As promised....

Knitting content. These be the latest shorties for the wee one. I did a different set up this time. I've been more willing to try out different options lately and I'm really glad I have been. I'm not so set in what works for me anymore and I'm enjoying what I'm getting.
Specs:
Cascade 220 in black for the trim annd Mosaic Moon Organic Wool in Sunny Days. Both were stash yarn and both were already used at some point. The last time I used the Mosaic Moon yarn was for a pair of newborn longies. It continues to amaze me how changing the size of a garment can change the look of the yarn. I'm really glad I picked the black for the trim. Last time I used red and it seemed to wash it out a bit. I like this look much more.
Size small with the backside increases an extended short rows. This was the first time doing this. I like it!
1x1 ribbing and a rolled cuff (though not as long as the pattern suggests).
Extra increases in the gusset for the crotch.

I have wondered how to get the crotch just so. All the pictures I have ever seen you can tell there is a crotch with gussets on them. Mine were hard to see. I tried getting tricky and pulling it forward for pictures but it just wasn't there. I think it was partially due to the fact that I never swatch and don't always use the right yarn. :D This time (just like on my last pair) I added extra increases. I think the number of stitches on this pair are the same for the size large (can't quite remember). I also moved my increase over. I changed it to the 2nd stitch and the 2nd to last. I think I get a much cleaner looking crotch.

On that note: Where else can one talk so much about non-holey, pretty crotches without blushing or being told to not talk dirty? :D

Spin me right round baby, right round...

I do have a knitting fo to show but only one picture made it off the camera for some reason so while I wait for the others I'll share something else!

I've been dying yarn (and it looks just like roving I dyed and then spun up...shockingly so) and spinning. Well not a ton of spinning. I finished up a very small single (maybe an ounce) a little bit ago and put it away. I used some up to make a small bag and liked it enough as a single that I decided to spin more up and keep it a 1 ply (more up meaning the rest of this ginormous 10 ounce ball I've been working on forever now).

A post was made a little bit ago on a board I frequent about youtube and spinning. It never dawned on me to watch spinning videos! I headed over there and watched a few. I'm surprised at how well I taught myself! There were a couple things I could do differently but it was more of a personal preference than an actual technique. Last night as I sat spinning I decided to try out some of the tricks and I have to say I am loving hand spinning even more. I'm getting better twist and more even thickness and I can go for longer chunks before stopping to wind up. I'm pretty impressed with myself and have been ripping through my mini balls like mad. It certainly has made it more enjoyable. Before it was such a stop and go process that I got bored easily. The new things I'm doing though make it all the more better.

Despite it's twisted appearance the skein shown has been washed and dried. I took it out of the ball for it's photo shoot though...I wanted something pretty and my tiny little cake was kind of sad looking. :)

A mile in these shoes

When we moved to the place we currently live the husband knew we had some relatives (on his side) but didn't know who or where. About a month after we moved here my father in law left us a message letting us know it was a cousin and he happened to be in our town! The husband called him up and we've become buddy buddy with them since then. The two grew up together, lived in the same house together (and seperately) at the one point, and went to shool together. They were childhood friends so this was a very nice surprise. When we first met up with them we got to meet his wife and found out they were pregnant with their first! That night after we got home I pulled out my knitting stuff. Naturally this baby needed something knit. They don't cloth diaper so that was out. I thought it presumptuous to knit nursing pads, blankets would take too long 9she was 36ish weeks when we irst met). Too young for toys. I needed something fast. I headed over to ravelry and happened upon the Magic Slippers pattern. It was perfect! I made the first one in a couple of hours one morning while the wee ones slept in. I think I wove in my ends at the 2 hour mark. SUPER fast. I even had yarn left over from my first nugget. That's how little yarn these take. I forgot about the second one (sort of..the first inch or so was done) until last week when we got a call about the blessing. I pulled everything out and finished it up that night. There is a slight difference in the two but I know why and it's easily remedied. I think if I make these again (which is very likely as they were a big hit!) I will add some length to them. These fit like ballet slippers and will very wuickly be outgrown. They are a tad on the short side in the back too. They are easy for a newborn to kick off and newborns don't kick a whole lot. This wee one kicked off the smaller one (the back is shorter on one) two or three times before we managed to get a decent shot.

Pattern: Magic Slippers

Needles: Size 1 dpn's

Yarn: Leftover Trekking XXL (from the husband's socks that he lost and is now on permanent no knit goods status for)

You can see the difference in height in that picture. When I did the first one I picked up a few too many stitches so I had extra decrease rounds in there. The second one I did correctly and didn't even think about it until it was too late. Oh well. I explained to the mama that if she gets it wet and then stretches it out and lets it dry she should be good to go.

I've picked up my Master's knitting stuff again. I whipped out 6 swatches so quickly I kind of got burnt out on it. I did one alst night and am working on one right now. I forgot how quickly these go! I'm debating how to go about these. Should I jsut knit them how I normally would and expect some resubmits? I mean part of this is having the chance of being told what you're doing wrong and fixing it. Or should I knit them to be as perfect/dead on as I can and send them int hat way and hope that minimizes my resubmits? I'm inclined to do both. The first because I want this to be a learning experience and I'd rather have them tell me what I need to fix based off how I currently knit. This is a tool to evaluate my current knitting style. If I always use a long tail cast on even when it's not the right one to use I should use that one for all my swatches unless it says not to. Use this to the fullest advantage you know? BUT I don't want to resubmit anything or have them think I'm a knitting idiot. The nervous school kid in me just wants to fit in and be told I'm cool and I knit well. :) But that's not an accurate portrayal of my knitting. I don't research various things. I do what works for me the same way every time. :)

I finished a sock the other day. I'm debating making it's mate. It was a top down and while it fits and I'm pleased with it I'm looking to change it. I want a perfect pattern and have yet to find it. I got to thinking the other day about doing one that did both top down and toe up techniques and was trying to figure out the logistics when I stumbled on a pattern that does just that! It wasn't a free pattern so I didn't pick it up but it just reaffirms I'm not crazy. :)

Down and Up Lace socks Funny thing is I've been working on a sock pattern witha very similar stitch pattern. Great minds think alike. ;)

Another one bites the dust

I'm on a roll with this thing called "finishing things you start". This is a very late trade set. Back when the littlest wee one was born we had a stint in time of no sleeping and colic. Normally a ring sling (which I own many) is the trick with my kids. However she was in and out so often that by the end of the day I was having to rethread the material through the rings and having fit issues (same as if you were pulling on a cotton shirt all day). I posted in search of a pouch and a mama offered to make me one. She did and got it to me (in a much more timely fashion than me I mgiht add!) and it saved my sanity. I've never been a pouch gal but apparently the youngest is. The original plan was I would make her a scarf out of my Donegal Tweed. Fast forward way too long and too many issues later we agreed to skip the scarf and go with some dishclothes. Seeing as I was so late on my end of the deal I wanted to make an artilery of rags. And so I did. I hope this ends up being fair! We have 1 ballband, 2 "idiot's dishcloths", and 2 tribbles (google any of those and you will find patterns but off the top of my head the ballband is on the Elmore-Pisgah site, the "idiot's dishcloth" is in a book [the name escapes me currently and I'm too lazy to go look at my bookshelf], and the tribbles are over at 1897 pearl). I managed to do the least amount of mods ever I think. :) The idiot ones are done in garter and I switched them up to stockinette (which I think lends to the less than square shape since my personal garter ones are much more square) and one of the tribbles is smaller (though that is even within the realm of the pattern since she says to go no smaller than 8 inches and that's what I did!). Other than that nothing was changed. Everything was done on size 5's and in Peaches and Cream Ombre (Peppercorn color). As soon as the forum we both use is open (down for server stuff) I'll shoot her a pm and let her know they are done, get her opinion on something, and then off they go! I hope she likes them. Knitting for other people makes me nervous.

And as for the soaker from yesterday. I sent the mama here to look because I was so nervous about it. When I approached her about doing it she only knew I was making something. I asked color preferences (though I already knew..just wanted to bbe sure) and various sizes on things and then set to work. I dyed the yarn myself with Kool-Aid and got colors very different than what I had planned. The husband kindly told me they looked like mold on pepto bismal. I think that tainted the whole project for me. lol I originally wanted to do a skirtie but it very much did not work out. I then opted for ruffly cuffs and some duplicate stitched design on the bum. After many failed tries at various things (I wanted the first letter of her name) with the husband letting me know they never looked like what I was aiming for him (I'm seeing a trend here) I gave up. I stuck it in my bag and stuck that in the closet. I had a hybrid soaker, a random purl round from the original idea, no working idea, and potentially ugly yarn. Talking to Dawn the other morning (after finishing the cuffs the night before) I decided to try and do a "belt" of sorts. I grabbed a crochet hook and started my way around with the intent to have extra length in the back to tie off in a bow. My first attempt failed because it was too tight and had no strretch anymore. So I took it out and tried again. When it was done it looked silly tied in a bow so I gave it a go making loops with the ends. It looked ok. My purl round was lifted though so you could see the purl bumps under the crocheted green (the color I used first). So I grabbed the pink and did another round with a flower on the end of that dangle. It works. Not my favorite thing but the mama loves it and wants it now. Like....yesterday now. A couple people have mentioned it looks like watermelons. I never thought of that! Honest to god the idea that I could do a watermelon theme with it totally escaped me! I was so caught up in it looking like pepto bismal I never saw that. Or thought it. Or had an inkling of it! I wish I had posted pics earlier and gotten ideas from people because I totally would have done black seeds on the bum and then had seed dangles or something. That's ok though. I'm done with that sucker. I am so looking forward to sending it off! I don't know why I had such trouble with this project! It wasn't even hard! When it gets to where it's going I'll be getting some action shots that I have been given the permission to post so stay tuned!

Another soaker

Two posts in one day. Surprising and rare huh? This is a hyrbid of sorts. I used the Curly Purly pattern for my numbers but the Picky Pants pattern for things like the waistband and short rows. The body is done on 8's and the cuffs on 2's and 3's.

I'll come tell more later. I've been madly posting it everywhere I can due to excitement to be DONE that I'm tired of repeating myself. :)

Tiny knitting

Sheesh! I've been trying to come post for days and something always come up! I'm finally here!

Stats: Newborn, 3 short row sets, Manos, Garter ridge cuffs, size 5's, 6's, and 8's (also used for the cuffs).

This is for Dawn. She is due to have another baby (boy!) here soon. Well not too soon....a couple months from now. I have had this Manos in my stash since I began knitting! I made S's first pair of shorties out of one skein and had originally bought two. I've been dying to use it up for the longest time now and had even start a wrap for us out of it. But it just wasn't "us". There was something that just never fit so it never got used. I decided to try it out again and what do you know! It works! And looks very nice if I do say so myself. I love the way this yarn knits up. It'sa slightly pilly yarn but for a newborn that shouldn't be an issue. I hope it fits and works for them. I haven't lanolized or blocked it. It takes at least 4 days to dry here so I'll let her do it. She knows this and is ok with it. :) I'm a slacker and have yet to get it in the mail but it should be at the latest tomorrow. Hopefully.

I have a couple more WIP's I'm so very close to finishing. They have been hounding me for the longest time now. Not because they are large or difficult. Mostly because I'm bad at gauging how long an item will take at times and I end up agreeing to do too much and my plate gets full. I'm really hoping to make some progress today. I finished up a part last night on one project that was taking a long time. I can officially say I think I am all ruffled out now!

Possibly dead

Remember this (pardon the crap photo)?

It used to look a tad different. You know..intact, bright red, less airy. It's about a year old now and as you can tell has seen a fair share of love. There are actually 2 holes present but the way everything lays there you don't notice it unless you're using it. Which poses my potential issue. To repair it or not? When I first noticed the hole I made a mental note to do a quick whipstitch andbe done with it. It got washed, tossed in the drawer, and then we moved. Then I needed to use it. We hand wash dishes so the hole quickly became larger and then it became 2. What once was small enough to put the tip of my finger in (which is where the hole started...point of pressure) is now large enough to fit many finger in. Do I fix it and save my fingers the possible amputation during dishwashing, do I leave it be and feel content that this rag has served us well, or do I toss it? Aside from the random finger stub/stab it's totally functional. I have others. I'll have more. I like this one though. :)

They are soooo wanna-be's

My wanna be egg eggs.

Stats:
Red egg: Donegal Tweed: Size 6's
Purple/Yellow egg: Personal handspun wool: Stuffed with remaining handspun wool: Size 8's
Orange egg: Personal handpsun wool: Size 3's
Mutlicolored large egg: Recycled wool (Kool Aid dyed): Size 8's
Purple (center) egg: Leftover wool: Size 3's

I ended up not doing the 6th one. I got irritated at the lack of egginess. The kids like them but only because they thought they were footballs. Wooly footballs.

Playing catch up

It dawned on me it's been awhile since I posted!

I recently bought a lb. cone of licorice twist (undyed) yarn from catnip yarns. I'm not sure what I think about it so far. I dyed up two balls for a gift for a friends daughter who is turning one here soon. For those unfamiliar licorice twist has one strand that absorbs dye more than the others. I have only seen Little Turtle Knits and their dyeing is fabulous so my opinion was already a tad bias. Mine isn't that great. Maybe it was my dye (Kool-Aid). Maybe it was the amount of yarn to dye ratio. Who knows? I do know my "dark" strand isn't that dark. The site also said this was a worsted yarn. Maybe a light worsted. I opened my box and was surprised they called this worsted. My Paton's Merino is thicker. So far it's knitting up very nice and even though. I've got gauge on my project and the yarn is smooth and just glides over my needles. I'm very dissapointed in my dyeing though so I'm not seeing this yarn for what it could be. After the project is said and done I'll take a step back to see if I really like it. I certainly hope I do cause I have a ton left!

Here's a recent Sheldon (from Knitty) done in Tatamy Tweed (leftover from the Monica tank top last summer). There are a few mods on this: shorter nose/head, legs are picked up stitches on the body and knit per directions, attachment panel is attached via whipstitching. I couldn't get the i-cord to work right so I gave up. I was tired of this thing. The eyes are once again acrylic just knotted up. This was done for the daughter of a client who was recently in the hospital for 5 days (20 months old) due to salmonella. The husband kindly offered up my knitting services BEFORE asking me. I must like knitting. :) Once again my shell seems out of proportion to the attachment panel. I thought it was just me the first time around but I know I have now followed direction to the t both times and had the same luck. Oh well.

Here are the MochiMochi land hearts I did for said husband for Valentine's Day. I used some leftover Manos from a pair of longies I did 2 November's ago (woah! that seems like a long time ago when i give it an actual time frame and not just picture the longies). I did these on size 8's if I remember right. He totally loves them. I had snuck them into his computer bag before he left for work that morning so when he got there he had a pleasant little surprise. They currently reside on his desk and he has forbidden me from moving them. He about died when I took them to a better spot in the office to get a picture and snatched them up, took the picture himself, sent it to my email, and promptly put them back on his desk. Like I was going to steal them. Because I do that all the time you know. Steal back gifted handknits.

My current sock. Note: SOCK. Singular. I was trying to be optimistic and when I posted this over on Ravelry I added into the comments section that I cast on the second sock that day. No way was SSS going to strike. Guess what? I haven't touched it since. So muchfor motivation. :) These are being done toe up over something like 58 stitches (I think). I really should start the second one soon because I am already beginning to forget what I did on it. I hope I noted everything on the ravelry page for them.

I have a pair of booties (Magic Slippers on Ravelry) currently going. It takes no yarn. I was worried I wouldn't have enough actually and then was surprised when my ball (that I had already split in half!) still had some left over. This wasn't a ball. This was a deer dropping and yet I still had too much! I got the first one done in something like 2 hours one morning (thank heavens my chitlins sleep in!) and then lost the desire to do the second one. I just crossed it off my to do list but haven't had the guts to take it off the needles. It's so simply I'll probably finish it. Just having it on that ever expanding list though makes it seem like a chore.

I whipped up 5 different Curly Purly eggs this morning/afternoon. They don't look like eggs. I have one more I want to do but overall not impressed. It's super easy and fast but I can't get them to look like eggs! I have done every possible yarn weight and needle size so far (that's a lie...two were done on 8's [one in a bulky weight and one in a worsted and the bulky is the most egg like], one on size 6's [the least egg like and done with a worsted], and two one some 3's [both worsted though on different ends of the spectrum]. I have done one in recycled wool (the bulky), one in a single (unwashed) ply personal hand spun, one in Donegal tweed, one in a 2-ply personal handspun, and one in the purple leftovers I have been trying to get rid of (this being the 4th time I've used it and it's finally gone!). I am going to do one in some sock yarn next but I don't have any hope. They all are such different yarns from each other that you'd think I'd have something more I like. Eh. At least the tot believes me when I say they are eggs. Pictures to come on that one. :)

Love

Paton's Merino in Navy Blue

BFL in an unknown colorway (this was sent to me in a swap with no information about it. I had to message to find out that it was wool and what kind.)

Undersoaker/shorties are done per Picky Pants

Short rows on the shorties

Skirtie was made up as I went. I picked up stitches and added in a bunch of increases (according to the backside increases portion of Picky Pants)

Ruffle is over 200 stitches and was a pain in the ass to bind off.

Size small

I like 'em Norwegian

At least my purls. :) I recently signed up for the Master Hand Knitter level one program and one of the swatches you do has 1x1 ribbing. I had completed the 2x2 ribbing and was pretty pelased with it so when y 1x1 was looking twisted I was confused. I posted on MDC and someone mentioned trying a norwegian purl. You keep the yarn behind your work so tension is less likely to change. It's fabulous! I'm still figuring out the general flow and tension of it but overall I think it's a keeper.

I also learned how to do cables last night. I did my first one (horseshoe) and was amazed at how easy it was. They sure look more difficult than they are. I needed to work up a small sample project for something so I used a cable on it (this afternoon) and love it! I can see why cable works ends up having tons of cables. They are a tad addictive.

I've gotten two new books lately. IK's sock one and Stitchonary 2: cables. Both are lovely though I remember liking the IK one more when I first saw it. Not so much now. It's fine and all and there are a few patterns I'll do but overall my love is no longer there.

Now the big and exciting news is something I can't quite share yet. :D The small cabled project above is actually the second project of this said news. I'm waiting to hear back on some stuff before I spill the beans so stay tuned!

Much ado about nothing

Honestly. I haven't made progress on my mystery project. I got a new book (IK's sock one). I haven't started my other sock. I frogged one (too small). The only thing I have done lately is a pair of ruffly longies which I LOVE. They make me so happy it's sad. :)










Quick details:Small Picky ShortsElastic waistbandShort rowsRuffle bind offExtra stitches in crotch/leg join areaScrap yarn (in order): fisherman's wool: orange, green, pink, purple. Wool of the Andres: green LTK Farm Yarn: Elijah Random wool : purple


Life kind of sucks right now so I'm going back to minimum blogging (I know, I know...nothing new there as of late). I'll pop in with pictures every now and then but don't count on explanations or anything.

And because we love modeled FO's...

Here is a pic my dad sent me of him in his hat. He loves it and wears it often. Hard to see how low it comes on his eas but he didn't mention it being too short anywhere.

Just a couple things

Curly Purly soaker: Size small: 5's, 6's, and 8's. Paton's merino (the pink) and random wool (stashbusting and I still have some left over! I could have skipped the pink). Garter cuffs with knit bind off. Waist was done on two circs at a time for both the 5's and 6's.

Picky Pants capris/shorts: Size small. Elastic waistband. Short rows. Cascade 220 (brown) and Cascade Quatro. Picot bind off (my first!)

A new large mystery item all for me. Size 6's. That is all. :)

The covers have been done for a bit. I have one sock done on a pair for me as well but no pictures until the pair is complete. That might actually prompt me to start and finish the second sock. :) I was thinking about my knitting the other night very impressed with the amount of items I completed last year (yes that's still lovely to me) and thought about all the recent new things I've learned. Elastic waistbands, short rows, picot bind off, and knitting on two circs at a time. They all make me very happy. I haven't branched out into the more complicated stuff (to me at least!) like cables or intarsia or anything but I'm still pretty impresed with myself. In the last year I have really upped my knitting skills. Go me. :)

Whew!

It's been awhile. Christmas presents got sent late and received in time to still be considered the holidays. :) My mom loved her facecloth. I sent it with some bath fizzes and they were strong! She opened it up smelling that and wondering what I had sent that smelled like that and dealt with yarn. :) It did full though. If you remember I did it out of Lorna's Lace's Shepard Sport which is a superwash. I had asked on Mothering if a facecloth out of superwash wool would be silly and most said they wouldn't do it but I did it anyway. I think I know why. She really likes the feel of it but said she won't be washing it on hot. It fulled just from being used in her tub. I wonder how much was actual fulling and how much was just the yarn blooming. I didn't block it or anything before I sent it. I did ask for a picture since I thought I hadn't taken one before sending it (but did!..it's one post down :)) so I shall see. She thought it had felted but we were able to figure out it hadn't (she could still see stitch definition for one). I'm glad she liked it.

My dad also got his hat. Now the fit was forgiving on this. I did lots of extra rows hoping for it to be long and it was. My sister talked to him (haven't been able to get a hold of him yet) and he said it fits like a dream. I was worried it might be a bit big since he has a tiny head but apparently not. The extra short rows worked out well too. It's just long enough that when he pulls his coat collar up the hat stays tucked down in there so there isn't a gap for the air to sneak into. It will be one well used hat I'm sure. It's pretty cold in Utah and he does a lot of outside work so I'm sure it will become part of his outside wear. As soon as I can get a hold of him I'll get a picture of it in use.

I gave my mother in law her hat as well. It's not as long as I would like but she loves the length of it. I'm not sure how much she's used it but it is in her purse and her purse goes everywhere with her. She loved the color and did wear it around the house the night I gave it to her.

That's the only knitting as of late. We moved this last week. The Saturday before New Year's Eve we packed everything up and stayed with my in laws. We had no internet service for that time and I only had one knitting project with me (a pair of socks I hadn't started yet). The husband left on Monday and drove a Uhaul and me and the wee ones flew down on Thursday night (getting here at an unseemly hour on Friday morning). I've almost got the house totally unpacked and then I will tackle my yarn closet and everything that entails. The knitting will be breaking out soon!

And once that does knitting and blogging will resume a normal schedule. And pictures will be more frequent.

Catching up on the FO's

I was just uploading pictures ot Ravelry and did a quick count of my projects. For this year I finished 35 complete items!! 35! Go me.


First up is a very basic beanie style hat. This began as the Gobble Gobble Turkey thanksgiving hat from Beadwhore but once I got to the feathers and decided I liked it as is. It fits S perfectly.
This is the Reverse Bloom flower washcloth from Weekend Knitting. I used some of the Lorna's Laces I had eft over from the MIL hat to do it. I started doing Danica but my mom is not a scarf gal. She is a luxury bather though and this seemed perfect for her. I do realize wool for a washcloth is odd but it's about the squishiness and luxury of the item...not whether she can scrub off mud. I didn't bind off, I just broke the yarn and pulled through the 8 stitches. It kind of puckers but I figure once it gets used everything will even itself out.
This is an Earwarmer for my dad. This baby is awesome! Nice and thick. I used Paton's Classic Merino (navy blue) and Brown Sheep Wildfoote in Purple splendor. The band has two strands of that and one of the Paton's. The body has one of each. The blue band has 2 of the paton's. I added extra short rows and extra body rows (4 or 5). I wanted it super long and since I can't seem to get that (MIL's hat is not long enough for my liking) I made sure to add lots. Better safe than sorry. Size medium/child (the one with 88 stitches). Zigzag texture. I know it'll be late but that's my fault for starting late. I hope he likes it. It's in his two favorite colors so he may just by default. :)

And the second viking hat for my sister. I finished this a bit ago but never got around to blogging it. Same as the other but with ear flaps insted of braids.

Hello again

I'm back though I don't have plans of posting a ton right now. I'm mostly posting now because I am bored out of my mind. We are in Houston right now and my knitting isn't co-operating. I've frogged a few items (that were supposed to be for Christmas), didn't bring everything needed for other projects, and added more to my list.

My sister and I were talking the other day and I had an idea. Every year we ended up scrambling at the last minute to finish gifts (we tend to make most of ours) mostly due to a lack of well thought out early planning. Things llike lack of funds can stop any plan in it's tracks. :) So this year we are doing this a different way. We both have written up our lists of people and are going to do some math to split them up by 12 (cause there are 12 months a year) and work on that many gifts a month. Now her list will be a lot less than mine (for instance her husbands side has 6 people including newphews and neices....mine has 11 NOT counting neices and nephews....there are currently 21 grandkids...yeah...theres a lot) so that will be discouraging but that's ok. We can keep each other motivated and hopefully this will make the gifting season a lot less stressful. we're going to add in birthdays and what not as well. Hopefully this will make me a more focused, efficient knitter. I'm needing some structure in that regard lately. I'm tired of just flipping back and forth between projects.

I've also decided to pick, at the most, 4 projects (outside of my holiday stuff) to work on a month. I always have these grandiose ideas of whipping out a million projects a day and then get frustrated and irritated that that plan isn't working. Maybe this way I can tame the continuous "to knit" list floating about in my head and focus more on the item and the technique rather than getting it on and off the needles as soon as I possibly can. It's about quality, not quantity right?

While here in Houston I have gone to a yarn shop. Just one though. I came out with a skein of Lorna's Lace's Shepard worsted in the Vera colorway and some Regia Design Line (2 skeins) in some red colorway. I haven't broken into that yet. I have been using the LL though. I made an earwarmer cap for my MIL who (crazy I tell ya'!) is still walking to work despite it being freezing there (it's currently 34 and that's the warmest it's been in 2 weeks). She mentioned she likes beanie style hats but wants something to cover her ears and neck. After I bought the LL I had plans of making me some socks but the colorway was not sock friendly so onto the hat I went. After a trial and error in the adult/large size I frogged it and went down a size which was fine since it fits better than the adult/large anyhow. It turned out gorgeous I think. I want to keep it but I'm not about to go outside walking and have no need for it. I hope she likes it. I can't wait to give it to her.

This was pre-blocking. I did manage to add a little length but not as much as I wanted. I had added extra rows while knitting but I think my gauge was off cause it was just barely touching the bottom of my earlobes here. I need to remember to tell her the farther back she was the front of hat the more it'll cover her ears. It should fit her well though. She doesn't have as much hair as I do and I want to say her head may be a tad shorter in length. I don't know why I bothered doing the texture band since you can hardly see it but it's the tree one. And this is the first one (I've done three now) where my decreases worked out and didn't leave me slightly pointy up top. Not sure why but I'm very pleased.

The rest of the skein (cause it was massive) is being used to make Danica from knitty for my mom. I am LOVING entrelac. First time doing it and am flying through. I'm almost tempted to the do the entrelac socks in my IK. We shall see.

Taking a break

I know I haven't been the most reliable blogger as of late but I need to take a break for a bit. There's been a recent tragedy in my family and I am just going to hang low. I may blog every now and then but now I'm taking the pressure off mysef to show up and do it. I'm hoping it won't be long. Just enough time to mull things over.

Another almost wordless, poor picture quality post

Size newborn
Elastic waistband
Short rows
I cord bind off

Pleased as punch

Baby Viking Hat- for neice C. 1 of 4
Being modeled by munchkin S.
Earwarmer Cap in size toddler for munchkin S.
FINALLY! THE washrag pattern. Has been tweaked to suit me. :)
Boa scarf for S's dress up box. God awful yarn.

No substantial psot today. Just pictures and maybe a quickie tagline. :)