New e-mail address

Just a short note. I bundled my cable, phone and internet......forgot to save the old data!
So now I need any of my friends and relatives who read my blog to send me an e-mail so I can rewrite my contact list. I have the LSSK addi's.....we're so talkative they keep rolling in all day, thank God. Click on profile then e-mail for the Texas Road Runner address. Thanks everyone......more later.
Barb

Fork In The Road

doily turns into blanket..... ....
http://www.alexisla yton.com/ 2008/06/18/ star-blanket/

Always Alice sent this link for a doily pattern that makes a beautiful baby blanket. I posted it today because it really symbolizes how I am feeling right now.

I found out instead of being pre-diabetic, I am now diabetic. Doc gave me a meter and meds and some training and sent me off for a month. I will be attending a class soon for diet and exercise but it hasn't been scheduled.

So today I realized after one day I am at a crossroads. My life as a single person living in seclusion just doesn't match!!!! I pretty much have eaten when I was hungry (breakfast about 2pm.....dinner 8 pm and snack once between and a bowl of cereral before bed) and sleep on my natural schedule: up until 4-6am...sleep until anywhere from 10am to 11am.

One day of tracking with my meter and I can see I need to make a lot of changes. I am to keep a log for the doc and the way I live just doesn't do much to tell him anything. I take the fasting reading when I get up but I don't eat for hours, I'm just not hungry. My meals are healthy but few. Snacks small and healthy until the last 2 months when I had too many sweet. I got chocalate for my swaps and would end up eating them and buying more. And this is where it gets you when you are 57.

So I feel like that doily that now must be a blanket!!!! Hope that makes sense. Frankly, I LIKE the way I sleep and eat (except I was eating too much sweets ). So......

I got online and started educating myself about diabetes...........I AM OVERWHELMED! AND TEARY!! Can't wait until they schedule me for the class. I definately need it!

First goal: reschedule my life......SO IT HAS A SCHEDULE!
2nd first goal: incorporate exercise in my life....
(((((exercise...what is that?....all I do is sit and knit. Yes...all day!!! Every day!!!))))
I walk to the mail box (about 1/2 block) ONCE A WEEK!
I bought a bike, now I need to use it every day and 220lbs isn't a pretty or comfortable sight and embarrassing on a bike.............................................................

Thanks for listening
signed Was a Doily......Now to knit that blanket...boy, this pattern is hard, lol

It's SSYC's THIRD Anniversary!

One of my favorite yarn store is having an anniversary and you know what that means!!

A DRAWING AND SALES!!!! $6 A SKEIN AND UP

(PICTURE SHOWN: Farmhouse Fannies yarn in Rose Garden colorway)

I am connected only in my love of sKNITches yarn and her service so Here is the post:::::::::::enabler that I am:

"I want to first say THANK YOU to each and every one of you who have supported Simply Socks Yarn Company over the past three years! It's hard to believe that every day for three years I've gotten to work with what I love, and I'm so grateful to all my knitters.

To celebrate this occasion, I have some great deals for you in the Sale section of the store. Great prices on Opal, Meilenweit, Cherry Tree Hill, Creatively Dyed, 4 collections of OnLine, and best of all... Farmhouse Yarns! I got a great deal on skeins of Fannie's Fingering Weight yarn- these skeins are 40 yards shorter than the normal 400 yard skeins, so you'll save $6! Since 360 yards is enough for most of us anyway, you may never miss the yardage.

I have a few new yarns to share with you too! I'm currently knitting up JoJoLand's Melody Superwash yarn (shown above in color ms11), which slowly changes color as you knit it the round. A couple colors have already sold out, but all 12 will return at the end of the week.
Do you love sKNITches? Then check out Bebop, the hand dyed variegated colors dyed on a wool/nylon base.
I have a new yarn from Sleeping Dragon, Wooly Bamboo. It's the softest wool/bamboo combination I've felt yet, and it's dyed with all of Karen's popular colorways. This yarn has a lovely drape, so not only it is perfect for socks, but also lace.

Finally, in keeping with anniversary tradition, I have a special edition colorway from Lorna's Laces and a fun contest at the blog. Three lucky winners will receive a skein of sKNITches Syncopation striping yarn. And if you spread the word about the contest on a blog, forum or chat room, send me the link to allison@simplysockyarn.com and I'll put you in a separate contest to win another skein!
Allison
-Coming this summer: Opal's Harry Potter Sock Yarn, Noro Silk Garden, Miss Babs Yummy Sock, & new yarns from Fleece Artist and sKNITches "

OK...OK....I want an extra chance to win a skein of sKNITches yarn! I love this yarn. ((((I know you all understand....blushes....))))

2 Socks on 2 Circulars 2nd Try

This is my second attempt to knit 2 socks on 2 circular needles. I am using this tutorial:

http://www.socknitters.com/2circs/lessonone.htm

I am using Sirdar Snuggly Fair Isle DK yarn in sh794, bright barbi pink and lavender spots on white, and a solid pink for the cuffs, flap and toes. The first time I tried I used longer needles and they were both Knit Picks circulars.

This time I am use 24" Knit Pick Harmony with the colorful wood tips and red cable and Hiyi Hiyi metal tip circulars with clear cable and it is helping to tell where I am when I am knitting and which needle is next. It still seems so slow but I keep telling myself I am knitting 2 socks so I am really further along then it feels. I have done the 4" total leg and am ready to start the flap tomorrow so I have finished lessons 1 & almost finished with 2.

This really drove me nuts the first try. I think it is my OCD that drove me nuts. Every change of the process I had to make sure that everything was lined up and in place..exactly! I did start the cuff ribbing on double points and knitted K1 P1 for 10 rows before transferring to the circulars. The transfer took a long time as I kept getting one or the other the wrong way........AAAHHHHHHHHH! But once that was set up correctly it wasn't bad at all. I am so bad at knitting the second sock immediately that I think if I keep doing them this way, eventually I will get used to the set up.

I do like not having to keep track of things to make sure both socks match. I spend a lot of time placing markers every 10 rows and writing every little thing down. It was the only way to make sure I got the second sock right since it could be months before I knitted it. I am so fast with double points it is taking some time to get used to going so slow. Most socks I can knit the first sock in 2 to 4 days for a woman's, depending on the pattern.

I really had to MAKE myself not keep fixing everything to line up just right like a photo every time I changed to knit on the next sock. I just concentrated on making sure the needles I was using matched and not worrying about the yarn strings 'feeding' right as they all came out fine after working both sides of both socks.

I'm probably not saying it right but it is just my second time and I have never seen it done before. If you know how to knit 2 socks on 2 circulars this may all make sense. If not, I sure can't help!!!!!! But maybe someday I will be able to. Really wish I was sitting somewhere knitting with a group on this new experience.

I also tried this method for just one sock and really liked it a lot. Less ladders to worry about and with 2 addi 16" cables it was easier for me than using the longer cables. The short ones made it more obvious which needle was needed and faster to get in position.

It really feels funny to think I like knitting with double points the best. I must be getting better this last year as I can still remember how awkward it felt for so long. I really think the key to knitting socks is just concentrating on the 2 needles you are using at the time and only think about the a few stitch directions you are knitting at a time.

It is the same feeling I got when I did my first graphite drawing. Consentrating on such a small area to the exclusion of all else so much so that when you pause.................. and look at what you've done...................... it is a surprise how good it looks and what you just did was right on!! Then you pat yourself on the back and think, 'Hey, I can really draw!'

Or 'Hey, I can knit a sock!'.
Enough tiny moments of instant gratification that knitting socks, like drawing, becomes an addiction.

Happy Sock Knitting, everyone!!!!!