cardigan

This is the latest project I've had on my knitting needles.  A little cardigan for my new little niece, Ismae.  I definitely learned to love those lifelines and only had to rip it out three times.  

We got to meet cousin Ismae and see the rest of the family last weekend as they were passing through on their big move across country.  It was so wonderful to spend time with them.  

 

And of course anytime the yarn is out, my little helpers are not far away. 

 Cutting, measuring, and doing their own "knitting."

 Now on to the next project!

handmade

Every year my bf, Mindy, and I challenge each other to make as many homemade Christmas gifts as we can. I love to give and recieve handmade gifts. We update each other throughout the year on our progress and occasionally try to get together to work a little bit. Even with all that planning, I still find myself in the middle of a thousand projects come December. But, most of my presents are about done. I had to finish my gifts for my cousins early because we celebrated Christmas with extended family at Thanksgiving. Here are a couple of the scarves I made:

For little cousin, Olivia...still in progress when the picture was snapped.
The teal one for Marylin and the green striped one for Karly. The kiddos are having an extended sleepover at Grammie and Grandpa's house. Mason's a pro at the sleepover thing, but this is Emma's first time. I miss them. But, Ryan and I are getting some sleeeeeeeep!! And my house is full of fabric, yarn, my sewing machine and Christmas music. I'm determined to finish as much as I can. Ryan and I are off today to do some antique shopping and hit up the hotsprings pools. What a treat!

knits

These are a few of the projects I've made this winter. Most were Christmas gifts (working towards all homemade gifts...maybe next year:) and one birthday gift. I guess I'm on a scarf kick (and I didn't even get pictures of them all...there are four more...)

I made this one for my mom. At first I didn't like how wide it was, but when it was all done I almost wanted to keep it for myself. It's so warm and you can fold the whole thing in half. Plus, I love the self-striping yarn. This one was for a four-year-old who loves accessories. I actually got it done in one day. I may be addicted to making these little ones.

For my cousin karly, a pair of fingerless gloves. I told her they make awesome driving gloves, but that may be better suited for the fall and spring since your whole hand doesn't quite stay warm:) And since when is my "little" cousin driving anyway?

This striped scarf went to my cousin, lacy. I need to get some circular needles and try the stripes again. Lots and lots of weaving in the ends my friends.

I wish I had pictures of the other little gifts I made. It felt so nice to make something for the people I love. And later this week I am totally going to a learn-to-knit-socks group. I heard all the other ladies are retired, so I'm sure I'll fit right in:) I'm planning to make a tangled fool of myself, but I can't seem to stop with the knitting needles and the yarn.

hello

It's been awhile. I've missed you. I haven't been around the computer much, and while I've enjoyed the break, I miss documenting the little things that fill our lives these days. And the big things. Like two preggo sisters. I've spent most of my free time (read 20 minutes here and there) working on a little project for my soon-to-be nephew. And I finished it just in time for my sister's baby shower this past weekend. Can I just say I love being pregnant together. My sister is such a sweet, special, awesome girl and I loved being able to throw a shower for her (along with my mom and help from my cousins!) and celebrate this new stage of her life.

The whole fam. We got a lot of pictures with our friends too, but this one is my favorite. All the cousins and aunties.

Good food complete with chocolate dipped pretzals (thanks karly and ryan who did the last batch while I worked on the blanket) and a rice crispy boot (thanks lacy and marylin for your last minute assembly).

And the labor of love that kept me busy for the last few weeks. I have been wanting to make this blanket ever since I saw it in a book that my bf mindy gave me years ago. After I saw my sister's nursery (totally cowboy) I knew it would be perfect.

That's just a small slice of what's been going on here lately, but it's a good start. Hopefully I'll be around here a bit more. I still have a ton of projects I'm in the middle of and I am on an organizing kick. Plus, one of these days we'll start hanging some things on the bare walls and finish all the little details of the addition. I'm having fun dreaming and planning...

welcome, little cousin

We have a new addition to our family! My cousin and his wife just had their baby girl, Olivia! We can't wait to meet her. I finished her gift just in time. This afghan had it's share of difficulties, but I am very happy with how it turned out. I think I might even venture to start another one, since once I got the hang of the pattern, it was actually pretty fun.
Thanks for stopping by!

the so fun gloves

I recieved a pretty cool birthday present from ryan's aunt sheri. This girl can knit! She has already spoiled mason with a blanket, a beanie, and little blue booties. She knows more about knitting than me and my knitting friends combined and I've picked her brain many times. She's helped me out of a few knotty situations. Plus, she has a knitting group that gets together regularly to knit...how fun would that be? Friends, knitting, wine, good food...um, sign me up.

Anyway, she sent me a gift quite unexpectedly. Check out these fun fingerless gloves. The color is perfect. I've worn them to work everyday since I got them. They are prefect for keeping my hands from having to touch the cold steering wheel in the morning. Plus, they just make me smile. Thanks Aunt Sheri!

begin again

You may remember the afghan that I started here. Well here it is now. See all the progress I made?Yeah, it might not look like much because I ripped the whole thing out. I have a problem. You see I think somehow I repeated a row and therefore the first two rows looked slightly different than the other 6 rows that I got done before I started over. I kept going, thinking that it didn't really look that bad. But I knew it was there. And it was bothering me. So, eventually I decided that I just needed to redo it. I was only going to take it out to the first two rows, but then I decided that I wanted to make it a little longer. So, there it sits. Ripped down to the beginning chain.

Before I could get started on it again, another project grabbed my attention. On a whim I decided I wanted to make a baby afghan for my little cousin due to arrive in May. It's coming along slowly, but it's so much fun. Despite the fact that I've had to rip out a couple rows because of a some mistakes. I didn't know when I picked up this pattern that it was an intermediate. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. I'm getting very good at tearing out and re-doing, but I'm not sure that's a good thing. I am loving the circular needles though! And I think it really will turn out nice.
Well, this project is also on hold for a moment. I thought I would get it done before spring break, but since my spring break starts today and I'm about 1/2 a skien short from finishing, I'm going to put it off so I can hang out with Hillary and not be the crazy person counting outloud, staring at my pattern and trying to figure out what I did wrong. This project is not a good one for working on with friends: it takes my full undivided attention:) Plus we have other things planned for spring break, like: taking the little ones to the park, scrapbooking, eating (pancake friday begins today!), baking, planning our summer vacation, and knitting mindless projects that actually allow friends to chat (hello dishcloths!) But, I will finish this afghan. Oh, and start the other one. And finish it too. You know, as soon as I stop pulling things apart.

beginnings

This might not look like much to you (it barely even resembles a scarf) but it is the humble beginnings of an afghan. Shocked? I am. But I am going to finish this. I've been wanting to crochet a big, fun afghan for about forever and now I have the perfect excuse.

It will be making it's way to a dear friend as a wedding gift. Now, if you'll excuse me I have some major work to do:)

confessions of a knitter

Well, maybe 'knitter' isn't quite the right word. It's more like 'girl-learning-to-knit.' The only experience I have is making a few dishcloths. And I am definitely not qualified to teach someone else how to knit as demonstrated by the many hours spent with my friend, Hillary, this week just explaining (and re-learning) how to cast on. Who knew I was doing it wrong all this time? I'm not sure how many times we practiced knitting 10 stitches, unraveled everything, did 10 more, etc. Not to mention that she purled about 92 stitches before I casually mentioned to her that she should be bringing the yarn in front (I think). I take all the blame for the knotted mess. I'm surprised she's still speaking to me:)

But, I have big dreams of being a knitter. For now I'll just have to settle for the girl who likes looking for fun patterns, the girl who loves picking out different kinds of yarn, the girl who likes talking about knitting, and the girl who just keeps starting different projects but doesn't really know how to finish any of them. Yet.

It's time to start wrapping up some of these loose ends.

pink and purple

I've been doing a little crocheting lately. I've been having fun making some little girly baby booties. These first ones I made a while back for a friend who had a little girl in March. I made these sweet purple ones for my neice. She should be arriving in a couple weeks:) You can tell I'm a beginner because with each pair, they don't really look exactly alike. My stitches are not so even, but it's been fun to actually complete a project. I've been staying with small projects such as dishclothes and booties, but I think I need to try something a little bigger! Next on my list: crochet an afghan and learn to knit socks.

two knits

Well, here they are. The first two knitting projects I have ever completed. The first one is totally NOT square, lol. Can you tell I'm a beginner? I like the green and yellow yarn and it works just the same to clean counters! The second one was a little harder....I'm still learning to follow a pattern. Can you see the butterfly in the middle? I am pretty proud:) My friend and I thought we would just get together and whip these up....three weeks later I finally finished mine. I haven't used this one yet because I'm still admiring it. Hee hee.

These were fun though and I love that I didn't have to buy any dishclothes. I think I might make a few more. Thanks for stopping by. I'm off to do some dishes and fold the laundry.

bring it on

A while back my best friend Mindy posted about this scarf and I made the comment that if I posted a yarn project of my own, then she would have to post some scrapbooking! She replied with "bring it on." So, here is my yarn creation. Nothing as cool as her scarf, but a dishcloth and pot holder will have to do. You may wonder why I only have one pot holder. I actually made two of these for my aunt's birthday last year. A few days ago she informed me that one of them went up in flames. So, I made her another one. I have never made a dishcloth before (but I received a really cute lime green one as a gift) and I wanted to try. I would still like to figure out how to make a border/edge around it. I also have some yarn stashed away for a scarf. Hopefully I can get it started soon. So, Minnz....I'm waiting for some scrapbooking girly:)

Have a happy day.