NaKniSweMo - Day 30: Complete yet Incomplete

Day 30 and miraculously... I finished it!!

Yay! Er...wait a second...

Ok, so it's technically done.

I did finish it...

NaKniSweMo - Day 25

Day 25 - Body is almost done! After this I move on to sleeves and then the collar. I bought 9" circular needles for this last week to try and expedite my knitting - no fussing with dpns.

Terrible dark photograph. No excuse, really.

Can't wait to see the lace open up. This is definitely going to grow quite a bit.

Mod: Kitchen Floor Mat

So, even though I am in the midst of sweater knitting frenzy I somehow found the time to finish up the kitchen floor mat modification I had been planning.

Well, in this picture, it's a quick steam/iron away from being finished.

[Please pardon all the dark crappy photos that are a direct result of completing the entire project late, late at night between feedings.]

The original mat was poop-brown and a total magnet for dirt, dog hair, and pilling. This didn't really bother me but

NaKniSweMo - Day 20

I am shredding!
As of right now I have 16 of 17 inches written for the body portion:

Based on a great tip from Julie, I know that this is going to stretch a lot. I kind of want to make it a longer sweater than the pattern dictates (I love hip-skimming tops) but I know this will grow, so I'm not going to go overboard.

Not terrible progress, but there still is quite a bit more to go.

10 days left.

Knitspiration - Superhero Knits

We went on a trip to the mall the other day and got to take in all the holiday displays that popped up after Halloween. Winter is one of my favorite holidays which is somewhat unfortunate since Los Angeles never sees a 'true' winter! Sweaters and boots and scarves and socks...that will never get worn here :( Oh well - that's what vacation is for!

In any case, since we are newly obsessed with baby girl clothing (completely different from baby boy clothing!) we visited several kid shops. The one that stuck out the most was, surprisingly, Gap Kids. Why? Because...

SUPERHERO KNITS!!

You get the idea. 

They are a bit pricey, but we picked up the Batman and the Spiderman mittens for my son. I'm scheming a pair of adult size Batman mitts for my husband, though, since he seemed pretty darn excited about them also.

Ball Winder

I seriously need one. Or need someone to let me borrow theirs.

NaKniSweMo: Day 16

Here is where it's at:

Progress: finished the ribbing and started the pattern (almost 3 rounds of it)! It took me a while to get the hang of it at first (it was actually pretty excruciating) but now that I've got it figured out it's a nice quick knit.

On the upside, I finally got through the first skein! On the downside, holy cow I've only gotten through one skein. What, 9, 10 more to go? Yikes. I will have to do some serious guerilla style knitting it I want to come close to finishing.

14 days left.

FO: Spiral Cowl

Another gift for Alex - this one for her, however.

for some reason I'm craving fruit stripe gum...

I was originally going to make a Market Bag for her (as it is my new favorite go-to gift item) but she is a bit too classy for that, I think. My mom suggested a scarf or cowl so I settled on the Spiral Cowl by Keri McKiernan.

Being on a deadline, I wanted to stick to a fast knit that would work with yarn I already had. This pattern only needs about 200 yards! Unfortunately, it didn't quite come out as classy as I'd hoped (yarn choice, yarn choice, yarn choice - drat!) but she likes purple so hopefully she'll enjoy it.

More at the Ravelry project page here.

FO: Market Bags

Here in Los Angeles they've recently jumped on board the "no plastic bag train." Being from the Bay Area, which embraced this idea early on, I am ecstatic! I also am terrible about remembering to carry a bag with me.

I found this schnazzy Market Bag pattern on Ravelry and tried out a purple color-block theme:

Then another:

And another, another:

And so on...until I had made 7 of these. And I've just ordered yarn to make more!

This has become my go-to quick gift knit idea. It's amazing! It's fast! It is a stash buster, it's easy to memorize, it looks cute and most importantly it's useful. I loathe impractical gifts. And I also have a fair amount of concern when it comes to giving knit gifts to people - what if they hate it? Or it doesn't fit? Or gets destroyed by their hellish cat? Too much pressure. These are PERECT. Expendable, washable, good for the environment, etc. Of the 7 I've made 6 of them have been given already, and I've already got requests for more.

Bags for everyone!!

Foray into Crochet!

I started to make another Aviatrix hat for my mom's friend's new baby granddaughter, but I wasn't 100% fond of the knit flower on the first one I made.

cute...ish

Everyone knows that the best, easiest, fastest yarn flowers are crochet flowers...but they're crochet. I can't crochet! 

Or so I thought!

I finally buckled down and decided to learn how to crochet. Thanks to this awesome example at www.craftstylish.com complete with borderline easy-to-read instructions, a lot of Googling and video watching, and with a little patience, this...

The start of a beautiful flower...or the start of an elaborate piece of garbage?

Became this:

Blam! Double layered flower!

Ta-da!

I'm really happy with it. Crochet isn't so scary after all!
Now...only about a hundred more of these before I feel comfortable.

NaKniSweMo - Day 9

So it's day 9 of mustache growing and sweater knitting.

My husband is making some fairly decent progress:

Putting the "joy" in looking skeevy.

As for myself...

(Pardon the chaos in this photo)

Looks impressive enough, right?

SIKE! That's what I did in March. I haven't done a stitch so far this month.

Depressing.

Well, there are still 21 days left in the month... And hey, my mother-in-law is supposed to visit next week so looks like I'll have plenty of opportunity to distract myself with awkward, angry knitting. I'm not giving up hope yet!

New Purchases

Always love getting new materials!!

Here's some yarn I picked up to make more thank you market bags for my doula, midwife, and nurses who attended my labor:

doncha wish you could touch it!

Even more exciting - I went to Joann's to pick up some fabric with my husband. I got my husband to go to a fabric store with me!?!? WHAT!

Well it was actually for him anyway... I recently picked up an amazing floor mat for the kitchen sink area. (Memory foam! Padding for the feet while you wash the dishes - it feels divine.) Unfortunately, the fabric on top of the mat is disgusting - pills, doesn't feel good against bare skin, and is a dog-hair magnet. So Reed insisted politely asked that I make a cover "or something" for it, to which I snapped politely requested that he help pick out a fabric for said project. So to Joann's we went!

Since we were on a time limit (trying to run errands while the newborn sleeps is a fun game) I wasn't able to wander around the store much, but luckily we were able to find what we needed and an extra fun item in the remnants shelf:

It's a little hard to see the striping on the broadcloth but I promise it's pretty and matches our kitchen. The pink was a total score - because that is the exact material our current, store-bought changing pad cover is made from!!

Carters. Dig it. 

Ours is also green. BUT now that we know new baby is a girl...PINK IS ON THE TABLE!

I am also incredibly excited that I got these yard-long pieces of fabric for about $5 each. Remnants! Discounts!! Gotta love 'em.

More on FO baby Aviatrix hat

Since we didn't find out the sex of the baby, it made anticipatory knitting very difficult. Consequently, I didn't do it.

I have had my eye on the Aviatrix baby hat pattern for some time, however, and had just decided to knit it for a friend of my mom - who just welcomed her first grandchild! (A girl.) However, I went into labor and had a girl myself, so Alex now has to wait :) Priorities!

Squishy, adorable priorities.

It was a fast knit using two clearance yarns that I bought to avoid being charged an ATM fee at my local yarn store (small business pains, I feel you, and I appreciate the opportunity you give me to buy more crap). They ended up being gorgeous and perfect for the job, but a complete pain the in the ass to work with.

Out of pure luck, the colors on the Tonalita worked PERFECTLY with the pattern. It gave it this awesome gradual change that lined up with each ridge in the hat.

Finishing - blocking and knitting flower accents.

It was a quick project (even with the constant interruptions!) and I'm happy with the outcome. Now on to do Alex's hat.

Ravelry project page here.

Better Yarn, Better Work

The more I look at patterns and create finished pieces, the more I have seen evidenced that it's really much more about the yarn and the color choices than it is about the pattern. The right hue combination can really make something beautiful in a perfectly subtle way. There are definitely good patterns and there are bad patterns, but without the right yarn it's harder to tell the difference between the two. Likewise, a mediocre pattern can become beyond dreamy with a little ingenious use of color.

I know it probably goes without saying and this is the whole theory behind yarn lust and such, but I think perhaps I am getting more serious about it personally - what with the just-opened world of baby girl knit ideas. :)

A few examples of things made amazing by yarn choices:

rililie's Versio by ANKESTRICK

Taylasmum's Milo by Georgie Hallam

If you just look at the pattern you'll see there really aren't any tricks...and a standard, true-to-pattern knit up will yield a nice normal FO. But...! Add a little thought like the knitters did here and... you have a whole new level of intrigue and professionalism.

I also love this berry hat. 

Baby Berry Hat by Michele Sabatier

NaKniSweMo - Day 1

Yikes - almost forgot!! November first means it is the start of NaKniSweMo - National Knit a Sweater Month!

Unfortunately, I completely missed the boat on this one. I did not plan ahead at all! No design picked or yarn purchased. Slightly more pressing things in mind, I suppose.

HOWEVER! I do have that cardigan I started earlier this year, and never finished...and I know it seems a bit like cheating, but I think I'm going to have to take it as a handicap. "Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor."

Besides, it is kind of appropriate for me to finish this sweater now. I started it in March but had to stop due to terrible morning sickness. Haven't been able to look at it since. (I also haven't been able to knit in a moving car anymore.) Perhaps it was destined to be finished now?

The pattern: Pomme de pin Cardigan by Amy Christoffers

Yarn: Valley Yarns Huntington in yellow

So while my husband is busy growing a mustache for men's health (www.movember.com) I'll be working on this. Yay.

IANAOMS - Part III: Baby Hamper

The third project in my "I am not afraid of my Serger" series!

Now: After a day or two at home with the new baby I realized that *gasp* I had no place to put her dirty laundry!
(If you haven't had a baby this might sound silly to you. But think about it...would you want something with baby diarrhea/urine/milk barf etc. going into the same hamper that you use for, you know...clothes you care about? Yeah didn't think so.) (Oh yeah, and she gets special baby detergent.)

Since we have a *very* tiny home, space is always an issue. Comfortable living is only to be had by thinking creatively. The changing table was my first choice - here's the space I am working with:

Not a lot of room, but when you look from the top...

84 degrees in October *grumble grumble grumble*

There is a little gap! This will be perfect.

I set out to create a hanging hamper that would just fit in that spot. since that is where more of the dirty clothing is procured - and you'll note there are some really nice, rounded knobs at each corner of the table. Design was easy - I knew exactly what I wanted, and how to make it work with the Serger. Luckily I had some black thin corduroy for backing (to protect the table), stiff black mesh for the outer, puffed portion (the better to ventilate with) and some black elastic.

And when I figure out how to write sewing patterns I will get right on it! :)

Pictures of the final project:

I did have quite a bit of trouble getting the tension correct for edging. I think this is because I had it most recently set for the flatlock stitching I was doing on the quilt. In addition, the mesh did not want to behave at all, and although I was really excited to try and use the setting for differential feed I just could not get it to work for me. Perhaps the fabric's fault? Can't imagine mesh is ideal to work with. I actually gave up trying to get it right and just did gathers manually - hence the slight asymmetry. (Cuz pinning and ironing is a time luxury I can't afford right now. Deal with it.) I attached the elastic loops by hand.

All in all, the project only took an hour or two - and much of that time was spent trying to tweak the tension and practicing on scraps. Yikes! Hopefully it will start to come more naturally soon.