Tuck the turtle

This guy is pretty adorable ... but then, you realize that all his appendages can tuck into his shell and you're really in love. Quite small - will be perfect for a little baby who is having his one month birthday party tomorrow. Here's the pattern. While over at the Spud and Chloe blog, check out a lot more cute, free patterns. This is my third project from the website but I'm sure there will be more soon.

Another addiction

This is my 4th cowl scarf I've made, and there are sure to be more in the near future. Nothing inspires knitting cozy scarves like 100 degree weather. (Too bad there isn't an ironic font...) Oh well, I'll be ready for winter. Here is a new pattern for me:

Here's the pattern. I used this yarn with size 9 needles. I ended up doing 5 pattern repeats (the pattern recommended 4 repeats but it didn't seem enough).

An addiction

Knitting toys is becoming an addiction of mine. Well, all things considered, I would said it's a healthier addiction than some. Here is my most recent:

He's a small guy so he was pretty quick (though those toes did take a bit of time to sew on individually). If you want one, here's the free pattern.

Just in time for summer???

Oh well, bad timing but fun to try a new project nonetheless. I'll be ready for next winter.

These are a pair of Mary Jane slippers from Purl Bee's website. They have lots of cute knitting patterns there, as well as crocheting, sewing, and embroidery patterns. I knit these with Cotton twirl yarn from Crystal Palace.




For this project I got to do the provisional cast-on for the second time (my cowl scarf was the first time) - good practice for me. I also learned something new - knitting an attached I-cord. Much slower than a traditional I-cord but makes for a polished looking seam. I realize how much I enjoy learning new crafting techniques - it makes my brain feel like it's still working, even if most of my daily tasks are the same every day.

Twirl hat

Thank you to Big Brown Bear for modeling the hat. It just didn't look right flat. This is a pattern from "Knit for Peace" book. I knit the child's small size in hopes that it would fit my 5 year old son - nope. It's more of a 2 year old size. I will try the child's large next. This one will not be wasted though - I already have plans of who to give it to.

Hats

I have been watching A LOT of the T.V. show "24" the last few weeks. I have 8 seasons to catch up on, which means I've got my evenings booked for awhile. Knitting is a great companion for T.V.- or movie-watching. Lately I've been working on several hats during my T.V. time. This is a nice pattern that is very stretchy, which means it will fit the recipient for quite awhile. Here's a girl and a boy version. Obviously I opted not to do the stripes according to the pattern. I thought the multi-colored yarns didn't need a stripe since they were pretty on their own.

My youngest son modeling his new hat - it's a little big but could be rolled up if he wanted it completely out of his eyes.

A gift for a friend - I added a knitted rosette (taken from the book "Knitting Little Luxuries" by Louisa Harding) to make it a little more girly.

Lion Brand Animals

My latest craze has been knitting toy animals - mainly for my kids and all these little babies who I know who are being born this year (seriously, I have a TON of friends that are pregnant right now - so exciting!) Here's a catch-up post with several of my favorites from Lion Brand's website. You do have to be a member to view the patterns though.

City mouse toy

Frida the fish

Wise old owl

Cowl scarf

My 3 year old son called this a "weird scarf," which I guess is technically true since he's used to the long rectangular variety. But I love it. We had an unexpectedly cool weekend, so I got a chance to wear it to church yesterday. Likely it will remain in my closet until the fall - but it's nice to know it'll be there once the cool weather comes back. I got some good practice with the kitchener stitch of closing up the gap - it was amazing what a smooth seam the kitchener stitch produced.

Here is the pattern and here is the yarn I used (fern rainbow was the color).

I'm back

After more than a year of hiatus, I plan to come back to posting projects here. I think my Facebook friends don't necessarily all want to see my projects, but if I have something I'd like a specific friend to see, I'll direct them here. The Internet provides a way to share the projects we do inside our homes without ever leaving our homes. The power of positive reinforcement and sharing of ideas is important for all people - but maybe especially those of us who are home more than others (speaking as a stay-at-home mom).

Ready for Easter...

... and I'm only 11 months early. (Or you could think of this as one month late, since Easter was a few weeks ago.) I prefer the cup-is-half-full theory though.


I found this pattern at Purl Bee's website (here) but was working on other projects before Easter, so I didn't get a chance to try it until this week. I plan to make some more Easter eggs before next year. A good project to use up leftover scraps of yarn.

Wash cloth from Cotton Chenille

This is my eldest son's new wash cloth (he got to choose the colors he wanted) - we will test it out tonight in the bath. I'll report back on how well it works - but at least it's pretty! Here's the pattern. I knit it last night is less than 2 hours - and I am not a fast knitter. Quick and easy.

Latest scarf

This is my new favorite scarf pattern. This is my 3rd scarf following that pattern, but this time I used 2 balls of Panda Silk from Straw into Gold so it'd be longer. I wish I had done the same for the previous 2 scarfs. Maybe if you have a loose gauge, you could get by with one ball, but I seem to have a tight gauge so two balls is definitely better for me. I look a picture of myself wearing the scarf but it made me look demented and really scary so I decided not to include it! :)

Cable stitch scarf finished

We had a big ice storm last week and I finished this scarf just in time to use it inside when we had no power for 2 1/2 days. Since it's 100% wool, it kept me nice and warm.

Penguin finally finished

It didn't take me long to knit the individual pieces for this penguin, but then it sat in my closet for about 2 weeks before I talked myself into actually sewing them all together. I think I'm done with small knitted toys for awhile because the assembly is too labor intensive. But I hope that Zachary, my youngest son, will enjoy his new toy when he wakes up in the morning.

Cable stitch scarf

I get bored if I don't try new things with my knitting. I have never done a cable stitch, so I thought I would try it with a simple scarf for my first time. It turns out doing a cable stitch is not hard at all. I just started yesterday, which is why it's still so short, but I thought I'd share anyway since you can see the cable pattern already. Btw, I opted for the narrow version of the scarf because I only have two skeins of Taos yarn.

Monkey for Benji

Benji didn't want a boring old brown monkey so he chose his own yarns. He also was very definite that he didn't want eyes on his monkey. Yes, he is a strong willed child (as most seem to be, from my observation!). Here's the pattern. It was easy to knit but took quite awhile to sew up. I guess I prefer knitting to sewing things up.

two-for-the-road

(Oh, I am sosososo slack in posting - it's been in the draft folder a good six weeks or so -shame on me....)

However, here it at last, and I won't even tell you (yet) of the things I have forgotten to take pictures of or simply have not had a chance to post with the craziness of my life....

I made this scarf for my mom’s birthday. She’d seen the red yarn in my stash which I had no plans for, mentioning that she loved the color and would enjoy a scarf. I got so excited, and looked for a good one that wasn’t too bulky at her request. I gave it to her for her birthday and she loves it.

This is a fabulous scarf that turned out beautifully. It’s the right weight, it’s easy to put under a coat, use without a coat, and fold up for a small space. I’m pleased and proud.

However - I am happy to be done with this scarf because I found the lacy grit stitch horribly tedious and annoying. I procrastinated on account of that square every time, and was immensely glad when it was finished. The rest of it was a breeze and fun to make. :)

I wonder what it would take to make her a brimmed hat to match (NOT using the lacy grit, of course).

I found the pattern, Two-For-The-Road at Lion Brand's website and used their yarn, Wool-Ease....I think this one is called Red Sprinkles.

Christmas ornaments

I knit mini-stocking ornaments last year as gifts, and my plan is to knit a different one every year. This is my choice for 2009. The left is knit with chenille yarn, and the left is knit with cotton yarn - I think I prefer the chenille. The pattern says it will fit a 4" Styrofoam ball, but mine fit a 3" Styrofoam ball which I prefer since 4" is really too large for a Christmas ornament.

Baby booties

I am in search of the perfect baby booties pattern. I have not tried these on an actual baby, so I don't know if they fit well yet. So far I have tried at least 4 different patterns, none to my liking. (Most of them kept falling off the baby's feet, though the ribbon on these should prevent that.) If anybody has a great baby booties pattern, I'd like it.

Ear warmer for the cold weather

I made this one for my mom for Christmas. It is a super easy pattern and I plan on making a few more for other presents for this Christmas. I used the yarn the pattern calls for, but I'm sure it'd be fine with a variety of yarns.