Cutest Pants EVER!

The Eden longies are done and oh my... are they not the cutest pants EVER?! I am in love. I followed her all around the house trying to get some really good pictures of them.

Pattern: My Own - soon to be released!
Yarn: Rambouillet Worsted in Eden by ...a time to dye
Needles: US 7, US 4

The Recieving

You've seen all the giving, now it's time for the recieving. Miss T was curious what Hub would pick out. He did a VERY good job. All things I wanted the most! He even found a couple hanks of sock yarn still at Holy Threads. He said he only had two hanks of each type to choose from. They will sadly be out of business very very soon. The baskets, Niddy Noddy and soap came from Paradise Fibers. The man at the store assured him the soap would be a great stocking stuffer. And it was! There was a pair of wool socks in there too, but my feet were cold.

Though we've had plenty of snow already this year, it alwasy seems to be followed by a thaw. But, Christmas night we got our white Christmas... and this morning... Hub had some work to do. He and Miss N have been playing in the snow most of the day and have big plans to go find a good sled hill when she's done with her nap.


I just got done doing one of my new workout videos... whew! I felt like a slug with all the eating going on! Bob and Jillian kicked my butt! I'm off to the showers!

Merry Christmas!

Here at the Itchy household there has been much hustle and bustle...

Cookie Baking...

In case you ever wondered... a Dove dark chocolate piece is pretty much to die for on these in place of the kiss. I ran out of kisses and ooohhh... yum!

Sprinkle eating...


This picture cracked me up so bad I had to share. The look of desperation to eat some of the sugar before her was too much!

And even a wee bit 'o knitting.


Next up, turkey baking, a call to my sister to wish her a Happy 18th Birthday, and present wrapping. Hub's off to the airport with Miss N to pick up Uncle J!

Merry Christmas!

Free at last!

The last pair of mittens for someone else! Done! They went really fast plus, I could just feel the end and I love rushing to a finish line. These are for a friend of my MIL. My MIL keeps showing off her mitts to everyone she knows and now she's been requesting them for a couple of them. One here and there I don't mind, but it was becoming a bit too much. Hub put a stop to the requests. Good man.

Pattern: My Own
Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8, Black

I bought this yarn to try because CrazyDaisy was talking about how much she loved it recently. I'd never even seen it in person. The really funny thing is we go to the same LYS. But I never realized they had it! Sadly, they are going out of business. As the shelves have cleared in the past month I keep finding yarns I didn't realized were tucked away in there. I feel like a dork. But a happy one, because I get to try them now when they're being cleared out at 30% off. ha ha. I also picked up a couple of balls to make Hub a Koolhaas hat. Being the dork that he is, Hub thought it would be "cool" if I made a second one for his best friend back in Seattle... a designer who would love something Seattle-ish and designer-y. And they'd "match". Not sure how "cool" that would be, but I think it's pretty funny. We shall see!

I started trying to work on the mitt's for myself. I have some from last year, but I got a new coat and between the coat and last years mitt's, I look a bit like a clown. The coat is a plumish herringbone pattern and the mitt's... well you can see. I could not resist some Melange. Once I saw it in person... and FELT it. Oh my. I had thought I would make the Huckleberry Ascot from Holiday IK. But I need mitt's more than a scarf. A set would be nice... so I bought 3 skeins. Such a treat! However, I am realizing, this yarn is going to be tough to make mitt's out of. It's so drapey. No bounce at all. I tried a garter stitch mitt. Which you saw here... It was ok. The garter stitchiness was great. The fit of the thumb, not so much. It felt annoying so I ripped it out. If I could figure out how to put an actual thumb on it, I'd probably like that. But I haven't figured that out.

So... I cast on Fetching last night. I thought the cables would help hold it together. I'm not sure it's going to work. Even down on size 4's I think it's too big. It's hard to describe the qualities of the yarn. But if you've worked with something similar you know what I mean. I think it would be ok if I maybe took it down to 3's. But... now I'm thinking I'm going to use way more than one skein of the yarn and not have enough for my scarf. I knew when I bought it I would probably need 4, but was trying not to spend that money. Not sure what to do! Maybe I should use something else for the mitt's??? I can't make a decision to save my life.

So... any suggestions out there? Ideas?

I suppose this gives me time to get my house clean and presents wrapped and cookies baked... you know... things I SHOULD be doing instead of knitting! ha!

Wild Birch Mittens

Mittens for yet another brother. This hereby completes the Christmas knitting! Yahoo!

Pattern: My Own
Yarn: The Great Adriondack Yarn Company, Superwash Merino, Wild Birch

I've run out of witty things to say about mittens. So here ya go. Pretty pictures. I cast on yet another pair today that were requested by my MIL. Then I actually need a pair myself. Can you believe I've been knitting these and running around with freezing hands?!

I am going to be writing up these patterns and posting them here soon. I want to do it in PDF format, and I think I've figured out how. Hub will be taking some extra time off soon so I should get some extra time to get it all figured out. I'm going to release the longies pattern too! Stay tuned!

Christmas Socks and Snowmen

Hub's stocking stockings are complete. They are a sport weight verging on DK, so they were pretty fast. They turned out well I think. I made him an 8" cuff which I think he'll like. On me they go up really far! I'm the one modeling. Hub and I have opposite builds with socks. He has skinny calves and bigger, wider feet. Mine, skinny feet and ah... sturdy legs. ;) I didn't really plan for this to be a Christmas gift, it just turned out that way, and the green was coincidence too. Too bad they don't really fit me. Hubs working and I've got a driveway full of snow!

Pattern: Basic Recipe
Yarn: Farmhouse Yarns, Bo Peep's Sock Yarn, Olive
Needles: US2, 2.75mm

Gorgeous wall of snowmen don't you think?

Recipe:

• One mother cooped up with a house full of sick kids and husband escapes to buy more cold medicine and finds herself oddly unwilling to leave drugstore and head home. "Brilliant" idea ensues and big bag of cotton balls come home with her.

• One obsessive compulsive bored four year old cooped up in the house sick for a week watching it snow outside, but unable to go enjoy it.
  

• Blend wits and will. Result = lots of snowmen that bring glee to a child, and occupy them for the better part of two hours. Which brings glee to the mother.
  

Mittens, Mittens Everywhere!

They're done! I made it! I had them done by my deadline, Sunday night. Then they all took a nice bath and sat out by the heat register to dry. Today they are ready to be packed up and sent off to Alaska. (You'll notice the striped ones that I finished this summer... those were the PLANNED ones. The rest... done in last minute budget panic! Good reasoning for stash!)

First up, my favorite... Moms Cabled Mitt's. I made up this pattern myself. I'm a liiiiitle bit proud. Mom is a wee bit of a thing, so these are a little small on me, but should fit her well. The prototype actually fits me. I need to knit it a mate and then Mom and I can match.

Pattern: My own!
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherds Worsted, Red Rover (Mom and I share our love of RED!)

Next up... Dad's Dashing Mitt's. These are as you can see, huge on me. But my Dad is a big guy. I get my own big hands and feet and bones etc... all straight from him!

Pattern: Dashing Mittens, size Large
Needles: US size 6
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash, Walnut Heather
Mod's: I shortened the cuff a bit and lengthened the hand. Hoping it fits!

And last, but certainly not least... the Viking Mittens! Inspired by my state champion basketball playing brothers. :) One of those brothers is also headed for state next weekend for wrestling! Then it's on to defend the basketball title. The last time our town won the championship was when my Moms Grandpa 'Swede' was on the team. It was pretty special for her to have her sons on the team.

Pattern: My Own!
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash

You might have noticed here that all the yarns are superwash. That's for good reason. My mother... she does not get along with wool. One would think a lifelong Alaskan would be friendly with it. Alas, she has a history of felting clothing. My Dad hides his wool from her. I had a conversation with him yesterday that went something like this... "I got some new merino long underwear. I better be careful to keep them away from the laundry room this time. Your mother... (sighing, head shaking) I don't want them to fit your brothers this time. " Yes, several years ago I was there to witness my mother felting my Dad's long underwear. Merino long underwear are not inexpensive. And I have to say... I'm not sure I've ever seen my Dad so upset with her. SO... this will also be included in Mom's gift.

Sudz 'n Dudz is my favorite wool wash. It's yummy beyond belief and organic to boot! I'm sending mom some Liquid wash in Lemongrass. Yum!

So now I'm left with 15 days until Christmas. I have Hub's socks to finish. I have another brother who will be at my home for the holiday. I have yet to decide what to make for him. And there are a few other things I had thought of doing as well, but we'll see. For my last brother, well, he falls under the "has children" rule... my niece is getting some Curious George books. :) So yes, if you are counting, I am one of 7 children. And all 4 of my brothers are twins. How's that for crazy?! And my sisters are both adopted. Different races even. So we... are quite a big crazy happy patchwork!

For this afternoon, I will be wrapping and packing and making a trip to the post office. 14 days for the gifts to arrive. They just might have a chance. You see, the town my parents live in gets their mail via two airplanes a day. And in winter... if the weather is bad, they can go a week or more without a plane, or mail... and things get just a bit backed up. Here's hoping for good weather!

A mitten a day...

...helps keep panic at bay. That was my plan for this week. A mitten a day and I'd be done and could pack them all up and send them away.


Three down, three to go! I finished up a pair of dashing. I need to get Hub to help me out with some proper photos. And one mitt for one of my brothers. I made three failed attempts at other patterns... then I got smart. I made up my own. It's perfect. So I just need to pump out three more of those! (for two brothers)

And no, today's is not started, but it's Wednesday... and that means knit night! Woo Hoo! Mama needs a night off! lol!

I would be done at this point, but then I realized... I made mittens for all but one member of the household. The baby of the family. Seems rude to leave her out. So I may have one more to do.
I have been working a bit on other things to keep my sanity. Hub's socks...



I was trying to be sneaky with these, but it didn't work. I thought that maybe I could just hide them from Hub. That he'd think I'd ripped them out or was just too busy making things for other people and then he'd be surprised. Well, last night I made the mistake of asking him what color he'd like for his next pair... and he asked about these. I am not a good hider. So instead I yelled at him for wrecking his own surprise. He says just because he sees me knit them does not mean they can't be a gift. So... they'll still stuff his stocking, but I can be done with all this hiding! Which is hard to do!

By the way... Hub's response to my question about his next pair was this "Something that I can wear with shorts." Decipher that.

And I actually got Miss E's Eden pants going. They are going to be super cute and so very practical in that she can dirty as many shirts in a day as she wants. Whatever I pull out of the closet next will always match!


And the pretty red monkey sock... is oh SO pretty. I didn't get a picture of that though. It's just yummy. No, I do not have ADD.

I got distracted...

I was mad at the Cigars. They needed to be frogged again. I'm not sure I can face another go. We'll see. I do have other patterns I want to try...

While I was avoiding that issue... I got distracted... by pretty baby alpaca that needed to be mittens and some soft, lovely red yarn that called to be a Monkey Sock. You know... at first, I thought, everyone is doing it... and went the other way. I'm sort of anti-bandwagon in my nature. I was not going to do it. But, it's undeniable, it's a gorgeous pattern. You can't get away from that fact. And really... how common is a Monkey sock in the spectrum of the whole world. It's highly unlikely I'm going to run into someone wearing handmade socks outside of the yarn store, LET ALONE, Monkey's. Just sayin'. I justified it to my inner rebel in that manner. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill. It's yummy and soft and pretty. Just what I need after the gray socks.

Speaking of distraction... there's a few loads of laundry that need to be folded...

Finished!

Hallelujah! The gray socks are done! It seems like they've been in progress forever. I know that's not true, but they just weren't a whole lot of fun to work on. The yarn doesn't really have any endearing qualities and the color well... that speaks for itself.

However, my husband likes them and that's what counts right? I'm modeling them, but they're a bit big for me. They fit him perfect.

Pattern: Garter Stitch Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks
Needles: 2.25mm, US 1
Yarn: SWTC Tofutsies
Mod's: I used my regular heel. Not that the little garter stitch edges on her heel weren't nice, but I couldn't remember to do them so I gave up.

In case you're wondering I'm about to frog attempt two at the Cigar Gloves. I'm just not having good luck with that one. I think the third time will be the charm though. Although I might have to put them down for a wee bit so I don't poke my eye out with a DPN. I just cast on a pair (different pattern) for myself. I got a new winter coat and last years mitts are a bit ah... bright to go with.

Gettin' Knitty!

I was just looking over my recent projects and realizing... I've been really hitting the Knitty patterns lately!

By request, I whipped up some fingerless mittens for a friend of my MIL. The first pair didn't turn out quite like I wanted them to. They were a bit loose and short for the recipient. So these went to the very nice person who did my hair while my regular person was on maternity leave. We had a little trouble getting it all worked out and she was so kind and patient with getting it right. I thought she deserved a treat.

(The rose is Miss N's birthday rose from Daddy... Aww...)

For the next pair, I went down a needle size and added a repeat of the cable at the top for the long fingers of the recipient. My hands are on the bigger/longer side and the second pair definitely fit better.

Pattern: Fetching from Knitty
Needles: US6 (first pair), and US5 (second pair)
Modifications: Added a cable repeat to the second pair for longer fingers
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, SGray

I finished seaming up the baby sweater! It wasn't as difficult as I thought. There is room for a little "fudge". That was a relief. But it was tedious. I can see sweaters knit but not seamed sitting around my house. Might be best if I leaned towards patterns that don't require seaming! We've had a very cloudy week around here. The clouds look like snow (you know that look they get) but so far none. They're saying tonight. Anyway, the light is just awful. This doesn't show the sweater to it's best but I had to get it in the mail! It really is quite a beautiful color yarn. The second picture of just the hat is much closer to the real color. I was a bit worried about this one... before I blocked it, it was curling like nothing I've seen before. It would curl itself up into a tube. I had fear it was all a waste. But... a little dunk in some water and I patted it out and it is sitting just perfectly now.

So, little Mr Elliot is the very special recipient of my very first sweater. Even though I don't get to just run over and meet him, he is in my heart. He is the second son of one of my very dear friends who lives on the other side of the state.

Pattern: Daisy Baby Sweater by Stephanie Pearl McPhee (also from Knitty)
Yarn: Dream In Color Classy - Summer Sky
Needles: US size 6
Mod's: I did the seed stitch borders a little wider than the pattern called for

And the hat... I LOVE this hat pattern. I have a feeling you'll be seeing lots of them. I just think it's so cute on those wrinkly little newborns! They already look like Elves... the hat just fits!

Pattern: Giving Pixie Hat from Little Turtle Knits
Yarn: Dream In Color Classy, Summer Sky
Needles: US size 7
Mod's: None

I feel like I've been a bad blogger lately. Things just seem to be SO busy! Life keeps picking up steam! I'm also trying to knit up these gifts as fast as I can. I've been battling with the Cigar pattern (yes, again, from Knitty) today. My gauge seems ridiculous. Maybe it's the bamboo DPN's. I'm just way loose. The nice part about having nearly all my needles the same kind (knit picks options) is that I have predictable gauge. Well... not so when I pick up any DPN above a size 3 as those are all Clover Bamboo. I like them better for the bigger DPN's, but they are unpredictable. Anyway... I'm attempting to make fingerless gloves for my brothers. They are both basketball players (Did I ever mention their team won the State Championship last year?) and they need to protect those hands while keeping their fingertips available for ball handling. So... off I go to try to work this out. I think they're ok even though my gauge is off... we'll see. This is try #2. Good thing it's not a sweater eh?

Already?

Time is FLYING. My goodness. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is upon us! I'm having a wee bit of a freak out today. Usually I am done with Christmas shopping by now. I'm one of those annoying types who shops all year... which is great for our budget. This year I dropped the ball. I am SO NOT DONE! And I'm wondering how I'm going to fit it all in the budget along with kids winter coats and that kind of thing.

Well, I suppose that's why it's good to have stash eh? I've been digging in. Soon soon... lots of small quick FO's!

Did I mention my little Miss N had a birthday? Snif Snif... so big... She got Boggle Jr as a gift from Grammy and she's been SPELLING. Time is surely flying.

Speaking of FO's... I almost have one for you. I didn't mention it before. I actually didn't really plan it. I had decided to let go of the idea of knitting a sweater for this baby... but then I just started one a week before he was slated to be removed from the womb. The knitting was done last weekend. I just need to get some pointers on how to seam the raglan sleeves into place. I tried just looking in a book, but I'm still not sure. Tonight is knit night, so I should have this all solved and done sometime this weekend. Which is good... baby boy will be a week old on Friday!


And you know what this means right... now I have the sweater bug. I was scared of them, and honestly still am a bit. It's the seaming... scares the daylights out of me. But I want them... FOR ME! (The 30 degree HIGH temp's this week probably also have something to do with this desire!) I'm not sure where I'm going to start though. I've got several sweaters worth of yarn and several patterns in mind. We'll see what jumps to the front and onto the needles first.

But first... lots of Christmas gifts (more than I planned for) and poor Miss E needs more pants! I told myself I'd do a pair a month and be done by January, but I'm behind. Novembers are still not started! Swatched... but not started.

So off I run... much to do!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and a great long weekend!

Public Service Announcement

Should you have a 19 month old child, and should they suddenly be quite and stay out of the way while you ready the house for guests... go find them... quickly.

Note: Photo taken after one sock and corresponding yarn already removed from pile. And serious work on another skein has begun. These two are tangled together at several points.

That is all.

Rainbow Sherbet is Irresistible!

This morning as I peeked my head out from under the covers a certain child was standing there having a conversation in which I was not a part of. Something about breakfast... I peered at the clock. 6:30am. The persons who invented daylight savings time did not have small children. Ugh. I stuck my head back under the covers and next thing I knew there was squealing. She'd spied the finished socks in my knitting basket. She wanted to put them on right away. I told her we had to take a few pictures first. So she ran and got her little Disney camera and "took two pictures". (It doesn't even have live batteries in it, but cute none the less.) Then put them on. I managed to pull myself out of bed and we went to take a few pictures before she fuzzed them up or stepped on her snack or something. She was a little wary of being on the dining room table. Ironically, I pull her little sister off the top of the table all the time!

The socks are loved. Whew!

Pattern: Basic sock, 40 stitches
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Superwash, worsted weight - extra from Miss E's blankie that is in progress.
Needle: US size 4 - magic loop one at a time
Notes: Weaving in the ends wasn't bad at all. I really don't mind weaving in ends that much. And I do love stripes, especially ones as cute as these! The cuff is nice and short upon request from Miss N.

I also managed to finally sew some buttons on these Calorimetry's. I knit them up about a month ago and they've been sitting around waiting for buttons. They'll go with the fingerless mitt's I made a while back as gifts. One ball of Artyarns Handpaint Stripes to make a pair of mitt's and headband with some left to spare. I think this is a fantastic gift yarn too. Sooooo soft and superwash so the gifted doesn't have to worry too much about special wash instructions.

Pattern: Calorimetry
Yarn: Artyarns Handpaint Stripes
Needle: US size 5
Notes: I modified the original pattern a bit. I cast on 100 stitches. I don't know how many short rows I did. I just did it until I had a nice center stripe and then turned the other way.

Whew! After all that finishing I wound some new yarn up this morning. The bright one is the Eden I mentioned before. It's for Miss E's next pair of pants. And the other is some sock yarn for Hub. It's Bo Peep's Sock Yarn. I'm still working on his Tofutsies socks. That yarn though... ugh. So thin... they're taking forever! So I thought it only fair to pull something heavier out. I think this is a sport weight. It's 450 yards to 5.4 ounces. I'm not really sure... it says to use needle size 1-2. I'm thinking I can do it on 2's. It feels similar in weight to the sport weight I just used for myself. Although that was only 280 yards per 4 ounces. You never can tell until you swatch it for a little fabric I guess. I'm hoping with that yardage I should be able to get a nice tall cuff for him. With fingering weight I can usually get 6-7 inches, but I think he'd love a pair with a higher cuff.



Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Moooving Sloooowly

That's me right now. Moving slooowly. My wonderful husband moved our computer from the kitchen counter to it's real home on a desk... in the rec room. This is wonderful... it means I'm actually sitting in a chair right now! However, our DSL connection down here is TERRIBLE. It's like having bad dial up. I had no idea how blogging would go, but so far so good. Uploading pictures isn't too bad. Now actually trying to view them... takes eons. So if you notice I'm not commenting on blogs... that would be why. Clicking over to leave a comment takes FOREVER! It's good knitting time though! With the computer down here it's not upstairs distracting me all day. Which means that between less distraction and the slow speed I've gotten a lot of knitting done!

New socks for me! It's chilly 'round here!

Pattern: Baby Cable Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks. I used the stitch pattern and my own sock recipe. 48 stitches.
Yarn: Daching Dach's Sportweight, colorway is Icicles. It was one of her winter colors last year. It's YUM-O! I wish I knew more about the base yarn. I love it.
Needles: 3.0mm
Notes: Not much to say. I love the colors, loved the yarn and the pattern. They knit up so fast I couldn't believe it!

I am nothing if not the Queen of Distraction. Now that my little icicles escapade is done I'm back to the "schedule". I've got a mere week and a half until Miss N turns 4. I've been promising socks. I have a couple colors of Panda Cotton stashed for her. But yesterday she declared she wanted rainbow socks. Oh boy. Last winter she wore socks from this yarn, so I'm hoping nothing has changed. If she calls these itchy I might scream. Stripes people... millions of ends to weave in. She better wear them! I can't really be upset about her love of stripes. I'm pretty sure I'm responsible for it. Plus... who wouldn't?!

She picked out the colors and laid them out just like this. Yes, labels up and all. This one's not particular oh noooo. So, I set to work following orders.

I'd say I got a pretty good start this morning. They are moving really fast, but I do have to weave in all those ends eventually. I think I've got plenty of time left! She will have cozy birthday socks to keep her feet warm in the chilly morning. (Which is the only time of day she keeps them on!)

Sorry for the slightly dark photos today. It's dark and rainy here. Perfect for knitting, but not photo taking!

What NOT to Wear

Whooo... nope, not another FO. This was ah... tinkering. I finished these socks in July. I wore them out of the house once and was quite sure that the 'What NOT to Wear' people were going to hunt me down and find me. So, seeing as I was not going to insult the dyer (myself) I got more dye and overdyed them in a nice dark purply red. I think the end result came out great! A much more subdued sock that I won't try to hide under the edges of my pants!



There are more FO's around here. I just need to find some buttons and finish up another object to complete a 'set'. Yes, I've been knitting and not blogging it!

In the effort of full disclosure... I started something new. The stash threw this yarn at me. Literally. It burst out of the sock yarn basket. I wound it into a ball forever ago. And most of the yarn is still in hanks. So... it just didn't fit now that the basket is packed... dare I say overflowing? Whoever said sock yarns don't count as stash lied. Because honestly, it's nearly the only stash I have. And it's gotten a little out of control. No more. Really. For a bit. But I need to get to knitting it for sure! It's gotten COLD around here. Yesterday I had to wear (gasp) cotton socks. My feet were FREEZING all day. Four pair of wool socks are NOT going to cut it!

So, a quick pair of socks for myself were thrown onto the needles. I'm really not sure of the weight of this yarn. I'm going to say somewhere between sport and dk. They're knitting up really fast!


Happy Weekending to you!

Double Eyelet Rib Socks

Pattern: Double Eyelet Rib Socks by Wendy Johnson
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential, Petunia
Needles: US size 0, 2.0mm - one on DPN's and one magic looped!
Notes: US womens size 6, I used the Elizabeth Zimmerman Sewn Bind Off for these. It worked great! (I tried a few others that did not...) I really like this yarn. It's cheap and it's SO soft. I can't testify to it's durability, but I can say, of the socks I've knit for myself, the pair from this yarn is the most comfy. It's a little fuzzy to work with, but I don't mind it. Oh, and these were also my first toe up's!

These are put away for Christmas! (If you know me, you know this is not my color!) Woot! I just have a few more small items to make before the holidays!

And no, you are not imagining it... I'm in "finish the UFO's" mode right now. I'll have more soon!