AtomicKnits

Another Christmas & Snowshoeing

Well, another Christmas came and gone, and it was pretty great.  We all dressed in our custom made Chinese clothes and went to Christmas dinner at Grandma's.  We had our second annual Yankee Swap, and I ended up with the Spirit Horses 2008 wall calendar and a fleece blanket.  I think the fleece blanket was only used to disguise the shape of the Spirit Horses calendar.  The same 2007 calendar was featured in last year's Yankee Swap and it kind of turned into this joke.  We ate spaghetti & meatballs and played with my cousin Jack's new Wii.  I ate too much.  I got a few really awesome presents and I will showcase those when I unpack them next week in Boston.

Today Tim, my mom and I went down to Lewis, NY to go snowshoeing on the land that my mom inherited from my Grandpa.  It was a really beautiful day and it was nice to get out and do something wintery with my family.  We started to make plans to maybe build a tent platform and a fire pit for camping next year.  My mom also explained how we can use different parts of the land in case Tim & I and our families need to retreat here if the apocalypse comes during our lifetime.  There is a stream running through it for water, and we can use the wood to build and sell, etc.  My mom kind of feels bad for our generation and is scared for us a little, I think.

So, with all of the holiday and family goings on, I haven't been knitting that much at all.  I've picked up my Wild Kat socks a couple of times and knit some rounds, but that's about it.  I really want to cast on the Cherie Amour before the week ends.  Tomorrow I am heading down to West Chester to stay with Justin for a few days.  I am also going to be seeing Santina too!

Dad's Xmas Mittens Finished!

I finished up my Dad's mittens in the nick of time.  I wrapped them and they are all ready to give to him for Christmas.  The hat and scarf aren't happening this time around.  Maybe for this birthday.  But, I don't think I even have enough stash yarn to complete the matching hat and scarf.  I really hope he likes them and wears them.  They will keep his hands warm.  I don't have time to block out the ladders, but they should go away once he wears them a couple of times.

I can't decide whether or not I want to finish my Wild Kat socks before I start the Cherie Amour sweater.

Home & Gram's Christmas Party

Yesterday, I made my way home to Plattsburgh, NY to celebrate Christmas with my family.  We decorated the tree at my mom's house, and I got to see my brother, Timmy, for the first time since August.  It's really nice to be home for Christmas, but between running around and making sure I see all of my relatives and do all of the family stuff, it can get a little hectic and stressful for me.  I am having a lot of fun so far, though!

One of the things my cousins and I always do during Christmastime is go to Grandma's Christmas party for the grandkids.  We eat hamburgers and french fries and drink out of cups with our names on them and build and decorate gingerbread houses.  This is what I came up with.  I decided to go with an earthy, rustic theme and create a log cabin style house.  Gram gave me the idea to use the long tootsie rolls for the logs.

Timmy was also very creative and came up with a Chinese theme for his house.  Check out the koi pond made out of chewed gum and the bonsai tree made out of pretzels and gumdrops.

Riley also was very resourceful and fashioned this sled made out of Bubble Tape and candy canes and mounted it on his roof.  Gram just happened to have some perfect little gifts for him to fill the sled with.  (She always has stuff like that just laying around.)

My mom and I also gave Gram some presents.  My mom knit her a tam and a pair of manly mitts, and I gave her the blue chevron scarf I knit at the end of the summer.  I think she really liked the scarf, which made me really happy.  I love my Gram.

Tomorrow is dinner and church with my dad and brother.  Christmas eve evening at my mom.  Christmas morning we'll spend at my mom's, and then drive over to dad's to do Christmas morning there, and THEN go to Gram's to do Christmas dinner.  Christmas is ALWAYS running around hectic for me and Timmy.  The nap on Gram's couch after Christmas dinner is always welcome.

Don't try to play yarn hero.

This is what happens.  I pulled out two partially used balls of Filatura Di Crosa Zara to use for the medium gray for Dad's mittens.  Since the yarn is a light DK weight, I held two strands together to get the same-ish gauge as the rest of the mitten which uses worsted weight.  These balls of yarn were kind of tangled up and a mess when I pulled them out.  But, in an effort to cut corners, I decided just to wing it and detangle the yarn as I knit figuring that it would be ok.  Well, it didn't turn out to be ok.  It got to the point where I could not pull anymore yarn because it was tangled up so tight, and some strands were stuck together because of the little felted fuzzies that develop around the yarn from the friction of pulling it against itself.  At about 9pm, this is what I had.  Boo.

So, I decided to stop knitting and get out the trusty ball winder and negotiate my mess.  I sat on the couch and detangled one of the balls successfully.  Of course, when I brought this over to the ball winder and started winding, the new pile separated from the rest of the ball got tangled all over again!  But, I did it.  One ball done.  I thought the other ball would take way less time since the overall yarn is less (this seemed logical at 10:30pm last night).  So, I found the end of the ball and stuck it in the ball winder right away without untangling the rest.  Well, that was the wrong move.  After sitting there struggling with the tangled part for a while, and Jay Leno's face appearing on my TV, I sucked it up and unwound the partial ball I had started and started untangling the last of the mess.  I don't remember the last time I watched Jay Leno.  He's really not that  funny, and I REALLY don't like Kevin Eubanks for some reason.  I mean, I'm sure he's a fine guitarist, but his little jokey things that he tries to make are WEAK.  He's almost as bad as Brian Surgeons.

ANYWAY, the only good thing about Jay Leno is that Conan O'Brian comes on after.  And, yes, I was still up trying to make sense of the 2nd ball of yarn.  I finished just as David Duchovny was finishing up his interview.  He's actually pretty funny.  David Duchovny is weird to me because I never watch the X-Files or any movies he's been in.  I only really know him from that show with boobs and dry humping he was featured in on Showtime.  Do you remember what I'm talking about?  Ok, so anyway, AFTER that, I ended up with all the yarn in these nice neat little balls, ready to knit.  This ended up to be a huge chore and I didn't get nearly as much knitting on these things that I wanted to last night.  I really want to try to finish them tonight.  Next time, I will spend some time making tangled yarn into nice ball-ish yarn before I put it away for a while so it won't turn into a cup of coffee later down the road.

Also, it snowed for the third time in a week yesterday!  It did make the trees outside of my window look beautiful, though.  There are so many piles of snow, it is getting kind of out of hand.  I finally got my ipod fixed, and I get to go pick it up today!  I have all of my music and most of Santina's music on my hard drive at home, and I can't wait to put most of it on my ipod just in time for my road trips.  I miss listening to XTC so much!  I only have those albums in digital format, so I haven't listened to them in a while.  I miss a lot of music, but probably XTC the most.  It will be a good ride home tomorrow.

2008 Knitting Resolutions

2008 is going to KICK ASS!  I really can't wait for it.  I already have a lot of things planned, traveling, LIFE CHANGE, etc.  I thought it would be a good idea for me to set some goals for my knitting as well.  Here's a list of things I really want to accomplish in my knitting in 2008:

Learn to knit socks on 2 circular needles - Here's the hard truth: I don't like knitting socks.  I like looking at them and playing with them when they are done and the sock yarns are always wicked nice, but I honestly don't get that much joy out of the process.  I don't really like manipulating 4 toothpicky needles all the time.  Maybe if I learn other sock knitting techniques, I will have more fun knitting socks?  I found a web tutorial here, and also a list of Cat Bordhi's videos of this technique on YouTube. Done - Summer Daze Socks

Learn to knit socks using the Magic Loop technique - Another technique for knitting socks that I haven't even tried yet.  I found a tutorial from az.com for this also here, and there are also plenty of YouTube videos I can watch too. This goal and the one above will require me buying (probably expensive) new circular needles, but oh well right? :) Done - Fiddlesticks Socks

Design my own knit garment - I think this will be a fair isle or intarsia garment.  I feel like the whole fashion/shaping aspect of pattern design is out of my league, but I bet I can do some amazing color work charts.  Also, writing an actual pattern where I am the author will be a HUGE accomplishment for me.  I am TERRIFIED of doing this. Done - Champy Hat

Use my books more and expand my knitting book library - I actually stole this one from Tasha.  I don't use my books either!  I would also like to knit one thing from each of the books that I own (ehh..except maybe for my Green Mountain Spinnery book, the stuff in there is SERIOUS), and also expand my knitting book library by 5 more books. FAIL

Knit more fitted sweaters for myself - I have this disease where, for the longest time, I was so afraid of knitting anything too small for me that I would overcompensate for that fear and just knit potato sack tops.  I SWIM in like every sweater I own.  The BPT is the first step I've made to really knit more to my size.  I am not huge and fat no matter what my brain (OR THE STUPID MEDIA) tells me.  I want to make an ACCURATE schematic of myself so I can refer to it every time I start a new sweater project. Done - Cherie Amour, Carolyn, Gathered Pullover
 

Participate in more KAL's and swaps - I will do NaKniSweMo again and I am anticipating Sock Wars, Valentine's Day Swap 2008, and Knitting Olympics 2008. And now that Ravelry is here, I can probably join a KAL for every sweater I feel like making in the new year! In Progress - Valentine's Day Swap 2008, Sock Wars, Ravelympics 2008, NaKniSweMo

Finish all of my 2007 leftover WIP's - Yeah, that list on the side there?  That needs to be gone ASAP.  Pinup Queen?! ugh, that will be a dark day when I decide to bring that out of hibernation and start seaming. *shudder* Done - Wild Kat Socks, Wavy Gravy Scarf, Spa & Bath Trio, Pinup Queen, Kai Cable Sweater
 

Knit something in lace - I've never done a real lace project, and I bought a ton of lace weight PURE SILK (!!!) yarn from China last August, and it's purple. Woo!  Done - Swallowtail Shawl

Knit for charity - I would like to have a charity I knit for on the regular.  Small projects like hats or mittens to fill in the time between my huge projects, and it's good stash busting too!  If anyone can suggest me any charities, I am open to ideas!

Knit something with beads - like the Odessa hat.  I have also never tried this, and it can't be that hard right? Done - Blackberry Socks

Knit something in entrelac - something simple like a scarf or something.  I'm not a huge fan of the way this style looks, but I want to learn the technique.

Learn to spin & dye my own yarn - this is a big one, but I want to learn both of these things this year.  My mom is hopefully outfitting me with a yarn dyeing starter kit, and I need to get supplies to learn how to spin.  Done - My First Handspun

Share ALL of these things on my blog - and blog more in general.  I have been getting much better these past couple months, and I have really started to enjoy it.  I have some ideas for having a different "theme" on my blog each month next year, but I will unveil those in the new year. Done

Well I think that is enough don't you?  I also already have quite a few trips planned for next year and of course there's the working and the usual bit of traveling I'll be doing on the regular, so I've got my work cut out for me, but I CAN'T WAIT.

PS. I still have two spots open in my Pay It Forward exchange.  Come on people, spread the love.

One Mitten for Dad Done!

Seriously, best mitten pattern EVER.  These mittens are turning out just thick and warm enough.  I think my dad will really like them.  I like the tri-color theme I chose also really helps with stash busting.  That stupid partial skein of Lamb's Pride that I've been carrying around for a year will finally be all used up after I am done the second mitten.  I'm not too optimistic about getting to the scarf and hat to go along with this, but oh well.  Maybe just the hat.  I don't know if my Dad would really wear the scarf that much anyway.  We'll see.  I could always knit those for his birthday which is coming up in February.  The only thing I am unhappy with about these mittens are the ugly ladders you can see here.  I know they will go away with a wash and also just by wearing them a few times.  I don't know if I'll have time to wash and block these before Christmas. Oh well.

I'm kind of worried that I didn't get enough Christmas presents for everyone this year.  I didn't really get anyone any extravagant gifts or anything.  I didn't ask for anything extravagant though.  I hope what I did get was enough.  Since my family was pretty transparent about what they wanted for Christmas, I just ordered everything online and now all I have to do is wrap it.  It made the whole presents thing way less stressful than it always has been, and that is kind of worrying me and making me feel like I didn't do enough or spend enough or buy enough or CONSUME ENOUGH.

Thank you, Cassandra!

Remember that post a little while back about Cassandra's NaKniSweMo contest over at GeeHowQuaint.com?  Well, I won one of the prizes and it just arrived at my house yesterday!  I picked out a brown shoe bag, and it arrived all nicely wrapped in tissue paper and a Gee How Quaint ribbon!  It came all the way from England, and I was so excited to get it!

This is an adorable tote bag that fits one pair of shoes.  I believe all of these are hand-made by Cassandra.  She has these in a lot of colors and prints.

What's really cool is that there is a divider inside to separate each shoe.  When I am not traveling, I can think of a great other use for this bag! (Can you guess?)  It would make a great small knitting project bag also!  Thank you, Cassandra, for being so generous and holding that contest, and also for this lovely gift!

Pay It Forward

I've always wanted to participate in a knitting swap.  I just signed up for my first knitting swap via Ravelry for Valentine's Day.  I thought, in the meantime, I could participate in the Pay It Forward karma swap.  Here's the deal.  Be one of the first three people to comment in this post, and you will receive something handmade (probably knit) from me in the next couple of months.  What's the catch?  You need to spread the love!  If you sign up for my Pay It Forward, you'll need to post a PIF in your blog and send three people something that you made with your very own hands.  This is not limited to knitting.  It could be a drawing, a photo, anything!

So go ahead and sign right up there on the bottom.  Please be sure you include your email address, so I can contact you with some questions about you and your shipping address.  Yay Karma!

Snow & Last Minute Christmas Knitting

Well here in Boston we got a crazy snowstorm last night!  This is a picture from the living room window in my apartment about halfway through the storm.  Cars were having so much trouble driving up that hill.  It took me about an hour to get home, but I was lucky.  Everyone else that lives even just a little outside of Boston faced 4-6 hour commutes home.  I have been so spoiled by living in UPstate NY for so long.  The plows are always poised and ready before the snow even hits just waiting for it to fall so they can push it off of the road.  Yeah, not here.  The plowing didn't even take place until late into the night.  I was really happy, though, to wake up to all of the roads being completely clear.  I only had to dig my car out of it's parking spot, but that didn't take too long.  The good news is, my flight to Philly should be no problem tonight.  I am very very lucky about that.

After finishing up the Fuzzy Feet, I decided to make a winter set for my Dad for Christmas.  I was agonizing over what to get him for Christmas, and I remembered that I knit him a pair of Manly Mitts for his birthday a couple of years ago, and he really liked them.  Last time I visited his house I saw that they had been well worn, and that made me happy.  So, I thought it would be cool to knit him a tri-colored mittens, hat, and scarf (maybe the scarf if I have time) in sophisticated grays. I should be able to get a lot of the mittens finished during my airport waiting.

Fuzzy Feet Finished!

The Fuzzy Feet felted great and here they are all dried and cleaned!  I'm really happy with the way they turned out.  I hope they fit Diane, but if they are too big for her, she can felt them again.  I think they can get a bit smaller.  I love the way the Lopi gets all fuzzy when it felts.

And here they are close up.  Aren't they so cute?!  I can't believe it's going to be the new year soon!  That is nuts.  I have been thinking a lot about my goals for next year in all areas of my life, but yesterday in particular I was trying to think of goals for next year for this blog.  I was thinking of doing some monthly themes and dedicate one or two posts a week to that theme.  I already have some ideas. I'm excited!