A Whole Lot of Knittin' Goin' On

I kind of dropped the ball on the whole blogging thing this week. Sorry about that. Not only have I not been blogging, I have not been catching up on your blogs either..heck, I have not even responded to e-mails from friends.
I guess you could say I have been laying low.
I am doing great. I appreciate all of your supportive comments on my last post. I was then, and am now totally fine...it is just that sometimes in life we have to deal with some real "winners". I was just standing up for myself and letting someone know that I was not going to be intimidated by them..and it is all good. =)
As a friend of mine would say, "Save the drama for the mama"...and that is exactly what I did. (Thanks for you advice and support mom, now and always. =) )

Just because I have not been blogging doesn't mean I have not been knitting though. I am starting to realize I may have bit off a little more then I can chew for my knitting goals this month...we shall see. I still remain hopeful, but if things don't work out all according to plan I don't think the knitting police are going to come after me!

So here is a little bit of what I have been up to:

First, the Mitered Square Shawl that will never end. (At least it feels that way!)

I have nine more squares to do. Then I need to weave in ends, and do a crochet border. I am really shooting to have this done by Thursday. Yarn Yoga is this Friday and come hell or high water I want to have this thing done and ready to hand off to the store that night. I will breath much easier when this project is out of my life!

I did manage to get the first baby hat made..isn't it cute?

I stuffed it with plastic bags for photo purposes, that is why it looks a little weird.

I got the yarn and pattern in a little kit I bought of EBay ages ago. It is Alpaca dyed by Cherry Tree Hill. It was so lovely to work with!

Next, and this is a horrible picture I am sorry..is the 2nd Dulaan project. The yarn is actually much lighter then this. This is going to be an Avalanche Vest..the progress you see here is about a 1/2 hours worth of work..this thing is going to work up fast!

And this is my UFO resurrection/ May Sweater of the Month project.

It is the Fairly Easy Fair Isle Cardigan from Stitch-n-Bitch nation. I started this during the horrible power outages last winter because it was the only thing I had to that was light enough and big enough (gauge-wise) to knit by firelight. Once the lights came back on it got tossed aside for other projects..but I really want to finish it. I love the colors (perfect for Project Spectrum), and I am really excited to see how they are all going to work together.

As far as the other projects?

I have finished tier 2 of the Forest Path Stole.

I have done 30 rows on the So Called Scarf, my UFO resurrection project for April.

I have Faina back on the needles..barely.

The Mystery Shawl needs to be tinked (again). I made a mistake somewhere a few rows back..and the rows for the border are loooooooooong. I am trying very hard to avoid this project..

The round 6 Sock Madness socks have not seen any love..and I have yet to look at the pattern for Round 7. I do want to finish/make these so I hope to find time for them soon.

All in all I think I am making good head way. And once I get that darned store sample shawl done I will have A LOT more time to dedicate to my projects.

OK, back to work for me. That shawl is not going to knit itself!

Happy Mothers Day everyone! See you next week!

Crosswalks? We don't need no stinkin' crosswalks!

The Jaywalkers are done!

And I think they look damn good! (They better, they only took 2+months to complete!)

I am SO bringing sexy back with these socks!

Check out that sock! That is a perfect sock! I have to say, this Sock Madness thing has really helped me master the knitting of footwear! I can do a heel flap and pick up stitches like a pro I tell ya! And I absolutely love exclamation marks! Can you tell?

Alright, here are the specs:

Grumperina's terribly unpopular Jaywalker pattern

Size 000 needles..yes, that is correct, the key did not get stuck.

Yarn is Socks That Rock (again, terribly unpopular) in G-Rocks (I think).

If you couldn't tell, I absolutely love them! And even though you all thought I was crazy for using the tee-tiny needles, I must say they make a very cushy and sturdy sock. They keep the feet nice and warm as well.

After making a pair, I can totally understand why people find these addicting. I keep imagining what different yarns would look like in this pattern. If you have not tried it yet, what are you waiting for? It's easy and so much fun!

In other news:

1) The Argosy Scarf is done as well, and is blocking. And Good Riddance! It's not the pattern's fault, it was totally my doing that I ended up hating the knitting on this thing..more on that later.

2) I won another contest! What can I say, I am a sucker for a prizes. ;) This time it was for best project in the Mists of Avalon KAL..the Romantic Cable and Lace Vest aka my Mists of Avalon Tunic won! Woohoo!

3) Round 6 of Sock Madness starts this Friday, can you believe it? I am up against one of the "Terminator" knitters. I do not expect to win the round. No, I am not putting myself down...I just know that if I tried to beat this woman, I would most likely hurt something. Besides, I met my goal for this competition (winning the Wendy division), and I am darn proud of that.

I expect it to be a fun weekend though. The sock calls for 2 colors, and with the "sneak peak" we got, it has some color work involved. I am looking forward to it.

4) Pacalaga and I were chatting it up in e-mail talking about naughty drink names..and I got around to talking about how we are both in the Faina Scarf KAL..and how I had frogged my feeble attempts and was at 0 progress. She admitted she was in the same boat and asked if we wanted to help each other out by doing a progress post on it once a week..well Pacalaga, if you are reading this..I am game! (And if not, I plan on shooting you off another e-mail ;) )

Anway, my May is getting started off with a bang! I have 2 FO's and a contest win under my belt already..not to mention my Final Four Sock Madness status (yes, I will shut up about this soon, but I need to gloat for just a little longer..you understand, right?)..and my excellent excuse to get another project started!

Tinkin' the day away..

Yeah, you heard me.

After finishing Wicked..(oh yeah she's done..and I love her! There will be pictures as soon as B gets home to take them. =) ). Where was I? Yeah. So after finishing Wicked, my sanity has been restored. I gained the courage to pick up the Forest Path Stole and rip out the triangle that went bad.
I am happy to report that FPS is now out of time out. After e-mailing with the designer, I have now got clear instructions on how to continue in the pattern. There is nothing to see as of yet. I have only tinked out the mistakes. It feels good to know that she is ready for action though!

But that is not the only thing that needs tinking. As listed on my sidebar I have been working on the Mystery Shawl (a Group from Goddess Knits.) Basically every week you get a new clue..totalling 5 clues. I got in on the action late..and so I am only starting clue 3, even though all the clues are out and many people have finished. So it's not really a mystery anymore..but I digress.
Anyway..I have been wanting to get some progress done on this because the new Mystery will be starting soon..and of course I am going to join..but I feel that I should have this one done before starting a new one.
So last night I got busy finishing the 2ND clue, and moved on to the 3rd, and quickly realized that I was 3 stitches short. I guess having 2 beers did not help matters any.
So I have tinked back 2 rows..and I am still coming up 1 short. I think I missed a yarn over somewhere..so that means tinking 2 more rows. Don't worry, I am OK. Believe it or not, all this tinking has been therapeutic.
Think about it, how often in life can you tink back a mistake you made? Never. You just have to learn from it and move on. Hopefully.
Wow. I'm like smart and stuff.

So here is the sum up of things. The mystery shawl is getting tinked. The FPS is back in action. Wicked is done. The Pirate hat is getting some love. And I started a pair of Jaywalkers. What? Did I forget to mention that?

And the one thing I am itching to work on? My Faina scarf..but I feel I need to finish up a few things first.

Oh crud..and March is a day away...that means new goals! And Sock Madness starts March 10Th.

Thank goodness I took the night off from work!

(Stay tuned..there will hopefully be a post on Wicked sometime this evening.)

P.S. Have you ever seen the word "tinked" used this much in one post? LOL!

It's not easy being green

Yeah, Kermit sure got that right.
The color green gets a bad rap don't you think? You have the phrase "green with envy" (where did that come from anyway? Guess if I really cared I could Google it..)..and then you got the whole green M-n-M thing (I remember my sister saving these in a jar to give to her boyfriend...that slut =) )..not that getting "turned on" is a bad thing..but it's not exactly in polite taste..and then to top it off, when you are sick people say things like.."Your looking a bit green today" or as my mom would say,"green around the gills."
Poor green. What did it ever do to us?
Well I for one am taking a stand! LONG LIVE GREEN I say. I'm gonna rock the green as much as possible.
It started with my blog, and then the Forest Path Stole, and now? Well now it's going to represented in my new project for the Faina Scarf KAL.
Check this out:

Isn't that sexy? That hot yarn comes from Joslyn's Fiber Farm and is called Shine. It is a 50% silk and 50% wool sport weight yarn..and I got 1250 yards of it.

It's so wickedly sick (that means divine in teen) I think I may have to unwind it and roll around in it for awhile.

I know your jealous..but there is more if you want it.

(Jealous, sexy, sick..maybe there is something to this green thing after all!)

Oh, and by the way..even with the mom here I have done some knitting. Most of it has been knitting and ripping out a new sock (my gauge is always too loose!) but I did manage to finish the first monkey sock and start the second.

B loves these socks..He wants them for himself..lace pattern and all. He insists it's a "manly lace". LOL. That man has no problem with his masculinity..well mostly, he wont wear pink. =) Too bad for him these are designated for my niece..I need to finish them right quick because she's moving to Canada at the end of the month. (SOB!)

Oh yeah, and after about 30 thousand try's, I think I finally found the right yarn and needle size for my Pirate Hat. We shall see when it gets bigger if it is going to fit....
That's it for now..I guess since it is already 1 in the afternoon I should go take a shower and get dressed huh?