The pictures will be coming in the next post...

Is anyone else as shocked as I am when they look at the calendar and realize that it is October already??!! I can't believe how quickly the time goes. Remember when you were a kid and the days stretched out endlessly. And your parents would be complaining at how quickly the time was flying by and you thought that they had no clue what they were talking about. Well, it looks like they had more than a clue! Unless there is some truth to the idea that the time actually does pass faster as you get older - in which case, I'm in a load of trouble!!

By the way, Cassie's idea of project monogamy is a good one (which I had discussed previously) and works rather well. Since finishing the red scarf, I have finished my daughter's sweater which is the Child's Placket Pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (make sure you get the corrected version) and a pair of socks (my Trekking socks which I am ashamed to say I started last summer (2006) and just finished the second sock). The one major flaw to the plan is that while I might be able to ignore the callings of various other projects that are already on the needles or ones where the yarn is as yet untouched but sitting somewhere in my vicinity, I am totally unable to ignore the calls (or whining as a good friend of mine recently called it) of new yarn when I venture into a yarn shop. And maybe that's my fault in the first place - ever going into a yarn store at all. But then there is Internet shopping and even though I have my speakers turned off, those skeins call out my name. Let's face it - I'm doomed.

When I was visiting in New Jersey this past weekend, I was very lucky to get to visit a new to me yarn store. Knit Knacks in Maplewood has only been open since February (if I remember correctly what the owner said) and they have some really awesome fiber. Add to that some really nice owners and I will definitely be visiting it again when I can. And I think anyone in the area (hello Risa and Ina) would like to visit also. I had called the store in the morning to get directions and after a long day of doing stuff for the kids, I didn't think we would make it there. At 5:15, my oldest niece and my sister insisted that we would go and we ended up getting there about 5:45 - the store closed at 6. The owner was there and kept the store open while we shopped. She has some really nice lines and I personally took advantage of the Fleece Artist, the Dream in Color and the Lobster Pot. My sister picked up some beautiful Lorna's Laces worsted to make the Child's Placket Pullover for her daughter since she loved the one I had just finished. By the way, I will be writing some changes that I made to the pattern when I have a chance to visit Ravelry. One major change was increasing the sleeve length by like 4 inches (and it's not like my daughter has freakishly long arms or anything...).

By the way, my daughter put her sweater on even before all the ends were woven in and wore it that way until she went to sleep and I was able to get it off of her. She's worn it almost every day since except for the few days that it rained because, as she told me, she didn't want it to get wet. I love this child and will gladly keep making her knitted gifts while that attitude continues.

Now, one of the last posts showed the Norma elf and Carole was the only one who attempted to guess where the elf lived. Even though her initial guess was wrong, after some emails back and forth, she guessed correctly and will be receiving a prize in the mail. The elf is one of 26 alphabet elves and is part of a game/activity at Santa's Village in Jefferson, New Hampshire. For this game, each participant receives a card with each letter of the alphabet on it. You then must find each elf and punch your card with this punching tool that each elf holds (it punches out the corresponding letter for each elf). Norma was the elf for the letter N. When you have found all 26 elves, you can turn the card in for a prize.

Red Scarf Done!

I followed Cassie's advice from this post. When I first read it, I could really relate to everything she was saying as I was feeling pulled in all directions by the projects I was working on and the ones I wanted to work on. A few stitches on one and then a few stitches on another don't amount to much - especially if you want to actually finish something.

So, I pushed those other projects aside and worked solely on my red scarf - since that really has a deadline. It wasn't easy - some of those other projects tried to get me to look at them but I was strong. And now the red scarf is done. The yarn was from the stash and the pattern is the enjoyable rib. And it was pretty enjoyable and easy to remember (and fix if you mess up).

If anyone else would like to guess where the picture in the last post was taken, please do. There may be a skein of yarn in it for you if you are the lucky winner. And Lauren, if you see this, please contact me. You won the other monkey package but I don't know how to contact you and will have to pick another winner if I don't hear from you soon. Well, I'm off to work on the next project that pushes it's way to the front.

For Norma and Red Scarves

This picture was taken on one of our trips this summer and as soon as I saw the name, I knew I had to take a picture for Norma. I had been thinking about taking my red scarf to work on that day but decided on the sock since it was smaller and easier to carry around. So this is for Norma - with a sock instead of a red scarf. If you think you know where this is, leave a comment and I'll put all the correct answers in the pot for some yarn. And here's a hint - this is an elf.

Speaking of red scarves, I received a nice email from the Orphan Foundation thanking me for a donation to the Red Scarf Fund for Foster Youth. Don't know what I'm talking about? You can read about it here. And maybe make a donation too. Or you can knit a red scarf - here is the information that was in my email:

Scarves can be sent between now and October 15th, 2007 to:

Orphan Foundation of America

The Red Scarf Project

21351 Gentry Drive, Suite 130

Sterling, VA 20166

This information was also included in the emails:

Please tell your friends and colleagues to visit The Red Scarf Project Page for details, guidelines, and a host of suggested scarf patterns. Because of the overwhelming response to last year's program, we are asking participants to limit their submissions to a maximum of five scarves per donor.

So, what are you waiting for - go knit a red scarf for a good cause! I'm working on mine.

On a different note, Karen's package is just about ready to be mailed out from the last contest, but I have not heard back from Lauren. Lauren, if you see this, please get in touch or if anyone knows Lauren, please let her know or let me know how to contact her. Once again Blogger has left me with no way to contact her.

Dreams and Winners

So, I had a knitting dream last night. I was visiting Carole and she loaned me a car so that I could go and check out some yarn shops in the area. The first one I went to was owned by my hairdresser and I saw these beautiful sweaters that had labels on them telling me they were knit with Dale Baby Ull. I'm glad I woke up before I bought anything. Where do these dreams come from anyway??

I came home to 15 comments for the Monkey contest and those names got put into a hat. I decided to pull out two names since I seem to have collected more than a few Monkey items and the winners are
Lauren
and
Karen!

Congratulations to the two winners. I can email Karen, but I don't have Lauren's email or know your blog. Please get in touch. If both of you would like to let me know your color preferences, I can try to match those with some appropriate Monkey yarn in my stash. When I finally get my vacation pictures on the computer, I have another contest in mind so check back. Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend!

Playing with Ravelry

Wow! I've finally been able to spend some time on Ravelry and I can see that it is a really great resource. My username is knittingbythesea if you'd like to add me as a friend or check out my area. I'm still learning about it and haven't been able to load pictures since I'm not at my computer although I wonder if I can get pictures from here and use them. Like I said, there is a lot for me to learn. I have added some projects and put some in my queue. It's neat the way there is so much already in the database and it's all linked together. I also don't have a Flickr account and wonder if I need to sign up for one of those?

Also, don't forget to leave a comment for the contest in the last post. Thanks to those who have already entered - I've been looking around for some other fun monkey stuff to include in the package. While I have been in NJ, I was able to stop by some knitting stores - Stix-n-Stitches had a sign up offering a discount on red yarn purchased for use in the Red Scarf Project. It's great to see the support of such a worthy program. I have already started my scarf using some yarn from my stash (yeah for me!!) and this fun pattern.

So, go cast on for a red scarf and leave a comment for the Monkey contest. And have fun!

My Memory is not so Good

Bonne Marie really made my day (maybe even my week) when I received an email from her telling me that I had won some STR in Alina from a random drawing on her blog. Actually, to let you know how bad my memory is, the email was titled something like "Chicknits Sock Yarn" and my first thought was "I didn't know she was coming out with sock yarn. I better go and check this out." I was so happy when I saw that I had won. Thank you Bonne Marie!!

I had been thinking that it was time to give something away on this blog also - so here is the contest. Since it is the Summer of Socks and I (along with everyone else in blogland) enjoyed knitting up my Monkey socks soooo much, I am going to give away a Monkey package. Some sock yarn from the stash along with some monkey paraphernalia. Sounds good? What do you have to do to win such a prize? All you have to do is leave me a comment letting me know why you would like to knit Monkey socks - this can be the first pair you knit or the fourth. It's open to anyone that wants to knit Monkeys. I will pick a winner sometime around Labor Day weekend. I will be in and out a lot over the next few weeks so I may not be able to reply to comments or even post too often, but rest assured that if I receive your comment, you will be entered (even if I can't reply).

Come join the fun and leave a comment! Good luck!

Feelin' the Love

You know that certain feeling you get - when the yarn and the pattern just come together. You just feel the love for the whole project. I felt that way about the Monkey socks and didn't quite feel it with the two socks that are on the needles now. One sock is almost ready to start the toe and the other is close to starting the heel. This means they both need to be tried on every couple of rows to know just when to start the change. Yesterday I had to fly down to DC for the day (work stuff) and I just wasn't comfortable trying on the sock while I was in the airport or on the plane. This meant I needed to bring something else and instead of bringing something already on the needles, I started a new pair of socks. And the yarn/pattern combination is perfect - I can feel the love.

Dream in Color Smooshy yarn in Beach Fog that I purchased from Twisted. And the pattern is Loksins from Too Much Wool. I love this pattern - it moves along quickly and is fun to knit. And the yarn - well - it's fabulous. The feel, the color and look how it shows off those stitches. Thank you to Emily and Shannon at Twisted for their great online service - I've ordered several things from them already and they are always so helpful. They just opened their store in Portland and I wish I lived closer so I could visit. And thank you to Cassie for this great pattern!