I'm featured in a blog!

Really exciting news..I'm featured in CanaryKnits blog, which you can find here.http://canaryknits.blogspot.com/2010/09/indie-designer-day_4689.html . If that doesn't inspire you to work harder, I don't know what could.
I am involved in a couple more test knits, like the "Palm Surprise Fingerless Mitts" which you can see right here:











Then there are the "Argyle and Stripes "Mitts (of course fingerless), which almost made me doubt my ability to knit. I just couldn't get them to work. I followed the instructions to the letter and the fabric turned out so dense, I thought it would felt as I was knitting!
Going a needle size up finally solved the problem.
Here is another little pic of the still unfinished pair. Okay...no pic, because friggin' blogspot insists I can't put a pic there. Fine!

Go to my Ravelry page at http://www.ravelry.com/projects/dyeforsocks1965  and you can have a look at all my projects.
I had a really lousy day and am so stark-raving mad that I shall open a bottle of wine now and just call it a day before I say, do or write something I will regret tomorrow.

Wedding gloves

Eating my words: Of course I did not get the pattern up for testing in time...but I have a good excuse. For the first time in 7 years I had a migraine. I had forgotten what that feels like. Ouch!
But with the help of lots of Vitamin C and caffeine (don't ask me why that helps) I posted the test knit with only a day over my deadline.
Here are the pictures.
My friend Sandy came up with the idea. She thought it was silly to wear beautiful gloves to your wedding just to have to take them off when the ring goes on your finger. So there you have the solution for it.
My daughter pointed out, that they would look "totally cool" in red or black for the goth experience.
And since I hit the backspace button more than the actual keys for this post, I think it's time for bed.

Knitting Woes

So I started knitting a jacket for a friend ( it's this one: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/faery-ring ) and so far it is going well. I started on08/30 and I was hoping to get it done by 09/20. Since I am getting paid for making it, I thought it would be nice to have some extra money to spend at our Puyallup Fair.
While this self-imposed deadline would not have been a problem at all......I got so distracted by test knits, that today is the 23rd and I am about 60% done with the darn thing.
My friend gave me the yarn all wound into balls already.....so I have no idea what brand or composition it is. But I am telling you: it gives you rug burn on your finger!!!!!
You can't knit at a reasonable speed with out getting a sore spot! So I wrap three Band-Aids around my finger. Should I demand hazard pay?
Here are some of the test knits I did recently:

You can check out the specifics on my project page on Ravelry.
I was also severely bitten by the lace bug. I have now bought and downloaded 4 lace shawl patterns, not to mention the oodles of free ones available on Ravelry.

This weekend I will finally write up the pattern for the wedding gloves. I decided to just call them "Sandy's wedding gloves". They are just a little different, because they are constructed in two parts, which will be sewn together.
I shall submit them by Saturday on the Free Pattern Testers ( http://www.ravelry.com/groups/free-pattern-testers and there we go again with self-imposed deadlines. LOL.
I shall post pictures at a later time.
I am also still going out with the same guy and even though he likes to take things slow ( achingly slow, I might add), I think this one is finally worth it.
Grandma was right. You gotta kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince.( Ewww!)

Girlfriend

This post will go in a slightly personal direction.
I never got along with women. I'm more of a guy myself. You tell me about a problem, I want to fix it. That kind of thing. And I am not into playing mind games. So.....my own gender ticks me off most of the time.
But sometimes you just need another girl to talk to. Especially when you have no idea on how to deal with all those girlie "issues", lol.
I have no girlfriends.
I have female acquaintances, not girlfriends. I had one in High School. We were inseperable, we kept each others secrets, we lied to our parents for each other. We were the kind of friends they talk about in those silly lines, like: A good friend will bail you out of jail. Your best friend will sit in jail next to you saying:"That was awesome!".
I need one of those friends.
Now I'm not Paris Hilton searching for a BFF with resume's and stuff. HA! That would be hilarious!!
But I wouldn't mind taking applications.
Some things you just don't want to discuss with family members or people you just know.
And then there is the "friend" you can tell everything to, if you want it to be public knowledge within 24 hours.
Live and learn.
Maybe the cat will listen....

First garment pattern

My first garment pattern went up on Ravelry today for the brilliant ladies (and gents) there to test knit it for me.
With moving parts, such as sleeves and things, it was a little harder to get the instructions in chronological order. Hence I started out with a small project.
Who's the model, you ask?
Well, that gets a little complicated. My daughters sister in law has a friend for whom she occasionally babysits. That's the young lady in the picture. She's four month old and really cute. I was surprised she was so contend in the cardigan.
But then again, she immediately started chewing on it. Hmmm....Omen? I hope not.

So let's see what else... I am working on a commission piece, a jacket, and yes, I will get paid for that and no, it is not a purple monster.
I am trying (like the insane person I am) to finish it by the 20th of September. Im off that week and I want to have some spending money for the Puyallup Fair.
Nothing new from the knitting group, nobody showed up last Thursday, not even Cathy. I shall see who rsvp'd for tomorrow.
First day of school for the young one. YES!!!! I have the house to myself again for lunch. Nobody wants to talk to me or needs something urgently cooked because they don't know how to make them self a sandwich.
I'll keep you posted on the success (or failure) of the Aran Baby Cardi.

Hyperventilating

I'm telling you....so much has happened and is happening. I actually went out on  a couple of dates and still like the guy.
My pattern is now up for sale on the KnitPicks website.
I went to the doctor for a follow up and she took me off all blood pressure meds. Mind you I have been on those things for 9 years.
I lost a total of 27 pounds since December of 2009.
We almost got a Yorkshire Terrier, but the cat ( about twice the size of the dog) threatened to eat it, so we had to give up on that plan. Doesn't help, that I think a dog has to reach my arm pit to be called a dog.
I do test knits and have people test knitting for me and I'm just tickled how it all works out.
Work in the dental office is kinda sluggish, so I am grateful for the additional income of teaching and sales of my pattern.
Right now I am working on a pattern for wedding gloves, which was originally an idea of my friend Sandy. So they will be called "Sandys I do's". If you have any better ideas about the name,  by all means,  let me know.......(I am looking at you, Theresa and Cindy )
So,,,that's pretty much it. The Loopy Leaves Mitts and Heart Lace Gauntlets (which actually sounds like Heartless gauntlets if you say it fast...lol) will be available shortly.

Branching out

I dyed 4 skeins of worsted weight yarn today and 2 lace weight ones. I'm branching out a little, because not everybody knits with fingering (or sock) weight yarn all the time.

A new pattern is being written right now...here's a sneak peek.











I will submit this to the test knitters next week, I hope. Business in the dental office is sooo slow right now, that I end up with a free half day every so often. And I have a couple of vacation days coming up in late August and late September. YAY!
KnitPicks has accepted one of my patterns, so they took new photos with a model. Professional photos. And: yes!!!!! I am insanely excited!!!!!!
Here are the pics I got from KnitPicks. Finally: spending thousands of dollars a year at their website is paying off. LOL. Well, maybe hundreds of dollars.


In other news I learned today that ZOMG is just emphasizing the OMG....It doesn't mean "Zoinks". Which I think is rather sad.
I will be teaching a class on how to make two fingerless gloves at the same time using two circular needles. I'm very excited about that too.
I am watching the TV show "Haven" right now and my mind is made up: I will move to Maine as soon as I get a chance! Or Vermont.
I shall post pics of the yarn, which makes my kitchen smell like wet sheep right now, tomorrow.