Knittypants

Red Sock

This is Kaelen's first sock. Knit in Cascade 220 very, very red. She has just gone downstairs to start working on her second one. She's also trying to decide on her next project, either a Baby Surprise Jacket (we could do a mom/daughter knitalong) or more socks. She also wants to knit herself a sweater. I think a gift certificate to Knitpicks is definitely in order for this girl. She might be getting an Options set for Christmas if this passion keeps up. You know this is exactly the kind of passion I want to be encouraging in my offspring :-)

I finished up my first endpaper mitt. Took way too long, I kept losing focus and playing on Ravelry instead. I want to have the second finished up much faster, but I am going to take a couple of days break before I start.

Also, I discovered I'm kind of between projects. I want a breather from the endpaper mitts, I'm going to pick up yarn for Grandpa's tea cozy, next week, and the Friday Harbor Socks and Flicca are still waiting for needles to arrive.

I don't want to start anything else right now so I picked up Anastasia and started working on her again. Maybe I will have an exclusive relationship with her all weekend and see how far I can get ;-)

Also, I want to show you my finished Central Park Hoodie and Cheesylove, but I need a willing photographer and preferably a sparkle of sunshine. Will try hard to have those up by next week. Plus, I have a zipper coming in the mail for Hudson. There will be a flurry of finished knits here very soon.

State of the Stash

I have dragged out every last ball and skein in preparation for entering it on Ravelry.

It's a little shocking having it staring hard at me every time I walk into my bedroom. A lotta yarn when it's not all hidden away. And a lot of sweaters in there, too. I'm not exactly sure how many, but a lot, like maybe 5 years of knitting a lot. Although, it's funny, there isn't anything suitable for Zephyrstyle's Tree Jacket.

I thought I would be overwhelmed seeing it all in one place, but actually it made my fingers twitchy, I really, really just wanted to dig in and start knitting, so excited over all the possibilities in that pile. I do get overwhelmed when I have to many projects on my needles, but not so much by the abundance of yarn, it's just too beautiful and holds so much promise.

I did make a goal for myself. I will not just buy a sweater's worth of yarn because it's on sale and I want it. I will buy a sweater's worth of yarn if the next pattern I want to make is a sweater and I don't have what I need in my stash.

Also, I think there will be another goal. I will knit up something from stash, then I can buy something new, knit something from stash, than buy something new, knit from stash, than buy new, and on and on. For a while anyway. And this only really applies to sweater yarn, the rest of my knitting stash does not seem to suffer from the same glut as my sweater stash.

Plus, just to let you know, my 3 older children are off to visit their grandparents on Sunday. For a week!!! I am going to go to yarn stores, I have been planning this all summer. I will most likely buy yarn. But I won't buy a sweater's worth of yarn. Except maybe for Simon, I kind of want to make him a Baby Surprise Jacket, so I might buy an itty bitty sweater's worth of yarn. Other than that, I just plan to sample a few small things that need to be seen in person to buy. That's the plan, I'll let you know how I do next week.

Also, I have a few more jumbled stash pictures on Flickr if you're interested.

But, look, I'm using up yarn, too. My Flicca yarn is here and I've got a swatch. I am deeply in love with Craftaholic's Flicca and while reading about how she made hers she mentioned she knit twisted ribbing. I decided to try it on my swatch and doesn't it look nice. My ribbing is normally kind of sloppy, this is much better.

Now, I'm trying to decide if I want to make this in one piece or not. The advantage, no bulky seams and no finishing. On the other hand it seems to go so much faster when I'm knitting in pieces and then I don't have this huge bulky thing on my lap that I have to wrestle to knit, plus, no aching wrists. But, I do tend to stall a bit on the actual finishing, when I knit in pieces. What do you guys think? Seams or not?

I have to wait for a needle before I can start, I swatched on my Brittany's but I would rather use metal for the tweed. And I want sharper points for the twisted rib so I ordered a set of Knitpicks Options. Hope they get here soon, I'm itching to start.

Here Fishy, Fishy

We took the kids to the aquarium over the weekend. Peter's Uncle came with us, and we had a great, if exhausting time. Sorry, David, all the pictures of you turned out terribly blurry :-(

Fiona set a record for being the most naughty child ever! Everytime we set her down she tried to take off, someone was always running after her and bringing her back. And then she had a temper tantrum or two for good measure.

She has redeemed herself in my eyes, though. Today she has used the potty twice and one was the stinky kind. I may have only one child in diapers pretty soon. I am giddy with joy.

Simon didn't think to much of the fish, he did like the camera though.

Peter with a firm grip on Fiona. Kaelen made him the hat, it's his favorite one, he wears it everywhere, even while sleeping. Now Kaelen is working on socks, she just bound off her first one today. I am going to have to put a lock on my stash.

Jarvis in front of the snakes. He wasn't to impressed, maybe if they were eating something alive he would have thought more of them.

Beautiful Kaelen. We were at the food court, she was happy.

And, yay, we saw the sloth! This was the first time any of us had found him and he was just hanging out in plain view eating his lunch.

There are a few more pictures on my Flickr account if you're interested. Even a rather bland one of me. I always want to delete my pictures, but I make myself leave a few if they aren't perfectly hideous. I'm sure one day I won't care what I looked like and it will be fun to go back and see old pictures of myself in my younger days :-)

 

Vintage Camisole

Do you remember this project? It's been quite a while.

The Vintage Camisole from Artisokka (this is a Ravelry link to the pattern, Artisokka's website seems to have disappeared for the time being).  I started this last spring and just about finished when I found out I was pregnant with Simon. Then I was too sick to finish. Finally, after Simon was born I weaved in the last few ends and blocked it. Then I was too chubby to wear it. Well, enough of the baby weight has come off, just in time for fall :-P Maybe, next summer I can wear it.

Here's a close up of the neckline, (please, ignore the wrinkle). The pretty crochet lace neckline intimidated me, but I love how it looks.

And here's a picture of the extra shaping I gave to fit my curvy hips. It turned out well, but next time I would like to experiment with darts for shaping.

All in all, I really like this top, it's flattering and it's a quick knit (if you don't throw a baby into the middle of knitting it).

Loved the yarn, too, Jo Sharp Soho Summer DK Cotton, color Cloudless. I would definitely use this yarn again, I've knitted the yarn up into two different tops and it still looks good as new, plus it's nice and soft and not too shiny. I don't prefer the really shiny cottons. So, the pattern and yarn get two thumbs up from me.

Oh, and my yarn for Flicca came. I am so excited, but I would like to have a few other things off the needles before I cast on. We will see how long I last.

WIP's on Thursday

What a very long day! I can't wait for the weekend to get here, I need an excuse to be lazy.

Very little knitting was accomplished this week, Ravelry got most of my attention. It feels so good to get all my knitting, nice and organized, but it does take a lot of time.

Anyways, these are a few of the different things I have cast on recently. Some have happy stories, but some have sad or ugly stories :-(

Let's start with the good.

My Endpaper Mitts. Yes, I know my tension is a little wonky, but I also know it looks a lot better than it did last time I knit stranded. And blocking works miracles doesn't it.

More good.

Another pair of toe-up socks. These are knit with the Online Supersocke Cotton I picked up over the summer. The stripes are nice and happy, the only part I dislike are the nasty black and white checks.

So they are getting snipped out. I know I will have to weave in more ends, but I think it's worth it for a sock that I will like.

I actually knit the heel on this sock, but unfortunately, I refused to listen to my inner knitter who's gentle voice was saying, "Wait, wait this socks not long enough, don't start that heel yet." I chose not to listen, knit the heel, tried on the sock, realized the sock was too short, and ripped the heel. Lesson learned, listen to the voice.

The Sad.

My Friday Harbor Socks. Aren't they beautiful.

But, they don't fit. I need to knit them on larger needles, but the needles were busy working on the Ugly. These socks will get another chance very soon. I am fascinated by this yarn, the color changing is mesmerizing.

The Ugly.

I saw this beautiful tea cozy over at HPNY Knits. I love it, and I have been asked to make a nice tea cozy for my Grandpa. I wanted an interesting knit and I thought this would be it.

Well, I have discovered something, I Strongly Dislike modular knitting. It's driving me crazy. But, the cozy is small and for someone I love very much so I determined to persevere.

You see, the whole time I knitting this I'm getting this uncomfortable familiar feeling, something just not sitting right. I'm not terribly fond of the colors together, but when I asked Peter he said they were fine. So, I kept knitting. Then I realized something.

About 5 years ago, I was knitting my first hat. This was before I really knew anything about knitting. I didn't know about the online knitting comunity. I didn't know what a LYS store was. I didn't even know you could buy yarn that wasn't from the craft store. Allmost all of my knitting was done with dishcloth cotton because that was the only natural fibre I could find, and besides I only knit dishcloths.

I had found a hat pattern that was seamed up the back and decided to give it a try. And, I used what I had on hand, blue and burgundy dishcloth cotton. That hat was the ugliest thing! And this tea cozy is the exact same colors as that hat. No wonder it felt familiar, but not quite right. And it's ugly! I finally said outloud "Oh, this thing is ugly!" And do you know what Peter said! He agreed with me! What a guy. I'm going to put this cozy out of it's misery and make my Grandpa a nice simple blue one. He's worth it.

Drumroll please...

And we have a winner! Nathania (who I don't believe has a blog) you have won two yummy skeins of Artyarns Ultramerino 4. Please email me your address and I will pop these in the mail for you.

And I have to laugh at myself. I misled you all into thinking this was my 2nd blogiversary contest. I didn't mean to, and it's another thing I will blame on mommy brain. My actual 2nd anniversary is near the end of October. So we will have to have a real 2nd blogiversary contest than :-)

Contest Closed

Ok, the contest is over now. I will be drawing a name from my hat shortly and will announce the winner. Talk to you soon.

Celebrating Fall

I am so much happier now that the weather is cooling off. I really don't like the heat that much, crisp fall weather is so refreshing. I know it's not quite fall yet, but with the kids going back to school, the leaves starting to turn and my needing an extra blanket at night, it feels like fall.

Anyways, I want to thank all of you who read my blog, the comments I get are always a delight. I have come a long way as a knitter in the almost two years since I've had this little blog and I know it's because of all the inspiration and encouragement that comes from my fellow bloggers. Without you guys, I would still be knitting dishcloths and not aspiring to anything higher. Thank you!

The yarn up top is a gift for one of you. Artyarns Ultramerino 4, color 123. I wanted to do a fancy, schmancy contest where I make you dig around for answers, but mommy brain demands I keep is simple. So, just say hello in the comments and I will add you to the hat. The contest closes at midnight on Sunday and I will figure out the winner after that.

Catching Up

This has been a busy week! We started our school on Monday and now we are trying to make it part of the routine. It was definitely easier today than Monday, but I'm hoping we can get a lot smoother. I need to figure out how to fit in all those other important things like cleaning and cooking.

One very bright note, for me, is that Jarvis is really enjoying himself with his kindergarten studies. I have been worried that he would hate it, since he's not really the bookish type, but so far he likes it. Fiona, too, she insists on sitting with us through evrything and taking part. Kaelen isn't as thrilled, but grade 5 isn't as shiny and new as kindergarten so I can't really blame her.

Simon is sporting a brand new tooth! He's also working on another one. Although, he's surprisingly unfussy for a teething baby he does not want to sleep through the night. He's taken to drinking to drown his sorrows and I'm his buddy. All night! I'm tired.

Last week I popped into my local Chapters and was browsing the magazines. I noticed the cutest little baby pulling herself up onto the bookshelves and thought she was such a sweetie. Than I noticed two more cute little girls near the baby and then I looked up and recognized a great haircut that belonged to fellow blogger Nomayne from My Kind of Getaway. I felt shy, but I went over and introduced myself (Using my blog name in conversation makes me realize how very silly it is). We had a nice chat and I have to say this was one of the most fun bloggy things that's ever happened to me. 

Since the Central Park Hoodie is blocking I went a little nuts and cast on for four new projects. They are all small ones and I'm pretty they won't take too long to finish up. The yarn up top is for one of them, Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts. I will take pictures and post the others soon.

 

I'm really liking Juliet by the Zephyrstyle girls. They always put out the cutest patterns. And, this free cardie pattern from Classic Elite is really sweet, too.

But, I have placed my order and yarn is making it's way to me now. Pretty soon you will see Flicca on my needles. To see some gorgeous finished Flicca's go here and here.

I've been on Ravelry for a little while, but just never had time to really play with it. Finally, I am getting to enjoy it, I'm trying to set some time aside each weekend and do a bit more. Anyways, I'm Knittypants on there so please be my friend :-)

Tomorrow we will be celebrating fall, there will be a contest with pretty yarn, come and visit.

Sheldon

Here is a finished Sheldon, or Kookamunga Head as this particular turtle is called. Three year olds pick the best names, don't you think. Kookamunga was very well received. The birthday girl's expression when she realized the shell came off was absolutedly priceless :-)

I made this with half a ball of Laines du Nord Baby Star and some leftover Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport for the shell.

I usually hate making toys, but this was a great project. I learned two new techniques, slip stitching and applied i-cord and the end result just turned out so well. I can see more of these cute little guys in my future.

Look, turtle underwear!

I've picked my buttons. My dear, sweet husband drove me into Vancouver so I could check out this shop called Button, Button. It was so exciting, almost as fun as a yarn shop, with all the beautiful buttons surrounding me. I had to pick quick, cause the kids were with us, but, I'm very pleased with my new buttons. And I am going to find a reason to go back soon without my darling children and browse to my heart's content. 

Also, here's another picture of the hood. I ripped back and added a shortrow to get the cable on the very front to line up and then I redid the grafting and am now much happier with how it looks. I will be blocking this soon, so be on the lookout for a finished object shortly.