Happy Valentine's Day

I love my Valentine!!

A Hat 4 Amy

My darling neice, Amy, joined me for a yoga class and then sushi on Sunday. I made her this hat from Hip Knit Hats. (There are many errors in this book so be sure to check the attached link).

What a great 3-day weekend to clean out closets and drawers for a garage sale/DAV and part with the old stuff. Got to do Flora's yoga class three days straight!! It feels so good to train with weights, do cardio and then top of with stretching and breathing. The pressure's on to get in shape for summer.....

A Scarf from Aunt Janine

I received a package in the mail to find a wrapped Christmas gift from my Aunt Janine in Portland, Oregon. My aunt is new to knitting and I SOOO hope she knitted this with loving thoughts of me! My fellow knitting "goobers" know who you are -- we put so much of our feelings into knitted projects for others.

Fun at Work

Another New Year's resolution I made to myself is to enjoy my job and have more fun doing it instead of being so stressed out all the time. So this time, instead of driving at 4:30 a.m. to get to a new client in Kansas City by 8, I decided to leave a day early, have a nice meal and spend the night. Stopped at a knitting shop in Olathe called Knit Wit and guess what I purchased -- more sock yarn--Regia Silk. It's OHH so soft. Also picked up the 2nd series book, Not Just MORE Socks. On the cover is the Japanese split sock named Tabi that are worn with flip-flops. Gotta make myself some of these! Topped off a great day with a sushi dinner at the Sushi House in Town Center. Cranked up the heat in my hotel room to 74 for a cozy night's sleep.

Super Bowl Wrist Warmer

I had the best seat in the house at my sister-in-law's Super Bowl party. Snagged the leather recliner by the fire and knitted this one lone wrist warmer.

Wrist Warmers

Really, this was just a coincidence. I had this sock yarn from Regia that I decided to knit the wrist warmers from the 2006 Knitting Pattern-a-Day calendar I received from my friend, Celi. Turns out they match my funky socks Resolution #3. How cute to have them both match--I must have really liked the colors of this yarn. I believe they are the same ones Lia is knitting all the way up her arm. I don't think my body building days will allow me to get away with that but I did make them 2" longer than the pattern called for so I could have a cuff (or not).

Resolution #3

After suffering from One Sock Syndrome last year, I tackled sock number two to finish my new year's resolution Project #3. Knitters beware - Sockotta yarn by Plymouth does some funky stuff that I'm not happy with. One sock has a "blotchy" pattern while the other has vertical stripes. On the positive side, this may help me overcome my fear of actually wearing my completed socks without the worry of wearing holes in them. (Instead I treasure them as heirlooms in my sock drawer). I'll definitely just wear these babies around the house and not give a worry to worn out toes! A special thanks goes out to Connie who helped me graft the toes. You'd think I'd have it down by now!

Resolution #2

Finally...some time to knit and complete my new years resolution project #2. Hung out at Panera this morning and completed the Amelie Jacket from White Lies Designs by Joan McGowan-Michael. Substituted Reynolds Saucy mercerized cotton.

No Time for Resolutions

I can't begin to explain how busy and stressed I've been with work client presentations and out of town travel. Seems like I'm working at home every night and wake up to start it all over again. A coworker asked me what the heck I'm doing sending out emails on a Friday night at 10:30 p.m - I need a life - time to knit - nice weather to ride - something!! I've had absolutely NO time for my New Year's Resolution and I'm in a funk. Looking forward to meeting with my KIP friends next week!

M&M Choppers

Spent the day with my kick start only, shovel lovin girl, Melanie while the boys wrenched on husband's new engine and ran it on the Dyno machine at Melanie and Matt's shop, M&M Choppers in Galva, KS. Plans for our Girls Only annual motorcycle trip are pointing towards a cabin on Lake of the Ozarks. Summer cannot come quick enough!

Happy New Year - Resolution #1

Happy New Year. The time for new year resolutions - mine to complete all unfinished projects laying around haunting me from 2005 before starting anything new in 2006. Started with figuring out the I Cord bind-off to complete this felted messenger satchel from Knitty. For felted "wearables" I prefer Cascade 220 wool over the hairy mohair in Lamb's Pride. By organizing my knitting cabinet I found I have sock yarn for 14 pairs of socks!!

Sasha Skirt by Louet Sales

The Sasha Skirt was an absolute joy to knit and fits great. Each ruffle a different pattern attached to a stockinette stitch underskirt. Substituted Euroflax sportweight with southwestern colors in Silky Tweed and Silky Wool by Elsebeth Lavold. To cut expenses, the underskirt was knit in brown Plymouth Wildflower cotton/acrylic. As intended, the top ruffle matches my turquoise perfectly.

Merry Xmas 2005

Had a sandwich tray, chips and dip, roaring fire Christmas Eve with my father-in-law, mom and husband. I was surprised with a Dell MP3 player (of which I can't run yet because I don't have Windows XP) and a black rhinestone Harley belt buckle -- isn't that what every girl needs?? You probably can't make it out but I also got a diamond Harley bar and shield logo necklace. Ordered a new engine for husband's bagger from our good friends @ M&M Choppers.

Yet Another Skirt

Now that the Christmas sewing projects are complete, I can focus on my obsession with knitted skirts. My knitting coworker, Celi, and I split the cost of this peasant skirt pattern from Louet Sales we ordered online and headed to the LYS. Like always, I was drawn to the most expensive yarn in the shop for this project. For example, just the bottom ruffle is a whopping $40 bucks. I figure I'll be able to budget one ruffle every month!! More to come.....

Christmas Purses

Every year I make homemade Christmas gifts for female friends, cousins and aunts for Christmas. Just couldn't think up a good knitting project so I dusted off my (new) Pfaff sewing machine and constructed a purse pattern idea borrowed from a knitting meetup friend, Libby. Libby explained a girlfriend of hers made up the pattern and sewn them for all her friends. Of course, I had to make one for myself in cowboy boot material.

Cruizin Hawaii Motorcycle Rentals

Husband and I rented a Harley Davidson Fat Boy for the day and rode along the North Shore of Oahu. It's famous for surfing and the winter tides from Japan were at their highest with 30 foot waves and shorebreak warnings. We stopped for a roadside shrimp lunch, got rained on momentarily in the moutains and had a iguana run across the road in front of us. It was a good ride.

Isle Knits - Honolulu

I was able to locate a knit shop in an office building in downtown Honolulu. Being in a flip flop state of mind, I purchased sock yarn with a pattern that separates for your big toe to wear with flip flops. I was told knitting isn't very popular in Hawaii but natives do knit Lei's out of eyelash yarn. It makes sense - not a great need for sweaters and wool socks with winter temperatures rising to low 80's.

Ocean Knitting

Aloha from Oahua. I started my 2nd Flirty Skirt on the 8 hour plane ride from Dallas to Honolulu. My project has carried over to the beach in Waikiki. Since it's wool, I can only work on it a couple of hours on the beach after sunrise. Knitting on the ocean has got to be my most favorite knitting experience!

2005 Wichita Toy Run

Warm weather brought out 2,500 motorcycles to the Wichita Toy Run.

Flirty Skirty

Good skirt patterns are hard to find. Flirty Skirty is a simple stockinette stitch in the round of mindless knitting that you can't put down. Yes, Lia, I am the "Knitting Nazi". I completed it in two days. Stayed up till 2:30 Saturday morning to get it done. Subsituted 5 skeins of Lamb's Prize superwash bulky wool to get gauge on #9 needles. It's a softer wool with plenty of stretch. For a customized fit, I decreased 10 stitches in the CO waist and added them into the hips (1stitch each side 5 times every 7th row) and extended the length to 28". The straight fit works great to sit lower on your hips. I plan to make another in black wool.