Back to reality...

So the knitted gifts were a big hit, the non-knitted gifts were a big hit, and I made out like a bandit, despite repeatedly telling folks we didn't need more STUFF. So what did I get? Stuff. It's cool - it's all useful stuffs and quite nice. I am a lucky lucky girl.

Not lucky enough to escape illness, however.

The December/January bug has hit yet again. I have a splendid cold that's finally moved into my chest and made breathing near impossible. Plenty of time to sit and... think. Ha ha! Just kidding. I'm knitting. Well, thinking too, but mostly knitting.

And! All this thinking has led to another new year's resolution. After surveying my stash and actually writing out all the projects I have planned (and stashed for) I've decided that this year, I will buy no more yarn.

Yes, you read that right. Keep breathing.

I have so many cute projects that I've bought yarn for that I've decided I'm going to knit exclusively from my stash this year.

Yep.

Wish me luck.

:D

Home for the Holidays

I am back! Once again I have returned, unscathed, from the land of the in-laws. Such wonderful people... it was a week of much laughter, much fun, and much FOOD. That family can COOK - I think they even managed to fatten me up, something my own family has been unable to do for thirty some-odd years...

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, filled with love and light. My holidays are a bit extended this year, as I will be celebrating Christmas with my own family here in Colorado on Jan 2nd. And as such, I had a wee bit of extra time to finish up the family's knit presents. Hooray!

Since my husband got himself a bad-ass new camera for Christmas, he graciously offered to take pictures for the blog. So here we go!

For: Momma :D
Pattern: Weekend Cardigan by Ivete Tecedor
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Superwash, doubled, in Fired Brick
Needles: Size 10
Mods: I knit this in the round and added a few decreases to the body for shaping. I also added toggles all the way down the front.

For: My sister

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinsky
Yarn: Elann's Peruvian Highland Wool
Needles: Sizes 5 and 7
Mods: None

For: Nana, the knitting matriarch

Pattern: #107 Bobble, Bobbles Everywhere by Nora J. Bellows
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needles: Size 10

I'm so excited to give her this gift. Bobbles have been a running family joke for years... I think she'll be over the moon about this bag. I'm SO pleased with how it turned out!

There are many resolutions in my near future... not the least of which is to have a fantastic new year and wish you all joy in the coming days and months!

'tis the season indeed

I am, by involuntary action, a cynical person. I tend to believe the negative things more than the positive. I don't know why - it's certainly not by choice - it's more a habit that I fall into and forget how to get out of.

Every once in a while something smacks me out of this. Today I read a post that actually caused me to shed tears in the realization that such wonderful people exist in the world. This knitting community has touched me far more with the graciousness of good than I ever expected it to, and I am very, very grateful to each of you.

If you are reading this... you are charged to do something good today. Give a random gift. Call someone you haven't talked to in a long time. Buy lunch for the homeless guy on the corner. Something good. Something unexpected. Bring joy.

If you are the one who inspired this post, you'll know who you are. You're off the hook. And thank you for smacking me.

Back in action

After a month of sheer craziness, I finally have a moment to sit down and rest. Snow is drifting by my window and there is that utter silence that snow brings, broken only by the dog snoring and my typing. It's really quite nice.

So. What have I been doing for the last month? It's been a hectic four weeks! We had family in town for Thanksgiving, so there was all the attendant madness there. My mother's family is nuts anyway, so having them around is always an adventure. :D Work is keeping me on my toes and extremely busy - I've been learning a lot of new things, which always makes me feel like I'm just flying by the seat, you know? Fun but exhausting as well.

In the last two weeks Soundvice had its first show with the new lineup, and Dave and I have been to the mountains twice for music for him. The first was a 36 hour ski event they played at, and this past Thursday his band opened up for Ziggy Marley in Vail... that was fun. Dave's brother was in town too - I don't think he'd ever seen Dave play, so it was neat to see his reaction. Other than that, we played tourist in Vail and drove back through a mad snowstorm. They closed the pass just after we got through...

As for crafty stuff, I have (for the most part) finished my xmas knitting. I have the buttons to sew on and the button hole band to do on the CPH, and I need to find clasps for my mother's weekender. The ones I fell in love with are too too big. Sad. Last night I dove into the mad yarn barfage that was my bobble pile and I sewed them all up into neat little balls.... pulling them out of their tangled mess was an interesting process. Behold the pre-bobbles:

THAT was exciting. The dogs even got involved, as one of them took off with a blue bobble and the rest of the pile went dragging after her... and then they made a game, as I ended up chasing them around the house as they stole bobbles. Ahh, fun stuff.

I took out my sewing machine a couple weeks ago and made some pretties for myself. Primarily a grey shift dress with some lacy bits. I don't have a photo, since my camera battery is nowhere to be found, but pictures will eventually ensue. I'd forgotten how much WORK sewing is. It looks like it should be so simple...

Contrary to popular belief...

... I am not, in actuality, dead. I will provide updates and yummy pictures soon. :D

Everybody knows it's Windy....

My dog hates the wind. She's fine with thunder, fireworks, whatever. But the wind... not so much. The night before last blew a fierce storm, and Kona paced... back and forth... clickety click across the bathroom floor. Occasionally she'd paw at us or cross the bed back and forth.

For hours this went on. Finally, around 2am, I got up and as a last ditch effort, made her a little fort right next to Dave's side of the bed. I pulled over her bed, and stuffed a towel and a blanket between the bed and the nightstand. The result was this:

but hallelujah if she didn't stay there all dang night. She's not real pleased with me... I pulled up the towel to show the fort... previously she was all snuggled up under there feeling safe and secure. That is a not-happy-with-me dog.

I made my dog a fort. I don't know if that's ridiculous or inventive. But I made my dog a FORT.

My little pony

The weekend cardigan, minus her clasps, is done. Despite massive color bleeding when washed, I love the yarn. The color and the feel... it's wonderful. If I make this again I'll probably make a few mods, like holding on to the edge ribbing stitches for the neckline and picking up fewer neckline stitches. But overall I'm very very happy with it. I think my mother will be too...

Pattern: Weekend Cardigan by Ivete Tecedor
Yarn: Swish Superwash from KnitPicks - double stranded
Needles: Size 10
Colorway: Fired Brick

I've also cast on for my sister's CPH and made some pretty good headway. I've set myself a two week time limit to finish this sweater... should be more than enough, don't you think? Especially when you consider what I did yesterday...
The back piece is knit to the armholes. I am hoping to finish the back tonight and do the two front pieces this week. We'll see. I am going to the hockey game tonight (GO AVS!!!!) and I have music Tuesday and Thursday. It'll be a row here and a row there.

Everything else is plugging along. I picked up some adorable vogue sewing patterns this weekend. I think after Christmas I might pull out my sewing machine, dust her off, and make something pretty for myself. I've been leaning towards 50's style dresses lately... I realized this summer that hey - I have no summer dresses. Boo. This must be remedied. So what do you think? With a nice linen fabric maybe? Or cotton? I also picked up this for my neice... she's in the "heesee" phase and loves everything related. She's even got my little ponies... remember those? Yeah, me too. Funny.

:D