Merry Christmas! (and a page finish)

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

I've been putting my holiday to good use so far and I completed page 13/28.  I can't wait to get past that halfway point!

Happy Holidays and Merry Stitching!

Tamara

North Pole Socks

Okay, I'm now ready for the Big Day.  Whew, it was close.

Marathon Socks North Pole
Merry Merry
US 0

I have still been stitching as well, and have completed half a page on Nature's Little Helper.

Somehow, this page isn't as exciting as I had hoped.  I hope to be done with it at New Year's.  I'm really looking forward to giving her a body on the next page! 

Hope all of you have a peaceful and merry Christmas!

Happy Stitching,

Tamara

More NLH Page Finishes

Yes, finishes, plural.  Ok, they are only partial pages, but hey, it's still pages of the pattern completed.  Humor me.  This makes 12/28 pages complete and I'm getting closer to that halfway point.  I've been seeing so many beautiful HAED (and others!) finishes it's making me a little envious.  So, I'm going to try to complete this piece in 2013.  Now, I am easily distracted (have you seen this?  It looks awesome on the black she posted on Facebook.  Not to mention the Couch Dragon and Mini Celestial Dreams I got in the last sale) and you know what they say about the best laid plans...  If I do finish this in 2013, I will finally be able to begin Curl Up With A Good Book guilt free. 

The Christmas socks are now looking iffy to be finished in time.  I'm on the heel flap of the second sock, so there is a slim chance, but I've finally been bitten by the stitching bug again and I just don't pick them up enough.  I like the progress I've been seeing on the stitching front! 

Happy Stitching,

Tamara

NLH Page Finish #10

Woo Hoo!!  Another page finish.  This makes 10/28 complete.  There are 8 full pages left and 10 half pages.  The next page is a half page and I WILL have it done by the end of the first week of the new year.  I hope.  I am now thinking it is entirely possible I could finish this piece at or near the end of 2013.  Provided I don't work on anything else.  I think I'm getting back to the one-at-a-time mindset.  Oh, you want a picture?

Nature's Little Helper
HAED/Jim Warren

I finished one of the Christmas socks, but didn't take a picture.  I have high hopes of the pair being done in time for Christmas Day. 

Happy Stitching,

Tamara

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

It appears it's the start of the "official"  holiday season tomorrow.  I'm trying hard to get in the mood.  Time just goes so fast these days it seems hard to keep up.  But I have started my Christmas shopping.  For me.  :D

My new thimble!!  Which I had to try out to make sure the fit was okay and I could stitch with it comfortably.  It fits well when my hands are warm and I use a little strip of moleskin on my finger to snug it up when my fingers are cold.  I love it!  I may even order another one next year...

So, in the test drive, I did manage a little stitching.

I'm about halfway done with the current page.  I'd really like to get this page and the next half-page done before the end of the year. 

The Christmas gift socks are coming along nicely.  I'm working on the gusset of the second sock, so it's looking like I should be okay for finishing for Christmas.  So I had to start something Christmasy...socks for me.

North Pole socks
Marathon socks/Universal Yarns

You can't get much more Christmasy than those!  Whether they will be ready for this Christmas remains to be seen. 

As I was coming back into the house after getting the mail, this little guy was right outside the door.

The best I can figure is this is a little leafhopper.  Cute little bugger, isn't he?

Happy Thanksgiving,

Tamara

History

I have been busy scanning some old family pictures.  Quite a few of them, I don't know who it is in the picture and unfortunately, those that might know are long gone.  But, it's still fascinating to see the history.  This picture was taken in Atlanta, Ga according to the writing on the back.  If they took the time to write that, I don't know why they didn't write who this was.

And this family photo taken at Umbrella Rock at Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee at the turn of the century. 

If anyone knows who any of these people are, be sure to leave me a comment!

Not much stitching going on around here, but I did manage to finish the first sock of the Christmas pair.  I had to go buy an addition skein to finish the foot and several more skeins accidentally fell into my basket.  Ooops.  :D

I tried to give you a little stitching fix along with the sock picture, lol.  This sock pattern is called Tracks by OzKnitter.  I just hope they fit the recipient *fingers crossed*.

Happy Stitching,
Tamara.

Updates, Old and New

What a wild ride this week has been.  We were nipped by Sandy, with most of the damage exclusive to the immediate coast and low lying areas.  Pretty much what we're used to with any bad nor'easter.  What a mess they have up north, though.  Hopefully, those areas' recovery efforts will go smoothly and quickly. 

It did give us Monday off work, although I did not seem to put it to good use.  My focus these days is minimal at best and wild weather really messes me up.  I think I un-accomplished more than I accomplished.  I ended up ripping out the Christmas sock I had started and restarted with a different pattern.  I was going to do Hedgerow Socks, but it was eating up too much of my limited amount of yarn.  And it was tedious.  So I went looking and found Tracks and have most of the leg done now.

I still think I might run out of yarn before I get to the toe.  Tune in next week...

I started and finished a scarf on Saturday, so this is officially my Sandy project (yes, we were getting nasty weather on Saturday due to Sandy).

This was done in Jo-Ann's Sensations Angel Hair yarn Red multi color on US 11's.  The pattern is Classic Elite's Sinful Ribbed Scarf.  I would definately like to do this again in a DK yarn closer to what the pattern calls for.  I used one ball for this one and one less repeat than the pattern. 

Nature's Little Helper has a slight bit of progress.

And, lo and behold, I actually picked up the Lamplighter Garden and put a few stitches into it last night.  I bet you'd forgotten about that one, hadn't you?

Happy Stitching,
Tamara

Too Cute!

The baby gift is done.  Those little socks are so cute I grin every time I look at them.

These were made in Deborah Norville Serenity Sock Yarn, Pink Sugar on US 1.

No stitching happened this week, for various reasons.  One was the baby gift.  The other is the new neighbor moved in a couple of weeks ago and I'm adjusting (not so well) to the new noise.  And yesterday, I discovered he has two very large pit bulls.  Lovely.  Just to clarify, I live in a townhouse and so we are pretty much right on top of one another with yards the size of postage stamps.  I just don't understand why you would rent a place with such a small yard when you own two large dogs.  And my experience with one of the previous renters with two big boxers, was the stench from the yard meant I could not enjoy being out in my backyard in the warm weather because they are too lazy to clean up after them.  (We don't have privacy fences, only a picket fence with no alternative allowed.)  There are already several very large piles in the yard.  Ick.  At least this time, I have the landlord's info and I will be calling them if this becomes an issue again.  As well as the HOA.  So, now I am also looking at the option of getting my place (finally) fixed up in order to sell at sometime in the maybe not so distant future.  I'm thinking in the time range of 2-5 years, if I survive that long.  It also means, once we get going on the remodeling, I will have even less time to stitch.  Who knows, maybe this was the incentive I needed to get my off my procrastinating butt and get going on the work I've been wanting to get done.  I'm desperately looking for the silver lining here.  So, needless to say, I'm pretty stressed out.  Work gives me enough grief, I'd really like to be able to enjoy my home life. 

So I did a little retail therapy this week and picked up The Frog Prince from HAED.  I finally caved and splurged on Wicked for my Christmas present to myself.  I have no idea how long that will take to arrive from Canada.  It's riduculous that I will then have a pair of socks that cost more than almost any other article of clothing I own.  It's a sickness for sure.  I am also trying to obtain a new thimble.  I'll let you know how that goes.  But I guess next year I will have to stop the impulse buying I have been indulging in this year if I am going to save up for another down payment.   

Happy Stitching,
Tamara

NLH Page Finish

And another page down.  This is 9/28 pages complete.

HAED Nature's Little Helper
Jim Warren
9/28 pages

I also finished up that pair of socks I've been pecking away at.

These are 3 X 1 ribbed socks in ONline Supersocke 100 Comedy Color, color 1279 on US 1 DPN's.  So, at the moment, there are no socks on the needles and it feels a little weird.  But I have to do a baby gift for a shower next month and I have started a ribbed hat and will also do socks.

I'm going to try to finish up these before starting the Christmas gift socks.  At this point, it is questionable whether I will be able to finish those on time.  Wish me luck!

Happy Stitching!
Tamara

Witchy Socks FO

I have my first vacation finish! 

Witchy Socks

Details:  US 0 DPN's, basic stockinette socks.  Simply Socks Company Poste Yarn in Sedona Sunset.  I'm thrilled with them and can't wait to wear them. 

I'm almost done with the other pair I have been working on for a couple (few?) months.  I'll be trying to finish that pair as well.  Then I only have a few hundred more stitches to finish up the current page on Nature's Little Helper.  It's so nice to feel like I'm making some progress finally. 

Happy Stitching!
Tamara

Thank You...

To our northerly neighbors for making me now have a huge craving for a big, fat turkey with all the trimmings.  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! 

We're just getting our first taste of fall here and today we're getting a beautiful sunny day after 3 days of dreary rain.  The trees are just starting to show their first blushes of autumn and it's officially my favorite month of the year. 

I'm finally down to the foot of my Halloween sock and with vacation time this week, there is the remote possibility it might get finished before I head back to work.  I'm also stitching my fingers off and I might have a page finish on Nature's Little Helper before then, too.  Anything's possible, right?  Right.

It was nice to stitch a little something other than blue!  And the little girl's head will be in that divot left in the middle.  This is not my favorite piece and I am glad to have it going at such a nice clip lately.  I'm still itching to get started on Curl Up With A Good Book.  (I pulled it out yesterday and fondled a little, but I was good and did not start it.  Yay, me.)

I'm also getting a sizeable list of knit items to start;  baby shower items, christmas socks, Mother's Day gifts, and more socks and shawls for me.  My Ravelry queue is now at "officially scary" level.  Oh, woe is me!

Happy Stitching!
Tamara

NLH Page Finish

I finally got around to getting some stitching done lately and it has paid off with a page finish. 



HAED Nature's Little Helper
Jim Warren
page 8/28


The little girl is going to be showing up on the next page, so something to look forward to. 

The Halloween socks are coming along, just a heel and foot of the second sock to do.  There is a slim chance these might get done before the holiday.  Problem is, my stitching mojo seems to be back and I want to stitch more than knit right now. 

Happy Stitching!
Tamara

Struggling

Welcome to my new followers!

I've still been slack on progress the last few weeks.  This genealoy stuff is sucking a lot of my time at the moment and I can't seem to leave it alone.  It's like the HAED addiction when it first started and then the sock addiction.  So the cycle will return to those eventually, I'm guessing.  Maybe when it turns too cold for me to want to leave the house to go do research. 

So, anyway.  I'm hoping to get my halloween socks done in time.  I finished the first last week and have started the second.  What happened to the days when I got a pair done in 2 weeks?  This pair was started a few days before Labor Day.  Oh, that's right...see above. 

For those that were asking, these are in Simply Sock Yarn's new Poste Yarn in Sedona Sunset.  I love them! 

And a little more progress is showing on Nature's Little Helper:

Happy Stitching!
Tamara

A Little More Nature

It's a quickie post today just to let you see my progress.  More than just a few stitches this time.  I actually sat and stitched on Nature's Little Helper Tuesday evening and then the majority of the day Wednesday until my poor hands cried Uncle.  I still didn't want to put it down;  I was making such lovely progress.  I now have a third of the next page done.

Nature's Little Helper
HAED/Jim Warren

Hopefully, the trend will continue for awhile...

Happy Stitching,
Tamara

A Little Stitching and an Elen FO

Hello and welcome to my new followers!  This might be a drive by posing as the sky is turning ominous looking suddenly.  *edit:  had to turn off the computer before I could finish the post!

I finished my Elen hat on Monday.

I started some Halloween socks:

And an update on Nature's Little Helper:  as of today, a page finish!




Nature's Little Helper
HAED/Jim Warren
7 pages complete


I'm sad to say, there has been no progress on the Mill Hill kit.  It's looking iffy for it to be finished in time to display this fall.  But I am getting in the mood for autumn, my favorite season. 

Happy stitching,
Tamara

Welcome to my new follower(s)!  I've been slack this week, both with blogging and stitching. 

Here's the blocked Holden Shawlette:

I did put in a (very) few stitches into Nature's Little Helper this week.  Well, I could have sworn I took a picture of it...so the following pictures may suck.

I finally got a start on the Mill Hill Autumn Collage.

And I stashed a little.  (I got some yarn, too, but I don't feel like going upstairs to get a picture).

And, lastly, I am about halfway through with my Elen hat.  (It's farther along than in this picture).

And now, it's late and I'm tired and no more will get done tonight. 

Happy stitching!
Tamara

Holden Shawlette FO

I didn't think I would have this shawlette done this weekend, but it is and I am thrilled with it.  That picot bind off, however, took for.ev.er.  It's now blocking, but I couldn't wait to show it off.  So here it is unblocked and I will post a picture next week of the blocked shawl.

Holden Shawlette
(unblocked)

Pattern:  Holden Shawlette by Mindy Wilkes
Yarn:  Blue Heron Yarns bamboo lace "Summer Meadow"
Needles:  Hiya Hiya Sharps Size US 4 24" circular

The pattern was well written and is good for a beginner lace/shawl pattern.  The only problem I had in the beginning was my yarn overs would migrate over the round stitch markers I was using and after I switched to the larger locking stitch markers, I did not have any more trouble.  It's a small shawl (hence the shawlette name, lol), measuring 48 X 23 inches while blocking.  The yarn did bleed during the washing, but several rinses seemed to get most of the excess dye out.

I'm hoping feverently it will be dry by 4PM so I can wear it out tonight. 

Word is out I might celebrate by starting my Mill Hill Buttoned and Beaded Autumn Collage Kit tonight.  Fall is approaching at warp speed.

Happy Stitching,
Tamara

Year The First

Wow, I've kept up with this pretty well for an entire year.  I really didn't think I would;  I'm a horrible journal keeper.  I think the show-off factor and pictures help, lol.  The blog has definitely helped keep me motivated and I usually feel a little guilty when I haven't made any progress to show.  It's still fun, so I guess I'll be keeping at it for a while longer.  Thanks to all of you who stop by to visit!

Now, unfortunately, no stitching has been happening here the past week or two.  I've been in a perpetual bad mood for the past couple of weeks now and can't seem to shake it.  I hope the few days vacation time I have in a few weeks will help.  Monday we had a bad thunderstorm here and it zapped my tv and satellite receiver.  So, I had to go spend stash money on a new tv.  Now I'm just waiting for the replacement receiver.  I'm really over summer now.  Other little odds and ends have been stressing me out, too.  Nothing major, just everything seems to be slightly out of kilter.

I did finally(!) manage to finish up the no-purl Monkey socks last night and kitchnered the toe this morning.  Two and a half months.  Ridiculous.   It was all me, the pattern is great. 

Pattern:  Monkey by Cookie A, no purl version
Yarn:  Patons Stretch Socks in Licorice
Needles:  US 0 on the first sock and US 1 on the second, which worked better.  The no-purl version of this pattern does not have as much stretch as the original.

A bit more lace is showing on the Holden Shawlette:

Yeah, I know, still doesn't look like much.

And, I'm a good way through my next pair of socks:

Nothing fancy on these, just a 3 X 1 rib.  This is in Online Supersocke 100 Comedy Color 1279. 

This upcoming week I will be focusing on the shawlette and Nature's Little Helper.  I hope. 

Happy Stitching and thanks for a great year!
Tamara

Another Month Down

Wow, is it really August already??  After about March, the year always just seems to whiz by at an alarming speed.  And my progress slows to a snail's pace.  No stitching for me tonight;  I have a meeting to go to instead.  I have been working on my Holden Shawlette the past couple of days.  I'd really like to get this one done soon.  The picture quality might be worse than usual for a while;  I got a new camera and it will take me some time to figure it out.

I've done the first ten rows of the lace border and it's starting to look slightly less boring.  I'm off to watch a little of the Olympics and get a few more rows done before having to go out. 

Happy Stitching,
Tanara

Those Summer Blahs

It's continued to be hot, and humid with a good chance of multiple scary thunderstorms these past couple of weeks.  That time of year when you are a bit chilly inside in the A/C and go outside to get warm and it takes less than 5 minutes to have your skin feel like it will melt right off you.  Ick.  I'm starting to get in that fall mindset.  And then, there is some vacation time to finally get to look forward to.  Last year's vacation time was nixed by a little suprise appendectomy and my vacation time was used as recovery time.  Not quite as fun and relaxing.  So, I'm really (REALLY!) looking forward to this year's time away from work.  I have no particular plans other than to not have to think too hard about anything, lol.  Now on to the stitching updates.

Nature's Little Helper is progressing at it's usual snail's pace:

The Holden Shawlette almost has the stockinette section done (only 8 more rows).  Then I get to move on to the lace border.  Praying for the Knitting Gods to help me through that. 

Let's just say I'm very happy for lifelines.

The socks, hopefully, will be done in the next week or so.  I'm turning the heel tonight, then it's all downhill from there.  I'm so sick of looking at this same pair for the past two months.  So, of course, I had to go and plump up the sock yarn stash. 

That's Trekking XXL color 43 on the right and Green Dragon Yarns Tonal Lavendar on the left.  The Green Dragon Yarn was quite pricey, but there was no way I was leaving that purple behind.  I have no idea if it will end up as socks or something else yet. 

The good part about summer is the vegetables.  Frying up some squash and onions today.  Yum. 

During the mind-numbingly quiet times at work this week, I have been reading through GlennaC's blog Knitting to Stay Sane and I love, love, love these socks and I think I will soon have to figure out how to knit with more than one color of yarn.  But, I gotta have those socks or something very similar (ie maybe not knee highs). 

But I must, I must first finish the Monkeys and the ribbed socks I started and knit up some of the other stash.  Oh, and there is a hat I am going to try to get to this fall, too.  And it's gotta be in that green.  Well, not THAT green because apparently, they are no longer making that yarn, but I think I can find a good substitute. 

So, I'm off to watch some Olympics (Thanks, NBC for spoiling the swimming you will be showing in prime time with who won...and who lost, which was the bigger news, apparently) and turn the heel on this sock.  Stay cool!

Tamara

Catching Up

Welcome to my new followers!  I have a couple of finishes today, finally. 

Here is Nature's Little Helper:  I think this is 6/28 pages now.

And the one sock of the Monkey pair is finally done! 

Hopefully, the mate will go much faster. 

I have been spending more time at the computer these last two weeks and not picking up needles as much.  I'm looking into my family's genealogy.  It's so fascinating to look back on one's ancestor's lives, isn't it?  People you never knew, but because of them, you exist. 

Ok, enough deep thoughts.  I've got to go start that other Monkey. 

Happy Stitching,
Tamara