Finally!

Chris's ski mask is finally done!  All the finishing is done and everything is woven in.  Unfortunately, I don't know when Chris will be coming up from North Carolina so I'll have to mail it to him.  

Pattern:  Lucha Libre

Source:  Son of Stitch 'n Bitch

Yarn:  Cascade 220

Mods:  I knit the pattern in the round because I loathe seaming.  I also only knit in one color because Chris would not appreciate the obnoxious wrestler face designs :o)

I had to put it on so you can get the full effect.  It doesn't quite fit my head since it was designed for a guy's face, but you get the idea :o)

2008 Is Done Already???

Wow I can't believe it's been a year...A YEAR since I've posted. I've definately done a lot of knitting this past year and definately have had no time for posting. Probably because most of the time the only chance I had to knit was on my lunch break at work...but I'm definately anticipating a lot more time for knitting soon. I feel like I've knit a lot, but have nothing to show for it this year. So many FOs and no pictures because I was always in such a rush last minute to get them done as gifts. Here's some of the bigger projects from this year...

Lesley's Bikini from Greetings from Knit Cafe came out absolutely awesome. She never did send me a picture of her wearing it though like she promised :o( .

I made my first pair of mittens...bum gloves if you will. I bought the handspun yarn from http://www.sheknitigans.com/ aka Coley at the West Islip Craft Fair in September or October. The yarn was half bamboo and half wool...absolutely amazing to work with, even though it leaves little fuzzies everywhere :o) After making these I went on a mitten frenzy...I made a pair for Grandpa for Christmas, even though I got them to him late. Unfortunately, he didn't quite appreciate the removable cap as much as I thought he would (he thought they were awesome when I first made them...he told me to pattent them...silly since I got the pattern out of knit.1 magazine) and he had me sew them closed. All well they still came out awesome :o)

I had my first experience using the double knitting method and now I'm absolutely addicted. I made a friend a scarf for Christmas (finished it that day!) using it and it was sooooo easy. I've got two more double knitting projects lined up in the queue. I'll have to harass him for a decent photo of that scarf.

Nicole's Argyle Socks still aren't done. I think they're going to get scrapped actually. I still can't bring myself to look at them now. They frustrate me beyond belief, even though I really enjoyed the argyle pattern. There were just soooo many strands of yarn, always getting tangled...ugh. Even now the thought of it stresses me. Maybe eventually. One of them was up to the heel too so they're close to being done. Hopefully they'll be done by her next birthday.

These days I'm working on a baby blanket for my ex's brother and sister-in-law. I know...it's weird but I promised her a hand knit baby blanket. She uses the knifty knitter loom thing because she didn't have the patience when she tried to learn to knit. I tried the knifty knitter (I was jealous how fast she finished projects!). Yea...I'm not a fan. Give me my harmony needles any day! The blanket is from Vogue Knitting On the Go Baby Blankets Two...seriously can they make that title any longer?? It's a really simple cable and rib blanket that I've made before and I'm using stash yarn (yay for not buying any more!) that I got on clearance at Michael's forever ago. I really didn't think it was worth buying nice new yarn...might as well use up the cheap stuff taking up valuable stash space.

I'm also making a ski mask for the step-dad. He requested it and I actually had a pattern...from Son of Stitch 'n Bitch. I adjusted the pattern so I could knit it in the round instead of flat and took out the color work...my step-dad definately wouldn't be a fan of the interesting wrestlers design on it. Unfortunately I can't get a good photo of it...I lost my camera and only have the camera phone to rely on these days for pictures and the dark brown wool just isn't looking so great in the pictures.

Back to Knitting

The night before New Year's Eve was the official end to my unintentional sabbatical from knitting. Thank goodness.

The week of Thanksgiving I got an awesome promotion at work...I now have my own classroom at the day care (a whopping $3 raise...more awesome for my resume than anything). The only problem with this is I have had NO time for ANYTHING. The house is a mess and I literally did not knit or even keep up with my knitting blogs. I could barely keep up with my email inbox. I dropped Weight Watchers (maybe restarting this week??). I worked overtime every day and worked at least one day a weekend at the card store.

I know I'm whining. But it was a crazy 2 months. But now they're cutting down on overtime and I'm having more time during the day to get stuff done at work. And I'm so happy to be knitting again.

I caught myself up on lots of knitting blogs this afternoon. Last weekend I found a blog of a girl I graduated high school with which lead me to Etsy. This is great for anyone trying to sell anything they knit or otherwise make. I'm thinking of opening my own store soon for all my random knitting projects (subway scarf projects and leftover yarn baby blankets).

I also recently got my very fist iPod. I know I'm behind, but I had an awesome Creative Zen mp3 player from before iPods were even known...but I dropped it too many times and it stopped working. I tried so hard to fix it but nothing worked. With lots of Christmas money, I caved and bought an iPod. Oh the wonders I was missing out on. I have been addicted to listening to back episodes of the KnitPicks podcasts. I can't wait to get the books Kelly talks about and try some new knitting techniques. I'm really getting bored of the same old projects and am so ready for real sweaters and socks.

Slowly Making Some Progress

Work is still keeping me busy these days and on top of that (and getting ready for the holidays) I just applied for a grant to take an online class. The class total costs about 2 grand and there's no way I'm paying for any of that. If I get the grant, then I'll take it. The class is 3 sections that at the end I'll have an Associates Degree for preschool. Just something else to add to my resume that will hopefully help me get a real job for next school year.

As for my knitting, I've started the Menswear Striped Scarf for Chris' Christmas gift, although if it's done early enough I'll just give it to him for his birthday. Not that he really needs it in NC but maybe for when he and Mom come up here for visits or his trip to Mt. Everest, if that ever actually happens.

I've also finished a simple blue crochet scarf that I work on in the mornings. Some of the traffic lights take so long that I work on it mostly when I'm sitting at them. It only took about two weeks of mostly working on it only then.

I frogged the almost finished fingerless glove I was working on. I totally screwed up one of the cables and since it wasn't going to fit my hands anyway, I just took the whole thing apart. I have to re-work the pattern to fit my hand. I actually checked the gauge on this and everything so I'm not sure why it came out too tight. I think it's because the yarn is thinner than was used on the glove I was copying.

Last week I went to the Village Knitter for some yarn for a pair of socks that will eventually be for Nicole. They're going to be argyle in pink, purple and an off-white. I actually already have her Christmas gift for this year so I'll probably save them for a post-holidays project for next year's birthday.

I feel like I've got so many projects to get done for the holidays and so little time to work on them. I stayed at work late Wednesday for a meeting (2 and a half hours!) and I worked on Chris' scarf through the whole thing. I need to stop reading so many knitting blogs so I have more time for my own knitting!

la di dah

I still haven't been able to take a picture of the finished poncho yet :o(. Daylight Savings is killing me. I can't remember the last time I got home from work when it was light out. And the 1986 lamp in our living room just isn't going to cut it for taking pictures of my FOs. Also because I've been getting home so late, I haven't had time to work on pretty much ANYTHING. I started the cabled baby blanket just as something to do during my breaks at work but then switched to a Harry Potter scarf for a lady who left work for another center. Needless to say, with 2 days notice to her leaving, I did not finish. Now in the mornings when I get to work a little early I started a double crocheted and shells scarf. I made a bunch of these last year as Christmas gifts and figured that I could just make it for a backup gift. They work up really quick (it's 3 rows of dc and then a shell border).

And speaking of gifts, I still have not finished Nicole's birthday gift or started any other Christmas gifts. I think I'm going to the Village Knitter for some new yarn for one project (it's their first birthday and I got a 25% off coupon in the mail for my whole order!!!). I don't think the yarn I originally bought will work for the pattern.

Part of the reason I haven't started any gifts is my needles. The situation with them is disasterous. I don't know where pretty much all of them are. Some are in a decorative box at my mom's (or maybe I brought it here....I don't really know anymore). Some are in the living room with my current projects. And some are in the screen house packed away with all my things from college. AAAHHHH! I have to start moving things out of my mom's house so they can put it on the market so hopefully soon my life will be somewhat more organized.

Not knitting related, but I'm telling you anyway. So far I've lost 6 pounds! Woot. And that's without exercising. I know I should exercise more but I just don't have the time or energy after chasing my kids at work all day. I do my best to get a nice 20 minute walk in while the kids are on the playground...they love to hold my hand and just circulate the playground. It's not much but it's the best I can do right now.

It's been a while

My life has been so utterly hectic lately. Work is going pretty good, but it's keeping me busy. I don't get home some nights until 6 or 7 and by that point I just want to veg. I've been doing Weight Watchers again though and I've lost 4 pounds. Woot!

As for my knitting...
I finished the cabled poncho last week. I have to try to get home while there's still some light to take some pictures of it. I started a pair of fingerless gloves with the leftover yarn but frogged them because I just didn't like how they were coming out. I'm trying a new pattern for Nicole's Harry Potter ornaments (even though her birthday was last weekend). I hated trying to sew up those little sweaters so I'm trying another sweater ornament pattern that's knit in the round...so much easier. They're coming out a little bigger it looks like though so I might have to adjust.

At my hometown's country fair today the public library was having a book sale and I bought Kids Knitting for only $1. It's got some cute patterns in it and will be helpful if I ever do some knitting classes or teach my cousin Courtney to knit. (I tried once...she sorta got it. I cast on 10 stitches for her and somehow within a half hour she had about 50 stitches on her needle)

Also at the craft fair, I priced out how much it is to rent a booth there. $75. I'm thinking of stock-piling some of the things I make and rent a space next year. I'm just afraid I won't make it back. I looked at some of the other knit/crocheted goods that people were selling to get an idea on pricing. Some people's things I thought were underpriced while some I thought were overpriced. The secret to it is, though, is to have a little of everything: blankets, baby clothes, doll clothes, dog clothes (there were like 5 booths devoted to pets), baby blankets, scarves and hats. I'll have to expand my patterns a bit and venture to some new projects.

That's really the only knitting updates I have. It doesn't sound like much but I was so happy to see the poncho finished. It was starting to really drag working on it.

LAKSDJ;OBUIA

My life is utter CHAOS right now. I really need to get to sleep. I finished Mom's hat and have made my way through most of Grandma Marie's poncho (thanks to 2 straight days of doing nothing but watching Heroes DVDs). I start the new job tomorrow. Updates on that and maybe some project pictures to come.