Maybe this is not a thing a normal person would get excited about, but while I was cleaning my room today (it still looks like a bomb hit it, but omg, the vast quantities of recyclable material I have removed!) I found some buttons that were on the family couch when I was a kid. I have no idea why my mom saved them--but I do know that their next stop is most likely as decoration on a hat. Omg. I'm so stoked. I will wear my Couch Hat all the time.
I was going to be good and not buy any new yarn for a while, but I don't think I have anything that goes with the couch buttons. Hmm. I'll have to look more closely, just in case. Anyway, you can all look forward to the Couch Hat!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
A Successful Christmas!
Well. Happy A-Couple-Of-Days-After-Christmas to you all! For those who celebrated, I hope you had a lovely time, and for those who don't, hey, it's over! The music in the malls will be back to normal! Woo-hoo muzak time!
Anyway. :) All my knitwear gifts seemed to go over quite well. My mom's favorite thing, oddly enough, was her tiny Christmas sweater. It is pretty cute. I'll hop on down to the tree and take a picture eventually. You know me: slow with the photos.
My grandma seemed to like her slipper socks, and though I didn't put any hats in the adult gift swap at my other grandma's, the mitts I put in the handmade gift swap have put my entire family in Extreme Awe of my knitting skills. :) I'll have to find another snazzy pattern for next year. And hopefully more people will play, so I won't have to feel awkward about putting in something that's not unisex. unless, of course, I can find a really awesome unisex pattern. The handmade gift swap was actually a really big hit. Mostly, I think, because everyone went into it with the right attitude of fun, and not the attitude of desperately hoping for a good present, though most of the stuff was good. And it was fun to see what everyone made! I think, since it was such a hit, I'm going to send out a reminder in, say, July this year, so everyone can have time to prepare. That's plenty of time to learn a craft!
So anyway, quality holiday season! Since it's the first day of Christmas, I'm gonna go look around and see if anyone's sent me a partridge in a pear tree. I'm still waiting for my true love to turn up, you know. :)
Anyway. :) All my knitwear gifts seemed to go over quite well. My mom's favorite thing, oddly enough, was her tiny Christmas sweater. It is pretty cute. I'll hop on down to the tree and take a picture eventually. You know me: slow with the photos.
My grandma seemed to like her slipper socks, and though I didn't put any hats in the adult gift swap at my other grandma's, the mitts I put in the handmade gift swap have put my entire family in Extreme Awe of my knitting skills. :) I'll have to find another snazzy pattern for next year. And hopefully more people will play, so I won't have to feel awkward about putting in something that's not unisex. unless, of course, I can find a really awesome unisex pattern. The handmade gift swap was actually a really big hit. Mostly, I think, because everyone went into it with the right attitude of fun, and not the attitude of desperately hoping for a good present, though most of the stuff was good. And it was fun to see what everyone made! I think, since it was such a hit, I'm going to send out a reminder in, say, July this year, so everyone can have time to prepare. That's plenty of time to learn a craft!
So anyway, quality holiday season! Since it's the first day of Christmas, I'm gonna go look around and see if anyone's sent me a partridge in a pear tree. I'm still waiting for my true love to turn up, you know. :)
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
excellent!
The tiny top-down raglan is going quite well! I just have to do one more sleeve. And yeah, I'm sure this is no surprise, but I think I'm gonna have to embellish the pants off it. I think there will probably be beads. Oh yeah. It might end up being a tribute to Janine of Deep Secret. Omg. Awesome. That would make every Christmas merrier.
seriously?
My project for this morning is an ornament for my mom. I'm thinking I'll do a tiny sweater, and I know there's a pattern for one in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, which is a book I like very much in the general way of things. I've made several patterns from it, including the tiny stocking that's in the same chunk with the tiny sweater. However. The tiny sweater pattern wants you to KNIT IT IN PIECES AND SEAM IT TOGETHER. WTF? I don't want to be dealing with tiny horrible seams.
I guess it's time to see if I can get the proportions right on a tiny top-down raglan. Hopefully I will not get the urge to make this more complicated than it has to be, and I will not embroider all kinds of ghastly stuff on it to make it a true Christmas sweater.
I guess it's time to see if I can get the proportions right on a tiny top-down raglan. Hopefully I will not get the urge to make this more complicated than it has to be, and I will not embroider all kinds of ghastly stuff on it to make it a true Christmas sweater.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Oh, Christmas.
You guys, I think this is my first knitting-stress-free Christmas in ages! Chucking the Pernicious Scarf was definitely a good move. I know I'll be happier with it if I can get it RIGHT and not rush. I've also chucked the gloves--well, put on hold, really. I've got the book of poems, and now I have a friend I haven't seen in a year coming to visit tomorrow, and, well, the gloves will have to wait. They may not wait till next Christmas, though. They might just wait till Jan 6 or something. We'll see if I feel like knitting them after Christmas.
My mom's socks are finished and wrapped. My hats for the gift swap are finished--oh, but get this, the stripey stockinette hat I was working on? Yeah, I wasn't knitting it with the size six needles the pattern called for, no, I was knitting it on size TWOS. Apparently they seemed really fat after size 0's. Ooops. So I had to pull that all out and start over again. But it looks quite nice, and it went really fast on the bigger needles, so all is well.
AND I just finished a totally extra gift, a pair of slipper socks for my grandma. I think I knit the second sock in under three hours. The first one took longer, because yeah, I was making it up as I went. They're cute and warm and no, I won't be hurt if my grandma never uses them. :)
So now I just have to make my mom an ornament, and I will be ALL DONE. So awesome.
And then I can knit stuff for me! I need sweaters. Curse this cold weather!
My mom's socks are finished and wrapped. My hats for the gift swap are finished--oh, but get this, the stripey stockinette hat I was working on? Yeah, I wasn't knitting it with the size six needles the pattern called for, no, I was knitting it on size TWOS. Apparently they seemed really fat after size 0's. Ooops. So I had to pull that all out and start over again. But it looks quite nice, and it went really fast on the bigger needles, so all is well.
AND I just finished a totally extra gift, a pair of slipper socks for my grandma. I think I knit the second sock in under three hours. The first one took longer, because yeah, I was making it up as I went. They're cute and warm and no, I won't be hurt if my grandma never uses them. :)
So now I just have to make my mom an ornament, and I will be ALL DONE. So awesome.
And then I can knit stuff for me! I need sweaters. Curse this cold weather!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
HO. HO. HO.
Just popping in with a wee update:
- I finished the socks for my mom. Yay! Check that off the list.
- I had to get fancy with the gloves for my brother, so they are taking longer than expected. Crap. Have bought him a book of poems in case the gloves don't get done for Christmas morning.
- Should be knitting on those gloves right now, but I am sick of teeny needles, and am doing a nice mindless stockinette striped hat on size sixes for a bit, thank you. I may give it to a brother, or use it for the gift swap.
- I've finished all my shopping, which is nice.
- I've finished all my baking, which is also nice. I think I made about half as many kinds of cookies this year as I usually do. Go me! Way to not over-bake! People will probably whine about it. I am considering writing out copies of all the recipes and handing them to anyone who complains. It's not like this is rocket science, people. Get off your butt, do what the recipe tells you, and you will have delicious cookies.
- It's been snowing pretty solidly for several hours, which is kind of annoying.
- I'd better eat lunch now, and then continue to knit my hat. Or gloves. Or whatever.
- I finished the socks for my mom. Yay! Check that off the list.
- I had to get fancy with the gloves for my brother, so they are taking longer than expected. Crap. Have bought him a book of poems in case the gloves don't get done for Christmas morning.
- Should be knitting on those gloves right now, but I am sick of teeny needles, and am doing a nice mindless stockinette striped hat on size sixes for a bit, thank you. I may give it to a brother, or use it for the gift swap.
- I've finished all my shopping, which is nice.
- I've finished all my baking, which is also nice. I think I made about half as many kinds of cookies this year as I usually do. Go me! Way to not over-bake! People will probably whine about it. I am considering writing out copies of all the recipes and handing them to anyone who complains. It's not like this is rocket science, people. Get off your butt, do what the recipe tells you, and you will have delicious cookies.
- It's been snowing pretty solidly for several hours, which is kind of annoying.
- I'd better eat lunch now, and then continue to knit my hat. Or gloves. Or whatever.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
updates updates updates . . .
Let's get caught up on some stuff . . .
First of all, inspiration finally struck for the blue birthday hat, in the form of flowers, leaves, and i-cord:
I'm extremely pleased with it, and will probably make myself something similar in brown with a cream flower. AFTER Christmas. :)
As for the Disco Scarf, well, shortly after Thanksgiving it became clear that I wasn't going to finish it in time for Christmas, and anyway, there are some things I think I can do better/want to change, so it is officially On Hold till after Christmas as well. I know I can get it done for NEXT Christmas. :) I want to get smaller needles, and re-do some of the designs on the back. I'm sure it'll be easier the second time around!
So that means that now for Christmas I need to finish:
1 pair of gloves for my brother (the scarf brother, I'll get him a book of poems, too)
1 more sock for my mom
1 ornament for my mom (possibly a tiny sweater, possibly a snowflake or two, possibly flowers)
1 1/2 more slipper socks for my grandma (this does not HAVE to get done)
And maybe a couple more random hats.
This is all, my friends, Completely Possible. I like a completely possible Christmas. I like an Impossible Christmas too, but only when I know I can finish things properly. The Disco Scarf is too good an idea/too nice a project not to do it right.
First of all, inspiration finally struck for the blue birthday hat, in the form of flowers, leaves, and i-cord:
I'm extremely pleased with it, and will probably make myself something similar in brown with a cream flower. AFTER Christmas. :)
As for the Disco Scarf, well, shortly after Thanksgiving it became clear that I wasn't going to finish it in time for Christmas, and anyway, there are some things I think I can do better/want to change, so it is officially On Hold till after Christmas as well. I know I can get it done for NEXT Christmas. :) I want to get smaller needles, and re-do some of the designs on the back. I'm sure it'll be easier the second time around!
So that means that now for Christmas I need to finish:
1 pair of gloves for my brother (the scarf brother, I'll get him a book of poems, too)
1 more sock for my mom
1 ornament for my mom (possibly a tiny sweater, possibly a snowflake or two, possibly flowers)
1 1/2 more slipper socks for my grandma (this does not HAVE to get done)
And maybe a couple more random hats.
This is all, my friends, Completely Possible. I like a completely possible Christmas. I like an Impossible Christmas too, but only when I know I can finish things properly. The Disco Scarf is too good an idea/too nice a project not to do it right.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
all out of inspiration.
I've got a slightly-less-wee Birthday Hat, blue in color, sitting on my desk staring at me while it waits for embellishment. This child's birthday is on the 9th, and she's finally old enough to appreciate a gift arriving on time. :) So. Dear Brain, please come up with some genius concept for this hat! Or even something adequate. I'd go for adequate.
Maybe I could do something with green i-cord? And then embroider flowers off it? Or knit some flowers and sew them on? The kid would totally look good in an Epic Flower Hat, and, well, I have this feeling that I'm going to be the Aunt-Who's-Not-Really-An-Aunt Who Provides-Girly-Things. I can't help myself. It's not like I'm going to chuck Disney princesses at these little girls, but when you're three, there should be some epic wacky florals in your life, don't you think?
Maybe I could do something with green i-cord? And then embroider flowers off it? Or knit some flowers and sew them on? The kid would totally look good in an Epic Flower Hat, and, well, I have this feeling that I'm going to be the Aunt-Who's-Not-Really-An-Aunt Who Provides-Girly-Things. I can't help myself. It's not like I'm going to chuck Disney princesses at these little girls, but when you're three, there should be some epic wacky florals in your life, don't you think?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)