Back to the grind

Let's just all take a deep breathe...and exhale. Don't you feel better??
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday filled with love and joy! Mine was certainly eventful, as always. With all the holiday insanity I hate to report that I was unable to finish the Christmas pants for my family in time. Christmas Eve morning I was rushing to get the finishing touches done on them but it just wasn't going to happen. I admitted defeat and after our present opening with my uncle was finished I couldn't help but reveal what the big secret was. My family was thrilled. I was able to finish my Mothers pants so I made her wear them. She loves them and I love seeing her wear them. My aunt and uncle have decided that they would like some for next year too. So if there is one lesson to be learned here it is, START MAKING THE PANTS BEFORE DECEMBER! :) Lesson learned.
After that day, all sewing/knitting ceased. I barely worked for 2 weeks but I still felt it necessary to take a breather from all the frantic crafting I had been squeezing in. That and the fact that my sewing room has had an occupant all this time (It's the spare bedroom). It was nice to take a break tho. Leading up to Christmas, I started to get stressed out every time I was working on something. This only affected my work in a negative way and I started making mistakes here and there. Not good. The day after Christmas, it was like a weight had been taken off my shoulders. I could breathe again.
This past weekend, it was time. Time to pick the needles back up and get back to crafting. And craft I did. 2 hats and a fingerless glove later I couldn't believe what I had accomplished! I never felt rushed or pressed for time. I knitted when I wanted to and it felt great.
My first project was a slouchy hat that I had only made the rib on. I had seen the recipient of this hat a few times over the holidays and every time his first words were "so when do I get my hat". This made it project numero uno on my list. He never told me what colors he wanted for his hat so I was excited to have a little artistic freedom. I had been eying some yarn and joanns and decided this would be the perfect time to use it! It was manly but not boring. In less than a day I had a hat, in a pattern that I had never done before too! I couldn't help but feel proud. 

It's hard to really see the idea and it's still a little stiff, but with some wear it'll be quite the slouchy hat. I really like how the variegated black-to-gray yarn came out. I had never used that kind of yarn before so I wasn't sure to to expect at first. Can we say "pleasant surprise"?!
I've shown the pictures to the soon-to-be owner of this hat and he's just as excited as I am. I couldn't be happier with how it came out. 

The next project I was determined to finish was a pair of fingerless gloves I had started for myself back in November. I'm currently obsessed with purple and my winter coat is gray so I bought the yarn to make striped gloves. I was able to finish one but then the holiday hectic-ness arose and my lonely glove didn't have a friend in sight. This needed to be remedied immediately. I finished the glove in a little over an hour. Easy peasy. Next I wanted to make a matching hat. I flipped through my book of hat patterns to find the one I have been using. As I flipped I noticed another hat, one with ear flaps and tassels. My creative juices were flowing from the joy of the slouchy hat so I looked over the requirements and steps to make this new hat. There were terms I didn't know and needles I had never used before. Any other day I would have been intimidated and ran! This day though, I knew it was time challenge myself and try something new! Plus, I wouldn't feel so bad if I totally messed up  it up, since it would be on my head.

I dug through my knitting treasure chest, found the utensils I needed, took a deep breathe, and began to knit. Anything I didn't know, I looked up online (a HUGE help), and while at work the next day, I had finished it! I couldn't believe the LACK of mistakes! It certainly wasn't perfect but it was a far cry from the first scarf I tried to make. It fit my head, looked cute, and didn't have any holes! I couldn't wait to show it off to you all! I've already had people ask me for matching sets and I look forward to having them get better and modify them to really make them my own.
I can't think of a better way to start off the new year! Here's to new projects and having the confidence to conquer them! Who knows, maybe I'll make a whole sweater this year!!!