If you are looking for the Weaving In Ends Department, that department is closed. Thank goodness.

Today I caught up on some projects that have been sitting around nearly finished. I have a shoulder warmer (the blue tube), a textured triangle shawl (the pink triangle) (rav link here), and a cabled caplet (the light blue thing that is hard to see at the top of the picture) (rav link here). There’s a recently finished project on the table too, my January socks (from my pair of socks a month challenge).

Three snaps in a circle for me for getting things done today!

P.S. Did you happen to see Conan O’Brien’s final Tonight Show last Friday? I thought it was very well done though a little crazy at the end. He had the opportunity to be really bitter and negative, and bad mouth NBC, but he was classy and positive. This is a quote from my favorite moment of the show: “All I ask is one thing, and I’m asking this particularly of young people that watch. Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record it’s my least favorite quality. It doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you, amazing things will happen.”

Tags: None

Today is my birthday! I’m not obsessed with my age but 35 does sound like a big number. I like to torment my parent’s and ask “do you believe you have a daughter that is 35 years old?” (insert evil laugh here)

This has been a great day. (Will be near perfect if the Blackhawks win tonight.) Bill took the day off work to spend some time with me. He took me to my allergy shot, dropped me at the hair salon while I got a cut and color. Then we went to lunch at The Garret for a burger and beer. There was a quick stop at Blockbuster to pick out a movie for the weekend (500 Days of Summer) and then home to relax and knit and watch the Blackhawks game. I got birthday phone calls from all the parents and lots of facebook happy birthdays! It’s not been too different from most Thursdays, but different enough to make me happy. Suffice it to say, I feel pampered, loved and special.

Green Planet Yarn made me feel super special a couple of weeks ago with their birthday sale program. You can go in one day during your birthday month and have the opportunity to save 20, 40 or 100% off your total purchase. I had my eyes on some Lorna’s Laces Worsted in Valentine and Spud and Chloe in grass for two sweaters. Then some other yarn caught my eye for a little capelet. It’s a decent amount of yarn that came up to a pretty hefty total, but then I picked out a 40% chip (!!!) and once I put in my Christmas money, it didn’t cost me very much out of pocket.

Today I’m working on a top down raglan sweater in the Valentine yarn. I’m very nervous about it because I have to modify the pattern for my size. I’m not an experienced sweater knitter but I have confidence in my math skills. It’s just such beautiful yarn I don’t want to wear out the fiber if I have to frog it. The beauty of a top down sweater is that I can try it on as I go. My other “issue” is that I agonized over which pattern to use. I went with the garter yoke cardi because it’s a simple silhouette that won’t compete with the multi color yarn. Fingers crossed that it fits well when I’m done.

Well, it’s time for some special birthday cupcakes from Sprinkles. 34 years later, I still get the same happy and excited look on my face when someone offers me cake.

Tags: knitting, life

This is a project I stitched up years ago, in 2004. I think I bought the cross stitch kit at the Walmart by Ocean City, MD to entertain me during a beach week with Bill’s parents. For whatever reason, I never got around to the finishing. I even had the fabric. But all things happen for a reason.

I was finally motivated to finish this project as a Christmas present for Gran. Gran is keeping Harrison (Bill’s cat) permanently. We miss him, but he’s good company for Gran and I think Harrison is happier being a single child. Plus, we do have visitation rights. Anyhoo, I finally had a reason to finish this project.

It’s the first cross stitch that I made into a pillow, and the first pillow that I did with piping. Lots of firsts. I think my piping skills have room for improvement, but I’m happy with how the project turned out. Very happy actually, and that’s saying a lot. Here’s another picture.

It was a fun project to work on, and I was happy to give it as a gift.

Tags: cross stitch, sewing

I lean towards no, but we’ll give it a shot. What brings this up you ask? Well, we bought my mother-in-law, Jeanne, the Yarn Harlot’s page-a-day calendar for Christmas. Jeanne is a knitter and we thought it a good gift. It’s not quite as overwhelming as a stitch-a-day kind of thing. Those are nice but that’s a lot of stitches to keep track of. Jeanne emailed me a tip she read from her calendar. The tip was to create your own sock of the month club from stash yarn and patterns you have queued up.

I’m going to interrupt myself and ask a question: Is my sharing this violation of some copyright or something? I prefer to think of it as unpaid advertising in that Jeanne really likes the calendar and if you enjoy tips like this, pick up the Yarn Harlot’s page-a-day calendar, available at Amazon or other fine retailers. Hopefully that has covered some bases that may or may not have needed covering.

So last night (see how exciting Saturday nights can be!) I pulled out my sock yarn and my sock patterns. Scary thing, I actually have enough yarn for 12 pairs of socks. That surprised me. In reality, I have 11 plus two on the needles. My January sock is going to be one of those WIPs. The other on the needles is a pair of knee socks. I also laid out another pair of knee socks but swapped that out for a pair of regular sized socks. In my mind, one pair of knee socks is about two pairs of regular socks knee. Thusly, knee socks are separate projects from this challenge. The rest of the yarn has been matched up with patterns. I have 6 “hard” pairs and 6 basic pairs. If all goes according to plan, by the end of the year I will have 12 pairs of completed socks.

This challenge seems, well, challenging. I don’t know if I’ve even completed 12 total projects in a year. Regardless, nothing ventured, nothing gained and this seems like a fun way to get some socks knit up. Wish me luck!

Tags: knitting, socks

Over the summer, I found a dresser at a garage sale. It was in need of some serious TLC, but I saw potential. Fast forward three months or so, and I finally got around to working on it. I sanded it and primed it and painted it and then realized I hadn’t done a good job of sanding it. Or washing it before the priming. Back to the beginning; I resanded it. The top had some serious damage to it, lots of scratches and stuff etched into it. I thought the paint would fill in the scratches (lazy talk). This time around, I sanded the crap out of it. And then I really did a good job washing it. I re-primed and re-painted and this time I was very happy with the job. I used spray primer and paint to get a smooth finish, and I used glossy paint. My big splurge was the hardware which I got at restoration hardware. I looked at Home Depot, but wasn’t impressed. Anthropologie had/has some nice hardware, but RH had the look I was going for. I lined the drawers with wrapping paper from the Container Store. It can’t be seen, but if the drawers ever empty out some, it will be there. Bill installed the hardware for me, and my dresser was finally done. $25 for the dresser, around $25 for supplies (paint and sand paper, etc) and let’s say a bit more for the hardware. Not a bad investment for a pretty & very solid piece of furniture. Whatcha think?

I’m using the dresser in my craft studio for my sewing stuff. The top drawer is for my notions (zippers, ribbons, bias tape, purse handles, etc.). The second drawer (in the photo) holds he majority of my crafting fabric (as opposed to my garment fabric). The fourth drawer holds some of my more special garment fabric as well as some heavy weight fabrics. And the third drawer. Well, that’s the one drawer that is left. It will hold more crafting fabric, and I’m hoping there might be space for my buttons.

The folding of the fabric is quite tedious. Bill has been a treasure and helped me with some of the folding. And if there’s a good movie on, the folding goes quickly. I’m hoping that I can finish the third drawer today and be done with the project. That will be a big accomplishment!

I’ve been working on my craft room, trying to get stuff put away once and for all. I know I’ve said that before. I’m trying hard to get to the point where everything is away and tidy and I can concentrate on the projects. This is the closest I have been to that goal.

Tags: organizing, sewing

I hope that you have been enjoying the first four days of the new year! It feels pretty much like last year except for the underlying current of a fresh start and new opportunities. I’ve been giving my “goals” addition thought. There’s a few more things that I want to accomplish:

7. Finish at least 5 photo albums this year.

8. Organize my fabric stash.

9. Finish the curtains for the craft studio, living room, and master bedroom.

10. Refocus my efforts on my etsy shop. Figure out what I really want to do with it.

A couple of these are pretty specific, but I think that’s good. It will hopefully help me stay focused.

While I’ve been pondering my goals, I’ve been working on my textured shawl. It hit a speed bump as I got a little obsessed with the textured section and getting it symmetrical around the center stitch. It took me about a week, but I’ve finally got it worked out. This is a pretty mindless knit and perfect to work on while watching tv and doing laundry.

Speaking of laundry, I washed and folded nine loads today. For two people. And a few of the dog’s socks, but really, just for two people. I think that little munchkins come in, dance around in our clothes, and put them in the laundry hamper while we sleep. But five episodes of Heroes, two episodes of Chuck, the first period of a Blackhawk’s game from New Year’s Eve, and an episode of Rachel Ray made it go pretty quickly. Okay, it didn’t go quickly but it was pretty painless.

Tags: goals, life

I’ve spent the last few days thinking about the new year. I am a fan of new year’s goals. (I like goals more than resolutions.) To me, it’s an opportunity to start fresh and re-energized, with a clear focus and full of optimism. Perhaps a little schmaltzy, but that’s me.

I think my mantra for the year is going to be “baby steps.” When I get an idea, I tend to think I have to dive in. For example, exercising. I have these grand plans for daily hour long walks. A healthy aspiration, to be sure, but for soemone just starting out it can be a bit ambitious. And easy to lose motivation. Last month, I read the editor’s letter in my fitness magazine and she said that she started jogging fifteen minutes a day and now she’s running marathons. I might be wrong about the marathons but the bottom line is, she started with baby steps.

My theory is that by starting small you gain strength and confidence. The better you get at it, the more you want to do it. The stronger you get the farther you can go. I think this applies to more than just exercise. I mentioned in my previous post that I needed to work on the guest bedroom, the wrapping room, the garage (which I didn’t mention but was on the list). So I tackled one project a day and I still had time for the other fun stuff I wanted to do. Baby steps.

While looking forward, I’ve been looking back too. 2009 was a pretty darn good year. We sold our house and I moved to California. I knit my first sweater. I knit my first triangle shawl (and second, and third, and am on my fourth). I read 42 books this year with 104 in my queue. I attended the inauguration of the 44th President. I did some of my most challenging hikes at Yosemite this year. I know there are other highlights but these are the ones that stand out.

As for what I want to accomplish in 2010…

1. Continue to try and live a more simple life. Get rid of stuff, eat local, use what I have, waste less, stop and smell the roses.

2. Use up my stash. I have bought a lot of yarn lately. I’m going to allow myself one more shopping spree (there’s a birthday special at my LYS) and then I’m going to work from what I’ve got.

3. Read more. I love reading. I’d like to get the number of books in my queue to under 70 by this time next year.

4. Spend more time outside. Knitting outside works, but biking, walking, or hiking would be better.

5. Eat more fruits and veggies. This should be pretty easy living in California where they are quite plentiful. It’s more a matter of choosing the fruits and veggies instead of the carbs.

6. Remember that life is a precious gift.

There could be more, but I think this is a fair start. I hope that 2009 was good to you and that 2010 is better! Happy New Year!

P.S. The photo is me and Bill, in the kitchen, preparing our New Year’s Eve feast of hors d’oeuvres. I think Bill looks really good in the photo.

Tags: goals, life

Yes, I am. Hopefully you are too! Our Christmas was as I expected: low-key and wonderful! Bill made a delicious dinner Christmas Eve which included a Honeybaked Ham, broccoli rice casserole, creamed spinach, applesauce (homemade) and cranberry orange relish. It was super delish and we are still enjoying it!

Christmas morning was gift opening, skyping with family and opening presents via the web, Sherlock Holmes, playing with our Christmas presents, and a little bit of knitting. Bill got a blu-ray player so we had to watch a movie (Transformers 2 which looked amazing) during which I started a new shawl (rav link here).

I got some great gifts. Just a few books (nicely stacked in the photo), including a really cool book on wallpaper projects. Bill got me a purty new necklace and my big gift from him was a parrot. Not a bird, but bluetooth for my car. It’s installed and automatically connects to my phone so that I can talk wirelessly. AND, I can play music off my iphone through my car speakers. It’s pretty cool. I got some sequined chuck taylor’s from my in-laws. My mom bought me a pretty piece of artwork that I picked out when we were in Monterey. It’s a beautiful small floral oil painting and I like supporting local artists. There’s other stuff, but these are some of my favorites.

The rest of the weekend seemed to fly by. Bill got some new wii games that we haven’t even opened yet. We did see Avatar in digital 3D. It was amazing. James Cameron created the most beautiful world and with the 3D I felt like I was floating in it. But the movie also had a very good storyline and it was really, really enjoyable. The bad guys are so bad you just hate them. Visually stunning, excellent film.

As I mentioned, we saw Sherlock Holmes on Christmas Day. I am partial to Basil Rathbone as Mr. Holmes and don’t watch any other Holmeses. Robert Downey Jr. was excellent and Jude Law as Watson was surprisingly good. It was action packed, funny, kinda violent, with a bit of a love story. I really liked it.

Today we saw Nine. I might mention that these movies double the number of movies we have seen in a theatre all year. As for Nine, it was okay. Daniel Day Lewis was excellent but his character wasn’t someone I was particularly rooting for. The females in the movie are amazing and the dance numbers were spectacular, my favorites being Fergie’s and Kate Hudson’s. It was good, but not my favorite of the three.

There’s one more movie I’d like to see, The Blind Side. I’ve cleaned off my cutting table and am thinking about some sewing projects. I’m enjoying my shawl which I’m knitting up in delicious Sundara silky cashmere yarn (one of my top 5 favorite yarns). I’ve got some organizing to do in our wrapping room and our guest bedroom, and want to do a goodwill run before the end of the year. That’s what I’ll be up to these next few days.

Tags: Christmas, knitting, movies

I feel like there’s always something else that could be done. Plus, I’ve had to adjust my expectations just a little. Not in a bad way, but in a it doesn’t have to be perfect way. For instance, my tree skirt. It’s not done, but it is done enough for this Christmas. I’d like to do some quilting on it for a final finishing touch but I just ran out of time. I had gifts stacked on the coffee table so I decided the quilting could wait until next year. I still have my fun tree skirt with my giant ric rac so I’m happy. What else? My Christmas tree only has lights on it. I’m okay with that. Maybe we’ll put ornaments on it, maybe not. That may sound crazy to some people, but I’m enjoying the tree, even ornament free.

The things that are really important to me are done. I have my favorite decorations around the house. The gifts are wrapped and under the tree. The cookies have been baked. There’s maybe one more batch we might do (nut cups, which are a bit labor intensive) this weekend. Movie tickets have been purchased (Sherlock Holmes, Avatar, Nine).

We are changing things up a little this year. We are going to cook our “big” dinner on Christmas Eve. We’ll do a nice breakfast on Christmas morning (although maybe not since I have to have room for popcorn and we’re seeing a movie!). But by doing dinner on Christmas Eve, we can nosh on leftovers Christmas day and the rest of the weekend, keeping things easy for ourselves. We’ll do our special backed brie on Christmas Day and Bill’s ordered cheese from the Italian Market in Philly. We love cheese, can you tell? We’ll skype with our family. I’m sure one of us is going to get a DVD or wii game that will be watched or played. And of course I’ll be knitting.

Those are my plans for Christmas and the weekend. I hope that whatever your plans are that you have a very Merry Christmas!

Tags: life

Sabrina seems to think so. This little gal cracks me up. It’s not the first time she’s used my yarn cake as a pillow.

I’m making another Luscious Cabled Cowl for a friend as a Christmas Gift. The clock is ticking!

This one is being knit out of Cascade Yarns Baby Chunky Alpaca. It is Divine yarn. Three years ago I knit myself a scarf with this yarn and it still looks good as new. Let me tell you, that baby has been worn!I think this is my all time favorite fiber.

I finished the LC cowl I made with the Baby Llamas and it is everything I hoped it would be! I still need to take pictures. I finished it just in time as we’re having a bit of a cold snap here.

I can’t believe that Christmas is 17 days away! I did some decorating over the weekend but we still need to get our tree! This weekend, I hope!

I’ve been working on lots of Christmas presents. Smallish projects. I’m trying to enjoy the process and not get stressed. I don’t get it; it seems that no matter how much I plan, I’m still rushing at the end. What’s up with that?

Tags: knitting