Winter

   Hi everyone!  I hope that you all had a nice Christmas holiday!  It has snowed here in Northwestern Indiana, and it finally feels like winter.  We've had mild weather here up until last week. 
    I just realized that I haven't been on my blog in a long time.  I sort of lost my knitting mojo for a while there and haven't really felt like knitting this past autumn.  I did pick up the needles again this month and am trying out a new pattern from Stephanie Dozen who is the creative mind behind Tiny Owl Knits.  I really like her designs.  I am knitting the Mini Fox Collar, which is the second option to the Mr. Fox Stole My Heart pattern.  I am about 95 % finished knitting it.  This first one is my test knit and most likely will be gifted to my niece as a present.  I am knitting it in a turquoise colored blue locally handspun wool. If anyone is curious about the designer, her website is in my knit links on the side bar.  She's also on Ravelry.  
  I am lucky to say that alot of my knitting friends have shared and gifted me patterns, and so I am full of ideas for the next year of knitting.  I am thinking of knitting a hat and some mittens in January.  I haven't ever knitted anything for myself, so I have officially declared 2013 the year of "selfish knitting".  I always intend to knit something for me, but in the end, I give it away.  I think that I will still do a few knit swaps, but not so many.  2012 was full of knit swaps...I think that I must have done atleast 5.  That is alot!  I always have fun creating things for others and putting together boxes of goodies for the swaps, but it can get a bit anxiety producing. 
   The New Year is fast approaching, so I hope that you all have a safe and happy time ringing in the new year!  I am going to be spending my New Year's Eve at home.  I had another back surgery 4 weeks ago, so I am still recovering from that.  I will probably play some board games with the boys and we'll have some snacks and have a movie marathon of some sort. =)

What I've been up to lately....

I am finally back.  I had back surgery in March.  It has been a long recovery.  I am still not 100% better, but I am able to walk now and sit for a longer period of time.  I also am gaining the strength back in my left leg.  =)  The nerve was pinched by the disc in my back so bad, that it was pretty much crushed, so that is why I was in so much excruciating pain.  My husband took me to the emergency room and the next day I had a laminectomy done.  Doc said sometimes it can take 3 months or longer to recover from something like that. I also have to be on medication for the nerve damage.

I have about 5 projects on the needles right now. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/hunnyb I want to try to finish them up before the end of summer.  Which I don't think will be too hard.  They are basically small projects that are portable, so I can bring them to the pool while I watch the boys swim.  Yesterday I was outside in the sun watching the boys on the slip-n-slide, and I was so relaxed that I fell asleep on my stomach on the lawn-chair and got the backs of my legs really sunburned.  I forgot the sunblock!  Duh!  Now today I am paying the consequences. 

I started to knit a gnome home http://www.ravelry.com/projects/hunnyb/gnome-home-dpn-holder yesterday.  I am making it out of some locally spun wool that I bought in New Carlisle at Feeney's curiosity shop.  It is in a raspberry color.  I have some brown too, so I was thinking that I could make a girly rapunzel gnome and make some long braids for the hair instead of the beard.  I think it's going to be cute.  Plus, it should be fairly quick to knit and I need a storage place for my dpns.  =)

Blue Skies

I am so ready for spring!  I just had emergency back surgery last Thursday, and now am feeling so much better.  I was in terrible terrible pain for the past 3 months, and then it all completely hit me in the middle of the night on Tuesday.  Now, with the exception of the post surgical pain, I feel good for the first time in a very long time! 

Today it was so gorgeous outside. The sky was such a beautiful blue!!! It was warm, breezy, and the sun was shining.  We had the windows opened and let the house air out.  The fresh air really smelled great!  This beautiful weather is getting me into the mood for planning my spring knitting projects.  I feel like I have a lot of leftovers from the winter that I just could not finish because of my condition, so I might just save them for Christmas gift knitting later on this year.  I am still working on my Blackberries and Fairylights Hat.  It is coming along ever so slowly. 

With all of that said, I just ordered some really gorgeous yarn from The Loopy Ewe .  It is a really pretty light blue/green in a fingering weight.  I think that I will make a shawl, I just don't know which pattern yet.  I felt inspired by the weather today.  =)

A Long Winter's Nap

I haven't been here for a while.  I feel like I have been taking a long winter's nap away from knitting.  I have been trying to recover from a herniated disc in my lower back.  I was in such excruciating pain that I wasn't able to move around much or walk.  In December I slipped on the ice and didn't fall, but twisted enough to cause the injury.  I wasn't really in the mood for much knitting for the past couple of months, plus, I had a serious infection on my elbow to top things off.  =(  Anyway, after a long 2 months, I am feeling a little better and I am able to walk without being in as much pain.  I started some physical therapy exercises today too which should help me.  Yesterday, I began a new knitting project called blackberries & fairy lights. 
It is a pattern from Tiny Owl Knits called Orchids & Fairy Lights.  I have only done cables once before on a washcloth, so this hat is pretty challenging.  I think that it will keep me busy for quite a while.  I am using a really pretty color that is a blackberry colored yarn.  I don't really have any hats for the winter, so this will be nice to have when I am done.

Quote of the day

In the rhythm of the needles, there is music for the soul.

author unknown

~Long Stocking Cap~ *free pattern*

Long Stocking Cap

by Karen Blanchard

 
~Materials~
Approximately 1 skein or 3.5 oz of worsted weight yarn
Size I (5.5mm) crochet hook
~Sizes~
Child 18
Woman 20”
Man 22”
~Abbreviations~
Ch = chain
Dc = double crochet
St(s) = stitch(es)
Sl st = Slip stitch
* = repeat
~Instructions~
•For child size, increase 3 dc in each round up to round 19 (60 dc). Then skip to round
24 and work to round 29.
•For Women's size, increase 3 dc in each round up to round 21 (66 dc). Then skip to
round 24 and work to round 29.
•For Men's size, work ALL rounds.
Round 1: Ch 4, join with sl st to the first ch to form a circle. Ch 3, 5 dc in circle.
Join with a sl st to first dc. (6 dc)
Round 2: 3 dc in next st. Dc in each st around. Join with a sl st to first dc. (9 dc)
Round 3-23: Continue increasing by 3 dc in each round until you reach 72 dc.
Round 24-26: Ch 3, dc in each st around.
Round 27-29: Ch 2, *dc through the back of the post in the next st, dc through the
front of the post in the next st. Join with a sl st to top of ch 2. Cut yarn and fasten.
Weave in ends.

November Knits

Today I  finally finished up all of the knitting for my pen pals for this year.  It certainly has been busy for me in the past 3 months!  I like to do knitting swaps.  You always get something in return, the knitting project that you do is always appreciated, you can learn new techniques and try out new patterns, and it also makes you feel nice to knit for someone else.  I always have the intention of knitting something for myself, only to give it away when the project is completed.  Then, in between, I am obligated to knit for my little boys.  They ALWAYS love me knitting for them.
I really want to knit the Cedar Leaf Shawlette by Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting, now that I am pretty much caught up with my other projects.  I have already cast on the yarn and I think it will come out more like a scarf since I am using a lighter weight yarn than the pattern calls for.  I am using Malabrigo Sock yarn in the Rayon Vert color.  It is really gorgeous!  I have been getting the UFO's done in between other projects, so I only have my two sock patterns (which I'll do in the spring) and a hat for my hubby which I am finishing tomorrow.  Whew!!!