Busy little bees

Ideally, I would have posted the last few months, at least monthly. I feel like I haven't really completed enough items but I've got tons of pieces that I've been working on. I guess I'll just share those with you here.

First of all, in my last post, I mentioned the beautiful socks I was knitting for my choir director. I did finish them in time for the end of February and they turned out great! I gave them to my friend and he was so appreciative. He gave me two hugs! (He's a very nice flamboyant man, so no worries.) I liked them so much, I went out and bought myself the same yarns.

March's socks were some that I was very much looking forward to knitting, as they were my Christmas gift (the yarn, anyway). I wanted to knit some fun socks for when I referee volleyball in the fall, and I have to wear boring old black socks. I thought it would be fun to do neon heels, toes, and cuffs, since no one would see them under my pant legs and with my shoes on, so I found a neat pattern and ordered some yarn. I got the black from Knit Picks (Stroll yarn) and the bright colors are not only neon, but black-light reactive! I found them on this amazing shop on Etsy. I want to buy a full skein of it, but it's coming from the U.K. and I need to justify the shipping. Alice, the shop owner, is very generous. She sent me a DK set of minis instead of fingering, and instead of paying shipping to return them, she let me keep them! This is not the last of this yarn! I also have enough for my blanket. The pattern is called Candyman and I think they turned out just perfect.

I'll just keep going with socks while I'm on a roll. April's socks were another pair I was looking forward to. I love the Coffee Talk socks from one of the Grocery Girls. I've been wanting to make a pair for a while. I bought this yarn around Christmas last year as well, from lolodidit, when I bought the yarn for my mom's birthday hat. I don't think I got a photo of the hat up here yet. I have one somewhere. The socks are sparkle, but they weren't that soft. I'm not in love with sparkle yarn, although I have more for July from lolodidit.

I am not a fan of cuff-down socks, and this just reminded me why. I have really big feet and after I knit the cuff and leg for ages, I didn’t have any of the hard stuff done, and I couldn’t try them on until they were about 80% done to make sure they were going to fit. I love the pattern, the striping and the reverse stockinette, but next time I will knit these toe-up. They are still waiting to be blocked, so I still don't have a great photo of them. 

 

I just had to share these photos. My little Blessing insisted on wearing these socks as soon as I had them off the needles. He would not take them off! So cute.

May socks were some quick and easy striped socks for my hubby, using Knit Picks Felici. I have heard great things about this yarn, and while I wanted to try it, I didn't have the budget to spend a lot. I bought this yarn on clearance and wasn't wild about it. The yarn itself is very soft, but the colors just aren't me. My hubby likes them, so they are for him. The stripes are a little flip-flopped, which is fine, and they happened to work out to be within a row of the color changes.

I worked on these during our looooong drive to the Grand Canyon, but the snow (yes, in late May!) was so beautiful, I didn't get a lot of knitting done on them. Toe-up, afterthought heel, taat. I used a pattern, but did not like the fiddly-ness of the cables after the third or fourth repeat. I asked my hubby if he minded that there were only a few cables and he honestly did not even notice.

June's socks are another pair I'm really looking forward to having. The pattern is by Joji Locatelli and it's beautiful. I have some yarn I've been holding on to for years and they are supposed to be fraternal twins, so I am flip-flopping the colors on the 2nd sock. It's been a long time since I've knit just one sock at a time, so I wanted to knit the 2nd one right away, so I don't procrastinate. I'm so close to finishing, and the first sock fits so great!

I guess that's all the socks I've made this year so far. I'm still going strong on the 12 pair goal, although I've fallen behind on my hats. I'm up to 14 now, but I should be at 20-something by this week. I've got to play catch-up this summer in between all my socks and other projects.

Another FO is my Grandma's sweater. I wanted it done before Mothers' Day, which it was. I finished the front and back in March, but I didn't sew it together and knit the sleeve ribbing until the weekend before. At least I got it done. It turned out cute and she loved it. It fit like a glove, and it's very stretchy, so it will fit if she loses weight or gains.

I love the look of the ribbing around the waist, which would be very flattering for boxy shapes. It was quick and easy, but I don't know if I would ever knit it again.

I fell in love with a shawl as soon as I saw it. The colors are what drew me, and it was an obsession for a short time. I bought the pattern and found yarn in my stash that I thought would make a good fade. I settled on these 5, which is going to make this thing massive!

I started with the light yellow and went to the left. It was a sparkle yarn and used all but about 5g. I'm on the third color, and it's like knitting 3 pairs of socks! It is on hold until I finish these current socks and get caught up on hats, and then I'm all over it. It is much larger than this photo by now, but this shows the detail well.

I also participated in the Mystery Knit-a-Long that I mentioned in the last post, and it turned out so beautiful. I *love* how it feels, but I haven't worn it yet. It still needs to be blocked. I had fun waiting each week to find out what each clue would look like.

I also had an order for a baby viking hat and baby beard from my Etsy shop. It used up some of my excess beard yarn and got me some more yarn funds.

I've been wanting to make a colorwork sweater for a while. I know I need to get some practice with making my floats loose enough, so I pulled out this cowl I've had yarn for for a while. I love the little sheep and alpacas! It turned out pretty well, but tons of ends to weave in, and it still is a little tight in parts. I have enough yarn leftover to make something else, whether it be little mitts for one of the boys or something else fun.

As I mentioned above, we went on a trip to the southwest U.S., so I knew we *should* have warm weather. I wanted to make a new swimsuit cover-up for my new swimsuit, and I had some Mandala yarn that I hadn't slated for anything else. I found a great easy pattern that would use up two skeins, which are all I had of that color, which is called Chimera.

The last big project I've started recently was another knit-a-long, for a sweater. I watched a podcast with the pattern author and was riveted. I need another sweater quantity like a hole in my head, but I just wanted to be able to knit the pattern for all the amazing tips. I am convinced that I need to do as many of Patty Lyons' classes as possible, as well as take her course on Bluprint, "Improve Your Knitting."

The current (well, was current) project is the Roselle Tee, which is a short-sleeve tee with a bit of lace on the torso and the sleeves. It is cute, and will be my first summery project. I started it, but made a few mistakes. I also wanted to watch her class and do a good job of knitting well. I am also in the process of losing weight, so I don't want to spend weeks knitting (and purling) a sweater that won't fit great by the time I get it done. I've bought the navy to start with, but I also bought a very pretty teal green.

I really hate ripping things out, especially since half of it is purling, but I already made mistakes, and I think I'll be able to knit a smaller size if I wait.

Well, that does it for all my projects. You're all caught up now. I hope to make several hats over the the summer to stay on track, keep going on all my socks, and finish a couple more shawls this summer, and then start on Christmas gift knitting. Homeschool will start within that time as well, so we'll see how that affects my knitting time. Until next time, keep on crafting!

Lately

I've been busy knitting so many things lately, I haven't taken the time to take proper photos. I have been working on the sweaters for the boys, plus a blanket, making beards like crazy, weaving in ends on projects I've had off the hooks forever, and making gifts with the Cricut.

The boys' sweaters are finally coming along nicely. I finished weaving in all the ends on little Blessing's brown cardigan this week, although I still need to sew on the 5 buttons. Once I get that finished, I'll take a pic to post. The blue striped pullover now has 1 sleeve finished (as of yesterday!), and I'm about ready to finish the second sleeve soon. I still have ends to weave on that one. I also started a green sweater in the same style, using the same colors as the brown one. I'm about two-thirds done with the body, and will post photos as it gets closer to finished.

I found a home for the little purple striped sweater and wove in all the ends on it. My best friend had a little girl in March, so I gave it to her as a gift this weekend when she was in town from Tennessee. It will look great on this little cutie this winter!

I wove in the ends on my big maroon crochet C2C blanket today and let the boys finally lay under it during movie night tonight. They love how soft, large, and warm it is. They didn't say so, but the hubby spoke for them.

I have made 2 more dwarf beards since I wrote last, both in a color I had not done before. I took photos of my handsome hubby in it, so I would have a photo of a male wearing my beards with no helmet of any kind.

Beard in light brown Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn

Surprise! I have a beard!

In character

Side shot; it's not too small, he just has a very large head...

My hubby has always worn glasses and rarely has an opportunity to see himself without them (unless he's 4 inches from the mirror), so he was pleased to see himself in a photo without his favorite accessory.

I also made some projects with the Cricut for Mothers' Day, but had some technical difficulties, so I haven't yet had an opportunity to give the mothers their belated gifts. I will be doing that soon, so I can share some of the fun things I've been doing with that piece of equipment. I have a lot of iron-on and a lot of the regular vinyl, so I will be on the lookout for opportunities to use both of those for gifts and for around the house in the coming months and years.

One of the last things I've been working on is a beautiful knitted quilt, by Very Pink Knits. I am making it with Lion Brand Mandala yarn. Yes, I have hopped on the Mandala bandwagon and I've fallen completely down the rabbit hole. I fell in love with this yarn after I saw this cowl on Pinterest:

I found out it was unavailable ("Out of Stock" on LionBrand.com) online and only available in certain WalMarts, so I tried to look on Ebay, but it was quite pricey there. I don't live near any of the WalMarts on their map, but I realized that my mom was visiting her sister in South Carolina, and they had it there! I begged her to pick up some for me in the above color, as well as two others. She sent home a huge box of 15 cakes for me! Then, a couple of weeks later, we were visiting family in Springfield, Missouri, and the yarn was at a WalMart just over the Arkansas state line, so I begged the hubby to go there with me, and I was able to get my hands on all the other colors (there are 16 total). So now I have more yarn than I will ever be able to use for a long time, but it's unique and a little hard to get a hold of.

I am using one of the colors (Wood Nymph) to make the quilt. I have one block (out of 16) done, and the small squares for 8 more completed.

The pattern calls for bulky weight yarn and the Mandala is DK, so I just made the first squares to the correct measurements instead of following the number of rows. I ended up with 23 garter rows, or 46 stitches, after the first squares were finished. The other 8 blocks will have the cream in the center and the outside, with the purples in the middle section. I can't wait to see it put together!

I am feeling a bit dizzy, probably from staring at the computer screen all night instead of knitting, so I should wrap this up. Hope you are having fun with your projects!

A new project

We finally have everything unpacked and now I'm just sitting around waiting for Blessing to make his move, so I thought I'd get started on a project I have been thinking about for quite a while. One of my Mom's cousins approached me last winter to ask if I would consider making a sweater for her, based on a garment she already owned. I told her I'd give it a shot.

We got together at a family function again this summer (we don't get together with all the distant cousins but a couple times a year) and she brought the sweater so I could get an idea what I was getting into. It's a really pretty vest-type piece, and instead of being a full sweater, it just has tabs on the side. Should be easy-peasy! 

I took it with me, and spent a few weeks looking up pattern ideas before I discovered I couldn't really find a pattern to match what she wanted exactly. She said she wanted "boxy," as this one is very straight, and she didn't mind having a different neckline. I suggested a boat neck, which should be fairly straightforward, because otherwise I would have to do some serious research to shape the shoulders like this sweater. I found a pattern I like, and the cable detail is beautiful for this! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out how to purchase the pattern on Ravelry, as it's part of a collection or a book, but after studying the photo closely, I think I've discovered a way to emulate it without needing one. I noticed the neckline is basically a bind-off with an inch or two of stitches at each end, and then you just pick up the stitches on the other side. Since I won't be working in the round (because of the tabs on the sides), I'll just make it like a large rectangle with the neck hole. At least, that's my plan.

I then spent several more days looking for wool yarn that would give it the stiffness that she wants and the gauge that I want. After several texts and emails, we finally settled on Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool in Oatmeal.

It's a little bulkier than I would have preferred, but the other yarns we were discussing I would have had to order online without having an example of, and I really dislike doing that. And I got to use all my JoAnn's coupons to get this...

Hopefully it turns out beautifully, and just what she wants. I started on it the other night, but had to stop a few rows in until I decide exactly how I want to do the cable. I'll pick it up again tonight, after I do a little more scouting online for ideas.

I'll probably post photos as it comes along, so I can document what I did as much as show off. I hope to have it finished before Thanksgiving, but I'll probably have to get together with her a couple of times to check and make sure the fit is good. I would not be surprised if I had to take out the neckline a couple of times to get it right.

I like working with the Fisherman's Wool already, compared to the scratchy Alpaca I used for the purple cowl recently. Maybe I'll make my knot bag out of it...

Until next time!

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!

April Showers!

I wish that the old saying were actually true, that April showers bring May flowers, but this year, it seems February drought brought all the March flowers! All of the trees have been flowering for weeks now, and many of them are already starting to turn green. Nonetheless, I figured it would be a great time for some spring cleaning and organizing, including taking inventory of my yarn and unfinished projects.

Going through my yarn was such an eye-opening experience! I now know exactly what colors and types I have, approximately how much of each kind, and can start planning my projects based on that. I am usually quite organized, but since we moved to our new apartment, I've not been as diligent about putting the yarns away when I'm finished with a project, or paying attention to how much is left. I've even started a project or two without realizing I didn't have enough yarn to finish, which has come back to bite me. I've got a whole queue now of projects that I already have yarn for, as well as the projects I have in the works and was already planning to make.

I love crocheting, and I love knitting, but sewing and weaving in ends and such has to be my least favorite part of any of my crafting. It's a great feeling to put the final touches on a project and send it away, give it away, or wear it, but sometimes I need a little push to get there, after it comes off the needles or hook. So I have several projects in my bag in need of that final TLC to get them ready to gift or use. 

One of the projects I've been working on is a granny square baby afghan that I've had since the boys were a few months old. I finished a beautiful elf hat at the time, and even made some adorable party hats out of the same yarn, and meant to even make a diaper cover with some of the leftover navy, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish all the little ends where the colors switch, which, in my defense, is every 2 rows. 

I hook and I Love This Yarn in navy, Red Heart with Love in iced aqua, Deborah Norville for the edging, and Vanna's Choice in radiant lime

I have finally managed to complete the project, and as much as my little men love their sleeping blankets, they LOVE this afghan! I wish I had finished it sooner, now that I see how much they love snuggling with this one. I will probably end up making another granny square (besides the ugly square) for them out of random skeins so they don't have to fight over it. 

Another project I finished up recently was this adorable little newborn hat, for our little one coming in August. This was the first project I started, literally the day after we found out we're expecting, and it's been in my bag for months now, waiting to be sewn together. I finally got out the darning needle and it took less than 10 minutes, and I think it turned out great. I can't wait to see it on our little lamb!

Vanna's Choice in white, Red Heart in pink

The next project was one I didn't realize how much yarn I had available, and ended up having to change two-thirds of the way in. I can not find more yarn anywhere, and even though I'm 90% positive it came from Michael's, they don't carry anything like it anymore. It was supposed to be a knit knot bag that I found on Pinterest, but when I couldn't find the yarn to finish the handle, I decided to turn it in to a loose cowl. The wool is a little itchy for my taste (or it may just be sensitive skin due to pregnancy hormones), but I love the color and know it will keep someone's neck warm through a cold winter. I still plan to make the bag at some point, but I'll have to buy yarn to do that, and I have enough to keep busy with for now.

I'm still not done tying up loose ends (ha!), but the few projects I have left shouldn't take too much time, and then I'd like to focus solely on the boys' project. I've had all the materials to finish it for over a year, so I think it's time to get it off my plate and move on. I'll hopefully have the rest of my unfinished projects done over the next week or so, and then with an empty yarn bag, I can start posting photos of the big project. 

Do you have a hard time doing the finishing steps on your projects?