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16 and 17 weeks, and knitting

2009-04-29 16 wks 01a

Mommy with Henri at 16 weeks old.

This photo was actually taken a day before Henri turned 16 weeks.  Our cousins had their son (the one I knit the kangaroo and joey for) and we had the bris, and my mom took this photo of us.  It was great to see that side of the family again, and after being accustomed to Henri’s size, it was so strange to see a baby be “baby” sized!

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My “Anne’s slippers” are no more.*  I didn’t even realize there were holes in them until I stepped onto a cold tile the other day.  I peeked down and saw this mess.  Hmph.  I’m guessing it was from throwing them into the washer and dryer whenever necessary.  Still- I’m tired of saving my knits in pristine condition without any use so they don’t show wear.  What’s the point of spending all the time knitting if you’re not going to use the final result, right?  So while I’ll have to toss these slippers, I’ll at least always know that I made them, incorporating my grandmother’s vintage yarn (the pale purple) and some vintage buttons from my stash (that I’ll cut off and recoup).  This is my first knit to wear out, and I’m kinda proud to know that I got good use from something I made.  It feels good.

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Here’s a peek at the finished Log Cabin Squares blanket.  I’ll put together my “finished object” post soon. 

2009-05-05 01a

Here are those two teeth I told you about!  2 teeth, both out before Henri “turned” 4 months old.

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This is the progress so far on Kayla’s lace cardigan.  This is the pattern that I translated from Norwegian so I could knit it.  The color is beautiful in real life, a smoky gray/teal.

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This was the progress on the Unbiased Purse I’m knitting.  I stopped working on it once I got the blanket squares from Robyn and Amy so I could concentrate on finishing the blanket in time for the shower.  I’ve since completed the second triangle.  The purse is knit by working 4 of these sections then seaming the outside edges and inside joins.  The unfortunate part is that the purse center is only as high as the narrow edge- which means if you want a deeper purse you need to keep going until the outside edge is practically huge.  I browsed some finished purses on Ravelry and found that a few people had worked up a cool solution- they knit an additional triangle to fit in between the purse sections, upside down.  I’m currently at that point now- I worked on it last night at the Montreal Knitting Guild meeting and am just about halfway done that triangle. 

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As a reward to myself for finishing my squares and the seaming of the Log Cabin Blanket, I restarted a sock yarn blanket for Henri.  At the hospital, waiting for my c-section, I had started a blanket for Henri.  I had decided to make octogons instead of mitered squares like Jakob’s blanket, and had finished the first one using the deep red yarn you can see in the blanket above.  After Henri was born, however, I found the octogons too “girly” and put the blanket aside waiting for another idea to strike.  Inspiration hit after working on the Log Cabin Blanket.  The garter ridges match those in the mitered square blanket, and I like the idea that both boys have blankets made of garter squares the same size, both will have the same stretch, and the cool thing is that I’m using the same yarn to make the squares.  So Jakob will have diamonds with angled stripes, and Henri’s will have rectangles (kinda like the difference between square and diamond Shreddies, lol) with straight stripes.  So now for every project I finish I’m going to work up a few squares until Henri’s blanket is as big as Jakob’s.  Then I’ll work on them both simultaniously, adding squares to each from the same sock yarn scraps.

2009-05-10 17wks 01a

 Mommy with Henri at 17 weeks old.

Am I caught up?  I think so.  I took Henri’s monthly chair photos on the 8th so I’ll put that post up soon.

2009-05-10 17wks 04a

I can’t believe that Jakob is going to be 2 this weekend.  He’s such a big boy already,  jumping and counting to 10 and trying to do everything for his brother.  I can’t wait to see what he learns next!

*I lie…I’m still wearing them.


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snow, slippers and sock yarn

I’m baaaack.

I knew I was ready to start posting again when I’d catch myself taking photos “for the blog” instead of “for myself”. Physically things are getting better chez boob, but not back to 100% yet. I’m being followed by a specialist, so that’s good, and now the incidents of pain are sporatic throughout the day…as opposed to before when it was the incidents of non-pain that were irregularly spaced out.

Remember that snowstorm I (and a bunch of other Montreal bloggers) posted about? Another opportunity for a photo! I bundled Jakob up into his snowsuit, the one that is about 3 sizes too big, and plopped him in the snow and started snapping away. The brave little guy managed to even give me a few grins while trying to figure out what was this cold white stuff that was falling on his face and freezing his nose.
Last week was also Hanukkah. I completely forgot to wish those who celebrate(d) a very happy Hanukkah, so please accept it belatedly. We are a multi-religion household, so here was Jakob on the first night of Hanukkah with the menorah and his advent calendar.
A recent splurge at my LYS resulted in me coming home with some Trekking sock yarn. I’ve never used Trekking before but quite liked how the colors look.
I still haven’t decided which pair will be for me, which for Yannick. (Or if I keep both for pairs for myself).
Finally, on Thursday night I’d finished the Anne’s Slippers. They’ve pretty much been on my feet ever since.
I followed the seamless pattern as written but I added a strap because I felt they were a bit big. On the right foot I knit the strap seperately and seamed it on, and on the right foot I figured out how to knit the strap in, all while still keeping it seamless. Strangely enough I like the seamed version better. The buttons are sewn on purely for decoration.

Oh, and I might have accentally also bought a ball of the Patons Shetland Chunky in solid black to make another pair of these. I think in black they will look eerily similar to a pair of mary janes.


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step 1- choose the proper yarn

I finished the first Pocket Book Slipper last night. The pattern is free, and from here and I used the strap mods from here.

Isn’t it cute? (Ignore the non-woven-in ends). I know, you can’t even tell its a slipper. They are so small and compact…I’m not sure if they’re called “Pocket Book” slippers because they look like little purses, or because they are small enough to always have a pair stashed in your purse.
Here’s how it looks on the foot. Cute, no?
Actually…cute…no. They don’t fit me. That, above, is Yannick’s ginormeous foot. This photo, below, shows how they look on me.
MUCH too big. I like a slipper that fits at least as tight as a sock. If I have to keep worrying about it slipping off then it is most likely to make ME slip and isn’t something I’ll want to wear.
If I stretch it out to a comfortable fit, this is how much extra I would have to remove.

I thought about this a lot last night. It didn’t make sense…I was using the needle size called for. I knit the pattern as written. After the triangle/button band part, you immediately jump from 22 sts to 44 sts before working the ribbing. If I subtracted the extra ribbing I had to get a tighter fit…I would have had to work the ribbing at the 22 sts and never increase. That just didn’t seem right. Why would I be SO far off when a ton of others (76 alone on Ravelry) have knit these and they fit just fine?

Ahem.

It’s simple. THEY used the proper weight of yarn. I’d ignored that little point. When I found my grandmother’s purple yarn it looked like a worsted weight. My brain didn’t process that worsted usually uses 4mm-5mm needles, and this yarn was calling for 6mm. I also managed to ignore the discrepancy that occurred when I first pulled out some worsted Patons Decor to pair with it. I found immediately that the Decor was too thin (but it WAS a worsted!) and stash-dove for the gray yarn I used…the Patons Shetland Chunky. Yeah, it’s right there in the name. Chunky. Also calling for 6mm. I was so happy I’d found 2 oddballs from my stash to work together that I never picked up on the fact that they were both too big.

Le sigh.

While cute, the gray/mauve combo is a wee bit too girly for Yannick, so while they did fit him quite nicely, they were promptly ripped back into little balls. (I’m glad I had the foresight to try them on BEFORE weaving in all the ends). I will knit them again but with the proper yarn this time. Luckily I have a ton of Decor in my stash in lovely neutrals so I can make a little basket of these socklets to keep by the door for guests.

I have since cast on for these which DO call for a thicker yarn.

Mother Nature decided to dump almost 8″ (20cm) of snow on us last night and they’re calling for another 4″ (10cm) today (full story here) so Jakob and I are staying inside, in our pjs, for the day. I’m hoping to have a pair of slippers (that fit) by tonight.