Break Time

Good Afternoon Knitters,

I never knew knitting could be so taxing on oneself! My wonderful Mother took notice, and set up a canteen station for refueling. Doesn't it look like a lovely selection? It took me a while to make up mind, but I decided on a nice mug of gourmet maple hot chocolate :-)




I didn't know if I could pull myself away from the sock knitting long enough to have a snack, but then I thought how a nice little sugar rush would help with the knitting speed.

The mitten cookie looks extra delicious!!

Yum! What a nice snack! Anyone want to join me for a break??

Knit One, Purl Two!!

Emmie says "Come on, you can do it!!"

The animals would like to give you all a little team support! If you're lacking in some cheer, they are here for you!

Cassie says "Never give up!! You're a star, you're a winner!!!"

Mittens says "I'll do the napping for you, you just keep on knitting."

"Knit one, purl two, Itty Bitty Knittys, Whoo Hooo"

Monday Morning

Marley Hat - finished a couple of days ago.

Hello Knitters!

How was everyone's weekend. Do you realize we have passed the half-way mark for the Ravelympics already?? The time seems to be flying by! I think this week calls for some serious knitting time. I got a couple of Itty Bitty hats done on the weekend, so now I basically only have to focus on the socks and the elefante this week. I'm making myself (at least for now) finish these projects before I start anything else. If I can get them done with time to spare, then I will think about casting on for something else. I seem to be getting distracted from my intended projects with all these other cute ones that keep coming my way.


Like I said, this past weekend was more productive for me. On Saturday I went with my Mom, Sister, and my future brother-in-law to a bridal expo a couple of hours away from here, so I got a good amount of knitting time while in the car. I finished a Ribbons hat and almost a Bunny Tail hat in that time. I spent Sunday working on the last few bits of the Bunny Tail and then turned the heels of my socks, and started the gusset decreases. I'm not sure how this week is looking for having much knitting time, but I have a feeling I'm going to have to sneak it in as much as possible!

Well, I'm off to the city for an appointment with a decorator. I hope everyone is making good progress on their projects! Have a wonderful week everyone!

Happy Knitting!

Just Keep Knitting, Just Keep Knitting...

Good Morning Everyone!

I'm sitting here typing with a very tired puppy napping on my lap. She went to the groomers yesterday and is now wore out! I was trying to do some work on my socks, but she gets upset when the yarn hits her in the head...which always seems to happen. So I thought I'd write you all a little update while she's sleeping.

I got another repeat of the heart cable pattern done yesterday on the socks, which means I now only have one more repeat and then I can work and turn the heel and begin on the foot part. I'm very excited about that! I can hardly wait to turn the heel! :-) It always seems like you're getting somewhere after that.

Tonight is the men's snowboard halfpipe competition, so I thought while watching that I'm going to begin my Marley hat - since it is in the hat-halfpipe event - I thought it was fitting.

Yesterday I made 8 loaves of white bread, since we were out. This was my first time making it without the help of my Mom, since she had to take Emmie to the groomer. I started out nice and early, and got as far as where I had 10 cups of flour mixed in and was just letting it rest before I kneaded it. While waiting, I thought I should say a quick prayer that it turned out good, and while doing so, I remembered that I forgot to add the oil. It was almost like the Lord was like, 'You forgot something'! So I ended up having to throw away the entire batch and start again! I ran out of regular flour, but I did have some bread flour on hand and used that for the last little bit of the kneading. But I had another problem on my hands. I had put the dough from the first batch into a garbage bag, and because of the yeast in it, the bag kept growing and growing, and I would punch it down and it would grow again...it was just not good! Finally I moved the bag from the kitchen to the garage and haven't looked at it since...hopefully it doesn't blow up or something! That would be quite a mess!! The second batch turned out good though, so all is well.

Tonight my Mom is going to a bridal expo with my sister and her fiance, so I'm in charge of making dinner for Dad. I haven't come up with any ideas yet, but lets hope and pray I have better luck with it!!

I'm off to work on the socks for a bit. Have a great day everyone!!

Happy Knitting!!!

P.S. This week - February 15-21 is Random Acts of Kindness Week. What a perfect time to show people how much you care. :-)

Bluebird of Happiness

Good Morning Knitters,

How did everyone's first weekend of the Ravelympics go? Mine went quite well. I got three finished projects under my belt, and even got two of the four repeats of cable pattern done on my socks. I had been so focused on getting things ready for the Ravelympics, that I almost forgot it was Valentine's Day! So Sunday morning I quickly searched out some patterns and whipped up some gifts for my Mom and sister. Dad was easy, he just wanted a raspberry pie! I made Marisol mouse for my sister, and Bluebird for my Mom and I also made them each a Heart from Mochimochi Land. It was nice to take a break from the socks and do some quick, easy knitting.

This is the mouse, I thought it looked so cute...almost like a world traveller!

On Sunday, Mom and my sister were back to their cheering for Team Itty Bitty Knittys. Since skiing was part of the competitions for the day, they thought they would hop on their skis in support and do a little cheering.

They are again wearing sweaters made by my Grandma.

Skiing seems to come naturally...must be the Finnish and Norwegian in us!

Go Team, GO!!!

They are great supporters and seem to be having a blast cheering us on! I love seeing what new thing they've come up with each day. They help keep me in a good mood when the knitting starts getting tough...I hope they do the same for all of you!

Happy Knitting!!

Ravelympics 2010 Begins!!!

Hello Knitters,

How was everyone's Ravelympics opening ceremony cast-on last night? Mine was great! I started my Be Mine Socks. So far, it's going well, although I'm finding it a lot slower and more tedious than if I was knitting on dpn's. I think it's going to take me a bit to get used to the two-at-a-time method. However, it will be nice to have both done at the same time!

Since I'm the only knitter participating in the Ravelympics at my house, I cast-on by myself...I did watch the ceremonies with my Mom and sister though, which was nice. I must say, way to go Canada!! I think we did a great job!! It made me proud to be a Canadian, and I will honestly admit, I even shed a tear or two. But anyways, this morning I was explaining to my Mom about the cast-on parties other knitters had and she thought since I didn't have any knitting buddies, I should at least have some very enthusiastic cheerleaders. So she and my sister came up with the idea of making signs for the Itty Bitty Knittys group to help cheer us on.




They thought it only appropriate to don their Nordic ski sweaters, hats, and mittens (made by my amazing knitter Grandma...she's Finnish) and climb the biggest snowbank in our yard (to look like they were on the mountain) and do some cheering. "Whooo Hooo!!!"

Then, they came up with the idea of running with the torch to light the cauldron (my Mom has always wanted to run with the torch, it's been a lifelong dream of hers, so this was the next best thing!!). Here they are running down the lane, passing the torch.

Here comes Mom!!!

Now it's my sister's turn.

Then they got the bright idea of having two torches like in the real Olympics so they could light the cauldron in unison. (by the way, the torches are made from construction paper cut to look like flames which are taped to US 19 wooden knitting needles...keeping in the spirit of the games.)

We like fire in our family, so they thought it was a good idea to actually light their paper flames on fire and light the cauldron (which is our outdoor stove).

So as you can see, it's been a very eventful and creative day here today. I can't wait to see what they have planned for tomorrow! All you Itty Bitty Knittys out there, know you have two very excited supporters here cheering us all on!!

"Whoot Whoot"

One Down, One to Go

Hello Knitters,

As you can see, I finished the sock!! Yay!! It turned out much better than I thought, and yes, it does actually fit. I think it will soften up a bit more after its washed and blocked, making it fit even better. I've already started on the second one, even though I don't really look forward to all the cables...I find they take me so much longer to do. However, I did learn how to cable forward without a cable needle. Cabling backwards is a bit too hard for me without the needle still...I drop the stitches, and then that takes up more time going back to pick them up. I'm hoping that the second one will go quicker because I now am familiar with the pattern....we will see.

As I said the other day, I was planning on going to pick up my yarn for the Ravelympics today, but this morning my little Yorkie is sick, so I have to postpone the trip till tomorrow. We're not sure if she got into something, or if it's from stress. She was scheduled to get her teeth cleaned tomorrow, but that will now have to be rescheduled as well. I have no problem with staying home today though. It's a beautiful sunny day outside, and I have a lot of cleaning I need to do around here, and the sooner the better. I want to get everything done and in order before the Ravelympics start so that I can have more undivided knitting time!

Well, that's all for today, I need to get to that cleaning! I'll leave you with a photo of Emmie practicing doing the conga line for the wedding reception :-)

Have a great day!