Heirloom Knitting Basket

Dad's socks are done! Now if I could only get my step Dad's finished by Thursday... why am I always late? I timed myself this time making my stepDad's socks and it took me 7.5 hours to knit one sock for size 11 feet. At least now I know how long it will take to make the second one and I can plan accordingly.

Here is the knitting basket...







I was given this knitting basket from my husband's great Aunt Bertie. I've never seen one like it! Has anyone else? I think someone should make them. It's the perfect height for beside a sofa and it's still kind of portable, it folds up at the hinges. The material part could use a washing, but I love the antique'd look of it. I'm scared it will fall apart in the washer.

Is one sock still a gift?

If you give someone one sock is that still a gift? It is still a handmade present that hours of love and time have gone into ...



Today is Father's Day and I only have 1.5 socks completed for my Dad's present.
Luckily this was not his only gift, but I gave him the completed sock anyway. Of course I made him try it on and I abruptly took it back. As all sock knitters know, I require the first sock to make the second sock the same (at least have a hope of making it the same). If it hadn't been for this darn exam tomorrow, which btw I'm really prepared for (pat on the back to me) I could have finished it with no problem considering I started it a week ago... but priorities rule and it had to take a back seat to studying (except when I could read and knit at the same time). Dad of course understood, but I'm going to do my daughterly gifting duty and get it out in the mail early this week.

In the meantime, a Happy Father's Day to my Dad and yours ...

We may not shower him with praise
Nor mention his name in song,
And sometimes it seems that we forget
The joy he spreads as he goes along,
But it doesn’t mean that we don’t know
The wonderful role that he has had.
And away down deep in every heart
There’s a place that is just for Dad.....
~ Author Unknown

Making the best of it

Tonight I made the best of a bad situation. I was multi-tasking to the best of my abilities. I had to read at least one chapter from my course text book AND I have to knit my father's day sock so I did both at the same time. I wish someone had taken a picture because I must of looked kind of funny, but it worked. I got the chapter read and I'm ready to start the toe of the sock. Now that's progress!

During all this very efficient reading/knitting time I got a phone call. The lady on the other end said in a pleasant voice, "Hi my name is Nancy. Do you own a dog named Clancy?"
I was very confused and wondered if this was some sort of rhyming prank joke, but said "Yes I do". Apparently Clancy, whom I thought was upstairs chewing a bone, was on her deck watching her eat her turkey dinner. Yup, he'd escaped the backyard and found the only 2 people in the whole neighborhood who were eating outside (it was raining) and they fed him turkey. Guess where he's heading the next time he gets out of the backyard?!

My SP8 package has arrived!

I arrived home tonight to a delightful sight... a cardboard box on the kitchen table!

I guessed right away that it was from my SP8 pal (cause who else would be sending me a parcel when it's not my birthday). How exciting! I opened it right away and found a beautiful needle case from Lantern Moon.





It's in a gorgeous green color, my fav color, my secret pal is so smart. And I'm so impressed with how fast she was to get a parcel to me. Very impressive!

Receiving this package put me into action. I immediately went to my craft room and packaged up the package for my secret pal. I had it all together but had to put a finishing touch on a handmade item. I quickly did that and took a picture of it all (can't send anything away without a picture first) and I wrapped it all up. It's going in the mail tomorrow.

What a great way to end an awful day! I found out today that for my MBA class we have an assignment that is due next Monday, yes 1 week from today. We already have our final exam on that day, so this assignment adds a huge weight to my already large work load. And to top it off, it's a group project and I was planning to go away this weekend for father's day. Apparently my professor is not aware that these short notice announcements play havoc on all aspects of our lives. This is also going to cut into my sock knitting time and I'm trying to get a pair complete for father's day... it's going to be tough. Wish me luck!

Hurray... Wobbly Circle Tote!

The Wobbly Circle Tote is complete and it's not wobbly!

I'm very happy with it actually. It is still a little damp so I haven't been able to actually try it out, but it's a great size and the handles seem fairly sturdy. I won't use it for carrying books, but it will be perfect for carrying knitting projects.

I set up a Photo group to share knitting photos with others and for others to also show off, I mean inspire, others with their work too. I'm starting off with just having photos from knitters in Moncton belong to the group, but if we can't get enough knitters just in Moncton I might open it up to the Maritimes. If you want to belong to the group (and either live in Moncton or don't) please right me a comment.

Flower Garden Socks have bloomed

I've been really anxious to post these socks but because they are a birthday gift for a friend so I've been holding off. But my blog has been lacking knitting photos lately (read not enough knitting happening) and I'm giving the socks to my friend on Sunday so I think I'm safe to show them to everyone else. She's travelling and I hope she's not reading this until later!

They were really fun to knit. It's Fiber Artist Merino Sock yarn in some crazy color that I have called Flower Garden (I'm sure Fiber Artist has a name for this color and I appologize for changing it, but it wasn't on the label).

This is a busy weekend coming up. Tonight I took my dog Clancy to flyball practice and tomorrow morning we are heading to an agility trial for the whole day. I have to be there by 7:30am cause I'm volunteering. And it's going to rain ALL day ... I'm a sucker for punishment!

I have my Wobbly Circle bag all knitted up now. I haven't had a chance to sew the tails in yet or sew it together. I can't wait to felt it, but it's going to have to wait a bit longer. No time this weekend! I found a Wobbly Circle Tote knit along , you can check out some other peoples totes there.