Earwarmer Hat

Hmm, did I ever post Evelyn's Earwarmer Hat? I don't think I did...unless I'm really losing it here.

Super easy, fast hat from Little Turtle Knits that has short rows on the band to cover the ears. I knit the smallest size (infant) and it fits Evelyn pretty well. It could maybe use a little more length, but I guess from my last experience with Knit Picks' Swish superwash wool, maybe I should just wash it and then it will fit longer. :(

It's very soft and Evelyn wears it for maybe 15 seconds at a time. Probably the biggest reason why it's missing at the moment. So, if you see it, please send it home, I would like to put a pom-pom on the top!

Know anyone with a gigantic head?

I mean, a REALLY huge head. Elephant size. Maybe Dumbo's mommy could wear this hat. :(

My Coronet hat is ridiculously huge. I finished it last night, I wasn't really all that thrilled with how the colors pooled but I didn't try to change it so that's my fault. Tried it on ~ nice fit. Snug, not too tight. Warm with the double-up cabled brim.

Fast forward to this morning ~ short little soak in lukewarm water with wool wash ~ roll in a towel, block and dry....what on earth was in that wool wash?!? It's huge. At least a 30" circumference I think. Who has a head that big? Maybe a cow. Not even our favorite cow #12 is gonna wear a handknit Zen String hat, not in my lifetime.

I don't know if I'll frog it and reknit or just use the rest of the ball and reknit. I have plenty left to make another. I'm too sad to think about reknitting for a bit. :( Plus, I've lost Evelyn's earwarmer hat (you know, the adorable one she never wears for more than 3.6 seconds) and haven't seen it in days, so if I have to reknit TWO hats I'm gonna be really bummed.

Right now, I'm too embarrassed to take pictures. I might at some point though. It would be really funny if I could stretch it over Olivia and Evelyn's head at the same time.

The before....

And.... (drumroll, please) the after:

My first felted bag! A little *too* felted, perhaps....mental note that even if the pattern specifically says "may take a couple washes to reach desired felting" - check on it anyway!! I left it in the washer for probably 12 minutes with 2 pairs of old jeans. On hot, of course. I did get it to stretch a little bit with some poking and prodding, and I let it dry with some cardboard in the base and so it's actually nice and sturdy. I hid it immediately - I know 2 little blonde-haired girls who would've taken to it immediately! The pattern is Black Sheep Bag's Sophie Bag done in 3-ply merino wool (100 Pure Wool) ~ colorway was called "Heavenly with Blue." I alternated skeins quite often to try and keep it from pooling, but since the skein was basically dyed half light blue/half dark blue, it was hard to keep it from pooling at least a little bit. The last few rows striped nicely. It's a great simple knit, not a single purl stitch in the whole piece! (I like that!) I'll be getting it in the mail soon to my dear friend Lindsay for her birthday!

I'm in, I'm IN!!!

Yipee!!!

I got my invite for Ravelry today! I'm rxmommy there, if you'd like to add me as a friend. :) Ravelry is a knitting, crocheting, spinning, yarn lover's paradise....blogs to read, patterns to browse...you list all your yarn stash and your projects, even books and needles. It's so NEAT!

So, anyway, if the blog posts slow down, and I cease to finish anything, I blame Ravelry. lol! I do need to finish things, of course...Christmas is coming up VERY quickly!

A perfectly gender-neutral baby gift...

For a little girl. Oops! I didn't realize she was due in mid-October, and came a few weeks early, so little Ellen Christine is getting this yellow-blue-green set. Oh well, a girl can get tired of pink, right? ;)

The yarn is superwash wool custom dyed for me by Lamar from A Time to Dye at Tiny Lady Cooperative. She does wonderful work! The umbilical cord hat is from Debbie Stoller's book Stitch n' Bitch. I couldn't really decide which shirt I wanted to go with (I decided on the yellow!) so I took a picture with all 3! The pants look longer than they are because of the angle of the photo. They're so little and cute, a 5" inseam!



Now, the trick is to find some time to give them to the brand new mommy of 2 little girls!

Action shots of the Debbie Bliss Sweater

Okay, here's the whole thing! You can see it's too big for her. :( I don't think she cares though, of course! Thank you again, Grandma, for all of your help with sewing on the sleeves. My gauge isn't anywhere near correct on most of the sleeves, so they're far too big. But, maybe I just meant to do that, and it will fit longer!

On my uncooperative model:

The Debbie Bliss sweater is DONE!

Actually, it's been done since Sunday. Brad was sort of helpful in entertaining the girls while I finished seaming the sides (but not really). "Olivia, leave your mother alone so she finishes the sweater before you outgrow it." That's as far as his help went, really. I don't think she's going to outgrow it soon, it actually seems quite big. I haven't taken any action shots as she was mostly on-the-go today and usually crawling on all fours, barking. I don't put sweaters on dogs. I guess they eat t-bones, though (she keeps asking for "cheese bones" - I can only guess that she means t-bones?). I didn't get a chance to get it washed and blocked until yesterday. I still can't get some of the garter stitch border to lay flat, but oh well.

Here is a quick little sneak peak....oh, I guess I lied! I DO put sweaters on dogs! This cute little one just jumped in the picture. I thought her color looked nice with the sweater. More pictures to come!