handmade christmas: socktopus

It's kind of funny to me that the main reason I haven't done any knitting these past several months (my baby) received the only knitted gift I made this year.  

This little socktopus is a fun pattern from knitty.  I put a couple of bells in the head/body so it softly jingles when the baby is whippin' it around the room, but mostly it just gets sucked on. All those feet are good for wee teething gums. 

*my ravelry deets

wet coast wools

My friend Glenda opened a yarn store!

It's amazing, folks. I wish you could all stop by and see it (and buy something!) But hey, if you're not in Vancouver, you can shop anytime at the beautiful website. 

I've instructed my hubby to get me something from her shop for the gift-giving occasions on the calendar. There are so many great yarns and doodads to choose from. Like this ultra-soft yak yarn, or this amazing (and environmentally responsible) wool from Imperial Yarn in Oregon.  I don't own a stitch counter, I need a 16" circular, and, well, I think I'm going to just make a wish list and leave it with Glenda. 

I'm so happy for her. I swear, this city has never had such a kind, knowledgeable, helpful, and talented yarn store owner. Three cheers for Glenda!

slow knitting

I've got a few knitting projects on the go in anticipation of keeping my idle hands busy while my newborn sleeps quietly in the next room and my toddler quietly plays by herself... 

Ha! 

I don't have a deadline for any of these projects precisely because it may take me a year (or more) to complete any of them. Oh I suppose it'd be nice if the vest fit my kid this fall, but it's coming out so large that I think I've bought myself an extra year without meaning to. 

a soft, soft alpaca cowl for me

a plum vest for the toddler (made before, but this time I'll try some mods)

and an orange and white chevron blanket, stroller-sized

And yes, for those of you keeping track, I'm still pregnant. I've become walking proof of statistical outliers. 

sweater with juniper buttons

Now the baby can come. His/her little sweater is finished. 

*pattern here

final stretch

Pardon the radio silence. I know it's been a bit quiet around here.

My excuse? Well today, I'm busy noshing on one of my favourite crispy treats and working on a sweet cardigan for a certain little sister/brother. Yep, I don't think I've mentioned it here yet, but we're expecting Baby No. 2 soon.

The mossy jacket (free on ravelry) is a great little pattern, and I'm knitting it up in the lovely Cascade Eco. I'm just puttin' on the button band so I'll share a pic of the finished sweater later.

Now if I could just wrap my head around the fact that there will soon be a newborn in the house as well as this busy toddler... good times ahead.

knitting with noro

This was my first time in the colourful world of Noro. I'd never bought a yarn just to see what all the fuss and bother was about, but I'm glad I did.  The Kureyon knits up something pretty, don't you think? 

Folks on ravelry complain of knots and stuff in the skeins. I found one knot, and only a few little twiggies. The stuff is a bit scratchy off the ball but apparently softens up with washing. My only complaint is that it gets so thin in places.  It was so thin it broke as I was binding off, so that kind of sucked. But I suppose most of those rustic qualities can be overlooked when you're working with such cool colours. 

The pattern and all my notes on ravelry.

luxurious wrist warmers

My in-laws went to Peru last summer and brought me some absolutely beautiful baby alpaca. (Their tour guide cautioned them against buying 'maybe alpaca', and I'm grateful!) I have one cream, one brown, and two blue skeins of what's probably the world's softest yarn.

I wanted to make myself some cream wrist warmers. Unfortunately, one skein kept coming up short. Despite frogging the first wrist warmer twice in order to make it shorter, I have ended up with almost two cream wrist warmers.

But after already ripping out this pattern twice, I'm ready to move on to something else. And I've found that if I squint, the brown practically fades into any (brown) outdoor background.

So, any suggestions for two blue skeins and (a little less than) one brown skein? I'm thinking maybe this cowl. (on ravelry here)

** Almost forgot to mention that the wrist warmer pattern is a freebie on ravelry. Find it here.

little gorilla

There is a great children's book called Little Gorilla about a lovable gorilla that gets big and has a birthday.

This little guy was given along with that book to a big, lovable one-year old.

Even though the birthday is in December, I finished this softie back in June (hence the blooming pansies). The pattern (from one of my favourite knitting books; ravelry details here) uses skinny sock yarn, but the size makes him a surprisingly quick knit.

Does it look like a gorilla to you? Maybe I should've stuffed his shoulders more.

off and on the needles

Made a pair of these socks, but they ended up being too small. Unfortunately, my kid still likes to wear them. They slip off and then she needs help getting them back on -- a high maintenance toy, really. Note to self: should probably put some sort of grip on the bottom of the next pair so she doesn't have to do so many splits and slips to get around.

Just finished another one of these sweet reversible birds. We'll keep this one. (Doh. I just realized I got carried away when I was seaming and sewed its two beaks together.)

Working on a new navy toque for me. Trying to wait until I finish the knitting before I pick out the perfect button. Free pattern via ravelry.

happy happy

It's birthday season.

In the next two months, there are twice as many family birthdays as there are the whole rest of the year.

*cupcake pattern from One Skein (ravelry details)

ribbit ribbit & whatever turtles say

More knitting! With football season finally here -- with its long games of prime knitting time -- I'm afraid I have no reason to stop.

But I might take a break from toys to make a few practical items. It seems that our summer, lame as it was, has ended, and we'll need to warm some ears and toes around here soon.

This little frog/turtle has been sent to its new home with a very new little boy in Seattle.

The pattern is just as easy as the other reversibles in Susan Anderson's collection, but it's not quite as cute as that elephant/lion I think.

this little piggy

Introducing our new bouncing pigs!

Squeals of delight (sorry, puns can't be helped) confirm that these are good for Daddy-O's Juggling Act.

Free pattern available on ravelry.

fat mama robin

Why is it that female birds are dull and brown while male birds get to dress up in spectacular feathers?

I know, attracting a mate, yada yada yada. But it would make toy birdies so much cuter if beautiful, colourful birds laid the eggs.

Until the animal kingdom changes its ways, I guess I'll have to pretend.

Let me introduce you to the latest installment in my Susan B. Anderson knitted toy extravaganza knitting fest obsession, Fat Mama Robin.

lion and elephant

I know lions don't usually hibernate, but this one sure did. Deep in his den at the bottom of my WIP box. But he's done now! Yep, Hank the Lion is forever joined with his jungle buddy, Lola the Elephant.

Pattern from Susan B. Anderson's Itty-Bitty Toys

bouncing flamingo!

But one thing: it doesn't really bounce. The ball in the butt, as seen here, was not an original Pinky Hi-Bounce but some dollar-store-variety 'bouncy' soccer ball. If you cover a not-so-bouncy ball with yarn, then it's really not very bouncy. Blame physics. Only if I really give 'er, do I get a bit of a rebound. (Yes, my kid thinks it's pretty funny that I'm throwing her new toy against the ground.)

But the ball gives it shape and heft -- this flamingo feel less like a softie and more like a toy. A toy gets to be thrown about and chucked into things. A person could feel bad doing that to a cute stuffed bird.

almost done

Any guesses??

mummy dearest

The spring sweater I started over a month ago is almost done!

Well, the front and back are done -- it still needs sleeves and a neckline. So maybe not almost done, but gettin' there.

But I'm going to show you now, because, well, it's Mother's Day!

The pattern is from Picture Perfect Knits, a kind of beginner's guide to intarsia. I'm a newbie so it got a little messy, but apparently even the wrong side of an expert's intarsia isn't much to look at. It's like a mullet -- business in front, party in back.

I heart mom. Here's a little history and slideshow of the iconic tat.

knit-athon

bunny - duck :: done!

Before being joined for life...

...and after. Something about this duck makes him look guilty.

Wha? A bunny? I don't know what you're talking about.

elephant - lion :: making progress

I wish an elephant-bear would be as cute so I could skip the time-consuming mane.

new project :: started

a spring sweater for the kidlet (and my first attempt at intarsia)

plum pullover

I knit a sweater for me.

So what, you ask? Well, after 11 years of knitting, I finally knit something for me that doesn't go around my neck or on my head. A sweater, people. A bonafide, adult-sized sweater. I'm feeling proud -- and plum.

It's the oatmeal pullover pattern (available on etsy too). The pattern required some math to fit me and my gauge, but thanks to Glenda, my sweater fits! And the yarn, Cascade Eco+, is a dream to work with.

My favorite part is the neckline. (Feeling a bit funny about modeling the sweater for ya'll, but since you can't really tell anything about a sweater until you see it on someone, it was either me or Jeff.)

And finally, it's time for a confession: I already bought the wool for another sweater pour moi. It'll be green and cable-y.

I know what you're thinking -- watch out, this could become a terribly time-consuming addiction. But I'm not too worried. I know that deep down (well, not that deep) I'm too impatient to stick with these sorts of big projects for long. I like my knitting satisfaction to come quick n' easy.

But maybe just one more for me...

cinderella

Well, that elephant I started yesterday now has his head and trunk, but I got side-tracked with finishing this lovely Cinderella doll before I could finish his ears. Soon, Dumbo. Soon.

The pattern for this doll is called 'sisters' and it's just written as two ladies with different colour dresses. I improvised the pattern a bit to make a Cinderella doll.

I had to wing it for the hair as the original pattern just has the ladies in hats. There must be a better way to get full and voluptuous-looking hair, but I guess my method worked okay. The hair just parts in funny places, like Cindy is suffering from bald spots.

Whatever you want to call these toys -- reversibles, topsy turvy dolls, inside-out dolls -- they make me giddy. I swear, this Itty Bitty Toys book, which has a whole chapter of them, has been one of my best knitting purchases ever. So much fun.