2007 - A Look back

Well, 2007 has been my first full year knitting! I have knit previous to '07, but it was only 2 small-ish garter stitch projects ( a baby blanket and a scarf in '06, and I think I made part of a scarf back in 1990 *when I first learned the knit stitch - lol*), but it's only this year that I have seriously started knitting and made some actual progress.

Planning ahead for 2008 has made me think about the different techniques that I have learned this past year, and I have to say, I'm at least a little impressed!

In 2007, I learned:

  1. How to purl
  2. Ribbing
  3. Short rows (learned for Calorimetry)
  4. Knitting in the round
  5. Simple lace (started when trying to knit a blanket for my not-yet-born at the time son *turned into a cabbage patch doll blanket for my daughter*, and later picked up again to make 2 Tuscany shawls)
  6. Cables (did a small swatch, just to see if I could, then started a blanket for my sister)
  7. Basic sock construction (slip-stitch heels, turning a heel, gussets)
  8. Kitchener stitch/grafting
  9. Drop stitch (for a drop-stitch scarf I made my sister)
  10. Basic hat construction
  11. Mitten/fingerless mitten Construction
  12. Some sweater construction (for Daisy - a baby sweater)
It also looks like I crated approx.25 FO's this year (28 if you count the 3 lonely socks that are looking for their mates - lol!). Not too shabby!

Oops!

Looks like life (and deadline knitting - remind me not to do that next year!) got away with me and I haven't managed to post in quite some time! Hope everyone had a very happy holiday season!

Santa was quite good to me - on the knitting front, I received some yummy Fleece Artist sock yarn (a skein of 2/6 merino and a skein of Sea Wool - which I've been dying to try!), a needle keeper for my sock WIPs (I need more of these - you'll see why below!) and a gift certificate for my favorite LYS (Wool n' Things in Orleans) - which I will use to buy some Fleece Artist Casbah (cashmere - yummy!). I also am getting a ball winder (MIL forgot it at her house - she'll be mailing it to me), and I have a copy of Cat Bordhi's Socks Soar on Two Circs on the way to me!

As for the gifted knits:

I did manage to get the Ruby Tuscany done - at 3 am the day we left for the holidays! I'm not overly happy with it (too short IMO, and the 2 ends blocked funny - BOO!), but Hubby's Gramma loved it - so that makes me happy!

Hubby's socks - well, the first sock has yet to have it's mate. I tried working on them on the car ride to the GIL's, but apparently, although I can knit (lace even) while watching tv, my mind cannot process plain ol' stockinette in the round in a dark car. Oh, and apparently the tote I chose to carry the sock-in-progress in likes to pull multiple stitches off of needles.... Needless to say, I ended up frogging the sock (too many problems to fix for my patience level). I'll get that second sock done one of these days!

My Dad liked his socks - and one of his friends even commented that they looked "store-bought" - which I take as a compliment (to me it just says I did an excellent job). I don't know how well they fit him yet, as there's no need for wool socks on a beach in Jamaica (where he is now) - hopefully I'll find out when he gets back :)

Hubby's Aunt really liked her scarf - as did everyone else! It actually ended up as quite the conversation piece that evening!

My MIL loved her shawl. Seriously LOVED it. She raved and raved about it. Comments such as "I can't believe how intricate it is" and "It's hard to believe you've only been knitting for just over a year" and "WHAT!? You knit this while watching TV?!?" were heard (from her) multiple times.

Anyways...I'm a little sleep deprived at the moment (teething baby = 3hrs of sleep last night = not my idea of fun) so I'll post photos of everything later on (maybe after a nap)!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and that all handmade gifts were appreciated!

Ummm...


Looks like I forgot to mention - I finished my Dad's socks. Days ago. Possibly even a week ago (actually, come to think of it - it has to have been at least a week ago!). Anyways, here they are - I hope he likes them!

Progressing along nicely on the Ruby Tuscany as well - on the 5th set of 9 (possibly 9 1/2 - 10) sets of repeats. Oh, how I hope it's done by the end of this week!

Oh, and I asked hubby if he'd mind if his present was late (his socks) - looks like I'll be trying to fit in and finish his second sock this week as well! Worst case - Tuscany will be finished the following week instead :/

2008 Knitting Goals

As I've been working on my Christmas Gift Knitting, I've been thinking about what I'd like to accomplish for 2008.

First off - "general" goals:

  1. One pair of socks per month (or at least one pair every second month if it's a "patterned" pair ie.pomotamus)
  2. At least one intarsia/stranded/fair isle project
  3. At least one sweater for myself
  4. All Christmas knitting to be completed by Dec.1st 2008 - if it's not done by then, it's not going to be gifted! December will be reserved for knitting for myself!
  5. New Stockings for the 4 of us (well, at least 2/4)
Pattern goals/Knit List
  1. Endpaper Mitts (Eunny Jang)
  2. Toasty Topper (Winter '07 Knitty)
  3. Wicked (Zephyr Girls) *Have yarn & pattern
  4. Monkey (socks)
  5. Shedir *have yarn, need proper needles
  6. A Pair of Selbuvotter Mitts
  7. We Call Them Pirates Hat
  8. Scoop Du Jour *Have Yarn
  9. Fetching
  10. Hannah
  11. Jaywalker
  12. Drive-Thru
  13. Embossed Leaves
  14. Pomatomus
  15. Entrelac socks
That's all for now - it may change if a new pattern catches my eye ;)

A little bit of progress is better than no progress at all...


Well, not a ton of new stuff to report, but I have managed to make some progress on the Ruby Tuscany - I'll be starting the 4th set of repeats after I'm done writing this post. I'm happy with how it's progressing, and am hoping to somehow be over the half-way point by the end of the week (this was seeming to be a logical goal before hubby came down with a throat infection, and now both the Goof and myself are starting to feel not so great). Anyways, I'm hopeful that this will be done before the December 20th deadline I set for it. I'm thinking that I might actually be liking this Tuscany better than the first one I knit.


The one thing that still gets me is how I can do multiple sets of repeats out of the first ball, but after that first ball, it goes to one set of repeats per ball. I suppose it really does make sense, but the ends start to get annoying after a few balls (not at that point yet - still on the first ball, but working on it again brought back this thought).

Another thing that I have noticed while working on this Tuscany, is that I made a few mistakes on the first one. First of all, in the second half of the chart, where the k3tog changes, (in the first Tuscany) I never changed to the other stitch sequence, but I am in this one. Second, the very last stitch on the WS before the YO, I never knit it on the first one, but am on this one. Lemme just say - the sides look much nicer on this one (but I do still love the first one I knit), and things make a lot more sense....

As for my Dad's socks, well....They're sitting on my bedside table, an inch away from the toe decreases on the second sock. I know! Soooooo CLOSE to being finished, but the lack of work I had done on Tuscany, I was starting to get overly anxious about getting it done in time, so I decided to set aside the sock for a bit in order to get something done on Tuscany. I'm not concerned though - an evening of tv knitting should get the sock finished. In fact, I may try to finish it up tonight!

December Deadlines

I know I'm a bit early, but I thought I would post about my December goals and deadlines!

Ok, so, the current Christmas Projects I have on the go right now are (in order of importance/deadline):

  1. Dad's Socks (these will be finished by December 1st)
  2. Hubby's socks (these MUST be finished by the evening of December 14th, or he'll be getting half of a pair of socks as he's on vacation and home every day from that point on)
  3. Gramma's Tuscany (MUST be finished by mid-day December 20th so I have enough time to block it. We leave the evening of the 21st for her house. She lives 6hrs away from me, so it absolutely must be a finished gift)
  4. Sarah's Blanket (Sadly, this is of the least priority on the list. I can see her whenever, and it has the least done of everyone else's gifts that live close by. If it were to be done by Christms, it would likely have to be done before the 14th, which is looking extremely unlikely at this point)
I may knit a toque for FIL on the car ride up north, but I also may be a little selfish and use that time to finish my birthday socks - we'll see - maybe I'll do both!

Projects for after the above list is done (maybe minus #4, as I don't really want to bring all that is needed for it on our trip):
  1. Finish birthday socks
  2. Finish my brown cabled hat
  3. Do some work on Wisp (will do this unless I get some stuff I can't resist for Christmas - which I'm hoping is the case - lol)
  4. Mittens for the Goof
That seems to be all! December hasn't even started yet, and it already feels like it's almost over! The knit crunch is on!

In other December/Christmas-y news - I only have 3 people left to cross off of my 26 person Christmas gifting list! Hurray!

Small update/Goals for the week!

I've been a bad blogger - but for good reason! I've actually been getting knitting done! I've managed to finish one of hubby's socks, and I'm currently 3/4ths of the way done the leg of my dad's second sock! Yay for sock/Christmas knitting progress! I've not managed to make much, if any, progress on Tuscany, but I should be getting into that after I've finished Dad's socks (he'll be getting an IOU for a second pair - no way I'll be getting another pair in for him before our Christmas exchange!).

As for goals for this week:

  1. I WILL get Dad's second sock done (plan to be into the heel, if not finished the heel, by the time I go to bed tonight) by Friday night!
  2. I WILL make some sort of progress on Tuscany
  3. I will try to cast on for Hubby's second sock.
  4. Set December goals/deadlines (will do this in another post)

Sad news...

This is going to be a bit of a sad post - no real good news to report, only sad/disappointing stuff.

I guess I'll start off with the least bad first. I had managed to work my way through the first 2 sets of repeats on the Ruby Tuscany. I was happy. It was moving quickly. That mistake I made in that first repeat - I thought I could handle it. I swore it wasn't going to bother me. Well, I looked at it this morning, and it drove me insane! Can we say "Ribbit! Ribbit". That's right. I frogged it. Have I mentioned how little time there is left between now and my knitting deadlines? Oh boy....

This next bit of news is something that is really saddening - my sister-in-law, she lost the baby :( I really don't know what to say. I want to try to do something for her and BIL, but I don't know what to say/do... I can't even begin to imagine. She doesn't want to talk about it at all - which I find to be totally understanding. I just feel the need to do something, I just don't know what :(

I think we may have a problem here...

Oh my... I have procrastinated on certain projects for much too long, and I now fear that I'm not going to be able to get all Christmas knitting done on time. 5 weeks left of knitting time. 5 projects to complete. Oh. Dear.

Hubby's socks and my Dad's socks won't be an issue, and I'm REALLY hopeful that Gramma's Tuscany should be done in time (Oh do I ever hope it will!), but it looks like my sister's blanket will be late. This = craptastically suckular, especially seeing as it's also doubling as her birthday gift. Tuscany is making me nervous as well - especially because I'm having such about of knitter's ADD/procrastination lately. All I want to do is knit socks (and Gramma doesn't really wear socks, and I don't think my sister would appreciate any at all!). Oh my! Hopefully finishing both of the Christmas sock pairs on the go doesn't further fuel the sock-knitting flame!

Oh, how I love knitting socks!

Bad Monkey!

Yes, I've been bad. I worked on my Christmas knitting for all of 30mins so far this week. Last Friday, I had tired of knitting for everyone else, so I cast on for a pair of socks for myself! They're all I've been working on - in between all the "catch-up cleaning" I've been doing this week.

I love them - they're things of beauty, and I've decided, they're my birthday gift to myself. So, I don't feel guilty for working on them instead of the other 4 projects I have to finish by the 21st (of Dec.) :P

Half of a FO


That's right! I finally finished that one sock!
I've also learned a new technique - kitchener stitch...

I'm just so glad to have this one sock done! I do have leftovers from this sock, so I know that there will be some from the other sock as well, which gave me an idea! Socks for Goober :) Perfect way to use up the leftovers so they don't end up kicking around in the yarn drawer for all eternity :)

After I finished the sock, I cast on for sock 1 of Hubby's sock. I've finished the cuff and am about an inch into the leg - hoping to get halfway done the leg today so I don't feel bad about not being able to work on it over the weekend.

Since I can't work on the sock, I'll use the majority of my weekend knitting time on the new Tuscany that I cast on for yesterday. Hopefully I'll manage to get a few repeats in this weekend!

Hurray for better days!


Today has been SO much better!

The yarn for Hubby's Gramma's Tuscany came in today, and it's BETTER than I expected! So, of course, I was SO excited about it, I HAD to start it! I love it, I Love it, I LOVE IT!!!!

Now, I would have LOVED to be able to knit this with the recommended sea silk, but unfortunately, the budget just wouldn't allow for a $75-ish whim. BUT, finding the PERFECT shade (this is her absolute FAVORITE colour, in exactly the right shade!), for $60 less - I'll take that!!

In other news, I have FINALLY started the toe of that darned sock! Yay! Should hopefully be done by the end of the night (fingers crossed!). Once that sock is done, because I'm starting to feel the time crunch coming, I'm going to go ahead and start sock one of Hubby's sock. I'll keep that as my day-time knitting (lovely mindless knitting that it is), and work on Tuscany in the evenings while Hubby is home. Yeah, I think that should work!

Can this craptastic day just PLEASE end already!?!?!! (Warning - Rants - yes, multiple!)

This. Day. Sucks. Seriously. So badly, it's given me a headache.

I started off the day at 5 am. This is not a normal "get up for the day" time, but occasionally is my son's "I'm frigging HUNGRY! FEED ME!" time. Today, I just couldn't get back to sleep. So, here I am, wide awake. Perfect time for knitting right? Turns out, not so much. My brain must not have been fully awake, because for some reason which is now escaping me, I decided that the foot of my dad's sock was too long. For some STUPID reason, I just pulled the needles out and started ripping back. This. Was. NOT. A. Good. Idea. Do you think I could manage to get the stitches back on the needles? No, of course not. So, I went and threaded in a lifeline a few rows back from the current rippage. THAT worked fine. However, discovering that I had ripped back over an inch more than I had needed to, not so fine! After this, I decided I was having a "brain is too stupid to cooperate with knitting" day, and dropped it.

After the kiddos were up for the day, fed and dressed (no disasters there, thank goodness), off to the store we went. As soon as I got 20 feet from the building, the wind hit us and I was EXTREMELY glad that Goober was in his snowsuit, and The Goof was wearing her winter jacket. I, however, was neither wearing a snowsuit nor a winter jacket. Just a fleece one, which the wind cut through like an icy cold knife. Not fun. Considering that I had managed to get both of the kids out of the door without any melt-downs or major difficulties (which, really, is a rarity - The Goof usually finds something to be "mad" about upon leaving the house). So, I just decided to go into "Suck it up, princess!" mode, and continued on.

Got to the mall which is practically across the street, went into the first store we needed to go into, to discover, while they ARE selling Christmas decorations, they, for some reason, are NOT currently selling the hooks which are required to HANG them (which, BTW, was one of my main reasons for leaving the house this morning). Ummm - where are their logic skills? Oh wait! That's right, the "Holiday" season is upon us! Oh, am I EVER glad that those things which require being bought are nearly all bought! Thank goodness I've massively planned ahead and nearly everything is done (well, except for the knitting, but I'm on it!). Anyways, lets get this train of thought back on track!

I got home to annoyance #4. Internet is out, modem lights are doing strange flashy things. Hmmm. Decide to give it awhile, figured out how to make hooks for decorations out of findings and jewelery wire. Finish helping The Goof decorate the big tree (it's after Thanksgiving here - so HA :P Goof was the one who wanted to do it this early, Hubby decided to let her go at it last night), and her little one for in her room (it's maybe 12"). Feed kids lunch. Internet is still down and modem is still doing very odd blinky sequence. Call hubby at work to ask his opinion. He also finds this strange - tells me to call ISP. I decided that I was too tired, and would rather try to take a nap while Goober is. Snuggle in on the couch with The Goof, and drift off, only to be woken 15 mins later by the phone. It's the ISP - an automated call. Internet is disabled for "security reasons", but won't talk to me as I'm not the "primary" on the account. Call hubby back at work. He decides to call them and deal with it right away (love you!). Turns out that someone must be hacking into our wireless network and has been port-scanning other computers in the ISP's network(hubby is taking care of this, thankfully). Connection is restored. Go check email.

Annoyance #5 strikes. I HAD sold The Goof's first snowsuit. Or so I thought. I've been waiting well over a week now for payment. Waiting for me in my inbox is a message from the "Buyer" stating that their husband found out how much they were "going" to be paying and threw a pissy fit and will be incredibly pissed if they go through with the sale. WON-DER-FRACKING-FUL! Seriously. I am pissed - I've had to pay over $12 out of my own pocket for this stupid listing so far, and it's looking like I'm up the river without a paddle. I mean, really, I'm LOSING money from this now. I'm NOT frigging impressed. Headache sets in. I'm exhausted. I want to go to bed please.

I sincerely apologize for this rant filled post - but I really needed to get this stuff out. Thanks to anyone who actually reads it all...

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day....

Procrastination Station

Ok. I'm a bad monkey. The sock - it's exactly 4 rounds further along than what is shown in the last post. I am feeling very compelled to work on it today though - I really need another FO under my belt. FO's are very soothing things - even if it's just ONE sock....

If I didn't procrastinate on this one sock, I'd likely be half way done the second one by now! I really need to nip this procrastination thing in the bud and get this pair of socks done, because I can't re-start hubby's socks until these ones are done (need the needles I'm using), and I need to get hubby's socks done by the time he starts Christmas vacation - which is December 14th! Yeah, I know it's just the beginning of November, but I'm also needing to start and finish Tuscany, finish my sister's blanket and sew all the panels together (which reminds me, I need to figure out where I put the pattern notes for it!), start and finish my little Goober's stocking, and knit a baby sweater/hat bootie set (this particular one should take about a week - possibly less for all 3 items). Oh, and I want to knit myself a pair of socks - I'll only do that if I manage to get most of the other stuff done by the end of the month though!

Ok, so, November goals:

1) Finish Dad's socks
2)Re-Start and finish Hubby's socks
3)Start Tuscany - hopefully get it at least 50% done
4) Make SOME progress on my sister's blanket! (ideally, finish it!)
5)Make at least one item from the baby set
6)Choose and buy yarn for Goober's stocking

That doesn't seem too bad! I think that if I can manage to get all of that list done, THEN I will cast on for a pair of socks for myself as a reward!

Off to knit!

Crisis averted!


I've mostly been trying to concentrate on finishing the first sock of the pair that I'm making my dad. If I stick to it and don't get distracted, I can manage to get a surprising amount done! When I picked up the sock on Friday, I only had 1/4th of the leg done - by the time I went to bed, I was half done the heel! I was quite impressed with that amount of progress!

Yesterday, my ADD-like attention span kicked in, and as you can see, not as much got done. However, after a comment hubby made, I nearly scrapped the whole project!

Now, I'll start off by saying, that while he DID grow up with a mom who knits, she was not a sock knitter. Also, this is technically my first pair of regular socks (if you don't count the one spa sock I finished), so he's not one who is familiar with hand-knit socks.

Anyways, I had been taking a break from knitting, and was playing Guitar Hero, when I notice Hubby keeps on looking at the sock. And by looking at it, I mean he was looking at it funny. So, I asked him what was wrong. His response? "It looks really weird".

WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?! So, I asked him to clarify - and he said that the heel looked weird. Hmmm...Ok...

Now, I'll admit, I'm not overly happy how the coloured heel looks (I don't think there's enough blank there, but, oh well, I'm not ripping back a perfectly good heel!), but I didn't think it looked THAT strange. Then he clarified again. It was the angle the heel is at - it looks too sharp. Ummm...Ok?

So, I got him to try it on (which I had been intending on doing anyways - he's a size down from my dad, and the socks I am secretly making for Hubby are the same pattern), and, well, he LOVES them! Yay! Success on both parts. Now I know that if I make the same size for hubby (with a shorter foot), not only will they fit, he will love them! Yay!

Crisis averted!

Now, hopefully I will be motivated enough to finish that one sock today!

Quick update...

My dad's socks are progressing wonderfully - I'm just turning the heel on the first one now - should hopefully get it nearly finished tomorrow - yay! Then I'll progress on to the second sock.

Oh - I'm frogging my hubby's socks - they look craptastic next to my dad's - and we can't have hubby having craptastic socks!

Another FO!


I finished Counterpoint last night, and I am totally impressed (as is hubby - I honestly think he's more impressed than I am - lol)!

I've left it without tassels for now - I'll add them after I give it to her if she wants them, but I'm happy without them for now :)

So, that's 2 Christmas FO's this month! Yay for progress! I still have quite a bit ahead of me, but I am happy with the progress so far.

I'm thinking that I might pick up Sarah's Blanket again tonight while doing some tv watching, but for now I'm working on my dad's socks. Hubby has taken the kids downtown for lunch, so I think I might put Dad's socks down for a bit to work on his socks (I haven't touched them in at least 2 weeks now - eek!). I won't get any other time this week as he's home 'til Monday now (was supposed to be going back to work tomorrow) to help me with the kids as I'm STILL pretty much useless from the surgery.

I've decided that the KP orange-ish yarn will definitely become a cardigan. I'm kinda torn between 3 patterns though. It'll either be Wendy Bernard's "Something Red" long sleeved version (or maybe the 3/4 sleeve version - I like them both!), a Central Park Hoodie, or, Laura Chau's Lucy in the Sky.....Hmmm.... Opinions anyone?

It's not everyday that you can honestly say...

...that your bellybutton hurts!

I had surgery on Friday to have my gallbladder removed, and one of the places that they put an incision (there's 4 in total), is in your bellybutton! Seriously - it's not cool! I think that's the one that hurts the most! (Sorry if that's TMI for anyone!)

Anyways, on benefit of this surgery and being pretty much useless, is that I'm getting quite a bit of uninterrupted knitting time! Yay! Counterpoint is almost done - should definitely be done by the end of tomorrow, if not by tonight!

After that, I need to take a quick diversion from the Christmas knitting to make some mittens for my little Goober, and to fix his hat so it'll fit him for longer - if not make him an entirely new hat! That, and I'm thinking he needs a new pair of booties too.... Hopefully it won't take too long to get those projects done as it's starting to get quite chilly here the past few days!

I don't know if I wrote about it here or not, but I've decided to make a Tuscany shawl for hubby's Gramma in place of "The vest that just won't be". I know it's going to be red - but I need to make a final decision on the yarn by the end of the week so I can get it ordered and in and started! I'm thinking that it won't take any longer than 3 weeks from start to finish - plenty of time!

I've also started on a pair of socks for my dad - I actually worked on them while I was waiting to go to the OR for my surgery on Friday. I'm pretty sure that was the only thing that kept me sane and calm! I've got the cuff done on them, and am into the leg now.

I had been hoping to get a pair of socks finished for Socktoberfest, but it doesn't look like I'm even going to get an entire sock done at the rate I'm going at!

Well, at least I'll have 2 Christmas FO's this month!

It's ORANGE!

I like orange. Really, I do (the right shade of it, it's my favorite colour). However, having the "terracotta" yarn I order come in to be frigging ORANGE, well.... that stresses me. Orange is not what Gramma asked for. I don't even know if she LIKES orange! I was told coppery-bronze. This stuff is nothing like that.

Looks like I might get that Grass coloured sweater after all...

Yes, this means that, despite all of complaining earlier, my KP order is in. I love all my needles, and the yarn for my dad's socks are perfect, but this large pile of ORANGE yarn really overshadows it all.

I looked at the website on *3* different monitors (yes, we really do have 3 computers - oh and a server too), plus I got my mother-in-law to check it out on her computer , before I decided to go and order it. The stuff in my box, and the stuff on (technically) 4 monitors is totally different stuff.

I think I'm still in shock.

Here is the yarn in question:

Natural light - inside:
Natural light outside:

I keep on going back and looking at it and wondering what to do... It's still sitting on the kitchen table, and looking at it from here, it looks like a darker pumpkin.... Just waiting for hubby to get home to make a final decision, then I might email pics to mother-in-law and see what she thinks (It's her mom this is for).

**ETA** It's not just me with this yarn - I asked a question about colour inaccuracies in the KnitPicks group on Ravelry, and I'm not the only one who has had the exact same opinion with this yarn! I am going to keep it, but not use it for the intended project. Me thinks I have another Tuscany in my immediate future - this time in RED!

I'll put pics of the stuff I love in another post.

Well, colour me unhappy!

I'm not happy, and I'm definitely NOT impressed.

If I haven't mentioned it before, I HATE the building we're living in (enough to try to move after Christmas, in the dead of winter, IF we can find a house - no more apartments for this girl!).

They've been doing electrical work in the building for weeks now, and despite being on a different meter than the rest of the building, EVERY TIME they start working on the electrical, our power shorts out for a few minutes. Yeah, ok, that's a little annoying and all, but today is REALLY going to drive me NUTSO! They put a notice by the elevator door last night that today the power is going to be out on certain floors, and that the buzzer/intercom system is going to be down for the ENTIRE day!

Did I mention that my KP order is showing as "out for delivery"? Or that my mail slot isn't big enough for the package? Yeah. Wonderful. Not.

Looks like I'll be waiting ANOTHER day for my package because the mail dude will have no way of telling me that he's in the lobby with my yarn-y/needle-y goodness. Boo!

Despite this craptacular bit of info, I DO have some exciting news to report! I'm going to be an auntie again (I already have 2 nephews, hence the "again")! More itty-bitty baby knits for me, sooner than I expected (I know, I have a baby too - but at 5 months, he's almost in TODDLER sized clothing! Where'd my baby go!?!). They don't have a due date yet (waiting for an ultrasound), but it looks like their baby#3 will be due sometime around my 2 kiddos' birthdays (mine are 12 days short of being exactly 3 years apart!).

Looks like I might *have* to add one more itty-bitty baby sized project on the Christmas queue!

Counterpoint & KP order news

I received an email from KnitPicks this morning with a CP tracking number...Of course, since then, I've been pretty much refreshing the tracking page every 5 minutes! When I checked it just now, lovely yarn-y/needle-y package of joy has just been accepted into the sortation plant in my city! I have mixed feelings about this.. On one had - good thing it didn't get here today so I can get more of Counterpoint done (you do know I'll end up casting on for another project as soon as I open that box, right?), but on the other hand, I'm left disappointed - especially, because it says right on the tracking page that it "SHOULD" be delivered today (stupid delivery standard!). It's now 3pm, no way it'll get over here today! Ah well, yarn-y and needle-y goodness tomorrow for sure!

Anyways, my real reason for posting is the aforementioned Counterpoint!

It *looks* like just some plain jane scarf.....


But......

It's a bunch of awesomeness in disguise!!

Quick update...

I just wanted to post a quick update as to where I am with my knitting...

My KP order still isn't in yet, but I have managed to find a way to distract myself from working on that darned blanket...I started Counterpoint from Magknits!

It's progressing quite nicely - 30% done already, and hoping to have it done by the time I have to go in for surgery on Friday! No pics yes, but I'll try to post some tomorrow! I really do love how it's turning out, especially because this is my first shot at illusion knitting!

What next?

I have Tuscany blocking now (should be dry/finished by this afternoon), and now I'm sitting here, torn between working on that darned blanket, or working on hubby's socks.

On one hand, I haven't worked on the socks in about a week now I think - but, at the same time, that blanket is just haunting me. I don't want to work on the blanket, but I do want to get it done and out of the way....

What to do, what to do?

Edit:

Now I remember why I haven't been working on hubby's socks - I'm waiting for my new KP sock needle set to get here so I can work on both socks at the same time without having to go and buy another set of Boyes...

Ugh...I really don't want to work on that blanket, but it's about all I have to work on until my KP order gets in - need the needles, need the yarn...grrr! Hurry up yarn and needles!

Tuscany, a FO!



It's done! It's done! Hurray!

I finally bound off this evening, so it's not blocked yet, but I had to take pics and show it off anyways!
I ended up only doing 9 sets of the repeat, because when I measured it at that point, it was only 1/4" off from what the pattern said should be the finished measurement. If I were to knit this again, I would knit the full amount of repeats, but this one should be perfect as my MIL is 3-4" shorter than I am (yes, I actually called to confirm her height before I bound off).

I absolutely LOVE how it turned out - let me know what you think!

Yippeee!

I just got the email confirmation that my knitpicks order has shipped! YAY! Lots of pretty yarn and needles are on their way to me!

Now the rush is on to try to get Tuscany done before they arrive so I can play once everything gets here! I had wanted to get it done by Friday anyways, so not like it's a bad thing - it actually gives me motivation to get it done quickly :D

On a Tuscany note, there's no way that I have enough yarn to do the 11th repeat (I'm 3 rows into 9th repeat now, and have just started the 5th of 6 balls, with each set of repeats now using nearly a full ball). Hubby says having it being a bit shorter that the pattern calls for isn't so bad seeing as his mom is about 5'3" - so I don't feel so bad having it be a bit on the "short" side.

Only doing 10 instead of 11 sets actually means I'm THAT much closer to being done, and instead of being at the 75% done that I had stated on Ravelry, I'm actually 82% done! YAY!

Watch this space for a lovely FO by the end of the week!

Don't mind me, I'm just having a panic attack...

Seriously. Not in a joking way.

I've had panic attacks since I was a kid - not the crazy-can't-stop-hyperventilating-need-a-paper-bag-I look like a crazy-person kind, but ones that are incredibly unpleasant all the same. It's been months since I've had one, but in the last week, I've had...3 - one of which, I am currently in the middle of. I think it might have something to do with the season - because I do usually start having them around this time of year....

This morning, I was going through my Christmas '07 excel file (I HAVE to be the organized one when it comes to the holidays, or nothing would get done till the absolute last minute, if at all), and honestly, I thing we're doing ok so far.

We've "financially" (meaning some of this is supplies for making gifts that are not complete) taken care of 8 of 19 gifts (this does not include gifts for hubby, the 2 kids and myself).

Here's a list of who we gift to:

Hubby's Side - parents, grandparents, brother,sister,sister-in-law, 2 nephews, 2 cousins (who are practically our daughter's best friends), best friend (who may as well be his brother),one aunt(of MANY, but she's one of my all-time favorite people, and what I'm making her is relatively cheap supply-wise).

My side: Dad, mom, 2 sets of grandparents, sister, best friend.

My best friend is the only one who might have her gift postponed into the new year (I haven't seen her since...June maybe? Don't know when I'll get to see her next either), other than that, the rest absolutely cannot be cut...

Did I mention that I do all the gift shopping/prep on my own? That I won't even have a stocking unless I do it myself? It sucks, but I guess I don't really mind all that much in the end...

Do I really wonder why I'm constantly having panic attacks now? Not really...

At least I have nearly everything planned out, I just have to find the time/money/energy to take care of everything while looking after a baby and pre-schooler!

Cut to the part where this is knitting related (this IS a knitting blog. isn't it?)... I have a bit over 2 months to start/finish 6 knitting projects.... At least I have 3 of these on the go right now, but I am now incredibly driven to finish at least one of them within the next week - maybe then the stress will subside a bit...

Tuscany, you're my target (because I really REALLY can't stand to work on the blanket anymore this week!).

Alpaca silk is a beautiful thing!

I received my MYB Swap package today! Just in time for my much needed instant gratification project need! It's AWESOME! I LOVE IT!

I'll post pics a little later - I need to finish this hat ;)

FRAK!Damnit!UGH!

Sock #2? Yeah, it's frogged. Gauge was off, and had problems with laddering (which I now know how to fix, but that's besides the point). Did I mention I was over half done the leg? Yeah. Me? Not impressed.

I'm definitely NOT working on Tuscany today, can't risk an mistakes with that - no lifelines are in...

Must be the blanket enticing me to work on it again...

Quick update...

Ok, so I didn't manage to finish the 8th set of repeats on Tuscany as I had wanted to, BUT I did at least manage to start that set...Yeah, I finished the first row! Go me - lol!

I also managed to knit another 2" on to sock #2 of the Socktoberfest socks this morning - so, not too bad.

I really aught to work on Sarah's blanket, but for some reason, I have THE strongest urge to knit mittens. Alas, I have promised myself that I will not start another project until I have cast off one of the projects I currently have on the go... 3 WIPs at a time... Any bets of exactly how long that's going to last?

But seriously, as happy as I am with the projects I have on the go right now, I'm feeling like I need a quick start-to-finish project here and there to keep me happy through the large-and-major-time-consuming projects.

On another note, I'm starting to have a minor panic attack here...Despite having bought an extra ball of Sonata for Tuscany, I don't think I'm going to have enough for the full 11 repeats.... DAMNIT! Hopefully something comes out of the ISO thread I put up on Ravelry!

Turkey Weekend Tuscany Progress


I know, the weekend isn't quite over (yay 3-day weekends!), but I am so insanely happy with my progress on Tuscany that I just had to report on it!

Ok, so the pic is not that great - but I can't spread the work out properly because of my own stupidity. Yeah - I some how thought I needed a 29" circ, when in reality, I need a 40"!

In this pic, it is stretched from join to join, so yeah, it's getting big! Yay!

Out of curiosity, I decided to measure just how big it is now. I was unable to get a width measurement because of the circ length issue, but for length - unstretched, I'm already at 18" long, and from cast-on, running up the side of the work, is 21" unstretched.

I'm ok with the amount of knitting that I've gotten in so far this weekend - I was at the half-way point in the 6th repeat at the beginning of the weekend, and am now almost done the 7th repeat. I didn't get as much done as I might have, as we ended up going to my grandparents for dinner after all - yay turkey!

I'm off to knit a bit more before bed - hopefully tomorrow will be my sleep-in day!

Socktoberfest Sock(s)!


DSCF1182
Originally uploaded by gigglemonkey
Ok, I woke up this morning with every intention of taking photos of the progress on these socks...

Memory card....check!
Camera...nope!

Do you think I can find my camera anywhere? NO! Memory card was in my laptop, but does me no good without the camera! So, I am left having to share this picture with you - one that does not show my true progress.

I love that these are coming along much faster than I had anticipated (I'm just about to start the heel now, so there's about 4-5" more done than is shown here) as it gives me hope that I am not actually insane and can manage to finish all of my projects I have planned before their Christmas deadline!

Anyways, now that I am at the heel, I am contemplating starting sock #2. Why? I think this might help avoid second sock syndrome, and I'll be less likely to end up with 2 totally uneven socks! Good idea, no?

I'll post a more updated photo if I can find the camera before the long-weekend sock drought starts...

Ok! Found the camera! I cast on for sock #2 and have half of the "cuff" done - hoping to have the cuff done, and be into the leg before the sock progress gets put on hold (till Tuesday, when hubby goes back to work!)

So, here they are:
Oh, and on another note - Damn you Boye for only selling your DPNs in sets of 4!! I actually now have to go out and buy a THIRD set of your dumb needles in the ONE size...Money hungry much?

....

Well, I've learned one thing, and that is that it's frustrating when you're trying to knit something for someone that you live with without them seeing/finding out about it!

The socks I'm knitting for one of my hubby's Christmas gifts are coming along swimmingly, and would be even more so if I could whip them out at night to work on them while watching tv. Alas, I cannot. On one hand, I suppose that this is a good thing, as I'm actually making progress on Tuscany instead of just plowing through the socks...

Speaking of Tuscany, I have set a goal for it! I finished up the 5th set of repeats last night, and will be working on the 6th set tonight while I watch Grey's and the Office (yay! Thursday t.v rocks!). My Goal? To be finished the 8th repeat come Monday night (I would actually like to be finished the 9th set, but I don't want to get to ambitious!).

This weekend is a long weekend for Thanksgiving, and seeing as how MY side of the family SUCKS, we will be having it here, by ourselves (and possibly with one close family friend, but that's it, even though my ENTIRE side of the family lives within 30 minutes of us), so it should leave me plenty of prime knitting time, especially seeing as hubby will be home for 3 whole days! If I manage to accomplish this, it means that I'll be right on track to complete it well BEFORE the end of the month, and then I'll have no excuse not to pick up Sarah's blanket (which I haven't touched since the circs got in) and get that done and out of the way as well!

So, a small estimate is that there will be at least 2 FO's this month (the cabled hat and Tuscany), the medium guess is 3 FO's (Sarah's Blanket along with the other 2), and the large estimate is 4 FOs (the socks too!). I'll have 3-5 days of bedrest/taking it easy after my surgery, which gives me prime knitting time (no having to put it down every 5 seconds to run after the kids!), so I'm hopefully optimistic that I'll get the 3 FOs in!

I've joined!

This is my first Socktoberfest, and I'm quite excited! Without realizing, I cast on for a pair of socks just yesterday! What perfect timing! Hopefully I'll get them done by the end of the month (both of them - can't afford second sock syndrome!), and I'm also hoping to get a pair of Dad's socks cast on by the end of the month as well :)

Christmas Knitting Update

With so much work still yet to be done before Christmas, I thought I would just write an update on where I am in my list of things that have to be done!

Project list with statuses:

  1. Sarah's Blanket - 2 panels complete, 2 more panels started - on the back burner for a bit until I make a bit more progress on some of the other items on the list (that are more fun to work on!)
  2. Cindy's Tuscany Shawl - into the 5th of 11 repeats! This was progressing faster than expected, but now is getting into the longer rows, so is starting to slow in progress.
  3. RJ's Socks - done the cuff and am about 1/3rd of the way done the leg on the first sock!
  4. Dad's Socks - yarn is chosen, but yet to be ordered
  5. Gramma's Vest - ordering the yarn on the 15th!
  6. Aunt Tanya's Counterpoint Scarf - still need to choose the yarn - I think I know what I'll be using, but want to explore other options before I make a firm decision...
  7. Dad's 2nd pair of socks - same as other pair
  8. Mr.Blue-Eyes' Stocking - pattern is chosen, but am unsure of yarn. I saw the handicrafter christmas colourways the other day and might go with some of those - not overly sure though and want to take a look at what some other options might be first! It IS his first stocking!
I suspect that I'll only make on pair of socks for my Dad before Christmas, and have the other pair ready for when he gets back from Jamaica in January (yeah, he goes there EVERY Christmas - insane, I know!) - less stress that way. Depending on how the other projects go, I suspect that I'll likely knit my boy's stocking on the way to hubby's grandparents on Dec. 22nd - it'll give me something to do for the 6hr ride! That, or I'll work on whatever else is to be done, and work on the stocking after we get there. Either way, I suspect that it (the stocking) should be a fairly fast knit.

I'll be placing a KnitPicks order on the 15th of this month (Yay!), which will include the yarn for Gramma's vest and for both pairs of Dad's socks, as well as the full set of of sock DPNs and a full Options set! Yay!

The DPN & Options sets are a part of my birthday gift - but I'm getting them early (and know about them already) because I told hubby that I can't risk placing the order for the yarn later than the 15th, and no matter what, I was getting the DPN set because I really need it. When I told him that, he told me to go ahead and order the Options set as well, because he had been planning on buying both of the sets for me anyways :D Have I mentioned how much my hubby rocks? Oh, and what makes him rock even more? Yeah, I get yarn too!

I'll be waiting until November to get the yarn though, and I'll be going to Wool N' Things in Orleans to get it. I went there on Sunday and fell totally in love with the place! Now, I have to say, I was a bit leery about going in there at first - my previous experiences with LYS' have not been overly pleasant - I'm usually faced with such snobbery that it makes my stomach turn (I've found CSC is ESPECIALLY bad for this, as well as the LYS in Sudbury that's on Barrydowne), but this place is TOTALLY different! Gisele is so kind and SO helpful and makes you feel so comfortable - I foresee a lot of money being spent in there (not like that'd be a hard thing to do - it IS yarn!!).

This reminds me - the reason why I had to go there was because I had ordered some Rowan Calmer from an ebay seller for the MYB swap on Craftster, and after 15 (now 17) business days, it STILL hadn't shown up (and still hasn't, along with my Rowan Kid Silk Haze - boo :( ). Wool N' Things was (is) the only store here that carries Rowan, so I had to go there for that. They didn't have the colour I wanted, but I did manage to find a reasonable substitute. The only thing that was a bit disappointing was that I paid almost $6 more there than I had online....Ah well, it was worth it - and at least it went towards supporting a LYS!

Anyways, I'll end this "all-over-the-place" post for now (yes, I blabber on a lot!). Hopefully more progress updates will come soon!

First (of hopefully many!) FO of October

My little Mr.Blue Eyes makes his first appearance on my blog! It's been getting chilly some days, and especially at nights here, so I decided that my little guy needed a hat with Mommy's touch!

Pattern: 10 Cable Baby Hat from Hey Julie
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease
Colourway: Charcoal
Needles: US8
Made for: My baby boy :D


Comments: This was supposed to be a "newborn" sized hat, but I found it came out a larger size (which is what was needed anyways!). I plan on making him a second hat, but will add another cable twist before decreasing as it turned out a bit smaller than what I had originally wanted (although it still fits pretty well !)

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Tuscany progress!


I am SOOOOOO happy with how quickly this is progressing!! When I looked at it again after the new needles came in, I was terrified that there was only a slim chance that I was going to get this done in time on top of all of my other projects - not so much anymore!

In this progress shot, I had just finished the 4th repeat - now I'm almost 1/2 way through the 5th :D

I'm really enjoying this pattern - but it's something that is difficult for me to work on during the day when it's just me to run after the kids! Having to put it down in the middle of a lace row is NOT a good thing! However, it is simple enough of a pattern that I can work on it at night while watching tv after the kids are in bed - which is definitely a wonderful thing!

I'm thinking that I'll definitely have this done within the next 2 weeks - which would be awesome! I'm hoping to have this and Sarah's blanket done before I get the yarn in for Gramma A's vest (which I can't even order before Oct.15th - boo!). That might be a bit of a stretch, but hopefully it's not too much of one!

Yay for Tuscany!

The needles came in last night (finally!!!), and I've resumed work on it. I'm now started on the 4th set of repeats, and for some reason, it feels like it's progressing faster than it was previously, which, trust me, is NOT a bad thing!

3 months left to finish this & Sarah's blanket, plus start and finish Dad's socks (hoping ot get 2 pairs done for him - but I doubt I'll manage to get both pairs done on time , RJ's socks, Gramma A's long vest, Aunt Tanya's scarf & a bunch of mittens!!

Yeah...I must be insane!

More progress (and some delays)

I've made a bit of progress, and had a few set-backs in the past few days - over all, I'm not too impressed...

First off, the Seaman's Cap

So, Sunday I finally cast on for Grandpa A's hat (meant to be part of his Christmas gift). I found that the K1, P2 ribbing was annoying, but stuck with it thinking that it'd be worth it in the end. Anyways, I got to about 40% done the hat before I decided to take a good look at it - only to discover that I made one small mistake in the ribbing in approximately the 3rd row from the beginning! Frak! No good! To try to avoid frogging the darned thing, I asked hubby and hubby's best fried if either of them happened to need a new winter hat. Go figure - no dice! I, personally, would rather not give something I've made that has an obvious (to me) error in it as a gift. So, alas, hat has been frogged :( I don't actually know if I'll actually start this hat again, or choose something (entirely) different....

Next, we have Toddler Mittens

Ok, so these were going along pretty good, but as I got to the thumb, I decided to try them on the kid to make sure they'd fit. Go figure, they were a tight squeeze to get that little bit over her hands! Arg! Time to find a CHILD sized mitten pattern! No fair! She's only 3!

Oh yes, and previous to these two disaster projects, was supposed to be my new Calorimetry

Of course, this project did not bode well either! I honestly don't know how, but something ended up wonky (most likely in my tote bag, as the needles didn't have point protectors on them, and the tote bag was just thrown under the stroller in a hurry), and this project has also been frogged :(


Honestly, I've taken these 3 new project disasters as a sign that I need to get Sarah's Blanket done, or at least work on it a bit. I've pretty much had it on hold since I finished the first panel, as it was a "bore me to tears" kind of knit. Honestly, I'd rather have to do 10 000 000 000 rows of stockinette stitch in the round than have to work on this, but it's gotta get done. I've made the investment (although a fairly tiny one) in the yarn (and what would I do with 3lbs of blue Bernat Chunky otherwise?!).

So, I've cast on for the second panel, and am nearly done the second repeat now. I'm hoping that I manage to stand working on it long enough to get at least half, if not 3/4 of this panel done today!

So, this concludes my knitting update. I heard you blanket - are you happy now?

Sock Delay

Bamboo DPN + 3yo + Pencil Sharpener = BAD outcome...

Can't even cast on for the second sock until I buy a new set of US8 DPNs before I can do anything with these socks :(

Boo!

Also, because of lovely daughter ruining yet another needle, hubby has totally nixed me getting the new knitpicks harmony needles. Boo to that too! At the least, it sounds like I'm getting the nickel set!

Sarah's Blanket - Progress!!

Yay! The first panel is finally done!! I've had to change some things to make it work (Yeah, I know, I should always swatch...but meh, I'll learn eventually!)

So, now, each panel will have 9 cable repeats, and I'm guessing that there will be about 6-7 panels, if not more. Fun. Not.

Sarah's Blanket


Pattern: Lion Brand's Cable Comfort Throw
Yarn: Bernat Chunky
Colourway: True Denim (it's actually more of a medium blue)
Needles: US13 Bamboo
Made For: Sarah's Birthday/Christmas
Progress: 3 repeats past what is shown - on first panel of 5

Comments: This is such a boring knit. Seriously. It could put me to sleep - not going as fast as I'd like it to, but meh - what can I do? I'm learning from this that I absolutely do NOT enjoy knitting on huge needles....

AHHHHH!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah crap! Any progress on Tuscany has been brought to an absolute halt until my new circs get here :( I unfortunately have no choice in the matter, and I'm not in the least bit happy about it!

Yesterday, my daughter was, for some strange reason, standing on the couch while talking on the phone. I had been working on Tuscany before the phone rang, and had left it on the couch when I went to grab the phone. Anyways...At one point, she took a step, and all I heard was SNAP!

Yeah...Not good! One Brittany was totally snapped in half - and it was the one with all the work on it! I managed to save the work, but am left needle less until the circs get in :(

Spa Socks (a.k.a My First Socks!!)


Pattern: Spa Socks
Source: Knit.1 Spring '07
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas' Organic Cotton
Colourway: Natural
Needles: US8 Crystal Palace DPNs
Made For: Me!!
Progress: 50%! First sock is done (except for the button)!!!

Comments: Ok, so at first I was really intimidated by socks, but after knitting the first one, the fear is gone! Ok, so obviously, I made a few mistakes with it being my first sock ever, but I think I've learned from them, and that the second sock will turn out even better than the first! Yay socks!

Tuscany


Pattern Name: Tuscany
Source: No Sheep For You
Yarn: Elann Sonata
Colourway: Victorian Grape
Needles: US 6 Brittanys to start, switching to US6 Clover Takumi Circs as soon at they arrive
Being Made for: Mother-in-Law's Christmas Gift
Progress: Mid way through the 3rd set of pattern reps. (further than what the photo shows). I might be able to finish the current set of repeats before switching to the circs is mandatory.

Comments: So far, this is a pretty simple knit - one that I can usually manage to work on even when hubby isn't home to help with the kids. I'm pretty happy with the progress so far - the one semi-problem I have with it is that the YOs on one edge show up more than the ones on the other :/

Bloggity Blog

Ok, so I was over on Ravelry, and all of the links to people's blogs got me to thinking about how I never actually update my other blog, but how I'd love to keep track of my progress on my knitting projects with commentary and whatnot. Hence, greenapples knits is born..

Now, hopefully I'll actually keep this updated!