I lurve chevron

Now that we have the Christmukkah tree put away, our house feels so much more feng shui. And now that I added a few more stars to my collection, well, life is good. Good enough to knit and knit. And so, here is where I sit and knit:

I've been working on some fingerless chevron mitts. I love chevron, don't you?

But now that I've knit just ONE mitt, I'm thinking it's a toughie for knitting.

Chevron is more of a crochet thing, no? Or am I just being a slacker? But, but, look at all of these strands of yarn:

That looks like alllottta work, right? Oh no. It's true, I'm a knitting simpleton. I like quick, but pleasurable and soft on my hands kind of knits. And I'm cool with that, yo.
So, I am abandoning this project. I only have one mitt, but the little one likes it, so I'll give it to her.

Who knows, maybe I'll go back to it tomorrow, but probably not.
xxoo, G

Edited to add: I am link up to a yarn along. Want to join? Here's the link: http://www.gsheller.com/2011/12/yarn-along-58.html

hallo.

Hallo is my new way of saying hello. It's an Irish thing. I got it from my new favorite book, Tara Road. And that book, by the way, is written by the same author who wrote Circle of Friends. Remember that movie? It was so good, I had to read the book. But it was a loong book. As was Tara Road. Back then, I wasn't into BIg books, but now I am. So, hmm, there's a tid bit about me I bet you didn't know;)

Anyhoo, how was your Christmas? In my house, we say, "Christmukkah." This year, Hanukkah was on the 21st. Usually, I wait to put up the Christmas tree until after Hanukkah, but this year there was no way, no how I was gonna wait THAT long! So, poor Hanukkah got a back seat to Christmas this year. My husband did make some Kugel and latkes though. If you ever want a good latke, you should come to my house on the first eve of Hanukkah. My husband makes a mean latke. Totes!

And this year, we did things a bit different. First of all, we had a Christmas eve party at my older brother's house. He was a bit tipsy (in Ireland, they say pissed up. I've always thought that was funny!) and fun! We had my mother on the skype. And we had a dance party in the cleared out dining room. Then, we had performances by almost everyone. I did a magic trick. (I do have one magic trick I've always kept up my sleeve for when I work with kids. I can turn one penny into TWO. Really!) My son played violin and my daughter sang. 'Twas a very good evening! Here's a little collage of the evening: (note the last picture - that's all the garbage from opening presents!)



This year, I decided to do presents differently, too. Instead of buying the kids a BUNCH of presents that just end up at goodwill after a month, we bought the kiddos one big (expensive) present each and one small gift from Santa (and stocking stuffers). I spent about what I normally would, but the reactions were the pleasantest of all the years so far.



For my birthday (which was this month) I got photoshop from my husband. I have no clue how to use it. I've been using Picnik.com (love, love, love picnik!) so switching to photoshop has been really confusing for me. It took me about 8 hours to figure out how to add actions (presets). So, after I figured that out, I started practicing with my knitting photos. And then I finally listed a few items in my etsy store. whew. I have sooo much to learn. So, if you have any tips, let me know!



In the mean time, I have two random funnies:

1. My daughter calls chess CHEST. And that makes me giggle!
2. Here's a cute knitting cartoon that I passed around on facebook. I hope you like it as much as I do:

Merry Christmas

From my family to yours.

7. you're nothing but a yarn lover!

Maybe I will stop numbering my posts after the tenth one? Maybe. But I kinda like it.

.....................................................................................

I love yarn. Never in my life would I have thought I would be a fiend for yarn. But good yarn is expensive (that is NOT a myth!). So, sometimes I go to the yarn outlet to load up on discontinued yarns. Ohhhh does that place fill some void inside me. I walk out feeling invigorated, refreshed, inspired, anxious to get home and start knitting pronto. And I don't even need to get that much to get that feeling. It's kind of like, well, drugs. I'm hooked on yarn. I'm a yarn addict. Eek. I wonder if there's a support group.

Here's my stash from when I went on my birthday:



I've been knitting lots. But for no one in particular. I just do that. I just knit and knit and knit. But I get an idea and I have to do it; simple ideas - I don't have any grand shawl patterns, but I am whipping up a few fingerless mitts patterns. You'll see...later ;)

(sneak peek) I just patterned & knit an extra small pair of fingerless mitts that my daughter modeled for me:



I saw these candy cane dipped oreos on pinterest and HAD to make some for my (good) neighbors (definitely Not for the bad ones. harhar). So, I put the kids to work:


(don't mind the preteen. He really was having fun!)

and here're the final goodies:


(okay, yes, I admit it - we ate a few!!)

I rock. Can I get a what!

xxooo, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and happy everything else, too......Gilda

6. Roller derby action

For my birthday, we went to the roller derby. woot. woot.

5. Happy Monday.

This weekend, I met up with my knitting peeps to exchange our handmade gifts. It was my birthday, so we went to my favorite restaurant, French Meadow. I had the peaches & walnut pancake with whipped cream and maple syrup. YUMMM>

As for the gifts:
Kristy gave us all Chai spice mix and chai spiced bread:

Laura gave us all a fancy sewn bag with homemade body salt scrub (and it's scented like lemon):

This is Vanessa. I got a photo of her holding my vintage sheet pillow case bags I decided to give everyone at the last minute:

And here we all were: (see that orange beauty on my head? That's the warm knit headband that vanessa knit <3)
Here's what I made:


And now...the patterns...

For the mini gift bags, I used sugar and cream cotton in white.
Size 8 needles, set of 4 DPNs
CO 24 (8 sts on each needle)
Knit 1 round
K2tog, YF* repeat
Knit about 15 rounds (or more, if you want the bag longer)
Divide stitches onto 2 needles (12 sts on each needle)
Pull mini bag inside out
Seam bottom with a three needle bind off
Here is a video from you tube:

Turn bag back inside in
Cut some ribbon and place through holes at the top opening of the bag.
And tadah, that's it. A mini gift bag.

For the pretty crochet necklaces:
No gauge, no needle recs. Just use what you have. (I used mosschino superwash wool.acrylic)
Single chain for a length of 2 feet
Tie ends together by using the leftover tails (don't worry about being messy - you'll cover them up with the flowers)
Crochet & attach as many flowers as you'd like. I used 6 for each necklace.

Crochet flowers:
ch6, sc into first st.
ch 3, dc - repeat 6 -7 times.
That's it.
Teeny tiny flower.

Come back tomorrow for a collage of pics from what I did the evening of my birthday. By the way, it was my 36th birthday. I'm cool with it. I'm proud of it, even. So what if there's 4 years until my 40th birthday or that I am 14 years away from being 50. ;) (keeping it all in perspective!)

4. photo shoot

I took about a hundred pictures of myself in my fancy schmancy cowl I made. But these are the only 2 photos that slightly made the cut. Why can't I just take a good photo of me modeling my stuff? I dunno. I need help, a whole lotta help! I thought the tripod would suffice, but nah, nope. It's me. Maybe I'm too hard on myself? Or, maybe I don't take it seriously enough?





I certainly take a good photo of wrapped gifts, ready to give to my knitting peeps for our handmade swap. (note the WWF stickers I got in the mail?)

3. as in third post.

Today, I went to lunch at the mall with my main squeeze and I thought, 'hmm, those twinkly lights sure are perty,' so I made him pose for a photo and then take a photo of me as well. Isn't he sweet to oblige?



When I got home, I was busy working on my gifts for my knitting peeps. Every year, we exchange homemade gifts. Usually, it isn't even something knitted, which I think is quite silly. This year, I am making crocheted AND knitted things. But...I also have a bit of ribbon in there, too. I can't show you a photo of the gifts just yet (my peeps might be peeking), but I can certainly show you a picture of the ribbon. (hehehehe)

Ribbon Heart:


P.s. a hint: my very first post shows a photo of part of my gift for the homemade exchange. (All this secrecy is driving me crazy!)

Second post. Free felt heart ornament.

Woot, this is now my second post. And tadah, I have a quick holiday project for you. (You're going to have to wait until next week for the revealing of the first post project.)

This is a quick heart felt ornament. (I promise. It looks complicated, but it took me less than an hour.)

What you'll need:
100% feltable wool in red & gray. I used patons wool.
Size 8 needles (or whatever you have on hand, the gauge is not really important in this project. Use chunky wool and size 13 needles and your ornament will just be a big ornament and who doesn't love a big ornament?)
Tapestry needle

What you'll need to know (or learn - check out you tube!):
Knits & purls
Color work (intarsia)
Mattress stitch
felting via a big big boiling pot of water

Written pattern:
Cast on 25 stitches in gray.
Purl all gray.
Knit all gray.
Purl 12 gray, purl 1 red, purl 12 gray.
Knit 11 gray, knit 3 red, knit 11 gray.
Purl 10 gray, purl 5 red, purl 10 gray.
Knit 9 gray, knit 7 red, knit 9 gray.
Purl 8 gray, purl 9 red, purl 8 gray.
Knit 7 gray, knit 11 red, knit 7 gray.
Purl 6 gray, purl 13 red, purl 6 gray.
Knit 5 gray, knit 7 red, knit 1 gray, knit 7 red, knit 5 gray.
Purl 6 gray, purl 5 red, purl 3 gray, purl 5 red, purl 6 gray.
Knit 7 gray, knit 3 red, knit 5 gray, knit 3 red, knit 7 gray.
Purl 8 gray, purl 1 red, purl 7 gray, purl 1 red, purl 8 gray.
Knit all gray.
Purl all gray.
Bind off in gray.

Chart pattern:


Final steps:


1. Fold in half width wise. Stitch seams together with mattress stitch.
2. With the side seam stitched and placed in the middle of the back, seam one side of the bottom and then the other, forming a square pouch.
3. Fill with polyfill.
4. Seam the top.
5. Place in boiling hot & soapy water. Agitate until felted the desired amount.
6. Put in dryer for quick drying and to fluff up polyfill.
7. Thread a scrap yarn into the top to form a loop for hanging on to tree.
8. Hang onto tree.

Tadahhhh. Enjoy!

And use this pattern many times over, but please do credit me if you post on your blog (in fact, link directly back to me. AND...if you have photos, put them in my flickr group.

EDITED TO ADD: Two things I missed: The chart pattern is supposed to be read bottom to top. Also, use polyfill if you have it, but you can also not fill it or use scraps of yarn lying around.

My very first post.

This is my very first post of my very new blog.

And now my very first photo:



This is a picture of what I am working on. And being that it is that time of year, it is a secret. (shhhhhh.)

So, you'll have to come back to find out...(with a pattern!)

In the meantime, check out my links on the side. I'm putting myself all over the net. Flickr, pinterest, ravelry, etsy, etc...There will be no escaping Gilda and her knits; MWAHAHAHAHA.