WIP it, WIP it good...

Had a Devo moment there... :)

So, Works-In-Progress are progressing - I'm into the first cream stripe of DS#2's blankie and it looks gorgeous with the burgundy; I just can't tell her that those are St. Mary's colours when she's a St. Thomas grad! Harry Potter scarf #1 (Gryffindor) is coming along too, but it seems endless... hard to believe I need to do three more of these before the movie comes out on November 18th. But - it will be totally worth it to see my four friends all nerded up... er, I mean decked out (yeah, that's it) in their house scarves.

Started on Tim Horton's Toque #2 for my dear friend at work; about two hours on it tonight and it's about 1/3 done. Love those Addi Turbo Circs!

DM and DD are heading out of town this weekend so I can do some work on DM's shawl without her snooping. Tempted to start on DD's cardigan (got the yarn yesterday) but am trying, TRYING to restrain myself.

Picked up some Mission Falls wool today - gorgeous stuff, wish I could buy a sweater's worth before it all disappears! But, got three skeins - enough for a pair of pumpkin-orange socks for me (ME!) - that's going to be my sock class project. And some Softee Chunky in red and green to make Christmas slippers - going to try to give them an elf-y look if I can.

Projects projects! And no knitting tomorrow, because we're going to the hockey game. JOY!

FOGgy day!

Another Finished Object - the Endless Wedding Present is finally Ended! JOY! Thanks to my knit-mentor, who showed me the crochet join, I finished the thing today in about two hours. Here's a picture:

Spent some more time on DS#2's blankie, almost ready for the first contrast colour stripe, and scored some Mamma Mia fluffy yarn in lovely pastels at the big yarn sale yesterday. Overall, a reasonably productive knitting weekend.

A no-knitting day ahead

Today we are going to be out and about all day, so I've decided to recap the project list:

My Christmas Knit-Gift List:

1. Prayer Shawl for DM: 1 skein of Homespun down, 2 to go.
2. Blankie for DS#2: 1 1/2 skeins of Harmony down, 7 1/2 to go.
3. Blankie for DS#1: yarn purchased, not started.
4. Purse slippers for three little girls: 2 pairs knitted (not sewn up), 1 pair to go.
5. Harry Potter scarves (4, one for each "house): 1 2/3 done, 3 to go, but deadline moved up to November to make the new movie release date.
6. Afghan for DM-I-L-2B: started, goofed, stalled. BUT - turns out she used to knit and is planning to get back into it. Thinking I may just give her the yarn, needles, pattern as a kit for Christmas and save myself some time. Would that be wrong?

Plus my new Moeibus scarf for me (ooh, it's gonna be pretty!), and two hats for co-workers.
Fortunately DH2B and DD are on the "after-Christmas" knit-gift-list; a sweater for each. DH2B wants socks, hopefully they will go on the Christmas list, but not until after I take the sock class at the end of October.

Tomorrow I do the assembly on the Endless Wedding Present, to get that out the door before the wedding next Saturday. Today I hit a warehouse sale at a new-to-me LYS - JOY! I will remember to stick to my budget... really!

It doesn't have to be perfect...

But it should at least be presentable! This is the lesson (among others) that I took away from tonight's Stitch'n'Bitch meeting. I was cranking away happily on the Gryffindor scarf and somehow totally messed up three purl rows in a row (so, six total rows of stockinette). No idea what happened, but it looked nasty on the edges and there were three extra stitches each time - just a big oops!

So rippity rip, out it comes. Forgot to count the rows ripped. DOH! Two options now - either measure or count. Will decide tomorrow. Probably count, because even though it doesn't have to be perfect, I want it as close as I can get. Good friends are worth the effort.

Speaking of good friends, it was a real treat to meet all the gang tonight - I didn't catch everyone's names, (and don't want to do a Romper Room "magic mirror" here anyway), but suffice to say it was a genuine pleasure to meet all the ladies. Looking forward to the next one.

Oh - bonus news - picked up a pattern book today with a great design for Dad's cardigan (hey, I'm motivated; I can't start the sweater yet but I can at least pick a pattern!), and he likes the look of it. The only questions now will be colour and sizing, but don't need to deal with that for awhile.

And, as it turns out, blankie-assembly with crochet is dead simple but will take a bit of time. I see Sunday being spent over the kitchen table on this, but then the Endless Wedding Present will be Ended! Huzzah!

Ok, go to bed. Goodnight, fellow knit-wits.

Something for Dad

Dads are impossible to gift - this is a proven fact that we all know. He has all his golf gear, all his hockey stuff, all the books he'll ever read, and coffee and socks forever. Pain in the neck.

But - JOY! - he came right out today and said: "You know what you could knit for me? A cardigan." And so I shall - for Father's Day.

Tomorrow I get my "how to assemble a blankie with crochet" lesson, and attend a big Stitch'n'Bitch meeting. Busy day for needles.

OTN:

1. DS#2's blankie, well underway onto the 2nd skein of burgundy. Looking good and feels very warm.
2. Gryffindor scarf (this is taking longer than I thought!) for the "portable" project.
3. DM's prayer shawl, waiting for the weekend.

If I'm sittin', I'm knittin'!

FOG - the Habs gear

FOG for Finished Object Gallery - here are three photos of Dh2B in his newly-knitted Montreal Canadiens bootie slippers and scarf.




The slippers worked up very quickly - finished the pair in about 8 hours' knitting. I used Bernat Softee Chunky and they are very cozy and warm; can't wait to do a pair for myself! The scarf had been done previously (2nd project ever!) but I hadn't got the picture before.

OTN:

1. DM's prayer shawl - under way and looking pretty, in Homespun with a simple K3 P3 repeat over 90 sts.
2. Harry Potter scarf #1 (Gryffindor) - about 1/3 done - these are going to be long scarves!
3. DS#2's Christmas blankie - no idea how wide, just CO as much as I could fit on the Addi Turbo 6.5mm and have started knitting away. I think it will be more of a wrap/shawl than a big blankie, but it's warm and fuzzy and that's what counts.

Dh2B's got cold feet!

So... I'm knitting him slippers. :) I got the pattern on an email from about.com, and they're working up very quickly in Bernat Softee Chunky (in Habs colours, of course!) Here's a link to the pattern: http://knitting.about.com/library/weekly/aa120604.htm

And since it's raining today, it's a perfect project - always good to do a warm fuzzy on a cold damp day.

Off to the Knitting Chair with me!

Turbo-charged!

I Love Addi Turbo Circular Needles!

I just picked up my 2nd set and started in on DS #2's Christmas present this evening - these needles are so smooth, I just absolutely adore them! I want every size. They are, as I told DH2B, the Milwaukee Power Tools of the knitting world. Love love love 'em!

Tomorrow night is my second Stitch'N'Bitch meeting and I'm really looking forward to seeing the gals again - and meeting new ones. It's funny, I usually prefer socializing with men, but it's a whole different ball of yarn when everyone's got the needles flying! Will be bringing the Gryffindor scarf to work on since it's portable and straight stockinette - don't want to fuss about a pattern while chatting. Itching to get going on DM's shawl, but it will have to wait - for now.

So many projects, so little time! I may need to take an extra-long weekend at Thanksgiving just to have a guilt-free day of knitting. Hm... that sounds like a plan!

Plan the work, work the plan!

Good things by Mail...

I love coming home to find packages in the mail - it makes the day feel like Christmas for a little while, even if I know already what the package will contain. Such was the case today when I found a big plastic envelope/bag at the front door containing my yarn order for my two DS's Christmas blankets. Joy!

Unfortunately, the order was short one bag (bulk shipment from DiscountYarnSale.com), but when I checked the original order confirmation, it only showed one bag of that particular yarn, not the two I thought I had ordered. Dang. So - DS #1 will get a "chair-gan" of six skeins rather than a full 8-skein blankie. She won't know the difference and it'll be less work for me - ha ha!

One of the two colours for DS #2's blankie is not quite what I wanted, either - it was supposed to be a deep forest green and it's leaning towards a more sage green, but it will still look nice with the burgundy in contrast stripes - I hope. If not, I'll come up with something else. Resourcefulness, thy name is desperation!

No knitting today as I was out golfing (Joy!), but will be starting in tomorrow night on DM's shawl to get that rolling - I want to see how the three-and-three patterning looks in the Homespun. I bet it'll be pretty.

Sunshine from rain

So last night, I was working away on the Endless Wedding Present afghan and decided as a break from the actual knitting I would attempt the assembly (it's a strip afghan with a crochet joining-dealy). First order of business - learn to crochet! HA! Not happening. So, turned to a simple sewing-style seam, and honestly, it looked like it had been done by a five-year old. Not fun. Into the bag with the whole thing, and into the closet with the bag.

To cheer myself up, started on my Karma Chameleon sweater, which will be a long-term project because I want it to be perfect and I have a whole whack of Christmas gifts to do first. A few rows in, I felt much better.

Today, grousing about the EWP to my knit-mentor at work, I said I was going to scrap it for the gift and finish it to donate to Project Linus at a later date. Her response: "But why? You just need to crochet the seams. It's easy." Me: "I can't crochet. I tried for an hour." Her: "Yes you can. You will. Bring the stuff Monday and we'll fix it." Let me just add here that this is a lady who brooks no argument. She will help me Make It Right (TM Mike Holmes) and all will be well.

Inspired by that, I looked around for simpler patterns for DM and DMIL2B's Christmas afghans. Have decided to go with a simple stockinette stitch for DMIL2B, cream ends and teal middle, instead of teal strips with cream crochet joins / edging. It will be a tighter gauge and hold up better to her cats (I hope). For DM, I've switched from the annoying-as-heck "Old Shale Pattern" afghan to the simpler (and to my mind, more elegant / practical) prayer shawl. Both are free patterns on the Lion Brand website - I get good stuff from there, which makes up for their yarns being so gawdawful expensive (but very very pretty!) The upside with DM's shawl is that it will probably leave me a couple of skeins leftover for a nice vest pattern I have in the same yarn (LB Homespun). So, something else to look forward to.

Have a FO success story too - my Roll up the Rim Tim Horton's Toque is finished and cute as a button - really, it's kind of button-shaped (will post pics when I find digital camera, hiding somewhere). Showed it to a dear friend at work and she wants one just like it - and insists on paying for it! Another co-worker (male) wants a black watch-cap style toque for his shiny bald head, so that's two toque orders (which translates to two more balls of yarn for me - I'm charging $10 each and the yarn is $5ish).

And, in other bright news, got the yarn for DH2B's birthday sweater on sale about 20% off - sweet! Grabbed a couple extra balls just in case - I'm totally in love with the yarn (Patons Shetland Chunky) so will find uses for it, I'm sure.

Tonight started on a pair of bootie slippers for me, me, me! Well, they're a test pair to try out the pattern, so any mistakes will be on my feet. If they work up easily I'll make a pair for DH2B and keep the pattern handy for quick gifts. Fun!

Still working on Harry Potter scarf #1 (Gryffindor) but it's coming along fairly quick at lunchtimes - should be done by the weekend. So much to do!

Christmas Gift List Update:

1. DD's slippers - done
2. DD's half-sisters's slippers - 1 pair down, 1 to go
3. DD's stepmom's scarf - to be started (got the yarn, gotta sort out the pattern)
4. DM's shawl - to be started
5. DMIL2B's afghan - to be restarted
6. DS's afghans (2) - waiting for the yarn to come in
7. Friends' HP scarves (4) - 1 WIP, 3 waiting
8. DH2B's socks - got the yarn, have to take the sock class at end of October, then should be a quick project (I hope!)

Other Projects:

1. Karma Chameleon Sweater - for me - OTN
2. Bootie Slippers - for me - OTN
3. Roll up the Rim Tim Horton's Toque - for Carole - got the yarn
4. Black Watch Cap - for Luc - got the yarn

Plan the work and work the plan!

An organized stash is a happy stash

For most people, the new year starts in January - for me, it's always September; back to school time and the season change calls for a big cleanup / organization binge. So this was my afternoon today, and I'm pleased with the result - especially with my self-discipline to sort my stash by project (labelled, even!) without actually knitting - well, I did take one quick break but only did two rows, so I'll forgive myself. :) But the organization did make me feel better.

Was thinking too about something DH-to-be said yesterday, about taking on too many projects at once, so I'm cutting back to two WIP - one for home, one for travel. Otherwise I won't get anything finished and nothing frustrates me more than a bunch of unfinished stuff - I feel overwhelmed by it and that's a big ball of no fun.

Another thing was something I read in The Knitting Sutra (wonderful book, BTW) about too much knitting leading to carpal-tunnel syndrome and/or arthritis in the hands. Since I spend lots of time on the computer and lots of time knitting, this is a concern. So I've decided not to knit for more than two hours in one sitting - instead of the four or five hours / evening I've been doing since I took up the craft a few weeks ago - gods, it's only been a few weeks! I feel like I've been doing this forever. It's a good feeling, but like anything, requires moderation - I have been neglecting other interests of late (reading and writing in particular). So - cutting back a bit to keep the enjoyment level up; I think (or is that tink? ha ha ha...) knitting will be my daily reward for getting the rest of life dealt with. It's non-fattening and doesn't give me a hangover.

Once more into the breach...

Wow, it's been a long time since I had any sort of ongoing web-presence! But, like I swore I'd never get a cellphone, I swore I'd never want a blog, and now - BINGO! I have both. Interesting...

This blog will be mainly knitting-related; knitting is a new passion for me and I have all these thoughts about projects and yarns and people and stuff... so this is as good a place as any to get it all out.

OTN:

1. Tim Horton's Toque (for me)
2. Harry Potter Gryffindor scarf (Christmas gift)
3. the Endless Wedding Present afghan (need I say more?)

Today I had to frog my mother's Christmas afghan for the 3rd time - ArGH! - so it's getting put away for awhile while I finish other things. While only God is perfect, flaws are not allowed in mother-gifts. But it's late now and I'm too tired to type. I'll just consider this post my cast-on to begin this new project.