Wheelinsticks

Oatmeal sleeve Originally uploaded by knittingkim Of a sort any way. I finally starting knitting Shauna's fleece. I spun it up in the summer. So far it is knitting up pretty soft and very warm. I have a sleeve completed, and started the body. There is a small amount of cabling around the cuff of the sleeve and another round at the yoke. Knit in one piece once I get to the yoke, seamless, my best friend. I'm thinking some kind of dark, smokey buttons to dress it up, but that's for later.

mystery sock clue 1 Originally uploaded by knittingkim The first toe was not fun. I lost my place, dropped stitches, and other typical Kim behaviors. 20 rows should not take for ever, but leave it to me. Fortunately, the 2nd toe went much better. I like the pattern so far. It's challenging enough to hold my attention. Lots of twisted stitches along the toe. Friday the second clue comes out. Stay tuned.

Did ya know a dog can break out in hives? Oh yeah, that was my night. Buster wouldn't settle down after we started the self-cleaning timer for the oven. My only thought was we would die in a fire since Buster was nearly going berserk. He kept walking from one spot to another, up in chair, down in the chair, back to the kitchen, etc. I was ready to strangle him when I looked at his side full of angry welt. Then I seen his poor face. Oh so sad. I knew it was hives since I use to break out with hives due to anxiety as a kid. Fortunately Benedyl has helped, but he still have the remnants today. The Internet site said that hives in dogs are caused by an acute allergy attack. The only thing that had changed in the last hour was the oven. I think it was the fumes that caused the reaction. The article continued with suggesting giving Benedyl and watching for other reactions. The hives are suppose to go away within 24 hours. Poor baby.

I decided when I got home I wanted something warm to drink. My son gave me a tea infuser and a bunch of different teas to try. I don't pull it out often, but I think I need to rethink that idea. One of the flavors I have is Teavana's Rooibos Chai. It's delicious. Hmm... maybe I should pull out the tea more often....

I am still working my way through Victoria. It's looking great so far. I am trying to work through the sleeves and that's when I hit a snag. Ugh, 2-at-a-time sounds great, everything should line up, and no 2nd sleeve syndrome. Problem is trying to make sure that I knit both sleeves before turning my work. I kept losing track and spent more time just fixing things then actually knitting. I continued to knit on just working on a sleeve at a time and then switching. That worked pretty well. After I finished the last increase on the one sleeve, I went back to do the last few on the 2nd sleeve. The problem then reared its ugly head again as I still had another increase and 8 rows to knit and both sleeve were the same length. Sigh, I fixed this by adding in the increase on both the right and wrong sides. I couldn't do it in one fell swoop because it's Moss stitch. Fine, fixed. Now that the knitting was so large I figured I could think of the two sleeve as one big piece. Aha! ...

I thought I hadn't accomplished much this year, but not so. It seemed to be the year of hats. I knit 10 hats this year. Yes, I enjoy knitting hats. There quick and pleasing, plus they keep your ears warm. I also learned to weave. Oh my another slippery path. I'm not sure I will knit another long scarf when I can weave one in a fraction of the time. During the summer I made an incredible dent in my fiber stash. During the month of July alone, I spun over six miles of yarn. All and all, it was a good year.

I have a new kitchen table that I really like. The only problem is, it's white and white shows everything. I have had a set of place mats and runner with a Christmas theme on the table since we got it in November. Now that the decorations are down, I find myself in need of getting the place mats done. Tada!

Spinning December 2010 Originally uploaded by knittingkim This is it. The colorway if Flannel, and boy does this fit the bill. I'm planning to knit a big loopy cowl with this. I have 323 yards that I navajo plied so the colors stayed intact. Love, love, love this!

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! May all of your dreams and goals make it this year. For me, no goals. I'd rather live the year in here and now, living only for the moment. I think it's a good plan for this year.