What I've been doing

No, I haven't been winding yarn into balls for the last six months, while I wasn't posting to my blog. I have been doing a lot of it lately, since the husband got me a ball winder for Valentine's Day. Maybe I can make my stash look somewhat presentable for the upcoming Flash Your Stash.

What I've really been doing that has kept me away from my blog is this:



As you may remember, from my sporadic posts, the husband and I were building a house, and we're finally done! Well, not entirely done, but we've moved in, and we're finishing up little things here and there. To see some more recent pictures, click here, and if you want a look at the whole thing from the beginning, click here.

Now that things have settled down on the house-building front, I have actually been getting some knitting done. When we were unpacking some of our possessions (we're not quite done with that yet), I discovered a half-finished Broadripple sock. Amazingly, none of the stitches had fallen off of the needles, and I actually remembered where I was in the pattern. So, I finished that sock, and now I am more than halfway done with its mate.



Also, I have finally jumped on the Clapotis bandwagon. I am making mine out of bamboo yarn from Discontinued Name Brand Yarn. So far, I am enjoying the pattern - I can't wait until I get to start dropping stitches!



Now that life is getting back to normal, I hope to resume many of my usual activities that got put on hold for a while, including posting to my blog!

My summer fling

I know that it's been a very, very long time since I posted, and I'm still really busy, so I probably won't post much for a while, but something has happened that is worthy of breaking my months of silence: I got a package from my Summer Fling SP! I'm still amazed that she packed so many wonderful goodies inside a Priority Mail envelope! I'll start with the non-knitting related items:



There is some really yummy-smelling vanilla lotion, and a box of Good & Plenty (my favorite candy EVER!), posed in front of the adorable card that accompanied all of this. Now, on to the knitting stuff:



Two skeins of KnitPicks Dancing in an awesome colorway, a size 3 circular needle (I really needed circulars in small sizes), and two balls of Plymouth Royal Bamboo (I have been dying to try some bamboo yarn) in a wonderful shade of pink. She also just so happened to include a pattern that I think would be perfect for the bamboo yarn, Stephanie Japel's One Skein Wonder:



And speaking of patterns, there was also the pattern that I have been absolutely coveting for months, Eunny Jang's Deep V Argyle Vest:



I'm so excited! This was my first Secret Pal exchange, and I was so lucky to get such a great pal. Thank you, whoever you are!

Accessorizing

Contrary to what one might gather from my recent posts (or lack thereof), I have actually been doing some knitting over the past few months. Lately, I haven't been very interested in knitting garments; instead, I have been working on smaller projects, accessories mostly. First (although I guess this isn't really knitting), I finished the second of the crocheted fingerless gloves that I showed off in an earlier post.



My husband wasn't home to take a picture of me modeling both of them, so just to prove that there actually are two of them:



I also finished another pair of wrist accessories, Marnie MacLean's Executive Funk. I made these out of a skein of Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool that was given to me as a gift.





I had never knit with Silky Wool before, and I have to say that I love this yarn! I am, however, trying to fight my nagging suspicion that because of the color of the yarn, it looks a little bit like I am wearing lettuce leaves around my wrists.

A new experience

On Tuesday night, I did something that I've never done before - I went to a book signing. Debbie Stoller actually included Lincoln on her Happy Hooker book tour, and completely by accident, I managed to find out about the event before it happened. So I am now the proud owner of The Happy Hooker,


and as you can see, it is signed.



Although I was never really drawn to either of the Stich 'N' Bitch knitting books, I do really like this book. Maybe it's because I'm such a newbie crocheter, but there are several patterns in the book that I can't wait to make. In fact, I already started working on the Fat Bottom Bag:



And I have had to repeatedly talk myself out of running out to buy yarn for several more projects. (Going to school + building house = no money...)

Stash-flashing

Well, it's that time of year again...the second annual Flash Your Stash is upon us, and I am dutifully flashing my stash. I am a little bit early, I know, since it's not quite April 1st yet, but I have time to post now, so I'm going to go ahead and do it.

I know that my stash is pretty small compared to some people's stashes (I keep pointing this out to my husband), and I was successfully on a yarn diet for eight months out of the past year, so my stash may very well be even smaller than it was last year. (Check out last year's post if you want to compare.) But I am going to flash it anyway, so here it is:

I keep the bulk of my stash in a Rubbermaid container under my bed:



And here are interior shots of the contents. My one attempt at organization was to divide my stash into acrylics on one side...



and my "nice" yarns on the other.



The remainder of my stash is scattered throughout the apartment as part of various works in progress. Here is my double-knit hat yarn...



my stripey scarf yarn...



and my Tartan Jacket yarn (I'm embarrassed to admit that this project is at exactly the same status as it was at this time last year).



There is also a small portion of my stash that is consumed in projects-to-be-frogged:



(In case you can't tell, that picture is of a hat and a pile of sweater pieces.)

And last, but definitely not least, I proudly present the newest addition to my stash, the kid mohair from my swap with Holly, which arrived in the mail yesterday, just in time to be included in the stash-flashing.



Well, I think I'll go see if there are any other early flashers out there!

I have good news and bad news

The good news is that I have recently made two fingerless gloves. The bad news is that they are two entirely different fingerless gloves, and therefore, I do not actually have two matching fingerless gloves that I can wear at the same time. But I wanted to show them off anyway, so here they are:





As you can see, the differences between these two gloves are many. I crocheted the first one, following a pattern (from a Woman's Day knitting and crocheting magazine). I knit the second one, and it's my own design. The first one is made from some Red Heart that has been lingering in my stash, while the second one is made out of one of my favorite yarns, Lamb's Pride. In fact, the only thing that these two gloves have in common is that they are both right gloves. Ironically, their one unifying feature is exactly the thing that prevents me from wearing them both at the same time and pretending that hideously mismatched gloves were what I was going for.

So I suppose I should stop typing and go make a mate for at least one of these gloves...

Olympic photos

Well, I got around to taking pictures of my shrug sooner than expected. That's the good news. The bad news is that they are pretty crappy pictures. When my husband isn't home, I have to resort to one of two methods to take pictures of my knitwear, and today I used them both. First, there was the picture taken in the mirror with the flash off:



Then, I tried the picture taken with the camera's timer, which always results in me sitting on the kitchen floor, since the kitchen table is the only surface that is feasible for the camera to sit on:



Overall, I am very pleased with how I Do turned out. I really liked the pattern, I liked working with the yarn that I chose (Lily Chin Chelsea), and I think that I will really enjoy wearing it (I already did on Friday, actually). I'll try to get some better pictures of it posted eventually.

In non-Olympic news, I used the time between the completion of I Do and now to make this:



This is my first completed crochet project. The pattern is the Flowered Cloche from the Lion Brand website, but instead of using Homespun, I used two strands of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. I absolutely love the hat, and I am now officially obsessed with crochet.

Finished!

I completed my Knitting Olympics project in time! I finished I Do on Thursday night and wore it to work on Friday. I haven't taken any pictures of it yet, but when I get around to it, I will post some of them. I just wanted to share the good news!

Look what I can do!

My birthday present from my husband this year was crochet classes at the LYS. Last night was the second of four class sessions, and I'm actually starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of it. Check it out!



This will turn into a small purse, which will be my first crochet project! The one problem with my crochet classes taking place in February is that all I want to do is crochet, when I really need to be working on my project for the Knitting Olympics. But I have been making progress on that too, as this post on the Team Knittyboard blog proves.

As promised...

Well, I said that I would post a picture of my latest finished object, so here it is: The Pinwheel Baby Blanket.



And here is a picture of its recipient, my new niece Sydney, who was born on January 17, which also happened to be my birthday.

Knitting Olympics

Okay, so it's been almost three months since I've posted, but I have decided to stop being lazy in order to announce that, along with seemingly millions of other knitters, I will be taking part in the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics. I will be knitting I Do, which will be a challenge for me, since I'm not a very experienced lace knitter, and since I have a limited amount of free time (hence, the lack of recent posts). I am also a proud member of Team Knittyboard.
In non-Olympic news, I do have some pictures to show off, both of the baby blanket I recently completed and of its adorable recipient, my new niece. Unfortunately, I have not uploaded them yet, but I will get around to it soon, I promise. If anyone out there still actually reads this blog, please bug me until I keep my promise.

What should I do?

Today, my self-imposed yarn diet is officially over. I have successfully made it six months without buying yarn! And for the last few months, I haven't even found it that challenging. I am discovering that I can exist without buying yarn. So here's my problem. Part of me feels like I should allow myself to splurge on some yarn, to celebrate my successful yarn diet. But part of me also feels like I should keep going to test my yarn diet endurance. Really, my reasons for instituting the yarn diet have not changed. Our finances are still tight, and I still do not have much time to knit, due to working full time, going to school part time, and building a house. So, should I try to make this an extended yarn diet, or should I allow myself to buy yarn for one project that I really want to make, and then see if I can go another six months? Any thoughts?

So sorry!

I know it's been a really, really long time since I posted. Even by my normal standards, this is bad. But I promise, I do actually have an excuse. My husband and I have been insanely busy because we are building a house. And I mean actually building it ourselves, not paying someone to build it for us. (Well, except for the major things like the foundation, of course.)
In case you might think that I'm lying, I offer this photo album as proof that I actually have been doing something for the month and a half that I haven't been posting.
I suppose it goes without saying that I haven't been doing much knitting either, so therefore, I have no knitting pictures to show off. One of these days, my life will return to normal, I hope.

Blogging for Relief

Today has been designated as Blogging for Relief Day to raise money for charities that will help those affected by Hurricane Katrina. My chosen charity is Habitat for Humanity. I hope you will consider making a donation to them, or to the charity of your choice.

Happy birthday, blog!

Okay, so I've been a REALLY bad blogger lately, and I'm going to continue to be a bad blogger, but I just had to stop in and say happy birthday to my blog. Yes, my first post on my blog was a year ago today. In case you are interested in what I had to say, this is it. I have to say that I am pretty impressed that I actually kept my blog going for this long. My main doubt going in was that I wouldn't have the work ethic to post regularly. I guess the matter of whether or not I post "regularly" is still questionable, but I think I've done okay. I would like to improve my blogging, though, both in terms of number of posts and in terms of content. Somehow, my entries just never seem as interesting as those on some of the blogs I read. That's a goal for next year, I guess. Anyway, happy birthday to my blog!

I apologize...

Wow, it's been a really long time since I posted! While I have not been doing much blogging lately, I have been doing some knitting. In fact, I have a recently finished project that did not even make it onto my sidebar because I have been neglecting my blog so badly. Since I was having trouble finding the motivation to finish my Tartan Jacket, I decided to make something more summery: a Lelah top. Here she is:



I used some Cotton-Ease from a half-completed sweater that I recently frogged and some red ribbon that I found laying around the apartment - I'm pretty sure it's left over from the programs from my wedding, almost three years ago. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Now I just need to convince myself that I'm brave enough to wear a strapless top in public!

I have a new nephew!

It's been a long time since I posted, and I don't really have much to say, but I did want to pop in and announce the arrival of my nephew. His name is Gavin, and he was born on June 28. Here are a couple of pics:

Apparently, I act my age!

I occasionally take those Blogthings quizzes, but never before have I posted the results on my blog. But when I got this result, I just had to say, holy cow, that's accurate!

You Are 26 Years Old

26 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

I actually am 26 years old. I'm not sure how accurate the quiz was about how old I act, but it was kind of scary that the result ended up being my actual age. I guess acting my age is a good thing...

A what? Oh, a Tartan Jacket!

You may recall that once upon a time, way back in January, I started my Tartan Jacket, and even set up a knitalong for it. As of late, this project has been severely neglected. I was starting to feel bad about all of the completed pieces and the remaining yarn for this project sitting in a cardboard box in my living room, so this past week, I made this project a priority. Here is what I completed this week:



I finished the second sleeve and did both cuffs. Add these pieces to the other sleeve, the back and the two fronts that I had finished by oh, maybe March, and I now have all of the pieces complete. (Well, all of the pieces that can be made without blocking or seaming something first - there is still the small matter of the collar.) I seem to have lost steam on this project again for the time being, but it was nice to make some progress.
And just because it has been forever since I posted, as a treat, I will throw in some photos of Franklin trying to fit himself into the lid of a file folder box. Enjoy!

Another finished object!

I'm done with my Turtleneck Shrug! Check it out:



I really liked this pattern. It was a fairly quick project, and it's just what I need at work on those days where the air conditioning is a little too chilly. I posted another picture of it over at the Shrug Knitalong.