Hemlock Ring Blanket

I decided to tackle the popular Hemlock Ring Blanket for my grandmother. This project was so much fun. I really enjoyed knitting from the center out. I used techknitter's great center-out cast on:
http://techknitting.blogspot.com/2007/02/casting-on-from-middle-disappearing.html

The bind-off took the better part of 4 hours to complete. Blocking seemed to take nearly as long. My husband is the biggest help with blocking. I really couldn't have done it without him. Overall this is a great project that I will definately make again.

Resurrecting the blog...and my knitting

I can't believe I last posted here in October of '07. I found out I was pregnant in August of '07 and the world seemed to come to a screeching halt. Well, it's 18 months later and I have a beautiful 14 month old baby boy.


During this time I did manage to knit a few things for my boys. This year, though, I really have the urge to knit some new and fun projects. So, I had the crazy idea to do 52 projects in 52 weeks. This won't mean that they each take just one week. That is certainly unrealistic given how slow I knit. But, it will help me balance out big and small projects. There are so many things I want to try and/or explore further such as socks, fair isle, intarsia, and lace knitting. So with the help of the Ravelry group I formed I will be off and running on a new knitting adventure.

Update!

Where have I been? Gosh, my blogging was going so well until I found out I was pregnant. Surprise! We weren't really expecting this, but we are very happy. I'm due around April 18th of 2008. (My husband's birthday!) For the first few weeks of the pregnancy I was overcome with nausea. Then around week 10 I got a terrible cold that turned into bronchitis and an ear infection. So, needless to say, I haven't touched any knitting in weeks. Morning sickness and knitting is not a good combination. I'm finally starting to feel better on both counts. My bronchitis is finally getting better and so is the nausea. I'm ready to finish Clapotis and get moving on Lizard Ridge again. After that...baby stuff!

My dog has also greatly improved. We certainly thought about putting her down many times. She was so ill. We had a three week window for the predisone to take over and for her to improve. She's done remarkably well on the medicine. Now, we are weaning her to a low maintenance dose.

Let's see...what else is new? The other day my husband walks in the door holding a gray hissing blob in his arms. It's none other than a stray cat. Great....just what we need. Someone had (more than likely) dumped her at the gas station where he found her. I wasn't very thrilled with the idea of another animal in the house. I told him that we'll give her a couple of days to see what she's like, then decide if we are going to keep her or not. Luckily it was warm out so we were able to keep her in our screened porch for the first day and night. It turns out she is a great little cat. She's probably less than a year old. She's playful, sweet, and has really made herself at home. She still doesn't like the dog, but she's getting braver.

Oh.....and after a 2 month wait I finally got on to Ravelry.com . Too bad I was too sick to check it out much. Today I finally added some of my finished projects. What a fun place this is going to be!

So, that's it for now. I'm looking forward to knitting regularly again. We'll probably find out the gender of this baby so I will know if I need to buy blue or pink yarn. :)

State Fair Photos!

So, as you may remember, I wasn't able to meet the deadline to enter my Lizard Ridge afghan in the state fair. It would have been a great idea if I had started the afghan in April or May. My Mom, Jon, Jack and I headed out to the fair last Friday morning. The weather was gorgeous. We headed right to the Creative Activities building. I took a breath and said a prayer that no one entered a Lizard Ridge this year. My mom walks in ahead of me and immediately says, "Oh, Brooke, there's your blanket." Well, pooey, so much for that. Prominently displayed in one of the cases was a Lizard Ridge afghan with a blue ribbon. Congrats to Debra on a job well done. The afghan was made in panels instead of squares. I thought some of the short row wraps looked a little sloppy and bumpy. Yes, I was secretly thinking to myself that my afghan would have smoked this one. I know...what a poor sport I am. Kudos to Debra for finishing on time and for taking home a blue ribbon.

One of the most beautifully finished pieces was Susan Rainey's sweater. (Everything is displayed behind glass, so please excuse the picture quality.) The pattern, yarn, stitches...everything looked perfect. The lace shawl below was also very well done. The quality of the work overall was very nice. Some of the sweaters were just stunning.

Of course it wouldn't be the state fair if the sock monkey knitter didn't make another appearance! The sock monkey dresses were on display last year. New this year was the sock monkey chair. Wow, someone has a serious obsession.

Interweave Knits Hunt

Am I the last person to get a copy of the Fall issue of Interweave Knits? I had to go to about 5 different places before I finally found one. Jo-Ann Fabric only had 2 left! The yarn stores were sold out before it was even officially "on newstands". Well, the wait was worth it. There are some beautiful sweaters and cardigans in this one. I love the Hedgerow Coat, and Cinnabar, and the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I was thinking about making the Cobblestone pullover for my hubby, but I'm not so sure it would look good on him.

After a short time away I've finished 2 more Lizard Ridge squares. I'll post pics when they are blocked...they photograph so much better that way. I'm happy to be knitting these again. There's something very satisfying about finishing each little square and seeing how it looks next to all the others.

My mom is in town this week, so this entry will be short.

Good News and a FO!

My sundress/swimsuit cover-up for my sister is done! Yeah. My sister came to visit over the weekend, so last week I was busy making my deadline. She really liked the sundress and it looked so cute on her. Look for pictures soon. (I'm waiting on her to e-mail them to me). Now I just need to decide what to start on next!

Quick update on my dog Sadie: Last Friday her platelets were still terribly low. She was diagnosed with immune-mediated thromobocytopenia. We increased her medicine and rechecked her platelets today. I'm so happy to report that they increased quite a bit. It looks like she might be ok. We will continue the meds and continue to check her platelets for many weeks.

Tough Times

Last Wednesday, as all of you know, the 35-W bridge collapsed over the Mississippi River. Not since 9/11 has anything put such a pit in my stomach. It's certainly amazing that the loss of life wasn't larger. My prayers are with all those who lost loved ones and who suffered an injury. Since I live in a suburb of Minneapolis this isn't a bridge I traveled very often. This weekend was the first time since the collapse that I went out on the highways. I have to admit feeling a bit nervous. It will certainly be interesting to watch how things unfold with the clean-up, investigation, and rebuilding. Just yesterday they opened up a bridge downriver from the site. We might go out there and have a look today or tomorrow.

Yesterday I had to take our dog, Sadie, to the vet. The pupil in her left eye was completely gone. Her eye was just a red hazy glow. I knew something was terribly wrong. After some quick blood work the doc determined that she has a platelet disorder. Her platelet level was 3 when it should be about 250. This can be caused by a number of things including mouse poison, cancer or an autoimmune disease. We have her on 3 different medicines. The good news is that her eye is looking much better this morning. We'll re-check her platelets on Friday to see if she is responding well to the medicine. Hopefully she'll be alright. She's really a great dog.

In better news...I finished my first bear for Mother Bear Project! I think he turned out really cute. My next bear is almost done. This time I made a girl bear with a skirt. I'll post her picture when she is finished. These bears are really fun to make. I'm having a blast experimenting with different stitch patterns and design elements.