Oh Shknit!

Ever since Norah Gaughan has taken over Berroco I have been in love.  The latest 2 editions to Berroco’s pattern support though, is killing me.  I have always been plenty happy with their free patterns, and now she is FORCING me (yes, gun to the head and all) into buying the latest and greatest from them.  Jimmy Beans Wool, here I come!

Berroco: Norah Gaughan Vol 8 has much to drool over.  The ones that I particularly like are Monhegan, Ogunquit, Schwann, and Nidden.  Her lacework is to die for, and I am not always a huge fan of lace in garments, she seems to get it right every damn time, and makes me want to try them out.

Berroco #309, Berroco Weekend & Weekend Chunky didn’t quite steal my heart like Norah’s Volume 8, but I do love Troco, Ping, and Pong.  I really like Pesapallo too, but I would like to see it done up without the belt and cowl covering it so I can REALLY see it (so I am waiting for other brave souls to try it, is what I am saying.  Ahem.)  It looks like a great vest, and a vest mean more immediate satisfaction garment, so I am all over that!

On the sock front, I am still on the heel.  I have 3 hours in a lab tomorrow though, for bloodwork, so I should be able to at least get sock 1 done and start on sock 2.  I am also bringing the gloves with me so I can start the dreaded weaving in ends.  I need to get that out in the mail before it’s next year’s Christmas present!

Desperately need some more sleep.  Gonna take another go at it!

Ta ta!

OK, that was my bitch.  I am done.

I am trying to start-up a new non-knitting related site and holy crap.  I tried to go with a new webhost, and I am kicking myself in the ass for it.  I have been futzing around with the thing for 2 hours and I would like to think of myself as pretty computer savvy, but holy crap this thing is giving me a headache.  I can’t even upload FOLDERS to the damn site…files, yes, folders with 200+ files, not so much.  I am sure part of the prob is that I am tired, emotionally wrecked right now, and tomorrow is a busy day.  Argh.

In happy news…I am still working on the Jaywalkers and am to the heel flap now.  I can’t believe how quick it’s going on those small, small needles.  I suppose having to wait an hour for a glucose tolerance test would help get it done, but I am excited to get it done.  The pooling has now turned into actual a thick stripe following the pattern, so that makes me excited.  We will see if it adjusts itself again after the heel flap.  I am so enjoying this knit.

That’s about it.  I am going to TRY to crash.  We shall see!

My dad had to leave rather unexpectedly to get out of here before the weather went sour, so I haven’t had time to take those pics I promised a couple of days ago.  But today was Johnathan’s first day back at school, so this morning after I dropped him off I took those damn pics and here they are! (I think I would do anything right now just to distract me – having him for 2 weeks and then the house being so quiet is killing me!)

First off, the Gathered Scarf that was a Christmas present for my mom.  I am very happy with how it knit up and it is sooooo soft.  She said it doesn’t itch her neck at all which is the whole point of a soft and squishy scarf!

Lace Gloves.  The thorn in my side right now just because I hate weaving in ends and there are too many for my liking.  Eek.  This is the first time I had used Cascade 150 and I LOOOOOVE it.  I still have quite a bit of it left, not sure what I am going to do with it.

Next up:  Fingerless mitts for my boy.  He loved them.  And they look so freakin cute on him.  I just made it up as I went along…no pattern.  I did a 3 x 1 rib and thumbhole.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy as my son says.

Finally, some dishcloths I gave my mom for Christmas.  She used to knit her own but with her arthritis her paws don’t like to knit so much.  She made the plain ole Grandma’s favorite dishcloth, so I thought I would mix it up a little for her.

That is all for my FO’s.  I have to seam up the first twin sweater, make the 2nd twin sweater…I just haven’t felt up to doing much of anything, this baby is coming soon and I have been pretty uncomfortable.  So small things make me happy right now.

A couple of UFO’s…a minion from Despicable Me at the request of my son, and the Jaywalkers that I FINALLY started that I can’t believe I didn’t start sooner.  I love how easy the stitch pattern is, but this yarn is knitting it up in an interesting pooling pattern.  I usually hate pooling but this is pooling…cool.  At least so far.  And the yarn is some I have never knitted with before and it really is a nice knit, especially with the affordable price range.  We will see how the FO holds up!

I have already gotten another 2 inches or so done on these.  They are going way faster than I would have expected on size 1 needles, but I think it’s because every row is a little hidden surprise for me.  Weeeeee.
Well, that’s it for now.  I started this post this morning and am ending it 10 minutes before TOMORROW morning comes around.  The days are so busy even when I have my ass planted firmly on some seat or other.  Tomorrow I hope to working on some (gag) weaving in ends and more Jaywalkers.  I am going to get googly sew-on eyes for the Minion, and have to do his feet and arms, and then more Jaywalker.  That will be my guilty pleasure for now, I think!

Yes, insert generic title up yonder.

My Christmas was wonderful.  I actually got some yarn from my mother who is constantly riding my ass about not buying more yarn, so that put a huge smile on my face.

I just finished her ruffled scarf this afternoon, so I will post some pics of those tomorrow.  I am on glove 2 for my brother’s friend, and have the index finger, thumb, and weaving in allllll those ends and I can get them off in the mail.  My brother and father both showed up for Christmas and I thought it was going to be a very melancholy holiday for my mother and I.  But it made it a wonderful Christmas.  I told them they could take all my presents back because I had what I wanted – my family together.  I found out the day before my brother was leaving (he only stayed for 3 days!) that he was indeed leaving, so I didn’t get a chance to finish the gloves to send home with him, unfortunately.  But they should be done in time for me mail off on Monday.  Then I only have to finish the 2nd twin sweaters and get those off.  Those who know me know I am a late runner always it seems, so I am hoping that the fact that these are handmade items will lend some forgiveness.

I have been cracking out on getting caught up on Knitmore Girls, and KIPing it Real podcasts.  Every night I listen to them without fail, and when I am cleaning and stuff, they are always playing.  I am thoroughly enjoying both of them.  It took me forever to get caught up on the CogKNITive podcast, and I did get caught up, so I found some others that I really enjoy, and the 2 mentioned above have been my onlies lately.  I am listening to Jackie’s darling voice as we speak, as a matter of fact!

Johnathan’s fingerless mitts were a hit, I have some pics of them and they are so comfy on him, he LOVES them.  So tomorrow, scarf FO, glove UFO update, and fingerless mitt FO pictures.  I hate blogs that don’t post pics, and I am horrible at posting them.  Pot calling the kettle black, much?

Back soon with more updates!  I have some exciting things coming up I hope, and knitting is at the top of that list!

He wants out.  Now.  He is not due for another month.  This has been a rough pregnancy, I am extremely uncomfortable and I am not getting around well these days.  So who knows when he will show up.  Sooner rather than later, I hope though.

I have been continually working on Christmas gifts.  I have abandoned the gloves that I originally was making for my brother’s friend.  They were coming out too small, the yarn just wasn’t working for the project, and I just wasn’t feeling it.  I can’t give away something I have made that I don’t feel 110% proud of.  So I went to plan B, picked up some Cascade 150 in this gorgeous red color (which was his friends first choice anyways), and am making the Lace Panel Gloves from the Vogue Knitting Fall 2009 issue.  I am almost done with the thumb increases and ready to start on the fingers.  This project is giving me much more of the warm and fuzzies.  It is the first time I have knit with this yarn and I ADORE it.  Great stitch definition, not splitty at all, and it just knits up so nicely.  I am excited to try it on another project one of these days when I’m not broke!

I still have to finish the sweater for Marie’s twin #2, and I am making a last minute hat for my son per his request that knits up on US 7’s, so it should be a fast project.  It’s the Batman Hat, and I just went and bought some acrylic for it.  He has several wool hats that I have made him, and I think that this hat is going to be more used to run around the house wearing his ‘Thing’ hands, a scythe, and an Iron Man costume.  Yes, you read right.  His outfit combos CRACK ME UP.

So I have just been knitting away, trying to stay off my feet, and ignore the contractions as much as I can.  That’s about where I am right now!

I have no pictures, sadly, at the moment…but hope to get them up soon.

First off, I did finish my first project that required picking up stitches.  I have shied away from those types of projects (we will pretend I don’t have a fully knitted Hey Teach that I haven’t seamed together yet!) where I have to pick up stitches or seam.  This one I have to do both!  I did pick up the stitches but have not seamed yet.  The picking up of the stitches actually turned out way better than I expected it to…and the seaming is such a small portion of the project I don’t really see it giving me much grief.

My friend Marie had VERY premature twins and they are finally both home.  I am making them matching Ribbed Baby Jackets.  I did a lot of researching the forums on Ravelry and found a couple of posts about specifically picking up stitches for this project.  I found a blog post today that does a really good job of figuring out how to calculate, and why, what your ratio of picked up stitches is.  Of course it is knitting goddess Amy Swenson, and it is a post from last month but oh how I think I will refer back to it.

My brother also called me out of the blue over the weekend and asked if I could make a friend of his some gloves.  Once again, a project that I have never delved into before, but I am going for it.  I am using a heavily modified version of Deborah Newton’s Garter-Cuff Gloves and Mittens from Weekend Knitting.  It’s a fun knit so far.

At least I have a little more focus now.  I have to finish another of the Baby Jackets and finish the fingers on the gloves and get moving on glove 2.  Let’s hope it works out the way I plan it to!

I have started three sweaters/cardigans in the last few months.  THREE.  And they are all sitting there unfinished, with no plans on finishing.  So today I am going to face reality and rip them all out.

With the lack of time I have for knitting, I really have been sticking with smaller projects.  I made my mother a pair of armwarmers.  I am working on the 2nd of my sons armwarmers and should be done with them today.  And I have been knitting little mittens for my mother’s little Christmas tree like CRAZY with bits of sock yarn, and crochet cotton.  They are so easy and cute.

These are the Cafe au Lait armwarmers from Ravelry.  Great pattern, quick knit, and the FO was definitely appreciated by the recipient.

There will be no more baby knitting.  I just don’t have it in me to do it.  I am am looking for a good sweater pattern to make one for my son…all the patterns that I like seem to use size 4-ish needles and I need something more like 7 or 8 US needles for the yarn I have in mind.

I have been spending more time lately reading knitting blogs and looking at patterns on Ravelry and listening to knitting podcasts.  Usually between those 3 things I get super-inspired, but it just isn’t happening these days.

I just checked out the new Twist Collective and I am in LOVE.  There are several sweaters I want to make.  I am going to wait until the baby is born and I get rid of some of this weight.  Not only do I just not want to knit ginormous sweaters, but the yarn can go a lot further if I just wait a bit and knit when I’m smaller.  So not only health-wise is the whole losing weight thing a positive, but also it’s a bit easier on the pocketbook.

I have just been so restless and frustrated lately with everything I seem to touch.  So smaller projects that it doesn’t matter if they get ripped, if any projects at all.  Hopefully this will pass when my life is a little less hectic.  I know this is all in my head but I can’t seem to get rid of it.  Time will hopefully help.

I have knit socks on size 1 and 2 needles, yes, but when it comes to bigger garments, even BABY garments, I shy away from the smaller needles.  Why?  Probably because I have the attention span of a gnat and smaller needles means a lot more time knitting a single project.  When I found Buttercup though, which I know I have seen before in my Ravelry crackout session perusal, I just overlooked it when I saw the yardage needed and the needle size.  The smallest needle I have ever made an adult garment is 7’s, and that wasn’t too bad but it was lace and kept me entertained.  Miles of stockinette though?  Ohhh boy.  I don’t know how people consistently whip up these FO’s that are gorgeous and knit with such a tiny guage, and they LOVE IT!  I have decided that since I am not a faithful mistress when it comes to knitting, and that I always have multiple projects on the needles, that this is indeed doable.  I fell in love with Buttercup and I want it for my own.  It might take me 2 years to knit, but I’m gonna do it.

I will work my way up (or down) to it, though…I am going to be making some baby garments on 4’s and 5’s and that will give me an idea on how it will go.  I think that I will be surprised, because I have become a faster knitter, how fast it will go.  Especially the mindless knitting that can be done while watching TV, waiting to pick my son up from school, waiting in various lines…

We shall see.  But I am no longer intimidated when I see a small needle size on a larger project.  I figure it is just another way of expanding my knitting horizons, trying something new with most projects I start!

I have been a blog reading freak today and came across Stash, Knit, Repeat’s blog and the Fit to Flatter series of tutorials.  You can either purchase printable versions or just read from the blog posts for free.  Since I am busty and seem to like all the things that really need adjustments to accommodate said boobage, I am excited about this series.  Not only that, but just to learn more about my body and fits that flatter it.  This of course will be post-baby, but I am still excited about it!

I am almost done with the raglan increases on Juliet…it’s going slow because I had done more LOOKING at knitting than actual knitting.  I know if I really get moving on it I can make some huge strides.  Seems that once I get passed the boring ole stockinette (did I mention I was doing stockinette instead of garter) and onto the lace I think I will be more motivated.  Love the raglan increasing, but it just seems to take forever when you are getting close to the end of it, because of all the extra stitches.  Anyways, it’s nothing you don’t already know, right?

Also, on the Domesticrafts blog, I found the poinsettia wreath from Paper Source that I must have.  I loooove it.  So thank you for the Christmas crack, Domesticrafts! (PS – I love your blog and pretty pictures…pleeeease update soon!!)

So I don’t have any pictures up yet.  This has been a busy week, as last week has been, too.  My little man started Kindergarten yesterday.  All day long I was obsessed with what he was doing, how he was doing, if he was ok, if he was scared, etc etc.  That boy was SO happy to see me when I was at his door waiting for the bell to go off.  But he said he had a great time and he really likes his teacher.  I hope this keeps up because this morning he played that song and dance of ‘I don’t want to go to school, I don’t like it’, which was just because he was tired and wanted to stay home.  I thought 11.5 hours of sleep was enough for the kid, but I guess he needs a little more.  That’s ok, I will oblige my growing boy!

On the knitting front, I am taking a break from baby knits to knit myself Juliet with Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, but on smaller needles and the yarn not double.  I don’t have enough of any of my yarn to double it to make this, but I love it, so here goes nothing.  I am working on the raglan increases right now and so far so good.  I have heard it runs a little big, so I am just making the largest size on size 9 needles in hopes that it will hold it’s shape.

I have, sometime in the last few months, lost my ipod and it’s driving me nuts.  I miss listening to my podcasts while I clean and do things around the house.  While I’m on my computer or knitting I can just listen from my PC, but ugh.  Those things are so small, and I think mine is buried in my bedroom somewhere, possibly with the crates of yarn that I have to go through and organize.  Lots to do before this baby gets here!