Bunny slippers

I got to serve on jury duty a few weeks ago and decided to take a simple knitting project along (NOT the big blanket I was almost finished with) so I found an EASY slipper for the 2 grand kids that are under 2. So cute. Little bunny slippers.

Finished. I hope they are wearable. This is what they look like after felting them once and twice;

The one's on the left have been washed once, the one's on the right, twice. The ears got washed once, they were too long so I just cut off the bottom half inch. I considered painting some light pink paint inside the ears...but it looks wierd. The mohair yarn makes it hairy and strange to paint. And I'd have to wait another day to mail them.

 If they don't stay on really well a piece of elastic could be added Mary Jane style...But I"m happy. The next pr will be little mice instead of bunny's...so come back and see them finished....next...well ....soon.

Blanket...not QUILT

I knitted a blanket for our newest grand-baby...a GIRL! We have 7 grandsons and now one girl; our son and wife adopted her near Thanksgiving last year. Since we drove a lot last summer I started it then. Here it is:

  Then I decided to line it. I had so many questions;

• Should I use flannel?
• Polar fleece?
• Cotton knit? so it would still stretch...
• Minky?

In the end I chose regular quilting cotton cause I found a print I liked. It is youthful and playful without being babyish. 

 

Here is the J I designed for the left corner.

 I tied it, which was another big design decision...should I tie it, quilt it? do nothing? As you can see I tied it. First I layed it on the bed and safety pinned it from the green side, then turned it over and tied it where the pins were...This is not perfect, so I'm not happy with it...But I'm happy it is done...


Pattern from Zoe Mellor's 'adorable knits for tots' 25 stylish designs for babies and toddlers

Hat 25

I bought yarn for 3 hats to knit during my recovery...which isn't over yet. I have one finished. The pattern is from a library book; Monster knits for little Monsters. Amazon has it.

This is the first one I planned;

But I had to figure out how to change the color at the spikes, then I decided it only needed 3, which mad it easier to knit. The hats are all very similar I just turned to page to find one that was and followed that.

This is Brycen, the child I knit the hat for, unfortunately it doesn't stay on his head for long....

 Here I bribed him with smarties and we got a couple of pictures.

 His brother was happy to model the hat for me.

 Now I'd love a picture with all 3 brothers in their rooster hats!

Valentine potholder

I don't think it can be a valentine if you give it to yourself. ;) I'll call it Hearts potholder.

I found the pattern here, on ravelry. It is knitted in the round (the other side is identical...'cept not so many mistakes)..so it is double thickness, very cushiony, and most places even more layers cause the inside looks like this;

It was my first effort at strand knitting. Before you know it I'll be doing Fair Isle patterns!
It is not perfect but I think it is beautiful and I'll enjoy it for years.

Knitting hats

My year of knitting hats is over....I'll have to come up with something else for next year. Here is a picture taken in August of my hats on heads! All our grandkids together.

 They were not crazy about this GREAT photo opportunity!

I have still one hat to finish, for my sister...I finished it on vacation and decided it was too big. Roger wore his in California but I want to pick the top out and make it bigger...Jeffrey wore his a lot and so did Melissa.

Linking up with Judy.

tinkking

Instead of showing what I knit...this is what is off the needles ..'cause I tinked it (knit-backwards-in other wards I ripped it out). Here the pattern is right..

Then it went all wrong nor do I know what I did wrong So I took it out and started over.  I've only 2 rows knit so far.

Others are doing just fine with their knitting; you can check them out on Judy's blog.

Maggie won my give away! I'll contact you on the e-mail listed on your profile.

Last hat...#24

This is Jeffrey's hat, number 24;

It is very similar to Roger's hat, here. During the boring stockinet stitch part I interrupted it with a row of purl-knit-purl every 6 rows and I made the crown deeper, so I may need to redo the top of Roger's hat; it is just a bit small when the brim is folded up.
So the Christmas knitting is done!
But Andrew will need a scarf, and if I make him one don't I need to make his brother one? Then I found a wonderful skein of red yarn that I had to buy....Tuesday Morning has some white with sparkles that I'm trying not to buy..it is so pretty but really I don't know what I would knit with it...

Last year I started a pr.of mittens for one of the grandson's and lost the book with the instructions. I found the book After I purchased another one. Soooo I thought I would give away my extra copy of this book;

I have made 4 pr of mittens from the pattern included in the book.And one candy cane! I have the another candy cane knit just not twisted and... well...found.

I think a half dozen of these would look great on a tree. (Cut the clothes hanger off the bottom first though) Easy fast knitting. Perfect for those times you are waiting in the car for your youngsters to get in.  Although Andrew actually did a lot of the knitting of this one on one of those loomy things (Provo Craft's knifty spool loom pictured here) Certainly not a necessary tool if you know how to knit, but Andrew didn't.... and we were traveling ...and it gave him something cool to do. (He started a spider too but that is not yet done.)

So if you'd like this book, leave me a comment and a way to contact you and I'll mail it to you. If more than one wants it I'll have to do a drawing. Next week Friday I'll announce the winner.

Check out Judy's needles here.

Last hat?

This is the beginning of Jeffrey's hat. I had purchased some blue and white yarn for his hat but he requested black.

I thought I'd get a bunch done but the pain med's I'm put on me to sleep. It is the last hat to knit for Christmas presents...unless I decide on another one; I still want to do the blue and white for Jeffrey. If he gets accepted into BYU he would have a hat to wear to the football games since their colors are blue and white. Is that too strange?
Judy has 'on the needles' going over on her blog.

Hat 22 and 23

Hard to believe that it has been 2 weeks since I wrote here....Sorry.

Last week I was at quilt festival and frankly completely worn out every evening. ;)
I know you feel my pain.

I bought 3 skeins of yarn while there.  Two were of very bulky yarn; malabrigo Rasta, so soft and nice to work on. I did a swatch of the first skein and Andrew loved the feel of it so I went back and got a different colorway for him.

Then I got to ride in a van almost to San Antonio and back on Saturday. So I knit the first skein into this hat, Rasta Herringbone Hat with Dreds, for myself. I actually took both of the below hats to work on but the plain knitting on the gray and blue hat got boring very fast!

This pattern;  was hard on the hands so I'd knit 2 rows of the herringbone pattern and then rest by knitting on Roger's hat (the blue and gray) then go back to the herringbone.

This hat, Custom Tritops, used an interesting sideways ribbing, straight garter stitch. Instead of picking up stitches you add the pick up stitch to the edge as you knit the ribbing. Worked great although Roger would like the hat to be even longer so he could fold the brim up completely...I want to do another one of these.

I have one more hat to knit for Christmas for Jeffrey.

I'm linking up with Judy's 'what's on my needles?'

Yarn...

I finished 1 hat for Reed;

A boring 'man hat.' (Number 21.)
And started the next one; 3 times already. First I bought this yarn;

 Then went hunting for a hat pattern.
I found this one in Ravelry, called 'Subtle Twist'  I knit about 1.5 inches and ripped it out, didn't like it at all.
This morning during seminary I started another one, 'Claudia' did 2 rows and realized I had twisted the cast on row. Ripped it out. Now I'm thinking of doing this one, 'Custom Tritops' I don't like the decreases and fancy stuff on the top but the cast on, pick-up intrigues me and I want to learn something different....

Then I looked in one of my notebooks and found this tear out from an old magazine. Twist and Turn. I'm sure you can't read the paragraph below but it bugs me. 'This design cannot be used for a scrap quilt.'  It's like a red flag to a bull. cannot? cannot? CANNOT? We'll have to see about that....

 Then this stack of blocks is sitting there mocking me. 'What are you going to do with me?'

I've come up with this:

 Which is like 2 I've seen made with these blocks. Then I thought of this:

 Do I like it just because it is not like the one's I've already seen?

 I didn't mention that I've been sick all week so I have done a lot of sitting and sleeping. Went to the dr. yesterday. I'm on an anti-biotic and am already feeling better.

It's always nice to see that others are knitting too. Check them out over at Judy's blog.

knitting labels

This week I designed and printed some labels for my knitting projects;

Just a simple hat with enough room for the information I want to include. The back side has care instructions. I should have kept better records; there will be several trips to yarn stores to identify which is which...some I can't remember where I bought it.:(
Write it down! One simple way would be to make the tag first, another is to actually fill in the correct information on a ravelry account...I've just started posting things over there. My Ravelry name is; Laurie316

How do you keep track of yarns? The labels just don't stay on!

Warm mittens

Growing up I lived in Colorado; cold country. Then I moved to Idaho for a couple years of college; colder country. After four years in Utah where I could have used some warm mittens I moved to Texas. I have been known to knit a few pairs of WARM mittens for grandkids in Idaho and Washington.

I knit them big and then felt them. (Here I washed one so you could see the difference). I used a book; 'Knit it Felt it' for the pattern and loved that they kept little kids hands warm.
Today I learned about 'thrummed mittens' also very warm; here's a pattern with a picture. Here a blogger in Calgary knit herself some and then took them for a test run in -25 (probably celsius) degree weather and her hands stayed warm. Who knew? When my hands were so cold in Idaho I could have gotten them warm with either of these mittens. Only 35 years too late.

Learning Lots....

I initially named this post 'failure' but I renamed it since I am learning a new cast-on and a new stitch with  this pattern. I started to knit a blue and white hat for Jeffrey. I struggled with it for an hour Friday then ripped it out. I watched u-tube for an hour Sunday morning and tried the cast on again...After 2 hours of knitting it was obvious something was very wrong; the pattern was visible in about a 2 inch width of the hat. I ripped it out... I'll start again next week.
Now I'm working on this hat for a different son.

He wants a plain, boring, man hat and that's what he is getting. (Although it looks so simple I had to cast this on 3 times!)

I must be a slow knitter since the white rag took me 4 hours to knit. I'm using up small bits of cotton yarn with these, each rag eliminated 2 small balls of yarn from my stash, I'm now down to pink and white. I really doesn't matter since I give one to my Dad most years for Christmas (he does all the dishes since he retired) and he soaks them in bleach water after using them. It is lovely; his rags eventually all turn out white, none of those gray, dingy rags for them.
Most of the knitters over at Judy's are knitting socks, after all it IS Socktober.

Socktober

Here's my contribution to Socktober; my first sock!

 Technically my second sock (my true 'first' sock was knit flat and seamed...and blogged about here.) but my first sock knit in the round and toe up. I found a pattern here and I added a loop in the middle of the back so that I could hang it on the Christmas tree. I learned several things with this sock;

• Judy's magic cast on
• gusset
• heel turn
• toe increases

 The sock looks a bit wonky but it let me practice the elements in a sock without doing a week of knitting. I considered doing a duplicate stitch 1 on the back of the ankle to decorate and label it as my first sock. Then I realized I could slip a note with information about the sock inside the sock and it would have more information AND be easier.
I also finished and blocked the scarf.

The scarf pattern I found here. I started this the beginning of September.

Last Saturday I cast on this hat (pattern I found here). Finished Sunday evening. This is my 20th hat. (I was hall monitor at the high school Saturday for about 4 hours which gave me lots of time to knit. I sat in a chair at the bottom of the stairs and told kids that they could not go upstairs; in those 4 hours only one student wanted to go upstairs. I was so glad I had my knitting.)

Today my mission is to get the yarn for hat #21 and #22. With conference being telecast I will have 8 hrs to knit this weekend. :)

on my needles...just barely

Almost finished...but the cast off is tighter than the cast on and that might be a problem....so I'll do a search for a looser cast off and not finish this today.

 The pattern is on ravelry, here.http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/purl-ridge-scarf

It is about 6" wide and feels great. the yarn is 41% cotton 39% wool and 7% elastic so is a bit stretchy...'cept the cast off eliminates the stretch on the edge....
Anyone know of a very stretchy cast off? I'm doing knit 2 together then put the stitch back on the left needle and then repeat....

I spent an hour on ravelry this morning and found ...oh, only about 4 hats I'd like to for my next knitting project!

Judy started a new pr of socks. You can see them here.

my needles?

What needles?
Every morning this week I left my bed unmade so that I could block my Color Affection Shawl....Finally because I had to report something today I got it laid out to block.(I do not know what I am doing but I'm doing something.) With a fan and our low humidity today it SHOULD dry by tonight.

Otherwise we'll be hunting a place to sleep....
Since I finished my 'man hat' last week I have not purchased any yarn for the next hat. :(  I've looked at Hobby Lobby, today I'll try Joanne's but if I strike out I'll be going to Park Avenue. (The closest yarn shop is on Park Avenue in League City so it is called Park Avenue Yarns.)
Between playing with my IPad and quilting charity quilts I haven't knitted much;

This fits in my purse and gets worked on during trumpet lessons and school pick-ups. (I have been known to park in the parking lot and wait for 45 minutes now that the weather is cooler and I have my knitting with me.) I timed one row; 15 minutes per row. I have about 4 inches done and it needs 6 inches; although this yarn is so thin I may make it wider. The pattern is here.

Judy has a linky post here with other knitters posting their work.

Hat # 18 and 19

I can't believe it I forgot to post one of the cutest hats I've made; Rooster hat #2, for a grandson. I found the pattern here. (I bought their kit and used the same yarn for both combs).

Then I finished this boring 'man hat' last night. I didn't really use a pattern..kind of a make do conglomerate of 3 different patterns.

That's it...well I'm still working on some that I've posted other weeks. I have decided on Jeffrey's hat but need a trip to the yarn shop...then Reed wants a 'plain' beanie that i need yarn for too.

After seeing all the socks posted on the web I'm almost ready to start some socks; I am ready to buy the yarn and copy the pattern from a book that the library has...we'll see if I get to go to the shop this next week...

Judy has posted the progress on her socks over here.

What's on my needles?

I finished my biggest knitting project ever! Color Affection took about a month of knitting but now I need to block it; and make a skirt to wear with it....It is under the other projects.

Since I finished the Color Affection and had no yarn to start the next hat I chose a pattern for a scarf for Liz (daughter) and she chose the yarn. The cream sock yarn is being used for this scarf here.
Then I found yarn for a boring man hat. The gray ribbed thing will be a hat with no stripes or anything interesting on it. When this hat is finished I will only have 6 to go to be ready for Christmas. (I've already knitted 10 hats).

Judy has a sob story about her knitting project; go ahead and read it here.

What's on my needles?

I sat and knitted during Liz's (daughter) haircut and finished the border. The bind-off wasn't so easy to start. I looked up a new (to me) bind off that is extra stretchy. First I tried this method, loosely, then with larger needles, then looked for another bind-off method. (I LOVE YouTube!) Grandma's favorite bind-off is the method I decided on, you can look at it here....... I ended up knitting a new row onto larger needles, size 9, I'd been using size 7, then doing the bind-off. Of course with 6 extra people in the house I have not finished it. I counted 460 stitches across the bottom but that is not a perfect count.

You also see the start of my daughter's first knitting project; a snake. What you don't see is my son's (15yo) snake! Somehow it is not findable this morning!
I'm linking up with Judy's post about knitting. If you want to see other's knitting go here.

We are having a great time with the 4 grandson's that are here and 2 more are coming at noon.

What's on my needles?

I thought I'd be finished with the turquoise knitting last Sunday..I was a passenger for 8 hours in a car to and from Austin. HA! Made some major mistakes and had to tink 2 rows, then the texture, that I normally love started hurting and I shifted to knitting the rooster hat...

didn't finish that either. One side is done the other is in the car almost ready to attach to this side.  With company here I am not knitting very much...