Fishies!

Over the weekend I managed to finish Baby Girl's Fishy Jumper. I'm so excited about how it came out! Somehow I got lucky and it fits her perfectly. What with her growing and my spotty record when it comes to finishing things in a timely manner, this is truly a rare treat. I'm still not sure if I like the way the embroidered bubbles look, but I guess I could always go back and change them. Okay, that's not really going to happen.





Pattern: My own.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino from Knit Happens. Two balls Teal, one coral, one seafoam, and one light blue.

Comments: This was a lot of fun to work up. It took a while because I kept changing my mind about how I wanted various aspects. Bubbles as intarsia or embroidered on? Waves at the top or throughout the body of the dress? Of course, I knew I didn't want the waves throughout and intarsia bubbles, but all other combos were tried out. Gotta love lifelines.

Recipient: Baby Girl... she is definitely my favorite person to knit for.

Swim fishies! Swim!

Finished the knitting of the fishy jumper. I even managed to get it on Baby Girl for a test-fitting without her tearing at all of the ends that have yet to be woven in. It looks like it will work perfectly. There's enough room that a onesie will fit nicely underneath and still some growing room too.

So, now it's blocking. Getting close... so close.

Currently working on.... fishies

Here's a preview of my latest/most exciting project. It's a jumper that I'm designing for Baby Girl. So far, I've finished the knitting of the back and this much of the front:













I'm still working on how I'm going to do the embroidered bubbles. I keep changing my mind. I'm also still not sure about the color of the bodice section. Maybe a darker green would be better? I love the color I used, but it seems a little pale juxtaposed with the teal and orange.

The fishies are the fun/exciting/difficult part of the pattern. I don't know if you can tell, but they face different ways on front and back, so that they'll line up when you fold the jumper. I *think* I'm also going to try to write up this pattern... we'll see.

Upgrade

Have you seen those commercials where they upgrade a room, a hairstyle, and then tampons? Not a fan of the commercial, but anyway, when I finished my new washrag, I was reminded of it. See -- there's the old-crochet-been-bleached-way-too-many-times washrag. And the new one! Definitely an upgrade.

Pattern: Ballband dishcloth from Mason Dixon Knitting.

Yarn: Sugar 'n Cream from A.C. Moore -- it was on sale for $.99 a skein!

Adjustments: I cut down the number of repeats because it was getting a little too large for my dishwashing needs - see old dishrag. I also added a crochet border to the sides.

Comments: Why all the fuss about a dishrag? Well, I love the idea of adding handknits to our everyday lives. It's fun to have that "I made this feeling" even when, or maybe especially when I'm doing something as mundane as the dishes. Anyway, it's a fun a quick project - I definitely see more in my future!

Recipient: Me and my dishes.

Baby Girl says: It's also great for peek - a - boo!

Birch Alert

For a long time now, Birch has been one of my back-burner projects. With the first ball of Kidsilk Haze, it was my "wait until Baby Girl has gone to bed project". Then, when I finished that first ball of yarn, I just let it sit around for a while. After about a month, I picked it up again and it was my "naptime project." About the time I hit that third and last ball of KSH, it became my "all-the-time-can't-get enough-of-it project," -- meaning I would knit a few stitches and then have to put it down to keep Baby Girl away from the VCR/stash/everything else. How long ago did I start Birch? Hmmm, well, I remember that Veronique started hers a couple days after I started mine. So, I guess that it was just before April 11th. That means it took me just over four months. Well, I was working on other things, so I'm okay with that. Here are the specs:

Pattern: Birch from Rowan 34.

Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Pearl. Just under three balls.

Adjustments: None.

Comments: I loved this project so much. It was my first time working with KSH and my first lace project. I definitely think it was a great intro to both. I really liked working from the large section and shrinking down those rows 'til the end.

Recipient: I haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning towards my Grandma - the one who taught me how to knit.

Washing Birch:














Blocking Birch on the bed:



















All finished Birch:

Fetching

I'm just starting to think about knitting gifts for the holidays. It's so hard to find that perfect pattern for each recipient. There are definitely a few contenders in the summer Knitty. I think Fetching would work for a few people. Here's my first pair.


Pattern: Fetching.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in shade 202 (Duck Egg Blue). 1 skein + about a yard from the stash.

Adjustments: None.

Comments: I really like the way that they came out. They were very quick to knit and the pattern was easy to understand. I used leftover yarn from the stash. I don't know why, but I hated that I didn't make them with just one skein. It didn't really matter because my stash consisted of two skeins, plus about 5 yards to begin with. So, I still have enough for a second pair.

Completed: a few days ago.

Miscalculation

Sometimes I'm not the best about thinking before I act. Especially when it comes to knitting. I just want to go go go. That's what happened with this sweater. I wanted something easy and fast. So, I thought a chunky turtleneck with US 13s would be the answer. It came out perfectly. Except that for some reason I didn't use my own measurements when I was scribbling down my plan for the pattern. Of course, somehow I didn't notice this mistake until I'd seamed the front and back pieces together.

On a related note, a couple weeks ago the Husband, Baby Girl and I were invited to a co-worker's home for dessert. It was overall a very nice time. Their family unit matches ours quite nicely (we both have one daughter). Anyway, as I was holding Baby Girl, I started to seat myself on their sofa.... but I completely misjudged where the sofa ended and wound up falling onto the floor. Thankfully, Baby Girl wasn't hurt, but I still have two bruised on my spine (and maybe one on my ego).

I guess I feel the same way about that fall as I do about my mis-sized sweater. It's embarrassing, but I'll recover. It may take a couple weeks before we can revisit either the friends or the sweater, though.

Finally back!

Wow! It's really hard to keep up with the knitting and blogging during these summer months. Just me? Okay, I'll blame my newbie status.

I have been doing some knitting, though. I joined the little bits kal as an excuse to knit more for Baby Girl. I've actually knit a lot of things for her, so this time my personal challenge was to come up with my own design. I think it came out well for a first design. My idea was a simple a-line top with a super frilly collar. To give myself more incentive not to just hide all of the flaws, I submitted the pattern to Magknits. I won't know for sure until it goes live, but it looks like it will be published in the Oct. issue! Woo hoo!

So, all I can do is give a preview. I'm so nervous/excited about this whole process. I wonder if anyone else will like it....