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).