Look Ma! Ten Fingers!

For a living, I make an organizer for Quilting rulers. In several different sizes. Well, we are getting Ready for the Big Quilt Show.....International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX. We're in the middle of making several hundred pieces to take with us. And I cut my finger on a table saw this morning. Now, I still have all of my fingers. For which I have repeatedly given thanks. I do realize how lucky I am. There is never a good time for an accident. I think that is part of why it is called an accident. But there are worse times.

Updates will be even more sporadic than normal. I have cut the steeks on my cardigan. And it wasn't as bad as I had feared. Rather like my finger accident this morning. Pictures some day - but not of the finger, I promise.

They're Here!

My Sockapalooza socks arrived in Thursday's mail from my Sock Angel! And aren't they lovely! Check out the great card she included. And also inside the package was a sample bottle of Eucalan in the lavendar scent. I haven't ever used Eucalan before, so it is a wonderful addition. Sheryl (who didn't include blog info) used a pattern from the Rockin Sock Club and Yarn Pirate yarn in the Clamity color. And check out the heels. She made these with short row, garter stitch toes and heels. And not a hole in sight. What a fantastic pair of socks. I thank you very much. And don't forget, she already sent yarn and a pattern for me. This yarn has a very soft, squishy feel to it. I am sure they will be a pleasure to wear this coming winter.

And I've made progress on my aran cardigan! Here is a pic of one of the sleeves. But both are finished. Gee, I suppose I could have rotated the picture while I was reducing the size. Oh, well. This will have to do for now. Come to find out, the body is also finished. Turns out, I just needed to finish one row. I put it down though because of the warm weather. I did have the thought to measure the armhole/sleeves to make sure one fit into the other before cutting the steeks and being forever doomed. That drama, steek cutting, sleeve measuring and all to be saved for the next post! Anxiety abounds.

Cross Your Fingers For Me!

If everyone in the cyber world would please cross their fingers and send up good luck vibes for me. A situation that I have been fighting my way through for almost four years may come to an end this week. I don't dare say "today" - this week would be very good, thankyouverymuch!

I didn't make my trip last week due to items of a nature too personal to go into here. But at least I have the trip planned out for when I am able to go. This week needs a shorter trip, maybe into the Rochester, NY area. I am expecting to be on the road tomorrow morning.

And on the knitting front, I have finished the second sleeve of my sweater! Although the camera is temporarily MIA, so pictures will have to wait. The body is probably 95% finished also - I have already started the decreases for the neck. I am getting excited to have this finished. For awhile now, it hasn't been an exciting knit. Oh, the cables and crossed stitches are fun to watch for awhile. But miles of yarn later, it had become ho-hum. Now that the finish line is in sight, the excitement is coming back!

Pictures to come - everyone cross their fingers please!

Vermont, New Hampshire and Neighbors with Motorcycles

Well, I'm off again. This morning I am heading to Vermont and then to New Hampshire. I won't get to all of the quilt shops on this trip. But looking over the map, there are a lot of quilt shops in Maine. And the stores I will miss through New Hampshire (maybe one or two in Vermont also) are all on the southern end of the state. So those are the stores that will get me to Maine. I have been to Vermont, but not to NH or ME, so that is exciting.

And I need to be on the road already. Had the alarm set for earlier than I am used to getting up. And at 1 am, the neighbor needed to work on his motorcycle - and it is loud enough to wake me up, two doors away. Note to self: walking up the street at 1 am in your pj's to ask the neighbor to please do that later since I needed to be up at 5 is not a good idea. Fortunately, before the idea sounded really worth walking up the street at 1 am, he drove off.

Weekly Blogging

I suppose if I am going to be home on the weekends only most of the time, I should make a concerted effort to blog on said weekend! I got home Friday night/Sat morning at 2:30 am. So Saturday was mostly shot. Sunday more was accomplished, but nothing really noteworthy.

But on a front that I had no work involved with......we are in the new Quilter's Home magazine! Mark Lapinski did a product review on our Ruler Organizers in the Nov/Dec issue. I am so totally excited! Now if orders will come in because of the review, we'll be in high cotton! Well, I suppose that if anyone were to read my blog, information might be wanted! We make a ruler organizer to hold quilting rulers. My work website is ROM Woodworking.

Moving on to the knitting front... I have started the second sleeve of my aran cardigan. It is from a kit I bought from Philosopher's Wool several years ago. I have been putting off finishing. I think the body is too long and I am dreading the ripping. This cardigan is knit back and forth....or at least the directions tell you to do so. The switching back and forth was confusing to me. So I just blithely inserted my first steeks and knit away in the round. SO much easier. Although I'm sure I'll need the "necessary" glass of wine before cutting my beautiful knitting!

And I finished the socks I'm knitting from the yarn my Sock Angel gave me!

She sent me a lovely skein of Tofutsies. I don't see a color name, but it is Item #725, dyelot #91506-82. She also included the lovely pattern that I used. The pattern is from SWTC (South West Trading Company). Also note the adorable stitch markers (on the socks) that she included! She didn't make them herself, but said a friend did. The pattern had you stop the design at the ankle. I knit the design all the way to the toe decreases and changed to an Eye of Partridge heel. While on the needles, there is a bit of biasing due to the pattern, but not a bit of twist when the socks are on! I even knit the sock leg longer than the pattern dictated, but look at how much yarn I have left over!

The design is lovely and quickly became an easy knit. Thank you very much, Sock Angel! And to think she is also knitting me socks!

Hopefully, I'll have time for another quick post tomorrow before I hit the road again. Right now, my job involves visiting every quilt shop I can find. If we can get the Ruler Organizers in the quilt shops, it will be fantastic! Wish us luck!

Do We Get Eye-Candy?

Well, I looked up how to add pictures into my post. And unless it is more complicated than the directions seem, this is a piece of cake! I'll try adding one now just to make sure that it works the way I think it does. And then tomorrow I'll post a picture of the socks I've finished knitting with the surprise gift from my Sockapalooza sock angel.

Oh, wow! That was easy. I'm on dial-up, so it wasn't fast. After posting, I'll check the size of the picture so I'll know if I need to go smaller next time. This beauty not only is the color of root beer, but SMELLS like root beer! This beautiful Iris came with my sweetheart. That, plus an antique quilt - not too shabby.

I missed one of the topics for the Dish Cloth Exchange. Last week's topic was to comment on our favorite part about autumn. Well, it sure isn't the cooler temps. I am a warm weather gal, and do not look forward to the winters here in PA. But the changing colors are tremendous. And in keeping with the whole autumn theme, this week's topic is all about food. Yes, I do cook more once it cools off. And I do use my crock pot alot. Comes in handy when your job entails working in the basement. Great to come upstairs and have dinner ready. My true favorite dinner is just to dump whatever into the crockpot. Chicken, whatever vegetables I have on hand. I do usually top the chicken with reduced sodium cream of mushroom soup. I am positive that food purists the world over just fainted dead away. But the chicken stays very moist and tender - it comes out so much nicer than just left to cook in its own broth.

Yesterday while reading blogs, I got up to date with the lovely Knit & Tonic. Seems she is catching some flack over her upcoming book. According to an unhappy someone she encountered "everyone" is writing a book. Gosh. I didn't know I was supposed to penning a book! I admire those that write. And especially those that can earn their living writing. And getting paid for patterns that they have designed? That would be stupendous. But the "suspect's" comment really has me confused. Is she/he jealous or just a very negative person? I have absolutely no desire to write a book. I am not a good enough writer, nor do I have the burning need to become one. My brain just doesn't work that way. You know the scene in the Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks movie (for the life of me, the title escapes me) about the book store? Where Meg is typing on her computer and has to figure out what to say next out loud? Well, head shaking and all, that's rather my style of writing - just less verbal. Words do not flow out of the tips of my fingers (today's post not withstanding). There are lots of witty, charming, funny, serious, thought provoking (insert favorite descriptive phrase here) writers out there. I am inspired by many of them. But not jealous of their success.

I'm not sure exactly what is my "point." I suppose starting this blog has the brain cell whirling in circles. The mental confusion that Wendy's post caused has stayed with me for awhile. While falling asleep at night, very witty and charming posts are composed in my head. They must all leak out during the night, because I sure don't remember them in the morning! Bravo to those who do remember and are able to be charming and witty.

And I haven't been able to learn how to delete comments. I followed the lovely advise (and link) sent to my by Cathy-Cate (but I don't have a link for her - darn, I'm sure she's a lovely person. I mean, she helped out a total stranger!). I have cleaned up my cache (thank you google for the help!), and have refreshed several times. But the charming garbage can icon just doesn't appear for me. Ah, well. That apparently is knowledge to be gained another day.