Sorry for the delay

I know I haven't updated in quite a while. I haven't done much knitting. I got another Christmas gift done (will prolly get pictures of it up later on, and a scarf. I'll have to post all the information about them later on--been pretty busy with a demanding little two year old. At least here's one picture for you. :)

I'm not afraid of the DPN anymore!!!

Yup, I finally tried double-pointed needles and made my first sock. I finished it on Saturday, but have been just too busy to post about it (this week is Vacation Bible School, so I'm working that and then working my normal job too). Tammy made me cast on the second sock (big ole meany that she is....hee hee) so I wouldn't just call it quits for now. I don't blame her one bit for having me cast on. Now if only I could find time to knit and get it finished....hee hee

I'll have to look for the pattern I used--didn't save it on my computer. The yarn I used was Feza Baby. I love the feel of it, but knitting with it was a pain--majorly split. After I get the second one done, if there is any more yarn left, I'm thinking of making a headband to go with them. :-)

My first shawl is done!!!!

Yay!! My first shawl done!!! I didn't have the right sized needles, so I used one two sizes smaller, and I think it turned out alright. It's shorter than it's suppose to be, but it wraps around the shoulders and goes halfway down my back, so I say it's pretty darn good for my first one. Took a little over two weeks to get it done, but I also took a few days off from knitting in there.

I used Lion Brand Homespun Yarn in the Montana Sky colorway. I used this pattern for it, and it was pretty easy (just a lot longer than I thought). I also needed a longer cable for my needles, so I think I'll invest in a 60" cable for when I do another one of these (thanks Tammy for loaning me your 36" or whatever length it was--hee hee). I had trouble doing the crochet edging, but it's been forever since I crocheted. I know I did it too tight, but it still looks good. Gotta wash it and figure out a way to block it a bit (or at least make it look a bit nicer), then put it in my Christmas Gifts pile. :) I might take the rest of today off from knitting and start my next project tomorrow. I just need to decide--DPN or cables?? Which do I want to tackle next? :)

Just an update

Well, the Christmas gift I finished I'm not liking too much now....it's looking way too big and wide for what I want, so I'm thinking about frogging it and starting over. Once I get together with "those knitting chicks" (as my hubby sometimes refers to them) tomorrow, I'll figure out what I can do to make it better. Who knows, you might get to see a picture of it. The intended recipient will have no idea it's for them, right?? :)

In other news, I've started knitting a shawl as a gift, but I feel like I'm getting nowhere with it. It's the Easy Triangle Shaw from Lion Brand Yarns. It just seems to go on and on and on....I'm adding width, but not much length. I'll try to get some pictures later tonight if I finish the pattern again.

Other than that, not much else happening. We're babysitting my sister's cat for a month (well, he use to be my cat), so I'm enjoying having him around the house. Luckily, he doesn't seem too interested in my yarn. :)

I'll try getting pictures posted later tonight or tomorrow--gotta find the camera first. :)

First Christmas gift done!!

Ok, no pics until after Christmas, but I just had to share that I got my first Christmas gift done tonight. It only took me 3 days (yay!!!). I should have a nice long posting the day after Christmas showing off all the gifts I made/am making this year. :)

I made myself stay up and finish this gift, so now I'm heading to bed. Goodnight!! :)

Another Reverse-Bloom Flower Washcloth

Here's another flower washcloth that I got done in just a little over a day (yay, I'm getting faster!!). I used Sensations Bellezza Collection Smania yarn in the Smania Pastel Multi color (I've used it on one other project--the yarn was like $.25 on clearance...gotta love good sales). I think this one turned out much better than the yellow one--my stitches are looser, you can't tell where I switched needles, and I don't have any mistakes (that I can remember making). :) Now I have to figure out how to block these so I can get them looking all pretty.

I'm starting to think about Christmas presents (which is a major shock, considering I don't do anything Christmas-related until after my birthday (Nov. 29), but I guess if I'm making gifts this year, I need to get a head start). I have some beautiful yarns just begging to be used, but I'm so nervous to use them. I know it's silly, but that's just the way I am. I have some beautifully soft alpaca yarn (not much of it...need to actually measure it) that is just calling my name, but no ideas of what to use it for. Plus, quite a bit of wool (and more on the way).....so much yarn, so little time left to use it this year....hee hee. :)

In other news, my apologies if my blog starts looking funny for a while. I'm tired of the template I've been using, so my wonderful hubby is messing around with it to see if he can get it more to my liking. If it looks really wonky, please send me a comment letting me know. :)

Flower, ball winder, LYS, oh my!!

I got my reverse bloom flower washcloth from Weekend Knitting done yesterday. I used the Sugar 'n Cream yarn that I dyed. This one has a few flaws in it (I know, you wouldn't know unless I pointed them out), but the needles I was using were very grabby, so I knit way too tight. You can really tell where I switched needles to magic-loop it. After I get it blocked, it should look better. :)

In other news, I got my ball winder the other day. It's so easy that even my son is able to use it! I'm so in love with it. :)

I also had a chance to visit a yarn shop that I've never been to before--Knit On across the river in Kentucky. I could have gotten myself in way too much trouble there. So many pretty yarns, so little money...hee hee. I did buy one skein of pretty yarn to try to make socks with. Socks scare me, but I'm wanting to try them....we'll see how that goes. :)

I've started another flower washcloth, and I've already gotten four of the petals done. I'll prolly get to show off the finished project tomorrow (hopefully). :)

Placemat done!!

I got one placemat done before my parents left for their month-long trip today. It wasn't what I first envisioned for it, but I do like how it turned out. I'm not making a matching one for it--going to make new ones that are red, white, and blue like I originally wanted to. I gave this one to Mom yesterday and she loved it. I guess that's the wonderful thing about Moms....they love everything their children give them. :)

I made this with the Sugar 'n Cream yarn I dyed, and the boarder is made out of Sugar 'n Cream Hot Purple (color 01317).

I've started my next project, a reverse-bloom flower washcloth from my Weekend Knitting book by Melanie Falick. I've made it only one row in, and I'm already stuck. Hopefully I'll get it figured out tonight and really get going on it (I think I have to teach myself the cable cast-on to get the desired result on the petals....should be fun). :)

Belt is done!!

I finished my belt yesterday morning, but forgot to take a picture before putting it on. Silly me forgot that the yarn was stretchy, and it ended up waaaayyyyyy too big, but that's ok. I still like it, and I think I'm going to make a purse to match it. I loved knitting with this yarn! It's Patons Mosaic in Mexican Tile. So soft and fluffy to work with.

I didn't use a pattern for this. I just CO 6 stitches and worked in garter stitch until it was the length I wanted, then did a few decrease rows where I K2tog once in each row, with a normal knit row in between the decrease rows, until I had only 3 stitches left on the needle. I BO and weaved in the ends and added the clasps. I'm going to try again with a less stretchy yarn, or maybe try making a felted belt.

Yesterday I got together with my knitting buddies again out at Panera. Nothing like good friends, good food, and good knitting on a Saturday morning. I've decided I need to start a complicated project so when people stop at our table and ask what we're making, my project doesn't look dull compared to their shorties/longies/soakers/whatever else. :)

On the needles right now I have a project for my parents, but I doubt it'll get completed before they leave for their trip out west in a WEEK. Oh well...I'll have the whole month they're gone to finish it up. Since I don't know if Mom actaully looks here, and she says she has "already forgotten" what I'm making, I won't say what it is. I will show a little piece though. I've learned a new technique--picking up stitches. This is made with the dyed yarn I made a few weeks ago. I wasn't going to have enough to finish it, so I am adding in a different yarn. The picture you see here...well, I had to frog off the purple because I missed a stitch and it looks bad, but this is what it will look like again sometime soon. :)

Niddy Noddy and Belt

Well, after dying the yarn I decided I needed to get a niddy noddy. Impatient as I can be sometimes, I didn't want to wait for one to be shipped to me, so I made one using the directions I found here. I think the whole thing cost me a whole two dollars.

In other news, I have finally started to make myself a belt. I'm hoping to have it done by this weekend. I'm using a novelty yarn (can't remember the name off the top of my head), and I am so in love with the yarn that I think I'll have to make a matching purse to go with it.

Finished Dyed Yarn

Well, here's the end result of my yarn dying experiment. I had tons of fun doing it, so I'm sure I'll try it again sometime soon. Now to figure out what I want to use this yarn for....

Yarn Unwrapped

I unwrapped the yarn this morning, rinsed it, and laid it out to dry. Then I got impatient for it to dry so I could skein it again, so into the dryer it went. Hopefully tonight I'll have pics of it in skeins to really see what it looks like. :)

I think I really like the yellow one, and we'll have to see about the other two when they are skeined. The green one I think will be cool, but the red and blue one I don't think will turn out the way I wanted it, but that'll be ok. I had tons of fun dying them. :)

Yarn burritos anyone???

Well, I got adventurous today. I had a cone of white cotton and I decided to try dying it. I went to JoAnns and got a Tulip One Step Dying Kit (on sale, YAY). I had to wait until Dalton was asleep before I could dye it, so it was already getting dark. I'm a bit afraid to see how they turned out....hee hee. I'll get to unwrap them tomorrow morning, rinse them, and hang them up to dry. Then I'll see if I can get them into a skein and shoot some pics of them. I don't know how long they'll take to dry, so this should be interesting. Oh the things I get into when hubby is out of town for the weekend....hee hee.

And just a cute picture of my little guy from tonight. This was taken close to his bedtime, and you can tell he had tons of fun all day (as messy as he got). His bath water was black by the time he came out. I love having a little boy to play in the dirt with. :)

LTK Bucket Hat DONE!! :)

Yay!! My first real project is done!!! I casted on Wednesday, and finished it today (Saturday). This is the Little Turtle Knits bucket hat. It was my first project knit in the round, and I don't think I did too bad on it. I used Peaches & Creme yarn on it in the Baby Green color. I had this color saved for another project, but decided to use it on the hat (it was the only solid color of P&C yarn I had), but then I was worried that I would have to buy more of it (only had one ball) and I could not find it anywhere! I finally did find it in like the 10th store I looked in, and I bought two more balls, only to find out I didn't need any more (oops...oh well).

I met up with Tammy out at Panera this morning to learn how to magic loop the top of the hat. Very interesting process, and very easy once you get the hang of it. It sure was easier than using double-pointed needles (which I've never been able to get the hang of). Oh the knitting doors have opened and I am being sucked in full-force. :) And I have Tammy to thank for it (such an enabler, but I'm not complaining any...hee hee).

I washed the hat today and have it blocking over a bowl...hopefully it turns out ok. It does look like it shrunk a bit, but it should still fit Dalton perfectly. I can't end this post without posting a pic of my wonderful baby. :) Isn't he just a cutie??

Off to pick out what project I want to start next. I have it narrowed down to a few, just have to make up my mind. I did get some yummy Patons Mosaic yarn today, so I think I'll make something with it (just couldn't pass it up). So many choices, only two hands to knit with...sigh...hee hee

Stitch Markers

Not the best photo, but here are the stitch markers I made today. The two on the top row have a heart and a leaf with spacers in between. The other top one is just a purple heart with a design on it, and the others are just purple stones. I'll try to get a better photo tomorrow if I think about it.

Off I go to put my son to bed. Hopefully he goes down easily so I can finish my swatch and start knitting the hat (if my gauge is correct). :)

Facecloth done, KnitPicks needles here, Bucket Hat started

I can be so horrible at remembering to update, but sometimes (well, most times) life with a two-year old can do that to you. :) Here's the facecloth I made last week and never got around to uploading. I did this on size 5 bamboo needles, which wasn't the best choice--the yarn was way too grabby for the bamboo, and I should have used size 10, according to the skein information. Oh well, it made for a very cushy facecloth. I used the Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth pattern. I used Sensations Bellezza Collection Smania yarn in the Smania Pastel Multi color (I got it on clearance for either $.25 or $.75 at JoAnns). If you have never seen the yarn before, it's a cotton yarn with a nylon netting over it. I might make a bath puff to go with this, and I'm still debating on whether or not I should thread some pretty yarn around the edge.

In other news, I ordered my KnitPicks options needle set on Saturday, and it arrived on Thursday. I am in love!! The only thing I would have liked better is if they had a 16" cord, since that's the size I need to use right now for the bucket hat I'm starting. Oh well. Maybe they'll make one soon, and I'll order it.

Tonight (hopefully) I'm starting the Bucket hat from Little Turtle Knits. I'm in the process of knitting up the swatch to check my gauge (something I've never really worried about before). I still need to make a few more stitch markers to use too, since the pattern calls for nine stitch markers. I have most of them done, and I'll post a pic of them a little later on.

That's all for now. Trying to entertain a two-year old while making dinner. Life sure is interesting around here sometimes. :)

Preemie hat #9 done, plus some other news

Well, Easter has come and gone, and I didn't get anywhere near 40 hats done. I did not have much time this past month to do any knitting, and I just finished hat number nine on Saturday. Same yarn and everything as the last one. I'm going to keep trucking (or knitting) on until I get all forty done.

I got to hang out with some fellow knitters on Saturday (Lara and Tammy--two wonderful women I met through the DiaperPin forums). Tammy let me play with her KnitPicks and Denise knitting sets, and I'm happy to say she sold me on the KnitPicks one. I ordered them Saturday night and am waiting anxiously for them to arrive. Check out their site for more information. They seem to have some awesome yarns and some neat patterns too.

I also made some more stitch markers for Tammy as a belated birthday present, but I forgot to take a pic before giving them to her (oh well). I found some wire that bends much better, and they were a breeze to make. My sis and I went shopping for beads last week and had a blast--I really think beading can become a big addiction for me.

I also got a facecloth done last night, but I'll have to post about it tomorrow. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. :)

I made my own stitch markers!

I decided I was going to try my hand at making some stitch markers. I don't think these turned out too bad for my first attempt. I'm going to try getting some more bendable wire (the stuff I used was very rigid), and maybe try making the loop myself. I think I have found a new obsession with beads. There are so many pretty ones out there!!

I also was able to find some bamboo knitting needles in the size I need for the hats, so that made me pretty happy. I've actually gotten quite use to using the metal ones, so it feels odd knitting on bamboo again. I just switched to the bamboo ones for the hat I just started. I got hat number eight done, and I'll get a picture and specs posted a bit later. I don't think I'll get all 40 hats done, but when the idea was first brought up, I said I'd prolly be able to get 20 done, and I think I'm on target to get those done. I'm still too slow of a knitter to get a hat done a night--no way I can devote three hours a night (do I even have that long each night??) to knitting a hat.

Hopefully I can get two hats out today--we'll see how that goes. If it stays rainy all day I might be able to get it done. :-)

#7 done

Well, I got preemie hat #7 done. I've gotten a bit caught up from taking the week off. It was done using the same color/pattern as the ones before, except I took off two rows of the stockinette stitches to see what it looked like. I'm going to start using another color tonight for number eight, so expect a picture tomorrow sometime. :)

Preemie hat #6...what a difference being looser can make....

looser....is that even a word?? hee hee more loose?

Anyways....I completed hat #6 tonight and tried not to be so tight with the stitches....I think the difference is very noticeable. It definitely has much more give to it, but now I think it's more newborn-sized than preemie sized. Too bad I don't have a newborn around that I can test it out on. :) Same pattern as the others, and the same yarn as hat number five. I even knitted the cast-on tail into the first row. I sure hope I did it right. :) I'm too tired now to start number seven, but I'm very glad I was able to finish two hats today (well, 1.5 hats since the first one had already been started).

#5 done...plus a fun knitting morning

Well, here's hat number five. 35 more to go. I took most of this week off from knitting, due to some work problems, but now I'm back in the game. :) This hat was done using Caron Simply Soft Brites! (I have fallen in love with the softness of this yarn--didn't think acrylic could be that soft!!!!) in Berry Blue (2609). We'll see if I can catch up and get all 40 hats done by Easter.

This morning was a fun knitting morning for me. I met another knitting momma out at Panera and we spent a little over an hour chatting and knitting (and eating--LOVE the food there!!). I learned that I am casting on and knitting way too tight, so hopefully I can correct that and it'll help me speed up my knitting a bit. She also showed me how to knit continental (at least I hope that was the right way--the one where you don't "throw" the yarn), so I'm going to start practicing with that. Plus, loaned me some circular needles so I can work on a hat for Dalton, and we'll see how I do with that. All I can say is she is awesome!! :) We're going to start making this a monthly (or so) get-together.

#4 done, 36 left to go :)

Got preemie hat #4 done. Same yarn, same look as number three, so no picture of it this time. I'm starting on #5 tonight, and trying it with a new yarn. Hopefully I'll be updating with a picture of the finished hat tomorrow. So far I'm on track, getting one done about every day. I have a total of 47 days to get the 40 hats done, so that will be nice. We'll see if I can keep up at this pace the whole time. :)

It is nice to be knitting again. It looks like I might be meeting up with a fellow knitter on Saturday, and I'll start learning how to knit in the round. I guess sooner or later I'll have to learn how to knit on double-pointed needles too....and take up crocheting again......wow, looks like I might be busy....hee hee

Preemie hat #3

Ok, preemie hat #3 is done!!!! I used the same pattern as above, but I took out 10 of the middle rows (K one row, P one row ones) so the brim doesn't have to be folded up (and it cut off some time). I used Caron Wintuk yarn again for it, baby rainbow ombre (#3527). The next few hats I'll be making will be made with this yarn, so I'll prolly just update when I get through a few more, unless I go yarn shopping this weekend. :)

Have a wonderful weekend if I don't update sooner!

Woo Hoo!! Back into knitting I go!!!

Well, I've started knitting again. One of the wonderful mommas on DiaperPin decided to make 40 preemie hats in 40 days for lent. I thought it was a good idea (along with some other mommas), so we are all doing them. Here's my first two hats. They're taking me quite a while to get done, but I haven't knitted really in about 3 months. I used the second pattern listed here. I'm using Caron Wintuk yarn, color Summer Breeze Ombre (#3618). 2 hats down, 38 to go...hee hee

Sorry for the long hiatus....update

Well, I know I've been gone for quite a few months now. We are finally moved and settled in down in Cincinnati, Ohio. I haven't done much knitting these past few months, but hoping to pick back up on it here soon. I'll update again soon. :)