Hedgehog Feet!!!!

I've done the feet and his underbelly - now just the top is left! I'll probably finish him tonight, so I can mail him Monday.

Deadlines Looming...

It's only 11 days till Christmas and I have so much to do! Here's the projects that I absolutely must finish and their deadlines.

Tuesday:
Hedgehog
Royal blue scarf

Christmas:
Pillow (stuff and sew one, knit the other)
Blanket (finish)
Blanket (start and finish...)
5 surprises... (two need finishing, three to start and finish)

Post-Christmas:
Eagles pillow

Like a hedgehog...er...teatray in the sky...

Not much to report today. Just working on the hedgehog for a friend. I started on his underbelly tonight after I ripped out my error from the morning. In my sleepiness I had forgotten to purl a row before starting the loop stitch that gives the hedgehog his trademark spines. I'll post a pic soon, but right now it doesn't look like much.

Daunting Roads Lie Ahead

As I expressed in my previous post, the chest has inspired me to take on new, and interesting projects. Right now, I have many many projects that all must be finished before Christmas, including a stuffed hedgehog I need to whip up tonight and tomorrow. But after those are done, I intend to start (though I secretly want to begin tonight...) on a wrap sweater for myself, taken from the book Stitch and Bitch. My friend and I just returned from a yarn store up in Hartford called the Fabric Place. Though the patten called for Rowan (which I think is a delicious brand) the store didn't happen to have Rowan (though it did have quite a bit of Berrocco, which I also adore) so I had to use a substitute. What I found was a cotton baby yarn in cream that suited my tastes.

Though I have made stuffed animals, pillows, scarves, hats and a handful of other projects, I have never made a sweater before, and I'm a little wary. I'm not really a gauge and block kind of knitter - I just estimate and go. However, while this works perfectly fine for blankets and scarves, it doesn't work quite so well with a sweater, especially if I want it to fit me well. So, I suppose I can't use my fly by night method this time around. I'm really looking forward to the finished project though, I just have to finish all the others first!

Supplies: 9 balls of Shepherd Baby Wool four-ply (50g, 170m) in 053, size 2 knitting needle, size 3 knitting needle
Cost: $53.00 ($5/ball)

The Smell of Cedar in the Morning

About a week ago, my fiance brought me home an early Christmas present. It was on the same day I was supposed to take my new kitten/yarn lover, Atari, to the vet for her checkup. When I arrived home, my fiance said to me, "why don't you go grab Atari - I think she's in your room," by which he meant my small knitting room at the back of the apartment. I followed his advice, and as I turned the corner to walk into my room, I saw, sitting in front of me, a beautiful and giant cedar chest. "Merry Christmas!" he shouted from the den. I just stood there, awestruck, and though I had to run out that night, couldn't wait to start filling it with all of the yarn that was overtaking my room and the apartment, much like kuzco does in the South.

The next morning I set up the aromatic chest, and set to work at organizing my yarn. Blues in one corner, pinks in another, whites over here, a nice space to wedge the green...and when I was done, not only was my room much cleaner and less cluttered, I realized the chest had inspired me to knit even more as it was easy to find yarn and I didn't have dig through the bins and bags that I had had to before to find the necessary tools for my projects. Now, it was all at my fingertips. It is perhaps one of the best gifts I have ever received.