sheep in the city

Knitting, knitting, knitting...

That's what I intended to do this weekend...and did I? Oh yeah! I finished a couple of projects that NEEDed to be done. I feel like a burden has been lifted! The weekend of knitting started with my knitting group that meets twice a month on Friday nights. We met for the first time at LaTiDa, a knit/coffee shop. We had a great time, as usual...the best part to me was watching and listening to the table of male knitters.

Thanks Ross, Drew, and Andy for hanging with the girls!!

Saturday, I had a couple things to do, but for the most part I was knitting and watching TiVo all afternoon...two of my favorite things! I recently saw a cool idea on a blog (sorry I can't remember who's), they had a list in their sidebar of all the shows that were on their ToDo list on their TiVo. By the way, I'm thinking that I don't know what I did before TiVo...it's the greatest invention and has revolutionized the way I watch TV;-) That's my little soapbox! tee hee!

Sunday was great too...I taught Sunday school, went to church...have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE my church? Well I do! One of my friends from church couldn't make it on friday night to knit, so we went out after and lo and behold...there is now one more knitter in Denver, Colorado! Congratulations Amanda, you were a great student! And that's my weekend in a nutshell...I feel good about the things I accomplished. By the way, thank you to everyone who left me an encouraging comment, or sent me an email about getting remotivated to knit on overdue projects...I took many of your suggestions to heart! Thanks for speaking those words to me.

Monday, I came home from work to find a fun surprise in my mailbox. Could it be an RAOK...I think so!! (by now the regulars should know how much I love mail;-) I continue to be amazed by the kindness of others...here's what Lynne sent me...did I mention that those are my FAVORITE colors!! Good job picking out the yarn!

Take a peek at what's in the box...ooh, la, la!
It's enough yarn to make a ScrapBag by Bags by Mags. What a cute idea! Who doesn't have a ton of those little balls of leftover yarn?! I know I have a basket full...I'm seeing a few of these bags knitted up for quick Christmas gifts;-) Thank you, thank you, thank you Lynne!! You are the best and have been a huge encouragement to me lately!!

I apologize in advance, the blogging may be sporadic for the next few days...on Saturday my baby brother is getting married. He is three years younger than me...and it's hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that he is getting married! His soon-to-be wife, Jackee, is an awesome girl. Ever since she learned to knit, we've known she was a keeper!! Seriously, they are perfect together.

I will be posting pics of my weekend FO's as soon as I get the ends woven in! Should be sometime tomorrow!

I need motivation, Arrggh!

So, do you ever start a project...just to find that halfway through it, you completely lack the motivation to finish it? How about when the project has a deadline? That's where I find myself this morning...I'm not feelin' the knitting love...I haven't really consistently worked on anything this week. Crap. I could blame too much 'Must See TV', but I have knit and watched TV in the past. How do you get the love back? (this is a question folks:) What do you do to get yourself remotivated to finish a project? I know this is a temporary lapse, but dang I have too many projects I want to work on down the road...some of these current projects HAVE to get finished! This weekend I have already planned to leave the house as little as possible, we'll see what happens.

Later that afternoon...

Trying to get out of my knitting funk, I was reading through the diverse and always interesting blogs that are currently being hosted at Pretty Posies (to see a list click here) Have any of you seen what Kay is knitting up over at Mason-Dixon Knitting? WOW! It's called the Psychedelic Squares Afghan, the pattern is FREE, bonus!!! Carrie just finished a really cute poncho using Yarn Harlot's "A Very Harlot Poncho" pattern...again it's free!! Jenn just made some mittens that totally match her blog AND she's co-hosting the Weasley Along! I love seeing what everyone is knitting up!

Oh...and one last thing I found:
Missa has a really cool hat pattern up now that you can either knit or crochet, with a big flower on it. Her cousin saw a hat in a magazine and asked Missa to knit one, so she figured out how to make it just from the picture...she really is a bad ass knitter!.

So much fun stuff!!

Fun thing #1: Let me start by saying that my Secret Pal rocks! I mentioned before that she was sneaky, right? I got a package from Amazon a few days ago and in the return address spot was the name "Lady Secret Pal". This cracks me up! So she sent me this knitting journal that I have been looking at forever! Thanks lady!!! I love it!

Fun thing #2: I was on the hunt for some *gasp everybody* Red Heart yarn for my Hallowig when I spotted these babies!

Have I ever mentioned that I am a sucker for bright colored knitting needles? So most sane people would have picked the color that they liked the most...but who said I was sane...I got one of each! US Size 13,15,17,19,35,and 50! What am I going to make with a size 50?? Who knows...but it was chartruese green and it looked so pretty. My advice to you is, rush out to your nearest WalMart and buy some fun needles.

Fun Thing #3: So...in my many hours of reading blogs lately, I ran across Margene's Flower Basket Shawl. It was love at first "site"(pun intended)...so of course I had to track down the yarn;-) It's American Alpaca 'Glimmer'. It is the softest thing you have ever felt...beautiful light pink in color with tiny flecks of silver thread running through it. Jesse loved it as you can see, I quickly had to put it away before he loved it too much...if you know what I mean.

Look at Glimmer up close and personal, ain't she pretty. We'll see when I can start working on her...for now, it gets put in the stash.

Fun Thing #4: Klaralund update! I haven't been able to work on her as much as I would have liked lately...but here is the the back section, at least what I have done so far. The colors are so brilliant, you have to see it to believe it! This weekend, I plan on finishing the back and starting in on the front. You heard it here ladies and gentlemen...weekend knitting is on the schedule!

Hallowig anyone?

By now everyone has been to see the new Knitty, isn't it fabulous!?! I know you all secretly want to knit that certain fun, over the top project...you were intrigued by the hot pink acrylic yarn, admit it! But you are a confessed yarn snob (according to question #1 on the Secret Pal questionaire) what will people think?

Come on, don't be shy, knit a Hallowig with us! Missa and I are going to co-host this little shindig! Go over to Hallowig Central and check us out. Put down that fancy fair isle, set aside that felted bag, grab that skein of hunting orange that your grandma gave you years ago and knit a wig!! Whoo hoo!! (can you tell I'm extremely excited to be hosting my first knit-a-long?!) I'm going to find the brightest and pinkest yarn tomorrow...I can't wait!

We're going to be knitting along on our wigs until Halloween...those of you who don't have a blog can still join in and post photos on the knit-along site, and we encourage bloggers to put photos there too, so we can all see whats going on all in one place! (great idea Missa!!)

ROAK on!

So I joined the RAOK (Random Acts Of Kindness) webring recently, and man, everyone is so cool! It's awesome and encouraging just to watch knitters from all over giving to others. I want to give a BIG thank you to Carolina, Margene, and Danielle...all who sent me an RAOK in the last week! So encouraging!

The Cedar and Sage cuticle cream is from Margene, the bag of super-fun beads is from Carolina, and Danielle sent me a gift certificate for Adagio Teas where I bought a sampler of the fruit teas! Yummy, it should be here any day!!

So here's why the RAOK ring truly rocks...Tuesday night I was in a hurry and had to fill my car (a 2002 Turbo Diesel Beetle) with gas. I always check and double check to make sure that I put the right kind of fuel in, well...did I mention that I was in a hurry? Did I mention that I stopped at a Sinclair station where the handles are ALL green for some insane reason?! The diesel handles are yellow, I will never forget this now, it's burned into my brain! So I fill my diesel vehicle with unleaded fuel, pay, pull down the block, and lo and behold...my car stops running. Long story short, Triple A to the rescue, car gets hauled off, fixed by 5:00pm the next day, $500.00 later...holy crap! That was an expensive tank of gas! I hate it when I do stupid stuff. Wednesday wasn't much better. I hate it when I get down and can't seem to pull myself out of it. Remember when I was talking about how my weekend was so busy? I'm thinking it wore me out and I need to get more sleep, that's the only thing that I can think of.

Less late night blogging + more sleep = a happier person!

The only reason I'm even talking about this is that I received my RAOK's in the mail on Wednesday...just when I needed them! Thanks you guys...more than you know, you have touched my heart! (i just reread that last line, boy am I cheesey!) Seriously though, thank you, thank you!

OK...do you notice the time that I made this entry? The going to bed earlier, less late night blogging thing...that starts tomorrow I guess!!

My cat loves me!

So a group of my friends and I are making chemo caps, for Kaps for Kendall. Mandy made the smallest size...it's teeny tiny! So when I saw it, the first thing I thought was, "that would fit my cat Jesse". So what do I do? Try it on him of course!! Why is it so funny to me to see my cat in a hat? He looks miserable doesn't he? This lasted about a split second then he ran off...we laughed long after he left...oh, cats are so fun! Who says you can't make knitted clothing for a cat!

Busy = lots of fun?

What a busy weekend! As I was leaving work on Friday, all I could think was, "I'm going to have to go back to work Monday to get any rest." I hate going into a weekend knowing that my schedule is jam packed. In the midst of all the business though, I was able to:
•start my Klaralund (pictures later, I promise!)
•meet the denver area Klaralunders!
•move a sofa and spend time with my dad and eat Dairy Queen (mmm...DQ)
•start painting a mural at my church and make some new friends
•teach 4 people how to knit
•chat with my friend Jeanne, who is so busy, but came to knitting on Friday night!! Thanks Jeanne!!
•get an impromtu crochet lesson...thanks Kathryn!

It's all a matter of perspective I guess...even though I was busy, I was still able to have some good interactions with people, which I love to do. I need to stop my complaining!!

Here are the Denver Klaralund-alongers at LaTiDa on Saturday. Around the picture are Linh, Marsha...not pictured, Michelle, Joanne, Harriet, and Jen.

Knitting updates: I have 3 projects that are on a deadline

1-'Kaps for Kendall' hat...as many as I can knit before November 13!
2-81 Squares of Love...it's late already, where did the time go!?
3-Meathead...which I had to redo because I ran out of yarn, but Jessica sent me some of her leftover "meat", I mean yarn, so that I could finish mine up! Thanks Jessica!!

All other projects, of which there are many, have been put on hold (much to my mother's disappointment because she is the recepient of two of my unfinished projects, oops! Sorry mom!)

Here are some shots of knitting on Friday...men learning to knit! It was awesome! Thanks Ross and Aaron for taking an interest in learning this fun hobby with your wives!! Awwww!

Here's another shot of the other side of our really long knitting table!

And last, but certainly not least is more pictures of my baby niece in the tiny tee-shirt I bought her on vacation at a famous Boston landmark...where everybody knows your name...

...and the back view...

How cute is that!!! I know I am sort of biased...but could she BE any cuter? I think not! This baby is going to be the best dressed kid in town! Her daddy (who is holding her in the picture) is knitting her this sweater from 'Poetry in Stitches'....can you say, too cute!! That's all folks...next entry I will have progress photos on Klaralund!

Ask and you shall receive

My secret pal is sooo sneaky! She left a comment yesterday requesting what DVD's I own, so I went to email her back...and it's a fake email address! Sneaky sneaky...so I will just have to list out my movies here, sorry folks, not much knitting content in this entry!

"I think that you underestimate my sneakiness" Be the first to leave a comment or email me the name of that character and what movie it's from and you'll get something fun from me!

If you want to see my massive list of movies, read further!

Here we go:
•A-America's Sweetheart, The Abyss:SE, Arliington Road, Anne of Green Gables
•B-Beauty and the Beast, Big, Brokedown Palace, Bug's Life, Bone Collector, Bourne Identity, Bridget Jones Diary
•C-Can't Hardly Wait, Denter Stage, Chasing Amy, Count of Monte Cristo, Coyote Ugly
•D-Dirty Dancing, Drowning Mona
•E-Edward Scissorhands, Emporer's New Groove, Enough, Emma, Ever After
•F-Fast and Furious, Forever Young, Finding Nemo
•G-Girl Interrupted, Goonies, Good Will Hunting
•H-High Fidelity, Heathers, Hackers, How to lose a guy in 10 days
•I-ID4, Italian Job
•J- Jack and Sarah
•K- Knight's Tale
•L-Labryinth, Legend, Legends of the Fall, Life or Something Like It, Little Women, Logan's Run, Lord of the Rings:Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers(Special Extended Version-6 disc set)
•M-Mallrats, The Muppet Movie, Monster's Inc., Much Ado About Nothing, My Big Fat Greek Wedding
•N-Notting Hill
•O-Office Space, Overboard
•P/Q-Possesion, Pride and Prejudice, Pretty Woman, Power Puff Girls Movie
•R-Royal Tenenbaums, Remember the Titans, Rushmore
•S-Serendipity, Suicide Kings, Signs, Simply Irresistable, Sleepless in Seattle, Shakespeare in Love, Stand By Me, Say Anything, Secret of Nimh, Shanghi Noon, Spider Man, Save the Last Dance
•T-Throughly Modern Millie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, That Thing You Do, Thelma and Louise, Toy Story 2, Thomas Crown Affair, The Birds, Tomb Raider
•U/V-Usual Suspects, Unbreakable
•W/X/Y/Z-Wedding Singer, Wedding Planner
•#'s- 28 Days, 13 Going on 30

TV Series:
•Buffy the Vampire Slayer-seasons 1,2,3,4,5,6 (only need #7)
•Dawson's Creek-season's 1,2, and the series finale (need 3)
•Felicity-seasons 1,2 (need 3)

OK...so these are the movies that I own on DVD. I have a massive amount on VHS too, but I am slowly trying to replace some of those, especially the classic 80's movies like Pretty in Pink, Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, Can't Buy me Love, etc. Hope this helps, as you can see I am a HUGE movie buff. My latest obsession is tv series on DVD...love it, why didn't they do this sooner? I love sitting down on the weekends and finding my favorite episodes, sure enough I usually end up watching the rest of them from the point I start through the end...it's great and so easy to knit to.

A little of this and that

Was just taking a break and wanted to post here

They posted a few more info questions, so here are my answers:

22. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
•I love cartoons...I'm just a big kid really. I love things that remind me of my childhood, like Strawberry Shortcake (have you seen the updated version? What they have done is a tragedy...I'm old school all the way), Jem, The Power Puff Girls, Rainbow Bright, Pinky and the Brain, Smurfs...I love Smurfs!, Dexter, and the list could go on and on, but I'll stop there!

23. What is your favorite holiday?
•Christmas, definitely Christmas

24. Is there anything that you collect?
•Apart from knitting related items, I collect stuff from Paris or Paris-themed, like miniature metal eiffel towers (preferably older ones, but I have some new ones) I also collect children's books, both new and old. I want to start collecting old Nancy Drew books. Probably the largest collection I have is of baby plates. They are primarily from the early to mid 1900's and are made from heavy china (so that the baby can't move them that much) and have bright pictures and stories on the face of the plate.

International mail call...whoop!

WARNING: Stash Inhancement alert!!

So I got home from work later than usual last night, and on my door was a postcard from the post office saying I had a package from France and it would be held until I came and picked it up! Of course it was too late to go and pick it up! Crap! Sooo, I got up at the crack of dawn, and headed to the post office to mail my secret pal something (hee hee...I feel so sneaky) and pick up my package! Whoo hoo, look at all the pretty pink yarn!

I am a newbie when it comes to Phildar. But...watching Becky knit things up in record time with this lovely yarn has made me curious. Soooo, last time she put some up for grabs, in her stash-o-mat, I snagged it! It wasn't that hard to make the decision since it's my favorite color! Check out the leafy 3/4 length cardigan that she recently knit! Super cute! Now I just need to decide what to knit out of it! Have any of you out there in blog-land ever knit with Phil Ruban, or any Phildar yarn for that matter? Suggestions?!?Becky also included a little bookmark from her hometown in France. What a sweetie!

Big talker

Ok...I always do this...plan on finishing a bunch of projects, and do I? No! So from now on I'm going to just finish them in the quiet of my own home and WOW you with the FO's when they start popping up all over the place!

My weekend retreat with my church was awesome! Relaxing, fun, rejuvenating, rewarding...lots of good stuff. I didn't have as much "free" time as I thought I would, but I did teach 5 ladies how to knit!! Whoo hoo, more knitters! The way people are learning to knit here in Denver, there just might be a yarn shortage:) Wouldn't that be a tragedy...good thing I have enough yarn to keep me in projects until the end of time!

I also was seriously lacking on the taking pictures thing...dang. I'm going to contact one of the other girls who was a picture taking machine and see if she will send me some of us knitting! I'll add it here, just so that you all can see that I did indeed knit this wekend!

I love a long weekend!

Well, I'm packed and ready to go on a three day retreat with my church. I've got all my knitting projects picked out, and I plan to finish a lot of them!

Here's the line-up:
•Colinette Point 5 and Kidsilk Haze shawl-30% done
•Koigu wristlets-75% done
•Afghan Squares-50% done
•Felted Clogs-40% done
•Meathead Hat for Larissa 99.999% done (I knit this hat in about an hour tonight at Starbucks...but I ran out of yarn when I just had the last row, bind off, and seaming left! Arrgghh! Now I need to redo it with a size smaller needle.

All of these projects are sooo close to being done, I am going to have many newly finished projects to talk about when I get back on Monday evening! I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend filled with much knitting! I leave you with a picture of my cat, who loves his new catnip toy bird!

This is what he looked like after playing with it for about 45 minutes...that bird was just sitting on his belly for about 30 minutes!:) So funny to watch my cat getting addicted to catnip! Is that wrong?

Poetry Along

I took a class about a year ago at A Knitted Peace taught by the lovely Joanne Conklin of Keep Talking. This was my first sweater, my first try at Fair Isle, and my first project on needles below size 6! I am a firm believer in jumping in with both feet!! Well...as you can see I haven't progressed as far as I would have liked. The picture below is as far as I got:) I love this sweater though, and the book is a work of art! In my opinion, a must have for knitters to have on their bookshelf or coffee table. You can order or just drool over the kits and books over at Nordic Fiber Arts. Don't say I didn't warn you!

This sweater gets the "thumbs up" from me!

Now, getting back to my point, I was reading through some of the blogs written by Klaralund-alongers (that makes me laugh typing it!) and I found Ginn Fizz. Not only is she knitting Klaralund, she's knitting Salt Peanuts, and the EXACT same Poetry sweater as me too! Wow, something tells me we might get along! She has recently started a Poetry Along in the hopes that we can all support each other with this big project. We're kickin' off on Oct.25th, come and join us! The only "rules" are that the sweater be from the book "Poetry in Stitches", you knit at your own pace (there is no end date, although many of us are aiming for 6 months), and you have fun!! This is one of those sweaters that I am going to be very proud to say, "why yes, I did make this myself!"

SPIII Questions/Answers

This is for you secret pal! Thanks in advance for spoiling me! I can't wait for this to begin...I love mail, and for it to be knitting related is a bonus!!!

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high-end/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
•I don't like to think of myself as a yarn snob, but I kind of am:) I learned to knit using natural fibers and anything else just doesn't feel right!

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
•Nope! Aside from decorative edges, I don't really have a desire to learn to crochet.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
•no allergies that I am aware of

4. How long have you been knitting?
•2 1/2 years

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
•yes, amazon is my friend. See the link on my sidebar under "about me"

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
•I am super picky about smelly stuff, but I love anything with a citrus scent, especially grapefruit

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
•Not just tooth...sweet teeth!! I love candy! It's really, really bad. You can't go wrong with Haribo Gummi Bears or Grapefruit Slices, anything with Peanut Butter...ummm...I'm not a huge fan of sour stuff, but it will do if that's all that's available. Do you see the trend? My name is Stacey...and I'm a candyaholic!

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
•I've tried just about everything, but knitting and painting are the two that have seemed to stick! I love painting with mixed media and watercolor. Since I started knitting it's been fun to try and incorporate fiber into my paintings.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?
• I listen to just about everything, except country and rap. I have been on a big Ben Lee kick lately. On the subject of MP3 players, I am hoping to get an iPod mini soon...Yipee! (see the following question for a guess at what color I'll get)

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?
•in one word PINK!! Ever since I was 5 years old and got to pick out my carpet and wallpaper at our new house and I had floor to ceiling pink!! I can't have too much. My friends can testify, the longer they hang out with me, the more pink creeps into their wardrobe. It's catching!
•Looking at my finished projects will show you that I love bright colors...red, orange, and pink especially

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
•single, never married
•I have the world's greatest cat named Jesse, he thinks he's a dog.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
•Currently, I'm praying about moving to Kenya, Africa for a year to work at an orphanage
•When I grow up, I want to own my own yarn store with my friend RayLynn

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
•I have been on a big Rowan kick lately...but my all time favorites are Koigu, Noro, Manos del Uruguay, and Interlacements.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
•I don't like "Splash" yarn. It's a furry, hairy yarn that is so soft it feels greasy. It kinda creeps me out. I'm also not a big fan of acrylics, or plastic feeling yarns.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
•Besides buying yarn:) I have been looking for vintage knitting images, in art, cards, books, postcards, etc. I love old knitting needles too, it's fun hunting for the old bright plastic needles. I have them all in a big vase on my kitchen table.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
•Felted clogs are what I have made the most of (11 pairs), but I am loving making ponchos on really fat needles...instant gratification is a great thing!

17. What are you knitting right now?
•Koigu wristlets (fingerless gloves), clogs, shawl out of Colinette Point 5 and Kidsilk Haze, Afghan squares for a community project, Salt Peanuts sweater, Alien Illusion scarf from Stitch 'n Bitch, and a couple other little things. (really I'm just too ashamed to write any more down) Many of these are just a few hours from being done!!

18. What do you think about ponchos? (this is really a curiousity question for us)
•Love, love, love them!! I think that they are fabulous! There is a great pattern over at MagKnits called Frida...is it coincidence that Frida Kahlo is one of my favorite artists?! I think not! This is my latest finished poncho modeled by my beautiful mother...

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
•circulars!

20. How did you learn to knit?
•I took a class at a local shop in Littleton called A Knitted Peace with my mom, sister, brother, roommate, and a couple other friends. I've been hooked ever since!

21. How old is your oldest UFO?
•Ummm...how long have I been knitting...about 2 1/2 years...soooo, I guess my oldest UFO is about 2 1/2 years!