January Roundup

Two baby blankets (which are quite addicting and I could've made more)
One pair of slippers ( for ittybitty adult feet)
One infinity scarf (for my SIL who made me the best cheesecake)
One pair of socks (for a new pattern)
One Koala bear (that hangs out with the other knitted animals in DD#2's room)

I Love January.

I love January

What? More Finished Objects?  Will wonders never cease???

I've loved January this year.  Not much to do (other than sports, of course.  Basketball and FUTSAL have been going full force.  Oh, and baseball open gym has started at 6am twice a week, 'cause that's what the kids really want to do is get up 90 minutes earlier twice a week and get a full workout before school.)

Now where was I?  That's right.  I wasn't complaining, but rather telling you how much I've enjoyed January.  The Christmas decorations have been put away, the rooms have been straightened up, piles of papers have been sorted, I've cooked here and there, work happens at a slower pace, and I've even had a couple of days off.

There's also been plenty of time to knit and I've taken that opportunity to just knit whatever I felt like.

In this case, it's been a couple of baby blankets.  I'm working on another pattern for M4A, and couldn't do just one.

You've seen them in progress before, but now they are completed.  Here's a two-colored version:

And a three-colored version:

If it wasn't for the fact that the baby house doesn't need any more afghans I'd just keep on making them. As it is, though, I guess I'll stop and work on something else.

Two FOs

In the first week of January, my knitting calendar had a pattern for easy slippers. So....I made them! They're for my friend who gave me the calendar (and incidently, has very small feet. An added bonus!)

They were using doubled stranded acrylic yarn that I had in my stash and worked up super-quick.

Also, I knitted the second sock that goes with my coffee bean sock pattern. They're done using worsted weight and size 4 needles.

Two easy projects that were fast and fun!

Knitterly Gifts

Continuously playing catch-up, that's me.  Here are two birthday gifts and one Christmas gift that I have yet to show you (and you DO want to see since they're all knitting related...)

First, my great friend and neighbor got me the 2012 Knitting Calendar.  She's been doing this for several years now.  Like always, I don't open it until January 1, and then I don't peak ahead.  (Well, almost always...)

My husband, who knows me so well, and has noticed that I almost always have a pair of socks on the needles, got me this great Book of Socks.  The patterns seem just my type when I need something besides plain vanilla.  Not too fancy but with some interesting texture.  I hope to cast on for a pair in the very near future.

Then for Christmas, DH got me a pair of Ashford wool carders.  (This time he had help....meaning that I picked them out.  He's good at picking out books, and maybe yarn, but carders would be beyond him.  Hey!  They were almost beyond me...)

All-in-all, it was a great haul with the promise of great things to come!

And then it was done...

There's a finished object hanging around our house, done for about 3 hours or so, which was presented to DD#2 with a "Ta-da! look what I finally made for you!", which she didn't remember requesting at all, which made me think I didn't really have to make it but whatever....it's done, and which freed up my size 4 needles to knit the second coffee bean sock.

Then I asked DD#2 to take a picture of two since I was busy working on supper which meant washing the pots before using them and you don't want to do that instead, now do you?  Which she wisely opted to take some pics, which turned into the koala bear going on an adventure.

First, the koala went to look at the sunset...

Then he hung out with his penguin friends for awhile...

He climbed through a jungle of flowers...

Which made him very hungry, so he stopped for a snack... (but he knew enough to avoid the garlic.)

And a drink...

Then he found his fellow knitted friends and told them about his adventures.

All in all, it was an eventful day.

The End

There might be another one...

Remember my last post? The one with the plethora of started projects?  Well, it turns out that I had nothing to take to a basketball game.

What to do....

What to do....

I know...  how about starting a new one?

Yep, that's it.  I'll start a new project.

And I did.

A plain vanilla sock.  For me.  In pretty purple, turquoise, and green.  It's turning out some swirly stripes that I'm lovin'.

Not to fear, though, I'm gonna have a finished object or two any day now.

An active case of startitis

Since the New Year's, all I seem to be doing is starting new projects.  Not finishing them, mind you, just starting them.

I've been working on a couple of patterns for M4A.  For the first pattern, I've knitted one sock.  Not two, just one.  It's in my favorite coffee bean pattern (thanks to Valeria!)

Then, I've also been working on a baby afghan pattern.  Here is the first sample.  It's a tad small, so the B/O needs to be ripped out and a few rows need to be added.  (And, yes, Captain Obvious, the ends need to be woven in.)

Here is sample #2, that I started before finishing sample #1.  This is also close to completion but I need more blue yarn.

Then, this is an infinity scarf.  (That's not the pattern name, it's just like that in the fact that there's no beginning or end, just a really long tube.)  It's the closest to being done, but it needs to be washed.

And, because that's not enough on my needles, how about a pair of slippers.  They look like slippers, riiiiiight?

Oh, and there are some knitted animal parts lying somewhere around here, too. I forgot about them already, and it's only the middle of the month.

Considering that there's at least 2 weeks to go before the end of January, I should be able to get at least some of these UFOs done.  Or maybe even all!

Darn

A couple of years ago I put a hole in a sock.  This is the first time I'd done that with a sock knitted with sock yarn.  (I think I have a couple of ww socks with holes.  Hmmm....I'll have to see if I can find them....)  Anyway, once I found the hole, I put it on my bedside table.  And there it sat for 2 years, doing nothing but collecting dust.

Finally, I decided to try my hand at darning.  What harm could it do? and I might learn something new.

First, I found a ball (no darning eggs here) and some yarn (that, of course, doesn't match).

This hole looks bigger from this point of view.

 

Then (following directions found on the 'net), I sewed around the hole with a running stitch.  Next I sewed vertical long sts to cover the hole.

 

Finally, I wove the yarn vertically through the long sts and ta-da!  One sock, ready to wear again!

2011 roundup

Just for grins, I collected the ball bands off of all the yarn that I used this year.

If it was earlier in the day, or if I'd had a nap, I might be tempted to add up the number of yards that I'd used. However, since I'm not that crazy, let's just say... a lot.

This year I again majored in socks, mostly plain ones. Here's a list of everything that I made.

For charity, I knit the following things for Mittens For Akkol:
11 pairs of adult socks
6 pairs of toddler socks
3 adult sweaters
2 balaclava hats
1 baby pullover
2 pairs of baby tights
3 pairs of longies
6 baby blankets

For gifts:
4 pairs of adult socks
1 cobblestone sweater
1 bellyphant cardigan and slippers

For me:
1 pair of socks
1 pentagon sweater
1 pair of long-awaited gloves
1 test pair of baby tights
2 swiffer covers
and I wrote a pattern for Baby Tights.

My knitting slowed down a bit this year, although I still carry it with me to all sporting events and believe me, there were A LOT of them.

My blogging slowed down also. We'll blame that on a combination of things.
1. Lack of interesting knitting
2. Joining facebook and falling down that rabbit hole
3. Switching to a new version of blogger that I don't like and don't care to use.

Looking forward to the new year, I'd like to finish up one last major UFO that I've had lying around--a fairisle vest.  For the first time, I'm going to knit all the items for an M4A grad.  The sweater is done, and most of the yarn for the other items is ready and waiting.  I need a new pair of socks, so that will be coming soon also.  (Need, as in "want to try out a new pattern", not need as in "my feet will go cold otherwise".)  And write a new pattern.  Or two.

I'd better watch it, this is getting dangerously close to writing some New Year's Resolutions, which I don't do.  Let's just call them "ideas" and move on.  And I will.

Happy New Years!  I'm off to knit (and maybe take a nap).

Sept.-Dec. roundup

To the best of my faulty memory, here's what I knitted between Sept. and Dec.

8 pairs of socks, 5 of which were for M4A sock challenge and 3 were Christmas gifts.  (Hmm...I need to make a pair for me!)
A Cobblestone pullover in dark green for my brother
A pompom scarf for my bannister to wear
A Bellyplant Cardigan and booties for my new nephew
A scrappy pullover using sock yarn for an M4A baby
3 pair of longies
And a pair of red and black gloves for me that was a two-year-long project.

Dear Family....

Dear Family,

If, while I am downstairs on the computer trying to catch up blogging from months of nothing-ness, you decide to take a nap, please LET ME KNOW!  You know I love naps, they're one of my most favorite things in the whole wide world.  It was eirie, going upstairs to get a cup of coffee, just to find that I was the only one awake at 2:30 in the afternoon.

Love,
Mom (who is now a bit more tired than you.  And is not sure that she spelled eirie right.)

Catching up...family news

Here are some family news items that happened recently. The younger two kids each played on a high school sports team this fall. DD#2 is a junior and played her second year on varsity field hockey.

DS#2 is a freshman and played on JV soccer.

He got pulled up to varsity for the playoffs, and for the first time ever they won the regional championship!  Here he is in their first playoff match wearing the hat I made for him.  (The observant among you will notice a couple of differences between this and the previous photo.  New number =new varsity uniform.  New cleats=replacement of ones that completely came apart in a previous game.  Oh the expenses, er, joys, of parenthood.)

I had several opportunities to wear the gloves I'd made, because the several games got really, really cold! I also had on a wool sweater, wool socks, wool hat, and a blanket (not handknit, but still really necessary.)(My ring finger on my left hand is a bit short.  Still wondering whether I should redo it.)

DD#2 is 16 yrs. old, but looks about 25 in her homecoming dress.  (Notice the bruises on her knees from a game the day before.  A field hockey ball is NOT soft, by any means.)

DD#1 and I drove through 5 hours of snow to visit my dad in PA over Halloween weekend. The roads stayed wet and not icy, so there was no driving problem.  We did a problem with the windows fogging, though, which can be attributed to the amount of hot air inside the car. :)

There was some time between seasons, so DD#2 played powder puff football.

Fall sports season is over, and winter season has begun. DD#2 has made the varsity basketball team and has gotten in several games so far. The bulk of the season will begin in January.  DS#2 is on the freshman team, and since he hasn't played since 4th grade, he has some catching up to do. Being 6'1" is a big help, though.

DS#2 got an early Christmas present--braces.

My dad and brother came down for Christmas, and we all got together for pictures.



Merry Christmas regular style...

...and Merry Christmas Ninja style!

Catching up...Christmas knitting

Once the socks were done for the M4A challenge, I concentrated on Christmas knitting. My plan was to make 3 pairs of socks and 1 sweater by Christmas, and I succeeded! The last sock was finished on Christmas day, but since the recipient wasn't there yet, I won! Unfortunately, In the flurry of activities, I forgot to take any pictures.

It figures.

The socks were plainly knit with nice yarn and the sweater was the Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood. I was working on the pullover and the last pair of socks at the same time, and both were made out of nearly identical shades of dark green.

Not my most brilliant plan as it almost bored me to tears. Now that they're done, though, I've been using some orange and yellow yarn to make a striped baby blanket. That's about as far away from dark green as I can get.

In the midst of all the Christmas knitting, I took the time to make a pompom scarf. I couldn't resist the yarn, and two skeins made a really nice, big, fluffy scarf. So far I haven't worn it, but it makes a nice bannister decoration.

Catching up... Bellyphant cardigan

In late September my SIL had a little baby boy and I decided to knit him a sweater. In late December, I finally mailed off the sweater. (In my defense, one attempt was made to hand deliver it, but no connections were made. For another excuse, I used worsted weight yarn in a pattern that calls for DK weight, so I figured it would be big enough for awhile...) This is the Bellyphant Baby Cardigan as found here on Ravelry.

Since the elephants were far apart and I didn't want long floats, I decided to do them as intarsia, using little balls of yarn for each elephant. However, I didn't do that with the gray yarn, so there were still long floats but just of one color. Next time I think I'll do the whole thing as fair isle and just make sure the floats are long enough.

The yarn is Berroco Vintage in gray and light blue. 2 skeins of gray and 1 of blue, I think? (the downside of blogging about something months later...faulty memory. Hey, I can barely remember what I did the next day, let alone once this much time has passed.)

I bought the slipper soles and knit the cuffs to match the sweater. The cuff is knitted separately and then sewn to the soles.

Here we have it: One elephant set that has finally been delivered and still fits!

Catching up....M4A boxes

Let me fill you in on some knitterly things that have been happening around here. In early November I mailed out 3 boxes to Mittens_4_Akkol for their annual sock drive. We got over 400 pairs of socks done for Nanci to take over --she's there right now, in fact. We also knitted items for their baby house. This is a collection of what I sent:

14 pairs of socks,
5 baby blankets
4 baby leggings,
1 scrappy baby pullover,
and 1 balaclava hat!