OY!

I've been a terrible blogger lately. I'm sorry. Between starting 2 new projects, travelling to California, Hosting our annual Summer Party, and being downright tired, I've been a slacker on teh internetz. I need to be better. The picture taking has gone down as well :( But now that the weather is getting cooler (thank heavens!) and things tend to sloow down for me after summer I'm hoping to be back to normal.

I have been busy knitting though!

Sneak Peak of what's on my needles:

Back of my checked hoodie finished, currently working on the front.

Got a magic loop and am attempting socks! again! Going much better than before and I'll have a brand spankin new pair of Twilight socks soon! Yarn, Book, and Magic Loop was birthday gift from my Dad and Family :) Yarn is Knitpicks Imagination in Mermaid Lagoon.

Bella Mittens! Had to have some, just like Bella! Not The Original but close enough!

Mine

Movie

And what is OFF the needles AND blocked!

Clapotis!

yes, I've joined the masses and completed a viral knit :)

I've got quite a bit still planned for the next couple months and doing a choice few christmas gifts! Definitely need to get organized and start rolling on those!

Dishcloth Dozen

Here is my May swap stuff.




It's the spiral scrubbie I posted about before. As well as another dishcloth I made from the Lily book I picked up a while back. Good Stuff.

BAM- May

Well I survived, but barely. This was a really confusing pattern in the way it was written. Neither myself, nor Vickie could get it completed that night. And we usually have no problems! After all is said and done, it's a pretty square. But I don't know that I'd do the pattern again, if I did I would need to rewrite it in a traditional form so that it was easier for me to read.

Pattern: Hint of Spring by Sally Ives

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver- Gold, Red, Teal

Hook: J

My Ravelry Project Page!

BAM- February... Again

So I didn't like the original February square because it used 2 weights of yarn, wasn't square, and just looked a mess. So I reworked it.

But I may rework it again because the other squares I'm making have a gold yarn in them vs. the yellow... but if I redid this one then I would have to redo the March one since it's all in the yellow. Hmmmm. Not sure.


Pattern: Two-Tone Square by Dayna Audirsch
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver
Hook: J
My Ravelry Project Page!

Scrubbie, Tribble, Tawashi

So everyone raves about these adorable little dishcloth scrubbies! (aka Tawashi, aka Tribble) Well, I decided to give one a whirl on Sunday night and it was delightfully easy and quick. Other than trying to figure out how in the world to get it from a flat parallellogram to a scrubbie was beyond me. After looking online and finding the knit version I decided to document my crochet version as a good reference point.

Step 1- complete your parallelogram ending with an odd row. (Pattern called for 21 I think I could only get 19 rows since I ran out of yarn)

Step 2- bring Side 1 and Side 3 together and slip stitch using live yarn

Step 3- Use your long tail end to weave in and out of the edge of side 2 (Repeat for Side 4)

Step 4- Pull the ends tight to close the holes

You can weave the ends back through the other side and make a loop for hanging or just weave the ends in and Voila! a Scrubbie!

Pattern: Spiral Scrubbie

Yarn: Sugar 'n Cream, Potpourri

Hook: H Hook

My Ravelry Project Page!

Test Pattern- Athena Headband

So among the other groups on Ravelry I am a member of the Free-Pattern Testers group. You may remember the Door Knob Cozy that I did a while back.

Well I decided to give it a whirl again, this time choosing a great, easy knit pattern from Cassie Miller. It was my first time using ICord (sooo easy!) and I whipped this up last week using some of the Stretch Socks yarn I had on hand. And a pink hairband. Duh, have to coordinate!

Testing is complete and Cassie has it up for sale in her Ravelry store!

Pattern: Athena Headband by Cassie Miller

Yarn: Patons Stretch Socks in Sugar

Needle: US2 DPNs

My Ravelry Project Page!

Swaps!

So one of the most awesome parts of being in the Ravelry Community is the swaps! You can find them for any and everything and more!



I was a part of the Project Bag and Dishcloth Swap and it has just finished. I wanted to share the project bag and bonus needle case I put together for my swap partner GuinnessGoddess.



It was the first bag I made and I'm super proud and was delighted to send it to Jen.

Basic tote


of course you have to have pockets! Where would your notions go? and cell phone!


and since I had some leftover fabric I whipped up this needle case as well.


Pretty awesome swap set if you ask me! I almost kept them for myself... but I didn't want to be on the naughty list as a bad swapper so off to their new home they went!

There will be more of these in my future though... definitely!

Dishcloth Dozen

So I completely forgot to post March and April!

March


April:


Both were just basic SC dishcloths using Dishcloth Cotton yarn. Simple but effective. :)

Gifted- Baby Surprise Jacket

I finally got around to seaming the BSJ, weaving in ends, and sewing on buttons. I couldn't find any cupcake buttons that I really loved so I went for some tropical fish. Luckily, mom and dad live in Cali so I deemed it appropriate!


Baby Quinn could be arriving as early as this weekend so I'm hoping the package found it's way safe and sound and made it's arrival before She did!


Hopefully come fall we can get some pictures of Quinn all bundled up! Since she isn't born yet, I'm hoping it will get LOTS of use since it can grow WITH her!

My Ravelry Project Page!

FO- Japanese Feather Wrap

I did it! I finished my lace shawl and in plenty of time for the wedding! I finished the actual knitting and weaving ends on Tuesday 5/12 but the blocking was done on Thursday 5/14 so that it could dry in time before we left on Friday.

Truly an amazing work of art and I would recommend it for anyone!

This shawl was a collaborative effort in the fact that the yarn was gifted from Agnes, the Eucalan was gifted from Tonia, and the pattern was a stroke of genius from Anne. I couldn't have done it without any of them!

Without further ado:

Before Blocking

Blocking

Finished!

Pattern: Japanese Feather Wrap- Knitspot

Yarn: Fleece Artist Nyoni, Blue Lagoon

Needles: US 8 Crystal Palace circulars

My Ravelry Project Page!

BAM- April

I'm still keeping up with the BAM challenge. I barely made it last month but I made it! April 29th. and it was actually the easiest pattern to date oddly enough. It's a gorgeous square and I'm tempted to do it many more times in a scrapghan when I find time... but I doubt that will happen!

Pattern: Waldo's Puzzle

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver

Hook: J

My Ravelry Project Page!

Replica

I was given an absolutely adorable crochet hat that belongs to Michael and asked to replicate for the other 2 boys in the family. Lucky for me it was a fairly basic double crochet hat with a bill. I'd say I lucked out when I found the. exact. yarn. at Walmart while doing some grocery shopping. Working up the first hat took a little bit of time to get the gauge right and number of stitches but the other 2 were started and completed while riding up to Columbus for Easter. Yep, that's right 2 hats in 1.5 hours. And that includes the frogging of an almost complete hat because I decided it was just a wee bit too small.

I give you the original:

And the first replica. Your eyes do not deceive you, they are 2 completely separate hats. Pretty darn close if I do say so myself!

And here is Cade modeling his new hat.

Fits like a glove. Needed a little more room for all that hair!

Yarn: Red Heart Fleck- Aran

Hooks- J and K

Pattern: Improvised

My Ravelry Project Page!

Gifted- Baby Surprise Jacket

I gifted the Baby Surprise Jacket to my cousin yesterday. His son just loved it to pieces and it fit great! He still has room to grow with it and I'm hoping he gets plenty of wear. The sleeves are short enough that a long sleeve t would keep him warm enough during the spring and then a short sleeve t will be cool enough in the summer. I hope they love it as much as I loved making it!

And of course I got lots of baby hugs and kisses in return!

My Ravelry Project Page!

BAM- March

We had our monthly meetup on Wednesday so that Vickie and I could complete our squares. This month's square proved to be particularly difficult. Either that or we were just too into Idol to pay enough attention. Vickie threw in the towel at row 5 and will revisit on her own time. I pushed through and got all but the last 2 rows finished that night. I wrapped it up Thursday during lunch and I can mark March off my list!


Pattern: Winter Dream
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Cornmeal
Hook- J
My Ravelry Project Page!

Door Knob Pocket

I volunteered to be a pattern tester in the Free Pattern Testers group on Ravelry.

My first test pattern was this adorable Door Knob Pocket by Wiste!

I whipped the whole thing up last night during the Obama Press Conference. It was a quick and easy project, fairly mindless and a lovely escape from the longer and more complicated projects I've been undertaking.

Pattern: Door Knob Pocket

Yarn- Red Heart Super Saver in Teal, Orange, and Yellow

Hook- G

My Ravelry Project Page!

Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket

I've purchased my first EZ book (The Opinionated Knitter) and completed my first EZ pattern. I know I join the other 592,847,202 knitters out there that agrees she is a genius. A fantastic pattern (though slightly difficult to grasp as it's not written like a normal pattern row by row) that amazingly turns out just how she intended. Trust the pattern. It works!

I made the jacket for my cousin's son Skylar, who will be turning 1. I have not made anything for him and felt he was very deserving and would be too cute in this jacket. I used worsted weight superwash wool (your welcome Winky!) So that Dad can throw it in the wash and not worry.

It took 1 week from start to finish. After a disastrous start, Christina was able to get me on track with starting out with the right number of stitches! Cast on at Monday Knit Night 3/16, seamed and sewed buttons on at Monday Knit Night 3/23.

Of course I couldn't have done it without Chloe's help... now I see why I have cat hair in my knitting :)

Buttons are oh so essential and Lambikins had the perfect ones! Pewter hippos adorn this baby and I think they look adorable! And at $1 a piece I couldn't beat it!

I love this jacket!

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket

Yarn: Cascade 200 Superwash, Plymouth Yarns Sara Superwash

Needle: US 8 Circular 24''

My Ravelry Project Page!

Teeny Turtles!

So of course I love my niece and nephew to bits. I've never made any toys before yet I've always been intrigued by the construction and just mooshy over how cute the amigurumi patterns are! Well, I've made my first toys 2 weeks ago. And they are delightful. And easy! And just too cute to boot!



Emme's Teeny Turtle


Cade's Teeny Turtle


Emme's was done on Friday night and Cade's was done on Saturday afternoon. I'll definitely be making more of these guys soon! (Already had a couple requests for them and to help someone make one as well :) )

Pattern: Tiny Striped Turtle
Yarn: Sugar N' Cream for the Shell, Caron Simply Soft for the head/feet/tail
Hook: F
My Ravelry Project Page- Cade!
My Ravelry Project Page- Emme!

Happy Socks

Well, let's see. We left off on 2/27 and shortly after that I completed my first Happy Sock!





I'm beyond thrilled with it. It's even got a bit of red at the tip of the toe. Makes me Happy!

I immediately cast on the second sock but sadly the ribbing is just boring me to tears so it sits hibernating for now. Perhaps I'll pick it up a bit here and there till that dreadful ribbing is done.