Warm fuzzies

Knitting for other people can be trying if you're not a deadline person. But I just got a nice dose of gratitude from a non-knitter and boy, did it feel good! My coworker Shawna is about 5 weeks away from her first daughter. I've always had a thing for this girl; she's a luminous beauty with a smile that lights up a room. So I decide to try my hand at something new, a simple hat and booties from an old Creative Knitting magazine. These projects work up really fast, and I'm delighted by that instant gratification feel that you just don't get from a poncho or a throw. I mean, a booty with concentration is a 2-evening job, and once you get decreasing on the hat, it's like, holy crap, it's a hat! I got her some onesies from her registry too, wrapped everything and gave it to her today. She was so delighted! Showed the hat and booties off to everyone around us. Makes me glad I have 2 more babies to knit for, because I can't wait to tackle some more booties. I want to find that Zoe Mellor book that has like, 50 variations on a bootie pattern...maybe I'll check ILL for it.

Finally got moving again on Mom's shawl, and just started (like 1 row in) on Cozy from Knitty. Also thinking of doing the shawl knit-a-long, now that I've seen a better pic...it's a beautiful nautilus pattern from the book, A Gathering of Lace.

Resolutions

I do love a good holiday as much as the next gal, but with Christmas, it's SUCH a relief when it's past. Even though I'm back at the snore that we call work and the house is an ever-loving mess, it's a relief to be back to normal.

Decided to do Mom's shawl in 2 or 3 panels because I just don't have it in me to rip out an entire skein's worth of work, which is what I'd have to do if I decided to fix it and follow the pattern. It'll probably come out a little wonky, but it'll work up rather fast. I also want to start Cozy by Knitty in that rose-colored Wool Ease, a baby blanket with the off-white Encore, and more baby booties for the potential critters in my life. Finished the hat and booties for Shawna's baby; I'll buy a little something from her Target registry to round out the gift, and then I can focus on Terra and Kara.

Alexa got the poncho and claims to like it :) Still deciding what to do with the White Buffalo I purchased...I have 4 pucks of turquoise (gorgeous!!) and one puck of slate that'll make a nice border on something. I'm thinking Cape May from Knitty, but I don't like or trust the ribbon closure at the neck; would want to create something sturdier.

Knitting? What knitting?

Well, that's not entirely accurate, I did finish that one bootie. Already talked about it though, didn't I?

Well, the silly holiday season has me hopping. Not sure I picked up needles all weekend, we were too busy figuring out holiday purchases and such. I'm looking forward to driving up there Thursday, may actually get some needle time in.

Haven't heard from Alexa, which means a) mr. poncho hasn't arrived yet thanks to the good ole holiday postal backups, b) it has arrived and she's as crazed as I am with the holiday and family excrement to email, I mean, heck, a toddler and a baby are hard enough to juggle without the biggest honkin' holiday of the year staring us in the face, or c) it's arrived, it's far uglier than she expected, and she needs to purchase a new thesaurus before writing to spare my feelings. Not too paranoid, am I?

I'm such a dolt sometimes. I increased the needle size on Mom's shawl, because I just couldn't deal with the concept of working on 10½s after months of working on 13s, but do I decrease the number of cast-on stitches to compensate? Of course not, which explains why the first skein's worth looks so honkin' big! I'm thinking of binding off and knitting it in panels instead. We'll see.....

Baby stuff's cool!

So I think I've mentioned this before, but anyone who whines about how long and drawn out knitting can be, hasn't tried baby stuff.

I've made a hat and one bootie from this fairly simple pattern from an old issue of Creative Knitting, and it's got me so jazzed, I may have to make the sweater in the pattern too. I can't make it to Shawna's baby shower, because I'll be at a follow-up dental appointment with Les, but my guilt doesn't stick around because this first batch of baby stuff is for her critter, Baylee.

I'm so tickled that I pulled off that bootie. It almost has the shape of a mini Ugg, except there's basketweave at the top of the little shaft. And they turn out so quickly! The bootie was only a little more than a 2-evening knit for me, and the same thing for the hat--once you start decreasing, it's a snap! I want to buy that 50 Booties to Knit book by Zoe Mellor... the delusions of aptitude again.

It's not cold enough down here yet. It'll go 60s/40s H/L for a week, and then it'll rain and the humidity will shoot up and make me grumpy. They got ice in Atlanta, but I'm not getting my hopes up that our area of SC will see anything substantial over Christmas. Wouldn't mind wearing my wool tho', haven't had to yet this season, which makes me quite glad I got that fleece coat from my cousin Niki. If you're into vintage and vintagesque clothing, check out her selection at http://www.classiccloset.com.

Ahhh...new projects.....

The poncho is safely in the mail, well, hopefully, considering it's the holiday season, and thoughts can then turn to all the other crap I'd love to be knitting...

Anyone who thinks that crocheting is better because it's faster, needs to try their hand at knitting a baby hat. Those little suckers should be in the dictionary under "instant gratification." Granted I think the brim was tricky at first, because it was my first try at a basketweave not looking like crap, but once I hit the point of decrease and got my hands on some DPNs, it was finished in like, 1 hour tops!

And that's sweet, because now I have 3 babies to knit stuff for...my coworker Shawna, my knitting pal Terra, and my sis-in-law Kara! That one took some time to wrap my head around...I was out of my head with jealousy, and it's hard to work through those emotions when the 1-more-year-moratorium-on-procreation is entirely your own doing. I want to be healthy, we're in lousy shape financially, so I figured signing up for the Avon walk was a good way to fundraise for an excellent cause and getting into baby shape at the same time. I ache to have a child, but I know we'll be better off and happier for the wait.

Soo...plunge into knitting projects! Try to knit Mom's shawl in the next 2 weeks. Start a baby blanket for Shawna (she's first in line) and maybe some booties, if I can figure out what I'm doing wrong on knitting in the front and back of a stitch. I want to teach myself some lacework too, maybe that diamond pattern shawl that Lion Brand has, but without the Homespun, just seems to me that knitting lace in Homespun would be an exercise in frustration. Knock off some of the Wool Ease Sportweight projects I've been wanting to do too.

And then next week.....::grin::

Done!

As in mailed! Sent it off yesterday via USPS parcel post with $100 worth of insurance just for grins, and some prayers that it arrives at Alexa's unscathed. The holiday season at the U.S. Postal Service tends to fetch up images like the commercial with the kid who bagging groceries by slam-dunking the watermelon on top of the eggs, and then bubblewrapping the coffee. While I sort of agree with that notion, it still makes me nervous, like not being able to personally deliver the stuff to A., while at the same time certainly not wanting to be there when she opens it...I mean, what if it's completely not what she had in mind? ACK! No thank you, I'll be over in this corner playing with the girls while simultaneously keeping my hands over my ears and singing LA-LA-LA-LA-LA!!!

So I busy myself with new projects, like Mom's shawl, which I really don't know if I can get done by Christmas, and the 3 babies I get to knit for now. Shawna, a coworker, is such a luminous beauty, I have a crush on her. She's due to have a girl in February. Terra follows with her girl in March. And then there's Kara, my unmarried sister-in-law, who I'm insanely jealous of and have no right to be because I know by waiting, Les and I'll be better prepared and happier in the long run. She, on the other hand, will be lucky to still have her partner around by the time she gives birth. He has 2 of his own from Marriage #1 that he can't afford. Still, finding out she was pregnant has stirred such blackness inside me, that I just have to recognize it and move on, move closer to my goals of better financial stability and physical fitness.

Seriously though, DAMMIT!

Done!

It's a poncho! Well, honestly, it has the look of a serape, but it's all stitched together. The Vneck is still a little big, so I cinched it at the bottom just a bit, but just with a bit of White Buffalo, no knots, so it could be undone in a snap. She could always put a ribbon there to cinch it a bit, but since it's an honest Vneck, too much cinching would look funny. I'm still planning to make a triangle for her to block into the Vneck if desired.

The stitching together of it was interesting, and I remembered very quickly why I'd originally wanted to do it all in one piece. Was trying to sew it together with the White Buffalo, and the blasted stuff kept pulling apart! So I dug into my stash and stitched it together with a double strand of a really light beige (I think it was one Wool Ease and one Encore), and was very happy with the result, because it felt much more secure. Then naturally you could see the beige in spots, and while it probably blended fine, that wasn't good enough for me, so I went over it the next night with the White Buffalo. So it looks a bit hodge-podge to the critical eye, but you certainly can't notice the difference when looking at the wearer.

I'm going to try my darnedest to mail it Saturday, but I'm not sure I have a box big enough for everything...may have to scour the hallways here at work.