Hat & Glove set

Recently I was able to do a commissioned project for my friend Natalie! She was awesome and sent a package containing not only the yarn for the project, but homemade marshmallows, fancy hot chocolate, and some teas! YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The yarn is amazing too.... it's wool, but SO springy and cushy and soft! It's Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool. I am now a big fan.

I ended up making up my own pattern for some fingerless gloves: (More details on my ravelry page here)

And she had told me she liked this hat pattern, so I was able to sneak in the Regina Hat as a surprise for her too:

I mailed them off this last week and I am happy to say she recieved them well! I love this pic she took of her in her matching set:

I love knitting for people who send pics of them/their kids/etc wearing the items!!!!

Gobble Gobble

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! We have our christmas tree up (already!), and Norah couldn't be happier! Our fridge is full of leftovers that I DIDN'T cook (thanks mom!!!), there is a little boy dancing around in my belly, and I finally have some of that lovely yarn on the needles for the first time:

Hope everyone else is as feeling as thankful as I am! :)

Yarrrrrrrn!

I got N's tank top done and I love it! I think it should fit great this summer. Speaking of summer, what is with the weather lately? 70 and sunny, amazing. We have spent a lot of time outside lately which is a delight. She gets more and more confident walking around on the grass, etc. Anyway here is the tank! I used some solid green leftover Swish Superwash for the top part. I think it almost matches the green in the other yarn perfectly! :-)

 Aaaaand I got my March Yarn of the Month!!!! For the second time I got 2 SKEINS! Whew. I repeat again: I am the luckiest DIL ever, seriously.

  Love the colors! It's Berroco Peruvia (100% wool). I immediately thought it might be perfect for husband, but we will see. It might have to marinate in the stash for awhile. Speaking of the stash... I need to do some serious stashdiving. Things are just languishing in there and probably getting lonely. Yarn can be lonely, right? Just kidding. :) I would like to try and use more of it to make things off my list of projects I want to knit this year. I really am enjoying having a list - usually I just knit things as they come up (babies, christmas, gifts, etc)... the one problem is as I cross things off and feel accomplished, I keep adding MORE! Haha! Currently I am working on a hat for my friend Shawn. We went to high school together and she is just a great person. She is really sweet in that she always gets everyone a christmas gift every year. AND it's usually yarn for me!!! I mean awesome, right? I made her some fingerless gloves once but after getting like 5 skeins from her this past christmas I was feeling the itch to reward her for all her generosity. Shawn and her husband have 2 cats so I thought she would get a kick out of this: Pattern: Kittyville Hat Yarn: I Love This Wool! Ombres Shawn gave me the yarn so I think it's fitting I make her something with it. Cross your fingers she likes it!

Flying helmet

Last winter my friend had a baby boy, and also had a plan to make him a hat. Well she never got it finished (something about being a WORKING mom, I can't imagine the lack of knitting time!!!) Anyway I told her as a late christmas gift this year that I would knit that hat pattern.


Pattern: Flying Helmet, with mods
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool

The pattern only went up to the size "6-12 months" and the recipient is currently 13 months old, so I knew I would have to modify the size a little. I chose that size and then used regular worsted yarn on size 7's. I also modified the pattern to knit in the round... basically once I had the front flap and ear flaps knit, I winged it. Turned out okay, although the decreases at the top are a bit more lumpy than I wanted (should I have skipped using any knit rounds between decreases?) Anyway I am sending the hat to my friend tomorrow so I hope that it fits her little boy!!!!

Also in the works: I have cast on for the Owls sweater, but I think I might need to go up one more size (using worsted yarn instead of bulky that the pattern calls for). Waiting to get some more measurements of my friend (the recipient)

Aaaaand Mare and I divvied up the yarn for our blanket and we both cast on. The yarn is sooooooooo soft (see last post for pics, it's Knitpicks Biggo). I even did a provisional cast on (first time?) so we can join our blanket halves together seamlessly (I hope!).

OH! Also I got a wonderful picture of my friend and her little girl that I knit the Cheery Scrap Cap for! It is big on her but looks adorable.... look at her little face!!!

Slightly bigger hats and more

I had originally written my Basic Toddler Hat pattern while making some hats for a friend's 2 young boys. Ultimately I decided the hats were a bit too small for the recipients, because the hats seemed to fit Norah and her friends pretty well (and the recipients were older).

Anyway I decided to try them again with an extra inch of width. I am going to go ahead and send them off and see if they fit... if not I will report back and try AGAIN! Good thing I know lots of little boys being born this year I can send them too!


Modification: CO 72 sts

Right now I'm working on a hat for my friend's little boy... she had started working on it last year but never got it done, so I told her as a christmas gift THIS year I'd knit it for her!

Coming eventually: a blanket project that I am co-knitting with my SIL! Wound up the yarn today:


Yarn: Biggo from Knitpicks

It's super soft and squishy and I am very excited to knit with it! Anyway hope you all are having a great week! I had fun going out to lunch today with Cynthia for her 28th birthday! ;-)

R.I.P. Pom pom

I made this cute striped toddler hat back in 2007 out of some buttery soft Rowan RYC Cashsoft: I didn't really have a recipient to give it to, so I hung onto it. Well now that I have a daughter, I got it out this past fall and lo and behold it fit great! We've been using it a lot since it's so soft and stretchy. Unfortunately though, N discovered that I am a poor pom-pom maker, and that she could pull bits of yarn out of the pom pom. She still is in the phase where she likes to put little bits of things in her mouth, so this was getting frustrating! :-) The other day I finally did some surgery and removed the sad, falling apart little pom pom.Anyone think I should try and replace it? I'd have to use a different yarn since I no longer have the original stuff. Or is it fine as is? Thanks!

My SIL rocks!

Just got some amazing photos of the projects I had neglected to document in the last post!!!

Here are the "mario mushrooms" I knit for my nephews (who are obsessed with all things mario):


Pattern: Super Mario Mushroom Knitted Toy
Yarn: Misc acrylic/wool blends

Next we have the hat/glove set I made for my SIL:


Pattern: To Norway With Love (hat)
Yarn: Ella Rae classic heathers (worsted)

I had some trouble with this hat. The first time I knitted it, my floats were too tight (even with trying to keep them loose) and I couldn't even get it over my head. *sigh* I cast it on again, only this time adding an extra couple hearts to the pattern repeat (some other Rav knitter had posted about doing this in their project page too - I'd recommend browsing people's notes if you want to knit this hat). I think it would have been fine just adding one heart, but it makes for a comfortable fit on your head (not too tight). As far as the length I also skipped knitting the last row of hearts because I thought it looked odd with all that length. It's still a little "slouchy" (not formed to the head like a beanie).


Pattern: Mobile Mittens (using color pattern from the To Norway With Love mittens)
Yarn: Ella Rae classic heathers (worsted)

I didn't knit the glove pattern that matched the hat because I wanted something where you could still use your fingers. I know I hardly ever wear gloves because I want to be able to answer my phone, or in my SIL's case, use her camera on a photoshoot! I hope she enjoys them.

Christmas Catch-up!

OK let's see what I've been doing these past few weeks!

I finished that monkey and gave it and the bear to my friend's little boys... they seemed to like them! Yay :)


I knit a hat and gloves for my SIL and some plush "Mario bros" mushrooms for my nephews, but pics will have to wait because I'm dumb and didn't take any before I gifted them! Luckily my SIL is an amazing photographer and has agreed to get pics to send to me. Yay!

My husband's friend has emailed me a link to a "beard hat" website, where they were selling knitted hat/beard things... for a primo price! He said if anyone could knit him one it would be me :) Well unbeknownst to him, his wife also emailed me and asked if I could knit it for him for christmas and she would pay me. I'm always up for a commission! It was a fun pattern, although the hat definitely needed the extra repeat in the length (and probably could have used an additional one for large man heads). I like it though!


Pattern: Lumberjack
Yarn: Patons wool or some other 100% wool yarn.

For a close friend of Greg's family (who is basically like our Aunt now), I knit some basic worsted weight house socks/boot socks. I think she liked them!


Pattern: Basic sock formula from Cynthia
Yarn: Patons wool

Finally I crammed in one silly little project for my dear husband. He's an architect so I thought this may appeal to him... it's just a fun little toy, plus I hadn't yet knitted anything from this book! (Knitting Mochimochi) I adapted it to be smaller, knitting only 4 buildings and making the "base" of it smaller. I also tethered some of the buildings together/to the base to keep them more upright... they tended to want to lean in random directions. That's probably due to my unskilled sewing job though!


Pattern: Shyscrapers
yarn: Misc worsted wool or wool blends

Quick and easy

Whipped out a hat for my brother for a christmas present. I had made him this hat in grey for Christmas 2009... so I thought since he loved it so much I'd make a new one. It might be getting worn out too. It only took me a few days!

Pattern: Bulky Knitted Hat

Basic toddler hat

A reader asked the particulars on the boys hats I finished the other day, so I thought I'd write down what I did. I'm sure there are a million patterns like this out there (it's pretty basic) but I know sometimes it's nice not to have to sort through them all!

(This pattern is the property of Lauren Estes and may not be reproduced except for personal use. Please do not otherwise print or distribute this pattern without Lauren Estes’ express written permission. Thanks!)

Yarn: Lion brand Wool Ease, or other worsted weight yarn (Patons would be fabulous). Can use one color or as many as you'd like!
Needles: US7 dpns or a long circular needle for magic loop.
Sizing: 12 months to 2 years, depending on head size. This fits my 11 month old surprisingly well, but her head is in the 98% range!

Pattern:

CO 64 sts.
If using dpns, divide evenly on needles. I used the magic loop technique on a long circular.

Join to begin working in the round and begin K2, P2 ribbing until piece measures one inch.
Switch to stockinette (knit every stitch). Here you can stripe your hat as you wish, using as many colors as you want. For my hats, I knit the following pattern using 2 colors:

Knit three rows with the main color - "MC" (the color you used for the ribbing)
Knit one row in a second color - "SC"
Knit one row MC
Knit 5 rows SC
Knit one row MC
Knit 1 row SC
Switch back to main color and knit every round until piece measures 6 inches from cast on edge.

Decreases:
*K2tog, K6* repeat till end of round.
K all stitches.
*K2tog, K5* repeat till end of round.
*K2tog, K4* repeat till end of round.
*K2tog, K3* repeat till end of round.
*K2tog, K2* repeat till end of round.
*K2tog, K1* repeat till end of round.
*K2tog* repeat till end of round.

Cut yarn and pull the tail tightly through the remaining stitches. Weave in all ends and block if desired.

Boy Hats!

After a week away from home (with almost NO knitting) I finally finished 2 simple hats to give to my cookie-baking friend:


I hope they fit her cute little guys... I made them the same size because I think I remember her posting that her younger son had a Norah-sized head. ;-) Now to get these mailed!

Christmas knitting 09

Happy 2010! Before we look forward to the new year, let me recap my christmas knitting!

First and foremost, I can now reveal my secret project that I've been working on since JUNE.... it is the Estes Vest, and I knit it as a christmas gift for my sister in law!!!!!!


It was quite a project... cables, charts, POCKETS (never made those before!), and more! It was really a lot of fun though and I am very happy with the finished project.




And more importantly, so is Mare!!!! Woot. And it fits her, another plus! Apparently she even liked it enough to wear to her husband's family christmas party the next day... that was so awesome of her!


Next up was gifts for my family. We just had our christmas celebrations the other night since my mom was out of town! First up: I blogged about the "button gloves" I made for my mom earlier, and luckily she was very impressed when I gave them to her!


Also a big hit was the hat I made for my brother! He put it on right away and made comments like he thought it looked like something he'd see at abercrombie or something.... I'll take that as a compliment!!!!


(yes ladies, he's single!)

Finally, my other big project.... my dad's vest!!!!


For all the plain gray stockinette I had to slog through, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out... and also happy I was able to block a few extra inches into the width! :-)


Luckily dad indulged me and tried it on when I gave it to him.... and it fit! YEAH!


Finally, two small projects I whipped up in my "spare knitting time" before xmas.... Yes I actually had some! I know you will all hate me for that. Maybe next year I will be the one sweating it out and knitting into the wee hours of the night on something :-). I made a simple yellow dishcloth for some friends of ours (not anything photo worthy) and then I did some gloves. Simple fingerless ones for my Aunt: (one of my fav patterns: malabrigo mitts)


And lace up "opera gloves" (pattern) for my friend Shawn. I made them shorter than what the pattern specified, but I think they are plenty long enough!


Whew! So that sums up Christmas 09. I am very satisfied with what I got done, and am looking forward to what I can whip up in 2010!!!!

Mad Hatter

There seem to be lots of random knitted hats scattered around my house these days! Let's see what we have....

Just finished this simple brown beanie (kind of a small adult size or child) to donate along with an unused scarf I knitted awhile ago to my friend's church. They will hopefully be given to someone who needs them!


This is a warm wool kiddo hat, might be going to a lucky nephew of mine! I am pretty happy with how it came out, I was just making it up as I went along. I knew I wanted a warm thick brim though! (and stripes of course)


Preemie hats! Besides the original blue one I knitted while creating my cabled preemie hat pattern (link), I knitted an additional one in pink, and then 2 more hats using a different pattern, then a light blue hat using my own random pattern. Add those to the cute white preemie hat that Cynthia donated, I have 6 hats so far to give to charity!!!! I hope to have at least 10 before I mail them to the lady in Indy, and I think Jess is knitting me one, so doing pretty good! The more the merrier really.

Parade of Hats

Woah, I haven't blogged in a MONTH! Eek.... I get so caught up in reading other people's blogs I forget about mine! Sorry again.... jeez... someone needs to get on me about blogging! :)

OK time for another catchup: This time, its a parade of hats! Apparently that is all I can knit!

Pink baby hat? done & gifted to Larissa for her little girl coming this summer!


Green baby "toddler" hat? done and waiting to find out who it will go to.


Mom's sweater? second sleeve is 3/4 way done. (no picture, nothing exciting to see)

I made "newborn" sized baby hats to use in sets with the booties I completed at the beginning of the year (I finally finished the ties to thread through the booties finally).
for a little boy:


for a little girl... yes i know the hat stripes and bootie ties don't match... I ran out of purple :( but they are still cute together!


And I made this super sweet baby bonnet out of my Last Minute Knitted Gifts book:


I love it!!!! I need to make booties to go with it now.

Currently: Hat problems! Apparently even though I have made a million hats this year I am still not able to judge size. Or maybe I just need to pay attention to gauge :-) Hmmm who would have thought that was important???

I had finished a hat for my coworker last week...I knitted the entire thing once and it looked like this:


Kinda big, right? I wasn't too excited with the stripes either.I thought his head was bigger than mine and that it would fit...took it into work and had him try it on.... NOPE! Oops. Sooo... rip rip ripped it out.

Second try:


Muuuuch better! I will give it to him(again) tomorrow so cross your fingers!

Also I started a cute football helmet style hat from Itty Bitty Hats.... but I had to rip that one back too! EESH! Hopefully my mojo will get back on track soon....

One more secret FO but I can't blog about it till after this weekend.... hint: its for my nephew who will be turning ONE already! WHEW!

Last minute Christmas Knitting continues....

OK here goes!

1. A Christmas gift to myself... I ripped out and reknit the lower section of the sleeves on my hourglass sweater....(can you tell which sleeve has been reknitted? hehe)


They were beautiful but too long and too wide.


Now they are a lot more manageable and won't get so caught in my coat sleeves! Yay!!!!!

2. Noro striped scarf - DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Isn't she beautiful????????????????????????


Noro is magic. This is another christmas present to myself... Wow, so far this list is awfully selfish!!! :-/


Sorry, I had to take a million pics of this scarf... it is really photogenic, no???

3. Finally, a present for someone else! I just need to figure out who. Originally I was using the leftovers from Holden's blanket to make him a matching hat... (cute, no?)


Well apparently I suck at swatching and at doing math, because it came out a teensy bit big...


YES - it fits MY head. I am going to take it with me when I see the nephews at christmas and hope it fits one of the kiddos with the brim turned up. If not,... I will (sigh) rip it out and try again. Bleh!

4. TIE FOR MY DAD!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Sorry it is blocking... I will get cuter shots later but ZOMG ITS DONEEEEEEEEE! Those teensy metal needles really cramp up my hands so it is a big relief. Also for those of you not paying attention, I had this scarf almost half done back in AUGUST for my dad's birthday present... OOPS.... at least he will get it for xmas!


Here it is compared to a store bought tie I was using as a template!

I am on vacation this week so expect more knitting! Yay! For now I am exhausted so I am off to bed... hope everyone is staying safe and warm in this icy winter weather!