WOOT It's 2014! Wait... WHAT?!?!

where did the time go? it's been 2014 for almost a month?!

oops! ack!

as you can guess i've been knitting up a storm since my last post sooo...

quick 2013 wrap up / catch up to 2014...  annnnnd... GO!

• i tried to design a neckwarmer - i wanted to try something knew so i cast on a bunch of stitches, took my favourite rib pattern and started knitting in-the-round... i thought it was looking pretty good until i realized (after i was done...doh!) that i was following a "knit-flat" pattern and knitting in-the-round without modifying it for circular knitting. i really love how it ended up but it was not what i was expecting. so i call it "My Beautiful Mistake" neckwarmer ;)

• i finished my Elegant Travels Fingerless Mitts - And I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! They're so pretty.

Elegant Travels Mitts

• i finished my first cable project... Rainbow Twist by Thao Nguyen - this is one of my favourite neckwarmers. the yarn i used was not as thick as the pattern wanted but it came out perfect for me. it's basically like wearing a cozy thick turtleneck. i had never tried cables before and i probably should have started with something a little less chunky, but i'm so happy with how it turned out!

Rainbow Twist

• something for the family gift exchange - i was told that the gift had to be under $10 and gender neutral. so i made this. no pattern just 2 chunky yarns held together and knit in a 1x1 rib. i can post it now because Christmas is over and hopefully it found a good home :)

Gift Exchange Neckwarmer

• *sigh* Christmas REALLY took it's toll on our family - the plan was to spend Christmas up-island. and it was a pretty exciting plan... except that our family was not well. you know how when you're sick... you stay home. we were away from home and it was just not as pleasant as it could have been. there was stress all around especially with my little boy. he was not himself at all. it will probably go down in history as the most memorable holiday we've ever had. but it's also totally blurred. i can't remember a whole lot... oh wait! there was a surprise wedding... but for the most part i can only remember what i was feeling... *sigh*

• i FINALLY knit up an Arbutus cowl - Jane Richmond's designs make the most wonderful knits! i have been itching to try and knit up the Arbutus since her book (ISLAND) came out last year but i was nervous about all the complexity of the pattern. what are"short rows?" erm..."wrap & turn?" so i put it aside for a while. then just after Christmas i realized i wasn't knitting anything *GASP* :D i saw on instagram that a couple of people i was following were having a "jane-along" (a knit-along using patterns designed by Jane Richmond) so i decided that it was the perfect time to start the Arbutus. it was an open group so i joined... and guess what! here it is!

Arbutus 

• crochet (or knit) mood blanket 2014 - i saw on instagram an idea that a crocheter had started and it boomed in popularity over instagram and facebook. it's quite simple. you can make one square a day for 365 days or one square a week for 52 weeks. it started out awesome! the first couple of weeks were so exciting... i seamed them together and saw that it was looking not too bad for a strip of knit squares :) then i started thinking about other projects and well... i'm kinda falling behind now... but i know i'll pick it up again... why? because i am tenacious when it comes to my knitting... some might even say i'm TOO tenacious! :D

Colours for my Knit Mood Blanket 2014

• i'm designing something new - bu-u-ut that is for another time! ~.^

there! all caught up! woot!

Finished Projects for This Week!

1. Christmas Decorating? DONE!

I love seeing the house done up at Christmas... *sigh*

2. Marian Cowl by Jane Richmond? DONE!

I really enjoyed knitting this up. It is so warm and cozy. 

And because it calls for super thick yarn... it knit up in no time.

 I may have to knit up a couple more in different colours.

Love Love Love!

3. A Cowl for Mark

 When I started, I was  knitting up a hat. 

But when Mark took a look at it he thought it was a cowl. 

Which gave me the idea to turn it into a men's cowl.

I just started knitting it up a few hours ago... 

 Now... DONE! :D 

(Mark wouldn't model it for me... *pout*)

I'd say that's enough for this week. 

Time to rest up tomorrow so I can get ready

 to tackle the projects for NEXT week!

(which may or may not include the baking of some goodies)

^.^

Christmas: Advent Calendar Blues... :(

I bought a crafty advent calendar called Adventivity by Gina Carpenter (Author) and Laura Hambleton (Illustrator) a few weeks ago and was very excited for December 1st to arrive so that I (and maybe my darling son) could put together some cute paper crafts for Christmas.

However, as it turns out...  It is definitely not something my 5 year old could handle. The punch outs were a bit too intricate for his short fuse to take.Which is totally fine. Hey, more fun for me, right? :)

But what really got me was that as cute as these appeared, this calendar is turning out to be a disappointment and I don't think I will ever get it again.. For one reason and one reason only.

It CLEARLY states on the attached cover holder...

"Includes materials to make 25 projects."

When (so far) it actually doesn't. You need to provide your own materials to complete each project and make it work.

So far...

Day 1: a pop-out star for a card... they provide the paper punch out of the star and you provide the card. The star doesn't work on it's own without a card supporting it.

Day 2: (this one wasn't too bad) a candy cane mouse... they provided the paper punch out of the mouse and you provided thread for whiskers and the candy cane (of course).

Day 3: a light catcher... they provided the cut out and they EXPECT you to have coloured cellophane candy wrappers lying around to paste into it. for the stained glass effect. Wha? Even if I did eat candy with cellophane wrappers, before opening this up, I would never have known to keep them for this project.

Day 4: a paper guardian angel... they provide her head, wings and arms and you have to provide pink card stock for the body (not a problem) but also a paper doily... A PAPER DOILY. I haven't seen one of those since I lived with parents.

Day 5: (This pretty much solidified my decision not to get this again) an origami Santa. They didn't provide the origami paper. So YOU have to provide the origami paper. Specifically, origami paper that is red on one side and white on the other side.  So "technically" I cannot make this project because they DID NOT include the material to make it.

So the cover lied. So far it BARELY includes materials to make 24 projects now. I'm tempted to give up on it because so far it has only frustrated me.

The only defence I have for this book is that it was all open. Not sealed. The projects were all there, labelled and you could have (if you wanted to) looked ahead to every project to make sure you had ALL materials you needed to make everything. But for me, that totally defeated the purpose of this calendar. I wanted the wonder, excitement and surprise of having a small precious gift for the day.

When I opened that first window and saw that pretty picture of what I was going to make that day I was so excited. Then realized that I didn't have everything I needed to complete the beautiful project. And I had to scrounge around to see if I could find what I needed to make it work...

So it was no longer a gift... It felt more like a chore.

*sigh* Live and learn...