Grrrrrrr

I've just made myself a nice hot cup of echinacea tea.  Because, you know, I've got this cold, and echinacea is good for that.  And because, you know, I'm irritated, and hot tea is good for that.

I got up this morning in a really good mood, with a plan of action to put ... well, into action.  I had my morning coffee while getting two packages ready to go to the post office.  Then I got myself ready to go.  Bundled up into boots, coat, scarf, mittens.  Grabbed my purse, keys, and the two packages, and went to the car.  Car won't start!  Again!  Stupid cold Wisconsin weather!  This is the second time in as many weeks that my battery has been dead, I'm assuming due to the cold temperatures and the fact that since I'm not working outside the home, it doesn't get run as much as it used to.  But I was out yesterday, and it started fine and ran fine.  Grrrrr there go my plans.  I was so looking forward to getting these packages in the mail so I didn't have to worry about them anymore.  Then I was going to listen to an audio book on the drive to the mall, where I was going to shop at Barnes & Noble to use my 20% coupon; Victoria's Secret to use my $15 reward card; Sears to use my $16 in rewards that expire at the end of January; and Teavana because I love their teas.  On the way home, I was planning to stop at the grocery to get what we need for the next several days.  Then I was looking forward to a weekend filled with crafty goodness without having to worry about running any errands.  Grrrrrrr.  Oh well, the best laid plans I guess.  Hot tea, work your magic.

Paul has offered to do a post office run for me when he's home for lunch, and he said he's going to just replace the car battery tomorrow, so I should be able to do the mall shopping on Sunday.

I did spend quite a bit of time on the Mystery Mittens over the past couple of days.  I have the first one completed, with the exception of the thumb, which I believe is the final clue.

And I've gotten a goodly portion of the second mitten completed.  I'll get this caught up today so it's ready for the next clue, expected on Tuesday I think.  Can't tell yet from these photos, but the second mitten shows a boy and tree on the front, and a wheelchair (?) on the back.  I haven't finished the book, and really don't know the story, so I'm guessing that's a wheelchair.  Sure looks like one to me on the chart anyway.  Being stuck at home today will give me the chance to finish this chart and add the band of roses to this mitten.

I haven't been working on the Ann Marie Stockings much at all, and I'm making peace with the fact they probably won't be done in January.  As is usually the case with me, I set my goals too high and they will only be achievable if I quit sleeping, eating, and you know, doing anything that takes any time away from knitting.  I'll try to do better on my goals for February.

In the meantime, I pulled out Skip and worked on him some last night.  He's such fun to work on and his personality is starting to come out.  There should be no problems getting him completed in January so I will have an "A" project done for the Stash Down group.

I love Skip's fingers!  Aren't they adorable?  If you look very closely in the photo, you can just barely see the threads that make him a marionette.  These get attached as you go, with buttons on the inside of the doll, to help alleviate any extra stress on any single stitch that the strings might cause.  Once he's complete, I'll need to find some kind of stand or gizmo to hang him from.

I should spend more time making dolls .... working on them is such fun, and is calming to the spirit.

Long Overdue Post

Apparently, I'm not back into the swing of blogging on a regular basis again yet.  Hope to get that fixed soon :-)

Saturday I finished almost all of the Shaker Sewing Box.  This weekend will see it completed.  All that's left is the satin stitch grass across the bottom.  The following weekend I will get the supplies to do the finishing work on the needle book and scissor fob.  Then, even though I won't have the pincushion or sewing box put together yet, I'm going to call this project done and start thinking about my February needlework project.

On Sunday I got the top of Paul's quilt sewn together.  This weekend, I'll get the borders (all three of them!) and fishing rod applique put on.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get the blanket stitching on the applique finished too.  Of course, that means I'm that much closer to having to decide on paying to have it machine quilted, or hand quilting it myself.  I'm leaning towards hand quilting, even though it will take longer for Paul to have his finished quilt.

Update on the blankies ..... I finished my seven hexipuffs for this week, but I haven't done a single one of my sock yarn blanket squares.  Oops, I'll need to get caught up on those this upcoming week.  It will be easier to get caught up now that I'm done with swap gifts.

I restarted my Torirot Mystery Mittens.  I just really didn't like the green I was using.  Kept telling myself that it was fine since it was only on the cuffs, but then I got clue 3 and there is a band of that green and the color for the flowers across the middle of the mitten.  Back to the stash I went to find a more subdued green to use.  Once I had chosen a new green, the fuchsia color I was using for the flowers seemed to stand out too much, so I chose a variegated pink/purple yarn for those.  And lastly, once I started on that, I didn't like the pink as a background color for the main body of the mitten, so grabbed some light blue instead.  Now I'm quite pleased with them.  I'll need to spend tomorrow catching up on the last two clues, and hopefully getting the second cuff done so I'm ready for the next clue to be released.

About a week ago, I blogged about buying more jewelry making supplies and how I needed to spend a day putting things together.  Well, I finally got around to working on that this afternoon.  Only finished one necklace, but I'm inspired to get the beads out and work on more this week.  If I get caught up on the mittens and blankets, I'll do that this weekend.

Pinterest has been my bestest buddy during this swap.  I used it tons to get inspiration for gifts to add to my package .... and took a couple of detours and got inspired to make things for myself too.  I love needle books!  This little felt number just caught my eye and I couldn't resist making it.

Now, I mentioned earlier about being done with swap gifts.  There has been a difference of opinion on how much should be included in my swap package (why that's anybody else's business but mine as long as I'm meeting the minimum requirements is beyond me, but apparently it is), and therefore, I have a couple of new items for myself.

I have had my eye on this scarf for some time, and finally broke down and purchased the pattern.  It worked up really quickly and I love it!  It's a very long 112" long so I can wrap it several times around my neck.  I used some lovely Silky Wool that has been in my stash for quite awhile.  I was looking forward to making another one for myself, but now that it's not getting mailed, I don't have to.

Another finished item that is staying with me and not making a home with someone else is a pair of scissors with beaded fob.  I really need to make fobs for all my little scissors.  I always toss a pair in my bag when I go to knit groups, then stab myself with them while there.

There are also two unfinished items, but I'll set those aside to work on if/when I get caught up on my other projects.  I started a biscornu pincushion, and it's almost done.  Maybe I'll add that to my Saturday stitching after I get the satin stitch done on the Shaker Sewing Set.

The last item is a pair of owl mitts.  I've wanted to make these for the longest time too, and now I'll have a pair for myself :-)

So I Have This Cat ...

He's a cute little thing most of the time (when he's sleeping).  He's just turned 5 months old this week.  Hubby and I found him and his brother abandoned in our garden when they were only a day old.  We took them in and I spent the better part of the summer up every 2 hours to dropper feed them.  Unfortunately, his brother was sickly and didn't make it.  This is Digit.  Named so because he's gray everywhere except his toes, which are all white.

I have a dog too.  Doppler is as good as gold.  He's 11 years old now and I worry that these cold Wisconsin winters are too much for him. 

But I digress.  This post is about my cat.  So, I have this cat, Digit.  He is a strange cat.  He runs through the house lickety split with his eyes all wild, stopping every once in awhile to leap at me, grab my arm with all four of his paws, and chew on my arm.  He likes to chew.  Chew on anything and everything.

I bought my husband 4 pair of wool knee high socks for Christmas.  (Don't look at me like that, I can't knit them as fast as he needs them here.)  2 pair now have holes in them thanks to Digit.  I need to see if there's any way I can darn them.

I bought 4 pair of cashmere boot socks for myself just before Christmas.  This is what Digit did to a pair of them.  (Why yes, that IS my middle finger poking out the end.)

What do you do when you have a pair of cashmere socks that you love, but have holes in them that can in no way, shape, or form, be darned?  You go to your best friends Pinterest and Google, that's what.

So I did some searching this afternoon, gathered some supplies this evening ......

And now have arm warmer that I adore!  I don't think I'm ever going to take these off.  I feel very Jane Austen in them :-)

I used this tutorial, but altered it a tad to use as much of the sock as possible.

Wednesday Weekly Recap

Today marks the end of the first week of 2014.  How did I do against my goals?  Well, I completed my 8 squares for the Sock Yarn Blanket, and 7 hexipuffs for the Beekeepers Quilt.  I started a few items for a swap and completed a couple of them.  I haven't pulled out the Austin Boot Liners to work on, but I'm thinking I should get the Ann Maries done first.  And, I haven't pulled out Skip the zombie yet, but he really will only take an evening or two to finish so I'm not too worried.

The Ann Marie yoga legwarmers are coming along nicely.  I haven't gotten as much done as I'd like, but tonight will be dedicated to getting caught up on them.  I think these are going to be quite fun with complete.  they are light enough not to feel bulky and like they're getting in the way, but are super warm and comfy.  Now I just need some pink shorts and top and I'll be all set to get my yoga on!

Apparently, a spoiler alert was not needed for the Mystery Mittens.  Everyone in the KAL is flashing photos left and right.  I've lagged behind on these too, but spent some time this afternoon working on them, and I believe with another day or two of concentration, I will be ready for the next clue.  I'm not active on the forums for this group, but I do read the boards regarding these mittens.  It was discovered a few days ago that these were based on the book The Secret Garden, which believe it or not, I've never read.  Found out that a free audio copy is available through Librivox so I'm listening to it while I knit.

Discovered several other audio books through Librivox and subscribed to them through itunes.  Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice are waiting in the wings.  I'm finding that I get a lot of knitting done while listening to audio books.  This may be the secret to getting done all the projects I want to complete this year.

Trout and Salmon and Perch .... Oh My

Here is the state of the sewing box sampler when I finally stopped stitching last night.  I had actually done part of the tree on the right side, but stupid me used the wrong color, so I had to take it out.  I'm thinking that this might be finished next weekend based on how much I got done yesterday.  Starting to set aside the funds to get the shaker boxes to finish this set up.

Tomorrow I really need to get to work on the Sock Yarn Blanket.  I did some math and figure that I need to knit 8 squares per week to get this to the size I want by the end of the year.  I'll decide later if I'm going to border it or not.  Although it would be beautiful, the thought of an i-cord edging around a nearly 6' x 6' blanket is already making me cringe.  Considering the amount of time I'm putting into getting this done though, I really should invest the time and effort into the finishing.

Today I spent the better part of the afternoon down in my sewing area listening to A Discovery of Witches, and finishing up the blanket stitch around the letters for Paul's quilt.  Tonight I'll start working on the blanket stitch on the fish appliques while I watch the season opener of Downton Abbey.  Once the appliques are finished, the rest of the quilt top will go together quickly.  Then I'll need to decide if I'm going to hand quilt this or pay to have it machine quilted at the quilt shop here in town.  Having someone else do the quilting just seems like cheating to me, but I might change my mind when it comes down to getting it done.

My sewing machine is too small to machine quilt anything bigger than a wall hanging.  I've tried, with varying degrees of horrible results.  I really want to get one of these.  With a little practice on that bad boy, I could be finishing quilts as quickly as I piece the tops!  One of these days.

Along with working on the Sock Yarn Blanket, I'm planning to work on the Beekeeper's Quilt, and will be starting on some swap gifts.  Although I didn't think I would actually get anything done on it today, I really did get some organizing done in the craft area.  There were two boxes, filled with books, magazines, and various craft supplies, that had been sitting since we moved in, and I got them emptied out and the contents put away.  Of course, as usually happens when I start this kind of thing, I got a good look at all the craft supplies and my fingers are itching to create something with them all.  I have a list a mile long of things I want to make to add to my swap package this month.  It is really going to have to be pared down to make postage affordable lol.

Stitchin' Saturday

I've spent my crafting time today working on the Shaker Sewing Set.  Snapped this photo earlier this afternoon, but have more done now, and will have even more done before I pack it in for the night.  I was really hoping to have this set done in January, but I don't think that's going to happen.  Oh, the stitching will be done, but the sewing box and pin cushion won't be put together.  The needle book and scissor fob can be completed without pricey supplies, but when I checked the site that carries the shaker sewing and pin cushion boxes, it is going to cost just over $200 for those.  Ain't happenin' this month.  Might add those to my wish list and see if I can't sweet talk hubby into getting them for me for my birthday in March.

In trying to meet my goals, I've come to a realization.  Doing this much on this project, and that much on that project, and another bit on another project, every day just isn't working for me.  I feel like I'm spending all my time putting things away and getting things out and getting very little completed on the projects, let alone getting any housework or laundry done.  Some more revisions to the rules need to be made, but these revisions shouldn't affect the amount of work I get done in a week in a negative way ... they should increase the amount I get done.

I'm planning to spend Saturdays working on my needlework projects exclusively.  I will get more done stitching for 5 or 6 hours (or more) than I will by dragging everything out and working an hour per day on it.

Sundays will be dedicated to quilting and/or sewing projects exclusively.  While I'm down in the sewing area, I can work on organizing the crafts .... lol yeah, right ;-)

Monday through Friday I will work on the knitting/crocheting projects, and any gifts or swap goodies that need to be completed.

Tomorrow, update on the sock yarn blanket and Paul's man cave quilt.

Impulse Buys and Changed Plans

One of my goals is to organize my craft area and get rid of items that will never be used.  Yesterday, I was down there digging around and sorting through things and came across quite a lot of jewelry making supplies.  There are supplies down there I remember buying at least 7 years ago.  None of the planned pieces have been made.  Now, mind you, I've made some jewelry pieces and love them.  I think the trick is I need to make an item right after buying the supplies or I'll never get back to it.

I spent the better part of the afternoon yesterday flip flopping between keeping the supplies and getting rid of them.  So, what do you think I did when I went to the store today?  Why, I bought a bunch of jewelry making supplies, that's what!  Tomorrow afternoon will need to be set aside to make these pieces up.  If I get them done, and enjoy the process, maybe I'll keep all those supplies I dug out yesterday.  One day per month making jewelry?  Sounds feasible to me.  These would make great gifts to add to swap packages, and since I already have the supplies, they'd be inexpensive additions :-)

Last night I worked on the Ann Marie stockings.  Got the heel turned on the first one, then did about 2 inches of the leg and tried them on.  Yuck!  They felt loose and sloppy.  Frogged it this morning, and re-cast on with a smaller needle during knit group at the local quilt shop.  Since I know I will never wear these as stockings (especially in this loud pink color), and I really don't like doing short row toes/heels, I've decided to make these as yoga leg warmers.  No toes, no heels.  Just lots of pink lacy frivolousness to make me feel all girly while I get my morning workout in.  If I knit about 3" per day on these, I should be able to complete them in January as planned.

I completed my 7 hexipuffs for this week.  Did some browsing on Ravelry to see how many puffs others had used for their quilts, and now have my first revision to my 2014 goals.  I really want a fairly large quilt, and based on what I've seen, I am going to need about 1000 puffs.  That's not going to happen if I only knit one for each day of the week.  Since I don't think I can handle knitting 3 or more of these per day, I am revising my goal for this.  Instead of completing it this year, I will make sure I have 365 puffs by year's end.  Perhaps next year I can concentrate on getting this done.

Spoiler Alert!!  If you are knitting the Torirot Mystery Mittens and don't want to see pictures, close this blog now.  You have been warned :-)

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Clue 1 was released yesterday.  I only knit the first repeat of the first cuff.  Need to spend a day this weekend just knitting on these so I don't get behind in the KAL.  I'd really like these to be finished by end of January (provided all clues have been released by then), so I don't feel guilty starting something new in February for my Olympic knitting.  I've joined one Ravelry team, and may join another if I get enough completed in January.  Both patterns I would be knitting start with a B, so meet the criteria for the Stash Down group.