Knitting plans for baby boy.

Wednesday we learned we are having a baby boy! So now that I know for sure the baby is a boy, I have tons of projects I really want to knit! It is a bit overwhelming really. I have a stack of patterns that I want to make (I am apparently not capable of picking one pattern then making it, but have to print out a ton of them, lol). The stack is at least an inch thick, lol

I just ordered some yarn for baby projects. I was going to wait until we get the tax return, but I just couldn't help myself ;) I got yarn for a gift blanket and for a blanket for my baby. Yarn for a blue wool soaker, and some discounted sport yarn for making a pair of baby leggings. My order should come sometime next week! I can't wait to start on a new baby project! I'll make the gift blanket first, since that baby is due sooner. I like the pattern and yarn I picked out, so hopefully the parents like it too! I doubt the baby will care much for quite a while, so long as it is soft and cuddly :)

I started another wool soaker last night. If I work on it for a couple hours, I should get it done today.  After this soaker is finished, I won't make anymore newborn sized ones for this baby. I hope he really won't need more than 3 in each size, lol The yarn I bought will be for the next size up or bigger, and the leggings will be made to match. The leggings should be a bit big, because the baby won't really need them until it gets cooler or he starts to crawl.

I'll post a picture of the soaker once I finish it, and of the yarn when it arrives next week.

That's all for now :)

My first wool soakers.

I knit up two wool soakers last week, and thought I'd share pictures of them! I think they turned out pretty well, though I plan to make a few more changes when I make the pattern again. The pattern I used was "Cheeky Soaker" from Ravelry.com I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes yarn in Bulky. It was some I had bought for a jacket for myself, a project that I will never get around to making. One hank was more than enough for one soaker, in fact two hanks would make three newborn size soakers. Solid color Wool of the Andes Bulky (they stopped selling the handpainted, Grrrr!) is only $5 per hank. I don't think that's a bad price for a cover that can go 2-3 weeks between washes!

Front

Back

From the pictures you can see that I made different waistbands on them. The top one is the one I made first, and I really don't like how it turned out. It has an enclosed elastic waistband, but it makes it really thick and holds it open all weird. I don't think I will make an enclosed waistband again. The second one I made a 2X2 rib waistband with a drawstring, and I like this much better.

There are a couple things I don't really care for on the bottom/second one. Firstly, I really don't like the way the sewn bind off looks or the way it holds the ribbing open. I will use Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy bind off next time, like I did with the first diaper (because I was too lazy at the time to look up how the pattern said to bind off, and Jenny's method is my favorite bind off where stretch is required). I like the way it looks, and it doesn't force the ribbing open. Second issue I have is with how the tush looks. I think ribbing from hip to hip would look better than just ribbing in the center, so I will make that adjustment next time as well. I did change the decrease on the leg holes. The pattern called for them to be leaning towards the edging, I made them lean away to get a neater looking edge.

I have a bunch of this yarn left, like 8 1/2 hanks. I would like to buy a couple hanks in a different color for some variety later on, but for now you just can't beat using up stash yarn! We hope to find out if our baby is a little guy or a little gal tomorrow!! I have a baby gift to make before very much longer, so will be making a yarn order next month (come on, tax return!!). I don't think I'll be able to help myself from getting a couple hanks of yarn to make a wool soaker that isn't gender neutral!

Before I forget, I did not prep the covers at all yet! I will wash and lanolize them when I wash up the rest of the baby stuff around the middle of April. A note on washing: I had switched to soap nuts on the recommendation of a friend (mainly for cloth diapering, but find they are great for all our laundry). I've read that soap nuts (in liquid form) are perfect for washing wool because it is low sudsing and so gentle. I can use the Lasinoh brand lanolin that I will be using for nursing care to lanolize the wool as well. I think it is awesome that I don't have to buy anything extra or fancy to take care of the wool soakers. I hope they work really well, because so far I love how cheap and easy they are to make, and not having to wash them daily will be a huge plus.

Quilted Lattice Child's Sweater - Finished

I just finished this sweater for my six year old daughter. The idea was to use up some leftover yarn, and while I accomplished that, I also had to buy yarn to finish it :/ I think it turned out nice regardless though.

I had 2 1/2 hanks of Knit Picks Bulky Wool of the Andes yarn in the hand painted color "Juicy." I worked the body and the sleeves in a quilted lattice stitch pattern, which was quite simple though I had to do some stitch shifting at the beginning of some of the rows when worked in the round (body only). I like the stitch pattern. It looks nice, but is super easy to do. I had just enough yarn to finish the body and sleeves (which I worked flat for easier increasing, then sewed). Since I ran out of yarn, I tried to order more from Knit Picks, but they discontinued the hand painted colors for that yarn :( My little girl is a fan of black, so I substituted two strands of Vanna's Glamour yarn in black and one strand of Knit Picks Stroll in black. I worked the yoke portion in the black, decreasing evenly around.

The entire sweater took a handful of evenings to finish, estimated at around 15 hours of work or so. My daughter is very happy with her new sweater. I don't think it looks so bad for another one of my "just winging it" projects. Now to get back to working on my husband's jacket.

Man socks, FINISHED!

I finally finished those grey socks for my husband, hooray! I used Knit Picks comfy fingering yarn and kinda made up the pattern as I went along. He is pleased with them, so mission successful!

Homespun sweater, FINISHED!!

Hooray! The sweater for my seven-year-old daughter is done! I just finished it a couple hours ago, and am pretty pleased with how it turned out. Oversized is an understatement, and it will likely fit her well into the teen years. It is nice and fluffy and warm and easily fits over a few layers of shirts. Overall it turned out just how I wanted, albeit a little wider than I imagined it would (didn't do a gauge swatch or any math before starting).

I used lion brand homespun yarn, on a size 10 circular needle. Seed stitch, without following a pattern, just a basic and simple sweater. Shoulders are seamed using 3 needle bind off, so the only sewing I did was to tack the inside of the collar down. I braided a cord to keep the collar pulled in until she grows into the shoulders.

Quick knitting update.

Just an update about my knitting. I have not been good with posting. I am currently 12 weeks and 3 days pregnant, and have been so tired it is a miracle when I get anything done. So my blogs and knitting have been suffering here lately.

I have been doing some knitting in the evenings when I can manage to stay awake, lol I scrapped that gray pair of socks for my husband and restarted with a much more stretchable stitch pattern. I am done with the foot and heel, and have a couple inches of progress on the legs. I think they are looking nice so far and hopefully I'll manage to have them done in a week or two.

I started an over sized sweater for my 7-year-old daughter recently. I think I talked a little about converting a poncho I didn't really care for into a sweater for her. I actually started on it! It is a pinkish hued (the color name is Parfait) LionBrand Homespun yarn, which will be good for a little girl who loves everything pink. I am almost done with the body and will split for the arm holes in a couple more rows. I am using size 10 needles so it will go a bit faster. I was going to use my size 11 needles, but the threaded part on the cable broke off inside of my needle (wasn't using anymore force than normal to tighten it) :( So much for that cable and set of needles :( Next time I make an order to Knit Picks I will buy a replacement. I was pretty upset over it, as I love my nickle plated Knit Picks needles. Thank goodness their needles aren't expensive.

The orange dress is done. I finished the knitting a while ago. I crocheted around the edges a couple days ago, and just finished weaving in all the ends last night. Feels great to have it finished! I think it turned out pretty nice. Now comes the hard part though, blocking it. The skirt is huge! I have no idea how I am going to block it unless I just do sections at a time. I'll post pictures after I get it blocked.

I have a ton of projects planned for the future. My baby is due in May, and I have a huge stack of patterns already. I have patterns for hats, blankets, leggings, pants, wool soakers, rompers, sleep sacks, bibs, washcloths, and anti-scratch mittens. Besides the stuff for my baby, I will need to find a pattern specially for my niece's baby that is due in March. I usually make blankets for expectant babies of family and friends, and I never make the same one twice. To make things harder (in the area of gift giving anyway), the couple is waiting until birth to find out the gender, so whatever I make will have to be gender neutral. It may be tricky finding a gender neutral pattern and yarn that is still unique and pretty. I will be doing a ton of knitting!

That's all for now. This is my 3rd blog post today, and frankly I am all blogged out, lol Hopefully I'll remember and post a picture of those socks later today. :)

Knitters block.

This past month has not been good for knitting. I managed to get a set of placemats made for a wedding gift, but everything else I touch goes horribly wrong. Of course I forgot to snap a quick picture before wrapping it :( The socks I was making for my husband are a mess! The pattern just didn't have enough stretch to it to compensate for the cotton yarn. I don't even want to look at the orange dress anymore with all the problems I've had with it. I am having issues shaping the top :/ I have reknit that top at least 4 times. I am trying a very simple approach now, but it's looking like I may have to go an entirely different route with the top of the dress.

I have never really had problems shaping garments as I knit. I am a pretty good progress knitter and do most of my knitting this way. I just seem to be stuck in a bit of "knitters block" if such a thing even exists. This has been quite frustrating and is sucking the joy out of knitting. I may need to make something from a pattern just to feel like I can knit again.

I will be working on the orange dress again today, though I don't have much hope for it going well. Would it be too weird to knit the bodice from the top down, then join it to the skirt? If this attempt doesn't work any better than before, I may consider making the top separately. I will be so glad when the dress is finally finished. It is such a large project, so will be nice to have it complete. Obviously I won't be wearing it to a wedding (wedding was nearly 3 months ago) but will take some pictures.

Besides the orange dress I don't really have any projects going. I am done messing with the socks for my husband. I will reuse the yarn to make socks, but I am still too upset to do that now, lol I saw a really cute baby blanket on Knit Picks website, but can't spend the money on the yarn right now. I have random scraps of yarn that I should find a way to use up. I have an afghan stored away that needs finished still. It was a crochet afghan I had nearly finished several years ago. I really should finish that someday. Speaking of crocheting, maybe I should just crochet the top of that orange dress. It would be much easier to control the shaping and make a much more drastic increase without it looking bizarre. How sad I didn't think of this before, and frankly a bit embarrassing...

Wish me luck, I need it!