16 Years Has Gone by SO Fast!

I can't believe (well, maybe I can....) that I haven't blogged in SO long! (Do I always say that???) I feel like I'm being sucked into a time warp of too-much-to-do-not-enough-time. Have you ever felt like that? Ugh. It's frustrating!

But, besides being busy, I've had a pretty productive and really nice month.

And here are the reasons why:

1. I'm up to a 63 pound weight loss on WW in the past 6 months. I'm hoping to reach my final goal by October 15th, which I when I first started. Yippeee! I'm very, very lucky because Ian is incredibly supportive of me - he gives me compliments every day and cheers me on even with the smallest of weight losses - like 0.2 or 0.4. I love you, Ian!!

2. I got a new haircut and I really like it. I wasn't sure if I was going to at first.....it's really short....but, I've gotten so many compliments on it. And - most importantly- the hubby likes it.



3. I finished the Amy Beret by Diane Mulholland - using my 2 ply worsted weight Polwarth handspun (which was AWESOME to spin, by the way) - and, although it doesn't really look that great on me - I loved knitting it and it was really fun to make. Diane is a truly talented designer. I just bought two more of her handspun patterns.



4. I've gotten ONE WHOLE PANEL of my Lizard Ridge Afghan done! I need to make at least 4 full panels before Christmas (I'm in the A Year in a Blanket group on Ravelry) and then add the trim in Cascade 220. Most of the people seem to be making only one square a month but, for this blanket, I need to make 2 a month - there are 24 pieces (at least) in all. The first panel is huge! About 10.5" wide by 72" long. Yikes! Should be sooo warm, though. And, really, I think it's gorgeous. (It's for my oldest son as a gift)



So.....the only thing that hasn't really gone my way....is.....dun dun dun.....

THE DAMN DRAGONS!!!!!

I am incredibly irritated with the Hai-Riyo knitted dragons. They were such a fun, quick knit and I was excited because the yarn was nice to knit with and all of the pieces were very easy.

BUT....(a big but)....

They are a pain in the ASS (yes, ASS!) to sew up! My boss had already made one and told me how hard they were, but it was her first knitted toy, so I thought that maybe I wouldn't have such a hard time. I was very, very wrong.



The pieces are in a bag (for both of them) and I'm trying to get together my courage to continue sewing them up again. Hopefully (for the kids' sake), it'll be before I die. (Maybe)



I was also planning on getting out a new pattern for Earth Day on the 22nd, but (alas), it was not meant to be. Maybe next week. I'm planning my oldest son's 16th Surprise Birthday party (eeeek!) for this Saturday and I'm slightly freaking out.

There is so much to do and I'm doing it all myself....balloons, ordering cake (thank goodness Jackie is picking the cake up for me!), favors, decorations for the house, banner, food (ordering pizzas and getting ice cream for the sundae bar), drinks, cleaning the house, uncluttering the house (harder than cleaning!), and trying to keep all of this from Tim. My mom is bringing some snack stuff for me (thank you!!!) and ice cream toppings. Ian and I still aren't completely sure what we're getting him for his birthday, either (it's actually on May 7th) and that's up in the air for now.

But, I can't wait to see his face when he comes in the door. He thinks I'm having my knitting friends over for lunch. He he!!!

Well, wish us luck on the party and I'll have tons of pictures to show next time. And, hopefully, the FREE pattern will be done by then.

I hope.

Have a great weekend!!!!

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!!!!!