Magic Socks!

Today I completed my Magic Socks!!!  You might be wondering… what’s so magical about the socks? :)  You see, they have been knitted with a knitting technique called Magic Loop.  And I love-love-love it!  I don’t think I’ll ever use DPNs again to make socks!  It’s that good.

This project has been quite the labor of love.  You see, the making of these socks took a little over a year to complete. I’m blaming it on being preggers & taking care of my baby— not because I’m a huge procrastinator!

If you’d like read more about the making of these magical socks, check out ravelry for all of the info!  Now for the part you’ve all been waiting for… pictures!  Enjoy!

Baby Genius Burp Cloth. Finally. Done.

2 weeks old–helping mommy knit!

I know it’s hard to believe, but this crafty creation took just about 3 months to make!  I know, all it is is a fancy rectangle; I’m a tad embarrassed about how long it took me to get to the finish line.  I’m pretty sure the girls’ at knit night were probably really tired of seeing me bring this project in the last 4 weeks.  I really believe I could read their minds thinking… isn’t she done with that already??!!

And you wanna know what’s really funny?  This was going to be my knitty project I was going to work on in the hospital after delivering Ben.  I thought I was going to make like 10 of these things while recovering.  I also thought I was going to have all of this ‘down time’ to just sit and knit.  Ha!  Boy, was I wrong!!!  The idea of that just cracks me up now!!!  The only thing I did in the hospital was take care of Ben, sleep, and eat when I could.  Not a stitch was knit.

I CO shortly after coming home from the hospital, obviously got side-tracked in a major way, and finally finished up last night. Now that it’s finally done, isn’t it the most rockin’ Baby Genius Burp Cloth ever? :) (You’ll need a ravelry account for the link to work.)

If I were to make another one, I’d probably make it even bigger than this one. Maybe more like 11” x 16”. I don’t know about your kid-o, but mine needs a big space to hit during feedings. Although, most of the spit-up usually ends up on me anyway; no matter how big of a cloth I use. :)

Finished. Just in time!

Remember wayyyyy back sometime ago when I started this knitty project for the nut?  Well, I’m happy to report that I’ve completed his Big Bad Baby Blanket from me!  That’s right, I finished this lovely just in time!  This has been by far the largest knitting project I’ve made and I’m very happy with how it turned out.  Now I can’t wait for our little guy to be all snuggled up in it!  If you’re interested in the details about this pattern and a play-by-play of the making of this special blankie, log into ravelry for more details.

Off to do the FO Happy Dance of Joy!:)  Whee!

knitting project in progress

This is still a very much WIP (work in progress) but I’m pretty excited about this blanket I’m working on for our little nut in the oven.  It’ll be his first knitty pressie from mommy :)  I’m almost halfway through; good time to pause and take a picture of how this lovely is shaping up.

To all of my knitter friends out there… I have to tell you, I absolutely LOVE this yarn!  So easy to work with and I love the colorway.  FYI- It’s Dream in Color Baby.  You can also read more about the progress of how this Big Bad Baby Blanket is coming along in my projects page on ravelry.

angry knitting moment

Remember how I said I felt like I was getting my knitting mojo back? I was wrong. The knitting gods have played an evil trick on me.

I’ve made such a rookie sock knitting mistake. Check out the heel on my green sock… anything look strange to you????? Do you see that gigantic heel and gusset? That’s the problem.

I’m so having to walk away from this mess. Ugh. I am so annoyed with myself over the look of this crazy large heel and gusset!!! What was I thinking?! Clearly I wasn’t. And why oh why didn’t I see this as I was making it?! I got a little carried away making the heel and didn’t realize that I knitted it over twice the size it should be. I can’t believe I didn’t measure this. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Seriously, this is probably what the size of a giants heel looks like. And… to top it all off I’ve knitted almost down to the toe decreases. This translates to I was almost done knitting this sock. I didn’t see this gigantic error until I was trying on my sock to see how much further I needed to knit down to the toe. I’m just not sure what to do at this point; should I frog it ALL THE WAY back to the heel and fix to my liking? Dude, I’m not so sure I have the guts to do that!

So much time and energy making this giant heel sock.  I guess I’ll never make this mistake again.  Man, some lessons are so tough!  Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

Serenity Now.

a few knitted items to share

So I’m participating in the ravelry caffeine addict summer swap and part of the rules this time was to knit up a small item for your swap pal. I made her a horseshoe cable coffee sleeve and a cute coffee cup dishcloth. Fun, fast, quick knits. This is exactly what I needed to do to help me get my knitting mojo back on track. I’ve kind of been in a lull since the end of May trying to motivate to finish my pair of green socks. I think I’ll jump back into that project tonight while watching the Olympics! Wish me luck!

I have a FO!

That’s ‘finished object’ speak in my knit-knit world!

Let me introduce you to my pretty cable scarf…

I’ve been working on my Double Cable Scarf for many, many, months now (I started this project at the end of January) and I’m happy to say it’s finally done! I actually finished it right before my SoCal trip but just got around to letting the world know :) In defense of my extremely slow knitting … I have been a little preoccupied with other knit-knit projects, my sister’s upcoming wedding, and, oh, being a new home owner! Oh, and…. a special thanks to my friend Tyna for walking me through the blocking part. This was the first item I have ever ‘blocked’ and I’m so glad I did it. I think it really evened out the stitches.

Now I get to tuck this beauty away until the weather cools down again. Like in 5 months! Can’t wear a scarf in June when the weather is 90 degrees outside. Hee. Hee.

Doing the Happy Dance!

Well, I did it. I finished my first pair of handmade knitted socks. I decided about 8 weeks ago that I was going to take a knitting class that was going to challenge me… and boy oh boy was I challenged. At first I was like, how the heck am I going to figure out how to use these tiny needles that really felt more like toothpicks than something I was going to use to make a sock?! But after some angry knitting moments (and a few naughty words) things started to click and soon I felt fine using my size 2 DPNs (double pointed needles). I’m so proud. This really wouldn’t have been possible without the help from my most excellent knitting teacher, Emily. You rock and you have the patience of a saint. Thank you. I’m doing the happy dance in my fabulous hand knitted pink socks!

Encounter with a Knitting Rock Star!

Last night I had the pleasure of attending my very first book signing; the Yarn Harlot was in town! (For those of you non-knitters out there… please click on the hyperlink above to read all about the Harlot.) She’s so smart & witty; in her books and live, in person. I even got my pic taken with her. And, I’m even holding the Harlot’s sock—Whee!!! It was so much fun being around other folks who share the love of knitting and LOVE this knitting rock star.