As Promised, Pictures!

Hat for Baby Park (Heartbreaker's teacher's upcoming baby). Yup, it's my baby shower fave, the Umbilical Cord Hat from SnB. I used the last of my Adrienne Vittadini yarn, with baby alpaca goodness.

Square on the garter stitch baby blanket. I ran out of my main color yarn, the yarn store was closed, so I improvised and ended up pretty happy with the effect.

Full shot of the blanket; I even got crazy and did some crochet on the border.

From the Heart of Hell, I Spit At Thee...

...or just spit up crap, essentially. Oh, come on - who else paraphrases Melville while referring to bronchitis? I've been sidelined for days with this blasted thing. I was sent home from work on Friday before I infected everyone at work and managed to score a repeat performance at the doctor's that day. Apparently, my virus had been upgraded to 'bacterial bronchitis'. I felt like I was going to return to my apartment to find it swathed in plastic like when the scientists got hold of E.T., or some random X-Files episode. Just call me the Outbreak Monkey.

Wow, this is a rather cinematic entry... must be the codeine.

So today I feel better than I have for a few days, and decided to catch up on some computing. I have a lot of e-mail. Holy crap.

I also have the coolest swap partner in the known universe. When the postman brought this huge box out of the elevator yesterday, I thought Mike had ordered something. But then I saw MY name on it, and jumped up and down until I started coughing like I was going to die. I managed to get a cough drop in so I could open the box. Holy COW. How awesome is my swap partner? Oh, about this awesome:



Kristen is also 45 oz. of M&M peanuts awesome. Yes, that is a 45 oz bag of peanutty, m&m-y goodness there.

More goodies? How can you deny the insane cute factor of a sheep in a sweater?



And how much do Hello Kitty knitting needles rock?



All in all, my first swap was awesome. I just heard from Leslie, my swap partner, who seems to like all the goodies I got her. On to the next swap - anyone like Hot Sauce?

And before I toddle back off to sick bay, more great news - it's a boy! Super-Secret Knitting projects are underway...

Super-Secret Projects Again...

Yup, I've got a super-secret project on the knitting needles again. It's adorable, and it's coming together much more quickly than I hoped, so I'm thrilled - I may even make a couple in different colors. Hee.

I went shopping for my Longing for Spring Swap pal, and got a few spring-y things. Now, I'm off to the yarn store this weekend to buy the main focus of the swap - the yarn and needles for the pattern I've chosen. I hope she likes everything...

Ugh, back to work. Spreadsheets call. Yay.

Catch-Up Post - Baby Boyd

I've been really bad at updating my photos lately - once I get them off of the camera, I just go to bed. Or play with my iPod. So I was seriously lax on my Snapfish distribution action. I've remedied that last night.

If you're a regular reader, you know that I've been anticipating the arrival of Baby Boyd with about as much zeal as I anticipated my own boys - which is probably on par with the arrival of the Christ Child, but indulge me if you will. This is indeed another Baby Boyd post, but it's illustrated.

Baby Boyd made out like a bandit at what I like to refer to as "The Pre-Game Show". Enjoy some of the haul...

Here we are, flush with the joy of new goodies to find places for. I'm secretly thrilled that Nancy prefers her photos to be taken from the chest up, because I really don't want anyone viewing me from below the waist these days, either.

Keith surrounds himself with testosterone at the Pre-Game Show - there was a LOT of estrogen magic in that home.

As the countdown to Baby Boyd's arrival begins, I ask myself... what do I have time to knit? ;-)

Weekend

Whew, catching up on stuff like mad. I've been a knitting fiend, working on another pinwheel blanket for Ella, Mike's best friend's daughter, who will be Christened next weekend. I even tried out my fledgling crochet skills and put a little fan stitch border around it, which came out cute - very relieved.

What I'm not thrilled about, though, is the fact that white dye lots apparently don't match up. Grr.

ARGH!

But the border's cute...

It looks like it's dirty on the outside! I'm trying to calm myself and tell myself it's two shades of white. It won't show so much in the daytime. I'm ready to slam my head into a wall. This is what I get for stash-diving to start a project.

I've got more pictures, so let me start another entry. Keep reading...

The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened!

So yes, I've been keeping secrets for a few months now, but all shall be revealed. I've made references to "Super Secret Projects" I've been working on for a wee one about to join us, and I was finally able to give the soon-to-arrive Baby Boyd gifts this past weekend at Nancy and Keith's Baby Celebration.

I can't put into words how excited I am. As an only child, I've had the unique luck of choosing the people that I want as siblings; waiting to meet my niece or nephew is just as exciting as it was to meet my boys after nine months.

Sometimes, I get very nervous about letting those people I care about most know how much they mean to me, and I guess that's one of the reasons I enjoy knitting so much. I can give you something that says it for me, and not have to worry about sounding corny. So I'll stop rambling here, lest I feel corny just putting these things down in HTML and let my needles and Dale Garn Baby Ull speak for me.

Baby Cardigan Warp

Baby Ribbed Cardigan with Matching Hat

I also worked up a blanket and another hat - they're in the post directly below this one. I'm sure there will be more Super Secret Projects in the near future...

I also have another Super Secret Project on the needles at the moment, but it won't be as long or drawn out since Stacey's birthday is coming up. ;-)

Super Secrets Revealed!

So finally, I can reveal my yarn, sweat and tears for the past couple of months.

Tilted Blocks Baby Blanket - LOVE this pattern, and if you ignore my purple flannel sheets with the penguins on them, you can see how nicely the lace looks now that I've honest-to-goodness blocked a project. This is the project I knit with the yarn I bought in Rhode Island when Mike's cousin got married.

And since I had extra yarn left, I whipped up - you guessed it, another baby hat. Yes, an umbilical cord hat from Stitch & Bitch. You are surprised? Didn't think so.

Why did I knit all of this up? Oh, keep reading... I've got more coming.

So It Begins...

I began blocking one of the super-secret gifties last night. Yes, I am actually going to finish projects that I started, aren't you excited for me? Pictures to come after Saturday, when the projects are no longer super-secret.

So I blocked the first, laid it out and this morning I was thrilled to see that it actually worked! It looks like a real piece of knitwork rather than a congealed ball of yarn. Tonight, I block super-secret piece number two and start seaming up super-secret piece number one. Yes, I know - blocking and seaming. Me. See? Anyone can be redeemed.

Picked up Mike's birthday gift from Will the other day; and since Mike doesn't read my blog, I can tell you that it is a wickedly cool Cylon tee shirt. Alex has requested that I buy Mike a Spider-Man action figure because "they are COOOOL!" And both have insisted that I must wrap their gifts in Spongebob wrapping paper. Perhaps with a My Pretty Pony card, which gets Alex giggling wickedly.

Last One for Today...

Although it's showing up aqua, this is a baby green hat for Will's teacher (well, her baby-to-be), Mrs. Pine. It's knit in Lion Brand Baby and it's got a little basket weave pattern. I'm hoping to bang out a matching set of booties and cardigan, and with the pinwheel blanket, I'll have a whole layette set to give her.

I'll say this much; knitting keeps me from losing my mind these days.

Pinwheel Blanket - Complete!

Here's one of the two pinwheel blankets I began a little while ago. This one is in the softest pink Bernat Satin yarn, with a fuzzy yellow yarn (I think it's Hunny? Can't remember right now)crocheted border to finish it off. I love the way it turned out! I'm sending this off to a friend who's due in a couple of weeks (along with the ever-present Umbilical Cord Hat and one of the Jester Hats I just finished) shortly.

I've got the second pinwheel blanket done too; I did it in yellow Lion Brand Baby yarn with a green Lion Brand Baby border (single crocheted and then double crocheted) and it looks adorable; that's going to Will's teacher for her baby-to-be. Photos forthcoming.

Triumph Over Adversity!

Your eyes do not deceive you... I HAVE SEAMED! TWO HATS! Those cute little jester hats from a few posts ago? I sat down yesterday and told myself I could not knit anything new until I finished these. I fought myself for an hour, but I sewed them both up. And they look kinda cute. So who knows? Maybe it's the dawn of a new day.

Now I just have to make the pom-poms to add...

Preemie Hats

Learning to knit with circular needles - actually knit in the round with them - opened up a huge door to me, especially since I think I've documented pretty well by now my issues with seaming up my work. But learning to knit with double pointed needles allowed me to start doing small, fine work that was too small to even do on circular needles.

I've been wanting to knit preemie hats for ages; I had once read about knitters making things for premature babies, who are just too small for the standard-issue hats the hospitals have, and to give a nice, handmade touch to the babies and their parents, who are already out of their minds with worry. And since anyone who knows me knows how I tear up at anything involving kids in distress, preemie hats seemed like the way to go (although by Fall/Winter 2007-08, I will have more of my act together to take part in the Warm Up America Foundation afghan squares project, and the Caps to the Capital initative for newborns). I customized the Stitch & Bitch pattern for my current favorite, the Umbilical Cord Hat, to a tinier size. It's heartbreakingly cute; it looks like a doll's hat (and it very well can be) but when you realize that it's going to go on a baby's head - let the sniffles flow.

So enjoy. I'll go whip out a few more...

Spring, Spring, Where Are You?

You know, when it snows, I normally get as excited as my kids. But I'm looking out the window at this wet glop falling out of the sky and I'm just irritable. When the heck is Spring going to stop teasing us and finally stay?

Anyway, positive thoughts. My little niece, Keira, turned one the other day (jeez, that went fast. Any my nephew, Brayden, will be three in a few weeks - yikes), so we went over for a little party. Here she is (recognize the hat?):

What a little cutie, right? I can't wait to cover this little girl in Hello Kitty garb; I've already warned my SIL Julie that Keira will enjoy my Hello Kitty obsession to its fullest. Why don't they make Hello Kitty baby gear, anyway? I think I may have to apply to Sanrio for a license and produce my own.

Yup... More Hats...

I fell in love with this Jester Hat from the Yarn Girls' Guide to Kids' Knits and decided to knit a few up. The pattern works out great; I loved doing it so much I threw a second one in there (my knits are on the right, the Yarn Girls' version is on the left). How cute will this look? I even went and bought one of those pom-pom makers, so I can get the fuzzy pom-poms down pat.

Guess what's holding me back? C'mon, take a good look. Seams. Sigh. I think I need to use my powers of Internet searching to find a site that walks people like me through painless seaming.

The Dark Ages of My Hat Knitting...

I wasn't always in love with the idea of knitting in the round. It confounded me. It made me nervous. I decided I wasn't good enough to give it a shot, so I shied away from it. I could just sew the darn things up the back, right? (Yes, I know I've stated many times that I am a seaming delinquent, but I needed to be able to make excuses, okay?) So my hats looked like little Frankensteins, a jagged seam running up the back. I shudder looking at them now, the poor little things. (Yup, the blue, white and yellow ones below are examples of my earlier work.)

What changed my mind? Preemie caps. I'd been dying to do something for charity (we knitters are a charitable bunch - check some of them out at http://www.dailyknitter.com/charity.html), and thought it would be great to do preemie caps for little premature babies. The problem? Can't have seams. They hurt the babies' little heads. Well, that just made me get all teary-eyed (you know anything with kids does that to me) at the thought of my Frankenstein-esque creations hurting a preemie, so I knuckled down and busted out my copy of SnB. I went to Rag Shop, bought a pair of 16" circulars, and went to work.

This white hat is the first hat I made for a preemie, on circular needles. The only problem is, the yarn gauge is a little too big - it won't fit a preemie. I hadn't figured out how to do smaller work, switching to double-pointed needles once even the circulars are too long. I've figured that out, too - that's where the umbilical cord hats came in.

Believe me, knitting on double pointed needles (dpns) is not as scary as it looks. It definitely takes some fooling around with, and some dexterity, but it's so much fun - and it's totally worth all the crazy looks you get from people who try to figure out what the hell you're doing.

Knitting has kept me sane in the months where I felt like I was worthless. Learning new things in knitting has made me stop feeling so worthless and useless. It really is as good as yoga.

I Said I Loved Knitting Baby Hats...

Got this pattern from One Skein, which has been a godsend since I have an incredible amount of stash yarn laying around. I love the cute little detailing at the bottom.

Hat Love

I love knitting baby hats. They're just so darn cute and tiny. And since I finally unlocked the mystery of knitting on circular needles, it's like a whole new world has opened up to me. My favorite hat is the Umbilical Cord Hat from that bible of fun knitting, Stitch & Bitch. Behold, in various needle and yarn sizes:

I'm seriously thinking of knitting one I can wear. It's just so darned cute. My next project using the hat is to see how small I can make 'em - I'm getting into knitting preemie caps for charity, and I just think these would be adorable.

Ahhhh... almost done...

Biography Day is out of the way, and the Science Fair happens this week. I can finally get a break from Will's work schedule. I do not remember having this much crap to do as a second grader. I swear I'm the one getting graded.

So I can revisit some of the knitting I've been trying to accomplish. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to photograph the baby shower gift I made for Michele, a pastel variegated baby blanket that was a sampler - stockinette, basket stitch, and rib, with a garter stitch border. I've made it several times before; it's a Lion Brand pattern that I got from A Passion for Knitting, which has some really good patterns, especially if you're in a pinch.

Anyway - I'm going to shoot the hats and document my search for the next 'perfect' baby shower gifts. I've got two more showers to come, and I really want to stretch my comfort zone. So watch this space; I'll turn this into a real knitting blog yet.

Needle Love

I've spent the last few days combing the web for interesting baby blanket patterns. I'm in a cabling state of mind these days, so I'm looking for cables like crazy. But you know me - I do love my skulls, and since Will is hankering for a skull blanket, I innocently googled the term, "punk knits" - and lo and behold, a plethora of skull-y goodness ensued, as did some other great stuff. There are tons of great sites out there, but the blogs are the best. Knitters ain't just knitting grandma's stuff anymore - hell, you know it by now. Bring on the skulls and horns. I love reading about other knitters, especially the ones who have the talent to create stuff on their own (I'm not there yet, but hopefully one day I will be). So I just wanted to mention a couple of the many cool knitting blogs I've since added to my Bloglines (thanks, Nancy, for suggesting that - now I actually READ all the blogs I've bookmarked!)

You Knit What?? does for knitting patterns what GoFugYourself does for celebrity fashion. They're not blogging anymore, but the commentary they've left behind is hilarious.

Vintage Stitch-o-Rama has great patterns including Ankh Earwarmers and the "Camisole of Death". Love it. She's also got vintage patterns that go back as far as the late 1800s - awesome.

I'll post more later (right now, my ancient computer is giving me attitude about opening up another Internet Explorer window and letting me cruise the many bookmarks I've racked up the past few days). Pictures to come, too; I've got an unbelievable amount of little hats I've knitted up (god, what did I do before I learned to knit in the round?) and I'm agonizing over which blanket to knit for Will's teacher, as well as a friend of mine in MD. I've found a couple of interesting patterns, at least, right?