Finally...

...the tree is down, y'all. PRAISE JESUS, right?

After much weeping and gnashing of teeth, Al self-motivated and started ripping the tree apart one night. I, thankful, jumped into action and w/in 20 minutes The Tree was disassembled in the nick of time. I had already begun plans to cover it in shamrocks and mini pots of gold for St. Pat's day.

Good logic would tell you I haven't been knitting much either. Good Logic would be wrong, my friends. While Baby doesn't give a rat's ass about The Tree, she does care about The Knitting. It's a shame that Ravelry sucked the blogging life out of me though. I so enjoy this blog but I spend the time I used to devote to it (albeit only for a couple of weeks) on Ravelry now. I spend hours and hours looking at projects and patterns and yarn. Oh my!

I've completed quite a bit since October:

I made a shawl:

The pattern was easy as can be and a super quick knit but the yarn wasn't ideal for this project. It tends to be a little fuzzy so dropping the stitches irritated me. It sheds worse than my dog though. I can't wear it w/most anything I own b/c I'll be covered in fuzz. I should try washing it to see if that'll help. I don't wear it often b/c of this and b/c you can't see the pattern now. It tends to draw up on itself so it just looks like a wide scarf in stockinette. Bummer.

I made a red red red scarf. It's a basic 1x1 rib except I used three kinds of red yarn held together. It's beautiful and I Love It but OHMYGOD is it hot. It's great when it's cold but if it's above freezing, it's too much scarf. Also, my winter coat is green so I always look like Christmas in it. Perfect in Nov/Dec, not in January:



Al's Basket weave scarf was finished JUST in time for his birthday (1/15). I love it more than anything else I've made (except for the fleur de lis purse) b/c it's all sentimental. Best of all, HE loves it and is always sure to pass along compliments he receives. I got lucky and was off work the day prior to his birthday so I was able to finish it and make an attempt at knitting an earwarmer. That didn't go as well as the scarf :)

My model is less than thrilled yet easily bribed:

I'm just thrilled with this:
The headband is a little teeny but I'm able to squeeze it on my huge head. Fortunately Al has a smaller grape but thinks it's a little fruity so it doesn't get used. My feelings are far from hurt b/c I spent all of 20 minutes on the thing and he loves the scarf:

And one more b/c it makes me smile:

I finished Baby K's blankie and it's SO CUTE. Not as cute as Baby K, but cute nevertheless. Oh! Despite his early arrival, I still finished his blankie EARLY. No last-minute knitting this time!


I laced a sheer blue ribbon around the edge but realized later that it wasn't machine washable so it will have to go. Bummer. Mama, Daddy, and Baby all seemed to like it. Yay!

I jumped on the My so-called Scarf train and HOLY SHIT. Baby's over this pattern. It's so so slow and I don't know if it's me (likely) or the yarn or the pattern but at this rate, it'll be finished in time for NEXT winter. I'm using Noro Silk Garden in #227 and it's so so stunning. I'm in love with the colors. I do like how the stitch pattern shows off the yarn w/out overpowering it.

My current major issue, however, is the curving of the work. See:
What the hell? Look at how straight my needle is and how the scarf is making its way toward the wine rack. I feel that it will all be okay once I'm finished, but we'll see. In the mean time, it's bugging Baby.

That's my current project. I have a 1/3 of a dishcloth I started in November on the beach that I'd like to finish by Saturday for Grandma's birthday. We'll see.

I did finish a small project last night. I made a Baby Genius burp cloth from the Mason-Dixon book. Easy pattern, cheap yarn, great travel knitting. It's evident, however, I worked on this start-and-stop b/c one end is 1/2 inch wider than the other. Whoops.

In progress:
*Note the cute, green coat that doesn't go well with red red red scarf*


Notice how wonky the left side is. Killer :)

And finally, an injury and a near-casualty. Al, in dramatic fashion, leaves his empty lunchbox on the kitchen counter for me to fill with lunchy goodness. Most days I just roll my eyes and ignore his sad notes and pitiful behavior. Last night, however, I was feeling benevolent (American Idol was on) and went to make lunch. I saw a piece of plastic (or possibly ice as I had just filled up my cup) on top and brushed it away with my finger. OWIE! Yeah. That wasn't plastic or ice. It was glass and Baby got hurt :(

The offending object:
*Note the pink sheen to it. That'd be Baby's Blood.*

I quickly fashioned a bandage out of papertowel and tape and went about my business. Part of my business was now NOT making Al lunch since his lunch box tried to kill me.

Back to the couch and American Idol! The bleeding stopped (you'd be surprised how much a little cut like that will gush!) and I began to bind off the burp cloth. Noticed the needle felt sticky but whatev. That happens. Looked down and whatthehell. I bled on my bind off edge:
Granted, it's not THAT much blood, but it's still blood. My DNA is IN this burp cloth. Looks like we have a new kitchen towel!

Baby's not happy about her injury and word on the street is she's milking it for all it's worth:

That's one sad Baby. And yes, that's a Knight Light behind me. Clever, no?

Pictures Pictures!

Before I dashed off to work this morning (err....afternoon) I snapped some pictures of what's on the needles and what I've finished lately:

My coworker is having a baby boy in early December. Her husband was in the Army and he's really into hunting and all that business...so of course the baby needs a camo blankie!

I'm using Lion Brand's Diagonal Pattern Baby Blanket with Red Heart's Super Saver in Camo doubled on #11 straights. I have a feeling that I'm going to run out of room on the needles. I have 52 (I think) stitches on the needles right now and need to double that to get the blankie the size I want. I guess you just cram them on, right?

*Note how that chair in the background looks so...loved. That's Maddy's homebase. Normally she's there but Mommy had opened the curtains for her so she could sun her sweet belly.*

It's a simple pattern once you get started: K3, yo, knit to end of row. After you get it as big as you want, you start the decreases. The yo gives that cute border and I love love the diagonal of it all. I loathe casting on b/c I never pull out enough tail and then when I pull out a lot, it's way too much and I waste yarn. HATE. This way, I only had to cast on 5 stitches and will only have to bind off that many too.

It's working up pretty quickly too. I did what's on the needles in about three hours total time. Not bad considering I was watching "America's Next Top Model" and a myriad of other "trash TV" as Al so lovingly calls it.

You can see the yo better in this pic:

It's not really all wonky and curved. It's crammed on that needle and won't lie flat.

And to see how thick it is...it's going to be really cozy. I hope the baby likes!!


I also took some pics of Al's scarf. Still no word if they can get the yarn for me or not :( Baby's displeased.

Isn't it pretty? I love how the sides are wavy. And closeup so you can see what a sloppy knitter I am :)

I really want to work on this more b/c I love the pattern but since I'll be putting the "new" ball of yarn in the middle, I'm stuck.

The irresponsible amount of cotton yarn I ordered:


Those are 1lb cones in apple green, black, brown, white, black/white/gray, pink/yellow/green, shades of brown, pink/white/black. There are also some small leftovers that I'll eventually make one big dishtowel out of when I get enough. I also have a cone of a lovely cream/brown/blue/lime that's in the travel bag. It goes to doctor's offices, car trips, etc. I toss them in big plastic zipper bags, cut off the end and knit out of it. Keeps the dog hair at bay. I love Maddy but not everyone wants Maddy all up in their dishcloths.

Some finished ballband dishcloths:

There are a few more floating around but Baby just does not have the time nor energy to find those suckers. The two in the center were my "Damnit, I'm knitting two dishcloths on this trip!" cloths. The one on the right I managed to do last Sunday whilst Al and I traversed Southern Indiana and Bardstown, KY. Baby's a prodigy, no? hahaha

Oh and this knitting in lieu of eating business is gonna work I think. I knitted on that blanket last night/this morning instead of digging through the fridge for something I didn't need. Yay!

Well hell

I swear on my yarn that I didn't forget about this blog! There's this thing that gets in the way of my knitting and blogging...maybe you've heard of it? WORK. Uh! I've been a busy kitten these past two weeks! Busy busy busy.

Oh! So remember how I was allll excited that this yarn shop across town had my ever-lovin yarn? Not so much. They had Lamb's Pride Bulky but not in superwash. I bought it anyway b/c the lady was so nice and b/c I made my first scarf out of it and I think a hat would be cute. Go fig. I'm such a sucker.

I called another LYS even more across town and while they don't have what I want, they offered to order it. I'm expecting a call early in the week to give me an ETA and cost. Cross your needles for me, girls!!

I went to my second felted bag class and the Ladies Who Knit were impressed with my bag I think! While part of me thinks they're always this sweet, I do think they thought I did a nice job. That made Baby feel really good and made the cramped hand from sewing worth it!

Since I was all yarned up with no pattern to knit, Whitney (the sweet instructor) suggested I make a super cute bag and learn intarsia while I was at it. Oh sure. I can fig that out. RIGHT! Anyway, I knitted the back and most of the side panel. Once I finish that, I'll tackle the front and the intarsia. We'll see how that goes. I'd post pics of it but it's going to be a gift for a friend and I don't want her seeing it!!

Other than that and the occasional dishcloth, Baby's knitting has been at a stand-still. NO FUN. :(

I've stayed caught up on the other Knitting Blogs I Love and everyone else has been so busy! I'm nearly jealous.

Aside from that, I "rededicated" myself to Weight Watchers. Heh. I'd lost 27 pounds last year and then sorta just stopped. Stopped weighing, stopped counting points, etc. I managed to only gain 2.4 lbs in that time off so I"m not too heartbroken. Maybe I can knit in lieu of stuffing my face? Here's to hoping!!

Novice Baby

I learned to knit two months ago in one of those "Learn to knit in 2 hours" classes at my LYS. I'd been crocheting for three or so years prior to that but my skills in the hooking department are miserly. I can double crochet and that's really about it. Boring? Very. Quick? Extremely. Baby has hooked out dozens and dozens of scarves. All my friends have warm necks except for a few of the fashionista ones. Burberry I ain't.

Knitting has been a mystery for sometime. Baby's a lefty (hence the lack of crocheting skills) and thought knitting would be difficult because of that. Au contraire! Who knew one could knit Continental and it'd be easy as pie?!?! I breezed through my first scarf and started right in on my second scarf (more on that later) and dishcloths and now I'm ass-deep in felting.

For those at home who are confused at my Bob Dole-esque third person references to myself as "Baby," you must turn your attention and blame to my boyfriend. It's all his fault. Al's a sweet hunk of man and calls me "baby." It's endearing and cute considering the alternatives. I'm a bit of a sass, so I mouth off a lot and tell him "Baby doesn't iron," "Baby doesn't do windows" and things of that nature. It's stuck and I now refer to myself as "Baby" so much that it's taken the place of nearly all personal pronouns at home. I've even caught myself saying it in public. The horror!

But this isn't *really* public, right? ;) I mean, most of y'all aren't even wearing pants.