I'm back! (Part I)

Yep, that's right.

After writing half the things I wanted to say, though, I realized that this post is going to be wayyy longer than anyone would want to read, so I'm going to break it up. Here's part 1 for you all.  :)

So I'm back from an unintentional many-month long hiatus, and I'm back for a bit with some new projects and news. First of all, though, I want to catch up on some long-delayed and promised things:

1. Birthday presents for the boyfriend. I mentioned allllll the way back in August the birthday wonderfuls I was making but couldn't tell you about a) because I hadn't gifted them yet and b) because there's always a chance the boyfriend reads this blog.... maybe. Well, now not only have I given them to him (and he has been using them daily), I have the time to post the pictures!

 I made him a hat and scarf set from a wonderful Green Mountain Spinnery Mountain Mohair in Mesa (yay, alliteration!). The hat is the long, ear-covering version of the boyfriend hat from Stephanie Likes to Knit-- I chose this pattern not only because it's a hat designed specifically with a boyfriend in mind, but because I thought the decreases at the top were beautiful. It was super quick and easy to knit, and the boyfriend LOVES it!

I didn't use a full skein of the yarn with the hat, so I started a simple garter-stitch scarf to go with it. I ended up getting another skein to finish off the scarf, but it was well worth it: both it and the hat are super comfy and warm (I just HAD to try them!).

2. Well, this is a continuation of birthday presents, but it's another project so I'm giving it its own spot on the list. Or him, I should say, not It. Because this most certainly IS a him. Meet the bear the boyfriend has named "Mr Cuddlewuddles":

Isn't he adorable? The pattern (for Henri the Bear) is by Yarnigans, but the original site where I found the pattern has been shut down. I'm super upset about that, actually, because she had some wonderful patterns up, but oh, well. Mr Cuddlewuddles is knit up with Vanna's Choice in Fisherman and stands about six inches tall-- just the perfect size to travel with, so he was great for the boyfriend! He's super soft and snuggly and was wonderful to work on. He was a quick knit, too-- I finished him in only a couple of days. Man, stuffed animals are the best!

Which will lead me to my next post, involving more stuffed things... stay tuned.  :)

Christmas

Okay, so I know it's been a while, and I have another catch-up post in the works, but I wanted to post about this before it was no longer timely. Among lots of other wonderful, wonderful gifts, I got a smartphone for christmas. One with an android operating system, actually, and I'm writing this post from it right now. Anyway, what I wanted to say was that I've been using it for two days now (almost) and I can't get over how freakin' cool it is. You know how every birthday people ask you if you feel any different? Well, it's the day after christmas and I really do, for the first time in a long time, feel different. I'm having a really hard time getting used to the fact that wherever I am, I'm connected to the entire world. I literally have a connection to all the information I could ever want in my pocket, or purse, or right in my hand. HOW FREAKING CRAZY IS THAT? I mean yeah, I'm sitting on my living room floor right now writing this, something I can do with my laptop, but I could .be posting this from a playground or an open field or even the tropical rainforest or the polar ice caps. Well. Maybe not actually. But anywhere there's cell phone service, I have a direct link to almost anything in the world. Wow.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful christmas! Catch-up post with some xmas goodies will be coming up soon. :)