"You've got that 'Dum De Dum Dum'"

Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate. I hope your bunny was better at sharing that this one.



Though he couldn't have been better at hiding.

Happy Valentine's Day

I have sweet nothings to attend to, so no post today.

Via Art Yarn

Take a moment to tell someone that you love her.

Out of My Element

There is one other gift this year that I wanted to craft, but this time I had to step out of my element. I decided to make my girlfriend a art/crafting apron. I know absolutely nothing about sewing, but I am lucky to have a quilting MIL. I asked her for some help during our Thanksgiving visit and she sent me home with all of this:

There was not a single part of this project that I found easy. I can't draw or cut a straight line so just getting the fabric ready to think about sewing was intimidating. Thanks to the encouragement of my MIL though, I pushed ahead and even included lining and made each piece double sided.

I would like to proudly say that I only sewed through (yes completely through) one of those cute little flower shaped needle heads. It took all of the Christmas specials I own and two full glasses of wine, but I made a full apron!

Sewing is definitely not my craft. I missed cuddling on the couch with Hubby and bending over the dining room table for the evening made my back feel much older than it should. So maybe I'm not a quilter, but it was nice to overcome my fear of the sewing machine. Maybe I'll reach the point of empowerment where I can do my own hemming and small alterations.

Christmas Socks

I have decided that I do not like Christmas knitting. There is too much stress and pressure, and I'm tempted to make gifts that I know I can complete on a deadline rather than gifts I think the recipients will like. This year though, I was stumped on what would be the perfect gift for my Grandpa. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that he would probably like some knit socks. In mid-November I accepted that the idea was stuck in my head and nothing else was going to seem like as good of a gift. I cast on some basic socks and spent every knitting moment I had working on them. These were my couch and subway projects. I even lost a DPN to the subway tracks in all of the frantic knitting. I knit through my lunch breaks at work. I wouldn't let myself sleep at all during our cross country trip to and from Thanksgiving with Hubby's family because it was prime knitting time. (Fortunately that meant I was awake for a delightful History Channel special on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.)

I decided to knit these from the toe up. I knit the first leg as short as I thought I could get away with and left the stitches live on some scrap yarn. When I finished up the second one, I assessed my time and decided they both would get another inch and a half on the length of the legs. Hubby has never had a problem with the legs of his socks, but he must like them short. Both his dad and brother commented that theirs were too short. Despite Grandpa having smaller feet than Hubby, they still seemed to be some crazy long socks that went on forever. I did finish them on time though. Two hours into our train ride to Chicago all of the ends were woven in and everything was complete. I had hoped to block them, but I wasn't certain my family would be ok with the guest room smelling like wet wool. (They are not the converts that I am.) Grandpa seemed to like them, but Grammy was definitely giving them an envious look. Unfortunately, despite all of that buildup, I do not have a good FO picture to share, so instead I have this picture that Hubby took of the tree at Rockefeller Plaza. I hope your holidays were great. Happy New Year!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tell the people that you love what they mean to you.

Happy Halloween!

My biggest treat this year, is getting to see one of FOs be part of the fun!

Happy Halloween Charlie!

Gifts for Knitters

Are you wondering what to get for the knitter you adore? Trying to figure out how to give a gift that shows you really appreciate the years of warm socks, sweaters, hats, and mittens that you've been blessed with by having a knitter in your life? Well, as the holiday gets closer, knitters are taking a break from their frantic last minute gifts to share some of the things that they asked Santa for.

Interweave Press has a great little bit of everything bundle.

Lime and Violet writers have been contributing their goodies lists.

The Yarn Harlot talks about just how much beautiful tools are appreciated.

As I come across more suggestions, I'll add them in. Share what you want for Christmas in the comments section.

I was spoiled with some yarn money to dedicate to a project just for me, and I've got big plans for it already.

Parade Mittens

I've convinced Hubby that we must go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade this year. We both have childhood memories of watching the parade. For me it was whenever I spent the holidays with my grandparents that I got to see it. I'd be sitting in my pajamas eating breakfast and it would be on the tv in the dining room. I'd zip away during commercial breaks to get dressed, brush my teeth, and sometimes pull a brush though my hair. To say I'm excited about getting to see it live is an understatement. So far, I'm not at all phased by the thought of showing up at 6:30 to see a 9:00 parade. I doubt that it is going to become an annual tradition since neither of us really like crowds that much, but it is one of those things that I've got to do once.

Hubby is still a little reluctant about the weather, so I am trying to get us as equipped as possible. I took a sock detour and knit myself some mittens. My thoughts are that this will help me make sure to take lots of pictures because my fingers will stay warm. Hubby is usually the camera man, but if his fingers get cold, I will be able to relieve him of his duties as he warms them back up.

These are Subway Mittens from Interweave Knits. I used some left over Andean Silk from my Francis. They knit up very quick. I think it only took a couple nights of watching tv. The pattern calls for a pocket on one mitten to hold your subway card so you can just swipe your hand in front of the card reader and keep your fingers toasty. I haven't put a pocket on for a couple reasons. First, I put pockets on some baby dresses that I did awhile back, and I did a horrible job. That is something that I am going to have to practice before incorporating it into anymore projects. (Ohh maybe I should practice by sewing my gauge swatches onto each other.) Second, I can just swipe my wallet in front of the card reader so my fingers don't have to be pulled out of the mittens anyway. In the spirit of the pattern being more than just mitts, I'd like to put something on them. I haven't decided what yet though. I'll have to go poke my head in my yarn basket and search for inspiration.

Talk About Piratey Things

I set my mobius fun, to put some more serious work into the baby blanket. Now that blanket is filled with piratey goodness. I watched Cut Throat Island, some Pirates of the Caribbean, and listened to the Librovox recording of Treasure Island. I considered some Captain Ron, but there are only so many hours in the day. The one with the most pirate cliches and buccaneer talk was with out a doubt Treasure Island. I almost feel bad, because I know that Robert Louis Stevenson did something incredible in creating and sharing this world and pirate culture, but it is saturated with things that we now find humours. If I didn't know that it was an original, I would assume that it was satire. I still can't help laughing at some of the things that I know are suppose to be absolutely terrifying.

I wasn't the only one celebrating talk like a pirate day. Knit Picks decided to share a peek at their treasure.