Winter Knits

So I promised pictures of finished objects last time. I added a couple of knits from last winter that I haven't blogged about in the past.

This hat and mitten set was made for KD last winter. Too bad he won't wear the mitts at all and the hat is getting too small.

So because those were too small, I made KD this Thorpe hat. I made it a little too big so it is slightly felted to fit. I couldn't get him to model it for me. Maybe he'll let me later.

Miss M got these mittens last winter but they were too big. She just recently has decide they fit a little better. The cuffs are knit in a mosaic pattern. That was a lot of fun to do, I should try that again in some other project.

These mittens are mine, I used Lamb's Pride worsted for them. I love them. Super warm. I can't remember the name of the pattern it is around here somewhere.

Since I liked my felted mittens so much I made these for Noley. I thought he might not wear them but he loves them! I could have left the thumb off though, he won't use that part. I did think they should be a little longer in the cuff area, so next time I'll have to remember that. This was an improvised pattern.

I dyed up the last of my wool supply the other day and put them up on Etsy if you're interested. Just a little picture to tempt you:)

I am loving the dyeing and 3 skeins are gone to happy knitters. I'll have to see how the sales go before I can convince BDiddy that this might be worth the time. I think it is of course but he needs a little more proof. My 3 favorites in the first batch sold right off the bat so I have to try to reproduce them. My current favorite is the Blue skein 2nd from the left. I call it Blueberry Pie. I know I can reproduce that one because I wrote down the formula. So I'll dye one up for me some other time. What kind of colors are your favorites? I like purples, blues and greens the most.

Well time to go do a little baking with Miss M for some Momma and Daughter time. Knit On!

Stir the Dye Pot

What?!? You are wondering where I have been?

Yesterday you would have found me here.

I finally got time to dye up some yarn. Thank goodness for Thomas the Train who kept Noley occupied for a while. I would have had some big issues with out something to keep him busy.

The hardest part of dying yarns for me is waiting for the yarn to dry so I can wind it up into pretty skeins. Oh and parting with them will be hard too. So pretty, if I do say so myself.

Here are my finished projects. Now to figure out how to get good pictures of the yarn.

The green has less yellow than this picture, reminds me of a snake for some reason.

This is pretty close to the real thing. Deep purple with blues and teal.
I named this one Redwood Forest. This is a pretty accurate picture. This skein will be hard to part with, I named this color Chocolate Covered Cherries. Obviously in tribute to Valentines day.
Last but not least this skein is for my sister Naomi. She went to Mexico recently and asked for something with blues. I think I nailed it. I'm sending this off to her today.

The base yarn is Louet Gems superwash 100% merino wool. Each skein is approximately 420yards and 4oz of fingering weight sock yarn. It is super soft and squishy. Drop me an email if you must have one before I get them on Etsy:)

Next post: Pictures of KD's hat, Noley's mitts and the start of the Asymmetrical Cardigan!

Keeping my head above water

Today is busy with 2 doctors appointments one for me and one for Noley. They are spread way apart in the day which means I will have to hang out in Duluth for most of the day. Bummer:) I am planning on hitting the library for some books on knitting and dyeing. Hopefully Noley cooperates with me and doesn't run off in the library, scream and yell, poop his pants, or pull books off the shelf. Yesterday we took a trip to Yarn Harbor after a different appt and he did OK until the lady who worked there asked me to move him from where he was playing nicely. She was worried he would pull over the button stand on himself even though he was only running his cars on the bottom of the stand which was a little like a hill to him. Anyway I picked him up and he had a fit so we had to go out. Next time I go to the yarn shops I am NOT taking him. He is too young to keep occupied for long. There is something about that store for him. It has lots of nooks and crannies for him to hide in and the last 2 times we were there he had a quiet moment in a corner that resulted in smelly pants. Who can blame him? We all like a little privacy.

There are entirely too many things on my list of things to do, knit, improve ect.
I have to start prioritizing. I am overwhelming myself with things to do and ways to be a better person. Focus. I will work on a realistic list of things for myself this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend it is going to be SUPER cold. Below zero readings with wind chills in the -60 ranges. Uggg. Bundle up out there! I will be knitting something warm and cozy for my kiddos on my breaks at work. I am making a Thorpe hat for KD instead of a felted hat. I think he wear this one more. Noley's hat needs to be reknit, I decided it was felted a little too much and didn't fit as well as I liked so Liam got it. It barely fits him! No more late night felting episodes for me! Stay warm this weekend and Knit On!

New Year New Look

I decided I needed a new look. What do you think?

Fiberlicious Weekend

This weekend BDiddy was out of town fishing. So Jess and I got together to wind yarn and knit. We got a little crazy and wound anything and everything that wasn't wound into a ball. I was up until about 2:00am! Here's Jess's loot.



A while back we got an obscene deal on a bunch of Bartlett yarns. Even now I wish I would have just bought all of the yarn they had that day it was such a good deal.

I did manage to finally finish my Embossed Leaves socks.
Yarn: Skacel Trekking XXL- 1 skein
Needles: Started with 1.5 US, 2.5mm steel needles, switched to Knit Picks DPN's after Christmas.
Started December 2007, finished January 2008.
Size Women's Medium

I once said I would never make socks.
Never say never.





Friday the mail came and this was in it! My shipment from Hello Yarn. I managed to hold off with the experiments until Sunday.



I did 2 mini skeins for practice. Here they are before re-skeining.

After I re-skeined them.

I had to try it out a little too to see how it knit. Using a baby sock pattern, you can find the link to it here. The yarn is 100% Merino superwash wool in fingering weight. It is super soft!

These pictures are the closest to the real thing.

I think this is gonna be a lot of fun! I gotta head to the store for a scale today and get dyeing.

When you're too sick to knit

This weekend I was supposed to work. I say supposed to, because I have been body slammed by the nastiest head cold of my life. So there was nothing going on for me this weekend except lying on the couch and feebly knitting on my socks. I was pretty sick yesterday when I put the knitting down and took a nap. There was some progress made (on the socks) but nothing too exciting to look at.

Since I was feeling so crappy, I decided to make a list of all the knitting I want to make and see how far behind I am.

1. Asymmetrical Cardigan with Malabrigo Vaa
2. Baby gift for 2 girls at work
3. Socks for my 3 kids
4. Felted hat for KD
5. Bee Fields Shawl by Knit Spot (started)
6. Mittens for Noley and KD (Noley's are half done)
7. Frost Jacket from Knitting Nature
8. More socks for me and BDiddy
9. Something pretty for myself with the yarn from Kristin
10. Something for my sister who reminded me that I hadn't made her anything for a long time.
11. Adult Surprise Jacket with Bartlett yarn (or Tomten?)

I could keep going but I better stop there. Those are just the things I have yarn for really. So I think I will have to put myself on a yarn diet. Until I have made at least one adult sized sweater I won't be able to buy any more.

This doesn't count the yarn I sent for to try my hand at dyeing. That is a project I didn't expect to be able to try but on our way home from Christmas BDiddy brought it up. He gave me permission to invest a little money and see if I could make a little money on the side. I was shocked that he thought that was a good idea. This is the guy who will occasionally say in a very sullen tone, "All you're going to do is knit for the rest of your life." I think he has a hard time seeing the usefulness of knitting because for some reason he doesn't wear any of the things I make for him. Anyway I got the OK and ran with it. Look for some experiments coming soon!

I am going to bypass some of the other projects on my list to start the cardigan. I've been wanting to start this for awhile and keep getting sidetracked. I've even swatched it out already and I almost never swatch. Wish me luck!

What I did on my Christmas vacation

The craziness of the holidays are past and the new year has begun. Time to update the blogging world of my past few weeks. Has it really been since Dec. 18th? Of course there were trips to Grandma and Grandpa's house (both of them). Gifts were given and received. Some how I missed getting a picture of the SIL hat on the recipient. The niece and nephew enjoyed the slippers and hopefully will use them.

Every year my dad added to his list of things he would like us to knit for him. He was hinting not so subtly about what he might like and specifying the kind of fiber to use. We have to laugh at least he will wear what we (my sisters and I) make. I made him a scarf that he lost but that was years ago. Oh and a pair of wool socks in a bulky yarn a couple of years ago too. I don't count that in my sock making list because they were so bulky and seemed like cheating compared to "real" sock yarn.

Speaking of socks, my first Embossed Leaf sock is done! Here is the sock in progress.
Here is one finished sock. It fits perfectly. I was afraid it would be too small because of my size 10 shoe, but it is perfect.


So I need to cast on the other one to avoid the second sock syndrome. I don't think it will be a problem as I can't wait to wear these!

I made Noley a felted hat from a Fiber Trends pattern on my break. The name of the pattern is Felt Winter Hats. I plan to make one for KD too.
Below is the before felting and after felting picture.

I think it is so funny that it fits me before going in the wash. It turned out pretty cute don't you think. It might be the wearer though he is pretty cute:)

So what Christmas gifts what did you get that were really great? I was happy with everything I got. Even BDiddy did well and he often manages to wreck the surprise for me. I got a new polar fleece jacket and a nice undershirt for cross country skiing from him.

My mom and sister got me this and this! I love them! Ok the link for the ball winder may not be the exact one I got but you get the idea.

Last but not least KD and Miss M got me these for Christmas at the school gift shop. The frog is from KD. I don't know what it is for but I think it is to hold rings or maybe a candle holder? The glass tea light is from Miss M it is shaped like a mushroom I think. They were so proud that they picked them out themselves.

Hope you all had a good holiday and big plans for the New Year!