Anime-style drawings of the simpsons gang and the cast of futurama. I love it!

I did it. This baby cardigan is from a Patons Astra booklet. In the booklet the cardi is called “Ducks in a Row” as the original has little ducks across the bottom. I wanted a nice, simple raglan cardi, so I left them out. I also like dark colors on kids…hence the black. I used Patons Astra which is 100% acrylic, and my favorite touch is the numbered buttons. The cardigan is sized for 2 years. I had started it in May of 2006, long before getting married or pregnant. Yannick and I had talked about it, and decided that there was no harm in getting some knitting done for our future child(ren) as long as we didn’t jinx it by telling anyone about it. I had finished the knitting sometime over the summer but it sat in a bag waiting to be seamed and have the buttons sewn on. I finally did that yesterday.
You can’t really see it in this photo, but my proudest accomplishment in this project is visible here. See, the button band is ribbed, but vertically instead of horizontally. I was worried about sewing it on as it is not knit as you go, but rather as a separate strip which is seamed later. In the pattern photo there was an obvious band outlining the button band which I thought was inevitable. As it turns out, whoever made the demo model just sucked at seaming, because in my version the seam is literally invisible. Until you pull the 1×1 ribbing apart a bit it looks like the buttons are in a flawless area of stockinette stitch. A perfect, invisible join that I am very proud of (especially because seaming isn’t the most fun in solid black!)

Now it is off to get washed and put away until baby is born and big enough to wear it.

More photos, as always, if you click on the link under FOs 2007 in the left hand sidebar.

A short while ago I put a call out on a swap board looking for peoples’ left-over sock yarn. Any scraps you have after making a pair or using the yarn for something else…I’ll take it. I need lots.

In any case, one woman named Judy was kind enough to send me some from her stash, and sweet enough that she didn’t ask me for postage. So as a thank-you, I crocheted her this little set which I will be mailing tomorrow.
They are all crocheted with Bernat Handicrafter Cotton and are quick to make, but the results are so cute!These guys are made from a free pattern found at the dishcloth boutique. I hadn’t realized until I saw them in daylight that the two cottons weren’t the same- I’d thought I was using a solid white and a blue/white blend. Now I see it’s a blue/cream blend. Design feature, yeah, that’s it. 🙂

This soap-saver bag was also made from a free pattern, but I Googled for a bit until I found one I liked so I forget right now where it was from. One of the first links that come up for “soap savers” has a list of about 10, and it’s in there. Should be easy to find. I varied the pattern only by working the middle section in the variegated yarn, otherwise I followed it as written. I’d thought it was coming out too big but after holding it next to a bar of soap it looks like the correct size.

Tomorrow I’ll be heading over to the post office to pop these in the mail, along with Rebecca’s Samantha dress. I’m also mailing a booklet to Faith over at the Knitting Cook ‘cus it’s something she mentioned once on her podcast and I know she’ll like it.

Today I think I’m going to veg out. Yannick just stepped out to buy ingredients for his special “Yum-Yums” (a breakfast treat he makes) and I’m going to do a few rows on a baby blanket I started. I have another FO I will post as soon as it finishes drying from blocking, and one thisclosetobeingdone wip that just needs a zipper sewn in so I’ll try to remember to pick one up when I go out tomorrow.

That reminds me. I have a couple of other thisclosetobeingdone wips lying around here someplace. I always seem to get into the same moods…I can’t wait to cast-on for a new project, then I can’t wait for the decreases or increases or whatever to break up any boring sections, then I can’t wait to get close enough to bind off. Most of the time I can’t wait to seam and be done too. But sometimes I get waylaid before seaming…usually by another project…and then there is no motivation for me to finish the first project. If there was still one more row to knit so I could bind off and free up the needles…that could work as motivation. But when it’s lying in the bag just waiting for a few finishing touches…how lazy can I be?

Maybe for 2007 I need to push myself to knock off as many “should be FO”s as I can? I know that there’s a baby cardigan that just needs buttons sewn on and a side seam done up, and a fluffy purse that only needs its silk lining sewn in. I also have a “Kosher” sweater that only needs about 8 rows of ribbing then to be bound off (it’s been waiting in this state for almost 2 years!). The Perfect Knitting Bag only needs finishing touches too. I can’t promise to finish the Enchanted Forest cardi that still needs tons of knitting, nor my Clapotis that I keep saying “I want to wear this winter”, nor my Birthday Suit top/skirt that I shouldn’t even count as a wip because I only ever knit 1 row and that was over 2 years ago…but the other stuff I listed? I have no excuse for not finishing them.

Sorry, that sound you just heard was me cracking the bullwhip. I think the few rows on the baby blanket can wait…I’m off to sew on some buttons.

Say “hi”! After 30 hours of labor, my cousin Robyn brought this little bundle of joy into the world on Thursday, December 28. I DO mean little, he was born at 5lbs 5oz and then dropped to 4lbs something, and is still on his way to regaining his birth weight. But other than the weight loss he’s absolutely perfect and, as you can see, quite adorable. He’s 3 days old in this photo. I can’t believe he’s over a week old already! I hope he likes his elephant.

On the 11th of December I finished a sweet little coat/dress for my friend Jessica’s daughter Rebecca. The pattern is by Kate Gilbert and is available on her website (www.kategilbert.com) and is called “Samantha”. The original dress is all white but I wanted to add a little something with a splash of color.

The only changes I made to the pattern (besides adding the intarsia) were to knit in the bottom hem instead of sewing it in. Had I chosen to do the sleeves from the cuff-up I could have done it there too, but I followed the pattern and did them top-down. (I don’t really mind sewing down a hem, but I’m lazy and if I can have it done for me via knitting-in…why not?)

This is a really cute little coat/dress. My favorite part is the smocking band that goes around the middle. I had a really giddy sense of accomplishment once I’d finished that section and everyone who has seen the dress in person agrees that it really makes the dress look professional, and, (dare I say it?) store-bought.

Now that it’s all done I will be mailing it off to them while it will *hopefully* still fit.

p.s. As will be my custom now, I will post a few FO or WIP photos here but dump the bulk of them (including ones that aren’t “blog worthy”) in my photobucket account so if you click on the link for each FO in the left sidebar you will probably get to see more photos than just the ones I post.

On the 11th of December I finished a sweet little coat/dress for my friend Jessica’s daughter Rebecca. The pattern is by Kate Gilbert and is available on her website (www.kategilbert.com) and is called “Samantha”. The original dress is all white but I wanted to add a little something with a splash of color.

The only changes I made to the pattern (besides adding the intarsia) were to knit in the bottom hem instead of sewing it in. Had I chosen to do the sleeves from the cuff-up I could have done it there too, but I followed the pattern and did them top-down. (I don’t really mind sewing down a hem, but I’m lazy and if I can have it done for me via knitting-in…why not?)

This is a really cute little coat/dress. My favorite part is the smocking band that goes around the middle. I had a really giddy sense of accomplishment once I’d finished that section and everyone who has seen the dress in person agrees that it really makes the dress look professional, and, (dare I say it?) store-bought.

Now that it’s all done I will be mailing it off to them while it will *hopefully* still fit.

p.s. As will be my custom now, I will post a few FO or WIP photos here but dump the bulk of them (including ones that aren’t “blog worthy”) in my photobucket account so if you click on the link for each FO in the left sidebar you will probably get to see more photos than just the ones I post.

On the 11th of December I finished a sweet little coat/dress for my friend Jessica’s daughter Rebecca. The pattern is by Kate Gilbert and is available on her website (www.kategilbert.com) and is called “Samantha”. The original dress is all white but I wanted to add a little something with a splash of color.

The only changes I made to the pattern (besides adding the intarsia) were to knit in the bottom hem instead of sewing it in. Had I chosen to do the sleeves from the cuff-up I could have done it there too, but I followed the pattern and did them top-down. (I don’t really mind sewing down a hem, but I’m lazy and if I can have it done for me via knitting-in…why not?)

This is a really cute little coat/dress. My favorite part is the smocking band that goes around the middle. I had a really giddy sense of accomplishment once I’d finished that section and everyone who has seen the dress in person agrees that it really makes the dress look professional, and, (dare I say it?) store-bought.

Now that it’s all done I will be mailing it off to them while it will *hopefully* still fit.

p.s. As will be my custom now, I will post a few FO or WIP photos here but dump the bulk of them (including ones that aren’t “blog worthy”) in my photobucket account so if you click on the link for each FO in the left sidebar you will probably get to see more photos than just the ones I post.

The astute among you might have noticed a lack of a certain something around here. What could it be? Text? Nope, got that. Links? Nah, got links a-plenty. Photos? Nope, I-

Wait.

Where the hell are all my photos?

See, they were all uploaded to my old storage provider’s space. When I dropped the provider, I naturally assumed that since they were all uploaded with Blogger software, Blogger would have a cache or something and they’d revert to those copies.

No.

I need to go back and re-upload 2 years’ worth of old photos. This will probably take me about as long, as I am severely resentful at having to do this. I don’t even know if I still HAVE all those photos.

So the old photos will take time. New ones coming up.

Coming soon: FO photos of Rebecca’s Samantha dress, my kid’s Moss Block sweater (of my own design), some crocheted dishcloths, and some WIP photos of everything else I’ve been working on. I might not have been here, but I sure have been busy!

The astute among you might have noticed a lack of a certain something around here. What could it be? Text? Nope, got that. Links? Nah, got links a-plenty. Photos? Nope, I-

Wait.

Where the hell are all my photos?

See, they were all uploaded to my old storage provider’s space. When I dropped the provider, I naturally assumed that since they were all uploaded with Blogger software, Blogger would have a cache or something and they’d revert to those copies.

No.

I need to go back and re-upload 2 years’ worth of old photos. This will probably take me about as long, as I am severely resentful at having to do this. I don’t even know if I still HAVE all those photos.

So the old photos will take time. New ones coming up.

Coming soon: FO photos of Rebecca’s Samantha dress, my kid’s Moss Block sweater (of my own design), some crocheted dishcloths, and some WIP photos of everything else I’ve been working on. I might not have been here, but I sure have been busy!

The astute among you might have noticed a lack of a certain something around here. What could it be? Text? Nope, got that. Links? Nah, got links a-plenty. Photos? Nope, I-

Wait.

Where the hell are all my photos?

See, they were all uploaded to my old storage provider’s space. When I dropped the provider, I naturally assumed that since they were all uploaded with Blogger software, Blogger would have a cache or something and they’d revert to those copies.

No.

I need to go back and re-upload 2 years’ worth of old photos. This will probably take me about as long, as I am severely resentful at having to do this. I don’t even know if I still HAVE all those photos.

So the old photos will take time. New ones coming up.

Coming soon: FO photos of Rebecca’s Samantha dress, my kid’s Moss Block sweater (of my own design), some crocheted dishcloths, and some WIP photos of everything else I’ve been working on. I might not have been here, but I sure have been busy!