WIP's

My last post was so long with all the FO's and UFO's! I was planning to sit down and write for about 30 minutes, and it turned out to be 2 hours. I'm going to finish up with my WIP's now.

I just finished knitting this first project last night, as the little people were watching Cars 3 before bedtime. It is technically a UFO now, but I'll show it, since when I started this set of posts it was still a WIP.

This is a lovely shawl I saw on the Grocery Girls podcast from waaaay back when, and I had the pattern in my library on Ravelry because it's free. I ordered the yarn last winter, and didn't have a purpose for it (except socks--it's called Tough Love Sock), but I thought it was too pretty for socks. When it came in, I thought it would make a lovely shawl, so I matched them up, and I think it's beautiful. The pattern is called Kvothe and since it's a smaller shawl with tons of repeats, I think you could use any lower weight of yarn (fingering, sport, dk) and just stop when you think it's big enough. I don't want it any longer lengthwise, but I would like it to be a bit deeper/wider. I really enjoyed the drop stitch rows, and it was pretty easy to memorize and knit without looking after a while. Needs end woven in and blocking.

Kvothe in Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock; size 4 needles

An Etsy custom order came in a week or so ago, and I was asked to make a Gimli (from Lord of the Rings) helmet and beard for an 18-month-old for Halloween. I'm almost done with it (I need to mail it off tomorrow to arrive by her deadline) and I've had a lot of fun figuring out how to make it look the way I want. I took my viking hat pattern and made the child size, and instead of the bobbles and such at the bottom, changed colors and made 2 rounds of DC in the front loop. I sewed the brim up and made ridges in the same color and sewed those over the existing ridges on the hat. Then I made a double-thick shield for the front and sewed it on. I am making a little beard with lots of braids, only much shorter than normal. I don't know how well the toddler will wear it, but I'm sure it'll be cute for a couple of photos.

Gimli hat in ILTY leftovers

Another huge project I got some work done on lately is my Bento Box quilt, by Staci Perry of Very Pink Knits. I've talked about her tutorials before, and maybe even this project before, but I am done with the bulk of the knitting now. I saw her youtube video over this blanket last summer during the Mandala yarn craze, and I thought it would look great in the gradient yarn. Instead of using 3 different colors for the body, I chose Wood Nymph and a Yarn Bee cream in DK weight. I started on it last summer, got a few squares in (it takes 16), and put it away to work on the beach blanket. I took it back out and worked on it intermittently for a while, until I was sure I had all 16 squares done. Turns out, I only had 14 finished, so I had to complete 2 more. That bummed me out for a month or two, so I put it away again. I finally got it back out, and now I can lay everything out. I'm sure I'll find 2 squares squirreled away somewhere soon. I love the way it turned out. I still have so.many.ends. to weave in, and so much sewing to do, but the body is finished. I'll have to wait until after Christmas, so I can take a week or two to sew everything into strips, and then I'll add the dark purple-ish border. Then I'll sew the strips together, then I'll throw a party, because this project has been many months in the making!

Bento box quilt in Mandala Wood Nymph and Yarn Bee cream; size 6 needles

I must really like blankets. When I bought all the Mandala yarn, I had the quilt above in mind, as well as a Sophie's Universe blanket. I saw many examples of these crocheted in different colors, and I thought the way the Mandala gradients work, it would be neat to make 4 of them with different colors in the center, and gradiating out. I only worked 2 sections of 1 of the squares, but I think I'm going to crochet all 4 centers, and then do one section at a time on all 4. Some of the parts are a little tricky, and I would rather do them in succession instead of having to figure them out 4 separate times. I have to pay close attention on this one, so I have shelved it until probably summer time. I've got many projects in mind before I complete it, and I'm happy to do one small section at a time. I'm only going to work the first 7 sections or so of the huge blanket, as I want this to fit on a bed. I should have enough yarn to make each chunk square, and then I have extra to crochet them all together, like 4 granny squares. No sewing here! This is the Genie colorway, which I have tons of, because I have a garment or 2 in mind for it as well.

Sophie's Universe in Mandala Genie; size E hook

I would love to include in this post a little bit of my Dream Knitting, but I can't add any more labels. I like for my posts to be searchable, so I can look for certain projects or posts by keyword, but Blogger limits me to 20, and as you can see from the cloud --------> I have so many to choose from, and am adding new ones all the time. I would love to make my posts searchable by name brand, by pattern, by type of project (garments, scarves, hats, blankets, etc.), by holidays, and all sorts of other things, but I'm limited. So I'll cut this one short so I can have 20 more labels for my queue. Until next time, happy crafting!

Catching up--part deux

Getting out some of my projects of late from the boxes they've been packed in, I realized I needed to take some photos of my latest projects. I think this should complete the archiving post I started a few weeks ago, so from here on out, I should only be posting current creations.

Here's the first one:

I Love This Yarn, size 9 needles

This is a project I made over a year ago, but due to my lack of enthusiasm for finishing projects, I had it sitting around waiting for the buttons to finish it up for months. I finally finished it over the winter, but I put it in a place I rarely visit and forgot about it, until I unpacked it last week. It was a fun experiment in knitting short rows, and the variegated yarn really makes the pattern stand out well. It is a loose cowl, and I think it'll look nice this winter. I've got 2 more skeins of this yarn, so I will probably end up knitting a hat and some mittens to match at some point.

Red Heart yarn, size 9 needles

This is a hat I knitted recently for Isaac, whose fair isle hat with the same colors is going to be too small this winter. This one is super-stretchy, so it should fit him for a couple of winters (I hope!).

Purl Bee yarn in Shale, size 9 needles

This is an adorable hat I made for Blessing using this pattern. I had to adjust for gauge since my yarn wasn't as thick as the yarn she uses, but it is also very stretchy and will hopefully fit him for the first couple of winters.

This is the previous hat with a keyhole scarf made of the same Shale Purl Bee yarn. I still have quite a bit of both of these yarns left, so I made the following hat as well, to hopefully use up some of the navy, but there's almost a whole skein of it left. 

I love the way this hat turned out, and I tried to use the jogless stripes technique, but I'm still not convinced that makes a difference. The pom makes this hat!

This slouchy hat is the reason I had so much of the shale leftover. I got about two-thirds of the way finished with it, when I ran out. I had to start a new skein and hardly used any of it to finish. I actually didn't plan to make it quite so slouchy, but by the time I finally finished it, I wasn't going to take it out and redo it. Maybe someday I'll have a ton of hair to pile up inside it like a hairnet...

As I mentioned at the top, anything else I post from here on out should be all-new. I've got a cute little stuffed elephant in the works for Blessing that needs a lot of sewing, and hopefully after some trial and error, will turn out to be adorable. I've also got some hats and sweaters I'd like to use up some yarn for, and some household projects to figure out. I don't know how long it will take to get some of these things going, so it might be a while before I have anything worth posting. I'll probably have some adorable pics of my new little dude in his cute little hats, so keep your eyes peeled for those soon :-)

I'm due 2 weeks from today, if I am able to make it that long, so if I don't post before then, I'm probably quite busy getting use to our new life as a family of 5. Take care and see you on the flip side!

It's a...

Boy!!! We had our 20 week ultrasound last week and found out our new addition is a healthy, strong, growing baby boy!! Of course, we're thrilled that he appears to be healthy at this point, but I was hoping just a bit that I would have an opportunity to make up some of the adorable little knit dresses I've been pinning on Pinterest. I guess I can still make them, and just post them and give them as gifts...if anyone I knew ever had girls! This will be the 13th boy born in a row on my Dad's side of the family, and 8 out of the last 13 were boys on my Mom's side. I told my hubby we'll just have to try again! (To which he replied, "Nuh-uh!!") He still really has a desire to have a little girl, but I just don't think he would ever be up to having that large of a family. We'll just have to see how this one goes...

We are nowhere near choosing a name for him yet, so we'll still call him Blessing until we figure out who he is.

I've been trying to wrap up my current projects so I can move on to bigger and better things, and this set is my most recent completion. I used Mosaic yarn, although I can't recall if it was Red Heart, Bernat, or something else. I had a couple of skeins of it I bought a few years ago, and finally started on the scarf over 1 year ago, but ran out of yarn before it was finished. I had it sitting in my knitting bag all this time. I ordered a couple more skeins from Etsy (I couldn't find it in stores anymore) about 6 months ago, finished the hat, and started on the fingerless mittens. I have had them sitting in my bag as well, while I've been working on baby items, waiting to match colors and get finished. I finished the ends and tucked in all the loose strings last week, and I think it makes a beautiful set.

I also made a couple of little hats for the baby, including the little lamb hat, but one of the hats was more feminine, since I had so much purple, and had pretty much convinced myself that we were having a girl. I got to make the hat again this week in a cute light blue, and all of it used up yarn I have in stock. Another opportunity for gift-giving...

One of the items I knew I wanted to make for this baby is a cocoon, and I found this beautiful pattern on Ravelry shortly after we found out we're expecting. I had a skein of the cream that hadn't been touched yet, so I bought two more to finish the project. Unfortunately, the original yarn was several years old and was apparently a different dye that has changed, so I ended up having 3 different shades of the same ivory in the cocoon. It wasn't even a cool "ombré" effect, so I had to go back to the store, buy 2 more skeins that matched the dye lot of 1 of the others, and start over. I had plenty of yarn leftover, so I found this great tutorial for a matching hat. Even though they're different shades, I don't think you'll notice when the pieces are on the baby.

My current projects are 2 different baby blankets, using essentially the same yarn. A few months ago, I was going to attempt to make an entrelac blanket, so I picked up 6 skeins of navy, teal, and purple (2 skeins each). I got bored with that idea, and after seeing how much the boys loved the granny square, I started on another one, using the purple as my base, and switching after 3 rounds. I worked on it for a few days, but it is slow going, so I decided to start another blanket for Blessing with the other 3 skeins. It will be a chevron ripple blanket, similar to the car blanket, with the same 3 colors. 

I figured having 2 blankets in the works was not such a bad thing, since we are taking a nice long car trip to Colorado next week, and I'll need something to work on that doesn't require a lot of pattern reading. I can work on the blankets without having to read anything, which will help with the motion sickness I'm sure will come and go with being in the mountains. I'm excited to have lots of time to crochet, and having something to help pass the time will be welcome. 

Since we'll be gone, I'll hopefully be back with some pretty photos of snow and mountains in a couple of weeks. Wish us luck with our 2 little guys, and a safe return next weekend!

Something a Little Different

After finishing some Etsy projects and getting them sent off, I was finally able to put the finishing touches on several projects this weekend!

I had a lot of sewing to do to finish the gift for my father-in-law's request, but after a couple of hours and a few episodes of Property Brothers, I was able to hand it over this weekend. He was very impressed and thinks his coworker will be too. 

It was my first attempt at an afghan in crochet in years, and the last one I finished ended up being large enough to cover a king size bed, but, being inexperienced, it was very trapezoidal, instead of a nice, even rectangle. This one is small enough that I think it will be a good size for an infant to lay on, but not too big to put in a diaper bag to take on trips. I loved learning to make a chevron, and used this video for the pattern: ripple blanket. The little cars were my own design, but based on a photo from a Russian website I had seen on Pinterest.

The afghan itself is made with I Love This Yarn, all from skeins I had at home, and the cars are double thickness from Vanna's Choice I had at home as well. I am trying to use up as much of my yarn as possible this year, without buying more (which has already failed--another day, another story), so this project allowed me to do just that. I did have to buy 1 skein of the light blue, but I ended up using 2/3 of it as well, so I don't feel too bad about that. I love the little pocket in the lower right corner that fits the 3 little cars. I couldn't decide whether to add buttons to the outside, but opted not to, since the little guy may not be able to manipulate them for several years. I hope they like the gift.

I also finished the baby jester hat and got it in the mail this week, after frantically searching for the yarn. My usual yarn shop has stopped carrying it, so I had to order the Lion Brand Jamie yarn from Lion Brand, and was a little fearful it would not arrive in time. I accidentally purchased it in the wrong gender (one of the main reasons I hate buying yarn online), so I now have yarn to make one for our new little one if Blessing turns out to be a girl. I also overbought the boy yarn, so I can make one for another boy, as the odds are for males in our family.

Now, I finally get to work on some bigger projects for my own children. I started several projects as soon as we found out we're expecting, so I am working to finish those up, plus several other ideas I've got in the queue. I also have a little 1-year-old girl's birthday next weekend, so I will whip up a hat for part of her gift too. Any excuse I have to use up the pinks and purples in my yarn stash is welcome at this time, since I don't really have any other use for them... I'll also start working feverishly on the boys' project, and hopefully have some photos to share in the coming weeks.

It's a busy time, but I am feeling pretty confident about being able to get these things done, and hopefully before we start packing for a move this summer or fall. We'll be looking for a home to purchase in the coming months as well, so I might have a new place to store my yarn ;-)

Happy Easter and God bless!

Busy week!

I finally have a little more energy, now that we're in 2nd trimester of pregnancy, and I've got 3 commissioned projects ahead of me! After cleaning the heck out of the house yesterday to hopefully get rid of germs, I had an Etsy order for another NJ beard! I've sold 4 beards/viking hats to East Coasters over the last 3 months! I've been working on an adorable baby boy project for my father-in-law's coworker for a few weeks, which should be done with photos to post soon. And today, I got an order for an infant jester hat!

Along with the cute projects I have for my own new little bundle, I'd say I'll be busy for quite a while! We finally have some antibiotics in tow to help restore our little guys and the weather has been ridiculously mild the last several days, so between spending some much-needed time outdoors and my current projects, I'd say I've got my free time used up. I don't mind, though, because the beards go quickly, the jester hat is knit, which I've been sorely lacking on projects lately, and the baby boy project has been fun to learn something new. I'll post pics of all when they're done!

In the meantime, enjoy the beautiful weather and crochet something springy :-D

Nearly November...

We've been here for nearly 6 weeks now, and I still haven't gotten my craft room up and running the way I'd like. I've been sick for the greater part of that time with a nasty cough, volleyball season (which I referee) is now over, and preparations for the boys' birthday party next week are in full swing. With Halloween this weekend as well, I've had several Etsy orders for viking/dwarf beards, so I've been keeping busy. I haven't been able to complete much on the boys' birthday gifts, so I decided to make a new goal of Christmas gifts instead. They're only 2, so they won't remember that Mommy and Daddy didn't get them tons of toys, especially when they're bound to receive plenty from family and friends.

The boys' birthday theme this year is trains. That is all they've wanted to talk about the last 6 months, so I thought it would be a natural choice. They don't know who "Thomas" is because we don't watch television, but they love train sets, little magnetic train cars, going under train bridges, watching train videos on YouTube, reading books about trains, and of course, stopping at train tracks to wait for passing trains. I'll post photos of the party decorations up, but I found some really cute inspiration on Pinterest. I wasn't able to use all the cute graphics and "free printable" train stuff because I wanted to combine elements such as wording with photos, so I ended up designing my own using MS Paint. I think they turned out adorable!

The hats in their photos were from a crochet pattern I bought here. I tried and tried to find something similar for free, but every link I clicked led me back to this design, so I bit the bullet and purchased a pattern. They were very easy to make and I think they look fabulous on the boys, especially in their little overalls :-) I made them a little large, so hopefully they will fit their large heads for a year or two. They're Lily Sugar 'n Cream, which my dishtowels are made of, so I know they will be able to withstand MANY washes if need be. I'll have them on my Etsy site before long.

I have been able to get several of my handmade Christmas gifts done in the car on long trips recently. I found a really cute and simple pattern from JoAnn that I've been using, which has also helped use up some of my Vanna's Choice yarn. I'll have to wait until after Christmas to post photos, because someone might catch a sneak peek and spoil it. I have a pretty small budget for Christmas gifts ($25 a month throughout the year), so I'm trying to make a good blend of handmade/homemade and store-bought/experiences. The handmade take a little longer than gift cards or shopping, but I like being able to work on something and knowing that it is for someone I love. I hope they appreciate it as much as I enjoy giving it!

I've got winter squash to get in the oven for canning, so I should wrap this up. I can't believe it's almost time for turkeys and pies! I made my first attempts at jam this summer, and ended up with raspberry, blueberry, peach, and some tasty strawberry ice cream topping. We cracked open the raspberry this week, and it is better than anything I've tasted from the store. I'll be making pumpkin butter again this fall, and I just picked up a bushel of apples for apple butter and applesauce. I got smart and ordered an apple peeler this year, so no more peeling apples at the sink for hours. I might even feel brave enough to conjure up a pumpkin pie! At this rate, it'll be summer before I get the boys' gifts done...

A Rainy Day

I'm still playing catchup from my long absence, so I thought I would make another entry. It's been raining cats and dogs here the last few days, and watching the lightning outside tonight put me in the mood to write.

We don't have many girls in my family (there are 6 out of 22 grandchildren) and all of the babies born since I started knitting have been boys. Except one! My cousin's daughter recently gave birth to a tiny little girl, and the whole family couldn't have been happier. You should have seen all the ruffles and bows and pink and purple at the shower! Personally, I don't much care for those sorts of things, but I know there are those people out there that won't let their child put on anything unless it's covered in bows and glitter. 

So, when the new mother asked me to make a hat for her newborn pictures, I was happy to comply. I do have some pink yarn (it was given to me in a mixed bag), and she only wanted a little pink accent bow, so I still have plenty left...

I didn't have a pattern for the exact hat she wanted, so I took the photo and tried to find the closest thing I could. I added the bow (from this video tutorial) and crochet chain detail to this pattern and I think it turned out pretty close. I like the open weave of the body of the hat and can't wait to try this on a larger size someday. The precious sleeping baby makes it look even more adorable!

Little baby Wilson in her adorable little cap on the day she came home

As I mentioned, I still have plenty of the pink and white yarn, so I decided to make some matching little newborn mittens using this pattern. I like the set. I would like to make the mittens in a couple of other colors, maybe a really pale purple, and a soft baby yellow. Not that I have anyone to give them to at this time...

Mittens and cap in white and soft pink baby yarn

Since we don't have girls in the family, I have to live vicariously through my friends. I had two friends have baby girls over the last year as well, and I found a really cute and unique hat idea, using this pattern. The neat part about it is that you turn the finished product inside out! I thought that was clever, and not something you would normally think of. I also market the hat on my Etsy site as a tiny satchel, because once the little darling outgrows it, she can just tug on the drawsting to make a little pouch to house all her trinkets. I like the versatility :-)

Newborn textured baby hat/drawstring pouch

Since there are so many beautiful patterns and ideas out there for little girl items, I went a little crazy. I knew that one of my friends' little girls had no hair and that she was going to be wearing headbands and those little velcro bows on her fuzz for a while, so I had to test out a headband pattern as well. I didn't get a chance to see it on her, but I think because of the way it's made it would have stretched just fine. I had some bright pink leftover from the little Mary Jane's I made a while back, so I used it.

Little girls' headband in with Vanna's Choice in Pink Poodle

I think I'm pretty set on the little girl items for a little while. No one else I know is expecting, so I can concentrate on figuring out what to make for Christmas gifts, and the boys' birthday gift, which I'll write about soon. 

Have you found that your projects are a little one-sided on the gender scale? 

Another Day, Another Post

Writing yesterday got me in the mood to write even more! And since I've done so many projects since last summer, I have plenty to write about :-)

My last post before my absence was about these adorable knit baby pants. I've only met the little tyke once, but his newborn photo session turned out so cute! Unfortunately, the pants were a tiny bit large because he was born a few weeks premature, but I think the hat is a perfect accessory to this sleeping babe. Here he is!

He's a pretty cute dude, just like his cousins.

Knit Baby Pants: Completed!

I love the way these two items turned out! The pants are sooo adorable, I may have to make some for my sons for their birthday (I think they would look great with some knit or crochet suspenders!) in fun, complementary colors.

The hat is my own design, as I didn't have a pattern for the 2-strand mix. I think it's a little large for a newborn, but hopefully it'll fit my little cousin through the winter months (he's due in August). It fits my 8-month-old sons right now.

Pattern for hat: starting with size 15 needles and 2 strands of lighter color, cast on 40 stitches. Join and 1 x 1 rib knit for 4 rows. Drop one strand and pick up complementary color. Stockinette stitch for 5 inches. Next row, k6, then k2tog around. Knit 3 rows. Next row, k5, then k2tog around. Knit 3 rows. Continue until 10 stitches are left, then knit until desired length is reached (mine is about 11 inches). Decrease one more row and sew closed. Add pompom and weave in ends.

I love making pompoms with my fancy maker!! It's so easy; if I weren't using all my long scraps for my ugly square, I would definitely make poms all day with them!

Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in chocolate and silver blue; used every last bit of blue!

Next, I'll be working on my "Ponchopolooza," getting all 3 of them finished before summer's end.

A Few Finished Items

Four posts in one day really did me in for a few days! I've been busy finishing up the diaper covers and a couple of really cute hats for my boys.

The covers worked up quickly, but the buttons were a bit of a mystery to me for a couple of days. I couldn't decide where to put them, since they had to be somewhere the straps could overlap, but I finally sewed them on this morning, so I could get them on my boys after their baths this afternoon. We got 4 months vaccinations today, so my models were pretty grumpy, but the covers fit beautifully.

White: H hook and F hook for edging; Cornflower: J hook and H hook for edging

Another project that's been on the backburner for a couple of days are these aviator hats. They are a little odd looking without a precious baby face in them, but we got so many compliments from wearing them to the pediatrician's office today!

I love that I was finally able to find a use for the toasted almond I Love This Yarn I had to buy for a beard project last year. I barely used any of it for that project, but it's the perfect color for this adorable hat. The pattern was written for a newborn size, but the author put specs for a toddler size in the comments. I don't have an L hook, so I used my K hook and it fits my 4 month olds great.

K hook with brown Red Heart With Love and Red Heart aran edging

K hook with I Love This Yarn toasted almond and Red Heart aran edging

Now that I've finished using all the yarn for my ugly square, I'm waiting to get to the store for yarn to make some cute newborn Mary Janes. After that, I will start on a dolman sweater I've been wanting since before I became pregnant, and then I'll be looking for a fun new knit project. I've been doing a lot of crocheting lately.