Thursday, May 29, 2008

Under the Sea

I whipped up these little stitch markers on Tuesday during nap time. They are for a Good Karma swap on Ravelry. My partner loves the sea, so I thought this was appropriate. These little guys were so cute I had to make a couple for myself!

*No, these were not made with the same type of pin that Lily swallowed. I was extremely careful that nothing was dropped on the floor!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Like Crack for Knitters

Hi. My name is Jess and I'm addicted to knitting baby booties. Maybe it's the instant gratification, maybe it's the shear cuteness of it all, I don't know. I just know I need more. This is the super duper stay on baby bootie from Knitting for Baby. I've knit it enough times that I don't need to look at the pattern anymore. Just cast on and go. These were knit with some Koigu (two strands) from my stash. I had enough left over to make another pair, but I decided to branch out and make an EZ Baby Surprise Hat. Unfortunately the hat is too big for Lily, so I have to wait until Addie gets home from her time at Grandma and Grandpa's to get a picture taken. Had I used a single strand for the hat, I think it would have been the perfect size. However, I find EZ's vagueness just a little too vague when it comes to choosing the right yarn. I think I need to find myself a copy of The Knitters Book of Yarn to study while reading EZ. I think it's because she lists everything in ounces or in her own brands of yarn that I have trouble converting it to other brands. Just gimme some yardage lady! :)



Saturday, May 24, 2008

What a Long Strange Trip It's Been....

Lily had her appendix out last night. It's a very long saga (starting Tuesday night/Wednesday morning), but the short story is that she swollowed a pin and it went into her appendix. We've been in the hospital since Wednesday afternoon and hope to go home sometime tomorrow. I cannot say enough wonderful things about the doctors and nurses here, but it will be a relief to be home again.

She is doing well this morning but is in a lot of pain. I'll post more including cute hospital pictures when we are home.

*Edited to add: see 4 P's in a Pod for the extended story minus photos.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Unexplained Knitterly Behavior


The Perfect Bootie

Have you ever started something that you know beyond a reasonable doubt will not work out, yet you keep going regardless? That was me yesterday. I had this little sample of fat sock yarn from Hello Yarn that I thought would make the most perfect baby booties ever. I even have the cutest pink ribbon that says, "princess," to use as the tie. The yarn is soft and plump and has the absolute best twist - it's -pretty much the perfect sock yarn. I started knitting my standard baby bootie from Knitting for Baby. Somewhere right after the sole of the bootie I realized that I wasn't going to have enough yarn. But the skein had a tag attached that said 170 yds... that's enough for 2 pairs of booties. I must have enough yarn.

Nope, I had enough for exactly one bootie. One. The tag was for an entire skein, not a sample. I've written to Hello Yarn and am begging begging begging for another sample/skein. Otherwise I may have to come up with a line of unmatching booties and start telling people they are all the rage. Could I be a baby trendsetter?!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Pretty, pretty!

Since it's raining like cats and dogs today (of course it's raining because we're having our chimney taken out today!) I decided I need proof that we really do see the sun sometimes. This was taken last week during the brief period where the sun actually shone on our corner of Lake Superior. Let me just have a moment and soak up that sun....

The flowers were destined to be a mother's day present for my mom, but the yarn is all mine. It's Alpaca Sox from Classic Elite Yarns. I received it as a swap package a while back but hadn't taken any pictures that truly did it justice. I believe this colorway is Dusk. It's beautiful inside, but you can see that in the sun, it shines.

You've got to love a yarn that has a name as simple as Alpaca Sox. It tells it like it sees it. You want alpaca sock yarn, well here it is. Nice and simple. That's truth in advertising people!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Happy Mother's Day!

Isn't she just the cutest Mommy you've ever seen? She's been through a lot in the last few months and she deserved to have wonderfully comfy silk socks. She got her socks in time on Mother's Day (although I finished them in the car and I did have to sew in the ends after she opened the package)
The socks look a touch too big. I made them to fit my feet, but hers are a little smaller and I always forget. I also left off the lazy daisies... I kind of like them this way.

Details:
Pattern: Patternworks Sockilicious Sock of the Month Club
Yarn: Regia Silk
Modifications: I just left off the daisies. Otherwise knitted as written.

photo credit goes to my sister Syren. Thanks Sis!

Friday, May 9, 2008

Can You Say "Sucka!"


I'm a sucker for a sale. My LYS had this Be Sweet mohair on sale. It was 50% off... so it's a Two-Fer as my little sister would say. Instead of just buying one and calling it good, I bought two. Yup, I'm a sucka. It's the beads. I'm helpless in the face of beads that I don't have to string myself.

I decided that if I don't need the second ball, then it will become a good swap item to throw into a package for someone.

To continue on the sucka theme, I just had to cast on and see what this yarn wanted to be. (Yes, I still am working on the socks. Yes, I am still on deadline.) Nothing like a little procrastination to make the sock deadline loom closer! The yarn definitely doesn't want to be anything on small needles. There's just too much boucle in it for that to work. The yarn doesn't want to be anything fancy - the texture and beads will overwhelm any real lacework. I thought about a cool smoke ring, but I didn't quite have enough yarn for that (even with 2 balls). BUT... it does tend toward feather and fan. Yep, this little ball is making a very nice little feather and fan scarf for me.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Crazy Fast Knitting (Or, Will I Make My Deadline?)

I've been knitting super fast (well sort of) to finish these socks in time for Mother's Day. I had hoped to have the second sock done today so I could take it to Knit Night at my LYS and have some moral support while I embroidered the Lazy Daisy's on the leg. Unfortunately I'll have moral support while I knit the foot instead. Ah well... not much to be done about that now. Just keep knitting. Keep Knitting.

Other more pressing concerns have taken priority over this sock. Like the fact that I'm in yet another yarn swap (this time for Round 3 of Guilty Pleasures on Ravelry) and I just don't know what to get my pal so I've spent a ton of time searching the internet for crazy luxurious fibers that I desperately want (i.e. quivet, muskox, yak, even buffalo!). Eee... that's a dangerous search!

Plus, I somehow thought that Mother's Day was further away than it really is. For some reason it seemed like I should get 2 whole weeks in May before Mother's Day. I had the first sock finished a few weeks back and set it aside for a bit. I started some other things, finished the hippo, worked some booties, everything but the second sock. Darned day just sort of snuck up on me!

To quote one of my favorite kid movies... "Just Keep Moving Forward." It's time to knit.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

For Marcy

Marcy asked me about the size of my Branching Out. It's done with Malabrigo Laceweight with burgundy beads. The needle is your average length (6-7" I would guess) dpn. The bag is intended to be used as a pencil bag, but works nicely to hold the yarn and wip. I would say that the bag is at least 8" long. Knitty.com says that both versions (sock weight and laceweight) should be 7" wide after being blocked.

Some troubleshooting ideas: I would say to knit a few inches and then spread it out on your needles to get a more accurate picture. Are you doing the 3 garter stitches on each edge? Again, blocked size is always different from unblocked. If none of this works, I can take a look at it and see what's going on.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Mary Jane's Bootie

Baby's Got Bootie

I was joking with another Jess the other day about how saying "Bootie" makes us giggle. Well, try saying "Fuzzy angora bootie" without just a little giggle. These booties are for a yet-to-be-born little one. I've agreed to be a post-partum doula for a mom and dad here in the area. As part of the "Welcome to the Outside" process, she's going to get a new pair of booties. These little balls of fluff are supposed to be Mary Jane's. I've just got to work up the courage to learn to crochet the strap. I think I'm going to forgo the button closure since I'm always paranoid about babies and buttons.

Pattern: Mary Jane's from Creative Knitting
Yarn: some angora fluff - I lost both ball bands... bad knitter!
Modifications: Does screwing up the instep count as a modification? Otherwise I changed the knit every row at the bottom to reverse stockinette because I liked the more even texture.

I see myself making more of these and some of the yarn I got from Adam's grandma's stash will work perfectly. It's a quick fun knit. Now... no more procrastinating... I need to get out that darn crochet hook.