Yarn and shopping

Today I recieved my February Yarn of the Month! For those of you who don't remember, my MIL is sending me yarn EVERY MONTH this year as a Christmas gift. Crazy amazing, right???

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I've never heard of this yarn (Adriafil Knitcol) but it's superwash Merino and is fabulous! I'm thinking perhaps a toy for Norah (since it's washable and all)? But I have 2 skeins so I will have to think about this :) What an awesome MIL!

In other news, Courtney has launched her own website outside of etsy to sell her children's knitwear AND screenprinted tshirts! It looks awesome and I'm excited to see what she puts up there. Good luck Courtney!!!

Mossy out!

Finished the Mossy baby sweater, sewed on buttons and mailed it off. I forgot to get pics with the buttons but here it is drying on a towel:


I like it! I'm glad I didn't do the sleeve stripes. Hope it fits its little boy recipient sometime after he is born this year :)

In other news, I've finished the body on the Owls sweater and have started a sleeve. I have a playdate next week with the recipient so I hope she will humor me and try it on so I can make sure it is the right fit. Otherwise I will be ripping and ripping.... so cross your fingers!!!!!! :)

Slow progress

(Mossy Jacket)

Mid-weekend recap

TGI...weekend! I had a great day thanks to my parents, who babysat while Greg and I caught a movie. It's been forever since I went to a theater! We saw "Red Tails" which we enjoyed. Lots of action & suspense!

Anyway, let's get to the knitting. The aforementioned blanket project that I'm doing with my SIL has stalled out as we had to switch patterns - we realized that with the pattern we had and the amount of yarn we bought it was going to be a super short blanket. Oops :) Our new plan is to make the Radiating Star blanket. Stay tuned because I'm supposed to be casting this on. Mare: I will do that as soon as I finish...


...this baby sweater! LOL. Since we had a lull with the blanket I was getting itchy and had to cast something on. Greg's cousin is expecting a baby boy this year. I had made them those cream-colored baby pants previously (pre-ultrasound), but now that I know they are having a boy I wanted to make something boy-ish! I scrounged around in my stash and found some Cascade superwash in a pretty blue-green, and some naturallycaron.com Country in dark grey. Pattern is the Mossy Jacket. Today I just found some buttons at JoAnns that almost match the blue-green color. Woo!

Let's see....I borrowed my friend Erin's favorite store-bought sweater that I am going to measure and use as a template to help me make her Owl sweater, so that's good. I just need to work on it! :-)

In non-knitting news we finally got some snow. Here is my little snow bunny playing outside with her daddy!

Flying helmet

Last winter my friend had a baby boy, and also had a plan to make him a hat. Well she never got it finished (something about being a WORKING mom, I can't imagine the lack of knitting time!!!) Anyway I told her as a late christmas gift this year that I would knit that hat pattern.


Pattern: Flying Helmet, with mods
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool

The pattern only went up to the size "6-12 months" and the recipient is currently 13 months old, so I knew I would have to modify the size a little. I chose that size and then used regular worsted yarn on size 7's. I also modified the pattern to knit in the round... basically once I had the front flap and ear flaps knit, I winged it. Turned out okay, although the decreases at the top are a bit more lumpy than I wanted (should I have skipped using any knit rounds between decreases?) Anyway I am sending the hat to my friend tomorrow so I hope that it fits her little boy!!!!

Also in the works: I have cast on for the Owls sweater, but I think I might need to go up one more size (using worsted yarn instead of bulky that the pattern calls for). Waiting to get some more measurements of my friend (the recipient)

Aaaaand Mare and I divvied up the yarn for our blanket and we both cast on. The yarn is sooooooooo soft (see last post for pics, it's Knitpicks Biggo). I even did a provisional cast on (first time?) so we can join our blanket halves together seamlessly (I hope!).

OH! Also I got a wonderful picture of my friend and her little girl that I knit the Cheery Scrap Cap for! It is big on her but looks adorable.... look at her little face!!!

Slightly bigger hats and more

I had originally written my Basic Toddler Hat pattern while making some hats for a friend's 2 young boys. Ultimately I decided the hats were a bit too small for the recipients, because the hats seemed to fit Norah and her friends pretty well (and the recipients were older).

Anyway I decided to try them again with an extra inch of width. I am going to go ahead and send them off and see if they fit... if not I will report back and try AGAIN! Good thing I know lots of little boys being born this year I can send them too!


Modification: CO 72 sts

Right now I'm working on a hat for my friend's little boy... she had started working on it last year but never got it done, so I told her as a christmas gift THIS year I'd knit it for her!

Coming eventually: a blanket project that I am co-knitting with my SIL! Wound up the yarn today:


Yarn: Biggo from Knitpicks

It's super soft and squishy and I am very excited to knit with it! Anyway hope you all are having a great week! I had fun going out to lunch today with Cynthia for her 28th birthday! ;-)

Oops... blogiversary and Allie's hat

I'm almost 2 months late, but Dec 2nd was my 7TH blogiversary! Wow! Thanks to anyone who reads here. I am horrible about updating, and kind of boring, so thanks for clicking over anyway. And please comment.... I always feel special when I get a comment!!!

My friend Sarah and I decided to do a hat swap where we each would make a hat for eachothers' daughters! She sent this beautiful crocheted cap with an awesome fabric flower on it:


Isn't it awesome???? I love it!

In return, I sent her this hat:


Pattern: Cheery Scrap Cap
Yarn: Various worsted wool or wool blend yarns
Size: Toddler, but it seems fairly large, so maybe more of a 2T-ish size.


It went quicker than I expected, AND used up a lot of misc partial skeins of yarn! Highly recommend it. I might try a ribbing along the brim next time to keep it from rolling. For full disclosure, here is the inside of the hat:


I carried the yarn as much as I could, so it wasn't as bad as you think to weave in all the ends!

Here's hoping I can keep up all this posting... it's easy when I have so much knitting flying off the needles! That might not be sustainable because a certain daughter of mine seems to not like napping so much lately.... yikes!

R.I.P. Pom pom

I made this cute striped toddler hat back in 2007 out of some buttery soft Rowan RYC Cashsoft:


I didn't really have a recipient to give it to, so I hung onto it. Well now that I have a daughter, I got it out this past fall and lo and behold it fit great! We've been using it a lot since it's so soft and stretchy. Unfortunately though, Norah discovered that I am a poor pom-pom maker, and that she could pull bits of yarn out of the pom pom. She still is in the phase where she likes to put little bits of things in her mouth, so this was getting frustrating! :-) The other day I finally did some surgery and removed the sad, falling apart little pom pom.


Anyone think I should try and replace it? I'd have to use a different yarn since I no longer have the original stuff. Or is it fine as is? Thanks!

Dellie sweater - test knit

Finally I shall post about the Dellie sweater I made! My SIL's awesome friend (and my friend too) Courtney wrote up this pattern and was nice enough to let me test knit it!!!!


Pattern: Dellie sweater, size 2T
Yarn: Recycled from an ancient Old Navy sweater



I think she will be releasing it soon, it's a great pattern and I love how it drapes. I modified it to have short sleeves because I wanted it to be more of a layering piece than a full sweater, but I love the look of the long ones! The neck is wide and accomodating for little ones with giant noggins! The stitch pattern for the body was simple enough to memorize so this made for some perfect TV knitting. All in all a great pattern.


Sorry I couldn't get the best pics, my little model was being a bit cranky :) Please visit the pattern page on ravelry to see some better pics with Courtney's cute daughter!

Yarn of the Month: January

The other day I got a package in the mail.... it was from my MIL and guess what it was? My yarn of the month!!! YAHOO! To officially kick off the year of yarn, I received:


Rowan Felted Tweed. YUMMY. How gorgeous is that green? I am such a lucky knitter!!!!

Well, crap

I was only feeling a little worried about the ever-growing list of things I want to knit this year, and then this happened:

http://www.purlbee.com/easy-baby-pullover/

Ahh! I want to knit that for every one year old I know :D

P.S. Almost done with my test knit toddler sweater for courtney... post coming soon!

New yarn!

I got a wonderful gift from my MIL for christmas... a gift certificate to the yarn store, AND some super soft amazing yarn!!!! Cascade Eco Duo - I've never owned any before and it feels like butter!


On top of that, she said she is going to buy me another skein of yarn EVERY MONTH of 2012!!!! WHAT? It's like being in the yarn of the month club!!!!!! I mean how crazy is that. I think I won the Mother In Law Lottery!!!! (Well, and husband lottery... hehe)

Anyway today Norah and I hit the yarn store and I bought a sweater's worth of Encore worsted to make the owl sweater for one of my good friends. I am excited and I love the bluish grey color!


Getting excited about my 2012 projects!!!

Happy New Year!

We celebrated the new year at 7pm with our little cutie :)


Anyone have knitting goals for 2012? I'd like to attempt an intarsia project.... and besides that nothing crazy! Maybe knit a big project? Or a zillion little projects? There are a lot of babies coming this year, many of whom I have already knit for but want to knit something else (since the gender was revealed, etc). I have a small list going of things I want to cast on soon/this year:

Test knitting a pattern for Courtney
Hat for my friend Sarah's daughter - we are doing a hat exchange and she crocheted Norah the CUTEST hat!
Something for Greg's cousin who we found out on Christmas is having a boy
Something for Greg's close friends who are also having a boy (a big theme this year!)
Hats for the sons of my friend who baked me those awesome knitting cookies
Tie sweaters for several friends' little boys
Something for my friend's 2.5 yr old daughter... just for fun!
Sweater for me??????? This is a long shot :)

Of course I know more things will pop up as the year goes along, especially things for my parents on their birthdays, etc... but we will see how it goes!

Anyone else have a wishlist/queue/knitting resolution for this year?

My SIL rocks!

Just got some amazing photos of the projects I had neglected to document in the last post!!!

Here are the "mario mushrooms" I knit for my nephews (who are obsessed with all things mario):


Pattern: Super Mario Mushroom Knitted Toy
Yarn: Misc acrylic/wool blends

Next we have the hat/glove set I made for my SIL:


Pattern: To Norway With Love (hat)
Yarn: Ella Rae classic heathers (worsted)

I had some trouble with this hat. The first time I knitted it, my floats were too tight (even with trying to keep them loose) and I couldn't even get it over my head. *sigh* I cast it on again, only this time adding an extra couple hearts to the pattern repeat (some other Rav knitter had posted about doing this in their project page too - I'd recommend browsing people's notes if you want to knit this hat). I think it would have been fine just adding one heart, but it makes for a comfortable fit on your head (not too tight). As far as the length I also skipped knitting the last row of hearts because I thought it looked odd with all that length. It's still a little "slouchy" (not formed to the head like a beanie).


Pattern: Mobile Mittens (using color pattern from the To Norway With Love mittens)
Yarn: Ella Rae classic heathers (worsted)

I didn't knit the glove pattern that matched the hat because I wanted something where you could still use your fingers. I know I hardly ever wear gloves because I want to be able to answer my phone, or in my SIL's case, use her camera on a photoshoot! I hope she enjoys them.

Christmas Catch-up!

OK let's see what I've been doing these past few weeks!

I finished that monkey and gave it and the bear to my friend's little boys... they seemed to like them! Yay :)


I knit a hat and gloves for my SIL and some plush "Mario bros" mushrooms for my nephews, but pics will have to wait because I'm dumb and didn't take any before I gifted them! Luckily my SIL is an amazing photographer and has agreed to get pics to send to me. Yay!

My husband's friend has emailed me a link to a "beard hat" website, where they were selling knitted hat/beard things... for a primo price! He said if anyone could knit him one it would be me :) Well unbeknownst to him, his wife also emailed me and asked if I could knit it for him for christmas and she would pay me. I'm always up for a commission! It was a fun pattern, although the hat definitely needed the extra repeat in the length (and probably could have used an additional one for large man heads). I like it though!


Pattern: Lumberjack
Yarn: Patons wool or some other 100% wool yarn.

For a close friend of Greg's family (who is basically like our Aunt now), I knit some basic worsted weight house socks/boot socks. I think she liked them!


Pattern: Basic sock formula from Cynthia
Yarn: Patons wool

Finally I crammed in one silly little project for my dear husband. He's an architect so I thought this may appeal to him... it's just a fun little toy, plus I hadn't yet knitted anything from this book! (Knitting Mochimochi) I adapted it to be smaller, knitting only 4 buildings and making the "base" of it smaller. I also tethered some of the buildings together/to the base to keep them more upright... they tended to want to lean in random directions. That's probably due to my unskilled sewing job though!


Pattern: Shyscrapers
yarn: Misc worsted wool or wool blends

Merry everything!

It's been a busy month and I am way behind on posting about projects, so can I just start by saying I hope everyone is/was having a wonderful holiday and spending time with family and friends! We had a busy but fun christmas eve and christmas day making the rounds, and Norah thoroughly enjoyed opening presents this year!


(Wearing her new legwarmers knit by Auntie Mare!!!)

Merry christmas and happy new yarn! ;-)

Quick and easy

Whipped out a hat for my brother for a christmas present. I had made him this hat in grey for Christmas 2009... so I thought since he loved it so much I'd make a new one. It might be getting worn out too. It only took me a few days!

Pattern: Bulky Knitted Hat

Wild kingdom

I made a bear :-)


Pattern: Baby bear from Itty Bitty Toys
Yarn: Knitivity Merino Fingering, a gift from Cynthia (awhile ago!)

I decided not to embroider a nose or mouth on him since the coloring of the yarn made it look like he already has a blue nose. Plus my embroidery leaves a LOT to be desired (see: his weird eyes). The scarf is just 1x1 ribbing with some random green worsted yarn I had lying about!

I also am making a monkey!



Pattern: A New Sock Monkey from Itty Bitty Toys
Yarn: Unwind Yarn Company Superwash Merino Sock - this is the only yarn I've ever bought from etsy, I'm pretty sure! It's really nice to knit with.

He does have one leg right now, but needs another. And a face!

These will be going to 2 little boys that are friends with Norah. I hope they like them!!!!

Linky Tuesday

I'm totally copying Courtney on this, but I thought I'd do a post of pretty things I've found on Ravelry recently.

Mountain man bearded hat
Look for this soon as a WIP :-)

Vinculum cardigan
That is GORGEOUS!!! Might have to think about buying that next year to make for myself???

Woobie Zebra
Super cute for a baby gift!

Rachael Scarf
Chevron patterns are so "in" right now.

Open work Infinity Scarf
I bet that would knit up really quick!

Oslo Anorak
OMG That is friggen adorable! I wish the bigger sizes were free. Norah would be the cutest little elf baby!

Hope you are all having a nice week... we're all fighting colds in our house and it's been rainy and chilly out. Makes it nice to stay inside with hot chocolate and blankets though (and coffee lol).

Jewelry and Vikings

What do those things have in common? I knitted them!

1. Jewelry:
I was trying to think of something to make my mom for Christmas... something I haven't knitted her yet (see: 2 sweaters, scarves, gloves, slippers, dishcloths, felted bowl, etc etc). Mom always wears really nice jewelry that matches her outfit. I thought... maybe I could knit a necklace???


Pattern: Knit Your Pearls
Yarn: Wilkinson Fancy Yarn Lustre (gifted from a UK friend)


I still need to find a button or clasp to close it up, but I like it! I think having the shiny metallic yarn helps it feel more like jewelry.

2. Vikings
A friend and coworker of my husband is expecting his first child. He is a fan of Lord of the Rings and dwarves and such. I was trying to come up with a cute geeky baby gift to knit for them, and this is what I ended up with:


It's technically a viking hat, but I think its close enough to something dwarvish. The horns are kind of huge compared to the hat/baby head size, but I think it's going to be extra adorable that way!

Pattern: Viking hat, followed some mods for a newborn size and horn mods (see rav page)
Yarn: Various basic wools, I think mostly patons!

Coming soon: a bear!

P.S. Check out Courtney's blog... she did her "Ravelry links" post and included some of my favorites :)