Knitting Injuries

So the knitting rush caused by the holidays has finally come to a end for 2010 and my hands are glad for it. It's quite embarrassing to have to wear braces on my wrists during this time...never admitting that the injuries are knitting related. I simply tell people it's from doing too many push-ups, or from climbing Everest in my down time. You know, the usual things I like to do (serious eye rolling occurring on the other side of the computer at the moment). But yet I continue on, knitting more and more projects just not in the psychotic mode I was attempting only a few days ago. Now I look to not only knitting but new projects that my mind is reeling for. I just ordered a sewing machine that should be showing up by next week. Finally I am attempting to work past my horrid memories of home-ec in middle school when my teacher had to have a parent/teacher conference just to discuss the fact that I couldn't sew a straight line for the life of me. Then around 10 years ago I decided I wanted to try to quilt. Half way through the quilt I noticed that the squares weren't exactly lining up. In tears, I ripped it apart and have yet to sew again. My family is already asking for me to start whipping up clothes, curtains, and many other things.... things that weren't really on the to-do list once the sewing machine arrives but I guess any practice is good. Hopefully I can work out the straight line issue and start bringing the multiple ideas I have had for years to life. A crafty adventure I can't wait to get started on. Beware People! Crazy crafty ideas are coming up ahead!

The Secret Life of a Roller Doll

Hopefully within the next six months you will be seeing me in a picture like this. A little secret I have yet to tell the world.... I have always wanted to do roller derby. Well guess what?? I start in what is called the "Fresh Meat" program in January for the Lava City Roller Dolls here in Bend. After three months of training I can move up to the big leagues to throw down with the big girls on the local team that travels. I am so freaking excited I am beside myself. So in anticipation I give you a pic of the local girls. Mom.... might want to close your eyes.

My First Offical Shawlette

Well we will see if I finish this one since the last one I ended up ripping out after feeling like I was going to lose my mind! So far I have only cursed at it a half dozen times but its for christmas so atleast I have a deadline no matter how bad I end up wanting to yank it out and burn the yarn.

The Ramblings of Life

So what is the next step in life? Will it be something that jumps out at me and tells me what to do? Or will it be sneaky and completely unexpected? The things that you have seen for years, or only for mere moments, suddenly being the foundation in a complete change of your life. The people you talk to giving you a pathway to something new or something you hadn't seen. The anticipation grows as life takes it's next turn. The surprise of life is exciting when you simply let life happen. No more directing things in a way that wasn't meant to be, time to try to direct life in a way that builds up to something that we can see ourselves in the rest of our days. Each day is precious, and it's those that take advantage of that thought that see happiness for what it truly is rather than just another thing to acquire. Seeing the fight of a loved one against cancer has changed my life. A rocky road but one that will soon have an ending. So what to choose? So many options... and so much time to experience them all. And any bump along the way is simply a challenge I know I can handle. No more of the times in which the hurdles of life where so high they were seen as impossible. It's time to break through.

A few days older and a littler wiser

So never would I have thought that I would be saying that I want to stay in Bend. Just two years ago I was ready to drag this whole family out of here to get a change, experience the world, and actually be able to say I had lived somewhere other than Central Oregon. Max too was ready for a change but not with the instance I had. So now, after moving to Portland and coming back, I can safely and committedly say that I will be here for the long haul. Having family and friends around you means more as you grow up I am starting to realize. And if there is ever a problem you need to sweep in to help solve you are simply down the street. So yes mom, you were right, I fully admit it now (but don't get used to me saying that!). Now it's time to focus on the little changes at home. Making it a home that we want to come back to each and everyday. Finally it's fully landscaped this past week and the house looks beautiful. So for now I will simply be happy with an occasional trip to my favorite place in the world... the Oregon coast, as long as I know I always have my family and friends just a few steps away.

Instant Gratification High

So it seems as if lately I can only focus on knitting hats, it's gotta be the instant gratification that is just too much fun to give up. In addition to knitting up some cute hats for my mom as she starts to lose her hair from the chemo, I have thrown in a few of my own along the way. The scary thing is that there are so... so many more just waiting to get knit up that I might be knitting them through next year! Woo Hoo!! But I do have to squeeze in a sock knit-a-long starting in just a couple days and a sweater that I stupidly said I would try to get before December. I must have been hopped up on sugar that day and wasn't thinking. Not to mention the couple fiber trips with friends, one of which called Oregon Flock and Fiber I can't wait for. This will be my first year and I have heard nothing but great things about it. Yes, my exciting yarn filled life. I contemplate this as I sit here at 2:30 am, having just finished another hat. Yes, I am considering right this second starting another hat. Yes, I am slightly nuts. But yes, being slightly off your rocker makes life just that much more interesting! And thus I leave you with a few pics of hats I have finished in the past couple weeks. Nighty night!

Pastry School.... Check!

It's official.... pastry school is finished! The internship was done two weeks ago and I found out Friday the final grades were in and I was done. So that means another associate degree and an offical graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Portland. So now I am relaxing for a bit. I didn't realize how much energy this drained out of me until I finally sat down. It's been a very long year and a half but if I hadn't done it it always would of been "a what if" in my life. So the next step? Who knows! Right now all I know is I'm back home with my family and out of all this I did learn... there's no place like home.

The Nook Pocket

So my husband and I recently entered this century with the purchase of a Nook. At this moment you are probably asking what on earth a Nook is. Well, it's one of those fancy things that downloads books for you to a portable media reader so that you can read books anywhere your little heart desires. It's pretty much so I don't have to haul around a handful of books every time we go anywhere since I can never decide which one I want to read first. A Nook is the Barnes and Noble version while a Kindle is the Amazon.com version. So with the purchase came the question I waited for... "Honey, can you make me a cover? The cats are getting paw prints all over it!". And so I give you the Nook Pocket. A very easy knitting pattern for those that just want to read their books without the paw prints.

The Nook Pocket Knitting Pattern

Needle Size- US 9

Yarn Shown- Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica

    in #708- Midnight Blue   

Amount needed- 1 Skein

Also needed- tapestry needle and 1 button

1. Cast on 20 stitches.

2. Work 1x1 ribbing for 1 inch.

3. On the next right side row k1, p1, k until 2 stitches remain, p1, k1.

4. The next row (WS) p1, k1, p until 2 stitches remain, k1, p1.

5. Repeat these two rows (Instructions 3 and 4) until the item reaches 7 inches

6. On the next RS row k1, m1, p1, k7, cast off 2 stitches, k7, p1, m1, k1. This will now give you 22 stitches.

7. The next row p2, k1, p7, cast on 2 stitches, p7, k1, p2. This will have closed the open hole you created in the middle. This area is for the charger for the Nook.

8. Now k2, p1, k till 3 stitches remain, p1, k2.

9. Next p2, k1, p till 3 stitches remain, k1, p2.

10. Repeat the last two rows until the item reaches a length of 18 inches from cast on edge.

11. The next RS row k2, p1, k7, cast off 2 stitches, k7, p1, k2.

12. The following row p2, k1, p7, cast on 2 stitches, p7, k1, p2. This will close the button hole.

13. Next knit 1x1 ribbing for 1 inch.

14. Cast off.

15. Fold the piece so the charger hole is at the bottom. This will leave one side longer than the other.

16. Seam up both sides of this area to the cast on edge.

17. In the middle of the area just sewn up place your button, making sure it lines up with the location of the bottom hole and sew it to the pocket. It is best if it is just below the cast on side ribbing (not on the ribbing).

18. Sew in any remaining loose fibers or strings.

19. Place your Nook in the pocket. Button it up and show it off to your friends!

For more pictures check out my Nook Pocket on Ravelry.com

When The Floor Drops Out From Under You

      So things in the last week have made life well.... hard to say the least. Things have started to pile up to the point that I start to wonder when I might just crack. We all know that life is never just easy. There are hurdles that start to get in our way and we have to simply take them one at a time until we reach that straight stretch again with nothing in our way. Right now the hurdles are one on top of another, a pile if you must, and it reaches to the sky. It started with a minor problem, having one of those weeks at the bakery where I am doing my 12 week internship. While there were things going right throughout the day, it would be the one bad thing that I screwed up that would ruin everything that went right. Yes I am the intern, a person that is supposed to be learning. I have to keep telling myself that. Everything that was going wrong mainly stemmed from a lack of information about the ways things were supposed to done at this location. Okay, fine, I can fix that. Lesson learned. But at the same time I am a perfectionist and one wrong move will make me kick my own ass for days.
       While this was happening, and I was trying to tell myself that I had still made the right decision as a baker and not to retire after 5 weeks, I got more news. Tigger, our cat that had decided he loved it at my parents house so much he was moving in permanently, was missing. While he was no longer living with us I still considered him one of my "kids". Yes I am one of those crazy ones that considers my pets as my kids. These little guys may be as close as I might ever get to having kids in my lifetime so therefor they are my kids. No I don't dress them up.... okay maybe once or twice as a hilarious joke.... but I love them as one of my own. So the thought that one of my own was out in the world by himself, lost, or worse made me lose it. A panic attack kicked in and I balled my eyes out. Two days later and he has yet to be found. I can hope someone found him and took him in as their own but in my mind, the worst case scenario always kicks in first. And then, it only got worse.
       The worst news I could hear simply put me into a full shock mode last night and only now am I starting to be able to comprehend everything. My mom let me know she found a lump, and a biopsy is being done on Monday to see if it's indeed breast cancer. She had went to the doctor yesterday and they said it didn't look good and wanted further testing. They said it was only in one area which was a good thing but that one area was not good. Luckily in today's society, where breast cancer is becoming more and more frequent, there is a much higher percentage of women that are living through this and going on to lead normal... healthy lives. After watching my mother-in-law fight this like a champ, with two different types of breast cancer and not given very good possibilities to make it through, I know my mom can do the same. My mother-in-law has been in remission for some time and has moved on with life... enjoying playing with her grand kids among other things! When my mom told us I couldn't say anything cause of the sheer shock, thinking this was happening to my mom of all people is at the top of worse things to happen. But both myself and Max will be with her through this process every step of the way and we love her very much. Hopefully she knows that, since I have never been good about expressing my feelings (and better at writing it!). This will be an easy fight, so she can get on with life.
       So today, luckily, I got an extra day off and I am spending it at home. Emotionally and physically drained, I need to have a pajama day with my kitties while I knit away. The only way to calm down right now is to knit, and keep knitting. I need to be strong for my mom, I need to be strong while we try to find Tigger, and I need to know I can bake the hell out of anything I want and I just need to give this baking thing time to sink in at this new job. Life will get better, for everyone. It's time to start climbing the hill of hurdles cause I will make it over them, to move on with life.

The Feeling of a Project Done

Before leaving Portland I headed into one of my new favorite yarn stores called Happy Knits. Thinking I was going in for just a single ball of yarn, I walked by the cutest knitted shirt that was being displayed. Suddenly I stop and analyze the project. No too hard, mostly one piece (no seaming....), very cute feather and fan pattern in the front. Then I looked at the tag and saw that it was only 8 balls of yarn to do the project. Now if you have looked at a lot of projects in knitting magazines like Vogue Knitting, you will find that many of them can take up to 20 balls of yarn at some instances. Then you times that by the price of the yarn and suddenly faint! Luckily the yarn for this project was fairly inexpensive. Then, after going through this and telling myself I need to finish the projects I have going on, the woman working at the time notices me looking at the knitted shirt and mentions the yarn she used to make it. Once I felt the cotton and cashmere combo I was hooked. I suddenly was creating a good reason in my head for why I should add yet another project to the multitude of projects that are currently in the wings. So before I knew it I had the yarn at home and was getting cast on for this obviously cute project for my mom for her 50th birthday. I finished it up this past week and got it to my mom, with a sigh of relief. I had knitted so fast to get it done for her birthday that my hands were cursing me. But it turned out beautiful and I got a call from my mom later that day saying that it fit perfect.... that made the crippled hands feel a little better. Nothing is worse than knitting your heart out to end up with a project that doesn't fit the person you were knitting it for. At least with babies or kids you know someday they will fit into it (if it's a little big).... even if it may be 5 years down the road! So another project done and I have already started on the next one, a lace shawl. My first one with some awesome colored Malabrigo lace weight yarn that I purchased (yet again) at Happy Knits. Maybe it's a good thing I finally moved home to Bend. Any longer and I might have been financially supporting the whole store with each of my projects I purchased from them. They would have had to name one of the rooms after me. Scary thought.