Wednesday, January 19, 2011

What's New?

So, besides the New Year, what's new?

I have a few FO's I can show you!

Since 2011 started, I have completed the following projects already... Okay, I admit the first one is cheating, since I started this pair of mittens in mid-December. They were intended to be part of Mayhem's Christmas gifts.

Mayhem's Mittens

Next up, a hat for Bill. I used the leftovers of Berocco Ultra Alpaca that I had from Dad's hat. It's soft and warm, and knit up quickly.

Bill's hat

Sticking with the winter accessories, this next hat will be gifted to a friend next month. My pal Chris, whom I've known since junior high, currently lives in L.A., but remains loyal to Ohio State. He'll be back in Ohio in February, and requested a hat in (blech, phooey, gag!) OSU colors.

Ugly hat for a Friend

I've dubbed it the "Ugly-ass hat," and decided I'm a very good friend!

The kids and I think that Bruno is having an identity crisis, or has aspirations of being a sheep dog. He's taken to carrying around this:

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and sleeping with it, too!

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We're in the middle of a January deep-freeze, but had happy mail yesterday. Our new swim suits for the cruise arrived! Hooray for Lands' End Overstocks!
:-)

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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Secret Knitting and Sacrifices

A certain middle-schooler that lives at my house every other week is obsessed with purple. Her coat is purple. Her backpack is purple. Most of her clothes are purple. Are you seeing a trend here? So last week, when it was Dad Week, what did her dad get her? A white hat and white gloves. Ugh! This is a young one who, like her momma, has a love for the fluffy white stuff that falls from the sky. She plays in it, even when there's only a dusting on the ground. You know what that means; dirty gloves/mittens!

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How do you keep white gloves clean on ground like that??? (And see Bruno? he's spotted a squirrel up on the lines above him! mmmmm squirrel!)

Being the type of mom that I am, and knowing that wool mittens are the best winter weather gear for playing in the snow, I've cast on a pair of, yep, you guessed it, purple woolen mittens. Even though my darling Mayhem is a cookie-cutter image of me, and we share the love of snow, we do not share the love for purple. More than once I have threatened to friends that I am going to stab my eyes out with my dpn's before finishing these mittens, and I fear I may not finish them in time for our Christmas celebration on the morning of December 24th... not because I can't, but because the purple is killing me!

Darling Mayhem knows nothing about these mittens at all. I have been working on them at night, or when she is at her dad's, or in the car while waiting to pick her and her brother up from school. I just reached the point of needing to put the thumb stitches on hold for mitten number one, so the hard part is done; keeping track of the gussett increases. I feel safe showing you a photo, because Mayhem would have commented here by now if she were a reader of this blog. (She is not one to keep quiet, trust me!)

Pardon the crummy cell phone photo, please. As you can see, I was in the car, but not driving, I promise.

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I am using this pattern - Alex's Mittens (on Ravelry) which is a roomy pattern and well written. I knit it before, for Bill's younger son for Christmas a couple years ago.

So far this December we have had only a dusting of snow (.7 inches) which made the dogs ecstatic (me too!), but we are expecting 5" tomorrow afternoon and into Monday morning. *happy dance* That will be good knitting time for me for finishing up mitten one and getting number two knocked out of the way. Then it's on to another gift project. A dear friend of mine who lives in Los Angeles has requested a hat in OSU colors. GAH! More stabbing out of the eyes.
Sheesh. The sacrifices I make! ;-) GO BLUE!

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