Snuggle Sack

I'm not always very specific, I don't read all the words in books, but I am very particular about my knitting. 

My first niece is due in weeks and I made her a special little sleep sack.  My sister refuses to have her naked for newborn pictures, so this gives her one option for capturing her cuteness in those first weeks.

I started the snuggie before Christmas and set it aside as I do many projects.  When digging it out yesterday I could not find the pattern :(  Checked my bag for a print - nope.  Checked my library on Ravelry - nope.  Checked my Knits board on Pinterest - SCORE!  Next problem, could not remember what row I was on.  After a couple rows of trial and error, I was back on track.

In finishing, it was tough to pin the sides in just the right spot.  I attempted a pink ribbon in place of the button but couldn't get it to lay quite right.  After three attempts with the button, I started clapping...I had found the sweet spot.

Here is the pattern for the sleep sack and for the matching hat.  Happy knitting!

Baby Boy Blanket

I've been holding off posting this project because it's a gift for a friend.  Two of my college roommates are expecting and one lives in Virginia Beach.  I received an invitation to her shower a couple weeks ago and seriously considered trying to attend.  Though that did not work out, I did want to make a special gift for the new addition.

I've been going to the local yarn shop pretty frequently.  What's really cool is that there are knitted projects all over the place with the pattern and yarn right next to the project.  I hoped to find a quick, but cute, baby blanket to whip up over a weekend since I also wanted to mail the gift in time for the shower.

I found exactly what I was looking for.  I should have reviewed the registry to I knew what color scheme my friend was doing in the nursery, but instead I made my best guess with what I thought was a beautiful green color.  My grandma informed me the color was "gross".  I think it's awesome.

I knit most of the blanket in the car while traveling to my parent's house for Thanksgiving and finished it quickly thereafter.  The name of the blanket was something like "The 8-hour Blanket".  I should have timed myself but I'm sure it didn't take me much longer than the 8 hours suggested in the title.

The pattern book I bought had 6 or 7 other patterns available so I'm excited to try others in the future.  The yarn was beautiful and very reasonable considered it required 4 skeins.  Here's a look at the finished product:

It's a pretty simple ribbing pattern but I think it will be just right for my new little friend :)

I joined a group on Ravelry to knit an Advent Scarf starting tomorrow and running through Christmas.  The goal is to keep up and do the required knitting each day to finish it on time.  It's a lace pattern and each day is released one at a time.  This will be my first time knitting lace so we'll see how it goes!

Happy December, Everyone!

Mystery Scarf

The other day I went to the yarn store to purchase some lace yarn for an upcoming project.  While waiting for my yarn to be wound I started wandering around and came across a large basket with bags of yarns.  In each bag was five skeins of yarn and a simple pattern labeled "Mystery Scarf."  I was totally intrigued..."so, you just do this easy pattern with the yarns?"  Someone had put together each of the bags selecting yarns that went together, more or less.  The samples looked awesome so I decided to get one.  It took me a long time to decide between the one I picked and another more colorful one.  I may have to go back...

Here are the yarns that came in my packet placed in the order I wanted to knit them.  They were also all different textures and thickness.  The pattern was simply to cast on 140 stitches (I increased to 170) and then knit each row.  I did five rows of each yarn and came out to a pretty good width.  Any other scarf I've ever done has knit the width back and forth, but this one knit the length.

This is a picture of my scarf all scrunched onto one of my circular needles.  You can start to see the stripes as I worked up and down the length of the scarf.

I like how different this scarf is - it's a little ugly, but that's what makes it cool.  I said to my husband: What do you think of my scarf?!  His response: Oh yeah, that's...different...  Interpretation - he doesn't like it.

I think I'll wear it mostly with black.  The yarns were actually a steal - the pack was $35 for the five yarns and I probably have enough leftover to make one more with what I have.  Plus, the yarn is beautiful, unique and from a local shop.  I'm sure I would struggle attempting to recreate on my own, those I have surprised myself recently with my creative genius.  Overall, a successful weekend of knitting projects!

Here's a closer look at the different yarns used:

Miss Ava's Owl

We had a pretty open weekend so I decided to make Miss Ava's birthday owl while I had the time.  Third time's a charm!  When I made my Duffers several weeks ago I learned a new cast on method that joins the yarn together.  I decided to use that for the owls as it then reduces the finish time.  Instead of having to sew up a whole side hoping the stitches match up, I just have to bind off the needles with the kitchener stitch. 

This method also allows me to use just one needle instead of two.  A while back I ordered new cables.  The one I used was 60 inches and worked out just right for being able to utilize the magic loop method with the number of stitches I had to work with.

The more owls I make, the easier and better they become.  I was also able to make better eyes more easily - which is the hardest part on my hands - with my longer cable needles. 

It was a bit of a challenge to sew up the side of the owl while also trying to stuff and shape it.  I've gotten a lot better with the kitchener stitch so that looks nice and didn't take me as long as in the past.  Here's the finished product:

These guys are so silly I look at them and just laugh!  Now that I've made three of them, there was definitely something amiss with Miss Abigail's owl.  That one ended up much taller than the other two and the only thing I can think is that I cast on extra stitches.  Check out the differences:

 

Obviously not a huge deal, but still puzzling to figure out what went on there!  Oh man, these are too awesome...

I have a long list of other projects to be working on.  I also signed up to do a Christmas Advent scarf for myself which I am very excited about.  The pattern releases a "clue" each day starting December 1.  I only hope I can keep up and figure out the lace patterns!

I Made a Sock!

Yes, it's been a while.  I was a knitting machine and then there was a lull there for a bit but I'm back!  Here's what I've been up to...

I went to another class on knitting socks on two circular needles.  So fun!  I just finished the first one so when I have time I'll complete the set.

Here's the look after class one.  I have previously knit using two circular needles so I was familiar with the technique.  We cast on and I completed my cuff then began working on the leg portion.  What's fun about making your own socks is that you can design them for yourself.  I prefer longer socks so I was able to make these to my liking.  I tried them on a few times to be sure they would fit me...

Looking good!  Sometimes my cats help me knit...today it was Mr. Oktoberfest.

Just getting ready to tie off the toe...let's see if it's a fit -

AWESOME!  And what a fun design the yarn I selected made :)  After finishing this one I absolutely want to work on the mate so I can start wearing my hand-knit socks. 

I also finished up on a scarf for my mom this morning.  What else is in queue? I received 6 button scarf orders (completed one below) and a back ordered beer cozy.  I also have a few Christmas gift ideas brewing...

My First Class

As I've said before, most of what I know about knitting I've taught myself.  However, I've wanted to take some classes to see what else is out there.  There is a knitting shop just a few miles from my house that I've been in a couple times that offers classes.  Any other time I've looked into it there hasn't been a class that I wanted to take, or I've missed a class I would be interested in.  Fortunately this wasn't the case recently.

On Saturday I went to a class learning a pattern called Duffers Revisited.  I had to look up what a "duffer" is but found they are slippers.  I would love to make slippers!  The class was three hours long and I was surrounded by other ladies who love to knit.  In the class I learned a new way to cast on creating a seamless knit - awesome. 

When I left class I had one whole duffer complete and had started on the second one which I promptly finished at home.  Now that I know what I'm doing, knitting a pair would probably take me about 3 hours, shorter if making smaller duffers.  The duffers are knit using 100% wool because they are a felted project.

This was my first experience with felting.  Fortunately Husband helped me with the washing machine.  We don't have a "hot" setting on our washer, but my teacher said the felting really comes from the yarn being wet and the agitation of the washer.  Above you can see that the stitches have disappeared as the pieces have felted.

Sweet, right?  These are meant to be Lions' colors for me to wear on Sundays while watching football.  I'd like to find two Lions pins to attach near the top of the opening.  I also need to find something "grippy" for the bottom so I don't end up sliding around all over the house.  I can't wait to make more of these - I purchased yarn in orange and navy for my next pair ;)

Tigers Baseball

When I'm knitting, I'm also watching tv.  Usually I'll be watching a sporting event.  Fall is the best time of year because there are so many sports going on.  I'm really in a pickle today with the Ryder Cup on all day, MSU/OSU on at 3:30 and the Tigers start at 4:05.  Worlds are colliding.

On Thursday the Tigers took over sole possession of the American League Central Division - I bought playoff tickets!  As we all know, October in Michigan is questionable so I needed to whip up my Tiger scarf in preparation of next week's game.  You'll recall a sweet scarf I made for Sister last year during the Tigers' playoff run.  I literally finished this in the car on our ride to watch Verlander tear up the Rangers in game 5 of the ALCS - amazing...

I looked and looked for the right yarn because I wanted my scarf to be orange and blue.  I had no luck, apparently no one wants to supply Tiger orange in yarn form.  However, during one of my wanderings through JoAnn's I stumbled upon "Team Spirit" yarn - genious!  Someone decided that putting orange and navy together in one skein of yarn was a good idea - thank you to that person.

Because of the colors, I knew I didn't need much of a pattern for the scarf so I decided to knit on my rectangular loom.  I purchased two skeins of the yarn and did a quick test run to see if two strands would be sufficient for the scarf - it was not.  I wound up a third ball which was actually 2-ply (for a total of four strands) and was off and knitting.

With colored yarn like this and multiple skeins, it's weird to see an actual pattern develop.  In the picture above you can see everything is orange!  Four strands of yarn were all the same exact color together...cool.

So, here's the finished product.  It only took me a few hours to work on and now I'm ready for playoff baseball - GO TIGERS!