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!