Missed some work today due to a nasty migraine. Took some meds and slept for 4 hours straight. Could have slept more - in fact, on my way back there now.

But I wanted to get the picture of the wristers I made for my MIL for Christmas and the capelet I made for my SD out here. If the pics don't look very good here, feel free to go to my website and check them out under Knitting Projects. Good night.

The wristers are made from Cascade 220. And the capelet is made from Micro-Spun in Lily White and Debbie Bliss's Cashmerino in Pink. I've included a pic of the capelet, the neckline and the bottom border.

Charity Knitting
As usual, something has come along that will give me an opportunity to create something for a charity. The company I work for is collecting hats, scarves and mittens and will be donating them to an organization for folks who need them. I've already got a couple of scarves that I personally didn't care for once I knit them, and a hat I knit that doesn't fit and so those will be donated along with anything else I can knit up prior to the deadline in January.

I like doing hats and scarves because they're fast and they give me that feeling of near-instant gratification of having finished something.

Oh, a cousin of mine had a baby at the end of November so I might whip up a little hat/booties for her baby. I have some white Microspun left over from the capelet I made my step-daughter and it's so soft that I think it would be a nice yarn for baby items.

Time to pay bills. Have a great night!

Oh, this picture? Grand Rapids, MINN - back when we had snow - I WANT SNOW!!!

Knit, knit, knit, knit...
Tried last night 3 times to start a knitting project and for reasons unknown, I just didn't have the 'whatever' I needed to do it. Not only could I not make up my mind on WHAT to knit but right when I thought I had made up my mind, another idea popped into my head. Arrrggghhh!

I'm at work right now and quite honestly, it's so quiet it's going to put me to sleep. It's still the holiday's so the number of people who are usually here is about half. Even my typing sounds loud!

Thankfully, I have some studying I can do for a class I'm taking but if that doesn't pan out maybe I'll start thinking again about what knitting project I should start. I'm currently still working on hubby's sweater and probably should start on a certain someone's birthday present but I'm not ready for that one yet. Maybe I'll make a pair of felted mittens (fast knitting, there, boy, I'll tell ya!) and alternate between those and hubby's sweater.

But then who gets the mittens??

Merry Christmas!!
Good morning!

Well, we had Christmas at my MIL's last night and it was quite an interesting time. She had great food (as usual - though not enough meatballs, they were quite the hit!) and everyone had a fun time. With hubby's brother's family there, you laugh so much you usually leave with your face hurting - no joke!

The gifts I knitted, the capelet for KEA and the wristers (for those of you who don't know, wristers are like mittens without thumb or finger coverage) for my MIL, were a hit. Thank goodness! You never know how people are going to react whether you like the stuff you make yourself or not. There are pictures of the capelet on my website and I'll be putting pictures of the wristers on there today or tomorrow. Those I made out of Cascade 220 in their purple yarn - though it has some blue in it, very neat combination. I ended up remaking her wristers about 3 times. Well, actually, I started out making cabled mittens but I messed up and knew I wouldn't have time to make new mittens so I found a wristers pattern instead. And even then I screwed up - bad knitting karma I guess. Part of the problem is that they're knitted on 2 needles instead of in the round on circulars. So I'm betting that was my real problem - in fact, I'll be rewriting the pattern so I can use circulars in the future. Esp since I want a pair!

Okay, time to go open gifts with the hubby. He's already given me an OTT-Lite (I've wanted one of those for sooooo long!!) and a great small sauce pan. The story behind the saucepan is that he's tired of the veggies being cooked in the nuker - haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! So I said, well, guess I need a small pan, eh?

Merry Christmas, everyone! Stay safe and warm this holiday weekend!

Hello, everyone!

So where am I with my projects? I'm almost done with KEA's stole/capelet/poncho (just not entirely sure what the heck to call it) for Christmas, should be done today, in fact! I have finished half of my MIL's Christmas gift and I am about 90% done with a friend's gift. My goal with these three items is to have them all done by Sunday night (11/28). Probably a lofty goal but I have to try!

I ordered some yummy yarn (Debbie Bliss's Cashmerino) recently to make something for my step-daughter for her birthday. When I showed the pattern and yarn to her father he was in total agreement on how appropriate it is for her. I can't wait to start it but...

I know I have to finish my other projects so I'm willing myself to wait. Come to think of it, I have to wait anyway because I had to order the needle as I did not have the size required - so I ordered some wool yarn for felted mittens while I was at it. (Man - just no self control for me, huh?)

Would write more but need to get back to knitting. Have a fabo day, everyone!

p.s. Just read what I last posted in November and realized that the capelet/stole that I'm making is NOTHING like the one I described. I hated working with that mohair - it's as thin as sewing thread - no joke. Anyway, so now I'm using Lion Brand's MicroSheen in Lily White, two strands at a time. It's so plush and thick, I think she's really going to like it.

p.p.s. My step-daughter has taken up knitting - yippee!!!!

It's November?
Mood:  surprised
I cannot believe it's November. Halfway through, actually.

So what have I finished? Hm. Oh, I made my scarf for my new leather coat, it's in a crystal blue. Took me only a couple of hours. And that would be it.

However, I am nearly done with one of the Christmas presents I'm making that I can't describe in case she reads my blog (though what there is to read isn't much obviously, since it's been a month since I was last out here!). It's so cool and it was so much fun to make. Just a few minor details left on it and it will be done. I think she'll love it!

I've FINALLY decided on the shawl/stole pattern for Ms. KEA for her shawl/stole. I'm going to simply knit 1 long rectangle. I'm going to do it in an Italian mohair yarn in snow white, finished size will be approximately 16-18" x 60" and I'm going to use a large needle, probably a 15 or 17. I'm going to do a cable in the middle, so it will be stockinette stitch until the middle, do the cable (not sure what kind yet), then finish with stockinette stitch. Or maybe three cables, going to graph it out when I'm done with this blog. I may do a border on it as well, have to wait and see! Starting that tonight and my goal is to have done by the weekend, it needs to be blocked so I need to get it done soon to accommodate that process. I'm thinking fringe with beads at the end, something sparkly!! I want to go home now and get started but I'm still at work (shhh...)!

I've also found a fabulous sweater pattern for Ms. KEA that I will be making for her birthday (in March). Once again, no details until I'm done except that it's by Interweave Knits. But what I can say is that it's gorgeous and it screams "KEA"! That yarn is on order but should be coming any day - I'm so psyched about it! Her father likes the pattern and the yarn I picked out (and he's super fussy) so I know this is the perfect sweater.

For my mother-in-law for Christmas I'm making cabled mittens, one is done but I need to finish the other one. Really pretty color called Wisteria, something like a purple/pink/iridescent all in one. I may have to make myself a pair in the same color!

So all in all, I think I'm on track. Only one thing will put a snag in some of this and that will be studying. I decided to pursue a certification from an organization called LOMA. I'm taking two exams next spring (two different courses) so I'll have to schedule out my time for coursework and knitting. Perhaps I ought to schedule some working out in that schedule too, eh??

Have a fabulous day!

More knitting projects - oh dear.
I remembered 2 other knitting projects I either have in process or will need to have done soon. One I can't list here because it's a Christmas present and the other one I will need to make because I just bought myself a leather coat!! I just HAVE to have a scarf for it!!

So that adds two items to my list. Yikes!!

Oh, crap. Just thought of another. It's not a UFO and it's not a time-pressed USO (UnStartedObject)
either so that's a relief but I do want to start it at some point. Soon. When I was in St Charles in August for the Stitches Midwest event, I purchased some unbelievably gorgeous yarn and a pattern to make a button down sweater. Sounds old fashioned? Hardly. It's a v-neck mohair sweater and the pattern is 16, count them, 16 pages long. No kidding. There are so many different stitches used that the gauge swatch covers nearly all of the different stitches.

The yarn is from Brooks Farm Fiber (they don't have a website). Brooks Farm is a Texas-based farm that raises colored angora goats and provides hand-dyed mohair based yarns, spinning fibers and fleece. I picked out an amazing blue and purple combination, I'll try to get a picture out on my website.

The pattern is from Koenig Farms and they do have a website (www.koenigfarms.com). The pattern is one of their originals so under patterns look for Koenig Farms. It's the one called Trellising Mohair Sweater.

So I guess - if nothing else I can do the swatch - I have to make sure I have the right gauge, right??

P.

Current Projects
I realized last night that I have way too many projects - or UFO's - that I just have to finish before I start anymore. The problem is that I need to make a couple of Christmas presents so I may have to just reprioritize everything.

What's a UFO? Unfinished objects. Specifically, knitted ones. What do I have in progress? Let's go in oldest project first (e.g. longest length of time passed since I started it) order:

Updates in purple

1. Afgahn for the living room
2. Blue zippered vest
3. Striped mitten - need to make the mate.
4. Poncho - needs to be ripped out, don't like it. Posted: 1/23/05: Ripped out and yarn rewound.
5. Tank top - needs to be ripped out, don't like it. Posted: 1/23/05: Ripped out and yarn rewound.
6. Short sleeved top - needs to be ripped out, don't like it. Posted: 1/23/05: Ripped out and yarn rewound.
7. Felted striped bag - needs to be felted, then it will be done! Posted: 1/23/05: Turned out really cool, added grommets around the top edge and used leather shoe laces for the closure instead of a regular handle or a felted one. Finished it 1/22.
8. Socks - need to finish one and start/finish the mate.
9. Mitten - cabled, learned how to do this in St Charles in August (the cabling, that is), need to finish one (sew the end tog) and start/finish the mate. This one is a Christmas present so I really have to finish this one for sure! Posted: 1/23/05: Kind of screwed up bigtime on the cable, need to tear out some rows and fix but I may just rip the whole thing. Obviously, this didn't end up being a Christmas present. Oops.
10. Cabled sweater for Frank (due date on this one is his birthday - Jan 31). Posted: 1/23/05: Not going to make the the 31st of January, perhaps May??
11. Stole/shawl for KEA (not started yet, so not technically a UFO, more like an USO - unstarted object). This is for Christmas also so better get going!Posted: 1/23/05: This turned out so nice!! And she really liked it - that's even better! See the picture on my website, www.prattlebox.com.

Wow. The scary thing is? I think I might have others that I haven't finished yet. I hope I do NOT find any others at least until I'm done with these!!

Have a fabolicious day!

I have a new website!
Mood:  caffeinated
I have website that I am so excited about. And maybe some would think I'm a bit TOO excited for something as simple as it is but I'm having fun with it. It's a challenge to figure things out (though I've had loads of help, thank you, Lisa G!).

My site is www.prattlebox.com and I hope you go view it when you can. It's still under a bit of construction so please have patience.