Knitting Musings

Actual Knitting!!

Perhaps this is the beginning of that infamous "nesting" phase, or perhaps I'm just getting tired of all of the piles of unfinished knitting projects lying around... but I'm trying my best to work through the rest of them!

My one success so far - I've actually completely finished the Little Monster Aran!! I'm really pleased with how this one turned out - the sweater itself is based on a baby sweater from Inspired Cable Knits, but, since I didn't like the cables in the original, I substituted cables from one of Elspeth Lavold's Viking Knits books.

I also busted out the sewing machine and steeked the Little Monster Dale of Norway... I've since attached both sleeves and done one of the button bands. I need to tidy up a bunch of the seaming (Dale patterns are nothing if not finishing-intensive!), pick out buttons, and polish this one off as well... but I've been in a wicked head-cold fog since Sunday, and didn't want to risk screwing something up. Perhaps this weekend!

And finally, the Sheepie Blanket is progressing - I've sewed each of my 3 strips, and have done one of the side borders. I'm in the process of doing the other side border now.... I may go back and re-do the green border, as I ended up picking up too many stitches, causing the border to flare out a bit at the edge. So if I do a better job the second time around, I may go back and do a fix... we'll see! I think I'm going to have to start taking this one with me on the metro to make some real progress, but I don't want to pick up stitches on the train, so I'll keep it at home for the moment.

So I have 3 major projects I need to finish up - the Dale, the Sheepie Blanket, and my dad's vest. I think I can make it!

Labels: Baby Gifts, Sheepie Blanket

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An Update of Sorts

I've spent the last few days up to my eyebrows in pictures - I've taken advantage of some very slow time at work (which is a whole other source of stress, but hopefully I'll make it through the next 9.5 weeks) to upload all of my various archived digital photos to Flickr. I have a pro account (thanks to Ravelry), so I decided to make full use of my $25/year and use Flickr as an off-site backup. It took FOREVER to upload all of the photos, and I didn't do a great job of cataloguing - mostly just organized into sets and left it at that. But at least they are all up there. I also added in my 2005 finished objects to Ravelry - I still need to work on the 2004 finished projects, but I haven't gotten there yet.

And tomorrow I'm heading off to a mandatory "new associate orientation" in Atlanta - I didn't go last year because I started a week or so too late, and so they're making me go this year. I obviously can't tell them not to bother as I'll only be working here another 9+ weeks, so I just have to suck it up and go. S is, in a freaky coincidence, also traveling for work this week, so we're bringing Abby to the grandparents' house tonight (and a neighbor is checking in on Cricket). Since normally neither of us ever travel for work, it's quite the inconvenience that we're both traveling at the same time!

But I have gotten something crossed off the list - I finished the Little Monster Aran this morning! Of course, no pictures - I couldn't face another picture just yet!

Finished
1. Sew 3 baby bumpers for crib
2. Baby aran sweater

Almost Finished
1. Dad's Christmas Vest (cut steeks, neck and arm bands, sew in ends, block)
2. Baby Dale of Norway sweater (sew/cut steeks, assemble sweater, button bands, sew in ends)
3. Sheepie Blanket (finish sewing in ends on squares and block, sew up 2 more vertical strips, finish borders, assemble blanket)
4. Finally hem living room and dining room curtains.

Haven't Started
1. Socks for S
2. Shaun the Sheep mobile for Little Monster
3. Chicken Hats for S and Little Monster (don't ask... really no rational explanation)
4. Sew sleep sacks for Little Monster
5. Sew ring sling for Little Monster
6. Sew crib sheets for Little Monster

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And Now For Something Completely Different...

I still have more Scotland pics, but I figured I'd take a break and give myself a public "kick in the pants." See, I have a little over 10 weeks left at work, and then I'll be taking several weeks off (depending on when the Little Monster arrives). Unfortunately, since I have only a vague idea as to when the little one will be showing up, I can't necessarily count on those first few weeks in December. Consequently, I'm trying to motivate myself to get some of my projects actually finished!

So here's a brief list to keep myself on track:

Finished
1. Sew 3 baby bumpers for crib

Almost Finished
1. Dad's Christmas Vest (cut steeks, neck and arm bands, sew in ends, block)
2. Baby Dale of Norway sweater (sew/cut steeks, assemble sweater, button bands, sew in ends)
3. Baby aran sweater (finish last sleeve, assemble, knit neckband, sew in ends)
4. Sheepie Blanket (finish sewing in ends on squares and block, sew up 2 more vertical strips, finish borders, assemble blanket)
5. Finally hem living room and dining room curtains.

Haven't Started
1. Socks for S
2. Shaun the Sheep mobile for Little Monster
3. Chicken Hats for S and Little Monster (don't ask... really no rational explanation)
4. Sew sleep sacks for Little Monster
5. Sew ring sling for Little Monster
6. Sew crib sheets for Little Monster

I also have Alpine Lace marinating in the closet, and may manage to finish that up at some point.

Then again, I may go crazy trying to do everything. We'll see how it goes. I can definitely finish up the sheepie blanket, dad's vest, and the 2 baby sweaters pretty easily. The sewing projects shouldn't be too bad as long as I keep plugging away at them each weekend. The rest? Well, I guess I'll just see how things go!

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Sheep Dogs in the "Wild"

Our guide on the trip lived just outside of Ullapool, and offered to swing by her place on our way to our next destination. The lure? Her husband has about 700 sheep, and trains (and competes) sheepdogs. DUDE. Sheepdogs, 700 sheep, and the beautiful Scottish countryside? SIGN ME UP.

I should probably warn the more sensitive readers that they may be exposed to lethal doses of cuteness...

Unfortunately, only 3 of the doggies got to play with the sheepies - the others had to wait their turns.

Stuart (doggy handler and shepherd extraordinaire) sent the 3 dogs way out over the hills - probably about a mile or so away (not that we could see them after the first few minutes). About 15 minutes later (with the addition of a few well-timed whistles and commands), this showed up...

SIGH. Sheep dogs ROCK.

Unfortunately, we had signed up for a HIKING trip instead of a sheepdog-watching trip, so away we went to climb a mountain...

And the Little Monster seemed to enjoy the spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean we found the next day...

And look! Culture! Shawn and I took the opportunity to visit Eileen Donan Castle as we drove towards our next destination, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

One more Scotland roundup to go...

Labels: Scotland

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I Wanna Go Back!

Scotland was fantastic - we had (mostly) great weather, I felt wonderful, and the Little Monster learned how to play trampoline on my bladder.

The trip started (and ended) with some out-of-character airplane luck - all of our flights went smoothly, were on time, and resulted in us receiving our luggage at our various destinations! Definitely a welcome change to how travel with S usually goes.

After arriving safely in Edinburgh, we had a little time to explore the city (S tasted whiskey), and then we were on our way to Inverness via the lovely ScotRail, which, in stark contrast with our own Amtrak, was on time. Apparently this is not that unusual.

I enjoyed the scenery, my ipod, and some knitting.

I continued my knitting adventures in Inverness, where we traversed the town looking for somewhere that would make S an iced tea. He finally had success with a very amused barista at Costa Coffee, who made him a hot tea and gave him a huge cup of ice. I told S that he'll probably become the basis for one of those "you'll never believe what the stupid Americans asked for" stories.

Eventually, though, we had to leave the soft urban living behind and start hiking! Here's the Little Monster enjoying a view of the small town of Ullapool on our first "warm-up" hike.

One of the highlights, though, was the discovery of some stealth knitting info - these displays were hidden in a small lighthouse in Scoraig, which is a small, mostly self-sufficient community reachable only by hiking or boat.