Grant's Pants

Grant's Pants, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

An unfinished object is finally complete. I've been working on these suckers since October! Knit with Wool of the Andes on sixes.

Back of Bolero

Hugh 2, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

Has a little eyelet motif. I forgot to tell Lanell that the design, "according to Eastern folklore, brings luck and protection to the wearer."

The Gift & the Recipient

Hugh's Bolero, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

Here is Hugh Wallace in his Baby Bolero (from One Skein). I'm so glad it fits!

Bountiful Harvest

Bountiful Harvest, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

This is Blue Sky Alpaca's Organic Cotton. It is unbelievably soft and luscious. I can't put my knitting down.

Fall Knitting

Fall Knitting, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

What is ladymama knitting now? Here's a hint: it's for the baby of the person who made me that needle case.

Brown Shorties

Brown Shorties, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

I finished these on Friday. They took twice as long as they needed to because I was working on them at the beach and missing some of my notes, and then I got mysteriously sore and couldn't knit for a week.

Anyways, they are my first experiment with Patons Merino, which was fine to knit with. We'll see how they wear- not sure what to expect with felting and pilling. It only took one skein on size sevens.

For this pair, I included five short rows. The crotch gusset has about 20 stitches.

Uno y Dos Al Fin

Uno y Dos Al Fin, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

I did end up fixing the brown pair so they would be the same size before I mailed these off to Lara. I'm pleased with the results.

Lookie!

I sent my photo to Sara, the pattern designer of the baby pants at Bella Knitting. They put me on the blog!!! How cool is that? They even linked my blog to theirs in the post!

http://bellaknitting.typepad.com/bella_knitting/

I did end up frogging the brown striped pair and lengthening them so they would be the same size. No problem, and now they're perfect. Off to Hawaii as we speak, and none too soon, as those babies are coming out via c-section in the morning. The pants are for later anyway, but still. Oh, and good thing one pair has a blue stripe, because according to Lara, one of the ways they will distinguish between their identical twins is that one baby will always wear blue, and the other one never will. Good idea.

Uno y Dos

Uno y Dos, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

Ta-daaaa

Dos

Dos, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

This pair turned out half an inch shorter because I was more careful with my rows. I may or may not go back and try to fix that.

Uno

This is part one of a baby gift for a pregnant friend. I doubt she'll see this, but just in case, I can't tell you who for now! Pants knitted using Plymouth Jean nee on sevens. I actually learned to do a crochet cast on and whip stitch cuffs. The pattern is from Bella Knitting. The only thing I didn't like was the way the crotch is done. There's basically a huge hole that has to be seamed. Oh, well.

Gryffindor Koozie

This was a birthday present for my dear friend and Harry Potter fanatic, Carissa. It is my first felted koozie. I used Lion Brand wool and added a patch I got on ebay.

Knitted knitting needles

Knitted knitting needles, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

I think this was a completely original idea. I thought of it on my own and executed it. Someone else probably thought of it first, but I didn't know about it. I made these for Ivy and her own knitting bag, which contains discarded yarns from my stash that I hated (red chenille- ick!). So I used some Sugar-n-Cream yarn, and started an i-cord, decreased by half after a few rows, and then continued in i-cord until I thought they looked long enough. I stuffed them with pipe cleaners (or whatever the ones are called that are just for crafts), folded down the tops, and closed them up. Of course, they're bendable, but totally baby-safe!

Scout's Gift

Scout's Gift, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

I am so, so proud of how this turned out. I knit it for Allie's baby Scout, due in a few weeks. The pattern is from Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Cherished Babies, garter stitch wrap top. I adapted the pattern to use Mondial Cotton Soft yarn and size 3 needles instead of the recommended yarn on size 2s. (Thank you Lucy for teaching me ratios and maths). I ended up needing a second skein of yarn, but I think it's because I experimented with some lace before I started. Using a Nikki Epstein book, I knit the flower and added it with the brown ribbon. I found the pants at Old Navy, and the night before the shower I used the same yarn to embroider a monogrammed onesie. There is another picture of this on flickr.

More new yarn

Here's my new soaker yarn. None of them arrived looking remotely like the colors on the website, so I was a little peeved. You aren't seeing the nasty baby caca brown skeins that are being returned. Don't buy "maple syrup" Wool of the Andes of Knitpicks! Ick. These will become shorties to sell on Woollybugs.com.

New Yarn

Super soft machine washable cotton blend from Plymouth. A steal from Hill Country Weavers. These will become baby gifts. Stay tuned.

Cheeto Shorties

Cheeto Shorties, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

Here's why the cheeto wool soaker shorts don't work. See all that diaper? They're worthless unless I frog them and try to do something. As you know, it won't be the first modification! Oh, well. Part of the learning curve and the road to pattern design.

Cheeto Shorties

Cheeto Shorties 2, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

What kind of knitting needles am I?

What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are bamboo.Warm, cozy, and thoughtful, you take your time and enjoy how things feel, smell, and taste. You love the craft and beauty of traditional things, and you value the comfort and experience of knitting as much as the results. But while you are reveling in your warm cozies, don't get stuck. Warm is wonderful, but so is the whole wide world!
Take this quiz!








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Ask me what I think

Last week I had the privilege of being part of a market research group lead by celebrity crafters and Austinites Jennifer Perkins and Vickie Howell. Not sure why they picked me, as I'm certain they had loads of volunteers and only ended up doing 2 groups of eight. Having DVR-ed Vickie's show Knitty Gritty religiously last spring, I was pretty psyched to get to sit around gabbing with her. I hadn't seen Jen's show, but she was actually really cool, someone I'd like to go out for drinks with. So we got to eat Thundercloud and M&Ms and talk about where we like to shop for craft supplies, what we don't like about the stores, what we buy, what we think is cool, etc. So fun! The focus group ended up being for Michael's Craft Store, and I got a $50 gift card, which I plan to use for knitting books and maybe needles. If Michael's were to ask me what I think again, I'd tell them that I think they should enable web shopping from their site instead of just telling you about their merchandise. Come on, now.

2nd Pair of Wool Soaker Shorties- Wasabi!

Wool soaker shorties, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

This picture is kinda blurry, so I'll be sure to get some of the Bun wearing them up here soon. I improved this pattern by shortening the ribbed waistband, changing the position of the drawstring, and most importantly adding a gusset for the crotch. I definitely feel that I changed the pattern enough to call it my own. Yay!

The Cheetos shorties (the orange ones), are kind of worthless, as the pattern was intended for pants, and there is not enough covering in the crotch to prevent leaks. I would rip them back and fix that part, but I since I dyed the actual finished shorts and not the yarn, I don't have any left. Lessons learned.

These were knit with Cascade 220 in a color that I am referring to as Wasabi. The legs are really cute. I embellished the ribs with embroidered daisies.

Shorties revised

Shorties revised, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

These are the finished product. Cristin taught me how to make the twisted drawstring, so I didn't have to do an i-cord. For my next pair, I plan to thread the drawstring higher up on the waistband so there isn't such a big amount of ribbing going up Ivy's waist. I will also make the rise 18 inches instead of 20, and a wider, gusseted crotch. The pattern only calls for 4 stitches in the crotch!?! I think I did 8 anyway, but that combined with the inseam isn't wide enough to cover the diaper when her legs are spread-eagled.

I hope to refine this pattern a bit and make a few to sell through my friend Katie's cloth diapering website http://woollybugs.com.

Soaker shorts, first draft

Soaker shorts, first draft, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

Knit with Lamb's Pride fisherman's wool, which I dyed afterwards with orange kool aid, yielding a cheeto effect that I wasn't going for. I used the aubrey doodlepants pattern version 3.0 and just shortened the legs. I used size 5 for the waistband (12 rows) and knit the rest on size 8.

I had pre-measured Ivy for the rise, but she won't be still. I thought she needed about 17.5 or 18 inches. Just to double check, I took the soaker off the needles when I got to that point, put it on her, and decided it needed a few more inches. I believe I knit till the rise was about 20 inches, which is definitely too much, but I guess she can grow into them. They're wearable and will work next summer too.

Another problem I had was that the legs were far too long. I ripped them out and ended up doing two rows of seed stitch. They are still long enough to fold up, but don't look bad unfolded.

Newborn curly purly soaker

Newborn curly purly soaker, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

This is knit using Cascade 220 with hand dyed kool aid Fisherman's wool cuffs (strawberry lemonade flavor).
Knit on dpns size 2, 4, and 6. Cuffs in size 2 with a k2togtbl bind off. For a very special baby who is due quite soon. I can't wait to gift this!

I had some problems with the short row placement. I realized after I'd done 2 out of 3 of them that according to the pattern, I had put them on the front side of the soaker instead of the back. The advice from my fellow wool soaker knitters was that the sides were interchangeable, and certainly from the looks of the finished product, there is no clearly designated front or back. Hopefully for a newborn diaper, short rows aren't even necessary. Pre-folds aren't going to be giving her a lot of junk in the trunk.

Just for the record, that curly purly pattern is vaguely worded when it comes to short rows. I did it the way I always do it, but that was backwards for this pattern.

Another shot of the flat cat

IMG_0730.JPG, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

So I have learned some new things about the finer points of gauge swatches, or as Lucy calls them, tension squares. I could improve my technique, apparently, as you can see from my anouk pinafore and the Miss Dashwood hat. Much as I try to blame the pattern designers, it is likely my very own fault. I thought I was getting gauge, but I probably wasn't. Specifically, I wasn't making my squares large enough, I wasn't measuring them in the middle, and I wasn't washing them prior to measuring.

Cats

IMG_0729.JPG, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

Here is Tia Louise with the flat cat I knit for Ivy. I don't understand the instructions for the ears, even though I've made one before. The pattern says to stitch in between two markers, but I don't get what they mean. When I make one big stitch and pull tight, like I did last time, the ears are shaped weird. So I'm going to get help from Cristin, who has knit countless flat cats. Hence, the long tail of yarn hanging down the side. Ivy loves it, too.

Uh, oh. Mama made my dress too big!

IMG_0651.JPG, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

Here is the infamous anouk pinafore. I don't think she'll be wearing it until she's walking. It's really cute, and the yarn is so soft. Click on the photo to see more shots of it at my flickr account.

Damn you, Miss Daswhood!

Miss Dashwood, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

This is a hat I busted my butt working on back in October. The pattern is from knitty.com, the yarn is a soft cashmerino aran by debbie bliss, and I thought it would be so nice for sunny winter days at the park. Maybe it will be, WHEN SHE'S FIVE. This freakin' hat turned out enormous. I have no idea why. It has no structure at all- completely floppy, and if I put the brim so that you can see her eyes, it looks like Ivy has cascading purple hair. You'd think I might have noticed while I was making it that it was working up quite large, but no. I did not. I lie awake at night fantasizing about shaking the pattern designer by the lapels, asking her where I went wrong, and why the pattern I followed exactly looks so perfect on her baby and not mine! http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/PATTmissdashwood.html

What else happens with yarn when I'm not watching the baby

What else happens with yarn when I'm not watching the baby, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

She's just trying to teach herself how to make flat cat.

Front and back

Front and back, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

All the pieces

All the pieces, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

Pinafore Progress

Don't tell!, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

All of the knitting for the Anouk pinafore is done, and I'm on to my orange flat cat for Ivy. However, I had to close up some holes at the neckline, which I had a hard time with and didn't make exactly according to the directions (because it just didn't work out). Now I need to block the dress and pockets. Once they're dry, I'll sew on those pockets and little side tabs. Oh, and I have to find buttons and sew those on. Finishing is such a pain!

Look, mom!

I'm so proud! Ladymama's first intarsia! This is the first pocket for the anouk pinafore I'm making for Ivy. Thanks, again, to Lucy for teaching me how to do this technique.

John's Hot Head

John's Hot Head, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

This is the hat I was talking about that I made for John when I was a new knitter. My first purling project... I'm misty.

Boring Hat

Greg's Beanie, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

Here's a beanie I whipped up during Ice Storm '07 for Greg as a belated Christmas gift. Um, it's still in the envelope on my desk waiting to be mailed off to Salt Lake City. hee hee. I modified the Hot Head pattern in Stitch-n-Bitch and used Lambs Pride Bulky. He wanted mostly black, so, voila. I'm really not too crazy about it. I prefer the one I knit for John a long time ago.

Oh yeah, I knit this sucker in the round on size 10 double pointed needles (don't ask), and I will just say that I probably picked up about 95 dropped stitches along the way. An exercise in discipline, I suppose.

My first flat cat

My first flat cat, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

Here is one of my most favoritist things I have knit. I also made this in December as part of the trade with Leah. I was quite sad to part with it, but will be making an even cuter one for Miss Ivy as soon as I get around to it.

Knit in garter stitch using cheapy Sugar-n-Cream yarn from Hobby Lobby. Those striped pants were a bitch to seam.

Faux Fair Isle Hat for Baby Maya

Faux Fair Isle Hat for Baby Maya, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

I knit this in December as part of a trade with my friend Leah, who makes baby kimonos and slings. The pattern works up by itself because it's sock yarn (Norweger Ringel).

Anouk

I'm currently working on the Anouk Pinafore for Ivy. I've made the front. Now I need to learn intarsia (thank you, Lucy!) to make the flower pockets and then make the identical back piece. It's been easy so far, with the exception of a few forgotten decreases, which led to ripping out a lot of work and re-doing. I also ended up with an extra stitch somewhere, so I had to cheat and get rid of it as inconspicuously as possible. I think it's fine, though. More photos of that to come.

Casting On

I don't claim to be funny or interesting. In fact, I've been trying so long to come up with a witty name for this knitting blog, that I haven't started it till now. Really I'm doing this because I can no longer kid myself into thinking that someday I'm going to get old photos printed and match yarn labels and random yarn scraps and catch up on my knitting journal. I do think I can handle taking photos of my projects and uploading them to this blog. It won't be anything impressive. But I need something to show for all the time I spend in my red rocker (besides the growing baby, of course).