Milo, 198 Yards Of Heaven, A Knights Costume & Baby Booties

I'm still knitting like crazy.  During all my "spare" time.  (I say spare very lightly because as any busy parent knows, there really isn't any spare time.  I sneak knitting time when the boys are happily playing in the yard, or in the evenings when all the kids are finally down for the night, or when I'm in a waiting room or on a car ride.) Anyways, I've started much but only finished a few simple things. All links go to my Ravelry page in case you want yarn, pattern, and size specifics.

First is a Milo.  I'm actually making two.  One for each boy, but I've only started on Cael's.  He's 4 now, but I cast on the size 3 as that is what he is measuring out to be.  I'm going with a grey theme for both. Cael's will be dark grey on top with grey and a multi grey stripping all the way down. And, instead of doing a cable I'm going to do a half linen stitch.  I think it'll blend the sold and multi really nicely and just give good texture.  For Liam's I'll either do a dark or light grey top and I'm going to incorporate some teal multi in there somewhere.  Most likely a stripe.  And, his will have the half linen stitch as well.  He will be an 18m or so.  He's a big guy!

198 Yards of Heaven.  And, it certainly was!  Right now it looks like something a toddler would wear.  It's soooo tiny.  I added extra to the lace edge.  I still have a wee bit of yarn left to use on a trim on matching fingerless gloves.  I'm going to block excessively and hope for a nice size to just wrap around my neck.  The yarn is sinful.  I've had it for over a year and I was just waiting for the right project.  The colors match my new coat perfectly so it was a pattern/yarn/garment match made in heaven.

I've cast on another for my MIL for Christmas.  I think she will love this as she wears lots of scarfs and things.  I'm going to do an extra repeat of the first lace pattern and extra to the bottom lace as well.  I know I'll need more yarn, so I'm thinking a purple to match as the bottom lace.

A Knights Costume.  This is for Cael for Christmas.  It's a "chainmaille" tunic and hood.  It looks a bit big and stretches like crazy.  But, I think it'll work and goodness knows kids grow fast.  We will get him a wooden shield and paint it blue. (probably from etsy) And I'll make him a sheath to hold his wooden sword that he has.

Baby Booties for the Babe.  He is getting so big. Fall is definitely here and he needs some warm booties.  I tried this pattern and altered it to use worsted yarn.  I was off in my calculations (shocker there!) and it's not going to fit him until next winter.  So, I'll finish the other one and cast on again in the smaller size for a fit that should be good now.

I have so many knitty plans for the next months.  I'm bursting with ideas and excited to have so many things already done for the holidays.

*On a stash note: I'm not sure if I ever posted here that I wanted to use mostly stash this year.  It was kinda a new years resolution.  All my knitting has certainly waned my collection of yarn.  I'll need to look at exact pounds used.  But, I do know this.  I'm down 1.5 drawers and at least 1/2 of a large rubbermaid tote.  That is crazy!

Just Catching Up

Summer is in full swing here in our house.  July and August are always crazy months around here.  The garden is doing awesome.  We are eating fresh veggies out of it every day.  I'll do a post on that another time.  The kids have been busy visiting family and hanging out with friends.  Alaina started marching band at the high school. (it still boggles my mind that she's starting high school....) So, she's gone Monday through Friday during the days until school starts.  Rachel has been reading like crazy and crafting.  Cael has been bug hunting and playing with the neighbors. Liam has been crawling, babbling, and just generally being very very curious.  And, he has his first tooth!  Curtis just started a new job. Yeah!  And, me... well.... I've been just trying to keep up with everyone else.  I've been canning summer goods, running kids around, holding a teething baby, looking for bugs, doing house chores and knitting every chance I get.

That's what I really want to post about today.  The knitting!!! I've finished more socks and some other goodies.  I'm knitting dish clothes and matching dishtowels for Christmas gifts.  I finished a pair of socks, two bandana cowls, a fat robin and nest toy, three star child mini dolls, and started some more things.

 Bandana Cowl For Aunt Megan.

 Bandana Cowl For Aunt Shannon.

 Bellatrix Socks

 I Beleaf Socks (I call them Falling Leaves Socks)

 Fat Robin And Nest

Some of the dishcloths.

I have to take photos of everything else still.  More to come soon!

A Cross Stitch And A Doll

I'm working on a few things.  I'm finishing up my Bellatrix socks. (yeah!) I'm halfway down the foot of the second sock.  I'm hoping to have them finished in a day or two.

I'm working on a new color wheel cross stitch piece.  This will go on my art room wall.  I used only colors that I had on hand.  Some aren't quiet right, but so far they are looking ok. 

I also redid a reborn that I've had a long time.  (do you remember when I did that? hehe)  This little babe I kept for myself when I decided to stop making reborns.  I always loved this sculpt by Berenguer.  The body that I put on the poor thing was waaaay to big.  Rachel found the doll last week while I was searching for some garage sale stuff.  I also found premade bodies from years ago.  This white one was perfect.  You can see how much of a difference it made.  The doll is super cute and well proportioned now.  She has been carrying it around all week.

A Finished Object!

Looking through my knitting pile (trying to find some knitting mojo) I decided it was finally time to finish one of the 6 pairs of unfinished socks.  I picked up the oldest.  My first official non-vanilla socks.  Why I chose such a hard pattern is beyond me.  It's no wonder the thing took 7 years to finish!  I had the second sock done just past the heal.  So I picked it up, fixed some mistakes over the course of a few rows and finished the foot.  And, the next morning I finished the toe!  Ravelry Link. Now just 5 more pairs to finish!

These I'm proud of and I don't think I have posted anything about these.  These are my first hand dyed, hand spun, hand knit socks.  I love them.  I knit them tight so they would last.  They are thick and warm and I got to wear them a lot this last winter.  (hence the slight fuzzyness)  Ravelry Link.

Applewood Nanook

I started my first ever sweater for me. I just love this sweater pattern and I'm really enjoying knitting it. I'm planning short sleeves with maybe using a slightly altered version of the neck lace pattern as a hem. I've tried it on and its fitting perfectly.

However...my yarn isn't matching. I'm using Malabrigo Worsted in Applewood. I found it on Etsy years ago at a steal of a price from someone claiming to have started a sweater and ran out of yarn. Not wanting to buy more she had frogged it and sold it. It never occurred to me that the dye lots could be different. They are. I started with gorgeous variegated Applewood and 3" into my 3rd ball I noticed that the new skein was much more pink with very little variation. I checked out my other cakes of yarn and saw that all but one more cake is this color. Sigh...... Fortunately it will look like I planned for the yolk to be one dye lot and the rest to be the other. I'll use the one other lighter skein for the arm hems.

Update:  The above was written and saved as a draft a while ago.  I'm finished now and I do love the sweater.  After blocking it's a bit big.  Not much, but next time I'll make the next size down.  And, I will make another.  With long sleeves and probably in a grey or navy.  I've worn it numerous times and it's warm and fluffy.  I like it better worn open as the neck just seems to long or something.  When closed with a shawl pin I think the neck looks funny.  I've tried it with it pinned under the bust and that is a bust too.  In a smaller size I think it would look awesome pinned at the neckline though.

Overall impressions of the pattern?  Very well written, but you do need to really read over the charts and such to understand everything.  It's written differently than I'm used to in a pattern, but once I figured it out it went very smoothly.  I highly suggest you try this one out if you like the design.  It's a beauty!

Thank you Alaina for taking these pictures for me.  You are truly a budding photographer!

 

More Knitting!

 More knitting has been going on. Though I think that with the nicer weather it will slow down some.  The yard is beckoning me!  First up is a new sweater for sweet Liam.  He has outgrown almost all his knits and needed a new sweater.  I chose the Gift Wrap Sweater as I loved his Gift Wrap Romper sooo much.  I used some stash Cascade wool/acrylic yarn.  It's darling. He's darling... yeah... so cute!  I found the buttons at Joannes.  That little tractor was kinda pricey for me but I bought it anyways.  It just matched so well.  It's a 9 month size with some room to grow.  I'll be knitting a 12m one with short sleeves for summer.

 

Next up is the Gaptastic Cowl and Braided Beanie.  I'm not sure who will be receiving this set. But, I love it. I used some stash Knit Picks Brava Bulky in... I think Grape.  I had 3 skeins and I used them all on these.  The cowl is wrapped twice around my neck here.  Lots and lots of seed stitch, but sooo worth it.  The hat is awesome because it's got a braided rim and then more seed stitch up the body.  Love it.

 Last I've got a new lovey for Liam.  More stash yarn here.  This one was a cotton boucle of some kind.  Only one skein so I had to alter the pattern some.  I added the ring to the bottom which he just loves.  This little guy will be a chewer I think.  He loves to put fabric in his mouth!

On my needles is a crochet seashell for my folks using some handspun cotton, two pairs of new socks, and some drapey cowls using funky novelty yarn.

So Much Baby Knitting!!!

Whew.... It's been a crazy house around here since my last post.  I finally have a moment to sit down and blog!  A quick catch up:  The house is mostly packed, has been on the market and is now pending.  We've gone on a road trip to Spokane and picked out our favorite parts of town.  We are now looking for rentals and should be moved within the next 4 weeks.  The kids have been home and busy helping with all fun things that happen during the summer.  Hanging with friends, packing, swimming, going to the beach to see grandparents etc.  During my "down time" I've been knitting like crazy.  It's portable, and I can sit and knit and then stop easily without leaving any mess.  Plus... most of my sewing stuff and all of my spinning stuff has been packed. 

  So below is what's finished or almost finished.  (I did make some matching booties for the handspun longies, but I haven't taken a pic of those yet.) Right now I have a 1/2 circle blanket and a newborn umbilical hat on the needles.  Pics of those later.  I've posted the names of the pattern plus the link to my Ravelry page in case you want more info on yarns and size.

 

01 - Gift Wrap Romper

02 - Jungle Gym Overalls

03 - Handspun Butt Knits Longies

04 - Evie Pants

05 - Milo Vest

06 - Newborn Pebble

07 - Newborn Puerperium Cardigan

08 - Shadow Stripes Hat

 

 09 - Newborn Vertebrea

10 - Stay On Baby Booties

11 - Gift Wrap Bonnet

12 - Stay On Baby Booties Worsted - sorry no rav page for these.

This last week I made some time to start sewing my newborn/small diaper stash.  There are 6 more pockets on my table now waiting for velcro.  I'll do a full post on these later.

Past 6 Months Of Knitting

I've done a ton of knitting over the past 6 months or so.  I did a lot for Christmas and some just because.  Click on the links under each project to be taken to my Ralvery page with more details.

First up is my darling daughter in her matching 3 piece set.  The little sweater was made with the Juliet pattern.  Super cute pattern and very fast and easy knit.  She'll be able to wear this one for a while.  The gloves are Constellation gloves that I altered to fit her and the hat is a Kittyville hat.  She loves all the pieces and has worn them a lot.  The gloves and hat were Christmas gifts.  Also... the yarn was found in a rummage sale by my mom.  $5.00 for 10 skeins of yarn!!!!  I still have 4 skeins left I think.

This beauty is called the Rainbow Casu Cowl.  I loved this pattern and the yarn was great to work with.  It knit up fast and is soft and squooshy!

 The Meret Beret was new to me.  I don't usually knit beret's.  Next time I'll knit the band on much smaller needles as it's a bit big.  I need to use some bobby pins to get it to stay on nice.  But, the yarn is soft and I've worn it a few times.

 Jane.... The man they call Jane.... Come on... you know you want to sing it out loud!  This little cutie was a Christmas gift to my Firefly loving sister in law.  She loved it.  Wanted to wear it as a hat... hehe.  I was actually planning on making it a hat, but I just didn't have enough yarn.  She loves tea so this is perfect for her.  I almost kept it for me I loved it so much!

 Fingerless gloves for my mom.  Finally!  She's wanted a pair forever, but I've never found the right yarn as she is alergic to wool.  When I saw this yarn, I knew it had to be gloves for her.  I made them long in the fingers so she can fold the cuff down or keep it up and tuck her fingers inside when it's really cold.  She got these as part of her Christmas gift and loved them.

Gradient Mitts knit up for my MIL's birthday.  It's my handspun.  I've been hoarding this yarn for years.  It's always been one of my favorites.  It was always destined to belong to my MIL, I just didn't know what to make until I saw this pattern.  These are photographed on my daughter... they fit my MIL much better.

Another gift for my mom this last Christmas were these Beachy Broadripple socks. I love love loved knitting these.  I'm going to be getting more of this yarn so I can make a pair for myself.  They are super cozy on the foot and the pattern is really pretty and easy.  She loved these too.

 

These Vanilla Latte socks were finished just this last month.  They flew off my needles.  I really love this yarn.  They were supposed to be for me, but they ended up being way to big.  They fit my hubby great, so they are his now.  These were my first toe up socks.  I love making socks this way and will be doing most of my sock knitting toe up from now on.  I got to use up all my yarn!

My Last 3 Months

I can't believe it's been 3 months since my last post.  I got so caught up in making X-Mas gifts that I kinda lost track of things.  I thought I should honor all those long hard hours of work and post some pics of those gifts.  I'll start with the knitting.

Machine Knit Socks:  I used fingering weight and sock yarns.  Some from my stash and other bought.  I made my own pattern for these.  I basically made two sizes... women's and men's.  The women's are between 8.5" and 9.5" long and the men's are between 10" and 11" and are slightly wider.  11 Pairs total.

 

 

 Next I made a machine knit Clapotis for my daughter.  I guess it's not technically a Clapotis because it's not knit on the bias, but I used the basic pattern of drop stitches to make this.  6 stitches in use and 3 stitches "dropped"  I used a yummy self striping yarn... I'll have to look up which one.  It's very soft and comfy.  I stitched the ends together to make it a mobius.  She absolutely loves it.  Wears it all the time wrapped around her neck twice.

 

This next one is mostly sewn.  But, I did knit the "February Lady" sweater that the doll is wearing.  I made a 15" Waldorf doll for my youngest daughter.  It was certainly a challenge.  I'll post more about my Waldorf doll making later on.  For now, here is the doll and her clothing.  She loved it and sleeps with it and plays with it.  Even now, it's sitting next to me... she brought it down to play on the computer with her last night.

 Next is the Waldorf sacky doll that I made for Cael.  He liked it, but mostly wanted to play with other things.... oh well... maybe he'll enjoy it later.

 I made both girls new bags using the Joy-Nicole pattern.  Loved this pattern.  It would be more of a purse for me, but for them it's perfect to as a large purse or overnight bag.  Both bags are fully lined with pockets inside.  Alaina's bag is first up.  I just love the button I found from my stash!  Rachel's bags is all about cats.   And, they are doing yoga!!

 

 

 

 

 

 Last, but not least.  I made some boxy bags for all the recipients of the socks.  Each person got a bag with the socks in it.  No wrapping or anything....  Everyone seemed to really love them.  And, I got to use more lovely tags to help make opening the bag easier.

 

The only thing that I'm haven't pictured is the boat that we made for our son.   I'll do a separate post on that one.  Otherwise I think that's all the gifts I made....

Edit:  Totally forgot about the XMas jamies!  I made pants for all the kids and bought the shirts.  The flannel was upcycled from a flannel sheet.