Pet Peeves

It's been a stormy week here. I have been doing a child swap with a few preschool moms who have younger girls, so that means two afternoons a week I have no kids! It is so nice to have some time alone to rest, knit, or run errands. This week I was able to get my hair cut for the first time in quite a while. I am really happy with it!

I have also recently been watching the show New Girl on Netflix.  It's entertaining, but I have one pet peeve about it.  The main character wears glasses without lenses. That is something that makes me crazy! Having bad eye sight is a disability.  People aren't using crutches ironically.  And I realize it is probably for lighting reasons, but there are characters on the show that actually do wear glasses and they have ones with lenses and things are fine. It is obviously something that most people won't notice, but it drives me crazy. 

And while we are on the topic of things that make me crazy, another huge pet peeve of mine is people saying they "don't have time" for things.  Everyone has the same 24 hrs in a day. Most people I talk to in the course of the day have small children and similar things to juggle. It's fine if you don't want to make time to do something, but just admit that. If it isn't a priority for you, you won't make time for it. But, there is time. I just get irrationally annoyed by people not saying what they mean.

In knitting news, things have been cruising along on Weston's Gansey.  I have it joined in the round and about three inches of stockinette completed.  I even tried it on him yesterday and IT FIT. HUGE news.  It was such a relief to see that. I still have about a million inches to knit and quite a few things to figure out (shoulder straps for example...) but I am starting to see progress and I think it will come together.  

I haven't been knitting on anything else this week... I have been dreaming of casting on new things. I am obsessing over knitting a pair of baby overalls and other little things. Everything I seem to stumble across that I want to knit is fingering weight. I probably should mix it up a bit with some other weight of yarn just to give my hands a rest. 

Next weekend the Iditarod starts, and with that the Iknitarod! I will be participating in the challenge this year with a baby blanket, the zagaround blanket by Kate Oates. I have had a rainbow yarn for it for a while and am finally ready to get to knitting. I think the pattern is simple enough that I should be able to work on it with the kids up, but finishing such a large project will still be a challenge for me. 

Have a great weekend and happy knitting!

Sewing and stripes

I am through the garter stitch stripes on my Lilli Pilli shawl! The rainbow is there...and now there are only forty rows of beaded lace left to go. Ha! Checking my Ravelry page I saw that I started it in May of last year so there is potential that it will be finished within a year. That would be a pretty good record for me for things that I have knitted for myself.

I had sewing day yesterday and I was able to accomplish quite a bit! I put the borders on a small baby quilt and pieced the back so it is ready to be quilted. I am really happy with it! The fabric is very cute without being baby-ish and girly without being pink.

I also finished this quilt top. It needs a border, which means a shopping trip, but I am happy with it.  I had the patterned charm squares in my stash for a long time and I thought this simple quilt would be a good use for them. I am hoping to find something orange or green for the border which means Lucy will have to stay at home. She was already quite disappointed that the blue squares weren't pink...apparently everything should be pink if you ask her.

I have quite a few projects on the needles but nothing that is in a grab and go state.  I am hoping to remedy that tonight so I have something to knit while out and about with the kids this week. Hopefully everyone had a great weekend!

Needles and hooks

I have been knitting quite a bit! I am almost through the stockinette stripes on my lilli pilli shawl and I am very happy with how it is turning out. It is going to be quite large and I am not sure what I will do with it when it is finished, but the garter stitch stripes are making me happy. 

I have also made some forward progress on Weston's gansey. I am about to join the welts and start working in the round. The other day Sawyer was helping me vacuum and I heard a noise. I asked him to shut off the vacuum and came to investigate. What I found was not pretty. My knitting had been left on the floor and got sucked into the rollers. 

My new addi sock rocket needle was shaped like a hook! Sawyer was upset and thought he was in trouble. I assured him he did nothing wrong and it was my own fault for leaving my things out. It also proved a good lesson for why things shouldn't be left on the floor. I was able to get a new needle from my LYS that night and got everything fixed. 

Hopefully I continue to make progress and can remember to put my things away!

Happy knitting!

A long January

Whew! Finally getting around to updating again after a long break. We had a wonderful trip to Hawaii. It was amazing to just relax and hang out with Weston for six days. Not having to take anyone else to the bathroom or feed anyone else was just simply delightful.  I didn't get as much knitting done as I thought I would, but I enjoyed doing nothing. That isn't something I am normally good at, but it was nice.  I made a lot of progress on my Lilli Pilli shawl, I am now half way through the 100-row garter stripe section.  After that I have another small lace section, which I am sure will slow me down, but I am excited to have this finished! It will probably be the fanciest thing I have ever knitted for myself.

We also did a few tourist-y things.  We went and played mini-golf, visited a goat farm, and a vodka farm.  The tour of the vodka farm was very interesting and I learned a lot! If you are ever in Maui, be sure to stop by the Ocean Vodka farm as it is a fun little outing.

I have finally started on Weston's Gansey again. Nothing like knitting on a deadline! I really hope it works out this time because I am not sure I have it in me to knit it a third time. (Not that I knit the whole sweater the first time, but I knit enough to be quite annoyed at myself for having to reknit it.)

Hopefully I will have more beautiful knitting to share with you soon! Keep those needles clicking!