Presents for Krishna

My boss's wife had their second baby this summer. I'm a knitter so you know what we do...yep knit away.

I made a February baby sweater for their newborn daughter, I used a wool/cotton blend yarn in a lilac/green color. It turned out beautifully. I really like the pattern and the yarn combo and will use it again!

They also have a son, so of course big brother needs stuff, so he got a pack-pack (pattern from LTK of course). I filled it with crayons, paper and stickers, everything a 4.5 year old needs!


I hear the presents were a hit! :)

Sock Crisis Averted

I got new steel toed work shoes that I am required to wear at work. I knew they would be hard on my hand knit socks and I wanted to experiment with which sock yarn would work best with them.

The first day I wore my work shoes I happened to wear my Yarn Love Limeade and Violet socks to work. Now these are made from 100% worsted weight superwash wool, I just happened to make socks from it. I threw caution to the wind and decided to wear them in my work shoes...BIG MISTAKE...1 hour later I had a huge hole in one of my heels...1 hour!!! I gasped as I took off my work shoes, my coworkers, well they tried to be sympathetic.

Fortunately it was knit night that night. I ran home and got my leftover yarn and the knitting gurus helped me fix my sock! It's not as pretty as it used to be, but it is so functional and it has been saved!!! Thanks Kimber of Kimber Baldwin Designs!

Ravelry

Ravelry

I'm in! I'm mhurst there. It is awesome! You should really check it out!

This weekend I started taking pictures of my yarn stash to import into my notebook and I realized that I have a lot of yarn...more than I realized. See
That is just the sock yarn, I haven't started with the wool or cotton yarns. I'm a little afraid.

I should start knitting more and sleeping less :)

I also realized that I am horrible about documenting and taking pictures of my completed projects. I've made a lot of stuff that I don't have pics of :( Hopefully Ravelry will help me remedy this.

Yarn Love Limeade and Violet Socks

I made a pair of socks using the Jane Eyre yarn from Yarn Love. I accidently ordered their worsted weight yarn instead of sock yarn, but went ahead with the socks anyway. I LOVE THEM. They are super cushy. Here is a picture of the socks in progress, but they are finished now.



I loved knitting them and have since got some more yarn from Katie while at Knitter's Connection. Now I just need to figure out how to create more hours in the day to knit up all my yarn...

Cherry Tree Hill

I got my first order from the Loopy Ewe this week. I was a little overwhelmed by all the choices, I mean so much beautiful sock yarn all in one place. I decided on the CTH, I've fondled it at my LYS but haven't bought any. There were so many colors to choose from I just picked something pretty.

So it arrived this week and I set it down on the kitchen table and this is what I noticed:



Apparently I really like these colors, they are the colors for all my pretty dining room linens. IRL they match exactly, even DH noticed. DUH! :)

The scarf

I made a pair of socks using Koigu last year and I have ~1/2 to 3/4 a skein left over. My best friend loved the yarn, it was a gorgeous palette of blues. Right then and there I decided to knit her little scarf. Lynda likes short scarves that just hang around your neck, accessories if you will. I knew exactly what pattern I was going to use. It would be the perfect Christmas present.

Well then Lynda and I went to the Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs. Lynda is not a knitter, she's a lampwork artist and she is great with color. She came along for a fun day out, I don't think she expected to be bitten by the fiber bug, but she fell in love with a skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk. (She does have good taste.) Her mom is a knitter and she wistfully said, "Do you think my mom would knit me a scarf with this as my Christmas Present?" She kept playing with the skein, so I said, "I don't know, but I will". So I did and my Koigu scarf was not to be.

I've been in a knitting frenzy lately and the thought of the Koigu scarf would not leave me alone. I knew it had to be Lynda's so...Mother's Day it was.



The pattern is from "my yarn chick" at littleturtleknits.com It is an unpublished pattern called Twin Leaves that I test knitted for her. It is a lovely little lace pattern that I've made a few times now. Below is a close up of the leafy pattern. I love this pattern, T you really should sell it. And oh yeah, Lynda loved the scarf :)

Knitting Away

I organized my stash and that felt great and now I am knitting from it. I love making little mindless things that I can do while the kids play. I have made quite a few washclothes lately and I adore them. I just pick a stitch pattern and go. I can make one in an hour or so. I think I've also memorized the Calorimetry pattern, I've made a few and have some more to make. People love them and they are easy. A great combination!

I finally finished the first Knuck for my DH, now I have to start the second one. That is my last christmas obligation (I know it is the end of February...)

My big WIP is the Elfin Lace shawl that I am doing as a KAL with some friends from my knitting group. I am so far behind!!! One person (Robin) has finished the main part and has picked up the stitches on one side for the edging! I am on repeat 5 of 28 (and yes each repeat gets longer...) I am blaming my kids! Robin's son is away at college so she can knit complicated patterns at home every evening, while I have a 4 yr old and 2 yr old to play with. That is my story and I'm sticking to it! :)

Stash organization!

Yesterday I put all my yarn in one place and organized it, even the cotton and old acrylic from the beginner days. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I put a movie in (Notting Hill...love it) and went to town.

I am donating 17 skeins of yarn to the kid's daycare as they use yarn all the time for crafts. And I am actually throwing away yucky scraps! I found maybe 3 skeins of wool I didnt' love, I bought them as seconds and the colors don't speak to me. I'm not sure what I will do with them.

I organized the yarn by projects I have in mind and put them in bags together with a note naming the project. So now I have a huge rubbermaid tub full of "project yarn" and 2 rubbermaid tubs mostly full of "other" yarn, 3 small totes full of specific yarn (sock, undyed and peace fleece). Now when I started I didn't have the project yarn tote. Somehow my yarn has multiplied without me being aware.

It is great to see exactly what I have. For a long time I bought yarn in 1-2 skein "lots" to use for cloth diapering, but now my olders is potty learned and the youngest is in spoises, but I still have a lot of single skeins. But now I have plans for most of it! Can we say sweater vests? :)

I learned that I have a lot of great yarn and some fun projects ahead of me. I hope I remember this the next time I am tempted at my LYS or my fav online store ( www.littleturtleknits.com )

Now I am off to my knitting overnight trip! :)

Stash Knitting?

Did I mention something about Stash knitting? I must have been delusional! I need to update my point totals WW. I think I have purchased 6 skeins of yarn this year. In my defense some was one sale, some was to help someone destash and one skein was needed for a sweater vest for my daughter (I checked the stash first).

The kicker is this weekend I am going to Berea, KY with some knitting friends for an overnight visit. I've never been there, but apparently it is very crafty and I will probably HAVE to buy something :)

So much for Stash busting!

So I can crochet?!

Who knew? Not me. I made a Petal Baby from a pattern from http://hyenacart.com/CozyStitches/ . It was really easy and I love it. I am going to make many more!

In other knit from my stash news, I need to update my totals because I bought yarn (I also gave some away, but alas the points do not even out). I was a member of the Irish Baby Knits (and others) yarn of the month club and I have one skein of a cotton chenille. Well I couldn't do much with it, so when 2 skeins went up for sale I had to have them. Now DD will get a sweater :)

I also finished a sweater vest for DS, but it is soaking in wool wash. I will post pics later after it is blocked, but I must say it is cute.

Knitting Goals for 2007

There are a lot of stash games and UFO games going on right now and while I think they are a good idea I don't know if they are exactly for me. I am definitely participating in the one at WW (http://www.woolywonder.com/forums/) , but the knit from your stash for an entire year (or even 9 months) is just too long.

1. I want to knit more this year!
   
2. I want to buy yarn with projects in mind and FOLLOW THROUGH with those projects.
   
3. Knit for fun, not as an obligation (this fresh from a knit gift giving frenzy)
4. Knit something for my kids. I don't remember the last things I knit for them. They are only going to be small and easy to knit for for a little while! :)
5. I also want to learn to take better pictures of my knitting, I take lots of pics of FO's but they are terrible (see below)!

Here is a picture of a beautiful mobieus scarf I made for my friend Channon. boy this picture does not do it justice.