Holy Pumpkins!

Wow, it's fair time already.  I have only a hand full of items to enter this year.

Here is the run down:

Snake sweater
Fawkes socks
Stag bag
Crochet clutch
Christmas frog
Neckwarmer converted to dish cloth (ran out of yarn)

Mmm, I am sure I am forgetting something.

Holy Pumpkins, I am nearly finished with Christmas!

This has to be a record, I am not knitting on Christmas Eve!  Here is what I have finished:

Daddy- wine
Momma- socks
Sister- Kindle cover
Brother- sign (I broke the rules and bought it.)
B-I-L- hat 85%
R- sweater 85%
Husband- Nothing yet.  But, he is getting a nice woolly hat for his birthday.

I am finished with Christmas purchases for R.  I haven't even started on Joe.  It maybe a one item year.  I really have no desire to purchase a bunch of little items.

Weekend-

Yesterday R and I got out the Halloween decor.  I have 3 stuffed pumpkins that were hand-me-downs and other little items that I have picked up.  Last year we made a felt creature/monster hanging garland.  It is still in one piece for most part.

This year I have knitted garlic hanging on our front door.  Joe came in last night and ask if it was Halloween decor.  I told him I thought it seemed fitting.  R has just gotten on the paper pumpkin roll.  I will try to post photos once we have about a billion cut out pumpkins everywhere.

I also hope to post pictures of Christmas and Fair projects soon!

Parseltongue!

I am finished with Tiny Owl Knits's Snakes Sweater. I think the name is Snake-a-licious.  Maybe. Anyways it is completed and I am happy!  It is definitely going in to the county fair.

My Patronus Bag, real name Fair Isle Stag Bag, is completed too! It took me forever to get the lining sewn and stitched in.  

Now, if I can just get going on my Christmas gifts. I started a sweater for R and it is just under 75% finished.  It is a stash bust just like the snake sweater.  

Yay for stash busting!

Rowan Yarn

Last week R, Joe and I took a small vacation to Eureka Springs, AR.  I finally found the yarn shop there! It only took a year.

The shop had Rowan yarn.  Not a lot but some.  Turns out it was all yarn that has been discontinued.  I purchased 2 skeins of Rowan Plaid yarn in browns.  It is a chunky weight and it 218 yards for the two skeins.  Gah, what to do with it?  Why did I buy brown?  I don't even like brown.  Well, I bought it because it is Rowan and what is my child's name, Rowan.

More about naming Rowan later.

Okay, so back to the point, I don't like brown.  I don't wear brown.  Tans blend too much into my skin tone when I have a tan and right now I have a deep tan (deep for me).

I have decided to make birthday presents for Joe and Rowan.  Joe has plans to get Rowan on a deer stand pretty often this year.  I am going to make them neck warmers or hats.  I will probably make R a neck warmer since I think the more orange the better and Joe a hat.  The hat he can wear for duck hunting too.

Yay! That will use up the yarn and provide presents.

I am terrible.  I have not been working on my Christmas knitting.  I have been hexipuffin' it instead.  Here some photos:

I have 2 blankets going- HUGE hexipuff blanket with "dish" cotton and the normal sock weight blanket.

First Tooth Out!

R pulled her first tooth! I put some clove powder on it to numb it.  Then she pulled it herself with dental floss!

As you can see from the photos, she has another one coming in behind.  We have been working hard to get them out once Joe noticed them.

Weekend knitting

In my most recent weekends I have had one that seemed to be "see how many projects you can start" and "finish up" weekends.  This one was "freak out over gauge" weekend.  

Stephanie Dosen, Tiny Owl Knits, published a wonderful pattern that I had to have right then- The Beekeeper's Quilt.  A knitted quilt pattern that is made up of 3-D hexagons or hexipuffs.  It fits prefect in my stash busting mood.  

My gauge freak out began when I started my first puff.  I was knitting away when I realized it was HUGE and not really a hexagon.  Plus, the amount of yarn this thing was eating up was ridiculous.  I fretted over gauge thinking my yarn was all wrong even though it was sock yarn.  I went to my LYS and talked with some people about gauge.  Finally, I pm'd Winterfi, who is head running a KAL on Ravelry, to see what gauge is on her puffs.  I was only 2 stitches off.  Then it hit her, I was doubling the size of my puff.  I was knitting to 40 stitches each needle (I am magic looping) rather than 40 total.  

I felt like a true blonde.  I was fretting over nothing...I just read the pattern wrong!!! 

Now the hexipuffs are well on there way and I am having no trouble at all.  In fact, I am super happy about using up bits of yarn.  

I joined the KAL and my goal is like 400 hexipuffs.  

Another TOK project is the Snake sweater.  It is another stash bust project.  I bought tons of Jeanee worsted weight yarn on clearance for the Op Art Blanket.  Well, I lost momentum.  I tried to find yarn for this project just recently and decided to put it on hold.  Then I pulled out the blanket and thought this is perfect! 

It is going along really well.  I tried it on last night, it fits perfectly.  

R's birthday cardigan is going well too.  I have more than plenty of yarn, in fact, I think there will be leftovers. I was hoping to use all of it up.  I bought cute mother of pearl flower buttons for it on Saturday.  

The three projects listed above are going on a trip with me starting tomorrow afternoon.  So, hopefully I will make good progress!

Christmas and Fair

Yes, it is that time again already.

Christmas-

I have just geared up, or panicked rather, my Christmas knitting.  It is nearly August and I don't have even one gift finished. BAH!

Here is the line up:

Momma- socks
Ronda- socks, + an extra ?
Rick- ?
Daddy- 30 bottles of wine, in the make right now
Brent- neckwarmer
Joe- duck?
R- Weasely sweater?

My mom's socks are about 45% finished.  The easiest project so far has been the wine because Joe did it.

Joe expressed interest in a knitted duck.  Now, I have to decide if I want to wing it (no pun intended) or buy the pattern.  I think I will embellish it with needle felting.  Why did I just start needle felting? It is wonderful! Maybe I will put a zipper in the duck so it can be a money-stasher or something.

Fair-

Last year I busted my rear for the fair.  This year I am going to finish the projects I am on and if they fit into the categories great, if not oh well.

Potential projects-

Fawkes Socks
R's socks
Snakes cabled sweater
R's sweater
Stag bag
Kellylnch blanket

I might come up with some others.  I thought about knitting a hat or something in addition to these.  Overall this is it.  I am more worried about Christmas.

In addition to these items I am stash busting.  I just finished off some yarn that has been hanging around the house and in the process of getting rid of some more.  It is Plymouth DreamBaby DK.  I bought it on super sale at LYS about 2 years ago.  I had about 7 skeins of it.  I am now down to 2! Which is going to be used for R's birthday cardigan!

Here is some of the yarn:

The eyelet pattern is from Some Cloudy Day Legwarmers that I adapted into R some pants.

R just got finished with a pb & j sandwich...

Reducio! Hospital Wing

I joined Reducio swap Hospital Wing.  Funny thing, it came on a day that I left work sick.

A very sweet package came from Leighton Buzzard, United Kingdom.

Thanks, Ali123!