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Bookworm

FInally a knitted sweater for William.  He's waited a while for one and was very please that Auntie made him something. Davis had been getting a lot of knitting attention lately.  Feast your eyes on the Bookworm sweater from the Miss Bea's Rainy Day Book.  Such an adorable sweater!  I love this pattern book - there are so many great pieces for kids. 
Will loved his sweater and agreed to pose for some shots.
A happy boy in his new sweater!

Getting a little silly now..

I worked this piece using Plymouth Yarn 'Encore' - worsted weight.  Not my most favorite yarn to work with - but very practical for a 3 year old.  And that's all that matters.  The color is fabulous (color 515) and I couldn't be happier with the finished results.  The pattern in the front is continued in the back and the same detailing is on both sleeves.  Just an overall stunning piece.  You can't go wrong with any of the patterns in this book.

Socks and More Socks???

Ok, I finally finished my first pair of socks and after I finished grafting the toe I vowed to never knit another pair again!  I may have to eat those words.  Why?  Because after several wears - I just luv my socks!  I luv how toasty they keep my feet and I luv the funky colors in the Koigu PPPM.

I attempted to knit my first pair over two years ago when I spent a winter in mighty cold Minnesota!  The kind folks at Needlework Unlimited hooked me up with the Koigu and a pattern.  The pattern was a toe up one and I did fine until I had to turn for the heel and then I just gave up and put the socks in my basket along with all the other UFOs.  Poor things!  Then out of nowhere everyone was on a sock crave.  Sockpalooza etc.  So I decided to dive into that UFO basket and save my forgotten Sock!  Only problem was I misplaced the pattern and I lost one of the dp needles.  I decided this was not going to stop me and I started fresh.  I bought the book Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles which I think was an absolute waste of the $16.95 price. It's a good thing that I am an experienced knitter and someone who can interpret patterns quite well.  This book is not for those who need visuals to learn a technique - it does not spell anything out for you.  I suggest saving your moola for two skeins of Kiogu and posting to a "stitch and bitch" group or going to your LYS to see if anyone is willing to take a few seconds to show you how.  Because the technique is rather simple and very slick.  Your joins will be tight and fluid.  I actually am so happy I learned this, that I use it for alot of other items I need to knit in the round. I used the pattern in the book for the simple sock.  It's a fully ribbed sock so it's nice to use if you don't know the exact measurement of someones foot or for those who might have wide feet and large calfs (not that there is anything wrong with that - I would fall into that category!).

Here's what the sock looks like on the two needles as it is being worked.

It takes a long time to knit socks using the simple sock pattern because the whole thing is ribbed.  K2, P2 I swear I was like man I am never going to finish these things!!
But now - I am contemplating giving it another go - maybe attempting with another pattern.  Stay tuned for further developments......

Bow Wow

Here is Davis in her Bow Wow Sweater I made for her at Christmas. She is growing like a weed and will probably just get a few more months out of it - so my sister is having her wear it a lot.  She requested that I make her another one in a larger size because she just adores the sweater.  I will probably make her and my nephew Will matching sweaters for next Christmas because the pattern and construction of the piece is like "a piece of cake".

One very bitter cold weekend I stayed in and fought a pending cold with hot tea and Zicam (I hate getting a cold!!) and whipped up several pairs of mittens for my Will and Davis.  I used the pattern from Melanie Falick's Knitting for Baby.  They were quick and simple to make. Plus the more I made the better the thumbs came out.  Last year I knit my first pair of mittens for Will using a free pattern I found on the internet.  I loved how they came out and the thumb gusset was perfect.  But alas, I lost the pattern and can't for the life of me re-located the web site I got it from.  So I decided to use Falick's pattern using Lopi Lite for Will's pairs and I used a cotton for Davis' pair. 371 Butterfly Cotton from Greece, 100% Mercerized Cotton.  This is the same cotton I used to make her a Bucket Hat this past summer.  I love the colors and it's very fitting for the upcoming Valentine Month.

Ok Mum - What's on my hands?

Look at my new mittens!!!

Close Ups for the folks in BlogLand...

Sorry no pics of Will's mittens - the feisty three year old wouldn't cooperate!

Here's a picture of the mitten I made for Will last year - I am so bummed I lost the pattern!

I love how the style of this mitten and how the shaping and thumb comes out.  I think I will need to examine it more closely and try to replicate it on my own.  Do I dare?

Christmastime

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.  Happy Holidays! 
My family and I had a very nice day!
The little ones got lots of loot from Santa and their crazy aunts and uncle. 
All was well. We were all together, ate great food, drank fabulous wine and spent hours hanging out!
Here are some pics of my niece and nephew on Christmas. 
I gave Davis a scarf and a sweater I knit plus the fabulous baby bear!
Oh baby bear....
Stylin' in a fancy scarf....
  How adorable does little Davis look in her fancy party dress!  What a cutie!!

Baby Bear is Complete!

Well I finally finished Baby Bear!  What an ordeal finishing him was. 
I was so concerned with making sure he looked good I felt like
a plastic surgeon adding his ears, eyes and nose.

What do you think? 


I can't wait to see Davis open Baby Bear on Christmas!!!

The Weather Outside is Frightful...

I love Chistmas time.  I love Christmas music... I love knitting Christmas Presents...I am insane...
I fear the bear...

As cute as this bear is I have locked him in a closet.  Baby Bobbi Bear is patiently waiting to get his arms..and I am dreading it.  I am frozen with  "I hate finishing syndrome"! 
As Patrick Swayze once said "Nobody puts Baby in the corner" - let alone the closet - so I must muster up the strength to soldier on and finish the poor little guy.
Let just say..Baby Bobbi Bear is not that little. 
There is a Bobbi Bear which looks adorable on the instruction flyer cover. 
But this Bobbi Bear is a monster. The finished bear is about 20" tall!  It's such an illusion!

So I decided to do Baby Bobbi Bear thinking - Oh, this will be a better size. 
But is it no mini bear - it's 15" tall!
Here is the poor little guy waiting to be finished.  He's screaming - "Hey Nicole there are not that many days left for Christmas and you can't give me to your Niece Davis without arms, eyes or ears - you'll freak the little girl out!"

He looks like an alien!  I used the Blue Sky Organic Cotton in color #82 nut, 100% cotton, weight: worsted/aran, 100 g / 150 yds, gauge: 4-5 sts = 1", needles: US 7-9. He's very soft - not a harsh cotton at all.  I think Davis will love hugging him.
Let's get crackalakin'!!!

P.S - I found this fabulous blog today!! The Midnight Knitter .  She has done some great things and I really like the layout of her blog. And Bonus! as it turns out she is the owner of a new on-line store I have been perusing kpixie.  Be sure to check her out!

Time Flies

Where did the weekend go??  I lost two days of knitting and I am so sad.  The reason - my sisters and I threw a "Surprise" 30th Birthday party for my younger brother.  Saturday was running errands and Sunday was recovering:)  I just couldn't get it together to knit.
It was a fun time.  We had it at Jury's Hotel in Boston.  I highly recommend having a party there - the place is fabulous and the staff was the top!! Here is a picture of the room we had it in.  I included it because it was such a beautiful room and they had it all decorated for the holiday.

He was surprised up until the point of entering the hotel where he saw my parents car parked out front.  Man - one would have thought the valet would have moved the car to the garage.  But he was still happy!  All his friends came to toast him. 
Here's my little niece all decked out in fabulous party attire!

I love those fabulous shoes!  I am a little biased but she is so freakin' adorable !
On my Holiday Knitting List was a hat for my Brother - and I finished it last week.  I was going to wait until Christmas to give it to him - but I thought he could use because we are going to get a snow storm this week.  So I gave it to him on his B-Day.  He's going to kill me for posting a picture of him but he never visits my blog - so tough.
Here's the result.

I did a simple rib hat using Cascade Yarns - 50/50 Superfine Alpaca and Wool in a nice grey color.  I used about 1 and a half skeins - probably 155 yards.  It was a super bargain.  I got it in the 50% off bin at the Snow Goose in Milton.  It was originally 6.00 a skein - so I bought all 7 skeins to add to my stash!
Woo Hoo!  I love a bargain!

HandKnitted Christmas Gifts

So I joined the Holiday Gift Knit-Along hosted by the extremely talented Alison.  I think it's a really cool idea.  It's fun to see what other's are working on and a great way to keep you motivated to get the projects done!
I have a lot of knitting to get done between now and Christmas. 
1) Will's Circle Sweater - Toby from Rowan Junior Knits
2) Mittens for Will and Davis
3) Hat for my Brother Justin
4) Baby Bobbi Bear for Davis

Here are a few things that I have finished.
Davis' MinnowKnits Bow Wow Sweater

I love this sweater pattern.  It's so easy to knit up and goes really fast.  I've knitted this piece in the past for my nephew Will when he was a wee-little one.  It was adorable - so I needed to make one for his sister Davis.  I used Cascade 220 - Superwash in color 843.  This is great stuff.  I love it because it's nice to work with and my sister can just toss it in the washing machine with no worries!  You see the last time I knit this sweater for Will I used 100% wool and my sis put it in the washer/dryer and we all know what happens then...I was crushed. She was crushed.  So no more handmade sweaters made with wool for her kids at least until they are all grown up and my sister isn't chasing around toddlers:)
The second item I finished this weekend was a scarf to match a hat I made last month for Davis.
I found this cool yarn at the Creative Stitch in Cohasett, MA and I wanted to make a funky hat for her Tahki Filatura Di Crosa Baby - Bon Bon Yarn . 

But the yarn wasn't holding it's shape no matter what type of hat I made.  It was stretching and flopping.  It looked plain silly.  One day I was at the Wool Basket in Duxbury, MA and they had a sample scarf there that used the Bon Bon with two other fibers.  So I decided to try the hat with some other yarns - I grabbed some sale yarn - love when you get a bargain!!  There was this lovely soft yarn called Marks & Kattens Dream.  It's made with a lot of different synthectics - but I loved it!  Sooo soft. I also grabbed a bright vibrant red Mohair.  So here is the hat I whipped up.

It so fun!  My sister said she gets a lot of folks asking her where she got the hat. 
My sister thought Davis might like a pretty scarf.  I had a lot of yarn left over from the hat project so I decided to put it to good use and make her a scarf.  I'm not sure if the two will look fab together - might be tooo much.  But the colors are great and it's fun!  Here is the cool scarf with fringe and all!!

I love the happy colors!  The bon bon yarn makes cutes little puffs!  It's cool stuff.

Where did the time go?

I just realized that is has been months since I have posted.  Sometimes I do not know where the time goes...
I have been adjusting to a new job and we all know how that is.  Work eats up a lot of time and energy, but I am happy to report that although I have been away my needles have remained active.  I'll try to catch you up on the progress of my various projects.

Project Number 1
This is the very cute and preppy tank I created for my neice Davis.  This was my first attempt at designing and knitting my own creation.  I have to say that I was pleased with the outcome and will be working on fine tuning the pattern. This little number was made using Dalegarn "Stork" Cotton which was a pleasure to work with.  The light baby cotton is perfect for those hot summer days.
I love the colors. The pink and green combination is yummy and perfect for the summer - reminded me of a watermelon.  The initial 'D' is in lower case because I felt an Upper Case would look a tad odd with the scale of the piece.
 
 
I made a criss-cross back with two button holes on the straps to give her room to grow.  Or for my sister to loosen if it got too hot and Davis was fussy about the jewel neckline.

I was very fortunate to find the perfect matching buttons! Looove it!

Project Number 2
A sweet little baby sweater for my dear friends new little girl Sophia!  This was a very interesting sweater to knit.  The pattern was given to me by my LYS.  It was all done in one piece with simple side seaming. Because new babys often oops make a mess - I wanted her to be able to machine wash it and not worry about it.  I used Plymouth Yarn - Dreambaby 4 Ply.  I would have prefered to use cotton because I really do not like acrylic/nylon - but this has a microfiber so it was actually not that bad.  Perfect for a baby - nice and soft!


I just adore the little mother of pearl buttons!

Tomorrow - the next two......