2013: More Powerful Than Ever!

I had a lovely stay-cation over the Christmas/New Year holidays. It's a great time of year to have plenty of time on your hands. Due to various circumstances, I was on my own for the holidays this year. This was my choice and felt a little selfish, but of course the wonderful people in my life came through as usual. Friends from college and former co-workers visited, invited and generally welcomed me with open arms.

How can you have such wonderful people in your life and not know in your heart the 2013 will be the best? To paraphrase friends: 2012 - please see yourself out.

Want to know one way I know this? I got to start a project I'd been wanting to make for a long time, without having to buy any extra yarn! (Prepare your best Jimmy Stewart impression and say "It's a Chrastmas Maricle, Clarence!!")

Remember my Delancey Cardigan? I had a great time knitting it and I liked the process... but I'll just admit it. I made a poor yarn choice and should have shortened it. What I've really made is a nice robe and not so much a cardigan.

Looking at other people's finished Delancey's on Ravelry helped me realized that many people had either size or length issues with their final projects. Then, I came across a super modified, deep v-neck version that I couldn't get out of my head. (You can see it here if you're on Rav!)

What I really loved was her eye for color. I just don't have a clue how to pair colors in a creative way, and she'd done all the work for me. When I sat down two days before Christmas, I realized I had almost all the colors in my  house at the very moment! I could be making my very own Modified Delancey RIGHT THEN.

So I started:

 And just couldn't stop! Christmas movie marathons really help productivity, admittedly. Thanks for your help, Zuzu's Petals!

Whaddya know about that, Bert?

I also did my best to take some time for Droopy, just so he didn't go more than a few hours without a little recognition. Otherwise he makes this face:

Hey. You. More giant Milkbone treats, plz.

 As of the start of today's Bowl Game Bonanza, this is where I am:

Ignore the face and hair, please? Consider it one last Christmas gift to me, kay?

Reminder: you're ignoring the face and focusing on the chevrons!

So, basically, I'M IN LOVE. And I don't really care that it makes me look like a happy chappie in a snappy sarape. Because I love it!

Happy New Year, guys. It's going to be great - just you wait and see.

Weekend FOs

I went a little nuts this month with yarn shopping. I bought more yarn at one time than ever before and, while this was really fun, it also made me anxious. I hadn't actually finished something in a long time! Finished the Delancey, however was like removing a road block and I had a really productive weekend!

First, I improvised a cotton sweater based on the pattern Kelly by Jean Moss in a book called Contemporary Knits I picked up at a Borders closing sale. I really liked the neck and had wanted to make something out of Shine Worsted since I made that Christmas hat for my brother.

I modified the pattern so much that the only thing that really remains is the construction of the neck. Still, I'm pretty pleased with the result:

Stripey Sue

I reworked the sleeves three separate times, and still they're not 100 perfect, but I reached a point where I was ready to be finished with the Beachy Summer Sweater and move on to bigger and better things.

I've started a series of Knit Alongs with good friend The Owl and The Bee during our Wednesday (and sometimes Monday) Knit Nights. A few weeks ago, we cast on two-at-a-time toe-up socks to try a new technique. I'm totally sold! I am a sufferer of "second sock syndrome", meaning when it's time to make the second item of a pair, I'm usually over it and ready to move on. Two-at-a-time means you'll have socks the same length without all the counting (BIG plus in my book!) My boyfriend, a wrestling assistant coach from a family of wrestling enthusiasts, wanted a pair of socks in the colors of Oak Park River Forest High School because of an inspiring coach working there. So he picked the colors and the yarn and I made my interpretation of what he requested.

Wrastlin' Socks

 I still have a ton of ends to weave in, but after weaving in a TON of ends in both the Delancey and the summer sweater this weekend, I'm giving myself a break for a day or two.

The curse of loving stripes - so many ends! Ugh!

Finally, I finished up work on a little hat design I've been working on. Nothing fancy, but a fast, fun knit with added pom-pom realness.

Werq That Pom!

During photography this morning, I realize that what I actually made this weekend was a pretty decent Smee costume from Disney's Peter Pan.Time to join the real world for a while, I think!

Aye, aye, cap'n!

Football'd

Well, it was turning out to be a good weekend... until I settled in for some Sunday afternoon football. My dear Colts lost to the... I can't even type it without wincing... Cleveland Browns. That the BENGALS just beat, for heaven's sake. I mean, I love Ohio. I really do, but ouch. OH-IO = OU-CH.

Simultaneously, I was treated to watching the Bears weak Offensive line blow chance after chance in New Orleans. It was not a proud day for the Midwest, you know?

But some knitting finally happened this week, so there's always a silver lining! The theme for last week and this week is "experimentation".

Up first, I tried to take a fingerless mitt pattern and turn it into mittens.

The original:

The DoogMod version:

So, it looks... ok? I guess? But I have some problems with it. One: I wimped out on the thumb. I was going to continue the pattern up the thumb until the about the thumbnail, but it was getting too tedious, so I just went for solid blue. Two: the mitts are supposed to fit snugly, so the mitten feels pretty constricting. I'm not sure my mom would love wearing these, no matter how much Thought I put into them. Third: Doesn't it just kind of look like a sock I jammed a thumb into? Maybe I should keep it simple and use an *actual* mitten pattern. Crazy thought, I know.

My next trick project seems to be going a bit smoother. I'm attempting to reverse engineer a hat that I saw on the website Nerd Boyfriend. The hat in question is as follows:

This baby costs 39 British Pounds. I'm sure shipping would tip that price well into Super Fancy territory. Meanwhile, I have some grey sock yarn lying around and leftover yellow sport-weight yarn from another project. I'm totally going to reverse engineer this puppy for PENNIES on the pound. (Is that a saying?)

So, here's the start. A few things I decided on from the beginning:

• The original is knitted flat and then seamed up the back. I want to go for seamless construction (I hate sewing up knitting - I think I'm allergic to the metal in my tapestry needles #firstworldproblems)
• The bottom band seems to be knitted separately and then attached after the hat is seamed together. Again, I'm going for all one piece. 
• The original looks like it's made with fairly course wool. The yarn I had on hand is 70% wool and 30% silk, because I'm CLASSY AS HELL. It creates a smooth fabric, but it's pretty lightweight. I hope it's warm enough for a Chicago winter!

 In other news, I have a shipment of yarn coming that I'm extremely excited about. I know I SAID I was trying to use up the yarn I already have... but I swear, half of it's for gifts. Promise. Don't look at me like that.