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!

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...