Sheldon

Hello!!

Here's the first one of the projects that I made a while back.  This is Sheldon the turtle from the Winter 2006 Issue of Knitty.  I wanted to knit this adorable guy for well over a year after hearing about him on a Knit Picks Podcast and I finally cast on for him in July.  He didn't take long at all, but I had to put him aside when we left for our trip.  All that was left to do was sew the ends of the applied I-cord together and attach his legs, but those were the things I was looking forward to the least.  Once we got back, I had a big finishing weekend and got him all done in literally like an hour - so in reality, I put off doing those things that took hardly any time at all.....yes, this does seem to be a trend with me.....  Anyhoo, now that he is done I just adore him and don't think I can part with him :)  He has taken up residence on my shelf at the moment.  Here are a few more pictures:

This is what he looks like with no shell.

You can check out all the yarn info and such on my Ravelry page if you're interested.  His shell is removable and there are patterns to make "themed" shells for him so you can dress him up.  Ones like this, or this, or even this!  Cute eh?  The applied I-cord was not my favourite thing to do, but since this was my first time doing one, that might have been why.  That being said, it sorta doesn't make me want to make any extra shells for him, but who knows, I may have to do at least one more, this cowboy shell is too cute!   

Much Love, xx

Notes from My Weekend

Hello!!

I've got a progress picture of the Forest Friends Blanket for you today!!  I'm SO HAPPY with how the colours are working up!!!!  There's still a ways to go yet, but it's getting there :)

Last Friday I started a pair of afterthought heel socks using the pattern from The Knit Girllls.  I've always wanted to try this type of sock construction and to be honest, I'm a little tired of doing heel flaps at the moment :)  I'm really hoping these turn out!!  I'm still on the leg portion, but I can't wait to put in the waste yarn for the heel!  If all goes well, maybe I will get to that point tonight.  I worked on the blanket for most of the weekend, so these have been sitting on the sidelines, but my fingers are itching to knit some socks now!  (thanks to my cousin TL!!)  The yarn I'm using is Dream in Color Smooshy in the Petal Shower colourway that was gifted to me by Becca in the Cupcake Swap back in May.  This is my first time knitting with Smooshy, and I am really enjoying it! 

I do have a finished project to share today!!  How exciting!!  Since I was coming to stay at my sister's house for a few days I thought I'd make a little hostess gift for her, and I just got a ball of the new Dishie yarn from Knit Picks so I thought some dishcloths were in order.  The pattern I used is "Crochet Dishcloths by Lily" and they are super fast and fun to work up.  I did get a chance to use them while here, and I really like how the yarn is holding up!  I think I'm going to be ordering more of this in the future.

On another note, I have to apologize for slacking in the blogging over the last while, but to make it up to you I thought I would have a sort of catch-up week where I will share some of the projects that I have missed posting about.  I was on a bit of a finishing bend a bit ago and got quite a lot done that I haven't shared yet so I thought this would be a good way to do that. 

Anyways, I hope you are all have a fantastic Monday!!  I'm just about ready to go out for a bit and have a visit with my cousin TL who is down here for a few days!!  Just wait till I show you what she gave me last night!!!!!!   

Much Love, xx

Forest Friends Baby Blanket :: The Beginning

Thank you so much everyone for your help in choosing the blanket colours in the last post!!!! As you can see from the above photo, I went with using the colours from the registry as the inspiration. I started it today, and I'm really happy with how it is going so far. I'm using Bernat Satin yarn since its nice and soft and should wash and wear well. I had originally wanted to use Caron Simply Soft, but I couldn't find the right colours. The yarn is crocheting up really nicely though, so it's all good. This really is a fun little hooky project!! The ripples just seem to flow off my hook and I get such a thrill out of the colour changes that it makes it just seem to fly right along.

Right now I am staying at my sister's house for a few days! I came up here last night and will be here until Sunday. It's been nice to have access to high-speed Internet, and a quiet house today to just relax and work on the blanket. Tomorrow my Mom is bringing my puppy Emerson up to stay with us. We are all very excited for that! She is the sweetest little girl and so much fun. She loves her Uncle J and Auntie S and will be so excited to see them. I am very much looking forward to spending some quality time with my sister and her husband over the weekend. I'm sure there will be lots of knitting/crocheting and chatting going on! What could be better than that?

Have a good Thursday evening everyone!!

Much Love, xx

Blanket Colours Question

Hello!

Today dear blog readers, I have a question to ask.  I need some help here with a baby blanket that I'm planning on making.  First, I don't know the mommy-to-be very well, so I'm not sure about her colour preferences, and she is not 100% sure what the gender of her baby is - although they are leaning toward it being a girl.  So, this morning I was planning on making a colourful ripple blanket, very similar to the one that Lucy made: The Baby Ripple.  Then, this afternoon I went to check out her registry online and found that she is doing the nursery in a "Forest Friends" theme that looks like THIS.  Now, do you think I should try to find colours similar to this and make a blanket that will match in the nursery, or should I make the colourful one since it's different?  (Also, I have to note that if the colourful one turned out to be too girly, and the baby is a boy, I have a blue, brown, and tan baby blanket already made that I was going to give instead.)  Do you think that if I make one to match the nursery that it will just blend in with all the rest of the blankets she will already have that colour-coordinated?  Or do you think if I make the colourful ripple it will clash horribly with the rest of her decor and she will never use it?  I wanted to start looking for yarn tomorrow, but now I don't know what to do.  Any help/advice would be much appreciated!!

Much Love, xx 

S is for Socks

Hello!

I got the pictures to upload over the weekend!!  Yay!!  I wanted to first off say that I took a break on the sock I was working on in the last post - the one where I ended up in the "black hole of knitting" and went to bed that night.  I started fresh in the morning and it flew right along!!  It's now done and waiting for it's photo shoot.  Today is a lovely sunny day so I should be able to take a few pictures a little later. 

The socks in the above photo are ones that I knit for my Mom while in Norway.  I used DROPS Fabel in a colourway that Mom picked out.  They are plain vanilla and have a 5" leg. 

I started the pair of socks above before I left on my trip, but I had only gotten a bit of the leg portion done on the first sock.  I picked them back up again a couple weeks ago and finished them off during my "vacation".  These were the socks I was knitting at the beach in the photo the other day.  I used Knit Picks Felici in the colour Afternoon.  They are for me and are plain vanilla's with a nice long 8" leg.  Now that I look at them, I should have made them into knee socks, because I like the colour so much!!  I have some Felici in the Tiki colour so maybe that is what I will do with it.

Well, that's all for today.  I'm in the middle of baking bread and while waiting for it to rise, I think I will do a little crocheting.  I hope you are all having a wonderful Monday!!

Much Love, xx   

Knitting On and On

Hello Again,

Ok, so I tried uploading the photos today, and for some reason it just wouldn't work.  Which is very frustrating if you ask me.  I will try again tomorrow and see what happens.  Maybe my computer needs a little sleep and it will want to work properly for me in the morning.....I can hope anyways.

In the meantime, I have been knitting the second sock of a pair I started while in Finland and I seem to have hit the "black hole" of knitting - I'm knitting, knitting and knitting......and it isn't getting any longer!  I feel like I have been knitting on the foot portion all evening (which I have!) and it's not anywhere near the toes yet!   I think I find it even more annoying than usual because I really, really want to finish off this sock tonight so I can work on something different over the weekend.  I have grand plans (as per usual) and this sock is just cramping my style!  Does this ever happen to you, and what do you do to keep plugging along and not give up? 

Well, I'm going to knit a bit longer and then head to bed. 

Much Love, xx

Back Again!!

Hello!!

I am back from my wonderful little "vacation" I took here at home!  I had a lovely time just relaxing and enjoying myself.  I got some projects finished up and even took my knitting to the beach one day as you can see in the above photo :)  The break seems to have been just the thing I needed as now I feel re-energized and well-rested.  I'm ready to get back into the swing of things.  I will be back tomorrow to show you some of the projects I finished up!!  Have a great evening everyone!!

Much Love, xx