Happy 2010

Happy New Year everyone!

I am feeling very inspired after having just watched Julie & Julia and the ideas are just spinning through my head as to a similar project I could do with my knitting. I thought about picking a knitting book out of my library and knitting every pattern in it the same way that one of the movie's protagonists, Julie, cooked all of the recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. As much fun as that sounds, I cannot decide on which book to choose.

How about a regular ol' New Year's Resolution? I know, I know. Every so often I come back and say that I will blog more often. Finish my UFO's before casting on a new project. Knit from the stash instead of buying new yarn. Organize the forever-expanding yarn stash, needle collection and library of knitting books. Knit for at least 30 minutes every day. Those are the usual stand-by resolutions for myself and many other knitters out there. Been there, done that (albeit not very successfully...)


When it comes down to it, I think that my New Year's resolution is just going to be: Enjoy my knitting. Learn new things. Not be intimidated by difficult techniques. Crochet an entire project. Knit a shawl. And finish or frog all my current projects (I can't have a resolution list without including that one...) OK, OK, so that's more than one. But they can all be summed up in two words: Have fun!!

Good luck to everyone and Happy Knitting in 2010!!

Happy 4 Year Knit-iversary to me!

I was home for Thanksgiving break during my busiest semester in law school to date - fall of 2nd year. That semester I was taking 16 credits, working at an internship in the AG's office, and learning the ropes as an associate for one of the school's journals. I was desperately looking for some sort of outlet to serve as a stress reliever. Something I could do at night to unwind after classes and homework were done for the day. Mom was browsing the fabric section at WalMart and I was roaming the other aisles of the craft section. And there it was -- "I Can't Believe I'm Knitting". After thumbing through the book, grabbing a pair of size 10 needles and choosing 2 skeins of Red Heart Super Saver in a variegated blue/green colorway, I was well on my way to being a knitter. Well... almost. I hit a few bumps in the road, but eventually cast on my first project -- the basketweave men's scarf from the book. The scarf was finished just in time to give it to Carlos for Valentine's Day (this was before I knew about any sort of sweater/knitted object curse - I guess you cannot be affected by the curse if you don't know it exists!).

The rest is history.

Knitting Mojo

Well folks, I finished the sweater last week and I had a choice. I could finish up my many other projects OTN. Or I could start something new. As I mentioned below, I had the Central Park Hoodie blocking; however I dislike seaming so the pieces ended up back in the knitting basket for now. The (somewhat) good thing is that I did not start a new project right away. The bad news is that I hadn't picked up the needles at all until today during lunch when I started a new project. And we've reached that time of year when most projects are gifts and therefore I cannot talk about them on here (just in case!)

In other crafting news - check out these center pieces that I made on Sunday. I was inspired by the pre-made centerpieces Michael's was selling for $30+ apiece. They were having a sale on silk flowers and other crafting supplies, so I was able to make both of them for much less than the price of one of the pre-made ones. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

Happy Anniversary to Us

We interrupt your regularly scheduled knitting programming for our 1st wedding anniversary. Just like a year ago, today was a rainy day here in Connecticut. Although last year the rain did let up/stop as we were entering the church and in between the ceremony and reception for photos. Today was pretty much non-stop rain. I cannot believe how fast the year has flown by.

In addition to very pretty flowers, Carlos bought me a Yarn Shoppe for our Christmas village. A few weeks ago we were in Michael's and saw it. Can't wait to set it up!!



Keeping with custom & tradition, we ate a piece of the top of our wedding cake tonight after dinner. As I mentioned in my post on the Newlywed group on Ravelry, the cake wasn't terrible. The chocolate cake part was very moist and fluffy; however the mousse center was crumbly. I had to call my parents to see what it was because neither Carlos nor I could recognize it or remember what it was supposed to be. I ate my whole piece, but Carlos only had one bite of his. He just could not stomach eating something that was a year old.

I'm BAAAAAACK in the saddle again! (sort of)

I have the day off today and had every intention of updating the blog for the first time in MONTHS. But alas such plans have been (somewhat) foiled because I do not have the cord for my camera. So any pictures will either be 1. outdated or 2. from my phone. So hence the sort of...

I did a thorough photo shoot of.... drum roll please.... a FINISHED OBJECT. And not just any finished object -- a SWEATER. Yes, a whole sweater. Now, this is not the first sweater I cast on; however it is the first one that made it to completion. You will have to wait for the real photos, but for now, here she is - my February Lady Sweater:

Knit with Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Blueberry.
Size 8 needles
Started 8/28/2009, finished 9/22/2009

This was the largest lace project that I've knit and it was also my first time knitting top down with raglan increases and my first button holes. The best part -- NO SEAMING. The body is knit in one piece, with the sleeves stitches held for picking up after the body is finished. I'd imagine this is why I was able to finish so quickly (see post below re: my dislike for seaming...)



I can't tell you enough how much I LOVE this sweater. I shed my suit jacket at work on Tuesday and wore the sweater for the rest of the day. Very pleased with how it came out. Just in time for fall!

My Central Park Hoodie sat on hold while I worked on the FLS, but here she is blocking. I have a few inches left to knit on the sleeves (thank goodness I am knitting both at the same time), then time to seam the body, pick up for the button band and knit the hood. I'm toying with the idea of doing a sailor collar instead of the hoodie, but we'll see.



Very eager to get this done - will be great for these chilly days.

Needless to say, my lack of blogging has been more than made up for with quite a bit of knitting :-)

(ETA: Knitting details for the FLS)