Happy New Year

Yarn: Knit Me Now - Sock Love yarn in Chocolate Covered Cherries

This is meant to be the first sock in my Personal Sock Club 2009. It officially starts tomorrow and I'm debating about whether I cast on this sock right away tomorrow or wait until my Fiddleheads are complete. Decisions, Decisions.... I'm packing the pattern (Blackrose) and needles to bring to the cabin with me. After all, if I happened to finish an outer mitten and two liners in 4 days, well then I'd certainly need something else to work on. I wouldn't want to be stranded at the cabin with no knitting!

Note to Adam- we may be looking for a new camera shortly. Ours seems to be taking it's last gasping breaths. It randomly doesn't let you use the viewing screen so you have to take photos the old fashioned way, unfortunately then I end up with photos like the above one, instead of the photo that I wanted. Kind of defeats the purpose of a digital camera. If anyone has any suggestions on a camera to look for, I'd love to hear them.

Personal Sock Club 2009

Link-o-Rama Post Today!

Her's the Line-up for my Personal Sock Club

January - Black Rose in some locally made Chocolate Covered Cherries sock yarn.

February - Nutkins in a teal and brown Yarny

March - Fargyles in my green Yarny in New Shoots.

April - Monkeys perhaps in red Pagewood Farms yarn.

May - Pomatomus in blue Wollemese

June - Lacy Kids Sock Kit from HazelKnits



I'm reserving the right to subsitute in a Spiral Tube Sock or a Generic Sock if the pattern and the yarn aren't working.



That should get me through the first layer of sock yarn in my stash. For those of you who read the blog who regularly buy me presents, this should in no way deter you from buying yarn or gift certificates for yarn. I will always find space for more. Plus, my knitting = gifts for you + insulation for our very cold house.

Random Christmas

Fiddlehead mitten in Manos Silky... mmmm....

• I gave my co-worker 1 mitten today as a Christmas present. All I have is the thumb left to knit on the second mitten, so I hopefully can get it to her after lunch today.
• The 2nd Fiddlehead mittens are not going to be done in time for Christmas. I'm only partially done with the first mitten. I absolutely love the colors and the Manos Silky is amazing. I think lining this with yellow Frog Tree Alpaca will make them gorgeous. Since they won't be done in time for Christmas, I wrapped up a bunch of Pampered Chef knives and a cutting board for my daycare lady. Kind of ironic that I would give my daycare lady knives, but she likes to cook.
• All my other projects are folding for now. I'm going to start off with a clean plate in January with the Personal Sock Club. And perhaps a shawl.....

Does Shivering Count as Aerobic Activity?

Pretty Stash Photo From Hello Yarn

It's darn cold here. Darn cold. So cold that I'm happy I have so much wool stashed in my house. Perhaps the insulating factor will help keep my family warm. (And keep the pipes from freezing).

Speaking of stash, I've decided (thanks Knittymuggins) to joing the Stash Knit Down on Ravelry. I'm doing the sock knit down. I've printed off 6 patterns that I would like to knit and paired it up with 6 skeins of sock yarn. My goal is to make one pair of socks a month for the first 6 months of the year. I'll see how it goes, and if I'm having fun with it, then I'll keep going.

I'm not so foolish as to say, "No new sock yarn in the house!" But I will be trying to keep it to a minimum and only knit from stash.

My Little Helper

I was sitting at the computer, knitting and checking my favorite blogs when for absolutely no reason at all, one of my double points fell right off the thumb I was working on.

"Argh! I dropped some stitches!"

Addie came running over, "Don't worry Mommy, I'll help you find them." Addie got down on her hands an knees and started looking on the floor for my dropped stitches.

It was so cute that I started laughing, which of course got me in trouble. Addie doesn't like being teased right now and she thought I was making fun of her. Ah, the trials and tribulations of being 4 years old.

Check, Check, Almost Check

Christmas Knitting continues in the Big Blue House on the Shores of Lake Superior at a furious pace.

I finished the Fiddleheads for my Grandma. Photo to be added later. - Check



Malabrigo Mittens for my co-worker - 1 down, 1 to go. I'm adapting a pattern in 101 Luxury One Skein Wonders for this. They're pretty dreamy.

I started the 2nd Fiddleheads using Manos Silky for the outer mitt and Frog Tree Alpaca for the inner liner. I did have a bit of a setback with this, surprise surprise. I found 2 beautiful shades of Manos Silky, a dark blue and a dark purple/yellow/green varigated, Unfortunately the varigated was too close in shade to the dark blue and it didn't have enough pop for me. So I'm ripping back a few rows and starting over.

In non-knitting news, we are in the middle of a big blizzard. We have gusts of wind from 40-60 mph and a ton of snow blowing. Roads are being closed and they've discouraged all travel. It's supposed to last through noon tomorrow (monday). Normally I'd be thrilled with the idea of a snow day, however with work being what it is lately I need every moment of this week before Christmas to sell sell sell. I'm a little stressed out about work and a day at home isn't going to make it any better. In fact, my eye is getting a little twitchy just thinking about it.

WHAT??!!?

Frantic Christmas Knitters

Oh Dear. Why didn't anyone tell me? Actually, why did someone tell me that there are ONLY 14 days until Christmas? I am completely freaking out. Every year this happens. I think I'm totally in control of my Christmas knitting and then, Wham! I get hit with the reality of the situation. So here's where I stand.

_______ for ___________ (reader of the blog) DONE
slouche hat for ___________ DONE
snail hat for ________ DONE
turn a square hat for _________ DONE
washcloths for Oma edited to DONE
Fiddleheads for Grandma - 1 to finish by Christmas (weekend after)
Mittens for _________ - to finish by the 24th (on 1st cuff) Edited to may be frogged to cast on more stitches, this is pulling weird across the hand.
Fiddleheads for __________ - not even started
hat for ____________ - not even started

Realistically I think I can finish the 3 projects that are on the needles but not done. Which means that if I don't get the other items done, then I have a little more shopping to do. I need to knit like the wind folks!

Sneaky Sneak #2

One Fiddlehead mitten down, less than 1/2 to go on the 2nd. These are for my Grandma. Since she's in her 80's I think the chances of her reading this post and spoiling the surprise are slim to none.

Details:
Pattern: Fiddlehead Mittens from Hello Yarn
Needles: Size 3 US. I used 2 circulars for the first mitten and one 9" circular for the second. I am totally and completely in love with the 9" circular for socks and mittens. I think I want one in every conceivable size. It's the best thing since sliced bread. Seriously.
Yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca sport weight - mmmm.... alpaca....
Modifications: I've decided not to do a lining for these mittens. They are a touch small (seems I knit extremely tight when I'm doing colorwork) and I'm not sure how well they will fit if I do a lining. Plus, my Grandma really would only be wearing them from the house to the car and back. She doesn't spend a ton of time outside in the winter anymore.

Sneaky Sneak #1

I finished one of the sneaky sneak items from my list.

I discovered that no matter how much red wine you drink, some people are just not meant to look all stylish and French chic in a slouch hat. It's just not me.

This however, is. Hanging out with the girls.

Details:
Pattern: Le Slouche hat from Knit and Tonic
Yarn: Merino Gold from Knit One Crochet Too. Cream with a bit of gold sparkle. It might be discontinued since I can't find it on their website anywhere. It took a little over 2 skeins.
Needles: Size 9 US.
Modifications: I held the yarn doubled since it's a worsted weight yarn.