Making a difference, making the different

Knitters making a difference: A worker, who sorts through rubbish put out for recycling, has turned his hobby of knitting nets into something to help his colleagues.


And a really cool crochet square done by Deb at work. She's the one teaching everyone to crochet here (yay!).

Weekend Shopping Frenzy

So, this weekend, it was all about having fun. Saturday was Sorting Through Mom's Yarn and Shopping at Three Stores (A.C. Moore, Marshalls, Ross, then back to A.C. Moore and Marshalls).

Things obtained - and all on super-sale, too, so the total *won't* bankrupt me (but it did eat my part of our state tax refund):

5 skeins Caron Supersoft in Heather, to make my own (properly scaled) Tailored Scallops;
Latch Hook kit of giant sunburst/star thing (it's a Shaggy kit called "Nova") - the yarn is Caron Supersoft (!!)
Size 10 and 10.5 wooden knitting needles
Crochet hooks and project bags for all the girls at work (SERIOUS sale here!!)
Four long sleeve t-shirts in various colors
Peacock blue linen dress, suitable for all the upcoming First Communions and Weddings
Fun exercise DVDs
Several birthday presents for my husband
Cute little crystal rose tealight holders
A new SAK handbag - crocheted in green nylon (aka "the pattern to make a few more")

Sunday was a Giant Book Sale, A.C. Moore, tasty Mongolian stir-fry, and back to A.C. Moore.

Things obtained:

$33 of books: SF, Romance, and a four-year Spanish course complete with workbooks and Teachers' Guides.
Comfy-to-hold latch hook with puffy purple handle;
Tiny Panda-Bear Cross Stitch Kit (will be done by the end of lunch, thus under 24h)
Panda-Bear punchneedle kit (just to try - I just need a punchneedle)
Huck-Weaving kit (just to try)
Latest issue of Knit & Style, with two projects I want to do in it.

Things started were the tiny panda cross stitch and the second Tailored Scallops. The yarn for the Latch Hook Kit is sorted now, too.

About that Tailored Scallops... Look what I found at Marshall's:

Yeah, it's Tailored Scallops, with ugly pockets thrown on the front, and a not-so-great "fix" for the button band/collar. (Having studied this pattern a LOT over the last week, when I checked, yep, the body pretty much follows the EXACT pattern, but for the collar construction and the ugly pockets.)

Injuries that inhibit my crafting...

If anyone is ever at a loss for something to get me, might I suggest a skein or two of Adorn Sock Yarn from Three Irish Girls in whatever colorway you think might strike my fancy? (Honest. I didn't see one there I wouldn't adore.)

I need to find some dyes that will work on the lovely fluffy fiber my friend Doc got me for my birthday. (I just found it again... wheee!) I'll be doing, I hope, long pools of blue and orange, broken by a bit of white, and it should make a yummy-warm sweater or shawl for my BroncosCountry icon photo.

Yes, today it's all about the Bright Colors. (The camera phone just doesn't do justice to the brightness of the turquoise in the following photo.)

See, I finished my socks, and realized my "sister's" wedding is in a bit over two months. The plan is to knit a light- to medium-weight cover-up for over the sleeveless dress I'll be wearing. The colors are Turquoise and Chocolate. Fortunately, Feza's "Fanatic" comes in EXACTLY that colorway. I give you the back of "Tailored Scallops" from Lace Style:


I must now add that I got this done in one day, since I took a day off work for a mid-day doctor's appointment, was chauferred around to Many Other Places, and thus had a ton of time to knit. On the downside: I have Exactly Enough Yarn... and we all know what that means. I'll be calling Alynn's at lunch to see if they have One More Ball. On the other downside, the doc says my rotator cuff is screwed up, so I have to "be careful" about knitting. He suggested "cross-stitch" as an alternative, since the off arm doesn't really move. I reminded him that he knew that because of the Frozen Shoulder Incident of 2001, where I went to a cross-stitch retreat, locked my shoulder in place for 16h a day for three days, and came home with side pain, inability to breathe without pain, and radiating shooting shoulder pain (aka, presented at the ER with heart attack symptoms, and it even took THEM a couple of hours to figure out that no, I'd just managed to lock my shoulder in such a way that my body couldn't unlock it).

He nodded, and suggested nice, long walks. *sigh*

Over the weekend, I'll try to post pics of all my Consolation Shopping...

Nutkin Socks Finished

I'm in a subtle knitting race with Courtney, the Knitting Goddess. (Really, really subtle, so much so that this is the first she's heard about it. It's just been nice knowing there's someone else chugging along on thet same little project I am.) We're both knitting Beth LaPensee's Nutkin Socks, and (as of yesterday) we were both at about the same place. I have a totally unfair advantage, however, as my busy end-of-year crunch-from-hell at work ended last week, and hers doesn't end until next week. I made up for my unfair time advantage by reminding her that hiding in a stairwell and knitting a few rounds is better than killing a client, co-worker, or innocent passer-by. (If you ever think tax time is bad for you, work with accountants during tax time. They can forget all sorts of important things - eating, hydrating, breathing. And they vanish from the rest of the world pretty much from mid-February to end-of-April every year. I'm totally impressed that Courtney has any time to blog at all!)

Given this grossly unfair advantage, and the fact that I really want these lovely socks done, I stayed up *waaaay* too late last night, with the following result:



Yaaaaay! Finished socks, my first pair! Woohooo!!

Stitchopoly!!

OMG, I'm totaly getting a copy of Stitchopoly for my friend Midge for her upcoming birthday. Probably one for myself, too... she just saw it at AC Moore, had to call me and tell me about it, and I reminded her NOT to buy it for herself.
I mean, I just HAVE to. (And I'm totally being the Scissors every time I play, unless the owner of the board wants them. We'll have to play it at her birthday party, for sure!) I wish I could find a better pic online, but there will be *much* better pictures coming once she has hers in hand!!