WiP Wednesday....Already?!?

Sooo, as I was sitting in my evening class last night, I was reminding myself to take some pictures and prep my blog post (as I actually have a new WiP to share this week!).  I even stopped on my way home from class and bought another ball of yarn for my project.  I got home and proceeded to fall asleep on the couch, turned off my alarm when it went off early this morning, heard my husbands alarm upstairs and tried to ignore it...and then FINALLY got up when I heard my cat working on a hairball (which made me spring up from the couch and sprint to him to try to get him onto the laminate floors but OF COURSE he puked on the small and only carpet in our kitchen.  Why?  WHY?)  So, in order to get to work on time this morning, I had to forgo decent pictures of my WiP and will now have to provide you with the lovely cell phone picture taken on my work desk below.

I started work on an oversize, chunky cowl for my sister-in-law.  Her birthday was back in June and I have been wondering what to get her (lol).  Nothing was quite right...until I saw one of her Pinterest posts (have you been to this site?  Pinterest.com.  I warn you, it is slightly addictive.)  She 'pinned' this gorgeous cowl and I thought "ah!  That's it!"

I'm using Lion Brand Thick and Quick Wool Ease yarn in "wheat".  I'm knitting on US 19 (15 mm) needles.  It's quite meditative to knit this project - the yarn feels quite nice and it's straight knitting (so I can do it while reading my articles for school!).  It's going to be really wide - something similar to this but maybe not quite as wide:

I cast on 80 stitches and will knit until I feel it's to my liking.  Then I will seam it up.  I considered knitting this in the round but I've seen some pictures where people use the seam (inside-out) as part of the fashion, so I decided to keep that an option for my sister-in-law.

I'm hoping to have this finished by the end of this weekend!  There's an FO Friday in my future!

Go and check out everyone else's WiPs over at tamisamis.blogspot.com!

WIP Wednesday & I'm Back! Woo!

FINALLY, I'm back.  What a whirlwind!  The wedding is over and it was FABULOUS!  We had so much fun celebrating our marriage with about 230 of our friends and family. While wedding planning literally took up all my free moments in the past few months, I think it was all worth it.

Now, perhaps I will have time to knit again.  My projects are all in the same condition as my last blog post - I hope I remember where I am in the pattern!

While, I do not have a WIP knitting project to share, I do have a knitting-related WIP to tell you about!  I'm starting graduate school in a week (while still working full-time, I may be crazy), so I have been working hard to rearrange my spare room/office to accommodate the large amounts of time I will be spending there.  The closet in that room has always bugged me.  It's a small closet and we had two bookshelves crammed in there - one was filled with cookbooks and the other everything from old textbooks to boxes of yarn.  Throughout my reorganizing process, I was using Google Images for inspiration and was reminded of my envy of people who have cupboards and shelves of yarn on display in their homes.  I was able to empty one bookshelf from the closet after some purging and rearranging and wondered what to do with it...after staring at the room and the bookshelf for a while, a light went on (give me a break, it was like 12:30 am, yes, the answer should have been obvious right away!) and this is what happened next:

Apologies for the camera phone picture, my camera is somewhere beneath the reorganizing mess in my office!

Once I get the rest of the office put together, I'll do some more work on this shelf to make it look a bit better (like put the books in height order, perhaps cover the back of the book shelf with some nice paper).  It's like having a piece of art in the room!  It will either serve as inspiration (for when I need a study break) or a big tease (for when I realize that I have no time to break from studying).  I'm thinking of getting some sort of knitting sign for the top shelf - there are a few on etsy.com like this one.  Or, maybe just a nice, big basket with yarn peeking out the top (*note to self, you need to do some stash busting!).

Thanks to Tamis Amis for continuing to host WIP Wednesdays!  I'm glad to be back and can't wait to take a peek at what everyone else is creating!

Here are a couple wedding pictures:

Just married!

I had to share a picture of my flower girl's dress.  It was incredibly cute!  Made by Fairy Wonderful.

Temporary Vacation from the Blog

If it isn't evident from my lack of posts, I'm having to take a temporary vacation from blogging (and knitting!).  Work is busy, life is busy, our wedding is in two months!  I promise I'll be back after August and I can't wait!

FO Friday and an Announcement!

I have two FOs to share with you today!  Click on the image above to head on over to Tami's blog to see what everyone else has finished lately.

First is the lace shawl that I made for my mom.  Took me a really long time but I learned so much during the process!

Here is a close-up of some of the lacework: 

And one of my mom wearing it:

For my first ever attempt at lace, I'm happy with it.  

This next project I just LOVE!  Loved knitting it, love the finished product, love the recipient.  It's the Baby Tiered Coat and Jacket (available on Ravellry.com).  I started off with the intent to make the jacket (three tiers).  Sophie is only 6-months old but is into 12-month clothes in some instances - so I started to knit the 12-month size.  As I was working on the first tier I clued into the fact that she may be round, but is not as long as a 12-month-old would be, so I decided to stop at one tier.  When knitting the arms, I knit the 12-month size but used the 6-month length.  I gave it to her as a baptism gift and I was SO excited to hear that it actually fit her well!

I love seeing pictures of the kids I knit for in the pieces I've made for them!  Here's one of Miss Sophie wearing the coat!

And, finally, my announcement:

I'm engaged!  He popped the question about a week ago - he hid the ring in the bottom of my bowl of popcorn!  I'm sooo excited!...and already overwhelmed with wedding planning!  We're going to get married on August 13th of this year.

WiP Wednesday - What's On My Needles?

I'm happy to be back blogging and happy to have three projects to share today!

First up is something I think I will keep for myself.  It will end up being a big infinity scarf/cowl.  I just cast on a bunch of stitches, am using thick yarn, huge needles, and doing a seed stitch.

Second is a baby sweater for my new nephew!  It's a Sirdar pattern (1803).  I've used Sirdar patterns before and I really like them.  They are easy to follow and they are written for birth - 7 years so I see buying the pattern as a good investment.  I chose the hooded version with the basket weave pattern.

Finally is the 'hat with a duck part'.  I'm sad about this project.  I ran out of yarn but ended up finding a fellow Ravelry member with a ball in her stash she was willing to sell for a reasonable price.  As suggested, I added an extra inch to the hat but I still think it's going to be too small/short.  I think it's because the yarn I am using is cotton and doesn't have much stretch/give (newbie mistake of yarn choice?)...which also makes me think that blocking won't help my issues much, if at all.

The ribbing will be folded up and a brim inserted.

The ribbed part will stick out once the brim is in.

I'm going to finish it and try it on the little guy who requested this hat (I'm sure he's forgotten about it by now). If it doesn't fit, worst case is I get different yarn and make it again and hope that this will fit a smaller child!  I think it will either just fit, or just not fit.

Head over to Tami's Amis and see what everyone is working on!

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2011

This is a re-blog from Eskimimi Knits (is re-blog a word?  Like re-tweet?  Am I even allowed to do this?  Oh well, it's good info and you know where it's coming from).  I'm in!  Are you?

"*Fanfare!* Announcing the launch of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2011, the second annual event.

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2011 will run from 28th March to 3rd April 2011 in a week of fibre-arts related posts and events which will see many members of the knitting and crochet community worldwide blog daily together on the same subjects and topics.

Everyone is free, welcomed and encouraged to take part. Last year we had close to 200 bloggers simultaneously blogging on the same seven subjects throughout the week – this year let’s do all we can to make it bigger and better than last year.

There are no strict rules to blogging along – nobody will come after yu if you miss a few days out or put your posts up a few days late – the whole idea is to encourage creativity in fibre arts blogs and to help motivate everyone to keep on blogging to their best.

As last year I have laid out seven daily topics plus one ‘wild card’ topic for bloggers to use as a substitute for any day which they do not fancy the subject for. I have again ‘spoilered’ the list of topics so that any bloggers who wish to test their blogging skills by writing posts on the day they are to be published with no preparation can do so without accidentally seeing the subject before the day. If people want to get started on preparation before hand, though, the subjects are now ready to view – simply click on the date title and the topic and explanation shall open up to view.

Note: I think blogging along on the day is fun and a challenge to some people and an absolute nightmare for others, do whichever you fancy. However, I suggest that most people take a look at Day 5 as it proposes something a little bit different and I hope will push bloggers to get more creative. As such it might take a little more preparation than other posts.

So… are you interested?  Then please see this page for all additional details: Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2011

If you have any questions or queries, please leave a comment on this post or the page linked to and I will contact you with information and also publish theanswer to any queries in an updated FAQ this time next week along with further details about the tagging system.

Please do help to promote Knitting and Crochet Blog Week if you can, as the more people that take part the better it will be. Let’s try and get as many bloggers, knitters and crocheters from as many countries around the globe blogging at once as we can. Fell free to use any of the graphics to promote the event on your own blog or around the web. Happy blogging!"

A New Nephew!

On February 6th we welcomed a new little (hmmm...I guess 9lbs 3oz isn't so little!) boy to the family.  I am thrilled to have a nephew!  Prior to his arrival, I knit up this little blue hat.  So simple and adorable - and I think I have enough yarn left over to make one or two more!  Here is a link to the pattern on Ravelry.

A brand new bundle of perfection.

Checking out my new nephew.

I have a couple patterns in mind for this little guy - I can't wait to get started....after I finish my other projects.

Despite a crazy week, I was able to finish a little sweater that I gave as part of a christening gift.  It was actually nice to take my mind off things and knit a little.  I'll post some pictures in an upcoming FO Friday post.  It is soooooo cute!

Ok, back to my crazy life!  February has been jam packed with wonderful things...perhaps a few too many though!  I'm hoping March will be a bit less crazy and I'll have some time to breathe...and knit :)

Overload! But It's All Good

I'm working in overdrive right now...so much happening this month!

In the past week I've applied for a permanent position on the team I'm currently working with and applied for graduate school.  This month I have to finish 4 units of a course I'm taking and take the final exam, interview for the position I applied for, and a couple other important things which I'll cover in a future post.  I am also taking two 'extra curricular' courses (casual, no tests) and I'm just over half-way through a 30 day workout challenge (which has been awesome despite the 5:30 am workouts!).  I think that the daily workouts are especially beneficial given the bit of stress I've been feeling - they give me energy for the day too!  It's a lot but these are all positive things I'm doing for positive reasons and I'm glad for that!  I'm busy, but it's good!

When I finally find some time to knit, I need to:

• Finish the "hat with the duck part" (sooo close to being done!)
• Knit something for my new niece or nephew (asap, he or she is due any day!)
• Knit something for a christening (I've chosen the Baby Tiered Coat and Jacket)
• Knit something for a dog for a charity auction my friend is running (in the next few weeks); I've never knit for a dog so this is a great opportunity to give it a try!

In addition, I have some material I bought at Christmas to make my niece and my godson some pjs - I'm hoping to find time to make those before they grow out of the pattern size I bought!

I'll be posting my progress on my knitting as I go - I can't wait to get started but I need to prioritize...somehow.  I think knitting will end up being my reward for getting some of the other stuff done :)

WiP Wednesday - Blocking!

I'm in the process of blocking the lace shawl!!!

Here is a picture of it - first pinning.  I'm about to move the pins out a bit more.

I've been working on this for quite a while and I'm so happy to be finishing it off!!

I have a ton of projects in the queue:

• Finish "hat with a duck part" 
• Finish purple bolero for my niece (who will probably be too big for it by the time I'm done
• Knit for my new niece or nephew (who is due to arrive any day!
• Start knitting the yarn I bought for projects that is now stored in 4 big boxes in my closet (eek!) - this is probably a lifetime of knitting for me!
• Eventually start the alphabet baby blanket - this one I will keep so I have about 3 years minimum to finish this :)

I'll post pics of the shawl in an FO Friday post as soon as it's dry!

Phew!

I just finished ripping out my too-tight bind-off on the lace shawl and redid it with a stretchier bind-off.  This is the bind off I used, it has a yarn over in it to help with the stretch.  It was a bit of a painful process - I thought I could make it easier on myself by watching the latest episode of the Bachelor that I had on PVR but I was wrong.  I don't know what keeps me watching that show - it's so horrible!  But I can't stop.

So, next step is blocking!  This will be my first time blocking where it will (should) really change the look of the knitted piece.

Then, I can FINALLY give it to my mom!  Hopefully you'll see this in an FO Friday post next week!

FO Friday: Newborn Photo Props

I finally have some FOs to post!  My schedule lately has not allowed for much, if any, knitting most weeks.  However, a family member had a photo session scheduled for her newborn and was wanting some knitted props.  Everything she found online would take 2 weeks to get to her, and she had less than a week until the session.  So, I agreed to help out.  She  bought most of the yarn, and I knit it up.  Although I was time pressured, I enjoyed the knitting.  Most of it was bulky yarn on big needles so it didn't take too long - but I still had to knit in any spare moment I had!

The first was a 'bowl' or 'pod'.  It's nice and stretchy so the baby easily fit in it.  The yarn used is Lion Brand Yarn Wool-Ease Thick & Quick.  I liked this yarn - nice and soft and the specks of color look great when knit up.

This next project was a 'cocoon'.  I love the loose knit with lots of holes; I think it's so cute when the baby's fingers or toes poke through.



I think this pom pom hat is adorable!  I made the preemie size since the baby was just over 6 lbs when born and it fit perfectly.  I held two yarns together to get the effect.

Another hat that was requested, and that is popular in newborn photos, is this hat with a long tail and a pom pom on the end.  Because Luca is small (with a small head), I cast on 40 stitches instead of the 44 the pattern called for.  The yarn (Bernat Soft Boucle) looked really neat when all knit up.  The pom pom on the end definitely makes this hat.

Finally, I knit up this chunky little diaper cover.  The yarn is Red Heart Zoomy (super bulky).  This was REALLY quick to knit up.  It might be wise to knit this with a stretchy cast on/bind off to allow for more stretch in the waist, if needed.  This one just fit Luca.   

I have lots of projects in the queue so I hope to be making more FO Friday posts this month!

WiP Wednesday: Just When I Thought I Was Done

So, this lace shawl for my mom has been in progress for quite a while; it is my first lace project so I wanted to take my time.  I didn't quite get it done in time for Christmas but I didn't want to rush or knit when tired (learned my lesson earlier in the project as I picked it up and knit on the purl side - oops - that row adds character :) ).

I was so happy to finally be binding off last week.  All that was left to do was block it and mail it!  I wasn't so sure of my bind off though, it seemed a bit tight and I wasn't sure if that would have an affect on the blocking.  So, I took it to work to show my boss (who is an expert knitter) and she confirmed that it was too tight.  I wasn't too upset because I was thinking that it would need to be redone. 

So, my project for this week is to carefully rip out the bind off and then redo it with a stretchier version - THEN block!

I'm really looking forward to being able to post this project in an FO Friday post but, until then, here are some almost done pictures!  I'm expecting that blocking will make a big difference on this project.

Posts to Come!

Since I haven't posted in a while, I wanted to make a quick post to say that I plan on sharing a WiP this week as well as five FOs on Friday!  I speed-knit a bunch of items for a family member's newborn photo shoot :)  I meant to post them last week but that week seriously flew by!

I ordered a bunch of new yarn from ebay last week too and I can't wait to get it!  It was quite affordable so I'm curious to see what the quality is like.  I have some new knitting ideas and goals in my mind, hopefully this yarn will help turn them into reality!  Some of it is quite funky and I'm excited to see how it knits up.

I have many goals this year including finding more time for my crafts.  The key being "FINDING MORE TIME".    If anyone has any hints or tips on where to find or purchase that, please let me know :)  I think for me it's going to be all about efficiency - and less tv and facebook.  I don't watch much tv but find it's easy to get sucked in once I start.  I admit though, I am guilty of using facebook as a procrastination tool.  It's gotta stop...but how?