Finishing

Yippee! I finally got some projects finished.

I finished these wrist warmers. They are based off of a basic pattern from one of Deb's friends, but I added a thumb. It was a total experiment because I did not put in a gusset for the thumb. I left 6 stitches live and picked up 10 more. I knitted around for 4 rounds on the US size 8 dpn's and then changed to US size 6 dpn's for 3 rounds, and decreased 4 stitches on two last rows. Turned out beautifully. I even wore them through last nights soccer games. My fingers were still free to work and run the clock, but I still stayed warm. A big thanks to my lovely Hand model, because I just can't manage to take a picture of my hands while holding the camera.

The wristwarmers are to match and go with this hat that I finished a few weeks ago. This is out of Knit Picks Swish Superwash wool so they are warm, but with super easy care. I definitely needed this with needing to be able to wear them for work!

I also finished this basic hat as well. And I managed to do it all watching games and walking between practices. Not too bad, and I love how the yarn self-striped. I did not know that the yarn would do it. This is also a Knit Picks yarn, but is from their Wool of the Andes Hand-dyed line, so it will have more normal washing care for wool garments. Beautiful all the same. And another big thank you to my lovely hat model. Once again, it took so many tries to take the above picture by myself, that Grace made it so much easier!

My needle order came in a day early, and now, what to start next? Too many decisions, too many projects, just not enough time!

I have also been busy filling a big custom order. I finished making 5 bras and 5 panties to match them. That just means that Bra money = Yarn money, so that all works out well! It sure is a good thing I have some way of sustaining my habit!

Knitting!!!

Okay, so not much blogging has been happening lately because a lot of working late nights has been happening. That said, knitting has been happening, small bits at a time.

I will start with my March OYT sock of the month, Peak Experience. It is really looking very pretty. I did make a few changes and am doing the sock on US size 0 (2.0 mm) needles, with 80 stitches cast on. Part of that is to accommodate the fine Opal yarn colorway 2004. It may be small, but I am totally in love with the yarn and fabric made. I do end up doing most of my socks on this size needles.

While my Mom was here, I did manage to finish the first sock, and I cast on the second sock this morning.

I was also working on a pair of socks for the little one. They are based on a patten out of Charlene Schurch's More Sensational Knitted Socks book. The little one picked out the pattern (Double Lace Ribbing), and the yarn is leftovers from two of the big one's socks.

I managed to finish these on April 12th, and she wore them to school on Monday. She says they are just what she wanted! If only that will last her whole life, unfortunately, I know that it won't.

I also have to share some fun inspiration that Mom and I found. On her quick weekend here, we stopped to buy a bottle of wine to enjoy while we knit. This was what we found. The label had us totally hooked! And the wine was good too!

Now, the last blog entry that talked about knitting mentioned, and showed the very beginnings of my traveling project. It is a basic hat. I had no idea that the yarn was self striping, and am captivated by it. One of these days I will get a picture where the lighting really shows of the colors. This is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in the Chisholm Hand-dyed colorway. This has been done at a few practices, and mostly non varsity baseball games and soccer games. Not too bad, and I only have 2 inches left before I start the crown.

I also have this handy new Go Knit pouch that I bought at Twist. It is the perfect size for a sock or hat, which are my traveling projects! I love it, and now my yarn does not get stuck on any velcro from my work kit! Well, and it is PURPLE.

I have also swatched for my April OYT sock in Cascade Fixation, cotton/elastic yarn. The pattern is Broadripple. This should be a lot of fun, and the yarn feels fabulous. I am going to do the sock as a short summer sock, and I may have to make other summer socks out of this yarn because it is so fabulous. This should also go pretty fast because, unlike my Peak Experience, this sock is going to be done on US size 4 (3.5 mm) needles. So now I am waiting for my Knit Picks needles to arrive. I am also going to try and Magic Loop the socks, which means do one sock on one really long cabled needle set. It is a new method for me, so I am excited about the new challenge.
I am also completing a set of wrist warmers to go with my basic hat that I made for work. I made some modifications, and added a thumb. So far the experiment is going well, and I will post more about that next time.

The few posts were really lacking on the photo ops, so I had to make up for it now. I hope you enjoy. I am having fun. But now, back to games, and knitting, and sewing, and more blogging to come soon. (I just have to find computer time when I am not exhausted and ready to crash!)

What a wonderful Sunday!

Wow, has time gotten away from me! Between all the games I have covered and froze at, and now all the rain outs I have had this week, I have not had much in the way of computer time! In between all of this, though we had a lovely weekend! We were blessed with a surprise visit from my mom, thanks to good airfare bargains that she can sometimes find. I have to tell you, we had the most wonderful day as a family on Sunday, and Grandma got to be included! I will fill in all the knitting activities on my next blog, but today (a very rainy day) I have a different story to tell.

We had a beautiful day on Sunday, weather wise. It was in the 60s with just a slight breeze (this is Kansas people, so that is saying a lot). After we went out for breakfast at IHOP, we decided that we needed to go to the Sedgwick County Zoo for the morning! As we overheard someone else say, we needed to "return a few monkeys to the Zoo". (The girls were in rare form!) We started with the penguins and watched them swim and swim. The last time we had been there all they did was stare at all the people, so I think they are much more used to us now! We then walked along and saw all the animals. We had to see the Elephants, because, as the little one said, "they are big and gray". We also enjoyed the Gorillas, but the highlight of that portion was when the girls were walking ahead, being "the teachers", so excited to go play on the playground they neglected to notice the garter snake that wiggled right between both of their feet as they walked. Once notice, the big one moved in a BIG hurry! We then rode the train, stopped and saw the various farm animals and were on our way. I can say that I definitely see sheep in a whole new light. They had all recently been sheered, and I could not get over the beautiful color the sheep in the African Farm were and what lovely yarn it would make. I guess the knitting has truly gotten into the blood.

We had gone home, and in the afternoon, it was still so nice out after "naps" (I don't think one ever happened) that we went outside to play! The girls rode on their bikes, and then played in the grass with Hubby. When playing football, the big one is a great running back, their is no receiving by either of them, and that little one would make a great linebacker! Although you know she is coming, because she growls at you before she tackles you. I guess they have been watching Mommy's games a bit. That little one also has a pretty good defensive stance for basketball, because that is exactly what she does when the basketball got pulled out.

It was a wonderful visit with Grandma, however short, so to cap off all the fun we had, the girls and I went out and picked these flowers from the back yard for our table. They were just too pretty not to share, especially since they are not going to make it much longer now!
Next time, I will catch you up on all the knitting that I did accomplish in any brief moments that I could find between, and during events and rain outs!

Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok!

"Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok!" must be said with great exasperation! Kind of like "I know, I know". This is the newest phrase from my 3yo! I seem to be told this a lot lately! Maybe it doesn't help that we are talking constantly about staying in our bed at bedtime. At least she is keeping her thumbs out of her mouth! As exhausting as the night times have been, she is still pretty adorable in the mornings. Today was her second day at her new preschool. Yesterday we had to peel her off of me, and today she was off with a few of the girls waving at me, "Bye Mom!" That, and she talked about her "exciting adventures" from yesterday all the way to school! It sure is a good thing she is so cute!

The big one is doing well too, with her assembly yesterday and being recognized in front of the whole school as one of the Kindergartners that knows all 51 of her site words. She even earned a real golden dollar for it!

It is a good thing we have telephones, because I am not going to be home much in the evenings thanks to all the spring events that have started. Last night I was at baseball, remembering clearly why I made a nice new wool hat. My head and ears were nice and warm, even when the rest of me wasn't. Now the Kansas wind definitely did not help that! I knew that there would be time before my game, so I made sure that I had something to work on. I started this had to have it casted on before I got to the game, and all the progress I made happened before the game started, and before I lost feeling in my fingers and needed to put my gloves on! This weekend I spent all my weekend knitting time swatching! I hate swatching! Unfortunately I know how important it is! This yarn is O-wool in the colorway 4008 which is a lovely ruby red. O-wool is a blend of Organic Cotton and Organic Wool 50%-50%. I plan on making a simple raglan sleeve, top-down t-shirt. This will be a first attempt at a t-shirt, which makes the swatching so important! I just don't like doing it!
I even washed it like I was supposed to, and it came out so nicely and washed up easy, so I am looking forward to starting it, now I just need to get all the needles I need for it!