Yarn Out My Ears

Duty Knitting

2012-02-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

Ace poses good-naturedly in his spiffy new hat.

Instead of fun knitting, i.e., knitting for myself, I keep getting sucked into duty knitting, i.e., knitting for my family. Haha

First I made some fingerless mitts for Dh, from Knits Men Want.

Now I am knitting hats for all the children from the same pattern (Quynn from Bambeanies) in different sizes. This revealed that my kids have big heads. Even the baby needed the second size up! The first hat, Ace's, was fun and a new pattern and therefore completed in four days (knitting only after all kids are in bed). The second hat, Baby C's was tiny and therefore completed in three days. The third hat for Miss E is still languishing in my knitting basket. Because now I have already made this hat twice and the pattern is no longer exciting. Plus, I have to make the biggest size for Miss E and her 5-year-old head.

Once I am done with that I am committed to making the Watch Cap for Dh, also from Knits Men Want.

Then I think I will make this vest or maybe this shawl...hmm the possibilities!!!!

The Search for a Good Needle Case

2012-02-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

Crochet Hook Case $25

I ~~stole~~ permanently borrowed my initial collection of knitting needles from my mother. At a Salvation Army in upstate NY, she found a giant, funky plaid case (we're talking 1960s in all its glory) full of just about every size knitting needle you could ever want. When I went to college, it came with me. The collection of needles is a bit odd. It's so a product of the 50s and 60s - long needles in sizes 1, 2, and 3, but only one set of dpns (size 5, so random), and not a circular needle to be found. The needles are all metal. I love to wonder about the woman who collected this set and what she made with the needles.

My crochet hook case was a little case that came free with my mother's order of Vanna's Afghans A to Z. Funny that she ordered it, because she did almost no handicrafts in the 90s. In the 90s I was very into crochet, especially doilies (it was my Victorian phase, okay?), so I had a complete set of the impossibly small crochet hooks and a few larger ones. As I (thankfully) outgrew the Victorian phase, I slowly added regular crochet hooks to my collection. My mother gave me the case, I did not steal that one. However, it was lined with a felt-like material that was always snagging my tiny metal crochet hooks. This tells me that Vanna is not a doily-maker, because an actual tiny crochet hook user would never have let that lining go in.

Anyway, now that I have become more of a knitter I have found the dear 1960s knitting needle collection to be insufficient. I have added many circulars and several sets of dpns. I had been storing them all in a magazine holder, which just wasn't cutting it. I had been looking around for a cute case, but hadn't been having much luck.

I am so happy to report my search is over! I have found the most adorable cases for knitting needles and crochet hooks. They are made by Stephanie Boardman who owns the etsy shop Fanciful Belongings. I bought the two cases shown in this post a few months ago and they are great! So great, in fact, that I just ordered another needle case for my dpns and a small zippered pouch for the growing collection of stitch markers and notions that I've been shoving any old place. Boardman uses a beautiful array of fabrics and you can pick which you want when you place your order. She then makes the cases just for you. They are of excellent quality and I cannot recommend them enough!

Circular Needle Case $29

In Which My Yarn Fast Lasts Two Entire Weeks

2012-01-11T15:38:00.000-08:00

After the excesses of Christmas, our budget was rather depleted and we were feeling the pinch. My husband and I decided to tighten our belts and start saying NO to ourselves instead of "yes yes yes" to whatever we wanted. I vowed to go on a yarn-buying fast. Dh asked, "Do you have enough yarn to last you for a while?" Ah, sweet innocent. Apparently he has not found all of my stashing locations. I admittedly breezily that I had enough for a year. (Probably three years. Don't tell him.) This was immediately after Christmas.

Well, his parents came to town this past weekend. I grabbed my m-i-l and we escaped (no baby! no children whatsoever!) to the library and the yarn shop. Exciting, I know. But it was the first time I had been to my LYS since October. (In November I bought yarn off etsy. haha) They had just received January's Dream in Color shipment and I wanted to check it out in person. I decided to pass on the DiC, but somehow I left with 2 skeins of Cherub DK, 2 skeins of autunno in rainforest, and a Kollage kit that had been clearanced (Feed your creativity #13). Oh and a set of 8" bamboo dpns for a hat I'm making for Ace. The 6" metal dpns were too slippy and I was losing stitches left and right.

The shop might even have inspired my m-i-l to pick up needles again after umpteen years. She saw a wrap she wants to make.

My husband rightly teased me for my weakness. But I'm back on the fast, I swear. I really don't need ANY more yarn.

One-Cable Mitts

2012-01-11T15:07:00.000-08:00

I made One-Cable Mitts for my friend for Christmas. ...And I finished them on the 26th. So basically I'm a bad friend. My husband was not around and I needed to give them to my friend, so I handed the camera to my 5-year-old and asked her to take a pic. This is what she took. And then she handed the camera back and refused to take any more. "It's too heavy!" she proclaimed. Later my husband asked that I not give the 5-year-old the really expensive camera ever again. Blah blah blah funwrecker.

Anyway so after E refused to assist me, I decided to take some pictures myself. How hard could it be? I thought. Answer: very hard. Look at these jokes:

Moral of the story: Wait until husband can take pictures for me. I suck at self-photography.

But my friend likes the mitts. :D

Laura Shawl

2011-12-16T17:02:00.000-08:00

When I saw this pattern on Ravelry, I knew my daughter would love it. She has been listening to Little House in the Big Woods on cd and looooves to hear about Laura & Mary. I wanted to use some Plymouth Sockotta I've had laying around for ages, which didn't give me quite enough yardage, so I did fewer rows between decrease rows. With hindsight, I should have reduced the lace edging and had more of the body. Oh well! She does indeed love it.

Baby C in Her Lacy Dress

2011-11-12T21:36:00.000-08:00

Go ahead and ignore me*, focus if you will on the adorable babe in my arms. Baby C is wearing her lacy dress! She looks obscenely cute in it, doesn't she? I could honestly stare at her in this dress for thirty minutes straight. Seeing my little baby in a dress I knit for her is extremely satisfying.

*Yo, I'm dressed. I hope you weren't expecting more than that. I have been (not) rocking the ponytail look quite often lately...oh since Baby C was born. That would be three months now. Someday I might actually get to curl my hair again...

Bandana Cowl

2011-11-12T21:22:00.000-08:00

Here I am sporting the fabulous Bandana Cowl that I made for luvinthemommyhood's Cowl KAL. Sorry you get absolutely no links tonight, I just don't feel like it. This picture was taken the other night when I had literally just finished the cowl and wove in the ends. It was like 11 pm. The hubs was home so I had to act fast. He is working swing right now and I hate it. That is why I look rawther tired. The cowl is verrry warm. I wore it today out and about, it looked incredibly cute with a long sleeve white tee and a dark gray cami underneath. And my black suede boots, natch. It kept me toasty warm, and was only a little scratchy. Really my neck is ridiculously sensitive to things. This cowl is super soft! It is made out of Cascade Eco Duo in Storm.

Here you see the cowl in progress. Anytime I take a picture of something, my 3-year-old son likes to stick his hand in the frame. I try to be fast, but he is faster. Hahaha

Also you can see the lovely stitch markers my mom made for me. Before she came out to help me after Baby C's birth, I asked her what kind of stuff she makes aside from jewelry (she has a home business). She mentioned stitch markers and I about fell off my chair. I told her I had been about to buy some off etsy! She nixed that idea and whipped up a bunch for me before she came, and some more after she arrived. Now I have about 15 beautiful stitch markers.

Updates

2011-10-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

The Pinkerton Shawl is done! I just need to block it. I love it. It was boring, but now that it's done, I love it. And it's small enough to wrap around my neck as a scarfy little thing. Though...I don't know what happened...the pattern said 800 yds of yarn. So I bought two skeins of Malabrigo Sock for a total of 880 yds. But I only used one skein! I even had a teensy bit left over from the first skein. My shawl is a little smaller than the measurements (I mean, why on earth would I ever check gauge?! Ha ha) but it's not that much smaller! But hey, whatev. Now I have a pretty purple skein of Malabrigo Sock to find something to do with.
I've joined two KALs: the luvinthemommyhood Cozy Cowl knitalong and the Anthropologie Cables Crazy KAL. For the Cozy Cowl, I'm making the Bandana Cowl, and for the Cables Crazy, I'm making the Shadow Tuque.
I finished my first cowl. I made the Darkside Cowl using some Mericash I picked up at the LYS on clearance. I like it. I'm going to make a bunch of cowls, some that are looser than this one. It's fairly close fitting.

Soft, pretty & warm.

Pinkerton Shawl

2011-10-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

So, I had a baby a couple of months ago. Before I had her, I picked out a pattern that looked nice & easy. I figured I wouldn't be able to spare much brain power for a complicated pattern. I chose the Pinkerton Shawl and some lovely Malabrigo Sock in Violeta Africana. It looks really blue on my laptop; I think the colors are off on this laptop. It's a beautiful purple with touches of lilac.

New skill for this project: wrapped stitches, which are really easy. I cast on about a week after the baby was born. I used my new Addi Turbo circulars, size 3. Which, can I just interrupt myself to say Wow! I totally thought the knitters of the Internet were exaggerating when talking about the Addis. But they. were. not. So slippy! I love them.

So anyway, the problem is, this pattern is way too easy. I'm bored out of my gourd. I started another project, the Darkside Cowl, just for a little brain use.

I will finish this. But it might take a while.

Lacy Baby Dress

2011-07-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

I love to pet this dress. It's so soft and squeezable. Can't wait to snuggle my baby in it!

Chinook Shawlette

2011-07-20T17:40:00.000-07:00

Knitting Update

2011-07-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

My husband has the camera and won't be back til late tomorrow, so no pics for you. But here's what I've been working on:

This dress. I even knit it in a very similar color. I used Babyboo from my LYS. I absolutely adore this little dress and I can't wait to put it on my baby!! It's so soft and cute. I used almost 3 skeins of Babyboo and knit it on size 2 needles.
This shawlette in KnitPicks Gloss DK in Fairytale, which is a gorgeous raspberry color. I love this thing too. I blocked it Tuesday night and it is fabulous. My 5-year-old daughter says she wants one too. She says that about everything I make for myself. I just tell her, When you're older. This took 2 skeins of Gloss DK and was knit on size 7 needles. Btw, Gloss DK seems more like a light worsted to me. Who's with me?
Various washcloths. I made a couple for my friend of yarn that she bought for that purpose. Now I'm working on one for baby.

I'm debating whether to buy this pattern and whip up a couple tunics, one for baby & one for my cousin's baby who is due 3 days after mine. Of course, I wouldn't be embroidering precious sheep on mine. That's just not going to happen.

I'm also planning on making at least a couple pairs of booties before baby arrives. Unfortunately I still have five weeks. Should be enough for all of this.

Spring Beret

2011-05-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

Here is the link for this beret. My friend said she could see me in a slouchy beret, so I decided to make one and see how it felt on. I've worn it all day and it's definitely grown on me. I quite like it now and plan to make another of Natalie Larson's berets!

I used Cotton Ease in white and size 7 circular needles. Now I wish I'd had some 6s for the ribbing. In fact I might have gone down to 6s for the whole thing. I don't know. But definitely the ribbing.

Here I am with the princess. I'm a bit over 6 months pregnant. Feeling huuuge yet knowing I'm going to get a lot bigger!

Crafting It Up

2011-05-24T20:51:00.001-07:00

I've discovered the appeal of making accessories - quick payoff, don't have time to get bored, and cute stuff to wear! I made a hat for each of my three children, a hat for my friends' baby, and am making a slouchy beret for myself. I'm also making this ridiculously easy tea scarf in a gorgeous blue-black yarn I bought at my local yarn store last week. Last night I found this pattern and I think I'm making them next! Yay for gorgeous little things to wear!

Hats for My Girls

2011-05-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the quick projects I wanted to make. I'm having a baby in August, so I wanted to make something for her! I already have all the clothes because I have a girl already, but I wanted to make something that would be just hers! I had this yarn laying around in my stash - Little Grins - which is apparently discontinued. I got in on clearance ages ago. It's really soft but mostly cotton so not too hot for little heads.

I am starting the third hat, actually. This pattern (oh go find it on my Ravelry page) comes in four sizes: infant, toddler, child & adult. I made the infant size in white (above) for Baby Girl, a purple hat in the child size for my 4-year-old and am now making a purple one in the infant size for my friend's 4-month-old. These are so easy and cute that I might even be making more for some pending arrivals of other friends!

Winter Flame Scarf

2011-05-14T20:15:00.001-07:00

Hello again little neglected craft blog. Here I am to report that I am back. May I present the Winter Flame Scarf:

I started this in November and worked diligently for about two months...until morning sickness kicked in after Christmas. I didn't feel like doing a blessed thing then. This is my first lace pattern (or at least, this is my first lace pattern where I knitted more than 10 inches before getting bored and frogging ha ha). I worked on it off and on once the nausea faded. Finally a few weeks ago I realized that I was nearly done. That inspired me and I knit quite a bit so I could get it off the needles. I had some little quick projects I wanted to try out so I made myself finish this one first! I finished it on the 6th and then blocked it while my husband was out of town this past week (read: not around to be irritated that a 6-foot scarf was taking up the floor of our bedroom). I love how it turned out - the color, the pattern, the soft yarn. I used Comfy Fingering yarn from KnitPicks and the color is such a rich dark blue. It will look fab against my pale winter skin in several months! ha ha

Smocked Baby Dress in Action!

2010-08-13T16:54:00.001-07:00

Here is a link to my friend's cute little baby wearing the smocked dress I knit for her!

Smocked Baby Dress

2010-07-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

All my friends are having babies, it's a marvelous excuse to flex my knitting muscles. I haven't actually knitted very many things before. In fact, prior to this dress I knit: a washcloth, a hat, a baby vest, and a pillow. That's it, my friends. So here I present the smocked baby dress.

The sleeves look all weirdly bunchy, I think it'll be fine once it's on a baby. The pattern is Modell 6 from Filati Kids Special 10. The yarn is Patons Beehive Baby Sport in a cute self-striping color scheme. I love how it worked up on the body, not so much how it made big plain bands on the sleeves. I went down two needles sizes.

Ha ha It looks downright goofy from the back. Maybe my friend will post pics of her baby in it, then I can put them up here.

Basketweave Pillow, Finished

2010-07-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

I finished this a while ago, I just forgot to post these pics! It's finally done. Rainbow's husband said the pillow looks like a sweater. So I beat him to death with it.

Back

Front

Basketweave Pillow

2010-05-21T11:25:00.001-07:00

I am thisclose to done with the pillow! All knitting done, I'm just stitching the pieces together. I ordered some buttons off etsy...let's see...here's the link to the shop. I love the buttons, they're 1/4 inch bigger than the pattern calls for, and the buttonhole band instructions made absolutely no sense, so I just made the buttonhole band how I thought it should be, and with slightly larger holes.

Oh and I joined Ravelry. So I'll put up a link to my profile on this page.

Gnome Hat

2010-05-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

I always forget which order to load photos in Blogger, so these are backwards from how I wanted them, and I'm not redoing them!

Here is a closeup of the gnome hat I made for Cassie's little one. It was quite easy and fast. The earflaps are knit first, then you add on the rest of the stitches around the earflaps and start knitting in the round.

Earflaps with little decorative ties.

Here's the hat, slightly offset so you can see in better detail. I used a worsted weight yarn I had lying around and dpns, size 9.

And picture 1, at the end. Ha ha

WIPs, again

2010-04-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

So I finished the baby blanket for Teaje's little son, then shipped it off so fast I totally forgot to take a picture! Ugh! Now it's on the East Coast and it's very unlikely a picture of it will ever appear here. I'll have to stalk Teaje's FB page, maybe she'll post her baby using it. Lol Anyway, it was a 5-row shell pattern, very lovely. I crocheted it using most of a Pound of Love in Denim, which was actually quite nice, much better than it sounds. Went down one hook size as I have realized I am a loose crocheter & knitter.

Now I am working on a gnome hat (pattern here) for another baby. No pictures, because this friend reads my other blog and I don't want her to stumble over here and see it accidentally. Her baby is actually already three months old (oops) but that's okay because I think this hat will fit a one-year-old.

My friends are reproducing at such a frantic rate, I may never be able to put down my hook or needles again! (Pretending to be sad about that.)

I had to frog my pillow cover (*tear*) because I finally admitted it was 17" wide and not 16" like it was supposed to be. I had 10 inches done!!! All gone. I went down TWO sizes before I finally got the right gauge. *sigh* So I think I have like six inches done on the pillow back. Someday I swear I will be done with that thing.

Oh and I frogged the sock because the ankle was all strangely big and I would never have worn it. I think the pattern may have sucked. It wasn't my hooking, because I followed those instructions perfectly.

Pic of the Baby Hat

2010-03-17T09:30:00.000-07:00

Still working on the sock, and started a little baby blanket for my friend who just had a boy.

Update

2010-03-11T18:53:00.000-08:00

I finally finished the baby blanket. Well, I haven't blocked it yet, but the crocheting is all done. It turned out much larger than the pattern said, and it took quite a bit more yarn (approx 14 oz instead of 10 oz). I think what happened is I had just come off of that little baby hat. Same hook, but something about that hat caused my tension to go all tight and tiny, so when I started the baby blanket the gauge matched up, but as I continued my tension got looser and looser and voila, 5 ft wide baby blanket. That might be a slight exaggeration. I haven't measured the blanket yet, but it is extremely large. Besides, what was I going to do, switch to a finer weight yarn, when I had already purchased a bunch of DK? I don't think so. I couldn't go down a hook, since I was already using a D. It's fine, it's just really large. Ha ha

Now I'm working on the socks. I am almost done with the gusset on sock #1 and despite some yarn store owner's assurance that one skein of Sockotta would be enough for a pair, I am going to run out of yarn somewhere in the leg of sock #2. Grr. Perhaps crocheting socks takes more yarn than knitting them?? Either way, that yarn store closed so I'm just going to order the yarn online.

I found a bunch of fingering weight yarn at the thrift store in white and a lovely dark gray. I think I might try my hand at knitting lace.

Yesterday I made capes for the kids. Ace came to me with a request that I tie a sparkly blue skirt around his neck and I realized he had no dress ups, while Miss E has quite a bit. So I decided to make him a cape. However, I could not make him a cape without making Miss E a cape as well. Thus two capes. Miss E picked out her fabric (bright pink) and I chose basic blue for Ace's. I spied some Hello Kitty ribbon, and we were ready to go. By using some coupons I got it all for $5 (and have extra fabric left over). Miss E's was first and it took about three times longer than Ace's, where I had figured out how to do it all. They turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Miss E wore hers to bed last night!

Still Can't Get the Camera to Download to the Laptop

2010-02-02T09:52:00.000-08:00

Still working on the circular baby blanket. I'm on the edging, and it's getting quite large. It's really cute, though I'm not looking forward to blocking the 64 flowers around the edge!
Knitting a basketweave washcloth in Linen Tweed in this adorable color:

Crocheting some socks in Plymouth Sockotta #5612, delightful ice princess colors. I'm almost to the heel on sock one.

Ha ha

2010-01-27T12:46:00.000-08:00

I kind of want to knit it just for the name...

the Badonkadonk Bobbles Scarf.

Woo!

2010-01-15T12:47:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted since 2008. That's awesome.

Sorry long-neglected little blog. I still love you.

Fall 2008 saw no itchy fingers descend upon me. No crafting all through that winter. I read 133 books in 2009. See the correlation? My fingers still did something - turned the pages of books.

It wasn't until Fall 2009 that I felt the familiar itch. I realized my s-i-l A was having a baby in March, and wouldn't it be lovely if I made something for her little one? I further realized that s-i-l J was having a baby in May and I certainly couldn't leave that one out.

I crocheted a sweater for A's baby, sorry I completely forgot to take a picture of it! It was cute and quick. I ran out of yarn, so bought what I thought was the same yarn. Yeah, so not the same yarn. In good light you can really tell. In fact, if you are paying attention at all you can tell, because the hand is totally different. Oopsie. A's pretty mellow, so I think even if she notices she won't care.

I made a hat for J's baby. That hat. I hate it. It's worked in a sport weight yarn, but with a D hook. (D! Tiny!) So it took forever and I felt no small amount of animosity toward that thing, especially since I worked it in yellow. I hate yellow, but J likes it, so J gets it. It's from Adorable Crochet for Babies and Toddlers by Lesley Stanfield. It turned out well, it has a rolled brim, and that blasted D hook means it's tight and smooth. I'll post a picture once I upload the pics from the camera. My gauge was slightly big, and yet I have a hard time believing this hat will fit a 1-year-old. Perhaps my kids just had big heads. I'll suggest to J that she start trying it on her baby around 6 months.

Now I'm working on a circular baby blanket in white. Never done a circular one before. I spotted the pattern on eBay and had to have it. I'm not sure who it's for. As it gets bigger, I find myself thinking I'll just hang onto it until I have another baby! Cause I'm selfish!

Block of the Month Quilt - February

2008-02-19T19:56:00.000-08:00

Here are February's squares, the Spinning Star and JT's Star.
Very few corners match up in this square!!!!!!!

This square was, quite frankly, boring. But now I am super good at quarter square triangles.

Baby Bibs

2008-02-14T21:00:00.000-08:00

Here is the first bib I made, pattern here. It looks a little clowny I think, with the blue border, but oh well. It's for a baby, right? Ha ha I used Cotton Tots.

Here is the other bib I made, pattern here. I used Cotton Tots, the same as the border in the bib above. I changed it a bit to leave the edging off around the outer edge. I liked it a little rough.

Washcloths

2008-02-13T13:09:00.001-08:00

These are based on a washcloth pattern I used to make Baby E some washcloths. I slightly modified it, and used a more boyish yarn. They crochet up so quickly. I used Sugar 'n' Cream 100% cotton yarn.

Baby Booties

2008-02-13T13:02:00.000-08:00

This pattern came from One Skein Wonders edited by Judith Durant. They were easy to do! I used the same yarn as in Mari's baby's vest. Which I totally cannot remember what it is. Checking the gauge really is making my life easier. Ha ha

Have I Caught the Quilting Bug?

2008-02-06T20:37:00.001-08:00

I decided to make a square out of scraps, following the pattern for the first Block of the Month quilt square. I threw this together tonight. I have scraps in shades of pink already cut up for the second square. I figure I need all the sewing practice I can get. I'm still not great with my machine. I think it might need oil. It keeps funking up.

Block of the Month Quilt - January

2008-01-31T11:23:00.001-08:00

EdgyK signed me up for a quilt block of the month at the local quilt shop. She paid the initial $10 and said she will do April's block (you know, when I'm having a baby). She is making a quilt too. When we got to the quilt shop for the orientation, we discovered it's actually two blocks a month. So now I guess she is stuck doing two blocks for me in April. Ha ha

The gist of it is, if you get your blocks done each month, you don't have to pay any more. Theoretically you can do all 12 blocks for $10. There is a fee for the finishing kit - it's like $25 or $30. Not bad, huh? I am very new to quilting, so this seems an ideal way to get my feet wet - slooooowly.

Here is the first block. Turned out quite well.

Here is EdgyK bossing me around. She says I need to press the square better.

On my second square I messed up. But I bet you can't figure out how. No one will ever know except when they compare it to everyone else's square. On my quilt, I'm sure it will look fine. The red triangles are supposed to be against the inner square, not facing outwards. Oops. I sewed the middle row and fortunately realized I had flipped the flying geese rectangles, and so decided to flip the outer flying geese too, rather than rip out the seams in the middle row and thus cause my head to explode.

Crocheted Cloche

2008-01-16T15:23:00.001-08:00

Here is a cloche I whipped up in early December. Knit Simple magazine pattern, Holiday issue. I used a wool/acrylic blend my mom gave me. It's impossible to tell, but there actually is some texturing, in the form of bobbles and special stitches. Minimal though, the way I like it.

The funny thing about this hat is it's only about 2/3 of the actual pattern. I had reached about row 42 of 47, and I tried it on. Super long. I couldn't see out from under the hat! And no, there is not supposed to be a brim. I just frogged it back to a length that looked good on my head, and called it good. I have no idea why that cloche pattern is designed for a conehead.

Baby E's Christmas Stocking

2008-01-16T15:18:00.001-08:00

Well here it is, finally finished! It turned out so beautiful, which I can say because my m-i-l is the one who actually turned it into a stocking. I used red velvet for the toe, border, and back. Random Christmas-y ribbons my m-i-l had laying around.

Notes to self:

Pick an easier pattern so it doesn't take you two years to finish again
Don't use velvet. Yes, it's pretty. But m-i-l hates sewing with it, and why lie, she's going to be the one sewing up the next one.
For the love of all that's holy, do not wait until Christmas Eve at 10 pm to turn your needlepoint into a stocking. (We were up until 2 am working on it. Blaaaah.)

Knit Hat for Baby E

2007-10-27T22:43:00.000-07:00

Front view.
Side view.

I used the No-Pattern Hat pattern from the Yarn Harlot's book Knitting Rules. (This book actually converted me to swatching. Before reading this book, I always refused to pay attention to my gauge. No longer!) I used size 9 dpns, added a ribbed border for stretchiness, and used the acrylic/wool blend I have lots of from frogging the sweater I half-finished. (I realized I didn't actually like the pattern, and would never wear the finished product.)

Fall Means Itchy Fingers

2007-10-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

The fall rain has started. Without fail, it gives me itchy fingers, itching to start crafting again. I didn't do ANY knitting, crocheting or cross stitching all summer. I just started up again on the sweater vest and have reached the bust detail on the front. Not long now! I should have it done soon! I've also restarted work on the Santa stocking. Making progress on the backstitching. I really have to get going on that one, since it needs to be done by Christmas!

Baby Sweater

2007-05-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

Here is the sweater I crocheted for Rainbow's Impending Arrival (due early July). Actually finished before baby arrived! Woo-hoo! Ahem. Not purple as the picture would have you believe. Bright, bright pink. But very cute. Took 3 oz of Baby Soft (I think). Pattern is from the Family Circle Easy Crochet Spring 2007 magazine. Once again, due to my cheerful ignoring of my gauge, turned out larger. Supposed to be size 3 months, it's more like 9 months. Oops. :)

Coasters

2007-04-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

From Martha Stewart Living. Very easy. Cork board from eBay, felt from Michael's.

Shopping

2007-04-21T21:21:00.000-07:00

Sweater Vest for Mari's Baby

2006-12-14T17:43:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty proud of this vest. It stretched my abilities. I had to do two things I never had before: buttonholes & edgings. It turned out pretty cute! It's size 0-3 months. Yarn is Bernat Softee Baby, but it didn't turn out all that soft. I don't know why.

The pattern is from the fantastic book Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding.

Here you can see the pattern of 4 rows of garter and 6 rows of stockinette.

And a close-up of the edging & buttons.

I made this vest for Mari's impending arrival - her baby shower is on Saturday!

Almost Done...

2006-08-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

Just backstitching left. Which might take me until Christmas 2007 now that Baby E has arrived! The hardest part, as I'm sure you could guess, was the tree. But I'm a lot better at reading those bloody charts than I was when I was 16, so I barely had to take out any stitches at all during this project.

Baby Washcloths

2006-08-25T21:57:00.000-07:00

They actually work quite well for baths. Worked up in 100% cotton yarn, color: Jellybean.

Double-thick Potholder

2006-02-05T01:10:00.000-08:00

This is a little potholder I whipped up. I finished it today as well. It is double-thick, which is nice, but it came out much smaller than I wanted. (You can tell how small it is by comparing it to the lip balm in the picture.) It was really easy though, so it won't take long to make a larger one. This is done in Sugar 'n' Cream, color Faded Denim.

Blessing Blanket

2006-02-05T00:52:00.000-08:00

This is the blanket I intend to use when the baby is blessed. I loooove it. I just finished it today. You can't really tell from the picture but it has a nice texture, without being bobbly or anything.
And did I bother to check my gauge? Of course not! So it is about 5 inches short each way. Oops. Ha ha And I didn't even use 15 oz, though the pattern called for 24. Though if it had been any bigger, I don't know how the edging would have worked because it's a bit tight with the blanket being 5 inches smaller. The body was worked on the diagonal. A first for me, and I enjoyed it. This pattern came from the 2005 Simply Creative Crochet magazine and I used Softee baby yarn.

Princess' Baby Blanket

2006-02-05T00:41:00.000-08:00

I crocheted this baby blanket for Princess and her baby. Too bad I didn't finish it until he was two months old! Ha ha Oh well. This blanket is really quite big, and it took forever!!!!!! I used a Pound of Love (plus a bit).