the holidays December 26, 2006

i hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas/holiday! i really meant to post on sunday when we got back into town, but then we opened presents and watched a dvd that mom got. then, i was going to post yesterday, but we went to grandma’s for dinner and then came back and watched another dvd of mom’s. so, here i finally am! i’ve got some pictures of presents that i got (taken with my new digicam, whoo!) and some of things i knit up in the last few weeks. the package i sent my best friend (remember jack?) hasn’t been opened yet (or at least i don’t think it has), so those knits will have to wait until i hear back from her.

but first, look at what i got in the mail last week! it’s a signed “bookplate” sticker from the authors of mason-dixon knitting. and free! how cool is that?! ^^

i got a needle felting tool and mat from “santa” and mom and i had some fun punching designs into felt last night. my “L” with holly is on the left and mom’s abstract design (it does look like a “W” though!) is on the right. it’s really a very neat tool and i look forward to using it on some knits… i’m planning on knitting a camera case one of these days very soon, so look out, it may have a needle felted design on it. ^___^

i have a thing for duckies (and chicks). i have a bunch of stuffed animals and other ducky things. this Christmas, we added to the duck collection. from the bottom left, there is a duck jingle bell ornament, a duck treasure box (with little duckies inside), a bar of duck soap, and a pair of duck earrings. the earrings are SO cute… grandma got them in mexico when she went in october. ^^

this is a new toiletry bag and heating booties and a nail smoothing kit. my old toiletry bag was getting pretty icky (i “travel” a lot now that i live in two places) and this one is so pretty. my feet are always cold, so the booties will be really nice and my nails… not in the greatest shape! looks like i’ll be a bit pampered once i use all those things!

i also got a knitting calendar, a few episodes of wishbone (wishbone.. oh man, childhood memories ^^), some stationary things, a few shirts, the knitting books one skein and knitted flowers, and a print from emily at the black apple. its really cute! it’s two people wrapped in one long scarf. ^^ i think i was a pretty lucky girl this Christmas!

onward to knitting by me. i should make another post instead of one long one, but why bother. i need to keep going while i’m sitting here with the momentum. i need to post about these so i can clean out my favorites!

business card holder

pattern: http://www.knitkit.com/SpecialCompanion.htm

yarn: patons SWS color geranium

needles: size 10 16in circulars

size: maybe 2in x 3in ?

modifications: i didn’t add the twisted cord to make it look a bit more like a bag. i felted it and liked the way that turned out without any other embellishments.

comments: the SWS felted beautifully! i put it through the agitating cycle twice, and when it came out it was so thick and wonderful! i will definitely felt with it again. the colors turned out nicer than the picture shows, a little bit brighter. i made it for mom and she really seemed to like it. ^___^

saturday market bag (#3)

because i am a bit lazy, see here or here in my archives for details. this one was given to grandma.

potholders (set of two)

pattern: http://marilynsknittingheavenonearth.blogspot.com/2006/10/duo-sided-spa-cloths.html

yarn: peaches ‘n creme colors white and orange sherbet

needles: size 8 straights

size: 6in x 6in each

modifications: none

comments: these look like basic everyday potholders, but they were knit using the double knit technique, so one side of the cloth is sherbet and the other side is white and they’re done at the same time. this means a double thickness cloth with no seams! it’s all already one piece. how cool is that?! my great aunt was the recipient of these, (she absolutely adores yellow and orange) along with two dishcloths, and she loved them. ^^

that is all for now. i have to get the pictures of dad’s booties from mom’s digicam, so those will be in the next post. also, another charity hat, the best friend package and (hopefully!) some new knits. hope everyone is having a good day-after-Christmas! we’re going to a friend’s for leftovers tonight, yummy!

quick! December 21, 2006

hey everyone! this is a really really quick post to let you know that i will probably be totally off the internet at my grandma’s house for the next few days. have a great pre-Christmas and i’ll be back Christmas Eve! (there’ll be LOTS of knits to show off, too, when i get around to posting them!) bye!

p.s. if you want some really adorable gift tags, check out natascha!

the bells! December 16, 2006

wow, i have so many things to update about. we’ll start with blogger. i switched to blogger beta and updated my template and all that. i am just about convinced that nine out of ten “updates” for software and stuff make things actually worse. i can’t tell you how many times i’ve updated iTunes and AIM and other programs only to realize that the things they changed were the things i liked, or that there were new problems with the updated versions. everybody tries to make everything better, but sometimes the old was just as good. hopefully i won’t regret the blogger update. O_O

i am at home again! got in on wednesday and i have been sleeping like crazy. i’ve been knitting a lot, too. the dog is as mean to me as ever (we have a sibling rivalry thing going on), my closet is chock full of stuff that isn’t mine (my room has become a bit of a dumping ground), and we got a new faucet in the bathroom. whoo. ^^

i also cleaned up my garden on wednesday before i left for home. among other things, i brought home a giant head of napa (chinese cabbage). look at this thing! it’s bigger than my head!

on the knitting front, the bells are done! all forty of them! here’s the story behind them (if i haven’t mentioned it before). my dad is the coordinator for our church’s nursing home ministry. he goes there every week and, along with other men from our church, leads a service. for the last maybe four years, my grandparents have been making little holiday-related gifts for the residents who attend the church service. this year, i volunteered to knit the gift, since my grandpa isn’t doing so well and my grandma is quite busy taking care of everyone and doing everything she does. i searched the online patterns and found one for a bell that i liked. i went through five prototypes (modifying the pattern slightly each time) before i got a bell that actually looked like a bell. and now i have forty of them. ^^ dad wanted to be able to give them out on sunday, so i finished more than a full day before the deadline… go me!

christmas bells

pattern: http://www.knittingonthenet.com/patterns/holbell2.htm

yarn: lion brand wool-ease ranch red (double-stranded) and wool-ease chunky red

needles: size 9 straights

size: ~3in tall x 2in wide

modifications: i modified the pattern a lot. mine goes something like this:

CO 9 sts

row 1: K6, KFB, KFB, K1

row 2: P5, K6

row 3: K11

repeat thirteen times (14 ridges)

repeat row 2 once more

BO 6, BO 2 sts together twice, BO 1

sew up seam, cinch top, add bell and string, add bow

comments: i’m glad they’re done!

i also finished my best friend’s scarf and her mom’s present, but i’m not going to post about those until later (in case she happens to be reading this). i still have to get jack’s clothes done to mail out with their package on monday. i wouldn’t be so worried, but the pattern i found that i really like isn’t a very good pattern. it’s hard to understand and not made for a bear quite jack’s size. not to mention that i went up two needles sizes and still couldn’t get the proper gauge. blaaaaah. wish me luck on that one!

cold and studying December 8, 2006

while i know that some of you live in places that are actually cold, (like ohio, massachusetts, canada, etc) i am going to complain about the weather here in florida. please excuse me. i have never lived anywhere genuinely cold. i have never lived outside of florida. heck, i’ve never really even seen snow. as such, this weather is quite cold. this morning, i had class at 11:45 and it was still 43 (which supposedly felt like 35). i wasn’t going to take chances, i bundled up. i had tennis shoes (that’s when you know it’s cold; some people here wear flip-flops all year round), knee-length socks, pants, a long sleeve shirt, sweater, blazer, scarf (cotton candy pink ^^), and mittens. i should have worn a hat, but i have no hat. how do i have no hats, really? tomorrow i’m wearing the jayne hat, who cares if it’s terribly mismatched and a christmas present! my intact ears are worth more than my image (that is, assuming i had an image). so, i was pretty warm.

BUT THEN i come back from class and i have an email from my veggie professor. tonight there is supposed to be a hard freeze. the tomatoes, eggplant, beans, and peppers probably will not survive. come get your veggies today or else they will probably die. so, i went. but, i made a very bad assumption. it must have gotten warmer, right? so i went without scarf and mittens. i was sure wrong! my poor ears and hands and neck…

when i got out to the garden, the professor and one of the TAs were picking all the proper size in-danger veggies, so i got a bunch of stuff.

(from left top… bell peppers, eggplant, grape tomatoes, green tomatoes, regular tomatoes; i also got corn, cubanelle peppers, and jalapenos)

i have an accounting exam tomorrow at 10am, so i’ll have to be sure that i’m entirely bundled. no more assumptions. (yes, thats right, an exam on a SATURDAY morning… blaaah!) at least it will be over soon!

on the knitting front, i have 14/40 completed bells. i also ran out of yarn. i’ll have to get some more tomorrow, since the bells all have to be done by the 17th. i’m also about 19in into my best friend’s scarf. (i ended up ordering some malabrigo… it’s really nice but… i’m not loving the colorway. hopefully she does!).

things around here have been generally not so great. can’t wait until the 13th when i can finally go home for christmas break!

P.S. thank you to everyone for your sweet comments on my last post! ^^

knit unto others December 2, 2006

today was a horrible, cold, gloomy, rainy, grey, wet day. since saturday is my shopping day, i was out in all of it, walking around, getting droplets on my glasses, being all around miserable. especially when i missed the bus and had to wait a half hour for the next one. i did manage to get a few christmas gifts (and some yarn to finish up a few others) while i was out, though, and i also happened to find these lovely knee socks at the gap. i know, i know, i could probably knit my own, but that doesn’t get me nice, long, warm socks now, does it? these even have stripe jogs down the back, haha.

you know, last year i would have given just about anything for a pantry to store my food in. this year i happen to find myself missing my bathtub. i don’t really take baths, but the tub is so helpful for washing feet (and for shaving!). my feet do not get lots of love around here. i’m trying to make it up to them with a nice washing, lotioning, and a pair of socks. do you think they’ll forgive me? (ah, and yes, i am wearing very bizarre attire… my jeans got all dirty and wet today, the guy shorts are what i could find to replace them ^^)

now, i know it’s been a week since i posted, but it has CERTAINLY not been because i haven’t been knitting. today is the last day of knit unto others and i am absolutely pleased as punch to announce that i have met or exceeded every charity goal that i set for myself. i have thirty items for the soaring eagles project and four for caps to the capital. that’s a total of 34 items! whoo! 22 of these were knit during the last two weeks (in the knit unto others time frame)! it’s exciting. so exciting, in fact, that i took some very silly pictures of myself wearing all my charity knits.

and now for pictures of the actual knitting! ^^

caps to the capital hats (4)
pattern: from the action kit
yarn: various acrylics
needles: size 8 & 10.5 straights
size: baby!
modifications: none
comments: infant hats! ^____^

soaring eagles hats (6)
pattern: besides the one mentioned last entry, the other five are from here
yarn: various acrylics
needles: size 15 straights
size: some small, some medium
modifications: none
comments: this hat (titled “the perfect hat”) IS truly great. take a super bulky yarn or two strands of bulky, or three of worsted, and in about an hour, you have a warm, wonderful hat. i liked making these hats… nearly instant knitting gratification and a great stash buster.

soaring eagles cuffs (24)
pattern: here
yarn: various cottons
needles: size 7 straights
size: small/medium wrists
modifications: none
comments: i love these things! i don’t think i would wear them, but they are really really cute. i hope the elementary schoolers like them!

and now, my friends, i must go off to write a persuasive essay about solutions to the wal-mart problem. wish me luck!