Insanity

I know I've said it before but...  What is wrong with me??

Because I'm too lazy to wind the yarn for the project that I really want to make, I decided to start knitting another blanket.  I'm calling it the Insanity Blanket because, obviously, I've gone completely insane.  

I'm using scrap fingering weight yarn and US2 needles.  Have I mentioned I've gone completely insane??

I've based the pattern on Knit Pick's Hue Shift, but I've made a few modifications of my own.  I'm still using two colors per mitered square, but there's no plan for what colors come next.  I'll use one skein until it runs out and change the contrasting color for each square.  I'm also going to knit the entire blanket in one piece rather than in Hue Shift's four pieces that have to be grafted together.  I'm also using a differnt number of cast on stitches since mine is using fingering and Hue Shift calls for worsted. 

I also plan for this blanket to fit over a queen size bed.  

And all of this because I'm too lazy to wind one skein of yarn.  Good grief!

Yes, I'm pretty sure I've gone completely insane.

Meanwhile, spring has sprung here in Virginia and I've been thankful to spend some time outdoors.

Time outdoors with Hayden.  She loves her trampoline! 

She turned four recently and I can not get over how much more skilled she is this year than last.  Last year she couldn't figure out how to pedal any of her riding things and this year,  well, let's just say, Nana is taking up running again in an effort to keep up with her on that bike.  

Oh, and she blew out her candles on the first try this year instead of just spitting on the cake!  My little grandbaby is growing up so fast!

On the needles

Wow! And I thought last week's knitting update was boring.  I have definitely moved into summer/work knitting & blogging mode.

On the needles 04/25/17

Nothing has changed. Nothing.  I'm still knitting on my Just Knit It shawl, as seen in the forefront.  Off to the left, you can see that I'm still knitting mitered squares and way back there, shoved behind the computer is the striped, as yet to be determined, shawl or scarf.

The only thing that's different is my Netflix view.  I finished binge watching Shetland & have started on GirlBoss.  Are you watching it?  Sophia, the main character is a nightmare.  As far as I can tell, she's a self-absorbed, bratty, little shoplifter who starts an online business.  If I didn't have my own Etsy shop, I doubt I'd find the show the least bit interesting but....  I have to admit, despite how I feel about her constant shoplifting, I'm entertained by Sophia's handling of difficult customer service issues and how she deals with the pull of business vs. family & friends time/relationships.  Maybe I'll even learn something from the show.  Time will tell.

Join me & other knitters over at Unraveled Wednesday.

World's Most Boring Blog Post

This blog post may truly qualify for the world's most boring post.  Most boring ever.

I've been working a lot of hours this week and haven't been able to get much knitting in, nor photos taken.  My mitered square blanket stats are currently:

Total squares needed:  384

Total squares knit:  240

Total squares remaining:  144

The weird thing about it is, even while I'm bitching and moaning about how long it's taking me to complete this blanket and how badly I want it to be finished, all I can think about is knitting another one using Knit Pick's new Stroll Gradient.  I'm also slightly obsessed with the idea of buying all the blues and knitting another Find Your Fade, but that's an idea for another day.

And for a bit of color...

Paris in the spring, courtesy of rareinterloart.co.uk

Okay, so that's not my actual view walking into work each day, but it's close.



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Photo Friday

Photo Friday... sort of like Wordless Wednesday.

Mitered Squares Blanket

Between struggling with the decision of what to knit next and my over-flowing containers of scrap yarn, I decided to pull out the mitered square blanket.  I hadn't touched it in ages yet I was so close to finishing it.  Or so I thought.

Can you identify any of the yarns?

I should never have picked it back up because I immediately decided it needed to be at least four squares wider and three longer.  I'm no longer 'so close' to finishing it.

And for the record, it's physically impossible for me to be wordless.

The Wild Side

A few more squares have been added to the mitered square "thing" but not enough to make it photo worthy.  So, instead of knitting pictures, here's a few of the wild life at my house.

A late afternoon visit by our neighborhood deer.

Mr. Bunny,

It's no wonder I can't grow anything.  The other day, there were six rabbits (that I saw) in our yard at one time.

And then there's this.

I'm totally freaked out by this animal den.  I'm convinced the black panther lives in there.

You'd think I'd be more worried about the wasps & hornets building nests on my front porch, but nope!  Black panthers actually worry me much more.

The other day, I was outside when a thunder storm was brewing & I took a few pictures of it rolling in.

The pictures were taken only moments apart & show how quickly the storm was forming.  I like the contrast in colors.

And, to take my mind off black panthers living in my yard....  wind chimes.

 I love these wind chimes!  We were at the beach on 9/11/2001 & brought these back with us.  They've hung on my porch, year round, ever since.

What kind of wildlife do you have at your house?

Summer Shame

In the cold light of day, this is what my summer looks like.

Summers should be a time for relaxation but instead of chilling out by the pool, I go to work.  I really do love the job, but the hours are long.  And daily.  So, during my short time not at work, I have time to put something away or knit another row.  Can you guess what I choose?

So, let's pretend this is a nice picture of the progress I'm making on my newest mitered square "thing."

So far, I've knit 62.75 squares.  At the moment, it's ten squares across so it's still table runner size.  I'm hoping I'll have the attention span to turn it into a blanket.  So far, so good.  I really do love knitting mitered square after mitered square from left over bits of yarn in many, many colors.  It never gets boring.  Okay, let's be honest.  It rarely gets boring.

What else is spread all over my desk?  Coffee & a computer of course.  There's the normal officey stuff like a printer, calendar, pencil holder...  There's the yellow lace poncho, the white pi shawl, both still waiting to be blocked; the Fair Isle scarf still waiting to be kitchnered then blocked, the rainbow chevron scarf which has been delegated to the UFO pile and a couple of headbands waiting to be photographed & listed in my Etsy shop.  There's a pile of Prisma Color markers, baby wipes & many, many how-to & art journaling suggestion books.  Four art journals, each of a different size & style because, well, let's face it - I'm indecisive.  (Have I mentioned how much fun I'm having with art journaling?  It's part of the reason I'm only 62 squares into the mitered square thing.) There's a heat gun & a box of Bandaids.   There's the vase of beautiful carnations one of my writing group kids gave me, as well as the awesome bracelet one of them made.  If you look closely, you'll see a teeny, tiny box that a friend made with her new laser cutter. There are multiple packages & flavors of crackers & a half a bag of potato chips.  There's a jar of peppermint sticks.  The crackers tend to be my lunch & the peppermint sticks tend to serve as dinner.  And there's my two clear "work bags."  Anything I take into work needs to be in a clear container, even my cup.  One work bag contains a couple of small knitting projects for those rare down times at work when not much is going on.  The other is my "purse" & contains all the normal things like gum, lipstick, Tylenol, an ipod (work allows me to listen to my ipod) and the chargers for my ipod, Kindle (I can read during down time too!) & phone.  Notice I didn't include a wallet.  Wallets are not allowed although debit/credit cards are.  It's a long story.  Rather than keeping my debit card in my work bag, I keep it in my i.d. holder which is attached to my key ring to ensure I don't forget to take it with me.  It's frowned upon to show up for work without your i.d.

Well, that's all for today.  I have to go in search of my key ring/i.d holder.  Notice it wasn't there on the desk.  Hmmm....  Where could I have left it?  I hope I find it quickly because I need to leave for work.

Champions!

Wow!  I've been horrible about blogging.  I blame many things; laziness, an obsession over my recent knitting projects, and my son's bowling & work schedules.  The boy child recently got his first job working as a mechanic at a bowling alley.  He's in Heaven!  The glitch is, he still doesn't have his driver's license & he doesn't get off work until 1 a.m.  And the bowling alley is an hour away from home.  Which means, I am surviving on about 3 hours of sleep at night since we don't get home  until 2:00 or 2:30 a.m. and that %$#@%^ loud, chirpy, morning-loving-bird starts making a racket at 6 a.m.  By 6:30 a.m., the woodpecker has joined in and any hope for additional sleep is lost.

I've also been spending a lot of time watching my son bowl recently.  The Youth YBA season was winding down & there have been lots of tournaments & end of the season hoop-la to attend.  Besides the regular schedule of bowling 4 days a week, there was the awards banquet for Zack's regular youth league.  Zack brought home several trophies, lots of patches (so many that for the first time, I'm thankful that he nails them to his bedroom wall instead of asking me to sew them onto something) and a ring.

Zack was presented with the ring for rolling an 820 set which was a youth record breaker.  It's a really nice ring, sterling silver & has his name, date & score engraved on the inside.  Sadly, he didn't get to hold his place as a record breaker for long.  Another local youth, Austin Washington (hope I have his name correct) rolled an 825 this past week.  I'm not positive  he rolled it during sanctioned league play though, so it may not count as an official score.

Zack's travel league also came to an end, with, wait for it.....  AMF Sunset becoming league CHAMPIONS!  AMF never wins, a Bowl America team always does, but not this year!  I'm so proud of the kids!  The last two games of the season were quite tense & the kids handled that stress much better than the parents!  Way to go kids!

It was a bit of a bitter sweet victory for us though.  It marked the end of Zack's youth bowling career.  He still has the State tournament in June & the Jr. Gold tournament in July, but this past weekend was the end of his youth team play.  My baby is growing up!

Meanwhile, amongst all the bowling, I've been getting a little knitting done.

I finished the mitered square afghan.

Pardon the messy desk.  After weaving in all those blasted little ends, I realized that I didn't have a decent place to photograph it.  I'm quite happy with the way it turned out and I used up lots of little scrap balls, although I probably still have enough to make another.  Shhh.....  don't let me have that thought for a while.  I have other projects I need to focus on instead of making another afghan.  Anyway, it was knit with fingering weight wool on #2 needles.  Fifteen rows of eight squares, and each square contains 440 stitches for a grand total of 52,800 stitches.  Hmm, sort of wish I hadn't done the math!

Yesterday I finished a chevron scarf.  It was knit with Patons Kroy Socks & a #4 needle.  I've said it before & I'll say it again, for "cheap" craft store yarn, it doesn't get much better than Patons Kroy.  I used 2 full skeins and I still need to weave in the ends & block it.  I have one skein left & I'm trying to decide if I should knit matching fingerless gloves or a hat.

And to prove that I have done something other than knit & hang out in bowling alleys,

The spinach is starting to come up although it still looks more like rows of weeds than spinach.

I also got a few tomato plants planted.