I'm learning math this evening... 3 grumpy kids and 2 grumpy cats equals sara losing her mind. And just another reason that getting the house next month will be the best thing ever.

*jumps on soapbox*

I swear I will never ever rent again. Nor will I try to cram three small kids into a two bedroom apartment. Oy.

*jumps off soapbox*


Now for some knitting and crocheting. You know, the good stuff.

Remember that lacy mobius scarf I had post pictures of a few entries ago? It bit the dust. I was only about 20 rows in and was so bored that I actually covered it up with a knitting bag so it wouldn't be staring at me everytime I passed my WIPs. But since the yarn was such a pleasure to work with, I knew I had to do something with it for a Christmas gift. Ta da... I grabbed my copy of Last Minute Knitted Gifts and slapped out my version of the Airy Scarf in two days. I made it much longer than the book pattern... mainly so it can also be wrapped around the head if need be. Seth was surprised at how warm it was and we both know that Millie will be thrilled with it. Millie is perhaps the coolest elderly lady I know, and I love to knit for her. No one in the world seems to appreciate the work like she does.







It's not blocked yet... I figure I can do that once we move into the new house and I actually have a spare bedroom to block things in. Although, I kind of like this version unblocked... which is a huge no-no with knitted lace, I realize... but the way it ruffles up along the edges is actually pretty.


I'm about three feet into my Brother-in-Law's Irish Hiking Scarf... but no progress pictures since I couldn't get the light in the bedroom to cooperate.


Since I turned Gayer's mobius into Millie's scarf, I decided to give myself a small break and crochet Gayer a mobius instead of knit one. This will also be thicker, and because I tend to crochet faster than I knit, perhaps I will finish it before the holidays after all! Huzzah!





I'm using an N hook... worsted weight yarn... and using the filet square pattern found in my copy of the Crochet Stitch Bible. I've only been working on it an evening and a half, so it is coming along quite nice. I think it will look super cute once I do the half turn too.


Finally... my friend Jess came over to my desk at work yesterday and asked if I could use a new bag. Of course I said yes... I mean... new knitting bags are the best! This one came straight from Old Navy Clearance, and cost her a cool $.50. Not bad for a small bag that is not only perfect to carry a project in (it's insulated so things will be well padded), but also has a front pocket that is perfect sized for my ipod. Oh the joy!

As I'm writing this, my son is screaming from the other room. Oh the joy of the "fearsome fours."

I've been super busy with Christmas projects lately... which has earned me the nickname "Super Sara" at work. The downside is that A)I'm kind of getting burned out on making things for other people and B)I've got a gazillion people throwing requests my way as though under normal circumstances I could knit a scarf in approximately 10 minutes time. I feel rather guilty about the burned out thing... I've always made stuff for others without that selfish twitch at the back of my head. Perhaps it is the Andean Silk I have waiting for Knitty's Tempting at the top of my stash bucket that greets me whenever I get yarn for another project. Or perhaps I'm just having an emotional issue.

My skills as an English major are not on the ball today.

So instead of writing anything worthwhile (due to the lack of valid writing skills this evening), I'll just show some pictures of my latest projects.

First, the finished Drop Stitch Scarf for Sandra. I haven't yet threaded the ends in, but realistically, I haven't threaded the ends in on most of the scarves I've made for holiday gifts thus far. I think it came out really lovely, and I love the drape of it.



And of course, we need to make sure we get Camilla's approval. She approves.


Next is the finished Wavy Gravy for Jess. I used Bernat Bulky weight in dark blue and only went with one strand instead of doubling it. It is thinner, but I liked the way it folded around my neck better. I also did my M1s so that it would create a small little hole to make the finished product look a little more lacy. I'm lucky because as part of my job, two days a month I go to a class to train some of our agents. Since I am there to help with activities but not actually lead the training, I am allowed to knit while the trainer explains things. It was pretty cool to be able to pretty much finish the whole scarf during the day's training. I finished the scarf by adding freehand snowflakes to the end of each side... it helped to break up the solid dark blue color, and the agents we were training like it so much they asked where they could get the pattern. It's great to share knitting!





On day two of the training, I started knitting some flowers- my thought is that I will felt them and put magnets on the back to give to my co-workers for Christmas. These are done in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Hush- I also have some Rain and Chambray for other colors to use.



Finally, I cast on this morning for my brother-in-law's scarf. I was originally going to get some nice cashmere blend yarn, but to be blunt, finances are not working in my favor and I am having to just use what I already have in my stash. I picked the Irish Hiking Scarf pattern (although Grumperina's Scarfik was a close second), but instead of having the center cable cross every 8 rows like the two side ones do, I am having it cross every 16. I think it looks interesting that way.



And the best part of my mail...

My mail is still going to my parents' house since I don't trust the other tenants of this apartment (just another reason to celebrate us getting our own house next month!), and they generally get it to me once a week. Imagine how wonderful it was to see a mysterious box from a friend that lives out west. Inside...



Now I know that most people hate novelty yarn and think fun fur is just plain awful, but I *love* soft fun fur. And this stuff is amazingly soft and will be so wonderful at making a soft halo for a project. I keep taking the balls out of the package to stroke. Even my husband was impressed with how nice it feels. I can't wait to find a project to use it with. Perhaps the spiderweb capelet from SnB?

And before I forget, I don't honestly know how many people read this blog other than a select few, but I've now set it up so it is accessible by bloglines feed. I'd love to know if you're reading!

testing...

I'm just trying to test my syndication feed... we'll see if this sucker is up and working!

Long weekends...

I'm so sorry about the lack of responses to comments and lack of updates... Seth and I are working on getting financing for a new house, which is incredibly scary and I feel as though I am in perpetual paperwork hell. But the house is lovely! It's an old house, with 4 bedrooms (finally we can separate the kids!), two levels, and a built in china cabinet. Our closing date is mid- December, so as long as everything goes well, we'll be in by Christmas. How exciting! I have so many plans... and there is a window upstairs on the landing that would be perfect for a window seat for knitting.

I've finally finished Dee's Rabbit Tracks scarf... I was beginning to think I was never going to finish it. It is an easy-peasy pattern, but like the Old Shale Mohair scarf, I got really bored really quick. Since I have also planned on making one for Phoebe for the holidays, I'm hoping the fact that it will be out of Andean Silk will make it a little more exciting. Jenna's project is also done, but since she reads this, I won't put up pictures until after she gets it. All I can say is that it is knitted and purple.



I've also re-arranged my Christmas gift list. I had a little ribbon yarn left, and since Sandra loved it so much, I've decided to use it for a drop-stitch scarf for her. It won't really be winter-worthy, but she can wear it for fun.



In re-figuring gifts, I've decided to give the Old Shale Mohair scarf to Louise, and make Wavy Gravy from SnBN for Jess. I cast on for Wavy Gravy this morning with some bulky weight dark blue Bernat acrylic. This way it will be warm (since Jess doesn't wear a jacket most of the winter), easy to clean (in case her dogs get ahold of it), and relatively itch free.

Thank goodness for long weekends... I'm not sure I could deal with going back to work if this had been a regular ol' two day weekend. Work has been making me rather lifeless lately.

And to close with some gratuitous kitty shots, first up is La Femme Nikita (or Kita for short). We don't have Jack in the Boxes at our house... we have a Kita in the box. I know she is going to be disappointed when she realizes that this box is actually for packing and moving and not for her to play in.



Last is Camilla... this is what she does while I am online. It's like having a vulture watch me type.



I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!

Comments...

Ok... so I suddenly realized that my comment function was virtually unusable since it was set to log only Blogger users. My bad! It should be fixed so anyone can comment now, and I *love* feedback, so comment away!

FO and WIP

I finished Clapotis!

*does happy dance*

I decided I wasn't going to drop the stitches all the way down for the last section, just so I would have this feeling of finality as I laddered everything at the end. I know I've said before that I love this pattern... let me reiterate that. I *love* this pattern, and I'm "window shopping" some sweet Noro to make myself one after the holidays.

But here she is... I only ended up doing 10 straight sections due to being short on yarn, but the finished product is taller than I am (I'm 5'10"), and since it is for my 5'4" Mom, I think it will be plenty long enough. The only issue I had using the ribbon yarn (other than almost running out) was that it stuck to the Denises something awful... but there again, that also helped me from losing the stitches earlier.







and my major WIP... I cast on for a moebius scarf for my grandmother using Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in Mist. This yarn is heavenly to touch, but I admit it is taking some major getting used to after dealing with the much heavier and thicker ribbon yarn. Since I have to complete 40 repeats of the pattern, and I have managed to do 2 each night, I figure in approximately 20 days the scarf will be done. This will allow me for some days of other projects and weekends where I make real progress.





The pattern was one that was taken from knittingpatterncentral.com and resides here.

Clapotis woes

So I think I might run out of yarn before I get to the end, which is a large problem since the yarn is Brunswick yarn and no longer made. I was looking at it last night... it's already big enough for a wrap... so perhaps I will drop the next 4 groups of stitches (I have 4 straight sections left) and then do the decrease sections. It will end up looking slightly lopsided since the dropped stitches won't fall in the same way as they have been, but at least it will be done!

I've joined the Branching Out Knitalong... I've never joined one before, so I thought I would give it a try. If I had time, I would love to knit this pattern for a Christmas gift- perhaps I will do it for my family's Yankee Swap this year.

I also found some amazing new knitting blogs and I think I've linked them all in the sidebar. I'll keep adding them as I find them, but it will be much easier now that I took the time to alphabetize them. I have found that compared to every other blog I've seen so far, I am a complete novice when it comes to my knitting. It's neat to see what I could possibly work up to in the next couple of years.

Knitting Blogs...

I can't get enough of them. And thanks to the fabulous knitting links from the knit blogs I already have linked, I'm discovering more and more fabulous stuff. People are just so damn talented- it almost puts me to shame!

I've hit the halfway point with Clapotis finally... and with 5 balls of yarn left, I am going to be cutting it really close on yardage. I guess if worse comes to worse, I will finish the decrease rows (and dropped stitches) and then bind off so one side won't be pointed, but at least will be finished.

Seth asked me what I wanted for Christmas the other day... I was good and didn't tell him I would love to have a couple of skeins of Noro. Perhaps for my birthday, though, when money will be less tight.