Cycad and Baby Feet

Yarn: Monsoon Designs Twisty Sock, Cycad

Since I've been happily wearing these socks during the summer when the AC has our floor freezing cold, I felt a little guilty. I had this lovely sport weight in the stash and figured it was time it saw the light of day! Vanessa does such a lovely job with the dyeing. I really like how subtle it is. Of course this week feels like fall already.

I have a thing for baby feet. And a two year old is pushing the 'baby' limits, but still... irresistible fresh from a bath no?

I had to photograph them too. They are so much cuter than Hub's feet. Yummy little piggie toes to eat!

So much fun!

As you already know, I love to knit. I also love to give gifts... not just gifts, but thoughtful ones that I know people are going to really love you know? Not just a "well I need to get a gift... hmm... gift card" type of thing. I like to tuck away bits of information and save them for a while until I can put them to good use.

Well, I've been a busy little elf. Since the packages have now landed I have lots of little secrets and fun things to share!

There are two ladies I know who have had a rough year. They've both had repeated miscarriages. And now they are both about to have healthy babies! Praise God! I've had them both in my prayers for the last year. I haven't experienced that pain or loss, and I just can't imagine it. I look at my girls and I think 'what if...?'. It breaks my heart. SO. To mark this joyous time and the journey they have been through I wanted to make them something they could hold in their hands. Something tangible.

For my friend L and her baby girl 'Harvest'.


I also gave L the cowl I made from the same yarn. At the time I hadn't decided for sure, but it just kept screaming at me... 'give me to L!'. So I did.

Then there's baby 'Lime'. These mama's both give their in-utero babies fun names. This mama has colors for each of her kids for things like toothbrushes etc... 'Lime' is the sixth arrival to the household, so I can see how this comes in handy. 'Lime's' color is purple. But as you noticed... 'Lime's' name is green. This was irresistible. I couldn't not do it... I mean... I HAD the yarn in the stash already and you know I love stripes!


Don't you just LOVE those buttons?!

We won't know what flavor baby 'Lime' is until birth. But I think a tart little boy or girl baby will be quite irresistible in this.

And there is one more. I told you I had a lot of secrets!

This is friend R. R really wanted this item when she saw the new issue of Knitty come out. But R doesn't knit. It looked like it would be really fun to make. Definitely a diversion from my usual fare. And all I needed was sock yarn scraps. I mean really... How could I not?! I have loads of scraps! It turned out far and above my expectations. I really love how it turned out. I think the engineering of the piece is good too. The corsage is attached to the band by a button so that you can move it around to wherever you think it looks best. And the holes in the lace are the buttonholes for the band. So if it gets stretched out or the wearer shrinks or swells, it's adjustable. Neat!

Again, button love. Button shopping is so fun!

Isn't R gorgeous?! AND a great photographer too!

She also constantly fawns over Calorimetry's. Which are SO easy. I couldn't deprive her of that! After I finished Hub's hat I knocked this out real quick from the remainder of that yarn. Looks pretty good on her!


Whew! No more tricks up my sleeve. At least yet...

All details can be found on my Ravelry projects page. I'm not normally lazy like that but... this is a LOT!

Peppermint Mocha

Yarn: Claudia Handpainted Yarns, Peppermint Mocha - exclusive color to The Loopy Ewe
Pattern: Plain Janes

Yummy. I think that about sums it up.

How to get Hand Knits from the Mommy

Pattern: Freckle Soaker and Skirty
Yarn: Rodeo BFL from Western Sky Knits, At The Zoo

Ack, I just went there to grab the link... look at this new colorway! SO cute! I really loved the Rodeo BFL. Just the right weight for a soaker and super soft. Loved every minute of it! The departure from all things girly was refreshing. Plus... I feel like I live in a Zoo so the name fit!

Miss E loves it. She got up in the morning and saw it on the coffee table. She started babbling on and about it... oh soaker... cute soaker... I yike it, I yike it... Then she proceeded to put it on herself backwards. Could you resist this kind of 2 year old cuteness?

Here she is mid-twirl!

And, in more Miss E knit news, she's bonded with her blankie. I was out running errands one night last week and after Hub laid her down for bed she said "Mommy blankie, Mommy blankie." So he gave it to her and she snuggled it up to her face and told him "I yike Mommy blankie.". She had just started putting together sentences and this was one of the first. It MUST have been important to her no? Seriously... with cuteness like that if she requested a house cozy I just might say yes!

Finally... Hub gets a Hat

Pattern: A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted, Vaa

This hat is really simple in it's construction, which is what makes it so man friendly. But the way the decreases are done at the top are a neat detail. Even though it's still manly... this color is very pretty. :)

BTW, Hub modeled this in 98 degree heat. Our neighbors surely think we are crazy. Give the man a hand!

He's still asking where his Koolhaas hat is... maybe in another two and a half years...

My 100th Project

100. I saw on my Ravelry projects page that I had project number 100 coming up. I knew it had to be good. I mean... that's a big number. Technically it's not really number 100. I have several things doubled up on there... some little things that didn't seem to need their very own project page. But for all intensive purposes... number 100. Yep, I've got everything I've ever knit on Ravelry. Even the really embarrassing first things I knit. At first I didn't do this but then I sucked it up. How neat to see the progression. And maybe it will inspire a newer knitter to keep going. Because there are some sad looking things down there on the bottom. Oy.

Ever since I started Miss E's blanket Miss N wanted one. Of course. She's got what seems like a million small girlish blankets. I've thought up a bunch of ideas... mostly things *I* liked. I had a really nice color palette picked out that she would enjoy into adulthood... but no.

As you all know Miss N was born with her own opinions and quite the ability to share them. She sees my color ideas and tosses them out. The ONLY color she likes that I chose was yellow. So, this blanket represents a compromise. She, being the ultimate girly girl loves pink. But she will also tell you that light yellow and purple are in her "color palette". I kid you not. What other 4 year old do you know with her own "color palette"?! Oy. I wanted to do the blanket in just the bright pink and yellow. She was really trying for the light pink, but I only have a couple balls left and I told her it's discontinued and I needed them to make her mittens to match her kitty hat. She concedes that point and starts in on how purple is in her color palette and needs to be in her stripey blanket! Ok, I concede... a 3 color blanket. I really wanted the pop of two colors, but ok it is for her after all... So then she starts to insist that light blue (notice the emphasis on light... not dark, not bright... JUST light blue) is now in her "color palette" and MUST be in the blanket too. I shut her down there. That color is also discontinued and I don't have enough I tell her. She's still bummed about that one, but I say she'll get over it. I'm hoping with these colors she'll at least like it into high school... one can hope right?

This one looks like it will be done faster than Miss E's. For one, it's not garter stitch and there is no casting off or picking up stitches. Just knit and purl and a few yarn overs. And... I've got the slave driver after me. I took pictures of it this morning on the DPN's so you could see it's squareness... then I moved it onto a circular and knit a couple rows and then proceeded to put the needles all away and the blanket and moved on... well she came back and saw I wasn't working on it any longer she was quite bothered that I wasn't working on her blanket. This one is trouble folks... serious trouble.

I've been busy I promise... but I have several gifts in the works so I'm keeping hushed for now. Soon... a deluge of projects! Plus I need to get Hub to pose with his new hat for me. You know... because everyone wants to model a wool hat in mid-90's heat. Stay tuned... sweaty man hat pictures coming soon...

Sweet Summer

My girls melting their artist mommy's heart!
Miss N was practicing her color mixing.
Miss E was just trying to figure out this whole easel painting thing...

This past weekend was the Art on the Green event over in Couer d'Alene. We took the girls Sunday afternoon. It was a huge event. They also had the big food event in the neighboring park. The girls had reached meltdown by then so we didn't get to go over there. We had a fun time.

I also managed to make this over the weekend.

Pattern: Freckle Soaker & Skirty Pattern
Yarn: Selah, Aran BFL, Sweet Summer

Since Miss E isn't taking to using the potty at all, I caved in and realized I needed to do some more knitting for her bottom. I haven't been a fan of soakers in the past because most just aren't a very good fit in my opinion (I'm super picky!). For some reason though I really wanted to try this pattern. The fit is awesome! The pattern is very well written and includes an optional skirty. AND... included in the price is cottage licensing for a certain number of items. Which I thought might be handy to have. Occasionally I knit for others and it would be nice to be able to offer soakers as an option. I picked up the yarn from Lisa on Thursday and got to knitting on Friday. It was fresh from her dye and wash pots and it smelled wonderful. It was a really enjoyable knit.