When is it MY turn???

Hi you! I know...I've been pretty lazy about blogging lately.

I feel as if there are these weird excuses priorities for knitting, like:

ONE: Find pattern
TWO: Find yarn
THREE: Knit item
FOUR: Admire/wear/share item
FIVE: Find time to take pictures of item
SIX: Swear profusely when you can't get a good picture of item. (Apologize to children for swearing)
SEVEN: Remember to load pictures of item to computer, once you find your camera AND camera cord (This sometimes takes days)
EIGHT: Post item on Ravelry...after many side-tracked hours of pattern-surfing.
NINE: Go to Blogger and attempt to finally share a new blog post (which is usually at least 1-2 weeks behind), but get side-tracked (AGAIN!) in reading friends blogs.
TEN: After much effort, getting to the "Create New Post" area and listing 10 reasons why you haven't posted until now.

Pretty clever, huh?

So, now that I've done my necessary blabbering, I will show you a new FO (woo-hoo!!) and share some other stuff, too. Most of it is pretty interesting, too! Imagine that!

Ian's Felted Clogs

Yarn: Cascade 220 in a dark gray #8400
Pattern: Fiber Trends' "Felted Clogs"
Needle: US 13 (20 and 32" circ - I used Addi Turbos)
Time: Took about 4.5-5 hours (of actual knitting time) per slipper, not counting the sewing on of the suede sole (which took 1 hour total for both). Started on 1/ 06/09 and finished (with knitting, felting, felting more, and sewing up of both) 1/17/09.
Fun Level: B+ (I liked this pattern very much. It was clearly written, even though it was a bit complicated at parts. Once you make one slipper, the next one is a breeze. The only two things I didn't like were making 2 soles and sewing on of the suede sole - that was a pain in the a**!)

Picture of the slipper in progress:



Picture of the unfelted slipper on my hubby:



Pictures of the slippers on him:



He really loves them and has been wearing them since I finished them. They're a little big in the toe area (a little too wide) but, other than that, perfect!



Now...I'm working on a pair for Tim! (Black with red trim)

I just bought a number of skeins of yarn this week...I know, I know...I don't need them! But, I've had more requests for knitted items and I just can't say "no". (This is a weak point of mine.)

Let me share with you my yummy yarns:

1. 2 Skeins of Malabrigo (for Armando and Amanda Hats!) and 1 skein of Berroco Comfort in red.



2. 1 skein of Berroco Comfort in teal and 1 skein of Jojoland 100% cashmere laceweight in the most beautiful blue in the world!!



The Comfort yarn is for this: Hai-Riyo Dragon! (Rav link) One for each of my boys- and I bought some matching Berroco Lumina (sparkle, sparkle!) yarn for the dragon-y accents.

Since the beginning of December 2008 (so...about a month), I've been working on a number of items of other people:

-The "Branching Out" scarf for my mom's boss
-My dad's crocheted (acrylic!!) blanket
-Felted Tote for Felice
-Knitted Flower washcloth for Tim's piano teacher
-Felted Clogs for Ian and Tim
-Knitted socks using Sereknity yarn for Gigi (in exchange for a gorgeous pink, angora crocheted scarf!)
-Lace sample for the yarn store

And, I'm asking myself...."When is it MY turn???" When will I finally be done knitting things for others so I can knit for me??? I know this sounds horribly selfish, but knitting starts to become more like a chore than fun at some point. I DID get to knit a couple of things that I wanted to since December...like:

-My Mr. Flurry snowman (Rav link)
-A design item that I sent in
-Bella's Mittens (Rav link....oooh, see pics below -these were VERY fun!!)



AND...I have a baby sweater to knit (which I'm actually kinda excited about because it's soo cute!) for my mom's boss' daughter's baby-to-be - which is due late Feb.

Will I finish everything?? Will I end up having a nervous breakdown before then? Stay tuned for the results.... (he he)

P.S. Weight Watchers Update: 37.5 pounds total in 14 weeks!! I'm very excited. I've been doing yoga every day and also working out on the Wii Fit 5-6 times a week for at least 30 minutes. I'm trying not to eat too many snacks in between meals and still following some of the Flat Belly Diet rules along with my WW rules and points. I'm drinking TONS of water and eating TONS of vegetables -which, to me, is hard to do in the winter. Must-keep-gooooooiiiinnnng!!!!!