Bella's Mittens

Who went to see New Moon last night? What did you think?

I thought it was great! And the midnight showing had a really fun atmosphere with a bajillion teenage girlies in their pajamas. I think I'm well and truly in the minority routing for team Jacob. And Taylor Lautner... whoo he looked good. But as my stepson correctly pointed out, WAAAAAY too young for me LOL! We're thinking that Dwayne Johnson might make a more age appropriate substitute though (for me that is, not Bella. Pah!). Erm, er, sorry Joe... you know I only have eyes for you ;o)


Anyhoo, my dear friend that invited me is a major Twihard fan and so I thought it would be fun to make her a pair of the Bella's mittens that have been circling round blogland and ravelry.

There's a couple of free patterns out there and I chose Phenomenom by Carine Ancel (Ravelry link) because I really like the cross stitch type effect she's created on the palms. The yarn I used was Dream in Color Groovy, colourway Black Pearl. I needed 2 skeins. My first time using Dream in Color and I was really happy with it - nice and soft and held the stitch definition well. I especially liked the subtle change in tone from black to charcoal grey in this particuar colourway.


And if you are looking for some last minute Christmas knitting these could be just the ticket - each mitten took me about 2-3 evenings to complete.


They were well received by my dear Twihard friend yesterday evening. Which makes this knitter a very happy girl indeed :)

February baby sweater

One of the cutest baby gifts I feel that I made was the EZ baby sweater out of sock yarn, for my cousin's daughter. I decided my little lady lady also needed one.


This is a great project if you are looking for a fast, easy and interesting cardigan for a baby girl. I took mine on a business trip to the east coast last week and was pretty much complete by the time I returned home. Besides, anything that makes good use out of my ever-increasing stash of sock yarns is a good thing.

There seems to be a lot of discussion on baby knits - whether it's worth the effort. Right now I think so, but soon I'll have firsthand experience at how fast the wee one grows. (Who am I kidding - I'll be knitting regardless of how fast they grow... and at this stage, maybe the amount of time it takes to knit is in relation to the amount of time they'll be wearing it!) I'm telling myself that this particular cardigan might last a bit longer because it is lace, and there's some manipulating that can be done during blocking to stretch a little as baby grows. That's all theory at this point. I'll be able to let you know in a matter of months! Maybe February baby for a February baby sweater? (More likely early March, the Feb part is wishful thinking).


My modifications to the original pattern are shown in the post on the first version I made. Essentially all I did differently was cast on more for the neck, and then knit a few extra rows on the yoke. Everything else is per the guidelines in the book.

I still favour my first version most (it's that delicious sundara yarn). But this one in Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn (colourway Lobster Pinch) is still cute, vibrant and fun with those contrasting purple flower buttons. Although Joe is being a little more practical than I and is advising that I might want to avoid buttons for future baby knits -- that little ones love to chew.

I still have a little yarn left from the one skein of sock yarn - potentially enough for some Saartjes booties. The little lady will need matching accessories after all ;o)

Tempest

I'm really happy with how the Tempest cardigan turned out. This counts as my September NaKniSweMoDo09 effort.


The yarn I used is Aspen Sock from Red Rocks Fiber Works. I really like Mary-Kay's yarns, in case you hadn't noticed! (They make a frequent appearance here) :o))) It's actually one colour of sock yarn, in darker and lighter shades. I think it's fun how some of the stripey lines look a little wiggly where the lighter shade may have some darker areas, and vice versa.


I picked up 2 skeins of the dark, and one skein of the light. It was a close run thing with the light - the ball I have left is about the size of a marble. I dipped into the 2nd skein of the darker shade, but still have quite a bit left there. Maybe a similar sweater for my little lady? (Because I'm a bit of a dork like that!)


I pretty much followed the pattern word for word. Chose the 36" size. The only mods were to add a garter stitch border at the bottom vs the approach the pattern called for. If I were to knit again I might not do the slip stitch edging as that made the seaming a bit of a pain. I also learned a new technique with this - the bind off on the button band was a new approach for me. It's really neat and produces a great finish.

This will probably get tucked away until both the weather and my figure are more suited to it. (21 weeks pregnant today - woo hoo, that's over the half way mark).

Little Lady (Cheerleaders?) Dress

A few weeks ago I picked up my first skein of yarn for BOB - it's a beautiful String Theory 'Casper Sock' yarn. I thought it was really pretty and figured it would work for a boy, or a girl. I brought it home to show Joe and he loved it too - it is a colour used by the Miami Dolphins, his favourite football team (erm, yes sweetheart that's exactly what I was thinking when I picked it out! ;o)

It sat in my cubbies for a bit while I was trying to decide what I'd make. During that time I had a couple of scans and found out that BOB is going to be a healthy little lady. Ooh so many pretty choices when knitting for little girls. I've admired the 'Little Sister's Dress' projects I've seen and thought this would be the perfect travel project for my trip to the East coast last week - it's small, portable and knit in the round.


The pattern is darling and I'm tickled with the end result. To make 'Dad' even happier I added a single crochet trim of orange (the other colour from the Miami Dolphin's kit) to the neckline and to create the buttonholes. And also found these cute orange flower buttons that matched the yarn perfectly. This final touch makes it pop and adds a fun girly twist to the dress.


So there you have it, little lady's first Cheerleading outfit. (Although, technically she's not scheduled to arrive until after the season is over.)

Pattern: Tora Froseth's 'Little Sister's Dress'
Size: 3 month
Yarn: String Theory Casper Sock (Green/Aqua), and Mama Blue Troika Sport in Poppy (Orange).
Mods: None

***Edited to add: I only used 1 skein of the string theory sock yarn and still have some left over. But this could be because I did not hold the yarn double as the pattern suggests - I just knit with a single strand.***

Fiery Featherweight

Whooo it is done!


This one felt like it went on and on forever, with all those stitches in such fine yarn. At times I was ready to tuck it in a corner and let it collect dust for a while, but NaKniSweMoDo spurred me on -- I was a month behind my self-set goal and this cardigan was the closest to completion. I'm glad I persevered because it is sooo very lovely, soft, airy and doesn't scream 'hey I made this'.


Pattern: Hannah Fettig's Featherweight
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace, just a smidge over 2 skeins
Mods? Not many - I knit the body and the sleeves a tad longer than the pattern calls for. And instead of the stocking stitch collar that has a tendancy to roll, I plumped for a matching K1P1 rib border... which at first looked like it was going to pull up the edges of the cardigan, but after a little blocking, lies perfectly flat.


So this is NaKniSweMoDo09 for August. Better get busy if I'm going to catch up and whip something out for September...
(Oh yes, and that's a sneak peak at my baby bump - 16 weeks along!)

Slipper Season

It's getting a little cooler here and there are flashes of autumnal colours in the neighbourhood trees. That's right, it's officially the start of slipper season!

Each year I produce a batch of felted clogs for dear family members to keep their toes toasty. They've become a much sought after item, and by now I'm thinking I should be able to crank them out in my sleep.


First up this year were my step son's slippers. He moved from sunny warm Florida to come live with us and his proto-man toes aren't used to Colorado's chillier climes. I won't share the pics - boring, boring grey man slippers.

And then there's my Mum's. Mum can easily go through 2 sets in one wintry season, and since I believe it's also chillier back home already I needed to get hers out in the mail pronto. Women's slippers are far cuter than the boring man version - I can give them 'flair'! :o))) I'm really fond of the colours in these and the ribbon fringe cuff.


I tried to get Buster to model them, but as you can see he's less than impressed about the whole modelling gig. Which, to be honest, just cracks me up even more. Just wait 'til I have my wee one to do some modelling for me as well... I can hear it now, 'Awww Mum, do I have to?'

So that's 2 pairs down, and I think 6 to go...

BOB

I'm about to join the masses of knit bloggers who are blessed with kiddos. I couldn't be happier :)

That's right, I have a Baby On Board - BOB to friends and family.
(The name originated with my 6 yr old nephew when I was asking for potential baby names - his first suggestion was Bob, followed by Thomas, and then Spiderman - which apparently would be very cool!) Bob kind of stuck around here and evolved to stand for Baby On Board. I think it's cute so it became a keeper.

Although BOB isn't set to make his/her debut appearance until March 7th, he/she is already the recipient of some super lovely gifties from Grandma and Grandpa. Super lovely and especially awesome because they are handmade:


BOB's first knitted item of clothing - a super duper jumpsuit that will be perfect for a cold, snowy Colorado March, April and May.




And BOB's first toy - what could be more perfect for the child of a crazy dog lady, than a toy puppy. And one that's personalized, no less. Love this A LOT!


Yep, BOB's going to be one lucky ducky surrounded and clothed in handmade goodies, and the recipient of much love, kisses and cuddles :)

Thank you Mum, I was really touched by the parcel (and it probably won't surprise you that I welled up when opening this ;)
Love you both xoxo

Precious Pinwheel

A dear knitty friend is due to have a bouncing baby boy very soon... I'd learnt about this some time ago and started working on a small baby blanket for her new bundle of joy.

Pattern: Pinwheel Baby Blanket from the Knitalong book
Yarn: Rowan All Season Cotton - a mix of blue/cream for the center and beige/cream for the seed stitch border
Modifications: I made the seed stitch border a bit wider than the pattern calls for, but that's it.

This is a great simple knit. Movie knitting, if you like :) It's knit in the round and only has a few ends to weave in. Perfect portable project. And I do like the All Seasons cotton it wears really well after being thrown in the machine and dryer... ease of care for a new Mom.