Ketchup.... er... Catch-up.

Hello! Classes are over for the semester and FINALLY I have a minute or two to stretch and breathe. So let me catch you all up on whats new in Jen's World:

✔ Straight A's this last semester.

✔ I received a letter of commendation for outstanding academic performance in the Spring Semester 2014 as well as my name appearing on the official Dean's List. (Go Me!)

✔ I achieved my second certification when I passed the Microsoft 98-349 MTA: Windows Operating System Fundamentals exam. (YAY!)

✔ My dog Emma has had two surgery's this year: The first was to remove tissue from a cyst on her back that burst and get her teeth cleaned and her dangling dew claw (that I always feared would get caught and rip off!) removed. That surgery went fine, but then about two weeks ago Emma tore her ACL and had to have knee surgery. She is still recovering from this - but is doing well!

 ✔ Was told 2½ weeks ago that I am losing my job. (boooooo!) So I have been shooting applications and resumes all over the place. Also not sleeping and crying inappropriately. Yup - I am just a stressball!

✔ Partly because I neglected myself and partly because I just want to get healthier, I rejoined WeightWatchers online about two weeks ago and have been trying to eat healthier, exercise more, and in general take care of myself  a little better.

So  - I have been a busy bee with work and school and dog surgeries, and now that the semester is over I am searching for new employment and hoping I will gain a job that is positioned closer to the IT world than the retail environment I have been existing in. (I don't think screaming at my laser printer counts as "IT".)

I didn't get much time for fiber fun over the last 6 months, but am slowly getting my knitting mojo back and will post about that soon. (But let me say how MUCH I missed the knitting needles!)

Hope everyone out there is happy and healthy!

This crazy life

Oh blog. I neglect you so! It's been a little over a month since my last blog post and I have had a lot going on in my life. Lets start with the yarn!

So I have been pecking away at night on my Nemo's Comfort blanket. I am up to about 47 inches across and it is about 80 inches in length. This thing is a beast! I have been working on it off and on for over a year. Each color is three rows - and each row is around 240 double crochets on a size H hook. This is in cotton yarn so it will be machine washable and dry-able. But I seriously need to decide where it is going to go so I know what size it will be!

Other things in my life includes be taking a nice tumble down the steps to my basement. THAT was unpleasant! Let me start this story by saying this has been an insanely cold and snowy winter. The day I took my tumble was another really cold day and we had some good snow out. We came back from the grocery store and I was wearing thick winter boots and my thick winter coat and my boots were covered in snow. I was carrying two 12 packs of soda in one arm and one 12 pack in the other. My wet boot hit the painted step and next thing I know I was laying half way down the steps in some serious pain! I had bruises on my butt and back like you would not believe and motion in my neck was limited for about two weeks. I knew where each stair hit! So that was pretty awful. It took me a bit to get back to human after that, and I still had my full time job and four classes at school to contend with while trying to recover. Needless to say I was pretty tired, and a little cranky to boot!

Here is a picture of our backyard the weekend I took my tumble. We had a pretty good snowstorm the night before and my Husband has been blowing paths in our yard so the dog can access her zone in the back where she takes care of her doggy needs. We have several feet of snow pack right now and it's just been a challenge this year to function!

This past week I had my final exam for my PowerPoint class. I am so happy to have that off my plate! I actually found the classwork fairly simple - I like PowerPoint and don't think it's all that challenging to use so I enjoyed the class for the most part. But now that it is over I feel like I will have better balance in my life. That's one less class to attend every week, one less weekly quiz to study for, one less text I have to read and turn in an assignment for every week.... So I am pretty excited to have just a touch more free time.

School overall has been going very well and I am pleased with my progress in my classes and the roads I am forging into my next career path.

And that is about it for my world right now. School. Job. Homework. A little bit of yarn. A little bit of sleep. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Malabrigo Mittens

I finally have a finished project to share! I haven't had a ton of knitting time lately, but Winter is here (it's snowing out RIGHT now) and my hands have already started to crack and bleed, so mittens seem like a good thing to make. Here are the details:

 

Project name: Malabrigo Mittens
Pattern Name: Wool-Ease Mittens by Stephanie Taylor (A free pattern on Ravelry)
Yarn: 85.3 yards (82 grams) of Malabrigo Chunky Yarn
Needles: US 10 (6.0 mm)
Size made: Large

I have made mittens from this pattern several times now. It's a great stash buster and the mittens work up pretty darn quick. It's just hard to go wrong with a chunky mitten! I know knitting a heavy wear item like a mitten from Malabrigo is just asking for it. I suspect these guys will look like pilled up messes before the winter is over, but for the time being I am enjoying these soft and warm mits!. Some times you just have to go for it!

Garden Hoe

Slowly I am getting my plants purchased and planted (or potted - as the case may be.) I have NO idea what this plant is, and I know I must have been wrecked when I finished planting as I recycled all the tags from the planting I did this weekend. Normally I place all my tags in a baggy and label them, so I know what I put in each year. Not this time. I pretty much showered and then drooled on myself after I finished for the day.

The planters are special to me as my brother made them for me. Recycled siding with cedar tops and bottoms. Love how they look and I put them out every year. It's a garden tradition - and I just love them.

 

This less than stellar shot is an "after shot" is of my peony bed. I pulled all the rotten old wood chips out, surrounded the bed with Salvia (Which I know the hummingbirds are attracted to) and Dusty Miller on the corners by the solar lights. It think it's one of my best gardens yet! The white Dusty Miller seems to glow when the solar lights turn on. Very pretty. Can't wait for the Salvia to take root and pop. Not to mention the Peonies. So very happy it's spring and the flowers are popping out!

And here is one tuckered out Emma. She had fun racing around the yard with my empty pots and tags. She is just the best garden companion. ☺

Another Sheep(ish) Hooker

Project Name: Another Sheep(ish) Hooker
Pattern Name: n/a (Just Double Crochet)
Yarn: Caron Vickie Howell Sheep(ish) 2 skeins = 334.0 yards (305.4m) in Magenta(ish)
Hook: 10.0 (N) hook
Size: 72 inches x 5.5 inches
Love: ♥♥♥♥

You can find my Ravelry Project Notes HERE.

More stash busting and lunchtime crocheting. I held two strands of this yarn together and chained 12 stitches, then worked double crochet until I ran out of yarn. The last one I made was really warm and I found myself wearing it all the time. (January in Minnesota = Lots of knitwear!) Very pleased with this. It worked up fast and even though it's a holey stitch the scarf is still very warm. Can't wait to wear this!

Sort of Afghan

Project Name: Sort Of Afghan
Pattern Name: Stratford Circle Afghan by Lion Brand Yarn
Yarn: Patons Rumor 5 skeins = 420.0 yards (384.0m) in Colorway Hibiscus Heather

Hook: 8.0 mm (L)
Size: About three feet across - Lap blanket size
Love: ♥♥♥ - Medium Love. I like the pattern - but I needed A LOT more size for this to be useful for humans

You can find my Ravelry Project Notes HERE.

This was a stash buster for me. I had these 5 skeins of Rumor yarn in my stash and I wanted something different to work on at lunch - and this is what that turned into.

They no longer make this yarn so I couldn't order more to add to the size of this. It was a bit splitty and shed A LOT, but it also hid my oops well because is was a furry yarn. (Part Alpaca!) It also kept my lap very warm while I worked on it. Nice since it has been bitter cold here for the last week.

I intend for this to be used for my Cat Izzi in her cat bed. She has bad knee's so we have a pet heating pad in the top bed of her Kitty Tower, and she loves it when we put a blanket over her and she can curl up in the warmth. This will be a better size than a human afghan and will look a little better too!

I really liked this pattern. It was free from Lion Brand.com and it was a great beginner pattern for a crochet blanket.

The Sheep(ish) Hooker

Project Name: Sheep(ish) Hooker
Pattern Name: N/A (An improvised Crochet Scarf)
Yarn: Caron Vickie Howell Sheep(ish), 2 skeins = 334.0 yards (305.4m)
Hook: 10.00mm (N)
Size:6.5" x 54"
Love: ♥♥♥♥♥ - Full of Love and had to keep it for myself!

You can find my Ravelry Project Notes HERE.

I am in love with the Extended Single Crochet stitch and can't seem to stop using it in crochet projects. I chained 12 stitches and worked this scarf in (what else?) extended single crochet with two strands of yarn held together on a N (10.00 mm) hook. Fast, furry and fabulous! I thought it might be a charity scarf when I started it, my hesitation being the wool content. I try to donate machine washable and dryable items. When I finished I tried it on and did NOT want to take it off! It's super warm and just a snuggler of a scarf. LOVE IT!

You will notice my dog is doing a lot of modeling this week. I still look a bit like warmed over death so I am employing her talents for modeling my knitwear until I can get my self put back together. And since it is January and Minnesota - we have pretty much no daylight at this point. One day I will make a lightbox for taking knitwear photos, but until that day it's too much flash and a dog model! ;)

Let it snow!

Oh the weather outside is frightful... but my dog loves it! My hubby ran her around in the backyard while it was still coming down full force. I would be shocked if we aren't at almost a foot of snow at this point. And it's still coming down. It looks like we could get about 15 inches when it finally stops. THAT is a lot of snow!

I am happy it hit today instead of Monday - but I am still going to have to drive to work on some pretty yucky roads. Not. Fun. I am sure I will wonder, in the morning, when I am clearing huge piles of snow off our truck, why I live in Minnesota. But for today - snug in my house with candles lit and the snow dropping down - it's quite lovely.

And maybe this will kick-start my Christmas Spirit! I have been feeling a bit Grinchy, so this might help.

And now I must go and shovel. (Score one more for the Grinch!)

Plomo Shmomo - Another Cowl!

Project Name: Plomo Shmomo
Pattern Name: Improvised (Just a seed stitch)
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn: Rasta in 43 Plomo (1 Skein = 90 Yards)
Needle: US 15 - 10.0 mm
Size: Unblocked size = 7 inches deep with a 27 inch circumference.
Love:  ♥♥♥♥♥ Full love on this one!

Find my Ravelry Pattern notes HERE.

I LOVE this cowl. It's hard not to Love all things Malabrigo. And Rasta is one of my favorite yarns. Fat and happy - it knits up quick and it makes your fingers happy to have them rubbing on it with every stitch.  Even Emma giver her approval on this. Two Paws up!

The yarn for this was a gift from my hubby. He went to a Historical Society Event and came home with a ball of Rasta for me. I told him I would take that over flowers any day!

Oops! I guess your a blanket now

 

You know how you grab a random ball of yarn out of your stash and think you will quick make a charity scarf? Well that's what I started here and it just sort of exploded on me and turned into a blanket I cannot part with. This is crocheted out of Paton's Divine and JoAnn's Angel Hair yarn (see more details on how much, etc on my Ravelry Project Page) and it is fluffy and light and just wonderful to curl up under. I have been rather obsessed with it and knocked this out in about 10 days. My wrist is none to happy with me, but I can curl up under my new blanket while I complain about it!

 

Bonus that I got 8 large balls of yarn out of my stash by making this as well. (Woot woot!) I crocheted this with a size (P) crochet hook and it was just under 1000 yards when I finished. I curled up under it last night while watching Bar Rescue and it was really warm but really light weight. Just love it!

 

Already I am looking at my stash and wondering what I can whip into a blanket next!

i said a knit knot the knitty the knitty to the knitknit knot

 

I finished a little shawlette! It's the "Just Knit it!" pattern on Ravelry by Susan Ashcroft of Stitchnerd Designs. It was given out free during the Olympics and is now a pay pattern. Super cute. Super easy. And I got to stashbust on this (mostly) which is super awesome!

 

I knit this out of mochi and Sheep(ish). For the edge I ended up doing a row of single crochet all the way around the entire thing in gray. Then I went down to the lower two sides (not the neck side) and did a row of double crochet all the way across in the mochi (colored) yarn. I was going to go back and frame it all in with gray again - but I loved how it looked as is - so I stopped.

It is the perfect length and width. I can use it to wrap around my shoulders if I am wearing a dress - or wrap it around my neck like Emma is wearing it below with a jacket in the winter for super snowy day warmth. The mochi and the sheep(ish) went together like a dream and it is just squishy and so warm! I really enjoyed working on it!

 



Nice to have a WIP out of my Queue on Ravelry. I have had start-itis lately. Like RAGING start-itis. It's been killer. I am bored with items I have started already and want to do something New and exciting! Fickle knitter am I! So yay for getting something finished! Now on to the next!

FINISHED! Noro Shawlette!

I finished another project I have had on my needles for a few months. My Noro Shawlette which I started back in March. This is a free pattern on Ravelry that i have made several times called 22.5 Degrees by Martina Behm. Very simple, very functional and just wonderful!

I knit this from most of two balls of Noro Silk Garden Lite I had in my stash. This yarn had SO many bad splits and joins in it that I actually cut out a color join at one point. It made me a little hostile at Noro, but it's hard to be pissed off when the results are so pretty.

A shawl in the bush is worth????

Here it is blocking out. I soak it in Eucalan for about 20-30 minutes, squeeze it, roll it in a towel and then pin it to the mat to air dry. I only used about a dozen pins on this one - I wasn't trying to aggressively block it - I just wanted it to dry in a nice shape.

I love this pattern and am very happy with my finished product!

It's Fugly and it's Finished!

I HAVE FINISHED MY FUGLY BLANKET AND I LOVE IT!

This took me four months to hook up and it was a real learning experience. It was really fun to just grab a ball out of my scrap bin and add it onto the growing blanket. I methodically weighed each scrap and ball on my handy scale and recorded that on note cards to enter onto my project page on Ravelry. My yardage ended up being 2620.1 yards although that is a bit of a guestimate since most of my scraps did not have ball bands, but I think most cotton yarns have similar weights and yardage per gram - so I am pretty comfy with my guestimate. (You can read the list with all the weights and stuff on my project page on Ravelry.)

Sometimes I would try and place colors next to each other - and sometimes I would "need to work with pink" and would just add pink yarn where ever it landed. I started out thinking I would just use up my scrap bin, but I ended up running out pretty quick, so I found myself crocheting wash cloths on my lunch hour and then going home that night and hooking the rest of the ball onto the blanket!

Emma enjoyed me placing a blanket out on the grass for her and she had some nice rolling around on it. Any time I lay out a knitting/crochet project she has to come over and lay down on it. It's funny. I appreciate her being so kind to my knitwear though. She only ran off with one hat and no damage was done. And she's just the cutest little model!

I did a test run for possible future picnic's and the size is really good. I can sit here and have a nosh with Emma no problem. I think my hubby could even squeeze in! Nice! :)

Here's a shot of the denim blue border in single crochet. I think I did 6 rounds but it might just be five. I have a hard time counting rows still and I didn't track this as I went. I just added rows until it told me it was done. The corners have three single crochet into the corner stitch for the turns. I think a darker border would probably look better (in hindsight) but this color is more pet hair forgiving - so I call it a win.

There is also a little bit of pucker from my border - but not enough to really bug me. I suspect going from Extended Single Crochet to Single Crochet may have been part of the problem here - but I like the slightly denser fabric around the edge of the blanket.

I did crochet blocks of color together in areas which left ridges all over the back. I decided they bothered me too much and went back and sewed them all down. Not very pretty - but like I said. LEARNING EXPERIENCE. Also - It's called a fugly blanket - so yeah. No pressure to look pretty.

The size is perfect. I can wrap it around my shoulders and it just reaches my feet. Since it's all scrap cotton I can wash and dry the crap out of it. If I stain it I can bleach it. And it sleeps like a dream. I finished sewing in my last stray end last night and within 30 minutes after I did that I was sound asleep under it in bed. Just love it.

Fugly Update

I thought I would update on my Fugly blanket this week. I spent a couple hours last night weaving in the ends and tacking down the fugly seams I created when I crocheted chunks together. Today I pulled my blanket our and measured it and took a few pictures. It's currently 56 inches by 52 inches (142 cm x 132cm). I feel like if I make it too much larger it will hit "blanket" or "afghan" level rather than throw. I wonder if there is a real division in the those or if that is just my feelings? Anyway - I don't want a HUGE blanket. I want a mini blanket for throwing over my shoulders in bed at night or wearing on my lap while I knit. My internal voice told me I was there.

My next challenge is picking out the color I want to edge it in. I THINK I have it figured out now, but honestly I have changed my mind three times this morning already, so.... Yeah.

My only requirement is that it be in my stash. I have a whole bin of cotton - so that's really not an issue I don't think. This whole blanket is an experiment and since I have declared it FUGLY from day one there really is nothing I can do to it to make it worse. That really takes the pressure off.

In other news, my weekly weight in was pretty successful considering how much I consumed over the 4th of July holiday! I gained about half a pound this week and I was pretty happy with that since I was sure it would be much worse.

Another blessing is our heat wave finally broke. We hit 102F (38.88C) yesterday and it was over a week of temperatures like that. Last night we had storms roll in and today we are a bit cooler - so yay for that!

Is anyone doing the Stephen West KAL that starts next Friday? Lord help me - I signed up for it! I don't work with small needles  - like ever - and I am thinking if I am lucky I will be knitting this up on a size 4, but the yarn states size 1-3 needles so I may end up smaller than I think. Uffda. What have I gotten myself into?!?! My other concern is that this KAL will only be halfway over when the Olympic Games starts and I have a project geared up for that as well! So.... Yeah. We will have to see how this goes!

Secret Flower Lover

When Emma thinks I am not looking she will go around and sniff the flowers in the pots to see what they are all about. Although she stripped my Cone Flowers a little bit one year - she is really good about not digging up my flowers or eating the plants. I do spend a bit of time on the ASPCA web Site looking at their lists of Dog Safe plants. (Also good for bunnies, cats, horses......) I got rid of my chives and rhubarb after reading how toxic they were.

It's another hot week here in Minnesota, so there is much watering of the plants after the sun dips down everyday. I just plug in my headphones, throw a ball or two for Emma who often walks around with me - staying well out of range of the hose, (Our girl is not a fan of the hose!) and go from garden to garden. It's nice to see what's changed - what's popped up or what is struggling. Plans to transplant or split a plant often happen while I am watering. I will also recite the names of the plants (if I can remember them!) so that I don't forget what they are called. A nice summer ritual.

Emma in Bloom

While I go out to water my plants at night Emma will often join me and hang out in the yard watching me work. It's fun to have her tagging along while I go from area to area.

She is such a clever thing. When she saw Tom and I out in the strawberry bed intently pulling out berries and eating them up she got in on the action, grabbing a red berry and shooting across the yard with her spoils. I often wonder what we could train her to do if we had the brains for it.

Every summer I get lots of pictures of Emma laying outside, just being a happy dog. Good times.

Saturday! Yay for Weekend!

Its Saturday and that means so many things to me. Saturday is the one day a week I sleep in without worry. If I sleep in on Sunday too late (which I often do!) I have a really hard time going to sleep Sunday night and Monday morning is pretty yucky. Monday already sucks without being exhausted to boot! It's also weight in day. I love that too as any sins I committed the week before (Like that donut that accidentally fell in my mouth last Thursday, eh hem) are washed away and I am reborn with shiny new points to start the week off with. I am still bouncing with the weight. Lost two pounds two weigh-in's ago, last week I gained almost as much back, this week I lost almost a pound despite the donut incident.

I had another really busy week, with much garden work and much knitting. Managed three Zumba work-outs this week. I had to skip my Thursday night Zumba as I finally went in and got my hair did! I am kind of blond now. Not true blond - but we really went light for me with the foil work this time. It's taking a little to get used to it, but I think it looks like summer fun. Makes me want to be tan - which is pretty much a no-no, so maybe it's time for some of that fake tan lotion.

I also made some really good progress on my KAL shawl. I know it was supposed to be done in a week (insert derisive snort here) but two months is apparently more my speed. I finished all the knit portion and am now up to the crochet portion. I am really happy with how it's looking. Here is a shot just after I did a Russian Join (which I LOVE!) and bound off all the stitches. It's 22 inches along the center spine and the top is 50 inches across.

Naturally anything I lay out is just a place for Emma to place her furry little butt, so right after I snapped that picture I snapped this one.

She is so helpful with the holding projects down so they don't run off. That's always a bummer when you spend two months knitting something and then it escapes out the fence. Her services are invaluable.

And then there is this. I am still not sure if I am going to make this into a felted pillow or a large bag? When I told Tom I was thinking about making it into a pillow he stared at me and said why? That center bit is scratchy as hell since it's mohair - so I guess a bag would make more sense. This is one of those projects that is sort of getting away from me and I still work on it but I can't see it's final outcome. Huh. We shall see what it turns into.

This morning will be spent watering my plants, then an hour of Zumba. Not sure yet what this weekend will bring, but hopefully some good stuff. I really want to finish my shawl this weekend - so hopefully I will have some pictures of it all finished in the very near future.

Have a wonderful weekend all!

Verbena, Geranium, and Lupine - Oh My!

Emma and I have been working away in the gardens. I have a couple of hanging plants now and slowly I am getting all my annuals planted to give my gardens some POP. I love Humming birds and have been trying to plant things that will bring them running.

It's a bad picture, but that top right hand picture shows a bee that was so large I couldn't imaging it flying. It was like a little Volkswagen!

I got my tomato and cucumbers in this week too - so I will have some fresh veggies in a few weeks/months. Nothing like a garden fresh tomato!

I have thoughts that some day I will use photo's of my flowers to use for yarn dying combinations. If only I had as much time as I had dreams!

Discombobulated in a good way

Saturday is almost over and I feel like I have been running around like a crazy girl! I started out my day by sleeping almost three hours later than I do on a normal day, which is SUPER awesome. Sleep is so important and I never seem to get enough, so I love Saturday mornings with no alarm clock! But of course I feel all discombobulated as I am off my normal schedule. Still - hard to complain about being well rested!

I did my weight in and I dropped just over 2 pounds this week which makes me happy. I lost the weight I gained last week and a little more too, so WIN! I had a nice Zumba work-out after my weight in and then I took Emma outside in between storms and snapped a few pictures.

I went over to inspect our Strawberries and saw a flash of red! Yup! We have berries! Most of them are still green, but we have a few that are very red! I am going to leave them for my hubby to find. Strawberries are his crack. 

Our Peony bush is JUST about ready to pop. I suspect before next weekend we will have some really pretty blooms. The flowers are so pretty - but they have almost no odor which makes me sad. The scent of a peony is one of my favorite things. These are actually from Tom's grandma who lived here up until she died when Tom was only 1 or 2 years old. It's nice having plants that have been in the family for generations. When this gets too big for the bed I will split it and give half to Tom's mom.

Not long after I played Photographer we had another severe storm roll in  - this one has some nice sized hail along with heavy heavy rain. You can see the white chunk on our table on the deck along with the heavy rain drops making a splash. It's just been a wet wet day. Which means tomorrow when it is in the 90F/32C temps again it will be a steam bath. Yuck. We still have no air, but at least now we have the ability to open the windows in the living room. We had to take a hammer to one of the storms in order to get it out, but it is out and we can get better air circulation now. We should have done that 9 years ago when we bought this house. Yeah. Nine years of not being able to open the windows in our living room. I guess we just needed two really hot miserable weeks with barely any sleep to motivate us.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy your weather - what ever you may be having!

Knitting in all seasons (3KCBWDAY4)

For Knitting and Crochet Blog Week the question of the day was:

How does your local seasonal weather affect your craft?

I live in the Minnesota here in the United States. This past winter was really (unusually) warm, but the winter before we had eight months with snow on the ground. I spent a lot of time driving (and living) in this mess. So I guess it's not surprising that I knit A LOT of hats and winter wear.

Not just for me either. I have knit a few sweaters for my dog Emma. I have knit some goodies for my hubby and family. And I try to give a bunch to charity. There are lots of organizations and shelters that distribute goods to the homeless or needy in the winter. And many of our yarn shops will do hat, scarf and mitten drives in the winter. Love that.

I wear many of my hats and scarves and enjoy picking out my knit "look" for the day. I also find that my unfortunate habit of buying one or two skeins of yarn (rather than a sweater amount) lends itself to hat and mitten knitting. Really - there are only so many things you can do with 100 yards of yarn.

Looking through my Ravelry page with an eye toward seasons - I realize I have many pictures with thick wool hats or scarves being proudly modeled in the dead of summer. I love these pictures. Lots of bright happy flowers with my thick woolen creations. Something warm to hold on to when winter comes and there is so little warmth and light.