Fiddlesticks!

Friday, November 30, 2012

Sewing and Knitting?

I am the type of girl that loves technology and all the new doors it has opened for me! I have a really nice sewing machine, yes it's a manual one but hey, it works! I have been in such a "crafty" mood lately, I have been buying up every skein of yarn I can get my hands on! I must put a "halt" to that and actually start knitting down my stash. I have been collecting Malabrigo Arroyo, a gorgeous superwash sport weight yarn. My favorite color is Plomo. Hold your breath, here they are!

I am so in love with this yarn and of course the color! It's breath taking to behold and even more so to pet! I am gathering a sweater quantity to make a lovely sweater from one of our own Ravelry designers! I purchased the pattern and will be casting on as soon as the holiday's are over. I feel guilty knitting anything for myself and truthfully, there is no time! The pattern is Pauroxo by Jennifer Dassau which you can find on Ravelry! She really has some amazing patterns!!

Back to technology! I have been debating over new sewing machines. I am not an "avid" seamstress, even though I would love to be! I have been sewing since the tender age of 13. Do you remember "home ecc" classes? I learned to sew and fell in love with it. I had visions of creating quilts and quilted bags. I am creating new Christmas stockings for my family. I chose black burlap with muslin lining. I will post photos of those in the next blog entry. I did some research and of course I can't afford a Janome machine at this time. That would be my pie in the sky machine! I settled for a very nice Brother Project Runway machine. It was on sale and I had a coupon which was good for $75.00 off! I brought it home and before I knew it, my fiance Richard had it out of the box and set up on the dining room table for me in nothing flat! He was fiddling with the attachments and booklets and accessories, I was anxiously watching and waiting for something to get misplaced or thrown out. Neither of those things happened, and I appreciated his help! After I peeled him away from the table so I could "get" in there and look at my new machine, I loaded a bobbin and threaded the machine. I did some practice sewing using a couple of the 80 different stitches she offers. I can tell we are going to become vast friends! I am happy so far and will keep you posted. Here is her first photo debut!

As much as I love and adore my knitting, it's very slow going. I am really hoping that sewing will give me the instant gratification I am seeking at this time!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Spud and Chloe Yarn

A few months ago I purchased two skeins of Spud and Chloe Sweater yarn to make something for my granddaughter Madison. While prepping the yarn to wind, I hit knot after knot and twists that were amazing while I had it on the swift. I have never had such an issue before with winding any yarn! I thought wow I must have done something wrong. I ended up losing half the skein to unbelievable knots that I could not for the life of me remove. I tried, in vain. The second skein, sitting there begging to be knit up, also needed to be wound. Again, I took the yarn out, popped it (kind of a "snapping" motion) prior to placing it on the swift and cut the bindings. Started out smooth as silk until I got half way down to the middle of the skein! I ran in to the same issue. Lost half of that skein also. I asked people on the Ravelry Spud and Chloe site if they had issues with this yarn knotting while trying to wind it. It's not a very common phenomenon but it can happen with ANY yarn. I was told sometimes when they are winding the yarn at the factory. The binding ties are placed wrong or is not tied off properly and can create knots. Just as my faith in human kind was waning, and much to my wonderful surprise today, there was a small package sitting on the door step! It was two skeins of Spud and Chloe Sweater in the beautiful colorway of Igloo!! Here is what I am making and now I will also have enough to make the Hello Kitty Mitts!!!

Imagine these mitts about one half this size! Maddy will be so excited! She is all about Hello Kitty these days. Hello kitty jackets, tops, shoes, backpack, you name it, she has it. This will complete another "phase" for her!

Both of these patterns are free on Ravelry!

Friday, November 23, 2012

Beautiful Lacy Stash Busting Scarf

I am using size 11 knitting needles. Yarn - anything you have (I used Sublime Lustrous Extra Fine Merino DK) 2= skeins 208 yards. Row 1 - K3, *(k2tog, yo)* repeat till last 3 stitches, K3 Row 2 - K3, purl to last 3 stitches, K3 Row 3 - K3, *(yo, k2tog)* repeat till last 3 stitches Row 4 - K3, purl to last 3 stitches, K3 Row 5- Knit all Row 6 - Knit all Begin at Row 1 for 3 more repeats Row 8 - Knit Row 9 - Purl I was going to add some clear glass beads too! I bought a lovely "stick" pin and added beads to close the scarf, photo's when finished! Keep going until it is close to the length you want then begin at Row 1 all over again. Make sure to leave enough yarn to finish another border!! I knit 3 lace repeats Knit 6 rows garter stitch for top border.This pattern can be varied by size of yarn, size of needle and number of stitches. It is a multiple of 2 stitches so you can make it as wide as you want. Anything you want. Gets rid of those part balls of yarn in your stash.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving! Today when I checked my Ravelry, I had a wonderful surprise! I won a pattern by commenting in a blog. It's an adorable little cherry pillow! I live in Salem Oregon, which is called Cherry City. I thought this would be a cute pattern to make something for my daughter who loves cherries. I have not been having such a great week so it really was a nice thoughtful pick me up! Here is a photo of the pillow

Cherry Picks Pillow by Joan Kosmachuk

You can also find this pattern on Ravelry by following this link:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cherry-picks-pillow

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Yarnie Goodness!!

It has been a while since I've posted and I am going to make my blog "public" now so I can share some knitting with my friends. I am posting some photos of my friend Jen's scrumptious yummy yarn she creates!! It is so lovely! She can do solids also and the yarn is soft and squishy, just the way I love it! Enjoy the pics and if there is something you want to order just let me know! My regular email is janison58@yahoo.com. 80% Superwash Merino - 20% Nylon (yummy stuff) 80% Superwash Merino - 10% Cashmere - 10% Nylon (really extra yummy) 100% Bamboo (nice for summer) very soft with a beautiful sheen

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Happy days....sad days

So very happy and in love! He's so amazing and sweet I cannot believe how lucky I am!! I am saddened by news of a school friend. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor. So unfair. She's talented, beautiful, sweet, loves God, loves her family. She's young with so much more to give. She posts a blog, which was meant for her crafts, she makes amazing cards. It's turned into her medical adventure. She's stage 4, not good news. It really hurts my heart to know someone so wonderful is leaving us. Update: My friend passed away last May in North Carolina. Her husband took over writing her blog and kept us all updated each week as to her condition. He is really a wonderful man who truly loves his wife and family. My heart goes out to him.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Done!

Did I say I was done? Let me explain, I've been single for eleven years. I thought I was married to the love of my life. How wrong was I, that's a rhetorical question. I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would ever meet another human being that would meet my expectations. I am not a snob mind you. I have been through so much with the few men in my life I just know what I will tolerate and what I will not. I was so tired of sheer disappointment and distaste for men my age. Most of them had beer belly's and just didn't take care of themselves. Drinking, drugs, ex-wives, wives, I felt it was better to be alone. It's that simple. In my eleven single years, I was in a relationship for four years with someone fifteen years my junior. You would have never seen the gap in our age, we got a long very well, but I was not serious about it. I never felt right, or thought the relationship would go anywhere. I cannot understand why it lasted four years. The man I was involved with had grand thoughts of marriage and living happily ever after. I on the other hand, really got tired of supporting his ass, putting up with his obnoxious kid, and I do mean obnoxious. His own grandmother warned me about him. He took the break up much harder than I ever imagined. He called me crying his eyes out and asked me if he was that easy to forget. I will never forget him. I ended that relationship and moved on thinking fine, I will just go on with my life alone, once again.
Five months later, I met someone I knew of back in my early twenties. He's five years younger and of all things dated my ex husband's ex wife! We became friends and he opened his feelings up to me. He drew me into his soul, I could feel his pain and it hurt so bad. I wanted to just envelope him in my arms and make it all go away. Of course I knew that was not going to happen. Someone can talk about their pain, but it's up to them to put it in that file cabinet inside the brain and move on. I was going to be there anytime he wanted to talk about it, because talking helps. It makes you realize how paralyzed you are and then one day you wake and think, I don't want to be like this, I want to move on! I know, because I have been there. It's deep, dark, lonely and a place I never want to be in again. I've realized I have been afraid to give myself to someone fully. I have been trying to protect my heart for so long that I never thought I could love again. That's changed. I am so in love with this person, beyond anything I've ever felt before in my life. He's my male counter part, we love the same things, we say the same things, we are so much alike it's scary. It feels as though we both interviewed everyone we know asking them questions about our likes and dislikes. That's a rediculous idea and it would never work. I would see through it and I know he would too. We test each other, we are both feeling our way around and inside deep. We have shared so much over the short time we've been seeing each other I feel like I've always known him. If you believe in past lives, we were definitely together as past lovers. He is the most amazing man, or person, I have ever known. He makes me laugh, he shares his thoughts and feelings, he communicates like know other man I've ever known. He know's what I'm going to say before I do! He's genuine, tall, dark and extremely handsome. He works in a real job, real hours, weekends off. I can't wait to keep this story going, I'm excited and scared and excited, did I say I'm excited about the future for the first time in eleven years. To be continued....