ALIVE, ALIVE, ALIVE!

Vikkie crawls out from under the rock she has been under and dusts herself off, straightens out her clothes and waves to everyone. "Why hello there all!"

Yes I still exist. I have had a crazy few months. I cannot begin to explain it all nor begin to tell you what has been going on. I had the busiest semester that I have ever had in my college career. The work was not difficult but the load was HUGE. But in the end, I recieved straight As. Woohoo me! Now I am doing student teaching at a great highschool. Charter school actually, with the best kids in the world. It is a lot of work but I love it. Actually I began in November, full time because the school was in desperate need of a Math teacher. My kids are creative and wonderful but a lot of work. I am also fortunate enough to work with a staff that is above the top fantastic. Its a small school and staff but this is what teaching is about. They talk the talk and then walk the walk. I landed in the right place for me. I will be done in May and I believe that it will be my job. I feel at home there so here is hoping.

On the knitting front, Yes I have been knitting. Not as much as I have wanted and needed to however. I actually did no knitting for about 3 months and made no handmade items for Christmas :-( . But I am back it. In the last month I have made a couple of unique scraves and am working on a cable hat for my mother. I will have pictures soon. There has been new yarn as well that I need to show off and also post on Ravelry. New books and magazines as well. Well I promise I will be back now regularly and post also. Probably not as much as I used to but regularly at least.

Drop me a note and let me know how you all are or just to say hi!!!!

Bags!

Finally felted and finished up all my bags (the ones that have been sitting around waiting to be fulled that is). I like them all except for one. The Lotrop II bag (from Noro Revisited) is HEDIOUS. I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of it. Seriously...it is ugly as sin and because I chose the Berroco Hip Hop yarn; it just doesn't work for the pattern (which is really nice). The other bags though came out great. Here they are:

The Lucy Bag:

Came out fantastic! It looked nice unfelted and looks as good felted. I am really happy with it.

Yarn: Wisdom Yarn-Peoms in colorway 550; 3 skeins for the smaller version of the pattern.

Needles: US 7 dpns for the start and then circs.

Knitting for Peace Messenger Bag:

Fun, Fun , Fun! It shrunk up a lot thank goodness. It was so big before felting that I could stand in it and it went past my knees, with the strap going over my head lol. Yeah thats kind of big. After two times through the wash it know lays at my hip with the strap over my body diagonally. When it came out of the wash one corner of the flap was pointed outward and try as I might I could not get it to straighten so I pulled out the opposite corner to match and it looks great. It doesn't need a closure but if I find something that fits I will add one for embellishment. Its done though.

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride, in Black, Supreme Purple, Amethyst and Wild Violet. 1.5 Skeins each.

Needle: US 9 circs.

Vikkie's Summer Sunglass Neck Bag:

This is a pattern I made up myself. I have the notes all written down, have to put it into a coherent format however so that it can be shared. I called it a Sunglass Neck Bag because its just big enough to throw a pair of sunglasses, some money and an ID in. I love it. I added some glass leaf beads to it in autumn colors because of the colors in the yarn. So the colors are not very Summery lol...but still. Love the yarn...its one of my favorites. It was knit in one piece with one end of the strap kitchnered into place.

Yarn: Brown Sheep Handpaint Originals in New England Fall colorway; 1.5 skeins used.

Needles: US 8 dpns.

Nevada State Fair

The Nevada State Fair was held last week. I didn't have anything entered, I wanted to but time got away from me. (WORK) However two people I know did enter. Miss Caroline the supreme sock knitter mentioned in the last post entered some socks...and won a blue ribbon! (First place in the category) YEAH CAROLINE! Have not seen her yet though to congratulate her.

My friend Kathy entered a sewing project and a knitted bag. She won blue ribbons for both. Honey and I went with her to see if she had gotten a ribbon. This was the first time she had ever entered anything and was kind of nervous. When we got to the fair she kept procrastinating about going to the exhibit hall and seeing if she had gotten anything. I finally had to drag her. She entered a sewn sculpture piece...the category was toy...but its way more then a toy. It is a sculpture of a Dragon which she calls Starlight. The other item is a knitted bag that she named Vikkie's Dharma with Bells. (its my belated bday gift) She was soooooo excited. Couldn't stop squeeling LOL..yup she did. I was so excited for her. I have won a couple of ribbons at the Fair in prior years for paintings so I know exactly how she felt. Here is her happy face next to her pieces on display:


The bag is the bigger stripped one.

Knitting in the Park

A couple of weekends ago Florrie from Deluxe Yarns set up "Knitting in the Park" (August 19th). It was a really lovely day though if you were in the shade for the first part of the day it was a little chilly but then warmed up though there was a good breeze all day. We have had a horrendously hot summer here so it was a nice break. The company was lovely. My lovely friend Knitty Otter was there and others who I have missed knitting with this summer because WORK (that damn 4 letter word I swear!) got in the way.

Someone even brought a portable spinning wheel. We ate, we laughed, we spun....oh yeah and yours truly FELL. Right on her face! Sheesh...my flip flop caught a piece of raised walkway just right and I went sliding across the cement ...lunch everywhere. I went sliding...face first and scrapped up my elbow pretty nicely. At first I didn't think it was anything more then a scrapped up elbow. But has night came, at home, I went to stand up and my hip and knee where shot through with pain. I went to straighten my arm...the scrapped up elbow one...and couldn't. The elbow was swollen up like a below and bruised badly, my right hip had a huge black bruise and my knee did as well (my knees are already in bad shape so this doesn't help). It was so bad I couldn't get up and move to go to work. SHEESH! Only me! It honestly didn't feel that bad when it happened. It is all healing very nicely now though. But thats not what I needed lol.

Anyway ...one of my knitterly friends brought a huge wicker basket with her...at the request of Knitty Otter I was given to understand...of her socks. Caroline is a talented talented knitter of all kinds of items, but especially socks. The fantastic thing about her socks is that she makes very large socks...lol...like for someone who wears size 10 shoe and up (makes socks for her son who wears a size 13 shoe) and they are also wide. Pretty big socks...and she knits them on size - dpns. Yup! Fast too! Her socks come out with a beautiful fantastic fabric, if you didn't know you would think they had been machine made. So, when the basket was opened she had 52 pairs of the socks, and said she had given away at least as many. WOW...we of course HAD to take pictures. Of course! The cool thing for me is that Miss Caroline has similar tastes in sock yarn as I do...many of her completed socks are done in yarn that I have in my stash that I have not been able to match with a pattern because I wasn't sure what the stripping would do. Now that I have seen them knit up I have a better idea and can match them better with patterns. So here are her socks:

Summer of Socks Prize!

I won not just one...but two skeins of yarn from a contest for the Summer of Socks KAL! It is extemely lovely stuff with a generous amount of yardage. Here are the specs:

Yardage: 560 (4oz.)

Fiber: 2 ply soft 100% Superwash Merino Wool

Yarn weight: Fingering (of course it came from a sock KAL lol)

Made by: Cynthia's Skeins.

I won it for an internet Scavenger Hunt. Funny thing is that the first time I put an entry for the contest I didn't do it exactly right. I thought I had read the rules but with working being the way it was I didn't read them correctly and I ended up having to re-do it. So I figured I was out at that point lol....but guess what? I wasn't! lol

I have no chance at all of winning any of the other prizes because I have not been able to keep up with the sock knitting at all this summer...again due to work. Can you believe that Cookie from "Shut up and Knit!" has made 27 pairs so far? Wow! Right now she is in the lead for the Most Socks Contest but Jeannie from "Sewing, Knitting and Beyond" is close with 23. Wow.

Catching Up: Baby Shower

DEEP SOOTHING BREATH...and exhale.

Finaly...LOL. What a summer! Last Friday was the last official day for my students with my summer program. This week I just admin stuff to clean up. They and I start the regular school year next Monday. Yikes. Unlike my students I finish up in December! YAHOO! I am so excited. This has been a long time coming with many sacrifices and life changes. I cannot believe it. So now for knitting blog updates. There are so many so I am going to do them in a series of different posts just so that I can keep myself organized lol.






My lovely friend, Knitting Otter, threw a baby shower for our other lovely friend Chipping Away and her partner A (it was the first time I had met A...what a great person!) :-). For never having given a baby shower (you would have never known if she hadn't said) it was the best one I have ever been too. KO and I made stitch markers (since all invited were from our knitting group lol) as invitee gifts, they were baby themed. I had soooo much fun going to the store and picking out the beads and charms...then sitting in her house making them together. It was so fun. She also went overboard with the party itself....well not overboard...above and beyond...fantastic food...lovely guests...and fun games. Have you ever played a game where you catapult a tiny plastic baby from a hand held device???? No? Then you are missing out...it was hilarious trying to hit the target. LOL. KO also had fantastic knitterly prizes for everyone. It was so much fun that the time just flew by...we started at noon and I didn't get home until 5 pm. LOL. Here are some pictures (no faces of people sorry because I didn't get permission and I don't play like that so there :-P ).







Ok so I lied there is one face (and yes I got permission)...LOL...that is the famous (in knitting blogland anyway lol) TKK :-) Miss Knitty Otter's fur baby. She is super super sweet and adorable. As for the knitting...the booties were my first ever baby items and the were fun to make. There is however no pattern, Florrie from Deluxe Yarns just told me verbally how to make them and I did. Easy peasy. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Worsted and part of a joint gift between myself and Knitty Otter who made matching hates. The other two knitted items are burp cloths made from Peaches n' Cream Cotton (1.5 balls) and the pattern is called "Baby Genius Burp Cloth" from Mason Dixon Knitting. Also very easy, though I made them longer then the patterned instructed because those who have had babies told me that a longer burp cloth would be better. LOL...I can only imagine so I followed there advice.


Ok so here Catch Up #1...purses, knitting in the park, stitch markers and yarn coming up. :-)

Yeah I Know...

...I have not blogged for a while and this one is going to be short. I have been knitting. I had several secret projects that I couldn't blog about before for a baby shower and bday gift. I have also completed through to felting 4 bags and also some socks. I am just working my you know what off for these final couple of weeks of the program I teach and it has just taken over. Whew! I will be posting soon, pictures included, about all the knitting and things. :-)

Yup...9 Days

I have been so busy with work that the last 9 days have just slipped by without me being able to post anything. Knitting has slowed down considerably as well due to work. Its been pretty stressful. Though there have been some fun things going on as well. Swimming, yarn playing nights at Deluxe yarns, outings with others...so its not all work...but ALL busy.



Had a weekend when I was able to hang out with my cool friend K, we played yarn, went to see the 5th Harry Potter movie and went out to dinner over a three day period. She lives far out and sometimes it gets a bit difficult to get together. Actually going to see her tonight for a belated bday dinner (her bday). All you can eat crab legs! YUM!


Earlier this week J and I were invited to the lovely Knitty Otter's for a DELICIOUS dinner! For those of you who read her blog you know that she posts original recipies every once in a while ... however...you may not know that she is a GOURMET cook. I have been fortunate enough to sample some of her tasty creations and have not had one thing that I did not like. The other thing is her food always looks pretty. lol...Dinner at her house was no exception. It was a lot of fun to visit with her and her honey. THANK YOU! Got to give their kitty, TKK, rubbies. She is so sweet.



Summer of Socks 2007: River Rapid Socks: I am in the middle of my second sock. These will be a part of my Summer of Socks. I really wanted to make some more socks this summer...thought I would be able too. Summer has gotten away from me. (geez I start my last semester at the University in just a few weeks...but it is my last ....YEAH...diploma will be in hand right around Christmas...YAHOO! There WILL be a party!)


Mystery Stole 3 by Pink Lemon Twist: Slowly but surely working on them. This one has been really slow because I have to really pay attention lol. We are on clue 4 as a group but I have still not knitted past clue 1. Yeah I know.


Summer CAL - KAL : Purse Round up: I picked up the beads I want to put on the one bag I made up myself (that pattern will be written up and shared for whom ever might be interested). I found some fantastic beads made of glass in the shape and colors of fall leaves. Which go with the colors of the bag perfectly. I have 3 other bags that still need to be felted (big purple thing, Lucy bag, Lotrop II bag). I also found a really nice handle (finally!) for the entrelac bag ...just need to pick it up from Deluxe Yarns (whom by the way was over with J and I for dinner the other night. We laughed so much! That always happens for some reason.)


Yarn-In-A-Teacup Swap: I finally got all the things I want to send together and will be wrapping up all the little items on Sunday and mailing them off on Monday to Elan in Canada. :-D

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: OH and how could I forget! I went to the local Border's release for the book last Friday night. By the time I got home with my book it was close to 2 am. So I slept so I could be alert and began reading on Saturday at noon and finished at about 2 pm Sunday. Though I still have questions and like many others thought the Epilogue was kind of sappy...I LOVE IT! JK Rowling, imho, is a creative genius! What a fun book. I need to re-read it again more slowly. I didn't want to accidently come across a spoiler so I stayed off the internet and didn't even check email until I was done. Though my sister called me to see where I was and so did K's hubby (whom I hung up on because he was teasing me too much...brat!). It was fun after I was done to go over the book with my sister and then with K's hubby. K was working on fixing her truck so she didn't get to it until this week. She is now finished and I am looking forward towards dinner tonight and I KNOW we will be going over the whole book! Can't wait!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Movie: Best one out of all the movies. Contained the best acting so for, best depicted action and though they changed HOW some of the story and important information was told it was done in such a way that it added to the story and so that it didn't take away from the story.

Other stuff: One of the OTHER reasons knitting has been a bit slow is because I stopped the above projects to get some secret knitting done. I do not want to say what because I don't want to spoil the surprise. I will be able to share after the 5th though. Also, finished writing and testing a pattern for a crocheted fish shaped wash cloth. Will clean it all up and post it soon (hopefully!).


Yarn: I have recieved some belated bday gifts as well. One from Knitty Otter lady and one from my friend K. BOTH gifted me with SCOUT YARN! Yeah me! I have some Scout yarn. Yippy! I have also purchased some more CherryTree Hill sock yarn. I love that yarn so much!

Books: The night I purchased the last (sniff sniff) Harry Potter book I also picked up "Knit it! Felt it!" Really nice..it has unique pieces in it that can be used as the base for projects that you can make entirely your own. It has patterns in it but it can also be used as book of ideas as a stepping stone to your own ideas.

Work wise: Its been an interesting summer program this year. I have come across some unique situations that I have not had before. As an example this was the first year that as a teacher I HAD to pull out and use "THE LAW" to help out some students. For those who are teachers, counselors or doctors/nurses they know what "THE LAW" is...for the rest here is a brief explanation:

"THE LAW": If a child/student is may cause harm to themselves or others, is being harmed or in jeapordy of being harmed, is involved in drugs, alcohol or criminal activity the property authorities and/or parents/gaurdians must be informed. The professional must take action to ensure the safety of the child/student immediately.

That is it ...simplified and in a nut shell but describes it well enough I think. I have always believed that WHEN it came time for me to pull out and use THE LAW that I would be able to do so with a feeling of knowing that it was for the benefit of my kids. Well intellectually that was the case...and I did what I had to do and what I believed to be the right thing personally but it was emotionally difficult to do and extremely stressful. Which took me by surprise. It was a learning experience to say the least.

School: On the 27th of August I will begin my final year for my license! Woohoo hoo! Its been a long long road. I have had many personal up-hevels that have made the road extremely difficult at times. But I am standing at the end in the light. YEAH! I have to say that the finish will also be well done...without tooting my own horn too loud lol...I will be ending with a flourish...with a high (high!) GPA...a great student teaching opp. lined up (paid at that) and many more grand things that will in the end make the entire trip over the long, windy and bumpy road worth it. Whew! Deep breath.

Ok super long post ...but I guess that is what happens when you don't post for almost 10 days. OOPS.

World's Biggest Stash?

I do not have time for a long post but just wanted to share a link for an out of control stash that Celtic Memory Yarns posted about. If your stash doesn't look like this then you can take a sigh of relief. I honestly thought I was really overboard with my stash. But this makes me feel better...I am NO WHERE near being this bad. WOW.

Mystery Stole 3: Chart A

I jumped in with both feet and started Mystery Stole 3. I could not decide what color I was going to use so I am doing two at the same time. :-) Just thought I would post some pics of my progress so far.


This pattern is beautiful. I hope you can see the details because there are beads included here and there. The pattern calls for size 8 beads but I couldn't find any that size so I am using size 6 which works really well. The beads are put on with a tiny crochet hook. A little fiddly but not difficult.

Summer of Socks: Monkey Socks

I really thought that I would be making more socks then I am, but work has been...well more work then I predicted and is taking up a lot of knitting time. Damnit! lol... Also I have slowed down my pace when knitting on a project. After Sock Madness I found that the process of a project is what I enjoy most not just getting it done. So though I am not completeing as many projects as I was a couple of months ago i am enjoying my knitting much more.


I finally finished my first pair of socks for Summer of Socks 2007. I love them. That Cookie A. sure can design/write a pattern. I have decided to gift these to a friends for her bday so I will have to do the pattern again because I want a pair for me. I still have socks for my honey going (though they are a car project so going really slowly) and I have "River Rapids Socks" from Sock bug. I have been thinking that since I have so many socks on needles waiting to be finished...even though they don't qualify for anything for the KAL that I am going to set a new goal to finish the socks I have started before starting anything new. :-s Lets see if how that works out. I can't seem to stop myself from starting new things lately. LOL...need. self. control.

Specs:

Pattern: Monkey Socks by Cookie A.


Yarn: Zitron Trekking (XXL) in colorway 04, I used about 75% of the skein.


Needles: Addi Turbo Lace circs in U.S. 1 (2.25 mm), I used Magic Loop technique for these.


Notes: When you look at the socks they make you think that the pattern is complicated but it really isn't. Its an 11 row pattern repeat, 3 of which are straight knitting. Its easy to memorize actually. I did not make them as long in the leg as the pattern calls for because I wanted an ankle sock. The pattern works well for that adjustment. The yarn is lovely. Trekking is one of my top 10 favorites. They have nice colors, interesting patterning and it feels nice to work with.

Geek, Nerd or Dork? Test

Ok found this test online and had to do it...it was funny :-)

This is what I scored (and I am not surprised lmao):

Your Score: Outcast Genius
73 % Nerd, 86% Geek, 60% Dork

For The Record:
A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations / interactions.

You scored better than half in all three, earning you the title of: Outcast Genius.

Outcast geniuses usually are bright enough to understand what society wants of them, and they just don't care! They are highly intelligent and passionate about the things they know are *truly* important in the world. Typically, this does not include sports, cars or make-up, but it can on occassion (and if it does then they know more than all of their friends combined in that subject). Outcast geniuses can be very lonely, due to their being outcast from most normal groups and too smart for the room among many other types of dorks and geeks, but they can also be the types to eventually rule the world, ala Bill Gates, the prototypical Outcast Genius. Congratulations!
The smoke in the air has finally gotten to me so I am home today. I am getting back in bed now, asthma has me wiped out.

Yarny Adventure

For some reason I keep forgetting to write up the post about my little trip up to North Star. On June 30th about 12 of us from my area (including my friend K, Monkeysocks, Freddie and Knitty Otter).

We began the day by having a really nice lunch at the River Ranch Lodge, which sits on the Truckee River. And I do mean it sits right on the river. They have an outdoor patio and bbq grill which juts out over the river (just a little). The service was really nice and the food was great! Gourmet hamburgers and fries.

After lunch we went up to The Village at North Star (a popular ski area) and visited "Loopy at Tahoe" yarn shop. The shop used to be located in North Lake Tahoe (under the name "Three Dog Knit") but has recently moved to North Star. The owner (Judy) of the shop was featured last year on an episode of Knitty Gritty with her kids in which Ski patterns were featured. It is a small shop but very nice welcoming atmosphere in a lovely spot. Judy couldn't have been any nicer and didn't hesitate when I asked if I could take her picture for my blog. Thank you Judy! I didn't buy much but what I got I really like. Going to make a felted bag with the yarn. The booklet was a great find, had not seen it before and it has given me some really great ideas. Not only for bags but for some other things. Love when that happens. :-)

After the yarn shop we strolled down the path and found a great bead shop. Nice service and beautiful beads. Though the shop was in a high price area I found the prices to be comparable to other bead shops in less afluent areas. The service was great (which seemed to be the way it was on saturday...every where we went we were treated really well). The shop is called Farrah Rale. Not only do they sell beads but if you are not a jewelry crafter and you find some beads and trinkets you like they will put it together for you right there. I found a really nice large bead that will serve well as a closure for a bag, plus some interesting beads that will make nice stitch markers. Now I need more beads like I need more yarn and more books (my bead stash is 3rd in size only to my book stash and my yarn stash). lol

It was a really nice day with some really nice people. My friend K was able to come as well and she got to meet some of the people I talk to her about. She lives sort of far out town and doesn't get to participate in some of the yarny things because of distance. I love going to my LYS (Deluxe Yarns) and playing yarn there but every once in while its nice to see what else is going on. :-)