Don't even think about it. Just dive in!

Have you ever done that?

You see a beautiful knitted item and say to yourself, "I have to make that!" And once you say that out loud, you can't think of anything else until you purchase the yarn and then cast on and then ... "Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into?"

Well even though this

#22 Graphic Wrap by Brandon Mably from Vogue Knitting, Winter 2010/11 was much more than I anticipated I am so glad I ...

# 1. Knit it, # 2. Finished it.

And if it keeps snowing like it has this Winter ...

I may not be taking it off until Spring!!

Just one more and then it's back to WIPs

I've gotta be ready for this weather right?





It was just the fingerless mitts that I knit [details on Ravelry]. The scarf was crocheted a long time ago. But as you see the mitts go with it perfectly and also with this jacket.

Now it's time to get down to business and finish my Graphic Wrap for January.

Small projects sometime take over ...

The knitting basket can seem to overflow with some of the instant gratification types this past week. One or two day projects just jump off the needles in between the major WIPs.

And something like these can be fun ...



To go along with this fun Holiday scarf ...



Of course I had to knit another pair ...



I think I'll give those to a friend for a Birthday gift and make another pair for me. Yarn already bought! Are they part of my Stash if I cast on right away? For all the details, check out my projects page on Ravelry.

But I did knit up a quick project also using yarn from my Stash ...



So what's next?




How about those projects already on the needles huh?

Or the many other MIAs stashed in my closets.

10 Shawls in 2010 is complete.

I finished two of the shawls started last year just in time to be included and posted on the Ravelry Group. Only one shawl started last year didn't get done. But I did complete 21 shawls!!

[note: you need to be a Ravelry member in order to follow some of these links.]

BTW, this year it's called 11 Shawls in 2011 and I cast-on very early this morning for the 1st one for the new year. No moss going under my knitting needles so to speak, huh?


Here are the two for last year.

Project info

Name: Dragonfly Shawl

Pattern : Dragonfly Shawl by Kristin Omdahl

Craft: Crochet

Hook: 3.5 mm (E)

Yarn: DMC Senso Microfiber Cotton

How much?

6 skeins = 900.0 yards (823.0m)

Dragonfly will be perfect for my youngest sister who lives in Florida. Her eyes are the prettiest of blue and when she wears blue they look even more blue. I also think she would like the dragonfly design since she loves to garden. This means I have completed the first gift for next Christmas already!


And my last shawl? Here it is ...

Project info

Name: Boneyard Fall Garden Shawl

Pattern : Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West

Craft: Knitting

Needle: US 7 - 4.5 mm & US 5 - 3.75 mm

Yarn: Filatura Di Crosa Fancy Tempo

How much?

5 skeins = 570.0 yards (521.2m)
and
Yarn: Rowan Purelife Revive

How much?

1 skein = 137.0 yards (125.3m)

I made one modification by putting on a leaf fringe along the edge. The fringe pattern is from the book Knitting on the Edge by Nicky Epstein on pg. 118.

I've already decided that this one is for me. It's going to be a fun one to wear.
That's because it's an ego booster ... oh ya.

Not that I need my ego boosted or anything, but I do love the compliments.

My resolutions for 2011 have been decided!!

So, here they are:

1. Finish WIPs (work in progress) that I already have on hand. This part of my resolution is a big deal, BTW ... I have over 32 projects in the WIP category. So ... I would like to finish at least one WIP each month of the new year. At the same time, if it's something I really didn't like because the yarn wasn't right for it or the gauge wasn't coming out right, I'll frog the project and reinstate the yarn into my stash for another project later or start over. I already know that "starting over" will happen on any sweater I started for myself because I intend to be a smaller size next Winter. I want it to fit right if I'm going to do all the work to finish it.

2. Organize my knitting needles and catalog them on Ravelry. I know I have more Interchangeable Sets, lace circular needles, dpn's and straight needles than any one person would ever want. But where are they all?

3. Take advantage of the aforementioned organizing bug! I plan to go through my stash and put together my works-in-progress projects (WIPs) so they're easy to finish. I'm going to put them in Ziploc bags with the patterns and needles, and I'm also going to make a list of which needles are in which WIP and keep it with my needles, just so I don't buy needles I don't need. While I'm at it, I'll also put upcoming projects (or yarn bought pacifically for a project) in bags with their patterns and include where they are on the Ravelry Stash inventory.

4. Knit 12 Shawls for the 11Shawls2011 group on Ravelry but at the same time this is what I plan to give for Christmas gifts next year to the women in my life that I give gifts to and didn't give a shawl to for Christmas this year. I made 21 shawls in 2010 so I know I can do this one. I plan to cast-on for my first one on New Years Day.

5. Mend my socks. That's right, I've got a whole basket full of socks with holes worn in them and they're otherwise too nice to just throw out. Of course they're my own knitted socks, so now it's time to do the repairs. It'll be like restocking my sock drawers with new socks for next Winter. I've been meaning to do this for some time now so it's about time I'm committed to do it. Maybe I'll even knit a couple of new pairs this Summer too!

(BTW, I have a bigger basket of sock repair than this now.)

I think that's enough to keep me busy.

Happy New Year!!

Do you love Lace but haven't tried it yet?

Always wanted to but was afraid to begin? Have you tried it but failed to finish??

How about starting with a small shawl called the "Budding Shawlette"? It only uses one skein of fingering weight sock yarn (450 yds) so it's a small investment and you could even use some sock yarn right out of your Stash. I'm giving a class for intermediate knitters starting Sunday, January 16. This beautiful little shawl can be knit with or without beads. I'll show you how to add beads as you go too. It's easy!

Check Seed Stitch Fine Yarn's website for details such as time and cost. And then ask for a materials list when you sign up.



I used Cascade's Heritage Sock Yarn for this one.



You just need to know how to knit & purl. That's all really!!

Come join me at Seed Stitch Stitch Fine Yarn on 21 Front Street in Salem, MA.

If Mom wants it, she'll get me to make it!

I sent my Mom a Stephen West designed shawl for Christmas ... the Colonnade Shawl.



And once she got it she called to thank me and tell me how cold it was down in Florida and it was just the thing she needed to help keep her keep warm even just a little bit. Except ...

She could use one in Turquoise or some blues. "Don't you like the color of the one I made for you?" I asked, while I kept thinking 'wasn't purple one of her favorite colors anymore?' "Oh yes," she said, "But I need a color to go with my other dresses that I have in blue or turquoise. Turquoise is my birthstone color you know. (insert violin strings here)"

Ooooooohhh, I see.

"And I also could use a pair of leg warmers in blues. It's really cold down here right now you know and once I get cold I can't warm up. I only have one pair of leg warmers you made for me a couple of years ago you know. So I sure could use another pair or two"

So what does she think I am?

A store?

A knitting machine??


Well ....

Only my Mom could talk me into doing this ...

four days later I finished ...



That's right, another Colonnade!!

And I do feel sorry for Mom now that I have arthritis also and feel the cold in my knees and hands although I have the advantage of being able to knit up my own sweaters or whatever else I want in wool, alpaca, cashmere or silk.

These pictured below are not new Christmas ornaments.



But I did finished them 3 days later and put them in a box with the shawl.



Now I'm REALLY done knitting for Christmas!
[This Christmas as least.]

And then it was snow ...

Do you need an instantly gratifying knitted gift to make & give by this Christmas?

Try this one. Yarn: 2 skeins of Gnocchi [purchased at Seed Stitch Fine Yarn]



Cast on 8 stitches using the 'e' cast on method. Then knit every stitch in the yarn between the puff balls until the scarf is as long as you want it or the yarn is almost gone. On the next to last row before cast off row, k1, make 1 to end, then bind off. This will prevent a tight bind off due to nature of the Gnocchi.

Here it is ... the only snow I've seen so far this year:



Total knitting time: 3 hours!



Now that is "Instant Knitting Gratification"!!

I love the faces ...

of those who love wearing what I knit.

So my DH and I went up to New Hampshire last Saturday to spend the day, pass out knitted gifts and enjoy the smiles.






Okay a couple of them got in there more than once. But those smiles were just so darn cute I just couldn't pick out the picture I liked the most. And I love ALL of those smiles!!


Including this couple ... even though he isn't wearing his knit socks in the picture, he wears them to bed.

It's a little wrapped up ...

Presenting the Pimpelliese by Christine Ebers. I used Noro King yarn purchased at
Seed Stitch Fine Yarn for this.

Should have taken 2 skeins but for some odd reason it took a fraction of a third skein to finish the last 3 inches, even though the first skein completed the first half and a few rows into the decrease for the second half and I had to decrease a little faster (extra rows of decrease) to get the correct width as well. So why did it take more yarn? A mystery.

Ah well, I need to find something to make with the rest of the skein. (??? but what?)

At least I've got it all wrapped up ...

For me!



And I love wearing it!!



Can you tell?

Help me pick ...

Beads.

I'm knitting the Budding Shawlette (a free pattern on Ravelry) by Joyce (YuLian) Yu again but this time with Cascade Heritage Sock Yarn and some beads.

But I have a problem.

Which color should I use? I had asked some friends before I started for their opinion and the majority said the clear crystal. (I was partial to the green myself) So I decided on the clear crystal and once I started I wasn't so sure I like all that bright 'sparkle' look. It just didn't seem like 'me'. So I put a few rows of the green in for a comparison. They run along the flower bud stems. See the green in the rows below the needle cord?

What you do think?

(that is the real color of the yarn BTW; a pea yellow ... I know it's odd but I really like it!)

I do like the green ... BUT then I would have to go back to the beginning and start over. Would it be worth the extra effort? Or is the crystal your pick and I'm just 'nuts'??

Which color would you pick?

What do YOU think I should do?? (I really do want your opinion, really I do.)

Watching our tax dollars at work ...

while I knit. Hear those needles click away. Knit, knit, knit.




I have plenty of knitting going on ...
... just nothing to show for it at the moment.

Should have finished work to display next week.

Honesty. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

p.s. "Hi" to my new found friend from my hometown Milford, NH. It's a small world!

Did you ever see this?

What??

You don't knit?? What about crochet?

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Nailed 'Em - Radical Knitting
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

Radical!

Last Christmas gift made for this year ...

Honestly. This is it! Anymore knitting or crocheting will be for Me, me, me ...

But this one is for my best friend in Georgia. She sews and collects pincushions. So I had to knit one for her. But this is the last one. Honestly.



Project info

Pattern : Fleur de Lis & Cearnog Pincushions by Tammy Eigeman Thompson

Needle:US 0 - 2.0 mm

Yarn: Rowan Scottish Tweed 4 Ply
Alteration: I knit a bobble button instead of using a real one so a pin won't get damaged by accident (which could happen with a hard surface like a pewter button.)

I like it ... so that means I knit one for me too right?

Christmas 2010 ... Am I done yet?

This is a little more than half of my Christmas Gift Stash. Consisting of; 4 shawls, 2 hats, mittens, ascot, shopping bag, 2 scarves, 2 headbands, 2 neckless knit wear and 8 neck warmers. Knitted through out the year. Maybe one or two left over from last year. (maybe) But most from various patterns in books, on the web, or magazines.

And then there's the other half of the Christmas Gift Stash all knit from the most recent Cascade 60 Quick Knits. I finished a total of 20 projects from this book. [plus more yarn waiting to be cast-on for next year -- YES, I intend to knit more from this fabulous book] So now I'm ready for this Christmas. Other than wrapping and posting some of these out to other States for family and friends that is.


Okay, I'm wrong ... I have two more on the needles. A pincushion and a pair of beaded fingerless gloves. Now ... if only the other half dozen projects recently cast on don't distract me to0 much I'll be all set for Christmas this year. Early!

Bring it on Knitting Gods!!