Sunday, March 23, 2008

A Second Chance?!

Well, I guess if you fiddle with something long enough, and with enough desperation, you just might get lucky. My camera is working sometimes, and I have taken advantage of those times. So, below is the Baby Kimono jacket I talked about last time. It's a really adorable little sweater and I made it with Peaches and Cream yarn I ordered online. I love the way the colors pooled in the yarn but it did turn out really small. I got it in the mail right away and hopefully Eva will get a couple of weeks of wear out of it before she gets too big.
Next are the Ditto socks. I made a lot of progress on these during my commute this week. It was my week to just ride and I got a little over an inch done each day. That moves along a pair of socks. These are a well overdue present that I hope to get in the mail before the month is over.

The yarn in these socks has been fighting me for every stitch. It's hard to get the needle just right when knitting an not snag on of the plys of yarn. I do like the look of the final product though and I hope the recipient will as well.

I also finally got Spanky's Sweater finished. I used the same basic formula as Darla's but I did add about an inch to the distance between the beginning and the armholes. It seems to have helped with the fit but it still isn't perfect. Oh well. Spanky said he would be happy to wear this one until I get the next one finished. He would not, however, stand up to model for everyone so you just get to see him as I usually do...lounged out and taking up too much of the bed. :)
Lastly is my Hemlock Ring Blanket. I think I am in love with this one. It finished and the picture below shows it before blocking. It is currently at a dear friends house, pinned to some foam mats and drying in her extra bedroom. Thank you so much for that one. My house is what we call a "shotgun" and the only real door is into the bathroom. Hence, there is no room to pin out a 4' round blanket. Thank goodness for friends with bigger houses and the generosity to lend some space to me. :) The blanket looks amazing all pinned out on the pads and I can't wait until it's dry and I get to use it. I've already tested it (he, he) and it works great!!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

If a Picture is Worth 1000 words...

...then I've got a lot of typing to do. See the picture below. That's it. That's the only picture I can share today. Why, do you ask? Because one of my lovely cats is neurotic and afraid to use the litter boxes inside the house for fear of being ambushed by one of the other cats. So, he has his own box and such out on the front screened in porch and we have to let him in and out like a dog. Well, one day I missed the potty cues and so he decided to pee on top of my camera sitting on my dresser. He's lucky I'm mostly a pacifist! And he did spend a few cold days outside while I tried to get over the feeling of betrayal that he would pee on MY stuff when I'm the one who care for him. Little Bastard.Sorry for all the vulgarity but a new camera is just not in my immediate budget so I'm still a little bitter. We got the camera to work for a little bit after the incident but now it seems to have given up the ghost. Sadness.
So, enough about the little pisser. The bib you see above is another one of the Mason Dixon bibs. I love these little guys. They knit up fast, they're cute, and they're practical. I love all the colors in this yarn but I have already received comments that the kid might spit up just because of the colors. Oh well, I like it.
Other than the bib, I just finished my first Baby Kimono from the same Mason Dixon book. It had some other Peaches and Cream called Raspberry Swirl that is chocolate brown and two shades of raspberry. Really cool stuff. So, I knitted up the Kimono per the pattern instructions and it is adorable. I plan to spend this afternoon seaming it and then I'll be off to Joann's to find some buttons or ribbons to tie it off. Cuteness.
I've also been working on my Hemlock Ring. I'm on row 91 and it is really beautiful. I'm just about finished with the second ball of yarn and have one more I can use. Right now, I'm trying to determine if I have enough left in the 2nd ball to do two more rows (enough to get through the pattern row and one row of plain knitting) before I have to add the next ball. I really don't want to add yarn on either of those rows so I'm looking for our postage scale so I can do some calculations regarding the number of stitches I can get out of the amount of yarn I have left. I hope to do this today as well but if you had ever seen my house, you would know finding something in it is a tall order. Oh well.
Lastly, I finally was able to order some new KnitPicks Options in size 8 so I can transfer my Pinwheel blanket onto the 40" cable and actually get it going again. Yeah! So, that's what's been going on and hopefully I will be able to post some pictures on it all soon.