Some quick words

Ok, ok, I really haven't been around. I have posts in my mind, and I want to talk about things, but I never come around typing them. It's really a matter of a few things.

First there is my low energy level. Feels like I'm back to point one where I have no energy at all during the day. I go to work (well, not my actual job, but it's hard physical work, which is kinda ok 'cause I became to lazy at my previous job) and in the evening I'm so tired. Yesterday I slept on the cough at 7.30. Woke up about 30 minutes later to watch ER and managed to stay up most of the evening though I didn't get much knitting done. :(

Secondly I'm trying desperately to finish up those damn wrist warmers I promissed my mom for the theater. I have 5 finished pairs, and 2 pairs on the needles. If I finish those I have a total of 7 and I need 11 pairs. I really might just go to the store and buy the remaining 4 pairs. I'm just to sick and tired of knitting them. Can't help it, but it's so boring and well, the part that I have to give them away to people who don't really appreciate them doesn't really make it easier. What would you do? Oh, and I miss knitting socks!

As for knitting, I'm trying to squeeze in the Olympic knitting. I have about 3 more repeats of the body pattern to go at my Kiri shawl, and then the edging. I should make it, if nothing to bad happens. I plan on knitting at least one pattern repeat tomorrow evening, and hopefully the rest on Friday and Saturday, as there won't be any knitting time on Sunday.

Apart from that there are really quite a few patterns I want to start knitting for myself, but there are still so many things I need to knit for others that I will need at least another month! *grr*

Well, end of next week we'll have the perfomances of the teather, that means I'll be rid of that stuff but Monday in a week. Yay!! I'm really happy about that!

Now I'm less excited about the weekend. We have to gigs with the cavalry band (band + horses). One is here in Belgium about an hour away (with the truck that is). That's ok, though last year it was freezing cold and snowing, and it's a boring as hell trip so I'm not to excited. That one is on Sunday, reducing my last day of Olympic knitting to nothing. Then on Monday we're headed to Germany for "RosenMontag" (correct me here if I'm writing this wrong), which is basically carneval. Now know that I hate carneval! I'm really not fond of it, not even here in Belgium and I try to avoid it at all causes. Plus it's so far away that it's driving me crazy. Anyway, I just hate having to go out for 2 days. I really should just quit the whole band as I don't really enjoy it anymore, but hey, I'm to scary for that, I don't want to dissapoint people really.

That being said, it'll be a hell of a week and be sure I won't be around then. I'm hoping to pick up a few things after that week, including starting the search for a new job. I have been enjoying my time off, but I have to be realistic and start looking 'cause time will go faster then I think.

I am planning on giving a review of all the podcasts I like and all that stuff. Well, not really a review. But there are a fiew things I want to write about especially after reading some quite negative comments about a few podcasts. Seriously, if you don't like them, just leave it. Nobody sais you have to listen to them. You don't have to pay for them, so it's no loss. And the people making them are investing their free time and this, trying to make something they like. That being said, don't take this personal as you have the right to your own opinion and I'm not pointing fingers at all. This is just my opinion!

Oh well, it's to bed for me now. Boyfriend has been wining, and actually I'm rather tired myself so I can better take a good nights rest. I'll be back, I'll try before the weekend with some pictures and so! Oh, and I'm planning a little contest, so if you are reading this blog, keep your eyes open!

Someone please slap me!

Ok, I'm going nuts here. I've been buying way to much yarn lately. It's just silly to see how much stuff I have bought the last 2 weeks! And then Becky lured me into buying even more yarn! :D Don't worry Becky, I'm ok with it! I'm sure I'll put the yarn to good use, and I still have some room in my stash.

Well, speaking of stash, I should try to get rid of some stuff I'm sure I will never use, but that's for one of the coming weeks.


New shop

Last Friday my sister and I went shopping together. Had been a long time since we did that, but somehow I always enjoy going shopping with them. Anyway, before we went to my usual fave LYS we decided to check out a yarn shop I never had been too, but they were mentionned on the Rowan homepage as carrying the brand, so I wanted to check it out. I was expecting a shop with a little bit of Rowan, as it was called "Stoffenidee", so I tought they would mainly carry fabrics (that's what the name sais).

But when I walked in, I was stunned! I hadn't expected this from seeing the display out front at all, as most of what was shown was pretty cheap yarn. But one side of the shop was filled with super yarn!! Not only did they carry Rowan, Regia, Gedifra and Debbie Bliss (yes, I'm for sure, a store carrying Debbie Bliss so near to me!), look at what I found at the end of the yarn racks :

Ok, you need to look really close, but this is actually a rack filled with NORO! I'm not kidding you! There is a store in Belgium actually selling Noro yarns! I have to say my sister and I both fell in love with it and I took home 3 balls!

Then on a clearance isle we found quite a bit of Rowan Polar! Sis took home enough for a cardi (which of course I have to knit) and she's going back to pick some up for me! I have to say, my sister is really picky when it comes to yarn (everything is itchy) but she loved quite a bit in the store!

Then we went to my fave LYS and I had quite a few things there waiting for me. The lady always puts things aside for me!

Finished Objects

Yep, I actually did finish some things! First of all there's this hat for a girl at the riding school. It took me only one night knitting it, and I did it with some yarn I painted myself, but of course I didn't take a picture of it. Let me just say it was looking really great and I had a hard time parting with it! :D

Then there's the following hat, which I knitting for myself :

Stats :

Pattern : Lady's and Girls FairIsle hat

Yarn : Schachenmayr Extra 100% Superwash wool. Bit more then 1 skein of white, and then little bits of color

Needles : 3mm addi turbo for the ribbing, 4mm for the hat

Knitting time : a few days! Finished Febr. 7 2006

Then tonight I finally finished my In the Shadow of Love socks! I started them last month and they were my trian knitting, but with getting fired I put them aside and didn't take them back up. Started on them again (on the second sock) 2 days ago, and finished just now :

Stats :

Pattern : In the Shadow of Love socks from the SixSocksKAL

Yarn : Arnell Sock yarn 75% wool, 25% poly

Needles : 2.5mm addi turbos

Started somewhere in January, Finished Febr. 13 2006

I really don't care at all for Shadow knitting and will probably never do it again in the future. It was great to try this by doing a sock. Oh, and by the way, I will be skipping the new SixSocks pattern. I don't care for knitting with beads at all and I don't feel like knitting socks with beads in paticular.

Knitting Olympics

No pics yet, but I'm getting along nicely with the Kiri Shawl. I casted on late Friday night, and dit the first shart and one repeat of the second shart. I didn't knit on it on Saturday - we were watching movies so I knitted a bit on the socks - but I did knit 2 more repeats of the second shart yesterday. It's turning out really nice. I'll try to get a nice picture soon, but I'm using a black 100% mohair yarn, so it's kinda hard to photograph before blocking.

I'm leaving you for now with a picture of my knitting spot on the couch. Somehow, every time I leave, my dog needs to settle there, no matter if she's having more then enough space. And usually, as can be seen on the picture below, she manages to get my balls of yarn rolling (though she's really great in keeping away from my yarn and knitting!).

Random

First of all, I'm closing down the vote for the knitting olympics, with only about a week to go till the opening ceremony.

And the winner is .....

KIRI !!!

Yep, It got 4 votes. Both the Lovely Laces and the Snowdrop shawl got 3 votes, and non for Daisy. Now I'll be knitting all for these shawls in time, but well, maybe Kiri is a good thing to start if I actually want to finish this, knowing how busy my month will be!

I just have to decide on the colour, it's either black or eggplant. We'll see, depends on my mood really! No green though for me, would never wear that!




Anyway, I have been knitting, but on those wrist-warmers/fingerless mitts for the theater thing. I've finished 3 pair so far, busy on the 4th pair. That's only 8 more to go. Yikes! I need to kick ass here! No pictures though, they would only just look black.

Of course I've been knitting on a few other projects. I really want to finish up all my projects/need to do's soon. Like, the end of March? I would say the end of February, but won't make that. Why? Because it's just to busy. Plus there are to many projects.

Now I want to finish and then I want to be able to knit some stuff for myself. Like a lot of socks! And a few sweaters maybe, and more. Lace shawls. I don't know.


Oh, and spinning! I want to spin more! Here is what I finished on my new wheel!

The first picture is just before blocking, the other one is while blocking (don't look at the background, it's an old pillow case from my grandmother I'm using to spin my yarn in the machine). I still have to improve so much. This yarn looks great to me, but there's still so much I need to work on! All my singles are much overtwisted! Plus I'm not very stable. It's thick and thin. The thickness of the yarn is really nice though, this is about fingering weight! I can't wait to spin more for socks and shawls and such! And maybe there's some laceweight in my future! ;D

I've ordered quite some yarn and roving online. I want to knit the socks for the KAL I'm in (all but the one for the SixSocksKAL, that's a beaded one and I'm surely not into beads on socks!). Plus I want to knit a hat for myself! I'll talk more about this later, it's really time for me to go to bed!