Lots of mini-knitting

Knitting for babies is so much better than knitting for adults.  My Zora is still sitting, unseamed, waiting for the day when I get the motivation to spend a few hours finishing it.  On the other hand, I've finished two cardigans, two pairs of thumbless mittens, five hats, a sleep sack, and two blanket squares since doing the final Zora knitting.
My latest FOs are the Owlie Sleep Sack with a matching hat (I just finished the hat last night and haven't taken a picture yet).

 I shelled out the big bucks for Malabrigo Rios, and it was totally worth it.  They are super soft, and I love the semi-solid look.  I'm also a big fan of the color, which is closer to the full picture.  I know babies are born with blue eyes in general, but since Evan and I are both blue-eyed babes ourselves, it's looking pretty good that little Rocky Balboa will be sporting them as well.  The teal-y color of the Owlie set should look really, really good on the kid. He's clearly going to be a good looking kid ANYWAY, so this set makes me really happy. I honestly don't know how often it will get used - my main purpose for it was to have a nice prop for his newborn pictures.  Kristy, our photographer, is pretty awesome, so I'm sure she will get some terrific shots.
I'm thinking with my leftover Malabrigo I'm going to make another Hermione hat.  I have about 66 grams leftover, which is enough for just about any hat, but I'm a huge fan of the Hermione hat I made last Christmas.  I probably don't need another one, but I'm not sure what else I'll do with the yarn, and I don't see any other hat patterns that are calling my name. I've also found a cardigan I'd like to make for myself (with NO SEAMING, I've learned my lesson) out of the yarn I bought at a fiber fest at the end of September. It was supposed to be a vest, but based on the gauge I should be getting, the yarn is just not going to work.  The pattern calls for either a worsted or bulky yarn, but I think it would work much better with bulky, and this 'worsted' is more like a light worsted.  I have six weeks-ish left until this baby shows up, so I'm thinking I should get a bulk of my knitting done now! Odds are, I'll just sit on Ravelry and look at stuff, though, instead of actually knitting. . .

So close!

We had two snowy days this week, so I had lots and lots of knitting time!

First, I started anoter pair of socks. I've only done one of the green crazy color socks, but the Knitpicks Lovers group on Ravelry started a Sock knit along this month, and I wanted to join in that.  I decided to make Valentine's Day socks using the Heart's abound pattern that came in my Stroll Tonal sock kit.  With it, I'm using Stroll Tonal in Gypsy.  I had the yarn up in my "For Sale" section of my stash, but once I decided to make Valentine's Day socks, I knew I had to use it! I'm making them two at a time, on two circular needles.  The first repeat of the pattern made me nervous - it's not difficult, but it's 20 rows and I had a hard time intuitively being able to see what the next row should be.  Now that I'm on the second repeat (of about 7), it's coming along a little faster.

Yesterday I also got a lot done on my Owls sweater.  The cabling is all done - I can see owls! I only have about five rows to go on the neck, plus seaming the armpits, adding button eyes, and weaving in the ends I tried it on last night to make sure it was going to fit. It's snug, but I think it will block nicely and fit perfectly.  My husband was pretty impressed with it, also. He always seems so surprised when I finish something and it looks like it's supposed to. I guess I'm just impressive :) I'd like to wear the sweater Sunday, so tonight will be the night to get it done! Here's hoping the armpits come together like they're supposed to - I'm a little nervous right now :-/

Chugging Along

I've made pretty good progress on both the Moderne Baby Blanket and my owls sweater.  I'm almost done with the first sleeve on the sweater, only about an inch or two to go (which is nothing when it's in bulky weight yarn). Hopefully I'll finish that up during the MSU basketball game this afternoon, and start the next.  The blanket is coming along as well, although by looking at it, you can't really tell. It's incredible how much longer it takes to do a row by just adding a few stitches. I'll just keep chugging on both of these, someday I'll be able to say I'm done!
I've picked up spinning again, and I can tell I've gotten better.  My problem now is that I'm making the yarn too thin. Also, my plying is off. I think I'm underspinning each single, which is making it harder to ply. I spun up one of the PhatFiber samples from September (Farmers Market) that looked like a watermelon. I lost the label for it a long time ago, but it was a bright, fun fiber.  I'm thinking I should have left it unplyed, though, because the act of plying really muddied the colors and it doesn't look nearly as bright anymore.  I just tried to take some pictures, but the lighting was awful. I think I'm in struggle mode today. . .

Housekeeping

As per usual, I haven't updated this blog in about a bajillion years.  Oh well.

I've been working on a Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting lately.  I'm using Knit Picks Shine Worsted yarn in Creme Brulee, Cream, Clementine, and Begonia.  I purchased 5 skeins of each color. Based on stitch count, etc., I think it will be more than enough of cream (I should have plenty for an applied i-cord border, I hope), just a little extra orange and yellow, and not enough pink.  I'll have to reassess the pink when I get closer to the end, but it's looking like I'll need to buy another ball. I'm hoping maybe I can send one ball of the orange or yellow back and just exchange it.  We'll see what happens!
So far, I love the yarn. It is super soft, and the stitches just look really nice.  Also, as the name implies, it has a nice shine to it.  Sometimes I lay it out and I just smile because of how nice I think it's turning out.  Right now, I'm a few rows back from finishing block 6. I'm starting to get a little tired of all of the garter stitch, which might be a problem since I'm only 36% of the way done :/.  Oh well, its potential recipient isn't due until July, so lots of time!  It is not known yet whether the baby is a boy or a girl. I really wanted to make this blanket in these colors (and have for some time), so I figured I would start, and if it turns out to be a boy I can make something else.
I've been doing a few other little projects here and there, but nothing huge.  I have one sock finished from the Threadbare yarn I bought awhile ago, but haven't begun sock #2 yet. I really like the yarn AND sock, but I've been spending all of my knitting time on the baby blanket.  When the baby blanket gets less portable (as it quickly is), I'll start the next sock.
I've also started the owls sweater. I have an extra skein of yarn, so I made it fairly long. Now I'm at the armpits and I've quit.  I need to make the sleeves and keep going, but once again, the baby blanket distracted me.  I am typically a super loose knitter (socks on 0's are still pretty loose gauge), but for some reason, have an iron grip on this sweater. I actually had to go UP a needle size, which is completely unheard of for me.  Because of this tight knitting, it's hard for me to work on it for too long. My hands start to get tired and ache.  The actually knitting moves pretty fast, so if I just dedicate a few nights of knitting (or a long weekend), it should be done. Maybe that can be my project today, once I finish up block 6. . .