Baby Hats and Big Girl Blankets

Received a baby boy announcement last week from Hubby’s cousin — isn’t he a cutie pie? Had some variegated blue baby yarn and size 4 double pointed needles handy, so just went for it. Turned out pretty cute …

Rolled Brim Baby Hat

I used Bernat Softee Baby Acrylic #3 Light weight in color His Jeans Ombre

Size 4 dpns

Cast on 88 stitches

Join and knit until  it measures 5″ from cast on edge

Decrease Rows:

(I use my cast on tail as my place marker, always keeping the first stitch at the beginning of a needle)

Next row: Knit 9, knit 2 together

Next row: Knit around

Next row: Knit 8, knit 2 together

Next row: Knit around

Next row: Knit 7, knit 2 together

Next row: Knit around

Continue decreasing in this manner until you have completed Knit 1, knit 2 together

Knit one more round

Cut yarn, leaving about 8″ to work with. Using a yarn needle, take each stitch off and close the hole by pulling snugly. Bring yarn through the hole inside the cap and weave in end. Weave in cast on tail. And it’s ready to wear!

And congratulations to my baby sister and her sweetie on the purchase of their house. All that moving and unpacking of boxes is exhausting so I made a Big Stix Afghan and sent it so they could take a nap with it.

I used skeins of Caron One Pound acrylic yarn in Black, Country Rose, Taupe and Off White. I love those Big Stix size 50 knitting needles!

Not So Continental

I took another class at Arizona Knitting and Needlepoint … the method of Continental knitting. It is also known as German knitting, European knitting and left-handed knitting. Apparently, I’m not Continental, German or European … well, one out of four ain’t great.

It was a 2-hour class simply on how to hold your needles and yarn, feeding it wrapped through the fingers on your left hand. Then you “pick” the yarn rather than “throwing” it, which is the method I’ve always used. It’s really hard!!! Actually, it’s not that hard but it’s going to take a LOT of practice to master. I’m going to cast on a narrow scarf in an easy to work with acrylic yarn and knit the whole damn thing Continental if it kills me. In the meantime, I’ll keep throwing, aka English knitting.

It is Arizona Knitting’s 28th Anniversary and they are holding a 25% off sale on yarn this week. I bought 3 skeins of luscious 100% silk yarn — Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Silk. I’m going to use at least one to make one of the Knitted Neck Scarves (from the Martha Stewart website), but a little narrower this time, going more for style than warmth.

I’m thinking I’ll try stringing a bunch of small crystal beads on another skein and making a lacy fashion scarf. You can buy yarn with the beads already strung, but it is four times the cost. For that, I’ll try stringing my own beads. At least once …

And I think there’s enough yardage in a skein to make a pair of fingerless mitts. Not sure which pattern I’ll use yet, but I think a pair in silk would be so nice.

I’m currently working on the last sleeve of the Lion Brand Soft Rib Cardigan. It is a gift and I’ll need it finished soon, so will keep plugging away at the pieces. Then I’ll just have to seam them all together and pick up stitches for the collar. I’m just over halfway through on a prayer shawl for a friend. It’s taken longer than I had wanted, but I have had other projects that had to be finished first. There is a surprise gift on the way to someone right now that I just finished over the weekend.

Happy Spring … Happy Knitting!

Secret Project

I’ve started knitting a secret project this week. Here’s a preview …

Finished my Knitted Neck Scarf – this is a great little pattern and a fun, easy project …

… and I dropped one of my most favorite coffee cups in the sink the other night and it broke. SIGH …

Makes me so sad! When I last visited Middle Sister and her family — over the 4th of July weekend in the mid-West so it was toasty out — I used this adorable snowman coffee mug. I love any and all things Christmas-y so this coffee cup made me smile the whole time I was there. Then after I got back home to Arizona, I received in the mail this coffee cup full of chocolates. That is so sweet and will forever bring a tear to my eyes. And it just slipped out of my soapy hands and cracked in the sink. I will never do dishes again!!!

OMG, my eyes!

So after a marathon weekend of knitting, watching TV and some occasional reading (gotta finish the book for book club this week), this is how my vision looks …

Seriously, I think that’s Miles, but it may be Louie. I think my eyes are going to fall out.

Here’s a fun kind of flugelbinder that hubby and YD picked up at the Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament. And let me just get it out of my system once and for all how ridiculously awful that name is. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!

It’s a cardboard box …

No, it’s actually a handy dandy …

collapsible chair to carry around with you in case there’s a lull in the action at the golf tournament.

Gosh, I hope that didn’t sound sarcastic!

Knitting and TV Watching

I’ve had the house pretty much to myself this weekend and have been happily knitting myself into a coma while “holding the remote control” and laughing like a mad woman. Let me say first that I have not felt compelled to tune into the Olympics even once. It’s been Lifetime, the Food Network, A & E and true crime shows. This morning I watched “The Net,” which is an older Sandra Bullock movie where she plays a computer nerd whose identity is stolen through the computer. She is drawn into murder and mayhem and no one will believe her. This is very similar to the Jeffrey Deaver book I read recently, “The Broken Window.” Good and scary stuff!

Since I took the Funky Footsies knitting class, I have been on a mission to single-handedly pump out cozy chunky socks. Somebody stop me!

I started with a turquoise pair that I gave to a friend when we met for lunch last week. Bless her heart, she loves to receive handmade stuff and promptly whipped off her shoe, put on her sock, threw her leg up on the table and posed for a picture in the restaurant. Another pair went to the Granddaughter because purple is her favorite color of the moment.

Funky footsies for granddaughter and friend JEH - February 2010

YD requested a pair in charcoal gray with no frou frou stuff on top. If I did not know for certain that the only 9 pound 3 ounce baby in the nursery was mine the day she was born, I would think she’d been switched at birth.

Charcoal gray non-funky footsies for YD - February 2010

And a pair for a neighbor who is going through a serious health crisis …

Funky footsies for neighbor - February 2010

I just love the decorative yarns in the tops of these socks. Unfortunately, I don’t think they’re available any longer — I’ve had them for some time and pulled them out of my stash.

I was visiting some of my favorite knitting blogs yesterday and as I read Mason-Dixon Knitting, I saw that they’re making these adorable little Knitted Neck Scarves. I’ve seen them pictured before, but never had a pattern. They offered this link to the pattern on the Martha Stewart Living website. Of course, I immediately had to start one. After again raiding my stash, I’m using a sport weight baby yarn that has a sparkly thread running through it as a test run.

It’s a very simple pattern and the little pocket that you knit into the scarf to pull the end through is ingenious!

To make it all even more cozy, along with the non-stop knitting and temporary ownership of the remote control, it has rained constantly. Everything from a little drizzle to the roof pounding kind that strains the palm trees and makes the dogs stare out into the darkness and growl. Kinda nice, kinda creepy!

Funky Footsies and King Cake

I absolutely loved taking the knitting class with my BIL and learning how to knit socks. These are the big, bulky socks on size 13 needles that are for sittin’ around feeling cozy in. The class ran 2 hours on 2 nights. Here is what I had done after my first class …

Understanding the construction of the sock, turning the heel, learning all the little tricks was so great. Plus our instructor, Marti, was fun and made everything simple. And my other classmates were a hoot. One conversation during our first class was about everyone’s favorite cuss words while knitting. I think we all laughed ’til we cried. There was a class going on in another room, but we were the rowdy bunch. This is the first knitting class I’ve ever taken and I really enjoyed the camaraderie.

So here are my completed Funky Footsies on my feet …

I love ’em, I love ’em, I love ’em!

We had a fun surprise on our doorstep yesterday …

… a FedEx package from Louisiana. YD’s BF is home visiting family this week and sent us a King Cake to celebrate Mardis Gras!

It is like a delicious giant cinnamon roll covered in icing and sugar crystals. And it came complete with Mardis Gras beads and babies. You can read about the History of Mardis Gras and King Cakes at MardisGrasDay.com. Thanks, YDBF, for a wonderful treat!!!

Wordless Wednesday – Completed Watch Cap Knit in the Round

Last week’s WW showed the cap in progress on 4 knitting needles.

Wordless Wednesday

Yarn Ball Heaven

Thanks to birthday cash received, I was able to feed my gadget addiction and add another lovely book to my knitting bookshelf. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

The Yarn Ball Winder from KnitPicks.com, is by far one of the most practical, handy gadgets for knitting. And at $19.99, it is a supreme bargain! Oh, and FYI … it could not be easier to use.

The yellow yarn pictured is left over from the horsie baby blanket. Even though it was a pull skein, I find that they often will knot up the closer you get to the end and rolling the skeins into a ball eliminates that from happening while you’re knitting.

I wound all of the yarn for my funky footsies class this morning in about 20 minutes. It would have taken sooooooo much longer by hand. I needed to split one of the 2-ounce balls of fun fur into two separate balls since BIL and I are sharing a skein. I wound the entire skein into a ball, then rewound the ball to half-size, weighing the loose end on my kitchen scale. Worked like a dream! (I’ll be right there, honey; I’m in the kitchen weighing my balls!)

The book I ordered from KnitPicks.com is “One Ball Knits: Purses.” There are some very, very cute little bags in this book. And I love that they’re single skein projects. I’m going to be looking for some cool purse handles to use.

Wordless Wednesday – Watch Cap Knit in the Round

Wordless Wednesday

Field Trip to a LYS

If you read knitting mags, you know that LYS stands for Local Yarn Shop. Saturday morning, BIL took me to his favorite LYS, Arizona Knitting and Needlepoint.

It looks so tiny from the outside, but they have stacked it to the rafters with beautiful yarn, accessories, books, buttons and amazing finished objects to drool over.

We have signed up for a class that teaches sock knitting on big needles so you can learn the process and construction without struggling with the smaller needles. They’re usually made on tiny needles, i.e., size 1, 2, 3 … these socks called “funky footsies” are made on size 13 double pointed needles (dpns). With bulky yarn! They are going to be so cozy and comfortable. I’m making this first pair for myself and … well, then we’ll just see how it goes.

This photo of the “funky footsies” is from Arizona Knitting’s website where you can see some of their exciting classes and projects. http://www.arizonaknittingandneedlepoint.com/

The Brown Sheep Company yarn I bought for mine is in a color called Forest Floor with primarily greens, purples, blues and browns. Then I am adding a little green/blue and purple/blue fun fur that will go around the top of the sock. I am so looking forward to this class!