Operating Manuals

Guess what fits again!!!



Do you see the zipper on these babies?!?! Have any idea how long its been since I have had to operate one of these? Someone get me a manual, I've completely forgotten how to operate this kind of machinery.

Knitting Daily

Have y'all been reading Knitting Daily? Why not? Honestly I'm really enjoying it. Currently they are doing a series on how to properly measure yourself. What an eye opener this has been. It explains where to place the tape measure and why you are measuring that body part and what all the fuss is about in the first place. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only person on the planet that has been doing it wrong all these years.

Come to think of it, why would I know how to properly take a measurement. I've certainly not had any formal training on this topic of conversation. Its not like anyone said "Yo genius, measure your chest size without any clothes on" Or "idiot, when they say chest size, they are referring to the fullest part of your chest, not your bra size." I can easily see where the confusion comes from. And to be completely honest with you, I'm actually scared to take the tape measure around the fullest part of my ass. I mean, what if it doesn't fit all the way around? Then I have to admit to things that I'm really not quite ready to admit to just yet. Things like "I really should have not had that candy bar even though my sanity required it" or "Belly? what belly? that isn't mentioned in polite conversation" (I keep forgetting that we don't have polite conversation in my house)

I guess that all of these measurements are very important when trying to get a great fitting garment. Especially when that great fitting garment is custom knitted just for me. Now I just have to get the courage to start taking measurements. Its like stepping on the scale, I need to ease myself into it. Luckily I know some of these figures already, so the shock will not be so great!

Small Miracles

My Dearest Sydney,

Time sure does fly when you are having fun! An entire month of fun is what I'm refering to. Specifically, changing diapers, midnight around the clock feedings, burping...you get the picture. To remedy the situation, I am introducing you to some baby cereal. You seem to like it as you managed to sleep for an entire 6 hours straight last night! (Thank you God for small miracles)

Your lovely sister has taken to the phrase "Sydney go away" when you get too much of mommy's attention....I wouldn't worry too much about her just yet, you have the cute baby thing going for you. That and the dog seems to like you at the moment. Just don't touch her princess butterfly wings or the princess necklace and all will be well.

I love you baby,
Love,

Mommy

"Oh Bother"

Its raining,
Its pouring,
The old man is snoring,



He bumped his head,
And he went to bed,
And he didn't get up 'til the mornin'.

Rockin' Girls Club

I've been nominated!!! Twice actually. Thanks Marie and Bets! You girls rock, but you already know that.

Now for the people that I get to nominate.... ***drum roll please****

Jenny: Jenny is a full time mommy and knitter extraordinaire who is currently living in Germany. She is also an avid supporter of our troops and still finds time to teach others how to knit! You rock Jenny!

Grace: Grace gets my nomination for overcoming TONS of obstacles being tossed every which way at her this year. I'm glad that you are staying afloat! You rock Gracie!!!

SK: Shui Kuen Kozinski, fondly known as "SK", at the Elann.com chat site is the designer of some fabulous shawls and stoles. From what I understand, she has quite a following (Grace is starting a Ravelry group for her! How exciting is that!!!). Seriously people, the lady can knit circles around the competition!!! Now we just need to convince her to get a blog....You rock SK!!!

The Lily Pad

It had occurred to me today that for a knitting blog there sure hasn't been much knitting going on. Well I decided to let you all in on what I have been working on. The Lily Pad.

The Lily Pad, as I have now named it, started life as a gift from the Duck Whisperer. It sat marinating in the stash for me to think of something special, really special, for it to become. Well I came up with a little idea. The idea grew. I bought more yarn to fulfill the idea. And now I'm not so sure.

Have you ever done that? Second guessed yourself? I don't do it often but when I do, Lord have mercy. The idea is a simple one. A top down raglan done in the flickering flames lace pattern. I decided to keep the edging simple with a folded over border. I'm picturing it worn over a white spaghetti strap tank top with a pair of jeans. Even I can't screw this up right? UUUUMMMMMM... don't hold your breath.

I sketched and swatched (please notice K's input, I'm gonna make a knitter out of her yet!) and washed and blocked the swatch. Did you read that? I BLOCKED THE SWATCH! I have never blocked the swatch before. Come to think of it, that may be one of my problems but lets not go there. Of course I only blocked the swatch because its a lace pattern and we all know that lace is much different than plain knitting.

OK you all don't need to point out that this really isn't the Flickering Flames pattern found in Barbara's First Treasury, but it sure is close. Instead of having 2 paired decreases, we have 1 double decrease. And instead of 10 rows, we have 8. OK I made a mistake. Again, we aren't going to mention it.

Then I measured the swatch. I even got out the calipers! I really really wanted this to be good. After all this is a great yarn from a great knitter and wonderful friend. I compensated for the screw up in the swatch pattern and came up with a number. I applied that number to the dimensions that I wanted and started knitting. Well now I have this.
And I'm starting to second guess myself. Is it going to be too big? Is it going to be too small? Are the sleeves going to fit? Did I give enough room for the length of the underarm? Is the front going to look OK with the V-neck? Am I going to have enough yarn? Do I need to make the sleeves short because I'm cutting it close on the yarn? Is it going to be too big? I swear I measured it twice and casted on once, then counted and re-counted the stitches. Please tell me I'm not the only knitter that does this.

Last night at "Knit Night" Toni assured me that it looks like it is going to turn out just fine. I'm gonna trust her instinct and keep on knitting!

The Baby Sitter

Eunny's Issue

I got my IWK issue this week. You all know the one. Eunny's highly anticipated issue. Of course I immediately started flipping through the pages looking at the pretty pictures and all of the adverts. Slowly taking in which articles I might want to read and seeing if the knitting industry will give us any hints as to which direction they are taking us in the way of the new release yarns.

As a whole I'm not a big fan of the patterns in the magazines. Sure there is usually one or two items that I would consider knitting up and then actual wear. Because lets face it folks some of the things in these magazines (not just IK but knitting magazines as a whole) fall under the category of "just because you can knit does not mean that this was ever meant to be created let alone worn."

I enjoy the magazines for the articles and the tutorials. I always manage to learn something. A new way to cast on, how to fix mistakes without frogging the last 5 rows, understanding lace, cabling, the importance of swatching. Its limitless really, the amount of knowledge of in the tiny article.

When I got to flipping through Eunny's magazine again, I started to pay closer attention to the patterns. I found several I would consider knitting and Eunny's cardi? Well I just about cast that on the second I saw it. Then I started to read the construction of these garments and be still my beating heart. STEEKS!!!!! Can you even stand it? A magazine has a pattern that incorporates steeks!! I can hardly contain myself so I read on. I found patterns that also included knitting 'round and 'round in circles so there are no seams! There are also flat knitting garments for those not interested in steeks and seamless knitting.

I found the issue to be challenging and it got my creative juices flowing. Furthermore it got me to think about a better way to construct a wearable garment. I'm so glad that there is a magazine out there that is being written for a knitter that is a little bit more advanced and not afraid to publish seamless knitting patterns!

Bravo Eunny for a fantastic magazine!

Stupefy!

Everyone is forever talking about the importance of breastfeeding. The media, doctors, nurses, family members. Everyone has their own "way" on how to do it and what is the "correct" way. Even people that don't have kids have been telling me how to do it! Regardless it was something that I really wanted to pursue for Sydney. (I was unable to nurse Karolyn because my milk never really came in.) To put it mildly, my milk supply is in.

Now that Sydney and I are comfortable with each other and have figured out how this is all supposed to work, I'm discovering that there are downsides to breastfeeding. Things go on that people forget to mention. Things like ... well we really don't need to get into the specific details of the operation but its not pretty. One thing that I can mention is that this process is incredibly boring.


Things to occupy my time:

1) Finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.
I really enjoyed this book!

2) Read to Karolyn.

3) Play Sudoku.

4) Play Mah Jong.

5) Knit!
You should have known that I would figure this out eventually!

Knitting into the Mystery

I want to thank everyone for their warm wishes and congratulations on the new baby. It means alot to me. Thank You!

Like lots of people, I'm always up for a good mystery. It goes without saying that there are a great many mystery authors but mystery knitters? Well I must say that Melanie is knitting herself into this position. She is the author of the Mystery Knitting series. Currently we are on Mystery Stole 3!

I got suckered in by the intrigue and suspense of the whole thing during Mystery Shawl 1 and 2, so when I heard about Mystery Stole 3 I signed up right away. And it was a good thing that I did because I just about missed the cutoff date.

Not wanting to go and get more yarn, I decided to raid the stash. I found some Elann.com Super Kydd. Its a lace weight mohair and nylon blend. I have never knit with such a fine yarn before so this is a challenge. Luckily I have my Knit Picks Option needles (I'm using US4) and the pointy tips are coming in quite handy. I got some glass size 6 seed beads at JoAnn's in a milky blue color.

We are in week 4 of the clues and I'm still plugging away at clue 1. I am almost done with chart 2 of clue one but its still clue 1. I was hoping to catch up this weekend. I got sidetracked with birthing babies and nursing and making sure the 2 yr old feels important.

I've decided to not post pictures of my stole progress because I want to preserve the integrity of the mystery. Ok lets just face it, its one more picture I have to take and I'm the lazy sort! So you will see a picture when its all said and done.

More Sydney

Sydney Marie

Sydney Marie Grant
8 pounds 11 ounces
Entered the world on July 17, 2007

Welcome home baby girl! You gave mommy quite a scare at the hospital, getting a fever and all. I have a feeling that this is just first of many scares throughout your life. Just try to keep the scares to about one a year and I'll be OK with that.



Let me introduce you to your family. You have a great big sister, Karolyn, who I'm quite certain will be able to show you the ropes like how to avoid eating and chase the dog around. She is also really good at having to go potty when mommy does. Her other interests are finger painting and helping mommy.


Your daddy loves to dive in the Great Lakes and fix his cars and build things. Try not to touch his tools and all will be well.

Your mommy loves to knit. I would greatly appreciate it if you were able to stay out of the stash and the needles. Your big sister is not able to understand this as she seems to think that all of the yarn is hers. Mommy is able to share the yarn but lets just wait until you and your sister are able to do the knit stitch. I'm told that kids are perfectly capable of doing this when they are about 5, so until then please refrain from the stash. Other than that, you can get into what ever you want to. If you could pass that on to your big sister mommy would greatly appreciate it.

I love you baby girl.

Mommy

Parrot Bay

I finished my Parrot Bay socks from the Lorna's Laces yarn I got at City Knits!



I just love the results! These little numbers are going to the hospital with me on Friday!

Michigan the Great!

Michigan is a wonderful place to live. Its full of so many things that one wonders why we would ever want to leave the state at all. We are home to the Motor City and Cereal City. We are known for our blueberries and cherries. Holland Michigan has beautiful tulips. Unfortunately we can't claim the Simpsons, VT beat us out of that one. D'OH! But we do have Bigfoot!

According to today's Detroit News article, Michigan is home to Bigfoot. He has been spotted in the Michigan's Upper Peninsula over quite some time now and is finally getting the recognition it deserves.

Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, a California group running the search, will be more than happy to have you along with them for a mere $300. Its a small price to pay for a chance at spotting, or at least hearing, a legend.

Crocheted Steeks

I have been doing steeks by using my sewing machine for awhile now. Its very simple and easy. Fast and convenient. However its also very messy. The results are just not as professional as I would have liked the finished product to be.
One day while reading the Zimmermaniacs blog someone posted about their crocheted steeks. Shortly thereafter Jared did the same thing. I was sold.

Both people said that Eunny had an excellent tutorial on how to perform the technique and they couldn't have been more correct!

I found a crochet hook a size smaller than my needle as suggested and started putting in my single crochets in the exact spot that I wanted to cut my cardigan.



I crocheted down the one side and then up the other. This was quite time consuming but I was assured that this is a much cleaner and neater method than the sewing machine. Besides I already started so I might as well finish it and see how it turns out.

Now its time for the cutting. Due to the fact that I can't have an adult beverage, ice cream was involved. Alot of ice cream. Breyers to be exact. One must have a steady hand and be on a sugar high for this surgical operation about to take place.



Holy God it worked!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. Perfect little stitches that had been stitched together and then cut and are not going anywhere!



Everything is clean and neat and the blue crocheted steeks blend in with the rest of the sweater.

The only thing left to do is to hand sew in the sleeves, time consuming but the results are worth it, add the neck and button bands, and tack down the insides where the sweater was steeked.

Best Laid Plans

Cate the next 2 posts are for you! I'm gonna tell you how I did my steeks for the Fair Isle.

Before one can actually take scissors to a knitted sweater that is 2 years in the making, one must plan for the event.

My sweater cardigan needs to be planned out. I have 300 stitches in the round which means that there are 150 sts for the front and 150 sts for the back. Out of these 150 stitches I need to figure out how many I'm going to use for the shoulders and for the neck hole.

Being a fan of Mrs. Zimmerman, I decided to employ the percentage system and adjusted it to suit my needs. I also have to remember that this cardigan is meant to have the shoulders drop onto the arm so I'm going to need extra shoulder stitches for that.

150 stitches = 100%

Shoulders
40% x 150 sts = 60 sts
2 shoulders x 60 = 120 sts

Neck
Remaining 20% x 150 sts = 30 sts

Now that the calculations have been made, I took some left over cotton yarn and blocked off the stitches.



All of the separate sections of stitches are on individual waste yarn holders. For example, the 60 shoulder stitches for the front are on a separate waste yarn than the back shoulder stitches.




Next, I decided on where I wanted to cut open the front as well where to place the sleeves. I then ran waste yarn down these areas so I knew where to place the steeks.

After all the stitches are on the waste yarns and I know where I'm going to place the steeks, I turned the sweater inside out and did a 3-needle bind off on the sleeve area.

This was enough work for one day. Tomorrow, steeks!

City Knits

When searching for the perfect button, knitters know that JoAnn's or Michael's will just not do the trick. These big box stores are fantastic for a great many things but not for the perfect button which is to be placed on a Fair Isle sweater that has been worked on for the past 2 years. Try explaining this to DH.

Me: Honey? Can you take me to City Knits so I can get some buttons?

DH: Can't you drive?

Me: I can't fit behind the wheel.

DH: Where is City Knits?

Me: Downtown Detroit in the Fisher Building.

DH: Can't you just go to JoAnn's?

This is the point in the conversation that we all just take a very very deep breath and remember that this is the man that you love and adore.

Me: Are you kidding me? You want me to go to JoAnn's for some buttons that were made in a third world country that everyone else on the planet has to put on Maxine's sweater that I have been working on for 2 whole years?

DH:

Me: Never mind, I'll take myself.

DH: No you're not! Its dangerous in Detroit and I don't want you down there by yourself in your condition. Get in the car.

So off to City Knits we go!

City Knits is located in the Fisher Building, which has been recently refurbished. I'd be willing to be it was the cat's meow back in her day. Brass door pulls, marble floors, high painted ceilings, the works. Spared no expense. I'm so glad that she is being restored to her respectible self.

The shop itself is wonderful! Full of great yarny selection and buttons from local artists as well as from artists around the world. The book selection puts other LYS book selections to shame. Not only do they have the trendy books but they also have the stitch dictionaries and the OLD how to books. This totally impressed me!

Of course I couldn't just get the buttons I originally came for. I found the Lorna's Laces sock yarn.



I've never used such wonderful sock yarn before so I thought I would splurge a little. And then they wound it for me as well!!! That was great cuz it meant no sitting on the floor with the skein on my feet, trying to reach past the over extended belly that can't possibly stretch more than it already has, and ball it up.

I'm going to call the resulting socks "Parrot Bay" as they remind me of the vibrant colors of Parrots and I could really go for a drink right about now!



I also got a book!



Where is the picture of the buttons you ask? I forgot to take them. I'm sorry and I'll do better next time!

Little White Boxes

I love little white boxes. Especially if the little white box was left by the post man on my front porch with a postmark from Washington State. My little white box always contains goodies and other treasures any knitter would love to have.

Here is what my little white box contained today!



20 hanks of Berroco Softwist! I have absolutely no idea what the luscious blend of wool and rayon wants to be when it grows up but I'm sure it will let me know. A spring time top? Or maybe a fall 3/4 sleeve pullover? Only time will tell.

In addition to the yarn, I received some books.



I have been wanting these books on lace for quite some time now and I'm glad that they just happened to make it in my inbox during check out time. Both are loaded with inspiration and some great lessons on how to knit and properly block lace.

These goodies as well as the rest of the stash will need to keep me satiated until the next little white box makes its appearance!

Results Revealed

Several months ago the question of stashing came up at the chat site. It was started because one of the chatters saw a survey somewhere and we had all agreed that it was very unrealistic. I think that the greatest number of accumulated stash was the ridiculously small amount of 20 balls. This is a sweaters worth people! So this discussion led me to start an informal survey of my own.

First off, I want to thank the 59 people that took the time to take the survey! Of these knitting gurus, no one can quite open up a store. Granted I have no idea who voted and who didn't so I am left with my imagination and I can imagine quite a bit. When I met Bri while I was in Florida, she admitted to having seen stashes larger than some local yarn stores. Of course they were pretty small yarn stores, possibly closet sized, so it probably didn't take much to fill it up. However her DH Charles did comment on this. Now I'm thinking if a guy is gonna take the time to mention that someones stash has more in it than a yarn store, then I'm guessing that it is a pretty small store.

2 people have just started knitting so they don't have a stash. I want to welcome you guys to the wonderful world of knitting and stashing!

The majority of the voters said that they have several 20 gallon tub full (38 people, I was one of them). This does not surprise me. Its quite easy to fill up a a 20 gallon tub especially with all the great yarn sales out there. And every knitter knows that you have to get the quantity right up front because its not going to last forever. In fact when its gone, its gone and thats the end of it.

12 people said they have 1 20 gallon tub full. My theory on this is that that they actually have more than the 1 tub but its in boxes and not in a tub so it doesn't count. OR its sock yarn, which everyone knows by now doesn't count. Of course they could just have the one tub and I'm reading too much into the situation.

The remaining 5 people have a box full. I attribute this to them being new knitters who have recently found the great savings to be had on the internet. I'm quite certain that they will have a sizable yarn stash before too long!

Once again I want to thank everyone for participating in the survey it was great fun! If you have an idea for another survey let me know.

Mission Accomplished!

Miss Maxine in her brand spankin' new wool sweater! (I think she likes it!)

They Call Me...

Sausage Fingers




Do you see the size of those things? They are famous for swelling up overnight and then unswelling (is that even a word?) throughout the day. Its really putting a damper on the knitting.

Speaking of knitting. I officially have 23 inches completed on the sweater. This leaves 3 or 4 more inches to go before I start to steek, which I'm totally looking forward to!

On your mark, get set...

GO!!!

Today is the official start of getting into shape for the 2010 Knitting Olympics!



Remember this? Me either. Its the basket that the Fair Isle has been living in for awhile now.

I took some measurements and it is currently almost 19 inches long. I have another 7 to 9 inches to go. Then the steeking.

Michigan Scuba Treasure Shipwreck Diving

Ray and his dive buddies went diving again up at Marine City, Michigan. They found this wreck, which they are calling "The Jefferson St. Wreck," on a drift dive last year and are now checking it out. This year Ray got a side scan sonar that he can hang over the edge of the boat and take pictures of the bottom of the river. Well he found not only this wreck but another wreck about 50 feet away! How cool is that?



Rick, the bald guy with the camera, did a fantastic job of capturing the excitement of the day. In the video, "Tiny Bubbles" is our boat and DH is the guy getting it all together and situated before they take off!

Now lets talk about the loot. He found a small fishing weight for down riggers, some triangle things, and a small bottle. The bottle he brought home for me!

Getting Into Shape

Is been a year since the last Knitting Olympics and I think that its time that we start getting into shape for the next one. The next Winter Olympics according to the site I found will be in Vancouver in 2010. I'm choosing the Winter Olympics, as opposed to the summer olympics, because the first Knitting Olympics took place during the Winter Olympics. I would hate to break tradition after all. This time the games will be held for 17 days which, if memory serves correctly, is a couple days longer than the last Winter Olympics.

Here is what I'm proposing. Get your oldest WIP and finish it in 17 days. For me, this is the Fair Isle. I completely understand that it is already started and mostly complete. However this is just for getting into shape purposes and I have to work up to starting and finishing an object in 17 days. I figure I may as well start here.

I'm starting the timer on June 18 and ending on July 5.

Wish me luck.

Big Girl Bed

Now that Karolyn is 2 1/2 years old, we decided it was a good idea to get her a big girl bed. (That, and we needed the crib for the new baby.) The bed we decided on is incredibly special indeed. It was made by her great grandpa for her grandpa. Which was then passed down to her dad. And daddy is passing it down to her.

The bed had been sitting in the basement since we moved in collecting dust. We brought it upstairs, cleaned it up and made the necessary repairs.



It was then put together by K and her daddy. She was incredibly excited about getting a new bed that all she said for the next 2 hours was "big girl bed," "big girl bed!"



Later mommy and K went shopping for just the perfect sheets and blanket. First we went to JC Penney's to no avail so we headed off to Sears. There we found a very large section dedicated to toddler/ little kids bed sets. Of course there was the Disney and Sesame Street selection but I really wanted something a bit more generic but fun at the same time. We eventually settled on a butterfly print with a matching pillow.



As soon as we put those sheets on the bed she climbed right up and played on her new big girl bed for quite some time! I am also proud to say that she managed to sleep all through the night on the new bed. I, on the other hand, had some trouble sleeping as I was worried about her falling off the bed. She did of course at 5:30 am and survived the incident with no injuries!

Ultimate Compliment

A while back Marie left a comment on my blog saying that she found a picture of my hat on someone else's blog. This of course excited me to no end as I just love seeing other's interpretation of my designs.

Immediately I cruised on over to the site to check it out. Turns out that this knitter is German and her entire blog is in German so I couldn't read a thing that she said, just stare at the picture. Then I Googled her site and sure enough it was my lucky day, directly next to the link to her site was a translator provided by Google. Naturally I clicked on it and magically what I could not read a minute before was transformed to words that made since to me.


She said she made it as a chemo cap and it was relatively easy to execute. I'm extactic that it turned out so great for her and that whomever the recipient is will have a warm head to make her life a bit easier. Thanks Christiane, your hat turned out great!

Mrs. Zimmerman's Baby Surplice Jacket

I subscribe to Vogue Knitting Magazine and while I usually don't like the majority of the patterns published, I find the articles to be fascinating. The Spring/Summer 2007 issue was particularly special as it had Mrs. Zimmerman's pithy instructions for making a baby surplice jacket. This is of course a variation on a theme of the famous BSJ.

Fairy yarn mommy sent me some really great machine washable yarn in an outstanding colorway and just knew it had to be this jacket.

I casted it on, blindly followed the instructions, then casted off. After it was all said and done, I completely understood where Elizabeth was going with the design. If I haven't said it already, Elizabeth is a genius!



Altogether I used 3 balls of Cascade Yarns Bollicine. This is an incredibly easy and fast knit. I'm already planning on making some adjustments so it will fit a toddler. Hopefully it will be done in time for fall when the weather starts to get a chill in the air and the leaves transform to their artistic display of colors.

Tuesday's are wonderful...

...because I'm due on a Tuesday. This means that on Tuesday's is when the magic number of weeks remaining becomes 1 less. This Tuesday marks the beginning of week 7. Not that I'm counting or anything, I'm just sayin'.

Edited on Wednesday:

I went to the Dr yesterday and we now have a date for the baby. The C-section is scheduled for Friday July 20, 2007 at 8:30 am. The lady who called to let me know said that we have to be there at the hospital at 6:30 and that I can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight.

Of course I asked her if she was crazy about the food thing. Then I explained to her that I'm usually up in the middle of the night (about 3 am) eating and then I get breakfast at 5 am. She told me that this is standard operating procedure for major surgery. I'm gonna have to have Ray get me something to eat after we have the baby.

We are pretty sure we have a name! Ray picked it out and its growing on me. Now we just need a middle name. I told him that he was in charge of that. I'm not even gonna tell so don't ask. Something needs to be a surprise!

Also, the Aunties at Elann chatsite have decided that they need to get a pool going. They were originally going to bet on the date and time of the arrival but then I botched that up for them. So they are needing something else to bet on. Wt maybe? I don't know but if you can think of something go and tell Betsy about it so she can get it all set up.

Priscilla

There is always a time in a knitters life when all they need is an easy knit. A knit that you don't have to think of what your next move is. A knit that all you have to do is follow the pattern. And hopefully that pattern is well written.

I found all of these elements present in Priscilla. The pattern is in Berroco book #223. This book is wonderful. It shows how one can take the same identical pattern, switch yarns, adjust the gauge (if needed), and have a completely different top! All of the tops are quite easy and I'm planning on making more of them in the future.

As luck would have it, Berroco Echo was on sale at Herrschners a while back and I picked some up. To be completely honest, I actually bought the yarn for this pattern and then followed through with the the plan. This is monumental because I normally never use the yarn the pattern calls for as it usually costs the GNP of small countries.

I made the L sized top and I think it will fit. I did try it on but the belly got in the way and everything is out of proportion so I'm not sure if it looks good on me or not. I have hope as the top part actually fit! The belly part, on the other hand is a different story altogether. I'm excited as I now have a cute and soft summer top to wear.

Now for the specs. I used 7 balls of yarn and knit it on Options US10.5 needles.

Cutaway!

Today a new pattern made its debut at Elann.com. While I did not design this cutaway cardigan, I did knit it up and the gorgeous Margaux is modeling it! I'm incredibly excited over it!



Baby News

First off, I want to tell everyone that Betsy Faye Jr. has started to drop. A co-worker actually commented on this so I know that I'm not completely crazy as far as this is concerned.

Then this morning after I dropped K off at the day care, I start to have contractions right in the middle of traffic. I think I was the ONLY person sitting in their car thinking "please don't turn green now, please don't turn green now." Naturally they are Braxton-Hicks contractions because I'm not due for another 8 weeks. They had better be BHs cuz the kid isn't done cooking in there.

Tonight I'm taking it extremely easy so I should be able to make some progress on the baby surplice jacket! Also if you could just tell Jr to settle down in there I would greatly appreciate it. I think she thinks there is a trapeze swing or something cuz she has been moving all day long.

Help Help, My Letters Are Missing!

I was playing around with the blog this weekend and added a banner pix, changed some of the sidebar titles, started yet another project. Regardless, I thought that I had the banner all figured out. Acutally I did have it all figured out for my computer. All of the pixels lined up and I could see the words. Well I thought I would see how it looked on my work computer and some of the letters got cut off.

So I'm wondering what you can see. I set up a simple poll. Its only going to last for a week (as opposed to the one in the side bar).

Baby Things

When Karolyn was born, they put a little hat what the hospital has deemed worthy of the term "hat" on her head. In actuality, its more like a knitted tube that they cut off the roll and tied some string on the one end. Not very fashionable in my book and may actually scar the kid for life. In addition to this, the makers of baby clothes doesn't know what the size of a newborn head is either as all of their hats were just way to big.

Its a good think that momma is a knitter and is fully capable of knitting up a hat for the new baby.

The yarn I'm chose to use was Lara by Elann.com. I have to say that I don't think that I will ever use this yarn again. It is incredibly soft, holds its shape well, great shine. What's wrong with it you ask? It splits. It splits horribly. I had to tink more than I cared for because I kept splitting the yarn. And its not like I was using the dull Addis. Oh no, this baby was on the Options. It doesn't get much sharper than that.

I looked up the circumference of a newborn babies head. Read the gauge on the ball band (no swatching on this one), and casted on. I knit until the desired height was achieved then started the k2tog, k2 decrease round. Knit 3 more rows and another decrease round. When I had about 7 stitches left I drew the string through and called it good!



Here little one, now you will be the most fashionable kid in the nursery!