Cue the trumpets!

It's been far too long since my last update.

I have a new FO: my Cavern the cardigan sweater. I love it! I made it out of Horstia Maulbeerseide Schurwolle (try saying that ten times quickly). I followed the pattern almost exactly, but added my diamonds with intarsia. The pattern can be found on http://www.cosmicpluto.com/

Hooray!

Yet another pair of booties...

I've been meaning to try the baby booties found on Heather Bailey's site: http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/heather_bailey/sewing/index.html and I finally completed a pair for my cousin's new baby who will be making her debut in October. They took me approximately ten minutes to complete and I was able to use materials that I already had!

I wish I had discovered these while my boys were still babies.

The Great Baby Bootie Caper

I was wasting time one evening browsing different sites when I came across this:

http://www.papastour.com/products/textiles-rugs/baby-booties

After posting about it on http://www.craftster.org/ and getting many suggestions on how these were knit, I came up with the above.

I ended up knitting it like a sock from the leg to the toes. I used short rows for the heel and decided not to do the yo eyelets. Instead, I incorporated some intarsia stitches to create the toe triangle. I would now vote against intarsia and for duplicate stitch instead! What a mess.

I am still not completely satisfied with the result. The major complaint I have is that it does not seem like it would stay on a baby's foot. We'll see.

She quilts, too!

So this is my fist official attempt at quilting. I decided to make a traditional scrap square pattern with non-traditional circles tossed randomly throughout. Guess what I found out? Even when appliqued, circles are a pain in the butt.

It's still in the quilting stage, but you can see how the pieces fit together and such. We'll see.

Hot off the needles!

Hooray. I finished my first pair of socks. I am pleased with the result, but I didn't need nearly the amount of yarn I purchased. I'll have to search for the receipt. Hmph.

I decided to take a picture of me wearing the spring weight sweater out of Blue Sky Cotton. The neck is still a mess, but I'll work on that tonight.

My first real sock!

I started this, frogged about 1/4 of one sock, and started again. I'm learning the hard way about how important gauge is for socks.

I absolutely love the colors and patterns in this Crystal Palace Bamboo Wool yarn. I'd get enough for a second pair, but the boys need to eat.. tee hee.

I'll post another picture when I'm finished.

Three new fo's!

It's about time for an update... I can't say that I didn't warn you. As the weather warms we spend more time prancing and playing outside. The downside to our recreation? I spend less time knitting.

I did, however, find time to throw together a new double point needle case. I looked around a bit first, but couldn't find a cute one that was also affordable. I made this standard roll-up case out of three sheets of craft felt.

I finally finished my circle tote. The pattern is available at Leigh Radford's site. http://www.leighradford.com/ It was a PITA, but totally worth it.

I also finished my first no-pattern sweater! I used the basic guidelines for a top-down raglan and incorporated my own shaping on the bodice and sleeves. The Blue Sky Alpaca cotton that I used is awesome... very soft.

Whoo hoo!

I finished the baby gifts, and I'm onto a rather spooky intarsia project. I'll post pictures later when I have time. Until then... I'm off on another mommy adventure. lol.

Why am I such a night owl?

So it never fails. I start the evening with good intentions: in bed by ten or ten-thirty. By the time midnight rolls around I'm wide awake and itching for more to do.

I thought I'd post a picture of my oldest son with needles and yarn in hand. He likes to stab at the ball of yarn and "knit" just like Mom. Awwww...

As promised, I also included a photo of the first part of the late baby gifts. I found an awesome baby bootie pattern in Stitch and Bitch Nation and I actually had the same exact yarn it called for hidden within the depths of my stash! (Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride bulky.. in blueblood red) Even though I haven't blocked these cuties yet, I am still very pleased. Let's hope they fit the baby for whom they are intended.

Next up: part two of the baby gifts - the embroidered onesie that is killing my fingers.

I'm not sure what went wrong with my photo uploads. I will try it again.

My second attempt at blogdome

Wow.
I've never been good at keeping journals. During childhood and the teen years, I would start out with good intentions (I almost typed "attentions" - hello Freud?) but all that I have to show for these intentions now is a box full of blank books.

With that having been said, I will begin my blog. Now, I need to warn you: most of what you will see here will be posted while attempting to simultaneously entertain two small but highly mobile boys. My posts may be short, filled with errors, or completely non-existent.

I am just now getting around to documenting the completion of my pink and orange top-down raglan. I used a pattern from Knitting Pure and Simple, but as is usually the case, I made it more difficult by doing the color change in the sleeves. What a PITA it turned out to be. Color changes are very difficult in the round. Was I aware of this before I started? No! Will I attempt it again? Perhaps. Yarn: Cascade 220

I also completed a felted hat from Pick up Sticks. Again, I did not follow the pattern exactly (are you noticing a pattern?). I'm not sure what is up with my gauge, but the thing was huge before felting. You know how you are supposed to check your item every minute or so to see if it is down to the desired size? Lets just say I didn't need to do this for my hat. Two complete cycles later I have a cute two-inch thick (okay... not really that thick) hat. I used Brown Sheep yarn.

My final FO of note is a cabled cardigan made out of the softest, coolest yarn from Di've: Teseo. This yarn is a dream. I whipped this puppy out in about a week and a half. The pattern was from Sweater Wizard (love it!) and I added my own cable pattern on the front panels and along the hood edge. Since my mommy wardrobe consists of several hoodies, this pink number will fit right in.

Up next: completion of an already late baby gift. More on this later.....