Major Knitter

The Peeps Are Back!

I finally added the Easter picture of my Peep Show.  Check it out HERE.

Hoppy Monday.

The Fourth Step

In Knitaholics Anonymous the Fourth Step is often the hardest one to really accomplish.  In fact, it's often the hardest one after the first step (We admitted we were powerless over fiber - that our lives had become unmanageable).  Here's the fourth step:

"Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our projects."

I've been working really hard on the fourth step lately.  Today I decided to photograph my searching and fearless moral inventory in my Knit Nook.  It was more than a little scary.  I found WIPs that I didn't even know existed.  I don't suggest you try this at home unless you're truly ready to deal with the results.  I broke down my inventory into four parts

• WIPs

• UFOS and FALSE STARTS and FUFOs – Forgotten Unfinished Objects

• Future Projects

• Projects that will be or should be Frogged

Sit back and be prepared to be shocked.  Don't say I didn't warn you. It's not pretty my friends.  But I am working on taking positive actions to resolve this list and re-instate some sanity into my life.

WIPS

1. BF's Wedding Gift – brown Supercashmere Blanket
2. Skip Along Socks for the Knitting Central Sock Club
3. Oh So Soft Baby Blanket in Navy Blue
4. Warm Up America blanket for Jackson Recovery Center– purple & reds
5. Pixie Jacket baby gift (Has Sidneyalready outgrown this gift?)
6. Spring Lace Socks – Danni Knits pattern – pink & lilac yarn from James of Fibre Alive
7. Prayer Shawl Ministry blue toned striped seed stitch blanket
8. Purple Mistake Rib scarf for Jackson Recovery Center
9. Prayer Shawl – Homespun blues
10. Argyle Baby Vest
11. Purple NewfoundlandMittens Revisited
12. Regia blue striped socks with Lorna’s Laces blue jeans heels and toes
13. Almost Argyle – red socks

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5.       

6. 

7.     

8. 

9. 

10.   

11. 

12. 

13. 

That's only the WIP portion of my inventory.  This is an intense project.  I'll follow up with some more searching and moral inventory of my UFOs, FUFOs, To Be Frogged and even some Future Projects.   

Knitaholics Anonymous

Hi.  I'm Jennifer and I'm a Knitaholic. 

There.  I've done it.  I've taken the first step.

A Great LYS in My Hometown

I found this great LYS in my hometown of Sioux City, Iowa when I was here for my wedding last month.  I forgot to share my discovery with you.  I found Susan's Yarn Garden via my SIL Debbie.  It was just the thing I needed to get back my knitting mojo after this week.

Susan's Yarn Garden is a goldmine in my hometown.  Susan, the owner of this LYS, has built a wonderful oasis in Sioux City for all things fibre-related.  She has great space, great needles, great fibres, great knitting accessories and more.  I think I'll be tempted to return often to my hometown just to add another LYS to my list of favorite shopping spots to feed my knitting addiction.

Palmer's Olde Tyme Candy Shoppe

I decided to offer my boys a sweet diversion this morning after all the sadness of the week.  It was fun trip down memory lane for me, too.  We went to the local candy factory in Sioux City called Palmer's Old Tyme Candy Shoppe.  We had fun looking at the candy factory antiques

My boys were, well, like kids in a candy store

It was a great trip down memory lane in this hometown favorite. 

Just the Thing to Brighten My Day

I was so pleasantly surprised when Renna emailed me to let me know that I had won the big purple malabrigo contest over at Happy Handwork.  This is just the thing to brighten my day.

Thanks Cinnamon Girl.  Your surprise could not have come at a better time.

Thanks to everyone who has continued to send me condolences, thoughts and prayers for my father.  I can't tell you how much it means to me.

* * Hugs * *

A Local Tribute to Dr. Bill Jackson

The local TV station - KMEG-14 asked to do a special tribute about Dad on their evening news last night.  Click on THIS LINK to watch the interview and tribute to Dad.  Once you get to the KMEG home page -you'll need to look at the mini-TV screen for the photo of Bill & Marienne dancing.  It's entitled "Loved Ones Remember Dr. Bill Jackson."  You might want to get out your Kleenex now.

You can read the text article by clicking HERE.

Here's the LINK to the obituary from the Sioux City Journal. 

I hope you like the TV tribute!  My niece and nephews are particularly sweet.

Thank You So Much!

I just want to write a post to thank you all for your wonderful thoughts and prayers for my family.  We sure do miss our Dad - but are so relieved that his pain and suffering has finally ended.    

My friend Erika sent out this thought of the day in honor of my father's death.  I'd like to share it with you now.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are keeping for that which has been your delight.
~Kahlil Gibran

I think that about says it all.  It's such a true sentiment.  Thanks again for all your support.  I can't tell you what it means to me!

F is for My Father's Funeral

It's been a very sad week for my family.  My father finally succumbed to his 9+ year battle with Alzheimer's.

Dr. Bill Jackson

1932-2008

God bless you Dad!  I hope you're dancing with Mom in heaven now. 

Celebrate Easter with the Major Knitter Peep Show!

I hope you like my Peep Show.  I made it to wish you all a Happy Easter.

UGH!  I'm having major technical difficulties.  Trust me on this one.  The Peep Show is great.  I worked on my own Peep diorama for your enjoyment.  I'll have to work out the problems of the camera and try to repost the picture.

March 30 - I finally fixed the glitch.  Here's the close-up of some examples of my handiwork.  Look!  My Peeps are knitting.

I obviously don't have enough to keep me busy.

This is the Reason I Don't Have Any Socks to Wear

I've gone a month without wearing handknit socks.  Can you believe it?  I can't.  What could possibly be the reason for such a drastic step?  It is winter in the Northeast afterall. 

Am I boycotting handknit socks?

Do they itch?

Have I developed an allergy to wool?

The answer to all these questions is "No".  I've simply been too busy and haven't taken the time to do my hand wash only laundry.  Today, I couldn't stand it for a second longer.  This morning at 6:45 a.m. I decided it was time to do the laundry.  Now I have numerous pairs of socks drying on the kitchen table just waiting to be worn again.  Of course, after they're worn again, they'll end up right back in the delicates only laundry basket.  I think my socks think that's where they live.  Sigh.

.

.

.

.

.

Whenever I wash all my socks at once, I get a chance to look at my favorite socks, favorite patterns and favorite yarns.

• Red Koigu KPM Cables, Cables Everywhere by Danni  from the Knitting Central Sock Club are my very favorite socks
• The blue/green/yellow TOFUtsies socks are one of my favorite patterns.  I think it's because I knit them on ZEROS and they took me forever.  I like the feel of the TOFUtsies yarn.
• The blue/light blue/white Sockotta yarn is my favorite yarn.  It seems to be the most durable to me.  I also like the way it feels to the touch. 
• Having said that I think I have more Koigu socks than any other because I like to knit with Koigu.  I just worry about how long the Koigu socks will wear.

How about you?  When you take a sock inventory do you evaluate your socks?

All Dressed Up

Why do bulldogs look so cute when they're dressed in human clothes?  I'm beginning to wonder if they are the 2nd most dressed animal (after chimpanzees).  What do you think?

Purple Malabrigo is the Grand Prize

Tracy at Wool Windings just let me know about a great Celebrate Spring contest over at Happy Handwork.  As part of the contest we're asked to mention our favorite flower.  Without a doubt, mine is the purple tulip.  Of course it's purple.  You probably already guessed that it would be, right?  And since the grand prize for this contest is PURPLE Malabrigo, how could I resist?  Click HERE to find out more.

I hope you participate in this fun contest.  You'll brighten everyone's day by sharing some spring flowers on your blog, too. 

Happy knitting!

A Good (Finishing) Friday to You!

I finished my sock.  OK - I am only 50% done with the project, but I felt it was safe to share a picture of the first Skip Along Sock with you.

I like this sock.  The yarn is a beautiful mix of rich autumn colors.  The texture of the "Skip Along" stitch is interesting and keeps me going. 

I especially like the garter edge on the heel flap.

I'm so glad that I finished this sock.  There are only 10 days left in March which means that there are only 10 days before the next installment of my Knitting Central Sock Club arrives in the mail.  Laura Hein Eckels did a fantastic job with this pattern.  It will be available on May 1st from Knitting Central.  It's an exclusive pattern to the Sock Club members for the first three months.  I hope you'll order a copy of this pattern and support one of my favorite local knitters.

International Food Fest

Monday night was our Court of Honor at Boy Scouts.  We had three Scouts achieve the rank of Star Scout (including Primogeniture) and one receive his first Eagle Palm. 

It was quite a night.  Each time we have a Court of Honor, we try to have refreshments.  In honor of St. Patrick's Day we decided to celebrate every Scout's heritage with an international food fest.  Yummy! 

Brazilian Guarana soda, German kielbasa, Irish soda bread, Jewish rugulah, Brazilian pao de queijo (cheese puffs), Belgian cookies; Brazilian brigadeiro (fudge bon bons); Belgian chocolates; Irish/English scones; Brazilian coconut kisses (coconut bon bons); Jewish kugel; St. Patrick's Day shamrock cookies; Brazilian passionfruit juice and more.  It was a great night and the Scouts and families seemed to have a great time.

Here's Primogeniture showing off some Brazilian Brigadeiro and Beijinhos de Coco.  Yummy.

Knitting Here, There and Everywhere!

It was a big day for knitting in public.  I made great progress on my Skip Along Socks

I had to pick up the boys from school.  Here's my sock in the Mini Cooper with Primogeniture's science bean plant project.

Here's my sock - nearly done - at the Pediatrician's office.  Our favorite Pediatrician said my head cold - aka the nasty virus that's going around is the one that lasts 10-14 days.  Ugh!  Just what I needed.  At least I'm getting lots of knitting done. 

I Really Do Knit Everywhere

The good news is that I got a lot of knitting done this morning (it's only 10:50 a.m.).  The bad news is I couldn't sleep because I've got a nasty head cold that I thought was just seasonal allergies.  Ugh.  I also had a regularly scheduled doctor's appointment which I didn't dare cancel.  Instead, I took my knitting and my kleenex and went out in the rain.  I've often said that I knit everywhere and anywhere.  Here's a photo to prove it.

 

I'm already nearly done with the gusset as the doctor was delayed.  The nurse felt bad and kept coming in to apologize.  I said - no need, I'll just get more knitting done.  BTW, I decided to knit the Skip Along pattern on the instep since I like the Knitting Central Sock Club Skip Along theme so much.

Major Knitter Makes Minor Progress

I've been working on my Skip Along Socks from the Knitting Central Sock Club.  Unfortunately, they've become OBE  - which in this case is military lingo for Overcome By Events.  In layman's terms, that means I've been swamped.  I really want to finish them before the next sock package arrives on April 1st, so I'm trying my darnedest to finish them.

I'm about 2/3 the way done with the leg of the first sock.  I think I'll switch to all stockinette on the foot so it knits up quicker (or maybe I'll just go with the design).  Both are written into the pattern as acceptable options - so I'll still be true to the pattern regardless of which I choose.

Here's an over-exposed close-up of the sock.  This one actually shows the colors in a more true state.  But that's all I have for you tonight.  I really should go knit some more.  I'd like to get the leg and the heel done by tomorrow night.  Wish me luck!

Back By Popular Demand

I have a recipe to share with you.  This is what I served for dinner the other night.  OK - not too many secrets here.  Sweet peas.  Chicken Teriyaki shish kebabs from Whole Foods.  Mixed spring greens with roasted pine nuts, cranberries, crumbled bleu cheese and cooked beets.  The piece de resistance is the puree.

Here's the secret to my favorite puree:

It's Potato and Parsnip Puree.   The special tool is the potato ricer.  It makes the puree so smooth and creamy.  When these were boiled and soft, I drained them, passed them through the ricer, then added 1/3 cup butter, 1/4 milk, and salt and pepper to taste. 

It's a favorite in my household.  Yummy!

If the Name Fits...

Joanne got these cute little sticky notes as a gift for me.  She found them at our LYS - Knitting Central.

Some people might find this a bit offensive.  But I have to admit - it fits me.  I'm such a hussie when it comes to knitting.  You know that about me.  I'm having the hardest time focusing on the 12 projects on my WIP list.  I'm even trying to decide which I can finish the quickest - because that would surely allow me to add a new project to my queue.  I have seen so many gorgeous projects out there in knitterdom that I would really like to try my hand at.  But then I see my Yarn Slut sticky notes and think - Focus.  Focus.  Focus.

E is For Envelopes

I couldn't quite figure out what to share with you for the letter "E" and then BF suggested envelope.  Perfect!  I made all my stationery for the wedding - and even lined the envelopes with various shades of purple envelope liners.  Today is the day that I have set aside for writing my thank you notes - so envelope is the most fitting word of the day.  Here are some pictures of the envelopes and thank you notes.

Great Day for a Hike

It started raining on Friday night in Westport.  It continued through the night.  Saturday morning I woke up to more drizzle.  Fortunately, the forecast said it would stop and by 10:00 it would be party cloudy with the skies clearing up and turning warm (low 50s) by early afternoon.  Can I just say that I love it when the weatherman is right?  We had our 10-mile Boy Scout Hike.  We had a small turnout, but it was wonderful.  We started at the Westport Historical Society where Susan Gold gave us a walking tour of downtown Westport

We walked around and the Scouts took turns taking pictures of the historic buildings in town - many built in the late 1700s.

   

.

.

.

.

We also discovered some great artwork inside some of the shops in downtown Westport.  The Banana Republic has these great murals on the wall that were uncovered during the building's renovation.  The store embraced the local art and they are now displayed on the main wall.

Can you find the pickpocket? 

After our downtown tour, we hiked down to Compo Beach, going through Longshore, through the Compo Beach parking lot, to Mill Pond Road and back to the Westport Historic Society.  It was a very long hike, but I was very proud of how well the Scouts did.  They even managed to have some fun along the way.

Of course, when you have boys and things to climb on, the inevitable happens

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

As for me, I did manage to knit my Regia self striping sock while hiking.

It was a great day for exercise, knowledge, sunshine, team-building, fresh air, camaraderie, esteem-building and even knitting.  Can you hike and walk at the same time?

PS:  Want to know what the best part of the hike was?  When two of my Scouts asked me if I would knit them some wool socks.    : D

Beware the Ides of March

Since I finished the socks last night, I felt that I must immediately cast on for my next project.  So much for completing another project on the WIP list.  I have a 10-mile hike with the Boy Scouts today and I really wanted to be able to try my hand at knitting and hiking just to say I did it.  Unfortunately, the socks I have on the needles require that I actually pay attention to them (which is why #2 and #3 have been sitting idle for so long).

1. Knitting Central's Sock Club Skip Along Socks by Laura Hein Eckel
2. Another Knitting Central Designer - Danni Conway's Lacy Spring  Socks
3. Knit Picks Almost Argyle Socks

None of these are simple enough to allow me to supervise middle school boys while hiking and knitting.  There was only one thing to do, right?  I immediately cast on for a second pair of mindless self-striping socks with leftover Regia sock yarn for my nephew who adores handknit socks.  This time, these will be all stockinette just to simplify things.  Other than that, they'll look pretty much the same as the first pair.

I'm justified in casting on for a new project, right?  You're with me on this one, aren't you? 

You're not?  Who cares about you anyway.  It's all about me. 

Finishing Friday - Argyle Socks

After much work and lots of weaving, sewing and generally finishing, I am proud to inform you that I have successfully finished the argyle socks from my class at Knitting Central with Sally Ijams.  I can't tell you how pleased I am to bring them to you before midnight on Friday so I could reinstate Finishing Fridays

The argyle origami of this sock means that you have to sew the back seam of the sock, plus two little gaps along the gusset.  No problem. 

The sock on the left shows the argyle before sewing up the seam using the Mattress Stitch (something new I learned from this class).  The one on the right is a successfully sewn argyle.  I must say I'm quite pleased with my progress.

But there is the little matter of this gusset gap that needs to be sewn shut. 

And all these loose ends that need to be woven in.  If you know anything about me, you know that I hate finishing a project.  All this tedious weaving and sewing is enough to make me lose my mojo.

 

But never fear, there was enough interesting political happenings this week to keep me entertained with various MSNBC talk shows which kept me weaving and finishing for hours (literally).  I managed to weave in all the loose ends and sew the gusset gaps closed.  Now for the moment you've all been waiting for...

THE INVERTED SOCK POSE A LA TWINKLE TOES

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Click to enlarge the pictures of my latest FO.  I can't tell you how relieved I am to have finished these socks.  I am now down to just a mere dozen manageable WIPs.  I'm trying to determine which to finish next - the ones that can quickly and easily be finished (thereby allowing me to cross them off the list) or the ones that are really more important.  Decisions.  Decisions.

Thanks Sally for this great class!  I don't even think you know how long I've wanted to learn argyle. 

Almost Completed Argyles

I made great progress on my Argyle Socks today.  It was a very busy day and I knit during a meeting and at tonight's book club.  Unfortunately I had to spend 2 hours in the car driving to and from the airport to pick up my lost luggage from last weekend.  Otherwise, I'm sure I could have finished these socks. 

Never fear, I'm almost done.  I anticipate a Finishing Friday FO tomorrow.

And here's Wilma barking at her squeaky toy from Jane.  She's more interested in her toy than my knitting.

Joanne's Sampler Blanket

Do you have your priorities straight?  I do.  I rearranged my schedule so that I could attend Charlene Schurch's sock classes at Knitting Central.  I wasn't going to be able to attend either session, but I realized that this class was just too important to miss.  While I was in my LYS, my friend Joanne stopped in with her finished baby blue sampler blanket

This blanket is a free store pattern when you purchase the yarn at Knitting Central.  I purchased the yarn in red and The Sampler Blanket is high on my list of future projects. Joanne has made at least 3 of these and each one is more gorgeous than the last (if that's possible).  It's truly an inspiration. 

Serial Knitter

Today was a day of serial knitting.  First I went to Joanne's house for knitting and chatting (and some great lattes!).  Joanne worked on the picking up the stitches on the gussets of her second pair of socks.  Aren't they great?  These are made with Regia sock yarn.

I worked on my homework for tomorrow's Argyle Sock Class.  I managed to knit the final inch or so while at Joanne's house, then realized I had made a mistake in reading the graph and had to rip out the inch.  After leaving Joanne's, I went to Tuesday knitting at Knitting Central and managed to catch up on the ripped out part.  Here's a shot of both argyle socks on the leopard print carpet of Knitting Central.

I hit a wall while at Knitting Central, but I stayed long enough to help Michelle through the thumb of the second mitten from our Scandinavian Mittens class.  Here's are beautiful in an olive green and white color combination.  I wish I had taken a photo.  But all of a sudden the weekend travels and excitement, not to mention the lost hour with the "spring forward" time change meant I needed a quick nap.  So I went hope, set the timer for 30 minutes and got in some quality Zzzzzz's

After my nap, I went to the Prayer Shawl knitting group at Assumption Parish and knit with Hettie and Trish for about an hour.  I made minimal progress on my Oh So Soft Baby Blanket with garter ridge stripes.  Soon it was time to rush off to both schools to pick up the boys for orthodontist visits.

At the orthodontist, I managed to pick up stitches and knit 1 1/2 heel flaps on my argyle socks.  These are so much fun to knit.  I can scarcely wait until tomorrow's knitting class.  Now I'm home with the boys and I'm trying to figure out what else I can knit tonight.

Update on Goodies

Sunday in the City with Jane was great fun.  Did you guess that I took her to brunch at the Top of the Rock at the Rainbow Room?  It was such a civilized way to see the New York City skyline from the top of one of NYC's tallest buildings without standing in line forever and a day while carrying our heavy bags laden down with our purchases.  We sat, enjoyed the brunch and the view while catching up on each other's lives. 

Jane brought chocolate for the boys and for the adults.  Yum!  She was actually in the US for a conference.  As part of the motivation, they kept throwing out squeaky toys into the crowd for participation.  Jane quickly grabbed the pink dressed squeaky chicken for Wilma.  Awwww.  Plus she gave me her copy of The English Patient, which is perfect as I have not read this one.  Finally, she brought her odds and ends of fingering weight yarn for my Knit Notes.  I love these colors!  Yum.

Here's a picture of the Lorna's Laces Self Striping sock yarn I bought at Purl Soho.  I love the self-striping nature of this yarn and what's not to like about Lorna's Laces?  I thought these would make some extra adorable baby girl socks for someone down the road. 

Finally, yesterday I managed to finish two more miniature socks for the sock blocker key chains.  The pink and white one is from my first pair of pink and white socks with the aforementioned Lorna's Laces self-striping yarn.  I think it makes a cute miniature sock.  The rainbow yarn was a donation to my fingering weight collection.  Cute little thingies, aren't they?   

Nothing Could Be Finer Than to Be in Carolina

This weekend BF and I went to New Bern, North Carolina - specifically to the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point for a dear friend's Change of Command Ceremony

The General, Pam, Pete and Jennifer - reunited after nearly fourteen years!

Pam & Dan's southern hospitality - FRESH fish and shrimp from their front yard, plus the rest of the fixin's.

Pam framed a piece of hand-crocheted lace from each grandmother and put a little brass plate at the bottom with Grandma's name.  I thought this was a brilliant way to immortalize and honor grandma's handiwork.  Have you turned a family handicraft into an heirloom work of art on the wall?

As we left New Bern we discovered something new.&nb