Returning to Normal

    It's been hectic for me. December felt like I was never going to get a second to sit and stop that didn't involve making a million pairs of mittens (read: 4 pairs) or being out at yet another fun but exhausting social event. So everything got pushed aside, even my poor blog.

But these mittens I made for my mom and mother in law turned out really awesome, so there's that.

 Actually, all four pairs of the mittens I made turned out great, and the ones for my father in law, that I wasn't sure about the fit on, fit just right. Yay!

     If Christmas presents weren't enough, it was Andrew's 30th birthday. I had to organize a party, which was actually relatively smooth. A lot of old friends we hadn't gotten to see in ages trekked a long way out, and we also had a lunch with his mother and brother and my parents and brother here beforehand. The whole thing went really well, other than my Dad having a really nasty cold.
     I decided that I really had to make something for Andrew, and he'd been wanting a big, generous scarf. We'd talked about basketweave because he liked something his Nan made in the stitch, so I came up with this crochet basketweave stitch. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, but it took every spare minute I had that he wasn't around for two weeks. He loves it, though. I went to pull it out to take a finished shot and realized that he wore it today. Yay!
     The stitch pattern turned out exactly how I would have hoped. I have plans to put it on a very masculine pair of socks. That brings me to another thing- this year, my pattern goal is to write an e-book or just a collection of slip stitch sock patterns.

      I finished the first design. Cabled socks! You can see some of the troubles I had- one of my failed heels on the left, and the final nicely fitting heel on the right. I pulled the whole sock out more than once, but I'm pretty happy with the pattern now.

     They're comfy and I like that the cable doesn't have any gaping and they fit nicely into shoes. Overall I'm quite pleased. The next pair is going to play with sideways construction that gives the socks greater stretch around the foot. I've also been swatching and trying to get lace to work properly in slip stitch. No luck yet, but I'll keep trying.

 

      This is a project that was really moving along... and then I ran out of yarn. I had to order more from the shop where I got it, and since it was online this time I had to pay shipping. I didn't buy enough in the first place because I was worried about the few extra bucks, and now it's cost me in the long run! You think I'd know better. Thankfully the dyelots are identical.
     I have the entire body done and most of both sleeves- I've even woven in pretty much all of the ends, and since it's colourwork, that's a lot of ends. I just need to get my motivation for this project back. Sigh.

      I also finished this pretty little hat- the incredibly talented Aiobhe Ni's Pheonix hat. Like most of her patterns it's deceptively simple and a bit repetitive, but totally worth it. It's great on cool but not freezing days where I don't want my hair totally smooshed and ruined. That's funny, like I have a hairstyle so intense that I'm really worried about wrecking it! Heehee!

 

      This week I've been doing some sewing. I pulled out my beautiful new serger and made some simple curtains for the house. The place looks so much nicer with something other than sheets tacked in the window!

     I also made a stack of cowls for my Mom. She asked for some for Christmas and I just didn't have time to make them, but promised I would still do it. The dark grey fleece and the white I already had, and I went to Walmart this week and got a fleece sheet (cheaper than buying fleece by the yard, and the nearest Walmart is about 3 times closer than the nearest fabric shop here, stupid Fabricland closings!) and went crazy.
   The cowl on top isn't the greatest, I accidentally cut the stretch the wrong way. The others turned out really well, though. I'm quite pleased. There's a nice variety of weights from single layer late spring skiing to double thick midwinter runs.

     I'm working on some fun things now. I'm planning on buying a pattern to sew a gorgeous show-stopping little red dress. I don't have one, and I want one! I'm also working on a capelet out of this totally yummy cream and sparkly yarn that I got out of our clearance section. I think it was intended as a baby yarn, and it's just a simple acrylic, but it's going to be gorgeous.
     I've also been spinning a lot. This is motivated by the growth of my spinning stash. I haven't bought any yarn since November (excluding the two balls I got to finish my cardigan, that does not count) and this month I decided it was time to finally get the new drop spindle I wanted. It comes with a bit of silk and angelina to spin... and then I looked through my etsy favorite and wound up ordering the neon rainbow merino with firestar I have been drooling over for ages. I'm excited, but I really need to get my current spinning moving because I know once the new stuff gets here it will be even easier to put it aside.

     Today I am finally starting to feel better from the cold I've had. I got a great vacation to Cuba over New Years thanks to my terrific parents, and it was really relaxing and wonderful. Then I was thrown right back into work the day after I got back, and a week later I came down with this cold. Finally I'm starting to feel better and it's time to finally face my resolutions, which were as follows:
1) Be more awesome.
2) Take more naps.

Wish me luck!