FO's

The Bunny Blanket Buddy is smaller than I expected...

Certainly more just a toy than a blanket, but definitely cuddly.  I used Bernat Baby Blanket yarn - the new form... which is much more like chenille, but machine washer & dryer friendly.  I bought two skeins since they are only about 80 yards each - yet I only used about half a skein for this.

I also finished hat #6 for charity:

This is baby sized... and I didn't care for the crown - they had you just K2Tog for as many rounds as it took to get to 8 stitches or less and then use a cable needle to feed the yarn through the remaining live stitches. The super sudden decreases without any regular rows between them just seems to dramatic a decrease.  But it's still a hat... :-)

I used some left over Knit Picks Brava Worsted and it turned out ok, not as soft as some others... so I'll probably wash this and see if that doesn't help it soften up.

More Hats!

These are hats # 4 & 5 - Adult-sized in my typical Brioche hat pattern. I needed some samples for the class I'm teaching at the end of the month, and these really are super-quick.

I was struggling to find super-bulky yarn... so the hat on the left is made with a couple of handfuls of left-over bits (blues and greys) of worsted, held triple. If I ran out with one ball, I just grabbed another. Super-bulky is faster and easier than dealing with three strands of yarn, but, it sure does feel good to use up some of the odds and ends basket yarn instead of always adding to it.

The hat on the left was made with Lion Brand's Jiffy-Thick & Quick - a nice, soft, super-bulky yarn. The cost is right for charity hats. The content is 100% acrylic (which is right for my allergies). The weight is nice, the yarn is great for showing stitch definition. BUT. It only comes in highly variegated colors. No solids. And really? Only about a half-dozen variegated color options at that.

Review? Highly sold on the yarn. Not high on the color options and this is not going to be a yarn I purchase much of in the future as a result.

My favorite for these WAS Lion Brand's Wool-ease Thick & Quick . But now that my allergies have worsened, I break out in hives if I work with that yarn. But, a shopping trip last night got me on the trail for another alternative. I'll do a review after I've used it, which might not be until March... but I'll let you know.

First FO in February

I finished the 4' alligator (officially). This was ALMOST done in December, but with one last yarn end to weave in.

Nine yr old added for scale!

February Planning

OWL

Keep working on the Stained Glass Afghan - goal will be to have 20 blocks completed by February 28.

BROOM

Cast on Chocolate Passion Cardigan with Knit Picks Brava in dark brown (need to find buttons!).  Get to 50% done by February 28.

CLASSES

Flying - Bunny Buddy Baby Blanket (half plushie, half baby blanket)
Charms - Charity Brioche hat
DADA - Brioche Scarf
Muggle Studies - February Cabled Square
Herbology - Dishcloth

Quidditch
two baby hats - one cabled, one crocheted with an i-cord & flower

January - End of Month Wrap Up

OWL
I'm at about 20% complete and wanted to be at around 25% complete (10 blocks). I still haven't finished the last five blocks. I plan on working on it again next weekend and hope to finish those five blocks to get me to 10 done. But I was hoping to have gotten half-way through the next five by this weekend, which isn't going to happen. I'm a little behind, but am hoping that I can make up the time during Feburary.

BROOM
Chocolate Passion Cardigan - I plan on casting this on this weekend.

CLASSES/Quidditch
I got a little closer to the crazy train than I wanted.

1. Penelope the Empathetic Monster - by Rebecca Danger DONE

2. Small baby blanket from Lion Brand DONE (though I messed up the dimensions.

3. A blanket square of some sort -DONE

4. A hat - DONE times 3

Not planned, but also completed
Beaded Ribbon
Necklace

Not turned in for the cup
Stitch Markers

So instead of four smaller projects, I completed 9 smaller projects - AND my OWL suffered for it. Hmmm... this is just proof, again, that getting excited about the smaller projects hurts me on the bigger projects. AND now? I've got two bigger projects to work on for next month. And, as I'm typing this I'm also looking at my plans for next week. Which is a bigger list. I need to get things to a manageable level.

Wooops - FO, but not a good FO

I finished the baby blanket. But it's going into the charity pile instead of going to my co-worker. I should know better by now that if it's a pattern I do, and it's log-cabin style? That something is going to go wrong.

This is not square, not rectangular, not diamond-shaped either... more trapazoid. sigh.

It's pretty though. I liked the colors and the play off of them. but the upper-right hand corner started off un-square... and it got worse with every row. Since I had two edges 'on the needles' at all times, it wasn't something that you could see until it was almost finished. By that point, I'd put 1200 yards of yarn in and spent three weeks on the project. But, it'll work for a charity gift.

If nothing else? I know my cat likes it.

Sticks n String - Second Day

I took three great classes.... first stitch markers...

I learned a couple of tricks to simplify the process and was quite pleased with the results!

Second - a crocheted necklace. This particular piece of amazing craft is unbelieveably simple. Combining ladder yarn with a large crochet hook and simple chaining and out comes something that you can take a LOT of pride in.

This picture is a little dark - but it's a combination of different shades of gold/bronze/silver black cords and is incredibly sparkly and cute!  I can't wait to make some more of these!

Third, a beaded pin. I haven't worked with beading and knitting before (a pre-sequined yarn doesn't really count). And I while I could have used a smaller needle to get this a little 'snugger' and I probably could have made it shorter as well - I still think it turned out pretty good.

I got to enjoy a great chair massage (very relaxing!) but sadly for some reason I seem a little stressed today - not sure what was up, but I felt on 'edge' all day... so the massage probably could have done better if I could have just relaxed a little more... but it was still amazing.

And I was one of the lucky ones to get a door prize. My prize was two skeins of purple yarns (link isn't working at this time, but hopefully will be up with a website soon)... and a skein of something that was merino blend and while gorgeous - it just didn't make sense for me to keep it with my wool allergies - so I swapped it with another door prize winner at my table to double my take of cotton yarn. They aren't my favorite colors - a bright-ish pastel green and pink. But, it's yarn I can use versus yarn I would have had to find a new home for - so I was thrilled to make the swap. She was thrilled to make the swap. That works for me!