Time Flies!

Wow, time does fly or so it seems. It certainly doesn't feel like weeks and months have gone by, but they have. The pain I feel in my heart is less, only by a small bit, but still, it doesn't hurt as much. I still burst out crying at the most inopportune moments, but I'm dealing with those as well. I don't think I will ever stop missing my sister, but I will continue to live my life as if she were still around since I know she's not far in my heart.

What have I been doing?

Looking for a job, any job! And there's not a heck of a lot out there. Mostly ads from temp agencies who are collecting resumes. Big whoop! And the few legitimate job ads that do show up every few days are flooded with applications I'm sure. With all the layoffs, I'm not the only one searching for a job. I keep applying with the hope that my resume will be first in line and that someone will actually read it over.

I've been knitting and crocheting a lot! I made wristwarmers for a very special friend's birthday in a lovely shade of blue, her favorite! :)

I'm still working on the Adamas shawl for a friend of a friend. But with the summer heat setting in, worsted weight yarn in a large shawl does not set well on my lap. I've also got another shawl in the works, but again, the heat is not amusing for shawl work.

I've made several more washcloths which will end up in a Christmas package for my Mom. Still have to do something else though. Sending just washcloths seems cheap in a way.

I'm currently working on a dress for Xandy. This will be for fall when she starts school! It's dark pink with a lovely frill of Bernat satin faded glory ombre shade. I'll also be doing the front bodice using the satin as well as a small frill or cap for the sleeves. Right now, the bottom frill is killing me! LOL I have 528 stitches to purl, and k2tog, yo, k1 that is taking forever to do one repeat of! But once the frill is done, I'll be going down to ONLY 264 stitches! That should speed things up.

The pattern I'm using as a base is from Knit 'N Style June 2007, Viva la Violet dress, size range 2T to 6 years. I'm knitting the size 6 just to make sure the dress will be worn more than just one season.

I've been stewing over ideas about what I want to make for Christmas presents. Just have to get them down on paper and actually start making them.

The blanket for my son is slowly growing. I have the 24 outer squares done. Started working on the first of the 24 inside squares last night. Thankfully the squares are small enough 8x8 that I don't end up with a lapful of worsted weight yarn. Much too warm for that!

My darling daughter is looking for yarn for a summer top she wants. She found it in a back issue of Sandra magazine. Model 29 I hope she finds yarn that she likes so I can knit it for her.

I started knitting a curtain. The whole thing started when I spotted a cone of laceweight yarn in a lovely teal shade that was only 2 dollars at the local Talize store! I bought it thinking I could experiment using it on my Passap 201 knitting machine. But, alas, it was not to be. The solid metal workings of the Passap literally ripped the poor laceweight yarn to shreds. So back in it's box went the Passap. Out came the crochet hook as well as several skeins of a white acrylic laceweight yarn that I didn't know what to do with and I combined the two together. I found a lovely lace pattern in my stitch encyclopedia and off I went! The curtain is 24 inches wide by about 14 inches in height at this point. It needs to reach aproximately 24 inches in height and then it will replace the faux lace curtains that are falling apart from old age in the bedroom window. I'll take pics soon! I promise!

I finally found a pattern for a fall/spring jacket or coat that I like. Mind you, it will need some modifications since the collar and lack of buttons doesn't do it for me. But what else is a knitting pattern for except to modify and make it to suit yourself!?! My darling daughter purchased a large number of Bernat Solo which is a chunky yarn and would be perfect for this jacket. The pattern I found is from the free downloads at Knit 'N Style and is called Wrap Jacket.

The oversized collar is going to be turned into hood. I'll be adding a button band since I don't like my coats flapping in the wind. And since I love cables, there will be some added cabling but that remains to be seen. I still have to work out how I'm going to do it.

I love the overall construction, just don't like the collar and closure.

And last but not least, as some of you know, I play Neopets. Last week, the Random contest was called Life sized, and asked members to recreate one of their petpets in a life sized version. I chose my catamara Chewie to be the designated victim.

Using basic amigurumi techniques I crocheted this little guy and submitted pictures. I won! Came in the first place group which really was amazing! And this is what my little guy looks like.