It's been awhile

I've been meaning to start blogging again for the longest time, but I keep saying to myself, "I'll just do it tomorrow."  Well, after what has seemed like a million tomorrows later, there are still more tomorrows, but now is as good a time as any to stop procrastinating already.

I have been knitting, just not blogging about it so much.  I have plenty to share with you, but before I do, I need to share a bit of sadness that our family has experienced.  We put our sweet 15-year-old beagle to sleep two weeks ago.  She was having trouble walking, and she had to work hard to get up and move around. She was so good to try to get outside if she needed to go even though she was in pain.  It was really difficult to let her go, but it happened at the house in the most peaceful way it could possibly happen.  Here's a photo of her with my younger dog a few hours before she died.

R.I.P. Emma

I'll be back soon with more, I promise.  

Bon Voyage!

I mentioned awhile ago in this post that I have been working on making some comfort dolls. I had planned for the dolls to go to Haiti originally, but when I found out that they were close to meeting their goal in December, I decided to make them for Swaziland. I knit ten dolls in total, and I shipped them off today! These dolls take no time at all and customizing them with bright yarn scraps from your stash is a lot of fun. I made 5 girls and 5 boys, and here's a photo of them, all snuggled in the box and ready to go.

I wasn't too familiar with what is going on in Swaziland until I watched this video. Too many of the Swaziland children are orphans who deal with very real grown-up problems like hunger, poverty and sickness on a daily basis. These dolls are a small way to bring a little comfort to these children.

Feel like making some? Even one would be great! You might find that knitting or crocheting one of these little guys can become addictive! You can find the pattern here, and there is more information and support in the Comfort Dolls Knitters and Crocheters group on Ravelry. Or contact me, and I can steer you in the right direction. :)

Thanks for stopping by to check out the comfort dolls! Happy Knitting!

Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day! I realize that I've been MIA since before the start of this year. I can't explain it, but it's taken me awhile to get into the swing of 2012. For one thing, I had a massive case of startitis that I couldn't shake when January 1st rolled around. Plus, I had a birthday thrown in there somewhere, which always throws me for a loop. I do love Valentine's day though, especially because it always gives me a reason to knit a cute little creature, like Louie the Lovebot for my daughter.

Even though I had startitis at the beginning of the year, I've managed to knit a few things. My husband was sweet and gave me yarn and a pattern to go along with it, so I whipped up an eternity scarf. It was a fun knit, and it's fun to wear, so win win.

I also knitted up a Pookie for my daughter. I guess I don't need Valentine's day as my only good reason to knit up something fun. This little guy popped up in one of my Ravelry friend's favorites, and I just had to knit one!

I also knit the Pullover version of the cardigan I mentioned a few posts back. I was in a big box store and saw Thick and Quick on sale. Pair that with some fingers itching for a bulky, quick knit, and I figured it was worth picking up a short-sleeved sweater's worth of the stuff. Usually acrylic is not my thing, but this yarn did me a solid when I knit up the huge monster featured in my banner up top. I considered it to be a wooly (or I guess not so wooly) experiment.

Four and a half days later, and I had a sweater! It was a quick knit and the yarn behaved, so far, so good. I wore it out on a 49 degree day with a long sleeved t-shirt, and it felt just right for the day. So far, it held up well for the first wearing. Not bad.

I hope that you and yours and having a wonderful Valentine's Day! Tuesdays are very busy in our house, but I did manage to whip this up for dinner:

Heart-shaped mini honey-mustard meatloaves with roasted potatoes and salad - a family favorite of ours. :)

And we had red velvet cupcakes for dessert!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Christmas is coming! (Yikes!)

Hello blog readers! I apologize for this long lapse in between posts. The holiday season always seems to sneak up on me, and this year is no different. I'll show you a couple of things I managed to knit lately.

First off, I finally finished my Polly Cardigan. I was a little unsure about the buttons, but deep down I always felt like they were meant to be on this sweater. I bought them from The Hickory Tree on etsy, and I have to say that I really love them. They are literally slices from a tree branch. Pretty cool, right? I really love how they look!

Sorry for the headless photo. The expression on my face was not blogworthy, I promise.

I also knit something for the season. I had wanted to make these last year, but my disorganized self did not get it together in time. This year, I made it happen. So, I have korknisse on the tree this year!

I loved Elliphantom's version on Ravelry with tiny jingle bells and ribbon, so I followed suit. I made one for every member of the family, including the two beagles. I just love how cute they are! I plan to make some as gifts next year.

As for gift knitting this year, I have completely fallen flat. I'm in the eleventh hour knitting a hat for my 1-year-old niece. The first one I tried was a bust because it fit me. Now I need to speed knit another one this weekend. As for the rest of my family, I dilly dallied on deciding what projects and what yarn to use, so I ended up making a big bunch of nothing. It's so ridiculous that I haven't been able to make up my mind about these things. I think this time of year though that I need more enjoyment knitting and less process knitting. With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, the last thing I want is to be stressed by one of my favorite activities, right?

I hope you all are enjoying the holiday season so far. Hopefully, you are more content with your knitting that I am! Enjoy the weekend! I will try to check in again before 2012! :)

Kathleen

November Already?

Where did the time go? I was away for a few days as October turned into November, and I'll give you a hint where I was:

We went to the Mickey's Not-So-Scary-Halloween Party, and it was so fun! We went to Florida for a little longer than a long weekend, and it was perfect. Just enough warm weather, just enough Disney and not too much school missed, which worked out well.

Now that Halloween is over, I immediately feel like it's dangerously close to Christmas in terms of knitting gifts. Right now I only have one gift on the needles, and while I don't have anything too ambitious to complete in time, I should at least think about acquiring the yarn for these projects, don't you think?

Have I mentioned that I could teach a PhD seminar on procrastination?

I digress.

In the meantime, I did finish up a few projects. The gobbledyghost was finished in time for Halloween.

He's pretty cute even though he's trying to be scary.

I also finished some cabled snowman mittens for my niece. I had knit them for her last year, but being the peanut that she was, they would have been swimming on her. This year they will be a better fit for sure.

Since I only had the embroidery left to do, my knitterly guilt kicked in for some reason. Maybe because I knit them last year?I decided to knit her a tiny mermaid to adorn her gift. My plan was to use pink and purple to customize the mermaid to appeal to my niece's color palette. I am more of a traditionalist when it comes to mermaid colors, but I think she turned out all right.

I especially like her funky hair. See?

I also started knitting Comfort Dolls for Haiti. My Ravelry friend, adventuregurl, inspired me to join with her enthusiastic participation in this project. The Comfort Doll Project collects handknit dolls and will deliver them to children in Haiti for Christmas. Here's my first one:

Isn't he sweet? These dolls knit up so fast and use scrap yarn. Instant gratification and stash busting, what more could you want? If you'd like more information, feel free to pm me on Ravelry or leave a comment below.

That's enough news for the start of November, I think. The sweater is ripped out and the body is knitted up again. Just waiting to feel like knitting sleeves. :)

Happy Knitting!

Comfort Food Cowl and What's On the Needles

Usually, I'm a monogamous knitter. I like to knit and knit and knit, until I have a finished object off my needles. Then, I'm prone to panic because I haven't thought ahead, and I'm left without anything to knit immediately.

This month, however, the tides have turned for some reason. First, I saw the Comfort Food Cowl and Fingerless Gloves set by IrishGirlieKnits featured on her blog of the same name. I had just finished Dancette, and I was eager for a relatively quick, worsted weight project. I had 2 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in Water Green, so that satisfied my need to knit right there. The cowl is finished, and I love how it turned out. See?

When I finished the cowl, I cast-on for the fingerless gloves right away. The pattern was going much more quickly in the gloves, so I got about a third of the way up the cuff of the first glove.

Last Sunday, I had the house completely to myself because my husband and daughter went to a football game. I was so excited! I was going to watch movies and craft all day. I really wanted to start something new, so I decided to start crocheting a Queen Anne's Lace scarf for myself out of a pretty skein of Malabrigo Rios that I had picked up in Maine. Things were going swimmingly, and then I saw it.

A mouse.

Now I do not like mice....AT ALL! In our neck of the woods, it is pretty common to have mice trying to get in your house. I know they've been in the garage and stuff, and we have a pest company on the situation. Or so I thought. I had not seen one inside my house in a very long time. So, I watched this mouse climb up the side of my fireplace and duck into a tiny hole in the stone. What did I do? I called my sister, and I yelled and whined and basically freaked out.

After I commiserated with my sister, I saw the offending mouse stick his head out of the hole. I thought to myself, there is absolutely NO WAY that I am going to watch this mouse run around my house. I yelled at it and pounded on the stone of the fireplace. I swear the thing sneered at me. I sprayed it in the face with water and it rescinded into the hole. I called my sister back (for moral support), and then I cut up a stainless scrubber and shoved it into the hole where the mouse had peeked out. (I had read that mice do not like to chew through any type of metal or wiry material.) I didn't see him again that day, and I was relieved. Maybe he was too. My day was a bit deflated after that. I did crochet, and I did watch a movie, but it wasn't the same. My family had a terrific time at the game, so at least they didn't have to deal with our uninvited creature.

It took me a couple of days to calm down, but getting yarn in the mail helped me forget about the creatures. (That and several visits from the pest control people).

I had been watching the progress of Susan B Anderson's Polly Pullover turned Cardigan KAL on Ravelry. I just knew I had to have this cardigan, knit out of super bulky weight yarn, for my fall and winter wardrobe when I saw it featured on the Spud and Chloe blog. I finished my other sweater first, and then spent a good two weeks hemming and hawing about my color decision. I loved Susan's version in Carbon, but since I already own a plethora of charcoal colored sweaters, I decided to go with Sequoia, a reddish, terra-cotta-like shade. Then I was in a holding pattern, anxiously waiting for its arrival.

I received the yarn for my cardigan to be last Monday, and I was so excited to start. I really love the color! With the gauge swatch completed, I cast-on right away and made it through the body in just a few days. Love super bulky weight yarn!

I love that I've come this far, but I'm going to frog half the body. Why? I included the waist shaping dictated in the pattern on the sides of the cardigan, and I don't like how noticeable it is. I've tried it on several times, and reasoned that the sweater will be fine without it, and I'll be happier. Plus, it will take me almost no time to catch up because this yarn knits up so fast.

Although, I am starting another project today. (How many is that now?) A Gobbledyghost for my daughter for Halloween. She has requested a purple one, so I'm trying to knit it on the sly in time for the big day. So, the fingerless mitts, the scarf, and the sweater will be on hold for a bit. At least, I can't say I don't have anything to work on, right?

Happy Monday! What are you knitting these days?

Yay! Dancette!

Fresh off my needles is a fun knit from Irishgirlieknits. I saw Carrie's design, Dancette, featured on her blog and fell in love with the striping and chevron goodness displayed in this beautiful shawl. Then, after reading rave reviews about the lovely hand dyed yarn from The Plucky Knitter, I decided that I just had to order one of her Living A Mystery yarn kits that was equipped with 2 skeins of The Plucky Knitter Primo MCN 75/20/5 and the pattern. The skeins are selected by The Plucky Knitter herself and shipped off to you. As far as I know, you don't have any say in the matter.

And that makes project that much more fun.

I poured over the FO gallery for Dancette for days after I placed the order, wondering if my skeins would be similar to the projects that I was viewing. I am a huge fan of blue, so I was imagining opening the box and finding a beautiful shade of blue and another beautiful skein, maybe grey? (Well, let's face it, I was fixated on the blue.) Then the box arrived and inside was this:

No blue? What? I was taken aback a bit. This was not what I was expecting. Red and brown? Really? I mean I knew it was a "mystery" box of yarn, but somehow I thought that I would get what I had been dreaming about. Hmmmm......

Now I don't usually choose red when choosing yarn, clothes, etc., so this was new for me. I carried the skeins around the house with me for a bit, and then I put them down so I could think a bit about the whole thing.

Then I grabbed my long lost blue sweater in progress to try to finish it up. The sweater took me about 10 days to finish, and after that sea of blue had held my attention for that amount of time, enough was enough. I was so ready for a change.

I saw The Plucky Knitter skeins on the table where I had left them, and I had a new attitude. I thought to myself, "This isn't a bad thing after all." I wound the yarn into skeins and got down to business.

I decided to use the red as the main color with the brown as the complementary color. I cast on in the red and started on the pattern. The color changes were so fun, and the varying width between stripes really kept things interesting. As I watched the shawl get bigger, I was liking it more and more. By the time, I reached the chevron edging, I was couldn't wait for the finished object.

And here it is:

I really love how it turned out, and what I've come to appreciate about this project is that it has broadened my color horizons. I am looking forward to thinking outside the blue box for future projects. Who knows? Maybe I'll even branch out to a mustard cowl or pumpkin colored sweater.

That's begs the question: What am I going to knit next?