WIP Wednesday: Thotful Spot Hat

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The knitting and napping method worked so swell the other day that I tried it again on my Thotful Spot hat!

I’m past the brim and well into the stockinette section. I just need to hit the magic number of 7 inches of work and I can start decreasing for the crown! This project has moved into the “bedside table” slot now that it’s stockinette in the round (in addition to nap-time knitting). But will have to be demoted after I get to the decreases. Double pointed needles plus counting stitches for decreases do not mix with almost complete darkness.

Happy Knitting!!

My Little Strawberry

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PB has turned out to be very very very temperature sensitive. As in she hates air conditioning and LOVES the Kansas summer heat. Lets just say Mommy has been sweaty and baby has been happy as we have wiled away the hours in the shade of the garage on the driveway.

This meant I have been pawing through my hand knits bin to look for warm snugly things to keep her happy without the rest of us melting while indoors. I found a strawberry cocoon I knit so long ago that it’s not even in my Ravelry projects! I mean it was so early in my knitting career that I knit both items flat and seamed! Oh, how young and naive I was….

This was the best photo I managed to get…and she was rooting around for some milk. Needless to say about 12 seconds later this photo session dissolved into baby screams demanding boob. I will try again another day when shes happy and fed…. before she is too big. (I also have blackberry cocoon I knit from the same pattern that also needs photos!)

Happy Knitting!!

Knitting and Napping

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My Electric Mayhem socks are all done except the heels! Thus they have moved from nighttime bedside knitting to full on daylight knitting. As brave as I am….I’m not going to knit fingering weight sock yarn in black in the dark, lol

PB has been on hand for the heels. These heels were ready about the same time the 4 week growth spurt hit. So PB has needed a little extra attention and tummy to tummy time from mommy. Luckily I have found a relatively comfortable and ergonomic position to knit while snuggling a baby.

We both stayed warm and cozy listening to music or podcasts while the heels grew and grew.

And sometimes you just have to stop and enjoy the baby snuggles before they are gone!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Antarktis

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My Antarktis is done, blocked and photographed! A minor miracle considering I am also nursing a bottomless pit who gains 2 oz a day and keeping my house (somewhat) clean.

Pattern: Antarktis by Janina Kallio

Yarn: KnitCircus Trampoline in the Needle in a Haystack impressionist gradient

Needles: US 7

I tried to use my blocking wires from Christmas and I confess that I was rushing due to crying children. So this is not blocked the best. But I got the eyelets to open up just a enough and got the shawl to a nice wearable size.

I really liked this pattern. It was well written and the different sections really broke it up into manageable pieces. And the stitch counts REALLY helped this sleep deprived momma make sure she was not veering off course to far. I found myself reaching for this project every time I had a free moment or two. And the rows really never got so long that they were interminable.

I really have the shawl itch and I need to cast on some sort of garter gorgeousness to fill this project hole that just opened up!

Happy Knitting!!

Thotful Progress

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One bright side about PB deciding to come early….I got to attend my family’s annual reunion in my hometown. Mind you, this is an event I organize annually and had accepted that I would just miss it this year. But it all worked out and we had a lovely weekend and not a horrible first long car trip with two kids.

I squished myself in the middle row between my two children’s car seats to manage diaper changes, pacifiers, snacks and entertainment. (It wasn’t terribly comfortable but I survived). The kids did REALLY well on both the to and from trips so I squeezed in some knitting in the car and at the reunion while other people were holding/playing with my children. This is my hospital cast on of the Thotful Spot hat by Sarah Schira.

I finished the 2.5 inches of ribbing and put at least a couple inches of stockinette on the hat itself. The yarn is from Potion Yarns in their Temptress base in the Walk on the Left Side color. The blips of color are just mesmerizing to watch develop. Since this is stockinette and I’m back home, this has become my bedside/in the dark knitting. So I’m hoping it grows little by little when I can sneak a few minutes here and there.

Happy Knitting!!

Antarktis Update

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This shawl was my Mother’s Day cast on for 2018. It’s the Antarktis by Janina Kallio in KnitCircus Trampoline base in the Needle in Haystack impressionist gradient.

I’m in the last section of lace and after that it’s just a lace border and BAM I’m done! I’m on track to have enough yarn to finish this project as written. Which is super exciting to get a full skein out of my stash.

I have an almost four week old baby. So I hear you ask, how could I possibly be getting any knitting done? This project has seen some action mostly because my house is has been full of guests willing to hold PB while I cook or knit. I’m grateful for the knitting time but I’m kinda also getting itchy about getting my house back to myself. I guess this world is all about balance and choices, lol. Maybe when all the guests are gone I will miss my knitting time?

In the  meantime…I’m going to look forward to a beautiful finished shawl! Happy Knitting!!

Electric Mayhem Progress

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My Electric Mayhem socks are now two complete tubes waiting for heels!

I have been using these as my bedside knitting. I can knit in the dark while PB sleeps and I hide for some self care time. I love my family and boy howdy are my kids loved by some many people…but I have had visitors at my house pretty much non-stop since the week we came home from the hospital. And that’s just a lot for a sleep deprived mom of two. These socks have been very therapeutic for me. I get some alone time and make progress on some pretty amazing socks.

I measured and cut in for my afterthought heels on both socks. By popular vote in my house….I have listened to the masses and chosen to stick with the black sock yarn from Joanns for my heels. I briefly flirted with purple heels but ultimately came back around to black. Now I just need some uninterrupted knitting time (with light) to knit both heels and I’ll have a FO!

Happy Knitting

Oh Hell No

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My husband and I were recently down in the basement doing laundry. The laundry room being adjacent to my craft/guest room. My husband tells me casually “look, there is a moth” as he grabs a paper towel to kill it. Needless to say I FREAKED. A moth was adjacent to my yarny treasure….oh hell no!

So the next day while PB was taking her morning nap I did an airing of the stash. I pulled out ALL my yarn with any kind of natural fiber content and inspected for moth damage. Only a few skeins were protected by plastic bags and I hadn’t aired the stash in awhile so I was worried. I did this in two lots. All my fingering through sport weight yarns…

And then all my worsted and above…. (some of this is acrylic but I wanted to them organized all together by color or sweater quantity).

I luckily didn’t find any moth or insect damage and now all this lovely yarn is located inside zip-lock bags and with lavender sachets inside the storage drawers. I also double checked what is stored in my cedar chest and found no damage there. This process also reaffirmed how much yarn I actually have and I really need to knit some sweaters. I may also put some of this  up for trade/sale when I have a little more brain space and sleep. I didn’t feel in the right mental state to determine if I still love all this yarn.

The next hurdle is to look in the makeshift closet we use for winter coat storage to make sure they aren’t eating any items in there! But this tired mommy is going to leave that for another day…perhaps when the grandparents are here to entertain Jellybean and PB.

Now I just need to get my pulse and blood pressure back down to normal…lol. Happy Knitting!!

Push Present….So To Speak

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I may or may not have splurged on a little push present for myself. PB came so early that I didn’t have time to get my prenatal massage that my husband arranged. So I did a little yarn shopping to aid my surgical recovery.

I picked up some GnomeAcres mini skeins for my memory blanket and a OOAK skein from Yarn Ink. These are both dyers I have not worked with before and have been coveting for a long time.

I’m not sure what the Yarn Ink will become. I’m thinking some sort of ribbed or vanilla sock to really show off the speckles. Only time will tell! I need more yarn like I need a hole in my head but sometimes I just can’t help myself…

Happy Knitting!!

Hospital Knitting

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I surprised even myself by sneaking in some hospital knitting after PB arrived.

I made sure my cheery project bag lived near my bedside. If nothing else it was making me happy to know it was there. But lo and behold….I snuck in some stitches!

I put on a couple rows on my Thotful Spot hat. But I found having to follow the stitch pattern for the brim was just a little too much for sleep deprived and medicated brain.

So I switched to the second sock of my Electric Mayhem socks. This plain stockinette in the round was WAAAY more up my alley. I had managed to get the toe cast on and the increases worked before the hospital. Now I fully admit that I didn’t get a ton of knitting done but again it was nice to have it there and at least touch it. It always soothes even the most tiresome day!

Happy Knitting!!