Positive and Negative Knitting

Between a lot of time in the car and sacrificing some sleep, I had managed to do a good bit of knitting. I really want to make something for Carter for her first birthday, and I already had the yarn for a Bloom top, so I thought it would be perfect. Until mommy brain intervened and I knit the whole ribbed portion on the wrong size needle.

It was a sad moment when I realized all that knitting time was wasted. I feel like its so precious these days- it's hard to allow myself to just relax and knit. It feels indulgent and selfish, even though I know its healthy to have some "me" time. Anyway, all this to say, normally I'm always in favor of ripping something out and reknitting if its not quite right, but it was especially painful Saturday to rip out all that work.

I have started over (on the right size needles. I checked. Twice) and the plus side is, I already know what to do. Other than the occasional check to make sure I'm on the right track it seems to be going quicker. At least that's what I'm telling myself. Here's my progress now:

I'm also still working on the vivid blanket squares, though now it's going to be a Christmas present rather than a wedding gift. But that's ok, that gives me time to make it bigger than I'd originally planned and perfect!

As far as reading, the only things I've been reading lately are books for my library's Battle of the Books competition. As the coach I try to read all the books before, if not along with, the kids, and I'm on the last one. I'm looking forward to some reading material not geared toward middle school aged kids, not that there's anything wrong with that!


I'm linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along today.

Blanket Changes

I've been knitting away this week, and made a change on the Vivid blanket. After talking it over with my brother, I've decided to make the blanket bigger even though it means it wont be done for the wedding. He was totally fine with this, and I was too because ultimately I want it to be something they get a lot of use out of. If that means it takes a few more months, so be it! That said, here's my progress:

I have 18 squares done, and the ball on top is the next and last color. I laid out the squares over the weekend so I know what colors need more squares, so now to keep knitting! I really do love this pattern, and I can almost knit it entirely from memory. 

I also put a few rows on Carter's bloom. This is a hard color to photograph- it keeps getting washed out. You can also really see the crack on my lens (that I really need to go get fixed!) because I was trying to get it in the sun as much as possible.

No problems with this so far, just ribbing and increases!

This crazy girl is babbling all the time now, and is this close to crawling. I'm not sure I'm ready for that!

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Travel Knitting

I don't get as much time to knit this days, with an almost mobile 8 month old, work, cooking, cleaning, dog, cat, and husband. But I usually try to sneak in a few minutes every day, during nap times, at night before bed, or in the case of last weekend, while in the car! I went to my to-be-sister-in-law's bachelorette party and shower this weekend, and since my parents were going too I rode with them. Not only did this save me gas money (always nice) but it also meant I got to knit while I rode! I got more knitting done over 2 days that I have in weeks.

Above you can see the new project I started. Given how little time I have to knit these days, I started thinking ahead to projects I want to finish this year. I knew that I wanted to give Carter a hand knit gift for her first birthday, and that was prioritized over everything but the blanket. So I brought the yarn along (lovingly wound by my husband!) and cast on a Bloom by Georgie Hallam. I only got a few rows in, but it was so nice working with Sunshine Yarns again :)

I devoted most of my time to the squares for the wedding blanket though, and I'm making good progress! Here's my stack:

Here are 16 of the 17 squares I have finished. I originally was only going to make 25, and do a gradient from the middle out where half the colors would go from light to dark (the middle) and back out to light with the other half of the colors on the other side. But I really love how all the colors look together, and even though I would be almost double the amount of squares I'm considering doing it as a full gradient from light to dark and back to light again (does that make any sense?)

I think it would be a more usable size, and I really want them to LOVE this blanket. I think I have enough yarn, so I might start to try to really crank out squares and see how many I can get done.

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along today!

What Else I'm Knitting

I'm still working away on the Vivid blanket I shared last week, but I haven't done too many more squares since then. I thought I would share what else I have on the needles even though neither project has seen much attention lately. Maybe sharing them today will remind me to give them some love this week?

These are the tube socks I am making for Carter. I'm not sure how long to make them, but I think I'm about done with this one. I grab these whenever I need something easy and small to work on, so they don't get much love.

This is the hat I started for Zach for his birthday, but decided early on that it was silly to give him a hat in March and figure I'll give it to him for Christmas.

This is Madelinetosh Pashmina Optic that he picked out last summer. 

And that's all I've got. I'm hoping once the blanket is done I can move onto other things, including some stuff for Carter :)

This is from our 7 month photo shoot :) She is growing up way too fast!

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along

Weekend, Menu, and Knitting

This weekend we took our first road trip with Carter! I was apprehensive about it, but thanks to some good planning and a good natured baby it actually went pretty well. We drove about 5 hours to see my brother and soon to be sister-in-law near Albany, NY. Our plan was to mostly drive during Carter's usual nap times since she falls asleep really easily in the car.

The weather was pretty nice on the way out and we made it by dinner time on Friday. Saturday we mostly hung out at my brother's apartment and played cards. We ordered Chinese from the restaurant in the plaza near my brother's apartment and the five of us walked to get it.

(Thanks to Amy for the photo!)

We left early Sunday morning to make the drive back, which due to weather and a crankier baby was not as nice as the ride out, but we made decent time and were glad to have the evening to get ready for the coming week. Speaking of this week, here's what our menu looks like!

Monday: Stuffed chicken breasts and green beans
Tuesday: Alfredo pasta with scallops and broccoli
Wednesday: Tuna melts
Thursday: Salmon and broccoli cheese soup
Friday: Roasted garlic and chicken pizza
Saturday: Eggs in hash brown cups and leftovers for lunch/dinner

I'm not sure if I will bake this weekend. I have some bananas that need to be used up, but I may freeze them instead.

Lastly, I have knitting progress! Thanks to making sure I take some time for myself and car knitting time, I'm slowly gaining ground with the blanket. Here are the finished squares:

I'm making 25 total, and may do an applied i-cord on the edge, so there's still lots to go but I'm feeling more optimistic that I will finish in time.

I'm linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along today.

Minuscule Knitting Progress

My knitting time has been all but nonexistent the past few weeks, which is why I haven't shared anything in a while. Carter is still pretty little, and its hard to get too much done when she is awake. Any free time is taken up by fun stuff like hanging out with friends or housework. I can't complain too much though, life is good! Its just tough not being able to sit and knit whenever the mood strikes me. Carter is starting to play much more independently now though, and even though I still like to play with her a lot when I'm home, I think I may try to do at least 10 minutes of knitting a day.

That said, here's my progress on the vivid blanket!

I think I know how I'm going to lay out the colors in the blanket now, so that gives me a good idea of how many squares of each color I need. 3 down, 22 more to go! I'm really enjoying knitting this blanket, and I finally got some better needles to work it on. These are Knit Picks Caspian dpns, and I've only knit one round on them so far but I like them. And it doesn't hurt that they are pretty too!

I also have a Carter photo for you, because let's face it, I take 10x more photos of her than anything else :)

Feet are one of the most entertaining things right now ;) 

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along

Vivid Underway

I haven't been knitting on too many different projects lately, which is unusual for me, but good for my 2015 knitting plan! I've been pretty enamored with the Vivid blanket squares I am making for my brother and his fiance for their wedding in June. Here are the first two squares:

Clearly they will benefit from a good blocking :)

Most of the colors are shades of blue, but there's also this lavender and a mint green color. I think it will be lovely and I can't wait to get enough squares finished so I can start laying out the design and putting it together!

In other related news, I am destashing a lot of my yarn. I have some up right now, but more will be going up in the next few days as I get to it. If you are in the market for some new yarn at a good price, check it out here! Also, I have a lot of acrylic that I'm planning on giving away. If you could use it and wouldn't mind paying shipping, I will send it to you! Some of it is nicer, soft acrylic and some is mystery yarn. Not all of it is in my stash on Ravelry, so that's why I'm not listing it there.

Hope wherever you are you are staying warm and getting in some knitting time!


I'm linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along

Sick Baby

Baby Carter came down with the cold I had last Sunday, and I'm pretty sure a sick baby is one of the worst things in the world. Thankfully she doesn't have the flu or something more serious, but its still hard to watch her being all stuffed up and coughing. We've been trying to get her to sleep as much as possible, and even sick she has slept through the night all but one night.

Carter normally sleeps in her crib (she has since about 10 weeks old) but with being sick the incline of the Rock n Sleeper helps her sleep better. The vibrate doesn't hurt either! We have a humidifier going in her room and I think that helps, and been trying to get her to eat as much as possible. Other than saline drops there's not a whole lot more that we can do.

A sick baby coupled with a snow day on Friday means not a whole lot has been happening here. The hubs and I escaped for a few hours on Saturday while my dad watched Carter, and I got Chipotle for lunch (but of course forgot to take a photo).

Here's hoping this week everyone gets over this awful cold. I have our menu almost ready to go for tomorrow and I have actually gotten some knitting done this weekend, so I can't wait to share it!

Socks for Baby Feet

My child has long skinny feet, which she gets from me. All the baby socks seems to be made for kids with short, fatter feet, therefore not only are they too small lengthwise, Carter doesn't have any bulk to hold them on. If they are long socks they are usually ok, but short ones don't work at all. As a knitter I felt it was my duty to fix this problem, but I didn't want to knit socks she would outgrow in 3 weeks. Enter the tube sock!

Tube socks are basically socks without a heel, so they can be worn for a long time before they don't fit. I'm knitting some that are ribbed all the way down on one side and only at the cuff on the other. I know some people do ribbing all the way around, but I was worried it wouldn't be comfortable once Carter started walking. Maybe I will do another pair all ribbed once I finish this pair.

These are being knit out of Sunshine Yarns Classic sock in the Magic colorway on size two needles. These are my "easy" knitting, so they travel with me or get worked on late at night :)

I'm also still working on Carter's stocking. Even though I didn't get it finished for Christmas, I wanted to keep working on it so I wasn't rushing next Christmas to finish it. I'm just starting the last colorwork chart.

This is the New Ancestral Stocking pattern and I'm knitting it out of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes.

Lastly, I started my January knit (according to my 2015 knitting) which is the blanket for my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law. I was concerned about the pinhole cast on, but the tutorial linked to in the pattern was really clear and I got it right away.

I'm knitting them the Vivid pattern out of several shades of Berocco Vintage. I'll post a good shot of all the colors when I get a little further.

That's my knitting for this week! What are you working on?

Knitting, 2015 Version

Since Carter was born the amount of knitting I have done has plummeted. There just isn't enough free time in the day! She is a good sleeper and takes 3-4 naps a day (and sleeps through the night!) but with working I'm already not home a ton, and I hate spending my time with her while she is awake doing other things. Therefore, while she sleeps I'm usually eating, pumping, showering, or cleaning the house.

However, I am starting to try and make time for knitting, even if its only 15 minutes a day. I thought I would try something new this year and pick 12 project to work on for 2015. I considered any gift knitting I would want to do, and then made up a "schedule" for my knitting. A project a month set up so that any knitting with a deadline should theoretically be done in advance. I don't plan to finish every project within the month that I start (one is a blanket!) The idea is to work mainly on that project for the month, and if I finish early I can either work on a WIP, start next month's project, or cast on something new.

Here's my plan for 2015:

January: a Vivid blanket for my brother and soon to be sister-in-law for their wedding in June
February: Exeter hat for the hubs
March: Spring Garden Tee for Carter
April: Finish mom's sweater
May: Bloom for Carter
June: Socks for Dad
July: Socks for Carter
August: Sheep sweater for Carter
September: Red Riding coat for Carter
October: Wolf Pack hat for my cousin
November: plain socks for me
December: finish Sockhead hat

I know the blanket will take several months so that's why I'm starting that in January. I also know that November and December will be busy, so I thought having easy projects to work on would make it easier to stick to my schedule. We shall see how well it works! I hope to revisit this every so often to give updates :)

Revamp

I took a long break from blogging and a lot has happened in the past 15 months or so! I got a new job (library manager), got pregnant, went on a few trips, knitted a lot, made a ton of recipes, went to several weddings, had a baby girl (more on that later) and have had an absolute blast watching her grow up!

I've realized over the past few weeks or so that I really want to start using this space again, but it will probably be in a different way than I did before. There will still be knitting content, recipes, and I'll share a bit about what we do, but I will also have a lot about babies (it's pretty much impossible not to talk about a baby once you have one!) I'm also thinking I may talk about home decor and organization, because for me it has become a bigger part of my life now that I have an infant.

I also really want to do more reviews (movies, books, products, services) and maybe link up with other bloggers. I know when I am looking for a new product I love hearing what other people have to recommend, so it only makes sense to me to include that type of stuff here as well.

I'm going to do a condensed post about my pregnancy and the birth of our baby soon, but that's all the additional catching up I plan to do. I'm really looking forward to using this space again!

Massive Catch-up Post

Between the super busy holiday weekend and having problems uploading photos again, I haven't had a chance to share the weekend, our menu, or my WIPs thus far. I'm going to do a big post here in effort to catch it all up, so hang on!

Saturday I worked and then went to a Stampin Up workshop run by my friend Carrie. She does a great job of designing the cards and showing us how to make our own. I plan to do a separate post showing the cards I made because they are that cool! That night we had a birthday party for our friend's son, and gave him a camo fleece blanket that we tied the fringe of. He loved it!

Sunday was a really fun day. A group of 10 of us was looking for something fun to do, and when a few of the ideas fell flat we settled on a sailboat ride and dinner at Pearl Street Grill. Then one of our friends called in a favor and got us a limo to ride in for the day! How fun is that? Since we had the car for most of the day, we left early and stopped and got coffee and walked around Delaware Park before our boat left. Here are some of the guys hanging out, waiting for the boat.

The boat we rode on was the Spirit of Buffalo. It was very relaxing to sail around Lake Erie, though it did start to rain for a bit. Here is the boat:

We were more than ready for dinner when the sailing tour was done, so we walked the few blocks to Pearl Street Grill. I had never eaten here before, and got the portobello mushroom  tortellini. YUM!

Monday started with me being delivered breakfast in bed. Awesome! Cheese omelette and yogurt with coffee. I have the best husband :)

When the group of us were hanging out on Sunday, we realized that none of us had Labor Day plans, so we invited everyone over for an impromptu hot dog and burger get together. People brought food and we all just hung out. Since the weather ended up not being so great, we mostly hung out inside, which was fine.

Whew! Lots to report, even if I didn't take that many photos. I will keep the knitting part brief, but I wanted to include it since this is a Wednesday WIPs post after all!

I finished my barndom shawl!

I really enjoyed this project, and I think this will be very wearable in a few more weeks when it cools down! I knit this in Malabrigo Sock in the Ivy, Chocolate Amargo, and Boticelli Red colorways. I highly recommend it!

I started a new project this week, but haven;t had a chance to take photos of it yet, so that will have to wait until next Wednesday!

This post is linked up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

The monogamous week

This week I have been knitting on only one project. ONE. Since Camp Loopy is ending right along with August, and that is happening in three days, I decided that if I was going to finish this thing on time that I better bust a move and concentrate. I have made some pretty good progress, and there is a decent chance that I will be binding off before Saturday at midnight.

The colors are a little off- we've had really cloudy weather here this week- but you can see that I am onto the border. Naturally I was in the middle of the row, but at this point the shawl is so large it wouldn't have mattered; I can't get a shot of the whole thing stretched out anyway.

Since the knitting content is a little concentrated this week, I thought I would share some of the items I am planning to cast on soon.

First up is the Gathering Stripes sweater that will be my OWL this term. I plan on starting this on September 1or as close to it as I can. I have wound some Knit Picks Stroll Sport to use for this:

The teal will be the main color with the silvery gray as the contrasting stripes. I wound two skeins together for most of these to keep the number of balls down, and it worked pretty well.

The other big project I have planned to start soon is the Bellevue Cardigan. I have some Knit Picks Comfy fingering all wound and ready for that, which will be a gift for my mom.

I'm pretty excited to be knitting some larger garments. I knit the Dark and Stormy early this year, and it still needs a good block and some buttons. I can't wait til it cools down enough to wear it :)

This post is linked up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

WIP Wednesday

I feel like I haven't gotten much knitting done, but since I wasn't able to post last week maybe it wont seem that way to you ;) The plan for the rest of the month is to go gangbusters on the shawl, since that is my Camp Loopy 3 project. I think it is definitely doable to finish it in time, I just need to make it a priority. Then I will work on the socks until September first, when new things go on the needles. I'll give a preview next week of what I plan on knitting for September!

First up is the shawl. I left it in the middle of a row last night, but you can see that I have made some progress. I am loving how this is turning out, and really want to finish on time!

This is the Barndom pattern by Stephen West and I am knitting it in Malabrigo sock.

Next up: the socks. These haven't seen a whole lot progress, but the heel is turned so they are well on their way.

These are the Men's Socks for Giving Away pattern by Purl Bee and I'm knitting them in Berroco Vintage DK.

I started a new project recently, keeping with my need to continually knit baby things because there are so many people in my life who have little ones or who are pregnant. Really, I don't mind, because baby things are quick and fun to knit, but it could be spaced out a little!

This is the Jackson Blanket pattern by Tash Barneveld and I'm knitting it out of Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn. The colors aren't quite as bright as this pictures suggests, the orange is much more burnt pumpkin and the purple is a darker mulberry color. I love this pattern, and have decided I'm not allowed to work on it until the shawl is finished, so hopefully this knitty motivation works!

Lastly, I finally washed and lightly blocked the blanket for my new niece, who I made the first Jackson Blanket for. You may notice that the edges are curling a little, which isn't a big deal, but I did a garter border on the blanket I am making now to fix that. Still, I hope she likes her new blanket!

This post is linked up with Ginny's Yarn Along. 

WIP Wednesday

This week hasn't seen a ton of knitting progress. I focused mainly on my Barndom shawl, which is my Camp Loopy 3 project. Monday I noticed that I had slipped stitches with the yarn on the wrong side, which meant I had a random piece of brown yarn in front of the pretty slipped stitches. It was really noticeable, so I tinked back the 5 or so rows, corrected it, and then caught back up. I think I am still on track to finish by the end of the month. Here's where I was at this morning:

This is being knit out of Malabrigo Sock yarn in Chocolate Amargo, Ivy, and Boticelli Red (to be added in at the end). I'm liking the project so far, and it is making me think of Fall!

I did a few round on my socks for Dad, but these are mostly my on-the-go knitting, and I haven't had too much time in the car or waiting around to work on them.

I think I'm almost to the point where I start the heel flap, so almost 75%!

I also did a few rounds on my Marsh stripey socks this week. It is embarrassing how long these things have been on the needles. I might just work on them monogamously once I get sick of the shawl for a bit to finish them up, because they are so close! Just the ribbing for the leg and 1 heel.

Once I get one of these pairs of socks finished, more baby items!

This post is linked up with Ginny's Yarn Along. 

WIP Wednesday

I always love sharing my knitting on the blog. Not only does it keep me accountable to work on all my projects and finish in a timely manner, it also feels good to share something you made with the world. Or at least the small section of it that reads my blog :)

This week I finished the baby sweater I have been working on. 

This sweet little cardigan is a DROPS pattern, and I was pretty happy with it. I decided to do the 1-3 month size. I think my stitch counts got a bit wonky at the lace section, but it ended up working out and I wasn't too worried about it. I used Loops and Threads Snuggly Wuggly Baby Sport  and I was pretty pleased with it for an acrylic. It was a bit rough when working with it, but the finished product is nice and soft. Perfect for a baby!

The other project going on my needles right now is a pair of socks.

I had hoped to have these done by the end of the month, but a few days ago I realized that only one of these projects was going to get finished, so I worked on the baby cardigan more. Still, I've only had these on the needles for 2 1/2 weeks, so that's not bad progress. 

As far as reading goes, we finished reading Multiply as a staff here at work. It was a pretty good book, but definitely meant to be read with application to a mentor relationship. Still a good read though. I'm more than halfway through Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident, and still working away on A Letter of Mary. I hope to sit down with Young House Love this week and make more progress on that book. I want to find a way to save the projects in there I see myself doing in the near future but I'm not sure the best way to do that. Maybe an iPhone photo uploaded to Pinterest?

This post is linked up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

WIP Wednesday

I feel like I have lots more knitting to show you than I have the past few weeks, and I'm not sure if that is because I have more free time, or because I'm not spending as much of that free time spinning for Tour de Fleece. Either way, I'm not complaining! Here's what I worked on this past week:

Dad's Socks saw quite a lot of work on them, and I'm pleased with how they are turning out. I hope to finish the pair by next week! This has to be the earliest I have finished a Christmas gift.

The other project I worked away on is new this week, a baby sweater:

This little sweater is a Drops pattern, and I'm liking how it is knitting up. The yarn isn't my favorite, but it isn't bad, and since it is going to a non-knitter and a new mom, I thought washable was key :) It would be nice if I could finish this by the end of the month as well, since I could turn it in for a HPKCHC class and because I have two large-ish projects slated for next month!

As I mentioned last week, I'm planning on participating in Camp Loopy for the month of August, and I selected the Barndom pattern to knit.

I ordered two skeins of Malabrigo Sock to go with a skein I already had, since I intended to make the 3 color version. However, now I'm wondering if I want to knit the two color version and end up with a smaller, slightly more wearable version. Looking at the pattern, there isn't a ton of difference between the two sizes (only 2-3 inches) and the only knitting difference is the last several rows, so I may not totally decide until I near the end of the shawl. Here are the three colors pictured together:

This photo is a little dark, but you get the idea. If I only used two colors I would use the brown and either the green or the red/orange, but I think the three go together nicely as well. Decisions, decisions!

Lastly, I finished skeining up my last handspun from Tour de Fleece. I can't remember what the fiber content is off hand, but it is nice and bulky and lofty.

I like it, and it was good experience to spin, but I don't love it. Maybe I will find the perfect project for it, or maybe I will sell it/give it away to someone who loves these colors more than I do. 

This post is linked up with Ginny's Yarn Along. 

WIP Wednesday

I caught a bout of finish-itis last week, and as a result I finished both of the projects I had been actively working on. The blanket, while finished, needs to be washed, so I don't have a photo of it yet. However, the dog sweater is all completed, and I even have cute modeled photos!

Diesel loves wearing it, even as hot as it is here right now. He will have to wait until Christmas though! It's getting packed away in the gift box until then.

Since I finished both of those I needed something new to work on. Before I cast on a new project I did make myself work a few rows on the stripey socks I've had going for months and months. I don't know what it is with these- I have about an inch left on the cuff of the second sock and the heel to do, but I can't get motivated to finish them. It might be because I worked on these socks a lot while I was at school, or maybe because it is too hot to think about wearing socks. Either way, they did see a tiny bit of progress. But what has really captured my time is a new pair of socks!

These are the Men's Socks for Giving Away, which is a pattern I totally recommend for man socks. They knit up quickly on DK weight yarn and size 5 needles. Notice my needles there? I picked up a set of Chiaogoo needles at Natural Stitches in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago when I got the yarn for this project (Berocco Vintage DK). I've had the same set of Knit Picks interchangeables for years now, and thought it was time to give something else a try. So far I like them, but I want to wait until the project is finished for a final verdict.

So, I had told myself that I wasn't going to do Camp Loopy this year. With everything we have had going on I thought that the House Cup and Tour de Fleece was plenty. But I got reading the blog post about project 3 that Sherri sent out... and next thing I knew I was researching patterns and yarns. I ended up ordering yarn to make Barndom by Stephen West. I am really excited about the colors I chose, and I can't wait to show them to you when they come in!

This post is linked up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

WIP Wednesday

This is going to be a quickie since I just walked in the door and have to walk back out really soon! I finished the baby blanket I have been working on. There are still some ends that need to be woven in and I might do some sort of border, but I'm considering it complete.

I'm still working on the dog sweater, but it hasn't gotten much love. That project will become my priority now though, so look for more progress next week!

I have been spinning a ton! I have a finished skein of yarn, but its not dry yet so that will have to wait. This is my current spin- Sunshine Yarns SW BFL in the Hogwarts at Night colorway. I love it!

Above is the second 2oz still in progress, and below is the first 2 oz.

Such awesome colors. I am loving spinning this fiber.

My next project has me starting my Christmas knitting! More info to follow :)