Invasion of the Tampods!

A long time ago, I posted about a little project I was working on but I didn't want to give any details until I made some progress. Well, progress has been made and I would like to introduce you to the amazing "Tampods."
As a woman, I've always hated that "special time of the month" when I would have to conceal my "feminine hygiene" products as I walked down the long hallway at work to use the restroom. Or, I would have to carry my entire purse down the hall which isn't exactly discreet. Once upon a time, I had a simple little plastic case I would use for the trip but it was lost long ago. So, I decided it was time to see what I could knit for this function. Now I have knit a bunch of what I am fondly naming "Tampods." Each of these little cuties will hold 2-3 tampons and they'll look cute while doing it. The green one at the top of the picture is fully loaded. :) So far the people I've shown these to like them and I think they'll make cute little stocking stuffers for friends.

We've got more babies on the way with a number of women at work pregnant so I've been busy working on baby gifts. Baby projects are really the perfect little projects in my opinion. They are small, quick to knit, colorful, and so darned cute!! I dug into my stash and made this cute little hat with some Vanna's Choice leftovers I had. It's just a simple rolled brim hat that doesn't even have shaping, based on the formula form Knitting Rules by the Yarn Harlot. I just knit it straight up in the round and then pulled all the stitches together at the top and added the Pom Pom. I had a little trouble with the color changes in a couple of areas but the mom is a new knitter and I think she appreciated it. I did get requests for three more hats from some of the other women so I guess it was well received. : ) Lastly, a quick update on the garden. I have proven I am not a gardener because this thing has just overwhelmed me I think. It just went totally crazy. Grow, brown up and seem to die, perk back up and grow a bunch more, brown up and seem to die...well, you get the picture. I just didn't know what to think. Well, today I went out and I've got 6 watermelon of decent size growing on vines that don't even look alive. And the tomato plants have dozens of green tomatoes. I'm so confused. One of the watermelon came off of the vine so I decided to see what it looked like inside since I have no idea how to tell if it's ripe or not. So, I grabbed the machete (yes, we have a machete, you would too in my neighborhood) and hacked the watermelon right in half. It was really kinda fun. :) Imagine my surprise when I saw the tinge of pink on the inside. It's really giving me hope for the other 6 still attached to the vines. Who knows, I might be eating my own homegrown watermelon sometime this year after all.

Gifts are Growing

I've been planning ahead this year and I'm getting a real start on my holiday knitting. The tricky part is I know that at least a couple of people, namely family, who I will be knitting for might actually read this blog occasionally. This puts me in a bit of a sticky wicket, as they say. Because really, what do I do? Do I post pictures of the projects and therefore potentially ruin ALL of the surprise. No. OK, then I won't. But then, what will you look at for the next 3 months. I don't know how often I'll update but shouldn't I at least have some knitting to show. Well, I'm just gonna try and be creative when I show things I'm knitting for gifts, but for those of you related to me, you just might get a preview of your holiday presents. For those of you on Ravelry, you can see better pictures and more info on my projects page. :)
So, on with the show. First I knit this. Now, this yarn was bought with a very specific type of project in mind and a very specific recipient for said project. I cast on and within a few rows I noticed my feelings towards this yarn changing. Now when it was purchased, I thought it was pretty, but nothing overly special. As I knit along and the colors started to reveal themselves and the yarn revealed how nice it felt in my hands and what a springy fabric it was making, I couldn't help but feel a little smitten. I started thinking maybe this present didn't need to be gifted. Maybe when it was finished it would remain mine and I would make something else for the intended recipient. I started to feel like I simply couldn't give it up. The "gift that may not be" was taunting me with every stitch. Well, I still haven't decided if it will be gifted and thus only the sneaky photo. I am in love with this gift and so I am now feverishly knitting a replacement so I can keep it and enjoy it guilt free. By the way, the yarn is Colinette Jitterbug and it is AMAZING!!
Next, I've been knitting this.

OK, so this one won't be too hard to figure out if you read the last post but I'm getting creative with some gift ideas. I like the pattern and the yarn and I'm having fun kicking it up a notch.

I'm also knitting this. For you avid knitters out there, you are likely to recognize this, even though it is just started. This is my second of these and it will probably go to a co-worker.

Lastly, I knit this.

Now wait, I know you can see the whole thing, but that doesn't necessarily tell you what the finished object looks like. This is actually my second test of Mosaic Knitting because I finally got my copy of Barbara Walker's Mosaic Knitting. I really love this technique and I am working on a Poncho pattern for S. It will have several different uses of Mosaic knitting pieces and I wanted to play with it a bit. I knit this in wool scraps from my stash and then I felted it just slightly to firm it up some. This might be a good way to use up some of my wool stash and make cute little stocking stuffers.

So, that's the update I've got. I hope you liked the previews.