Seeing Stars

My favorite shape has always been a star – I don’t know what about it appeals to me, I just know that it does! I am really enjoying this project – it is a convergence of things that please me: crocheting, crocheting a star, crocheting for my best friend’s baby, and even Caron Simply Soft (shut up, yarn snobs! LOL – it is cheap, machine washable and dryable and super-soft).

I think I am going with 10 rounds of each color – yellow in the center, band of blue, band of yellow and then a band of blue to finish. I am 4 rows into the first blue band and I really like the way the colors look together. The colors are perfectly gender neutral – I could girl it up with some purple I guess, but there is something very pleasing about the pale creamy yellow (“off-white” my ass – that is YELLOW!) and the mellow light blue. Even if I were to know what gender the baby will be, I would probably choose the blue and yellow anyway.

There were a ton of misleading instructions (if not out and out errors) in this pattern – it took a while for me to trust my instincts over the pattern, but the finished project will be the better for it. There are a few stitches in the first rounds that look a bit off after following the pattern as written, but probably things that only I or another crocheter will notice. I am torn between finishing this one, gifting it to someone else and starting fresh on a new one (without trusting the pattern as written) for Liz’s baby and keeping this one intended for Liz’s baby because that is who it was for at the start. I guess I will decide when it is closer to done.

Cabled Calorimetry (aka: Failorimetry)

On Sunday, 9/28/08, I began to think about a cabled calorimetry – I am sure someone on Ravelry has already figured it out, but I haven’t seen it and I want to give it a shot! I was inspired by the yarn, actually. I knit Sarah the calorimetry in the gray wool-ease chunky but I have a TON of wool-ease chunky in aran, too. I thought the aran version would look a bit, well … huge and white unless it had something to give it a bit of personality, but the brown leather covered buttons I have would look sweet with that color – voila – the need for a cabled calorimetry.

I started with CO 100 sts and planned for 5 cables separated by plain ribs for the center of the headband. I also did 1 more short row than on the calorimetry I made for Sarah (leaving 18 sts outside each of the markers). It was too big in every single direction. Also, a twist on the cables would have happened on the last row so I eliminated it – it just looks dumb. I need to pare this down to between 88 and 92 sts CO and stop the short rows when I have 22 on the outside of each marker – this should fix the sizing and the dumb looking cables.

Knit Night

On Saturday, 9/27/08 I had the privilege of teaching my best friend to knit and helping another good friend remember how to knit. In all of my geek glory I ran out to Michael’s and purchased them each a pair of US8 bamboo short needles and a ball of Vanna’s Choice in a light blue color (I think it is actually the color the elephant amigurumi calls for – they didn’t have it when I was crocheting that! J) Elizabeth was a beginner but did a great job – she had figured out the knit stitch and was gartering away before the night was over – no surprise, she is one of the smartest people I know! Jackie had been taught to knit by her mother when she was 7 but needed a refresher. It was slow going for her at first until I began to suspect she had been taught to knit English by her mother and my continental was probably not helping! I had never knit English before but have seen it enough times to try, so I did a few stitches on my own until I was sure I could do it before showing her. It clicked INSTANTLY! By the end of the night, Jackie had a few inches of perfectly even stockinette. There was a lot of info to pack into only a few hours so hopefully we can gear up for another knit night and I can teach them some more!

Star Afghan

My best friend is having a baby! I am so excited for her! You know a person is your best friend when you get deliriously happy over the happy events in their life – when Elizabeth met her husband I was on cloud nine, when they married I was just beside myself with happiness, and now that they are having a baby I am overjoyed! I am tearing up just thinking about it!

I have been waiting for this! Elizabeth is one of the best human beings I have ever been fortunate enough to meet. Generous and kind to a fault, an incredible friend who is always there no matter what is going on in her own life, so incredibly smart and talented and beautiful to boot. There is something about her that just inspires me to be the best person I can be. I can’t wait to spoil her and the baby with handmade gifts!
Since it is way too early to know if she is having a boy or girl, most projects will have to wait, but I can certainly get started on the unisex gifts I want to make! First up? The Star Afghan! I noticed this and added it to my queue 2 days before Elizabeth called me with the good news – I am planning to use Caron Simply Soft in off-white (which is a pale creamy looking yellow) and country blue (which is a nice soft blue color.) I started last night and it is taking shape nicely! I am thinking of frogging and starting over with a larger hook though. For just about anyone else, I would just continue on since it doesn’t look bad at all, but I want this blanket to be beyond perfect!

Calorimetry

I have been meaning to make one of these for a while. I love the way it looks and I know my sister would get some good use out of one when she goes snowboarding. I was mentioning the Calorimetry to my friend Sarah, a runner, mom to an adorable energetic 3 year old and all-around awesome person – she loved the idea and said “I want one!” It was not a directive for me to get busy and make it for her – she crochets beautifully and I taught her to knit … I think she was saying it more along the lines of a project she would be interested in making, but since her birthday is on Monday, I decided to surprise her with one. I have a ton of Wool-ease chunky in my stash, so I figured I would start there. After reading how big everyone else’s came out and realizing that I was using bulkier wool than what was called for, I decided to CO 88 st and work the short rows until I had 22 on each side outside the markers and 44 inside the markers – perfect!!! I could have stood a little more width – I might consider more short rows next time – but it looks cute! I used one of the brown leatherette covered buttons I got at the AC Moore store closing – perfect!!! I can’t wait to give it to her! Sarah is one of the most thoughtful people I know and she is constantly doing nice things for me and gives great presents – I am excited about giving her something she wants and will be useful when the cold weather kicks in! I plan to make a bunch more of these – I knit the whole thing in one sitting so they go fast! My current vision is that all of the females on my Christmas list that would wear something like this will get one!

Twisty Turns – still going!

At last measure, I have 24” along the long edge … I may be taking my time on this, but I am actually enjoying it very much. It is a perfect project for watching TV – as described before I have taken all of thinking out of it so it is nice and easy! The metal needles and the yarn just slide slide slide – reminds me why I prefer metal over bamboo! I took this with me to the laundromat on 9/21 and got some work done – it really is a great take-along project. I need to concentrate my efforts on this to speed it along – the temperatures are now staying in the low 70’s for the most part … I want this wrap ready to wear when we start seeing temps in the 60’s!!!

Hunting Cap

The yarn is acrylic and not the softest thing I have ever felt, but it is certainly the right color for a hunting cap and there is plenty of it! I have tried to wing it with my own made up patterns, but all previous attempts result in laughably oversized hats. This time I grew a brain and decided to follow a pattern! It still seems a tad large, but it is shaping up nicely. I am using the pattern for the Cousteau hat and I think that pattern is going to be the basis for a bunch of hats on my Christmas knit-list. I am using a heavy Aran yarn and US4 16” circs – it makes my hands a bit crampy so I don’t really put in long sessions knitting this one but it is resulting in a nice thick fabric, even though it is slow going. That is for the best – if I stare at the color too long I might go blind! This cap is for my dad, depending on how well it goes, I will probably make one for John I. too – he and Karen always remember the sibs and I at Christmas – it would be nice to have something nice for them too! (Though Karen will get a different hat in a normal color since she is not a hunter!)

Odessa

This was a quick knit! The yarn, Malabrigo silky merino, is a dream to work with – very soft and the colors are really something else! I left off the beads because my intention was to make this as a hat for Dave. It looks good on him and I know he likes it, but I am worried it might be just a touch too femme for him. I am 99.99999999% sure that I will knit up a Cousteau Hat in the same yarn – then we can see who looks better in which one and go from there. We are kind of geeks for matching – not outfits or anything like that (though, we both do have a penchant for khaki pants and black long sleeved tees – it has been known to happen more than occasionally! LOL), but we tend to use matching coffee mugs and we are going to have matching hats. Barf, sappy, whatever – I know!

I plan to make more than one Odessa hat (wound ball of silky merino in bosques, I am looking at YOU!) It is a great pattern, easy to understand and memorize. And since it worked up so quickly I am going to keep it on my radar for last minute Christmas knitting!

Column of Leaves Scarf

Most of the people on my knit-list for Christmas are getting hats, but my mother really doesn’t wear hats. She would love it, probably even be a sport and make a point of wearing it every so often, but she deserves something lovely AND useful. I saw the pattern for the Column of Leaves scarf and I knew I found her gift. I have purchased 2 hanks of Malabrigo silky merino in Cloudy Sky – a beautiful blue color! I need to start soon, but I have a ton of stuff on the needles right now … I think I need to make a point of starting this project next! It is lace and I love knitting lace – plus, lace seems to go quickly for me. But I best not wait too long … if it isn’t finished for Christmas I know my mom will understand, but she shouldn’t have to understand! Time to get moving!

Kittyville Hat

My awesome pal Sage turns 8 on 11/7/08 – she is obsessed with cats and has 2 of her own! If ***anyone*** needs an Official Kittyville Hat, it is Sage! I am making the hat in black, just like her cat, Loki. I am aiming to make this a birthday gift, but if I can’t get it finished in time it will work for Christmas too! Not quite on the needles yet, but I figure if I post about it that will make it more likely that I will cast on!

Happenings

Well, I am going on 3 weeks since my last post … there has been plenty happening, perhaps that is why I have not gotten around to posting about it quite yet! I will make individual posts updating individual projects, but here is news in brief:

When our system was down at work, I taught Eleni how to make Saartje’s Bootees! She hasn’t done any of the seaming or made the button loops, etc. I think she may have lost interest on this particular project, but just yesterday she asked me to help her find a pattern for a crochet afghan! Looks like she just needed needles and yarn in hand to get bitten by the crafting bug!

Sarah, another coworker, wants help getting started on some amigurumi toys for her friend who is expecting – there is a safari theme so she is hoping to make the lion and the elephant toys. If all goes according to plan we are headed to the store today to buy everything she needs!

I brought the booties and that hat and mitts set to Rose’s on 9/13/08 – Bailey was asleep but Rose loved them! Rose said that she will be looking to get out and do some shopping and socializing with Bailey soon – can’t wait to meet her!

I was back at Nonna’s last Friday on my lunch hour – I was obsessed with getting a second hank of the Malabrigo silky merino in smoke so I could make a hat to match the one I made for Dave (or, make a hat for Dave that matches the one I made for me – something tells me we won’t know whose hat is whose until they are both finished.) We are such geeks with matching – at least the hats will look cool, even if we aren’t! LOL I also picked up some Malabrigo silky merino in Cloudy Sky – this is intended for a Christmas present for my mom.

My best friend called me on 9/20/08 to tell me the wonderful news that she and her husband are expecting! Before we were even off the phone my mind was already spinning with a million things I want to make for her and baby! Baby is due 5/10/09 and it is way too soon to know the sex of the baby, but I am already getting started – I have visions of a Moses basket filled with handmade love!!! I can’t wait to see Liz this Saturday night – we are getting together with Jackie and I am going to show them how to knit the sweater Christmas ornaments! These ornaments have a very special meaning to me and I am just so happy with the idea of teaching more people to make them!

Well, that is the short version – more detail to follow in posts on individual projects!!!

Back to the Wrap

Since Bailey is born and it is time to present the presents, I think the bootee frenzy has finally passed. I will admit that the malabrigo I bought today was originally intended for more booties, by the time we got home from Nonna's, I was already imagining it as a gift for an adult, not a baby. It is hand wash after all - pretty obnoxious thing to give new parents. Not that Bailey doesn't deserve beautiful things, but so do some of the other wonderful people in my life.

Thinking of knitting for grownups put me in mind of a project that has sat on the needles for a week or so - the Twisty Turns Wrap. I don't know why I had it in my head that it was so screwed up, it really wasn't. I straightened out all of the stitches and got back to work. Still a lot of progress to be made, but I have a little more than 18" done - respectable.

Since work is going to be a joke tomorrow - system is being upgraded, I couldn't accomplish anything if I wanted to ... which would be rare - I plan to bring the wrap with me and get some serious length added to it - I want it available for wear later this month! I also promised to show Eleni how to make Saartje's Bootees for a shower she is attending soon - I have already re-taught her how to knit (funny, she remembered purl right away but took a minute to remember knit) so I will mainly be there for moral support, but it should be a light day full of knitting - something to really look forward to!

Back to Nonna's

We were in the neighborhood and Dave didn't object, so I snuck into Nonna's this afternoon - didn't have anything specific in mind to buy ... just wanted to buy more beautiful yarn! I bought 2 hanks of malabrigo silky merino - pretty! I am thinking of making Fetching fingerless gloves. This time I was smart enough to ask the owner to pop the hank on the swift for me - I now have 2 wonderfully wound balls of gorgeous yarn waiting to me made into something beautiful!

No sooner do I say it ...

Well, apparently I wasn't done with the bamboo booties quite yet! Must have something to do with the yarn - the color is just gorgeous, the yarn seems to glow and glimmer and it is so soft. The bootie I finished looked so great that I just had to make the second one. I also did some poking around the intarwebs about baby feet - the apparently come in a dizzying array of shapes and sizes - if they don't fit today, they will fit one day, and since they are stretchy, they will fit for many days after that.

I got this one out just in time - Bailey Desrosiers was born today at 6:06am! I am not sure if I will get up to see the happy family tomorrow or if my best bet is to mail the knit goodies to the house.

ZOMG!!!1!!1!!ONE!! I love these!

I knit these booties in the Ranco I bought at Nonna’s – I can’t believe how awesome they are! The colors just knock me out. These little things are so funky and cool! I made them in the smaller of the 2 sizes in the pattern – when Rose gets them (and Bailey decides to make her entrance – YOU ARE LATE, little girl!!! LOL) I will ask for some notes on sizing. It has taken everything in me not to run right back to Nonna’s, buy every color scheme of the Ranco that they have in the shop, and then go twitch-nutty knitting more of these. I am thinking that I can do sets of 3 – one set that is 100% Ranco, one set with a Ranco bottom and plain black (or white? Gray?) straps and upper, and one set with plain black (?) bottom and Ranco upper and straps. Ranco is hand-wash so it is not the most practical yarn to knit baby stuff in, but since infants don’t walk a bootie is the least obnoxious thing in this yarn. It is so beautiful; I don’t think people will mind the handwash!

Hat and Mitts for Bailey

I have some light purple fingering weight yarn I bought to make booties, but since I made booties for Bailey using the Ranco, I decided she didn’t need a second pair quite yet. (Let’s see how the first ones fit!) But she did need MORE!!! I poked through some of the pattern books I had lying around and saw that the hat and mitts for the Little Boy Blue set in the Beautiful Baby book. Little boy blue whatevs … looks a bit girly to me. Well, done in pastel purple it looks totally girly! LOL I finished these fairly quickly over 2 days and I think they came out cute. Original plans included the slippers from that set, but I think it might be overkill. Instead of using a yarn cord on the mitts, I used some white sating ribbon. I will tell Rose that if it proves obnoxious I will make her some cords – I know less than nothing about babies, perhaps there is good reason not to use a ribbon! But anyway, they are done – here they are!

Sleeping Booties

I have been in a bootie frenzy recently (but it may finally be dying off.) There are 2 casualties of the bootie frenzy that will be hibernating on my ravelry.com projects page for the foreseeable future. Not because they are hideous mistakes (they are lovely!!!), but because they each have issues that must be dealt with before they are ready for gifting.

Sleeping Bootie #1 – This was the first one (beside the test bootie) that I cast on to make. This is the set of booties that inspired all that follow – gazing upon their insane cuteness I dreamed of the thousands I know I will be making in the future. I was about 90% done when I made my fatal flaw – I goofed on making one of the straps(you are supposed to cast on AND knit in the same row, someone I know cast on, lost their mind and then jumped to the next row and knit across.) The final nail in the coffin was that I sewed the seams before I noticed. All this one needs is a new strap, a button loop and a bobble button (and then the seam sewn) and it will be ready to stick on baby toes. But, not today. My vision for these is that as soon as I find out someone is pregnant I will finish these off and present them – I will use this as a “test balloon” to see if the new mom is “knitworthy” and then proceed as results dictate.

Sleeping Bootie #2 – This bootie came out GORGEOUS. The color is beautiful and the bamboo yarn is so amazingly soft – it was a true pleasure to knit! I thought the yarn gauge would be “close enough” ( I figured baby can grow into it) but these are a lot bigger than anticipated. I am thinking these will work for an older child … Hailey B. comes to mind! Hailey just had a little sister, Kara, and even though she is taking it all in stride, she needs something beautiful that is just for her! My only hesitation is her age – I would send this lone bootie up to Sandra to have Hailey try it on, but if it doesn’t fit, I am afraid it would be a total tease/let-down/cruel joke for my pal Hailey. I might ask Auntie Liz’s opinion, but until I make up my mind, it sits there is all of its blue bamboo glory, hibernating on my projects page.

Trip to Nonna’s

I needed a treat last Thursday. I have been dreaming about fingering weight yarn that is not white or pastel and I know that a yarn store is the place I stand the best chance of finding it! It was so nice being surrounded by such lush yarns and the staff was fantastic! I picked up a hank of Ranco in blues/greens/purples, a ball of Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino in teal and Sirdar baby bamboo in waterbaby (and some size 3 bamboo 10” needles – I couldn’t resist the idea of knitting bamboo with bamboo – and my only other 3’s are looooong.) It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I should have asked them to wind a ball for me out of the Ranco. It’s my first hank and I was perplexed. But the good folks at ravelry talked me through it! I got advice from experienced knitters, a yarn shop employee and links to videos on youtube about how to wind your own balls. It worked out great!

1st Pair of Bootees Almost Done

I just have the buttonloops and bobbles to add and my first pair is complete! Rose is due *this* weekend so it is perfect timing. I have been really pokey about my knitting over the past few days - these knit up quickly and if I set my mind to it I am sure I could probably finish these and do 2 more pairs on my day off tomorrow! These things are adorable! I need to experiment with larger needles and other yarn to make these for larger feet.

Bootees!

"Saartje’s Bootees" was one of the first patterns that caught my eye when I joined ravelry.com. They are genius little things and it was love at first sight. Rose is due IMMINENTLY and I want to have a few cute knit items for her as soon as Bailey is born! On Sunday I cast on and got started! I grabbed some Caron Simply Soft and got to work – just wanted to test the pattern out and see how it came together – it is an easy pattern, but some things were a little confusing for me until I was actually doing it. Needless to say, since I didn’t bother selecting the right weight for the yarn they came out GINORMOUS, but it was a test run anyway! After I finished the test bootie, I cast on for the real thing – since Rose hates hates HATES the color pink, I used blue and cream to make the first one. I plan on making more (I have yarn in mint green, cream, white, blue, pink and purple!) and sending her a slew of them in the mail so she gets them right away (I would hate it if I couldn’t get up to see her before the baby gets too big for the booties!)

Another reason ravelry.com rocks – before I got started I pored over the shared projects page for Saartje’s Bootees – I paid attention to all of the different mods other folks made when they knit their Saartje’s Bootees and adopted some of them for myself! Buttons, for some dumb reason, are difficult to come by around here … Walmart is just about the only place that sells them. I have seen a few websites with really cute buttons, but haven’t gotten around to ordering them yet. Someone used bobbles for the buttons and it just knocked me out! Adorable and no need to buy buttons. I decided to try it for myself and I am in love with the result. As of Monday night 1 is done and the next is cast on – Rose is due this coming weekend so if I keep my head down and get some work done I can have a slew to send to her to welcome her and the baby home from the hospital.

The Twisty Turns Wrap and I go to the Dentist

I had an appointment with my dentist for a cleaning on Saturday – I decided to bring the twisty turns wrap along to keep me busy while I waited. I hate going to the dentist, just … ugh. So I was a little distracted when I went to pack up the knitting – I totally snagged the RS of the wrap on Velcro. Naturally, it was a good 6 inches down from the needle so ripping back or even dropping and re-knitting the column(?) that stitch was in are not viable options. I know I can fix it, but it still pissed me off.

At the dentist’s office I am knitting in the waiting room. The assistant calls my name, and not wanting to keep her waiting I quickly jump up and manage to drop half the stitches off the needle. Greeeeeaaaaaaat. Punchline? I waited in the chair for 50 minutes before the dentist came in! There was no need to rush me into the chair, but I am glad she did because otherwise I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to screw up the same project twice in 1 day! Admittedly, I wasn’t happy about being there to begin with, but the fact they never bothered to bill my secondary insurance for the last round of work I had done and presented me gleefully with the bill, the assistant who called me in actually gave me a hard time about asking her to switch to non-latex gloves (don’t let my latex allergy cause you to walk an extra 3 steps to get the gloves that won’t make my skin blister), and the fact I waited 20 minutes to be brought in and another 50 to even be seen didn’t really do anything to improve the experience. I like the dentist, but her staff pisses me off. I have to decide whether I like her enough to continue to put up with her staff.

So, in the dentist’s chair I slipped the stitches back on the needle and just tucked it back in the bag – haven’t touched it since. Sometimes when there is a snafu on a project I temporarily lose interest in it. I need to sit down and get it all sorted out and then get back to work! I want to wear this thing as soon as next month – need to get to work!

The Blanket is Finished!!!

It may have taken forever, but it is finally finished! It really is very pretty, but I think in the future I will try a few more established baby blanket patterns before trying to wing it. I finished on 8/16/08, quickly wove in the ends, wrapped it up and then got right in the car to go to Liz & Kevin's BBQ! Sandra, Glenn and Hailey were already there and so was baby Kara who is adorable and so tiny and sweet. It is a little too warm right now to make much use of the blanket, but I hope it will keep Kara warm in the fall!

I have also made more progress on the twisty turns wrap. It is working up quicker than expected - I have been knitting it while talking to friends, watching TV and watching Dave play Zelda. It doesn't occupy a lot of my attention - I am using a pink stitch marker on the side that starts with purling and a blue one on the side that starts with knitting to help make it as mindless as possible. The 4x4 ribbing is almost automatic - anytime I do manage to make the wrong stitch it feels "wrong" enough that I can simply catch it right away, but even if I do make a mistake, it is easy enough to fix on ribbed stockinette. I have explored the idea of making several of these in different colors - if it continues to be this easy and enjoyable and the finished piece suits me, I think I just might!

Progress

I am now officially 75% of the way through the Feathers and Ridges baby blanket - the end is in sight. Don't get me wrong, I love it and it is coming out great, but it has been on needles since at least the beginning of the year (...so long I forget how long!) This will be the first knit baby blanket I have ever finished - I have a yellow one waiting to be frogged all done in Norwegian Fir stitch. Somewhere along the line I dropped a stitch or made some sort of heinous mistake. Perhaps I have learned more while it has been hibernating in my basket, but when last I looked at it, it seemed pretty hopeless. With al of the yarn overs and decreases and such there is no sane plce to rip back to. But again - maybe fresh eyes will yield a solution.

I added a few inches to the Twisty Turns wrap this morning too. It is really knitting up quick and easy - I wish I could remember who on ravelry said it was a good TV project because I would thank them for planting the idea in my head to start this one!

The Twisty Turns Wrap Begins!

Someone on ravelry happened to mention that the Twisty Turns wrap was a good "TV" project - except for the first 10 rows after initial cast on and the first and last 6 stitches of every row it is 4/4 ribbing. Well, I couldn't resist! I like something to fidget with in front of the TV - perfect!

I spent much of the day cataloguing my stash, needles and pattern books so I came across a bunch of yarns and patterns that had caught my eye when purhased but for one reason or another just wound up sitting around. After spending way too much time poking through patterns, yarns and projects on ravelry, I decided to go with a charcoal gray Twisty Turns wrap!

So far, so good! This will serve me well when I am weary of purple lace on the Feathers & Ridges blanket ... so long as it doesn't take over and keep me from finishing the blanket!

Nearing the end of the Feathers and Ridges Blanket

This is my first knit baby blanket. The only other baby blanket I have made was crocheted for Drew Creeden. It was just about the first thing I tried to crochet after not having picked up a hook in YEARS. Gauge was... non-existant. It was pretty, but also pretty screwy. I do owe that id a better gift! :) But I digress!

This has been on my needles for a very long time. I just picked a stitch I liked out of the Knitters Bible and decided to make a blanket out of it. Wow. I bit off more than I intended to chew ... at least it is something I am happy to be working on.

I guess I needed a reason to finish this ... some firm deadline to really get me moving. Well, I decided that this blanket is going to be for Kara Hope Bysterbusch - my friend Sandra's newest addition! I haven't met Kara yet (it's a vicious circle - I want to give her the blanket when I see her, but the blanket isn't done, so I haven't called Sandra about getting together - I kind of feel like an ass.) but I need to stop procrastinating on this blanket already!

On 8/16/08, Kara and big sis Hailey's Aunt Liz and Uncle Kevin are hosting their First Annual Summer Party - even if Kara isn't going to be there, I want that blanket finished in case she is! Now that I have a deadline work is moving along a lot faster on the blanket. I have 16 Pattern row repeats to go - totally doable! I guess that is why I threw myself a monkey wrench and decided to cast on for a new project today too. Not to mention that I want to also make something for the new big sister, Hailey! What was I saying before about biting off too much - guess I am just a glutton! :)

Cast On

I have never cared much for keeping journals, diaries and what have you, so ... needless to say, I have never cared much for blogging either. Just couldn't be bothered.

But I have found a reason to bother! I have always wanted to keep better notes on my projects. I recently joined ravelry.com and it is a great resource - it allows me to keep track of my needles, hooks, stash, pattern books and projects as well as interact with other knitters and crocheters. You can see what other people have done, get their advice on our projects and search for new patterns and ideas. (Not to mention just socializing in the forums - its not all about yarn crafts!) It also lets you link to your blog ... thus my sudden 180 on the need for a blog.

So, here is where I will keep detailed notes on my projects - I guess I have always been a geek for chronicles, so here is one of my own.