Gloves are done!

Huzzah!  They are done!  I just need to get a picture for the experience to truly be over :)

I'm trying to decide which Christmas present to start on next...I'm taking a bit of a break by doing some granny-style motifs.  I just made a hexagon, and I can't believe how much I enjoyed it.  It's been a long time since I crocheted motifs.  I'm using Noro silk garden, and I think I have a bunch of skeins of it lying around, so I can keep on making them to unwind. 

I have the pattern for the next pair of fingerless gloves written out, and I think I figured out what size needle I need to use, so it's really just a matter of making them.  They should be nice - I'm using Madelinetosh :)

I had a scare earlier this week - I thought LG had eaten some poison.  It looks like she didn't, but I was so scared, I was shaking.  The problem is that she's so curious about everything, and her way of exploring new things is to chew on them.  Sigh.  I wish that she wasn't allergic to chicken, because I'd love to give her chicken bones to chew on, but she gets so sick that I don't want to try.  Interestingly, she doesn't get sick from eating her dry food (we use it as a treat or snack when we have to have dneph watch her)...does that mean that it is so processed her body doesn't even recognize it as chicken? 

In other news, I've reading Michael J. Sullivan's Theft of Swords trilogy.  The books are not the best in the world, but they are eminently readable, and they really make me want to play Skyrim!  I wish that I could find more books like these:  no sex, high adventure, lots of fun, characters that I want to be :)  I have to say it:  I wish I was Hadrian.  One of the greatest sorrows of my life is that I have no children, and one of the things that I wanted to teach my children was how to fight.  I've always thought that if I knew how to fight (box, martial arts, anything), life would be a lot more enjoyable.

Gonna make it, gonna make it

I'm on the last repeat of those blasted gloves - maybe I'll finish them before the week is over.  I just want this albatross off my neck!

I cobbled together a pair of crocheted fingerless gloves for my brother, but the yarn is a bit too scratchy.  I may use them myself, or as an over-pair.  I haven't decided.  I worked out the pattern for yet another pair, but now I have to knit them!  I've been having trouble getting the correct needle size for the yarn I'm working with, but I will persevere.

I started the KSH gloves for my mom, and almost immediately pushed them into a bag and stuffed it deep into the ottoman.  KSH is glorious when knit up, but a bear to actually knit.  I'll have to wait a bit for a less stressful time to work on them.

Once a month

Set the bar low, and maybe I'll trip over it!

I'm still working on the gloves for dneph...for some reason, I have not had the time I'd like to work on them. I have so many other things I want to do, but these are my current albatross.

I wanted to make a little sweater for my niece, but that too is not happening :)

I have my present list, and I need to get started on it.  I think I need a day of organizing projects, with yarn and needles, and then just busting through them.  

I saw the new posters for The Hobbit today, and several of the dwarves have knitted fingerless gloves!  Even Gandalf looks to have a stockinette pair.  The others seem to be in seed stitch, and one looks like it's actually crocheted, or possibly sideways garter stitch.  If I could get my yarn together, I think I could recreate them.  One pair looks like my pair of "this and that" mitts, so I should probably write that up asap.

That's pretty much my life right now.  I work, come home, wash dishes, go to sleep, go back to work.  I'm really only getting knitting done on the bus, which is just an hour a day.  Ack!

Lady Grey is doing well.  She's 13 months old now, and getting so big!  She's also growing her winter coat, so I have to be vigilant about matts.  She has two that I haven't been able to cut out because they're right under her front legs and I just can't get to them.  I still take her out for her walks, and she's progressed to walking in the front yard now too.  She loves chasing rabbits and squirrels (though I don't let her catch them), but she also just likes to sit outside, with her tail wrapped around her legs, and look at everything.  She's such a wonderful kitty.

Gloving it

I still have the gloves for Dneph on the needles, but he really wanted some right away, so I made him a plain pair out of the leftovers of the Limari.  He likes them well enough to wear them to school and around the house, taking them off only to eat and bathe :)  When I finish the other ones, I can use them as a gift of some sort.  I do want to get them done, but they take concentration and the chart is a bit bigger than I'm comfortable with using on the bus.  Ah well.

I'm going to be babysitting my nieces next weekend, so I need to come up with some projects.  I'm thinking of doing the woven felt pillow with my oldest niece.  The nice thing is that you end up with a finished object at the end!  DP offered to take me to the fabric store, so we might do that tomorrow.  We could also do some food projects - maybe make some of those cake pops.  Rather than using candy disks to coat (tons of poisons) we could just use chocolate, maybe mixed with some coconut oil for stability.  Both projects should use up chunks of time between snacks and naps :)

I'm in the middle of DP's scarf right now, and worried about running out of yarn.  I went back to the yarn store, but they were out of that color, though they did have a ton of Madelinetosh DK.  I prefer Vintage weight, but I had a gift certificate, so I just went with it :)  My sister also asked me to add on to the twins' winter hats, because they are a bit too short.  I don't think I have any of that Madelinetosh left, but I might have something in near the same weight.

I also have an idea for a cowl floating around in my head.  It's based on the Brising necklace, and I'm thinking of either a gold yarn or a silvergilt (maybe that silk/cashmere?).  Maybe using chain ribbing and one large motif in the middle.  I just have to decide who to give such a thing to!  I'm planning my attack for Christmas, so now is the time to get the pattern ideas worked out.  Food items and/or sewing might also play a part, and I already have a book for the oldest of my younger brothers.

Regrouping

The holiday season is so stressful that it's pretty much mandatory to have a day off to rest and reset my brain.

Right now, I'm working on gloves for Dneph, and I have a scarf in the works for DP.  I have a list of other things I'd like to start on, but I'm trying to hold off actually starting them until I finish one of my current projects.

I love the fall, but this year I'm feeling more melancholy than usual.  I can't really explain it.  I'm hoping that crafting will cheer me up.

Crafting season

After a long, slow summer, I'm suffering from a case of start-itis.  I have a Beekeeper's Quilt and fingerless gloves on the needles, and I'm about to cast on a pig.  I also bought another couple of patterns...something about the fall weather just makes me want to craft like a madwoman.  I've started a Christmas list, and I might actually follow it!

In other news, I have my teenage nephew living with us.  It's crazy to 1. have another person in the house, and 2. have a teenage boy in the house.  It takes some getting used to :)

I finished that swap shawl, but I don't think I have a picture of it anywhere!  Argh.  It was 18 oz of two ply fingering weight that I made into a faroese shawl with a lace band and gusset.  Maybe I can find a pic somewhere...

I finished the Diamond Waistcoat socks (finally!):



They fit well, and I'm going to try to write up that pattern, maybe with a variation.

I also finished Uinen:



But it didn't fit :(  It was actually too wide in the shoulders, so at least it wasn't because I gained too much weight!  I gave it to my little sister, who is taller than me and wider in the shoulders, and it fit perfectly!

I also made a pair of fingerless gloves for DP (which Dnephew tried to snag):



They're exactly the kind of thing DP likes, so I was happy to find them.

Hmmm...too hot?

I didn't end up spinning any yesterday - it was both too hot and too windy!  My hope is to get something done tonight, but I don't know how that will work out.

In other news, I made some no-knead quick yeast bread yesterday.  It didn't turn out too badly, but I didn't take the plastic wrap off before I baked it - yuck!  I was wondering why the crust was so shiny, even without an egg wash :)

I'm really just counting the hours until I can go home and spin - sad when you begin the day wishing for it to end!

Onwards!