Desert Knitter

Thursday, July 29, 2004

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who sent me blog anniversary wishes! They were greatly appreciated.

For those of us who wind our skeins into the round balls with the flat top and bottom, here is what I put mine in when knitting with it. I either set it on the desk or actually put it on the floor and the container keeps things nice and clean. It's the top to a Blank CD stack holder. The kind where you buy blank CD's and this is actually the cover for the cd spindle. It's from a 50 cd pack and it works great as a yarn ball holder.

No knitting for me today due to lots of real life stuff interfering. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day at work and then I'm on call Friday, Saturday and Sunday... and the notorious Dr who always schedules patients to have procedures on the weekend is on this weekend. ::grumble:: Crew that had call last weekend didn't get called in at all. Different Dr, too.

Does anyone have any extra knitting time they can spare?? I seem to keep running out!

posted at 7/29/2004 09:08:00 PM by Jan

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

ZZZOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM ! ! ! !

Where has all the time gone!? I started thie blog one year ago today and it seems like it was yesterday. Lots of knitting, lots of cmaping and SCA things, and just plain old lots of fun in my life. I even started a new job which I love... okay... I'm not in love with being on call on weekends but the stress is so much less than what I had in my old job that I'll just stick with this one for a while.

I've been working on my Teal Tank Top as you can see by the picture. I'm only about 4 rows into the arm hole shaping but I'll be doing more of that tonight.

Unfortunately, I either run out of time to knit or my blasted Carpel Tunnel makes my hand go numb and hurt which makes it really difficult to knit. I really should get that looked into but... I'm honestly afraid of being told that I can't knit after surgery for several weeks.

Here's hoping that we all are happily knitting for many more years to come!

posted at 7/28/2004 03:48:00 PM by Jan

Monday, July 26, 2004

Camping is fun! Honest!

Let's see... Friday started off with packing everything into the SUV and heading off to my friend's house where everything was offloaded and put into their big trailer. Next my friend and I headed off to do some last minute errands he had while the other two people loaded their things into the trailer.

In the midst of all the errands, the Baron calls and asks if we could come by and pick up AL, the wonder Scorpion. The mascot of al-Barran. He fit in the back of the truck but the upper door part of the bed cover couldn't close because of Al's tail sticking out.

Back home, we realize that Al is now going to have to go on top of all our camping gear so in he goes... along with the al-Barran bell we also were asked to take with us.

On the road now... 5 adults sitting all nice and comfortable in the f350 truck.

An hour out of town, we lost some tread on one of the trailer tires and had to get that replaced. This only makes us an hour behind schedule but, unfortunately, the errands and side errand to pick up AL already had us 2 hours behind... now we were 3 hours behind.

Drive the rest of the way... things are fine... get to the site and start setting up camp... you guessed it... just as the sun was going down. Have you ever set up a tent in the dark? Makes for some interesting... er..... language occasionally. ehheeheh

Woops, forgot to bring the pillow for my bed. No problem... that's what the extra blanket can be used for. Woops, forgot the towel. Oh well, that's what yesterday's dress can be used for. ;) Thank heavens it was a cotton dress.

Just as we were finishing setting up the tents.... it started to rain. LOL Up go the rain tarps over all three tents. We now have a tarp roof which makes for a very comfortable camp.

It rained Friday night, was clear most of Saturday but started raining about 3pm and didn't stop. Great for Lincoln National Park where we were camping but it made for some interesting events. I sleep great when it rains so had no problem sleeping till........

CLANG CLANG CLANG.... Very early Sunday AM, the entire camp was woken to the ringing of the al-Barran bell. Imagine heads peeking out of tents to see a lady holding a big steele sword ringing the bell.... BEAR ! ! ! Yup, we had a bear wander through the camp. Didn't like the sound of the bell so it ambled back off into the forest.

Time to leave!..... unload all the stuff from inside the tent. No problem as the tarp and tent keep you nice and dry but then you have to take down your tent and the tarp... 5 extremely wet people hurry around and get everything loaded back into the trailer and the heat inside the truck is turned on and we all climb in for the ride back home while we all dry in the heat of the truck.

Did we have fun? You bet! Would I camp in the rain again? You bet! I could have done without setting my tent up in the dark and could have done without the bear, though ehehehheeh Sorry about not having any pictures. I didn't want my camera to get wet.

I did get a little knitting done. :) I'm up to the arm hole shaping of the back of the Teal Tank.

Did you have fun this weekend?

posted at 7/26/2004 05:28:00 PM by Jan

Thursday, July 22, 2004

T.G.I.T

Okay, it's not exactly the TGIF that everyone is used to but I have a 4 day weekend starting now. Therefore, it's Thank G*D It's Thursday!

Actually, I'm going camping this weekend to Ruidoso at a nice Federal park with REAL BATHROOMS! No Porta-potties. heehheehhe

I couldn't resist these beautiful stitch markers! I love using pretty things while I'm knitting and fell in love with them when I saw them online.

If you would like to have some or just would like to see other really pretty stitch markers you can buy, please visit Beaded Stitch Markers by Karen. From left to right is a fox, a rabbit, a sheep, a turtle, a koala and a clown fish and above is a set of her rainbow stitch markers.

Weather permitting, I hope to have some pictures to share with when I return since this is another of my SCA camping events. Surprisingly enough, this is the Monsoon season for New Mexico and we just might get some rain as it's been predicted to rain the whole weekend. The park is up in the mountains so the temperatures are in the high 70's to possibly low 80's during the day and mid to high 50's at night.

I hope you all have a great weekend! Make something pretty!

posted at 7/22/2004 04:18:00 PM by Jan

Monday, July 19, 2004

Keep those replies coming about how you keep track of your handwash and machine wash knitted items!

Many thanks to all who have replied so far... keep the comments coming !

I've been asked about where I got the progress tracker graphics and script you see on the right side of my blog. It's from IndiGirl's blog on a page that I don't see listed on her blog but I do have the link so it must be in her archives . Thanks IndiGirl! I love the progress graphics!

No knitting pictures today as I didn't get much done after yesterday's picture. I do plan on my usual nightly chat in the Nightlyknitterschat on Yahoo. If you love to chat live with fellow knitters, please feel free to join the group and join the live chat we have every night starting around 10pm eastern time. For west coasters, don't worry... many people stay late and there should be plenty of chatters then, too.

posted at 7/19/2004 05:18:00 PM by Jan

Saturday, July 17, 2004

WOOOHOOO ! ! ! !

Blooger has now added text sizing and color and formatting. Very interesting. Now, I just need to figure out their new way of importing pictures. HHuummmm.

Just to show that I'm not goofing around, here is a current picture of the teal tank. 6 inches of it have been knit so far as you can see. The yarn is lovely and really soft but is the absolute devil about splitting so I'm having to knit it carefully. It's still pretty mindless knitting and I actually really love that type of knitting!

Okay, everyone!! Please!!! I need your input on how you remember which of your knitted items is hand wash and which are machine wash! I'll happily post the final results for everyone to enjoy but I need more than three comments! Please! Pretty please ! ! !

posted at 7/17/2004 07:14:00 PM by Jan

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

It's not much but it's a start! My Teal Tank. The pattern is from Rowan #29 but I have decided to do a ribbed bottom instead of the straight one they have since... if you look closely at their pictures inside, the hem rolls and I hate that look.

I'm using Berroco's Softwist in color 9479 which is a teal blue and has a slight shine to it. It's very loosely spun and splits super easy but I've worked with yarn that splits before. You just have to pay attention to what you are doing. This yarn is super soft and I think it will be a dream to wear.

Now... I hope you all are reading and willing to reply 'cause I have a question for everyone:

How do you mark your finished knitted projects so you will remember which is hand wash and which can be tossed into the washing machine?

posted at 7/14/2004 06:20:00 PM by Jan

Friday, July 09, 2004

Bad, Jan!! Bad!!!

Well, not really bad if you are into adding to your stash. ::grin:: And I do have projects for both of these yarns.

The dark teal blue is Berroco's Softwist yarn. 41% wool and 59% Viscose and sinfully soft!! It has a nice sheen to it as well! This is for the cover pattern of Rowan #29. I tried to put a link to the magazine here but it must be sold out on the Rowan site since the number doesn't show up. The top is a nice v-necked tank top to give me some mindless knitting. I'm still debating on whether to put the beads around the neckline but it's a possibility since they do make the neckline sparkle and look very feminine. :)

The silver yarn is Lion Brand Glitterspun to be used for this Will I actually wear something like this? You bet! Even have a man who wants to see me in it. ::blush::

Also, does anyone out there know of a simple pattern, short sleeved or tank top, where the knitting is in a V pattern with the bottom of the V starting at the center of the front and the center of the back?? I am too short to wear horizontal stripes and know that a V pattern looks good on me. I have another yarn in mind that I could use for a pattern like this. The pattern can be free... which would be wonderful... or one that I had to buy. Please let me know!

posted at 7/09/2004 03:08:00 PM by Jan

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Where has all the time gone!? I can't believe that it's July already.

I've been working on my Red Tank Top. I'm currently doing the arm hole decreases for the back then it's the neckline and shoulders... then the front. I wish the stitch pattern showed up better. I'm using a higher resolution on the camera but, as many have found, red just doesn't like to cooperate when it comes to texture showing up in pictures.

Of course, part of the problem can easily be the photographer. hehehehe

I think I have my next pattern in mind but it's still a bit of a toss up. I have several possibilities yelling, "Me me me me! Pick me!"

Work is getting crazy. We had another nurse quit so that means we are THREE staff down. No, it's not the Dr's, it's not the patients... Honestly, it's our hospital administration. When the last case is done, you have to go home... you are not supposed to stay and restock. We are running out of things. We aren't getting our full time hours so our paychecks aren't full ones. Our boss is an absolute Doll! Administration is yelling at her because we get called in on off hours and weekends to do cases... Well, DUH!!! Don't talk to us! It's the Dr's who call us in to do the cases and.. DUH!! Some are definitely emergencies! I wouldn't have my Boss's job for anything. :(

Fortunately, I work with some wonderful ladies and we are all going to just pull together and work through this even if it means taking more days and weekends of call. It does ruin your days off but, at least *WE* care about the patients! (whine mode off)

Thank heavens for knitting. It's so relaxing and enjoyable! Heck, I might even have a small knitting group started since my Boss wants to learn how to knit and one of the other nurses wants to learn how to cable. wooohoo! Should be fun!

posted at 7/07/2004 04:40:00 PM by Jan