Sunday, August 31, 2008

245/366


245/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

With all this rain, the weeds have taken over. It's time to beat them back. The husband and I are going to spend our naptime on Labor Day taking care of this situation. Wish us luck!

Saturday, August 30, 2008

244/366


244/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Sometimes the dress goes on like it is designed to, and sometimes, it is better to wear it on your head.

Friday, August 29, 2008

243/366


243/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

My little girl kissed me today :)

Thursday, August 28, 2008

242/366


242/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Second take with the Shalimar yarn. This is the Slippery Sock pattern from knitty, by Olivia M. This is perfect for this colorway. The slipped cables allow the stitches to stand out enough that it isn't competing with the colorway as much. While I am still getting pooling, despite messing with needle sizes and such, I'm much less concerned with it because of the way the stitch pattern emerges.

I modified this pattern to be toe up and will do a short row heel instead of the gusset variety.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

241/366


241/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

This is the face I get when I pull out the camera now.

Or I get this face

Or I get this one...

At least she stands still, but can I at least get a smile? Just a tiny one?

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

240/366


240/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Little Bit has started exploring her engineering side. Fortunately, she hasn't become terribly invested in her designs yet, so when they come tumbling down, she just starts over. I'm enjoying getting to see her creativity emerge.

Speaking of engineering, check out this time suck of a game: fantastic contraption. I promise, you'll be hooked. Its better than tetris AND zuma. Which says a lot coming from me. I mean, look at this! I MADE these things! :)

Monday, August 25, 2008

239/366


239/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

My first attempt at the Shalimar yarn. This is my own design, and is supposed to be this crazy, tilting ladders and cables, but they are just getting lost in the colorway. That, and a crazy colorway, paired with a crazy pattern = fugly. Time to rip.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

238/366


238/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Little Bit has been excavating her dresser and she pulled out this lovely handknit sweater we found at a yardsale when she was just a tiny thing. I can remember not being able to imagine her being big enough to ever wear it, and here she is, choosing to wear it herself. They grow up so fast!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

237/366


237/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Getting ready to wind up my yarn, I just couldn't resist this shot. Look how short those color repeats are! I think we're going to have some pooling issues. And these colors are so very bright! Wow!

Friday, August 22, 2008

236/366


236/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Got my Shalimar sock club package today! The yarn is brightly colored, so that should be fun to find a pattern for.

The obligatory full body shot

They also sent a gorgeous, embroidered project bag, two chart magnets, a pin, and a pattern. LOVE it!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

235/366


235/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

The sun always seems brighter when you've had a week of rain.

I've been in a bit of a funk lately, but I think I'm starting to emerge. Perhaps I am more affected by my environment than I like to think?

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

234/366


234/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

With all the rain we've been having the grass has rebounded from its usual, brown August state. You can almost watch it growing its so happy.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

FO: Olympian mitts


FO: Olympian mitts, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

FO: Olympian mitts

This is all you get until someone else is awake to take a pic with both my hands in the picture. You can see just a teeny bit of the first glove as it crossed over the lense to push the shutter release.

How do left-handed people take pictures, anyway? do they make left-handed cameras?

Ravelry page here.

233/366


233/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Taking advantage of a brief lull in the rain, we venture outside for some ball playing. The light was absolutely perfect for this shoot - cloudy dusk - I'll have to remember that.

Monday, August 18, 2008

231/366


231/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Rain, rain and more rain. We so needed this rain. Our crepe myrtle can't hang on to its flowers when they're soaking wet. It makes for a nice shot though.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

230/366


230/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Ivan is the epitome of a lazy Sunday.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

229/366 - Saturday


229/366 - Saturday, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

FO, baby! Finished my socks in record time. That 2nd one was knit in 3 days flat!
FO: Ribbed Leaves

I am so proud of myself!

Today was also really special because I got a visit from a dear friend, completely unexpectedly. She called me last night just as we were getting Little Bit ready for bed to tell me she was in town. I am so glad that we were able to spend the morning together and get caught up. I really should be doing a better job of keeping up. But it is nice to know that no matter how much time has gone by it isn't that hard to pick back up where you left off last. Love you!

Friday, August 15, 2008

228/366 - Friday


228/366 - Friday, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Almost an FO. I've got less than a repeat to go on my last sock, but I couldn't resist trying them both on to see how they looked together. Smashing, don't you think?

Thursday, August 14, 2008

227/366 - Thursday


227/366 - Thursday, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Look at this progress! I cast on last night at knitting group, and look at me, I've turned the heel already! Part of it is due to the fact that gymnastics are on SO late, and I just can't go to bed and leave them hanging.

I'm glad I stayed up. It was worth it to see Liukin and Johnson go 1, 2 in the all around competition :)

And check out the short row heel. I thought I'd been doing one before, but this looks way different than the other heel I put on my first sock. I really like the way this looks, and because there are no increases, there is no pooling on the top of the foot! I also think the knitting goes faster because you aren't having to work more stitches. What is amazing to me is that this toe up sock has no increases or decreases in it! Yeah short rows!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

226/366 - Wednesday


226/366 - Wednesday, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

I have a finished sock! Loving the way this turned out. My first BO was way too tight, I couldn't get the sock over my heel. So I had to rip and did a BO in pattern with a size 3 needle. As you can see, I got it on :) Yeah me!

I visited a knitting group that meets in Burleson tonight, and that was a lot of fun getting to meet people that I know online (hi, mycol!). I'm definitely going to go back as soon as I get my Wednesdays cleared.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

225/366 - Tuesday


225/366 - Tuesday, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

No knitting happened today, my hands just couldn't take it. I think if I give them a rest for a day, they should be good to go for tomorrow. I'm not terribly worried about what this will do to my goals, as I'm ahead of where I thought I would be at this point, so better to rest than to risk more injury.

Monday, August 11, 2008

224/366 - Monday


224/366 - Monday, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

One glove finished! Yeah for knitting during the commute! My hands are still hurting though, I think I'm going to have to take a break before I go back to my socks.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

223/366 - Sunday


223/366 - Sunday, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Time to work on my mitts, to give my hands a break from the twisted stitches on my socks. This is knitting up quickly and looks great! I decided to skip the corrugated ribbing as it was way too loose to act as ribbing. I'll have to work on that technique for later.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

222/366 - Saturday


222/366 - Saturday, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Continuing progress, finished 1 pattern repeat above the heel. The twisted stitches are killing my hands, so I switched to larger needles to give the whole thing a bit more room to breathe. I'm much happier with the fabric and my hands are grateful.

Friday, August 8, 2008

221/366 - Opening Ceremonies


221/366 - Opening Ceremonies, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Knitting to the amazing opening ceremonies. I've made good progress today - the heel has been turned. There is some pooling on the top of the foot, but it is much less than I've ever seen in any variegated colorway. Onward!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

220/366


220/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Another shot of the little one as we eagerly hope the clouds will drop rain on us. At least the heat has let up somewhat these last 2 days.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

219/366


219/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

What to do when you can't cast on for the project you want to work on? Test swatch for another project! This one is for Bonnie from Fall 2008 of twist collective. So I have 2 days to work on this, then I'm back to my olympic projects.

This swatch is Wool of the Andes from knitpicks, in Arctic Heather. This sweater is going to be awesome.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

218/366


218/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

My Olympian Mitt swatch happens to fit nicely as a water bottle cozy for my daughter. I had a really hard time not casting on for the real project. Just 3 more days until the olympics!

Monday, August 4, 2008

217/366


217/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Sock club yarn! Claudia's HandPainted in Lemon Ice and Butter Pecan. I'm thinking a nice lacey pattern will do this yarn justice.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

216/366


216/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

The thermometer is on fire its so hot. Even the weather website has given in to the smothering heat. And August has just started. Ug.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

215/366


215/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Summer means Texas peaches! Yummy!

Friday, August 1, 2008

214/366


214/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

The storm clouds roll in. Too bad we only got thunder and a few drops of rain. I think it might be too hot to rain, if you can imagine that.