Time to Relocate?

I just discovered that I live in the Bermuda Triangle. The Bermuda Triangle of Productivity, that is. This picture came my way via Robin's blogpost @ The Knittin Coop who found it on Juniper Moon's blog.

The Triangle in which I live is encompassed by Facebook, Ravelry, and (dare I say it?) knitting. I'm thinking it might be time to relocate. But I won't move too far away. Maybe just a bit outside the Triangle's boundary lines.

What's makes up your triangle?

Don't Get Your Mobius All in a Twist

Well, it's OK if it's just a half twist. Today was my foray into the mysterious world of the mobius. Using the Easy Mobius Cowl and Cat Bordhi's mobius cast-on video, I ventured forth. It's quite a technique and one I have yet to wrap my head around. Perhaps my head will never wrap around this, for I wound up with two twists in my mobius, instead of one. Or maybe I have happened upon a new creature? A mutation of the famed Mobius -- the Mo-Mobius?

Maybe not.

Attack of the Shawl Collar

I am proud to post that I am done knitting my Nimbus. All the ends have been woven in and it's ready to be blocked.

(Well. . .almost.)

I am not so proud to post that I sewed the garter stitch shawl collar on backwards.

@#*($^@%

Further, I am not so proud to post that, in picking out what I thought was the collar seam, I used the wrong tail and unraveled several stitches of the collar itself. The result? I had to frog about 5 rows.

*(#$^&*#@%^&!(&&@$#

(I am just grateful that I don't have to re-knit the entire collar.)

Now, the dreaded collar has been separated from the rest of the sweater, the live stitches placed back on the needles, and the re-knitting and re-seaming can commence.

Did I mention that after 7 skeins of Peruvia Quick and hours of work I am beginning to think will not look good on me at all?

Cheers!

2011 12-pair Challenge and 2 FOs

It probably was not the smartest idea I've had -- signing up for the 12-pair sock challenge and making my first pair of the year on size 0 needles. (Remember, sock-knitting is not one of my favorites.) However, I am glad to report that I am done with sock #1 in pair #1 with almost 1/2 the month left to get the other done.

To keep myself from self-inflicted impalement on those size 0s, I calmed myself by making a couple of other quick, fun projects:

The Long Longer Longest scarf - see the Purse Scarf pattern- is my 2nd FO of the year. I made this from 2 skeins of Nashua Equinox that I bought on clearance at my LYS.

Also works well as a Babushka:

And for the third FO of the year, may I present the Choo Choo Hat (my own design, albeit a simple one) made for my 3-year-old nephew who is wild about trains.

And finally, there seem to be pieces of Nimbus all over my living room:

*See my new Addis winking in the corner?

Why I Love My Knitting Groups

I have two knitting groups that I regularly meet. The first group meets at Dunn Bros. Coffee every Wednesday at 11:30 and consists of ladies from all over downtown Nashville. Liana and I met met through a mutual friend and had been knitting together for a couple of years during our lunch hour. She posted something in the Nashville Ravelers group on Ravelry and Chris and several more joined us. Our little group has grown over the years. We have 6-10 on any given Wednesday and even have our own corner complete with comfy chairs reserved for us every week (the manager's idea).

The other group meets at Haus of Yarn on Thursday nights. This is an equally fun group. In addition to show-n-tell, help with problems (knitting or otherwise), inspiration, cheerleading and lots of laughter, sometimes there's wine and even guest appearances:

FIBRE LIBRE

In truth, I wasn't able to participate as much as I would have liked during the last 3 months of 2010. I've missed these folks...a lot. One of my new year's resolutions is to set aside time to meet up with my knit peeps as often as possible. This is one resolution that will be a pleasure to keep.

Long Weekend = Lazy Times and FO#1 for 2011

(OK you non-knitters -- FO means Finished Object in the knitting world, so get your minds out of the gutter and remember that this is a knitting blog.)

I've spent most of this long weekend doing nothing that I had planned, but pretty much what I wanted. I did not put away the Christmas decorations. I did not follow my Weight Watchers program. I did not catch up laundry. I did not clean out my closet. I did not organize any part of the chaos that I call my house.

I did, however, watch lots of TV with my girls and my husband - including an all day marathon of Angel today, thanks to Netflix.

(OK, so this one wasn't my husband's first choice, but we girls get control of the remote on occasion.)

Back on track now...what else did I do this weekend? I did pick up my kid from her New Years' Eve sleepover. I did go to church and take my girls shopping (briefly). I did work 8 hours on Sunday (that wasn't on my "want" list, but extra $ is always a good thing). I did spend 2 whole days in my pjs. I did take a couple of naps. I did eat too much and too many good things. I did catch up on blog reading. I did revamp my own blog. And I did cast on and complete my first knitting project of 2011, take two on my Christmas weekend project, Duffers felted slippers.

Time to put up my feet and work on the next project. (In truth, I started it on New Years Day too - sock pair #1 of the 12 Pair Challenge.

What did y'all do (or not do) with your long weekend?

2011 Knit Challenge

I love hand knit socks. I can't say that I love to knit them though. Oh, I get all excited casting on the first one...I repeat, "the first one". However the project loses all of its luster by the time I've slogged through the foot and finished off the toe. I have yet to find a cure for Second Sock Syndrome, although I find that wearing the first sock while I work on the second seems to spur me on...somewhat.

So maybe you will understand when I tell you that my knitting goal for 2011, and yes I've only made one goal, is to knit 12 pairs of socks this year. I signed up for the 12 pair challenge with the Stash and Burn group in Ravelry. I already have a bit (a lot) of sock yarn in my stash (who doesn't?), so I'm ready to go!

What are your knitting goals for 2011?