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!

Ketch Up and UFO's

That's how I have felt all week..like I am just trying to catch up with things.

Between my mother visiting and getting sick...my knitting progress has been shot to hell.

I did manage a few things though.

I am almost done with Peapod..just got to sew in a sleeve and add the buttons. Tune in tomorrow for finished pics!

I swatched for Wicked..not only did I do the 4" square..but I also washed it! Maybe I can be taught after all! I got stitch gauge but my row gauge is off..I think I am going to forge ahead and see what happens...

I tried to start the Pirate Hat..I tried to make one previously and it was WAY TOO BIG. So I bought lighter weight yarn this time..not sure if that was the best idea..and now I got to decide if smaller needles (like 0's) or different yarn is the best choice..hmmmm.

I started the Forest Path Stole, I am halfway through the seed stitch border. I am loving the yarn, needles, gauge and pattern thus far...woohoo!

I found the Mystery Shawl Yahoo Group...and joined. LOL. I started late so I am behind, but I am having fun so far. It's a round shawl and I have never done that before. I am learning a lot.

I tought/ am teaching my mother how to knit toe-up socks. I think she's liking it.

On the UFO front:

January UFO:
I have worked steadily on the mitered blankie..not a lot to show yet..but I have done about 6 squares this month. hey, it's something! My plan is to try and do a square a day..and maybe allow a bit of time on Sundays for it.


Horrible pictures as usual, that's what happens around here when you take your pictures at night with horrible lighting. (Seems that's how all my pics get taken. Sorry)

February UFO:

Monkey socks from Knitty using Lorna's Laces in Mine Shaft. I hope to have these done by the end of the month. One, so I can gift them to my niece before she moves to Alberta, Canada (sob!). And Two, I want to finish them for the Sock a Month KAL I joined..(oh yeah..did I forget to mention I joined that as well?)

I think that's enought to keep me busy for a while. I am still working on the baby blanket as well...although I have ignored it the past few days. It's very close to being done, but it just makes me sick to look at it...maybe tomorrow I can face it again.

Out with the old..in with the new.

So, as you can see there have been a few changes on this here blog. I switched over to the new blogger yesterday. I was not sure at first if I had made a good choice, because I was not able to post any pictures until now..and I had to sign in at least 5 times to access my account.

But now, all seems well. There are some cool new features which I will be playing around with..and with a little luck, maybe I'll have a blog like the "cool people" do.

On another note THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of your nice comments on the Hidcote. I am very pleased with her. If you have a desire to make one yourself you can join up with the KAL .
I thought I would want a break from lace after finishing this huge project..but I find myself itching for more...thank goodness the Forest Path Stole KAL is just around the corner.

Before I can begin the FPS though, I need to finish my January goals. I still have to finish the baby blanket and the Peapod set...and I am a little behind.
Why you ask? What a great question.
The other night I was working along on this adorable little sweater and realized that I was going through my yarn pretty fast..too fast. So I measured the garment and found it was 4" larger then it was supposed to be.
I did do a gauge swatch..but a half-assed one. You know the one where you knit a 2" square instead of a 4" square and hope for the best...one of these days I will realize that plan does not work for me.
So, I ripped it out. Both sleeves, and about 1/3 of a sweater worth..and restarted.
I went from a size 2 needle to a size 0...the pattern calls for a size 5..(did I mention I was a loose knitter?)..and all seems to be well now.
Look at the difference..here are the sleeves.

It was so hard to rip it out, but now that I see the difference..I am glad I did. This is for my grand-niece..and I want it to be right! There is no room for mistakes on this one.

I have both sleeves reknit..and I am now past the point where I ripped out the body.

There's a lot more done then what the pictures show..but I wanted to show how it is coming along.

The whole deal:

Close up detail of the lace portion:

And a sleeve:
It is going pretty quickly and I am sure I will have this done by Wednesday.

But I am seriously behind on the Baby blanket. I have ignored it the past few days even though I know I need to do a certain amount of rows per day to get it done...I am going to have to put Peapod away tonight and work on the blanket if there is to be any hope of getting it finished by February first.