Finally, I'm back

I know, I know... It's been forever since I made a blog entry. I moved last month and our internet wasn't up and working until yesterday. So I have an excuse- although not a good one. And of course I've still been knitting like crazy. I finished this baby bolero in just a few days. It's for some friends who just had a baby girl, I still haven't seen them yet because they live an hour away, but that's why I made it huge. The yarn is Cascade Sierra, a cotton and wool blend and the pattern is from Knitting Pure and Simple-which means I didn't have to sew it! These socks were fun to make too. The green one is for my dad's xmas present-so hopefully I will actually finish the second one-or least start it. It is made out of Silky Sock and Gems Pearl, the silk sock yarn is so nice to knit with. The red sock is made out of Dream in Color Smooshy. The color is chinatown apple and the pattern is from DIC, called sleepwalker socks. These ones are for me so you probably won't see the other one until next year. Well I will write more than once every two months-I hope!

Check out the progress, can you believe it? Then you can also believe that I have been distracted by another new project. A really cute baby bolero for some friends of mine who just had a baby girl. Back to Dr Who-I have had a lot of help from friends to get the length on this scarf and they are even asking where it is to work on it some more. I could get all of my xmas knitting done this way. The yarn I'm using is Nature Spun Sport from Brown Sheep. It's inexpensive, comes in great colors and the websites for Dr Who recommend it.

Dr Who Update

Unfortunately for you guys I am really excited every time this scarf grows so you might just see every painful moment! I am still having fun with it-yes I knock on wood every time I say that. I have also received some help from customers and coworkers (Thank you!). Hopefully you will see more progress soon.

Doctor Why?

You may ask what I was thinking when I decided to start a Doctor Who scarf, well, that's a good question. My extremely tall uncle (who is one of my favorites) requested it and frankly I'd rather make him a really long scarf than a sweater. The scarf is a good mindless project...because I'll lose my mind making it! Ok-it will be good for movie theaters, right? At least they are pretty colors and I will have another xmas present ready.

Another FO! I'm on a roll. This was so fun to knit and felt. The icord finishing and seaming at the same time was awesome. I had so much fun playing with these colors that I want to make another! I must confess, I started a new project this weekend. But my excuse is that it is christmas knitting. I usually get into that mood about this time of year-I wish I felt this way in February.

My TENTH and eleventh finished project!

Can you believe it? I hardly can. The orange socks-I have nicknamed them lifesavers socks because they look like the candy with these bright colors-these are the famous tenth finished project! They have been in my stash for quite awhile, they are made out of Cherry Tree Hill's supersock. The blue ones are made out of Dream in Color's Smooshy. The pattern is little arrowhead lace from More Sensational Knitted Socks (I love these books). They are my moms birthday socks. Her birthday is a week away-always good motivation for finishing a project. I am still continuing to work on unfinished projects..somehow. I did bring home some yarn for a pair of fair isle socks, but I am trying to delay the cast on. Ok gotta get back to knitting and some laundry too.

Entrelac, really?

Yes-I went to the dark side of entrelac. I never tried it until now because it looked like such a pain in the ass, but I actually like doing it. The pattern is really addicting with all of these colors to play with. They are leftover scraps of wool, this is going to be a felted pillow. At the store people asked for an entrelac class so I thought a felted project would be good so all of the mistakes disappear. My kinda project. Bruce enjoys the pillow too, he doesn't care if the project is finished. I wish everyone felt that way. I have a surprise coming for you as soon as I get a picture for proof of my new acheivement.

Christmas all year long

We have an official set of stockings. Xmas will be much more decorative this year. I love these stockings-thanks knittinmama for the brilliant idea! Hopefully I will be ambitious enough to make some for the dog and cat-they will be smaller of course. Well this is the famous number nine on the list-o-ten. Only one more to go before I can bring home new yarn. In the future I'm going to try and keep myself in check, a little bit, maybe. I was sewing up my euroflax t-shirt and errors occurred, I have to take it back a bit. As usual I have found a way to distract myself from the problem at hand-start an entrelac pillow. Don't ask.

TWO finished objects!!!

I finally came up with some good pictures of the projects I finished this week. The beaded fish was worth all its trouble. It was on a #0000 size needle, and I had to string all of the beads on myself! He is hanging up at Borealis, the texture is really cool you-gotta touch it. This Linen Isle sweater is my new uniform. It's perfect for this chilly but still humid weather. I've worn it everyday since I finished on Sunday. I had some luck at the state fair. I entered a sideways sweater, a mosaic tote, and the fiesta mittens which you've seen, I got 2 second place prizes and a third. I can't wait to see them at the fair while stuffing my face with corn dogs and mini donuts.

This is an old finished project, from last spring. I made it for my mom out of silky wool- which I LOVE working with. The sweater is from an issue of Vogue from a couple of years ago. No...I'm not running out of things to photograph, I took some pictures of my newest two-yes count them TWO finished projects, but they were blurry. So that will be my mission today, to get better pictures for you. I hope you enjoy looking at a completed project even though it's not recent.

Northern Lights wins again and again...

The blackjack tourney gave me a whole lot of nothing. I was the only one, from my family, who made it to the final table, but then I started getting terrible cards. Oh well, the entry fee was ten dollars and I have never made $10 last that long on a blackjack table so I am satisfied. We also went fishing after the casino, no luck with the fish either. I had to show you my favorite fishing tool-the biffy bucket as I like to call it. That's probably plenty of information on the bucket eh? Also I have been making some good progress on my euroflax sweater. I am starting the cap sleeves and hopefully I can finish this before it's snowing again. The weather is going to be awesome today, I am waiting for the sun to hit the dock then I will be swimming my heart out all afternoon.

I'm at the cabin!!! I look forward to this trip every year and my poor co-workers had to listen to me count down the days. Then they call me to whine about how much work they have to do. Oh well...I'm still at the cabin!! I have been mainly working on the sweater you guys have already seen, this green-gray one. I'm getting close to finishing. I also started this pink and brown shrug for my sister. It's from lace style. I've always wanted to make a shrug because they're small, but I think they are kinda stupid. I am either cold or hot-not just my shoulders. But my sister is cool enough to pull it off so she'll get it. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Cotton and Silk. It's nice to knit with, but the lace pattern is so easy it's getting boring...my sister is here to egg me on, she yells at me every time I'm working on something else. I will have more cabin pics soon, but now I am off to the casino. My dad, mom, Chris, and I entered a blackjack tournament we all moved on to the second round except mom. I was the top winner out of every one with $1825, too bad it's not real money. Wish me luck on the next round. I'll keep you updated, unless there is nice weather-then I'll be swimming!

Xmas in July

I've had the last four days off of work! But I had to have oral surgery, so it hasn't really been fun. Except for this stocking which I managed to knit while taking pain killers, I was impressed. My co-worker made a set of stockings like this for her family that inspired me to make my own. Knitting is wonderful in recovery, it keeps my mind off of the discomfort. I had a root canal Tues. am that went wrong. My roots were growing into my nerve canal, and when the dentist filled my tooth it compressed my nerve. This caused my face to go numb. The oral surgeon took out the filling from the nerve canal by cutting into the side of my freakin' jaw!! Not a pleasurable experience. Thankfully my boss and coworkers are really helping out and giving me a lot of time to rest, boy do I need it. Thank you to everyone who has been so great to me.

Finished project #4 out of 10!! I started these last fall. I picked it up last night with only one thumb missing from the picture. So after about six months of this mitten living in my stash, I finish it in about an hour. It's Lucy Neatby's Fiesta mittens. I used a Cherry Tree Hill Supersock potluck for the varigated and Lucy's celestial merino for the solid. They were a lot easier to make than they look. I'll be excited for cold weather this year.

Ok...I was distracted, but it's another UFO! I was only down past the armpits a few days ago. It's nice yarn to work on (Linen Isle by Plymouth), but it is boring. I feel another distraction coming on, surprised? I didn't think so.

My new goal...hopefully

So I committed myself to a goal...damn. Now that I'm putting it in writing I will I have to stick to it. I am going to finish ten projects before buying new yarn. Yes I said it, ten. Now that sounds crazy because most people don't let themselves get out of control like I have. I stopped counting after I started my 3oth project. I need to get myself into check! I've already completed three; a pair of fingerless mittens, my dads socks (which you saw), and a tank. This top is made out of euroflax and is a Debbie Bliss pattern from her pure silk book. I'm done with the front and just starting on the back. Hopefully this will be my fourth finished object, but as you will soon learn I am easily distracted.

Surprise-it's the aqua swirl pillow from Pick Up Sticks. We just got the pattern in at Borealis Yarns, where I work. It was so quick to knit and I only used three skeins of Cascade 220, which is always great-the pattern called for four. I even used size 10.5 needles when it calls for 10, I figured it's felted so gauge doesn't matter and a pillow can always be a little bigger. It's also fun to hear peoples interpretations. My mom said it looked like a ying-yang symbol, my sister thought it was an eyeball, and my boyfriend, Chris asked if I were trying to hypnotize him.

Now this is a fun intarsia adventure! If I mess it up no one will know after it's felted. Can you guess at this point what it will be? I'll wait until tomorrow to show you the finished product. Then you can spend your Saturday night pondering what I am making...

These are for my dad, he was going to get them for xmas, but I know he'll want to wear them any time it drops below 50 degrees. They are pretty small but they do fit him perfectly, I was surprised because they almost fit me. He is fascinated by self striping yarns so this should impress him. My dog Charlie likes them too.

I created this blog mainly because I've been having too much fun with knitting and my digital camera. I haven't jumped into the internet revolution, yes-I know it's been around forever, so I will move from emails to this. So bear with me while I try this blogging adventure and see if I can figure out how to post pictures!