Valentine Countdown Calendar

My sister-in-law inspired me with her Valentine Countdown Calendar.  Check out her blog here.  You can also check out the blog where she got her idea from this link.  Here is mine – can’t wait for February 1st!

Cables – My First Attempt

I joined another KAL group at the end of October – Rachel Knitting Room Group.  This was our November KAL.  I’ve never done cables before, but after doing this dishcloth/hotpad – I’m not afraid any more.  I’m actually excited about making something with cables.

Happy 2010

My life story is being a bit behind lately.  Anyway here’s the January Monthly Dishcloth KAL.
Here’s wishing everyone a happy new year!

Confessions

Well we’re barely a week into this new year and I’ve already broken my 3rd goal for 2010.

To try to use more of my yarn stash instead of buying yarn. 

I went with my mother to Ben Franklin Craft Store – those of you who really know me would see that this was the first step in breaking my goal.  We actually went for a jewelry trip, but I always have to check the yarns.  I have been waiting for them to get the Sugar ‘n Cream Warm Brown yarn in because I’m in the middle of a hat and ran out.  I was so proud of myself because as I roamed the yarn aisles, nothing jumped out at me saying I needed it now.  We bought our jewelry needs and left the store, but then I saw the clearance yarns.  Oh, just let me look for a minute!

Here’s what I found – Di.ve Fiamma, made in Vergnasco, Italy.

and in this color -

and in this color.  Also notice the change in bulk of the yarn.

I was pulled in because of the price.  These were on clearance for $2 a ball.  Who could turn that down?!   When I got home, I was even more pleased because I discovered that these originally sold for $18 a ball.  Boy, did I get a deal.  

I bought 14 balls of yarn worth $252 for $28!!

December Cloths

I decided to post all the cloths I knitted in December.  I’ll start with the last ones I did, which were the December Mid-Month Dishcloth KAL.  As I started knitting I saw what looked like leaves appearing, so I knitted this in green.  (Sorry the picture is a bit blurry)

After knitting this, I discovered the title was Vegas Fountains so I decided to knit it again using blue for water.

The rest of the cloths I knitted in December are Christmasy.  This is the December Monthly Dishcloth KAL (from the first of December).  This is called Wrapper Cloth.

I forgot about this angel.  It was November’s Mid-Month Dishcloth KAL.

I found this pattern on the Mason-Dixon blog and decided to try it with a variegated yarn.

This is called Shades of Christmas and was shared with the Monthly Dishcloth KAL group by Janet Nogle.

Someone in one of my knitting groups did this Christmas cloth in stripes yarn.  I loved it so much I decided to do one also.

A feather and fan in variegated yarn.

Grandma’s favorite with a crocheted border.

Another Grandma’s favorite with crocheted border.  The stripe was inspired by the above Wrapper Cloth.

Goals for 2010

A goal is just a dream unless you write it down.

This is what my 12 year old keeps saying - I think she said she heard it in Tae Kwon Do.  I've heard it other places, too.

1.   Read the entire Old Testament.  -  This is our course of study in Sunday School this year.

2.   Continue to read the Book of Mormon twice a year.    I have done this since the challenge at the end of 2005.

3.   To try to use more of my yarn stash instead of buying yarn.  Notice I said "try."  I think this will be a bit hard for me!

4.   Get more of my UFOs finished.  This one may take me longer than a year.

Yesterday I picked up yarn that my son James bought for me two Christmas’s ago.  I’ve tried a scarf pattern with this yarn and frogged it several times.   I think I’m finally liking what is happening with it this time.

Homemade Christmas Presents

I only made a couple of presents this year. 
I fell in love with this hat pattern and love it even more now that I made it.   This was made from a yarn called “Poems” by Wisdom Yarns.  I love the long color stripes.

This hat is titled “bobble hat.”  The pattern is found here - http://yarndemon.googlepages.com/bobblehat

With some of the left over yarn I made this headband.
 
This pattern calls for a bulky yarn, but it was written so well that I was able to convert it to a worsted weight very easily.
The pattern for the headband is found here - http://neekaknits.blogspot.com/2009/12/blue-leaf-headband.html