Friday, December 28, 2007

Just Shoot Me Now

Let me set the scene for you.....I had started the basket-weavey type cardi from KnitSimple. Decided I didn't like it after all and started thumbing through my copy of "Fitted Knits" for a replacement pattern. I landed on the "Bluebell Boatneck Sweater" and was happy to realize that this sweater is the one I should have been knitting all along. I showed it to Scotty and he too thought it a beauty. So I merrily frogged the cardi and cast on for the Bluebell...in this case the Red Poppy. Approximately 3-4 hours later I was actually astonishing myself with my speed and ease of knitting. I had already put the sleeve stitches on waste yarn and you know those body decreases? Oh yeah...done. On I proceeded to the k2,p2 ribbing...really...this speed is absolutely incredible for me. I am not known for being a fast knitter. I decide to stop and admire my work and then the unimaginable happens. As I am slowly spinning my Poppy around, I think I may have blinked for an incredibly long period of time. Because it appears that one side of the left sleeve raglans is missing. That's crazy. How in the world is it possible that I would have missed that? I may make some silly mistakes from time to time, but an entire raglan? No chance. My eyes must have been closed. I turn the sweater around 3 or 4 more times, waiting for my brain to jump into action and tell my eyes to see what is so obviously in front of me. It can't. I soooo made that mistake. CAN YOU IMAGINE MY HORROR??? (Grab the air in front of you-both hands-pull it down and make an anguished face--it'll help you see my pain). My fingers and wrists are achingly sore for NOTHING!!! Oh my hell....this ...this....there's no appropriate word for it other than...this BLOWS!! Please God, Jehovah, Joseph Smith & Mr. L. Ron Hubbard......give me the strength to frog this beautiful sweater in the morning and start again with no resentment.

I made it!

With the exception of one missing beanie, I got all my Christmas knitting done. It was tough but I did it! Happy dance...happy dance...woooooo hoooooo!!!! Now is the time that I vow to begin my Xmas knitting earlier next year. Then I proceed to laugh at myself because we all know that will never happen. I'm just not a person who plans ahead very well. Strange that I'm not a planner, because I'm certainly not a spur of the moment kind of gal either. I'm somewhere in between. I'm 1/2 procrastinator, 1/2 got my shit together girl. Now that Xmas knitting is over, guess what's next?? Knitting for MEEEEEEE!!! Yesss! I've already started an Irish Hiking Scarf with some teal Cascade 220 that will look divine. Ever since my Sister-In-Law declared with a *gasp* that I look phenomenal in teal -I want to wear teal all the time. I love teal and bright red together. Soooo, I also have the most B..E..A..utiful skein of 220 in red. Methinks it will become a pair of wristwarmers or a beanie to be worn with the teal hiking scarf. OHH...just thinking about the combo is exciting. Then I've also begun a little cardie from the new Knitsimple. It's a little basketweave looking number with 3/4 length sleeves. In the magazine, the model is wearing it with the most hideous looking dress. She looks stupid, but the cardie is still pretty darn cute. In the mag it's white, but I'm making it in red. And yes, I did ponder knitting it with teal when I was selecting my wool.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Oh Little Town of Knitlehem...

Why oh why must I commit myself to knitting a Christmas gift for my entire family (and then some)?? My poor poor fingers feel like Fat Albert's been sitting on them all night..heyHeyHEY. It will be worth it right? I think so. This is the first Christmas in my knitting career that I've gone balls to the wall like this and made so many gifts for people. I think it will also be the last. I find myself getting a bit panicky and I can't seem to shake the feeling that I'm running out of time. Luckily I have some vacation days at work I needed to use before the end of the year. So there are quite a few extra days in December that I can spend doing nothing but knitting. My husband finds this incredibly odd. He just can't wrap his mind around the notion of an entire day spent knitting. Initially, he felt that I should spend my days off cleaning the house, etc., because that's what he does on his days off. Ha Ha Ha, what a silly man. I've had to explain to him that while it may look to the untrained eye as if I'm being lazy, I truly am not. I'm working. Not only am I working, but I'm working on knitted gifts for his relatives as well as mine. This relieves him of having to pick out Xmas gifts for his Sisters and Mum. He hates shopping. Especially hates shopping for his relatives. Knit on Claire, he says....Good job. Hmmm....that's more like it.


Here's a couple of finished knitty delights soon to be wrapped and given away.....

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Something Wicked This Way Comes




Man that was a creepy movie. The first time I watched it I was about 11 years old and it scared the poo out of me. Now I'm 34 and I think it's actually even scarier to watch. Anyhoodle....onto the real reason for the title of this post. I "finished" Wicked. My definition of "finished" of course means that the sleeves are not complete but the sweater is done enough that I was able to try it on. Shocker of all shockers....IT FITS!!!! I think I will block it to give it a tiny bit more length but other than that it's perfect. Those Zephyr gals really know how to write a terrific pattern.