Banana Bread, NaKnitMo, & The Lost Hero

The title sums up my day. I finished up NaKnitMo last night with a grand total of 30,066 stitches, which was 66 stitches over my goal. This was exciting enough, but I just got a message on Ravelry this afternoon (and a text from my soul sister Mary!) letting me know that I had also won something in the NaKnitMo Prize Drawing!!! Very soon I will be the proud owner of the Summer 2010 issue of Verena Knitting! A very special thank you to crosstitchlinda on Ravelry for donating my prize!!

I went back to the library today for the first time since my pneumonia diagnosis in October. It felt good to be back, even though I only made it 3 hours before ripping the tape from the tape dispenser was making me break out in a sweat and get shaky. I came home then, and after eating lunch took a L-O-N-G nap. I felt refreshed enough from this to bake some Banana Bread this evening, as well as cook dinner, wash a load of laundry, and sew together a strip on the quilt I'm working on. Not a bad day, productivity-wise; however, I really wish my energy level would come back. I really miss it!

I'm worn down again now, but content. I picked up The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan, from the library, and am looking forward to a hot cup of coffee and reading some of it tonight. Not that there's much tonight left...it's almost 10:00PM now...but I plan on soaking up as much of it as I can before my eyes close. I'm really hoping, being an extension of the Percy Jackson series, that it lives up to my high expectations.

NaKnitMo

I joined the NaKnitMo group on Ravelry. I missed out last year, only finding out about this gem at the end of the month. This year I almost forgot again! Hey, no judging, alright? I've been battling pneumonia, and my youngest had a tonsillectomy on Friday. Right now I'm doing well to remember my name.

Anyways, getting back to the point, I cast on a Coal Springs Scarf for a teacher's gift for my youngest on October 30th. I figured since I was sitting around bored to death recovering I might as well get a tedious project out of the way. Don't get me wrong...I loved the pattern, truly...it's just that a scarf project is SO boring. Same repeat time and time and time and time again until it's FINALLY long enough. I figured that this scarf was perfect for starting out NaKnitMo with. Turns out I was right. My goal of 30,000 stitches is now 9, 360 closer for my efforts, AND I've finished my second Christmas gift of the season!

Now. About the pattern. I strongly recommend this pattern for anyone just venturing into the world of stranded knitting. There are no wraps necessary, making it an ideal beginner project, and tension won't be as much of a problem as normal as it's a scarf...which means that any discrepancies would be easily hidden. I'd rate it medium on the difficulty scale, simply because it is a stranded project, and the end result makes it a show-stopper. In other words, what are you waiting for? Grab some needles and make one, already!

Omigosh, will it ever SLOW DOWN?

I feel like I'm in a blender right now! My days have been, since school started back, at least 17 hours long. I fall into bed and immediately slip into a coma then I'm back up and at 'em in what feels like 2 minutes. Today was supposed to be a lie-in day for me, but the hubby woke up and hour and a half late for work, causing a nuclear melt-down in the getting ready process. As soon as my feet hit the floor I was dashing about getting his coffee, making sure he had cash/wallet/keys/etc., and trying to calm him. Now he's at work, and I'm wide awake. Sheesh, the things we do for the men we love, eh?

I've been fairly decent about keeping the blog updated with my book reviews as I finish reading, thanks entirely to Goodreads' blogger interface. It makes it a one-click update and, let's face it, that is really handy! Speaking of which, if you have a Goodreads account make sure and friend me! Along the crafty lines, however? Yeah, I get a major fail on that one. So let's get you up to date!

I've managed to finish very few projects this summer. See the title of this post for the explanation. I've created a next pattern in my Hogwarts House fingerless mitt collection, R is for Ravenclaw. The mitts have been test knit, but I've yet to write out the pattern. Perhaps some rainy day...



My first portable project that I took with me to my youngest's nightly football practices is finished. I knit a pair of Bellatrix socks in Hufflepuff yarn, which was absolutely delightful! The socks aren't too bad, either ;)

I'm also working on a secret project. Well, secret from the hubby, anyways. Remember that quilt I was making for my youngest's bed? Well, my hubby adores it. He's been dropping hints for month about how he'd love to have one of his own. Cue the proverbial light bulb over the head. I'm making him his very own quilt for Christmas. It's been a problematic project. I can only work on it when 1. He's at work; and 2. I've got free time at home. See the problem? Because of that I picked out a super simple pattern, Victoriana Quilters' Easy Beginner's Rail Fence. Today, since I'm up anyways, I actually get to start sewing the 6 1/2" squares together to form the 12" squares!

Well, that's about it for me! Time is of the essence, and I hear the coffee pot and the sewing machine both calling for me!!

Christmas in July?

Yes, it's a real thing. For a crafter on a budget, at least. July rolls around, and with it an internal clock with an alarm set to what I refer to as "panic mode".

Every crafter knows this alarm. It always hits early in July. You'll wake up one morning, roll over, and then the bells and whistles sound. You sit up in bed, eyes wide, pulse racing, and think to yourself "Oh crap, Oh Crap, OH CRAP! I only have 5 months to get stuff made for EVERYONE!! What am I going to make for the kid's teacher? The mail delivery person? My Mom? EGADS, what about my MIL?! I'm never going to please HER!!" And, thus, it begins. The rabid internet searches for patterns, digging through the stash to see what you have versus what you need to have, and (finally, yet always much later than you wanted) the actual starting of the crafting.

Me? I've done the searches and the stash stock. That leaves the digging in and getting started. I've got a new pattern being test knit on my needles right now (want a sneak peek?), then I'll be getting started. I woke up this morning and saw a massive influx of queuing in my friends' activity tab on Ravelry, so I'm guessing that my panic alarm was a tad bit early this year. I can't help but feel a little excited by this...maybe that means that THIS year will be the year that I actually manage to accomplish everything I need to! As for the rest of you crafters out there? I hope that your Christmas in July is filled with luck and prosperity this year.

Hugs & plenty of chocolate~

Jenn