Baby February Sweater

Happy Halloween week! I can't wait to dress up Amelia in her lady bug outfit later this week. She will be the cutest lady bug in town.

Until then - I finally finished knitting her a sweater I started in July! My knitting time is definitely not what it used to be! I guess having a baby will do that!

Here she is in her Baby February Sweater:



And I was so surprised to see my other "baby" - Hurley jump up to sit next to her. He rarely allows us to put him next to the baby so this is a special picture!



It was a fun sweater to knit - I will definitely make this again if I ever find the time! hehe



Stats:

Pattern: Baby February Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Yarn: Classic Elite Four Seasons
Alternations: none - except I forgot to add buttonholes!

I can't wait to start my next knitting - I am getting the itch to knit a colorwork sweater, but at the rate I'm finishing projects it will be next year before it's done!

I've been busy!

It's been a long time! But I'm back to say hello and give you a little update on me.

Since I've last posted I've had some major changes in my life! I got married and had a little girl! 2011 has so far been the most wonderful year for me - I am very blessed.

My little girl arrived early and was a petite little thing! She is growing up so fast! I can't believe how quickly she is changing.



I've been knitting a bit, but not nearly as much as I'd like to. I made her a little hat to wear home from the hospital.



It's made from handspun dyed by Cloverhill.

I will try to post more often and hopefully even have something I made to show you!
Thanks for all the kind words from those who wrote to me saying they missed my blog!!

Garter Love!

I just finished a new shawl!

It's the Multnomah shawl:



Stats:
Pattern: Multnomah by Kate Flagg
Yarn: fingering weight Louet base dyed by Sarah and I!
Needles: Size US 6
Mods: none

This is a awesome mindless knit - especially the garter stitch part because there's absolutely no purling! You don't really have to look at what you're doing until you reach the feather and fan section.






This was such a quick and easy knit - I may have to knit another one!

Handspun makes it better

Long overdo knitting update! I haven't been knitting much but I have finished a few things lately. I think almost everything I've been knitting lately has been with handspun. Will I ever be able to knit with regular yarn again!?


Most recently I knit this hat:



Stats:
Pattern: Wurm by katushika
Yarn: Handspun dyed by Woolgatherings
Needles: Size 4 and 6 US
Mods: Knit 2 purl rows and 7 knit rows instead of 5 and 4 and only knit 6 repeats.


I also finished this shawl:




Stats:
Pattern: Annis by Suzanna IC
Yarn: My hand-dyed handspun yarn
Needles: Size 9 and 10 US
Mods: none

Earlier this year I knit these socks:






Stats:
Pattern: Plain socks
Yarn: Fat Cat hand spun
Needles: Size 2 US


The one non hand spun item I finished are these Trekking socks:




Stats:
Pattern: plain socks
Yarn: Trekking
Needles: Size 2 US


I'm thinking about designing a shawl for this contest. I guess I have to get spinning in order to be ready in time!

Simon's 1st birthday

My nephew Simon turned 1 year old on Saturday! I can't believe how time flies! I knit him a birthday vest:



Stats:
Pattern: Merino 5 Baby - Toddler Vest by Crystal Palace Yarns
Yarn: Interlacements Dyers Choice - worsted weight
Needles: size 8
Mods: I only did 5 rows of ribbing on the neck and arms instead of 10.

I like the buttons on the shoulder for easy on/off on a wiggly toddler too!



I ended up buying a complete outfit with a second vest - so I could put my vest on the outfit instead. I think it looks cute!





Simon had a fun birthday party too - here is eating his birthday cake.



Happy birthday Simon!

Olympic knitting done!

I finally finished knitting my Olympic sweater! I wove in the ends on Saturday and didn't get a chance to take pictures until today. i love how it came out.

There's nothing like a handspun sweater!



Stats:
Pattern: Sweetgum Duncan by Meghan McFarlane
Yarn: My own Handspun from the following dyers:
-Pigeonroof Studios
-Dragonfly fibers
-Wool Gatherings
-Fat Cat
-Yarn Wench
-Hello Yarn
-Rhinebeck Mystery fiber
Needles: Size 9 US
Mods: I didn't knit the bottom ribbing the same way - instead I did about 4 inches




I especially love the neck of this sweater...



It was so much fun knitting with my own handspun and blending the colors. I'm thrilled with how it came out and can't wait to spin more!!!

Olympic knitting update!

I'm keeping up with my Olympics knitting so far! I'm so close to being done with the body. Out of 7 different handspun skeins I'm on number 6! I really hope I have enough - I don't want to have to spin more. I think I'll just make it!

Here it is so far:




In other knitting news - I participated in a sock swap on Sarah's blog. I got mine from Michelle and they are so great! She sent a sweet package of goodies too:



I was knitting for Jake - and here are the awesome socks I made for him:


Pattern: Guitar Man socks by Rebecca Mercier
Yarn: Happy Feet
Needles: Size 2US
Mods: I only did 5 repeats instead of 8 - because man these would have been huge!


It was also time for the doggies to get their haircuts! I love freshly cut doggies - and they are so exhausted after they get back from their haircuts they sleep the rest of the day! They both look kind of annoyed here because I woke them up to take their pictures!

As You Wish!

So last night I went to my friend Jolene's shop (Cloverhill) for an Olympic knitting party! All was planned out - someone brought a TV and we planned to watch the Opening Ceremonies over the internet via steaming video. We all brought our yarn and needles and were posed to cast on as soon as the Opening Ceremonies began.

Right before it was supposed to start, the video feed crashes and there's nothing! The computer types tried for a while to get it back or to find another site that was streaming it to no avail. I even tried going online on a different computer to find one but there were none that weren't either shady or required money. Sigh...

So - instead of sitting and knitting with nothing to watch on our lovely TV/computer setup - I logged into my Netflix account and started looking for a movie to watch. I was hoping to find an Olympic themed movie like Cool Runnings or The Cutting Edge... but alas they were not available over the web. I just started reading off the names of the movies that were available and finally hit on an all around fav...

The Princess Bride.

Who doesn't love a good love story! So with the princess on the tele and knitting in our laps we all cast on for our projects.

I am knitting Sweetgum Duncan - a top down yoked sweater. It was actually a last minute decision! I had my math all figured out for a top down raglan, but then the more I thought about it - the more I wanted a yoke instead of a raglan - round vs square. Ravelry saved the day and after a quick search - I found just what I was looking for.

I cast on with my handspun and have been knitting on it ever since. Here's how it looked earlier today:



I have several different skeins that I plan to use for this sweater.



So far I've finished one and started the second. I hope I can keep up my pace! What are you knitting for the Olympics - anything?

Knitting in the snow

It snowed again yesterday and it snowed ALL DAY! I woke up to find a gentle dusting and it just kept going and going like the energizer bunny!

Luckily it was a dry snow and easy to shovel! We woke up this morning to find it melting and forming icicles on my bay window.



Just look at that blue sky today!


Hurley, as usual, thinks the entire outside has turned into his own personal snow cone and just eats and walks all around.



Bailey doesn't eat the snow - he actually tries to stay on the shoveled areas!



Since I was snowed in - I decided it was a perfect time to cast on for a new project! I grabbed some Handmaiden Sea Silk and cast on for Kernel from Knitty.



This is the first time I've ever put beads in my knitting and I have to say it's pretty cool! I may have to do this more often :)


This picture of my knitting is the last picure for January in my Project 365. I finished a complete month!!



I'm both excited and surprised that I was able to keep it up. I'm posting pictures on flickr and on this cool site called 365Project.

Garter Yoke Photoshoot

Finished since November! I finally got around to blocking this sweater and having a photoshoot.




Pattern: #22 Garter Yoke Cardigan from Knit 1 Winter 2008
Yarn: my own handspun - top portion is Dragonfly fibers and bottom is from Serendipity Farms.
Needles: Size 9
Alterations: I made the yoke much more rounded than the pattern called for - I cast on fewer stitches and increased evenly around the yoke to create a round neck instead of a square neck.







I had quite a hard time finding the right buttons for this cardigan. I had an idea in my head of what I wanted - or what I thought I wanted. I was looking for a natural wood button. But when I got to Joann's (the only place I know that has a wide variety of buttons!) I was so dissapointed! Most of the buttons I liked only had around 4 available. I needed 9! I kept on looking around and happened on these amazing leather buttons. I held my breath as I counted how many there were - Yes!! There were just enough. I love their deep brown color against the yoke.




I love my first handspun sweater and will hopefully have another one after my Olympic knitting!

A rose by any other name....

I knit a scarf for my friend Tara because she is awesome and gave me 4 skeins of Araucania Limari "just because" she saw it and thought of me :)



Pattern: Just Enough Ruffles by Laura Chau
Yarn: Araucania Limari
Needles: Size 11
Mods: I only cast on 150 stitches since I'm using a bulkier yarn than called for, I did 14 wraps, and knit half as many plain rows after increase.

I love how you can wear this as you would any scarf OR wrap it around a few more times and it's a lovely neckwarmer.



But perhaps my favorite way to show it off is all curled up like a rose:



I gave it to Tara last night at dinner and she didn't even want to uncurl it! She said she loved her rose! I had to force to her uncurl it and try it on. hehe

I took these pics using my new remote for my camera! I'm so excited that I can take pics of my finished objects now without having to ask anyone for help!

Mittens mittens mittens!

I am so in love with these mittens! I was inspired to knit a pair after seeing these gorgeous mitts that were knit with handspun. I thought to myself - I have tons of handspun and I never seem to know what to make with just a single skein. Here is my solution!



Pattern: Classic Mittens - a simple free vintage knitting pattern on Ravelry here and online here
Yarn: Handspun dyed by Hello Yarn in the Turkey Attack colorway.
Needles: Size 8 DPNs
Mods: I just used the pattern as a guide and adjusted the fit as needed. That's the beauty of mittens - you can try them on as you go!

Here's the yarn before knitting it up:



Love these colors - they will go with my entire wardrobe.

I actually knit these in about 5 hours total - I just couldn't put them down!

Handspun sweater and 400 posts!

This is my 400th post! Who knew that I when I started this blog back in 2005 that I would still be blogging.... about knitting! I certainly didn't.

But here I am knitting and now spinning too! Thanks everyone for reading and sticking with me all these years.

Speaking of spinning - I started a handspun sweater on the road trip to Rhinebeck. I had lots of great knitting time in the car on the way. Thanks for driving Sarah! I got a TON done and used up all the yarn I had with me for this sweater.



I'm losely basing the sweater on the #22 Garter Yoke Cardigan from Knit1. I say losely because I've changed the yoke to be more rounded instead of boat necked.

The top is knit with handspun dyed by the fabulous Dragonfly fibers.




And the bottom is roving from Seredipity Farms.




I actually got it at MD sheep and wool TWO years ago. I started spinning it two years ago when I was still a very novice spinner. Then I promptly put it aside and forgot about it for two years. I only had about 400 yards spun up and when I used up that yarn - I of course went to spin some more. I finished another 150 yards and starting knitting... BUT it wasn't the same gauge! Not even close.

My spinning has improved and I can't quite channel my inner "beginner spinner" to produce the thick and thin'ish yarn that I originally made. I'm on my third "sample" skein and I think I'm getting closer....

Wish me luck!

Casting on!

I think there must be something about that first hint of Fall in the air. I have an indescribable urge to cast on for new knitting! My queue on Ravelry has grown this week as I gaze at hats, and cardigans that I just have to cast on RIGHT NOW!!!

I finally decided on the Garter Yoke Cardigan from knit 1 Fall 08.



It gives me a chance to use my handspun too!

The turquoise is Dragonfly Fibers Handspun and the brown I got at MD Sheep and Wool Festival two years ago from Serendipity Farms.





I only have two balls of the brown right now so I need to spin some more! I just love the brown and turquoise combo!

Can't wait to cast on!