I was not really knitting, so I was also not blogging about knitting. In fact, I had gone so far as to stop visiting Ravelry and was filing off my emails from knitty rather than even read about craft related stuff.
Why?
At first I blamed the weather. It was slow to get cold this winter, but then we had this very unpleasant cold snap and weather was no longer an excuse.
The fact is when I come home I watch TV and I don't do anything. This is a bad, bad habit. My only knitting has been at work.
Because of my work schedule, I can not attend any knitting meetups. This means I have been rather lacking of chances to play show and tell and have people asking me how things are coming along.
I mentioned before about Christmas knitting and I figure I can give you some updates at this point.
First, the Pillow. See the completed glory:
The sewing for the back was a hurdle that caused much procrastination, but eventually the whole project was tamed just in time for delivery. Unfortunately I had to work on Christmas day, so I missed the presentation of the gift. I am told it was claimed as a wonderful example of my crafting skills. (I am guessing she wasn't looking too closely at those seams.)
As for the purse/clutch, well that has taken even longer and has not only missed the Christmas presentation, but also missed the birthday just a couple of days ago. It took me forever to settle on a pattern. When one as finally resolved it was canceled because it didn't work. A second pattern was selected and discarded after several rows. Wash, rinse and repeat with two more pattern selections and finally my desire to get the stupid thing started overrode my desire to make a stunning piece of knit-work. I settled with a simple moss that was expanded into a vague checkerboard type style. The knitting part is complete. I have only to sew on the lining, seam the piece up and attach it to the handle/closure-thingy. This might take some time.
Currently there are no update photos for the purse.
In the midst of all of this, I decided I needed to make a scarf for a friend. So I cast on some rather fun purple yarn and did a nice entrelac pattern with some finishing fringe. It was relatively quick and is being enjoyed by the recipient. Pics to come eventually. This project was finished after its intended birthday due date, but because the birthday girl in question was sick that day, the truth shall just be our little secret. Okay? Good.
After the scarf, but before the purse was really going, I got fidgety for some knitting that wouldn't join the ongoing UFO pile. I took some left over Mountain Colors Mountain Goat yarn (left over from making a child's knit cap), and did some quick and dirty no pattern fingerless gloves.
They are actually rather nice and if I lose one, I have just enough yarn to make another. They are interchangeable and there is no wrong way to wear them (unless you mistakenly try to put them on some body part other than the hands).
Just recently I decided I could continue this forward momentum and finally cast on the matching hat for my friend's two-row scarf. I pulled up the seaman's watchcap pattern. I went out and found some more Galway Paint yarn and set aside the correct needles.
Then said recipient of planned hat called me to remind me that I had promised to knit some thrummed mittens for his mother after her husband had passed away. Specifically he called to ask if I still planned on making them. Of course I did. Great, he said, she will be in town with in a month and they can be hand delivered then. Absolutely, I said.
After I got of the phone I thought about all the mittens I have made before, which is none. Can I do a pair of thrummed mittens in less than 30 days? I don't know and honestly I didn't even have the yarn for the project. Yesterday I picked up some yarn and hopefully today I will be able to get started. These will be my first mittens and my first bit of thrumming. Boldly onward and all that.
Meanwhile, his hat will just have to wait.
So that is where we find ourselves now.
I have started poking around the knitting blogs again, made some posts on Ravelry and have even thought about catching up with my knitting related email. Small steps to getting back on the knitting horse. (How is that for a mental image?)
