I've finished several pairs of socks .... Oh, My, Gecko Eyes, Firestarter (from Yarnissima's site), a pretty plain ribbed, solid color pair for my youngest son, a nice cabled rib pattern in one of Happy Feet's beautiful deep variegated colorways for my daughter-in-law, a couple of fairly plain patterned pairs for myself but in really nicely colored variegated yarns ... I'm moving on to more complicated patterns now for the most part. Although I *LOVE* colors and variegated yarns ... and have several in my stash waiting for my attention ::grins;:, so it's not likely I'll be abandoning them completely for solid colors anytime soon.

Working on Dragon's Breath in solid grays for my younger son - he really isn't much for patterns or lots of color. Nice soft, mostly dark, solid colors, thank you very much ::NOT much fun to knit:: .... I've found a few patterns I think he'll put up with ... 3 dragon patterns (well, sort of ... they have dragon in the pattern name & are all based on nice quiet (but at least not boring!) patterns), a couple of ribbing patterns that include cables & twists in them, and a pattern called Earl Gray (or Earl Grey? ... can't recall off-hand) which is mostly plain stockinette stitch but has a small quiet cable pattern along each side from the toe up to the cuff. I'll do that one in gray as well ... what else with that name?

But he has such BIG feet! 11" long!! Means I always have to allow for an extra 50 grams of yarn - either get 3 50 gram balls of one color, 2 100 gram balls (and have quite a bit leftover) or 2 50 gram balls of a main color and 1 50 gram ball of an accent color to use for the ribbing, heels and toes. Well, I figure when I have extra yarn from daddy's socks, I can always make a pair of matching socks for his son ...

I currently have a 100 gram ball of a lovely blue denim variegated color from Trexxing XXL to use for him ... but first, I've got to either find a color to use for the accent color or get another 100 gram ball of this. I'm hoping to get a second ball of this ... it's a really soft, pretty yarn.

Working on the Bayerische pattern for myself. Well, at least I've started hunting for the yarn for it. It's nearly a hundred stitches cast on (VERY textured cable & twisted stitches .... should keep my mind occupied!) and needs a thinner than usual sock yarn. I've actually got some in the right weight .... but this pattern really needs a solid yarn to show off that wonderful textural pattern and all I've got right now in that weight is a beautiful variegated. Unfortunately, the two will just clash and that won't do at all. ::sighs:: Simply forces me to go shopping .... terrible, ya know? ::snickers::

You can find both of these patterns on Ravelry.com. You may have to wait a few days to get your invitation to join (once you've requested it) but it's well worth the wait to be able to see all the work done by others - and the chance to download some absolutely fabulous patterns ... some for free, others you'll need to pay for.

Also have another grandchild on the way, so bootees and blankets are being created. Found some wonderful bootee patterns on Ravelry as well.

Well, need to go work on either one of the knitting projects or that huge pile of sewing projects .... just as soon as I manage another cup of tea. :)

Day 3

I'm not doing very good with my vow to post weekly I just have so many hours in a day and it seems like that just isn't enough for all I want to do !!

However, I have found 3 sites I'd like to share ... the first two are for dragon lovers, especially.

On the first site, you'll find directions to make your own dragon eggs, display stands, and transport boxes (as well as some other really fun projects!) We love dragons around here, so this one will be well used.

http://dadcando.com/default_SPECIAL.asp?section=Making&project=Wizardry_and_Magic_Homepage

Then there's the next one ... where you can make a soft, furry, dragon of your very own even if you don't have advanced sewing skills. The patterns are provided (for free!) as well as instructions for putting them together. Click on the cuddly dragon link on the left. The Bean Bag Dragon or Batty are the easiest ones. Batty comes out adorable! Make sure you hang on to yours with both hands - everyone who sees him will want him!

http://www.wyrm.org.uk/

The last link will take you to a site that shows you how to make your very own miniature books - and some instructions for making very special, personalized paper of your own for the covers! Templates are provided for various mini-books as well. You can also find instructions at the first site (above), under Book Binding, for making a diary-sized book of your own. Use the instructions here for the paper to create your own papers to cover the inside front and back of your diary/journal.

http://www.lostbuttonstudio.com/minibooks.html

Day 2

Well, I've nearly finished the second dragon from the pattern I purchased at smallworks.com (Kell's Dragon). This pattern is awesome!!! The dragons are 4 feet long from nose tip to tail tip and completely pose-able because there is a 1/8" covered wire from nose to tail. The wings and legs are attached with buttons (the pattern calls for self-covered buttons so they don't show but so far I've used specialty buttons which accent the dragon). By attaching these parts with buttons you can move the wings and legs to various positions. After I finish making the dragons that have been requested by family members, I hope to create some for sale, possibly on E-bay. They take over 30 hours to create, not counting the cost of the pattern and the fabric/supplies required for each one, so they won't be cheap. But hopefully there will be enough dragon lovers out there to make the effort worthwhile.

Day 1

I'm going to try to post at least once a week. Sometimes things get away from me, so please forgive me if I am occasionally late. Us older folks sometimes need to find our minds before we do things. And around here, I first have to figure out if I left it in a book or an ongoing craft project!

At the moment, I need to go explore some more at the Leaky Lounge .... wave hello if you see me there!

Katt