4 Days Left In December.

4 Days left in December, and I STILL haven't finished my NaKniSweMo project.  Sigh.....  I just lost my Mojo on it.  Once the excitement of finishing it in time was over (because I didn't),  I just let it sit there in my knitting bag.  I keep looking at it saying " You just have 1 more inch of garter stitch to go, and sew on the sleeves".  It keeps looking at me and saying "help me".  Then, I see my Sexy Vesty that I started on December 6th.  What is this obsession that I have with starting new things? It's driving me crazy. Somebody get me some therapy!

I even thought a Mojito would bring me back to my February Fitted Pullover, but as you can see, my drink wanted to color coordinate.

Then, a new yarn shop opened up in Brooklyn.  La Casita Yarn Shop Cafe.  This was the place in which I actually casted on the Sexy Vesty, during their opening day.  They are located on Smith Street between Douglass and Degraw.  They have a nice fireplace, and a bar that will be serving tapas, cafe y vino starting next year.  The wonderful owners made it clear that they wanted to properly set up all of their yarn displays before they brought food and drinks into the mix.  That was fine by me, because I was busy getting swept away by the yarn fumes.  On my second visit there, I did a little damage.

But this proved to be perfect because it allowed me to be able to make these goodies as a Christmas present to a very nice friend of the family.

Debbie Bliss Cabled Beret

Darkside Cowl

The yarn used is Araucania Toconao.  100% Merino wool.  The hat is a little stiff, but it is probably because I went down a needle size.  The pattern was for a big slouchy beret, and i just didnt want it to be that big. The cowl is soft and squishy.  I love it. Both patterns knit up very quickly.

So, now that those projects are done, I can focus on what I need to finish up before 2010 rolls around.

So, will the person who hijacked my February Fitted Pullover mojo please give it back? I need to wear this next year dangit!

Any plan for 2010 you ask?  I joined a Ravelry group called 10 in 2010.  I have decided to make 10 sweaters or vests in 2010, and complete the ones that I have already started.  My goal is to totally rid myself of storebought sweaters.  I am sick of people asking me if I knit that, because they know I knit, and then I have to say something like " No, it was on sale at Macy's".  I would much rather say "absolutely, and I enjoyed every minute of it".

Happy knitting everyone.  More updates to follow.

Sidebar : I joined the 365 group on flickr, so there wil be many, many pictures next year. I'm kinda nostalgic like that.

November Wrap-up - Picture Heavy Post

November has been a whirlwind. First the Election, then a marathon cookfest to celebrate my Mom's birthday, then Marathon cookfest #2 for Thanksgiving, a belly busting knitting potluck, and a delightful show to top it all off. I am so sorry that I have not blogged in over a month, but please forgive me. I have been a little busy... with good stuff of course!!

Well, I will give you what you have all been waiting for first!! The knitting extravaganza.

I started Juliet on Halloween, and finished on November 21st. I used Briar Rose Fibers Sonoma that I bought last year at Rhinebeck. I started out casting on for the medium size, because my gauge was slightly smaller than the pattern called for, and I used size 10 needles. I increased for the sleeves until I felt comfortable. It turns out I was about 3 stitches away from the large size, so I just added 3 more stitches and went ahead with my fingers crossed. I ran out of yarn halfway into the last repeat, but luckily, I has a second skein that was dyed similarly. With Briar Rose, it is impossible to get the same dye lot. But, the slight color variation didn't bother me at all. I bought some gold buttons from Save-A-Thon, and boy did I save a lot. The buttons were less than $2. Yippee! The best part is, that they match my boots perfectly. I know, there I go being all matchy-matchy again. Here are my pictures.

I also completed my Cabled Beret from the Premiere Issue of the Debbie Bliss Magazine. I love this hat. I started it on Nov. 19th and completed it on the 24th. The original hat looks very droopy, and I thought that it would swallow my head, especially since my hair is a lot shorter now. So, I went down to a size 4 needle for the ribbing, and a size 7 needle for the rest of the hat. The result is perfect. I used 3.5 skeins of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran as specified in the pattern, in the Berry Colorway. This hat is super warm, and just glides over my hair. Because of the silk content, I don't have to worry about it sucking the moisture out of my hair like wool does.

So, now that the hat is complete, the challenge was to find a comparable sock yarn so that I can make Druid Mittens to match. Debbie Bliss does not make the Berry color in fingering weight. Booooo!!! :-( I took a chance and ordered Socks that Rock in "Jasper". I felt like a big dummy holding the hat up to the computer screen to see if it would match. Well, nobody is perfect... but I am happy that the colorway is really close.
I am excited to get started on these.

I have one more thing to complete this set. I started making the Crofter's Cowl with the Debbie Bliss Silk Alpaca. On the second half, I ran out of yarn with about 9 stitches left to knit. So, now that I have leftover yarn from my hat, I can finally complete it. Here is a picture of half of it, sadly.
I also started another sweater. On the day after Thanksgiving, Rosi G. invited the girls over for a feast and some knitting company. My contribution was a lovely Sweet Potato Casserole. My first attempt was on Thanksgiving day, and I truly believe that the knitting crew got the sweeter deal the second time around.
When I wasn't stuffing my face, I was busy knitting. Here is the bottom portion of the back of my Victoria Sweater from Twist Collective.

Here is another shot of some Thanksgiving gooey goodness. Mmmm.. Lattice-Top Peach Pie. It was gone in about 2 minutes. LOL!! Greedy family!! I have also been doing a little crochet. I promised my friend Deborah a long time ago that I would finish her hat and scarf set. Ummmm.... let's just say that I love her more than I love to crochet. And, since I love to see a smile on her face..... I made some progress this past week. 15 inches whew!! I have about 30 more inches to go before I add ruffles.
Here is a picture of me with my mom on her birthday. We are still trying to work on getting her to fall in love with yarn, but for now she can just smile on the knitting blog.
Last but not least, I went to see the Christmas Show at Radio City Music Hall. The Rockettes were amazing!!! Here is a picture of the whole cast.
I sat in the First Mezzanine, in the last row. Dang!! I love the zoom on this camera!!