I need to find some focus!

My list of WIP include the following:

~ Gathered Pullover - about 13 inches of the body done
~ Gentleman's Winter Socks - one sock done, the other about 1 row in
~ Baby blanket - about 5 inches in - but it's on big needles so I've convinced myself I can get it done in a snap!

Moving from the WIP list to the UFO list (they've been languishing so long that I don't think I can say there is anything in progress about them at this point!)

~ Bunny Slippers - started Xmas '06 need one little ear made and to be sewn together
~ Clementine Shawl - started in Peru, but it's been so long since I worked on this one I've no idea where I was at when I stopped

So as you can see I've lots to occupy myself with already. But instead, what do I find myself doing? Dreaming of new projects. Making wish lists of yarn I need to buy to make the new projects (never mind the fact that really I have yarn enough for 100 different projects probably in my stash).

I am anxiously awaiting some sock yarn I ordered from Etsy. Isn't it pretty?

Then I ordered two patterns from KPixie. Stitch Diva's Simple Bodice I've been wanting forever! And then this new pattern that just caught my eye is from the company that makes Allhemp3.I'm thinking that Elann's Canapone might work.

Long and the short of it though is that I have enough on the go! What am I doing buying more patterns and more yarn? There's only so much time in the day in which a girl can knit. Unless of course that lottery comes through for me and then I can quit my job and sit at home and knit to my heart's content!

All things considered though, given that I'm at work right now (Honestly, I did start typing this on my coffee break - but it's been over for a few minutes now) I guess I should wander back to things here on my desk of more pressing nature. Otherwise lottery win or not I shall find myself unemployed. And if not funded by a lottery win, how will I ever afford more yarn and patterns???

On that note it's hi ho, hi ho... back to work I go!

I've been spoiled and I'm lovin' it!

I got my Valentine's swap parcel in the mail on the weekend and boy am I happy girl!!! The awesome Megweaver made me cookies that were to die for (the last few I have are hidden deep in the pantry cupboard where the kids won't see them and they're going to work with me tomorrow to have on my coffee break. YUMMY!!!!!! No pictorial evidence of them... sorry ~ N was in the vicinity when I was taking the photo of my goodies and I didn't want to get his spidey "cookie" senses tingling! I did share earlier in the day. I just don't want to share my last few. I want to savour them all by myself!

She also made me a fantastic heart shaped dishcloth which I love and sweet little heart shaped scented sachets. What a lot of work went into my parcel. I feel so spoiled that she took so much time to make me such lovely things! I also received a great pattern called the Falling in Love scarf - I think I have the perfect yarn in my stash to make it! The fun doesn't end there either! I also got some lavendar soap, (which reminds me of my beloved Aunt Flora's yard in the summer - what a perfect antidote to the -40 weather we have right now!), some sweet pea lotion which is headed straight to work to my desk where it'll get lots of use, and pink!! Tictac candies and a box of "conversation hearts", both of which are candies I love! So a big thank you to my wonderful SP, Megweaver! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Tomorrow is my not so wee nephew Robbie's birthday and we thought his party was today, but his daddy had to work and his mommy is feeling absolutely horrible with the flu, and goodness knows what else that she can't take any meds for because she's pregnant! Poor thing! Anyways, b'day party was postponed, which was fine as it gave me a chance to finish part of Robbie's present. When he was born I knit him a blanket and started making him a Raggedy Andy doll. I had the doll finished, but at the time of his baby shower, poor ol' Raggedy was not only naked but he was also bald. I promised he was forthcoming and then he met with a series of very unfortunate events. I got busy, so he languished for months in my sewing box, then we moved and he got lost, and then he was found, but my pattern was lost, then I found the pattern and poor Andy was missing again. This weekend I finally got Andy, wool, cloth and pattern all in the same place, so this morning hauled out the sewing machine, made him some clothes (It's far to cold to run around naked in these parts!) and gave him some hair. I'm pretty happy with the results - and I guess two years late is better than never. If I'm going to make the new baby, who's due in August, anything I should probably start now! :)


I also finished the first of the Gentleman's winter sock, but I'll wait to show that off when it has it's mate. I am aiming for end of the month, but we'll see how it goes. I get so easily sidetracked by other projects!

Pay it Forward and a new FO

I would like to take this opportunity to breathe a sigh of relief and say the baby sweater was finished. It wasn't an easy task given the amount I had left to do on it as of Friday afternoon, and the fact that Sunday morning my hands alternated between cramping up and going numb, which caused me to drop the needles completely out of the row of stitches several times throughout the marathon event of trying to get it done. It was finished and photographed at 11:50 am yesterday. I left for the baby shower at noon. Despite the fact I never want to do anything in moss stitch again, nor do I want to use my 4.5 mm straight needles (I'll take circs any day!) I am happy with how it turned out and hopefully baby and mommy both like it - I wasn't able to stay long enough to see the gifts opened.

Now... I did mention Pay it Forward. Kasia posted on her blog that she was part of a Pay it Forward and she was looking to see if anyone was interested. She talked about how she signed up for one another friend of hers was doing and it really cheered her up. I thought to myself that after all the sad things going on over the span of the last two months or so, I was in dire need of something to cheer myself up. Thinking that there's nothing better than passing on some good warm fuzzy feelings, I told Kasia that I'd love to "play". So here's the deal. I now need to Pay it Forward. The idea is that Kasia will make something for three people who will then each make something for three people and like the old shampoo commercial of the seventies said, "and so on and so on and so on". So I am looking for three people who would like to receive a handmade gift from yours truly and in turn will make something for three more people. I'd love to know how many people this can potentially reach. Really it could be quite amazing! I make no promises as to what the item will be, all I can tell you is that I will put my best effort, best wishes and happy thoughts into whatever it turns out to be. The first three people who post a comment letting me know they want to play along and pay some happiness forward will receive something from me within let's say the next four months. Anyone game?

I am definately longing for spring!

It's about -40C with the windchill today again, so anything that makes the wait until spring go quicker is just fine by me!!!

Here's my answers to the Longing for Spring Questionaire!

Do you knit or crochet? How long have you been at your craft?
I knit and have for about 28 years. I've got very basic crochet skills, but want to really learn how this year. Last year I bought a copy of Interweave's Crochet magazine and am dying to make a couple of the patterns!

What are your favorite yarns/fibers? What are your least favorite yarns/fibers? I like all sorts of fibres and yarns. I'm not crazy about novelty (fun fur), but anything else goes!

What are your favorite colors? What are your least favorite colors? I love rich or bright (not neon) colours. Anything from purple and blues to oranges, browns and greens. I'm just not terribly fond of pastel colours.

What ‘warm weather’ project are you looking forward to making this year? I want to make a couple of cotton type tops for myself and maybe my daughter.

What are you favorite scents? Least favorite? I like light fruity type sents. I don't care for anything to overpowering - my asthma really doesn't like them!

What is your favorite flower? I absolutely adore tulips!

What are you favorite spring time hobbies/activities? After being cooped up all winter, I love to get out in the yard. I don't have room in my yard for a garden, but have window boxes set out along the entire perimeter of my deck.

Do you have a garden? If you do, tell us a little about it. Do you like to plant flowers or vegetables? Well, no garden as such, but I love having loads of flowers in the aforementioned window boxes. I also have big pots of flowers on the deck. I used to love growing veggies too - just don't have the room anymore.

What are your favorite sweets? I've got a terrible sweet tooth and honestly don't think I've ever met a sweet I didn't like!

Do you collect anything? Yarn! Patterns! ha ha! (and in the winter... it may be said by some that I have a small addiction to snowmen!)

Do you have any allergies? Just the asthma

Do you have any pets? We have a whole menagerie of pets! Two golden retrievers, two cats, a rat and about 10 fish!

I am really excited about this swap and can hardly wait to get my partner's information!

It's Friday...

And that means major knitting time tonight! Friday's are always my knitting night. Some people (of the non-knitting persuasion) might find that somewhat sad and dull, but to me it's heaven! I love nothing more than making a cup of tea and settling in on the couch or the recliner with what ever project I'm itching to get done.

Tonight will be a perfect knitting night. After I drop the kids off at their Dad's after school, I'll head back home for a supper of stew that I set in the crockpot this morning before leaving for work, and then the evening is mine! It's supposed to be freezing cold and blustery out so there's no desire to go anywhere. Perfect knitting night I tell you. Perfect! My biggest decision will be what kind of tea to make. I'm thinking that Chocolately Chai with hot frothy milk will fit the bill perfectly!

Tonight I think I'd better work on the Moss Stitch Baby Hoody. It's a gift for Shiloh Jane, (BF)G's newest great neice. She was born last Tuesday and the shower is on Sunday. I have the back and the left half front done. I somehow doubt that the sleeves, hood and right half front will be done in time, but hope springs eternal.

I found an awesome pattern for baby slippers on Sock Pixie's blog. She's got some great patterns on her blog and if you're into handdyed sock yarn, check out her shop - the colours are fantastic! Anyways, I'm thinking that the wee bit of Sweet Georgia I had left from my Monkey socks might make an adorable pair of slippers for little Shiloh. (and those - I just might be able to have done on time and enclose them with an IOU for the sweater).

I'm actually really wanting to work on my Gathered Pullover and the men's socks but alas... I guess the hoody pulls rank in this case given it's a must finish. Doesn't really matter though. Knitting night is knitting night and I could be knitting anything and still be as content as could be...

Maybe later this weekend I'll have an FO to show you all! Until then Happy Friday!

Coincidence?

Tuesday morning I found out just before heading out the door for work that Grandma had passed away. I was heartbroken to get the news even though it was expected. That day, work was stressful. I was having a hard time coping with my very personal loss, and to compound that I was faced with the reality that there are people out there in the world that are so concerned with themselves, that they can't be bothered to stop and think what someone else might be going through at the time. Fast forward through a gruesome afternoon at work, where I was told "sorry to hear about your grandma, but this project is priority." A project that I am convinced wouldn't have been necessary had that particular person done their job more carefully in the first place. However, I swallowed the lump in my throat and proceeded to go about my job. But after hearing for more than the first time that day, "Well she was old" in a way that suggested that really it didn't matter that I'd lost someone very near and dear to my heart. Needless to say by the end of the day I was feeling pretty low.

I waited in the cold for the shuttle bus, then finally got on it amongst the Tuesday 4:00 pm crowd. The ride felt longer then ever that day and when I got to the van I just wanted to go home and have a good cry. I started the van then noticed a paper flapping out from under my windshield wiper. Out I got, grabbed the paper and climbed, shivering, back into the van. I opened the sheet up and found this:

I looked around and wondered where it had come from, but couldn't find any clues. The next day the Free Press ran a story about it. The art department at the university decided to randomly distribute happy thoughts to 1000 cars on campus that day to cheer people in the minus -45C weather. What they don't know is that it was just the message I needed at that particular moment. What are the chances that out of thousands of cars, someone chose that saying for my car when I needed it the most. The world works in mysterious ways.

Now - onto the more ordinary matters of my knitting life. I finished my cabled cardigan last week, but was unhappy with the finished product. Something about the neckline was bugging me. Turns out all it took was a crochet hook and a few minutes to whip around the edges and now I like it just fine. It's a bit short for my tastes, but it's cozy and warm and here that's what counts!

I also ripped out my entire purple hat, because there was something drastically wrong with the size of it. Turns out in the first draft I inadvertently left out 10 rows of the pattern. 10 ROWS!!!! It's much better now and fits wonderfully!

I decided to make a couple of dish cloths for my Knitty VD swap partner. I hope she likes them. I used the Lacy Round pattern from Knitting Pattern Central and the Mason Dixon ball band dishcloth pattern (also available free at Knitting Pattern Central! The picture turned out kind of dark, but I used Bernat's Patio Pinks for the lacy one and the ball band one is a combo of Patio Pinks and Pink. Very fitting for VD I figure!