2010 Goals

I swear that I have started and stopped this blog like 10 times in the past week. I wanted to write this wonderful blog reflecting on this past year and looking forward to next year, but I just can't seem to find the right words when I'm sitting in front of my computer. So here goes...

This last year has been an interesting year. There has been a lot of good and bad during this year. It started out a little rough with my Great Aunt Shirley passing away, but then my wonderful nephew was born. I really got into my hobby of knitting while dealing with an abnormal biopsy of a mole that my dermatologist removed and abandoned my fitness routine. There are things that happened during this past year that will alter the path that my life was going prior to the years start and it is a little scary facing what those changes will bring but I know that with God and my family by my side it will all work out somehow.

Looking to this next year there is a lot to look forward to. Definitely a deepening in my relationship with Brian as well as just experiencing a fresh new year and decade. I look forward to the opportunities this year will be bringing. It is a big year birthday wise, my nephew will be turning 1, me 25 and my Grandma will be 80. Kind of amazing how it all lands in the same year.

I don't like to make resolutions every year, but I do have some goals for 2010. Some of these goals relate to knitting and some are just goals that I continue to make every year.

My goals for this next year:

1) Learn to knit socks
2) Blog more frequently
3) Learn to knit cables
4) Keep my place cleaned up
5) Knit a sweater
6) Go cash only and don’t pull money out of savings

I also want to get back to eating healthier and get into a fitness routine again, finding a balance between my knitting addiction and being in good shape.

Speaking of knitting addiction...I spun some of the fiber from my Phat Fiber Sampler Box tonight. The great thing about this box is that I feel like the fiber is great for me to practice with. I only spent $33 for the whole box and I got a lot of fiber in the box that I can spin. I may end up just spinning all of it for practice in trying to master the drop spindle technique then knitting it up into a little square or something. The fiber I used tonight was from Desired Haven Farm and the colorway was called Nebula. The colors were gorgeous and I really wish that my spinning was better. I may see about unspinning the whole thing and just trying again. I just can't seem to get my yarn to thin out when I'm using the drop spindle so my yarn ends up being the size of superbulky before I even ply it with anything else. I guess that is why I've heard that you really need to practice consistently to be good at using the drop spindle.

Happy New Year Everyone! Maybe I'll post pictures of my spinning failure some other time.

Christmas is coming!

I'm home at my parents and about to enjoy a week and a half off of work! I don't have to be back until the new year! I know it is going to be really hard to go back when the time comes but I think I will be ready too.

I flew on the airplane tonight to get here and I knitted the whole way, also while I was waiting in the airport. My plane was actually on time for once, unlike last years debacle of being delayed two hours then having to taxi back to the runway because of the idiot talking about planting bombs. I was actually a little disappointed. I was expecting a delay and thus more time to work on my brothers scarf in the airport. As it is I think I will be wrapping it up, unfinished, with a giant hershey kiss and a note saying to be continued. then I could atleast get his opinion on how long he wants the damn, I mean amazing scarf to be.

I am also working on a neckwarmer for my sister-in-law and want to make one more than the one I'm working on. She isn't really expecting me to have anything done for her yet so I know she will patiently wait for everything to be done, but if I play my cards right I will have it all completed for her by the time I head back down to my home in So Cal next Tuesday.

I was able to order a box of samples from Phat Fiber last Friday and was shocked to find the box in my cottage on Monday. I am still flabergasted at how fast it was shipped to me. I am also extremely excited about all of the samples in the box. It was hard to pack on Monday because I wanted to play with all of the new fiber and yarn that I received. But it will have to wait until I go back down next week, at which point I will definitely be spinning some yarn from the fibers I received and thinking of cool things to do with the nifty yarn samples I received. I am already scoping out all of the cool stitch markers found at Yarn Demon after admiring the amazingly cute stitch marker that was included in my sampler box.

Okay, off to bed because I have to wake up in like 6 hours to take my mom to work so I can have a vehicle to use tomorrow.

Broken Needle and the Cantankerous Scarf

I believe that I have posted about my brother's scarf before. The one that I probably couldn't have chosen anything more difficult to make. Not only is this scarf double knit, but it is also made out of black yarn which means it is difficult to tell the difference between the two sides. If this weren't enough I am making it out of Paton's Bamboo Silk. I've been able to charge through the scarf and am actually enjoying the pattern. I wish I had started it earlier so I wouldn't be stressed about finishing it in time for Christmas day.

While I've been stressed to finish this scarf I woke up one morning and put it back in my knitting bag. I then looked at my bed where the project had been laying and I saw this...
Yup, my Knit Picks needles fell off the base. Grr! So I sent a message to Knit Picks customer service and they immediately responded and have shipped a replacement to me. In the mean time I am borrowing a set from one of the wonderful ladies in my knitting group.

I think this scarf is a reflection on the year that my brother has gone through. Not stuff that I want to talk about online, but this isn't the most difficult thing my brother has presented this year.

On to happier news, I am almost done with my wonderful sister-in-laws hats. I just need to think up a little pattern for neck warmers and get some buttons for the neck warmers. Should be fun. I hope I can get it all done by Christmas.

While on Ravelry I found out about this cool Etsy shop that sells a sampler box once a month. You can check them out at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/phatfiber. I tried to get the sampler box last month but was unsuccessful. I'm happy to say that I was successful this month and can't wait to receive my box in the mail.

I have also been enjoying receiving my orders from Loopy Ewe (http://www.loopyewe.com/) They have such a huge selection of yarn and fiber! I can't keep myself off of the site. I need to stop going on there and shopping. Well at least for a little while, until I can knit up all of the lovely yarn I bought.

Off to bed I go so I can rest up and hopefully beat getting sick before I head up to my parents this time. It seems like a curse, every time I go to see them I get sick before I go up and am sick the whole time I'm there. It sucks!

Merry Christmas everyone! and if I don't post again before then, Happy New Year!

The Trifecta of Clean

My cottage, car and desk are clean currently! I think this is the first time this has happened since I moved to SoCal. I am really enjoying it and want to keep it this way so I have been making myself pick everything up every night and every morning. This is going to get hard after the holidays. I know that I will come home after receiving many wonderful gifts from my family and not quite know where to put them. The nice thing is that I will have a few days off of work to relax and find a place to put everything.

My brother's scarf is moving along. I finished the first set of yarn balls and have moved onto the second set. The first set gave me a little over 20 inches so I will need at least 2 more sets, and will probably want to move into the third set before finishing the scarf. I really want the scarf to be over 6 feet long but may have to finish it at a shorter length due to a lack of time.

I started my second hat with some Merino yarn and am loving how soft it is. I'm excited that this will be a very warm hat for my sis-in-law.

I guess I'll blog...

I've never been good at keeping a diary and of course am horrible about keeping up on a blog. I keep thinking about things I want to write about, like how much I'm enjoying knitting my brother's Christmas present, but then I just don't want to take the time to write a whole blog about it. Why don't I take the time to write the blog? Well because I'm too busy hanging out on Ravelry or knitting.

I finally finished the Never Ending Scarf a little over a month ago. DBF's sister loved it and I hope to see her wearing it in the near future with some sort of embellishment of her choice.

My brother's scarf has been amazing to work on. I had to teach myself how to double knit with it. Let me just say that double knitting with black yarn for my first project probably wasn't the best idea, but the scarf is turning out amazing. I may have to keep it for myself if he doesn't show enough interest in it.

I finished my first hat this last week. It is meant to be a gift for Christmas but I might keep it for myself because it looks that cute on me and it is rare that I like a hat on me. Plus I made it for my sister-in-law and I found out after making it that she doesn't really want a black hat. And I bought a bunch of yarn from the Loopy Ewe to make her some different hats and scarves for Christmas. I added a bead to the black hat tonight. Not sure if I like it. Judge for yourself. The top pic is with the bead and the bottom pic is without.


I don't think there is much else going on. Just gearing up for the holidays and trying to get over this stupid cold before DBFs birthday this weekend.

The Never Ending Scarf and more

I have been working on this black and white scarf for what seems like forever. I originally started the scarf as a learning experience to teach myself how to knit with two colors. I chose the cheapest yarn I could find, which of course is acrylic. Using acrylic yarn didn't bug me before I started attending a knitting group, but now I realize how not fun acrylic is to knit with. I prefer working on my blanket that is made of super soft yarns and I'm looking forward to knitting with the bamboo silk I bought for the scarf I will be making for my brother. But I must persevere to finish a project since I am only allowing myself to work on two projects at a time.