable needle. Otherwise the love might not be all that great... Next to knit are the fronts as I want those to match as much as possible with Noro. The second sleeve will be next and then I should be able to tell what I can do with the back.

This is what I am making:

http://www.laughinghens.com/knitting-pattern-page.asp?patternpageid=2118

CeCe at neckband

I am sorry I doubted Bonne Marie as CeCe turns out just right. I just need to knit the neckband and sew the ends in. I am just trying to figure out if I can knit the neckband on instead of sewing it on. No help so far in my books, but if an applied i-cord works, this might work too. Any ideas?

The red socks are resting, but I did knit a bit on the blue ones.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

Quilt magazines in review process

I am reviewing the quilt mags that I kept after the date cut off declutter and am dumping some more. Not easy, but it gives me a good feeling.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Heel of the second red socks

I am in the process of turning the second of my red socks and so far no second sock syndrom.

I also took up CeCe again and am getting closer and closer to the neckline.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

I fell of the wagon

but I will try again

See more progress on: stop eating M&Ms for one month

Lakes Sweater finished

I have decided that I will not unravel Lakes, but keep it the way it is. Therefore I sewed up the sleeve seams and the sweater is now ready to be worn. I might need to loose a few pounds for it to look it’s best, but it does look okay and those pounds need to go anyway.

See more progress on: participate in Project Spectrum

Turned the heel

I have turned the heel on my first red sock and am doing the gusset now. I finally decided that I do like the pattern with that yarn and am happy about how they turn out.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

I have tried this...

... and while it is a nice way to avoid second socks syndrom, for a portable project I prefer my DPNs.

See more progress on: learn to knit 2 socks on 2 circular needles

Little Red Sox progress

May be I need to wait for baseball… Probably not, but with watching soccer with My Guy I did not make much progress with my socks. When I watch the world cup on my own, I knit and just look when the reporter gets really very excited. LOL.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

Red Socks started

I have started red socks with that diagonal rib pattern that I have ripped from the blue socks. Let’s see if I like that better. I have some doubts though.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

May Sweater finished and worn

I like the feel of it even if I still do not like the crab stitch crochet around the neckline. It fits and looks nice with my 7/8th Jeans.

I unraveled the blue socks as they were coming out too small and have started them again with a different pattern from Nancy Bush’s Vintage Socks.

See more progress on: participate in Project Spectrum

No stitching this weekend

I am never going to get anywhere at this speed, but the weather was great and we went to the Rhine Falls in Neuhausen, Switzerland. I believe they are the largest in Europe. In any case it was great.

See more progress on: do a Stitch Along

No M&Ms so far

It seems that I stay away from the M&Ms, but eat all sort of other choclate, I will have to do Weight Watcher routines again to lose those 10 pounds.

See more progress on: stop eating M&Ms for June

Finished my River Rapids

While watching soccer yesterday afternoon I finally finished my Rapid River socks. When counting out the repeats on the first sock I realized two things: I made two different heels and there is one mistake in decreasing that is hardly noticable. As they are for me I left it. They look good and I look forward to wearing them next fall.

So one goal for Blue month June has been reached.

My CeCe is up to the arms and I have to knit the sleeves before I can continue with the main piece.

I seamed up May’s sweater as well. It now only needs the crochet finish at the neckline and a wash and block. I want to wear it soon, so this should be done this week.

See more progress on: participate in Project Spectrum

Finished Nachtzug

and started a recently bought Amy Tan book: Saving Fish from Drowning. I love Amy Tan’s books and this one is good, too.

See more progress on: read all the books I own

Little Stitching done

I did stitch a bit, but as I am obsessed with my CeCe at the moment little progress was made. I did a bit of rust on the middle book though.

The fabric is black Aida and I am sure it will get softer, but right now I do not like it.

See more progress on: do a Stitch Along

Already gone to the frog pond

I have hardly stitched anything, but that was already too much… I had to frog quite a bit yesterday evening on my Freddy. I had miscounted on the rust. I have redone it, but then have returned to my trusty CeCe (not that trusty either as I messed up a yarnover, but I got it fixed with little swearing).

See more progress on: do a Stitch Along

Bought more yarn

I have bought turquois yarn for a CeCe from Chicknits. I have started it and despite initial doubts about the lace I am totaly loving it. I had confidence in BonneMarie as I have already made a Ribby Cardi and a Cutaway, but at first I was not sure. By now I have almost 20 cm done and it looks good. My Guy has already christened it the Swimming Pool cardi. LOL. I look forward to wearing it.

I have joined the Summer of Stash, so this is the last yarn purchase for this summer.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

Walk on Wednesday

I had planned to go swimming, but the weather was so nice I went for a walk instead. Should have gone swimming as I had a bad cramp in my foot after just a quater of an hour. Ouch! Something did not work between my shoes, my orthodentics (?) and my walking/running. But I am proud that I can run more and more of my walking round. Yeah me!

See more progress on: walk regularly.

Official Start

Yesterday was the first official day of the SAL. I have put in some stitches, but nothing like an hour’s worth. I feel I should have washed the fabric, it’s incredibly stiff. On the other hand stitching on black was not as bad as I though it might be. I started with the shelf Frederic is lying on and did two threads worth of work. The threads are alright for the loop method so for the unblended colors I will use that to start.

See more progress on: do a Stitch Along

On the final stretch

I have finished both sleeves and the back and am up to the chest on the front. So this green sweater is approaching the finishing line just when the weather got bad and cold again.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

And a quickie in between

I have gotten Mary Davidson’s latest on Betsy the Vampire Queen and this one I am reading in between. Despite the fact that Nachtzug is close to the end and still very interesting. But with all the philosophical ideas in the later one, I am glad I am for once reading it in German.

See more progress on: read all the books I own

SAL instead of Finishing

I am still enjoying the sea horses though their process is slow, but now will start another project as there is a SAL for it. But as it was one that I already had in my stash I am fine with that.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

Menu planning

I want to plan for dinner and office food better. Dinner will be a bit more of a challenge as I spend time in my flat and in My Guy’s and never quite know where I will be. But maybe we can plan together and try new things.

See more progress on: plan our food

SAL Frederic the Literate

On AngelSan’s forums I found two other ladies who want to do this cross stitch project. We will stitch at least an hour a day on it. I think this will be fun.

See more progress on: do a Stitch Along

I will close this

as I have not drunk coke in 4 weeks. I will drink a bit once in a while again, but keep it down.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

I want to give up M&Ms for June

Lately we have eaten a lot of M&Ms and I think it is bad for me. So I will try to do what I have done with coke in May and severly limit my intake for June.

See more progress on: stop eating M&Ms for June

1 Glass on Saturday

I had one glass of coke light on Saturday, but despite watching my cousin guzzle down coke all evening and despite the wine being no good, that was all. As this was a wedding, I am fine with my “fall from grace”...

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

I am moving again

and I am going to use my stickers on my calender again. After doing well with drinking less coke ( I had one small glass on Saturday, that is all in May) I will try for no more M&Ms in June. This should be good for My Guy as well. It is possible that he is a bit allergic to peanuts. It might be something else, but we will try peanuts first.

See more progress on: Lose 10 pounds and keep it off.

Finished March to the Stars

and am now reading Nachtzug nach Lissabon. That one is a really quick read. I am close to finishing it.

See more progress on: read all the books I own

I seem to sell books in threes

Because that is what I sold this weekend. They are already off, blessing someone else.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Finally walked again on Saturday

I finally got my butt out of bed on Saturday and walked a medium round. Actually I run several short stretches too and after dancing Saturday night as well I now have some sore muscles. But least I am finally moving again. This morning I have done 13 min of Pilates, too.

See more progress on: walk regularly.

Mail Hotspot

I have now decluttered most of my mail hotspot. There is some health insurance stuff still there, but the salary and other insurance as well as the banking stuff are all in their correct files now.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

May 22nd and still coke-less

I am doing good on this so far. It was tempting before the concert, but not as bad as at the office. Still drinking too much ice tea as compensation, but getting there.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Quilt magazines decluttered

I dumped a bunch of magazines the other day. Basically anything before 1995 (yes I had mags from 1991 on). It felt a bit strange and it was depressing as you could hardly notice any dent. But Babysteps will get me there. At least they are gone. Some calenders went too, so I feel good about it.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

3 more books gone

I sent out three more books through amazon. But I think I need to put the listed books in a box in the basement, they do not need to clutter up the small room where my dinner table, my crafts and my computer already vie for room. But for that I will need to see which ones are already online and which ones still need to be posted.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Project Spectrum

This is a project where each month has a color scheme and you do what ever craft you enjoy in this color. May is green. I have actually started a gree short sleeved sweater in May, so I am on track.

See more progress on: participate in Project Spectrum

Still not doing good at this

I bought apples, but am not eating them. Sigh.

See more progress on: eat an apple every day

Getting dressed right away

This has been developing as a habit the last few weeks. I sleep in the nude, so I used to put on something relaxed and then change, now I just put on the nice things right away. Still resisting the shoes though. And still not putting out my clothes on the previous evening. Still a goal there.

See more progress on: set up FLYlady routines

Tax paid

I did pay the rest of the first quaters tax and two more invoices that were in area.

See more progress on: pay off all my debts

Finally got three more books read

I finally finished Bill Bryson’s History of Everything and Donna Andrew’s Owl is well. And I started and finished Bronte project (can’t remember the author just now). I am now reading David Weber’s March to the Stars.

But then I bought another 6 books…

See more progress on: read all the books I own

I got my organ donor card ...

... and have it next to my id in my wallet, so I will call this done.

See more progress on: Register as an organ donor

May 18th and still on track

Work has been stressful and coke as well as ice tea have been provided for free at our training event, but so far while drinking too much ice tea I at least managed to stay true to my no coke resolution. That is alright with me. Baby steps!

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Still on track

I am still on track with this. Yesterday I drank Ice Tea instead of coke which is just about as bad, but at least I kept my resolution. Ice Tea can come later, for now I will concentrate on coke.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Well, I do like the 7mm needle gauge after all

I have knitted a bit more with the 7mm needles and though the gauge is fairly loose, I decided it looks okay and will be nice and airy for summer. So I knit the whole first short sleeve and cast on for the second one. New Cotton is a pleasure to feel while knitting. I still dislike using needles that big, they are not comfortable to knit with. On the other hand they will make for a quick garment. They are not addis either which I prefer, but I am not buying addis for a size that I do not enjoy anyway.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

New Yarn

Aehm, I bought new yarn… But I really need some more summer knits so I bought Lana Grossa New Cotton and New Cotton Lino for two short sleeved sweaters. One will be Bob, but for the other I do not like the gauge that I get with the recommended needels. The gauge is spot on, but it looks bad. Well what do you expect: recommended needles 4,5mm, pattern (for this yarn) done with 7mm needels. I might knit a bit more on the sleeve. 5 rows is not much to base my descion on. Otherwise I will knit it with the smaller needles which will mean recalculations. Pain in the behind, but do able.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

corner clutter reduced

At least I dumped the boxes and most of the bags. Some other things I want to keep will have to find a proper place.

I am fairly proud of myself for having done this right away.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Next to do: the corner behind my kitchen door

For some reason a lot of stuff has ended up there. Boxes and bags and the like. This needs to be seriously reduced, so that the door can be opened again properly. I will have to try to find another place for the broom, too, but that might take a bit creativity.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Received my marrow donor package

I received my package, but did not have time to take a look at it yet. I will need to get blood drawn and for that I will need to have an appointment at my doctors.

See more progress on: register to be a bone marrow donor

Clothes went to goodwill shop

On Saturday I got around to taking my “old” clothes to the charity shop. Such a relief. I did buy two new summer dresses, but I had a big box full of things I am not wearing that I gave away, so the net effect was still very positive.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Weekend coke free

I made it through the weekend without coke, that made me happy. Usually that is the time I am weakest. Especially with warm weather like this weekend.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Green for Project Spectrum

I have a green swatch and it would make a lovely cardigan and the color would fit with PS. So better get going. The pattern is from a Rowan mag, so I’ll have to check the sleeve length. For some reason they tend to be long on me. And Lana Grossa has too large necklines as rule. Sigh.

But I have recovered from my earlier knitting marathon enough to look forward to knitting the cardi.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

Riding to the train station

I did this two days this week. The other days I went to work by car as it was closing week, so I am okay with my progress on this.

I also went shopping by bike yesterday. Just a few things, so that was good.

See more progress on: ride my bike more

Day 4

This one was fairly easy despite the warmer weather that makes me crave coke instead of tea. But fine so far.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Organ Donor

I had a little organ donor card in my twenties and it got lost. Now I am finally replacing it. My parents are aware that I wish to be an organ donor and I am sure they will go through with it if necessary, but I will feel better when I have a card again.

See more progress on: Register as an organ donor

Bone Marrow Donor

I found a German web site and have sent of for the necessary forms.

See more progress on: register to be a bone marrow donor

Add inline skating to my exercise goals

I have the skates and the protectors, I can use my bike helmlet, so this goes on the goal list. Twice each month this summer would be a good goal.

See more progress on: In-Line skate

Whoops missed Wednesday again...

I had a crazy week and only today realized that it is already Thursday. Hmph.

See more progress on: swim regularly

3rd day no coke

Yep, doing good so far, though this time with going for lunch it was a bit harder. But we ordered two big bottles of water for all and I did drink that. This morning was a bit of a temptation as I missed my train by a minute and had to wait for 20 min for the next. Prime coke occasion… But I staid steadfast. A bit proud of myself.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

3 glasses

I had 3 glasses of water yesterday. This goes well with drinking less coke. I also had 2 glasses of apple juice with lots of water. So I am getting there.

See more progress on: drink 8 glasses of water a day

2nd of May

Another day with no coke and the temptation was not all that bad.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Income Tax 2005

I really need to do that. Having been out of work for 2 months in 2005 I will get a refund, but only if I file my taxes. Better get on with this.

See more progress on: file my taxes

Well I got an IShuffle

and I got it as a gift. I love it. At some point I will probably get an IPod, but I love my Shuffle a lot, especially since it was a gift from My Guy. Just because he bought an IPod for himself. It’s just sooo nice.

See more progress on: get an ipod

Need to work on this

I really want to do more here, especially as I will need to make up for the coke I am not drinking.

See more progress on: drink 8 glasses of water a day

Doing badly

I need to work more on this especially as I have the feeling that lacking vitamins might have to do something with feeling tired all the time. So apples and veggies need to creep in my diet again. Should be easier now that spring is here.

See more progress on: eat an apple every day

Making my bed

I am starting to really develop this as a habit. My bed is not perfectly made, but it looks much nicer than the nest it used to be. I air my bedding while I have breakfast and then make my bed. Not what Fly Lady recommends, but unaired is seriously yucky for me. I also make our bed when we are at My Guy’s place, so this is really a daily habit.

See more progress on: set up FLYlady routines

Done.

I have the contract for the permanent job, I just need to read and sign it. YEAH!

Therefore I will consider this done. Some celebration will ensue as soon as I find time to bake some cakes…

See more progress on: Get a new job

Plant seeds of Kindness

The actual stitching is finished and I will consider it a finished object. I really like how it turned out despite having used the wrong color for the carrot tops. I am thinking of making a wallhanging with it, but am not sure.

Instead of getting on with the reading dragon I started something new. It’s a picture of two seahorses. When done, it will be a present for my friend Andrea. She enjoys seahorses.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

1st of May

I did well on the first day despite the temptation of the quilt show. I think I need to find some alternative to get my blood pressure up, I believe it is very low. Better get the doc to check it. Green and black tea will serve as substitutes I guess.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Biking on Sunday with My Guy

We actually went biking on Sunday, that was so cool. My Guy says biking hurts his butt, but he was doing it, because he knew that it would make me happy. We went for a little round, visited the orchids field nearby and soaked up a lot of sun. Not a lot of kilometers, but we did it and that’s the most important thing.

See more progress on: ride my bike more

Selling on e-bay

I need to sell my Cherish Teddies, some primitive dolls and teddies to decrease clutter.

See more progress on: sell some stuff on ebay

Stop drinking coke

This is very bad for me and I want to stop it. I will count it done, if I get through May without any coke or the first full months that I do not drink coke.

See more progress on: stop drinking coke

Bill Bryson's History of Everything

This is a fun light book on science. Somethings I remember from school, some were in Mountains of the Mind recently and there are other books that relate to what I have read so far. Mapmaker’s Wife and Mason-Dixon are two in my tbr piles that might get pushed forward by this book.

See more progress on: read all the books I own

Cycle to the train station

Now that spring is here I plan to cycle to the train station instead of taking the bus.

I also want to convince My Guy to do some cycling, but we might need to find a better saddle for his bike first.

See more progress on: ride my bike more

More socks

I continue to knit socks, this time for me. The blue River Rapids have passed the heel of sock 2, so if I got of my fanny it would be just knitting. I have it in my bag actually to do something on it this weekend.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

Almost there

I have almost finished the Plant Seeds of kindness, it only lacks the brown stitches at the bottom. Today I was stitching in the train and two older ladies took quite an interest. They were really cute.

Ever the optimist I took my socks and my dragon stitching along, thinking I might need it. – Not in this reality, but hey, who knows.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

May habit

I have made my bed most days, but am really bad still about laying out my clothes. So this continues, but I want to add brushing my teeth to the evening routine.

See more progress on: set up FLYlady routines

Started on my clothes

Yesterday I had a bout of throw it out and sorted through my clothes. I have now one box full of clothes and shoes to give to charity. There will be some more when I get my summer things out and I still have to decide on some of my blouses. Better take another look at all the colorful checked blouses. They are cheerful, but do not get worn a lot. Out? I guess so.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

MY Guy and I - one year

As My Guy and I have been together for a year on Sunday on Friday evening I decided to stitch something. I found a cute couple and started stitching. Personalized the colors somewhat and kept going on Saturday too. As I had bitten of a bit much for slow stitching me, the backstitching was kept to a minimum and the date is a bit off center, but on Sunday morning My Guy got the picture along with a CD and some tea (Romeo&Juliet and Loving Moments). It was a great surprise and worth the effort. But after the concentrated stitching on Saturday on Sunday I didn’t do much stitching and so no further FOs.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

I am getting a bit itchy for something different

I still enjoy my Lizzie*Kate Plant seeds of Kindness and am on the last third of the chart, but I am now looking for something different to stitch. Luckily I pulled out my reading dragon and realized there is not much missing on that one. So that will be my alternate project and I might actually finish two things instead of starting another new one. As my weekend is My Guy-less (he is taking a class in photography) I will try to get the beading on Santa done, too. Ambitious for such a slow stitcher, sight. I am envious of AngelSan and others who just whizz through the different projects.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

6 more books sold

I just need to ship them which is not quite as easy to do when you are only in Germany after closing hours. But I will manage.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

2 more down

I read John Ringo’s most recent book in the Herzer Herrick series and Aunt Dimity and the next of Kin over Easter.

See more progress on: read all the books I own

My Guy socks finished

I actually managed to get the socks finished in time. Mainly due to a sick day on Thursday. Unfortunatelly I forgot to take them to his place, so he is still waiting for his Easter present.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

My Guy socks

I want to finish the socks for MY Guy for Easter, so better get cracking on that for this week. Luckily sock knitting works for the commute by train even if the cable needle is making things more difficult. I can however not cable these without needle, I have tried.

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

At least the weekend edition

I want to read the newspaper more regulary again. The first step is the weekend edition. Should be the easiest as this is the one with the flats and the jobs.

See more progress on: read the newspaper more regularly

Sold and Shipped 3 more books

I have three more sold. On the other hand I missed the old clothes collection and will have to do that in an alternate mode. I guess I will put a box up for all the things I want to part with.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Mom quilted and bound my gingerbread top

I had this top for a long while without a border. A couple of weeks ago I finally added the borders. My mom has quilted it and bound it for me. This top was a strip piecing class that Mom gave and I took. Lots of fun. It is orange, brown and a off white fabric with gingerbread on it. It will be nice for christmas with very non-traditional colors.

See more progress on: finish my quilts

Laying out clothes

I did that yesterday and I have to say it was good. I need to designate a spot for the clothes, but otherwise this one I think I like.

I also made my bed for the first time in ages on the weekend and might take this in the routine. Though I do like to air mine out first as I have seen a documentary on what disgusting things multiply in your bed if you do just make it. Ugh! I wonder if Fly-Lady is aware of that? However I could modify her routine so that I would make the bed before leaving the house instead of right away. I will try that.

So two new things to make a habit of.

See more progress on: set up FLYlady routines

Fly-Lady would be proud - I was

This morning despite wanting to “do it later” I emptied the dishwasher (not such a big task after all) and I was proud of myself. Babysteps… I’ll get there eventually.

See more progress on: set up FLYlady routines

Job Offer

I got a job offer at the place I am temping and I am seriously considering it. I have one more application out, but think I will stay here.

See more progress on: Get a new job

Now that we know where our next jobs are

I think we will think seriously over moving together. After almost a year I think this might be right.

See more progress on: live with someone i love

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

I want do this for one month, then I will consider it done.

See more progress on: eat an apple every day

Mountains of Mind

I started book number 2 of my tbr pile. This ine takes a look at mountains and mountaineering. Very interesting. On the other hand I hated Undomestic Goddess that I had just bought. I am ready to toss it.

See more progress on: read all the books I own

One down, but two new ones bought

I finished my Batya Gur mystery, but bought two new books. Sigh!

See more progress on: read all the books I own

No swimming today

It’s Wednesday and I should go swimming. But some things take priority and an exhibition opening that includes My Guy’s photos takes the cake without trouble. However I will have to check if I can go swimming tomorrow at a different pool.

See more progress on: swim regularly

Adding another cross stitch project

I am bad. Instead of finishing the beads on Santa I have started a new project. Seeds of Kindness is a Lizzie*Kate pattern and I had everything prepared for it. Yesterday I wanted something springlike and picked this.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

Goal Weight 63 kg

I might have to loose 5 kg (10 pounds) to reach that by now as I think I gained a little weight lately. I need to exercise more and eat less choclate. But I have lost 15 kg before, so it will take time, but it’s doable.

See more progress on: Lose 10 pounds and keep it off.

Another language goal

I want to read fluently in French. For that I bought Si c’etait vrai by Marc Levy. I had 5 years of French in school, but never quite got the hang of it.

See more progress on: Improve my French

Job Interview

I have a job interview this afternoon, so wish me luck.

See more progress on: Get a new job

Beading commenced

I have started the beads part on the ornament. It is a bit of a pain on the perforated paper, but I think it will look lovely. And it means I am approaching the first Happy Dance for a finished project.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

Finishing Quilts

Another goal to decrease the WIPs around here. First up is my friend Andrea’s quilt.

See more progress on: finish my quilts

Santa is the first up to finish

I have a pretty Santa which will be my first experience in stitching with beads. So this is the first cross stitch project I want to finish.

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

Salmon is done

I have unraveled the whole sweater and now have the pleasant task to search for a new pattern to suit me.

Otherwise I have joined 43 things as you can see from the posts below and have not done much of anything.

Future Goal

I started learning spanish a couple of years ago and at some point want to go back to it.

See more progress on: Learn Spanish

Goal

I guess I better start this despite drinking close to 3 liters herbal and rooisbush “tea” a day.

See more progress on: drink 8 glasses of water a day

Small stuff

I need to get rid of some teddy bears, dolls and other dust collectors. For this I need to take some photos to put them on e-bay.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Clothing

After losing 15 kg I have still a bunch of things that I no longer fit in (thankfully all too large). On the 9th of April a red cross drive for used clothes will take place and I want to sort through my clothes by then.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Books first

i have set aside some books I do not want to keep, but I need to put them on Amazon so that I can actually get rid of them. Throwing away books is really hard for me. So the first step is putting them on amazon.

See more progress on: de-clutter my apartment

Once a week for now

I want to swim 1000 meters each Wednesday.

See more progress on: swim regularly

Long Term Goal

I am currently in a funk about my knitting and have two pairs of socks going, but not much else. But a lot of stash!

See more progress on: knit all the yarn I've bought

Long Term Goal

This is really going to be a long term project as my estimate is 250 unread books.

But I have to start somewhere, so number one is:

1 Batya Gur: Du sollst nicht begehren

See more progress on: read all the books I own

Pink + Red = Salmon?

Well it does in my world. I have started unraveling a sweater in salmon as my Project Spectrum activity for March. It was well made and the finishing was well done, but the sizing sucked and the neck opening was gigantic. I still want a sweater like that, but this time I think I will knit it top down and in the round. It should be doable.

I have noticed that the Lana Grossa patterns tend towards enormous neck openings and will have to take that in account in the futue. I have another one to unravel due to neck opening issues. Sigh.

I also have a red and pink sock yarn waiting in the wings, but want to finish My Guy's socks and the river rapid socks first. I think I need to unravel a bit of the heel flap of my second river rapid sock, but I can't figure out how much.

In the mean time since the weather tends toward snow and cold I have taken out my Santa ornament and stitched a bit on that this weekend. I think I need a break from knitting. I just hope to get on a quilt kick so that I can continue on my friend Andrea's top.

One button short of a cutaway

Yeah, I actually finished sewing up my cutaway. I need to block it again as the frontband pulls in at the moment and I will try to block the sleeves a bit shorter, but otherwise all it is missing is a button. I will have to go looking for one. I thought one of my singles in black might do it, but it is too stark for me. I have a nice button that I might consider, but I need some daylight for this.

Also finished just a few minutes ago is the knitting of the pieces of Lakes. I still have to knit the neck, but for that the shoulder seams have to be closed. I had both my sleeves up to the point where the shoulder shaping starts (I knit them together as that reduces shaping issues) and did start the shaping on one according to the instructions. I did NOT like it and ripped it. Luckily I wanted to use one ball for both sleeves and therefore had deviated from my at the same time routine. I changed the rate of decrease and now they look good to me. It matched the decrease on the body pieces as well, so I think things will fit together. More finishing work coming up. Sewing in sleeves is not my favorite while I think mattress stitching the sides and arms is fun.

More progress: the inner part of my flic flac quilt preparation piece is done. I need to decide on the border and am looking at my green fabrics. But I remembered having a red as well that I need to dig out and audition. I am not sure yet about the quantity of my greens. They might not be enough to make them of one fabric and I am not sure I want to piece the border. I need to hunt for my mom's notes to see how wide the border needs to be to work with the cutting and then I can calculate the fabric quantity I will need. I am pleased with the random nature of the center piece though.

Cutaway got a buttonhole

Jeni at http://fibrespates.blogs.com/blog/ has linked to my blog. First time this happened, whooee. I had suggested that she knit Rogue for the Knitting Olympics.

My own knitting has not grown terribly much this weekend as My Guy and I have been outside quite a bit. There is ice at the edges of Lake Constance and we walked on it. My Guy did take photos and they are great. We also saw The Merchant of Venice (my wish) which I liked and Disorganized Crime (his idea) which I did like too. Very different movies, but somehow it worked for both of us. I finally picked up 338 stitches around the front and neck of my cutaway during a Tennis game the boy was watching. Today I finished the band. Now I need to sew this thing up and go button shopping so I finally can wear my cutaway. I just hope it fits, but I think it should.

Merry Christmas - the movie

I was at the movies on Monday with some former collegues. We watchesd "Merry Christmas" a movie about the first World War where Scottish, German and French soldiers suspended hostilities during the christmas holidays. Unfortunately despite some moving pictures the movie itself remaind supervisial and the many stories that were sketched out did not develop any depth. Not a bad movie, but I felt let down by it.

Yesterday I had another job interview and it went well I think. Now I need to think about that job and give them some feedback this week. My current position is for only 6 months so I am on the lookout for another job afterwards.

The sleeves for Lakes are now on their second balls of yarn and are growing nicely. I am looking forward to wearing that sweater. I am also thinking about making another one for my guy. For now I pulled some yarn out of my stash to start swatching for my next project. I also found a yarn store in Schaffhausen where I currently work. This is good news as the my LYS is going out of business end of this month. Sigh!

Progress on the Lakes

After being a good girl and actually ripping and reknitting I have added the front, too. I adjusted the pattern to have some short rows to form a neck and think it will look alright. I am now knitting both my sleeves. Luckily 5mm needles and a simple pattern let me progress quickly. If I can finish this before the olympics I might consider joining the Yarn Harlot's challange. It might be Seamus for that. But I am not yet sure Lakes will be finished by then. And finished in this case includes sewing up.

I also have not finished my cutaway yet though I did crochet seam the shoulders this weekend. But the picking up of the stitches needs a certain mind set that I have not achieved lately.

I did the saddles for the FLAK sweater and enjoyed working with the pattern and the Elann Highland Peruvian wool. I am looking forward to the next installment.

On the quilting front I have recently started working on my quilt for my friend Andrea again. I had cut all the squares already and now the rows are sewn up and made up into pairs. This is going to be a FlicFlac quilt, so all this will have to be recut and is very large just now. But the colors make me smile and I think it will look good in their living room. Mom promised to do the actual quilting, so that's covered and once the top is finished it won't stay an UFO for long. Mom is very good about finishing my quilts.