Feelin' Better

I'm finally starting to feel normal again. I still sound horrible but most of the aches and pains are gone and I can kinda sorta breath again. Ah, the wonderful powers of NyQuil. I slept like a ton of bricks. I'm still pretty tired but I'm sure that will fade as time passes.

I have a lot to report since my last post. This is going to be a long post with lots of pics.

I received the books I ordered from Overstock.

Spin It, Spinning in the Old Way, and Knitting Without Tears.

I also ordered some samples from Zen Yarn Garden.

For $5 I received 5 different sock yarn samples. Since I bought the samples I'll get $5 off my next order. I'll be ordering from them soon their yarns are really nice.

I'm reworking Kaity's mittens.

She's says they aren't keeping her hands warm enough so I'm knitting another mitten attached to the other mitten using some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport sock yarn. I wasn't sure how well this was going to work but it turned out great. I've finished one and am about halfway through the second mitten. I'll post better pics when they are finished.

Shawn has a new hat.

He got a new jacket the other day so he needed a new matching hat...his logic, not mine but I didn't argue. He likes the hats I make him, I'm not going to complain. I used the Lucky 7 Hat pattern. The ribbing makes this hat very stretchy so it fit his fat head perfectly. I used some Lambs Pride worsted from my stash. I'll get some pics if of Shawn wearing it later.

I finished Bree's legwarmies.

I knit them both at the same time using  leftover Opal 6-ply sock yarn.

I think she likes them. They'll keep her legs warm even when her pants ride up her legs.

I started another hat for Kaity.

I'm using Tiennie's Norwegian Star Earflap Hat (pdf link). I left off the earflaps and just cast on the stitches stated in the pattern and worked 5 rows of K2, P2 ribbing. I'm also going to knit another plain stockinette stitch hat to fit inside this one for extra warm. Since I'm knitting a hat to fit inside, I'm floating the yarn instead of weaving it. The other hat will keep the floats from being snagged. This is my first colorwork pattern.

Anyone else notice that everyone in my household has a knit hat except me? Sheeesh! I think the next hat I cast on is going to be for me. Now I need to decide on a pattern.

Half Alive

We interrupt this blog for some whining and complaining. I had a lovely post planned out with all sorts of little goodies and an update on what I've been knitting on. You are all going to have to wait.

I've come down with Bree's cold and this time it's really knocking me for a loop. My head hurts, my nose is plugged, I can't stop coughing and my throat hurts so bad it's making my jaw and ears hurt. Death is sounding good right now. To top it all off I have to get sick during a time when Shawn can't come home to help me out. Yesterday he had a meeting in the afternoon and today he has training all morning and he has class tonight. Shoot me please.

Whining over with. I'll post when I'm feeling better. I didn't want anyone to worry if they didn't hear from me over the next few days.

Oh look, cute baby!

Thinking Dress - Done!

I finally finished Bree's Thinking Dress.

Front of Dress

Back of Dress

Close up of Button

Would you believe she was sick when I took this pic?

Bree lookin' cute in her dress. She's happy, I'm happy!

All in all, I really liked this pattern. Next time I'll work this in the round till I get to the underarms. Working it in the round might also keep the stockinette back from being so monotonous. Since the cables are worked on the right side the only thing I'll need to rework is the stitches on each side of the cables. I think Cottontots would work well. I think I have enough Knit Picks Shine worsted too. It takes less then 400 yards of worsted weight cotton for all sizes.

I was extremely excited to find out that Cascade is going to be putting out hand dyed yarn in their Superwash yarn.....Squeeee! I emailed Yarn Country and they said they will be carrying it and should have it in some time in Feb or March. Yarn Country is my favorite place to buy Cascade yarns. They carry pretty much every color of Cascade 220 at a great price.

Last night I noticed that Knit Picks now has 40" and 47" cables in the Classic Fixed Circs. I'll be buying a few of those for Magic Looping two socks at a time. The 32" cables are just to short for two socks, IMO. Shawn's getting a new iPod so I'm ordering some stuff from Knit Picks. I think it's a fair trade.

Well I'm off to see the wizard get Bree up from her nap. She's up there bouncing in her crib right now. She's starting to get over her head cold and has more energy now.

Updates

The weather here is crazy. We've been freezing our rear ends and now the forecast is predicting that its suppose to be in the 40s (Fahrenheit) then after Sunday its suppose to drop waaaaay below freezing again. Between Sat and Sun our snow should be gone.

I finished Bree's baby monkey socks.



I used some leftover Dream in Color Smooshy. These were a fun and quick knit. There are several versions of the baby monkey sock pattern out there. I used this one.

I finished the back of Bree's Thinking Dress.



This will look a lot better in the next pic I take. I need to block it today so I can finish the edging and seam it all together. What fun I shall have!

Kaity's Monkey socks are coming along nicely.



Bree's legwarmies are at about 4 inches. 2 inches to go before starting the ribbing again.



I finally decided on a sweater pattern to use for my sweater. I'm going with Twist....provided I can get gauge.



Here's the swatch that I made last night, taking a swim in some Soak. The swatch has finished it's bath and is currently pinned out to dry. Yes, I made a real swatch. Thought I was never going to finish too! Stockinette can get real boring and I swatched with two different needle sizes. Thankfully this sweater is full of little cables which should keep me plenty happy.

Time to stop goofing off and get some housework done. I think I'll save Laundry Mountain for tomorrows fun.

New Socks

I actually had to open up my last post to see what I had posted about. I couldn't for the life of me remember. The weather here has been wicked cold....perfect knitting weather. Seriously, the other night when I went to bed it was -24 F outside....brrrrrrrrr! It's warmed up to a whole 3 degrees so far and with the lovely weather forecast of more snow and with the wind we have that means blowing snow. At least I get to stay indoors today.

Now on to the knitting I've been working on.

I started some legwarmies for Bree.



I'm using the Opal 6-ply leftover from the girls socks. I'm knitting them both at the same time to ensure they're the same length.

I finished my simple socks.



They are soft and comfy. I'm curious to see how well they wear since they are 100% Merino.

I started another pair of socks for me.



These are Marie Antoinette by KnitSpot. Anne is a pure knitting genius. These socks are awesome. The pattern is complex but not so much that it makes me want to rip my hair out. I started these Sunday evening and I haven't been able to put them down.
I did start them on double pointed needles but have now swapped over to my 32" circular needle since the gusset decreases are complete. I couldn't take knitting with the DPNs anymore.

Shawn was gracious enough to sit still so I could get a pic of him in his new hat.



He stated the other day that he will be more then happy to accept more hats. Apparently the hat kept his head plenty warm.

I also worked a few rows on the back half of Bree's dress but didn't think it warranted a pic. That would be a rather boring picture.

Well I'm off to do some cleaning so I can have my afternoon free to knit.

New Socks

I actually had to open up my last post to see what I had posted about. I couldn't for the life of me remember. The weather here has been wicked cold....perfect knitting weather. Seriously, the other night when I went to bed it was -24 F outside....brrrrrrrrr! It's warmed up to a whole 3 degrees so far and with the lovely weather forecast of more snow and with the wind we have that means blowing snow. At least I get to stay indoors today.

Now on to the knitting I've been working on.

I started some legwarmies for Bree.



I'm using the Opal 6-ply leftover from the girls socks. I'm knitting them both at the same time to ensure they're the same length.

I finished my simple socks.



They are soft and comfy. I'm curious to see how well they wear since they are 100% Merino.

I started another pair of socks for me.



These are Marie Antoinette by KnitSpot. Anne is a pure knitting genius. These socks are awesome. The pattern is complex but not so much that it makes me want to rip my hair out. I started these Sunday evening and I haven't been able to put them down.
I did start them on double pointed needles but have now swapped over to my 32" circular needle since the gusset decreases are complete. I couldn't take knitting with the DPNs anymore.

Shawn was gracious enough to sit still so I could get a pic of him in his new hat.



He stated the other day that he will be more then happy to accept more hats. Apparently the hat kept his head plenty warm.

I also worked a few rows on the back half of Bree's dress but didn't think it warranted a pic. That would be a rather boring picture.

Well I'm off to do some cleaning so I can have my afternoon free to knit.

Almost Normal Again

Things are finally getting back to normal around here. Kaity is feeling better and after a nap and a good nights sleep I'm feeling more alive then dead. I have a few things to share with with everyone. I just looked out the window and it's snowing again.

Bree's Thinking Dress:



Here's a close up shot of the cables.



This dress is amazingly simple in design. I'm going to make more of these for Bree this summer. Since this uses less then 400 yards of yarn I can try some other brands of yarn without breaking the bank. The front half of the dress is completed now. I finished the other night while Kaity was sick. I've cast on for the back of the dress but only made it about 20 rows in before I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. The back is stockinette stitch so those 110 rows are going to be kinda boring.

I received some yarn in the mail yesterday.



I won this off eBay. It's by KimiK. It's superwash BFL sock yarn, 520 yards. The yarn is a really nice mix of reds, oranges, yellow with a hint of pink. It's much nicer in person. I can never photograph reds very well. Red sends my camera into fits of craziness.

My mom knit Bree a sweater.



It's super cute and Bree loves it....can't ya tell! It's made with some NoBo yarn that has little nubs of colorful yarn and it's really soft & fuzzy. NoBo was Wal*Mart's brand of yarn. They had their own brand for awhile but they stopped carrying it for some reason or another. It's been "Bree Approved". She's been rubbing it all day. You wouldn't figure that a sweater this light and fluffy would be so warm but it is.

For now I'm going to focus on finishing up the socks I've been working on, Bree's dress, and a pair of leg warmers for Bree. Her pants rid up when we carry her which exposes her little legs to the cold.

Long Night

Kaity woke up around 10:30pm sick to her stomach so I'm up for the whole night. Poor kid! I hate having to stay up all night but on the bright side I always get a lot of knitting done....nothing better to do in between Kaity's naps. I'm sure I'll have a nice WIP update in a day or two since it's already 1:40am and I am almost finished with the front half of Bree's Thinking Dress....what wonderful cabley goodness!

I received my package from TLE.



I bought one skein of Wollmeise, color Lowenzahn. The base yarn feels different then any other superwash merino I've felt. The colors are gorgeous, yummy greens with hints of yellow. I can't wait to find the perfect pattern for this yarn!

The fiber is 4oz of BFL dyed by Sakina Needles, color Callow Lily. I'm collecting fiber but haven't quite figured out how to spin. Not that I'm worried about figuring it out. I'm determined, I'll figure it out.

I also bought a cute little heart tape measure for my knitting bag. I'm hoping for a coffee mug when they are in stock again and I read tonight in the Loopy Groupie Ravelry discussion board that Sheri and the rest of the TLE gang are putting the stuff together for t-shirts. I may be suckered tempted into buying one.

This whole package makes staying up all night easier to take. For a pick me up I can always go into the stash room and pet my new yarn and fiber.

Sock Kick

I think I'm going through a sock phase right now. All I've wanted to knit is socks, socks, and more socks.

I finished the first Monkey sock for Kaity.



It fits perfect though I had to do a little tweaking to get the sock to fit her right. I cast on the 64 sts like the pattern says. I'm knitting with a thin yarn and smaller needs so the 64 sts works out great for the leg. I ended up decreasing 6 stitches before starting the heel flap. If I wouldn't have done this the sock would have been too floppy on Kaity's feet.

Here's the progress on sock #2 of my Simple Socks.



I've started the gusset decreases since this photo and almost have them completed. I doubt these will take long to finish.

I'll probably work on my sock this afternoon and maybe get back to knitting on Bree's Thinking Dress.

New Updates

I've been busy since my last post...not that's new news to you all. I did finally score a skein of Wollmeise in TLE's update last night. I also bought some BFL roving, and a tape measure for my knitting bag. The Wollmeise sold out in like 30 minutes. I think that may be the fastest selling yarn at TLE.

Now on to updates, I know you all want to see them.

I made really good progress on my simple socks.



I really like this yarn and at a later time I'll probably order more from her Etsy store. The colors are gorgeous.

Next up, Zeus' new toy.



Toy poodle + small sharp teeth = quickly killed stuffed toys. I knit this in about an hour. It's just a simple little football shaped toy made with some leftover acrylic, stuffed with fiberfill and a squeaker. When Zeus kills his toys I pull the little squeaky things out of them to save for a new homemade toy. He loves the stupid toy and hasn't stopped playing with it since I gave it too him.

I'm making Bree a pair of socks.



These are the baby monkey socks.



Everyone, all together now "aaaaah". These socks are so cute. I'm using some leftover DIC Smooshy.

I'm also making Kaity a pair of Monkey Socks.



I'm using the original Knitty pattern but I'm using thinner yarn on size 1 needles so the smaller gauge has given me the small sock I needed for Kaity's foot. The yarn is TOFUtsies, color #729.

I received a few new books in the mail.



They all seem to be good books. Baby Knits is the one I like the best. It's full of cute knits for little ones. There are several patterns out of Scottish Highland Knits I want to make. I bought Knitting New Scarves because I figured some of the patterns in there would be something that Kaity would love. There's only one or two scarves in the book I'd actually knit for myself.

That's it for now. Time to go get the little monkey out of bed. I can hear her up there bouncing around in her crib.

I'm Back

I can't believe it's been five days since my last post. In the last post was about some socks in progress. Well, I've finished both pairs of socks and have moved on to some other stuff.

I finished up the Garter Rib socks yesterday.



This is the best pic I could get. For some reason these socks just do not want to be photographed. The pattern, garter rib socks from Sensational Knitted Socks, was easy and kept things interesting enough that the socks went quickly.

Kaity's ankle socks



I finished these up the other day. They are a simple ankle pattern generated using Sock Wizard for Mac. I used the leftover pink Cascade 220. I still have about 35 grams of the Cascade left. I rolled it into a ball and put it up. I'm tired of working with the pink yarn. I'm going to start having nightmares about pink Cascade 220.

I started and finished a dishcloth.



This was a fun pattern to knit. It's the Petal Dishcloth pattern. I read about it on NH knitting Mama's blog and thought it looked like a fun pattern. If you don't mind weaving in a lot of ends, swapping colors is pretty cool.

Shawn has a hat now!

I finished this one for him the other night. It's the Seaman's Cap pattern. Now if only the weather would get cold enough for him to wear it. I used Valley Yarns Northampton. I really enjoyed working with this yarn. It has a nice feel and you can't beat the price either. I think this is the yarn I'm going to buy for Shawn's sweater.

I started a new pair of socks for myself yesterday.

I'm making a pair of very simple socks using some yarn that I tried to make my first pair of socks with. The sock came out too big and I ripped it out....this was of course after getting over halfway through the first sock. The yarn has been lingering in my stash since then. You can see the old sock here. The yarn is Handspun and Dyed Too merino sock yarn, color Temptation.

I started a new dress for Bree.

I'm using the Thinking Dress pattern from Miss Bea's Rainy Day. It isn't very far because I haven't been feeling well these last two days. Body aches and a sore throat are keeping me from concentrating. Plus I now need to knit from the chart and I can't see it because it's so tiny. Shawn scanned it in and is going to enlarge it for me so I can follow along easier. Tiny charts make my eyes cross.

I'm finished with the updates. I promise to post a little more frequently. Things have been busy here this week. I actually had a post planned for yesterday but I was feeling so miserable that I decided to wait.

Things are quiet here right now. Kaity and Shawn are over on the other side of base selling Girl Scout cookies because someone has already hit every house in our area. Poor kid looked so bummed when they came back to get the car. The goal she set for herself is 150 boxes but I doubt she will come anywhere close to that.

I'm off to enjoy some quiet before they get back.

Sock Progress

I have a little sock progress to report. I've been working on my socks and I started a new pair for Kaity using the leftover Cascade 220.

Here's my socks.



They're coming along great. I have 11 more pattern repeats before starting the toe. Since there's only 2 rounds in a pattern repeat it should take very long before these are complete.

Here's the socks I started for Kaity.



I started these last night watching CSI: Miami with Shawn. I'm using the last of 3 hanks of pink Cascade 220. Those three hanks have made Kaity's Palindrome Hat, Bree's Toasty Topper, Bree's mittens, and now I'm finishing it off by making Kaity a pair of ankle socks. I generated this pattern using Sock Wizard for Mac. I'm knitting these socks two at the same time using Magic Loop.

The cast on threw me off for a few minutes. Here's the one that helped me out. I also had to search for help on picking up the stitches for the gusset. I didn't work it exactly the same as the tutorial(pdf link) but it gave me the guidance I needed. I just noticed that Kenny has tutorial pages for knitting two socks on one needle on his blog in the sidebar. I'm an idiot for not looking there first.

Itty Bitty FOs

With all the wind and cold here I made a hat and almost mittens for Bree. Not that you would realize it's winter here after the last few days it's been in the 40s and 50's but never fear winters coming back this weekend. Crazy weather. I'm going to apologize for the craptastic pictures in advance. It's windy out today.

Here's the mittens.



I used this pattern as a guide but didn't follow it to a T.

And the hat.



I used the Toasty Topper pattern from the Winter 07 issue of Knitty. I think I may have messed up a little on the short rows but the hat is wearable and there isn't any holes. I need to hunt for better resources. The mittens and hat were knit using Cascade 220 wool. 

Here's a shot of the lucky recipient.



This hat is not coming off. It fits snuggly, plus throw on those mittens and she can't smack it off her head. Ha, score one for me: Bree 0, Mommy 1!

Bree had to get her second flu shot today. Last year things were messed up and she never received a second shot so this year we had to split the flu shot up again. Next year she'll get one shot. She's not really fussy but she refused to take a nap which is going to me a mega crabby child later this evening.

Tonight I think I'll work on my other Garter Rib sock and possibly cast on for Shawn's hat.