Finishing some long awaited UFOs

I was kind of at loose ends last night. I was really happy that I finished quite a few hats over the weekend and even tried my hand at a tri-color beanie on Monday night, but last night I was kind of lost and frustrated. I didn't want to start a new project or work on the current projects I have going right now.  You see, I have what one of my fellow knitters calls Knitter ADD - I start projects that I find interesting and then quickly lose interest in them when the knitting gets too boring. So I was afraid if I started a new project I was going to get bored with it before I could finish it and would be consigned to the WIPs bag sitting in the corner, which is already overflowing with UFOs.

I know many of you also suffer from this terrible affliction and I'd like for you to join me in stopping this debilitating problem - repeat after me: I [state your name] will spend the remainder of this month as well as the month of October diving into that seemingly bottomless WIPs bag to finish all those long-awaited UFOs that I have put off for far too long!

Now doesn't that feel better?  You have committed yourself to getting those UFOs finished and who knows, that shawl you'd been meaning to finish may make a wonderful gift this holiday season for your mother-in-law or that one sock who still needs its match could be a nice gift for your husband who has been waiting patiently for you to finish for him!

I have many such projects myself and I made mention of two of them in a July post, Heat Wave?! Not So Much in the Puget Sound. In this post I had finished The Big Bag that had been sitting around for about six months waiting for the handles to be finished and sewn on as well as sew in the lining. I also mentioned Cecil the Sockless Monkey, who has been sitting around only half-done for over a year.  Last night I was feeling really sorry for poor Cecil because he'd been waiting for me to finish his head and arms for so long!  I pulled poor Cecil from the WIPs bag and I worked on him while watching Ringer [new show on the CW with Sarah Michelle Gellar].

The pattern is stockinette stitch all the way, which is probably why I got bored with him, but I have gotten as far as the decreasing for the head.  If you don't remember from that previous post, this is what he looked like before:

I have to stuff him some more before I start decreasing for the head and once I have, I will have another photo after his head is complete.

Another UFO that I will be finishing this month will be the Men's Crew Neck Pullover (Rav link) I started last year. It was going to be a Christmas gift, but because I ran out of time, I just stuffed it in my bag to finish at a later date.  Now, almost a whole year has gone by and the size is all wrong for the intended recipient and I'm not sure if I should frog it and start all over again in the right size, or finish it and just add it to my Etsy Shop for someone else to purchase for their little one!  This is how far I've gotten with it:

As you can see I'm just past the point of separating front and back for the armholes and almost to the shoulders and neck.  It would be a shame to frog it, but its too small for my four year old nephew - who will be turning five right before Christmas. Hmmm....decisions, decisions!  I may have to come back to this one because it is a lot of work completed to have to start all over again.

Then there is the Basketcase Jacket (Rav link) that hasn't gotten very far and could very well be frogged and the yarn used for something else:

Would love to hear from all of you who took the oath to finish up their UFOs this month and October!  Happy knitting!!!

Update: Finished body and head of Cecil:

Cecil is almost complete, he still needs his arms, face and tail!

New Hats on the Horizon

I'm knitting away once again this weekend.  Finished a few hats I'd like to share:

A few of the above hats are now available in my Etsy shop - Handmade Knits by Knitter Mama.  Drop on by and check them out.

Update: September 13, 2011: Finished this hat after dinner on Monday night!

Trying my hand at colorwork - combining more than just two colors!

Labor Day Weekend...what did I do? What else, knit of course!

As the summer comes to a close, I have been diligently working on projects for the upcoming holidays, as well as for my Etsy shop.

But before I can do that, I had to finish a charity knitting quota I volunteered to finish.  I read an article about Willow's Place, an organization that helps feed the homeless in my local city of Kent, Washington and contacted one of the sponsors to ask how, as a knitter, could I help. I was asked to see if my Wednesday night knit group would be willing to knit 100 hats and scarves by October 1st.  My group has gladly accepted the challenge and are all knitting away.

Here are my finished contributions:

Earflap Hat from Lion Brand, 2x2 Ribbed Hat from Fiber Trends,
and Skull Hat for Service Members from Knitting on the Net
My designs: Single crochet scarf and 2x2 ribbed scarf

Reverie Beret from Knitty and Garter stitch scarf

Design adapted from The Question Bag pattern:

Row 15: P2, S1, K2, PSSO, P2, S1, K2, PSSO, P2, (K1,P1) 7 times,

P2, S1,K2, PSSO, P2,S1, K2, PSSO, P2, SM, K to end.

Row 16: P2, K1, YO, K1, P2, K1, YO, K1, P2, (K1, P1) 7 times,
P2, K1, YO, K1, P2, K1, YO,K1,P2, SM, K to end.
Row 17: P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, (P1, K1) 7 times,
P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, SM, K to end.
Row 18: Repeat Row 17.

Two-color Earflap Hat with pom pom made for my son

The blue hat with the red and white band above and the red and black hat are my first attempts at knitting two or more colors at once. Now that I've tried it I found that it isn't as hard as I first thought it would be.

Knitting and enjoying the sunny weather was how I spent my holiday weekend. Love to hear from all of you how you spent this glorious weekend, drop in and leave me a comment, tell me what's on your needles!

It's that time again...back to school!!!

Summer is coming to a close and school will be back in session in just a few days!  I'm so glad school is starting back up - I won't have to hear about how bored my son is anymore.  He'll have plenty to keep him busy once those assignments start coming due. I can't believe my son is already a junior in high school - one more year and then its college time.  There is so much for him to do before then, PSAT's, SAT's, college applications, Senior project, and the list goes on and on. I think I need to make him some fun back-to-school items, maybe a hat in his school colors.  I need some ideas so I'm hitting the web to see what I can find.

Have you noticed probably about a month ago, that the summer supplies were being replaced with school supplies? Where did summer go? It seems that summer was here for only a couple of days, here in the Puget Sound - we barely had any real summer days to speak of and we are already getting ready for school. I am a little behind on my back-to-school shopping this year, but luckily Aiden can wear quite a bit of his clothes from last year and we will go shopping in a couple of weeks. What I've found over the last few years is that when I shop for school supplies before school, I always have to do it again after school starts, because of course, the teachers want their students to have very specific items and what I already bought won't do. 

The other thing I've noticed in my LYS are the lovely fall colors that are gracing the shelves. Yep, back to school also means fall knitting and after hitting the web, I found some cool ideas for some back-to-school projects, like from this article on Knitting Daily by Kathleen Cubley on Back-to-School Knitting where she talks about a couple of great patterns for the kids going back to school and I really liked the Isobel Skirt (Rav link) by Cia Abbott Bullemer (Rav link).


Photo courtesy of Knitting Daily - Back-to-School Knitting

Wouldn't your daugher look fabulous in this adorable skirt?  Its such a great looking pattern, I might just give it a try for one of my nieces.

Some more back-to-school ideas I found are from Sarah E. White at About.com Guide. Her Knit Pencil Bag is easy to knit accessory for kids of all ages, and on Lion Brand's website there are some cute ideas for your favorite teacher at 4 Back to School Teacher Gifts to Craft, Knit, and Crochet. These four gifts are a great way to say thank you to your favorite teacher or a nice welcome back to your new teacher in the coming year. Or how about the giant pencil pencil-case shown here, which the pattern can be bought on Ravelry or as part of an e-book purchase with 13 other great knitting projects at Duo Fiberworks:

Photo courtesy of Ravelry
Pencil case (Rav link) by Katie Startzman

Or how about a new machine washable Yummy Lunch (Rav link) bag, designed by Nora J. Bellows (Rav link) ...designed with the environment in mind and are the perfect solution to unworkable lunch bags that are hard to clean and way too small for a complete lunch with a full-sized drink.

Its still a little warm for sweaters, but its not too warm for a nice short-sleeved sweater for him and her in their school colors. Maybe a v-neck vest for him and a pull-over for her.  There are plenty of patterns out there to choose from, so go out there and get knitting.

Here are some links to some more Back-to-School knitting project ideas:
The Schoolkid Jacket by Amy Polcyn
Robot Backpacks by Brenda Anderson
Adjustable Strap Backpack by Yvonne Boucher
Crochet Laptop Cover by Sarah Blalock
Back-to-School Pouch by Barbara Venishnick
School Colors Hat from Lion Brand
School Colors Felted Laptop Sleeve from Lion Brand
Back to School Pullover by Melissa Leapman

All of the above are really great back-to-school knitting projects, so why not make a run to your favorite LYS and check out all the wonderful fall colors that have come in already and get started on those fall projects you've been thinking about or maybe a back-to-school project for your returning to school student.

P.S. Some projects I finished this weekend:

Knitted Baby Onesie (Rav link) with lion applique along with Stay-on booties (Rav link)
Made with Frog Tree Pima Cotton/Silk

Little Sister's Dress with red apple buttons
Made with Cascade Pima Cotton

Close-up of apple buttons

Close-up of Stay-on Booties

Finished Project - The Beaded Question Bag

I really love the Burien Yarn Stash's Question Bag, by Bonnie Moore (Rav link), so much I had to make another one, but this time I added beads to the pattern design along the edges. I'm very happy with the results:

Made with Cascade Ultra Pima Cotton in Color #3704 (I call it eggplant).
Dimensions: 6.5" w x 7.5" h

Close-up of the bead work

In the pattern there is a yarn over in the center of each of the circles that are created and that is where I placed the beads, so instead of a little hole, there is a bead instead. This one could be used as a an evening bag - the beads give it a little elegance or it could be used as a gift bag - the receiver would get two gifts in one!

Shout Out Time Again

I know its been a while since I've given a shout-out to some of the blogs I like to follow, so here are a few to check out:

First up is Dr. Chop Suey Knits, a blog about a research technician who is addicted to yarn and knitting! Who is still trying to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up. Stop on by and check out her Indiana Trip posts, I had fun reading along with her and her husband.

Next is, I live on a farm.  The reason I really enjoy reading this blog is because the author, J. L. Fleckenstein talks about my home state of New York; living in upstate on a farm, which is witty, always entertaining, with some really great recipes. She also has great pattterns to try out, my favorite is 1Bag. Her blog also links to her website, Etsy Shop, and Facebook page. I really like her story about how she ended up living on a farm, from the author, I lived in Los Angeles most of my life. LA is hot and cranky with too many people and too much summer. In late January of 2006 I met a man online. By the end of April we said “I do” at a drive-up wedding chapel window in Vegas. Now I live on a farm in upstate western New York. I live on a farm … and my husband drives a tractor.  I hope you enjoy reading "I live on a farm" as much as I do.

Ah and who wouldn't want to read the Java Gibber? Just some gibberish about my adventures in knitting, baking and life in general... whilst drinking my coffee. She's a coffee drinker!! And I'm a coffee addict, it's nice to know I'm not the only one! So, stop on by and check out Emicat at Java Gibber.

Next up, Kiwiyarns Knits. I just stumbled across her blog and was hooked [no pun intended there!]. About the author, I am one of those mad crazy knitters out there eats, drinks and breathes knitting.

In 2006, I moved back to Wellington, New Zealand after living the corporate life overseas for 20 years.  My new life in New Zealand was like suddenly finding oneself in a grey zone.  Where had my life gone!? What had I done!?  The time was ripe to find a new interest in life. 

One day, my sister asked me to teach her how to knit again.   After my grandmother taught me as a teenager, I had taught her when she was a little girl, but she hadn’t picked up needles since.  This required a visit to a yarn shop – like her, I had stopped knitting for many years.  I had even given my needles away after all that time.  Out of the phone book, we picked one of Wellington’s local yarn stores.  Walking in the door, I was overcome – all that colour!  All that texture! The sensory overload was too much!  I was hooked!  I too, bought some needles and yarn that day, and since then, barely a day has passed without knitting.

I love reading about people who just make dramatic changes in their lives and seeing where those changes take them. I'm a romantic that way and when I stumbled across this blog I was intrigued about her life in New Zealand.  On top of her life in New Zealand, she has lots of great patterns, good information about the different wool yarns out there and some wonderfully cool photos!

Well I hope you get a chance to check out some of the really great blogs above and for more you can always check out the blogs I follow. And if you know of a blog that would be of interest, drop me a comment with a link, I'm always interested in new blogs!

Just finished today:

A friend asked if I could make the Reverie beret from my blog post "Thinking about my holiday knitting already..." in a size to fit her six seven year old niece. I calculated and tested [knitted swatches] and re-tested [knitted even more swatches] until I found the right brim size that would fit a six seven year old child size head.  Here is the result: made from Cascade Sierra [80% cotton, 20% wool] with a 15" brim.

Heat Wave?! Not So Much in the Puget Sound

While all over the midwest, southern areas, and eastcoast, there have been record highs and heatwaves; here in the Puget Sound we are experiencing what we would typically experience in the early spring or fall.  Yep, you heard right, we barely have been breaking 70 degrees here. I'm not complaining, as long as its not raining and the sun is out I'm pretty happy, because I have family who live in upstate New York, Texas, and Maryland who are scorching right now.

But I was pretty stoked today, it was finally a warm enough day to actually pull out the patio furniture and the grill, sit outdoors and enjoy the sunshine. I pulled out the furniture and gave them a quick wipe down, because they sit outdoors all year round collecting dust, dirt, and spiders.  I cleaned off the tabletop grill and got to cooking some hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, and boneless riblets.

I went into my storage closet and pulled out the patio umbrella I got last year at the end of the summer.  I'm quite proud of this find because I only paid $11.00 for it! Yep, you read right, it was only eleven bucks! Ya see all last summer I searched and searched for a reasonably priced patio umbrella and just couldn't find one. Until I happened to be in Rite Aid picking up a prescription and saw that they were having an end-of-season sale on their patio paraphenalia. I saw an umbrella with a tag that read $49.99 with a sign - 20% off all patio furniture, so I figured what the heck, I'll buy it because it was the cheapest one I'd seen all summer.

Well you could have knocked me over with a feather when the cashier said $11.00. I of course was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, I quickly paid my eleven bucks and rushed out of there before they could stop me, saying there was a mistake on the price! I only got to use it for a short time last year before I had to store it away for the winter, but I'm happy to be able to pull it out again!

Here you can see my set-up:

I live in a 86-unit townhouse development, one the main features that drew me to buy in this particular development was the cute little water feature that is right outside my deck.  It was a perfect day to sit outside to enjoy the waterfall.

I often like to sit out here on the weekends, in the mornings with my first cup of coffee of the day and just relax.  Its funny when I first moved here, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to sleep with the constant running water, but now if the waterfall is shut off for maintenance, I find that I have a hard time getting to sleep without the soothing sound of the running water...weird huh?

After getting the patio cleaned up, furniture set-up, and the food started, I decided to finish up one of the many UFO's I hadn't worked on in a while; the Big Bag from Lion Brand Yarn.

I added a darker brown lining for finishing - had to hand sew it in because I of course wasn't thinking ahead; I sewed the wooden dowels in before I added the lining! I learned my lesson, if I ever make this bag again, I will machine sew the lining before sewing the wooden dowels in.

Brown fabric lining for finishing. Used Lion Brand Wool-Ease
Thick & Quick in Wheat #402

18" w x 12" h x 6" d with 25" handles - It truly is a big bag!

Well that is one more UFO from the neverending WIPs bag that I can put on the finished list.  Still have a few more to go, I'm hoping that I get most of them done this summer.  One other such project is a sockless sock monkey I named Cecil, that I started almost two years ago and poor Cecil is still missing his body and head.

Sockless Sock Monkey Knitting Pattern (Rav link)
by Anita M. Wheeless (Rav link) from her blog: Mumble-Jumble2
Cecil is made using Cascade 220 Tweed and Cascade 220 Wool

 Doesn't he look so pathetic, that he's been hanging out for over a year and I only got this far and haven't finished him yet?  I think Cecil deserves to be finished and when I'm done, maybe he will find a home with my grandniece.

Well the sun has gone down and its starting to get a bit nippy on the patio, so I think its time to go inside.  It was so nice to be able to sit out here and cook on the grill, blog, knit, and just plain relax.

To all you heat wavers out there, try to stay cool and to the knitters, happy summer knitting!