Love these guys

I have a friend that learned how to play the banjo because he said that a sad song could never be played on a banjo. I can't recall ever being very fond of much music that featured the banjo, but after hearing these guys a few months ago I understand what he meant.

Gifted:

Irish Hiking Scarf


River Run:



I wish I had some better pictures of these two but I snapped them 5 minutes before we were running out the door on Christmas.

I finished my destroyed cowl (it's gorgeous!)and will start another one for myself this week, then I should move on to arm warmers/mittens/or socks. I am not sure which direction I'm taking yet.

As for the New Year, I'm glad it's here. I don't have much to say about NYE. Last Monday I came down with a horrible cold and it knocked me on my ass for a full week. I'm still feeling residual effects of it and can't smell or taste anything. NYE I built a roaring fire, and watched Harry Potter 5 on the couch with the dogs. Brian went to a friends house party. It was actually a rather nice way to start off the year.

I don't normally make resolutions. There are a few things I'd like to do more of this year but I haven't firmly resolved to do them, I'm too ambivalent for resolutions.
I should probably walk my dogs more often, make more meals at home, and I would like to pay off my new car within the next 1-2 years rather than waiting the duration of the loan.

The one thing I'm really looking forward to in 2011? The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_Sheep_and_Wool_Festival

I can't wait to see a bunch of sheep, buy some wool from local tradespeople and pet some alpacas

Christmas Surprise

Earlier this year I fell in love with some dinnerware at Anthropologie. It was way out of my price range and I coveted it from afar. I loved this set but I put it out of my mind once I realized that it was not going to happen. I could not justify the expense.
Never have a loved plates as I did these.

Fast forward to December 25 and Brian is carrying box after enormous box down the stairs on Christmas morning. I was thinking, what could possibly be in these boxes? Nothing I mentioned wanting or needing could be this big....

I knew what it was immediatley when I opened the first box and it revealed many smaller boxes labeled 20,000 leagues. He bought me the whole set. The whole damn set. 8 of the large Octo plates,8 of the salad plates in each variation, and 8 bowls.

They are so beautiful and I will cherish them forever. They were such a huge surprise. He had bought them in May and had been storing them for months.





Now that Christmas is over I am so, so, happy to be finished making presents for people. I gifted 7 knitted items-4 scarves and 3 hats. My fingers are wrists are exhausted.
Brian's mother gave me a $75 gift certificate for my favorite new yarn place in Wheaton and I am currently working on something for myself! I haven't made anything for myself at all.
I can't wait to use my certificate but I have skein after skein of yarn in storage so I really have to use some of the stuff I already have before I redeem it.

Beautiful disaster

I made something beautiful and it fell apart.

It was a project I was rushing because I wanted to wear it on Saturday. I finished it within a couple days, about 5 hours total, but didn't heed the warning of "practice this stitch before you try it on a project"
I got the hang of it but I started it wrong and it's all coming unraveled. Not even worth the effort of blocking it.

The pattern was lovely, I will try it again. One for me and one as a gift.

I am sick to death of scarves. They are so tedious.

Rabble Rabble

Brian and I attended the rally to restore sanity. We only caught the last 10 minutes of it because we really didn't anticipate such congestion on the metro. I'm glad we went because I saw a lot of hilarious signage and I put a lot of effort into making/carrying my own. As the title of this blog may lead you to believe I am a fan of south park. May I present the sign:




It was well received by people who knew what it meant. Some people did and some didn't, but the ones that did would rabble when they saw it, so a lot of my day was accompanied by the sound of rabbling which was highly amusing.

I finally finished staining the deck (yes, the one I started several months ago), voted, and yesterday I turned 27. I had a nice Birthday and am enjoying my new kindle even though I don't have much time to read with the impending holidays.

Puttin' in work

I have been spending every moment of spare time making things for the impending cold. Yesterday I decided to officially give up on craft store yarn. It's just not worth it. I'm spoiled by the local luxury yarns and don't' care that I spend more on each project. I'd rather give something well made with good quality materials than put so much effort into something and have it last only one season. This happened after I bought 9 skeins of two types of yarn and both of them sucked in too many ways to describe here.

So, time for project pictures!

Finished cabled scarf:




Two of 3 hats. Darker/multi colored cabled items do not photograph well. They look better in person.

Black one for Brian:



Multi-Red. Intended for my Mother but it was too small for her big Texas hair. I will try to give it to someone for Christmas? Not sure who yet.




Otto is a nosy little creature

My plants deserve an honorable mention. This giant dendrobium cane came out of nowhere. 2 months ago it was a teeny tiny little cane and now it has dwarfed all of the others and should bloom soon. I didn't expect that.





So, that's pretty much it. I'm leaving out a bunch of stuff going on in life but I really don't feel like acknowledging that my root canal last week failed and I'm on day 9 of being in pain, and that our water heater is leaking all over the basement and has to be replaced ASAP.

I'd rather think about my projects, luxurious fibers with which to create garments, thriving plants, and my adorable sleeping dogs.




The end.

An exciting development

*drum roll*

I have finally tried cables. They were much more simple than I anticipated and I am beaming with pride about this new discovery.

Last week I had to run a work errand to Bethesda and I had a lot of time to spare so I visited Knit+Stich=Bliss on Wisconsin Ave. I really didn't intend to buy anything but I found the most beautiful baby alpaca yarn by Plymouth. I have made a few things with this and I think it has become my favorite fiber. It's thick, but not too bulky, knits up quick, and is oh so soft. The colors really grabbed me. I had to have it. I bought it with a person in mind but not a particular project, and the more I thought about it the more I really wanted to make something different that would show off the hand dyed quality. It's working up very quickly and I memorized the pattern so I have been able to work this scarf without really thinking about it. I may need more yarn, which means it will be the most expensive item I have made thus far...




I wish I had a better picture. I will take one when the project is finished.

As I work through this project I have been thinking about the quality of the things I have made and whether or not they will hold up and how they are received by the people that I give them to. I have only been doing this for a year. I still feel like an amateur and when I give things to people I feel like a little kid giving someone macaroni art. Am I crazy? I guess we all experience doubt when it comes to the things that we make by hand.
I look at this project and I see the things that I have done wrong and where I need to improve and I wonder if I will ever really "get it"

When I started doing this a year ago I really didn't think much would come of it. I just wanted to make something and in all honesty I figured I would get tired of it and give up after a month or so. But I wanted to make something and feel like it had a purpose. The more I did it the more I enjoyed the process of starting something with little knowledge of it, working through it, and finishing it. It is a good feeling.