I'm on a Roll......

Now that I've finally gotten over my inability to start something new........ I'm totally heading in the opposite direction. Which may or may not be a good thing.
Definitely interesting.... that's for sure!
I've decided to knit a neck warmer for my Dad, aka Parental Unit #1. He likes to walk outside every day and in Detroit the weather gets a bit nippy! We are trying to go super simple this year for Christmas and make things rather than buying stuff. Hopefully it will mean more and with my Dad... yeah... it will!
Besides.... this pattern is really simple and doesn't take a whole lot of time to knit up. Unless...... you change something and then you may end up kicking yourself......
Using #8, 16 inch circular needle (Addi Turbo OF COURSE!) cast on 116 stitches with worsted weight yarn. I'm using Cascade 220 in black. ~I have no idea what his favorite color is so black it is!
It's either me (my eyes) or just because the yarn is black, but I find myself needing more light to see what I'm doing. Grrrrr. I totally thought that aging thing would pass me by..........
Anyway.... cast on #116 stitches (or in my case I forgot to count and ended up with 120) and knit 2, purl 2, all the way around and around and around and around! You need about 9 inches total for a nice neck warmer ~which ends up to be almost the entire skein of yarn. (220 yds)
It's a totally mindless, endless pattern, but I can take it anywhere with me and work on it! I've worked on it while waiting in the pharmacy, while waiting in the car and actually while standing in line waiting to pick up the kid! *I can't walk & chew gum but I can knit and stand!*
As I was saying.... it's mindless......... it's kind of boring.......
so... why not pump it up a notch? Um........ yeah........
I've added a pattern. An Intarsia, color work thing that is driving me absolutely ape!
I don't like how my ends look inside, I feel like it's not working right, I want it to be over! Mostly so I can look at it and say....... "Hey! That's not so bad!" Ha... bet that won't happen!

So I started with this. A big ol' print out of something PU #1 (Parental Unit #1) enjoys.......

Transferred it to graph paper. Totally ignoring that it may be (maybe?) too big....

Figured out where the middle of my neck warmer was going to be and started knitting. Following the graph/chart I add an orange stitch where the graph says too......keeping in the k2, p2 pattern. This is what I've got so far. Plus a whole lot of aggravation.
I admit it. I'm a pattern follower and a direction follower. I don't often go off the path.......but I did okay!? I did.
I'm not sure it's really going to look like the initial design ~but that's OK, it's a copyrighted design and I could probably get into trouble if it was exactly like the original. Good reasoning huh? Ha.
I am just over halfway done with adding the design. I have 3 more rows before I start decreasing to make the top part of it. Grrrrrrr.
Now I'm wondering just whose idea it was to add color work to MY knitting anyway...........

Just Need Buttons... and a Baby!

The Moody (Blue) Sweater and matching Baby Bottoms

The Moody (Blue) Sweater and Baby Bottoms are all finished....... except for two little bitty buttons that need to be added to the baby bottom straps. Sigh.... It's the little things that get me!
Two little buttons. That's it & I will be done! All except for waiting for  Baby Jax to be put into said bottoms & sweater!

See the button holes? Just waiting for buttons to be attached to the straps..............

Baby Jax should be here in 2 weeks ~Momma is going to get induced because she's measuring bigger than she should be;  or rather Jax  is measuring bigger! I can hardly wait to meet him and I wish he would hurry up! Maybe if I put the buttons on....... he will get here faster?! LOL yeah right. Buttons do not speed up babies. I'm pretty sure anyway!
These patterns are really super simple. www.knittingpureandsimple.com has them as easy downloads! The sweater is a free pattern and the bottoms are available through a link to patternfish. For some reason Knitting Pure and Simple has changed their sales to Patternfish.
 I think the bottoms pattern was $6.50 which isn't too bad, especially since I definitely am going to be making these again! AND both patterns are written for multiple sizes!! Just what every Grandma Schi-Schu needs!
 I will definitely make this sweater and the bottoms as a pair again! Super duper easy and really didn't take that long! The poor thing has been sitting around in my knitting basket (pile) longer waiting for completion than they took to knit up!

Finishing ?

Why is it that finishing is harder than starting?
Last week (ugh, for the past month almost) I had a hard time finding a new project to start. Too many things that I had to make, too many things I had to do made it really hard to pick just one thing and cast it on! Now that I finally started something, I find myself starting lots of things!
Now I have the opposite problem! Too many things going on and nothing is getting finished. Good grief!
I did finish the Moody (Blue) Sweater! Yay! One thing off the list! But..... then I started three more things!
I'm currently working on a neck warmer for Dad, fingerless gloves for Gil (Girlfriend in-law), and baby bottoms to go with the Moody (Blue) Sweater for Jax. I've even gone ahead and pulled out yarn, needles and patterns for the rest of the things I want to make! I've got little piles all over of stuff I want to do! I'm gonna do! Geez!
I know,  I know, I should finish one thing (just one!) before I cast on something else.... but.... so much yarn, so little time!!! I've got so many ideas rushing around in my head that it's hard to complete just one thing!
Focus? Really? Yeah... I know... it's just so hard!
So how about this?
Every time I sit in the living room......... there is a project on the left side of the love seat that I can work on when I sit there! Now... what if I sit on the right side? Yep. Put one there too! The neck warmer (just the 3rd thing on needles)...... well....... that one I can work on just about anywhere so that goes in my bag for when I'm sitting in the car, waiting in line........ don't worry! It will get done. It will!   In fact... I worked on it today while waiting to pick Big up for lunch! Go me!!
There must be a method to my madness! Somewhere......
In effort to contain some of the madness.... hahahahahaha............
and to complete a project, I've started working on the straps for the baby bottoms. The pattern requires two straps, each 12 inches long be knitted in 1x1 ribbing........

 I knew I would get bored making the straps; 1x1 ribbing is kind of boring, so I cast them both on the same needle!  I just have to make sure that each strap is worked from a separate ball of yarn! Just enough complication to keep it interesting! Ha!  I work one strap, slide it over and then work the other! This way I get 2 straps done in the amount of time it would have taken for one! AND they are both the same size!

The straps need to be 12 inches long and I'm almost there! Just a couple of inches left!!! I'll just have to sew them into the waistband and then sew a little button on the end of each one and attach to the button holes I knitted into the front! Yay!  Almost done!

Then I get to start something else! Whoop!!!