Peasant Top

So after all of my bad luck, I finally got the gauge down for the peasant top I am making. I just finished up the front and have started on the first sleeve. It was definitely slow going at first, especially through the cable section, but now that I've gotten the hang of it, I'm moving right along. That is good since my Christmas time allowance is being used on myself right now. I got yarn to finish my sock and to make a pair for someone else. Then I have a jacket and a couple of hats, then a scarf to make. Other than that, I'm not sure if I'll be doing any other handmade gifts this year. I will be posting pictures of some projects, but not of the ones I know people who read this blog will be getting (until after Christmas. I will save them on my camera. So around New Year's time, I will have a whole litany of pictures to post.) Also, I have decided that for my New Year's resolution, I am going to complete the Knitting Guild levels to become certified as a Master Knitter. I am also interested in going on the knitty.com cruise in May so I am trying to earn the money to go on that. Leave me a note on this post if you are interested in helping me.
I am hoping to get my peasant top finished up by mid-October at the lastest so I probably will not be posting for a bit yet, but you all will see it when it is finished. Take care.

Trouble in Craftworld

I have had a run of bad luck in my knitting adventures. I ran out of sock yarn at the toe of my second sock and have to buy a skoach more yarn to finish (but am on a budget for a while.) So then the new yarn I bought to make my suede tank top didn't work out either. It turns out weight DOES matter in a yarn, even if the yards match up. On a size 5, I still couldn't get the gauge for the pattern to work out (that called for a size 9 needle.) I am going to have to rewrite the pattern which ranks right up there with the cocoon shrug I have been procrastinating on. So I switched back to that cross-stitch I was working on a few months back (the one I have been almost done with for months) and thought I was finally stitching up the last of it. Ugh. Every time I finished one color I would find a spot I missed before. So I put that away too. Then, I started knitting on my boucle peasant top and I am having gauge issues with that too. So I threw up my hands and have been focusing on reading. I finished the last 30 pages at lunch today of the book I was reading for my book club that was last night. Darn it! So I went to the library to get my next book, but they were all out. I am on hold for a book from another library and should be getting that in the next couple of days. A DVD I have been waiting for has been "in transit" for about two weeks now too so I am also going to have to call on that. On the upside, I am going to check out Handmade in Eagle for the monthly SnB (aka knitting club) meeting on Saturday and I am hoping to get a small amount of sock yarn to finish up my sock, plus maybe one new skein to get back into Christmas projects again. (It just goes to show you that "yarn" and "budget" do not belong in the same language together. The book store my club is at has a couch with no pillows so I think I am going to make some Sugar n Cream (maybe even in crochet) items for them too. We'll see. My ambition for projects definitely outweighs my available time. Speaking of which....