I did finish the BoneYard Scarf but think it’s too small. I am going to block it (when the sweater gets off the bed where I do my blocking) and hope it gets bigger. Unfortuneatly it has acrylic in the mix and I’m not sure how much I can get it to grow.

One sock is done so I’m going to start sock two while I wait for a response from the sweater designer.

The weather here is beautiful, in the high 60′s. Maybe tomorrow DH and I will do something in the afternoon outdoors.

Just a side note; I got my gel nails taken off yesterday. I’ve been doing my nails with gel or acrylic for about 30 years (can that be right? maybe 20 years). They are so thin!! I want to say to all of you “Don’t start with the fake (over real) nails. This is going to take a long time to grow out.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Today was my day off as the scheduling manager doesn’t seem to want to change my day off back to Fridays so I can have 3 day weekends. Guess I’ll just have to get used to it. I thought about going to a knitting meet up at Panera but decided not to. I was thinking about going to a LYS that is going out of business to see if they had anymore yarn I might need (need? want!) but decided not to go. Thought about joining another group at another LYS and decided not to. I hunkered down with my WIP’s and sat on the sofa knitting and watching tv all day. Watched The View, Martha Stewart, The Chew, Nate Burkas Show, and Ellen DeGeneress. David is making dinner (beef, mushroom and barley soup) so I don’t even need to cook.

I can’t believe I have 3 WIP’s. I started a pair of socks a couple of weeks ago. I’ve made 2 or 3 pairs of this pattern and only this time did I notice I am supposed to KTB (knit through the back loop) for the gusset and the rest of the foot (excluding the instep that is knit in pattern). I started a sweater about a week ago and am about 2/3′s done. I’m knitting the back that is connected to the dolman sleeves. I’m worrying that the sweater is going to be reallllyyyy big. Going to keep knitting and see what happens; after all it’s just yarn that can be frogged if it doesn’t work out.  Then this afternoon, when I got tired of working on the sweater, I decided to go through my stash and see if I could connect some of my yarn stash to patterns in my queue on Ravelry. I matched some yarn to a Stephen West pattern and started knitting. The sweater pattern is Flugel made with Berroco Vintage Chunky. The socks are Basic Ribbed Socks made with Three Irish Girls Cashmerino . The shawl/scarf is Boneyard in Classic Elite Woodland

Here are some pictures of what I’m working on. Hope those of you who knit are working away on projects and all of you around the country (and possibly the world) are staying warm this winter.

I decided to look up the word Squee. It lead me to an Urban Dictionary, that informed me that squee is what a fangirl  does. I then looked up fangirl. I can unequivocally say I am not a fangirl who squees! 

Just the same, I do have some things to share. Today I attended my first Church and World Committee meeting at the church I have been attending since October. Since Presbyterians are often called “The Frozen Chosen” for their lack of initial friendliness (sometimes called being reserved), I thought this might be a good way to get to know some members of the church and also take part in something to benefit the church community and the local and world community. The meeting centered around plans for Faith in Action Weekend. This is a weekend when our church will go out in to the community and do projects of service. We will also have some projects available to do at the church after the morning service on that Sunday. I had mentioned that I had also done this type of weekend at my last church and suggested a project or two that perhaps we could investigate doing. Well, now I’m charged with seeing about  doing an Adopt A Chaplin project. I was not going to volunteer for anything!!!! I guess God has other plans.

I also went to going out of the brick and mortar business of another LYS today. Bobbins Nest is closing and will only be an online store in the future. I had a $30 gift card I needed to spend. Erin opened the shop only to  ”Honorary Bobbins” for the beginning of her sale. I was able to get enough yarn to make a sweater for which I already have a pattern.

The other things I did today were finish photographing the projects I’ve completed and posting them on Ravelry and working on a new sock, which I forgot to photograph. Maybe I’ll post that on WIP Wednesday.

Wishing anyone who might read this a good week.

The “holiday” season for me is pretty hectic. I work retail in a high end kitchen store. From the week before Thanksgiving until after New Years day (actually this year January 2nd) I feel like my life is not my own. My normal work week is 18-20 hours a week but during the holiday selling season my hours go to about 32-35 hours a week. For a retired lady that’s a lot of time on my feet. I won’t bore you with all the horrors of retail during this time but suffice to say I would like only to work January through November and take December off!!

I did manage to do a few holiday things like bake biscotti and butter cookies and  try my hand at crafting (see December 9th here ). We don’t decorate the house any longer, just a Father Christmas and a pine cone tree (see photo December 12th here). My Christmas shopping took place back in October when I attended a Fair Trade International Gift Faire at a local church. My friend Kathleen and went to Broadway West Community Theatre and saw The Last Night of Ballyhoo in early December.

I did my first “holiday knitting” this year. I made fingerless gloves for my boss and my SIL and a scarf for a friend. I don’t knit well under pressure so this was an achievement. I also gave my DS a pair of fingerless gloves that I finished after Christmas and sent to her last week.

I discovered a new vice, Pinterest. It’s an online bulletin board. It can be quite addicting. Enter at your own risk. I still post on Facebook and find it a good way to stay connected to friends that I don’t often see.

I have decided this year to keep a log of the books I read. I read about a book a month. Right now I’m almost done with The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin. I have his first book, Mary and O’Neil, on my night stand as my next read.

I still need to think about what I want to do with this blog this year. Hoping I find a fun “meme” to join that will stimulate my thoughts and perhaps help me express myself.

Wishing you all a wonderful 2012.

Here’s the picture of the almost finished fingerless gloves (and tree and Father Christmas)  I made this weekend. Just have to finish the thumbs (the part I don’t like doing) and add buttons to the cuff. I think I’ll give them to my sister in SoCal. She walks her dog every day and she has mentioned that at night it gets pretty cold out there.

The pattern for the mitts is Barista Mitts. I used Berocco Vintage DK. The errata on the left hand mitt was very confusing and halted my progress for a bit. I finally just guessed at what it said and it turned out fine. The pattern includes three cable patterns so you can make different mitts. The Vintage DK is great to work with. I scored 4 balls at a sale this summer for only $4.00 for all 4!  So far I have made two scarves and these mitts and still have enough for another pair of gloves and a hat.

Hoping you all have a great week.

BLAH!!!!! What was that woman thinking that a 7 year old could easily make this. Try getting the wire through the middle of the pom=pom! Then try twisting the ends to form a wreath without knocking one of the pom poms off!! And then try to get the ribbon on so it hangs nicely. I thought the glue I bought would work to keep the ribbon together.

It took about 90 minutes to make 3 of these and I have 5 more to make!!! What was I thinking!

Knitting mojo is back. Finished a scarf for one of the guys I work with. He complained a few weeks ago how cold he was in San Francisco one night and I asked if he had a scarf. When he said no I decided to make one for him. Forgot to take a pic It was an easy pattern. Cast on multiple of 3 stitches for the width you want (I did 33), S1, K1, P1  *K2,P1* to end of row. I used Berroco Vintage DK from my stash. The yarn is very soft, drapes nicely and looks good on Neil!

I also gave up on the fingerless gloves I was making for my SIL in alpaca. I just didn’t like the pattern. I completed one mitt and when she tried it on I could tell it was too small. She said she liked it but I didn’t. I started a new pair in Berroco Vintage Worsted in a lovely red and am much happier. The pattern is Berry Hill Fingerless Mittens and here is a pic of mitt one without the completed thumb.

Hope everyone has a great week!

As for the “leftovers” I took to Kathleen, I made Martha Stewart’s Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna. All I can say is “Yummy”. Click here to go to the recipe.