First Saturday Sky of 2009

It's a bit dreary here. Frankly, that is a nice change from all the happy, blue sky that we normally see.

Another Day, Another Finished Project!

Don't get used to this, but it looks like I finished something else.

Project: Noro Striped Scarf

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, Color 211 and some other colorway (I lost the bands)

Needles: US 7

Notes: What can I say that hasn't already been said about this pattern? You never know how it will look until it is finished! I had my doubts halfway in, but the end is fine. I used a tubular cast on and castoff so the ends look very nice. This one is a gift and I think it is even prettier than the one I made for myself.

Booking Through Thursday - New Year's Resolutions

So ... any Reading Resolutions? Say, specific books you plan to read? A plan to read more ____? Anything at all?

Name me at least ONE thing you're looking forward to reading this year!

Yes, it is a new year and I'm back to Booking Through Thursday! My first reading resolution is to do again what I did last year and read every one of the 11 books for my book club. I've already finished the first one, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë. The next book is Murder with Peacocks, by Donna Andrews.

My next reading resolution is to finish the trilogy of conversations books that are sitting on my shelves. I really need to read Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations, and Difficult Conversations. As you might gather from this list, there are some things that need to be said and I am having trouble figuring out how to say them or if I should even be in the middle of the mess.

I am also really looking forward to reading Memo to the President Elect, by Madeleine Albright. She is such an amazing person and I am curious as to what she has to offer. Young Man is eager for me to catch up to him in the Inheritance series, by Christopher Paolini. I have only read Eragon. He has finished Eragon and Eldest and is 400+ pages into Brisingr (since Christmas Day). I have a significant stash of young adult books waiting for me thanks to the wonderful reviews from Elizabeth Bird. Finally, I am enjoying the book lover site, Goodreads. Between that and Ravelry, it's a wonder I have any time for reading (or knitting or quilting)!

There is photographic proof that I have made time for some other projects. I give you a so-so picture of the first finished item of 2009!

Project: NFL Team Quilt

Size: Twin

Materials: NFL team fabrics with Kona white and black in snowball blocks.

Notes: These are blocks from a block swap that I was in years ago in the About.com Quilting forum. It was after this one that I gave up on block swaps. I thought that the instructions were very clear, but it was surprising to me how many ways people could interpret them! I had to rework nearly half of the blocks before I could put the quilt top together. The final result was worth the trouble. Young Man grew out of his I-Spy quilt (I had cleverly made it reversible so we did get a little more time with it) and really wanted something more grown up. He loves football and was excited to learn that this set of blocks was for him.

Just In Time

I promised that this project would be posted before the end of the year and I finally got the camera out to do it!

Project: A Cardigan for Arwen, by Kate Gilbert

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Needles: US 4 and 6

Notes: I love this sweater! It took me two years to finish, but it was worth it. Okay, it actually only took me about a month of knitting, but it took two years to have the knitting skills to actually complete the sweater. When I started this in 2006 (!), I quickly became frustrated. I couldn't keep track of where I was in the cable diagram and some of the instructions were Greek to me. I set the project aside for a while. When I came back to it, I still had trouble following the diagrams and I was still frustrated. I set the project aside for a bit longer. I finally came back to Arwen in November 2008 and we were ready for each other! I frogged a bit of the first arm because I wasn't satisfied with my earlier knitting. Then the knitting came easily. Oh, it still took a couple of tries to get each cuff kitchnered neatly, but I knew what I wanted and how to get there.

The sweater is warm and soft and wonderful! My only modification was to add some length to the body. Cropped sweaters are just not me. My only complaint is that the yarn loves to pill and my sweater shaver is a little too aggressive. I'll have to be very careful that I don't actually trim the yarn when I try to trim the pills. Still, it's all worth it! I will still try to get one of my guys to get a pic of me in the sweater, but at least I have proof of completion.



Bonus project!

This set was a quickie gift for a friend who needs a hug and is too far away to get one from me in person.

Project: Simple Scarf and Hat Set, by Melissa Leapman, from Cables Untangled

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease

Needles: US 7

Notes: Super simple cable pattern. I will freely admit that I lost my will to live about 3/4 of the way through the scarf. A quick detour to knit the hat got me through! I used a full three skeins of yarn for the set to get the scarf as long as possible.

Happy last day of 2008, everyone!

Another Year Over...

Well, it is almost over. This was the sky on Christmas Eve morning. Christmas Day was a very blustery day. We had rain and wind that made it an excellent day to go no farther than our next door neighbors' house for good company and food (and presents!).

We also brought some presents with us, including these gloves for the mother of our neighbor.

Project: Queen of Diamonds Fingerless Gloves, by Melissa Burt from KnitPicks

Needles: US 0 an 1 dpns

Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss in Dusk

Notes: This was a pretty easy pattern except that I think there was an error in the instructions for the left glove. When I tried it on after laying out the fingers as suggested, it didn't seem to fit at all. A minor adjustment to where the fingers started and all was well. I also added a little length between the thumb and starting to divide for the other fingers. This worked well for me and I don't think it made the gloves too long for the recipient. I liked the pattern so much that I think I will make a pair for myself!

And I leave you with a shot of our very civilized snow - it stays up on the mountains where it belongs. We can visit it (if we wish) and we can admire it as we drive along on the freeway, but we don't have to shovel it!