Christmas Knitting

OK -once again it's been way too long since I posted. I just have too many things going on! Lately I've been selling my daughter's old toys and clothes on ebay - what an experience. I'm glad I'm doing it, I have been making a little extra money on things she's outgrown and doesn't want or play with anymore, but it does take up some time! However, just today I finally took the two biggest things I was trying to sell to the post office - gone baby gone!

As for knitting, I have BIG, yes BIG plans for Christmas knitting. We'll see how far I get. Right now I am knitting dishcloths like a crazy person. I'll be sick of them pretty soon. I promise I will get some pictures up soon. They are kind of weird to use if you aren't used to them, but I think I like them. I don't know how other people will feel about them, but at least they are pretty and can be used even just to brighten up the kitchen.

I also want to make a scarf for the barista at my work. Yes, living in Seattle we have our own little coffee window existing right in our cafeteria. She is one of the nicest people I know, and I was thinking it would be nice to make her something. She is always friendly and cheerful, and totally remembers everyone's drinks! And she sells soup, sandwiches & salads at lunchtime, so technically I never really have to leave the office. How convenient is that (an evil plan by my employer, no doubt!!) Ha Ha!

Hopefully I'll get my act together and get some pictures posted soon.

I'm Done

I'm finished with the Harry Potter beanie for my daughter. Two of the one-million knitted items she wants in the Gryffindor theme! Next she wants mittens or fingerless gloves, so I guess I will have to bite the bullet and get started on them. Now that fall is here, I want to knit more socks for me, but she does need some warm things for winter and I should be happy just to be able to knit! Here is a picture of the hat:

I think knitting several things in the same color scheme makes me feel like I'm not "done" with anything, but actually I have finished both the scarf and the beanie using the maroon and gold yarn. I have to find a good fingerless glove pattern - I think I want to make the kind that is more of a fingerless mitten - I don't want to deal with making fingers.

And just for fun I have added a picture of the latest socks I finished. I finished them over the summer, but didn't put up a picture. They are made using Opal yarn, I believe it was the "Ladybug" colorway. It takes me forever to finish a pair of socks because I just don't get that much knitting time, and last year I made a lot of Christmas presents. I used size 1 bamboo dpns on these:

I used a pattern from Dawn's Dream Designs called "Shapely Secrets Socks" by Dawn Adcock. I found her on the Internet at this link: http://www.dawnadcock.com/ I know all you bloggers out there know how to hide the link under a word, but I have no clue how to do that, or the time to figure it out :} I will eventually, I'm sure. Anyway, it's a great pattern. It it basically a plain-vanilla sock pattern but with strategically placed decreases to make the sock be a little more form-fitting to hug your leg and ankle better. I wore the sock to work yesterday and it was very comfortable.

I am planning on knitting more Christmas presents this year, but maybe not as many. I am going to make my foray into knitted dishcloths for my dad's significant other (what do you call them when they are in their 70's?) and maybe a scarf for my favorite barista. I have a couple of friends at work that I should probably make something for as well. My daughter is getting her knitted Christmas presents early with all this HP stuff!!!!

Today we are off to buy a winter coat using the coupons I get for walking to work at least once a week, they can be used at several establishments including REI, so that is where we are looking for a coat (of course for my daughter - can you tell she is a high priority in my life?) We also need to find some long-sleeved shirts or sweaters for her, since the weather is cooling off.

Have a good weekend!!

I'm In!

Woo Hoo! I got my invitation to Ravelry yesterday. It was waiting when I got home from work. I had to bite my tongue when my daughter asked me to play a game with her last night. I wanted so badly to browse through Ravelry, but I patiently played a game of Scrabble first! But then......oh my gosh. That website is wonderful. I joined several groups, browsed through patterns, read some forums and basically just figured out what was up. Now I need to start adding my books & stash (oh, the stash!) to the site.

You would think I knit all the time with the enthusiasm I have for knitting, but alas, as a single mother I barely get any time to knit at all. I love to read he knitting blogs though, and do so often. Usually after my daughter goes to bed (and when I really should go to bed too) and I am too tired to knit. I try to get my knitting in after dinner but before she is in bed - we watch TV together and I knit. It doesn't happen every night, though - sometimes she needs homework help, or I have laundry to do or whatever.

Now I see that I have Ravelry to read after she goes to bed. Ha, ha h ha......(wicked laugh) I wonder if I can change her bedtime! Not likely!

Aloha!

Well, I'm back. At least this time it's only been one month, instead of one year! A lot has happened in the last month. We spent 10 days in Hawaii. LOVED IT! The cruise was great - talk about good food and luxury living. Hawaii itself is just beautiful, although it was hot and muggy the entire time. Pretty much 90 degrees every day, and I was sweating with every hike. The air conditioning was much appreciated.

My favorite place was Kona. We got to see the sea turtles basking in the sun. Is this not the coolest thing? There were actually two turtles - I spent more time taking pictures of the turtles than actually looking at the place we were at. Which was a National Park called "The Place of Refuge" which I absolutely cannot say in Hawaiian. It was such a beautiful place, someday I really want to go back.

A big plus for Kona was the Kona Coffee! I actually spend $30 on a bag of pure Kona coffee. It's pretty good, although I'm not sure it is really worth $30. But I was there, so what the heck. I also bought some Kauai Coffee, and I am having some taste tests here at home!

So school is back in now, and my daughter is in 7th grade. It was the big switch from elementary school to junior high school - switching classes and all that. She is doing great - she is really a roll with the punches kind of girl. This picture is of her on the first day of school. I can't believe it was so cool and almost rainy that day. But we do live in the Pacific Northwest, so I guess I should be used to it. This summer really wan't that hot, and September has turned out to be rather cool. No shorts to school this year!

She is thrilled that I have finally finished the Harry Potter scarf. I was going to try & give it to her as a Christmas present, but I couldn't finish it while she was gone at camp this summer, so I just decided to work on it in front of her. I finished it tonight, and I am now starting on the House Hat beanie from Charmed Knits. This girl says she wants the scarf, beanie, gloves, socks, & belt all in Gryffyndor colors. I am already sick of knitting in maroon & gold!!! Sorry this picture is awful, I messed around with it on my computer but I still can't get it quite right. My friend took my "good" camera to Poland with her, and I am using an old digital camera. It really makes me appreciate my good one!

I already started the beanie - at least it shouldn't take me as long as the scarf. I am using a fairly cheap acrylic yarn for these projects - Bernat Satin. It is actully quite soft, and I think it will be good for things worn to school and probably quite easily lost. Also easy to wash!

Well, enough for tonight. We have to be at the bus stop before 7am now, so we are up very early. I don't like that aspect of school being back in at all!

She's Baaaaaack!

Yes, my lovely daughter is back from camp. She had a blast! I could "watch' some of what she was doing through their website - they posted pictures. It was weird to have two whole weeks to myself, but just as I was getting used to it, she's back. It actually is taking a little getting used to. I had oodles of time to knit while she was gone, and finished a sock (must find the picture) and started a new one, plus started a Gryffindor scarf for her. I was going to try and make is a surprise, but I'm not that fast of a knitter, so I just showed her when she got home. She is pretty excited, and also asked for a matching hat (and belt, too!) I am going to be so tired of knitting in maroon and gold.

In other news.....we are getting ready to leave for Hawaii on Monday. We will fly to Honolulu and take a 7-day cruise, plus stay an extra 2 days in Honolulu at the end of the cruise. Of course, a hurricane is heading for the islands right now, and I also saw this morning that there had been an earthquake! Goodness! I'm glad we aren't there right now.

Now I need to go see if I can get her to go to bed, ha ha......

She's Gone

Sigh, my daughter has been gone to camp for a week now. Boy do I miss her. It's much too quiet around here without her. But, I have taken the opportunity to knit in secret for her, so I can't say too much about what I am knitting. I've stopped knitting on my socks to work on her project. I only have a few rows to go on my socks! I can't wait to finish them.

In other news, my tomatoes are getting big! I wonder how long it will be until we can eat them. Here are a couple of pictures - one of just the tomatoes, and one of our balcony facing away from the tomatoes showing our other plants, and one of our cats:

And here is my daughter, just LOVING the fact that mom took her picture while waiting for the ferry to camp!

OK, back to the knitting. Gotta finish my project before she comes home!

Promises, promises....

So here I am just to show you that I am intending to blog more often. Here's what I want and plan to do over the next few days:

Add pictures of my current socks in progress
Add pictures of my tomato plant (it's so lovely!)
Add pictures of this totally cool plant that is flowering but I don't know what it's called

Yes, many plans have I. What will I really do? Well, I will pack up my daughter for camp. She will be gone for two weeks starting on Sunday. What's a mother to do? A single mother, that is....she will knit Christmas presents for said child. Fingerless gloves, here we come! And I will most likely then have the time to take those pictures and post them!

The packing will commence tomorrow night. Oh, and Friday night we will be going to the Harry Potter movie before picking up the latest book at midnight. Of course, my lovely daughter is planning on taking that book to camp with her, so of course I will not be able to read it! I will have to console myself with reading the older books (she is taking book six as well) to remind myself what happened in the past.

And I found out that I am a Ravenclaw. I took two quizes, and I would link to them but I don't know how, and both came up the same. I wish I had time to participate in the Hogwarts Sock Swap. Someday....

A Year Passes....

Wow, I can't believe I let a year pass without posting a thing. I guess I decided it was too time-consuming. I barely have time to knit, let alone write a blog. But I keep reading all these other knitting blogs, and they look so fun. And I love seeing what other people have knit. So here I am to try again.

I did finish those socks from last June, and now I am almost done with another pair. In between, I knit a bunch of scarves and hats for Christmas presents, as well as a baby blanket for a co-worker. I'm glad to be knitting for myself again, as selfish as that sounds. I am down to the foot on the second sock of this particular pair. I will try to post a picture this weekend.

We are going to see the new Harry Potter movie tomorrow. Can't wait!