Knitting, sewing, cross stitching, my life in general.





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Busy, Busy, Busy

I've been busy cleaning in preparation for the arrival of my mom and sister. Mom gets here today at 1:30 and then I'm taking her for lunch at a seafood restaurant at the harbor. My sister doesn't get in until late tomorrow night. Hopefully the weather will be nice cuz we mostly plan to just lounge around (probalby by the pool). There will be chatting, eating, knitting, etc. Then Sunday is my big baby shower. My MIL is throwing one for me in San Pedro (burb of Los Angeles). It will be interesting!!

I have managed to finish a few things recently, but I think I will have to wait to post pics. I made my very first fancy cloth diapers and last night I finished another wool soaker using a vintage pattern.
posted by Stephanie at 9:46 AM

 
Yellow

Another UFO turned FO. I finished the broadripple socks using yellow Cascade fixation. I'm planning to give them to my mom when she arrives on Wednesday!



For Easter lunch, I made my very first souffle. It was ok, but not great considering how much work went into it. Anyway, it looked pretty



Did I mention that my favorite color is yellow?
posted by Stephanie at 9:32 AM

 
Fun with felt and another sock UFO

I finally got around to finishing up the diaper covers I was making from the felted wool sweater (from Goodwill). I have no idea how they will fit or work, but it was fun making them!



I used regular cotton seam binding around the outside and 2" velcro for the closures. I ordered some wool seam binding so I will try that on the next ones I attempt.

Yesterday I pulled another sock project from the UFO pile. This time--Broadripples in yellow fixation. If I can finish these up soon, I will have new socks for both my mom and my sister when they come to visit next week!

I also spent last night looking through some of the vintage knitting books that my grandmother gave me a while back. I found more wool soaker patterns (but in fingering weight wool!), a cool cabled bucket-style hat that I might try to make in cotton, and a cropped short sleeved sweater that I am swatching for. Fun!
posted by Stephanie at 1:22 PM

 
Ahoy!

I finished the Ahoy! socks and here's a picture of them drying



Yarn: I used the yarn called for in the pattern (same color even) Heirloom 8-ply wool. Pattern is from the original sock calendar (May).
posted by Stephanie at 1:48 PM

 
Good mail day.

Today I got 2 yummy knitting-related packages in the mail. First, the books I ordered from Overstock.com: Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle (I've been wanting this forever) and Knitter's Best Shawls and Scarves (yum). Then from Carodan farms I got a skein of the new Opal Rodeo sock yarn and 2 skeins of Carodan's own worsted weight wool (for soakers, of course).

Yesterday I pulled out another UFO--the Ahoy! socks from the first sock calendar. I finished up the first sock and started the second (these are for my sister and I'm hoping to give them to her when she comes to visit next week).
posted by Stephanie at 11:18 AM

 
Picture day!

Here are the pink Opal socks I finished last week. The heel is the garter stitch short row heel.



Here are my latest two soakers. The orange one is vintage wool from eBay and the green one is Cascade 220.



Here are the baby Padres pants. This is the newborn size..I also made 2 more (6mo and 2T).



Finally, here are the booties I made from the felted Goodwill sweater. Aren't they cuuuute?


posted by Stephanie at 11:39 AM

 
Look what I got!



Gorgeous socks from my sockapalooza pal, Kristy. I love them. The yarn is great, the colors are great, and the pattern is beautiful. They also fit perfectly (I have *ahem* somewhat chunky ankles and such). Thanks, Kristy!!!
posted by Stephanie at 1:32 PM

 
What I got for $20 at Goodwill yesterday

1. a 100% lambswool sweater in royal blue (GAP). I plan to felt it and try my hand at sewing it into a wool soaker for baby. $5.
2. A bag of PINGOUIN cotton in a great orange color. 10 50g balls. $5.
3. A bag of NANOHANA by NORO. 9 skeins. This stuff must have been discontinued quite a while ago cuz I couldn't find anything about it with a google search. It's 100% viscose, thick n thin, and shiny. Baby pink, white, and grey vareigated. I have no idea what to do with it. A wrap, maybe? $10. (the cashier at Goodwill couldn't believe that I was willing to pay ten dollars for a bag of yarn. if he only knew....)

posted by Stephanie at 9:38 AM

 
Sockapalooza update, etc.

My sockapalooza sock pal (Hannah) received her socks and she was very pleased. Yay! Here's the email she sent: "Hi, Stephanie. My Sockapalooza socks arrived on Monday. I love them! The pattern is so pretty and the color is perfect for wearing with jeans. Your knitting is beautiful. The stitches are so even, I had to show it to my husband (not that he particularly cared, but he's used to smiling politely when I show him interesting knitting-related stuff that he could not care less about). They just might be my new favorite socks!"

In other news. Last night I finished the pink Opal socks (which are for me). Sorry, no pics for a few days since DH took the digital camera on a business trip. This morning I cast on the new yarn I bought at Black Sheep the other week--the Regia Jubilee. I sewed all three pairs of Padres baby pants and they are sooo cute.
posted by Stephanie at 1:35 PM

 
Crafty things I did yesterday

1. Started yet another soaker. This time using some bright orange 100% wool I bought on eBay years ago.
2. Knit a few rounds on the pink Opal sock.
3. Did some Kool Aid dyeing. White mystery wool yarn that was given to me. I mixed a few flavors together and got a great bright teal.
4. Cut out some Padres fabric to sew 3 pairs of little boy pants (one pair for my baby, 2 pair for the kids of a friend).

I'm seriously going to work on the garden shawl today.

posted by Stephanie at 10:01 AM

 
Yes, I admit it. I did knit another wool soaker yesterday. I'm not going to show you a pic cuz well, I'm too lazy. I used more Cascade 220 leftovers (mainly kelly green with a little bit of white) and the same pattern as the one I made on Friday. Seriously, these are very addicting. Especially since people who can't knit are paying about $22 each for these!

I'm thinking about going back to the garden shawl today, but I'm feeling kind of mneh and I don't know if I have the concentration. In the meantime, I'm cutting out some flannel to sew diapers (yesterday at Walmart I found some cute flannel with sheep on it!) and finishing up the knitting on my plain pink Opal socks.

My sockapalooza pal should receive her socks today. I wonder if she will like them? She doesn't have a blog, so hopefully she will email me and I will let you know what she thinks!
posted by Stephanie at 10:45 AM

 
More soakers!

Apparently I am addicted to knitting wool soakers. I made two more over the weekend.




The cream one is from Lion Brand fisherman's wool using a pattern I purchased from here. The other one is from Lion Brand magic stripes and I used this pattern. I was planning to go back to the garden shawl today, but I may have to make another soaker! They knit up fast (especially in the small size) and I get to use up all the 100% wool leftovers I have lying around. Note that the magic stripes one is more decorative than practical, since it's superwash wool.
posted by Stephanie at 11:10 AM

 
Baby Stuff

Last night while watching tv I knit my very first wool soaker (diaper cover). I used Cascade 220 (leftover from a book project) and this pattern. This is supposed to be about a newborn size. Pretty cute.



Today I got my yarn from Bea Ellis (great service, btw)



to make the pig sweater!


posted by Stephanie at 3:49 PM

 
I finished the sockapalooza socks last night. Yay, me! They have been washed and dried and they are packed up and ready to be sent off to my pal. I hope she likes them!

I went to SnB at Starbucks last night and had a good time. I even got a bag of gently-used maternity clothes from one very generous knitter! Things people were making: a neckwarmer from handspun, a scarf from handspun (llama!), a cotton sweater, a lace scarf, and a ribbed cardigan. Me, I just worked on those darn socks.

Right now I'm back to the pink Opal socks from a while back. I'm doing the (short-row garter stitch) heel on sock #2. Then I hope to spend a bit of quality time on the garden shawl since DH won't be home until late tonight.
posted by Stephanie at 3:35 PM

 
Just pluggin' away on my WIPS over here. I just realized that I need to finish up the sockapalooza socks right away since I believe they are supposed to reach the recipient by the 15th of this month. I've been saving them for evenings lately since they're the simplest project I currently have on the needles. Maybe I will get a decent amount done at SnB at Starbucks tonight.

As usual, I'm also thinking of other projects that I want to start. I joined the yahoo group that's knitting Elizabeth Zimmerman's pi shawl, as I've always wanted to knit that one. I also just ordered 2 lace books from Overstock.com. In addition, I'm doing some research on how to knit wool soakers (diaper covers) since I'm planning to use cloth diapers (which I'm also looking into sewing). Fun! I love it when I'm not working! I might as well make something practical once in a while, no??
posted by Stephanie at 2:53 PM

 
My other WIP

My main WIP (at the moment) is the Garden shawl from fiddlesticks. You may recall that I started this oh, in October or so, then put it away to work on holiday gifts and whatnot. I'm glad I got it out again because it's really fun to work on, especially since I have time during the day now when I'm awake and it's quiet so I can concentrate. Yesterday I finished leaf chart B and ran a safety line. Yay!

I must say, this is not an easy project to photograph. 1) it's cloudy here today, 2) the yarn is vareigated and 3) it's done in the round so it's smooshed on circs.

The big picture:


The leaf lace portion:


The flower panel:

posted by Stephanie at 11:10 AM

 
WIP roundup

The sockapalooza socks. As you can see, one is done. I am working on the gusset decreases on the second one. I think I will eventually have to make a pair of these for myself. The lace pattern is very easy to memorize and I think it does look really cool with the self-striping yarn. In case you haven't seen this pattern before, it's called 'peak experience' from Fiber Trends and it was specifically written for self-striping yarn. It contains two slightly different pattern stitch variations. But once I finish these, I plan to go back and finish the pink Opal socks that I started several months ago.



The braids cardigan. This was in the ufo pile. I started it because of a knit-a-long with the ample knitters group (and I'm not really sure how long ago that was). It's a cool pattern cuz it's basically knit in one piece with no sewing. It's a little bit boring to knit, though, and the cotton yarn I'm using (recycled cotton purchased from elann) can be hard on the hands. I'm really looking forward to the finished sweater, though. I think I'll get a lot of use out of it (even with my growing belly).



Baby blanket. I just started this over the weekend. The pattern is from Vogue KOTG Baby Blankets it's called Old Shale Lace blanket. It's a square that's knit from the center out. The pattern calls for bulky baby alpaca on 8's, while I'm using a laceweight on 4's. I'll have to do some improvising later to make it large enough. The yarn is from joslyn's fiber farm and it's gorgeous.


posted by Stephanie at 2:26 PM

 
Rogue

I was planning to do a WIP roundup today, but I just received some pics of my sister modeling Rogue (I hope she doesn't mind me posting them here...heh). Anway, she loves it and it fits her pretty well. She says it got cold again in WA so she will still get to wear it this season. Her boyfriend said, 'that looks like a sweater that you will really wear', which I'm pretty sure is a compliment!




posted by Stephanie at 10:07 AM

 
LYS

Today, for the first time in months, I visited two 'local' yarn shops. I say 'local' because they are in Encinitas which isn't exactly down the street from where I live.

Anyway, I was feel a bit crabby (and DH was feeling sweet) so he offered to drive me while we were running around doing other errands today.

At Common threads I just picked up 2 sets of circular needles and at the Black Sheep I got a set of 5" US3 brittany birch dpns, a ball of Regia jubilee (5473), and a book of baby patterns with a pig sweater on the front.
posted by Stephanie at 4:56 PM

 
Little Boy Blue


Baby hat to match the shirt I made a week or 2 ago.
posted by Stephanie at 10:50 AM

 

Baby hat and socks made with elann Esprit
posted by Stephanie at 10:49 AM

 
I'm quite pleased with myself. Rogue is packed up and ready to be mailed today. Same with my three book projects. Over the weekend, I finished one sockapalooza sock and started the second one. I also finished my blue Esprit baby hat and one matching sock. Just need to do the second one now.

I'm trying to decide what to do next. Finish up some ufo's, probably. Both the garden shawl and the braids cardigan are calling my name. I also really want to start the cotton lace shrug in the latest IK and the short-sleeved lace maternity sweater in _Knitting for Two_. Hmmm.

In baby news, here's a profile of my little boy at 21 weeks, 4 days. I can't believe that I'm past the halfway point!


posted by Stephanie at 10:05 AM

 
ROGUE!!



details: This is for my little sister. I used Lion Brand fisherman's wool, which worked beautifully. It's great for cabling and softens up nice with washing. It's going in the mail today. Yay!
posted by Stephanie at 11:34 AM