Continued…a smack from reality

So I spent a little time last night with my very special squish… That ever growing over-sized pile of yarn that will soon be The Beast #4…

And what I came up with was a very interesting little swatch… Im on the fence about both the brown and lime green fingering that I’ve used to get the Madeline Tosh DK up to weight but I figure I’ll stare at the swatch for a few days to feel it out…

I also spend a few minutes working out a little paper size version of this Beast to start planning out my colorwork and ridge work.  Let me just say that trying to get an approximate ratio was difficult, clearly I’ve forgotten some old Junior High/ High School math.  And considering I did not even want to google it, I ended up with a pretty good mini blanket….

 

 I’m in no particular rush to complete this blanket, just very excited to work out all the kinks (properly!) and get this on my needles.  Speaking of which, I need to make sure that I have long enough circulars..hmmm…..

A Smack from Reality.

So I’ve begun some planning on what I’ve dubbed “The Beast; #4″…. And it will be the biggest to date at a whopping 94″ x 106”- measurements fit for a king and his queen (pun entirely intended!).  Now while the measurements and the yarn were pretty much no brainers for me for this project, the process of developing the stitch pattern has been something else entirely.
My brain is flooded with so many different ideas and I am accepting that they all cannot fit into this one project, no matter how big the finished piece is going to be! So for now it’s just some sketches and swathes to get my gauge….

    
More progress reports on the way….

❤️

For the love of squish.

After finally finishing all of my holiday knit projects, the next thing up on my agenda was a baby blanket for some friends of ours.  While her due date is just a few weeks away, I thought (right after Christmas that is…) I had a week or so to my own self & projects before I had to dive in.  Well, that wasn’t the case as the shower invite showed up right before New Years and the shower date set for about 3 weeks later!

I panicked for about a minute, then realized that I had a week off then two working weeks before the shower.  So the next day I purchased the yarn and went to work.

**worry free first night with cast on

It was only a few days later when I went to go RSVP that there was no way I would be able to even MAKE it to the shower….uuugggghhhhhh (out of town, hubs working, and train unable to make it to and from the town within a reasonable time to attend…plus the added cost of the ticket..)  So well, I was pretty disappointed.  But since I already had my gift and the blanket well into work, I decided to ship my gift to be received in time for the big day…

**early progress

…meaning that I lost 3-4 DAYS to finish in time- and I would be back to work….

*two nights prior to my deadline

Can we say TIME CRUNCH! So now as I sit here typing up this post, I have until midnight (its 5:30 pm currently) to finish about 8” worth of blanket along with wrapping EVERYTHING (my gift is more than a blanket!), commute home (about 40-so minutes) and somehow squeeze cooking and eating a dinner…

 

**UPDATE (following the night before deadline crunch-time!)

I FINISHED!! The last stitch slipped OFF the needles at midnight (ooommmppphhh) and it felt wonderful! About another 40 minutes and all was wrapped and happily packed up to be packaged and shipped Wednesday morning.

I hurried off to Fedex and I will now be thoroughly enjoying a deadline free couple of months.

 

I couldn’t be happier….

Welcome baby. ❤️

Finally! A knit all for me..

Now that I have finally finished off all of the knitted things I wanted to make for everyone else, I can finally dedicate some time to knitting something for me…ALL FOR ME!!   I purchased the Ludlow from Brooklyn Tweed almost a year ago and had been waiting for the right time to start…

And that time was now!!

**an early progress status…

 

I also had this strong urge to make something- anything- in BLACK.  And I haven’t seemed to be the only one wanting to knit in black.  A couple other knitters I follow and know have been drawn to the darker yarns recently… Hello handknit trend..

 

But anyways..the Ludlow; while the pattern calls to use Brooklyn Tweed’s Loft yarn, I favor their Shelter a little bit more so along with a very friendly and helpful employee in NYC’s Purl Soho, I managed to substitute and work out the math to have the pattern accommodate Shelter.

I am about a third of the way through and could not be more pleased with how it is turning out…

Until next time….

The Holiday Haul…

This posting may be a little later than most would expect, but believe it our not my last round of holiday gifting just happened!  I know so late!  I had a very ambitious year and I actually managed to complete all in a reasonable timeline… the full holiday haul included:

3 (yes 3!) full size blankets

5 different hats (from pre-teen to adult)

3 pairs of fingerless gloves

1 pair of socks

+ handmade tags for all for wrapping

 

Too ambitious?…nah..I enjoyed every minute of it! Even more enjoyable was the look on my friends and families faces when they realized what I had given them…I most certainly love to gift and when the gift is handmade, there’s more than just a little added love….

My absolute favorite gifting moment was my husband on Christmas morning when he opened up a little box and nestled inside was a new hat and a pair of socks… Immediately it was, “WHAT THE HELL!!, WHEN DID YOU- HOW- WHAT?!”…(TO BE CLEAR: he knew of the countless hours, days, and nights I spent knitting 3 blankets so he couldn’t figure out when I had made HIM new knits….)  Can we all remember those first few posts I wrote where I said I was a very big subway knitter..you can complete and hide so many many projects from the hubs! (And for the record..he has been living in those new socks and hat so they were a hit as well!) Within the next hour my parents opened their blanket and his outburst became very very clear…

Also, I would add that the last blanket was finished the weekend following Christmas morning when the 1st blanket was finally opened.. so as to be gifted in time on New Years Day…. yikes!  So, how about a look at all the squishy goodness? For your enjoyment:

  
  
  
  
 Until next time….