This is not the sky I am looking at today. If all went according to plan I am looking at lots of neon and glitter because I am currently in Las Vegas. I had originally thought I would post on the fly but I’m worried about that working and then getting derailed from NaBloPoMo at the beginning of the month. So. Posting ahead it is.

This is the sky I see from my office. It overlooks a beautiful pond and the trees are stunning right now. I think a view like this is what makes people love New England in autumn. I consider myself fortunate that it’s a view I get to see all the time.

Happy Saturday! I hope the sky is lovely wherever you are!

Here we are at Saturday again and that means you get to learn 5 more things about me.  I thought it might be useful to share some of the tips and techniques I use for various knitting projects, so this Saturday’s things are all about knitting.

1. I knit almost exclusively on Addi Turbo circs. I have just about every size and length I need at this point and I hardly ever bother with straight needles anymore.
2. When I knit my picot edge socks, or any other sock pattern that has a row repeat I need to keep track of, I use my beginning of the round stitch marker to keep track of my rows. I simply move it in one stitch for each row that I’ve knit. For instance, if I’m on row 1, the marker is in one stitch from the beginning of the round. Row 2 is 2 stitches in, etc. This makes it really easy to keep track of my place and I don’t have to count rows.
3. I use a traditional row counter for tracking increases and decreases. I have a system that uses the 2 numbers on the counter separately. For instance, if I am knitting sleeves (which I have been and the Spartan Sweater for Dale is done) I use the right hand number to track how many rows I’ve knit and the left hand number to track how many repeats I’ve done.  So number 24 means I have completed 2 increases and am on the 4th row of the current number of increases. I hope that makes sense – it’s kind of hard to explain.
4. Speaking of sleeves, I knit both at once. This is an easy way of making sure they come out the same.
5. Finally, when I am charted designs I use a LoRan magnetic board. I’ve had this since my days of doing counted cross stitch and I find it perfect for keeping track of my place on a complicated lace chart.

Did you learn anything new?

It’s Saturday and that means it’s time for five more things about me.

1. My 5th blogiversary was last January 29th and I forgot to blog about it. A major milestone like that and I forgot? I should’ve turned in my blogging license months ago.
2. I hate to pump gas. Hate. it. I actually try to leave the tank empty for when Dale drives my car so that he will have to pump the gas. I’m not even sure what it is I hate about it. Obviously if it’s cold or raining then it stinks but I even hate it in the summer when the weather is beautiful. I think it’s the standing there and waiting and doing nothing that makes me crazy.
3. The other morning, while driving to work, I saw a magnificent 8 point buck by the side of the rode. He was in a clearing and there were beautiful fall leaves on the ground and in the trees behind him and he stood there, perfectly motionless, looking back at me. It was amazing.
4. I am a morning person. I love to get up early (okay, I define early as 6) on the weekends and enjoy the quiet. I check my email and facebook and read blogs and then I knit. It’s my favorite time of the day.
5. I have several lenses for my camera but I tend to get into ruts with them. I’ll leave the wide angle on for weeks. Or I’ll use the original lens that came with the camera for a while. Today I remembered that I have a prime lens and I put that on the camera – we’ll see how long this one stays there but I predict it will be a while.

And that makes 10, for those of you keeping track.