After about a million abortive starts, I finished one of the Newborn Set booties yesterday, and I finished the second today. It’s hard to believe actual human feet could ever fit in these.
I feel a little guilty starting a new project before finishing all my other projects, but I’m so excited about the new baby! Mmmmm… that new baby smell….
Because it’s “Stitch or Cut Floss” March, I called up one of my BFF’s from high school yesterday because we hadn’t talked for a while and she had been trying to get in touch with me. Well, I found out why she was trying to get in touch with me–she’s
expecting a baby in mid-April! For a variety of reasons–they were
waiting until the second trimester to tell people, I had fallen off the
face of the earth for a few months–I am just finding out now.
I’ve decided to set aside all my guilt feelings for now and concentrate on the important issue: what will I make for the new baby? I’ve chosen this vintage-looking booties and hat kit from Suss Knits in part because it seems like HS BFF’s style and also because I actually wrote the pattern for Suss, so I should be able to proof it as I knit along.
See photo at right (pardon the blurry imaging). Isn’t it darling? (and I use that word advisedly…). It’s certainly pom-pomrific. And there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.
High School BFF is going with neutral tones for the baby room and she informs me that the walls of the baby’s room are cream-colored. In my imagination, they match the vanilla/whipped cream color of this yarn (Suss Love) exactly. Way to go, BFF (and Hubby)!
These were my monthly goals as of March 1st:
1. “Everything Bag” from Suss Cousins, Hollywood Knits Style (k)
2. “Breast Cancer Ribbin’ Scarf,” my design (k)
3. “Granny Square Scarf” by Suss Cousins, navy (k & c)
4. “Granny Square Scarf” by Suss Cousins, claret (k & c)
5. “Cardigan for Arwen” by Kate Gilbert in Interweave Knits, Winter 2006 (k)
6. Aran Sweater for SIL, from Ann Budd’s amazing Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns (k)
7. “Ewe & Eye Needlecase” by Heart’s Content (xs)
8. “Corinthian Ribbed Blanket,” my “design” (a simple ribbed blanket) (k)
9. “Drizzle” by Anna Tillman for Rowan 38 (k)
10. “Ballerina Top” from Zoe Mellor, Adorable Knits for Tots (k)
11. “Aran Wrap,” my design (k)
12. “Felted Sashiko Chessboard Cover,” my design (k)
It’s a week later and here’s what I’ve finished:
No, this wasn’t on the list. Frankly, I forgot about it until it was time for SnB today and I needed a crochet project. Did you know that it’s National Crochet Month? The fabulous Ellen Bloom was there giving out crochet tips and tricks. She is definitely the expert! I learned, among other things, the “half-hitch double crochet” (OK, I may not have gotten the name right but it’s basically a technique to avoid that little gap/hole in between double crochet stitches).
Unfortunately, I’ve discovered other projects to add to my list. Here goes:
13. Jord (that’s the name of the yarn) handbag, my design (k)
14. Chair cushion cover, from Suss Home Knits (k)
15. Blue Basketweave scarf from Vogue Scarves book (k)
If they weren’t all so close to being done, I’d really despair.
I am officially declaring March 2008 to be my “stitch or cut floss” month (doesn’t that sound much nicer than “_____ or get off the pot” month?). But what does that mean, Kate?
I’m glad you asked, gentle reader. “Stitch or cut floss” means that I will, come hell or high water, finish all my UFOs by the end of the month. I will start April 2008 UFO-free!
In no particular order, these are the projects that I need to finish–“k” indicates a knitting project, “c” indicates crochet, and “xs” indicates cross stitch, of course. Here we go:
1. “Everything Bag” from Suss Cousins, Hollywood Knits Style (k)
2. “Breast Cancer Ribbin’ Scarf,” my design (k)
3. “Granny Square Scarf” by Suss Cousins, navy (k & c)
4. “Granny Square Scarf” by Suss Cousins, claret (k & c)
5. “Cardigan for Arwen” by Kate Gilbert in Interweave Knits, Winter 2006 (k)
6. Aran Sweater for SIL, from Ann Budd’s amazing Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns (k)
7. “Ewe & Eye Needlecase” by Heart’s Content (xs)
8. “Corinthian Ribbed Blanket,” my “design” (a simple ribbed blanket) (k)
9. “Drizzle” by Anna Tillman for Rowan 38 (k)
10. “Ballerina Top” from Zoe Mellor, Adorable Knits for Tots (k)
11. “Aran Wrap,” my design (k)
12. “Felted Sashiko Chessboard Cover,” my design (k)
Since I finished all those old cross stitch projects, I’ve been trying not to start a new one until I finish the Heart’s Content Needlecase, so that explains the huge discrepancy in the ratio of knitted to stitched projects. I promise to “correct” that in the future. Tomorrow, I’ll fill you all in on how pathetically close I am to finishing all of these. Sigh.
Several years ago, I bought this Heart’s Content kit called “Ewe & Eye Needlecase” at the big spring sale at Needles & Niceties in Upland, CA. I have a weakness both for sheep designs and one-over-one stitching. I started this project right away, but was soon overwhelmed by the difficulty of doing one-over-one stitching on 36-count with a beige linen background with one strand of light beige DMC embroidery floss.
My eyes have yet to hit middle age, but after about a half-hour of stitching under these conditions, I felt like they had. I made a decision to work on this project only in the middle of the day and only under direct sunlight. Needless to say, that somewhat limits one’s stitching opportunities. My progress on the needlecase slowed to a crawl and eventually stopped altogether.
As much as I love this project, I must admit that it’s been sitting in my UFO pile for at least three years now. So, now that it’s winter and sunlight is a limited commodity, I’ve decided to pull it out and start working on it again. Logical, eh?
Here’s my progress so far–stay tuned for more updates:
The Lyf So Short 