Fear in Frogging Fended off by Friend

Sometimes. Sometimes the fabulous sweater a knitter anticipates doesn't quite pan out. 

Sometimes we live in denial for a while. We wear the garment a few times and then it lingers. 

It lingers in our closet, it lingers in our minds. Then, when the knitter is ready. Good and ready. She decides to frog the item. 

frog [verb] to un-knit  termed for the sound it makes rip-it rip-it.

Above are two such sweaters. Ironically, both "first sweaters." The left is a sweater knit by my friend Jennifer and the right my first to be worn by me sweater. Jennifer didn't love the fit. I turned out to be allergic to the yarn in mine and it was made on smaller needles out of bulky yarn and HOT. Sooooo in October we had an impromptu frogging party. It was scary at first but then we got to it with a vengeance.

Even Luke helped out. Sometimes, I think he thinks I move too slow. He likes to do things quickly. He certainly sped up the process. 

The beautiful thing is, knitting is never permanent. If it is not quite what you wanted or intended. You can frog it and try again. You can modify the pattern or do something completely different! 

Jennifer, sadly was only in town for a while. I am lucky to have gotten to know her quite well and knit with her often before she returned to her family after her sabbatical study here. When we parted ways she gifted me some wonderful scrumptious yarn that became a gender neutral hat. 

Luke can wear it and I can look at it.

OR I can wear it and enjoy the warmth!

So really, I'm twice spoiled. Thank you Jennifer! For the yarn AND for being brave with me! Its much easier when you have a partner in crime!

Finish It Up Friday- Dresser, Mug Rug, Shipping, Hat

The dresser is finally finished! I looked for pretty glass knobs for the drawers but didn't find anything I LOVED. So until I find something I do love, I painted the old knobs white.

Here are some close ups of the dots. I ended up using the back of the brush. 

These are the implements I tried using to see what kind of dots they would make. 

The dresser make over went all the way down to the drawer lining. Yay for bright green zig zags!

 Our room is finally starting to come together and I'm loving it! The only thing that doesn't go is Luke's Jerry Rice jersey from when he was a kid. I don't think it's going anywhere any time soon.

I also finished my closet door curtains. I HATE sliding doors because then you can only see half of what's inside. Luke took the doors off for me and I made the curtains out of the same material that's on the window and put them on a tension rod. 

I was able to get some packages out too!

Does anyone else use cereal boxes to ship things? I like that they're pretty light so they keep the weight down. But I always have to get the "Box Tops" off first (money for schools) which sometimes leads too pre shipping box repairs!

I finished binding these two sided mug rugs. 

 and I finished this Abby Cadabby hat!

It's a loose interpretation on the character from Sesame Street, and while it didn't quite come out exactly how I had imagined, its done and the girl I made it for still likes the show. It's really stretchy so the fit should be good and I'm pretty happy with it!

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Finish it Up Friday!

WiP Wednesday- Pom-Pom's, The Scoop, Upside Down

I'm working on a hat that channels a certain Sesame Street character and therefore requires two pink and purple pom-poms. 

 I had an excuse to use my handy dandy pom pom maker which is always a treat!

 I'm just about done with the hat!

I made some chocolate chip cookies this afternoon. 

I love this Oxo Good Grips Cookie dough scoop. I can set it down on the counter and it has a nice rest so that the dough covered scoop doesn't touch the counter.

 While we were gone this week my seeds were feeling neglected and confused. Because the weather was YUCKY (snowy and grey) I planned to leave them on top of the fridge where they were likely to stay the warmest. Unfortunately they didn't get any light either and the plants started growing upside down. With a little sun today they seem to be recovering fairly quickly.

The seedlings who were further along seem to be having a bit tougher of a time bouncing back. Cross your fingers for them.
The last WiP is that I had a meeting Tuesday morning that went pretty well if I do say so myself. We'll see what becomes of it!
I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced and WiP Wednesday!

A Swap!

So I've known Derek for a long time! Approximately since this picture was taken! 

 We're both on the bottom row. I'm the second in from the left and he's the third in.
Derek recently posted some sports logo metal work that he had done and of course my initial thought was "AH! Maybe he could make me an 'N'!" Well not only did he make me one...he made 4!!!

I never would have even thought of the relief, but I really like what it's going to add to my N wall! Well I was  so excited for the N's I thought I need to make something for him! So I made this rugged squishy hat that to me just seemed to fit with Derek's active lifestyle! (And short hair cut!)

 As soon as I finished it, I had to put it right in the envelope because I was tempted to keep it!

 Just look how squishy it is! I think I will most definitely be making this hat again and I hope Derek likes it!

Here is my N wall! I'm loving it! I'm also living that more than half of the N's now have stories!

New Year, New Hat

This year we got dumped with a whole bunch of snow on New Years Eve. so our plans sort of dissolved. So while we watched everything on our DVR, I decided that the New Year justified a new hat.

I got the yarn on Yarn Along the Rockies, and the pattern is from the Fall Knit Scene magazine. 

It's called Purslane Beret by Rosemary (Romi) Hill. 

 This hat is a great slouchy hat for a mild day but it is a little too loose for a lot of moving around or wind. Maybe smaller needles or a thicker yarn would have added structure.

Luke humored me and took pictures. These were taken at the course where Luke works a couple days after New Years so you can see the snow that mellowed our evening.

Knit Between

I did a bit of knitting in the time I've been gone. My master teachers mother was under going chemo and radiation. I finished this hat for her over Thanksgiving break.

It's a loose slouchy hat so I used a big bowl to block it.

  I made two more of these HP Cowls. (pattern by me and on ravelry.)

   

And Pygmy Puffs! A made up creature in Harry Potter.

   

First introduced here: 

   

Here is Dani enjoying hers. I told her its soft so she can throw it at students. I don't think she will.  

Here is Karen, a true kindred spirit enjoying her cowl and her Pygmy puff.

And guess what!? She's a Ginny Weasley fan!

Minifigure Mania

So remember my new appreciation for legos? Well my buddy Jon has one too and his sister has our backs so on our regular hang put night we went on a mini figure hunt. These guys come concealed in a package and work sort of like trading cards. Anyway, we got to Target and where they were supposed to be there was this tiny little girl standing there with the last 3 packs in her hands. Agh! She was so sweet and offered us one. The sales man who was apparently watching the curious scenario graciously offered to retrieve more from the back. He brought us a cart full of mini figures and didn't object to us totally manhandling each package(in hopes of feeling out of favorites) in exchange for us putting the ones we didn't want on the display hooks.
I wish I'd had a picture or video of the scene but I was definitely in the middle of it so no such luck. Once we'd made our best guesses, and payed for our prizes we headed across the parking lot for frozen yogurt and to survey our loot.


Real life person: Jon
Minifigs from l-r: Viking, Dino, woodsman, zoo keeper, short clown, British soldier, Egyptian, Egyptian, soldier, gladiator, gladiator, Sherlock Holmes.


Me with the zoo keeper and Nikki with the Egyptian princess.

Once we'd surveyed the scene and checked off the "guys" we had we opted to make one last try for the classic gangster and the boxer. We had gangster success.


I had such a fun adventure with Jon and Nikki! Who knew Legos could be this exciting?!
Also, I'd like to show off my productivity from sitting/listening moments this weekend:
A cotton chemotherapy patient hat. Warmth for cold chemotherapy room, breathability for clammy side effect. Boston Red Sox colors for a fan.



A copy cat granny square blanket. Tanya gets full credit for this one as she started her version with colors I copied and she found the tutorial and she helped me get started! Thanks Tan!



Also, I saw these lamps at Target. They match that blanket. Our shower curtain, our duvet cover, my Fresno bedspread, CSprings rug...can we get a set Luke?


I like any of the shapes!


Nikki says these ones look like nail polish. Maybe that's why I noticed them first?


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