Jess's gift

I realized I can blog about the present I knit for my buddy Jess since I already gave it to her!

I made her a Krtek (rav link) scarf/cowl thing:

I love how the texture is so bumpy and fun :-) Yarn is Cascade Eco + leftover from a vest I made for my SIL.  Hope you like it Jessica!!!!

Finish line

I have to wait to post my Christmas knitting until after my family does our Christmas tomorrow, but in the meantime I finished these fingerless mitts I started in like september...

Pattern: Susie's Reading Mitts

They are for a friend battling leukemia, and they match a hat that I made her last year! I hope she likes them.

The funniest part is I BARELY had enough yarn to make these. I started getting worried about halfway though the second glove, and had to knit "really fast" to squeak out the second thumb, but I made it!!!! Here is how much I had leftover:

Wow! :-) Here's hoping I am inspired to work on my other UFOs... they are TOO many right now!

Comic

Nataliedee.com - comic

That comic describes a lot of my knitting projects right now :-)

*5*

Happy 5th blogiversary to me! Gosh has it been that long??? :-) I don't have any knitting to show you right now (infants sure do demand a lot of attention!), but here's a picture of my little pumpkin being super adorable. Again, thanks to anyone out there who actually reads this blog!

4 weeks and a return to knitting!

My lil girl hit 4 weeks old today!
.

She's pretty much the cutest thing ever! Bib knit by Jess!

Annnnd in exciting news I have finally picked up the needles again!!!

This is for a friend's baby boy who is due to be born in Jan! I've cast on some baby socks to match!

Where I have I been?

Why I was off having the cutest little baby in the world, of course!

Welcome Norah Jo <3 10-12-10 8lbs, 2oz & 21"

We love her and she already has been wearing her knitwear!!!! :-) (hat in above photo made by her Auntie Mare!)

Side project!

Sometimes a girl has to take a break from making a cabled sweater for her baby to make a cute lil newborn hat for her baby! LOL!

Basically I wanted something that would fit her as soon as she came out... I had this sock weight yarn from Jessica that had lovely pink and brown shades (sorry the color in the picture is a little bit off), and I thought it'd be perfect for a delicate little hat! I started with 2x2 ribbing, and then decided to keep going with it so that the hat would be snug no matter what! Turned out pretty well :-)

Chugging along....

I got some progress made today.... thanks to the Colts game (too bad they lost though)!!! Right front is done and left front has begun. Only 5 days until my official due date! haha!!!!

"Crazy" project update

Complicated cabled baby sweater that I am making for my baby which is due in a week and a half?

Back is done! :-)

Knitted bridge cozy

http://knittyblog.com/?p=282

That is SO awesome... I think it would be fun to do a much smaller knit "graffiti" project someplace in fort wayne sometime! Perhaps make legwarmers for the horse of the Gen. Anthony Wayne statue downtown... hmm!

Yep... I'm crazy!

Just to confirm my decision on the question I posed in my last post....

Yep.... I'm nuts!

P.S. In case there was any confusion, I'm only making the sweater and NOT the matching blanket and booties!!!! Yikes :)

Crazy?

Is it insane to start something like THIS:

http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=b17&d_id=2&lang=us

right now for my baby???? Reminder: I will be 37 weeks on friday :-)

Just checking!!!! Hahaha.

August round-up!

Yeee haw, welcome to the August round-up! It's a hoedown of a hootenanny! OK, I will stop now... just trying to find a more exciting way to start a catch-up post on here!

This weekend I've felt super productive! Friday evening I finished Holden's tie sweater... yep, in the last post I had just cast it on, and here it is, all DONE! (Pattern is here: boys can wear pink)

Isn't it awesome??? I really loved the pattern. It was simple, but looks really cute. I want to order a bag of Swish and make these for all my friends' little boys now!!!

Another project I haven't even posted about is a baby bonnet and socks set I threw together for some friends who aren't finding out the sex of their baby due Nov 4th. I kept things neutral with a bright yellow and a non-frilly pattern (Aviatrix baby bonnet, and then the socks are from the Layette in Itty Bitty Nursery):

Turned out pretty cute... I haven't put a button on the hat yet, I can't decide to use a gender neutral one, or wait and put on a more cutesy-looking one if they have a girl! :-)

In stash enhancement news, Cynthia attended Stitches Midwest last weekend, and was kind enough to do my shopping for me! I gave her a little money and free reign to pick out whatever she thought I would like. Can I say that she did not dissapoint???? Check this beauty out!

Gorgeous, no???? It's Madeline Tosh "Tosh Vintage" in Baltic. I loooove the shades of blue in here. It's superwash too, which makes me want to make myself some fingerless gloves with this for the winter. Ooh I could even make matching baby mittens for my lil girl... wouldn't that be adorable? LOL!

I need to focus on her baby blanket first! That's my plan for today, so wish me luck. I've been unhappy with how the woven-in ends are looking. Due to the yarn being a cotton/acrylic blend, the yarn is not "grabby" enough to hold the ends down, and they keep popping out. I am trying something new - using sewing thread to secure the ends down instead of weaving them in! I think this is the best solution. Mare, if you are reading this (she is knitting the 2nd half of the blanket), I was thinking you could leave your ends "free" and I can sew them down myself!

Hope everyone has a lovely relaxing Sunday!!!! I can't believe August is almost OVER!!!???

Blankets and things

On other "catching up" news, I did cast on my girl's baby blanket, and have made quite a bit more progress than this:

That pic gives you the general idea though! The pattern is just the "grandma's favorite" dishcloth pattern, just using bulky yarn! It's coming along nicely, although I think i am going to have to sew my ends down with sewing thread... I am not good at weaving ends in! (And there is a bunch!) I haven't been working on it much lately though, either because I have been too busy or not in the mood for knitting, or I've been distracted by other projects! For instance....

Baby booties for my coworker! His wife is expecting any day now, and Cynthia had already knit an adorable bonnet, (ahem, Cynthia, you need to blog!) so I decided to make matching booties and make it a set! They were well received, and I hope everything goes well with their (third!) little girl's arrival next week.

Pattern: Saartje's booties, a seamless version, Rav link here: Seamless Saartje's Booties
Yarn: Dale of Norway Baby Ull on US2 needles

I've also been shamed into finally casting on for my nephew Holden's tie sweater...

My SIL knit one ALREADY for Cash (we ordered all the yarn at the same time), so I can't let the poor kid go too long without his very own matching one! (Big brother Cash's is a tan sweater with a green tie, Holden's will be the dark blue above with a mossy green tie).

OK bedtime! Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Baby pants!

Whew... these pants have been sitting around, 95% done, for WEEKS! I finally got around to finishing them tonight and I had to share!

Pattern: Baby Bell Bottoms
Yarn: Berroco Comfort DK

These are soooo soft, I am not sure what size they came out to be, maybe 6 months? We will see I guess! I like them though :) I modified the pattern to knit the legs in the round using magic loop... my fav technique it seems lately!

Ravelversary!

Yesterday was my 3 year Ravelversary.... the anniversary of the day I got accepted to join Ravelry! (Back then there was a wait list to join, I'm sure most of you remember!

Anyway I just wanted a moment to thank Casey and Jess for starting the most useful knitting website I have ever known! As Cynthia and I discussed earlier today, we don't know what we would have been knitting these past few years without it! And it is such an easy and convenient way to track projects and yarn and everything.... whew!!!!

Are you all members of Ravelry, if you are a knitting reader? If not, what is wrong with you! Just kidding. When is YOUR Ravelversary??? :)

On handcrafting...

This was posted previously on the Mason Dixon blog, but I loved it so I have to repost here!



Very cool :-)

Supa cute!

The other weekend my SIL gave me an adorable outfit for my babe, and ALSO this really cute knitted HAT!

AND we got the yarn that we're going to use to jointly knit my baby girl a blankie!!!!!

I need to cast on soon because I love those colors! :)

Hope everyone else is having a good week and as beautiful weather as we are right now!

Knitted gifts so far

I have already begun receiving the most adorable knitted things for my little girl, so I thought I would post them!

First off, the cutest most awesome little apple hat, hand knit by my MIL who did a fantastic job (with just a lil bit of finishing help from my SIL, hee hee)


Too bad peanut won't be born in time for the Johnny Appleseed festival!!!!

Second off, I just got these the other day as hand knit hand-me-downs from my friend Larissa! She made these for HER little girl, who just turned one today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY VIVIAN!!!!!!!!) and kindly has passed along her knits for my little girl to treasure as well! How awesome!!!!


Wasn't even worn, I get to find a button or closure also! So cute!


Little white rose buttons, adorable!

I am loving it so far, thank you ladies for contributing to my little girl. Maybe this winter I can take a picture of her every day in something handknit from someone.... wouldn't that be insane? Maybe not every day. How about every week??? :-)

For all you knitting friends...

OK: Here's my comprehensive list of what I have knit for my baby. This is to show you that NO I have not knit her everything under the sun already, and I am not going to be able to! I am really excited to have anyone who wants to make something for my lil girl :-) Seriously! Please don't think it won't be welcome!!!!!

1. Peace Sign Bib


2. Cabled Baby Bib (Rav link)


3. "Leapfrog" cabled baby pants


4. Modern Baby Bonnet (Rav link)


still have to sew the buttons on:

5. Autumn Leaves sweater



And most recently:

6. Baby bell bottoms
I don't have a picture yet because I only have about an inch knit on these!!!! They are going to be a nice deep purple!

So ya see girls???? I am seriously slacking! My SIL and I have plans to knit a blankie for my girl, and I think another one of my friends said she is going to knit a blankie, but I am definitely missing some things! Can anyone say booties? Or dresses? or little gloves? or more hats? I mean sheesh! :) Soooooo if you are thinking about it, just keep in mind 0-6 months will be winter, and 6-12 months will be summer! I have to keep reminding myself that too :) Hopefully my girl won't be a giant and outgrow all this cute teeny little stuff I am gathering for her.

To do list....

Don't worry, since we've found out we're having a girl, I haven't gone CRAZY with my new list of things I want to knit....


Nope, not me! Just a few things.... also that pic can't show my queue on Ravelry either.... LOL....

Baby news....

It's a GIRL! Bring on the pink and purple yarn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



(baby is facing you, head on the left, abdomen on the right! the blob by her head is her arm!)

BUTTONS!

Soooooooooo today my mother in law came to visit and after getting a yummy lunch, we went shopping! At one of our stops the buttons were all 50% off..... and I found some for my FLS!


What do you think?


A little fancy, not too busy?


I think they are winners! Hooray for buttons!

FLS: Progress!

I haven't taken any pictures or mentioned my progress on my February Lady Sweater! I have been devotedly lugging it to work as my sole project in hopes that when I knit at lunch I'd be forced to work on it. (it works!) Getting through the first part was definitely a challenge, and involved some frustrated frogging, (and cursing) but I am happy to announce I have made it past the yoke and now am doing the lovely lace of the body!!!!!

Front:

Back:


I am happily surprised at how the yarn has turned out. When I first got the skeins, they looked almost perfectly SOLID. With a name like "Kettle-Dyed" I was hoping for some more varigation! However, now that I have a good swath of it knit into fabric, Cynthia and I both agree you can see the lovely striations in the color. Hooray for that!

Another thing I need to work on is finding buttons. I am leaning towards black, but I am keeping my mind open. I might have to head to the craft store and lose myself in the button aisle for awhile!

Anyway hope everyone is having a nice May... it's been a bit rainy for my tastes, but I guess that's spring for ya!

Collaborative sweater?

Anyone else seen this post???

http://brooklyntweed.blogspot.com/2010/05/exquisite-corpse-project-collaborative.html

That is a really really cool idea!!!! I have the urge to gather a group of friends and do something similar, only perhaps a little lower scale, like a scarf!!!! Seems like on a scarf you could get away using different yarn too.... could be really cool... Hmmmmmmm!!!!

Baby knitting so far...

Wow where did April go??? I can't believe we're down to the last week already! I really haven't been doing that much knitting lately. I am guessing that will pick up a notch in a month or so when we find out the sex of our lil babe. Then I have a zillion things to knit!!!! I've been trying to do some unisex things, like a white bonnet and some bibs...






That last one still needs a button!

As far as what else I can do now, I am casting on for some baby pants, and maybe some booties next? I just can't wait to find out what our little one will be!!!! :-)

News!

Sorry I havent been posting much lately. We found out that I'm knitting up a very important project this year.... knitting up our first BABY! He/she will be due this October and we are very excited!!!!!!

Speaking of babies....I went to a friend's baby shower yesterday and it was so much fun! For her gift I whipped up the baby jeans (finally finished those in time!)



And also since my friend's little boy-to-be is named Gus, I knitted him his very own AsparaGUS :-D get it? This was so much fun to make!!!! I probably should write the pattern out since I made it up on the fly:




Can you tell I had WAY too much fun with this photoshoot??? I actually had the real asparagus before I knit this, it was my inspiration :-)



Hope everyone is having a great spring! I will leave you with a picture of the gorgeous tree in our backyard. :)

Booties ahoy

When my cousin had her baby the other week, we finally learned the sex (boy!) and so I commenced my knitting! I decided to do the Cabled Booties from Vintage Knits for Modern Babies.



Turned out pretty cute! I wish I had fabric covered buttons like in the book, but I had to work with my meager button stash because I want to get these mailed off! I actually had to restart them too after I had one bootie knit up.... I had started on 6's and didnt realize they were coming out too large. After I ripped it out I switched to a size 4 needle and it was MUCH better. :) Whew!

Matinee Jacket

Greg's cousin is expecting his first kid, a baby girl, this year! The baby shower is this weekend and my SIL and I have been teaming up to work on some handknits. She agreed to do a hat and booties and I tackled a sweater. Thanks to my MIL, I had the awesome book "Vintage Knits for Modern Babies" to flip through, and I found a cute pattern - the Matinee Jacket!



It turned out pretty cute! Mare (my SIL) picked out the yarn color (vanna's choice brand), and I found the adorable ducky buttons. :) Can't wait to have their cousin open our gift!!!!!!!


(the extra 2 are for Mare to use on her booties!)