Warm hands, warm heart?

I want this to be a post about my latest creation, an absolutely stunning shawl designed by my girlfriend Laura, but I’ve been sick the last few days and haven’t even felt up to photographing it. However, I do have FO’s to share from December.

Pattern: Greenery Hat by Lilith Parker

Source: PDF or Ravelry

Yarn: Classic Elite Waterspun; Blue Spruce; Needles: 4.5 mm / US 7

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash; 816 Grey & 819 Brown; Needles: 4.0 mm / US 6

I liked this hat pattern so much, I made 3 of them and kept one for myself. The hat knit up quickly and easily and all the hats seemed to fit quite well. I love the color of the Classic Elite yarn. Although the yarn is discontinued, I really quite liked it. You can’t tell in the photos, but it had a felted quality about it.

Pattern: Chevalier Mittens by Tikru

Source: MadeByMyself and Ravelry

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash; 816 Grey; Needles: 4.5 mm/ US 7

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash; 819 Brown; Needles: 3.75 mm / US 5

Yarn: Classic Elite Waterspun; Blue Spruce; Needles: 3.75 mm / US 5

Grey Mitten Modifications: I omitted rows 75 – 78 and modified the top decrease section as explained by Storm Moon Knits.

Brown & Blue Mitten Modifications: I omitted rows 29-32 and 75-78 and modified the top decrease section as explained by Storm Moon Knits.

Unfortunately they all ended up being too long even with omitting the rows and going down a needle size. The worst part though was that I lost one of the grey ones on my drive home from Idaho back to California. I swear, somedays it’s a good thing my head is attached.

The brown gloves and hat went to my middle sister for her December birthday. She had originally requested fingerless gloves with mitten tops, but after attempting to knit those twice, I gave up. When I saw the Chevalier Mitten pattern, I hoped the cable design would help her forget her original request. She called me just a few days ago and asked for more gloves and hats. Obviously she likes them.

The blue/green gloves and hat went to my sister 14 months younger than I for her September birthday. I know, I was a teensy bit late. I don’t know if she uses them or not since she hasn’t spoken to me since the fiasco at my mom’s house 6 weeks ago. Had I know she was going to say such hurtful things to me two days after I gave them to her, I would have kept them. I’ve always had a policy to only knit for those that would appreciate the love & care I put into a hand knit item. Unfortunately I don’t think she understands that. What’s that saying, “once bitten, twice shy?”

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Miss Me?

Where do I begin? I know that many of you have been wondering that since the middle of November. I can’t believe it’s been that long since I blogged. I kept meaning to, but it seems like “life” just kept getting in the way. I have been dealing with “stuff” (how’s that for vague) and my blogging & emailing seemed to be the thing that suffered because of it.

I know I should have done a quick post to let you know I was going to be absent for awhile, but to be honest, I really didn’t think it was going to go on for this long. Here’s a quick recap of the highlights of my life:

• Weight Loss: To date, I have lost 15 pounds in 2 months. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to see this weight gone, and I’m almost halfway since I only have 21 more pounds to go. Yes, NutriSystem works …. even around the holidays! (Then again, I only allowed myself very few “cheats”)

• Fibromyalgia: The medication I started 2 months ago is definitely working and all of my symptoms have improved by 50% or more. I still have some “bad” days, but they aren’t more than twice a week and it used to be four or five times a week, so I’m thrilled. I now feel like I’m in control, instead of the fibro.

• Knitting: I have been knitting quite a bit, and I definitely got a lot of knitting complete while driving from Southern California to Southern Idaho for “vacation” the week before Christmas. At one point, I was up to my elbows in scarves, hats, and gloves, but since all these items have been gifted now, I’ve realized that I missed out on photo documenting some of these items. I will try to get photos of the items I’m missing and post a holiday knitting recap as soon as possible. By the way, all of the knitting on the road was accomplished in our new 2008 GMC Envoy.

This is what my husband wanted for Christmas, and since our mechanic stated my husbands car was only going to last another 3 months or so before we’d have to start replacing the major items, I reworked our budget so we could afford it. The evening we drove it home from the dealer, my husband had the same smile on his face that I last saw 4 years ago ….. when we got married. I’m still not sure what to think about that.

• Family: As I stated, we recently spent some time in Idaho to visit my parents, siblings and their families. The main point of the visit was to get a photo of all of us together which is only 20 people, but logistically, it’s still tricky to coordinate with every ones schedules. The photos went pretty well, but a situation presented itself that evening that really messed up the rest of the trip. I don’t want to get into the details here, but I will say that the thought of what happened still brings a pang of hurt to my heart. As a side note and personal recommendation, when you are hurt, upset, or mad, please take a moment and think before you open your mouth. Sometimes words said can be very hurtful and it can time a very long time to heal the wounds the words left behind. Enough said. It’s difficult to admit, but I was never so happy to leave and come home.

We spent Christmas Eve & Day with DH, my step-daughter, son-in-law, grandsons, step-daughters mom, and her husband. We made some wonderful Christmas memories and although that would’ve been enough, I was still thrilled when I received this:

It’s a brand spankin’ new MacBook Pro. “Yes Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus”. Now I can blog and email and everything else from anywhere. This hopefully means that you’ll be seeing a lot more of me. I’m still getting used to my new “toy”, so bear with me if I don’t get to all of your blogs this week.

I also received quite a few other wonderful items for Christmas, but I bet you’ll be most interested in this one:

When I was visiting family for a week, each day I looked forward to stopping in at the Barnes and Noble bookstore since it had wonderful gift ideas, and it was the only place I could find decent coffee since my family doesn’t drink it. I flipped through this book several times and hinted to my husband that I would like it. He shared that information with one of my sisters who ended up gifting it to me. Yeah!

I guess that’s enough of an update for now. Since I haven’t been at your blogs for over a month, I hope your holidays have been wonderful and I’d like to wish each of you a happy and prosperous New Year. For now, I best be getting around to each of your blogs and catching up on your lives.

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