two

So my blog is turning two in a few days, and since I did a giveaway on my first blogiversary and-it-was-fun-but-I'm-not-necessarily-starting-a-tradition-or-anything-so-don't-count-on-it-every-year-but-you-never-know-cause-I'm-sort-of-fond-of-traditions....here's another giveaway. Enough Dale of Norway/Dalegarn 'Heilo' to make my Seeds hat pattern. I'll throw in a hardcopy of the pattern and send you the pdf, too.

So leave a comment about whatever you're doing /thinking/knitting and I'll pick one using a random number generator on the day - Saturday Jan. 29th - 9:00 pm CST.

Thanks for stopping by and hope your weekend is going great!

the weather outside is frightful

Sant'Angelo check-in. This is going to be lovely and warm once it's done and I'm looking forward to finishing, since it's rather cold right now. I've decided I want a whole closetful of stranded sweaters. Gobs and gobs of 'em.

Speaking of stranded, I'm sure you've caught the Harlot's great post about working with multiple yarns at once. I especially enjoyed #6, as it's so easy to be frustrated when learning a new skill. I also hear many many people say they consider themselves unable to even attempt stranded knitting / steeking, etc. in the first place. To you I say 'be fearless, friend!' Have the spirit of adventure. If it's something you really want to learn, then just go for it. Accept that you will suck at it for a bit. Like everything, it gets better the more you do it. Start small, but start somewhere.

I also want to mention this designer whose ingenious brain churns out amazing stranded creations: isn't Connie's dress fabulous??

Stay warm and have a happy weekend.

2010 knits

I always feel like I have about 12% of the time I wish I had to knit/design/dream about everything I want to knit. Today I've been looking over everyone's collages of their year's knitting and decided to do one myself since I've never done that before. It made me realize I knit more than I thought I did last year. If I included my many WIPs (shudder) I would have almost as many again.

I've tried to write out a knitting schedule for myself for the next several seasons to plan my projects. That 12% of time is so quickly filled by an activity that can sometimes feel so slow. Immensely enjoyable. But slow. So time is precious. Some resolutions, inspired by craftivore, are also prodding me to best organize this 12%:

1. knit more projects I design

2. knit only what I love

3. finish up that WIP backlog

4. knit down the stash

5. get the 6-yr-old knitting to help with #'s 1-4

Here's to a new year. Happy knitting!

end of year calm

We're enjoying a quiet week off after the excitement of Christmas and luckily the weather is fantastic (we haven't had the blizzards so many others have lately). Today was warm and bright and the perfect morning for a walk in the woods.

We're lucky to have a 700 acre oak/aspen forest and marshland right near our house, which is where we walked today with our little friend Kira who we're dog-sitting for a week. She's wonderful and fun.

and some knitting content...

When my Mom saw my Shadow cardigan she wanted one too, so I made this for her. The yarn is SweetGeorgia Yarns superwash sport in 'Blackberry'. I love this yarn and will definitely use it again. They're in Vancouver and sell roving as well as yarn bases in many gorgeous colourways.

I hope you're having a great week too.

I think I have a thing for snowmen

I hope your holidays are full of joy and the coming year brings you many wonderful things. See you in 2011.

14.12

So today's my birthday (as it is every year) and, like every year, it's a weird mix of freezing cold weather, excitement and stress about the upcoming holidays, and a burning desire to just sit and breathe deeply for a minute and enjoy the day.

Since my last birthday I finally got off my butt and put to paper some of the designs I had in my head and I'm really grateful for your support and feedback. So for my birthday I thought I would make my patterns 50% off for the next week ('til midnight on the 21st). The discount should appear at checkout.

I have many many more in the works, so next year's sale should be more significant. Thanks, you guys. May you have a peaceful and joyous december 14th.

everybody (yeah), rock your body (yeah)*

* stuck in my head after seeing the Backstreet Boys on the American Music Awards. My daughter guessed every single winner correctly minus the Alternative category. She knows music.

The body is done! The topmost rounds were a bit tricky working on 4 dpns, but it's snug and safe on a circular now waiting for the sleeves to join it.

What's also done is the painting. Finally.

So, I'm doing OK at getting ready for the holidays, but I'm a little stuck on a cute, homemade project the kids could make for their teachers, friends, etc. Any ideas? (Speaking of homemade, we have several of these guys hanging out at our house from a few years ago. I have a thing for snowmen). I'm thinking bookmarks? ornaments? pencil toppers?

Happy Hannukah, friends! Hope your weekend's going great.