Christmas Stocking Ornament

This is a very rough draft of this pattern. I've been asked about it, so I thought I would just post what I have. I've only knit it once and gave it away, so this is all from memory:

I basically just used a simple sock pattern, this sock pattern is a good example, the toe-up version. I used size 3 needles and DK weight. I think I cast on 8 stitches with Judy’s Magic Cast on, increased a few times (but not as much as the pattern). knit for an inch, do the short-row heel (there's one in the pattern I linked to, adjust the numbers, though, since you’ll probably be using a different number of stitches).

After the heel, knit for a few inches (however tall you want the stocking). Change to the cuff color (I used a worsted weight from my stash) and k1p1 ribbing for 1.5 inches. I did an i-cord loop. When I changed from the red to white, I didn’t cut the red, so I just picked up 3 stitches with the red from there. make your loop as long as you want it. a couple of inches is probably good. I stuffed it lightly and sewed the top closed (like in the hat pattern, right above the color change, so there’s no red showing).

Santa hat ornament

I came up with this design for an ornament exchange party.

Santa Hat

Yarn:
Knit Picks DK Swish red (1)
White yarn from stash. DK, sport or worsted would probably work

Needles:
US size 3, dpns or circs. I used dpns

Notions:
Tapestry needle
Pom-pom maker (optional)
Stitch markers (optional)

Pattern:

With white, cast on 40 stitches (10 on each dpn if using 4)
K1 P1 for 1.5 inches

Change to red, st st for 1 inch

Start decreases:
Row 1: (ssk, k16, k2tog) twice
Row 2 and all even rows: knit
Row 3: (ssk, k14, k2tog) twice

Repeat row 3, kniting 2 less stitches between the decrease sections until there are 4 stitches left. Cut yarn, leaving at least 12 inches, pull through last 4 stitches.



Make small pom-pom. I used a a small pom-pom maker, but any way will work.

To make the loop, I've used two different ways. The first way is a two stranded braid. You will need to pull an additional piece of yarn through the top of the hat. The second way is to do a regular 3 stranded braid. I found this easier.

Cut a piece of yarn at least 24 inches long. Thread both ends through the top of the hat:



Braid until you're almost at the end. Thread the braid through a tapestry needle (I do the short ends that are still unbraided and push the needle till it meets the braid). Pull the braid through the middle of the pom-pom, pulling the pom-pom down as far as it will go. It should be sitting on top of the hat. put the tapestry needle back through the pom-pom and through the top of the hat, but don't pull tight. Leave the loop bigger than you want. Secure the braid to the inside of the hat. Knot the loop as close to the pom-pom as possible (gives it more of a finished look, but you don't have to do that).



Stuff lightly. You don't have to weave in the ends that will be inside the hat. With the brim folded up, sew the hat closed:



I tacked the brim into place in a few places so it wouldn't come unfolded.

So, I wrote a pattern...

But it's not ready yet. I took pictures of the finished items, and some during the process. But my computer froze every time I tried to upload the pictures. Go figure.

There's actually 2, but I've only finished the pattern for one.

Want the background story? Richard's department at work always has an ornament exchange party and I've always wanted to knit the ornament, but I've never done it. This year, he asked me to do it. I started out with Eunny Jang's cabled globe ornament (rav link), but I didn't have the right yarn, so I went down to size 3s and it turned out okay. I tried a second one, but with even thinner yarn (don't know what I was thinking) and size 2s. That one took way too long!

My next idea was to knit a mini sock in red and white. I knit a tall, red baby sock with white cuff and lightly stuffed it, added an i-cord loop, sewed the top closed. It turned out really cool! It was a bit bigger than I originally thought it would be.

Then it hit me, knit a matching Santa hat! I cast on like I was knitting a regular hat, knit the brim in white, switched to red, decreased, added a braid for a loop, added a small pom-pom, secured the loop. And I had a hat!. I really didn't want to give them away! They were a hit at the party!

I gave the two cabled balls as a hostess gift (Richard's idea, they were both blue). And I crocheted a Christmas pickle for the host, too. All in all, a successful party.

Because I thought the hat was too cute, I cast on for another one yesterday making sure to take notes. I think the second one turned out just as good as the first one. On the first one I did a 2 stranded braid (basically just plying by hand) and the second one I did a regular 3 stranded braid. It just seemed easier and less fiddly.

Now I need to write the pattern for the stocking. Not like I don't have enough to do! I reserved Saturday for baking cookies, but it turns out my cousin is on leave from Afghanistan and they're have a lunch party for him on Saturday.

I'm starting to feel a little bah-humbuggie. I have my work's fancy shmancy party Friday night and lunch with friends Sunday. Then there's the party on the 23rd. I have to work on the 23rd and the 24th, so that's very not convenient for me!

Bah Humbug!

Little House on the Prairie Swap

I've been participatign in a Little House on the Prairie swap. It's from a readalong group on ravelry.com. I wish I had taken pictures of the things I sent, that would have been good blog material. Anyways, I got my package from Bethany on Saturday. It was funny because I had just put Sabrina down for a nap and I was peeking through the peephole to see if the mailman was there... and he was! I'm glad he didn't ring the doorbell, but he did knock rather loud. The swap had a $15
limit and we had to thrift the items and hand make them. Almost everything I sent was something I had already had on hand or previously made. I did buy some Moonstruck Chocolates and Marionberry jam.


Here's some of the loot:









I used a less than good camera since mine was upstairs and I didn't want to wake Sabrina when I went up the stairs. I really love the sheep notions bag and the needle book is much nicer than the one I made (I did try to freehand it when I should have just followed the instructions).

Thank you Bethany, everything is wonderful! I've already put all my Christmas card origami box making supplies in the sewing box (to the relief of Richard, he was really tired of all the squares being out where Sabrina could get into them).

20 months old already?

Dancing

Words:
ball
bell (doorbell and Tinkerbell)
sock (sounds like a naughty word)
shoe (zooshoo)
eye
nose
kitty and meow
doggy and woo woo
fishy
bonzai (because that's what the penguins say when they jump into the bath)
uh-oh
NaNa (Richard's mom, who choose NaNa)
Nanny (My mom, who goes by Granny)
bunny (sounds like kitty)

November's books

November

31 The October Country (RR) - Ray Bradbury
32 The Halloween Tree - Ray Bradbury
33 By the Shores of Silver Lake (RR) - Laura Ingalls Wilder

After my last post, I decided that while I can't reach 50 books, I can at least see how close I can get. I would like to set my new goal at 40, but that's 7 books in December. I'm thinking 38 is more realistic. I'll start over in January and see if I can do 50 next year.

In other news, I have sent a swap package off and I'm nervous. This is only my second swap and it's a lot harder than the first. I hope I did okay.

I have also lost my memory card that has all the Thanksgiving pictures. Doh! I switched it out on Saturday since I was running low on space. I have all the pictures from the Seattle trip, but nothing from Thursday.

50 books in a year, revisited

The last time I posted about my effort to read 50 books this year, I was on number 27. It was July. I am now almost done with book #31.... I don't think the math is adding up to 50 by the end of the year.

Here's August's book list:

28 Extras
29 The Shadow of the Bear
30 Black as Night

I started reading The October Country in August. As of today, I am still reading it. In October I said, I'll have a mini Ray Bradbury read-athon. Didn't happen. Maybe it's because it's a book of short stories. I just can't get into it.

My question is: Can I really read 19 books in a month and a few days? I don't think it will happen, but I'll try to up my numbers just a little. I have 2 young adult novels that shouldn't take too long and a coworker is giving me another one that should be a quick read. Maybe it's time to reread The Giver and some of the others I got in middle school.

Kitty mittens

DSC00178, originally uploaded by a-chan.

Going into Halloween week, I still hadn't figured out what to do for Sabrina's kitty paws. I'd been thinking about some black mittens with pink paw prints on the palms. So I did it. Without a pattern. I'm actually thinking about writing one up. They came out so cute! I still need to get a good picture of Sabrina in her cat costume because it was already dark when we got all the kids dressed and ready for trick or treating.

I've been having a lot of those "I can't believe I made that" moments recently. I feel like I'm tooting my own horn, but I think there's a bit of a difference between when somebody else says a FO is good and actually seeing for myself that it's good. It feels good.

I've got a couple cute sweaters I've finished recently, but again, no pictures.

I think I've figured out what to do for the older nieces and nephew, mitts! I've found a few patterns that I like. The oldest nephew (12 or 13, I forget) will get some very basic black mitts (or hobo gloves as Key calls them) out of worsted weight. Key and Tess will get some either knit or crocheted out of sock yarn. I'm so excited, but I also feel like I'm falling further and further behind. I'm working on that scarf and it's taking quite awhile (size 6 needles, really?)

2 projects, 1 needle

2 projects, 1 needle, originally uploaded by a-chan.

So I'm knitting a Cream of Spinach scarf out of Jojoland Superwash Melody and I'm less than half done, using size 6 needles. I'm also knitting another Confection Baby Shrug out of summer tweed, using size 8 needles.

Now's the fun part. I always go down 1 or 2 needle sizes for ribbing or garter st. With the summer tweed I knew I needed to go down to the 6s. However, this may be lame, but I swear that those 6s are the only ones I have. I had to decide if I should finish the scarf before I finish the shrug or if I should put the scarf on a stitch holder. If I used the holder, I might never come back to the scarf. I didn't want to finish the scarf first.

So I just left it on the needle and used it anyways. Pretty clever, no? Now I'm back to the same decision, though. I finished both arms, so now the only thing left is the main border. And it's knit in the round. I won't be able to do my neat trick. For now, I'm knitting the scarf. But I really want to finish the shrug since it's a nice fall color. Maybe this weekend I'll put the scarf on the stitch holder as long as I promise myself that I will go right back to working on it when I'm done with the ribbing (it's only 3 rows and the bind-off, shouldn't take too long).

I just really liked the picture.

Knitter's ADD

I'm been knitting. Kinda like a maniac. I knit 6 hats for Christmas presents in a week. Then I stalled out. I started a toddler sweater on a Sunday and finished it the next Sunday. I've knit 1.5 Halloween dishcloths this week. The first one still needs to be bound off, the second one I stole the needles to use for a pumpkin hat that was suppose to be for this weekends trip to the pumpkin patch (that has been called off due to being sick). I bought needles to start my Barn Raising Quilt (no timeline, just whenever I feel like making a square) and needles to knit a pair of socks (yeah, I only had size 2 dpns and I needed 0, good thing Twisted was having a sale)

And I have no pictures to verify any of this.

Oh, I know. I didn't share this:



I started knitting this for Sabrina a few weeks before she was due. I would have had it finished if she had been on time. Oh well. It sat buried in my stash for quite awhile. I found it while I was looking for something else and realized I could finish it for my cousin who is expecting. I think it is my best February Baby Sweater so far. I love how the Socks that Rock turned out after washing and blocking. (Ravelry link)

I think I may try to make one for Sabrina is a worsted weight yarn.

And here's a picture of Sabrina with her Great-Great-Aunt Lou:



This is one of those pictures that I'll cherish forever. When I saw Sabrina sitting there, I yelled "where's the camera?" and at least 3 cameras showed up (including mine). Sabrina really made Aunt Lou's day.

Cat on the Hat

Halloween is quickly approaching... kinda. Last year we bought Sabrina's costume (a penguin, I actually bought it in the clearance section when I was just 5 months pregnant, because I already knew what she would be for her first Halloween)



Last year my nieces and nephew went as characters from Peter Pan (Wendy, Peter and Princess Tiger Lily). My SIL (Erin) was a little worried about sending her 4 year old out in and old indian costume, but it worked out and nobody thought it was weird.


(I don't have a very good picture of them, but these were all homemade and or reused. This year, a better picture shoot, not as we're heading out the door for trick or treating)

The year before that, Erin and I (with help from her mom and Valeska) made the Alice in Wonderland dress:



This year, the votes have been cast. We thought it would be cute for Sabrina and Buddy to be a Leia and Luke combo. Then we changed it to Leia and Han Solo since Luke is a little wussy. But then Buddy wanted to be a goblin since his sister was going to be a witch. Sabrina's favorite animal sound is "meow" so it's purfect for her to be a black cat*. Now they all kind of match. This theme thing can be a little hard, though. Like, what does a goblin look like? I found a home made Green Goblin costume and sent the link to Erin and she's going to use that as a starting point.

But on to the cat costume! Cats are easy. I originally wanted to sew the costume, kind of a suit like footie pajamas. However, Erin pointed out I could just use black sweats. At Target Monday night I decided to look for toddler sweats (not so much luck), but I did find some black leggings ($4 boot-cut, but they'll work) and a black turtleneck onesie ($3.77**) Sweet! Her costume is already almost done. I'm knitting a cat hat using the Lil' Devil Baby Hat pattern and I'm going to wing it for the ears (found black yarn in the stash). Shouldn't be too hard. I'm to the decreases, so I should probably finish it tonight. Then I just have to figure out the paws. I think I have some black felt. I know I don't have black fabric, so I may need to buy some.

Coming from a procrastinator who usually has to spend Christmas Eve knitting furiously into the night... I think I'm doing good!

I just need to start my Christmas knitting soon (hats and mitts for all the kids, so at least 8 sets!)

*I realize Sabrina shouldn't be trick or treating in all black, but we're planning on using glow sticks and Richard wants to get her one of those flashy lights. And we might go before it gets dark, since Halloween is on a Saturday.

**Both black items were from the same brand and neither one was on sale, but why the $0.23 difference? Weird, yo!

Felted in the wash

DSC00150, originally uploaded by a-chan.

I'm having a hard time getting Richard to stop throwing hand knits in the wash. It's not completely his fault, I use to knit with more washable yarn. And the green one up there is suppose to be superwash. It shrank more than the Twisted (Blue Moon). Actually, they're both Blue Moon. The green one is Worsted Wear. Not so much superwash. The green one that isn't felted is a baby shower gift for my cousin, so I'll have to warn her not to machine wash it.

The good news: The green felted one kind of fits Sabrina's baby doll. I may try to felt it a little bit more.

The sad part, Sabrina didn't really get a chance to wear the green one, let alone have a picture of it. I put the shower one on her, but it's way too small (6 month size).

Photo shoot

I had Sabrina wear the dress to church on Sunday. The lady behind us complimented it several times. It really is pretty cute. After church, lunch and a nap, I decided to try a small photo shoot in the front yard (don't mind the ice cube tray, lol). Sabrina was not a happy camper at first, which is surprising because she loves hanging out in the front yard.

Eventually she cooperated:

And my fave one:

Sabrina loves yogurt

Toddler socks

DSC_0036, originally uploaded by a-chan.

Towards the beginning of Sock Summit, I started thinking that I should have a sock to knit. I started with some old Lion Brand Magic Stripes, but I never really liked the color combination so I stopped at the heal and grabbed some of this crazy striped Regia yarn. I bought this when I first thought I would start knitting socks. It's been in my stash for over 4 years.

So, I cast on using Judy's Magic Caston, of course. I kind of fudged the rest of the sock, making up my own short row heal. I hope I can duplicate it on the second sock. My gauge isn't really good, too loose, but I don't think Sabrina will mind. She doesn't leave socks on anyways.

I haven't touched this project since Sock Summit ended. Maybe when I'm done with the Clapotis. I'm on repeat 13 of the straight section! I'm going to do at least one more before I start the decrease section. It's so exciting, I'm ahead of schedule!

Something from the archives

DSC00136, originally uploaded by a-chan.

I knit this dress for my niece when she was about 2 (I think). The pattern is out of Family Circle Easy Knitting, Holiday 2005 (I know this, thanks to Ravelry). I've been trying to get a picture of it, but since my niece is 5, it's been in hiding. I guess it was still hanging in her closet, but in the very back, in no-mans-land. It showed up on my desk at work this morning (I work with my SIL).

She has given it to Sabrina because "it will look cute on her" but I hear she was sad about it. I'll be giving it right back to her the second Sabrina doesn't fit it anymore, since it was a present.

I'm also thinking about knitting this again in a different yarn. I can see all my mistakes and I want to fix them, I think this dress has potential (even if I am the only one who has ever knit it, per ravelry). I knit it when I was still knitting combination style since I didn't know any better so all the stitches are twisted. Maybe I'll do it in cotton next time.

Kumihimo or that circle thingy

DSC00133, originally uploaded by a-chan.

Years ago, maybe 4 or 5, I was really into anime and I frequented "pink stores" just to see if they had any cool new Japanese things. I picked this do-dad up on a whim and followed the instructions and ended up with a really cool bracelet. Then it got stored away in my craft stash.

Last night I was looking for something, I don't remember what, when I found it, complete with the instructions and the last of the yarn it came with. Curious, I picked it up and after consulting the instructions, I was on my way again.

Then I decided to do some research, to see if I could find any other patterns. While the spirally design mine came with is fun, I wanted to make a variety! I guess there's books, but the free online patterns are few and far.

I did manage to find a few, but I also saw a bunch of homemade disks. That got me thinking! I have a bunch of foam that I can cut them out of and make some for my nieces! I bet they’d love them. The youngest one (going into kindergarten this year, yikes!) is always asking me to teach her to knit (but never at convenient times). Perfect! I’ll bring them camping with some yarn and see what happens.

Clapotis and Stitch markers

DSC00129, originally uploaded by a-chan.

The stitch markers help, I swear they do. Even the little hair elastics I found were annoying. Thanks to trtlgrl for the link! I've only made about half that I need. I really need to get better pliers, though. The ones I have are clunkers, found in the tool box. I really didn't want to buy the beading pliers, but I may after next payday.

I'm really enjoying knitting this clapotis this time around. I don't know if it's just the yarn or the stitch markers.

Last night, I had a little bit of a mess I had to fix. I forgot to do one increase. I tried to just fudge it, but I ended up with a hole. I tried to put it back the way it was and there was a bigger hole. There are no pictures, but I ended up putting in an afterthought lifeline and frogging 4 whole rows. This wouldn't have happened if I'd just gone to knitting knit at Hagans.... or maybe it would have, who knows.

I think I can finish this by Sept. 1st if I do one straight section a day and all the decrease sections in one day (right... um, don't think it will really happen, but it's my goal!)

stitch markers

Paper clip stitch markers., originally uploaded by a-chan.

So, I don't really like stitch markers. Most of the time when a pattern calls for one, I just don't use them. If I absolutely need to use one, I use a loop of yarn or paper clips or a small hair elastic.*

I'm referring to this one as my first since my first try was frogged. (I so wasn't feeling it!) But here I am with the same delima I had last time. Stitch markers. The yarn loops I started with started to fray something awful and I didn't wan the white fibers knit into this gorgeous yarn. I switched to paperclips. Paperclips may work in a pinch, but it's just uncomfortable.

I guess I need to make some real ones or something. Any tips? I have some random bead and some wire and access to a soldering iron (but Richard won't trust me with it).

Help! I'm afraid I'll stop working on this project because of this.

*hair elastic... what do you call them? I've always called them hair ties... but I guess hair elastic better describes them.

Pathetic Sock Summit post

DSC_0036, originally uploaded by a-chan.

Sock Summit was great. I do wish I had planned out the baby-sitters better so I wasn't rushing all over the place dropping Sabrina off and rushing to the convention center. Or maybe I should have made Richard take the weekend off (it was suppose to be my birthday present).

I picked up my badge on Wednesday and hung out a little since I had some time to myself. It was kind of boring, not too many people.

Thursday I had to work.

I took Friday off so I could help break the world record. I took Sabrina with me in the morning, it was her first ride on MAX. She was in a very independent mood, not wanting to ride in the ergo. After one walk around the vendors room (stopping to buy my class pack), she was restless. I ended up letting her walk all over the empty halls and outside. And then she threw a tantrum; I wouldn't give her my cell phone. So I called Richard and said he needed to come and pick her up early (he was going to come and take over for the world record attempt anyways). And of course she took a good 3 hour nap for him. Oh well. At least I got a good lunch!

(How can some one so sweet throw such a big tantrum... ask the people walking by us before I gave in a nursed her)
Saturday was my class, Spindle Spinning Basics. It was good, but I kind of wish I had just taken some of the PDXknitbloggers up on their offers of getting people started. I learned a lot, but I'm still not quite understanding. I guess I'll have to bring it to OFFF and ask for help.

I also spent money on Saturday. I didn't buy any indie dyed yarns and I feel guilty. However, I was on a strict budget. I just bought some bulk stuff (will post it later). However, I have bookmarked a bunch of etsy shops with colorways I like. I'm going to wait a little while before I buy (they all seem wiped out from SS). Plus, I'll be able to buy some at OFFF.

The ravelry party was pretty cool Saturday night. I guess it's a case of "it is what you make it" because my group is too shy to go and meet people. It was cool recognizing people even if we didn't go introduce ourselves. I saw a mini-sock that I had previously seen partially finished in the forums (I'll have to look her up, I have her first and last name, so hopefully it comes up on ravelry):

Yes, that's a spider on the back... and I believe she used size 0000 needles.

Sunday was the Luminary Panel. I loved it. I did get bored during some of it, but for the most part I loved it. I wish I'd taken classes from some of those famous knitters.

Then I headed home since my mom was making dinner at my house for my brother's family. One of my favorite meals growing up: pork chops w/lawry's seasoning and stove top stuffing with broccoli. Sabrina slept for 3.5 hours for my mom, holy cow! And she loved the stove top stuffing!

Now I'm really tired. I had to work early today and I stayed up too late last night (typical).

July's finished books

July

21 The Long Winter (RR)
22 These Happy Golden Years (RR)
23 The Joys of Love (RR)
24 Uglies
25 Pretties
26 Fahrenheit 451 (RR)
27 Specials

Total: 27 Goal: 50

Okay, I think I'm done with July. I finished two books in 3 days and had a massive reading hangover. I just can't stay up late to read anymore, even to just 1:00am. I just started Interview with the Vampire, but I'm not reading it tonight (it's downstairs in my backpack, that's how serious I am about not reading tonight).

Then there's this whole knitting thing, you know, what I normally do. I normally knit on the bus/max. I don't think I knit at all this week. I wanted to finish this February Baby sweater that's been in progress for over a year. I thought I'd finish it so I could use the needles for something else. I powered through most of it, but I'm on the last sleeve and I lost my motivation for it. It might also be the weather, too hot! We finally got a window a/c hooked up in the bedroom, yay!

And have I mentioned how excited I am for Sock Summit?? I'm not sure that I have. Next weekend can't come fast enough. Right now I'm excited about the lunch buffet. And the Ravelry meet-up... and and, my class.. and.all.that.yarn!

Trying to read 50 books this year....

Here's what I got so far:

January:

1 The Time Traveler’s Wife
2 Twilight (Book 1, Twilight Series)
3 New Moon (Book 2, Twilight Series)
4 Across the Nightingale Floor (Book 1, Tales of the Otori)

February:

5 Grass for His Pillow (Book 2, Tales of the Otori)
6 Brilliance of the Moon (Book 3, Tales of the Otori)
7 Eclipse (Book 3, Twilight Series)
8 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (RR)

March:

9 Breaking Dawn (Book 4, Twilight Series)
10 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (RR)
11 The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
12 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
13 Life, the Universe and Everything

April

14 So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
15 Mostly Harmless
16 The Harsh Cry of the Heron (Book 4, Tales of the Otori)

May

17 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (RR)
18 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (RR)

June

19 Little House in the big woods (RR)
20 Little House on the Prairie (RR)

July

21 The Long Winter (RR)
22 These Happy Golden Years (RR)
23 The Joys of Love (RR)
24 Uglies
25 Pretties

Total: 25 Goal: 50

Currently reading:
Fahrenheit 451 (RR), Specials

Queue:
Wurthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Heaven’s Net is Wide (Book 5, Tales of the Otori), Altered Carbon, Little House books, Mainspring, Storm Glass

(RR) = reread

As you can probably see, most of the books are sci-fi/fantasy. Only a few are re-reads, which is surprising for me. I'm about halfway done book-wise, while I'm behind time-wise. One would think I could read more than two little kid books in one month (see May and June). I read so many books while I was pumping milk for Sabrina, I just kinda quit reading for awhile after that stopped. I wish I had been keeping track before January, I probably read over 50 books last year. It's a little different with a toddler. Eh, I'll do it, I just can't keep taking week long breaks between books.

As for battling the summer heat, we're spending a lot of time in swimsuits and playing in water

to do

to do
set up topsy turvy with tomato plant
clean kitchen
look for bamboo size 3 circular needles
upload pictures to flickr*


*my card won’t read in my Mac, I can’t upload to flickr on Richard’s computer, netbook can’t do it… now what?

I swear I'll never...

DSC00110, originally uploaded by a-chan.

Knit a scarf on anything smaller than a size 10.... Or so I told myself 5 or 6 years ago when I finally finished a scarf on 8s. It was a solid yellow scarf in Lion Brand cotton-ease for Richard. I think it took me months to knit.

Now, I default to size 8s for scarves. I've even knit one on size 5 needles (Rabbit-proof Scarf). I must have lost my mind. I went from loving 10.5s to loving 8s. What happened?

Anyways, the scarf above is Larissa's Cream of Spinach scarf. And yes, I do knit a lot of her patterns. She's local and cool, so why not? (time referance: I cast on this scarf Monday and I'm 1/4 done)

I'm using my left over 1/2 skein of Woobu in Spinel. On, yes, size 8 needles... my fave pair, Knit Picks Harmony. I'm not really sure who I'm knitting this for, but I thought I should start on my Christmas knitting now instead of waiting until it's too late. I'm also thinking about entering it in the Oregon State Fair if I finish it in time (um, I should look at the dead-lines... probably passed already?) I'm going to see who likes it the most as I knit it and then surprise them in December (my sis-in-law might have already won, though).

Swap

DSC00099, originally uploaded by a-chan.

Pardon the crappy picture, I forgot to take a good picture before I sent these away. Thank goodness for camera phones (in poorly lit offices).

Some people have already reported receiving their potholders, so I can only hope I get mine soon! I put my work address, so I won't have to wait a long bus ride to see if they've arrived.

Long lasting knitwear?

DSC_0435, originally uploaded by a-chan.

I knit this shrug when Sabrina was 6 months old in the 6 month size. As of today, she is 14 months and still wearing this little sweater. She is on the petite side, but just a little. I'm very surprised at how long she's been able to wear this.

I'm knitting another one for my cousin that's expecting and after that, I think I'll knit one the next size up (18 months) for Sabrina and we'll see how long she can wear it this time.

She's become quite the adventurous little one!

Yummy Keys!

Yummy Keys!, originally uploaded by kay_skay_790.

Picture courtesy of my cousin.

There's no reason for this entry, I just thought it was a cute picture. We ate a few Friday's ago at Pambiche. They have wonderful Cuban food! I'm so going back. Even Sabrina liked it (as well as the keys, yuck!).

I am in love!

I'm not sure if this is real love or an extreme infatuation... But I'm going to act on it. Yes, I'm going to order yarn from the internet and I am going to knit a loverly shawl with it... Yes, I will. I love the yarn so much. It's Twisted from Blue Moon Fiber Arts in the Beached colorway. I fell in love with the the little preview, not the actual skein picture.

And then there's the shawl, Shawl that Jazz. The Yarn Harlot knit it in Pucks Mischief (ravelry link). I'm smitten. It's like a triangle shawl, but no point. I'll have to buy the pattern, but I think it's worth it!

*swoon*

In other news:

My baby is 1! And she's walking! OMG! I'll have to do a proper post for that, though. But here's an obligatory picture (or 2) to keep you occupied.




(Lego phone: Can you hear me now?)