What do you mean I procrastinate?

Once a procrastinator always a procrastinator is what a wise man say. I am the master of procrastination, but when the pressure is on I do my best work. I was able to knock out Colton's new orange wool hat, but don't have enough yarn left for mittens. He has new gloves so it isn't a big issue. James has one knitted gift that will find it's way under the tree; we agreed our new phones were our gifts, but it was a small quick knit!

I started on a crocheted Christmas tree to put on the table and even bought little LED lights to put on it--well it's not done! I started a really nice cotton/linen blend facecloth as a gift--it's not done either lol! I have some wonderful corn yarn waiting to be made into a shawl and more cotton yarn begging to be knit into dishcloths.

I did finally knit myself a new hat that matches my coat. I did another test knit for a designer and it turned out great! She needs someone to test knit the pattern for matching mitts but I won't have time to make them now. Hopefully a facecloth will be completed, a tree with have lights that twinkle, and maybe a pair of mittens will be warming someones hands by the time next weekend rolls around!

It is the most wonderful time of the year...

Like most people, we are trying to get ready for Christmas. I know it is a celebration of Christ's birth and I admit sometimes presents, cookie making and meal planning overshadows the true meaning of the day. Usually, by this time of year I have most gifts bought or made, cookies baked and froze. Finally, I would have picked up mom, taken her to lunch and gone shopping with her. This year is obviously different and I don't have anything done.

Christmas presents are on knitting needles, or in a bag in the guest room. Cookies are not baked and meal plans are not set. Other things have taken my time and that is ok. I started on a memory afghan with yarn that mom had. She said she had enough to last her until she died. She was wrong; she had enough to last until I die. I started making hexagon shaped blocks and will outline each with off white yarn to tie them all together. All 39 blocks are done through 6 rows--each row is a different color. The 7th row will be the off white one and it has to wait until after the first of next year. 27 ounces of yarn was made into a large "magic ball" of multi colors for Shane's memory afghan. The remaining yarn was sorted through and given new homes.

I joined a RAK group (RAK=Random Acts of Kindness) and found a few people who could use the yarn. I felt like Santa mailing those little packages and one of the recipients turned my act of kindness into a great gift back to me. This was proof that even though at times I felt no one cared or everyone was out to get me there are still wonderful people in the world. I have to let the Lord show me the way! Today I will sew some project bags to be RAK'd over the next few months. It has been a wonderful experience giving to others that you don't know and not expecting anything in return. I admit it is a big suprise when someone does something unexpected for you though!

When I finish my sewing project today I will pick up the knitting needles to make Colton an orange wool hat to match his new coat. He chose a simple pattern so I am hoping it will be done in an evening or two! After that he wants mittens to match his coat too. I found a fun pattern called "My Thumbs Look like Chicken Legs" and the picture is a mitten with fried chicken legs for the thumbs. Just don't tell the dog that or he will probably eat the mittens!

I have chili beans in the canner and I will make a nice big pot of soup for dinner. After the table is cleared and dishes are done I will sit down with another ball or yarn and hopefully put another little dent in the projects I would like to have done by the end of the month.

Is it a glove? Is it a mitten? No! It's a glitten!

While on Ravelry one day looking for ideas for a gift to make for James I ran across a glitten. What is a glitten you may ask??? It is a great device for warming your hands but then transforms into something great! You can free your fingers so you can do tasks that require dexterity while still keeping your hands warm. I modified the thumbs so they also have a pop top allowing texting on a cell phone as well. You never know when you will need to text while standing outside during a blizzard! It also allows the thumb to be seen in case you feel like hitch hiking.

I knit the glittens using Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool. The yarn still has some lanolin in it making them water resistant. This should be a nice feature when he is outside working and his glittens get damp--hopefully his hands will still stay warm and dry! When James read the label and saw it was virgin wool he couldn't help but smile--I had to explain what that meant in terms of yarn.

I rounded up my size 6 Bryspun plastic circular knitting needles to knit these. I had bought 12 pairs of Bryspun circular needles at a local thrift store for a quarter per circular needle. They were still in the original package and at the yarn store they cost $7 for a single circular needle.The pattern called for using double pointed needles but I prefer to use two sets of circular needles so I avoid the "ladders" that can occur while using dp needles.

The only issue I had making them was starting the fingers. It seemed like a wrestling match to get the first couple rounds done but after those rounds were done it was easy to knit. There were also a lot of tails to work in but I did that as I knit making less work to do when I bound them off.

I am happy to have them done and James is happy to get them and try them out. Seems I finished them just in time for winter weather!

Cold Weather is Coming!

I always procrastinate on important projects until winter is here then try to get everything done in a few days. Some day I will learn! I promised James a pair of glittens last winter and I finally started knitting them about a week and a half ago. I finished one and then we had a cold snap reminding me I needed a pair of slippers. I crocheted myself a pair last year but the dog decided he did not have enough fiber in his diet so he ate one of them. So the second glitten I started was put aside so I could knit some slippers for myself. My logic was that I don't function with cold feet and they only take a couple evenings to make so off to the store I went.

I picked up a skein of Fisherman's wool at Hobby Lobby and with a 40% off coupon will be able to make a pair of slippers for myself and maybe a pair for Colton. If Colton decides he needs a pair he can pick a flavor of Kool-aid and then I will dye the yarn with it so we can tell our slippers apart. (I can't believe the kid wears a size 9 mens shoe now!) The total price of the yarn was just over $6 and I can get 2 pairs of slippers and a pair of fingerless mitts out of it; not bad!

The pattern I chose was a simple one and it called for large knitting needles so the stitches would be huge. The slipper itself was gigantic and easily could have been a sweater for Colton. The reasoning behind it was that it would end up in hot water having the crap agitated out of it in the washer. Why would anyone in their right mind do this to wool you may ask? I had to felt it to make it a solid piece of material. Felting is the term when you accidently throw that $100 pure wool sweater in the washer with hot water and then throw it in the dryer on high heat. It makes a nice soft sweater turn into a small mini sweater that is thick and solid right?

Anyway, my slippers are knit and last night I felted them. I let them air dry so this morning they are still damp but they turned out great and fit wonderfully. Now I can get back to that half done second glitten so James can have warm hands when he is outside!

Time to Get Back Into It

Once again I have found some time to get some crocheting and knitting done. I have 6 large totes full of yarn that mom left and after finding a couple of people to take it I had an idea. I decided to crochet a couple of afghans as keepsakes using up every color or yarn in those totes and then give the rest away. I found patterns easily and chose a hexagon granny square motif for my blanket and a stained glass pattern for Shane's blanket. I started to crochet the 40 plus hexagons for my blanket last week and have 10 completed. We are just grabbing 6 different colors and combining them or if we don't have six we pick as many as we can and I repeat a few colors. After each block is done with multiple colors it will have an off white ring around it to tie them all together.

The stained glass afghan will be more interesting. Shane chose navy blue as a base color and I am making magic yarn balls with a lot of scraps and bits of different color yarns. I finish one scrap and tie on another scrap making a multi colored ball of yarn that will be a surprise in the end. I am hoping to have it done by Christmas, but we will see!

Christmas in sneaking up on me quickly this year and with everything that has been going on the last few weeks I find myself trying to catch up again. I found a cute little pattern idea for small wash cloth soap wraps to make for last minute gifts. They knit up quickly and I hope the recipients will enjoy them!