Not your typical craft

Well, so far in 2009 my knitting/crocheting has been a little limited as I've been working on a few different things this new year. First, I had to work on a gift for my fabulous mother on her birthday (she'll be 60 this Friday, but she doesn't look or act her age), a cute little counted cross-stitch of some adorable tree frogs.

Now I'm helping my dad with his type of crafting, writing. He's a self-published writer who has about 9 or so books already published. Lately he's been having some trouble getting some good, reliable help for proofreading his books. So I decided to support him a little with offering my services, even though English is not my strong suit....I'm a total Math girl!

Other than that, I've finally done a little more work on my sweater I started in the fall of last year. Since I've been rushed lately with my crafting projects because of deadlines, I've decided to take this one slowly and just enjoy the whole knitting process. I should have some pictures to post soon on the progress of my sweater, once I can get a little photography help from my boyfriend.

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.

Once upon a sock...

Once upon a sock, there was a knitter who struggled with some of the basic techniques. Her first ever hand-knitted sock wasn't a disaster, but there was a long vacation of sock knitting after that attempt. Now she has many loved ones that have hinted at wanting a pair of hand-knit socks, so she must be brave and get rid of the monster that stands between her and a finished sock she is happy with.

Ok, I will admit that I'm not a lover of socks for myself (I just have a hard time with that sock-feet feeling) and that could be why sock knitting is becoming a challenge right now. In my latest attempts at sock knitting, I've had to do many froggings and don't even have a finished pair to present to you guys. It can be frustrating at times, so I'm working on just knitting on the socks when I'm in "the zone". Hopefully this new sock knitting schedule will produce some results I can be proud of.

With a majority of my Christmas gift To Knit list being socks, this could be a challenge getting everything completed in time for gift giving...but I'm going to do my best! Maybe visual progress reports of my sock knitting adventures will help me stay motivated....so for the first visual progress report, I present you with Eugene's comfy brown socks that I casted on last Thursday:

I'm doing a very simple sock pattern and knitting it from the cuff down. I've had issues with getting my kitchener stitch to be absolutely flawless, but I'm so determined to not let a tiny technique get the best of me.

Well, I've got the sock knitting bug at the moment so I better get back to the socks while I'm in "the zone".

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.