June update

So so much has happened since I last posted so I'd better get right to it.

1) My mother in law: Better. She's home now after 3 weeks in the hospital and 2 weeks in a rehabilitation center/nursing home. Yesterday they gave her permission to walk without a walker or a cane, so progress continues!

2) Strawberry season: Underway! I have purchased 2 flats, then we went and picked yesterday and I picked 6 pounds--and I was trying to go light. Here is what I have made so far from all this strawberry goodness:
Jam of course. So far I have made 4 batches. I might be done. Last year I made 6 (plus 1 each of cherry, peach and peach vanilla) and I ended up with extras. I may make one more to be safe. Hey future me--5 might be the sweet spot!

Strawberry lemonade concentrate. I've made this the last few years. Ball's recipe. I find the squeezing of lemons to be the biggest pain in the butt, but worth it. I never get 7 pints out of it though. 5 full canned pints and about 3/4 of a pint that you need to use immediately. This year was no exception.

Strawberry Marshmallows! This was my first year making these and here's the verdict. They were delicious the first day. Then not so much. They got soggy REALLY fast. I can't decide if it was the advice to grease the pan with cooking spray (IF I make this again, I'll use butter) or the humidity. I still am toying with freezing the puree and making this in the winter.

Strawberry marshmallows #yum

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Jun 16, 2016 at 12:47pm PDT

A fresh Strawberry pie! No verdict on this yet as I JUST finished it. This is my mother in law's recipe, as she is the one who usually makes it. She's better, but not THAt much better and I would have hated to say--ok, now that you are up and about could you make me a pie? Instead I said--I'll make the pie, where's your recipe. Since her eyes lit up at the mention of pie and she smiled big when she realized I'd make the pie I knew I'd made the right call. Then when I told her on the phone that it was dinner dessert she told me she couldn't wait--this from someone building their appetite back so good news all around.

3) Sweater knitting!

I've been plugging away (in 90 degree heat at a baseball game even) on the Central Park hoodie for my daughter. I am ready to pick up the ribbing stitches (minimum 300) and because that sounded so exciting, I decided to sew in the sleeves first. Picture? yep:

Octo-sweater.

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Jun 23, 2016 at 8:21am PDT

Yes, it looks like it has 3 arms, because the sides aren't sewn in and so the sides look like arms. MUST MAKE MYSELF PICK UP STITCHES. The pattern claims 300 will do it for this size, but I made it a little long so the plan is to Pick up as many stitches as it takes to get through one side, try for the same number on the other and be sure it is divisible by 4--easy peasy! (eyeroll) Ask me in a week how that went.

4) Landscaping. We had this hairbrained idea to replace the backyard pond we ripped out a few years ago--ok a dozen years ago. I'm attempting to spend at least 30 minutes on pulling up rocks, and weed barrier fabric every day. Failed yesterday. Trying to get the kids to help is hard because they are more scattered than I am. Stay tuned though as I have been taking progress pictures.

Flat sweater

Usually I knit after my girls are tucked in bed and while I watch TV with my husband and unwind. It gets me roughly an hour sometimes less depending. It means projects go slow.

Rare is it that I knit during the day. Maybe I feel it is too decadent to sit in the middle of my (usually) messy house and take time for just me. I do knit when kids are home sick, while they sleep the fitful fevered sleep that only sick kids manage to pull off.

I also knit in public--ball games, waiting rooms. I never feel self-concious about it. In fact, I've never understood why I should. I mean I get that if I am in a meeting and presumably you are paying me to sit in that meeting and be bored out of my skull that I maybe should feel a tad bit self-conscious pulling out my knitting. But at a baseball game? (Now watch I'll be in one of those news clips where somebody throws an arm out in front of my face to stop a fly ball from hitting me and like that poor kid on his phone the internet will chastise me--we do usually sit behind the net though) No.

But lately, we've not been watching TV. Almost 2 weeks ago my MIL had an acute attack of pancreatitis and we've been hospital sitting ever since. She is getting better, but man your pancreas is like Bruce Banner--mild mannered until it gets angry and becomes HULK SMASH!!!

We've settled into a new routine now and so for the last week, I go in for a couple hours and sit and chat if she feels like it and don't if she doesn't and basically I am just THERE for whatever while my husband takes a break from his constant vigilance in this regard. This is why I married him BTW--He is totally the guy who drops everything to be at your bedside. And during this time, I knit.

Specifically, I've been working on the central park hoodie I started for my daughter. More specifically--the last sleeve. Now, when I started the sleeves, I was at book club and every single lady there told me that when they do sleeves, they do both at once so they turn out the same size. And honestly, I do worry about that. Mostly though I was worried about the increases being sort of even, and keeping track of where I was. So I made a chart:

Keeping track of the sleeves

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on May 27, 2016 at 1:58pm PDT

This has turned into a godsend, because I have carted this page with the sleeve back and forth in my purse to the hospital and I always know which row to increase on!

I've been there enough that today I took the other sleeve so I could get the sleeve caps even. (and we won't discuss how I dragged the whole sweater there, just in case I finished--I didn't).

So that's the story of how I managed to go from the last entry Where I only had part of the ribbing--to today when I only have the sleeve cap left to knit:

Flat sweater

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on May 27, 2016 at 1:32pm PDT

Discharge is soon, but rehab comes next and so I'm guessing we have lots more waiting. Of course we hit 80 degrees Tuesday and have had 80 degree days every day since. Still, nights can be chilly. Plus we still have several baseball games to shiver through.

Lazy update

Progress continues on the cream sweater. In fact, I am so lazy I didn't want to set it all up for a photo shoot and instead, just sort of snapped it in it's natural habitat.

What you see there is a back, both fronts AND a sleeve. That sort of makes me feel like I am NEARLY done. But it also forgets finishing the other sleeve, sewing it all together, and adding a buttonband AND hood. Good thing it snowed yesterday! (Didn't stick but STILL).

Still so much sleeve to knit....

I have been taking this every where I go, and that usually is a bad thing when you have a sleeve (increase every X rows Y times!), so this time, I made a chart of which row numbers to increase on. And when I took it to the ball park for our first (really cold) game of the year I improvised.

I did end up with 3 too many stitches at the end, but in the interests of finishing, well I just bound off instead of trying to "fix" it.

The other project that is progressing is our caterpillar project. You do remember the caterpillars right? Well the cocoons have been in a tank in the garage over the winter. And last week I moved it outside in case sun was the deciding factor. No action yet, but I understand May is their month.

Cream central park Hoodie

So, I didn't mean to take more than a month to update. And to my credit I didn't just rest on the laurels of a finished sweater either. As I said--I was swatching and thinking about size for the next sweater.

In the end, I decided a 36" Central Paark Hoodie would fit nicely and started on it. To date, I have the back and one of the sides done. I'm at the point in the second side, where I need to set up the patterning. Just to give you and idea though:

Almost to the armhole! #sweater #knitting

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Apr 19, 2016 at 4:30pm PDT

That's the first side, nearly at the armhole. Like I said, that side is done, and the second side is started (ribbing is finished).

My problem is...
This is where people usually interrupt me to nod knowingly and say--yep, summer is fast approaching. Which is not the issue at all. I mean we live in Michigan. And while not Upper Peninsula, still north enough that I'm sure we'll be wearing sweaters at most evening events until Mid July at least.

No, my problem is that I'd rather be knitting socks at the moment. You see I have 4 new (since I started the sweaters) skeins of sock yarn and two more coming (which is not my fault because I'm in a sock club so some yarn just comes to me! and the other is ModeKnit in Purple rain and did I mention that it is PURPLE? I mean, clearly this is not my fault). I think part of the reason for this is that we've reached the time of year when I am a little sick of my current socks AND I have a pile that need to be darned.

So maybe we are fast approaching another "summer of socks"? I don't know. I do think I'd like to try some new sock patterns this summer. I may need two pairs going at once, so I can have something complicated and something easy. I just need to finish this sweater.

finished object alert

Finished Object alert Finished Object alert!

The other day I sewed in the last end and BAM there was a sweater

Bam! Sweater #finishedobject

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Mar 22, 2016 at 9:13am PDT

Details:
Yarn: Knit picks The Mighty Stitch in Gulfstream
needles: US 7
Pattern: Girl Friday

I made this for my daughter and she's roughly the same size as I am (she's taller and a bit lighter and wears about a size smaller than me) it does fit her, but I'm still hesitant to use her picture here on the blog. So I did the next best thing! I tried it on and Holey Moley guacamole it fits me.

I do think she will probably not wear it as much as *I* would like but that's ok (when she gets tired of it--it fits me!). I also think that the yarn is going to fuzz up . That sort of disappointed me because I would THINK that with a name like mighty stitch that's you'd get some good stitch definition. But alas, I'm guessing you'll get much fuzz and piling. That's based on how it knit and how it was when I handled it. It is soft though and the color will look fabulous on her!

And, I've already swatched for daughter #2's sweater. She wants a Central Park Hoodie only slightly longer than the pattern calls for (17 inch armpit to hem instead of 14 or 15 that her size calls for). I am hesitant to start with hers though. I made her a size 32 CPH out of the same yarn a few years ago (when I measured her chest at 25 and it fit her great up until this last fall). She's a 33 chest size now and I'm pretty close to guage. I know this sweater runs a bit small but I don't want to make it HUGE. I'm debating between the 36 and the 40. Probably I'll stick with the 36.

bouts of mania

I keep having these bursts of...I don't know energy maybe... and it is making me feel like maybe my February blahs are full on bipolar. And then I just think nah, you saw the sun, you felt better and this is what better feels like.

So, I did this thing where I finished a sweater, and the person it is for tried it on and said the sleeves were too tight. And they are because I um, didn't so as much lace on them as I should, and the lace is stretchier than the stockinette. So I ripped out my beautiful seams (seriously, I got a compliment on the seams in the teachers lounge of the school I like working in the best) and knit a small panel and am sewing those in. So as they say--watch this space.

In the midst of my first bout of mania I had this idea. And I hate it when people say--I had this idea, but I can't really tell you about it but that's sort of what I'm gonna do. But I will say it is a gift idea for someone who isn't expecting a gift and probably could really use a pick me up. I wasn't sure I could pull it off but I mentioned it to my mom and my mom thought it was a great idea and well now I feel kind of stuck with it. Again, watch this space, because if it pans out I'll post it.

In the midst of my second bout of mania I decided to actually darn some of the socks that have been waiting since summer to be darned.

Darning egg? Stick? Rattle? @rachael.zarria

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Mar 13, 2016 at 12:42pm PDT

I would make a terrible 19th century gentle woman. My #darning is terrible

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Mar 13, 2016 at 12:04pm PDT

What actually got me going on that one was that my sock club package came with a mini nostepinne

and I had fun making mini cakes of yarn from my leftover sock yarn. And seriously, thats about all it will handle.

And what else would you do with a mini cake of sock yarn? Of course this pair probably should have been beyond mending but, cute little cake of sock yarn!

And my third burst of mania meant I went to a class today in spinning. Only not the fun kind of spinning, the biking kind of spinning.I haven't been able to run since October (due to an injury) and I have suspected that this is contributing to my feelings of blah. So, I thought I'd try some non impact type fitness classes. So far, I've done water zumba which made me feel uncoordinated and spinning which made me feel weak and old. But I may go back because according to my heart rate monitor I burned over 500 calories. I'll just have to see if I can move tomorrow.

Lost days

I'm not even sure what to say happened out there in the last waning days of the shortest month of the year. Something did though.

I could come up with a ton of excuses and some of them would be pretty entertaining, but instead let's focus on what did actually happen since Feb 15th when I last wrote.

First, things picked up at my "real" job. The one I have regular hours for. The one that means I help organize a major fundraiser (for the library) three times a year. So I marked the whole week off from the "freelance job and settled in to get some serious stuff done. Instead the world laughed at me and I spent that week in meetings at school (just normal parent ones not anything huge or individualized) and fighting with my printer at work over name tags for volunteers. I did not manage that whole week to do anything else on my list. I have no idea why. So no additional jammies got done.
I did however, manage to finish the sleeve pictured in the last entry and sew together the fronts to the backs before realizing that I was supposed to block it and THEN sew it. Oh well.

Somewhere in here, I did manage to block all the pieces of the sweater.

Then boy howdy. First, one thing you should probably realize about the part of Michigan I live in. We get snow, but not a LOT of snow. It is not uncommon for us to get 4-6 inches of snow for example, and not cancel everything. But, we do have 5 or 6 (I'm not clear because I have heard different things) snow days that will be "forgiven" by the state. So, in essence we can use up to that many days without going longer into the summer. This year we've had a very mild winter. There was a big snowfall at Christmas and not much of consequence since then. Our temps have been cold, but not "air hurts my face, my snot has frozen" cold.

Ok, so Feb 22 and 23 I was busy. I worked the freelance job, and my real job and got my hair cut and went to see a lecture (given by my husband). All the while the news was talking snowstorm. First it was minor, (1-3 inches) then major (8-12 inches) and then it seemed to change hourly--everyone agreed though it was going to start Wednesday. And then Tuesday we got a winter weather warning starting Wednesday at 11am. So when we got up on the 24th for school and there was not a flake in sight of course we didn't think school was canceled. But it was. And at almost exactly 11am it started to snow. and SNOW and SNOW. Eventually the rest of the week's school was canceled and we ended up with about 10 inches of wet heavy snow.

You would THINK that given this I'd have a finished object to show you. After all what was I doing besides sitting around and knitting?

I honestly have no idea.

I do know that somewhere in there I spent FOUR DAYS trying to pick up the stitches needed on mygirl Friday sweater for the collar and button band.

The instructions indicate that you should pick up the same amount of stitches on both sides of a marker you place, and end with an odd number. So I didn't even count (because um missed the part about even number I guess) and got 105 on one side and 126 on the other. Then I ripped. I did get the odd number I needed across the collar to get an odd number over all. Then I attempted to pick up exactly 105 stitches. Something on the order of 6 times.

When I finally managed it, I set the whole thing down for a day just to bask in the glory.

Then I started knitting the collar. I won't even tell you that I didn't quite understand the directions and had to rip out 2 inches of 1X1 knitting. Ok maybe I'll tell you that, but only because I can tell you that I did somehow manage to get to a point where I am now knitting the button bands.

But I am DISTRACTED

You see in there was my birthday and also my second installment of a sock yarn and now I just want to knit socks! And wouldn't you if you spent your birthday money (in part) on these:

and then Your sock club yarn looked like this:

First rule of sock club is... Ooh pretty

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Mar 3, 2016 at 11:01am PST

Of course you would. But you'd keep on knitting the sweater like a good mom.

Sure you would.

February 15

Ok, so every day entries are probably not for me. Once a week does actually work much better and I should remember that. I am tempted to blame it on work, but I think it is actually that I don't sit at a computer for hours on end at work, and can't just jot things down on my lunch. basically, when I get home I find that I am better off if I can be present.

At any rate, I was not overly successful in last week's to do list, but I did manage to get some things done.

Perhaps most exciting is that I took a deep breath and laid out and cut the minion PJs.

I knew it was going to be short and a close one, but it turned out ok! I even had to trim the legs a bit (an inch, but still!).

I also got the One direction Pjs made, even though they are still awaiting hemming and the final say on if the elastic is right (I finally got smart and wrote down the measurements....)

I still have more to make. This week I put the butterflies and the dots on my to do list.

perhaps the most exciting though, is that when I took all these pictures on Saturday I was super close to finishing the second sleeve! And now, I have a few more rows until I bind off. Actually I thought I was ready to bind off, but it appears, I forgot a decrease row or something, so I need to do maybe 3 rows (I need to compare sleeves) and then bind off.

Hopefully, I can get the sweater sewed together and get the collar going this week!

List

Every Sunday I make a to do list for the week. On it I put all the "out of the ordinary" activities as well as things that need to get done sometime during the week. It sometimes depresses me how much is on there, because I know that the list represents extra stuff that gets added onto the already pretty full week. It does always give me great pleasure to cross things off.

Sometimes of course, I don't finish everything on the list. Sometimes it is because I can't, due to something beyond my control (Like the week I put "get girls set up with new dr" on the list and it ended up taking two weeks and 5 phone calls just to find out if they took our insurance.). Other times, I just run out of time (like last week's "get new drivers license" because I ran out of time until Friday and I don't know if you know this about Michigan, but it feels like no one actually works on Fridays making that a horrible day to try to accomplish anything).

Last week, I had a huge list and aside from not getting my license renewed, I only didn't do two other things! (A fact I find remarkable).

And it gives me hope for this week. I already have Monday through Wednesday pretty full and Friday is a day off school, and the list is probably just as long as last week.

On the list this week (aside from the boring): Make the One direction jammies and the minion jammies. And I'm off to a fairly good start, as I have the one Direction jammies cut out. I'm a little worried about the minions. I bought a piece of fabric that was just a little shorter than I usually buy. I'm hoping that I don't end up with high water pants, as I will try to shorten them in the cutting stage instead of the hemming stage. Sometimes when I worry about things, I put them off, as if somehow not trying is better than trying and failing.

I feel like I'm off to a great start, I have already done two things...

Feb 6 sleeve

Today was all about housework and errands and the second sleeve.

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Feb 6, 2016 at 7:32pm PST

Feb 5 picture post

Hoping to sort of catch up on all the stuff I neglected to do this week. So at lunch I did some knitting and finished the sleeve! And cast on for the second... (I find it better not to rest on your laurels). AND last night I got the penguin jammies hemmed. And so today I tool pictures AND downloaded them AND uploaded to flickr so I can share with you. Maybe.

(I very very much need to upgrade my browser. All kinds on stuff no longer works on it.)

So here is the lonely sleeve:

It looks so long and skinny. I think this weekend, I'll block the pieces I have so I can sew it up and see how it is looking size wise. Just in case I need to add a panel of something.

And then the two pairs of jammies that I have finished and have been worn

I think the scariest part of all of this--I'm pretty sure the polka dot ones would fit me. And maybe if she decides they are too short next winter--they will be mine.

Next up are the monkey jammies

My husband finds their lack of pants disturbing. Especially with the caption "monkey business." But I think they are adorable.

Honestly, the three pairs of jammies were on my "to do" list for the week, so I feel like I'm making steady progress as far as that goes. I guess I need to decide which pairs are next. I know Miss Polka dots would like her One Direction jammies, but since the fabric was kind of pricey I want to be sure she's happy with this pattern (as it is a different one--the one I always make for myself actually). I still have minions and butterflies too. Plus some to make for myself--as some of mine are looking worse for wear.

Feb 4 jammies

Just real quick because I was trying to finish the sleeve of the blue sweater instead of writing something. No pictures, same reason.

Sadly, sleeve isn't finished but last night I did finish the polka dot pjs and they got worn to bed! And tonight I told one girl that if she tried on the penguin jammies, I'd hem them and she could wear them tonight, so she took me up on that!

Tomorrow, I am hoping to have pictures and a finished sleeve.

Feb 3--monkey jammies

I should be sneaking in some knitting while I have a few moments because this has been just an incredibly busy week. One thing I am learning about myself is that I do much better at things when I can plan them. What that means is that it probably wasn't the brightest thing for me to undertake a job which tends to call me in at the last minute. Which happened Tuesday.

So Tuesday, when I came home I was exhausted (because the other thing is that a job like mine feels like your first day at work every day--you know how when you start a job and the first week is so exhausting and you've only just learned how to order paper clips?). I was so exhausted, I put on my jammies before my kids did. And I didn't sew, and I didn't even KNIT!

I did however, get irritated at the children fussing at me for daring to ask stupid questions like, "I'm getting takeout for us for dinner, where would you like me to get food from" and "what do you want from Subway?" while they did their math, and so escaped to the sewing room. And I sewed these together:

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Feb 3, 2016 at 4:17pm PST

I'm hoping to get some elastic measured and some PJs hemmed. But first, helping with said math homework!

Day 1 thing a dailies

So I joined thingadailies and this will be attempting to write something about something I have made (or accomplished towards making) every day in February.

Of course we start February with the busiest day I have had in a long time, with a full day of work plus two evening meetings. So not much is getting made today except goals!

Alrighty then--onward.
I am hoping to accomplish the following in the month of February:
Finish the blue sweater I started for one daughter
Start the cream sweater (pattern undecided) for the other daughter
Penguin pj pants
Dots pj pants (full disclosure these both are sewed and awaiting elastic and hems
One direction pj pants
sock monkey pj pants
At least one pair of pj pants for me (currently I have 4 flannels that I've picked out for ME including Star Wars with REY!!!!!)
mend rainbow socks
mend green socks
mend Felici striped socks

All I can say to that is Whew! Of course some of these are in progress. I have two pairs of PJ pants cut and sewed merely waiting for girls to consent to either let me measure them for elastic or try them on to be sure elastic isn't "pinchy." The sock monkey pants are cut out but not sewed. And I am working on the FIRST sleeve of the blue sweater.

But wait, you say, didn't you just make a bunch of pj pants like last fall or something? And indeed I did make a bunch in fall 2014. And since that time children have grown, and filled out. And one girl calls hers floods and the other complains that they are too tight. So there you go, new pants are needed. Last week I went and bought a bunch at 2.79 a yard, which is a great price and so because most were 2.79, I sprang for one pair of "licensed character" prints for each of them. So I have minions and one direction fabric, although the one direction is cotton rather than flannel. And really I need to turn it ALL into pj pants this month, but listing them all felt very ambitious.

sweater

So let's see, nearly a month has past since I last updated--whoops so much for the resolution to write every week. Although you know just because I blew it once, doesn't mean that I am a failure, I could start again and again and again. I will say that my silence has been due to being very busy and then very not busy but rather very sick. I have recently taken on a freelance style job which you frequently find in schools when someone is absent. I wasn't going to mention it and am not calling it what it truly is just to avoid the inevitable google search for that plus my name. Let's just say I picked up a lot of jobs one week and a lot of germs too and ended up sicker than I have been in a LONG time.

I read a lot while I was gobsmacked by this cold. And knit some, although I found it hard to concentrate on the pattern. I did however, get the two sides of the sweater done!

Not pictured is the first sleeve which is underway. (so far, ribbing and nearly one chart repeat).

To me it looks small, but I do know the lace will stretch. I also know there is a fair amount of 1X1 ribbing that goes around the entire thing---so essentially 8 more inches.

Sort of on a related note: I've been thinking about doing "thingadailies" for February. I know that I can't really finish a "thing" for every day, but you know what, I make things every day. I knit a little every day, I make dinner nearly every day, and Maybe between those and some random other stuff, I can make it work. Plus it would kick me into updating more often I think.

I don't know--would it be boring to see daily updates of a sweater that never seems to progress? Although maybe by then there would be more progression....

Placemats

Christmas is over, kids are back at school. The tree is still up, but probably after this entry, I'll be starting to dismantle it too.

I already shared the knitted project I gave as a gift . It was very well received. And with great surprise, which speaks volumes about my readership.

But I also undertook a sewing project. My mother has moved to a new smaller house this year, and now has no room for a "kitchen" table, so they have started taking a majority of their meals in the dining room at her "good" table. Because of this she asked for a tablecloth for Christmas. Since you know a tablecloth is kind of boring by itself, I decided to make her some placemats.

I used a quilt as you go pattern that I picked up somewhere and promptly forgot where, and some Christmas fabrics I had decluttered from the main fabric storage (and sadly moved to a new place until I could decide how best to dispose of). It was rushed. But the great thing about sewing, is that generally it takes much less time than knitting. And so after spending the odd 30 min here or there cutting strips, I ended up marathon sewing 6 placemats and then sewing binding down. All in about 3 or 4 hours. Most of this time in 2 sittings. But because I usually hand sew bindings down (on the wrong side) I was not done. Indeed, 8 hours of driving later, and I had 5 completely done. The 6th finished in the hotel room. And viola! Placemats.

Also not the best picture. I tried cropping out the hotel floor clutter but iphoto hates me to crop thing--preferring I give you the whole picture. To the end of not allowing me to export in any manner any photo I have dared crop. Try to imagine it without the edges.

It kind of made me sad losing all that driving time to sewing. But on the way home, I knit. (also a little at the family gatherings, but one family has a dog, who isn't used to yarn, and one member of my family feels we aren't paying attention when we are knitting so out of respect to her, I try to limit it).

But! I did make headway on the sweater I am knitting for one of my daughters!

The picture doesn't do the color justice, as it looks a rather plain blue, but in reality is brighter. The pattern is Girl Friday from knitty. I am about an inch (maybe 2) from finishing the back. I'd probably be done with the back already, except I find it hard to follow a pattern (even a simple one like this) when I have a headache, and I have had a headache for the last three days. Today it isn't terrible, so maybe later.

My goal is to finish both this and the other sweater (for the other daughter) by the end of January--so there will be plenty of sweater weather left. We'll see though.

hopelessly behind....

Ok, so I probably should have knocked on wood after that last entry, because I read it and I feel so naive and optimistic! Of course things fell apart!

I did finish the panda PJ pants--trust me they are in the hamper as we speak.

And I did not do any other sewing or knitting. Oh wait that's wrong. I finished the one knitted gift I am making this year. And in the last entry I promised a picture. And I believe in promises. So much so I unwrapped it so I could snap a quick ipad picture.

Shhh somebody's #knitted gift

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Dec 21, 2015 at 11:26am PST

Don't worry, I had it in a gift bag.

Mostly, I've been decorating and baking. The tree is up! The fall quilts are down and the Christmas quilts are up--including the advent wall hanging that my Mother in law made years ago--that the girls made ornaments for. Of course everyone has been so busy that they are two days behind putting up the ornaments!

And the baking! I have made one batch of pecans, the marshmallows and two batches (first batch totally gone!) of salted caramel. (I'm feeling lazy about the recipes. I've linked them before. googling Oprah Salted caramel should get you that recipe and googling betty crocker peppermint marshmallows should get you that one. Spiced pecans are probably buried many years back in the blog). Tomorrow teacher gifts, filled with those go out. I didn't make any hard candy this year, I doubt we will miss it.

Today in a frenzy of shopping, I bought the last gifts, and all the containers needed for packing teacher treats. Then I came home and wrapped everything. I am still waiting on one gift in the mail, and still in the process of making one gift.

So what still needs to be "done." Well packing the teacher treats, probably one more batch of both caramel and pecans (for US!), and the placemats. I have most everything cut--and so sewing should probably be happening now. I am probably not going to get to the other 4 pairs of PJ pants until after the holidays. (say January) I did cast on finally for a sweater. I am hoping that I won't have to re-cast on (gauge is always tricky with me--YES I did a swatch) and am hoping that as we travel and visit with people this holiday season, I'll have plenty of time to knit.

Progress

I feel like I have made such steady progress that I need to document it here, so the next time I feel slogged down with the soul crushing weight of projects undone, I can look to this entry and think, "ah yes, on December 7 I felt accomplished". Ok maybe not, but onward

First, I totally finished the monkey Pj pants

And I cut out and sewed together MOST of the panda PJs (no picture, you'll have to trust me that all it is missing is a waist band).

I also made not one but TWO rockin Barbie outfits.

The white outfit was fashioned after some music star red carpet outfit that my daughter who is into all things glam found online. It is being modeled by a Barbie with a glitter undergarment of some sort.

I always hesitate to write too much about gifts here, especially when one of the three or four people who read this blog might be the one getting the gift. But I do have to talk about two of them. First, the one I have no pictures associated with. Someone in my life wanted a "thing like you made the girls only REALLY soft". She means a cowl like this one:

and this one:

And since, I have no idea what yarn those were in, and I'm guessing they were probably clearance the many years ago I made them, I just decided to look for some soft and bulky yarn. Along the way, I ran into a store that was selling something like this and by golly it was cheaper than what I was thinking I'd have to spend on yarn. HOWEVER, this didn't happen as I was able to buy some chenille yarn at a pretty low price. I got that cast on (twice) and joined (straight) and knit about 3/4 done. No pictures because most of the knitting was accomplished while riding to a band contest. Pictures next time, I promise. And it is soft.

I also got it in my head to make placemats for someone. I have a pattern for a quilt as you go that starts with a center square and builds triangles around it. I was struggling with colors and kind of feeling like it was a bit old fashioned looking. I also was googling just to see if it was a pattern that maybe I could share here (even though I originally got it maybe 18 years ago as part of a class I took--you never know!). Anyway, I found something I like better. A quilt as you go that uses stripes. I had decided that this would be a scrap only project and was originally thinking blues. And this is where I need to back up a bit.

In 2014, I undertook a resolution that I would get rid of at least 2 things every day. And in the fall--I hit my sewing room hard. Except.... Well I didn't want to just throw away the fabric. And I didn't want to just give away the fabric. So I put it all in a giant tub and planned to sell it. Except I never did. I SHOULD have, after a year, just donated it all. But I'm kind of glad now that I didn't. You see I went digging through the tub looking for blues to use in this project and I found the HUGE stash of Christmas fabric that I had been given. I pulled it all out, sorted through it all and discovered I had a bunch that went together pretty well.

I think I'm going to use one of these two groups (there is only one fabric difference)

I have not quite decided which of these. And I have to see if I have enough batting scraps to make at least 4--although I'd like to make 6.

Yep that's right, I just added a project to my list from last time. And I haven't started baking. That's just how I roll in December (and how I roll right to crazytown).

December goals

I had thoughts about doing daily entries in December as part of the Holidailies tradition. And I started to think about the crafting I want and need to get done this month. I got as far as making a list:

6 pairs of PJ pants (2 for the girls, one for me, one for my husband)
Barbie clothes I have promised the girls--which includes a pants suit and two dresses. (And hey I got one made!)
all the treats for teachers: marshmallows, salted caramel, spiced pecans, possibly hard candy
A scarf my Mother in law hinted she'd like for a gift
And the sweater that goes with this swatch

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Nov 28, 2015 at 4:46pm PST

It seems like there was something else because my list felt super long, but maybe because I have condensed it here (Like 6 pairs of flannel pants did not get written as: Make panda pants, make matching plaid pants, make penguin pants, make dot pants and make monkey pants).

At any rate, after I looked at my list and all the other stuff that has to happen this month (some increased work responsibilities, plus all the present gathering/wrapping/decorating), I just decided that taking on a daily project would perhaps make me crazy. So instead I'll do what I've been doing--fitting in projects where I can, doing little bits here and there and reporting here as often as I have a spare minute. Maybe I'll even get my act together and do some pictures.

finished object Lap blanket

I always say I'm a slow knitter. And to some degree I am and to a larger degree, I don't spend a lot of my free time kniting. Heck, some people would say, I have no free time. And it is sort of true that I don't have a lot of free time as I have two children that keep me hopping, as well as tons of other things, but as I found out this month, if I make a point to knit while I wait for my girls to finish showering, instead of checking facebook or pinterest I will actually get things done!

What did I get done? Well a lap blanket!

At one point, I realized I was running out of yarn, and I wasn't sure it was long enough. But I had a great coupon and bought another set (for less than $10!) but then I worried that maybe I should just end it there. Usually if I get to fretting about a project, I'll stop working on it for a while. And I did that with this project and decided to weave in the ends, while I thought. And I asked on facebook how long people thought such blankets should be. In the end, I decided to add one more color repeat. And Monday night I finished binding off (and weaving in the few ends that were left). I decided then that I should do a single crochet all the way around because it was curling. After trying several times, and not being satisfied with how a crochet edging looked, I decided to scrap that part. So last night, I declared the project finished.

As you may recall--the blue, green and purples, are all Vanna's choice yarn. And I used just a little over 1 skein of each. The white is Loops and Threads, and is whatever was left on the skein I already had. Probably most of one. I used US size 8 needles, and the pattern is Chevron baby blanket. I didn't modify except to add length.

Now, all I need to do, is write up care instructions and get it delivered!

Next up sweaters for my girls.