Chunky Baby Christmas Stocking

Remember the Christmas Stocking I made up last year? This year, I made the companion, smaller, baby stocking pattern!

Free pattern, just like the other one. And I hope you patronize your local yarn shop for the super bulky yarn.

You can get at least two stockings from one skein of Malabrigo Rasta (90yds per skein), or Cascade Magnum (123yds per skein).

Now, isn't that just the cutest thing?

Chunky Christmas Stocking

 

Hi! I made a chunky Christmas stocking, and then I made a pattern!

you can find the pattern here: Chunky Christmas Stocking

it only takes one skein of Malabrigo Rasta, and knits up super fast on size 13US needles.

I hope you have as much fun making it as I did!

Merry Christmas

A is for....Acetaminophen!

I know, it's an odd one. But as I looked through my ami patterns, and attempted to start on some of them, I came to realize I really didn't want a knitted toy airplane, or to figure out if this pattern for an anemone would actually work out (the notes within the pattern say it may not be accurate, so...?)

And then, there it was, the perfect thing. Something I'd thought of making before, but hadn't, and something I could see me displaying on a shelf somewhere - giant versions of a little pill that is mostly harmless, but can make your day so much better if/when you need it.

the knit version can be found here
the crochet version here
or, for a comically large version in crochet, I give you the Pill-O

Happy yarn-play!

photo of finished objects added after-the-fact

wanna do it again?

I've been ogling some of the ami patterns I've got stashed away in binders, laying loose in various places, and tucked away in project bags with the half-started remnants of projects long abandoned, and I've been thinking that I really want to make some of them.
I was just going to pick up a few, knit/crochet a couple that escaped me when I did my epic Year of Ami.

But then, I thought, maybe it's time to do that again.

Do it as a series on the blog.

Next thing you know, I was pulling things out of binders, thinking alphabetically, and starting to choose my next ami project.

I'm thinking, this year, I'll be smart about it, do the knit ami one week, and the crochet the next (or flip that) instead of doing both in one week, and having to do the alphabet twice, which, frankly, wore me out a bit by the end. (Okay, maybe not. Maybe it was still loads of fun by years-end. But it was a lot of work, and now that I'm more advanced in my knitting skills, and I knit things like socks and sweaters and such, I may not want to spend quite as much time with the toys. Maybe.)

Ground rules:
Patterns will all be free, found on the internet. (Sometimes, I will make up my own. When I do, I'll write them up and post them.)
We'll work through in alphabetical order, but I may, at times, apply artistic license; renaming things when I need to.
I will do one of each, knit and crochet. Each letter of the alphabet will have two weeks.
If I'm not able to finish, I will still start the next item on the appointed day.
This year starts and ends with a Wednesday, so I'm going to go with Wednesday for the launch day each week.
Because I've done this before, I'm going to restrict myself to patterns I haven't yet tried.

I'm open to suggestions! If you're following along, and you have seen a pattern you want to try, or need some help with, let me know, and I'll see if I can work it in.

BUNNY SLIPPERS!

(I had to wait to post this until my brother received the package)

I MADE BUNNY SLIPPERS!

I love them. I wish I had a pair. I want to make more.

They are knitted and fulled/felted/shrunk in a hot water wash.

They took practically no time at all to make, and they are so easy.

Pattern is Hopsalots. Yarn is Wool Pak New Zealand 8-ply. I bought the yarn together with the pattern from Paradise Fibers (one of my favorite online yarn shops).

Hug Your Mug

I wanted something handmade to send off to my brother in Chi-town, but I knew it would be foolish to try anything larger than a scarf. Or, for that matter, anything even as large as a scarf, since most of my knitting/sewing time needs to be designated to creating warm things for my missionary son, currently wintering in Maryland.
I compromised, and decided on something small but useful.

A little knitted hug for a mug.

I used this pattern, but kinda couldn't figure out what was supposed to be happening after you make the buttonhole. I think she forgot to finish the instructions for the rest of that row (61), because it just leaves off. I figured you should work the buttonhole across the center three stitches, and then complete the row with k3, p1, p2tog, k1. That's what I did, anyway (sort of - I just did a simple yo buttonhole - k1, yo, k2tog). After that, I was really confused, because her picture looks like she did seed stitch for the rest, but her instructions have you start the next row with purl, when I would have thought knit, and she does that again a couple rows later. I didn't do what she said, because it seemed wrong. Since it didn't turn out looking quite like hers, I can't say I figured out what it should have been. Maybe her instructions were right.

In any case, I decided later that I quite liked how the beginning end looks, the way it flares, so, if I make another (which I probably will), I fully intend to make the opposite end look the same, instead of decreasing.

Yarn is Filo by Roberts Craft in Denim (discontinued), and it took so very little, of what was a very small skein to begin with, that I think this might be the pattern I look to when I feel the need to do something useful with my leftovers.

Can't Stop

I seriously can't stop making this little baby sweater.

It's just the perfect little sweater.

So many ways to make it, and so easy to size it up or down.

Four already done, and another on the needles.

And isn't it amazing that the human body is shaped just right for raglan increases from the neck? I mean, it's just so cool that you can start out with the stitches you need for the right neck size, and work regular increases, and you get shoulders and underarms and sleeves and all of it just exactly where it needs to be.

I love knitting.

(The second one, in that lovely moss green, barely fit my new little nephew when we went out to visit. Hence the repeat of style and color, in a larger size, for my fourth.)

sweater pattern is Top Down Raglan Baby
yarns from the top: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in Chocolate,
Cascade 220 Sport in Moss,
a mish-mash of sport-weight yarns from my stash,
and Berroco Vintage worsted.

Finishing

Do you ever get in a mood to just finish something? Like, somehow, no matter how many hours you've put in at work, or how many loads of laundry you've done at home, you just aren't feeling like you've done ANYTHING?

I get that way from time to time. And then I have to dig out some almost-finished objects, or a really quick project I know I can start and finish in less than a day, and just bust the thing out.

Last week, I managed to finish up not just one project, but two that were already started, and two more that I had in kit form.
(I feel so much better now!)

First, I finished these socks, which have been languishing in my unfinished stash ever since I realized I'd made the foot too long for myself.

Even after I'd had my sis try them on, and they fit her just fine, I still stalled on picking them back up. So glad to be done with them! (Serenity Sock in Amethyst)

Then, I picked up a half-knit play-food item, my Spudknit.

Frankly, it got a little boring in the middle bit, because for 20 rounds, you just knit. I managed to make myself stick with it, and I was finished with the second half in, oh, 20 minutes or so. (I hate when I do that - letting something sit that is so quick to finish.)
(Wool-Ease in Caramel)

After that, I looked around for something that I could get excited about, but also not take too much time, and I pulled out these two Halloween-themed mini-pillows.
Both are kits I bought at Pine Needles.

Stitched up the one with the least stitches first:

then moved on to this one:

I like both of them, but maybe not together. One is so bright, and the other is more subdued.

Impressed with me yet?

Going a bit further back, to the week before, I also managed to finish up the third pair of socks for Twin1, (Classic Socks from 2-at-a-time Socks)

black is impossible to photograph...

and a pair of my own socks that had been back-burnered for almost 2 years.

I love these socks! (Toe-up Jaywalkers, in Patons Kroy Socks Jacquard, Summer Moss)

I'm feeling tons more productive.
Might not last, but, at least I'm getting somewhere.

Squirrel for Pearl

I finished my cute little squirrel!

She's even got her pretty pink sweater, so she's all ready for fall.

Here she is without the sweater:

Her tail is kinda bushy. In fact, so bushy, it helps her stand up on her own:

She's a pretty cute squirrel, don't you think?

I wonder what my little niece will name her?

Yarns: Vanna in Linen and Purple, Vanna Baby in Pink Poodle, JoAnn Sensations Mink in Gray
Pattern: Squirrel by Barbara Prime

squirrel parts

These bits and pieces are going to become a squirrel.

Eventually.

Most likely soon.

*yarn is Vanna in Linen

this and that

I may not have been sewing much lately, but I have been knitting:

Awesome mitts for Jupiter, my roller-derby friend

Socks for my boy

Socks for me

And also crocheting:

Play foods

Random little bits of this and that.

Sometimes I wish sewing was as portable as knitting/crocheting. Maybe if it was, I'd get more of it done?

Fightin' Words mitts pattern here.
Socks: Paul Atwell socks in Gentry Grey, Cabled Ribbon socks in Black, Emily socks in Lipstick.
Play Foods: Slider (mini cheeseburger) and Peanut from Tasty Crochet, Fortune Cookie (modified) from Lion Brand, Raspberry from here.

Coal Dust - nearly complete!

I've had a bit less time the last couple of weeks for knitting. Work was demanding, and I was more than usually tired from the last chemo treatment. I was getting a little done here and there, but it felt like slow progress, even though I'm pretty sure I knit about 1/3 of the socks in the last three weeks.

During yesterday's chemo, I got from that white speck you see on the lower sock, after the heel (it's a little slub of the yarn, I didn't put it there on purpose), nearly to starting the toes!

I'm rather pleased at having made such serious progress on these, after feeling like they might never go anywhere. If I get some good knitting time tonight, I think I can finish them off!

more socks

I'm calling these ones "Coal Dust".
Second pair of missionary socks for Twin1.

This is how far I got while having Chemo:

This is how far I got later that night when I couldn't get to sleep:

Not bad for one day, eh?

The yarn isn't as soft to the touch as the previous pair, but I still think he'll like these. I know for a fact this yarn makes a very cozy sock.

Yarn: Patons Kroy Socks 4ply in Gentry Grey. Pattern: Paul Atwell Socks

Mission Impossible Socks

Made this pair for Twin1 to take on his mission.

I swear, there are two socks here. Really.

He's always liked just plain black in clothing anyway, but of course an LDS mission requires dark, solid colors for most everything. (Except: white shirts, and almost anything for ties.)

I had to work on these in really good light, or I couldn't manage the cables. (Not that you can actually see them here. Just trust me.) But they were worth it.

Casting on another pair later today. His packing list says he should bring 2-3 prs of winter wool socks!

pink and purple progress

I finally got some serious work done on the girly dead fish hat for my niece:

I might just be able to finish this one soon, if I keep this up.

When I went in for my chemo treatment, I'd knitted up to where the purple and hot pink stripes are. Three hours sitting in a chair having meds dripping thru my port means I have some uninterrupted knitting time. That's always a good thing!

red sky socks

Just this minute finished weaving in the ends.

I started this pair the evening after my biopsy. They've been with me at most of the appointments since, including the day I had surgery. There's an extra row of the pattern stitch on the instep - I was apparently a tad nervous the day I met the oncologist. Decided I'd leave it - testament to what I was going through at the time, and proof that nobody, maybe not even me, will really notice a mistake.

Now I get to start a pair of pink socks!

yarn: Lion Brand Sock-Ease in Red Hots. pattern: Twilight, from 2-at-a-time Socks

recently accomplished

You may have noticed a few items added to my finished objects list for 2012. I've had a little extra time on my hands lately, so I've managed to get some stuff done, here and there.

Don't have pictures of the earrings...guess that was dumb. The cutest ones are the cupcakes. I'm gonna make more of those, though, and I'll be sure to get pics this time.

I do have a picture of the ever-so-soft Sweet Potato Cowl:

knitted over the course of just a weekend. Super-easy pattern, so it worked up fast. A bunch of the knitting was done while watching the new Mission Impossible movie. Until I ran out of yarn and found I didn't have the last ball with me. Bummer. Half an hour wasted just watching a movie. Except it was a great movie, so, you know. Believe me, this cowl did not require me looking at it to knit it, so it was perfect movie knitting.

Very nearly done with my latest socks, but somehow, again, the picture is not where I need it to be to upload it here. A little disorganized right now.

Also did not even take a picture of the diapee wipee case I made for a friend. Still in the car, though, so I have a chance, if I remember.

Well, that was lame. Next time, more pics. And perhaps a little more enthusiasm?

appreciated but askew

I love it when I get pics back of the recipient wearing something I knitted!

no idea why it won't come up the right way. on my hard drive, it's turned upright. but when I load it here, it flips. sorry, my boy. but you're cute as can be in that hat!

Dead Fish Hat 2

This is the second Dead Fish Hat I've finished. Started this on my way back from Seattle after Halloween, and it's taken me this long to get it finished off. Mailed it today to the recipient, so he should be seeing a cute little fat package in his mail soon.

He insisted there were not any black stripes on a Nemo sort of fish, so I went with his request.

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Mango and White, smidge of black on the eyes

All My Chickens, Week 46 & 47, 3 French Hens

Because, what else would you do the week before Christmas?

I was hoping for something along the lines of little felt ornaments, but came up empty on that score.
So, instead, I give you this cute knitted trio, found here.
Or, if you prefer, a cross stitched version, found here.