Currently on the Needles

Two very good friends of ours are having a baby soon. Soon meaning the end of this month. We saw them when we were home for the wedding and M is one of those women who is just gorgeous pregnant. She's that girl. As opposed to me, who resembles a beached whale (blubber and all) when I'm pregnant.
It's hard when you're friends are pregnant so far away.
You feel kind of removed from the whole experience.
Which is why I decided that I would knit them the cutest baby blanket I could come up with.
Oh... except I've never knitted a baby blanket before.
But... it's coming along wonderfully.
Oh... except that each row is taking me approximately exactly 15 minutes.
That's a long time for a blanket with over 280 rows.
Ummm...
70 hours of knitting.
I've currently finished about 40 rows.
And the baby is due at the end of the month.
Which means... there's no shot in hell at getting this blanket to them before Christmas.
But... I ♥ a challenge.
So I'm knitting.
New goal... Halloween.
Hey. It could happen.


This is the first stripe. The yarn (unfortunately) isn't knitting up as soft as I'd hoped.

This is the pattern for the first stripe. Every other stripe after this changes patterns, which I'm hoping will keep me interested.

I can do this.

The Miracle of a Hat That Fits.

Well I've done it.

I've actually finished a hat (on the first try) that properly fits my head!

I'll be honest, it's a tiny bit big.

But the beauty of it is that it's a beret. It's okay if it's a little big.

Here's what I started with.

I really wasn't sure if it was going to be anywhere near the right size since I decided to take it on on straight needles and not the circular the pattern called for.

(I know, I know, I could've worked out the gauge in advance, but what's the fun in that?)

Here's where I was at last night. I had just begun decreasing at this point.

I finished it this morning! I was so damn darn (oops... Michael just came in a proof read my post and insisted that I immediately remove that improper adjective) proud of myself, I actually wanted to wear it to work. 115 degrees be damned!

Here's the back (well, due to my lack of self photography skills it's more like a side/back.)

What's even more awesome? This took me no time at all to make! I actually think I'm going to tackle a second one before we leave tomorrow night to bring as a gift for a good friend who may have stood up with me in Hawaii in March as my super amazing maid of honor.

And maybe a third one in a brighter color for me!

Actually, I'll probably get plenty of wear with this super sweet beret in Buffalo next week. (The high is only in the upper 70's.) That's about 40 degrees cooler than I'm used to.

Ahhh... success feels oh so good!!!

Yarn Overload (and a new knitting project)

So last night I went searching for a new knitting project.
See... I get bored much too easily with large projects.
(That might be the reason I've never attempted a sweater.)
While perusing Crazy Aunt Purls sight, I found the cutest beret pattern ever!
Then I went looking for yarn.
I knew I had the yarn I was looking for... but I couldn't find it anywhere. So I started just placing all the yarn I could locate in the living room.

(Sidenote: I hide yarn everywhere. I buy yarn constantly. It borders on obsessive. I'd never put all of the yarn I could find in one place before.)

WTF!!!!!!

How and when could I have possibly acquired all of this yarn???

What's worse? I never did find the specific yarn I was looking for to do the cute ass beret.

What does that mean? I've got more yarn stashed somewhere. (Ummm... quite possibly I've got alot more yarn stashed somewhere.)

What's even worse? For a moment, I actually considered driving over to Michael's to grab the yarn that I can't locate but I know I own.

Here's where I'm at on the Never Ending Messenger Bag (which will now be affectionately referred to as NEMB.) I'm still on the back of the NEMB. I'd say I've got about 14 inches of the 28 inches that the back must be. Add to that the front and the strap and anything else it requires... I'm about 1/3 of the way done? I think...

Frankly, I'm just bored with it. There's no pattern. Just stockingette stitch over and over and over. I need a break from it. (Although I totally plan to take it on the plane with me Tuesday night. I get mass amounts of knitting done while flying!)

So here's Crazy Aunt Purl's cute beret that I started last night. It's not in the yarn I wanted.

But I'm happy with the yarn none the less.

Okay... as you know... I always have problems! I can't just follow a pattern the right effin way ever! difficulties in following patterns just right. This beret??? It's supposed to be knit on circular needles. First, I couldn't find circular needles in the size the pattern called for. Second, it called for double pointed needles to finish the hat off. I seriously suck and I still can't figure out how to use the damn double pointed needles I have not mastered the art of the double pointed needles just yet. So it's being knitted on straight needles. What does that mean? I have absolutely no way to tell if the hat is anywhere near the correct size for a human being. Which brings me full circle back to the normal hat issue at hand. Will this hat fit me or will it only be appropriate for Andre the Giant?

Don't believe me that I make hats large enough for Andre the Giant???

Here you go.

Although as I'm looking at the picture... I must admit... it's a cute ass hat!

Anyone have an unusually large noggin? I'll send it to you!

It's all yours!

The Never Ending Messenger Bag

Remember when I said I was going to start on the super cute messenger bag that I found a pattern for at Michael's?

That was over a week ago.

I mentioned in that post that I do not knit very well.

Well, I also do not knit very fast.

Now... mind you... I've been busy making friendship bracelets assisting Michael in making friendship bracelets.

But, my messenger bag is coming along quite nicely (if I do say so myself)!

Here's what the final product is supposed to look like.

And here's what I've go so far.

This would be the back. I've got about 6 inches of the 24 inches that it needs to be.

Then I've just got to do the front... the cover... and the strap.

So basically I'm practically done!

If you'd like to place an order... let me know!

I'm sure it will be done... around Christmas???

Tis The Season For Knitting???

I knit.

I typically knit non-stop from fall to early spring.

I do not knit well.

Today, Michael and I headed over to our local Michael's to pick up a project for his economics fair next week. He's making friendship bracelets with the name of his school, his friends names, etc...

While we were perusing the store in search of beads with letters on them, we passed by my favorite aisle in the world. The yarn aisle. I have a bit of a yarn obsession. I have yarn hidden everywhere. I can't get enough of it.

But as I said before, I do not knit well. So purchasing fabulous expensive yarns is not an economically intelligent choice for me. I have this small (or occasionally big) problem with sizing and gauge. I love to make beanies. But for some reason, the beanies I produce only seem to fit two head sizes. Newborn or Andre the Giant. See, I haven't really mastered the normal adult head just yet. I can't even seem to master my 7 year olds head yet. (But seriously, if you have an adult with a head the size of Andre the Giant in your life... I've got lots of hand made hats for them!)

While we were passing the yarn aisle, I noticed a cute little pattern book with a messenger bag on the back cover. I know it's not the greatest picture here, but as I sat there drooling over the bag, Michael looked up at me and said "Mom, you haven't knitted anything in a while." Well, there's a reason I don't knit in the summer. It's Las Vegas. It's 120 degrees. The thought of yarn and anything knitted in that heat makes me sweat just thinking about it. But oh, the bag was so cute.

So what did I do? I bought the pattern book and enough yarn to probably make 3 messenger bags. Considering my sizing issues, I'm thinking it may be one of three things:

1. It may wind up a tiny over the shoulder purse/clutch.

2. It may wind up large enough to use as baggage for a three week trip to Europe.

3. It may take three tries to get the bag "just right."

Here's the yarn I'm going with. Of course, I already have a "problem A" which would be that the bag is meant to be felted. A felted bag would mean that I'd need to be knitting with worsted wool. What did I accidentally buy? Worsted acrylic.

So, um, yeah... I'm not going to be going with a felted bag.

I would call it my own adaptation of a super cute messenger bag.

I'll let you know how it goes.