It's Something

Good news... there is progress!

Because the weather was so cold here my lovely knitting group made a last minute location change and came to my house to knit, and meet the baby. They held the baby and my fingers flew- cramming in as much knitting time as I could muster- hence the progress we see today.

What's funny is that I am DYING to work on something new, but I have to finish this first. Next I'm going to pick up the sock since all I want to do is start a million socks. BUT, finishing is the name of the game and so, instead of being all willy nilly- I'm going to stick to finishing what I need to finish. I'm hoping and praying to the patron saint of knitting that I can get this blanket done before the end of January so we can begin February with something much more interesting!

Because there really isn't much else to show you, I will placate you with a smiley pic of my kiddo... which I'm hoping will gloss over the fact that there isn't much else to show you. SO BEHOLD... my happy kiddo! (Who you are welcome to come and hold if you will let me knit ;-0)

Progressions

With the Teddy blanket off the needles I'm moved my devotion and attention to getting Parker's blanket done next. However it kind of looks the same as it always has since progress is quite slow. SO, in order to convey some sense of completion and because some days it IS just a row done- I've decided to snap photos with a tape measure so we can at least that there is some progression. (This is as much for me as anyone.) So here we go- 24" on Parker's blanket. I will either knit to 40" or until I run out of yarn, whatever happens first.

Also- because there are looky-loo's who like this sort of thing, my yarn gifted to me from my inlaws arrived this week and it is lovely. OH so lovely. Behold- Madelintosh Tosh Sock in "Logwood". It's this lovely light purple color and I am just itching ITCHING to work on it. (But NO... I am being strict with myself, there are items that need to be finished first!)

So that's what happening around here this week- slow and steady progress on the blanket for the baby. SPEAKING of the baby... I thought we could all enjoy this cute photo of him. My cutie smiles and "talks" a lot more these days... charming the pants off of everyone he meets. Tell me- can you resist this face?

I cannot... which is why progress is happening at snail's pace. But at least it's some progress and we'll take it.

A New Year... New Challenge

Happy New Year!!

I'll be honest, I did my damnedest to finish the Teddy Blanket for 2011... there was crocheting an hour before the clock told us it was the new year, but I also had a fussy baby (booo exczema!!!) who wanted my attention more. Alas- Teddy was not finished for 2011. However, fear not because I did finish it for 2012!

Pattern: Teddy Bear Baby Blanket by Barbara Breiter

Yarn: Mission Falls 136 Merino Superwash in colorway 006 (Discontinued yarn)

Needles: US 6

Thoughts: This pattern was actually inspired by a Ravelry member's project AleNochka (Rav link)- when I saw what she had done I decided to use her same modifications and knit a version myself. It's not a thrilling pattern but it did knit quickly and it was ideal to haul around with me when I just needed something easy and quick to pick up and knit. (Other projects aren't as simple.)

You'll note I sucked it up and crocheted (yuck) a border. God help me, but I actually enjoyed my crochet time! (Sensitive knitters will want to pass over the next photo as it's an extreme CROCHET CLOSEUP... I'm getting a lot better at crochet!)

So with Teddy off the needles it's time for me to take stock and plan for the New Year. The truth is, I have a lot of unfinished things that need to be cleaned up. A lot of projects that got abandoned last year for one reason or another. They kind of hang over my head reminding me that I need to "close a few circles" and move forward. So, without further ado I present to you my New Years knitting resolutions.

1) Parker's Blanket

I started this on mat leave and had the delusional idea that I could knit it in a week before Parker's arrival. This is just a little over half finished and I want to get it done for my kiddo.

2) Pink Baby Dots

I still love this blanket a lot- but it's not an easy one to cart around- it's a strictly "at home" project.

3) Nebula Socks

I have a metric butt load of sock yarn and recent stash acquisitions mandate that 2012 be about knitting socks, meaning I need to get Nebula off the needles and on my feet!

4) Kevin's Sweater (Now known as Project Kevin & Kristian)

Remember when I was knitting a dog sweater for a friend? I hardly do... and for some reason I abandoned this project when I was so close to being done. Poor Kevin is still cold! Thankfully it's been a mild winter so far! Kevin's mom recently had a baby (Christmas day) and I think it would be funny for Kevin and baby to have matching sweaters. So- Kevin's sweater needs to be done and a little baby sweater needs to be made in order to consider this finished.

5) Fireside Sweater

I abandoned this project when I found out I was pregnant because it felt futile to knit a sweater that I wouldn't be able to wear as I got bigger and bigger. I'm so close with this one... SO CLOSE. It needs to be done and now that I'll fit it again it REALLY needs to be done. So finish it I will.

These are all diverse projects in all various states of completion. There's enough representation here that if I bore of one project I can move on to something completely different, but still focus on finishing. As the baby gets a little bit bigger and begins to find a more regular schedule (patterns are emerging!) I should find a few more minutes and opportunities to pick up the needles. So that's what you have to look forward to this year.

Once these are finished (hopefully in the first 6 months) then I'm going to move my focus to small projects. Baby sweaters... socks... little items that have a short completion time. Should be a good year! Thanks for sticking with me despite the light blog posts this year- I'm still here, I'm still knitting and will hopefully I'll keep finding the time to talk about it!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Round Up

There are some Christmas traditions that you just don't mess with. Certain music albums, baking items, silly things just have to occur on Christmas... they may be modified if you have, say a 6 week old who takes up a lot of time, but you still do them. This Christmas is no different. Thanks to some challenges early on in our attempts at nursing (resolved for the most part now... whew!)- my boy takes a bottle which means mommy can slip away for an hour or so if the opportunity arises. Thus, I was able to observe the Boxing Day tradition I have had with my Mother in Law for the last few years- and hit up the yarn sales at the local shops. Behold the spoils!

Lana Grossa's "Meilenweit Men" sock yarn from Pudding and Colinette's "Iona" from the Loop. The Loop was a last minute addition and had me very impressed... I'd hit their sale again. We decided to skip Gina Brown's this year, as it's usually MOBBED and we never get there in time for the really good sale stuff. (Nor do I have the patience to wait in the never-ending line up.)

In general this was a very good yarn year for me, as many family members decided to spoil me with yarn. Both the inlaws and husband bought me lovely colorways of Madelintosh Tosh Sock and my brother in law also got me some great sock yarns, a self striping I wanted and some Jitterbug that I've had my eye on for awhile. Rounding out the knitting related gifts I also went home with two books I had put on my list.

Lest you worry about my stash growing again, there have been a few more stitches knit. In fact- enough to get one blanket off the needles. Teddy is ready to be blocked, and then it will receive a crochet (yuck) border to help keep it's shape.

My goal is to get this blanket done prior to 2012 (even if it means at 11:59 on Dec 31st I am crocheting with one hand and feeding a baby with another). Progress does happen, even if it's 2 rows a day, I am trying to fit a little bit of knitting in- just so I don't go crazy. (I love my kid to pieces, but mommy is beginning to miss her knitting time... so I'm trying to get at least one row in a day. Even if it's just ONE row, I still feel like I've accomplished something.

I've also been meaning to show this off prior to Parker's arrival- the "Waiting for Duane" dishcloths for 2011. I leave a dishcloth at the front door so I can just pick up and knit a few rows while I wait for the husband in the am. This year I managed to knit 6 cloths waiting for him!

And lastly- it's not knitting, but I thought you might like to see- here's my "little" guy at 6 weeks. His last weigh on the 23rd he was 12 lbs 4 oz... so let's all use the term "little" loosely. :-)

Good Excuses

So- last we left this blog post I announced that I became a mom to an adorable little boy and that I planned to continue to knit.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

It's funny to think that I thought I could squeeze in some knitting during this time. I have knit exactly 2 rows on the Teddy Bear Blanket. 2!! Otherwise my life has been very busy looking after my little man.

I do think the knitting will return- daddy will be home over Christmas and I see the makings of a routine coming to life, and soon I will pick up the needles and rejoin the knitting world. (The last of my worlds to return... welcome back pre-maternity pants! How I missed you!!)

In the mean time, lest you think I'm just twiddling my thumbs over here- I've got a few photos of my little guy to share. My big boy continues to get big... or rather HUGE. (And no, for those of you who have suggested I knit while I nurse, I cannot- he moves his arms and head so much that I need both hands to keep him focused on the task at hand)

(Most of these photos are iPhone or Blackberry shots)

At 2 weeks...

Barely fitting his "crabby outfit"

3 weeks... and ready to shave!

Christmas outfit- 4 weeks (or 94 years?)

I think he's pretty cute... but then I again I tend to be bit a biased on this one.

Finished Object Update

I made this on November 12, 2011 at 10:31 pm.

Meet Parker Andrew- all 9 pounds 11 ounces of him. We had no idea there was such a big baby in there and ended up having a c-section. There's much to tell (and not much knitting content unfortunately) but well... I'm kind of preoccupied at the moment.

Just know that I'm doing very well, daddy is amazing and both of us are over the moon with our little guy.

I'll be back soon.

Now We're Cooking With Fire!

Firstly, thank you to all of those who chose to vote on the blankets from last week. There was an overwhelming load of input and such a diverse cross-section of opinions. As you can see by the results on the last blog post, a decision wasn't really conclusive... opinions where divided and stretched across 3 patterns in particular.

After seeing there wasn't a clear "winner" out of the group- I decided to go ahead and go with gut and cast on the Baby Bricks pattern. Yes I've knit it several times already, but the results are always astounding and I'm always quite pleased with the finished results.

Here it is- over a 1/4 of the way into the process. The lovely thing about this pattern is that it knits FAST. I've been wholly devoted to this project since I cast it on, but progress has moved along swimmingly. Rules to this blanket are simple- after 4 pattern repeats (one of each color) I have to weave in the ends before moving forward to the next section. It's the only way I know I can stay on top of the end weaving.

We managed to skip the Oct 31 birthday this year- and now that my due date is tomorrow I'm getting a tad impatient to meet who's been kicking and elbowing me these past few months. Truthfully I'm now focused on having him on 11.11.11 which I think would be a pretty cool birthday- so if you have some mojo to spare... can you mojo him to come out for that birthday?

And- a request came through on the comments to link up to the patterns that I was thinking about knitting in my previous post. I'll do my best to acomodate that- but in some cases, you'll have to find the book/magazine.

1.) Baby Dots and Baby Bricks- pattern can be found from the Leisure Arts "Soft & Sweet Baby Afghans" (this is probably one of my favorite baby blanket "books"). However- you can also modify the "Ball Band Dishcloth" pattern found here (scroll down) for baby bricks and come up with something similar. (Yay free pattern!)

2) Different Take on Classic Stripes or "Gillian's Blanket"- free pattern can be found on Ravelry here. (I really like the simplicity of this pattern... don't be surprised to see this pop up in a finished project pile for me someday!)

3) Princess Squares- can be found in the Vogue Knitting Early Fall 2010 issue. (I don't believe they have the pattern in the shop, so you'll have to procure a past copy of the issue.) Preview can be found here.

4) New Life Baby Blanket - check out this link for the free pattern!

Happy Knitting Y'all!

Lost

So knitting time, despite being on mat leave, is still kind of scarce. I've decided to stop worrying about it so much. Afterall- this is my HOBBY and something I supposedly enjoy doing... so I need stop treating it like my job, where I'll get fired if I don't knit.

I've finished the first color block on Jr's blanket and I have concerns. A lot of concerns. I don't think the owls are showing up. And so it just looks like bumpy squares with a white border. Here's the pic.... what do you think?

It's just not showing up well- is it?

I think it's time to admit defeat, frog this and start again, with a less ambitious "design" and going with an existing pattern, still using the yarn colors. It'll still be a beautiful blanket- but maybe a little less themey? If I do- I'm looking for suggestions. So far I'm hovering over these ideas: (Vote for your favorites!!)

1) Baby Dots

2) Baby Bricks

3) Doing a different take on classic stripes

4) Princess Squares (or in this case... PRINCE squares)

5) New Life Baby Blanket

My ennui with the current blanket status means that I've been picking up the easier project to knit on it and attempt progress. Without meaning too- I'm actually pretty deeply into the Teddy Bear blanket... might even finish that one soon! (It helps that it's all one color and it goes FAST!) Oh well- blankets in the "ready to go" bin are NEVER a bad thing!!

Progress has been slow because Halloween distracted me a bit this year. We had a Halloween party to go to on Saturday night and I needed the right costume for the baby belleh I'm carrying around these days. So, putting the needles down, I hunted down a cheap blanket outfit and cracked out the fabric paint and made me a costume!

Before you give me any credit for being clever... I blatantly ripped this idea off from elsewhere on the internet. (Done much better here) It's a rougher, less detailed idea- but it turned out pretty cute and I got a lot of compliments at the party. (But maybe that's just because people were scared my water was going to break on them!)

And... because my dear husband was suddenly struck with the need to "capture the belly" before the baby comes out... I'm also including a picture of me, on Friday night. This is me 38.5 weeks pregnant in case you were curious....

I'll be spending the rest of the day crossing my legs now- willing this kid to stay in for one more day. (I just don't want him to have to share his birthday with Halloween and Trick or Treating.) So- any mojo you can spare my way, about keeping Jr. away from Oct 31 birthday would be most appreciated!

**Poll closes Nov 3- so vote now... invite your friends to vote too! I need to know what direction to go in next ASAP!**

Blocking Unblock

An intervention was held. MiL stepped in and saved me, and my sanity. The blankets are blocked and are finally, READY to be admired by the public!

Behold... the Welsh Blanket

Pattern: Welsh Blanket by Debbie Bliss

Yarn: Berroco Comfort Solids and Heathers in navy (9763) and white (9702)

Needle: US Size 7

Notes: This is a stunner! The actual knitting part isn't difficult, but it does require careful attention to be paid to the pattern, as reading the wrong row could really mess up your pattern. (Ask me how I learned that lesson?) I found it helpful to retype out the pattern on my computer, highlighting every other row so that I didn't mix them up. That tended to keep me on the straight and narrow.

The yarn was a PERFECT choice for the pattern as it really made everything pop quite nicely!

I had hoped this would have been my Stampede entry this year, but instead it's going to go to some little person born this winter. (One of the many little persons being born this winter!)

This last photo is a shot showing how the blanket looks from behind. The yarn carries over lovely in the back and didn't require a backing at all. Make this project if you're looking to impress anyone!

Behold Also... Moving Mountains

Pattern: Moving Mountains Baby Blanket by Aimee Alexander

Yarn: Rowan RYC Cotton Jeans in "Batik"

Needle: US 8

Notes: Another great baby blanket pattern, this one had the added benefit of being FAST. It would be a great project to knit if you were looking to whip something up in a hurry! What was even better is that I used just about every last drop of this yarn, completely clearing it out of my stash.

When I first bought this yarn I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but the color was lovely and the price was right (thank you Pudding sale) but now, it is also going in the pile for all the expected little ones popping out this fall.

Just another glam shot... because I can.

I couldn't believe how quickly the blocking process went when MiL was here. In just a short time we had both projects laid out, pinned and wet. I would have never done this had she not helped me, so thank you x a million to Phyllis!!

Not only did she help me move past these projects, she also got me on the road to a new one, but winding all of the yarn I'd need for Junior's blanket. I've still been pretty errand-y/busy this week, despite being on mat leave, but I was finally able to at least start this project with her help.

That is one snazzy border... isn't it?

This means that all other blanket projects are on hold, until this one gets some progress. I'm doubtful that I'll finish this project prior to Junior's arrival, my schedule seems to be fuller than I thought it would be on mat leave, but getting a good chunk of it done is probably doable.

Are you as relieved as I am about FINALLY having these done?!

THIS JUST IN...

... GUESS WHAT IS CURRENTLY BLOCKING RIGHT NOW!?

Stay tuned people... it's finally going to happen- FINISHED OBJECTS coming your way very soon!

(Millions of thanks to the Mother in Law for getting me over this block!)