I have no excuse.

I could pretend and say THINGS HAVE BEEN CRAZY!!! But in actuality, the only craziness in my life is the Olympics and I should have more to post today. For the first week I was home I just sat and knit and enjoyed having a couch and a TV again. Total bliss, really. Unfortunately, I had two set backs in my knitting.

1. My mom's birthday present has sadly been a nightmare. I was working on making my mom a birthday gift out of this beautiful LOOKING stuff:

(Jojoland Harmony)

When I realized... I HATE WORKING WITH LACE WEIGHT. A lot. I tried every pattern on ravelry and none of them made me feel good. I just kept thinking "this will not keep her warm, this is not something she'd wear, this is not practical" and then... rrrrrriiiiiiiip! Out came 6 hours of work each time. So I've given up on this very pretty but ridiculously impractical yarn. I have no idea when I will be able to use it again, but I'm moving on.

So, I was in search of the perfect mom gift ALL OVER Ravelry. I found a few small projects that she will actually use, though they may not be so coherent. I don't want to spoil the surprise, so if you are not my mom look here and here for her gifts. I wanted to make more, but I've realized that this "handmade pledge" easily gets out of hand. I don't want to be anti-climactic at holiday time. (:

2. I fell in LOVE with Eunny's Deep V Argyle Vest and have been working on it almost non stop. Unfortunately, my gauge, once again, is off and I'm going to have to tear the whole thing out and go with a bigger needle. Yes, JUST LAST POST I said I was going to start doing a swatch. But I didn't. I'm a bum. I relied on the fact that the pattern called for just sport weight, which I had, and went with it using the needles called for by the yarn req's. Silly me. No I have to pull out days of work. Makes me a little sick.

I've also been working on my quilts! I am FINALLY SATISFIED with Dara's baby naming quilt, so here it is:

I have gotten RAVE reviews from friends (other than Dara's parents) who have seen the quilt. I am pleased with the results and at peace with the fact that the hand quilting took over two months for me to finish.

I'm also very close to finishing one of the "sister quilts" that I have been working on. My friends are having their second daughter and I wanted to make the new baby a quilt without making the soon to be big sister feel left out. So for the past month I have been working with way too much pink fabric. Maybe that is why I have been so slow to finish?? Here is my modified Coin Stack Quilt from, you guessed it, Last Minuted Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. It was originally a much larger pattern so I shrunk it down to a crib size. I'm IN LOVE with it.

The minky on the back is proving difficult in the quiting process. Being a knit fabric, it loves to move and stretch when it goes through the machine. I've had to tear out more than my fair share of quilting to reposition the fabric. Another reason it has taken me so long. (:

I have battled with the zig sag quilt from day one and have decided that it is a no-go to copy straight off the pattern. I just don't like the look of it. I have a few ideas from Denis Schmidt's book, but I'm running out of patience.

Yup. Yuck. I don't even want to talk about it anymore. Today I am off to Stanley's (the best and cheapest place in Chicago for fruits and veggies) and then running to Jo-Ann to get zippers and some interfacing to finish my Amy Butler Weekender Bag! I am so excited. I'll post pictures soon - I'm going to my Sister's to play with her and Misha on Saturday. I'll try not to saturate this blog with baby pictures. (: 'Til next time...