A Little Yarn On The Side

This week's lesson learned: Just because a broken toe feels better after three weeks, it is not really healed.   Since it will be 4 weeks tomorrow and there is STILL bruising, it probably shouldn't be surprising that walking around on it can still really, really hurt, but AMAZINGLY I was getting a bit impatient, so Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I was out running errands and "catching up" on things that I hadn't been able to do very easily.  By Wednesday night, the real catching up seemed to be being done by the pain.  My foot actually hurt more Wednesday night than it had at any time since the x-ray fiasco.  So, figuring it needed a day of rest, I moved my to-do list to today and used yesterday as Finishing Thursday. First, a finished chemo cap: Then casting on for a new chemo cap:  and the scarf is so very close to being done that I think I'll have it doe by the end of the day--to-do list not withstanding.  I decided my desire to raise my "s...

It all started innocently enough.  My youngest niece received an 18-inch "American Girl" type of doll for Christmas (the ones that aren't $100), and my sister would like for her learn to knit, and asked if I could make matching hats & scarves for my niece and her doll as an incentive.  Which is fine, because I used to love to make doll clothes & am ALL for recruiting new knitters.  The problem is, I didn't have the right shade of pink in sportweight or DK yarn, so I decided I could have one more yarn purchase before the next year starts.  All good so far.  Then I remembered that I actually haven't knit anything for my next-to-youngest niece, and she's been quite thrilled with the socks I made for her mother, so I thought I would knit a hat and scarf for her as well....or maybe even an afghan because I'm getting just a little cocky about my ability to finish projects quickly, and.... "just in case" I got enough (I think) for the afghan, ...

So in the knitting world, Christmas is traditionally a time of knitting like a freakin' maniac into the wee small hours of the morning in an attempt to finish a marathon of gifts that a knitter would have to be on crack to attempt at any other time of the year.  So what happens when the knitter has ceded all most of the gift-making to her loving spouse? There has still been a crazy amount of knitting going on.  Two more chemo caps and a scarf from the newly-acquired yarn that is moving in & out of the stash so quickly that maybe it really didn't count as stash anyway.  There was even a fleece baby blanket sewn & embroidered in one day, but I seem to have given it away before getting a single picture.  And since there's no photographic evidence to contradict me, let me just say that it was THE cutest and most creatively designed baby blanket ever.  Um...yeah.  That makes 16 finished projects so far for December, with 4 days left to go.  Th...

So with 8 days to go, I have now completed 115 projects for the year.  Wow!  So in theory, I should be able to pull off the 111 projects next year, but in theory  one buys yarn only as one needs it and patterns always make sense.   In reality, there MAY be some hedging of my bets for next year.....like maybe a scarf just started today that could  make some serious progress but not actually be finished until January 1.......

....or has anyone else noticed that I'm finishing projects much faster now that I've already reached my goal for the year?   Did it seriously take me 11 months to figure out that  small  projects  worked better??????  I have finished FOURTEEN projects so far this month, and there are still 11 days to go.   Sort of makes you wonder what I could finish in one year if I had the sense to stay away from quilts, doesn't it? Speaking of which, I have a new goal for 2011--for which I  am not the one responsible.  That instigator of this little endeavor is Qutecowgirl , and of course I am even more attracted to craziness that is not of my own doing.  The goal for 2011? Finish 111 projects by the end of the year Thankfully, they do not all have to be knitting....which would probably have left me a broken woman weeping in the corner clutching two dpns and a fistful of superwash merino.  Nope, it can be any craft (though please  may I hav...

An article from the Vancouver Sun:  Beware the curse of the 'love sweater'

And I actually finished LOTS of things.  First, I decided it would be nice if the wands Andy made for a niece and nephew had something to be stored in, so Then I decided to see if Jeeves had problems using one of the embroidery cards he originally came with, or if it is just designs I transfer to a writable card, so I made gift bags I had actually intended to make only one, but I loved the design so much that I just kept going.  I also "just kept going" with making handles   so the little heart bag finally got them and the rest have been put into safe keeping for my next bag marathon.  I loved the design so much that I dug out some home decorating fabric and used it on a wall hanging Currently it is just pinned up because I was trying to decide if it needed something extra, but I sort of like it just plain.  Still, I'll think about it for a week or two, then either add loops to hang it from a rod or just tabs on the back to hang invisibly from pins. Appare...