FO Pledge

I pledge to actually finish some projects this week since I am on vacation.

I pledge to finish the following projects this week:

• Black Stitch Sampler Backpack – I just finished the crochet and only need to sew it up now.
• Share a Square Squares – There’s one face that needs to be embroidered on, a few ends woven in, and they need to be steamed. Then I just need to mail them. I pledge that this will happen tomorrow.
• Hooded Jacked AKA De La Soul Jacket – I need to weave in the ends and sew it up. I would say “just need to” weave in the ends, but there’s like a million of them.
• Sergio’s Turtleneck – I finished the back a month and a half ago. This is a boring project in all DC, but I could probably finish in a day if I could pay attention long enough.
• My Turtleneck – I was so psyched to start on this and couldn’t get a hold of the pattern fast enough. I had to order a hard copy snail mail -gasp, say it isn’t so- and of course by the time it arrived, my enthusiasm had dwindled. I have a whopping 6 inches of the back done. I would actually like to get through this before it’s too hot to wear it. It uses one of the yarn colors from the Hooded Jacket, so if I finish that I would wear this with it.
• Ewing’s Thomas the Train Blanket – I have 7 more rows of light blue, then the border, and need to weave in a zillion ends. Being that officially this was his “Christmas” present, I pledge to finish it this week.
• Grandma’s Polar Bear – Another “Christmas” present. I just need to embroider the face and sew him up. Really, he’s stalled since December, really? Ridiculous.

I figured if I published my pledge I had a better chance of holding myself accountable.

I would say I pledge to finish them before starting new ones, but that would just be a lie. Did I mention I just bought yarn for 4 new projects last week? I couldn’t help it. They’re going to come out so cool.

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Magic Rainbow Slippers Save the Day!

For those who are lucky enough to be living in an area that has not been bombed with snow for the past month, let me enlighten you on what happens after the twice a week snowstorms. On the random days when it has the nerve to go above freezing and even rarer occasions when it actually rains, you need to carry a raft to get across the street.

After one such day when my socks and sneakers were wet at work the entire day (and I was cold and miserable), I knew there had to be a better way. One of my UFOs came out of hiding, was finished very quickly, and found a permanent place in my purse. They were my Magic Rainbow Slippers.

The next time when my feet got soaked on the walk across the street from where I parked to my job, I simply took off my socks and sneakers, placed them in front of a heater (since our office is basically unheated), and slipped on my Magic Rainbow Slippers. I swear they have magic powers because I felt wonderful! I wore them all day and when it was time to go home, my socks and sneakers were dry.

Sometimes, a little magic goes a long way.

P.S. This is a favorite slipper pattern of mine and you can buy it on Etsy from The Royal Sisters.

Christmas Presents – Leave Em for Next Year or Actually Finish Them?

Aah… January 25. Exactly one month after Christmas. Yet I still have uncompleted Christmas presents stuffed in my project bags. Do I finish them and send them out or put them on hold until next year?

Two of them have only needed to be sewn up since Christmas week. What I’ve been waiting for, I do not know.

One is a polar bear for my Grandmother who has been to Alaska to photograph the polar bears in action twice in the past few years. Now that she’s in her 90’s her polar bear visits have ceased, but she is expecting a little polar bear to come visit her via USPS and I still need to sew him up. I actually finished crocheting him pretty early on in December, but the instructions stopped and didn’t tell me how to sew him, not that I can’t figure it out, so I kind of stopped to. Bad, bad granddaughter. Being that my Grandmother specifically requested an amigurumi on Christmas after I had given a few others as gifts, I guess I should really finish this one and get it out.

Another is a Dragosaurous Harf. A dragon/dinosaur hat/scarf made out of super warm Wool-Ease Thick & Quick. This one is for my nephew who really likes dragons and dinosaurs. With the weather we’ve had this January in NY, I really should have finished this one, especially since all I need to do is sew it up. It would have kept him nice and warm… and would have been a lot of fun too. Bad, bad aunt.

Some of the others are seasonal, like Paz the Angel and Snowflake Girl. Maybe I’ll finish them over the next few months early for next year, but those I don’t feel so bad about not finishing now.

Then there’s the epic project, a photo blanket of my son for my husband. The completed part was revealed to him on Christmas Day. He’s started asking about it again. My new goal is to finish by Father’s Day.

So perhaps the Polar Bear and Dragosaurous Harf could be called Valentine’s Day presents, giving me a new deadline that I could live up to?

Then again… Christmas 2012 is just around the corner.

Sweaters Lost in Space (4 sweater UFOs?)

This weekend was super cold, as in single digits, so we were staying in and I was crocheting.

As I was trying to figure out what to work on, I looked through my project list on Ravelry and saw 4 sweaters I’d started over the past 2 months. That seemed a bit much. It was freezing now, but at the rate I was going these guys would still be in UFO stage once it was time to turn on the AC.

As I started a new scarf project, I contemplated why I refused to even work on the sweaters and it came to me… They are boring! They are large pieces of fabric in repetitive stitches and take a long time to finish. In concept they’re great… how cool you can make your own sweater! In reality, yarn has variables, so even trying it on as you go may end up in a sweater that “grows” or yarn that doesn’t hold its shape. Then there’s the tedious torture of sewing all the pieces together.

My first sweater, which is quite warm and comfortable and has sleeves that are way too long and ends sticking out everywhere, sat there for several weeks waiting to be sewed together and didn’t look so great once I finally did.

Now that I got that rant out, maybe I can actually get somewhere with one of them so it can be worn before summer. For now, they’re looking like this: