July
~ I suppose the 2 big things for July were my Mum and Mother-In-Law's birthdays are both during this month. my Mum was turning 29, my MIL 30 ??!! ok, better make it 39 & 40 ..... would you believe 49 & 50 ?? (well, that's what I'm sticking with, as they are BOTH so youthful looking ... as are all the women in the family :) )
~ Cable Lagoon sock for DD ... finished the socks, the constant cabling was brutal, but they turned out lovely ..... until she tired to put them on. the ankle & cuff are too tight ... so frogged them out the turning of the heel, and re-knitted them on a size bigger needle (was NOT about to frog out the entire sock!). it's July 25, I've rushed MIL to the hospital but fortunately had my knitting with me, so was able to finish them while sitting in Emergency with her!! DD does her best to look pleased when she tries them on, but it's obvious that the foot is also a wee bit tight, but worse they are also a wee bit short. I'm not frogging them out, so I guess I'll be looking for someone with a thinner, shorter foot to wear them. there may be enough yarn left for a plain pair of socks for DD, and I promised to re-knit this pattern for her, but we agreed that a plainer yarn would show off the cables better.~ I'm heading to Ancaster to sit with MIL who is home but in a lot of pain, and I need something to knit (that doesn't require spending money). I have some left over aran, that would be perfect for the Fashion Cable Knit Bag from Michaels ..... a casting-on we go !!! as I HATE sewing up a knitting project worse that pretty much anything, rather than following the instructions for the bag, I decided to knit it from the bottom up, in the round. it's a bloody pain to start, but now that it's going it is turning out just lovely !!
August
~ the best part of August was our trip to White Birches Cottages just outside Algonquin Park with DD and the labs. we rented a cottage for the 2nd year in a row, then visited with my Uncle & Aunt at their cottage for the weekend on the way home. it was the nicest week of the summer and we had a great time. DD hooked up with some kids she knew from last year, and met some new ones. the dogs spent as much time in the lake as they could, we hiked, and I relaxed and knitted. unfortunately it was not a banner week for knitting. my plan was to finish the cable purse that I had started in July, and I was well on my way, and finished up one side, when I realized that I had not brought enough yarn to finish the other side, NERTZ !! ok, no problem I have my started entrelac sock, which FINALLY looked like it was going to turn out to be the right size ..... got working on the sock, not as pleased with the way the colours were pooling, but wanted to give it a chance. used the solid colour from the toe, to turn the heel, and then back to the variegated yarn as I went up the leg. after a couple of entrelac rows up the leg, I decided to try on the sock ... YUCK .... I knew that I wasn't thrilled with the pooling, and I was not impressed how I went from heel back to entrelac leg pattern, but when I put the sock on that ended it for me. first of all, it was tight (yea, after all the attempts at it being too big), and when it was on, it looked like crap. the entrelac pattern just looked like random squares, and no where near the cool effect that it should have been. maybe if I had alternated the variegated yarn with the solid for each row, it would have looked better ?? I don't know. but to be honest .... even if I did finish the sock, the thought of starting the nightmare all over again and doing a 2nd one just didn't leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling ... so here I was in the wilds of Algonquin Park ... and the sounds of "frogging" could be heard echoing thru the forests !!! 
ok, now I was 3:3 (due to the cable socks for DD that I FINALLY finished before leaving but are too small for her) and frustrated about what to try next. while in town DD found a book she wanted, the latest in a series she has been reading ... turns out one of the patterns I brought was for a pair of socks based on the cover of the first book in the series. I had the base colour, but needed the red contrast colour. we headed into Huntsville for some shopping and to check out the LYS for a look around. I saw a few things that looked interesting, but nothing really exciting, but I did find a nice skein of the red we needed for DD socks. we got back the cottage, and I wanted to get something started, but both DD and I agreed that I needed a successful project, so starting another pair of socks after the 2 pairs that haven't worked out would not be a good idea ..... then I found it The Scotch Thistle Stole, using Arequipa yarn in lovely shades of purple and green .... it was a perfect match and the skein should have enough for the stole. I was off to the races, so to speak, with an exciting new project to cast on.September
~ summer is over and it's back to the regular routines of school & dance for DD. this is a big year for her, grade-12 ... it's hard to believe !! doesn't seem that long ago that it was me starting my senior year.
~ Scotch Thistle Lace Stole is "done" ... well, not as per the pattern, because unfortunately I ran out of yarn ... BUT, it's done as far as it's going, and the 2 ends are grafted together .... now all I have to do is block it (any bets on how long this is going to take me to finally get around to do ??!!)
October
~ woo hoo ... Fashion Cable Knit Bag is done, and the handles are on ... OH MY GOSH, but it turned out just lovely !!! I haven't decided if I'm going to leave it as is, or line it with material.~ this is another popular month for the family. DD turned 17 on October 16, foster puppies Betty & Maisie have birthdays on October 17th, and my parents had their wedding anniversary on October 20. Betty (foster puppy #3) turned 3, disqualified from the DogGuide CVC program last August because of kennel stress, and was adopted by DD. she's still a very nervous dog, but is happy to be "home". Maisie (foster puppy #4) turned 2 on the same day. she has also disqualified from the DogGuide program, and now lives with a great family in the next neighbourhood. we keep in touch with them and I love hearing how she is doing. now that she has settled in with her new family, I'm looking forward to some play dates where we can get the dogs together. it will be great to see Maisie again !!!
~ want to start the "flying south" pattern using the yarn from the September Pick Up Sticks Fleece Artist Sock Club package. it's the perfect colours for my mum, and would be a nice surprise in her Christmas stocking .... unfortunately, my 2.5mm circular's are "somewhere safe". I think it's time to go thru my stash and figure out what I have, and where everything is !!
~ I spent most of the Oct 17th weekend either sorting and organizing my yarn stash and knitting/sewing area in the basement. OMG what a job !!! I headed downstairs about noon on Saturday, and didn't come up for air until 7:00pm that evening .... and when I finally did I went upstairs to find my house FREEZING COLD and DARK !! when I headed down at noon, it was a lovely day so I opened up the house to let the fresh air in ..... well by 7:00 not only had the sun gone down but so had the temperature !!! it was definitely a productive day though. I THINK I have found all my hidden stashes of yarn .... all the bags, bins, baskets, containers and boxes all sorted thru, re-wound and assigned to it's new storage bin (based on yarn weight). much of the yarn has been entered into my "stash" on Ravelry, but I haven't taken pictures of most of it yet. I also went thru and catalogued a number of my knitting/craft related books, magazines and pattern booklets. there were some interesting in-progress discoveries ... some got frogged, some put aside to be frogged, and a couple put in my "to finish" pile. I'm also putting a bag together of "unknown" and partial balls of yarn, that can be donated for charity knitting. the good news is my yarn has been organized ... the bad news is I've discovered hidden stashes of material and other craft supplies that I still have to deal with ... oh well, another craft, another weekend :)
~ finished a cute wee baby sweater, Little Sweetie, that I started YEARS ago .... not sure if it was the right colour combination, as you really cant see the pattern ... but at least it's finally done :)
~ frustrated, bored, and don't know what to knit ... still haven't found the 2.5mm needles to start my Mum's socks .....so what do I have handy ...... cotton yarn, perfect for dishcloths. too lazy to look thru for a pattern, so I'll just wing it for a while. they are dead easy, brainless knitting and great while you are watching Friday night television !! 2 down, and unlimited number to go. I was planning on getting a bunch done for Christmas anyway, so this got me going.
~ Saturday Oct 25 was a machine knitting workshop at Cardiknits in Hamilton. it was a VERY educational day, and I was all pumped up to go home and re-setup my knitting machine and get something cast-on. (did I mention that I MAY have left the workshop with 3 new cones of yarn :) got home and headed downstairs to my newly cleaned & organized knitting area to set-up my knitting machines. had some trouble getting the carriage to slide smoothly, but I wondered if it just needed a cleaning/dusting ... APPARENTLY NOT !! I cast-on some waste yarn ready to knit my first row ... JAM!! pulled everything off, re-caston .. JAM .... JAM ... JAM .... ok, I'm REALLY getting frustrated now. I end up sliding the carriage off, and putting it back on a couple of times, when all of a sudden, it slides on as smooth as butter .... crap, I didn't have the carriage on right, and it was jamming the hooks. re-cast on again, with the carriage on properly, and knit a few rows to find the last 2 stitches not knitting at all .... turns out the repeated jamming totally bent the 2 hooks (so that they are no longer hook shaped !!) ok, no worries, I'll call Pat and ask her for a couple of new hooks ..... I'll just try to cast-on the other side of "0", it's working just beautifully, EXCEPT for ONE BLOODY stitch. this hook must be FUBAR too, but I cant tell by looking at it. I have 3 extra hooks, but by this point, I am NOT in any mental frame of mind to figure out how to replace them ..... yarn goes away, cover goes on, and it's no knitting for me tonight
~ Sunday Oct 25 .... Happy Birthday Wendi !!!
