Merry Christmas!

'Twas the night before the night before Christmas, and all through the house...Katie's knitting needles were clicking madly to finish all her gifts!
Really though, I paced myself pretty well and was able to get EVERYTHING done on time!!  Woohoo!  So I present to you, without further ado...my homemade Christmas gifts!

For my Auntie Marianne...a lapghan.  Garter stitch, Lion Brand yarn in Tudor and Decco.

For my Grammy, a shawl in moss stitch.  Again, Lion Brand yarn in Tudor.  For some reason the skeins I used for this had way more pink and green in them.  But I like it!

For my great-aunt Bernadette, I also made her a shawl, this pattern was alternating between rows on kint-purl and straight knitting.  I am totally in LOVE with this color.  It's called Montana Sky. It's actually much darker, but still gorgeous.

And finally, a scarf and hat for my mom.  Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in Dusty Blue.
I was really excited to finally make a hat.  Still don't know how to knit in the round, so I was glad I found a pattern where I could knit it flat and then gather it up.

It's nice to be giving home made gifts for Christmas.  People are always appreciative of the time and care, plus I think they like getting something original!!  Now that Christmas is over, I need to go into full babyshower mode...THREE babies on the way for friends and family, all girls.  So be prepared to see lots of pink and purple on this blog in the coming months!  I might somehow find the time to make myself a hat and scarf, but I won't hold my breath. ;)  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

It's better to give...

So in the past few weeks and months I have given away some of my knitting.  The pink prayer shawl for the breast cancer auction was a big hit!  Someone bought it!  Yay!  Mum's friend (who runs the sale) loved it and thought it was beautiful.  I got a lovely thank-you note from Baby O's mom about the little sweater I knitted her (forgot to take a pic of that one!).  Aaaand, last night I went out for my BFF Sarah's birthday, and I gave her a scarf that I knitted her.  Again, forgot to take a pic of that, but maybe I can get one of her wearing it.  She LOVED it!  I knitted a basketweave stitch in an off-white color.  It reminded me of Irish knit, and her being uber-Irish, she thought the same.  So I am feeling much more confident about my knitting abilities and about giving out homemade gifts for Christmas.  Those of you that know me, know that I can be quite a perfectionist when it comes to making things, so this is a big step for me.  I have two crocheted baby blankets that I never gave away because I didn't like how the finished product looked.
And speaking of babies, I have THREE friends/family members who are expecting this spring! (NO I AM NOT ONE OF THEM).  So there will be quite a bit of baby knitting going on after Christmas.  Blankies and sweaters and hats and booties galore!  So stay tuned, although I won't be posting finished products until after baby showers.
On the Christmas gift front, doing pretty well.  I finished Grammy's shawl (pics to come), am 1/3 of the way through my great-aunt's shawl, and am almost done with Marianne's lapghan.  Unfortunately I had to abandon the plan for my mom's afghan because I just won't be able to get it done before Christmas.  So I will work on it and when I finish I will give it to her.  Nothing wrong with a "just because" present.  I will make her a hat and scarf instead, and give her something else.  Maybe a gift certificate to get her nails done or something. 
So I am signing off for now...pics to come when I locate my camera battery charger.  Doh.

Some Christmas gifts in progress

So I have developed a bad habit.  Or at least what I perceive to be a bad habit.  I have three different projects going at once.  This has been the norm since the summer.  I have two afghans and a shawl started.  I should probably just do one project at a time, right??  Not so much.  A big part of it is I can get bored in the middle of a project so I start something new.  But I fully intend to have them all done in time for Christmas.  I also still have about three more projects for Christmas gifts that I have yet to even start or purchase yarn for.  We'll see how this plays out...

Here are the pieces of my aunt's afghan.  She doesn't have a computer so I can post this without her seeing it.  This is like the last afghan I made, but in different colors.  I love this pattern because it's in blocks so I do have the option of starting and stopping when I want. 

This is a shawl for Grammy.  I'm about 1/3 of the way through, at the very end of my first skein of yarn (Lion Brand Homespun, Tudor).  I love the way the colors flow.  Hopefully Gram will love it too!  This is the first project I ever did with the moss stitch.  It's not the easiest pattern but I like the way it looks.  Plus it's reversible.   Here's a close-up.

It isn't as clear with the Homespun yarn, so next time I use this stitch I will use a smooth yarn.  The stitches are close together so I know it will keep Grammy warm. 

Somehow I also want to knit a scarf in green for myself to wear with my black coat at Christmas time...we'll see if I can pull it off!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Yes, I know it's only October, but I have already started my Christmas knitting!  Since I will be performing in "A Christmas Carol" this year, I will be busy every weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Hence the early start!  However, I probably won't be posting pictures of entire projects until after the holidays, since the people getting knitted gifts might see my blog.  Wouldn't want that now, would we?  But some things, like gifts for my grandmother or aunt (who thankfully don't have a computer) I can definitely post.  I started a shawl for Grammy and a lapghan for my Auntie already.  The shawl is shaping up to be quite an adventure.  I started out in a rib pattern, but I somehow dropped a stitch, so I had to unravel and start again.  I wasn't crazy about the ribbing so I decided to go with a moss stitch.  The problem there is that I am using Homespun yarn so it doesn't look as good as I thought it might.  The colors are still nice though and I know it will keep her warm.  Pics to follow in the next post, I promise. :)

Prayer Shawls

Normally I don't really bother to look at the inside labels that I peel off my yarn, but a few weeks ago I noticed there was a little blurb about the Prayer Shawl Ministry.  I had heard about prayer shawls before but didn't really know much about them.  As I read about it I got really interested in the idea.  Basically, it's the knitting or crocheting of a shawl that will be given to a person who is going through medical treatments and may need comfort.  While you knit the shawl, you say prayers and think healing thoughts.  I just finished my first one!  I made it for the Making Strides Breast Cancer walk that I mentioned in my last post.  I have no idea who will receive it, but it doesn't matter.  Hopefully the woman that wears it will feel comfort an know that it was made with care and love.  So not only will the money that my mom's friend makes by auctioning it off go towards cancer research, but it will give comfort to someone who needs it.  That makes me feel very happy and know that I am actually doing something.  Here's the finished product!

 I used a pattern of knit one purl one, then knitting an entire row.  I think it looks pretty.  And I've tried it on, it is very warm and soft.  I hope that it gives some comfort and healing energy to someone that needs it.  I still have plenty of yarn left, so hopefully I will be able to make a scarf too before the auction. 

Come on Irene!

Yeeesss, I made the same stupid pun about the impending hurricane that everyone else has been making.  Anyway, I went out to AC Moore and Jo-Ann's Fabrics today to get some yarn.  I decided to get a jump on my knitting projects while I wait out the storm tonight and tomorrow. 

Yes, that is a GIANT ONE POUND BALL of pink yarn in the back.  ONE POUND OF FLUFFY PINK GOODNESS!  That I am going to use for a whole bunch of projects for Making Strides in October.  My mom's friend P collects homemade items (like hats, scarves, etc.) to auction off for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk every year.  The money goes towards breast cancer research.  Since this is a cause very close to my family's heart, I am going to contribute this year with some things.  Pics of those to come! 
For now...bring it on, Irene!

I'm Baaaa-aaack!

It's been a while since I've blogged but I really haven't done much knitting until the last few weeks. About a month or so ago I sent off a pink baby sweater to a friend and forgot to take a pic (doh!) but it was just like the other sweater I made, only a rosy pink. 

The last two weeks I have been knitting like a mad woman!!  I made an afghan for someone's birthday, and finished a baby sweater and booties for my cousin's little boy.  So here's a picture of the finished "lapghan".  I call it that because it's not a full sized blanket, just something to put over your legs while watching TV or something.  I think a lot of people are going to be getting variations of this for Christmas...you've been warned!

 

I used Lion Brand Yarn homespun wool in "sierra" and "cream".  I followed the pattern for the "country cousins" block afghan.  It's actually a baby blanket so I added another row of squares so it would be a little longer.  I think the birthday girl will like it.

Here's the pic of baby G's sweater.  I haven't sent it yet, obviously.  I didn't add a ribbon closure because it's for a boy, and that would be a little weird.  So it's just a little open cardi.  Quite cute.

Close up of the booties.  Because baby feet are adorable.  

I did notice that the pattern I used seems very big for a newborn's feet.  So next time I make baby booties I am going to try a smaller needle size or use my mad math skills to scale them down.  

I have a lot of knitting projects planned, especially with Christmas coming up.  Also, in my house Saturdays are College Football Day( go Pen State!!), so I will be spending many days curled up with the husband and the pup and I'll be knitting.  Kind of a paradox because I'll be swearing at the TV just as much as Darling Husband!

Extreme Cuteness!

Finally finished the baby sweater!  Good thing, too, because said baby is now almost 2 weeks old!  Since I had a ridiculous amount of yarn left over, I made a matching blankie.  I modified a pattern that I already had, but did a stockinette stitch with a garter stitch border.  The original pattern was a basketweave, but I still find that one a bit intimidating.  Plus I was knitting this backstage during the last weekend of "Singin' in the Rain" and I didn't have the concentration to count knit and purl in sets of 8. 
Soooo...here is the finished product!

Very proud of myself!  The patterns are from the Lion Brand Yarn website.  I think this is my favorite place to get patterns, the only thing I need to be careful of is that I tend to knit more tightly than the patterns require, so I need to use bigger needles (listen to me, I sound like such a pro!). 

I also did complete the present for my sister-in-law, BUT it came out kinda crappy.  I learned an important lesson: you can't do stockinette stitch without a garter stitch border!  I'll post the bad pic later.  I am re-doing the gift, so it will be a while!

Don't worry, I'm still here!!

Where have I been?  Well, the past two weeks have been crazy, wrapping up my substitute job and production week for "Singin' in the Rain", so I haven't been able to knit much.  But, I did manage to make a baby sweater for a friend!  I finished piecing it together last night (in the dressing room, ha), and I think it looks pretty darn cute!  All I need to do is tack down the collar and add the ribbon. 

Cute, no?  I know it doesn't look perfect, but it's cute and hopefully the new mama will want to put it on her baby girl!  Why isn't the sweater pink?  Well, I figured the mommy-to-be probably got enough pink at her shower, so I went with a nice springy green.  It is a March baby, after all!

Next up is a birthday present for my sister-in-law.  I won't be able to post that until I send it to her, but stay tuned! :)

All Done!

So I finished the scarf over February vacation last week.  Yay!  If you couldn't guess, I made it for my wonderful mother in law.  She loves warm colors, and is only of the few people I know who looks fabulous in orange!  I think I made the scarf a little too wide, and it was much shorter than I would have liked, but for a first project, I was pretty happy.

I started a baby blanket for a friend after I finished the scarf, but it was incredibly frustrating...the pattern was harder than I thought.  So after unraveling it three times, I switched to a baby sweater and hopefully this will come out better!  Pictures of that one to follow! 

About a week in...

So this is what the scarf looks like after a week of working on it.  I'm only doing a few rows at a time, a few minutes here and there, or while watching TV. 

I think it looks pretty good!  It's about half-way done.  I'll be glad when it's finished though, I am getting tired of those colors!  And of course I will post pics of the finished product.  And as with most of the things I make, this is a gift to someone else, so hopefully the person who receives it will wear it!

Scarf attack...day two!

I have been working on this scarf for a few days.  I think it looks pretty good for a beginner...but of course I have no idea if it is.  Of course I am very proud of myself!  Here's picture of it after 2 days of knitting...

The colors are actually much prettier in person...a warm magenta, orange, and red.  Maybe next time I'll take the picture on a better surface (not my coffee table).  So here it is, I'm pretty proud that I am doing this without much help.  And no, it's not for me, I picked the colors with someone else in mind.  Bonus points if you know who it's for!
I'll post pictures when I have more done.  It's probably grown about three inches since Wednesday when I took this picture.  Since I will be on vacation for the next week, I should come pretty close to finishing!  After that I have some other projects in mind, but I need to do a lot of practicing first!

I have never knitted anything before...I have crocheted a few scarves and attempted a few baby blankets, but that's all.   I didn't really love it and I guess I was too lazy to learn more that the basic stitch.  I did have "The Idiot's Guide to Crochet and Knitting" (thanks, Mom...I think), but I am not someone who can learn crafts from a book.  Especially that one.  No diagrams?  No thanks.  My cousin is an amazing knitter, and I got tired of seeing her projects and wishing I could make something like that.
I finally decided that instead of saying "someday I will learn to knit", I would just DO it.  With pending unemployment on my mind (thankfully this is resolved for now), I needed a distraction.  Soooo...I bit the bullet, bought an easy beginners' kit, some yarn, and viola!  I will say the guide is pretty good, but YouTube is saving my life at the moment so I can actually SEE what I am supposed to do.  I spent Monday night doing practice stitches.  After several hours of yelling "son of a b***" at my knitting needles, and going cross eyed, I decided it was time to tackle more than just a small square.  Time for something bigger!
My first project?  A scarf, duh.  Gotta stick with what I'm comfortable with.  So I have been working on it for 2 nights...so far so good!  I'll post pics later, once my camera battery recharges.
You can follow me on my knitting journey if you like...I hope to be making more than scarves soon!
Because, let's face it, people only need one home-made scarf. ;)