Happy New Year!

Last night, I finally finished the super surprise knitted Christmas present for the boyfriend. Problem is, I am on vacation, and I haven't really figured out how to link up camera for pictures, as I've been wearing it despite the beautiful 80 degree Florida weather.

I'm visiting my Dad and I had the best Christmas since before my parents got divorced. It took them a year to get divorced, starting and ending a few weeks before Christmas during my junior-senior years in highschool (about 2002-2003). Since 2002, my Christmases have been crappy, running back and forth between parents, being overall sad and/or depressed and hating Christmas. This year was slightly different from years past, I flew down to Florida before Christmas (usually I wait and fly after) and the boyfriend and his family are practically my second family, and they love Christmas.

Perhaps it was spending all that time with the boyfriend and his family, or maybe it was spending Christmas Eve and Day with my Dad (we are really close, considering the 1300 miles) who I haven't seen since August, or maybe removing myself from the Christian faith enough for me to get through a Christmas without crying, pouting, being sad, depressed or overall miserable and actually enjoying the holiday, the way I used to.

Or maybe I'm just older and its easier to move on as I get older and the painful memories aren't as close as they used to be.

Anyway, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and have a very happy New Year. Don't drink and drive, and don't let your friends, family or strangers do it either. Stay safe and keep knitting:) I hope to have the Boyfriend Scarf up on Ravelry and here on KnitBlog, but we'll see how soon that is.

Next project: Knucks! from Knitty:)

Happy New Year!
Jersey

Ravelry & Flickr

I'm on Ravelry and Flickr.

Find me as Jerseyknits!

November Knits, Foliage and Pictures

The month of November was a very hectic, with school, lacrosse and even with knitting. Despite my lack of blogging, I have, literally, a month of pictures.

The first day of November was really bright, and this is what was outside my bedroom window:

I decided to Kool-Aid dye some mystery yarn that I inherited when my grandmother passed away. I have no idea what its made out of, but after dying I have a better idea.

I used a portable tray (we use for eating in front of the TV with), turned it upside down and made a silly, but functional skein. (I don't have a swift... or ball winder....)

It looks like spagetti.

I wish I was joking when I tell you that I thought this KoolAid would be blue. It wasn't. It was red.

If the yarn was 100% animal fiber (more likely 100% wool), the yarn would have been much darker red. Since the yarn is so light, it made me conclude that the yarn is probably acrylic. This bums me out considerably because I am never going to get rid of all the acrylic yarn I seem to have.

Moving on.

Here are two pictures of the tree in my front yard on Thanksgiving Day. It was nearly 60 degrees on Thanksgiving.

I turned 22 on the 26th (Monday after Thanksgiving). I didn't do much because usually I celebrate all weekend. My sister was up from Florida and we went bowling with my boyfriend.

And I finally(!!!) got my photoshoot. My boyfriend took the pictures, which means they aren't exactly how I want them, as I would prefer to photograph someone else so I get the shots I want. But considering, he did a good job. He also modeled some mittens for me, too. If you see tufts of dark hair.. well.. its mine. It was 30 degrees when we had this photoshoot.

Manos Del Uruguay in the "My So Called Scarf" pattern. Knit in Feb or March of this year. Also included are mittens, knit from Knitting Pretty.(page 59, Warmest Mittens) Yarn is from Green Mountain Spinnery in Champlain Blue and Forget Me Not (greyish). It was purchased in Jim Thorpe, PA where the yarn owner literally sniffed the skiens of the yarn I was about to purchase. This freaked my boyfriend out, but it still has a beautiful sheepy smell. I have aloooot left over which I started to make a scarf out of and decided that's a horrible idea for such lovely wool. Infact, its 100% New England Wool. I may make fingerless mittens with the left over instead. I haven't made a decision yet. I LOVE this wool. It's alittle rough but I L-O-V-E it.

Same as above.

Ugly Scarf, which is a k2p2 pattern, very unoriginal, on size 15 needles. It is mystery yarn. I purchased it very early in my knitting career from Ebay and it came to me on a cone, from which I simply knit from. I was young.. and silly. Turns out to be my most used scarf, and the ugliest:)
Also shown is a slightly not finished Ear Flap Hat. Pattern can be found here: Ski Hat with Ear Flaps and the yarn is the beautiful Baby Alpaca Grande by Plymouth Yarn in the Color 100 and unidentified. Although it seems to be pink and white. It is slightly too long, and I haven't done anything as far as keeping the ear flaps down. I'm not a good finisher. I purchased the yarn last Christmas in Florida.

Ugly scarf and Alpaca Ear Flap Hat

These are the mittens I was telling you about. If you look closely at the mitten with the thumb pointing the in downward direction, you can see the hole at the base of the thumb. No one has let me live that hole down. Also pictured, ugly scarf and ear flap hat.

Ugly scarf is nearly 6 feet in length. I absolutely love wrapping it around 800 times. Despite its sheer ugliness, its my favorite scarf.

NJ at sunset (430pm).

Boyfriend modeled mittens:

I knit mittens in January when my Granny was having triple bypass surgery. They were the ugliest mittens and when my sister finally annouced she would be visiting from Florida, I ripped the mittens out, and reknit them using the Warmest Mittens pattern in Knitting Pretty. The only thing about these mittens(as well as the other pair) is that the tip of the mitten looks more like a nipple than the top of a mitten. I ....am learning from my mistakes. I knit them a bit bigger because my sister has larger hands than I do. This is also why my boyfriend is modeling them, and why they don't fit him.

He had to reclaim his masculinity.

The stripes don't match because I kept getting entranced by using DPNs. I forgot to change colors...

These are two scarves I have knit previously, and I really just wanted to show off. My plan for the light green one was to try and give it away to anyone who said they liked it. Nobody said anything, so I still have it.

I designed this scarf. I can't remember what yarn is it, and I call it Exercise In Cables scarf. It's skinny, great to wear under a regular scarf & jacket, although I know if you look closely enough, I messed up on the cables. I think the cable I zoomed in on is a good example of a good cable, but who knows. Its k4p4 c3f p4k4. Make sense?

The light green scarf is a wavey scarf. I think I got the pattern from a book from the library. Its pretty simple, CO 20, knit two rows, decrease until you have 10 stitches, knit 2 rows, increase until you have 20 stitches again. Keep all increased and decreased at the begining and ends of each row. Very easy and it was a good way for me to grasp the concept of increasing & decreasing. I also really like this scarf, too. Acrylic, but soft, regardless.

As if that wasn't enough to tell you about, I have some new LYS stories. I found a "yarn" store on slightly local main road. I drive to it while looking for a different store (which I don't think exists because I have yet to find a sign or the building) and it's a big waste of time, it looks like its more involved with needlepoint than with yarn and knitting/crocheting. At least, that's what I took from looking in the window (it wasn't open). Meanwhile, I was contacted by the owner of ANOTHER LYS (although not so local) who found my blog. The owner of this LYS (try and follow this) was college roommates with my ex boyfriend's brother's girlfriend, but I think they broke up, so my ex boyfriend's brother's ex girlfriend. Small world, huh? Well I found her on Myspace as well and I have to drive up and see the store and meet the owner as well.

In the very latest of news, I have finals this week as well as next week, and I completed the class sock from Sensational Knitted Socks. I also aquired over my awesome birthday weekend (aka thanksgiving weekend) Knitting Socks from the Getting Started Series. I've been reading and dreaming and thinking all about socks lately. I usually visit my dad (in Florida) over winter break, so the problem always arises with what projects to bring with me. I have decided to bring the Opal that Sheila sent me. I brought sweater last year, and to be honest, I put the shoulders on their own circular needles(as called for) and I really don't think I got gauge. I haven't tried it on, although I really want to.

I'll have pictures in the next post.
That's it for now! Sorry about the lack in updates!
Jersey

Finals Week

College is great for cramming a ton of work into the week or two before finals. Finals in and of themselves are a pain in the ass to prepare for, and that is why I have not yet updated. Good news is that I have PLENTY of pictures (I finally got my photoshoot) and stories and more pictures.

I just have to sift through all my homework for my camera and my USB cable. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

More later
- Jersey