Twins!

Well- I went a day past my original plan on having these done.  BUT the good news is that they are done AND the babies are out in this world and most of all I CAN KNIT THINGS THAT ARE NOT BLANKETS!  (hurrah!)

Pattern: Mosaic Blanket by Purl Soho
Yarn: Red Heart Soft Baby Steps in "White" and "Baby Pink"
Needles: US 8
Notes: I added a thin border throughout just because I felt like it needed it.  (4 rows on the bottom and 3 stitches on either side, which yes, necessitated an extra ball, but I felt it was worth it.)

 

This is an excellent pattern to cut your teeth on mosaic knitting.  The pattern is simple and intuitive and, in my case, knit up quickly.  I loved the idea of reversing the colors on each one so that that they are twins but also distinctive in their differences.

 

These are lovely and I'll likely knit this again if I need a quick knit but for now I'm happy to move on to bigger and more importantly, DIFFERENT things.  (I usually get blanket ennui midway through ONE... thankfully the ennui hit midway through #2.)

I celebrated by casting on something new.

Last post I couldn't decide between a number of projects but I was able to focus and decided on Hermoine's Everyday socks.

Lest you give me too much credit I actually decided to work on TWO pairs of socks, and Love and Liquor should be cast on tonight.  L&L is considerably harder and requires much brain power.  When I can't give it my full attention I'll switch to the considerably simpler Hermoine's.

I also managed to squeak out a charity section on a blanket that showed up last week.  The blanket's theme was from Monster's University- and so of course I had to knit a "Sully" section... mostly because I have the best family photo from Disneyland with that character.

 

And that folks leaves us here- new beginnings and new things to talk about.  Hopefully some smooth sailing on the knitting front ahead!

PS- I thought I should also add the cats are back to normal and very happy to be living a cone free existence again!

Distractions Everywhere

The good news is that, as of this posting, I'm on track to meet my goal for this week.  The final hat set is done (thank God) and brings the tally up to 6 hats and 3 booties.  GAH.  No one get pregnant for awhile, I NEED A BREAK.

Pattern: HAT- Cabled Teddy Hat by Marinda Lariz  BOOTIES- Cable Cuff Booties by Caroline Brooke
Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy Sport in "white"
Needles: Hat- US 6  Booties- US 5
Notes: Love BOTH patterns- SOOOOOO need a break from knitting them.

As far as the blanket goes I'm 2.5 pattern repeats from the goal and we'll see.  I want to be there on Wed.  I really do.  But I don't know it's going to be feasible.  New temporary goal is to cast off the blanket on Saturday and begin the blocking process.  No pictures because it looks the same as last time only like 2 repeats longer.

What I'm really struggling with is my "next thing".  I have "starter-itis" and I want to KNIT! ALL! THE! THINGS!  Specifically socks.  I'm due for a good sock.  The problem is I just can't decide on WHAT I'm going to knit.

Is it Love and Liquor in the much beloved Wollmeise?  My brain will likely BREAK at some point 'cuz this pattern is hard y'all.

 

Is it the Take Five socks from my ample Felici collection?  Simple. Simple.

 

Or is it Hermionie's Every Day socks in the Koigu that I feel strongly compelled to knit with?  Sorta Simple.

 

I can't decide.  Can you?

Ennui Strikes Again

Last week it was ALL MOMENTUM.... this week it's been a fight to just meet the goal.

The goal is met... but I'm having a tough time moving forward.  GUYS- I'm SO. OVER. this blanket pattern.  I'm ready for something new and exciting... which isn't great given there is still half to knit.

I finished the hat, except for seaming the ears on...

But on the upside I've also started the booties- mostly because I just don't want to knit the blanket right now.

Sadly I've knit so many of these I feel the same kind of ennui for the booties too BUT I'd like to give this set to the mom at school on Monday, so I need to drive forward on this.

And yes, I did reach the half way point on the blanket but I just can't seem to get myself  to knit the rest.

It doesn't help that it's been busy around here on the non-knitting front.  I feel like I'm running every day (because I am) to a different event for this guy.  (But at least we're improving..)

AND- the high maintenance cats are slightly more high maintenance this week thanks to a "very special operation" that only Bob Barker feels good about.  (I feel badly... but they are fine.)

Knitting time feels harder and harder to squeak out right now.  It happens but it feels like the time I get I have to fight so hard to make any progress.  SO, because despite the ennui I was able to get it mostly sorted... this week's goal:

1) Finish the hat and bootie set

2) Get 5 repeats done on the blanket.  5 is reasonable self.  You can do 5.  You got this.  Really.  YOU. CAN. DO. IT.  (so do it!)

Progress Report

True to my word, I met last week's goals and I'm proud of myself because I'm actually making decent progress on this plan.

Blanket #1 is off the needles, ends need to be woven in and blanket still needs to be blocked- but it's done.  And that feels good.

Blanket #2 is on the needles and moving at a decent clip.  I'm pleased that this pattern knits so fastly!  (Good choice me!)

When you put the two blankets together you can really see the difference.  I hope my cousin likes this and thinks it's neat... because I'm quite pleased with myself.

AND- I finally got off my butt and got my charity blanket section out the door.  Do I love it?  No.  But I couldn't just let it sit in the corner anymore.  I try to get those blankets out the door FAST and it was driving me nuts that I hadn't accomplished that yet.

 

Good thing it's done because I just received word I'm getting another.  I have stepped back considerably my charity involvement this year, allowing myself the time to work on my own stuff- but I'm hoping to pick that back up again later in the year.  I do have yarn for hats- which will get knit (eventually), but I've decided not to sweat it until the summer when I'm more focused on small, simple projects.

Since short term goal setting has been working well for me so I'll keep setting out my intentions.  I'd like to get to the half way point on blanket #2 by next Wed.  In that time I'd also like to knit the final baby hat for a pregnant preschool mom so I can get that obligation out the door too.

February has proven a fruitful month, and I'm hoping the pattern continues!  Back to knitting!

February Facts

FACT: if you make a point of knitting at every moment you possibly can, you see results faster.  WHO KNEW?

Something so glaringly obvious has been working in my favor this last week and the blanket is nearing it's completion, currently at 32.5 inches.

I'm going to do one more repeat of 24 rows (that require approximately 3 hours give or take), and then measure again before I cast off.  I'd like to have the blanket around the 36-37 inches mark.  

FACT: if your kid is Lego OBSESSED and you give him a kit to work on... you can squeeze in hour or so of knitting.

(!!!)

FACT: I LOVE YOU LEGO.

FACT: I'm sort of surprised with just how quickly this blanket is knitting up.  (I'm also extremely greatful.)

Looking ahead... the goal by the end of the weekend is:

a) Blanket 1 cast off

b) Blanket 2 cast on

c) get my charity obligation out the door (I'm woefully behind on that and I feel so guilty!)

Can't talk... must. keep. knitting.

Forge Ahead

Last blog post I left rather up in the air.  Uncertain what I was going to knit and living with the panic that these twins were going to show up and I wasn't going to be ready.  Knitting shouldn't be stressful but it is.  I have a LOT I want to get knit before June 25 this year and I'm not certain how I'm going to find the time to squeeze it all in.  Gentle reader I will spare you the suspense... I got it sorted.

Some looking around on Ravelry and I found my solution... right under my nose.  Pattern is "Mosaic Blanket" and delightfully simple to knit and looks smashing.  I'm sure when I knit it's clone in opposite colors I'm going to screw up a few thousand times mixing up the colors from this knit, but it's knitting along beautifully and fast.  I'm at 14" already.

I also got the monkey off my back and finished up the second last baby set, mostly because mom to be is looking more and more like she's going to need it soon.

Pattern: Cable Teddy Hat by Marinda Lariz & Cable Cuff Booties by Caroline Brooke
Yarn: Mission Falls 136 Merino Superwash (discontinued- but man have I gotten use out of that yarn in my stash... and it's ALL GONE now.)
Needles: US 6 for Hat and US 5 for Boots
Notes: WHY HAVE YOU NOT KNIT THESE PATTERNS YET?  (I'm fully willing to admit I might be getting just a little sick of these... ONE MORE TO GO.)

 

I'm in the thick of blanket knitting now.  It's going fast.  REALLY fast and I'm hoping to go into the long weekend with 20".  Here's the short term Feb goal: finish blanket #1 and be at least 10" into blanket #2.  Also, finish the final baby hat/booties set.

I can do this.  I just need to focus.  And get back to knitting.  I'll keep you posted!

February Follies

It's been another busy week here at Chateau Nennie, a lot of starts and stops and truthfully, frustration.

Let's start with the good... another finished Baby Bootie/Hat Set.  This time for my neighbor who's daughter is expecting a baby mid Feb.  This is grandbaby #1 and she was so excited she told us at like week 8... knowing we don't know her daughter and couldn't tell anyone else.  Thankfully all went well and baby is very nearly due.

Pattern: Booties- Cable Cuff Booties by Caroline Brook
              Hat- Cabled Teddy Hat by Marinda Lariz
Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy Sport (stash down!) in white
Needles: Booties- US 5 and Hat- US 6
Notes: I've knit this so often you've heard all I have to say on them- but I knit them regularly for a reason.  The results are smashing and highly satisfying and the mama is always happy with them.

I've already moved into the last 2 remaining sets.  The hat was already knit but I've also begun on the booties.  I'd like to finish this set up this week and gift to Mama by Monday next week if at all possible.  (Should be.)

I also got the chance to rescue a friend who had a knit-related crisis.  (She is not a knitter and as I far as she professes, not really all that crafty...)

 

I told her I should be able to help her out and a quick assessment and picking up the stitches later- I was able to assess the damage.  (not that bad at all)

Picking up the stitches, getting the right number of stiches knit together again and a quick finish off the top and this hat is ready to party.

SEEEEEEEE NON KNITTERS!?  You'll never know when you're crazy friend that knits all the time will come in handy!!

Now for the bad.  And it's ugly.

The blanket is gah.... the blanket is slowly sucking my desire to even knit.

I liked the swatch (last week) and figured out the right number of stitches and set to knitting.  All of this took me the better part of a DAY that I essentially wasted getting it right.  A DAY of childfree distractions.  (Which just feels SO wasteful...)

I got about 50 rows in and it just became straight up apparent that it wasn't working.  The pattern doesn't show up that well.  Don't let the picture deceive you- it actually shows up well in a photo for some reason, but seeing the blanket in real life you lose the pattern and it just didn't look right.

And so- I frogged it.  *sobs*  I kept the cast on because I figure whatever I'll do will be mosaic-y and I'll likely be within the number of stiches give or take a few.  The length, after I pulled it off the needles, was good so I at least know where I need to be.  (Although I'm considering going up a needle size...)

Truthfully, as of this writing, I'm not sure what I'll knit.  I'm still stubbornly holding on to this "knit the same pattern reversed" idea that maybe I just need to break free of... for my own sanity.  I'm heavily leaning to "Baby Bricks" which I have done a lot.  (A LOT)

What sucks is that this blanket is holding me up.  I'm stressed.  Babies are due in March and I'm already likely going to be sending them late.  I need to gear up, get myself sorted and SET TO KNITTING.  I also am apparently going to need to scientifically figure out a way to slow down time and to sneak in a million extra stitches.

So that's where I'm at this week gentle reader... I'm sort of lost in the woods on what to do and where to go from here.  If any of you have any inspirations- PLEASE SHARE THEM... I'm feeling a little lost.

Busy Busy

Somehow it's January 27th and I am just getting around to a 2nd blog post.  That should give you an idea of the kind of pace that we've been keeping around here.  One can hardly sit down and knit- let alone post to a blog!  There's just been a lot of background distraction this month and it doesn't lend itself very well to focus on other things- especially hobbies.

BUT- the child is currently sleeping in and I cannot... CANNOT go another day thinking "I need to update the blog" so here we are- finally getting around to telling you what's up.

The good news is that my JAN 26 deadline on the warm smooshy socks was MET and I delivered them to my patient friend last night.

 

Pattern: Inglenook by Adrian Bizilia
Yarn: Illimani Yarn Silky Baby Llama
Needles: US 4 & 5
Notes: This is the first time I have ever done short row heels and only a small handful of times that I've done toe up.  The toe up was much for satisfying this time than my other experiences with it, but I'm not sure I'm in love with the short row heel.  It's clever, and it works for this pattern, but for an average sock I'm not sure I'm convinced.

The pattern is a great smooshy reading sock kind of pattern- and the yarn!  OH THE YARN is sooooo nice and soft and SOFT.  Did I mention soft?

I had originally bought the yarn in a sweater quantity - but realized after a disappointing swatch that the silk weighed the sweater down and it would never drape as nicely as I would like.  Oh well- it does fulfill a destiny with these socks and who knows- there might be some more warm reading socks made up again in this stuff.  The socks are quite cozy and are a perfect "stay in on a cold night" kind of present that could be perfect for a lot of people.

With the socks finally off my back I was able to switch gears and back into some of the other priorities.  I delivered 2 white baby hats to my friends when I was in Saskatoon 2 weekends ago (HELLO -40 degrees every day!!)  Eager to have them out I didn't even take a pic of the 2nd one!  But never fear- I'm already working on another white hat, and booties, for my neighbor's daughter and I'm hoping to have that finished up by the weekend.

I also, thanks to a whole day of being able to devote my attention to it, (THANK YOU MiL for babysitting!) was able to finally get around to swatching and planning out the baby blankets for my cousin expecting twins.

 

I love the idea of 2 blankets in opposing dominant colors.... (one with pink dominance and the same one again this time with white dominance) and I finally got around to casting on and knitting.

I'm a bit anxious about these blankets as my cousin is due in March and I know that twins in particular aren't great at going full term.  I need to really focus in and get moving on this one and I'm hoping now that the math and figuring out part is all complete, I can focus soley on just knitting, fast.  This is a pattern I've designed in part with a stitch dictionary- and I'm planning to make it available once I have the projects knit.

I still need to squeeze in a brown bootie set (hat is done) for another mom at preschool in the next 2 weeks and still one more hat and booties before the end of Feb.  And then, please mom's at preschool, let's lay off the baby making so I can knit other things?  There is so much to knit and there is NO TIME it seems, to actually knit it.

I will try to be better at updates now that some things are winding down here- and send me a little knitting mojo?  I need to get some closure on some projects here so I can start planning out other things.

New Year, New Distractions

I had hoped that my first post in the New Year would be to show you a completed pair of those snuggly socks.  Alas- I have nothing to show you except basically where we were the last time I was here telling you I hoped to finish them shortly.

I'm seeing my friend on the 26th and I am DETERMINED that they will be gifted to her on that day- so I need to get these done- hopefully I will carve out a little time this weekend to add some stitches and next week it will be THE priority.

Distracting me this week is a little crisis on the kitty front.  My little black kitten shadow started limping Wednesday morning.  I'm not entirely sure how he even hurt his foot, but when I couldn't get him into my regular vet, I had to take him to vet emerge.  (Parker will now have to go to a lesser college because we spent his college fund on Shadow at the vet.)  A shaved paw and some xrays later they think that he sprained a toe and ordered him to a week (minimum) kennel rest.  I'm not sure what's sadder at this point- a kitten with a limp or a kitten ordered to stay in a kennel and not play.

Thankfully my mother lent me her dog kennel so Shadow can have a larger place to stretch and convalesce - but he is not happy.  It's also a bit of a pain because we need to stay somewhat close to home to make sure Shadow has access to his litter box fairly regularly.  We have managed to avoid accidents thus far and even have found ways to entertain him.

Here, Shadow is watching his favorite YouTube show- called "Party at the Snow Hole" where various birds and squirrels come to visit and eat nuts.  He loves to keep a close eye on the birds and every so often tries to give them a swat.

We even downloaded an App for him to play (low impact exercise is ok)- and here's a short video of my little guys chasing a mouse.  (Must keep them keen on finding and killing mice!)

As of this post, Shadow is still limping, which is a bit of a concern.  If you think of it can you send him a little "get well" mojo?  I'd prefer it if we could keep away from the vet for a bit (gah so many vet visits!)-  and just have my happy, healthy and playful kittens back.

I've also had to set the socks aside because I wanted to take 2 hats to take with me this upcoming weekend for friends that are both expecting their second little ones.  I opted out of booties for both of them because I just don't have the time.  I had some leftover white yarn and thought Polar bear hats would be cute.  (The bows are because my friend just found out she's having a girl.)

Once I get back from my girls weekend this weekend (so excited!) I'll be able to refocus and get back to finishing those socks and focusing on the 2 baby blankets I need to knit.  (That's another post for another day...)  Hoping to get into a big swing of things here soon!