Monday, Monday...

I finished off this weekend yesterday thinking another weekend past with no blog post but I have a few minutes this morning so maybe I'll try to do a little quick one.

My mom came over the other day wearing the white Fiber Trends Fuschia Lace Scarf so we decided to take some photos.


I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I think the Zara Merino yarn I used was perfect. I think she's pretty happy with it too.


And in non knitting news Friday night I went to see Fuerza Bruta with some friends in the city.


It was amazing!!! Great music, dance, performance art maybe??? Like nothing I've ever seen. Anyone around New York City for the next few months, definitely take some time out to catch it. I promise it's like nothing you've ever seen!

Today the procrastination ends here!

I found out a few days ago I would have today off from work. I am resolved to use it to do the stack of things I've been putting on the back burner for 'when I have time' for way too long. One of these is mailing out some charity items I knitted (gasp) probably years ago. The Here and There Cables Scarf I just finished. But the EZ hat, baby and preemie hats, baby sweater and booties were made ages and ages ago.



So many ages ago that the sweater is actually the first sweater I ever made. (I think I might have even made it before I had a blog! I told you-gasp!) I think trying to knit a baby sweater before an adult sweater gave me a lot of insight that helped before I made the real thing. Even if the sleeves probably are way too long, hopefully it can help out some poor baby somewhere that's chilly and needs needs help keeping warm this winter. I feel bad I've held these things for so long, on the other hand it seems somewhat appropriate to be packing up charity items today. In the spirit of helping out others, I think the Reverend Dr. King would approve...

In more current knitting news the top down raglan is going so much more successfully...



I think I'll be separating for the body and the sleeves soon. I really am having so much fun knitting this one.

And the mitered mittens are moving along too.



I think the thumb on the first one looks a little chubby, but these are for me and it doesn't fit so badly that I feel like I should rip it out. These are really fun so far. Sometimes I think they look kind of plain, the Noro ones on Ravelry are so much more colorful. But the Cashmerino Aran is so soft, I usually get over it once I get I on my hand...

Knitting, Stamping, L-Boxing

We're off to a Christening in Brooklyn today. You know what that means-I'll need to have some knitting for the car-



While I'll admit I'm back to drooling over pictures of socks being knitted on other peoples blogs already, I'm not ready to start knitting them again yet. Which is ok, I've had a barrage of mitten and fingerless glove patterns kicking around in my head for months. So these are the first ones I decided to start. EZ's Mitered Mittens from The Knitter's Almanac. The I-Cord border was a little tricky but I think it's really pretty. And I'm a little concerned about the upcoming Thumb-Trick which involves clipping a stitch and unraveling the knitting to expose live stitches. But I'm up for it. What's the worse that can happen right? It's not like I'm going to end up frogging 70 rows of a top-down raglan or anything like that...



Yep, this sweater looks mysteriously smaller this week doesn't it? After trying on what I had over and over and over and knitting more and re-calculating and knitting more and re-calculating it became clear that the v-neck I was working on was going to have the bottom of the 'v' positioned probably just slightly above my belly-button. I wanted an open v-neck true, but this was going to be obscene, tank top underneath or not. So to the frog pond I went and it's really ok. It was a relief in a strange way to see all the yarn balled up again, to see that it survived just fine and is all ready for me to take a second chance. It's not wasted knitting time lost-it's yarn forgiveness. A very Zen perspective isn't it?

I did have a lot more success making a rubber stamp this week.



In a former life I was big into making linoleum prints so this was a fun venture that felt very familiar to me. Lime and Violet started talking about Letterboxing in Episode 49 1/2 and I'm pretty intrigued. Basically you follow clues posted on the website to a planted 'letterbox' where you will find a stamp and a book. You stamp that stamp in your book and your stamp in the book in the box. It's a nice twist to a walk or a hike and becuase you get to use a compass it's just nerdy enough for me to give it a try. Chris was very, very intrigued and has already been out to find her first. I'm thinking next weekend I'm going to go out too and give my stamp a try.

Knits and Giggles

I officially finished the last of the holiday knitting for real. These Fetching mitts were done in plenty of time to gift to my hairdresser yesterday.



I always think hairdresser sounds like an oldy-lady word. Like she's going use a pick and lots of Aqua Net on my hair or something. Anyway, she loved them. I did a regular knit bind off at the top this time. I've done the picot bind off like the pattern suggests in the past and I find it curls back a lot. I like how these came out. The recipient was also very happy with them!

And I finally (finally, finally, finally) got to start a sweater!!!



Although I have this icky nagging fear that this sweater start might just be extensive hopeful swatching and my not end up being a sweater result. I'm using the book Knitting from the Top by Barbara G. Walker for this one. The book is amazing but it involves a lot of trust. I figured my pattern based on a much wider neck opening than recommended. It's a top down V-Neck and I like my V-necks a little wider than I think some patterns account for. I like to wear them with tank tops underneath just fine. So far each time I put it around my neck and 'pretend' like it's a sweater it actually looks ok. I guess I'll know for sure when the time comes to join the neckline in the round.

Other than knitting this sweater the other thing that just plain freaking made my week was my new favorite website EVER!!! I Can't Believe He's Still Single is a blog that copies REAL personal ads from the internet and it is hilarious!!!! And for those of you that think it's mean just remember-I met my husband on this crazy internet. And before that I will admit I did kiss a few frogs. And apparently those frogs are still single and there ads are being posted on this blog!!! Ok, probably not really, but some of these scenarios do seem somewhat familiar... You guys have to read it, it's just so, so funny. Do not, do not miss the post Millionaires Need Love, Too or Dumb and Slutty ISO Dumb and Slutty. And on Bloglines there are only like 5 subscribers or something? How is this possible? I'm telling you guys I marveled about the ability of Ravelry to just suck the time out of my day. This site is just as good. Seriously. Enjoy.

Happy New Year!

Oh my gosh! I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged! I missed my blog! I think it was just that I liked looking at all those finished socks on the last post over and over. That and of course those holidays in between. The shopping, the cooking the wrapping, the baking. I loved it all and had a lot of fun. But a lot of the time I found myself at the end of each day wondering where the time went.

Ok, so since I'm here now and I'm writing I do first of all to say a big Thank You! to Grace from Little Knitting Black Crow for this awesome package.



Grace was the person I got to buy for a while back during one of the first Punk Rock Gift Exchanges. She was so much fun to buy for, I didn't expect anything in return, but this stuff is great. Lavender soap, Tasmanian honey, nice warm wooly sock yarn, a cool sewed skull and a cute bookmark. Good stuff! It was a really cool surprise!

On the knitting front it has been happening. I finally finished a scarf that seemed like it was taking forever.



Pattern: Here and There Cables from Scarf Style
Yarn: Patons Canadiana
Needles: Lantern Moon, size 7 straights-possibly my faves

The real reason this seemed to take so long was that the holidays and the gift knitting that went with them fell in between. But it's done now and I'm really happy with it. I feel like this scarf really is a testament to how much I like knitting. I have no one to give it to. I don't really want to keep it for myself (I already have a ton of scarves and several red ones) I'll probably donate it to charity. And for a charity scarf it's a really lovely pattern, in a sturdy, warm, workhorse yarn, that took me a pretty long time. But that's fine. I knit it just to knit it. Just to see how it came out on the other side. And it's really pretty awesome if I do say so myself. I hope it's a help to whoever ends up with it through whichever charity I decide to send it to.

And that's where I'm at on this 01-01-08. I've also been doing some swatches for a sweater I'm probably going to start later tonight. (Finally!) And I'm ready to face the new year ready to go. While I'm glad I made it through a lot of the challenges of 2007 I also had to acknowledge yesterday that a lot of those challenges really sucked. I spent the summer on crutches. We lost our beloved little pet. My husband & I both went through job changes. And a lot of our family members had surgeries and similar rough patches of their own. Is everyone ok now? Yes, we're fine. Do I count my blessings? Every day. Things can always get worse and we're luckier than most. Would I change anything at all? Nope, never. However will I be sad if there is a little bit more smooth sailing and fewer 'challenges' in 2008? No, I think we deserve a break. And I feel like I'm starting with some sturdier footing this year. (No pun intended) So that's good.

We rang in the New Year last night in the best way possible, with friends and food and merriment. I hope you did too and you had a great holiday season and I hope you're as ready for 2008 as I am!