Last of the Holiday

Posted on January 2, 2014 by atangledyarn84

I’m putting away Christmas in my house today and I just couldn’t resist one last holiday shot. My every thoughtful mother found this ornament for me! It’s so gorgeous I’m considering hanging it up all year round 🙂

Happy Saturday to all! I’m off the gym to remove the holidays from my waistline!

P.S. anyone want to help me get my shoes and socks on tomorrow as I’m sure the residual soreness shall prevent me from completing the task myself?

Progress: Abalone!

Posted on January 2, 2014 by atangledyarn84

Remember the other sweater I was going to finish on Christmas vacation? Yeah well, this is that I got done on my Abalone…

I finished up the last of the stockinette body section (right at 17 inches) and promptly separated for the sleeves. God bless stitch holders!

Now I get to work just under 8 inches of arm/shoulder sections. They are worked separately and then seamed together using a three needle bind off. I’m well on my way to meet my January 15th deadline. And this the second to last project I need to finish for my 2013 stashbustin’ projects, yippee!!!

Now if you will excuse me, I have some quiet knitting and coffee sipping to do before I head off to my big kid job!

New Years Knitting

Posted on January 1, 2014 by atangledyarn84

Happy New Year!!! I hope every had a safe and fun celebration! I worked 13+ hours at my big kid job as I always do on NYE. The blessings of being an accountant at year end, oh wait! So I wasn’t feeling very festive, but I made it to Midnight for a smooch with my hubby. Then promptly off to bed 🙂

In knitting news, I have decided to do another year of stashbustin’ in 2014! And in honor of the first day of the new year, here is my first project…

Jericho Baby Blanket by Shana Schasteen

(Photo from Shana Schasteen’s ravelry page)

This is a center out blanket made with super bulky yarn. Awhile back I discovered I had several skeins of Wool Ease Thick and Quick in black, dark grey, and cream/off white in my stash. I can’t remember why I bought them…I dislike scratchy wool. So I gave the skeins a gentle tumble in my washing machine to soften them. Thanks goodness with only minimal tangling! And off to knitting I go…

I plan to make this pattern with alternating stripes of light and dark. The four row pattern repeats offer a nice way to change colors and keeping the stripes the same And the bonus side of center out construction, I can work until I run out of yarn! Not to mention this super bulky yarn on size US 11 needles should go CRAZY fast! What better way to kick off the new year?

I don’t know what I will do with the FO? Maybe donate to the local women’s shelter or homeless shelter? I have enough blankets in my house already to fill two tote bins. This blanket is wool so the offset to being very warm is that it will require special washing care. I hate giving people items that require a lot of extra special care. Most non-fiber people I know find this very annoying…what’s a knitter to do?

The End Is Near: Sophisticate

Posted on December 31, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I had the best of intentions to finish this sweater on Christmas vacation. Yeah right, lol!

I did manage to finish both sleeves whilst traveling. (Sorry about the low light, our days are too short to get good photographs!) Here is the back view. And don’t worry the sleeves are the same length, I just didn’t get the sweater laid out very well.

And the front view:

All that’s left is to pick up and knit the button band and shawl collar! All in glorious knit stitch so it should go fast!

I have been knitting the medium size as that is what fit my measurements and gauge. However, trying this on (pre-blocking of course) it’s a bit tight. It fits, but I was hoping for more of a loose cozy sweater. I probably should have knit the large size or gone up a needle size on the medium. Live and learn! It will still be a lovely sweater.

That reminds me, I need to find some coordinating grosgrain ribbon! I want to reinforce the button band so that my button holes don’t sag. I’ve never done this but I have seen it lots in the blogging world. It always looks so sharp and sneaky!

This is Stashbustin’ #38 for those keeping score. I hope to finish this in the next couple of days to wrap up my 2013 year!

Holiday Hangover

Posted on December 30, 2013 by atangledyarn84

This pretty much how I feel….

I’m all Christmas’d out. Don’t get me wrong I loved every minute of it. But I’m exhausted!!! I spent five wonderful days with my husband and fur babies at my parents. It was a delightful break from the “real world” but boy did we work hard.

In five days we completed the following:

Butchered out 1 1/2 deer
Made 10 lbs of deer jerky
Defrosted and scrubbed all five of Grandma’s refrigerators and deep freezers (and threw 3 trash bins of crap away)
Baked 20 loaves of rye bread
Cooked three family dinners
And celebrated two Christmases

I got almost no knitting done, which was NOT the plan with five days off of work. I did manage to read a few chapters in the Yarn Whisperer. I took my Abalone and Sophisticate with me in hopes of finishing both. Yeah right…

We got just the slightest hint of snow so I took advantage and had some lovely walks with the fur babies. It was a nice way to take a break from the full house of shenanigans and to walk off all the holiday goodies! The dogs also LOVED the snow! Just FYI, I came home with three abominable snow creatures, lol.