Well that's a bummer

I had big plans for today. Today I was going to finish Mystic Ice.


And then this happened:

4 rows left to go and a bind off and I am almost out of yarn.

Bummer.

At least the yarn is reasonable and they had more of the color I needed in stock.

I guess this means I will just have to start something new. Poor me.

BTW, anyone know where I can get 16 1" shank buttons that wont cost me an arm and a leg?

So far, I can't find enough, or they cost a fortune.

FO's on parade

All except one of these have been done for some time. The reason they have not been seen until now is because I let them sit for months waiting for a few ends to be woven in. Did I mention I loathe finishing work?

Without further ado, the last of 2008's FO's:


Skull Illusion Scarf

This scarf was my first attempt at shadow knitting. It was a simple and fun knit. When you look right at it, the scarf just looks like black and red stripes, but at different angles you see the skulls, hence the illusion. I knit it with Cascade 220, one skein of each color. This is for my friend Katie, and I got a feeling she is going to love it.

Next up, and I apologize cause the picture is horrible but the best I could get, is a pair of Dashings for my buddy Dan:

Made out of Berroco Ultra Alpaca. They are very soft and warm. Dan is a smoker that does a lot of walking so I hope these keep his arms and hands nice and toasty.

And now, the first of the 2009 FO's:

We Call them Pirates hat

I made one of these a few years ago and my buddy Dan (another one) went nuts over it. He has been begging me to make him one ever since. It's done in Knit Picks yarn, DK weight, but I cannot remember the name of the yarn, and don't really feel like looking it up. (Sorry guys, I am feeling super lazy today.) Anyway, it was super cheap to make, and I know he will be thrilled to have it.


The last FO I have to show you is Morgan:

(And yes, I know I look like absolute doody in these pics, but I wanted to show you modeled shots)
I don't know how I feel about this one. I guess it looks the way it should, but I am just not that crazy about it.
I knit this for yet another buddy named Dan, this one being the above mentioned Katie's boyfriend. I know he likes hats, and I know he owns another hat in this style, I am just not sure what he will think of this one. I should have probably made it in a darker color, but I went with what I had on hand.

I hate giving someone a gift that I am not thrilled with, but I am biased. The hat is not really my style, and I am my own worst critic. Anyone out there got any opinions? Feel free to share, you wont hurt my feelings. =)

Something Else to Keep Me Busy

So I was wasting time on Ravelry today and discovered a group called 52 books in 52 weeks.
I think the title explains it all so I will not be redundant.
Anyway, I thought about how one of my goals for 2009 was to read more books, and then I found out you could include audio books, so I joined up.
I used to read A LOT. But lately knitting and other endeavors have cut into that time. The only way I get as many books in as I do is by listening to audio books while I knit. But I miss the actual printed pages.
I am sure I can do this. I remember reading over 100 books during my 3rd grade year so I could get a free book. =) My teacher had a deal where for x amount of books you read and did a little write up on, you got a new book from the cupboard. And she had all the good books.

So I put a little linky-dink on the sidebar if anyone wants to see what I am reading/listening too. I just linked over to my Amazon wish list, I couldn't figure out a better way to do it. If anyone has a better option, please let me know.

Back to my Old Crazy..

New year, New goals.
Let's not talk about last years goals that I failed miserably at, OK?
I heard somewhere, I think on a Soap Opera so of course it's an awesome concept, that the only way to guarantee to keep your resolutions is to say you will not do things you hate, and you will do things you love.

So with that thought in mind, here are my resolutions...

1) I will refrain from eating oysters, mussels, or liver.

2) I will read a lot of good books.

3) I will continue to knit as much as possible.

I think 2009 is going to be an awesome year with these goals!

Alright, enough fooling around. The real reason why I am posting today is to set my goals for January. So without further tomfoolery, here they are:

1) Finish Mystic Ice shawl

2) Finish We Call Them Pirates Hat

3) Finish Versatility

4) Finish the baby sweater and hat for Ben Franklin (this should have been done 5 months ago!)

5) Finish Backyard Leaves Scarf

6) Finish Pink Ribbon Baby Blanket

7) Start and finish the January Mystery Sock for SKA and Solid Sock KAL (2 birds with one stone, gotta love it!) Both these groups are Ravelry groups by the way.

I know it sounds like a lot, but all of these projects except for the last one are well on the needles. And so far I am keeping to my schedule to have everything done by the end of the month. But this is not all, I also want to:

A) Cast on Mystic Star shawl (Rav link)

B) Start Fireside Sweater (Rav link)

C) Work on Hemlock Ring Blanket

See, I told you I am up to my old crazy again!

What took me so long?

This is embarrassing.

I started this shawl in September of 2007 thinking I would have it done for that years Halloween.

HaHaHa! As if!

I got as far as the last 20 rows and then left in sitting on my coffee table for almost a year. No lie. I live by myself so I can get away with things like that. I had big plans to keep working on it, even made up a schedule a few times...but still it sat.

Finally, in September of 2008, I picked the sucker back up again. And I realized then why my poor shawl had languished for so long. I forgot that it took almost an hour to complete a row, and there was patterning on both sides of the work. That's a lot of P2togtbl, let me tell you. But I hunkered down and had a few crazy knitting sessions with it, and finally it was finished.

Finished and blocked in plenty of time for Halloween. So why did it take me so long to blog about it?

Oh well, without further ado, I present to you Dracula's Bride:

There are sparkly orange beads throughout the shawl, I am not sure if you can see them. Maybe if you click for bigger you can see them.
Yes my house was a mess that day. It was the weekend and we were enjoying our new TV and Xbox, plus I was still recuperating from my accident. =)

Here is a sneak-peak of my main squeeze. What do you think mama? =)

And no I did not have to force him to do this, he practically begged me to be the model for the shawl.

I have a few more 2008 FO's to show you. One needs to blocked, one needs ends woven in, and one needs a few snaps and a little finishing work.