Booties

These booties are made from a pattern I found on Ravelry. I think they are called "Sarjees' Booties". I made them in 100% cotton and sewed on faux vintage buttons to hold down the straps. I am now working on a matching hat with a garter stitch border and just stockinette stitch body; I might make a knitted flower or something to sew to the side of the hat when its finished. Or, I might sew on a few matching buttons.

Beret

This was an italian silk blend yarn that Jeff's Aunt Debbie gave me. Its varigated with shades of pink, purple, and blue. I think its heavy worsted weight. I didn't have quite enough of it to make this pattern exactly as written; I had to skip some knit rows inbetween decreased rows.

Socks in Shell Pattern

This pattern is from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in Giant Peach; merino wool. The socks come up mid calf. They were much much quicker to knit up than Jeff's shooting stockings, probably because I had memorized the pattern and didn't have to keep refering to the book. And, my legs and feet are much smaller! They are a little itchy, but very cute.

Whoa, my legs look enormous in the picture. Its just the angle.

valentine cables hat

This pattern is from Knitscene Fall 09. I used Classic Elite Yarns Soft Linen, which is 30% baby alpaca, 35% wool, and 35% linen.

mittens

This cable mitten pattern is also from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders, pg. 140. I knit the pink ones last year, in bebe cotsoy (50% soy, 50% cotton) in 8" circumference and I knit the white ones last weekend in some leftover acrylic in 7" circumerference. The cuff is knit in a twisted rib pattern and the cable pattern is extended all the way to the fingertips.

I really really do not like synthetic fibers. That acrylic is gross. I mean, its SO cheap though, and I had a pattern for a shrug that called for it, so I tried it, but its so dense and almost sticky. I didn't save the label, but it came in a huge ball so I wanted to use up the rest so as not to waste it. Some of the Paton yarn i've used has some synthetic fibers blended in so they are not so bad, but I really do not like to buy the stuff.

Smock-a-Ruche Scarf

This pattern is from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders, pg. 196. It starts with 96 cast on stitches, decreased to 48, and then stockinette stitch in between the pattern stitches. The ruching is made by decreasing and then increasing before and after the pattern. I used size 9 (5.5mm) and 10.5 (6.5mm) needles. The smaller needles are only used for the cast on and bind off edges. The yarn I used is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted hand dyed yarn in #76 Aslan (lot 3075, 225 yd). Its 100% superwash wool. Although the pattern says to repeat 8 times, I only had enough yarn to repeat 6 times so its a bit short... believe me, when I say I had 'just enough' yarn, I literally had to weave in ends with a crochet hook because the yarn ends were so short. I used every little bit of the one skein. Anyway, the yarn is very soft and fluffy and the ruching makes it very thick and warm.

baby hats

This pink baby hat was knit using remnants of light pink bebe cotsoy and a flamingo pink 100% cotton. Its pretty much the same as the blue and green hat below, but I made the rib in k2,p2 instead of k1,p1 and I knit it in more rows so the brim would be thicker.

For the blue and green striped hat, I used the yarn remnants from the baby booties (previous post). For the rolled edge hat, I used Patons bamboo baby (55% acrylic, 45% bamboo) in 91520 soft yellow.

side slip cloche hat

This pattern is from Boutique Knits (see March 5 post, cover photo). It is called a side slip cloche hat. It may be worn with the ruffle to the side facing down, or facing up (shown both ways). The yarn is Italian Nashua Grand Opera in #8132 silver. It is 86% wool, 9% viscose, and 5% metallized polyester, so really it looks gray with a sparkly silver woven in. I don't look good in hats, so I modeled the hat on my pilates ball. Ha!

Baby things

These patterns for baby booties are from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies by Erika Knight. For the green ones, I used Plymouth Yarn Baby Boutique (50% microfiber, 50% nylon) in 05 Jade. For the blue ones, I used Sublime Soya Cotton dk (50% soya, 50% cotton) in 84 Comfrey.

This sweater pattern is also from the book mentioned above. I used the Sublime Soya Cotton dk for this. The sweater was knit in 5 parts, 2 fronts, 2 arms, and one back and then seamed together. Stitches were picked up around the front and neck for the ribbed edge. The arms are a bit long, since I think babies have short arms in relation to their body, so it looks a bit gorilla-ish. I have yet to sew on buttons.

basil

YUM~ Basil is so tasty. My little plant was being attacked by gnats and was wimpy from not getting enough sun, so I put it outside on the corner of the deck. During the next week, it stormed and my poor little plant was beaten up by the rain. It is just now getting strong again.

Yesterday Jeff's dad Gary brought me this huge plantar filled with basil. Now I don't have to worry about plucking my little one to death! For dinner we had new york strip steaks with horseradish cream, roasted red potatoes, and tomato salad with lots of basil and feta. The basil is so delicious!

Wintery things for my Jeffrey (old projects)

This pattern is from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders, simply named "spiral hat," designed by Marci Blank. I knit this in gray ecowool (same yarn used on the fair isle hats). For this pattern, I cast on 79 stitches and joined in the round on size 8, 16" circular needles. I knit 7 rows to form the self rolling brim and then K6, p4 repeated to form a continuing spiral pattern.

These are "Gentleman's Shooting Stockings" in a fluted pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. This book has a fantastic introduction on the history of sock knitting and early handcrafted stockings. There are many updates on Weldon's techniques on working in rounds, colors, heels, gussets, toe shaping, and so on. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning all about knitting socks and various toe and heel shapes. Its a very valuable reference and has many nice patterns. These socks took me a very long time, since Jeff has big feet and long legs!

Golf Club Cozies

For these, I used Patons Classic Wool (100% pure new wool, 205m/233yd, 100g) in Jade Heather (77208), Cognac Heather (77532), and New Denim (77115). I used size 6 dpns, cast on 44 stitches and distributed on 3 needles. I knit in K2, p2 rib for about 4" and then knit in pattern for another 4 inches before decreasing every 3rd round to shape the top. The blue cozy is knit in a ribbed cable pattern, the green is knit in a eyelet pattern, and the red is knit in a braided pattern.

Half-Felted Bag

This pattern is from Boutique Knits. The yarn is Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted (85% wool, 15% mohair; 190 yd [174m]/4oz). I used size 11, 7 and 6- sixteen inch addi turbo circular needles. The bag body is knit in two peices, front and back, and then sewn together. The bag body is then felted along with two ring holders. I then knit the two unfelted pockets and put in eyelets where the leather is laced through. Finding the appropriate hardware was difficult; I went to hobby lobby in JC and Columbia, Michaels, and JoAnn to get the D rings, chain, and leather lacing, rhinestone snaps. I plan to line the bag with a cute patterned fabric like the other two purses.

linen clutch

For this clutch, I used handpainted 100% linen. I didn't use a pattern, but just started knitting on size 3 needles in a seed stitch until I used up almost all the yarn. I sewed the edge seams and then decided to use the needles I was knitting with as the handles. I picked up stitches to join the top of the purse with the needle and then glued the end stitches in place so they wouldn't fall off. I sewed in a patterned fabric around the top perimeter of the bag.

Fair Isle

This pattern is from Boutique Knits (book previously mentioned). Its a fair isle hat in 3 colors. This was my first project in fair isle. Once I got used to all the strands of yarn, it was quite easy. The first hat I knit in gray ecowool and remnants of pink from the berry bobble hat and green from the brick tea cozy. The second hat was knit with the same yarns but I used the pink for the main color in the pattern and green for the trim. The green is pretty light and does not show up well against the gray, but I did not realize this until the hat was knit up, because when I had the balls of yarn side by side the color was quite pronounced. But, I think they still look quite nice and they only took me about 2 days each to make.

Anyway, I like the pattern and the size and shape of the hat. Some hat patterns turn out so strangely.... just the other day I knit a hat using Debbie Bliss baby beret pattern and Paton's bamboo/acrylic blend yarn. The shape is so strange! The bottom ribbed portion is small (but large enough to fit a baby's head... I made it to fit a 3-6 mo old) but the hat is so long (or deep rather) from the top to bottom with a pointy top and I made a pom pon for the top but it just looks like a weird shaped golf beret or something. Anyway, I originally made it for one of Jeff's pregnant co-workers, but it is not suitable for actual wear and is not a good example of my knitting ability! So, I put it on my pottery barn bear. I need to find a better pattern for a baby hat and matching booties.

The art of the slow cooker

For dinner, I am making "Game Hens Poelee with Spring Vegetables" from this book. I love my all-clad slow cooker with ceramic insert. It makes dinner so easy! Well for this recipe, Jeff cleaned up two small hens and split them. I browned them in a skillet, and set them aside while adding baby carrots, pearl onions, new potatoes, thyme, rosemary, garlic and artichoke hearts to the bottom of the slow cooker. I added the hens skin side up on top of the vegetables, and set it on low for 5.5 hours. Right before serving, I will add peas and tarragon. This morning, it took me only 10 minutes to do all this, and pretty soon the house will be smelling lovely.

(Both products pictured are from williams-sonoma... a store I adore!!)

House

Pleated Denim Purse

This was knit with made-in-Italy Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy; 34% hemp, 41% cotton and 25% modal in color 012 (navy blue). The pattern is from which is a fantastic book of modern and easy patterns. The purse is knit in two pieces, front and back. Then I used a mattress stitch to join them and blocked the piece. I bought the fabric and buttons at hobby lobby and sewed in the lining. This was my first time sewing! I used a magnetic clasp on the flap.

New additions

Yesterday I went to a couple nurseries to look for new plants, but ended up going to Lowe's. I got lots of things! I planted some new ground cover to fill space and some new flowering perennials. I added lots of potting soil to the dirt this time, and spread mulch around the box woods I planted earlier. I think it looks a lot better (see previous pictures!) but still very very amateur-ish. My next door neighbor has a magnificent garden, with all types of flowers and trees, and a little pond with fish, and a picket-fenced area for vegetables. They have been living in the same house for 39 years though, so she has had lots of time to expand her garden. It is truely an art, and I cannot even express how measly my little garden is compared to it. I hope my plants thrive and look as nice some day though. I also bought some hydrangeas; I don't know where I will put those yet.... and a pink dogwood. I always wanted a dogwood in my own yard, since we had some in our yard in Fairview Heights.

Cardinals!

Tuesday night we went to the Cardinal's game against the Mets. We won! It was a great game. It was a bit chilly but I brought my roll-up fleece blanket. We ate lots of peanuts, lemonade, and foot-long corn dogs! Mmm~