Warm ears....

My husband has been complaining about cold ears. The hat I knitted him last year ended up in the dryer and shrunk. He has a fleece hat from a few years ago but, it never covered his ears. With the cold and snow we've had lately I just had to knit him a hat. The joke has been I'm knitting him a hat so he can leave me for a week. Work is sending him to Berlin Germany in January. He's happy with his hat it's the same yarn I used to knit his basket weave scarf last year. For his hat he decided he wanted a simple knit 2 purl 2 hat. His ears should be warm here and in Berlin.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone!!!!!!!!

Sewing machine challenged!

Yes, I'm sewing machine challenged. When I was in elementary school all the way through college I used an old Singer sewing machine. It was my great aunt's sewing machine and she was a seamstress. It was a heavy black sewing machine with ton's of attachments. The thing weighed a ton. Not sure where it is now but, I do miss it. My sewing machine is about 14 years old and it and I never got along. It challenges me every time I use it. Anyway, after our battle this is the outcome.
A Christmas Gift for Mom/Nana.

My MIL is a huge baseball fan so the kids thought these would be great for Grandma. I'm sure there will be a discussion between her and the kids that not all are about baseball.


My father has been commenting that I haven't knitted him anything. So, he'll be getting these dish cloths. He'd really like an afghan...maybe in 2008.

All of these were knitted with Sugar N Cream yarn. The pot holders were from a pattern at MagKnits The only change I made was using Insul-Bright for the batting.

My FIL asked for knitted mittens last year...a year later. Dh was nice enough to model them for me. The yarn is superwash wool.

Yummy!

These mittens and hat were made for my 3 year old niece for Christmas. I'm hoping they keep her nice and toasty this winter. There's a request to add a cord to hold the mittens together in her jacket...not sure how long or if it should be crocheted chain or an i-cord...any recommendations? There's a request also to make her a scarf. I have plenty of yarn but, we'll see how much time is left between now and Christmas. It may have to wait until after Christmas. There are adult hats and mittens to be made and hopefully finished before Christmas.



Yarn: Webs Valley Yarns Superwash Grape and Bright Pink

Hat Pattern: Cupcake Hat

Mittens: Snowflake Mittens Knit with both Grape and Bright Pink w/o the snowflake.

The mittens were knit with both Grape and Bright Pink. The cuff is 3" long to help keep them under her sleeve.

My 14 year old niece took the other hat which was just knitted. It was a cable hat knitted with Lions Wool. The hat was going to go to the soup kitchen but, my niece fell in love with it. Just a few weeks ago she insisted she'd never wear a hat. She was too "HOT" for a hat. Little did she realize that she'd love a hat and look good wearing it. She received her afghan today and loved it, (pictures in November 1st posting). She loves the Grape and Bright Pink. She kept saying it's sooooooo soft. She loves the heart pattern of the afghan. She's thrilled her little sister will have a hat and mittens to match her afghan. She'll have a battle keeping her little sister away from her afghan. No afghan in the near future for my 3 year old niece. She received an afghan last Christmas that was crocheted with hearts with a dusty pink yarn.

My mother visited today and showed me she was wearing her Two-Toed Sock from the August 2nd post. These socks were originally going to be a Christmas gift. However, my grandmother past away a couple weeks after they were finished and it was a nice way to brighten her spirits. She's enjoying the socks and hoping for more socks in the future.

Heads of all sizes

This hat and the hat below were knit with Moda Dea Washable Wool. It is 100% Merino Wool Superwash. The pattern for this hat is k1p1 on size 7 circular & dpns. The hat below was knit with the same needles just k2p2 for the ribbing then, knit.

What a tinny hat. It will be good for a premie. It was knit with Caron. I will never use this yarn again. It's 100% acrylic and made my hands and wrists ache with every stitch. The hat below was made with the same yarn. I knit the larger hat first and only had a small amount of yarn left over for this premie hat. Both hats were knit with size 7 circular & dpns.
These hats and the two from last week will be dropped off tomorrow to Knitting for Angels for the Nashua Soup Kitchen Holiday Baskets. The premie hat will to be available for a hospital or other location if not needed at the soup kitchen.

Already November...

Where has the year gone? Turning the calendar to November this morning was a reality slap that the holidays are around the corner. It doesn't look like there will be too many knitted projects for the holidays this year....we'll see maybe a few small projects.

It felt good last week to finish a few projects. I finished my niece's afghan. It's version number 2. The original version with 13 balls of yarn is still in the bin near the couch....frog pond or lapgan for MIL...who knows. MIL loves the pattern and colors...do I really want to knit another row of hearts? Time will tell.
The yarn used for this project was Webs Valley Yarns Superwash. The colors are Grape and Bight Pink. It's knit on size 8 circulars and pieced together. The outside boarder is single crochet. The afghan design is one of my own with the help of the heart pattern from Pieni neuleblogi - ohjeita/patterns.
I love these socks. Over the past year or two I have added red into my wardrobe. For years I wouldn't purchase red for myself...why? These socks were knit with Lana Grossa Weilenweit Fantasy color way Farbe 4790 Partie 14262. They are 80% Virgin Wool and 20% Polyamid. They were knit toe up using size 1 dpns sometimes and one spent a lot of time on 2 circulars. I find it easier to knit socks with 2 circulars while co-piloting....less needles to drop and stitches drop less. The heel is a short row heel from CT&H no wrapped stitches.
Two hats have been knitted for the Nashua Soup Kitchen per the request of Knitting for Angels. These are quick and easy hats. Both hats are made in the round with size 7 circular and dpns. Patons Classic Wool Col 77011 lot 163166.
The second hat has a pointer top while on the gallon size water bottle but, not when on my head. They are made with a simple knit and purl with decreases. The second hat has a rolled edge which I'm not sure if I like. There is currently another hat on needles knitted with Caron yarn. When it's done I'll post pictures. I'm hoping to knit 4 to 6 hats for the Nashua Soup Kitchen before starting any knitting for family.

Afterthought....

These socks were simple enough to knit at my oldest son's trombone lessons or my little guy's baseball practices and games. It was the first time knitting the afterthought heel. I like the idea of the afterthought heel and it wasn't difficult. My kitchner stitch is getting better and taking less time to finish. These socks will be for my mother for Christmas unless I reconsider and give them to her early.
Pattern: Two-Toed Sock (W125)
Yarn: Cascade Fixation
Needles: Size 3 dpns
Started: July 7, 2007
Finished: July 31, 2007

Has it been about 6 weeks already!

Yarn: Regia Silk Color 0187 6890
Pattern: Sensational Knitted Socks Four-Stitch Ribbing Pattern
Needles: KnitPicks DPNs size 1 (3 needles)
Cuff Up/Down: Cuff Down

It doesn't feel like these socks were started that long ago. The time has flown by. My little guy played baseball this past spring which took up most of our week nights and weekends. I found myself cheering more than knitting. He was thrilled when his coach suggested for him to tryout for tournament baseball. He's been on cloud nine since he found out he made the tournament team. They have their first game next week and will play until the end of July.

In the past I have avoided carring the cuff pattern to the foot of the sock. In my mind the sock would feel uncomfortable with the pattern rubbing between my foot and my sneaker. I'm hoping that the socks feel just as good in my sneakers as on my feet. It's just too warm here right now to wear socks and sneakers for long periods of time.


The only change I made to the pattern was using the slip stitch to tighten the sock around my foot. One of the socks is about 1/4 inch shorter than the other. I ran out of yarn and couldn't knit the last few decreases.

Overall, I'm happy with these socks. I keep telling myself my next pair will be toe up because I do favor toe up socks. The kitchener stitch was a lot easier for these socks than DH's black socks. However, we'll see what happens when I start making my next pair...toe up/cuff down...time will tell.