the one that got away

So I've been to England and back again, but I'll talk about that next time. This time I want to just register something that was finished and gifted before I left. In my last entry, I mistakenly had two #31s, so now, I present FO #33:



Sadly, I can't find the hat pattern I used for this project. I think I found it by searching a very specific chain of search terms on Ravelry, and I just tried a quick search and can't find it. I can, however, reassure you that if you search by just 'baby hat', you will find NO END of adorable patterns for whatever diameter yarn remnants you happen to have around. Me? I had two half skeins of Louet Gems left over from some socks. And a plethora of babies at work, as we all know, so I decided to make one of them a hat. Except that I still had a whole half skein left after that hat was finished (I guess it was the lace--makes the yarn last longer), so I decided to make some baby leg warmers to match, since I heard these were great--that mom's really liked and used them, and this way I could test them out as a baby gift.



I think they're pretty cool. You can roll the ribbing down (or up), and they'll last longer. The pattern for these is here on Ravelry, and here on the designer's blog.

The girl I gave them to just learned to knit, but she's a natural, and I think she appreciated the gesture. The one thing I was worried about was that the hat was lacy, and she's having a boy, but it's not super-girly, and it is blue, so hopefully she (or her husband) won't care too much in the end.

These were done before my UK trip; I just never got around to blogging about them. Also, I did use leftovers of the same yarn to wrap the presents, and I really think that turned out to be a nice touch.

Next up, swinging London!

don't try to say to me that this was never meant to be

Well, where the hell have I been anyway? Oh, around. No, I've just been living life. Every second filled with some commitment, or in between projects, or just missing some pictures. This coming Tuesday, I leave for London again, and then two days after I get back, I'm off to Denver for a week, and then two weeks after that, I'm off to Louisville. I am also going up to West Point for a day in between to do a talk on how to get your book published. Fun, eh? I've already looked up some sweet looking yarn shops in Denver, but not London yet. And Louisville? We'll see...

Here's an example of what the last few weeks have been like:
Last Monday after work, Spanky met me and we went down to the Lion Brand store to pick up the tickets for Stitch & Pitch, which is this Monday coming up (Mets v. Braves!). Tuesday was knitting night. Wednesday, I went to a gala with Spanky, which was really awesome. There were tables from tons of different restaurants, and lots of microbreweries, and you could just sample things from all those places made with local ingredients. YUM. And we got gift bags at the end of the night, with food samples, and a set of four canning jars! I'm pretty stoked about that, as that was the main thing that kept me from trying to can stuff. Finding the jars. Anyway, then Thursday after work, I took my friend Cheryl to Knitty City to get some yarn and needles to make her first real scarf. She's learned to knit pretty fast, and made a lot of progress already! It took a while though, because I forgot that to start, she had to wind the yarn first, so we went to a deli, got some coffee and sat and wound it. Then went over how to read the pattern and cast on. She came in on Friday with like four inches done, so I think she's got it. :) Then Friday, my friend Angela and I went to dinner and to see Jennifer's Body. We both left kind of at a loss for words. Neither of us could decide whether we liked it or not, and that's unusual! It was not good by any stretch of the imagination, but not totally terrible either. It was like one of those posts on Go Fug Yourself where they ask you to fix the outfit. Like, it is pretty bad the way it is, but not so bad that it can't be fixed somehow. Anyway, we also have friends staying with us for the weekend. Yeah, can you say 'stretched to the limits'? And Monday is Stitch and Pitch, and then Tuesday I'm leaving for England! I feel like I'm burning the candle at both delicious ends. It is really fun, in a way, not to be sitting around watching TV bloated and tired, but I'm sure I can't keep this up for very long, or I'm going to crash and burn, big time.

Honestly, the other thing that is stressing me out is knitting. I know this is going to come as a giant shock but I HAVE TOO MUCH YARN. I've been seriously invested in knitting down the stash for some time now, which has resulted in a plethora of FINALLY finished objects, but they're all small, and have only resulted in the use of two leftover balls of sock yarn, two balls of aran weight cashmerino and two balls of Noro that had no business being in the stash in the first place. AND, I STILL have small balls of the sock yarn left! This stuff is NEVER-ENDING. It makes me tense just thinking of it. BUT. I am basically done with the baby knitting. Right now I'm finishing the top ribbing on the last baby leg-warmer, and then I have one quick hat to whip out from some leftover organic cotton, and then I'll be ready to tackle my two languishing WIPS, the Clementine Shawlette and Veil. And I'm going to knit a beret for myself. And then I'll have to start xmas knitting. I'm making my assistant some fingerless gloves, and I want to make a nice scarf for my friend John, who goes to my book group with me. That's it, but it's going to take a while. All from stash, baby. Although, I did buy this stash specifically for these projects, so...

Anyway, here are a few of the things I've finished recently:

FO #29:


Project: Well, these were loosely based on several different legwarmer patterns, but basically I just looked at them to find out how many stitches to cast on, and where to start increasing. Otherwise, it is just k1p1 rib all the way up.

Needles: Size 7 bamboo dpns. I wanted them on the tightly-knit side, since they have to keep my legs warm in the wind this winter. Mission accomplished, I think. They really do keep your legs warm.

Yarn: Noro Kureyon, color 221, 2 balls--these balls were bought at The Stockinette's sale, where they were trying to make room for fall inventory. I didn't really want them, but two balls of Kureyon are not bad to have in the stash because you can always use them for a hat, or fingerless mitts, or...legwarmers!


Aren't they cute?

FO #30:



Pattern: basket-rib headband

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran--also yarn that would never end. This was from the half-ball left over from making that little baby bolero, and again, I still had yarn left over after this too, but I think I might have chucked it. There's only so much a girl can take, after all.

Needles: uh, I think I did these on the US 7 dpns too.



This is a good pattern to use up some extra yarn, and it makes a good headband. I'm sure I'm going to use it a lot.

FO #31:


Yarn: leftover Aussie sock yarn
Pattern: Lacy Rib Baby Socks

These socks were cute, but I think I still prefer the Pieces of Eight baby socks. Luckily, there are a million variations of baby socks on Ravelry, so I can try them all! Anyway these were made to go with the blue ones I made from the last post with the red toe, so that's one more baby from work down. I just have one more to go, and I think I'm going to make a toy for that kid.

And lastly, one more thing for Craig's care package:

FO #31:

I'm counting these as one thing--


Yarn: Deborah Norville Serenity sock yarn
Needles: US1 bamboo dpns
Pattern: good ole' Pieces of Eight baby socks. I can now churn one of these out in a couple hours if I'm left alone. Good to know, eh?

Hopefully I won't go so long between posts now that I've gotten through this bottle-neck. I just mostly needed pics of the leg-warmers, but have been too busy to get Spanky to take them for me. Now that is done, and everyone can carry on.