Love is in the air...

It is almost Valentine's Day (I can say that because Valentine's Day is one week before Emma's birthday and we have already starting making plans).  Right now, I love this pattern.  I love this yarn.  I love this book.  The accidental heart, well, I love that too.  Since this hat is going to a special little almost one year old, it makes sense that a little love would be in there.

Stockings, family style.

I finished Andy's stocking with only a few days to spare.  He seems to like it and was pleased to find some goodies hiding inside on Christmas morning.  The girls' stockings were finished last year, so I am now the only one without a stocking.  It would seem that I have just under a year to pick out the right pattern and make the stocking so that we all have one next year.  The girls were a bit concerned that Santa wouldn't leave me anything since I didn't have a stocking.  I made sure that Santa put something in my felt stocking (those are just for hanging, not for filling but Santa made an exception this year).  I love that Sophie could fit inside hers.

a Pixie Hat

This is the Stella Pixie hat. I don't have a picture of it on a baby because it is the newborn size, and the sweet little newborn it went to lives far away. Maybe there will be a picture soon though... I hope it fits. I love this hat. I really loved knitting it up - although it was made with sock yarn which is so fine that my fingers started to cramp every so often. But, it is still lovely and machine washable (oh, so important) and I really hope it fits. So, here is the link to the pattern on Ravelry - it's a free download.

Making

This is a braiding star, by Biber - I included a link to them in my last post. It is incredibly simple and perfect for Emma - she tends to like instant gratification as much as the next person. She asks to learn to knit, works at it briefly, then puts it away for many weeks before showing interest again. The first time I tried to teach her to knit, she became very upset when I told her she would need to practice for a while before she would be able to make a sweater for Teddy. This is not lost on me, I started by working on the 20 stitches my friend cast on for me, and about 20 rows into it I decided it was time to move on and actually MAKE something. So, I did. Therefore, when Emma expects to be able to really create something (she has also asked how long it would take to make a blanket for Teddy) in a super quick fashion, well, I get it.

In the meantime, I am enjoying this opportunity to watch her little hands at work.

ps - Emma is wearing her spring jammies from the Easter basket in these pictures.

edited - I have to add that I bought two of these and as of this morning, when Sophie mastered it, all four girls in my house this weekend are loving the braiding star. I have been asked by everyone why I didn't get four of these.

Nana, look what I made!

She won't believe it. I don't have to send her a pattern and some yarn every time I need a flower. I can do it myself now. And these are really cute - the buttercup pattern near the front. I am really in love with making these and they are so easy (once I switched from wood needles to addi turbo lace for the p3tog) - I have practically memorized the pattern and can make them so fast. I have never thought of knitting as "instant gratification" before, but that has changed at least a little.

The pattern is from Nicki Epstein's Knitted Flowers. This copy made it's way to me via Leslie Friend (incredibly talented knitter who picks the best projects) of A Friend to Knit With. She was giving away a copy of this early in March and I happened to be the lucky random comment (I have a history with her giveaways too, I will now need to restrain myself from commenting on future giveaways - hopefully she doesn't have any Hawaiian vacations in the near future). Unfortunately, the book arrived shortly after I burned my hand (completely healed) and so it sat for a while. Well, thank you Leslie - it is such a good book (I am definitely an amateur knitter, and it works for me).

And, Nana - you are probably not yet completely off the hook. There are plenty of patterns that ask for crochet trim (remember the dress I (I mean "we") made for Emma while I was pregnant with Sophie?).

I am thinking about turning these flowers (oh, and I have made about 6 others as well) into hair clips for the girls. A quick trip to JoAnn's might produce supplies for a cute headband as well. But, I also might use this and attaching them to cute little bracelets.

ps - the yarn I used is "Claudia Hand Painted Yarns" fingering weight, in Tomato Soup. I bought it at Twisted, one of the many local yarn shops to us PDXer's. I was there yesterday between plans, and the ladies there were so kind and friendly and helpful. It was a joy, except that Sophie was a bit into everything. The braiding star is from there too.

Wow!

It took a little figuring in order for me to follow the stitches that I had never seen before, but once I got the hang of it, and found the proper needles to use (definitely not wood needles, but addi turbo lace did the trick) - well, I fell in love with making these!!! I can't wait to show some pictures, really soon (we haven't been having beautiful lighting the last couple days). Soon, soon.

8000

That's the number of stitches I ripped out of my sweater that I am knitting right now. 36 rows, 8000 stitches, a lot of hard work. Ugh!

bummed.

Yes, that's me.
Today, something special arrived in the mail. It's a book. I looked through it and it's awesome. Exactly what I have wanted. But (here comes the bummed part), I can't do anything with it for a while. I burned my hand on a fresh off the grill skewer and because I have to keep ointment on my hand and fingers, it is also bandaged up. But, I can dig through my yarn stash and pull out all of the supplies and be completely ready to go. So, currently bummed, but back soon with some cute knit florals!
edited to add: this is the same book that Leslie at "A Friend to Knit With" was giving away, and she randomly drew my number! Thank you, so much! Also, I need to point out that Ihave benefitted from her giveaways in the past...a certain lovely necklace I now wear on occassion.

Andy's new hat

Andy got a new hat last night. I finished weaving in the loose yarn just as he returned from his late night walk with Charley - too bad I wasn't moving a little faster, but he is about to head out for the morning walk with Charley and the hat is on his head!
This hat was made using the pattern "Whitney's 70's Ski Hat" from the Purl Bee blog. I chose this hat because even when I choose the softest of yarns for an Andy hat, he still finds it to be too scratchy, especially when he works up a little sweat on those walks. So, it had to be soft. This hat has a cashmere lining that is worked into the hat's construction making it practically seemless. This is a link to the pattern on the Purl Bee blog. I love that I got to make him this super luxurious hat lined in cashmere and learn a new technique, called the provisional cast-on. It involved making a chain of stitches using a crochet hook and then picking up stitches through the chain, allowing them to be worked again later on by using the crocheted stitches and working into the stitches again. It allowed the cashmere lining to be attached to the main hat without any actual sewing and it's beautiful on the inside. Anyhow, I used Cascade 220 yarn for the main hat and some Karabella cashmere for the lining. There is enough cashmere left over to make a second hat should Andy still feel the love by the end of the cold season - I can make another for next year. I posted the hat and the details for my version on ravelry, found here.

On other knitting news, I am about two inches from completing Emma's shrug, but ran out of yarn. My gauge was slightly (ever so slightly) off and I think that may have caused me to run out of yarn. I have placed an order and the girl told me a week, so I should have a call anyday now. I hope. But, I think the size 6 was a little smallish and I am going to have that one be for Sophie and make Emma a size 8, same color as she is still pretty set on having a new white sweater. That's okay, Easter is coming up and I have plenty of time to finish another one for a special dress up day like Easter.

I went out.

This morning. I woke up at 5:30 this morning anyhow, so it seemed meant to be. I went to the dreaded mall ( to get a sweater for the girls, gift cards to Panera for their teachers, and a quick stop in REI for mittens for Sophie). After the mall (which by the way, was not so bad at all and everyone was so cheerful and happy - love that), I came home to drop off my purchases and switched back into my pajamas. Why? Oh, well a LYS - Twisted was having a sale. 20% off everything until noon if you wear your jammies. I'm totally willing to put my jammies back on to save a few bucks. I wanted to get some yarn for Andy's Christmas stocking (I made the girls their stockings the last couple of years, this year is for Andy). I also got the biggest skein of yarn I have ever purchased - 500 yards of alpaca/merino/silk from Blue Moon fiber arts. Such a beautiful yarn in an lovely blue color that I can't wait to knit up. But I will. I started Emma's shrug/sweater this week, both girls picked out hat yarn, and I really want to make Andy's stocking. I can touch the yarn once in a while though - it is just lovely. They also had the Addi click needles on sale (they would have beem $136) - but that's three weeks of tutoring cash that I don't have. For now, I will wait.
How was your Thanksgiving? We went a very non-traditional route, but loved it. I made Andy's mom's recipe for Beef Burgundy and even though the list of ingredients is a bit long, I was surprised at how well I did. Though I'm sure it wasn't as good as when Barbie makes it! Even though it wasn't turkey, it was perfect for us. The girls decorated their gingerbread house. Then, I was planning to make some pizelles, but found myself short by two eggs. This afternoon I plan to fix that and make some - my tastebuds are now expecting them.
We have two photo sessions this week - one is with a newborn who is barely a week old and the other is with a one year old. I'm looking forward to both sessions as we really love both families.
Happy Black Friday.

It's finished!

My sweater, the Big Montana Tunic - I finished it last night. Since I know you are excited about that, you will have to come back this evening to see the finished product. A picture will have to wait for Andy's return home (okay, the picture had to wait a few days, but they are here now. Oh, and sorry for the booty shots, those are the best close-ups of the lacework). But in the meantime, I can say that it's great. It fits well. The blocking went well and the lacework looks really nice. So, I'm really glad I found this pattern and decided to trust my skills. It's good.
If you click on the link above, look at all of the good projects in this magazine. I love so many of them. I think the Tunic was the most budget friendly, but I can't wait to make others. It took me just about a month to make (and you should know that I never worked on this before 8pm, after the girls went to bed - except one day when Andy and I had something suspiciously similar to food poisoning), and that includes finishing about half of the lacework and then ripping it all out and starting over fresh. I'm so glad I did that though. This is my first big project, other than Barbie's shawl, which was a lot of fun to make.
I do have a next project in mind (actually from a different publication), but before I start another knit, I plan to prep some fabric for pj pants for the girls. I am trying to get those finished before Emma completely bursts through her current lineup of sleepwear. She is growing, you know.

edit: All of the details about this sweater and what I did, etc. can be found on Ravelry if you click here. This is the first project that I detailed there, but it will be so helpful to me in the future.

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/bootypackgirl/big-montana-tunic

Tunic update 1

I managed to get through the first 30 rounds of the lace pattern before I noticed a mistake about 12 rows back. So, today involved a quick trip to the yarn shop for some assistance and now I am back in action. But, I will say that so far this lace pattern is a little like playing chutes and ladders.
Ugh! Maybe I will rip it back to the ribbing and start over.

What I've started...

I really like this sweater. It looks so comfy, so wearable. Actually, in the current issue of this magazine, there are about four or maybe more projects that I can really say I want to make. But, one at a time. This is a good starter from this amazing issue. Can't wait to put it on. I am using Pastaza yarn from Cascade yarns, in color Lilac. I'll show you a little peak when I have more than the rib completed. The lace pattern begins tonight.

Hat Girl

This is the hat that Emma wanted.

It took a while, but she finally got it.

In the middle of summer.

But she loves it (she did pick out the colors) and it will be waiting for her when the weather turns.

Since the current forecast calls for one day NOT in the 90's this week, I imagine she won't need it for a while.

It's a good color for this kiddo, I think so...

WIP

http://www.zephyrstyle.com/i/patterns/web1_3.jpg

I am working on this sweater for myself. No picture yet, though I should do that just in case I take it apart again, and never restart (okay, I had to take a picture). It's actually not that bad, but even with two counts I messed up the cast on count and had to start over - after I had completely finished the twisted neckline and started the increases (thus the discovery of my error). Anyhow, I really like the neckline so much... I just hope it fits me. Otherwise, I will just have to hope that everything about it is hip and cute when it fits one of the girls.

A snowman...

Emma shared this little rhyme with us this morning:

There was a little snowman,
who had a carrot nose
Along came a rabbit,
and what do you suppose
He ate that carrot nose,
Crunch,
Crunch,
Crunch.

She learned that at school.
That's my little sponge.

It reminds me of a little something I learned from my third grade teacher:

There once was a rabbit named Fred,
who loved to stand on his head.
And one day it happened,
Poor Fred's ears had flattened,
And turned from pale pink to bright red.

Love that stuff, don't you? Now I just need to find those great little rhymes for teaching a kiddo to tie her shoes, and the ones used to teach a kiddo to knit. Do you have any of those to share???

Daddy's girl

I made this hat for Andy. Emma asked for one, just like it. How could I resist? I had the yarn already, I knew the pattern already, okay. But really, Emma? It's not pink. Are you sure? But, yes - she wanted one just like dad's. So, she got one. She loves it - couldn't wait to put it on. It's still on her head now. Andy still has his on too. He is in the kitchen prepping chicken for the grill and Emma is at the art table, making thumbprint creatures. Neither of them are cold. Oh, and little Sophie tried to take Emma's hat and a fight broke out. She then went to Andy and told him that she really wants a hat just like his too. I'm working on it...

ps - I have to add here that the hat pattern is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. I really love this pattern - the man size fits Andy perfectly to his liking and the child size is great for Emma. I love that it is one pattern that comes equipped with several variations, all in one spot. Andy's hat has the ribbed brim and Emma's has the garter stitch brim. The yarn I used is Lorna's Lace.

The Sophie mittens

Emma thinks these are the same mittens that "Baba" made in Jan Brett's book, the Mitten. She keeps telling Sophie to be careful not to lose them. All because of that little trim on the cuffs. It's cute though... she really listens when you read her a good book. I was at a little mommy knitting session a couple weeks ago and a momma there was making some mittens. I thought that sounded nice, and decided that I should make some, or at least give it a try. I did. This pattern came with several hat patterns that should cover my girls' hands and heads for about five more years. By then, they will really be done with me making this stuff for them anyhow. I'm good with that. I used the leftovers from her hat, and now she has a set. These mittens actually fit Emma really well too, and she sort of looked a little like she would enjoy a pair too. I just need to find that one right pink.

Toasty, and more

Last night was good. We are anticipating the snow - even woke this morning to heavy activity in the sky. When the girls went to bed last night, we turned on the Blazers game (not so great, but still) and I finished my fingerless mittens. I love them, I love the color. The yarn is so wonderful. I don't know what it is though, except that it is washable merino wool. How great is that? The pattern is from Leslie of A Friend to Knit With blog - it's the Toasty pattern. Super easy, and quick.

The pants have been finished and worn daily for a while now. Shortly after I finished Andy's pants, I made these for moi and they are perfect. Super roomy, and comfortable. I am tempted to make them in corduroy - you know, still loungy but a little more appropriate for when you answer the door to welcome a photography client and realize that you are still in your pj's. Oops, that did happen last week. Fortunately, this was her second time with us and didn't seem to notice. These are from the pattern Favorite Things Sleep Well. They have it for kids too.

On the photography front, we are scheduled for one session today, we have a lot of order processing to complete and then I think we will be on a bit of a break through the New Year. But, who knows. Oh, and we do have a baby that is going to be born sometime soon, and then we are going to the hospital for baby's first pictures. So, there is that too.

I took a class, and learned something new.

I signed up for a class a couple weeks ago that taught me a little something. It was a class for Fair Isle style knitting. I love the look of this, and how complicated it is. I really wanted to know how to do it, maybe for a simple hat or something. Not likely that I will ever bust out a Fair Isle sweater, but it is nice to know the how to. I will say, now that I understand the how-to, I am impressed even more with the result. It is hard, though I imagine it gets better with practice. Maybe after the holidays... some relaxing fair isle - is that even possible?