Process

I feel like I rarely post about knitting anymore and I think it's because when I post projects on Ravelry, most of the people who read this blog, probably already saw it there. A bunch of quilting bloggers started this "process pledge" where they're trying to post more about projects as they're going - not just finished stuff with a blurb about it. I think that's a good one for knitting too - and it's the stuff that I tend to not post on my Ravelry projects page, even though I should. Oh, I'm also going to try to get better about linking blog posts to my projects because I always forget to do that!

So my first process-ish post is about a pair of mittens that I started.

They're the Anatolian mittens from Folk Mittens - which is a great book! I never really realized how many patterns in that book I want to make until I pulled it out recently! I could totally fulfill my 11 in 2011 goal with just that book! I love these mittens because they're colorwork with worsted weight wool - i just think that makes for such a warm mitten! I finished mitten #1 and encountered a problem though - it has a peasant thumb, which means you put in waste yarn then pick them up for the thumb later - really simple, but the problem is that the hand of my mitten just goes on forever - it's probably about 1.5 inches too low on my hand. like the thumb would be at my wrist if I put my fingers to the end of the glove. (can you see the little line of pink waste yarn? not really, huh?)

I think what I'm going to do is kitchner up the opening, matching the pattern as best I can,

then steeking for a thumb hole. i think i'll be able to get the mitten under my sewing maching - that's my plan anyway! i'm wimping out and starting the second mitten before I do that though! I'll keep you posted - and I'll be sure to take one of those horrifying "scissors on knit" pictures that always make me flinch!

I also finished my kaffe fassett sock yarn scarf! yippee! I love it! I used my nifty little fringe winder to do the fringe on the ends,

which I think looks better than wool getting all stuck on itself and not laying nicely!

oh kaffe, what can't you do?

That Kaffe Fassett has color and knows how to use it! Little Knits had some of his sock yarn on sale (that Regia Landscape line that's self striping which I've bee coveting) for 1.99 so I couldn't pass it up and knew that I wanted to weave it! I love weaving self striping stuff where you use it as the warp and weft because it sort of makes a plaid on it's own and makes just plain old weaving, which is all I know how to do, and all I care to do, look really great with no effort at all. The box came today and I warped my loom right away. At first I thought the color repeats were going to be too short for them to do what I wanted, but man was I wrong. I'm loving this!

I got two different colorways and I'm definitely going to have 2 cool new scarves! I also splurged on this little (well, not really little - there's tons of yardage here) skein of silk and cashmere hand dyed laceweight.

It's fantastic and so saturated it's nearly impossible to photograph. The colorway is called plum jelly.

Evie

Remember that little girl I got for Christmas? Well, she's got a whole new look and I think she's adorable with a capital "A"!

Mods:

face sand matted

eyechips replaced with Coolcat foils

new eyelashes

lips and philtrum carved

makeup reapplied (chalk pastels)

freckles added

2nd hair cut

hair styled (who knew you could use a curling iron on plastic hair??!!)

A new start

It seems kind of silly that we pick Jan 1 as some kind of fresh start for our lives and make resolutions, but I guess it's better than never picking a day to make goals! (and I realize that every year I comment on how goofy resolutions are, but I always make them anyway because I really do like it - probably because it's a form of list making!) I looked back at my resolutions for last year and I guess I got a score of about 50% - not great, but better than 0% and honestly nothing is too earth shattering if I don't make my goal! So here's my list for this year:

-Make a pair of Julia Mueller gloves (I've been wanting to do this forever, and I know it's not much of a resolution, but maybe I'll do it if I say it out loud!)

-I think I'll do the 11 in 2011 glove/mitten challenge. I have a ton of them in my queue. I think I'm going to add something to it and say that at least 5 pairs will be for a charity because that's another thing I keep saying I'll do, but don't.

-This spring and summer I'm going to spend more time on the yard. I really let it go to hell last year because I was kind of lazy and whiny. It was hot. I got sick of mosquito bites. it got out of hand and then I was overwhelmed. There were things I'd rather be doing inside like sewing and knitting. sheesh. This year my mantra is going to be "you will not die if you aren't making a quilt or sweater in July!" I need to learn to not get so obsessed with one thing - it's ok to have different things to do in different seasons. If I'm honest with myself I think part of it is also that knitting and sewing are way less physically demanding than working in the yard, so if I stick to this resolution maybe my gut AND my flower beds will thank me!

-Better photography in my blog. I don't know if I just don't really take enough time to get decent pictures, or if I kinda suck and don't know what I'm doing, but I'm going to see what happens if I focus a little more on the things I know work for better pictures - good lighting, better focus, etc. I got one of those bendy camera tripods for Christmas so I'm hoping that'll help me get fewer pictures that are shaky! we'll see!

-save $5k this year. I moved some money around on my direct deposits and if I can keep my mitts off my savings account, it'll work! again, we'll see!

zig zag

There's not much I like more, when it comes to patterns, than a zig zag!

I started randomly working on this with no end in mind - kind of like that last thing, which has turned into a quilt top (and still isn't finished - needs to be a little bigger and I'm envisioning a chevron row or two in its future!) It could totally be a baby blanket, but I'm not sure I can give it away! I was also thinking of a quilt top with maybe a border between two lengthwise halves which could be coordinating colors, but totally different patterns! who knows - right now I'm just having fun making it! every chance I get, I add another row. Who knows where it'll end. If I actually used my dining room table, I'd call it a table runner, but who am I kidding? I probably shouldn't admit that out loud.

big catch

The pillows that I just finished for my oldest nephew (he's 9) are cracking me up!

I happened to find this panel with the remnants at the fabric store - one of those things that are printed and you cut them out and make stuffed animals of them. I'd never looked at them before because it kind of seemed like a cop out, but these are really cool! He's big into fishing, so I liked the fact that they're realistic fish and not cartoon-y. Plus, it did take more than just cutting out two halves, sewing them together and stuffing them - the pectoral fins are separate from the rest of the body, and each of the fins are lined with batting then quilted before the rest of the body is stuffed. I think he's going to love them - aside from the fact that they're fish, they're also BIG and when you're 9 years old you judge gifts based on their volume!

More gifts, in the bag!

I think I'm doing as well this year as I did last year on making stuff for all of my family! whee! I just finished this little aviator hat for my youngest nephew, Jude.

I hope it fits him - for some reason it doesn't seem deep enough (long enough? I'm not sure how to describe that dimension of a hat - you know what I mean, right?) so I'll just keep my finger crossed.

I also finished up my parent's stockings by lining them, which was super easy and I think it really makes them nice. Plus, stuff you put inside won't get all hung up on the floats.

Then last night I made this bag for my oldest niece.

She loves pink and is also into asian stuff (well she says she's into Japanese stuff, but she really doesn't know the difference!) so I had a fat quarter bundle that I picked up at JoAnn's a while ago and it was all asian type prints which was perfect. The solid pink was from a skirt that I got at a thrift store and wore a couple times before deciding I was too into it and subsequently de-zippered and de-lined it and put it on the fabric shelf - that may be my best recycling ever! Oh, and I used a heavy pink fabric to line it - stuff I bought year ago, of course, which I think gives it some strength, since the outside is basically just cotton quilting weight stuff.

I think it came out great! I'm not finished yet, but I'm totally ahead of schedule!!