New Year's Wish

My Wishes for you (as well as myself) this New Year

May you tread lightly on the Earth

May you see the glass as half full

Know that others have it worse than your worst day

Commit random acts of kindness, so that you may receive them

Smile, even when you feel like crying

Scream when you feel like screaming

And know that tomorrow is yet another day, you have the power to choose how you will react to the day...choose to be happy

Last but not least...JUST BREATHE!

Out With The Old and In With The New

Whew! While 2011 wasn't as bad a year as I have experienced in my life, it certainly wasn't the best. Here's looking to what 2012 has in store for us!

On the crafting front I am still working on some test knitting for Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops. I love her designs and have been thankful to be a test knitter for her over the past few years. I am a fan of test knitting. While I do enjoy the final product, sometimes it's the process of the test knit that I enjoy most. The past couple times I have test knit for her I have learned new techniques, which is always fun for me. This time it was the Latvian Braid!

Since this is work from 2011, it certainly cannot be my first project of the 2012 year. My first project will be the Mystery Sock 2012 KAL by Kirsten at Through the Loops. even though we have had our swatch patterns for a while now, I have not gotten around to that. Heck I just now, today picked some yarn out of my stash! :)

Here is my Project Page. The yarn is from A Piece of Vermont Yarn & Fiber. Colorway is Silver Lake. It is 434 yards of superwash merino, bamboo and nylon.

I am hoping to get my test knitting completed so I don't fall too terribly behind on the KAL. I have also decided to join in with some twitter knitters on knitting up on a scarf a long. Nothing like starting the year out with projects on your to do list!

The scarf is called the Ten O'Clock Scarf...for all of us who don't sit to knit until after everyone else is taken care of...sometime around or after 10 pm. ;) Of course I have not yet decided on a yarn for this one!

I hope to get around to updating my knit meter as well as my 2011 FOs in the side bar. I really would like to be able to update my lil blogitty blog more regularly in the new year.

Wishing everyone everywhere a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!!!

See ya on the flip side!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays! For whatever Holiday you may choose to celebrate or choose not to celebrate!

Boy Wonder and his girlfriend exchanged gifts this past week. She loved her wrap he picked out for me to make for her. As did her sister and mother! Something tells me that wrap will be getting a lot of use.

It most certainly does NOT feel like December out there! Our grass is green and the temps are very mild. Absolutely no chance of a white Christmas for us this year.

I have been doing some little stocking stuffer crochet. An owl, a penguin and a few eyeballs. All of which I will have photos of tomorrow. I also did a wee little crafty knitting basket ornament type thing for a friend of mine, whom I taught to knit this past summer.

Been Crafting My Sweet Ass Off

Ahh the Holiday rush! Make items for order, make items for gifts, make items for stocking stuffers, make items, make items, make items. It's a good thing I dig knitting and crochet! :) Who am I kidding? I love it! If I didn't, I damn sure wouldn't spend so much time doing it.

I made some great fingerless mitts with a mitten flip top for one of friends that she requested. She couldn't find what she was seeking in the stores, so she came to me to make it! Pretty awesome. Having never done individual glove fingers, even half fingers, I tried to talk her into a flip top mitt. She *really* wanted half fingers. This was out of my comfort zone. Half fingers seemed like such a pain in the ass. It's a good thing I like her! I also knit a 3/4 thumb, leaving just the tip exposed for important texting. She loved them, and I added a new skill to my knitting arsenal.


There has also been a wonderfully soft and LONG scarf/stole made for Boy Wonder's girlfriend. It is so very long. I did an extra pattern repeat. This way she can wrap it numerous times or leave it long to the ground. It was his decision for me to make her something, he picked the pattern as well as the yarn and colors. He is such a thoughtful boy, his momma raised him right! He went with something that his GF would love as far as color and style. She is a wonderful young lady and has her own style. She is an individual, much like Boy Wonder. Not crowd followers.

Other items are crochet 'toys'. Penguin, owl and eyeballs. No photos taken yet, still in progress. The eyeballs will be stocking stuffers. Everyone will get one to match their own eye color. Family tradition of eyeballs in stockings. Yep, we're strange.

HEAD'S UP!

I am letting my purchased domain expire. If you follow along in a reader, please add http://wickedstitchcrafts.blogspot.com to your feed as wickedstitchcraft.com will expire January 15th.

Thanks! :)

Autumn!

Why is it that time flies by faster the older one gets? I swear it cannot be the end of OCTOBER already. The weather has been wonky to say the very least. We have days in the high 80's this month. It's supposed to be AUTUMN. 80's is not fall temps in my book. We have also had days in the 40's with frost at night. Again, where is my autumn weather? It seems it is one extreme to the next around here. I am stubborn and refuse to turn the heat on. I am not quite ready for those electric bills.

The school year is whizzing by at the speed of light for the kids as well. Teen Queen has been applying to colleges and for scholarships. It seems like just yesterday she was skipping around sing the Winnie The Pooh songs and bouncing like Tigger through the house!

At the end of the day, I just hope that everything works out in the end, and that's all I can do. We have what matters in life and what makes us complete and that is love. It doesn't pay the bills, but it's worth so much more. We have each other, we have our awesome kids and we keep our little family unit tight. People have mentioned how close our kids appear and how lucky we are to have such a close little family. We have our health, and we laugh A LOT. Come on, with a life like this one you have to have a sense of humor.

Sarcastic humor and a hobby is what helps to keep me SOMEWHAT sane.

The Isabella with the huge armholes is sitting in a project bag. Until I figure out something to remedy it or just give up and rip the whole thing out; this is where it will remain. I just cannot bring myself to frogging it yet.

On a happy crafting note I did complete a scarf. It was kind of by accident. It started with wanting to make some granny squares for the fun of it. I wanted some instant gratification. I crochet pretty quickly. In a week I had over 12 squares. What to do with them? I figured I would make a scarf. Used a pattern for the squares, but found nothing I liked on how to connect them. In my mind, I wanted it to have a lattice like appearance. It really was a couple evenings of try it,, don’t like it, frog it. I did that for two nights and finally I came up with something that I liked. Curling was the biggest issue I had which is why it took a couple tries to find the perfect join/edge.

Ravelry Project Page for Autumn Granny Scarf

My favorite latest item is my Drop Dead Sexy Vlad Shawlette! The yarn is from the Blue Moon Rockin Sock Club 2011 latest mailing. I had started a pair of socks with the yarn. However, by the time I got to the heel flap, I decided that it was too pretty to be way down by my feet and I had to have it up by my face! Vlad was perfect!

Ravelry Project Page for Drop Dead Sexy Vlad

Just the NAME of the colorway is awesome!

VLAD beginning.


VLAD complete, but not blocked.


VLAD blocking. Just look at those points! *SWOON*

Next up is a pair of socks for Rambo and a commissioned pair of fingerless mitts with a flip top.

LIVE< LOVE< LAUGH AND CARRY YARN!

Summer ...What an Ass-Kicker!

The weather and temps were INSANE! We even broke a record set back in 1901 for the most consecutive days over 90. It was over 100 more times than I care to count, so by the time the weather broke for a bit and gave us a couple days in the 80's, it felt like a dream. I despise hot humid weather, so to hear me say 80's was pleasant...you know it had to be bad!

A summer filled with ballparks, both baseball and softball. We even went to FL for softball world series again. Magic came in 3rd out of 25 teams. Not too shabby at all. I was busy crafting when not snapping off THOUSANDS of action shots.

Before we knew it, out so called summer was over and school was about to begin. One's summer flies by when end of school is late June and you are starting the next school year the second week of August.

I was crafty and in my quest for 11 projects in 2011....I have completed it! LSG11TY for me is done.

Last I updated I was at #8. Here are the items I recall making and remembering to actually take photos of. I attempted a few items, but they wound up in the frog pond. Like this little gem for instance....


That would be Isabella tank made from DIC SMOOSHY yarn. I LOVE the yarn. I followed the pattern to a T, making the measured size to ensure it would be large enough for my bodacious ta-tas. I blocked the pieces then seamed them together and hemmed the eyelet border at the bottom. I tried the damn thing on before adding the sleeves and it fits perfectly at the bust line and the hem falls right where I like my tops to be....one problem. The arm holes are SO BIG that no matter how I try when I add the cap sleeves...there is side boob viewing. NO THANK YOU! If I try to add longer sleeves, well it just looks dumb. The arm hole openings are so big that basically, I end up with sleeve seam mid boob. I have racked my brain to try to make this a doable project and with a wearable result. However, it's awaiting the frog pond. It will be a pain in the ass to frog, being that it's all seamed and basically FINISHED. *ugh*

In any case...here are the photo worthy and completed projects for my 11ty.

#9 Intrepid Socks

Project info

Name

Intrepid Socks

Pattern

Intrepid Traveler by Gail Marracci

Needle and yarn

Needle

US 3 - 3.25 mm

Yarn

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight

How much?

1 skeins = 360.0 yards (329.2m)

Colorway

Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

Purchased at

BMFA

#10 Susan's Sunshiny Intrepid Socks

Project info

Name

Susan's Sunshiny Intrepid Socks

Pattern

Intrepid Traveler by Gail Marracci

#11 Nifty Crochet Sponges

Project info

Name

Nifty Crochet Sponges

Pattern

Crochet Dish Sponge by Krysten Lewelling

Yarn

Lily Sugar'n Cream Ombres & Prints

Colorway

various

Notes

I made a few of these of various leftover cotton I had from making dishcloths. Now I have dishcloths with matching sponges! :) These things are GREAT!!! I will never go back to using store bought stinky sponges.

#12 Baby Kicking Bag

Project info

Name

S&F January Baby Kicking Bag

Pattern

Kicking Bag for Babies by annika

Needle and yarn

Needle

US 3 - 3.25 mm

Yarn

Patons Kroy Socks Stripes

How much?

2 skeins = 332.0 yards (303.6m)

Colorway

Krazy Stripes

Dye lot

14411

Color family

Green

#13 Sweet Ass Steam Mop Pad

Project info

Name

Sweet Ass Steam Mop Pad

Pattern

Crochet Biffer Shrug by Krysten Lewelling

Yarn

Lily Sugar'n Cream Solids & Denim

Colorway

I whipped this up in one evening watching tv with the family. I am sure the ‘ruffly’ portion in top photo will shrink up when I wash the pad. The texture on this is fabulous and I am sure it will do a bang up job on my floors!

I did not follow the directions as far as stitch count. I drew a template of my shark steam mop head by tracing it on paper and hooked stitches til I got to the correct size. Be creative!

Blogging Idiot

More often that not I forget that I have this blog. I tend to get so caught up in the daily grind that I don't even think about posting what I have whipped up crafting or cooking lately or what nonsense we have been up to over here.

On the crafting front I have completed two more items in my LSG11ty project.

#7 Wicked Twisting Socks

Project info

Name

wicked twisting

Pattern

Twisting the Night Away Socks by Heather Marsiglia

Needle and yarn

Needle

US 3 - 3.25 mm

Notes

Yarn used is that which came in the BMFA Rockin Sock Club Jan 2011 edition.

#8 Josie's Big City Calais

Project info

Name

Josie's Big City Calais

Pattern

Calais Shawl by Judy Marples

Needle and yarn

Needle

US 5 - 3.75 mm

Yarn

Knit Picks Essential Tweed

How much?

2 skeins = 462.0 yards (422.5m)

Colorway

plum tweed

Color family

Red-purple

The Needles Are Clicking...Can You Hear It?

My knit 11 in 2011 (LSG11ty) has been coming right along.

4. Darkside Cowl: knit on US size 8 needles, yarn was held double strand, Naturally Caron in Country (charcoal) and Knit Picks Essential Tweed (plum). Accidentally in the end, it matched my coat pretty well. Added bonus! :)


5. Peapod Sloucher aka Blackberry Bramble as I like to call it. It's knit on US size 9 needles using carons simply soft in black. GASP! Acrylic! Whatever, I am no yarn snob. :) Equal opportunity knitter over here!


6. Forest Mr. GreenJeans Cardigan is my latest and fresh off the needles! US 8 needles and Lion Brand Wool Ease Heather yarn was used. It was knit for a friend, size medium. I hope she loves it and I REALLY hope that it fits! That's one of my stressors when knitting for others who are far away...will it fit. This is the second time I have knit this sweater and I LOVE IT. Perhaps the next one will be for me! ;) The first one was meant to be for myself, but my lovely daughter decided she liked it, so I handed it over. She is the one pictured above in my Blackberry Bramble hat...which she also swiped and now calls her own.

Not blocked and still needing the edging

All blocked out and ready for it's close-up!

Only five more projects left to go to make my 11 in 2011. I don't know who I am trying to kid, it's really no stretch for me to make that many items in a year.

In other news, Teen Queen's high school team has been practicing just about 6 days a week for months now. Games begin March 21st. Could they possibly take state this year? Only time will tell. Once school is over it's Magic time! Magic Fastpitch Softball that is! Tournaments all summer long to include a World Series.

Boy Wonder has had off season training along with some speed and agility training for Phenom Baseball. He has the honor and recognition that I would guess a very few have; he caught a bullpen session of a MLB pitcher. Not too shabby for a 14 yr old!

It's a damn good thing for my kids that I enjoy sports and spending my life at the ballfields!

Castiel Hat Complete!

I do love me some Woolly Wormhead Hats! This one was different from the other designs of hers that I have done. My first thought was; "oh no, I have to learn or more like *attempt* to learn a new cast on?" I got to say her tutorial of the alternate cable cast on was so easy to follow and I had no issues getting this hat cast-on!

Knowing that I stitch tightly when I knit or crochet for that matter, I went up a needle size. Where I might have goofed is that I kept that size for the entire hat. Ideally, in hindsight, I should have went up a size for the body of the hat. Although, even with this very minor error on my part, the hat fits nicely!

#3 of my LSG11ty DONE!

Yarn used: Naturally Caron Country in charcoal colorway
Needle size: US5

Blocking







Totally Wearable







Oh and just to add cute-ness to the blog...the recipient of the Toddler Hat with matching Doll Hat!

LSG11ty Tracking

My LSG11ty (knit 11 things in 2011) is tracking nicely.


1. Toddler Sock Yarn Hat (with a matching one for her baby doll)
Obviously this is NOT the intended recipient and just my very willing model! ;)



2. Rambo's Trigger Mitts
He says they fit well and he loves them!


I will be casting on for the Castiel Hat by Woolly Wormhead tonight. Swatching and checking gauge right now. It will be in a charcoal color, by Naturally Caron in Country yarn. It's so super soft and squishy. I believe it will make a lovely hat!

Off to my knitting!

New Year, New Age!

Happy New Year to all and Happy Birthday to Me!

The problem with having a birthday that falls near the wintery holiday season...it's all over at once. No birthday to look forward to in the middle of the year, nothing to break up the monotony of the year, all the presents come in at the same time.

As a child it was terrible to get the dreaded 'combo' gifts. Get the sweater for Xmas and then the rest of the ensemble for birthday. Get the necklace for one, get the earrings for the other, get the toy for one, get the batteries for the other. OK, maybe that last one was a slight exaggeration. ;)

As an adult it stinks because quite frankly, it typically just gets overlooked by most people.
"ahhh the holiday rush is over, time to relax and get back to normal..... (mid February/March it dawns on them) ahhh CRAP I forgot all about her birthday!"

Yep, it's great. Thankfully, Rambo and the kids know better than to overlook my day! Since Rambo's birthday is before xmas and mine is after and we both wanted new phones; we got each-other a BlackBerry Torch. I have been resistant since I love my BB Bold 9000 so very much, not to mention I'm not a huge fan of the touch screens. The Torch has both a touch screen as well as a BB Keyboard, which is why I decided to give it a go.

Here are my two BB's side by side. (bold on bottom/right side, torch on top/left side)




It's not a HUGE change, but still one that requires some getting used to. I am liking it well enough so far, but I also have the option of slamming that SIM card into my Bold 9000 should I start feeling all nostalgic.

On the crafty front, I aim to keep a better blog of my yarnie goodness. Including photos of course. I have a nasty habit of washing and packing up the FO right away. Before I realize it, the item has been mailed off and THEN it dawns on me that I forgot to snap a shot of it! *forehead slap*

In hopes of keeping me on track so to speak. There is the LSG11ty group, where the plan is to knit 11 things in 2011. For me this is good in 2 ways; it should help me remain more active on Ravelry in general as well as keep me from knitting aimlessly and perhaps have some purpose...or at least a vague map. ;)

One of the first items I believe will be Jared Flood's Juneberry Triangle.
Secondly, or tandemly for my OTG (on the go) project will be Woolly Wormhead's Castiel Hat.

After that, it's anyone's guess what I will knit next!

Now to search the stash to see if I have anything that fits the bill for these items. If not, it's the perfect opportunity to use the Michael's gift card I got for xmas!