64:365, tea leaves progress

I am getting further along!.

I feel like the slowest knitter ever.

I don't even want to look at my rav stats to see when I started this.
I know it was before Fifi was born though...



I just have to dedicate some time and get this bad boy done!
I am still loving the yarn I am using and how it is knitting up. I did have a problem when I started the sleeve- I some how managed to be inside out and got at least 2 inches in to it and realized what was going on, grrr. At least I caught it before I got much further and didn't have much problem ripping it back. I am always scared to rip back for fear of dropping stitches.

on the needles

I 've been working on a knitting project. A project for me! I am so excited about this knit, my very first adult sized sweater, Tea Leaves. A bit intimidating because of the amount of yarn involved and the possibility of wonky fit, but I am going for it. When I first saw Tea Leaves on a few other blogs I loved it. I kept thinking it would make a great cardigan for the fall/winter/spring months for a couple of reasons- It would be really easy for wearing while nursing the new baby and because I just love a nice cardigan for throwing on at work to keep me warm while at my desk.

I originally wanted to use grey but the yarn shop didn't have enough of the yarn/color I wanted. I spotted this brown just before I was about to give up and head home. I hesitated, thinking if I was going to knit my first sweater and hopefully do it again I should make it exactly as I had envisioned it, but am glad I went for it. I have perfect wooden buttons already in my stash and the more I knit the more I like the color choice, plus this yarn is SO soft!

So far I love the pattern- I am almost done with the yoke. I really like that the pattern is just interesting enough to hold my attention, but not so demanding that I can't set it down when a certain two year old needs help washing his hands after a yogurt or applesauce fest or another certain little person needs to be fed, burped or changed. The only thing I am finding is that I must hold the needles sort of funny because my right hand pinkie finger winds up carrying a lot of the weight and getting sore and tired. I had to put it down for a few days to let my hand feel better. Does anyone else find this happening?

If I have success with this cardi I might just go back and get the grey for the Shalom. I like this version or this version with the longer sleeves. Knitting for myself is fun, tee hee.

the pebble 'tunic'

Hey look! I finished a knitting project. Remember waaaay back when I started blogging and it was all about knitting. yeah. well. things change, but I do still love to knit and this project has been in the works pretty much all summer. Squeezing in a row here and there when I could.

I am glad to have it off the needles and on this little dude, even if it is a bit bigger than I had anticipated. (I don't quite get customizing size for knitting) It will fit him for a year or two, so that I'm cool with that. We are thinking that with a belt, a helmet and a pair of boots and sword this will make a swell Halloween costume, King Arthur anyone?

He didn't want to take this off after I slipped it on him last night to see how it fit- a good thing, right?! I haven't blocked it and need to find the rouge button that I thought I had for the shoulder, but couldn't locate once I sat down to sew them on to the piece.

ravelry details

Knitting Update

Hey! Guess what? I got some knitting done in the last month or so. I have been fun getting my needles and yarn back out again and doing some little projects here and there.
We have had a few new babies born in the first couple weeks of May and it is my duty to make sure they have a hand knit thing or two. For my new niece, a pink Milo.



And for the baby that came from this pretty belly, the Baby Squash Hat- adorable right- that baby girl has the prettyiest kissy lips ever.


Both were easy and fun knits. The sweater will fit baby B. this fall I am sure and keep her toasty warn since it is wool. And the hat for baby H. should be just the right weight for those cooler nights (and days) we are still having around here (what the heck it is almost 80 on Saturday and snowing the next).

Details for both of these projects can be found on my Ravelry, here and here. Next time I do the Milo I will use bigger needles if I use the same bulky yarn or switch up my yarn. I would like to make one in gray for MrO to wear for the summer evenings when we are up in the mountains- I really like that this vest can be worn by either boy or girl. That hat was silly easy and fun to knit. I think I could jump the gauge of needles and yarn and make it a bigger size (or do some math and increase the stitches)- might even be really fun for an adult!

I would really like to make myself something and jump out of my comfort zone of knitting things that are either really small or for the littles in my life. Go big, ya know. The Tea Leaves cardigan is so pretty and I like the February Lady Sweater too. Both have the buttons at the top with an open lower half that will be perfect for my growing belly and for nursing later on this fall when things get chilly but I need easy access to the "girls".

What do you have on your needles these days?

Pebble

Look what I finished!




woohoo. One holiday gift down. (Did I really just type that, sigh)

Pattern is Pebble. It was a quick and easy knit and I would definitely make it again for any autumn winter babies on the way. I would also like to try and size it up for the older babies that I know. I went with the blue and white buttons- partly because that was what was in my stash and partly because this is for a little boy and I wasn't sure if the black and white was 'manly' enough.

more details and information over on Ravelry.

Create

So how about a little creative update?

Did you know my blog started out, way back when, as a knitting blog? It had a different name back then but it was knitting that introduced me to the blogging world. (oh man, I cringe at those early posts! how funny it is to read a few of them. Have I really been blogging for 4 years! wow, I knew it had been awhile, just not that long). At some point during those four years it morphed what it is now, I guess sort of a photography/mommy blog? Err, hmm, how would you categorize this silly space I have out here?

What was I talking about again? oh yeah, creativity and knitting...

Every now and then I get the knitting bug again but it isn't something I am doing non-stop like I was 4 years ago. But, I made the mistake of clicking over to someones ravelry notes and then I was hooked all over again. I found myself throwing patterns into my queue and updating my stash list... and then I cast on for a hat. I am using up the left over yarn from this sweater that I made for MrO last year. Something about the cold weather that happened all the sudden has me wanting to snuggle up with a cup of hot chocolate and my yarn!
Here are my results (ravelry linkage for deets)...


silly cute, no?

My sewing machine definitely sees more consistent action these days than my knitting needles do however. Maybe it is because I can whip something up rather quickly then I could if do a knitting project. And with the little guy around now "quick" is better since I am usually working around his weekend nap times to create. A few of my favorite projects lately have been:

Blankies, burp clothes and custom onsies for new babes,


Crowns for birthday celebrations as those new babes turn into one, two and three year old kids.


Bunting for decorating when we celebrate and a bag to hold all those dirty rags and bibs in the kitchen- I need to grab a few pictures of these this weekend to share with you all. I haven't had a chance.

Over the summer I was happy to take a day off work and spend it painting at a class with one of my favorite art teachers. I have been craving to paint/collage in the past week or so. I need to get my brushes out from hiding.



How about you, what are you creating these days??

PS- happy Friday friends- here's to great weekend

green gaurd

keeping watch over the kitchen.



Somewhere along the way I came across these little army men. It started in college, placing them here and there. I would put them in my plants and in other unexpected spots around the house sort of as a joke with my roommates. I like to think they are keeping watch over me and the random spots that they are placed. The bottles are old finds from my childhood. I have carted those things around with me for years.

I have been meaning to get outside and find some green in my world. I actually spotted a fantastic old motor home that would be perfect for a Polaroid or TtV shot but it is in a shady part of town near some of the weeklies along 4th St. I have snapped the shot mentally, and maybe this weekend I can talk someone into taking a walk down there so I can capture it. There are also some great signs in town that would fit the bill, again getting out when there is still light is a trick these days. All in all I am having a great time spotting all the green around the house.

So glad tomorrow is Friday. It has been a long week and today was one of those days where anything I touched sorta went south. I am looking forward to having brunch with the girls this weekend and possibly a lunch date with my bff to a new eatery on CalAve. (Freeman's Natural Hotdogs- the site is www.fnhotdog.com)

Be well friends!

green handknit

Are you enjoying green week so far? There sure are a lot of really great photos out there.

Just like with yellow, there are green hand knits too.



I made this over the summer before Mr.O was born. I went with the green partly because I loved the color and partly because we had opted not to find out the sex of the baby- green seemed a safe bet for a little boy or a little girl.
For some reason I never got around to posting the final picture (or any picture for that matter), even though I had talked about making the sweater when I started. It is the placket neck sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I think next time I would like to add a dash of other colors to the mix to jazz it up a bit.


Hope you are all snuggling in for the night- we are expecting snow but right now I just hear the spatter of rain on the house.

Be well

randomness

quick belly shot to start off the 7th month. how did I already get to be in the third trimester?

Baby likes to hang out on the right side, pushing it's back/head/butt? against my belly and making me lopsided. Kicking and squirming to let me know that it likes what ever I just ate or what I am listening too. I swear when I had the Beasties on the other day in the car baby was stoked about it because there was a ton of movement. We go to the doctor's next week and then I think we start in on the ever two week cycle. We finished up our birthing class, which I am so glad we took. A is also happy and feels like we really did get some awesome information from the experience. You can see on my arm a new bracelet. Our teacher made each of the woman in the class a birthing bracelet. It has stones that encourage power, strength, energy, faith and love. It was a really sweet thing for her to do.



I started a sweater this week for the wee one. It is coming along nicely and I am happy that I have found my knitting groove again. I made this pattern once before and was really happy with the results. Depending on how fast this one goes I might make another one- or maybe a hat to match.

I got a bag full of fuzzi bunz (19!) along with liners and extra stuffers from my god sister this week. I can hardly believe how generous people have been with their hand-me-downs. She used them with all three of her kids and had passed them on to another mama last year- now it's my turn. It makes me feel good that not only are we going to give this cloth diaper thing a shot but that we are also reusing a set that is in perfectly good shape. I figure we will give the cloth dipes a chance since we got them and 19 should hold us for a day or two (right?? or am I a total rookie and have no idea just how many I am going to go through??).

Today my mom called me up and told me we were going to go get pedicures after work... it felt so good to have my tootsies soaking and then pampered. very nice indeed- Thanks Mom!! your the best.

hope everyone out there is having a great week. This was a totally random post today, but I felt like I wanted to stop in and say "hello".

I have a quiche in the oven that I need to tend to~ cheers!