Spring has sprung.

Well, sort of. It's been a bit chilly the past few days, but the calendar does say that Spring is here. Thought I should update really quickly. I've been working on the dolls and teddy bears that I started at the beginning of the year. Take a look:



The blue dress is the "awake" side of the Topsy Turvy Doll and the pink dress is the "sleeping" side of the doll. As you can see, I still have to sew all the pieces together, weave in the ends and take care of the smaller details. Not my favorite in terms of the actual sewing and "doing", but definitely my favorite moment when making the dolls because that is where their personality starts to come through, especially when I make the face. It's usually about that point where I almost don't want to give the doll or teddy bear away because I become attached.

She's back!

Whoa. I almost forgot that I even had a blog. Time sure has flown by! Well here's a brief recap of what's happened in the 6 months since I blogged last: Attended 3 weddings in August; got hitched in September; hubby and I went to Disney World for our honeymoon end of September/beginning of October; holidays flew by and now we're here in mid-January. Whew. Okay, so much more happened than that, but I figure we might as well get straight to the knitting.

Let's continue where we left off with the Christmas Stockings. On December 1 I finished my stocking just in time to be hung by the chimney with care:



During December I knit a couple hats (of which I do not have pictures) and the project about which I am most excited is the Santa doll that I FINALLY finished for my mom's birthday.




This is the Santa Claus doll from Jean Greenhowe's Christmas Special. I started knitting the doll around Thanksgiving 2007 and finished weaving in the last end 1/2 hour before heading to my parents' house for my mom's and my birthday party. I loved knitting him so much that I almost didn't want to give him away. As these dolls take shape they develop such a personality and I become attached.

New Year's Day I cast on the Cuddly Clown from Jean Greenhowe's Knitted Toys (out of print). As of yesterday, our cute little friend just needs a face (for which I have to go to the craft store to pick up some felt).



In the meantime, I've cast on the Topsy-Turvy Dolly, also from Knitted Toys. Also will be a gift.

Mid JULY?!?! Where has the time gone?

Most of my time has been spent working on our house and planning our upcoming wedding. So knitting and blogging have taken a backseat to those activities for the time being. Although blogging has been pretty much in the trunk since my last post was in APRIL. At least I've picked up the needles a few times since then. In fact I started and, more importantly, finished knitting a Christmas stocking for my soon-to-be hubby:




Please excuse the awful camera phone picture, but it's the best I had on this computer. My stocking is in progress. It will have snowflakes where his has snowmen and the holly design is slightly different. I purchased these wonderful stocking patterns from Annie's Woolens. I used KnitPicks Wool of the Andes and US 6&8 circular needles. Overall I love knitting the stockings, although I must admit this is my first time doing any significant colorwork, so at first it took awhile to get used to. Now if I can only get myself motivated (or find the time) to finish mine. A lot is going on between now and Christmas -- want to get these done so I can start on my Christmas gift knitting!!

Where did she go?

Whoa... talk about neglecting the blog (and my New Years Resolution to blog every Saturday morning!). Well life got in the way. The boy and I bought a house in February and much of our time is spent painting and getting the house ready. Then there's work and wedding plans and... And quite frankly, I found that in what little free time I had, I'd rather sit down with the needles and knit instead of writing about it. And knit I did!

Resolution #2 was to knit at least a half hour a day, and I would say that on average, I faired pretty well. On the days that I took the train to work, I usually dragged the needles out of my back, with the exception of the days that I did not get a seat. At night, I'd knit while unwinding and watching TV. Weekends were hit-or-miss.

As for resolution #3 and the WIPS/UFOS... well let's run down the list and see how that went:
Mitten #2 -- I probably have another 20 minutes' worth of knitting left -- just have to close the top of the hand and knit the thumb. But how can I be motivated when it's been in the 70's the past few days?

Hat for the boy -- finished, but it was too big... read on further to see the solution...

Chevron Scarf - recently made a re-appearance near the top of my list. This one has become my train project and I've made a bit of progress.

As for the others -- the afghan, the abandoned socks, the bear, the doll, etc... they haven't been touched. Why you ask? Well that's because for the life of me, I just cannot help casting on new projects...

Ms. Marigold - my first sweater (vest). I cast this one on in February (I think...) and I'm almost done with the body. Then on to the edging around the neck and arm holes.

I participated in Yarn Smackdown, which is similar to Hat Attack. A hat pattern was released one night in March, you knit it as fast as you could and mailed it to your opponent in hopes that it would reach her/him before their hat reached you. I lost in the first round, but had a great time and ended up with a really nice hat.

This led to my knitting this pattern (Classic WWII Watch cap, which can be found here and here) for a second time because I would finally find a hat that would fit the boy! And it does! But it's now too late to be wearing it....

I also started the Central Park Hoodie a few days ago.

And as always, I have many many other projects waiting to be cast on...

So needless to say, I have been a busy bee.

Happy Knitting. Until next time!

Happy New Year!

And so she returns after a 2 month+ absence. Has it really been that long since I blogged on here?

I suppose I will start with my New Year's Resolutions (and how I plan to accomplish them):

• Blog more regularly. As in not letting 2 months pass between posts. My plan right now is to blog on Saturday mornings. I usually spend that time browsing the internet anyway, so I might as well make it productive and blog, right?

• Knit at LEAST 30 minutes every day. On my long work days (when I take the train), the 30 minute train ride in the morning and the 40 minute train ride in the evening is perfect for this. On the short days (when I work in the closer office and drive), I am not as tired when I get home and will knit as I watch TV and unwind.

• Finish or frog everything I currently have OTN. And there are a lot of them: Mitten #2 (for me), a hat for the boy (attempt #3...), a Chevron scarf, an afghan, a teddy bear, three or four socks (some are sock #1 and some are sock #2), another hat I found in my stash containers (completely forgot that I was making this hat), a doll that was supposed to be a Christmas gift (but can wait until next year). And then there are the projects for which I already have the yarn and are in my queue on Ravelry. The Finishalongapalooza over at the Lime n Violet group on Ravelry will definitely help with this. Plus I've decided not to cast on something new until something comes off the needles. So far, so good.

I leave you with my Chevron Scarf. I really love how the colors work together.


Happy New Year everyone!