Can it be done??

Can my gifts be done in time to wrap them Thursday night? I am not so sure. I started a book sweater for my sister yesterday and it is 2" from completion plus seaming. I am on the 7th of 9 repeats for the blanket for my brother and SIL. It will be tight but it may be possible.

Here are some modeled shots of Clark's vest. They are not the best but with his constant movement it is all I can do. I think his head has grown because it is very difficult to get over his head now but a month ago when I first tried it on him it was fine.


Next up is Sheldon. I had to sew a smile on him because he looked a little evil without it. The pattern was really quick and easy. I sewed his shell on because 1) his attachment panel came out to small and 2) it will work better with Clark anyway. I wouldn't want his shell to be lost one day!

Details as always located at the FO blog and Ravelry. Now I off to do some more knitting. Until next time ....

Christmas Knitting Update

This is going to be a picture heavy post so I apologize in advance. At the risk of incurring the wrath of the knitting gods I do have to say my Christmas knitting is going pretty well. I am still not sure if everything will get done but I am not stressing at all about it. So here are the updates as of today.


First up is the blanket for my brother and SIL. The yarn is Caron Simply Soft in Chocolate. Since they have 2 kids and a dog I wanted to use a yarn that was non-knitter friendly. I have done 2 sets of the blocks in the pattern and have 7 more to go. I started this Saturday at Tina's where she helped me untangle the HUGE knot the yarn had become. This is the only project that I may not be able to have done in time.

Next is the wine cozy for my dad's fiance. This is my first attempt at magic loop. I am finding the technique a little bit unwieldy but I think if I had nicer circulars I may actually like it. I have about 3.5" more to knit before starting the decreases. Then I need to get a cheap bottle of wine to go in it.

The final WIP I have to show you is Clark's Sheldon. I finished his feet at knit night last Wednesday. Now I need to knit the shell and put him together. This is the only gift that has to be done by Christmas but I am not worried.

Now I have 2 FO's to show off!

First up is the hat I made for my dad modeled by Clark's favorite robot. I used Paton's Classic Wool and finished this in 2 days. I think it will fit him perfectly and hope he will like it. I plan on getting him something else to go with it, maybe his favorite chocolate covered cherries! Details on my FO blog and Ravelry.

Finally is Clark's Christmas Vest. I had to redo the neck and armhole ribbing for two reasons. First, I did not read the pattern to see that the seams were to be sewn before the ribbing was done. The second reason was that the hole for Clark's head was WAAAAYYY to small. A large orange would not have fit through the hole let alone my kid's head which has been in the 95th percentile for circumference since birth. So I sewed the seams, used the larger needles for the ribbing and it fits perfectly. Once I get our tree up and we take our Christmas card picture I will show you a modeled shot. Again details on the FO blog and Ravelry.

All in all I am pretty pleased with how things are going. Not that I am trying to tempt you knitting gods so please do not smite me! Until next time ....

Why yes I am insane

I have never been able to save money very well. I can nickle and dime my way through $20 in no time. However, I was so proud of myself that I actually saved a little bit of money for Christmas this year. Then Clark got sick and had to go to the hospital. The co-pays and medicine ate up what I had saved and then some (and this doesn't include the $545 bill for the ambulance we received last week). So I have now decided since money is so tight I am going to knit presents for the adults in my family this year. The tween and teenager are to picky so I am skipping the knitting for them. Yes I realize Christmas is less that a month away. Yes I realize that I knit entirely to slow to finish everything. This is why I am insane. My only saving grace is that we probably won't see them until the 26th or 27th so I have a little extra time. So here is my plan:

1) For my sister a My So Called Scarf in some Dream in Color I have in stash.
2) For my brother and SIL a Hip To Be Square blanket. I will have to buy some yarn for this but it will be some machine washable in a brown to match their living room. This one will probably be gifted as a WIP.
3) For my dad A Very Plain Hat. I will also have to buy yarn for this one (probably Paton's Wool) in either black or grey.
4) For my dad's fiance Swirled Wine Cozy. I will also have to buy yarn and needles for this one unless I can find someone to loan me some size 7 DPNs.

On top of this I have to finish Clark's Sheldon and his vest. The vest is almost done. I just need to do the neck ribbing on the front, the armhole ribbing on the back and sew it together. Of course now that I have decided to do all of this knitting I will probably get a job which will cut into my knitting time. I won't complain if that happens though! Until next time ....

Halfway there

I am half finished with Clark's Christmas vest. I have every confidence that this will be done in plenty of time since I have knit the back twice already. The first one was way to large so I had to rip back and reknit. The armholes were halfway down his torso!


Although the pattern does not show up very well in this yarn I am very happy with how it is turning out. I can not wait to see him in it.

I will be casting on for the front tomorrow. Jerry and Clark are taking a road trip to Muskegon to see Jerry's daughters and grandson so I will be heading to Tina's for her monthly knitting club. I do not get to go very often so I am really looking forward to it. Until next time ....

I have an idea or two

I don't know about you but some of the most stressful times of my life have begun with me saying "I have an idea." However, this never stops me from doing anything. My first idea was to knit Clark a vest to wear on Christmas and in the picture for our card. After struggling with the pattern math I decided to change patterns. I am now using the Kick It Up pattern with some Good Shepard Tulip Tweed I picked up at the Salvation Army in Houghton a couple of years ago. I am about 5 repeats into the pattern and I am really happy with it.

Now this should be enough for me considering how close to Christmas we are and the lack of knitting time I have but nope. I have also decided that Clark needs a knit toy for his stocking stuffer this year. So I started a Sheldon using some of my leftover dishcloth cotton. Here is the start of the little turtle's head.

As of right now my plan is to knit a vest and toy for Clark every Christmas but we will see how this year goes first. Until next time ....