Knitter in Progress

Tis Black Bess Cash here to regale you with tales from the pirate wench needles. Between me wenching and thieving I try to find the time to partake of this most glorious and honorable hobby you lubbers call knitting. Tis a banner day here as a new project has boarded the needles. Dyed with the blood of bilge rats who have crossed me, I am one repeat of eight into this epic quest. Going against me usual weapons of choice, I chose the large and threatening size 11 needle--smaller by a hair than me broad sword. Whether you be a jolly pirate or one who sails on the dark side, join the pirate revolution and partake in International Talk like a Pirate Day . Take me personal recommendation and peruse the New and Improved Pirate pick up lines .

This past weekend was the HAED SAL Challenge weekend and here's what I got accomplished. It's great to be hitting the bottom of the piece--it makes goal setting easier--get to the end of a column and I'm done :) Busy, busy as usual. I don't know when all the craziness here is going to let up. Happy knitting and stitching!

I feel like I should post something but honestly there just isn't a lot of "blog worthy" stuff going on here at Casa KiP. I'm fully enveloped in the getting back into the groove of kiddos in school--you know fighting about homework, fighting about getting up in the morning, fighting about when to go to bed at night. Plus, Little Diva has decided to get into some activities at school--which hurray for her, I'm so proud BUT at the same time boo for me who has to tote her everywhere. Also, fall has descended upon Colorado with a big thud and we have to replenish the kiddos closets with fall worthy items. Normally this isn't a problem but this year Diva has become VERY hands on as far as what she wants in her closet which means that mommy's clothes buying days are pretty much over(at least for Diva--Rage doesn't care what I get him, but boys are really boring to dress). Then there is the age old struggle I have with what to do with my limited free time. Do...

August Goals: Knitting: **no new cast ons-- DONE--I finished 1 Barn Raising Square and 1/2 a sock. Stitching: **QS Swimming with Dolphins(SAL weekend 8-11)-- DONE **Provence Sampler(SAL weekend 15-18)--not done, kept working on the above QS and consequently eliminated myself from the HAEDless SAL. **TT K (2 QS Wednesdays)--not done, see above Reading: **finish 2 books-- D.O.N.E. I read: Breaking Dawn(Meyer) Acheron(Kenyon) Lover Awakened(Ward) Lover Eternal(Ward) Lover Revealed(Ward) Eat-Clean Diet(Reno) Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook(Reno)--very little actual reading here Eat-Clean Diet for Family and Kids(Reno) Lover Unbound(Ward) Other: **workout for 1800 minutes-- 1396/1800--I need to pick up the pace if I intend to meet my goal of 3600 minutes total by the end of September. **lose 5 pounds-- lost 3 September Goals: Knitting: **finish 4 squares **finish a pair of socks **start some gifty knitting Stitching: **QS Swimming with Dolphins for the HAED SAL Challenge weekend Reading: **finish ...

I have decided to challenge myself during the Olympics. I believe that knitting is a winter sport and the Knitting Olympics is the Harlot's domain. So I've decided that the summer Olympics, for me at least, are all about stitching. Starting with Opening Ceremonies tonight and going through Closing Ceremonies I am going to get 300 stitches in per day on QS Swimming with Dolphins. Wish me luck because in addition to all of the this stitching, we have the madness of "back-to-school" next week. Before(8Aug08): After: 25Aug08: Olympic Update. Well, my Olympic stitching was a bust. I'm like one of those countries with like two athletes neither of which have a chance to medal they're just happy to be there. I got 1201 stitches done over the course of the games. It sounds good but in order to have reached my Olympic Gold I would have needed 4800. So I didn't make it to the podium--frankly with such a poor showing I can't even see the podium ;) I did read 4 boo...

Here's the monthly update on the Barn Raising front. This is the big picture(so to speak). All the squares I've made to date stacked up. This picture is a little dark but these are the squares I knit for Diva and I this month. **clockwise from top: STR Sherbet(Diva), Cherry Tree Hill(me), Skully square/STR Rook-y(me, because I made all mine to trade and didn't have one left for me), and RRFW Burning Rubber(me). These are squares I got from Stacey and Wanda in exchange for a couple of Skullys(now I just need one from Miss Cynthia and I'll be all set--no hurry though). Finally, these are squares for Stacey's Dad. **clockwise from top: STR Ruby Slippers, STR Jasper, Great Adirondack in Cranberry Bog, and Opal. I will not get as much done in August because school starts and I have some stitching and socks I want to work on :)

July Goals: Knitting-- **no new cast ons--finish stuff already on the needles-- DONE, no new cast ons. ** I finished 6 Barn Raising Squares this month Stitching-- **QS Swimming with Dolphins(SAL weekend 11-14)-- DONE **Provence Sampler(HAEDless SAL weekend 18-24)-- skipped this month as my sis was in town. Reading-- **finish one book-- DONE, read Dark Lover by JR Ward August Goals: Knitting: **no new cast ons Stitching: **QS Swimming with Dolphins(SAL weekend 8-11) **Provence Sampler(SAL weekend 15-18) **TT K (2 QS Wednesdays) Reading: **finish 2 books Other: **workout for 1800 minutes **lose 5 pounds