Knitting

Some knitting was accomplished this week. Much more was completed after Lynne showed me how to make a stitch so I could continue with my Sitcom Chic cardigan. It was so simple, but I'll be darned if I could do it on my own looking at a diagram of how to do it. Thankfully, I was able to teach myself how to unknit something, so I was able to fix my mistake and then carry on after Thursday's Knit Knite.

So I've knitted a lot more this weekend. Not as much as I could've, I guess. There was a fair amount going on. The requisite cleaning and laundry which only seems to get done on weekends, the grocery shop, the hair appointment, visiting with the in-laws, and reading. I finally finished Marley and Me, and just in time too because Book Club is this Thursday (why does everything I am interested in have to be on a Thursday? WHY?) It was such a great book, I cried for just about the last 40 pages though because I knew what was coming. But there was much laughing too, which made it a very good book.

For some reason, all of this week I have had a very strong urge to go running. In highschool, I was on the track team and I LOVED IT! I loved the feeling of exhirilation when I was pushing my body to new limits and challenging myself to beat my own best time. I loved that running high. And I miss it. Since highschool, I have not been able to commit to a running schedule, or any sort of workout schedule for that matter. Which is SO bad. But I think I am finally ready to make that commitment to myself, especially since I have been feeling that yearning to run. So I decided to start out slowly and start walking first. John and I went for a nice walk this morning along the canal, and though we froze our butts off, we enjoyed ourselves. The last time I tried running was about 3 years ago now and a friend and I decided to do a 5 km marathon, but in training for it I pulled a muscle very badly in my knee. So walking to build up strength is definitely a necessity. Then I'll run a little bit at a time and see how it goes. Hopefully by the time I'm running a lot spring will be here and it won't be so cold outside! I'm really pumped. And in writing about it, I hope that it means that I will be more likely to stick with it. Wish me luck!

Ahhhh Sunday...where did the weekend go?

This week, I have tried to make a concerted effort to knit a little bit everyday. Which doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is for me. I find by the time I get home, make dinner, sit, figure out what I'm going to wear the next day and de-wrinkle it, make my lunch, play with the cat and get his food and litter all set, it is like 10 and I need to go to bed. Where does the time go? If I want to get any of my projects EVER finished, there must be some daily work happening. So have I have tried to knit two rows everyday. And since I'm currently focusing on Sitcom Chic, that takes about 45 minutes becuase I'm working with 147 stitches on a row. It's coming along! I got more done on it this weekend. It's a nice pattern because you start at the bottom of the cardigan, and then you only do an increase row once every 12 rows. So it's mostly mindless at this point. My kind of knitting! Picovoli is still sitting in a heap of yarn, still not on the needles. If I have time today, I might cast on for it again.

So today is Daytona 500 Day, the one Nascar race John actually makes a point of watching. So he's on the couch most of today. Me, I have a little array of projects I am going to work on. We bought Quicken personal finance software yesterday so I'm going to install that. I am also going to set up our filing cabinet with files to keep track of all of our stuff. I have some reading to do for work, that will help me prepare for the future opportunities in the department. Of course, some work on Sitcom Chic and Picovoli. And I'm going to do some fun reading! I have decided to join a book club that one of the new girls at work told me about, and I am so excited. I have always wanted to be a part of a book club and be more well read. We are reading Marley and Me, by John Grogan. It's about their lab, Marley, and their adventures raising him. It's really good so far!

Well, off to my Sunday tasks.

GAH!

It was a good weekend, all in all. Saturday my parents came up to visit and we checked out the town of Medina. Though Medina is where I go to Knit Knite, I have never been anywhere else in town except for the yarn store. I tend not to be a very adventurous person, but having my parents here was the perfect excuse to explore a little. Very cute shops there. Then we headed back to our house, where John and I made dinner for all of our parents. It was really nice. Our families live so far apart that they really haven't seen each other much since our wedding, so it was a good night. I miss my parents a lot, especially when I've had a great visit and then they go home.

Today was laundry and knitting day. The laundry went smoothly enough, I actually folded stuff that has sat in baskets for two weeks because I was way too lazy. And the knitting....so I was working away on Picovoli because I had finally figured it all out with the picot edge thing. I was knitting a round where I had to knit so many stitches and then place a marker, etc. Well, I was just coming around the bend to the end of the round when I discovered that I was one stitch too short. I went back and counted everything...no, all of the other markers were in the right place. GAH! So somewhere, somehow, when I did the picot row with the yarn overs, knit two togethers, I lost a stitch. Because I had the right number when I cast on! DOUBLE GAH! I am such a perfectionist that it would drive me crazy if it wasn't correct right from the beginning. So. I. Ripped. It. Out. AGAIN. OMG talk about frustration. I had to put it down and physically walk away. And then I picked up Sitcom Chic, which is my lovely one button cardigan that I had only just cast on for. I bought some circular needles to knit it on since the crowded straight needle was driving me bonkers, so I happily worked on that today with no problems. I'm debating trying to start Picovoli again tonight, but I think I might just keep it simple for the rest of the weekend and not further frustrate myself. Yeah, that's what I'll do...

EUREKA!

As I was browsing through my Stitch n Bitch books to look for information about picking up stitches, I happened to come across the mention of picot edges. And low and behold, the Nation book actually has directions to do a picot edge. That don't involve a provisional cast on! I tried but failed so many times, but I still desperately want my edging to sit nicely and not roll up. So I found a solution. It says to knit in stockinette stitch for about 1/2" to 1" and then do a row of yarn overs and knit two togethers, and then simply sew the edge of the hem to the inside. I am so pumped, I am totally going to try it! Good thing I hadn't started my increasing for the neckline yet! I'll just continue on in my stockinette and then start the increasing, which thanks to Chris I now know how to do...okay, must go and knit...

A knitting update...

This past week was tax free week in NYS. Which also includes yarn, if you are using it to make a garment.

So to take full advantage, I decided to venture to a yarn shop. On Knittin' Pretty's blog she talked about a yarn shop over in Henrietta which is also very close to where I work, so when I got out on Saturday after my overtime I thought it would be the perfect time to go. Plus, they had a coupon on their website for $10 off if you spend over $40. Tax free and saving $10? Really, I couldn't not go!

The Yarne Shop, as it is called, was so cute. And on display they had the most fabulous purses I have ever seen! Well, most fabulous knitted purses anyways. And they have classes to learn how to make them. That will definitely be on my list of things to do! Anywho, I found yarn to make a Halley's Comet Hat and Lucky. I am so excited!

Last night I restarted Picovoli and am now three rows in. Which doesn't sound like much, but it's my best bit of progress to date! Now I just have to figure out how to knit in the front and back of a stitch, and I will be okay.

Okay, must go and knit...

Thursday

I should be going to bed now, since I have to get up at 5:30 for work. But I'm just not tired enough to go to bed. I will invariably lay there, with my mind working at top speed, for at least half an hour and then I might fall asleep. So frustrating! I wish I was one of those people who could fall asleep right away.

Oh, I didn't blog about this the other night. Our kitten is now 5 months old and he is oh so curious and gets into EVERYTHING! We've been putting him in the basement when we're not home or when we are sleeping, because he can have the run of the whole basement and that way he won't get in to anything upstairs. Well, I feel bad putting Marmelade down there at night because he cries and wants to be upstairs with me. So on Tuesday night, I decided that I would let the cat stay upstairs for the night as a trial run. When he gets older and calms down more, he won't have to spend the night downstairs. And for the first 2 months he was here, he stayed upstairs at night. So I thought it wouldn't be a big deal AT ALL for him to be upstairs. Boy was I wrong! I went to bed at 10:30 and I woke up at midnight to a big crash. I go out to the living room to find the cat had knocked over the table lamp and broke part of it (thankfully nothing crucial because it still works) and got glass everywhere! And he also got into our fake plant-tree and knocked it over and pulled a bunch of the leaves off. What a little bugger! So the cat will no longer be hanging out upstairs unsupervised.

And even tonight, he was trying to climb the fake plant-tree again! As soon as I would come over, he would run behind the couch where he knows I can't get him. GAH! I love him, but he drives me NUTS!

I made cookies tonight. I have been craving cookies for a while. And after dinner was so crappy, I needed a pick-me-up. I made turkey chili with our leftover turkey. It was one of those things where they give you the seasoning and the beans and you add the rest of the stuff. It was so bland, and even with adding chili powder it wasn't that great. I hope John liked it, because there is a lot more left.

So not really a lot of knitting going on here. I'm going to have to get myself into a weeknight knitting routine, or else I will never get anything done. And I can't buy more yarn unless I am finishing projects. GAH!

Okay, now I'm starting to feel tired. Good night!