Happy 2009 and late 2008 happenings

As you probably know, I went to Hemet to spend Christmas and Matt's 2nd birthday. I will have more on that in my "regular" blog, Ramblings of a Mutant Penguin. One small thing I gave him for his birthday was a zig-zag pattern washcloth in variations of blue which is one of his favorite patterns since he can put his fingers through the holes and use it himself. While I didn't take pictures of the tie blankets I made for David and "Dad" as Christmas presents, I was back in that groove. I even bought fleece to make myself one (which is half done - I set it aside to watch a movie last night but will finish it today). So while I was at Ally's it dawned on me that the blanket I made Matt before he was born was probably going to be outgrown if it hadn't been already. It was 1.5 yards of each fabric. So Joann's was having a great sale which meant that after his birthday luncheon, we took Matt to Joann's and let him pick out a patterned fleece. I picked out the matching solid color with assistance from Ally (who, fortunately, happened to like what I liked). I then got to work on Matt's new blanket and by the time he went to bed that night, including a period of about 2 hours spent viewing Christmas lights in another city, his blanket was done. I am going to post 3 pictures of the blanket. One is the blanket draped over a chair to just get a picture. The next is the blanket on Matt's bed. And the last is the blanket on Matt's bed with Matt thrown across it having a fit he has to go to bed NOW. Just couldn't resisit... it's cute.

OK now let's see if I can get the last picture to post...

Of course I have been working on something else. I started what I thought would be a washcloth in the neutral light off-white/beige. I had a huge ball of that color. Anyway, I started knitting it before I left on vacation. I took it to Ally's and worked on it. When I got home it was long enough to do the final 5 rows of knit and bind off. Well except that a funny thing happened on the way to the knit rows. The overhead light in my room decided it was done working and the socket has to be replaced. Hopefully soon... it's been out for almost a week now. (Yes, I'll remind David who is stuck doing the repairs. For those of you who don't read my other blog or know, I am renting the master bedroom from my friend David and his dad who I call "Dad", too.) Anyway... that meant I had to sit on my bed by that light to see to knit at night. Except that right opposite my bed is a cute little table which holds my coffee pot and such. I noticed that the washcloth was wide enough for the coffee pot to fit on and thought, gee, I could make something bigger (just keep knitting!) and I could replace the placemat under the coffee pot with this new cotton mat. And then something else knocked me in the head and I said, gee, if I am going to keep knitting, I can make it long enough to be a runner for the whole table and cover all of it (it's a narrow table and not too long... you will see the picture when it's done) so now I am just over half done with the runner. I am remembering why I haven't worked on Dad's afghan or Mom's shawl - I really don't care for projects that take a lot of time.

I am resisting the urge to start another washcloth or other small project. I am itching to do so. I haven't taken anything off the needles because this is all I have ON the needles! But today I am going to finish my fleece blanket and I will post a picture of that maybe tomorrow. I have lots of nice cotton in different colors that I am dying to get cast on as a washcloth in a quick pattern. I couldn't help myself and about a month ago I purchased a bunch of different colored cotton (1 or 2 balls each) from Joann's website because it was cheap ($1.58/each!) and shipping was free and, of course, I look every time I am in the store. I found a white with silver sparkles that I love and will maybe use some of that to make a mat for the top of the tiny fridge in my room. I have a placemat there now (like the coffee table) but since this is smaller, maybe it will be easier. I will pick a pattern I can expand to make the correct width and may crochet this one just because it's faster. But not until the other one is done. I don't like having too many ongoing projects. Too stressful.

I wish for all of you a 2009 that is so much better than 2008. I had a lot of chaos and some truly heartbreaking things happen and a lot of good things, too. May your scissors always be sharp, your needles filled with a project you love, your yarn never breaks or runs short and remember that sharing what you make with others not only shows your talent butyour love, your generosity and kindness.

Knit, crochet, quilt or sew or scrapbook or whatever crafty thing you do and be happy!