I've Got Startitis Bad

It's been a hard push for me NOT to start this project, since yarn and pattern collided in my head.



What could possibly be wrong, you say. Well, lets start off with the obvious reason...IT'S BLACK. Okay, normally I'm not all racially divided on the subject, but seriously? The only way I'm knitting this thing is during the day and all the lights on and possibly some radical involvement with moving closer to the sun.

The other reason is gauge. I know it's evil and yet it seems gauge will haunt me again. I'm a couple of stitches off the recommended amount so I decided the larger size would help here with the plans on getting in between sizes. Not a bad plan, certainly no guarantee but at least a step in the thinking ahead department.

Then we come to the ultimate winner. Yardage. Do I have enough? not really. I'm hoping to modify the pattern (oh shut up!) to eliminate the less then 200 yards I need.

Yep, I'm screwed. I think I'll search the trade/sell section on Ravelry and hope I come up with a winner.

Do You Have A Clue?

Any clue as to what this is? I started another project on Valentines Day. When my son returned home from his visit with the grandparents, I placed it on his head. Told him it wasn't quite done, but soon, very soon.

After finishing the felted clogs for my husband, I had to cast on another pair for my son. He seemed a little lonely in the handknit department. The major set back is that his feet are big. We're taking size 12...men's size 12.

This photo will give you an idea of scale:



Yep...large feet alright.

Her Little Piece of Heaven

My hubby and I have been going to the Chicago Auto Show for years. It's a little thing we like to indulge in by daydream about winning the lotto and picking your fav out of the bunch.

This year we decided we would bring Miss Mac along as she has a sweet spot for the automobiles.



We ran from car, to jeep, to convertible, to SUV. sigh. In and out and up and down. I'm exhausted just typing it.

One thing I found funny was even though Miss Mac and I look a LOT a like... it was interesting to see just how much she's like her father.



and yes, that is a transformer in the background. sweet.

FO: Marley

Pattern: Marley by Susan B. Anderson and printed in Itty-Bitty Hats.

Yarn: Cascade Cotton Rich (5 skeins in different colors)

Needles: 16 inch, US 7 circ's

Started: February 14, 2009

Finished: February 15, 2009

Comments: What fun it was to see this hat transform right before my eyes. I purchased a bunch of different primary colors and rotated them out depending on how the pattern was. The topper curl in the pattern would have you make one in each color, but I chose to pick one. I think it suits the scale of the finished hat and adds that little bit of fun had I left it out.

FO: Felted Clogs

Pattern: Felted Clogs by Fiber Trends

Yarn: 4 skeins of Cascade 220

Needles: US 13 circ's

Started: January 11, 2009

Finished: February 14, 2009

Comments: This pattern works up super quick, but you need to pay attention to the pattern when you knit. No walking away in the middle of a row and coming back later knowing exactly where you left off. It's double stranded which produces a dense fabric and on top of that the bottom sole is made twice to allow extra padding for the foot.

I would recommend you allow plenty of time for drying. It took a full week before this pair was ready for wear... lucky for me it was also the Valentines Day! Hubby loves them and I'm glad he does too!

FO: Funky Monkey

Pattern: Funky Monkey by Blue Moon Fiber Arts

Yarn: Kit contained 2 skeins of different Socks That Rock heavyweight

Needles: US 5 DPNs

Started: February 9, 2009

Finished: February 13, 2009

Comments: Quick and fun and gotta love the Sock Monkey Love!...and did you notice the chocolate stained mouth on her?

What Is That?

A Funky Monkey, of course!

He's not quite done yet, but I loved pulling this creature out at SnB last Wednesday to the shocks of everyone around me... they couldn't figure out what it was. Knitterary made me do a double take with the Willy-Warmer-G-String guess. To think of it... it was pretty good guess from the state it was in;)

I'm hoping to have this little guy done for my Valentine, Miss Mac. I hope she likes it!

Just for the Record

First off...let me apologies for the poor photo.

Over the weekend I discovered a height chart from when Eric was small(er) and decided to hang it up in Mac's room. It's a pop-out Muppets chart ... so it's gets hung, Mac gets charted. I then discover this by Kermit's foot:



Miss Mac and Eric were the same height not at the same age, but a full year and a half difference. Eric was three years old at the time and Miss Mac is well on her way to being 5 years old. I knew my boy was off the charts, but seriously it stuns me ever time.

Heck, even in the photo you can see that in that eight months time he grew an inch and some. wow.

St. Brigid

I love when my daily life goes back into it's normal swing of things. No longer under tight deadlines and able to stop the scheduled potty breaks. It also means when lunch time comes around I get to step out doors for a bit.

I love just sitting in a cafe, coffee at the ready and knitting underway. The pattern isn't so difficult that I can't people watch... people are very strange and I love them for it!

....

That was the beginning of a post this past Friday. I've since landed myself in the middle of work overload. Which is good. Work is always good. Not so good for posting on the bloggy.



Knitting is still being done...

FO: Postwar Mittens

Don't you just love a dedicated blogger? or perhaps I'm just crazy... outside I go for a photo shoot.



Pattern: Postwar Mittens from Twist Collective Winter '08

Yarn: 3 skeins of Dale Baby Ull in 3 different colors

Needles: US 2 bamboo DPNs

Started: January 8, 2009

Finished: February 2, 2009



Comments: Highly addictive. The class was excellent and I'm so happy to have learned how to catch the floats. I can totally see myself pumping another pair of these incredible mittens out. I think perhaps I'll move to metal DPNs for the next pair as the bamboo was a little nerve racking.

The only unloved aspect would be the thumbs, but in the end it didn't bother me enough to not want another pair. I even made mine custom with this:



Yep, That's RED 2009 on my thumbs! How freakin' awesome is that!

FO: Cable Lagoon Socks

Pattern: Cable Lagoon by Me (download PDF from sidebar)

Yarn: 1 skein of Malabrigo Sock yarn in Lettuce Colorway

Needles: US 1.5

Started: December 31, 2008

Finished: February 4, 2009

Comments: When I was gifted this lovely skein of yarn, it totally screamed Cable Socks. I then thought of the Cable Lagoon pattern would be perfect but would it work. The pattern was originally done in a thicker weight yarn. The Malabrigo is more on the thinner side and because of that I had to add extra purl stitches between the cables for a custom fit. So, in the end I adding an extra 8 stitches for a total of 80 around.

Love the yarn and would totally have stash full of this stuff. I can only see if they stand up to wear and wash over time.



I would just like to say the weatherman lied. Bright sun and talks of warming tempatures fooled me into believeing that I could run a quick photo shoot this morning. I don't think the tempature was above 0 this morning...and as my dearly departed Mother-In-Law would state, Colder then a Witches Tit!

St. Brigid

Way back in 2008 I had wanted to start a new cabled sweater and was totally scooping the Alice Starmore's St. Brigid design (If you click on the link, also click on the photo to see another sample shot). So when I expressed my desire to knit this yummy sweater it then became a title wave of desire from other knitter alike.

It was then decided that we should set a date for our KAL and with the holidays approaching it was quite difficult to start anything new. Even January 2009 would be a push for the lot of us being we all had major projects to get finished. So with that being settled, we chose February 1st as our cast-on date.

Why is it that I now feel chills in discovering St. Brigid Fest Day is February 1st. It was all very serendipitous as my good friend A:) would say. The basic idea behind the Fest is to welcome spring and I don't see nothing wrong with getting the winter blues out and welcoming something new and fresh!

I cast-on in the afternoon between cleaning and cooking for the Superbowl party we held later that evening.



It's just the beginning rows, but I love this color each and every time I look at it.