Finished!

I finished my rug today! I think it turned out great, and the cable pattern is beautiful on this color. It's ready for some shoes!

Progression

I'm really quite excited about this project. I've been wanting to learn to cable knit since I found a beautiful sweater pattern last winter, but I always thought it would be some incredibly difficult task, so I kept putting it off.
I finally bit the bullet a couple of weeks ago and read about it in my beginners knitting book I made my very first scarf out of. I should have guessed, if it's in the beginner's knitting booklet, it can't be that hard.
After reading about it, I found a simple pattern that I modified to work on just the cabling, to get used to the vernacular. It seemed easy, so I started my first project, a shoe rug. I figured if I messed up terribly, it's just going to be covered by nasty shoes.
So far, I've only made 2 noticeable mistakes (to me, anyway), and I think it looks quite nice. I had 2 skeins of the yarn and I can't get any more, so this is the perfect use for it. I'm 5/8 of the way done! I'm also learning moss stitch, which looks great over a plane. It's a nice change from stockinette.
My mother-in-law likes it so much, she has commissioned a project for a cable knit sweater for my father-in-law. That will be a stretch in the future, though, as it will be my first sweater and knitting takes me a bit longer. I'm excited though!
Here's my progress so far on the rug...

A Variation

I don't like posting items to my Etsy shop without having examples of variations, so I made the feminine hat in aqua for myself. I already sold the pink one I made!

The aqua is the same color as the dolman sweater I'm working on, so they will complement each other nicely. I love how quickly this hat works up, and I got to learn the alligator stitch for the flower.

A Multitude of Items...

It's been a busy week! I've been working on several projects, and I've got some new ones that I haven't posted yet. These are all available on my Etsy site!

I've also been working on the dolman sweater I mentioned, and a really neat cabled rug for our entryway. I'm starting to love cable knitting! Pics to come...

Knit scarf with Lion Brand Wool-Ease bulky in light blue and cream; size 15 needles, ribbed 1x1 for 20 stitches

Viking hat with extra-long horns; I think I did an extra round in between each increase on the spiral to give them more shape. Wore this in the hospital with my boys!

My favorite little pilots in training :-D The weather's been so nice this past week!

Rainya boot cuffs and ear warmer in rose heather; Lion Brand Wool-Ease in worsted weight, H hook, per pattern

Mary Janes in Vanna's Choice pink poodle; per pattern

Feminine beanie in Caron Simply Soft gray and pink; per pattern

Waffle dish cloth in Lily 'n Cream cornflower; 10 x 11 squares, size H hook

A New Skill

I've been wanting to learn how to cable knit for over a year now, and with no immediate needs for other projects to be completed, I decided to give it a try today.

Surprisingly, it is much simpler than it looks! I was excited to learn that it's really comprised of a very simple twist of a few stitches, and gives satisfyingly beautiful detail to otherwise monotonous knitting. I'm enthused to start putting my new skill into practice, knitting hats, scarves, arm warmers, an afghan, and perhaps even a sweater with cable details!

Here is my practice swatch from today. It brings to my attention another skill I need to master in order to be successful at this: blocking.

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.

For the Family

My cousin asked me to make him a hat for work, which turned out fine. When I gave it to him at Christmas, he told me his son wanted a viking hat with his school colors to wear to games and spirit days, so this is what came of that. I included a beard just because. What 12 year old boy doesn't want a beard?

If I had it to do over again, I would have made a black hat with orange horns, but I think he'll definitely get noticed in this. He got it in the mail today and loves it!