Bronchitis

I don't have much to report.  I've been busy knitting but since I'm craft show knitting, which means knitting the same thing over and over and over again.... There isn't much to talk about.

I knit a bunch of baby hats.  For some reason, my computer isn't allowing me to make any adjustments to the photo so...

Apa (it was supposed to be Grandpa but it came out Apa so...) and I took Hayden to Wendy's for lunch last week.  Hayden had the sniffles and it was THE dirtiest, nastiest Wendy's I've ever seen and between the two, I'm assuming, I caught a mean case of bronchitis.  If I ever stop coughing, I expect to have six twelve-pack abs.

I spent most of this week sitting napping on the deck.  I didn't test but I wonder if I had a touch of covid as well as the bronchitis.  I had the covid-like narcolepsy and there was one day where I really thought I should go to the ER because I just could not catch my breath.  Anyway, I spent most the week lounging on the deck watching the train go by.  Y'all thought I was making it up about living on the the edge of the tracks, didn't you?

To help me feel better, Sarah made me homemade tomato soup made with fresh veggies from the garden.  I was a little leery.  How could it be better than Campbell's?  I don't know, but it was!  It was Delicious! Her grilled cheeses are better than mine too. I'm a little jealous.

The soup must have worked because I'm starting to feel better and even began craft show knitting again. Thank goodness for September's cooler temperatures and lower humidity.  I was even able to sit outside and knit faux fur headbands today.  

Actually, over the last 2 days, I've also started three new, non craft show projects.  First, I started a Christmas tree skirt, because naturally that's what you do when you are sick to death of knitting craft show stuff and you have Fall Fever.  About an hour later, I started a Halloween granny square tote bag because, well, you know, Christmas is a long way off.  And then and hour after that, the mailman stopped by and brought the yarn that wasn't supposed to arrive until next week so of course I had to immediately cast on a secret sweater for Sarah.  I'm pretty sure Sarah doesn't read the blog so I'm not too worried about mentioning it here.  Besides, as excited as I am with my progress, I haven't taken any photos.

Hope you are staying healthy and happy knitting!

Tiny Tea Leaves

Tiny Tea Leaves is officially finished.  It's knit, it's blocked, it has buttons, and it's even wrapped and under the tree.

I'm not sure why I'm using a black and white photo when I've already shown other in-color photos but...   ...And, the yoke lines up much better than it appears in the photo. 😊

This was a great little design and I'm so thankful Karen from Pumpkin Sunrise gifted me the pattern a while back.  Despite it taking me ages to complete, it's a simple little cardigan with easy to follow instructions.  The pattern is written for sizes ranging from 2T up to preteen and I can see myself making many more of these in the years to come.

I used a heathered yarn for this one but the pattern is designed so that you could use just about anything and even multiple yarns.  I'm thinking it would be really cute with the yoke and garter edging knit in a different color from the body.  I'm also thinking Hayden will need one knit in her favorite sports team colors.  Her mom and I will have to battle it out over who her favorite football team is though.  Hayden's mom is just as sweet as she can be but she has very poor taste in football teams. 😊

Crud!  Now I'm thinking about all the color options I could knit and I'm about ten seconds from tossing aside my next assigned project to cast on another Tiny Tea Leaves cardigan.  Aack!

On the Needles

Just a quick OTN update.

Remember Tiny Tea Leaves?  It got shoved down to the bottom of the knitting bag while I knit Christmas gifts.  I only have a sleeve and a half left to knit.  And well, I guess the button band.  The point is, I should be able to knock out this baby in time for Christmas too.  I better!  Hayden is only eight months old, almost nine, and already wearing 18 month size clothing.  She's slim but tall.  Anyway, I thought I had until late summer of 2021 to get this little 2T sweater knit but apparently not.

If you're interested, I'm knitting it with Blossom Heather Wool of the Andes.  I'm not normally a big fan of pink - I may have mentioned that a few times before - but I LOVE this Blossom Heather colorway.  I have knit many, many hats and mittens for my Etsy shop as well as for various gifts.  I'm not sure it will look too good with my skin tone but one of these days I'm going to knit myself a sweater with it.  It's just such a pretty, pale heathered pink.  It's just perfect!  It's a delicate, pale pink without looking the least bit babyish. And after I knit the sweater for myself, I just may knit a blanket and some pillows and maybe a skirt.  Thankfully it will take me a lifetime to get all that knit because if I'm going to wear a knit skirt, I'm going to loose 100 lbs first.  I have time!  😊

Tiny Tea Leaves

 Sometimes I really am a horrible person.  Karen from Pumpkin Sunrise gifted me the Tiny Tea Leaves cardigan pattern a while back and now, I can't remember why.  I'm not sure if it was a "Congratulations on the new grandchild" gift or a "Here's something to cheer you up because you sound like you are on the very edge of sanity" gift.  I feel terrible that I can't remember the why, but it does go to show how close to the edge I was there for a while.  

Anyway.... The smallest size the pattern makes is a 2T so I wasn't in a rush to get started on it when I first received the pattern.  I did, however, immediately buy yarn for it.

And now I'm knitting it.  Hayden will turn six months old next week but she's already close to outgrowing her nine month clothes.  The child is thin, but tall.  My hope is that she can roll the sleeves this winter and still be able to fit into it next winter.  We'll see how that plan goes.  

If any of you grandmas out there have knitting for babies hints for guessing future sizes, please, please pass them on.  I've been trying to recall my own kids' growth but they were both practically feral and were naked half the time.  Okay, I should probably explain that.  We lived at the lake so summers were spent in the water and winters, Zack preferred sweatpants and t-shirts and Sarah wore stretchy leggings or skirts and oversized sweatshirts so size didn't matter that much.  And then there was that year that Sarah refused to take off her Cinderella Halloween costume ball gown.  She wore it Everywhere.  We'd get some pretty strange looks in the grocery store but she was happy and I learned early on in parenthood that it was best to pick your battles so....

Anyway.... I'm knitting a Tiny Tea Leaves cardigan and am very thankful I was gifted the pattern.  Thank you, Karen!  You can tell I'm not very far into it but it's a very simple pattern so far.  I'm knitting it with Blossom Heather Wool of the Andes.  I've never been a big fan of pink but I absolutely Love Blossom Heather.  As usual, that photo isn't great.  It's pouring down rain (has it ever not been raining in 2020??) and very dark in here so the color is off in the picture.

Besides knitting, the search for a house to renovate continues.

The most recent house we looked at had that wonderful sign written on a hallway wall.  The house looked like the sign may have been true.  Yikes!

Three on Thursday - Triple Nothing

I got nothing for this week's Three on Thursday.  Absolutely nothing.  The home-life has been a little crazy this week and not much else has been going on.  Nothing fun and exciting to tell you about.  Nothing maddening or frustrating.  I haven't had three yummy desserts or loaves of bread, I haven't read three books and I haven't been considering three new knitting patterns.  Life pretty much just sort of flat lined this past week.   So...  

You get the world's most boring Three on Thursday post.  

1.  The idea I had to knit Kaffe Fassett's Coins cowl out of only two colors....  What was I thinking??  First, I didn't want a cowl, I wanted a scarf.  Second, only two colors??  The whole point of knitting a Coins scarf is to make it bright and multicolored.  And there was a third thing but I don't even remember what it was now.  I scrapped the whole idea.  Really, what I wanted was to use the yellow Madelinetosh.  So I am, but in a different project.

Rambling Rows Afghan

2.  Instead of the Coins cowl/scarf, I decided to knit a Rambling Rows afghan.  I'm not overly impressed with the examples on Ravelry but I have knit several of these in the past and have always liked the design.  This time around, I'm using scrap fingering weight (the pattern calls for worsted) and it will just hang over the edges of a twin sized bed.  In other words, it will be the perfect couch blanket.

The pattern is from Cottage Creations and is lots of fun to knit.  It's made up of two sizes of mitered squares and a rectangle.  The pattern gives directions for three different sizes.  I'm making the largest.  Of course I am.  I'm using fingering weight and a US2 needle.  Why wouldn't I choose the largest size?

My plan is to use all my machine washable scrap yarn once then as I knit other things, immediately knit a block with the leftover yarn.  The idea is that no two blocks will be the same.  We'll see how long that plan lasts.  I may get impatient and start using some of my full sized stashed skeins.  There are a few that have been calling to me.  We'll have to see how it goes.

3.  Zack finally sent me a photo of Hayden wearing the Clara dress.

She looks absolutely horrified.

Flight Risk

I finished Clara.

Clara knit with Petal Stroll Tonal from Knit Picks

Sadly, I don't have any photos of Hayden wearing it.  I'd hoped that her dad would have sent me some by now but in his defense, he is in the middle of moving.  Nothing like moving with a newborn in the midst of a pandemic.  I guess I'll have to cut him a little slack.  But only a little. 

The pattern was a breeze to knit.  I'll admit, I was not happy to see that it started off by casting on all those bottom hem stitches and knitting a bunch of seed stitch.  I don't like knitting seed stitch.  ... But it turns out, I didn't like seed stitch a million years ago when I first started knitting.  And apparently, I've avoided it ever since. Now, a million years later, I have no problems with it at all. Good grief!

As for my personal life, it's been rather strange lately.  

Last week, a bird flew into my window and "was dying" on the roof just below my window.  It was so sad and traumatic because I could see the bird breathing Very heavily but he wasn't moving and I assumed he was dying.  Then his little bird friend started flying around and hovering over him while squawking like mad.  That did no good so the bird friend landed beside him and began to peck at him until he began to move a little bit.  The bird friend still wasn't satisfied so he/she began to nudge the injured bird with his/her head until he rolled over a few times.  Eventually the injured bird got to his feet and hopped around but he couldn't fly.  But finally, with enough nagging and encouragement from his little bird friend, the injured bird took flight and flew away.  It was the most amazing and sweetest thing I think I've ever seen!

Then the other day, on one of those perfect weather days, my brother-in-law took the mother-in-law out for the day, we had an unexplained four hour power outage, and my husband and I spent the afternoon sitting on the deck listening to the birds chatter in the otherwise silence.  

And I made a friend.

A bumble bee started flying around me and was obviously interested in checking me out.  I can't deal with any other type of flying insects, but bumble bees (carpenter bees) don't bother me - much.  They seem friendly.  They hover around you and stare at you like they are saying hello.  

This bee definitely wanted to say hello.  I was busy knitting so I tried to sit still and not be too freaked out about the fact that he was flying so close to me that I could feel the wind from his wings.  

And then he landed on me and proceeded to crawl all over my calf and foot.  It was pretty cool, and quite terrifying and it tickled.  It really, really tickled.  I was afraid if I moved too suddenly, or even flinched, that he'd get freaked and sting me.  It took every ounce of willpower I had to remain calm and still for the 30+ minutes he crawled around on me.  All I can say is, thank goodness I had yummy yarn to focus on.

On the needles

Pardon the bad lighting.  It's dull and gray and raining.  Again.

Clara

The seemingly never ending rain has one benefit though.  I'm cuddled up in the house knitting more than ever.  Clara is almost finished.  I only have a little bit more to go on the top section, then add the seed stitch borders and a button, and done!  With the exception of that button, it should be finished tomorrow.

I have 100% loved knitting this little dress.  I was worried about the variegation in the tonal yarn because I'd only seen photos of it knit in solids but I think the variegation worked out just fine.  

If you are interested, the yarn is Knit Pick's Stroll Tonal in Seashell.  It really does look like the inside of a conch shell.  It's also a little weird how the colors change depending on how close you are to it.  From a few feet away, it's pink and white, but when you get up close, the white is actually THE palest lavender.  And in some light, there may even be a little creamy white in there too.

Palette and Madelinetosh

 I need your help with the next project.  I'm going to knit a Kaffe Fassett polka-dot* Coins cowl from Mason Dixon's Field Guide No. 13.  The center skein in the photo is a definite and I'm trying to decide between the other two.   

The aqua on the left coordinates with the center skein better, but I LOVE the color of the blue on the right.  I also think the darker blue would look better with a variety of skin tones than the aqua.  (I'm not sure where the cowl will go once it's finished.)  So my question is, questions are, do I use both blues or only one, and if only one, which one?

*And for your enjoyment, my computer is insisting I want to type "pothead" not "polka-dot".

Clara and the swamp witch

The Clara dress for Hayden is coming along.  I was worried about using this variegated tonal yarn but I think it's working out just fine.  This is a fun little design to knit and I'm so thankful for my knitting group friend, Dawn, who gifted it to me.  I hope Hayden will enjoy wearing dresses because I see quite a few of these in her future.

And because I was bored enough to take funny photos of myself in the bathroom and I thought you might also be bored and could use a good laugh, or possibly a good scare...

There's a reason people with curly hair don't brush their hair.

I have no idea what the reason is for the crazy eyes.  I have to say though, this photo does live up to my nickname.  My husband calls me Marie.  It started off Marie Laveau but over the years it's been shortened to simply Marie.  Many of his friends and coworkers think it's my actual name because they hear it so often and when Mike calls me by my real name, it sounds very, very wrong.  

Why Marie Laveau?  Have you ever heard the song, Marie Laveau by Bobby Bare?

Yeah, I'm the swamp witch.  Mike means it as a compliment.  Or at least that's the story he sticks to.  He says I used magic to capture his heart and make him fall in love with me.  Awww, isn't that sweet?  Although.... swamp witch...  But with that photo of my crazy eyes and brushed hair, I'd have to say he might be on to something.

A pool or a pond

It's looking like our pool is going to be more of a pond this summer if we don't hurry up and do something about fixing it.

Clara knit with Stroll Tonal

Sorry for the scary photo of my legs but I was enjoying the sunshine while we have it.  It's supposed to be rainy for the next four or five days.  

Notice my little red Bug in the background?  I'm so happy.  She's finally driveable again.  I missed Little Red this past winter.

But you want to know about the knitting, not about how much I've missed my car.  I finished the Swoncho and will share a photo once it's blocked.  Unblocked, it's a sorry looking thing!  I was worried about the fair isle section being too tight.  It's not.  It's actually a pretty perfect fit.  But the solid part at the bottom....  Good Lord!  There's enough room for six pregnant me's in there!  My prayer is that when it's blocked, it will hang better.  At the moment, the ribbing is folding up a little even though I knit it a half inch longer than the pattern called for.  On top of that, I can't decide if I should have knit the whole thing a bit longer.  I added several inches to the pattern's recommendation but.....  I'm hoping and praying blocking will fix it because I really, really don't want to have to rip the ribbing and try to pick up 400+ loose stitches.

And with the completion of the swoncho, I immediately cast on Clara for Hayden.  I think this will be a fairly quick knit.  I'm using Seashell Stroll Tonal and am praying it will look okay.  All the examples I've seen have been knit in solid colors and this tonal has a lot of color fluctuation in it.  I think it will be alright though.  And hey, if it's not, well, I'm knitting the three month size.  She can spit up on it a few times and then outgrow it in a week or two.

Hope you are enjoying some warm sunshine where ever you are.  Happy knitting!

Three on Thursday - Baby Knits

Three baby or toddler patterns for today's Three on Thursday...

Baby Bear Bonnet by Pernille Larsen

Hayden will need a bear hat this coming winter.

Baby Yoda by Arianna Soloway

So, okay, Grandma is loosing her memory.  Hayden's mom is either a Star Wars or a Star Trek fan.  I have a 50/50 chance that this would be a happy addition to Hayden's wardrobe.

Tiny Tea Leaves Cardigan by Melissa LaBarre

I'm pretty excited about this pattern.  Karen from Pumpkin Sunrise gifted me this Tiny Tea Leaves cardigan pattern and I know it will get lots of use!  The smallest size is a 2T though so it may be a while before I knit the first of what I'm sure will be many.  In the process of 'borrowing' that photo off Ravelry, I noticed there's also a Baby Tea Leaves pattern designed for baby's first year or two.  I just might have to purchase that one myself.

Hope you'll join me for Three on Thursday.

Oh froggers!

I know you've been waiting with baited breath...

My Hitchhiker went from an oddly shaped and ill-fitting completed body to

piles and

piles of yarn.  Frogging it was pretty disappointing, but not as painful as I expected it to be.  Honestly, I never really liked the sweater from the begging.  I think I was only knitting it because of peer pressure.  I love the idea of an oversized sweater but I'm not a fan of reverse stockinette and that much positive ease, not that my sweater had any but...  Anyway, that much positive ease would have made me look like I was wearing a circus tent.  In the end, I'm okay with having frogged it.  I've also already found a new pattern to try.  

Meanwhile, while I binge watched the entire first season of Stranger Things, again, I knit Sleepy Kitty from Baby Knits Made Easy.   Hayden needs a toy.

Hopefully Hayden likes kittens with devil horns instead of ears.

Timing is everything

Boy, did I time that right!  Thankfully I finished the ragland sweater late Wednesday night while the high temperature was still in the upper 50's.  It's a big, wool sweater and warm on the lap.

top down ragland, size 2T

Yesterday it climbed into the 80's and I spent the day on the porch knitting another, much smaller version of the same sweater.

I now have three sunburned toes.  They sort of match my yarn.

Speaking of yarn, that's Tropical Sunset Colorburst from Universal Yarn.  This is the second project I've knit with Colorburst.  It's not cashmere soft but it's not horrible and for the price, it's pretty dang awesome.  Two year old Hayden probably won't want to wear it without a t-shirt on underneath, but it will be a great sweater to throw on before she goes outside to play.

And because we can't seem to have a conversation these days without mentioning the "C" word....  I hope you are healthy and have a well stocked pantry and bathroom.  I can't believe it's been over a week and our grocery store shelves are still empty.  No paper products, no meat or cheese and not close to a fully stocked fresh vegetable section.  I guess I should just be glad they have bread now since the only meat items they do have is frozen hamburgers and chicken patties.  Yeah, this was a great time for me to fail my cholesterol test.

Oh well.  I have yarn and that's what matters.

On and Off the Needles

Lot's of progress has been made this week.

The Urban Girl Reyna has not only been finished, 

Blocking Reyna

but also blocked!

Reyna, knit with Urban Girl Yarns

The mint green Small Baby Thing has been finished, but not yet blocked.  I'm super excited with the way it turned out and I can't wait to share details and show you a full view photo.  Next week....

The Big Baby Thing is still no where close to being finished but progress has been made.  I'm estimating that I'm 45% done.  Only 55% more to go.  Obviously there's no way I'll get it finished by tomorrow but I'm not stressing over it.  Actually, I'm feeling better about it. Knowing that it's physically impossible meet my self-imposed deadline means I no longer have to try.  I'm feeling much more relaxed and happy about knitting it.  

At this new happy, relaxed rate, maybe I can finish it by tomorrow.  And maybe I'll spend the next week in the hospital because my hands fell off.  Yikes!  Guess I better take occasional breaks.  I'll need my hands to hold the grand baby!

Okay, question for all you language experts out there.  Why is it "grand baby" with a space, but it's "grandmother" and "grandfather"?  Or at least that's what my spell-check is telling me.  Why???

Baby Things

I wanted to thank all of you who commented on the other day's post or emailed me regarding my panic about knitting The Big Baby Thing.  So many of you offered kind reminders that knitting happens at its own pace and that trying to force it to happen quicker can be damaging to both me and the project.  And for that I am thankful.

I had already come to terms with the fact that The Big Baby Thing would be tossed into a gift bag moments before entering the baby shower, that I'd ask the mom-to-be to open my gift first, then I'd quickly snatch it back from her and spend the rest of the party knitting on it. I was okay with that.  If the mom-to-be is going to be part of our family, she better get used to that type of behavior from me.

random photo of the sun setting on the trees 

But, my real concern is, the baby may be here much sooner than expected.  Nothing to be overly concerned about, the doctors simply adjusted the baby's due date by multiple weeks.  Multiple weeks!  Doesn't the doctor know how important something like that is to a knitting grandma?  I mean, come on!  I've got a knitting schedule!  A one week adjustment is one thing, but weeks, with an "S" ...  Yikes!

But, whenever she arrives, the baby will need a Big Baby Thing and dag gone it if this first time grandma is going to be late with baby's Big Baby Thing.  

But, and here's where I'm extra thankful for all the suggestions to let the Big Baby Thing be late and perhaps knit a small baby thing instead...

Mint Green Stroll Small Baby Thing

You all reminded me of an important small baby thing that I'd planned to knit and had completely forgotten about.  Needless to say, it's on the needles now.  In fact, it's almost off the needles!  

And I promise it isn't dirty dishwater colored in real life.  In real life, it's standard, genderless, mint green. Mint Stroll from Knit Picks to be exact.  I'm holding two strands together to make the knitting go faster.  I'm pretty stoked about this design.  I'm making it up as I go and so far, it's working as planned.  Knock on wood!  Anyway, I'll be able to tell you more about it next week. 

Rescued!

A giant Thank You to all who responded to my stash issues/yarn diet post the other day.  I wanted to to reply to each of you individually but once again, life got in the way.  Our oil furnace went beserk, the house filled with noxious, throat burning fumes, we had to evacuate and the fire department had to come to our rescue.  We made it out safely, the furnace is our secondary heat source so we're still warm, the house didn't burn to the ground and everything is okay.  But it did set the tone for the day and in reality, it was sort of the highlight of the day.

Charles City Fire and Rescue

I'm just glad we were here because my MIL had no idea anything was wrong.  It could have been an unimaginably horrible situation.  The firemen were fantastic and we very much appreciated their help and friendliness even though Grandma failed at her attempt to get one of them to propose to my daughter.  Grandma has decided Sarah needs to find herself a man.

Thank you, Charles City Fire and Rescue!

Thankfully the day's events wore out Grandma, she went to bed early, and I was able to hide out in my attic yarn stash closet and finish the Newborn Vertebrae.

Finished Newborn Vertebrae Cardigan

I even blocked it!

My apologies if this entire post is blurry or the colors are off.  I'm sitting in a Dunkin Donuts using the internet and being blinded by the sun streaming in through the window.   

.... And I just realized I'm still wearing my sunglasses, not my reading glasses.  No wonder I'm having so much trouble.  

I swear!  Dementia is contagious! 

Three on Thursday - Progress

It doesn’t feel like I’ve made any knitting progress this week but I have.  Actually, I’ve made much more progress than I’d realized.  Yay for this blog post pointing out that fact out to me.

First and foremost, the Newborn Vertebrae.

Newborn Vertebrae Cardigan

It has a body, pink ribbing and the beginning of a sleeve.  I think the last time I mentioned it, it only had top-down shoulders and no body at all.  Lots of progress!

Beam me up, Scotty

Second, my Weekender sweater.  Not much visible progress photo-wise but I’m done with the ribbing and a few inches into the sweater.  I’m so glad I decided to cast this one on.  It’s the perfect mindless project to knit on while hanging out in the radiation lab and it has the barest minimum of detail to keep me from loosing my mind with all that stockinette.  In my size and with so much positive ease, it’s a LOT of stockinette!  And best of all, this Wool of the Andes Tweed is heaven to knit with.

Aurora Hat

And last but not least, the plain but gorgeous green hat. It’s hit the stage where it’s being ignored because it’s too close to being finished to bother carrying it doctor’s appointments.  Once I finish the Newborn Vertebrae, I’ll focus on finishing this hat.  Besides absolutely loving the heathered green, I’m excited to pick out a pompom for it.  I actually woke up in the middle of the night recently thinking about my available pompom color choices.

Wishing you happy knitting and I hope you’ll join me over at Carole's for today’s Three on Thursday gathering.

Three on Thursday

I'm joining Carol for today's Three on Thursday gathering.  Today I have three things I want to knit for the soon to be grandbaby.  I'm having trouble because the baby is due in late March/early April, which means only a month or two of wearing sweaters before summer arrives.  I desperately want to knit cute, little newborn things but I should really knit for a six to nine month old.  But that's okay too.  Big baby things are just as cute, and much more practical.

Hungary Caterpillar sleep sack

So, item #1, a Very Hungry Caterpillar sleep sack.  Besides being a fan of the book, I think the sleep sack is adorable and, I love that it has 'sleeves.'  I always worry about the baby sinking down into the sack and suffocating but this version has shoulder straps which should keep the newborn's head up and out.

Helen Joyce Dress

The second project is the Helen Joyce Dress.  I just love how girly it is with that simple lace design.

Latte Coat

And third and possibly my favorite, the Latte Coat.  It's so simple but I love it.

Think Pink!

We're thinking pink over here!  We finally got the official word from the doctor that my grandbaby-to-be will be a girl.  Phew!  Now I can buy yarn!  The other set of grandparents were hoping for a girl while we didn't really have a preference.  I just wanted to know what color to be knitting.  And now...

Bella Cash yarn

I can knit!  I have a surprise baby 'thing' for my son and wanted to make a black Newborn Vertebrae to match.  And yes, I know.  You're probably asking, "Black?  For a baby?  What's wrong with you?"  Once you see the 'thing' you'll understand.  Anyway....  As it turns out, I'm  knitting a dark gray Newborn Vertebrae and since the baby is going to be a girl, I'll add pink ribbing to girly it up.

I chose the gray, or Graphite to be exact, mainly because it was close to black and on sale.  It's extremely difficult to find black yarn suitable for a newborn.  Anyway, the colors are Graphite and Tulip and the yarn is Bella Cash.  The yarn is so soft and I'm loving knitting with it.  It's mostly superwash merino with a little cashmere thrown in.

Laser Tag, Sock Labs Hawthorne

After the Newborn Vertebrae, I want to knit something with this Sock Labs Hawthorne.  The colorway is called Laser Tag.  Several months ago Knit Picks had a few retro colorways of Hawthorne in their Sock Labs line and when it went on sale, I grabbed a pinkish and a blueish skein in preparation for the gender reveal.  My plan all along has been to knit an Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Surprise jacket but now I'm wondering.  Once I finish the pink and gray Vertebrae I'll wind this yarn and see if it's going to stripe or 'blip' colorwise then I'll make decision.

And tomorrow is knitting group night at the yarn shop, and we all know what that means!

Meanwhile, think pink!

Three on Thursday

Three random questions I've been pondering...

1.  My knitting books and The Move.  Do I take all my knitting books with me or do I depend on Ravelry for patterns?  And if I take my books, do I take All of them, or only a few?  What is a few?  Do I set a limit on how many I can take?  How low should that limit be?  I think I might cry without my books but...  They do take up an awful lot of space and honestly, I usually depend on Ravelry for pattern inspiration and Youtube for help.  But without my books, it may feel more like prison than a step towards the big life goal.

2.  Harry Potter.  What is it with all the Harry Potter stuff that keeps popping up?  Have you noticed?  It seems like everyone is once again knitting Harry Potter stuff.  Why?  Not that Harry Potter wasn't a fantastic book and movie series.... but those books and movies came out years ago.  Years!  Why is everyone suddenly knitting Harry Potter stuff again?

car knitting

3.  I bought SO much fall colored yarns over the summer... and here I am knitting for a spring baby.  Spring baby colors are completely different from fall adult colors.

Join me over at Carole's for today's Three on Thursday party.

On the Needles

Yes, the baby blanket is still on the needles.  

baby blanket knit with Knit Picks Sock Labs Stroll

But I have finally added the second color.  The blanket is not going to be anywhere near as large as I'd hoped it would be, or as I feel it should be based on knitting time, but it will be okay.  Rather than a crib blanket, it will be more receiving blanket sized. 

I'm telling myself it's okay if the blanket is small.  It will be fine for covering a newborn and as baby grows, perhaps this one can become the Linus type 'blankie' that they hold and snuggle with rather than the one that keeps them warm.

And look how the blanket matches my project bag.  Have you noticed everything in my life seems to be that aqua color?   Sitting here at my desk, without even turning my head, I can see so much aqua!  There's my knitting, my project bag, my yarn bowl, my project chart keeper thing, an ashtray that I keep paper clips in, a bottle make that two bottles of nail polish, my yarn scale, my calendar cover,  some file folders, Post-It-Notes, a book I'm reading and believe it or not, duct tape.  Yes, I even have aqua colored duct tape!  Good grief!  I'd have said it was green, but do you think aqua might be my favorite color?

Oh, and if you're local and will be at the Montpelier Fiber Festival tomorrow, look for me.  I'll be there - shopping, not selling.  So if some crazed woman shoves you out of the way, my apologies, but you were standing between me and the yarn.