Mom's Surprises

I'm updating on the scarf for my mom with a picture. I've been steadily knitting on it and am a little bit more than halfway done.
I did start on her shawl for her birthday at work but I forgot the crochet hook so couldn't do any rows beyond 15. I haven't knitted anymore of it yet. My Queen Anne's Lace is coming along nicely. I have about 16 more rows to knit before finishing chart 2.
I have started learning to crochet. I found this great book that has very clear instructions. I tried crocheting right handed (I'm a lefty). I couldn't get my hands coordinated enough to pull the yarn through the loop on the hook. This book also has instructions fro lefty's, so I'm using them. When I'm further along in my crocheting it sounds like I will need to reverse rows so that it will look like the picture, but that's for later. The book also has projects in it that can be done after learning a few basic stitches. The book is by Leisure Arts and is called 10 20 30 Minutes to Learn to Crochet. the project that I'm doing right now is a dishcloth that uses single crochet and half double crochet stitches. When it's finished I will post a picture.
In other news: I still haven't heard from my son yet as to when he will be arriving home (hopefully soon). I'm taking a short trip with my mom today to Prosser to buy some Chukkar Cherry products to send to my swap partners for Valentine's Day (stitch markers). Mom said there were a few places that she wanted to visit as well.

Friendship Scarf and Other Projects

I've sent my scarf to Diana T. who is next on the list. I'm eagerly waiting for a scarf to show up in the mail so that I can decide what color to use. Can't wait to see all the scarves when they're completed.
It should be safe enough since my mom doesn't have my blogger address. I'm knitting her a Frost Flowers Scarf for Valentine's Day. The kit can be purchased at Peaches & Creme. The Pattern is by Maile Mauch. I'm also planning on knitting her a shawl for her birthday. She knows what color of yarn is being used since I asked her to pick it out but she doesn't know what it will look like. I have a pattern in mind that uses beads. the pattern is from Knit 1 Magazine Fall/Winter 2008 issue. I just need to wind the yarn and cast on.
On the Queen Anne's Lace, I'm about halfway through chart 2. The bamboo needles work like a charm for the laceweight yarn. I haven't dropped any stitches since switching. As soon as I'm done with chart 2 I will take another picture and post it.
In other News: I haven't heard from my son yet, so I don't know when he'll be arriving. Should hear from him soon though.

Knit Update

I have started my first circular shawl and finished chart one (second start). It's going very well since I changed from metal needles to bamboo. The metal needles were just too slippery for the lace. I did start Queen Anne's Lace by MMario with another color and yarn. I made too many mistakes and with the metal needles the stitches were always dropping off. This second time is much better with the bamboo needles and I like the lace yarn that I'm using this time much better.

On the Ravelry Peaches & Creme Group they're having Friendship Scarf groups dependent on color, pets or not, smoke or not. It sounds like lots of fun and have joined in with purple, pet, and no smoke. I have my part of the scarf ready to send to the next person who will knit 10 inches then send it to the next person in our group and so on. There is a total of 5 people in each group. By the time that it returns to you it's finished except using the kitchner stitch to stitch the two halves together.

I received a thank you note from the hospital today for the preemie hats that I made in November. That was so nice of them.

I've also been having a blast making stitch markers and receiving them from my swap partners through Stuff Knitters Want and Gotta Have Yahoo group.

My son will be coming home soon for a few days at the end of the month. I can't wait to see him. He first called from Hawaii about 6 pm (my time) but I was sleeping so that I would be ready to work that night. I called him back and left a message about 10:30 pm when I checked my phone. He called me back Thursday morning about 4 am to say hello and let me know that he was back in the states after spending time in Okinawa and Korea. Actually it was his suggestion that I should post more often to my blog since he admitted that he actually reads it. So I will make a much better effort to post to my blog on a regular basis and not let so much time pass between.