Tilted Duster It Is!

Thank you so much for all your pattern input! Life would be so easy if I had all of you following me around all day to help me make decisions! Most of you chose the Tilted Duster, so I went with that.

Now, I'm just hoping the LYS has just one more skein of this colour!

Which one?

My grandmother had been visiting all summer, and yesterday she went home to Hong Kong. This past week has been mostly spent with her, so not much knitting was done.

Joshua's sleeves (sorry, not very exciting):



I've narrowed down three patterns for the Peace Fleece yarn.

First is the cover sweater of the new Interweave:



Very interesting and unique. I like the simple lines.

Second is the Imogen sweater from Fleece Artist:



I bought this pattern after seeing this one. This pattern is probably the least favourite of the three. I don't really like the shawl pin closure, and this sweater would really look better with variegated yarn

The third is a Drops Jacket from Garn Studio:



Which one do you like?

Nothing really exciting to share today. This is the back of my son's sweater:

I wanted a yarn that was very soft, but wouldn't pill and would stand up to a 7-yr-old. Also one that would be easy to clean. I chose Sirdar Snuggly DK, which is so surprisingly soft and spongy. My son chose red and grey for his sweater; something to do with the colours of the Autobot Red Alert.

When I first starting knitting about 3 years ago, I knit Peace Fleece's Everyday Cardigan:

It didn't come out too nice. The neck was too small, the sleeves were too short, and the drop shoulders were not very flattering.

So I ripped it out, and am now looking for the perfect pattern.

I'm thinking something that I can wear more like a jacket when fall comes. And I think it's coming soon; the weather here has been very blah!

Yesterday I finished up these socks:



It is made from Shelridge Farm's Soft Touch Ultra in Handpaint C. The yarn's name is right on, because it's one of the softest sock yarns I've ever felt.

I was really excited to finish these socks, so that I can move on to a new project (I only have the Bayerisches on the needles, and I feel really unmotivated to finish them right now). So, last night I went rummaging through my stash for the yarn to make my son's birthday sweater. Stash was getting a little messy, so I started to do some organizing. I found myself staring at a pile of sock scraps, and next thing I knew, I was knitting this:



The beginnings of a sock scrap blanket. Very unexpected. Though I've seen many beautiful sock blankets on other blogs, I was quite certain that I would never knit this. I really dislike have unfinished projects lying around. Oh well; change is good!

Friends Forever Fawn

Pattern: Friends Forever Fawn from Amigurumi: Super Cute Happy Crochet

Yarn: Bernat Satin in Camel, Sable and Mocha

Pretty darn cute! Click on the pictures to see more details. Even the eyes are crocheted, out of embroidery floss. For obvious reasons, my daughter has renamed her Bambi. Enough crocheting for the moment. I'm experiencing knitting withdrawal. It's been six days!

New Obsession?

I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this book:

Amigurumi: Super Cute Happy Crochet by Elisabeth Doherty.

I'm so excited to finally get my hands on it! The last few days have been spent hooking away. My crochet skills were a little rusty, so I started out with some little treats:

then this cute guy:



I'm working on this fawn next:

Haven't gotten any complaints from the kids about too much crocheting. In fact, they keep asking why I'm taking so long. They love this book just as much as I do!

I Won!

Connie from Pick Up Sticks had a guess-the-number-of-skeins contest on her blog, and I won!! I got to choose 2 skeins of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn (I chose Gypsy Rose) and also got some cute, green stitch markers. There's nothing better than free yarn!!



I'm on my third day of no knitting. I'll show you why tomorrow.

Not So Itty-Bitty

So, the name of this book is Itty-Bitty Hats: cute and cuddly hats to knit for babies and toddlers. I should have paid more attention the the "babies and toddlers" part. I finished the gazillion rosebuds and leaves, and was so excited sewing them on...

...but the more I added, the more I realized that it just didn't look like the hat in the book.

I stuck it on Grace's head, and almost died laughing:

A big, honkin' wreath of rosebuds just isn't as cute on a 4-yr-old than on a baby. Grace still had her heart set on this cap, so a few adjustments later, it didn't look as bad:

The funny thing is, she actually liked the wreath hat and didn't want me to change it! She also wants the pumpkin hat from the same book.

I don't think so!

Ribs

These Trekking socks were a quick and easy knit. I really liked how this stitch pattern paired with this yarn; especially how the colour changes overlap in reverse stockinette stitch. The pattern is just a basic [p3, k1 tbl], but in case anyone would like it written up, I posted it here on my pattern page.

These are the other socks I'm working on:




They were knit and ripped 5 times. I had a few original patterns charted, and none of them worked out. They didn't look as nice knitted up than I imagined they would. I got so frustrated, that I finally cast on these simple socks. I'm not giving up on those patterns, but I just need a little break from them for a while. I think I'm feeling all socked out.

It's Here!!

My Sockapalooza package has arrived, all the way from England! My knitter is the wonderful Laura. She put together the most incredible bunch of goodies:

Dark chocolate (yummy!), tea, (yeah, baby!), soap (sniff, sniff), bath fizzy (ahhh), notepad (cute!), hot chocolate (my daughter saw it first...darn!), and lovely sock yarn (hooray!).

The sweet card Laura wrote was so adorable, that I made it into a bookmark so that I could see it often:

And last but not least, my beautiful socks:

She couldn't have picked a more perfect colour for me. I love them very much! I saw on her website that they are Koigu in the Interweave Knits Rib and Cable pattern. I wish you could feel how soft they are.

Here is a close-up of the incredible colours:

Thank you so much Laura!! You're the best!!

That's It For Summer!

Here is the Indigo Ripples skirt I finished a while back.

I really like this skirt; it's so comfy. It feels very thick and heavy, but when I was wearing it today in 30+ degree heat, it was nice and breezy. I really liked working with Cotton Ease. I took a close-up picture of the fabric of the bum area as a before shot, and after a few wears and washes, I'll see how durable this yarn really is.

The Picovoli in Rowan Bamboo Tape is also done:

I have mixed feelings about this sweater. There really isn't anything wrong with the sweater itself. It's cool, comfortable and fits well. I guess I'm just disappointed in myself for making such a silly (and very expensive) impulsive purchase. Lesson learned.

I think that will be it for summer knitting. I have so many to-dos, but since there is only about a month left of hot weather, I'm going to get a start on fall knitting now. First project is going to be a Transformers sweater for my son's b-day in September.

My Sockapalooza package should be arriving any day now. My recipient, Becky, received her package yesterday, and I'm so glad that it made her happy.

Baby Backward Ribs

Ha! How's that for a sock name?

I ripped out the Monkey sock. I figured, if I'm going to spend $17 on a pair of socks, I should knit something I really like. Monkeys will be attempted some other time with a better yarn.

This one is just a very basic p3, k1tbl rib. Not a very original pattern, but it definitely works a lot better with this stripy yarn.

While looking for baby patterns the other day, I came across this hat in Itty-Bitty Hats that I forgot about. It just so happens that I have lots of nice cotton in pretty colours.



Here's a pic of the hat already knit up.

This is my next sock-to-be:



Sheldrige Farms Soft Touch Ultra in greens and teal. Pink in my favourite colour, but green is becoming a very close second!

Last Night

I tried very hard to get both a hat and booties knit in one night, but ended up with only booties. I was faced with obstacles all evening, like DH wanting dinner, the kids needing to be put to bed, and ultimately, me needing some sleep.

First I cast on for a Baby Shedir following the modifications here. I was very confused why this hat was supposed to be modified from adult to newborn, when the mods were only to decrease the height of the hat, but the yarn, needles size and stitches around remained the same. Still I cast on in faith, but used smaller needles and thinner yarn. After 6 rows, it was obvious that it was way to big for a baby, let alone a newborn. So, the hat was scrapped, and it was 10 pm.

Next I knit this:



Are they not the cutest things ever? The pattern is from Adorable Knits For Tots by Zoe Mellor, and I used Koigu (don't know the color; can't read the scribble on the band) and 2.5mm needles. This picture is with a quarter to show how tiny they are:



I finished these around 2 am, and washed them. Seamed them up this morning.

It seemed like I used less than half of the skein, so I thought why not try for a hat too! Knitted 'til 3 am, and was so deliriously tired that I did not realize that my hat was way too small. Urgh!
So, that was scrapped, and I went to bed.

Before visiting my friend, I went to the store and bought a few extra gifts.

She liked the gifts, but loved the booties!

I Have A Baby To Knit For!

No, it's not me:)

It is now 6:30pm, and one of my closest friends just called to announce she gave birth a beautiful, baby boy this afternoon. She was one of those people who decided to keep the sex of the baby a surprise. I wasn't too keen on knitting anything yellow or minty green, so there was no knitting to be done.

I will be visiting her in the hospital tomorrow. Do you think it's humanly possible to knit a hat and booties, and wash and dry them, all in one evening?

I'm always up for a challenge!

Now I Know

Here is one monkey:

Now I know why this pattern has so many fans. It's one of those patterns with a magical combination of stitches that make it addictive and easy to memorize. It's hard to put down unless you've completed a pattern repeat, and 5 or 6 repeats and your leg is done. Next time I will choose a yarn that is not so stripy.

The Bamboo Tape Ticovoli is moving along quickly. Should have it finished today.