Boo, Babies...

Happy Halloween!

Even though we have snow, this "holiday" is my favorite of the whole year! Its not the candies, its the costumes, the darkness, the fear of the "unknown"! I used to really do up our front yard and house. Tombstones, cobwebs, skeletons. Carving 3 or 4 pumpkins that would take me a couple of hours each. That was the most fun! I haven't so much in the past few years. I'll be honest, I've gotten lazy. By the time I think of putting all my "props" out, its too late! It always seems I'm running to the store on Hallow's Eve to get the treats for the kiddies otherwise I'd just eat them myself, nevermind my hubby and son, only to end up with all the stuff no one wants.. Which reminds me, did I get candy yet? Maybe tonight I'll make a special effort to get the house scarier than usual and check out the local grocery store for a great pumpkin to cut myself on...

Lately it seems, my skeletons come out of the closet the night before and go back in early the next day. The cobwebs are now real, to go with a few dust bunnies here and there. As for the tombstones, I've decided I'm too young to have them in my possesion. ;D - But dang it, I'll still dress up!

Happy Birthday, Buddy!!!!

Today, my absolutely-most-favorite boy in the whole world turns "10!"




Happy Birthday, Son,

You're the greatest gift we could have ever received. Without you, your dad and I would be lost... We may not be the best parents sometimes, but no-one could love you more.

Love always,
Mom and Dad
XOXO

Lovely Round Felted Bag

Here's a link to a very pretty felted bag... I love this! I might even have enough wool to do a few in a few different colours... mmmm I bought some Lopi to do a felted bag in the summer time but never got around to it... Time to invade my stash!

Rainbow bag goodness - one for each outfit!


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On a side note, I've been thinking of knitting up some simple slippers and came across this pattern via Hakucho's blog. They are called Pocketbook Slippers (isn't that Alli & Lisa's site, more friends from the Canadian Dishcloth Group) and look cute and quite simple to try. I don't think they'd be manly enough for my guys so the hunt is going to still be on for something they'd wear...

Maybe the key is to email Alli & Lisa to see how its best to modify the pattern to make it more manly, if possible... (Commenting on her blog made me think of it, so - Good idea, Hakucho!)

May be my first "internet yarn purchase"?!

Lindsay of Needles&Pinza is clearing some of her stash. I've got my eye on the Silk Sari yarn... Once all the details are ironed out, I'll be anticipating my new yarn arrival!!! I'm so excited!!! mmmm Silk...

What to make, what to make...

It was a Crazy S-hat-urday for me...

Having a cold has its finer points. I caught my husbands head cold on Thursday, forcing me to stay home Friday and take it easy. The hat I finished for my son I actually got that done on Friday but didn't post till Saturday.

... S-hat-urday however I cast on my hubby's hat I promised him, before he "borrowed the boy's hat. His recent haircut has left his head pretty open to the elements and even in the house here, he'll wear a hat to help stay warm.

Anyway. I did the ribbing on size 11 needles and the body on size 13s. The ribbing definitely turned out way better! I also didn't do as aggressive decreases on the top so its got a bit of a point when its flat on the table but its longer on the head for him. Covers his ears perfectly... 5 out of 5 skeins.




I admit I was jealous. The guys had some new hand knit hats, I wanted one too. Why not. There was more than enough yarn left over for another. It was going to be more blue than dark grey, but that's what makes it kneat.. I mean "neat". We all three will have semi-matching hats. Not exactly the same, but, the same... Sorta.

I cast it on before going to bed Saturday night. Then, Sunday morning with a cup of coffee in one hand and the boys' hats in another, I started mine. I did it twice-ish. When I first bound off the stitches, it resembled a short beanie with a rolled rim. It reminded me of the hat the Johnny Depp wears in Benny & Joon. Kind of fitted but not fit well. The garter stitches at the top didn't fall exactly where I wanted them and it looked "off". Once it was off the needles yesterday, I just wore it around the house a bit to see if there was anything I could do to salvage it.



This morning, after getting the boy off to school I picked up the stitches on the bottom and knit a few more rounds. Its longer now and IMHO fits and looks "normal". I can even roll up the new stuff I knit on and it feels normal. It was cute before, but not cute for me, and not what I wanted.



Now I'm happy!... I wonder if the dog needs a hat?!

A hat for the boy...

Its done!!! My first knitwear for my family, and the boy loves it! He's even been seen wearing it in the house, covering his beloved mop-top.

I wondered about how his hair was going to feel, having something hugging it, keeping all those crazy curls at bay. So far so good! It hasn't rejected the hat. Hasn't done the "hat-pop" like so many of his other store-bought hats have done. You know the one, the hat tends to slowing creep their way up the head, eventually looking like the ice cream curl on the top of a Dairy Queen soft serve cone. Then when you realize its too late, they "pop" off the top of the head. You can almost hear them laughing as them escape.

Well, this little gem doesn't do that. Largely because, I think, it actually fits him. The boy's got an adult sized head even though he's only 9 (10 in 6 days). His 22" head is larger than mine, and apparently the same as his dad, just "shorter". Which will make it easy for me to cast on hubby's hat to match the boy's.

Anyway, I knit it from a pattern I found on the web, called Cold Weather Cap. I thought it was actually a modified Version of the one I linked to below, but I'm not sure on that. Its on the Lion Brand website here. I didn't really understand the decrease rows but winged it and it turned out alright. I went for a more aggressive decrease than one I would have done if this hat was for my hubby.

Its a simple hat. Knitted flat with 2" of K2P2 ribbing, about 6 rows. Followed by stockinette for about 8 rows before starting the decreases. I used Wool-Ease, as that's what the pattern called for on size 13 needles. I used my 16" bamboo circs. I wanted to do colour changes as I haven't done much of that yet, and the thought of a kid's hat having just one colour, bored me. My husband's though, I think he'll like one colour better so that's what I'll do for him. I also think I'll do the ribbing on smaller sized needles and the stockinette on the 13s as the ribbing seems loose to me. I'll also do a couple of extra rows and slower decreases so my hubby's hat will cover his ears, at his request. The boy's hat covers his ears, but when my husband tries it on, it falls a short.

I wasn't too happy with the back seam as it looked off to me but the kid doesn't care and it was my first hat... I'll have to research that a bit for my hubs...

All in all, I give my first hat - 3 skeins out of 5. (hehehe)

What a Great Idea!!!!

mmmm.... Earthy Computer Mouse Pad Wrist Pillow

Isabelle found this link and shared it with the rest of us girls at Knitting-Chicks! I love the idea and think I found my "weekend/stocking stuffer" project! Thanks to its creator, Jennifer Tallapaneni!

Linky, linky link!

Dishcloths anyone?!

I know, I know.... But I love the instant gratification they bring!!!
Oooooh and aaaaaah as needed.




ooooooohhhhh



aaaaaaaahhhhh



oooooooohhhh 'kay... One more then its off to bed for me tonight....



Thank you, and good-night...

Fall Exchange Presents!!!

I mentioned below that dear, sweet, Mary Anne sent me some lovely treats in the mail for our Canadian Dishcloth Group.

and.... ta dah!!!!



She blessed me with 2 cloths, 2 very lovely cloths, and a pair of crocheted hearts. Even though Mary Anne pointed out she didn't make them, that's okay, I appreciate the effort that went into making them, that's for sure! Such tiny stitches... To top it off, she sent me a very pretty card with one of my favorite flowers, a gerber, on it.

I opened my package in my car while I was waiting for my co-worker/commuter. When she got in and saw the pale yellow one she sighed, "mmm that'd make a nice sweater"... Totally what I was thinking! Such a nice light pattern would make a great main panel on a sweater or vest! I'm going to have to ask her what its called.

These exchanges are so nice! Not only do you get wonderful ideas and inspiration from them its nice to receive something other than bills all the time.... bleeck.

An Now For Something Completely Different

I decided to knit a hat (toque) for my son. He'll be 10 in a couple of weeks. I didn't want him to get teased on the playground because of mommy's apparent YO fetish. I frogged this. Poor kid. Imagine this pretty, lacy hat on a 5th grader?! Halloween is coming yes but don't scare the children for real!!!!!

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Instead now, I'm knitting this... Much more "manly," dont'cha think?! I might do the other one for me and spare him the embarrassment. Serves me right for wingin' it!
Looks as though I'm gonna have to rip back the last row I did. I have K2tog the entire last row instead of following Ms. Ackerman's instructions and only k2tog twice. Glad I caught that or he would have ended up with a beanie instead of a whole head hat... Super quick shaping.. I'm still afraid it might be too small for his big man sized head but we'll see how it shapes up in the end...

Link to pattern here for reference


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I can't wait to have this done for him! I might even forego sleep tonight to get'er done! My first knitwear for MY family.. The scarf for my niece doesn't count, nor does the scarves or dishcloths I've done for "myself". I'm excited... We went to post-Thanksgiving Dinner at my folks house on Sunday and my mom was amazed at my knitting prowess. I feigned off her enthusiasm politely saying it was nothing, really. Pretty simple stuff (it is I know), but I was glad that she took the time to give me kudos for something other than having raised a great son... That's not so simple..

Some of My Recent Forays

So I figure that while my boys are in bed, I'd better get some photo updates posted on my blog of the dishcloths that I've recently finished... Woohoo!!!! Plus a couple of other things that I've been meaning to share, too...

First, a special thanks again to my Canadian Dishloth exchange buddy Suzanna Eve for her cloth. I promised a better photo of it when I first posted about it. Love the lacy pattern, simple yet very functional... Its very pretty.



Thanks again... I'm probably the tardiest person with exchanges but they will get to their intended recipient, if not eventually.... Note to self, move quicker.









Plus, I did my first Mason Dixon ballband cloth.... Oooow that was fun!

I used two leftover balls of verigateds that I had kicking around, plus the swimming pool blue as my other colour. The result was.... Multi-pretty.... Here it is in my kitchen in our 5th wheel out at the lake (where I finished it.).



I'll definitely do this one again too... I tried carrying the colour up the sides and tried breaking the yarn each time.. It was a learning experience. I think I preferred to carry the colour as all that weaving was insane!

The pink/red verigated was from the mock lacy cloth that I did (again through my yahoo dishcloth group's KAL) and the purple/yellow verigated was leftover from the cloth that I made from a suggestion of a lacy pattern that Dorothy made in a comment on my blog.





Speaking of the Lacy Mock cloth, I don't think I ever posted a "OFN" shot of it... So, here she is!



OK! So what else?...Well, I've also done an Oak Leaf cloth, here. It was an interesting pattern to knit and I enjoyed making it, I just prefer to knit stitch patterns with repeats to learn. I'm sure I'll make this one again as this one is slated for my Fall dishcloth exchange buddy from my Canadian Discloth group, Mary Anne. Shhh don't tell her. Its in the mail so hopefully she won't stumble on my blog until she receives it. Now I see her blog roll includes my link so I'm taking a big chance... yikes.

I've also taken a whirl at making my own stitch markers. Its my first attempt and I'm curious about how they will work out.



I figured why not. I haven't done anything large or complex enough yet to warrant using them, but I can't resist jewellery of any sorts... If anything, I think they look decadent hanging off my needles while I pretend I know what I'm doing. ;)

Lazy lazy lazzzyyyyy

Has it really been a month since my last post?! Yikes! I'm so sorry... I have been so busy with "life" lately I haven't had any time to sit down and type out my thoughts... Mostly, I've been a flat out lazy blogger.

My needles haven't been resting, though. I've finished 3 different cloths, worked on my Irish Hiking Scarf which I love, but get bored of with because of the quick repeats (that's my own undoing), and plotted out numerous toques (hats) for my two boys (hubby and son) with colour changes and ribs and hopefully cables... Now if only I could just "get bizzy" before the snow flies. We've been lucky so far (knocks on wood).

With the weekend coming, I vow to reassert myself into the knitting bloggers universe! That is if the big pile of laundry doesn't get me first........