Last knitting of the year!!

Today is the last day of 2013 and these are the two projects I will be knitting today. This  year has been very full. I visited 3 different beach locations this year. Florida, Cayman Islands and Washington state. I have moved across the country and changed job locations. There was a lot to deal with. I'm looking forward to the new year and new beginnings.

Wishing you all a wonderful new year filled with health, love and success. Thank you for visiting my blog and your interest in my knitting. May this be a year filled with lots of beautiful knits too!!

Christmas knitting

 Yes I have been AFK so to speak.... between Christmas knitting and working retail... I have been busy.
 Top picture is of a potato chip scarf I knit out of some handspun that has been hanging around in the stash for many years. I think this was the perfect project for it. This is a present for my daughter. I'm also behind on getting my presents mailed but this will go out tomorrow.

 And there was snow! I woke up to go to work and saw this. I have to say it felt very cold and my feet got numb. Some people are saying we are going to have snow in January and others are saying no. If we do get snow I will have to invest in some snow boots. I don't like frozen feet... I was very beautiful though.

 I started this scarf back  in October, but I only work on it traveling on the bus and at work on my breaks. It ended up being 6"X66" long. My son really likes the pattern.. yay.

 Some good friends couldn't use their Christmas tree this year and let us borrow it. My first Christmas in Washington. We spent a quiet day watching every Christmas movie there is and some other popular movies. We had our Christmas Breakfast and my son baked a chicken for dinner and we sat around and chatted.

 My daughter and grandsons.. <3

 Walking to work on Saturday I came across a whole row of mossy trees. They are awesome. I could only get a good picture of one with my phone. 

Another cowl for my daughter. This one is crochet. At first I didn't like how it turned out. I had to go down a needle size because that is all I had here. When I finished it, the cowl was stiff so I added a tie. After I washed it, it became very soft and drapes nicely now.

 This is a Hounds tooth hat for my son that didn't quite make it for Christmas day. I'm still working on it and hopefully will finish it this week. The weather warmed up here so I guess he doesn't mind.
Below is a sweater I started for myself on Christmas day. I really dislike the pink color that is right next to the yellow and I think I'm going to rip back to the pink and cut it out. I think I will be happier with the color. The other pink on the needles is a softer color although it doesn't look like it in the picture. More on this sweater next time. I plan on making a few changes to the pattern.
 Hopefully now that the holidays are over I can blog a little more regularly. Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

 

in the works.. hooks and needles

 Just a little catching up.... two of my favorite little boys had a birthday..Jayden is 7 and Micah is 3! They are growing so fast! November also brought a new member to the family. Little Caleb. He looks cozy in his owlie sleep sack.

 The weather has indeed turned colder here in Washington state. My sister was kind enough to send me two coats she no longer uses. Both are very warm and I'm grateful for both of them. Thanks sis. Yesterday it actually went down into the teens here and it felt very bitter outside. So glad I took the time to knit myself some hats, scarves and gloves.

 I had this yarn in my stash and just purchased a pretty off white sweater with a little glitter in it. This yarn matches perfectly and I wanted to make it to wear to work. This was obviously a second. There was a knot in one end and the these holes in the other. The ruffles hide the holes and I don't think it will get worse, but still!!! It did end up looking really nice with my sweater. Everyone at work liked it and are now trying to get me to make them all one as Christmas presents... hummm.

 This scarf is creeping along. Every day I shove this in my backpack and knit on the way to work, except for the last two days. The temps are in the teens and it was too cold to knit. My hands were frozen.

 Just having moved, I have no Christmas decor except a few strings of lights that my son purchased at Walgreens the other day. I saw a beautiful felted garland on Anthropoloie.com and fell in love with it but not the price. So as you can see I'm trying to make my own version. I'm using a pattern that is on raverly for a Christmas wreath for  the leaves and acorns. I'll have to figure something out for the little owls. My goal it to make at least one leaf and acorn a day.

 This is just a plain boy beanie with earflaps for my son. I have made him a lot of wool hats but he says the wool has started to itch so this one is in cotton. To me it doesn't feel warm at all, but that is what he wants so I'm making it for him.

 A quickie cowl for my daughter. I'm not sure I like it. I used some of my handspun in the middle and I know it is warm, but I had to use one hook size smaller because that is all I have right now until someday I ship the rest of my stuff from Florida. That made it feel a little stiff to me. I think it would have been nicer is it was  a little softer. Oh well...

Knitting continued....

I started the second ball of yarn and there was a break in the pattern for about and inch. I ripped back and had to cut off about 3 1/2 yards of yarn. I spit joined the ends and it seems like it is ok. I'll have to knit a few more inches to see if it worked. This part will be at the back of the neck and not so noticeable but I still want it look continuous.  (this picture is upside down btw)

Here is the finished hat and scarf. I think Abby will look so cute in this.

The other day we went to the beach just to collect some shells to display on the little black IKEA table we have in the living room. We were successful. I think if we had gotten there earlier we could have gotten some larger ones. I saw some people walking by with beautiful large shells. Oh well next time.
  I think even with wet suits on they were cold. The icy water is still touching their hands and faces. My face and fingers were cold from the air.

Lately I have been obsessed with beaches. I love all the mysterious plants and creatures that live in the ocean. I think it all so beautiful.

So many pretty ocean rocks.. all rounded and smooth.

Knitting and other things

Steadily knitting away on holiday gifts. My grand kids call my every year and tell me what they want me to knit them for Christmas. This year Cam asked for blue mittens on a string. I decided to add a little cowl to that. I'm knitting it in the round and used a provincial cast on and will graft it together into a ring with the live stitches when finished. Abby asked for a pink hat with kitty ears. I also added a  little scarf to that with fluffy little pompoms that I purchased at Joanns. I still haven't shipped the rest of my knitting tools from Florida and I didn't want to purchase a pompom maker right now.

Little by little I'm starting to purchase needles and crochet hooks as I need them. I really like these as they are very much like the knit pick needles, but when you need a needles for a wip and do not want to wait a week for them to be shipped these are a good alternative. I was also able to use Joann coupons on them.

When taking a break from knitting and work I have started painting again. Yesterday we went to the art supply store and I purchased a fine little brush and a good quality white paint and was able to add the little boat to my painting today. I'm pleased with the outcome. We also picked up bundles of canvases and the prices were so good it was almost unbelievable. So There will be more paintings in the near future.

Everything is washed and all the ends are tucked in. They are laying out to dry. I still have to add the little fluffy pompoms to the ears on the hat. I think Abby will like it.

We took a little trip to Edmonds beach yesterday. I love the beach for some reason. Even thought it was pretty chilly with the wind, I was able to collect some shells for a glass jar I have on my table. My little fingers were frozen. The shells add to my room decor and paintings of the ocean.

Little things..

 I finally started a little Christmas knitting. I'm way behind this year. I actually do not think I will have more than a few little items knit to give for presents. The hat above was requested by my granddaughter. She wants a pink hat with kitty ears. I'm planning to put pom pom in the ears. I'm knitting a plain little scarf to match in a different yarn and I'm going to use that yarn for the pom poms. 
I did make myself a few items to wear in the cold weather here. These gloves were really easy and simple to knit and are very comfy and warm.

 In this picture are two cowls, one knit, one crochet, and a hat all out of the same yarn. I washed every thing and they are drying. They yarn got really soft after I washed it. OOO the name of the yarn is Patons Colorwul. It was very fun to knit with and very fast.

 There was actually a sun set here the other day. It's pretty rare because there isn't that much sun. It made me fell like I was back in Florida.

On my daily walk to work there is always something beautiful to look at. A good way to start the day.

 More of the same sun set.

 My little fellows back in Florida. I miss them..

this weeks knitting..

 These items will eventually be a set. I bought that crazy yarn for the cowl at Joann's Crafts and I knit it up in a evening when my son came to visit. The yarn is called Fizzle. The mitts are the lenticular mitts pattern from ravelry. The pattern for the cowl is on the label of the yarn.

 My niece came over and we had a painting day on our day off. She has never painted a picture before and had an idea. We didn't get to finish because my son cooked some yummy chicken and veggies and then it got late and she had to go home. She wanted to paint her little hamster standing on a chair looking at map and wearing armor. hehe. She got the base part of her painting finished. I was painting a picture of the ocean from a picture I took when I was on vacation in the Cayman Islands. It was going good until I splatter water on it. Maybe today I will work on it and finish it and fix the water spots.

 I finished this warm chunky cowl this week. The yarn is Paton's Colorwul. I made it to match the hat I made out of the same yarn. The pattern is the Big Cloud Cowl and can be found here. It was a very fast project. I changed it a little. I worked two double crochet in between the clusters. It was too bulky working just clusters on one row and was eating up all the yarn.

 Here are my projects on the needles right now. I'm working on a scarf for my son, fingerless mitts for me and I stared a pink earflap hat for my granddaughter which I will add kitty ears to and pom-poms. 

 This is what I see every morning as I wait for the bus to go to work. The highlight of my day. Soon there will be no more colorful leaves to look at. They seem to get brighter every day.

 This picture was taken yesterday on my way home. There was a gale warning all day and lots of rain. People lost power all day and came out shopping so it was a pretty busy day at work. We had lost power for only 10 minutes when I was getting ready for work so we were lucky. Today I'm just hanging out with my son, knitting, gaming and maybe painting. (^_^)

crochet or knit

 I love this yarn by Patons. Colorwul. I just can't decide if I like it better knit or crochet so I keep working on both. below I went to Joanns craft store ( the only place that sells yarn near by) and picked up some fun stuff. When I moved I only brought the bare essentials with me so now I have be having to purchase new items here until I can ship the rest.

 Beautiful Washington. Right now all the trees are so beautiful and bright with color.. Almost every day there has been pretty heavy fog for part of the days and night. Kind of pretty and mysterious. Some times I feel like I'm in a Harry Potter movie when I get out of work and the bus pulls up in the mist.

 

 A boy beanie for my son. I mostly have been knitting hats and cowls to keep us warm.