I LOVE Short Rows!

How cool is this Dishcloth? OMG, I love it! I found the pattern for this on Ravelry (here it is if you're interested) and it is just great. I had some various scraps of Peaches and Cream left from baby bibs, etc. and I decided to try this out and see what it looks like. It was so much easier than I expected and I could not be happier with the results. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm thinking about making a couple of these smaller and giving them with some pretty soaps for a Wedding Shower gift. I looked up her towel colors on her Registry and I have a perfect complimentary yarn already in my stash. :)
So, the Baby Surprise Jacket continues. I'm actually further than this picture shows and I even have more current pictures but I'm not posting them since I just sent the link to this site to the Mom-to-be and I don't want to ruin all the surprise. I will tell you what happened though. I got all the way to the last 6 rows and ran out of yarn. I could not believe it. When I bought the yarn, the lady at the store (not my usual LYS but one we went to while camping) said she made this jacket in the same yarn and used 2 balls. I bought three to be safe and still ran out. Damnit! Well, the yarn isn't carried by anyone around here and I didn't really want to spend more than double the cost of the yarn in order to have is shipped from somewhere. So I got a great suggestion from a fellow Raveler who said to try and find a complimentary yarn and use it for the last few rows as an accent. I went to my LYS, Knitorious, and worked with Sandy the owner, to select a yarn. I came home and did the last 6 rows with this new yarn and it looks AWESOME! I think so anyway. I'm going to seam the sleeves and crochet an edge around the collar and cuffs to tie it all together and it's ready for the mail. The baby isn't even due until the 29th so I am very proud of myself. I do think it's too big but babies grow so it shouldn't be an issue. :)
So, what do you think of that beautiful yarn? I got it to do a Hemlock Ring Blanket for me. I came across this pattern (again thanks to Ravelry!) and I just love it. It's a lace pattern but it uses worsted weight yarn so it should go faster and be a bit easier to do. I used some of my Christmas yarn money to buy this beautiful hand-painted yarn "Classy" by Dreams in Color. Oh, it is so lovely. I knew I would need some color variation in the yarn (solids tend to bore me) and I also wanted something washable since I have too many animals and voila, Sandy showed this to me and I was in love. I'm getting started on this one after I finish this post. So pretty!!!
I also got this nice, masculine yarn for a pair of socks I have to make for Fred. Well, not "have to" but "want to." Fred got boned at Christmas (just not enough time to go around) so he's getting a little something special for his February birthday. I really like this yarn and it doesn't look too fussy so hopefully he will too. He wears really cool Italian shoes with neat colors and patterns so I don't think he'll be afraid of a little color and pattern here. I found a nice simple pattern to use and I just need to get them going.
Lastly, I finally found a use for that old pitcher filled with marbles I've had on my dresser for years just collecting dust. Damn, what took me so long to figure out that one? Love it!!