Sunday, January 07, 2007

New Year...New Look!!

So, I decided I needed - wanted - a change. Nothing drastic - just a change in blog look (well, what did you expect? I cut off my hair?!). Hope you like it, I know I do! I've been having those knittin' blues of late...the post-Christmas I-don't-want-to-knit-any-of-my-WIPs blues. And from what I've been reading on other blogs, I'm not alone.


I took stock of what WIP's I have - Dalarna, Amphora, Arangenser, Western Seas, uh, what else...oh yeah, Seaweed Scarf... Probably missing one... Anyway - what's a girl to do? I love each and every one of them, but, sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...


Start something new.
What? Oh, like you haven't done exactly the same! It's a really easy knit - the "Central Park Hoodie" from Knitscene magazine, the Fall 2006 edition. I'm using some Kilcarra Donegal Aran tweed (yes, from my stash), on size 5mm needles. The back is complete, and the left front is at the underarm. You can't really see from the picture, but there are rope cables along the sides, and the middle. The colour is as vibrant as it shows in the picture...we all need a bit of colour during the winter!


And you know what? Starting something new certainly did help me recover my knitting "mojo". Just so that you don't think I succumbed to Second Sleeve Syndrome with poor Dalarna (I haven't forgotten her!) -

Here's the start of her 2nd sleeve. My progress is staggering, I know. But, it's a start!

Lorraine was over a week or so ago, and helped me stitch up the steeks. She brought over her sewing machine, and a great big paper bag that Atticus and Gandalf thought was the coolest toy in the world. Mae...she was kinda "meh" about it. I think when no one was looking though...


I for one am glad to be back to a normal routine. As nice as the Christmas season is, it can be stressful at times. Hey, so thanks to everyone for your stash comments! Pretty pathetic, huh?! But, I gather it's probably not as bad as I think. Some of you have stashes to rival mine... You know, there is NO way knitting ennui can set in. All I need to do is visit my "store", and I'm bound to find something I completely forgot I had. Not hard. Trust me on that one.

The funny thing about this new Beta Blogger is that it doesn't indicate the return e-mail address of those of you who have left comments. I always love to reply back to them, but unless you're in my address book, I can't always do so. And I want to, so I'm sorry about that! I do appreciate them, and I'm really quite thrilled that I get comments.


Just when I thought I'd never get another shot of the 3 Little Dudes all lined up on the couch. As you can see, my part of the couch real estate is limited to non-existant at times.

"Mom, enough with the holidays and the change and all that stuff. You're moving furniture around, changing your blog layout, there's no snow yet you claim it's January, and you have the nerve to change our water bowl. Enough already. *sigh* ...so tired...must sleep...again..."

13 comments:

Lorraine said...

Bridge- Can I be the first to congratulate you on your new look?
(So glad you didn't cut your hair!)
I've had my eye on that Central Park Hoodie as well. Isn't it great to knit from the stash?

Noogies to the Dudes (my shoelaces will never be the same).

Marina said...

Well, sometimes but not too often! This time I soldiered on & am nearly done with the Kashmir body. Woo Hoo, Fair Isle, here I come ;-)

Man, I'm jealous! Love that Central Park Hoodie!

Love the new look but wasn't it a pain going through everything to add the labels!

Chris said...

I like the new layout!

That hoodie is great! I did need to take a few minutes to recover from it not being colorwork, however. ;)

New water bowl??! The poor babies! Such torture!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the new look and the New Year! Way to go on knitting from the stash. I think I need to do the same.

Anonymous said...

Yay - love the new look! And I'm really glad to hear that your knitting mojo is back - thanks God the holidays are over now and we can fully concentrate on knitting again!
Your Central Park Hoodie is coming along so fine, and gosh, you knit it up so quickly! Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Got my stash organized - does that count? Love the sweater and the new look! Happy New Year - and I love our snow and am glad you are jealous! LOL

Anonymous said...

Wow, you did change! Don't cut your hair. That is a gorgeous color.

Hmm. That's about as far as I got on my 2nd sock of the Norwegian Socks for....about....eight years.

Blogger is being really, really weird. I think I've had the same password the last 4 times.

barbp said...

Your new look is terrific! The hoodie is great and the cables are very nice.

We had white stuff today. I couldn't remember what it was. SNOW? What's that. LOL

Marji said...

the new blogger doesnt' let you see email addresses either?! Pooh.
I can't move mine yet - I thought i did, then it came back and told me it cant' for whatever reason.
Love the clean new look. Love the fact you've got your mojo back. I don't yet. I'm soldiering away on these gift knits and quite frankly, I just want them to go away.
ohhhh yeah - Don't go cutting your hair. Those of us who don't have that spectacular hair need to live vicariously. It's beautiful, keep it. ;)

Brenda said...

I'm new to your blog (got here through your comment at Chris's), and I like your layout. The CPH looks great, I love the color you chose. I don't have that magazine, but I may have to find a copy and knit that sweater. Love your cats!

I have the same problem with commenters, too. Drives me nuts!

Anonymous said...

Okay Brigette, how many of the XXL bags did you fill up? Me - 9. And those adorable kitties asleep so peacefully couldn't possibly have done the damage shown in the post below! That was a set up! They are being framed!!!!

Anonymous said...

LOL, cats are really interesting creatures the way they "own" everything, including us. I do love the color of the new WIP, very tasty. I seem to have been the only one bitten by the "hurry up and get this darn thing finished" but. Of course, I am breaking my own personal sweater curse, so there's different motivation there. I always see your comments in some of my fave blogs so I thought I would pop on over and visit you. Love it! I will definitely be back!

DeeAnn said...

Central Park Hoodie - a woman at my OLYS was wearing one and I loved it! Your yarn choice is sweet! Definitely a cheerful color to help you out :)