What happened to 2009?

 
Boy, what a year.  I should have started my blog, as I intended, about a year ago.  You'd all (all you imaginary readers out there) be saying boy, what a year right along with me.  I watched my sweet baby turn into an independent little boy, and turn One!  We made the very tough decision to sell our home.  Both Mr. R and I had to fight some tough personal battles.  We hosted a wedding reception for dear friends of ours.  Little man had his first ER visit and came out in stitches, literally.  The list of ups and downs goes on and on.  It's no wonder I can't tell whether I'm coming or going anymore.  I like to think that I hold onto a thin strand of my sanity through  it all by doing things that make me happy: knitting, sewing, blogging out my frustrations. *grin*  I made a lot of gifts this year with all that knitting and sewing!

My hope for 2010 is to have some resolution for many of the things that began in 2009.  Too many open-ended issues make a person feel unsettled.  Losing a few lb wouldn't be bad either. *wink*

Whatever your 2009 was like, I hope you have a great 2010.  Happy New Year Blogland!

Quiet Moments

Finding a moment of peace has been so hard lately.  Scooch has been having a rough time adjusting to being away from home this time, and has been terribly out of sorts.  So when a moment like this comes along, no matter how short it might be, I have to freeze it so I can remember that it does happen.  Of course this time, I no sooner took the photo, and he was at it again, but for a few moments, it was so sweet to see Papa and Grandson sharing a bit of quiet together.

Merry FO's!

I guess I may have overreacted a little when I didn't think I was going to be able to complete my projects in a timely fashion.  I completed both Scooch's Hippo and my hat tonight.  Yippee!!  I am completely in love with the hippo!  It is from Itty Bitty Toys by Susan Anderson.  He is so cute and snuggly.  And yes, even with pink toes and loveable squishiness, he is a boy hippo, I have determined.  I can't wait to give him to Scooch and hear that little noise he makes whenever he encounters any kind of animal. 

I'm pretty happy with my hat.  It's Autumn on Ravelry.  I used different yarn, so I had to cast on more stitches in order for it to fit my head.  Also the slouch factor is a little slim.  I should have gone another half inch or so to make it really slouch.  However, it's warm, and it matches my jacket, which is very important, so it's a keeper.  I'll try to get a photo of me wearing it soon.

Now I can start my sweater!  I am going to be casting on the Diminshing Rib cardigan from Interweave Knits tomorrow and I am so excited!  This will be my first large, selfish item.  I'm nervous about keeping up with it because I get impatient.  I might have to come here for encouragement from my imaginary blog friends to keep going. *smile*  This is a Christmas present to myself, sort of.  Instead of buying for each other this year, my husband and I bought things for ourselves that we wanted.  I got yarn to make this sweater.  Hooray for self-indulgence!  Once in a while, anyway...

And here's some cheese for you tonight, just because I can...

Can I knit in my sleep?

So I brought a project to NY with me for Scooch, his Christmas hippo.  I knew I would have no problem finishing it before Christmas.  That was, if I was allowed to knit during his naps and after bedtime each day.  So far, I'm a little behind.  And on top of that, I get here, forget the hat I knit for myself, find it to be around 0 degrees each day, and rush out to buy yarn to make myself another hat.  So now I have two projects on needles, both needing to be done ASAP.  If I could knit in my sleep, I'd be all set!

26 hour to blast off!

24 hours from now we'll be arriving at the airport, hopefully will everything we need for a trip to Grandma's house (or Nena in our case).  Between now and then, all I have to do is: Pack, finish knitting Dad's Christmas hat, finish the laundry (4 loads plus ironing), clean up the house, change the sheets on our bed, vacuum, mop, make dinner, buy my niece's Christmas present, go get a mani and pedi (ONLY because I have a GC that expires before we get back), have a webcam session with Nena and Papa so little man recognizes them tomorrow, and somewhere in there hopefully spend some time with Mr. R before going to bed and laying awake all night thinking of all the things I forgot to pack.  No problem!

 

And of course, having a little helper makes it all a little less like chores and a little more, well, awesome.  Even if he does help by unpacking everything I just packed. *smile*

Ipod Sleeve

I'm known for getting an idea to make a project, throwing it together super fast, and hating it.  Well I did it again.  I had to get a new Ipod since my old one no longer works (despite my many hours of trying things found online to fix the problem), and I suddenly HAD to have something to put it in to travel with on Wednesday.  So in about 45 minutes today, when I should have been resting and recovering, I put together this Ipod sleeve, which I hate.  I used scraps so I didn't waste any good fabric on it.  I'll use it for this trip and then I'll likely put it in the garage sale we're having soon, and put some thought into one I would actually want to use.  The fun thing about it, and completely unintentional, is that the pattern on the flap matches up with the pattern on the front when it's closed.  Other than that, a big BOO!

FO's

So I'm back, as promised, to share my recently finished projects.  One side note that struck me funny just now:  I decided to watch a movie this afternoon, and I picked one I've been waiting to see since I first saw the trailer: Julie & Julia.  As it turns out, it's about blogging!  On the day I decide to give my own blog another fair effort, I watch a movie about a girl who decides to start a blog.  I like coincidences. *smile*

Back to my FO's.  I'll go back to just November, and work forward.  First FO in November was the child's size of Vortex for my little man.  I used Sugar and Cream yarn as she did in her example photos.  It came out a little small, and I'm wondering if it was my yarn choice.  However, it does look just so adorable on him!  Don't you think?

Next was the Little Bubbles set from Knitpicks.  It took me about 20 days to complete and reawakened my love of knitting.  It was a new technique for me; simple, but new; and I loved it.  I left off the button band.  I do need to put a single button on it near the top to keep it closed.  It is being worn by a very active and squirmy toddler, you know.

 

On to the Gooseberry Hat, found on Ravelry.  I didn't intend for it to look like camouflage, but that's the way the colors worked out in the Panda Silk I used.  My favorite part of this hat is how it shrinks up to almost nothing when it's not being worn.  Yes, I know what I just said, I'm just choosing to leave it alone.  I don't know what's going on with the, whatever it is, dripping off Scooch's chin in this one...

Now a gift for my mama.  This is the clothespin apron from 101 One Yard Wonders.   I love this book, and plan to make probably 1/3 of the projects so far.  My mom currently has a clothespin bag so old and worn, you can't tell where to put your hand in to find the clothespins.  I hope she likes this one, I sure love it. There were issues with the pattern, so I'm hoping for some errata soon.

This one cracks me up.  Scooch will be able to wear this one until he's 15.  I can wear it!  This was another Ravelry find, simply named Chunky Ribbed Earflap Hat.  I used the called for yarn, so I don't know how it ended up so large, but I couldn't stand how cute it looks on him so I didn't want to redo it.  I used the remaining yarn to make a little ribbed scarf to go with it.  No pattern, just ribbed until it was long enough.  These will be staples, I'm sure, for our trip to see Nina and Poppa, coming up next week.

Finally, a hat for mama!  I received some yarn from a dear friend that she brought from her recent trip to Australia.  I had to modify the pattern in order to finish before running out of yarn.  I was so proud that I did it, and still had something like 11" leftover!  I love the pattern, and might make it again.  Also found on Ravelry, the Hurricane Hat.  In case you haven't noticed the theme going on here, I LOVE Ravelry.  Check it out if you haven't yet.  Tons of free patterns and a whole community of fellow knitters (and crocheters) at your fingertips.

Next up, another pattern from Ravelry, go figure!  This one for my Scooch.  These are the Piggy Mittens found on Ravelry.  I modified these to omit the thumbs (he's 1, I didn't want to fight to get his little thumbs into the right spot) and to make them a smidge smaller, since the smallest size was 2-4 years.  My little man loves them.  He puts them on and then shakes his hands until they fling off.  Once he actually needs them to be outside, I hope he can keep them on!

Something else for me!  I got a new netbook, and it was a little bigger than my old one, so I wanted to make a little padded sleeve for it to protect it from scratches.  It certainly isn't drop-proof, but it's super cute!  I used fusible fleece in between the layers, and then machine quilted them together.  I haven't put any kind of closure on it yet, but if I do, I'll use my awesome snap press that I'm in love with.

 

 

It's a pickle!  Crochet this time, using leftover Shine from Knitpicks.  Again, a Ravelry pattern, took me about 3 hours to complete, and that was in between taking care of Scooch.  This is a gift for my brother for Christmas, we have a joke with pickles.  Don't ask...

This is the final, and possibly my favorite so far, finished project.  This is one of my Scooch's Christmas presents.  I used the called for Cascade 220 Superwash yarn, which I love, and I came up with my own mane, which will hopefully last a little longer than the pom-poms called for in the book.  For the mane I did a crocheted loop stitch which you can google to find instructions for.  Oh, the giraffe is from Itty Bitty Toys, by Susan Anderson, by the way.  I just love how cute he is.  I was skeptical of the basic-ness of the design at first, but the more finished he became, the more I changed my mind.