Making Progress

After a craptastic August and September, I seem to have lost my crafting mojo and it was nowhere to be found.  Slowly, but surely, it seems to be creeping back.

I have had this Bernat "Galaxy" yarn (which sadly has been discontinued) in the Mars colorway for years, and finally decided to dig it out last night and start knitting a simple scarf for myself.  I love when a yarn does "all the work" and all you have to do is mindlessly knit.  I chose to do a simple scarf (I was "scarfed-out" from knitting so many when I first started knitting about five years ago), as I wanted a simple project to do while watching television in the evening.  I just casted on 15 stitches and started knitting and will continue to do so until I run out of yarn!  Hopefully the two skeins I have will make a decent-lengthed scarf.

What projects are you working on?

A "Noble" Knit

This is one of the knitting projects I'm currently working on. This is "A Noble Cowl" by Emily Kausalik. It is an easy knit and I love the pattern. The yarn I'm using is Shibui Baby Alpaca DK - it is so soft! I'm making this one for myself and one for my mother in blue. I love the subtle variations of color in this yarn. It is one of the softest yarns I have ever touched and is an absolute joy to knit with. I love me some alpaca!

I am also knitting Christmas gifts this year, but I can't share those with you right now because a few of the intended recipients read my blog. I'm really liking how those are turning out and I have almost two finished already. It will sure be nice having them done in plenty of time.

Are any of you making your Christmas gifts this year? If so, what are you making?

I Wish This Wasn't Necessary

Cancer sucks. I'm knitting another chemo cap for one of my aunts; I wish it wasn't necessary. The pattern is one that I've unfortunately knitted-up before for another one of my aunts. I love the yarn - it's a very soft, machine washable DK weight and will be easy to just throw into the washer. The pattern is very easy and has such a pretty pattern at the crown. I will post a photo of it when I've finished. I found the pattern on the "Head Huggers" website where they have lots of patterns for both knitting and crochet, along with great information.

On a happier note, we survived the first rain of the season and the mountains have stayed-put for now. We are only about 1/2-mile away from the foot of the mountains and the mudflow has been forecasted as possibly traveling as far down as a mile to our main boulevard. The city and county are taking precautions very seriously this time around. We had a wildfire way back in 1978, which was nothing in comparison to what we just went through in August/September, and had mudslides as a result. It was bad. Come to find out that the debris basins had not been cleaned-out. Well, it's completely different this time around, thank goodness. We still have a long rainy season to get through and with an El Nino forecasted, we are still not out of the woods, so to speak. The danger of mudslides can remain for up to three years, but today is a beautiful, sunny, crystal-clear day with temps supposedly reaching into the 80s! Only in California do we go from the 60s to the 80s in the span of a day! Go figure

I am so excited for baseball tonight - the Dodgers play Game One of the NLCS against the Phillies. We lost to them last year. Hopefully, this year will have a different outcome. I'm dreaming of a Dodgers-Angels World Series! That would be so awesome!

All Blocked!

My cousin's birthday gift is finished! I blocked it yesterday using TIG rods (used in welding) and quilter's T-pins. The top two photos are of it in the process of drying - they aren't very pretty, but it sure worked like a charm! I didn't want to have to buy blocking wires right now, so I researched blocking techniques on Ravelry and read about using the TIG rods. My dad has them, so it seemed like a no-brainer!

I think it turned out great, especially for my first time blocking something, albeit this was a very easy blocking project and a good one to start out with! My cousin's birthday is today, but we are getting together tomorrow to go see a movie ("Slumdog Millionaire") and I will give it to her then. I hope the weather cools down so that she can wear it soon!

I'm Still Here!

It seems like such a long time since I last posted. I woke up early New Year's Day with a horrible sore throat and it has progressed to one of the worst colds I've had in years. I have had laryngitis for almost one week now and a cough that is very annoying. I do feel a little bit better today though.

The top picture is of the Stealth Bomber (B2 Bomber) that made flyovers at the Rose Parade and at the Rose Bowl game on New Year's Day. It is so thrilling to see it so close. There were actually two of them, but I could only get a picture of the one. It flew really low over our house, but by the time I could get my camera ready, I had almost missed it and this was the best one I got. I got some really great pictures of it in years past, but I think those pictures are on my old computer and I need to sit down some day and go through all of them and put them onto CDs.

The knitting project I'm working on now is for my Mom. It is "Poinsettia" from the Winter 2008 knitty.com. I'm enjoying working on it and I'm over halfway done, so I'm hoping to finish it up this weekend. The yarn I'm using is Classic Elite's "Alpaca Sox" yarn which is 60% alpaca (I LOVE alpaca), 20% Merino wool, and 20% nylon - it is so soft and luxurious, and I love the slight variations in the colorway.

I finished my cousin's butterfly muffler/scarf and now just have to block it so I can give it to her for her birthday, which is fast approaching. I had hoped to give it to her for Christmas, but I wasn't able to get it finished, so now it will be her birthday gift!

On The Needles

This is what I have on one set of needles at the moment. It's a pattern from Susie C Shore Designs called "Butterfly Kisses". The pattern ended-up having a mistake in it, which is noted on the website now. I had emailed them saying that I thought there was something wrong with the pattern and they checked it out right away and were so gracious about it. They sent me two free patterns for emailing them and letting them know about it. I was just so glad just to get the pattern corrections that the offer of the free patterns was above and beyond nice! You can't really see the pattern too well, as it will have to be blocked. I will post pictures of the finished muffler/scarf. This is going to be a Christmas gift for my cousin "C". Hopefully she won't read this post!

I also have a fun Christmas Tree Hat on the needles for my little 3-1/2-year-old nephew. He loves to wear hats and he's still young enough to not mind wearing really silly/fun ones! I figure I can only get away with this for maybe another year or so!

What projects are you working on for Christmas?

Firsts!

This is my first post, my first blog and I'm working on my first sock! After doing some research on Ravelry, I decided on Cookie A.'s "Monkey" pattern. From what people have posted, it is an easy sock for a beginner - I hope so! I chose Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in a colorway that I am really liking. It should go well with a lot of my things in my wardrobe. They're colors I'm drawn to and I'm really liking knitting with it. So far there is no evidence of the dreaded pooling that I've read about. I have four repeats of the lace pattern done (the pattern calls for six) and then it's on to turning the heel and the gusset. I'm a little apprehensive about turning the heel, but I'm hoping it won't be too hard.

I already have two more sock patterns with the yarn lined-up after I finish these! I know that I'm going to be making many, many more pairs!