Shamrock Knits

Catchin' Up

Wow it's been a long time since I've posted. I feel like my life has been a bad country western song. Work has been hectic, I had to put both my cats down (within a week and a half of each other), and have had news of a few friends and family members that have cancer. I'm going to try to be positive, so one to better things.

I went on a short trip to Savannah with my mom. That was pretty relaxing. The city has so many squares and they're all beautiful. Basically, the squares are little parks every few blocks or so. Some are simple, with just landscaping and benches. Some are more elaborate, with statues or fountains. I left my camera in a public restroom and thought I lost it. I went back about 20 minutes later, and some kind women brought it to a check-in area. I couldn't believe it. I thought my camera was a goner for sure. I'll definitely pay that kindness forward when the opportunity arises.

I finally finished the crochet bag I was working on during the Vegas trip and completed the Adult Surprise Jacket. The only thing left for the ASJ is a bath and to sew on the clasps I bought. I went to a knitting retreat that was fun. I started my first lace shawl (first lace project). It's going pretty well. I make sure to count the stitches after the yarn over rows. I've messed up several times, but I catch the problems right away. I'll post more and add my pics shortly. I have to get the pics off the camera - that I still have. LOL

Mom's Tribute Blanket

I finished my mom's tribute Colon Cancer blanket. It feels like it took forever because of the charts. The colon cancer ribbon is a ribbon, star, person. It's called the Blue Star. I'll be writing up the pattern and creating a tribute page in my mom's honor to raise funds for awareness. My mom loves the blanket, so that's what really matters.

This is a picture taken while she's getting a chemotherapy treatment. It's cold in the office and there are blankets everywhere, because the patients get really cold during their treatments. This was her 11th out of 12 treatments. We're pretty excited that there's only one left! The extreme cold this week has been rough on her side effects. I hope the cold doesn't last too long for her sake.

Merry Christmas!

It doesn't feel like it's Christmas already! Last year, I didn't put up any decorations. This year, I bought a smaller tree that's prelit and got at least that up. I've been doing some crochet. When my mom started her chemo treatments, I decided I was going to design a blanket for her. Colon cancer has a ribbon/star, so that's what I'm using. There will be one smaller star in each of the four corners. One bigger star in the middle. Then I'm going to have "Colon Cancer Survivor" and the date of her surgury at the top, and her name at the bottom. This is what I have so far.

Special Olympic Scarves

At one of my Thursday nights with my knitting group, we came across a request for scarves for the Special Olympics. Our group decided to knit or crochet some and we'll send off in one package. Betty has knit 2 scarves already. She's such a fast knitter.

These are my contributions. One is a crochet wave ripple and the other is my cable knit pattern. I did this pattern for a gift last year or the year before. I'll probably buy 1 more skein in each color and make a couple more. There's also a Ravelry group for the scarves.

Cheers!

Happy St Patty's everyone!

I've been working on a few different projects over the last couple of weeks. One of them is not the cable socks. Some people have second sock syndrome. I have turning the heel syndrome. I'm doing them both at the same time on one circular needle. I don't know what my hang up is, but I just didn't feel like doing the short rows for awhile. They're in my bag in case I ever get the urge.

A friend at work's been trying to adopt for almost a year now. A couple of weeks ago, she got the word that she'll be adopting a baby boy. I'm so happy for her. We had a shower for her at work last Thursday. I made her a knit hat in a simple 2 by 2 rib. Betty from my knit group made the pom pom for it. She's the best at those.

I also made this blanket. It's machine knit with rows of single crochet trim. I used Red Heart Sport that I had in stash. Gotta love that. This was the blanket that I was going to make my nephew when he was born, but I had issues with row counting and seaming. I think this one looks much better now. It's made on my mid-gauge LK 150 machine. The strips are made separately and seamed as the next strip is knitted.

Here's the progress on my vest. I'm finishing the second front and then have the back to do. We'll see how it turns out. I really like the colors though.

Which came first?

In my case, it's the egg. Last year, I crocheted eggs for my niece's and nephew's easter baskets. This year, they're getting these adorable chicks. I used Red Heart and Cotton Fleece. The pattern uses felt beaks, but I didn't want to do that because my niece is about 14 months old. The beak on the pink one is a little distorted, but at least it's safer. I love how these came out. They're really adorable. On Ravelry, someone also crocheted feet as well.

Happy Dance!

Woo hoo! I'm so excited. I finished my Cozy V Pullover and it actually fits! Of course, I don't like the picture, but I love the sweater. Voila!

I'm also wearing my invisible braces in the picture. I've had them for about a week now. They're not too bad. In a few weeks, I'm supposed to have "buttons" put on some of my teeth. I'm guess this helps with moving the teeth better and is probably going to be a little painful at first. The initial projection is to have them for 6-7 months. Both my dentist and I thought it would be longer, so we'll have to see how it goes.

When I was in Minnesota last week, I worked on a present for my "old" boss. These crochet cupcakes came out pretty cute. I think it was the beads that did it. I found the pattern here. She has some really cute patterns.

My life

Robin tagged me in a recent meme last Saturday. It's taken me this long to think of something. This is 10 things I've done that others may have not. I was trying to think of things in terms of that "mass amounts of people might not have done". LOL

Here goes:

1) I'm a CPA and MBA. I feel like I've been a perpetual student sometimes. I'm always taking classes to learn new knitting techniques. Maybe that's why I've felt in the past that I haven't made many FO's.

2) I've worked at the same company for 18 years. I started as a part-time teller for a bank, when I was in college. I then moved on to Assistant Manager, Trainer/Internal Auditor, Staff Accountant, Branch Operations Manager, back to Accounting for Instore branches, then Consumer Lending Functional, and now I'm back to Retail Reporting. I can't remember when I became a Vice President, but I know it was by 30.

3) I'm a collector. Over the years, I've collected shot glasses, glass paperweights, nutcrackers, tea pots, and first edition, signed hardcover fiction. Some collections are now gone or dwindled. I only continuing on the signed hardcovers now. Since I've been knitting, you could say that I'm collecting yarn and knitting books as well, because my stash seems to be ever growing. :)

4) I a machine knit, hand knit, crochet, and sometimes bead. I haven't done as much machine knitting lately, so I need to try to do more of that. I also want to try some chain metal bracelets. I bought a book at Michael's recently and there's a bead store in Lisle that has some gorgeous metal jewelry. They have classes there, so I'll probably sign up for one soon. (see, perpetual student)

5) I have a tattoo. One of my sisters gave us a family cruise right after her divorce was final. She got her belly button pierced and I got my tattoo. I'd been thinking about one since I was in college, but the opportunity never presented itself. I have a small shamrock, of course, that cannot be seen even if I have a bathing suit on.

6) I'm a clutz and bruise easily. Not a good combination. When I was little, the doctors used to question my mom about every bruise. I've vowed to have a party the day I don't have a bruise somewhere on my body. It hasn't happened yet.

7) I've had lasik surgery. Without my contacts, I was blind. Now I can see the clock in the morning, go snorkeling or swimming without worrying, etc. It's great. The surgery was a little freaky, but I'm so glad I did it.

8) I'm getting invisible braces. I just had the molds done and now waiting to get the braces made. Even though I'm 38, I want to get them for myself. Hopefully, they'll help with my TMJ a little.

9) I have a 300-disc DVD player. My original intention was to put all of my DVDs and all my CDs in there. When I put my DVDs in there, there were 100 (including the extra DVDs that come with some movies). I decided I'd see if I can fill it up entirely with DVDs. There are about 250. I don't buy as many as I used to, but I'm going to take the supplemental discs out of there and see how many are just movies. I guess you can say I collect movies as well!

10) I send care packages to deployed soldiers. I've been doing this through Books for Soldiers for about 3 years now. During the holidays, I try to send more care packages and hold drives at work. I try to send a couple care packages a month.

Knit Out at Cathy's

Lisa had asked for a picture of the reversible cable throw after it was fixed. I just took a picture of the nasty cable area. Kathy was so nice in helping me that day. Thanks again Kathy!The problem cable is the middle one in the picture.

I've also worked a little more on the Cozy V Pullover. I've joined and started knitting in the round. I haven't tried it on yet, so I'll probably do that before I go any further.

Also in the picture are a snowman and tree stitch markers. I couldn't get a close up picture that was in focus. I need to get a new camera soon. Cathy made them for me on a recent knit-out we had at her house. Here she is giving Kathy a spinning demonstration.

The spinning wheel (and the handspun!) was so pretty, I took a closer picture. I have no intention of learning how to spin by wheel or drop spindel, but I can admire.

This picture is Doree and Lucia watching the demonstration. Betty was taking pictures herself at the time, so she's not in the picture. The crochet ripple afghan is a gift that Kathy made and brought in for show and tell.

I'm sure Lucia made the sweater she's wearing, which was lovely. We were all admiring her crochet hat that she bought. We were trying to figure out the pattern so we can do it ourselves. Kathy said it looked like mosiac crochet. I think that basically means that you carry the yarn and work it in througout the rows. There were three colors, so it makes for a thick and sturdy hat.

Back Again

It's been really hectic for me lately. I still have another month or so, but I feel like I've come up for air a little bit. I've taken a new position at work, but until there's a replacement for me, I'm still doing my old job. So basically I've been putting in a lot of hours at work and haven't been doing much else.

However, I did finally finish the crochet star afghan. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I haven't checked, but however many skeins I have left of this yarn will be donated. I think making 3 blankets is enough. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought all of this yarn. I do like how each of them turned out though, so it wasn't a waste.

I was also able to repair all of the holes in the reversible cable throw. I wasn't feeling the greatest, so Kathy was kind enough to help me with the largest hole which had dropped stitches in the cable portion. Thanks a bunch Kathy!

I've also started a new project. I'm working on the Cozy V-Neck Pullover from Fitted Knits. I'm using Suri Merino, which has more of a halo than I'm used to. The yarn is really soft though and I love the color.