First sweater

Yay!!! I finally finished my first sweater. Its the laced edged tee I started in June. There is a lot of love in spots, but I am so happy I finished. I need to take a picture and put it on here. I am working on a dog sweater now for Kandi. I hope she at least wears it and does not try to take it off. Other than that, just trudging along in school. Finished my midterm, did not think I would ever finish that. Still need to unpack some boxes from the move, oh well eventually. Ohhh, we have a new edition to the family, a little kitty we call Zelda. She is definately Zelda the supercat. Will need to add pics of her too. Well, that's about all for my new adventures. Jamaica in 6.7 weeks!!!!! Can't wait.

Drop-out

Well I am an official drop out of the amazing lace challenge. My summer has been the busiest in years. We moved end of June and had to relocate for a few weeks and then officially moved into our own place end of the 1st week of July. So, it has been unpacking and settling in. Not to mention, one of my BFs is having a baby in 4 weeks and I am more than half way done with her baby blanket so I had to stop working on the lace to work on the blanket. So, with my lace still in the early stages, I am a drop out. I will still finish the project and post my pics, but right now a little less stressful knitting is what the doctor ordered.

The pheonix

So there have been a few changes here. 1.) an address change. Well I guess a few address changes as I am living in the burbs until the new condo is ready. The "kids" are enjoying it at the g-parents. I am not enjoying my commute! An hour each way. Used to be 15 min. Oh well, it will be faster again soon. 2.) Glorianna has taken on some new colors. Yes, I again foolishly thought I had safely stored away my work but alas we found it on the floor in a tangled pile. So, new ball purchased and delivered. I am now two times through the pattern. I really love this new color. I think it will work well. So, needless to say my life has been a little too crazy to think about a poetry entry into amazing lace. But, that is alright. I will try with the picture challenge next. Well off to bed I go. I need to find a safe hiding place for Glorianna.

New Partner

Meet Lace Edged Tee. We'll call her Crayon. I can't just work on one project at a time, so I had to add a new one. This will be my first attempt at an article of clothing. It is coming along well. We'll keep you updated on the progress.

p.s. Glorianna is jealous of the time Crayon and I spend together.

Challenge #2 (X-treme Lace Knitting: The Great Yarn Quake)

I know many people have heard about the great Chicago fire. But, I am absolutely sure that no one has heard about the great Yarn Quake that rocked my condo. Glorianna (my partner in crime) and I were carelessly lounging on the couch, when we heard a horrible knocking sound coming from the office closet. We paused, looked at each other, and decided to investigate. Stealthfully entering the office, we noticed that the closet door was slightly ajar. I, in my infinite wisdom, decided to open the door. Wham!!! My yarn stash had come down upon us like a flurry of angry pigeons. There we lay under this pile of doom barely breathing. I was certain of our fates and wondered how the morning paper would describe our deaths, the headlines would proclaim "death by yarn stash." Glorianna, my hero, helped me push my yarn tangled arms through the rubble to reveal us laying beneth. All I could do to keep myself sane was to continue to knit our pattern by memory. A sort of S.O.S. I knew that if someone saw movement they would know that there was still hope. Luckily, we need not wait long. My husband arrived home and immediately called for backup. Later that evening Glorianna and I recalled our horrific events over a nice glass of scotch. We do agree on one thing, sharing this moment together bonded us closer than we ever thought we could be.


*please note no yarn was harmed during the shooting of this photograph.

The fustration of picking up stitches

So I started my new project, the laced edged tee ( in addition to my Elizabeth I scarf, cannot do just one project )
I am having issues getting the correct number for my stitch pick-up. I am doing an "iventive" way of getting the correct stitches, I hope it comes out okay. Other than that, I have been trying to thing of what my X-treme lace knitting picture would be. I have many ideas but only one can be submitted. Wonder which one I will pick...

Itching to start a new project

Well, I finished my socks!!! Two pairs down. I have two more pairs of socks to go with a new pattern. But, I think I will take a small break from knitting socks. Tomorrow, I start my gage swatch for the amazing lace race so I can start my scarf! I am also going to start making a lace edged tee from knit picks. I was thinking the yarn for the tee would be a bit more white, but I think it will be fine. I had to check my project to do list b/c I forgot what one of my yarns I ordered was for...yikes. Too many projects. I am glad I finally got to upload my first entry into the lace race. Should be a good time. Off to watch some T.V.

Amazing Lace Entry No. 1:

me w/partner


Contestant no. 1000035
Name: M.A.P.

AKA: Windy City Knitting Chick, or Presto

Age: 28

Profession: Dietitian by day, swanky knitter by night

Why do I knit: Because I need some creative outlet in my life. And I find Knitting to be more addictive than ______ (fill in the blank to your vice).

Biggest secret: I have a yarn disorder, I go on and off the same yarn diet. Binging and starvation, not the healthiest. And, I secretly purchase and hide yarn from my hubby :).

Why did I enter the Amazing Lace Race: I like a good challenge to motivate me to do something new. It was also a great excuse to try knitting lace.

On my partner: (Lace Scarf, Queen Elizabeth I:pattern Glorianna) We are a new team, just met today for the first time. I think we are going to enter into some hardships, laughter, and tears. But I know we will prevail! My partner's roots are vintage, but surely a goody. I think my partner and I will be traveling together to such exotic destinations as Freemont, MI, the office, my den, rooftop deck, and so on...I believe that this constant travel will be a bonding experience to ultimately bring us closer to being the best team out there. (my current partner does not know this, but I may have the start of a polygamous relationship with some new partners, TBD...)

Our Strenghts and Weaknesses: Partner's strengths: solid pattern and charting. Weakness: will challenge me when misreading the pattern. My strengths: I rock on my yarn-overs :), I can wrap my yarn around the needle with great speed and agility, and fair/good on my increase and decrease techniques. Weaknesses: lack of patience. Sometimes I get so excited to see the finish work that I rush, make a mistake, and have to rip back, ugh!!! I think I may have some challenges with blocking. We shall see.

Plan of attack: I think I will work at a slow to moderate pace to elimate as many mistakes as possible. Try to work through the pattern at least twice per day. I do hope we can work well together because I would like to have more than one partner and more than one finished masterpiece.

On the other contestants: I see there are some saucy knitters and my partner and I look forward to the challenge.

Will you love me or hate me?: Well, I will let you decide, but I can tell you this I am a strong competitor...and the force is strong with me...

Why we are going to win: I don't know how to tell you this, but people know me. I'm kind of a big deal. I have many leather bond knitting books and my yarn stash smells of rich mahogany.

Socks R' Us

I finished my first pair of socks!!!!! I am so excited. I even started my next pair. Same pattern and yarn just different color. The new ones are a natural color. There is a little bit of love in my second sox since I didn't rip back my one wrong row, but it fits great. I fixed my first sock where Kandi added her own art work as best as I could. And they both look good. So happy!
Went to a yarn shop today and spent some money on patterns. My chief enabler was with me as usual :). Mostly lace patterns and a few more sock patterns. I love how quickly socks knit up, instant gratification. Well that is my exciting knitting day today with lots more to come!!!!!

The "kids"

Just wanted to post a pic of my "kids" my cat (Sasha) and cute dog (Kandi). They like to sabotage my work!

Alpaca

So,
I signed up for the great lace race. http://amazinglace.licketyknit.com/
I am super excited. I got my friend (soxy knitter) to join me. Project and yarn on order, yay!!!! I am shaping the gusset of my sock. There is of course a little bit of love since I knitted one row the wrong side. Oh well, I am learning. I'll upload the pics once I am finished with them. Well, I am off to finish shaping the gusset.

First time blogging

Well this would be my first blogging effort. Hopefully, it will be fun! Right now I am working on my second sock of my first pair of socks. Of course, Kandi (my dog) got to the first of the sock pair and chewed the cuff, ugh!!!!! This is the second project of mine that she decided to contribute to. The first project was a hat from Hats, Gloves, Scarves by Louisa Hardening. I had just finished and was going to sew the seam and she got to it over night, chewed the top and chewed my bamboo needles. Needless to say I had to purchase another ball of yarn and refinish the top. Good think she is so cute :). Other projects I have made are: scarves, of course, poncho, capelet, hats, and mittens. I have not designed any of my own work yet. Still learning how to knit and just getting the courage to do more involved projects. I am becoming a whiz on double pointed needles and find that they are fun! I have a great knitting group made up of my coworkers. We try to get together after work at a local bakery and cafe to knit. One of these days we will make it to the SNB at the MCA. Well that's all for now. Gotta go work on my sock!!!!