2011 Finishing Project - Draft 2

So unless I knit continuously from this moment until midnight Friday night I probably wont finishing anything else this year. This will probably be the final inventory.

Projects 7, 8 and 14 have been finished prior to year-end. I left them in the line up because they were assigned numbers and thought it would look funny with numbers missing. Perhaps that is the black and white bean counter in me.

I will put the final inventory up sometime right after the start of the new year.

When enough is enough....

P1030572
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

So a few years ago I started a Mystery Shawl KAL. Both ends of the shawl were a mirror image of each other. It had beads. Lots of beads. I can't remember how many clues I knit on until I found out the finished product was going to have a womb in it. I was done. DONE DONE Done.......

I was knitting both ends at the same time. So I was left with two pieces of crap with beads. I had good intentions of frogging them and reusing the yarn. I just never could get my head around frogging with beads. UGH So it sat in hiding.

I had a conversation with my husband while taking my inventory of projects. See I have challenged myself to finish or frog everything on my needles at the stroke of midnight this Friday night (12/31/10) during 2011.

Jimmy said hey why don't you just throw it out. WHA????? I looked at him like he had horns growing out of his head for a few minutes. Can I really do that I think I asked. He said YEP. I said grab the camera. And here you have it.... It is ok to sometimes throw it out!

2011 Finishing Project - Draft 1

Here is the first draft of my 2011 Finishing Project inventory. More to come....

To see my initial blog post about this project click here.

Official Cookie A Sock Club Member

So it has become necessary for me to modify my 2011 knitting goals already. This morning I awoke to the news that Cookie A has a 2011 sock club. OMG! Well after some ekkkkking on my part my husband purchased a membership to said sock club as a Christmas gift.

So now I am trying to figure out if I am going to try to knit my originally selected 12 Cookie A's PLUS the 6 from the club. I only have 15 days to decide.

2011

The older I get the more I hate the word resolution. I never get very far with them. There I said it. I make them and I break them almost as fast.

What can make this coming year different? Action! Planning and talking only goes so far. Action will make these resolutions come true.

I have several knitting goals I would like to accomplish in 2011.

1. Knit a few pairs of Cookie A socks. I have 12 patterns and 12 hanks of yarn set aside. I am not going to pressure myself to get all 12 pairs knit. If it happens great if not well that is OK too.

2. 2011 is going to be the year of finishing for me. It is my goal to finish all the projects on my needles 12/31/10 sometime in 2011 or frog it! I don't want to start 2012 with anything that was started prior to 1/1/2011. This is a pretty firm commitment. I plan to take pictures, inventory, and blog all my projects on the needles before the end of this year. There is one project on the needles that will have to be disguised so as not to reveal the surprise to the recipients though (it has to be finished by 9/3/11 anyway hint hint hint). ;-D

3. You are hearing this here first.... I have purchased the first level of the Master Knitting certification process. I want to become a master knitter. My reasoning? I want to take my knitting to the next level. I want to study, research, write about knitting. Oh and swatch and swatch some more. I want my stitches to sing in harmony. This program will give me the structure I need to facilitate that learning I so want to soak up. I would like to finish this level and submit it for review in 2011. If it happens great if it doesn't well then I will probably cry.

What are your knitting goals for 2011?

Back together again.....

Facebook can be a pretty awesome tool. Earlier this year I found my long lost siblings there. We share the same biological father and as best I can figure I haven't seen them since mid 1980 when I was a teenager. They would have been under the age of 10. Life circumstances separated them as well. They hadn't seen each other in many years.

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday together and it was amazing! We cried and we laughed. We talked about some difficult things and we learned about our individual lives.

What was amazing to me is there are many similarities between myself and each of them. There isn't a doubt we share blood. I feel like a missing part of myself has been returned and I couldn't be happier. :-)

EZ's Adult Surprize Jacket

IMG_0472
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

I started this project earlier this month.

Project info
Name EZ Surprise Jacket
Pattern Adult Surprise Jacket
by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Needle and yarn
NeedleUS 8 - 5.0 mm

I will provide more data with the next update!

What was BW thinking?

IMG_0406
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Anyone see anything pornographic about this chart?

Clap x's3

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

I finished my third knitting of the Clapotis. This one is a Christmas gift for my dear m-i-l.

Project info:
Name Rose's Clapotis - Christmas 2010 - gift # 2
Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Craft: Knitting
Made for: Rose
Needle and yarn:
Needle: US 8 - 5.0 mm
Yarn: Berroco Vintage™

Smells of Fall

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Yesterday I had a chance to sit among the falling leaves of fall and it was awesome. Walking to my perfect perch I smelled something I haven't smelled in a very long time. Probably since I lived in New York if my memory serves me right.

I smelled the smell of decaying leaves. If you haven't smelled this then you are probably thinking "ewwww". Well let me tell you something that smell is just one of the things I miss about New York, especially upstate New York, falls.

Besides the spectacular colors that you just don't get anywhere else there is the smell of fall. That smell of decaying leaves. It is pungent and earthy. Oh how I have missed that smell.

It was funny. I found these two trees in the middle of a local park in central Ohio yesterday. The changing colors were amazing and the inspiration of my perching point. It was odd because all the other trees around these two were still green. It was like NY came to me in Ohio with the colors and smells.

It made me homesick....

Mosaic Gangbusters?

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Back in September I got a wild hair to try some colorwork. I started out like gangbusters. Well OK not gangbusters but I was all fired up. I selected Mosaic Squares: A Compilation by Barbara G. Walker. I didn't even make it through one square. I think I bit off way more than I ever care to chew here. UGH!

I am just not feeling the love with this project and I think it is going to be frogged.

Project info:
Name: Vintage Magic Mystery Blanket
Pattern: Mosaic Squares: A Compilation by Barbara G. Walker
Craft: Knitting
Made for: The Rowe's

Needle and yarn
Needle: US 8 - 5.0 mm
Yarn: Berroco Vintage™

Mitts Finished!

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Woohoo! I finished my mitts. Poo approves of them. :-)


Pattern: iPhone Mitts by Julie Ridl
Needle: US 2 - 2.75 mm
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Sock
How much?: (Approx) 0.33 skeins = 145.2 yards (132.8m)
Colorway: Lettuce
Purchased at: The Yarn Shop in Columbus, Ohio

Airplane Knitting

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

I started this project, Last shot for Malabrigo Sock, on December 15, 2009. I needed a project to knit while flying so I resurrected this from hibernation. As it turns out I think I may need these suckers sooner than I thought.

When I left Columbus last week I had my air conditioner on it the car. When I got into my car at the airport yesterday I had to turn the air conditioner off and turn the heater on. ? wtf?

I have about an inch more to go on the second thumb and these fingerless mitts will be done! Yeah! I love that the cuff folds down to expose my fingers yet I can pull the cuff up when I want more coverage.

Llamas not Alpaca!

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

These are the creatures that produce yarn! These lovelies were at A Wool Gathering this past weekend. Awesome!

Thank you Cortney for the correction. I tried to contact you directly but there wasn't an email addy.

Using a Vitamix to Compost Absolutely Anywhere!

Using a Vitamix to Compost Absolutely Anywhere!

I love this idea.... No more garbage disposal waste! It will all go in my garden.

Can you believe I've never read it?

can you believe i've never read it?
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Psychedelic Citron

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

I call this my Psychedelic Citron. I started it on Saturday July 31, 2010. I had two balls of Noro Silk Garden sock yarn in colorway 304. Folks that is 656 yards of fingering weight yarn. I am knitting with size 7 needles and it is currently over 600 stitches per row. I am now on my third ball of Noro. Thankfully another yarn shop in town happen to have the same colorway and I struck gold that it was the same dye lot too.

I believe I am finally at the ruffle edge but I may make it a few rows longer. I really want to make sure this thing is big enough to wrap up in and not just a neck warmer.

Cyclops Boob?

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

WTF? So I have two problems with this sweater? First, the edge, despite some friends warnings which I obviously ignored, looks like duck tail feathers all around my body. Trust me I don't need any extra help with the trunk area. Second, did I grow a third boob? This piece has been frogged and the yarn is being used for something more appropriate. Lesson learned. I think I might like to try my hand at color-work.

Poo says "meeeeeoooooow" Dr. Chanan

Lake Erie

P1030305
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Knitting ART!

I love it when I find knitting in art. Saturday wasn't any exception. Had lunch with a couple friends at Haiku. Halfway through the meal I noticed this on the wall at our table. Now I want to make something similar because it is way cool.

Sock yarn leftovers

I have accumulated a good deal of left over sock yarn ends. After several attempts at using those ends I believe I have found the winner. Yesterday I stumbled upon Kary's Chevron Scarf pattern and thought hummm that might work.

When I got home last evening I grabbed my sock yarn ends and cast on 36 stitches using the long tail cast-on method. I modified my color changes a little bit. I am knitting the 4 pattern rows with one color and then changing to another color. It is going to leave me with many ends but that is OK because I don't mind sewing in ends. Of course this project may help to change my mind.

I am thinking about sewing them in as I go like I used to do in my early knitting life. I remember stating at knit group early on that I hated having all the ends sticking out so I would sew them as I went. I have since learned this isn't always the best thing to do especially when knitting a garment because sometimes things go wrong and if the ends are already wound in it could cause another round of bad. OK enough rambling.....

Market bag

Yeah! I am finally making a market bag. I decided on the Girlfriend Market Bag pattern by Laura Spradlin. The yarn is Hempathy by Elsebeth Lavold. I have wanted to use this yarn for a long while and I am so glad I finally am knitting with it. How can you go wrong with hemp anyway? Guess I really am a hippy after all. ;-)

Love the yarn and really am enjoying knitting this one.

Super Delicious Giveaway!

Fellow knitter Dropped Stitches is having a blog giveaway. If you would like to enter to win some yarn go here.

Bombshell FO

bombshell FO
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

This week has been a rough one but there was a bright spot! A FO.... That is short for Finished Object. I finished knitting my third Bombshell (pattern from Big Girl Knits). Check out the project page here!

Not a great picture but hey I took it myself using my iPhone so I could only get as far away as my arm would go. ;-)

This is by far the best yet. LOVE it.....

April Fool's Surprise.....

DSC01543
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

There were plans last week for my cousin Amy (middle girlie) to come to C-bus from Rochester (NY where I am from well actually I am from Webster but who cares right?) for the weekend. So I left work early on Thursday to be at the house when Amy arrived.

She was in the house about 2 minutes when the doorbell started ringing over and over and over and over yet there wasn't anyone standing in the doorway. The crazy thing is Amy didn't enter the house through the front door so it wasn't like the doorbell got hit and accidentally stuck or anything. Yes, all this stuff went through my head while trying to figure out why the doorbell was making me nutso.

So I went to the door and looked to the side and standing there was Ashley (girlie on the left)! :-) OMG they fooled me big time and I loved it. We had a blast.

Here is a picture of the three of us. Can you tell we all have the same blood in us?

Denial Canceled

Last week I blogged about being in denial. I didn't think the partially knit circle sock was going to fit comfortably. Later that same day I tried it on again and it didn't seem to be as tight as I remembered. It has been pretty crazy at work the last couple weeks and my brain capacity isn't what it used to be. CRS what can I say?

Anyway I started working on it again and last night I Kitchener stitched the first sock. On to the second!

Denial!

will have to frog it
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

So I am in denial.... On Ravelry I am going to list this project as ZZZZZ but in reality I am going to have to frog this sucker. What you probably can't tell is that the cuff is like a flipping vise. I am not sure what possessed me to wait so long to try it on. I guess I will know better next time. I love this yarn and I really love the pattern. If I reknit I will go up a needle size for the circle patterns and back down to the current needle for the foot.

Knit Happy!

*Note I started writing this post on Sunday but didn't finish it until Monday morning*

Today (Sunday) has been an amazing day. Actually it has been an awesome weekend. The weather has been rocking. Jimmy and I walked around one of the outside malls here in Columbus yesterday. I normally clothes shop twice a year and yesterday was my spring shopping trip. Then we had date night and just spent a lovely day together. :-)

Today (Sunday) I met a friend for tea. After tea we found ourselves at Knitters Merc and I fell hard. I have a confession. I hate my upper arms so I thought perhaps having a couple shrugs in different colors would be just the way to cover up my arms yet still take advantage of summer tops that are short/no sleeves. On Saturday I picked up a black shrug while shopping with Jimmy. At Knitters Merc I picked up this yarn:

I think I will make the Little Peacocks by Sarah Hoadley shrug with this yarn. Here is a pic of Little Peacocks:

I also picked up some needles and a Knit Happy travel mug. I take tea with me in the morning to work and this mug is perfect!

This is my current favorite tea. YUM!

baby kimono

I have heard knitters talk about this darling pattern many times over the years but never had any motivation to knit one until now. My husband and I received an invitation to a baby shower for a dear friend. Of course my brain went into overdrive thinking about what I could make for this little baby.

I stash busted some left over yarn made of cotton and linen. I am actually finished with one side and working on the second. I hope to finish this beauty tonight.

BTW.... They say the baby is a girl. I hope we don't have any surprises because this isn't really a boy color.

Circle Socks

Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

This sock pattern, Circle Socks by Anne Campbell, cracks me up. I have named the project 313 Circle Socks on Ravelry.

I have a break between the last pair I knit and a sock KAL kicking off so I cast these on Friday evening. I am using Zitron Trekking XXL (colorway 313) given to by Tami for my birthday last year. I am working the heal flap on the first sock.

So whimsical....

Cooper Circle Angee - Finished

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

This Angee pattern is awesome! I just love Cookie A. The yarn is Neighborhood Fiber Co.

Spindle Spinning.....

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

For some reason I have been drawn to this book. Previously I didn't have interest in spinning my own yarn until this book. It would take away from my knitting time. I still don't have desire to use a spinning wheel, at this point, but I am drawn to the spindle.

Stay tuned.....

Progress

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Have been making some progress on my Cooper Circle Angee. Only two more repeats and then the toe decreases. I just may get to wear these once before official sandal season!

Knitting Stash

 Last week a friend left a bag of knitting stash at my house. She isn't crafty and had the bag of "stuff" fall into her hands. She immediately thought of me and my obsession with yarn and knitting. There were 3 or 4 in progress projects and some random yarn.

 Check out the 70's knitwear on the cover of the pattern book. GASP!

This one reminds me of Dick and Jane books for some reason!

Bombshell 3x

P1020948
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

I am making my third Bombshell. I am using some Cotlin and Bamboo held together in pink and orange.

Krazy Kiki

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

I had just taken a vest off the blocking mat and stepped out of the studio to hang it up. I found Kiki up on the blocking mat rolling and rolling and rolling. Today was one of those days I wish I had the iPhone G3S so that I could have video recorded her rather than just taking her picture. That kitty cat is LOCO!

P.S. I am glad I put the pins away intp the little red heart box because I actually considered leaving them to clean up later.

Ravelympics out!

P1020923
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Here is my Charity Curling knitting for the Ravelympics. Four pairs of socks and a hat. They will be donated to Global Knits. http://www.globalknit.org/

First purchase....

P1020860
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

As promised! This was my first purchase last Saturday. On Friday I had received the Spring Interweave in the mail. I have been wanting to make a market bag for a very long time. The Chevron Market Bag is just to cute for me to pass up.

I have been wanting to use Hempathy for a long time. As I stood in front of the display this tweed orange spoke to me. So it shall be a market bag.

Swirl Shawl

P1020862
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Hung out at The Yarn Shop yesterday for a bit. Now I will tell you I had already made my first purchase of the day before falling into this one. I will share more about that first purchase later.

I was sitting there knitting away and the ladies whipped this sucker out. OMG I fell into that wonderful knitting infatuation and just had to buy the pattern and yarn immediately. And I did... Now I can think of nothing but casting this on. Enter my problem.

I haven't talked about it since the first of the New Year but one of my 2010 goals was to donate all of my knitting time to charity knitting during the 2010 winter Olympics. I am still in that mode but man do I hear this yarn and pattern singing to me sort of like a brand new lover would be calling out in my head.

Wild Chair.....

new studio chair
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

So this floor clearance chair will find a new home in my studio. You can't tell from this picture but the light color is more of a light brown/beige even though it looks more like white in picture.

We are moving some furniture around in the house and it left me needing a comfy knitting chair in the studio. It will be here next weekend. YEAH!!!!!!!

Knitting mag + Bathtub = really really bad

r

Barnes and Noble trip....

IMG_1327
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

So we paid a visit to Barnes and Noble today. Aunt Joyce gave us BN gift cards for Christmas. Mine went towards this pile of knitting mags. Woot! Thanks Aunt Joyce!

First Sock Finished

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Pattern: Encore Worsted Kids Socks
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted
Donation: Global Knits

Nermal Thremal

I recently started the Knitty Thermal. I am using a combination of Briar Rose Alpaca lace weight and Knitpicks Palette.

I started this a week ago Sunday. It is 336 stitches around. I will be knitting this for a while!

Slideshow: 13 Best Quit-Smoking Tips Ever & Smokers With Lung Cancer: Not Too Late to Quit

I wanted to share this being an ex-smoker. It has been over 9 years since I quit. It was the hardest thing I have ever done but I am so glad I did it. You can too!

Slideshow: 13 Best Quit-Smoking Tips Ever

Also....

Smokers With Lung Cancer: Not Too Late to Quit

Study Shows Patients Who Quit After Cancer Diagnosis Live Longer Than Those Who Keep Smoking

By Kelli Miller Stacy
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Jan. 21, 2010 -- Smokers with lung cancer who have asked "Why quit now, I'm already sick?" may find new motivation in this answer: Doing so could double their odds of survival over five years.

A report published online today in BMJ suggests that people who give up smoking after being diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer live longer than patients who continue the habit.

The findings underscore the importance of the notion that it is never too late to quit smoking.

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death, according to the American Lung Association. And smoking causes most cases of lung cancer.

Medical evidence has repeatedly shown that as soon as a person quits smoking the body begins to repair the damage done by tobacco-smoke-related chemicals, and it's been theorized that continued smoking can influence the behavior of lung tumors. But until now it was not clear if ending the smoking habit after being diagnosed with lung cancer had any impact on a patient's survival.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham in England reviewed the results of 10 studies that evaluated how smoking cessation after lung cancer diagnosis affected a patient's prognosis. The review included patients with both non-small-cell and small-cell forms of lung cancer.

Among their findings:

• Patients with early-stage lung cancer who continued to smoke had a "substantially higher risk of death" than those who quit after their diagnosis. The increased death risk appeared to be due to the cancer spreading.
• The five-year survival rate for the quitters was 64%-70% compared with 29%-33% for those who continued to smoke.
• The continued smokers were also more likely to have their cancer return than those who quit.

The researchers say their findings suggest that smoking-cessation programs may benefit patients with early-stage lung cancer, but they add that more research is needed.

Reference: http://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/news/20100121/smokers-with-lung-cancer-not-too-late-to-quit

Christmas in January.....

P1020752
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

After many scheduling conflicts, Jimmy and I were able to get together with our friends Arla and Stephen to celebrate the holiday season.

It was nice to sit back and relax without the rush and panic the holidays can bring. We met them at a wonderful Mexican place so neither of us had to cook. It is nice to be waited on so that you can focus on company and conversation.

Jimmy and I received a lovely kitty pillow and it goes perfectly in our living room. But then Arla spoiled me with a hank of 100% alpaca from Great Lakes Fibers. She said she bought it last summer at a festival. I just love getting yummy yarn from friends. It is especially cool in this instance since she is not a knitter but she really appreciates that I am.

Thank you Arla and Stephen. We had a great time and love our gifts!

1st Angee Finished!

P1020772
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Woot....

Knitting charts....

another use for my Macbook Pro ~ chart display #knitting
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

I have found another use for my amazing, wonderful Macbook Pro..... Knitting chart holder!

I "blew up" the size of the chart and lunched the Stickies to move up and down the chart as I go. On the sticky note I track my last row knit.

See last year I started the Muir stole for Sarah to wear on her wedding day. The project was put into a time out but I got it back out last night only to find the chart/pattern MIA. So I am going to use these files to ensure I don't misplace my spot ever again.