New obsession

I need a new hobby like I need an extra hole in my head... But even so, I finally took the plunge and got myself a Cricket loom to learn how to weave:

And this is what I finished in an afternoon last weekend! I've already warped up another project, and I got myself a smaller reed so I can get to work on turning my sock yarn stash into scarves.

I like how weaving can be really quick, and how I can get totally different color effects than with knitting. And everyone says it uses up a lot of yarn quickly... I think part of that is the relative quickness of it in general, and part of it is the loom waste.

And the stressful part of weaving for me, so far? It's that you have to actually cut the warp yarn! This also makes sewing less enjoyable for me than knitting--cutting stuff seems so permanent, and I can't just rip it back like I can if the knitting doesn't work out. But, it's not like I have a shortage of yarn or anything like that...

 

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Cast off, cast on

I finished something!

This is a Color Affection, and a very cute (but teething) 5-month-old Jack.

It still needs ends woven in, and a blocking will do wonders, but actually finishing knitting anything is huge for me right now.

Next up... A Christmas stocking for Jack. Let's see how I do with a deadline now...

 

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Shuttle excitement

Yesterday the space shuttle Endeavour made its way through our neighborhood, en route to the California Science Center. The place was a zoo with all the people and the street closures, but it was kind of like a big party out there, and we joined in!

But first, a shot of Endeavour coming in for a landing 3 weeks ago:

 

It was kind of nice that yesterday was cool enough to break out some of our handknits. Here's Jack just hanging out in his sweater while Mom and Dad took shuttle pictures:

And we got some nice people to take a few family photos, first in the morning with the shuttle parked...

And then in the afternoon when it was on the move again (sorry for the lens flare here):

And by the end of the day, Dad and baby were completely exhausted. (Mom even got a nap, for once!)

 

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A baby in knits

So.... There really hasn't been much knitting going on here lately. It's surprisingly difficult to knit with one hand, and getting two hands free when I'm not otherwise occupied (with sleeping, showering, or working) is not happening very often right now. And since it's been so difficult to find time for basic things like eating and sleeping, I've also found blogging to be pretty difficult. But I'm trying to be better, and I have so many ideas in my head that I just need to develop into coherent posts :).

Jack is going on 5 months old now, and because it's been summer here (and still feels like summer, though it's now technically fall) he hasn't worn his handknits quite as much as I'd hoped. Even so, I've taken what opportunities I could to get pictures, as evidenced below.

Jack in his snug sweater and stroller blanket.

Jack in his bib (with Sophie the giraffe).

Jack with one of his burp cloths (which have, hands down, been the most useful thing I knit for him!).

Jack with his bunny. Which, by the way, taught me an important lesson... If I use leftover wool (non-superwash) roving to stuff I toy, I need to remember not to machine wash and dry it... Bunny now has a smaller and firmer head than he used to!

Jack in his Pashmina cardi (photo copyright JCPenney).

Jack in his parrot sweater. He actually wore this sweater home from the hospital, which was also the first time he actually wore clothes, but I don't know if we took a good picture of that.

Jack in his Koigu socks (from my own formula, adjusted to baby size).

Jack in his ribbed hat (from my own pattern, that I will hopefully publish here someday). This photo was in the hospital.

And this one was at the Dodgers Stitch-n-Pitch game:

You know what he didn't really wear? All the tons of booties I made for him. He didn't really need anything on his feet for the first month or two cause we kept him swaddled most of the time, so some of the booties were too small by the time he would have worn them. And some of them just didn't want to stay on, and as bad as it is to lose a regular sock, it's so much worse to lose something handmade. Also, he didn't really wear the baby mittens I made, partially due to the swaddling and growing, and partially because he just wanted to chew on the mittens when they were on his hands. At least now I know what to make other people when they have babies, assuming I have any knitting time, that is!

And finally, a family photo, with Jack in his Pashmina sweater, and me in mine (this one also copyright JCPenney):

 

Happy knitting, everyone! Hopefully I'll be doing more knitting soon...

 

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So I've been a little busy...

Here's why:




Little Jack is 12 weeks old now, and he's finally pretty good about sleeping at night (at least enough for me to get 5 or so hours of sleep at a stretch, which is a lot compared to what I was getting the first 2 months!). Being a summer baby, he actually hasn't had much chance to wear all the sweaters and hats I made for him, at least not yet. Luckily I made most of them a little on the bigger side, so they should still fit come winter.

He's the most amazing, and most adorable, thing ever. I was prepared to be really busy taking care of him for the first month or so, but I wasn't quite prepared for the level exhaustion that comes with being a new mom. Also, we had grandparents visiting for almost 2 months straight, which, while it was nice to have someone else to hold the baby, was stressful in itself, just from having guests visiting for so long without a break.

But now the visitors are gone, and it's just Jack and Mommy for a little bit here. I'm not going back to work until the beginning of September, so I'm trying to enjoy my last few weeks at home with the little guy, despite finding that I'm really not cut out to be a stay-at-home mom. As much as I don't want to miss a second of my little boy growing up, taking care of him full time is harder than any job I've ever been paid to do!

So, for Tour de Fleece last month, I did my first spinning since last October, and I got exactly this much done in the 3 weeks of the Tour:



Granted, I only got to spin two or three times, when I had the energy in the evening and someone else was holding the baby. Most nights I was just too exhausted to sit at the spinning wheel. My goal was to spin enough fingering weight singles for this cute shawlette I saw in one of the recent Knitscene magazines (I will eventually figure out the pattern name and link to it, if I ever finish the yarn). So much for that, but at least I like the way the yarn is turning out so far.

I also (finally) cast on for my Cucumber Top for the Ravellenic Games.


There is no way I'm going to finish at this point, since I'm only about 4 balls of yarn into a project that will take 12 or 13 balls, and I've only got 3 days left before the closing ceremonies. At this rate, I might finish this summer top just in time for winter ;)! I thought doing a top without sleeves would help it go faster, but I made the mistake of picking a wraparound design, so I'm essentially knitting two fronts! Anyway, I'm making it out of Knit Picks CotLin in Raindrop, in case you're wondering.

But, do you know what I realized the night of the opening ceremonies, when I was frustrated that Jack wanted to be held, and I couldn't set him down and start my knitting? I realized that I have the rest of my life to knit and spin (and do laundry and dishes and everything else I'm having a hard time fitting in right now!), and my little boy is only going to be this tiny for a little while, and before I know it he'll be too big for me to hold in my arms (and/or he won't want to be held anymore).

So I should enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cuddle my baby while he's so little, and the knitting will be there when I have my hands free again. I run into so many people who say they miss the little baby stage, and I guess I will too, someday, and probably much sooner than I'd like.


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Nesting (and waiting)

So I'm now into my third week of maternity leave, and pregnancy is getting even less fun every day here... But at least I'm getting a few things done here before the little guy shows up, and based on all the cooking, knitting and sewing I've been doing, I think this is what they all call "nesting".

Last week I finished my first quilt ever:


It definitely has some technical issues, so if you're an expert quilter don't look too closely :). But at least it's finished, which I thought would never happen, and the baby won't care--in fact, if he really loves this blanket I fully expect it to fall apart someday, so it really won't matter at the squares don't match exactly or that the quilting stitches are really uneven.

I've also been doing a bunch of knitting, at least as much as my wrists can handle (turns out using larger needles is slightly easier on my wrists than using size 2s, but I've got a lot of sock yarn bits and baby stuff works better in lighter yarns).

I finally put buttons on my Baby Surprise Jacket, and it turned out really nicely:


I washed this sweater by hand, as I usually do for most new handknits, but I ended up throwing it in the dryer because it was drying really slowly, and it was a challenge to keep it from stretching out due to the weight of the water. Luckily it's superwash wool, and it looks like it will go through regular washing and drying just fine.

I've made a bunch of booties with the Blue Steps bootie pattern, which I love because it uses up leftover sock yarn and the brioche stitches are fun to do.






I also used some smaller bits of sock yarn to make some newborn mittens to match--for this pattern, I changed the decreases to make a round top, instead of the original flatter top in the pattern, and I like this a lot better.



I made a hat using my pattern, this time with Tahki Cotton Classic and size 5 or 6 needles (can't remember which size...). Somehow I screwed up the increases halfway through, so it doesn't have the nice swirl, but it didn't bother me enough to rip almost the whole thing out to fix it.



I made more Baby Genius Burp Cloths, one a two-color version in Jarbo Soft Cotton, and one in Punta Yarns South American Cotton on larger needles. For both of these, I changed the stitch count from the original to get what I felt were appropriate sizes. I'm guessing that burp cloths are better when they're bigger, most likely.






I made a Blanket Buddy with more South American Cotton, and I opted not to make a face to save time and to avoid having to worry about pieces coming off.



I also finished a pair of baby socks from more leftover sock yarn. Another pattern I need to write up here someday...



I'm working on a bunch of other little baby things, but I'll save those until they're done. Once I finish some baby stuff here, I really want to start on the Cucumber Top from Knitty--as soon as I saw this, I realized it would be perfect for a summer of breastfeeding and recovering from baby weight. I had to actually buy yarn for this, since DK-weight cotton blends in sweater quantities are not really part of my stash, and I ended up getting Knit Picks CotLin in Raindrop, which is a nice grayish-blue color.

We'll see how my knitting time goes in the near future here, since my doctor expects me to go into labor any day now...

Until next time, happy knitting to all!


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Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all! Whether you celebrate it as a religious holiday or not, Easter is about new life and new beginnings.  So it seems only fitting that my baby boy is especially active this morning--I'm now into my eighth month, and he's going through a growth spurt to get ready to join the world soon.

Baby Update

Pregnancy is definitely not getting any easier for me, though (not that I would call any of it "easy")!  I'm well into the waddling phase now, which means I need to take things slowly and pace myself so I can use my limited energy where I really need it. And the carpal tunnel in my wrists is gradually getting worse, so my knitting time is limited (but luckily most baby things are small!). At least the pregnancy part is almost over, right?

My husband and I have finally made some progress with rearranging our house to make room for the baby.  I still have my craft room, luckily, but it now has the pull-out couch in there so it can be used as the guest room, too.  I managed to move stuff around in there enough to fit the couch in, but I have some serious reorganizing to do when I have a bit of spare energy.  Plus, looking through all my yarn and books just makes me want to knit everything NOW, which is not doable even when my wrists are at full strength.  I'm fortunate to be able to own and store such a fantastic yarn collection (or stash, if you will), but sometimes it really gets overwhelming with all the potential.  Here's the start of our nursery:

With the limited knitting and the forced stash review, I can at least say that I haven't been buying yarn lately.  Nothing like coming face to face with all the yarn you already have to quash the desire to acquire every pretty new skein, I guess.  I'm a little disappointed, though, that right now is when they've chosen to hold the first LA Yarn Crawl! It's happening next weekend, and I really wish I had the energy and the desire to visit a bunch of the great LYS's around here.  I might take just a quick trip down to Needlepoints West, which is in easy walking distance from my house, and if anything I might pick up another ball or two of the fantastically soft cotton yarn I already made some burp cloths out of.  Maybe.

Easter Baking

I found this recipe online for Cadbury Creme Cookie Cups awhile back, and I've been dying to make them ever since. So I finally put them together for Easter, and they turned out to be pretty delicious, as I had hoped.

My creme came out a little thicker than it should have (more like frosting, and not runny at all), so next time I should add the powdered sugar more slowly to make sure I don't add too much.  And the only bad thing about these is that they're kind of huge, so next time I might try doing them in mini muffin tins instead of full sized ones. Definitely a fun recipe to make, though!

Also, for Easter breakfast this morning, I made (for the second time) Make-Ahead Blueberry French Toast.  This recipe is great cause you put it together the day before and let it sit in the fridge overnight, then in the morning you just have to spread the streusel topping and bake it in the oven while you relax before breakfast. I like mine with maple syrup, instead of the blueberry syrup in the recipe.  And I forgot to take a picture this morning, cause I was just that excited about eating this French toast for breakfast!

And the Knitting

And now for the knitting... Since I haven't posted in a few weeks, I actually have a bunch of stuff that I've finished! Like I said, baby stuff is small.

I made two Baby Genius Burp Cloths, one in Jarbo Garn Soft Cotton and one in Super Soft Cotton.  I think I prefer the brightly-colored one more.

I also made a Baby Bib 'O Love, also from Jarbo Garn Super Soft Cotton. I do need to locate and sew on a button to really finish it, though.  (And in case you're wondering, my BSJ is still waiting for buttons to be sewn on!)

I finished a Tri-Corner Baby Hat (top photo, with a few small modifications from the pattern) and a Swirl Hat (bottom photo) from one skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Syracuse University colors.  I love how the different stitch counts and different patterns made the colors stripe completely differently in the two hats.

Here's a hat I made from my own made-up pattern in Rowan Handknit Cotton. Hopefully I can write up the pattern and post it here soon. It looks kind of small, but with the ribbing it stretches a ton.

This baby will have no shortage of hats, that's for sure! I made a couple of Aviatrix Baby Hats about two years ago when one of my nephews was born, and my brother sent them back to me, since both of his boys have now outgrown them.

I have another hat or two that I really want to finish up here, but I've realized that what I need more for this baby are socks and booties, so I need to work on some of those next. Since baby feet are so small, I get to make good use of all my sock yarn leftovers from adult-sized pairs of socks.  I'm also currently working on a pair of Baby Brights Tights in SWTC Tofutsies:

Well, that's all I've got for today.  I hope you're all having a wonderful Easter, and happy spring knitting!

No, I didn't disappear!

I didn't fall off the face of the earth here (really!). I realize that not posting for something like 5 months might make me the worst blogger ever... And I'm really sorry.

Reason #1 for my prolonged absence: I'm having a baby boy sometime in late May or early June. Last fall I felt so crappy in my first trimester that just keeping up with life outside my blog was more than I could handle. And then I got into my second trimester just in time for holiday craziness... And you can imagine how it's gone from there. I'm now just starting my third trimester, and I've realized that my blog will officially die if I don't start posting again right now!

Reason #2: when I tried around holiday time to put together a new blog post, my BlogPress app wasn't working correctly, and thanks to the wisdom of Apple's app store it took months to get an update approved so I could use the app again. Annoying, but with my iPad I really hate using my laptop these days!

Reason #3: thanks to pregnancy, I've been too tired to do much knitting, and in the past few weeks or so I'm starting to get some pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel, which really sucks. So I'm trying to work on some cute little baby things, but it's going much slower than I had hoped.

Anyway, enough with the excuses. I'm hoping to have a few new patterns posted soon, but in the meantime here are a few photos of baby things I've managed to finish.

Garter Yoke Baby Cardi, in leftover Madelinetosh Pashmina:



I was worried about running out of yarn here, so the sleeves are on the short side. And I opted for the no-button version, since I knew having to sew on buttons would stall me.

Newborn Vertebrae, in doubled laceweight yarn dyed by my husband (in a colorway I think of as "parrot"), front and back so you can see the colors better:





I think I wasn't paying enough attention on the body so I made it a bit longer than necessary, but I'm pretty sure the baby won't mind so much. This cardigan is really small, so I'm hoping for a smallish baby (for many reasons, but also so he fits in this tiny stuff!).

Baby Surprise Jacket, before and after folding, in Malabrigo Rios (no buttons yet, though):





I have buttons picked out from my stash, but sitting down the a needle and thread to sew them on is not my idea of fun. I'll get it done eventually. I've been wanting to make a BSJ absolutely forever, and I'm glad I finally did it! The most challenging part of this pattern is translating EZ's instructions, cause her writing style is much more sparse than most patterns these days--my advice is to take it one step at a time, and it's really not so bad.

Snug cardigan in my own hand dyed yarn:


This is adorable, and with a chunky yarn it's a pretty quick knit. I opted not to do shaping on the hood, cause I think it's cute to have a pointy elf hood.

The start of a Puerperium Cardigan in leftover Tahki Cotton Classic:


Not sure why, but I've been working on this for weeks and haven't made much progress. As much as I think this sweater is totally adorable, I'm considering putting it aside to work on stuff I find more inspiring at this point in time.

I also realized that I'm having a summer baby, and maybe I should work more on stuff like hats and booties, since he will probably need those more than wool sweaters (that's also why the last sweater I started is in cotton!). But I'm also quite pleased at how I'm using up leftover yarn stash, because I seem to end up with enough leftover yarn from adult sized sweaters to make nice little baby sweaters as well. And I've got lots of leftover sock yarn that's the perfect amount for baby socks or booties, or even hats.

So, more recently I made a little cotton hat (currently blocking), which I will try to write up a pattern for, and I made a Baby Genius Burp Cloth (also blocking) and am working on a second one cause the first was so fun. Pictures to come soon!

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