Hello ...

is anyone still checking this blog to see if there are updates? I know it's been forever and an age, but hopefully I'll get back in the habit of updating.

I've finished quite a few things since I last updated, so this post will be chock full of photos. Got on a sock kick for several months and have a whole new wardrobe of socks, plus a bunch more still on the needles. As bad as that sounds, I've actually gotten much better at finishing projects I start before starting new ones. Not that I don't still start the occasional new project on a whim. And not that I've gotten any better whatsoever at finishing up all those WIPs I've had sitting around forever. Hoping to rectify that with my newfound project (sort of) monogamy.

A co-worker is expecting her first baby, so I couldn't resist making this adorable personalized blanket. It worked up in no time at all. I've always been able to crochet much faster than I knit. Isn't it adorable?

Five pair of socks finished since I last posted. Not sure what's with the sock craze, but I'm putting quite a dent in my sock yarn stash.

Knit up a Modern Lace Henley in record time too. More stash yarn used up to make this. It's knit up in Silky Wool and is super comfy. Perfect for spring and fall.

And now on to some newly started projects. Saw a book in my LYS and fell instantly in love with nearly every project in it. The Enchanted Sole is filled with wonderfully beautiful and fanciful socks. The first pair I cast on is a gorgeous stranded colorwork concoction called Tree of Life. I am using yarn purchased from a local dyer/spinner (Laughing Rat - look her up on Etsy). The darker blue/purple yarn is 100% merino, and the lighter pink/orange is a merino/bamboo blend. The resulting sock is quite decadent and I am absolutely thrilled with it.

In keeping with the sock yarn knit off I seem to be conducting, I started a skirt made from Noro Silk Garden Sock. It is made up of ever increasing in size panels to create a pretty A-line skirt. I've finished one panel and have another almost complete.

Another new book purchased is Crochet So Fine. It is full of simply scrumptious projects all crocheted with fine yarn (mostly laceweight, but a few fingering/sport). I have a bunch of the projects queued up and couldn't resist pulling out some Mountain Colors Winter Lace yarn I've had for some time to start a lacy tank. More photos of this in the near future as I am quite smitten with the pattern at the moment.



Another project started since I last blogged (I think so anyway because I didn't see it in the last few posts and I'm too lazy to look further back) is the Zick Zack Tunic. Another lightweight sweater made with lace yarn. I'm using up more stash yarn on this project. The back is finished and I'm about 1/2 done with the front.



I am trying to keep my focus on 2 projects at a time to keep to finishing more than I start .... wish me luck!

Quick post before Olympics start!

Finished the Team USA Hat. Too big for me, and I decided I want the one Julia Mancuso was wearing instead of this one, so I'll be making that one next. Yes, I am hopeless, scouring the Olympics for new knitwear!



Horrible photo of the first 1/2 February dishcloth. Uggg I guess I need to learn to use this camera better. None of my pictures turns out well.



Ok, fun time. What do you do when your ass won't fit into your jeans anymore? Besides go on a shopping trip to buy more? You find some horrible fabric in your stash that makes you go "why the hell did I buy that?" and make yourself an apron, that's what? Ok, it's weird but I love it. Now I want a whole bunch of aprons. A different one for every day of the month, just like the collection of mittens and gloves I have.



Lest you think I completely gave up on Ravelympics and Team WIP, I now give you progress!

I finished the Gladiolus vest and even wore it to work on Tuesday. Love this so much. Told everyone at work that I spent 4 days in my jammies making a hippie vest LOL.






Finished the Bustier Top too, and wore that to work yesterday. This fits nice, but the yarn is shedding. Hoping that that will stop once it's washed again.



Finished the Rose Wrap Shell too, but this looks so much better on the dress form than it does on a real body. I do believe it's destined for the trashcan. It's so horrible I won't even take a photo of it on ... ewwwwwwww.




Not bad, 3 finished WIPs and 1 finished new project since the Olympics started. And, now I will confess that I bought materials for a new crochet project and started a new knit one. Sigh, I am hopeless!

Ah, Ravelympics. I found the perfect team to join. Team WIP. I found an event to challenge myself with. WIPs Dancing. I picked out my projects. The Mary Tudor Cardigan I started in October 2007, and the Ravenna Satchel I started in September 2008.

I gathered my tools and projects in anticipation. I anxiously awaiting the start of the opening ceremonies.

I spied the Team USA hat and all hope was lost LOL. I simply had to have one. Of course, I got lucky and another knitter had already spied the adorable hat and made up a chart for it, so all I had to do was buy yarn, add another event (or 2) to my already full Ravelympic roster, and cast on. And, that's exactly what I did.

Here it is after the first day of knitting. Not too bad considering I was disciplined enough to complete my goal rounds on the cardigan before casting on, I spent quite a bit of time during the afternoon shopping, and I went out to dinner with Paul for Valentine's Day.



Here it is after day 2 of knitting. I am still enamored of this hat and believe that it should be finished tonight while I watch ice skating and snow boarding.



There is progress on Mary Tudor too. I am hoping to be finished with the body this week. The Ravenna Satchel will hopefully be completed this weekend. I am not so foolish as to believe that I will be able to complete the sleeves for MT and get the finishing done during Ravelympics, but I will consider the attempt a success if I get the better part of one sleeve completed. That just might be the incentive I need to finally complete the sweater and get it off my list of UFOs.



Can you believe with all this WIP finishing excitement, and shiny new project joy, I am still itching to start yet another project? Of course you can if you know me in the least. I decided that I would limit myself to using a pattern in my Ravelry queue and a yarn in my stash. I asked Paul to give me 2 numbers (the first corresponding to a page in my queue and the second to the project on that page). Score!! The pattern is a cute tunic made with laceweight yarn and I have a ton of that in my stash. I will allow myself to start this project once the Olympics is over provided I finish my Team USA hat and the Ravenna Satchel.

Sock, socks, and did I mention socks?

A bit of progress made this week on the Hearts n Flowers socks. The double yarn over on size 0 needles make these a bit fiddly. Combine that with 4" needles that are so sharp they threaten to put holes in your palms as you knit, and you have a project that does not get a lot of attention at any one sitting. They shall be finished however, as I adore the yarn and pattern.



I finished up the second Mini Mochi sock on the way home from work tonight. Love them! The colors are so vibrant and the yarn soft and smooshy. I will wear them to work tomorrow to keep my feet toasty during the snow storm we are supposed to be getting.



Another fiddly project is the Bacchus socks. I have managed to turn the heel of the first sock and am now working my way up the leg. These are definitely not socks that I can work on while paying attention to anything else. Absolutely love them though, and can't wait til they are finished and I can wear them.



I had planned to work on the Girly Camo socks during car rids next, but have run into a little problem. I can't seem to find the second ball of yarn! I know it's around here somewhere, but until I can find it, I refuse to work on a sock that may very well be a singleton. What to do now? I really don't want to cast on something new, but everything cast on now seems to be less mindless than what I consider to be necessary for commute knitting.

The new 2010 block a month CAL pattern was released this week, and I worked it up immediately. I then decided that my resulting blanket was not going to be big enough with only 12 squares. I have chosen to make one of each 12" square and two of each 6" square from the patterns given each month to make a larger blanket.



Several weeks ago I cast on a sweater using some Cornucopia that has been in my stash for quite some time. I am liking the apple green color and hope it works well with the magenta contrast I've chosen for the accents. This project might become my commute knitting since it is the most midless of what I have cast on.



Only 8 more days til the Olympics!!!

Win some, Lose some

I finished the baby blanket!! Yay!! I love how it turned out (even if at the end it did feel as though it was sucking all the life out of me). Paul had an appointment yesterday with Chelsea to get his hair cut, and I have an appointment to get mine done tomorrow. Good thing I finished this blanket up. Chelsea told Paul that they are inducing her on Friday. Wow, talk about getting something done just in the nick of time.



My friend Amanda and I are both creating our own Sock of the Month clubs. Our stash's are chock full of sock yarn, and we have tons of patterns. We will be putting yarn and patterns into bags and picking one out the first of each month. Hopefully I'll have 12 pair of new hand knit socks come year end instead of 12 more WIPs taking up space LOL.

I know it's not quite February yet, but I went ahead and started my February sock anyway. It would have made too much sense to continue working on the January cast on sock until January was over you know. The Olympics are gearing up to start too, and with that comes Ravelympics. I've joined a team that will work exclusively on WIPs so my only event will be WIP Dancing. I am hoping to finish the Ravenna Satchel and Mary Tudor Cardigan during the games.

Of course, this means that at the end of February, I will have two pair of socks on the needles and neither pair finished! Looks like March might be sock month for me.



Also finished up a face cloth about a week ago. I used Knit Picks' CotLin yarn. Rather like it and plan to buy more to make towels for the bathroom with.



As for the "lose some" portion of this post title .....

Remember the Orchid top I was crocheting that was so close to being finished? Well, I bought the buttons for it finally this weekend and finished the edging on it. Tried it on before finishing the sleeves ..... and the bottom looked awful! Too much flare in the back. It looked like a giant ruffle on a giant butt! Uggggg to the frog pond it went. I had to frog it back to the beginning of the flared portion. Four skeins of yarn! Half of the sweater! I was hoping to have that sweater done this weekend, but looks like it might not be done before the Olympics start :-(

Today was cooking day. Last weekend, Paul bought me the Julia Childs Cookbook set. Couldn't wait to make Boeuf Bourguignon. I cannot possibly describe just how wonderful my house has smelled all day. This very well might be the best thing I've ever eaten in my entire life. And, I can't believe I made it myself (well, with Paul's help!)



Doppler sure wanted some!



And, what better desert to top off Boeuf Bourguignon than Creme Brulee?



Yum!

Losing All Will To Live

I checked out the projects page for the blanket I am making Chelsea (my hair stylist) and found a woman who posted in her notes that if she had actually knitted the borders on all the blocks she would lose all will to live. She chose to do a crocheted border around her blocks and it really looked cute. I wish I had read those notes before I started my blanket. It is such a chore now to work on those borders. I should finish the last one tonight thank goodness!

I've started the seaming since I was about to pull my hair out working on those last few border rows. Hoping to have all the strips made by tomorrow night and the strips sewn together by Thursday night. That will give me all weekend to put the final border on the blanket and hopefully put a big dent in the weaving in of ends. I am cutting it close to the deadline on this one. Chelsea is due in February.



I did a bit of work on the Apres Surf Hoodie during my blankie breaks. Can't wait to get to work on this one full time. The yarn is a dream to work with and is so soft and drapey. It is going to make a great sweater.



Also, started a new project this past weekend. This is a scarf for Paul made with Buckingham (Alpaca/Silk blend) and Ecco Cashmere. So soft and dreamy! There is a cashmere scarf for me on the horizon too!



I've signed up for Ravelympics and joined a WIP team (go figure!). Hoping to finish up the Ravenna Satchel and Mary Tudor Cardigan during the games. It will be nice to have a couple of the long standing WIPs finished up and no longer staring so accusingly at me from their knitting bags!

Lots of Progress

No photos of the baby blanket because they would just be more of what I posted last week, but I have made a lot of progress and should have all of the blocks (including the borders) done next weekend.

I'm really liking the Bacchus socks and can't wait til the baby blanket is done so I can devote more time to them. Should be turning the heel of the first one next weekend if all goes as planned.



I'm hoping the bobbles on the foot aren't uncomfortable inside shoes.



The Orchid Top should be complete pretty soon too. A few more rows on the body, a bit of lengthening of the sleeves, and the border is all that is left.



Even though I have quite a few projects in progress, I decided to start a new one this weekend. This is the beginnings of the Apres Surf Hoodie from Interweave Knits Summer 2008. I am using lavender Lyndon Hill cotton/silk that has been in my stash for over a year. Really like working on this so far.



Another new project started is a block a month afghan crochet along I joined on Ravelry. Below is the 12" square for January. I'll be using this as a destash project to use up a bunch of Patons Classic Wool I have.



I've finished four of the blocks for the Yarn Forward Mystery Blanket I started last summer. Haven't done much work on it lately, but maybe that project will come out of hibernation once the baby blanket is finished.












Lastly, I finished up the first dishcloth knitalong projects for 2010.