Ana's Frog Pond

Saturday

Well today started with me getting up at 5:15 this morning and out the door in about 20 minutes.  I subbed as a receptionist this morning for three back to back Weight Watchers meetings.  The time went by fast.  I just hate getting up in the morning.

We went to the mall this afternoon.  We needed to get another garage door opener.  I had an issue with the gargage door this week.  The cover on the keypad entry was frozen shut.  I had to use my key for the first time to get into the garage.  Well of course there was an issue with the key.  Well first the door wouldn't open then of course all things the key got stuck in the lock.  I thought for sure that the key was going to get stuck in the lock.  Well somehow I managed to get the key out of the lock and was on my merry way to work.

I'm so excited, I got assigned my pal for both the Loopy Spring Fling Swap and the Sundara your sock, my shawl swap.  One pal is from Massachusetts and the other is from Maryland.   It'll be interesting to see what my Sundara pal will have me knit for her.

Tonight we are going to watch my son play hockey.  He called this afternoon to let us know that he was playing.  I enjoy watching him play.

Bowling and What did I do??

Last night, the family and I made a trip to the bowling alley.  Well I had to try the new wrist thingy out.  We get to the bowling alley and right away my friend TJ stops me and they talk me into joining their Thrusday night league.  One of the teams who's name just happens to be 4 Men and a Lady well they needed a lady.  The story I got today from TJ was they had asked if his girlfriend V would be interested in joining.  TJ said that they couldn't afford for the both of them to bowl.  So I said yes.  I am now going to be bowling on Tuesdays, Thursdays and every other Saturday until the end of the season.  They wanted to me to start last night.  I told them next week.  I was there with my husband and daughter. 

So of course, there is still the games that I practiced. I can not believe that I did this. First, ball I throw is a strike.  I'm thinking this is good.  Well one of the very next few balls that I throw, I go and drop the ball a few feet behind me.  Talk about being embarrassed.  Here my new team is a few lanes over and I go and drop the ball.  Good grief! I bowled terribly and of course they are watching me.  I ended up bowling just a tick over 100 for the first three games then I finally settle down a bit and bowl 2 games just a tick over 150.  I am waiting to bowl well over my average next week and then have a hard time staying at average.  Oh well, they wanted a bowler and I'm still working out the kinks with this new ball and wrist thingy.  I am thinking about going Sunday for some more practice. I just hope that they like me on the team otherwise it's going to be a long the rest of the season.

No knitting going on.  I'm waiting for Sunday to cast on for Marlene by Cookie A.  It's from the Knit.1 magazine.  The only other Cookie A pattern I have done is Monkey and I have knitted that twice.  I can tell from the pattern that this is not going to be an easy knit.  I usually have a trial period where it takes me awhile to get used to the pattern but once I get the rhythm then I can move a long fairly quickly.  Also, I have typed up the pattern versus reading it from a chart.  The only reason why I have done that is because there are extra stitches at the beginning and ending of each round so that will make it easier to knit up.  I have also added some check boxes so I can keep track of exactly how many rounds I have knitted and which row I am on.  Check back for my progress.

What I want to be when I grow up......

I've finally decided what I want to be when I grow up.  I want to be a yarn shop owner. I have been thinking about this more and more lately.  I want to own my own yarn shop.  I want to have it online and also own a storefront. 

Will it happen?  Who knows.  I wish I would have thought of this several years ago when I was going to school and had to write up a business plan for college.  I could have written it up for the yarn store.  Now, that I am thinking about that business plan, I should go look through my files on my computer and see if I can find it and see what type of business that I had plans of opening. 

I've been reading some posts on Ravelry of LYS owners, very interesting. I had no idea what it would cost to start a business but now I have some sort of idea.  If I were to ever win the lottery big, that is one of the first things that I am going to do. 

Is it a dream of all knitter's to own their own LYS? 

Odds and Ends

On my way home from work last night, I stopped at the bowling alley and got a wrist thingy.  It's probably a support of some kind.  Basically it's purpose is to help me from not bending my wrist back so I bowl properly.  I am going to go bowling tonight after dinner to try it out and also to practice the things that Mel's husband Mark taught me on Tuesday.

After dinner, my daughter and I went to our LYS so I could pay for the two classes, get the yarn and needles for one of them.  I ended up getting just the one skein of yarn that came with the class and picking up  a size 2 40" circular for the Magic Loop class.  After that we ended up going to Shopko.  She found a purse that she really liked.  I think that she wanted me to get it for her but she's kind of like I am about purses.  She goes through a lot of them.

I signed up for an interesting swap.  It's through the Ravelry group, Sundara Yarn Love group.  I wasn't going to sign up for it but I figured what the hey.  They premise of the swap is that you get assigned a partner.  One knits a pair of socks and the other knits a shawl out of one skein of sock yarn using Sundara's yarn.  I signed up to knit a pair of socks.  Here's the twist, you pick the pattern and send the yarn to your partner.  I thought that it sounded pretty cool.  I do have a couple of skeins of sock yarn that I could have knit as a shawl.  It'll be interesting to see what pattern my partner picks.  The sign ups close tomorrow, so I should get more information then.

Speaking of swaps, I am getting involved in yet another one.  This one is the Loopy Ewe Spring Fling Swap.  The swap partners are those of us that are going to the Spring Fling in April.  We could either sign up to knit or not to knit.  I chose not to knit.  It'll be fun getting to know someone before I go to the Fling in April.  That basically is the premise of the swap.  I should be receiving the information about my partner either today or tomorrow.  I'm always excited at the thought of another swap.

My husband called me this morning and informed me that he is getting laid off for another week this time in April.  I am just happy that he has a job still.  I honestly do not know what we would do if he were to get permanently laid off.  There is no way we would be able to keep up with everything.  I just keep hoping for the best and that he still is employed. Personally I believe that the economy is going to get much worse before it gets better. 

Bowling

Tuesday nights are always league night.  This is my second year bowling.  We have a new team this year, my old one kind of just up and left me. 

I had missed last week from being sick, so of course I got razzed a little about missing my birthday cake.  One of the girls had brought in a cake for me.  They did send me a picture message of the cake so I at least got to see it.

I am still trying to learn the new ball that I got.  I bought a new Ebonite Tornado a few weeks ago.  Went up in weight 2 lbs and got a fingertip grip.  My ball weighs 13 lbs.

I bowled all right last night.  152, 138 and a 185.  My average is a 138. 

After we got done bowling last night, one of the girls her husband gave us some pointers.  He's a decent bowler and taught his wife how to bowl.  Her average is like in the 170's so I figured it can't hurt. 

He said that I don't have very much to work on, just my release.  I ended up borrowing my teammates wrist thingy and did pretty well.  He said with practice and I'll be bowling 200's before long.  I figure I am going to stop on my way home and pick one up.  Maybe tomorrow night, I'll go bowling to try it out instead of going to knit night.

I did it

What did I do?  I called my LYS and signed up for that steeking class.  Now I have to stop in, pay for the class and pick up a skein of yarn that comes with the class for homework.

Do you plan your knitting projects way in advance?  I don't.  I have some yarn in my stash that I have bought for certain projects.  My stash is mainly consists of sock yarn.  I have been trying to knit from my stash sometimes that works but other times it doesn't.  I have enough yarn in my stash to make a couple of sweaters.  Lately, I've been sweater shy.  Why have I been sweater shy?  It's called Lotus Blossom Tank top. 

The tank top turned out absolutely huge.  I think it would have worked out better had I chosen a better yarn to knit it with.  I decided to knit it out of Knit Picks Cotlin.  I did get gauge but the thing just grew.  I have a picture of it on my Ravelry project page.  It is bright pink, a color chosen by my daughter.  Well never again am I going to knit a garment out of a linen blend.  So I am a bit shy of knitting another sweater.  I am getting antsy to do one.  I have some Dream in Color Classy in November Muse that I am thinking about turning into a February Lady Sweater.

Finished and more to come

Well I finished my roll top socks last night.  I will post pictures of them soon. I managed to do the kitchener stitch last night without using any notes which surprised me.

The pattern is Roll Top Socks by Dawn Pietzsch.  The pattern was very well written. It is a very easy basic sock pattern.  The only modification that I did do, was that I know my toes need to start at a certain point and Dawn's pattern says to start 1/2 inch for the toe.  I know for myself that does not give me enough. 

The yarn that I used is Handmaiden's Casbah.  It is a very soft and yummy yarn.  I absolutely loved working with it.  I have enough yarn leftover that I need to find another project with the yarn.  Maybe another pair of ankle socks.

Last night I went on the Great Magic Loop book treasure hunt.  I signed up for a Magic Loop class at my LYS in a couple of weeks.  I knew that I had the book and had seen it recently but couldn't remember for the life of me where I put it.  Well after a bit of searching and finally giving up a thought had crossed my mind.  New Year's Eve I had been in the basement organizing (playing with) my stash.  Well I have kind of a miscellaneous bin that I had thrown a bunch of patterns in also.  So I went in that container looked around and found the book.  Yay me!  Then a few hours later, I was thinking I need some yarn for this project.  So I went down the basement again to another container.  This one has some sock yarn that has all ready been wound into cakes.  I believe I found some Claudia's Handpainted yarns in a colorway called Tropicana.  So I have the yarn, the book but what about the needle?  Well I have a 32 inch circular in a size one but I want a 40".  Looks like a trip to my LYS for a size 2 circluar.  For some reason, I like knitting my socks on a size 2.

My LYS is offering a class in steeking that I am thinking about signing up for.  I want to learn how to steek so am thinking I should just go for it.  Time to call my LYS to see if there are any openings.

Choralfest 2009

This past weekend was Choralfest for the school district.  All the choirs within the city get together and showcase their talents.  This year was the first time that they had an all city elementary school choir.  The evening went by quickly.  First surprise was the fact that my daughter had made the program cover.   Instant celebrity.  Of course only a mother would notice their child gracing the cover.  I had to point out the fact to my husband, Mom and Dad. 

The next surprise of the evening was a song that the middle school choirs sang.  The song was entitled Niska Banja.  Niska Banja translate to be the Baths of Nis.  I remember this song all too well from all the times that I had danced to it at the church functions growing up.  The song that the choir sang was an arrangement by an American and not as fast.  The choirs did sing it in Serbo-Croatian. 

I'm still working on my second roll top sock.  It is knitting up just as fast as the first.  I haven't spent a lot of time working on it.

I am planning my next project.  The Spring Fling knitalong for March is a Cookie A sock.  I am leaning towards knitting up Marlene which appeared in the Knit.1 magazine.

Welcome to the Frog Pond

I've decided to move my blog to here.  Welcome!  I am hoping to post a lot more on this blog than on the other one.  My hopes are that this will be a lot easier to use than my other blog.  So welcome.