Summertime Bowling and a Free Weekend at Hershey Gardens « « YorkMama.com YorkMama.com

Summertime Bowling and a Free Weekend at Hershey Gardens « « YorkMama.com YorkMama.com

2KCBWDAY 4... Where Are They Now?



Today’s topic is Where are they now? We’re looking back at past projects. What actually happens to a knit/crocheted piece once it’s finished. Are gifts cherished, or shoved to the back of a wardrobe or cupboard to never see the light of day again?

As I'm sitting here trying to write this post,  I've come to realize two things.   Either 1. I don't really finish much (which is very true)  or 2. the things I do finish are never for me so I don't really know what has become of them.    

I think for this post I'm going to go super old school.  The first thing I made...ever.  Way back going on 10 years ago when I first learned to crochet and the shell stitch blanket I made.   When I only crocheted I only did afghans.   That's all my mom and my grandmother did when I was growing up.  Though I do sort of remember my grandmother making pillows and a shawl.  So when I wanted to learn to crochet my grandmother had already passed away and my mom hadn't done any of it in many years.  

Luckily for me my sister in law knew how but she basically did only one type of afghan and that was the shell stitch one.  There is no real pattern for it, just something she's been doing forever.  

My afghan is terribly sad looking now, it was sad looking right after I finished it.   I used way too big of a needle for the yarn.   It has holes in it now from dogs, kids, cats.   I can't bear to throw it out though...

Told you it was sad looking.    Even though it looks horrible and isn't terribly warm, it still  gets used alot.

So while the perfect sweater made out of  THE perfect yarn might be laying upstairs in my armoire,  its pretty safe to say this sad looking blanket gets more use than that sweater ever will. 

2KCBWDAY3.....Tidy Mind, Tidy Stitches

First off I just wanted to say how much I am enjoying participating in this year's Knit & Crochet Blog Week.   I have greatly enjoyed reading all of the new (to me) knitting & crochet blogs.   Though I have had a hard time keeping up with all of the new posts on Ravelry!

How do you keep your yarn wrangling organised?

Today's topic has been so incredibly hard for me.  I have been wrestling with weather or not I really wanted to show the world just how unorganized I am.    Then I decided if I'm going to do this I'm REALLY going to do it...so here ya go!

 

This is some of my 'good' yarn.  This  is in the living room right next to where I sit to knit.  This is usually the first stopping place for any yarn that comes in my house.   If its something that I don't have an immediate need for it stays here until I can stand to put it upstairs with the rest...though all of last year's Sheep & Wool purchases are still here in the pink & green Nantucket bag I purchased at the festival. 



These are my bags of acrylic or 'big box store' yarn .  I really have to go through this mess and deal with it.

This is only a small portion of the numerous magazines and books I have.   This is the tote where I keep the rest of my 'good' yarn and fiber. There are various hanks of malabrigo, brooks farm and others in this bin.

Finally, this is my shelf upstairs in the soon to be remodeled area.   This is the home of the remainder of my beginning knitting/crocheting days yarn stash.  All of that yarn was Red Heart and the old Walmart brand of acrylic.  When we moved into this house, I really downsized on that yarn.  I gave bags and bags of it away and this is what I have left.

 In my defense we live in a 200 year old farmhouse with only one communal closet.   While we are currently remodeling the upstairs, I have to keep my knitting stash anywhere there is room.  Taking todays pictures has really opened my eyes to how much yarn I really have. 

As a reminder if you want to read more blogs that are participating in 2KCBW, just type 2KCBWDAY3 into google and it will lead you to all of the blog post on today's topic! 



2KCBWDAY2 Skill +1UP

Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?


Sigh....This is a very hard question for me.  I honestly haven't gotten that much accomplished this year.   At least I feel that way when I see what my knitting friends and people on Ravelry get finished.   The things that I actually got finished were either for gifts or things for swaps. 

I guess I have two things that I learned how to do this year though I haven't technically finished either projects.   The first one is my Monkey sock.  

According to my Ravelry project page, I started this sock in February of 2010.  Before doing this sock I had never turned a heal before, so I guess I actually DID accomplish something this past year :)

Next would be Cole's tractor sweater.  Before doing this sweater I had never done any sort of color work.  Yeah I'd done strips but nothing like this...even though I haven't gotten really far at all on the intarsia part.   Its still more than I had done before this past year. 

Wow...so not only has this post help me realize that I did learn something new this year but it also made me dig through some unfinished knitting and make me want to get some of these projects done! 

2KCBWDAY1...A Tale of Two Yarns

Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

So I have decided to take part in the 2nd annual Knitting/Crochet Blog week.   Basically a group of bloggers will blog about the same topic each and everyday to not only help attract new readers to their blogs but for me at least, it is to help MAKE me get into the groove of blogging everyday.   I really hate that I have left this fall by the wayside.  

I have been thinking all day what my fave and least fave yarns are and really it took no time for me to visualize them in my mind.   First up....

It caught my eye last year at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.  It is a lovely skein of  yarn from Creatively Dyed Yarn of 100% superwash  merino. 

Obviously what caught my eye was the breathtaking color of this skein.   This picture just does not do it justice.   One of my friends said it best that day,  she said its like watermelon on acid and that's still exactly how I think of it.   I still have not brought myself to ball this lovely skein up and actually make something with it.  I'm still searching for the perfect project. 

My second one is another that I snagged at the sheep & wool show.  My first show to be exact.   It was about 4 or 5 years ago.  Ryan took me, it was before I had met my knitting group and really didn't have any knitting friends.  It was even before Ravelry!   I love this yarn but I hate it too.  My friends think I'm nuts. 
It is from Brooks Farm and it is their Primero 100% kid mohair.

Again it is beautiful yarn. I still enjoy getting it out of its bin and petting it.   I even just recently caked it up and intended to use it for my Bakerfield. That is where we get to the part I can't stand...it sheds.  Really bad.  I can't stand it.   It tickles my nose, my eyes, my entire face.  Then it feels like its in my mouth and getting stuck in my throat. I'm very upset about it because it is lovely.   At the time  I purchased this I was a very inexperienced in my yarn buying...at that point I shopped for yarn soley at Walmart or A.C. Moore (not that there is anything wrong with that)  I was just unaware at the time that of course kid mohair is going to shed...alot. 

So there you have it.   Wonder what lovelies I shall find in a few short weeks at MDS&W???  I can't wait to find out!!!

Springtime!!...Sorta...

We had some gorgeous spring like weather this past weekend, though you couldn't tell it now if you were to look out my kitchen window.   It has been miserable and raining  for the past few days.   Actually,  I don't remember what it was like yesterday because I have been sick vegging on the couch.  The boys oh so lovingly shared their head cold with me. 

Anyway....as I was saying while it was beautiful out this weekend it was also a little chilly but we decided to go out and enjoy the sunshine anyway...

 

After I wrote my last post about my latest knitting project, I realized I was doing it totally wrong.  After frogging it 3 different times and consulting with various knitting friends from not only a different state but a different country as well I finally got it figured out after a quick phone call to my dear sweet friend  Heather.   I can safely say I don't think I would have ANY completed knitting projects if it weren't for her :)   Now that I KNOW  how to do it, I don't understand what was so hard for me to understand...one of those brain lapses I guess.  I had planned to work more on it yesterday while I was home sick (Logan was in school and my mom kept Cole)  while I had grand plans for my afternoon to recuperate I ended up sleeping away the day,  I REALLY didn't feel good.  I'm hoping to get working on it tonight while I watch some episodes of Dr. Who that I have on my DVR.

Knitting Updates

I'm not sure what my problem has been the past few days but I'm just in a funk and just run down.  Not sure if its from the time change or if I'm getting the cold the boys are now just getting over. 


We are now just starting week 7 on P90X. So far so good. Though I am feeling a little burnt out from it right now but I think that's just all part of the rundown feeling that I just mentioned.  I can't believe we are that far along in the program though.   I can really see a difference in Ryan, I can feel a difference in myself but I'm not sure if its noticeable to anyone else.   I can feel a difference in how things are fitting me and just how my body feels. 

So I was just looking through my camera to see if I had any good pictures to include with this post.   Cole must have been using my camera because I sure don't remember taking this picture...

That would be a picture of dinner and the dog toy that he's been carryin around lately along with my stack magazines/letter writing paper.  I guess he liked his dinner so much that night he wanted to remember it?  Who knows with that child.

I have been happily working away on my Bakersfield shawlette.  Its still going well, I'm getting a little nervous about the size though.  I'm hoping it will block out bigger than what its looking now. I tried my best to get some pictures of it....my model was very cooperative though....

I'm hoping to finish it up soon as well as my dream in color shrug that I just have to put a few finishing touches on. 

The boys have finished playing their video game and we are getting ready to find a movie to watch!

Long Time No Post

Yeah it happened again.  I sort of have gotten sidetracked and haven't posted for awhile. Sorry about that....Things have been a little crazy here but I'm starting to get a handle on it all.  If its any help I just realized I have started three different posts in the last month but never finished them.  So I at least TRIED! 

 So far so good with the P90X.  We have just entered our 6th week.  Its a very hard workout.  I knew it was going to be hard but wasn't prepared for how hard and how much motivation and discipline would be needed to do it.  Luckily I have someone doing it with me that MAKES me do it.  He pisses me off ALOT about it but I'm glad he's here to push me and make me get off my butt and just do it.    If he wasn't I would have given up along time ago!  I can't say I've noticed much difference in the scale but I can feel a difference in my body.  I really wish I would have taken my measurements before we started working out.

When we first started doing the program, I would seriously finish and shower and fall right asleep.  I had all of these other things I wanted to do like blog and knit (though not at the same time :) but I just couldn't seem to keep my eyes open.  Now its not so bad, for about the past week or two I've been staying up I finally got a baby gift finished for a friend.  Hopefully the baby can finish it before he graduates from college...I would post a picture of it all finished but I want to keep it a surprise and its not totally finished yet anyway.  Don't worry, I'll post a pic after she gets it.  I have finally started working on something for ME! It doesn't seem like its going to take long to finish up either.  It is the bakersfield shawlette pattern.  I love it. Its been such an easy, fun knit.   I was trying to get a picture of it but my camera isn't the best, hopefully I can get a decent picture when its daylight. 

When I haven't been P90Xing it, sleeping or knitting I've been reading.  Oh how I love my kindle.  Seriously it is one of the best things that I've ever received.  I have read 15 books since Christmas.  Its awesome.  Right now I'm reading Divine by Mistake (Partholon) it is very good so far.  I also read The Hunger Games which was really really good but then I went and read the reviews of the second and third books, I caught some spoilers which made me mad so I can't read them right now.  I do plan on it though soon.  I can say since getting the Kindle I have stared reading alot of things I probably wouldn't have otherwise.  Seriously, Amazon should give me a job because I tell everyone I see how awesome it is.  I feel like a walking advertisement. 

As you've probably noticed from the pictures, we got together with fil and his wife and went bowling last weekend.  It was fun, its the first time Ryan and I had been bowling since before we were married and the first time ever for Cole.  Logan had been once when he was about 3. 

For now we are on a break from sports though baseball will be starting shortly.  We just went bat shopping last weekend as well.  Logan is excited because this year he moves up to 'real' baseball instead of Tball.  Hopefully he likes it.  There will be alot more waiting and standing around than last year, the games will be longer too.