Christmas Rush

This is my first Christmas as a knitter and WOW! What a rush!!!! Who knew that it would be so tough to get everything knitted that one wants to get knitted? I certainly wasn't expecting this pressure that I feel. It's all good really, just trying to get so much done in so little time. I am afraid I am not going to make it, and it stinks! Ah well, at least I have an understanding family haha... They won't hold it against me if their handmade with love Christmas presents don't quite make it by Christmas.

I have also been busy knitting for swaps and such, I just finished this dishcloth last night and I LOVE it, I was a bit sad to send it out in the mail but hope that the receipent like it as much as I do.

Tonight is the Knitting Guild Christmas party and I have been busy getting a gift together for that as well. I didn't knit anything up but was sure inspired to knit something when shopping for the present. As a result I just HAD to purchase the yarn necessary for said project and CANNOT wait to get it started. It will be my first real lace project... I am going to make the Snowdrop Lace Scarf designed by Donna Arney, she is a guild member so that is pretty cool. I sure hope I can do it justice. Here is a picture of what I hope to make and the yarn that I am going to make it with.

I am also working on a few other projects... I will update more later, gotta get back to work.

Happy Holiday Knitting!

Where is my motivation?

Wow... I am totally not motivated to do anything lately :(. I think it is the weather we have been having, or it could be the fact that my neck is hurting pretty badly and since I have to dip my head to knit I can't do it for long... MUST GET THAT RESOLVED!!!!

This weekend I was super excited to get a set of pink Denise Interchangeable needles and I haven't even cast anything on using them! YIKES! I cannot believe that I have done that... I didn't pay full price for them and am pretty tickled to have them.

Currently I am working on yet another preemie hat, I am only on number 8 so I need to get crackin'. But the motivation thing... sure is a pesky bugger.

Ah... Well, it is off to the chiropractor soon for me in hopes that solves my motivational issue.

Happy Knitting!

Living up to my title

Yep, I have been knitting! Granted not as much as I would like to be knitting but alas that is life sometimes. That's right sometimes life throws some curve balls your way and you have to take a day or two off from knitting, okay... so I haven't done that yet, but life has thrown a few curve balls my way! I am going to show off some of the things I have finished. :)

Here is my "Around About" bag found on Ravelry, it is an AmyBel bag and I LOVE IT!!! I have actually bought 1/2 of the wool needed for the next bag I plan on making. Don't tell anyone this but I had this bag "finished" in mid September and was too scared to felt it because it was my first time! It sat in my closet, my knitting closet that is, until last Wednesday when I finally got the courage to put it in the machine to felt it. I love how it turned out, felting was SOOO easy and I am so very glad I finally got the courage up to do it.

Here is Preemie hat #5, I have to say this is my favorite hat so far! I just love the way it knit up. The yarn is Bernat Baby Jacquard in case anyone is wondering. I am actually going to make one for Olivia in her size because I like it so much. I was just tickled pink with how it turned out.

I finished this dishcloth tonight for a swap I am doing on Ravelry. It is supposed to go out by Sunday so I got it done in the time :). I have to say that I haven't had to concentrate on my knitting as much as I have with this pattern. But I had fun doing it.

Okay... I know this isn't knitting but it is knitting related! My awesome day care provider has been de-stashing my way and I am so so grateful, especially since Mike has put me on a yarn diet the bum, anyway that I have been dying to repay her somehow and I know that she likes pink and she says that you can never have to many knitting notions (I agree) so I made her a set of six pink and white jeweled stitch markers. I was so happy with those that I kept on going and made a bunch more for myself and/or friends. I am actually thinking seriously about selling some at a craft bazaar with my day care provider. They were so easy and fun to make, not to mention in-expensive. What do you think? Would you buy some stitch markers like these if they were the right price?

I am now working on Preemie hat #6, my first blue one. It is knitting up cute and should be finished soon. Possibly even tonight if I am able to pull away from Grey's Anatomy enough. I am also working on my first lace scarf, although it is using worsted weight yarn and size 8 needles, but I am getting the concept down! There are some tricky stitches in lace and I have to concentrate on that pretty hard too. I guess not everything knits up as fast as a preemie hat huh?

Anyway, I promised an update and update I did! :) Till next time...

Happy Knitting!!!

An update is in order

And will be delivered VERY soon!!! Like when Olivia goes to bed tonight soon :). I have been knitting and felting and making other things. Lots to share and pictures to go with it.

Until then...

Happy Knitting!

Preemie Hat #4

I have finished preemie hat #4, but this is the first one that I am not happy with. I used the pattern I found on Ravelry for "Ellen's Ruffled Hat" but mine SO does not look like that! I used Plymouth Dreambaby DK yarn and I fear that was my mistake... I am going to try to wash it and see if it shrinks up a little, but if I am not happy I am afraid I am going to have to redo my preemie hat #4!.

Does anyone out there have any tips for me as to why this went bad? I used the needles that it called for, I also used a DK weight yarn as the pattern called for, but it just didn't work so well... It is almost too loose. The decreases at the top are REALLY loose and have big holes, but I didn't drop any stitches. I just don't know and need some advice. Really, would the fact that the yarn is 50% acrylic microfiber and 50% nylon make the difference? See the pictures below :)

This knitter needs advice... and it is MUCH APPRECIATED...

Happy Knitting!

Phew...

Well, we are moved in and the knitting room is a room in progress! I was a little disappointed when I discovered just how little of the room that I actually got, but I think I can make it work. I am going to have to, right? I say this because....

A little room is better than no room at all

Right?

Yeah, I will just keep telling myself that.

Oh I have also discovered that at this point it is wise for me to keep my yarn in totes for my beautiful 16 month old likes to play with Mommy's pretties. I am not going to complain because 1. she hasn't gotten into anything to terrible yet and 2. I just can't complain about anything she does. I don't even complain when she screams at bedtime or won't listen to me. I am so blessed to have her. She is just the coolest darn kid EVER!

I know this is a knitting blog, but it is my knitting blog and I can brag about my baby if I want :).

Speaking of knitting I finished Preemie hat # 3 tonight. I can't remember if I have shared this yet (and I am too darn lazy to look) but I have a goal to make 30 preemie hats to donate by Christmas. I know that may not seem like a lot but to me it is a big number especially since I have only been knitting since April!

In fact here are some pictures....

This is preemie hat #1 I found this pattern on Ravelry under Carissa Knits

Here is preemie hat #2- this hat is a mock cable and was found on Ravelry as well.

Finally preemie hat #3 - this is yet another Ravelry find (I LOVE Ravelry) it is a spiral pattern

This next hat is not a preemie hat and the picture is pretty crappy but it is the first hat I have made for my baby girl. I still have to do the ear flaps and the i cords but they will come before winter.

Anyway, it is late and this post took longer than I anticipated...

Happy Knitting!

Excitement

I get a room for my knitting stuff!!! Yes, sure it has to be shared with the hubby's office stuff but I get to organize a good section of it for MY STUFF!!!!

I will be off the computer for a few days because, yep you guessed it, we are moving! We signed the lease on a house last night and will be frantically packing and then unpacking. Life is going to be so crazy for a few days, but alas if i get a room for my knitting then it is going to be worth it!

Here's to a quick and uneventful move. I will have lots of pictures and finished projects when I blog next.

Happy Knitting!

How I love Wednesday's (even though it is Thursday)

Why do I love Wednesday's? Why it is knit night of course! I get to have some "Mommy time" and go to a local restaurant with some other knitters and knit and chat to our hearts content. Really does a mommy good, even if I am the working mommy type. Sometimes I feel guilty leaving her if I haven't seen her all day, does it make me a bad mom to leave her with daddy anyhow? I sure hope not.

Do you know what else I have discovered lately? My friend and co-worker said it best "knitters are just nice people." And you know what? WE ARE!!!! We will happily share a pattern, we are quick to pull out a tape measure if someone needs it, we almost always have scissors on our person or at least in our knitting bags.

Yes, you caught me... I said bags. I bet you could ask any knitter how many bags they have and any on of us is going to have to answer with at least more than one! I know, I have only been knitting since April and their isn't a bag that I see that I don't say to myself... "hmm... could that be a knitting bag?" or "oh, I bet that would make an AWESOME knitting bag." I think it drives my hubby a little crazy, but hey that's okay there are a lot of things that he does that drives me crazy!

Anyway, just some thoughts.

Happy knitting!

Uh oh...

Yes, I am afraid to say the time has already come for a yarn purchasing diet :(. That in no way means I am going to put up the knitting needles nor does it mean that if I stumble upon some free yarn I won't take it. I just can't purchase any for the rest of September at the very least.

I have had to tell my darling husband to be mean if he has to because I have spent entirely way too much money on purchasing yarn in the last few months!

I however have been the recipient of some hand me down yarn from my friend and day care provider. As I have said before she is the person who instructed me on my new journey into the world of knitting and I will be forever grateful to her! I love this!

I unfortunately haven't done much knitting for the past few days :(, you see I have been sick and sleeping. I have been dreaming of projects and have almost finished a hat for my baby girl. I hope to have the pictures posted tomorrow of a finished product.

Until then...

Happy Knitting!
C~

Yarn Swap night!

Yes, I am adding to my stash AGAIN and I love it! Tonight was the "Yarn Swap" at the Tigard Knitting Guild and I pretty much scored :). I love knitting so much and the yarn and goodies that go with it make it even better!!!

Let me recap what I got...

I got 9 skeins of this for a grand total of, are you ready for this? You sure? 50 cents!!! Yes that is right, a whole 50 cents. I didn't even pay the darn 50 cents because I had to borrow it from a friend because I didn't have any coins. Yikes huh!

I got the following four skeins for a total of $3! Considering one of these skeins alone is $4 I did pretty good!

This skein and one other one were free, I am going to do some baby hats with them, I just love knitting hats and baby hats are GREAT and they make me feel like I am doing something good. Plus sometimes I knit hats for my own sweet baby girl, she is my biggest inspiration!

This is probably one of my favorite purchases... got the Lantern Moon bag for $2! I am seeing a pattern forming here, I am addicted to knitting, yarn, needles, AND now project bags!

Anyway, it has been a long day and I am getting sick :(.

Happy Knitting!

Confession

I am a yarn-a-holic... nuff said...

New Loot

Yep, I spent more money tonight on yarn and other knitting essentials!

What more could I need one may ask?

Well, if you are a knitter you will understand :) if you aren't then I'm sorry maybe you should try knitting so you do understand. Haha

Probably my best score is this umbrella swift, I got it for $10! I have heard they go for a lot more than that, like 50-60 for some models. This will make it so much easier to wind that yarn up into those cool balls instead of the crappy hand wound balls that twist my yarn all up. I also won't have to have Mike or myself standing there with yarn wrapped around our arms. WOO HOO I got all these sets of double pointed needles, DPNs, for $6!!!!
This Noro yarn was free, only because my friend and day care provider ROCKS and told me what something was :).Cascade 220 will I think eventually become something very nice... What? I am not sure yet, but that is the beauty of knitting you don't have to know all the time especially if you get two skeins for the price of less than one!
This Lamb's pride was probably my "splurge" of the sale because I could have gotten it for a little more brand new but the bottom two skeins haven't been used and the first two have obviously... However they all knit up the same, the used stuff just requires a bit more yarn changes, right? :). My friend and co-worker has given me the Lamb's Pride bug, I just know i am going to LOVE it!

Anyway, just had to share my loot.

Happy Knitting!

Oh no... not already

This was NOT something I wanted to do so soon into my blogging journey but darn it, I can't figure this out and it is frustrating!!!

What is wrong?

I am yarn dumb, that is what is wrong....

I am wanting to start another preemie hat and THOUGHT I had some good yarn to do so, well, that is what I get for thinking! Apparently the yarn that I have which is a 3 ply baby yarn is NOT the same as the Bernat yarn that I used for the first hat. The problem I have is, well I have a few problems actually, starts with the gauge. I have a pattern I want to use but I have no idea how to adjust this pattern to fit the yarn that I want to use. I must have cast on 4 different times tonight and frogged every single one. I really want to use this yarn given I got a killer deal on it (see yesterdays post) and I have 2 1/2 skeins of it.

Oh well... I guess I will just move on, but as many people already know moving on and myself do not get along... I am so the type of person who is pretty darn determined to make something work and sometimes I won't even go to bed until it is good. Unfortunately I cannot do that this evening as I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow. So I will have to scour Ravelry for a different pattern that I CAN use this yarn for and keep the yarn that I already know works for the pattern that I already have.

If anyone out there wants to give the yarn dumb a lesson or some direction feel free, I am up for comments. :)

Happy Knitting!

How do you know you are addicted to knitting?

Well, I have a few ways to test...

1. You order the Knit Picks ball winder on a friends order, gotta save that shipping cost, and it arrives a few days earlier than expected... So you get up early on a Saturday morning to go pick it up so you don't have to wait until Monday to have fun with it.

2. You are so excited about the ball winder that you decide you want to go looking for yarn to wind because the stuff you have in your already huge stash isn't "good enough" (although it really is)... Then the first place you go to you score all this yarn for $6.99!

3. Then you score this yarn for $2.99

4. Oh but wait... Don't forget about this loot for $3.99! Plus this loot came with a bunch of other miscellaneous crap that I probably won't use, but hey, can't beat the yarn deal!

Yep, I pretty much think I am addicted! My husband agrees 100% and rolled his eyes with each and every purchase. To which I say, hmmm, sorry... I will try to do better.

Truthfully the stash I was the most excited about was stash #2 because I am starting a new project. I am going to do some good with my addiction. I am making hats for babies, preemies and full term and I am going to donate them some hospitals around the area. Here is my first hat that was finished on Friday.

That's all for now.

Happy Knitting!

Knitting

Wow, after many revisions I think I may finally be happy with the look of my blog. I bet though that may soon change.

I guess an introduction is in order... I am Charity and I started knitting in April 2009 and am completely 100% addicted! I have a beautiful little girl, Olivia, and a handsome husband Mike to whom I have been married to for almost 3 years. My daughter's awesome day care provider, Shannon, taught me the foundation of knitting and also directed me to one of my greatest learning tools to date, You Tube videos! I can watch them as many times as I want and sit in front of my computer with my knitting in hand until I get what I am trying to do. Without sounding too sappy, I really feel like finding knitting has made me a different person. I LOVE IT! Of course, I love my family and God more, but knitting is up there :).

Aside from my family, I have never had a passion for something like I do for knitting. I can't wait for the project, okay projects, I am working on to finish up so I can cast on my next one. Seeing the finished product and knowing that I created it is a feeling that is so great, I almost can't describe it.

This blog will be for me to just show off what I am working on, talk about the troubles I am having with a certain project, or to talk about what I am planning to work on. If I am inspired to do something I will talk about it, or if I start something and hate it I will share that too.

I am not that witty, although I sure try to be so hopefully some one somewhere may find some humor in my posts, if not then it just wasn't my day!

Looking forward to tracking my knitting! :)

Happy Knitting!

First Post

I have decided to add a public blog about my knitting.