Knittypants

Whitbys

You know camping with many small children and finishing a pair of socks really don't go together. Sit down knit half a row, get up and tie the 5 yr olds shoes, sit down and knit 6 stitches, get up and take off the 3 yr olds shoes, sit down and pick up knitting, get up and give the baby a cracker, walk back to seat, turn around and find matches for husband, ect.

Then on the way home the van caught on fire! I managed to finally finish the sock and weave in the ends while waiting for a tow truck. Crazy.

The pattern is Whitby from Knitting On The Road by Nancy Bush. The yarn is Louet Gems Sport Weight, Teal. Exactly one skein.

I found it really hard to get into a rhythm with these socks, they weren't hard, but I just never really got into the zone with them. I do love the yarn though, most excellent woolly goodness.

I really meant it about exactly one skein, see my pathetic amount of leftovers.  Although, I'm very happy not to have broken into another skein, don't you hate needing only an extra 16 inches for a project. It drives me crazy.

A Favorite Blankie

Do you remember last year when I knit this blanket for Simon? (Scroll down a bit to see) I was a little disapointed with how it turned out. I had thought I should have knit something fancier for the new baby.

Never would I have  thought it would become his favorite. But, now he doesn't go to sleep without it. When I lay him down in his crib he crawls right over to his blanket and falls face down on it to go to sleep. He likes to bunch it up around his head where he can feel it on his face and touch it in his hands.

I used Blue Sky Cotton and after a year, it's an awful pilly mess, ugly to look at, but still heavenly soft and lovely to touch.

It amazes me how small children can choose one specific item out of all the different toys surrounding them to love above all others. And then it amazes me even more to see the comfort and security they receive back from such a simple item.

Anyways, we are taking our small tribe camping this weekend. I'm going to bring a pile of knitting, but I don't really expect to get much done, most of my time will be spent chasing small children and feeding them!

Should be lots of fun :-)

New Scarf

I'm trying to knit through all my bulky yarns this year. They take up so much room in the stash, and even though when I buy them I think I will have no problem using them up, actually I find it really tricky to find patterns I like in bulkier yarns. Here is a scarf I knit up in 2 days way back in January, and then let sit till spring because I didn't want to knit in the ends.

This is the HandMaiden Texture2 Scarf. I first saw this kit knit up by the Yarn Harlot and then I wanted my own so very badly. The yarn comes with two scarf patterns, I tried one, but couldn't figure out the vague instructions so  I tried the other pattern and had the same problem. Well really how hard is it to knit a simple scarf so I just went with garter stitch.

But, really I don't like it to much, it just looks too sloppy for me. Kaelen says it's the ugliest thing she's ever seen, so no hope of passing it down to her. I will have to figure out what Fiona thinks of it I guess :-(

I did get the Spring Rowan recently, not much caught my eye, but isn't this pretty. Looks so sweet and delicate.

And I like this one, too.

Now I want to get my hands on the Spring Vogue, there are some really pretty patterns in the preview.

I love all the white lacy knits.

Wee Ones

This song has been stuck in Jarvis's and my head for the last few days. I can't seem to get it out, and whenever I do forget about it, Jarv starts singing it and then it's looping through my brain again.

I've been making little dolls with Kaelen. We're using this book, and these are some very simple pocket dolls that we made up one afternoon.

One for Fiona. This little one has since moved into a shoe, and is tucked in lovingly every night.

One for Jarvis. I think this one is my favorite.

And Kaelen, made this one for Simon.

Yum, yum, yum. Simon thinks he is very tasty and likes to pop dolly's head into his mouth and crawl around the room growling!

Hello

Let me share with you some of my sweetie pie's grossness. He likes homemade chocolate pudding.

He also likes to feed himself, insists actually. Can you tell?

Scrubbing down the boy has become a 15 minute chore after each meal time.

This is what he thinks of being scrubbed down :(

So, this may have to become a joint knitting blog. Kaelen is getting passionate about her sticks and string. These little guys will become a patchwork doll blanket, she also has a sock for Fiona on the go, and we just need to find buttons for Simon's sweater. Hmmm... at the rate I'm knitting, maybe she's just planning on taking over the blog.

I do have some things I'm working on, or at least planning to work on. Here we have a ball of Jaeger Natural Fleece to represent Urchin, and a swatch of Rowan Big Wool to represent that Drops Jacket everyone else has knit. Yes, these are my spring projects, yes, I realize knitting heavy wool items at this time doesn't make perfect sense. I'm knitting them anyway.

Whitby Sock with Louet Gems Sport. I love this yarn, I really, really do. I've heard other people confess their love for this yarn, but never really got it. I understand now. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.

Look, half of my children holding still in the same picture. It's a freaking miracle. Granted they are zombified by the great big box with flashing pictures in my living room. But, still, I've captured a memory.