Momma's Got a New Toy
I have come to the realization that I am getting older. Yes, I have dared to utter that and now it will be forever on the net that I am getting older. How do I know this? My waist is now in the Granny Smith apple description along with tree trunk legs. My hair is in the sink and floor of the shower more than it's on the top of my head. The hair that I do have has turned on me. I really mean turned...GREY. I have noticed that there are little brown spots appearing out of nowhere on my hands lately. I won't even tell you about the body parts that have left for the South of some where else. You know what I mean? I have been losing my eye site for years but now we are at a critical point. What is that point you say?? Serious extra lighting. Do I hear an "Amen"?

I have been wearing glasses for about four years now and have become acustomed to them, but this is just annoying. I finally broke down and got my self a new light. I read on this blog about a spiffy lamp. When I went to research it, I discovered I would have to rob Ft. Knox to pay for it. So I scouted around for another suitable and cheaper alternative. I found one, hubby found one.

Hubby was at our favorite Blue box store and found this...

What can I say. It worked like a charm. When you are getting older you just need a different kind of a toy. And when you are knitting with size 1 dpns on this color yarn, blindness will follow shorty. I have only myself to blame for this. While in the Knitting Corner, I thought I had picked a lovely shade of green for my sock class. I think that from now on, I should purchase one skein and take it home and sit in the dark with my little lamp, and see if I can actually see what I am about to knit. I would love to knit some black socks, but the eyes don't have it.

Inspiration
I was at the Knitting Corner one day about a month ago and ran into a woman who was lookng for some yarn to match some colors that she had run out of. I didn't pay much attention to her because she was just looking and made a few comments about some shawls that she was making over and over. I am all for doing a pattern more than once but 10 or 15 times? Well, you should see what she has come up with ... Each one of these shawls is unique because the woman picks colors that compliment each other. No two looked a like to me...

I love all the differnt colors. She did say that she doesn't use red or green. She just didn't want to do something that looked like Christmas.
Inspired by this woman's efforts and by this challenge, I decided to give both a chance. I have been crocheting a long time and have collected lots of "un-natural" fibers from one of two box stores. I have a nice collections of skeins that need to move out to a new home. So I am working on shawls and lap blankets that will be donated to a good cause at later date. I am trying to clear out the stash and make good use of it for those who need it. What could be a more inspiring? I am sure my favorite yarn store will love it when I start to re-build my stash...
This is my effort. I stil have ways to go but there is something soothing after being on my feet all day cooking, coming home to sit in my favorite chair to do mindless knitting. It gives me a break from other knitting that I have been doing the requires counting on every round.

Finally...early for once!
Well, I know it's been a while since I posted last but I really have been knitting my little fingers to the bone. I have been reading my favorite knitting blogs and getting inspiration from them. Wait until you see what I have been up to.

First I really did finish something! Wahoo!

As in a previous post I talked about the Preemie Project and the cute little project that inspired me. Thanks to Wool Windings for helping me to learn something new. I wanted to learn how to do dpns and a hat. So I took the class and finished two hats. They were extremely simple but they gave me the foundation to tackle more hats for a purpose. These for this coming Christmas. I haven't done booties to match. One thing at a time...

I just printed off the Tidewater Knitting Guild of Virginia's Feb. newsletter and read something that I did last year. I decided that I needed knitting goals. So I wanted to learn how to make a pair of socks, a sweater and a hat. I have accomplished all three in varying degrees. The sweater was a Mock Cable and it's not done. I have to do the buttons, the collar, one whole sleeve and then finish the last 2/3rds of the first sleeve. I will finish it here shortly. I got frustrated because I wanted to do the lower part of the sleeve with dpns but didn't know how. So I waited until I had a chance to learn and now I know how. So the sweater should get done here shortly. I did the hats. And now for the last one...socks. I am now taking a sock class with dpns. I am so excited. I have wanted to learn how to do them since I took my beginner's class in late '05. So this leads me to the next dilemma. What can I set for a learning goal for this year?

I want to do more felting. I have a project in mind and have bought the leaflet. I can't reveal it for the moment, but I will soon. The next big project is inspired by Stephanie. Anyway, I wanted to post before I let it slide another day. I have good intentions to post and like many projects at the moment that are sitting in the knitting basket, I really do mean to do them. Maybe this year's goal should be to just finish one project at a time? Nah...

What A Nice Little Green Card Can Buy...
I was so excited to get a Barnes and Noble gift card this past Christmas. I just want to kiss the person who invented those wonderful gift giving tools. I have decided that I just can't dash out and buy things just to use that little card. Nope, there must be a purpose. After two visits, I finally found one.

Since I am a beginner knitter I don't have very many patterns or books. I signed up to take a beginner's sock class with dpns and I decided that I needed a sock book. There were about three or four and I finally narrowed it down to this one. I have no idea when I will use it, but I think I will eventually. It's got nice color pictures and since I can't seem to read directions, this is the perfect book for me. This is Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. There are great color pictures and directions both for the reader and visiual learner. There are pictures of different kinds of patterns you can do up the sock. So I am excited that I start my new sock class next week on the 16th. It lasts 4 weeks. I hope that means that I get a whole pair. I guess when you do one sock in class you go home that week and knit the other one so they are done at the same time.

So thanks to my Texas family members for a great gift. Beware. I am learning how to knit socks. Let's see how many days is it until Christmas????