A Bitter Knitter

Oy.  So my beach shawl is finally done and blocking.  It only took forever to get it that way.  See?  Here it is: (Pardon the crummy photo.  It's dark out and I had to use the flash.  The colours are WAY better in real life.) As I wrote in my post earlier this month , I started it in June 2010 and finished it in July of that year but I wasn't happy with it because it was too short.  So I frogged it and started again.  And it wasn't as exciting the second time around (the same phenomenon that causes second sock syndrome) so it went into deep hibernation.  When the new year started, I brought it out of the deep recesses of my knitting basket determined to continue with the progress I had made in lowering my number of WIPs.  I made good progress on it until some point last week.  I was almost done.  I had a row and a half to go before the bind off.  But... The second to last short row section is on the top cent...

Since last Friday's FO post, I have finished two more projects, both on the smallish side of things. First, a tiny white elephant  that I knit to give in a white elephant gift exchange: He's about an inch and a half tall. Second, a little monster that I knit as part of a Random Acts of Monsters group that spreads the monster love to people who need cheering up or a little something special.  This little monster will soon be leaving, off to find a new family in South Dakota. (Little monster in relative monster size, being only about seven inches tall.  Considerably bigger than the elephant, but on the small size as far as monsters are concerned.) Being small projects, this FO Friday blog post shall follow suit and be short as well.  Happy Friday, y'all. Read other fiber arts blogs: Fiber Arts Friday , Creative Friday , and FO Friday

Today's WIP (Work In Progress) Wednesday report features my longest standing WIP, my Beach Shawl .  Here's what it looks like today: Huh... some of you might say.  This looks kind of familiar. Yeah.  About that... I originally started this shawl in June of 2010.  And then I finished it less than a month later.  But I wasn't happy with it.  It was too short: And I had no clue what I was doing when it came to blocking: So sad. So I frogged it completely and started over on a larger needle.  And that's where it's been ever since.  I revived it after the new year started and am making good progress again.  I'm hoping to finish it soon, but the rows keep getting longer and longer (the curse of the bottom-up shawl).  Plus the yarn is really not toddler friendly, especially toddler-who-eats-yarn friendly.  (It's Mini Mochi, which is technically machine washable, but it's single ply and still feltable.)...

Well, another winter gifting season has come and gone, which means I have hand-knits to show you.  I'm trying something new this year with the blog, as I was such a terrible blogger last year, only typing up four very photo-full entries.  I'm going to aim to (maybe... we'll see how far I actually get) post at least twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays for WIP (Work in Progress) Wednesdays and FO (Finished Object) Fridays. Today, though, lots of photos again because of all the stealth projects I gifted. First, a pair of gifts for Redhead Sister's baby, due sometime this month, Team Yellow (they decided not to find out whether the baby is a boy or a girl): Pompom Hat : (I love how these look on itsy bitsy people) Knit in a soft green colour (actually in the green left over from the frog hat I knit for Elder Sister's son). Little Red Sweater : This one actually shares yarn with Jo's Little Red Riding Hood cape I also knit another GA...

No, this post isn't about how long it's been since I last blogged (which actually wasn't that long ago...)  It's about how long a couple of my projects have been on the needles...  Since 2010, that's how long.  And when you consider that I only took up knitting in September of 2009, that's a long time!  Well, I finally finished two of those long standing UFOs (UnFinished Objects) this month! Confession: I started both of these projects with the intent of making them for my niece back when she was a toddler.  Uh huh... that was four years ago... I didn't finish them as quickly as I wanted to, and then she got too big for them, and then I had no one else to give them to.  Then I had a little girl of my own and finally got them finished! Project 1: Little Red Riding Hood Cape I started this in May of 2010.  I started the two-year-old size, because I was knitting it for my toddler niece.  Then I put it into hibernation mode because I heard of a ...

Well, maybe not for everyone , but I have been spreading the hand-knit love... and now that all those stealth projects have been gifted, I can share them. Last blog post (four and a half months ago!), I complained that I had too many WIP s (14) and vowed to finish a whole bunch of them before starting another, aiming to have no more than six WIPs at a time.  Let's see how that went, shall we? Mid-May, I had two pair of socks on the needles.  I finished one pair: and then cast on for another.  Having a pair of "vanilla" socks in progress at all times is a must... they are the best "on-the-go" knitting.  I may not have as much time with my hands free while I'm waiting around that I used to before I had a baby, but I still need my plain socks.  Since I did not finish the other pair of socks, I still have two pair in progress. I also had two pair of mitts in progress.  I finished these: but did not finish the other pair.  They are made from uns...

So... I'm composing this post via my cellphone during another of Jo's naps... Bear with me because I have no idea how the formatting will turn out. I last blogged over two months ago. Jo will be five months old next week! I haven't had much time for knitting, but I did complete a hat for the daughter of a friend of a friend who has leukaemia. Jo doesn't like it when I sit and knit. That's boring! But she doesn't mind watching me sort my stash or organise my WIPs because I'm moving around and that's more fun to watch! So I've organised my stash by yarn weight and gathered all of my WIPs together. I currently have 14 UFOs: 2 pair of socks 2 pair of mitts 2 pair of baby booties a sweater a vest a shawl a cowl a baby sweater a baby blanket a doll a "little red riding hood" cape I am determined not to cast on anything new until 10 of these are done! (Yeah... we'll see how that goes...) I have, however, written up the pattern ...