Inspiration 3KCBWDAY3 and WIPW

I want to thank a few people who have inspired me throughout my knitting time, especially lately since I've been having health issues and haven't been able to knit in quite a while.  So, to Mary (my partner on this blog and business partner in knitting) I thank you for your support!  To Trudy, your friendship and support has gotten me through tough times more than you realize - words cannot express my appreciation.  Jen aka Calophi, you have been an inspiration- your energy and positive outlook have kept me going on those Tuesday nights when I just want to lay down and sleep - thank you for your friendship!!!

For those of you who missed my Squee Sunday post, I wanted to recap and say that Jarett's Bar Mitzvah was amazing!!  Here we are all decked out:


 
He did an awesome job and I am so proud of him!  That being said, I am still figuring out my own health issues with adding osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia to my already diagnosed celiac and raynaud's.  I had to stop the meds for a bit but am restarting them and hopefully will have success.  I was trying to crochet a shawl, but am finding that crochet hurts my hands and wrists a thousand times more than knitting so I may have to face the fact that I will no longer be able to crochet unless it's a small border or something.  Here was the shawl I had started:





  

I had to frog it and am making it into a scarf instead.  I was only able to cast on and do part of a row and then had to stop but at least I got some knitting in.  I don't know how long it will take me to get it done so it may be a wip for a few weeks depending on my hands....  here is what I have though:




 

 It's my usual cast on around 200 sts and knit in garter with fancy yarn that does all the work.  So that is my update from here, along with not liking blogger's new format as it has taken me twice as long to post this since everything looks so different!!!  For more WIP's visit Tami !

WIPW 2012 #7

Sadly, this is not a knitting post so fair warning - if you don't want to hear about my "whine" pass over this one... (although there is a pretty pic of my nails at the end) :)


My WIP is that I've been diagnosed with Secondary Fibromylagia along with my Celiac and Raynaud's.  I also have Osteoarthritis and am severely deficient in Vitamin D.  This is from the Celiac causing my body to not absorb the vitamins, nothing to do with sitting in the sun... so I am on prescription Vitamin D at 50,000 units a week for the next 12 weeks and then we'll retest from there to see if I can on the over the counter 2,500 units.  (yes, fifty thousand is correct - I didn't put too many zeros in there)

I am waiting for the results of more blood work to see what the Primary cause of all this is... could be anything from lupus to rheumatoid arthritis to thyroid, etc.  My next appointment is in the beginning of April though so I have a couple of weeks to wait...  I have not been able to knit as my hands, wrists and elbows are killing me and making it very uncomfortable.  The good news is that due to the warmer weather we've had, my fingers are no where near as swollen and I can bend my fingers.  My wedding band is permanently on (I told my husband, "See, we really are married forever!" lol!) and I can't get my other rings on.  But, to make myself feel better,  I went yesterday and got my nails done so they look pretty and I can have something to smile about...  so here they are:




As you can see, there is hardly any swelling which I'm attributing to the warmer weather.  Unfortunately, they still hurt though...  So, this may be my last post for a while as I don't know when I'll be able to knit again but thought I'd at least fill you in as to why I am not keeping up this blog as much.  I wish you all the best and for some knitting WIP's, take a visit over to Tami's blog.  Be well, and if you are able, please keep me in your prayers.  Thank you, Sharon

WIPW 2012 #6

I am so far behind in posting but it's all for good reason!  We have been so busy with all of the Bar Mitzvah planning that I haven't been doing much of anything else (other than work!).  I do have two WIP's to share which are actually done, but I'll show you that on Friday!

Here is the drop stitch shawl that had taken forever only because I had hardly spent time working on it.




I also decided to do another one of those quickie scarves I do in bright colors.  My hands are doing better now but the weather has been blah so I thought the brightness would cheer me up.





So that's it for today...  for more WIP's, visit Tami and enjoy your Wednesday!

WIPW 2012 #5

Sadly, I've been having a lot of trouble with my hands/fingers this week.  I have an appointment with a Rheumatoid Dr. but not until March (darn long waits for first appointments!).  My fingers have been very swollen and sore and therefore I have not been able to knit this week...  however, I did want to share some pictures of the center pieces we've been making for Jarett's Bar Mitzvah.  If you remember, it's a Doctor Who theme.  I've ordered lots of action figures of the monsters and other regulars from the show.  My mom had a bunch of clear plastic display cases that they fit in perfectly.  I am going to elevate them a few inches just so they can be seen better and put some mylar "grass" at the bottom to hide the velcro attaching the figures.  A weighted balloon arrangement will sit on top to help hold everything in place and add a little pizazz.  Here is the Judoon Captain as my sample, let me know what you think!!!!  They case is clear and you can see the other wrapped pedestals behind him, but I think that's the best photo I could get.






Here is a distance shot with the balloons.  The tables will be named for the characters so people will need to look at the name on the box to know where they sit.





My other WIP, is an app I found on my phone called Clouds & Sheep.  You have to take care of sheep and make grass for them and rain and they fall in love and have babies... it's dumb and cute at the same time!  AND, you can take pictures of your screen when something exciting happens.  So, here are my two pics.  Very silly, I know, but funny!!








Too funny, right?!  Anyway, for more WIP's have a visit over at Tami's blog!

WIPW 2012 #5

Welcome hump day!  I have Haley's pillow to show you in it's full two pieces ready to be seamed together.  I embroidered her name in red...  Here it is:






I am still trucking along on the drop stitch shawl so I won't bore you with another pic of it...  for more WIP's visit Tami!

WIPW 2012 #4

Welcome Wednesday!  I feel like I'm still recovering from Matt's surprise party over the weekend!  If you have a sec, take a look at the photos - it was really cute!  As for knitting,  I'm still plugging along on the drop stitch shawl:





But it's been kind of on the back burner since Matt wants me to make Haley (his girlfriend) a heart pillow for Valentine's Day.  So here are the pieces so far.  I'll also try to write her name on the flat pink side - I was thinking of using red yarn to embroider it...







So that is my share for today.  For more FO's visit Tami's blog!  Happy Wednesday!

WIPW 2012 #3

Welcome to another installment of Tami's Work In Progress Wednesday!  I only have one project to share this week as I haven't had a lot of knitting time...  I am making another drop stitch shawl/scarf.  I am using this really different yarn from Plymouth called Frou Frou.  It has little tabs of yarn coming out of it, all in the same beige color.  Here it is about 1/2 way through the first ball:




That's it for this week... what are you working on?

WIPW 2012 #2

Happy Wednesday everyone!!  I have two projects to share this week.  One is my Fade to Black Scarf from my free pattern page.  I literally sold my other one off my neck to a parent at school!!  So, I made myself another.  Here is the beginnings of it.  I am using all of the same yarns as in the pattern except for the black - that I'm using the leftover Homespun from Haley's scarf.





 I also decided to make myself a pair of black fingerless mitts.  I'm just doing a very simple k2,p2 rib and then will seam them up the side.  I casted on 36 sts and will go for about 7-8 inches... not sure yet how long I want them... I'm using Naturally Caron yarn - it's very soft.




So those are my two WIP's for this week!  For more, visit Tami on her blog!

WIPW 2012 #1

Happy New Year and welcome to my first WIPW post (and first post) of 2012!!  I spent the entire winter break knitting - seriously - it was awesome!!  I had made Matt's girlfriend a scarf and got requests from her best friend, sister, mother and father!!  So, while watching the entire Harry Potter DVD set (which Jarett got for Chanukah) I knitted away.  I posted a couple of them last Friday, but here are the ones you did not see yet:


This is her sister's scarf - I casted on about 160 sts on size US 11 circs.  It's all in garter and I'm alternating soft pink yarn from Caron soft to eyelash of different brands.  It's hard to tell, but I also have a white eyelash in there too.  As you can see, the effect is a very whispy pale pink look.



This is for her mom.  It's Plymouth (of course!!) and knit on size US 17 straights.  I casted on 11 and did a repeat of K1, *YO, K2together on every row.




This one is for her dad.  It's a green Homespun (hard to see the color in the pick) and again on the US 11 circs.  I had intended to cast on 200 sts but mis-measured and did 190.  It actually came out long enough so the 190 was fine. 




Last is a scarf I am doing in crochet for the Special Olympics charity.



I have a few more projects I started but I'll save them for next week!  In the meantime, you can see more WIP's over at Tami's blog!

WIPW number 24

This will be a "quickie" post, but my sil asked me to make her a poncho.  I am using Plymouth Encore in a variegated shade of blue/green/purple.  I casted on 71 sts and am doing a yo, k2tog pattern.  It'll be a long rectangle and then I'll seam it together.  Here it is so far:





Here is a close up so you can see the colors and pattern:




For more WIP's, visit Tami!

WIPW number 23

It's been a few weeks since I've posted and I've had quite a few projects going, but little time to post.  This time I am writing this early and will have it post itself for Wednesday's WIP.  I'm making a pair of fingerless mitts for a friend's wife.  I will also post the pattern as a free pattern when I'm done, so hopefully you'll all like it!  Here is what I have so far:





I also am making more mitts as per the request from our last craft show so here is a pair in fuzzy gray yarn:





I'll need to do some more shawls and scarves too but that'll be for next time.  For more WIP's pop on over to Tami's site!

WIPW number 22

Sadly, I am home this Wednesday with a stomach virus that seems to be going around at work.  I missed my Tuesday night knitting group too because of it. :-(

I do have a WIP to show though.  I'm doing (yet another) scarf for the craft show.  It's a simple K2tog, yo pattern.  Here it is:






I think I bought the yarn from a shop going out of business, but I'm really not sure where I got it from.  That's it for now - for more WIP's, visit Tami!

WIPW number 21

Last week, Trudy and I got together to see what we actually had ready for the craft shows.  As it turned out, somehow, I had only made one hat...  how this got by me, I don't know, but I am now knitting away to make some more hats.  So, the easiest and quickest was to use my Bro Hats pattern.   Here is a preview of one of them using Plymouth Encore.  You can see the finished result on Friday.



That's it for now, I'll have a few FO's to show on Friday though.  For more WIP's, hop on over to Tami's blog!

WIPW number 21

Another addition of WIP Wednesday!  I have up for you today, some fingerless mitts.  You can find the pattern here.  I made them on purple for myself with purls but am doing a green version today.  Here they are:





I am using Plymouth's Wildflower DK yarn.  I have it in a few colors and it really works up very nicely.  For some more WIP's, visit Tami!

WIPW number 20

Another Wednesday and another project for the craft show!!  I am using (surprise, surprise) Plymouth boucle yarn.  It's not the best to work with - I'm a little disappointed at how easily it frays...  but, I'm doing another self-fringing shawl.  Here it is so far:






At least the colors in this photo are pretty accurate!!!  Here's another one with the yarn so you can see what I used:






For more WIP's, please visit Tami!  Enjoy your Wednesday!!

WIPW number 19

Sadly, I was all proud of myself working away on my crochet hat and got about two thirds done, when I  realized that it was WAY too big...  so, I frogged (what else could I do?) and restarted it with a smaller hook.  Now I'm worried it's going to be too small...  I really have no business crocheting.  I don't know what I'm doing with it and have no idea about crochet gauge and therefore, end up with problems...  oh well, I like the pattern and worst case scenario, it will be a child's hat!!!  Right?!  So, here it is in all it's lavender glory:




The pattern is here.  It is a child's pattern, but I like it and wanted it for an adult...  oh well, either way, someone will wear it, right?  For more WIP's, hop on over to Tami's blog!

WIPW number 18

I am still making headbands for the craft show.  I have the band to show you and then on Friday you can see the flower I made for it.  I did a different flower pattern and really like this one better for the headbands.  Here is the "band" part"




It finally looks purple in this pic and not blue - yay!  I also decided to make a hat.  It's crochet which is always a bit of a challenge to me since I'm more of a knitter, but I really like the pattern shown here.  Here is the beginning of it:




So that's my share for today.  For more WIP's visit Tami!