Knittin' and Lovin' It

Updates

Lets see if I can make this quick. Shawn and Kaity should be back from the Commissary here soon and I need to help them put away the groceries.

I started Sheldon the Turtle again.



This time I'm using Knit Picks Shine Sport which is working up a lot better. I even managed to find the safety eyes because I stink at embroidering eyes. I'm hoping to have this done to use as a stocking stuff for Bree for Christmas.

Next up, the reason Ravelry can be bad for managing your stash.

Knit Picks Dancing sock yarn for Kaity.



This is a Kaity color hands down. This will be used to make the girls summer socks.

Next is 3 hanks of Koigu KPPPM and 1 hank of Mountain Colors 4/8's Wool in the color Wild Raspberry.



I don't have plans for the Koigu yet but the Mtn Colors will probably be made into fingerless mitts.

I also have some Regia coming in from another Ravelry user and some Opal 6 ply from Little Knits. The Opal is for boot socks for Kaity. Little Knits has it on sale so I picked up a ball of Tutti Fruit and Lollipop.

Kaity wanted to model her hat.



The hat ended up being too big so I got it wet an threw it in the drier with some towels. It worked out perfectly so now the hat fits snuggly on her head. The rest of her hats will be simple ribbed hats.

Kaity's Forest Canopy Shawl is 2 pattern rows and the 2 bind off rows away from completion. I should have that finished tonight after she's in bed.

Time to go put groceries away....fun, fun, fun!

Yarn Found!

Warning: Picture heavy post. Sorry dial-up users.

I found some of the Patons Classic Wool at Michaels.



I picked up 10 balls, color New Denim. At $3.50 a ball, I'd say $35 is a pretty good buy for enough yarn for a sweater. They also had a nice dark green that I wanted but I didn't want to over spend so I stopped with this.

I also got a set of two baskets for 40 percent off.



I'm using the larger basket for all my dishcloth cotton and the small basket for the skeins of yarn in the queue for socks and small projects.

I picked up another skein of Bernat Cottontots. Shawn found a big picture frame marked down 50 percent for a drawing my sis made for him a few years back and the we found Christmas ornaments for the tree. Each year we each pick out an ornament for the tree. It's something that we did in my family when I was a kid and I'm continuing it with my kids.

Here's a couple of shots of the Forest Canopy Shawl modeled by my favorite helper.

She's already stated that she wants one of her own. I'll have to hunt up some yarn to make one for her soon.

Here's a finished shot of Baby Lily's blankie.



I lightly blocked it so it's only about 26" x 22" but will stretch a lot more. I think that is perfect size for using in a carseat or stroller.

I also started Kaity's scarf yesterday....I needed a project to work on in the car.

I'm using the Palindrome pattern and Patons SWS, color Natural Geranium. It's knitting up super fast. I love the yarn and the pattern!

To top off my fun filled day we made a detour to the Great Falls Med Clinic so they could cut my wedding ring off. I woke up this morning and my hands were so swollen that the ring was making my finger really uncomfortable. The rings off and my hand feels a lot better.

Well I'm off to go swap the laundry...fun, fun, fun!!!

Happy Halloween!

I know, I know....this post is a wee bit late. This evening was quite busy.

Kaity went as a witch.



I was rather surprised to see that she wanted to go as a witch. Normally she picks out something Princessy. Next year I'm going to make her costume. It's so much easier to customize to her size. I should have my sewing machine set up by that time.

Here's her pumpkin.



We used a glow stick because it was way to windy to try to keep a candle lit. When I asked why the pic was blurry I was told "Doesn't that look cool!" Who am I to argue.

I finished the Cabled Baby blankie tonight.



I kept it on the smaller side so it can be used in a car seat or stroller. I'll give it a bath tomorrow and probably ship it out here in the next week or so. The blanket unblocked is coming out about 25" wide x 28" long. I'll remeasure after it's been blocked tomorrow. I used almost 2 skeins of Cascade 220 superwash. I love this yarn and would use it again.

Well I'm outta here. I need to hop on over to Ravelry and try to find a dog sweater pattern for Zeus. I may just have to wing it since he's small and skinny.

Monday Updates

I haven't been doing a lot of knitting here lately. So much for Socktoberfest, all I've managed to do is knit one pair of socks the whole month.

I did finish up the sleeves on Bree's Kimono.



Look at all those pieces. Now I need to block it and seam all the pieces together. Oh joyous fun! I'll do that some time this week, unless the "Seaming Fairy" comes to visit and takes care of it for me.

I also worked on the Cabled Baby Blanket.



Everyone all at the same time "Ooooooh, aaaaaaah". The photos aren't overwhelmingly fascinating but the blanket is coming along nicely and is pretty cute! I need to get it finished, so this will be what I'm knitting on until it's finished. That makes for boring blogging so I probably won't post much until it's finished. I don't think it's going to take long if I'm knitting on it exclusively.

I've also decided to join The Sock Stash Elimination Campaign. While organizing all my stash, I decided that my sock yarn stash was getting a little crazy. Before I seen this out on Nell's blog, I'd already decided that my sock yarn stash needs to be culled down a little bit. The link helped me commit.

Check this neat little thing out.



And another shot.



My mom sent this to me quite some time ago. Its a small swift of some kind. She had gotten it from a lady that she was taking care of. The only thing it says is that it's made in Sweden. I wanted to show you all but it ended up being put away and I forgot about it. Shawn found it in a box this weekend.

I'm off to find some breakfast so I'll be ready to hop on the bike when Kaity leaves for school. I'm trying to squeeze in exercise time any chance I get.

Happy Knitting!

A Knitters Meetup and the Loot

***Warning: long post with lots of pictures!

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with a fellow knitter, Debbie who also lives here in Montana. Oh it was so wonderful to sit down and discuss knitting with another knitter. Sorry no pics, I was so excited to be meeting up with Debbie that I forgot the camera....bad bad blogger!

We met up at Barnes & Noble since Shawn would probably kill me if I came home with more yarn, not because I'd be coming home with more yarn but because it's getting close to Christmas time so the extra money needs to be set aside these next few paydays for Christmas shopping. I did come home with a few things though.



I picked up the Holiday 07 issue of Interweave Knits. There are several super cute things I would love to make out of there, specially that Ski Sweater....Yum! I even love the colors they used. I think I may be able to sub it with a Knit Picks yarn.....must do more research. I need to try my hand at a smaller colorwork knitting project before I dive into a sweater. I also picked up another Debbie Bliss baby book. Who can resist all those cute photos? The other thing is a book mark for me. I've vowed to start reading every night before I go to bed. It's been months since I picked up a book that wasn't full of knitting patterns.

I have the back and two front pieces done on the Baby Kimono for Bree.

I have the sleeves started but still have several inches and a lot of increases to do before I'm done. It shouldn't take long.

So I am knitting, but I haven't started a new pair of socks yet. I'm still bouncing back and forth between some Cherry Tree Hill Supersock and my Smooshy sock. Plus I really need to finish up a few projects before I start another one. The biggest project to finish is the Cabled Baby blanket.

Bree has a new place to play.

We had bounced around the idea of getting a big baby gate so that Bree could have the living room to play in. The gate was going to cost well over $100....ouch! We came across this play yard. We were sold after seeing the price ($49 with free shipping) and the reviews which were mostly excellent.

This play yard gives her tons of room plus it's much safer for her to play here because it is 100% baby proof. There is no way I could get my living room completely baby proof. The bonus is that Bree loves her new spot and will sit in there with her toys and play for quite some time.

The yarn room is set up.

Shot #1:

Drawers one and two are being used for my sock yarn. The third drawer is holding all my worsted weight wool and the fourth drawer is holding my single balls of yarn and my lace weight yarn.

Shot #2:

I now have plenty of room for my yarn. Up above the books is where my swift and ball winder sit. The shelf under the books is all my cotton yarns. I need to run out to Michaels so I can browse through their baskets. I want to get one to hold all the dishcloth cotton. Next to the shelf I have a small 4 drawer bin that use to sit next to my chair. That may move out to sit next to my chair when I get the last of the boxes unpacked. Next to that is a 6 drawer bin that holds my color cards, acrylic yarns, etc.

Well I'm outta here for now. It's almost time for Bree to get up and I have a few things to get done.

Bad Mittens, No Biscuit!

Yesterday I finished up the first Playground Mitten but it's not playing nice so the second one has been put into timeout.



When I bound off the 12 stitches on the palm I think it was done to tightly because it's curling. I need to fix that. Plus I think the little flap covering the hole is to short and it doesn't lay flat....need to fix that too. I also need to knit about 2-3 more rounds in the thumb. The thumb actually fits snuggly but I want to leave a tad bit of wiggle room. Other then that the mitten came out great. Opinions on how to fix the palm and flap are always welcome....throw them my way if you want.

So while the mitten was sitting in timeout, I went back to the Baby Kimono.



I finished up the back last night and should be able to cast on the front pieces later this afternoon after I get a few boxes unpacked. The two front pieces are worked together at the same time and I'm going to work the sleeves that way too. For some reason the pattern has the front pieces being worked together but not the sleeves. It's a typical sleeve pattern that gives you the pattern then tells you to make two. Guess that was too much work to throw in those few extra words. So I'm taking the initiative and making them both at the same time. No point in having mismatched sleeves.

I'm still undecided on what sock pattern I'm going to knit next. I'm feeling like cables right now so chances are it will be a cabled sock out of SKS. I'll probably use my DIC smooshy sock that I got from Sheri a few weeks back. The Twisted Flower sock that I started before the move is going to be ripped. I'll reknit it later. It's sat on the needles for two long, plus it was a tad snug. I need to figure out a way around that because it looked like crud when I tried knitting it on the next needle size up. I may have to use a different yarn, something a tad thicker then the Louet Gems and use the Gems for something else.

I also worked on the Cabled baby blanket but I didn't take a pic because there's not that much change from the last pic other then several more rows of pattern. I finally hit the end of the first ball of Cascade 220 superwash. I thought that thing was going to last forever. Out of the first ball of yarn I managed to get the 15 rows of garter stitch border and 11 pattern repeats for a grand total of about 12 inches of baby blanket. The blanket, unblocked is about 25 inches wide. I threw a swatch in with Bree's clothes yesterday when I was doing the laundry and it washed and dried beautifully. I dry all of Bree's stuff on low.

I'm outta here for now. For some reason the kids seem to think they need lunch. There's no school for Kaity for today and tomorrow so she's home too. Guess I'd better go feed them!

Proof I've Been Knitting

I finished up the first Butternut Rib sock.



I'll cast on the second one some time tomorrow. This sock is comfy and stretchy. It just might become my new simple sock pattern.

I've also been knitting on the cabled baby blanket.



It's mostly been knit in the car. This ball of yarn seems to be going on and on forever....the never ending ball of yarn. I've managed to get about 9.5 inches of blanket knit so far. I'm guessing I'm may make it to about 11-12 inches before I have to add on another ball.

We're settling into the house just fine. We've managed to make a good dent in all the boxes. I have most of the stuff in the kitchen again and both the girls rooms are almost finished. That leaves the living room, exercise room, and the master bedroom.

Updates & Yarn

I couldn't resist the lure of the baby blanket. Sorry no pics, the camera's at the house and I'm at TLF. I had the yarn and it was killing me not to cast on so cast on I did. I have the border and 4 pattern repeats on. I think I'll need to put on about 28 repeats so I still have a lot to go. The pattern is super easy so I've been taking it in the car with me. Once it gets a little bigger I'll leave it at home.

The border on the baby blanket is garter stitch and 15 rows of garter stitch gets really boring. There is no way I could make a 60 or so inch long scarf in garter stitch. I do like the Cascade 220 superwash. As far as price goes it's about $3 more per 220 yards to go with Cascade over Knit Picks but the color choices for Cascades superwash is way better then you can get with Knit Picks. I've also seen a lot of complaints about KPs Swish which is why I chose to go with Cascade.

I have some Swish in my stash that I'm going to knit up a bunch of swatches and test them out side by side with the Cascade superwash. I'm going to have some left over from this blanket. I want to see how they both fair. I'll post a full report here on the blog. It probably won't be for a few weeks though.

While we were out and about today, I stopped at Michaels to get a few skeins of Paton's SWS.

I'll probably use it to make a scarf for Kaity. I picked up 3 skeins, 330 yds. The color is Natural Geranium.

I also picked up a skein of Cottontots.

The pic is a wee bit washed out. The color is Wonder Dreams. I'll either use it to make a bib(s) or I'll make another bunny tether blanket, like the one I made awhile back for my nephew.

I helped a couple of Ravelry members destash. I have some Cascade 220 Wool coming to me. I got 6 skeins of purple (#7808) and 3 skeins of pink (#7805) which are destined to become sweaters for both my girls and probably some hats and mittens. It doesn't bother me to hand wash stuff.

Yarn in the Mail

Shawn brought this home earlier.



It's the Cascade 220 Superwash that I ordered from Yarn Country last week. They shipped it out Monday via USPS Priority mail and I got it in this morning. Now my YP shipment came from the same area (only about 30 miles apart) and it took 6 days. And the post office wonders why we all email instead of writing letters.

This is the pattern I'm going to use. I'm not going to start it until I get my computer and laser printer back which will be some time Monday.....WooHoo!!!!! Chances are I'll start towards the end of next week.

I need to get going. Gotta go it's chattin' time with my mom since the chatterboxes are not here/are asleep. Bree is getting more and more vocal which makes it hard to talk when I'm constantly hearing: babble, Mama, babble, babble, Mama, babble, babble. Anyone with kids, nieces, nephews, etc should know what I'm talkin' bout.

Score One For Me

Score one for the knitter.  Ah life is good.  We went clothes shopping yesterday since Shawn got off work early.  Old Navy was having a sale on a lot of their clothing so we managed to snag several outfits for all 4 of us for less then $300. 

Then to make things even better I found the Lion Brand Wool-ease Thick and Quick on clearance at Wally world for $4 a ball.  They had 10 balls all in the same dye lot so I snagged them.  I'm using the color Cranberry.  I'll post pics when the highspeed comes up again.  Hopefully that will be Monday but I'm not holding my breath.

I also got some more needles from Knit Picks and used a gift certificate to pick up from Amazon.com: More Sensational Knitted Socks and Last Minute Knitted Gifts.  All I need to do is order the yarn for my cousins blanket but first I need to decide on a yarn.  I did find one at Webs by Reynolds called Kids Collection Wash Day Wool.  I'm not sure about the wear-ability though.  It's $6.50 for 176 yds making the cost less then $40.  Not to bad.  Though I may go see what the LYS has.  I may find something there too.

Now the bad news which made me cringe and yell a few choice obscenities.  When it comes to my yarn the cussing may come out.  The building that holds the post office in Mtn Home had a section of the roof collapse.  It's a big building with several other military offices in it.  It use to be where the Commissary (military grocery store) was so it's a fair size building.  Now my mail was being held and we had just put in a forward but we aren't sure if they sent our mail out before the roof collapsed.  I have an order from TLE and my yarn I bought from eBay there.

From what we gather, the roof collapsed in the center of the building but not over the post office.  Everyone was evacuated out safely but they haven't been cleared to go back in and probably won't be.  Any mail coming in to my old address now will forward fine because the post office has set up shop elsewhere on base.

Shawn just left to run some errands so here's hoping our stuff made it out fine and is already here on base.  We did find something interesting out.  Even though we live on base our address is going to be Great Falls, MT instead of Malmstrom AFB, MT.  That is going to be so weird to write. 

Well I'm outta here for now.  I need to swap the laundry and get the dishes done.  I have a mega laundry mountain today between the dirty clothes and all the new clothes that need to be washed.