7 Months and Counting...

Ah yes, there you are. Long time no see. Hello feet!

Any guesses?

Do I Look Like Santa Claus?!?

I tried. I really tried. As you can see, the second pair of Log Cabin Socks from Handknit Holidays never even got started. Since the recipients don't know about this gift, I am thinking of finishing it as fast as I can to get them done and putting them aside for next Christmas.


Yah, didn't even try here. Hotty Hubby likes his socks better anyway, and the weather hasn't dropped below 50 degrees, really. Maybe Valentine's Day?


Never even got out of the starting gate. My intention was to dye this gray Cascade with some Koolaid I had collected. Perhaps blueberry, or black cherry. Dying light gray or light brown yarn produces some lovely earthy tones. I guess I'll try again next year...

Too Darn Cute

Presenting the Lacy Bonnet from Knitting for Two by Erika Knight. I made it as a gift for a friend who is due in March, a week after me! The bow looks ridiculously large in this photo, but no instructions were included for how big or small they should be, so hopefully it will be okay. Perhaps they look so big because there is no baby to fill out the hat yet? I suck at tying bows and it took me longer to figure them out than it did to knit the thing.


I used Rowan Wool Cotton in Tender, which the pattern called for. It says that you will need 2 balls, but I found that I used less than one. I used the recommended needle size but came under gauge and therefore the hat is a little smaller, probably 3-6 months instead of 6-9. Next time I will go up in needle size. Typically I always have to go up, but since this was my first time knitting this hat, and I uh, didn't really check my gauge...which I totally should have since it was my first time knitting this hat...whatever...


Instead of sewing the bows to the hat, I sewed little buttons on the ribbon. I then buttoned the "earmuffs" using one of the eyelets as a buttonhole. That should help keep the hat washable, and give Mom an option in case the bows are indeed gargantuan.

Overall it was a quick and fun knit. I will definitely make it again!

Hooray for Holidays!

Yesterday was Sit n' Knit New York's Holiday Party. What a darn good time. Above are the little party favors I made. Cookies made into little balls of yarn. Get it? They're yarn! It took forever to make them so humor me, please.

We had a raffle to help raise money to pay our Meetup.com fee and a handknit gift exchange. There was food, oohs and ahhs over knitting, and strange looks from other patrons of the restaurant. Good times, good times. If you are at all curious as to what our knitting holiday party was like, you can read comments and see lots of photos here.


Tawana was the recipient of my gift for the gift exchange. Yay! It's the Calorimetry I made the other day. I received a beautiful washcloth, though I am pictureless at the moment. I love handknit gift exchanges. WE KNITTERS GET IT!

I'm on FIRE!

Fresh off the needles after roughly 4 hours knitting time (woo hoo!) Calorimetry from the winter issue of Knitty. I love gifts that are easy and quick to make. Yarn is from my stash, Manos del Uruguay in color "D" which I believe is also called Spruce. It's a wonderful deep blue-green. I really like how this turned out.


There has been some discussion on the pattern being written incorrectly for the samples shown in the photographs. So following other knitterly advice, I modified the pattern. I cast on 100 stitches, did short rows until I had 30 stitches on either side of the stitch markers and then came back the other way to make a headband that is about 5.5 inches wide and 16.5 inches long, unstretched. The pattern is very easy and the unwrapped short rows give many button hole options. I will definitely make this again.


Another gift! Yep, it's a Nosewarmer. A friend asked me to make this for his girlfriend as a little gag gift. I took some leftover Koigu from my stash and 1.5 hours later I learned a new technique for starting a toe-up sock and had made something absolutely ridiculous! Hooray!

Now if only I can knit up my other gifts this quickly.

A Little FO, a Little WIP...

Ta da! Baby's First Tattoo is 99% finished! I am posting anyway, it is going to take me awhile to get the snaps. Pattern is from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation by Deb Stoller. Yarn is Rowan Cashsoft, which is indeed quite lovely. Only modifications to the pattern were caused by a case of "Placenta Brain". The neckline is a "v" shape due to my decreasing every other row, and the top of the neck band is wack due to some silly decreases I did at the edges. (Seriously, what was I thinking?) If I have the energy to re-knit the last two rows of the neck band, I may rip out and try again. But not today.

The pattern is cute, but if I ever reknit it, I would modify the pattern to knit in one piece. The seaming was tedious and unecessary in my opinion.


Log Cabin Socks (from Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick) are coming along great. This is the lighter blue pair. Yes, I am making 2 pairs. Knit, knit, knit!

Cold Feet Socks

My latest FO - Cold Feet Socks for my hotty hubby. I started these as a pre-wedding gift. You know, in case he gets cold feet. Of course, I didn't finish them in time for our wedding day, and thankfully his feet were plenty toasty. And they are staying toasty! He wears them almost everyday. (Yep, pulls them out of the laundry.) For a man who usually takes off his socks as soon as he gets in the door and walks around the apartment barefoot, he now reaches for his handknit socks. He just loves how they fit. Bless his hunky heart.


This photo is more accurate color wise. The yarn is a Rhinebeck purchase (of course!). It's Chasing Rainbows sock yarn, and there is no website (of course!). It can be found at Crown Mountain Farms, but I don't see this colorway (of course!). The pattern is my own assortment of bits and pieces of sock making. 2 x 2 ribbing, a little decrease at the ankle, and a Eye of Partridge heel.

I stole these socks early this morning (freshly washed) so I could blog about them. HH walks into the living room, tired and grumpy, "I can't find my socks". Heh heh.

'Tis the Season for Knitting

So many projects....so little time. I am trying to finish up Baby's First Tattoo from Stitch n' Bitch Nation. It's a little frustrating, between how the pattern is written (kinda sloppy in my opinion) and my placenta brain, there are some odd issues that will hopefully turn out okay.


I am ready to seam, so I'm hoping my mistake with the neckline (I decreased every other row instead of every row, which gives more of a V-neck) turns out okay, and the shoulder pieces will hopefully match up... my gauge width wise is fine, but row gauge is off... must...finish...


Here is Hotty Hubby's scarf. I want to give it to him for Christmas, though he already knows about it. This is the fourth scarf I have made for him and possibly the last. He never wears them! This scarf is SO him but he just...forgets. I do have some socks to post about, but I can't tear those off his feet. He pulls them out of the dirty laundry he loves them so much. So from now on I will knit him socks.


I really like this pattern, it is reversible and works well with variegated yarn. This is another find from Rhinebeck, it's Brook's Farm. The pattern is Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun Scarf. Hey, if he won't wear it, I will!


I have to hurry up and finish these projects so I can get started on other gifts. This yarn is destined to be a pair of luxurious Log Cabin Socks from Handknit Holidays. They will be so hard to give away...