Learnin' Something New

How to incorporate a lesson for the home school kid AND a little knitting time for mom? Hmm... how about a new cast-on!
Said kid was sitting at the table, working on an assignment and I was at the computer typing in 'stretchy cast-on' when I noticed kid peeking at what I was doing. I reminded him to get working and I just kept at it too. When he heard my frustrated grunt (probably more like a bad word) he pops up and says.. "Mom! I can show you how to do that." Okay Boy Wonder, go for it. He did try and he ended up grunting like me, way too frustrating. We kept at it for a few minutes but pretty soon we were laughing too hard to accomplish much of anything.
I know, I know,  the kid was all into helping me because it kept me distracted from making him get his language assignment done, but.. sigh... it sure was fun! AND how often do I get a boy to be completely interested in what you're doing?  In my house, that's pretty much a big never.
Boy and I ~ tossing the language assignment aside ~ plugged away some more and came up with a cast-on that seems to be stretchy and is fairly simple. Thank goodness for you tube videos or we might still be goofing of! In the end we decided that we should make our own YouTube video using me and my knitting as the actor and Boy as the director! **If you listen closely you can hear him yawning!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEZa0XsALaA&feature=my_favorites&list=FLoUQdToma8NlIfs9MjYVp9g

Warning! It isn't a wonderful video and I leave a few things out.. like when I'm saying... "you wrap IT around.." Wrap what? Sorry.. you wrap the working yarn around. I had a limited time budget with this video ~ Boy Wonder was ready to go back to his work after boring ol' knitting!

New Year Resolution(s)

Now that Christmas is over and all the racing around finishing up of things is over... it's time to start it all over again!! Oh boy, oh boy!! No... I'm not really doing a happy dance ~ just trying to figure it all out so next year I'm not rapidly trying to finish up seventeen bazillion things all at once!
I've often thought and tried (not that hard obviously) to get started on Christmas projects right after the holidays. Right during that lull in January which lasts through the end of winter and uh oh... oh no~ somehow it's Fall once again and I haven't gotten much (if anything done). Now the crunch time starts all over again and it really is time to start thinking about what to make the family for Christmas. *Sigh*  No matter what my intentions are, it never seems that I have enough follow through to get me ahead of the game.  I make resolutions. I do. I try to follow them ~ Hey! I even write them down on paper so I won't forget.... now what did I do with those papers? Geez.......
Everyone around me seems to have their stuff together and never seems to be as frazzled as me at the end of the year ~ how come!? How did they do that? They either fake it really (really) well or they make resolutions at the beginning of the year and STICK TO THEM. Like I said... how do they do that?
Every year I start out the same way. I say I'm going to stick to my resolutions. I make them, I do. Every New Year ~ just like everyone I know!  I plan it all out and I try. I do.  I work really well on them for about a month (sometimes two) but then... pffftt. They're gone. Like a puff of smoke ~ gone.
So why should this year be any different? Because it ends with a 3?   How about just BECAUSE. My kid loves that one, let's try that... Just  B E C A U S E.
Better yet, how about because I want to.   Really. I want to be ahead of the yarn game and have all my stuff in a group.  I want to make things for my family that I know they will love AND not have to run around like a reindeer at the very last minute trying to make things!
How about I start simple? Yeah... that might be a good idea! Why not start with a resolution that isn't impossible to keep... I mean c'mon. I can't possibly start knitting up things for the family for next year now can I? What if the GIL's favorite colors change? What size is the Grand going to be anyway? Do my parents really need seventeen (or thirty) more hand knitted dishtowels and washcloths? Probably not a good idea to make a resolution I couldn't possibly keep. Right?
I think I shall start small. I could even start right here and right now.  I'm going to try... I really will....  Here goes...
a good resolution for me to make and that will have even a small hope of being kept......
I will (try?) shop in my own yarn stuff first!  I will try my hardest to not immediately head off to the yarn store for inspiration~ I'm pretty sure I could find some in all the yarn I have at my house.
What do you think? A good one huh?   I think I might be able to keep it AND an even bigger score here... I'm thinking Big will agree!!  I think he would totally agree with shopping the yarn stash first!
 Let's start with that then ~ a resolution that will (maybe?) stick. I'm not even going to write this one down! In fact.. I'm going to implement it right now! I'm thinking of another pair of socks to make, this time with some sort of pattern on them so I better get heading off to the yarn condo to find just the right yarn!
*IF I look there first and I don't find something I like.... that means I get to go to the store, right? Right?  This may be harder than I think........

Christmas is Complete

Merry Christmas Everyone!! This little guy was more happy with the wrapping paper and eating it than anything else! I made him the bat-hat (pictured below) but obviously it's too big. Oh well... he'll grow! In the meantime it looks like it works pretty well for his dad.

Jax's dad wearing the bat-hat! This is all pretty funny because the hat I made for my son (Jax's dad) didn't really fit him so it went to my brother, and the hat I made for Jax didn't fit him so it went to his dad. Follow all that? Ha-ha! All it means is that I now have to make one more hat for my son so he doesn't wear out the bat-hat!

The Capitan hat I made for GIL 2 (granddaughter in-law #2) sure looks cute on her! I whipped up her mitts while driving from Detroit to home so they  took less than 4 hours to make! I like using bulky yarns and big needles!

I made the Shatki hat in this lovely pink for the DIL! Aren't the girls cuuuuute? I think so!

 

Even the teenager GIL seems to like her hat! This is the Shroom hat pattern I found over at knitty.com
 

Judging by these pictures I think my Christmas projects were a huge success!

 

**if you click on the high-lighted text it will take you to either Ravelry.com or Knitty.com where you can find the patterns **

No New Posts

There have been no new posts in quite a while... did you notice? LOL I did.
#1 reason... busy! #2 reason... CHEAP! Blogger wants me to change to a new web album system that requires payment on my part for storing my pictures on the blog. Boo. I thought about it; am still thinking about it and I'm not sure it's worth it for me. Oh believe me! I know I have loads to say.... just not sure that putting no pictures along with all those words is going to work for me.
I think that I will be changing to a new blog format and host, but......... for now........
No news is well, no news ! Happy Holidays Everyone!

Crossing Things off my List!

I'm making a list, checking it twice..... yeah.. you can sing that~! I totally did!
My Christmas list is growing and I'm finally starting to check things off!
It seems that  I spend an awful lot of time [on Pinterest or Ravelry] just looking at things and thinking about how I could make this or that, and then even more time thinking about who I could make it for.
Doesn't seem like a whole lot of time actually goes into the knitting... sigh... and even less time seems to go toward actually finishing things. Bigger sigh...
I like the process of knitting. I really do. I'm not so much into the finishing up... I hate sewing in those ends! I really do like the process. The complete process but mostly just the beginning... oh! And the middle. The actual knitting! I like the buying of the yarn (yeah.. I admit it!), the rhythm of the needles through the yarn and reading a pattern, but... somehow I'm so sad when it's all done! You would think that would be the best reward; the ending of one totally means I get to do it all over again... but it's not the same.
Oh well...... BECAUSE I spent so much time on Ravelry Friday morning I found this adorable knit hat with a brim!! I was looking for something to make for DIL (daughter-in-law) and I fell in love with this hat!
I started this on Friday afternoon and WA-LA! I just finished it this morning! All I had to do was sew the buttons on and attach the band across the front!  It really should have been finished yesterday morning, but I was too lazy to go upstairs and get a needle that would fit through the holes on the button! ~Really I think I was just not wanting to finish it... that whole process thingy again....

Isn't it cute?? I'm not a hat wearer but I think even I might like one of these! It's a pattern I found on Ravelry called 'Capitan' by Rosi G. *click on the highlighted text there to go directly to the link*  It's a free pattern and it's a nice easy, rhythmic knit.  Like I said, I started Friday afternoon and was finished by Saturday morning. I just goofed off rather than totally putting it together so this probably took less than 6 hours to make.  The pattern calls for a really dreamy (read $$) soft, bulky yarn but I chose to use a washable yarn (cheaper) that I found on sale!! The bulky yarn and using a size 10, 16 inch circular needle meant it knitted up mega fast!
 DIL's favorite color is pink in any shade so I think I managed to cross something off my list and put it in the total win WIN column!!  Now I'm off to make another, this time in purple for GIL (12 year old granddaughter-in-law)! I'll time the next one from start to finish and let you know how long it takes!

Hunkerin' Down

How to prepare for a 'Frankenstorm'? Why,  head off to a yarn store of course!! Definitely the best way to um... 'prepare' for a big storm! We could be without power for days! Weeks even. Must. Have. Supplies!
Kiddo prepared every water bottle, pan, and container with a lid that we owned with clean water. We had enough food, water and ice to make it through at least a week!  Our counter tops looked like we were preparing for a hurricane or something! We even bought snacks! Junk food!! Chips & dip; that sort of stuff! Hey! Don't judge. Big left the day of preparation for parts unknown yet again... Boy & I needed to have something to do right?! We had library books, games, schoolwork and all sorts of stuff to do, but junk food seemed right!! As did the trip to the yarn store!!
Two friends and I bundled up and headed out into the impending storm....... whatever. It was just starting to rain and the wind hadn't even started to blow. That just sounded so much cooler than what we actually did.... we ditched the kids and took off to spend some time in our favorite LYS!  (local yarn store!) We then went to the busy, crazy grocery store too.... so we weren't entirely selfish. Geez.
Don't worry Big... cuz' I know you're reading this... I only bought 2 maybe 3 things.... AND it was stuff I needed!! Totally!! Just ask the girls who went with me!!
I got some black Cascade 220 Superwash which is my favorite and I needed it. Needed it. Really. I couldn't make Boyo a green & black striped hat without it! Cool thing about it is, other than it's yummy self... is that I can make 2 hats out of this stuff! Big scores another hat!!
AND I get to keep my fingers busy on a not so challenging, but very distracting project~ which is exactly the type of stuff to work on when you are stuck at home, in a Frankenstorm, with a bored kid.
This is what I did to hunker down during the storm
(and to maintain some sort of sanity....)

 Cascade 220 Superwash in black & bright green! The colors kiddo picked! This is boy's version and I'm finishing up Big's version. Same colors, just a bit bigger!!

*Pattern*
I used size 9, 16 inch circular (pattern called for 10.5's)
Cast on 80 stitches. Join in round. Mark the beginning of round.
Knit 2, Purl 2 all the way around. x2 rounds.
Change color and knit 2, purl 2 ~ continue in pattern for two more rows. **** Do one round as normal... on 2nd round of contrast color.....slip first stitch as if to purl !! It will elongate the stitch on that first row which joins them up every so nicely! 
Next row...  change back to main color and do two more rounds *first round as normal, 2nd round slip that first stitch as if to purl!
Continue in 2x2 rib pattern until hat measures 6 inches from cast on edge.
Next round.... continue in pattern! Place marker every 16th stitch.
Next round... pattern up to 2 stitches before marker... knit those two together (doesn't matter if they are purl stitches). Repeat all the way around... knitting 2 together before each marker. (5sts decreased)
Do one row even (continue in pattern)
Alternate those last two rounds x3 (60 sts)
Next knit 2 together before markers every row x4 rows (40sts)
Now knit 2 together EVERY stitch x2 rows  (10sts)
Break yarn and sew it through all stitches left!
Weave in ends and plunk on your kid's head!!

IF we had gotten the worst of what the storm center had predicted; I would probably still be knitting more hats!~ Lucky for us the weather wasn't as bad as what was called for!

Big and the Necessary Evils

Big (the hubs) thinks I have way too much stuff.  *HE not me!  Feels that there might be a little bit of a problem happening over here in Cupcake land.....
It's not my fault. It really isn't. It's certainly not my fault that there are places like Pinterest, Etsy and (oh no!) Ravelry. Someone took the time to create the wonderful hand knit, handmade, yummy things on those sites AND post their patterns...so obviously it must be some sort of an obligation on my part to make some of them! Right?! Can I get a 'heck yeah'!!?? Yeah! Oh yeah... A necessary evil to help out the world of creative people and get my own creative juices flowing at the same time!  I don't see a problem and I certainly don't see where it is my fault that the creative world requires a certain amount of 'stuff'! 
Another thing that makes the amount of this creative stuff seem a bit too much..... knitting needle (notions too) manufacturer's and pattern creators must work in cahoots!  I mean c'mon! How come every stinkin' time I go to make something I end up having to go buy more yarn (snicker) and usually a new needle or two? Seriously.  IF my favorite designer(s) would just work within the confines of my needle/yarn/stuff stash it would be all good.... sigh...
See what I mean? It totally isn't my fault that I have so much stuff. It really isn't. I mean really. I've made stuff for just about everyone in my family and they love it! So.. the necessary hardship of buying another needle set, circular, straight, cable... whatever... is totally justified. Totally. 
More yarn? Ha! That's a given. Pattern calls for certain kind of yarn = another trip over to the yarn store. Duh! Not my fault that another skein of something yummy spoke to me from the shelf....
yeah, yeah... you've heard them too so don't act like I'm all schizo or somethin'.....
Wanting to make something for someone means you gotta buy stuff. Have to. It's necessary. Totally. Must lay out certain amount of cash and then the time to do it.  So... since I'm already at the store.. what's a little extra yarn or a notion or two in the scheme of things? He he he....
My stuff really isn't a problem until Big sees it and then starts snooping around looking around and realizes that hey! She's got more stuff. Keep your hands off of my stuff Big & nobody gets hurt!
The only time it honestly gets to be a problem is when stuff starts to pile up.... which is why I organize!! It's all neat & tidy at my house. Okay.. usually it's neat & tidy.
That means storage!  All right... for the hubs... hiding it! Another necessary evil... make sure the hubs doesn't see it all at once. Might be overwhelming for him and he would then have a problem. Or I would...
I've come up with some pretty creative ways to store my stuff and yep! A lot of it is right out in the open! I have a lovely bowl with some lovely (read expensive) yarn in it. I had to have it ~admittedly an impulse buy and I totally don't want it to sit in the drawer all lonely & forgotten.  It's necessary (See? There is that word again) for it to be out on 'display'! Which just means that my house has a certain ambiance if you will. Cozy. Yarn is cozy & that's the designer look I'm going for.
I've cleaned up and cleaned out. Really. Don't laugh. I have. I've gone through some of the stuff that has been given to me and passed it on to some new crocheters & knitters. I've also sold some and even done the obvious... just didn't buy any. That hurts let me tell ya'.
This whole yarn/knitting thing has created a vicious cycle... to make more you must buy more. To buy more you must have a wonderful hubby like mine who loves you enough to turn a blind eye to the stuff poking out of drawers and cupboards!  I just need to make sure that he gets into the habit of checking the couch for yarn and/or needles prior to sitting......
 Even Big knows that more yarn and more yarn related things are a necessary evil for the warm hats, scarves and sweaters he wears!  Like I said Big... stay out of my stuff ..... and do not open any drawers, cupboards, closets without prior approval!