Sorry, Nothing Crafty Today. Need Help.

Using every avenue I've got. Sorry this isn't an actual story or poem. We need help. Our car's broken down and we need to either fix it, or buy a new one in order to keep what little income we have.




Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, and thank you for everything.

Long Time No See

I know, I know, I suck at blogging apparently. That said, I have some catching up to do (Yes, I'm aware I still had stuff to catch up on before, but hey).

First off, I've done some sewing. A friend of mine needed new cushions for her seating area, and I was given the opportunity to make them for her. She just sent me pictures of the end result, and I have to say it's exiting to see it. She and her hubby are also happy with it, so yay.

A Novel Occurance

I know, I know. Bad blogger for not updating. I realize I'm way behind. At some point, I promise I'll catch up the best I can. For now, though, I want to get this up. Now, normally, I only blog about stuff I've made, but this time I'm sharing a few things my husband's made. Why? Because they're for sale and I thought some of you might be interested. After all, it's almost Valentine's Day, right? And who wouldn't love a new shiny from their significant other? 

So here goes:

beaded choker, 17” (not counting actual clasp) & matching earrings. $95

First Cardigan

As many of you know, I'm on Ravelry a lot. A group of us in the main thread I'm in, decided to do a sort of knit-a-long. Not for any specific pattern, mind you, but to help spur us toward making a sweater or cardigan within a certain amount of time. Since I hadn't made any such garments for myself (or anyone, for that matter) in years, I joined, with the help of one of my dear friends.

Anyway, I actually managed to finish it within the allotted time, and I have to say I'm quite pleased with it. Maybe even a little proud. I've never in my life made anything like this before, and definitely not with this nice a yarn. I'm hoping it won't be the last time, either.

I chose to make the February Lady sweater, thinking I'd get the most use out of it, since I tend to run a little on the warm side these days.

Some Selfish Knitting

Project:	Sewanee
Pattern:	Sewanee
Size:	N/A
Yarn:	Roman Hills Gissing
Colors:	Dance Dance #1 Jungle Boogie
Needles:	US3
Gauge:	GAUGE USED
Ravelry link:	Hop on over!

I've done a lot of gift knitting this year, but some selfish projects as well. I'm showing these in no particular order.

I was gifted this yarn in the last swap I did on ravelry. I love the color, and the yarn's a dream to knit with. I had a few fits with the pattern, but I love the end result.

Old Song

This is getting to be an old song, huh? In all honesty, the fact that I let the blog go for so long and having so much to catch up on was a little daunting. It still is, as a matter of fact, and it didn't help matters that it made me procrastinate even more, making the gap that much bigger. I am here to try and rectify that, however, but we'll see how that fares.

I think, in order to make things a little easier for myself, I'll do groupings of things I've done. Like socks or shawls, for example.

Hats'll be up first, since I've made a few of them. There's one I'd love to share with you, but since it's a test knit, I'm not yet at liberty to do so.

Dusting Off And Starting Anew

*Dusts off and glances around* Well, I must say, things aren't looking too shabby for my having neglected this blog again. I do apologize, though. I keep meaning to post, and I keep forgetting! This makes for quite a bit of catching up to do, on my part, so I will stagger the posts a little, or they'd be way too long.


So let's start with the Dr Who swap I was in last year, since I can finally share all the goodies I made for my swapee.

Been A While Again

Yeah, yeah, I know, I've been MIA again a while. Partially because I've had another extended period of not being able to do anything, thanks for my fibro acting up, and partially due to the fact that what crafting I've done has mostly been for a swap. One that isn't done yet, so I can't share anything at this point. I will, though, once it's over and my recipient's gotten her package. ;-)

Finally!

I've had this blanket finished for close to a year now, and was finally able to ship it out to my friend's little boy. Only a year late, but hey. She received it today, so I get to share it with you!

We Interrupt This Program...

I'm starting to have a minor issue (well, it's minor now, but it's serious and potentially a major problem if ignored) with carpal tunnel. My wrist's been hurting a lot more lately, and my fingers are tingling and numb. Not a good sign.

So I asked both on Ravelry and twitter and the following things were shared with me to try to help it. I'm sure I'm not alone with this problem, so I thought it might be a good idea to share them with you.

It was also suggested to do wrist curls with hand weights, 3 sets of 10 reps each, as well as use icy hot. Now, I'm allergic to the stuff (never mind the fact it gives me asthma attacks), so I generally use Sombra instead.

As you can imagine, having wrist problems isn't making knitting any easier. It's been very slow going (and technically it shouldn't be going at all for a while at least), so there's not a hell of a lot to share.

Deirdre Et Al

Deirdre is now officially blocked. I've decided to keep her as a birthday present to myself. Hopefully she'll be all dried up and ready to wear by Sunday (not that I'm planning anything, but it's the idea of it).

Deirdre!

I just finished binding off on my Deirdre shawl! The colors worked out so nicely, I'm quite pleased. The shawl turned out very differently to what I was expecting, given the image provided with the pattern. It's definitely a bit smaller than I was wanting, so I'm hoping it'll block out well.

Catching Up

Wow, I didn't realize how long it's been since I posted last. Life went just a little crazy (okay, a lot crazy) and I lost track of time. So sorry about that.

Anyway. Hubby took me to Black Sheep Gathering last month, and we had fun. There were a few things I missed from other years (no Angora bunnies on display, nor were there Alpacas, bar two out front). I noticed there was a huge increase in fiber for sale, compared to actual yarn for sale, which struck me as interesting. I guess spinning's becoming more and more the thing to do. Too bad I can't do it (no, really, I tried. My hands hurt like crazy when I use a spindle, and since I have neither room or money for an actual spinning wheel, I'm not likely to find out whether I can do it that way instead).

Socks!

Well, I finally took the plunge after much searching for a pattern that might work for me. Since I'm fairly inept as of yet, at understanding and tweaking patterns, it needed to be very cut and dry for me. I couldn't really find one, but the girl on Ravelry came to my aid, and pointed me to a wonderful tutorial and a recipe rather than a pattern. Isn't that the same thing, you ask? Yes, but not quite.

Hesitant

I just cast off on the Tongues of Fire stole, and I'm having doubts on the length of it. I'm hoping that it'll gain some length once I block it. I did try to see how much there'd be gained by blocking a small part of it, and I think it'll be okay... but to see it off the needles as it is right now, I'm worried... very worried.

More Show And Tell

Yay, I learned something new today! What did I learn, I hear you ask? I learned how to make a thumb in a glove ;-). I'd always been a bit scared about trying, because the idea of having to drop stitches (tiny ones, at that!) in the middle of something I've worked hard at... well, it scared the shit out of me. Even now, after I've done it.

It was tricky, and I messed up and had to re-do the thumb twice, but in the end, I think it worked out okay. I'm pretty pleased with them, anyway. Too bad they're a gift, and not for keeps.

 

Slowly But Surely...

I'm making strides on the crafting front, albeit very slow ones. I knit this Liesel scarf back in 2007, and I've only just blocked it. Yeah, kinda fail there, but oh well. Better late, than never, right?

the whole thing all blocked:

Almost Forgot!

I can finally show the second Elise shawl I crocheted, since I gave it to my Mother-in-Law last week for Mother's Day (okay, okay, a few days, late, but it still counts).

Here's a picture pre-blocking:

Blocking Away!

I just finished wet-blocking my At The Deep End shawl (aka the Elise Shawl I crocheted a while back). It was a little intimidating, because while soaking, a lot of dye seemed to leach out of it. Never had that happen to me before, but then again, I've never worked with that yarn before, either. Hopefully it won't do so again if it ever gets wet.

Anyway!

Here's a before picture:

I Did It... I Think

I took my first stab at blocking today. Not entirely sure if I did it right, but it seems to have worked.

Hey, MsKathy, I remembered to take before and after pictures, just so you could see. Hope it helps.

Before blocking: