Two endings and a new beginning

The peace fleece cardi is done!! Yippee!! It is the first time I have made a sweater and not stalled out in the middle. I like the sweater but it is big and slouchy, more lounging around at home then wearing to work. Sorry about the photo with me in the sweater, I just couldn't quite get it....
I also finished the Berrocco kable needle case which you can see here. Mine is a little unconventional, but I really like it and it holds needles well.

In honor of finishing and getting down to only 5 projects, I decided to start a new one! (And in my defense, the bottom three projects on my chart are old UFO's that I am forcing myself to finish, the top three are the new fun projects!)
So I cast on the Pi R Square shawl from Elizabeth Zimmerman. So far it is knitting really fast. Although it seems kinda small, so I am a little nervous about that....I know it will stretch when blocked and I am going to add a lace border, but I am (what should be) over half done with the shawl and it is only 11 inches long stretched tight....hmmmm. I am going to keep going on it for a little longer and see where it goes, especially since I would really like to take it with me to Vegas since the convention centers are so over air-conditioned and this is just two days work. Garter stitch is so fast!!

Punk Rock Gift Exchange - Round 2

So I have agreed to take over the hosting duties of the Punk Rock Gift Exchange from Rachel and Che -- who I would like to thank profusely for creating, hosting and doing a great job with the original!!

I have created a new blog for the exchange, so feel free to stop by and check it out! All the current information is there, and by Feb 1st -- all the rules, information and stuff will be complete and updated. I would love to hear comments from those who did it before or who have ideas, on ways to make it better!

Wish me luck and join me in the exchange!
Now, have a great weekend and get the f@ck out!

Valentine's gifties!!

Okay, I realize its not Valentine's Day, yet -- in fact I am not trying to diss January or speed up time. But I got my Valentine's Day present from my dad yesterday and it was too cool, not to share! As it happens, I almost always am in Las Vegas for work over Valentine's Day. Generally, I can convince mr.sunneshine to go with me - what would be worse then spending Valentine's Day along in Las Vegas at a convention. I really can't think of anything!! My family loves gifts - giving them, receiving them, but really giving them (any of my past swap pals can confirm this). My dad has a group of women who are special to him that he always gives a Valentine's Day gift to and a note of appreciation for the special people they are. It is one of his favorite things to do! This year, he is giving the handbags made from liscense plates to all the women. Each will be different, picked out specifically for each one of the thirteen. He sent me my gift early, because of the Vegas travel thing, and to my dad there is nothing worse then a present that is given late. I am extra special (hehe, but really I am the only one he is related to on the list), so I also got the scarf with the skulls (LOVE IT!! - and also a reason I got it early, more time to wear this) and the little sock monkey in the skeleton outfit. The little monkey is now hanging in my office to give me a smile every day :) Thanks Dad!!!

Have a great week!

more snow, more knitting and blocking...

So we got another 6" of snow yesterday! That makes 6 weekends in a row with measurable snowfall!! Who knew that could happen in Denver!
It did give me some time to knit while mr.sunneshine watched football yesterday! i finally unpinned my brown lace scarf from the blocking carpet. It turned out pretty well! I am excited to get to wear it. And who knew that cashmere grew so much - it is a good 3" wider and 4" longer then when it was knit. And the cashmere plumped up and got alot softer - if that is possible! I should have plenty more winter days to be wearing it this year!!

And as much as I wanted to start about 4 new projects - I finished the tan and grey scarf for charity. Back from the days before I became a yarn snob and wanted all my projects to be pretty and soft. I am sure that it will keep someone really warm.
Then I finished the front panels for my Peace Fleece sweater. Now the front panels and arms are being blocked so that I can sew them together this week. The back should be done tonight and blocking tomorrow. I promised myself, I would get down to 6 only on the needle projects so I have to keep finishing things, to open up new project space! I have mittens, an aran shawl and a new pair of socks (out of the Fearless Fibers yarn from Piper) on the brain. Soon!!
Have a great week!!

made up mitts

Okay, that last picture was freakin' me out a little bit! I looked like a children's book character - I can't think of his name, but lets just say my nose does not need to look any bigger then it already is -- and even though it was my own comparison, it was not flattering! There has been a lot of crafting this week, but not much to show for it! I have been working on getting my etsy shop updated - tomorrow all the new photos will be up! I am really excited about that and I got all my lys updated and monies paid - always fun to see the new stuff in action! I blocked my brown lace scarf, I will unpin it tonight. It took me a full hour to pin it!! Even using the nylon cord to make it easier with the points! I will post the finished blocked photo as soon as I take it. My real job has been slow and stressful this week. So while I was having one of those days, I pulled out my two pretty blue/purple had painted/spun skeins and decided to make up a pattern and knit some mitts. I am keeping them at my desk in my office - they are a little crude - but I think they turned out so cute!! I am posting the pattern on my denverknits blog, in case anyone wants it. They were a two hour knit with the ripping the thumbs a couple times and weaving. Bulky yarn, quick project!
Have a great weekend!

We call them pirates hat

The We Call Them Pirates hat is done!! I lined the inside up to where the decreases start to get rid of the itch, and it worked! Good thing I ran out of yarn there - I think the hat would have been too short if I had knit the entire inside hat. I left the house at 12 degress this morning - it is now feeling balmy at 22 - but really good hat weather! Now to start the mittens.....

new finished objects to share!

I had to travel for work this week - which always means lots of knitting time! So I marked some things off my lists. First there are my first socks!! They are made from wick (a soy polypro. yarn that is supposed to wick moisture from your skin - we'll see if they work!) by knit one, crochet two. They are the spring hiking sock pattern from halcyon. A quick easy knit - a good first pair. I don't love my kitchner on the first one - it got better on the second. But I will still be tromping around in my hiking boots in them come spring! And what an easy projects socks are on a plane!! Oh, and thanks to those of you who left links on sock patterns and formulas! I have printed them out - and will be trying them soon - help is always appreciated!!

Then I finished my lace warm shawl on the trip too! I love the way that it looks - and its FREEZING here right now - so I have been wearing it - cashmere is warm!! It really needs to be blocked, but I just wasn't motivated enough this weekend and it was constantly around my neck. It was too cold to be stretched out on the living room floor getting all those little tines stretched to the proper length. Maybe tonight....

So since it was the football playoffs, there was a lot of football going on in our house. Not being the biggest fan, I figured that if I was distracted
with knitting, it would make everyone's mood much better. There were a lot of "honey, you just gotta see this -- put your knitting down and watch!" but at the end of the day on sunday - I was about done with my pirates hat! I still have a little more to go with the lining. The yarn that I used was a little itchy, so I lined it higher then the pattern called for, so I would actually be able to wear it. Plus it will be so warm with the cashmere lining and the wool hat! Hopefully tonight - mr sunneshine rented Taladega Nights - which I don't really want to see - I will get this finished and the matching mittens started!

Finally, this came in the mail on saturday! These two little skeins - only about 38 yds each - are so beautiful! I am thinking hand warmers. If anyone has a good pattern for a bulky yarn on big needles - please let me know! Otherwise, I will just make something up.... It is just too pretty to let sit! And with all the denim I wear, the colors could not be more gorgeous!!

Have a good couple a days!

these are the projects....

that I have specifically purchased yarn for in the last couple years, but not knit yet. In the spirit of my new years resolution/stash busting, I wrote this out, so that I would not be tempted to go buy yarn when I have all these cool projects and a bunch more yarn that was purchased without anything in mind. My only purchasing excuse is needles - but most of those I already have. Focus on not consuming - at least till after April 15th!

Have a great weekend!

I went and did it....

I joined the stash bust-along! Yippee!! I am really excited about it - From now till April 15th, I will not buy any yarn. Only knitting from my stash (there are a couple of exceptions, but I am going to try really hard not to use them!!) The other good part of this is, they also encourage you to finish your WIP's. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, I went through all my stashes, found a few WIP's that I had forgotten about, or just need a little motivation finishing, and photographed everything, so at the end of the three months, I could go back through and see how well I did! All the photos, embarassing as they are will be at my photo gallery blog.

So it was a big weekend of knitting around our house! I finished one sock (applause) and I actually really like it. Tomorrow, I will begin the next one. And I am almost done with the second sleeve of my Peace Fleece Everyday Cardigan. It is supposed to snow again, and this time get REALLY cold, so I would like to get that finished sooner then later!! And while they are not too exciting to look at, they represent a lot of hours watching bad reality tv yesterday with mr. sunneshine.

Have a great week!

its still snowing....

....and any of you who would like some, please, please take it!! We were supposed to get 2-4" today and we are easily over 6" and it is still coming down!! It is really beginning to SUCK! The roads are terrible - partly because Denver is not equipt to handle winters like this (generally it snows a couple inches and within a day or two its in the low 70's - eliminating all need for plows on the side streets), people are now getting tired of sliding around town in their cars and on foot and are getting cranky, and it sucks for business! Please pray to the ElNino gods to have a little mercy on us - we are already 25+ inches of snow over our entire winter average with the two snowiest months coming up - eeeek!

Ok - So on to happier, less ranting subjects. My possum scarf is done!! Mr. sunneshine went to a bachelor party out of town last night, so I got a good solid block of knitting time (and got to watch Earl for the first time in months - its was really, really funny!). This was the yarn that would never end. This scarf is made of one skein and I still probably have 40 yards left! The picture on the couch is about where the skein stayed -- it was like the point in the project where the measurement doesn't change (you knit 4 rows and it is still at 16 inches), except it was everytime I finished a lace repeat the ball hadn't lost any yardage! After the last lace scarf, this was definately a good thing (and I did get the yarn for that lace scarf in the mail today.) So finally at 68" I finished it off. The bummer is that even with the edging, the scarf still wants to curl - I am hoping that after blocking it will be better. The lace pattern did turn out really pretty and I am happy with it. I am still not good at photographing lace - so use your imagination. Once it is blocked and looking pretty I will try to photograph it again....

So as I was walking into work today - I realized that my socks are not quite long enough for this weather. So my next knitting project is going to be socks! Longer socks! I usually wear sport socks in my boots because for standing all day it is much easier on your knees and feet (I guess this could have been on my weird list - dressed in a pretty dress with sport socks in my boots). But Nike doesn't make sport knee (or top of your calf ) socks, so i am going to have to make some cute ones before the next storm (or during this one). It is really annoying to have the snow falling in my georgia boots!! Wish me luck on my first sock project - lucky I have a bunch of sock yarn in the stash beggin to be used!!

Have a good weekend!

starting new...

So here is my lace scarf that I was so upset about on Sunday. I am doing much better with it now. I know the yarn is coming and it will get done, blocked and then maybe I will get a decent photo of it....


So since I couldn't finish that, I started two more projects. I am using my single skein of possum to start on a geometric lace pattern, I wasn't sure how it was going to work with the lace pattern and the color variation but I actually really like it, and I love knitting with the yarn! The pattern is shaping up quickly, which is always an added bonus - especially since I am using the wrong weight yarn, wrong size needles and had to re-write the lace a bit to make a pattern that I was happy with. And since I wanted to actually watch some of the football games yesterday, I had two hats to pull out and make longer and I needed an easy project, so I started the everyday cardigan from Peace Fleece. The yarn is easy to work with and I got a whole sleeve done in a couple hours with football watching (Ian Johnson - football player and crocheter - pulled out the win for Boise State - sweet!) Soooo, now I am back to a million projects, knitting my way into the new year! And as an added bonus - Wahington State Cougars did not make it to a bowl game, but we did win the Capital Mascot Bowl - so Go Cougs!!
Happy 2007 to all!