Little Things

I've been working on several small projects during the past week and I've managed to get a bunch of little stuff done. First, I was working on a camera case for my brother which I am not posting yet in case he looks at the blog. (You just have to wait Red) It turned out really cute though and I'll put a picture up later.

I've also been working on Baby Shower gifts for all the girls at work who are pregnant. I think this is the single most cost effective reason to knit. I love doing the baby gifts because they're fast, they don't take much yarn, and the baby will actually use them. I try to make sure I use only machine washable yarns and I tie knots in my end instead of just weaving them in to make sure the bibs, booties, hats etc. hold up to multiple washings. So far, the mom's have liked them. :)
I've been playing with some modifications to the basic bib design. You'll see in the picture that I've been rounding the corners and on this latest one I tried to round the neck straps some to make the fit more comfortable for the baby. I'm afraid I got a bit too long on this one but it will shrink up some in washing.

I also worked on this cute little baby hat I found on Stitch Marker's blog. I can't figure out how to link directly to the page it's on but this takes you to the blog and the hat is called the Lilly Hat. I think it's just pretty darn cute. I've found a cute bootie pattern here that I think I might try soon for the next round of babies.

Next, I've been inspired by all the Chevron scarves I've seen in several different blogs. I used the Chevron pattern on the purse I made for S and I like the way it looks and I like how it feels to knit. So, I had these two "novelty" yarns in my stash that I just really like. They are wonderfully soft and the texture is really interesting. I decided to see what they would knit up like together in a Chevron stripe pattern. I'm working this on size 10 needles per the ball wrapper recommendation. The yarn is a bitch to get started but it slowly starting to get easier. It also took a little bit to start seeing the pattern but I can see it now and I think I dig it. I think the final scarf will be amazingly soft and pretty cool looking.

Another awesome thing I just finished is my Soulard Market bag. I found the pattern for this bag and then I found another site where the woman made some modifications to the pattern that I really like. I had a couple of balls on Sugar and Cream yarn from when I went crazy at Walmart and bought a ton of it to make dishtowels, etc. I had this great lime, yellow, and white yarn and I got to knitting. I love this bag and I have to say it worked great yesterday when I used it for the first time. I expands to amazing proportions and I was able to carry a ton of stuff in it. Too much really because my shoulder couldn't handle as much as the bag. :)

For the rest of the weekend, I'm working on a little sweater for Spanky based on a pattern I found in the Stitch 'n Bitch book. I'm using the Microspun yarn I have left over from the Camera case and making a nice striped sweater. I got all of Spanky's measurements yesterday (I tried to get Weather's too but she was not having it) and I knitted my gauge swatch to check how many stitches I will need. I cast on last night and the sweater is under way. So, off to knitting...