I know . . . I know . .

It's been far too long since I've updated this blog. Lots goin' on - so much so I haven't had a chance to blog about any of it. I'm going to give you some brief highlights . . .

Knitter & Designer extraordinaire came to Mountain Knits & Pearls to lecture and teach some techniques. FAB came to join in the fun!!!

Hubby and I went to Cape May, NJ for Mike & Catherine's wedding. LJ stayed with Grammy and was an ANGEL!

Tammi came to visit and we went to see The New Kids on the Block at Montage Mountain. While she was here we organized a little get-to-gether at Front Row - Jose came.

Brian graduated NJIT!!!! At Grad Party hubby played some volley ball and hurt his knee - B.A.D.

In July we held the very successful 2nd Annual Sydney Decker Golf Tournament.

LJ broke his wrist at Daycare when a teacher fell on him (totally NOT her fault)

Hubby is to have surgery on knee . . . goes in for pre-op tests - finds out his blood sugar was way out of wack.

A TORNADO hit Cherry Valley - OMG!!! A real honest to God Tornado!!!!

Mom & Dad celebrated thier 35th Wedding Anniversary in August.

Hubby is diagnosed with Type II Diabeties.

Didn't get to see much of Shell this summer due to both of us having SO much going on - this will be changing!

Hubby hasn't played as much golf this season partly because of his knee but also partly because he just hasn't.

I'm still knitting away. I haven't really touched socks much since I did the Sock Madness in Mar/Apr. I did finish LJ's sweater that I started last fall. I took a 7 week long class at MKP learning how to do cables. We did the Cable Sampler Scarf from Debbie Macomber's book while reading the book and discussing it. Can't wait for the next book & project or movie & project class!! More recently I joined a class to make a Celtic style wrap - love love love the yarn!

Well, that's the last few months in a nut shell - a very small, condensed nut shell. I hope to blog more and post some pictures soon!

Books I want to "read"

Here is a short list of books that I'd like to "read". I got this list from Kelly Petkin of Knit Picks from her podcast #76 Knitting in Literature

Anne MacDonald
No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting

Maggie Sefton
Knit One, Kill Two
Needled To Death
A Deadly Yarn
A Killer Stitch
Dyer Consequences
And Fleece Navidad

Monica Ferris
Knitting Bones
Sins and Needles
A Murderous Yarn
Unraveled Sleeve
Hanging By A Thread

Mary Kruger
Died in the Wool
Knit Fast, Die Young

Sally Goldenbaum
Death by Cashmere
Patterns in the Sand

Elizabeth Lenhard
Chicks with Sticks (It’s a Purl Thing)
Chicks with Sticks (Knit Two Together)
Chicks with Sticks (KnitWise)

Kate Jacobs
The Friday Night Knitting Club
Knit Two

Ann Hood
The Knitting Circle

Beth Pattillo
The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society
The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love

If you've read over my list and found that I may be missing a biggie - I've already "read" them. They are:

Debbie Macomber
The Shop on Blossom Street
A Good Yarn
Back on Blossom Street
Twenty Wishes - currently "reading" to :)

When I say "read" I mean listen to. I can't read and knit at the same time so listening to audio books while I knit is the very next best thing!

5 secrets of a knitter

5 secrets of a knitter

Here are five secrets about this knitter. Once you read the 5 secrets, make up your own five and don't forget to tag the person before you!

1. When did you learn to knit?
~ Spring/Summer 2008
2. Would you rather knit for others or yourself?
~ I am way too over critical of my own work so I mostly knit for myself - I'm still learning
3. What is your favorite yarn that you would never tell other knitters?
~ I have some Red Heart sock yarn but I haven't knit with it yet - I've heard some good things about it so we'll see
4. Do you knit in groups or alone?
~ I knit alone - I knit in groups - I knit in public - I knit in the car - basically I knit wherever I get the chance!
5. What is on your to-do list or wish list?
~ on my to-do list is a sweater I started for LJ - good thing it's a bit big yet because I don't think it will be finished for him to wear this season - and I'm OK with that!
~ on my wish list would be a sweater to fit me the way that I want it to fit me and flatter me the way that I want it to.

Sock update

So here are some pics of my most recent completed socks that I promised:

These are my Monkey socks that actually I finished a while ago. When I started this pair of socks I was still a relitively new knitter. So by the time that I got around to doing the second sock I had a little bit more sock knitting experience under my belt and I was able to make the second one fit better than the first. They are both still a bit loose but I'm gonna wear them anyway. The pattern I used was from Cookie A. and titled Monkey Socks. The yarn I used was from Blue Moon Fiber Arts in colorway Alley Oop in lightweight. I just had to have THIS specific colorway because, well becuase ut was named Alley! Duh! I love love love this yarn!

I started this pair of socks back in November. I was so anxious to see how the colors would work out but then got sidetracked with other pretty yarns . . . thus this pair suffered from SSS (Second Sock Syndrome). About two weeks ago I got it in my head that I needed to finish up some things before I started anything new. A novel concept huh? So I cast on for the second sock and ended up finishing it in 6 days. I think that might be a record for me or something. I used another Cookie A. pattern for this pair of socks called Spring Forward. It took me into half of the second sock to realize that the repeat for this pattern was the same just adjusted by three or so stitches. Once I realized that, the pattern was even more of a breeze to do.

This is my most recent FO (Finished Object). It's just what we call a "Plain Vanilla Sock". I wanted the self striping yarn do all the talking, er . . . walking . . . The yarn I used was a special collection that was created around the characters in Harry Potter - The Half Blood Prince. The LYS (Local Yarn Shop) that I frequent ran a special class the week this special yarn arrived where we could sit and knit while watching Harry Potter. Unfortunately for me I was in Texas at the time and was unable to attend. Ah well, maybe next time. The yarn is from Opal and in the colorway of Tonks. I haven't cast on the second sock yet but hope to this weekend so I don't wind up with SSS (Second Sock Syndrome).

So there you have it. I have been working on some other objects but will save those for another day.

Blogging . . .

I like blogging. I really like to read other people's blogs. I get upset when they don't update their blogs on a regular basis . . . then I got to thinking - Well dummy - you don't either!!! So here I am, blogging about blogging. I'm going to try to make an effort to blog a lot more often than I do. Not EVERY blog needs pictures (although those are usually the best part of the blog) just as long as there is one inserted here and there I should be fine.

Since my last post I have finished two more socks. One was the second of a pair (that I haven't shown you yet) and the other is the first of a pair. I hope to take pics of them soon, if not later tonight and post them for you to see. I'm really getting good at this stuff if I do say so myself. I'm figuring out how to make the sock not only in a sock shape with all the elements of a sock but one that will actually FIT my foot well. Not just a sock that technically fits on my foot. I'm also figuring out that not EVERY sock I knit has to be some special design. Now if I could just figure out that there are lots of patterns for socks in the books that I ALL READY HAVE and if I still can't find one in one of those to do then there are LOTS and LOTS of FREE patterns out there on the internet! Don't even get me started on Ravelry - yes I'm a member - look me up - I'm ReesieAnnPA.

That's all for now :)~

Ron Weesley Sock #1

So I've had an idea in my head for a sock pattern. It wasn't too terribly difficult... probably has all ready "been done" by someone else but it hasn't been done by me. The thing about this sock is that I did it all - every last stitch from memory. I didn't have to look anything up in any of my books. I figured out what my original cast on stitch count should be by my gage of another sock using the same yarn and needle size and type. I am very proud of myself at this point.

So here you have it:
Yarn: Opal - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Colorway: Ron Weesley (#2354)
Needles: Knit Picks Size 1 (2.25mm) 32"
The basic pattern of this sock was: Rows 1-4: *K4P4* repeat - Rows 5-8: *P4K4*
I cast on 64 stitches - did K1P1 rib fora bout 10 rows then I started the pattern.
That's it - easy peasy!

Hard part: doing the second sock!

Knitting Rules!

I really feel like a REAL knitter now! After reading The Yarn Harlot's Book "Knitting Rules!" I feel much more at ease about the whole thing.

This chick really knows what she's talking about. I hear her voice in my head sometimes while I'm knitting (although I've never heard her actual voice) tell me that "It's only Knitting" "It's supposed to be fun" and above all others "There are NO Knitting Police"!!!!

I can't wait to read her next book.

Freecycle

I belong to my local Freecycle group. If you've never heard of Freecycle go to www.freecycle.org and read up about it. But if you are too lazy to do that here is a brief description of what it's all about from their website:

The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,663 groups with 6,353,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on “Browse Groups” above the search box. Have fun!

I have belonged to my local group for about a year or so. It's a great way to clean out and get rid of things that you know could really be used by someone somewhere and it's just too much of a shame to throw it away. I know that I could probably sell a lot of the stuff on ebay but that tends to take a lot of time and effort for not a lot of profit.

Just this last fall we were moving things around in the office and had a lot of extra "stuff" that we just didn't need anymore. Like 3-ring binders, stamplers, green hanging folders - stuff like that. All I had to do was send one little email "offering" it up for grabs and I was able to make someone else's day.

Now... on to why I'm really writting about this. Just tonight as I'm sitting here at home watching TV and going from knitting on a sock to playing around on the computer I get an email that someone in my immediate (same town even) area was looking for a coat for her pony. A friend of mine had given me a XXL pet coat for Alley to use in the winter when it got really cold but it was WAY too big for her. Instead of just getting rid of it I held on to it. I think I had plans of putting it up on ebay or something one of these days... but never did. I knew exactly where it was and I after reading her email I dug it out and sent her an email giving her the dimensions and condition of it. Within minutes (and I mean less than 5) I got an email back from her stating that it did sound like something she could use and that she could pick it up tomorrow. This would have been fine except that it's just so damn cold out there that I knew that her pony needed this coat TONIGHT! Keep in mind that this is all happening at about 10:15 pm and aproximatly 1 degree outside. So I emailed her again saying that I knew that it was strange to offer but if she was up to it I could meet her tonight at a local gas station to give her the coat so her pony wouldn't have be out in the cold without a coat for one more night. And that is just what we did.

Within 30 minutes of her original post she had exactly what she was looking for and I had found a "use" for that coat that I have been hanging on to for an unknown reason for a few years. AND most importantly an animal that has to bout out in this rediculously cold weather will be warm tonight.

Even though it's very cold outside - my heart is full and warm and for that I am truely thankful.