Strategerie...

Fair isle in the round on dpns....it's hard! 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.

Daddy Pouch is done!!!

I've been working on getting a daddy pouch for Rob made. 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.

BWAHAHAHA EETS ALIVE!!!!

Here are some progress shots on the BR sweater. 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!

Endless Baby Blanket Finished!

Finally! I started this blanket about a month after I found out we were pregnant, and it's taken me this long to get through 7 strips and endless rows of garter stitch and endless yarn tails to sew in. 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!

Nesting Induced Breakdown and the Cure

Yesterday I got a fire under my butt to start getting our office ready for Robby's arrival. About halfway into the process, with dust everywhere, dirty dishes in the sink, books up to my ears, yarn, fabric scraps and other items, all over the place I kind of freaked out. Well, after I got everything cleaned up, I got ready to go to my Monday Night knit night at my LYS for some yarn group therapy and knitting. I walked in, and the ladies had planned a surprise baby shower for me! I was so surprised and moved, they went through a ton of effort and made me the most beautiful blanket. 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!

Totally Tubular Dude

I'm designing a sweater for Rob! I'm modeling it off of his favorite Banana Republic sweater and knitting it with Rowanspun DK. 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 also finally have pictures of the Rebecca sweater, I've been working on FOREVER. 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.

Only 4 weeks to go until Robby makes his arrival! 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.

Baby Blues

Ok, I just had to do a quickie post. I just found this pattern online. How cute is that!!! I love it!

Sling it to me!

Here are some pictures of the baby sling I made. Sorry about the poor quality, they are very awkward pictures to take unless you are 8 feet tall.

I'm back!

I know all of you have been breathlessly waiting for my next post (just kidding). My camera took a trip to New Mexico so I have been unable to keep you all posted on all my crafty things. Lots of knitting has been happening, mostly the endless baby blanket, Rebecca sweater (pictures later), but the main focus has been sewing things for Robby. The deadline is fast approaching! Only 5 weeks left, eep! I've also discovered a new hobby, (I need another hobby like a hole in the head). First, this is the stash of cloth diapers I've sewn up so far. 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.