Saturday, April 28, 2007

Mittens...


Thank you all for your wonderful support and emails about my last post. It certainly made me feel better. I met with the diabetic educator last week. I have a couple of books I am reading too.
On the knitting front.... I have been meaning to show you these socks I finished a few weeks ago. The wonderful sock blockers are from this ebayer
chappywoman . I bought them the other month with leftover Christmas money from my Mother in law. I really love them. They have little cut out cats on them. I am thinking the sock yarn is Meilenweit. I bought this at Christmas in Pennsylvania. It's funny, it looks nothing like I thought it would. These are for my sister Mary Jane. They will be tucked away for next Christmas. As you can see I am making mittens. I am trying to match some of the charity hats I have made. They are such a great project for scraps. I usually prefer a four needle mitten pattern. This is an old two needle mitten pattern that I have had forever. I make both mittens at the same time. This way I can be sure I have enough of the scrap yarn for both mittens. Speaking of mittens... I have had my eye on this book for quite awhile. I would love to add it to my mitten collection. So many patterns, so little time.
We finally put the boat in the water last weekend. I was so hoping for nice weather this weekend. We did get to go out last Sunday when it was so beautiful. I am sure nice weather is just around the corner. I guess that is all the news from here. Have a great weekend everyone.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Hats abound!







It has been a virtual hat factory over here at Irishknits. I have been knitting hats for the homeless shelter in town. As many of you know.... I put up a Hat and Mitten tree every Christmas at work. We then take all the donations and give them to the local shelter. I am still working on knitting through my stash. I have not bought yarn for three months. It feels good to be using up my odds and ends. The ribbed hats are made with the famous Ann Norling Spiral Rib pattern. I love this hat. I had picked it up at The Mannings over Christmas. It is written for many different sizes and types of yarn. The other hats are made with double strands of worsted weight yarn. It was a free pattern to use for charity. I can't remember what site it is from. Now, I need to get going on some mittens to match. Tomorrow is my 48Th birthday. I guess we are going to get some very heavy rains and messy weather. Spring can't be too far behind. I had my physical on Thursday of this week. I got some news which scares the heck out of me. I had some blood work run twice because my sugar was high. My doctor told me I am diabetic. I was hoping she meant pre-diabetic.But, she did not. I know people live with this every day. I am trying to wrap my head around the idea. Basically, I have been moping around since Thursday. I need to change my lifestyle and get exercising. When I meet with the counselor I will have a better idea of what I need to do. I quit smoking five years ago. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. I know if I can do that....then I can get a handle on this. It just really scares me. My first inkling was to get on the web and start reading about it. I decided not to do that yet. I would end up freaking myself out. I guess I will close for now. Time to cast on some mittens to match those hats.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Happy Easter


Happy Easter fellow Knitters! Here are a few pictures of what we woke up to last Thursday. We were without power on and off for two days. I have a pole by the side of the house that snapped at the base. You can see how low my lines are hanging. I have no idea when they will get out to fix that problem. I know they are still very busy restoring power to other areas. I hope it does not get too windy. It makes me nervous having the lines hanging like that. The pole is only being held up by a small tree. We will give Public Service a few more days and then call them. So, Where is Spring? The lake keeps thawing and refreezing depending upon the day. There is talk of another storm this week. I am heading to my older sister for Easter dinner this afternoon. My whole family will be there. We always have an Easter egg hunt for my nieces. It will be a chilly one...But, they will have a ball. We are celebrating my sister and niece's birthdays too. April is a busy birthday month for us. My birthday is next Sunday. There has been knitting going on at Irishknits. My batteries are charging for the camera. I will post pictures another time. I have been working on preemie hats and hats for the homeless shelter. The Yarn Focus Challenge will be winding up next week. I have not bought yarn in nearly three months. It feels great to be using up what I have in my stash. I need to finish getting my Secret Pals gift together. That needs to be in the mail later in the week. I'll close for now... I have carrots to glaze and a salad to make. Have a wonderful day!