by Kat | Mar 16, 2007 | General
It is March and Madness has arrived! For those of you who don’t know, I absolutely love March Madness. I have my brackets filled in, there is smack talk around the coffee pot at work, and I have my $5 in the office pool! What can be more fun than hours of college basketball and March?!
March is also a birthday month for some friends of mine! Not only is March 17th Saint Patrick’s Day – it is also the birthday of Lynne and Ruby! Stop by and wish them a Happy Birthday!!
Several of you asked me what SKB was – sorry about that. I thought I was the only knitter who had yet to cast on Stitch Diva’s Simple Knitted Bodice – now you all know, SKB = Simple Knitted Bodice. A decidedly feminine sweater that is knitting up quickly! What more can a girl ask for as spring is looming on the horizon!
I heard from the weather man that a warming trend is going to usher in the end of the month – this is good since March roared in like a lion!! I am not holding my breath for no more snow this month, but even it more white stuff falls I know it won’t last!!
Hopefully you all will have an awesome Friday and an even better weekend. Oh, and Lynne and Ruby – you have the most happiest and blessed birthdays!!
by Kat | Mar 15, 2007 | General
Well, only in Michigan can the weather go from 68 degrees one day to 34 degrees the next. Spring is challenging Winter and the Old Man is not quite ready to give up yet. Keep on trying Spring – he can’t hang on that much longer!
Judy is having a little contest that you might want to stop by and see. Put on your creative cap and write up a post for her sock adventures! There will be 3 lucky winners and you have until the 17th to enter. Get on over there!!
On the knitting front – I am working on my Bloomin’ Feet socks for my pal – they are coming along. I am about an inch from my toe decreases on sock #1. I have been knitting on my lunch hour – it is a nice break for me during the day! As I knit, I think good thoughts about my sock recipient – I think these socks are gonna look awesome on her feet!
I also pulled some yarn out of my stash and cast on SKB – yes, I know – everyone has already knit this! But, I had some lovely Berroco Ultra Alpaca in an awesome hot pink shade and I thought – this is just the “pick me up” I need. I am working through the neck and shoulder increases. I am liking the yarn alot as well.
Several weeks ago I went to a doctor who had been an OB-GYN, but she is now doing Women’s Mid-life health. It was an eye opening visit. First of all, to have a physician talk to me for over an hour was shocking, to say the least. When the longest time you ever get to spend with your physician is what, 4 nano-seconds at best? I was impressed to say the least. She listened, asked questions… and she put me on some medication – which is doing amazing things, I might add! She also scheduled me for a bone density scan and a follow up with her in a few weeks. The one thing I kept thinking was something she said to me, women take care of themselves last. This is very true! So, my fellow readers – please take heed. If you are over 40 you need to have a mamogram. When was your last pap test? Have you had your blood pressure taken recently? Do you know what your cholesterol levels are? Do these things for you!! YOU are worth it! If your doctor is one on the nano-second chart – tell him or her that you’d like a bit more time. Write your questions down if you need to!! Okay, I will get off my soap box now!! But, remember – I care about you, take care of yourself! 🙂
Have an awesome Thursday everyone. Keep on cheering Spring on!!
by Kat | Mar 12, 2007 | General
Gentle Readers, it seems that spring is creeping into West Michigan! Yesterday the temperature soared to 50 degrees – and when I woke this morning, it had not dipped below 40 degrees out. They are predicting a warm day today – with a sprinkling of rain. Rain on! It will help wash away that dirty snow! Tomorrow – be still my soul – a whopping 60 degrees are predicted!
Don’t you just love the progression of seasons? I certainly do – it is so comforting. Without any work from us, each season arrives with it’s unique gifts. As the days lengthen and the weather warms, I am so happy to be alive and experiencing every moment of it.
I knit quite a bit yesterday on my Bloomin’ Feet socks. I am almost to the toe on sock one, and will hopefully have it completed this week! I love the pattern I selected – it is a fun sock to knit!
Have an awesome Monday everyone… enjoy your day!
by Kat | Mar 11, 2007 | General
Wow! A day with Beth was truly amazing. It started out bright and early with Beth teaching us Swedish Cast-ons. Who knew there were so many different ways to cast-on? I learned 4 new cast-on’s and made swatches of each. Then we cast-on to work our twined knitting swatch. Now, twined knitting is the english translation of Tvaandsstickning – or knitting with 2 ends of the yarn. I learned about yarn dominance and “S” and “Z” plied yarns. It was an awesome day. I knit a “Twined Wrister” to practice the twined knitting stitches.
As you can see, the stitch pattern is interesting. I loved this knitting technique.. I cast off a bit to tightly, so next time I will go up a needle size or two when I bind off. I purchased some patterns from Beth – from Twined Mittens and Socks (these are truly amazing…) to Swedish Lovikka Mittens – which are knitted and “fulled” (Beth corrected us on our felting terms) to Norwegian Mittens to Scottish Sanquhar gloves, and of course I could not resist a top down Aran sweater pattern. The best treat of all was that Beth came to SnB at Friends of Wool that evening. She was working on her Latvian mittens – she humbled me to no end, she was knitting away without looking at the pattern! We laughed and I felt so honored to be in the company of this amazing group of women, knitting, talking, sharing – it was a great evening of fellowship. I was re-energized in my resolution to learn something new. My brain was spinning with all the new things I learned and how I could use those things to expand my knitting skills.
Taking a day off made for an insane Friday – I was sad not to be able to take Beth’s cardigan class on Friday – but with all I had going on, I could not be out of work one more day. I spent the day digging out and all this while the phone was ringing off the hook. I am glad the weekend is here!
On Friday I arrived home to find a package from Sunshine Yarn – my next installment of her Sock Club yarn had arrived. It is so gorgeous – she calls it “Fresh” –
It is so soft and the colors are truly amazing – and yes, it so reminds me of the glorious colors found at the Farmer’s Market! Dani, this yarn is so beautiful!!
I hinted at some news I needed to share – as most of you are aware, I have been having marital strife for the past few months. My husband moved out unexpectedly last July, he moved back home for a few weeks in November and abruptly left again in December. Well, last week he moved away – as in to another state – to Kentucky. Honestly, it was as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I had heard from him numerous times each week since his departure in early December that he could not “focus on our relationship” and how “overwhelmed” he was. It was draining for me and I was struggling with guilt that I could not “fix” what was wrong. At one time, I loved my husband so deeply – I believed in him unfailingly. It became harder and harder to love him through all this. On the evening that I was having dinner with some friends and his parents came up to me to tell me what a failure I was – it ended for me. I called him and asked that his parents respect my privacy. My husband runs away from problems, he does not solve them. So, it is the end of a chapter – and I am looking at a new page. I can look back on the errors I made in our relationship – hindsight gives one 20-20 vision. I am going to try and avoid those errors… as best as I can.
So, now that I have put a downer on your Sunday – don’t be sad for me, please. I feel so unburdened these past days – it is a very good thing. Spring is knocking on the door, the sun has been shining. The dirty snow is all melting, soon the spring flowers will be growing again. I feel like my life is moving like spring, the things I have been struggling with are melting away, like the snow and new life is emerging in it’s place.
Have a very blessed Sunday. Thanks for letting me share.
by Kat | Mar 6, 2007 | General
Well, we woke up this morning to zero outside… all I could think was I hope it is going up from here! BRRRRRR! Evidently we have some more snow coming as well, 3-6 more inches! It seems that winter does just not want to give up! With a December and January that had virtually no snow, February certainly made up for it with a vengeance!
Not much knitting content, I am sorry to say. I have been so busy at work – so busy I worked on Saturday morning for a few hours and Sunday afternoon for a few more!
I had dinner with a friend last night – it was a nice break. She is one of my knitting buddies from SnB at my LYS. I am taking a day off this week – Beth Brown Reinsel is coming to Friends of Wool to teach a couple of classes. I am taking the Swedish Cast On and Twined Knitting classes on Thursday. A whole day and night of knitting – this sure sounds heavenly to me!
I have some news on the homefront, but I am not ready to share yet. Have a great Tuesday everyone – stay warm!!
