tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207116512012-01-28T20:31:14.184-06:00Really! Well.... usually.....jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.comBlogger4771100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-12193876878413839152012-01-16T19:38:00.001-06:002012-01-16T19:39:25.830-06:00

Mom, my brother, my niece, and I spent the week between Christmas and New Year's in San Antonio, at my sister's.  I got to see my family and a few friends, and ate quite a lot of Tex-Mex. (Yes, we have Mexican restaurants in Iowa City.  Some of the owners are even Mexican-American.  No, it's not the same.) On New Year's Even we went to Pico de Gallo for dinner.  They had decorated for the

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-35807252259539131112011-12-18T22:01:00.001-06:002011-12-19T15:37:01.385-06:00

One cowl done: Pattern:  Pei Yarn:  Brooklyn Tweed LOFT, in Postcard This was a quick and easy knit, although when I finished, I realized my cast-on (the scalloped edge at the top of this photo) was a little tight.  The yarn is the new fingering-weight from Jared Flood/Brooklyn Tweed.  It's very traditional, maybe a little rough, but soaking and blocking really softened it up, and it's very

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-62347210209628094322011-11-30T21:16:00.000-06:002011-11-30T21:16:48.186-06:00

I need to post tonight so I'll have two posts this month! Although I am knitting along on my second Entangled Stitches glove and Pei cowl, my yarn stash is, as usual, growing faster than my FOs! About a week and a half ago, I saw (on Ravelry) the prototype for Boo Knits' Fragile Hearts, and knew that, not only did I need to knit it, but that I needed to knit it in the same yarn -- DyeForYarn's

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-78466557821374932192011-11-07T22:02:00.000-06:002011-11-07T22:02:40.391-06:00

If I have any followers left -- I had a very busy October and am just now recovering from it! Mostly, it was "work busy," since I was at two conferences.  There was knitting at both, but the second, in Baton Rouge, was best, at least in part because I got to see Steven! I was working on a sock while I was there -- the Lenore socks I talked about in my last, long-ago post.  I worried that they

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-11300832100878747032011-10-04T10:20:00.000-05:002011-10-04T10:20:25.118-05:00

Baby Sophisticate #1 got its buttons and has been gifted.  I will say that the KnitPicks Swish really bled in the wash -- the water of the first wash was as red as the yarn!  I washed and rinsed it three times, and really should warn the recipients that it might still run a bit. However, I really like knitting with Swish and the washability makes it great for baby gifts. Baby Sophisticate #2 is

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-79510934212282705822011-09-18T21:02:00.001-05:002011-09-18T21:03:25.640-05:00

To continue the saga of the dying computer -- well, it's dead.  I am posting from my pretty new MacBook Pro.  It's a bit heavier than the MacBook Air I had before (which was first-generation and taught me to avoid first-gen in the future) but I like it a lot -- and I won't have to keep editing the contents of my hard drive to keep it below the 80 gigs of my old MBA. The big news, though, is that

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-2694694467890035432011-09-01T22:12:00.000-05:002011-09-01T22:12:15.337-05:00

I am SO close to finishing Catkin.  I've changed the color combination a bit and added a few rows to make it a bit longer, but I only have five (very long) rows left to knit.  I could show you a great picture, if I had one.  Or, actually, some way to post a picture.  You see, my three-and-a-half year old MacBook Air is dying.  It starts up about halfway, then just sits there.  I've gone through

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-1467114319356952832011-08-10T23:56:00.000-05:002011-08-10T23:56:44.599-05:00

So sorry -- didn't mean to disappear!  I have nothing new to show you except.... (Lousy iphone photo) This is Samantha Alice!  I had planned on calling her Alice, but her name at the shelter was Samantha, and she seems to recognize it, so for now, she has two names.   I brought her home a week ago.  I knew I wanted a tuxedo cat who wasn't real young.  S. Alice about a year old and had been at

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-55265306629128019772011-07-26T20:14:00.000-05:002011-07-26T20:14:26.164-05:00

Last week it was South Texas hot here in Iowa.  Many of the natives were not happy but I loved it!  I like hot weather, but the fact that I knew it would only be really hot for a week or so made it even better.  This week is still plenty warm, but if I still lived in San Antonio, we'd think the weather this week was practically cool!  Plus, you don't have to shovel the heat, and I don't worry

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-44738811571308717932011-06-28T21:31:00.001-05:002011-06-28T21:31:54.807-05:00

I really didn't mean to be gone nearly so long!  So here's a quick catch up: I went with my Mom, brother, my almost-15-year-old niece and her almost-15-year-old friend for a few days in Memphis.  We always camp, but our planned campground had flooding issues, so we ended up at a KOA where the tent sites don't have electricity.  That won't do -- how would we all charge our phones? -- so we rented

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-12566762198381392982011-06-09T21:24:00.000-05:002011-06-09T21:24:18.593-05:00

I actually did the Catkin swatch exactly as directed.  The result: my swatch is a teeny bit oversized, but going down a needle size would make it too tight.  I'll just try to knit a bit more tightly.  Except - not while I'm knitting the "catkin" -- the almost-circular section.  I need to strand a bit more loosely there, to prevent the pucker Colorwise -- I love this! P.S.  I'm pretty sure I

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-62199191449553994202011-06-05T20:41:00.001-05:002011-06-05T21:44:45.216-05:00

Man, do I ever have a case of startitis!  I have been fighting it, though.  Since I last wrote, I finished my Pyromania socks. They're a little on the tall side, but the foot fits great.  Here they are being blocked. And here's the lace detail from the cuff. They're knit from Scout's Superwash Merino, in Izvar.  This was the club yarn from December 2010. I'm on the foot of the second

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-24363526389394051372011-05-21T23:05:00.001-05:002011-05-21T23:09:12.293-05:00

You're right -- that is Chaotic Chris pictured in the last post.  I was in Minneapolis for the annual conference of the Medical Library Association, and had a little free time on Saturday afternoon.  Even though Chris and I had never met in person, I feel like I've know her for years and really couldn't imagine being in Minneapolis without seeing her. So, we visited two yarn shops (more on that

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-14148631963798168752011-05-15T19:16:00.000-05:002011-05-15T19:16:38.142-05:00

Who is this mystery knitter, with fingers flying so fast they're blurred? (Hint:  I'm currently in Minneapolis for a conference.)

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-82844370199618140802011-05-03T21:12:00.000-05:002011-05-03T21:12:17.397-05:00

Usually when life gets a little overwhelming, all I want to do is knit.  But for the last month or so, even knitting has been a little much.  All I've wanted to do is read blogs -- knitting, of course, but also adorable cute kitten blogs, cooking blogs, and even nail polish blogs! You see, my library's four-story building is closing for 3 months, while they do some massive -- but mostly

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-86076327875694968102011-04-09T16:21:00.001-05:002011-04-10T14:01:20.918-05:00

Ubiquitin is a protein that is ubiquitous, hence the name.  It was apparently discovered in 1975, although it went by a different name then.  I don't know when it came to be called ubiquitin, but that was it's name when it won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2004 (okay, I guess some chemists actually received the award).  However, some friends of mine began using the word in a different context

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-76937501851706449642011-03-23T20:42:00.000-05:002011-03-23T20:42:40.624-05:00

Not much knitting content.  Or at least no pretty pictures. Although I had swatched for Shiraz, the swatch lied.  Once I got past the yoke, into the part with swaths of stockinette, I checked my gauge, and it was off, both for stitches and rows.  I'm sure part of the problem can be blamed on the fact that I was using Addy Turbos.  I really don't like their stubby, stubby tips, but I figured this

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-17351534494896494642011-03-07T21:53:00.000-06:002011-03-07T21:53:25.772-06:00

I pulled another project started long ago out of the pile, and finally finished my Boneyard Shawl - or at least, my version of Boneyard. First of all--and I may have already told y'all this when I cast on over a year ago (according to Ravelry)--Stephen West designed this shawl while he lived in Urbana, Illinois, which, along with Champaign, is the home of my alma mater, the University of

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-28718011843135844772011-02-26T19:12:00.001-06:002011-02-26T19:13:56.013-06:00

Yes, I really have two finished objects to show you! A week or so ago, the daughter of one of my co-workers brought her two-and-a-week old baby to the library.  Those of us with offices in the admin suite (plus a couple others who were alerted to Chloe's presence) spent a good hour passing her around.  She's a very happy, very tiny thing - at the time, she was still several ounces under 8 pounds

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-9046535165855793782011-02-20T20:55:00.000-06:002011-02-20T20:55:54.642-06:00

Last Tuesday, I found a large envelope in my mail slot at work.  This isn't all that unusual - many publishers and vendors seem to think I still want to hear from them in print.  (Do they not know that the recycling bin is right next to the mailboxes?) Anyway, this envelope wasn't from a publisher; it was from Steven Self.  You may think of Steven as a great knitter, but I've known him since

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-68246161606464020122011-02-08T22:15:00.000-06:002011-02-08T22:15:52.874-06:00

How do all those teenage girls take pictures of themselves with their phones?  This is Ripley.  It's blocking right now. Details:  Ripley, by Ysolda Teague Yarn:  madelinetosh tosh vintage in Cherry Needles:  US 7 Size:  Largest, with mods Notes:  This pattern calls for aran-weight yarn, and tosh vintage is a light worsted.  I also have a 23-inch head.  The largest Ripley size fits a 24-inch

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-53468388766753169202011-02-06T17:20:00.000-06:002011-02-06T17:20:15.029-06:00

Perhaps Anne, Thea, and Ysolda didn't plan for their designs to be a set, but they have become one for me. Pea Vines First - as I said in my last post, I finished Anne Hanson's beautiful Pea Vines Shawl a couple weeks ago.  I plan on wearing this as a scarf with my olive green wool winter coat (once it warms up enough to wear any coat other than my long down-filled parka). This blocking photo

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-76665778937481706322011-01-25T21:27:00.001-06:002011-01-25T22:50:37.660-06:00

Since my last post, Sprite chose her prizes:  a $20 gift card to Amazon and a skein of purple sock yarn.  I have a few skeins of purple, so I sent her a 'collectible' skein - the October 2009 Mean Girls Yarn Club color, Shellfish Bitch.  I of course never took a picture of it, but Turtlegirl has a good picture of it here on Ravelry. A month or so ago, I mentioned that I was working on Peaks

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-21448364651344811882011-01-16T11:29:00.002-06:002011-01-16T11:29:47.255-06:00

Thanks for all the comments.  Our winner, based on a number chosen by the random number generator at random.org (because Harley refused to help!) is Sprite from SpriteWrites!  Once I hear from her, I'll let y'all know what she chose.

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-501115872494360992011-01-10T18:46:00.000-06:002011-01-10T18:46:35.869-06:00

Happy Blogiversary to me!  Actually it was two days ago, on Saturday, but this was a busy weekend and I'm a lazy blogger. Five years ago last Saturday, I wrote my first post.  In fact, I posted daily for four days!  That first year, 2006, was by far my busiest, blog-wise, with 152 posts.  Last year, I only managed 34.  I'm going to try to do a little better this year - at least once a week. One

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-73342661819706273462011-01-06T22:04:00.000-06:002011-01-06T22:04:00.477-06:00

I think pink has always been my favorite color.  I remember having a pair of pink and yellow sneakers  when I was about 7 years old.  Unfortunately - as far as colors go - my teenage years were spent entirely in the earth-tone 1970s, where pink was pretty rare.  I got married in 1980 (boy, am I old!) and really wanted my bridesmaids to wear pink dresses, but there were none to be found.  Of

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-78556686684261740492010-12-25T13:44:00.000-06:002010-12-25T13:44:27.631-06:00

My mom's backyard on Christmas morning.

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-13239936095393069332010-12-24T18:49:00.000-06:002010-12-24T18:49:41.502-06:00

We had Christmas a day early at my mom's, because my niece will spend tomorrow with her mom.  I would show you the small amount of Christmas knitting and crocheting I did, except that I didn't bring my camera cord, so you will have to wait to see the cute knitted elephant and the crocheted birdie. Instead, I'm going to share a couple of my favorite recipes of the season.  Although they are both

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-83995843572365603832010-12-13T00:08:00.000-06:002010-12-13T00:08:17.487-06:00

I promised myself that I wouldn't do any Christmas knitting this year, and I almost stuck to it! At least six weeks ago, I offered to make my niece a hat.  She chose the pattern and yarn (from a selection I offered, of course), but then asked for a flower on it.  This is what's holding me up.  I'm making two or three flowers, on pins.  The hat and two flowers are done - except for the actual

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-54322294741512134902010-11-29T21:45:00.000-06:002010-11-29T21:45:12.374-06:00

Just a quick post to let y'all know I'm still here!  The last few weeks have been busy, with company (my sister and her hubby visiting), a few days at Mom's with them, a little stash acquisition, and, to top it all off, an 1850 page manuscript to review!  Yes, that's what's been keeping me busy!  However, it's done and I'm knitting again.  I've finished a hat for my niece, and just have to finish

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-10776288852605668742010-11-03T21:18:00.000-05:002010-11-03T21:18:23.657-05:00

Actually, knitting never stopped, although it did slow down some.  But first -- happy kitty news! As I'm sure I've mentioned before, Harley was about a year and a half or two years old when I adopted her.  She was living in a feral colony in an apartment complex in San Antonio, and a friend was feeding some of the cats in the colony. Harley was the 'friendliest' of them, so my friend caught her

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-57758223370458684122010-10-25T22:23:00.000-05:002010-10-25T22:23:30.789-05:00

I didn't mean to be gone for more than three weeks but since I spent two of those weeks in Texas, I don't feel so bad about that! There wasn't a whole lot of knitting done during that time. My trip included vacation time -- camping on the Texas Gulf coast and visiting my sister in San Antonio -- and a conference in Austin. We camped for two nights at Goose Island State Park, near Rockport, and

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-5171827004862834002010-10-03T22:08:00.001-05:002010-10-03T22:17:59.471-05:00

Larkin is finished and blocking/drying!  It's very pretty and it's going to be hard to give away. I didn't pin it out to block - I just sort of stretched it out on the floor.  True blocking would have fixed that little ruffle at the edges, but since I doubt the recipients of this blanket - the parents of a new baby girl - will have time to do anything more than throw it in the washer and

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-87483574623012819292010-09-17T21:23:00.003-05:002010-09-17T21:45:57.880-05:00

I am still slogging through Larkin. It's beautiful - but why do I knit blankets??? I'm a little more than half-way around the border, which is knitted on. Larkin is knit in the round (or, more precisely, in the square). I did 14 pattern repeats on each side, instead of the recommended 15. Each repeat is 10 stitches. So - we have 140 stitches per side, and 560 stitches around the whole

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-86658316873731653222010-09-09T15:56:00.002-05:002010-09-09T16:36:04.726-05:00

I hate for this to become "Janna's Sad News Blog," but that's what I have, again.When I came home from work last night, I discovered that Dolly, my little tuxedo girl, had died during the day. I don't know why, although I do know that she had always been small and a little bit frail. When she was a kitten, or maybe a young cat, years before she came to live with me, she had been seriously ill

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-82471902146524646342010-09-02T20:43:00.002-05:002010-09-02T20:56:43.772-05:00

If you read the comments to my last post, you already know this from Steven's comments, but in case you missed it --Snowden Becker, the designer of both Larkin and Myrtle, was featured in an article yesterday in the Daily Texan, the campus paper at UT Austin, where Snowden is a grad student. Except for the fact that it seems to say that Jimmy Beans Wool is in Austin and that they got the name/

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-72665451711835294932010-08-31T21:18:00.004-05:002010-08-31T21:42:43.329-05:00

Sorry - didn't mean to drop off the blog-planet for so long. First - thank you all for your kind thoughts about Vinnie. It's amazing how attached I got to him in just a year.I've been knitting, but have no pictures to prove it. That's the same photo of Larkin that I showed you 6 weeks ago, but I do have progress.* I've reached the edging, which right now seems less boring than the lace,

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-24052134502979595652010-08-18T21:35:00.003-05:002010-08-18T22:07:03.707-05:00

Just a quick post to let you know that my fears about Vinnie came true - he passed away sometime early Sunday morning. I stayed up with him until about 1:00 a.m., because I knew he was doing really badly. I considered taking him to the emergency vet, but I knew that would be traumatic for him, and I was fairly certain that there wasn't much that could be done. When I got up at 7:30, he was

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-60785514512846372382010-08-13T19:50:00.004-05:002010-08-13T23:58:46.816-05:00

Two weeks ago, I spent the weekend at my Mom's. I had a nice weekend, include a quick trip to Champaign with my 14-year-old niece to the new Sephora there. And we ate lunch at the Chick-Fil-A in the nearly-deserted Illini Union. (I'm beginning the "you must go to Illinois" indoctrination!)Waiting for lunchIt was a nice weekend and when I got home Sunday evening, all the kitties rushed to the

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-89246776283601978702010-08-02T19:44:00.002-05:002010-08-02T20:18:02.949-05:00

You may remember how, in September 2009, I finished my first adult-sized sweater, the February Lady Sweater.One thing I haven't mentioned is that last spring, I accidentally felted it a little. It still fits, but is too short for my liking. :-(I've been thinking for months about making myself Snowden Becker's Myrtle Cardigan. I even have the yarn and the pattern. But, in addition to all those

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-67185609878016561612010-07-19T19:47:00.002-05:002010-07-19T20:21:28.085-05:00

(I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post -- I think about posting all the time!)From a couple of the comments to the last post, I think some of you are under the impression that I've got a lot of WIPs going. And you're right, because there are even more!For example, there's my Boneyard Shawl. This is truly mindless knitting and great for conference and group settings. It's

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-3230509821839849722010-07-07T20:26:00.002-05:002010-07-07T21:02:45.958-05:00

I wish I had something completed to show you, but since I have been incredibly non-monogamous in my knitting, I have little to show.There's Larkin (rav), the baby blanket. I think I'm about a third done with it. It also now has a recipient -- one of my co-workers is expecting a baby girl in October and I think this would be nice for them.There are the Hedgerow Socks (rav), which I began last

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-73241605597275242032010-06-26T23:13:00.002-05:002010-06-26T23:17:19.180-05:00

Pattern and lots of handholding-helpful hints on Attic24.One of these days, I'll get around to an actual post again.

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-61287687238500822322010-06-20T23:33:00.002-05:002010-06-20T23:42:31.050-05:00

Pattern borrowed from Through the Loops, and execution inspired by Turtlegirl.It's the first thing I've crocheted in about 30 years. It's a two-sided coaster, made from Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed Cotton, in Coral, Sprout, and Glacier. It took about 3 hours, which included re-learning how to crochet. Obviously, I need a little improvement in the color-changing. I think I may go buy a crochet

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-7775418171960143802010-06-03T20:44:00.002-05:002010-06-03T21:46:05.315-05:00

The last few weeks have been busy, busy, busy! Like I said in the last post, I finished up the boring green blanket -- which I have to admit is very pretty, even if it was boring -- for the WRAP project. You can see more of the afghans and quilts (gorgeous quilts - I especially love Laurie's) there. And in case you are wondering, the book I gave along with mine was Life as We Knew It,

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-9679969973520023652010-05-11T22:33:00.003-05:002010-05-11T22:58:32.428-05:00

The boring green blanket is done!I haven't measured it yet, but I think it's about 3 1/2 feet by 4 feet. Pattern: Cable Blanket (that link should make in possible for anyone to see my Rav page for this project. The Bernat website makes you register even to look at free patterns.)Yarn: 10 skeins of KnitPicks Swish Bulky in Honeydew, which had been languishing in my stashNeedles: Giant size 10

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-91495383777333888302010-04-27T21:33:00.003-05:002010-04-27T22:05:40.238-05:00

The big green blanket is now about 85% done. Maybe this weekend....However, I did start, and finish, a little project this weekend.That's my head behind Vinnie's - see my hair sticking out?Okay, so, no matter how cute he is, Vinnie isn't the best model. Actually, it's probably because he was happy to wear the hat as long as he was sitting on my lap, leaning against me. The pattern is Sweet Pea,

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-31206572493215139692010-04-23T23:17:00.002-05:002010-04-23T23:21:30.310-05:00

that I live in Iowa but have never been to Minnesota?visited 31 states (62%)Create your own visited map of The United StatesAnyway -- I am still alive. Within a couple days I should have one - and maybe two - FOs to show you. I'll admit that the knitting has been a little sparse for the last couple weeks, but my excuse is my new toy.

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-43808780122689985812010-04-06T20:22:00.002-05:002010-04-06T21:21:42.155-05:00

Apparently all it takes to bring peace to my kitty-kingdom is a pouch of Friskies Gravy Sensations, split three ways and doctored up with a little Pro-Pet Skin & Coat Care Formula (soy bean, cod liver, and wheat germ oil, plus vitamins -- it works wonders on dry kitty skin).Yes, that is a snow boot next to a sandal there in the corner.That's Vinnie in front, Dolly in the middle, and Harley at the

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-28445366187358550592010-03-28T19:57:00.002-05:002010-03-28T21:35:56.476-05:00

I realize that you don't expect a post from me more than once every week or 10 days, but this time, I was really out of town!With my mom, brother, and niece, I went to San Antonio to visit my sister and brother-in-law. I'm really lucky they still live there, because it gives me a good reason to visit the city I lived in for 23 years! Our visit, which was timed to take place during my niece's

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-23315089938250381192010-03-16T21:16:00.002-05:002010-03-16T21:29:32.925-05:00

I'm exhausted. "Spring forward" always kicks my butt, and this Saturday night was particularly bad. Due to multiple airline-induced delays, I was up until 4:30 Sunday morning.Those airline-induced delays were because I was in Albuquerque for a conference last week. I've been to ABQ four times, always for conferences, but I'd really like to go back for a real vacation some time. It reminds me

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-31701828234452003142010-03-07T17:32:00.003-06:002010-03-07T17:49:46.134-06:00

The snow is melting slowly, which is a good thing, as it helps minimize the possibility of flooding, and it's actually gotten above 40 for a couple days. This week's predicted precipitation is rain and fog, not snow.Yesterday, a few geese returned to the pond.Click to enbiggenThe pond is creek-fed (and in fact, the creek continues on beyond the pond), so where the water is flowing in, the ice

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-59478291064266316752010-02-28T20:28:00.002-06:002010-02-28T21:40:48.086-06:00

It's always exciting when the mail lady brings goodies. Actually, sometimes it's the library's delivery guy (his name is Ron), since I have a fair amount of mail delivered to work instead of home. Either way, whether it's Ron or the anonymous Mail Lady who delivers my home mail, it's always exciting.There have been some undocumented knitting-related deliveries lately.Here's the February shipment

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-1838020505868118632010-02-22T22:01:00.003-06:002010-02-22T22:55:24.414-06:00

This weekend, I finally finished my brother's flip-top, flip-thumb mittens. I could have had them finished a couple weeks ago, but really needed my brother's thumb handy, to make sure everything fit.He had tried on the prototype at Christmas, so knitting the hand/mitten part was easy. The thumb still puzzled me, though, so I knit two variations. After he tried them both on Friday evening, I

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-6415467497566819762010-02-17T20:09:00.002-06:002010-02-17T20:44:51.154-06:00

Although I'm not participating on a team in the Ravelympics, I did sign up for the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics. I did this not because I think I will finish a project and "medal," but to force myself to work on this lap blanket, which I promised to knit by May for a charity.It's a free pattern from the Bernat site, called Cable Blanket and I'm using Knitpicks Swish Bulky (color Honeydew,

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-16592631149148971202010-02-04T19:34:00.003-06:002010-02-04T19:41:17.018-06:00

I've had this little black iron cat for years. I believe my mom gave it to me one year for Christmas. I use it as a door stop -- notice the hinge in the photo. Black Kitty is quite small!For reasons I don't understand, Harley has always been terrified of Black Kitty. Whenever she walks past it, she stays as far away from it as possible and eyes it suspiciously!Dolly ignores Black Kitty. Her

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-67095941625749414562010-01-25T20:44:00.002-06:002010-01-25T21:37:15.803-06:00

Thanks for the comments on my last post. Unfortunately, no one seems to know anything about my pendants. Oh, well... they're still pretty!My knitting mojo seems to be waxing and waning, practically on a daily basis. I've finished another fliptop glove for my brother, and have started on the second of this pair.What you see here is the back of the hand, with the 'fliptop' pulled back.I'm still

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-85258311390332978362010-01-18T20:28:00.003-06:002010-01-18T22:47:59.316-06:00

ETA: Oh, yeah - I changed my blog's background. I like it, but I'm not so sure about the header. More changes may be coming.Actually, I am knitting - I'm about half done with my brother's first real fliptop mitten (as opposed to the prototype) and I've also worked some on my Hedgerow socks, which have been languishing since before Christmas knitting began. I really need socks - all of my

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-82267803623938501532010-01-08T22:16:00.002-06:002010-01-08T22:47:01.474-06:00

I mentioned the Fliptop/Flipthumb mittens I'm (still) knitting for my brother for Christmas. I'm using these rather loose guidelines for the fliptop portion, but am winging it for the 'flipthumb' (needed for iphone use, of course!) I also wanted to make the body of the mittens stranded colorwork, because that makes them so much warmer.By the time I started knitting the inner half-fingers on

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-62812387071023852472010-01-03T20:55:00.003-06:002010-01-03T22:02:12.300-06:00

I didn't really plan on being gone for almost two weeks, but you know how this time of year is! The library was closed Dec. 24-27 and Jan. 1, and I took Dec. 28-31 off. The original plan was to go to San Antonio for Christmas at my sister's but circumstances got in the way and instead, we had Christmas at my mom's house in central Illinois. My sister even came up for a week (yay for Southwest

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-46267432872760313142009-12-21T20:11:00.002-06:002009-12-21T20:19:29.726-06:00

I had a post all written about how I spent today worried about Vinnie and Dolly, because they both seemed a little under the weather, but then I decided you might not really want to hear about it -- especially since Laurie wrote a similar, and much better, post today.So let me just say that everyone is fine this evening, and wondering why I was worried.Dolly says, "It was just a little hairball -

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-1753975153570818162009-12-14T21:46:00.002-06:002009-12-14T22:23:29.536-06:00

That Christmas is 50% off at Hobby Lobby.That, despite that fact, I still only spent $8.56 at Hobby Lobby!That my neighbor shoveled the 3 foot high pile of snow off the curb in front of my car, and shoveled a completely clear path to the driver's side door. He likes to shovel, plus he's a nice guy.The new Knitty! (especially this)That I may actually finish all my Christmas knitting!That this

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-44278456338004314242009-12-10T12:56:00.003-06:002009-12-10T14:37:59.506-06:00

I've got three Christmas projects done (for my niece, my mother, and my brother-in-law) and two to go. Those two have both been started. My brother's will be from this yarn:Not the best picture -- the green is a little more subdued, as is the red. And there's only a small amount of red in this project.My sister's gift has been started, too, but I'm definitely not showing it here!My grey Red

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-79486836713627798592009-11-29T19:32:00.002-06:002009-11-29T19:58:00.310-06:00

A five-day weekend gave me some time to make progress on my Christmas knitting - but also to decide I really needed to make a Red Scarf. I've made one the last three years, but had decided to take this year off -- except Norma says they really need more scarves, so.....This year's scarf is grey, not red (any unisex color is accepted), and is sort of based on this scarf - but done in worsted

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-21674715419183252272009-11-27T22:57:00.001-06:002009-11-27T22:58:57.937-06:00

Thanks to the Huffington Post for finding this!

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-23072230686137048852009-11-19T20:24:00.003-06:002009-11-19T21:14:16.677-06:00

Edited to add: Did you know there are two sizes of size 6 needles? I have 2 sets of size 6 DPNs, and one set is marked 4.0 mm (which is what the pattern calls for) and the other set is marked 4.25 mm. I knew about the two size 1s (well, 1 and 1 1/2), of course, but I didn't realize other sizes had variations, too. And I'm really glad my needles AND the pattern all indicated the metric size!**

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-42407283803457199402009-11-08T20:21:00.002-06:002009-11-08T20:55:15.462-06:00

I'm constantly thinking about blogging, but nothing seems really bloggable.For example: today was a gorgeous day - temperature in the low 70s and sunny. But around 4:30, you could tell it was already starting to get dark. I swear it's getting dark earlier this year.Also: Christmas knitting has commenced, but I'm always worried about blogging about it. So far, it's all from stash, but I think

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-6476589271014472742009-10-22T22:41:00.003-05:002009-10-22T23:36:38.779-05:00

I just got back from my second conference of the month, that of the South Central Chapter of the Medical Library Association. This is my "old" chapter, the one that I belonged to (geographically) all those years I lived in Texas. My "new" chapter, the Midwest Chapter, is great, but going to SCC is like spending 4 days with 200 of my closest friends -- I've know some of them since I attended my

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-58453307276023306442009-10-15T20:49:00.003-05:002009-10-15T21:54:07.658-05:00

I have been knitting -- a lot, in fact. I am not a fast knitter. Sometime in September, I decided that I wanted to make my friend and mentor Ellen something hand-knit for her 70th birthday. I knew I would see her at a conference in October. She lives in Texas, and doesn't really need hand-knits, so I decided a small shawl would be good. I decided on Ishbel, made from a skein of the Malabrigo

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-48379356752082602182009-10-08T22:35:00.002-05:002009-10-08T23:33:16.221-05:00

October is practically in double-digits and this is my first post. In my defense, I was out of town for the first five days, attending a conference in Columbus, Ohio. Great conference, with plenty of knitting-friendly presentations. I made excellent progress on the Ishbel I'm knitting from Malabrigo Sock yarn. Unfortunately, the pictures are being held hostage on my camera, whose cord seems to

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-49004495929902565622009-09-30T19:19:00.003-05:002009-09-30T19:35:14.792-05:00

My goal was to have my February Lady Sweater finished by October 1 (hence the name), and I did it! I wore it to work today, September 30.It's made from Brooks Farm Mas Acero (wool/silk/viscose) and I had heard that it grew when soaked. Boy, did it! But that's okay - it's really about the length I thought I wanted it.(Rav'ed here.)I'm really happy with it -- it's nice and soft and except for

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-78887519556540341822009-09-20T12:44:00.002-05:002009-09-20T13:12:22.664-05:00

Did I tell you I bought myself a bike for my birthday? You know how they say "it's like riding a bike"? Well, it really is! It had probably been 25 years since I had ridden a bike, but it only took about 10 feet to stop wobbling the first time I tried out my new bike.It's definitely an "old lady" bike, but I wanted something close to the kind of bike I rode when I was a kid. I hated the 10-

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-89827044084307371462009-09-09T10:41:00.002-05:002009-09-09T10:51:35.882-05:00

Dolly says, "Oh, noes!"Vinnie says, "No way!" Harley says, "Meh...."Here's the funniest cat video I've seen all week:

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-49496879256169746182009-09-07T19:43:00.003-05:002009-09-07T20:13:46.199-05:00

Original, right? I don't have much to say about knitting, or much of anything else. I should be preparing for a class I'm teaching tomorrow evening (information resources for global health, anyone? That would be "global health," as in something being studied, not "global health," as in "I can make everyone healthy with these databases!" Because if that were the case, librarians would rule the

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-12735139051939607982009-08-30T20:39:00.002-05:002009-08-30T21:10:36.920-05:00

I was looking forward to wearing my new Buttercup to knitting at Home Ec Saturday morning, but it was a little chilly, so I wore Daedelus instead. We've had a chilly summer, in fact. I hate to complain about it, considering what my friends and family in Texas have had this summer, but I worry that, if it's getting down into the 40s in late August, what's it going to be like in December?I had

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-21480377600369979492009-08-24T20:53:00.002-05:002009-08-24T21:59:28.036-05:00

Really, I didn't mean for it to be two weeks. But since it has been, I guess I would say that the highlights were seeing the butter cow and butter Abe at the Illinois State Fair and finishing Buttercup.And there was a butter kitten, too.There were also several butter butterflies hanging above Abe and the cow. If you look closely, at the very top of the first picture, there's something small

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-5376429237432492172009-08-10T21:30:00.002-05:002009-08-10T21:49:50.985-05:00

No, Buttercup (Rav link) isn't finished yet, but I did put it on waste yarn to make sure it fits -- and it does!The color is off - it's really a sort of blue-grey-green. However, this is the best I could do in my tiny downstairs bathroom.I'm doing a little modification - I'm making it more baby-doll shape, and am doing a wider trim at the bottom, a la Hapichick. As of Saturday, there's a new

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-40313432539108911132009-08-05T21:15:00.002-05:002009-08-05T21:46:09.909-05:00

I don't know about you, but tonight I'm working on socks, pretending I'm at Sock Summit (assuming there are lap-sitting cats at SS09). This is Vinnie, who has gone from growling at me a month ago to sitting on my lap whenever we're in the same room. And it's hard to take a picture of your own lap.I forgot one of my yarn-related birthday gifts in my last post. My brother got me this great

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-38913701107746924462009-07-30T19:52:00.004-05:002009-07-31T10:07:11.350-05:00

Yes, it's my birthday, and I got some knitting-related gifts!My sister sent me a Shawl Stick and a little K2tog pin. I think she got them both at Yarn Barn in San Antonio, and I love them both!I also got two knitting books. Knitting in the Sun is full of great patterns -- Santorini and Bordeaux are all already in my Ravelry queue, and I'm sure others will join them.I also received a copy of

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-40663455434181169042009-07-15T20:42:00.004-05:002009-07-15T22:05:47.651-05:00

It seems like a great deal of yarn has come into the house lately, and I haven't blogged it or even posted it on Ravelry (I LOVE the stash page on Ravelry -- I actually know what yarn I have now!)Of course, there were eight balls of Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy in Eucalyptus (027), which they describe as grey green -- I think it's more of a bluey green. It's being made into the previously described

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-76617988445924796172009-07-09T20:29:00.002-05:002009-07-09T20:55:00.523-05:00

I know, I know -- 3 posts in 2 days! Don't get used to it!Also, this one has actual knitting content! Including a finished object! Whoa!Here it is -- the baby-sized Artful Afghan (which is the same project as the Artful Elegance Afghan, just with different colors recommended -- you'll find examples under both names in Ravelry), finished the night before the mother went into labor (in fact,

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-87997149906094920692009-07-08T23:55:00.002-05:002009-07-09T00:02:25.952-05:00

Bezzie has requested that we post pictures of our library cards. And on mine, you get to see my bad handwriting, too, although in a pique of uncharacteristic paranoia, I've blurred out part of my signature, in addition to my card number and barcode.And I promise -- knitting next time!

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-16420154958853898412009-07-08T20:32:00.003-05:002009-07-08T21:45:09.129-05:00

I took a few days off last week and met up with my mom, brother, and niece at Illinois Beach State Park. We're a camping family, but we don't camp because of a love of the great outdoors or anything like that. We camp because it's a whole lot cheaper than staying in a hotel! Over the years, we went lots of places, like Washington, D.C. and Key West, that we wouldn't have been able to afford

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-48758298718269963612009-06-29T20:32:00.002-05:002009-06-29T20:48:48.666-05:00

Vinnie is a little less unhappy, I think. A couple times a day, I go into his room, and he growls a little less. I've also stopped shutting the door, and instead have just been setting a large suitcase in front of it. It lets some air in (Vinnie's room gets warm during the day) and, if any cat actually wanted to get either in or out of the room, they would be able to. So far, no takers among

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-24555238158300647002009-06-24T21:46:00.002-05:002009-06-24T22:12:40.205-05:00

Sorry for disappearing so long. The baby blanket is still not done, and the last week or so has been quite stressful.A week ago yesterday, on the 16th, one of my co-workers fainted at work. She came to in just a few seconds, and by the time someone came and got me, she was sitting up and talking, although she was very, very pale. We called 911 and the EMTs took her to the ER. Several hours

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-14182470885557272322009-06-10T20:56:00.002-05:002009-06-10T21:41:22.504-05:00

The baby blanket slog continues. It won't be done by Friday, but now I'm hoping for next Friday! And then I'm going to knit something lacy!!!!Or maybe socks -- I joined the Mean Girls Yarn Club and got my first shipment a couple days ago.Pretty!The colorway is called Aunt Sarah's Pussies, in honor of Si and Am, the naughty cats in Lady and the Tramp. Along with the yarn, there was a pretty

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-73604725102829893672009-06-06T16:53:00.002-05:002009-06-06T17:11:35.947-05:00

Still working on the wildly boring baby blanket. The shower is Friday. If I work hard (harder than I have been!), it will be done!It's a big circular-needle wad at the moment.I haven't let myself work on anything else, so as a result, there's been very little knitting lately.This afternoon, I went out and bought mint, basil, and sage and repotted them into some pretty pots. (I left a whole lot

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-75367763879773515962009-05-25T18:44:00.002-05:002009-05-25T20:07:03.163-05:00

Twice during the years I lived in San Antonio, the Medical Library Association meeting came to town. After each, we heard how San Antonio was one of the most popular venues and that it was one of the most requested locations when members were surveyed about were they would like to have our annual conference.I didn't get it. Partly, of course, because when the conference is in your town, it's a

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-50585692491089321512009-05-18T14:06:00.002-05:002009-05-18T14:09:33.593-05:00

Okay - this place really is gorgeous! We're staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, and our conference is at the Convention Center. Even the Convention Center is gorgeous!More pictures to come...

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-31016754390508351462009-05-12T21:30:00.002-05:002009-05-12T21:52:45.249-05:00

Yes, the Medical Library Association's annual conference is in Honolulu. We'll be staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I leave Friday, before the crack of dawn. The meeting is over next Wednesday, and I'm staying a couple more days after that, just for fun.I'm trying to finish up all those things that have to get done when I'm going to be gone from work for 7 days. Knitting is not one of

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-52612632735654519212009-04-30T19:17:00.002-05:002009-04-30T19:30:08.239-05:00

I stole this meme from Helen (get well soon, Helen!). You google the phrase "Unfortunately, {name}," with your name inserted, then post the first 15 hits. I'm giving you 16, because #16 was interesting. And I'm also giving you a bit of commentary on each. None of these Jannas are actually me, so there must be more of us out there than I thought!Unfortunately, Janna Callan and Jemma Konuralp

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-14240180283957066682009-04-26T13:57:00.003-05:002009-04-26T14:23:00.300-05:00

The last few weeks (maybe months) have been overwhelmingly busy at work, and taking up time at home, too, leaving little time for knitting or anything else. Finally, on Friday, I found myself the passenger in a car going to a meeting in Des Moines, 100 miles away, so I pulled out the baby blanket.The meeting itself provided a bit more knitting time. Unfortunately, just before we were about to

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-31955045525783521422009-04-14T19:10:00.003-05:002009-04-14T19:49:58.279-05:00

I wish I had an FO to show you, but I don't.  There's been a little knitting but not much.I'm finally on the fourth color, Azalea, for the baby blanket.  You can just barely see it, down there at the edge.  This is such totally mindless knitting. Since I really like my knitting to entertain me, I'd really like to get this over with!  I pulled out Stonewall and did another couple pattern repeats

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-1138234071500838342009-04-08T20:14:00.002-05:002009-04-08T21:13:30.951-05:00

Last night, I pulled two current, non-baby-blanket projects out of my bag, and realized that although the yarns are very different content, they're practically the same color.Here's my first Bougainvillea sock, lying on top of my Stonewall scarf. Not only are they the same color, but they are also both Anne Hanson designs!Bougainvillea is being knit out of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-81862826973075562892009-04-05T14:49:00.002-05:002009-04-05T15:18:01.695-05:00

There hasn't been much time for knitting this week -- work has been incredibly busy, and has spilled over substantially into my free time. Nevertheless, I have managed to work in a little knitting failure.Remember this? It's Helen's Lace from Lorna's Laces in Blackberry, special ordered from my LYS for the Fountain Pen Shawl (that's a Ravelry link, because I'm lazy). After knitting about 10

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-29345808765335765082009-03-29T18:31:00.002-05:002009-03-29T18:54:02.368-05:00

Since I got back from vacation, life has been hectic! First of all, you know what it's like when you get back to work after a week -- even if you've been keeping up with email, it's usually crazy. Then on Tuesday afternoon, I had to go home to wait for the power company, who decided that I needed a new gas meter. And I left work at about 2:30 Thursday to attend an all-day midyear board meeting

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-26706338080529208842009-03-23T20:18:00.002-05:002009-03-23T21:25:36.006-05:00

I really meant to blog while on vacation, but I didn't. I also didn't take a whole lot of pictures.I went to San Antonio with my mom, brother, and 12-year-old niece for Spring Break. I got to see lots of old friends (knitting and not), go to some of my favorite places, eat some of my favorite food, and shop at a "new" yarn store. What could be better?The first whole day we were there, I got to

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-81337762644226501302009-03-10T19:54:00.002-05:002009-03-10T21:02:25.388-05:00

Remember how I said I had to make the Fountain Pen Shawl? And how I said I might even spring for some Helen's Lace to make it?Guess what came in today?That's Helen's Lace in Blackberry. Home Ec Workshop ordered it for me, and it is beautiful! I think I'll wind it up tonight...

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-84184826376171464802009-03-08T14:02:00.002-05:002009-03-08T15:09:16.738-05:00

Several days ago, I promised actual knitting content. Well -- it's here!I finished the Nereid mitts, and are very happy with them. They're longer than most mitts, with the hand part coming almost halfway up my fingers, which I like a lot - my hands are frequently cold.These took longer than they should have, because I reversed the pattern on the second one. To do that, you can read the chart

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20711651.post-81812361446040123852009-03-03T23:03:00.002-06:002009-03-03T23:07:38.985-06:00

I like this -- it really is me. Pessimism depresses me and although I'm afraid some people see me as a Pollyanna, I really do believe that most people are basically good.Knitting content tomorrow...Your Word is "Hope"You see life as an opportunity for learning, growth, and bringing out the best in others.No matter how bad things get, you always have at least a glimmer of optimism.You are

jannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03684471131160867402noreply@blogger.com5