Steggie #2 finished!

I finished up the weaving in of ends and finishing the hood up last night. Sewed the hood spines on and sewed in the zipper today. It fits her great and she seems quite happy with it. Now what to make next ;)

eLoomanator's Diagonal Knit Dishcloth

When I bought the Swish yarn for Steggie from Knit Picks, I grabbed a skein of Dishie in the color "Maps" as well. Dishie makes great dishrags, and I am in need of more (my husband is obsessive about throwing them in the dirty clothes hamper). eLoomanator's designs had caught my eye on Ravelry.com, and her Diagonal Knit Dishcloth has been printed out and sitting in my heap of patterns for awhile now. It is a variation of "Grandmother's Favorite," a very popular dish cloth pattern that I've knitted up before. I knit this up in an evening while watching tv.

 See how little of the skein was used? I'm hoping to get 2 more (even if I have to make one smaller).

Just a close up of the center

Baby Sweaters.

 I used up a ball of leftover Super Saver making a sweater for my baby. I used a top-down raglan recipe I found via ravelry.com The Incredible, Custom-Fit Raglan Sweater was a fun knit. I kept it simple and fairly plain, though I may make a more creative version in the future. I made it a tad large so he can grow into it over the winter.

 This is the earliest picture I have, one sleave finished. I didn't decrease on the sleeves for shaping at all, rather I decreased right before adding the cuff.

 All the knitting except the collar is finished here and the ends aren't woven it, but I just had to try it on him to see if it fit :) When your teething baby is in a good mood, you need to seize the moment, lol

 Poorly taken picture, but all finished!

 This is the second sweater. I have a few more rows done on it than is shown here, but not enough to warrant a new picture. I am doubtful that I have enough blue to finish the sleeves, but I plan to try anyway. The blue yarn I believe is some recycled acrylic that is either Red Heart or Bernat; I bought it too long ago for me to remember. The grey yarn is a smaller weight, closer to a DK or Sport than Worsted, and honestly I have no idea what brand it is. The horrid darker stripe is pencil lead... my 7-year-old colored the yarn darker for me, but left it a surprise that I didn't discover until I had knit a bit with it and my fingers were all grey and yucky!!

No pattern used for this blue sweater, just a basic bottom up using a geometric stitch pattern I'd used on a sweater for my husband years ago. I adapted the stitch pattern to be shorter/smaller to look better on a smaller man ;) That old light-blue sweater I made for the hubby was a complete disaster, by the way. I didn't check my gauge (hated it as much then as I do now, only I didn't knit on gauge then). It looked nice until he put it on and it became apparent it would fit at least two of him, lol

I am not terribly fond of using cheap acrylics, especially for baby clothing. This is what I had that needed used up though, and I plan to try to soften it up some. I have never attempted this, but googling has led me to believe there is a way to do it that involves using hair conditioner... I'm a touch skeptical, but it's worth a try. I won't attempt the experiment until I have the second sweater completed as well.

Striped longies complete!

The longies were finished a bit ago (my concept of time is way off right now, so best guess would be a couple weeks). I have not tried these on the little boy yet, as I am slowly working on lanolizing them. They are sitting in their 3rd lanolin soak as I type.

Hooray for something finished! lol

Braided longies - update/finished

I just finished weaving in the ends on the braided longies! I'll lanolize them over the next couple days and then post a picture of them in use :)

Lacy baby hat, completed!

Again I am slow posting for finished projects : / I made these hats as a gift for the baby I knitted the Larkin blanket for. I used some of the left over yarn, Knit Picks Comfy Sport in "Sea Foam." I used a free pattern found here on Ravelry.com. The hats took very little time to knit up, maybe a couple hours each. It was a fun little knit that should make cute little summer hats for a cute little girl : )

Wool shorties, complete!

Just a quick post to show the wool shorties I finished! I used just under 2 skeins of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in the color Merlot Heather (which leaves me one skein left for making a soaker!). The shorties are a size small, but I should be able to use them right away, just pulled up to his armpits, lol

Slippers for kiddo.

This is something I made today, just because. I used scrap yarn and a random pattern off Ravelry. It took me about an hour and a half to make these during school. My 6-year-old likes them, despite the child's size being pretty snug on her. Not too bad for a random little knit : )

Washcloths for baby!

I purchased Knit Picks Dishie yarn to make gift placemats about a year ago. I had quite a bit of leftover yarn, so I decided to make some cute washcloths for the baby.

I won't post which patterns I used (because I'm lazy) but I found all of them on Ravelry, for free. Be forewarned, none of the following washcloths have been washed or blocked, so they aren't exactly "finished" looking.

 The first washcloth I made was this one: a Dalek!

The pattern was called "Exfoliate!" lol

 In case this doesn't show up that well, this is supposed to be Joe Cool.

Cute little fishies; these are probably my favorites. It is surprising how little yarn it takes to make one of these. I made the variegated blue with a ball of yarn barely larger than a golf ball.

These are the wash mitt version of the fish washcloths, sized for a little kiddie hand.

See? Perfect size for a toddler.

"pinkgreen Knit Wool Tie Wrap," Completed!

I've made a few wool soakers by now, and wanted to try something other than the pull-up kind for a change. I found a wrap style soaker on Ravelry, and whipped one up really quickly (seriously it only took part of an afternoon to knit up). I made it in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky (discontinued handpainted in the color "Polar." I really hate that they don't sell the handpainted colors currently as many of them were very pretty), and it turned out quite well I thought. I made the newborn size and used about half of the hank.

I think the wrap will be very easy to get a really good fit with, and should fit for a longer amount of time than the pull up style. The wrap pictured above was made for someone else, so I won't be trying it on my baby. I did however make another wrap with worsted weight yarn for my baby, though I did not take any pictures of it. Since I have all the wool items sitting in a lanolin bath at the moment, pictures will have to wait. Obviously the bulky weight yarn made a little stiffer, thicker, and bulkier soaker, but should also absorb more. Both soakers turned out really well and I will be making more of these; hopefully I'll remember to take pictures when I do ; P

Buzzy Bee Baby Blanket

I actually finished this baby blanket quite awhile ago, I am just now getting around to posting. I enjoyed working the pattern which I got from Knit Picks. I used Knit Picks Swish worsted yarn in the amount called for in the pattern, and have barely less than a full skein of each color left over (maybe a cute matching hat?) It only took me 32 hours to complete the knitting and weaving in of the ends, and the end result looks well worth the time spent : )

 Finished and unblocked!

 This is the blanket, lightly blocked.

 Just a little closer shot of the bees.

Folded and ready to be set aside for baby!

Striped Longies, Complete!

I got distracted by baby patterns on Ravelry, else this would have been posted an hour ago!

So, I finished the striped pair of baby longies. I can't really say that I followed a pattern for these really. I kind of Frankensteined it using techniques from a few patterns, and inserted my own touches here and there. I am tired, so not much detail about this project. Here are the pictures!

Go-Veralls, Completed!

I completed the "On the Go-Veralls" pants last night. Over all I really like the finished product. The pattern was fine to work up, though I did not use the suggested gusset moderation, but just did my own instead. I haven't put buttons on yet, and the straps are a bit short. I ran out of yarn while knitting up the straps, so they are 4 inches long instead of 6. I am hoping they will stretch enough so it will still fit (fully stretched they are close to 6.5 inches long). It would be very easy to attach more yarn and make the straps longer, though I've no idea when my next yarn order will be. The pattern called for 200 yards worsted weight for the 0-6 month size, and I used 220 yards (with exact gauge). I would have had enough if I'd left the gusset increases out, but I don't want to frog and redo that much of the project.

Finally, pictures that show how pretty this yarn is! The legs don't look bad here, and I am glad that I decided to make them a bit narrower. The final project looks pretty big for 0-6 month size. I plan to make this again, and will go down a needle size or two.

 The bib portion here looks a bit small to me. I am interested to see how it looks on.

 Here is the back. You can see that I added three rows of short rows for extra diaper room. The pattern didn't call for it (another area I used too much yarn).

 The suggested gusset mod looked strange to me. It had a row of purl stitches running between the gusset increases and the legs, and just looked kinda out of place to me. I just did my favorite left and right leaning increases for sock toes, and am pleased with how clean it looks. Please excuse my sloppy kitchener stitches, I straightened them up a bit after taking the picture.

I started a pair of longies last night after finishing the above project. I am nearly done with it, so should be posting pictures of it either tonight or tomorrow morning. It is the crazy black and orange striped pair. I was thinking something along the lines of construction signs, but working on it just makes me think of bees. Anyway, there will be no losing the boy wearing those things, lol

Hopefully I'll get around to washing and blocking the bee baby blanket later today. It has been sitting, all folded up, mocking me for days now.

Little Girl Leg-warmers, Completed!

My 6-year-old's leg-warmers are done! I didn't use a pattern, just cast on enough stitches to fit around her leg and knit until they were the length she wanted. I made them two-at-time, so despite the picture, they are exactly the same length. She shouldn't grow out of them anytime soon either. When she first put them on, she pulled them up around her thighs, lol

I used most of the free skein of Knit Picks Brava worsted yarn. It is nice for an acrylic yarn, and the color Freesia is pretty.

Braided Longies, Complete!

I just got my yarn for the baby pants today, and I already completed a pair! I'd say I worked for approximately 7 hours throughout the school day and the evening. I used the "Braided Longies" pattern by Raya Budrevich of www.blissfulknits.com (I got the pattern off Ravelry.com of course). Mine didn't turn out exactly like the ones pictured on Ravelry, but I'm fine with that. I do believe the yarn I used was a little lighter, and my gauge was a little on the small side where rows are concerned (next time I make this pattern with this yarn, I will go up to a size 8 needle instead of the size 7 I used this time). The pants still look nice, and I've no complaints about the pattern.

I made the newborn sized ones, and have over half a skein leftover. I used the dark green Wool of the Andes Worsted, called "Aurora Heather." It is a beautiful heathered green, and the pictures just don't do it justice. I am pretty pleased with the amount of yarn used. I guesstimated that I would need almost 2 skeins for newborn longies, but had a tiny bit of a panic moment when I saw just how small the skeins looked!

 The 3 rows of short rows did add a little bit of extra room in the tush. I'm not sure they were needed, the cable along the sides adds a ton of stretch (though I have yet to have experience with the famous cloth "fluff butt" that is supposedly so difficult to fit pants over).

 I choose the braided cable pattern along the side.

 They look pretty long, and I did make the legs half an inch longer than the pattern called for. I do think they will look quite a bit wider and not so stick-thin and tall once I get them lanolized and blocked (or actually on a baby ;).

I suppose that's about all there is to say about my first knit longies. I have a few other projects to get finished before I start another pair. My 6-year-old has been waiting patiently for me to finish her leg-warmers, and I have the bee baby blanket to block still. There is of course that jacket for my husband, and socks for me, but those aren't going to get touched while there is baby stuff to knit, lol

Snapdragon Soaker Completed!

I started a wool soaker over the weekend and just finished it today. I used the "Snapdragon Soaker" pattern I found on Ravelry.com It was an okay pattern and I don't really have any complaints about it. I do prefer the pattern I used previously though, simply because of the ribbing that allows more stretch. I will have to use both on a baby to know which one actually functions better though (if either one is actually superior at all).

This was my first time working with Knit Pick's "Full Circle" 100% wool, and I am quite happy with it. It feels nice in hand and makes a soft finished product. The only complaint is pretty minor, and that is that it tends to untwist a bit as I work with it. I am not too surprised though, as it is single ply. I am a little sad that this yarn is limited edition, because I would love to work with it again. Knit Picks offers this yarn in both bulky and worsted weights, and I would imagine longies knit up in "Full Circle" worsted weight would turn out quite nicely.

I made a few alterations to the pattern, like usual :) I knit this up in size small. I cast on 8 fewer stitches than called for, then increased those 8 stitches back into the soaker once the waist was complete. I've found that using smaller needles for the waist isn't enough, and they always tend to be a bit too stretchy and loose. I am hoping that the little bit of a decrease will eliminate the need for a drawstring or elastic. It is still quite stretchy though, and shouldn't cut in at all. I chose rolled cuffs for this soaker. I thought it would look cleaner with the body of the soaker being all stockinette stitch. I am happy with my choice and think it looks better than ribbed cuffs would have. I also didn't make the raise quite as long as the pattern called for. It seemed like the leg holes were oftly large, and both my other babies have been tall (in the back) and skinny. I took a chance and made this to fit better on a skinny baby; now watch him come out super chunky, lol

The balls of yarn are 100g and 110 yards. I have a little left over after making the size small soaker. I have one more ball of this yarn, and will be making another soaker with it. Maybe I'll have just enough yarn left over to make a little hat for him too : )

Now for the pictures!

Front

Back

Side

Comparison with newborn sized soaker made previously

Baby leggings!

I finished two pairs of baby leggings a couple days ago. This was my first time using Knit Picks Felici Sport stripping yarn. I got the color Depths. I like it well enough. It is pretty soft and pleasant to work with, but I see what others say about weird little flecks of color where they don't belong and the occasional light spot between colors. I am making these for a little boy to crawl around in though, so I don't really mind the imperfections that much. Besides I paid less than $6 for two skeins which made two pairs, with some scrap yarn left over. I don't think I would use this yarn for making a gift, but is awesome for my own kiddos. In fact, both of my daughters were begging that I make striped socks for them, lol

This is the first pair I made. They turned out well, though I kinda don't like that thin strip of dark blue on the top cuff. I am all about symmetry, so it kinda bugs my inner ocd.

Here are the two pairs next to each other, as you can see, I made the second pair on the left longer than the first pair. There isn't anything in the picture for size reference (totally spaced it out!) but the shorter pair measures about 8 1/2 inches.

I sort of used a pattern for these, as in I looked to see how many to cast on and about how long to make them (the first anyways). I might make some later with different yarn and maybe incorporate some cables. This was just my first attempt at making simple leggings, and I'm pleased with them. I knit both of these over the weekend after I finished the Larkin baby blanket, so I think they are a pretty quick little project. Some super bright stripped green ones would be cute next time!

Larkin baby blanket

I finished the Larkin baby blanket a couple days ago, and think it turned out pretty nice.

Here it is, unblocked.

Blocked, but still wet (why it looks blotchy).

Close up of the edging, which took forever!

All folded and ready to be wrapped up!

Of all the pictures, this one is the most accurate color-wise.

I really enjoyed working the leaf pattern. It was simple but still interesting and fun. It took a couple pattern repeats to memorize the lace pattern, and I could still manage it while multitasking. I really liked the yarn as well, but that was no surprise. I really enjoyed working with Knit Pick's Comfy in fingering weight, so it makes sense that I really liked it in sport weight as well. The Sea Foam color isn't quite what I was going for, but I like the finished product quite well anyways.

I tracked hours spent working on it for fun (blocking not included, or course). I put in a total of 63 hours over the course of about 4-5 days (they kinda blurred together, so I'm not sure which it is!). I pretty much worked all day long on this blanket during the days I worked on it. I spent as much time as I could during bookwork hours in home school, and all my free time in the evenings working on it as well. I started watching Bones on Netflix (love that show despite the yuck factor!) and am now on season 8, lol. My weekend was spent relaxing with my feet up, watching Bones, and knitting like a mad woman! lol Not all of that time was spent working on this blanket, but a good chunk of it was. I don't think the number of hours is too bad honestly. I've made socks that took upwards of 100 hours (they were beautiful too, lol), so 63 for a pretty little baby blanket is a nice number :)

MoH dress.

So this dress has been done for what seems like forever. My issue was finding some way to block it, and yes, it seriously needed to be blocked. My husband finally found me something that would work, and not cost us an arm and a leg. He found workout mats at Big Lots (the grey mats in the picture below). 4 of them for $12! I honestly could have used another set, but the dress did fit on the mats plus the ones I already had. Who knew floor mats were either so hard to find or so stinking expensive?

Here it is, all blocked out :)