SWAG

Well, here's my package bound for Germany! It's my first international shipment and I hope that the various postal systems take good care of it!

Also, I really hope my new friend in knitting enjoys the stash!



That's all for now!
Knit On & Happy Shooting!

My New Pick (and a Shrug Too!)

I have to let you know how THRILLED I am with Knit Picks!! This is their Memories - 100% Merino Wool--sock yarn in the "Smores" colorway. It is every bit as luscious IMHO as Lorna's Laces and is knitting up wonderfully! (Yes, those are KnitPicks 6" dpns in size 0 which I got for a wonderful price too!!) Knit Picks is definitely my new pick for where to buy yarn!! Less expense, wonderful quality.....what more is there to say??!!




As promised, here is a photo of the shrug I knit for my swap partner in Germany. It is knit from 7.5 balls of Lion Brand Merino/Cashmere blend which was on sale at a LYS. It is super soft and wonderfully warm and it will be hard to pack it up and ship it off......but alas! I must! I used a pattern found on DIY Network's website for the show Knitty Gritty. It is basically a knit sampler of lace stitches. Because you knit it with bulky yarn on size 11 needles, it knits up super fast! It looks cute on my 15 year old daughter and my 50-something knitting pal as well....so I'm quite sure that my swap partner will like it! (It is made in colors she likes!)
When I get her full package put together, I'll be sure and post a photo. I've never shipped anything overseas.....I'm hoping the postage won't shock me into heart failure! (Then again, I filled up both our vehicles at the pumps today.....can't get much more sticker shock than THAT, can we???!!!)

That's all for now!
Knit On!

Cover Girl

I made the cover!!! I knew that The Iowan was going to publish my State Fair blue-ribbon photo in the portfolio section of the new issue, but to my great surprise they also used it on the cover! I am thrilled to say the least!

I'm afraid I'm going to fail miserably at one of my resolutions......I haven't been out to shoot any photos just for fun or personal challenge in the month of January despite my good intent to do so twice a month. There's still a week (plus)... so I may not be a total failure yet. We'll see. I have a deadline this Thursday at the paper and a new project on top of my regular monthly commitments....so we shall see indeed.

On the knitting front....I finished a shrug!! It's so soft--made of merino and cashmere (and headed for Germany soon!) It's a gift to my swap partner there. I promise to take pics and post them soon!

Also, I broke down and went crazy shopping at Knit Picks. I went to get some sock yarn for my swap partner.....and of course got some for myself as well! I am loving working with the one type--it feels and works up very much like Lorna's Laces...but it's only $3.99 a hank! I can dig that!! I'll take some pics and post. I'm trying my first ever "toe up" sock to see how long I can go on the cuff. It's been fun!

Well, that's all for now. Pics to come....SOON!!!

Knit On! (And Happy Shooting to you photo bugs out there!)

Happy New Year!

Well here it is 2007 already! I remember vaguely thinking that my folks and grandparents were kidding when they talked about time going faster and faster the older you get. I so totally get it now! Happy New Year one and all! (Even if it is the 3rd already!)

I'm looking forward to this new year. It's like the slate has been wiped clean and we all get a big "do over." I like that! Some things about the new year I can anticipate (like the promotion I got just as 2006 was ending! I'm still doing freelance writing and photography for the local newspaper/publishing company....but I'm also taking on Managing Editor duties for the local monthly magazine and perhaps a book project for the publisher! Dreams come true!)

Our family is looking forward to the birth of a new baby: my brother and his wife are expecting in April. That will be great! (And I'll be knitting up a baby blanket before then! Mark one project in the list of things I must accomplish in 2007.) I also have to knit a few more blocks for the Aran afghan I did for my sister & her husband for Christmas. It really does need a little more girth if it's going to warm anyone other than her 7 year old. (Project #2!)

In the list of "resolutions" for the New Year: I've told myself I am going to knit my first sweater this year. Period. I'm not kidding.

I AM giving myself permission to let it be child or even infant sized rather than the extra-lovely size it would need to be to fit moi. But hey! Everyone's got to start somewhere, right??!!

I am also going to use up my current sock yarn stash on members of my own, immediate family. They watched all those lovely socks march out the door as Chritmas gifts to others. I think they deserve a little of the love too!

I am also going to get out and shoot photos just for fun at least twice a month. I realize I need to keep the creative juices flowing and keep honing my eye. So that's the deal and I'm sticking with it.

(Have you noticed how NONE of these resolutions have anything to do with losing weight?!?)

I'm starting off the New Year with my first international swap via some lovely ladies in Germany. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!! Stay tuned....I'll keep you posted. If all goes well I hope to do another one later in the year.

Well, that's it for now! I've got a sock to finish for myself from the yarn I bought as a souvenir on vacation in Michigan this past summer. (I put it off while finishing up Christmas knitting.)

Let me know what your plans for 2007 are!

HO HO HO

Well, here we are headed into the home stretch of the holidays. I've finished up all my Christmas projects except one. Here's my total:

*15 pairs of socks (only 4 of which were "slipper socks" that knit up quickly)
*7 hats (4 teen/men sizes, 3 child sized)
*4 scarves (3 men, 1 child)
*5 pairs of fingerless mitts in various patterns
*1 3'x3' Aran panels lap afghan

I have one more pair of fingerless mitts to do and I'll be done!

We have our tree up. I've managed to bake 5 or 6 different goodies for Christmas.
The cards have been mailed. The packages that are traveling to other states have been gone for several days now. I still have wrapping to do and groceries to purchase for Christmas dinner, etc. But I think I will make it!

I'm looking forward to finishing a pair of socks for myself and one for my daughter after the Christmas knitting is complete. I have a nice stash of yarn just waiting for snowy weather to blow in so that I can curl up on the couch with a cup of cocoa and knit away! Hope you have a wonderful holiday in whatever way to celebrate the season!

Christmas Frenzy

I've been busy knitting away for Christmas! I've gotten 6 of 9 panels done on my aran afghan. I completed two pairs of slippers, a hat, and some fingerless gloves for nephews. And I just whipped up two smaller hats for 4 and 7 yr. old friends. (See picture below.) Phew! All this and I've been busy helping out with sports photos at the paper and other projects there. (*yeah!*) Of course, my house isn't tidy and I don't have the tree or decorations up yet....but hey, it's not even December yet, right??!!

Just a quick post to show off the first bowl I completed. It was a fun and quick project!

Back to work for me!

Silly Nonsense Stuff

Looks like this promises to be another busy week at work! Final deadline on the project is Friday so wish me luck!

In the meantime, I took the "What Kind of American English Do You Speak?" quiz. Here are my results.

Your Linguistic Profile:

75% General American English

15% Upper Midwestern

5% Midwestern

0% Dixie

0% Yankee

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Guess that makes sense! My parents were born in Minnesota and Iowa. And although I was born in California, it doesn't really count as we moved back to Iowa when I was 6 months old. (And just for the record, I'm from the part of Iowa where the word "wash" has NO "r" in it!!!!)

OTN: Lana Grossa MegaBoots Stretch sock #2 along with the Aran afghan I'm making for my DS and some fingerless gloves I'm doing for my 15 yr. old DN for Christmas as well.

Here's my felting supplies for "Get Felted" over at Romancing the Yarn (check them out!) I've got my first bowl knitted and will take pics tomorrow before I felt it.

Busy, Busy!

Hi everyone! Wow! Has this been a busy week for me! My deadline at the paper for completing the writing of copy and shooting of photos for the 60-70 page glossy magazine "All About FD" for the Chamber of Commerce is looming! I can't wait to see how the whole thing comes together! It's been a really exciting first "big" project to work on!

In the meantime, I got to attend the local Domestic & Sexual Assault Vigil this past week. I was there to get photos of Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del) who was the guest speaker. He authored legislation about Violence Against Women and is a big advocate to stop domestic violence. It was a very moving service. In the background you can see re sillouettes. These represented locals who had lost their lives in such tragic ways. At the end, their balloons were released into the night sky.....free at last.




I'm still knitting away on my Lana Grossa socks. I haven't had a lot of extra time so I'm just to the toe decrease on sock #1. I am loving the color and the feel of the wool. Can't wait to finish so that I can wear them as the weather is turning cold here!

I've also got supplies to start my "Get Felted" project for Romancing the Yarn. I'm going to do some bowls. That'll be a new venture for me! I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out. I may use a few for Christmas gifts. I also have some lovely soft yarns to do some fingerless gloves with. The pair I have was knit as an experiment out of waste yarn and I can't stand to wear them out of the house as the color is horrendous. I'm anxious to resolve that with my new cashmerino pair!!

Gotta scoot for now! Happy Knitting!

Lana Grossa MegaBoot Stretch

This is the sock I've begun from the Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch Softcolor I picked up on vacation in Michigan. (What a great souvenir! I get to enjoy the knitting and then I'll have something to wear around too!!)

Not much time to write tonight. Just wanted to share the picture!

Knit on!

What's In A Joke?

There's a joke I heard that went like this:

The new pastor was settling into her study when the phone rang. "Grace Lutheran, this is Pastor Mary, how may I help you?" she answered.

"This is Bob. The fellas and I would like to take you fishing on Friday. We'll pick you up at 6:30 am. Sharp."

"Sounds great!" said Pastor Mary without hesitating. She wanted to make a good impression while getting to know her new parishoners.

Friday came. Bob, Elmer and Don arrived at the parsonage at 6:30 am with the boat in tow and off they went to the lake.

After not a little fussing with ropes and fishing poles and tackle boxes the foursome was finally off to the middle of the lake. It was a perfect morning!

As Bob switched the motor off and Elmer dropped anchor, Don exclaimed, "We forgot the bait bucket!" Looking toward shore, sure enough.....there it was sitting near the trailer.

"Not to worry, I'll get it!" said Pastor Mary happy to help. She stood up, stepped over the edge and began walking on the water toward shore.

"Would you look at that!" exclaimed Bob.

"I can't believe it!" shouted Don.

"She can't even swim!" said Elmer.

I've been thinking about this joke a lot today. You see, I was a pastor for 13 years in the same church before I took a leave of absence last November. I'm in the process of deciding where the journey of life is taking me now, whether it be back into ministry or some other path.

While the joke makes me laugh, there's a part of the joke that really stings too. There's just enough truth to it that some days it cuts like a driving, freezing rain in February. So I've been thinking a bit about the purpose of humor and jokes--how they work (and don't work) and what impact they, along with many other sorts of words, have on our lives. I'm not sure people give enough creedance to the impact words have on us and our lives. And to me it's especially sad when that happens in the realm of church work, where our lives are to be particularly ordered around The Word. (Perhaps I'll just never get that one!)

One woman's thoughts as she tries to figure out this thing called life and how she's a part of everything. I think I'll go connect up with my knitting now!

The Blues

Well, I just can't seem to get this blue-themed yarn to work. I'm at the point of giving up. I've started a sock three times with this yarn and have frogged all three attempts. I've decided it's the yarn's fault. I just don't like it. Hey, it's not like it's one of my children or anything. I am allowed to say I just don't like it. And I can even go put it at the bottom of my stash in the other room and be o.k. No "sock yarn police" are going to come arrest me for neglect. I believe I've given it an honest shot. What do you think? Would you like working with this yarn?? Any brilliant ideas for ways to use it other than socks??




My other blue experience this weekend was to finish the slipper socks I'm making my FIL for Christmas. As you can see, they're blue:




My FIL is over 80 now and prone to slipping on his linoleum flooring. I'm a bit worried about the "slick" factor in this silly acrylic yarn. Any brilliant ideas on adding something to the bottoms of the slippers to give them a bit of grip? I'm thinking about adding some puff paint (the type you'd use on fabric) in dots or wavy lines. I think I read about someone doing that to the bottoms of socks before. Anyone ever tried??

Well, that was my weekend adventure in knitting. A visit to the frog pond and these slippers. Knit on!

Finished!

I've managed to complete my Sock Hop socks! Yeah!

Now it's on to one of my other WIP....

..... the aran afghan.......

.... the Nature's Pallete socks in Eagle's Flight pattern.......

.... the woolease socks for my son........

.... the second slipper sock for my FIL for Christmas........

So much to knit, so little time!

Knitting A.D.D. Strikes Again!

Yes, it's true! I have attention defecit disorder when it comes to my knitting!

I am trying to Knit-Along with the Sock Hop on Romancing the Yarn. I was off to such a great start the first week. Then.....something happened.

I guess it could be Second Sock Syndrome. Perhaps it's the change of seasons that leaves me restless. Pre-menopause short attention span???

Whatever it is, this is the result:




This is the third pair of these fingerless mitts I've made. This time I improvised some changes to the pattern which I think turned out terrific! I added the picot edge bind-off and also added in a bit of a thumb as my first trial pair left my digit too out in the cold for my comfort level. I think I will be making more of these lovelies......perhaps as Christmas gifts???? We shall see!

Now back to my socks!

A First!

I like to think of myself as a semi-adventurous person, one who is always eager to learn something new. I also like to think that's part of the reason the paper decided to hire me to do some freelance photography and writing for them!

One of my first assignments has been to write a piece for one of the area school districts which recently installed a new track. I will be the first to admit I haven't been an athletic person. I'll also admit I've never actually been to a track meet. I guess that's why taking on this project was kind of exciting . . . I knew I'd be learning new things!

The administration and coaches at the school were wonderful to work with. They were friendly and helpful and didn't seem to mind my "newbie" questions. The enthusiasm of the high school runners was infectious. All that energy and ability almost got me to wishing I was 17 years old again!

I feel that in the end I was able to put together a good piece which will show off this new track and the programs of this school. It was great fun to meet new people and terrific to gain some new knowledge in the process. Isn't that what life is all about?

One done, one to go!

I've finished the first Sock Hop sock and begun the cuff on sock #2. I have to say I love this Austerman Step yarn! It feels great to work with having the aloe and jojoba in it. I've tried the sock on too....and it feels wonderful on the foot as well!

I like this pattern (Elongated Corded Rib) from Charlene Schurch's book, Sensational Knitted Socks. I ended up having to cast on 88 stitches to get the right size sock for my foot. (That's a LOT of knitting on size US#0 needles!) It's really been fun to see the sock take shape--even knowing that I deviated from the pattern on the heel flap.

I have a friend who doesn't like the fraternal twins she ends up with when she knits socks. I really sort of prefer them in the end! I think they add to the character of the socks and boast "Handmade!" Anyone can walk into a store and buy a pair of perfectly matched socks. Not everyone will have socks that are clearly related, but not exactly alike. Now that I'm over 40, I kinda like that!

Homework

For work this week I am shooting photos of neighborhoods in our town to be part of the 2007 Chamber of Commerce's "Our Town" magazine. (I'm writing all the copy and shooting all the photos! Yeah! Yikes! Yeah! My first "gig!")

Anyway, it's really been quite an interesting journey! After living here for 13+ years, I discovered two new areas of town I was previously unaware of! Go figure!

After this I dive in on the section outlining governmental structure and issues for the area. As I try to prepare myself, all I can think of was how much I really didn't like Civics and Government classes in school but oh how I hope I can pull some of that info out of the dark recesses of my brain where it's been filed away for the past 22-26 years!

On a completely seperate note: I found out this afternoon that my state fair blue-ribbon photo will be published in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of The Iowan magazine. I'm thrilled! I will also receive a subscription to the magazine which before now I've either purchased off the newsstand or read at the public library. How fun to have it delivered right to my door!

Ok, that's it for today. Back to work I go!

Ask Not For Whom the Bell Tolls

It tolls for me. . . .

My run at Sock Wars 2006 sadly comes to an end today.

My lovely merino socks arrived from mistyknits in California in a somewhat symbolic high noon delivery by my postal carrier. They really are lovely Kiyoko! And I love the color!

I posted my "obituary" on the Sock Wars Forum, but here it is for your amusement:

Kim H. a.k.a. "kshotz" died at high noon on Monday, October 2nd, 2006. She was fatally wounded when lovely lime green merino socks arrived at her door via to US Postal Service making her the umpteenth victim in the on-going Sock Wars 2006.
Kim was a devoted wife and mother of two (before Sock Wars.) She will be greatly enjoyed by her family now that she is done frantically and obsessively knitting socks for total strangers. She leaves behind a well stocked knitting basket along with a surprisingly substantial secret stash of sock yarn under the guest bed. Her final moments were spent winding some new bamboo sock yarn and massaging the cramp in her left hand from speed knitting. She will be missed by those with whom she knit but thankfully Christmas is just around the corner so she will undoubtedly be back to her group at the LYS next week to work on other gift projects.

In the Meantime - Sockhop!

In between times of waiting for packages for Sock Wars, I've signed up for my first ever knit-along event over at RomancingtheYarn.blogspot.com. Officially called a SockHop....we are doing whatever sock pattern we like and keeping track of each other starting today. I decided to FINALLY give my Austerman Step yarn a try and I am loving it!!! I'm also trying out a pattern from Charlene Schurch's book Sensational Knitted Socks for the first time. I have a feeling I am going to love owning this book as it makes every single pattern customizable to exact foot measurements......and I don't have to do any of the math!!

*YEAH!!* (Love that!)

I think I am going to keep this pair all for myself! The pic shows where I am--just on the leg portion of sock #1......but that's ok. I have a feeling I'll be dead tomorrow when the mail comes in (socks of doom from mistyknits in CA for the war......)

Well, back to it I go!
Happy Knitting!

Package of Doom

Ok, Ok . . . I'm caving in to pressure! Here's a pic of the Package of Doom I mailed off to Alabama. (Ok, not the actual package, but all the contents anyway!) I'm hoping the local candy bars (I included 2) will make up for the plain, black socks. Think of them of the Black Socks of Death......or socks that go with just about anything.....or the stuff in my stash I was trying to use up.......

The socks are actually extremely soft! Made from Cascade's Pima Tencel.....50% Pima Cotton and 50% tencel (not sure what that is!). Unfortunately they are handwash only and lay flat to dry.

In other news.......you may have heard the big $200 million Power Ball lottery ticket was sold and the winner from right here! Fort Dodge, IA!! Believe it or not my husband purchased his ticket at the exact same location on the exact same day!! Dang! We were SOOOOOOO close!! Rumor is that a group of teachers has won--which would totally rock as teachers deserve special care and places in heaven for the work they do with our children day in and day out.

(Shoutout - Hurrah teachers!!! We LOVE you all!!!!)

Well, that's the scoop from my part of the world today. Dooglescout in AL....I hope you enjoy this package of doom!