Knittin'

Check out my new socks! These are the sockweight version of my Hunter Socks. I'm working on another pair of worsted weight ones for my Hubby. And I'm writing the pattern as I go. 

 And I took a three-day break from the Hunter Socks, to make this!

It's not my own design, though I did alter the pattern considerably. My mother-in-law made beautiful Christmas stockings for everyone in the family; Hubby and me, our kids, Hubby's sister and brother. But she passed away five years ago. Well, Hubby's sis just had her first baby in September. Since Grandma isn't around to make it, and every baby needs her own special handmade stocking, I made this one for her. 

Happy New Year!

To welcome the new year, I present my first project, knitted entirely this year. ☺

The pattern is Twisted Tambini by my dear friend Andrea.  I used Paton's Decor wool blend in "chocolate", and US8 needles.  I'm considering making another one with smaller needles, because this is kinda enormous on my head.  But it'll keep me warm, and that's what matters!  I love this design.  The reversible cables on the brim were a bit tricky, since I'd never used that technique before.  The result is terrific, and I love how the brim cables transition seamlessly to the main body cables.  You can't see the crown of the hat in this pic, but that's okay, because I messed up somewhere in there, and couldn't figure out where, so I just faked it.  I don't think anyone will know unless I tell them.  Keep my secret, okay?

In other news, we have our stuff, and it's in our house!  There's still some organizing to be done, and lots of painting.  I started the painting yesterday, with Princess and Kitty's room; pink, of course.  Angel and I will do her room this morning; turquoise.  I'll do the bathroom and laundry room in the same turquoise, and then I'll have to calculate how much beige to buy for the rest of the rooms.  I'm thinking a five-gallon bucket of satin finish, and two gallons of semi-gloss...but I'm not going to just go with my guess.  Made that mistake before...

Anyway, we're still staying at my father-in-law's house, since we won't have tv service until the 12th, or internet until heaven-knows-when, and Hubby has forgotten how to live without those things.  But FIL has gone to his winter home in Arizona, so we have the house to ourselves, and we can take our time moving all of our stuff to our new place.

Hmmm...what else did I forget to post about while I was busy in December?  I turned 31, and Princess turned 7...Merry Christmas...we celebrated Christmas with Hubby's family, but at least I got to call my family.  The girls and I are planning on driving down to Kansas at the end of January to visit them. ☺

Oh, I almost forgot to mention: I started working on a new baby blanket design; it's about halfway done.  I'll post a pic in my next post.  I've got to run now; time for paint!

Merry Christmas!

Despite a dubious start, it's turning out to be a good Christmas at the Knitter house.  The turkey was delicious, the potatoes were absolutely wonderful(I'll be making them with Lactaid milk from now on!), and the kids were so stuffed that they didn't even think to ask about dessert.  Which I forgot to make.  Oops.

This has been a very disorganized season for me.  Angel's Christmas tree is still completely bare, because she was waiting for me to put the lights on.  Kinda moot at this point.  At this moment, the girls and I are watching Return of the Jedi on tv.  Hubby is skype-ing with his aunt, and Hubby's dad is, presumably, taking a nap.  A little while ago, Angel was "teaching Princess to sew".  They made a bookmark out of flannel, which was promptly given to Mommy.  It's terrific for a first project without grownup help! 

Angel is very excited about her gift from "Grandpa Claus"...a real sewing machine!  Tomorrow or the next day, we'll find some time to get it set up and figure out how it works.  I handed her the manual and told her to read through it, so she'll know, at least intellectually, how to use it.  Princess's old bike was officially too small for her, so "Grandpa Claus" got her a brand new one, without training wheels!  Kitty's gift from "Grandpa Claus" is a Leapster, which we will figure out tomorrow or the next day.  But her favorite gift was a little stuffed kitty that I picked up at Hobby Lobby as a gift "from daddy".  All three girls got lightsabers "from Uncle J" and they all agree they're their second-favorite gifts.  Santa filled the stockings with candy, so I'm predicting a few days of wired kids.  Hubby got me some Black Hills Gold earrings(which he kept secret since September!), and his dad got me the art I've been eyeing for months!  As soon as I can borrow a tall ladder from my neighbors, I'll have prints of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution gracing my front entry!  I did get a little yarny goodness, and I can hardly wait to cast on, but I need to finish a few projects first.

No workout today, as the gym is closed for the Holiday.  I was planning on going for a walk, but I'm still in my jammies at 4pm, so I'm not sure that's going to happen.

Anyway, Merry Christmas!  I hope you are having a happy holiday, and your stress level is low.

A few knitting pics...

Here's a closeup of a simple triangular shawl I'm making. It's mostly stockinette, with purl ridges randomly spaced. And it'll have a very ruffley edging, because I like ruffles.

I'm using Paton's Decor, in Chocolate Taupe, and holding a silver thread along with it. This shawl was inspired by my hair; I recently found my first silver hairs. Yeah, I know that's strange, being inspired by my own hair. But I find inspiration everywhere. Anyway, the working name for this one is "Going Gray"... I haven't decided whether that will be the name when it's finished.

Here is Angel, wearing her Christmas Sweater, and an apparently radioactive necklace. ☺ The sweater fits her perfectly! And she loves it.

Here's Princess, wearing her shrug, and carrying the purse I crocheted to match it. Yes, I realize the shrug looks silly being worn over longer sleeves, but that's my 5-year-old. That's how she is.

And here's a bit of pure cuteness: Dolly, wearing her Christmas cape and mitts. It won't fit for very long, but I didn't figure it would anyway. She'll wear it until the weather gets too warm for it, then it'll go in her "special box".

Coming up in my next post: pics of Princess's poncho, which I finished last night.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas, and that y'all have a terrific New Year!

Whew! One more done!

I finished Angel's sweater! No pics yet; it's blocking at this moment, and the camera is missing. Will find it later and get a picture. I'm going to frog the purse I started for Princess; it's just going too slowly. I think I'm going to double the yarn and knit with bigger needles, or maybe crochet. I haven't crocheted much lately, but I do remember it being fairly quick, so that might be the way to go.

We're going to see Santa tonight at our neighborhood park. The girls are very excited. Two great photo ops in one day! We went and got portraits done this morning, and we were amazed at how well they turned out. Four shots yielded three good pictures and one that was just okay. We were done after about twenty minutes, so we went to IHOP for lunch, and finished up Christmas shopping. ☺ Here's a picture of the girls, wearing the cardigans I designed for them earlier this year...

More progress!

I just bound off the body of Angel's sweater! I'll start on the sleeves after she goes to bed. It's gotten to the point now that if she sees me working on it, she'll figure out what it is. I'm very happy with how it looks so far; exactly how I had planned.
I've used a skein and a half of the pink for the body, and will probably use a skein for each sleeve. It's taking less yarn than I'd anticipated. ☺ I still have three full skeins, plus some, so I'm going to have leftovers! I love this yarn. And I love this sweater; pretty, simple, and so soft. And I'm 98% certain it's going to fit.

Progress has been made...

I've finally picked up Angel's Christmas sweater again. Here's a picture of what it looks like today. I had Princess try it on, to make sure that the sizing was right, but I didn't take a picture of that. Anyway, it was slightly big on Princess, and came to her waist, so I think I'll do another inch or two, then increase a bit...Angel's shape is already beginning to change; she's got hips!

Anyway, that's all I've got time for tonight. Just wanted to get the update up. ☺

Another finished project!

Here's the shrug I made for Princess for Christmas! I'm thinking I'll make a little purse to match, since this is a smaller project than the cape and mitts I made for Dolly, and the sweater I'm making for Angel.

Again, this is my own design, and I'm working on additional sizes before being ready to publish the pattern. It's a seamless raglan with elbow-length sleeves. I used one skein of Naturally Caron Spa, in "Rose Bisque" and a little tiny bit of the same yarn in "Misty Taupe" for the crochet trim around the edges and ends of the sleeves. I think that "Misty Taupe" would be better named: silver. Okay, it's not as creative a name, but that's what color it is. When I think of taupe, I think beige. This is a very shiny, silky silver. But anyway, that's not really important. What is important is that I absolutely LOVE Spa. This yarn is so silky and soft; it's a real joy to work with. I'm glad this project only used one skein; that means I have five skeins left for Angel's sweater. ☺ And Angel already told me that she wants a matching shrug(but not for Christmas, because it wouldn't be a surprise). But I'm going to do hers all in the silver, because she has several long, navy blue, sleeveless dresses, and I think the silver and navy blue will look really classy together. And, doing it all in one color makes it more versatile; it'll be able to go with her other dresses as well.

♥

I've restarted on Angel's sweater, doing it exactly how I'd done it before. I had thought it wasn't shaping up well, but that's just because it was on such a short circular that I couldn't straighten it out and get a real feel for how I liked it. When I took it off the needle to frog it, I thought it didn't look so bad after all, but I frogged it anyway... and now, after thinking about it for a few days, I like it. So I started it again. I need to trust my original idea....I think it'll turn out pretty well.

♥

Only 80 days left until Christmas!

knit, knit, knit, knit, knit

I realized that I haven't posted since last Friday, so I figured I should post something. I've been busy...knitting, of course. Did you know there are only 100 knitting days until Christmas?!? My baby sister's Christmas present is finished and ready to be photographed...or it would have been ready if my kids had left it alone while it was blocking. I need to reblock it. I've got the first part of my second-youngest sister's present almost done. I'm making the same gift for all of my sisters, just in different colors. I've started on a poncho for Princess, but it isn't a Christmas gift. I'm planning to get it done before we go visit family in North Dakota next month. I'm knitting it in a bulky yarn (Bernat Alpaca blend) so it's going pretty quickly. I need to measure her and decide how long to make it. I've decided to make a hooded cape for Dolly, for Christmas, and some mitts to go with it (from the same pattern I designed for my other girls' mitts; just have to size it down to fit her) I think I might have enough blue worsted merino left over from a sweater project for that. I started a "banana bag" for my baby sister...haven't gotten very far with it, though. Sorry, no pics today...I'll get some taken soon.
Oh, I posted a new pattern (for a coaster) on my pattern blog, so go check that out... the link for my pattern blog is over there. ----------->

Okay, I know it's not anywhere near Christmas, but...

I wanted to show you the Christmas Tree Angel I made. I got the general idea from a magazine somewhere. I don't remember which magazine, but that's okay, because I only used it as inspiration. I designed this myself. If there's enough interest, I'll refine the pattern and publish it.

The basic design started with a knitted tube; I used a light worsted weight yarn. I did some decreasing for the shoulders, and she does have a neck; you just can't see it well from the angle at which I took the picture. Then I increased for the base of the head, knitted even for a few rows, then rapidly decreased for the top of the head. Then I picked up stitches around the "waist" and started the over-skirt. The basic tube is just barely covered by the skirt. At the top of the skirt, there's only one purl stitch between each cable. I increased one stitch between each cable on the same round where I did the cable crossings. But when I was getting near the bottom of the skirt, I increased two stitches between each cable, which gives it that lovely flare at the bottom. The arms are I-cords. The hair is just attached using the "latch hook" technique that we all learned as kids, then I unplied the yarn to make it wavy. The belt is a crochet chain of fun fur, as is the halo. The wings were fun fur carried along with the plain yarn, to make them more dense than just fun fur alone. The smile was just backstitched on, and the eyes are drawn on, though I did consider using tiny beads for the eyes. And finally, I knitted a little piece with thin yarn on size 1 needles. And I transferred the live stitches to toothpicks, for the angel's needles; I used a dot of clear glue to keep the stitches from sliding off the needles.

I have plans for all sorts of Christmas decorations; this is just the first. I think one of our trees will be decorated with only handmade ornaments: knitted, felted, sewn, or otherwise handmade. I'm starting early, so I can get them all done. I think the next think I'll figure out will be a knitted garland of colorful "lights"...