Holiday Fun

Happy New Year's Eve to all!  Sorry for my absence from the blogsphere.  I could make lots of excuses but frankly I've just been super busy with the holiday hustle and bustle and haven't made the time to blog.  My New Year's resolution is to get back on track!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  I have lots of fun images from the holiday to share.  Just because I haven't been blogging doesn't mean I haven't been knitting!

The first image is of the holiday stockings, felted, and filled to the brim.

As you might remember, I had big plan to decorate these stockings once I completed them but they looked so cute as they were I just left them alone.  I also managed to whip up another Frog for Sammy's stocking.  This is really a great little knit and takes no time at all.


I also knitted up the most adorable cardigan for Sammy for Christmas.  He's modeling it here.

I know I'm biased but is he not the cutest kid ever???  This is the Sheep Yoke Cardigan from Looking Glass Knits.  I made it a little on the big side hoping it would last more than one winter.  I'll be posting my project notes on Ravelry soon if you are interested in how I re-sized the sweater. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the end result although it is a bit big in the shoulders for him.  My favorite part is that I even found sheep for the buttons! 

I also made what I think is the perfect sports team hat for my husband in Virginia Tech colors.  Here's his self portrait.

I'll be posting the pattern for the this one in the coming weeks after I test the pattern.


I hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve filled with lots of joy and knitting!

Victory Is Mine!

I can't be defeated by a frog...

Victory is mine!!

A Frog In Time-Out

Remember how when we last spoke, I was planning to knit up this adorable little frog for a friend of mine at work?  Well let's just say it did not go well.  The pattern requires you to start out knitting on double pointed needles, a first for me but not something I thought would be overly difficult.  Boy was I wrong!  I just can not get the hang of it for some reason.  My pal Ashley even spent some time on Sunday trying to tutor me but I found it so frustrating that I just threw the needles down in disgust and starting knitting what I do a best...a HAT!  

Here's a photo of the Noedel hat.  I knit it up using Spud and Chole Sweater in Grass.  I may get creative and make a pink flower for the brim as well.

Hopefully, I'll give the frog another try after he's spent a bit longer in time-out.  He earned it.

On my needles right now is the Cowl With a Little Twist.  I knit one up for myself last week and liked it so much that I'm making another one for my Mother-In-Law for Christmas.  

I also worked on a new hat design last week but I won't be able to share that with you until after the holidays since it's a present for my husband and I know you are reading baby!

 

A Shopping Trip....

Happy Hump Day everyone!  I hope you all had an exciting election day.  I'll admit I'm disappointed with the results but it did have an unexpected benefit.  Fibre Space, a great yarn shop in Alexandria, VA, offered a 10% discount yesterday if you came in wearing your I Voted sticker.  Since they carry Spud and Chloe, which I've been dying to try, I decided to throw Sam in the car yesterday afternoon and make the normally 45 minute trek to check out the store.  Honestly, I'm not sure it was the best decision I ever made only because traffic on 495 was a disaster and Sam was less than pleased about being in his car seat for over three hours total.  

I did manage to spend a few minutes browsing in the store before we had to head back out into traffic.  It's a beautiful store.  Very cozy and it made me wish I was sans-Sam so I could just sit down and knit.  They had a great selection of Spud and Chloe yarn as well.  I purchased some beautiful Sweater in Grass and Turtle.

And some Fine in Snorkel and Shitake.

Since I've completed the last of my Christmas stockings, I'll be using the Grass to knit this adorable frog for a friend at work who is expecting a baby in January.  If it turns out well I'll use the Turtle to make one for Sam.  I have to say though that I've fallen in love with the Turtle color and may have to steal it to make something for myself!  

I also found this fantastic stich marker at the checkout counter. 

Now at first look you might just think he's an adorable little red dog.  But wait...

He's hiding scissors!  I can't wait to use this tool!  If you want more information on where to find your own, leave a comment and I'll get you the information.

Contest Winner and A Knitting Diversion

Happy Thursday everyone!  The Darkside Hat has been doing far better than I even dreamed.  So far, 61 people have favorited the hat on Ravelry, 2 people are working on active projects and 10 others have queued the pattern.  I'm thrilled with all the interest and am hopeful that those first knitters enjoy the results as much as I do.  

My parents are in town for a visit this week and my Mom took one look at the white hat and packed it in her suitcase.  Little does she know that I made it from wool I had leftover from her scarf so she'll have a perfect matching set.  Maybe I'll try to squeeze in some mitts for her to match before the holidays.

I'm also finally getting around to announcing the winner of the Darkside Hat contest.  My apolgies for the delay but it's been a crazy week at our house and I'm just getting a chance to catch up in blog world.  The winner of my first ever contest is....DRUMROLL....Lisa.  One beautiful skein of Knit Picks DK Swish is on it's way to you as soon as I get an email from you with your address!  Unfortunately you didn't leave a way for me to get in touch.

In other news, I've had a bit of a knitting diversion this week.  With my Mom in town we decided to tackle making a quilted Christmas Tree Skirt for my new tree.  

Here's a photo of the finished product.  

I'm really pleased with the results but I have to tell you there are good solid reasons I'm a knitter and not a seamstress!  Luckily despite our pattern hiccups we managed to stay in good spirits and knock the project out in about 9 hours of work.  It could have been faster if we weren't so error prone and a pair of gigglers!

Here's a close up of my favorite fabric that was used in the project.  Aren't the reindeer just too cute???

I've got the second of our Christmas stockings on the needles right now and am hopeful that I'll have it finished by the end of the weekend or at least that is my goal.  My friend Ashley is coming over Sunday to take some photos of Sam and to spend some time teaching me how to knit using a chart.  Once that happens I'm itching to get started on a project I've had in my queue for Sam.  I'll share more details about that soon...

The Darkside Hat

The Darkside Hat pattern is finally complete!  Here is the pdf link.  I had a blast designing it and am hopeful that others will enjoy knitting it as much as I did.  It's based on Sarah Fama's Darkside Cowl and Sarah Hood has written up project notes for a matching set of mitts.  If you're looking for a great set to make for Christmas presents, this one could be a winner. 

Here are some pictures of the two versions I knit up while working out the design.  This one is made out of some gorgeous Trendsetter yarn.  I've already made the cowl to match and have some yarn left that will be made into mitts.

This second version I knit out of some white Paton's Classic Wool.  I like that the design stands out really well with a solid color of yarn but I do think that it's a bit stiff.  If I had it to do over again, I would use some of my Knit Picks Swish Worsted.

In honor of my first design, I'm hosting a contest.  Leave a comment by midnight 10/23/10 with your thoughts on the hat and you could win a skein of Knit Picks Swish DK.  Be sure to leave an email address so I can get in touch with you to let you know you've won.  Happy Knitting!

Christmas is Coming!

Is it just me or does it seem like Christmas is approaching at a rapid pace?  I can't believe that it's the middle of October already.  We spend our Sunday today out at the pumpkin patch picking out our annual pumpkins.  We'll be carving them up next weekend so they are all ready for the trick-or-treaters.  Sammy is going as a skeleton this year.  I'm sure I'll be unable to resist posting pictures of that!

In preparation for the holidays, I've been working on making some stockings for my expanded family.  Last year I was a bit of a humbug at the holidays due to the newborn exhaustion that was still running rampant in our household.  But this year, we'll be doing it up right which includes stocking stuffing.

I found a great pattern for felted stockings by Annie's Woolens on Ravelry of course! I was a little intimidated as I've never even knit a regular sized sock before but it was surprisingly simple and now I'm looking forward to trying my hand at socks after the holidays.  I've got one out of three completed.  I think I'll be keeping this gold one for myself.  

I've got yarn for a navy and a red one as well.  Once I have all three completed I'll do a felt along and share my results.  If all goes well, I'll be decorating them with our names and some cute holiday goodies.  I'm really looking forward to seeing the end product.


I've also been working away on my first pattern which I'll be posting shortly.  More on that soon.