It's Friday

And it's been a long week, so I'm not stretching for a clever title. Here's a pic of the yarn for the Strikke-Along (so far):

The soft grey will be the background color, the black, red and yellow, the borders. I will complete the order with a really pretty soft teal color. Also in the pic are the Knit Picks needles I needed for the sweater. I have millions and millions of needles, but never have what I need when I start a new project. It's beyond me. I thought there were only a limited number of needles in the universe, but apparently I was wrong! I'm really excited to be starting this! The prayer shawl is almost complete, I'm hoping to finish it this weekend, then I want to start on the Cookie A socks - Rhiannon. I've been so focused on the Prayer Shawl - totally unlike me to only have one project. I need to finish the Butterfly Argyles (and figure out what to do with all the extra yarn I bought for those!!)
I'm in Ravelry as 'debsnm' come find me and add me as your friend - I have so few. I can definitely say that I'm having a great time playing around and exploring Ravelry. Adding my needles became a problem - I have more needles than I know what to do with. Maybe I'll try to do an inventory this weekend and get accurate counts 'n stuff.
Garnstudio has most of their Fall/Winter 2007 stuff up. If you're interested at all in Nordic knits, or looking for something for Julie's Strikke-Along (button on the side bar), or just want to knit something really warm, check them out. Patterns are free, and seem to be pretty easy to follow. I'll let you know about *that* once I start my Strikke-Along sweater!

Prayer Shawl, part 2

Here are the first pics of the prayer shawl: This is how it looks most days sitting by my desk:


Here's what it looks like all spread out:


It's either 1/2 done or 2/5 done, I haven't decided yet. This yarn is Lion Brand Homespun, a yarn I was obsessed with for a while. I knitted this really, really strange scarf out of it, and had 5 skeins left over. It's soft, and not heavy (even though it's a bulky yarn) and I'm fascinated with this color. It's called 'Colonial' and I can't decide if it looks more like the deep ocean or the deep forest. Anyway, it's working up really nice, and I hope she'll like it.

I am a Knitter

It's not what I do, it's who I am. If I'm not knitting, I'm thinking about knitting, or shopping for yarn, or blogging about it, or. . . . any one of a hundred things that relate to knitting. For years I've thought about getting a tattoo, but I never have, mostly cause I'm freaking scared of the pain! I always thought I'd get some kind of a butterfly, because I am obsessed with them. But, then. The kidlet came home from work one day and said this woman went through her checkout line and she had this tattoo. Of a ball of yarn and needles. On her forearm. Hmmmmm, now I'm thinking that the pain might not be so bad. Kidlet wants one so bad she can hardly stand it. She can't find anyone willing to do it (not quite 18 yet), but I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe. . . . .
So, here I am. My friend has breast cancer and she lives across the freakin' country, and if I was there (or she here) I'm not sure I could do anything any way, so what do I do? I knit. I'm knitting her a prayer shawl, just your basic St st oblong, and I'm thinking. Why? Because I am a Knitter. Its who I am. When my dad was in the hospital dying from the cumulative effects of 30 years of smoking and 20 years working in a copper smelter, I knit. When I have 5 minutes in the Dr's office, I knit. When I'm stuck in traffic I knit. When I'm running reports at work and they take longer than 30 seconds to come back, I knit. So, rather than admit (wrongly) that I have this weird obsession, I've become what I do. And I do what I've become. It's not so bad, really. I could have more expensive or less socially acceptable hobbies.
Oh! And by the way? My Ravelry invite came yesterday. I've looked and looked, and so far only found one blogger that I "know" - so where the heck are the rest of you????
I'm joining Samurai Knitter's Strikke-Along, I think it'll be fun & a bit challenging. Go back a few posts to see the sweater I'm doing. I'll post a pic of the yarn, once I have it all.
Ok, that's it for now - laters!