Fridays Are For Gift Giving

TGIF!!! I wish tomorrow was my day off but alas it isn't. Not complaining- more like brief grumbling. Yesterday I put together the package for Turks-I have nicknames for my friends- Turks recently gave birth to an adorable baby boy. I am yet to meet him but nevertheless I was very excited to gift him with a few handknits. Winter has been brutal to New York this season..... I figured a cardigan, pair of socks and two hats would help him nice and warm. The golden pear is now my go too pattern for a last minute baby gift. I love everything about it. It's fast...speedy Gonzalez fast and super adorable. This time round I didn't follow the stranded design in the pattern. I did a simple stripe. I love how everything look together. Fingers crossed that they fit. We will find out soon enough!!!

The tag captures my frame of mind for 2014. My package arrived in tact to my swap partner. I am not sure if she likes what I put together but I certainly had a blast doing it. Her favourite colour is yellow....I made Dolce in cascade 220's goldenrod. I included handmade stitch markers, calendars, bath salts, one of my favourite soaps (it smells like chocolate and has hazelnuts in it for exfoliating), yarn, tea, needle gauge etc etc.....

Looking forward to participating in more swaps. It's the only time I will probably ever get anything related to knitting as a gift lol I almost forgot to tell you what I treated myself to recently! I finally bought myself a project bag! I love LOVEEEE it. Why did it take me so long to buy one? My only regret isn't buying two the same day. I already have a few lined up for another random treat myself day. Happy Weekend!!!

Monkey love

My knitting needles have been very busy this week. I'm trying to keep up with the amount of things I keep adding to my "must make list"...the rate at which I keep adding items I doubt I will ever finish all my ravelry queue. Hmmmm maybe that can be my goal for next year. I completed the cardigan for my friend's newborn. It came out better than I expected. The buttons added just the right amount of pizzazz. I couldn't be happier.

Project info can be found here I see myself making a few more of these in the future. Very quick and easy knit. I must confess that making this has me strongly considering opening my own etsy shop. Will be doing my research in the coming weeks. I think the socks maybe a tad larger than I wanted it to be but that's ok. He will grow into it.

Project info can be found here With the leftover yarn I am going to make another golden pear. Not sure if I will do multi colours or knit in the heathered brown. The stash will decide. I am happy to report that last night I spent some of my knitting time working on my own cardigan. It is a struggle. I have much respect and admiration for sweater knitters. I'm not one of them but that's ok too. Now that I'm not twisting my stitches anymore I am seeing a difference in the cardigan. If it wasn't for the fact that I have already invested so much time and energy into it I would frog and restart. Not going to happen. As my mom would say "every spoil is a style.

Secret Swaps and Uneven Sleeves

Today has been an exciting one for me. Remember a few weeks ago I mentioned that I was taking part in a super secret spy swap? Welllllll guess who received their package today? Meeeee. I've never participated in a swap before and I must admit it was thrilling seeing a box with my name on it knowing it will be filled with yarn related goodies.

My swap partner who lives in Austria sent me a hand knitted project bag (she read on my ravelry profile that I use ziplock bags to store my WIPs). I wasted no time in putting lady kina in it. Yes, lady kina (My first sweater/cardigan) is still in progress. The bag is beautiful and she even lined it. Also, included is a notions bag made from matching material as the lining. She even sent chocolate from Austria! I'm trying my hardest to not over indulge....I'm slowly losing the battle lol In other knitting relating news:- today I decided to order new knitting labels that will include my blog. I am usually very shy and private and don't advertise or promote my site. But it's time I change that....I'm excited. I also treated myself to a project bag!!!! I am way overdue for one. I realized today that I have no trouble spending money on others but when it comes to myself I can generally come up with a logical explanation for why I don't need something. I like being frugal but every now and then it's nice to do something just for me. Last night I finished this for my friend's darling little bundle. In a rush to cast off I ended up making a silly mistake. I'm still shaking my head asking how I didn't see it before I snipped the yarn and soak the cardigan. Ughhhhh my eyes definitely played tricks on me last night that's for sure. The left sleeve is a few inches shorter than the right. As soon as it is dried I have to fix it.

In the meantime, I have casted on another project. A friend asked if I could make something for her friend's two month old. It seems like this is the year I do more baby knitting than any other year so far.

Two babies and a Rikke

I spent the last hour writing up a post. Did the responsible thing and saved as I typed only to have a temporary internet glitch which resulted in me losing everything I typed. Don't you just hate when that happens? I do. I would scream at the screen but I don't have the energy. I've been productive this week. Several weeks back, a coworker saw Finally Rikke And asked if I could make him one but in black. In the past I've always avoided making anything in black yarn. You don't get to see the beauty of the pattern and it is a magnet for dust. Buttttt times have changed and so have I. I agreed to the request. I wanted to make his Rikke in worsted weight yarn rather than sport weight. Fast forward to Wednesday and midnight was born

Everywhere I turn babies are being born. In the past week, two friends welcomed the separate births of two bouncing baby boys. A knitter never passes up the opportunity to justify a reason to buy yarn and or knit. The births gave me reason to do both. Never mind the yarn purchased was not used to make the golden pear....oh no in my mind I need to be prepared for the possibility that I may come across a pattern that screams out " this is perfect for so and so's baby"; what kind of knitter would I be if I didn't have the right random amount of yarn for the project that hasn't revealed itself to me? No judginggggg

I love a good yarn sale and this trip to smiley's yarn store did not disappoint in the least. Using scrap yarn I made two golden pears.

I was not happy with the first pear....seeing the slanted stockinette stitch created by my needles. It's been a problem I have had for years and never knew why it kept happen. I couldn't take it anymore. I did something that I usually try not to do:- ask for help. I am in mysistersknitter ravelry group and yesterday I summed up the courage to post my plight on the discussion board. Within minutes both Andi and Jody responded with suggestions. Thanks to them I now know that I was twisting my knit stitches, that was the reason my knit stitches appeared slanted rather than straight. Problem has been fixed. Asking for help isn't so bad after all. "It's hard to leave your footprint if you spend all your time sitting down I hope this new week is a productive one. Until next time, Cee

Off the hook

This week has been a fairly decent one where my creativity is concerned. Eight years ago I started crocheting a shawl but I never finished it. I moved twice during that time period. The shawl moved from bag to bag; being stuffed into whatever space was available at the time. Fast forward to this week...what did I spy in my closet? The shawl! I sorted through my printed crochet patterns and what do you know, I still had the copy I printed out eight years ago. I didn't have enough of the cotton yarn to make it to the pattern's finished measurements. It didn't matter because truth is even if I had enough material I would have found a reason to wait another eight years to finish it. Instead I did a border of single crochet around what I had done so far. Very happy my fingers still remembered how to hold a hook lol

Dolce is completely finished and ready to be shipped off to my swap partner.

Sourpuss Mondays

Beginning my work week with a snowy walk to the subway station, battling between trying not to fall on my butt and seeing through fogged up spectacles is not my idea of a good time but in my almost 13 years living in NYC I've learnt that Mother Nature will do what she has to and so must I. This winter has been like a guest who doesn't seem to realize they are over staying their welcome. GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that I have gotten that off my chest we can chat about what I've done so far. My friend came over this weekend and I had her pose in the cardigan. It really helped seeing it on a body and not just moving from ziplock bag to my hand and back. It's coming a long.

I've also casted on a pair of socks This is my first time using the magic loop method. I made a list of knitting goals for this year and learning new techniques is #2 on the list. Making socks from yarn below

I've also casted on another Rikke in worsted weight wool. Until next time -Cee