It's a vicious cycle, using up leftovers.

So last post I showed you the cute baby blankie I made for my new nephew (who is now a couple weeks old and as cute as can be!). Once I finished the blanket, there was plenty of yarn left over, so I thought I'd try using it up.

The first project was a wee sheep hat for a charity's silent auction - our group had a cute little baby fingerprint kit thing, but we needed to beef up the basket, so I made the hat. I only needed to purchase one skein of green yarn, no biggie. Once I finished the hat I thought it would be nice to make some wee mittens to match it, so I cast right on. Sadly, I ran out of the cream colored yarn after the first mitten, so I had to go right back to the shop for some more. And, just my luck, they didn't have any. Nor did the other two shops in town, so I ordered it online and hoped it would arrive in time for me to complete the mittens in time for the auction. It didn't.

While I was waiting for the new yarn to arrive, I thought I'd try out another pattern from the book with the sheep hat. The Fair Isle hat and leg warmers pattern looked like a good one to help me use up some of the yarn I had, so I cast on and mere hours later, I'd finished a cute little hat. The leg warmers went pretty quickly too. I had enough of the green, brown and tan yarn left to make some mittens to match the others, so I did those too, which worked out just right. I've since sent the set out to my new nephew.

I thought I give the same set another try, with the orange, black, and white yarn leftover from the blankie. I was able to finish the hat and mittens according to the pattern, but I ran out of orange before I could finish the legwarmers, so the last bit of cuff was finished with a bit of white. I have no idea what I'm going to do with this  set. I may decide to enter the hat and mittens in the State Fair this summer, depending on whether or not anyone I know turns up pregnant between now and then. On my Ravelry project page, I named them after Finding Nemo, because they're the same colors as a clown fish, and I imagined that if Nemo & Dory had made their way to the North Sea, they'd be wearing Fair Isle sweaters. Or at least Dory would, but I didn't have yarn in her colors.

So that's all I have for now, Friends. I've been knitting all kinds of things lately, but I haven't been especially meticulous about photographing them. As I catch up on the pics, I'll write up the projects. Until next time then.

Knitting on a Deadline

Well, State Fair time is just about upon us, which means that I am knitting feverishly in order to make the submission deadline this Sunday. I have signed up to enter 5 items in the Fair, 3 of which are done. And by done I mean I've finished the knitting, but I still need to wash and block those items. The other two are not so done: I've got about 3.5" of foot left to knit on my socks, and my felted purse needs all its bits (zipper, handle, flowers) sewn on. I'm sure I can make the deadline for the sock, the purse I'm not so sure about.

Anyway, I also finished the Lilleput cardigan, including sewing on the embroidered patch. The pattern came with drawings for a dog, cat, or fish patch, but I decided that since I live in Kentucky (Louisville, no less!), I really needed to do a horse patch for this sweater. Once I worked out the approximate size I wanted, I looked around the internet for photos of smiling horses, then I sketched a design onto graph paper. Once I had a drawing I was happy with, I stitched the design onto some linen I had leftover from a sewing project and attached the patch to the cardigan. The whole time I was stitching it, I was cracking myself up because it was so goofy looking. I hope it does well at the Fair, but you never know. It's pretty darned cute, even if it doesn't get a ribbon.

Once I have everything ready for the Fair, I expect I will post it here. Until then, Friends.

The cute just keeps coming.

So I finished the Jasper Diamond Hoodie this weekend, and I think it's adorable. The hood makes all the difference! I can't wait to take it to knit night to try it on my friends' kids. The two who have been coming are almost too big to be able to wear it, so this is probably my only chance to see it on an actual baby. I'm not sure who I'm going to give this to - I might even enter it in the State Fair. I haven't decided yet.

Since that project is finished, I decided to start Lilleput, which is the project I was all excited about last week. I cast on in the car on the way to a family reunion, which was far enough away that I made good progress on it. After having a great time with my husband's large extended family, camping out in the state park, and visiting an old friend in town, we hit the road the next day and I continued knitting on the cardigan. By the time we got home, I decided that I didn't like the way the colors were working out, so this morning I ripped it all out and started over.

I also took a look at other people's Ravelry project pages, to see why I wasn't liking how mine was knitting up. Turns out I had misread the directions and was making the stripes too wide. I also didn't like the contrast between the red and the white. When I started over, I used the red as the accent color and used the variegated yarn with the white for what I hope will be a more pleasing finished cardigan. It definitely looks better with the narrower stripes. I don't think it will go anything like as fast as the hoodie, but slow and steady will do just fine for now.

I keep making things on small needles.

It's true: most of the things I knit are made on small needles. I've knit 10 pairs of socks so far this year. If I ever finish my intarsia socks, it'll be 11. If I make a pair for my mother for Christmas, it'll be a nice, round dozen. All on 2.5mm needles. It's not that I'm especially fond of knitting thousands upon thousands of tiny stitches, it's that socks are very portable, and therefore good bus knitting. They're also inexpensive compared to knitting sweaters. A skein of really nice sock yarn can be had for $25 or so, but to purchase enough quality yarn to make a sweater in my size starts at around $100. This is why I make so many socks. That, and the (almost) instant gratification that comes with making socks.

Gloves hold a similar appeal to socks: they take roughly the same amount of yarn and use the same size needles. They take a little longer to knit, as each finger has to be articulated and there many more ends to weave in at the end, but that's a small price to pay to have gloves that fit your hand perfectly. Over Thanksgiving weekend I made lots of progress on my Glacier gloves. So much so that all I have left to do is knit the fingers and thumb of the left hand. I've finished the right hand glove, with only then ends to weave in. I ended up using 2.75mm needles for the fingers, as they were a little snug with the smaller needles. It seems like such a small difference, but that little bit was all it took!

Over the long holiday weekend I also finished the Owl-paca baby hat, which was knit on 4mm needles. That size, while larger than sock needles, would still be considered on the small side by most knitters, I think. Instead of making the owl's eyes as called for in the pattern, I used the technique from the stuffed owl I recently knit for this hat because I didn't feel comfortable putting buttons on an accessory meant for an infant. I was able to attach the eyes and the beak to the hat at social knitting and tried it on my friend's one year old, but I didn't have my camera, so I only have photos of it lying flat on a table. I'll try to get a photo of a real baby modeling it as soon as possible, so you can see just how cute it is.

Of course, no owl would be complete unless it had a mouse in its talons, so I cast on for Ysolda Teague's Mousie last night. This project is on 2.0 needles and has knit up really quickly. In two evenings, I've finished all but one ear and the eyes. I think I have four hour's total knitting in this little rodent. And it's just the right touch for the hat. Circle of Life and all that. Maybe I'll make X's for the eyes for comic effect. Actually, I think I just talked myself into it. I crack myself up.

Well, that's all for tonight. Until next time, Friends.

Chugging along.

Last time I posted, I wrote about all the ends I was weaving in in anticipation of being able to felt them this weekend. Since my workweek is Tuesday through Saturday, my weekend starts tomorrow, which is when I expect to fire up the washer to get all those pieces whipped into shape. Once that's done and all the pieces are dry, I'll be able to start putting the bag together: I have to put on the handles, put in the plastic canvas reinforcements, attach the feet, then sew a liner and attach the zipper. The zipper will probably be the trickiest bit - I'm not especially confident sewing on zippers, but I guess there's a first time for everything.

Also since last time, I took some better photos of the Glacier gloves. They're not even blurry! I haven't done much more knitting on them because I made a mistake and I have to have my head in the right place to tackle fixing a messed up cable that I should have known better than to mess up. It's my own fault for not paying attention to the chart.

Since I had finished my commuting project, I decided that I wanted to cast on something easy, so on Wednesday evening I started another Little Owl baby hat. I'm making it out of the same yarn I used last time, Rowan Lima. It's such a lovely, soft yarn! What's surprising me about this project is how fast the knitting is going. All I have left to do is knit another inch of the hat, then I can do the ribbing around the face and add the eye and talon details. My friends at knit night suggested that it would be hysterical if the talons held a dead mouse, so I think I'm going to knit up one of Ysolda Teague's Mousies and consider it a baby toy. Maybe I can find some kind of rattle insert which might make it a little more fun for whichever baby gets this hat.

Well, that's all I have for now, next time I hope I'll have some photos of some felted hydrangeas as well as more progress on the gloves. It's beginning to get cold around here! Until next time, Friends.

So cute, I could puke.

So the Provence cardigan is finished, and it really is disgustingly cute. Like, so cute, everyone at the baby shower would have just squealed over it, if it had been done in time and I had gone to the shower. So cute that anyone who sees it has to hold it up and exclaim over it. So cute you want to make another one, even with all the seams. It's that freaking cute.

I finished it last night, like I expected, at Stitch 'n' Bitch. I picked up those pesky selvedge stitches and knit those button bands in about an hour. I didn't have any buttons, so after I finished up at a work-related meeting, I ran up the road to the Joann's and started looking. It takes me forever to make up my mind about buttons; I always want to make sure they're just right - they should go with the sweater, but not be too matchy. They should also be cute and have holes big enough for me to sew them on using the same yarn I knit the sweater with. It's a tall order! Anyway, I found some cute flower-shaped buttons that met all the criteria, in addition to being the right size for the buttonholes. I think they're exactly right for this cardigan and I hope it gets worn and worn.

Now that that project is finished, I think I have a little breathing room until I have to start knitting baby things again in earnest. Of the eight pregnant people I know, three of the babies have been born, and I have gifts completed for two more. The other three aren't due until March or later, so I think I can knit their things after the New Year.

In other projects, I continue to plug away at the Hydrangea bag, knitting flower after little flower on my bus rides to and from work. I can do about three petals each way and I've nearly finished with the light green so I'll probably start the dark green ones next week. I think I'll also wind up the yarn for my Glacier gloves so I can get started on them this weekend. This will definitely be a complicated project, and not one for social knitting. It might even be too challenging for TV knitting, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Well, that's all I've got for tonight. Until next time!

Super Mario Bros. Is a Giant Time-Suck.

You knew this already, though. Right? See, I'm not all that good at video games, but I am a goal-oriented person. So much so that I can't just leave things alone if I'm not good at them. I have to keep trying until I get better. (Except that this doesn't seem to be the case about working out. I'll have to let that percolate a little.) So last week, in a fit of ennui, I turned on my Wii and took another crack at Super Mario Bros. and decided that if little kids can do this, then surely I could too. I played for an hour at a time between loads of laundry and stuff like that, and I finally got through the final level. Of course that opened up a whole 'nother level, so I haven't conquered the game by any means. I'm resisting the urge to play RIGHT NOW, as I've come to realize that, as a grown-up, the Wii is not the boss of me, no matter how much my husband snickers every time I get killed. I can quit whenever I want. Really.

I have done a little bit of knitting during this time, but it almost doesn't count, because there aren't all that many photos. I've been spending most of my knitting time working on the Provence cardigan for my friend Eric's daughter, who decided to be born two days ago, ensuring that I would not have her gift finished before she arrived. At least I was smart enough to make a 6-9 months size for her, so she'll be able to wear it next Spring and Summer, I hope. I finished the fronts and back last week and washed and blocked them right away. Over the last two nights I've done the seaming and all that's left now is to attach the sleeves to the body and knit the button bands. It's funny - while I was knitting the parts I was thinking that the seaming wouldn't be so bad, but when it came time to actually do the seaming, I wasn't really feeling it. And now, of course, that all I have left to do is set in the sleeves, I'm dawdling a bit. I'm sure I can get it done tonight, but Mario is in the back of my head, inviting me to try for just one more Star Coin.

But once I finish Provence, I can start making myself a new pair of gloves. I've decided that Glacier, by Julia Mueller is going to be the pattern and I'll use my Fiber Company Canopy for them. When I saw the pattern it reminded me a lot of some Frank Lloyd Wright windows, so I had to make them. The knitting will definitely be challenging (and therefore interesting), especially if I decide to do them two-at-a-time. We'll see how I do on that. I did her Rococo pattern that way, and I think I only cursed half the time I was knitting them. (The other half of the time I was cursing my choice of very fuzzy black yarn for cables. It was stupid on my part.)

Well, I think that's it for this time, y'all. Until next time.

It's almost like I went somewhere.

Last week I had an opportunity to do a little volunteer work at a local non-profit called Family Scholar House. Their mission is to help single parents complete their college degrees. They provide housing and childcare in addition to quality-of-life kinds of classes like cooking, crafts and aerobics. I was there as part of the Mayor's Week of Service, along with a few others. We spent the evening organizing Halloween costumes for the kids as well as all kinds of donated kitchen goods for the families. It was a productive night!

As I had gotten there early, and the building wasn't open, I took a little time to check out the neighborhood. It turns out that Family Scholar House is just two blocks from St. James Court, a lovely bit of Old Louisville, where they have a gigantic annual art fair. I generally make a point of avoiding crowds, so I have to admit that I've never been to the art show. I couldn't go this year because I was taking a test, but I wouldn't have gone even if I didn't have something else to do.

Anyway, the evening I was there, it was raining a little, but there was enough light that I could get some nice photos of all the grand houses. Or I could have - if I'd had fresh batteries in the camera. I got exactly one picture taken before the battery died. Damn. I went back Saturday afternoon and there was lots of great light and color. There were also lots of squirrels foraging, though none of the little buggers would hold still long enough for me to take their picture. I got plenty of photos of the houses, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites and hope you like the architecture as much as I do.

In knitting news, I finished the second Cascade cardigan - even the buttons. I can't wait to give it to its intended recipient! This pattern knits up so quickly that it seems like you have a finished object in no time at all. I definitely recommend this one if you need a baby gift in a hurry.

Since I finished the other cardigan, I started another, this time it's the Provence Baby Cardigan, by Cecily Glowik MacDonald. I'm knitting this on in some Rowan Revive DK, the same yarn as I used on my Peasy & Vesper. This is a seamed cardigan, which is a departure from my usual top-down raglan cardigans, but the back of the sweater is moving fast and I'll probably be able to cast on for the fronts tomorrow or the next day. The nice thing about a baby sweater is that the seamed areas are tiny, so it's not so bad as doing an adult-sized sweater. I hope I get this one done in time, as I think this baby is due any day now.

Well, I guess that's it for tonight. Until next time, Friends.

I didn't get to go to Rhinebeck.

So I won't be writing about the awesome time I had at the Dutchess County Sheep and Wool Festival. Or how I met all the knitterati and bought tons and tons of yarn. Nope, this weekend I stayed home, did a little housework, organized my craft room and did a little knitting. Today I even mailed out a bunch of gifts I've had in the craft room that I just organized. I couldn't believe that there were only two people in line in front of me at the Post Office. It will never happen again.

The knitting I did was mostly on another Cascade cardigan, this one for my friend Jaarad's daughter. She's something like 4 months old now, so I'm a little late on her gift, but to be fair, she decided to be born a little early, so it's not entirely my fault this gift is late. Anyway, I'm knitting the 12 month size for her, in the hopes that if it's too big for her this Christmas, maybe she can wear it next year.

The knitting has gone pretty quickly - I cast on yesterday and all that's left are the sleeves and the button band. That's what I love about knitting baby stuff in worsted weight yarn: it's fast! The construction is a simple top-down cardigan with kfb increases for the raglan shoulder. The only tricky bit is getting the leaves right, but, in the end, not really difficult. The only trouble I'm having is that my gauge seems to be tighter on the sleeves than on the body, so I've been conscious about watching for that and compensating accordingly. Another evening or two and I should be able to call it finished, so I can start on the next project for my expectant friends. Organizing the stash helped me identify which yarns I want to use for the next few projects, so now I just have to find the right projects for the yarn.

Well, that's all for tonight. Good night, friends!

Fridays are for finished things!

I have two finished projects this week: the Big Snowy Owl from the Purl Bee and the Schmidt vest I started about six weeks ago. The owl was probably about seven hours of actual knitting, although it took me a week to finish it, due to a variety of factors. The first was that I didn't have any polyfill to stuff it with, so I had to make a trip to the craft store for that. Then I didn't have any size 15 double pointed needles to do the eyes with, so I had to borrow some from a kind friend. After that, I had to wash the eyes because the grey yarn I used had so much spinning oil left in it that it smelled bad. Finally, when the eyes were dry, I was able to sew them on then knit the beak! I think I may make a few more of these owls, but I might just size them down and do them with worsted- or fingering-weight yarn. I think some tiny owls would be fun. They might even make nice Christmas ornaments. I'll have to let that idea marinate for a little while.

The Schmidt vest finished up much faster than I expected, but it probably helped that I was stuck in traffic for about an hour a few nights ago. You see, I thought it would be no big deal to go across the river to Indiana and back to buy some needles. It's only a mile across the bridge to Jeffersonville and the buses were running every half hour or so, so it couldn't be that bad, even with Shermageddon. Or so I thought. The flaw in my plan was that there was a Taylor Swift concert that night at the Yum! Center, which happens to be located right next to the bridge. So not only was there the usual rush hour traffic trying to leave downtown, there was additional traffic trying to get downtown for the show. It was gridlock. There were people (in heels! and sassy pants!) actually walking across the bridge faster than our bus could cross it. What should have taken an hour, at most, took two and a half. But that worked to my advantage, as I was able to knit the armhole and the collar while I was on the bus. I was even able to weave in all the ends. Once I finally got home, I gave it a good, long soak in some Eucalan and laid it out to dry. I think it looks pretty good with the Barbara Walker braided cable I used. I just hope it fits my brother in law. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

In WIPs news, I've begun knitting the little flowers for my Hydrangea bag. The pattern calls for plenty of them, but they knit up very quickly and it doesn't take much effort to weave in the ends. If I put in a little effort this weekend, there's a chance I could have the better part of them done by Tuesday. I may decide to to save that for my commute, though, as I'm feeling like I should do a little more on the striped intarsia socks that are taking me forever to finish. We'll see how that goes - I might also decide to cast on another baby project such as the super-secret one I have in mind for my friend Molly. It's going to be awesome! And I hope no one tells her what it is. It's a surprise for her baby shower. I sure hope I get an invitation.

Anyway, that's all I have for tonight. I hope you have a nice weekend, Friends!

Holy crap! More finished stuff!

Can it really be two Fridays in a row that I have finished objects to show? I'm finding it pretty hard to believe, myself, but so it is! I don't expect there to be a third consecutive FO Friday, because my exam is next weekend, but I expect I might make some progress on some of  my remaining WIPs.

It's such a nice feeling to finish a project. And I mean really finish it, including sewing on the buttons and weaving in the ends. I've been presenting my Cascade baby cardigan as though it were finished, but it wasn't, really, since I still had the buttons to sew on. But I completed that task the other night, and then I photographed it today! It makes all the difference to have buttons. You can almost imagine a new human, with their awesome new-human smell, wearing it!

I've also finished the Ribbed baby jacket for another expectant mother, this one who is having a boy. The sweater has been washed and blocked, as well as having its button sewn on. It's ready to be shipped, hopefully in time for his arrival. As I understand it, the baby shower is tomorrow, so I'm definitely going to miss that, but I think better late than never on this gift.

My third finished object this week is my Punctuated Rib socks. It was nice to have a fairly easy pattern to memorize - I think the reason I was so ready for easy knitting was the complexity of the intarsia-in-the-round socks that I had been working on before these. Anyway, they're done, and not nearly as garish as I worried they might be. See, there's a metallic thread running through the plies. There's also an especially strong section of chartreuse which looks really bright on the ball, but adds a nice punch of brightness to what might otherwise have been a pretty dark sock.

The nice thing about knitting these socks on the bus was that young people (Wow, that makes me sound old!) seemed to show a lot of interest in them and in the fact that the things I was knitting actually looked like socks. I think the idea that socks are made (rather than just magically appearing in stores when you go to buy them) kind of blew their little minds. One boy, who must have been about ten or eleven years old, seemed hypnotized by the needles and a little concerned at how eccentric the socks were coming out. He perked up when I joked that I would probably only wear the socks at home because they were so loud. After that he looked relieved that I'd acknowledged that they were a little tacky, so he wouldn't have to hurt my feelings by telling me. His dad, on the other hand, seemed a little envious about how warm those socks are going to be this winter. I almost gave them to him right then, but they were definitely too small, and, you know, not finished. Oh, well.

That's all I have for tonight, I think. Next time, I may have some progress to report on the intarsia socks as well as the Schmidt vest. I will have my nose to the grindstone this weekend with last minute test preparation, but I hope to get in at least one post. Until then, friends.

It's an epidemic.

Since my last post, I've learned that two more people I know are pregnant. This was evidently a very good summer for babymaking, which means that this will be a very busy autumn for making baby stuff. So far, I think I have gifts for at least three of these seven people, and a fourth is nearly finished. I don't think that all of them read this blog, but I'm pretty sure at least four of them have seen it, and at least two of them follow it.

This Cascade cardigan (which I think I've posted on before) is for one of the women who I think doesn't read this blog. I made it on a lark, because I thought it was cute, not because I knew anyone was expecting. All I have left to is add the buttons and wrap it up. The leaves on the button placket have a definite feminine feel to them, so I feel good about this as a gift for a baby girl.

Another of the pregnant ladies is having a boy, so I had to do a little looking around for less feminine patterns. I decided that the Ribbed Baby Jacket looked much more masculine than the projects I usually queue, so on the needles it went. It knit up pretty quickly, and all I have left to do now is seam up the sides, add a button and get it washed & blocked. This one will have to be shipped, so I'm glad it was a quick knit.

Now, for the other five people, they're all knitters who I see in person and online. No way am I sharing what I'm making for them. Or if I'm even making anything for them. Well, I think we all know that there's no way I'm letting my friends' babies go without a hand knit gift, even if their moms can make them something. I'll just have to keep those secrets. There are so many great things to make and I hope my queue doesn't give everything away. I'll also have to remember to keep this stuff secret on my Ravelry project pages. Many of these women are on the sneaky side. Their Ravel-fu is strong.

Anyway, that's all I have for now. I'm still studying for my Interior Design licensing exam, and I've actually started going back to the gym, so I've had a little less knitting time lately. I'm still working on my Punctuated Rib socks as well as my brother-in-law's sweater vest. They're both coming along at a snail's pace. Until next time, then.