A New Nephew!

On February 6th we welcomed a new little (hmmm...I guess 9lbs 3oz isn't so little!) boy to the family.  I am thrilled to have a nephew!  Prior to his arrival, I knit up this little blue hat.  So simple and adorable - and I think I have enough yarn left over to make one or two more!  Here is a link to the pattern on Ravelry.

A brand new bundle of perfection.

Checking out my new nephew.

I have a couple patterns in mind for this little guy - I can't wait to get started....after I finish my other projects.

Despite a crazy week, I was able to finish a little sweater that I gave as part of a christening gift.  It was actually nice to take my mind off things and knit a little.  I'll post some pictures in an upcoming FO Friday post.  It is soooooo cute!

Ok, back to my crazy life!  February has been jam packed with wonderful things...perhaps a few too many though!  I'm hoping March will be a bit less crazy and I'll have some time to breathe...and knit :)

Overload! But It's All Good

I'm working in overdrive right now...so much happening this month!

In the past week I've applied for a permanent position on the team I'm currently working with and applied for graduate school.  This month I have to finish 4 units of a course I'm taking and take the final exam, interview for the position I applied for, and a couple other important things which I'll cover in a future post.  I am also taking two 'extra curricular' courses (casual, no tests) and I'm just over half-way through a 30 day workout challenge (which has been awesome despite the 5:30 am workouts!).  I think that the daily workouts are especially beneficial given the bit of stress I've been feeling - they give me energy for the day too!  It's a lot but these are all positive things I'm doing for positive reasons and I'm glad for that!  I'm busy, but it's good!

When I finally find some time to knit, I need to:

• Finish the "hat with the duck part" (sooo close to being done!)
• Knit something for my new niece or nephew (asap, he or she is due any day!)
• Knit something for a christening (I've chosen the Baby Tiered Coat and Jacket)
• Knit something for a dog for a charity auction my friend is running (in the next few weeks); I've never knit for a dog so this is a great opportunity to give it a try!

In addition, I have some material I bought at Christmas to make my niece and my godson some pjs - I'm hoping to find time to make those before they grow out of the pattern size I bought!

I'll be posting my progress on my knitting as I go - I can't wait to get started but I need to prioritize...somehow.  I think knitting will end up being my reward for getting some of the other stuff done :)

WiP Wednesday - Blocking!

I'm in the process of blocking the lace shawl!!!

Here is a picture of it - first pinning.  I'm about to move the pins out a bit more.

I've been working on this for quite a while and I'm so happy to be finishing it off!!

I have a ton of projects in the queue:

• Finish "hat with a duck part" 
• Finish purple bolero for my niece (who will probably be too big for it by the time I'm done
• Knit for my new niece or nephew (who is due to arrive any day!
• Start knitting the yarn I bought for projects that is now stored in 4 big boxes in my closet (eek!) - this is probably a lifetime of knitting for me!
• Eventually start the alphabet baby blanket - this one I will keep so I have about 3 years minimum to finish this :)

I'll post pics of the shawl in an FO Friday post as soon as it's dry!

Phew!

I just finished ripping out my too-tight bind-off on the lace shawl and redid it with a stretchier bind-off.  This is the bind off I used, it has a yarn over in it to help with the stretch.  It was a bit of a painful process - I thought I could make it easier on myself by watching the latest episode of the Bachelor that I had on PVR but I was wrong.  I don't know what keeps me watching that show - it's so horrible!  But I can't stop.

So, next step is blocking!  This will be my first time blocking where it will (should) really change the look of the knitted piece.

Then, I can FINALLY give it to my mom!  Hopefully you'll see this in an FO Friday post next week!

FO Friday: Newborn Photo Props

I finally have some FOs to post!  My schedule lately has not allowed for much, if any, knitting most weeks.  However, a family member had a photo session scheduled for her newborn and was wanting some knitted props.  Everything she found online would take 2 weeks to get to her, and she had less than a week until the session.  So, I agreed to help out.  She  bought most of the yarn, and I knit it up.  Although I was time pressured, I enjoyed the knitting.  Most of it was bulky yarn on big needles so it didn't take too long - but I still had to knit in any spare moment I had!

The first was a 'bowl' or 'pod'.  It's nice and stretchy so the baby easily fit in it.  The yarn used is Lion Brand Yarn Wool-Ease Thick & Quick.  I liked this yarn - nice and soft and the specks of color look great when knit up.

This next project was a 'cocoon'.  I love the loose knit with lots of holes; I think it's so cute when the baby's fingers or toes poke through.



I think this pom pom hat is adorable!  I made the preemie size since the baby was just over 6 lbs when born and it fit perfectly.  I held two yarns together to get the effect.

Another hat that was requested, and that is popular in newborn photos, is this hat with a long tail and a pom pom on the end.  Because Luca is small (with a small head), I cast on 40 stitches instead of the 44 the pattern called for.  The yarn (Bernat Soft Boucle) looked really neat when all knit up.  The pom pom on the end definitely makes this hat.

Finally, I knit up this chunky little diaper cover.  The yarn is Red Heart Zoomy (super bulky).  This was REALLY quick to knit up.  It might be wise to knit this with a stretchy cast on/bind off to allow for more stretch in the waist, if needed.  This one just fit Luca.   

I have lots of projects in the queue so I hope to be making more FO Friday posts this month!

WiP Wednesday: Just When I Thought I Was Done

So, this lace shawl for my mom has been in progress for quite a while; it is my first lace project so I wanted to take my time.  I didn't quite get it done in time for Christmas but I didn't want to rush or knit when tired (learned my lesson earlier in the project as I picked it up and knit on the purl side - oops - that row adds character :) ).

I was so happy to finally be binding off last week.  All that was left to do was block it and mail it!  I wasn't so sure of my bind off though, it seemed a bit tight and I wasn't sure if that would have an affect on the blocking.  So, I took it to work to show my boss (who is an expert knitter) and she confirmed that it was too tight.  I wasn't too upset because I was thinking that it would need to be redone. 

So, my project for this week is to carefully rip out the bind off and then redo it with a stretchier version - THEN block!

I'm really looking forward to being able to post this project in an FO Friday post but, until then, here are some almost done pictures!  I'm expecting that blocking will make a big difference on this project.

Posts to Come!

Since I haven't posted in a while, I wanted to make a quick post to say that I plan on sharing a WiP this week as well as five FOs on Friday!  I speed-knit a bunch of items for a family member's newborn photo shoot :)  I meant to post them last week but that week seriously flew by!

I ordered a bunch of new yarn from ebay last week too and I can't wait to get it!  It was quite affordable so I'm curious to see what the quality is like.  I have some new knitting ideas and goals in my mind, hopefully this yarn will help turn them into reality!  Some of it is quite funky and I'm excited to see how it knits up.

I have many goals this year including finding more time for my crafts.  The key being "FINDING MORE TIME".    If anyone has any hints or tips on where to find or purchase that, please let me know :)  I think for me it's going to be all about efficiency - and less tv and facebook.  I don't watch much tv but find it's easy to get sucked in once I start.  I admit though, I am guilty of using facebook as a procrastination tool.  It's gotta stop...but how?