The Holey Experiment

DH asked for another pair of felted "clogs". But he wants some "vents" or holes for more air circulation during the summer. If I did a few well placed YO's would they close up during the felting process? Did I need to put an un-feltable string throught the holes to keep them open?

Here are the results:

The smaller swatch on the right was knit in Lamb's Pride on us 13's. I did regular YO's and prior to felting wove a hockey skate lace through the holes to keep them open. The swatch got a little distorted and wonky .

The large swatch on the left was knit in Lamb's Pride on us 13's. The first 3 rows (from the top) are regular YO's. These closed up some and I could always open the holes again with a needle or something. The bottom 2 rows are double YO's. I think we have a winner! The double YO's stayed nice and mostly open and did not distort the overall fabric. Now to find the rest of the Lamb's Pride in the stash....(gotta be black & gold of course)

Box O'Wool

I got my box O'wool from the WEBS sale this week! 13.4 lbs box! Whoot! More red for the boy and my grey of course (cannot have too much of that on hand) . I'm thinking of doing Eris in the Cascade 220 brown. Turns out this is the same shade of brown I used fro DH's Celtic cap and really liked the heather shades. I may even do myself a Wallaby in the Plymouth Encore light blue.... hhmmmm..

Mortified.

Ok so here it goes.... this past Monday Tala & I took a cruise to Loop on 19th & South to meet the Yarn Harlot and get a copy of her new book signed. The first picture is Tala getting her camera ready and trying to keep her face out of the wall of yarn! Yum! Yarn!
Here is Ms. Harlot! In person! So cool to meet someone you have been blog stalking/reading for a couple of years now! She really is THAT funny! The quote of the night, "Knitting humor: Its a niche market."

And lastly here is a photo of Tala & Stephanie (aka the Harlot) photo blogging each others socks in progress! See more pics on Tala's blog

Now after this part is where it gets ugly (for me at least). I tend to babble when I meet people in this type of situation. I've been reading the Harlot's blog for a couple of YEARS and feel like she is a knitting ICON! So... I shoved Tala in front of me and was able to compose myself for maybe 2 mins. I had a nice chat with the Harlot and all seemed normal (maybe because we were talking about our kids...) then SHA-ZAM!!!!!! I totally loose it. See the woman leaning back, behind Tala's hand? Well that is JUNO ! I read her blog too. Can you see where this is going?? I can no longer control myself, the excitement is too much, the pressure has been building to too long......

(shakes head, Slaps head, sighs) No more talk of kids. Just "OH JUNO, can I get a picture with you?!! in a voice about 10 octaves higher than my norm. And "OH JUNO, I READ your blog all the time !" And "OH JUNO, how is the the baby kitty?"

Did anybody shut me up? NO. Did Tala (who was warned this may occur) poke me with a dpn as promised? No. I just squeaked on for a good 5 minutes, got purple in the face and all sweaty. Its a little blurry now. Tala said " You just became un-hinged." (as if I was "hinged" to begin with) I just remember stepping back in my mind, cringing and thinking " Why can't I stop?"

Where is the picture of me & Juno you ask? Well, the FIRST shot Tala took before I was ready and it looks like I am gazing adoringly at Juno (plus the sweater I was wearing had a large neck and it slid off one shoulder to show my pretty blue bra strap). The SECOND picture where I am ready and looking at the camera, you see the bra strap again, my face is purple & shiney and Juno lookes mildly annoyed. (I don't blame her) (OH and I didn't really ASK her if I could post her pic on my blog) So there you go.

I'm over the worst of the embarassment now and really I PROMISE I'LL DO BETTER NEXT TIME! I will have a list of questions and topics to discuss so I don't get too crazed trying to think and I will remember these women are KNITTERS for crying out loud! They are MY PEOPLE! They do the same thing I do, they have the same obsession and scoop the cat litter, JUST LIKE I DO. Geez. I gotta get a grip.

Another 5 Hr baby sweater

Here is another 5 hr sweater! Looks a little Souwthwest, don't you think?

The yarn is thes neat cotton & nylon blend, Austermann Favola Print. It has a core that is kind of squishy with the color "knit" around it. Nice feel and NO snagging!

23 5hr boy
Originally uploaded by Rabid Crafter.

A Hoodie by any other name is a Wallaby

Here it is! The Very Red Hoodie! Jake wanted red and OH BOY is it. He wore it outside yesterday and YIKES! I didn't realize when I was working on it how bright it would be. Oh well. When he saw it finished he said "That's Cool, Mom!" (really he likes it, he just does not like me dressing him for a photo shoot!) The seal of approval. Can't ask for anything more.

This is the Wonderful Wallaby pattern that I first heard about on the Knitlist (yahoo group).

I was worried when I started this since it didn't seem to be big enough, but I think doing it on the circs make the diameter smaller and I kept forgetting that! I kept redoing the math to figure out the chest circumfrence, getting the correct numbers and just plugging along. Actually I figured since the yarn was so inexpensive it was no biggie and I could always give it to one of the cousins!

Specs:
Pattern- The Wonderful Wallaby by Cottage Creations. (I got my copy from The Mannings) (you can google it and find it on-line many places)
FAQ- Yes there is a FAQ page, click for link
Yarn- Caron Simply Soft. I wanted somthing nice and inexpensive. this is the same yarn I make the baby blankets out of (usually) I used less than 2 skein! So that means I made this for about $6! Yippie!
Needles- Denise 8's + 6's for the ribbing

Notes- Great pattern, very easy. My kitchener stitch(for the hood) needs some work as well as closing up the holes under the arms.... need more practice. Guess I'll have to do another!

Finished Baby Socks

Mary Lou and Amanda came to visit this week and I finsihed the crocheted baby sock. There is NO WAY this will fit 3-6 months! They are HUGE. They fit Jake! The pattern was pretty easy and we got Mary Lou through the funky part so she is on her way (ML send a pic when you are done & I'll post).
Specs:
Pattern- Crocheted Baby sock
Yarn- Red Heart Soft Baby (left over from BSJ and blanket)
Hook- Brittany F (3.75mm)

Will try this pattern again, but with a much smaller hook! I MIGHT get a baby sized sock!

NOT a slacker

only when it comes to posting!
Acutally, DH was home this week and that significantly cut my pc time. We have sharing issues.

So now while he is cleaning the gutters I present a baby blanket & matching BSJ sweater! Whoot!

The yarn is Red Heart Soft Baby . The blanket pattern is the basic shell stitch (my fav) on a G hook and the sweater is EZ's Baby Suprise Sweater on size 7 needles. Of course I'm still shopping for just the right buttons for the sweater... but I have a while till this gets gifted!

OH and last weekend I knit up 2 baby hats and a swatch! But no pictures to post... that would have been a neat post title "2 Baby Hats and a Swatch"

OTN: Wallaby for the boy and test swatching a project for DH.
Enjoy the awesome weather!