Some Pics and Projects . . .

 So I had a busy weekend. 

  

First off, congrats to my best bud, Missy and Chad.  They got married this weekend.

It was a wonderful and beautiful wedding.  The day started off a little iffy with drizzle-y rain nonsense, but as you can tell from the picture the sun prevailed and was shining beautifully! Now the newlyweds are probably chillin on a nice warm beach in Jamaica as we sit here.  And Missy and Chad,  if you read this . . . J and I totally have the BB finale waiting for you when you get back.  

After the wedding, J and I headed down to Somerset to do some visiting.  I wish we would have had more time, but we also had a very important meeting scheduled.  A meeting of our new little "fur baby" . . . 

That adorable little baby I am holding is Adie.  She will be joining or family in the next couple of weeks.  Zedd has been informed that he will be getting a little sister, but I don't think he believes it.   I know that bringing a new puppy into the house will be hard on him and he will probably have his cute little nose out of joint for a while, but I hope he gets over it quickly.  I do love my Z-dog and would hate for him to be mad at me for long.  I hope he realizes he'll have a friend of his very own to play with all the time and not be upset.    

There are 4 total puppies in the litter, one little boy and three girls.  Let me tell you they were a sight all together and cute as can be!  They are trying to master the whole walking thing (especially on hardwood floors!) and they wobble a bit every now and again.  They play and Izzy runs the show.   It was dinner time while we were there . . .

From left to right, the puppies are:  Daisy, Ivy, Izzy (or Is he?  as in "Dad's taking two puppies" "Is he?" ), and last but not least Adie.   They made a mess and had a good time making it.  We really can't wait to bring Adie home!

Now on to other things . . . like knitting.   

On April 5th, The Yarn Harlot came to Lex.   It was a blast!!   Knitting Momma Kim and I went.  A few of the 127 knitters were there, we saved seats for all but only needed a few.  :(   That's okay, we met a couple new knitters from out of town.  The Harlot gave a wonderfully entertaining speech then signed books and posed for pictures.    After the fun times at the book signing, a handful of us knitterly people grabbed some dinner then called it a night.  (albeit a fun one!)

That would be Knitting Momma Kim and Me.   We are waiting for the even to start.  I think we were the 2nd and 3rd people there.  

AND . . . That would be me and The Yarn Harlot and her traveling sock.    

I've gotten a few thing accomplished.  I finished by mini sweater.  I don't have any final outcome pics yet.  They are kinda hard to take of yourself in a sweater.  Especially when you have no stinkin clue how to work the timer thing on the camera!  I'll just have to wait and have J do it.  

I did get a picture of the hat I made.  It's the Cabled Newsboys Cap from SnB Nation.  It was a quick knit and was really cute.   

I also finished a Baby Surprise Jacket.  I found some really cute yarn that I thought was going to be gender neutral in greens blues and yellows actually had some light pink in it.  SO . . . it's kind of girly.  Very cute but a little girly.   I need to find it some buttons and it will be all finished.  

Thanks to Snoopy for modeling.  

A while ago my Momma Lesa asked for some socks.  She didn't care what kind, nor did she have a yarn preference.  Only request, was blue.  So, ask and ye shall receive!  I am making Monkey socks for her.  (pattern is on Knitty.com)  I ordered her special yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.   (Might I add that they are an awesome place to order from with BEAUTIFUL yarn to choose from.  I can't wait to find a reason to order from them again!!)  I got her the Socks That Rock lightweight in Lucy in the Sky.   Here are Momma's socks so far . . .

Yep.  I'm on the foot of the first sock.  Woohoo!   Momma Lesa will be so excited.  (love you, mom!) 

With that,  I think I'm out of pictures and projects to post.   I need to ponder some future knitting projects of the Harry Potter variety.  My little cousin (we'll call him H), is making his way through the Harry Potter books.  (He's at the start of the 4th)   I think H needs some Gryffindor inspiration.  Then if I do that,  his little brother (C) will need something too.  C tells me his favorite house is Hufflepuff.   I don't think there will be scarves made, scarves take TOO long.  Well, honestly . . . I take too long on them because they are repetitive.

I'll have to see what I can come up with . . .   

On a roll. . .

Yep.  That's right.  My sweater is FINALLY finished.  YAY!!!  I didn't think I was ever going to get those silly sleeves done.  Now I'm already off on another sweater project,  A mini sweater made out of Dream In Color Yarn.  So far so good.  The colors in the yarn are absolutely awesome.  I can't wait until the sweater is done.  (Lucky for me it's a very short sweater and short-sleeved . . . which is perfect for me!)  You could probably make a strong case to prove that I have some sort of project ADD . . .

While working on the sleeves I also made these out of random bits of kool aid dyed yarn.

They are Toasty Pocket Creatures.  (on Knitty.com)  They have little pouches of lavender and rice in them.  Which smell wonderful!  You can take the pouch out and put it in the microwave for a few seconds.   Once you put the pouch back in the little creature you have something warm to put in your pocket to warm your hands!   I made these two first and gave them to my sister.  I've also made one for Knitting Momma Kim and my Momma Lesa.  I also need to give some kudos to J.  He sews the little pouches for me on the sewing machine.  He does such a great job!  I proved that I can't sew a straight line to save my  life, but thankfully J can!!  

I also made these for Leah while I was supposed to be working on sweater sleeves . . .

They are the Evangeline fingerless gloves from magknits.com.   I did the elbow length for her since she gets cold easily.  They were a pretty quick and easy knit, yet look so fancy!  I gave them to her today when we went to the house.  She loved them.  YAY!

Once I finished the sweater and my other projects I made some little baby slippers for a co-worker who is due to have a little baby boy any day now.  I still had some sock yarn I used for Leah's Fawkes socks.  So they are bright little magic baby slippers!!  

Awwwwww . . . how cute and tiny they are!   I am now going to post something. . .only because I find it funny.  Here it is:

They were supposed to be socks.  However, that is as far as they will go up my foot.  I made some sort of gauge error I suppose.  ( I think If I went up a needle size it wouldn't be so bad.)  Oh well, I'll rip them back and start over.  What's the point in having socks you can't pull up over your heel!   They will be put aside until I either decide to remake them with larger needles or use the yarn for something else!   

Saturday is the day The Yarn Harlot will be at Joseph Beth!  WOOO!  I've got the whole day off, and due to a recent 18 hour day I recently worked, Friday off too.  I love days off!!  :)

One Sleeve Short of a Full Sweater. . .

No really, I am . . .  

See . . . I am not making reference my mental state, but to an actual sweater!  I am afraid this sweater is on a long break.  I was so excited to work on it when I started.  I did good. . . up until the second sleeve.  So here it sits.  One sleeve short of a full sweater.  I really just want to get it done, but there are so many other things I could be knitting and doing!   
I've gotten a few other projects completed while the sweater has been on hiatus.  Kent wanted a pair of fingerless gloves for his birthday so, of course he got fingerless gloves for his birthday!

J was such a good hand model!  Kent has reported back, He likes 'em.  He thinks they are perfect for keeping his little hands warm while he runs.  I'm glad he likes them.  Kent still REALLY wants me to make him a sweater for Christmas.  Knowing the way I am, I should go ahead and get a start on one!  Any one have any ideas for patterns?   He's a 19 year old college kid, so I need one that's pretty cool . . .  I'm on a mission!

Wanna see some super cool socks??

Yeah man!  They are Fawkes socks, by Monkey Toes.  I found the yarn (Cherry Tree Hill SuperSock Merino in Sugar Maple) at Sophie's and just knew that with out any doubt it was to become these socks.   And they rock.  They are to be gifted to my sister, Leah.  She can rock them better than I can.  Go Leo Go!

I was surprised with these socks.  I had maintained prior to making them that I didn't like to make socks, namely because you have to make two of the exact same thing.  However, I decided it's not the making of two identical things that I don't like.  It's the making of two identical PLAIN things I don't like.  I had a ball working the pattern for these socks!  I actually am looking forward to making some more fancy socks!

With the left over yarn I made these . . .

Fawkes Mitts!!  Well, So far I only have one and may only end up with one!  I'm      

looking at the bit a yarn left with some skepticism.  I may have enough. . . but I'm not so sure!  I told Leah about the possible yarn shortage.  Luckily, She was put at ease by my superb idea . . . If I can only make one it would be a Guitar Hero/Rock Band glove.  She may not be able to play very well, but she can sure look cool while doing it!  She was ok with that.   Even Tate, my other little brother (aka video game guru) thought that would be a pretty cool idea.  Not that he wanted one, of course! lol   (Also, please ignore the Spiderman band-aid, I tried to take my thumb off today while chopping a head of lettuce)  

I've got some yarn on the way to make some Monkey socks (for Momma Lesa) and some for Bellatix socks for ME!  I want them here now.   lol.    I'm in the process of looking for the perfect pattern for my Christmas yarn from Knitting Momma Kim.  

I love this yarn.  It's a sock weight and it's greys and pinks and greens and lots of lovely colors!!  It's called Deathly Hallows: Elder Wand.  If anyone has any ideas . . . let me know!

I think that's all I have for right now.  I suppose I'm going to work on the second mitt until I run out of yarn!  (maybe my new yarn will get here soon!!  IhopeIhopeIhopeIhope!)

My new hat

My new hat!  It is the Fake Isle hat from mag knits (I'll post the link next time!)  This was my first attempt at the whole stranded knitting thing.  I don't think I did too poorly, but the top of the hat is a little wonky.  Oh well, better luck next time.  

Even though the top of the hat was a little strange (I'm blaming it on the DPNs) I was absolutely obsessed with this  hat!  The whole two handed knitting thing was a challenge and I LOVED it!!!  

I am still working on my sweater.  I only have one sleeve left to knit and some buttons to sew on.  Maybe that will be my work project . . .   I still have Kent's birthday present to make and send to him.  

And because it seems that Zedd has to be with me and do everything I do, he too had to photographed with the hat . . .   His contribution to the project?  Either sitting in my lap or on my yarn. . .

See, he just HAD to be in the picture.  Thanks J for taking our pictures.  Now I am off to watch Commanche Moon!!  

Let's hope it fits . . .

The first project of the new year for me is a sweater.  I generally tell myself that I do not have the patience to make sweaters, but I felt that for this one . . . I could make an exception.   I am making Buttony .  I feel quite proud of myself, I figured out what the heck I was doing all on my own!  I realized that I had indeed made a topdown raglan sweater before, the mini cardigan.  I, at the time had no idea that is actually what I was doing!   So far all is going well, I hope that continues!! 

At least it looks pretty good so far, if I do say so myself!  I know it fits around my shoulder and arms, which is a bonus.  I like how the sweater is working up so far, but I think if I do this again I will go for a single colored yarn or a single colored tweedy yarn.   

Speaking of yarn, I thought you would like to see a HUGE cake of yarn.

See!! It's huge!  Those are full size scissors.  J and I wondered just how much yarn you could wind on the ball winder. (that was even after we cut out a big hunk because it wasn't right and yucky)  Here is our answer!  The yarn is Moda dea Tweedle Dee Shaded effect yarn in Surf and Turf.  It's all right to work with, it's not super-wonderful-happiness-for-my-fingers though.

I told my brother, Kent, I would make him a pair of the Dashing fingerless gloves for his birthday on the 14th.  I was under the impression that I had until then to make them.  However, He has now informed me (and mom) and he is headed back to school Wednesday and we are going to be celebrating his birthday Sunday along with my sister, Leah's.  Well, I hope he doesn't expect his glovies!  I'll wrap a box with the picture for tomorrow and send them to him when I get them done. (when he gets and gives me his address at school, of course!) Silly Kent.  

Well, I'm off to work.  Hopefully I can get some more work done on my sweater.  I am afraid this will be the stretch that I lose interest . . . doing the stockinette stitch all down the body of the thing!  I can't give up, I must keep going . . . 

A New Year and a New Blog!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  I would say that I hope it was restful, but I know mine wasn't!  It was great, don't get me wrong I had a WONDERFUL holiday, but it was a lot of activity in VERY short time.  

I did get some very cool knitting related gifts this year.   My mom and dad got me the interchangeable Harmony Wood knitting needles from Knitpicks.com.  Knitting Momma Kim and Poppa Roger got me some COOL stuff . . .

Ahhh, I love my new swift, and yarn, and ball winder.  I love it so much I had to hug it.  My new swift is wonderful and spins to nice and evenly.  My yarn is so beautiful!  It's the colorway of Deathly Hallows: Elder Wand.  It combines two of my most favorite things, knitting and reading!  I can't wait to make something wonderful out of it!  Knitting Momma Kim found a few Harry Potter inspired designs that would be perfect for my Harry Potter inspired colorway!

I made a really cool hat for my brother this Christmas.  Tate is big gamer and loves the "old school" kind of games like Pac Man.  So I made him a hat and used duplicate stitches to stitch on Pac man, Power Pellets, and a Ghostie.  

He does this most everywhere he goes.  Sits and plays his video games.  He has his hat on, not straight mind you, but I think he likes it!  

I made my other brother, Kent, and my Dad a hat for Christmas.  They were very very sneaky and avoided digital capture . . . so far . . .

I knitted my grandmothers Tudoras from Knitty  Winter 2007.  They were super easy knits and were excellent for last minute knitting.  I made neckwarmers for my grandpas.  There were basically scarves with a button.  But they were a hit.  

As for my next project . . . a sweater.  It's a top down raglan.  I've not attempted one before, so this could be interesting. . .wish me luck!