Packing Sucks!

My cousin's job is transferring him out of state in less than a week.  So it's been a mad rush around here.  Trying to get him and his wife packed and ready for the move has been hard.  But I think we got it done.  There were a few legal and financial issues that needed to be attended to, at the last minute, but I think they are now ready to go.

During all of this I have also finished an Amigurumi, started another, and even cast on a lace shawl out of some absolutely fabulous yarn I purchased from one of my knitting buddies.  I'll post some pics in the next post.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

S.

What Can I Say?

I have not picked up needles or hooks since Thursday.  And this is why:

That's right, I got an Apple Mac Book.  Thanks to the kindness of a very good friend.  When he found out my old laptop's monitor died on me, he immediately suggested I get the computer I had been wanting for almost a year.  Which I thought was a great idea, except, I am not working right now.  And my measly strike pay is not conduscent (?sp) to such a large purchase.  And out of the blue, for me at least, I received the Mac the next day.  There are conditions of course. But all things considered, they are more fair than I probably deserve.  I have to start making payments towards this purchase when I go back to work.  What can I say.  I have great friends, one who knew I would go totally bat-shit without a computer to play on everyday.

So now I have the Mac I've been wanting for almost a year.  And I've been spending almost every free moment trying to figure out all it's bell and whistles.  And having a ball doing it.  I can't wait to see what all I can do on it.  It's also going to be great to get back on "Skype" and be able to live chat with friends and family.  If you're on Skpye and want to chat, look me up.  My handle is "shortysmg".  Ring me anytime.

I am going to walk away from this thing this evening so I can get back to work on a WIP or two.

Happy Easter!

S.

For the kindness of my friends...

Thanks to you all!  You know who you are.  You have listened to me bitch about my job and my family. You've hugged me when I cried.   You've told me what I needed to hear (even when I didn't want to hear it).  You've called me on my mood swings.  You've had meals with me, and knit/crochet with me.  You've challenged me to expand myself outside my comfort zone.  And so many other things I couldn't possibly name them all.  And for all these things, for all my friends, I say THANK YOU!  I can only hope I've been as good a friend to you, as you have been to me.

Whew!  I needed to get that sentiment out there.  As I felt like I hadn't done or said enough to thank all the wonderful people in my life.  I'm going to try to do something about that.

I hope everyone has a great day today.  Whether or not you celebrate Easter.

S.

FROM WIP TO FO IN 10 MONTHS

Can you believe it? It took me ten months to finish these socks. This is a great pattern designed by Monkey Toes for Socktopia (God Rest Her Soul), and knit using fabulous yarn dyed by the "Yarn Pirate". The real shame of it is, one sock was done and the other sock has been sitting at the toe decreases for over six months. That's right I said six months. I know, I know, shame on me. I'm just so easily distracted by great patterns, beautiful yarns, and inspirations.

I'm going to try to finish at least one of my WIP's a month. We'll have to wait and see if that actually works.

S.

LITTLE BLUE BELL SAYS HELLO!

I'll start this post by wishing everyone "Happy St. Patricks Day"!

As you can see, I decided to make yet another amigurumi toy. I just can't seem to help myself. And I don't think I want to. At least not until I can almost surround myself with little buddies.

I hope you all have a great day.

S.

PENNY IS DONE!

Sorry the pics aren't better. I'm working on a better set-up for taking pictures of my projects.

I would say this is my last amigurumi toy. But I think anyone who knows me, or has read my blog recently, knows there's no way I could/would stick to that. Especially since I don't really want to. This little animals have made my current situation a lot more bearable.



I was so excited last week when I got my first Japanese Amigurumi book from a wonderful etsy seller: ichigonopantsu. It took all the strength I had not to cast on a project right away. But I had another project I wanted to finish first. Once I dove into the book I came across several stumbling blocks. First and foremost, it's in Japanese. The counter to that is that all the patterns are in chart form. Secondly, I had to guess at the yarn weight and hook size. And not being able to read the instructions means I had to wing the toys construction. I think I did an okay job, considering. And it definitely won't deter me from making another project from this book, or ordering more books in the future.



Now I'm off to plan my next project. Will it be another amigurumi? Will it be a new pair of socks? Will it be a lace shawl, or maybe a felted bag? Will it be a dishcloth or scrubbie? Or will I just finish one of my many WIP's. I guess you'll just have to wait and see.



Smooches.



S.

ANOTHER AMIGURUMI WIP

After several false starts, "Penny" is finally coming together. It took me a few tries to figure out how to change colors in crochet. Now I'm really loving the way she is coming along.

MEET Ms. BRANDY BEAR

It took a great deal of will power on my part, but I stuck to my guns and
completed "Ms. Brandy" before I started an Amigurumi from my new book. Isn't she adorable? I think so! As you can see by the ruler next to her, she is barely 4 inches tall. She easily fits in the palm of even my small hand. Ms. Brandy started out as an experiment in gauge. I had already made a "Little Teddy Bear" from the book "Kyuuto! Japanese Craft Amigurumi", but I was not as happy as I thought I could be. The gauge and stuffing on the first bear was a little looser than I liked. So, I purchased a smaller hook, and cast on. She's just a bit smaller than I thought she would be, but the stuffing in her is much firmer. And I really prefer it that way. Her head and body don't get misshaped by my touch.

I have now made a total of seven Amigurumi toys. And I see no end in sight. Especially now that my Japanese Amigurumi Book, vol. 4 has arrived. So off I go to begin on another toy. And thanks for all the nice comments about my little menagerie.

Happy Knitting, Crocheting, Scrapbooking, Quilting, or any/everything you are working on.

S.

IT CAME...

I'm so excited! This is going to be an Amigurumi weekend.

The Trouble With Tribbles

I love this title. I don't remember where I first saw it, but it soo fits.

I decided to take a step back from the Amigurumi toys, at least until my new book gets here. So, I wanted a quick knit project. I asked myself what do I want to knit? Maybe a couple of dishcloths for myself.

I went on Ravelry and did a pattern search for dishcloths, (I Love Ravelry). What came up over and over again were these cute little circular scrubbers called Tribbles. So I thought what the heck. All the comments talked about how easy they are to make. The comments also described how addictive they are. And you know me. I'm a sucker for addictive knits. So off I knit. I actually started with the dishcloth. I had wanted to make this particular pattern for quite some time. But I kept getting side-tracked by cloths with pictures on them. After I finished the cloth, I realized I had quite a bit of yarn left. And I had read that the Tribbles didn't use much yarn. So off I went with my first attempt at the Tribble pattern.

This pattern is so easy to knit, unless you are like me and you knit before you thoroughly read the instructions. So after a couple of sad attempts, I re-read the instructions and finally got it right. And exactly as I had been warned, I immediately cast on another one. I used the left over yarn from the Amigurumi Kitty and added it to the small amount that was left from the first Tribble.

I'll just say this, "The Trouble With Tribbles is...", once you start you can't stop making them. Just like the cute little Tribbles from Star Trek, before you know it, one turns into two. Two turns into four. Four turns into eight. And so on, and so on.

S.

THE OBSESSION CONTINUES

Last night I started another Amigurumi toy. This one I found through one of Ravelry's Amigurumi groups.

Meet "Ms. Limade Kitty" designed by the fabulous Crochet Kitten. I didn't have any felt for the eyes, so it doesn't look exactly like to original design, but I still think she's a cutie.

I used Lily's Sugar & Cream Stripes, Lime Stripes. Unfortunately, the stripes are a lot longer than I thought they would be, so Ms. Kitty is a lot more color segmented than I would have liked. For my next one, I'll definitely find a shorter striped yarn. But even with the couple of issue of I had with her, she is a cutie. Especially holding her crochet hook.

I'm going to take a short break from the toys, at least until my Japanese Amigurumi book arrives. And get back to knitting. I've got several WIP's which need to be attended to. And there are over a hundred projects in my Ravelry Que. I'm not sure how it's going to work out. But I am going to enjoy trying.

It's snowing here again, so I'm going to spend the weekend watching horror movies and knitting. I just got one from Netflix called Severed that will probably be just cheesy enough to be good. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

S.

She's Finally Done!

Frita is sitting on my desk smiling. She's so happy to be done. And so am I.

Give Amigurumi a try first chance you get. You'll be as in love with it as I am. I'm off to take some meds and start another project. Or maybe finish a W.I.P..

T.G.I.F.


This has been a very strange week, Amigurumi-wise. The Holiday Frog that I started last Saturday has been kicking my butt. I've frogged it, (pun intended), at least three times. For some reason I couldn't seem to get the gauge right. I had to go out and purchase more hooks. But I think I finally got it right. Now I'm hooking away. Wish me luck!

Would you believe we got MORE snow. The weather reports said 2 to 4 inches on Tuesday. I left Knit Night early, and the drive that should have been 15 minutes and ended up being almost an hour, and the 2 to 4 inches turned into almost 10 inches. I'm so sick of snow. I can't wait for spring to finally appear.

On the strike front, our union went back into negotiations yesterday afternoon. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

I'm off to try to finish my little froggy. Have a great day all!

Changes, And Lack There Of...


I made it through the first week of the strike. Mostly by the grace and great company of my knitting friends. Thanks to you all! Next weeks picket schedule will be a bit hairy for me. I'll be on the line three days this week, from 3am to 7am. I can only imagine how cold it's going to be. But, I think I'm prepared for it. As of yesterday there have been no changes in our status. I do know that our strike has idled at least three GM plants so far. But at the moment, that is not having any effect on negotiations. At least as far as I've been told. I had predicted two weeks to a month for this strike. I may have underestimated the situation, but only time will tell.

Yesterday I met several of the nicest ladies I have met in quite some time. I learned a few things, knit a little, and over-all had a great day. Thanks to these wonderful knitters.

I think I've decided to move the blog over to WordPress. I'm not sure how difficult this is going to be, so if I disappear for a bit rest assured "I'll Be Back!" (sorry, I couldn't resist)