Amazing Lace Poetry

Amazing Lace Poetry

When the room is somewhat chilly, I like to wear a shawl
I’m really not a fan of the “one style is good for all”
I looked and saw a square, looked again and saw one round
I looked and looked some more and this is what I found
A pleasant shape to look upon and void of beads and bangle
It’s one of Cheryl’s “Folks” in the shape of a triangle
The needles in my hands are smooth and never pull
Loaded now they are with black and silky wool
The end’s a far off distance I sometimes get dismayed
As stitch by stitch I go along till another lifeline’s laid
The small round markers slip across at barely snails pace
Till I feel as if I’m not competing yet in this Amazing Lace.

The Lace Race is ON!!!

The Lace Race is ON!!!And the lace race is on….. We started tonight with much caution. We did not want to redo the mistakes of the past. Silky Wool was a little reluctant saying “I’ve been down this path before”, stitch markers and lifelines rushed in and made their presence felt. The first 30 rows are done, each one a little longer than the one before. Highland Triangle Shawl (HTS from now on) began to unfold it’s mysteries as the row counter clicked. HTS is beginning to take shape. What will tomorrow hold?

Amazing Lace Team

To say that there are only two members of this team would be to slight Silky Wool with which the shawl is to be made. Silky Wool and I first made our acquaintance when I was looking for yarn for another shawl. It was not my first choice nor was it my first color. That is why I cannot slight it in this race. I will be depending on it to make us (the other teammates) look good. As its black loveliness twists and loops as demanded by Highland Triangle Shawl and as executed by me, we will indeed see that it will be the most visible member of the team.
The second and most demanding member if this team, is Highland Triangle Shawl. I first became acquainted with it after I received the book Folk Shawls for Christmas. As I glanced thru the pages, it spoke to me. I looked at the pattern and thought “too hard, too much”, but it continued to call my name. Silky Wool sat in the bag from which it had traveled home from LYS, begging to be used. The insistence of both together could not be ignored. I became excited as I watched the string go between swift and winder, winding into neat little balls. I quickly bound off a half-hearted project so I could use my trusty needles and cast on. The first row – I could not find the bar to lift, it was too tight and I did not have enough light. Out it came. A looser cast on and a row of knitting, got me thru a few rows, but my increases were still not right, so once again, we became three individuals instead of one team. At this point, Highland Triangle and I had a nice long talk and I wrote out the chart. Once we had come to an understanding, we began again to run. It was a proud moment to say “I have finished 22 rows!”, but the excitement was short lived as I found I was missing a stitch. Silky Wool had its revenge on me for past mistakes. We are currently at this impasse as I gather more supporting members of this team – lifelines and stitch markers.
My pep talk as team captain reminds them that even though our team has had a rocky start, we can do this. I will draw on my many and varied experiences with knitting to get them past the rough places, but they must trust my instincts. I remind them that I am qualified to do this since I have been leading teams such as this since I was a teenager. Yes, this team and race are unique, but we shall prevail.

Lacey Summer ahead

I joined “The Amazing Lace” at http://amazinglace.licketyknit.com/ I know I have attempted to start the Highland Triangle Shawl already twice, so hopefully the third time will work. I have the chart all written out, I have a plan for where lifelines should go, and even a plan as to where to put in markers to help me keep my place. Highland Triangle Shawl is from Folk Shawls. I also have a lace KAL that I will be doing this summer. I have already ordered the yarn from KnitPicks (http://www.knitpicks.com/). Hopefully I can do both of these at the same time. I will conquer lace!!! There is nothing like a lacey summer.

I am still around

I am still around Just a quick note to say I am still alive. I finished the socks for DH, finished the shawl that was supposed to be a sweater and finished my third Texas square. Had a great weekend of yarn and knitting with friends. Still recovering from that.

Also since last posting we went thru Sterling being sick and recovering. I wish he would learn to not eat bugs. Life is fun.

update

knitting update Last week, I started to knit another “love letter” for DH, but brought the wrong size needles with me. They only take a few minutes to do as they are only 19 stitches and 24 rows. Love letter story. I love dove dark chocolate and they each come with a little saying in them. One of them is “send a love letter this week”. Since my DH desk is about 100 feet from mine, I sometimes like to leave a little something for him to find when he comes to work at night. One day I had some cotton ease with me and wanted to try my hand at charting things, so I charted a T (for Tony) and knitted it from the red cotton ease thus creating a “Love Letter”. I wanted to add to the collection last week by doing a heart and a G. I finally got those finished and given to him yesterday.

I have also been busy knitting. I finished 2 things last week!! I finished the second TX square and I finished a “hug” for a gal in the office whose mom died a week ago and then the day she got back in the office was our first day with our new department chief. I started it on a Friday and finished it on Wednesday, it is a simple dropped stitch stole/scarf thingy made from wool-ease thick and quick, size 17 needles. I am diligently working on the socks for DH birthday (April 7) and am past the decreases after turning the heel on the first sock. I think I can knit 1.5 socks on a month, even though I cannot work on them at home. The shawl that was supposed to be a sweater is slowly but surely coming along. I seem to get two or three rows done on it most evenings while watching TV. I am trying to not start anything else until I get both the socks and that shawl done, except for maybe my lace shawl or the other TX square or some other impulsive thing I run across. I saw the Knitty Gritty episode Monday; it was really interesting with all of the fancy stitches. I want to try the crossed dropped stitch. It looks like it would be interesting.


This past weekend was a bit different. We had planned to finish our taxes and efile them and then work around the house a bit. When I tried to log into the internet, I could not get a connection at all. We found that during one of the storms last week, our modem had fried. Thankfully we had unplugged the new DLP LCD TV and it had no damage from what must have been a lightening strike. Our cordless phone also is dead. So Saturday we had to go shopping for a new modem. We also got a UPS to protect the pc and new modem. Sunday I was going to finish up the taxes, but knew that I needed to get an update for the turbo tax software, but that took several hours (I do not know how long cause I went to bed way before it finished). So I should be able to finish that tonight. I spent yesterday afternoon taking apart my yard swing since the cushions need to be redone. Hopefully I can find the fabric I have for that and do those soon.

Psalm 72 (excerpts) May the mountains yield prosperity for all, and may the hills be fruitful, because the king does what is right. May he live as long as the sun shines, as long as the moon continues in the skies. Yes, forever! May his reign be as refreshing as the springtime rains-- like the showers that water the earth. May all the godly flourish during his reign. May there be abundant prosperity until the end of time. May he reign from sea to sea; his enemies will fall before him in the dust. He will rescue the poor when they cry to him; he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them. He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and he will rescue them. He will save them from oppression and from violence, for their lives are precious to him. Long live the king! May the people always pray for him and bless him all day long. May there be abundant crops throughout the land, flourishing even on the mountaintops. May the fruit trees flourish, sprouting up like grass in a field. May the king's name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun shines. May all nations be blessed through him and bring him praise. Bless the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does such wonderful things. Bless his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen!

Good Monday

Good Monday
Good Monday to yall. We were supposed to put rocks around the bottom of our fence this weekend (to keep dog in) but it did not happen. The wind was howling at about 30+ mph and the temp was in the mid 30’s, so we decided it could wait. We may be able to get to the worst edge tonight. This morning, I ended up leaving them securely in the house as earlier I heard them at the fence barking and went out to find 3 100+ pound dogs on the other side of the fence. I shooed them away and picked up Sterling as he was being quite aggravating to them and we all went back inside. I live 10 acres in the boonies. We have many stray and allowed to run loose big dogs in the area as well as coyotes that get pretty close. I have 2 dogs: Sunshine – a 30 pound terrier mix who is perfectly content to stay in her yard and Sterling – a 17 pound Yorkie-Poo who has the nickname of hairy Houdini as he wants to be out and about all of the time.
Knitting content: I talked with my dad Friday night (he is enjoying his socks) and he was wondering who taught me to knit. I tried to learn on my own thru a book when I was about 9 or 10, could not quite figure it out. I had an aunt that tried to teach me about a year later, did not take. When I was about 13 or so, another aunt was successful in getting me to become a knitter. I also had some instruction in a home ec class in high school. I have knitted off and on ever since then, only picking it up enough to remember my skills until 3 years ago. I picked it up as a guard against boredom (I answer technical service calls and when there are no calls I need something to occupy my time) and as therapy to keep my fingers limber for typing.

Psalm 45:1-2 My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer. You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever.
Happy Valentines Day

my av

WIP Update

WIP Update: "WIP:

Fuzzy mindless scarf – very boring, hard to make myself work on.
Sweater from bulky yarn – in the process of becoming a shawl.
Lace table cloth – may frog and start again with better yarn.
Wool shawl – a few rows farther that the last time I reported.
Baby blanket – finished.
Baby sweater – finished.
Striped sweater – do not like the way it is coming out.
Double knitting experiment – frogged.
Shell lace bookmark – frogged
Felted hot pad/oven mitt set. – Mitt waiting to be felted, one hot pad needing one more crochet around, one not started.
CHAP – halfway thru one pattern repeat, may get frogged.
As of Jan 30, 2006

I've been quiet

Quiet Howdy. I know I have been kinda quiet, but I have tried to keep up with the reading. I seem to have no real direction with my knitting right now as it seems that whatever I try to do makes my thumb hurt. I have not picked up the CHAP for a while and will probably frog it. The felted potholder I was working on at the Denton knit nite and did the crochet around is still at the same stage as the crocheting hurt worse than the knitting did (and it needs another round of crochet to be finished). I started a new easy self fringing shawl on Friday, made from the bulky yarn that was supposed to be for a sweater. I am using size 17 needles and that seems to be ok for now. So that will probably be the project I work on till it gets finished or I decide to try to work on another project.

We have been working on the house to get it ready for a super bowl party for a group from our church. So far we have put up new mini blinds in the kitchen eating area (finally got rid of the yucky green ones!!!!) and cornice board (I think that’s what it is called) that I plan to cover with fabric. I also finally hung the curtains I have had for my kitchen for a year. I think I will be rethinking this since these curtains do not seem to be what I really want and that I cannot find them any more to get more pieces. We also cleaned the carpet in 2 of the rooms (they do not look any better, but they do smell nice).

The rain this weekend was really nice. There a few of the smaller cracks that have started to swell shut, but the bigger ones still look really bad. Sterling has found a way to get thru the skirting by the back door and under the trailer and out the front, so they have not had the benefit of using the doggie door till we can get new skirting that he cannot push down. They have the barn to hide in from the rain. So last night, he dug around one the gates and got out again. When I came to work this morning, he was safely ensconced in the laundry room, by himself. When will he learn!!

Till later.

WIP Story

knitting and other odd thoughts Yesterday was a red letter day as far as knitting. At lunch time, I unexpectedly had to take the afternoon off. So after getting home, I sat and knitted all of the afternoon. And I have 3 FO to report. I had been crocheting a cat bed out of the yarn that was supposed to be hats, but stretched and fuzzed something awful when I washed it - I finished that. I have a baby sweater that has been a WIP for over 20 years; I finished the actual knitting about 2 years ago, but had never put it together. I put it together yesterday. I also have a baby blanket that I started about 15 years ago that I finished up yesterday. I even did a few rows on my bulky wool shawl that I have been working on for at least 2 years. All non frustrating stuff that can be done quietly and without much active thought.

Sweater Woes

knitting and other odd thoughtsOh woe is me, the sweater will be undone. I finished the knitting on the bulky sweater Sunday and sewed the seams last night. Then I washed it. The stitches all stretched and the seams are full of holes (not the sewing part, but the knitted part stretched out next to the sewn part). Before washing the sleeves were only 2 inches too long, now they are at least 6 inches too long. The cotton content of the yarn came out in globs. I’m thinking it will make a good shawl as it is quite soft and warm. And I so wanted a comfy sweater to wear with my jeans that was really casual. So does this mean that I can count this as a finished object from my WIP list??? And no, I will not post a picture of it.

In other news: I did all of my Christmas shopping Saturday for DH. I spent too much, but all of the things on his list were costly. But if he filled my list, he probably spent as much. As part of my day, I stopped by Simpatico and sat and knitted for about 2 hours. I also bought some Noro to give felting one more try. If this fails, I will list myself as a non-felter. After I left there, I stopped briefly at the Knitting Nook. After many more stops, I got home at about 10:00 pm. I was worn out. Sunday we put up the Christmas tree. It looks like it will be a challenge keeping the cat out of it. Before I had even finished putting things on it, he was trying to chew on the tinsel. I scooted him away from it several times, then just put him in another room for a while.

The temp in Decatur was 23 degrees Monday morning. Thankfully the water did not freeze. I think we will need to start running the heat lamp in the well head at night. I do not want a repeat of last year’s trials. I also think I will have to make yet another doggie sweater for Sterling as the one from the Wool-Ease is stretching out way too much. It is a good thing they are easy and quick to make.

2 Timothy 1:12 Because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

Sterling

Cutie Pie Sterling



Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need.

Tinking Frog

Tinking Frog

All day long, I knitted away,
Making good progress, I must say
Then one row I decided to count
Then counted again, my dread did mount
I tried to tink, but was still one shy
I thought for a while, I was going to cry
I looked back some rows, still did not see
Where that gone stitch was supposed to be
So out came the needle, my eyes were agog
As I went to visit that blasted old frog

FO Pictures

Greetings. As promised, here are the pictures of my finished stuff. The bag has been felted. I plan to run it thru one more time, once I figure out how to attach the handles better.






The next two pictures are the scarf/stole thingy I was working on last week. I gave it to our pastor’s wife.









Then you see my stylin Sterling.









I frogged the shell lace bookmark and started one that was much easier to understand what it was wanting me to do. The shell lace one will come later, but right now I do not have the desire to figure it out.

WIP Update

Good afternoon. The scarf/stole thingy is finished. Even the fringe is done. I plan to start a dog sweater in the round for Sterling. Hopefully I can cast on for it tonight. If I do not work on that, I will probably work on the raglan sleeve chunky sweater that I am almost finished with. I want to wear it this weekend, so I need to get with the program. That puts me back at only 10 WIP.

WIP: Fuzzy mindless scarf – very boring, hard to make myself work on.
Sweater from bulky yarn – halfway thru the yoke
Lace table cloth – may frog and start again with better yarn.
Socks – finished
Purse for felting – finished
Wool shawl – it is now cool enough to drag this bulky thing out and work on it.
Baby blanket (has been WIP for 5+ years)
Baby sweater (only needs seaming and buttons)
Striped sweater – do not like the way it is coming out.
Double knitting experiment – do not know where the chart is.
Scarf/stole thingy – finished
Shell lace bookmark – just started.
As of Nov 17, 2005

It is 56 degrees here today, was 35 this morning. At least today, there is hardly any wind. That makes it better.

It looks like Thanksgiving will be just DH and myself. We just bought a big screen TV (52” screen) so watching football will probably be the order of the day. I will figure out the menu this weekend when I go to the store.

Psalm 34:1-8 I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are discouraged take heart. Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together. I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me, freeing me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. I cried out to the Lord in my suffering, and he heard me. He set me free from all my fears. For the angel of the Lord guards all who fear him, and he rescues them. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who trust in him!

today

HowdyHowdy. I finally have a minute to type a line or two. Work and life have gotten in the way of knitting today. Over the weekend, Chevy (our Maine Coon mix cat that weighs 16 lbs) starting acting strange and going potty in odd places. We knew that he had a problem before with this stuff, so I got the rare joy of taking him to the vet today. He will be fine, but has a UTI. Too many $$$ later, he is fixed up and may have to be on a special diet forever. I am very thankful that he is going to be fine. My counterpart is not here today, so that meant the team lead had to answer calls while I took Chevy to the vet. Ah well, it is good for him to have to do that once in a while, helps him know what we really do.

I think I have 10 projects OTN and one in the midst of felting (it is not coming out the way I thought it would) that I should finish as much as I can sometime this week (if I ever can quit having to wash things from Chevy’s problem). My UFO list is as short as it has been since I got back into this a couple of years ago.

Proverbs 16:3 - Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.

Quick Note

knitting and other odd thoughtsJust a quick note. I have been knitting away on the bag to be felted. I only have a few rounds left on it before I can cast off. Since I am going to the Denton knit nite tonight, I will not be able to try felting till at least tomorrow. I will definitely take pictures of the before and after of this. I bought another skein of yarn for the scarf thing and will try to get it back on the needles today. I finally decided to do the shell lace bookmark, but want to finish the bag before I begin.

Isaiah 60: 11 Your gates will stay open around the clock to receive the wealth of many lands.

it was a good weekend

knitting and other odd thoughts

Good morning. I actually had knitting time this weekend. As there had been an equipment problem in DH’s section on Friday, he had to come to work Saturday evening to try and get caught up. Somehow, I still do not know how, he talked me into coming with him. So for 4.5 hours, I sat with him as he printed things, chatted and knitted. I was able to get the 4th piece done on the bulky sweater (from Knitting magazine) and the raglan yoke started. If I get some good knitting time at home, I should finish it this week.

Zechariah 4:7 “What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!’”

What Jesus did.

When I read this segment this morning, I knew I wanted to share it with you. Thank you Jesus for doing all of this for us.

Isaiah 53:1-12 - Who has believed our message? To whom will the Lord reveal his saving power? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected--a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among the people realized that he was dying for their sins--that he was suffering their punishment? He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man's grave. But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and fill him with grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of what he has experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among those who were sinners. He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners.