Mystery Knitting Continues

Oh yes.  I maintain a knitting blog.  I forgot!

Well, not really, I've just been furiously knitting, trying to jam my Christmas knitting in and stay ahead of the curve.  I always seem to think I'm capable of impossible feats, and so, feeling rather high over the fact that one of the mystery projects is nearly complete, I added another one to the list.  As if time was just something I had in spades.  HAHAHAHAHA.

A 3rd mystery project is not all that of an exciting announcement here- as all of my knitting this Christmas seems to be shrouded in just that, mystery.  No pictures.  No proof, (unless you're following my on Ravelry and then, there's no mystery there!), just a promise that I'm not sitting at home twiddling my thumbs and in the down time- I am, in fact knitting.

I've had to adjust my projected finished timeline.  The blanket, which is just shy of one more round of the dreaded crochet is on hold.  Baby isn't due to January 1.  And, while I know babies sometimes make early appearances, I'm hoping this one holds on until after Dec 25, when all projects should be gifted and completed and I can once again return my attention to the blanket.

I can vaguely tell you what else is up.  Christmas mystery 1 is nearly complete and OH LORD am I proud of myself of that one.  I can't wait to show you pictures.  Christmas mystery 2 was begun and about 35% of the way complete when I confessed to myself that the recipient would hate it.  And so, I had to regroup, FROG, and move forward.  Hence the birth of Christmas mystery 3, which is about 45% underway and looking quite spiffy.  (Although the pattern is going to make me cross-eyed.)  Ravelry members can totally spoil themselves and see what I'm talking about on my page there, but until Dec 25, this place is going to continue being rather bland.  I apologize.  (But just think of the photos and post AFTER Christmas.  It will be glorious and thrilling don't you think?)

I spent an absolutely PERFECT morning this am, "Yarn Crawling" with some ladies from my knitting group.  Happiness is yarn shopping with other fanatics.  We hit all but one of the shops in town, (sorry Knitting Room you're just so far out!), and all of us walked away with a few treasures.  Mary and Robin- you should have hit Make 1 with us- the yarn selection was great and the 25% was SWOON worthy.  I walked away with this unbearably soft silky baby llama yarn that I'm going to selfishly make something for me out of. 

(What you don't understand here is just HOW soft this beige yarn is.  I get weak knee'd just thinking about it!)

Sale goes until Dec 31.... GO.  GO NOW.  (In fact part of me is seriously, SERIOUSLY debating buying more of this delightfully soft and swoony stuff and making a sweater for my sister too.  Because again, I seem to think time is something that grows on trees.)

Also, fair warning about 2014.  The baby announcements are coming in tidal wives... I have 3 blankets to knit before May.  Brace yourselves- there will be much activity on that front.  

I'm sorry the posts have been few and far between, mystery knitting is hard to talk about.  I'm not away permanently, just trying to keep some things a surprise.  Check me out after Christmas- I'm going to be post heavy- I promise!

Mysterious Obsession

I'm not sure if this is just a phenomena with me- or if other knitters experience this, but sometimes I get so excited about working on a project, I can't put it down.  Often this occurs at the detriment of other obligations.

This has happened to me in a big way.  There's a long list of things that I SHOULD be doing- all of which aren't being done because I am so excited about what I'm knitting at the moment.

I ended up getting the Argyle blanket off the needles earlier than I had planned.  (Remember, according to my schedule  I had to cast it off on Nov 15- I was well ahead of it.)  And so, without a blocking board to immediately advance to the next step, I decided to draw up my plans for the mystery project for Christmas.  Those plans came quicker than I had thought and soon enough I was casting on.

After I cast on, the blocking board showed up- but I could not tear myself away from the project.  I was a woman obsessed.  SO obsessed- that I can now report that I am nearly already half done!  I'm sorry that I cannot share photos here- it must remain a mystery until after it has been gifted for Christmas.  For those of you curious you can check out the mystery project on my Ravelry page, if you're a member. (Thankfully, the recipient is not.)

The problem with Mystery projects is that they make for really boring blog posts because I can't show you anything!  So, instead, I shall satiate you with a pic of my child who is now 2.  (2!!  HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!??)  (Another reason why blog posting has been less of a priority- sorry!)

Lest you worry that I will be wholly consumed by this project, I've made a deal with myself that this blob here:

needs to be put on the blocking board today before I can knit any more on the mystery project.  This blanket still has a Nov 30 deadline.  But I'm hoping that by setting boundaries with myself and forcing me to block before doing anything else, (blocking is necessary before I add the dreaded crochet border) I can satiate my need to knit the mystery project and also my personal goal of getting the blanket done before December.

I'm sorry that this has become a rather mysterious place for the next little while.  Again, Ravelry members can sneak a peek over there- but I'd like to surprise the intended recipient and I risk that person reading it here.  SO- enjoy the mystery.  (AND OH- think of the awesome "reveal" blog posts after Christmas!!)

Happy Belated Halloween!

Oops!  It's Nov 1.  Yesterday sort of got away from us over here as we were preparing for all manner of Halloween festivities.  I had intended to blog an update before the day was out, but I basically came home and became a sleep zombie.  I didn't realize Halloween was even more exhausting for parents!

The blanket has seen a lot of solid progress this week- I'm nearly completed repeat #7 of 9 repeats on the knitting part.  (The dreaded crochet is also a big piece here.)  Remember I set the goal to be finished the knitting portion by Nov 15?  I'm really hoping I can finish even earlier and stay ahead of my mini schedule for knitting for the rest of the year.

I'm trying to be really good and really focused on staying on schedule, so, oddly enough, that's all the knitting that's been happening around here.  JUST THE BLANKET.  I don't think I've been this "committed" to a project in a long time.  (Watch... next week I'll be telling you about how unfaithful I've been to the schedule and how many distractions I've cast on!)

Progress would have probably been even more further along if we didn't have Halloween to distract us.  This year was the first year my little guy was really able to participate in the whole "Halloween" thing.  We noticed early on he liked the idea of having a pumpkin, but not so much a Jack-o-lantern.  And so, to keep our pumpkin from being "no scary"- I carved one of his favorite characters into it.  

 

(I love that you can't really appreciate detail or how a pumpkin looks until you light it up!)

Parker was even less enthused about costumes.  When we first got his Cookie Monster costume he was pretty stoked about it.  But- when it came time to actually put it on, he would have none of it.  We had 3 Halloween parties to attend.  One we went to, but he wouldn't wear the hat, the other he wouldn't wear any of the costume and the 3rd, on actual Halloween, we didn't even get to, because he was SO. UNHAPPY. ABOUT. HALLOWEEN.

I really thought the day was ruined.  He'd spent most of the day in tears and I was so tired from it, I was ready to dissolve into tears myself.  My husband and I also had costumes and we had planned a family photo- so we really wanted him to wear the costume, even if it was only for a few minutes.  Thankfully, once the other Trick-or-Treaters started coming by, he got a little bit excited.  He loved to hand out candy and see the other kids in costume.  Not only did we get our family photo- but he did a little trick or treating himself and he LOVED it.  (He was also adorable and people would melt upon seeing him.)  Halloween was saved!!

The costumes took up a little bit of "knitting time" but I think it was worth it- we look like a bunch of Sesame Street super fans!  Now that that's out of the way, I need to dive back into the knitting without distractions.  I also need to keep working on a "YARN CRAWL" for my knitting group that we're planning this November.  Nothing is worse for your "yarn diet" than a yarn crawl- but I think it'll be fun!

Hope your Halloween was as cute as ours!