At last

If you visit here often, you know that my list of knitting projects has slowly dwindled away this year. I blame my 365 project and inreasing time spent online for the decline in my knitting time. (My apologies to those of you who come here for knitting inspiration!) Even so, I finally finished a project I started many months ago for the newest member of our family.





It all started with ten skeins of superwash wool and the basic log cabin "recipe" from this book. After that, it was just knit, knit, knit until the yarn ran out. Nothing tricky here, but I did become bored with the process after the initial burst of creative energy.

Last week I decided it was do-or-die time and I made this project a priority. Today it's winging its way to the East coast to my new little great-niece--now two months old. I'd hoped it would greet her upon her arrival in this world, but I think she's still small enough to snuggle in its warmth when cooler days come calling.

For complete details, check my project page on Ravelry.

A little pumpkin surprise

Now that I'm finally in the fall mood, I decided to whip up something to match the season. Ever since I learned to knit I've intended to make one of these cute hats, but never had a child around young enough to wear it.



This one is a little surprise for my grand-nephew, who just turned one about a month ago. Though the hat looks small to me, it does stretch a lot. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be just right! If not, another baby will be joining that family next spring, so it could just be tucked away for a year and given to the next in line.

This pattern was so fun and easy, and there was plenty of yarn left (I think) to make a second one. If you have a little punkin' around your house--or even far away--give it a try!

Project notes: Knit with Reynolds Soft Sea wool, one skein each #0650 and #0853, on US size 4 and 5 needles. Kurbis hat pattern designed by Natalja.

Little bits

I've been knitting in fits and starts these days, snatching bits of time where I can to work on small projects. I had plenty of yarn left from the February baby sweater so I decided to knit this pattern that I've been eyeing for ages. These booties are a fast, easy knit. Oh, so cute when done, too!



I have no idea if they will actually stay on a wiggly baby's feet, but I suppose that's not my problem! Cute is what counts, right?

I also wanted to send a little thank-you to Jen for sharing her Jitterbug sock yarn. There were still plenty of leftovers after I finished the toe of my sock, so I decided to knit a wee one as my gift.



I have to confess that I ordered a second keychain for myself. Not at all practical, but again, cute gets the nod. Here's to some cute, fun, makes-you-smile projects on your needles!

Monday, Monday

A little rain swept through this morning, bringing cooler air. I actually felt chilly as I walked across a puddle-filled parking lot. It's a nice change. Almost sweater weather--almost.

Speaking of sweaters, a wee one is finally off the needles.



I just need to add a button loop (I skipped the button holes) and a little button, and I can call it done. I'm searching the button stash to see if the perfect one is hiding there. A good project for a quiet Monday. What's on your project list today?

June meets February

I learned just a few weeks ago that my newly-married niece is expecting a baby girl in October. After only a moment's reflection, I knew what I wanted to cast on for her. Zimmerman's baby sweater on two needles (popularly known as the February baby sweater) has achieved icon status thanks to the many gorgeous versions produced by knitters everywhere.

Now it's my turn to give it a try. I decided it was high time I knit with the Dream in Color yarn I've been hearing so much about. I selected the Petal Shower colorway; the muted pinks and creams seem so perfect for a newborn.



I'll confess, I'm always a little intimidated when starting a Zimmerman pattern. There seem to be a lot of unspoken (unwritten) directions that leave me wondering if I'm doing the right thing. Usually it turns out O.K., but I do have to add lots of notes to myself so certain details are not forgotten.

After a few false starts on the lace pattern, I decided to add stitch markers to save myself a lot of time and energy in finding my mistakes. After that, things seemed to go much more smoothly. Now I'm into the first sleeve and wondering how I'll be able to seam it to keep the lace intact. Guess I'll worry about that when the time comes!



I'm happy with my progress so far. Now I just need to stay motivated and not allow the siren song of another project to call me away!

Keep going or turn back?

That's the question in my head right now with regard to this baby sweater.



I'm using a Debbie Bliss pattern from this book. My gauge is right on, yet this sleeve looks huge! The pattern says the sleeve will be five inches long with cuff turned back. This is eight inches sans cuff, so that's gonna be one huge cuff. What worries me even more, though, is the measurement from the top of the sleeve to the sleeve seam. Right now--before seaming--it's four inches! I think a six-year-old could get his arm in there. The entire sweater is only 10.5 inches from shoulder to hem. Grrr.

I hate to rip this all out, but I sure think the pattern is wonky. I may also run out of yarn before it's all over. Sigh. Most likely I'll keep going and see what happens. Full steam ahead?

Embroidery adventures

I've been wanting to try some more embroidery, on a small scale, so when I received an invitation to my niece's baby shower I decided to try my hand at embellishing some little onesies.



This endeavor turned out to be more tricky than I expected. I tried every manner of transfer for the designs but none were completely satisfactory. And the smaller the design, the harder it became to get a clear image on the t-shirt fabric. I finally got an acceptable design to follow by using a Clover transfer pen. I also tried using some Super Solvy fabric stabilizer on the back of the onesie, but I became frustrated with it and abandoned its use after completing the first design.



My other challenge with these tiny designs was the stitching itself. I generally use a basic outline stitch, but on these designs it was much trickier than I expected. I ended up with a mixture of outline and running stitches, but I still wasn't completely satisfied. I did, however, finish all three and popped them into the mail yesterday. Whew!



Now, back to knitting!

Surprise!

After much too long, I finally have something other than a sock to show you! This is my first attempt at the well-known baby surprise jacket (BSJ) by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I had no idea how this piece would come together as I knit it, so I followed the instructions with blind faith that it would all work out. Turns out, it did! And it was a lot of fun.

In case you've never seen the magic of the baby surprise, I thought I'd show it to you in several phases:

Isn't that cool? It's like an origami trick, only the result is more long-lasting. This one will be for my niece, who's expecting in August. I'd like to make another for a neighbor, but her baby is due in a couple of weeks and I'm not sure the sweater would be large enough for him by the time it's cool enough again to wear it. If I were ambitious enough to do the math, I'm sure it could be super-sized pretty easily.

If you're wondering, the yarn I used is Lorna's Laces superwash wool in the Ravenswood colorway. I adore the yarn and will probably order more in a different colorway for my next baby project. This little sweater took only a little more than a skein from start to finish! I'm thinking of adding a matching pair of booties to the sweater before gifting it to the mom-to-be. Hooray for baby knits!