WiP Wednesday - Better Late Than Never!

I was all ready to get this post up first thing this morning when I got into work.  Unfortunately, my computer has been having difficulties all day so I'm finally getting around to hitting the post button!  Better late than never though!

So, I'm almost finished the "hat with the duck part", and I've run out of yarn.  As you can see from the picture, there isn't enough left to finish the remaining 10 rows or so, then stitch the brim up :(  I thought I might have just enough, but no :(  I've contacted a couple people on Ravelry about selling me a skein.  One got back to me and it will cost 5 times as much as what I paid for a skein to get me hers, but I might have to suck it up and do it.  I'm soooo close!

A friend, who appreciates my knitting, has asked me to knit a pair of leg warmers for her baby as she is crawling now.  I said yes, even though I have so many projects needing to be finished by Christmas.  I told her that I couldn't guarantee when they'd be done and she said it would be fine - I'm worrying that she'll be done crawling by the time they are knit up!  I don't know if my friend realizes the time it takes to knit - especially with little needles and thin yarn!

Anyways, I picked out some yarn and started to knit the leg warmers; I figure they are a good 'before bed' project - quite straightforward so go to knit when I'm tired.  I chose to use Regia Stretch Crazy Color yarn.  I checked out some projects on Ravelry that use this yarn and I really liked the colors.

I started the 12 month size but I think I'm going to restart and do the 18-24 month size since the yarn I'm using is a bit more thin than the yarn the pattern calls for.  I would hate to get these done just to find out that they won't fit around her little legs.

I used the tubular cast on as it gives a nice edge and a good stretch.  For a cast on that gave me a bit of a headache the first time I tried it, I'm actually starting to like it and this is the third project I will be using it on.

As always, thanks to Tami for hosting the WiP Wednesday on her blog!

Those are my WiPs for this week.  I'm hoping in the next week or two to have some new ones to share.  I'm going to attempt cables!  Wish me luck ;)

My First Project - Baby Leg Warmers!

Here is where it all began.  My sister-in-law (ok, not sister-in-law yet but hopefully in the near future!) was pregnant and I wanted to learn to knit so that I could create something for my future niece or nephew.  I needed to find a project! Mizz Rizz had a copy of the Expectant Knitter on loan so I browsed through and found a pattern for some adorable baby leg warmers! Looked like a great first project (not everyone agreed and suggested beginning with a scarf or something simple.  Pfft! ;) ).

I went to Michael’s and found some yarn – Patons Kroy Socks Jacquards in Denim and some plain black wool yarn. The original pattern called for six different colors but I figured using just two would be good enough – especially since the sock yarn would naturally create stripes for me (bonus!). I also picked myself up some small double-pointed needles.

I really wanted these to be ‘perfect’, especially the tension. I thought I could accomplish that by making sure my stitches were tight…so tight that sometimes my yarn barely slid across the needles (my poor fingers)! They ended up looking good, but since then I’ve definitely been able to loosen up my knitting and let the needles and yarn do the work of making my project look uniform and tight.  Mizz Rizz and Coco would constantly comment on how tight my stitches were and that I needed to learn to not knit so tight…at that time I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to do that.  I did try.  It didn't work.

I learned a lot during this project, in addition to the basic stitches, including how to knit ribbing and how to knit in the round using double-pointed needles.  I learned about recognizing stitches, and that dropped stitches could be fixed (mistakes - I make plenty - are a great way to learn new things!).  One thing I love about knitting is that in almost every project so far I’ve learned something new.

In May 2009, a beautiful little girl - Lucy - was born! While I have no problem with girls wearing boy colors, I decided I wanted to give her something more girly so I bought some beautiful pink and brown yarns (I think it was Sirdar Baby Bamboo, which I LOVE!) and whipped up another pair.

When another friend of mine was pregnant (baby was to be my future godchild), I told her that she could have the original leg warmers if she had a boy. She ended up having a boy…but I just could not bring myself to give them away! Looks like my first-born will be the lucky recipient of this (sentimental) project!

If I were to make these again, I'd use Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off to be sure that chunky baby legs would be comfortable in these!