Sheep Shots: December 2010

Friday, December 31, 2010

Ring Out the Old; Ring In the New

Each December, I post a list of my Finished Objects (FOs) for the year, and this year, though the total is pitifully small compared to years past, I am doing it again. I blame Facebook (or rather Farm Town and Farmville) for the diminished numbers. I spend way too much time playing and I really need to stop. And I will. Just not today.

To the left, you see what is probably the last FO of the year, a cotton dishcloth in Sugar 'n Cream Rainbow Bright. A bunch of us on one of my lists are making this cloth in a variety of yarns and colors.

The pattern can be found here. It's impressive looking, but really quite easy. Mine took about 35 grams of worsted weight cotton or about 65 yards.

The only project currently on the needles is a scrapghan of RH ack. Sort of a 9-patch looking thing. even if I jumped on it right now, and knit straight through until midnight without stopping, I could not possibly finish it. So it will be amonth the first of 2011. I plan to match it with a baby-size Rambling Rows Jacket and some sort of hat as a fair entry. (Yes, I started earlier this year!)

And now for the list. Regular readers may remember that last January, I committed to 10 sweaters from stash. I am pleased to say that I actually finished fifteen sweaters (granted, some of them were for babies and others were vests, but still. . .)

Okay. Here's the list:

Adult sweaters-2
afghans-1
baby dress-1
booties-3 pairs
children's sweaters-13
Christmas stocking-1
dishcloths-5
dishtowels (woven)-7
doilies-2
hats-10
lap robes/baby blankets-6
mittens-6 pairs
placemats (woven)-7
potholders-1
baby hats-4
purse-1
scarves-8 (2 knit, 6 woven)
socks-1 pair
toys-1
Christmas ornaments-6

The dent in my stash? 18 miles of yarn knitted up; 30.52 pounds.

I am in no danger of running out--I still have more than 75 miles in balls and many many miles of coned stuff. And the kits. And the partial balls. And the stuff I never logged (like the Sugar 'n Cream that went into the dishcloth in the photo).

I am committing to another 10 sweaters from stash in 2011 I have already selected patterns and yarn for the first two. A couple more will be easy--they'll be for TPO and TPT. The rest will be for my serious commitments (the reservation, A4A, etc.), you know, "charity."

I wish you all a safe, healthy, and happy new year.

Labels: promises, stash busting, Ten sweaters

// posted by Ann @ 12/31/2010 03:34:00 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

It's Been a Long, Long Time

As several of you have reminded me, I haven't blogged in a while. You see, I've been sort of busy.

Twice since I last blogged, we have had company (a rare occurance in the Casa) and then there were the holidays and the annual visit of the Plague (Hamthrax, head cold, call it what you want, but it's going around and around and around)!

Christmas morning dawned (not nearly as early as I remember it 30 years ago) with presents and stockings and a visit (secret in the night) from a Jolly Elf.

All was good.

Matchboxes can entertain a 3 year old for hours on end! And so, there were Matchboxes galore! And then some more. (Just between us, there are at least 8 more of those suckers hidden in my office. . .Just saying.

First Christmases are very special even if you won't remember them.

That's why we take pictures.

We know that they don't stay this size for long. Just look back to January 2008 posts to see the Tiny Prince, Original (TPO), at this same age and size.

Note: TPO is 3'3" tall now, though he insists that he is "Just 3!"

And we take pictures so that we will remember very special smiles, because they are so precious.

Also precious: snuggling with a teensy at 2 in the A while he eats. And burps. And remains upright for 20 minutes. (I did a fair amount of one-handed "farming" in the middle of the night.)

And just as precious: Waking up at 4 in the A to a little person who says, "Hi, it's me!" and then crawls into the middle (one pillow, one blanket, no piggyloo) and sleeps for another three hours (saints be praised!) until teensy wakes up again to eat again. And burp. rinse, repeat.

Cindy Lou Who has nothing on the Tiny Prince Two (TPT) who is seen here wearing the hat I made for his Big Brother (TPO) for his first Christmas and his very own red wool hoodie (pattern at Knitting Pure and Simple in the free section).

I'm afraid if you want to replicate the hat, you will have to wing it.

The sorta "recipe" can be found here.

The shirt is an old favorite. I try to wear it often during the season.

Labels: Christmas, Tiny Prince