Knitting Group

Some people think I am obsessed with knitting... after this Christmas I'm thinking they may be right. I never would have gotten through it if it hadn't been for the inspirational knitting group I belong too. These women are amazing and really motivate me. To say "thank you" I made each one their own personal knitting notebook. One of my gifts this year (to myself) was a Bind-It All machine. These notebooks were fun to make and I love how they turned out. The inside had pages on current projects, future projects, favorite websites/blogs/books and notes. I was beside myself with excitement to day I was to present these and I wasn't disappointed, everyone seemed to love them.

Lisa, Sue, Kristin and Leslie... I THANK YOU for keeping me sane, for your support, inspiration, motivation and friendship. I hope the new year brings you all everything you wish for!

Sherri

Christmas is over...

With a BIG sigh of relief Christmas is over. All the presents have been unwrapped, Santa was good to the kids and the day was wonderful, not to mentin the fact that it was a white Christmas. My daughter actually said "this is the best Christmas ever" which made me all warm and fuzzy on the inside. There was no fighting and no tears this year. And, everyone loved their knitted gifts and everything fit. Can it get any better than that? I guess I should be knocking on wood... my Mom hasn't received her package yet so I don't know if her gift fit or not. Knock, knock and double knock, knock...

Today I finished up a pair of felted slippers for my sister (talk about last minute, I was working on them when they pulled up). They finally dried and I was able to add the suede bottoms from Fiber Trends. I LOVE these slipper bottoms and will use them again. They are so perfect for preventing holes. Plus the fact that I won't fall on my a.. when I wear mine is a big plus in my book. Shoot... I forgot to get a picture.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a safe and happy new year too!

Ready for Christmas!

Tomorrow is the big day and I'm all finished with my projects. I'm just happy I was able to get everything done in time. I love how all my vests by Lisa Ellis Designs turned out and I think they will be a big hit. I probably won't post anything for a few days. I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday!

Stuck at home...

It's snowing again for the second straight day. I can't remember the last time I saw this much snow. The good thing about it is it makes for great knitting! I love to curl up on the couch with hot cocoa and my knitting. I'm finishing up last minute Christmas gifts and will post the pictures later, you can also check them out on www.ravelry.com under merrysherri. I love Christmas but, for some reason, I can't wait for it to be over this year. Can't wait for the stress to just slip away, although a few good spiked hot cocoa's could also do the trick :) I hope you are all knitting away and are able to finish up your projects. Have a wonderful Christmas and a happy and safe New Year!

Snow, snow go away...

Today was my knitting group day and through wind, rain, snow and freezing weather I was determined to get there. Then... they had to go and close school for the day. Luckily my wonderful husband was home and I was able to make it to knitting. The hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps made it worthwhile, not mention the wonderful company... I needed it today. I was able to work on a project that needs to be in the mail by Friday or Saturday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will happen. I can't wait to post a picture but can't do that until after Christmas since I want it to be a surprise. Little by little I'm getting my Christmas projects done. I honestly have to say I can't wait for Christmas to be over this year.

The other day I picked up a new book called 'Knitting For Peace'. It's a wonderful book filled with information on all kinds of knitting charities. Starting in January I plan to do some charity knitting and to also finally start a sweater for myself. I've never made one for myself, almost everything I knit I give away. The only thing I have kept for myself are socks and slippers. I think I will really enjoy the charity knitting and can't wait to get started. Maybe I can wrangle in some friends to join me :)

Have a great day and stay warm!

A Teacher's Gift

I can't believe how fast Christmas crept up on me this year... here I thought I was all prepared and had all my lists planned out. Ha... that was a joke. Christmas is now less than 2 weeks away and I'm getting stressed about finishing all my projects. My priority this week is finishing up teacher gifts which will be the felted lunch bags. This one is done except for the felting. I used the Cascade 220 Paints in David's Eyes. I love the colors but I'm not sure if I'm happy about how they pooled in the round. We will see how it turns out after felting. I also used only one strand, almost everything I have felted so far I've used two strands. I'm hoping it turns out OK. The pattern is a free pattern on www.ravelry.com under Brown Bag.

My other projects are for my knitting group, can't mention those because of little eyes that might read this :) Yes, I'm talking about you Lisa and Sue... Hope you like what I came up with!

More and more hats...

Are you tired of seeing hats yet? This is the year of hats for my family. My nephews are getting hats stuffed with cash for Christmas this year. Don't worry, I'm almost done with the hat thing... here are two more, one is the warm ears Taos hat in blues just like the one Hailey is wearing below. The other is another ribbed hat just like the one done in Patons below but this time I'm using Crystal Palace Taos. It was going to be for my nephew but I think it has too much purple in it. I have another ball I may use for him. Both patterns are free downloads, email me if you need to links.

Test Knit Vest

I test knit a pattern for a friend and I have to tell you... I LOVE this pattern. Check out http://www.lisaellisdesigns.com/ for the pattern. These vests will be Christmas gifts this year. They are so incredibly quick and easy to knit, it is made in one piece so NO seaming (a BIG plus in my book). Did I ever mention how much I HATE seaming... I HATE seaming. I have two more to make... think I can get done before Christmas? The race is on!

PS: I still need to block the purple vest. Did I mention how much I hate blocking? Just kidding... I haven't attempted much blocking yet. Tried it once... didn't work so well. I've heard it works wonders (if you know what your doing). I'll post better pictures once I suck it up and do it!

Who needs sleep anyway...

OK, it is now 2:45 AM and I can't sleep, my head is killing me and my husband is snoring... might as well knit right? I finished the ribbed hat for my nephew and another warm ears Taos hat for my niece. Now on to slippers (for sis) and finishing a sweater (can't say for who because she might read this), must get done before Christmas. I can't believe it is only 2 weeks away... how in the world did this creep up so fast? So many projects... so little time! I think I'll start knitting in January for next Christmas. LOL... that's what I said last year. Must go knit now!

Another hat for my nephew...

Today's project is another hat for my nephew. I found some Paton's yarn in my stash in the garage. I don't use a lot of Patons and I don't even know why I bought it but I figured I needed to use it up. The pattern is a ribbed hat from ravelry and can be found at http://www.crumpart.net/, a free download. I really like the pattern and it's a quick knit.

Bazaar

Tomorrow is the big day... the craft fair at the kids school. It was a LOT of work for only 2.45 hours but it will be fun (I couldn't imagine doing this full time). The kids have made bird feeders, Christmas earrings and candy trains. I made some of the market bags and store bought gloves with fun fur knitted on the cuff. I really like them, they turned out cute. It was a fun, inexpensive project that I hope will go over well. Guess we will find out tomorrow.

New sweater for Hailey!

The pattern is from http://peonyknits.blogspot.com/. Check it out... it is so incredibly quick to knit and is done top down which I LOVE. I made one in a matter of hours. It would make a great gift, especially if you need to knit something quick.

UPDATE: I think I may have to redo the arms, might be a little tight on my bind-off. Also needs to be blocked.

Warm Ears Taos Hat

I finished a fun project... a free pattern for a hat made with Taos yarn. I have never used this yarn and I like it. This hat was an easy, fun project that only took one skein of yarn. Plus, I got to use several different techniques. I wondered how it would look on because, to me, it looked kind of like a circus hat or something. But, it looks really good on my daughter. The pattern is from Crystal Palace. This project can be done in a day or two days, very quick.

Cell Phone/I-Pod Covers

The other day I finally learned some new techniques. I found this great pattern on Ravelry for cell phone or I-pod covers and they are really nice. The pattern called for a turkish cast-on and an I-chord cast off, I've never tried them. So, I figured it was time for me to learn something new. I should do this more often because it wasn't very hard and I got the hang of it on my first try. Now I am attempting to felt these little suckers and that is a whole other story.

I was told that the Brown Sheep Lanaloft worseted would felt beautifully. Well... I don't know what I'm doing wrong but it's not working to good. They have been in the machine for 30 minutes and they are barely felted. I'm considering these for the bazaar at my childrens school along with the market bags. Both projects are quick and inexpensive, a great combination! Oh... the patterns were freebies from ravelry.com.

What's next?

On to the next project... I made a vest with a matching hat for my niece for Christmas. The patterns are new from Lisa Ellis Designs and I LOVE them. On to making the matching scarf now. These patterns are so quick, easy and simple to make. They knit up fast for quick gift giving. I'm making one for my daughter for Christmas also.

http://lisaellisdesigns.com/

New Projects

My new projects this week have been a beanie hat for my nephew and a scarf type hat (Calorimetry) for my daughter. She doesn't like wearing hats or her hair back, she has to have her ears covered, so I thought maybe it would work to keep her hair out of her face while playing tennis. Both patterns were free on Ravelry.com. For the classic rib hat I used Cascade 220 superwash. I like the yarn a lot but I'm not sure I like the decreases on the crowning. Plus, I think I made it too long. It really has to be rolled up but it may work for him. It was a basic, simple, quick pattern that knits up really fast.

I love how the Calorimetry turned out. I used Noro Kureyon and the colors are beautiful. It is a little big but I think I can place the button to make it fit her. If not, it will go to someone else and I'll make a smaller one.

Felted Lunch Bag

This last weekend when I was making the market bags I started thinking about lunch bags. I found this great pattern (free) online on http://www.ravelry.com/ and I love it. I made the bag with some leftover Reynolds Lopi yarn that I had, wasn't sure how it would felt but it did fine. It only took 2 skeins on size 13 needles. I probably could have gotten away with a 10 1/2 like the pattern called for. During the felting process the yarn did shed a lot, and needs to be trimmed, but I think it turned out really good. I just need to decide on a button and let it dry. I'm thinking this might be a great teacher gift for Christmas. The pattern knits up pretty quick and is very, very simple. The best thing about these felted wool bags is they are naturally insulating.

The second picture shows the bag from the side, it is folded in like a regular brown paper bag and it is large enough to fit Tupperware too.

Felted Purse

Here is a fun felted bag I made the other day. I bought some hand painted wool yarn from the Bev Galeskas trunk show (Fiber Trends). I LOVE this yarn, it is so pretty and the bag felted really nice. The pattern was relatively easy and was free from Bev when you purchase her yarn. I never knew you could felt in cold water but it felted perfectly. This was a free pattern with the purchase of the yarn, check out their website, www.fibertrends.com.

Going Green - Market Bag

I saw these market bags on Ravelry and I love them. I've made two so far and my daughter already snagged one for her lunch bag. They do stretch so I'm waiting a few days to see how much they stretch. I used the Lily Sugar'n Cream cotton, very economical. It was a very easy pattern, it only took me a few hours to make while watching TV. The pattern was a free download from Ravelry.

OK... I've now made about 10 of these and I'm considering them for a bazaar at my childrens school. Everyone seems to really love them.

Yet another pair of socks...

Started a new pair of socks this last weekend. The pattern is called Mad Color Weave Socks. I'm using the Cascade Heritage in my favorite color, purple! This pattern takes a lot of thinking and concentration on my part so I'm not sure how much I really like them yet. Mistakes are easily seen with this yarn and pattern. I do LOVE the yarn, especially the color. I will let you know my final opinion if and when I get them done. Free pattern download on Ravelry.

Finished Fingerless Gloves

Steph... finished your gloves... will get them in the mail on Thursday! Hope the kids like them.

Yarn used: Mission Falls in a dark green and Cascade 220 Superwash in blue (kind of blue tweedy). Also a free download on Ravelry or Knitty.com (Maine Morning Mitts). I LOVE the Mission Falls 1924 Wool (green pair). This yarn is rich looking and super soft, need to find more projects to use this yarn. They have an awesome color selection.

Call me crazy...

Call me crazy but I have started another project. That's a total of 5 projects I have going. I'm almost done with a friends fingerless gloves for her kids (2 pairs). I'm about 90% done with my Mom's sweater, about 80% done with Hailey's socks and I think I may be ripping out a pair of socks I started for myself because I'm not sure I like the pattern. And, to top all that off, I'm starting a sweater for Hailey (my daughter) for Christmas. Next on the list, a vest for my niece (also for Christmas) and something for my sister. I'm trying to come up with a project for my nephews but I'm stumped. Last year I made them slippers (which they requested) and hats. I thought about stockings but they are 17 & 18 so I don't think that would work. Not sure if they would really wear sweaters. If anyone has any great ideas PLEASE let me know. THANKS!

Fall Pumpkin

I found this great free pattern on http://www.knitty.com/. This is a felted pumpkin made with leftover yarn from a pair of slippers. The pattern was really easy, although I made mine all in one piece rather than knitting seven different pieces and seaming them together (I HATE seaming). It turned out really cute. I still have not sewn on the top because I'm debating whether to stuff it and sew the whole top on or only sew part of the top and fill it with candy for a gift. It's a great gift idea for teachers, neighbors and friends. Everyone that has seen it sitting in my garden window just loves it.

Fingerless Gloves

Here are the first fingerless gloves I have made. I used the Noro Kureyon and I really like them. One skein makes a pair but they will be mismatched because of the length the colors are on the skein. I used two skeins and just swapped the mitts to make matching pairs. Noro colors are really pretty but they are wool therefore hand wash only. Can't wait to give these away for gifts.

Socks, socks and more socks...

I have fallen in LOVE with making socks. Here are a few pairs that I have made in the last year. Please post a comment or send me an email if you would like any information on patterns or yarns I used. You can also check them out on Ravelry, my username is "merrysherri".