East Coast Knits

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

2010 Christmas Knitting

I meant to type this up shortly after Christmas, but it's been sitting in my drafts for a long time. Better late than never I guess. I do mean to blog more, I just have to find topics to write about and not much has been going on around here.

I did knit a few things for Christmas 2010, mostly using stash yarn. My mother does not wear anything wool and I've always known there is not much I could knit for her, unless she specifically asked for it. If I'm going to knit for someone I want to be mostly sure they will like it and get some use out of it.

Mom's Church Scarf

Pattern: Luscious Lace Scarf by Knitting Pixie

Yarn: Elann Lustrado

Needles: US 5/3.75mm

Size: 7" x 57"

Started: Dec 15, 2010

Finished: Dec 20, 2010

Brother in Law Ryan's Socks

Pattern: Toe-up with gusset and slip-stitch heel

Yarn: Sock it to Me! Collection Essential 4-Ply

Needles: US 0 - 2.0 mm

Started: July 4, 2010

Finished: August 11, 2010

Hat and mittens for my niece

Hat Pattern: Kim's Hats by Kim Hamlin from Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Yarn: Yarn Pirate Organic Merino (pink) and Elann Superwash Worsted (purple)

Needles: US8/5.0mm

Size: Child

Started: Dec 16, 2010

Finished: Dec 21, 2010

Mitten Pattern: Classic Mittens by Bernhard Ulmann

Yarn: Yarn Pirate Organic Merino (pink) and Elann Superwash Worsted (purple)

Needles: US4/3.5mm

Size: Medium

Started: Dec 24, 2010

Finished: Dec 25, 2010

Hat and mittens for my nephew

Pattern: Kim's Hats by Kim Hamlin from Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Yarn: Elann Superwash Worsted

Needles: US8/5.0mm

Size: Toddler

Started: Dec 14, 2010

Finished: Dec 22, 2010

Pattern: Stay-Put Baby Mitts by Jillian Neary

Yarn: Elann Superwash Worsted

Needles: US4/3.5mm

Started: Dec 22, 2010

I haven't completed a single thing since Christmas, despite having many projects on the needles. I just don't feel like knitting I guess. I try to get some done though. I am almost finished a sock, but then I will have to knit the second sock too.
Finished: Dec 25, 2010

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Help a gal out?

Some of you know I'm taking a continuing education course at a local university. The course is Certificate in Adult Education and I have 4 assignments to complete over the duration of the 10 modules. The first assignment involves writing a proposal for a course or training session I want to develop and deliver, along with a needs assessment for that course or training session (course, workshop, training session, etc.) The project can be a real life situation involving my workplace, volunteer group, church group, or even hypothetical. I've chosen a hypothetic topic for my project. The important thing is to show what we learn!

My assignment is on knitting, of course! The hypothetical situation is that I want to develop a 10 week knitting workshop for the beginner knitter. It's the type of workshop you might take at your local recreation department. The needs assessment is a short questionnaire I would have filled out by local residents interested in learning how to knit. The information collected with the needs assessment would help me to better design a program that will suit the needs of the audience or students.

Here is where you come in. I have to test the questionnaire before it's given out to the "audience". I need at least 3 people, preferably local residents, to fill out my questionnaire and give feedback on the design, clarity and questions. If you would like to help me out, please email eastcoastknits@gmail.com and I will send you the draft questionnaire. Please let me know which format you prefer when you email me (.rtf, .pdf). The only thing as this is a time sensitive thing and I will need the completed questionnaires back by 12pm this Friday (January 7th).

At this point all the work I'm doing on these projects is to pass this course. Depending on how things go and where I am later this year, I might actually try to have this course offered through the recreation department or may teach it on my own. That is a maybe though ;)

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

New Year's Eve Meal

New Year's Eve isn't a big deal to me. I don't do the party thing anymore, but pretty much everyone I know has plans on NYE. For the past few years I've stayed home and had a little special meal to myself.

This year I was going to make my own Pad Thai totally from scratch, but decided to get take-out instead. Easy! I got a recommendation for wine and bought a bottle of Lingenfelder, a riesling from Germany. For dessert I made mangoes and sticky rice, which was a first for me. It's a really simple recipe and delicious too! I had leftovers from both dishes which I ate later that night ;)

Chicken Pad Thai with a veggie spring roll from Just Spring Roll

Mangoes with sticky rice

Friday, December 31, 2010

Three Six Five

Happy New Year!

You've probably heard of people taking one photo a day for a whole year. It's been a popular thing on the internet for a few years now. I did I did a year in pictures from 2008 to 2009 starting with my 29th birthday. It was a combination of self-portraits and pictures just representing my day. Sometimes I forgot to take a picture and other times I just got really bored, but I still stuck with it.

There's been some talk on Twitter about doing 365 again. My idea for this year is to take one self-portrait a year, post it to Flickr, and write about what I did that day. It would be a good way to get back into journaling, plus I could look back on the year and actually have a record! I feel like this might make it easier to do because even if I feel like the photo is boring, at least I will have something to say about my day.

I've shared my idea with a few other people on Twitter. What I think we should do is join one or more of the 365 groups on Flickr that suit your interests and commitment level. There are many groups on Flickr for 365 projects, here are just a few:

365 Days
Project 365
2011 in Photos - A 365 day Project
Ravelry's Project 365
365 days, the knitterly and crafty types

There are more groups which you can search for if you have a particular interest. Just remember to check the rules of the group before you join. For instance some Flickr 365 groups are only for self portraits while others allow a combination of self portraits and other photos. You may not even post your photos to Flickr, but that's what I'll be doing :)

So get your cameras ready! Who's with me?