Thursday, March 21, 2013

Snowflake

I finally finished a snowflake pot holder from a pattern I snagged for free at JoAnn's Fabrics back in January.  Here it is! :)  I might make some more, too!

It didn't take that long, though the pattern was a little confusing between rounds 2/3 and 3/4.  I like it a lot!

Ravelry Pattern | Ravelry Project

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Dad's Socks

I decided, after much deliberation, that my father's birthday gift was going to be a pair of double-heelix socks (Ravelry PatternBlog Pattern).  He did go to MIT, after all.

Well, his birthday isn't until March 31st, but I was working on them in February while I was home, and one day he came home from work a little early and saw them.

"Are you making socks?" he asked, reaching out to investigate my knitting.

"Yeah," I sheepishly handed it to him.

"That's so cool!  And oh look at the heel!  How did you do that?"

I explained the process to him, and he put his hand on my shoulder and said "you're definitely my daughter," laughing about how I could make anything complicated.

My mom walked in and wanted to know if he liked them.  He said he did, and she said "oh good," at which point I told my dad that they were for his birthday.

"Oh awesome!  Lil, I can't wait!" he said.  I took the opportunity to ask him if he wanted to socks to be matching or contra-positives, like the picture.  Glad I asked, cause I would have done it the other way!

And so, even though it's not his birthday yet, here they are!

I like how they came out.  They're a little different, but usually socks are.  These pictures are a little awful, but they're the best I could get.

Ravelry Pattern | Ravelry Project

Friday, March 15, 2013

Freedom in the Air

Something I've been working on recently is being more home-minded.
One of the outcomes of that is that I (finally!) started using my clothesline!  It was warm enough on Tuesday to put my clothes outside!

And then there was a problem.  Tuesday night it got cold again, but I had class and wasn't able to take them down before dark.  Wednesday I was out of the house before it was light for work, and then straight from work to class to a meeting, and then drive across town to tutor for three hours.  During that time, there started to be these flurries of sleet.  Where they came from, I have no idea, but by the time I got home again, my clothes were soaked.

I managed to take in a few articles of clothing and hang them on the one, flimsy, house clothes-rack we have.  And then I changed, went to class, came home after dark, and slept.

Thursday it was windy.  I mean 30-40 mile an hour gusts.  I left the house before it was light, went to work, class, a meeting, went to the library for a few hours, class again, and I got home around 9:00pm, after dark, exshausted.

My housemates were not amused.  "Sweetie," they said, irritated that they, the 24- and 26-year-olds, had to tell me something so basic again, "you need to go get your clothes off the line.  And the bushes. And the trees.  And out of the squirrels' nest."

I stared at them for a minute, and then turned around and went right back out.  It took me almost half an hour to find everything, untie it from the line, and pick it up with my numb fingers in the dark, when the wind was not on my side.  I went inside, threw the heap on the table, and went to bed.

I suck at house-keeping. I told myself. I'll never be able to do it right.  Even that soap...you literally exploded the stove burner...

I sat up, shook my head, and lay down again.

It doesn't matter.  Yes, I'm getting married in December, but I'm not perfect.  It's okay that I don't know everything there is to know yet.  That's what life's about, right?  Learning and living from that and moving on and becoming someone new.

I'll try the line again when it's warm out, and this time, I'll make sure I can be home to take the clothes down.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Minion Hat!

My brother, Ben, turned 16 on March 3rd.  (Yay!).  Well, of course, I wanted to make him a birthday gift, and I searched for patterns for a long long time.  Finally, I found this one.  It was perfect!  He was obsessed with Despicable Me for a while and still thinks it's pretty cool, so I made him a Minion Hat (Blog Pattern).

I decided to nix the smile that the original pattern had on the hat and leave the goggles un-attached (turns out that was a good decision; he wears the goggles by themselves sometimes!).  I've had it done for a few weeks now, but he came to visit me at college this weekend and I was finally able to give it to him!  It was a great hit!

Ravelry Pattern | Ravelry Project

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Out of Commission!

Hello there!

I have successfully completed nothing over the past few days, and here's why: I machine-sewed through my thumb on Sunday and have been rather unproductive since!

Has anybody else ever done that?  What can I do to help it?