Wednesday, December 30, 2009

on to a new year

i hope everyone had a merry Christmas full of warmth and family. i'm happy to report we've survived the cram-packed hustle and bustle that surrounded the holidays this year. it was completely exhausting but totally worth it. i even managed to finish up my christmas knitting and such minus a few snowflakes that need to be starched, and squeezed in a day of Christmas baking with my sister. so.much.fun. we both hope to make it a yearly tradition.

as the holidays wind down all i really feel like doing is curling up at home with a few new creative endeavors, something new to read maybe and a cup of tea (or ten). i'm on a real knitting binge right now. it's my hobby-of-choice at the moment and i'm really enjoying how relaxing i find it.

silkymerinomalabrigo-a
some new yarn-malabrigo silky merino in "cloudy sky" i just couldn't resist this dusky blue colour

bellamitts-a
my first knitting project of 2010-a gift for a good friend

a little indulgence
a little indulgence- flannel pj pants, a new knitting magazine, and a copy of "Twilight". i can hardly believe i've jumped on the Twilight bandwagon, something i swore i'd never do, but i've really enjoyed the first book and the first 2 movies.

inspiration
some inspiration from my knitting magazine-i plan on making all the projects on the right page

Thursday, December 17, 2009

a quick knit

i'm sooooo in love
onto the next project. i started my mom's christmas gift last night. a festive Christmas mobius in the most delectably soft, squishy yarn i've ever worked with. i am, from here on forward, the biggest fan of malabrigo merino worsted. i love the subtle colour variations and the softness Oh the SOFTNESS. the pattern i'm using is great too. just enough challenge to keep me interested but still simple enough that it's knitting up very quickly. perfect for a gift started fashionably late.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

of snowflakes and six feet of i-cord

i've been a knitting fool lately, or at least, as much of one as i can squeeze into my spare time. some of you may remember the bag that was knitting last year for a christmas present for my mom. well after running out of yarn half way through and searching high and low for anything that would work with it i managed to finish the last stitches christmas eve, tossed it in the washing machine to felt and waited with anticipation to see the finished result.

i was not prepared for the outcome. the first problem was that the original yarn did not felt.at.ALL while the new yarn I got as a contrast did felt beautifully. this is really the lesser of evils as the unfelted yarn also had a giant hole *sob* right in the front and the strap had so many holes it was virtually unusable. you can imagine my horror when i opened the pillowcase i had washed it in and found the mess. needless to say i spent probably a half an hour sobbing and then i called my mom to explain what had happened to her gift. i never blogged about it last year because it was such an aweful experience and i couldn't bring myself to type it out (i'll admit even a year later it still made me cry a little). my mom, of course, was totally awesome about it and helped prop me up a little. christmas has always been more about celebrating Christ's birth and spending time as a family and less about the gifts, something i've always been grateful for. regardless, i have been wanting to redo the bag for her.

fast forward to the past month i've been feverishly knitting away at this bag and am at the point where i seem to be endlessly knitting i-cord. 6 feet to be exact. i've done about 4.5 so only 18 inches left to go. i'll be relieved to finish the knitting but that means time for felting and i would be lying if i didn't say that i was very, very nervous to wash it up this time.

progress

i've also been trying to teach myself to crochet snowflakes on the side. after three failed attempts (the first one was unravelled mid-way by my 3-yr-old and the other two were scrapped because i just wasn't loving how they were turning out) i think i've got a winner.....time will tell.

christmas is literally around the corner and promises to be very busy this year, with lots of visiting and coming-and-going, but it will be a good busy i'm sure. not quite as busy as one of the first years we were married where it felt like we were just the pinballs in a pinball machine bouncing around in a whirlwind of stops never really staying long enough to enjoy any of it. one of the great things about having kids is it forces you to slow down a bit and see the season through their eyes. it's nice to have that wonder and excitement again.


Sunday, December 6, 2009

hello december

christmas trees and sunny skies

we've been enjoying the most beautifully sunny december so far and i for one feel completely spoiled by it. from what i hear the sunshine is sticking around for the next week as well so i'm sure that'll mean some more outdoor fun for us.

-H-O-C-K-E-Y-

stay tuned for posts later this week about some of the projects i'm currently working on. oh, before i forget my baby girl is 11 months old today....that's right, only one month until her first birthday....where has the time gone.