Wednesday, December 24, 2008

breakfast cowl

Because it looks like a waffle!



Although, I hope your waffles aren't this color . . . . unless they're chocolate. Mmmm.

This pattern is so ridiculously simple that even though I didn't manage to get to the computer and put up the pattern until Christmas Eve (!), you can probably still crank one out as a gift. You gotta love chunky yarn.



yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky
needles: US size 10.5 circulars/double points

Cast on 60 st. Join for working in the round, being careful not to twist.

k4, p2 for three rounds.

Knit for two rounds.

Repeat these five rounds six times, or until the cowl is as long as you want it.

Bind off loosely enough so that it'll fit over the head of your choosing. This isn't a loose, drapey cowl; it's a unisex, gaiter-type thing, so binding off too tightly could be an issue.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

o christmas tree

I take a lot of crap from my family for preferring white lights to colored ones. But, dude.


I'm so right.

And here's my favorite ornament:


How does your tree look this year?

Thursday, December 11, 2008

we're in holiday mode over here

Full-on holiday mode. Decorations are up, gifts are being made/purchased (largely from Etsy - go handmade!), and my daily coffee is coming from a Christmas mug.



I made the mistake (except not really) of adding the Craft magazine blog to my Google Reader, which has resulted in tons of inspiring projects tempting me on a daily basis. I haven't gotten around to trying too many of them yet, but the boys and I did make this advent calendar:







Here are the instructions. It was a lot of fun, and I'm really happy with how it came out, but can you see the issue with it?


Think about it.




Yeah, those little pockets? You have to fill them. I did not want to fill the house with more plastic junk and my kids' heads with present-every-day expectations, so I've been putting in things like small candy canes and puzzles printed off the internet. Next year, though, I think I'll incorporate this advent calendar too. Each pocket will hold one of the little felt lights, and we'll put them on the string each day rather than taking them off. Fun!


Okay, I need to catch up with showing the knitting I have actually been doing, so bear with me. No pun intended:



That's the last Bubby, the one for Jess' baby. The yarn is actually recycled from a store-bought cotton sweater, but it really reminds me of Araucania Nature Cotton. It's very soft and sort of slubby. The gauge on this was a bit bigger than on the other Bubbies, so the bear is too.



I also knit a bag for my brother's guitar picks, at his request. I hope he doesn't mind that I had a little fun with it.



That's the only finished Christmas knit I have to show you - little non-holiday projects keep popping up. First, Baby Sister asked for a cowl (really, she did) after seeing me wearing mine all the time. How could I say no?







I love how happy it makes her. It's a really simple one; just stockinette with ribbing at the top and bottom and the embroidered hearts. The yarn is less than a skein of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino that's been hanging out in the stash since, well, the very earliest days of the stash. I was happy to let it see the light of day.



Second, Brand-new Niece turned one (!) this weekend, and I realized I hadn't knit anything to mark the occasion. Completely unacceptable! Enter the cupcake!




I made this up as I went along, and not to sound full of myself or anything, but I just about died of cuteness looking at it.


The other non-holiday knitting I've been doing has been related to the new etsy shop I've been playing around with. I didn't want to keep the old one going without Jess, and well, she's a little bit busy. New human being and all. So I started up a new one here. I've been working on it off and on, and trying to learn more about promoting it. I don't, however, plan on doing a lot of promotion here. It drives me a little bit crazy when a blog turns into a repeated sales pitch, so I'm not going to do that. The link over there in the sidebar still works, though. :)


And lest I forget, Big Brother's sweater is still moving along at its glacial pace.


Perhaps this goes without saying (it would certainly be less painful that way), but there's no way the kids will be getting Christmas sweaters. They will, as soon as my slow-knitting ass can possible make it, be getting Just-Because sweaters, but not Christmas sweaters. Raise your hand if you're surprised. Nobody? ETA: I just noticed the sweater looks like it's raising its hand in that picture. Ha! It has too much confidence in me.


AND I haven't forgotten that I've been off-handedly promising a couple of patterns and then not putting them up. They're coming - hopefully next week with the new schedule in place. All hail the new schedule!


Well, that's about it for this dispatch from within the holiday craziness. I'll surface again soon, I hope.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

update

I can't do a big post right now - I've been officially sucked into the holiday craft and decoration vortex - but I wanted to let you know how everything turned out.

I sucked it up and talked to my boss, and as predicted, he was totally nice about the whole thing. He said he understood about needing to be with my family more, he had no problem with me changing my schedule, and he was just sad because he'd be losing one of his best tutors. Take that, mean-boss stereotype!

So starting next week, I'll be leaving work in time to pick up the kids from school on Mondays and Wednesdays, with Tuesdays and Thursdays to be added ASAP, as soon as he can find a replacement.

The relief is completely awesome. And thanks so much to those who wrote lovely supporting comments - I just love the internet.