Ask and You Shall Receive

Pictures of the Dragon Scarf. It was a complete pain to knit, but my son loves it.....so it was worth it!!

And I'll have more pictures to share soon!

Resolutions

I try not to make New Years resolutions. I never seem to stick to them and therefore they seem a bit pointless to me. But I decided I would try again this year. I'm trying NOT to make the standard "Lose weight" or "Exercise more" type resolution - I *know* I won't do it, so I'm not going to pretend.

I decided that this was the year I would try and make a difference in the world. Very lofty goal. Now, I know that I can't do much about all the troubles in the world, but I could do my best to try and help where I can. Having said that......here I go:

1. Volunteer more. I used to be a back-up Meals-on-Wheels driver, but once the kids came, it got hard to coordinate a schedule. I'm going to call and get back on the substitute driver list.

2. Knit for charity. I already participate in a "Odd-Ball" charity blanket drive. We knit baby blankets for an area hospital. This year, I plan on knitting hats and mittens: One of the Ravelry gals I knit with teaches 1st grade at a local school. It's a relatively low-income area and she said that many of her students come to school without hats or mittens. In Minnesota, it's just too cold on most winter days not to have a pair of mittens and a hat. My resolution is to knit 2 hat/mitten sets per month. I hope to keep a few area children a little warmer this winter.

3. Donate Blood. It's fast, easy, and almost anyone can do it. I actually just scheduled my first appointment to give blood. I'll be heading to a local blood bank this Wednesday at 9:40 to donate my first pint. (I have a moderately rare blood type so I feel like this is a small way I can give back to my community.) The max I can donate is once every 8 weeks, so this first visit counts for my resolution! My goal is to donate 6 times this year.

That's it. Nothing earth shattering, but these are all easy things I can do to try and make the world a better place. What about you, any New Years resolutions?

Stick a fork in me.....

....I'm done!

Barring any unforeseen knitting emergencies, I'm done with my Christmas knitting. I finished hubby's convertible gloves/mittens this morning. They had a lovely soak and are now drying. (And just an FYI - Reynolds Lopi is *nasty* to knit with. It's a nice bulky weight, but scratchy as can be. It did soften up with a soak, but it's still scratchy.)

And now that I'm done - I don't really even have the desire to knit. I plan on finishing my Jaywalker socks. They are a super bright yellow and orange stripe - super cute. But for the next day or two, I don't think I'll be knitting.

Now on to the wrapping!

Note to self.....

....NEVER piss off the knitting gods!

I got so bold as to think that my Christmas knitting was done (or nearly anyway.) In the last 3 days - 5 more items have been added to the list. Has anyone noticed that it's the 19th of December? Does anyone care that my wrists are starting to hurt? Apparently not.

So we got invited to my hubby's cousins house for Christmas Eve. Now - I'm not planning on knitting for the adults, but the kids *need* something. So I'm cranking out some hats for the boys and little bobby socks for the girls. The socks aren't knit - I just picked up a pack of 10 socks at Target and crochet a cute little trim with Fun Fur. They really are adorable - and the Fun Fur disguises all of my cruddy crochet work!

All is not lost - I've finished one hat already. And the socks only take about 30 minutes for a pair (and each girl will get 2 or 3 pairs - I haven't decided yet.) Then I need to make one adult sized hat, and I'm done.

And hopefully I haven't pissed off any more of the knitting gods.

Knit on!

General ramblings......

....about knitting, dogs, and other stuff.

Knitting:

I am almost done with my holiday knitting!! Yippee! I made a sweater for my mom, gloves for my dad, socks and a hat for my MIL, gloves for my FIL, gloves for my FIL's girlfriend, the Dragon scarf for my son, a felted crown and some cute little socks for my daughter, and convertible mittens for my hubby. (These are the only things that aren't finished. One is done and the second one is cast on.)

I've also started re-cycling yarn. It entails shopping at thrift stores for sweaters that you can take apart and reuse. I found a lovely plum colored merino sweater in a fingering weight. I think it will make a Clapotis for me. I also have about 700 yards of a red DK weight, and an unknown quantity of a blue wool/mohair/acrylic blend. (I haven't taken that one apart yet.) As part of my Christmas present, my hubby make me a contraption for measuring the yarn as I unravel it. It's just a 2-by-4 with a dowel on each end. The dowels are 18" apart, so each wrap is a yard - brilliant! He beveled the edges and sanded it smooth so the yarn doesn't snag on it.....I love it!! I also ordered a ball winder from Joanns while they were 40% off and got free shipping - brilliant again!

And since all of the holiday knitting was getting me down, I cast on a quick cardigan for me using my stash. Here is the cardigan, and I am knitting it in Chestnut Wool-Ease. I'm done with the body, and mostly done with one sleeve. It's been a very quick knit - even with the modifications I made!

Dogs:

I've been taking my dog to the dog park. What a riot. This park is just a large fenced park with wooded areas, grassy areas, a pond, and a small hill. Luna adores it and she gets lots of oportunites to meet other dogs. I'm supposed to have a permit to park my car in the lot and use the dog park, but I don't. I feel kind of bad about not paying, but I really don't have the extra $$ for the permit. I know that I will probably get a ticket someday, and the penalty for the ticket is to purchase a permit. I guess I'll just keep trying my luck.

So I was at the dog park yesterday and saw a group (2 sets of owners and 3 dogs) of huskies. They were so darn pretty. If it wasn't for all the fur, I'd love to own one. There was also a beautiful Great Dane there. Huge, and very sweet. I always wanted to have a Great Dane, but I think I'll have to wait until the kids are grown - that dog was HUGE!!

Since today was a super cruddy day (rain for now, but freezing later), I took Luna to the park down the street. Since no one was there due to the terrible weather, she got to run around to her hearts content. I just carried the leash and my umbrella and tried not to get wet.

Other Stuff:

The job hunt is still on, but it's been very slow going. There are just not a lot of jobs out there right now. It's been very depressing, but I'm trying to stay positive. I figure the economy can't stay bad forever!

And until my camera and computer can talk - still no pictures!

Still knitting.....

I have a severe case of "Finish-itis". I'm very close to finishing a few Christmas gifts, but I want them all done NOW!! I've been knitting up a storm, but nothing is done. *sigh*

I haven't touched DS's Dragon Scarf all week. I'm mostly done with the knitting, I just need to do the finishing.....and I hate doing the finishing. Seaming....yuck!

I finally got my replacement pair of size 1 1/2 DPN's to finish the pair of Knotty gloves from FIL's girlfriend. I'm making them out of some Knitpicks Essentials. It's a lovely soft yarn to work with, but it's black. If the lighting is poor and I've made a mistake (and I've made several), it's a p-a-i-n. But they are nearly done. I just have to finish 2 1/2 more fingers!!

FIL's gloves are nearly done too. Again....just 3 fingers to go.

I finally started a project for DH too. I'm making him a pair of convertable glove/mittens. You know, the kind with fingerless gloves and a flip top mitten thing. I think they will be really nice for him while he's at the hockey rink doing the score keeping. From what I understand, score keeping involves a lot of sitting around being cold. Not my idea of fun.

And I haven't started DD's Christmas present yet, but it should be a super quick knit.....I just need to get some time away from her so she doesn't see it! I have some pretty pink and yellow yarn and some lovely sparkly buttons, now I just need to knit.

Since I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I'm planning out what I want to knit after the holidays! It looks like there might be a KAL (knit-a-long) of the Honeycomb vest on Ravelry. I really want to make this vest, so I might just have to get some yarn for it. Maybe I'll get a gift card for Christmas.....hmmmm...... And I'm thinking about the Paton's Must Have Cardigan again. I started one late last spring in black and it was just too difficult to work with. I think I'll try again with some recycled natural wool.

Until later, knit on!!

Still having trouble.....

....and I've been knitting a ton!

I made a fabulous pair of Chevalier mittens for my niece. They are to match the Foliage hat I finished a bit ago. (Her birthday is Dec 18, so she always gets an extra special birthday gift.)

DS's Dragon scarf is coming along. I've finished the main parts and am working on the "bits." The nostrils alone took WAAAYYY too long.

My SIL had a birthday over the weekend, so I made her a quick Snowman ornament. I didn't have any orange yarn, so I used an orange button for the nose. It was completely adorable, so I think I may be making a few more of those!

I've also been on a hat kick. My brother showed up at my parents house last weekend with a pathetically small hat. The knitter in me just couldn't let that go, so I made him a new one. The Thorpe pattern is quick and easy. I've made 3 now; 1 for my DD, one for my Brother, and one for my DS' school hat/mitten drive.

The gloves for my FIL are about 75% done. I'm making up the pattern as I go since I couldn't find a glove pattern that I liked. It's loosely based on the Ken pattern from Berocco. And FIL's girlfriend Knotty gloves are stalled. I lost one of my size 1 1/2 knitting needles.....grrrrr........waiting for my new pair to arrive. Hopefully today!

Still no pictures, and Ravlery is down so I can't even link all of my projects. I'll edit this post when Rav is back up.

Knit on!!

ETA: Links are now on. Thank goodnes for Ravelry!!