Thursday, November 22, 2007

Christmas Gifts Galore

I have been knitting up a storm of gifts for Christmas - I'm quite pleased with myself. I finished a garter stitch scarf for my sister, a ruffled scarf for my Christmas around the world swap partner, a 1/2 dozen dishcloths for one sister for Christmas and a 1/2 dozen for another sister's wedding. I'm also working on a pair of mittens for a friend, a booga bag for me, a cell phone cozy for me and I want to work on a ball and a bear for Ryan. I have my surgery this Thursday and will be home alone on Friday, Saturday and Sunday so I'm hoping for some quality knitting time. I also have some little foam picture frames that I want to get glued together. Hopefully my resting my leg won't interfere with my knitting. :)

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Ravelry, Christmas Exchange, Knitting Bags, Surgery, Oh My!

I haven't been on here much, but I have been keeping busy. Good news first...

My surgery is scheduled (finally) for November 29. It's a simple arthroscopic (sp?) surgery on a Thursday and I should be back to school on Monday - I'm relieved to finally be getting it done. I've been doing well without the crutches, but by the end of the day it's hard to walk.

I've finished a couple of books lately. I got into the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum books this summer and am still loving them - they're about a female bounty hunter from Jersey - they're hilarious and a good book from the heavy books my book club is reading.

I'm busy working on lots of Christmas projects - I finished a scarf for my Christmas exchange buddy. It's a ripple scarf and right before you bind off you end up with over 800 stitches on your needles - made it hard to knit and I won't make another but the finished product was really cute. I only hope she enjoys it. I'm also working on gathering other things for her. I need to work on Something for the Soul - I think I'm going to print out some knitting and quilting prayers for her on scrapbook paper and put them in a little booklet. I still need to get something for the taste - we have lots of different and unique places here so I want to get something local - I'll have to look.

I'm also cranking out tons of dishcloths - one sister is getting married next month so I thought I'd make her some as a shower present. Plus, I drew the name of another sister for Christmas and she wants some dishcloths and a Rachel Ray cookbook - I've ordered that now I just need to finish a few more cloths. I'm thinking a trip to the yarn store is in order as I don't have all the colors I want.

On one of my yahoo knit a long groups (which I've been horrible about doing) they were talking about a new site called Ravelry. I finally got my invitation and I am so inspired! There are so many wonderful patterns and projects that I now have a much longer list of things I want to knit. I really want to knit a bag for myself - I made a bag for my international tote exchange iv partner and liked it, but as I look at patterns on Ravelry, there are so many more that I'd love to do. I'm thinking about doing a booga bag or a sophie - they're both too cute! My current favorite yarn to knit with is patos soy wool stripes - it is so soft and I love the softness of the colors. Plus, right now it's on sale at Michaels - hmmm, might have to stop there after school and pick up a few skeins. I don't think I'll have time to use them until Christmas break, but we'll see. I also want to knit mittens for a friend of mine for Christmas - I made a pair for myself and they knit up really quickly, so we'll see. I just need to find a yarn and the time. Hmmm, maybe if I weren't on here? :)