We're not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be. (C.S. Lewis)

 I have a finished object. Finally. I had finished knitting the Special Olympics scarf early last week. I think I mentioned last Wednesday that all I had left to do was to finish weaving in the ends. Well, I finally sat down this morning and wove them all in. I could cross at least two more WIPs off the list just by doing the finishing work (sewing up seams and/or weaving in ends). Knitting is fun. Finishing is not.

Anyway, this scarf will be going to the Ohio Special Olympics. I recently found out that one of my friends from high school has a son that participates in the Ohio Special Olympics. So this year any scarves that I knit will be going there in honor of A.J.

The other project on my needles is the Hedera Socks from Cookie A's Knit.Socks.Love. book. The yarn is from Creatively Dyed, in the Envy colorway. I love the yarn, even if it is a little too variegated for the lace pattern. Although the color and pattern work well once the socks are put on and the lace is blocked (stretched) a little bit.

 * ~ * ~ *

Blanket Update:

194 squares in 221 days

(Status: Why do I bother setting goals?)

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Sports do not build character. They reveal it. (Haywood Hale Broun)

It's time to knit (or crochet, or even weave) scarves for the Special Olympics. I hadn't realized that they were asking for scarves again, so there isn't much time. The deadline is March 9th.

Basically, scarves can be any craft, any pattern, as long as you use Red Heart Cherry Red and Heather Gray. The scarves should be approximately 5" x 55." (Mine is about 4 1/2" wide because I didn't allow for the pull of the ribbing, but I've decided to let it be a little skinny because it looks so cute. Plus I've already knit 9" and I don't want to frog all of that.) You can find the address to mail the scarves to at the Scarves for Special Olympics website.

Thursday Photo Theme: Container

Last week, this wonderful box full of yarn was delivered. It's the prize I won from Ravelry's Special Olympic Scarf project. Coats & Clark offered several gifts to random scarves, and I was one of the winners. Actually, I got two prizes since I was also a moderator.

There is yarn for a sweater for each of my girls, yarn for socks, and lots and lots of baby yarn. The baby yarn was going to be for the charity baby hats, but with this much yarn I think I'm going to do a couple of sweaters for charity as well.

I've been enjoying just fondling the yarn, since I won't let myself cast anything else on until I finish a project or two. And counting the yarn that was already in my stash and queued for projects (which means that I'm not counting sock yarn, since that's not for specific patterns yet), if I could assume that it would take me two weeks to knit each project (as if I really could knit a sweater or a lace stole in just two weeks!), I could knit until this time next year. If I add in the sock yarn, I'll be knitting until my youngest graduates high school.

This, by the way, may explain why there hasn't been many posts lately -- I'm too busy knitting!

If you're going to ask, I'm going to answer.

One of the things that I've missed by not writing regularly is the chance to say, "Hey look at what I did. Isn't it cool?"It's not so much that I want to brag, because I don't think I have anything to brag about. It's more a reaction of "wow - I did that?" It's like when my kids were little and had to have mommy clap every time they tried diving (jumping) into the pool.

So here's the catch-up for the past couple of weeks.

Despite the Christmas knitting (which didn't all get done on time), I managed to finish a baby hat for the Loops of Love charity every week.





I counted it up, just for fun, and I knit 24 baby hats for charity in 2008. If I stick to doing at least one hat a week, I should be able to do 52 hats in 2009. I've already finished two hats this year. The baby hats are obviously one of my favorite things to knit. There are lots of patterns, so it doesn't get boring, but because a hat is basically the same no matter what the pattern, they're easy once you've done a couple. And they go very quickly. I can have a finished project in just a couple of hours.


By the way, all of my projects are listed in Ravelry along with the pattern and yarns used, which is why I don't write it out here. But I'm more than willing to share the information -- I love to give the pattern designers credit!

I also finished the three pairs of socks that I was knitting as Christmas gifts. This is the pair I did for my sister.

I forgot to take pictures of my mom's and my daughter's socks. Which is a shame, since I love the way my daughter's red and black stripes turned out. I'll try to grab a photo of them the next time she wears them.

By the way, the sock count for 2008 was 10 finished pairs. I had also knit 10 pairs in 2007. (I thought that was a neat coincidence.) I have one pair to my credit for 2009. When I told my mom these stats, she didn't think I should count the 2009 sock because I actually started it in 2008. But I'm counting finished socks, so it stays in my total for the new year.

Thanks to Christmas knitting, I have a new item to add to my favorites list -- washcloths. My daughter was knitting washcloths for a while, and I thought "how boring." I loved the finished items (even stole one that was supposed to be given to someone else), but there was no way I was going to waste my time knitting a 6" square.

But then I needed gift ideas, and decided on washcloths with handmade soap.

I'm hooked. They're quick, easily carried around, and are a great way to try out different stitch patterns. Since December, I've knit 7 washcloths...


...and one kitchen towel.



The Special Olympics Scarf Project is ending, but I was able to send off another scarf from me...


...plus one from my student. Coats and Clark had sponsored our Ravelry group (which produced over 1000 scarves), and they awarded prizes to 20 randomly drawn scarves. One of mine won! So I get to pick out 12 skeins of free yarn. Plus they're also giving me another 12 skeins for being a group moderator. I'm so excited, and I keep changing my mind about what I want.



One other project I've started is plarn market bags. These are made of recycled grocery bags (plastic yarn = "plarn"). Both of my bags so far have been crocheted because it's easier for me to design something crocheted. Unfortunately, it makes my hands hurt for the next couple of days. So I'll have to see what I can come up with, knitting. I'm going to try to sell these at the Farmer's Market the next time we go (in two weeks).

You'll notice that I still haven't finished the Mystery Stole, although I'm getting close. I only have 1 1/2 more clues to go! The Lady Sweater was put on hold until the stole is finished. I've got three more pairs of socks that are also waiting to be finished (and they're going to be counted as 2009 sock, mom!), but they're waiting until I finish my daughter's gloves. You know, thinking it, I should probably get back to my knitting!

Knitting again. Or rather, Knitting as usual.

It's been a couple of weeks since I did a WIP post. I've actually managed to get quite a bit done, thanks to the TWO knitting groups I'm now in. I have my usual Boca "Knit 1, Brew 2" group and I recently found a group that meets in nearby Palm Beach Gardens. It could be a little obsessive, I know, meeting two evenings a week. But since the groups only get together alternate weeks, I figure I'm still okay.


I've slowed down on the Mystery Stole now that all the clues are out and I'm no longer trying to race everyone to the finish. But it's coming along slowly, and I've only got a total of four more sections to do, and then I graft the two pieces together.
The second Special Olympics Scarf has also slowed down. I've got five stripes finished, and I'm estimating that there will be eight stripes to get the correct length.

My Lady Sweater is my favorite project to work on. But I'm trying to ignore it, since some of the other items (like the Special Olympic Scarf) have quickly approaching deadlines.

The City Socks that I started as a traveling project for New York are finishing up quickly. It's amazing how quickly I can do plain stocking stitch. And since the yarn is self-striping, it's not as boring as it could be. What I really like about these socks is that I managed to get the stripes to match up on both socks.

And of course there was a baby hat for charity. I did this while at the Knit 1, Brew 2 meeting. You've got to love crochet for the sheer speed of it.

Christmas is coming (it's only 43 days away!), and I've settled on knitting only six gifts this year. Although this isn't as many as last year, it's still probably a little ambitious. We'll see.

On just a quick side note, yesterday I posted a picture of my son with our new car. The jeep looks much smaller in the picture than it is in reality. I think it's because my son is just so tall he even dwarfs the Grand Cherokee. In real life, I have to climb up into the jeep. It's like riding around in a truck. I really do love it, and I have wonderful visions of camping and road trips in the near future.

There is not any memory with less satisfaction than the memory of some temptation we resisted. (James Branch Cabell)

It's WIP Wednesday, and I don't have a lot to show even though I've been doing a lot of knitting. Mostly I've been working on the Mystery Stole. Since the stole is knit with two sides that are sewn (kitchnered) together, I'm trying to get the second side caught up. This is a difficult knit for me. Not the knitting itself, but trying to find time to work on it. I have to sit at the table with my charts and markers all spread out. This is truly dedicated knitting, as opposed to the spur-of-the-moment projects that I can carry around with me.

I've also been working on my Lady Sweater. I'm a little worried, because I've been reading online that Malabrigo stetches quite a bit when you block it. So I'm having trouble deciding how long to make the body. I think I'm going to go to my waist, so that if it stretches it'll be the length I actually want and if it doesn't, I can still wear the sweater. That meansI've probably got two or three more repeats of the lace pattern, then 1 1/2" garter stitch in order to finish the body of the sweater. Then the arms, and I'm done. I was at Knit or Knot on Saturday, and I found the perfect buttons to use on this project. I hope I can get it finished in time to take to New York with me.

I did get a little more of the Special Olympics scarf done. It's hard, going from Malabrigo (which is so wonderfully soft and cuddly) to Red Heart (which squeaks as you knit it). I've only got three more stripes, and then it's finished. Which sounds so nice. Much better than I'm only halfway done.

I did get a baby hat finished. This is the Greenleaf pattern, and I think it's one of the cutest hats I've made. It's also a very quick knit. I will definitely do this pattern again. Which is good, because I keep finding baby yarn on sale.

Not that I need any more yarn. I decided to try and get the stash under control. Hah! All I succeeded in doing is to prove that I have a problem. This is as far as I've gotten so far:

The top tub is my sock yarns. You don't want to know how much I have. Just trust me; if you want a pair of handknit socks, email me. The bottom right is the baby yarn. Can you imagine what grandchildren will inspire me to do? My son has forbidden me from getting an early start on the grandbaby knitting (but it was a really cute baby sweater pattern...). He claims that it would be far too weird to introduce a future girlfriend to me with "This is my mom. Just ignore her, she's knitting for the children we might have someday, provided that doesn't scare you from having a second date." The bottom left tub is my roving for spinning. That's really what made me realize that my fiber addiction is out of control. I have over a dozen rovings.

And yes, I'm still spinning. Now that I've calmed down a bit. Millie (remember that horrible creature?) managed to sneak into my room and decided that she needed to save the household from the PJ batt that I had been working on.


The PJ batt had come in four 1-oz batts. I spun the first two, and then went ahead and plyed them. I wish I hadn't. Because that skein is long single stripes of maroon, mixed, then blue. Naturally I had planned to spin the second two batts the same way, which would have given me a pair of socks with maroon feet, mixed heels, and blue legs. But now, I'm not sure how the second skein will turn out, other than not matching. I have no idea what to make with it now. If I hadn't already plyed the first skein, I could have made two variated skeins. I've decided to set it aside for now (until I can get some advice), and start on one of the other rovings. Hopefully I'll have something pretty to show you next week.

As long as you don't try new things, you can't learn new things. (H. Jackson Brown, Jr.)

Here's a quick look at what I've been knitting. I haven't made as much progress as I would like (there aren't enough finished projects), but I've been enjoying the process.

I've managed to keep up with my commitment to knit at least one charity baby hat a week. Of course, figuring out that I can crochet TWO hats in the time it takes to knit just one hat has helped me me stay caught up.


I don't have a current picture, but I've been pretty busy on the Mystery Stole 4 project. All six clues have been released. I wish I were up to date, but I have done clues 1 through 3 on both sides, and clue 4 on one side. Which means I only have clue 4, two clue 5's, and a clue 6 left to do. (Did that make sense to anyone else?)


This is my real passion right now: My February Lady Sweater. (I need to think of a really good name for it -- anyone have a suggestion?) The navy is my first attempt of spinning on the wheel. I had exactly the right amount; how great is that? The gray is Malibrigo, which is the most wonderfully soft and cuddly yarn ever to work with. I still can't believe that I'm actually knitting a sweater. I'm hoping to have it finished in time for my New York trip. Even if it's going to be too cold in New York to wear just a lace sweater.

My other projects have been pushed aside. The Special Olympic Scarf just sort of follows me around, looking woeful and reminding me that I should be on scarf #3 by now. (Crochet is faster, right?) And the Socks That Never End are never-ending... I wish someone had warned me against knitting socks in a 12 stitch per inch gauge for a size 9 shoe.

The sad thing is that I carry all my projects with me every day. Usually they sit in the car, waiting patiently on the off-chance that I have a five-minute wait in a parking lot somewhere. Or perhaps the opportunity to sit at alone Starbucks with a Skinny Latte yielding the needles while my children socialize. But mostly I just carry the bags in and out of the car, hoping that some wonderful knit fairy will finish a project so I can cast on something new.

Work is not always required...there is such as thing as sacred idleness, the cultivation of which is now fearfully neglected. (George McDonald)

It's Wednesday again, and time for an update on the knitting. My last update was a month ago, so it looks like I've got a lot. Until you realize that it's been a month, and this is all I've gotten done.

I've been keeping up pretty well with my commitment to do one charity baby hat a week. Sometimes (like this week), I struggle to get a hat finished in time. But the hats are fun, quick projects and are almost becoming as much of an obsession as the sock knitting for me.


I like this lace-trimmed hat pattern. It was very easy to do, but turned out so pretty.


This hat was one of the ones that barely made my weekly deadline. I ended up knitting it at our Boca Knit 1 Brew 2 meeting. This is the second time I've used this pattern. It's a quick, easily memorized knit. And I can continue to talk while doing it, which made it perfect for the meeting.

Then I got the bug to do some crocheting. I used to crochet all the time, but my arthritis got too bad. Recently I've been thinking that if I can knit without it bothering me too much, maybe I can crochet. The hats were a perfect project. I got all three done in the time it usually takes to knit one hat. And my hands were just starting to cramp as I was finishing the third hat. I want to make some more of these, because they're so easy to personalize with stripes, or flowers, or whatever.


This week I went back to knitting. I picked what I thought would be a really easy pattern (it's only K2, P2) but it's turned out to be a pain in the neck. I've frogged more rows than I've knit. (Okay, that's physically impossible, but it sure seems like I have!) It's an adorable pattern, provided you don't goof up and do an extra knit or double up on the purls as you make your way around the circle. Part of the problem is that I tried to walk laps as I was knitting this, and I think that concentrating on K1, step, P1, step was just a little too much for my coordination. I still have until tomorrow night to finish the hat, so I think I have a good chance at keeping to the weekly deadline.


I'm working on my second scarf for the Special Olympics Scarf project. After several false starts, I decided to do another double knit. It's fun to see two sides develop as you knit along. I'm making up my own stripe pattern, so we'll have to wait to see how it turns out.

I will admit to being somewhat obsessed by this scarf project (despite the lack of progress on the scarf). I've got everyone in my family (my sister, mom, daughter) working on scarves. I'll be starting my student on one today. And the other day, I talked a complete stranger into making one. I was at Micheal's Crafts, and a woman was looking at yarn. She's a new knitter, and made the mistake of asking me if I knit. Twenty minutes later, she left the store with too much information on yarn and knitting, my business card with instructions to email me if she had any more questions, and a promise to me to make at least one scarf (since that's all she knows how to knit, she might as well knit one for charity) for the Special Olympics.

This lace stole (Mystery Stole 4) is the reason that I haven't gotten any further on the S.O. Scarf. I'm trying real hard to keep up with the weekly clues, but I'm starting to fall behind. I'm about 10 rows into this week's clue, and there are 60 rows for each side to be finished by Friday's new clue. Lace knitting is fun, and I love the way it's turning out. For being my first lace project, I'm being very adventurous and doing it without any lifelines. (Well, it would take longer to do the lifelines, and I barely have time to knit it as it is.) I have learned that when reading the lace charts, it helps to highlight each stitch (i.e. k2tog or SSK) in a different color, and to write in the number of plain knit stitches in a row before starting to knit that row. That way you can just knit the row without having to stop and examine the chart for each stitch. And by doing it one row at a time, I can easily see which row of the chart I'm on without having to worry about rulers (which tend to get bumped to the wrong row, in my experience, which means that you end up tinking quite a bit).



I had one last project that I did. I managed to do this one afternoon, in a fit of determination. I wanted to be able to use my ipod while on the treadmill, but I don't have pockets (I hate the ipod in my jeans pocket) to keep it in. And I'd look really stupid wearing the armband holder. So I've had it in my mind to knit a necklace holder. I finally figured out a pattern I liked (very simple, knit in one piece) that I based on a bunch of patterns I looked at. I used my first handspun yarn, so now I have an excuse to show that off as well. I've used my cosy carrier a couple of times now, and I really like it, although a pocket for the cord would be nice on the next one.

Be a fish swimming against the current, and be a tree swaying against the breeze. (Unknown)

I spent several hours at the park today. (Actually, I was there about 3 hours longer than I planned on, and about 2 hours more than I wanted to be.) The plus side of this was that I got a lot of knitting done. I sat by the water's edge, and knit a baby hat for charity. Then I moved up to a bench, and worked on the Special Olympics Scarf.

It was a very pretty day. There was a nice breeze blowing, which kept the usual horrible Florida humidity away. At the same time, it made knitting a little difficult. The yarn would waft in the wind, and tangle. The pattern slipped away to dance along the grass. And the scarf brought to mind the classic video, The Last Knit. I was convinced that at any minute the scarf was going to slip over the edge into the water, and I would be stitchin' with the fishes.

Luckily it was a westward wind, and the scarf blew away from the water's edge.

Knitting fills my days, not to mention the living room, bedroom, and closets. (Aurthor Unknown)

It's a WIP Wednesday, and I've been getting a lot accomplished. Or at least I feel like I'm finally getting something accomplished.

I'm halfway through the Special Olympics scarf. I turned the star graph around so that they'll all be facing the same way when the scarf is worn. Since I had just gotten the pattern memorized, this first reversed star has really thrown me off. And it's hard to tink (*knit backwards) with double knitting; although, like everything else, I find that the more I have to do it, the easier it gets.

The Mystery Socks That Never End are still moving along slowly. I'm about halfway through the first clue (out of four) on the second sock. When I pulled the first sock out for the photo, I broke one of my beautiful harmony needles, which really stinks. They're my favorite needles. Actually, I'm surprised I haven't broken several of them by now. The harmonies are a size 1 1/2, which is unbelievably tiny. I've heard of people knitting on double-0's (two sizes smaller than my tiny toothpicks), and that just seems like showing off.

Of course, it also means that I'll eventually have to give it a try. Because anybody who knows me knows that if you can do it, I can do it. (Or at least I have to try to do it).


With the Never Ending Socks on one set of needles, it's really doing a baby hat for charity. This one had interesting cables, so it did take me two days to get it done. I think the navy is a little dark for a newborn (my personal opinion only, of course), but I like it because of the cables. The designer, Marie Wright, has another cabled baby hat that I've added to my queue.


I worked on one other project this week, my Cari's Cabled Bag. I really love this bag, and I get a lot of compliments when I use it. The problem is that I had pretty much stopped using it because it was so hard to open. So Saturday I restitched the side seams, stopping about three quarters of the way up. This makes a world of difference. I can actually get my sock project bag, or a paperback book, or whatever, inside the bag without struggling. While I was at it, I made a quick and easy lining for the bag using some beautiful sunflower fabric I had. (It was purchased to make a scrub top, so I hope I still have enough for that.) I added a pocket for my cell phone, but otherwise pretty much just did a basic square lining. I think it really finishes the bag nicely, and it was well worth the effort of making these changes.

Naturally I still have a bunch of projects waiting. There's the Hippy Ripply Retro Socks. And the Sample Sock Blanket (which is a long-term project). I have a lap blanket waiting, and then a long line of yarn and patterns waiting patiently in a queue. The Mystery Stole 4 starts in September, and I'm looking forward to working on that.

And before I forget, tomorrow is the Boca Knitter's Leftover Ball, and I still need to decide what I'm bringing to share. So with that, I'm off to knit some more.

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. (Bertrand Russell)

It's been an interesting week, to put it mildly. I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll finally be able to share some of it; or rather, to share the exciting/fun part of it. (The rest I have every intention of forgetting for all eternity.)

In the meantime, today is supposed to be Friday's Favorites. My favorite thing this week is Double Knitting. (I know, it's going to be another knitting post. I apologize to my non-fiber fanatic reader.)

Double knitting is a method of casting on with two different skeins of yarn, and then knitting two layers of fabric together. It's really fun! And after doing three or four stars, it's actually very easy. (Okay, "very" was an exaggeration. But it is easy.) It's just color work that is reversible. It looks very cool as you do it, almost as cool as knitting with multiple tiny dpns, and it's really fun. (I'm repeating myself, but it is currently my favorite thing after all.)

The thing that really cements this as my favorite thing for the week is that I'm doing the double knitting as a scarf for Special Olympics. Last year, the organizers of the Special Olympics World Winter Games asked for volunteers to contribute scarves for participating athletes. Expecting a couple of scarves from local knitters, they received over 1,000. This year, they've decided to go all out and are asking for 5,000 scarves so that all of the participating athletes and other "important" visitors (such as coaches) can all have a scarf.

The pattern I chose for my scarf is the Knit Star Scarf by Crafty Chick Knits. (This is a wonderful first double-knit pattern, by the way, and I wanted to be sure to give Angela credit.)
But the scarves can be knitted or crocheted in any pattern, as long as you use Red Heart Supersaver yarn in the official colors (Delft Blue #885 and White #311). The scarves should be mailed to the Special Olympics headquarters by January 15, 2009. (I'm giving so much information because I'm hoping that others will want to make scarves with me.)

I have a lot of fond memories of the Special Olympics. My Uncle Ricky used to compete when I was a child. I can still picture him showing off his medals for duckpin bowling (every single time he saw me, over and over). I got to be an official Hugger while in college in South Florida. I've served hot dogs, handed out medals, and generally cheered on athletes wherever I've lived. And I always come home feeling good about the world in general.