Thursday, February 24, 2005

What Kind Of Knitting Needles Are You?

Bamboo
Warm, cozy, and thoughtful, you take your time and
enjoy how things feel, smell, and taste. You
love the craft and beauty of traditional
things, and you value the comfort and
experience of knitting as much as the results.
But while you are reveling in your warm cozies,
don't get stuck. Warm is wonderful, but so is
the whole wide world!


What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I've Been Tagged

Melanie just tagged me so here we go:

The questions are:

1. What was the last book you read or are reading?
The Lemmony Snicket Series and skads of knitting books…

2. Where did it come from (library, bookstore, gift, etc.)?
Borders

3. How many books do you read per year?
20 or so

4. What is your favorite genre?
Fantasy

5. Who will you tag now?
Sallee

Have a great day! It is snowing here and I think my leg is recovered enough to shovel...whoopie!!!!

Ruinwen
:)

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

From the Heart :)

ETA:  Sorry, I lost all the pictures that had to do with this blanket when we updated the blog.  This blanket never was to be and has been frogged, but that is how you learn.

Here is one of the hearts in the Valentine Heart Blanket. My husband lovingly took the photos yesterday and if you read about yesterday then you know that I am not going to complain about them being dark. I am instead going to praise my wonderful, supportive husband. :)

So, now that yesterday is out of the way I wanted to tell you that I had a great weekend! My scrapbooking, playdate, dinner party went great! We all had a wonderful time.

I also wanted to thank Kitt for all her help. As you can see I have added Blogs I Enjoy and I started on Yarn Stores I Frequent as I learn some code. But Kitt has been amazing and I want to send a thousand thanks to her! :)

This weekend I had a most startling moment. For one reason or another having another baby would a) either hurt me or b) hurt the baby. But my darn clock has been ticking away and I couldn't shut it off. But Sunday we went to a birthday party for my Aunt and a girl walked in with a cute baby. All I saw was the Fair Isle sweater he was wearing and the poncho she had on. I swear it was like a total change in my clock it just shut off and the knitter in me rang. So I found out she got the poncho from old navy and I bought one yesterday so I can try and make it for a later project.

Have a great day!

Ruinwen
:)

Camo Summer Top and Why It is Backward



Here is the progress on my Camo Summer Top. This is actually from the back. Why you may ask? Well, have you ever had one of THOSE days? Yesterday our child got sick in his sleep so in the am there was much clean up. So off to the car I go and I slip on the only piece of ice on our property crashing down full force on my right knee. My bags lay strew across the lawn with all their items emptied. I stand up since no one is up on a holiday at 6:30 am and realize that my favorite pants are torn and they are tinged with blood. So I go back to get my car with my husband's help and he is sweet and picks up everything and puts it in the car. Then I was running mostly on time when I find my car door was left open all night so I ask my husband for a jump since he and my son had the day off and I did not.

I realize at work that I should clean the wound and put ice on it but there is nothing but soap and water which sting like the dickens and no ice. Oh, I forgot to mention our sweet little cat is peeing blood. So I had to find someone who is open on a holiday. I find a cat, dog and cow doctor. She won't pee there so they can't do tests and they are keeping her overnight. Can you hear my son crying for his kitty in the background?

My head is fuzzy from the pain of my knee which I keep hitting on the metal desk at work. Everything is metal at work so each time you walk from the desk to the filing cabinet you get a big "shock!" So it goes like this "bang", pain running up my leg, reach to steady myself, "shock" all day long. I also mess up things and have to do them over, which begins to make me sad.

Then, I gave Gwen the wrong directions for her glove-making problem and I just get downright disheartened...even my knitting seemed to betray me. So by the time I get home by leg is swollen and I just wanted to sit but I promised to have a picture in here and I feel bad so I ask my hubby to take pictures and he takes them off the wrong side and I really think that is perfect for this day.

I would have had them up last night but the computer crashed until today when the world seems to have done a 360' and I hope all is well.

Ruinwen
:(

Friday, February 18, 2005

T.G.I.F.

I don't have a quote today but T.G.I.F !!!

It has gotten quite cold here which makes me knit faster for some reason. I have almost completed the heart pattern for one set of "boxes" on my heart blanket. I also have about 6 inches done on the camo tank top.

This weekend is totally booked and I won't have any time to knit but that is okay…she says with a sigh…I do hope to get pictures up of my progress though…well see…

To all the wonderful "knitting chicks" at Yahoo…thank you!!! You are the sweetest people in the world!

A special thank you to Sallee and especially Kitt (the Goddess of code) who are helping me edit my site. I'm really new to this blogging thing. :)

Have a wonderful day!

Ruinwen
:)

Thursday, February 17, 2005

The Real Me

"You cannot fake a relationship and feel right with yourself or anyone else. Changing yourself to fit what you think other people want doesn’t work. Pretending to be someone other than yourself only broadens the distance between the person you are and the one with whom you’re trying to establish closeness."

-- Mary Manin Morrissey

I found that quote yesterday and realized how it applies to me. Since I took the time to listen to my inner self and my needs, I have realized what things are really important to me that others always laughed at me about.

For instance, I love my husband and I love doing things with him. People used to think it was weird when I would bring him to events…they would say that I was trying to portray a happy marriage or something…but I am happy…now that fact keeps me centered and alive but before I would feel that I was wrong somehow to feel those feelings. :(

I used to have doormat on my forehead and everyone's needs came before mine. But now I balance everything and I make time to do the things that really make me happy…like knitting…everyone pooh-poohed my knitting obsession…saying it was a Grandma thing…well, I have something to say on the subject…Grandmas are the coolest…they know more then we do and they are wonderful giving people that share their lives with us…I don't have any Grandmas left…and I miss them…but Grandmas…they rock…if someone compares me to one…well, then I must be doing something right. :)

So here is my declaration to the world…I love to knit…I love the feeling of joy I get from the purchase of a new skein to a finished project. I love taking a ball of yarn and making something…creating something with the hours of my life…something that will live on after I am gone…I love the peace that comes when you are in synch with a pattern and you effortlessly stitch and your mind unloads all its worries until it is empty…and suddenly your heart is a little lighter and your step is a little happier…

Last night a knitting group met at my house and I loved listening to these special women and I feel more centered today…more myself…and now I know what that means and I have become the real me. :)

Ruinwen
:)

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Camo summer top



"Bringing order to clutter is about bringing the twin poles of spiritual life; cherishing life and holding it sacred, while knowing it will pass away."

I found this quote today and realized that sums up most of my knitting philosophy. I make things that I really enjoy and love and never keep any for myself...I always give them away and that is okay most of the time but I would like to hold something sacred this time..

Also, I have quite a knitting stash so instead of going out and buying more yarn, I went to the stash and found this camo print by Red Heart. When I bought it I thought wow this will make a nice green blanket, then the camo pattern started to form and I was flabbergasted.

Well, this is my new project for me this time a summer top in camo from BHG Hip Knits. They say when you make one you will want more...let us see...

By the way, it is 50 today; what strange weather we are having!

Ruinwen
:)

Blue Scarf Complete


It was cold today and it snowed, sleeted and then rained. I used the time to finish up my son's scarf. He really loves it!

Now I get the pleasure that every knitter loves...I get to buy more yarn and start a new project!!!

I think this time I will make something for me!

Ruinwen
:)

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Heart Blanket

ETA:  Sorry, lost the picture for this when we updated the blog.  I also frogged this later because I did not have enough yarn.  *sad face*

This is a heart blanket that is composed of seed stitch borders with hearts in the center of the blocks.

I started this blanket on practice yarn which was way to thin for the pattern to really show. So I frogged it and began again yesterday. I wanted enough that you could see the colors and pattern forming but again I didn't have the time I thought I would yesterday.

I wanted this done for Valentine's Day, but that was not to be. I love hearts and I love the colors of this Caron Rainbow Dreams yarn. I have never tried this kind of yarn before and I really like it. The only drawback is it has a dye lot so I hope I bought enough! :)

Ruinwen
:)

Blue Scarf


This is the scarf I am working on for my son. I wanted to have it done but things have gotten crazy this weekend.

We moved all my knitting books and patterns to the living room so the knitting group can have access to ideas and patterns.

I'm excited about meeting up with other knitters!

Ruinwen
:)

Close up of Blue Scarf

My son wanted a scarf to go with his mittens so I tried to keep it to the pattern.
Start with an even number of stitches in cast-on. 

It is a simple pattern; s1, k1 all the way across on the right side and purl the wrong side. It makes a thicker fabric for extra warmth.

My Son and His New Blue Mittens

My son was having trouble with finding mittens his size so I made him a pair. This was my first try at mittens and I think they turned out great. My son really loves them!

Saturday, February 12, 2005

My First Post

Welcome to my knitting blog. I have loved knitting since my Mother taught me how for a Camp Fire Girl project. We had to make homeless people scarves. At first I thought I would never complete such a simple task but in (don't laugh) three months I finally finished. And guess what? I wanted to make another scarf for my boyfriend. This one took only a month and I realized I loved knitting! I have been knitting ever since.

I am new to blogging so be kind. I hope to have the pictures I took today uploaded soon.

Ruinwen
:)