Knitting other than the MS3

I really, really love to make these bookmarks!!! So I took a small break to knit this bookmark from the bookmark group. It was definitely a lot of fun and I would love to knit another one, but with beads this time. Now that I am more comfortable adding beads to knits since having to do them for the MS3 I think about adding beads to all of my knitting :o)



You may remember this from a long time ago. It is the squared up throw from knit picks and I am almost done with the first ball of yarn. The stripes just happen, the yarn is variegated - the next ball of yarn is a turqoise color that matches some of the stripes. This has been my car knitting because it is really mindless - just hours of knitting!! But great for little spots of time - I never have to worry about where I am at when I pick it up - just Knit!! Because I am so close to the end of this ball of yarn and I can't wait to add the next color, I have been knitting it in the evening instead of the MS3.



Because of these two projects (and a couple more that have not been blogged about yet), I am woefully behind on my daily rows for the MS3. Now if I want to be done with the current clue by next Friday I would need to knit 31.5 rows a day. HMMMM......at 20 minutes per two rows that would be approximately 5.25 hours per day - do you think that kids could fend for themselves for half of a day?????

MS3 Clue 3 DONE!!

My MS3 is now getting too big for my camera to take a picture of the entire thing. I took a picture of just the center part because if I included all of it I felt there wasn't enough detail. Clue 3 was done last night just before midnight!! WOOHOO!! Just under the wire, but not without mishap in the afternoon.


Knitting happily along and having had some minor mistakes that were pretty easy to fix, I blithely decided (I am sure you can see where this is going!) that I wouldn't move my lifeline. I am such a slow knitter and I check frequently that I am on track and I figured that I wouldn't need it. I now BOW to the knitting God and I will not tempt the knitting mojo with my foolish thoughts!!

I got to the end of row 193 and was one stitch short. What???? I carefully looked back through my knitting and couldn't find anything. What????? I counted stitches - OK only 98, but I still couldn't find the mistake. I tinked back stitch by stitch - carefully I thought - and when I had unknit row 193 I had a look. The stitch marker on the left is a dropped stitch. I quickly put a marker on it and recounted - Uh Oh now 97 stitches - I clearly had dropped this stitch in the tinking part. I carefully then compared my stole to the pattern and low and behold found a missed YO (that is the marker on the right).

While I have picked up dropped stitches in stockinette stitch and in garter stitch, I have never, never picked up something in lace.

Now I was in a panic - I am at row 192, my lifeline is at row 150 and it has taken me literally all week to knit up to this point on the clue. I stopped only once to knit something fun and fast (tessalating fish, previous post), but have basically been monogonous and knit for 2 hours each night just to keep up. My chart is marked off with the required number of rows I need to complete each night so I finish up on Thursday - if I had to rip down to the lifeline I would be an entire week behind with no way to catch up AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

So.........I cast on with bigger needles and bigger yarn and started knitting a swatch that matched this part of the stole. When I got a little beyond this part, I intentionally dropped a stitch off and watched as it unraveled back to where I was at on my stole. This is the AHA moment - I could now see how the threads worked!!!!! I could fix my dropped stitch!!!! What a break through for me - I can "read" my knitting - Finally!!. I took my trusty tiny crochet hook and rewove the threads for this stitch and when I reached the point where it should be on the needle I just put in the marker to hold until I could get to knitting again.

Here is my missed YO - basically the same approach as above except I didn't need to knit a swatch because I had learned how the threads should look when I fixed the dropped stitch. I just used my teeny tiny crochet hook when I got to this point again and fixed the thing. What a feeling!! I can't even begin to explain it - before this stole, I am not even sure I would have been able to look at a piece of knitting and have been able to "see" where the error was. Now, not only could I see it, I could fix it. I feel like I have now passed from a novice knitter into the next level - I might actually be approaching a median knitter. I can't believe it!!

s - l - o - w going

We have lots of family in town right now and they will be here for another 5 weeks so my knitting time will be greatly diminished!! However, it is great to be with everyone and to have all the kids running around the house. All the cousins playing together is such a great sight to see!!!

I joined a group call Bits and Bobs 2 and they knit tessalating fish from the leftovers from other projects (mine will be from all the dishcloths I have been knitting) and then make them into an afghan. This apeals to me on so many levels - knitting, using up all the leftovers so there is no waste, and making an afghan - I couldn't pass it up. This is my first fish and I really like it!! They take almost no time at all so they really qualify in the "instant gratification" category.

Now I wonder what they will look like in two (or three) colors since I have just a wee bit of this yarn leftover, but not enough for a full fish. We shall see......



MS3 progress surely VERY slow this week - only on row 176. I have to have my wits about me to work the lace rows (taking about 15 minutes each) and since there is so much going on at our home right now - it appears that I might have totally misplaced my wits!!

MS3 clue 2 DONE!!!

WAHOO!! Clue 2 is complete! Only one day late - and I am now working on clue #3. I love how this is turning out and I love the feel of the Zephyr (this is the first time for me to work with Zephyr). It is also the first time for me to work on something this lacey. I have made lacey dish cloths, but not something of this caliber. I kind of feel like I have made it to the next level - I can now read charts!!


This is a close up to show the beads that I am using. They are really subtle, but in person they are a lot more shiny and show up a little better. Back to knitting before the kidlets all awaken!

Beading

Tomato Girl received one of the Klutz book craft kits for her birthday awhile back, but with school and sports and life we never got around to doing it. Summer just seemed the perfect time to play with some new media for her.

This watch came with a few beads and charms and after she learned how to wire wrap things went a little crazy. There was a pilfering of my bead and charm stash and we had a great time together. Obviously the little one was sleeping during this event :o)

A bracelet she designed herself. Lots of seed beads - a girl after my own heart! The smaller the better in my book.

Wearing said jewelry that now only comes off when she goes in the pool.

Earrings that she designed and made just for me. She also made a pair for her grandmother and her sister.

Knitting content: only MS3. Row 133 and furiously working away!

Gardening

Well.....lots of time consuming knitting going on, but no real progress to post about yet. I am on row 126 of the MS3 and I need to complete row 150 before Friday morning so that I am caught up and can begin the next clue. It should be doable ......

We have had a pretty successful gardening year so far. We had oodles and oodles of apricots and plums. The kids ate and ate and ate and the whole neighborhood benefitted :o) Our peaches are coming in and the apples have started.

Our tomatoes are ripening nicely so we will have fresh tomatoes tonight in our salad.


My father gave DD#2 the title of "Tomato Girl" because she has always loved tomatoes. When she was first walking, my father came over and we were picking ripe cherry tomatoes at the time and just handing them to her. I was not paying too close attention and just assumed she was placing them in the bowl for later until I heard my father start laughing. She was just standing there eating them as fast as I was handing them to her. It was too funny - she had tomato juice running down her chin and onto her clothes and she was as happy as could be!! She has not changed all that much except for now she actually sets aside enough for dinner. We picked these this morning around 8:15am and it is now 9:00am and we have 5 left for dinner!

This is a volunteer pumpkin. I have no idea where the seeds came from and I actually thought in the beginning it was from last year's zucchini plants, but these showed up. Pretty neat. The kids are excited to be able to have their own home grown pumpkins this year so I guess we will be planting pumpkins next season as well :o)

Here are our strawberry plants. We actually have quite a few scattered about the backyard but the ripe strawberries never stay on the plants long enough for me to get a picture.

The newest FO from the monthly bookmark club. This one is called "Open Lace" and was fun to knit, but I had a little trouble memorizing the patters.



Specifics:

Yarn: Royale Crochet Cotton Size 10
Color: Royal
Neelde: Size US!
Started: July 6, 2007
Finished: July 6, 2007

Other knitting news - worked on MS3 - am trying to finish clue 2 before next Friday.

Finally!! A finished SASE! This is the Diamond Waves Scarf from the SASE Group. It is a really nice pattern and the kids love it!!

Close up of the pattern. I added silver pony beads because I knew that my 5yo daughter would love them and I wanted to practice adding beads for the MS#3 and this was the perfect way.

Started: June 22, 2007

Finished: July 5, 2007

Yarn: Caron Wintuk 100% Acrylic

Color: Sage

Needle Size: 6

A picture of one of my little cuties modeling the new scarf. Pardon the sideways picture - I can't seem to figure out how to rotate pictures when I post them :o(.

Now on to the second clue for the MS3!!

MS#3 Clue #1 DONE!!! Whew! And not a moment too soon, Clue #2 comes out tomorrow! I am an extremely slow knitter. I have been knitting 17 rows a day for 5 days straight at about 2 hours per session. That's right - 17 rows equals a little more than 2 hours of knitting. EGAD am I a little envious of some of the other faster knitters out there!



Here are some of my thoughts as I was knitting on Chart B of Clue #1:

1. I used a piece of beading wire to get the beads on to the yarn as I went along because I didn't have a crochet hook the right size. I will definitely be looking a little harder for a crochet hook - I think that will speed up the process immensely!!!

2. I have decided that I need at least 2 more hands - can you please grant them to me?? I need one for each needle, one for the bead (on a bead stitch) and another hand just to help the other three out!!

3. Lifelines are GREAT!! I was inspired by the poster on the MS3 group who made up a poem that sounded like Golem and I say a HUGE Thank you to that person! I have been putting in a lifeline every 17 rows-when I am done with this project for the day.

4. I have left my brain somewhere and I can't seem to find it - will someone help me please? On both rows 62 and 96 I forgot to do a wrong side row AGAIN!! I just started on the next lace row and didn't figure it out until about the half way point in the row and had to tink back. Again ARRGH!!!

After all that I am breathlessly awaiting tomorrow morning to download the next clue! I am usually knitting an hour at 4:30am and then another hour after the kiddies go to bed. Playing with kiddies = lots of errors on the lace and a very cross mommy!!