Holiday Recovery

I don't know about you, but although I love the holidays because I get to spend some great quality time with my family...it wears me out! My Christmas lasted 3 straight days, but Christmas day was definitely the busiest of them all. Luckily I got a few extra days off of work, so I was able to get some rest after all the running around.

If you have spent any time reading my blog, you will know that I was starting to stress out a few times about getting the gifts completed on time. I am proud to say that everyone received completed gifts, even the two who were surprise guests (I had less than 24 hours notice that we would have two more for dinner on Saturday, so I had to whip up something quick for them...thank goodness for hats!). The gifts were a huge hit, and a few were trying to not only keep their gifts but steal others as well.

Well, now that all the stress of holiday knitting is over, you can expect to see more of me on this blog. Oh, and don't be surprised if you see more than knitting on here...I got a dress form for Christmas (I'm hoping to start working on some sewing soon)!!

I hope that each and every one of you had a wonderful holiday, filled with lots of great crafting fun!

Holiday Stress

Well, I think that deep down I want to try and make holiday gift knitting as stressful and last minute as possible. Until just a few days ago, I planned on knitting this adorable fairy doll for Olivia. Of course now that she's in middle school, I've seen her grow up a little and now I'm afraid that the adorable fairy doll might be a little too kiddish for her. So back to the drawing board...

I've still got a few gifts to finish not including whatever I decide to make Olivia, so now the stress is setting in again. With only 2 weeks until Christmas, it looks like I'll be drinking a lot of caffeine and staying up late knitting. I really don't want to give anyone an unfinished gifts, or a Christmas gift after Christmas. Even though I'm doing much better than last year, I've apparently still got to work on my timing so that I don't get overwhelmed by the stress of getting things done in time.

Please try and overlook my absence for the next 2 weeks, I'll be buried in yarn and patterns trying to get everything done in time.

Good luck with your crafting and I hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas!

If at first you don't succeed...

...rip the seams and start again!

Well I finally finished the Lidsville hat that I was making for my Uncle Joel! For the most part, it's a fun project and super easy...that is until you get to seaming. The instructions for finishing the hat are a little unclear, but after some trial and error I finally got it looking like the designer's FO. Here's a tip...you have to sew the outer edge of the brim to the front of the hat and flip it and turn the hat right-side out.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures at this time, but I am hoping to have some pictures for you guys this weekend. The bf is working on a little DIY project of his own (a photographer's light box), and he's wanting to use some of my FO's and stash as his test subjects once the box is completed.

As for other knitting progress, I am working on one of the pairs of fingerless gloves right now. I started them last week, but am trying to figure out which increase method I want to use. Being the crafting perfectionist that I am, I want all the increases to look identical. I tried 2 different ways, and when I finally picked the one that I will be the happiest with...well let's just say it became a yarn mess and was just easier for me to unravel and re-wind the ball of yarn and start over.

Lately I've been itching to do some needle felting, so I think this weekend will be the perfect time to work on the felted frog collectible and the dove ornaments that will gone on the gifts. It will be fairly relaxing and easy, and I think I can get all of them done and feel I've accomplished a lot.

Well, it's back to the knitting needles.

Dusting off the crochet hooks

As you have probably figured out, most of the crafting I do right now is knitting. It's very relaxing, and with everything being made of 2 different stitches it's easy to do when you have so much on your mind (Thanksgiving preparations, Christmas gifts to make, Christmas decorating to do, etc.). Every now and then, I like to use my crochet skills on some project that really catches my eye.

Crocheting is a little bit harder to memorize than knitting, with all the different stitches to make the different patterns...I usually forget them by the time I do another crochet project and have to pull out my handy-dandy Crochet Answer book. Well, I've decided that now is the time for me to dust off my hooks and books and work on Lidsville from the Son of Stitch 'n Bitch book as a gift for my uncle. I absolutely love flat hats, and when I was looking through my books and patterns for men this was the one that won out for my Uncle Joel.

I don't know what it is, but for some reason I love to crochet hats. The projects seem to go so much faster, and usually look so seamless. This hat is a little different, but so far I'm loving working on it. It's crocheted in many pieces and then you slip stitch the pieces together, but that makes it a perfect crochet-on-the-go project. I've got my yarn (Shamrock by Knit Picks) in a small project bag, along with the pieces that I've already finished.

I started working on some of the pieces Monday night while watching Heroes, and with a little bit of crochet time here and there I've already got about half of the hat pieces complete. This is definitely the type of encouragement I needed with my Christmas gift list, because I was starting to wonder how I could get hats, scarves, gloves, dolls and needle felting all done before Christmas day. If things keep going at this rate, I could have it done by the weekend and ready to show off on the blog and Ravelry!

Well I better head back to the hooks and books!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Well it seems like winter is coming early in my neck of the woods, well sorta. We didn't get inches and inches of snow, just a few flurries here and there that left pretty snowflakes on my car this chilly morning. I know some people are dreading the thought of winter starting so soon, but it was just what I needed to really get back into my Christmas knitting.

Not only am I a knitter, I enjoy video games too. This past week was the release of the new expansion to World of Warcraft (yes, I play that game), so this past weekend was filled with playing video games and seeing some of the new things in the expansion. I even scheduled a day off from work to stay at home and play, but after all the anti-knitting mobile happenings of last week...let's just say I really needed a stay-at-home day.

I was a little worried that my gaming might get in the way of my knitting time, and possibly cause some gifts to not be ready on time. But then yesterday it was freezing outside and there were some snow flurries, and that's just what I needed to get me in the knitting mindset.

After weeks of re-thinking Christmas gifts, I finally have something to make for everyone on my list! I even finished one of my dad's Christmas gifts yesterday, so I'm feeling good about my gift list again. Sorry, there are no pictures quite yet, because I was in such a crafting zone I immediately started another project on the list before taking time to snap some photos. Maybe once I get a few more completed, I'll post another visual progress report.

So here's the list of what I'm making for those hard to craft for guys:

• Papa Bear - Scarf and Slippers
• Eugene - Scarf in a neutral color
• Josh - Link doll and 1-up mushroom mitts
• Russell - Fingerless gloves

And here's a list of what is on my needles:

• Knitted Fairy doll (I really need to work on that some more) - 15% complete
  
• Lidsville (crocheted) - 5% complete

While I will still be cutting it close with the gifts, this cold weather will definitely get me on the right track. There's nothing better than a pile of yarn keeping you warm on a cold day!

Well, I better get back to work...I've got quite a few projects ahead of me.

P.S. - Sorry that I've been a little scarce recently, with the car problems and trying to get some progress made in knitting, it's been hard to focus on blogging. Once things get back on track I will definitely be posting more regularly, and I hope to get more pictures up of my completed projects.

Knitting Weather

I don't know about you, but I'm very glad that it's finally started getting chilly outside. Nothing inspires me to knit more than cold weather, and lately I've needed some inspiration to keep me on track with my Christmas knitting. With the recent frustration of having to re-think what I'm going to make for about half the people on my list, I've needed something to keep me motivated so that I can still meet my deadlines and hopefully this cold weather will be just the right thing.

I still haven't come up with the perfect ideas for the men on my Christmas list, but hopefully I will get an idea while knitting the other gifts (or maybe one of you has some great ideas for those hard-to-get-for men in your lives). I've found that looking at others' KIP's and knitting myself can really get the ideas coming for future projects, so I may have to hit Ravelry and check out some great gift ideas.

Unfortunately I have no pictures to show you visual progress of my projects, but I can assure you that I've been working on them. Here's an update as to what is on my needles:

• Knitted Fairy Doll - 15% complete
• Knitted Fingerless Gloves - 15% complete

I'm also getting ready to work on the few needle felting projects that were added to the list after going on a "Knit Nite" group fieldtrip. I'm considering saving those for when I really need some stress relief, but since I am somewhat clumsy that might not be the best time to work on something where you continuously jab at fiber with a very pointy needle.

Well, I'm off to work on my knitting and get to brainstorming other project options for those difficult men in my life.

SOCKIT2ME

Well, I have officially decided to re-think my Christmas To Knit List until I have more practice knitting socks. I have come to the realization that right now is just not the right time to make socks for everyone on my list, even if they want them or not...at least if they all want their gifts by Christmas this year instead of a few years down the road.

It all started with a sock pattern I was going to test knit, which in turn was going to be a gift for my mother. I ripped that sock out so many times that I lost count, because something would always seem to distract me as I was doing the short rows and then things would get lop-sided. I decided that maybe that project should wait for a bit and I would work on another pattern (since I had 6 pairs of socks on my list of items to knit), Eugene's Comfy Brown Socks. I knit up a swatch to see what my gauge was, and then I used that to decide how many stitches to cast on to give the width I needed. The problem here was that when I actually started knitting up the sock, my gauge changed...I now had more stitches per inch than I did with my swatch.

I have not given up on sock knitting. I'm merely changing a gift list for now so that I can have enough time to practice knitting socks before I make them for others, since I am a perfectionist when it comes to my crafting. So after Christmas, except to see a lot of sock knitting on the blog.

Until then, I need some help from all of you. I have got to come up with some great gifts to make for my loved ones, and all of them have to be gifts for men. I have a hard enough time thinking of what to give guys, and now that I have to re-think my gifts I'm at a complete loss. So if you have any great gift ideas for any of the following, let me know (preferably knitted or crocheted items, since I have plenty of supplies for these types of gifts):

1. Poppa Bear - Local author and book lover.
2. Eugene (Uncle's father) - He likes the color brown.
3. Josh (boyfriend) - Gamer and gadget lover. I would design another game-inspired gift, but I'm running out of time.
4. Russell (Josh's father) - He likes FPS games and motorcycles.

I was going to make a pair of socks for my mom as well, but I've got plenty of ideas for her...and she's also been emailing me patterns, hinting at things she wants me to make her (crocheted dachshund since my dad won't let her have a dog right now).

Well, I'm off to knit on the non-sock gifts until I can come up with some great replacements.

77 days until...

Christmas!

Are you making your lists? Checking them twice? You've only got 76 more shopping days to find the perfect gifts for your family and friends!

Ok, some of you are probably thinking that I'm absolutely bonkers for thinking about the Christmas countdown already...but if you know me at all you will know that not only am I bonkers, I've been planning for Christmas since July! I'm not one of those people who wait until the last minute on Christmas Eve to hit the stores. I'm not one of those people who wakes up before the rooster on the day after Thanksgiving to get all the great deals (don't get me wrong, I love deals!). Rather than stand in lines a mile long or sit in traffic for hours, I prefer to sit at home during normal holiday shopping time...and work on making the gifts (that's right...I'm a handmade pledger!).

When you have 6 pairs of socks, 7 dishcloths, 2 hats, 2 fingerless mitts and 1 doll to make by Christmas, not to mention the one gift that has yet to be determined for that oh-so-hard to buy for person on your list...you would plan early too! Especially since last year life threw quite a few obstacles my way to prevent meeting my knitting deadlines (sorry Josh for the Christmas present in July!).

Well here's the visual Christmas knitting progress report:

I know that I still have a good bit of work ahead of me, but actually seeing the progress I've made and items I can check off my to-knit list makes me realize how much I've actually accomplished so far. Every now and then I start to panic that I won't get done in time, but then when I actually see how much I've already done so far and I realize that I've still got time (especially since I was just starting Christmas knitting this time last year).

Oh, and if any of you have great gift ideas for my boyfriend's dad (he loves motorcycles, FPS games, etc.) please post a comment below! After coming up with ideas for everyone else, I've become a little brain dead and can't seem to think of anything to make for him.