Thursday, July 31, 2008

Scarves and booties

More FOs on parade today!



Pattern: Isobel (can't remember the link)
Yarn: 1 skein Claudia Hand Painted Sport
Needles: sz US 8 DPNs
Dates: sometime last fall-July 2008
Mods: no fringe
Thoughts: edges curl under even with severe blocking. Oh well - it is still pretty. The repeat was easy to memorize and went quickly when I worked on it!


Pattern: Branching Out from Knitty
Yarn: 1 skein Claudia Hand Painted Sport
Needles: sz US 8 DPNs
Dates: sometime last fall-July 2008
Mods: none
Thoughts: very pretty - even hubby commented on it. Also went quickly when worked on.



Pattern: Magic Slippers
Yarn: Hill Country Yarns Sweet Feet
Needles: Sz US 3 DPNs
Dates: July 2008
Mods: um, none that I remember
Thoughts: They seem really small. And this picture of them sucks - they are cuter in real life.


Pattern: Saartje's Bootees
Yarn: leftover Mirasol Hacho
Needles: I think size 3.....
Dates: June 2008 - buttons sewn on in July
Mods: none
Thoughts: not sure I like the white buttons - I may switch them for some yellow ones. And this picture is the worst of the bunch, but I know if I wait to retake it, I'll never get this posted.

The finishing continues, though I sorely want to cast on for a February Lady Sweater - I think it would be great for the fall when I'm nursing. However, I am showing great restraint, since I'm excited about the numbers of things getting done around here. Maybe I'll start it when school starts, and try to finish it up before the bean gets here. At any rate, I'm off to try to finish a sleeve today, and maybe a baby sweater!

Again with the friggin sideways pictures! I don't think it's a blogger issue, I think it has to do with my iphoto program and my camera, but I don't know how to fix it, and I don't know they are going to be sideways until I upload them, and frankly, once they're uploaded, I'm out of blogging time, so I don't want to mess with them. My apologies - they were crappy pictures anyway.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Socks!

It is summer, and that means socks. To help me finish up some pairs, I ripped out 3 pairs that weren't working - my Solstice Slip socks - couldn't get into the pattern, my Diagonal Rib socks - again, couldn't get into the pattern, and a pair for hubbo that were turning out too big.

This week I finished one pair, and I can show you a pair I finished a few weeks ago.



Pattern: Reversai from Sock Madness
Yarn: BMFA Lightweight in Watermelon Tourmaline (my first skein of STR ever!)
Needles: 2.25 Chiagoo DPNs
Dates: March-July 2008
Mods: longer cuff (not really a mod, but most folks seemed to make the shorter one.)
Thoughts: I enjoyed the stitch pattern and the overall construction of the sock - I was just too lazy to finish it!


Pattern: Up the Down Staircase (MY pattern! for the Yarns Ewenique Sock Club)
Yarn: Claudia Hand Painted Fingering
Needles: 2.5 Chaigoo DPNs
Dates: sometime last year (to get gauge and figure out the stitch pattern) to July 2008
Mods: n/a
Thoughts: I love them, of course!

I've also managed to finish up the first sock for hubbo (2x2 ribbing may kill me), and the first sock of a plain set for me. I've got the second sock of my Child's First Sock pair through the heel, so that should be done soon, and I want to finish the second Embossed Leaves sock.

The finishing train continues to hang out here - I have a crazy goal of having 10 active WIPs by the time the baby is born (it's around 26 now) - we'll see if I can make it - I have 8 weeks!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The Trouble with Finishing

I sat and had a finishing marathon this weekend - and it was worth it, as you'll see, but it also has a downside - stay tuned.



Pattern: Pinwheel Baby Blanket
Yarn: Cotton Ease - old colors
Needles: Sz 8 Clover bamboo DPNs and Circulars
Dates: Late June-July 18
Mods: none
Thoughts: I really hate this pattern at the beginning (it's so fiddly having those few stitches on the big DPNs), but I really enjoy it by the end. I wish I had made this a bit bigger, but I needed to finish it, as it is a gift. I predict there will be more of these in the future.


Pattern: Duck Hood from Debbie Bliss' Kid's Knits for Heads, Hands and Toes
Yarn: Berocco Comfort DK
Needles: Sz 7 and 3
Dates: um, June something to July 20
Mods: no foam in the beak
Thoughts: So cute! This is part of the bean's Halloween costume, per her dad's request. I'm working on the booties to go with (the ones from 50 Baby Bootees to Knit), and then we have to find her a yellow "outfit" to wear with.



Pattern: Ladybird Hat from the same book as the duck hat
Yarn: Wool Gotto
Needles: Sz 7 and 3
Dates: June something to July 20
Mods: none
Thoughts: Much cuter on a baby than shown here - the antennae don't stand up as well as I would like, but they are still cute. I may tack down the tops of them to keep them standing up.


Pattern: Olive You hat from Itty-Bitty Hats
Yarn: Sublime Merino, Tahki Cotton Classic and scraps of Rowan Cotton Glace
Needles: Sz 7 Addi's
Dates: June/May to July 20
Mods: I duplicate stitched on the pimentos, and didn't add them to the back.
Thoughts: Very cute! This is a gift (to go with the blanket), and I think the mom will love it. I love it!

There are several other finished knits, but I need to stretch the blog fodder for as long as possible!

The bad thing about all this finishing? Everything else that needs to be finished isn't so close to being finished as to finish in a day or so. So it may be a while before I have any more finished knits. However, if I stretch out the ones that are already finished, y'all may never notice! :)

I don't understand why my computer insists on turning some of the pictures. When I try to manually turn them back, it turns them again, and when I undo my manual turning, it has them turned. Argh! And it seems to pick and choose the ones it wants to turn, as all of these were taken "right side up." Grrr.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Odds and Ends

I'm really tired of apologizing for not blogging more. There are two ways to solve this problem - blog more, or stop apologizing. We'll see which one happens.

We've been busy bees around here - we visited my parents for a week up in Indiana, and since we've been back we've been doing house projects to get ready for the little one. Nothing really spectacular (and thus not really blog worthy), but we've cleaned out the room that will be hers (and this really was blog worthy, but I didn't take a before picture) - this involved the sewing table, three bookcases and hubby's desk moving into our (small) bedroom. I got a new desk (secretary) which will stay in her room for the time being, as we have nowhere else to put it. At least it closes up so we can't see my mess. The yarn still lives in her closet, but there is nowhere else for that to go either, and really, her clothes don't take up too much space right now! Hubby built her a lovely Ikea wardrobe for her hanging things, built a dresser for the others, hung shelves for goodies, replaced the ceiling fan, and I hung curtains. Now we just need a crib, something that keeps going in and out of stock at Target. Grrr. Pictures when her room is complete.

I've also kept hubby busy replacing the bathtub doors with a shower curtain in the hall bath, hanging shelves in our room, finally putting the "cover" pieces on two of the kitchen cabinets and putting in a filler piece around the turntable cabinet, putting a weather strip on the bottom of the front door, powerwashing the old paint off the trim, building a bench/kitty litter box for the kitchen, and stripping and sanding and painting new doors for all the rooms in the house (4). Whew! His only remaining big projects are to finish the doors, stain the bench, paint the window trim (inside and out) and clean/reorganize the garage. Oh, and build a crib when we get one. And he goes to four days of training next week, then back to work August 4th. It will be a miracle if it all gets done before the bean gets here.

I've been busy with a list of my own, mostly involving Christmas gifts that I can't show here and that aren't knitted (gasp!). I've got six gifts done, and our "family" gift that everyone gets - which is usually an ornament, but not this year! It needs just a few more things, and it's done. I'm also nearly done with the advent calendar I started last year right before Christmas, and I've finished embroidering the valances for the kitchen (pictures after hubby hangs the new curtain rods). I've been writing lesson plans and unit plans for novels for my sub, which isn't too much fun, but necessary if I want things to be done. Just a few more things to do, and I'll be mostly ready for her to take the class.

I have been knitting a bit, but these other things have taken a priority. I didn't knit much on the drive to Indiana, as it was a bit too warm with the sun shining in (and I'm warm all the time now). I did manage to finish up a scarf when we got home that needs to be blocked, and I'm close to being done with a baby blanket for a friend, but all the other knits are in pretty much the same state they have been. My list for today includes finishing up things that are nearly finished so I'll have blog fodder!

I do have some fodder for you. The lovely Theresa sent this cute washcloth for the bean - too cute! Thanks Theresa! The bean also received two handknit bibs from mom (not yet photographed), and a cute hat from a knitting/crochet buddy.

(I don't know why the picture is sideways, but I don't have the energy to deal with it. My apologies)

I've got some new yarn to show off, yarn store reviews, book reviews, and hopefully finished objects to share. I really do want to get back into the "groove" of blogging. I've been reading everyone else's blog, so I'm not sure what my excuse is, beyond lack of pictures.

Sorry for the novel post here - but thanks for reading this far! Oh, and I'm going to have a contest when we get closer to delivery, so stay tuned for that! Have a great Thursday!