I also started a new project, some thick socks for my aunt, made with Mission Falls Wool on size 5 dpns. I'm using a pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. 
And in case you guys were dying for more Robby pictures, here is a good one of his eyes open!
Normally with knitting, I can be doing multiple things at once, not so in this case. This is the first of my Christmas knitting, Rob was really impressed. He actually said, "I would like some socks like that, but in different colors." Oy vey, for those size 12 feet?! But, how can I deny the man socks when he compliments my knitting! The pattern is from See Eunny Knit's blog. This girl is amazing. I'm modifying the pattern for actual mittens. The yarn is Louet Gems Pearl, a very lovely fingering weight merino yarn. Here is a shot of the inside.
I'm about halfway through the first mitten. This project has been a challenge to say the least, learning tubular cast on for 1x1 rib, doing fair isle in the round and learning how to hold the yarns, just so, but it is really fun, and a good counterpoint to the endless rows of stockinette for Rob's BR sweater. Only 6 days till Robby's due date! Rob, the doctor, and I all think he is going to be a little late, but that's ok, Rob will be done with school in a week or so, thank the Lord.
Sorry about the poor picture quality, no sunlight... The pouch has been one of the things that I have been needing to get finished before Robby makes his arrival. In less than two weeks, we will have an actual baby instead of stuffed animals I can model all of my sewn/knitted objects on. Robby doesn't know what's coming! All I have left after the pouch is hemp washcloths I want to sew up with a few yards of hemp french terry I got in the mail last week. Our Thanksgiving went great, LOTS of food and great family time. Here is the latest belly shot, can you tell Robby has dropped?
He is now at station -3. I've been making good progress on Rob's BR sweater, I won't bore you guys with endless rows of stockinette, but I did finish the front and am halfway finished with the back. I also started those denim jeans I found in Knitty, did you know the dark colored Rowan Denim yarn will stain your fingers and your needles? I'm making them the 6-12 month size because everything I read says the baby will be that size before you know it.
I'm really excited because my calculations are correct and it's actually knitting up like the BR sweater!
The sweater is a size M, so if anyone is interested, I will write up a pattern when I'm done, I doubt I will have the energy to figure the numbers for other sizes, but if the man you want to knit it for is a M you are in luck!
I'm very happy with the results, it looks and feels great! I used Mission Falls Superwash Wool, I don't even know how many balls I've used...and I don't think I want to know.
The back looks ok too, I may sew a fleece back onto it, like the yarn ladies did for the blanket they made for me.
But for now, I think I will just enjoy the fact I finished a knitting project, lately it seems like I just start things and never finish them. I have a secret project for a friend I need to finish, and I have some more sewing I need to do, including a daddy sling for Rob to hold Robby in. Only 3 weeks left till Robby's official due date. I'm looking forward to lots of yummy food for Thanksgiving!
Each lady knitted a special square and sewed it together and put a soft fleece back on it. 
Needless to say, I about started bawling again because I was so amazed by the thoughtfulness of the gift. I also got some other very useful lovely items that I've really been needing, but the blanket was the centerpiece (along with the chocolate/vanilla cake :)). Robear and Pooh love the blankie and are patiently waiting to keep Robby company on it. 
When I first met all the ladies at the yarn shop, I never knew I would end up having so many good friends and experience so much love, laughter, and friendship. Thanks so much to all my friends at the yarn store from me, Rob, and Robby!
The ribbing is 2x2 and the body is all stockinette and it has a nice standup collar. You can't really see the sleeves in the picture, but you get the idea. This is my first real attempt at designing a sweater, so we will see how it goes. I'm making pretty good progress, I've got 12in done on the body and I learned how to do a tubular cast on for the bottom ribbing. 
I already have one in white, and decided to do one in black when my LYS had a great sale on the black Muench GOA. I love the sweater, it's an acrylic/cotton blend so I can wash and dry it. I modified the pattern slightly to lengthen the body. 
Aren't the cables pretty? In the process of knitting this sweater, I also learned how to do cable stitches without a cable needle which helped speed it up a bit. I have the back and front done so far, and I'm a few inches along on the sleeve. 
I'm really excited and sewing up diaper covers today like a madwoman. I'll post pictures of those when I'm finished with them.
See the little T-shaped thingy? That is a Snappi. It's what I will use to hold the diaper closed, which eliminates the need for pins. I have 9 more I'm working on for a total of 24 fitted diapers, then I'm going to order some prefolds online. I also am waiting for a fabric order, polyurethane laminate fabric, which is basically fabric with a plastic coating on one side to make a waterproof barrier. I'm going to take that, line it with some of this cute fabric, 
sew foldover elastic binding around the edges, and velcro tabs to make diaper covers! Those covers will go over the fitted cloth diapers I made to prevent leaks. I also finished a baby sling made out of this beautiful black linen, but I can't seem to find it to take a picture of it. I'll post that later. And finally, I have discovered beading! 
I made a bunch of earrings to bring to a shower some good friends were throwing for me, and I had a few leftover (darn!). I'm tossing around the idea of making a bunch of them and maybe selling them online on an Etsy shop or something. They wouldn't be expensive, maybr $5-$20 dollars a pair depending on the types of beads used. I found a great online bead supplier that sells natural stones like opal, citrine, tigereye, turquoise, freshwater pearls, some really beautiful stuff. What do you guys think? 
I checked out a bunch of books on the library on beading to improve my technique. Is buying earrings online something you guys would be interested in? Or is the market too saturated already? Does the price range sound reasonable? I know you can get earrings at Wal-Mart or Claire's and shops like that, do you guys typically buy earrings from big chains or local suppliers? Feel free to comment, this is my market research.
and Rob was pretty stoked about it too, he's really excited about wearing it and is really hoping he can wear it this winter, I'm going to try my darndest to accomplish that. I love this wool, and I love it more and more as I knit with it. The bits of leaves from the sheep that I just spun into the yarn make it look a little tweedy in some spots, and there is this really pretty halo to the sweater. 
Something about knitting with my own handspun, while a daunting task, is very satisfying, and the fact that I'm knitting it for Rob, and that he really likes it, until this point, I've only made him hats, and one sweater that I just kind of made up as I went (it doesn't fit very well, I'm going to rip it out someday), I REALLY want to finish this for him. His b-day is coming up, as well as, he's going to be a daddy in about 7 weeks, and I'm sure being a new mommy will take over knitting time :) So, I'm knitting like a madwoman!
When Rob saw that Robear was ready to stuff, he got interested and wanted to help. 
Robear was very patient and did not cry or fuss during the stuffing. He actually seemed quite happy to finally have a body and be free of the Ziploc bag. 
I then sewed his head to his body.
Tada! He is all done. Now he is ready to be a friend to little Robby Cubed. 
Here is the main yarn goodies area.
More yarn goodies and our yarn table.
And because no yarn shop is complete without a shop cat, here she is, Queen Sasha. 
You can also find Handheld Knitting online here.
| North Korea - Children of the Secret State | |
the second diaper, I figured out how to use the overcast stitch on my sewing machine so I could eliminate a step. The edges are a little more wavy with the second method, I think because the fabric has some stretch to it and as I sewed, I was stretching the fabric causing it to give it that funky edge. Oh well. 
I didn't have a baby on hand to try the diaper on, so I drafted my 25 yr old bear, Peachy. He was very embarassed that he had to wear a diaper, being that he IS 25 years old, but he just kept his mouth shut and indulged my whims. Ignore the sewing pins I used to hold the diaper closed, obviously I won't be using those on Robby :)
Note the sweater Peachy is wearing, I think I knitted that thing for him 15 years ago. Awwwwwwww...
I got some great advice from Hello Yarn. Thanks Adrian! I wound the singles off onto toilet paper tubes and mounted them on a spare shoe box and stood across the room to even out the twist.
I also used Marnie's tips on achieving balanced yarn on a spindle, and when I finished plying, I had a beautiful perfectly balanced skein of yarn. 
Isn't it pretty, the color is such a rich, chocolate-y brown. And, there is very minimal shedding. Excuse the leg in the background, I really need to get a Swift Model #GLI-222.
You can check out the pictures I took of the cooking process HERE.
