2009 Knitting Review!

I thought I would recap my knitting accomplishments for 2009!!!

Here they are in order and the awards (Officially given by the Knitting Duck foundation) they recieved

1. Phiaro - Gets the award for Most Used. I wear this thing ALL THE TIME! I love love love this scarf and would probably never knit this again. Hello endless stockinet

2 & 3. Noro Stripped Scarf and Noro Striped Scarf II- gets the award for most addictive knit. I NEVER knit two of something... there are too many other things I want to knit to knit something twice!

4. Happy Birdie - gets the award for "Awwwww"! So cute! and all the seaming is well worth it!

5. Roaming Hat - gets the award for recycling as the yarn came from someone else's de-stash. Bonus!

6. Twirly Skirt - gets the award for stash busting as this was all made from leftovers from the pinwheel sweater! LOVE!

7. Party Hat - gets the award for fun! This was fun to knit and I know my niece has loads of fun wearing it

8. Roses - gets the award for most loved. I know my mom loves having these roses that never wilt... in fact if they get a little dusty you can just throw them in the washer dryer!

9. Roar! - gets the award for scariest hat! Any kid that puts this on automatically feels like a real dinosaur!

10. Orange Hat - This hat gets the award for brightest knit. You can spot this hat from miles away. It came out fabulously and I know the recipient loves it

11. First Socks! - Gets the award for being MY FIRST SOCKS!! and I love them for that.

12. Monsters! - These two get the award for cutest recipient - The little guy I made these two for is SO cute! His cuteness outdoes the cuteness of these monsters exponentially!

13. Bath Blanket - the blanket gets the award for most creative. I know it looks to be one of my simplest knits of all year but I knit it with out a pattern and on the diagonal. So, for me, it was really creative to think up what I wanted and make it happen. Oh and this blanket also went to Mr. Cutie Cute from the above award.

14. Knotted Hat - this hat gets the award for team work. My mom picked the yarn then I found the pattern and then we drove all over portland trying to find the pattern as it could only be bought in hard copy. But our persistence paid off and a week later mom had a hat!

15. Swollowtail Shawl - definitely gets the award for biggest accomplishment. I dyed the yarn and then knit it into this beautiful shawl. My first lace shawl ever! Really loved the way it came out with the pattern and the colors. score!

16. February Lady Sweater - this sweater gets the award for longest. knit. ever. I started this on February 1st 2009 and finished it October 23rd! 9 months! It wouldn't have taken so long if I hadn't put it down for 6 of those months or had to knit most of it twice but oh well... I took my time but still got it done. and I love wearing it!

17. Husband's Socks! - These get the award for endless cables! ugh those one stitch mock cables never ceased to mock me with their neverendingness!

18. Silky Ruffles - gets the award for perfect project for the yarn... I searched hi and lo of a project that would do this georgous yarn justice and didn't find it until I found the pattern for Just enough ruffles. LOVE!

yeesh 18 projects and total skeins used was 26!!! Seeing as my new years resolution last Jan 1st was to have 10 Fo's I would say that I more than accomplished that! Score one for lindsay!

My second new years resolution last year was to make something for me. I accomplished this too in a big way because the FLS, Phiaro, First socks, Noro Striped Scarf II and Silky Ruffles are all for lil' ol' me!!!!

This year I also started dyeing yarn and learned that I really enjoy it. I am hoping to get some more dyeing time in 20-10

But overall I'm quite happy with my progress for 2009 but I know that next year will be even better!

My goals for 20-10 (knitting wise at least) are:

- Knit with some of my dyed yarn
- No yarn buying until at least June!
- Finish the cabled purse I started ages ago
- Make a second sweater for my self (I'm looking at wisteria)
- Complete 19 FO's!

FO: Noro Striped Scarf II

Finally I have another FO. Seriously I was having a hard time even remembering what it was like to finish a project as I haven't finished anything since FEBRUARY when I finished the first Noro Striped Scarf that my husband hijacked.

So this project taught me a few things.

1. It taught me that I should never knit two of the same thing in a row as it makes it seem like one huge, endless project.
2. I love the colors in Rowan Tapestry. They make me happy.
3. Knitting down my stash feels great! I actually enjoy seeing my drawers emptying out.

So here you go. Here is my latest stash busting project.


The specs:
Project: Noro Striped Scarf
Yarn: Rowan Tapestry in Lakeland and Rainbow
Amnt: A little over one ball of each color.
Mods: None. If it ain't broke....


I love the colors in this scarf and I have enough left over that I think I'll make a pair of matching fetchings. I definitely need a matching gloves and scarf set for all those chilly days in the desert ; )

Thanks Princess

I have been making some progress on my Noro Striped Scarf with Rowan Tapestry... But you might notice that one of the balls has now been rewound


Yup thanks to my precious Princess I was able to try out my brand new ball winder. See, Princess sensed that I was anxious to give it a go and therefore took it upon her self to unwind the ball thus giving me good reason to rewind it. Of course Princess didn't want it to be an easy process for me. Nope. She made sure to spread the yarn all over the house and even figured out how to get it knotted up a bit.

Because of her thoughtfulness I was able to do my first ever ball winding! Well alone at least... Charmaine let me test hers out a few times. So this was my first solo ball winding! and It came out better than I hoped. I made sure not to make the ball too tight as that would stretch out the yarn and I even got a TP roll to stick in the middle so that it would hold it's shape.

So now that cleaned up Princess' attempt at help, I can get back to knitting!

WIP Update

As promised yesterday, it's time for an update on my Works in Progress.

First the Noro Striped Scarf II which isn't actually made with Noro but rather Rowan Tapestry. But the Rowan offers the same effect and it was in my stash. Couldn't argue with that!

I'm really loving the way the colors are coming out. I just can't wait to see what the finished product will look like.



and HERE is my February Lady Sweater!!!

Look I separated the sleeves and everything!! I am now plowing my way through lace repeats.

Although I have to say you ladies, working on the same sweater with me, seem to make this lace go much faster than I can manage. But I'm getting the hang of it finally and I'll keep knitting away and soon I'll be working on the sleeves! woot woot!

The Mac is Back!

My trusty MacBook is back safe at home... completely refurbashed!!! woot woot! It's so weird having a computer with nothing on it. It's a blank slate just waiting for me to pile information into it. At this point I can even delude my self into believing that I can develope and adhere to a whole new organization process in order to make sure everything is easy to find and that I wont have duplicates all over the place. Clearly labled foldersm, dates and names that represent, in a systematic way, what each file is and best of all a clean desk top. I'm sure I can keep it up for oh about 8 minutes. But until then, I will have the most organized computer on the planet!

Something I learned from this experience is that sometimes we all need a "go to" that will offer an instant smile and good mood.

Whenever I'm stressed, down or about to go into a tense situation I just watch this video and I feel all better....



I know you are worried about my knitting becuase it has been so long since I have given you an update. Rest easy in knowing that during this whole Apple melt down I was still knitting away on my FLS and Noro Striped Scarf II so tomorrow (because my computer is finally back home where it belongs) I will be able to show you up dates! woot woot!

FO: Noro Striped Scarf

That's right! I finished the Noro Striped Scarf!! Woot woot!

Here's my beautiful scarf...


I have to say the I now understand the hype. This scarf is just amazing to knit. The 1 x 1 rib is enough to keep you from getting too board but definitely easy enough that you can do this while watching tv.



Also I noticed that the color changes were a big motivation for me to keep going on this scarf. I just couldn't wait to get to whatever color was coming next!



The best part is my husband loves the scarf too! Finally I knit something (for him) that he loves!

So here are the details

Pattern: Noro Striped Scarf from Brooklyntweed
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden in colorways 268 & 08 from The Knitting Bee in Portland, OR (thanks mom for sending me the beautiful yarn!)
Modifications: None - If it ain't broke; don't fix it

p.s. sorry the pics aren't fantastic... i was having camera issues

Wonderful Weekend

This has been a fantastic weekend.

Thursday I received these:

They are the latest 3 books in the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer. Twilight was a great book and I'm anxious to see how the story unfolds from here. So anxious in fact that I could wait for every sold out bookstore in UAE to restock... nope I ordered these from Amazon. Seriously I HAVE to know what happens.

Thursday evening I spent with my friend, Ashley, (don't worry, I'm slowly talking her into the knitting!)... It was great! We had dinner, she showed me around her AMAZING apartment and we basically had a great time just talking girl talk.

Friday my husband took me out on a date to dinner and a movie in Abu Dhabi. We went and saw "Yes Man" with Jim Carry in it and the BIG Red Bull scene... That scene was definitely a hit with the hubby and the movie was hilarious. I recommend it to anyone. Then he took me to Benihana at Rotana Beach Resort. All I can say is YUM! For the first time I finally talked him in to sitting at one of the cooking stations for the show and we had a great time!

Today was spent with my new books and knitting. I mostly spent my time on the Noro Striped Scarf. This pattern (like everyone says) is completely addictive. I just keep thinking OK one more stripe and I'll put it down but then you just cant wait to see what color combinations come out next! I really love this scarf... but my husband called dibs so I guess I have to share it with him...


And just in case you are wondering: Princess would rather sit in a wet bathtub than have to face the vacuum cleaner



look at that face!

WIPs!

I have three (kinda) Works In Progress at the moment. I don't know how I got to three. Really that's unlike me because I hardly ever have more that two projects that I am working on at a time. But because one is off the needles I suppose that it doesn't count. kinda.

The first one I cast on was a Drops Design Cable Bag. I loved the simplicity of it and could actually picture my self carrying it around so I got the yarn quite a while ago but finally cast on for it last week. I'm telling you Cascade Lana Grande + size 8's = HARD. Not to mention that I needed to increase from 88 stitches to 220! That was just insane. But well worth it. Anyhow I have done two cable repeats so far and I'm really happy with the way it's coming out.


Then yesterday I cast on for the Noro Striped scarf. I know a million people have made this scarf but I just couldn't resist. I love the way it looks with the color changing stripes. The bright colors are fantastic!


Then of course there is the Phiaro. I finally undid all the stitches and wow, that took way longer than I thought it would. I mean you drop a stitch when you are knitting and it seems to slither four or five rows down before you can catch it but when you give them permission to undo them selves they seem to hold on to their spots with all their strength! Anyhow I dropped the stitches and cut carefully down the center and now I'm in the middle of the braiding faze. I have one size done but still have all of side 2 left. sigh. But I won't give up! I have come too far to give up now!!


I'm hoping at the BIG Dubai / Abu Dhabi meeting at the end of the month that I will have some FO's to show off. Fingers crossed.