Hats, anyone?

I made a few hats for Christmas, as I mentioned before.

For my youngest nephew, who is 9 months old. (Swirl hat from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.)

This one went to my youngest brother's wife. (Foliage from Knitty.)

This one ended up coming back home with M, who is modeling it. (Beaufort hat.)

My other younger brother's wife chose this one. It reminds me of Charlie Brown's zigzag shirt. (Claudia hat.)

This one came back home with us, and my oldest daughter E is trying to claim it. I told her she has to share with me. Hee. (Chicabean hat.)

This one went to my other nephew, who is 2 years old. (Unoriginal hat from the Yarn Harlot.)


My older brother claimed this one. (Kim's Hats from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.)

This one came back home, and I think I'll keep it. (Prime Rib hat by Elizabeth Zimmermann.)

My older brother's wife took this one home. The brim can be worn up or down. (Palindrome hat.)

At the last minute (the 23rd of December) I freaked out that there weren't enough masculine hats in case some of the women claimed the more manly ones and left the lace ones for the men. I made a Natty Hat by Wendy Bernard (Knit and Tonic) with black yarn which was claimed by my younger brother. I neglected to get a picture of it, though. I was finished knitting the whole thing before I realized the cables were reversible and there was no wrong side. It's always right side out. Her free pattern also has a scarf to match, which would make a lovely set.

I saw a lot of the hats being worn at a second Christmas celebration we had this weekend. Everyone seemed very pleased. Success!

All hats were made of Patons Shetland Chunky, a soft, washable wool/acrylic blend.

2007 was a challenging year. I think we've learned a lot about ourselves. My husband is starting 2008 with a better-paying job and a new-to-him car. We have high hopes of making a lot of positive moves (literally and figuratively) over the next year. Happy new year, everyone!

Bowls

No, these bowls are not suitable for cereal. But fruit would be fine.

I think they're pretty cool. They were fun to make. The kids helped and they wanted to keep going. They would have melted all the records they could lay their hands on.

Fingers off The White Album, kids!

Don't worry. No valuable or even mildly desirable albums were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Purple Brain

Sorry, Heather, no pictures. I'm fairly certain none of my gift recipients read the blog, or I wouldn't be writing about the gifts. But between the possibility of them seeing the gifts and the fact that I am suffering from crappy camera/laziness syndrome, there are no pictures, yet.

Here, enjoy a picture of my apparently purple brain. I think the purpleness is due to bruising from all the wild thoughts banging around in there.

Your Brain is Purple

Of all the brain types, yours is the most idealistic. You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense.Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

What Color Is Your Brain?

In the midst of holiday crankiness and overwhelmedness . . . (Yes, I know few of the "ness" words are real words. Deal.) . . . look at this funny blog. It never fails to bring a smile to my face. http://bentobjects.blogspot.com/ This guy has a really clever mind. And apparently some good fine motor skills. Look at all the little stuff he bends and puts together! Fun.

Christmas is coming . . .

The goose is getting fat!

Or maybe the schedule is just getting fat. This time of year sure comes with a lot of things to do.

Oops. Half hour break there. Phone call. Discussing Christmas plans. All has been worked out. There has been a little family drama in my mom's family. It's not a usual thing with them, but with Grandma's stroke a year ago August, things are in transition. Everything is now arranged for this year. Next year may be different. We'll have fun either way. Grandma will get to see everyone.

Christmas knitting has consumed me. Why did I decide to do Christmas knitting? What's my damage? Sheesh. Last year I had a large stack of knitted washcloths that I decided would make lovely gifts. So, the kids and I made soap to put with them and let people choose their favorite. It was a success. So this year, I thought, "Hmmm, maybe a hat grab bag would be fun!" But, there is one major difference from last year. I didn't have a stack of knitted hats laying around waiting to be gifted. I had no hats laying around waiting to be gifted. So, I bought a pile of bulky, soft, washable wool blend yarn to make a variety of hats. I'm nine hats in, and I'm sick of hats. There are 20 people on the list. (This is just immediate family, meaning parents, siblings and their partners and kids.)

Yesterday, it all resolved itself. Hubby suggested we send gourmet popcorn to the New York relatives. A few clicks and a few bucks later, four people done. Then, I saw an online tutorial for making bowls out of old record albums. I had seen these before, but never realized how easy it was. I just happen to have a box of old records in my garage that even the thrift store didn't want. The kids and I made three of those last night for the most musical members of the family. I also made boxes out of the album covers, but I don't know how useful they'll be. (Amazing what you can get done while watching Samantha Who and October Road, huh?) I think I'll make one more. By the magic of co-habitation, these four record bowls cover five more gifts. I even managed to match the genre of music to the recipient. (Don't worry. None of these albums was valuable or desirable on its own, but as a bowl, cool.)

Eleven to go. Well, I already have nine hats. I'm in the midst of a lace scarf for Mom after she expressed several times how much she liked mine last week. (Still knitting, but not a hat.)
And I always make a cross-stitched cat ornament for MIL. Yes, I have to stitch and sew it, but again, not a hat. In fact, I'm due for a little stitching project like that.

Ta-da! All 20 gifts accounted for. This also means that the hats will be going to the people most likely to want and wear them. The alternate gifts are being given to people who probably wouldn't wear them or already have a knitted hat from me. We may make a little yummy something to pass out to everyone, as well. The kids love to do that.

Ahhhhhh. How nice to take a deep cleansing breath. Now where are those cross-stitch ornament magazines?

Sadness.

From Kim's husband--

Dear friends and family,

I am very saddened to say that Kim's body lost her battle with breast cancer 5:47AM Thursday morning. She remained amazingly courageous and strong to the very end. She did everything she could to hold on for her family and friends, but her cancer was too aggressive.

The kids and I already miss Kim very much. Please keep us in your prayers

Even though I never met her in person, Kim has been my friend for many years on our mommy board. It seems so unfair that her young children will always have the holidays intermingled with thoughts of losing their mom. She was brave and strong and amazing, even when she was in great pain. We miss you, Kim.

You Are a Trifle

No doubt, you have many intricate layers. But deep down, you're a little squishy.

What Holiday Food Are You?

OK, so that's a funny little quiz thing. I just can't help myself. I know a lot of people find them annoying, but I think they're fun.

Not fun, my friend Kim is in the hospital. (She's who I had you lighting candles for a few posts ago. Light another if you're so inclined.) She's half a country away, and I wish I could go and hold her hand. She's on a respirator and if she doesn't improve, she doesn't want to stay on the respirator. It's so close to Christmas, and she has three young kids. If you're the praying sort, please pray. I'm not sure what to pray for. I'm praying for comfort for her and her family, no matter what happens. And if you're not the praying sort, please do whatever you do. Vibes, thoughts, calming feelings.

Thanks to everyone who commented on yesterday's post. If anyone else wants to make me feel better, please do! Heh.

Here's another silly blog thing. Makes me sound really flighty, huh? I like parts of it. I always told everyone I was going to be an artist when I grew up when I was a kid.

You Should Be an Artist

You are incredibly creative, spontaneous, and unique. No one can guess what you're going to do next, but it's usually something amazing. You can't deal with routine, rules, or structure. You're easily bored. As long as you are able to innovate and break the rules, you are extremely successful. You do best when you: - Can work by yourself - Can express your personality in your work You would also be a good journalist or actor.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Royal Highness Lara the Apocalyptic of Bow under Bumpstead Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I have no pictures for you today. Just another silly blog thing.

I'm thinking about quitting the blogging. Life has been too challenging lately. Too much to do, not enough time. I may keep to this once a week thing, but I just don't know if it's worth it.

I have been knitting. I finished my Tangled Yoke Cardigan and I started my Mr. Greenjeans. The body is done and half of one sleeve. I made a little progress on my Secret of the Stole last night.

Is life really supposed to be this hard? Please tell me your life is hard. :p I'm working on ways to make things easier on myself. That's not something I'm very good at. I tend to make things hard on myself . Even in my hobbies, I pick the most complicated thing and say, "I want to do that!"

Kind of like homeschooling four kids. I'm glad I'm homeschooling them. I know I made the right choice. I also know I'll be making a good choice if I put them in regular schools next school year. (This will only happen if we move.) I'm just irritated that I know lots of people are watching and when I do that they're going to say, "Oh, I knew it wouldn't last." Like they're waiting for us to fail. I don't want to care what they think, and I don't really. What other people think will have absolutely no bearing on how I choose to educate my children. I'm just annoyed that so many seem to think homeschooling is ridiculous or just too hard. Yes, it's hard. No, it's not the only choice, or the best choice for everyone or every child. But it is the best choice for us for our current situation. If we decide something else is the best choice when things have changed, it's our business, and no one else's. The kids are getting a good education, and they are well-rounded. They're not going to become criminals or social outcasts because they are being homeschooled. Wonderful things are happening in our family because of homeschooling. And it's hard. Just because it's hard doesn't mean it shouldn't be done.

For Kim

My friend Kim has been battling breast cancer for two years. Yesterday, they decided to suspend her treatment because it's not working. They're trying to get her in a trial.

She's a young woman, mid 30s. She has three young children and a wonderful husband. She is an inspiration. She could use all of our thoughts and prayers or whatever other good vibes you can spare.

The mommy group we're a part of started a candle lighting group online to show our support. Feel free to light another.

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween! I love to decorate for it. I love to dress up for it. I love to make the kids costumes for it. Carving pumpkins!



I did none of those things this year. I was getting ready to throw myself a big pity party. Then my kids decided to make some cute Halloween decorations and get out some of my favorites. They made vampire potatoes. Hee-heeee. Don't let the lack of pumpkins stymie your Halloween spirit. (Oooooo, spirit. Heh.) And I'm going to go to a movie this weekend with one of my very favorite people.



I may have just ordered a "begin to spin" drop spindle kit on etsy. *whistle* And that may have required me to sign up for the etsy account I was avoiding getting. Too dangerous! Of course, it may spur me to make some things to sell on there. I'm going to think about that.

(The cross-stitch pieces are a small sampling of my Halloween pieces over the years. I've stitched way more for Halloween than for Christmas. Even if I don't have real pumpkins, I'm going to have virtual ones!)

Did I show you my blanket?

I finished it a few weeks ago. The children have heeded my warning not to try to to sneak it off to their bedrooms. This is officially a couch blanket. Only to be used in the living room. (Otherwise I would never get to use it.)

It's based on the Mason-Dixon Knitting log cabin blankets. I used an applied i-cord border. Quite nifty. Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in the old colors. Less than three balls each of six colors used.

And for a bonus picture, my sock drawer. I was having trouble getting it closed, so I cleaned it out. Wonder why it was so full? Could it be all these hand-knit socks that have been added in the last two years? I got rid of about 15 pairs of regular old socks that I just don't wear anymore. You can see a few of the regular ones left in the top right corner there. I cropped out the pile of running/workout socks. I'm counting 20 pairs of hand-knit socks. I think they were all in there. All of mine, that is.

I think if we ever finally move and get the rest of the furniture out of storage, the hand-knit socks will get heir own drawer and the other socks (mostly workout socks) will go in a drawer with the workout clothing that is threatening to take over the undie drawer.

I need to knit three of the four kids a new pair (of socks, not undies) since fall has arrived. (M already has her Monkey socks.) Q has requested General Lee socks (the car, not the man.) Luckily, I don't have to dye the yarn this time. Twist has orange sock yarn the right color! So happy to have a LYS.

Secret of the Stole

Part one:

Parts one and two:

It doesn't look like much yet. I'm interested to see how this looks once it's blocked. I generally prefer my lace to be more, well, lacy. There's a lot of solid stockinette here. Hopefully, this will cure me of the whole "mystery knit" thing. :p

The next portion comes out tomorrow.

Alpine Lace Shawl

I joined Secret of the Stole a while back. Two clues have come out. But back before the first clue was released, I knew I needed to finish the Alpine Lace shawl that was on the needles I needed for SOTS. Voila!

Here are two pre-blocked images.




And one post-blocking. This is why we have kids, right? To hold up the knits for us for blog pictures? ;)
The pattern is in Victorian Lace Today, the Alpine Lace Knit Scarf, or something similarly inspiring. Gorgeous lace in that book, but boring names!

I've finished both clues for SOTS, too, and taken pictures. But blogger won't let me add any more pictures right now. Error! :p

I really planned to have the lace shawl ready for today's post, but the pictures are still on the camera, we had a house showing yesterday which required far too much cleaning time, and I'm having a birthday party for my son Q tonight. He's 8 today!

So you get a lame-o blog quiz again. :p I don't know why I like these things so much. I always liked tests in school, too.

You Are 5: The Investigator

You're independent - and a logical analytical thinker. You love learning and ideas... and know things no one else does. Bored by small talk, you refuse to participate in boring conversations. You are open minded. A visionary. You understand the world and may change it. At Your Best: You are sharp, inventive, and creative. You have the skills to lead the world. At Your Worst: You are reclusive, weird, and a bit paranoid. Your Fixation: Greed Your Primary Fear: Being useless or incompetent Your Primary Desire: Being competent and needed Other Number 5's: Bill Gates, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Bjork, and Stephen Hawking.

What Number Are You?

Burnt Popcorn

My daughter just burnt microwave popcorn. Don't you hate that smell? I think that is just the worst smell. (Yes, I know there are much worse things to smell, but it's got to be in my top 5. Blech.)

Burnt popcorn really has nothing to do with today's post. I just smelled it as I opened up this window. Speaking of open windows, we finally have our windows open in the afternoon today. High of 76 is what the weatherman said.

This morning we went out and bought M a new mattress. She has been complaining for a long time that her mattress is uncomfortable and she can't get to sleep. (This girl really knows how to complain, too.) We had tried two of those foam toppers plus a deluxe mattress pad, but nothing helped. The mattress really was worn out. She wasn't just complaining for no reason. So, today we went several different places and had her try some out. At the last place, with the mattress she wanted, we got an "inventory deal." I'm pretty sure that's code for: "They're walking out. Do anything to get them to buy!" They weren't really doing inventory. But we had already shopped around and we know we got a good mattress for a good price. Now M is doing her schoolwork on her bed, she loves it so much. Hee. I hope she's that excited about it at bedtime.

My second training walk/run was this morning. Feeling good! Two out of three brothers, one of their wives, my sister, and my dad have confirmed that they will be running the 10K with me. My dad made an amazing diet and exercise spreadsheet for himself, and he's sharing it with everyone. I have one brother designing t-shirts for us. He's doing several designs for us to choose a favorite for the group. I think this is so cool!

I'm still doing my beloved workout videos on off days, but I think they will will be trending toward more pilates and less long cardio/weights. I'm going to take one day a week completely off.

Now for some knitting. I promise I will get the pictures of the blocked lace shawl off the camera before my next post. For now, you get a hat I knitted for an old friend's baby shower. A is wearing it. Yes, she's 6, but the hat has a lot of stretch. Hopefully, the baby will get a lot of wear out of it. Knitted with small amounts of 6 old colors of cotton-ease. Pattern is "Cotton Stria hat" form Itty Bitty Hats. The mother-to-be was thrilled with it. They passed it around at the shower and everyone was turning it inside out. It's so funny that even non-knitters want to examine how it was put together.

Monkey see, Monkey do, Monkey run

These are M's Monkey socks. Knitted with Cherry Tree Hill supersock on US size 0 DPNs. I started these after seeing just about everyone in my KIP group knitting them. I couldn't resist! I may actually knit another pair for myself sometime.

I'm training for a 10K run in May (the River Run, for those in the know.) I've challenged my siblings and their significant others, as well as my parents, to join me. My sister and one brother and his wife have joined me so far.

Today was day 1 of my training. I've never been a runner, so I'm starting slow, with an 8-week beginning to run program. Once I can run 3 miles, I'll start a 12-week 10K training program. I have 31 weeks until the run.

I've never been an early riser, but I'm trying not to feel superior for having gotten up, gone out and gone for a run, and checked my e-mail before my husband's alarm even went off this morning. I think this early morning running will help my homeschool stamina, too. I'm certainly wide awake, and you can rarely say that about this night owl before noon. Yes, I would be up long before that, but I wouldn't feel this energetic, that's for sure.

Hat for an 85 degree day.

Does the weather realize it's October and I shouldn't have the air conditioner running? I keep trying to turn it off, but by mid-day, it's back on. I school the kids in the sunniest room of our house, and it just gets too hot, and with four kids being taught by one mom, that makes for too much crankiness. AC it is.

Here's a picture of me wearing the the hat I knitted my sister for her birthday. She's 22 now, the baby. I gave her a card that entitled her to "one hand-knit item, within reason." She asked sheepishly if she could have a hat with a big pom-pom on top. Ask and you shall receive! Isn't it nice when you have non-knitters who love your stuff and ask politely even when you have already offered? She even came to the yarn shop with me and picked the yarn. She wanted a neutral that had a little interest, so this heathered gray was perfect. She said she wanted a neutral so she could wear it with everything. Now, if it will just cool off, she can.

Pattern is from Interweave Knits Fall 2007. I made it a few rows longer and worked a few more decreases to smooth out the top and cover the ears.

(I don't know why my hair is so weird in that picture. It's Kansas. It's windy. Whatever.)

Still alive and kicking!

Just busy, as you may imagine.

We went to the State Fair for a family field trip a few weeks ago. How can you resist these young farmers? Hee.




Knitting content is promised in the near future!

Homescholing is a lot of work.

Duh. Especially with four kids you're schooling. It has been taking an insane amount of time. But it's getting smoother every day. And we nearly have all our materials finally.

So, blogging, not a priority right now. I have been squeezing some knitting in most evenings, even if just a tiny bit.

Babies, babies, babies!

Babies are popping up all around. My oldest daughter's uncle and his wife are having their second baby next month. I haven't seen them lately, though E has, and she wanted to give them a little something. Not knowing if they're having a boy or a girl, I thought a pumpkin hat would be ideal for a fall baby.


The hat was so cute (and I had so much green yarn left over) that I thought matching booties would be nice. Above is the first, frogged attempt. It was too big, too green, and too floppy. The leaves didn't pop the way I would like. And it looked too boyish to me.



These ankle strap booties were perfect. And they turned out so cute! Plus, the two of them just barely used all the yarn from the one frogged leaf bootie.

A's Bitty Baby is a very compliant model, but not very expressive, and too small for the newborn clothes. :p

My younger brother B and his wife are expecting after a very long wait! This is going to be a very long 9 months. If anyone can spare a positive thought for a smooth pregnancy, that would be fantastic.

A friend from my knitting group is waiting on a call about a foster-to-adopt baby. I know I'm thinking lots of good thoughts for her.

I guess my baby knitting can continue unabated. But right now, the turquoise bamboo sweater is demanding attention. :)

In a funk.

I promise, this will be the only whining you will hear from me for a good long time. I am in a funk! A knitting funk! A house funk! Just a funk!

I blame the fact that almost all my fun stuff is packed and there is no moving date in sight. I'm also feeling a little lost about my kids' schooling. We're just in waiting mode. Our curriculum should be coming any minute, and as soon as we get going with that, I'm sure there will be no time for self-pity! Plus, the big girls' choir starts back up tomorrow. That will be good.

So, about the knitting funk . . .
You may have noticed I was on a sock kick. I started some Monkey Socks and promptly stalled out on my sock kick. I went down a little too far on needle sizes (to a 0, when a 1 would have done it.) And now the ankle is uncomfortably tight. I thought about frogging. Then I thought about my three daughters. Surely one of them will fit these and like them, right? My oldest daughter has feet bigger than mine. Um, never mind her. My second daughter wears pink constantly. These socks are a deep teal color. But she tried them. She likes them. They are hers. Sock one was finished yesterday. Sock two has been started.

This means I will have to make three more pairs of socks for the other three children shortly. Did I mention the oldest has bigger feet than mine? Why do they all keep growing? Oh yeah, I keep feeding them.

Knitting funk item two: Mystery Stole 3.
I started all gung-ho. I caught up in time for Clue four to be released. Then I stalled. Clue five soon appeared. A WING?! WTH?! A wing . . .

Turns out the wing is very pretty. And now there are many pictures on Ravelry and out on blogland showing how lovely it looks while being worn. But I still don't think it's for me. The hubby helped me decide I should just frog it. But I didn't. I'm still thinking about making it symmetrical. Then I start thinking about how much I love other stoles and shawls I could be knitting instead. Then I think about how much I love the beginning of this one, and the beads. Then I think about having a Diet Coke or working out or mowing the yard, or anything to stop obsessing about this silly stole!

What do I find to distract me? Secret of the Stole. I joined. And I claim to be a fast learner. Ha.

Knitting Issue #3 (Not really a funk.): Tangled Yoke Cardigan
I have the Fall Interweave Knits. I have yarn. (Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, yuuuuuuummmmmm.) I decide to swatch. (A true sign of dedication on my part. I usually just start knitting and then frog if the gauge is too wrong. Maybe I am learning.) I discover my size 5 Knitpicks Options tips are currently in a sweater-in-progress that has been packed. I have about half a back done on said sweater. I decide to open the box it is in (amazingly easy to locate and clearly labeled) and frog the sweater I haven't touched in months. As soon as I get it out, I just want to knit it! The yarn (bamboo) is lovely and soft, with a nice sheen. The braid-like cables have just the right amount of definition. The blue will look lovely with my eyes.

So, for the past hour, I have been knitting the blue sweater and listening to Tristan and Isolde on Craftlit.

Funk averted? Sorry, Tangled Yoke. You may have to wait for this sweater to be done first. Curriculum should be here any day. Think I can knit and teach at the same time? ;)

This is the blanket that doesn't end . . .

It just goes on and on my friend.

It's lovely, it's colorful, it's soft, it's neverending! I used to take it to things like KIP with me because I knew I could talk endlessly and still be able to knit this without messing up. It's a garter-stitch log cabin blanket, for heaven's sake. But, it is now rather large, and much too warm to be carrying around in the 100 degree heat.
I rented Apocalypto. I have 2 strips left on each side, and a border (which is going to be equivalent to half a strip on each side, all in the same color.) I figure the movie is long enough that I can get a lot done. And reading subtitles will distract me from the boredom of endless garter stitch. (Yes, I can knit garter stitch without looking.)

Here are some knot booties from 50 Baby Bootees to Knit by Zoe Mellor. You may recognize the yarn as being leftovers from the bee stripe socks. (Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock.) They are soft, and so cute! They sill be adorable on little baby feet.

Typing kind of hurts. The skin right next to my pinky fingernail on my left hand has decided to pull away from the nail, and it hurts. (Duh.) When I type, the side of the finger seems to get a fair bit of pressure. Owie.

In other news, I'm homeschooling all four of my kids this year. I'm excited and scared and thrilled. This was both a snap decision and a long time coming. I'd been considering it for over a year, but since we were moving to another school district, I wasn't going to do it. Then, we didn't move. (House is still on the market, BTW.) I decided right away that I would homeschool my oldest. As I did more research, I thought that homeschooling would really benefit all of my kids, each in their own way.

We're enrolled through a virtual school, using the K12 curriculum. Since we were a little late getting started in our planning, we're still waiting on curriculum, but it should be here in the next week or so. We'll start school within the week after it arrives. In a selfish way, I'm almost afraid that I'll love this too much and it will take a very long time to get my own time back. But, in every other way, I feel great about it. I love setting our schedule, spending more time with the kids in a productive way, having more options in how to live our life. I feel a huge sense of responsibility to my kids, to make sure that they learn what they should and grow up to be responsible, productive, happy adults. What could be a better use of my time than that?

So, we'll do it for this year and re-evaluate at the end of the year to make sure everyone is thriving and that it still works for us. This is going to be a great adventure!

Bee Stripe Socks

Knit with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Bee Stripe colorway. Picot edge, 64 stitches, short-row heel, wedge toe. I am reminded that I don't really like the way short -row heels feels on my foot. Too shallow. But I didn't like the look of a flap heel with the bee stripe yarn. (Yes, one of these socks had part of another heel knitted before I changed to the short-row.)

I really like them! Some people thought they might be Wichita State University socks. Since that's where I earned my college degree, I suppose that would work, too.

Tired of socks? How about babies?

I have a bit of baby knitting fever. No more babies here, but my brother and sister-in-law are hopefully going to be pregnant any minute. We should know in the next week if their medical intervention has paid off. My friend J says I'm engaging in "wishful knitting." I think she's right. My oldest daugther's uncle and his wife are having their second child next month, so I think we'll knit them a little something, too. I think a pumpkin hat will be good for a fall baby.

Can you tell what that is in the picture above? It's a Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann. It's a genius bit of knitting geometry and origami. Doesn't look like much there does it?



How about here? You just fold it and sew a seam across the tops of the arms. I chose to do one row of single crochet around the neck, too, to make it look a bit more polished. I still need to add buttons. The yarn is Cascade Sierra, a soft washable cotton and wool blend. It has a lot of spring to it. And it's very reasonably priced, too!

Of course, I couldn't just make a jacket. I made the "Olive You" hat from "Itty Bitty Hats" and some simple slipper booties from "50 Baby Bootees to Knit". I made my 5 month old nephew try the hat and jacket on to check my sizing, and they looked SO CUTE! No pictures of that, though. We took them off quickly since the temps around here have been hovering around 100 the last week or so. Even inside in the A/C, no one needs an extra layer.

Clessidra Socks

I LOVE these socks! They fit perfectly, the cables are gorgeous, and they were a lot of fun to knit.


What I think is really funny about them is that I went to Catholic Schools growing up, and while I generally liked the uniforms OK, I hated knee length navy blue socks. So what do I knit? Knee-length navy blue socks. Of course, the ones I had growing up weren't nearly this pretty.

These are knit from KnitPicks Gloss. It's not really a true navy blue, it's lighter and lovelier. I would heartily recommend this yarn for a variety of uses. It's soft, seems sturdy, and has a nice sheen without being too shiny. I kind of want to knit a sweater with it now. So pretty!

Hugs and Kisses socks

I cannot get a good picture of these! They have the cutest x and o cable running up the front. And the other cables look like a column of little hearts. The color of the yarn is great too, a heathered purpley-pink. But the yarn is scratchy. It's Reynolds Whiskey. I wouldn't have chosen it for socks if it hadn't come in this kit. It would make a lovely lightweight sweater to be worn over other garments (not against the skin.) They will be warm in the winter, as long as they don't make my feet itch. We'll see how they feel after they've had a good soak in some Eucalan.

Only one more pair of socks to go from the ones I finished during my blog break! But I've finished another pair since then. I think I'm officially a sock-a-holic. I love to knit lace shawls and all kinds of sweaters, too, but I feel like an addict in need of a hit if I don't have any socks on the needles.

Horcrux Socks

These were from the Six Sox KAL two patterns ago. Time flies! The name comes from Harry Potter's scar. The designer was surmising that she thought Harry's scar was a horcrux. Of course, now that the last book has come out, many of us know whether that was true or not. ;)

The pattern was really fun and fast to knit. Although, I'm not crazy about knitting ribbing down the whole foot of the sock.

The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in the Misty Moor colorway. I liked how the colors matched the covers of the last couple Harry Potter books (before Deathly Hallows). This yarn is so soft! It's very apparent when you just sit there trying on socks and taking pictures for your blog all in a row. These were the softest socks by far. I'm concerned that it may pill, though. I finished these after it was warm out, so I haven't worn them all day yet.

My oldest daughter is trying to steal some of my other CTH sock yarn for herself. The stinker.