Knitting Content

Mom's Thank You Mother's Day pillow is almost done. The knitting is complete. I'm working on the journaling strips. I have 10 done and woven in and 10 to go. Hope to finish that tonight. I also have the fabric and the pillow form. I'll get it sown this weekend and mailed on Monday with a note that says "Don't Open 'Til Mother's Day!"

I started the flutter scarf. Dropped two edge stitches and didn't realize it. I can't fix that so I'll be frogging back to my lifeline. It's a couple of evenings of knitting lost. At the same time, I may want to add beads so it's not a complete loss. Just have to go get beads. Maybe this weekend.

Attended the Arlington Knitting Guild meeting Tuesday and started a Fair Isle eye glasses case. I guess it's my years of cross-stitching, but I really like fair isle. Makes stockinette not so boring. Can't wait to work on this some more.

I'll post pictures this weekend.

We Saw Another Coyote - Or Maybe It's the Same One

The sightings get less and less scary - sort of. This time we were walking down the sidewalk which is not in the open park, but is flanked by trees on either side. We were on our way back into the park proper, when I turned around and there was the coyote standing in the path we'd just come down.

This was less spooky then the two times before because he seemed more curious than hungry or menacing. At the same time, we had no idea he was in the area. The dogs didn't bark and he didn't make any noise. We were far enough away we couldn't have hit him with a rock, but still he didn't run when I blew the whistle - our first line of defense. Oh, he moved about 6 feet, but then he turned right back around and looked at us.

We turned and walked on, and the coyote meandered along the path behind us, but it was evident he was not interested in bothering us.

This was Tuesday m0rning and I figure he was still full from eating the weekend's trash.

Now it's Friday and there were no more sightings this week.

FO From the Camping Weekend

Rather than work on any of the new projects I took on the camping trip, I worked on Anita's hat. And I finished it! Saturday evening I wove the ends in and Sunday I snapped this pic. We actually cut the trip short because we knew rain was coming in Saturday night.

Over the weekend I also cast on Mom's The Pillow of Sei Shonagon. I didn't realize how short on time I am. It's getting the bulk of my attention right now.

I checked the calendar and realized Madonna's birthday is May 13, not May 23, so that's 10 days I've lost for that project. Dang.

The pillow and the scarf are two projects I really, really want to do and I don't want to rush them. So when I was approached by a fellow raveler to sell or trade my three remaining skeins of Elann Den-m-nit, I thought to myself, "that's not a bad idea." No more pressure to knit baby hats. So the den-m-nit shipped yesterday and there's a skein of blue Koigu in my stash. Not a bad trade if you ask me.

Liza brought me the buttons she picked for her flower scarf. I will definitely get that done this weekend. Maybe even tonight.

Camping Knitting

I'm gathering my projects to take to the lake. There are three projects I would like to have finished by May 1. That's not that far away. Fortunately they aren't large projects.

First is Mom's Mother's Day pillow. I've about decided to give this one priority since I'll need to mail it so it will arrive in time. Mother's Day is May 10
Then Jude's hat - The Lilly Ruffled Hat - Baby Shower May 9
Then Briana's hat - Sun Hat by Debbie Bliss - Baby Shower May 9

On Briana's hat I'm planning to make a few adjustments to the pattern. I'm going to knit top down using the Karlchen formula to get the size I want. The pattern is written so you knit the main hat first then pick up stitches to add the brim and its written to knit flat then seam. No way and I'm doing that. I'm going top down in the round all the way. Jeri did mention the pattern might have been created that way for structure. I've checked out Ravelry and several people have made this adjustment and they make no mention of problems. I'm crossing my fingers.

I have all the yarn. I just need to get it together. Then I just have to find the needles and pack things like scissors, a ruler, and the patterns - can't forget the patterns. I'm such a tree killer, I'll probably just print them all out again.

Of course, I haven't finished Anita's hat yet. I'm so close, it may get a turn. I haven't decided.

I'm really looking forward to a relaxing weekend and lots of FOs.

Finally Some Knitting Content

Well, there may not actually be content, but at least I'm going to talk about knitting.
I am so close to finishing Liza'a neckscarf. I knit that dagone flower three times and it was a pain all three times. Then I put off attaching the flower for a week because I thought it was going to be hard, it wasn't. She tried it on and it's about an 1" too long, but I knew that was a possibility so it's not cast off. In fact, you don't cast it off. You run the yarn through the live stitches and then affix a button. She's anxious for the scarf (that makes me feel good) so I imagine she will get a button this weekend. Then, it's done. I really should finish that up next week.Anita's hat. It's too big. She tried the hat and now I don't know if I like the way the design looks on her. Maybe it looked goofy because it was too big. I guess I'll keep trudging along on that one. I have to rip back to the increases at the top of the hat and increase to 80 stitches instead of 88. It's only a hat. You would think I could finish that this weekend if I tried. Unfortunately I just haven't been in the mood to knit or do anything. I'm really hoping that will pass.

I deemed this the year of gifted knitting. Which seemed like a good idea when I came up with it. The plan was to have a closet of knitted items to choose gifts from. Knit what I want to knit and give it away when there was an opportunity. As it turns out, the gifting opportunities are coming along quicker than I can finish projects. Then I feel the pressure to finish a project and I'm not enjoying the knitting experience. I'm actually not finding the deadlines to be that motivating. Here's the wacky thing, I'm putting this pressure on myself. Isn't that crazy.

Here is the 2009 gift list I created in December. Let's check progress.

A Hulk Hat for Jack - done
A Calorimetry or Lace Headband for Jack's Sister - done
Liza's neckwarmer - 99% done
A hat, bib and booties for Pedro and Margret's baby - The hat is done. Bibs and Booties - boring
A hat, bib and booties for Baby Rogg - booties done - bib and hat - boring
A hat, bib and booties for Ricky and Crystal's baby - gotta cast on
A lace head band for Brianna Ricky and Crystal's baby's older sister - changing to a floppy hat. She's only 4 or 5 - a headband, what was I thinking
Madonna's scarf - cannot wait to cast this on and knit with silk. This is the gift that is the farthest out and the one I want to knit the most.

New to the list - Mom's Shonagon pillow - another one I can't wait to start. I want to give her the pillow for Mother's Day (May 1oth) so I better get moving.

I need a new plan
Liza's neckwarmer - 99% done - finish next week and gift it already
A hat for Jude - Ricky and Crystal's baby - cast on at the lake next week.
A floppy hat for Brianna Jude's older sister - cast on at the lake next week.
Mom's Shonagon pillow - I'd really like to cast that on this week. A gift for myself for finishing Anita's hat and Liza's scarf. The plan is to knit it in linen so I should give myself enough time to take breaks from the yarn. I'll knit hats in between.
Madonna's scarf - I really cannot wait to cast this on. Her birthday is May 23 so come May 1, no matter what, I'm casting on (if I haven't already). I do not want to have to rush this I want to enjoy the experience.

After that I may take a break from gift knitting to finish a couple WIPs. I've been itching to knit on the shetland tea shawl, but it will take some concentration and I want to knit on it uninterrupted. I'm afraid if I stop in a random spot, I won't know where to pick up when I come back to it.

And then there's the clapotis. I have a whole skein of yarn left. How much longer is that thing going to take?

I have a hair appointment today. I may cast on Jude's hat and take it with me to knit while I'm waiting. Or I could rip back Anita's hat and take it. Yeah, that's what I'll do.