Nicole the Knitting Goddess

WIP Wednesday: A Little Late

I skipped WIP Wednesday yesterday because I was too busy showing you something that is NOT a work in progress: my ugly baby.  No babies in progress here, no sirree.   We've got too many vacations planned for baby having.  And we've got vacations planned for the next 2 years, so no baby having for a long time... NO BABIES!  It'd be cool if someone else would have a baby.  I'd like to be an aunt.  But that's not happening anytime soon either.

Sorry... I seriously digressed.   Let's get on with this WIP Wednesday.

The Top - Boogie

I knit this top in the round instead of seaming up the sides.   I'm a horrible at seaming.  It's a great fit!  This is my 2nd top this year and I'm happy with my "resolution" to knit more tops.

The Gift - Totally Autumn

 

The clouds were coming in when I took this photo so the lighting's not great.  I'm almost finished with my 2nd pattern repeat and I've got 4 more to go.  I'm very pleased with it, I think it looks really sharp.  Knitting is totally like my love language.   If I've knit you something, especially a blanket or a pair of socks, it means I love you.  I'm glad I'm knitting more gifts!

The Whatever - Cozy

So last time you saw this yarn I was attempting to create my own bolero pattern.   I think I gave that up on the first night.  I've switched over to Cozy and I think that I've finally found the pattern that this yarn was meant to be with.   Cozy will be great for the cruise.   I'll be running around in strappy tops and dresses due to the Western Caribbean weather but I know that everywhere I go inside will be chilly!  I think that my cruise experience will be greatly enhanced by not freezing while lunching but wearing a silky-soft, really cute wrap.  We set sail in 3 weeks but I'd love to have it done in 2 so I can spend some quality blocking time.

After I weave the ends in on Boogie, I plan on starting a Ms. Marigold with the Knitpicks Elegance that Michael got me for Christmas.  I'll need to brush up on my crochet skills for the sleeves!

Our Baby...

OMG, she's hideous!!!!


What do you think about my little new baby Elle?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?

R.I.P Weekend

I miss the weekend.   We had a fantastic one filled with lots of family time.

On Thursday night we had lunch with my Great-Aunt Kay.   She was staying at Gaylord Palms for a conference and we decided to stay at the hotel and eat at Villa De Flora.   It is a buffet set up with 6 different stations.   It was all delicious and we plan on going there for brunch this Sunday.  Gaylord Palms is super gorgeous and next time we'll be bringing our cameras.

On Friday afternoon my baby sister arrived.  She was scheduled to take a test at UF (to enter pharmacy school) and she decided to stay with us the night before.  We live about 1.5 hours from UF and my mother lives 4 hours from UF so it was a good idea.   We waited until Michael got home and then ate dinner at P.F. Changs.  I wanted to force her to play Skip-Bo when we got home but she said she was too tired.   *sigh*   I love Skip-bo.

 

My sister and I before her senior prom.

I was on my own for most of Saturday.  Michael has been working a lot of overtime lately working on a project proposal.   If it goes through he may be working on his first patent!   We're very excited about it.   Basically he has to work every day but Sundays until we leave for our Western Caribbean cruise on February 21st.  :(  So I'm working hard to make this the best vacation ever!

When Michael works weekends, I tend to shop weekends.   I did some online shopping (Knitpicks, Anytime Costume) and also went out to the stores.   I got a lot of great deals at Kohl's on holiday stuff.  I picked up some cute Vday kitchen towels and some Vday socks to send to my sisters as well as two supercute Gingerbread Men pillows for $3.99 a piece!  I also blocked my Picovoli.  It's a little tight in the chest area but I'm sure the cotton will stretch.

Not only is Michael working a lot but his co-workers are turning it into a very stressful situation.  So I wanted to make him an uber dinner for when he finally got to come home.   I made Ranch Style Chicken, Fluffy Potatoes, and Apple Dumplings.  The chicken was ok, but the potatoes and dumplings were outstanding.

 

The Dumplings on my dessert plates.

I won't tell you about our Sunday.   It was boring and mostly spent at David's Bridal fitting some of my bridesmaids.  At least we got to spend time with family!  The best part of the day was when we just got to veg out and watch TV.   We recently got a Blu-ray player that also streams our Netflix movies.  Max loved March of the Penguins.

Michael and I are the kind of couple that spend a lot of time together so it's been really different to have such a small amount of alone time.  I miss him very much and I can't wait until our cruise when we have 7 days of just us.  I've decided to make a Cozy for the trip out Debbie Bliss Pure Silk.  I think that I'll carry it around in my bag so if I'm somewhere cold (basically anywhere inside!) I'll be able to cover my shoulders.  Just 25 days until we're sailing out of Port Canaveral!

WIP Wednesday: Calling All Chunkers

First off, I want to thank everyone for the thoughtful replies to my Hiatus post.  They made me smile.   And remember to take care of myself as well as others.

But now we're back!   We've been back for about a week and life is just starting to fall back into normal.  Our Christmas decorations are finally down, we've been working like fiends, and I'm back into the wedding planning (see yesterday's post about our catering tasting). 

I also have 3 projects on my needles that you haven't seen.  But before I started things I had to wind some yarn.  All of it at the bulky or super bulky level.

 

Khaki yarn: Knitpicks Swish Bulky in Cashew, Red yarn: Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande in Burgundy, Green yarn: Knitpicks Wool of Andes Bulky in Emerald

Obviously my fingers have grown tired of knitting with tiny needles and used the computer to order chunky yarn.   And Michael must be tired of getting finding tiny needles in the couch so he gifted me up with something more substantial than my usual DK and fingering weight yarns.

I've already cast on with the Wool of the Andes Bulky and Swish Bulky.   My projects are knitting up so fast!  Before you know it, I'll have blown through them all.   So I might as well show you what's in progress while I can.

The Top

Boogie Vest - Knitty, Spring 2004.  I cast on for this vest yesterday morning and I'm already 9 inches into it.  I've never really been a big vest wearer but I've been seeing so many cute knitted ones out in Blogland that I'm beginning to change my mind.  I'll need to get a button down shirt (I need to get one of those anyways) but I think this would be cute for a casual day at the office.   Not that I go into an office but maybe someday!

The Gift

Totally Autumn - Knitty, Fall 2007.  This blanket will be a housewarming gift for my sister-in-law and her husband.  They are building a new home that will be completed in March so I've still got quite a bit of time left.  However, I'm having issues with the pattern.   I keep making a silly mistake somewhere in the lace pattern and then have to tink back the entire row.   Not to make excuses, but the lace pattern is kind of easy to get lost in.  I've decided to put in a stitch marker for every repeat so I can at least catch my mistakes early on.

The Whatever

My own pattern.   I was making a ponchette, substituting silk for hemp.   It was not looking right though, so I've ripped and decided to create my own little bolero in a simple eyelet lace pattern.  We'll see how it turns out.

I hope to play a little blog catch-up soon and blog about the projects I was working on when we left out.  I have some successes and a failure to write about.  I'll leave you with my favorite picture of my favorite chunker.

Hiatus...

I'll be gone for awhile.  Unfortunately we've had a death in the family and we're leaving on a red eye tomorrow back to Arizona.   I've never lost anyone close to me and the grief is staggering.   I'm having a very difficult time coping.  Luckily all of my family is flying out tomorrow and Michael and I are fortunate enough to be on the same flight as my mother.

My cousin Tara will be greatly missed.   She was just 17 and having a great senior year.   She had recently had problems with blood clots and they think that one had found it's way to her heart.   We are so unbelievably blessed to have been able to travel to Arizona recently and see her one last time.   We had a great weekend of Mexican food, movies, and a spa day. 

So I will be taking a hiatus for awhile and comforting my family the best way I can.  Please keep us in your thoughts and hold your loved ones close.

2008 FO Review

68 Projects

Wow, I knit quite a bit this year.  I also had 8 frogged projects and I plan on going over those in a later post.   Maybe you can learn from my mistakes!  Also, all the free patterns below are linked.

4 Baby Projects:
Vine Lace Baby Hat
Basic Knit Hat
Knitted Baby Chevron Afghan
Children's Cotton Hat

5 Bags:
2 Everlasting Bagstoppers
2 Soft Drawstring Pouches
Square Cake

2 Blankets/ 1 Pillow:
Hemlock Ring Blanket
Neopolitan Blanket
Neopolitan Pillow

1 Capelet:
Lace Capelet

2 Cardigans:
Something Red
Cropped Cardigan with Leaf Ties

5 Fingerless Gloves:
Lace-up Opera Gloves
Fetching
Owly Fetching   
Fingerless Mittens
Garter Stitch Mitts

7 Hats:
5 Ribbed Beanies
The Republic
An Unoriginal Hat

4 Headbands:
Dreamswatch
3 Calorimetrys

1 Pullover:
Little Lacy Top

11 Scarves:
Airy Scarf
Beginner's Garter Stitch Scarf
Drop Stitch Scarf
Skinny Scarf
2 Fun Fur Scarves
Malabrigo Neckwarmer
Branching Out
Lace Ribbon
Halcyon
Beaumonde Scarf without dropped stitches

3 Shawls:
Swallowtail
Clementine Shawlette
One-Skein Shawl

2 Shrugs:
Reading in Bed Shrug
Ribbed Lace Bolero

8 Socks:
Pomatomus Socks
Elfine Socks
Marigold Socks
My Rozas Socks
Michael's Rozas Socks
Vanilla Gelato Socks
Hedgerow Socks
Best Wishes Socks

2 Toys:
2 Bobs

10 Washclothes:
Flower
Seed Stitch
Papillion
Basket Rib Hand Towel
Ripple Hand Towel
Miss Meow
Springing Up Flowers
One Piece Swimsuit
Embossed Turtle Cloth
Camper Dishcloth

WIP Wednesday: The Happiest Place On Earth

It's not Disney, it's my home.   We had a long looong day of flying yesterday (we left my grandmother's house at 8:30 am and got home at 11:30 pm) and our last flight was particularly tough.   There was a lot of turbulence and we were stuck in the very back of the plane!   And it was late.  Nothing felt as wonderful as our bed (at my grandmothers we were stuck on a twin/trundle combo) and the smell of our house.   Seriously, our house smells soooo good.   Airplanes and airports smell like poop!

I've got so many things to tell you about our trip in addition to all the New Year blogging that I like to do.   But today (since it's a slow day) we'll just stick with WIP Wednesday.

I usually have about 3 projects on the needles at any given time and that's a number that seems to work out well for me.   This year I've decided to narrow the 3 projects down into categories: a gift, a top, and a whatever item.  I want to give away more knitted gifts since they went over so well this year.   Also, I really want to knit more tops.   A top qualifies as anything that is not cropped including cardigans, tank tops, vests, and full-on sweaters.

So keeping this in mind I present to you...

The Gift: Better Than Booties in Knitpicks Gloss for my friend Tiffany who is expecting in July

The Top: Picovoli in Knitpicks Shine colorway Blush.   I started this on the plane ride to Arizona and hope to have it finished in time for our next vacation, a Western Caribbean cruise next month.

 

The Whatever: Lace Cotton Ponchette in Debbie Bliss Silk.   Ok, I plan on starting this today.  As you can see I'm not using cotton but silk in a bright purple.  I've tried to knit fitted things with silk and it just hasn't worked out well so I'm hoping a loose poncho will be a good pattern for this yarn.

Other works in progress include laundry, unpacking, and remembering what I do at work!

 

There's a lot of stuff in these suitcases!

 

Percy helping me separate the whites from the darks.

 

My feelings about work this morning.