Is that an update I see?

It is indeed an update.  This is a picture of the blanket I am getting close to finishing sitting at Wegmans.

I wish I had more to say, but I don't.  I feel like I've been really busy lately, but I haven't really gotten a lot of things done.  I don't know why I feel this way, but I'm going to continue to try and get as much done as I can while still sleeping, eating, and knitting/crocheting/sewing.

I feel so busy!

I really do feel like I've been crazy busy for the last few weeks, but I also don't feel like I've gotten anything done.  Knitting wise, I have gotten a lot done on a baby blanket, and I finished one sock for a test knit.

It is an argyle knee sock.  I know, how awesome is that?  I will link the pattern once she has it out, but so far it is still a secret.  I had so much fun knitting it.

I don't have any pictures of the baby blanket yet, but I did find a picture of the hat I sewed and donated.

Please ignore the bad lighting.  I took it with my super-old webcam before it died.  I hope someone will love it.  It is super-warm, it just hugs my head a bit too much for my liking.

Good news for me is that Bill is getting home from his work trip on Saturday   He has been in Hawai'i for the past three weeks, I know, he had it hard.  Hopefully he will bring me back something fun and then we can have a nice day together on Sunday.

Transformations

I started some projects a while ago that did not want to be what I wanted them to be.  Anyone who says that knitting/crochet is an inanimate object and don't have opinions and wants has obviously never knit or crocheted.  While getting batter at the craft will help you hold more sway over what it will be, if that yarn doesn't want to be used in that project, it will let you know.

These yarns definitely did that.  While I liked the projects that other people did with these patterns, I did not like what was coming off my needles/hook.  I would even avoid working on them.  This is never a good sign, so I tried again.

I found this stitch pattern while teaching a class.  The "Stitch of the Month" only took about 20 mins to learn, and it was a three hour class.  She wanted to learn how to do a wavy pattern.  This is what I found.  I thought the little sample I made was adorable and would make an awesome scarf.

This was not going to be that scarf.  It was heavy and stiff, it also would have taken more yarn than I had to make it into anything beyond a short table-runner.

Now it is this.  A nice and smooshy Brioche Stitch scarf!  It is very easy to do and although it looks difficult  once you get the motions down it almost becomes mindless knitting.

Some people liked how this crocheted modular scarf was being all wavy and fun.  I didn't mind that very much.  What I did mind was that each triangle kept getting bigger and bigger.  I made sure to follow the directions and everything!  I'm not sure what I did, though someone smarter than me could probably point it out without having to think much.

Instead of worrying about that, I turned it into these Jaywalker Socks(PDF link)....

...and these HiyaHiya Blossom Lace Socks(Ravelry link).  I am going to donate both pairs because there are things I would do differently on both pairs if they were going to be for me.

I'm hoping that none of you think I hate crochet.  I mean, it is true, two crochet items have now turned into knitted items.  I do like crochet, I really do.  My mom is thinking of trying a Baby Surprise Jacket and I think I'm going to do a create-along with her and make the crochet version.  I have the yarn picked out any everything.

Though while I wait for her to get done with some other projects, I had to figure out what I want to work on next.  I was thinking of making a baby blanket, but I don't know if I want a big project again so soon.

'So soon?' you ask?  Well, I consider some socks to be large projects.  They may look small, but everything about them is small.  Small needles, small yarn.  That means that there are a lot of stitches to deal with.  The last pair of socks I did had the same number of stitches around the foot as a sweater I made.

I think I'm going to go sit with my yarn and wait for one to jump out at me and tell me what it wants to be when it grows-up.

New banner!

As you can see, I have a pretty new banner at the top of this page!  I'm excited for it!  It was designed by the lovely Kristin Billings, and she is holding the second sock of a pair I can not seem to finish.  Go to her website and hire her for all of your graphic design needs!

I don't have any finished crafted things to show off currently.  I did donate a hat I sewed, but I don't know what I did with the picture of it!  How silly of me.

Cherry Blossoms!

The scarf and I went on an adventure in DC!

We started by looking for some Toynbee tiles.  We did not have much luck, but we did find this little guy.  We are not sure if he is one of them or not.

Farther down we found the cherry blossoms.  The scarf liked them and thought they made nice company.  It was also cool that we could see the Washington Monument too.

 A little farther down the area we ran into Paddles the Beaver.  Paddles told us a very valuable message.  Unlike some people we saw, we did not pick the blossoms.  The scarf did not mention to Paddles how it had climbed one of the trees earlier.

After we were done having fun in the sun it was time to go to a few museums.  There was an orchid exhibition that I liked a lot.  The scarf thought it was a bit too girly, but did like this one.  It looks a bit like a sitting person, and who knows, they could be knitting.

After a long day we went home and worked on a few rows together.

Some words on charity.

I was asking a friend if the Kickstarters I helped back would count as charity or not.  It ended in a long debate about what charity means.  Here is a bit of a summation of it.  To me, it is all about intent.  If you mean for it to help people, then it is a charitable act to me.  Even if you donated $20K to a charity, if you only did it because you wanted to one-up someone who also donated to that charity, I don't think it counts.
Feel free to let me know your opinions.

For those of you who just come to look at pretty pictures, here is part of a scarf I have been working on randomly sitting on a cat.

I see the sun!

Getting some quality wedding knitting done while sitting in the sun.  I'm currently waiting in the Jeep for my fiancée to finish his meeting.
I like this pattern so much I might make another for charity.