Still moving, backwards possibly, but at least still moving...

Do you hear frogs in the background? Yes? Well, that is me frogging two of my latest knitting projects. And yes, I am so very thankful for lifelines!

I was making good progress on my grandmother's faroese shawl, when at the end of a very busy row, my stitch count was off by 2! Argh! At first I wanted to blame the chart, but alas, the problem was my own. So, frogging commenced back to the most recent lifeline. I keep trying to convince myself that this is *good experience* for me to reknit part of the pattern....but, really, for the 3rd time?

Then, there is my simple and mindless stockinette stitch socks, and yes, they are getting partially frogged as well. The frogs are having a hey day at our house today! I thought that since the socks were just mindless knitting that I would try a new heel. Yep, you guessed it, I messed it up. The first two stitches of every 3 of 4 rows are slipped purlwise. My problem was where I had my working yarn at the beginning of these particular rows...*not in the right place*. I managed to mess up the slipped stitch edging on one side of the heel flap! So, both heel flaps of the two socks are being *removed by frogging* today.

For those of you that may not be familiar with the work of frogs in knitting, it is when you have to undo, or unknit, some of your knitting by removing many rows of stitches. You *rip it* out...which sounds like *ribbit*, the sound that frogs make. Thus, the term *frogging*, or *rip it, rip it, rip it*. Frogging is one of the least favorite activities of any knitter, and you can include me as one of the knitters that really dislikes this activity.

I'm really hoping to make more progress on my grandmother's shawl. I'm putting almost everything else on hold in order to get this project completed. I would like to send her the shawl before summer!

I had planned to go to Borders last night and knit with all my pals in our knitting group. However, I felt really rotten a few hours before time to go. I'm blaming it on some medicine that I have to take. I took it with food to prevent stomach upset, but evidently my stomach didn't think it was sufficient to keep from getting all in a tither. So, next week I'll wait until *after* knitting fun to be medication compliant. Yep, I've learned my lesson on this situation.

I did make it to the public library this week and was excited to find that they had added several books to their knitting selection. Although most of the books were checked out, it was a delight to see all the new listings. The trip was not in vain. I think I checked out 6 or 7 books on *spinning*. I have been progressively being consumed with a desire to learn to spin various fibers into yarn. I've even been dreaming about it!

I think the lucious alpaca that I have been knitting with has really turned up the heat on my desire to learn to spin. I love the look of almost any spinning wheel, or even a drop spindle. I've been reading and trying to learn about the process, the terms, the history....it all appeals to me.

I was able to find a spinning guild in our area from the Interweave website. I made contact and we now have an invitation to attend the next spinning guild meeting! The spinning guild members are even going to bring their wheels so that we may see a selection of wheels, see demonstrations, and ask questions. How wonderful is this? I don't know if I'll be able to sleep much in anticipation of the spinning guild meeting on Feb. 7th. : )

I think I'll concentrate on the joy of new beginnings for the remainder of the day. I can *re-begin* on the troubled areas of my knitting projects, look forward to learning more and possibly beginning the adventure of learning to spin, and beginning the remainder of the afternoon with a better outlook on all of these things.

One of my favorite *beginnings* to remember is that of the arrival of our Dachshund puppies in 2004. This is the only litter of puppies that we have had on our farm. We don't plan on allowing it to happen again, but they were adorable and treasured. We still have 3 of the puppies, and the other 3 went to excellent homes. So, our current Dachshund count is *6* (Ellie, Doogie, Streudel, Montey, Moose, and Linus). We love these doggies! We also have Jake, my hubby's Australian Shepard. And, we have our grand-dog, Charlie. Charlie is our daughter's dog, but since she has newly married and is settling in to another semester away at college, we are babysitting our grand-dog this semester. Charlie is a lovable, mixed breed, charmer.

The picture was taken when the puppies were just 24 hours old. : )

Have a great weekend everyone!

Your friend,

Shelly

P.S. The baby birds in the last post were indeed baby Bluebirds from a previous nesting season. : )

NLT
Philippians 3:13-14
13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.