Way back, almost 3 months ago, I started working on a Drop Stitch Scarf for a friend.  I’ve worked on it off and on, taking breaks in between to work on other projects (Christmas gifts, etc.) and it is getting closer and closer to being finished.  I absolutely love this scarf, but I kind of hate knitting it.

It is a very simple pattern, but I have to actually pay attention to what I’m doing and count stitches as I go along instead of mindlessly knitting while I watch TV as I usually do.  The pattern is fun, and beautiful, and I love the effect of the dropped stitches.  It just seems to be taking me forever to finish.

But, it is nearing the end.  I’m so close to being done I can almost taste it.  I may even finish it tonight while I watch my shows.  I’ll be happy to have it done, but so sad to hand it over to my friend instead of wrapping it around my own neck.

P.S. In the nearly 3 months(!) since I’ve posted here, I’ve been keeping very busy.  While I have been knitting, my focus has been on cleaning/organizing my house, learning how to use my new camera, building a new web site for my church, and spending every free moment I can find with my kids and husband.  As life settles back into our normal winter routine, I hope to be updating more often here!

In my last post I asked for scarf pattern recommendations and Marilyn suggested that I get on Ravelry and look up the Drop Stitch Scarf pattern.  Since she’s all kinds of awesome, I took it to heart and jumped on Ravelry.  There were lots of scarf patterns listed under “Drop Stitch Scarf” but I’m pretty sure this is the one she meant in her suggestion.

I took a look at the pattern, decided I could handle it and cast on that night.  I cast on with size 9 circulars because apparently I don’t have any straight needles in that size, but it seems to be working out ok.  I will admit to having to rip out a couple rows due to accidentally dropping the wrong stitch and not noticing until I was a couple rows past it, but overall this is a fun pattern.  All of the yarn overs and stitch dropping can be a little scary at first but I think it will turn out great.

The only drawback is I think this one is going to require blocking when I’m all done and I’ve never blocked anything (Shhhh…don’t tell the knitters!)  I guess I’ll have something new to learn, eh?

Anyway, this is as far as I’ve gotten on it so far because I was busy making Halloween cookies last night but I plan on working on it some more tonight while I watch my shows.

Most of the things I make end up being gifts for other people.  I make things for my kids, for other people’s kids, and for other family members, but I rarely ever make anything for myself.  I have one tote bag and a couple of knitted hats, but that’s all I’ve ever kept for myself…until now.  I finally make something just for me! I now have nice warm purple scarf for winter and I can’t wait for it to get cold enough to use it.  It is just a simple garter stitch scarf that was quick to whip up but I love it!

I’m not sure what has gotten into me over the last couple of weeks, but I have been in such a knitting mood.  I suppose I pushed myself into it by vowing to finish my mom’s scarf that I promised her for her birthday last year.  Her birthday is in 3 days and I just finally finished the scarf last week!  I didn’t really expect it to take me a year to finish but I guess I got a little distracted.

Then over the weekend I made three more hats. I made two adorable pink and brown Chunky Knit Beanies, one for Evie and one for my niece Caitlin. I also knit up another Hot Hedd in camouflage for Zach, although with the stretch of the ribbing, it also fits me pretty well.

I love knitting hats because they knit up so fast. To speed things up even more, I decided to try knitting continental style again. I’ve done it before but never could quite get comfortable with it. I never could figure out how to purl continental style. I decided to give it another go this weekend (with some video tutorials at KnittingHelp.com) and I have now been converted. Once I got over the awkwardness and figured out how to hold my hands, I fell in love with it and I’ll never go back.

Next up, I think it is about time I knit something for myself. I have a few ideas in mind, but I can’t decide which one to start on first!

Here I am again feeling the need to apologize for not updating. I’m not sure why I feel that way really. It’s my blog, I should be able to update (or not update as the case may be) when I please. That said, I’m going to make an effort to catch up on what I’ve done the last couple of months.

As far as knitting goes, I seem to have lost my drive a bit. I want to knit. It just feels so time consuming these days. I suppose that’s why I have about five unfinished projects going. I’ll start something and then lose the drive to finish it. I guess that’s why I prefer hats, scarfs, and other quick projects as opposed to knitting sweaters.

Just before Christmas, I decided I wanted to give some handmade gifts. I was a little too ambitious with my plans and didn’t get them all finished, but I did actually complete a couple of knitted items. Hubby’s mom had requested a pink scarf a while back when she saw me knitting the pink Grace Beanie last summer. So, I pulled out my leftover yarn and knitted her up a quick scarf. Then, for lack of any better ideas, I found some camo colored Red Heart yarn at Michael’s and decided to knit my father-in-law a hat to keep his noggin warm. He’s big on hunting so I thought the camo colors would be perfect for him. (Yes, I’m aware the picture quality totally sucks and you can’t really make out the colors.)

With all of the holiday rush, I barely finished those items in time to get them mailed out. Instead of fooling myself into thinking I could actually get anything else knitted in time, I decided to do a little sewing for the third gift.

My sister-in-law was due to give birth to my niece about a week after Christmas, so I wanted to make her a nice tote bag for all that baby stuff she would soon be carrying around.  With my procrastinating, I ended up staying up until about 4:00 Christmas morning finishing the bag up.  The pattern was actually very easy, but apparently sleep deprivation is not very helpful when you are trying to follow even an easy pattern.  I love how the bag turned out am hoping to find the time to make myself one soon.

Projects that I will hopefully finish soon:
Baby blanket started nearly a year ago! (um, baby will be here hopefully in 7 weeks or less!)
Baby bib started last summer sometime (not really sure what the holdup is on this one, just bored with it)
Baby hat (should seriously have finished this one already)
Birthday gift for a birthday that has already passed (started, um, yesterday)
Scarf for myself (not yet started)

And if I can ever get all of those done, I picked up some really cute chunky yarn (Yarn Bee Mosaic in Sunrise – for $.99 a skein!) last night at Hobby Lobby that I’m just dying to play with.  I’m thinking it would make some cute hats and/or ponchos for my baby girl and my two new nieces.

The last few days I haven’t felt much like being on the computer. That means I’m not getting some of the things done that I should be doing, but it also means that I’ve been doing more knitting.

Zach stayed at his aunt’s house last night, so hubby and I took the opportunity to have a nice child-free dinner out and then a quiet evening. My plan was to get ahead with some of my blog posts at Tot TV Watch as we’re going to be vacationing soon, but I just couldn’t motivate myself to write. After a couple of hours of staring at the screen, I finally put it away and pulled out the scarf I’ve been working on.

Before I knew it, it was 11:00. I was tired and my eyes were aching, but I was so close to finishing it I just couldn’t stop. I finally finished the scarf up. It was my first scarf ever and I am totally in love with it. The picture really doesn’t do it justice. It is beautiful and soft and fuzzy. I love it so much I’m going to have a hard time giving it away. I suppose I can always make another one.

While talking to my sister last weekend (about the beautiful scarf that she is getting) she said, “You know you could make something for yourself some time.” When I started thinking about it, the only things I have ever kept for myself were Zach’s baby blanket, the first afghan I ever crocheted, and a couple of hats. Everything else has been given away as gifts. Now I’m wondering, how many knitters and crocheters out there actually keep the things they have made. What percentage would you say you give away as gifts or donations?

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