EyeKnit

Yay! He not only wore it... he liked it! And apparently, lots of other people at the Mr. Ray concert tonight did too... including Mr. Ray himself!!! Oh, the excitement.



I've been reading Knitty Bloggy Baby Bumpers. Evil site-- every post is something else I want to make. This is a beret pattern from Laura... I trust it will look cuter on a baby than on a pumpkin.



Last night, I vowed to finish some projects before starting new ones... then this morning, Jonathan says, "You know what you could add to your list of knitting projects? Mittens for Sam. He could really use them." Yep. Started mittens this morning. Sigh. I think I need to take a few weeks of "knitting leave" from work.

It's done! I actually finished something in advance!



Any tips on getting the kid to actually wear it?

Had to take a break from "real" knitting-- Sam decided he wanted to be Thing 1 (from Cat In The Hat) for Halloween-- so off we went to Michaels to pick up fun fur (ack) and fabric paint...

Sam's asleep now, so his Daddy had to model the finished hat.



Oh don't laugh, Joel... this is what marriage does to a guy. You'll see.

One of tomorrow's goals is to find red sweatsuits-- I'm going to go ahead & make a "Thing 2" costume for the baby-- that way we're set for Purim next spring.

I started (and finished) the hat for my dad. Cashsoft Dk is really nice to work with-- I like the feel, the color, and I also liked the boringness of knitting around and around and around and around. It was nice to have something I could knit in front of the TV again.

America's Next Top Model... doesn't he look so old here??? :o



Once this was done, the needle was free for finishing the pink sweater, so that was next on the list. However, an unexpected series of events including (but not limited to) a soggy naptime requiring washing of our comforter, a too-small washer, a laundromat where people with little loads of clothes were hogging the giant washers for no apparent reason, and a knitter who dealt with the wait by digging out an ignored project from the backseat of her car... resulted in rekindling my relationship with the sock that was started in Orlando.



Ooh I like knitting socks. The thing is, if I finish this, it hardly counts as finishing something, because I'm just going to start another sock.

We had SUCH a lovely day!

Carriellen picked us up at the crack of dawn (okay, around (9:30), and we headed down to The Woolly Lamb. I haven't been "live" yarn shopping in a really long time, and you can't really fondle yarn when shopping online. So we fondled... and fondled... and oh there was so much yarn I just had to have.

Because I had the 20% birthday coupon, I ended up taking the yarn for all 3 of us up to the register. I suppose it could have been worse, but let's just say that the cashier felt it necessary to lean in close to me and whisper the total!

My main purchase was yarn & a pattern for a blanket for the new baby. I picked an entrelac pattern, and Cashsoft Dk yarn. Yummmm...



The baby blanket I made for Sam was an entrelac pattern...



... and I wanted the new blanket to be in the same general knitting family. I'm really looking forward to starting this one.

Among other things, I also bought some Cashsoft 4-ply to make a baby sweater from a pattern in one of the vintage knitting brochures I picked up at a recent garage sale. It's really cute.



We were one ball short on the off-white color for the blanket... so we left The Woolly Lamb, and after an excellent lunch, headed off toward Glenmarle Woolworks. Well. Glenmarle today was like the Russia of yarn stores-- I don't know what they did with all their yarn-- maybe they sold it all yesterday, but today they had VERY little selection, and just very little yarn. It was concerning.

They didn't have the color I needed, but I did buy yarn to make a hat for my dad, who is not a "hat guy" but acknowledges that for various reasons, he may actually wear a hat this winter...



After we were all shopped out, we headed back to Sue's house for knitting & relaxation... I finished the first sleeve on the pink sweater.



So now I have about 8 billion things I want to knit. Sam is still asking for a sweater in "purple, black, and white" (Eeew!) Anyone have ideas on how to make something non-nauseating using these colors???

// posted by Bethany @ 8:22 PM

Sorry for the delay between posts-- ever since Sam's discovered Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, suddenly we are sharing the computer 3 ways. Next, he'll want his own blog.



Yes, he uses the computer naked. No, he did not learn this from my husband.

Shawl progress continues...



I kind of like having a "big" project to keep coming back to-- these little baby sweaters go too quick, and before you know it, it's time for finishing. The shawl is about half way done.

Sue, Carriellen & I are planning a little yarn shopping spree on Saturday morning (damn Woolly Lamb and their birthday coupon)... the plan is to arrive early to shop, then stop for lunch, and knit the afternoon away. I can't knit the shawl & talk at the same time-- so I figured I'd just cast on for the front of the baby sweater, so that I could do the stockinette on Saturday.



Well... that didn't quite work out... but what do you expect? It's only 57 stitches to the row, and it just goes so so fast... I couldn't stop. So now, plan B is to get through the front tonight so I can do sleeves tomorrow. Plan C is to work on a sock. Plan D is to start something new. Only time will tell.

Are you riveted?

Much knitting. Much knitting.

I have done some more on the shawl. I'm into the 3rd (of 7) skein of yarn. Still unsure what I'm going to do with it at the end, but enjoying the process.



I also started (and finished the back of) a new sweater, probably for THE BABY. It's in Svale in pink. No, that doesn't mean I've already re-knit the sleeves of the green one. It means I started a new one in pink. I'm using bamboo needles with this one, because the aluminum needles were very slippery with the Svale. It makes a huge difference. So I will re-do the green sleeves (cue music) when the needles are free.



Hey Joel-- does all this cute baby stuff get you in the mood to have one??? I used to date a guy named "Buck" if you need inspiration for names ;)



I took a break from knitting today to do some apple picking with Sam. We ended up at Terhune Orchards. It was pretty freaking crowded, but we had a good time. In addition to having apple picking, tractor rides, a pumpkin patch, some sort of barn thing, animals to look at, corn maze, a farm trail, pony rides, snacks etc, they had the Princeton Weaver's Guild Show & Sale... but by the time we were headed out and I figured out where it was, I was too tired to look.

I may also be too tired to make anything with the huge bag of apples we brought home.

Well, the sleeves are awfully tiny...

But then again, so is the sweater, so life is good! A finished project:



It's really really really cute, and the yarn (Longmeadow from Valley Yarns) is soft, and a perfect weight. I might just have to order more to make a sweater for Sam.

But, in the meantime, I started the "Falling Leaves Shawl" also from Valley Yarns (division of Webs). The picture does not do it justice... actually, the work in progress does not do it justice... I think I am ready to experience the miracle of blocking a lace pattern. Only 31 more pattern repeats to go :)



No idea what I will do with this shawl when it's done. I thought it would be good for me this winter, with the breastfeeding & whatnot... but I really don't think I've ever worn a shawl in my life. We'll have to see.

I'll aim for some outdoor lighting pics tomorrow-- the 11th commandment is something about knitting on Yom Kippur, I'm sure of it...