Because I'm a joiner that's why!

So yes, I have succumb to yet another KAL! I couldn't resist Stephanie's great idea for a Knitting Olympics...it was just too imaginative and I am all for supporting imagination and "group supported reasons to procrastinate on things I should really be working on"! Whether I FINISH this one is a mystery if my husband and kids were aware of this project there would be some heavy betting going on behind my back. Everyone is picking out buttons for their home country and displaying them proudly on their websites and blogs but at this point I was a little hesitant to join up with mainstream...those who know me will snort and say "so what else is new". Since the USA is so well represented I decided to help out the Welsh National Team. I apparently have genetic links to Wales that dates back to before the Penn colony. Besides, they included drinking and a cute little dragon on their button what's not to like! If I ever get back to the mother island, I would love to visit Wales! This last trip was planned by my Girl Scout troop and the then 15 yr old had a very different agenda from mine. Who knows maybe drop in on Brenda from Cast-On and lust after her microphone which is so much nicer than mine! If you haven't listened to Brenda's podcast yet you should. I have my own podcast, astronomy related, so I can appreciate just how much work goes into putting one together. She has a great sense of humor and just the right amount of irreverence to suit me. You will find a list of other knitting podcasts on her website that is much more up to date than mine! Currently I listen faithfully to Cast-On, Knitcast, and About Time. I check in on Secret Knitting from time to time so see what the project is before I listen...its not that I don't like her podcast it is just a matter of only having so much time in the week to listen. So! According to the rules you have to pick a project that will be challenging for you and I am going to choose gloves! I have made one pair and they didn't fit anyone, the fingers were too small and the palms were too big. So, I am going to follow Nona's pattern for the serial gloves from her website. I have visions of using up all the bits and pieces of sock yarn shoved at the bottom of the yarn basket. Of course before any of this happens I MUST finish off more knitted articles for our charity sale NEXT WEEK. I feel horrible, I never knit to my potential for this project. All the proceeds go to breast cancer research which is such a great cause! I only have a few articles to donate so I am going to bust butt this weekend and knit up some more and get some beginners kits put together. The sale is February 7th and 8th at the University of Washington Tacoma so if you are in the area, drop on by!

Sometimes you just need a kick in the you know what!

Okay, so just how many lines can you cast in the water before you lose control? I think I am personally approaching that limit! :-) From personal experience it is a pattern that I tend to follow (and don't realize it while it is happening) I get this swarm of new passions, try to do them all, get a taste for everything and then when I realize that I have really overloaded myself and I am forced to step back, re-evaluate and set priorities. I am at the peak of the cycle and can't focus on a damn thing!! Argh. My husband recognized it first he said I keep a hobby until I have purchased everything you need and then quit...actually that isn't true because he is assuming that what I do for SCOUTS are all my own hobbies. But what I am talking about is less about crafts and skills and more about dedications or what-I-think-are-going-to-be-life-hobbies or obligations...knitting, astronomy, podcasting, volunteering, training...these are all bigger things, well at least to me. Hummmm, okay let get a little attention deficit here...oh look a chicken! Stephanie got me all excited with her Alien Scarf. I remember going off and looking for all the illusion and shadow knit patterns I could find a while ago and then didn't do anything with them...except file them away in the back brain area and now Stephanie had triggered them to the front again so I decided to blog them up real quick so I don't need to remember them and can just come back to the post and find them. The timing is great because we are all madly knitting for the Breast Cancer Charity sale in February so I think an Illusion Heart Scarf would be fun, we had a bunch of white yarn donated and I didn’t know what to use it for and now I do. I was also looking for a gift for a fellow set of astronomy podcasters, actually the Slacker Astronomy is the top rated astronomy podcast and it mixes just the right amount of humor with hard core astronomy. The 3-person team is great and Dr. Pamela Gay has volunteered to come out and help me talk to teen-age girls about science and about podcasting. She is volunteering to come out from Harvard…to the Pacific NW…on her own dime! What a gal, AND she is a knitter!!! WunderWoman! I think that a set of Slacker Astronomy scarves is a definite and maybe a knitted Flying Spaghetti Monster to boot. Anyway here is a list to get you started if you go off and search on your own search for "illusion" and "shadow".... Greek Key Scarf from the MenKnits newsletter The Linux Illusion Scarf, perfect for any computer geeks out there even if they don't have a Linux box The Knister Scarf from DIY KnittyGritty Skull and Crossbones from Ysolda Emily Byrd's Snowflake scarf...which is perfect because I have all the white yarn someone donated! Stephanine told me that she got the Alien Head scarf from the Stitch and Bitch book but I also found the chart online at this UK site. Here is a chart for a Heart Illusion Sweater that could be modified for a scarf...nice Valentines Day gift. There is another sample on Heidi's page but apparently this chart is lost...sad. The book "Shadow Knitting" by Vivian Hoxbro gets very detailed and has some great patterns. She has some great application beyond the scarf on her website. There is a shawl that looks fun but I think I would rather figure it out than spend the money on a kit. It actually looks like a good weight for work! There is a "how to" posted on Jigsawknits that describes how to create the patterns so we can all go out and create illusion sample blocks to share with each other!!! Oh I just had a HUGE neuron surge!! I can't say too much in case my secret Valentine exchange partner is reading this blog....illusion knit Valentine Day sock! AH HAHAHAHA! Okay, I have to get back to the stuff that puts food on the table...gag. I hope GWEN is happy now, she was very nicely scolding me to get-on-the-blog! Getting bored eh Gwen??? :-) Anything for you sweetie!

As time goes by...

Ugh! Have you ever been so sick you just can't do anything, not even knit! Wow! My last two days were just that. Usually when I choose to stay home to be sick I overdose on movies and knitting and always feel better....not this time, just sleep and more sleep and more sleep. For those of you who missed the last two Mystery Shawl-a-longs they are great! You pick up the required knitting materials and then you get a lace shawl given to you in installments and you really don't know what you are knitting until it is done. What is really funny is listening to the chatter on the yahoo.group around the project around everyone's speculations about what they all think is going to happen. The directions are well written and there is tons of help and advice so go give it a try so if you are looking for a fun, slightly challenging, event give this group a go! Now I am off to get knitting on some scarves for the February Breast Cancer charity sale! If you have anything to donate make sure you drop me a line!

Calling all crafters!

My knitting group at the University of Washington, Tacoma has it's Charity Craft (mostly knitting and crocheting) sale coming up. 1000% of the money we bring in gets donated for Breast Cancer Research and Patient Care. If you would like to make something for the sale or have an extra hat or scarf to donate we would love to have them. The sale is the second week in February, I know it isn't a lot of time but I haven't thought to look 'this' direction for help. I am also making knitting needles to create some beginner knit kits, if you have yarn for scarves to donate I could use them for kits. Last year the beginners kits were a hot item! Email me if you have items and I will give you my address! Thanks in advance for the help and support! I will post pictures of the event on the blog!

Pandora

I am usually in the middle of any new technology push so if you already know about "Pandora" then ignore this post. I just finished listening...hell I stopped in the middle...of the "Inside the Net" podcast to check out "Pandora". Alice's Mellow Folk Rock In short it is an online radio station designed around your own personal tastes. They ask your for the name of songs or singer you like and then they start picking out artists based on your initial selection. As songs come up you can say if you like them or not and they continue to refine your personal selection. Once you get the radio station the way you like it then you can share it! The icon above takes you to the first station I put together, Alice's Mellow Folk Rock...evolving as we speak. ANOTHER big distraction from work! Yeah! But it was nice after a very long night of recording and editing the podcast! Go give it a try and we can start sharing music to knit by or write by or podcast by or fill in the blank __________!!! Take care everyone! Now I should go back and finish "Inside the Net" oh yeah and WORK!

Some knitting done and looking towards Valentines Day

I got some scarves done for our up coming charity auction and that made me feel better. I have been so busy that I wasn't really contributing well. Also, the Knit the Classics group is having a February "Valentine Day Book Swap" Now I'm not that into the contemporary romance novel but I did love the Gabaldon "Outlander" series. "Nothin' better than a swash-buckling, bodice rippin', time travelin', Scottish brogue, period romance...nope nuthin' better! You can quote me!" I"m also throwning myself into the KTC blog ring...no particular reason other than I seem to return to the KTC site more frequently than other sites...I even have them in my bloglines so I know when there has been an update! I like the site there is always something going on but never so much that it wears you out. Besides the ladies running the site are fab!