August

Sooo, I got to thinking about my hat goal and how far behind I was.  I had just finished a little hat and threw it in the couch (my mother calls it a storage bench) when I realized, "Hey, I've been making a hat or two here and there.  I haven't been recording them.  I wonder how far behind I really am."


(Some of these, the two pink and the two blue, were shown in the April entry.  So I guess that means I did the others sometime between April and now, huh?  Purple is a lace knit, adult woman's, wool sock yarn.  Same yarn for the teeny-tiny baby one on the far left, but the pattern is a 7-star lace knit.  The blue striped one on the bottom is wool sock yarn, waffle knit, adult men's.  So much fun, and so easy, I made two.  I'm leaving that one and another I made out b/c they will likely be Christmas presents, not donations.)

Counting them all up, it turns out, I was only 10 behind.
I could catch up to 10 with an easy pattern.

And it also just so happened that I had recently found a very easy pattern.  A couple of them, really.  So this is what I did over the next 8 days.

Yes, really.

Each of the hats below is newborn sized and knit.  The little blue one on the bottom right is a beret, acrylic, and the hat that made me start counting.  (Thank you, nice little hat.)  The red and white striped is cotton.  The rest are microfiber.  All except the beret, the turquoise one on top, and the red-blue-purple one, are ribbed, so they'll fit a variety of baby heads.  Turquoise is an eyelet pattern.  Red-blue-purple is straight knit.

 

But this is where I really made progress.  Each of these took only about an hour.  All 8 were done Sun and Mon of last week. (Crocheting is really where my speed lies.)  I decided that I hated this yarn, I had a lot of it, and I was determined to get rid of it.  (It is lovely yarn--thick, warm, and soft, but I do not like working with it.)  So into these hats it went, and very nice they turned out.

 All three dark blue are straight brim men's size hats.  The light blue and light turquoise are flared brim for a girl, the purple flared brim for a woman.  The green up front is for a small boy, the green on the middle left is for a baby girl.  All used the same basic pattern, were crocheted, and were made from acrylic.

Now, if you look carefully (and really not even that carefully), you can see a bunch of ends sticking out.  I haven't finished any of them yet.  Sigh.

I've also worked on some tiny crochet for Christmas.  I won't show you those.  :)

July

I finished the shawl.  I went with the orange yarn from Nathan's old sweater and the butterfly crochet pattern.  Looks lovely, but really, what am I going to do with it?  Maybe it will be more attractive to me when it's cold outside.  Now I just feel like a little old lady when I try it on.

I also finished two hats, both with fingering yarn.  One was supposed to be a baby hat, but oh my!  It's really tiny.  So I tried to enlarge it.  The larger version fits me beautifully!  Oops.  I'm working on another hat now, but none of these will be donation hats.  Christmas gifts, I think.  I'm woefully behind in my 50 donation goal.

And it's getting be Christmas sewing season.  I have flowers I owe my mom and a project I wanted to do last year that got pushed out.  I wonder if I'll get it done this year?  With almost everyone having a new house, this is really the perfect time for it.  We'll see.

Did I do anything else since my last entry?  I don't remember.  But I spent a lot of time on Ravelry... and have the patterns to show for it.  :)

Mid-May

I am 3 hats behind schedule.  I have one started, but it's turning out bigger than I anticipated, so it's also going to take longer. 

Distractions from "hatting"--it started with the little socks of the last post.  I still haven't found a baby to try those booties on yet.  I don't like them empty, but maybe they look cuter filled with baby feet.

I also wanted to make a baby sack, nice and soft and thick.  But it wasn't working out like I wanted so I ripped it out and turned it into a baby blanket.  Seems like it has hit the "knitting black hole" and I don't feel like it's making any progress and I'm losing interest.  I can't think of anything else for this yarn, however, so I have to keep going--if for no other reason than to get rid of it.

And then I was stupid and checked out some of the knitting books from our library's very small collection. (So spoiled as I have been, the libraries here still make me want to cry.)  3 sock books, 2 shawl books, and one nursery knitting.  I also found a crochet book, where there is a beautiful butterfly shawl I am going to make.

I bought yarn for it yesterday.  Very seriously struggled:  dark purple or blue?  Finally settled on the blue.  It was nearly $30.  For one beautiful skein. Soft and drapey and perfect.  Except... when I got home I realized I'd bought the wrong weight and therefore there was not enough.  I'd need 2.  So so sad.  This was my "Yay-we-sold-our-house!" gift to me.  But I couldn't justify 2 skeins, no matter how pretty that crocheted butterfly shawl would be.

So I could still use this yarn for socks, but it really is too pretty to put in shoes, so I went to Ravelry and found a pattern--searching by weight and yardage. 

Won't that be pretty in a slightly shaded denim-y blue.  So soft.  I'm so excited to start.  I've never done lace knitting before.  At least I didn't intentionally, maybe I have.

And let's not overlook the sock books.  New heels and toes to try, a nifty mosaic pattern, and all that yarn I bought while Nathan was in Chicago 3 years ago calling to me to become Christmas presents...

So, yes, more to take me away from my hat goal.  I will still make the butterfly shawl, too, but I'll have to think of something else for the yarn.  Maybe doubled thread?  Far less expensive.

April

Busy in April.  I took a little break from my hat marathon and worked on some baby socks.  Then I had to get back to hats b/c I was no longer "ahead."  Now I am just on target.

Blue top left:  Sara's slouch, kid size, crocheted.

Pink: preemie hat with ribbon, knitted.

Blue striped: Newborn, knitted.

Pink top left:  Sara's slouch, kid sized, with ribbon ( I wanted to try it), crocheted.

Red bootie: knitted, top down, no seams, and yes, only one.

Colorful socks:  toe up, knitted, slip-stitch heel, 6-9 month sized (for a skinny baby?)

Pink socks:  top down, knitted, slip-stitch heel, same sizing issue.

Blue/blue socks: top down, short-row heel (my first ever), 0-3 month, for our neighbors' new baby.

Blue speckled:  top down, slip-stitch heel, same sizing as pink.
 

And this is why there is only 1 red bootie.  I think it looks like a boat.  I hate sewing seams on booties and really want to love this pattern, but I don't.  I think it looks silly.  And I have no babies around to test it on and see if it "looks better on"--not being acquainted enough with my new neighbor to use her baby as a guinea pig.  Any advice?

March

I don't think I finished anything in March, except the blanket.  We LOVE the blanket.  Good weight, smells good, nice and toasty...  Good blanket.

I was so far ahead in my "required" hats that I haven't made any not already chronicled.  But now I need to start again.  I guess that means I'll have a few for April's post.

TA--DA!

Finished!!

I forgot how much stamina a blanket of this size requires.  I haven't made a real afghan since my cousin got married in 2000.  I think I'll stick with baby-sized stuff.  Much quicker turnaround.  :)  Though, this only took 4 months, and I've spent longer on socks.  Maybe it's just the sheer size of the project.  I couldn't tuck it in a little bag and take it on car trips after a while.  It just seemed to be everywhere.

Also, after finishing a large project, does anyone else feel a sense of "black hole"?  I tend to start and tear out several new projects before finally fixing on what's next.  Today I started a baby sweater (before I finished this, I needed a ride-to-church project), but now don't feel like finishing it.  Later today I started a preemie hat for this, but can't bring myself to like it enough to continue.*  It always happens after a long project ends.






*(Don't worry, that's where most of the other hats I've made so far will go.)

February

All hats this month.  I think I also did a few colors on the afghan, but it isn't done yet, so I won't post it.

Adult man's hat, knitted.

Was supposed to be a woman's chemo cap, but came out very, very small.  Lace-edged, knitted.

Woman's chemo cap, cable-edged, knitted.

Child's hat, cable edged, knitted.  This and the one above are knit in short rows, side to side.  Very fun to make.

Was supposed to be a baby hat, but looks like a kid's.  Knitted with a top knot.

Another Sara's Slouch, crocheted.  (I LOVE this picture!)