Where Did April Go?

Seriously, where did the month of April go?

Today, it hit me that I had several emails/Facebook messages that I forgot to reply to, making me realize that a) I really need to figure out a system to remember to respond to my Gmail and FB messages (since I can't access them on my work computer), and b) it's nearly the end of the month.

I'm sorry for being MIA, dear friends. But April insanity brings May calm, so hopefully I will be able to blog more and go back to being a good semi-decent communicator!

Here's what I've been up to:

1. Knitting. Like. Crazy.

My knitting obsession has officially replaced my iPad addiction. For the past few months, I've grown used to reading blogs and other news (....or celebrity gossip) on my iPad after work for hours. After Tom pointed out that I might be borderline addicted to the iPad, I made a concerted effort to use it less.

After I started knitting, I started working on my projects after work or while we watch movies. My iPad addiction was gone! This was partly because I had to complete homework as part of my class and wanted to make sure that I didn't fall behind on my work. 

I finished my scarf the week after my class ended. Here it is!

My first scarf!

While I was taking my class, my friend Shara (an expert knitter!) recommended that I check out Ravelry. Oh. My. Gosh. This website is amazing! I found tons of awesome patterns (for free!), reviews on different brands of yarn, and knitting tricks and tips.

I flagged a couple of patterns that I was interested in doing - including the blanket for my mom that I mentioned in my last post and a cowl scarf for me. I also wanted to make a scarf for my sister Allie and a hat for Tom, so I knew that I would have plenty of projects to keep me busy.

Chicago was hit with some pretty nasty weather a couple of weeks ago, and I decided to make a visit to the yarn store on the first night of our crazy rain. It was my first time picking yarn out by myself, and it was slightly intimidating. I was very caught up on getting the specific brands listed in the patterns, but realized that as long as I get the correct blends/weightings, it didn't necessarily matter if I purchased the brand in the pattern.

I got to work on Allie's scarf and turned it around within a week. My teacher told me that the general rule for scarves is to make them as long as you are tall. I'm 5'8", so my scarf took quite awhile. Allie is a few inches shorter than me, so I knocked her scarf out considerably faster than my own.

Unfortunately, she picked up the scarf this afternoon and I forgot to take a picture of it! I used a gray and white Cascade 220 yarn to make her scarf. This is the same brand I used to make my scarf and hat, and I find it really easy to work with. It doesn't shed at all and is easy to handle - and it's very soft! The pattern was 2x2 ribbing and it looked pretty good. My scarf has a number of flaws, since it was the first thing I worked on, but hers is pretty perfect.

The pattern for my mom's blanket called for a lot of yarn - six skeins to be exact - so I decided to try ordering that online. I was worried that the color wouldn't match what was on the website, but it looks perfect. I am using Coffee Beenz yarn, which is super soft and sheds slightly while knitting. I started working on the blanket this week and find it to be easy so far. I'm using circular needles, making the weight manageable, and the needles are pretty thick. Check it out:

Mary Cooney's future favorite blanket

I'm curious to see how quickly I can turn this around. While I was intending for the blanket to be a long-term project that I would work on sporadically, I'm going to make this my main project for now. I still think it'll take quite a bit of time, but I would like to be able to give this to my mom by July. I'll call it a belated Mother's Day gift.

     2.  Winning.  

Yes, I made an outdated Charlie Sheen reference. Would you expect anything less from me?

I started volunteering for Minds Matter of Chicago this year. MM is an organization that provides mentoring services to high-potential high school students who don't have the resources to end up on a college track. This organization rocks. Tom volunteered as a mentor and then as Director of Mentors, and stepped off the team this year. I decided to volunteer (keeping it in the family) on the marketing team, and I'm liking it so far.

Last night was MM's annual Spring for the Students fundraiser. I went to last year's SFTS with Tom and thought it was awesome. The food was delicious, I'm always a fan of never-ending wine, and the silent auction items were cool. When I heard that this year's event was going to be at the Museum of Contemporary Art, I was very excited. I'm a bad Chicagoan and had never been there before!

After a couple of wardrobe malfunctions (and by wardrobe malfunctions, I mean that I decided that I hated everything in my closet...just for a minute), Tom and I headed to the MCA. This year's event was even better than last year's, and I was blown away by what everyone wore. I wanted to borrow almost all of the dresses that I saw! The silent auction items were amazing as well. Even more fabulous - bidding could be done through texting. I could outbid someone while hovering over the dessert buffet (and I did!) across the room.

I love silent auctions. I like bidding on things (hence my eBay obsession of 2009) and it's fun because it goes to a great cause. I ended up winning both of the items I was eyeing:

• A Chicago staycation, which includes a night at the Wit hotel, dinner at Bin 36 and a HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE. I have been wanting to do a hot air balloon ride for a really long time, and the second I saw that, I knew that item was mine. Poor Tom will likely end up with a broken hand, as I'm actually terrified of heights and will squeeze his hand when I'm scared, but I'm so excited to go up in a balloon!
• A Guerlain makeover package, which is seriously awesome. The makeover is for four people and the package included a gift box of Guerlain products. I. Love. Products. I love lotions, face masks, lip gloss, mascara...everything.

I had never heard of Guerlain, but I figured that it would be a fun outing for my sisters and me (good things come in fours...). I was able to pick up my gift box at the end of the night, which caused me to scream, "OH MY GOD I GET TO TAKE HOME MY PRESENTS!" I really am such a delight to live with. Tom is so lucky.

When we got home, I looked up some of the products online to see what the reviews were like. And oh. My. Gosh. This is fancy stuff. Like...really, really nice stuff - way out of the realm of possibility for me to purchase normally. I am so excited to use it! I've been playing with the lip gloss all day today - it's gorgeous AND it smells nice! Just ask Tom, since I made him smell my mouth. Really, I'm such a delight.

      3.  Work.

To support my knitting and silent auction obsessions, I work. I'm lucky in that I like my company, the work that I do, and the people who surround me every day. But, I've been incredibly busy lately. Things will even out soon though - and in the meantime, I'll keep knitting and staying fabulous.

My Fabulous Hat (and Scarf Progress Photos)!

I officially completed my first knitting project last night!

I apologize for the lack of blog posts. Somehow, I have been incredibly busy the past few weeks, although I don't know if I could tell you what I was up to. These weeks went by in a blur of delicious food, prosecco, and movie nights.

Last week in class, we started working on our hats. When my teacher said that we were going to be finishing our hats in the following class, I thought she was kidding, but it was a surprisingly easy project.

Every time I learn a new knitting technique, my initial internal reaction is, "No way. I can't do that!" I've learned that I take that approach to a lot of things, and I feel like I have let myself miss out on new experiences in the past because of it. I pushed aside any fear of messing up (what did I have to lose, really?) and found that the knitting techniques and skills that I was learning were actually quite intuitive.

We used circular needles for the hat, which I thought I would dislike. I had gotten used to working with regular needles for the scarf, but after working on my hat, I prefer the circular needles. It's easier to hold the project in my lap, and I feel like there were no interruptions as I created new rows.

My homework was to make a 6 inch tube by Wednesday, and then we finished the hat in class. Decreasing the stitches was tricky at first, but I think I have the hang of it and will do well on my next hat.

The hat is ribbed (2x2) and fits perfectly. Even though it's April, it was cold last night in Chicago, so I wore it home. Here it is!

Now that I am done with my hat, I can concentrate on my scarf. It's been easy to make the time to knit, since Tom and I watch a lot of movies (and I watch a lot of bad TV). While watching Iron Man and Iron Man 2 over the weekend, I got a LOT of work done. Combining three of my favorite things (Tom, Tony Stark/Robert Downey, Jr., and my new knitting hobby) never felt so fabulous!

Here is my scarf. I still have quite a bit of work to do, but I should be able to finish it by Wednesday. Tom and I are going to St. Louis this weekend for his fabulous sister's bridal shower, so I will have plenty of knitting time on the train. I'm really excited to have that time to relax and knit!

One of my homework assignments for this week was to pick out a pattern that I want to make next. I am debating what to do. I have already promised a scarf to my sister and a hat to Tom, which will be easy since they want the same color. But what else should I do? I'm tempted to try a blanket for my mom, but is that too complicated? What's a good long-term project for a new knitter?