Pilgrim's Progress

Remember that list I've been working on?  This pilgrim has been making some progress! 

Didn't Brooklyn's hippo turn out nice?  I love it in the red!  And I finished my brother's golf club covers.

I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out except for this guy...

I think he looks less like a Wookie and more like a fur ball but I think my brother will love it anyway.  

I'm off work today and hoping to make some progress on Matt's present while he's at work.  I've also made some final decisions on my list and here's how it will look moving forward.


1.  These socks for my Mom
2.  A sweater and hat for Sammy.
3.  This hat for Sammy's Speech Therapist.
4.  My favorite simple guy hat for my Dad.
5.  An undisclosed gift or two for Matt (I know you're reading baby).


How many days are there until Christmas?  Wait...don't tell me!

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas....

Do you know what this pile of knitting says to me?

Christmas is coming!!!  I decided to knit something for all my family members again this year...and in some cases more than one item per member.  I know...I'm a crazy person.  This means for the last month I've been living in essentially a knitting sweatshop of my own creation.  But the good news is I'm making some progress!

So far I've completed:

1.  A hat and mitten set for my niece, Brooklyn.

2.  A matching cowl for my Sister-In-Law, Sarah.

3.  Two speedy cowls for Sammy's preschool teachers.

4. A Reversible Rib and Lace Scarf for my Mimi.

5.  Harriet the Hippo for Sammy's stocking stuffer.

Not too shabby huh?  Unfortunately, here's what I left to do...

1.  Two pairs of socks, for my Mom and Mother-In-Law
2.  A sweater and hat for Sammy.
3.  Another Hippo for Brooklyn.
4.  Some sort of hat for Sammy's Speech Therapist.
5.  These completely awesome golf club covers for my Brother.
6.  An undetermined present for my Dad.
7.  An undisclosed gift or two for Matt (I know you're reading baby).

Think I can do it??  I'm starting to get concerned.  I think if I do the math I have to finish a project or two a week until Christmas is here.  Hmmm...I'm a crazy person....

Luckily I have a great support system that includes this cutie

who is always by my side, even while I'm trying to take pictures! 

Happy Belated Birthday Sweet Boy

Exactly 26 months ago today, I met the most wonderful person in the world and finally got to see this face.

It's hard to believe but that little bitty baby has turned into a very busy, active, curly headed, kind hearted, funny, sweet, and talkative little boy.

The last few years have been nothing short of the most awesome adventure I could have ever dreamed.  Who knew a heart could hold this much love.  My cup runneth over Sammy!

Of course I had to knit something special for the birthday boy and nothing says I love you like a birthday monkey!  

The pattern is Cheeky Monkey.   Check out my project page for more details on the knitting. 

Special Delivery

On this motherhood journey, I often find myself inspired by other Moms.  Few more so then my friend Janelle, one of my sorority sisters from college.  Her own motherhood journey has been anything but easy and included the loss of her first child just a few days after his arrival.  A few weeks ago, she gave birth to little girl who they named Lexi.  Upon her early arrival, I desperately wanted everything to go well for my friend who has already faced more grief and worry than any mother should have to face in a lifetime, let alone a few short years.

So, I decided to embark on my own special kind of prayer.  I picked a cute little girl cardigan pattern and started kitting.  With every stitch I thought of this sweet baby and the life I want her and her family to have.  A life full of love and joy and fun.  One full of friendship and family and community.  And I knit and knit and knit until the end result was this...

and this...

and this very special delivery.

It looks like my special delivery should be arriving just in time for Lexi's homecoming!  I hope it finds her in good health and that she has a life full of friends like the one's I've been so lucky to have.  I know she'll be starting life with a huge advantage...one of the best Mom's I've ever seen in action!

The sweater is the Sunnyside Cardigan by Tanis of Tanis Fiber Arts, raveled here.  The booties are Emily Griffin's Garter Stitch Booties, raveled here.

All play and no work

The last few months we've been doing lots of this...

and this...

and this...

and this...

and way less blogging.  We've had a very busy couple of months that included tons of visits with family and trips to see the cherry bloosoms and the aquariumin Baltimore.  However, you can put your mind at ease because there has been lots of knitting, including my first pair of socks. 

These beauts are made from Neighborhood Fiber Company sock yarn in colorway Palisades.  I used a simple pattern from my Ann Budd sock book.  I'd be lying if I said I think that I will be trading in my old hat standby to become a sock knitter but I am pleased with the results.  In the future, I'll be trading in the six inches of ribbing for just an inch of so.  I think if I had done that with this pair, I would be a much happier camper! 

However, I do already have another pair of socks planned for my neice's upcoming birthday.  And speaking of birthdays...a certain little boy will be turning two next month and this pile of knitting might not look like much now...but soon enough it will be a birthday monkey!! 

More on that and my other summer projects soon, I promise!

A different kind of frog...

Happy February!  My apologies again for the lack of recent posts.  It's been another crazy month here in our household, complete with pre-school visits as Sammy is starting pre-school this week.  My husband and I also had a great semi-vacation in San Diego.  I have a few pictures from that adventure that I just have to share, since they may serve as my next pattern inspiration.  

This is a great shot of the harbor seals in San Diego that my husband took.  I can not tell you how amazing it was to be able to get this close to wild seals.  I think that this picture shows how excited I was!

They were just so fun to watch and so cute that it made me want to knit one.  I did some checking around on Ravelry and just couldn't find anything quite right.  Perhaps it's time for another pattern.


The only other knitting I have to report is that I did finally dive into the Oversized Toddler Sweater for Sammy.  Unfortunately it led to my first true project frogging.  The pattern is straight forward enough but I just didn't like the end result, especially when I got to the sleeve decreases.  

They just looked odd and the whole thing end up being stiff and bulky and I just didn't think I had the heart to torture Sammy into wearing it!  And keep in mind I make him wear a sheep cardigan!  I did love using the Spud and Chloe Outer so I'll have to dig up another project to use it for....any suggestions?  In the meantime, I'm moving on to my first sock project.  More on that soon...

Another Shopping Trip

Happy Wednesday!  I've had a bit of strange week.  I've been home WAY more than usual and frankly...it's time for me to go to work!  I've been home with a very cranky 17 month old for a few too many days in a row thanks to MLK Day and an ice storm.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to deal with fit throwing, I'm all ears.  My current solution is to blog.

Saturday I had a rare solo shopping outing to Fibre Space.  My plan was to pick up the pattern and yarn to participate in Susan B. Anderson's upcoming knit-along for the Camp Hoodie.  I'll admit that the original pattern is a bit wild for my taste but she did a beautifully modified version with a Fair Isle design that I just love.  However, once I looked at the pattern and did some calculations, I decided that I just wasn't sure that I would get $140 worth of wear out of a vest.  I'm much more of a cardigan girl myself.  

But, don't think for a second that I left empty handed.  Quite the opposite.  I managed to spend enough money to fill up my Fiber Space frequent customer card and got myself a free t-shirt.  My husband seemed less pleased about that than I did. :)  

Here's what I brought home with me.

I bought three hanks of Spud and Chloe Outer in colorway Bubble to make the Oversized Toddler Sweater for Sammy.  I'm excited to get started on this project sometime this week.  I also bought a great book Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd.  It's really a great book that I would highly recommend to other sock virgins like myself.  It explains sock construction in extreme detail and I am sure it will be a go to reference book for me.  I'll be using it to knit up the three beautiful hanks of sock yarn I picked up as well.

I also managed to knit up some super cute mittens for Sammy this weekend.

The pattern is the Way Basic Toddler Mittens and honestly, they really were.  The pattern was fairly easy to follow and it was a very quick knit.  These may be my new go to baby knit with a matching hat for winter babies.

That's all the news from here.  Back to work tomorrow...THANK YOU GOD! :)

Finished Object Friday and a Birthday Wish

I've got some great things to show you for Finished Object Friday!  Remember the Spud and Chloe yarn I bought a few months ago?  I have been tearing through it and I'm excited to show you the end results.  I fell in love with the Turtle color, which is a beautiful, vibrant green and instead of knitting up frogs for my son with it, I bought a few more hanks and have made a really beautiful cowl, mitt, and hat set for myself.  It is January right, which is suppose to be selfish knitting month! :)

The cowl is Susan Anderson's Twister scarf.  When she posted this pattern a few weeks ago on the Spud and Chloe blog, I knew it was just the pattern I was looking for.  The end results is a cowl that can be worn in lots of different ways, although I've primarily been wearing it tripled up close around my neck since it has been bitterly cold here in the DC area.

The mitts are the Fetching Mitts that I've had bookmarked pretty much since I joined Ravelry six months ago.  I was a little intimidated by the way the thumb of this pattern was written up but it was actually quite easy to execute.  My only regret is that I didn't make them a bit longer to cover my long fingers.

The hat is still a work in progress.  Any guesses on what the pattern is?  I'll give you a hint...it's one of my FAVORITE HATS EVER!

In other news, today is my dog Dizzy's fourteenth birthday!  I feel so lucky to have had so many great years with truly one of the best dogs in the world.  I hope we have many more together!  Here's a shot of my first baby!

Tomorrow I'm planning another outing to Fiber Space to pick up the pattern and yarn for my first knit-along.  I'll fill you in on those details later in the weekend.  Enjoy!