HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

First I want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year!! 2007 was a great year of knitting...I bet 2008 will be even better.

What are your resolutions this year? Me...my #1 resolution is to knit down my stash. No matter what the project, I am promising myself that I will first shop my stash bins to see if I can find a suitable yarn before I head to the LYS for more yarn.

I finished up one last project for 2007 today. It's the Tubey sweater I've been working on for my daughter. She's modeling the sleeves above, which she wanted to wear before I seamed the sweater together. I chose to make the sweater in two pieces and seamed the tubes together rather than picking up the stitches on the sleeves when I started the body. Mainly because I'm much better at seaming than picking up stitches.

But all's well that ends well...and best wishes to all of you for a knit-filled 2008!

Winter's Back...

Well...after a warm snap (almost Spring-like), that started a few days before Christmas, Winter has returned. It's still nice and mild outside, but with the added bonus of the promise of 3-5" in fresh snow. I was beginning to wonder if I'd be able to get the kids out sledding during their Holiday break from school. Looks like tomorrow "the hill" is on the agenda!

With a nice cup of tea, here I sit watching the snow fall while I work on my first post-Christmas project. I have a long list of items I want to knit, but I've decided to start with a sweater for my daughter, Tubey, from Knitty.com. Since I'm on a stash-busting mission now that Christmas is over, I'm using some Caron Simply Soft in Light Country Blue that I had in my bin full of acrylics. Since it's for my daughter I thought that might be a better choice, since it'll likely see it's fair share of the washing machine. I really like this sweater though so I'm thinking of adding a cotton version for myself to my "to-do" list for this year.

Merry Christmas!!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!! I hope you all are enjoying your time with your family and friends this Holiday season.

All the Christmas knitting is done and with a wonderful prime rib dinner in our bellies I find myself thinking about what I can knit next. I have some exciting swaps coming up in 2008... I am very excited to particiapte for the first time in the HSKS (Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap) which sounds like so much fun! I'm also starting a stitch marker swap which should be a blast as well.

My wonderful family got me a portable hard drive for Christmas, so now that the dishes are done and the kids are playing with their goodies from Santa, I think I'll sit down and start knitting a bag of some sort to carry it in. I'm thinking felted wool, what do you think?

Warm Me Ups!

Well I was able to finish up the scarf to match the hat I made for my Brother-in-Law. He's very difficult to shop for since he really is a man who has everything. So I was pretty nervous at our exchange this weekend. In the end he really did like it. I gave him some gourmet coffee to go with it, and of course, as is family tradition...some lottery scratch-offs.

I hope he wins big!!

Tsk, tsk....

I've been neglecting my journal this week... Two of the three kids came down with the flu, and there was a snow day. It's been a weird week! But, we are definitely going to have a white Christmas...

So...what's OTN? Well, I finished a hat for my brother-in-law yesterday and today I'm working on knocking out the matching scarf. Actually, I think that's my last gift knitting project for the Christmas season. I better double-check my list to make sure. :)

So Much For My New Bag...

I started working on a new bag last night. I had a vague sort of idea in mind for what I wanted, but nothing set in stone. Anyway, I am using up some Cascade 220 from my stash. I fully intended to felt it and line it with a coordinating fabric complete with a few pockets. So...I'm getting toward the end this evening and my daughter says, "Oh! A skirt for over my leggings. I love it! Thanks Mom!!"

Sigh...

So, I promptly bind off and hand it over to her squeals of delight.


Now to start on my bag...again.

Possessed Needles...

I don't know what came over me these past few days, but I've been obsessed with cleaning up open projects. I also decided it was finally time to make the kids new hats, so I knocked that out too.

So...what have I been up to?

I finally finished up that fringe on the crocheted poncho I started this fall. I also crocheted a small flower and attached it to the front.

When I originally started this project, I had intended to keep this poncho for myself. Of course, when I was done with it, my daughter was in love with it (mostly because of that little flower), and I ended up giving it to her instead.

My skinny scarf was so lonely without a matching hat, so I decided that I better get cracking on it. My orphaned scarf has now been adopted by it's match and couldn't be happier.

I didn't have to buy any extra yarn since I had plenty left over from my little ribbed creation. That's always a good thing!

It looks much better this way, don't you think?

Speaking of hats...the kids all needed new ones. I really like the SHIPS project pattern on the Lion Brand Yarn website. I make tiny variations to this pattern if I'm making it for the kids, but it's still basically the same, and they always come out nice.

My oldest son wanted a plain Navy hat. Voila!!

His twin sister of course wanted pink...big suprise! I did her's in a bulky yarn though that was very soft. I had to pry it off her little head last night when it was finally time for bed. She's so silly!

My youngest wanted, what else...a Ravenclaw hat. I suppose that's not a bad thing since he'll be getting the Ravenclaw scarf at Christmas so he'll be all matching and everything!

Again I was able to use what I had left from knitting the scarf, so no extra yarn to buy.

I just love that!

"Well, if you're sure. Better be...GRYFFINDOR!"

I put the finishing touches on my daughter's Gryffindor scarf and it's all ready for Christmas! I just love how all three of these scarves turned out. I know I will be making my gift scarves like this from now on...whether Harry Potter inspired or otherwise. The patterns is great, and the scarf turns out gorgeous on both sides. Not to mention the fact that it's double-thick...perfect for the chilly Midwestern winters.

Work on the wands to go with these scarves is underway! Stay tuned for updates...

"Wit Beyond Measure is Man's Greatest Treasure"

So says the oft-repeated Ravenclaw proverb. Ravenclaw is the House at Hogwarts that my youngest son favors. His scarf is now complete. Yay! He preferred the scarves worn in the first 2 movies, so I made him that style. I can't wait to give it to him. He keeps asking me if it's done yet...I'm so sneaky!

I started on the wands today as well. As soon as I get them completed, I'll post the final product and some instructions. You never know when one of your little witches or wizards will be needed a new wand...

I have 3 more stripes to finish on the Gryffindor scarf for my daughter, plus the fringe. I wanted to finish it up by today, but I was sidetracked by life. It happens...tomorrow's another day!

And guess what??? We are getting more snow tonight. I just love the snow...

The Joy of Recycling!

There are so many knitters that love to hunt down great sweaters at the thrift shop to deconstruct so they can re-use the yarn. The cost savings can be enormous as skeins of the very best yarns can run upwards of $10 each depending on the area of the country you live in.

I had never done this, so after an inspiring post in one of my groups on Ravelry, I felt compelled to give it a try. I got some great pointers from my fellow knitters and set out to our local Salvation Army. I went immediately to the men's section of the store and starting combing the racks. There were so many nice sweaters I could have come home with a car load full, but in the end I decided on 4 and set out for the register.

I ended up coming home with a coffee colored Abercrombie & Finch 100% cotton sweater (Men's Medium) that only set me back 60 cents; a pumpkin colored Old Navy 100% lambswool sweater (Men's XXL) that I paid $3.50 for; a white Eddie Bauer 100% cotton sweater (Men's XL) that I shelled out $1.50 for; and a yellow Ralph Lauren linen/raime blend (Men's XL) which I paid $1.50. So, for a grand total of $7.10 I will end up with miles of great yarns to work with if I can deconstruct them correctly.

Of everything I came home with today I'm most excited about the Old Navy sweater since I wanted to make my brother some new hunting gloves and a matching hat for Christmas, and the color (although it might not look like it from my pic) is perfect!

I can't wait to get started!!

No Sleep for the Knitting Mind...

Well after a fresh blanket of snow yesterday, then some cold winds last night, I couldn't sleep. Maybe I just have too many projects on my mind! So, rather than lying there staring at the ceiling I decided to get up and work on getting some things done...

I pulled out the Princess Poncho I've been working on for my niece for Christmas and decided to get the neck eyelash crocheted on and finish the front fringe. You have no idea how economical this little gem was to create. I used Jiffy yarn by Lion Brand and Moda Dea Zing. While spending another extended trip to Hobby Lobby one day I saw that Jiffy was on sale for $1.49 a skein. It's not usually that expensive anyway, but at almost $1.00 off per skein, I decided to jump on it. Then I found a pale pink color of Zing that was being clearanced for 99 cents. I couldn't believe my luck...it matched perfectly! So, for just around $5.00 I was able to make this "Teen" sized poncho.



Now that the kids are up and fed, I'm suddenly tired...go figure!

Heir of Slytherin

My oldest son's Slytherin scarf is finally complete. We got our very first taste of winter today with a snow storm, so while the kids played, I worked on getting the fringe on this scarf.

The pattern for this scarf comes from Charmed Knits. However, rather than knitting this scarf in a ribbed pattern the book calls for, I decided to knit in the round using the stitches called for in the Year 1-2 House Scarf from the same book. I like the look of it better, and it will make it doubly warm.

I always like to give the kids some sort of gift for Christmas that promotes the use of their imagination, and with the final book in the Harry Potter series coming out this year, as well as the release of the movie Order of the Phoenix (Year 5), it's been a fun HP year. Since the kids love the series just about as much as I do, I thought this would be a fitting. The scarf will be wrapped up with a Slytherin robe (complete with House patch), a new wand, and a handmade book about the House of Slytherin.

My younger son is a Ravenclaw and my daughter is a Gryffindor. Their scarves are also almost complete, and will be added to their gift boxes too.

Now...I think I should make one for me so I can play too!!!