I've succumbed.

I've signed up for a Wordpress blog. I'm going to try my best to make that work... For some reason my brain doesn't wrap around Wordpress's layout as well as it did to Blogger, but I have heard more good things about Wordpress than Blogger and have my own issues here in Blogger-land, so off I go. I'm not intending to shut this down anytime soon, but please do come to my new home and say hello!

My New Home

It is kinda cool that I was able to get the same name blog as I chose for my gmail account, Ravelry account, and other stuff, too. :-) What can I say, I get happy over the simple things in life. See you soon!

A couple of FOs

I finally finished my dad's scarf, but I can't really post pics here because he could stop by and the whole birthday surprise would be ruined. To make matters worse, his birthday isn't until November. Stay tuned--I'll post sometime this year, I promise! For those of you (you know, all 2 readers!!) who are part of Ravelry, stop by my projects page and take a look--there are several pics there. For the other person who reads this, I followed the One Row Handspun Scarf pattern as posted by the Yarn Harlot herself using some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted. I added a couple of stitches since my dad wanted a bit larger a scarf, and used up 2 hanks of the Lorna's. Size 8 Addis. Started it in late April--embarrassed to admit that!!

I also buckled down and finished a pair of socks using some Lion Brand Magic Stripes I've had in the stash for a loooooong time. I thought they'd knit up into some fun, funky colored socks that wear like iron, but instead they knit up into what I consider the FUGLIEST pair of socks I've ever encountered. They'll presumably still wear like iron, though. What can I say? They were cheap. And they used up stash yarn. Bonus!

Anyway, here is a pic of the socks for chuckles:


Take care and enjoy your Sunday!

An odd short note...

I am trying hard to reply to each commenter here because I really appreciate the compliments and traffic! I can't for the life of me figure out how to get an email address input so that when a comment is left for me I can actually reply directly back instead of hunting them like I would hunt wild game. Not that I hunt.... :-) I have been able to follow up on most comments through the blogger profile, but only to those of you who have email contacts listed on your profile or blog. If I haven't replied, it isn't because I don't want to or don't appreciate you--I just can't find you. So to speak.

I have searched the blogger help files and forums to no avail, so if anyone out there can help me, Man Oh Man would I ever appreciate it!!

Thanks and have a great day!

FO: Cabo Hoodie

I started this little hoodie 4 times before it finally worked as well as I could manage. I have no doubt this is due to my own ignorance when it comes to top-down knitting and nothing at all to do with the pattern!


The first attempt I misread the increase instruction and had to rip back to the beginning. The second attempt I realized that the neck opening was nowhere near large enough to fit over my son's ginormous head. I tried adjusting the opening on my third attempt--didn't work. So I ripped back again and voila! I have to say that I won't be making more top-down for this son since his head is so large. I prefer bottom-up for him. Go figure.

So here are the specs:

Pattern: Cabo Hoodie by Wendy Bernard of Knit & Tonic

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease in Ranch Red, almost exactly 2 balls for size 2

Needles: Size 8 Knit Picks options for 18 sts and 24 rows over 4"

Mods: I added addl stitches for the back section at cast on so it would fit over my son's head, then decreased them in the body section after the sleeve sts were put on waste yarn. I also did k2p2 ribbing instead of k1p1 and skipped the pocket since my not-quite-2-year-old would probably just rip it off while playing anyway. :-)

Started (the last time) June 18 and Finished June 21 early morning... I couldn't manage to stay up and finish the grafting last night!!

Explanation

Thanks for the comments on the baby sweater!!

Rachel, I did add the additional stitches for the sleeves... Here's how I did it:

When I got to the sleeve instruction, I placed the required number of stitches on a holder for the right front, then started working on the first sleeve stitches. I worked the sleeve sts (28) and at the end of this row I used the cable cast on to cast on 8 stitches. I turned the work and purled the 36 stitches, and again used the cable cast on for another 8 stitches. The next row I knit one stitch, worked the gull stitch pattern as specified on the 42 sts, then ended with a knit 1. I did this on every right side row--knitting the first and last stitch--until the sleeve was the right length, then I did the garter stitch cuff.

When the sleeve was done, I continued on the body sts to the next sleeve and did the same as for the first. When I was done with both sleeves, I purled across the row, picking up 14 stitches under each arm--knowing that the 8th stitch of each section would be lost at seaming. This left me with the required number of sts to complete the sweater.

Once everything was complete, I used the 8th stitch on each side of the sleeve to seam via mattress stitch. It's as perfect as I can get!! :-)

I hope this makes sense, but if it doesn't, email me at the address listed above and I'll try to do a better job of explaining!

February Practically Seamless Baby Sweater #2

I had to make another one. They're like the Baby Surprise Jacket and Lay's Potato Chips--you can't have just one!

Pattern: Baby Sweater on Two Needles; Practically Seamless from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac, February
Yarn: Elle Pure GOLD DK in Hazelnut #198, 100 g ball
Gauge: 5.75 stitches per inch
Needles: Size 5 Knit Picks Options circular
Started June 11 and Finished June 14 (would have been even faster if not for my sudden addiction to Ravelry!!)
Final measurements--I'm guessing this would fit a 6-12 month old??
Chest (buttoned): 10" flat, 20" circumference
Neck to bottom hem: 10.25"


Once you get past the initial "What the heck..." of the sleeve instruction, this is a super fast and fun little knit. I used exactly one ball of the yarn (100g = 220 yards) and had nothing but scraps leftover-maybe not even 1g!! Definitely the closest I've cut it on a project to date. This was a cheap knit, too. Even counting the buttons and sales tax, the total cost was less than $12! Can't beat that with a stick. I hope to be back soon with another post since I immediately cast on for the Cabo Hoodie by Wendy of Knit & Tonic for my younger son. :-)

Pictures and Details!

Shetland Triangle #2


Pattern found in Wrap Style, pattern written by Evelyn A. Clark
Yarn used: Knit Picks Andean Silk in Hollyberry, ~4.5 balls
Needles: Knit Picks Options size 10
Measurements: Pre-block 40 x 20" Post-block 62 x 28"
No modifications at all, (unless you consider needle size/yarn weight a mod) just knit exactly as written!
Started June 3, Finished June 9, 2007

********************


Child Placket-Neck Pullover
Pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson
Yarn used: Kraemer Yarns Little Lehigh in It's A Girl, ~1.5 balls
Needles: Size 7 Clover Bamboo 16" circular and dpns
Gauge: 21 stitches and 28 rows over 4" in stockinette
Size: 6-12 month
No modifications at all!
Started June 9, Finished June 11, 2007
(My apologies for the poor pic quality on this project. The color is light and the sun is BRIGHT so it was hard to capture.)

I HAVE been knitting

Whether or not you believe that is up to you!

Ravelry is definitely a time warp, but only in the good sense. I love searching for new people and projects and all that good stuff.

As for my knitting, I finished my second Shetland Triangle and am about half through a placket neck pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I just haven't taken any pictures. My kids started swim lessons yesterday and we had a little gathering at the neighbor's house Friday night. It's been a lot of kid stuff with most of the kids hanging in our yard. Don't get me wrong, I would prefer they gather here so I can keep an eye on them, even though (or maybe especially because??) they're so young. If you don't recall, my kids are 6.5, 3.5, and 20 months old. Our neighborhood kids range from 1 year to almost 8, so they're all still young and busy!!

Anyway, I'll try to get some pics later today or in the next couple days so you can SEE what I've done instead of imagining it.

I will leave you with this:


I don't think it requires much explanation, do you? :-) Notice they're both in tears?

I'm In!!! I'm In!!

I got me an invite to the much anticipated Ravelry yesterday!!! Needless to say, I did nothing in the way of knitting once the invite showed up.

What a cool set-up!! I love how it works. Every last bit of it. That is, every last bit that I've had the time to investigate. My silly kids don't seem to understand that mommy doesn't want to play Play-Doh now... Oh, no!! I want to play on Ravelry!! :-)

So anyway, I finally got out to Joann and bought some buttons for the little raglan cardigan I mentioned in a previous post and sewed those on today.


Pattern: Raglan Cardigan with Fully Fashioned Shaping as found in the Baby Knits for Beginners book by Debbie Bliss.

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Seaspray for body and Natural Heather for sleeves, less than a ball of each for the 6-9 month size

Gauge: 20 stitches and 24 rows over 4" on size 7 Addi Turbos

Started May 31, 2007 and Finished June 3, 2007.


Now back to playing on Ravelry!!!

So far behind...

I feel like there's no time to do the things I want and need to do. Go figure--it's summer! Well, almost.

Anyway, I have been knitting, but not much. I have finished and mailed off the Bounce Skirt as found for purchase at Knit & Tonic's blog. I used Little Lehigh for this one in Baby Powder (white) and It's a Girl (pink) on size 5 needles for gauge. It's the size 4 for my friend's 3+ year old in Arizona. I hope she likes it because it turned out bigger than anticipated and it will fit her for quite some time! I added a row of yarnovers instead of the called-for elastic because I fear new stitches in sewing!! And because I figured this little string would be cute with one of those little shoelace clampie things. I just couldn't find one in time for the photo op. :-) The string allows for more adjustability than elastic in my opinion.



Apologies for the poor photo. I was anxious to take the pic so I could mail it off.

I'm still working on other things... but nothing is really grabbing my attention. You know, when you JUST.CAN'T.WAIT.TO.CAST.ON. I don't have any of those right now which is really unusual for me. I do have a mini FO that I need buttons for, so I'll post that as soon as I can get the right buttons.