Episode 7: Scratch and Dent

 Chit Chat

       o   Very little Chit Chat today.  I've had some ick in the house.

       

Knit Chat

       o   FO – Irish Coffee by Thea Colman (aka Baby Cocktails on Ravelry)

•    Paton’s Wool in Currant colorway
•    Size 8 needles - Knitter’s Pride

      o   FO -  Basic Tube Socks Recipe

•    Red Heart and Sole sock yarn in the Mellow Stripe colorway
•    Size 1 needles - Addi Turbo - 40 inch
•    Knit 2 at a time, toe up

      o   WIP – Mesh-enger Shawl by Stephanie Shiman

•    Knitting from stash yarn. Main Color is a lovely sliver mystery yarn purchased from LYS scratch and dent sale.  And Contrast Color is Knit Picks Simply Cotton in the Dogwood Heather colorway
•    Size 8 Knitter's Pride needles 

Sew Chat

      o   New book The Sewing Machine Classroom by Charlene Philips

      o   Making plans to sew pajama pants.

Episode 6: A Short One

After recording a full episode that did not save, I've been trying to record again.  Today I managed a short episode.

 Chit Chat

       o   Renamed the the podcast to sync with my blog. That Tess Girl: Just chatting it up

       o   Back to School and  PTA! Working on different volunteer areas at daughter’s school.

       o   Finding time for canning Pickles

Knit Chat

       o   HO – VanillaBean Striped Sock by Emily O’Grady

•         I incorporate the OMG Heel by Megan Williams
•         Knit in Knit Picks Felici Sock Yarn in Jingle colorway

      o   WIP -  Irish Coffee by Thea Colman (aka Baby Cocktails on Ravelry)

•           Paton’s Wool in Currant colorway
•           Size 8 needles - Knitter’s Pride
•           Almost done! One sleeve and finishing to go!

      o   WIP – StaggeredShawl by Amy Gunderson

•           This one is a LYS Knit Along
•           Plymouth Yarn – Bamboo Pop yarn (bamboo / cotton blend)
•           Garter Stitch Intarsia – A new to me technique

Episode 5 - It's Been A Long Time

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Chit Chat

• Vacation! Walt Disney World was a blast!  We had so much fun.  They make everything so easy. 
• Kittens! Merry and Pippen.  They have taken over the house. Adopted from FurKids. Highly recommened.  They were wonderful.
• Husband travel and work and taking care of kittens kept me on my toes and not knitting as much and having little time to record.

Knit Chat

• FO – Mitered Hanging Towel by Cristina Bernardi Shiffman
•   Knit using Lily Peaches N Cream Yarn from stash. Mix Match Button. Ha!
• FO –  Helmikuu Boot Toppers by Sunshine Ravioli Knits
• Knit using handspun. Ewephoric Fibers BFL 80/20
• Pattern states to cast on 80 but that was too large.  So I went down to 64 as others stated for a much better fit.
• FO – Boy’s Gone Loopy by Bethany McRae
• Preemie hats.
•  I left off the loop.
• Knit out of donated yarns.
• WIP -  Irish Coffee by Thea Coleman (aka Baby Cocktails on Ravelry)
• Paton’s Wool in Currant colorway
• Size 8 needles - Knitter’s Pride
• At the waist shaping and I’m really enjoying knitting it.  Can’t wait until it’s finished.
• WIP – Mama Vertebrae by Kelly Brooker
• Cascade 220 fingering weight in dark red
• Size 5 - Hiya Hiya’s
• Focused on getting through this knit now that the sleeves are separated.

 

Spin Chat

•  Mohair N More – Etsy Shop
• 4 oz Peppermint.  I’ve spun 2 of the 4 oz
• 4 oz Café Au Laitte.
• Do I spin 2 and 2 then ply single color.  Or 4 and 4 and ply two color.

Sew Chat

• Project Bag! I think it’s my best yet!
• Need to decide on fabric for a couple of new projects.

Book Chat

• Poirot and Me by David Suchet
• For those who love Agatha Christie and have seen the Poirot movies with David
• I highly recommend

• Considering signing up for Audible…

Episode 4: Chatting about Vacation Knitting

In this week's episode:

 Chit Chat:

I chat a good bit about my upcoming Walt Disney World Vacation and my plans for vacation knitting.  I also mention the Dixie Hwy 90 Mile Yardsale and the wonderful cookbooks I found.  Better Home and Garden cookbooks for $.50 each.  Also I chat about the upcoming cooking show, Thyme for Sharing.

Knit Chat:

Finished Object:

Metalouse by Stephen West. Knitting in Noro Silk Garden Sock and Cascade 220 Fingering.

In Progress:

Irish Coffee sweater designed by Thea Coleman a.k.a. Baby Cocktails in Paton's Wool in the Currant Colorway.

Mama Vertebrae by Kelly Brooker in Cascade Fingering

Vanilla Bean Stripe Socks by Emily O'Grady in Knit Picks Felici in Jingle Bells colorway

Mitered Dish Towel by Cristina Bernardi Shiffman in Peaches n Cream cotton yarn

Sew Chat:

I talk about sewing a travel pillow out of some very old fat quarters I found in a box.

Episode 3 - Stash Dash Planning

 

First, UGH on the thumbnail of this week's video. I have some studying to do on how to customize thumbnails.

In this week's episode:
 Chit Chat:

I chat about crazy schedules and the end of school year wrap up and Stash Dash planning.


Knit Chat:

I spend some time discussing my WIPs for Stash Dash.  I think I can make 5,000 meters with these projects currently on the needles.


Metalouse by Stephen West. Knitting in Noro Silk Garden Sock and Cascade 220 Fingering.

Irish Coffee sweater designed by Thea Coleman a.k.a. Baby Cocktails in Paton's Wool in the Currant Colorway.

Follow Your Arrow (1) by Ysolda Teague in Cascade Fingering

Mama Vertebrae by Kelly Brooker in Cascade Fingering

Hitofude by Hiroko Fukatsu in Malabrigo

Kaika by Michelle Hunter Mystery Sock KAL. Knitting these in Regia 4-fadig Mosaik Color.

Planning Chat:

And if I need extra meters I'm also planning to knit a Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos in Knit Picks Sport.

Episode 2 - Take 5!

After several attempts, I finally have a video entry!

Chatting it up about:

FO Chat:

OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams. Knitting these in Regia Sock Design Line OMBRE Stripe in the Iceburg colorway.

Bunny Blanket Buddy by Lion Brand yarn in Universal Yarn Bella Chenille Multi in the Candy Store colorway.

Knit Chat:

I chat about progress made on my knits and casting on for the In A Sknit Podcast KAL (knit-a-long) for a Baby Cocktails Sweater.

Work in Progress includes:

Kaika by Michelle Hunter Mystery Sock KAL. Knitting these in Regia 4-fadig Mosaik Color.

Metalouse by Stephen West. Knitting in Noro Silk Garden Sock and Cascade 220 Fingering.

Irish Coffee sweater designed by Thea Coleman a.k.a. Baby Cocktails in Paton's Wool in the Currant Colorway.

Sew Chat:

I chat about my Sew Woes and purchasing two new patterns.

Simplicity Pattern #A2830 - Super cute bags for carrying my knitting
New Look Pattern #A6245 - Women's Summer blouse.

If you hung around for the full episode, I thank you! You can find me on Instagram and Ravelry as ThatTessGirl.

Thanks again.  I will see how this video blogging goes and post again soon.

First Video Entry!

Oh my! I have taken the plunge!  I am trying video. Part of my goals was moving toward a podcast but in order to do that I decided I should take a baby step and try video blogging first. So here I am trying it out.  This is a win because it helps me get comfortable in front of the camera and my blog will no longer sit here neglected.

Sorry about the lighting and video quality. I'm a newbie.  I will try to do better.  Hey, this is a learning and growing experiment right?! Sadly, I uploaded to Podcast Garden, but it looks like that load didn't fully take or something.  (Still a newbie!) However, the RSS Feed does appear to work.  The RSS Feed for the Podcast is here: ThatTessGirl on Podcast Garden . It did work for me when I tried that.  I will continue to try the Podcast upload feature. Until then, I was able to get this uploaded using Blogger's features. I will move toward better production and storage features. Promise.

Whew, with that big long disclaimer, here we go.

Show Notes:

What I'm Knitting:

OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams. Knitting these in Regia Sock Design Line OMBRE Stripe in the Iceburg colorway.

Kaika by Michelle Hunter Mystery Sock KAL. Knitting these in Regia 4-fadig Mosaik Color.

Metalouse by Stephen West. Knitting in Noro Silk Garden Sock and Cascade 220 Fingering.

Random Knit Chat:

I talk about joining in the In A Sknit Podcast KAL (knit-a-long) for a Baby Cocktails Sweater.  I am considering knitting the Irish Coffee sweater designed by Thea Coleman in some stash yarn.

I very randomly toss in a knit chat about washing my hand knit socks.

If you hung around for the full episode, I thank you! You can find me on Instagram and Raverly as ThatTessGirl.

Thanks again.  I will see how this video blogging goes and post again soon.

RSS Feed for the Podcast is here: ThatTessGirl on Podcast Garden

Now About Those Goals

We all set them right? Goals for ourselves.  I have a few that I'm going to list out here and check back on throughout the year with progress reports.

So here they go!

Health

1. Exercise at least 3 times a week. I want to start the Couch to 5K plan again but for now I'll settle for exercising 3 times a week. 
2. Lose weight.  Yes I know this is a horrible goal.  It should be just be healthier, eat healthier but well, there it is in writing.  I want to lose weight.  I want to drop 10 pounds by mid-year and maybe another 10 pounds by year end. Sadly I am that overweight.  That still would not put me at the weight all the charts say for my age and height I should be at but it will put me at a comfortable and I think maintainable weight for me.
3. Eat wisely and make better food choices.
4. Take my vitamins.

Knitting

1. Finish my WIPs. I have four that have been languishing for awhile. I'll discuss in another post.
2. Knit socks from my own personal sock club. I've pulled out 9 skeins of sock yarn and plan to choose 6 at random to knit.
3. I want more shawls.  So I plan to knit more shawls for me.
4. Start knitting on the blanket squares for the scrape blanket.  I have a basket full of remnants just waiting for me.
5. Knit more for the family! I want to knit my daughter another sweater and my husband more socks.

Spinning

1. This one is easy.  Just spin! A lot! LOL!!

Crafting/Sewing

1. I want to do more crafts and a good bit more sewing. I don't want to be too specific here but a few sewing items I want to try are matching aprons for me and my daughter and more project bags.

Well, I think that about covers it really for specific goals. I'll be sure to check in with progress reports.

Be Better

Here we are again at the very beginning of a brand new year.  2014 was a great year.  We did a lot of cool things and shared so much love and laughter.  It was also a time of adjustment and mourning. Without my Dad here I felt that missing piece of myself all the time.  I know I always well.  The pain isn't as sharp but I am always aware. I know he is in Heaven and watching over me and with me all the time and that is what makes me OK.

But like I said, 2014 was still a great year. And I know 2015 will be also.

I have a theme for the new year... Be Better.  A better person, a better knitter, a better crafter, a better friend, in better health.  All those things and more.

So with that theme in mind, here are a few things I am planning for myself for the new year.

Eat healthier. Exercise more. Feel better. No real plan in place for this other than just do it! I'll keep you posted on my progress. I want to lose weight and I think keeping up with these things will be a great start.

In addition to that, I want to be a better knitter.  For Christmas I got some great books that I can't wait to read and dig into.  I know learning more about technique will help be be a better knitter.

This year I was also gifted by my wonderful husband a spinning wheel.  I can't wait to spin more and over the course of the year be a better spinner.  Which I am already well on my way here since before I had the wheel I couldn't spin at all.

Better crafter for me means trying new things.  I want to sew more and there are a few other crafts I want to try.  My daughter loves doing crafts so I want to encourage her in the arts and crafts as well this year.

Doing all these things will make feel better, and if I feel better, I know I'll be a better friend.  Which all this boils down to me being a better person.

Tomorrow I will discuss more details on goals for the year. Until then, have a wonderful New Year's Day!