Babies!!!

Ok, so, school is finally out (well until shifts start again next week, but I'll enjoy the weekend) and I just finished the first baby blanket of the summer. I've got one more to go. This has been a baby blanket heavy year!!

This one is for Baby Norton, due in August. He'll look so cute! I'm also planning a bee hat for him.



It only took me 10 days and a few of those were spent studying, so not bad. :) My next blanket project is a beautiful, fancy blanket based on the Nordic tree of life, Yggdrasil. It is going to be a challenge I'm certain, but it is so beautiful!! Also, it is for the Sapp baby and his dad is a big Nortic/Germanic type fan. I should figure out something to do as well along the Mexican lines to represent Mama. :) Hmmm.

The big Impressionist blanket is coming along, over half done. It will be my first blocking experience so it should be interesting.

So much fun and I have a whole summer to knit...in the sun!!!

I was going through my pictures trying to organize them while I was learning about delivering breech babies and I realized I have some sock pictures and a couple of WIPs to load!

Here are the Crabby McCrabbypants socks reborn as flip-flop socks. :) I put a garter stitch heel on them, found at Knitpurl Hunter. It is lovely and cushy and Alisha likes it. It is also really simple to do, which I like. :)




Here is that lovely Mochi yarn being knit into more flip-flop socks. I finished them as well, but have been waiting for the right time to get pictures of them in the sun!! May has been sucking for sun so far. I used the garter stitch heel on these too.

This is the beginning of the Impressionist Afghan from Knit Picks. It is so simple, but insanely fun to knit, even when it gets big and you feel like you are knitting forever in the middle. I'm on the fourth color and nearly to the center of the blanket. Loving it so far.

That's all for today. Gotta get back to the drudgery of school. :)

PS. This wee baby hat found a head to go on at the birth I attended Wednesday night. :) Maybe the mama will let me take a picture of it on the baby at the one week visit and post it. I'll ask.

WIP

Here are some of my works in progress(wip)/things I will be working on soon.

I made these socks for Alisha already, but they turned out to be larger than I expected, this was a new type of yarn for me (Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silkie Socks That Rock - part silk part wool), and she really wanted the flip-flop toes. So, I frogged them and am about halfway through their second knitting. I'm including a picture of their first incarnation.

These are called Union Jack Argyle from Think Outside the Sox(no specific recommendations for Amazon here). I am using Stroll Tonal (Springtime and Deep Waters) from Knit Picks. I have had to rip them back once and may have to do so again because they are getting tight. I think I'm being too tight in my knitting. I've set them aside for now.

This is the Impressionist Afghan, also from Knit Picks. I saw it, fell in love, and bought the kit. It may end up being a home project because it will ultimately get pretty big. Another reason to like socks, so portable.

This will become toe socks for Alisha. I love this yarn, even if it has to be hand washed. It is soft and warm and the colors are alway so rich. It is Mini Mochi, though I can't recall the color right now.

So, I'll keep posting pictures as these get finished and as I come up with more stuff to knit!

Non Sock Projects

While my passion lately has been socks, there have been other things going on too! Mainly baby blankets (what is up with everyone having babies all at once?) and a couple of stuffed animals. I'm also including old projects on this post that I just have never posted about.

Here are some Long Thick scarves I made for Alisha and myself a few years ago. Each is about six feet long and you can see in the picture how wonderfully wide they are. They are warm and will be so nice to have when we are both in Russia this next winter!

A few baby hats. Sorry, I don't recall the yarn used. My kitteh particularly loved modeling, as you can tell by the ecstatic look on her face...





These are a couple of narrower, slightly shorter scarves I made for Alisha and I for spring and fall in Portland. I am not actually done with the blue one.



This is Starghan, a pattern I found on Ravelry. It came out much more lumpy than I hoped, but wonder if I used a non acrylic if it would be nicer. I think I will try it again in the future, but change the yarn a bit. I used JoAnn's Sensations Cuddle Yarn.

I got a MacBook Air, 11" and discovered that they didn't have a good cover for it (most are for 13" computers and my poor computer would end up flopping around it them. So, I decided to make my own from some extra yarn I had (Knit Picks Swish DK). I even put my initials on it. I have gotten more complements on this than anything else I have ever knit! I basically knit a long, wide sock with a flap at the top. I love it.

This yarn was so yummy that I had to make something from it, and thought a hat would be perfect! It is Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran that I picked up at the Yarn Garden in Portland, OR. It is pretty warm, though I really wish that I could figure out how to put a lining inside.
More fingerless gloves.


A crocheted water bottle holder. It has a really long strap so it can be worn across the body more easily.

A blanket for Sheldon the Turtle! It is his little home. This is for the new baby that one of my oldest (known the longest) friends is expecting. :)

Here he is outside the blanket.

Modified dollsized version of the Sheldon Blanket (without a pocket). It is for the big sister of the baby who is getting the full sized Sheldon Blanket version!

SUPER SHELDON!!! This costume is also on the Knit Picks site.



This is Sully Shellworth, or the alter ego of Super Sheldon. He is actually the second Sheldon I made, though the differences are very subtle.

A lovely skullcap I made for Alisha.

That's it for the non sock projects thus far.

I have plans for a throw blanket, a pirate Sheldon and possibly some gloves. When I put it all down like this it seems like much less than when I just think about it all. :) There are a few other projects that I didn't get a chance to take pictures of, so they aren't on here. Most of this was done in the last four or so years.

I'd like to get into lace making and have my eye on several scarves/wraps/shawls. I am also considering taking all my extra sock yarn and making a blanket. I'm trying to keep myself busy without buying a lot more yarn. Being a student certainly lowers my budget for that sort of thing. I also may take some of the yarn to make some baby hats. I'd like to start a collection that I can sell/give as gifts to new little ones when I start my practice.

I'll post one more post about wip then I will be done for now. :)

Socks

I have posted a couple of pictures of socks already, so I won't repeat those here. I realized that I've knitted 28 pair of socks since December 2008, when I knit my first pair. That's a lot of socks!! I really enjoy making them. They are small, simple to make, easy to be creative with and can really express your personality without going overboard.

Here we go.

First pair of socks ever made. I knit them for my best friend, but now my partner has them as my best friend has wool issues.

These were my second pair, for another friend who's cat kindly posed with them.

This yarn is from Knit Picks, it is called Essential Kettle Dyed and is discontinued. I only got to knit three pair out of it, and I'm so sad it is gone!!

These are the replacement socks for my best friend. From Blue Moon Fiber Arts, it is their Hand Painted Candy Sock yarn in Autumn.

I neglected to get a picture of the finished product, but these socks are made of Bamboo & Ewe from JoAnn's Fabrics in Charcoal. It is sock weight. They went to my dad and turned out so nicely!!

These were for my Mom, the second of the Essential Kettle Dyed yarn. You can see the subtle changes in color a bit better here, but in reality they are so beautiful.

This yarn is Gems Yarn from Twisted in Portland, OR. It is a much deeper red than this picture shows. The pattern is Knitty Twist Socks by Ceylan Gul. Lovely, simple pattern. I just found her website....yippee!

Now comes all of my flip-flop socks. Alisha really loves these. I have two pair and I mix up whether I knit a regular toe or a flip-flop toe.

This pair is made of Blue Moon's Gingerbread Dude, medium weight. I made another pair that look very similar, with a short row heel and a slightly different knit pattern. I don't have a good picture of them.

The last of the Essential Kettle Dyed yarn. These are flip-flop socks, though it is harder to tell on this picture.
Our rainbow flip flop socks. Made of Crystal Palace Mini Mochi Intense Rainbow.

More Blue Moon yarn! This is STORM large. This picture does not do it justice, though I tried to get a shot in the rare sun we are getting in Portland. I really should do a knitting photo shoot for all the knitting that is still in my possession. These feel a lot longer when they are on than they look in this picture. :) The colors are also much more vibrant.


More Blue Moon (yes, I am addicted to their yarn, it is gorgeous). This is Quilla from their Spirit collection. It has a hint of red to it, though it does not show through on this picture. It is very subtle, and gorgeous.

I have two pair of socks on the needles (one of them is kind of hibernating though) and two in waiting.

Next post will be a summary of my non sock projects.

Long time no post!

I could not access this blog over the last several months due to a mix up with my log in. I've been posting things on my Live Journal though it is not just knitting stuff. This is definitely the blog to keep all of my knitting together.

I've been very busy since my last post and I've been getting pictures of everything I've knitted over the past many years, as well as knitting new things to photograph.

I am going to lump all past projects in to a couple of posts and then get a chance to post things as they are finished, or as I work on them. At some point, I may add links to some of my favorite blogs/companies. I wonder if I can get paid for the advertising...:) Probably not without some work huh?

Ok, a bunch of posts today. The next one will be devoted to socks.

Warm stuff for my girl

Life certainly does not leave much time for updating blogs! It is barely leaving time to knit lately. :)

However, I finished this sweater in just over a month, in time for Valentine's Day. I used Blue Moon's Gingerbread Dude, and am in the midst of making a pair of socks for myself out of it now.

It was my second sweater and turned out better than the first. No real sewing too! Just to make the casing of the hood. The bull's eye patterns on the arms were total coincidence, which was pretty neat actually. Washing it was a new challenge. Next time, I think I'll make it a little smaller (it got bigger) and won't forget the vinegar soak first!

The extra yarn from the sweater got made into these fingerless gloves for alisha as well. I've made some for myself too, though I haven't had a chance to take pictures, so that will happen a littel later. I'd like to try to make these again out of fingering weight next.

These were Alisha's Christmas socks. You can't see the detail well on the pictures, but I did a sort of basket weaving pattern. I didn't expect the yarn to come out quite as cammo as it did. No one will see her feets! I also have a pair of purple socks that I made for myself, first pair for me! Again, pictures later.

I've got a couple of ideas in the pipeline, that will be happening slowly. The socks I'm doing now have a big toe separate from the rest, kind of mitten socks. I'm also making some for Alisha that are of this beautiful rainbow wool. Those are secret though. Good thing she doesn't read this! :)

That's all for now.