Knitting, knitting, and MORE knitting

I am in a knitting frenzy these days. I'm totally obsessed. Can barely think about anything else. Crazy, but true! If you could care less about knitting, please feel free to look at the pictures and ignore the rest of this post.

So far I've held two "Learn to Knit" meetups for my neighborhood moms group and have taught 6 people how to knit! I am so impressed with how quickly they learned to cast on and knit. This week I have a follow-up session that at least 7 people have signed up to attend (2 newbies and 5 returning to practice and ready to purl). It's SO much fun! I can't wait until people start diving into their first real projects. So exciting!

I've also managed to finish a number of projects. Last night I knit up a replacement heart finger puppet (for the one Pepper chewed up) and put faces on all 6 puppets so they are ready for J and his classmates on Thursday. (Click here for the FREE fingerpuppet pattern.)


I also finally got around to finishing the Fuzzy Mitten Farm Animals that I knit sometime before Christmas. I was originally going to give them to one of the boys for Christmas, but we had too many gifts for J and my in-laws told me that they had gotten N a little barn with farm animals so I decided to hold off until after the holidays. Anyway, all that embroidering of heart faces inspired me to finally add faces to the farm animals. The sheep face is my favorite. I bought the pattern for these farm animals on etsy, but there is also a Fuzzy Mitten blog. I've made other Fuzzy Mitten softies and all the patterns are very well written. These were really quick to knit, but took a little time to assemble and finish. There were many little clever shaping devices used in the patterns and I was very impressed. It is amazing to me how some people can visualize and design things like that. Maybe someday I will have more talent in that department. I gave the farm animals to J since he is such a huge farm animal fan--and, as you can see, they were a huge hit!
Fuzzy Farm Animals by Barbara Prime of Fuzzy Mitten
Yarn: Small amounts of worsted--15g according to the pattern (I used Lion Wool-Ease)
Needles: Size 6 doublepoint
Modifications: None that I remember

I also finished redoing the neck of J's hoodless Wallaby. I ended up ripping out the collar and then doing four more rounds before starting the seed stitch collar. More details below on my modifications. I don't think the neckline/collar is perfect, but J seems to really like it and has already worn it multiple times.


Wonderful Wallaby by Cottage Creations
Yarn: 6 skeins of Phildar Falaise (48% Cotton/39% Acrylic/13% Viscose; 50g/82 yds per skein)
Needles: Size 8 for body, Size 6 for cuffs
Size: My gauge was off so I was able to follow the pattern numbers for Size 2 to make a Size 4 sweater.
Modifications: Seed stitch for all borders. Seed stitch collar instead of a hood.
Seed stitch collar details: I followed the pattern until I got to the part for the neck shaping. At this point, I knit four more rows in stockinette stitch (1 more full decrease, an even row, 1 with decreases only on the sleeve stitches, and then another even row). I then did two rows of seed stitch (I had to increase one stitch in the first row of seed stitch to keep the pattern correct with the original seed stitch border). For the third row of seed stitch, I kept the five stitch border at the beginning and end of the row, but Kfb of every 3rd stitch for the rest of the row. I then knit even in seed stitch until the collar measured 1 1/2 inches. Then in the next row, I did seed stitch until I got to the back section , then I did seed stitch for 4 stitches, then m1, and repeated this pattern for the whole back section. Then I did even seed stitch for the rest of the row. Then I bound off all stitches in seed stitch.

Next up, I have started a Socktopus. I'm doing a little mini-knitalong with my friend Carol.

After that, I'm not sure which project will win. I want to do a cardigan for my nephew Oscar--by the way, his hat fit perfectly AND he likes it!!! I also want to do a lace scarf for myself, a pinwheel blanket for a friend, a cardigan for me, maybe some socks for N, some mittens for J...

The possibilities are endless--my knitting brain is just running in overdrive. Now if only I had more time...

On the Needles

I am not usually a multiple WIP (Works in Progress) kind of knitter. I usually finish a project before casting on for another. I usually have multiple projects on the brain, but not on the needles. My exception to this is that if I'm doing a large project (blanket or sweater) then I usually also have a smaller project on the needles for when I need a break from the large one. Right now I have ended up with three active projects.

I started Fuzzy Mitten's Fuzzy Farm (pig, chicken, sheep) first. I am making these for one or both of the boys for Christmas. I want to make a felt barn for them to go in. I think developmentally this might be more appropriate for N, but J is such a huge farm animal fan that I know he will love them. We will see. I just have to do the finishing touches (embroidery for faces mainly). These were a quick knit (about 2 nights to knit, sew and stuff per animal) and there are lot of clever things in their construction. I will blog in more detail when I finish them.


Next, I started the Hello Kitty purse for L. It's going to be part of her Christmas present. I'm on my third attempt and it's not perfect, but I think it will turn out. I'm doing intarsia in the round--which basically means that for the intarsia section of the purse, you go back in forth alternating between knit and purl (so not really in the round at all) and then at the round junction you do a "join." See here and here for more instructions. The pink background color is the leftover from the Fuzzy Farm pig. I wish I had picked something a little more vibrant for the purse, but I think my niece will still like it. I'm trying to knit from my stash whenever possible.


When I heard about Christie's cancer, I knew that I had to knit her something right away. I was torn between knitting a hat, a cowl or some sort of wrap/shawl. I searched around, went to my LYS, and yesterday I cast on for the Stolen Moments Wrap. I wanted to make her something that she could use as a comfort item these next 6 months while she goes through chemo. I decided this would be a simple knit that I could make quickly and I'm using it as a prayer shawl. I'm trying to infuse it with as many prayers and as much loves as possible while I knit it. It's a great pattern--I memorized it in about 20 minutes--so I can really focus on the prayers while knitting. It's going pretty quickly so far. I finished one out of 7 skeins last night.


I also have tons of projects on the brain but they are too numerous to get into...so I'll save those for another post.