Merry May

Is it really May already? April flew by and I didn't get a chance to post so many things I wanted to share. I'll try to catch up this month. But I need to start with this month's knitting list:

In order of priority:
1. SKP: Sock Knitters Pentathlon Sock 2: pattern released today at 7pm. Will I stay up all night knitting? No, but I will probably stay up later than I should. Update: Finally finished on May 13

2. Monthly Adventures (Ravelry group): So we've swapped the beads, and then the yarn and fabric, now we wait for the pattern! We will be making a small knit-with-beads bag. I'll post more details when I get the pattern.

3. Mystic Light KAL: All of the clues have been released and it's a very pretty pattern. I only finished clue 1 of 5 last month; I would love to complete this in May, but realistically, want to complete clues 2 and 3 at the very least.

4. Two-end knitting mp3 bag: this project has been waiting patiently for me. I WILL complete it this month.

5. Beaded stitch markers: need to make some for BuzzandFuzz webstore.

6. Juliet sweater: I really want to make this sweater for this summer. My minimum goal for May is to check may gauge.

7. And as a side note, I took an amazing bead class last week and now NEED to make some bracelets as gifts. I'll share more details later.

Adventures in April

I survived March, but with only half the knitting I hoped to complete. So that makes my April knitting FULL. Here are the goals:

1. HSS3 socks: Hogwarts Sock Swap socks: I need to finish knitting the socks and finish putting together my package before April 15th. I already have a couple of goodies for the package. Finished 4/29/08

2. Mystic Light KAL: Clues are released each Wednesday. I will be very happy if I can keep up with each week (I've already behind...). UPDATE: only finished clue one in April

3. Reversible baby sweater: I will be making (and finishing) this the first weekend in April at Claudia's retreat. Finished

4. Monthly Adventures (Ravelry group): Swapping yarn this month to go with the beads from last month. Soon we will be knitting bags with the beads and yarn we have received! UPDATE: swap mailed and received!

5. and 6. Project of the Month (Ravelry group): I was really hoping this group would be working on a project I could resist this month. Instead, we are doing two projects and I want to knit them both! I'll give the full details later, but the projects are "40 year felted bowl" and a knitted book cover. UPDATE: never even casted on!

7. Loose Knit Group (Ravelry and Yahoo group): We are making bags this month. I am hoping to make a twined knitting MP3 bag using the wrist warmer pattern from my Twined Knitting group (Ravelry and Yahoo group). This would be a gift for one of my girls. (Loose Knit group goal: to knit some presents before the holiday crunch!) UPDATE: yep, maybe next month...

There are other things I would like to add to the list, but the idea here is to make it possible for me to complete everything. So I will not add anything else for this month and will try my best to complete all 7 goals!

CountryWool Retreats

One of my spring highlights is going to a CountryWool Knitting Retreat in Cape Ann, MA. These retreats are organized and run by Claudia at CountryWool. They are small in size and packed with loads of wonderful knitting tips. I've known Claudia for 5 or 6 years now and have been going to her retreats for the past few years (she also has spinning retreats). 2 piece's of praise for Claudia and then I will move on:
1. I am very critical of knitting patterns. My education and former work was in medical research, where I analyzed data. The reason I have yet to offer one of my patterns for sale is that I am neurotic about making sure all of the little details are mentioned and correct. Claudia's patterns are VERY detailed and clear and I highly recommend them.
2. Claudia is a wonderful teacher. She can take a room full of knitters of all levels and everyone will leave having learned something new.

This coming weekend I am off to my third Cape Ann Knitting Retreat: Reversible sweaters. In 2007 we did Faroe Knitting (remember that cardigan I have almost finished) and in 2006 it was Nordic Knitting. My Nordic sweater is my favorite winter sweater, but it deserves a post all its own, so I'll share that later!

No good pictures to share

I haven't had much time for knitting the past week or two, so not much to blog about. I did do a swatch for the Mystic Light KAL, but I need to make a second swatch because I think I should go up a needle size. I am going out of town early tomorrow morning and I am planning on getting a lot of knitting done while traveling. I will post my progress next week when I get back.

Merry March!

Merry March! Here in Maine, spring is only a couple of months away. I have lots of knitting projects planned for March. Here goes, in order to be completed:

1. SKP: Sock Knitters Pentathlon Sock 1: pattern released midnight on Friday. I had guest all weekend, so I didn't cast on until yesterday. Finished 2/3/08

2. Finish my Firestarters. I am so close... Finished 3/28/08

3. Another thrummed moebius. This one is a requested gift for my dear stepmom. Her birthday is in March and she will be coming for visit March 20, so it needs to be completed by then. Update: I never even started this, but I will get to it soon...

4. HSS3 socks: Hogwarts Sock Swap socks: I need to knit at least 1 sock and cast on the second. I would like to mail them the first week in April. Update: well, I cast on sock one 3/29/08...moving this to April's list

5. Faroe Cardigan: everything must be knit and ready for steeking by the end of the month. I will be going to another of Claudia's knitting retreats in the first week of April and I want to wear this there (if I feel brave enough to steek it before I go...)! Update: never got to it in March

6. Mystic Light KAL: the swatch will be released sometime in the next week and the first clue will be released March 26. I hope to finish each clue before the next one is released, but that may be a bit too ambitious. Update: I tried 3 different yarns/swatches....

7. Project of the Month (Ravelry group): this month we are knitting "Fetching" fingerless mitts. Update: given the way the month was going, decided not to even attempt.

8. Monthly Adventures: an easy swap this month; no knitting, thank goodness, because I am going to be busy! Update: I did manage to mail these out before the end of the month!

February recap

Even with Leap year, I couldn't finish all of my February goals on time (now if I had 31 days...)
I had 8 knitting goals for February and I finished 5.75 (one was just pattern planning). I am so close to finished with my Firestarter socks, but other commitments have kept me from finishing (although Feb is not over yet). Here's what I have to show for this month:

Sadly, I did not get to my twined knitting KAL (Wrist warmers) nor did I finish the bottom body of my cardigan. I have even more projects for next month...I better get knitting.

Happy February

To keep myself on task, here are my February goals:

1. Socks: Firestarter with Nova Socks in Jester colorway.

2. New twined knitting KAL: Wrist warmers. Knit at least 1...

3. Project of the month (Ravelry KAL): 1 Small heart pillow for DH on Valentine's Day (using Feb sock yarn above). Finished 2/4/08

4. Continue working on Faroe Cardigan: bottom MUST be done by end of February, including hem.

5. 2008 resolution: convert "Bird Foot" socks into wrist warmers (need to complete 1 by end of month and cast on 2nd). Finished 2/18/08

6. Plan pattern and basket for HSS3 buddy. 2/15/08: Got my yarn, made my charts.

7. Start Thrummed Moebius by Fleece Artist; colorway: seastorm. Finished 2/6/08

8. Hat for Monthly Adventures KAL (Ravelry): pick pattern, knit at least half. Finished 2/27/08!

I will discuss the details (and show pretty pictures) of each of these projects over the next week. This post will be my start up page for the month of February to keep me motivated. It's a lot of knitting, but I'm ready!

Did you notice my new project tracker on the top right of the blog? Just one more reason I love Ravelry so much...The tracker is linked to my Ravelry projects, so when I update them on Ravelry, you will see it here. I made sure to start projects for each of my February tasks, mostly to help me stay organized.

What are you listening to?

I got a new toy. An ipod shuffle. I am so excited. I listen to a lot of audiobooks while I knit and before today, I was listening to them through my PDA. On the one hand this was good because I always have my PDA with me. But, it's big and cumbersome to listen to when your moving. So my dear, sweet hubby got me an ipod shuffle. It is so small and portable--I hope I don't loose it...

Here's what I've listened to over the past 6 month:
1. and 2. Angela's Ashes and Tis by Frank McCourt (and narrated by Mr. McCourt). I absolutely loved these, as sad as they were at times. I am sure I would not have enjoyed them as much if Mr. McCourt had not been the narrator, but he was, and they were both great.
3. Suite Francaise: A Novel by Irene Nemirovsky. This was a slow read/listen (I was doing both), but a good story in the end. I read this as part of Purl Diva's book club and then sadly missed the book get-together.

4. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I thought this book would never end, but I had to finish it.
5. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Quick and fun. I loved it, of course.

Now I'm starting The Whole World Over by Julia Glass. I'm a little nervous because it is 22 hours long, yes-22 hours long. But I loved Three Junes by JG so I am giving it a try. I just started today--I'll let you know how it's going next week. I hope my new shuffle has a strong battery!

Misc Monday

For today's "Misc Monday" theme, I thought I'd discuss my favorite knitting time. Please keep in mind that as I type this, the 3 kids are not in school today, so an uninterrupted train of thought will not be possible for me.

I will knit any time I am awake enough and get a chance, but if I had to pick my favorite time, it would be first thing in the morning, while enjoying a cup of coffee and some nice music or an audio book. Everyone in the house would still be asleep (including the dogs) for at least another hour. I love knitting in the morning.

My favorite knitting spot is in a comfy chair with good lighting. The lighting becomes more and more important to my eyes with age.

I haven't mentioned this yet, but we will be moving in about a month. I cannot wait to set up my yarn studio in our new home. The room has excellent morning sun and great windows. I am really excited!

Knitty bonus patterns

Knitty just posted 3 bonus patterns! I love "Oblique" by Veronik Avery (click here to see it). As I work out of my home studio, the description of this cardigan is calling me. I am thinking this will be on my needles in January. Anyone want to join me?

Speechless

http://metaatem.net/words

NaBloPoMo

It's here...the National Blog Posting Month challenge. My intent is not to bore you, but rather to get into the habit of blogging. I work best under pressure and I hope by writing everyday this month (under pressure), blogging 2-3 times per week will seem easy.

Here's my rough draft for the month:
Mondays: "Misc Monday"
Tuesday: A day in the life of Angela the beekeeper
Wednesday: "WIP Wednesday"
Thursday: A day in the life of Angela the angora rabbit farmer
Friday: Interesting knitting topics (interesting to me anyway...)
Saturday: All about honey (fun facts and recipes)
Sunday: "Speechless Sunday"

If you have any knitting, angora rabbit, or beekeeping questions you've been dying to ask, now is the time!

November is also National Knit a Sweater in a Month. The only part of the sweater you could do before November is the swatch:
I will be knitting the "Lady of the Lake" Jacket this month. It should be do-able--it's done on US 11 needles and knit side to side. I will be casting on this weekend.

Posting

I can't believe how difficult it has been fitting blogging into my daily routine. It seems that since the kids have gone back to school, I somehow have LESS time. How is that? I'm really not sure.

So here's my plan: I work best under pressure so I am going to challenge myself to NaBloPoMo. What's that you ask? To go along with my NaKniSweMo (knitting a sweater in the month of November), I will also be blogging every day in the month of November, or NaBloPoMo. Hopefully it will help me develop good blogging habits. We shall see.

I'm back

The kids have started their first day of a new school year. For a brief moment I thought I would have some time to relax, and then I remembered all the things I need to do.

I was actually able to get quite a bit of knitting done in the last week, finishing up some projects. I will share the details as I get pictures ready and have time to type.

End of summer

As summer winds down, things have been crazy around here! I have a bunch of things to blog about, but no time right now. We are spending our last week before school starts sailing downeast. I'll be back to blog world in 10 days...