Funky birthday

I am in a knitting funk this week. Cue the whiny voice: I just don't feel like it. Waah. 

That's the thing with knitting; it takes you so far and then leaves you high and dry before enamoring you all over again. Unfortunately I must plug on in this marriage of yarn and needles because Christmas is a'coming and gifts aren't going to knit themselves. 

On another note, Clara, my baby girl, is turning three years old next week. It is so cliche, but time really does go quickly when you have kids. I remember waiting and waiting, as she was five days overdue, sitting on the couch with my feet up, watching TV and knitting itty bitty cloth diaper covers and longies for her. Those five days felt  an eternity, as anyone overdue with a baby will attest. I do believe they were much longer than the next three years would be. Here are some samples of the hand knit lovin' I have bestowed on my girl in her first year of life.

Newborn Clara:

Sleeping with the daisies:

St. Patrick's Day shorties:

Rose soaker:

Crankypants knock-offs (these were actually for someone else but I love them so had to include them): 

First birthday longies:

Happy birthday, Little Bear! You are a spunky little thing and I love it. 

Lacy Dress/Tunic Thing: DONE

It's finished! It's finished! I blocked it last night and it looks so cute! A little side note, but blocking is so important. What good is knitting a beautiful project if it looks all wonky and crooked when you are finished? Just get it wet, pin it to a big towel, and let it dry. Then you will have a perfect finished project. Plus, you can tell everyone that you had a block party the night before. (that joke is courtesy of Ben). 

I was starting to think it might never get done, but lo and behold, it did. I think I will stick to projects on larger needles; size three is just kind of torturous. I am wishing I had picked a different green. The olive is a bit murky all knit up. Oh well, no going back now. I need to get some buttons for the back still, too.

My next project is a couple of fruit hats for a friend. Ann Norling's pattern is very smart and satisfying. My agenda is one little raspberry and one little blueberry. 

Those should be a piece of cake to whip up this week and then I will go back to my size three needles for a little pair of mary jane booties. 

craft swappy swappy

My friend invited me to a craft swap last night and it was fun! I was worried; it had the potential to be either really lame or really awesome. Luckily, the crafts were great and I scored an awesome new clutch, which I have been wanting for quite a while. Here it is!

My cowl and fingerless mittens were snatched up right away, which made me feel good. Always nice to make something someone else wants. I made an origami box out of card stock for the set and I think it turned out cute. I love homemade everything! We did a craft as a group, which I have to admit I was skeptical about since I am not a fan of stuffed animals, but how can I turn away this sweet little bunny?

Coming Along Nicely

The little dress is coming along nicely. I did mess up one of the first lace repeats but it is in the back of the dress and hopefully not too noticeable. I am not starting over now, that's for sure. The pattern still bothers me to no end; incorrect stitch numbers, half-missing pattern repeats. It's driving me crazy. Hopefully the finished product will more than make up for the errors.

Today is a rainy day, perfect for knitting. Unfortunately, I have a cold, so it is also perfect for napping. We will see which option wins. I do have some Arrested Development, Season 3 to watch  tonight with knitting, a fire in the fireplace, a mug of tea. Sounds divine.

Next up on my queue, after the baby dress, booties, and (possibly, depending on amount of yarn left over) bonnet are finished, are a few of these beer sweaters. Seems like a great Christmas gift for the fam. (this is the stock picture, not ones I have knit)

After those are knit, it is on to another baby shower gift. My friends sure are procreating these days.

Ooh I am a tad bit

Annoyed. This cute, adorable little tunic/dress for a certain forthcoming baby girl is kind of a pain in the rear. The yarn is great, the dress is cute, but the author of the pattern makes the simplest instructions confusing. I don't like it. Give me straightforward and I will knit you the moon. Or something. I frogged the first ten rows three times. Finally, I just rewrote the pattern to my liking! Dang buttonholes, you don't have to be so complicated. It's coming along, and I hope to have it finished by this weekend so I can move forward with other projects. I have some sewing to do! 

I so wish I had a craft room with a proper sewing table and places for all my supplies. As it is right now, I have to store the sewing machine in the hall closet, pull it out, bring it to the dining room table, move the table so it can reach an outlet, and then get all my supplies from a separate closet. It is less than ideal. Someday maybe we can afford an addition and Craft Room will be on my list. As it is we are pretty maxxed out for space around here. 

I am not in a bad mood anymore, though. Everything is made better by small, satisfyingly squishy projects like these little hamsters.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Let me tell you about things I love. Undyed yarns that showcase pretty stitches. Fingerless mittens, because I am a mother and I need my fingers for those car seat buckles and five hundred other things. Nap time play food projects. Teeny tiny projects worked up on teeny tiny needles. These are a few of my fav-o-rite things. Sing it with me now.

A little something for a craft swap

I forgot until this week that I am in a craft swap soon and of course have to contribute a craft to it. So I perused all my one-skein options on Ravelry and decided on a little cowl and matching fingerless mittens. I am just using stash yarn for this project, and my #1 greatest quantity in my stash is 100PureWool. I have tons of it, mostly undyed. I love it; it is the softest merino wool and is so soothing on the fingers. I tweaked the pattern a bit to do a waffle stitch (originally it is supposed to be a broken rib) and am currently underway on the mittens. I hope I don't fall desperately in love with this set and decide to keep them for myself...

Winter Gear, Part II

Oliver's set is done! Now on to bigger and better things.

Like finishing Clara's stripy vest (almost done)



And I wonder what this lovely yarn will be for? Stay tuned.

Winter Gear, Part I

Clara is very happy to have a new PINK hat and mittens for the winter. The Toasty Topper hat pattern from knitty.com is great--very easy to do and such a cute finished result. The mittens are from a pattern I found on Ravelry, called Extra-Toasty Toddler Mittens. I was going with the toast theme, apparently. The yarn is from my stash. It's pink tweed Peace Fleece from my diaper-cover-knitting days. A little scratchy, but I am planning on lanolizing it to make it softer. It will be super warm, that is for sure.

For Oliver's winter gear I am going to do the same hat, but I will have to wing it on the mittens. He has fat hands and Clara's don't even fit over his fingers.

Fall has come, knitting has resumed

Blogging is funny. Every day I read other people's blogs and feel guilty for not updating my own, despite the fact that only about five people know this blog exists. Silly. Life has gotten busy, which happens every fall. Oliver turned one year old, so there was all that to take care of, then the preschool, extra-curriculars, evening commitments...it adds up. I haven't stopped knitting, but I have slowed down. I also have a bounty of produce to preserve and I have a pretty bad baking itch thanks to the blustery days we are having.

My to-knit list:
~ hats for the kids. I'm using this awesome pattern from Knitty.
~ mittens to match said hats.
~ finish Clara's sweater vest (1/2 done, put on hold for the moment to crank out the hats and mittens because apparently they need them ASAP!)
~ baby presents for my oodles of pregnant friends.

I also have a goal to only use stash yarn for my projects. We'll see how that goes.

Some recent pictures: