It has been since I last bought yarn!

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Tickled Purple

It's done!  It's DONE!  IT. IS. SO. DONE!

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Pattern: "#1 Tickled Pink" by Lisa Silverman found in 60 Quick Baby Blankets.
Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash in 205, 803, 857, 871, and 880
Needles: US 7
Notes: There is apparently an error in the book for the pattern but I've knit patterns similar to this enough to be able to pick up the jist of the pattern really quickly and so I didn't notice the error.  (But, be warned if you're working from the book.)  The pattern is really quick and really easy as long as you're paying attention.  (AHEM, me.)

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This blanket is lovely and squooshy and once washed, so soft.  I just hope the mom likes it as much as I do.

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I really need to, again, THANK my mother in law repeatedly.  I wouldn't have been happy with how this blanket looked if I had just passed over the error and kept going.  It would have bothered me and motivation would be at an all time low to actually finish it.

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By ripping back those stitches she SAVED this project and, in the process, also my sanity.  So- thank you Phyllis.... I owe you a BIG ONE.



Thursday, July 23, 2015

Finishing Up Is Hard

Well, the ends are woven in and all that remains for me to do is to block the Tickled Purple blanket.  That also means a lovely "finished" photoshoot for this project is coming soon.  I have the blocking board but GAH the desire to actually block this project is SO LOW.  Someone come and make me block this thing! (At least the ends are all woven in... that's usually such a difficult hurdle for me to get past...)

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I also got another charity blanket out the door- say hello to "fruit salad" and my section "banana".

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Getting all this stuff done meant I could get back to work on the project I wanted to work on.... my mitten.  I'm always so jazzed to see it start coming together.  It's rather spiffy looking!!

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So after I've said that I'm excited about the direction of the mitten I have to admit I'm bored and suffering from "second sock syndrome" only replace the word "sock" with "mitten".  I just don't want to cast on the 2nd one... I want to move on to more exciting things.... like this idea that I have for another pattern I'd design on my own.  GAH.  Finishing is hard y'all.

Once the mitten gets to a closer finished state I want to cast on another hat/bootie combo for the mom at preschool who's going to have her third little one in October.  I also really REALLY want to tackle my worsted weight stash situation and knit a sweater for myself this fall.  It'll mean digging into Ravelry and seeing what there is to knit.... I'm thinking cardigan but need to find the right one.

In the meantime.... there is summer to enjoy!

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Monday, July 13, 2015

Whirlwind Catch-up

I just barely eked out that last blog post and my life hit "hyper drive".  The lazy/hazy days of summer are just a dream, this summer kicked offt with a gunshot!

Let's start with the biggest news of all- how I did in the Stampede this year.

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I DID WELL!

First in my Category and another 2nd place finish overall.  On top of that I was chosen as the Gina Brown Memorial Needle Arts award, which according to my google fu means; "the Gina Brown Needle arts award is open to anyone entering the Open Section in the Knitting, Crocheting & tatting, Sewing or Stitchery Sections. The winner of this award is chosen by members of the Creative arts and Crafts community."  So um... WOW, did not see that coming and SO SO flattered.

I want to state adamently how pleased I am with this finish and this award and how truely flattered I am to be recognized.  I will admit that I'm already trying to think about what's going to put me over the top to get a First overall because I really REALLY want that ribbon in my collection now.

I was unable to go to the Stampede to see for myself (and all of the entries) until later in the week, so I was so greatful MiL was able to send me a quick text pic... which I got just as I was about to leave the country.


YUP- I had to get some stuff out of the way because we flew out on July 2 to DENMARK to go to a wedding.  Copenhagen was lovely and we thoroughly enjoyed our extremely quick (4 days) there.  On our last evening, late in the day I walked by a yarn shop by accident and was crushed that it was closed.  BUT on the upside to all of this, the travel sock got to see some action again.  (Transatlantic flights are excellent for progress making...)


Knowing that I had to go away for a few days I really felt the pressure to get my two charity blankets out the door BEFORE me so that I didn't hold anyone else up.  This is "Mother's Day" (knit in your mom's favorite color... so pink section for me) and "Raspberry Surprise" (knit in combinations of red/pink or white).



Getting those charity blankets out of the way, however, kept me from making more progress on the Tickled Purple blanket.  That was a shame because baby Claire had the AUDACITY to be early!  (GAH!)  And, while I just finally, FINALLY caught back up to where I had screwed up enormously LAST NIGHT, it's not going to be ready for a while yet.

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(Deja vu anyone?  Believe me, this photo is new)

That leaves me with a tough choice to make because I don't really want to be too behind on baby gifts and there is only so much left in the "overflow" for blankets.  These are friends we socialize with regularly and would like to give them something a little extra special.  Husband thinks I could give them the "More Than I Can Chew" Blanket from many MANY moons ago.  In fact, (as I don't see a post about it) I think this blanket was before this blog even existed (2007!).  Here are some photos of it:

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This blanket is lovely and I DO feel it hits that "special" note but I have one issue with it.  There's an error right smack in the middle.  I'll need to look at it again and see if it really bothers me enough to let it go or not.

And that brings you up to date on the knitting progress around here.  There is progress, I just haven't been around much to talk about it!  I'm hoping to finish the purple blanket and get back into the mittens- I really just want to work on those mittens for awhile.  So, hopefully that will be the story soon and we can ease into some simple, quick projects this summer.