Great Gift swapping!

Sooo.... the same story I have told before, and that you may have heard from other bloggers....

The Secret Grinchy Swap.

I got and gave goodies, and much fun was had by all! It ws a good swap, and well timed, we had more than the holidays to create as we swapped on Sunday the 18th, and that meant that some of us could do holiday projects as well as this. One friend in the knitting circle is much easier to give to than all of them! LOL

Firstly... I made...... those things that I have been taunting you with...

Toasty warm Twilight Mitts.....

This was the knitted gift that I gave... the handmade aspect of this exchange made me make a fantastic gift. How could I do something ordinary? NONONO, it must be different and amazing and intresting, and yet useful! The pattern is free from Interweave press, I think it worked out great and would work well in several other colour combinations... just like the other crazy amounts of mitts I have been knitting!

I also decorated a scarf, made a heap of both crochet and knitting stitch markers, tossed in a few pirate-y goodies and some of her favorite tea. these sadly I have no image of, but if she posts on her blog, I will link over.

I did also get a few fantastic things, but I will tell you about those later.. I have to take good pics of them! The cat likes the box the best.

This is what I have been knitting like crazy... a baby blanket, I have a ton of babies to knit for... so I got crackin! This one is made of some leftover discloth cotton mixed with some colourful purple/green verrigated cotton. It is turning out so well that I think I will be making a few more blankets in thsi construction method. A "Log -Cabin" blanket, inspired by Mason Dixon knitting, even though I didn't use their patter per-se.

Hope to have more project updates this weekend too! Have a good Friday!

The year to clean the stash.............again....

So I know that the Stash purge was the goal of last year was put out there.... and I did do quite well. Except when it came to yarn for gifts. Then I fell down a bit. I honestly haven't checkd the list I gave last year. I guess I should...... I'll do that later.

So this year I have joined some fellow Stash down 2009 Ravelry memebers in the One Hundred Ball Challenge. (I have my own rules so here we go)
The goal is simple..... knit one hundred balls of stash yarn.

Do new purchases count? No, if I owned it before Janurary 1st, 2009 I want to get it done.

What counts as finished? I want to have no yarn left of that ball.... admittedly some scraps will happen and that will be okay, but I won't be counting half a ball as complete, even if the project is done. I have some great things lined up for scraps.

Can I buy more Yarn? Sure, but I can't count it in my total. I don't plan on it.... but gift knitting for some new babies may mean a purchase or two.... (Erika, Alex.....I know that you know what I am thinking........ we shall order!)

Will Recycled yarn count? Absolutely, as long as it was part of my stash before Jan. 1 2009. I have to skein it anyway so it will lbe a "Ball".

What is my incentive? Other than being way stash lighter..... I am going to have myself a yarn bank. So every ball complete I add a dollar to the bank. I also get a bonus dollar for any completed project.

I know that this will be a tough one. So much baby knitting to do, but I have plans like I said to use the scraps.... baby stuff is small and can be cute in multiple colours.

I like to buy yarn, and my fantastic Husband doesn't see any problem with me purchasing yarn if I want to. (sooo sweet, but NOT helpful.) So I have one order to make that will have some yarn I have baby garment plans for, and then that is it. For as long as I can hold out...... I may give myself a break one I hit the half-way mark. Who knows.....

Wait until you see my bank! LOL

Next post will have project pic updates and some of the scrappy stuff I hope too. See you later. Have a good Monday.

Happy Days Everyone!

Hope you all had a happy and safe holiday. We are still seeing lots of snow here in Beautiful British Columbia! We are all well, family is great...no real issues... except for some work glitches. I almost slid into a median trying to get to work on Friday, and promptly went home!

I was very spoiled iand I was the recipient of fantastic boots, books and a new table top easel. Also two knitting related gifts.......

My brother MADE ME two niddy noddys!!! YAY now I can get to that sweater recycling!

Seriously, he said that he couldn't find them to buy so he googled plans and made them! How happy it make me that my gift was HANDMADE!

And my sister got me this great book which I am so excited to have! Knitalong!

So a bit of an update on gift knitting!

I am happy to say that this secret project happend to find it's new owner safe and sound.....

yes another of the fantastic clogs. Made for a special friend.

A full picture of my sister's mitts. This was a pattern adaptation for the Endpaper Mitts.

Unfortunatally she doesn't have a blog, so I can't link anything except Ravelry stuff. They are fantastic though.

Mitts for my Mom, not done in time... but I did show her them in progress, and she approved! LOL

Yes I am on to more projects, but I can't share I still have a secret gift swap coming up and that must stay under wraps. I am working through pretty quick though, and I hope that I can share more FO's soon! Have you heard about the 100 skein challenge for 2009? I am considering it.... who knows. The only problem is the mitts don't actually use up a whole ball!! LOL

Happy creating!