Last Minute Christmas Knitting

So I am sitting here trying to knit some last minute dishcloths.  I am making a set of four each for two girls who bought me a case of Watermelon bubble gum. There are 5 pieces in each pack with a total of 18 packs in the case so I have lots of chewing to do.  I was so surprised and pleased with the gift, that I wanted to do something special for them.  For me, nothing is better than something hand knit.  The only downside is that it can be pricey which at the moment is a big issue for me.  Fortunately, I have a surplus of cotton yarn so that made the idea of dishcloths an easy one to make.  I found a free pattern of four on Ravelry.  I am knitting one group in a peach palate and one in a blue palate.  Otherwise they are identical so they don't fight over them.  The first three are awesome and knit up really well.  The fourth is a dewdrop pattern that just looks dreadful so I frogged that one and am getting ready to search for a final one to add.  I just have to try to find one that is about the same size so they all go together.

In other news, my brother is in town.  That isn't always the best news, but so far things are going pretty smoothly.  Last night we went to dinner at La Parilla Suiza then went to check out the lights at Winterhaven.  After words we got dessert at Pastiche and just spent some time telling jokes and relaxing.  Something is different about my brother, which I am liking, but I still can't figure out exactly what it is.  Tomorrow is going to be a day at home with a HoneyBaked Ham (I scrimped and saved for this luxury LOL) and then Wednesday my family will get together for an evening of cookies and hot chocolate.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and hopefully I can post again before the New Year.

Eileen
Purlingkitty

I am finally back

Hello to anyone who may still read this blog.  I know I have been gone for over 2 years, but I had good reason.  First, I decided to go back to school.  I just finished my last class on Wednesday and now have my associates degree in Psychology!!!  I am taking next semester off and hope to start at the University of Arizona in the fall.  Also, as my last post alluded, I have had some rather interesting health issues.  I seem to have most of them under control now.  Plus I had gotten a promotion at work so I was in training and was working an insane amount of hours.  Unfortunately, my hard work at American was for naught.  They decided to close our office and I got laid off in August.  All of this was a time suck and left me with zero time to knit and zero time to blog.

Well, I have missed both blogging and knitting so I have decided that I need to make time for the things in my life that make me happy.  The only thing I have attempted to knit in the past 2 years was my first Fair Isle project which was socks for my astronomy professor.  His name is Dr. Croft.  He is the most amazing person and a phenomenal teacher.  The socks have the moon (in phases) and sun and stars on them.  Here is the Ravelry link http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sun--moon-socks    They are super awesome.  The only problem is my first sock is way too tight.  I cant even get my hand from the cuff down to the heel.  This means that I will have to unravel the entire sock and make it again.  But I have periodically been working on the second sock (10 rows or so every six months LOL) and it seems to be much better. Currently I am in the process of getting all the knots out of my yarn.  I've been doing that for 2.5 days now, but I am almost done. I will post pics shortly.  Once I get the mess cleaned up I am going to knit for my best friend because she has been such a motivation and inspiration to me.  Love you Jessie!!

This blog is still going to be mostly about knitting but will also touch on issues in my life as they come up.  I am really glad to be back in the swing of things and hope to be able to write at least once a week. Thanks for reading this and stay tuned for 2013.  It is going to be an interesting year for sure!

Eileen aka Purlingkitty

Sick

Unfortunately I am struggling with an asthma issue which makes me very tired and sluggish. I'm sorry I have not posted in a while. I promise to post as soon as I am healthy again. Thanks for your patience.

Eileen

Not much to report

Well, this week has been eventful. My cat had surgery to remove some bladder stones. I had my Pampered Chef party, where I was able to get my Magic Pot. I will post pictures as soon as I get it, and you'll probably hear about it a lot. I also worked. In spite of all of this I was able to get another repeat and and half done on my blanket as well. Now I'm just tired and need to recuperate from my days off LOL.

Eileen

Time for a change.

So as you can see I have embraced my love of orange and applied it to my site. It's pretty cool if I don't say so myself. I also have developed a new use for my size 7 dpn. It is my new hair stick. It has been so muggy here that I have done nothing to my hair for the last 2 weeks, b/c honestly what's the point? By the time I get from my front door to my truck I already have a gallon of sweat pouring down my head. It's ridiculous. So in lieu of shaving my head (which no one wants to see trust me!) I am rocking a messy librarian bun with a stick that you can see a 1/4"-1/2" of sticking out of either side of my head. Honestly though I can't care because as long as it is not on my neck I'm a happy camper. Summer for me is about comfort not fashion LOL.

This week I have also really learned when to step away from negativity. I have a friend who only wanted to complain and complain about everything, but especially about his job the last several days. (We work for the same company, but have different jobs.) He was so bitter that he kept wishing that our company would go under. That pissed me off because I like my job and it was just such a mean thing to say. However, nothing I said could humor him so I finally told him that even Eeyore would have moved on to another thistle patch by now, so he was not allowed to contact me again until he had something positive to bring to my world. We all have woe-is-me days, but I can't get bogged down in his drama. It was really hard to say but I couldn't let him drag me down, so I didn't and I am proud of myself. Go me!!!!


In knitting news I am still going strong on my blanket. I have a couple other projects in mind for a few special people but we'll have to see how it goes. They are still earning their privileges so.....

Well, I guess that is enough for now so I'm going to get back to my knitting :)

TTFN, (since I'm in a Winnie the Pooh frame of mind :P)

Eileen

Progress....it feels good

So I have been doing pretty well with this knitting thing. I have done 3 repeats (16 rows per repeat). I was right about the temp though. It is wicked (Boston shout out LOL) hot here and having wool laying on my legs is no where near the vicinity of fun. However, you do what you have to do in the name of the serenity I get from the simple art of two stick making yarn turn into something beautiful. I love this blanket and every time I look at it I am proud. This is going to be a long haul though. There are 24 repeats of this pattern and I have 12 done. That is just for one side, then I have to make an almost identical piece for the other side, then I have the middle and some borders. But if I keep trudging I'll get there. I just have to have "faith the faith the faith ahhhh." :)

Eileen

A project has been chosen

So, I guess writing yesterday about just how much I miss knitting, really got to me. I have pulled out my Burridge Lake Aran Blanket and am going to see if I can figure out where I left off and continue on the journey. I am quite excited to start this again, and yet I am nervous all at the same time. This blanket is a gift to myself. The only other things I have knit for myself are 2 pairs of socks and a neck warmer. Everything else that has ever come off my needles has been for others. It is so hit so knitting with wool is going to be uncomfortable but I deserve to do something for myself so I will endure. Here's hoping I can keep my tension the way it was back in 2008 when I started the darned thing. I don't think I knit a single stitch of it in 2009. Updates to come!!!!

Eileen
AKA Purling Kitty