FO Nathair Mitts

Can you see the picture? I hope so. I am coming in and testing photo uploading via Android phone.

It seems since I have gotten this phone many websites have "updated" their compatibility with this phone. Or my phone has updated it's compatibility. Either way, it would make blogging more interesting again if I can share pictures. :)

This is a photo of my Flower, almost 5 years old, modeling a pair of Nathair Mitts that I knit for a commission. I was paid for the knitting with yarn...which is awesome. This pair of mitts is knit out of Malabrigo worsted in Forest. Not my favorite colorway, but they were a delight to knit and deliciously soft.

I have knit this pattern a few more times and I love it. The cabling makes them look elegant and complicated with minimal effort if you can cable without a cable needle.

I knit the first pair (in this picture) to the letter of the pattern. I have modified it only slightly for the next pairs. In the photos on the pattern, it is obvious the ribbing is twisted rib, so I have changed that and the look is better. I also moved the thumb over one stitch from the center panel. This keeps the panel more centered on the hand when the mitts are in use. (As written, the panel is centered GREAT as long as you keep your thumbs outstretched to the sides of your hand at all times. Not so much if you grab a steering wheel or move you thumbs at all.) I tried moving it over 3 stitches at first and that was too many. Also, when I knit them *again* (and I will knit them again) for ME, I will lengthen them too.

Overall a great pattern. Well written and worth the price. (I think it's only 2 or 3 dollars. It was gifted to me by the commissioner of the first pair so I am not totally sure.)

Operation Diaper Covers

Title blatantly stolen from my friend Shelly at Wool and Chocolate..... I have a small admission to make. I have not been using wool on my baby. There. I said it. Yes, she has been wearing wooly tops, hats, boots, and pants. But I have not been using said longies as diaper covers. Why? Well, I got lazy. PUL is sooooo much "easier" to deal with. No damp feeling. No lanolizing. Everything goes in the wash. I've been putting longies over the PUL to keep her warm. It's still dang cute. But it has come to bite me in the @$$. Or rather, it has gotten Rose on the legs. Her legs have a nice, scaly rash all over where the diaper wraps have been rubbing. It was just a little bit. But now it has fully encompassed each thigh. It's obvious what it's from and it cannot be ignored any more. Back to wool. In an interesting twist.....I do not have enough wool knit up in the correct size for diaper cover use. So, I am knitting like mad. I have planned and started some scrappy longies, made from some Paton's and my own handdyed WoTA and Fisherman's wool. I hope they are really, really cute. I also am like this close to buying the Sheepy Skirty Pattern. The other Sheepy Time Knits patterns are around $6.....but this one is $12. Twelve. So, I am hesitant. I mean, I know how to knit a soaker. Attaching a skirt cannot be THAT hard, right? Although, in an effort to not have to think much, having a pattern is nice. But really, it's knitting. I can get through a skirt (read "tube of fabric flaring or pleating to the other end) without a pattern, right? Then I start thinking "Do I even want her to wear a skirt at this point?", because diaper soaker/skirts tend to be on the short side. So, yeah. It's complicated. Oh - and all that Malabrigo I have for scrappies? I think it's going to be a Tomten Jacket. So, no pants from those for now. And switching back gears again - I think I should at some point knit some shorties. I mean, AT SOME POINT, spring/summer has to show up. Right? Right? It can't stay COLD AND SNOWY forever, can it? Seriously. There was a day last week where it was 60. 6-0 (F). And then, there was a thunderstorm that resulted in 4 inches of snow. A thunderstorm. I am not kidding. And now it's below freezing again. Sheesh. Oh, yeah. You want pictures. Um, I am working on that. Really, I am. Sorry none today. :(

Moving Right Along

I am trucking right on my Tomten Jacket. I love this design. Another thumbs up for Elizabeth. I should be starting the hood today. Isaac's birthday isn't until the end of April, so I am good on time. This jacket is so cute I will definitely go the the library so I can upload a photo when it's done.

~Oh. And our March choices for the yarn club are in. To die for. I am trying to decide how much I want (I already figured out which color I want).

Knitting Geekiness (yes, that is a word)

I am über-excited tonight.

I bought a new fabric shaver.

I plan on shaving pills off my woolies for hours on end tonight!

If you don't knit, you wont get it.

The Problem With Socks

I like sock yarn. I like socks. I like knitting socks. I like heels and toes and all the different ways you can knit them. (I am learning the short-row heel right now, pics later this week if I can.)

The problem?

The intense let down when said sock does not fit right.

It seems like I just can't win. I even tried knitting little baby socks for Rose. The sock just isn't right. I always seem to mess up the foot length and end up ripping back the toe like 5 or 6 times. Or the leg is too tight and the ankle too loose. And how the #%&@ do you do calf shaping (or any kind of.paired decreases in 2x2 rib?!

Anyhow. I really do like knitting socks. I just wish I could get a comfortable and well fitting finished object from it.

Some Random Thoughts Floating Around In My Head

~God made 11 year olds to give us the opportunity to practice patience.

Or to bring us closer to Him in our suffering. I haven't decided yet.

~I am sick of sleeping with my 2 year old. He is disruptive at night. It is annoying. I am an attachment parent at heart, so I am not really sure what to do about this and I also feel a little guilty for saying it.

On the bright side, my annoyance paid off tonight and everyone was asleep and in the(ir) bed(s) at a normal hour: 2 year old at 8 and the 4 year old at 9. Feels good.

~If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I hate HATE Daylight Savings Time. I will spare you my semi-annual rant and instead share a good joke I saw about DST on Facebook:

I was talking with an old indian about the reasons for Daylight Savings Time. He thought for a moment and replied, "Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it on the bottom, and have a longer blanket."

Brilliant.

~Cleaning the house is much easier if you (a) have a schedule and (b) treat it like a job.

A schedule means I don't have to worry everyday about vacuuming. I can worry about it on Tuesday because that is when I will vacuum (unless an entire box of cereal gets dumped on the floor, then I'll vacuum today). It also means the crappiest job of the week gets done on Monday - the bathroom. Oh how I loathe cleaning the bathroom.

Which brings me to point (b). If I want the house to get clean I have to treat it like I would if I were employed and had a supervisor. Only, my supervisor is God because I don't see anybody else around here holding me accountable. It is easy to get, I don't want to say lazy because that's not true, but distracted would be true. There is no one hanging over my shoulder all day to make sure I Get Things Done. Now, when I'm not getting things done, I am not eating bon bons and getting a massage. Generally me being distracted involves nursing the baby and getting stuck under said sleeping baby while being forced to watch "Barbie Mermaidia" on repeat for a few hours while I demand reheated leftovers from my 11 year old because I am starving trying to tandem nurse all day.

If you're wondering what brought on my thoughts for cleaning......it was my husband nicely asking me when the last time I vacuumed was and why he is always doing the laundry on his nights off. (I am still letting him do the laundry sometimes.)

And for kicks......here's my cleaning schedule:

Monday: Bathroom (counter, sink, tub, toilet, floor, wash rugs)
Tuesday: Vacuum and swifter upstairs (living/dining room, bedrooms)
Wednesday: Kitchen Floor (scrub)
Thursday: wash kitchen rugs
Friday: Vacuum downstairs (TV room, woodstove area)
Saturday: Vacuum stairs and entryway (husband or the boy does this)
Sunday: Laundry catch up day

These are just the "big" things. Stuff like laundry, dishes, kitchen counters, etc get done (I'd like to believe) everyday.

I suppose that could have been its own post.

~I am part of the Reductio Sock swap again on Ravelry. I have knit my mini sock but still need to knit another mini item. This round's theme is Ministry of Magic. I am stuck. Any ideas?

~I finally got the right size needles to knit my club yarn and started a hat for Rose. Because it's March. In Wisconsin. And its cold. At least, I am telling myself that even though I should probably just wait and knit it for next year.

~I think I might be able to use this android phone as a modem after all. There is an app on the phone called "wireless.modem". It has directions to use it. I am going to give it a go this week and see if I can load some photos onto Ye Olde Blog.

Celebrities on Ravelry

I haven't posted in a while. This touch screen keyboard is not as comforting to type on as a real keyboard. I love the click-clickety sound of the keys as I speed along able to type as fast as I can think. With this thing it's all thumbs and auto-correct and, well, it doesn't encourage me to blog. But because I love all of you soooo (auto correct there turned my soooo into Solo then sloop, wtf?) much and love reading your blogs, here I am.

Oh. Was I supposed to actually discuss my title?

Yes. Celebrities on Ravelry. I have been meaning to posy about this. Warning, I am using all caps here because it's just that exciting and cool.

MEG SWANSON TALKED TO ME ON RAVELRY. WHEN I FRIENDED HER SHE FRIENDED ME BACK. I AM FRIENDS WITH MEG SWANSON! REALLY! MEG SWANSON TALKED TO ME IN A FORUM ON RAVELRY! I KNOW, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT EITHER!

Ok. Seriously though, it was soo cool I almost peed my pants. I am sure I embarrassed her because I couldn't help but shout out to her about how great it is to see real knitting legends interacting with us regular folk and the fact the she really is just nice regular folk too. (If you are a knitter and you don't know who Meg Swanson is.....well.....I just can't help you.)

I keep thinking one year I'd like to go to Knitting Camp. I can't link to it but you can find details on the Schoolhouse Press website. It is actually geographically not a difficult place for me to get to. And I'd get TO MEET MEG SWANSON FOR REALZ. Sorry, giddy excitement got the best of me again. I hear at Knitting Camp they have actual garments that EZ and Meg have knit out for you to see, touch, and feel - no armored guards around or anything, right out in the open. Wow.

Yes. I am a geek. I am ok with this.

So that is my little bit of knitting celebrity stuff.

In other knitting news: the Tomten Jacket was knitting up too loose and too large. After completing appx. half of it, I frogged the whole thing and started over. I changed from size US 5 (3.75mm, I think) to US 3 (3.25mm). Much better. Yes, I am a very relaxed knitter.

I also never posted about getting my February yarn shipment, or at least never posted pictures. I can't do pictures now, but the yarn is nice. I thought it would be more of a worsted weight, but it is definitely heavier, aran weight for sure (just like Mandie (yarn pusher) said it was, duh). It is a beautiful deep saturated purple color with a little magenta called "Grapes of Wrath" on a base called "Fleckity" which is 1 strand of superwash plied with 2 strands of non-superwash. Very interesting. (If I already blogged about this, I apologize for the redundancy.) I actually had to buy some needles in order to knit with it. The size 6 needles were giving me a far too dense fabric (and those are HUGE for me to knit with, I am used to smaller gauge needles and worsted weight yarn, my standard needle is a 5) and the size 8 needles are far too flimsy fabric. So I stopped by JoAnns after grocery shopping and ran in for some 7s, a size I was sure I would never need to own. They only had straights (bleh) or double points in 7s, so I bought the double points. I really wanted a 16 inch circular but I must have seen those at Michael's. The plan is to knit a gnomey hat and pullover for Rose.

I will get the hang of this phone and hopefully post more.

Onward knitting.

Knitting Retreat

Or, "What I did this weekend."

I visited my knitting buddy. If you remember she now lives 3 hours north of me. We have made a pact to visit each other every other month. In October, I drove to her place. In December, she drove here. And, being February, I drove to her place again. Of course, I should say that my husband drove me there since the whole family went and her whole family comes here too.

We had a fabulous visit. Our 4 year old daughters have known each other since they were born and miss each other terribly throughout our times apart, which is ya know always except for the 1 Saturday every other month. The kids (ok, her kid so far) write each other letters and send pictures in between and always ask when we are going to visit.

I brought an entire bin of yarn and knitting paraphernalia to her house. Yes, a big rubbermaid type storage bin. Yes, just for a one day visit. No, that's not weird.

I had Malabrigo scraps to share and divide up, yarn to wind, and projects to share.

Can I just say it is sooooo wonderful to have a knitting buddy. It's nice for when you are trying to match up yarns to patterns, see if a certain pattern even fits a yarn, or if the gauge seems appropriate or not. It helps when you have projects that are ho-hum or you don't know quite what you feel about them or just want some general input to improve, or knit on, or whatever.

A few things happened with some of my WIP over this weekend and also for future projects.

After joint counseling with my knitting buddy, my Effortless Cardigan has been put on time out. I was thinking the gauges was a little tight on US size 3 needles (3.25mm) and she agreed. I had brought an extra skein of the lovely yarn, so we wound it up. I am going to restart this project on size 4 needles (3.5) and see how I like it then. I am not frogging the size 3 since it is already to the armholes. I am just going to knit a new one and then compare and frog the one that isn't right.

The February Lady Sweater has been frogged. Really, it was too small. How do I know this? Well, she measured me and then to confirm I tried it on. I was knitting a chest size 41. My chest is, in fact, 50 (!) inches around. No wonder it was small. I do not own enough yarn to go up to that size (only 5 skeins, looks like it needs about 7 to do that size). I also don't love the yarn color. I do love the yarn, Malabrigo Worsted, but the color is kind of ho-hum. I now have 5 skeins of this yarn to do something with. I think I might put four of them up for sale on ravelry and keep one for scraps, etc. Unless anyone wants to trade something, especially anyone on a stash diet?

We wound yarn. We petted yarn. We loved the yarn. I brought my two shipments from the Speshul Snowflakes Yarn Club for her to see and touch. She thinks the DK is also quite lovely. nice taste.

We both are going to be working up scrappy Tomten Jackets in Malabrigo.

I have suddenly run out of things to discuss. Weird how that happens.

I just love, love, love seeing her and sharing this craft, and kids, and homeschooling stuff.

Oh! That's it.

Have any of you used Sonlight Curicculum? What did you think of it's style? Cost? Were you able to use it with multiple children? Did you buy the books or get them from the library?

I hope you are all having a great time knitting.

WIP Wednesday

And what of knitting? A lot, if I do say so myself. I am currently knitting a Tomten Jacket, by Elizabeth Zimmermann, from Knitting Without Tears and The Opinionated Knitter (apparently it is also in numerous other Schoolhouse Press publications). The jacket has slightly different directions in each book. The jacket is a 2T-ish sized, modular jacket as written. But, of course, if you know EZ, you know there is always the possibility to change the size either by gauge, needle size, or both.

I am knitting this for my Godson, Isaac, whose birthday is in April. I imagine I'll have it done before then, but I wanted to start early just to be sure.

I have tried some of EZ's garter-stitch baby patterns before, like the BSJ, and they have not been my favorite. However, I am Loving This Pattern. Maybe it's also that I love the yarn. It is Cascade 220 Superwash Paints, in color 9862 (varigated) and 9949 (semi-solid blue). The colors are very, very hard to photograph. The varigated is a neon-yellow/blue/teal/blue-violet and the blue is a warm, soft, lovely blue. The gauge seems to be a little different that Cascade 220 (non-superwash) so it is knitting up slightly looser than I had planned. A quick web search shows that the manufacturer recently changed the recommended gauge, so there you go. I am not ripping back now.

I think this first picture captures the blue perfectly.

My knitting buddy, who I visited this last weekend, has knit a couple of these little gems. We have decided a few important things about this little jacket. Comparing it to the BSJ, it seems that it is infinitely a better investment of time for the amount of wear one can get from it. The BSJ is not very proportional (although extremely an ingenious design) and fits about 6 months - 18 months (with very, very short sleeves at 18 months). The Tometen can fit at 6 months very long in the body with the sleeves heavily cuffed, but it's true size is about 1-3 years (and small 4 year olds like my daughter will still fit in it). I also personally think it is cuter.

I would like to knit a Baby Bog Jacket in the future.

The Tomten takes 3 skeins of worsted weight wool. I have two skeins of the blue and one of the varigated. Normally it takes 1 skein for the body, one for the hood, and one for the sleeves. I am incorporating stripes of the varigated throughout in order to use it up evenly.

I went and stole this picture from Webs to try and show off the beautifulness of this varigated yarn. Somehow, it just doesn't do it justice. I love this colorway and will be knitting something more out of it in the future.

The yellow is really YELLOW and the darker blue in the picture is really VIOLET.

Anywho, I am almost done knitting the body on this sweater and I can not wait to get it done. It is a true pleasure of knitting right now, just the right amount of stripes and short rows to keep my interest and just enough softness and loftiness in the yarn for me to love it.

(If I disappear for a while: the port on my phone is broken/breaking. I need to get it fixed. And it is my gateway to the internet on the laptop. FYI.)

Felted Toy Finished

Here is the toy pre-felting:

And after:

I had to put this through the wash 3 times!! If I had put something in there on accident (like the hat that went through the was in the load after this) it would have come out barbie sized. Instead, it just would NOT FELT. It's Cascade 220 and some Paton's. Wtf? After the first wash, it was not any smaller and I still had pretty good stitch definition. After wash 2, still had stitch definition. So, I put it in on a super HOT wash for the third time and got this smaller version. I have a front loading machine and I think that is part of the problem.

I also wanted nice, firm circles. It's kind of a squiggly thing. But, the baby likes it.

I think next time:

I will knit shorter loops.

I will do the HOT wash first.

I will only do 3 loops.

Because, of course, I'll be doing it again.

Felted Toy Beginnings

The "toy" is finished. Here is how it started.

I knit 4 i-cords, red, green, blue, yellow. There were about 14 inches long each (I measured just for you).

I sewed/wove one of them together in a circle first (the green one) and then looped the red one though and wove it together.

I wove each end of the i-cord to the other and then I tied a knot with the two ends. These should felt away in the wash (notice I keep going from present tense to past tense...yes, it was one of those nights last night).

I trimed the knot ends very, very close.

Pre-felting. I have all four loops together.

Cell phone for size comparison. All the ends trimmed. And then......into the wash. TBC.......

Just the "break" I needed

Those adult sweaters had me so not into my knitting. Bleh. I found the perfect thing to give me a break from those stressful projects (knitting is supposed to be fun!).....baby knits.

This is my No-Purl Baby Sweater I made for my dear friend who had a 5 lb baby 2 weeks ago.

I used Knit Picks Stroll Sock Yarn in the "Twinkle Heather" colorway and some dark purple sock yarn scraps from my scrap bag for the trim.

I hate purling. I don't know why, I just do. So this little sweater is a garter stitch body with stockinette sleeves. I didn't know if it would work out or look right, but I saw it on her this weekend at Mass and it is ADORABLE. :D

I also made a matching hat. Very, very small. It is the size of my cell phone.

This is the Swirl Hat pattern, a free pattern. It is super cute and I love it. I will be making more of these.

And, I am currently working on a baby-teether toy, similar to this, for my own little one. I saw it on Ravelry. It is my inspiration, but I checked the pattern out and I don't like the complicated (what I consider complicated) construction. I am just going to knit up some i-cords, rather long like 12 inches. Then I will create loops and interloop them and felt them. I think it will be rather cute. If I find the resolve, or remember, I may stop at the lumber yarn and pick up a wooden ring to attach my felted rings to.

What are you knitting?

A little knitting humor....

A woman was knitting while driving (very, very dangerous! do not attempt!). In a short time she was speeding in excess of 95 mph and didn't notice. She also did not notice the policeman behind her with his lights and sirens on. Losing patience, he pulled up beside her and yelled, "Pull over! PULL OVER!!" She looked over at him and yelled back, "No! It's a cardigan!"

Bwahahahahahahahaha!!

Hat...er....Success!!

After a second try with the hats.......I have success!!

This is, essentially, the same pattern, but in Steeler's colors. My husband requested this hat. (And after I posted pics on Facebook, so did a friend of mine. More to come I suppose.)

This time I cast on 80, and I stayed at 80. I did 1x1 ribbing for about an inch-ish, maybe an inch and a half. Three plain rounds black. 2 white. 1 black. 6 yellow. 1 black. 2 white. Then more black. When I got to 5 inches I began decreases (k8, k2tog.....plain round....k7, k2tog....plain round....etc) until I got to 24 stitches. Then I k1, k2tog for one round, next round k2tog around (no plain round in between).

It fits my husband AND my 10 year old son just fine.

Success. Is. Mine.

Thank you to my 10 year old model. He will be 11 soon. So big. I found some pictures today of him at about 4. He was (and still is) soooooo sweet. Love you Wobbs.

And back on topic....

I frogged the GB Packers hat back to the ribbing and started again. I am almost done. This one is knit to 5 1/2 inches before I began decreases.

Hats, How I Loathe Thee

I finished the Green Bay Packer Hat. It is very nice. However, I am pretty sure it is too big.

What's up with that?

Hats are simple enough to knit. It just seems I can never get the size right no matter what I do. Usually, I start by being afraid I will make it too small, so I cast on too many stitches. (Check.) Then I knit the ribbing and realize, yes, it is too big. So I rip and cast on again, this time with less stitches. (Check.) Then it's too small, or still too big. Or, it's just right, but I think it might be too small so I rip and cast on again. (Check.)

Oh, will it never end???

I do love the instant gratification of knitting hats. They are usually done pretty fast. I started this one yesterday. But I always find them to be self-doubting projects. Sigh.

Well......the hat is done, but IT is big. I cast-on 80 stitches and increased to 88 after the ribbing (should have skipped this). 80 was friggin' p-l-e-n-t-y. I always, always forget that you need a certain amount of negative ease to keep a hat on (a guy). I also am very sure that I should have started the decreases sooner and that the depth of the hat is a little long. Oh well. I did not weave in the final end (even left the stitch marker in it.....now that I type that I am wondering WHY(????) I did that.....) so that I can rip it back and make it "shorter". But now I think I am going to have to make it "narrower" as well.

I suppose I won't know until my brother comes to try it on.

Oh? Did you want to see it? Here it is:
And for size comparison, my hand. Realize that I have a little of the top tucked under.

Maybe it will be just perfect. My brother could have a really huge head and I just don't know it.

Temporary Un-Slump!!

I have new yarn!! Even though it is not the most exciting yarn ever, it is still new and needs to be knit NOW.

I got my three skeins of Cascade 220 in the mail today. See? (look down)

Here is some interesting fact: My family is from Pittsburgh, PA (they are very, very excited, HI Aunt San!). I have lived in WI for 18 years. I was born in Dallas, TX.

Could this be a cooler Superbowl?? I think not!

I must make at least 1 Steeler Hat for my husband (he just really loves Pittsburgh (the city) and thinks the AFC has this one!), and 1 Green Bay hat for my brother (big-time Packer fan, cause ya know, we live ehre). I may make an itty-bitty Steeler hat from the left-overs for my newly pregnant cousin and an itty-bitty Green Bay hat for my little nephew in Utah. Maybe. We'll see how "hatted-out" I am after the big-boy hats!
Also, my dear, dear friend had a BABY GIRL last night and needs some knitted goodness. I think a mini-tiny sweater is in order since she had a little-bitty 5 lb baby!! :)

Slump on hold for now......!!!

In A Slump....the full post

I am in a knitting slump. I don't know what's up. Well, I kind of do, a little.

I have items on my needles that I have no desire, or have lost the desire, to knit.

Let's start at the beginning.

I started the February Lady Sweater back in November. It was cold outside, and this was the only project I had planned for myself to which I already possessed the yarn.

I knit the yoke in a matter of days. I finally picked it up again a few weeks ago and knit far enough to divide for the sleeves. And now it's about 2 inches past where the sleeves are. I took it off the needles and tried it on.

It's too small.

Fuck.

The idea of ripping it out and knitting that again is overwhelming, especially since I only have 5 skeins (210 yards each) of Malabrigo to knit it out of and I feel like I barely have enough to knit the size I am knitting (according to the pattern) let alone to go up another size. *sigh*

Also, I am of average size. My breasts, not so much. This makes it difficult to even pick out a size, let alone knit one, from any pattern. I am always presented with the same problem....little shoulders, big chest, normal waist. I know a bit about sweater design and modification, but still. It's upsetting. I don't want to knit accessories for the rest of my life.

Next up.....

The picture up there ::imagine arrow pointing up::. That is the very, very beginning of my Effortless Cardigan. I have knit probably half of the yoke beyond that. The yarn is lovely, very very squishy and round and just buttery goodness.

But.

I think I might like it even more if I went up a needle size.

The prospect of ripping this out is bugging me, and not in a good way. I have put A LOT of time into knitting this. It could be fine the way it is. But I have this nagging feeling I'd like it more at a slightly looser gauge. This, of course, also involves reworking the numbers again (already did this once for the current gauge I am knitting at).

Argh.

So.....

With those two projects making me want to go hide my head in the sand like an ostrich, I cast on something "new". I thought if I started a project that was "needed" and very "useful" I'd be sure to find knitting it very rewarding and want to complete it ASAP. It would be awesome!!

Nope. Not really.

I cast on for another Nighttime Soaker (link is for the original). This one is in a bigger size (she outgrew that one). I forgot how stinkin' long it takes to do double knitting (in the round, especially). I can knit for an hour and it grows like maybe one centimeter. Arghhhhh! This project, too, has a mental roadblock attached to it.

Still....

There is the Husband Sweater on the needles. Really, this just needs a few more inches of body and then I can attach the sleeves (already knit) and knit the yoke. I really *should* do this.

There it is. My slump.

I really want to knit something exciting, and colorful, and crazy. I have lots of yarn, but I really don't want to start anything else.

I did find an awesome crochet cowl pattern (here), free, that I want to crochet (crazy! because I *hate* crochet). But I can't decide on a yarn that would work out of my stash and I am NOT ordering more yarn.

Of course, in the mail in the next few days is coming 3 skeins of Cascade: 1 Palm (green), 1 Goldenrod (yellow), and 1 Black. What, oh what, will I ever knit with those?? Superbowl hats for my men (husband, brother, son).

Slumpy. Frumpy.

Oh! I forgot to mention.....

Another thing I love about this little hat: It can be pulled back like a little hood.

Isn't that cute?

So, it essentially covers the neck, ears, and head seamlessly, folds back as a hood when not in use, and is totally cute. Good all around.

Here's some more pictures for you to check out. Yes, that is the Wobber's back there. He is going to be 11 (E-L-E-V-E-N!!) very soon. Wow.

What I've been working on

The cutest little baby hat ever!! I have been figuring out the pattern for the hat I bought Lovey almost 2 years ago, before I learned to knit. I think I got it and decided to test knit the pattern I wrote.

This is just some Cascade 220 that I had left over from another project in a blue/grey color.

It turned out very, very cute. I think for an infant I could potentially leave out about 8 stitches next time and come up with a better fitting size. That little point at the top is a little too "full" for my liking (although, I *LOVE* the pointyness of this hat!!).

This is really a simple 2x2 rib hat. Once you work about 2 inches in the round on 76 stitches, you cast of 6 stitches in the middle and then work back and forth. The corners where the stitches meet are 2 stitches accross (as in the 2x2 rib) and 3 rows high.

It is finished with a 3 needle bind off on the underside of the top, giving it a pointy little gnomey-pixie look. I am thinking I will knit her one of these in my club yarn for next month (colorway choices this month were "grapes of wrath" or "daisy chain"....I got grapes of wrath in a worsted weight.....just....one....skein).

I really, really love this hat!! Can't wait to make more! It's a quick, easy, and unique baby gift I think!

Knitting Random

Just some random knitting news, stuff, etc.

This is a picture of my package (the one I received) in the Reducio Sock Swap - Round 13. I got 2 itty-bitty socks, a bunch of goodies, and a copy of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard." It's too cool. I love this group on Ravelry, and it is sooooo much fun. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the package I sent out. It had Hermione's beaded bag, 2 mini-socks, and 3 mini-knitted Horcruxes in it (and some chocolate and candy).

This is a picture of the Wobbs in his hew hat. I have dubbed this "The Panda Hat" because he looks like a little bear cub. This is actually a diaper soaker (Sheepy Soaker is the pattern) that he found in my yarn box. It was never used. He asked me to cover the leg openings with some teal yarn.....and voila! A hat!

And.....

I finally sewed a button onto the Nutmeg Sweater. I *had* to. Baby girl was out-growing the little pink garter-stitch yoke sweater I knit her, so it was time to upgrade. I sewed on the button, added the button loop, and knit two i-cords to close the other side.

She is fat and cute. She wears this a lot now. I really like it a lot more than I thought I would. :)