Busy, Busy

Lately I've been busy; busy knitting! My son is two years old now and better at entertaining himself. He also tends to go to sleep before midnight now (although he still has the occasional sleepless night where he is up until 3:00 a.m. or better!). These changes have given me some time to get back into my knitting. Woo hoo!

I have missed working on my projects. I have also missed blogging. So, I'm going to try writing more regularly, too. I'm starting slow with the blog business, though. I may only post once or twice a month for starters. My goal is to post weekly or better. A friend of mine has a splendid little crafting blog which has inspired me to work on mine again. I think I actually started this blog 3 years ago! Has it been that long already?

To get started again, I suppose I should give a rundown on what I've been up to lately. I finished a few projects and have a new one going now. The first finished object was Cable Owl Gloves. The pattern can be found here. This pattern caught my attention at least two years ago, but probably more. Now that I finally had some time I figured I would give it a shot. Mittens and gloves are fun! Besides, I had some orange Plymouth Encore Worsted yarn stashed away that was perfect for fall owly mitts. This proved to be a quick project and took me about a week to complete - toddler chasing and all. The original pattern calls for button eyes. My buttons are too big. And I think they still look like owls without. I may add the eyes one day, but for now they work as is. I'm the one who wears them. They are great for when I'm cold inside. This isn't a difficult pattern, but the version I have (which may be revised by now) has some errors in it.


My latest finished object is a fun tank top pattern called Lillian that I also downloaded some time ago. Back in February I decided to get brave and knit a garment that has to actually fit. This required the knitting of a dreaded gauge swatch. So, I knitted a swatch that actually turned out to be accurate with DK weight yarn - never mind that the pattern says worsted and I was oblivious this fact. I thought it said DK. No worries. It's a fun lace pattern and I was moving right along with it when, one night, I took a picture of my progress after finishing the lace portion. Seconds after taking the picture, my stitches fell off the needles and my yarn became a tangled mess. I hadn't moved my life line yet so I had to go back some 27 rows! I got it untangled and wound the yarn after ripping back those stitches. Then I took a little hiatus from the tank top. I made a couple of easy scarves. Sometime in May I returned to the tank top and finished it earlier this month. Aside from the shrug I made for my wedding, this was my first actual garment knitted.  I am so pleased with the result.

My current WIP is a pattern called Aria. This pattern poses a new challenge to me: knitting from a chart. My preference has always been a written pattern as opposed to a chart. I'm typically a visual person, but knitting charts just confuse me as they are. They help me to see what the end result will be, but reading them bothers me. Case in point: after completing the first nine rows of this pattern I realized you're supposed to read them right to left; not left to right. So while I had sense enough to follow from bottom to top, I've pretty much been knitting it in reverse. I don't want to rip it out and start over because I don't want to recount 186 cast on stitches. So, I have this plan that once this is finished I will make another one and actually follow the pattern correctly. Seems fair enough.  I wonder if they're look that different from each other?

Well, it has felt great to write something again! Hopefully, it won't be too long before I post again.

Finding Time

In the midst of motherhood I've found some time to knit. About a month or so ago I closed my Etsy shop until I'm able to have more time to knit. That's pretty indefinite at this point, but lately I have found time to knit so perhaps my break won't be as long as I'd thought it would be. In any case, we'll see. During the past couple of weeks I have found time to knit while everyone else in my house sleeps or naps. My son naps better than he sleeps through the night at 20 months. And my husband is on the midnight shift so he sleeps most of the day, too. I've been knitting while they're sleeping. I finished a hat I started for my mom awhile ago. Then I started some owl fingerless mitts that I've been wanting to make for at least a couple of years know. I got them done pretty quickly. I just have the thumbs left to finish. I was actually surprised at how fast I was able to do them in my limited time. So, maybe I am getting life more under control with meal planning in place and some other adjustments. The pattern had some discrepancies in the instructions for the left glove. They may be corrected by now. I downloaded the pattern probably three years ago or close to it so enough time has lapsed where the creator could have fixed it. In any case, I figured out how to fix it, but I didn't feel like ripping back a third time to adjust the needle size; so for now the left glove is tighter than the right. My plan is to just knit a mate for each one. The tighter pair will be nice for a child or someone whose hands are even smaller than my own. I have relatively small hands and the left glove is tight. I'll be starting another left glove in the near future. Probably within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, this is what I've got:

It's apparent that one is smaller than the other. The bigger one fits better. I think it might look nicer, too.

Casting On Again!

Well, I finally started a new project. I decided to make my baby boy this adorable bodysuit. It's going to be blue. I'm using a different yarn than what's in the pattern. I happen to have 2 skeins of Naturally Caron.com Spa that I bought from JoAnn Fabric a few months ago. I just need one more skein and it's reasonably priced so it shouldn't be an issue. The only problem I have with this pattern is the charts. I'm not a chart reader. I can see the importance of charts for writing a pattern, but for knitting the pattern I need written instructions. It's just my preference. So far I have knitted one cuff of one leg of the outfit. Next I am going to look at the charts and write out the instructions so I don't get confused. I can't wait to finish this for my son. He is going to look great in it! I'm making the 12 month size. I think it will fit him earlier than that. If not, it's okay for it to be a little big.

I Miss It!

It has been at least 6 months since I've knitted anything. This afternoon I went upstairs looking for my scissors. They were in my knitting bag (where they belonged, of course). Rummaging through my knitting bag and seeing my yarn stash made me really miss knitting. For the past couple of weeks I've been growing my Ravelry queue. I'm torn as to whether my next project should be for my son or for myself. I think I want to use the same yarn for both. I started working on the other sock for my little guy. I'm not convinced that the one I'm knitting now is going to match it very well. I think this one is going to come out too small. The pattern I'm following should be what I used for the sock 10 years ago, however, it feels like the gauge is different. I know I didn't gauge the sock 10 years ago because I didn't now how to gauge back then. I may have to just make a different pair for him and hop they still fit by the time I'm done! In the meantime, I love love love the little one piece sweater suit and I think I could definitely have the 12 month pattern made while he still fits in it or even has room to grow into it. Yarn is another issue. It's not in our budget right now. Hopefully, that will get turned around soon as I get my home based businesses turned around and possibly start another job from home. The the challenge will be a juggling act of my time.

Trying Something New

Since I'm home with a new baby and my husband is awaiting disability from the VA I'm trying pay per post. Its fuller reaches underneath the hammer! This is my test post to claim my blog.

Knitting Hiatus

It has been a few months since I've knitted anything. As my pregnancy neared its end I wasn't into doing much more than trying to be comfortable. I also didn't know what to knit next after I finished the fish hats. Now I know what I'd like to knit; however, I'm recovering from my delivery. Yes, I went into labor on May 17, around 9:00 p.m. My husband and I went to the hospital around 10:00 p.m. and then I was finally admitted at 11:00 p.m. once they decided that my water had actually broken. Nearly 40 hours after my water broke, I delivered our son on May 19. Now I'm recovering from the labor and delivery. My epidural failed three times so it was like natural childbirth. It was awful. My son is worth every aching minute of it, though. He is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. We are truly blessed. Once he and I are on a better schedule I am going to get back into my knitting. My first project will be to finish the baby socks I started 10 yrs ago. They are blue and I want to finish the other sock so Baby Boy can wear them before he outgrows them. After I finish the baby sock I want to knit something for myself. I found a lightweight summer sweater pattern that I love. I think I will modify it, though, because I have some pretty bamboo yarn that I didn't know what to knit with it and I think it would be perfect for this shirt. It's a slightly heavier weight than what the pattern calls for so I will have to adjust the gauge. I can't wait to start knitting again!

Fish Hats, Fish Hats!

Over a year ago I came across the Dead Fish Hat pattern on Knitty. My husband, the fisherman, saw the pictures and immediately wanted one. At the time, I was still brushing up on my skills so I was a little intimidated. I was also not clear on short rows so I put that project off for a little bit.
By the time we moved to Ohio, my frilly scarves were getting quite a bit of attention. I started getting requests for them so I opened my Etsy shop. This led to other items being requested and I got pretty busy knitting custom orders. On top of this, I was also working on my wedding shrug.
Needless to say, there was quite a lot going on and the fish hat was not at the top of the priority list. Finally, as Christmas was approaching, I decided to face my insecurities and figure out short rows. My plan was to make the fish hat by Christmas and possibly make one for Hubby's friend, too...Well, that didn't happen. I started working a part time seasonal job at a retailer. Being pregnant, the job really took a toll on me. I was sleeping often. Still in my first trimester, the morning sickness was relentless. Sadly, not much knitting took place. I only knitted the things that people were ordering from me. I barely had energy.
Once I regained my energy after the holidays, I decided to get busy with the fish hat. My goal was to get it done by Valentine's Day. Again, I got some additional Etsy orders so I had to prioritize. By the end of February, I was determined to get this hat made! So, I started it March 8. The fish hat was finally completed on March 22.
My husband loves it! Too bad we had an unseasonably warm winter. He wore it anyway. He wore it with pride to his captain's classes. He plans to wear it fishing in cold weather.

The experience was a good one. Short rows aren't as bad as I'd feared. This was a very fun project! I then made another hat for my stepdaughter. She hasn't seen it yet. It will be a birthday present for her this summer.
It's a good thing I enjoy this project so much. My husband has since informed me that he wants a fish hat collection. He wants to have a fish hat to match each species that we fish. He wants Lake Erie perch, walleye, smallmouth bass, and largemouth bass. I've got my work cut out for me!