Hot-headed

I started to make a hat shortly after we moved in to the apartment here on Liberty. For those of you keeping track, that would make it March. I finally finished that hat the other day. It looks very nice with the cable and lace scarf.

I'm not really a hat person.


It's the same pattern as the hat that Ryan stole shortly after we met. It's actually the same kind of yarn. According to him, it looks tighter than his. I think it might be because I have more hair.

Block for Me

My birthday present finally arrived in August. It is a bunch of squares that connect in numerous ways to block your knitting. There are 9 blocks that you can lay out however you want...3 by 3, 9 by 1, or anything in between. They have a napped side to help hold your knitted fabric in place and the other side is waterproof. They are smooshy so you can stick pins in them. They're heat resistant so you can steam block right on them. They're pretty much brilliant. They come in their own bag with a press cloth.

They work very nicely one at a time for little baby stuff. Here's the sleeves to the brown sweater (finally) blocked. Next...the two pieces for the front of the cardigan.


Now, I just need more pins so that I can block more pieces at the same time. I swear I had more, but of course I can't find them anywhere!

Mad Dash

This is the Churn Dash quilt that I started a little over three years ago. I don't know why I didn't finish it. This picture is the halfway point of the top of the quilt. I didn't have far to go. I had to put one more row together and sew these three.


I even have the parts to two more rows of blocks. There are enough strips here to make all but one of the blocks for the fourth and fifth rows. Already cut, pieced, and sewn into strips. Jeez!


I even had sashing ready to go between the rows. I'm really not sure what was holding me back.


I think it's because I like to make things rather than have the finished thing. Once I finish it, it becomes boring. You can't do much with a finished quilt.

Sock it to Me

Another thing I started months ago...really, before the wedding. I have two-thirds of a sock done.

I finally understand the physics of socks. It makes sense now. No problem. Turning the heel was pretty cool. Makes you feel smart.



I mostly like the nifty little thing that keeps my needles from getting broken. That's really smart. Especially at $25 a set...that are the size of toothpicks.


I'm going to finish this sock soon. Then, I'll make the second one. Brilliant!

Update: Daddy Pants

So, I never got back to the pants a couple weeks ago. I did yesterday, though. I got everything done except for the snaps. They kinda look like pants.


I decided to quit while I was ahead and figure out the best way to do the snaps. I decided to work on some other things...like the quilt I started 3 years ago.


At this point the look a little like they did before I cut them apart...totally blown out in a very inappropriate place.

UFOs

I am finally finishing things!

The Fair Isle sweater and the blanket are at school and are being worked on from time to time.

I cleaned out eh craft room and found all of the UFOs (un-finished objects) and have started working on them...it's impressive how fast things go when they're halfway done already.

Olliver

So, the bear finally has a face...and a name. He is Olliver...Ollie for short.

His nose is a little funny, but I've been told that it's ok. It's been established that it is highly unlikely that baby is ever going to say, "No, mommy, I don't want your stupid bear." So, I just need to get over my perfectionist streak and move on with my day.

Daddy Pants

Ryan has a pair of jeans that he really likes. I let him wear them for a while when they started to blow out, but there comes a point where there's no turning back.

This is that point.



He was really upset, since they're his favorite pants. He asked if I could fix them. Well, no. There's no pretty (by which I mean you can wear them in public) way to fix a hole like that.

Could I make something else out of them?

Why, yes. I could.


I decided to make some baby pants. The good, old-fashioned kind that snap in the crotch...the way God intended.

I had to play around with the pattern, but I got that worked out and proceeded to cut into the flesh, I mean fabric, of his favorite pair of jeans.


This morning, I got everything cut out and started to sew. I forgot about the part where babies suck out your brains and screwed up a couple of minor things before I decided it was a good time to do something else (around the time I sewed the front together wrong sides out). I'll get back to it maybe this afternoon.


The pattern also has a little button down shirt. Maybe I can get Ryan to retire that blue shirt that barely has a neckband left...

Unstuck

I got needles to make Baby Bobbi Bear. He's actually become Paddington (with his black ears). Yes, I realize that he needs a face. I'm working on it.


I also took the opportunity to buy the needle I need while I was ordering yarn for some of my kids. So, the Fair Isle sweater might get back on track.

And...I took the blanket to school. So, on the rare occasion of some down time (study hall), I can work on that.

Yippee!

I'm Stuck

For those of you who wonder...I haven't been working on anything.

I need a circular needle to do the body of the sweater and size 9 double points to make the bear.

I could be working on the blanket (which is now grey, blue, and red), but it's kinda warm for it and I hate weaving in ends.

One of these days, I'll get ambitious and make my way over to the knitting store to grab the needles I need so I can continue.

Really.

Fair Isle Baby

Now that I know what color to make it...baby is getting the cute Fair Isle sweater from the Debbie Bliss book.


I was hoping to be making it in pink or purple, but since Blueberry would look pretty silly in a purple sweater I guess it will have to be these instead.



The main part of the sweater will be dark blue and the pattern on the yoke will have the light blue, red, and white.

Here's the first sleeve.


I have to see if I can find a size 5 circular to work on the rest. It's pretty hard to get 125 stitches on a 12 inch straight needle. So, until then I'm stuck. I might have to go back to the socks.

Man Enough

I have been given the green light to make a stripe-y baby blanket with the following yarn.


It's one of my favorites...Berroco's Ultra Alpaca. Apparently it's manly enough for little Mr. Blueberry.

I'm still looking for the right pattern or at least some inspiration for one.

Baby Bobbi Bear

I am beginning a knitting spree. Knitting for babies makes this easy.

I just ordered the pattern for Baby Bobbi Bear from Blue Sky Alpacas. I'd put a picture of him here, but they're hard to come by. The picture on the site uses Flash so you can zoom in!

I'm making him in a different yarn, but it's still fantastic, soft baby alpaca. It's KnitPicks Andean Treasure in Granite Heather. I think he'll be pretty cute. I should get everything this week! Can't wait.

Sweater-ish

While I could have easily finished baby sweater in a weekend if I had nothing better to do...I do, in fact, have better things to do. So, I have sweater pieces waiting to blocked and then sewn together and finished.

The back...



The two pieces for the front.

The sleeves.

Not half bad considering the amount of actual time I spent. I have to learn a new cast off in order to finish it, but that's no problem.

I'm half waiting for my requested birthday present in order to finish.

Knitting for Babies

Why did I ever do anything else?

Knitting baby sweaters is fantastic. I finished a sleeve today. A whole sleeve. In less than a day. If this had been a weekend I could have done two and started the back.


I started the second sleeve when I got home. Took maybe ten minutes to get this far.


This is what it will look like when it's finished.


Well, sort of. It will look like that but it will all be dark chocolate brown. Mainly because even though I like to give Ryan a hard time about it being a girl, we still don't know that for sure. So I have to go neutral.

There's a little Fair Isle cardi in the same book. When we know what Blueberry is, I'll make that in the appropriate colorway.

Too Many Books?

These pictures were actually taken before I obtained a few more books. I have a couple books. The overwhelming majority of the books on this shelf are craft books. In the very bottom right hand corner is a large plastic case full of crayons. I like crayons

You'll also notice to the left of the shelf (which is located very close to the front door) part of my home security system. See it? It may have hit a baseball once or twice...it's hard to say.

This shelf is so close to the door, that it's where Gracie stands when she wants to say hello or goodbye if you're at the front door. It's cute until she knocks stuff over.


This shelf consists mostly of cookbooks. I LOVE cookbooks. I have somewhere around 80 or 90 in all. I think. Ryan likes the fact that I have a cookbook that is just called "Chocolate."


It's as we pack things up to move that I realize there's an awful lot of books. These pictures don't even show the other shelf or any of the books that don't fit on the shelves...or Ryan's stray books (which seem to multiply like rabbits). Most of the boxes I have packed and labeled say "books and.." something else. They're all half full of books. Even the boxes that don't say books have books in them, I think.

Cooking Light

Aaaahhh. The things we do for love.

Ryan tries to eat healthy, so I have started cooking a little healthier.

We had this beautiful Cobb salad last night. It was great. Turkey bacon...I actually used the turkey bacon. It's okay when it's in stuff.


I have actually purchased two Weight Watcher's cookbooks and Katy and Sean provided a Christmas subscription to Cooking Light. I'm doing what I can. I made turkey meatballs and I've even cooked some salmon. Broiled chicken. Steamed vegetables. Couscous. Rice. Low fat cheese.

What happened?

Harry Potter and the Scarf of Doom

I knit a few more rows of the horrible Harry Potter scarf. I hate that scarf. It is the very bane of my existence. I still have 2 balls of red yarn to go. It's very long. It has to be, because it's very wide. I don't know if I'll ever finish it.

It's become famous. The kids make comments all the time about it.

"Are you ever going to finish that?"

Eventually. That or I'll donate it to poor bungee jumpers. It's nearly long enough now.