Surprise!!!

Happy birthday to the best mother in the entire world!! (one day late)

Mom, you always take the time each year on our birthdays to post a picture and talk about how wonderful we are, so I thought I would hijack your blog and do the same for you. Words can never express what you mean to me and the boys. You are there for us through thick and thin. You support us in each of our endeavors. You're our biggest cheerleader, as well as a soft place to land when we fall short of our goals. Thank you for all you do for us. You're the best!! I love you!!

Love,

Sis

Tradeables

Top to bottom: 42 (3) in twin, V & V WD in 100% merino, Igor WD in twin, and Maharani WD in twin.Top photo taken in shade, bottom in full sun.

top to bottom: V&V, Igor, Maharani, 42

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

More FO's

I finished a cute little vest for Clay. It is knit in Wollmeise Molly in Gianduia colorway. The pattern is Ring Bearer's Vest. Notice the cute little own at the bottom. I hope he wears it for Thanksgiving.

I also made some little slippers for Ashtyn. I think slippers is her favorite thing that I knit for her. These are made from Miss Babs Yowza in Frog Belly colorway. The pattern is Sellwood from the patternbook, Shibui Socks, with many, many modifications.

Ashtyn also wanted some mittens. She picked out the color - Yarntini Limoncello. For some reason, I do not enjoy knitting mittens. You would think that I would because I like knitting socks so much, but, no, not mittens.

This little set is for Baby Gryffin. It is a hat and socks in Lorna's Laces sportweight in Jeans colorway. I'll probably give most of this stuff as Christmas gifts.

Hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving. Happy knitting.

A Few FO's

I have a few finished objects to show from the last week and a half. First up is a little hat made of Wollmeise. The pattern is The Hat Besserud, knit on 2.75 mm needles. Colors used are Vroni, Spina de Pesci, Wasabi and a red-orange from The Loopy Ewe Sock Club last year that I can't remember the name of. I casted on 120 stitches (instead of 140) to accommodate the head of an almost 3 year old. It fits my great-nephew perfect. And my stranded knitting is coming along very nicely, if I do say so myself.

My next project is a simple Diagonal Baby Blanket in Numma Numma TexasToasty in Ruby Red colorway. This was knit on a size 7 needle. I just love the squishy-ness of the yarn, and the garter stitch pattern makes it extra squishy. This is going to a family friend's new baby.

I was excited to use Knitterly Things -Vesper Sock - from the Summer Sock Club. Colorway is Summer Harvest. I did a plain stockinette pattern to show off the stripey-ness, knit on 2.25 mm needles. I really enjoyed knitting with this yarn and love the colors.

And another Wollmeise product is off the needles . . . No-Purl Monkeys in WM twin, Skandal um Rosi on 2.25 mm needles. These babies are mine.
I have no socks on the needles right now. I never have no socks on needles. I am waiting for the postman to arrive any minute with my Loopy sock kit to see if I want to use it before I decide to cast something else on. It's not like I don't already have a couple of things, ok, numerous things, in the works. But I need socks on the needles. It's just me.

Have a great week.

A New Baby

We have a new baby in the family. Is there anything better? Or sweeter?

Baby Gryffin (baby G), born Monday, 10/18/10, weighs in at 7 lbs, 5 oz., 19 3/4 inches long.

They came home from the hospital yesterday, and I stopped by for a few minutes to kiss and snuggle him. Here he is wrapped in his Koigu Big Bad Baby Blanket, made especially for him by his favorite great-aunt.

"A baby is God's opinion that life should go on." -Carl Sandburg

Pistazie

This is for Barbara in Maine . . .Wollmeise Pistazie WD lace-garn and Pistazie (regular skein) in twin.


All taken outside in natural light. Hope you like them.

Another pair of socks finished. I believe this is pair #21 for the year. This is Malabrigo sock yarn in Tizano Red. The pattern is Kalajoki; they are knitted on 2.25 mm needles. I truly enjoyed knitting with this yarn. I did find it a little on the thin side, so I cast on 68 stitches instead of my usual 64. These are going to the STA Lobster Bash for the silent raffle.

Also going to the raffle is this scarf, knitted in Yarntini Chunky, Merlot colorway. The pattern is Stream, knitted on size 10.5 needles.

I got some Wollmeise goodies in the mail yesterday fromt The Loopy Ewe. It is their lace-garn. Talk about yardage . . . over 1700 per skein. I've never knitted with it, but I hear it is wonderful. I need to find the perfect pattern for it, as I have more coming soon. The first one is Campari Piccolo.
Next is Orient . . .

Altogether now . . .
Have a great week.

I know I haven't been blogging very often lately, but, you know, school started, which means football started. And football includes high school (STA), college (LSU), and professional (Saints). So life got pretty busy, and the blogging went by the wayside. And to be perfectly honest, if I have a little time, I'd rather knit than blog. So for now, I've decided to at least keep a record of my FO's. There has been yarn coming in (tons of it), but I have not been photoing it.

My first pic is actually a WIP. As I said in my previous post, I am trying my hand at stranded knitting. This is my second attempt. It's a little hat in Wollmeise colors. I don't have the pattern name or yarn colors in front of me, and I don't feel like looking it up. I'll post that info when it is finished. My tension is getting better. Practice, practice.....

My first FO is a pair of socks in plain stockinette pattern. The yarn is Opal H3 - Blind Venus, knit on 2.25 mm needles. Love, love, love this yarn. These will go to a friend for her birthday.

Next FO is a baby blanket for a friend's baby that was born about a month ago. The yarn is Numma Numma Doppio in Frosting colorway, held double on size 9 needles. The pattern is Harvest Moon, which I am not a big fan of. I don't know what it was, but I had to MAKE myself finish this project. I never could get into a rhythm with it, but it came out very pretty.



The bottom 2 pics are one with and one without a flash.

I am finishing up a scarf and another pair of socks probably by this weekend, and I have started another baby blanket, so hopefully I'll post again soon.

Happy Knitting

I finished the twins' (Blake and Brock) Slipper socks. I will give it to them this Thursday when I see them at school. I hope they like them and will wear them. They are made of Dream in Color Groovy, which is their chunky weight, in Bayou colorway, which is their September Dream Club color. The pattern is Slipper Socks, which came with the purchase of the yarn, knit on size 6 & 7 needles. The 2 pairs took a little more than 2 skeins of yarn.

I have been wanting to try my hand at stranded knitting. So when I saw this pattern in this month's Vogue Knitting magazine, I decided to try it. I ordered the yarn, Knit One, Crochet too, it came in, and I casted on Saturday. I finished them today - 4 days. Not too bad. This was knit on size 5 needles.
There is quite a bit of puckering. It is pretty hard to maintain tension.
From what I have read, it takes alot of practice.
These pictures are of the hat unblocked. It is soaking as I write this. Hopefully, blocking will even out some of the puckering. We'll see.

I really enjoyed doing this and already have another hat pattern picked out, The Hat Besserud by Pinneguri (who does unbelievable stranded work).

I am going to try to finish my Numma Numma blanket tonight while watching Biggest Loser. Only the border left to finish.

Starts and Finishes

I started a scarf (I really dislike knitting scarves) out of Yarntini chunky in Merlot colorway. The pattern is Steam (slightly altered), and I am knitting it on size 10.5 needles. I am making this for the STA Lobster Bash.

And, even though I have 3 single socks right now without mates, I couldn't resist casting on another when I got this yarn in the mail from The Loopy Ewe. It is so fun to knit with.

I finished the Sockhead sock, in Yarntini McDreamy stripe. I think I am going to put this away and give it to Ashtyn for Christmas. It was very easy and fun to make. I can definitely see more of these in my future.

Next, I finished my Big Bad Baby Blanket in Koigu, just in time for Baby Gryffin's baby shower this past Sunday. He should make his arrival into the world in a few weeks.

These are also for BG (Baby Gryf).
Have a great week.

This past week or so, I have started a few new things, finished a couple of things, and, of course, acquired a few skeins of yarn. (All the while watching tennis on TV).

I casted on a pair of Slipper Socks yesterday and knitted away. Let me tell you - chunky yarn + size 7 needles sure knits up quickly. I am making these for a couple of basketball players at our high school. They are twins, and they have asked me for about a year now to knit them some socks. They have even asked YS to ask me to make them socks. Well, you can imagine my hesitation to knit them socks. First of all, they're twins - so that means 2 of them which equals 4 socks. You know about SSS (second sock syndrome), but what about third and fourth sock syndrome? And as you can also imagine, they are basketball players; so you know what that means - size 12.5 feet!!! So when I came across this yarn, I thought it would be perfect for them. I stopped at this point so that YS can try them on for size purposes. Also, I think I'm gonna need another skein or two of yarn.

I also casted on a Sockhead Hat in Yarntini self-striping in McDreamy colorway. I actually have a few more inches done on this since the picture was taken.

I knitted up this little baby gift for a friend of mine whose son just had her first grandchild. It's knit in Socks that Rock heavyweight, Goody Goody colorway. The pattern is called Sweet Baby Kate from Carrie at Irishgirlieknits. I did make a couple of revisions, one of which is the ribbed edging on the hat and socks. The pattern calls for a picot edge, which I find very tedious and fiddly. The entire set only took about 3-4 hours of knitting time.
I also finished the little camouflage socks from the previous post for my great-nephew. They fit him perfectly. He put them on and ran around in them, slipping and sliding, despite 90 degree heat. I will have to get a picture of them on him, as I forgot to take a FO pic.

In yarn acquisitions, I received this skein of Vesper self-striping sock yarn in Harvest Summer colorway. I believe it was the August club color.

In a ravelry trade, I received 4 skeins of Wollmeise Molly in Pfefferminz Prinz. I'm not sure if I love this color so much. I might just hold onto it for trading purposes.

I got this kit from The Loopy Ewe in support of Ovarian Cancer. Sheri @ TLE is donating all of the proceeds from this kit to research for ovarian cancer.

And I got some beautiful Yarntini Chunky in Merlot. I will use this for a scarf, Cinder by Jared Flood, which I will probably donate to our high school for their annual Lobster Bash fundraiser.

This yarn is String Theory Caper sock in Essence colorway. It has cashmere in it. Need I say more?

And I received another Rainbow Cocktail set from the awesome Jessie at Yarntini. I can now finish my blanket.