No-Pictures Wednesday...

I've given up on making something else for the Brown Bag Exchange. I have the sweater and hat almost finished...just need to block both and add the buttons to the sweater. I had planned to make another hat and that just didn't go well. For the first hat, I CO 63 stitches...and it will just barely fit a newborn. So, I figured that if 63 stitches = 14.25", then surely 75 stitches would be about 16.5".....WRONG! 75 stitches would have fit me. No, seriously....I have no idea how that happened!

How did I figure this out? I accidentally pulled out an entire needle while waiting in line to pick up our information for Crazylegs. So, I pulled out the other two and stretched it out. It probably would have been too big, even for my 22.5" head. It stretched out quite nicely. But, way too much for a baby hat.

So, I frogged it and started over later...trying to do a top-down hat. That didn't go so well. I had slick aluminum needles and it just didn't work. I tried using my #4 Blackthorn Needles...they're not slick. I even tried by doing an i-cord first. Again, it didn't work...the stitches got too tight while I was increasing around the crown.

So....I frogged it again. And since I have to turn everything in on Monday, I don't want to bother starting something that I may or may not finish in time. I wound the remaining yarn back up on the niddy-noddy and called it a day.

I'm planning to write up the pattern for the baby hat and post it on this blog...or maybe make a PDF. I haven't decided which yet. I'll post it and have test knitters and all of that...it'll be great.

Other than that, there hasn't been a whole lot going on in my world. I'm thinking about getting Little Man's blanket ready for testers...but I need to do some swatching to figure out gauge (approximate) before I do that...which means I need to find some bulky yarn and some sport weight yarn (and I'm doing mine in a worsted weight). I thought about doing one in fingering weight yarn but I think that would just require way too many skeins for a baby blanket. So, I'll stick to sport, worsted, and bulky, for now...and maybe add fingering weight and, *gasp* laceweight later. Or not.

Perhaps I'll have photographs after this weekend...then I'll be able to share the Brown Bag Exchange photos (both of what I made and what I receive).

In the real world, Little Man went to his first (of many) cardiologist appointments on Monday. With the metabolic disorder he has, one of the problems that can arise are heart problems. Because he has such a mild form of the disorder, the chances that he'll have any heart problems is quite low...but we still have to check. His EKG was fine and he sounded fine. He's having an echo-cardiogram next week Wednesday, a 24-hour heart monitor put on next week Thursday, and then he has his appointment with his pediatrician next Friday. He also needs to meet with his genetic metabolic doctor in the next couple of weeks, too. I swear, the kid has more doctors than I do...and that's saying something. He has his regular pediatrician, his genetic metabolic doctor, the metabolic dietician, the other genetic metabolic doctor (we've seen both), and a cardiologist. I just hope he doesn't inherit my bad eyesight or wind up with allergies/asthma.

Anyway, that's pretty much all I got right now...photos next week, I think.

WIP Wednesday...and other things (again) :)

It's Wednesday...again. And in the knitting world, it means WIP Wednesday.

Unfortunately, I cannot share pictures yet. I'm working on another hat for the Brown Bag Exchange for the Madison Knitters' Guild. I have a baby sweater and one hat done...and I still have yarn so I'm going to try to make another hat out of the yarn I have left. I have about a week and a half to finish this hat. I think I can do it...if I can just find time to work on it. I still have to block the sweater and other hat and attach the buttons to the sweater. As soon as I can, I'll post pictures :)

Other than that, it's just the usual things that aren't finished...and I still haven't decided about my Icarus Shawl.

Anyway, once the Brown Bag Exchange is finished, I plan to put up the directions for one of the hats. It's one of those hats with the long tails on it and I basically made it up as I went along. So, that means I can publish the pattern :)

What else, what else...oh, I got my swap package the other day. I haven't photographed the goods yet but that may be a plan for today.

I think that's about all that's going on in my little branch of the world today...maybe I'll have more later this week :)

Happy Humpy WIP Day.....er, sumpthin'

In my world, and most of the rest of the world, today is Wednesday. This translates into the middle of the work week...which has been nicknamed "Hump Day." In the knitting/spinning/crocheting/crafting community, Wednesday has also been nicknamed "WIP Wednesday."

For those of you that either (1) don't craft or (2) don't remember, "WIP" stands for Work-In-Progress.

So...my WIPs...

I have several projects on needles. My Ahava Shawl is still on time-out. It was naughty at Knit-In and I haven't touched it since then. I'm going to finish it sometime...it's a lovely shawl and it's not that difficult. I just managed to mess up somewhere...I may wind up starting over and using lifelines like no one's business.

I've also got my Basic Socks going. I've finished the first one and I'm still on the leg of the second one. I just don't have as much time to work on it as I'd like. It's one of those things...once I get to the heel flap, I'm going to have to pay attention. I'm not that far away from it...but far enough that I don't have to worry yet.

Then, of course, is my Cobblestone Baby Blanket...I'm hoping to have it done by Little Man's first birthday in November. It's kind of been sitting. It's not difficult and I haven't had any major problems but it takes me ten minutes to do one row (which is, after all, over 160 sts.). It's not something I can do if I'm watching Little Man too closely. Luckily, it's something that can be easily put down and I know where I am when I pick it back up. But...it's not done.

And my Icarus Shawl...I've seriously been considering ripping this out and using the yarn for something different. I love the shawl pattern and I love the yarn and I do love them together...but I feel like I could use that yarn for something different. So, it's hibernating right now...I'll probably make a decision one of these days.

I've also been making Traveling Vines Socks from a stitch pattern. The intention was that they would be for my parasitic alien, which turned out to be Little Man...and they're kind of lacy and girly. So, I have one sock finished and I'm probably through one repeat of the second one...and I don't know where they're going to go. Maybe I'll just hold on to them and see if someone is going to have a girl...oh, wait, I know someone that will be having a girl.

I've also got a baby hat on needles. I don't have a link to it because (1) it's for the Knitters' Guild Brown Bag Exchange and (2) there isn't a pattern for it of any kind, other than the stitch pattern that I borrowed from the matching sweater (again, has no photos because it's for the BBE).

So....WIP Wednesday.

Oh, and I forgot about my biggest WIP. The biggest WIP I have is the house. Going through my grandparents' stuff (crap?) is horribly difficult. We can only throw out so much at a time every week, except for the last garbage pick up of the month. Then we can go nuts (and at the end of March, we went nuts). I also hate to donate/throw stuff that may be worth money. Hrm. We'll see...

Speaking of things that go away...I discovered my little rocking chair at my great-uncle's house last night. My grandmother rosemalled it years ago...probably in the late 1960s or early 1970s. My mother sat in it as a small child (when it was unpainted)...I sat it it as a small child (after it was painted)...and I wanted Little Man to sit in it. But, I couldn't find it! I knew it was in the house.....or so I thought. I found it yesterday over there. Now, I can't be too upset because I found out that it originally belonged to my great-uncle and my grandma asked if she could paint it. I was a little sad...but the caveat is that after they're gone (or when they downsize), it's coming back to my house...probably along with the jukebox that once belonged to my grandparents.

Anyway, that's all I have for today...hope you all have a fantabulous day :)

Thoughts on blogging...and other things.

I used to write in my online journal almost daily. This was years ago when I needed to write in order to maintain some order of sanity. At that time, writing was somewhat therapeutic for me.

Now...well, in case you haven't noticed, I write about once a week. That's fine. That's really all I need at this point. I don't use writing as an outlet anymore...that's what knitting and other things are for.

But, on to the goings-on in my little corner of the universe.

I've had two baby showers. My sister-in-law had the "family" one for my husband's side of the family a few weeks ago. I got a bunch of stuff...seriously, for as few people that were there, we seriously came home with a full car. I wish I had taken pictures of everything before I washed it and put it all away...but, I didn't. And, stupid me, I did it again for the second baby shower. I had my second baby shower this past Saturday. Again, my car was full of stuff...and I didn't take a picture. This one was at my friend's business (Sherri) and was my family and friends. It was a good time...and Jazzlynn (i.e., my "niece" - Sherri's daughter) helped me open up everything.

Between both baby showers, we got almost everything we "needed." The only big things that we needed were a crib, boobie pump, and a changing pad. We needed some little things, also...like bottles and binkies. With the money I had saved up, and money and gift cards we received, we were able to get those things. So, Brian put the crib up on Monday and I made the bed...except for the crib bumper. It's mostly on but I'm still trying to get it tied correctly. I may have to have Brian help me get it on fully because I can't get at the back side of the crib...I'm too fat right now :)

In knitting news, there isn't a whole lot going on that is any different from last week. I'm still working on the baby blanket. I've finished a few things: a self-designed hat (again), a baby hat from Susan B. Anderson's Itty-Bitty Hats, and I started another pair of socks. I'm finally using some of my Knit-In purchases from last March, in this case, "Dark" (which is a lime green sock yarn) from Creatively Dyed Yarns.

I'm back on a yarn diet...sort of. If it's something that I cannot find around here, I can buy it. It's just better if I don't tempt myself...but, things like Knitters' Guild meetings bring me into contact with yarn shops that I won't drive to otherwise (like Fiddlehead Yarns in Kenosha). I'm going to try to do some stashbuster projects while I'm out on maternity leave, if only to get through some yarn that I've had sitting in my stash for awhile.

I got my yarn for the Knitters' Guild Brown Bag Exchange. I think my bag was a little too full...I think I had something like 8 skeins of yarn in the bag I dropped off (with a note that said that whoever picked up my bag was not obligated to use all the yarn and they should return what they didn't use - I wanted them to have options). The bag I picked up had one skein of Zen Yarn Garden (fingering, superwash merino) in a colorway called "buttercup"...which is really a pink/orange/yellow/peach combination. This years' theme for BBE is "Babies Babies Babies!" That's part of the reason I'm doing it: I have a baby coming! I also kept my yarns mostly gender-neutral because I don't know what I'm having. Anyway, we have until May to finish these projects. The yarn I received screams "girl" at me...so I'm thinking a little girly dress with matching socks or something (depending on what I have left - if anything). It's going to take me at least a week to find a pattern I like for this yarn. That's fine.

Because I've been designing some things, one of the members of a Ravelry group I belong to suggested I become a member of another group that is for designers looking for test knitters. You can be a designer, a tester, or both. Right now, I'm just a tester. I have a baby hat pattern that I'm going to be testing. In fact, I'll probably be starting it today. Over my maternity leave, I may look into test knitters for my patterns. We'll see.

Anyway, I suppose that's enough chatter for right now. I'm going to get going on my day...not that I haven't been doing anything this morning. I've gone through baby stuff, started baby laundry, and cleaned up the living room a bit. It's been a somewhat productive morning. This afternoon, I think I'm going to knit and work on thank you cards...that sounds good.