eat! craft! live!

op art blanket

I knit this blanket for E because I knew I wanted something a little different - a little funky, not lacy or frilly. Because although E may grow up to be a girlie-girl I am not going to push her in that direction! We rely less on pale pink and more on yellows and greens in this household. Less lace, more colorful designs. Fewer bows. More abstracts. I queued up this pattern before I even knew I had a bun the oven. And now, it's been so...oven-like...here this summer that my little bun hasn't even gotten a chance to enjoy her new woolly blanket! But the Maine winter is coming...

It is knit in my own North Loop Yarn Superwash Merino DK yarn that I dyed especially for this blanket. A rich, dark chocolate brown paired with a pale spring green - it took me forever to come up with that combination. Why? It was for my baby! It had to be perfect! In fact, I even dyed the brown twice to get it exactly the shade I wanted. It's a delightful, squishy yarn and I look forward to snuggling with E on a cool autumn morning under this blanket. The pattern was remarkably easy - just a few increases here and there, loads of garter stitch and some serious blocking and voila! A square! (Or at least pretty darn close...I never could get mine to bock completely flat but I think that's operator error, not pattern error...)

I was aiming for the larger size, but I stopped knitting at the smaller size and it's a good thing too - I finished right before I went into labor!

Details:
Pattern: OpArt by Melissa Dominguez
Yarn: North Loop Yarn Superwash Merino DK
Needles: US 7 - 4.5 mm
See mine on Ravelry

mossy jacket

This weekend had a deliciously fall-like temperament and I loved every moment of it. Crisp blue skies, cooler temperatures, a sweet ocean breeze gently blowing in...so, so wonderful. The weather had me thinking about fall clothes and the fact that E has all these delightful little sweaters and knitted things made for her by all my wonderful internet friends. (Thank you, internet friends!) And she also has this sweet little sweater that I knit for her back before she was born. I worked on it every week at our prenatal group meetings and watched it, and my belly, grow every week. The yarn is an incredibly soft, though slightly impractical, silk/cotton blend. It was a pleasure to knit with and I hope it will be a pleasure for E to wear! The buttons were purchased during my birthday trip to Boston. (I dragged my family into Windsor Button on the recommendation of my Flickr peeps. They were quite patient and happily indulged my button-seeking ways.)

It is a simple little pattern - a top-down, raglan sleeved asymmetrical cardigan with a moss stitch edging. I knit mine a bit longer than the pattern called for and after birthing my tall baby I am glad I did! With any luck, it will fit her throughout the fall. The luscious yarn makes it special without being precious - no ruffles and fussiness here. I look forward to knitting more wee clothes for my wee one!

Details:
Pattern: Mossy Jacket by Fawn Pea
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton & Silk
Needles: US 8 - 5.0 mm and US 7 - 4.5 mm
See mine on Ravelry

baby hats!

Over the past few months, there have been many, many babies born to people I know. And so, I've been knitting wee hats and other items. Here's a small sampling...

Cabled Baby Hat by Julie Hentz

Berry Baby Hat by Michele Sabatier

Quick and Easy Baby Hat by Emma Waller

Knitting baby things is such a pleasure! They are so satisfyingly quick. The recipients may not care much about them, but at least the mamas usually do. I'm currently working on a wee vest that I hope to have finished in the next few days. All that's left is armhole edging but we'll see when E lets me sit down and work on it...

Socks Revived Design Contest - winners!

Photo by Lauren

Remember that sock design contest I mentioned a while back? Well, the winners have been announced! (See all 53 entries here.) I am pleased to call a couple of the winners (internet) friends and have my yarn be a part of the lovely second-place prize basket. I am also thrilled that the lovely Lauren's beautiful Brocade Socks call for my silky merino sock yarn for the small size! What an honor. That's the delightful sock pictured up there...love it. I think this pattern just may be the one that gets me to try colorwork socks!

Congratulations to all the winners!

Socks Revived Design Contest

As you probably know, I am a big fan of sock knitting. Though I've fallen a little bit off the wagon since my Year of Socks ended, I have high hopes of starting a new pair very soon! Oh, how I hope... But anyway! Are you a sock knitter? Do you want to try your hand at designing? Do you have designs that have been lying dormant, begging to be published? Then you should definitely pop over and check out the Socks Revived Design Contest. All the rules and such are over there. There's a Ravelry group and a Flickr pool too for your fun and amusement.

Also - there will be prizes! Who doesn't love a good prize? I know I do. Take a peek at the contest page to see a whole list of what will be offered, but I'll tell you this - you could win some of my very own yarn! Yes, I am very happy to be a sponsor. There are a whole bunch of other really lovely sock yarns you could win too...so get designing! Entries will be taken from Monday, March 8th (that's tomorrow!) at 12PM until Monday, April 19th at 8PM EST. Good luck!

baby's first knitwear

Some time ago, when I was caught up in a flurry of dishcloth knitting, I needed a little break. So one evening, after queueing numerous baby hats, bonnets and other assorted baby-head-coverings, I started this little eggplant hat. (I may have the proper colors to make not only a tomato hat but a blueberry hat, out of the same pattern. *ahem* I may have a slight obsession with babies dressed in food-related items. Maybe.)

Anyway! Eggplant! Isn't it adorable? Not only is it cute, but it knits up incredibly quickly. I believe I finished the entire thing in the time it took to watch two episodes of Lost. Or thereabouts.

Details:
Pattern: Berry Baby Hat by Michele Sabatier
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease
Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm and US 8 / 5.0 mm
See mine on Ravelry

And lastly - December socks!

I feel like December's socks were kind of a cop out, what with their tiny tiny tiny size and all. But truthfully, the construction was a little different than I was used to, so despite their wee stature, I had to pay quite close attention when knitting them to make sure I didn't screw up!

And so, baby has her first pair of socks.

Details:
Pattern: Better-Than-Booties Baby Socks by Ann Budd
Yarn: leftover scraps of north loop yarn superwash sock in caribbean
Needles: US 0 / 2.0 mm
See mine on Ravelry.

September-October-November socks!

Sorry for the absence! Time got away from me... When I haven't been sick (with the flu or a stomach bug - joy!) I've been busy, busy, busy making things. There has been a flurry of activity 'round these parts and I'm blaming it on the baby. Nesting! If only I had this much motivation and energy all the time! I've been knitting, sewing and baking up a storm. I'll be sure to share all these lovely adventures with you in the near future, but for now I'm going to back up a few months and finish talking about my year of socks.

These socks are September, wait, October, no, no, November socks! Yes, yes, I didn't manage to knit a pair of socks a month. By the time September rolled around, I was stricken with wretched nausea and a big move across the country. October at least had us settled in one place for a bit, but I still couldn't knit without feeling like running to the bathroom. So around November, I started feeling better and my knitting mojo returned! Yay!

These socks are a plain 2x2 ribbed sock, knit from the toe up, two at a time with yarn that I dyed especially for the intended recipient. Her favorite color is orange so I went with a fiery yellow-orange-red mix, with the intention of finishing the socks before a particular camping trip that took place in...uh...September. Well, needless to say, that didn't happen, but they did eventually get done and they were a big hit.

Dog not included.

Details:
Pattern: none really - basic 2x2 rib knit toe up, this is a nice basic pattern
Yarn: north loop yarn superwash sock in campfire
Needles: US 0 / 2.0 mm for the foot/ankle and US 1½ / 2.5 mm for the leg/cuff
See mine on Ravelry

2009 knits

Happy New Year everybody! We've been holed up in our house watching the snow fall for the past few days but now the sky is blue, the streets are plowed and mounds of snow are glistening in under the pale wintry sun. Being cooped up left me a lot of time for knitting...and now I've already finished my first project of 2010! I'll share that later, since I haven't photographed it yet... So first, here's a little mosaic of all my finished knits of 2009. Considering there were a good few months in the fall where I was too ill and/or busy to knit, I feel like I got quite a bit done this past year. My pair of socks per month project turned out well enough - I only missed two months. (Though there was one month where I did two pairs...) In fact, I've still got two pairs to share with you! And lovely socks they are, I might add.

The first part of the year was spent knitting furiously away at socks. Then came springtime and with it, surgery, which left me in bed but still knitting and I was able to churn out a whole cardigan in a short span of time. Summer in Texas isn't conducive to knitting, but I managed to keep up with my socks. Fall saw morning sickness, layoffs and a move across the country and my knitting fell by the wayside. Winter has seen me able to knit again - some socks and more dishcloths than I ever want to think about again!

Here's hoping that 2010 is as craftily productive (or more!) as 2009! I already know of one project I will be completing in April...

Happy 2010 everyone!

dishcloths, dischloths, everywhere dishcloths...

So. I've been knitting dishcloths...

Waffle Knit Dishcloths...

Circle Cloths...which sort of remind me of tiny egg crates...

Chinese Wave Dishcloths...

DW Darrell Waltrip Dishcloths...

Squidge Cloths...

and finally, Double Bump Dishcloths.

Phew! What have you been crafting lately?