One quick blog post - Dashing Dachs longies

Probably the only people who read my blog have seen this in person. ;) But just a quick post to share off Evelyn's latest woolie pants before I go knit and watch TV with my husband, who was actually home before 9pm tonight. Whoa. Miracle!

The yarn is Dashing Dachs Stallion organic merino in her Framboise colorway. The trim is Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes, which I found to be not very soft and even a tad scratchy. I sorta feel bad for Ev, since it's on the waistband, but it's not likely to irritate her. It's just not nearly as soft as the Stallion, or BFL, which her other pants are. I don't think she'll complain though. ;)

No way was she gonna take her thumb out for pictures that night!

A terrible attack of the gauge monster

I am very angry with some of my knitting right now. It isn't listening. It hasn't done what it was specifically meant to do. I wonder if a time-out on the stairs would help. It doesn't often work for Olivia...seems doubtful it would have much effect on some yarn.

Here's what I'm working on...in off-white/natural Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino.


I probably liked the pattern because of the adorable redhead curly-haired baby. Plus, it seems like it would be something Olivia would wear a lot over dressy clothes. So, I've invested 2 months' time into knitting 5 pieces. Yes, it's in 5 pieces. Now I need to sew them up. Do I know how to do that? Nope, not really. But, I try, because I'm really excited to have this sweater finished.

First, the directions tell you to join the shoulder seams. 17 CO sts from the back piece joined to 17 sts on each of the front pieces. It seems that while I started out on the back with perfect gauge....somehow while the scenery of lovely, deserted Wyoming was passing by...my knitting got very loose. It's not even close. They don't match up at ALL! :(

I'm afraid the same thing will happen when I attempt to sew the sleeves on...I might as well admit defeat already and just frog the sleeves. But it's so much work to knit with that teeny, tiny yarn! I don't understand how people knit lace. Or socks. Insane, they must be. Too many stitches. And then my coworker says that sleeves never really sew on right any, and seams don't always lay flat as a general rule. :P

So, the moral of the story is ~ always knit sweaters in the round. Seems quite obvious to me. Something that will end up as circular garment should just be knit that way!

So, I've cast on another pair of pants for Evelyn, this time with nice squishy bulky Stallion merino from Dashing Dachs. A very, very hard to get yarn and the colors are very fall-ish and pretty. Plus, it's going very quickly ~ less than 4 sts/inch! Woohoo for bulkier yarn! :D I'll probably start another hat this weekend too. Or a scarf. One can never have too many projects on the needles, you know...unless you start to run out of needles of course.

Finally another blog post

Hey, in my defense - I tried to post yesterday,
but Blogspot was doing temporary maintenance or something annoying like that. I haven't been doing nearly as much knitting lately because it seems as though I have been working all the time. It's really good for the yarn-buying budget....not so good for the knitting time, not to mention time spent with my girls and that stupid housework that needs to be done all the time.

So, here are Evelyn's first pair of longies (aka wool pants) knit from Zen String Bliss wool (100% BFL) aran weight. The stuff is so heavenly soft and the colors are very pretty. I wasn't too crazy about the bright yellow trim color at first....but I think it's growing on me.


Here's a few adorable action shots, courtesy of Grandma's camera!

One more FO post for the day!

FO = finished object. ;) These shorties are just a tad damp yet, but they will go in the mail tomorrow to a dear friend of mine who, fortunately or unfortunately, has 2 little boys almost exactly the same ages as my girls. Dougie is 2 days younger than Oh, and Liam is about 1 month younger than Evelyn. I have "known" this mommy for quite some time, and I am responsible for converting her to cloth diapers. Hehe!! Let's just say she has some wonderful blackmail photos of her boys in hot pink diapers that she can show future girlfriends. :D

The wool is called Rambouillet, which I guess a French merino. It's not a terribly soft wool, but it seems very sturdy and I would be surprised if it pilled very much. Feels sort of like Lion Wool, but not quite...hard to describe. The colorway is "Tangled Up in Blue" from Colleen/Spiffy Knits at their new store Tiny Lady Cooperative. She dyed the brown and shipped it to me so fast, it was fabulous!! Too bad I didn't win any of the grand opening lotteries though. Bummer. ;) The waistband is knitted-in elastic, with 2 strings attached for a "drawstring"-like look. She can always remove them if she thinks the bow is girly, but I like it. I'm probably going to add the same thing to Evelyn's elastic shorts! Then I can easily see which is front and back, lol!

Here is a picture of the back!

And a blurry close-up. Miss you, Delilah the D-100. Get well soon! :(

Gotta run. We have two major cases of crankies here this morning. Perhaps the small people should rethink the 5 and 6 am wake-up times!!! Ugh. Can we say early naptime?!

Seeing double....again!

Another set of matching twin soakers for a friend. These identical twin boys are very special, because they had a rocky start to their lives. They are survivors of TTTS - twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, which I don't know a whole lot about but the basic idea is that one twin receives all of the nutrients and the other twin is robbed of them. They are toddlers now and the cutest red-headed boys you'll ever see! Perhaps I'll post action pics if their mommy says okay. ;) Anyway, here are the soakers ~ knit with the Radiant Twist pattern again, size smalls (one is smaller than the other, that was actually intentional, lol. I finished the first one and decided it was too small!), wool is Lion Brand 100% Wool. The colorway is Majestic Mountain and the trim is Sage. I think they turned out well, and I hope they fit!

This is the scarf that never ends...

At least, that's how I felt when I was knitting it....but then I was out of yarn and I wished it was longer! Oops. The scarf is a birthday gift for my mommy, a week or so late. Who wants a scarf in July, I wonder? :D

The yarn is 50/50 wool/alpaca from Lonesome Stone Fiber in Granby, Colorado. The colorway is called "Shades of Raspberry." It was a nice soft but sturdy yarn to knit with and I enjoyed it! I did a Google search for "one skein scarf patterns" and came up with this pattern:

CO 30 stitches, size 10 needles
K first and last st of every row
Row 1: P across
Row 2: K2tog across
Row 3: K1, M1 across

Repeat until yarn is gone. BO. Ta-DA!

The photos are of course all washed out, since my D-100 is in the shop. Sniff sniff. :( I need some yarn photography tips too, lol. At least I can get it to sit still easily. Although it doesn't smile. ;)

I must be off now to finish packing and get the girls in the car to Minot to Grandma's. Watch for pictures next week of the much-anticipated "Dora cake" party!!

Guest Blogger, Annie's Mom in Minnesota: Annie needs an alpaca!

Disclaimer: No, I don't really need an alpaca. My mom just thinks I do. I think I have enough things to clean up after as it is. ;) Here's her commentary on a visit to an alpaca farm.

The Minnesota Valley Photography Club was invited for a private tour of Rose Crest Alpacas, in Webster, Minnesota, this week. They had two babies and seven other wonderful alpacas that we were allowed to photograph and get acquainted with. Kathy, the owner, gave a great presentation about alpacas, which are much smaller than llamas and incredibly soft and cute. Kathy let us browse through her store of "everything alpaca." She has new shipments of yarn spun from her own animals that is just amazingly soft and gorgeous. I'm such a beginning knitter that I had no idea what to buy. So, I guess I must go back. Visit her store or email her for information on the wonderful natural-colored yarn that she has in stock now.

Mom

Victoria, the daughter's owner, and her alpaca