I'm happy to be working on something for ME for a change. I finished one of the broadripple socks yesterday, and am into the leg of the second already. They're so comfy on my preggo swollen feet! I love the pattern too, I'm contemplating knitting up a set for my mom for her birthday and maybe my mother-in-law too! (both have birthdays in later January)

I'm also going to make another one of the hooded baby sweater from the original Knit It magazine. It's a nice easy pattern and the yarn (lion brand microspun) is SO soft. I bought the yarn in beige when I found out I was pregnant to make a sweater for our baby anywyas. The pattern has an error in that you are supposed to use two strands of the yarn knit together, but it doesn't say that. The first time I made it, the sweater came out almost newborn size instead of 12 month. I cast on with two strands but it looked huge, so I think I might just do it one strand and make it small so our girl can wear it right away.

My handmade gifts were all really well recieved :) The reaction to curious george was "you MADE that?" which is always nice. The sweater fit my little sister very well, and she liked it. You can't see the detail and she's making a funny face, but here she is wearing it:
I was worried the sleeves would be too short, I'm glad I didn't extend them, I just stretched them a bit when blocking. ***WOW does blocking make a difference in a sweater - I'm definitely converted. The stitches soften and even, and the fabric drape gets so much nicer***

I treated myself to some yarn this afternoon. I bought two skeins of Cascade Fixation in a pretty purple colourway:
I'm going to make the Broadripple socks from Knitty.com and they are going to be FOR ME! :)

More Christmas crafting! This morning I made two beaded creatures for my mom. (she's doing a "garden" themed tree)


Okay, a frog is only SORT of garden themed, but it's hard to find good examples to work from online! I realize the frog is seriously missized too, but it was a pony bead one I was copying and I was using seed beads. Still, I think they turned out ok!

Finished up both the BPT sweater AND the Curious George Doll for my brother!!




The sweater still needs a zipper, which I will put in tonight. The photo isn't great as it's blocking on my freezer, but I'll take a photo of my sister in it on Christmas, if she'll let me.

All this christmas knitting is stressing me out. I finished the hats for the cousins, but I still have so many projects to finish and only days left. I'm hoping to get a good amount of the hood on BPT done parked in front of the TV tonight. I've also got to assess the monkey doll to see how much there is to do.

Something neat I'm also working on...........when my aunt sent me a box of knitting stuff from my granmother (who passed away 5 years ago) I found in it some half finished mittens. One pair adult sized and one kid sized. I'm finishing up both pairs, there is luckily enough yarn, and giving them to my two cousins in town, ages 8 and 14. I'm going to tag them as "from Grandma and Wendy" and explain how I got them and finished them up to give to each of them. The younger cousin only met grandma once and was little, but the older one will remember her. I hope they think it's neat. It is bittersweet working on these, nice to finish something I know she started, and sad as I didn't get into knitting when she was still alive. I think we could have enjoyed sharing this hobby, and I know she would have been impressed by some of the projects I've made. Grandma taught me the basics of knitting when I was a little girl.....

I redid the sleeve of the BPT sweater, but I haven't bound off the cuff yet. I'm going to do the hood first and see how that makes the sleeves hang, before seeing if I need to undo the first cuff to make them longer. I'm having a little trouble picking up the stitches for the hood, my stitches end up off by half a stitch. The pattern says not to use the "provisional cast on" or this will happen, but I don't know what a provisional cast on is! I'll figure something out though, the yarn doesn't show stitches TOO clearly so I can sort something out.

I made hats for my cousins this weekend:

The white was for the one year old and the light blue for the almost 7 year old, but I realised they were going to be too small. I finished the light blue one for the 1 year old boy and then did up the navy blue one for the 7 year old girl. I think the style of the darker one will suit her better anyways.

I also gave my mom a gift early. She's doing a "garden" themed christmas tree and I thought these little critters I made would be a perfect addition:


Finally, I finished up hubby's "lightening hat" last night. I have to weave in some ends and block it (a LOT) but I think it turned out ok for my first ever attempt at intarsia!

Major trauma with the BPT sweater. I finished up the second sleeve last night and confidently grafted the i-cord cuff, wove in the end, and only THEN realized it was about an inch too short! I also found 2 decreasing errors on the other sleeve, as in, I missed 2 decreases, which really affected the end result. AAARRRGGGG! So I ripped out the sleeve with the decreases, and am working on knitting that back up. Haven't decided about the other sleeve but I think I really should fix it, too short of sleeves would make the sweater look crappy and not get worn I think. I'm so ready to be done this - my sister better like and appreciate it!

I made a flower facecloth from the Intereweave Knits magazine. I just used plain old crafters cotton, because that's what I had. It turned out okay, though I ran out of yarn about 2 yards short so I had to fudge the middle a bit. I don't have a photo because I haven't woven in the ends or anything so it looks funny, there are 12 ends to weave in! I think I will keep this one, as the middle looks funny, and it's just in a plain old beige anyways. I want to buy some nifty colours to make gift ones.

I went to a friend's craft sale/open house this weekend with my mom. She has a casual open house party, and sets out all of her crafts for sale. It's neat, no pressure, just a chance to check out her stuff and buy things you like. I bought three butterflies, aren't they pretty?

I'm sticking them to the wall above the baby's crib, the wall there was pretty bare and these aren't something dangerous to fall on her. (they're light so they won't come unstuck anyways, but a picture or shelf over a crib is just a bad idea)

I splurged and bought the new interweave Knits to get the reverse bloom flower facecloth pattern. It's pretty neat, I'm most of the way through my first one. I can't find cotton chenille anywhere around here, so I'm just using plain old crafter's cotton and it seems to be working fine. It is a fairly simple pattern, but I kept losing track of what row I was on so I had to remake each of the petals at least once. They should be a good fast gift thing to make for people.

The BPT sweater I am making for my sister is stressing me out a bit. I finished the first sleeve and tried it on, mainly to check the sleeve length. The cuff is really wide and it seems way too big. It would nearly fit me, and my sister is significantly smaller than I am. I measured the bottom hem and I'm fairly close to the pattern measurements, so maybe it will all work out in the end. It's too late to start over or make something else, that's for sure. Worst-case, if it is WAY too big, I can keep the sweater and wear it after I loose the pregnancy weight, and let her pick a sweater for me to make for her birthday in April or something.

I finished the Wheat Ears Baby Afghan on the weekend. It's small, I didn't have a skein of cotton to work with. The yarn was given to me, and was likely bought a long time ago, so I didn't want to bother trying to match the colour, so I went for a short blanket instead.

It's about 2 feet by 3 and a half feet, should be good for a stroller blanket, or to cover me when nursing or something. I really like how it turned out, the colour is nice and the pattern is pretty. It was originally started to be a gift but I liked it too much!

Pompoms are a pain to make. I made two for one of the hats last night, but I'm not thrilled with how they turned out. I need some really sharp scissors to trim them up a bit I think.

I pulled out my Wheat Ears Baby Afghan I started ages ago. It's a nice project, fairly mindless, but with some lacey bits to keep it interesting. I don't have enough to make it square I can tell already, but that's ok. Who says baby blankets should be square?! It's in a pretty sunshine yellow cotton, and I'm keeping it for my baby!

Well the ties on my hat weren't working, so I'm going to just make them pompom hats. That's still really cute I think, and will be much easier. Given there is only one month left to christmas, I need to do easy when I can!!

My overflowing yarn stash was depressing me severely, not to mention taking over what will be the baby's space, so something had to be done. I took stock of all the yarn I have that I do not like and I've started giving/trading it away. Whatever is left (that I don't like) will be sent to a thrift shop, and I will be able to enjoy the yarn that pleases me, and have space for more as needed. I have more yarn I hate than most people own alltogether and that is just not right! I will be happy to send this stuff off to happier homes......

I found a really cute hat I'd like to make for my cousins. The girl is almost 7 and the boy is just over 1, so I was having trouble finding a cute pattern that would suit both of them, but I think this will do the trick:

From what I can see it is one of those flat square hats, with an I-cord coming from each peak leading to a pompom, then the I-cords are tied over the top. I think it's really cute and would suit both kids. The girl's favorite colour is apparently blue, so I might do hers blue with white stripes and the boy's in white with blue, or something. They should knit up pretty fast!

I'm also working on designing a cap for my husband. He wants a seaman's cap in black with blue lightening bolts on the brim. Sounds simple enough, except that I'll have to do the brim in stockingknit instead of ribbing to make the pattern show. This means that the top of hte hat will have to be purled, or something to make it work out. Also I'm not sure how to keep the brim from rolling as it will be all stockingknit...........I'll have to think on this for a while.

Lots of photos to share today. First a pair of socks for my aunt. She sent me the yarn from a bunch of stuff she had of my grandmothers and went on about how it was the most gorgeous shade of green, so I had to make her something. They look short but they're just thick, they should fit her well:

I finished the multidirectional scarf for my mother-in-law. I'm still dissapointed that the patterning doesn't show a lot but it is very nice and SO soft. One skein of Red Heart Plush made this whole scarf, with a couple yards left over:

Two baby hats I made recently. The yellow one is sort of shimmery, and the pink one is a nice fluffy mohair blend:

and finally, the pink and white baby mitts I made yesterday. They knit up super quick, I think I will make a few more pairs of these! The pattern is HERE :

I finished the multidirectional scarf on the weekend. It's quite nice, I really like that Red Heart Plus yarn. I may have to find other projects to make up in it. The scarf needs blocking I think, which I'm nervous about. My dirty little knitting secret is that I have never blocked anything! Bst I start though, the sweater I'm making for my sister will need blocking to make it look nice, so I'd rather practice on something easy and forgiving like a scarf.

I have to get back to working on the stuffed monkey, but I realized I misplaced the pattern. The book is not in the library at the moment, so I have to wait until it comes back in. I'm still working on baby hats, as gifts and ways to use up stash yarn. They are so fast and fun, the perfect projects for when I get bored of whatever I am currently working on.

I couldn't resist, I stopped by Walmart yesterday and bought yarn to make the multidirectional scarf. I choose Red Heart Plush, which is a soft, plushy acrylic/nylon that comes in veregated colours. I have already finished 2 feet, this pattern moves so fast. I am a little dissapointed that the close colour repeats and plushiness of the yarn hide the diagonal pattern a lot. You can barely see it in the closeup photo:



Still it looks nice and feels really nice, and I think my mother-in-law will like it. I hope so!

I'm contemplating what kind of scarf to make for my mother-in-law for christmas. I made her one last year in cobolt blue eyelash yarn and black snowflake yarn. It was super easy to make and felt and looked nice. This year I want to try something a little different, more luxurious I think. I was thinking about one of the Multidirectional Scarves in Noro yarn that are all the rage right now. That yarn is pretty nice, and in the right colours it could look pretty cool. The other thought I had was to make something using a fancy shmancy yarn like alpaca, silk or cashmere. (or a blend) I haven't worked with these yarns before so I don't know what I'd like. I know I hate working with mohair, the way the fibres cling to each other drives me batty, so if any of these other fibres are like that I'll have to consider that. I also don't want anything that's too easy or too complicated. A fancy lace pattern is out, but so is plain garter stitch.

Suggestions?

I get excited when a larger project like a sweater, actually starts looking like the end product! I've still got a ways to go on my BPT sweater, it needs arms and the hood, and a couple inches of body yet, but it's really coming together and looking like a sweater! I'm pleased with how it's coming along, and am anxious to keep working on it to see the final product. The style of knitting the sweater in the round and not having to think about seams (other than putting in a zipper which scares me a little) is perfect for me, and I think I might make something similar for myself later on. I REALLY hope my sister likes this sweater, I think she will.

I've been crafty lately! I finished up 3 seperate projects last night, so I'm feeling pretty accomplished. The first is the felted purse for the daycare raffle at work. I made a matching changepurse to go with it, though that didn't felt as well. The changepurse was in garter stitch, the purse in stockingknit, so that might explain it. I also feel like the strap was too short, last time I felted a bag with a strap it stretched out like crazy so I erred on the short side this time. The second photo shows the zipper I sewed into the changepurse. That made me nervous to do, I've never sewed in a zipper before. It turned out okay, the felt is forgiving for sewing, and bulky enough to work.


I also made a set of 6 stamped birthday cards with envelopes for the raffle:


And my third project was a mask I decorated for a contest at work:

The photo makes it look pink and blue, but the pink parts are actually silver glitter over a pink mask, so it's really just silver and blue. I can't wait to see what other employees did for their masks, they all go up in the bookstore monday, and there are prizes :)

My ebay auctions all have bids - hooray! I am so happy this nice yarn will find another home, and I should make enough to buy myself something I will enjoy using!

I'm planning to try making a simple felted purse as another item for the daycare raffle. I have a little time, they need stuff before the end of next week. There are some neat looking simple purses pictured OVER HERE so I might try to make something like those. I have some blue feltable wool for sure, plus some in earthy tones, and more in white that I could koolaid dye. I'll take stock when I get home and see which would work. I have some black eyelash wool that I could use along the top to jazz it up nicely as well, and that would go with almost any colour of purse.

I am still working on trimming my stash. I sent one box of yarn to someone in trade for some books a while ago. (I am still waiting for the books, she got the yarn but hasn't sent them yet!) I've given some away to a friend I think will use it, I've been knitting hats out of random smaller bits, baby hats are PERFECT for this.

I finally took the plunge to try selling on ebay yesterday! I had bunches of mohair and mohair-like yarn that I was never going to use. It's lovely yarn, but just not my thing at all. So I put it up for sale, hoping someone else would have a use for it, and I could get a couple of bucks to spend on yarn I like! Here are the three auctions I put up, for anyone interested(photos link to the auctions):

I fretted over the BPT sweater a bit, wrote the author for help and had a eureka moment and figured it out on my own. Now that I have it figured it out it seems so simple, of course.

I whipped up another watchcap today. I'm trying to make some quick stuff to donate to the childcare raffle. The second photo shows how the decreases make a nice pattern of the top.

I've run into another problem with the BPT sweater from knitty. I am separating the parts for the sleeves and the instructions aren't seeming to add up for me. THOUGH, now that I am looking at the pattern, to type here what my problem is, I think I figured it out! I was reading "CO" as cast off, not cast on, which changes everything! *sigh* Ah well, I can continue knitting now.....

I took a photo of the circular knitting holder my mom made me. I might reinforce the back with cardboard to make it lie flat, and I plan to put the sizes on with a pen or maybe use iron on patches or something. Right now I have little address labels stuck on for sizes. (it is hanging on one of my plastic drawer sets that hold MOST of my yarn and needles):

I also made two more baby hats this weekend. I love baby hats, they work up so quickly, and in any type of yarn really. The first one is from a scrap left from a sweater I made my sister using Bernat Denim Style Yarn which is very soft and cozy. The second is made with some mohair blend I got at a thrift shop. I have plenty left to make booties to match.

AARRRGGG! I hate it when yarn "breaks" mid knitting. I hate finding joins in yarn too, but worse is when you are knitting along and the yarn just sort of disintigrates when you tug it. This happens a lot with White Buffalo yarn (the stuff you make Cowichan sweaters from) so I got rid of all I had, it annoyed me too much. I'm finding the Lett-Lopi I'm using does it a little too. It's only lightly spun, not tightly twisted, which is part of the problem. I just had it split about 2 yards past a join I made for the next ball. I ended up ripping back to the join, rather than having joins on two rows in a row. I'm not knitting tightly, or pulling hard on the yarn, it just has weak points. Once knit it is nice and strong fabric, I think I will just have to be careful and deal with it.

I had set aside the BPT I was working on a while ago. I decided to count my stitches to make sure I hadn't missed any increases and I found I'd missed one!!! I couldn't see where and the idea of ripping upset me too much so I put it away. I pulled it out last night and the error popped right out at me. It wasn't too far down so I was able to just undo that bit and fix it up, and I'm back to working on it. The yarn, Lett-Lopi, is a bit hard to work with as it's not tightly spun, but the effect is quite nice. I'm about 2/3 done the yoke.

My mom sewed me up a pretty holder for my circular needles the other day. I'd seen them in the stores, and they are very cool, but also expensive for what they are. They are basically a strip of fabric, folded over and sewn at 2inch intervals all the way up. You then feed your needles through the loops and they hang either side, seperated by size. I still need to put all my needles in and put some labels on it, but iI'm happy to have it! Now I can sort out all my circulars and see which ones I have doubles (or more) of and which I'm missing. She has more of the matching fabric and offered to make me a holder for my Double Pointed needles too - yay! I'll try and post a photo in the next couple of days.

Happily Michael's carries Bernat Soft Boucle in the colour I'm using for my jacket. I don't know if I will need more yet. but I'm glad it's there. Perhaps I should be smart and buy a ball now, I can always return it if I don't need it.....

No luck finding Patons Country Garden in Snowdrop anywhere. I've contacted a couple places online, tried every store in town or in nearby towns, but nothing. I'm starting to think I will be starting over, which doesn't make me happy. That yarn was perfect for the project, the right weight, the right feel, washable wool, and a nice shade. PLUS I have knit more than a full pattern repeat so that is a lot of work to have to give up!

I'm moving along on the back of my maternity jacket. Here is a photo showing how far I am so far:

I hope I will have enough yarn, I only have 6 balls and I think it is discontinued. I'm using Bernat Soft Boucle in a pretty blue colour. Here is a closeup of the colour and texture:

Bit of a disaster with the DNA scarf.....I went back to lewiscraft to get another 4 balls of yarn now that I like how this yarn works for it, and they don't have anymore! They were clearing it out when I bought that ball last time, and I didn't realise, so neither location in my city has anymore in the 'snowdrop' colour I used. Thankfully Patons country yarn is available online and elsewhere, so I will look around. I'll call the knitting shops in town to see if they have any I can grab, otherwise I will look online. I'm not willing to start over!

I also started a convertable maternity jacket for myself. I liked the style and idea of the Before & After sweater on the Canadian Living website, but the pattern was written very strangely. Instead I am trying the Cropped Cardigan from Lion Brand. I'm going to make it a little longer, then make a triangle panel for the front to extend it while I am pregnant. I may add on a polo-type collar if I'm brave later too, we'll see. I don't really have any sweaters that will fit me much longer and the weather is starting to cool off, so I wanted to get started on this right away.

Now that I have the digital camera, I can post pictures fast and easy, though I do need to work on posting more often in general here! I'm working on the DNA Scarf right now as a gift for my husband. He's into science of all kinds, and actually doing a co-op job right now that deals with biology and chemistry, so I think he will get a kick out of it.

I had a lot of trouble getting starterd, as I haven't really dealt with charted patterns before. I didn't realise you started reading from right to left at the bottom of the chart, or that you read even rows left to right and inverted the symbols! Jerry, who just finished this scarf, kindly helped me out with tips on how to read the chart. He said for even rows to "knit the stitches as they appear" rather than using the chart and reversing the stitches. That is working out well and speeding up my knitting on this thing quite a bit. I'm pleased with the progress so far, here is a photo of where I am, plus a closeup of the cable:


I also am working on some baby socks. They're really cute and much faster to work up than adult socks, but I don't think I will make a lot. They are kind of fiddly to work with and take a while, considering how cheap a pack of baby socks is at the store! Here is a photo:

More photos to share!

A Watch Cap made from a thick tweedy wool I had in my stash. I think I have enough left to make a second one


A Baby Watch Cap I made using basically the same pattern as above, and some neat cotton cord. I love how this turned out, I think I will keep this one for my baby.


A sweater using the bulky bibbed baby sweater pattern


My first attempt at crocheting a snowflake, using leftover cotton cord


A photo of part of the double cable in the BPT sweater I'm making. I'm using Alafoss Lett Lopi In a very dark brown.

I just keep starting new stuff! I got started on BPT from the new knitty.com yesterday. I made pretty good progress, after I got my head around the cables and everything, but I was still a little unsure I was doing the increases right. I started composing an email to the author to check, when I found my error. I was only doing 4 of the 8 increases needed on each row. DAMN! There go the 11 rows I'd already completed! At least I better understand the pattern now, it should just fly along. I'm using Lett-Lopi, a neat icelandic wool I found at a thrift shop a while ago. It's a great brown/black colour and should look great. This will be a gift for my sister for christmas.

I didn't manage to finish the socks. I managed to kitchener one toe up almost completely before I realised I was doing it at a 90% angle to how I should be........like I grafted the left half of the sock to the right half instead of the top to the bottom. ((sigh)) so I had to rip that out and redo it. Then I found the socks are too small for me, just a touch. I guess they will become christmas presents for someone!

I am working on another quickie gift item for my brother, something more portable than the larger multi-piece project I started the other day. I'm trying to use up some stash yarn to make more space, and this will use up most of one ball anyways.

Making good progress on the christmas gift for my brother. Haven't asked him yet if he reads here. I will share a photo when it's done though. I'm also trying to finish up some of the many WIPs that I have filling up my yarn containers. I nearly finished a pair of socks last night, will finish them today. I also have a pretty sweater top that needs I think one more (short) sleeve to be done, so I should work on that. It would probaby fit me now, but not for much longer as my belly grows. Also have a baby sweater that needs one more small seam and the new buttons I bought sewn on. If I get busy tonight I might have a whole mess of photos to share tomorrow or Friday.

I made some good progress on cleaning up the yarn mess. I have traded some away for knitting books (YAY), and have some in mind to give away. Beyond that I think I just need to get knitting and fast to use up a lot of this yarn! I have the "baby corner" clear now, though the large yarn cart and a couple boxes still need a home. I have barely touched the stamp mess, but I have been sick this week. (excuses, excuses)

I'm looking for a good jacket pattern to adapt into a maternity sweater/jacket. I found a neat one meant for Homespun yarn: http://pages.e-yarn.com/6030/PictPage/1920694972.html which is close to the Bernat Soft Boucle I have in mind, but it bugs me to pay $6 for the pattern booklet when the pattern is fairly simple, and I wouldn't do anything else out of the booklet. I'm hoping to find someone willing to trade me that or another similar pattern ;)

I've started on a christmas/birthday gift for my brother. I have to find out if he reads this thing before I post much about it though. I doubt he does, but it's not like I hid the blog......

My craft area currently takes up an entire nook off the living room. Half of this nook is what will become "baby's space" so I need to organize, downsize, and just plain clean up my crafting! I started with the yarn, since the bags and piles were actually starting to take over the living room too:

I've got it all into the two carts, one bag, and a box now. I'm working on a trade with someone for yarns I'm not fond of, in exchange for knitting books - YAY! I bought a lot of it at thrift shops when I first started knitting, or my mom picked it up for me, before I knew what I liked knitting with. Now that I know, lots of what I have just doesn't suit me, even though it's nifty yarn. If I can swap it for things I like I can actually make things, rather than feeling overwhelmed by piles of yarn I don't like. I have a few things posted for trade at TRADE if you want to check it out.

Next will be the stamping table:


Which will need to also hold any miscellaneous crafting stuff, and my couponing/refunding stuff. It's a big project getting it all organized, but I will be so happy when it's all neat and useable again!

I forgot to post my big news! I was waiting until I got a meeting with my boss, just in case anyone at work stumbles accross this little blog, but now that he knows, everyone can....

I'm Pregnant!!!!

My due date is January 29th, and hubby and I are thrilled to pieces. This will be our first child. (and the first grandchild for both sides) I haven't managed much knitting for myself yet though, as all my friends keep having kids first! I also didn't get to find out the sex at the ultrasound last week, so no pink or blue for me. I am considering making the Before & After Sweater from Canadian Living's site. I love the idea that you can wear it after the baby is born by taking the panel out, but I don't like the design or instructions. I may just adapt a simple boxy cardigan to do the same idea myself. I have some Bernat Soft Boucle in rich blues that would be perfect.......

Comments are down but feel free to EMAIL ME if you have something to say!

I have SO MUCH YARN!!! I decided to organize my stash, pulled it out of all the piles and bags and stuff, seperated, organized.........and realized I have TOO MUCH YARN! Most of it is stuff my mom or I picked up when I was just starting knitting, before I knew what I liked. Lots of mohair, some buffalo wool, and tons of really weird stuff. (nylon ribbon that would suit weaving a lawn chair maybe?? raffia yarn??) ICKY! I did manage to pack it back up nicer, but its still a whole lot of yarn I don't see myself using. So I have to decide how much of it to discard, how much to knit, and if any of it is even remotely swappable. I do have 4 balls of Pengoin cotton slubby yarn in lime and blue that might interest someone...........

I finished the baby towel. I don't know if I will make another one any time soon though. It was easy and knit up quick, but it was SO BORING! Nothing but garter stitch the whole way through - yuk! I used Bernat Cotton Handicrafter yarn, which is really cheap, and once I washed and dried it, it thickened up and softened nicely. Here is a photo of the finished product:


I couldn't pick my next project, so I just started on a baby hat. I had some pretty blue yarn to use, so I figured I could make it, and one of the two friends still expecting, or even myself, one of us would have a boy!

I started counting up the active WIPs and WIMs that I have.....about a dozen, for all the ones I'm actually serious about. Most are christmas gifts, but a few are needed sooner, and some very soon (a week and a half!) so I'm getting a bit worried. I need to keep the needles moving! I started a hooded baby towel for the first baby gift. I haven't decided about the yellow blanket yet, so I can give her this new project instead. I'm halfway done almost, and I only started on Thursday. Photos this weekend if I finish it!

I started a lace scarf for the raffle. I've done one full repeat of the lace pattern (12 rows) and I like how it looks. It will take a while, it's on 3.5mm needles or something like that. The wool I'm using is some unidentified stuff in a naturall beigy grey colour. I am thinking of koolaid dying it after I knit it all up. Even just to add a touch of colour, I really don't like the plain colour it is now, but I wanted to work from my stash.

Still working on the baby blanket, I'm about 1/3 done. I will need to have a baby gift to give my field hockey coach in two weeks. She may get this blanket, or I may have to whip up something else, we'll see. I may like this blanket too much to give it away too........

This other baby blanket I'm working on is turning out nicely. I'm not in love with the pattern, but it's nice enough. I've done about 7 inches so far, so it's coming along. It will probably be a gift for one of 3 upcoming babies.

I'm still mulling over ideas for the daycare raffle. I thought about doing a mohair shawl, as that would use up some of the MASSES of mohair I have. Of course, when I checked out my stash I found a lot of it is "mohair like" but not actual mohair, and that I didn't have more than a ball or two of a lot of the colours/styles of yarn. I also haven't found a pattern I like. There was one in the knitter's stash, but the one mohair yarn I had enough of, is WAY too fluffy so it looks funny knit up. I may do a fancy scarf instead, that doesn't take as much yarn.

As painful as it was to frog that last baby blanket start, I'm glad I did. I'm just starting the new pattern, and I'm liking it much better already. It's a fairly simple repeat of stockingknit sections and little lacey bits that will make a sort of basketweave. I think it will look nice, but not be TOO complicated, and yet interesting enough to keep me at it.

I got a flyer for this year's Daycare raffle at work. Last year I donated a packet of handstamped cards I made, plus a hooded baby sweater and booties in Lion Brand Microspun. They turned out really cute and I had fun making them for a good cause. (the raffle earns money for the daycare to buy new books and toys, since they don't charge too much to parents who have their kids there, most of whom are students) The thing is, last year, I didn't have any other kids to babies to knit for. This year, I have TONS of babies to knit for, so I don't know if I have time to knit something for someone else. I might have to look for a really quick pattern, maybe make another "5 hour baby sweater" or something. I'd really like to donate something.

Off to the frog pond! I took a pattern out of A Passion for Knitting and adjusted the width a bit, since I was using a thicker yarn than they called for. Well, it was STILL ending up about 20% wider than the pattern, and I know I would have run out of the yellow cotton I was using. Plus, I hated the pattern. It was excruciatingly boring, so far consisting of a wide garter edge and plain stockingknit. Ugh! So here is a photo, pre-frogging:



I think I may try the Cabled Eyelet Blanket as it looks much more fun and interesting. I did a swatch of it in acrylic about the same guage as the yarn I have, so I should be able to adjust the size ok.

I've had a few suggestions of what to do with all the mohair. Some peple suggested mixing it with another fibre to make soft mittens and stuff, so I might try that. I also might try to make a nice lacey shawl or scarf for my mother-in-law for christmas. She really liked the eyelash and snowflake scarf I made her last year, so I just have to ask my husband if she'd wear a shawl........

The felted camera bag was less than a success. It felted up but in the wrong porportions, turning into a funky purse more than anything. And the strap didn't shrink at ALL! I may give it another run through, see if that helps, otherwise it may become a christmas gift in purse form. I am still happy with the colours, so it wasn't a total loss, and I had fun making it.

I want to think up some projects to use up some of my overwhelming stash now. It's such a mess and there is so much there, I can't rationalize buying anything more until I use some of it up! Here's a photo to give you an idea:



There is still more hidden behind that too! A large portion of what I have in the bags in front is mohair or mohair blends, so I need to think of some ideas for that. It's not really appropriate for baby projects unfortunately.........any ideas??

I forgot to mention another nifty birthday present I got - a knitting book! I received Knit It Your Way from my mother in law, along with a nifty yoga/pilates book. Knit it your way shows you each of the patterns in the book in 2 or more types of yarn, and discusses substituting different yarns in patterns. This will be great for me, since I rarely, if ever, use the yarn listed in a pattern. She knows I get much of my yarn from thrift shops so she figured it would be useful for me.

Getting farther on the camera bag, I hope to finish it tonight and maybe even felt it tomorrow!

I started playing with my digital camera last night and took some photos of the camera bag I'm working on. Having a digital camera is GREAT, I can take realistic photos of my knitting, and not have to wait to finish a roll, develop it, scan them in and then mess with the colours so they don't end up too dark.

I dyed the yarn by submerging part of the skeins (did 2 at once to make them sort of match) into the dye bath on the stove, and propping the rest up on a plastic utensil. This is the lovely green colour I got from a couple of packets of "changing cherry" flavour:



Here is a photo of the skeins drying on my balcony railing outside. It shows the colours fairly well:



And here is the bag so far. See how great the colours are coming out in the knitting? Exactly the effect I was after:



I think the bag might end up a little large, but if it does I will just make it into a purse or something for a christmas gift. I have one more skein of undyed wool, and will only need part of the second dyed one for the flap and handle, so I should have plenty for a second try.