Knit A ____ A Day in May

I have declared the theme for May to be: Knit A Fish A Day in May

I extend my May challenge to anyone else who needs a "gimmick" of sorts to help get through a project. I'm currently at 90 fish knit so the 31 I knit in May will bring me much closer to my final goal of 160 fish knit. It's been at least a week since I knit my last fish and I took a mini-knitting sabbatical over the past few days to get geared up for my fish challenge.

I did work today at SnB on this project:



It is a heart embossed(if you look closely you can see the 3 hearts) baby blanket which will have 3 rows of colors (fuschia, pink, white). I'm nearly done with the fuschia color and will start the pink layer sometime this week.

I finished Debbie Macomber's Back On Blossom Street with the help of some reading in the wee hours this morning and absolutely loved it! It makes me want to knit a prayer shawl which is something I previously never had the desire to do.

Only 4 more Mondays (including tomorrow) left until summer vacation-YAY!!!!!

A Day of Numbers

5:39 A.M.= I was showered and dressed by this time this morning. Only problem was that it was a school holiday. No work for me but yet I was up and ready to start my day....sigh....I am so much like my father.

6:00 a.m.= In my local grocery store getting orange juice, bagels, and cream cheese.

1= of customers in the grocery store at that time (me).

26= amount of minutes I talked to my best friend as she made her way to work @ 6:30 a.m.

2= cups of coffee consumed

9223= My highest score ever on SNOOD which I achieved some time this morning.

0= amount of stitches knit today. I've temporarily lost my knitting "mojo." I'd been focusing my time/attention on knitting a blanket and although it's cute-it's also a bit boring. I don't really want to start anything new since May is all about my fish-I don't need any added distractions.

I have been reading this and am thoroughly enjoying it. I also was able to track down The Office Season 1 DVD which will be watched at some point over the weekend.

Hopefully I'll be back in the "Knitting saddle" tomorrow!

Coffee Swap

I missed out on the last Coffee Swap because I waited too long to sign up.
Not this time around!
I'm officially a participant in Coffee Swap 2 and out 112 participants...guess who's my swap partner??!!! KIM!!!!!! A former S.A. SnB'er...I was thrilled..It really takes a lot of pressure off to at least know a few things about the person you're buying for especially since this is my first swap.

Without further ado...Here are the answers to my coffee questionnaire.

QUESTIONS
1. Whole bean or ground?
I have a grinder so either will be ok.

2. Fully-loaded or decaf?
Full loaded!!!

3. Regular or flavored?
Flavored

4. How do you drink your coffee?
Sweet and creamy- I love a Caramel Macchiato from St@rbucks or a medium coffee (black) with 1 cream and 1 equal.

5. Favorite coffee ever?
hmmmm...don't think I have one-yet

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do?
Like yarn..I don't care for the cheapy stuff

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee?
Shortbread..cookies...nearly anything sweet and dunkable

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences?
No..I don't think so...I'm pretty flexible

9. Yarn/fiber you love?
I'm really in to sock yarn these days but am always excited to try something new/different--whatever the yarn

10. Yarn/fiber you hate?
Cheapy acrylic stuff

11. What's on your needles?
Baby blanket, washcloth, and of course fish...more socks to come soon!

12. Favorite colors?
Blues...pinks..purples

13. Allergies?
None related to this swap

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest?
I can't imagine not liking anything I would get. I'm always willing to try new fibers..new colors...there's nothing I really really hate....Sometimes it's fun to get stuff I wouldn't normally buy for myself.

10 More Fish!

Whew!!! I fought through my fish funk and was able to complete the rest of my fish for my monthly goal of 10 over the weekend.

I am now up to 90 fish complete-only 70 left to go...I'm glad to be going on a "Fish Vacation" until May 1st when I begin my "Fish A Day in May" campaign. Until then, I'm working on a blanket, a warshcloth, and the thoughts of getting started on another set of socks (yes, they are just thoughts at this point).

I have finally discovered the show, The Office. I freakin' LOVE it!!! I'd heard many people talk about how much they loved it, recorded a few shows, and both DH and I thought it was hysterical! We rented the Season 2 DVD this weekend and have laughed ourselves silly at this show! Now I just need to find the Season 1 DVD ( for some reason our local video store doesn't carry it) and we'll be caught up.

Addicted!

I'd been reading in some non-knitting blogs about this game. How much fun it is...and how addicting it is... I decided to download it just to check it out. Oh My Goodness!!!! I can't stop playing it!!! I'm now going to bed later at night, leaving for work later in the morning, doing less of..well...everything just so I can play "one more game" of Snood and see those goofy expressions!

I've also been in a fish funk. I'm nearly finished with fish #7 for the month but it's been like a visit to the dentist everytime I pick it up to knit. I just want to get it done and over with. I'm going to need some serious encouragement to get through my "Fish A Day in May" challenge.

I am excited about a baby blanket I started. I love the yarn...love the pattern (first experience with chart reading)...but more than anything else....I'm loving the stitch markers I'm using.


I bought the stitchmarkers from Susan and could hardly wait to use them. They are perfect for my "girly" blanket and make me smile everytime see them.

As far as sock knitting. I'm intriqued with Cat Bordhi's Coriolis Sock Pattern, but think I'll use some stash yarn to knit the sock recipe from Knitting Rules first for some extra practice. But don't expect them anytime soon-they are kind of on the back burner until I get the baby blanket finished. I'll probably mess with knitting a swatch (GASP!) this weekend and maybe get a sock cast-on.

I'm a Sock Knitter!

Yay! I FINALLY finished my first pair of socks!

It's hard to believe what started out as this:


Turned in to this:


Of course I had a few bumps along the way like a garter ridge that somehow appeared right below the cuff on the front of the sock. Frogging is good for the soul. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.


I used this pattern so I could refer to the online video tutorials (and the show I recorded) frequently. I also thought the use of bigger needles and thicker yarn would be a good idea for a first pair.And because I'm nutty like that-I had to use the exact yarn-with the help of Eb@y- that was used on the show (at least for the first pair).



I loved knitting the socks and feel like they are just big comfy "hugs" for my feet.


Here are the basics:

Pattern: Basic Sock Pattern
Yarn: 2 balls Berroco Pleasure(130 yds/120 m per 50g ball; 66 percent Angora, 29 percent Merino wool, 5 percent nylon)

Needles: Crystal Palace Bamboo DPNs; Size 7

Notes:
First sock took 3 weeks(lots of frogging), second sock took 6 1/2 days.
The yarn was great to knit with and makes a warm cozy "slipper-type" sock.
Now I see why people take such detailed notes. I didn't write a thing down so my 2nd sock is a bit bigger than my first sock.
My least favorite part of sock knitting is picking up the stitches-I have such anxiety that one side will have more stitches than the other!
I didn't care for the toe I used in this particular pattern (decreasing down to 8 sts) and am eager to try a new technique.
I just made the pattern "as is" and hoped they would fit my feet. They do-barely. Before I knit my next pair, I'll have to do some measuring so I can get the fit "just right."

One of my SnB buddies commented that knitting socks is like eating potato chips-Addictive! You can't stop at just one!
I agree!!

Happy Easter!

Here's me circa 1970. The scary part is I swear my mother still has that lamp!!!

On the needles I have the usual suspects: my first sock (nearly done), a fish, and a dishcloth. Not really worth taking a pic of any of them at this point.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Sunday's S's

Today's entry is brought to you by the letter "S."

S is for Sweet...

I knew I had to make this Black & White Angel Food cake as soon as I saw it on the cover of my Cooking Light. It tasted good and came pretty close to looking like the one on the magazine cover! Better yet, each slice has less than 1 gram of fat!

S is for Spring...

As seen in these lovely tulips purchased at S@m's. I love flowers! I really need to plant my own one of these days.

S is for Sock....

I would have been further along except I somehow got this weird garter stitch ridge across the front and had to frog and turn the heel for the 5th time. I can almost do it with my eyes closed at this point. This sock is a little further along than what's in the pic due to the next "s."

S is also for SnB...
I went to my weekly SnB and got to work on my sock which became a "sweet sock" with the honey(from my fruit dip) that somehow made it on to my dpns. It was really neat to look and see nearly everyone working on a "sock" all so different..all so cool....I heart sock knitting!

Finally...S is for "Shopping"
I discovered a new sock knitting book I MUST have along with some more knitting paraphernalia. Online shopping-here I come...