Christmas Stocking - Finally!

All the siblings in my family have handknit stockings, made for us by Nanny, my Dad's mom.  They are awesome, and now that all the siblings are all grown up, we each have them at our homes.  I have always loved my stocking, so when I had Evy, I naturally wanted her to have a handknit stocking as well.  My stocking was always the biggest of the five, (benefit of being the youngest I think), and so I made Evy a ginormous stocking too.  Her's is definitely bigger and shares the same mottled color look, but is unique enough to stand on its own.  You can check it out here and here if you are so inclined.

Well after I had completed Evy's stocking, I realized that Kev needed one too.  He is always asking for cabled knits, so I decided the Aran Stocking from Handknit Holidays was perfect.  So here it is, Kev's Christmas Stocking.

I started this a little before last Christmas, and then promptly realized it would never be finished in time.  So it sat in a box for a year.  But as the holiday season drew near this year, I was determined to finish it!

I think it's fabulous.

I used Debbie Stoller's Full O' Sheep, which I can't seem to find in the stores anymore.  Good thing I bought a gazillion balls of it when I made Evy's stocking.  For the trim, I held one strand of Full O' Sheep, and one strand of Enchantress together.  It's the perfect amount of contrast, and matches Evy's stocking nicely.

This was a real step up in my cable knitting abilities   I feel like I might actually be able to knit that Aran sweater Kev has been requesting since I started knitting garter stitch scarves.

I've come to realize that my gift knits will never be ready in time for Christmas.  But as they are for my parents, I'm pretty sure it will be ok!

A Wee Hat

Just wanted to take a moment to share the details for the Striped Hat.  I made this recently for some friends, and I thought I would share before the deluge of Christmas knitting.

The original Baby's Striped Hat called for worsted yarn, but I really wanted to use some lovely bulky yarn I had on hand.  So I modified the pattern.  Details on ravelry.

This pattern was super simple (it's from Knit Simple, so that does make sense), and knit up quickly.  This was my first time modifying a pattern so I could use a completely different weight of yarn.  I was pretty proud of myself that it came out the right size!  Especially because there was, you know, math involved.

I used some Plymouth Baby Alpaca Brush that I had in my stash from previous baby sweater projects.  I love this yarn for babies.  It's super soft, and comes in lovely colors that are perfect for children.

In other news, I finally finished Kev's Christmas stocking.  Details coming soon!

The Perfect Hat

For several seasons now, I have wanted a slouchy hat.  I made this cabled hat and this coin stitch hat, and for some reason didn't ravel the details for either of them.  By "some reason" I mean I had a wee baby and was working outside the home.  Which I used as my excuse for not being on top of things.  Judge that as you will.

At any rate, this year I found myself with a skein of Malabrigo Sock (thank you, Mom) that I thought would be perfect for a slouchy hat.  I spent way too may hours searching for just the right pattern, and finally settled on Felicity by Wanett Clyde.  I used Followtheyarn's modifications for the lace weight version, and voila!  My own Felicity Slouchy Hat!

This is just the slouchy hat I was looking for.  It's perfect for those days when you don't want to fuss with your hair but don't want to wear a bandanna   So for me, pretty much everyday.

The yarn is, of course, squishy and lovely and full of beautiful, soft color variations.  This was my first time using Malabrigo Sock, and I loved it!

I've also made a wee baby hat for some friends, details to come.  Right now I am feverishly working on Kev's Christmas stocking.  It's the Aran Stocking from Holiday Knits.  I was trucking along just fine, and then I misread the directions late last night and didn't begin the decreases for the instep correctly.  Sigh.  So tonight there will be frogging.  And then on to Christmas knits!

Hoodsie

About a year after I bought the pattern, I finally made Hoodsie for Evy.  This was a great little pattern, I got to use up some stash yarn, and it's a nice practical hand-knit for the colder months.  All around win.

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I used Knit Picks Swish in Indigo Heather, which is really a nice little yarn.  It's soft and squishy, and affordable.  The colors are pretty, and I think it knits up nicely too.

The only downside is that it tends a pill a bit.  However, I must admit that I have only ever used Swish for Evy's sweaters.  And as any toddler would, she wears her clothes out!  I should use Swish to make myself something to see how it holds up to normal wear and tear.  Did I just create another reason to buy more yarn?

Hoodsie in action.

I love hoods, and Evy seems to like them too.  She has fun lifting them up and down over her head.  Kev thought the sweater vest looked a little like chainmail, so where better to wear it to than the Renaissance Festival?

It was a bit colder that day than we thought it would be, and poor Evy already had a cold coming on (commence mother guilt trip now).  So Kev helped her out.

Evy inside Kev's sweater.

I would love to say that I knit both this amazing sweater and his most favorite hat in the whole world, but I did not.  The sweater was a souvenir from his parents' trip to Ireland (hand knit by some lovely Irish person), and the hat was a Christmas gift from my mom years ago (hand knit by some lovely Peruvian person).  So no, I didn't knit them, but somebody did!

Olympic Knitting

Yes, I know the Olympics are over.  Sniff.  But I still want to share what I knit during the 2 weeks of awesomeness.  I put Bigger on the inside on hold because, let's face it, I simply cannot do complex knitting while doing much of anything else.  Besides, I have this completely geeky thing going where I only work on it while watching old episodes of Doctor Who.  But more on that later.

Friends of ours are having a baby in January, so I decided to use my Olympic tv watching time working on this:

It's the Umbilical Cord Hat from Stitch 'N Bitch, one of my very first knitting books.  It's a great pattern; it's easy to follow and creates an adorable hat with no seaming.

I received a free ball of Brava, the newish acrylic yarn from Knit Picks with my last order of wool.  It was some sort of promo where I got to pick a color and get a freebie with my order.  I'm not big on acrylic yarns, only because they are made from petroleum products.  Not even going to attempt to go into all that.  You're either with me on that one or you're not.  At any rate, despite my dislike of acrylic yarn, I really did enjoy using Brava.  It's super soft and not at all squeaky or scratchy, the way some acrylics can be.

This little hat only took a few days, so I started on Hoodsie for Evy.  I chose to work the 3-year-old size, because nothing is more irritating that working on something for a child and having them grow out of it before you're finished.  But now Hoodsie is on hold while I get back to Bigger on the inside and my beloved Doctor Who.

Allons-y Scarf

I've finished my Allons-y scarf!  I know, a scarf in the middle of summer - what am I thinking?  I'm thinking that I'm not the hugest fan of cotton, and I am a sucker for both themed things and sequins yarn.  I based the scarf off Lisa Gentry's Sparkle Scarf pattern, published in Knit Simple.

My scarf is a bit skinnier than the original (details on ravelry).  The lace pattern was nice and simple, nothing too daunting but still an interesting knit.

I love the sequins on the yarn, and I love the way the colors gently change as the scarf progresses.

I called it my Allons-y scarf because I am still obsessively watching Doctor Who.  So this scarf is my take on the quintessential Doctor Who scarf: tonal color instead of stripes, 6 feet instead of....10 (12?), and lace instead of garter stitch.  And of course, it's blue.

I love it.  And now, come Fall, when my doctor says, "Should we take Little Miss to the park?" I can grab my blue scarf and say, "Allons-y!"

Sidetracked

I'm still working on Iced, and it's coming along quite nicely, but I got a little sidetracked by these:

Fingerless Mitts from Weekend Knitting.  They are a super easy, quick knit, which make them perfect for gift giving.  These are for my Aunt Mary, who has been very supportive of my parents these past few months (there have been some difficulties, to say the least), and who has been very supportive of my little shop.

I made a pair of these for my mother years ago, and the aforementioned aunt has dropped hints about wanting a pair ever since.  So here they are, in a nice soft, brown heathered wool.

Goals...Old & New

Just ignore our red eyes!

Wow.  2012.  Time for my annual New Year's goal setting post.  I set five goals last year, so I'll stick with five this year.

Goal #1: Knit myself a sweater.  I've already started this lovely sweater, so I think I could succeed at this in 2012.

Goal #2:  Be happier.  This will be a goal every year I think.

Goal #3:  Be a more patient mom, and a more patient partner.  This will also most likely reappear next year.

Goal #4:  Knit myself a lace shawl.  I already know which one!  This gorgeous piece from Jane Austen Knits 2011.  Perfect.

Goal #5:  Get fit.  Which for me means being able to do 5 pull-ups, 50 squats, 20 push-ups, and a 2 minute plank.  Phew!

Wondering how I did on last year's goals?  Well, I made two out of five.  I knit a pair of socks, and I knit Kev something (the aforementioned socks).  Two out of five....hmm... 

Here's to five out of five this year!  And I hope all of your goals and dreams come true in this new year :)

Better Late Than Never

I actually have been knitting since February, I just haven’t posted about it.  Can I take a moment to blame my computer?  It’s a wee bit out of memory right now, so uploading pictures takes for-ev-er.  And with Little Miss Evelyn walking/running/climbing everywhere all the time (I swear the girl does not stop), it’s hard to wait for pictures to load at the end of a long night.  More often than not I look at my computer, glance at my finished projects, and then flop into bed.  But enough complaining, let’s get to the point of this here post – the finished project!

Citron – finally!!  I started this just after Evy was born (in March of 2010), and it became my pick-up-when-I-have-a-moment project.  For an entire year…

I know the pictures are not the best, so bear with me here.  I live in the basement and it's been raining forever.  We've actually started work on our ark.  This project was a great first shawl.  It was also my first use of lace weight yarn.  I used Knit Picks Shadow – 100% merino wool.  And this shawl is for me, thank you very much ;-)

Although I do think it looks much better on Evy.

I'll update Ravelry and links sometime...maybe.

First Project of 2011

Hooray for finished projects!  I've recently decided to up the challenges with my knitting.  Why just admire cables from afar?

This is my first finished project of the year - the Breckenridge Cowl.

Of course I just realized that I sewed the buttons on differently than the designer...but hey - who's to know?  I don't think Nancy, my mom-in-law, will notice!

And the buttons look ok I think.

This is a thank you gift for Nancy, I hope she likes it!  The cables weren't that hard at all!  I've been putting off learning how to make cables for years now, but they were really very doable.  This was a great first cable project.  There is absolutely no shaping, so you can focus on the cables alone.

Christmas Stocking #1

I've finished something!  I love finishing projects.  Since baby girl came along, my rate of finishing projects has declined dramatically.  But that is perfectly ok, as my time is now taken up with other very pleasant things like learning how to crawl (yep!) and pull ourselves up (brilliant!).

I have in my queue no less than three Christmas stockings.  I finish a project, on average, every one to two months.  As it is now October, I'm not really sure how I'm going to be completing all three stockings.  But Christmas deadlines are all a part of knitting!

Christmas Stocking #1:

And yes, I know this is a horrible picture.  Becoming a fantastic photographer is on my to-do list.  After learning how to sew, grow my ownfood, and raise chickens.  Someday.

Right, back to the knitting.  This stocking is for my sister's little girl.  I made stockings for her two sons, and so this little one needed a matching stocking too.  An odd note about these stockings - they're not blocked.  That's right, I didn't block any of them.  I know, I know, but I have a good reason.  Ok so the first two stockings were made when I was new to knitting.  I hadn't yet grasped what blocking can do for you, how it smooths everything out and really "finishes" a project.  I was in college and a little bit lazy and I didn't want to make the extra effort.  Now this stocking I would block, but then it wouldn't match the others in their lumpy imperfection.  Plus, and this is really more to the point, the product I use for blocking (Kookaburra, which is very nice), contains nut oil, and one of my sister's sons is allergic.  So long story short, I'm committing some knitting sacrelege and not blocking this stocking either!  That's right, I'm a crazy lady!

Project Details

Pattern:  Striped Christmas Stocking
Yarn:  Frog Tree Alpaca that I bought from Kaleidoscope Yarns (love this store)

And It Only Took 10 Years

I've been exercising.  I know, right?  I've been doing this work out video, and I actually really like it.  If you know me, you know that I don't really do the work out thing.  And guess what?  I have so much more energy!  I know I'm sounding like an advertisement right now, but really, I feel good these days.  Even with Little Miss randomly waking up in the middle of the night.  My husband, who works here and blogs here, has been telling me how much better I'd feel if I worked out for the past 10 years now.

Let us take a moment now.  Ten years?  Wow.

Ok back to my advertisement for working out.  I was all excited about it last night, and Kev says to me, "Ah.  Another convert.  And it only took 10 years."

Guess what else?  I got some new yarn in the mail yesterday!  I'm making a Christmas stocking for Anna, and I ordered some Frog Tree yarn from Kaleidoscope Yarns.  I love this store (well, the online store anyway, I've never been to Vermont).  They always send a tea bag with your purchase.  Nice.  I'll post some pictures of the yarn and the stocking soon.

I'd Rather Be...

But we all have things that take up our time, so I'll stop complaining.  And no, Little Miss is not the time consumer that I'm referring to.  Ok, I was up every hour last night, so I'm going to stop trying to be cryptic and witty and just show you this:

A trick she learned from one of her cousins!  I do have another finished project to share, but this is also a gift, so I'll wait to post details and pictures.  And yes, by golly I will take pictures of this project!

Too Many Things

Too many updates I'm afraid, and definitely not enough time.  I did finish a project recently.  But I forgot to take pictures of the thing!  Argh!  I'm just going to go ahead and chalk that up to still being a new mom.  I just can't remember everything.  But I figure, I remember to feed and clothe Little Miss, so that counts for a lot, right?  I promise (to myself mostly) that I will snag the gifty knit back for a few moments to take a picture so I can share it, at some point.  Anywho...this is what I knit.  Specifications to come.

Evy had her first dip in the pool over the holiday weekend.  She was...concerned, but not unhappy.

Hope your July is going great!

What An Incredible Smell You've Discovered!

Ah parenthood.  All kinds of new grossness.  We have a phantom smell in our living room.  It seems to be coming from the carpet, the couch, and Evy's toy box.  At first, I could have sworn a cat burglar broke in and left his mark.  But then I realized that the sour smell is probably emanating from the various surfaces that Little Miss has spit up on.  Now, let me just say that of course we clean up her spits.  But apparently, we are not doing a good enough job.  We've washed the couch cover and there is currently baking soda covering the carpet.  The plan is to fabreez the couch tonight before bedtime.  We'll see.

And may I just say, she's never actually spit into her toy box.  Sometimes there are no reasons.

 A souvenir from the museum.  Not sure why Kev looks grumpy.

Little Miss is rolling over these days!!  From back to tummy.  Apparently, she likes to take the tough stuff head on.  Must take after her daddy...

Oh, and bonus points if you got the Star Wars quote ;-)

Jumps

I swear time jumps around here.  You blink, and you're in mid-June.  Work is.  Yep, it is.  I've been able to truck along nicely on my latest knitting project while on my lunch break.  Can't really say much about it cause it's a gift for someone, but I'll post pictures later.  Scary storms last week, but thankfully, they hit after we were all home and safe in our little cave apartment.  I do love a basement apartment, despite all the bugs.  We had two spiders in the shower this week.  Bleh.

Our friends are coming in from out of town this weekend!  Actually, they're probably already here.  I'm very excited.  We wanted to hit up the zoo, and I think we still will, but it will have to be a short trip.  Ninety degree weather and little babies do not mix.  Actually, 90 degree weather and Brig don't really mix either.

Kev is a leeetle stressed these days.  Poor fellow.  Starting a practice is hard work.  But I know it will pay off for him in the end.  Oh why yes, I did say starting a practice.  Take a look.  I promise more later on this as well.  Once time stops jumping.

June and Nervousness

Evy and I are alone this weekend, as Kev is currently on his way up to Chicagoland to take yet another course.  It's a long drive for him by himself, but he enjoys the classes.  Plus, how much longer would it feel if Evy and I tagged along?  Well considering that Little Miss does not much care for her car seat, I think interminable would be about how it would feel.  So we're alone, but that's not what I'm scared of.

I'm nervous about next week.  It's back to work for Brig come Wednesday.  I've been having back to work nightmares for a week or two now.  They usually involve me showing up late, or forgetting everything I've learned on the job, or somehow forgetting where my office is entirely.  I've been obsessing over my return while Kev was here to talk to, so I shudder to think what will go on in my head this weekend.

But, how cute is this?

On a more positive note, Evy and I went to the bank and Target this morning all by ourselves.  There was no screaming in the car, and she was a very good girl while I gave into the various temptations that present themselves at Target.  Like these fish outfits.

Oh!  Aaannnd I have a new nephew!  He was born on Wednesday and is healthy and happy.  I haven't seen him yet, but I've been told he's a charmer :)

2 Months

Really?  How did that happen?  Evy is two months old already.  She weighed in at 13 pounds 8 ounces, thank you very much.  And she is officially two feet :)

The thing I'm loving the best right now would be how she responds to us.  She is all smiles when we talk to her, and I swear she's learning how to laugh.  She tries it out when Kev gives her kisses and tickles her cheek with his beard.

There has been little time for knitting, which is sad.  But the trade off is definitely worth it ;-)

Patterns

I've started keeping track of Evie's feedings again.  I don't really care if she is on a tight schedule or not, but the fact that I am going back to work makes this an issue.  I have to at least be able to tell Nancy how many times a day the turtleduck needs to eat!  I've also charted my plan to introduced bottled breast milk.  I'm giving myself until a week from this Monday, and then the process must begin.  I never realized just how much time a mom devotes to thinking about baby things.

Kev planted some herbs for our kitchen window!  The one on the left is oregano, and the one on the right is not an herb. Actually, we're not sure what it is.  Nancy had a little shoot of it growing in a vase of water and gave it to us to see if we could keep it alive.  It's a nice plant even if we don't know what it is :)

He also planted some basil :)

And I made some very gooey, very delicious chocolate mud bars.  Yum.

Showers of Snow and Presents

Well I must say that I had a lovely weekend.  Kev and I went and bought our crib, and we put it all together!  I think this is a good thing, considering I will be "full term" next week.  Gah!

 

I also had another baby shower, this one thrown by my very sweet in-laws.  We were given so many nice things, and a good many cute dresses!  My in-laws gave me the little dress and sweater that are hanging on the crib in the picture.  I feel like all the little one will need is a beret and we'll be ready for Paris :)

The week has started off a little less lovely than the weekend, only because Kev and I both had to brave the snow to get to work.  And although I know it's no D.C. out there, southern Ohio just doesn't handle large snow amounts very well.  We could get up to 9", which is a lot for Cincinnati.  However, the silver lining is that we both left work early and are now safe and snug at home. 

Kev is spending his extra time working out in the apartment (or trying to, poor guy).  While I am drinking tea and sorting through baby clothes.  I could do this everyday.