My Little Man is Growing Up!

My little man turned two on Saturday. He had a WONDERFUL birthday and it was much fun for us all. He also slept in his "big boy bed" (a twin-size bed) yesterday at naptime and last night--and did GREAT! I can't believe my little man is growing up so quickly!

Knitting: Take the Bad with the Good

First, the GOOD. Earlier this week, I got a little care package in the mail. Julie thought I could use a little pick me up and what could make me happier than this:

A package of knitting yumminess. Julie sent me The Opinionated Knitter so I can come to love and appreciate the genius of Elizabeth Zimmermann. She also sent me some yummies from her stash. Including my first sock yarn (Socks That Rock in Bella Coola), my first Malabrigo (in a very delicious apple green), my first alpaca (Classic Elite Inca Alpaca) and some delicious Egyptian Cotton (Classic Elite Province). I've been instructed that the STR MUST be made into a Baby Surprise Jacket. I only hope mine will turn out as beautifully as Julie's BSJs. Needless to say, this package made me VERY happy. Thank you, sweet Julie! And if anyone has any suggestions for what I should make with the rest of this yarn, please pass them on.

Now, the BAD. Although it's not SO bad. I've decided to make a Rusted Root for my twin sister, Cat. Our birthday is on the 27th. As most of you know, when I made my Rusted Root, it was ill-fated and I frogged many an attempt before I got the sizing right. I was not concerned about making another one because I had mine to use as a guide. For it to fit my sister, I just need to add a little more length in the raglan and some length at the bottom (my sister is about an inch taller than me). My sister wanted one "just like mine." But my knit shop went out of business and the next one I found did not carry that yarn. I found a different yarn that was a similar color, but machine-washable and decided it was a better fit for my sister. (She is not one to hand wash things.) Anyway, I foolishly cast on without checking gauge. After about 30 rows, I realized that the new Rusted Root was knitting up way too small.

I decided to try one needle size up, after about 11 rows, it seemed a bit too small. So I decided to try the next row up, it seemed perfect at first, but after about 25 rows I realized it was now too BIG. So I'm back to the middle size. I wanted to finish the whole thing before I went home for Easter, but I'm too worried about fit. So I'm just going to knit through the raglan and then let me sister try it on while I'm home for Easter. Normally, I would just try it on myself, but with less than 3 months to go in this pregnancy, I don't think I'm shaped much like my sister these days. Oh well. Here's hoping that the knitting goddess/god/fairy somehow finds her way to me and that this Rusted Root fits my sister.

Hope you all are doing well. Happy knitting! and have a good weekend!

Top Ten Tuesday: Blizzard Edition

As we progress further and further into March, I know a lot of people who are getting Spring fever. Here in Northeast Ohio, we just survived a snowstorm of large proportions and all I keep hearing about is Spring, Spring, Spring. I know from living here for 8 years that Spring is still a long ways off. I'm okay with that. Don't get me wrong, I love Spring, but I love Winter too. This week's long overdue Top Ten Tuesday topic is

Top Ten Things I Love About Winter

10. Untouched snow

9. Hot chocolate with mini marshmallows

8. Watching my dogs run around in the snow (they love it!)

7. Christmas

6. Knitting sweaters

5. Wearing jeans and wool sweaters

4. The silence and peacefulness of falling snow

3. Curling up in front of a crackling fire

2. Snowpants

1. How beautiful everything looks under a fresh layer of snow

Can you believe the size of that snowman? It's a few miles from our house.

Hope you're all enjoying your winters! Happy snow, everyone!

Snowbound

It's been snowing straight for over 24 hours and we are snowbound. Usually the Cleveland area is not slowed down by snow, but this one has been a doozy and they are telling everyone to stay off the roads. Normally this wouldn't bother me, but Brian has been down near Cincinnati since Thursday. Not only is he trying to drive back in this mess, but John and I are going stir crazy being home alone together. We had planned an exciting trip to Target to look at sheets for John's new big boy bed but it got nixed because of the weather. Oh well. John and I did make it out to tramp around in the snow a little--although I think we spent more time getting all bundled up than we spent outside.

On the knitting front, I finished all five twizzle hats for my sister-in-law and one for John. Look at the pics, he's actually wearing it! As some of you know, in the past John has preferred an old hat of mine to the hats I made for him. I've also begun knitting a Rusted Root for my twin sister since our birthday is at the end of this month. I'm a little nervous since in my 6 month pregnant state I can't try it on to make sure it's going to fit okay. Let's hope the knitting god/goddess/fairies/karma are on my side.

As to my long absence, we've been busy with family. My parents drove up last week and spent three days with us. John had SO much fun with his grandparents. He loved building towers with Papa and reading books with Mooma. The day my parents left, Brian's sister and her husband and seven month old, Oscar, arrived from Portland, Oregon. Oscar is adorable. Unfortunately, my lack of flash on my camera kept me from getting any good pics of him. We had fun having lots of family time including my first ever Cavs game. Great fun. They won! John stayed home with a babysitter since the game was during his naptime. It's been forever since he had a sitter so I was a little worried, but he did great. All around, it's been a busy, but fun time.

Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?

Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. Life just seems extra busy these days. Brian has had lots of interviews (which is great). He was in Milwaukee on Friday and is in New Jersey now. I've been busy knitting twizzle hats (3 done, 2 to go) for my sister-in-law (she's giving them as baby gifts). I've also been trying to get the house straightened and cleaned in preparation for my parents' visit this week. I'm so excited to see them again. The day they leave town, my husband's sister (Kristin) and her husband (Chris) and their 7 month old (Oscar) arrive in town for a week long visit. They live in Portland and we haven't seen them since October so we're really excited about their visit. We've also started preparations for John's 2nd birthday which is less than a month away.

As a birthday present from his Aunt Kristin and Uncle Chris, John received tickets for Sesame Street Live this weekend. He is REALLY into Sesame Street right now (we've been checking out books and movies from the library). I wasn't sure if he could sit through the show, but he did and he LOVED it. It was so much fun. Definitely a highlight of recent times. It makes me smile just to think about it. John was so excited. He kept pointing to all the characters and naming them. He was dancing along to the music. It was great. So much fun to see him have so much fun. Brian and I even enjoyed the show and the Palace Theatre was beautiful!

Anyway, that's all our excitement for now. Hope to have some good family pics to share in the near future. The flash is still not working on my camera so a lot of my pics are turning out dark or blurry these days (or both). Oh well. Just need to get it fixed before John's birthday. Hope you all are well!

More Knitting!

I'm knitting again and I LOVE it! I've finished two small projects that were both FREE so that was fun.

The first is a simple garter stitch scarf for Little Man that I knit in the car on my way to Virginia.

Details:

Garter Stitch Toddler Scarf (my own design)

Yarn: Lion Homespun (2 strands together--green and navy blue)

Needles: Size 15

Additional Info: Cast on 7 stitches. Knit in garter stitch for a while, split stitches in half (4 and 3), knit separately for a few inches, then combine back together, when the scarf is a happy length, bind off.

The second is the Feather and Fan Bonnet by Larissa Brown. I found this FREE pattern through Ravelry. It is available here.

Details:

Feather and Fan Bonnet by Larissa Brown

Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby (2 strands--white and pink)

Needles: size 6

Additional Info: This was a quick and easy knit. I'm not sure what size baby this particular bonnet will fit, but it was fun to make. If I was making one as a gift, I'd probably use a nicer yarn and ribbon, but still go for washable.

I also redid the neck of John's Placket Neck Pocketless Wallaby (I did about three more sets of decreases) and I think it looks/fits much better now. I will post a new pic when I get one.

I'm currently working on a doll for John (adapted from a FREE Kimberly Chapman pattern) and a bunch of twizzle hats for my sister-in-law who is giving them as baby gifts. Off to make dinner and then knit if the Little Man naps long enough.

A Little Happy Knitting

Here's a little happy post about a little happy knitting. I decided I wanted to knit a little something for my new little guy (due the end of May.) I didn't feel like doing anything that took too much thought and I couldn't afford to do anything that required a knit purchase, so I decided on this lovely free pattern from Kimberly Chapman.




I used all yarn from partial skeins leftover from other projects. They are all acrylic (very washable and thus perfect for a baby toy). Most of the yarn is of the rougher acrylic variety and thus was going to sit neglected in the stash because I didn't want to use it for anything like clothes or a blanket. Perfect for this little toy.



I discovered the pattern through Ravelry. (I'm Haley327. I really have NOT used Ravelry to its full potential, but find it to be a fun tool when I have time to play.) This pattern was easy to follow and fun to knit. I stuffed the caterpillar with quilting batting borrowed from my sister (I knit this while I was in Virginia for the triplets' baptism). The only change I made to the pattern was that I did i-cord for the legs and antenna instead of knitting in the round on two doublepoints.

Sorry these pictures are not better. My camera is refusing to take flash pictures so most of my pics are turning out blurry these days. Thus I have very few pics from the baptism which is a shame as all three babies looked adorable! Anyway, hope you enjoy this little bit of happy knitting. Hopefully more to come soon.