Here's my progress on Soleil so far, just about done the lace repeats:

I love how the lace looks, assuming the designer's promises of the curling blocking out come true......It should move quickly now, just miles of stockingknit with occasional increases and decreases after the lace.

And a photo of the rainbow baby set I made for a couple of gals on my lacrosse team that just had a baby boy:

I made it before I knew if they were having a boy or a girl, so I tried to choose a neutral (but fun!) colourway. It's Patons Look At Me, which is a nice acrylic, since we're heading into summer I didn't think wool would be a good choice. I found I really like a 1x1 rib for baby stuff (sock and hat cuffs) since it's soft and plushy, and looks pretty even while still having lots of stretch.

Someone commented that I was having a BLUE mood with all the photos in the last post. I realize my Sophie Bag I also have on the needles is blue too! I did do one baby project recently that's not blue, it's bright rainbow veregated, actually. I'll try to snap a photo before I gift it tonight.

I'm still working on Soleil. I ripped out what I had done to cast on again, hopefully fixing the curling issue. It didn't help, it's still curling, but it appears others have the same experience so I'm just going to hope it blocks out okay when I'm done. I'm just starting the third lace repeat now. Hopefully I can pick up speed a bit, the weather turned warm here laely so I'd like to get this done to wear it!

I found an old abandoned sweater in my stash that would be great for the warmer weather. About 2 years ago I started making a cap sleeved cotton sweater, knit in the round from the bottom-up. My own design.(I had delusions of submitting it to knitty, even, though it was far to plain and then I lost my pattern notes) It got forgotten for a while, and then I realised it wouldn't fit, as I'd gained a few(cough) pounds, so I just abandoned it. Pulling it out the other day I realized it would almost fit me now! It needs about an inch more in the yoke, then trim around the neck and it will be done. No finishing since it's in the round, either! I'll have to find some time to work on it soon!

And yes, it's blue too ;P

I sent a couple of knit hats up to my cousin, who just had a baby boy. It's still cold where they live, so I sent one wintery hat, and one summery hat:


I REALLY like the design of that cabled hat, but I can't seem to find out where I originally got the pattern. (someone asked for it so I've been searching but I can't seem to find it) I thought it was in one of the minnowknits books from the library but I've checked them all. I've made this hat about 4 times now and love it every time, I can make it from a photo now, so no worries about finding the pattern.

I've gotten a good start on soleil from knitty.com, here's where I was at yesterday:


It's rolling a bit but I'm going to press on and hope blocking takes care of it.

I'm currently swatching for Soleil from the new issue of Knitty.com. I was looking for something sleeveless to make that I could wear to work as the weather warms up, and luckily this showed up at just the right time! I have some Patons Rio (discontinued I think) that should work nicely, in a light blue colour.

I also started Sophie from magknits.com. It's a nice easy knit, and works up fast on 6mm needles!

Finally finished it, within an hour of leaving for the party! Nothing like finishing something at the last minute, eh? I was pleased with how it ended up, blocking (ironing with steam) helped it out a lot, relaxed and softened the fabric up nicely. It ended up quite large, despite making it in the 9-12 month size and being close on gauge it came out like an 18month+. Oh well, it will work for my neice in the fall. Here's the sweater:

I had to snap a photo quick after gifting, I forgot to take it before I wrapped it up.

Next? Felted bags. I'm in the mood for some quick knit projects, and haven't felted in a while. Maybe I'll even dye some yarn.

Still having trouble with the sweater, found ANOTHER error so I didn't get to block last night, I'm still knitting! I might have to skip the pre-assembly blocking I'd planned.

In other news:

Check out my [cough] large assortment of yarn HERE Sorry the photos and layout are so sad, I don't have time for anything nicer.

Back is done, front pieces are done, and I'm about 1/3 of the way done both sleeves. I'm knitting them at once, since I've heard it's the way to go. It's a little more challenging keeping the yarn from tangling, but it is nice to be able to have the sleeves end up the same length without madly counting rows all the time.

I still have the blocking to do and the neckband, but it's looking doable. I think I'm going to have to block twice, once before I seam everything up, and once after, just to make it look nice, but it shouldn't take too long. The birthday event I'm hoping to gift this at is Saturday at 5pm, so I've got some time......

GRRRRRRRR!

I was just thinking "Wow, I might actually get this sweater done in time for the birthday this weekend" when disaster struck. The pattern all of a sudden seemed wrong. I was thinking "if I decrease like that, the neck will be on the wrong side of this panel.....oh crap, the panel is BACKWARDS!" That's right folks, I knit half of the front of the sweater BACKWARDS!!! I have two right sides. Even my husband remarked on how quick it is to rip out a piece, compared to the time it takes to knit it up.

So now I have to reknit that whole piece, AND do both sleeves, AND assemble it, block it, and find buttons. This weekend seems awfully close, I'm going to have to be a knitting fool.

A word about Tea.....

I love Tea. I drink it pretty much every single day. (Black with milk and sugar, please) If you haven't already heard of them you should really check out Adiago Tea. They have some of the most amazing tea flavours you'll find. And the coolest Tea Wares for brewing in. (I've never seen a teapot like their IngenuiTEA one - such a cool idea, I bet it works great!)

Adiago Tea Rocks.

I'm making fast progress on the sweater, here is what it looked like last night:

That's abotu 8 inches up the back, it needs to be about 11inches to get to the shoulder shaping, I'm hoping to get to that point today. Cotton on small needles is rough knitting though!

Lots of new yarn for me:

My mom was heading past a yarn shop out of town and I asked her to peek in and see if they had any more of this 'Topacio' Cotton/Acrylic yarn I liked in the sale bin. Well, they had two balls (top right corner) but they also had all this pink and blue cotton/acrylic she figured I'd like, and the purple acrylic that just looked nice :) The pink is already well on it's way to becoming a toddler sweater for my neice. My sister's birthday is in 10 days, I'm trying despirately to finish it in that time. I wish I weren't working with 3.5mm needles, but I think it can still be done. It's mostly stockingknit, so it will be fast, mindless knitting at least.

I finished the socks and did up a matching hat. I tried a square top hat I saw in another blog(Bagatell) but I wasn't thrilled with the end result so I'm going to do a regular rounded top for future baby hats, I think.

I finished that white hat, haven't decided if I'm going to make mitts or booties to go with it yet. Instead I started something else. (gotta get the active projects list into double digits - YAY) I made this sock from some Lion Brand Magic Stripes a friend gave me:

I like this yarn, it knits up nice, and is thicker than most sock yarn so it works up quickly. I think this colourway will be good for a boy, I might make a matching hat once the mate is done.

When you have yarn you like working with (unlike that pink junk used for the last hat I posted about) it seems to fly on the needles. Here's a short stint of knitting from today:
It's destined to be a baby hat, likely with matching socks/booties. The yarn is Bernat Satin, and it's really soft, quite nice to knit with. I'm just knitting a 3x1 rib, it should be stretchy enough to accomodate a range of baby head sizes.

More hats, though I need to get some good "boy" patterns as all the expectant moms I know seem to be having boys. I DO NOT LIKE this yarn (Innovation by Lewiscraft) but I do like the pattern and how it turned out:


It's the Quaker Ribbed HAt shrunk down to a smaller size. It still came out toddler-sized, I was aiming for baby-sized.

I've got a little bit of 3 different purple shades of Look At Me yarn left, I'm going to try and make a hat out of them. One is veregated, I might stripe it with a solid purple. Not sure what to do with the small amount of dark purple I have left, I may skip it if I can make a whole hat out of the other two. Perhaps I can add earflaps with it at the end?

I finished the PingPong hat. It's not as deep as I'd like, but I used every last bit of the yarn. All that are left are the trimmings from tieing the tassles on, maybe 6 inches total. The yarn was nice to knit with, soft and squishy, but would be a nightmare for seaming, so I'm glad I did a hat in the round!

I REALLY liked the look of these little Ugg Booties everyone seems to be making. I'm trying to knit for a whole lot of babies right now, so I was considering making these, and I called the yarn store in town that carries Berrocco yarns. A mere $16.49 a ball for the Suede yarn. The pattern calls for 2 balls of the yarn PLUS a little of another kind for the trim. Those would be some DAMN pricey booties, I think I'll pass.

The star blanket is getting slower, the rows are longer and longer as the blanket gets bigger. It's also less fun to work on as I can't watch TV or read blogs while I crochet, I have to watch my hands. I'm going to try and do a round every day though, I'd really like to see the end result sometime soon!

I started a hat in PingPong yarn in Pink by Bernat. It looks and feels really neat, but doesn't seem that practical for a sweater. I didn't notice the yardage was so short, I don't know if I will have enough for the hat. I'll just keep knitting and see if I have enough, it goes fast so if I have to rip it out that's not a huge deal. I might use some Satin yarn I have in bright pink along with it if needed. I don't know if stripes or colour blocks would look better though........

Still working on the blanket. It's coming along really nicely, I can't wait to finish and see how it looks done.

I'm working on a little crochetes mouse right now, from a pattern here:
http://www.sarahanns.com/crochetworks/animals.html It's a lot smaller than I expected, but it will be really cute, I think.

The star baby blanket is coming along nicely. I'm really enjoying crochet! I do find it requires more attention than knitting, I have to watch my hands while I do it, but that's ok. Here's the blanket so far:

(moved the photo to another host so it wouldn't take so long to come up)

Finished the pixie hat. Hopefully my sister likes it :) I started a cabled baby hat using the Basic Cable pattern from Stitch n Bitch Nation. I like how it's turning out, and if there is enough wool left I might make mitts to match.

I have found something I REALLY want to make. Problem is it's a crochet pattern. I don't really crochet, and have never made anything from a pattern. I think I might just have to learn. The pattern is HERE and the photo doesn't really do it justice, I saw another photo in baby colours and it was gorgeous. We'll see how I do......

Working on another of those pointed pixie hats for my neice to wear - my sister liked the one Teagan was wearing and asked how much I'd charge for one. I didn't go into how you really can't charge enough for your knitting to make it worth while, I just said I'd make her one.

I also came accross a GOREGOUS sweater today, that I'd really like to make. Check it out HERE. It's written in one size - smaller than me - and meant for a yarn I don't think I can get locally, so I'm not sure if I'll try it, but it is pretty!

SOOOOO happy to be done with Christmas knitting and all the stress that it brings. I've said it befere, though I REALLY mean it this time, I will not leave it all to the last minute this year!

So I wanted to make my daughter a hat, she doesn't have many hats knit by me, which is a crime considering how much I knit, but I didn't want to make some boring old plain thing. I came accross a pattern for a pointed pixie hat, and I'm pretty pleased with the result:

I got the pattern HERE and it is SO easy - no increases or decreases, just knits and purls.

I also started on WAVY from the current issue of knitty.com. It looks like it won't be too hard, but keeping track of the pattern row will be key. I don't yet own a single knit scarf - another crime in my opinion - so it was time to knit something for ME! I had some pretty medium blue woolease from an abandoned christmas project (my sister's loss will be my gain) and I think it will make an excellent scarf.

Another finished xmas gift, the koolaid purse! This one was a bit of a challenge, the shape and material don't make for easy sewing! I had found pretty good instructions to work from, but had a minor disastor in sewing the darn thing inside out. After that was fixed, I think it turned out okay! Hopefully my cousin likes it!

Finally a photo! My hot water bottle cozy is done, blocked, and ready to wrap:

Unfortunately the photo doesn't show the cable well, and I'm far too busy to start messing with photos for the blog! The fingerless gloves are done except for weaving in the MANY ends, not sure if I will block them. I still have a bunch of coasters to knit, and some things to felt. Back at it!

I'm getting a grip on the christmas knitting. I finished the hot water bottle cozy, just need to block it, felted a baby gift, did some samples for mom's gift, and finished the sleep mask, save for the elastic:

So I'm feeling a little more in control. Still lots to do, but it's looking remotely possible now!

Christmas Panic!!

I don't think there is any way to get all my christmas gifts done in time. I was already running behind (babies don't leave you tons of free time for knitting) and had an ambitious list, and then I started having wrist issues. Doc says a bit of tendonitis. Knitting doesn't seem to aggravate it, but I need to be careful.

So I've pretty much axed the big project for my sister (Poncho) and am struggling to finish what I can. I'm almost done my sister's fiance's knit hot water bottle cozy, half done brother's fingerless gloves, and mostly done the sleep mask for my aunt. I have a couple other things waiting, we'll see how much I can finish.

I got started on the poncho from Vogue Knitting. Right off the bad I screwed up, I forgot to switch to the smaller needles right after the first 3 rows of garter stitch. Oh well, it shouldn't matter. Now that I am a number of rows in, I realize the needle I am using is a 4mm instead of the 4.5 called for. (darn my old inaccurate needle sizer!!) I am going to try to ignore that too. Finally, I missed the first decrease - but it's only half a row back so I'm going to fix that. At least it's moving along fairly quickly........photos when there is something to show.

I went to the yarn store today. Wow - there are some gorgeous yarns out there. I had to touch everything.....well as much as my baby's patience would allow. *I* could have spend a whole day in there, but she had other ideas.

I bought some yarn for a gift. (can't go into specifics as she reads this blog) It is fun but challenging shopping for yarn for someone else. When you are shopping for someone else you feel justified in "splurging" when you might not on yourself, and you can really get into the process. BUT it's worrisome to be picking out colours based on your own preferances, or guessing what the other person will like. Hopefully she'll be happy with the selection I made, I did my best!

Still working on things for my brother. The "family birthday dinner" was postponed, buying me more time. I finished a Seaman's cap for him, and now I'm working on fingerless gloves. I don't think I'll finish them in time, so they can be for christmas.

I found this neat pattern for a Hot Water Bottle Cozy so I'm making that for my sister's fiance. I bought some Decor yarn to make it, someone reccomended it to me and it feels nice, a lot like Woolease.

We're all moved into our new place! It's great, so much space! I don't have a designated crafting desk anymore, but I have loads of storage for my craft things. I haven't gotten much knitting done, partly because most of it is still packed and there is so much else to do. Plus it's all up in the storage on the third floor, so it's not easy and quick to grab. I think I need a "working" craft bin in the bottom floor. Maybe my folding knitting bag can live in the living room for easy knitting access.

I haven't started the poncho yet, I'm trying to whip up something for my brother. His birthday is tomorrow but I won't see him for a few days. I really like working with Woolease. It's a nice yarn, feels nice to work with and is forgiving to frogging as well.

I found a new poncho pattern I might try instead of the Harlot Poncho. Vogue knitting has a really nice slim poncho with a nifty cable down the middle. It's done in a similar weight to Woolease, so I shouldn't have to tweak the pattern. I might need to use a lighter colour though, dark colours don't show cables that well and it would be a shame to go to the trouble and not have it show up. The pattern is done flat in two pieces, but I might convert it to the round. I just need to check if the cable would work out okay if I do that.

Not actually knitting much, busy packing most of the time. I'm feeling like starting lots of projects though, I think feeling unsettled in general is making my kntiting unsettled too!

I'm not thrilled with the Harlot Poncho I'm doing. The rolling neck edge bugs me, and I keep getting nervous my sister won't like it anyways. She's particular about her clothes. I'm also finding it a bit boring.

I've also got a bunch of other things to work on. Christmas gifts make up a lot of the list, as well as a last minute hat for my cousin's daughter. She's in town and her birthday is Sunday, so we're having a little party for her. She's two, and has all the toys she needs, so I figured a cute hat was in order. They liked the blossom hats I made them when I visited up north in the summer.

Started the Harlot Poncho, but the neck of mine is rolling! I don't know if I'm going to ignore it, or rip it out. I think I'll google for other Harlot Ponchos to see if others have this happening.

I had to rip out my progress on a poncho for my sister today. 2 balls of Woolease into it, I had made the classic knitting-in-the-round error of twisting the stitches to create a mobius strip. There was so much knitting on the needles I couldn't flatten it out to notice the error earlier, and it peeved me to rip all that work out. BUT, there is a bright side, I realised the pattern I was using was just not going to do it. The edge was rolling, and the fabric was pretty thick, not drapey like I was hoping. I am starting over today, possibly with the famed Yarn Harlot Poncho still in woolease. I think with a single strand rather than doubled the woolease will drape okay. I've seen photos of others made in wool blends and they looked pretty nice.

I tried making Velvet Oblivion from knitty.com using Patons Classic Wool and another eyelash yarn. It didn't work great. I expected it to felt more, so I made the eyelash yarn really tight around the edge, and then it didn't felt as much as I thought. I also doubled the wool to make it thick, but I might try the next single. I can't get the reccomended yarn here, so I'm just going to keep experimenting.

I finished knitting up a gift for my neice, just needs felting now.

I started the tank but I'm really dissapointed. I forgot how short the colour sections are in veregated handicrafter cotton. You don't get stripes or pools of colour, just a random mess. The colours also hide the cabling, so it's wasted effort doing the facy stitches.


I'm hesitant to rip though, I don't like ripping and don't know what I'll do with this almopst one pound skein!

It's finished, washed and blocked! Now the baby just has to get here, so I can give this gift!



I got smart this time, and put all the buttons on and wove in the ends before knitting the sleeves. Then when I finished the sleeves. I had only a little finishing to do! I hate finishing, and this made the project seem faster.

I'm so close to finishing the purple baby set. I ended up making a hat to match, since I had some yarn left over. I also got smart and did the buttons BEFORE the sleeves. I hate finishing, it's the main reason I choose projects knit in the round, and it seems a tedious way to end a project. This way, I only have to do the sleeve finishing at the end, which won't take much time!

Photos once I finish up and wash the items.

I couldn't help swatching up a bit of the Handicrafter yarn to see how the colours looked. They are gorgeous, and I think it will turn into a really pretty top.

I picked up a large skein of Bernat Handicrafter yarn in Jewels today. It's the top right colourway on This Page
I'm going to make the tank pictured HERE with it, the guage seems right, and I think the veregated yarn will look nice. Plus it will be cheap.

The purple baby sweater is moving right along. I just finished off the first skein of Patons Look At Me, and am just about to start the bottom ribbing. Then just the arms to do. I think the second skein will finish it off and let me make matching socks if I feel like it. Here's a photo of my progress:

I swatched some Lion Brand Woolease for the poncho. I'm not sure if I should use it as a single strand: Or double it up: The second way will make it thicker and warmer, and it will knit up faster, but the first will make a "finer" fabric and will use less yarn. The colours come out about the same, which is what I was mainly checking with the swatching.

Making progress on the purple baby sweater for my friend. That pattern knits up quickly, and it is a nice portable project.

Finished Haiku the other day, and am just sewing the buttons on now. Photo when they're all one, the buttons I found MAKE the sweater so there is no sense taking a pic now. I also got the buttons sewn on a sweater knit in Patons Pixie, Pattern here, that I knit a while ago.

Thinking about that poncho for my sister. I came accross a sample of THIS at the yarn shop the other day, and it's just stunning. Unfortunately, the yarn used and called for int he pattern was over $35 a hank. One hank would make the whole thing, but I'm not even sure she'd wear it, so I couldn't justify the purchase. I'm trying out swatching some Lion Brand Woolease veregated yarn, to see if I can't just work something out on my own. I'm trying to think of how to do the decreases: matched up along "seams" would look nice, but I might want to avoid that so it can be the same all the way around....

More baby projects in the works. I'm making a baby sweater for a friend who is due in about a month. She's having a little boy, and I found some great BRIGHT purple Patons Look at Me yarn on clearance. I'm making This Pattern and here is my progress so far:

It's a touch more purple than it appears in the photo, but about that bright.

I also did some dying. I have a felting project in mind, so I attacked some of the Patons Classic wool I have with the koolaid:
Both photos show the before and after yarns. I'm really happy with how the veregated stuff turned out. They grey was kind of dark to start with, so I don't know if I will use that one. I was leery of buying white, I've heard the bleaching process affects feltability, so I stuck with darker colours.

Ran into trouble with the striped sweater. The sleeves seem way to small and the wrists, and are increasing too rapidly to look right. I'm going to try and rip and start over, doing it differently. It's a basic idea, I should be able to fiddle without too much trouble.

I'm starting to look for a poncho pattern. I think that would be something nice for my sister, they're the "in" thing right now. Plus she just had a baby and I have no idea what size I'd knit for her if I were to do a sweater or something!

Making progress on a sweater for my daughter. I'm basing it on a pattern from the 2nd issue of Knit It, using stripes of Lewiscraft's version of Sirdar Snowflake in a veregated colour and Paton's Look at Me in medium purple. I'm done the back and over half done the front, but it's slow going. Here's a photo of where I'm at:

I'm trying to get as far as I can to see if I need to buy more of either yarn today at the mall. Hopefully I can get by with what I bought. I'm also nervous I made it too small, so I'm finishing it as fast as I can to help the chances Teagan can wear it.

I headed back to Michaels's today and scored a bunch more yarn. I got 7 balls of woolease in "Blue Heather" and 3 balls in "Dark Rose Heather". I'm considering making Accordion from Knitty for my daughter and I, Blue for me, Rose for her. I'll have to check how the guage works out, but woolease seemed an appropriate easy wear, easy knit yarn for sweaters. (I've made a pair of socks and a hat from it and enjoyed working with it)

I think Patons Look at Me yarn is being discontinued! Too bad, it's a nice sport weight in great colours for baby stuff. I got 4 balls at Michael's last night in Deep Purple to make another baby sweater for a boy due this fall.

Well I scrapped the plan to make a sweater in that Ping Pong yarn. The skeins only had about 50 yards each so I was looking at 6+ balls for a baby sweater, and at $5 a ball plus tax, it was going to be too much for a sweater that wouldn't get a lot of wear.

I started on Haiku instead, in a really pretty dark blue Bernat Satin yarn. It's coming along, but I also started plans for a second sweater at the same time, due to a sale at Lewiscrafter. I'm making a striped sweater in purple and a veregated fluffy yarn with purple, blue and green in it. Here is a quick swatch I did up tonight:

It's a little more "red" in reality, but that shows you about what it should look like. The pattern is from the second Knit It! magazine.

I love the look of the new Bernat Ping Pong yarn and want to make a sweater for my daughter with it. I was thinking a zippered hoodie, but I couldn't find a (free) pattern I liked online. I came across this Pullover Hoodie pattern that looks promising though. It's done with Lion Brand Polarspun, which is very close in weight and guage to Ping Pong. I think I might go for this one, less math to adjust the pattern to guage, less seaming since there are less pieces (I will skip the front pocket because I think it looks kind of silly) and the look seems right. I'm leery of a pullover for a baby, but she's close to sitting now so it should be ok to get on and off.

I forgot to mention, I managed to teach my cousin the basics of knitting while visiting up north:
She's 7 and took to it very well. I'm hoping to send her a kids knitting book for christmas, hopefully she will keep at it!

I'm back home, and accomplished much knitting while I was away. I finished up the two blossom hats, which were well received, another hat for another cousin (one of the flat ones with ribbon yarn) while I was there, and am down to the grafting of the toe on a sock made with some Kroy in the Paintbrush colourway. (thanks for the yarn Mar)

I also checked out a couple yarn shops in the northern towns. One in Burns Lake annoyed me - no prices on anything! I am a very price conscious shopper so it bugged me a lot to not know any prices. I'm not going to ask about every single item!

There was a great shop in Smithers, Calico Cat or something like that. They had gorgeous yarns just piled up and spilling out of bins and cupboards. More like a yarn art gallery than anything. I got a set of Casein DPNs to try out and a ball of pretty cotton yarn. Now I'm wishing I'd bought a few so I could make a sweater for Teagan, oh well.

I'm trying to finish up a pair of blossom hats for my cousin, she just had a baby and has an almost 2 year old, so I thought matching hats would be a cute gift. They're quick to knit up, thank goodness. I have one mostly done (needs the embellishment and weaving in) and the second is about 1/3 done. If I don't get it done before we leave on the trip I can knit while mom drives us up there, it is a day and a half of driving so I should be able to finish.

No entries for a couple weeks but hopefully photos to show when I return!

Knitting away on baby stuff still. I'm working on some blossom hats for a cousin I'm visiting next week. I'm also planning my travelling knitting. There will be a good amount of driving on this trip (by my mom, I'll be free to knit) and while visiting lots of people will want to hold Teagan so I will have free hands. I'm thinking of bringing a blossom hat to work on for Teagan and a pair of socks. Socks are great travelling projects: lots to knit on them, easy, mindless knitting for the most part, and very portable.

I found an online version of the Ann Norling style fruit caps, and gave it a try yesterday. This was my first attempt at fair isle, to do the leaves, and I found it hard to keep the tension right. I also made the hat too deep (it's rolled up extra to fit Teagan in the photo) and I didn't add the seeds yet.

Here is a photo of the inside, to show the stranding:


I actually prefer the apple hat I made before. It comes out neater at the top and is easier to make, so I might stick with them for now.

I've managed to misplace my Debbie Bliss Baby Knits book, and I was hoping to look in it for a sweater pattern. I want to do a baby cardigan with a collar, I just finished a raglan one with no collar, this time I want something different. Only problem is all the Debbie Bliss patterns seem to call for thin DK yarn, and I tend to have worsted weight to work with. Ah well, if I can't find the book it doesn't matter, does it?

I finished this apple hat the other day:

I'm pretty happy with it, I think I'll try to make a larger one for Teagan. they are fairly quick to make and I think they'd make a nice unisex baby gift.

Knit Out Time!

There is a knit out at Willow's Beach here in Victoria Next weekend, and I'm looking forward to going. Apparently last year saw a turnout of around 100, so it should be neat seeing that many knitters all together.

GRRRRR! I finished the second sleeve for BOB and while I was trying to sew them on I found the front and back didn't match! One side is 10 rows longer - too much to fudge! I don't know what I am going to do, I'm setting it aside for now.

I started another baby sweater though, in Patons Look At Me in Electric Blue Veregated. It's turning out pretty nice so far. If my sister has a boy, it will be for her.

I'm almost half done the last sleeve for BOB. I have a funny feeling I'm not going to like it once it's put together....the stitches are pretty open and it's VERY drapey. But I'm so close I have to put it together to see how it works out.

I want to make an apple hat for my sister's baby, due next month. Someone emailed me a copy of the pattern, it's simple but really cute. I thought the red wool blend yarn I had would work but it's DK weight so too thin. I'm going to pick up some acrylic tomorrow I think, acrylic will be better since it's heading into summer and wool will be too hot even for a newborn.

I pulled out my unfinished BOB sweater and realized I am just one sleeve short of finishing it. It's got short sleeves so it should work up fast. It's also pretty easy knitting so I can work on it in spurts between baby care. I'd really like to finish this soon so I can wear it!

Still working on baby hats and stuff. I knit up 2 more hats, and a ball that I have yet to felt, so I am ready for another of the babies to arrive!

I've been working on more baby hats. I like hats right now because they are quick and easy, and can be put down and picked up without a lot of fuss. I tend to only have 5 or so minutes of knitting at any given time, so this is important. I haven't started the bigger projects I'm considering because they'd take a while to get started and require longer periods of attention. Maybe I'll do hats in the daytime and save bigger knitting for the evenings when my husband is home.

Here's that baby set, modelled by my daughter: (it's fun to have an actual baby to model baby items on instead of taking photos with items laying flat)

I don't know what I will do about closures though, the pattern had no buttonholes! Still thinking on that one. I made up the hat to match, I like the way it fits, I might make more of the hats by themselves.

I also made a couple hats from a minnowknits book:

The pink one is for Teagan, the blue, which is smaller, will be a baby gift. They're made with that new Patons yarn, Miami. It's a tape yarn, and makes a nice stiff fabric for hats. I wanted a hat that was less wintery than traditional knit baby hats for summer babies.....

I'm still working on a baby set. I did Lorrie Major's Quick Baby Sweater in Red Heart Botton Twist, and am trying to do a matching hat now. I don't know if I will try booties too, I can't think of how to make the little bobbles on socks or booties. I remembered after I finished this sweater what I hate about the pattern - there are no buttonholes! The photo clearly shows buttons, but the buttonholes aren't in the instructions. I haven't decided what to do, I hate ties around babies necks, maybe a toggle button on the outside? Or really small buttons that fit through the stitches?

Next project I think will be a dress for Teagan. I am doing either the tank dress from Easy Baby Knits, or the Gurnsey dress from Cotton Knits for All Seasons. (both Debbie Bliss books) The Gurnsey will be a much more interesting pattern, but the tank will go much quicker.....I'll have to think on it.

Here is the sweater from "Baby Knits for Beginners" (Debbie Bliss):

It was a very simple pattern to put together, just rectangles really. I knit the front and back together since I had 2 balls of yarn and was worried about having enough yarn. WARNING - don't try to knit two pieces together on a circular, I kept knitting the same side over and forgetting the other. once I moved to a straight it was fine. I did the same with the sleeves, and good thing, it was supposed to be long-sleeved, but as you can see I ran out of yarn! I'm happy with how it turned out, it should fit Teagan perfectly in about a month.

Another thing I liked about knitting the front and back, and then the sleeves, together like that was kniting they would be exactly the same length. It bothers me when a pattern says to "knit until front is 8 inches" or something, if your tension isn't perfect or the work gets stretched, you could end up with two pieces that measure the same, but when it's washed or relaxes, they could be different enough to show. It hasn't been a problem for me yet, but I imagine it could be.

Almost finished a simple sweater from "Baby Knits for Beginners" for Teagan. Pgotos when the last seam is done. I'm planning a dress for her next I think, as well as finishing up a bunch of baby gifts.

II also unearthed a 3/4 done BOB I started about a year ago. It was turning out pretty big, so I should finish it while I can wear it, before the pregnancy weight is gone.

I've been reading KnitLit which I borrowed from the library. I'm really enjoying it, it's a nice light read, perfect for a quick relaxation before heading off to sleep.

I got a great surprise in the mail today - 2 skeins of Bernat Satin yarn! Someone on the canadian knitters list saw me mention it in my blog, and had my address because I'd sold her some yarn a while back, so she sent me the leftover skeins she had from a project! How nice is that? I can't wait to find something to make with this, it's a soft pretty green and should be enough for a baby sweater.

Here is the finished hoodie:

It turned out really well, I think. I tried it on Teagan and it barely fits, so I'd rather give it to my sister so it will get more use. I think she'll really like it.

I started a version of the 5 hour baby sweater shown HERE and am already done except for the arms. It really is a fast pattern! I need to get more yarn to finish the arms though, I was using Red Heart Cotton Twist and 100g was not quite enough. I'll probably make a hat and socks with the rest of the yarn, and have a nice set to bring my sister in the hospital, or for one of the many other pregnant gals I know.

My mom think the pattern looks quite girly. I picked sage green to make it unisex, but hope it isn't too girly of a pattern. I don't know if my sister is having a girl or boy.

I just finished the baby sweater I was working on. I don't want to give it away! A bit of history....I bought the yarn before I was even pregnant, intending to make this hooded sweater for our baby down the road. I had made the sweater before and liked how it turned out, and the yarn is really nice. I started the sweater early in the pregnancy, and somehow it got set aside without the sleeves or buttons done. I went to pick it up near the end of the pregnancy, but just didn't get it done. The first one I made came out REALLY small, newborn size, so once our large baby girl was born, I figured this sweater wouldn't be any good for her even if I finished it off. I decided to finish it as a gift for my younger sister, who's due in June. Now that it's finished, it's bigger than I thought, and I love it so much I want to keep it! WAH!

My sister's birthday is today, but I don't know when I will see her, so i MAY have time to knit something else for her - the 5 hour baby sweater perhaps? I feel bad, but the truth is, she's getting all the baby stuff as hand-me-downs once Teagan outgrows it, so she'll end up with the sweater later....

Third blossom hat:

This one is going to a coworker today. The guy replacing me on my maternity leave had a baby girl about 3 weeks before I had Teagan. My girl's head is pretty big, so seeing as it fits her, it should be good for that other gal size-wize. I had to do some math to shrink the pattern....the "small" ended up about a 2 year old size. (I know because I gave the purple one with the white trim to a 2 year old and it fit well) The pattern called for 6 of those flowers around the hat, but I found them fiddly and just did one. I think it looks cuter on the front than the top though.

More blossom hats:

The second one(with the white) is actually smaller than the first by a bit, though you can't tell from the photo. I realized for the first one I used the wrong size needles, so I corrected that for the second, but it was still big for my daughter. No worries, it was destined for a 2 year old's birthday yesterday and she loved it! The larger one goes to a 4 year old for her birthday today. I started a third one, in a still smaller size (had to number crunch to shrink the pattern) for a little girl 2 or 3 weeks older than my daughter, who I will be seeing on Tuesday. I'd better get busy to finish it in time!

I do want to make one for Teagan eventually, but I may be sick of them by the time I finish the third one.

A completed project! I'm managing to find a few minutes to knit here and there, and here's what I have to show for it:


It was intended as a gift for a 2 month old, but as you can see from my 6 week old daughter (who has a very large head) modelling it, it is way too big:


Luckily I know of a young girl with a birthday coming up, and she happens to look good in purple. The hat is from the premier issue of Knit It, by the way.

I am a pretty fast knitter, so I have the potential to finish things very fast. That is, if I didn't have to re-knit about half of what I do! I get going and I forget to check the pattern, or I miss a mistake made early on, and end up ripping out what I've done. Sometimes this happens several times in one part of a pattern even! The baby sweater I'm working on has had the sleeve half knit twice already, it's taken until the third attempt to get it right. First time, not enough stitches picked up, the second time I forgot the decreases. I could be into the second sleeve by now if I'd been more careful, it's frustrating as this happens on most of my projects. I wonder how much ripping others have to do compared to me.........?

A couple photos of Teagan, since they contain a little knitting:

I made the purple booties in the first photo, and the fluffy hat in the second. Both are still a tad big opn her, but they matched her outfits so I couldn't resist putting them on.

I saw some acrylic yarn at Zellers today that I was so tempted to buy. It's Bernat Satin. It's really soft and smooth and comes in some pretty colours. I thought the veregated stuff would make neat baby hats or a baby sweater maybe. I talked myself out of buying it....I have SO little knitting time right now, and a few projects I really should get done first. Last night I need is one more WIP, I'll never finish anything. Maybe if I finish one of the 3 main WIPS I'll buy it as a reward.........

Still barely knitting. I finished a baby hat for a friend and sent it off, and finished another for someone else. I'm just working on matching booties now. I haven't knit much for Teagan really, I just don't have time! I also want to stamp up a bunch of thank you cards for the MANY great gifts we got but I have hardly started on that. Babies really cramp your crafting style! Seriously though, I love her to bits, and she's totally worth setting aside my crafts for.

I'm knitting a little, but not much. I'm working on a hat for a friend, and that is almost done. I have dozens of projects in mind, but I haven't started them, for fear I won't be able to finish them. I also need to work on some socks I gave my mother-in-law. They're too short, so I'm just going to unravel the toe, extend it a bit and reknit them.

I've been busy with my new baby girl, I haven't managed to knit a stitch. There hasn't been time, I can't knit while I nurse or sleep, plus I'm still suffering Carpal Tunnel from the pregnancy, so the numbness would make knitting hard. I did finish the pink outfit for her, so I should try to get a good photo of her in that.

Here she is, Teagan Andra, at about 9 days old:

(She's a big baby, born at 9lbs 14.5oz!)

No posts in a while, but I have been knitting some. I finished a baby sweater for my little girl, all except attaching the buttons, and a matching hat. I'm off to the hospital today to be induced, so I'll be able to try it on her soon!