Knitting, Sci-fi and other stuff...

My life has been a bit of a zoo.  I've been meaning to post, really I have.  I'm now on evening shift full time.  So I actually have less time to do things.  I miss my weekend boys, but not the strange schedule during the week.  Having a routine is very nice. I joined Nerd Wars back in October.  I'm playing for Team Enterprise.  That's my big news and why I have had no time at all.  Its been really great and fun.  I haven't completed as many challenges as I had hoped, but I still have obligations outside of this crazy knitting thing.  So back in round one I did: A potholder for Neelix: A DNA dishcloth:  aaaannnnddddd:   drum roll please...... My First Ever large garment like project.... A top for Seven of Nine: I'm still pretty smitten with it.  I made it in two weeks too!  It was great to have some motivation. Round two started the first of November and thus far I have completed two challenges and am ...

     Okay, seriously wasn't it just June?  I don't even remember my birthday... Hope I got yarn.  Anyway, to say it's been a busy summer would be an understatement.  I got an order to produce 60 dishcloths by the second week of December.  I think I'm about halfway now.  That's been eating up my free knitting time.  I've also been working all hours.  But today is my last weekend!  I am transferring to evening shift on Monday.  I am getting really excited now that its actually happening.  I put in my request in either April or May.  I have been around long enough to know that one cant get excited until its written and actually happening.  So what am I doing, well baking my own goodbye treats of course.  Sad yes, what can I say.  I'm the baker.      So lets re-hash my projects.  I think I left off on my first Vineyard.  Which is ironic because I just finished another one...

     To say I've been busy lately would be an understatement.  Still working evenings on top of the two nights I agreed to and my normal weekends.  I've also been getting cake orders again.  I love to bake and everyone at work seems to think my scratch cakes are special somehow.  Baking I guess is genetic memory too.  So awhile back I established that I would bake for a nominal fee.  I did the goodbye cake for a co-worker who is transferring to another site.  I am about to finish an anniversary cake for another co-worker.  Yesterday I frantically made brownies for a birthday.  I like to stay busy but this may be getting ridiculous.  Okay on to knitting.  I finished Vinyard.  It looks horrible but, I finally figured out the pattern (on the last repeat).  I plan to try that one again, hopefully with more success this time.  I also finished the baby hat, that one I am super happy with.  Now I am ...

     Kind of lonely, my cats are visiting their grandparents.  I have nothing fuzzy to cuddle with, the mice don't really count since they don't hold still very well.  Anyway that's neither here nor there.  I was thinking on my drive home from work about the history of knitting in my family.  Both my grandmothers knit and crocheted.  My paternal grandmother still does both which is what got me back into knitting the Christmas before last.  My mom used to knit like crazy for myself and brother.  She evidently did alot of consignment knitting before I remember too for some extra income.  (My parents are dairy farmers.)  I have several aunts who also used to knit and one who still does.  My great-aunts still knit as far as I know, so needless to say it's a pretty rich family history.  I was officially taught to knit when I was 10 or 11.  I distinctly remember knitting a dishcloth, maybe two.  Then a pink s...

I've put the shrug aside for a bit since its getting to big to knit at work.  In the mean time, since I need to knit to stay sane, I have finished one dishcloth and started another.  The first was Lizard Ridge, a pattern I found on Ravelry of course and the second is Vineyard, also a Ravelry find.  Vineyard is also in French which threw me off at first because those directions are listed first on the pattern.  I am finding that pattern a bit tricky, mostly because I didn't read all the way through the pattern before I started... The pattern itself is a 16 row repeat so that is on my pile and not in my work bag.  So I am also working on a baby hat.  An exorbitant amount of people are preggers at work so I'm trying to get a head start on my signature gift, or at least its going to be my signature gift at this rate.  This has got to be the most projects I've ever had on needles at once and I defiantly find it disconcerting.  Lets count for fun: ...

     So problem solved!  I want to thank TECHknitting for the answer to the separating stands issue.  I did a random Google search with the hope that someone else has had the same problem I had and had the solution for it.  To say I found a gold mine in the TECHknitting blog is an understatement.  For any knitters new and old I highly recommend this blog.  There are excellent written instructions and wonderful illustrations that actually help.  I could write and entire post praising this blog...  It's going to be my go to for any issues I have in the future  Thank you TK!!! http://techknitting.blogspot.com/ Check it out its beyond awesome.

Work has been a bit nutty lately.  I've pretty much lived there for the last three weeks.  I finally have tonight off thanks to a scheduling error.  So in more entertaining news; I have finished the Cable and Eyelet hat!  It also fits my tiny head, which is great news for me. I am quite pleased with the outcome.  I used only the one skein, so I have another one to do something else with or another one of these, whichever.  As I have stated earlier I found the Baby Llama to be on the light side for a worsted and I hold to that.  I wont be using this yarn for typical worsted projects again.  I'll probably substitute it for a sport(DK, whatever)  I still do like its softness though and the llama smell comes through just enough to be fun.  I started another project of course.  Dream Shrug is the pattern name.  I am using Trendsetter Dune.  So far, I have very mixed feelings about this yarn.  It is double stranded but no...

There, I couldnt get this to work earlier.  So this is the Elsebeth Lavold Baby Llama I was ranting about earlier, still loving it.  The hat is going slowly since I'm only getting to it on my breaks at work.  Its that whole sleeping when I'm not working thing.  Anyway, I wish computers had a feelovision setting, this yarn is beyond soft.

Several people just left the company, either for medical reasons or personal reasons, anyway, with three people down on top of the shortages that already existed we're missing like five or six people right now.  I've been covering vacations on night shift and now, I'm helping to cover evening shift as well, so the whole point is that I'm not getting a day off until next Monday, so May basically...  I'm not really complaining I want the money, Its just that its a combination of all three shifts, so when I'm not at work I'm going to be sleeping.  Which means not alot of time for knitting or my shows.... oh well, at least when this is done, I'll have a little extra cash to blow on some really nice yarn!  I'm thinking some Madelinetosh.  Or maybe I'll go out to Jamesville and check out the Yarn Cupboard, they have Spud and Chloe. 

So, I did it.  I got myself a blog, because I think someone out there might care about my crazy life.....  Anyway, I'm going to dive right in.  I'm working on a fun project right now.  Its one of the Hermione hats, Cable and Eyelet Hat by Jackie Lauseng.  I'm using Elsebeth Lavold Baby LLama and so far I am loving this yarn.  I do find it thin for a worsted, probably because its 2 ply, but the softness is worth it all the way.