Just a Bunch of Stuff to Share

Well- after being paralyzed with fear to knit anything I seem to have moved past my overwhelmed state and have cast on a few things.  YAY!

Firstly- the Polaris mittens are off the needles.  RELIEF.  Well at least the first set it off- I still need to knit a 2nd one for the other pair, but I've decided to rest that until I get a few other things out of the way first.  They are currently blocking and will hopefully be "glam photo ready" soon.  I do have a concern that they are rather tight, especially the thumb and I regret not going an even higher needle size up.  But let's all cross our fingers that the wet block will stretch them out a bit.

(I'm serious- CROSS YOUR FINGERS.  Do it now please!)  You'll note I've crafted myself some creative mitten blockers thanks to this little handy tutorial on the interwebs.  (Apologies to a not often used Sesame Street placemat.)  The good news it that I've had time to creepily stare at Parker's teachers hands and I think they are small enough to still fit.

*sigh* I've had enough time to creepily stare at Miss Jen's hands because we've had a small set back in our preschool attendance and now I attend preschool full time.  In an effort to try and keep me as removed from the classroom as possible, while still providing support to my anxious little one, I knit off in a corner for some parts of the class when he's comfortable enough to let me away from his side.  It requires simple knitting, and so I brought a self striping sock to work on.  I'm looking on the bright side and saying "well at least I'm working something out of my stash!"  It's funny to see the other children react and I have fielded a lot of questions about "what are you doing?" from a curious group of 3 year olds.

Since Polaris is finished I also wanted to knit another one of the grown ups in the classroom a small present and so I cast on the "Warm Hearted" mitten pattern from Knitty.  Perfectly titled for the person I plan on giving them too.  (She is a teacher aide assigned to work with a developmentally delayed child, but she has made every effort to try and comfort and settle my little guy too, and he really feels safe and comfortable with her.  I'm devastated because I just found out that her little guy is moving and she will not longer be in the classroom after December.)

I really wish my classmates from my "20 Tips and Tricks" class at Vogue Knitting could see that picture above because they'd see that I do, in fact, know how to a Latvian Braid- as I was unsuccessful doing it in the classroom.  These are looking sharp and I can't wait to see them as they come together.

Because this block has also become a platform for me to show off other crafty things I have accomplished recently, I want to brag and show you what else I made last week....

I am now in posession of a 3 year old (HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?) and to celebrate we had to, (HAD TO) have a Bob the Builder birthday cake.  My friend tipped me off to cake pan rentals in the city (BRILLIANT!) and I was able to "fake it" enough to come up with an awesome cake.  I am insanely proud of myself for this!

   

Back to knitting and enjoying my (fleeting) nap times!

And So I Made Monkey Slippers

A few days ago my sister posted this on my Facebook wall...

She was mostly kidding.

The thing is, she's sort of needed a little cheering up and I thought to myself, well... THIS is something I can do!  And so... quietly, I found a pattern (same pattern author) for grown up monkey sock slippers and a few days these were staring at me...

Pattern: Sock Monkey Slippers by Janet Jameson
Yarns: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice solids in "taupe", "cranberry" and "linen" (ACRYLIC!  EEK!)
Needles: US 10.5
Notes: What a highly satisfying, quick pattern.  It's well written and yields adorable results.  I WILL make these again.  Heck- I might even make the booties too!  So cute!

    

I thought the element of surprise would be best, so today while my sister was at work I snuck in and delivered the slippers and left them for her to find.  (Yes mom, I also took out Etta (her dog) for a pee.)  I was on a phone call when my sis got these- but this post popped up on her Facebook page quite quickly...

And then through out the night I got updates on what her new cozy friends were doing...

This was a quick and easy project and TOTALLY worth it for putting the smile on my sister's face.  I'm so glad I decided to whip up a pair and surprise her.  My sister has always been sweet to appreciate the knitted items I've made for her (here and the weird one here, and oh yah the cute one here too!) and this was no exception.  I love knitting for her because she loves the things I make her.  It's a win win!

And so- if she asks... I'm most likely going to knit it!

(Best not ask about the mittens right now, they are still in time out- THEY KNOW WHAT THEY DID!)

Cursed

Last night I was downright gleeful.  I had 10 rows to knit down to finish mitten #3 to have at least 1 complete set and I was so excited to be close to finished the mitten.  I was so excited I fished the yarn out of my stash for my next mitten and printed the pattern, telling myself casting off the 3rd mitten would be the rewarded by casting on a new mitten.

It wasn't until I cast off the mitten and tried a pair on that I discovered the problem.  Can you spot it?

...


...



YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!  HOW did I not notice this sooner?

(Still guessing the error?  I have THREE right hands.  THREE.  I should have TWO right hands and ONE left hand.  Instead I put the thumb in the wrong place.)

I just can't... even... understand how I did that?  How did I not catch it in my last blog photo where it was obvious there too?  See?

HOW DID YOU NOT CATCH IT?  How did WE miss this?  WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME THAT I KNIT AN ENTIRE MITTEN AND DIDN'T CATCH THIS!?

Why can't I just finish these damn mittens?

Clearly this yarn is cursed.  I tried to knit with it a looooong time ago and it bit me in the butt then too.

I did the only thing I could do- I frogged back to where I just was beginning the thumb increases.

 And then- I did the only thing I could bring myself to do- I put this project in time out.  I'm not touching this thing for a week.  I'm going to do something else and PURGE myself from this experience and then, I will hopefully pick up and start again.  I clearly need something easy and mindless- so I'm going to knit a simple pair of socks and tell myself I'm not the biggest idiot in the world... even though I feel like that right now.