Christmas Recap

Where has this month gone? Honestly, I can't believe how long it has been since I last updated the blog. Especially with all that had been going on. Then again much of the knitting I was keeping busy with was for Christmas presents, and some for people who read my blog. So that was all on the hush hush. So I guess I will start there.
Christmas Knitting
There was a scarf for my mom. The Scrunchable Scarf knit in Malabrigo

Leftovers used to make a darling Linen Stitch Scarfette for Miss Linda at daycare... can you believe I didn't get a finished photo of that one? UGH!
I knit a Republic Hat for my sister, and forgot to get a picture of her wearing it. Julie... consider that an assignment! There had been an idea to make a matching scarf but that was canceled.
And then there where the last minute additions. Two Christmas Balls

And Miss Eleni's Christmas Puppy

All of these are in my Ravelry project page for those of you interested in the details.
Favorite Ornaments
Next on my to-blog list was the Favorite Ornaments tag from The Spice Rack. While I have a lot of ornaments that remind me of places we have been, or special moments in our life together these three stand out above and beyond the others. They are hand carved ornaments my grandpa made for family members over the past few Christmases. We have Santa

A blurry Christmas Nisse because some little elf was shaking my tree...

And lastly the Peace Angel

Those are my favorites. I am sure you can understand why. I did take one more picture of my tree that I think makes it a little unique. Our tree is artificial, and a tad too tall for the room. In fact we have to bend down the top branch so that it fits. So there is little room for a big star or angel to grace the top of our tree. So this is our silly tradition.

Christmas Day
EJ thought Santa brought her tennis balls for Christmas. And was very excited about that as you can see.

Eventually she let the dogs have their new toys back and realized how cool her new scooter was.

Look it moves! And there is a bell!

It was a nice relaxing morning, and having a child makes the holiday so much more magical. We hosted the family for dinner and it went over without any problems. We are still trying to integrate our new stuff into the house. Times like this I wonder how much longer we will fit into our current house with all of our 'stuff'.

Coming soon- a post about my current knitting obsession! Have a happy and safe new year!

Good Dog

There are dogs, there are good dogs, and there are really good dogs. Today, the world lost one hell of a good dog. A friend, to anyone she met. A dog with a real soul. The ability to listen, to show she cared all with out saying a single word. Her soft brown eyes said it all. So I would like to take a moment to remember this friend of mine. I am grateful to have opened our house to her a few times over the years. I was able to really get to know Peyote over these stays, and always took pictures to send her mama to let her know she was having fun.

Big dog in a little bed

My stick is bigger than your stick


Please keep Annie in your thoughts, it is hard losing a friend.

Christmas knitting

I have decided this would be the year I took the plunge and knit multiple Christmas gifts. Many of which I am unable to talk about aside from mentioning it is all going very well. Two down, at least two to go. I forget how quick some things knit up after the past few projects of mine were sweaters for me. One of these small projects is for my favorite daycare provider at EJ's daycare.

It is a scarflet knit in Malabrigo. I am following the pattern for the Linen Stitch Scarflet with some modifications. I cast on 26, 4 more stitches than suggested so that I would have a wider garter stitch boarder to prevent curling. I am also slipping the first and last stitch when on the front, and purling these stitches on the back. It makes a nice chain up the side, but if I where to knit it again I would just use garter stitch to the edge. If I have time, I may make a couple more for two of the other primary teachers in EJs room at school. I hope they are a hit! Shopping for them is so hard!! I appreciate them all so much.

Hey look!

Did you see the cool new tool I have over there --->
Go ahead, I will wait while you look.

Julia of Knitterly Things posted about the new Ravelry trick that is unsupported yet available for us to use. So I added the fancy code and have pretty progress bars and pictures that automatically list my active projects that are in Ravelry! Hooray!

Looks like I am doing an awful lot for miss EJ. So unlike me, isn't it?

Issue resolved

I love yarn. Especially natural fibers. Soft smoochy sinful fibers. I hate flawed sweaters. Come Together was not perfect for my body type. Blocking did not perform any miracles with the holes and the bump. However I am still so in love with that yarn. Many thanks to you for your comments, whether they where pro-frog or pro-sweater. It was the support I needed to do what I knew was right all along.

It is a good thing I love that yarn...

Not quite how I imagined it to be

We took our first road trip with EJ this past weekend to visit her godfather-K's BFF- and his wife on the other side of the state. So I had some unusual weekend knitting time on my hands. I took full advantage on the way out and finished the knitting on Come Together. I even got it almost all the way sewn together too. Now here is the bummer. I am not sure I am a fan.

Guess I could have closed the closet door... In anycase here is what I look like in the sweater from afar. The bottom rolls a bit but I expect that to settle down when it gets blocked.

And this is a closer look at the bodice where the decreases are to create that slanty ribbing deal. I have gaps there. Not sure if it will go away with blocking. I also have holes where my increases are under my arms too. Not such a fan of that either.
And finally... The bulge

Because my ribbing is looser than my stockinette stitch... or perhaps because my bust isn't busty enough... or possibly because there are more stitches in the bodice or some odd combination of all of these things I get a terrible bulge of fabric right in the middle of my stomach where the ribbing starts. Had the ribbing pattern started at the bust line it wouldn't be an issue as my boobs would have stretched that out nicely. Even though they are not ample it would have been enough. However I don't see any kind of blocking making this any less of a problem.

So the question is what to do next. The yarn is super yummy. I need to wear it. Thoughts include
~starting from scratch. Something inspired by my class with Jared and do a "design my own sweater" sweater.
~ripping back to the start of the stockinette part, keeping the tunic shaping and make the top in stockinette and a neckline of my choice.
~starting from scratch and knitting another sweater with the yarn, perhaps the Hourglass Sweater or the Tree Jacket

Whatever I decide on it has to be right for the yarn, and right for me. This sweater I don't feel was right for me. I greatly appreciate any insight you wise readers may have for me.

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday was full of fun for EJ. Parade at school, her first trick or treat and lots of playing in the front yard. Here she is , trying to use the force to get a Reeses cup from its wrapper.

Sadly all attempts failed. The force is not strong with this one. Practice she must.