In Donegal and not a single skein of yarn to show for it

It's four months later and I'm happy to announce that I still have knitting on the brain. Haven't given up the craft just yet. Now that winter is shortly approaching, I feel that I now have a little more incentive. I'm in the middle of a project right now, but I can't talk about it nor can I post pictures as it's a gift for someone who will most likely run into it on my blog. All I can say is that it's half way done and I hope to reveal it to you by the end of December. It's nothing huge nor terribly complicated, but still very cool looking considering my beginner's status.

Just came back from Donegal, Ireland. Was there for about a week. It pains me to say that I was in the area and didn't pick up a skein or two of Donegal Tweed yarn...but that's okay. I have plenty of others in my current stash and frankly, just don't have the room for any more. The trip was lovely, rainy and windy. But evenings were filled with live music sessions from the local pub. Timothy had the opportunity to sneak in a couple of ol' Irish songs during the "open mic" portion. Fun was had by all.

On two separate occasions, we enjoyed a couple dozen oysters fresh from Donegal Bay. Yum. The Guinness, I heard was to die for, but I'm not one to jump in front of a moving bus for a pint, so I just took everyone's word for it.

Hopping Back on the Knitting Bandwagon

Once summer kicked in, my knitting was suddenly put on hold. It's just not as easy to knit in 90-degree weather. My hands get sweaty, the yarn sticks to the needles - it's an awful mess. Unless the air conditioning is on full blast, I have no business picking up needles and yarn. I did however, find a small retreat under the wings of the ceiling fan in my dining room. Turns out it's the only place in the apartment where I can knit comfortably in 90+ temperatures.


With that said, I've started working on my 3rd pair of booties. I'm making it for a couple who I think can truly appreciate funky and wild color combinations. I came across these two yarns and thought, Eureka! This is what I'm looking for!

Together they didn't look so good, so I decided to combine the green with an orange yarn I recently purchased. Sounds funky, sounds groovy. I did one bootie but now I'm not sure if I'm feelin' it. It looks a little crazy, but not the crazy I was going for. But who knows...maybe it works, and I just don't realize it. What do you think? (I haven't seamed it up completely, so you'll still see some random yarn hanging out.)

I'm also in the middle of knitting a cushion. I started it about a month or so ago and as I continued to knit, I realized it was too big. I didn't get too far, only about 10-15 rows, but still enough to feel some pain at the thought of unravelling what I had started. I had to accept my failure, unravel, and start over. I started this weekend and hopefully all will go well. Inspiration for the cushion came from a "Jennifer's Sofa" subway ad. There was a striped cushion made of fabric and I thought...hmmm, I can probably make a knit version of that.

Cushion from the ad

Cushion from the ad (close-up)

In the meantime, I've got plenty of knitting to do and..OH! I almost forgot. Some lady on craig's list was selling a ton of yarn for $1 a skein. ONE DOLLAR! Nice stuff too! So of course I jumped on it and bought 22 skeins. About 5 different kinds. Fun! Fun! Fun! I don't know what I'm going to make with all of it, though. The hubby wants me to make a bikini out of the burgundy eyelash yarn. I dunno...we'll see ;)

The Matrix Revisited...Again

The trailers for Wanted really pulled me in. I'm a sucker for a good action flick. So, on Saturday night, the hubby and a friend of ours took off to the Lincoln Square Theater for 110 minutes of car-jumpin', gun-slingin', fist-throwin', knife-jabbin' good fun.

As much as I looked forward to it, I have to say I was a little underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, the stunts were great and the action was non-stop, but the execution of storyline could have used some work. From beginning to almost end, the movie was practically a dupe of The Matrix. A young man working at a dead-end job, stuck in a cubicle all day who has no sense of identity...c'mon. And then only to be rescued by a hot chick with a gun who, by the way, can kick serious ass. Oh, and let us not leave out the wise and all-knowing leader of the pack who reveals to our hero his true calling. If that doesn't have Neo, Trinity and Morpheus written all over it, I don't know what does. While Neo can dodge bullets, our Wesley can bend them around the corner. Close enough. Come on Hollywood, I know The Matrix was a hit, but let's move on.

If you don't care about the obvious carbon copy elements of the movie and are just in it for the excitement, you'll certainly get it.

You know what's funny? After the movie (and generally after every Angelina flick), my lips felt just little bit more plump than before I walked in. I think I've stopped puckering after two days.


Out of 5 poofy lips, I'd give it a 3. That's my rating and I'm sticking to it.

No Salmonella In These Babies!

The hubby has put great energy and effort into this project. Lo and behold, the fruits of his labor have come alive! We have tomatoes! Some were planted with great care while others were bought as already growing plants. But it wasn't until recently that tomatoes started to show. This is so exciting. I never had fruit growing in my own backyard. Okay, so we don't have a backyard, it's a balcony. Whatever. They're still growing. We have plum tomatoes, black tomatoes and...um, regular tomatoes. Haven't got all the names down yet. But either way we'll have fresh tomatoes ready for consumption in a few weeks or so. Yay!

Smart *and* Cute

Wow. I'm falling way behind in my blog entries. Can't believe the most recent one was around Mother's Day! Well, just to update all of you, the hubby applied for a scholarship at his culinary school. The scholarship was created in memory of his Chef who recently passed away. In addition to maintaining a high GPA and submitting strong recommendations from instructors, the other requirement of the scholarship required that each applicant write an essay about an event in their life that embodied the characteristics of this beloved Chef. Three scholarships were awarded and Timothy was one of the lucky recipients! Yay! Go hubby!! A well deserved award, I say.

Alleluia! The Booties are Done.

I finally finished  sewing on the velcro for the booties. It was agony. More so in thought than in actual execution. When I look back on it, it really wasn't at all bad. In the end, it turned out fine. Finished the project on Saturday morning, just in time for Mother's Day. Mommy was very happy with the gift. Yay :)

I still have to work on my seams, they still look a little wonky. But I'm sure with practice, I'll get there. My first pair of baby booties for a real baby was, for the most part, a success. They fit and EVERYTHING!

Iron Man - Go See It!

Hi All! Just a quick note to say that the hubby and I went on an unplanned trip to the movie theater. We were walking along Broadway with nothing special scheduled, when suddenly a giant LED screen screamed out to us with the words "IRON MAN" in neon green. Yes, the signage is cheesy, but a great theater nonetheless.

I loved it. Timothy was very happy with Robert Downey Jr.'s performance and so was I. Great character, great story. For those who know me, I never followed the comic book series, but according to Timothy, they did nice interpretation.

So whether you're a follower of the series or an Iron Man newbie, fun will be had by all. There's probably a lot more I can say, but I'm working on a tight schedule so we'll have to chat later. In the meantime, if you've seen it, feel free to leave your comments about the movie.

As far as the knitting, I still can't bring myself to sew that last piece of velcro on those dang booties! Okay, tonight. For real.

My Husband's Blond Tart

That's right, the hubby's got a tart on the side. Not that kind, silly. DESSERT! Culinary school has been treating us both very, very well. He's brought home quite an exquisite medley of sweets. All to my liking, of course. Out of all the desserts, the fruit tart, was by far the prettiest. The crust was blond* baked (baked before the addition of the pastry cream and fruit), hence the scandalous title.

Here are some shots of his masterpiece.

To learn more about my hubby's culinary adventures, visit "The lunatic ravings of an insane Culinary Student."

*editor's note: My husband made a typo in his blog, using the word "blond" instead of "blind". Freudian slip? Who knows, I'll confront him about that later. In the meantime, I'm keeping the title as-is because, well, it's just funnier.

Bootie Struggles - Pair #2

Slow progress this week. We had a couple of visitors these past few days, so I didn't have much time to devote to knitting. That's fine though. We had good company and my fingers needed the rest. On the guest list were two friends with a seven month old baby. So, you know what quickly came to mind, right?.....BOOTIES! I showed them the sample pair that I made last month and they thought they were adorable. So off I went to start stitching up the new pair.

I'm not very happy with how I seamed up the edges. They came out a little lopsided. I unseamed, seamed, unseamed, seamed....went the through the process FIVE TIMES and it still looked like it was sewn together by a three-fingered wino. Oh well, I still hope they like it just for the amount of love that was put into it. I'll start on the second bootie within the next couple of days. Here's hoping that at least this pair will be of equal size.

In the meantime, I have to find a dress for a friend's wedding this weekend. Tootle-loo!

Anyone Know How To Sew?

Okay, so I nixed the laptop case idea....for now. The pattern scared me and since I had to scale it down for the mini baby laptop we own, I wasn't quite sure how to go about it. So, instead I decided to work on a cabled purse that I've had my eye on. The pattern was designed by "Princess Philo" who has a set of 5 patterns from which to choose. My favorite is the "Kelly" bag, so I decided to get started on that one right away. The pattern is fairly easy once you find your rhythm. The bag is cute and small so, it only took about two days to finish the knitting part. Then I realized, uggh. I need to make a lining for this, don't I?

Okay, a lining, a lining. That can't be too hard. Just sew up the sides and attach it to the bag. Ah yes, minor detail. I don't know how to sew. So, off I went to the library and took out books on sewing. I'll also jump on all the youtube videos I can find. In theory, I know what needs to be done, but I don't want it to look like I stitched it up with my feet, you know what mean? I want it to look professional.

So, as soon as I find the time to learn yet another craft, my Kelly bag will be sitting in the closet. Until then enjoy some pictures of the bag in progress. Sorry about the changes in lighting. Took the pictures on completely different days in completely different rooms.

Two of a Kind - Not Exactly

I started and finished the second bootie on Sunday. I wasn't as excited as when I finished the first, mainly because it ended up being slightly larger.

With the first bootie, I think I weaved the ends together a couple of stitches in, while with the second, I weaved the ends right at the very edge of the seams. This could have very well changed the size of the bootie. At first I thought that maybe my knitting was looser with the second one, but I'm leaning more toward the first reason.

Oh well, still not a bad first try. They still came out pretty cute. My next attempt at booties will be camouflage with a black sole and maybe some army themed metallic buttons, maybe with an eagle or something similar. How neat would that be?

I'm going to take a break from the booties for now and try a laptop case. It looks crazy complicated, though. Not the case itself, but the design. There's lots of cabling involved. Not sure if I'm ready to explore that realm just yet. But I guess I just have to throw myself into it like I did with the booties and not worry so much about the outcome.

I'll see you next time on BITS, hopefully with a picture of a laptop case ;)

Bootie-Licious

Last night I finished my first baby bootie! I was too excited to wait until I finished the second one before telling you all about it. I have to say, Saartje's Bootie pattern had me stumped for a while when it came to the straps. Definitely not written for a newbie...but somehow I got through it. So exciting!!

Toward the end, I couldn't help but giggle every now and then as I knitted. It was just so freakin' cute! My husband started getting paranoid, thinking that I was secretly laughing at him. I didn't want to reveal the source of my amusement because I wanted my accomplishment to be a surprise. Since he knew I was struggling with the straps, I thought he would be extra proud if I just showed him the final product in one shot.

At the beginning, I had no idea how this little mass of knitted fabric was going to turn into a bootie. I stopped questioning it after a while and just figured I'd keep knitting away, trusting that the pattern would eventually lead me to a final product. And it did!

Speaking of bootie...my bruise from skiing has healed quite nicely. It's about 90% healed. Throwing myself down in a chair is no longer a major issue. But I think I need another week or so before I'm completely pain-free.

More pictures of The Bootie!

Mystery Panta and Other Updates

Hello All! It's been a while, but I'm back. And yes, I did in fact finish my scarf and have worn it out in public several times now. So, mission accomplished, go me.

I've watched a couple of other knitting videos and well, as my husband frequently says, "Nothing to fax home about." There was one, however, that does stand out from the rest, and I'd definitely put it up there along with Nici McNally's video, which I still have yet to review (but in a nutshell, A++ all the way). The video I'm referring to is called "I Can't Believe I'm Knitting! in Motion". Would recommend it 100%.

In other knitting news, my friend, Sinteeuh, a frequent poster to my blog, has given me a task. To make a long story short, she bought a panta (head/ear wrap) at a local fair and has been posting to all sorts of knitting sites asking for the pattern. To me it looked like simple 1x1 ribbing that increases and then decreases the stitches. I gave it a shot and although the shape is more or less the same, the stitching looks slightly different. Since there are different methods of increasing and decreasing, it's possible that I just have to find the right one. I didn't have the patience to make a full size panta, so I did a mini version just to see if I can even do it. Not exactly the right stitching, but who knows, maybe one of these days I'll figure it out. For now, I'm all panta'd out.

I decided to start on another project. A few months ago, I found a pattern for the cutest baby booties I've ever seen. They're pretty popular on Ravelry. I'm not sure if I've mastered pattern reading just yet, but I'm trying. I started last night at 1 am. Not such a smart idea. I'm dying to see if they're going to turn out right and since I had an early morning meeting the next day, I decided to hang up the needles at 1:30am. So of course I'm deliriously tired but instead of running home right after work to take a nap, I'm going to pick up just where I left off, row 8.

Oh! And I made i-cord. I was always afraid and never bothered to look into it. Turns out it's easier than I thought. I-cord is just a tiny knitted tube. You can use them to make handles for bags, strings for tying, edging for a garment and many other things. So there it is, my first i-cord.

Stay tuned for progress on the booties. If they come out terrible, I'll just pretend that I never brought it up, I'll deny everything, so don't ask.

Getting SideTracked

Okay. I know I said I would finish the scarf last night, but I ended up popping in one of the Knitting DVDs I checked out from the library. I was so excited about learning new techniques that I let the scarf just sit there unloved, unwanted. I know that tonight, I have to give it more attention and hopefully, if all goes well and I don't get distracted, finish the darn thing.

So, let's discuss the DVD. It's called "Learn to Knit with Tracie Wonderlich". I read a couple of reviews beforehand and they were, for the most part pretty positive. Two reviews gave it very low marks. One person mentioned Tracie's distracting nails. So, just for that I had to check out the DVD. It's true, the stories are all true. She donned an embarrassing set of long acrylic nails with tiger print on the tips. Can you believe that? How are you supposed to learn and concentrate on the yarn and the motions of the needles when you've got tiger print waving at you??! After a while you get used to them but still, any professional producer would not have allowed that. The camera angles were mostly good except there are times, not many, when her hands quickly go off camera or her hand covers what it is she's doing. Again, those times were not frequent, but if you want me to point out tiny flaws those are certainly two of them. This is my second DVD teaching tool. My first was "The Complete Beginner's Guide to Knitting with Nici McNally". Now that DVD I give A+ marks all the way. But I can discuss that in another entry. Nici deserves her own separate review.

So Tracie, entertained me with a 3-disc DVD set. Overall, it wasn't bad. What I liked about this DVD was that not only did Tracie teach you methods of knitting, she actually walked you through 3 projects from start to finish. A dish cloth, a mitten and a cabled scarf. Since I already knew the basics, I was able to just watch each disk from beginning to end. If Tracie comes out with another DVD, I'd consider watching it, but please, Tracie, please, shorten those nails and use neutral colors. Overall, I'd give it an A-.

I have two more DVDs that I still need to watch and will add my brief review. This time I'm pushing myself to finish the scarf before viewing another tutorial. If you've seen other knitting videos that you would like to recommend, please leave comments. I'm interested to know what else is out there that's worth viewing.

Slow Progress

There has been little progress on my end with knitting. Not to say that there hasn't been any progress. I'm a little over half way done with my third scarf, the one matching my ski hat. The little progress to which I'm referring is not having been able to learn anything new. I did, however take a trip to the library today and checked out some more knitting books and DVDs.

I'm trying to find a nice cable pattern for Timothy's scarf. If anyone has any suggestions or links they'd like to show me to serve as inspiration, I'd love to see them.

Also, there's another knitworking event at my job on Friday. I'm happy to see that it wasn't just a one-hit wonder.

Here are two shots of the third scarf in progress. It's possible I might finish it tonight. We'll see.

Time of Sorrow

I found out that a very dear friend of mine of 15 years passed away this weekend. He was a good man and a true friend. I will miss him very much.

Oh The Agony of D'Hip

I'm still bruisy and in minor pain from the ski fall. Went to the doctor's and was told that it's probably nothing more than just a big ugly bruise. Nothing seems broken, and no collected blood clots. If I still feel achy after 10 days, I'll need to go back.

My wonderful husband bought me some arnica gel and arnica tablets. Hopefully, that will speed up the healing process.

The aunt and uncle are coming over this weekend for a special home-cooked meal that Timothy will prepare. Last night he made pumpkin pie ice-cream with the ice cream maker he received from his beloved wife, that's me, for Christmas. So, the dessert is done. All that's left are the other three courses and a quick clean-up of the apartment. Update: Timothy's recap of the meal

Weather permitting, we'll be karaoking tonight. At the moment the snow is coming down hard. We'll see. The last thing I need right now is another slip and fall.

What's Black and Blue and Stings All Over?

Let us begin by saying...."Ow."

Our flight took off on Wednesday night landing us in Colorado. Thursday night was just lovely with Valentine's dinner at Zengo. The mouthwatering Kobe beef was to die for, both as an appetizer and a dinner entree. Hey, when it's a pre-fix menu, you can't go wrong with Kobe beef, so why not order it twice? And what better way to end the perfect meal than with caramel flan. Yum. I would go on and on about the meal, but the hubby will likely have a more colorful account of our Valentine's feast on his blog, to which I will link.

The rest of the weekend, my friends, went downhill from there. The hubby and I joined the in-laws for a weekend trip to the ski lodge. Having only skied four times before, about five years ago, I very much considered myself a newbie. I was set on taking a lesson, but wanted to get a feel for the skis and the snow. You know, just to jog the old memory.

"Skiing is like riding a bike", they all told me. Yeah, okay.

So, in my efforts to recall my skiing instructions from five years ago, the hubby suggested we go on the lift and work in some practice on a run called "Galloping Goose". Sounds harmless enough. Geese are fun. Geese are cute, especially when they're galloping. It's not like the run was called "Python of Destruction". So, I gave it a whirl.

I miraculously hopped off the lift unharmed. That in itself boosted my confidence. I started heading down the run. I was a little nervous because I began to pick up speed and in the middle of the rush, I realized I forgot how to stop. In theory, I knew I had to bring the tips of my skis together, but since I had not practiced the actual motion in a dog's age, theory goes RIGHT out the window. At the very bottom of the run was this massive mound of snow. It was a mountain in and of itself! Why? Why would anyone purposely put that there? What happened to my little galloping goose? My little, safe galloping goose?

My skis were aimed straight at the ginormous mound. As I got closer, the mound got bigger. As it stretched in height, a mouth slowly took shape and exposed its long hideous teeth. My eyes popped open as a demonic, "Muaaahahaha" resounded the slopes. In all the madness with the teeth, the snow and the "Muaaahahaha", I lost all control. My skis slipped from under me, my body was lifted slightly off the ground and BAM! Landed right on my left hip. Oh, the agony.

For the rest of the weekend, I was left in the lodge with my books, my knitting and a nasty, nasty bruise. That's okay, though. The weekend wasn't a total loss. The food at the lodge was exquisite. It's been three days and I still can't stop thinking about the ribs. Also, I had a chance to finished my hat and got started on a matching scarf. See! Not so bad after all.

Here's a snapshot of my hat. A huge improvement over the first one. Not as many slip-ups. Believe it or not, it's something that I might actually wear in public. The scarf is coming along nicely. I'll add pics as soon as it's complete. Until then, I'll be relaxing at home with my knitting needles and an ice pack.

Girl Knitting Hat, Take 2.

After the first failed attempt at making a hat, I'm giving it another go. I appreciate the comments from my friends who fail to see the flaws, but I attribute that to good photography, as opposed to skillful knitting. I have about 3 days remaining before the big trip. I'm somewhat confident I can finish before the deadline.

I started knitting yesterday in the evening. It's about 30% complete. I was hoping to make a matching scarf, but that may be a little ambitious on my part. I will however, bring the appropriate materials to work on that project during the trip. Who knows, I may finish it before my feet hit the slopes.

So, the hubby decided he's going to add a few wacky embellishments to the first hat and use it for skiing. It's hard to say whether or not he'll be able to do that between now and then, but it's the thought that counts. The idea that he's willing to wear it out in the open shows true love. Thanks honey :)

Fit for a Hobo

So the hat is finished. No fireworks, no tickertape parade. The first sentence pretty much sums it up. As I mentioned in my earlier post, there were some screw ups and if you continue to knit along that line, well, it remains screwed up until the end.

It's a sad, sad looking hat. Something that you'd pull out of the bargain bin from a thrift shop. And not the hoity-toity thrift shops either.

It lightly resembles a piece of knitted fabric used to wipe down New York diner counter tops and then afterwards given to the family pet as a chew toy. And not a Chihuahua, we're talking French Mastiff, straight out of "Turner and Hooch" kind of pet.

Maybe I'm being hard on myself. But honestly, I am NOT wearing this hat in public. The shape itself turned out okay. It's the holes in the stitching that have made this quite an unattractive accessory. At least now I know, in theory, how to make a hat. I tried to get all fancy using ribbing and I must have mistakenly added a couple of stiches and twisted another along the way.

Seeing as I still have one week to go before the ski trip, I can try to tackle another one. We'll see. At the moment, I'm just cranky.

My Sticks Are Here!

Yay! My 13 bamboo knitting needles arrived last night. That was quick!! I love eBay. As stressful as it is on the ol' ticker, I just can't stay away. So as of now I have single pointed needles of all sizes ranging from US1 to US15.

Next I need to find a set of circular needles. Using double-pointed needles (DPN) for hats seems so cumbersome. My needles keep turning and getting in the way, circular is definitely the way to go. I'll use the DPNs for smaller projects like socks or more accessories for Pooh.

As far as the ski hat goes, I worked on it a little more last night. There are some obvious screw ups, but I didn't want to turn back. I decided to just keep on going. If I go back every time a stitch is out of place, I'll never finish. And if people ask, I'll just say they're designs by choice.

Ski Hat Deadline: 9 days remaining

P.S.: The chopstick is working like a charm.

General Tso's Hat

I came across a fairly easy pattern for a ribbed hat from figandplum.com. After reading the pattern, I was fairly confident I could throw this little baby together. However, I was thrown for a loop when there was mention of six double sided needles. SIX?? I've seen packages of four and five, but SIX?? Luckily, the package I bought came with five. So now I was on the hunt for a sixth. Where to go...where to go. I wasn't about to go out and buy another one. No, that would make too much sense. Where to go...where to go.

[insert flash back of hubby making jokes about my needles]
"Those look like sharpened chopsticks."

Hmmm. Not a bad idea. I went to the kitchen and looked for our wooden chopsticks. Found 'em! Okay, I was all set. Five double sided needles and a chopstick. I was ready to rock-n-roll.


I started the first round and finally the chopstick came up on it's turn. It was somewhat difficult to use because it was so pointy at the end. The size difference from point to end was a little too drastic which made the process a big challenge. I quickly remembered we had another set of chopsticks that were practically identical to my needles and decided to give 'em a try. Much better!

So here I was knitting away with five needles and an eating utensil.

I still have a ways to go, but not bad for my first real hat.



Oh, and as a follow up, just thought I'd mention that Pooh Bear is about four inches tall. Apparently, the photos from Monday's entry were a little misleading. Yes, Pooh is small enough to fit in your pocket, which makes my previous attempt at making a hat a little less monumental.

Ski Hat Deadline: 10 days remaining

Presidents' Day Hat and eBay Wars

So, the plan is to go skiing on Presidents' Day weekend. At the moment, I have no hat appropriate for skiing. Currently, I have a Yankees cap given to me for free at The Stadium with a big ol' Verizon logo slapped on the back and another hat that's one size too big. Not a very impressive inventory.

With that said, I have two weeks to knit something up. I'm sure I can do it. I think. Let's see, what do we know? I can knit in the round. I can knit green yarn. I can make pointy hats for tiny heads. Not much to go on. I should get a move on it, then.

Wasn't sure if I should settle for a warm headband or a full on hat. Seeing as I have two weeks, I'll go for the hat. If there's time, maybe the band.

I'm excited to get started on my project(s).


In other knitting news, I just bid on a set of 13 nine-inch bamboo needles. There were 0 bids until six minutes before the auction was over. Man, I thought for sure no one would bid. Then I figured I would wait until the last 15 seconds. Two minutes left, no additional bidders. One minute left, nothing. The countdown began. 30 seconds, 25 seconds, 20 seconds. I was getting nervous. Heart was pumping, blood was rushing, hands were sweaty. eBay does this to me every time. One day I'll find out that I have congestive heart failure due to incessant eBay use. I have to learn to relax. Maybe put on some Enya.

Anyway, at 16 seconds I put in the bid, hit the button and was the top bidder with 8 seconds left. I bit the corner of my lower lip, hit the refresh button and BAM! The item was mine! In your FACE brnzgirl88!*

So now I'm the happy owner of 13 bamboo knitting needles. Just got confirmation that they were shipped out today. Woo-hoo!


*Identity has been changed to protect the weak and the sloooow.

Ding, Ding, Ding! Round 1

I didn't think it could be done. I was always on the straight and narrow with my knitting. Making scarves, test swatches and rectangular pieces with different stitching. But on Friday night, it happened. I, Jensita, can now knit in the round. I can knit in the round!

At first it was a complete disaster. I was using double-sided needles that were flinging in every which direction. I found instructions in my books, which weren't at all helpful. Once again, I turned to the always reliable YouTube. I found a couple of videos that were a little more useful and also found one on KnittingHelp.com (those are great).

I was almost there, but was having trouble understanding which way to turn the needles. Keep in mind that I'm using 4 needles at the same time. What a mess! But that's how it's done, 4 needles, well, without the mess of course.

I started for a bit, then dagnammit, one of the needles flew off. Started again for a couple of rounds, botched some of the stitching, then unraveled it. Started again, was off to what looked like a good start, mucked it up and started all over. The hubby went down to the gym after I had knit about a good 4 rounds. But once again, frustration got the better of me and I was forced to unravel. He came back after 40 minutes, looked at my work, tilted his head slightly to the right and said, "Didn't you have more than that before I left?"

"Yes, you're very smart, shut up." [thought she, in a loving manner.]

After the next try, logic hit me like a bolt of lightening. All of sudden everything started to make sense. It all fell into place. I kept knitting and knitting and knitting. Slowly but surely a shape started to emerge. It was ROUND baby! It was ROUND!






I then thought I could improvise a little by learning how to decrease stitches. I picked up the needles and continued on my way. As I stitched, it started to look like a cute little pointed hat. Just the perfect size for Pooh. So now Pooh Bear is ready for winter!







Honestly?...I think he looks like a thug.



Next stop: Hats for real people.