Knitting Monday - It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Sunday marked the first time I was able to knit outside on the swing this year. I worked on the second sock for my sister. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year - for me anyway - and I can hardly wait to spend some more time outside. I plan on putting the playpen up on the patio for the baby until the ground gets drier. Right now he is content to sit in the stroller and watch and play but he likes to move around.

And after countless hours of knitting and knitting while nursing...

... I finished the body of the blanket for the baby Saturday night while watching a movie. I started the first edge border on Sunday and put it down on the floor this morning to take a picture and the baby crawled right over to it. I think he likes it.

He's pretty fast...

...but I finally got a picture of it without him on it. Although the blanket is no longer straightened out. Oh well. Hopefully by next Monday both side borders will be done, ends will be sewn in and it will be washed and being enjoyed by the little guy. Hopefully the stomach bug that infected our house the past week and a half stays away so we can enjoy the nice weather.

A tale of two hats or way too many pictures of my baby

Last Friday, my friend gifted our little guy 2 hats. Although she bought the biggest size available they were a little small so this weekend I attempted to make them bigger. Here he is in the bear hat before I altered it.

And a bunny hat that he didn't like to wear.

Finally able to get a picture of it. You can see that it barely covers the tip of his ear.

Friday night and Saturday morning I knitted an extra border on. First bind off was too tight so I had to frog it and bind off again.

Still able to get it off very quickly.

I decided to crochet a border onto the bear hat and was more successful. Here he is happily wearing it when we took his older brother to school Monday morning.

He kept it on for a while and I was able to snap a few more pictures. Side view showing his ear covered. The hat is light so it should be good for spring. I used sock weight yarn for the border to help keep it light.

Front view.

Back, keeping his little neck warm.

I frogged the knitted border on the bunny hat and crocheted one instead. He still doesn't like it.

I had to hold one of his hands to get this picture.

Side view - still holding onto his hand.

Let go and he's back to trying to get the hat off.

Success!

Here are the hats the used up all my free time this weekend. Now onto to something else.

Knitting Monday - A Christmas Gift

I did it! I finally finished the Christmas present for my daughter. Almost 3 months late but very much appreciated. She wore it for a day before it even had buttons. Here it is before buttons.

With buttons and on its very happy owner.

Glad that is warming up that she can wear just the cardigan outside for short amounts of time. 

Love the buttons that we picked out.

Back view. This was a quick knit, other than the first sleeve which seemed to take forever. If I ever made this cardigan again I wouldn't use multi-coloured yarn as I had to alternate between two balls of yarn for the sleeves to try and prevent huge stripes of one colour. Great pattern though. I downloaded this pattern when Jane Richmond offered the one size for free. I knew it wouldn't fit me but hoped to alter it. She has since added more sizes and you can buy the pattern here.

So, with one major project done, I got the yarn and patterns ready for some new projects but knew there were some other things I should finish first. I was good and didn't cast anything on but got out...

… this blanket I started for the baby when I was pregnant. The Little Guy is now over 10 months old. Guess I need to finish it up. I was able to get two rows knitted this weekend.

Don't worry Sarah, I'm still working on your socks, too. When the blanket and socks are done I'm going to cast on lots of new projects. Seriously.

Knitting Tuesday

I got a lot of knitting time in this weekend as we went on a little road trip. I made some progress and finished a couple projects.

Friday afternoon I looked at the second sock for my sister and noticed it seemed small. I realized I had cast on 28 stitches instead of 32 for the toe, leaving me with 56 instead of 64 in all. When I measured this sock it was 1 inch thinner than the first sock so I had to frog it. Bye bye second sock.

I restarted the second sock on Saturday while we were driving. I was proud that I remembered how to start a toe-up sock without needing directions. 

I crocheted this little gnome for my mom whose birthday is tomorrow. We decided to hand deliver our gifts this year - the reason for our trip.

Here it is with her Gnome which travels with her and my dad. I thought he needed a buddy.

I made really good progress on my daughter's cardigan. I finished the second sleeve and the button band. Buttonhole band and collar left.

This is what I did Monday when we drove home. My daughter is going to a birthday party this Saturday. The birthday girl comes to our house everyday after school until her mom is done work so I wanted to make her a little something, even though she had asked for donations to charity instead of gifts. It's the Butterfly Hat and is a free pattern on ravelry.

I tried it on and really liked it. I thought about keeping it but think I will just make one for myself instead.

Writing Wednesday

Here it is. Another Writing Wednesday. It's been a slow couple weeks. I have plenty of excuses for not having much work done on editing "Lucy", like the Olympics and a baby that is always on the move but those are just covering up the truth. And the truth is I have no idea how to edit a novel. I could keep reading books and articles about it or I could just do it. A couple times I've committed to starting and then struggled with where to start. What needs to be done? How will I keep track of the changes? What if I delete something and regret it later? It will be a steep learning curve but I need to start.

Monday night I came up with a plan. I started writing down, point form, what happens in each chapter and what else I think needs to happen in it. More dialogue, more action, etc… and hoping this will help guide me when I sit down to do the actual editing. We'll see.

The picture above? It's the birthday card from my parents to my husband last month. It's so easy to make resolutions around New Year's, your birthday or at the beginning of every month but the card reminded me that each day gives me the opportunity to start fresh. So, I spent a couple weeks sitting on my butt watching Olympics and knitting - who cares. Today I can recommit to my goals and if I falter along the way… I just get up the next day and try again.

Knitting Monday - the Cowl and Sock Edition

Finally have some finishes to show off today.

Finished the first sock for my sister. They are toe-up and I could have made them longer but felt like this was a good height.

Still need some work on toe-up heels but getting better.

Baby looked them over and approved.

I also finished 2 cowls. I had shown a picture of some green yarn that I was using to make a Swift hat as part of the Journey KAL. I really wanted to use this purple but didn't have enough and it was a heavier yarn. I probably could have made it into a hat with some modifications but I ditched the green yarn and cast on a cowl instead. The yarn felted a bit more than I expected during blocking but I still like it.

I wore it today when I went to pick the kids up from school. Kept my neck and chin nice and warm. The baby was very curious about what I was wearing.

I was able to do 2 pattern repeats of the lace. I had to do a crochet bind-off as I ran out of yarn but you can't really tell that the borders aren't exactly the same. You can find the Swift pattern here.

I kind of blocked the Zuzu's petals cowl I finished a couple weeks ago. Yarn really stretched after soaking and I don't really have a safe place to block anything with a baby crawling around. I had this pinned on a towel on top of the washer. It could definitely use a better blocking some day to really bring out the pattern and points. Still love it though.

It's nice and long in the front.

Short in the back so it isn't uncomfortable with a coat.

Folded in half. Such a neat shape. You can find the pattern here.

I also love that all three of these are made with yarn from my stash. Maybe I should buy some yarn to reward myself?