I somehow decided that I needed to learn how to sew. The exact why is now fuzzy, but once this idea got into my head, there was no getting it back out. I pored over sewing machine specifications and reviews, and then promptly forgot everything when I went to the new Jo-ann’s in Paramus. No worries. I let the nice saleslady give me her best pitch on everything that they had, and then scanned item barcodes and checked reviews and prices on Amazon when her back was turned. I left the store with an adorable pink sewing machine, which I have named Rizzo and I so far love. This love is so deep and true that I am willing to admit that any crooked stitches that I produce while using Rizzo are entirely my fault.

So I am practicing my stitching one day at a time, and have so far made Porkchop two new bibs. She is under strict orders not to soil them with any unnecessary baby fluids, and so far she hasn’t. Good Porkchop.

Never fear, I have not abandoned my new love of crochet. I actually crocheted a nifty little pincushion for myself. I’d always wanted to crochet a toy, and now I’ve killed two birds with one stone.

Can you tell that I really love my Android phone?

Making this was actually super fun, and I’ve already made all the parts for two more of these babies, although I’m not sure when I’ll get around to putting them together. A tiny, sweet grandmother in my knitting group suggested that I crochet a voodoo doll next, and I’m not going to lie: I am totally tempted.

Dear world, you may want to stay on my good side. Seriously.
Love,
Nicole

I finished my first crochet baby blanket. It is – and I say this without any undue pride – ridiculously cute. For years I’ve been all “Crochet, the horror!,” but, amazingly enough, once I actually decided that I wanted to learn how to do it, I realized that I pretty much already understood the basics. I think this is going to be for Baby Girl W, who had the temerity to be born a couple of weeks early, meaning that this gift is official late. Thanks, kid.

Anyway, behold:

In the early stages

Blocking

Despite the fact that my stomach starts to hurt if I look at this for too long, I really like this blanket. So much so, that I decided to make another one. This kid isn’t due until November, but maybe I better pick up the pace, just in case…

Where have I been? If you’re visiting this blog, then you will most likely be pleased to know I have been making stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. I’ve been really productive this year, and it’s kind of freaking me out.

I didn’t end up giving out most of the hats I made for Christmas (there’s always this year), but I sure did make a ton of them. I even improvised a couple of patterns, and I may revisit them later when I get the urge to make hats again.

Then I made a sweater and a hat for my Porkchop. The sweater was a little iffy, as many of my virgin efforts tend to be, but it’s still kind of badass.

I knitted my boyfriend an awesome, anatomically correct human heart for Valentine’s Day, and although I wanted to learn how to needle felt to put on realistic looking veins, he thanked me and told me that it was creepy enough already. We now use it to throw at one another when either of us is being ridiculous.

I finally learned to crochet for real, and am in the process of making two blankets; one is a pretty simple spiral baby blanket, and the other is a pretty simple afghan that’s made out of several gazillion squares. I’ve delayed the big payoff for simple gratification, and am currently working on the spiral blanket.

The following posts will highlight various things I’ve done in 2011.

I just switched web hosts, so please excuse the utter chaos that is this site. I hope to restore it to its former loveliness rather soon.

Update: Everything is back up and running! What has this taught me? To make copious notes (and backups!) so that I never have to go through this again. Now that my installation of WordPress is operational, I will try hard not to ever visit the Hostgator panel ever again.

I’m doing pretty well with Hatapolooza 2010, especially considering that I didn’t start my knitting until November. I’ve already completed 6 hats, and even started a pair of Batman mittens for Satanski. I was doing fine, until I got sick. Seriously?? Talk about awful timing. This wasn’t the kind of sick where I could sit home and knit and watch tv all day. This was the kind of sick where I had a fever and ridiculous headache, and could barely move without sneezing or coughing. Not pretty. So I lost about a day and a half, and since those were days when I didn’t get to do anything else, either, I feel the lost time keenly.
Still, I did manage to finish this hat before I got too sick. I love the way it came out, and despite the attention factor that I mentioned earlier, it wasn’t at all difficult. I may end up making another one of these before the year is out.

All in all, not bad for something I started after work on Tuesday

For the past few weeks, I’ve been watching Eureka as I knit. I tend to watch comedies (or really mindless dramas) when I’m knitting, because they require less attention on my part. I started a new hat today, and I’m feeling a wee bit victorious, since it’s stranded knitting, a style that I haven’t done before. I was finding it surprisingly easy, and really enjoying how fast this hat was going. I said was, because I ran out of Eureka episodes to watch, and switched to Damages. I spent the first half of the first episode watching intently and knitting on autopilot, and now have been unraveling my work for the next hour. Note to self: serious drama and Fair Isle knitting do not mix.

I read the season arcs/spoilers on the wiki, because I suspected that this show was too mean for me. I’m pretty sure it is. Ever character on that show is vile, and I don’t care enough about them to overlook it. I did see that the 5 most recent episodes of Eureka are available on Hulu, so I will catch up and then watch the remaining episodes there.