Holiday Knitting

It's that time of year, Christmas knitting time. I've been thinking of Christmas presents for a while now, even have one project that I finished before summer was over! But now it's down to the wire & I have to decide what I WILL finish for Christmas presents. I've made 3 projects for me now, one being the fingerless mitts that I was disappointed in, but I've also made myself a yummy scarflett with some malabrigo and a sockhead hat. Now I'm working on a scarf, hat & cowl for Christmas knitting. I'm also planning on doing some cup cozys too. Here's what I accomplished this fall:

The hat is really for me, but doesn't my lab Jake look so handsome in it?!

Art Walk Yarn Bomb!

There's a few of us girls that have been working on a yarn bomb for our city. We have been working for the last 3 months and tonight we finally got to put it all up & see it come together! It was so much fun :) The city does an art walk the third thurday of every month (except in the winter) and the vendors downtown stay open late, others set up booths displaying their art, jewelry, pottery, etc. I had never been before & really enjoyed seeing everything. Especially our yarn bombing! We "bombed" a park, the art gallery, in front of the church and then covered some trees & light posts. (All with permission) Again it was awesome! I have a feeling this will be the first of many yarn bombs for us.

Knitting Fail :(

I have been working on some fingerless mitts for me for the last month. I saw this pattern a while ago & instantly fell in love with it! The rating wasn't too difficult & I went shopping for the yarn when I went to Colorado back in July. This was my first project for me & I was so excited to get started. Now I've finished them and I'm so disappointed. I made so many mistakes, the gloves aren't even the same size. I hated the cabled part of the pattern so I went with a pattern out of my stitch dictionary that looked similar for the second mitt. I am happy with how that part turned out. It was much faster & my language while knitting that part on the second glove was much better! lol But the first dpn project was a little too ambitious I think. There are lots of ladders & I didn't keep my place very well so you can tell where I've skipped a step. I don't think it's too obvious from far away but when you look at them close you can definately tell. Maybe I'll keep them as a lesson learned. But that would mean weaving in all these ends! Did I mention they are 2 different colors and there were lots of color changes?

Almost Fall!

Well, the end of the summer is just a few weeks away & I am so ready for the fall season! The cooler temps, changing leaves, bonfires with family & pumpkin beer :) Fall is very special to me this year, there have been many changes in my life recently & fall is bringing lots of great things. Rebuilding is under way from the May tornado, many of my friends that lost homes are rebuilding & getting closer to being back into their homes. My sister & brother in law are expecting their first baby & in October we find out if it's a boy or a girl! My husband has 3 boys & there will be football games, band concerts & other school activities to share. There is also a wedding in October! My cousin Tobie is getting married! I am looking forward to the trip to Minnesota & sharing that day with her & our families. The Art Walk in October is my first one to experience & a group of us have been working on something special so I'm excited to finally show off what we've been working on. I will post pictures when we are able to :) I've got some fun knitting projects I'm working on. A gift for a new baby, the art walk project, I'm tackling dpns & making some fingerless mitts for me, and I've also got some handpainted yarn I'm looking forward to making something beautiful with. I can see progress in my knitting & that makes me excited to make more projects & work on new techniques. Yes, lots of fun things to come this fall, I am really looking forward to it all.

Married Life

Well the wedding & honeymoon were wonderfull! It's now back to regular life, only with the married part ;) Things have calmed down (well as calm as they get around here!) and I'm back to working on some wonderful projects. I have 2 that are secret projects but I promise I will be sharing them in the next few months when I can. I'm also working on a baby hat for an expecting friend and I hope to cast on to some fingerless mitts for me sometime this fall. I don't know if it's me getting older or the events of this summer or both put together but I have never been looking forward to fall like I am this year. The weather this summer has been horribly hot & humid with record temps and the tornado was front & center in everyone's summer activities & conversation. I'm ready for the next season, ready to move on. A season of cooler weather, rebuilding, and leaving that stupid tornado in the summer of 2011. Fall of 2011 is a season of my friends getting their homes back & businesses reopening. I am looking forward to some chick fil-a for lunch, cupcakes by liz for desert & having dinner with friends in their homes. C'mon fall!

I'm Getting Married!!!

Wow, I can't believe that Aug. 13 is finally right around the corner! Tomorrow I marry my best friend & the man that makes me a better person. What a journey the wedding planning has been. I cannot thank my friends and family enough for all of their help. Without them I don't think I would've been able to do this & still be calm & have a smile on my face! When things were stressfull I could count on my fiance to support me & make me feel better. I think that's a glimpse of what our new life together will be like. I can count on him to support me & hold me up when I come undone. And I don't hesitate to do the same for him. I am so blessed to have such amazing people around me. I am excited for us to start this new life together & see what our future holds. I feel like some amazing things are coming our way :)

Mountains & yarn soothe my soul

I just got back from visiting friends in Colorado, and visiting an awesome yarn store! I bought yarn to make some fingerless gloves for me & a couple of friends. There was so much beautiful yarn it was hard not to go crazy & buy tons of it! (I still went a lil crazy! But hey, it's vacation right?) I'm excited to work on these projects but have to finish the one I'm working on & another one before I'll allow myself to cast onto the fingerless gloves. But both projects are quick knits so it won't be long.

The trip to Colorado definately soothed my soul a bit after the recent events of the tornado. I felt a bit normal & went thru a city that didn't look like a wasteland & trees actually had bark & leaves on them. But my heart sank when I got back home & saw my tornado ravaged city. I feel like I'm not doing enough to help. I still have my home & my loved ones & my things. I need to do more to help. I am working on some squares for a group project on Ravelry for the Heart in Hand group. I help my friends with a shoulder and an ear when they need it. Little things like borrowing a vehicle, helping to shop for lost items, cleaning out destroyed homes. But I still feel like I can be doing more. I pray that God leads me to do what I am meant to be doing. I want everyone to feel a sense of normalcy in just one moment of everyday.