Baby Blues

Well... it's official!  Baby cookin' in my friend's belly is a little BOY and I've set to work trying to decide what I'm going to knit for her expected little guy.  (Coming around New Years!!)  I need to get started on this project now in order to be done before Christmas.  And so I spent my "nap time" on Ravelry looking at all the baby blanket options and narrowed it down to my favorites.  As usual, I'm undecided and so I turn to YOU, dear blog readers, to help me choose.

Here's what I've narrowed it down to.... (None of these pictures are mine- I've taken them from Ravelry posted by other users.... I hope I'm not committing a blog sin by doing that.)

1) 3D Argyle Blanket : I've had this sitting in on my "favorites" list over at Ravelry for a looooooooooong time.  I love the look of the blanket and, bonus, it should be a reasonably easy knit.  (Famous last words...)  The key here is to buy the right yarn, that will have enough sheen to highlight the changes in the stitch enough to really show off the argyle.

2) For a Bonny Babe: This is a classic looking baby blanket.  The cabling shouldn't be too troublesome and there's a lot of seed stitch in there that this blanket will need little to no blocking.

3) Star Light, Star Bright: Another blanket that has been in my favorites for awhile.  I worry here that the pattern could be too feminine (scalloped border) and so I'd probably "dumb" the border down to make it less "girlie".


4) Alphabet Blanket:  I saw this blanket ages and ages ago and bought the book, so enamored was I with it.  And then I saw the COPIOUS charts that accompanied the pattern and chickened out.  Now I'm less frightened of the pattern and am seriously considering knitting it up.  Am I insane?

  

5) Dishcloth Farm/Zoo/Circus Animal Blanket: This would be similar in style to the "Baby Beef" blanket I knit a long time ago.  Except I would use the same pattern author (her stuff is so cute!) and knit various animals based on the theme I go with.  By using the same author, the patterns should all be around the same size and will make the 'figuring it out' portion of this blanket less challenging.  This has the potential to be REALLY cute... but it also requires the most from my brain power.

SO.... what would you choose to knit?  HELP ME DECIDE!  Vote now!  (Voting closes by Wed Aug 28th at 12:00 pm)

And lest you think you're being used just for opinions these days- behold- ACTUAL KNITTING CONTENT.

The Mystery mitten has seen some progress... although sorry- it still remains a mystery.  (The 3rd time was apparently the charm!)

And I knit another hat to work on that pink stash!

I'm expecting another charity blanket to show up today, and one (HOPEFULLY) next week.  (The blanket is delayed and I'm worried it's going to show up just as we're moving back into our house and then I'm going to hold it up.)  After that I'm going to take a charity blanket break for awhile and start focusing on my mittens and whatever blanket we decide I'm going to knit.

Looking forward, as usual, to see where your votes will lie!

Charity Week

Well, as promised the days since my last blog post have been dedicated to charity knitting.

The WCOBB blankets showed up on Friday and I immediately set to work getting them out the door.  (I hate having them sit around.)

This is "Speed Bump".  (I really like it when a blanket has a cohesive pattern through out.)

And this is "Square Dance".

I hit a bit of a snag with Square Dance and actually ran out of the yellow yarn too early.  (oops)  You're supposed to knit 6 inches in your section and I only made it to 4.  Thankfully a quick dive in MiL's stash gave me a light yellow to throw in the mix and finish my pattern.

I also finished my hat quota for the year!  Say hello to Ms. November and Ms. December hat!

There's still a fair bit of yarn to keep going on hats, so despite being done the minimum, I still need to bust down more stash in the pinks.  (I want it GONE before 2014- GONE I SAY!)  I will say this, the charity projects have really helped me bust down my acrylic stash this year.  I'm going to start a project to get rid of the red acrylic before the end of the year too, but I just need to get home first.  (More on that in a minute.)

I'm still waiting on one more blanket that should be coming soon- but since it hasn't arrived I also cast on a quick hat for my dentist, who I'm seeing this week (just for a mouth guard fitting... apparently I'm stressed....) and will be a father for the first time when I see him again.  It's a long story but I sorta know my dentist from a past life in University and we were kind of friends.  Anyways, I thought it would be nice to give him a hat for his little bundle of joy- so I'm knitting an Easy Peasy hat to give to him.

(Funny story- they actually called me to come in early this week and I said no.  Not because I couldn't, but because the hat wasn't done!  Haha!)  I feel like last time we talked he told me he was having a girl, but I might whip up a "boy hat" too... just in case.  In my experience you can never have too many baby hats anyways.

We are still out of our house, and hoping this renno will get done soon.  Sadly our "move back in" date got pushed back from the long weekend until Sept 12.  Please cross your fingers and send us mojo that we'll be back in for Sept 12.  I REALLY MISS MY HOUSE... and okay, I miss my stash.  I've been diving in MiL's stash a few times already, and well I'm sure she doesn't mind, I'd still like to get my stash cleaned out too!

I'll finish this post on a happier note... here's the kiddo and I lying around the park.  (Cute story: I laid down on the blanket while we were hanging out in the sun, and he came over, cuddled in next to me and laid down too.  It was so sweet- and one of those special "mom moments" you can never fake.  In short... it was awesome.)

Stay tuned for more projects coming soon!  (Probably a fall blanket to kick off in Sept if my friend will get back to me on the sex of her expected little one.)

Focused

It turns out there's not one, not two... but THREE charity blankets making their way to me in the next few days.  I realized that I could not focus on getting those out the door without also getting my act together and getting my other projects done.  And so, with determination and a fierce focus, I caught myself up!

Say hello to the Stripey Blanket!

Yarns: A mish mash of everything left over in my stash.  I do know there's some Koigu KPM, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in there along with various other fingering weights.
Pattern: I made this puppy up!  Just a bunch of stocking stitch and garter stitches to pop the accent color.
Needle: 3.00 mm
Notes: 2 Rounds of single crochet border to complete the blanket.  (I am SO happy I kept the border simple, it keeps the blanket "cohesive"- more of a border than this and it wouldn't have turned out as nicely as I think it did.)

I would have thought that a stocking stitch blanket would have bored me to tears.  But it didn't.  Maybe it's because I also had something complicated going on a pair of other needles, but I reveled in the simplicity of this project.  It was so easy to just pick this up and knit.  There were no charts to consult, no pattern to remember, hell I didn't even need a row counter!  I made a strict rule with myself to weave in the ends after the 3 different color sections before starting again.  That made finishing the blanket so much easier because there weren't so many ends to make my crazy to weave in.

I'm also pleased the way the colors look, and the way I've done tiny stripes in each section.  This was great not only for stash busting, but also to add some interest to the blanket without over doing it.  MiL and I have already discussed combining some remaining sock yarns and doing some more of these great stash down projects- so there may be another blanket on the horizon.

Also say "Aloha" to the Maui Socks, started back in March on my trip to Maui!

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in "Hummingbird"
Pattern: Sock Recipe: A Good Plain Sock by Stephanie Pearl McPhee
Needle: US 1
Notes: This is the first time I've successfully attempted Kitchner Stitch.  Repeat: I have been making socks for a lot of years now and this is the first time I've successfully put in Kitchner stitch.  Confession: it wasn't even so hard once I started doing it!  So yes... kitchner stitch on socks from now on I guess.

As a challenge to myself I made ZERO notes when I knit these.  The only time I consulted a pattern was to make sure I turned the heel in the middle, otherwise- this was done from my head.  I relied on the previous sock to guide me as to when I had done enough stitches.  It was hard to "let it go" but also, again, made for such an easy knit.  I could just pick these up and knit- no thinking about what needs to happen next.

I love self striping yarn.  I know I've said it many times before- but I stinkin' love the stuff.  It could be in the ugliest colors of mustard yellow and puke greens and I'd still be as happy as a pig in mug because I love watching the stripes come together.  My one stipulation is that I can't have mis-matched socks.  I just can't- and as usual, I've gone to great pains to line up all the stripes pretty closely on these socks.  (Even breaking up the yarns at the heel so that the pattern stays the same.)  Someday I might be able to make mismatched socks- I'm not there yet.

"Ola" Hats!  I also caught up on hats, because I really just wanted to knit new things with a clear conscious.   Below are August and September finished for the pile.

AND, after a second disasterous attempt on the mitten for the MiL (who does not have wrists the size of an elephant OR a bear...) I just set the mitten aside and knit October's hat too.

Let's not talk about the mitten okay?  Let's keep this positive.  I need to measure MiL's wrist with the latest failed attempt to see just how many needle sizes I need to go down- and so I've decided to just knit hats this week.  I'm hoping to hit the magic number 12 before the blankets arrive on Friday.  I'm absolutely going to have enough yarn to go over the 12 mark... so I'm just going to keep on going with that project for a bit.

I'm sorry for the long post.  I've been long over-due to just focus and finish these things.  For the first time in a long time, you'll be excited to know that there are new projects on the horizon.  New ideas.  And yes, I'm sorry in advance, a friend is due in January, a new blanket.  I'm really proud of myself for just getting all of this done this last week.  It feels so good to look ahead to new projects without other works in progress obstructing my view!

UH-OH Daisy!

I've, as my son loves to say, had an "uh-oh Daisy" (oopsie daisy), and despite having enough projects on the go and need to be finished, I cast on something new.

I'M WEAK OKAY!????  Don't judge me.

I blame this on the Stampede blanket, which just sucked the life out of me.  I just wasn't excited about what I had to knit and so I cheated and cast on the mittens.  (The mittens were supposed to come once the border on the Stripey Blanket had been crocheted, plain socks finished and August hat knit.)  But I just wanted some excitement.  Something to be looking forward too, and so I cheated.

Pictures of this project will be vague, as they are for my MiL and I'd like to surprise her at the end.  But the mystery mittens are finally on the needles.

I wasn't entirely bad, I did make some progress on other projects.

Stripey  blanket is getting it's crochet (*sad sigh) border.  I wanted to keep the border "masculine" and after much searching and failed attempts at something else, I just decided to go with a skinny single crochet border.  I think keeping it simple was the right call.  I'm close to finished on this one.  A good "nap" (by the kiddo) should hopefully get me to "done".  It will need to be blocked again but it will be easier to block this time.

The socks are also close to the finish line.  I'm just about ready to begin the toe decreases on these and then, during another nap time, I'll teach myself to kitchner stitch and embrace it.  (Despite avoiding it like the plague all these years.)  God I hate kitchner stitch.  Sorry.  I said it.  I'm not taking it back either.  But, I will conform, and I will learn... I will just do so kicking and screaming.

I'm re-motivated to get these finished... mostly because I just found out that not one, but two charity blankets are making their way to me sometime soon and I need to knit a section for each.  It really drives me crazy when people keep the blankets past the 2 week mark so I try to "bang out" my section as quickly as possible and not be the person holding up the party.  Good thing both blankets are simple stitch patterns.  I did a bad thing for this today though, and instead of dipping into my stash, opted to buy a color(s) (there was a 2 for 1 sale) to add to the blanket.  I feel guilty because I really need to whittle down the stash, but it's a little tricky to get to my stash at the moment due to the Renno.  (Which is still happening... cupboards this week!)

Lastly- I stupidly picked up the wrong end of my DPN case of various, unmarked needles sizes, and dumped them all in an unrecognizeable pile on the floor.  I'd like to tell you I said "uh oh daisy"... but I did not.  (Thankfully Mr. Repeat-Everything-Mommy-Says wasn't around.)  I'm going to have to find my "needle sizer" and painstakingly poke these in every hole trying to decipher which size is which.  I cannot even begin to tell you how much I don't want to do this.  Behold- DPN CHAOS!

Hopefully I will have some finished item announcements on here soon.  In the meantime I'm still here.  I'm still knitting.  I'm just lacking a little focus!

Summer Normal

Well, Stampede has come and gone and things are returning to their more normal pace around here.  I always find it's a little hard to concentrate on knitting in the summer.  There are just so many distractions!

I find knitting at night seems to disappear and nap time knitting only seems to occur when I finish doing 85 other things first.  That isn't to say there hasn't been some progress- it's just at a slower pace.

In a fit of productivity, I blocked the stripey blanket a day after I cast it off.  (I'm convinced my body has been invaded by something that actually completes things on time!)  Stupidly, I did not take a pic of the blanket blocking, (I've been blogging how long and I drop the ball on this!?!), but I did get my MiL to snap a pic of the yarn I purchased (and sent home with her to wind), to do the border.

I know it seems a little counter-productive to buy a new skein for a stash down blanket, but it was necessary.  There just isn't enough yarn to finish a crochet border on the stripey blanket.  And this blanket, it NEEDS a crochet border because it's going to curl, most likely even after blocking!  And so, I tried to get the closest yellow to my original that I could.  Given that I bought the original yellow something like SEVEN years ago... the fact that I even got the same color family of yellow, is nothing short of a miracle.  (Original yellow was Koigu, this yellow is Spud & Chloe- but same  weight.)  I hope that it won't be too obvious that the two are different.  It they are- I'm just going to have to live with it!  Um.... any suggestions on a MASCULINE style crochet border?  The blanket is definately more masculine than feminine and I'm struggling a bit to come up with the right "guy border".

I've also been cruising along on my plain Jane socks that I started way back in Maui!  As predicted, I finished the first sock on my car trip to Saskatchewan.  I've decided I need to learn how to graft toes properly, (I got dinged on it this year in the judging...) and so I've left the toes to graft some afternoon when I can devote my undivided attention.  Instead I cast on sock #2 and have already moved at a decent clip on that one.

In the hopper, and hopefully on the needles soon, (after the socks), I'm going to cast on some mittens that I promised my MiL back in Feb.  I've been throwing the grandkid at her as much as I can in order to hopefully deflect from the fact that these mittens are super, SUPER... S U P E R late.  ;-)  I also need to knit a couple of hats for August and September.  We are (fingers crossed) hopefully moving back into our place in mid Aug.  Getting unpacked and settled will be the priority... which means even less time for knitting!  It would be nice to get a jump on both of these projects!

My summer is certainly moving at a slower pace, but it's not to say that it's come to a full stop.  Small projects seem to be the right key to enjoying the weather and staying happy with my stitches.  Hope your summers are as pleasant as ours has been so far!

Circle the Wagons

Happy Stampede everybody!

(Me on the right, my sister on the left... I do not normally dress country, Stampede is a "country costume party" for 10 days in Calgary)

Now that we've sort of dried off, the flood waters have receded, we're all feeling a little bit like having a party.  Thankfully Stampede time allows Calgarians a little respite from the flood misery and opportunity to let their hair down.  (Or hat on... choose whichever applies to you.)

First off, because I know you'd hate me for dragging it out any longer... the results, for me, of the knitting competition.

It turns out the Misery blanket was worth the misery!  I'm very happy with this 1st place red ribbon.  This was a hard fought (with myself) ribbon and I'm damn proud of this one.

The socks also placed, just further down with a 3rd place white ribbon.

The competition was pretty stiff this year, and a 3rd in this category makes me feel pretty damn good about my socks and my skills.

This year I felt the "overall winner" was very deserving.  Their submission, (which they designed themselves) was outstanding and every bit a "#1 overall" piece.  It's lovely!  (It's also in my queue!)

And so with another Stampede behind me, it's time to start formulating a plan already for next year... hmmmmmm.  Any suggestions?

Progress continues to slowly... um... progress on the stripey blanket.  I'm nearly done the colorful section (1 color section of each left) and then I'll need to decide how I'm going to border this one.  Here's a progress photo... that probably looks like the same blanket essentially.

A quick trip out to Saskatchewan (wedding) this weekend means I'm going to have a bunch of knitting in the car time... so I'm hoping to progress quickly on the Maui socks.  It would be nice to have those off the needles this summer too.

This has been sort of a disjointed post- but I thought I would leave you a picture of my two favorite cowboys at a party we attended last week.  (Parker's first petting zoo... he loved it!)

Perspective

My last post I wailed on about hating my Stampede project, about being totally miserable and just ready for it to be finished.  I acted like I was the most miserable, suffering person in Calgary.

And then...

(THESE ARE NOT MY PHOTOS... they are taken from Google image.... I did not take these photos!)

Suddenly a stupid blanket doesn't mean much does it?

Somewhere in those pictures is a zoo (underwater), many friend's homes, (underwater), the Stampede grounds themselves (underwater).  The rivers are not supposed to look like this.  100,000 people evacuated from their homes.  These were photos on Friday morning, after the waters crested.  Thankfully most of the water has receded now and people are getting in and trying to clean up and rebuild as quickly as possible.*

A blanket means nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  Especially when OUR HOME is 100% okay, and didn't see water.  2 blocks from my house there were flood waters, but my street is dry and remained dry.  Hell, I'm one of few downtown Calgary dwellers that still even have power.  I HAVE SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR RIGHT NOW.  A stupid blanket means NOTHING.  Not enjoying myself while knitting it means NOTHING.

And so, with little fanfare, I have to also tell you it's finished.  (And yes, the Stampede and the Western Showcase is STILL ON.  I'm still dropping this puppy off on Wed... somehow...)

Pattern: Bunny Blanket by Amy Bahrt
Yarn(s): Cascade 220 Superwash Sport colors 1914 (blue), 802 (green), 817 (cream), 826 (orange)
Needle: US 5
Thoughts: I've already complained enough about this blanket.  There is nothing wrong with this pattern, you just have to like knitting with bobbins and weaving in ends.  I found out I like neither of these things.  I will say it's a very cute project but also not practical.  Sadly, 3 months of effort and I can't really give it to anyone... as all of the "3D" aspects of the blanket make it impossible to wash.  Impossible to wash = not a good baby gift.

It was painful to knit but it is insanely cute....

And for those of you, like me, who like to see the "other side" of things... I give you the blanket on the reverse...

I won't lie.  I am SO. SO. RELIEVED this is done.  I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to get it the BMO building (around all of the road closures) on Wed. 

So now, as I'm finally free to knit what I'd like... I'm left just to reflect just how damn fortunate I am that I have a dry house (currently under construction...) and the time to knit on things that are not this blanket.

*Calgary has proven itself to be a simply amazing city- the way I've seen people help others, complete strangers mostly, is truly heartwarming.  I am so proud of our little big city and the way we handled this.  *GROUP HUG!*

In Which I Complain Bitterly

How sick are you of this stupid blanket?  How sick are you of hearing me complain about this stupid blanket?  If you take all those things, you wouldn't even come close to how SICK I AM OF THIS STUPID BLANKET.

I hates it.  I hates it so much.

Yes, I'm close.  Really close.  So close a blog post bitching and whining about how sick I am of THIS STUPID BLANKET is probably unnecessary- but here we are.  Because, in case you missed it, I AM SICK OF THIS STUPID BLANKET.

It's blocked and I'm sewing on ears.  The ears aren't perfect.  They are making me twitchy.  I like perfection.  I need to accept that when it comes to sewing on ears... perfection is not going to be achieved here.  It also bugs me because the less perfect the ears are, the less I want to submit this as my Stampede entry.  It's not perfect- what if people look at it and say "WHAT A HORRIBLE KNITTER!?"  (They won't- I'm entirely in "over dramatize and over react" stage of knitting this blanket.  I am at the stage where I think this blanket may be responsible for Cancer.  Seriously.  I hate it that much.)

I have until Wed.  The ears aren't the final part.  I still need to crochet and attach (*sob- I hate sewing more than I hate this project I think...) "stems" to the "carrots".  Suddenly Wednesday is coming up on me so fast it's making my head spin.  WHEN WILL I FIND THE TIME TO DO THIS!?  WHY WILL MY CHILD NOT NAP FOR A GOOD FIVE HOUR STRETCH?  (For the record, he's never, ever, in his entire life, napped for a 5 hour stretch... but see the part about being dramatic written above.)

I look at other projects with agony and desire.  I LONG TO KNIT SOMETHING THAT IS NOT THIS STUPID. BLANKET.  

Did I mention this blanket is stupid?  Did I mention I'm over it.  Like O.V.E.R. I.T.

GAH.  I need wine.  SO MUCH WINE.

(No- there are no pictures... because I'm too mad at this blanket to capture it on photo.)

Summer Planning

For the next three months the stash and I will be separated.  (Commence hang wringing, fidgeting, nail biting and any other nervous twitch associated with being apart from your beloved.)

(Feels like a good reason to separate for awhile... the whole house is like this.)

I'm always so overwhelmed when it comes to project planning for the future.  I needed to pack up enough stash to get me through the summer.  (I do have access to my stash so it's not like I can't go back to get something.)  BUT- on the upside, it makes great blog fodder... so here's what I packed.

Black & White: Leftover acrylic for a blanket section I'm knitting for WCOBBS.
Small Blue Ball: The Lace shawl I haven't given up completely on.... yet.
The Pink Stuff: Hat yarn for pink hat project of 2013.  (I'm ahead!  More on that in a minute)
Red & Black Balls: Mitten yarn for MiL... I promised her mittens back in February... it's probably time I started those.
Green with Pink and Purple Stripes: My simple self striping sock
Grey, Blue & Purple Stripe blanket

So yes, I'd say that I'm optimistic on what I can accomplish this summer.  Not pictured is the Misery project because IT IS BLOCKING. 

I have officially entered in... so this MUST BE DONE by June 26.  I am heeding the advice from those of you who commented to me that washing pom pom's is not advised and am devising a way for them to be detachable.  MiL and I were discussing this the other day, this is probably more of a wall hanging than an actual functional blanket.... but oh well- it'll be cute in someone's room?  The end is near!  I also decided to enter the Belearique Socks I finished back in January because, why not?!

I mentioned that I was ahead for my hat knitting count as July hat is done.  Say hello to my pinky friend....

AND, if as if that isn't enough good news to kick off the summer- my kiddo is finally over his cold and is back to his much more normal self. 

I'm so glad it's finally June!  Let's see where all these projects will be at the end of August!!

Closing in on the Finish Line

 I'm just going to say it.  Weaving in ends is the bain of my existence.  I like the knitting part, even when it can be excruciatingly painful, but gah, weaving in ends is just so... so... I don't even have the adjective to tell you how much I don't enjoy it.

We started here:

I wove in the blues:

Then I wove in the greens:

And finally the oranges:

THEN- I had a G I G A N T I C glass of wine.  GIGANTIC.  (Waiting to do whites last, a) for my sanity and b) because it might come in handy to tack other parts on after.)

I also knit most of the fiddly parts.  (Anyone know how pom poms wash in a washing machine?  ANNE... looking at your knowledge on this particularly.)

Next up is blocking the blanket and pieces, which will happen this Sunday or Monday.  And then... THEN, OMG- more sewing and likely more ends to weave in.  *enormous sigh*

BUT, trying to look on the positive side, we're close.  SO. CLOSE.  It's going to happen for Stampede.  It is.  So I guess, memo to self, enter that this week.

Oh yah... since I'm down a blocking board until late this weekend, I also knit June's hat... kinda cute huh?  (Also half way through July's hat too- woo!)

It's going to be a big party when this baby is considered "FINISHED"- we will celebrate.  I promise you that.