First shorites

Yarn: BBR - Green and Tangerine
Pattern: Embellished, spin off of aubrey doodlepants
Needle: Size 5,7
Knitting time: 1 week

Impression:
I'm definitely getting faster. 1 week isn't bad. I was surprised how easy it was to make shorts. I think they might even be easier than soakers. Everything was in the round, so I loved it. I did a 2X2 ribbing converting to 6X2. I didn't make a drawstring because the waist is pretty stretchy. The bottom of the leg are garter for a straight finish. These are medium sized and they're part of a trade.



The only thing I think I need work on is adding in the stripes. Notice they don't align perfectly. I have to figure out a way to fix that.


Other than that, they look good. They look like shorts, I think.

I'm working on a nb/small diaper cover with buttons now. Then I'll make some capri pants for Mica in a similar fashion.

Newborn Skirty

Yarn: Purewool - Pragua colorway
Pattern: Embellished
Needle: Size 5,7
Knitting time: 1 1/2 weeks

Impression:
I am in LOVE with this skirty! The pattern worked well. I did the skirty first, then went back and did the soaker. I wanted the increases to show, so I did basic increases. I wanted to add the flare, so I slowly increased from size 7 dpns to size 8s. Then I did the yo's at the bottom to add a little style.
You can't completely tell the texture because the camera isn't that sensitive, but there is a slight border that I made by purling a row right where the soakers and skirty separate:






This is a close up of the yarnovers.


I'm going to start working on a matching headband for a little princess. Oh, I hope I have a girl!

Decisions, decisions...and future projects

I have another skein of that yummy watermelon purewool sitting in my knitting bin. I'm debating what to with it. I think Mica is set on soakers, so I would either make shorties or a skirty out of it. For the skirty, I would need another ounce or so to complete it. I did get an offer for some natural PW, so I can try my hand at dying it. That might be fun. The other option is to make a nb skirty out of it. Now, that would be taking a great leap of faith that I'm having a girl. I guess it would sell fairly easily if I ended up with a boy. Then I could buy some shorties instead. I will decide within the next few hours what I will do with it...

As for future projects...

1-I've started some shorties for a momma who is making me a podegi (asian-style baby carrier). Oh, I can't wait for this pod! It will be made out of my poor little damaged magenta wrap (an indio didymos). This one:



These should be done by mid next week.

2-Once these are done I'll dig into that skirty I mentioned above. Actually, I've just decided to go ahead and make it a nb one. I will simply used the undyed the momma offered me to try my luck at dying. I've been itching for something yellow!!
So the skirty should be done by end of July. Before the baby comes. AHHHHHH!

3-I have this lovely BBR wool in the Northern lights colorway: http://www.blackberry-ridge.com/kaldyarn.htm that I hope to make into some capris for Mica sometime in August.

At that point, I'll have a baby and I have no idea when I'll have time to knit. But here are more for the future:
-I have 2 orders for cotton longies that I plan on making at the end of summer.
-Small longies for my bub
-Medium longies for Mica

And there are a slew of other non-pant stuff I want to try this fall/winter:
-striped baby leg warmers
-leg warmers for myself--how cool would I be!!
-slippers for me and my wonderful hubby
-baby poncho for easy wear over our wraps, of course
-A cabled sweater. Cables scare me, but I'm dying to learn them!


Oh my, thats a lot! I better start knitting faster!!

Projects #9 and 10 - June - July

I'm finally caught up to my current projects (now I'll stop numbering them lol). I'm back to knitting for my babies, at least for a short while. I needed soakers with no drawstring and some nice hearty wool for nighttime use. So I made these for Mica and I'm almost done with a matching newborn pair. I will most likely finish them during my commute tomorrow morning.

Yarn: Tangerine Blueberry Ridge
Pattern: Curly purly soakers - http://www.curlypurly.com/soaker.html
Needle: Size 7 and 5 and 3 for the waist and brim.
Knitting time: 1 week for medium, 1/2 week for newborn

Impression:
I love this yarn. Its definitely not yummy soft like the merinos, but its so sturdy. I think it will make a great nighttime soaker.
The pattern is super easy. My first time making short rows, but it was no challenge. I will admit that the rise came out a bit longer than I expected. I'm not sure if its meant to be that way. I guess I will just fold it over. And even though I sized down and did the medium for my girl, there still appears to be SO much room to grow.
I love these soakers!

So heres the medium:



And on my model:



And here are the *almost* finished nb ones:

Project #8 - June

A great momma on DS offered to trade me some dipes for a custom soaker, so of course, I jumped on it.

Yarn: American beauty malabrigio
Pattern: None really. I used what I knew from the previous soakers, but made the legs side-loading instead.
Needle: Size 7 and 5 for the waist and brim.
Knitting time: 1 week

Impression: I think they worked out well, we will soon see if they worked for her lil' guy. I did find that the malabrigio was even more pily than the purewool, which was a surprise for me:



And here is what I got in return, one size embrodiered and minkee dipes. I'm in love:




(sorry the pics are so horrible, my daughter was quite active last night)

Project #7 - May - June

I finally got around to making my sisters flip flops that I promised her so long ago

Yarn: Purewool - don't remember the colorway
Pattern: Knitty fuzzyfeet - http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter02/PATTfuzzyfeet.html
Needle: Size 10
Knitting time: 2 weeks

Impression:
These were my first socks, and while they were a little more involved then soakers, they were fairly easy. I loved that I got to felt them because it did hide any mistakes I may have made.



I just realized I forgot to take pics of them after felting. Silly me, I'll have to see if my sister will model them when I go home this weekend.

Oh, and she loved them. I did too. I think I will make myself a pair. Someday when I get the time.

Project #6 - May

Our friends daughter was turning one, so I made her these soakers.

Yarn: Purewool - don't remember the colorway
Pattern: Punknitters pattern - http://community.livejournal.com/punk_knitters/110889.html
Needle: Size 7
Knitting time: 1 1/2 weeks

Impression:
I wasn't impressed with the colorway in the center pull ball, but boy did I fall in love with these soakers. I have another ball and I'm considering making it into some shorties for Mica. Doesn't it just yell out watermelon???

Projects #4 and 5 - April

I took a brief break from knitting, then got back into the groove when I found out I was knitting for two!
So I made two pairs of matching soakers. Then I had a wonderful wahm make matching shirts.

Yarn: Purewool - don't remember the colorway, but I used purple for the trim and the beautiful multi color for the main color
Pattern: Punknitters pattern - http://community.livejournal.com/punk_knitters/110889.html
Needle: Size 7
Knitting time: 1 1/2 weeks each (hat included), as usual, off and on, knitting during my hour long commute

Impression:
The pattern was very easy, a great beginner pattern. I would've added a little more in between to make the leg holes bigger though.

Large, these have a rolled cuff so they look cute and girly:



Newborn/small, these have 2X2 ribbing at the cuffs, since after all, I'm not sure what gender I'm knitting for. And a matching newborn hat for my little bundle of love:


And here are the outfits:




(Yes, thats my precious model.)



I should also note that I made another newborn set for a friend who offered to trade me some dipes. Since I don't sew, I jumped on the chance. I got these lovelies in return:

Project #3 - Mid Jan - Mid Feb

Another pair of longies for my little girl.

Yarn: Black and Cyan Purewool
Pattern: These were a spin of the knitty cargo pants pattern, but I shaped them differently to make them look like bell bottoms as noted below.
Needle: Size 8
Knitting time: 1 month, as usual, off and on, knitting during my hour long commute

Impression:
My changes: I started with the number of stitches I wanted for each leg (which was 45). I increased by 1 on each end for 4 rows in garter stitch, unjoined. Then I joined in stochinette and began decreasing by two until I ended with 45 again. The rest of the pattern followed the cargo pants, but since I used 8's this time, the fit was much nicer.
Then I gave them a drawstring waist. And a single pocket in the back.
Loved these pants! Still love them. I wish I made the rise a little longer because I'm not positive that they will fit her this winter.





I made a matching hat, but for some reason, never took a picture of it. She hated it anyways. And rarely used it.

Project #2 - Early Dec - Mid Jan

For my second project, I decided to go ahead and venture into longies. My beloved daughter started wearing cloth diapers a few months back and I thought longies would be a nice way to go. Sure soakers would've been easier, but it was too cold in Boston!

Yarn: Giotto Purewool (Another YUMMY Soft one)
Pattern: Baby cargo pants pattern from Knitty: http://www.knitty.com/issuesummer05/PATTcargo.html
Needle: Size 7,8
Knitting time: 1 1/2 mos, off and on, knitting during my hour long commute and the holidays

Impression:
Single ply merino wool is wonderful, but I did find that it piled something heavy after a while.
I found the pattern fairly easy, though a little difficult around the hips. I also think I'm a super tight knitter, because the pants came out tighter than I expected. If I had to do it over, I would size up and add short rows on the backside, since afterall, this pattern was not meant for cloth-diapered cuties.





Oh, did I mention I made a matching hat? It was mainly inspired by the vintage knits rolled brim baby hat pattern: http://www.vintageknits.com/babyhat.html
But I did not do the top as suggested and I added ear muffs because as I mentioned, it was cold!!



Oh, and I added a purled little heart on the front for my sweetie.

Project #1 - Nov-Dec 2007

My first project was simple, a scarf for my dear husband. I made it for our anniversary on Dec 2.

Yarn: Green kettle-dyed Malabrigio (YUMMY Soft!)
Pattern: None, just 2X1 ribbing as he likes
Needle: Size 8
Knitting time: 2 mos, off and on, knitting during my hour long commute

Finally got this started

I've been meaning to start a knitting journal for a while now. I just want to keep track of my projects and see if I've improved any. So lets start with a little background...

Learning
I learned to knit from a wonderful friend of mine, Pina. She showed me the basic cast on and knit sometime around October of last year. I have since learned several new techniques from knittinghelp.com and other helpful sites. These techniques include different cast ons, bind offs, adding, deacreasing, knitting in the round, sewing seams, and my most recent discovery--short rows.

Projects
There have been quite a few, so I'm going to outline them in separate posts, with pictures for your enjoyment.