Sunday, December 23, 2007

Merry Christmas!

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Porque un niño nos es nacido, hijo nos es dado; y el principado sobre su hombro: y llamaráse su nombre Admirable, Consejero, Dios fuerte, Padre eterno, Príncipe de paz. Isaías 9:6

JESUS

He is the reason for the season…

El es la verdadera razón para celebrar…


As we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus, we are so thankful this year to also be able to celebrate the gift of our son Ian Patrick Donahue who will be born God willing in April 2008!

Al celebrar que un hijo nos fue dado en la persona de Jesucristo,

Este año estamos muy agradecidos de poder también celebrar el regalo de nuestro hijo Ian Patrick Donahue que nacerá Dios mediante en abril de 2008!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Feliz Navidad y Año Nuevo! te desean:

James, Marlen, Mariel, Rachel & Ian


Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Last minute X-Mas present


I am making this tube scarf for a last minute present. It takes two balls of LION BRAND Landscape (I am using a different shade though). This is my first time working with this yarn and I love it! It is very spongy and elastic. Perfect to make really warm winter items. I was able to knit up half of the scarf (1 ball) in about 2 hours, so I am hoping I can finish it tomorrow to be able to mail it to the recipient. I am not going to say who it is for to keep the suspense, all I am going to say is that it is for a person that I love dearly and that I haven't been able to knit anything for before. In fact, this is the only X-Mas present that I actually made this year due to the terrible period of knitting-vacation/laziness that overcame me at the beginning of the pregnancy. I love this project because it is soooo easy and it knits up in a snap. I highly recommend it as a last minute present, that is, if you resist the temptation to keep it for yourself. Pattern is free at: http://cache.lionbrand.com/patterns/kls-tubeScarf.html?noImages=

Esta es una bufanda tubo que empecé ayer. Se lleva dos bolas de Lion Brand Landscapes, ya use una osea que en un día hice la mitad. Es el único regalo de Navidad que tejí este año pues estuve super vaga desde que empecé con el embarazo. Espero terminarla mañana para enviarla por correo. Es un proyecto muy fácil y me encanta la lana ya que es gruesa y esponjada y se teje rápido. El acabado final también es muy lindo . El patrón se obtiene gratis en :
http://cache.lionbrand.com/patterns/kls-tubeScarf.html?noImages=

Monday, December 10, 2007

My knitting power is back!

I was afraid my knitting power was gone. I lost interest and I haven't knitted for a long time, except for a few rows here and there. But now I think my interest is coming back it came back to me with the Christmas smell... I think the problem I was having was the lack of motivation I have with my current project. The intarsia sheep sweater that I am making. It is soooo boring...

So, I decided to go ahead and start looking for a challenge that would bring my knitting power back. Here is what I found; a god's nectar drop of inspiration for knitters:


His name is "Douglas", you can find him in Rowan RYC Book #22, Classic Travel - This is new for Fall 2007 and features sixteen designs by Martin Storey. Isn't he gorgeous? ah... and the model is not so bad is it?

Just what I needed to recover my knitting mojo... LOL

Finally a sweater that has the potential to become my next Christmas present for J. For the next Christmas of course... This year I am just hating my current project and I have not make anything for anyone...
:-(

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Anniversary

Last Oct 20 was our 9th Anniversary . We went to eat out. We had a good time and celebrated in an especial way this year because of the baby. This has been a year full of blessings. However this week, my birthday started out in a bad way, somebody for some reason is trying to make our lives harder, we have received different attacks coming from different ways and really feel we need to stand up and fight in prayer. Please pray for all of us, but specially for R.

El 20 de Octubre pasado fue nuestro Aniversario N. 9. Salimos a comer y la pasamos super bien celebrando adicionalmente la venida del bebé. Este año ha sido de mucha bendición en general aunque esta semana empecé mi cumpleaños con malas noticias y recibiendo ataques de chismes entre otras cosas. Por favor oren por nosotros y en especial por R.

Saturday, November 03, 2007

I am back!

I am sorry I have been gone for so long... I do feel more tired at times because of the pregnancy but I am also busier as I am going every morning to school with R. She was not getting her work done during "individual work time" so I am going in there to help her and also help in the class. I am really enjoying it, although I won't be able to do it for too long...

My knitting is just not going at all and I have been wondering why? I thought that maybe I am loosing interest in knitting like I have seen it happen with some people I know that all of the sudden they just drop it forever. I thought this would never happen to me but the truth is, I am finding knitting very tedious lately. Then I realized that maybe I just an exited project to spice it up a little! See? My current project is sooooo boring. I have no interest whatsoever in it. It sounds terrible but it is true. It is a sweater for R that now I am not even sure I can finish in time for Christmas. I have completed the front and started casting on the back. But that is all. It has been sitting on my basket for 2 weeks now. The only reason started it in the first place is because I had purchase the yarn about a year ago and it has cost so much (over $100) that I did not want to waste it. The yarn is of various colors so it was not easy to sell on Ebay. No body wouldn't want it unless they wanted to make this exact sweater and if I sold the yarn by skein I would have lost a lot of money, so I went ahead and started the project with very little motivation. My guess is that very quickly I ran out of gas, and since I don't allow myself to start new projects until the one I am working on is finished, I would rather not knit at all.

I am starting to feel a little desperate to knit something else, and I have been even consider braking the "knit from my stash 2007 rule" and buy some yarn just get me even more exited! I don't know. On the other hand, I know for a fact that if I don't finish this sweater now, I won't ever do it. I really need to make myself finish it!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Here is the belly...

Here is picture of the belly al naturale with no make up... HA HA
I took this picture really fast one morning with the automatic shutter of my camera to send it to my mom in C.R. so I didn't really prep for it, but I guess what they want to see is my belly not my face... LOL
Yesterday I saw the doctor and we were able to hear the baby's heart beat. Everything is looking great with my pregnancy thanks God and I feel the presence of the Lord and his blessing in this pregnancy. I know He is with me and we all feel very blessed...

Aquí tienen una foto de la pancita, me la tomé el otro día sin maquillaje ni nada a la carrera para mandársela a mi mamá con el disparador automático de la cámara. No es mi mejor foto pero lo que interesa no es mi cara sino la pancita que es lo que todo mundo quiere ver allá en C.R. Oficialmente cumplí 3 meses ayer y fui donde el doctor y dice que todo está muy bien e incluso le oímos el corazón al bebé... Asíque todo va bien y tengo mucha paz de Dios de que El me esta cuidando y que este bebé será sano y una gran bendición para todos en la familia.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

FUN FAIR

Today we went to the County Fair. We had fun. R loved to pet this snake so I decided to buy her the picture. As you can see, she is not afraid at all. Her mom watched from the distance though. I still don't understand what was going through God's mind when he created this one...

Hoy fuimos a la Feria del condado. Fue divertido, a R le gustó tocar esta culebra. Como ví que no le tenía miedo, le pregunté si quería que le tomaran una foto. Ella posó sin ningún problema. Yo encambio me quedé bien lejos... Todavía no entiendo en qué estaba pensando Dios cuando se le ocurrió crear este animal... Qué horror!

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Baby colors...

Of course I have been thinking about new projects for the baby. I have been giving a lot of thinking to the fact that most baby items are knitted in yellow, an ugly hospital green, baby blue or baby pink. Since I don't like the two typical "neutral" colors (yellow and green), I have been thinking in other options that are also neutral and more cheerful like RED, TURQUOISE, APPLE GREEN, WINE, PURPLE, ETC. Why does everything has to be either pink or baby blue? Debbie Bliss was one of the first knitting designers to make baby items in very no-traditional colors like brown, Grey, wine, and even black. Why not? It gives babies a grown up look that is very cute. Don't you think? Since I still don't know the sex of my baby, I would have to stick to the neutrals. I have a project in turquoise and another one in red., but I won't start until R's sheep sweater is ready. My one project at a time rule... remember? This is not very promising because of my morning sickness (which by the way last all day not just the morning) which includes a desire NOT TO KNIT. I just want to lie down all day. The nausea is starting to go away so my knitting might pickup anytime... I hope...

Por supuesto que ya estoy planeando tejer algo para el bebé, pero esto me hace pensar en que quiero usar colores no tradicionales. Por qué todo tiene que ser celeste o rosado o amarillo pollito? Hay diseñadoras como Debbie Bliss que han introducido colores muy de adulto en los diseños infantiles tales como café, gris, vino, verde oliva y hasta negro. Por qué no? Hace que los chiquitines se vean como adultos enanos y para mí eso es adorable... Así que como no se el sexo del bebé todavía empezaré con colores no tradiciones neutrales, como rojo y turqueza. Aunque no pienso empezar hasta que termine el sueter de ovejas de R. Ojala que sea pronto porque con los achaques no me han dado ganas de tejer para nada y ando un poco atrasada con ese proyecto.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

The Ostrich Farm





Solvaing has become our favorite vacation spot. We went there again for Labor Day weekend to scape from the heat. Surprisingly it was just as hot there, but we did have a lot of fun visiting the Ostrich farm. Initially, the plan was to raise the birds for their meat and eggs but the FDA only approved the breast for human consumption, therefore, if only that part of the bird was to be commercialized that meant the price of the meat was going to be really high. So the investors walked away the project and the farm owners decided to keep the farm as a zoo. It was very fun to be able to feed the ostrich and watch them. No one enjoyed it more than J who was for some reason, completely fascinated. I had to remind him several times to give R the opportunity to feed the birds too.

Can you see my belly already growing in the pic? Yeah, I think the older you are the quicker the belly shows up... I am not even two months pregnant and I already started getting maternity clothes because my pants won't close all the way. Wow! I remember with my first girl, I did not need maternity clothes until I was 5 months... LOL!

El pueblito de Solvaing se ha convertido en nuestro lugar favorito para ir a pasear. El fin de semana parasado fuimos tratando de escapar del calor y para nuestra sorpresa estaba igual de caliente que aquí, lo cual no es normal. Sin embargo, la pasamos muy bien en la finca de avestruces. El plan era criarlas para vender la carne y los huevos, pero el FDA solo aprobó las pechugas para el consumo humano lo cual encareció el precio de venta de la carne y los inversionistas decidieron no seguir con el proyecto. Los dueños de la finca decidieron quedarse con las avestruces y abrir un zoológico y gracias a Dios les ha ido bien. Es muy bonito ir y darles de comer y verlas de cerca. Al que más le gustó fue a J por su puesto... él estaba fascinado con los benditos pájaros gigantes... ni dejaba que R también les diera de comer...

No se si notan en la foto que ya tengo pancita... Uno a los casi 40 ya no lo esconde. No tengo ni dos meses y ya tuve que empezar a comprar ropa maternal, qué barbaridad! Me acuerdo que cuando tuve a mi primera hija no me salió la panza hasta que tenía 5 meses... Ya uno seguro se va poniendo todo suavecito por dentro... JA JA JA

Monday, August 20, 2007

Schachenmayr Men Socks

Date Started: 7/12/2007
Date Completed: 8/18/2007
Pattern Design: Basic pattern from "More Sensational Knitted Socks"
Yarn Used:Schachenmayr Nomotta Regia 4 Strato Color
Source: Elann

Breaking news...

There is a reason for the lack of knitting and for the lack of posting. It has to do with lots of nausea and this picture.
No knitting going on here. All I want to do is rest.
Can you guess why?
Hay una razón para la falta de tejer y de escribir. Tiene que ver con mucha nausea y esta foto. Nada de tejer, solo quiero dormir y descansar. Adivinas por qué?

Saturday, August 11, 2007

4 Seasons Sweater


Here is the 4 Seasons sweater progress. I am using a different gauge because the pattern goes up to size 6. I am making a size 12, so I added 10 stitches and increased the gauge from 24 to 20. I hope this will be enough to fit my girl loosely.
I was checking the receipt for this yarn purchase. It is dated 5/30/2006. That means it took me over a year to get to this project. Isn't that ridiculous? I need to stop buying projects until I get done with what I have in my stash which I think will take me at least 10 years or so... LOL

Esto es lo que llevo hecho del sueter de las 4 estaciones. Los materiales los compré desde hace más de un año, no lo puedo creer!

Friday, August 10, 2007

Sand Dollar Swatching...


Here is my swatch for the Sand Dollar Sweater. I had to do one and a half more pattern repeats to get gauge. I don't like the fabric. I think I am going to sell this yarn or use it for something else (maybe double ). Before I make a decision I want to swatch two more options:
One is the Elann Peruvian Baby Cashmere and the other one (and probably the best choice) would be a Guernsey yarn like this guernsey wool So, I will look into it later. Right now, I decided to cast on the sheep sweater for R. This could be a great X-Mas present.
Este es el cuadro de medida para el sueter de Sand Dollar. No solo no me esta dando la medida correcta sino que además no me gusta el resultado como queda el material, así que voy a buscar otras opciones de lana. Por ahora empecé el sueter de ovejas para R. Este puede ser un buen regalito de navidad para ella.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

The Lavender Farm



In Los Olivos, right next to Solvang, there was also a Lavender Farm. The lavender was being harvested when we there. It was so beautiful. The farm's name is Clairmont Farms. They make all kinds of stuff with the lavender; soap, lotions, oil, sachets, etc. Even lavender flavored Honey... Humm delicious!
As you can see in the picture our honey is almost gone! This small jar was $8. But we have really enjoyed it in our tea. We also got cooking herbs. Lavender is an important ingredient of French cooking and my daughter Luz M. loves to cook with it. She speaks French and is into French cooking. She was thrilled to see the things we got at the farm.

En Solvang tambié fuimos a una finca de Lavanda. La estaban cosechando. El nombre de la Finca es Finca Clairmont. Ellos hacen toda clase de cosas con la lavanda; jabón, cremas, aceite, saquitos de aroma, y hasta miel de aveja con aroma de lavanda. Como pueden ver en la foto ya casi nos la terminamos porque sabe riquísima en el . También compramos lavanda de otra variedad que es la que usa para cosinar. Mi hija Luz M. sabe hablar francés y le encanta cocinas recetas de Francia. La lavanda es un ingrediente impresindible de la comida francesa. A ella le encantaron las cosas que le trajimos de la finca.

On the way home...

An obligated stop at the beach to stretch our legs and knit a little bit. R couldn't resist getting in the water with her clothes on. En el camino hicimos la parada de rigor en la playa para estirar las piernas y tejer un poco. R se metió al mar con todo y ropa!

Click on the pitures to enlarge

Vacations at Solvang

We had such a great time at Solvang. The first stop (of course!) the knitting store. I got the courage to inquire about spinning and the lady took the time to actually give me a small lesson. I am so eager to start doing it. I purchased this beautiful roving and a the little spindle you see here in the picture. I will let you guys know how my first adventure with spinning goes... Here is a picture of R and I right outside the yarn shop and a picture of the roving purchase. I couldn't pass on some gourgeous sock yarn too. Estuvimos de vacaciones en Solvang. Es un pueblito Danés bellísimo. Por supuesto la primera parada fue en la tienda de tejer donde me animé a comprar los materiales para hilar la lana. Es mi primera aventura hilando así que veremos como me va. Aquí les enseño las cosas que compré.



Here is a picture of the cute little trolley that takes people around town. Rachel was able to feed the horse. Esta es una foto del trecito jalado por caballos que lleva la gente arededor del pueblo. Rachel le dio de comer al caballito.



There are little gardens and fountains all over the town to sit and take a break. Hay bancas, jardines y fuentes por todas partes del pueblo para sentarse y tomar un descanso.



There are several of this wind mills around the town. They are actually little stores. The streets are full of candy shops, souvenirs, etc. Hay varios molinos de viento como este pero por dentro son tienditas de suvenirs, chocolate, etc.


On the way out of solvang there is a beautiful flower field. We enjoyed walking around and taking some pictures. Saliendo de Solvang hay un campo de puras flores precioso. Ahi paramos para caminar y tomar unas fotos.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Felting Patterns


I went to Barnes and Noble and checked out the new issue of Interweave Knits "FELT". I was not compelled to buy it.

Fui a Barnes and Noble para ver la nueva revista sobre fieltro y no me gustó nada de lo que trae.



I much rather buy the pattern booklet form Ella Rae N. 8. It is more expensive but it is worth the extra money. I think I would knit almost everything in it. The bags are truly gorgeous. Check out the designs here.

De hecho me interesaría mucho más comprar el Libro N. 8 de Ella Rae que trae unos bolsos lindísimos. Creo que yo los haría todos. Pueden ver los diseños aquí.

Monday, July 30, 2007

The swatch is looking good in double stranded and size 1. Judging by the garter ridges I always knit first, it seems to work out the right amount of stitches and rows, however I am going to put it away until I get new metal circular needles. This one is a bamboo needle and it is not strong enough to keep up with the tension. The fabric is a bit stiff, but that doesn't bother me too much. The stitches do pop up more with this extra tension and I like that. I can't wait to see how the swatch looks like when I knit in pattern. I think I am going to start something else while I get the needles that I ordered online.
Por lo que veo esta parece ser la solución correcta, sin embargo voy a guardarlo hasta que compre agujas de metal porque estas son de bamboo y no creo que aguanten la tensión extra. La tela que produce es un poco firme pero eso no me molesta. La tensión adicional hace que las puntadas se marquen mejor y eso me gusta. Sin embargo, tengo que tejer todo el cuadro para realmente estar segura de que esta vez si va a funcionar. Creo que voy a empezar otra cosa mientras que me llegan las agujas que pedí.

Swatching for the Sand Dollar Sweater...


I started to swatch for the Sand Dollar Sweater. Substituting the Starmore yarns is a nightmire. No wonder people get so frustrated. The pattern calls for the Scottish Fleet yarn which was a 5-ply Guernsey yarn (no longer available). The Starmore's relaunched the Scottish Fleet as a worsted weight yarn recently, so even though the yarn is called the same, the weight is different, therefore additional modifications are required to use the new "Scottish Fleet", these will be included if you purchase the yarn from their website. (virtualyarns.com) Buying the yarn from them is worth it if you want to avoid the gauge issue and you have plenty of money to spend in yarn. This model is over $150 for the medium size. I personally would consider saving money to buy it from them if it wasn't for the fact that I don't like any of the only 3 colors they have available. (a navy blue, a forest green and cream, no pink!). My strategy here is to go by the gauge and forget about yarn weight. Since the gauge is 28 St, I purchased a beautiful 4 ply Rowanspun yarn (now discontinued) that is fine weight and knits up to 28 or 30 st.
My first swatch that I made last night was knitted in a size US 3 needle. The fabric was too airy for my taste and the swatch way bigger than needed, so I ripped it off and started all over again with a size US 2. I like the fabric look but the swatch is almost one inch wider than needed as you can see in the pic. My other problem is that I am missing an inch vertically (in the row count). This could be a problem unless I manage to calculate how many repeat rounds I would have to add to achieve the same length. Unfortunately, the pattern does not tell me the length of the work as it goes, only the number of rounds. Therefore unlike most patterns, having the right number of rows in this case is critical. My next try will be knitting double stranded in size US 1. I am hoping that by adding one strand I will achieve the right number of rows and by going down one needle size, I would be able to get the horizontal gauge.
The issue with this yarn is that the original yarn used by the Starmores is very fluffy and bouncy, giving them the capacity to be knitted at many different gauges, therefore even though the yarn is "heavier" it can still be knitted at the same gauge of a lighter weight yarn. I don't know of many yarns in the market that will do that. In my case, using a fine weight yarn is ideal because I live in California and I don't want my wool sweaters to be too dense. Anyways, I will let you know if my idea worked...
Empecé a tejer la muestra para el sueter de la estrella de mar de dollar, pero no logro conseguir la misma medida. Ya lo intenté con aguja número 3 y número 2. Ahora voy a intentar hacerlo con doble lana usando Rowanspun 4 ply en aguja número 1. Es un problema substituir la lana original porque ya no existe. La nueva versión de esta lana es más gruesa lo cual cambia la cantidad de puntadas, se puede conseguir en el sitio de las diseñadoras (virtualyarns.com) junto con las modificaciones necesarias, pero los colores son muy limitados y lana bastante cara. A ver como me va... ahí les contaré.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

My new toy

This is my finished sock. As you can see, the leg is not too long. This is because I was afraid the yarn was not going to be enough for the other sock. The foot is quite wide (about 10 1/2 inches), so I had to calculate a small leg, and did not cast off, until I make sure there is enough yarn to finish a second sock. Now, the only way to really know this is by weighting what's left in the ball to make sure that I have 50 gr of yarn left. So, my sweetheart got me a small digital scale on Ebay for only $23. I love it! It works great and takes very little space. As I was now able to weight the yarn, I was surpriced to learn that the left over was 48 grams with the toe already done, so I think I have a good chance to finish the second sock with no problem. Here is the scale that I got, the brand is Scali. I was trying to locate the seller on Ebay to post the link but I was not able to. I remember that he had it in different colors including red, blue, white, etc. Mine is kind of silver.
En la foto se ve la primera media terminada. No pude cerrarla porque no se si voy a tener suficiente lana para la segunda media, la unica forma de averiguarlo es pesando lo que queda de la bola para ver si tengo exactamente la mitad. Si la bola era de 100 gramos debo tener al menos 50 gramos en lo que queda para garantizarme que tendré suficiente para terminar la segunda media. Por eso tuve mi esposito me regaló esta pequeña váscula. La encontré en Ebay por solo $23.

My next purchase will be a yarn swift and a ball winder which I have been wanting for a long time. I am trying really hard to stay away from yarn purchases to decrease my stash (currently worth $3000). Yes! I don't think I need more yarn! What I need is more knitting time! However, I do want to buy some tools and some more metal circular needles, this time from Knitpicks.com.
Mi siguiente adquisición será una sombrilla y un arrollador de lana ya que aunque no necesito lana, si me hacen falta algunos utensilios importantes como estos y tal vez unas agujas circulares de metal que pienso comprar en knitpicks.com.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Loving LAS VEGAS, U.S.A.

This past weekend my husband and I went to Las Vegas. This is our fist trip ALONE since we got married almost 9 years ago! This was also my first time in Las Vegas. I was never too interested in going there since I don't care for gambling and there is so much sinful activities going on there. I always thought; "What can a Christian do there?" Well, this weekend I got my question answered. You can RELAX, and enjoy the company of the person you love. It is a great place for a second Honey Moon! What a needed blessing! Here are some pics we took:
Este pasado fin de semana mi esposo y yo fuimos a Las Vegas. Este era nuestro primer viaje SOLOS desde que nos casamos hace casi 9 años. También era mi primera vez en Las Vegas. Nunca me había interesado ir porque no me interesa apostar y hay tanta actividad pecaminosa en esa ciudad que nunca entendí para qué un cristiano podría estar interesado en ir ahí. Bueno, este fin de semana encontré mi respuesta. Uno puede ir ahí y RELAJARSE y disfrutar de la compañía de la persona que uno ama. Es perfecto para una segunda luna de miel. Qué bendición! Aquí hay algunas fotos que tomamos:










Felted bag is finish and currently in the washer...

Marlene's big Felted bag is in washer as we speak. I am very exited to see how it comes out. It is indeed BIG. It is 14" x 20" before felting.
It took me a while to finish it. This was one of those UFO that stayed in my basket for months, after finishing the Vogue Knitting top I finally tackled it, following my rule of finishing my UFO's in between each new project. Now I only have two UFO's in my basket left, both of them original projects like this one. This pattern will be available for sale soon.
La bolsa de fieltro que lleva mi nombre ya está lista y actualmente en la lavadora. Estoy emocionada de ver como queda. Es bastante grande 14" x 20" antes del proceso de fieltro. Me tomó meses terminarla porque tenía otros proyectos, pero siguiendo mi regla de terminar un "objeto sin terminar" entre cada nuevo proyecto, lo retomé después de que terminé la blusita amarilla. Actualmente solo me quedan dos proyectos sin terminar en mi canasta de "objetos incompletos". Este patrón estará a la venta pronto.

Monday, July 16, 2007

What next?

I still haven't decide what am I going to knit next. I feel very torn. I have so many possibilities... I wanted to make something for my husband because his birthday is comming up, but at this point, I would only have enough time to make a pair of socks... So I rather make him a sweater for Christmas. Maybe I should concentrate in getting the X-Mas presents out of the way? I don't know. I don't like to knit under preasure and at the same time, my hands are akeing to knit some cables or lace... Nobody really voted in my pole so, you guys are not helping me here... Come on!

Todavía no sé cuál va a ser mi siguiente proyecto. Quería hacerle algo mi media naranja porque ahorita cumple años pero ya no me da tiempo mas que de hacer un par de medias. Mejor lo dejo para Navidad. Tal vez debería salir de los regalitos de navidad primero, pero mis manos me pican por hacer un buen sweater de trenzas para mí o una blusa de encaje... Ustedes no están votando en mi encuesta así que no me están ayudando... Qué pasa??? Voten por favor.

Knitting Update

I started a new pair of socks. This will be a Christmas present. I am going to try to work in a home-project and do my Christmas presents as portable projects. So far this is the first X-Mas present. I have quite a bit to make if I am to finish them on time.
Empecé un par de medias nuevo. Estas son para un regalo de Navidad. Tengo que empezar mis regalitos de Navidad desde ahora, solo así lograré terminar a tiempo. El año pasado me cogió tarde y solo pude hacer dos. Este año espero poder darle un regalo de Navidad hecho por mí a todos en mi casa.

These are my last E-bay adquisitions. A super cute set of 4" bamboo double pointed. Perfect for knitting baby booties or kid's socks. They are adorable! Aren't they? And two skeins of hand dyed sock yarn. The yellow one will be to make another pair of socks for a lucky Christmas recipient.
Estas son mis últimas adquisiciones de E-Bay. Un set the agujas de doble punta de solo 4" de largo. Son lindísimas, verdad? Tambié dos bolas de lana teñida a mano para hacer medias. La amarilla es para un regalito de Navidad también.


I finished the Marlene Big Bag. The straps are done and all I need is to sew it together and throw it in the washer. I am very exited to see how it comes out. The idea of this bag is to hold as much as posible to go on a trip. Like a traveling bag. I also want to knit some kind of embellishment, but I haven't figure it out yet. Ya terminé la Bolsa Marlene, solo me falta coserla y tirarla en la lavadora para que se convierta en fieltro. La idea de esta bolsa es que le quepa lo necesario para ir a un viaje corto. Como una bolsa de viaje. También quiero tejerle algún tipo de adorno, pero todavía no se qué.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Choosing what to make next is always exiting but also hard... There are so many things I really want to make, and then there are the obligated Christmas presents that I am hopping to be able to give this next Christmas. So, I need to squize them here and there... I also have a basket of UFO. That is were the Marlene bag has lived for the last couple of months. I try to finish a UFO in between each project which is kind of nice because they go fast since they are already half way through.

How many projects at the time ??? I noticed that it is hard for me to get much done when I have more than 2 projects on the needles. I feel like I am not finishing anything and my basket gets full of UFO's, so what I am trying to do is to have a big project (like a sweater) at home and a pair of socks that I can take anywhere (portable project).

This priority rules seem to be working since after the bag there is only 2 more UFO's in the basket.

What is also really hard is to choose what to make next. My stash is overflowing with projects waiting to be made. Some I already know what pattern goes with what yarn. Others, I don't. I spend 2 days making an inventory of my stash because I couldn't seem to be able to find anything is such a big mess. I like the spreadsheet that I came up with because it tells me what yarns do I have, how many balls, gauge and most importantly "LOCATION". I numbered the boxes where I stored the yarn so the location in my spreadsheet just indicates the number of the box. It's awesome! It did take quite a long time and I am not done yet. I still have more yarn in two drawers and under the bed... but so far I have calculated the MRSP of my stash in $2,500. WOW!!!! Don't tell my husband please!!! Of course I build up my stash by buying bargain prices. I hardly ever pay the MRSP, specially since the yarn I buy is all brand name "snob" yarn. The more commercial yarn I usually like to buy is Patons Wool due to its outstanding quality and yardage. Besides that, I only get a few novelty yarns at Michael's sometimes when I need to embellish a project.

With a stash like this is hard to find excuses to buy more yarn, but it is possible; for example, I might not have the color that I want in the gauge that I want, or I might not have enough skeins in the color I want. I do try my best to use what I have.

And patterns? There is always room in my bookshelf for a new book or magazine. I collect Knitter's, Interweave and Vogue Knitting magazines. I also like Rowan (of course) and Debbie Bliss Patterns. The books I always wait to see them inside before buying them and again, I do my best to get them for a discounted price.

I always wander if other knitters go through the same issues and what are their preferences as far as choosing new projects. I would love to hear how you handle your addiction... LOL!

Escoger el siguiente proyecto siempre es emocionante pero a veces puede ser dificil porque hay tantas cosas que quiero hacer. Están los regalitos de navidad que cada año trato de hacer y nunca me da tiempo. Así que tengo que empezar desde ahora haber si acaso doy a basto. También tengo una canasta con proyectos a medio palo que lo que trato es de terminar uno entre cada nuevo proyecto. Ahí es donde está la cartera "Marlene" que es un diseño original en el que estoy trabajando desde hace un par de meses.

Cuántos proyectos a la vez? A veces cuando me emociono empiezo varios proyectos y termino con un montón de proyectos sin terminar en la canasta. He notado que si hago esto siento que no avanzo y que nunca termino nada y es muy desmotivante. Así que decidí que solo voy a concentrarme en dos proyectos a la vez. Uno grande como un sueter y uno portátil como un par de medias. También he estado terminando un poryecto de la canasta sin terminar entre cada nuevo proyeto. Estas prioridad me estan funcionando porque ya solo me quedan 2 proyectos a medio terminar en la canasta.

Lo que también se me complica es escoger cuando termino algo. Mi guaca de lana está desbordada de proyectos esperando ser tejidos. Algunos ya tengo el diseño otros no. Me pasé dos días enteros organizando mi lana y contabilizando lo que tenía en una hoja de Excel. En esta hoja tengo toda la informacion de la lana, cantidad, color, medida, y sobre todo ubicación. Esto es un número que le puse afuera a las cajas donde guardo la lana de manera que si ando buscando una lana en particular ya se en cuál caja encontrarla. Todavía no he terminado me falta la lana que tengo debajo de la cama y en unas gabetas pero hasta ahorita calculo un valor sugerido de mercado de más de $2.500. Wow! Que barbaridad si mi marido se entera me mata! Logicamente yo no compro a esos precios, sino que voy acumulando lana que compro de liquidación a precios mucho menores y aprovecho las oportunidades. Casi nunca pago el precio oficial porque las lanas que me gustan son caras. Ya me he vuelto muy delicada y solo me gusta el material de muy alta calidad... Qué vaina!

Con una guaca como esa es dificil encontrar excusas para comprar mas lana pero no es imposible. Por ejemplo, puedo querer hacer algo pero en otro color del que tengo, o puede ser que la lana que tengo no me de la medida que necesito, etc. Con todo estoy tratando al máximo de gastar lo que ya tengo. También siempre hay espacio para una nueva revista o libro. Me gusta coleccionar las revistas de Knitters, Interweave Knits y Vogue Knitting. Los libros siempre los veo en la biblioteca o en Borders antes de comprarlos y si los quiero también me espero hasta que se pongan un poco mas baratos.

Siempre me pregunto si otras personas que tejen hacen lo mismo que yo y como manejan su adicción de tejer... Porque más que un hobbie yo se que para muchas de nosotrás es una adicción.
JA JA

Saturday, July 07, 2007

What should I knit next???

FIRST OPTION: Sand Dollar Sweater by Jade Starmore.
A Picture of the Sand Dollar sweater can be found here: Although this is a picture of the child's version. I would be knitting the adult version that is in the book Pacific Coast Highway. I am not posting a picture because the Starmore's are extremely... sensitive regarding copy rights.

SECOND OPTION:Victoriana Top, designed by Helen Hamann

THIRD OPTION: Nicky Epstain's "Flock of Sheep"

FOURTH OPTION: Karabella's Cabled Top:



Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Books for Sale

Hello everyone Happy 4 of July!!!! I posted two books for sale on my ebay account, so if you are interested in any of these just click on the link below and you will be able to bid on it. Thanks!

These images are from A garden Stroll by Lori Ihnen.














And these are from Dale of Norway's book, Dalegarn #122: