Alex's New Digs, Part 2

It's been 10 months since I've blogged.  This year has flown by!  So much has happened, and it's been an exciting year.  Alex is moving into his 2nd year of college, and Tyler will be a sophomore in high school.  Tyler has grown so much this year, and not just in height, although he's getting very tall.  He's really seemed to blossom in high school, he has a great core group of friends, and is following up on his interests.  He does really well in all of his classes, but especially in his business classes, and he joined DECA, which is a business club at school.  He even got an award for math, which was a huge deal.  He also recently got his driver's permit and he's been doing very well at practicing driving, although driving a clutch is still a little much for him.

And then there's Alex.  Alex is doing great!  He applied for several co-ops and accepted an offer from one that he was very interested in.  A co-op is similar to an internship.  He will work one semester (this summer), then take classes for a semester (fall), then work for a semester (spring 2014), and then continue with his classes.  It gives him a great opportunity to explore what his interests are, which is computer programming, and see what it's like to work in his field as well as make contacts he can use after college as well.  He is still living on campus, and moved into a new dorm last weekend.  This dorm is an apartment-style dorm.  It has a kitchen, living room area, 4 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms.  So each 2 bedrooms share a bathroom, and all 4 of them share the kitchen and living room.  For the summer, he only has 1 roommate, but in the fall he will have 3 other roommates.  He's already started cooking, and plans on making most of his meals.  He even has a great view of a courtyard area!

 

Dustin is also doing very well.  He finally found a job in the Atlanta area that he was interested in, so no more commuting to Spartanburg, SC every week!  His new job is about 15 minutes from home.

I'm keeping myself busy busy busy as usual, with all of my crafting.  Currently I'm working on some white summer socks and a lace weight cardigan.  Besides knitting, I've been crocheting, sewing, spinning, weaving, and beading.  I hope to be able to visit Florida this summer as well as North Carolina.  It will likely be just Tyler and myself  and we'll be visiting family, so I know it will be a lot of fun.

Alex's New Place

My oldest son, Alex, just moved out.  He moved to the dorms at Georgia Tech and is taking a couple of summer classes there.  It's a little hard for me, but I'm very excited for him.  He's already settled in and is having a great time.  The guys who live on his floor at the dorms have all formed a band and enjoy playing songs for the girls on the floor below.  The guys also get out of their rooms to go play soccer, basketball and frisbee after dinner.  Alex is meeting a lot of new people and is learning his way all around campus.  I think this is a great way for him to get started on his college life before the frenzy of freshmen start in the fall semester.  We're very glad that he's doing so well!

Tyler is enjoying a fun summer of hanging out and playing video games.  He got to move into his brother's old room in the basement so he's been keeping cool even in the 100+ degree temperatures.

I've been very busy, as usual, with my crafting.  I just finished a short-sleeved cardigan and am working on a pair of beaded socks right now.  And lots of spinning the past few days!  Over on Ravelry, there is an event called "The Tour de Fleece", and the dates coincide with the Tour de France.  You set goals for yourself and try to see if you can make or exceed those goals.  My goals are to spin some new fibers, spin at least 15-20 minutes a day, and spin at least one of my Loop bumps.  The Tour started on June 30th, so I finished up what was on my wheel and yesterday I started on my first Loop bump.






I love the Loop bump!  It drafts so easily and thinly, and the colors are wonderful.  I'm planning on Navajo plying it when I'm done spinning the singles.

I started with the center of the bump, which is a mossy green, and today I finished spinning that color and moved onto a light green and then a pale blue-purple color.  It's so much fun!

Happy crafting, everyone!

February Crafty Fun

It's February already!  Time just seems to go by so quickly.  I went to my first Atlanta Knitting Guild meeting!  Their meetings are generally on the first Thursday of the month, so I went to the February meeting, which was last Thursday, February 2nd.  I met lots of new people, made a new friend (hi Diana!) and just had a really good time.  I plan on going to more meetings as much as I can! 

I got my Ribbed Ribbon Socks finished by the end of January, and they turned out great!  I really like them.  I used Malabrigo Sock Yarn in the Persia colorway, and I like how they striped/pooled.

I've also still been working hard on my Lexi cardigan, and I've made great progress on that.  I made it to the halfway point on February 1st, and my goal is to finish it by the end of March at the very latest.

The other big project on my needles right now is my Lacy Cocoon Sweater. This is the 3rd time I've made this sweater, the 1st one was for my sister and the 2nd one was for my mom.  This one is for me, so it's a little bit larger than the other two, but it's coming along pretty well.  I'm still working the stockinette section, but it's a nice break from the moss stitch of the Lexi cardigan.  I like the fabric of the sweater, it's made by alternating rows of a worsted weight yarn with a lace weight yarn.

 One more thing on the needles is a pair of fingerless gloves for my youngest son.  I'm using Knit Picks Brava yarn, which is 100% acrylic, but it's sooo soft!  I'm really enjoying using it.

I've been a busy crafter!  Lots of in progress pics this week.  I also have spinning!  I've been working on spinning some yarn on my spindle as a gift for a chickie friend of mine.  I'm more than halfway done with the spinning, but then I will need to ply the yarn as well, since this will be my first plied yarn it will be a two-ply.  No pics yet since it's a surprise for her!
Hope everyone is having a productive and crafty month!

February Heart Socks

I just had to post about these socks, because they are just so wonderful! The pattern is a Mystery Knit-a-Long from the Knitters Brewing Co. Sock-aholics group on Ravelry. The yarn I used is a pretty gray color, from the Knitters Brewing Co. store called Greyhound. I purchased a kit for this KAL in December, which gave me the yarn, a pair of heart-shaped beads, a stitch marker, and Clue #1 to get started on.

The Mystery is that we didn't know what the socks would look like, and the pattern was released in 5 weekly parts. I was able to follow along, completing each clue each week, and once Clue #5 was released, I excitedly hurried up the cuff to see what my socks would look like. And voila! A pair of finished socks! The pattern is just difficult enough to provide interest to the knitting without being frustrating. I love my finished socks, but the process was a blast! It really helps that the people in the Ravelry group are very helpful and encouraging. Even the back of these socks is interesting and unique! Here's a link to my project page on Ravelry with my notes and lots of pictures from along the way. Click on the pictures to see them better!

February Fun

Wow! I haven't posted since September! Time sure flies by, especially when you're busy. I've been knitting and crocheting up a storm, keeping my fingers flying. Right now I'm working on a pair of socks for a Knit-a-Long for a group on Ravelry called Knitters Brewing Co. Sock-Aholics. It's so much fun! The people on the group are so encouraging, and the pattern is a blast to knit. It's a really unique pattern with a lot of twists and turns. If you're a sock knitter, you really should try it!

Personal life has also been busy. I'm trying to keep up with my two boys, Alex and Tyler. Alex is a junior in high school, and is really into computers. He wants to study some type of computer science in college, he just hasn't narrowed it down to programming or something else. Tyler loves video games and is in the bridge-building club at school, where they are building a miniature bridge from toothpicks! He's really enjoying it. Hubby Dustin is staying busy with work, thank goodness he's got a wonderful job, and he recently built bed frames for both boys new beds. Now, if the boys would only learn to make their beds...

Mom's Got A New Wallet

First of all, it's my anniversary today with my husband Dustin. We've been married for 18 years! Secondly, I finished a pair of socks today. I made them for a Ravelry competition called The Iron Knitter 2. The socks are for Round 1 of the competition. I really like how the socks turned out. Since I was feeling so creative and productive, I finished a project that's been sitting on the sewing machine for a couple of weeks now. It's a wallet. My old wallet was falling apart and I found an awesome tutorial for making a wallet at Confessions of a Fabricaholic. The tutorial is fun, with step-by-step instructions and pictures. Most importantly, it turned out great and now I've got a new wallet!

Six Sock September

There's a new group on Ravelry named Six Sock September. It's a challenge to knitters (and crocheters!) to make 6 socks during the month of September. I'm in! Since it usually takes me a week to ten days to make a pair of socks, I think I can handle this. As an added bonus, it will help me start my Christmas knitting early! Right now I'm working on the Duxbury Point Wrap for my mom that I started in about April, but it's cabled and very time-consuming. I've been doing a dozen rows a week but for the past week or so I've been trying to get more done. I can average 10-15 rows a day, which may not sound like a lot, but the wrap has over 500 rows and I'm just past row 200. It will be GORGEOUS when finished, though!

Vexing Dr. Who Socks

So I've been trying to knit a pair of socks. It just wasn't happening. I double checked it all-measurements, gauge, pattern. Three times I made these socks and they came out too small. They wouldn't fit over the foot and heel. So these socks have been vexing me because I don't know what went wrong. Whatever it was, it's fixed now. One sock is done! And it fits! I'm working on the second sock now but all indications are that it will fit too. And then these vexing Dr. Who socks will be done and ready for the recipient!