FO Day Two

On Day Two, FO Week is kicking into high gear!!! You ladies have been have been working hard. First up, Chris has finished Kiri!!! If you remember how she struggled with Kiri on her first go 'round, you'll know what a sweet victory this was for her. Chris has the upper hand this time - a beautiful shawl that only took one skein of Knit Picks yarn and gets credit in THREE KALs!! And knit in only TEN DAYS??? Go Chris.

Up next is Amanda. On Friday she had one sock, but as of yesterday she has a FO!!! Check out her great socks knit AND crocheted with Rumba (one of my favorite ballroom dances, by the way!!) Don't they look so cozy?? And again, knit with just one ball of yarn from Knit Picks. Way to stretch that yarn budget, girls!!

Jenn finished the cutest little baby dress knit with Lion Brand Cotton Ease. (Washability is a must for the little ones). It's so precious, and be sure to scroll down for a close up of the buttons!! She finished this just in the nick of time, as the little girl was born over the weekend. Welcome to the world.

Chrissy finished her Master Level 1 swatches!! Scroll down the to middle of her post and take a look at them all. Patterns, stripes and cables galore. How impressive are those?? Great job . . your on your way to becoming a Master Knitter!!!

I have a FO today as well.
Men's Cashmere Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Knit Picks Panache in Moss
Cast On: 19 November 2005
Cast Off: 2 December 2005
Blocked: 30 January 2006

Pea's Christmas scarf is finally all blocked and ready for him to wear! Poor guy, he unwrapped it on Christmas, and then I promptly took it back telling him it needed to be blocked. It sat in my craft room for a month. Sorry, Sweetpea!! It's all done now and I'm very pleased with how it came out. The yarn was a joy to work with and the pattern was so simple. I could have knit it much faster, except I had to hide it from him!!!

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It's been a chilly and rainy day here, the kind of day that makes you want to curl up on the couch with a cup of tea and some knitting. I'm working hard on my Felted Gift bag, which can be filled with something special for Valentine's Day. I'm also in the home stretch on Airy Scarf. With any luck, maybe I can get Tie One On finished this week too?? Can't wait to see what you guys are finishing up this week too!

FO Day One

We begin FO week with two WIP's that were completed over the weekend. First up is a beautiful pair of socks by Stephanie. Go look . . . can you believe this is her FIRST EVER PAIR???? As a new sock knitter myself, I appreciate the sock tips she's shared. And I think my next book purchase will have to be Sensational Knitted Socks!!!! Best of all, these socks also get her credit in the 2000 Socks KAL. Yea for multi-tasking!!!

I have a FO today too, the slippers I started last weekend in Vermont.

Adult Bed Slippers
Cast on: 1/22/006
Completed: 1/28/06
Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky - Walnut

I'm glad I decided to spice the second one up a bit by doing a provisional cast-on and practicing my Kitchener Stitch on the back seam. It worked beautifully and looks much better than the sewn one. I think the three-needle bind-off may have worked too, but I actually like doing Kitchener! These are like the brown slippers I made for my brother for Christmas, just not as big!!!

If you haven't joined FO Week yet, it's not too late! Finish off your lingering projects and strut your stuff!! I'm also thinking of doing some prizes, just to make it even more fun (who doesn't like prizes??). Everyone who enters will have a chance at a prize, and for each FO you post this week you'll get another chance. So come on, sign up!!

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Thanks to everyone who sent me healing wishes over the weekend. I'm still a bit stuffy, but feeling much better. I talked to my friends, and they all gathered at someone else's house to hang out, so I was glad to hear I didn't spoil everyone's evening.

Just in time to cheer me up and make me feel better, look what arrived in the mail!!

A sweet surprise from Lynne, who I was spoiling during Secret Pal 6. Aren't those the cutest socks you've ever seen? The little lambie heads on the back are so cute . . . they even have gooley eyes!!! I am loving the Knit Simple magazine, there are several projects I'm considering trying (including a really pretty sweater). Thank you so much Lynne, you are so sweet!

Okay, I'm off to work on my next WIP, with high hopes of flashing another FO tomorrow.

Introducing FO Week!!!

There are still a lot of projects in my knitting basket that I've been wanting to finish up. They've dragged on too long. So I started thinking about proclaiming this week to be FO week. Get them all done, and post them in each blog entry.

Want to play too? Sure you do!! Think of all your New Years Intentions about finishing up your WIPs. Got a sweater that's been waiting to be seamed? A scarf that needs blocking? A sock that's thisclose to being done? A hat that's been lingering on the needles? Now is the perfect time to . . .

Simply leave me a comment if you think it sounds like fun!! Then send me an e-mail each time you post a FO, and I'll link it to my post that day! FO Week will begin tomorrow, January 30th and end on Sunday, February 5th. Any project you've finished this weekend can count as your first FO tomorrow!! Come on, let's clear out those WIP's!!!!

How to kill a dinner party

All the planning. All the prep work. All the cleaning (okay, I would have done all the cleaning anyway). All for nothing. The most sure-fire way to kill a dinner party before it even starts . . . .

have the hostess come down with a cold the day before!!!!!

It's my own fault. I went shopping with my friend Barb on Thursday and was stupid enough to say "I'm probably jinxing myself, but Pea and I have both made it through the winter so far without any bad colds". When ever you start to utter a sentence that begins with the words "I'm probably jinxing myself . . . " DO NOT FINISH IT!!! Bite your tongue. Duct tape your mouth. Do whatever it takes!!!!!!

I actually do feel better today than I did yesterday, but not well enough to host a big party. Not to mention, touch food that other people will eat. People with small children who catch every germ anyway. And one person who is pregnant. That would not be good. So Pea called them all, and we'll start looking to reschedule. I now have plenty of time to knit - but it's a very disappointing way to earn some knitting time. And what will I do with all those meatballs I made (pre-cold, of course)? I'm one of the very few Italian people I know who hates meatballs. Maybe it's because I'm only half Italian?? (But my Italian grandmother told me she didn't really like them either, so I'm in good company) Will trade MEATBALLS for YARN!!!!

Winter blues????

PMS??? Just plain blah? I don't know - but I've been feeling out of sorts all week. I'm hoping it will pass soon.

But, what could be more cheering when you're feeling blue than NEW YARN??? First of all, my super prize arrived from Kathy!!!

Isn't it just wonderful. I already know the buttons will go on a sweater for Bestus Buddy's new baby - who will be arriving in March. (I'd better get those needles working!!!) I'm not sure what I want to do with the yarn yet, but I will find something very special for it!

Speaking of doing something very special, I've also been on the look-out for something wonderful to do with the DB SoHo yarn my secret pal sent me a while back. I thought maybe I could use it for legwarmers for the Cover Your Legs KAL I have yet to contribute to. I'm attempting to write my own pattern, which seemed to go pretty well. The yarn is a joy to work with, but not for this project.

There was a bit of weird pooling, which didn't bother me much, but I felt that the stitch definition got lost. Also, I didn't think I had enough yarn for both legwarmers, so this got frogged. I'm going to start again with some Wool-Ease from my stash.

Before you think I forgot, here is the picture of the yarn I bought last weekend!

See how happy the new yarn made Mr. Snowman?? (I made him a few years back, when I did more sewing.) I can't wait to try out the sock yarns. As for the Cascade 220 - I can't wait to try that out either, but I'm having second thoughts about the Brioche hat and scarf. I took a look at the pattern, and it looks SO HARD!!!! We'll see - maybe after I try the Olympic socks.

I've been feeling like I'm working on a ton of different projects and not getting any of them done, so I think I'll concentrate on finishing some of them up now. The slippers are almost done - I made them more challenging by doing a provisional cast-on so I can practice my Kitchener grafting on the back seam instead of just sewing it up. I also am trying to learn Continental knitting - since this is mostly a garter stitch project it seemed a good way to make it challenging. The Thuja socks are coming along - I'm having fun with the pattern and loving the Trekking XXL yarn, so I find I just want to knit them and leave everything else in the knitting bag. But I also want to (finally) get Airy Scarf finished too. Heck, it's supposed to be a FOUR HOUR KNIT!!!! Did I mention I'm hosting a movie night get together we do every few months with a group of friends? I actually started it, two years ago, when I did a Godfather & Make Your Own Calzone night. Since then, it's been a tradition. Well, this month EVERYONE is free - so I'm doing dinner for eleven!!! It will be a blast, but will seriously cut in to my weekend knitting time!! So enough rambling for now . . . I'm off to do some knitting and plan my dinner.