Sunshine, dishcloths, and the Holidays

It’s official. Black Friday after a VERY successful and awesome Thanksgiving dinner. This leads us into the madness and consumer gluttony that is called Christmas.  I know people who max out all credit cards during this 4 week timeframe and are still paying on gifts  a few years later….

My Thanksgiving was incredible. We ate with my husband’s cousin and her large family. She has the same number of kids as I do and even a grandbaby. So it was a houseful. It was sublime. I was in domestic bliss as we placed the brined turkey into the oven bag at 11. Letting the oven do all the work, the kids begged to help peel 15 lbs of potatoes. It only took about a half hour or so, but it was fun. Then we toasted the bread for the stuffing while the potatoes boiled. It was all done on time, we piled the food and ourselves into the van, and made the short trek to the cousin’s house.

The last 2 years, we travelled from Indiana to Central New York (state) for the holidays. It’s a long 12 hour trip with 5 kids . And it’s a short stay since we had to be back by Monday. But this year, we live in New York and it was nice to be so close and not hurried. I love having a late dinner. We took our time getting things together, there was no stress, and dinner was superb. I hope everyone else had a great day as well.

Last week I received an envelope in the mail. No name with an unfamiliar return address. Hmmm. Here’s what I found inside:

This came from my anonymous swap partner from the Sunshine swap. A pair of Addi’s in size 7, 16” circs. I lost all my hat needles in the move somehow. Yay!! I’ve never knit with Addi’s before so I’m looking forward to using these. Stitch markers and a pattern for a shawl I wanted. It was a nice bit of sunshine I tell you.

Our family is going through some hard times. My husband’s great aunt (grandma’s twin sister) is on the verge of dying. They took her to her daughter’s house to die a quiet death last Saturday. Everyone is surprised how long she’s lasting without food or water. Even though she’s lived a long life, it’s still hard to see her go. I did not know her when she was a vibrant independent soul. But I do know from her family that she was an amazing woman with the strength of God. And it shows in her family. What a wonderful legacy to leave behind! Aunt Maisie will be greatly missed and mourned.

Onto the knitting content:

Dishcloths. I guess it’s time for that cycle once again. Here’s a bunch I’ve done in the past week or so:

Granny’s Square. Free pattern from Bernat. Easy and quick. I did make it a few rows shorter though. I don’t like HUGE cloths at all.

Janell’s Star Cloth. I needed a few FO’s, and these two cloths did the trick!

Nubbins Nouveau. This is way to big for my tasted. You really can’t grasp the scope of the size of this thing in the pic. It’s only 44 sts wide, but it’s HUGE. I do like the pattern and it was pretty easy once I figured out how to connect row 2 with row 1.

Snowflake by Nora Gaughan. A nice cable pattern. Pretty easy but time consuming. I need to resew it to hide the seam.

And Zig from COTW Yahoo group. I used RH creme de la creme for this. The yarn is thin which I like but it bled like crazy. My needles turned green!

Here’s a hat I made too. It’s the Zucchini hat. I should have made it bigger around, but it’s ok. I used Vanna’s choice, which I think is one of the nicest acrylics out there. It’s soft and warm.

That’s it for this update. I will have more soon :)

NaNoWriMo and Mafia Wars

This is what has been keeping me busy. I have hardly knit anything at all. Those three hats I was going to have done by mid week last week? I still have the one OTN. Well, technically, not really ON them as my precious children (or one of them, not sure which!) pulled them out of my hat. Which was in my project bag. They should have left them alone. Why haven’t they learned by now that my knitting is MINE??? I don’t blame them though. Not really. And it’s my fault for not putting my bag out of reach. Who can blame little kids for wanting to play with sharp pointy sticks?

So instead of having to deal with finding the starting point and how many stitches on each needle, it sits in my bag still. A week later. Sigh.

I did finish 3 dishcloths however. yay!! But I cannot show them yet as they part of a swap. Yep, swapping again. But VERY slowly. I will probably only do a few dishcloths a month for awhile. I dont’ want to get bogged down and burnt out again.

But I guess that’s my style. I find something, obsess over it until I’m sick to death of it, then leave it alone for a looong time. Like Mafia Wars. On Facebook. If you haven’t started, don’t. Do not open that can of worms. If you do play Mafia Wars, please add me to your family!!

NaNoWriMo is NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth. The goal is to bang out a novel of 50K words by November 30th at midnight. I’m doing ok, kind of behind, but not too badly. My story has stalled somewhat though…I should be writing that instead of writing this.  But again, I put off what I really don’t want to work on. My story will still be there later. Right?

I have to post at least one pic, because who wants to read a knitting blog without pics? I will show you what I witnessed on Friday right outside my window.

SNOW!! In the beginning of November. It was coming down pretty hard. But it didn’t last. Nope. Yesterday it was 71. And today, well, not so bad. No sun (surprise surprise) but still warm. I’m waiting for the cold cold cold to  hit. I can wait a bit longer since I still have to make those hats…

Maybe this will influence me?

Cowls, hats, crochet

I’ve been busy in the last few days. Not working on my socks. Ugh. Just the thought of them makes my skin crawl. I am doing everything I can to NOT work on them. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m socked out right now. Maybe because I knit sock one in about 5 days. Or maybe because so many other projects are calling to me.

But it’s my hobby and I can do what I want, when I want, and how I want. That’s how I roll. I will finish up this pair soon, but I might not make a pair in November. Maybe I’ll have November and December as my make up months. As far as goals go, 10 out of 12 isn’t too bad.

Onto my FO’s. I guess I needed some quick satisfaction because 2 of my projects are crocheted.

This is the Convertible hat. It has a drawstring top and opens to form a cowl you can wear around your neck. Like so:

Or even up and over your ears:

I used a P hook and Wool-ease in Mustardy color. It turned out nice. What I really like about this hat is that it really looks knitted.  I guess it’s the magic of slip stitch crochet. I must admit that wielding such a large hook was a hassle at first, but this project went super fast.

This project is Loop D Loops, just a long crocheted chain tied together to form a cowl. Nice huh? And the model is my beautiful 9 yr old. I used a K hook and Serenity yarn chunky weight, Berry Burst colorway. I really like this yarn. It’s so soft. And this pattern took me less than an hour to complete. Nice!

This is Aviatrix (Rav link). It’s supposed to be baby sized (12 months!) but you can see that it’s even large on my daughter. But I really like the pattern and it went super quick. I used size 7 needles for the ribbing and size 8 for the short rows. The yarn is Vanna’s choice in the Rust colorway.

Right now I have Multnomah (Rav link) on the needles with a mystery yarn that’s very thin. Probably lace weight, maybe tencel? Not sure, but it’s very colorful!

I’m also working on hats for my kids. It will probably be above normal temps here for November so they won’t be able to wear them, but you never know. I should be able to crank out 3 hats by mid week, depending on the pattern. You should be seeing some updates soon!

Nothing Special

I really have nothing to report today. Just thought I’d get a little blogging in. I’d like to blog more regular, maybe not everyday, but at least once a week or so…

Here’s a pic of where I live now.

Well, not actually where I live, but my Uncle-in-law. He builds log cabins and planted one on top of this hill. What an awesome view!! And it’s not too far from me…maybe 10 minutes or so. It’s been rainy and cloudy here a lot lately, so it’s hard to even get a pic with the sun out.

Friday we celebrated birthdays. My 2 middle sons turned 5 and 3 on the 23rd. Who would’ve thought a toy train could be the cause of such contented play? Really, my 3 yr old played with that toy train from about 7 am until 11 am. I had to force him to stop playing to eat and take a nap. Crazy!

In knitting news, I did finish a hat. This hat. I upped the needle size and yarn to get a fit for my 2 yr old. But instead it wound up fitting me. How does that happen? Hats for me fit my 9 yr old daughter, and hats for my 2 yr old fit me. Gauge issues? I don’t do swatches. Simply put, I think they are a waste of time. Maybe that’s why I have these troubles. Usually I’m pretty much right on. But then again I’ve never made a sweater. If I did knit a sweater, I’d have to do a gauge swatch. Hence no sweaters for me. Maybe one day…

I finished my first sock for October. I’m doing Sunday Swing Socks in Aplaca Sox. Very nice pattern. Easy to memorize and quick too. Now I just need to work on the other one before I cast on for something else. Like Baktus. Which has been calling to me. I refuse to cast on until my socks are done and I complete a scarf I started a week ago. So much to knit, so little time!

Socks galore

Haven’t shown any completed socks since May. Wow, that’s bad.  I guess the posing, the picture taking, then the uploading…yeah, I’m a bit lazy.

Anyway, on to the socks!

May socks are Charade. Still no pic. Haven’t worn them, but they are lovely. I will post more info when there is an actual picture.

June socks:  Flutter-by Socks (rav link)

I only made one of these. The yarn is Red Heart Sole in Green Envy. Not too bad a yarn. I found the pattern a bit fiddly. Probably why I did not finish them. Maybe  later this month, if I have time….

July: Roundabout Socks

I picked this yarn because of the red, white, and blue theme going on. I am not a big fan of these colors together, but they turned out nice. These socks were quick and easy. The yarn  I used was a swap yarn called Idena Crazy. More of a sportweight than a fingering, but it made for a nice thick pair of socks.

August: Garter Rib from the book Sensational Knitted Socks.

Another easy no brainer pattern. I like to knit while I watch TV and the more complicated patterns don’t get worked on as much. The yarn I used was Alpaca Sox that I received in a swap (see, if you send me sock yarn, it gets used!)

September: Komet (Rav link)

Jo-ann Sensations Bamboo and Ewe sock yarn. Nice and soft, though a bit splitty. As you can see from this picture, the sock is still on the needles. I did get it finished, but still have one more to do. I think this would have gotten done if it wasn’t so much….pattern. Cable and counting…you have to pay attention on this one.  Which is why it didn’t get done in time. Yeah, another one of those.

I may have to pick simple patterns for the rest of the year so I can catch up on the two that I need to finish.  It’s a good thing I received sock yarn from my knitting friends in Indiana before I left (and another sock book, yay!) Thanks, Elizabeth and Vicki for your generous gifts. I may use those to finish off the year.

My October socks are about 45% done. Another easy pattern that I am flying through. I started on Sunday and turned the heel this morning. I should be able to finish sock one today if I don’t clean the house, LOL!