Hand Knitted Gifts

Karalyn has been the lucky recipient of a couple of knitted gifts recently. The first is from the talented Sarah, resident of Alaska (I was impressed), and my pal from the Knitters Review holiday gift exchange.



Look at the detail, isn't it pretty?:



Karalyn already has the reputation (at her daycare no less) of wearing cool duds which she promptly spits on the minute she arrives at school. Can you picture it... a bunch of moms and teachers cooing over the clothes - "How cute! Did you make that?!...*gasp* Er, she needs a spit rag..."

Sarah - don't worry, I'm not letting her wear this sweater until she can keep her food down! *grin*

Now from the very sweet and thoughtful Birdsong came this adorable Chinchilla teddy bear.



Uh huh. You know where that bear is headed...



...straight in Karalyn's mouth!



Birdsong deliberately knit it in machine washable yarn with no buttons or anything which could pop off or that Karalyn could accidentally swallow. Love that!

Other knitting news: I'm still working on Wiggles and Waves. *aggrieved sigh* But I'm making progress, truly. I splurged on a digital kitchen scale and measured the rest of the yarn for the sleeves. One short sleeve is done. One more to go, then the neckband. That scale is a marvel! I didn't need it but I sure like having it.

Quick small knits have been my saving grace of late. If it weren't for them I'm not sure I would have any FOs to post. My last FO was a fuschia sweater for Miss K:



Pattern: Top Down Baby Pullover from Knitting Pure and Simple, 6-12mo. size
Yarn: Plymouth Dream Baby DK, 50% acrylic 50% nylon, 4 skeins, fuschia
Needles: size 9 US (double-stranded)

Can't hold a candle to Sarah's sweater but I finished it, Karalyn wore it and spit on it.

My latest small knit is the super cute and easy (and free) Karlchen from Small Knits. "Karlchen" is Charlie in German. However, it sounds kinda Chinese to me because I have a friend named Oliver Chen.

All righty then. TTYL, people.

Happy New Year - Let the Simplifying Begin

That's my resolution. SIMPLIFY. I was going to write about something else, something sentimental and drippy but I just don't feel that way right now.

2007 started with waiting. Waiting for people to get out of my way so I could start destashing everything - yarn, knitting bags, sheets, towels, clothes, shoes, STUFF.

I have waaayyy too many things. Does anyone need more? Because I can give it to you. I am overwhelmed with stuff.

I am at home in a sea of untidiness. If you know me at all, you would know that mess drives me crazy. And mess is what I have after the holidays - 7 adults, 1 baby and 2 cats resided together for 10 days. The tree and trimmings are still up. Boxes and tissue paper need to be recycled. Laundry everywhere. Dishes to be washed. I am paralyzed trying to decide what to do first. And second. Then third.

Here's where SIMPLIFY comes in. An hour ago I found myself removing all the sheet sets I don't want. And the towels that don't match or are faded. I am eyeing my study ruthlessly (Karl is out on an errand). And my yarn stash - boy, there's too much. I just need to give stuff away and not bother with selling. If you are reading this blog then you are in for a special deal. Take a look at destash photos. Except for the knitting bags, let me know if you want anything and I will give it to you. You just pay for shipping (or if you're local, I can meet you somewhere). Honest. You can have it for you, for a charity, whatever (Ruth and Rebekah, are you reading this?)

So what am I doing posting to my blog then, when I have so much to do? I had to tell *somebody*. I had to take a deep breath, have a glass of wine and a relax a little because I was just feeling so damn overwhelmed.

The sentimental post along with photos of FOs and a particularly nice knitting gift will come later. At this moment, I commend you for reading this really rambling post and thank you for your patience.


BTW. Karalyn says hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. She did. She started crawling and standing over the holidays.