Next up?

Now that all the holiday stuff is done and made and some even gifted, I’m onto the next project(s).

First up is a hat for P to wear to work.  In P’s line of work he can get quite dirty so he won’t wear any of the hats I knit him out of Malabrigo to work.  So, I’m going to knit a basic black wool hat for him to wear and not feel guilty about if they get dirty.

I gave him some choices and he chose the “Cabled Hat of Awesomeness” admittedly mostly due to the name.

I can’t find a good link for the hat but I have knitted one before and blogged about it back in March.

After that, I have a couple babies to knit for, then it’s all about me!  I have some sweaters planned and some gloves/mittens.

Got a lot of great stuff queued up and I can’t wait to get to it.  I also need to get back to spinning and sewing some project bags.

Hope you all are having a great week.  I’m signing off until after the Christmas holiday so have a great one and be safe!

It is done. =)

I successfully finished all of my holiday crafting!

There were  MANY hats, scarves, and aprons oh my!

A favorite of mine was a hat set for an expectant dad.  Hat for daddy and hat for a baby boy.

The pattern is Rib-A Roni.  Not only is it a well written free pattern, but it has instructions for many sizes.

So here you see the adult large and baby size hats.

Started the adult hat on December 14th and finished on December 19th.  Started and finished the wee hat on December 19th.  I would have been done sooner but there was a lot going on last week.  I’ve since taken some days off to save my sanity but now I’m in especially good shape so perhaps now I can relax a bit.

So good to be home!

It feels so good to be home.  I had a great weekend relaxing, playing with the kitties and just getting caught up.

Xmas shopping is done!  All done.  I give out my first gifts this week for our little group party at work and just now need to finish some knitting.

I thought I was in REALLY bad shape but actually, the projects that I thought weren’t going to work out, have come out beautifully in the end.

So, I’m sort of ahead of the game.  Finishing a hat tonight, and starting another that I need finished for Sunday.  It’s a hat, so no sweat.  I am taking Thursday off to finish some other gifts and already know it will be a very productive day.

I think I’ll be able to sit back and enjoy the holidays as I think this week is the week I’ll finish everything!

I do have lots to blog about and no time, so this week may be light on posts, but after the holidays, I’ll have plenty to show you!

Have a great week!

FO Friday – the OINK edition

I mentioned last week that I was going to knit a “swine flu mask” for one of my hospital contacts in Kansas.  I started last Friday and finished on Saturday so it was a quick knit.  Unfortunately my gauge was off so it was a bit too big but still worked for it’s funny purposes and delivered a bit of a comedic punch.

Here’s the recipient, wearing the mask and laughing her ass off:

I’m happy she got a kick out of it.

Happy Birthday to P!!!

I wanted to take a moment to wish P a very Happy Birthday!

I’m sad that I’m in Kansas and not home to celebrate with him.

Happy Birthday Honey!  I hope you have a great day and get some cake too!

Home sick and zombies.

Not to sound whiny, but I just want to be home.   I know we’re having some weather today and it’s a lot to deal with if you are dealing with it alone, so I feel bad for P and wish I could help with the snow stuff.

I hope everyone drives safe today.  Weather has been hairy here too.  It’s going to be -21 degree wind chills today and thinking of the kittens that live outside this hotel make me want to weep.  I think they go into the storm drain which is probably covered in snow and just too cold out there for them.  The hotel staff leave little containers of cat food outside but they really need to be warm somewhere.  Poor kitties.

I am however knitting up a storm in my spare hotel time.  I am almost done with my last big project pre-Christmas.  Then a few little things that “would be nice” if I could finish prior to Christmas, then…it’s all about me baby.  I’ve got a nice queue of projects that I want to make and I’ll be tackling that next.

Tomorrow is P’s birthday.  I was feeling quite guilty that I’m away for it so I’ve wrapped up a present a day for him.

Yesterday’s was a little stuffed crocheted zombie doll.  Sounds strange?  It is.  But he plays some zombie type video games so I thought he’d get a kick out of it.  He did and sent me this later:

It was really fun to make actually and SUPER fast.  I started off as a crochet-er but then went into knitting.  It was kind of fun to pick up the crochet hook again.  I’m definitely going to add in more crochet on my to make list.

The pattern/link is here.  Just scroll down a bit.

I took some other pictures after I made him…you can make a boy zombie by knitting pants for the doll or a girl zombie by knitting a little dress.  I made the boy/pants version.

Be safe today everyone and stay warm!

And it begins.

Apparently they don’t plow in Kansas.  This was a pic from my hotel room this morning.

It doesn’t look bad, but when they don’t plow anything it gets pretty sucky pretty fast.

It snows sideways here because there is so much wind.  The hospital may send us back to the hotel at lunch because if the wind picks up, which it’s supposed to later, it’s a white out and you can’t see.  Lovely.

Fun times in Kansas people.  Fun times.

I hear we’ll have snow at home tonight too.  Stay warm everyone!

Wasn’t going to but changed my mind.

Blogging from Kansas.  So far, trip is working out ok.  Flights minimally delayed and we are here safe and sound.

Today is day one and things really haven’t gotten started here yet.  You would be surprised how the one hour time difference can, well, make a difference.  I was up and awake at 4:45am our time which is 5:45 EST back home.  Right on schedule.

Tomorrow should be interesting….apparently there is a large storm in the forecast and could be up to 13″ of snow and large drifts.  We may not be able to drive anywhere.  We may have to work from the hotel.  Hopefully Applebee’s stays open so we can get food but who knows.

I should have packed boots.  Got some good knitting done on the plane and over the weekend.  I think I can stop stressing now about the holiday knitting.  I think I may even be ahead of the game for once!

Have a great week everyone!

FO Friday

Last Kansas trip I knitted up a Calorimetry for my site contact’s daughter.  I had been wearing one on a trip over there last year and she had remarked that her daughter would love a pink one.

So I whipped that and a fingerless mitt out on the plane ride to Kansas.

On Monday morning I gave her the knit and by Tuesday morning she showed me a pic of her daughter wearing it for school that day.  She was so cute and very happy to be wearing it.

It’s things like that which make the gift knitting totally worth it.

As I’ll be busy in Kansas, I’m taking next week off again from blogging, but I’ll catch you guys the week after.

Have a great weekend and a wonderful week ahead!

Oink Oink

I have some special air plane knitting to do next week.  One of my  hospital contacts has to wear a mask everytime she’s in the hospital as she is not going to get the swine flu shot.  So to try to lighten the mood for her, I’m going to knit her the swine flu mask.

I know I’ve already got a ton to knit, but she’s so nice and I think this would be a fun thing to give her.

See what I’m talking about here.