What File Extension are you??

I thought this quiz was really cute! Never thought of myself as an .exe file. lol. Give the quiz a try -- it's fun!



Which File Extension are You?

Intarsia

I decided to try my hand at intarsia knitting. I'm making a draw string purse that has different colored polka dots on each side. It's knitted all in one piece, and then seamed on both sides.

For those who don't know what intarsia is, it's isolated color changes in knitting. Instead of carrying colors across the back, you join small amounts of yarn and pick up each color as you need to use it.

It's a pretty simple process. A great website with videos to show how to join colors and how to pick up each color as you go along is at the Vicki Designs website. The videos take awhile to load, but it's worth it.

Here's what I have done so far:

The front view



The back view:



The Knitty Gritty show gave a really great tip for measuring how much yarn you will need for your color changes. Using the pattern chart, count how many stitches you need of each color. Then wrap the yarn around your knitting needle once for each stitch.

Having all the different colors hanging behind your work can make tangles. The show said to use bobbins or to tie the yarn up into "butterflies" to keep it from getting knotting and tangled. I chose to use clothes pins, and they work great!

I will post updated pictures when I've done more of this project. I'm having fun so far!

Needles!

A wonder Crochetville angel sent me a box with 3 pairs of knitting needles, a "magic towel'', some udder creme (great stuff!), a pattern leaflet, and a wonderful scented bar of soap!!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! They were short straights in sizes I didn't have yet. But I can always use duplicates too -- I always keep several projects going at once so I don't get bored.

Here's a picture of what was in the box:



Today's edition of Knitty Gritty was a knit purse using intarsia color changes. I really want to make that purse! I'm going to make a test swatch and try to learn how to do intarsia before I start the project. The pattern and photos are on the diynetwork website listed under the episode called "Intarsia.'' The purse has a polka dot design. :) I don't have colored cotton in my stash, so I'm going to use acrylic for this first one. `If I like the outcome, I can always make another one using different shades of cotton.

The baby is growing up!

Joshua will be 11 months old on the 7th of June. This first year is just flying by! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. It's so fun to watch him having all his "firsts'' -- but I had forgotten how quickly they start to grow up! My oldest son is 14 years old, so it's been quite awhile since I've had a baby in the house.

Joshua is using a Nuby cup now, and is weening off bottles without any problems. He's also eating more and more regular table food. He does like baby food, but he wants what I have on my plate more than anything made by Gerber. lol. He can't walk yet, but he can stand by himself for a few seconds -- until he realizes he's standing. When he figures out he's standing on his own, he sits down. I guess he's afraid of falling. :)

And today, Joshua took a nap in his toddler bed for the first time. Being the sentimental Mom that I am, I snuck in there with the digital camera and took a picture. :)



I just thought he looked so cute. :) He loves the afghan he's sleeping with.

My baby is growing up! Next thing I know he'll be in kindergarten and won't be a baby any more at all! I know that feeling already -- I'm still in shock that my older son is in high school. It doesn't seem possible!

The room the baby is sleeping in is half his bedroom and half my craft and exercise room. We're not quite done moving things around, but when it's all done I will take a picture. :) Joshua is too little to care about having his own room right now, so for now we're going to share.

I saw a "what kind of sheep'' are you quiz on Karla's blog and thought I'd try it. I'm a Hippie Sheep. LOL. Go try it -- it's fun!



Which flock do you follow?
this quiz was made byalanna

Knitty Gritty

There is a great knitting show on DIY (Do-It-Yourself) channel called Knitty Gritty. I record it every day so I can watch it after the baby goes to bed at night -- thank God for Tivo! :)

DIY's website has lots of craft information on it -- including knitting patterns and how-to videos for both beginners and more advanced knitters. Just click on Crafts at the top, then in the middle of the page it lists the different shows. If you click on Knitty Gritty you can click on the different episodes to get to the video clips, instructions and patterns, etc. There are also a lot of other crafts including scrapbooking, jewelry making and woodworking, etc.

Check the show out if you're interested in knitting. I've learned a lot!! :)

Hugs! Juli

Addicted to knitting!

I'm really having a great time learning how to knit! I wanted to learn for years, and finally enrolled in a class at the local community college. We meet on Tuesday nights from 6-8:30. I really enjoy the class. We all work on different projects, and it's a mix of beginners and more advanced knitters. Most of the gals have taken the class more than once. When this spring session is over, I plan to enroll in the summer class. :)

I decided to branch out and try working with some of the more unusual funky new yarns they have been coming out with lately, and I'm really having a good time.

Here's my two latest projects:



The purple and pink scarf is made from Bernat Boa. It was a lot easier to work with than I thought it would be, and the scarf is so silky. I made it using one skein, and it looks really cute draped around and fastened with a stick pin. I have quite a few skeins of the Bernat Boa in this color. I'm going to make a longer scarf for myself, and some other projects since I have enough of it on hand to play around with a bit.

The project on the circular needle is a shawl I'm working on using a mixed autumn color boucle and a carry-along yarn from Italy called Eros. The carry along has bits of jewel tone colors every inch or so - blue, purple, yellow, green, etc. It really brings out the flecks of autumn tones in the boucle. This is the first project I've tried knitting using more than one strand, and the first time I've used circular needles. So far, so good! I'm taking it to class with me, as I'm about to the end of the first skein of boucle, and I'm not sure how to start a new skein with knitting. I'm learning as I go along. :)

The Eros yarn is just gorgeous, but it cost me about $10 a ball at the local LYS. I recently saw a similar yarn at Walmart for $4.36 a ball. Has anyone used the cheaper version?? I was just wondering if it is good quality or not?? I haven't had any problems with breakage using the Eros, but if I can save $6 a ball, I would try the cheaper version in the future if it isn't poor quality.

We went to an outdoor concert on Saturday. It was all oldies music -- Boogiefest at ICC college in Spindale, NC. The final group that played was 1964: A Tribute. They are a Beatles tribute band, and they looked and sounded exactly like the Beatles did in the 60's. I couldn't believe it! It was just great! And yes -- I took my knitting and worked on a scarf until it got too dark to work anymore. You know you're addicted to knitting when you take it everywhere with you! :)

Hugs! Juli

What I've Been Up To

I'm sorry for not updating my blog in so long. March and April were bad months for us. The baby got sick and it took him a very long time to get better. He had a virus first, and then multiple ear infections. And then I got sick. Finally, after weeks and weeks, we are all better and things are getting back to normal. :)

One thing about it, on the "I'm sick'' diet, I lost about 30 pounds. But I wouldn't recommend it. lol.

I am learning how to knit, and just love it! The local community college has a knitting class, so I signed up for the spring session. I've wanted to learn how to knit for years and never had the time. So far, I'm just making dishcloths and I just started a scarf. I want to get to know the different variations of the stitches before I try a larger project.

Here's a picture of some of the things I've made so far:



I haven't branched out much because I'm still trying to build up my collection of knitting needles. It seems like every pattern I find uses a size or type that I don't have. Straights, circulars, double points....and different sizes and lengths of all 3...lol. It seems like everytime I find a really cute pattern, it calls for several different sizes of needles that I don't have yet. Walmart here doesn't carry much except the most popular sizes like 10 1/2 circulars and the larger straights for making scarfs, and no double points at all. And I have to drive 30 miles to the closest LYS if I want to buy any other sizes or types. I love the LYS....don't get me wrong...but it's hard for me to get in and out of there without spending too much money. :)

The baby is trying his best to learn to walk. He can stand up without holding onto anything for awhile now, but when he realizes he's standing by himself, he sits down. If you hold his hands, he will move his feet like he's walking, but it's on his tiptoes. He's only 10 months old though, so he can take his time deciding when it's the right time for him to start walking.

They start growing up so fast! I feel like I just brought him home from the hospital yesterday -- and in July he'll be a year old already! Amazing how the time flies! I'm still in shock that my oldest son is a freshman in high school. I remember taking him to his first day of kindergarten -- that was only 9 years ago. Eeeeeek!! 3 more years and he will be graduating from high school. Two years ago my husband and I were saying "Hey it's only a couple more years and all the kids will be gone'' -- we jinxed ourselves. ha ha. It wasn't even a month after that when we discovered that baby Joshua was on the way. And now we're seriously considering having one more baby to give Joshua someone to play with (or beat up or blame things on, whichever way you look at it...lol) Now we're saying, hey in about 20 years, we'll have the house to ourselves. LOL.

I will be back to doing regular updates now. Thanks to everyone who emailed me to see if I was ok. Doing much better now!!

Hugs!!! Juli