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!

Finally finished a project that had been tossed aside in disgust months ago. I was using Patons Pixie Yarn in Gelati, which is a lot like Sirdar Snowflake, only cheaper. This yarn knits up into the softest, fluffiest fabric you can imagine, perfect for baby projects, but is a NIGHTMARE to unravel. I found a dropped stitch in one sleeve after casting off, and I SHOULD have just mended it, but I tried to unravel. After hours of pain, I tossed it aside and forgot about it. I pulled it out last night and managed to fix it, plus make a matching hat! I used this pattern:

http://www.thinkingknitter.com/BabyPatt.htm And here is the finished result:

I think it would make a great gift (once I add the buttons) but after all the work I think I might keep it. I don't think I will want to work with Pixie yarn again, and it's so soft so I might just keep this set.

Here are before and after shots of my fuzzy feet:


They fit my feet very well, though you can see the cuffs didn't felt at all. I used a different wool for the cuffs, and I guess it just doesn't felt up like the other stuff. The green colour is courtesy of koolaid dying before I knit them up. I need to add some puff paint for traction on the bottom, and these will do nicely for me to wear in the hospital.

I also made some broadripple BABY socks with the leftover cascade yarn to match my socks. Now mom and babe can match!


And finally, a pair of baby ballet slippers from a Debbie Bliss book. These don't look practical, but they sure are cute.

I finished knitting up my fuzzy feet, and I will hopefully felt them this weekend. I'm still working on the second pair of broadripple socks, after MANY repeat trys the colour is still pooling funny, so I just ignored it and it's not that bad actually. I wish I hadn't wasted so much time reknitting now! I did see this colourway has only 3 colours while the one I used the first time has 4, that might account for a lot of the colour pooling.

I am not getting as much knitting as I expected done. I'm trying to lie on the couch with my feet up to help with swelling and blood pressure in pregnancy, and it's not the best position for knitting. Still, I'm getting some done - hopefully the socks will be done for mom's birthday on sunday!

I started on a pair of Fuzzy Feet fr myself last night. I died most of the wool green and left a little cream for the cuffs. I got some cute dog slippers for christmas, but they don't fit and I need something to wear in the hospital, so I figured I should make some. It's fun knitting on great big needles for a change, instead of the 3mm for socks!

I'm still working on the broadripple socks for my mom. The colour pooled funny when I started knitting up from the heel though, so I ripped a bit to try again.

I've actually been knitting quite a bit, but haven't had a chance to snap phots to share. I made a blue baby hat and mitts set, purple sandal baby booties, broadripple baby socks to match the ones I made myself, and started a hooded baby sweater in microspun. Yesterday I bought more cascade fixation, I'm planning to make a pair of Broadripple socks for my mom next.

Broadripple Socks are done! These worked up pretty fast, though I have had a lot of knitting time lately. They are SO comfy, and fit me perfectly. The pattern said they'd come out a women's medium, but I have large feet and they fit me well. I think I was nervous about stretching the yarn as I knit so I did them kind of loosely. Here's a photo of my finished socks:
I have enough yarn left over to make a pair of baby socks, if not two. Matching mom and baby socks - how cute would that be? I might try and make them match the pattern a bit too if I can....

I think I might make a pair for my mom for her birthday, if I can find more veregated fixation yarn. The main yarn shop near me didn't seem to have 2 balls of any of the other veregated shades. I'm hoping to head out to where there are two more shops on monday, maybe one of them carry it.....

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.