Christmas is over

I hope anyone who reads this had a Merry Christmas. I did...it wasn't exactly ordinary, but I'm grateful I could see my grandparents, mother, and kid brother (even if he wasn't "himself" most of our time together).

As I mentioned, I began working on the Tweed Beret from the current Interweave Knits...and now it's finished. I've worn it about a million times. It's really cute!

See?!



That's all for now. I need to start cleaning and making dinner soon.

It's funny...and good, I guess

I've been frequenting knitting blogs for a long time now. I seldom leave comments, but DO from time to time. One thing that I noticed going on in all of the blogs I read is CHRISTMASNESS. You know...lots and lots of talking about Christmas...what are their plans...what they are painstakingly making for their loved ones...etc...

Then I think about what MY Christmas will be like...and to be honest...I really don't know! I thought that Max and I would be driving down to see my grandparents in Southern Illinois (this is what I most want to do, considering that they love me and I them...and who knows if I'll have another Christmas with them...they're in their nineties, after all), but of course, we haven't solidified any plans yet. CHRISTMAS IS IN ONLY A FEW DAYS! We need to make a commitment and have SOME SORT OF PLAN. That's it! I'm talking to Max tonight and we are deciding ONCE AND FOR ALL what are Christmas plans are! And that's FINAL.

My presents for family sort of suck, I think...and I haven't gotten ANYTHING for my kid brother...and I really don't want to leave him out, it happens to him with the family ENOUGH as it is. I don't know. I'm off work at 2 tomorrow...maybe when Max gets off work we will brave the insanity that is last minute Christmas shopping in America. Hopefully, I won't be mugged by a little old bitty for taking the last gift card somewhere.

Anyway, I guess the holiday will be nice regardless of what we do. I know that I'm going to miss my family and want to do some celebrating. I know there won't be much celebrating around here. I'll not go into it...

I'll probably blog again before the holidays...and will most likely have another FO to show off tomorrow or the next day.

Ciao, bellas!

An FO!!!!

I finished my Jawbreaker Cardigan!...or I finished it to the point that I am almost completely satisfied with it.

Here are some pics:





I really think it's cute...even without the collar. I think that mine is a bit smaller than the one in the magazine because the neck comes up higher on mine...but other than that, I think that the fit is fine! I think I might still add some sort of neckline...I may just decide to do a simple single crochet border to tidy up the edges in that area...it's sort of loose in some areas...BUT OTHER THAN THE POSSIBILITY OF THAT IT'S AN FO!!!!

I also cast on for the tweed beret that I mentioned in my last post. It's going to be a deep purple color and hopefully will also be very cute! I'm already a bit over halfway done!

It's really that close?

Really? We don't even have a tree up yet! Well, no...that's not true:


We were planning on getting a tree soon, but we aren't sure when we will have time...I even bought some ornaments at IKEA.

This post really kind of sucks today...I can't think of anything to blog about. I'm getting so close to being finished with the Jawbreaker Cardigan.

LOOK!:


I have the back and the two fronts blocked and ready to seam.


LOOK!:


I have two sleeves completed!

But that's not all...I have started the seaming (I have one side finished already)...and I came to realize that I really suck at seaming. The side looks "Ok"...as does the underarm area...but where the sleeve is attached to the sides???? Complete and Utter shit. I think I'll take that part out and try it again using a different method. I just did whipstitch for that part, but you can totally see the stitches and that's not cool. I'll try to figure something out. If anyone knows a good way to seam sleeve caps...PLEASE send me a link or something so that I can make this look somewhat nice!

Also, on the Jawbreaker front...I worked that damned collar from start to FINISH and realized that I also suck at picking up stitches along a neckline...it looked all wonky and, well, stupid. So, I ripped it the hell out and decided it will still look nice without the collar. I didn't take a picture of the horrible collar, but trust me...it would have made you laugh...and laugh...and laugh.

All this pain and suffering for a sweater? I can't take it any longer! I need something small that I can work in the round and finish in a few days! I need to make a trip to Knitche for the yarn and needles for this darling (the Tweed Beret from the latest Interweave...it's near the bottom of that page I linked to)

Michelle, if you read this blog (I really don't know), I think I found the perfect pattern for your stupid Christmas present...but it's in Japanese and may end up being more of a "New Year's present" than a Christmas one. I won't see her until then anyway, so it really doesn't matter.

I'm also in the process of thinking of presents for other people. I'm not getting everyone something, just my mom, grandparents, and brother, mainly...I've got them all figured out. We want to get something for Max's parents too, but can't decide on what.

That's all for today...Maybe the next post will have pictures of me wearing the sweater!

The sticking of pigs

Here is a nice shot of my progress on the Jawbreaker Cardigan...that little blob under the back is the beginning of the left front.


You see, it's coming along quite nicely. And now that I see it all stretched out like a canvas on the floor, I don't mind the weird striping. I kind of like it, and it isn't nearly as bad as I had originally thought it would be. It's not perfect, but what is?

Blogger is taking a loooong time to load pictures tonight...So, I guess that's all for now.

Oh, I wonder if I'll see Kara tonight at Knit Night....it was pretty short notice, but I hope some people will show up....

I'll take pictures of the fun if anyone DOES show up.

Ok, so today...

I am planning on working kick ass (as in Bruce Willis circa Die Hard) on the second front of my Jawbreaker Cardigan from the latest Interweave. Yes, I know...there aren't any pictures yet...that's the other half of my day.

I must get through the boxes that are stacked up in the guest bedroom! I can't find anything! Including the cord for my camera that allows all that lovely pictureness to happen. So, until I can find it, you must be satisfied with my attempts to describe my progress sans photo.

Jawbreaker Cardigan: Back=completed Right Front=completed Left Front=only 1 1/2 inches long right now Sleeves=negative Collar=negative

Rants about the Jawbreaker: I finished the back and was all "I just love this yarn and the stripes are lovely." So, I cast on for the right front and because it's about half the width of the completed back, the stripes are quite a bit wider and the colors don't change frequently enough for me. That's what I get for using a striping yarn...I should have known better, but it didn't even cross my mind. This is my first knitted cardigan, after all. Oh well...I still think it will look cool, even if it is a bit wonky in the end. I'm trying to think of it as a benefit to the overall organic feeling of the yarn knit up. Yeah? Ok, cool...I'm cool with that. I'm not all matchy-matchy anyway. I have been known to wear plaid with prints and such...because that's the kind of cool I am.

Swallowtail Shawl: I stopped in the middle of the middle row of the pattern repeat that I'm on. I'm just writing it here in case I forget the next time I pick it up...I'm on Row 3 just before the repeating stitches AFTER the center stitch...DON'T FORGET.

We thought it would be fun yesterday to take a trip Downtown...it was bitterly cold...but I wanted to go to the Levi's store...wanted those skinny jeans...couldn't fit in them. "I AM TOO SKINNY FOR SKINNY JEANS? WHAT?!" The sales dude, "yeah, you gotta eat more." Whatever...I'll just have to buy jeans in Japan from now on. :) If I ever get a chance to go back. So, since that didn't work out, we just went to Virgin and listened to some stuff and headed home...did I mention it was COLD? That walk to Union Station seems much longer when your hands (within gloves) hurt and you can't really feel your legs anymore, let alone your toes.

I found a bunch of CD's that I want to obtain...I'm not picky about how. Ben Kweller's got a new one...so does Damien Rice. I kind of want his B-Sides too. I want a The Who collection too, because I wouldn't mind hearing Pinball Wizard about a thousand times over...I haven't in a while.

I love you all.
Jessica

Ok, so today...

I am planning on working kick ass (as in Bruce Willis circa Die Hard) on the second front of my Jawbreaker Cardigan from the latest Interweave. Yes, I know...there aren't any pictures yet...that's the other half of my day.

I must get through the boxes that are stacked up in the guest bedroom! I can't find anything! Including the cord for my camera that allows all that lovely pictureness to happen. So, until I can find it, you must be satisfied with my attempts to describe my progress sans photo.

Jawbreaker Cardigan: Back=completed Right Front=completed Left Front=only 1 1/2 inches long right now Sleeves=negative Collar=negative

Rants about the Jawbreaker: I finished the back and was all "I just love this yarn and the stripes are lovely." So, I cast on for the right front and because it's about half the width of the completed back, the stripes are quite a bit wider and the colors don't change frequently enough for me. That's what I get for using a striping yarn...I should have known better, but it didn't even cross my mind. This is my first knitted cardigan, after all. Oh well...I still think it will look cool, even if it is a bit wonky in the end. I'm trying to think of it as a benefit to the overall organic feeling of the yarn knit up. Yeah? Ok, cool...I'm cool with that. I'm not all matchy-matchy anyway. I have been known to wear plaid with prints and such...because that's the kind of cool I am.

Swallowtail Shawl: I stopped in the middle of the middle row of the pattern repeat that I'm on. I'm just writing it here in case I forget the next time I pick it up...I'm on Row 3 just before the repeating stitches AFTER the center stitch...DON'T FORGET.

We thought it would be fun yesterday to take a trip Downtown...it was bitterly cold...but I wanted to go to the Levi's store...wanted those skinny jeans...couldn't fit in them. "I AM TOO SKINNY FOR SKINNY JEANS? WHAT?!" The sales dude, "yeah, you gotta eat more." Whatever...I'll just have to buy jeans in Japan from now on. :) If I ever get a chance to go back. So, since that didn't work out, we just went to Virgin and listened to some stuff and headed home...did I mention it was COLD? That walk to Union Station seems much longer when your hands (within gloves) hurt and you can't really feel your legs anymore, let alone your toes.

I love you all.
Jessica