this week

its a rainy, raw thursday evening. i'm sitting at home with a fire blazing, thankful that dan came home after work to get it going before he headed out to Mr. P's for their weekly card night. i ate some cereal while watching some DVRed Rosie and while blog surfing realized that the blog post with a video tutorial on how to crochet a circle had been posted! i put my bowl in the sink, grabbed some yarn and a hook and i got started! and i did it!! i've been wanting to know how to crochet for a long time now and never seem to make the time. so now its finally happening. don't get me wrong, i can't see crochet having quite the place in my life that knitting does, but its a good skill to have, especially for things like flowers (soo cute for hats and accessories) and for baby blankets (from what i hear they come along much more quickly that way).... so the learning is in progress!

what other tid bits from this week can i share?

did 3 days at the gym. 2 cardio days and an hour of yoga.

i'm still obsessed with podcasts. my favorite being the Knitmore Girls! i just can't get enough of Jasmine and Gigi. they just fascinate me to no end :) i think i listened to 5 hours straight of them on Sunday on the way home from Philly!

speaking of Philly, i broke down and got myself a Fast Lane so i can speed through those tolls like the rest of the smart drivers do! yaay for that. no idea why i'd been putting it off.

i finally ordered the Origins facewash and lotion i've been coveting! can't wait for that package to arrive in the mail.

i came home to a nice surprise on Sunday- Dan, in his basement cleaning, dug out some old photos and our handpainted Mexican tiles and some other things and hung them around the house! :) he did a great job! feels even more cozy here now somehow.

the last episodes of Sons of Anarchy (both of which I watched last night, the second of which with Dan) were "kick you in the crotch spit on your neck fantastic" as Rachel would say. unbelievable! the show is sooo well written! i'm obsessed!

i LOVE Rosie's new show! I'm not sure if its doing well in the ratings, but I think she's brilliant! insightful, funny, relevant, real, easy-going. just great!

still knitting up a storm! i started and finished another project this week- which of course i can't share because its a christmas gift! i'm making really great progress on my list, though as i get closer and closer to the end i just continue to think of things i just HAVE to make to wrap and put under the tree! it will be a very handmade christmas this year, which is something i'm immensely proud of.

i guess that will do it.

time to put on a podcast, wash my face and tidy up the house... and then perhaps a little knitting before bed!

night kids.

random bits

I've still been seriously bad at blogging but I was going to jot down a few things and realized I had some pictures here on my computer that would add a little pizzazz so I plopped some in! Serious effort, really!

My new desk space at work! I'm the most senior member on my team (in terms of Project Specialists anyways- Kim has technically been working at MGH longer than me), and so I got first pick of the 4 desks in my office space. I chose this beauty with a gorgeous view of the Charles River!

In the excitement of moving I took about 20 minutes worth of crafting fervor and decided to make a small canvas as the start of my redecorating of my space. I love this little guy!

And what always makes me smirk when I look at it is the fact that when I originally painted it, I forgot the "to" so it read "work hard and be nice people" more of a command than a reminder to myself! funny.
i've been knitting up a STORM lately- doing really well in the 'handmade Christmas gift' department this year. my percentage should definitely be up from last year which was one of my 2011 goals! and i've just got the knitting BUG now that its been cooler. i finished some baby stuff for and a hat and some other things. working on another hat now, and geeez i wish i could share every last one of them, but alas that would ruin the surprise so you'll just have to wait until december 26th at the earliest!

i've also gotten into knitting podcasts. its a nice compliment to my knitting obsession! i didn't think it would be interesting to HEAR people talk about knitting since (to my way of thinking) knitting is such a visual art... but, i like it! a lot! the only one i've listened to so far is called knit knit cafe- a mother/son team who are really interesting. i'm learning some new things and linking to new patterns and books because of their podcast. and best of all, its free! i love it!

yesterday kris sent me this gorgeous snapshot of my babe, Aila Grace! isn't she the sweetest thing. I can bet you $1000 that she picked out this outfit- the vest I think I gave her for Christmas last year but since she's just barely out of 12 month clothing I'm guessing she's just barely fitting into that stuff now! Little peanut!

She really is the sweetest! And such a girly girl. I babysat for her last Saturday night so Kris and Matt could go to the movies and Willy could have some quality time with Nanny and Grandpa. I brought her 2 purses, a giraffe zipper pouch and a giraffe beanie baby (after a massive clean out of my own stuff in the basement). She went nuts for them, carrying all 4 everywhere she went, even wanting to bring them to bed with her (mean-old Auntie Jen forbade the purses in the bed but she forgave me). All things pretty and all things giraffe interest this little one. Her fascination with these things is just pure joy to watch.

And now its time for yoga! Namaste.

new knits

It's been a busy winter/spring of knitting for this avid knitter.

Marilyn's Afghan//
I started this ambitious project the week before Christmas if I remember correctly. I knew that Dan's mom would enjoy a cozy, warm handmade blanket of her very own and when I found this combination of yarns that matched her livingroom accessories perfectly- the deal was sealed! I couldn't find a pattern that I liked, so I made up my own and started in. I think I finished it the afternoon of her birthday dinner- but it was done on time. And well received :) Its very rewarding to give something away when you know how loved it will be. I have no doubts about this blanket getting some serious attention :)

This gray hat also has a bit of a story to go with it.
Conor Fortin posted on my Facebook Wall in November or December asking if I could knit him a hat. He'd lost his while out of town with friends for the weekend and really wanted a nice new wool hat. I had to tell him that, unfortunately I didn't yet know how to make a hat, but that I'd work on it and keep him posted. So after Christmas when I'd taught myself the ins and outs of hats and posted one on Facebook, Conor reminded me how very much he wanted a hat. I had to oblige!

A couple weeks later he was coming home from school for break, and I was nearly finished with the hat. I messaged him to say I'd have it ready and bring it over to his Mom's house. He was psyched! "I don't think anyone has ever hand knit me anything- except my [Christmas] stocking! This is going to be so cool!"

The fact that a 21 year old college student is this happy to have something handmade with love makes my heart very very happy! I love you Con! :)

Another project sent on to a loving home....

This cutie project was meant to be a gift for Emelyn's 7th birthday but as you can see my brain was clearly out of whack. It was at least 2 inches too short for her head. And so I think this will be a raffle prize for my Trivia Night Fundraiser. If you know of any cute babies who need some knitwear, step on up and buy some raffle tickets!

p.s. its way cuter in person!

Sigh. This may be my favorite project yet. It's called the Neighborly Vest. I made it for Riley's 3rd Birthday and think it will look adorable with a long-sleeved shirt and some leggings.

It's definitely my most ambitious project to date. An actual garment, which when finished looks like it will fit and look nice on a human! I have to admit, I've impressed myself with this one. For so long I was stuck on scarves and scared to death to move beyond the rectangle! If I can make this, I can make almost anything, and I'm looking forward to the challenge!

{{the little flower pinned on is a felt flower i made for a craft fair before christmas. it was one of my absolute favorites but i didn't have any outfits to match it, so i saved it. it just so happened to match this perfectly and i couldn't have been happier than to give it to my niece}}

the best parts

...about this week include:

• hanging with my best friend instead of just getting to hang with her cutie kids. another reason to love school vacation week even when you're not actually on vacation yourself.
• lighter volume of passengers (disgruntled and "normal") on the T
• band practice @ our house on monday night. there's nothing more wonderful than listening to live, acoustic music and knitting in the comfort of your own home especially when surrounded by friends.
• my niece jumping into my lap, just out of the bath, barely contained in her towel and yelling "I LOVE YOU, Auntie Jen!" {then fighting me when I attempted to brush and blow-dry her hair... damn that girl's a lot like her aunt:: what goes around comes around. gotta chuckle at that}
• dan's yummy pasta dinner on monday night. i can handle clean up when he cooks like that.
• the new ridiculously funny face garret's making right now- mouth out in a straight line, cheeks puffed out. so hard to describe. NO idea where he learned that.
• aila going absolutely nutty when i walked into her livingroom yesterday.
• a lighter, less stressful work schedule
• going to Zumba first thing Monday morning. awesome way to start the week
• finding out that I received a bunch of 3Day donations that I didn't know about! {thank you everyone}
• planning to start my second knitted hat & teaching 2 friends about knitting in the round
• nearly finishing my first full-sized afghan. SO. CLOSE.
• starting an afghan for Dan: all black (at his request) with yarn that I found on sale. loving it.

yep. so far- so good.

bring it on!

Another scarf cast off

Ryan asked for a scarf like the pink one I made, and Krissy won, at my 3Day Trivia night fundraiser... and it just so happened that they made the yarn in blues and browns too, and it just so happened that I was in a very generous mood... and so I made this very simple garter stitch scarf for my friend Ryan.

And we had a lot of silly fun taking pictures of it the night I visited her at her new crop space- Late Night Croppers!

Love the fringe!! I put long fringe like this on the one I made for me too!

Mmm the texture makes me swoon.

I *heart* knitting!

Treat it with love Ryan. I know you will :)

13 Days Until I Turn 30

Knitting.

I love it.

Strike that-

I'm obsessed with it!

I think I knit at least a few stitches every day--

and frankly I probably knit far too much for my aching shoulders.

I'm trying to be better about that...

but its not easy

because knitting is FUN and PORTABLE.

a great combination.

I took my first lesson the first week of November last year and then flew the next day to Virginia to crop for the weekend-- and thus had my own tutors, Anya & Nicole, there to help me get the basics down! That first project was a scarf for myself in a beautiful shade of turquoise... which I then took out because the teacher failed to tell me that a rib stitch would curl// not the affect I was going for...

I put that project on hold and started a rib stitch scarf with a border- to prevent the curling- in a nice soft dark grey/ a Christmas gift for my very best friend Krissy! [need to take a photo of that!]

I then moved onto a Basic Sampler scarf- to learn some new stitches. This became a soft-off white organic cotton scarf for my friend Megg, again for Christmas. It looks like this but in a creamy, vanilla off-white color.

My third project was a much bigger one. For Aila's first Christmas I wanted her to have something from her Godmother that she'd always remember. And I made a blanket. AC Moore had the organic cotton yarn I love on sale and I was able to afford to buy a whole bunch of it in these very girly, fun colors.

Neither of these are great pictures, sadly. But you can get the idea. Its knit with 2 strands of yarn so its super warm and extra soft!! By the week before Christmas when I finished this I officially had the knitting bug in my system! :)

Then we had some more babies on the way- and so I started in on baby blankets. I used this basket weave pattern twice- once for Garret, in blue, and once for Isabella (whom we didn't know to be a girl), in green.

I've also finished another girl blanket and a boy blanket for some other little ones who are due this summer! I have so much fun trying out new patterns though, and with the latest blanket I even learned how to knit 2 together and slip stitches and pass over! I'm making progress slowly but surely.

The last project I finished was a scarf for my Breast Cancer 3 Day Fundraiser. Of course I forgot to take a picture of that, but you can sort of see it in the photo of Kris and me in this post.

What am I working on now?

A scarf for me-- the first item I might actually complete for myself, in the same yarn I used for the scarf Kris won. It matches my winter coat and my Vera Bradley Mod Floral Pink bags.

What am I working on next?

My next project will be another baby blanket!

But shortly thereafter I'm planning to hit my local yarn shop and/or AC Moore to learn more and do something that's not just a plain old rectangle :) Time to learn how to make a garment of some sort, or a hat or gloves. I also need to learn how to change out color within the same row- I did it in rows with Aila's blanket but that's a little different. Time for something more advanced.

So that's the state-of-the-state with knitting here these days. I'm still very much a beginner but I'm reading and learning more all the time. I just need a little guidance to get all the way there.

what's new?

i've been remiss about blogging lately, so here are some updates:

Sunday November 1
Went apple picking in New Hampshire with Mom, Dad, Jeff, Melissa & Riley. My Uncle Bob & Aunt Wendy and 2 cousins- Melissa and Megan! We had a blast! I have a ton of cool pictures from that day. Need to upload SOON!

Wednesday November 4th
I'm 29 and falling apart.
I went to a physiatrist (no, not a psychiatrist! lol) who said I have bursitis in my hips, ITB syndrome, SI joint issues and bi-lateral shoulder issues. Fun stuff right? I had an x-ray of my spine, which I assume at this point is ok since I didn't hear back.

Next Steps: Physical Therapy for my hips and SI joint issues. 3 shots of lidocaine in my shoulders/upper back starting this week. Did I say 29? this sounds like 79! lol

I posted this on Facebook which got many comments... but my favorite of which was this:
Steve Soule: see what happens from walking. just drink beer and eat meat like the rest of us!
I literally almost fell off my chair when I read this one!

{p.s. YES! I'm finally on Facebook. I have myself set to private because frankly I'm not really interested in being friends with people that I don't really know- or haven't been in touch with for decades. But if you are my friend and you know me, email me and we'll be friends on Facebook too! I'd love that}

Thursday November 5
I took a knitting class!
Finally!
I've been wanting to learn for years.
The class frankly wasn't all that great. But it was a decent enough start. And then with some help and encouragement from friends I think I'm getting the knack of it! Believe me, I've made my fair share of mistakes- but I'm knitting a scarf for me, and if it ends up with some battle scars from my learning process I'm totally ok with that.

What else?
Work is going well. Getting busy again in the next couple weeks so I'll be straight out with that.

We have a mass for Bubba on Saturday at 4:00 at St. Bridget's in Abington. Looking forward to spending some quality time with my family and remembering someone who had such an amazing influence on my life!

I'm hoping to continue and potentially even finish my scarf this week so I can hit up a local yarn store to get some tips on starting another (addicted already. its true).

So that's me. Right now.
Exciting stuff huh?!