Baby Hats and Booties

I recently had a friend deliver her baby girl a month early. The baby is fine but I was in a rush to finish this hat and bootie set for her. I had already made her a different hat and bootie set that I gave to her last summer but I wanted to do another. Plus I like this hat. I made one for Gavin in blue and it fits great and is the perfect weight for cooler weather. The fuzzy/furry thing is an Angel Baby headband. It's actually really cute on. I made one for Irene to wear at Easter in matching colors from her Easter dress.

I also made this same hat and bootie set and headband for my friend Kelly. She is also expecting a girl in about 12 weeks. I just got a lovely thank you card from her in the mail.

I'm working on a baby bonnet and booties for Shannon. After that I want to make a shawl for myself. I found a beautiful green/seafoam green colored yarn at the variety store in town. I love, LOVE the color. They only had two balls in that color and at the moment I don't have the money to get them. I plan to make a basic wrap type of shawl in that color and it will be for memememe!!!!!!! Sorry, got sidetracked by the yarn ;-)

Knitted With Love

This baby blanket I knitted for my friend Shannon. She is expecting her first baby, a girl, in May. This blanket started off easy. I liked the pattern and it was fun to knit. Then I put it down and knitted a hat and bootie set for a friend that had her baby girl a month early. Then when I was finished with that I decided to do another set (since I was on a roll) for another friend who is also expecting a girl. Whew! I decided to take a two day break. Bad idea. I had put the blanket down for so long I forgot where I was in the pattern and ended up having to rip back three rows. I did this while riding in the car to my brother's for Easter.

At my brother's I had no time to knit and so I ended up taking another, this time unintentional, break. Monday through Friday I knitted whenever I could between kids, feedings, school, etc. I admit that at the beginning of the week I wasn't to concerned, I figured I had plenty of time. On Saturday I skipped my morning coffee in order to knit. Mark took over feeding the children and I even downloaded a stopwatch application for my phone so I could time how long it took me to do a row. It took roughly 5 minutes per row. 8 rows per pattern. 1 inch per pattern section so 40 minutes to do one section. I figured it would take about four more hours on Saturday to finish. This was around 2pm when I did all that...I finished at 8:40pm. This blanket gave me one last slap before giving in. Three rows into the ribbing three sections started making a design that was not suppose to be there! I had to rip back again. Ugh.

I think the biggest problem in this was me. I was so worried about getting it done that I went too fast and didn't pay attention. In the end I prevailed and on Sunday the finished blanket went to the baby shower with me :-)

Another Skull and Crossbones?

I've been lazy about posting but I've also been knitting like crazy. And yes, I did just knit another Skull Illusion Scarf. Why? Because I am a dumba$$. First let me say that I was not completely thrilled with the first one I did. I only repeated the pattern twice then worked a ways in garter stitch while still alternating colors every two rows. While the garter stitch design would have worked on its own for a scarf I did not care for it withe the skull design. Plus I then had to knit the pattern "upside down" after the garter stitching so the skull would be facing the right way on the other end. Confusing? Yeah, so was my scarf.

Being lazy and yet still pleased with myself for finishing the scarf I decided not to start over. I planned to steam the scarf so it would lay flat. I put it on the ironing board and...proceeded to iron it. IRON it...not STEAM it. Yeah, the pattern went bye bye. Right now my official story is that subconsciously I knew I was unhappy with the scarf and so my subconscious just fixed the problem for me. I went on to try a couple of things to try and fix the ironing mess up. Let's just say the scarf ended with the velcro of two baby bibs stuck to it. And when pulled off it fuzzed up the yarn. Needless to say...I was going to be knitting a new scarf!

The new scarf gave me no end of troubles. I ran out of yarn and had to dissect the ruined scarf for yarn, this at 11:30 at night. Plus I made endless counting errors. And I needed to have finished it 5 days ago! Ugh.

I am not posting a picture of the new one. It the pattern looks just like the old one. Besides I am still being lazy and I don't want to get up to take the picture. Although to be fair, I am feeding the baby as I type this so I would be disturbing him as well.

My next project is a baby blanket that I should have started 5 days ago. I wanted to give myself a month to knit it (friend's baby shower is now less than a month away!).

And that is my knitting saga!

I Did It!!!!

Yes, I did! Despite having caught the children's icky, nasty cold, and feeling like I would like to sleep for a year, I have finished the Skull Illusion Scarf. Therefore I have competed and finished the Knitting Olympics in the allotted time. I'd like to consider myself a gold medalist.

A Little Knitting Help

A couple of weeks ago we were in Grand Rapids. My husband was about to go back on the road but we had some extra time before he had to leave so we went to the mall. At Barnes and Noble I found this knitting help and project pack. It was originally priced at $22.95. I got it for $6.95!

Inside is 25 knitting projects, a book of instructions, plus a blunt end needle. I am thrilled with this purchase! It has a baby blanket pattern that is going to be my neck project after the Knitting Olympics is over. My friend will be having a baby in less than 15 weeks so I will have to move fast!

When I was at the counter buying this the saleswoman asked me if I knitted. I said I did and she told me about the knitting group that was meeting that night at the bookstore. They meet every other Tuesday night. Oh, how I wished I could have joined them! Unfortunately, living two hours away prohibits that.

A Scarf For Me

I decided to knit a scarf for myself. It picked out Vanna's Choice for Lion Brand Yarn in seaspray mist. Green is a favorite color of mine and this lovely shade made me think of spring.

I used the pattern from Yarn Harlot. I found the pattern rather easy which is great since I do not have anyone helping me with my projects anymore. I cast on 42 stitches instead of the 26 the pattern calls for. My scarf turned out wide and I love it that way. I got the chance to wear it out while it was snowing. It keep my neck warm and snow free!

A picture of me wearing my lovely scarf...my hair is so frizzy in this pic!

Knitting Olympics

I have joined the knitting Olympics started by Yarn Harlot. Basically you cast on your new knitting project as soon as the flame is lit. Then you have the next 17 days to finish your project. I am making the Skull Illusion Scarf by Ysolda Teague. I am using Lion Brand Yarn Wool Ease in oxford grey and grey heather. I will update on how it goes!

Edited to add...I fixed the links so now they work!