It's my blog and I'll self-portrait if I want to.

Bear with me here today. There may be spelling errors and misuse of words. I promise you I know my their/there/they're differences even if I do make a mistake today. I think I'm going into weekend mode a couple hours early.

I'm not going to tell you how tired I am today or how sick I am of walking my broken mother's dog. This is not one of those posts. I promise. We're all probably tired and don't want to get out of our warm beds in the morning to a freezing cold bedroom in order to pick up dog poop. Am I right? Feel free to use "dog poop" as a metaphor for going to work, showering, working out, or whatever it is your morning routine consists of. Let me tell you, I have a great deal of respect for anyone that can roll out of bed to shower or work out before heading to work/school at 8:30 in the morning. That is far beyond my happy scope.

Gosh, Anna, move on, why don't you?

I've started getting back into knitting. It is making my life so happy. I never really stopped knitting, I just slowed down and got bogged down in Eighties Sweater. Once that beast was put to bed (read: onto my mother's torso) I got back to the fun knitting. Yep, I started knitting for myself again.

It's funny, I can't think of anything I knit in 2012 before October that was for myself. Seriously, it was all for other people. Baby blankets, toques for Bolivian prisoners, baby toques, baby booties, and, of course, Eighties Sweater were all for other people. Maybe January saw some me knitting, but I can't honestly remember the last thing I made with myself in mind. Until last month.

Last month I made myself a super chunky cowl. I wanted something grey or black I could wear at work with an orange sweater. This didn't end up fitting the bill, being more casual that business, but whatever. I like it and it fits well under sweaters. 

How west coast do I look in this picture? And what do you think of my bathroom art? Van Gogh who, am I right?

I bought that sweater I'm wearing from Costco last year around this time for $20-$25. I liked it so much (even though I didn't really wear it) I got my mother in law one for Christmas. Her sweater's actually nicer because it's a gorgeous grey but they didn't have my size. I also don't think she wears it. Her loss! I have gotten SO many compliments on it since I resurrected it a couple weeks ago. 

That hat I'm wearing was the second toque I ever knit and the first thing I did with different colours. No big thing.

I should really start taking more photos of my finished products. Must catalog my awesomeness. And also ask Karl to take more photos of me.

For the record, I am an excellent model. Good lighting, good hair, and an only partly obstructed view of what I'm showing off. Where's my modelling contract?

After the cowl, which was actually a miniature break from Eighties Sweater, I moved onto what I had been dying to make since the beginning of the year: mittens, fools. (I don't actually think you're a fool, I just like to talk like a mean gangster sometimes. What's more gangster than mittens?) I have a couple pairs of mittens I've gotten from the major clearance rack at Reitmans the past couple years but they all have really big thumbs. Massive thumbs. Twice the size of my thumbs. I think my index finger would fit, for that matter. My thumbs feel very inadequate and look impotent. You know, if thumbs were... Nevermind. 

I decided that I would make myself mittens when I had the time. As it turned out, the time was now and the time was right. So I made myself some mittens. Standby for gleeful photos of myself in mittens hitting up the twitter in the next few days, but until then check out mitten number one in progress.

Knit during a zombie movie. Officially going to be zombie mittens.

Last night I put the finishing touches on my mittens. I followed the pattern exactly and my mittens fit perfectly. If perfectly were super snug with no wiggle room. Right now I'll take it but I can see myself making another pair of slightly roomier mittens in the future. They're a little short in the finger length, which is fine, but it makes the thumbs start a little bit above where my thumb actually sits. This is also okay because it means that my thumbs fit just fine. I'm not sure what kind of women this pattern was written for, but they must have lived in the 1920s because if my midget thumbs fit without adjusting the pattern (good thing I didn't, even though I was tempted) other people are going to be busting out of the mitten seems. At least their thumbs are.

Tonight I plan on catching up on this week's TV and knitting my latest me project. It's a scarf that I think should be done by the time I come back to work on Tuesday. I might be over estimating my knitting prowess and devotion, but we'll see. This, for sure, is something I can wear to work. Because it's awesome. It's also a pattern by Jane Richmond (who is local!) and the first (aka only) time I've ever bought a pattern. She had me at buy two get on free. 

I'm also excited to finish it so I can wear it to impress one of my friend who also made it. It was like a nerdy knitting moment when I saw her wearing the same scarf I had a pattern for. Then, well, I found some purdy green wool (for reals, it's not acrylic at all) at Michaels on sale and it was like, dang, make some knitting magic happen, yo! (still a gangster)

If it turns out this pattern is as quick as I think it will be I'll probably make some as Christmas gifts this year. And mittens. Because who wouldn't want cute mittens? I like to make things for myself to make sure they turn out well before doing them for other people.

The beginning of November is probably a little late to start thinking of all the lovely things I'd like to make people for Christmas, particularly if I want to get fancy (which I won't this year, that's for sure), but it's doable. I like to make my sister in law things and hope to actually make her something nice this year. Same with my mom.

You know, I should probably just start my Christmas knitting in January and stop giving people things throughout the year (aka my mom) just because. I could have a whole pile of mittens, scarves, toques, baby whatnots, and even socks (that's thus far uncharted territory) ready for whatever happens. Okay now I'm excited. Then I would be able to technically make everything for myself and give away what I didn't want/need.  BAM.

I win at life.