New Years Eve 2011 or is it still 2010?

Here we are at the end of 2010. As my New Year's "resolution" was to keep track of everything I knit in the New Year I thought perhaps I'd get a jump on things. I do have a cowl nearly finished on the needles, but I had knit this hat for one of my son's friends birthdays. As I neared getting it finished my son deemed it "too girly" for either of his two friends I have committed to knitting hats for. The daughter had been begging me for a mosaic knit fish hat since I had knit one to donate to their school's senior luncheon, and she'd been watching me knit this hat and wanted the same mosaic pattern/colors/etc. So now the hat is hers. And this wraps up my knitting adventure for 2010 (no, I don't remember all of my projects from 2010, I probably should......but I don't).

So here jumpstarts my projects for 2011. We'll call it "Mosaic Fish hat for girl child". Happy New Year to whoever may stop by here. May your 2011 be full of good health, happiness and wonderful things.

Merry Merry Happy Happy and other thoughts

Every year around this time it's always the same, or at least it is at my house, I don't know about yours. I run around like crazy muttering things to myself like "next year more organized", "didn't I swear last year that I'd be more organized?", "never again" and "What was I thinking when I said I'd bakeknitvolunteerdecorate for namethatobligation". This year as I look at the pair of socks that I was planning on knitting my sister and at this point one week before Christmas I have one sock 3/4 done (with a mistake in it which will have me doing sock #2 as a mirror image). The only way her Christmas present will be done before Christmas is if there is a horrible accident while she's on vacation (she's coming home the day before Christmas) and she loses one leg....and even then without magic the socks would not make it to her door because there's no way I have time to have them done and in the mail by day after tomorrow.

Yep, Merry Merry Happy Happy stress free holidays. Lucky for me my sister is my sister and suffers from a great many of the same afflictions I do, so we all know that Christmas happens in December....or January....or February...shoot, she and I give each other until Easter. Same with birthdays we can drag those on forever.

So I sit here contemplating the holidays and the making of New Year's resolutions (which for the most part I don't do, because really what is the point?). But even tho I don't make New Years resolutions I was thinking that perhaps this year I could get off my butt and chronicle all of my knitting projects throughout the year. I often take a picture here and/or there of my knitting, but a great deal of it flies under the radar. On the needles, off the needles and to the recipient with nary a picture to show that I ever touched it. Perhaps this year I'll keep track here and on Ravelry the things that reside on my needles. I remember a few years ago I counted the number of pairs of socks that I knitted during the year. (I haven't looked back to see, but I think it was something like 13 pairs)

So there you have it. If I remember in a couple of weeks that will be my New Years Resolution.....what better resolution could there be than to knit?

I am so woefully behind on blogging/journaling or whatever you want to call it. I'm sure I'm behind on my knitting, but really who can tell? I am forever hearing "I just don't have time to knit", "Where do you find time to knit"....well, my friends, I don't have a very active social life aside from knitting. Oh, yes, I'm at the Y a couple of times a week exercising while the kids take karate, I'm at the school working or volunteering....but as far as hanging out with my friends? Thursday mornings are it (Hi Enid!! Hi Shelly!!) Besides. I like to give knitted gifts (to those who like to receive knitted gifts). And as with the senior luncheon at our school, often I am asked if I can donate a knitted item (or more) to a worthy cause...and really who can say no to that?

So, here's what I managed to knit up for the senior luncheon this year. I'd planned more, but it was a loooonnnnggg way off and it seemed like 15 minutes later it was next week! Two scarves. I still have some of that yarn, one skein each of a few different colors, so trying to come up with a scarf pattern that used just one skein and worked with this fuzzy yarn. I really like the key hole idea since it really does keep the scarf from slipping and sliding everywhere and besides that key hole area there would be awesome to show off a fancy pin.....I'm thinking vintage 50's here.

That fish hat......what a fun knit. I'd not really planned to donate it for the senior luncheon, thinking it might have been better suited to the Santa's breakfast which would be full of children who love crazy hats. But the powers that be used it as a senior luncheon door prize. Apparently they read a crowd better than me as the winner of said hat hunted me down (okay, it wasn't really much of a hunt, I was in the school office) she came up to me and thanked me for the hat and said her granddaughter confiscated it right away....she was thrilled to win something knitted by someone she knows. My kids were the only ones on the playground at the school with those silly fish hats and I have had a lot of requests for them.

Knit on my fiber addicted friends :)

A Dainty Chevron cowl

"A Dainty Chevron Cowl"

When it gets cold I love having the option of something other than a scarf. Sometimes I just don't want to fiddle around with the wrapping of the scarf or dealing with the ends. I want something I can just pull over my head and go. Of course I am such a style trend setter that I'm known, much to the embarrassment of my children, to pull my cowl up over my head as a makeshift ear cover or hat (okay, sometimes I pull it up over my face like a mask and chase them around). Here is one that I knit as a gift for a friend.

1 skein Happy Feet sock yarn
16 or 24" circular needle size 6
Marker

gauge, while gauge is not vitally important here, I mean chances are a little tighter and you'll still be able to wear it, a little looser and it will be more cowl-y.

Gauge: 22 sts to 4 inches

Cast on 120 stitches and begin to knit in the round as follows. Place marker to mark where your row begins and ends (but you already knew this).

Knit one row
Purl one row

Begin lace pattern:

Row 1 (and all odd rows) knit
Row 2 & 4: *ssk, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, k2tog, k1 rep from *
Row 6: *yo,ssk, k3, k2tog, yo, k1 rep from *
Row 8: * k1, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k2 rep from *
Row 10: * k2, yo, sl 2-k1-p2sso, yo, k3 rep from*


That sl 2-k1-p2sso......slip 2 stitches together as if you were going to knit them together, knit the next stitch then pass the 2 slipped stitches back over the knit stitch. This type of decrease makes the middle stitch more prominent in the pattern.

Work rows 1-10 8 times
K one row
P one row
Bind off as follows k2, sl sts to left needle k2tog tbl, k1, sl 2 sts back to left needle, k2tog tbl. continue to bind off this way until the end.

I am currently working on this and will post a picture and if I can figure out how to post a chart I'll do that too.

Happy knitting!!

I finished this cowl a couple of weeks ago and decided that it needed something besides a tank top and shorts, that perhaps it would be more suited to a fall outfit, or maybe even something more wintery. So I got it blocked and decided I'd try it with a jean jacket and a t-shirt....much much better than my summer outfit (of course what you can't see in the jean jacket photo is that I have shorts on and am barefoot...since it is still summer after all!).

The pattern is Mill Creek Cowl by "Exercise before Knitting" I used just shy of one skein of Panda Silk and a size 7 needle. It was a quick knit and would have been a fairly easy knit if I knew how to count to 10 more than once or twice.

Happy Fall (which is not really here yet either, but seriously...doesn't the jean jacket picture look fallish?)

Still here, still knitting still crazy

I've not been much of a blogger anywhere as of late. Oh, I post here and there on FB, or Ravelry. I'm spotty at best about taking pictures of my knitting. Depends upon the project, the battery in the camera and my mood (and if the planets align up etc etc).

My sister loves hand knit socks, after years of teasing about how one can just buy socks at the store, she admitted that a pair of hand knit socks would be welcome. So I knitted her a pair and so began her love affair with hand knit socks and me having my hobby financed. Over the years I've knit her countless pairs of socks (I think we're close to a dozen). The pink pair in this photo had near to no wear on them when she developed a hole in the toe. I'm not a competent darner so I picked the toe out and re-toed them. and darn it (pun intended) if the new toe didn't develop a hole in no time (I am not impressed with this yarn and did the second re-toe in Wildfoote which I swear is indestructible). Lucky for me she doesn't care that the toe doesn't match. The green sock I knit while on vacation. Eventually I'll finish writing up the pattern and post it here. It's pretty basic and so I should have no problem finishing it's twin since on any given day if I'm wearing socks they (usually) match.

So yes, I'm still here, still knitting and still crazy.