Stitches and more stitches

Well, I am going to put aside my Crowned Glory scarf for a few days until I get over my headaches and my cold, so that maybe I can concentrate more on it and stop screwing it up over and over. I have now started this lovely scarf eight or nine times. I keep messing up though. I thought I had made a good start at it last night, but when I got to the end of my first triangle I came up with the wrong amount of stitches. I tried, yet again, to backtrack or rip it back or whatever you call it, and messed up, yet again. I am getting frustrated, so I decided to start a different project.

I ran across a KAL in another group I am in, so I decided to do that one as well as the scarf KAL. It is a washcloth. I had neither knitted a washcloth nor ever knitted with cotton yarn before. I had just recently bought a couple of skeins of peaches & cream yarn because I have been wanting to make some wash cloths or dish cloths, so this works out well. They are not the colors called for in the pattern for the KAL, but as I honestly don't have another three dollars to go buy the right colors, I am knitting with what I have. Here are some pics of my progress so far.

My daughter, Serenity, is totally loving the colors, so I will probably give it to her when I am finished. I am using Peaches & Cream Strawberry Cream and Lilac Ombre. I love how it is turning out. Also, I love the feel of cotton yarn and I think I would like to do more things in cotton. Maybe more wash and dish cloths and some pot holders.

I have also been working some more on my double knit hat. Haven't made a whole lot of progress. It is such a time consuming hat LOL. I will feel like I have been knitting for hours and hours, but when I look at it, there is only another row or two added to it. Oh well, it is my 'watching tv' project. I don't have to concentrate very much on it, so I can sit and watch tv while I work on it. Those are the best kinds of projects! Relaxing, yet still accomplishing something. I love it.

Also, today, I decided to do some more on my cross stitch WIP. That was a mistake. Not that I messed up or anything bad like that. It is just that with the headache I have had since waking up sick yesterday, it would have been wiser to wait on something that is so eye straining and headache inducing. I did manage to triple the amount of stitches, YAY. I am up to somewhere over 120 stitches done. No, don't worry, I am not going to count the amount of stitches every time I give an update. That would be difficult as I make more progress. I just wanted to see how many I got done this time. I felt like I had been stitching for hours LOL. Here are some pics of the project.

It is hard to believe that there are already five different colors on there. It is hard for me to see the difference in the colors sometimes. They are so similar. I feel that it is getting a little (a tiny little) bit easier for me to work on this linen. I am hoping that by the time I am done with this project I will either be comfortable working on the 32 count linen or be able to say for sure that I will never again work on it LOL. Either way, I will have learned something new.

Ok, I am going to go blow my nose, get something warm to drink,  lay down and zone out to some episodes of the old tv show Blossom. I found it online and am taking a walk down memory lane. I had forgotten about the show and am glad I ran across it. So off I go. Enjoy your day!

Happy Crafting!

Frogging, crying, and starting over

Woke up this morning all excited because I had received the rest of the pattern for my KAL I am doing with one of the yahoo groups I am in. I couldn't wait to get started. I waited though, for my man to wake up. I didn't want my muttering and cursing to wake him up. I tend to cuss up a storm as I am learning a new pattern. I shouldn't have waited. Or maybe I should have waited longer. I don't know if it would have made any difference though.

"What? Why should you have waited?" you are probably asking right now. Well, let me tell you. I messed up my  project. I started off ok, but I messed up and had to back track a little. I don't really know how, though I have seen it done recently. It worked out okay, but then, a little later, I messed up again. Worse this time. I tried to back track again, but there were too many yarn overs and increases and I guess I got confused. Next thing I knew, I had a big mess on my hands. I ended up frogging the entire thing. Yep, you heard me right. I have frogged my entire Crowned Glory scarf.

I thought I was going to cry. Honestly considered it. I didn't though. Why waste my tears on what should be a good learning experience. Every step I take in learning to knit is progress, even if it doesn't seem to be at the moment I am ripping out all of those stitches that took me so many painstaking hours.

So, I decided to start over. I messed up on the second row! I have now started over yet again and am going slowly. I will post some pictures of my new progress tomorrow, when I have more to show. Meanwhile, I did a few more rows on my double knitted hat. I decided to add a couple of single row stripes to break up the monotony of the hat. I think it turned out ok. I am still having troubles with my stripes lining up right. I have no idea how I am getting the lopsided when I am starting at the beginning of the row and ending at the end. Oh well, just something else to learn. :-)

I have also accomplished, since the last post, forty-two whole cross stitches on my new project. Wow, this 32 count linen is kicking my behind and making me blind. I usually work on 14 count Aida, so I am used to being able to just fly across rows and see pretty good progress in an hour. Not anymore! I have already had to oh so carefully undo a few stitches because I had them off by one row. I tried gridding my linen, as I have seen others do in some of the blogs I read, but I messed that up several times before giving up on it. So I am just going to work slowly and learn to enjoy this pattern (even if it kills me).

              Yes, this really is 42 stitches. I counted them twice!

Well, you are about caught up on my life and progress now. The schools have been closed because of the snow, so the kids have been home. That means I have not been able to work much on the cross stitch, since my good natural light floor lamp is in the living room. I can't concentrate on the little bitty stitches with a couple of kids yelling and jumping around. I have just stayed in my room for the most part and been on hulu or catching up on emails.

I have finally managed to read a few pages of a book today. I haven't been reading much lately, what with all the new projects I have been attempting. I used to read a book a day. Not anymore! Too busy doing my crafting. Maybe I should slow down and enjoy a good book and not worry about any more crafts until the kids are back in school. Maybe.

Well, I will let you all get back to your busy lives and I will get back to mine. I hope all of your projects, whatever they may be, are going well for you. Enjoy these days of crafting and creating, of enjoying art in whatever form you take the most pleasure in, because the day comes for all of us that we will no longer be able to. Then we will be able to sit back and remember fondly all of the joy we took in our crafts.

Happy Crafting!

Full needles and empty linens

Well, I never did manage to start my cross stitch project today. I spent a little time untangling the floss and finding the center of my linen and staring at the tiny, tiny squares I am suppose to fill with bright, lovely colors. Then I passed out for a couple of hours. When I awoke it was almost time for the kiddos to get home from school. I ran to the post office to mail off some packages, but there was a new guy that didn't know how to send them, so I brought them back home. Oh, well. They can keep a day or two. Or longer if we get the four inches or more of snow they were calling for on the weather.

I did manage to get some knitting in. I irritated the secretary of my Lion's club at our meeting tonight at By The Cup in Oakland City, IN. I decided that I was going to knit on my double knit hat while we talked and waited for our food to arrive. Both my kids were working on plastic canvas projects to occupy them and my hands were feeling empty watching them. So I got a few more rows done on that. Then tonight I finished the first part of my KAL. Just waiting for the rest of the pattern so that I can finish it and get it off of these little circular needles. I can't wait until my longer ones come in that I got super cheap on ebay! Here is a pic of what I have so far:

It is longer than it looks. It is just all scrunched up on the needles. I think I like how the colors turned out. I wasn't sure at first. I just grabbed a skein of yarn that I had no plans for and started working on this scarf, hoping it would turn out okay. I think it did. I hope.

So anyway, I didn't drink any coffee tonight so I think I might actually be able to sleep soon. I hope. I had a coffee/caffeine hangover today pretty bad! The one hour of restless sleep before getting the kids off to school and then the three hours of passoutedness around noon made me feel less than human most of the day. I rode that line between hyper and irritable all evening. I am sure everyone was happy to go to bed and leave me alone!

Before I head to bed, here is a couple of pics on the progress of my double knit hat WIP. It doesn't look like much yet, but I have hopes it will turn out ok. It is a sparkly grey on the outside and black on the inside, or vice versa as it is reversible. It looks more like a headband so far. I am almost tempted to leave it as is and let my daughter have it. I bet she would look cute in it! But I want to finish the hat for my man. Maybe I will have enough left over yarn to make her a headband. Anyway, I am off to bed. Maybe I will start on that cross stitch project tomorrow.

Happy crafting everyone!

I like my coffee to taste like hot chocolate

Yep, that's right. I like my coffee to taste like hot chocolate. Not all the time, mind you. But sometimes. I keep a little container that is a mixture of hot chocolate mix, powder creamer, and sugar and I add this to my coffee whenever I get the urge for some hot chocolate with a caffeine kicker. Sometimes I drink too much (like a whole pot of it) and it keeps me up all night. I remember when I was younger I could drink a whole pot and still sleep like a baby. Shows how a body changes as we grow older, huh.

Anyway that is why I was up until about an hour before I had to wake the kids for school. I made some more progress on my Crowned Glory KAL and caught up with Lie To Me on HULU. Crashed for an hour, got the kids on the bus just now and am back at it. Until I pass out anyway. Here is my progress on the KAL for multidirection group on yahoo groups.

I am rather proud of it, even though there are several mistakes that I didn't catch until I had worked a couple of more rows. I don't know how to backtrack without frogging the whole thing, so I had to leave them. You wouldn't know from this that I didn't even know how to purl until a week or two ago! I have learned so much by starting this KAL Monday. I can't wait until this is finished and I can take it off the needles to get a better picture.

I have decided upon a project to start on in cross stitch. I have been pondering it for awhile now. I don't have a lot to choose from yet, just several small kits that my kids got me for Christmas and a larger one that I got off of listia. So, while I like the small ones that I can finish quickly, I am choosing the larger one. I have only done a few since I started cross stitching about a year ago. They have all been small, easy kits worked on 14 count Aida ( I think)  and I want more of a challenge. Here is what I am going to start today.

Of course now that I have it open, I am intimidated. It is 154w x 107h and is worked on 32 count cream linen in what I think is 2 over 2 in cross stitch speak. I am trying to learn that language as well as knitter's talk. Anyway two strands of floss over two threads. Looks like there is full, half, and quarter stitches as well as back stitching and french knots and something that is called a lazy daisy stitch (that I am going to have to learn). Well, I did want a challenge. I have a feeling this one is going to take a while. I am going to have to start up a rotation like a bunch of people in the yahoo cross stitch groups I am in. Get some easier ones like I am used to (done on 14 count Aida) and do them when I am too stressed on this one.

Hmmm, how am I going to fit in cross stitching with my knitting, reading, and movie watching? Not to mention those pesky little things called children! YAY another challenge! This is going to be fun. I may never leave the house again or get more than an hour of sleep a night though (only half kidding on that one!), but it will be worth it.

All right, I am off to start this project and maybe work on my knitting as well. Happy crafty all!

My first blog, first knitting group, and too much coffee

Well, I did it. I decided to start blogging. Why? I think it is the coffee. I just drank a whole pot while working on a KAL that I started Monday. Makes me want to talk to people. Don't have anyone to talk to as everyone is asleep, so I decided to blog. Simple enough, I guess.

So what should I even talk about? I have never done this before. I guess I will start with how much I love knitting. I am becoming more and more addicted to it every day. I love the different yarns and how they feel. I love seeing things being created with my own hands. The people I am meeting that knit are all very kind and helpful. I'd bet knitters must be the best people around! I am not just saying that because I am a knitter! Honestly! (well maybe a little)

I guess you (my dear tanglers) might actually want to know something about me. Hmm..... I knit, I cross stitch, I read, and that is about it. I love to play games, both on the computer and on our various game consoles, and I love to watch movies. I have two children, a daughter age seven and a son age fifteen. I am getting ready to marry a wonderful man. I almost have the perfect life! Now all I need is to win the lottery and we will be set.

So I went to my first ever knitting group meeting. Or get together... what is it called? Anyway, I loved it .I have joined a couple of yahoo groups for knitting and cross stitching recently.  One of the groups was TwistedKnitters and  these lovely women meet close enough to me for me to join them in person. I am so glad I joined the group. Everyone was friendly and helpful and I feel that I can learn a lot from them. I have only been knitting for a year now and still have a lot to learn about it.

So, more about knitting! All last year I only did garter stitch scarves. I couldn't figure out how to purl, I didn't know how to increase or decrease, and I didn't feel that I was good enough yet to try anything other than scarves. Well, this month I learned how to purl and everything seemed to click. I have now made a couple of hats, am working now on a double knit hat for my man, and am working on what to me seems like a difficult scarf for a KAL that I joined in on Monday. I didn't know what most of the abbreviations even meant in the pattern! It took me six hours to complete the first triangle of this awesome scarf, what with having to take it apart and start over about five times. Now I am really moving along on it, though I am still making mistakes here and there. But isn't that the best part of learning? Making mistakes and learning from them?

A friend of mine told me once that it is the mistakes you make while creating something that makes it so unique and so much better than anything bought in a store. I am sure she didn't mean anything big like boats or something. Can you imagine taking the boat out and finding a hole where you must have messed up and didn't catch it! Bummer.

So I will end this post before I ramble on for a few more hours. I tend to do that. I have enjoyed this experience so far and plan to keep doing it even if the only person to ever read this is myself. Happy crafting everyone!