Cranking out some projects!

While I don't feel like I've knit a whole lot of interesting things so far this year, I have made a lot of things. My goal was to make a couple of sweaters, 52 hats for charity, and 12 pairs of socks, and so far, I'm right on track for the hats, I'm ahead on the socks, and I'm already nearly done with the 2nd sweater! I've got to find some more projects...

I'll start with hats. As I mentioned in my last post, I'd like to knit or crochet 52 hats this year for my Grandma's church's charity. I have never made anything for something like this, and I felt that if I have the time and resources to make myself so many beautiful things, I can make some for others. I have quite a bit of random colors of worsted and DK weight yarn, leftovers from past projects and skeins Grandma let me pick out of her huge stash. Most of it is acrylic, and all of it is too much to just cannibalize for the Ugly Square. So I am going to use up what I can to make hats this year. Much of it is pinks and purples, or baby yarn, and at this time, with 3 little boys and a nephew, I just don't have much use for those things. And much of it is very old (30+ years on some of it!) and scratchy, and I don't think I would enjoy making things with it, let alone wearing it. Grandma uses whatever she wants with her projects, so I figured I could too.

It is the 3rd week of February, and I am up to 8 completed hats. I showed 3 last time. I have a couple more Chiefs colored ones, and the others are combinations of pretty variegated yarns I have had.

I have been using the same pattern for each one, now that I have it memorized, and it was from a Red Heart label. I haven't been religiously working on these every week, but I am keeping up and catching up when I need to. I am making the "adult size" on the pattern, but I think my gauge must be pretty tight, because I can't wear these hats. I could wear the first hat. I don't know what I've changed. They at least fit the boys. Grandma tells me that she made 150 hats last year, and nearly as many twiddle muffs. I will stick to my 52...

Part of the reason I haven't been making hats every week is because I am participating in the Grocery Girls Podcast sock bash. I have planned out my entire year in yarn and patterns so I can complete a pair of socks each month (WIP's don't count) that fits the theme. At the end of the year, I would like to enter for their grand prize, which might be something really cool, and there are decent odds of winning if you complete all 12. I have on my calendar (yes, I am like that) for the first 2 weeks every month to work on socks, so I can complete them early and get them posted in time. For February, the theme is cables:

The yarn is Opal, and when it was in the ball I wasn't too keen on knitting it. I bought it to add some different colors to my sock yarn scrap blanket, but it didn't look like anything I normally wear. Once I caked it up, though, I started to see how beautiful it is. My hubby even said if I wanted to knit him a pair out of that yarn he would love them! We'll see...

I knit the Felia socks, but I started them toe-up. I am self-conscious about knitting cuff-down socks with my big giant feet. I just don't want to run out of yarn right before the toe and have to find something else that matches. I messed up the chart a little by looking at it upside-down (you can see the bottom is different than the top in the upper photo), so I wish I had done a better job on that, but I think they turned out neat. I was in a rush to finish them, since February is a shorter month and I had other goals in mind, so when the cable pattern took too long for me, I did the chart once and finished it. I wore them yesterday, and I really like just the detail on the top of the foot. No one knows it's there but me, unless I am home with my shoes off.

I over-estimated how much yarn it would take for the KirbyWirby Afterthought Heel and the cuff, so the leg is a little short and I have a LOT left over for my blanket. I love the little cables in the ribbing, and these socks don't fall down like most of my others, so I may keep the length. Love the heel! It makes so much sense. I posted about it on my Ravelry projects here.


Once I finished the socks, I started on Grandma's sweater. I showed a photo of the hot pink sweater I'm making for my Grandma, out of yarn she was donated. I quickly finished the front that was pictured and started on another project, then the 1st rolled around and I wanted to work on my cabled socks. Once I finished those socks, I jumped right in on the back of the sweater, which is identical. I am about at the same place as the photo, so I won't include one this time. I plan to finish it this weekend and do all the finishing work next week, unless I don't have time to finish the other project I'm working on, in which case I'll save it for next month. I showed it to her today, and she loved it. She even liked the reverse side, so I told her she can wear it however she wants!

The last project I'm working on right now is another pair of socks. I don't remember if I've mentioned it or not, but I sing with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus under a fantastic and charismatic director. I take my knitting to nearly every rehearsal, and when I was working on the black and neon socks last month, he walked by and said that his 1 pair of hand-knitted socks were his favorite, then jokingly told me he's a size 8 1/2. I told him my feet were size 10 1/2, and he said that it's basically the same size in socks. So I thought, I'm knitting myself 12 pairs of socks (give or take 1 or 2--my hubby has some queued up too), and I hardly even wear socks. This man wears socks every day of his life (I've maybe seen him in sandals once in 6 years), so surely I can knit him a pair. I went out and bought a beautiful pair of balls of Patons Kroy yarn from Hobby Lobby the next day, and I'm working on toe-up Vanilla Latte socks for him. I am hoping to have them done by Thursday (6 more days) so I can enter them for February's sock bash. I *love* the yarn colors! They started with navy in the toe, then teal with navy flecks, then burgundy, and light blue with teal and purple flecks. I don't have a photo of them yet, but I'm getting ready to start the heel, so I will have them done for my next post. I can't wait to see his face when I give them to him! He even mentioned it to me again this week, as I was working on my Felia socks before rehearsal. I told him I already bought yarn, but I don't think he heard me as someone else started talking to him. They are flying off the needles, being mostly stockinette.

Next month, along with my socks, hats, and finishing up Grandma's sweater, I'm taking part in my very first mystery knit along! It is a sport weight cowl, and I immediately knew exactly what I wanted to use. I have some Road to China Light that I bought on destash last summer that didn't have a designated project, so it is my new cowl! I wound it up the other night, and now I can't stop touching it! I am going to enjoy the heck out of knitting and then wearing this puppy. They release a clue a week for 4 weeks, so hopefully between making socks, hats, and taking care of little people I might be able to keep up. I'm so excited! I've been wanting to do a MKAL for a few months, and it seems like spring is the time for them. I can't wait to see what it looks like.

Finally, I have a photo of a FO in the wild. I love this outfit today, and my favorite shawl is one of the best parts of it!

Branching out

Sorry to have been so long in writing. As you’ll see, I’ve been quite busy with my craft projects lately, and decided to be creating instead of writing about what I’m creating. I would like to blog more often and make my posts shorter, so I’ll try to get caught up as of today and hopefully be able to keep up better after that. As I stated in my last post, this has truly been the “Year of Buying,” and now I need to be proactive in my making so that none of my fun and beautiful projects gets lost in the mix.

To start, I’m enamored with knit-alongs right now, so I am actively participating in several this year. The one that started it all was the Yarnhoarder (Amber Lindemann on Ravelry) podcast, as she is doing a year-long dishcloth challenge.

I had a decent amount of solid-colored cotton in my stash from projects over the years, so I thought it would be fun to use that up. I probably had enough to make a few, but I went to Hobby Lobby and found some of their beautiful variegated I Love This Cotton and bought a few colors of that. I also went to JoAnn and found some great prices on colorful variegated balls. I almost bought a whole cone (14 oz. or so) of Lily Sugar ‘n Cream in Christmas colors, but I found individual red, white, and green colors in the inexpensive cotton that I will try first. I might end up buying the cone anyway, as I really want some Christmas towels and dishcloths for my kitchen.

Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton

More I Love This Cotton

Premier Home from JoAnn

I have knitted several (my goal is one a week) and am on track for the year, but I don’t have ends woven in on most of them, so I will post a photo of them as I complete them. I am able to get 3-4 from each set of colors, so I think I will gift them as sets for Mothers’ Day, Christmas, etc. I considered using different stitches for each one, but found the Gramma’s Favorite pattern to be pretty easy and mindless, for when I’m watching a show or need to put it down to help little people at a moment’s notice. I’ve paired together almost all of my cotton yarns, so when I finish a batch, I just need to reach in my bag and pick the next set and get started.

Pairings of different colors of cotton yarn

My first finished dishcloth, in linen stitch

I had the tiniest ball of cotton left from making kitchen towels, hot pads, and dish cloths years ago, so I used that and this pattern to make a cover for my cast iron skillet. It works great!

I’ve started watching other podcasts, namely Hey Sister and Grocery Girls, and they both like to do knit-alongs as well. The Grocery Girls were doing a shawl knit-along for the Joji Locatelli shawls with their names, and I thought the Jodi shawl looked easy, interesting, and different than anything I’ve done, so I completed it with 3 days left in the knit-along. I spent about 5 days completing it (except for the ends—so many ends!) and used stash yarn from last summer to complete it. I enjoyed it so much, after I get this one blocked, I might even make it again in another fun Mandala yarn. I already bought the pattern, and I have plenty of yarn, so I might as well. I’ve never knit a lace chart before, and once I figured it out, this one was very easy to memorize and work up.

Nearly every podcast I have seen is doing a sock knit-along. YarnGasm, Grocery Girls, and Yarnhoarder are all doing one, and YarnGasm is initiating a pair a month knit-along (KAL), called Box o’ Sox. I definitely have enough yarn to knit 12 pairs this year, although I don’t know if I’ll have the time. I have been working on my first pair (I’m a little behind due to the shawl, dishcloths, and blankets I did earlier this year), and have made great progress, just this week. I’m almost ready to turn the heels, and the rest is just knit in a crazy spiral until the ribbed cuff. They are boring vanilla socks for my hubby, but I bought some beautiful Cascade Heritage Prints sock yarn, which is making it much more interesting. I’m trying the Fish Lips Kiss heel, and have the cardboard cutouts for both his foot and mine. I'll post a photo when they're finished.

I have bought quite a bit of sock yarn this year, trying to get to the 12 pair in fingering weight (required for Box o’ Sox entries), but I also have some merino wool left over from Blessing’s sweater, Fishermen’s Wool left over from my cousin’s sweater, and some sport weight that I bought when I first started knitting and had no idea what I was buying.

Sport weight yarn for a hat and fingerless mitts

The thing that set me off on my next adventure was a prize that I won from Amber for all my sweaters last year! I submitted my 5 sweaters in her Rhinebeck sweater KAL, and she drew my number for a prize around Christmas, so I won a beautiful skein of Fire Opal Fibers fingering weight variegated yarn, and the day it arrived in the mail, I knew I needed to find something to go with it. It is too pretty for socks! So I went to the local yarn shop and found 2 skeins that match it perfectly. Now all I need is the perfect pattern, which I think I’ve found. I already bought it, when it was first released and on sale, and it looks interesting and beautiful. I’m excited to try it with my new yarns!

Cascade Silk (gray); Fire Opal Fibers (variegated); Cascade Heritage (purple)

I also decided that, like the wonderful podcasters, I deserved to try some beautiful hand-dyed indie yarns, so I have purchased several skeins recently from Hedgehog Fibres, Sweet Georgia yarns, and Lolodidit. They are all sock weight, but I don’t know if I’ll make socks or a sock weight hat out of them. I know the lolodidit yarns will be socks. I bought a matching mini skein to make heels with, that matches both skeins. One skein will be my Christmas socks this year (I plan to have them completed around Thanksgiving), and the other is sparkly! The Sweet Georgia is so pretty, and colors I wouldn’t normally have bought for myself, but if they’re in a sock, it won’t matter what I’m wearing with them too much. The Hedgehog Fibres is probably going to be a hat, but I don’t know for sure. It’ll make beautiful socks too.

Hedgehog Fibres (left); Sweet Georgia (right)

Lolodidit: Hippo for Christmas, Lucky mini, What I Want (sparkle!)

I am itching to knit myself a sweater, and one of the Hey Sister podcasts highlighted this beautiful Malabrigo Rios yarn in a deep red, perfect for fall. I have a top that I think looks very good on me in a similar color, so I thought that a sweater made out of this would be perfect. I bought 8 skeins on sale, and I finally found the perfect pattern, based closely on a sweater I have that I absolutely love, which I have outgrown. I am hoping I can knit it in a smaller size, but I have enough yarn to make the largest size. I would love to make a matching hat or fingerless mitts out of any leftovers.

Malabrigo Rios in Cumparsita

I follow Madeline Tosh on instagram, and a couple of weeks ago, she was posting some of her new colors. This one caught my eye, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it! I immediately added it to my cart, then proceeded to look and wait for several more days before I finally bought it. I also found a sale on some Tosh Mohair yarn, and it was less expensive than some of the other yarns, so I bought a sweater’s quantity of it and am planning to knit this cardigan this fall. The mini skein is just a beautiful color I couldn’t justify buying a whole skein of, but loved.

Last but not least, I was looking into Brooklyn Tweed, per the Hey Sister podcast’s recommendation. I found that a yarn store about an hour away carries it, so instead of ordering it and possibly not liking it, I drove out there this week to feel it and see it in person. The owner was a very sweet lady and was very gracious about the raucous 3 little people I trapped in a car for an hour and dragged around a yarn store.

Let me start by saying Brooklyn Tweed is not at all what I expected. I have felt worsted wool before (Fishermen’s Wool is a perfect example), but this yarn felt light as air. I literally felt like I was holding nothing when I picked up a full skein of it. It is not as soft as I had hoped, but the lightness of it makes up for that. I was originally looking for a purplish color (seems to be my color lately), but after seeing it in person, I fell in love with two darker colors, and with the help of my little people, I picked this darker color that I will definitely be making a hat with. I can’t wait to try it on, it’ll be so light! The process is called woolen spun, which means that it has more loft to it, and stays warmer.

After finding the Brooklyn Tweed, I asked her what the softest yarn she’s ever worked with was, and she pointed me in the direction of this a.m.a.z.i.n.g. yarn. It is truly the softest fiber I’ve ever touched. It’s called Road to China from the Fibre Co. and it’s made from alpaca, silk, camel, and cashmere, and I believe it was spun by angels. I can’t even begin to describe how much I enjoy it. I bought 5 different colors (and would have bought more!) but I thought I should be able to make a shawl with that much and wear it close to my face all the time. I think I will take my time knitting this and will wear it every chance I have. It is just gorgeous! It will also be the most expensive article of clothing I own...

Blessing kept picking up green skeins of yarn, so I looked for some more affordable yarn to make him a hat with, and I found this chunky soft alpaca in green, red, and blue. I figured I could either make all 3 boys hats, or make sweaters for the Chipmunks! It is soft as well, although nothing will ever compare to the Road to China yarn.

While I was there, I figured I would ask her about every interesting project I could think of, and one that has been on my mind for a while is thrummed mittens. I need roving (unspun wool) and worsted wool, so I asked her to direct me. I found a beautiful purple (again!) and green, and found coordinating Cascade 220 worsted heathers to knit with. I thought all of these colors would go together great, and my hubby is probably going to claim the purple pair, but I’ll put some accent colors with the green in as well, so they look like a set.

I needed to spend a certain amount to get a discount on my purchase, and I was very close, so I decided to either buy another sweater’s quantity and make it to the highest level, or just get a couple more skeins and make something smaller, so I went to the clearance section and picked out some beautiful lavender (of course) cashmere. I don’t know what I’ll make with it yet (maybe a cowl, since I’ll be wearing the world’s softest shawl all the time!), but it is very soft as well. I felt very preppy buying cashmere, something I never would have dreamed of when I started knitting.

One of the most fun things I bought recently is a set of cotton yarns from Hobby Lobby to make a sock monkey. I love making stuffed animals for my kids, and they love carting them around, and the idea of a sock monkey intrigues me. It has a pattern on the label, so all I need to do is knit the socks and go from there.

I bought a kit from Craftsy around this time last year (along with many other yarns) for a crochet bear, and finally got around to making it over Christmas. I had most of the pieces complete and just needed to stuff and sew it, so of course I procrastinated on all that. I did finally bite the bullet, and I’m so pleased with the results. It is soft, snuggly, and just the right size for my little Blessing to cart around on his shoulder. Instead of crocheting the little sweater, I decided it was faster to knit and be done with it. I should still pick up some stitches around the bottom and knit some ribbing, but it works the way it is. I also want to redo the muzzle, as the ends are poking out already, but it is functional and the little people aren’t complaining. Seeing how they treat their stuffed animals makes me want to knit them more, and in fact, besides the sock monkey, I have a few other animals in the queue for them.

A few days late for Christmas this past year, I finished a knitted Christmas ball for our tree. I then completed one for this year (I knit the year on each one), and started on gifts for family. I hope to make them for all the family every year. They're very easy and fun, and quick! I will use up the colors I have and maybe do green or blue or other colors in subsequent years.

I also had an opportunity to gift a set that I made several years ago with some beautiful acrylic yarn I liked. I made the scarf, loved the colors, made a matching hat, and had enough of the yarn to make something else, but not enough to finish it. I ordered an additional skein from someone on Etsy, and was able to finish the fingerless gloves. I gave this set to my aunt for her birthday in January, and she has told me so many times how much she loves wearing them all! I was glad to find a good home for something that I wasn't sure I needed to keep. 

I think that covers all of my recent purchases. I have so much to work on and so much in my possession right now. I am pretty sure I have enough yarn to last me at least the next 2 years, so I made a vow to my hubby that I would not buy more yarn for 2 more years, unless it is for a specific event or Etsy orders.

Speaking of Etsy, I also made a Viking hat and beard this month. I will be posting more updates about my shop in the coming months, so be on the lookout! A couple of changes and a special are coming up!

That is a lot of yarn, a lot of yarn photos, and very little knitting/crocheting to show, but thank you for reading to here if you have. I have three other projects on hiatus right now, 2 blankets and a set of slippers that I might talk about occasionally, but there is not a lot to speak of right now on them. I will post more often, as I am all caught up now and just need to update with new projects and progress on the ones mentioned above.

Until then, happy 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 "snow day" update...

It's not a school day, in fact, it's even a long weekend, but we are having an ice storm here in KC right now, so everything's closed. So I thought it would be a good time to update with some more of my current projects.

I just put the finishing touches on another feminine beanie, for my mother-in-law, in some new colors. I thankfully had the navy in my stash, but the brown I had to purchase. I have been so immersed in knitting, it was nice to crochet something again.

Caron Simply Soft in chocolate and navy, per pattern; adult L/XL size

I really like the flower for this piece, although each one I make looks slightly different. She loves it, and almost wore it to bed last night. Another satisfied customer!

I went through my stash again this week, and am working vigorously to find projects to use my yarn on. I have a ton of baby yarn that was given to me after the twins were born that I've just been hanging on to. I am dying to make a sweater, after watching so many tutorials on YouTube that make it look so simple, so I decided to try making one with all the baby yarns. So far, it's been a breeze, and I think the colors look great together. It's coming together so quickly, I think I might even make 2 more, for the older boys as well. I will have to buy more yarn, since they are growing like weeds (3 years old wearing 5T already!), but at least I have a purpose for it. Here's my progress so far:

Yarn Bee in various colors; size 7 needles

I think it will be perfect on little Sam, although I have no idea how old he'll be when he gets to wear it. I'm making size 18 months, so hopefully he can wear it next fall for some nice photos with the older boys. He's growing so much faster than they did. I attribute it to him being almost 10 lbs. at birth, but he'll probably always be a big baby. He's so cute though...

I made an investment in my knitting this week, although I may be returning them shortly. I got a few gift cards for Christmas and was looking into getting an interchangeable knitting needle set, and found this one on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O99S9UQ/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's over $50, so it's a bit of an investment, but I love that I will always have the needles I need on hand. I went to my local JoAnn's the other day, though, and found this set: http://www.joann.com/boye-needlemaster-kit-200/7984818.html#q=boye%2Bknitting%2Bneedles&simplesearch=Go&start=4

The Boye needles were $70, but I had a 50% off coupon, so I went ahead and got them. They have tons of tips! I like them well enough, except I'm using the longest cord and it's difficult to make a full circle, because the tips are so long. I went ahead and ordered the Knitter's Pride set, and will try them both for a couple of weeks before I decide which kit to keep. I'm really excited about having one of these sets, though! 

The other project I've finished is one of the infamous messy bun hats that are all over Pinterest. I can't find the pattern that I used for this one, but I could easily have just used a knit beanie pattern and bound off early, which is exactly what I did. My cousin (actual 1st cousin--one of the few girls!) is finishing her Bachelor's at UCM in Warrensburg, and she's a cheerleader, so she wears lots of ponytails. I was pleased she asked me to do it, but I wanted to use up some of my "girl" colors in my stash. Pink, confetti, dark purple, and light purple it was, and I attempted to do the jogless stripes technique again (although slightly different this time), and it still turned out a little wonky. You can definitely see the seam where the stitch was pulled from the previous row and bunched up. I don't know if this is worse or better than having jogs. I will have to figure this out before I make striped sweaters for my boys.

All Vanna's Choice yarn leftovers; jogless stripe technique

Front view

I've got several other items in the works, like a stuffed elephant for Sam, socks (I'm waiting on special reinforcing thread to arrive), sweaters for the older boys, the stuffed animals, and a knit shawl I've got lots of yarn for. I also need to make a large tree skirt for Christmas next year. My parents have a 6' tree that we are taking, so my little tree skirt won't do anymore. I also have some fun ideas for Christmas next year, that involve a lot of knitting, wool, and ongoing projects, that I'll post about as I am able to work on them.

Stay warm this cold day, and hopefully I'll have a couple of baby sweaters to post about in the next week.

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!