Knittin' and Lovin' It

Long Night

Kaity woke up around 10:30pm sick to her stomach so I'm up for the whole night. Poor kid! I hate having to stay up all night but on the bright side I always get a lot of knitting done....nothing better to do in between Kaity's naps. I'm sure I'll have a nice WIP update in a day or two since it's already 1:40am and I am almost finished with the front half of Bree's Thinking Dress....what wonderful cabley goodness!

I received my package from TLE.


I bought one skein of Wollmeise, color Lowenzahn. The base yarn feels different then any other superwash merino I've felt. The colors are gorgeous, yummy greens with hints of yellow. I can't wait to find the perfect pattern for this yarn!

The fiber is 4oz of BFL dyed by Sakina Needles, color Callow Lily. I'm collecting fiber but haven't quite figured out how to spin. Not that I'm worried about figuring it out. I'm determined, I'll figure it out.

I also bought a cute little heart tape measure for my knitting bag. I'm hoping for a coffee mug when they are in stock again and I read tonight in the Loopy Groupie Ravelry discussion board that Sheri and the rest of the TLE gang are putting the stuff together for t-shirts. I may be suckered tempted into buying one.

This whole package makes staying up all night easier to take. For a pick me up I can always go into the stash room and pet my new yarn and fiber.

Itty Bitty FOs

With all the wind and cold here I made a hat and almost mittens for Bree. Not that you would realize it's winter here after the last few days it's been in the 40s and 50's but never fear winters coming back this weekend. Crazy weather. I'm going to apologize for the craptastic pictures in advance. It's windy out today.

Here's the mittens.


I used this pattern as a guide but didn't follow it to a T.

And the hat.


I used the Toasty Topper pattern from the Winter 07 issue of Knitty. I think I may have messed up a little on the short rows but the hat is wearable and there isn't any holes. I need to hunt for better resources. The mittens and hat were knit using Cascade 220 wool. 

Here's a shot of the lucky recipient.


This hat is not coming off. It fits snuggly, plus throw on those mittens and she can't smack it off her head. Ha, score one for me: Bree 0, Mommy 1!

Bree had to get her second flu shot today. Last year things were messed up and she never received a second shot so this year we had to split the flu shot up again. Next year she'll get one shot. She's not really fussy but she refused to take a nap which is going to me a mega crabby child later this evening.

Tonight I think I'll work on my other Garter Rib sock and possibly cast on for Shawn's hat.

Sock Progress

Yesterday was a complete bust for knitting.  I finished one of Sheldon's legs and started another but gave up to read more of the newest Harry Potter book.  To top it all off I stayed up way to late because I just had to finish the last 450 pages.  So I was super tired today, but hey I finished the book.  One of these days I may learn, nah probably not!

Today I did manage some knitting.  I put a few more inches on the Melon Stripes blanket and after I'd had a nap I started sock number 2 of the Baby Cable Rib Trekking socks. 

Here's a shot of the Trekking socks.



Well I'm off to bed.  Tomorrow's a fun filled day packed with laundry and more boxes to pack.  We need to get the fragile stuff packed up.  Fun, fun.  Not to mention all the fun we are having try to get Bree to sleep in her pack and play.  She finally gave in and took a nap in it today.  Hopefully she will tomorrow too.

A Good Scare & Some Updates

Let me tell ya, nothing will get your heart pumping better then a good scare.  Which would be why I'm still up at almost 2am.

I damn near had a heart attack earlier when a spider the size of King Kong came flying across my living room floor at Sonic the Hedgehog speed.  Ok, ok, the spider (funnel weaver) was about the size of a silver dollar (counting his legs)....still really big and the boogers are super fast.  They are harmless unless you are a small child then you may have to worry about them carrying off with you....I really have to watch Bree and Zeus, though I think Bree is heavy enough and Zeus is the only one who has to worry!  Ok, so I'm maybe stretching the truth on that one too.  Well you all get the point, they're big and I hate them.

Since my heart was a pumpin' there was no way in the world I was heading to bed any time soon so I worked on a new project.  I started the Forest Canopy Shawl using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in the color Tuscany. 



I'm really liking it so far.  The shawl is a little less bright in really life....there goes my camera flash washing things out again.  The pattern is super easy and I think this is going to be warm, soft and cozy.  It's for me.  I've been wanting to start another lace project.  What better thing to work on during this move then this shawl.  If I don't finish it before the movers get here.

I finished the first Trekking Baby Cable Rib sock.



My sis is lucky I have another ball of this or she would sooooo not be getting these socks.  I'm loving this colorway.  These socks will not have matching stripes.  There is no way in the world I'm going to drive myself crazy trying to match these bad boys up.  I like my sanity just fine.  It would take an extremely calm, patient individual to match up these socks.

Lastly, we have the Mango stripe blanket. 



As you can see from the super boring picture, I've managed to put on another stripe.  I was way to engrossed with finishing the Trekking sock and starting my Forest Canopy Shawl. 

Well now that my heart is beating normal again I need to try to catch a few hours of sleep.  I need to finish the laundry tomorrow and who knows what else!

Happy Knitting All!

Finally I Can Link

It's been driving me absolutely batty not being able to link the new Creative Knitting Mag.  Well I just noticed that the new magazine is loaded.  So here we go.  You can go here to see all the patterns in the Sept 07 magazine.

The Cables and Lace Jacket is first up for me.  I think the stripey thing going on is cool but it would drive me bonkers knitting it because I would want everything to match stripe wise so I'm going for a solid in Andean Silk, color: Chocolate.  This will help save my sanity!  I thought about doing the jacket in WotA or Swish since they are a bit cheaper but I think I'm going to splurge and use the Andean Silk. I'll be able to wear this with pretty much anything.

I also want to make this and this for myself.  I also thought these were cute.

Why am I writing this at 1:40am in the morning you may ask.  Well that would be because Bree decided to wake up around midnight in preparation of her b-day.  Bout 2 hours to go and she'll officially 1 year old.  :~) 
Where in the world does the time go?

Here's a some what decent shot of Bree in her new red dress.



I haven't managed to get a better one of her yet.  I can't wait to get a shot of Kaity in her new skirt.  I only have about 80 some odd rows to go.  Thankfully they go fast.

Wouldn't you know it.  Knit Picks is out of stock of the damn 32" 2.75mm circ that I need.  *cussing* *more cussing* *extremely loud cussing*  Feel free to add your own words in between the * *.  Guess I'll be buying a needle somewhere else.  I'm not waiting until Aug 15th for the damn things to come back in stock.  I really need it now but have to wait till payday.  I swear this tank top of my sisters has been plagues with needle issues.  Well the good news is by the time this is all over with I will have every friggin' needle size and length on the market.   :~)   
So the Ribs and Lace Tank is on 32" circ right now but that is pushing it as far as cable length goes.  I don't think it's going to work once the ribbing starts pulling in so it's just sitting in it's bag collecting dust.

Any one have a 24" circular US2/2.75mm needle I can borrow?  Just Kidding!    :~)

An FO, A Magazine & A Late Night

I have an FO to report and I just glanced at the title of this post again and it sounds like the start of a bad joke.  :~)
Against all odds I finished Bree's dress last night.  One corner of the dress looks like crap so I need to go back and fix it. 



Bree woke up again last night but Shawn entertained her for a bit so I could knit.  I tried the dress on her this morning but she's a tad on the crabby side so no cute baby pics today.  I'll try to get a pic of her in the dress here in the next few days. 
I used the Knitting Pure and Simple pattern #266, Little Girl Sundress or Jumper.  I love their patterns.  Simple, easy to use, well written, and easy to customize for a perfect fit.  I have several more of their patterns.  I have hooded sweater patterns for both girls and the mens Henley pattern for Shawn.

My Sept issue of Creative Knitting came in.  There wasn't any thing great for kids in this one but there are two jackets that I'd like to make for myself.  The first one is called Cables and Lace Jacket.  It's made using worsted weight yarn.  The other one is called Trailblazer Jacket and is made out of bulky weight yarn. There is also a dishcloth pattern in their that has a big cable that runs down the center. 

Sorry I can't link to pics Creative Knitting hasn't put the Sept issue on their website yet.  They are still showing July.  All in all I think I've gotten my moneys worth out of the subscription.  I renewed for another year.  I can always find at least one thing, besides the dishcloth pattern, that I'd knit out the mag.  I'll be keeping my Interweave Knits subscription too.  Some much stuff to knit not enough time or money to knit it all.   :~)

Progress & Mail

Progress & Mail, what more could a girl want.  Well maybe a little extra sleep.  Bree was up till 1am.  We've been having problems getting her down for the night off and on over the past week.  My Knit Picks box came in which was my little splurge. 



I got 5 skeins of Shine Worsted in the color Grass, 2 skeins of the new sock yarn Felici in the color Coastal....oh this stuff is so soft.  I'll be getting more, yum!  I got the Felici for Shawn.  It has a bit of purple in it but deemed it manly enough.  I also got 16" circs in sizes US4 - US9, minus the US8 I had bought a while back.

I finally have a little progress on the Ribs and Lace Tank.



My camera drives me crazy.  The yarn is not this bright.  For a better look at the color of the yarn go here.  I need to give my camera an attitude adjustment.  Considering the fact that the pics I took of the yarn I got in today are showing the correct color, *sigh*. 

I really like the tank so far.  I think this is going to be a fast knit for me because the pattern is easy and the King Tut cotton is really nice to work with.

I've decided that I'm going to make an easy pair of socks this time.  Something that requires little thought so I've decided my next pair of SOS socks will be the Campfire Sock pattern by Cidermoon using my Glacier yarn in the Silver Pine colorway.  I'll start the Jaywalkers after the tank is an FO.

Diagnosis: Not Sick

Well it turns out Kaity isn't sick.  She was dehydrated which caused her to get sick to her stomach.  Water, Pedialyte, and a good nap have helped her make a complete turn around.  She woke up at 2:40 am, sat straight up and stated that she felt great and she wanted something to eat.  :~)  I'll probably keep her out of school since she's still wide awake which means here in a bit she is going to be tired.  I'm just glad it turned out that she isn't sick. 

I ordered a few skeins of yarn from this latest Sneak Up Sheri at The Loopy Ewe did.  I couldn't resist.  :~)

On the knitting front:  In the last few hours of sitting up with Kaity I managed to get 8 rounds done with 11 more to go.....sweet!  The never ending gift knit really looks like it has an end in sight.  :~)

I've been cruising through my copy of Mason Dixon Knitting.  I've been thinking about what else to make for the babies that keep popping up in my family.  I make it sound like there are lots and lots of them.  There are only two on the way that I know of....lol.  But you never know who else in the family may have one.  I'm contemplating making some of the Burp cloths but can seem to decide on yarn.  I want something that is usable, easy to wash, and absorbent.  I thought about using Dishcloth cotton like Peaches and Cream or Sugar and Cream.  Any thoughts on this?  Any yarn suggestions?  I'd love to here them.

Well I'm off to scrounge something up to eat and knit some more on the never ending knit. 

Really Tired & a Sock Update

You all aren't going to hear much from me today.  I'm dog tired.  I didn't get to bed till like 2:30am.  Last night I was so tired and decided I was going to go to bed.  I was finishing up my round on Kaity's socks when I heard the sound of screaming baby coming from Bree's room....Not fussing, not crying, but screaming.  Shawn went and picked her up and after a few seconds she stopped her screaming. 
I have no idea what it was that made her scream but she was a happy baby for the rest of the night.  I didn't get her back down to sleep till 2am.  She seems fine today too so I'm clueless as to why she woke up screaming.  All I can think of is she was startled awake by something.
So if all goes well and my little turkey goes down for a nap I'll be going down for a nap too.  :~) 
On the knitting side of things, I'm almost finished with the gusset of Kaity's sock.  There are only a few rounds to go to finish up the gusset.  I had her try on the sock and it fits beautifully now.  Wow it's amazing what remembering to subtract negative ease will do for you....lol.  This sock fits her so much better.