An FO, an update and some w(h)ine

I whipped up a couple of bibs for my new baby cousin Jack:



Aren't they adorable? I haven't sewn the buttons on yet because I'm terribly lazy. I used the pattern from Mason-Dixon and the yarn is the new Sugar -n Cream stripes. I loved the striping on the blue one but the green? Not so much. The stripes were too muted. I mean, it's cute and all, but you can hardly tell it's striped.

No pictures, but an update on the cotton wallaby I'm knitting for the boy. I've finished one sleeve and am up to the cuff on the second. I don't think I'm going to add a hood to this one either. I'm really bored with it, and I'm just trying to get it done at this point.

Now, for my whine:

My baby started first grade today. This isn't kindergarten anymore. This is a full day of school. He looked so small getting on the bus with the 4th and 5th grade boys.



Is it three o'clock yet?

FO FO Friday

What? TWO finished objects? Surely you jest.

Nope, I actually finished not one, but two knitted items. First up, the top down baby raglan sweater:



I'm very pleased with the finished product.

You want some specs? Okay.

Pattern: Top Down Baby Raglan
For: Baby J
Started: Sunday, Aug. 19
Finished: Wednesday, Aug. 23
Yarn: Spunky Eclectic Beefy Sock Handpainted in the color "Good Morning"
Size 5 needle
Modifications: Seed stitch instead of ribbing, i-cord ties instead of buttons

An even quicker FO:



Please forgive the terrible picture. Here's the back story; This coming Sunday I'm throwing a bridal shower. I found the dress to wear on Wednesday, but after trying it on realized that it was a bit immodest for Sunday brunch at the yacht club (I'm serious people). Anyway, I needed a little something to cover my shoulders and realized that I have this little sweater in my queue to knit. I cast on Thursday morning and finished Thursday night. I even cleaned, took care of kids, and fed my family in between. Go chunky yarn!

Specs:
Pattern: Anthropologie-inspired Capelet by Peony Knits
For: me
Started and Finished: Thursday, Aug. 23
Yarn: Patons Shetland Chunky in Black
Size 11 needles
Modifications: None.

Can't. Stop.

For someone who has been somewhat a monogamous knitter, this is very unsettling. Not only have I not finished the six or so projects going on in the last post, I’ve started three more! Only one of them is actually justifiable, a baby sweater for my new little cousin born over the weekend. I was so sure he was going to be a girl, I only knit a girl sweater. I started a little boyish cardigan yesterday and have been faithfully working away on that. I hope to give it to my cousins this weekend.

Wanna see?



I'm using this pattern. It could not be simpler. I'm modifying it a bit by knitting the collar and button band in seed stitch, just because I find it adorable. Also, I'm not adding buttonholes. I'll add either ribbon or i-cord ties when it's done.

Oh, and the yarn is Spunky Eclectic's beefy sock in the colorway Good Morning.


Other new projects are:

Entrelac Scarf in Patons Soy Wool Stripes, color Natural Earth



Lora, why didn’t you warn me of the addiction that is Entrelac? Now I can see why it’s your ubiquitous project. Big fun.

Baby bibs in the new Lily striping cotton - one in green and one in blue.



Gina and I were discussing the wonder of the washcloth (or as The Girl calls it, warshcoif) and discovered the Lily striping cotton! Well, Gina being the intrepid explorer that she is, found some in AC Moore. Well, of course that prompted a trip for me. Not only did they have all new cottons in lovely shades, they also now have a shit-ton of new Patons yarn (among others). They now stock the SWS that I love and some new Moda Dea – the bamboo wool and a new silk and wool blend called, Silk ‘n Wool Blend (Genius!). I got one skein in a pretty shade called Sangria to swatch to see if it’s nice enough to knit The Girl a sweater in. I’ll report back later.

Oh wait, I did finish something. Two washcloths.

This one:



and this one:



The garterlac was my favorite and the one that prompted the girl to say "thank you for my warshcoif". Of course that's the one she wanted. It is pink. I'm going to start calling her Gina Jr.

I have also been working on the Wallaby for The Boy. I love how this yarn is pooling. I have the body done to the point where you join the sleeves, and one half of one sleeve done.



I managed to do one row of the Children of the Lir Stole. It was the purl row in case you were wondering. I think I need to be closer to the deadline in October to be motivated to move on this one.

Raging Startitis

For the first time in my short knitting career, I have FIVE projects going at once. I would love to say it's because I'm a talented knitter with the awesome ability to multitask, but unfortunately it's because I can't concentrate on one thing long enough at the moment.

Among the new projects currently on the needles:

The Buttony Sweater.



I've loved this sweater for ages, bought the perfect yarn, cast on and started. A couple inches into the thing I'm looking at it, thinking, this doesn't look right. I only put three stitch markers indicating the raglan increases. Yup, I'm an idiot. Obviously I need something seriously mindless to work on right now. Actually, now that I am writing this down, I realize that Gina did almost the same thing at Grandview last year with Ian's sweater. I remember we all took turns ripping it out because she was almost about to separate the sleeves and couldn't bear to do it herself without crying. I love knitters.

Socks for the boy:



Okay, I did finish one pair in Knitpicks Felici. I loved working with this yarn. It is really so super soft. I did not love the pilling. Awful, yucky pilling. He wore them right off the needles, to bed that night, and with his sandals the entire following day (okay, we'll work on his fashion sense). They are truly soft comfy socks. I wouldn't use these to make a pair for myself, but for kids, the yarn is okay. Plus, it only took one ball to make a short legged pair for him, so, bonus.

I started a second pair in Regia. Much less soft, but really substantial sock yarn. He picked out his own color for this one. It's not what I would have picked, but nice.



A new wallaby, in cotton. More specifically, Fantasy Naturale in a grey, olive green and beige colorway.

I bought this yarn specifically to make a wallaby for him because I loved the color combo. I did not, however, pay attention to stitch gauge, and ended up casting on for the size 8, on size 8 needles. When I got six inches into the sweater where you start the pocket, I thought that I'd try it on him for size. Why don't I swatch? Not only was it waaaaaaaaay to big for him, it actually fit me! And I'm not the size of an eight-year-old. Rip out sweater, check. Cast on fewer stitches, check. On smaller needles, check. Did I swatch this time? Not really. Someday I'll learn.

In addition to the above, I cast on for a new felted bag to cater to my instant gratification needs, and a pair of baby booties. Neither is finished. I can't even finish a baby bootee. What the hell? I haven't touched the Children of the Lir stole either, but I'll get back to it soon.

King Lir

Or should that be Queen Lir? Anyhoo, I finally found my camera so here's a lace update:

The Children of the Lir Stole is about a third of the way done. I love this project. It is maybe the best newbie lace stole/shawl knitting project ever! I'm modifying it to further idiot-proof by knitting end to end instead of from the middle out. I've never been good the at provisional cast on and didn't even want to bother. I love that there's no edging to knit on after you're done. It's so simple.



I forget where I read this, but probably the best lace tip I've received is to write down each line on a separate index card, and flip when you complete that row. I haven't messed up yet.