Happy Anniversary

Celebrated anniversary number 31 at The Outback Steakhouse on April 18, 2012. Love my man!

Two dishcloths

Here are a couple more dishcloths I knitted last month. Patterns found for free on the internet.
Swan and guitar. Size 7 needles.

Snowflake hat done right

Tah-dah! It helps to know how to read charts! When knitting in the round, you read the chart right to left for all rounds. Too bad the instructions didn't include this valuable piece of know-how. This hat rocks!!! I bought some more yarn to make two more hats. The Jojoland Baritone apparently is no longer being offered. My LYS is selling it for $3.00/50 grams. I bought "boy" colors for my nephews.
Also, this time I think I will do the ribbing with a size 6 needle and then change back to the 7.
I believe the two color names are Chili Pepper and Creamy White.
Enjoy!

Felted Mosaic Tote

I really like felting. Love this tote.
This is a slip stitch pattern. I used four colors of Cascade 220 wool.
Size 10 1/2 needles. The only thing I change from the pattern were the handles. I couldn't get the technique down so I just made an icord using two strands of yarn.
I ran this tote through two cycles and dried it over a cereal box.
I bought the pattern on line from here
Here are the before and after pictures.

Mia's Jerkin

My great-niece Mia came into this world in December, 2011. Welcome beautiful baby girl. I made this baby jerkin for her. I sent it to her in February. Instead of it being a dress length, it fits like a shirt. I did follow the pattern and was getting gauge. Don't know why it wasn't long enough. Oh well. She lives in Virginia, I live in California. Couldn't try it on before binding off.
The pattern is called Top Down Seamless Baby Jerkin and can be found on this blog.
I used size 7 needles.
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash Quatro, colorway 1953
Flower button for the back. I did have a bit of yarn leftover and should have knitted until it ran out.
Waiting for Nikki (mom) to send pictures of Mia wearing it so I can post them here. In the meantime....

Snowflake (?) hat

I made my first attempt at reading a chart and knitting a hat in the round. All instructions that I found about chart reading states that you read from the bottom up; row 1 is read right to left; row 2 is read left to right. The instructions for the hat did not include anything regarding the chart. This hat was knitted twice. The first time I noticed that there wasn't a snowflake. I ripped out and started again. Still no snowflake. Then I started reading more on-line and found out (!) that when you are knitting in the round, you read ALL ROWS RIGHT TO LEFT!! I finished the hat and decide it would be my "round the house" hat. I told a co-worker about it and she wants to buy it for $5. Deal!
I used less than a ball each of jojoland wool at $3/ball/50 grams
Size 7 needles. The pattern is on Ravelry called Norwegian Star found here:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/norwegian-star-hat-3
I made the larger size, 112 stitches vs. 96 stitches. It fits well. I am very, very pleased with my floats. I did not pull them tight, therefore, no puckers. I think I messed up on the decreases at the top, but..... it's an original!

Helmet Liner request

Last week George called me and asked if I could knit another helmet liner. His friend was re-deployed to Afghanistan and is freezing. I finished it last night. I had to knit through a painful bout of tendinitis. Also, had to go out and buy more wool. Apparently the damn moths found my stash of wool and was eating through a full hank. I now have lavender everywhere and my untouched wool is in ziploc bags with lavender inside. So thanks George! I probably would have lost a lot more yarn if you hadn't asked for another helmet liner.
Again I used Cascade 220. Pattern can be found on Ravelry or here.

Cassis is finished!!

Finished the cassis on Thanksgiving and I love wearing it.
Thanks to my Urban Sheep peeps who helped me along the way. Seems I like to misread instructions here and there.



L-O-V-E <3

Felted flower bowl

This is my first felting project. These are the before pictures. I will felt it this weekend and post the felted pictures. This is called "Felted Flower Bowl" by MegMarie. The pattern can be found here.
I made the following changes: I used size 11 needles and two strands of yarn. I used leftover wool. I frogged it a couple of times. Use markers to keep your place!!!
I made the color changes at: rows 1-9 multi-color; 10-16 brown; 17-22 green; 23-28 tan.
Come back next week to see the felted bowl.
It took 3 attempts to felt the bowl. First attempt was at the yarn shop. The water never got HOT. Only tepid. So I went home and used my front loader. I placed it again in a pillow case and added a Keen sandal to the washer with a little liquid Ivory. It felted much better on round 2. I put it back in again for round 3 and was happy with the results.
Check it out----/



Bazinga!

Waffle stitch baby blanket

I made this blanket for baby William (Bo) who was born at the end of October. It was an easy pattern to knit. It is called Waffle Preemie Blanket and can be found here. I made the medium size. I used size 7 circular needles to accommodate all the stitches. I used 6 skeins of Cascade Yarns "Pacific" in the colorway of 66. It is a blue/green with specks of yellow and turquoise. It is very soft.



And I found this pix on Facebook. Grandpa and Bo, with my blanket covering him :)

Ericka scarf completed

Here are some pictures. I finished this awhile ago. I lighlty blocked it. I can't wait to use it this winter.

Progress report

I have finished the Ericka scarf and blocked it. It is now ready for winter. I was fun, mindless knitting and perfect for a carry-along project.
The Cassis is coming along great! I tried it on last night and it is down to the ole butt cheeks. When this hank is done, I want to stop and do the sleeves. I want to make sure I have enough yarn for the length I want. With the weather being in the 100s for the past couple of weeks, this project is not fun to work on. I have it off my lap and to the side, but it is still hot to knit.
I have a pair of socks on the needles as my carry-along project. The two skeins of yarn were hard to match up for a matched pair of socks, so this will be my first mis-matched pair. Going wild, I am.
I have resumed my Saturday morning knitting at the Urban Sheep. Thank God they are not afraid to use the A/C :) And iced coffees from Starbucks nearby doesn't hurt either.
I have heard that we will be getting a Hobby Lobby in the near future. So excited!!! I've been to two of them in Texas and love HL, much better than Michael's.
I will post pictures soon of my projects.
Happy knitting everyone!

The Cassis by BabyCocktails

I am venturing into the land of top-down cardigans for the first time.
This was a featured pattern at my favorite yarn shop, The Urban Sheep. Here are two pixs of the cassis that was made by shop patron, Denise.


I am using Cascade 220 yarn in the colorway of 9414; 100 grams/220 yds per hank. It looks like blue denim as it is knitting up. You cast on with size 8 circulars and then switch to size 7. I highly recommend using stitch markers! Denise made hers shorter than what the pattern has written. I am thinking of making the sleeves longer and keep the original length. I am knitting the size 46. I bought 8 hanks of yarn.

I have finished the collar. I am now knitting the "sleeve seam shaping and front lace detail." I'm about 4" away from the next step. Here are my pixs of my progress.





This pattern can be found on Ravelry or at http://babycocktails.blogspot.com/. I think I paid $6.50. Can't wait to wear it!

Erika (sock yarn) scarf update

Don't leave your projects in your knitting bag without putting end stoppers on your needles! I did (dork) and half of the stitches came off the needle. Since this has one row of yarn overs, slips stitches, etc. I frogged back a couple of rows to a "clean" purl row and then put my stitches back on. Correctly picked them up on the first attempt.
Here is a slow, but sure progress picture.

Sock Yarn Scarf

I found a wonderful book called Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders: 101 Patterns That Go Way Beyond Socks! by Judith Durant. Here's the link to Amazon: http://www.tinyurl.com/6xpn5hc (Just cut and paste)
I am knitting "The Ericka Scarf" found on page 94.
I am using Berroco Sox yarn in colorway #1427.
I needed to pay attention when starting this pattern as I had to restart it 3x.
Arrrrgh!

Brown helmet liner

Completed my 3rd helmet liner this weekend. Love this color of brown from Cascade yarn. Ready to send off to Tom's Marine buddy who deployed just before Christmas. If only he would email me his address......

More Mittens

Made another pair of mittens from my stash of yarn. These are made with Vanna's Choice in Pine with a strand of multi-colored mohair. They have been sent to my sister Koni in New Hampshire where it is cold and snowy. I made the cuffs and hand longer. I did better this time with the thumb. The technique I used is called "Patience and Practice".
Enjoy!
OTN: A brown helmet liner

Italian-American afghan completed

Wow! Finally completed. This is the afghan I started in April 2007 while my dad was in surgery to remove a tumor found in his colon. We received horrible news that the tumor was cancerous and had spread to his liver. He was diagnosed at Stage 4. My dad passed away in October 2009. I told him this afghan was going to be an Italian-American flag afghan as it is Red/White/Green for Italy and Red/White/Blue for the USA.
The pattern is called Arctic Throw from the Berroco website. At the time I couldn't afford the Berroco Air yarn. Instead I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick.
I don't remember how many skeins of yarn I used.
The colors are: Wheat, Cranberry, Navy, and Pine.
Size 13, 29" circular needles.
Pattern can be found here
This afghan is very warm :)
Salute Papa Gino. I miss you immensely.

First mittens

The time finally came to knit a pair of mittens. Took awhile to find a basic pattern. Every time I searched "mittens" I found lots and lots of patterns for gloves and fingerless gloves. Come on people, "mittens" are not gloves.
I used yarn in my stash. Vanna's Choice in brown and mohair that is variegated. The result was a Neapolitan Ice Cream sandwich looking mitten :)
I made the woman's medium size. They fit, but not much wiggle room.
Needle size 9
Pattern is called: Instant Mittens
It can be found on this blog