Knitting

I've done a lot of knitting the past few days because I've been sick. I finished knitting a pair of no purl monkeys with Duet. They are pretty. I also made "Fetching" a pair of fingerless mittens with CashVero. They are gorgeous. I'm almost done making a spiral cowl with Malabrigo worsted weight. It's a pretty purple. I'm still working on the chicknits Basic hoodie which is going to be very nice. I really have to start working on Christmas gifts. I have a ton of yarn I can use to make mittens, socks, dishcloths, etc. I know that my father-in-law will love another pair of socks. I'm so into knitting for myself right now. I also should start making baby gifts for some people that are pregnant. Tonight I may start another hat for myself. I decided to tear out Hey Teach. I have a few ideas on what I want to do with it stored in my ravelry cue.

Obsession

I currently have enough sock yarn to make 44 pairs of socks. That's an issue.

Rhinebeck and yarn guilt

I went to Rhinebeck on Saturday and it was so much fun! This was my second year going. I bought a ton of yarn. I got enough yarn to make 4 sweaters, 6 pairs of socks, and a scarf. The fold rocked. I love BMFA socks that rock. I could pet and smell that yarn all day long. I wish I had all the money and time in the world to make anything I want. Right now I have so much yarn in my closet that I really can't buy anymore. If I had spent all that money on my student loans, I'd be a lot farther paying them off! It's an absolute addiction. Well at least I'm not addicted to drugs or alcohol right?! I'm currently stuck on the pattern "Hey teach" from knitty. I just don't get the lace. I'm debating whether I should tear it out and use that yarn for something else. I spent a ton of money on that yarn and I don't know where I'm going to be able to find a pattern that only calls for 948 yards of worsted weight yarn. I just finished the february lady sweater and it's blocking. It fit before blocking, hopefully it still fits after blocking. My currrent sweater project is the Chicknits basic hoodie and I'm doing the lace pattern. It's gorgeous in a turquoise blue cascade 220. I need to think about Christmas presents soon! See below 2 pictures from Rhinebeck. Lisa and I had a blast and the hotel room was cool. Can't wait to go back next year.

Random summer stuff

The summer has been very busy. I've been working a lot. My job at the school as a summer program nurse just ended on Friday, but I'm still doing shifts at WAVAC. I've decided to take my Saturdays back during the school year. I'm really enjoying working at the ambulance again. I did miss it.

We had a camping trip the first weekend in August. We went to Herkimer and stayed in a tent. The first day was beautiful and we got to do some tubing down the Mohawk river. The first time down was great. I had a little bit of trouble getting out of the river due to the current, but I was able to do it. The second time down was a nightmare. I got stuck hugging the shore and had a spider jump in my tube. I freaked out. I couldn't steer and had to have someone come and pull me back out into the river. Then when it got time to get out of the river, I couldn't cross because the current was strong. I had to have 2 of the firemen we were will come out and rescue me. It was scarry. I didn't go tubing after that. Saturday it rained all day and I was bored. We almost went home, but decided to just stay the night and leave in the morning. I had the worst heartburn I've ever had in my life and it caused me to start wheezing. Nothing would help it. I took 5 rolaids and it didn't touch it. Then someone gave me pepto and that helped. The next day when we got home I was helping lay the tent out in the front yard to dry and I got stung by a bee. Usually I love camping, but this trip kinda sucked.

Knitting has been great. I'm almost done with my CPH. I'm almost done with my first sweet tart sock from the BMFA sock club. I made a pair of hunting socks for my father in law. I also made a few dishcloths. Mostly I've been working on my CPH. If you have a ravelry account you can check my stuff out at cweigand. I also made a few pairs of socks in the beginning of the summer. I go back to work in about 2 weeks, and I think I'm ready.

Moths and Yarn

Moths and yarn do not mix. I have learned that from reading many yarnharlot books. While laughing like crazy, I realized I have never had a problem with moths in the past. Bugs aren't a problem in my house (except for spiders of course). The other night I was out making cheeseburgers on the grill after dark. I opened the door to come in and what followed me in? A. GIANT. MOTH. I about freaked. More so than I do with spiders. My husband was like, what's going on?? I told him, and he said oh yeah moths like to eat wool. I was like, no shit sherlock. So we both tried to find it and couldn't. I closed the door to the craftroom hoping that it couldn't get through that door and the door to my closet where all my yarn is. Some of it is in a plastic tote, mind you, but not all of it. So I went about my business Saturday night and Sunday. The intruding moth is still in the back of my mind. I'm knitting in the living room and looking at my wool to make sure there are no holes. I'm still freaking about this. I have hundreds of dollars invested into yarn which is mostly wool. Sunday evening I go out to help my husband with something. When I come back in I spot it. Perched on the window. AH HA! I grabed the fly swatter and beat it so hard the window shook. I did kill it. Phew. Now I have to be more careful when coming inside, and sympathize a little more with the yarnharlot when I'm reading her books. AND, I really need to invest in a cedar chest.

On the idea of not buying more yarn until Rhinebeck....that went out the window today. I bought some merino off of ravelry from someone in Florida who just so happens to be a teacher too! I couldn't pass it up because I've been dying to make the February Lady Sweater. Now, of course, I have the CPH in progress along with a shell and some socks. But that doesn't matter does it. Must. Buy. More. Yarn. Always.

Summer

Summer is great, minus the hot weather. I love being home and doing the things I dreamed about all winter long. I finally finished pressure washing and staining the deck furniture. That took 3 days. Right on to the next project, which was painting the office. I had to do that in stages and took most of the week. Plus, I started working my summer job being a nurse at the school's summer program from 12:30-3 on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I've picked up some shifts at WAVAC as well. I did kind of miss it, but not all the drama. An ambulance corps/fire department is really just as bad as middle school with all of the he said/she said. Aren't we just all there to save lives and help people? I wish people would realize that. On the knitting front, I've finished 3 pairs of socks since I last wrote. I love Jitterbug yarn, and the Nutkin pattern. My shell has stalled out. I lost desire to work on it. I also decided to really not buy any more yarn until Rhinebeck (we'll see how long that lasts.) I rewarded myself for getting through the school year with a big purchas of 5 skeins of lightweight sock yarn from BMFA. Absolutely gorgeous. Last night helping my husband put rustoleum on the trailer was a chore. I pinched my finger real bad and I think it might get infected. I had rustoleum inside the cut and of course you can't get that off unless you use paint thinnner (which I'm NOT using inside of a cut). It hurts so bad. We'll see how that all pans out. My parents are coming today from TN. They are currently driving through Ohio. I hope they don't get here too late. I'm dying to show them all the stuff we've done to this house since they visited 2 years ago. It's been a lot of painting and other things. Well no pics for now. Like I said in my last post, if you want to see pics go to my ravelry page which is cweigand. Take care for now. Hope I can knit with a bum middle finger on my right hand :-(

Knitting

I find myself way to wrapped up with ravelry to update on here. I know, it's a shame, but here we go with some updates. I knit my first sock with Lorna's laces and absolutely love it. It's probably my favorite sock yarn now. I am now working on a Broadripple sock with Jitterbug yarn. I'm loving that yarn too. I got my new RSC yarn and it's my favorite color. I absolutely LOVE IT! I'm going to wait until school is out to start it so I can concentrate. I tried knitting 2 socks on 2 circs and I actually figured it out, but it's just not worth the trouble. Trying to keep track of 2 needles and 2 balls of yarn is too much. I'll stick to my DPNs. I may try the magic loop at some point. I made great progress on this shell I was working on, only to try it on and figure out it was going to be WAY too big. So I ripped it out and started over, 2 sizes smaller. CPH hasn't made much progress because I've been working on socks and slowly working on my moss grid hand towel with Louet Euroflax. I absolutely love that stuff and may decide to make myself a garment out of it at some point. I decided to try and sell my purple tank (Soleil) that I made because I don't think I'll ever wear it. So, that's basically it in a nutshell. Work is crazy with school ending. I'm ready for summer vacation and some painting and knitting. I gave up my Saturday's at WAVAC cuz I was sick of working on the weekends and I got cleared from PT. My tomato plants have been planted and are struggling because the weather has been so cool. It's looking up though because it's gonna be hotter than hell this coming weekend. Maybe sometime I'll post some pics. Otherwise those of you on ravelry my name is cweigand.