Tagged

Ok, so I know that I never got around to posting about recent projects, or doing an end of year post. Quite frankly, I got quite sick in December, and wasn't up to doing much of anything (other than plurking). Then came the new year, where I haven't been able to concentrate on anything other that a massive re-organization/de-stash of our entire house (just got sick and tired of all the "stuff", ya know?). Anyways...

Today I got tagged by Michelle over at The Zen of Knitting for 5 Projects (+1), so here are my projects:

1. Knit myself a pair of Thrummed Mittens - I have a Fleece Artist kit that I got for Christmas, so all I have to do is find the time to knit it up!
   
2. Paint the rest of the rooms that I want painted - This means the bathroom, the kitchen, master bedroom, and possibly the office. This is going to take awhile!
3. Knit a blanket for the back of the couch - Pretty self-explanitory. I think I'd like to knit a blanket from Knitting Nature (the name escapes me at the moment), possibly in Cascade 220 Superwash.
4. Knit Stockings for the 4 of us - DH, Miss J, the Little Man and myself that is. Still trying to decide on patterns, but leaning towards the Cascade 220 SW again - I like the stuff!
5. Knit up either the Special Limited Edition Fleece Artist or the sweater quantity of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light - Both of these are taking up too much room in the stash container, and are the 2 largest yarn purchases I've made to date (combined total is just above $120, IIRC). I don't like that they're just sitting there!
   

Now, I'm supposed to tag 5 other people to do this, but the few people I can think of to do this are already doing it! So, if you're reading and would like to do this too - consider yourself tagged, and leave a message in the comments to let me know!

Considering that I haven't posted any photos for awhile, I'll end this post with a photo of my lovely Thrummed Mitten kit! Ta for now!

I'm Alive!

Eep! it's been 2 months since my last post - sorry about that! My mind has been so scattered with trying to prepare for the holiday season that I haven't been able to put all of my thoughts together. I still have 2 projects (in their entirety) left to knit, so my mind is still scattered, but I'll try to get a photo-filled post up in the next few days so you can see what I've been up to! Hope you've all been well!

Falling for Brown

Autumn is my absolute favorite season. Why?

Take this for example:

(Taken from my balcony yesterday. Yes, those are cows - I live close to a farm.)

Then combine that with the cool weather, and you have one very happy me. I really do love this time of year!

That being said, since the cooler weather hit, I seem to have been drawn to the colour brown - it's showing up in just about every project that I've knit this month!

Just take a look and you'll see:

Mr.S' Hat

DH's Hat (I know, I need a better photo!)

Miss J's Hat

My fingerless Mitts

And, last but not least, brown even found it's way into Miss J's sweater

Ok, so that's not a photo of the full sweater, and while it's not completely done yet (just the button bands to go!), I need to get a better photo of it before I post one here! That is, however, the swatch for the yoke colour work. It might not be very feminine, but I know Miss J will love it (DH thinks so too).

Wanna hear something crazy? I'm almost done my Christmas knitting! For the stuff that I really wanted to get done, all I have left is Mr.S' sweater, socks for my Dad, and fingerless mitts for my BFF! I was also going to knit the kids each a toy, but I think I'm going to save those for their birthdays instead!

I especialy think that being almost done is especially great, because now I'm starting to feel the urge to knit stockings and ornaments, so I won't end up getting sidetracked by those things and ending up in a rush!

August FO's and other such things...

This "no real set goals" thing really seems to have worked this month!

What have I knit?

• Matching socks for Miss J & Mr.S (2 pairs total)
• Creamsicle socks
• Finshed up the Bleue et Noir socks
• "Autumn is Coming" anklet-ish socks
• Evangeline
• the teal Barbie dress
• Finished one sock of my Whitewater Monkeys

And, I'll likely have another pair of socks done by Sunday. Oh - the coolest part of the pair I'm almost done? They're pair #12 for this year (and pair #7 of the 52 pair plunge II)! I will have actually finished one of my resolutions (to knit 12 pairs of socks this year)! I'm so excited about this - especially because it was starting to look like I might not make it for awhile! And here I am with plenty of time to spare!


I also came *thisclose* to finishing Mr.S' hat - in fact, I did finish it - but then discovered that I need to add 1-2" in length to it! I'll get back to that as soon as I finish the sock I'm on as there's no huge rush for it yet (need the socks for the chilly evenings/mornings, where the hat can't really be used yet).

Ok, so now it's time to move on to September...

I know that I didn't really set any *real* goals for August, and that really seemed to work well, but I feel that I need to get back to goals for September. Why? Have you looked at the calendar lately?! It's (almost) September, and I still have gift-knits that still need to be tended to!!!

So, for September, I'd ideally like to knit:

1. Finish Miss J's sweater (I've started it, but I want to write a separate post about it)
2. Finish my Whitewater Monkeys
3. Finish Mr.S' hat
4. DH's hat
5. Miss J's hat
6. My hat
7. The second pair of Evangeline mitts
8. Re-start Dad's socks

Doesn't seem too bad - now if only I can keep focused!

Procrastination?

Apparently, it's not for me this month. Seriously. I've been ridiculously productive with my knitting so far this month.

In no particular order:

Barbie Dress #1 (of 3)

Big Sister & Little Brother Patina Socks

Bleue & Noir

Evangeline

Isn't that crazy? I don't know what's gotten into me, but my knitting speed has picked up drastically! Those 2 pairs of socks? 4 days total to knit *both* pairs! I'm amazed, and I have to credit Magic Loop and Knit Picks circulars - they seem to have cut my knitting time drastically (for producing FOs that is).Oh, and it's not pictured, but I also finished sock 1 of the Creamsicle socks.

The best part of this knitting productivity? All of the above pictured projects (with the exception of Bleue & Noir) are Christmas gifts! Yay!

Out The Window... and Christmas Crafting!

It's not the end of the month, but I can tell you that this month's goals are out the window!

Sure I finished Mr.S' socks, started a pair of socks for myself, and I did knit one sock of Miss J's pair - but that's about all that I'm likely to get done off that list.

The Jaywalkers, Leyburns, and Creamsicles are all on hold - the reason? I snapped back into reality and took a good look at what I intend to have done for Christmas gifts this year. It's a lot, and I'm nowhere near where I wanted to be at this point in the game - especially seeing as I want to be done by the end of November so I'm not stressing in December!

What I have done:

• 4 washcloths (plus 3 others that ended up going of to other uses, so no longer count towards that total :/)
• A pair of Fetchings

What's left to be done:

• 3 (possibly 4) pairs of socks (knit)
• 2 kid-sized, and one Cabbage Patch sized sweater(s) (knit)
• 2 pairs of cabled fingerless mitts (knit)
• A few Barbie Dresses (knit)
• 4 hats (knit)
• 2 tote bags (sewn)
• 3 crayon rolls (sewn)
• 3 “I Spy” bags (sewn)
• At least one batch of melt pour soap (quick & easy!)
• 2 quilts (sewn)
• A robot toy (knit), and possibly one other knit toy (also knit)
• 2 more washcloths
  

Oh, and we also have friends who are expecting their first baby in December, so I'd like to be able to knit something for them as well!

Oh, and those 4 hats? They aren't really gifts - just things to keep the 4 of our heads warm in the cold weather... But they'll definitely need to be done by November 30th!!

I have broken down the projects, sorting them into months - and it looks like it should be manageable. I hope I can manage it anyways!

Anyways, by the end of August, I hope to have completed:

1. Dad's socks (Hareton)
2. The 2 pair of fingerless mitts (Evangeline and Fetching)
3. One of the 2 quilts (Miss J's)
4. One or two knit Barbie dresses

And by the end of September:

1. Miss J's sweater
2. 3 of the 4 hats
3. 2 washcloths
4. Miss J's socks
   

October:

1. "I spy" bags
2. Totes
3. Crayon Rolls
4. The remaining hat
5. Mr.S' socks
6. Mr.S' Quilt

And hopefully, for November:

1. Soap
2. Mr.S' sweater
3. Knit robot & the other knit toy (if there's time)
   
4. Cabbie sweater (this one may end up getting the Ax, depending on how everything else goes)

The sewing (except for Mr.S' quilt) and soapmaking, thankfully, won't take too much time, so I should have no problems getting those projects done - it's the knitting that has me slightly worried. Most of what I'm knitting this year is for the kids, so it'll be "stealth knitting", and most of it will have to be done when their in bed (especially Miss J's as she always asks me what I'm knitting, and if its for her!) - I think that's what's got me the most "concerned" (for lack of a better word). Ah well, I'm fairly confident that I can get it all done!

I'll likely use part of my December "Me Time" knitting for the baby knits, but I don't have a problem with that :) Besides, the mom-to-be's favorite colour is the same as mine - green! So I should really be able to enjoy that knitting quite a bit :)

Hmm...Looks like I may fall slightly short of my 12 pair (socks) goal for '08...I hope not!

I'm back!

And well, I actually have been for about a week - but I've been too busy to post before now!

Other than moving, this is what I've been up to:

1. Finished Mr.S' socks
2. Started Miss J's socks (and finished one)
3. Started another pair of socks

I like how Mr.S' socks turned out, and I'm really liking Miss J's (can you believe that's *not* a self striping yarn? Pretty cool if you ask me!), but I'm not sure how much I'm liking my new socks - especially since I ended up ripping the entire heel out by mistake (it was only supposed to be 2 rows of the heel turn, but the *entire heel flap* ended up biting the dust).

One thing I'm now noticing - I'm getting tired of socks! Don't get me wrong, I love knitting them - but it seems that all it's been lately is socks and washcloths! I need something else to shake things up a bit! Perhaps something in a worsted weight - maybe in lace weight... I'm not sure! All I know is that I need something new in the mix!