06.30.09
HOT HOT Summer
It is HOT here in northwest MS —— that usually means that my productivity level hovers around ‘zilch’ but I am trying to combat my general summer laziness. When it is too hot to breathe, it’s too hot.
One of my latest projects is this Go Green Market Bag that I made for my friend Amber. It should come as no surprise to anyone that I have a lot of Sugar N Cream cotton yarn. I am making strides to use some of it – This bag used about 1.5 skeins of Hot Lime and .5 skein of Summer Splash. This is my favorite market bag to crochet BUT I have to admit that at this point, after 4 of them, I am tired of it. So, I am retiring this pattern for a while. I’m sure it will make a comeback.
06.20.09
Baby Whale
Last week, my mother asked me to make her a baby gift for a baby boy – I told you that I was elbow deep in baby projects!!! She did not give me any specifications, but when I suggested this bunny pattern from Lion Brand or this whale, she chose the whale. Evidently bunnies are not manly, and whales are. Hahahaha.
This is my first Amy Gaines pattern, and like everyone else that has tried them, I found it very easy to follow. This whale was knit in one piece – so I did have to do some seaming – but I survived it!! The yarn I used for this pattern is not my favorite – Bernat Cottontots – so I am just trying to use up what I have left. This is Blue Berry, and it took about 1/3 skein. For the underbelly I used some left over Sugar N Cream in white.
I do not find knit amigurumi as easy to stuff as crochet, so does anybody have any tips?? Knit is just so stretchy; everytime I would put the stuffing in, it would just stretch out into a *new* shape. I found this to be rather aggrevating so I did not stuff it as firmly as I would have preferred. Aside from that, I think it turned out very cute!!!!
06.17.09
Babies on the Brain
I guess you could say that I have babies on the brain since I am doing so much baby knitting and crocheting lately!! I guess I am just *lucky* enough to know a lot of people having babies! My most recent baby FO is the Summer Stripes Baby Afghan from Lion Brand.
I found this to be a very enjoyable project!! I chose the pattern because 1) I already had the Vanna’s Choice in my stash – please note my unique color combinations 
and 2) I really love the border!! I think that is my favorite thing about crocheting baby blankets – the frilly borders that they all have!!! Love them.
My crocheting gauge is usually much smaller than called for, and this time is no different really. The pattern called for finished measurments of 29.5″ x 37″ and mine ended up 30″ x 34.5″. Close enough.
I used 5 skeins of Vanna’s Choice, all with varying amounts of leftover yardage: Beige, Rose, Dusty Purple, Dusty Green and Silver Blue. All from my stash! YAY!!! (I consider the Beige to be all ‘used up’ since it only had about 10 yards left.)
This was gifted to my work friend, Dabney, who only has 1 month until her little princess arrives!!
06.09.09
Tiramisu, the Third
Since this is such an adorable pattern, I have now made it THREE times!!!
This particular blanket was a request and I was happy to comply as best I could. This was my first time crocheting with Bernat Baby Coordinates and it was a bit of a challenge starting out. Not my favorite, but a very soft finished product!! I love this color combo : Baby Pink & White.
It’s already been tested out and given a lamb’s stamp of approval…
What, I ask, is cuter (or better) than that?
05.26.09
Recent Progress
This is my most recent FO, the Diagonal Comfort Blanket from Lion Brand. You can find the pattern here, here, here and here because Lion Brand apparently thinks that some knitters are so stupid they have to the pattern written out for individual yarn colors. Since I seem to be an ‘above-average’ knitter, I was able to complete this blanket in a color that the pattern did NOT call for. Yeah – I’m a college graduate. (They’ve also given each pattern a different name. Had I noticed that before I would have definitely chosen to go with the “Dansforth Ridges Blanket” instead of the boringly named “Diagonal Comfort Blanket”)
This baby blankie was meant to get me out of my knitting funk, and it accomplished JUST THAT I am happy to say. I was able to use some of my stash (Lion Brand Cotton Ease (new) in Violet – 3.5 skeins) and produce a baby gift that will come in handy the next time I need one. This picture is actually pretty true to the color of the blanket and I’ve considered adding a ribbon through the eyelets if I decide to gift it to a baby girl. (Thanks to my friend, Amber, I now know where the not-by-the-yard ribbon is at our local Wal-mart – my only craft store.)
I was unable to take a very quality picture, since a.) we live in an apartment with inadequate lighting, b.) there is nowhere outside to take a good picture and c.) how do you take a good picture of a blanket anyway!?! I’ve struggled with this in the past, but usually with a cuter blanket. This one is in all honesty very plain. I thought about adding a uni-sex ribbon to dress it up, but I don’t know how some daddy would feel having his boy wrapped up in a blanket with a ribbon tied through it. Some men are just weird that way.
05.19.09
FO: Baby Sun Hat
When I saw this pattern I just knew that I had to make one for my friend that is due with her first baby in July.
Such a cute, quick, and easy pattern!!! (I’ll be making it again!) I knit the hat on Sunday afternoon/evening and finished up with the i-cord ties yesterday when I got home from work. I made the 3 month size (and got gauge with size 6 needles -thanks Michelle!!!) and used almost an entire skein of Knit Picks Shine Worsted in Sunflower – about 9 yards are left. This is such a cheerful color for a sun hat!!!
Since I don’t have a baby head at home to model knitwear, I bought a floral arrangement ball. I thought it would work a little bit better – I was hoping to find a bigger ball actually. This one is 10 in. in diameter which is smaller than a baby’s head (theoretically) so this hat sort of flops around on it, but at least you can get an idea of how it would look being worn instead of just laying flat.
05.04.09
Long Time, No Blog
I have been a terrible blogger lately, so I hope that there are still a few readers hanging in there with me. 
Recently I have lost my knitting/crocheting ‘mo-jo’ (I really hate that word.) but I do have a few things I have yet to show off.
In the past month I’ve made a few market bags for various people, including myself! I really love the Go Green Market bag, so I made 2 of those to give away.
I got a tad mixed up in the directions for the 2nd photo’s bag, so it is flared out. It’s a market bag – I didn’t lose any sleep over it! The first bag was made using Lion Brand Lion Cotton in Americana and Peaches & Cream White. The second bag was made with Lily Sugar n Cream Key Lime Pie. I think they both turned out very cute. This is such a quick pattern and one that I really like.
For myself, I branched out and made the Knitty pattern, the Everlasting Bagstopper. I’ve had some Lily Sugar n Cream Raspberry Swirls for a long time – bought off of ebay. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to use that.
I really like this pattern as well. I have not yet used this bag b/c I am not sure about the integrity of the straps. I sewed them on, and I am not all that confident in my sewing abilities even though I did tug on them a few times and they seemed to stay put. I just don’t know if they will hold up to a trip to the grocery store…I’ll test it out and report back.
03.26.09
Preemie Hats
Over the past few months I have been using some stash yarn to make some preemie hats to donate to the children’s hospital located Jackson. I have involved our local knit group and the deadline for collection is the end of the month. I had hoped to make a LOT of hats, but making hat after hat gets old, so I’ve lost some of my initial steam over the past few weeks. Thank goodness I started out strong!
Patterns used are : 1. preemie eyelet cap, 2. conehead baby hat, 3. noedel, 4. miracle preemie hat, 5. mock rib & eyelet preemie hat, and 6. Lace Edged preemie hat.
I have really been able to serve 3 purposes with this endeavor – giving to charity, using up stash yarns and trying out new patterns! I used a variety of yarns for these hats – Caron Simply Soft, Bernat Satin Solids, Bernat Softee Baby, and some very random hobby lobby “yarn bee” yarn that I had in my stash from YEARS ago. It was nice to get that used up! I still have more yarn to use, so round 2 will arrive at some point. It’s baby season, so baby knits are consuming my thoughts currently…
Our next charity endeavor is going to be knitting dishcloths for the Ronald McDonald house in Jackson. Maria contacted them and they said they would be more than happy to take handknit dishcloths and washcloths. Works for us since that is one of our favorite things to make!!
03.12.09
Summer-y
We are still having some crazy weather in my area – Tuesday it was 82 degrees and yesterday it turned cold – 49 degrees. 
The only thing that this type of weather is good for is making people sick and/or looking forward to spring and summer. Although I do not look forward to 100 degree days with 100% humidity. There is no happy middle ground for long in Mississippi…
Moving on…
Maria’s birthday was Tuesday and a while back she told me that she would like to have a market bag. Usually I hound people about what they would like until nobody is surpised (one of my few flaws), but this time I just filed that information away and searched for a pattern all on my own. I settled on the Go Green Market Bag.
I love this pattern!! (I opted out of the CD in the bottom – but I am sure that it would be a nice addition.)
You will definitely be seeing me make this pattern again. (Forget you saw it!! 
)
It takes about 2 skeins of Lily Sugar N Cream (solid) and makes a really great bag with 2 handles! I love the 2 handles. The other 2 market bags I’ve made both had the one large, wide strap across the top which I do not love. This one is perfect. PERFECT!! The pattern also gives you the option to make the straps shorter in case you want a bag that you can carry on your forearm instead of your shoulder. I might experiment with that one next.
In other areas:
I am still working on preemie hats. The deadline for me collecting them is coming up at the end of the month and I am really looking forward to that. One can only make so many preemie hats, but I am happy to say that baby heads will be warmed and I have gotten rid of some yarn that I didn’t want or need anymore. A win-win situation.
My knitting has become very dis-jointed lately. I am all over the place. Hopefully I’ll find my rhythm again soon.
03.02.09
Catching Up – Again
I have been such a bad blogger over the past few weeks, that it is time for the return of the Mosaic. (Really, I didn’t plan this. ha ha ha) Blame it on Animal Crossing!! Now that Michelle and I can play online together, we meet up everyday and the time just goes by so fast that before I know it any time for knitting is GONE!! I am trying to do better about incorporating some knitting time, but Animal Crossing sure is fun!
So, on to the good stuff!!! I have completed a few projects, so I shall share them with you now.
1. I made this dishcloth for my Ravelry $10 Swap Partner. This is a great group on ravelry that does a swap every month with a spending limit of $10. February’s theme was Valentine’s Day, so I chose to make this cute Valentine dishcloth.
2. When I saw the Sweetheart Hat on Susan B. Anderson’s blog I just thought it was the cutest thing!! I started out making the 12-24 month size for a friend’s baby back in Corinth, but thanks to some gauge issues and me not checking them, this hat turned out the perfect size for Maria’s little darling. I want to make more of these, but I guess I will wait until next year so they will be closer to Valentine’s Day. I have my mind on bunny hats this time of year.
3. & 4. I have a friend here at work that is expecting her first baby in July, so that means that I get to experiment with all different sorts of baby items. FUN FOR ME!! I love the Fancy Crocheted Booties and y’all know that I love to make a dishcloth/washcloth (free Rav Download)!! I am hoping to make her some more baby items once my current wave of baby hats for various babies subsides. (Hopefully I’ll have something to post about there before the end of this month!)
5. & 6. These are holdovers from January, but I dove into my stash of Malabrigo to make a few things for myself. The Scrunchable Hat (free Rav Download) – which is a really great hat! and the It Ain’t Plain, Jane neckwarmer. I love malabrigo!! This month is Malabrigo March so I’ll have to see what I can do about that……
I have a TON of stuff that I want to accomplish. I am already thinking about Christmas items and feel pretty sure that I know what I am going to make for several people already. I also organized a preemie hat/blanket knit-a-long in the Ole Miss Knits group on Ravelry, which will be coming to an end this month. I’ll do one big post about that at the end. Preemie hats are so fun and quick!!
