The last month or so has been quite busy and there has been a little knitting in the mix, although not as much as I would like. I’ve also been playing around with a little sewing which has been really fun to experiment with. Every time my cousin and I get together, our husbands go fishing while we get crafting. A few weeks ago we had a lovely visit where we crafted these:

The pattern was courtesy of Oh Fransson Projects and was so much fun to make. I have basically no experience with sewing but my cousin was able to direct me through the project.

Karen and I have done a few sewing projects together on previous visits but this is my favorite by far, and it’s been great to carry my lunch in. While Karen and I were busy working on our lunchbags, our husbands were busy catching this:

Chris was so proud, I don’t think he stopped smiling that whole night. Since our weekend with my cousin, Chris has been hunting good local fishing spots and I’ve been hunting a good beginner sewing machine.

On the knitting side of things… I wish I had more to blog about but I do have another FO to report, and it might look familiar.

Yep, that would be Baby Surprise Jacket number 2. I really do love this pattern. The is a picture of the sweater pre-blocking, which is on my agenda for this evening. The yarn is Dream in Color Classy in the color Spring Tickle. The yarn was wonderful to knit and I loved the little bit of elasticity it has to it. I used a bit more than one and a half skeins and still have enough left over to make a pair of booties. I loved the color but when completed, it just didn’t look girly enough to me. However, I think these buttons did the trick…

I have lots of plans for next projects, not to mention a few still on the needles. I’m also starting to think again about my Christmas knitting plans. I started out this spring with good intentions but unfortunately that’s about where my Christmas knitting still lives..in the land of good intention.

Summer keeps rolling right along and I’m just rolling right along with it. Chris and I are starting to plan our anniversary weekend and that’s exciting, I can’t wait to get away for a few days. I’m three weeks into my summer classes and we are also trying to get some house projects completed this summer. So far we’ve put a ceiling fan in the living room and installed a garage door opener. Next on the list is to finish painting the kitchen and perhaps finally buying a dining room table. We just found out that Chris’ family will be coming for Thanksgiving this year. I’m excited about hosting but we have no furniture in our dining room! On a smaller scale, I’m trying to do some housecleaning with the blog. I’m not very happy with my homemade header and I’m still tweaking the basic theme a bit. My sister is going to help me with some header photography but hopefully soon my blog will be looking much better. Please bear with me in the meantime..it’s under a bit of construction.

As of Friday the semester is officially over and I feel like a free woman. Chris and I spent the whole weekend relaxing around the house, window shopping, and just generally enjoying the fact that the weekend was absent of my having to study. I have put away the books and now have an entire month off before the next set of classes starts. I’ve been gearing myself up all weekend for a 30 day knitting fest and now all I have to do is decide what exactly I want to knit. My choices are: Fetching #2, Bottom strip of Celtic Tote, Entrelac Scarf, or BSJ #2. (Yep, that’s right..number two!)

I made mention in my last post that I completed a baby sweater for my friend Jodi but I forgot to mention that it was a Baby Surprise Jacket.

I really think it’s the knit I’m most proud of up to now and more importantly, my friend Jodi really seemed to love it. I have another close friend who is due to have a baby girl in about 10 weeks so I’m going to whip up another one in the next week or two. I know I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been said before about the BSJ pattern, but it really is as fun and amazing as everyone says it is. It’s a little tricky when you read it before you start, but everything really does make sense as you go along. I also found the posts in the BSJ Ravelry group really helpful.

I have also been really wanting to start another lace project. I think I’m going to do a stole type shawl next but I’m undecided on the pattern as of right now. So much to knit..so hard to decide!

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged but I’m still here. The last several weeks my focus has been strictly on schoolwork. I’m not sure where this competitiveness came from but I wish I had it when I was in high school. I’ve become nearly obsessive with getting only A’s in my classes which is a major struggle in my online statistics class. I do not recommend online statistics to anyone. I really wish I had a teacher teaching me vs. myself and a book, but somehow I’ve muddled my way to a 95% in the class up until this point. I may have blown that with the test I just submitted though..holy cow is my brain mush right this moment. I only pray that once this class is finished, I never have to worry about 2-proportion z-tests and Type II errors ever…ever….ever..again.

Anyway, I have 3 chapters, 1 group project and 1 exam left to this class which officially ends on Friday. My other class is effectively completed with just a few discussion boards to left to do. I want to start off next weekend with nothing but knitting, knitting, knitting.

My previously reported WIP’s remain where I left them. I ended up setting the baby hoody aside in lieu of a new sweater I started, completed and gifted to the expectant mom at her baby shower this past Monday. I’ll try to get a picture of my one 2008 FO as soon as possible.

My next classes don’t start until the end of May so I’ll have a full month of knitting love.

First off I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter celebration. As with most all holidays, this one was spent with my family at my parents’ house. We had a lovely dinner and lots of laughs.

Next, can I just say, I can’t believe it’s been so long since my last post. I even missed my own blogiversary while I was away so yay..happy blogiversary to me. I must admit though, my knitting has been so minimal I scarcely had anything to blog about. It’s not because I don’t want to be knitting..I pine over it on a daily basis. It just that as I make my way through this first semester, knitting seems like a guilty pleasure that I avoid lest I ignore my studies. The summer semester should be much easier because I’m going to take only one class and it’s then that I hope to make more knitting progress. I am definitely not lacking in future projects..that list keeps on growing and growing. Today was a really sunny day and I had a few minutes before dinner, so I did take some pictures of my currently stalled WIP’s.

First let me tell you about the baby sweater I’m making. It will be my first completed garment and I started out really pleased with it. The yarn is Bernat Softee and has been nice to work with, and the pattern is the aptly named Easy Baby Cardigan

Not only is this my first baby sweater, it’s my first sweater at all, so I’ve never done top down construction before. It’s really easy but the one thing I’m disappointed with is the addition of the sleeve. As soon as I switched to the DPN’s to add on my first sleeve, the gauge changed and try as I might, I can’t seem to get it to match..nor can I stop staring it. The DPN’s are the same size as the circular I used but I am knitting much tighter with the DPN’s. I probably should tear the sleeve back and go up a size on the DPN’s, but sadly I don’t have a set of size 9’s. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do with it yet but I need to decide soon because this baby mama is due in just a few weeks. Here’s another close up of the problem..

I also mention in a past post that I’ve completed the first of a pair of Fetching. Well, they are still half a pair but I know when I finally do decide to complete the second one I’ll be able to knock it out in an evening. The yarn is that Artyarn Superwash in colorway 108 that used to be a Clapotis many moons ago. I never had the right amount and ended up with 2 different dyelots so this yarn has now been parsed out to different smaller projects. This is actually the second pair of Fetching in the same exact yarn. My niece Chyna got the first pair. The second pair goes to my niece, Sommer, who loved Chyna’s pair.

The next WIP I need to get back to is the Celtic Tote. It’s soooo close to being done! All I need to finish is the shade stitching around the cables and that neverending, lifesucking, tube of a bottom. The tote front and back seemed to knit up so fast. What will be the bottom is one of those knits where you feel like you’ve knit 2 hours to get through 2 inches. However at the moment it’s also in “stall” mode because I had to use the size 8 DPNs on the baby sweater. The ones here in the picture are just stitch holders for the time being. P.S. That’s Patons Classic Wool I’m using.

The next WIP on the project list is another Danica Scarf. I knit this same pattern for my Ravely Scarf Exchange buddy, Kyle, and I really liked the pattern. I thought it would work well with the Plymouth Boku yarn I got in Tacoma in January.

The yarn is a little on the scratchy side but it is turning out really pretty. I don’t get to wear scarves much in Florida but I’m hoping to make a bunch for when we travel to Washington to see Chris’ family. I love them and this year will be buying a black coat to go with all of my colorful scarves.

So you see..everything on the needles can be finished relatively quickly. Hopefully very soon I’ll be able to call them FO’s!

The last picture I have is of some new yarn I got in the mail recently. I first wanted to say thank you thank you to Dee! She was my very sweet upstream pal in the Harvest Sock Swap of last fall. She suffered a nasty cut on her hand which kept her from sending me the sock for the swap. Instead, much to my surprise, she sent me a gift certificate to Blue Moon Fiber Arts for yarn of my choice. I was ecstatic because I’d been dying to try out some of that famous Socks that Rock yarn but it is a bit out of my budget. Thanks to Dee this came in the mail a couple weeks ago…

It’s so soft and squishy and bright and springy and green! I love love love it and can’t wait to knit with it. I’m eyeballing the Embossed Leaves pattern from Favorite Socks but I am still browsing patterns on Ravelry. It always takes me awhile to match yarn to project and I haven’t completely settled on anything yet. But oh..what a lovely luxury this yarn is.

I want to start by saying thank you SO much to everyone who left such sweet comments on my last post. We’ll all miss my grandfather but it was really touching to see him buried next to my grandmother. The funeral service was lovely and it was nice seeing family that we hadn’t seen in years, but unfortunate that it was under sad circumstances.

We were away for about 5 days and on the 15 hour drive to and from Pennsylvania I did get a fair amount of knitting done. I have 2 new WIP’s, a scarf and a pair of Fetching that is on my 2008 gift list. I’m nearly ready to start seaming the Celtic tote and am hoping to do so on the weekend. Even more fun was spreading my love of knitting to my sister, Anna. She came over this past Friday evening and asked me to teach her to knit. She is now working on her first garter stitch scarf. Yesterday we went to Joann’s where she picked out 2 pairs of straight needles and some yarn and now she’s very pleased with how well her scarf is turning out. She’s coming over again this Friday to learn to purl, and start a washcloth since she picked up a $2 ball of Peaches and Cream yesterday. Only 3 days in and she’s pretty addicted already…I love it! I’m hoping to have pictures of all of my WIP’s and I’ll see if I can’t get a photo of her scarf too. I can’t wait to see it.

School has been kicking my butt this last week. I’m talking about having spent 9 hours on Saturday and 6 hours on Sunday studying. On Saturday I announced to my hubby Chris that I was quitting school. I rescinded it on Sunday though when I scored a 100% on my first test. Yay! I’ll be SO glad when this Statistics class is over though. It’s exhausting all of my brain power.

I don’t really get into the whole Oscars thing..actually I’m a little jaded about it. There are so many other things more worthy of a big golden statue if you ask me. But still, I love movies and sometimes…just every once in awhile..there are moments that are worth seeing at the Oscars. Both Chris and I watched it this year for one reason. Our favorite movie of 2007 was a little heard of Indie movie called “Once”. The day after we saw it, we bought the DVD of the movie and the soundtrack, and have been a little more than obsessed with it ever since. When Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, real life musicians and the stars, were nominated for best song from a movie, we knew we would be glued to the TV on Oscar night this year. We weren’t disappointed…not only did they perform one of my most favorite songs, but about 5 minutes later they took home the award for it.

So, in lieu of knitting pictures I leave you with this……

October 4, 1913 - February 9, 2008

My grandfather passed away last Saturday so all of the family is now gathered here in York, PA to attend his funeral services and celebrate his life. Last night many of the 8 children, 20 grandchildren, and 13 great grandchildren paged through family albums and laughed together, remembering story after story of all of our childhoods. All I could think of was that this was exactly what grandpa hoped for after he passed.

My blogging has been scarce the last week or two because I made a major decision recently, and this past Monday I started back to school. I’ll be taking classes part time for the next couple of years with the goal of finally getting a BSN. I’d been talking about it for about the last 5 years and I’m so relieved that I actually have now officially started. I discovered pretty quickly how challenging it could be to try to get out of work early enough to get home and have a few solid hours of schoolwork time before I start making dinner and doing the daily housework. I have to say though, as challenging and tiring as it is, it feels really invigorating at the same time.

Even though I’ve been studying, I’ve been doing a bit of knitting as well. I’m still working on the Celtic tote and am about 5 rows away from completing the front panel. The back is already done so all that’s left are the sides, felting and seaming. I’ll have some progress pictures posted soon.

I’m still keeping away from swaps for the time being, although I’m secretly waiting patiently for Sock-a-palooza to restart. I did join a knitalong recently however. I heard about it from Jenny and Nicole on the Stash and Burn podcast. The KAL is called the Year Long Gift Along. I’m sure it will keep me on task for my gift knitting this year. This past Christmas my “Christmas Knitting Bonanza” turned into the Christmas Knitting Debacle. Not this year though..I’m planning ahead!

Before I talk about our trip to Washington, I wanted to post of picture of the lovely package Clare sent me from Australia as part of the Christmas Around the World Knitters Swap.

The box had a great Australian knitting magazine called Yarn, as well as some Tim Tam cookies (which are already gone, they were so good!) and some chocolate coins which were found inside the cute little felted bag she knitted. She also included a “hotty with a heart” hot water bottle that would have been very helpful had I thought to take it to Washington. There was also a pretty little ornament which will look great on the tree next year. My favorite was of course the yarn made from the roving of her father’s sheep, and handspun by Clare herself. I’m not sure yet where the yarn is going but I know I want it to be something special. Thanks again Clare, you did a wonderful job.

That just about takes care of the Christmas swaps, though I’m still waiting on my sock from the Harvest Sock Swap. I have faith though and hope it will arrive soon.

Chris and I arrived home from Seattle last night and we brought with us some great memories, new yarn and the flu. Flu aside we both had a really great time and spent the entire trip with family. The most fun day for me was the day Chris and I went to Pike’s Place and Alki Beach with Chris’ older brother, his younger sister and niece. The five of us had a great time even though it was 20 degrees outside, but it made me want to knit nothing but scarves until our next visit out there. I even got to wear my lovely bamboo scarf that Kim sent me in the Ravelry Scarf Exchange.

Of course another favorite activity was yarn shopping! I spent my entire yarn budget in one store, which was OK since it was right in Tacoma and only 15 minutes from my brother-in-law Yute’s house. Yute’s girlfriend Vicky drove me and I know she had a great time watching me “ooh” and “ahh” over all the yarn. She’s a crocheter so I know she understood my elation. The shop was The Lamb’s Ear and the owner was so nice in helping me choose yarns for the list of projects I had made. Oh and I have pictures of my loot!

The Boku yarn was hard to resist because the colors were so pretty, and it’s a bit more affordable than the Noro so I thought this might not be a bad substitute. I have plans for an Entrelac scarf with this yarn and I know it will come in handy on our next winter Seattle visit.

My splurge yarn was this Dream in Color hand-dyed yarn in worsted weight. I was thinking it would make a lovely Clapotis though I believe I’m one skein short for that. It may also turn into a baby surprise jacket though since I have 2 good friends in various stages of pregnancy at the moment. I just can’t get enough of that yummy goldy-green.

Speaking of green..I’ve developed a thing for it lately which is why I got a whole sweater’s worth of green yarn for my first attempt at a sweater.

I chose the Berroco because it will be a bit cooler for a sweater here in Florida, plus, what a great green!

I also picked up this laceweight Merino by Skacel because I think it will make a very pretty Kiri. Of course that after I somehow finish the Spring Shawl Surprise shawl and the SotS2 shawl.

Oh! One more purchase I forgot to tell you about!

It was another splurge but something I wanted for a long time. I can’t wait to go through this book page by page.

A quick FO to show you…

This was the flower washcloth pattern that Kim sent me along with the Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille yarn that I knitted it with. It’s so soft and squishy!
While I was in Washington I also made a pair of Fetching out of recycled Artyarns Supermerino. You might remember that purple variegated supermerino from my forever hybernating WIP Clapotis. They came out really nice and were so fast I churned them out in about 2 days. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures because I immediately gifted them to my 13 year old niece, but she was so cute and wore them ALL day on the day I gave them to her. I’ve since started another pair in the same yarn for my sister-in-law but by the time I was about 6 rows into the second pair, the flu had taken it’s hold and I couldn’t focus on much of anything for any period of time. I’ll take some pictures as soon as they’re done. I was sad to rip out the Clapotis but at the same time I didn’t care for the way the yarn was pooling, and I already had 2 different dye lots going.
I’ve also made it about halfway through the front piece of the Celtic Tote, which also looks pretty good so far. Today I found a tutorial by Grumperina on how to do cables without a cable needle so I’m hoping that helps speed things up a bit.

I think I’m all caught up now on the last couple of weeks worth of knitting news. Now I’m going to prop my feet up, pop another Ricola, and get rid of this dang flu bug because it’s a nasty one. I’m off work one more day so hopefully I’ll get a little more knitting done tomorrow.

I don’t know why but for some reason it seemed to me like the start of a new year would involve a little rest time getting over the holidays. You know, a little R&R to get you feeling refreshed as the new year gets into gear. Well I’m still waiting for my down time. Aside from both holidays being mid-work week this year (which I say is against the laws of nature), it’s just been business as usual in regards to work and home. The good news is that at the end of this week my husband and I will be off to Washington to visit his family. I’m really looking forward to the time away from work as well as the time I can devote to knitting. Not to mention I’m cashing in my “Yarn shopping in Seattle” Christmas gift card from my dear husband. I still haven’t narrowed down what shops I’m going to try to hit but I’m sure I’ll have some addresses in my hand before I get on the plane on Friday.

Speaking of knitting, I already have an FO for the year, though it hardly seems like it should count because it was such a fast knit. I completed the flower washcloth made from the lovely aqua, cotton chenile skein my friend Kim sent me from Canada. It’s so soft and squishy and I can’t help but think what a great gift it would make paired with some soap. (must not think about Christmas knitting in January…) I’m currently working on the Celtic Tote from the winter issue of IK. Oh, speaking of IK..I got a subscription this year along with the book The Sweater Workshop for Christmas. The book should be great help when I get around to knitting my first sweater this year.

The next post should include some pictures not only of the washcloth, but hopefully of my new yarn booty from Seattle, a completed or nearly completed tote bag and also the package I got in the mail today from my Christmas Around the World swapper.

This has been a wonderful year for me in regards to knitting. In November of 2006 I picked up my first yarn and knitting needles and taught myself a new craft. I started out with a sort of “Ingridized” continental style of knitting and then I was off and running with my first few swatches. My very first project was a Booga Bag, which not only helped me hone my basic knitting skills, it also introduced me to felting. Not one to back down from a challenge I moved on from the Booga Bag to a pair of Twisted Rib socks followed by cableing with the Brea Bag. I think it was right around the time of the Brea Bag that I discovered what wonders lay within the walls of my local yarn store. At that point I realized this was no simple hobby I had picked up.

The owner of my LYS was the first person to explain yarn weights, stitch definition, and fibers to me in a way that made me realize I had more to learn than knit and purl. I moved on from knitting with one color to two, and then to stranded knitting with the Center Square hat and Endpaper Mitts. I finished a pair of Monkey socks , a lace shawl and even learned entrelac.
About the time I realized there was more to knitting than acrylic, I also realized there was an entire community of people I could reach out to for support, advice, knowledge and a common love of all things knitting. Reading knit blogs moved from simple interest to addiction and I found myself swapping knitted items that I had made myself..for another real person to wear! Next came Ravelry and it’s forums and groups, and knit-alongs, and more swaps, and knitting podcasts and before I knew it I had become a part of the community I had previously admired from afar.

So in my first year of knitting I have completed 13 projects and have several on the needles that I hope to move from WIP to FO in the year 2008.

1. Twisted Rib Socks, 2. Brea Bag, 3. Booga Bag, 4. Calorimetry, 5. Baker Boy Cap, 6. Fiber Trends Felts Clogs, 7. Monkey Socks, 8. Center Square Hat, 9. Forest Canopy Shawl, 10. Pine Tree Sachet, 11. Danica, 12. Fiber Trends Felted Clogs, 13. ornament

I have learned so much in my first year of knitting but still have so much yet to learn. I have many knitterly goals for the year 2008 such as:
1. Completing my first sweater
2. Taking a few classes to improve on some of my self taught techniques.
3. Learning to more easily correct my mistakes without ripping all the way back.
4. Tackling a challenging lacework pattern..with beads.
5. Continuing to gain a better understanding about fibers and yarns and definitely expand my stash.
6. Attending a knit-in at my LYS.
7. Giving the blog a new look for the new year.

There’s lots to do but also lots to be proud of over the last year.
Happy New Year to all of my knitting friends!