Finally...an FO!

I finished the Reversible Hat this weekend. I'd like it to be bigger, and maybe after I finish his cardigan, I'll make one bigger for him. It fits for now. I'll have to take some pictures with my baby wearing it, but for now, I'll upload the pictures later this afternoon on Flickr, and post one here as well. I have to upload pictures and link them to my Ravelry account and WIPs. But for now, I'm going to rejoice that I finished something this year already! Woot!

I'm sad that no one responded to the Pay It Forward idea....I hope someone does. If not, I'll just pick 3 people from Ravelry, and Pay It Forward to them. It's a happy new year now!

New Year's Resolutions

There are a lot of New Year's resolutions to be made...and few to be kept. I'm hoping to get organized, use my stash, complete projects, and lose some weight this year. There are other goals, like reading my Bible daily (so far, so good...I read it last night, and hope to read it again today at some point). I'm also trying to take the bigger goals and break them into smaller ones in order to make them manageable and attainable. I'm hoping to post more this year as well. I also want to update my Ravelry site, Flickr site, and keep up with everything better. I completed a hat for my baby already, but decided I didn't like half of it, so I'm going to fix it. I'm working on a cardigan for my baby as well. I hope to have pictures up either by the end of this week or the beginning of next week.

Sick Baby

I was home all weekend, with a sick baby. I did get one more square done for the Baby I.Q. Afghan for a friend who's due December 1st, but decided to be induced November 26th. She completely messed up my schedule...argh...now I havea week less to finish it. :) No biggie...it'll be done in time. If it's not done when she actually delivers, I'll run it by their house soon after she's home. I'm thinking maybe stopping by and delivering dinner too would be nice. One night when neither she or her husband have to worry about what's for dinner and taking care of 3 little ones. I love my crock pot...and left overs. It's amazing what you can do with some leftovers and a little ingenuity. I might get some more done on the afghan today if I can keep my eyes open. Little man wouldn't sleep soundly last night until I held him for a couple of hours. That means Mommy is sleepy today.

Sweater Mondays

Well, I didn't get as much progress as I had hoped on the sweater swatch this weekend. I was hoping to complete it, and that just didn't happen. Of course, when you spend all day Saturday and Sunday involved in activities that won't let you knit, you can't really expect much to get done. I also had to restart the cable swatch about 3 times because something just wasn't happenin'. It wasn't working for me. Eh, maybe tonight?! I also have to finish a Sheldon for a friend...she delivered yesterday. Yea! New baby!

Overzealous

I was definitely overzealous in my goal for the Baby I.Q. Afghan. I hoped to complete it by this weekend, and be able to soley focus my attention on the bluebird, but that's just not going to happen. I have a couple of choices. I can either take it and the bluebird with me, I can take just the bluebird, or I can take just the afghan and get something new for the bluebird. I think I want to play with scrap yarn for it though, so buying something too expensive wouldn't be a good idea (I'd hate to buy a really nice yarn for it and wind up shredding half of it to pieces). Maybe this weekend I'll take a look around and see what I can find (I did some research and there are a few yarn shops around B'ham) and work with what I've got. I've completed 7 of the 16 squares, and my hands are showing it.

I've found that a glass of tea after 7 just isn't a good idea. The caffeine keeps me up and I don't sleep well, making the next day very difficult to function and knit or crochet. Here's the latest news...once I get the bird going in knit, I'll convert the pattern to crochet as well. I have a better working knowledge of crochet, so I know that will go MUCH faster.

Too much coffee

I stopped by Starbucks this morning, and had them brew me a French pot of Verona, my favorite coffee. I don't usually have caffeine in that large of an amount, so I've been kind of bouncing off the walls this morning. Before I knew it, it was noon. I had to re-do an entry THREE TIMES this morning because my fingers and brain weren't in sync. That's just ridiculous. Lesson learned - no Starbucks during close for me.

I have major ambitions this weekend. I have cookies to bake, diapers to wash, and knitting to finish. I hope to finish the body of Sheldon #2 and the cable swatch for the sweater soon-to-be-started for myself. I also saw something this morning at Starbucks that made me want to copy it, and see if I could re-create it, instead of spending $5 for it (I know...it's only $5, but hey, $5 is $5). I saw this cute folk-art type bird knitted (and there was one that was sewn as well) with glasses and it was utterly cute. I hate that I didn't have a camera with me; otherwise I'd have taken a picture and post it for you. It was blue, and the glasses were brown, with eyes in it (in true Muppet style), and I think the legs were brown as well. We'll see if I can re-create it.

Scattershot

Remember when I said I wanted to knit something, but didn't know what? That nothing looked right? Yeah, well, that time has passed. I now have so many projects going, I don't know what to work on next. Here's what I'm working on:

• Sheldon for a friend (for baby #1)
• Baby I.Q. Afghan for a friend (for baby #3-crochet)
• Hoover blanket (yes, this thing is still around...for my baby)
• Baby sweater (but I don't know that I'm happy with it, so it might get frogged but it's for my baby as well)
• Baby I.Q. Afghan (for my baby-crochet)
• Frog for a friend (to go with the first Baby I.Q. Afghan)
• Sweater for me

Think that's enough projects? I'm trying to use up yarn. Can you tell? I just hope I don't burn out on knitting. But then, if I get tired of it, there's always cross-stitch stuff waiting in the wings. I have so many projects to finish; at the rate I'm going, I'll never die. :) Oh well, at least I keep occupied and I'm not bored. I'm hoping to finish several projects before year end, and then finish more projects next year. I'm trying to decide if I should add in some socks for Christmas. If I do, that would be 4-6 more projects. We'll see what time allows.

I'm bored

I'm so bored today at work, I have nothing better to do than sit here and post again. I did finish the first bootie, and even started the second at lunch. It took me about 20 minutes to get the ribbing on the second one done. I hope to get the rest of it done tonight, and maybe the edging as well. I'm heading to the library to see if they have Nicky Epstein's book Knitting on the Edge and perhaps I'll do something more interesting than just a regular picot edging. We'll see what I can find and whip up in an hour or so. So far, I'm looking at a total of 5 hours for both booties, plus whatever it takes for the edge. If I can't find anything I like in the book, I'll just stick with the picot edging, and pack it up with the clothes and certificates. I am giving her a certificate for a handmade toy (and taking the patterns I have for her to choose from) and also a certificate for a baby sling. I found some patterns online for free, and want to make one for me, and I can make one for her as well. It just requires some measurements. There is only one seam, but you sew it twice (a French seam) and it's done. I like it being that easy.

I hate Kitchener stitches.

Look what I did last night:

I whipped this baby up in about 2 hours. I think it took me that long because 1) I was distracted by the TV, 2) I was following a new pattern and 3) I was thinking about doing something special to the top. I was enticed by these to make it something cuter than it is. I'll probably add some picot edging to the top. Then they'll be adorable. I'm working on #2 tonight. I was going to try and be industrious and do them at the same time, but I only had one skein of the pink. It's a baby-palooza again, so more baby projects to come.

Oh, and I found my camera again! Woot! Here's a picture of my sweet baby, just because he's the cutest in the whole world (of course, I could be biased).

Sorry for the red eye. He's still adorable. Oh, and here's a pic of my latest FO:

It's the best picture I could get on the floor in my son's room. It was dark, and the flash is the only real light. Pretty cute, huh? I'll take pics of the booties when they're done.