New Project Love

Two of my favorite couples are getting married this year, and I am pumped. Both couples were at my wedding (kinda) and all four people are extremely important to me. What does this mean? Wanting to put thought and meaning into their wedding gifts.

Easy right? Ha!

I was at a complete loss until Sam (future wife in couple P) asked my husband to make them a gift and then BAM! I had an idea-quilts. YES!!!! Nothing quite like a good comfortable idea to send my creative motivation through the roof (and my work attention span down the drain).

Obviously I cannot speak of my ideas and plans but I will, hopefully, when they are done and given away.

I have not been excited about quilting since I was a Freshmen I college and wanted something to express my creative side as Art classes sucked. That idea turned into a 6 year labor and a King Size quilt. I learned a ton about quilting but I made some big mistakes as well. I really look forward to taking the time to plan everything out and do research on how to do things properly.

Wish me luck!

Sweater Progress

In a turn of success, I was inspired for another attempt at the bolero but this time I had the correct needle, checked my gauge and rejected the pattern stitch and just K the knit and P the purl. The Bolero turned out just how I wanted it, big and cozy. This is a great success for me and it seems like I was against the odds after reading all of the reviews of the pattern. In the end I had to look up a different Lion Brand pattern to get the specifics on how to do the finishing on part of it. I might have been a bit liberal with the length on certain parts as well-it's my sweater darn-it!. 

I have recently bought one of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s books, Knitting Without Tears. The concept of a sweater with no seams is so exciting I can’t stand it. I read slowly-which killed me-but I wanted to make sure I really absorbed as much as I could. The book changed my knitting life- I now understand gauge and how to make it work for me and the percentages system is so far working well. 


I have completed the body up to the arm pits and did the 3/4 length sleeves this weekend. This sweater project was a test of my tolerance during the first try but now it is an exciting challenge where I am learning new things and honing my skills. The project is now sentimental as I am using my Nana's size 5 metal circular needle and the set of size 5 double point needles are from my mother.(Thats right, metal knitting needles. Dude.   I have found the trick with metal needles is the tension-too loose and they slip right out causing a heart attack but just right and they happily stay.)


Anyways, I will be adding the sleeves today and starting with the yoke part!! YAY!!! I plan on making it a wide neck and I intend (right now) on doing a simple eyelet detail around the neck to make it interesting.. we shall see how I do..

Wait a Moment

Oh My Gosh, it has been along time since I invested a few moments for my blog! Life has been very busy for the past few weeks with a business trip and the associated catch-up and with house improvements that my husband has hinted at, I have so much to write about and no time!

I will get to it, though I can't promise..not with the other promised- yet still missing- posts hanging over my head.

Though our visit has been short, it is a hello none the less and a commitment to stop by again soon!

Snow Day

Yes, a snow day...it may have been in the mid 30s this past weekend, raining like there was no tomorrow and melting/ condensing about 50% of our accumulation but at about 2:30 yesterday the temperature again dropped below the freezing point and the precipitation turned from clear to white. Because it had not been so warm the snow started sticking almost immediately though we did not have much accumulation the rest of the afternoon and evening. 

When I got up this morning I decided to not look outside and go about the morning ritual as usual though I don't really know why but let me say this, my employer delayed opening for 2 hours because there was so much snow. This is Vermont-they never delay opening a business that isn't a public school. So there I was around lunch time..full of energy looking out of the windows and 18+ inches of snow checking my email and getting work done like a good employee. :(

A desperate thought occurred to me- The driveway and walkway need to be shoveled..maybe I could convince my husband to come out into the white abyss...There is nothing quite like having to do work on a snow day to inspire dreams of shoveling and being pummeled with snowballs. 

It was great, I started out by jumping off the banister of the front steps-it was epic. We threw snow balls, we tackled each other, we attempted trekking into the back yard (we gave up quickly), it was so much fun. 

I can't help wondering what others are doing or did on their last snow day...

Plus I can now say that I did play in the snow at least once this winter, well in the last 2 years... 

My Red Devil Sweater

As my first 2011 project I wanted to make myself a sweater. I picked out two different ones as I couldn't decide and bought all the yarn I needed and got started. I started with this bolero, marked as easy with the Tudor color of Homespun- I have been dreaming of using this yarn since I saw it in the store. Well the pattern stitch coordination seemed a bit too complicated. Also I did not gauge my stitch- I know I am reckless but I didn't have the recommended needle size and this is my first project where is mattered and I didn't know. So I got to the point where you join the front left panel and the front right panel to start working on the rest and lo and behold they are so wrong I can’t even describe it. That got undone quickly.


So I started working on option B, this sweater, in cranberry Wool Ease. I worked with Wool Ease a lot for several Christmas presents and really enjoyed it so I looked for patterns specifically for Wool Ease (again a beginner). I liked the look of the model in the sweater and I thought that I could get around the collar-I am not a fan of clothes touching my neck.

I got through the back panel and it seemed to go smoothly though I didn’t get to finish all of the directions because I had reached the desired length. The front started out just as smooth but at the point where the collar starts we started fighting. I kept managing to find other things to work on and it seemed that my red sweater would stop there. Finally I put on Harry Potter audio book and sequestered myself in the living room and got past my road block. Again though, I didn’t get to finish all of the directions because I had reached the desired length. At that point I was having doubts of the outcome of this project. I had the dread f completing the sweater and never wanting to wear it. It seemed loose and more like a tight net than a nice sweater. This is when it became the red Devil sweater. 

But I fought on. I completed one sleeve in two days and things were good. On to the next sleeve which was harder to get done as I didn’t have a good free weekend. I was knitting away in the car with my mom, a huge knitter, and I am trying to show off (What was I thinking!!) and she confirms all of my red devil sweater doubts with 4 words: “You’re a loose knitter.” I was strong and said that I knew and was compensating. Even as an adult you lie to your mom. 

The worst part was that this was the last piece, after the sleeve I had the collar and sewing left-practically done.

When I got home all of that beautiful cranberry yarn and all of the bits of sweater and several stitch markers all went into a plastic bag under the bed in the guest room, to stay until I could find another pattern to love and be inspired by. 

It is still there by the way 2 months later.

A Bad Morning

Sleeping in on the weekends is always a crap shoot for me. Our lives are so regimented during the week that it is hard to break that cycle of getting up early- long before the sun is up and the heat is on-to get a start on the day. This is made even more pronounced when our 3 cats feel that they should always get fed on time, everyday whether the alarm went off or not. 

Therefore I find myself often awake around 5:30 on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Most mornings I will get back into bed in the hope that I will fall asleep again, and often I do. Some mornings I am full of ambition and will decide, as I am dolling out dry food, to stay up and get things done. I got my mother's Christmas present done on one such morning in late November, I have measured, cut and pinned fabric for pillows. 

This morning I decided to get back into bed as I thought that I had a chance at sleep. Especially after yesterday morning when I was woken before 5am by a well placed game of tail tag and the conquering of an evil plastic bag. I fell back asleep even after chasing Tina for 10 minutes trying to grab her and put in in the time-out room, the basement, with the boys. I know, half hour is just a half hour, why not just feed the cats then and get it over with? I will not reinforce bad behavior because 30 minutes easily turns into breakfast demands at 4:15 am.

Well I gave up on sleep at 6:30 after spending an hour thinking about cats and my blog. It was really cute though, all 3 babies joined me in bed, Henry just on my side of the middle of the bad, Tina resting against my back tunneled under several layers of covers and Charlie standing in front of me enjoying the half hearted head scratches.

I donned my sweatpants and favorite sweater and headed for my heated throw and the couch where my latest project waited patiently. Did I mention that Tina loves the heated throw? If it's on the couch she will be there making biscuits ( or happy feet if you like). I had maybe 2 minutes of peace before Tina appears with her sharp claws and manages to pull a snag in my sweater. A huge snag in my favorite sweater of all time. Not just any snag but right on my sleeve right in eye view, I can't avoid it. I just wanted to relax, now I have to spend 30 minutes finding the right tool to fix this, the smallest of my knitting holder, and working the strand of the yarn back into place. The snag must have been 4 inches long and wouldn't pull back in with my usual techniques.

This is not how I wanted to start my day.  

February

I had this great idea to do a post on the 31st about saying good bye to January and showing pictures of all of the projects that had been accomplished but not blogged about. I got the idea on Sunday as we were driving back from a trip to see family. Sunday night I made more bread, whole wheat this time, so there was no time there. 

Monday was very busy at work and then home brought all of the chores and tasks that didn’t get done over the weekend. To help me fall asleep I starting writing in my head the Hello February post that would review January and give home to February. All hopes were dashed when at 11:30pm I had the first of many sessions with the mighty white porcelain god, when my 2011 bout of the plague started. Good thing my babies were there to comfort me..

By the time I was able to move about the house safely all of my motivation had gone down the drain, literally. I don’t remember much of Tuesday but I did manage to get hooked on Grey’s Anatomy. Wednesday brought attempts to get some work done and then more time on the couch, resting with Meredith, Cristina and McDreamy. Here we are on Thursday with my only attempt at hello and good bye and still not a lot of talk about my past projects. Oh well, better luck next time….

Oh did I forget to mention we got a ton of snow as well?