On Knitting

You guys, I'm so sorry that I haven't posted much about actually knitting lately!  The majority of what I'm working on right now is for Christmas, so I can't exactly go posting pictures anywhere just in case the recipients see what I'm doing!  All I've been able to post for the last little while is extreme close-ups, but sadly, that's pretty much it.  I promise I'll have some more to show you after the holidays!  (Including, hopefully, pictures of my loved ones with their new goodies!)

I can, however, share a picture of my most recent shop project!

Hopefully I'll get these sweet lacy pink socks listed soon!  I'm pretty excited about being able to make socks now, and I know my son really loves his thick slipper socks that I made for him (which I posted about awhile back).  Thick socks like these are fantastic for the cold days we're having in Alberta right now!

Make All The Socks!

Aden's sock may not have turned out perfectly but he likes it, just as I knew he would! I showed him it and he pulled it on over the socks he was already wearing. It fit better than I thought it would (even if it was over another sock) and he said they'll make great slippers in the winter - which is great because his Spider-Man slippers aren't going to fit much longer!

I'm now almost done the second one too, so he'll actually get to wear them soon!

We went to Chapters last night and, of course, went straight to the kids' section, losing Tyler along the way. When Tyler reappeared, he had a book in hand - Socks a la Carte: Colorwork by Jonelle Raffino & Katherine Cade. $9.99, from the bargain books section! SCORE! I opened it up and it has this beautiful section of pages separated into threes to show you mix-and-match sock patterns!

Oh my heavens, I needed this book! So Tyler even bought it for me. I sure am a lucky wife-to-be! I cannot wait to finish what I'm working on so I can make, oh, everything in here!

(And yes, that right there is a toe sock - I'm so freaking excited!)

Progress All Around

Knitting at work is probably the greatest decision I've ever made. Also, having a job where I have some time for it is even better! Since starting my first pair of socks ever on Saturday (or was it Sunday?) I'm about half way through the first sock. I would probably be a lot further if I had been bringing my actual copy of Getting Started Knitting Socks to work with me, but since I already haul too much stuff back and forth I've been snapping pictures of the pattern on my phone and going from that. So I can only get so much done in a day, doing it that way. Luckily I'm reading Wicked for the third or fourth time, so don't worry...it's not like I have nothing to do when I'm not knitting!

Anyway, I've just passed the heel on my first sock, which I've heard from some other knitters is the most frustrating part of socks...and well, so far, so good! I'm actually pretty pleased with them so far!

The best thing about knitting at work is that I'm getting two projects done at once. I don't normally like to bounce between projects, because one always ends up being forgotten, but if I keep one at work and one at home I think I'll do okay.

At home I'm working on a Jake the Dog hat, which (like most of what I make) is from my own pattern. It's probably the most complicated thing I've come up with on my own, but it's not too bad (at least I don't think so).

I had been planning on selling it in my shop, but my 5 year old is really excited about it and asked me if he could have it. I know it's an item that would sell (I have yet to sell anything online yet!) but I may just give in to his adorable charms and let him have it...and then I can make another to sell. Or vice versa! We'll see!

The other day I managed to sew Jakes nose onto his jowls. All that's left is to sew that onto the hat, as well as the eyes and ears, and we're golden!

I'm super excited about a book I got last night too. My favorite section of Indigo is the knitting one...although I rarely pick out a book I have to buy. I like to make my own patterns most of the time. But I saw this and I had to have it.

Right? It has the patterns for the cute things on the front, but mostly I wanted it for the charts! It has charts for both upper and lower case letters for a handful of fonts, and all I could think of was all the possibilities for personalized projects!! As usual, I think I'll test drive it with something for my son, and if all goes well maybe I'll offer up personalization in my Etsy shop (and of course via Facebook, etc).

Now, not only can I knit all the things, but I can also knit all the names!!!!

Work Life

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm a receptionist at a printing company. I'll be the first to admit, it gets a little quiet down here (especially since the majority of my co-workers are on an entirely different floor than me) so I have a lot of down time. In the past three months, I've spent most of that down time reading - in fact I've gotten through about 6 books in the past three months!

But since Christmas is right around the corner and I'll inevitably have a lot to make in the next two months (yikes!) I've finally brought some knitting in with me!

I've wanted to learn socks for as long as I've been knitting, but it always ends up on the back burner. I finally picked up a sock book recommended to me on Instagram (I believe it's called Getting Started Knitting Socks) and I'm gonna do it!!

I'm starting out by knitting a pair of rather plain socks for my son. Making things for him is great practice!

All in all, here's what my day looks like today (or at least my morning, so far):