Knitter in Progress

Knitting: (1) Rage's Hat--Cascade 220 Heathers--Knitters Handy Book of Patterns(Budd) (2) Barn Raising Square--Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport--Knitalong (3) Flying Trapeze Socks--Cascade 220--Interweave Holiday 08 (4) Clapotis--Mountain Colors Bearfoot--Knitty (5) 2 Barn Raising Squares--Three Irish Girls--Knitalong (6) Barn Raising Square--Mountain Colors Bearfoot--Knitalong (7) Bella's Fingerless Gloves(Diva)--Blue Sky Alpaca and Silk--Stitch-n-Snitch (8) Kai-Mei--Colinette Jitterbug--Sock Innovation (9) Barn Raisning Square--STR Sherbet--Knitalong (10) Mod on Mod square--cotton--Yarnplay (11) Barn Raising Square--Opal Harry Potter(tonks)--Knitalong **for HBP Premier** (12) Round Facecloth--Sugar 'n Cream Stripes--free pattern(Ravelry) (13) Round Facecloth--Sugar 'n Cream Stripes--free pattern(Ravelry) (14) Round Facecloth--Sugar 'n Cream--free pattern(Ravelry) (15) Round Facecloth--Sugar 'n Cream--free pattern(Ravelry) (16) Diva's Knitted Babe--mostly K...

My two favorite Pens in one commercial :) Sid and Max--that just makes my day. Have a Happy New Year and be safe.

1. your best FO of the year: Clapotis--I have been wearing it a lot. I'm even contemplating making another. 2. best FO of the year made by a blog you link to: **It's not just one, I love seeing what Sam is up too. She always has a great finish to share and in spring 2010 she'll have a really cute "finished object" to show off. 3. best yarn you tried: Dream in Color Smooshy 4. best book/mag/pattern of 2009: Book: The re-release of Fair Isle Knitting by the author-who-must-not-be-named Magazine: Oxygen Vogue Knitting(Interweave has been very lame the last couple of years) Pattern: Bramble and the Rose--Ink Circles 5. best new technique or gadget you tried in 2009: **Insanity by Beachbody **P90X by Beachbody 6. top 5 inspirations--what five things inspired you the most over the past year? **Insanity **P90X **Ravelry **Tosca Reno **JR Ward 7. designer who most amazed & inspired you throughout the year: Cookie A 8. Challenges for 2010--what's next for you and ...

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday :)

I'm beginning to reflect on my accomplishments this year and I decided to start with my Challenges for 2009: (1) 3 months of the year where I post every day-- January, March, July -- Done July 31, 2009 (2) Finish a rotation of P90X Lean-- Done March 29, 2009 (3) Finish Provence Sampler-- Done April 12, 2009 (4) Finish a Rotation of Insanity-- Done November 1, 2009 (5) Finish 6 weeks of Turbo Jam--completed 4 weeks before I got Insanity (6) Get my Mii to look less like a softball--I'm still working on it; it's definitely a work in progress.

I finished two socks in October. One I posted about the other day and the second is right here: I also started another sock(nothing like having three pairs going on at the same time). It is the Braided Gem sock from Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn. I like the pattern but the yarn is another story. It's Mini Mochi from Crystal Palace. It's really soft and the color is stunning but it is a nightmare to work with. It splits, it has knots, and it is almost impossible to rip out.

5October09--I started my second month today with a fit test AND a workout, as scheduled, and good Lord I am already sore. That extra 20 minutes or so of cardio is killer. After the first cardio circuit was complete I was dying and by the third circuit I think I was experiencing another plane of being. 15October2009--I have finished my first week of the Max workouts. They have somewhere around 10ish more minutes of cardio and, let me tell you, you feel every second of those 10 minutes. It's not that the first month wasn't hard--it was. . .is--but adding that extra time was killer. I hurt my back during yesterday's workout--a pain located between my shoulder blade and spine on my right side--so I decided to take today off. The pain has subsided quite a bit and I'll gingerly get back into the program tomorrow. Hopefully this only puts me a day behind. I dread the thought of having to double up to get back on track :( 16October2009--My back has stopped hurting after my unpl...

I carved Rage's "Boo" pumpkin and Diva freestyled her own(her first year carving, I might add. I'm so proud.)

13 years ago today my two Tonkinese cats were born. Bailey and Kahlua--or as they are known today, BB and Cracky. They were the only two kittens in their litter and even though I only wanted one kitten, I ended up coming home with two and I'm so glad I did. These kitties have been with me through my first real job, my marriage, three moves, and two kids. I love them both dearly. BB is my lovable boy; he loves to sleep and cuddle. He gives kisses and "head bonks". He is the cat who made me realize that I will probably never get a female cat again. Cracky is his sister--and the other reason I will never get a female cat again ;). To say she is high strung would be a gigantic understatement. EVERYTHING freaks this cat out. Folding laundry, throwing out paper, any sudden movements. She's a basket case. And do not even get me started on her "talking". She always has something to say and she will not leave you alone until she feels she has been heard. I don't ...

One down,one to go. I love the way this sock looks but there are a ton of ends I had to weave in. At first I thought I could carry the colors but I thought the 5 and 8 row repeats were too long to float so I cut the yarn before each.

Here is my October post for the TUSAL. Still more knitting than cross stitch in there.

I'm working on finishing socks this year. I have two pairs on the needles: Fibonacci socks in my Pens colors and the Rick sock from Sock Innovation. We'll see how I do with these for the month. I will hopefully have more time to knit this month since I will be spending a considerable amount of time in front of the TV watching hockey--thank goodness it's back!

I finished this the other day. Diva had been wanting one for a while and she is very happy with how this turned out. I still have a couple of items of clothing to finish up--a hoodie and another outfit--but this should keep her happy for a bit. Off to enjoy our sunny but somewhat chilly day. Have a great weekend!

On September 1, I started the newest Beachbody workout series, Insanity . What drew me to it? Well, I had completed one rotation of P90X and I loved it. P90X is definitely geared towards people who want to build muscle and, honestly, you need to already be at your goal weight to really see great results--not that I didn't get great results with P90X, the gains I got in strength were amazing and more than worth the price--but I really wanted something that would really challenge me AND help me burn off some fat. I had purchased Turbo Jam which is a great beginner/intermediate type cardio workout--perfect for when I want to work up a good sweat but don't want to kill myself. For the month of August I pretty much did at least 2 Turbo Jam workouts per day--it was fun but not at all challenging. One day I was reading through my bloglines feeds and came across this post by the Fitness Freak . As soon as I saw the words "cardio based" I was thrilled. So then I checked it o...

A day late but here it is: There was not a lot of stitching in the last month--none actually--but there was some knitting. Hopefully I'll have more next month. If you want to play along, look here .

Month 1 for me anyway. Not a lot going on in there so far. Stitching and knitting scraps. It will be kind of fun watching this grow. Close up: Want to play along? Go here and find out more.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:30am 2. How do you like your steak? Well done, no pink but not burnt to a crisp. 3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince 4. What is your favorite TV show? True Blood, Real Time with Bill Maher 5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? I would live in a large house, on a beach, near Diamond Head in Hawaii. 6. What did you have for breakfast? Some Monkey Bread and a banana 7. What is your favorite cuisine? Japanese 8. What foods do you dislike? Ribs, anything with barbecue sauce, most fried stuff 9. Favorite Place to Eat? Genki Sushi, but since that's only in Hawaii I settle for whatever decent sushi place I can find. 10. Favorite dressing? Hidden Valley Ranch Lite 11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? Ford Explorer 12. What are your favorite clothes? Jeans and t-shirts 13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Australia and New Zealand 14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full...

1.9 is how many dishcloths I finished in the last twenty four hours. Hurray for me! (If I had time to go into everything else I did today, I would but I'm tired). Night. PS--this post lets me meet my personal challenge of blogging for 3 whole months in 2009 :)

I'll give you a topic: Is it possible to knit two facecloths in less than 24 hours and still get everything else done? Discuss :) **Anyone remember Coffee Talk? I loved that skit on SNL.

to finishing page 1. I was hoping to get it done by today but I ran out of time. I highly doubt it will be done next week because we are having company for the next week. Before: After:

**got up **fed kiddos and self **went out shopping; got Wii Sports Resort for Diva and Rage--they played it at our neighbor's house yesterday and it was very cool and I thought it might give me time to get stuff done **got Starbucks on the way home **made lunch while simultaneously doing different household tasks to prepare for company later in the week **continued household cleaning while stopping every 5 minutes to read instructions to the kiddos for the different games(if you get WSR you'll see what I mean). **continued household cleaning while breaking up fights between Diva and Rage over the aforementioned game **get phone call about Rage's swimming lessons **PROBLEM--I thought his lessons started next week but it is THIS week. Diva has to meet with her teacher every Tuesday night. Swimming and teacher meeting are overlapping times. **I curse about this for a while then Diva gets a phone call to go skating with a friend **she leaves for two hours while I continue clean...

Sorry for the lame post. I'm getting ready for company. It's getting late. I'm getting tired. Hopefully I can post earlier tomorrow.

Or DKB for short. I started this last weekend at Camp. Some changes I've made: **I knit the body in the round **I'm knitting the arms/legs with i-cord I'm using some Knit PIcks palette yarn in Tan. These are A LOT smaller than I thought they would be. If you're looking for a bigger doll, make sure you use a heavier weight of yarn.

I have been seeing this on numerous stitching blogs over the past few months and I finally decided to go see what exactly the details were. I went here and it looks like fun so I'm in :) Brief rules summary(quick reference for me): 1. Find a see-through container: i.e., mayonnaise jar, fish bowl, jelly/jam jar, something you'll enjoy. Containers may be changed at your pleasure. 2. Every time you are stitching throughout the coming year you agree to put all your "stitching throw aways" in this container. This may include: **regular Orts (thread ends) **little snips of fabric **broken buttons **a bead or two **worn out needles **the labels from used up floss skeins **whatever you like, as long as it is, or rather, was going to be part of a stitching project currently underway 3. You may include orts from any type of stitching project: cross stitch, knitting, crochet, whatever, but please do not include other craft leftovers such as paper crafts, rubber stamping, etc. I...

I only worked on this last weekend; it was a perfect project to work on while sitting on the balcony in Breckenridge. Before: After: **clickable thumbnails**

3 books I want to read before September: 1. Lord of Misrule(Caine) 2. Carpe Corpus(Caine) 3. Skin Trade(Hamilton)

Can anyone recommend a book(s) or a website(s) that deal with specific journal topics? I would love to find something that is a wealth of journaling ideas. I want to get back into my journaling routine and I would like additional options; I already do diary type entries and fiction writing.

A weekend in the mountains. Just looking at the pictures is relaxing, ahhhh.

Before I made the fobs I mentioned yesterday for the group, I did a couple of trial runs. One is my black, white, and gold/yellow fob in honor of. . .you guessed it. My Stanley Cup Champion Pens! I love it! The other is all sushi--which is by far my favorite food.

Every year a few of the Knitting Crew get together for a trip to mountains for knitting, eating, and general merriment. This year we were all tasked to contribute something to the gift bags. I decided to make scissor fobs. For those who are unfamiliar a scissor fob is hooked onto one of the scissor handles and its length helps you find your scissors in a cluttered bag. I suppose you could also use them as a zipper pull or general decoration as well. Here's what I came up with: I just used a jumble of different glass beads. Each fob has two cupcakes, a piece of sushi(not everyone in the Crew likes sushi but I do), a knitting element(yarn, sweater, or sock), and a drink. They all have a charm on the bottom that says "Love Much, Laugh Often". I had fun making them and they were much easier than I thought. The tutorial can be found here .

Your Power Element is Fire Your power color: red Your energy: hot Your season: spring Like a fire, you are full of power and light. A born leader, you easily draw people toward you. You are full of courage and usually up for anything dangerous. You have a huge ego and love to be the center of attention. What's Your Power Element? I disagree with the last two things but I answered as honestly as I could.

You Should Spend Your Summer at the Beach You're a free spirit who is always thinking of new ways to have fun. And you don't just love summer... you live for it. So, you really should blow off your responsibilities and head to the beach! Where Should You Spend Your Summer?

**clickable thumbnail** I have been plugging along on my HAED "K". I should make a big dent in this page over the weekend.

I went to the midnight showing of Half Blood Prince last night. Currently I'm running on about 3.5 hours of sleep so I apologize for any spelling/grammar errors or rambling :) I LOVED the movie--of course I knew I would. It was definitely worth the wait and price of admission. Excellent acting, lots of laughs, and lots of dark moments as well--exactly what I like to see in a movie. Before the movie, Stacey and I worked on Barn Raising Blanket squares in the Opal Tonks colorway and watched the entertainment--the most notable of which was an epic wand battle which included a guest appearance by Luke Skywalker and his lightsaber--too funny! I got over half of a square done before the movie started. I'll definitely be seeing it again in a week or so. The movies just keep getting better and better.

I love lists; especially top 5 lists. Short and sweet. I found this meme over here and decided to lift it :) Five Things Found in Your Bag/Purse: 1. Wallet 2. Cell 3. Checkbook 4. Tissues 5. Pens Five Favorite things in your room: 1. My overflowing bookshelf 2. Yarn 3. My bed frame 4. My husband(when he's here) 5. My fan(I hate being hot when I sleep) Five Things you have always wanted to do: 1. Learn to ride English. 2. Live at the beach(which I already did). 3. Have a family reunion in Disney World. 4. Write a book. 5. Have a brilliant idea. Five things you are currently into: 1. Weight Training 2. Clean Eating(at least learning about it--putting it into practice is difficult). 3. Self Improvement 4. Reading 5. Crafts

Getting ready for the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince premier tomorrow at midnight--must try and get to bed early tonight. Also getting ready to head up to the mountains with some friends later in the week--which is very labor intensive from here. Leaving DH home with the kiddos for any amount of time requires quite a bit of prep work. I'm not saying he can't handle it; I'm just saying I try to make it as easy as possible ;)

Today DH and I have been married for 11 years. There have been ups, downs, and challenges but we have persevered and grown together. Today is actually THE day we got married. We got married on a Sunday at Turtle Bay in Kahuku, Hawaii. You know the movie, Forgetting Sarah Marshall ? We actually stayed in one of those beachfront cabanas after our wedding--the view was great and the room was HUGE. This year we are looking into getting a Hawaiian quilt for our bed in our wedding colors--navy and white. I love you, honey!

Urge to shop :) I just keep repeating to myself, "I do not need another chart, I do not need another WIP, I can wait until the next sale, etc." A Confabulation of Dragons Darkling Natures Embrace The Tangle Fairy In Cathedrals of the Forest But I like them so much. . . Maybe just one ;)

Cardio or weights? Group athletics or individual? I think it is interesting how people gravitate towards different things. I have always been fond of cardio and weights and I embrace the thrill of pushing myself further and further with each workout. My DH is the opposite he enjoys group athletics and likes having a team to push him further. I always wonder about where everyone falls on this scale.

I don't know about anyone else but one of my biggest fitness/eating issues is motivation--mostly maintaining it. Eating I'm still working on but I have been using something over the last year that has helped me with my fitness motivation. I have been following the Eowyn Challenge . Last year I finished my trek from Hobbiton to Rivendell and very soon I will finish my trek from Rivendell to Lothlorien --I'm on mile 400 right now. Very soon I'll begin my trek from Lothlorien to Rauros which is 389 miles. I basically count a mile as 20 minutes of moderate to hard exercise since I don't really run(I tried it; it didn't take). The Eowyn Challenge site is really fascinating; I cannot believe how much effort went into figuring it all out. It's really inspiring. Of course, if Lord of the Rings isn't your thing, you could always figure out mileage to a favorite destination or a dream trip around the world. I use Tickerfactory to chart my progress and it really...

Before: After(a couple of days of stitching since the last pic): **clickable thumbnails** I have been trying to meet my goal of putting in 1000 stitches per week on one of my HAED pieces and already I am a little bit behind but nothing I can't catch up on.

You Are Crimson Red Down to earth and warm-hearted, you instantly make everyone feel at ease around you. And while you have an understated passion - you lack the uncontrolled passion of most other reds. You prefer to sit back and enjoy every situation life has to offer. You put an optimistic spin on everything. And even when things are going well, you don't get too amped up. You prefer to keep your emotions as steady as possible. What Color Red Are You?

I started(actually restarted for the fourth time)a pair of socks over the weekend. I had been wanting to try making a pair of socks using the Fibonacci stripe method and I thought doing a pair in Pens colors would be perfect. So my dilemma has been whether or not I need to cut the yarn between the bigger stripes--hence the multiple restarts. I finally ended up with cutting the yarn before each repeat of eight(I'm doing stripes in the following order: 2, 3, 5, 8, 1) and even spreading it out that much is going to leave a boatload of ends to weave in so this will probably be my first and last pair of Fibonacci striped socks ;) I thought about doing jogless stripes and then decided I didn't feel like adding that into the mix. Now that I have a pattern down, it makes nice mindless knitting.

I have two main goals for this month: 1. To exercise 4-6 times per week. 2. Put 1000 stitches per week into my TT "K". I've been having exercise issues lately so I'm trying to get that routine locked down again--I didn't bust my butt(literally) to lose all the gains I've made. As for the stitching, I think if I don't actually block out time for it then it will not get done.

Enjoy the day!

It's taken me over a year to get a fitness routine that I can maintain on a consistent basis. I try to workout 5-6 days per week for at least 60 minutes each time. Here's a typical breakdown: **3 days weights **2 days cardio **1 day stretch/yoga On some weight days I'll add an extra hour of cardio. I also try to include walks with the family and swimming with the kiddos--neither of which I consider exercise for me(too easy). I use P90X for a majority of my weight work and Cathe for a majority of my cardio. It seems to be working for me and I'm loving the results.

On weekdays during the summer we have a pretty predictable schedule here at Casa KiP. I learned a long time ago that when Diva and Rage don't have a schedule things tend to run amok so I set up a summer routine that keeps them on schedule which makes getting them back into school in the Fall a little easier. Mornings: **wake up **eat breakfast **watch shows(as Rage likes to say) **Mommy cleans, wastes time online or on the phone with family, or a combination of those things. Afternoons: **lunch **school: Diva and Rage work from the Summer Bridge Books and read or get read to for 30 minutes(this process can take anywhere from 1-2 hours depending on their attitudes. **errands and/or special trips(like the pool, the zoo, a playdate) **no TV/Computer/or Wii for ANYONE between lunch and dinner--sometimes that's a blessing and a curse **more cleaning, craft time, or a combo for me Evenings: **dinner **still more cleaning--it never ends **go for a walk(when our weather cooperates) **w...

One of my Challenges this year was to blog every month for three months. I've already done January and March and I loved the theme for July, so I decided to jump in. In the dictionary : Main Entry: rou·tine Pronunciation: \rü-ˈtēn\ Function: noun Etymology: French, from Middle French, from route traveled way Date: 1676 1 a: a regular course of procedure b: habitual or mechanical performance of an established procedure 2: a reiterated speech or formula 3: a worked-out part that may be often repeated; especially : a theatrical number 4: a sequence of computer instructions for performing a particular task Main Entry: rou·tine Function: adjective Date: 1817 1 : of a commonplace or repetitious character : ordinary 2 : of, relating to, or being in accordance with established procedure — rou·tine·ly adverb In the thesaurus : Entry Word: routine Function: noun Text: 1 an established and often automatic or monotonous series of actions followed when engaging in some activity Synonyms...

Check out the Heaven and Earth Designs Freebies for a Fairy Day chart.

now that the Playoffs and Finals are over. It was very difficult for me to knit during Pens games--I get more than a little distracted while I'm cheering on my boys. I've turned the heel on this Rick sock(from Sock Innovation by Cookie A) and I'm surprised and pleased with how this colorway is knitting up. I really wasn't sure how the colors in this yarn would work with this pattern considering that most of the time variegation tends to eat up any pattern but so far so good. I really like the pattern too; honestly, I like just about all the patterns in that book(even with all the errata). It may be the only knitting book where I actually knit every pattern in it.

THEY DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE PENS WON THE CUP! A very bright spot in an otherwise crappy day. I was actually out with the Knitting Crew at the time but it didn't stop me from celebrating even though I was in the middle of a restaurant(they had the game on at the bar and I kept checking updates on my cell). I got home, watched the game, and follow up celebratory stuff--thank you DVR--and, of course, ordered my T-shirt. And the Detroit fans were such good sports--booing and all. Ah, victory is sweet. Isn't that right, my knitting friend/Wings fan who left this lovely comment a while back: 1) yes, I certainly hope it is a rematch of last years championship. I liked the end result. GO WINGS! LETS GO PENS! And thanks to everyone in the Lets Go Pens! group on Ravelry --sharing all this with you made the win even better! Enjoy the off season(I KNOW I will!) :)

Every year I dread the yellow part of Project Spectrum. I am not a yellow person--too bright, too sunny. So as I searched through my photo archives I came across this: Some lovely yellow roses I got a while back. I actually do have a knitting project I want to do that uses yellow yarn but I can't start it until after Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. Let's GO PENS!

On April 20, 2009 I started a rotation of P90X Classic. The biggest difference between this rotation and the Lean rotation is that there are more weight lifting days than cardio days. Now I was "supposed" to finish Phase 1 on May 17, but I actually only ended up doing about two weeks of Phase 1--one of which being the Recovery week. Life really got in the way. I decided to soldier on with this rotation and I started Phase 2 on May 25--I will tack Phase 1 onto the end of the program. So I suppose this isn't a "pure" Classic rotation but it's the way I'm going to do it. I just love the challenge and I have aspirations of doing the Doubles rotation this Fall. I will only be posting about this at the end of each Phase. It is summer break and the kiddos and I will be too busy for computer time :)

1. Congratulations to my Pittsburgh Penguins for winning the Eastern Conference Championship. Now it's time to take care of the Red Wings! It's a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup final and it's going to be something to watch. 2. Diva "graduated" from 3rd grade yesterday and wanted to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I had never been there before and, oh boy, was it good. She also got a Build a Bear Lab. 3. They are now both off for the summer and I have no idea how I'm going to keep them busy over the next 2.5 months while still allowing myself some "mommy" time.

Today was a big day here at Casa KiP. Rage graduated from Kindergarten. His school makes a very big production out of graduation. Each child gets a diploma and gets to tell the world what they want to be when they grow up. A few years ago when Diva graduated she said she wanted to be a "hair cutter"--she apparently couldn't remember the word "stylist" under pressure. Here's how Rage's went: Teacher : Congratulations Rage. What do you want to be when you grow up? Rage (without any hesitation): I want to be a Star Wars Wii Fighter. This was met with cheers and laughs from the audience. He was the first to choose such an interesting profession but by no means the last. His choice opened the door to many other unique professions like: a building(not a build-er but the actual structure), lots of Power Rangers, Transformers, and even a few Legos. Congrats on your Graduation Rage, May the Force Be With You! **Honestly, I was thrilled with his choice. I fully e...

Since I finished my Kai-Mei socks, I need something else to keep my fingers busy during my Pens games. I started another pair of socks from the Sock Innovation book. Originally I was going to use Mini Mochi yarn BUT it was not working out at all. The yarn is too fuzzy and loosely spun to work for socks like these. So I pulled out some Red Rocks Fiberworks yarn and now I'm in business. I wasn't sure about the pattern showing up with this yarn but I like the way it's knitting up. Stats: Pattern: Rick, Sock Innovation Needles: size 2 dpns Yarn: Red Rocks Fiberworks

I finished some socks that I've been working on during the hockey playoffs. They are from Cookie A's book and I love the way they turned out. Stats: Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug(Blue Parrot) Needles: size 2 dpns Pattern: Kai-Mei(Cookie A) I made the leg 5.5 inches long which is about an inch shorter than the pattern required and I'm glad I did or I would have run out of yarn. I loved the way the pattern worked; it was fun to try something different.

Here are the answers to the meme in this post . 1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban--JK Rowling 2. So Many Books, So Little Time--Sara Nelson 3. Casts Off--Stephanie Pearl-McPhee 4. Blue Moon--Laurell K. Hamilton 5. Dance with the Devil--Sherrilyn Kenyon 6. Lover Avenged--JR Ward 7. Lover Awakened--JR Ward 8. The Dream-Hunter--Sherrilyn Kenyon 9. The Gentle Art of Domesticity--Jane Brocket 10. No Plot? No Problem--Chris Baty

I haven't done a meme in a while and I came across this one( here ), so here we go. First Lines Meme The rules: 1. Pick 10 of your favorite books 2. Post the first sentence of each book. (If one sentence seems too short, post two or three!) 3. Let everyone try to guess the titles and authors of your books! ========================================================================== **Let me preface this by saying these are favorites in no particular order and, in all honesty, my favorite books change a lot--so I guess this would be more of "my 10 favorites as I write this" kind of thing ;) 1. "Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways." 2. "Call me Insomniac." It's three A.M. and as usual, I'm awake, wandering around my New York apartment." 3. "Even if you don't care to travel, if you're a knitter, you're on a journey to an amazing land." 4. "I was dreaming of cool flesh and sheets the color of fresh blood...

At least for as long as I can find the time(which probably means until the kids get out of school for the summer). My "K" is coming along nicely. Before: After: **pictures are clickable thumbnails**

I have been working on a pair of socks while I have been watching the Pittsburgh Penguins play in the NHL playoffs. The Pens are ahead in their series 3-1 and they only need to win one more game to make it through the first round(they have 3 games left to do that) and I have finished one sock and have one to go as well :) I really love how this sock doesn't start the lace pattern until after you turn the heel. I think the whole design of it is inspired although I will admit that it required me to let go of my traditional sock knitting tendencies and just follow the pattern. It gets very interesting after you turn the heel. Oh, it's the Kai-Mei sock from Cookie A's new book.

So, I have been working on the Kai-Mei socks from Cookie A's new book, Sock Innovation, and I just happened to come across the errata page for this book. All 9 pages of it. There are only 15 patterns in the book. Now I understand that mistakes can be, and are, made during the publishing process but how is it that a book gets released and at about the same time pages of errata are released. Are you rushing to get the book into print, mistakes be damned? How can you ask people to spend money on your product when it is riddled with errors? In all honesty I'd rather have a book take longer to get published if it meant that patterns where checked and rechecked. I'm just curious how their editing process works over at Interweave. It's not like they don't have people over there who knit. It is frustrating, that's all I'm saying. In case you were wondering, it hasn't messed up my sock because all the errata for that specific pattern are for the left sock and I...

I joined a SAL to help me continue making progress on my HAED pieces. The HAED BB wasn't doing a yearly SAL Challenge like they usually do, at least not that I saw, so when I saw this SAL it was perfect(and if your interested you should go check out the above link--I think the SAL is full but looking at everyone's WIPs is really inspiring). They do a SAL every Thursday and I'm jumping in this week by focusing on my TT "K" . Before: **clickable thumbnail** After:

The hockey playoffs are upon us and I need something do keep my hands busy while I'm watching my Pens play so I started this: Kai-Mei sock from Cookie A's new book. I love the construction of this and I can't wait to see how it turns out. Pens won last night and it was my favorite kind of win--they took the lead and kept it the whole time. Lets Go Pens!!!!!!!!

The mystery project is coming along nicely and now it should be a little more obvious what it is: It's a Funky Monkey from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.

My knitting crew gave me a gift certificate to Colorful Yarns for my birthday in February and I used it towards this: 10 skeins of Dream in Color Classy in Black Parade destined to become Cassidy .

Happy Dance time :) I finished Provence Sampler yesterday. It will be a while before I get it framed and I'm very nervous about how it will wash up. Stats: Fabric: 18 count cream wool Stitched: 1 over 2 Thread: Caron Watercolours in Flame Pattern: Provence Sampler--Told in a Garden

1. Diva's Fingerless gloves 2. 2.5 Barn Raising squares(pictured one in my leftover Clapotis yarn and one in my Three Irish Girls yarn which also doubles as a project towards Project Spectrum 4).