Knitting/Spinning: New Month plan

New month means new classes for the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup goes up and new planning happens!  Usually I plan out at least 6 projects but with my slowed knitting progress I am scaling back.

For Detention, I am planning to finish the Miss Abbey by Terri Kruse that I am knitting for Carmen in size 2T out of Laines Du Nord Papiro cotton yarn.  It's knitting up relatively quickly and a very easy knit.  I think it's going to be so cute!

For classes, the plan is to knit a couple hexipuffs and get some points in since I have been such a slacker the first 2 months.  These are quick and hopefully I can get 6 of them turned in for lots of points!!

I would also like to spend some time with Pilar, my spinning wheel!  She has been left in the corner for too long!  Time to pull her out and get my fibery goodness going! Need to dive into the stash, play, organize, and find something to spin first!

Happy Knitting!!!

What project are you planning this week?  This month?

Knitting: hexipuffin, cotton, and more

There was little time for knitting in the past couple months since Maria was born, however, thankfully that has changed!  For the first couple months all I   managed to knit was a couple hexipuffs...but I didn't really start knitting again until I went back to work.

Best knitting time right now is during lunch and during my pump breaks! :) Hands-free pump bra makes pumping so much better by allowing me to knit a couple rows and ignore the fact that I'm stuck in a room pumping.  Not a fan of the whole pumping thing...but we'll talk about that another day. It's all worth it though and knitting, and Netflix or HBOGo make it easier.

When I first started my leave, I was able to finish a couple things.  I finished up the pair of Spring Forward socks for Carmen and Maria's Grant Robin!  I also knit a cute pair of matching toddler socks for Maria!

My latest new project I started recently is a Little Abbey top in some cotton I bought at a local yarn shop for $1 a skein!!  It's coming out great!  I'm hoping to have enough yarn to knit Maria one too but this one is a 2T one for Carmen.  I thought I'd maybe knit the 4T but she's so little still that wouldn't fit her for ages!  Hoping this one fits well enough.  I already tried it over her head and it fit well.

I have a lot of things as usual I want to cast on but for now I am hoping to finish this soon and cast on matching one for Maria.  I hope to resist the startitis I seem to e suffering from until things start fitting into the house cup.  I am still hoping to get our family stockings done this year...or at least the girl's done!  Here's hoping!!

Happy Knitting!

What projects are you working on?

Knitting: Can't stop knitting...FOs and WIPs.

There has been knitting....LOTS of knitting!  Sometime during the holidays, my knitting mojo returned with a vengeance!  Again I would have to give a lot of credit to the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup for lighting a fire under me.  I have spent a lot of time knitting by the Christmas tree, which I am not ready to take down  yet. :)

The HPKCHC winter term started January 1st and I spent a lot of time the last 2 weeks of December planning, as you can see in this post, and prepping projects for the first month.  As I mentioned in my planning post, I am hoping to be as productive as possible between Jan and Feb and then get some things turned in early March but not stressing about it.  My first goal was to just finish one project a month and maybe a couple extra's here and there...BUT I hit that mark and more this month!  I have begun this term with a bang and I hope it continues as long as I can keep it up!

The first day of the month I seamed in the ends and turned in my Detention post to WIP the First in true Gryffindor style!  For this project, I knit a male version of Penelope the Empathetic Monster by Rebecca Danger for the 600 Monsters Strong for Connecticut.  I think he came out great and I can't wait to ship him off.

I was also able to cast on and finish knitting another project on the 1st of the month!  I was shocked I was able to do this as knitting mojo hadn't been strong but thanks to spending most the day at my FIL's and having plenty of entertainment for little miss Carmen, I was able to complete it.  It also helped that it was a simple newborn pattern that knit up quickly!  For Charms, I turned in a pair of Fingering Weight Baby Mittens by Christine Vogel.  These will make great anti-scratch mittens for the baby and they are so tiny and cute!  I can't wait for the baby to wear them!

The next 2 things I knit were also for the newborn baby coming in April!  Let's just say, I really hope that the sonogram tech was right with it being a girl or all these pink knits will need to find a new home.  For Divination, I knit a pair of Eviepants All in one booties by Marilyn Porter.  I did the mary jane version of the pattern and they were so quick and easy to knit!  No seaming, which is my favorite!  I definitely plan to knit more of these in different colors and sizes!  They were so fun!  Then I knit a matching Aviatrix baby hat by Justine Turner to go with the booties to turn in to Flying.  This is my goto baby hat pattern and I love how quick the short rows make this pattern and how cute it is! 

For Quidditch, I quickly knit up an Owl as my mascot using the Owl Two ways (knit version) by Ana Clerc.  This was a very quick simple knit and was just what I needed to keep me going.

So, that is all that I've turned in so far for the month.  My base points thus far are 70 pts!!  Feeling good about that.  For those not in the house cup, detention is 10 pts, classes are 15 pts each plus possible bonus points awarded after the month, and Quidditch is 15 pts!  I like the feeling that I'm already contributing so much to the house and hope that Gryffindor rocks it this year and brings home the cup!  We were 4th out of 4 last term...and we do not plan to repeat that performance!

The project I'm currently working on is the Daphne and Delilah Momma and Baby Monsters by Rebecca Danger for Carmen.  This will be part of her big sister gift when the baby comes.  She's seen me knitting it but I'll have to hide when I go to seam and finish them.  I think she is going to love them!

Hoping that I can keep up the productivity streak I'm on.  Still have things on the planning post list to make as well as other things.  I proposed my Order of the Pheonix mission but haven't heard back yet.

Hope you enjoyed the knitting post!

Happy Knitting!!!!

Knitting: House Cup planning post...new term!!

The new winter term starts on Tuesday the 1st of January for the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House CUP!  I had been contemplating taking a sabbatical this term, since I'm due beginning of April and the term is Jan, Feb, and March...I'll be in my third trimester and while I was very productive at this time when I was pregnant with CGR...that doesn't mean I will be with this baby.  However, I'm holding out hope that I can AT LEAST meet the minimum requirements of 1 class a month...so I put my name into the sorting hat!  I will hopefully be playing again as a Gryffindor!!

That being said...I need to get my planning all done so that I can be prepared for the new term and HOPEFULLY meet my goal of 3 classes this term...with hopes of more.  I haven't gone through my stash yet and figured out the yarn I have or need for these projects yet, but I have picked the patterns I can focus on once the class prompts go up on the first!  I have a couple other projects that I want to get done but not wanting to post those patterns/projects here since they are gifts.  Also...right now my knitting is all about whatever strikes my fancy that day.  I haven't finished much so whatever I am wanting to knit I'm going to knit...so somethings are getting pushed around in my queue.

Potential Class projects for next term:

1. a pair of Fingering Weight Baby Mittens for the new baby
2. Daphne and Delilah the Momma and Baby Monster for Carmen’s big sister gift
3. Baby-Love Sling for Carmen for another part of her big sister gift!
4. a pair of Raindrop socks for Carmen
5. a pair of Eviepants All in One Booties for the new baby.
6. an Aviatrix hat that matches booties for new baby
7. an Aviatrix hat that matches baby’s for Carmen

For my potential broom…this may change:
1. A pair of socks for someone special.  This is a surprise so that's all you get.  I'm hoping to have these done before I deliver but if not the person will understand.  Normally I wouldn't say it would take me 2 months to knit socks...but since it's my third trimester...I have a feeling it will. :)

Detention project:
I have been working on a Penelope the Empathetic Monster by Rebecca Danger for the 600 Monsters Strong for Connecticut.  I'm knitting all the pieces and getting it close to seaming up so I can turn in for WIP the first!

I'd also like to start spinning again but not sure where I'll fit it in yet so don't want to put it into my planning quite yet.

Hope you enjoyed these patterns and my planning post! 

Happy Knitting!!

Are you playing in the House Cup this term?  What house?  Do you do planning like this?

Knit, knit, spin, knit...repeat!

Hi blog readers!!  Did you miss me?  I feel I have left you all hanging lately!  Life has been pretty busy as usual but that is no excuse.  I'm back and I really hope you enjoy all the catching up I'm about to start.   Since there has been a lot of it, we are going to start with crafting update!  This might be picture heavy and pretty long so hang in there.

The new term of the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup Spring started back on May 1st and that as usually got my creative juices flowing!

First it inspired me to start working on more blanket squares for Carmen's Barknknit Raising Quilt.  The pattern is the Barn Raising Quilt from Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together by Shelley Mackie and Larissa Brown.  I started this quilt Sept 23, 2009, which was quite a few months before Carmen was conceived but I started it with the intention of knitting it for my future baby.  It's one of those projects that I knit in between other bigger projects or when I'm just not sure what I want to be knitting.  The squares go relatively fast and I'm using just random sock scraps from my stash so it's fun to see the colors take shape. Last month, I turned in 2 squares into classes and if I recall correctly are square number 14 and 15 out of 36.  I'm hoping to complete this before we transition her to her toddler bed sometime closer to her 2nd birthday.

 In the Winter term 2012, for my BROOM project I set out to complete a shawl for my SIL for her wedding.  I worked with her on what pattern she liked and what color and type of yarn she wanted.  We looked at a lot of different types of shawls and together we picked the Haruni Shawl by Emily Ross using the lovely 50/50 silk/merino blend Juniper Moon Farms Findley yarn.  This is the first laceweight shawl that I have ever completed.  I have a WIP for a shawl for myself that is still sitting in it's project bag waiting to be frogged and knit into something else but this Haruni is the first one I have finished.  I added crystal beads to the bottom chart but you can't really tell in the pictures.  I'm hoping to get better pictures but you will have to just deal with these until I am able to get better ones.  It came out more beautiful than I imagined and I am so happy with it!  It's delicate and drapes beautifully!  I wasn't able to complete it in time to turn in for my BROOM but I turned it in first day of Spring term for detention.

Completed but pre-blocking.  Check out the spread at knitting that night!

Creative blocking!

Ignore dirty bathroom but this is the best picture I have of the back!  And you can't really see the beads.

The next project I completed was a shawl for my friend Jessie, who is having surgery today.  I cast on this simple shawl using my handspun from MissBabs merino/nylon pencil roving.  The colors were perfect for Jessie aka Tinyant and I used Lala's Simple Shawl pattern by Laura Linneman.  I didn't follow the pattern exactly but that is perfect as Jessie never follows patterns and when she does she uses them more as guides than patterns.  I feel the shawl is just perfect for her!   Carmen and swung by on Saturday and gave it to her and she was so pleased with it!   I'm so happy she liked it and she even blogged about it!  Can't beat a handmade gift being appreciated so much!  I will be praying for her today as she goes through her surgery and thinking good thoughts through her recovery period. 

picture borrowed with permission from Tinyant.  Please check out more pictures on her blog!

The last thing I completed or really started was the Beekeeper's Quilt by Tiny Owl Knits using random scraps of sock yarn in my stash and some poly-fill.  These hexipuffs as they are called are so fun to make!  They are pretty fast and once they are done so squishy and fun!!  I made 2 in one night and finished the 3rd the next.  I calculated out how many I had to complete to turn in for classes and I have to make 3 so that isn't bad and so fun.  I plan to fit three sets of these into classes and 3 blanket squares in to other classes. 

3 hexipuffs and blanket square in progress.

And now onto WIPs!  You thought I was almost done right?  Not Quite!  The first thing I'm working on is my History of Magic OWL this term.  I wasn't able to finish my OWL last term so I'm really hoping to complete this one.   The OWL is to finish 3 pairs of socks.  I have to finish 3 individual socks by the end of this month to be able to get 50% points so I need to focus on them as all I have is almost 1 sock done and the toes of 2 others. :)  Here are some progress pictures.

Bellatrix sock in progress.  Had to rip back toe last night and make the foot longer.

Hedwig sock!

Dumbledore sock!

For my BROOM this month, I'm spinning.  The goal is to spin the equivalent of 30 mins a day for the duration of the BROOM time with a minimum of 8 oz spun.  I started some laceweight with some lovely merino/bamboo/nylon I had in my stash!

not a lot of progress...need to catch up on this!

Well, I think that covers pretty much all my crafting right now.  I hope you enjoyed this long post and all the updates!  I hope to be back soon with more posts!

Happy Crafting!!!

My OWL is complete!!!

My Transfiguration OWL is complete!  I spun 1516 yards of DK weight and dyed it all up in 3 months! YAY! I'm so proud of myself!  This is the most yarn I have spun in one go and most I've dyed up.  The spinning isn't perfect and neither is the dyeing but I did it and I can't be more happy with how it came out!  I can't WAIT to cast on the cardigan and wear my handspun, hand dyed, hand knit cardi!

started out as fiber in a box

Turned into lots of yarn

Lots of yarn!

cooling after heat setting the dye

And here it all is!  All pretty and dyed up!

LOVE IT!

I'm so happy with it and I now don't feel so intimidated by spinning for big projects that I might just have to start another project like this because I have other cardigans that need handspun yarn! :)

It has been turned in to the House Cup group and just waiting for it to dry so I can cast on!  However, probably won't cast on until after I finish these socks I'm working on for Carmen and maybe one more gift but it's going to be very hard to resist!!!

Happy Spinning and House Cup!!

Matching FOs...and happy baby

As I mentioned in a previous post, I finished my BROOM which was the Spectra scarf by Stephen West.  I can't turn it in until tomorrow but I figured I'd post pictures today.  I knit it using the only skein of Wollmeise I had and some Miss Babs in Falling Leaves that I purchased at SAFF.   When I first started knitting it, I was just following the pattern and I didn't like how the wrap and turns were working up.  I fretted over re-starting as it had taken me over a week or so to get 10 repeats done.  Yes, I had been working on other things as well but I never know how much time I'll get to craft so I cherish the time I do get.  In the end, I knew if I didn't like it now then I wouldn't like it later.  So, my shawl went from this...

to this....

I went to youtube and I found this video from Cat Bordhi about concealing the wrap & turns and cast on again.  This time it went faster as I had already memorized the pattern.  It still took me a great deal of time to get the 87 repeats of the pattern complete but I'm very happy with how it turned out!

After finishing it, I realized I still needed to cast on something for the last Yule Ball dance and the prompt says "Mini costume items are allowed as long as they use at least 25 yards."   I couldn't resist using some of the left over yarn from my Spectra to knit a mini Spectra!  I did some math in my head and cast on...since it was mini it went super fast!  I turned it in last night!  What do you think?  Cute huh?

Well, Little Miss CGR spent the day with her cousin and she had a great day!  We think the sickness is teething.  She went from snotitng all over the place to drooling all over the place.  She's still a bit snotty but not as bad as yesterday.  She is fast asleep but after a day full of this...

you would be tired too!

Happy Knitting!

House Cup October Progress Report!

For October, which is the 2nd month in the Fall Term for the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup, I again managed to do all things!  As a Gryffindor, I'm all about doing it all!  I got detention done on first day, 6 classes turned in, 2 dances done for the yule ball, task 2 completed for the Tri-wizard tournament, and got my OWL 50% turned in too!  Here is my mosaic for this month.  The yardage total is how many yards I knit or spun this month alone.

 
I am feeling great about my first two months in the House Cup!  Still think I might fall a tad short of doing it all this month but my biggest goals are to finish the BROOM and OWL which are both big points!  I've already turned in 2 classes and detention.  I'm almost done with my BROOM and OWL, then I'll focus on the rest of the house cup stuff.  For now, I just need to stay focused!  Wish me luck!

Happy House Cupping!

A Fresh Cut and WIPs galore.

Tonight aka last night when this goes live, I finally got my haircut. I'm not sure I've mentioned this on the blog or not but I have really thick hair and when my hair gets too long I start to develop headaches. Yes, it can be funny for many people to think that just long hair can cause headaches but I don't joke.

The lady who cuts my hair has been cutting it for I want to say about 15 plus years.  She cuts everyone in the family's hair around here, my sisters, nieces, nephews and cousins.  She knows us all and she often gets all the family news and gossip.  She also knows that scheduling someone in our family doesn't always mean that  person will shows up for the cut but someone will.  If someone can't make it then before we cancel, you just have to ask around and usually someone needs a haircut.

Often times, I don't schedule out my haircuts, I just wait until I think I'm ready. The only time we've ever scheduled out cuts was when I was pregnant and wanted to make sure I got my haircut before I went into labor. She usually knows when I finally call, it's because I've had a headache for about a week or so and finally figured out that it's because of my hair.  This time I managed to call and get an appointment before the headaches came on.  Go me! :)

I called her and scheduled the apt for after work, thinking I would have plenty of options of who could come with me and help with CGR.  Up until this point, I have always  had what I call baby holders.   Living around my family and my family is not small, there are so many people willing to help.  This time, when I started asking around, I found out that my niece, nephew, and cousin's son had won a Hispanic award for their schools and would be at the awards ceremony that night along with their parents.  That took out more than half my baby holders.  Then my other sister and niece had to work...and with it being before Special K was off work and the last option of baby holder out of town...I wasn't sure what I would do.

Before the haircut

In the end, I decided I would go and try to use the stroller and snacks as means of entertaining her while my hair got cut.  This did not go so well.  The lady who cut my hair is always running late, so CGR did great while she washed my hair but once she started cutting, the fussing to be let out began.  I ended up with her on my lap trying to get me to understand that she wanted to walk around and that raisins and cheerios go on the floor with the hair.  She wasn't her best and of course momma did not plan to bring a pacifier, so as she did acrobatics in my arms my hair was cut.  After we were done, I think we all sighed with relief and I was told if I find any long strands just to let her know and come back in.  I haven't yet.  I also apologized more than once for the amount of snacks on the floor around us. 

left was taken on Sunday, and then a bathroom shot. :)

Last is a House Cup WIP update:

My BROOM is going swimmingly after I had to frog because I wasn't happy with how I was doing the wrap & turns for the short rows.  I found this video from Cat Bordhi showing how she conceals them and decided to rip back 11 repeats and start over.  I'm about 30+ repeats done of 85 so I still have a long way to go but I think it's coming along nicely.  It's technically on hold this week so I can get some classes turned in.

Spectra by Stephen West

 For my detention and my first class I turned in some dishcloths, but my first bigger project for classes is going so fast!  I'm doing the 3rd had for the set I discussed yesterday.  It's going out nicely and matches really well!

Rib-a-Roni by Jane Tanner

Once I'm done with that I have a laundry list of knitted gifts to get going...most have begun to fit nicely in my House Cup plan, which I will discuss soon.

Have a great Thursday and Happy Haircuts and working on WIPs!

FO round up

There has been knitting/spinning/crocheting and PLENTY of it lately!  As I've already mentioned, the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup has brought on productivity like there has never been in the barknknit house!  I am focused and I have plans each month and love it!  I have managed to knit all things the last two months but I am pretty worried about November.  I have two big projects to complete...my BROOM and my OWL and still have classes, Tri-wizard tournament, yule ball, and Headmistress Challenge to do.  This might be the month I don't get all things done....but I WILL try!

I've been able to get a lot of Christmas gifts knit and have more planned this month.  I'll be doing the same kind of collage as I did last month for the term but I wanted to throw up some FO pics for today's post.  Bring some knitting back into this knitting blog. haha.

Today we'll focus on hats!  There were  a couple hats knit last month and 2 more planned for this month.   Since most of these are gifts I can't say who they are for but here they go.  These three were all done using the Rib-a-Roni hat by Jane Tanner.

Always my favorite model! :)



This is one of three matching hats, this is the biggest of the three.

This is my model when CGR is sleeping and need to post my class. 

I also sent my SIL who is expecting a baby sometime between now and the end of Dec.  We just hope that baby wants to stay put a little longer but he/she is wanting to break free.  Her due date is Dec 24th but not sure she'll make it that far.  She had her baby shower a couple weekends ago and I sent her some hand knits so she'd have a gift from us to open and the baby would have some hand knits to keep him/her warm.  You know every baby need some cute knit items.

Aviator hat and some booties

Well, hope you enjoyed the round up!  There has been more productivity but you'll just have to wait to see it all in the collage, which should get posted soon!  I'll also share more of my projects through this month as I'm working on them.  Lots going on...especially since this is the last month of the Fall term.  December is a break month but it will be planning for the new term that starts in Jan!  So fun!

Happy Knitting!!

PS...yes, I realize green has been my theme lately.  It's not even my favorite color but I just happen to have a lot of it in my stash right now.

Craftmania!!!

I've been meaning to post for about 14 days now but every time I think about it I'm no where near my computer!  I had not mentioned on my blog yet about how I joined the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup group on Ravelry.com.  I don't even know how to describe it other than AWESOME!  It's a Harry Potter themed challenge that in my opinion promotes productivity in your crafting.  If you want to learn more, go over to the group and read the homepage information.  Sign ups are not open right now but you can join at anytime and play as a NQFY (Not Quite First Year) and learn the ropes.  I played as a NQFY back in late July and through the break month of August.  It was a great way to meet people and learn about how the classes, OWLs, Quidditch, the houses and much more.

The Sorting Hat, yes there is a sorting hat, put me into Gryffindor for the Fall 2011 term! I am very excited to be a Gryffindor and have really enjoyed all the fun stuff that we've been doing in our House even though I know all the houses are pretty great! I've met so many great people both in Gryffindor and other houses!

The first month of term, which a term spans three months, was September and I was very proud of myself for how much I have accomplished that month!  Since little miss CGR was born I haven't felt like I have been very productive when it came to knitting.  I was finishing projects but I was also easily distracted and just didn't feel focused with my knitting.  The House Cup has brought both to my crafting.  Some may be surprised at this but I am a big planner!  I like to make plans and lists and research things.  I may not always implement them the way I intend to but I start off with a plan. :)  So, the house cup is perfect for this.  When the class prompts come out the first day of term, I have managed to read them and put together a plan for that month.  Then I get started!  Last month I did great!  Here is a picture of all the things I was able to turn in and which class they fit into.  My OWL project is a three month project so it won't be complete until November.

If you are looking for some focus, fun time and great Harry Potter fun...go check out the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup group!

Go Gryffindor!!!  ROAR!!

Happy Crafting!