50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind (1-10)

So as part of my "101 in 1001" I have decided to answer the "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind." In an attempt to not bore you to much I will be answering them in increments of 10 questions. You can find the complete list of questions here! Let's begin shall we:
1. How would you be if you didn't know how old you are? I say it depends on the day. Some days I am a carefree 3 year old who wants to watch cartoons and play on the slide at the park. I want to be tickled and laugh until I cry. Other days I am 40 and all I can think about is how our bills will be paid, what to make for dinner, & work. The good news is I have more 3 year old days than 40 year old days.

2. Which is worse, failing or never trying? This was a quick and simple answer, failing. I don't like to fail, I don't even like for people to be better at things than I am. Also, I am not one of those "what if" people so the never trying thing doesn't really bother me. There are lots of things I have waited to try for fear of failure.

3. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don't like and like so many things we don't do? Well, for starters life isn't as short as everyone makes it out to be. Second, we have to, to survive. Would I love to quit my job and move to Ireland......sure I would, but how would I eat, where would I live, etc...

4. When it is all said and done, will you have said more than you've done? I hope not!

5. What is the one thing you would most like to change about the world? The hate. I would like to take away all the negativity that comes with hating someone or something.

6. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich? Anything with penguins. I love them so much. They are the cutest thing ever!!

7. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing? At the moment I am settling so that someone I believe in can do what they believe in. I know soon I will get do what I believe in.

8. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently? I would spend more time with those close to me. I would be more open about my feelings.

9. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken? I have controlled everything. I tried to think of things about my life that I wasn't currently fond of but if I really break it down it all comes back to some decision I made at some point.

10. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things? Doing the right things. Doing what I feel is morally correct is what is important to me.

Hopefully, that wasn't too boring and some of you are still awake. I need to get on some other 101 projects so I am off to read the Wiki featured article of the day. Hoping to increase my brain power.

Day Zero Project

I just recently learned about this. I mean like 20 minutes ago recently. It is a really neat concept and I am excited to see how I do with it. I am naturally a list person so this is right up my alley. So, basically the way it works is you make a list of 101 things you would like to accomplish in the next 1001 days. Blogging everyday for 30 days is on my list so I really better find something interesting to talk about. I have a lot of knitting related goals because that is where I feel I can improve the most & those will be the most fun to accomplish. Here you can read all about what becoming a master knitter is. I only plan to complete the first level as part of my 101 project. This is offered through The Knitting Guild Association. Among my other knitting goals are: Knitting from my queue, organizing my stash, knitting everyday for 30 days, & designing a pattern. I have also added learning to crochet to my list for many reason but mostly because I love all the cute amigurumi animals.

I will keep you posted on new additions to my list as well as completions on my list. You will also see some blog post that correlate with task I am working on completing such as: 50 Questions that will set you free & 1001 Movies to see before you die.

Pattern Designing

So recently my good friend Julie was talking about designing some more Florida friendly designs. I agreed to help her with the numbers (I'm a numbers geek!) & any test knitting she may need to have done. I am excited at the thought of more Florida friendly patterns. It is so hot here 75% of the year and it would be nice to know there are other things out there to knit that I could wear all year. I am missing winter and being able to throw on my garter stitch mitts, a scarf, & some smooshy hand knit socks. So I have been browsing lots of patterns for inspiration, ideas, looking at sizing information, etc.... It's very exciting I may even make an attempt to design one or two items.

On another sort of designing note. I started making my own stitch markers. I made 4 sets for a relatively small amount of money. Yay! I have been coveting other peoples stitch markers for quite some time now. I used to make beaded necklaces and such so I thought I would find some stitch markers instruction and go from there. I am really excited about them. It didn't take long to make them and they are super cute. I can't wait to make more of them.

My current WIP (work in progress) is yet another UF inspired scarf. Boo! How do I get talked into these things. I do love how pretty it is and well it reminds me of Charlie Brown. I used the Chevron Scarf pattern so there are nice zigzags instead of just plain stripes. It is for Jeannie's niece who was recently accepted to the University of Florida. While I hate the football team it is a very nice school and tough to get in to. I am very excited for her.

 
I used Cascade 220 which I always enjoy knitting with. Walt's socks are in time out. I was really okay with frogging them, but now I am so paranoid they won't fit the second time around I can't bring myself to finish them. Hopefully, I will get there soon.

Knitensity?!?

Knitensity. Is that a word? Well, Walt sure seems to think it is. He says this is when I am knitting intensely. Is there such a thing? Can one be knitting intensely? For me, this is when my knitting mojo is spot on; the lighting is good, there is a cool breeze, stitches are flowing off my needles, & I am completely comfortable. I don't find this perfection very often. Usually, one thing or another is off. I either can't be outside or my hands are hurting or I'm knitting to tight. So when I find that zone nothing else can break in. If I could feel like that every time I knit I am sure I would get much more accomplished.

On another note. Finished the first of Walt's socks yesterday. I was so excited to have the first one finished. Had to figure out how to do the super stretchy cast off which wasn't to bad. Unfortunately, the sock did not fit. It fit my foot like a glove so I knew there was no way it was going on his big manly foot. He tried and failed. So I frogged the sock last night and started over. I left the toe increases intact because well up until the instep the sock fit fine. So I am going to try and add some more stitches before the instep and see how it goes. I think it needs to be longer as well.

Yay!! I CAN Spin!!

So I recently received my first drop spindle. Thanks so much Francesca!! Not only did she send me my first spindle but also sent me some beautiful pink roving that I was terrified to destroy. So I made a few attempts at spinning after watching a bunch of different videos and reading lots of instruction. It wasn't going well and being the perfectionist that I am, it didn't take long for me to put my spindle in time out. For those of you who may not be familiar this is what a spindle looks like:

So we went over to Paul & Julie's Wednesday night to watch the new Sherlock Holmes (great by the way). Julie then gave me a one on one lesson about spinning. How to draft, attach my leader yarn, etc....So yesterday when I got home from work I was so eager to try spinning again. Yay!! I CAN do it. My roving actually looks like yarn. I was only able to spin for about 30 minutes because my arms had just had enough. Oh did I mention Julie also gave me a bunch of roving to practice with. Some easier to spin than others so that I could try my hand at spinning different fibers. Thank you so much Julie!!!

Smokey & His Carrot

I am aware that this is not the best quality photo but it is hard to get a picture of a sleeping bunny without waking him up. So here he is:

Walking & Knitting

This morning I learned that I have the ability to walk and knit. Amazing? I know. I expected it to be much more difficult than it actually was. I think at one point I had discovered that I had added and extra stitch. No biggie. I just knit two together and carried on. Some of the ease could have come from the fact that it is a scarf that is only 10 stitches wide being knit on giant size 15 needles. However, it is a fun fur scarf for my niece so that in itself adds some extra frustration. I really enjoyed my walk to work this morning. I decided that I would let Walt sleep in and not bother him a bit until I kissed him goodbye. I started walking and said "Hey. I wonder if I can walk and knit??" I pulled out my scarf because I wasn't about to try it with Walt's socks on size 1 needles. Like I said, it was pretty successful. It's nice to find something to do in the 20-30 (time depends on how many baby alligators, turtles, bunnies, & dogs I am distracted by) minute walk to & from work. I feel less guilty working on the scarf then as well.

I am really making an effort to only knit on Walt's socks. He asked for them a while ago, but I really didn't wanted to alternate between a skein of black yarn & a skein of white yarn so I searched & searched for some self-striping black and white yarn which I was unable to find. So, I decided that I would dye my own. I hadn't ever dyed any yarn before but I thought taking white yarn and dyeing alternating sections black should be no problem. Then Julie told me about all the things that can go wrong with black dye. It being to purple or brown or just some yucky muddy color. Apparently, Jacquard doesn't use black pigment it is a mix of all sorts of colors. Julie kindly invited me over to help me with this process. I had already done my calculations ahead of time to determine how many yards would be needed per stripe (I just love my math-y side). Julie then measured out the length of yarn using a nose to fingertips technique. I started wrapping it around (hmmm....not sure what that thing was) this PVC knitting contraption. Once finished I decided what side to dye black and what side to leave white. Julie said adding some navy blue dye would really help get a black color and avoid the muddy brown. Once the yarn was in the pot we then began to peel apples for some apple pie. I was really impressed by my sudden ability to be able to peel apples so quickly and nicely with a plain old knife. Next, thing we knew it was time for knit night and off we went yarn still in the pot (we turned it off). They yarn didn't come out muddy brown but it was more of a dark gray than black. So I went home and a few days later after picking up some vinegar I redyed the black part and it looked perfect. I was really nervous about felting the yarn as it isn't superwash, but all was well. It then took me several weeks to get up the courage to actually wind the yarn. As I don't have a swift or any other fancy knitting equip and my center pull ball skills are a bit lacking. It turned out to not be such a terrible task and my ball looks okay. After that I got caught up knitting a birthday scarf. Then a knit along. A baby hat. A baby shower cake. And well the list goes on. So once I was actually able to cast on his socks I have tried to avoid touch any other project.
Walt's sock thus far: