Wishful Knitting

How could I resist? I am a francophile after all. I was sucked in by all the hype on Ravelry and all the pictures of the beautiful slippers. I wanted to make my Mom a nice pair of cute slippers for Christmas, so I bought the pattern and cast on. Then the first problem reared it's fuzzy purple head. My Mom's feet are bigger than mine. Not having her around to try them on during the felting process was problematic. I made my dear hubby try them, and then my younger sister. Nothing like begging family to try on wet stinky slippers! Hmmmm, these are My Man's legs and not my sisters in case you were wondering : ) It was hard to determine when to stop the felting. Here is the first pair- sans button band. I cannot account for the difference between the two slippers, but you can see, the first finished pair was way too shallow by the heel! It just would not stay on her foot. Seems simply adding rows to make the foot bed longer for larger sizes leads to a shallow fit. : ( As much a...

Look who is drying on the radiator after a nice overnight soak in the sink. (I forgot about the poor little thing and I felt sorry for him this morning when I found him belly up in the basin : ( But he's feeling better now! I am trying to make these little reversible duck/egg toys as a surprise for the girls for Easter. The surprise part isn't going that well. I have been working on them when my youngest is around and she's far too knit-curious for it to be a secret....I am hoping the old "out of sight out of mind" will come into play. People, this is an all-time record for me- usually my Easter treats require a grueling late-night last minute finishing fest. Hmmmmm, I probably shouldn't count my ducklings before they hatch.....

Here's my pattern for an instant doggy bed...... I just couldn't resist posting this.....think I have too many knitting bags all over the house? Don't even think for one minute that I "shooed" him off, he'll only climb back up there as soon as I walk out of the room : ) Besides, he looks so comfy....who could disturb him?(!)

I thought a nice slouchy hat would be a good addition to my winter hat collection, so I set off to find one that I had seen from Knit and Tonic . Unable to locate the pattern, I found one that was a copycat version. The first hat I knit wasn't slouchy....I figured it was the faux cables that were causing the problem. In my quest for the slouch effect, I frogged it and re-knit it with larger needles. Well, the result was roughly the same : P It fits, just not with envisioned slouch effect. But, alas, I am not interested in knitting it again. Oh well.....it's still a usable hat- and the faux cables were very fun! I am happy to have added that technique to my repertoire. Specs: Pattern: Slouchy Copy Cat Hat (Ravelry link- if you haven't already, JOIN!) Yarn: Berrocco Comfort Worsted- this is a great yarn! I really like it and it's machine washable- I think Berrocco has some cute patterns out too. The faux cables are actually well-placed decreases followed by an increase- ...

These little mitts were started a while ago. I fell out of love with them at some point and, sadly, they were languishing at the bottom of some knitting bag with only one thumb left to knit!!! I eagerly finished them up before the Ravelympics started. I realize the Olympics only lasted 2 weeks, but I really felt inspired to complete several UFOs. Hurray! As you can see from these pics, the mitts look pretty cute. The pattern is nice enough and the yarn was pretty. But this next picture may show when I stopped feeling the love. You see, as you increase the stitch count along the gussets for the thumb, the pattern becomes a bit wonky. For this glove, I just let the space grow between the spirals.....not really the best looking pattern I have ever seen. Then for this glove, when the numbers were right, I started another spiral to see how that looked. You can see it here in the pic, it just starts out of no where. So, they are finished and I have worn them several times. I simply put the w...

Well, it was fun while it lasted! I got sooooo many little projects finished in anticipation of the Ravelympics.....but, well, I am out. I will admit defeat in the boards on Ravelry today : ( I will definitely try again next year, but the sweater of choice didn't get out of the starting block, so to speak. Here's how it's coming along: During the peri-olympic time frame, we took a 4 day trip to Dublin, my daughter lost her first tooth, and I had to finish 20 hours of Continuing Education. The trip was fun, and Dublin was lovely, but I got zero knitting completed. My daughter lost her first tooth on Valentines day- which means she REALLY wanted, and has been patiently waiting for her tooth pillow- how long can I make her wait???!!!! The CE is self-explanatory- can't knit and read very well! So, that's how the odds stacked up- not looking good. For the actual sweater- my very generous and thoughtful Mom gave me some Malabrigo Merino a little while ago. It is luscious...

The Ravelympics (trying to knit a sweater in 2 weeks, which starts at 3 am local time tonight) has spurred me to finish off several long-languishing projects and to tie up some loose ends, if you will : ) It has been my goal to make a garment for my nephew. There have been a couple of hats, but I wanted something more substantial for him. I don't know if the little fellow was ever able to wear the baby bunting I made for him- his size was a little "healthier" than I had anticipated, so if it fit at all, it was probably for about 10 minutes. Enter the cabled vest: Moose seemed like a good model- I don't care for those pictures with creepy-looking dolls in them. The cables seem to allow for more stretch in the middle- just where a little one might need it if he had a bit of a Buddha belly... The pattern is on the PurlSoho blog , and it is VERY well-written. I don't think I have ever knit such a thorough pattern before. It knitted up pretty quickly. I learned a new t...

I made these back in October- and the girls loved them. The pattern is excellent and I love the way they turned out. The first one I made, I added more stitches because I was concerned it would be too tight for H. The rim of the hat seems less forgiving after you attach the leaf section. So, in my infinite wisdom (!) the hat turned out to be much too big. So, I sent it to the Great Pumpkin in Ohio! (Nannio- you know who you are!) As she loves all things Halloween, this probably fit right into her repertoire....although I am still waiting for a photo! I definitely recommend this pattern- it's clever in the increases and how the leaves are attached. Details: Yarn: Italian market variety- 70% wool, 30% acrylic. Size: large Needles: size 7 Pattern: Patrick's Pumpkin Hat I see I should block them to make the leaves stand up, but they didn't care and wanted to wear them right away- cant' argue with that : ) Ravelry link

Come and join the craziness : ) The challenge is to knit a project during the Olympics. We cast on during opening ceremonies...which is posted as 3 am in Italy, but I need to double check that. Then you have 2 weeks to finish the project. I have been yearning to knit my Malabrigo from Nannio for a while now, and I have decided to jump right in. I will attempt to make this cardigan: February Lady Sweater . I oscillate between feeling confident I can knit a Lacy sweater in 2 weeks and feeling like it's mission impossible.....

This cardigan has been giving me GRIEF! (The alternate title to this post could be "Never knit any project that promises to be simple, fast, or quick.") In the beginning, I let H pick out the colors...I am not crazy about the very pale rose, but, it was her choice. When reading about the pattern, several folks said the sleeves ran small- so I increased the size and knit along happily. Alas, it was too small, and a sleeve with no ease looks ridiculous! By then, I had also finished the yoke because at this point I was excited about doing some color work. I liked this initial arrangement of colors on the yoke, but did I write down the sequence? Heavens no! Why, I was going to remember it, of course! Friends and dear ones tried to convince me to finish it up at this point and give it to my younger daughter- the sleeves would fit. I thought I could, but in the end, I wanted to fix it. Ribbit Ribbit Ribbit........the first of many dips in the frog pond. Then, I re-knit the sleeves ...

She has been asking for matching mittens for a while- well, at least for a couple of days. Her nagging just makes it seem longer. Are my mittens ready? Are my mittens ready? Will they be done today? Yes, they are finished. Then, at the park, she asked, "Can you make me a hat just like this one- only with this yarn?" I reminded her that I made her about the elf hat. Well, could I have one just like the one I am wearing, only with holiday yarn? Sure, why not....I probably should have asked her first anyway! Oh well, I guess I HAVE to knit more : ) Details: Yarn: Herrschner's Holiday yarn Gauge: 20 sts/4" Needles: size 6 Pattern: The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd (great book!) Mods: I only changed the length of the cuff- I made it about 3 inches long to make sure her wrists stay covered. I forgot about how pointy the thumbs and tops turn out the more decreases made before pulling the string through the stitches. I wouldn't mind re-doing them, but ...

This year the holday knitting was nothing but fun. I have read in the blog-o-sphere about many bloggers getting overwhelmed trying to make gifites. I have done that before, but not this year! I was so excited about making these for the girls (and nephew), I knit them up super fast. In my enthusiasm, I bought 10 balls of yarn- a green, red, white and metallic blend- a little tacky, abut a lot festive! Normally, the colors would have conjured up holiday thoughts, but I couldn't stop thinking that the colors were the same for the Italian flag! I also think the Italians would love the flashy metallic bits! However, after the knitting got under way, it was pretty boring! Worse yet, the girls weren't super-thrilled with their new hats! I think they would have liked the striping called for in the original pattern- oh well, there's always next year. I was able to sweet talk them into donning their elf hats a few times........ Overall, it was a nice holiday project. Next ti...

Although I am not looking forward to the loss of deciduous teeth among my own small fries, I am super excited that our little nephew Max has started the process! Of course, where there's an event, there's a fun little knit to go with it! I've promised another one for H-bomb- the only way she would let this one go. The coffee cup is in the picture to show the size, although it does look good : ) I think the pillow even arrived to be of service : ) Specifics: Pattern: free download from Knitpicks Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted Needles: size 6 Gauge: 18 sts/4 inches It was a very easy pattern- it would have been nice to have the closure of the pillow at the bottom instead of the top so the crown would be smoother, but I didn't feel like thinking about it all that much.

A little flashback to the 80's for my little sister's birthday : ) This was a fun, straightforward project I worked on during the drive to France. (Fret not, camper, My Man was doing the driving: ) I admit I ripped them out quite a bit in the beginning (nothing new for me). At first they seemed too small, then, it was something else that bothered me, but when I was done messing around, they knitted up just fine. It makes me want a pair......oy! Details: Yarn: Patons Classic wool- self-striping, love that! Pattern: Cast on 60, work in 2x2 rib for 20 rows, then change to stockinette until desired length. Finish with 20 rows of 2x2 rib at the other end! Gauge: 20 sts/4 inches Needles: Size 6- magic loop method used.

In this picture, my daughter looks different to me. Sometimes, I think certain photos seem to flash forward to a glimpse of the future of a child. She looks older than her 5.84 years! I love that expression : ) So, Nannio made a scarf and I made the matching mitts. I didn't like this yarn much, either. It's got too many sparkly bits in it. But the mitts are cute. I'd like to make some more of theses.... Here's them on my second daughter... And of course, here's what they look like on the puggy : ) Sorry, you know I can't resist! Specifics: Yarn: Bulky Italian yarn Gauge: 6 sts/2" Needles: size 11 Pattern: Cast on 20 sts and work in the round in k1p1 rubbing for 17 rows. Change to stockinette stitch and work 12 rows in the round. Work back and forth for 6 rows to allow for a thumb opening. Rejoin to work in the round for 5 more rows- bind off. Weave in loose ends. These work up very fast, as you might imagine. Hopefully they will help Nannio beat the chill t...