Preemie cap

This is my first knitting project in way too long. My life has become very busy. An almost two year old makes knitting nearly impossible. As soon as I start to knit Kennedy decides she wants to get on my lap, at times nearly impaling herself on the needles!!!! So it is often safer to knit when she is asleep. Of course that is the time I need to check email, grade papers for the online class I teach, cook and clean the house. Oh and play with Katie! However, I did make time to knit a hat, I am working on number 2 for the July Itty Bitty Charity knits. This is my month to host and I am sending the hats to the NICU where Kate spent almost 6 weeks when she was born at 2lbs 3oz. The Hat in the picture is made for a preemie 1-3lbs and would have fit Katie at birth. To give perspective, I have taken a picture with a newborn itty bitty bunny ears hat.

I can not believe Katie was once a 13" and 2 lbs....she actually got down under 2 lbs! Truly frightening but makes you glad for healthy kids and great nurses and doctors. I could not thank Drs. MacArtor and Wright enough! Truely heros and they are also nice people! Rare in the Dr. Speciality world!
Anyway for anyone who would like to knit a hat for the NHRMC NICU, please contact me by leaving a comment or on ravelry:twoaugustgirls.

The link for this great preemie hat and even more fun patterns is:http://woolwindings.blogspot.com/
Make sure you tell her twoaugustgirls sent ya!


The patterns are quick, fun and easy to follow. Thanks!!!!

Late 1800's Baptism Gown

Over the weekend I went to my nephew William's Baptism.  He was too cute for words...See for yourself.

We had a  great time. My daughter Katie is upset because we had to come home and leave everyone back in PA.  I managed to get some cute photos in of the kids and William. I even took along my knitting.  I am making the "paper bag hat" from Itty Bitty Knits, however, it was so bust that my knitting stayed in the bag the entire time.  On the plus side, I came home with 3 skeins of yarn to make socks for my Mom.  They are a nice natural tweed color and are from the sweater my Mom was knitting for my Dad when he suddenly died.  She has finally been able to frog the yarn  and made some teddy bears for William and my Kennedy this Easter and I am going to make her some socks:)

Additionally, I also brought back Kennedy's Baptism dress. She will be wearing it in early June for her very own Baptism.  This is the same dress my older daughter Katie wore as well as her great-grandmother.  The gown was made by my great grandmother around 1894 for her own children. My Great Grandmother was a seamstress and this is all done by hand!  Isn't it magnificent!!! The fabric has a slight bit of coloring at the top from age, so my Mom is getting it framed in acid free materials as soon as Kennedy's Baptism is finished. We are afraid if it is not displayed  like this it will soon get beyond repair.  Plus this will allow it to be enjoyed for future generations.  I would also like to add this was my idea:)

Hello Again!

Well April has been crazy! So I have not had much time to post. Part of the problem is this

Yep, that is her in all her Mobile cruising around the house 8 month glory! She is fast!!!

However, I have finished a few things since my last post. I made Kennedy the cutest pair of socks! My Mom sent me yarn for the pattern Lion Brand elephant socks! They are SOOO cute. I love them.

I have also made a new hat for Kennedy from the Itty Bitty Knits book . This is a fabulous book. Beautifully done and great patterns. A must for any knitter who knits fro babies and toddlers. The hats are TOO CUTE.

I made Kennedy the Upside-Down Daisy hat.
I used the purple yarn that was left over from the elephant socks and some green and white from my yarn stash. Kennedy seems to like the hat and I could not be happy with how the lion brand wool-ease knits up and looks in the hat version!

The other part of my time goes to this little person.
It is lacrosse season again and with that homework and family I have had NO time. I did manage to finish another pair of socks for me!

And I restarted Kennedy's Blossom dress:

So I promise to have more regular posts...I hope!

Beer anyone...

I could not help myself when I saw this on Cass' blog.  It was adorable.  I plan on making a couple for some friends who share my appreciation of beer.  The pattern is easy to find on ravelry: as a free download-The beer Sweater.

Hello? Anyone Still there?

Well, it has been a busy couple of weeks, with Easter, guests and everyone home for spring break!  Plus, my husband put me to work painting our house while he was home and I had to look busy other times so it left little me time.  I hardly had time to knit either! UGH!

But now I am back to normal, well as normal as I get and I have managed to finish two things.

I got the itty bitty hats book for my birthday.  The hats are adorable and so I just ahd to make a quick bunny hat for Kenendy for Easter.  I would like to make it again using better yarn but I had little options with such a short time frame. 

Socks What Socks?

So, as anyone who is the parent of two kids knows, when you make something for one you have to make something for the other.  In this case, I had made Kate a pair of blue socks, then I made her 7 month old sister a pair of socks.  Well, to Katie that was not fair, she felt she deserved a new pair.  Usually, I do not give in to the whining plus I wanted to finish my socks.  I mean since I learned how to make socks, I still have not been able to finish my pair due the children wants!  Fortunately, in this case, Ken hates anything knitted ( I know he does not know what he is missing but I am not telling him more for ME ME ME ME ME! )  

Then,lucky for Katie, I got let into  Sock on the Month 5 and needed a new project for March and as I could not use either of the socks I had started for me my daughter ended up with Katie's Spring Socks!  Here they are--------

I used Plymouth encore baby weight in a VERY light pastel pink and a spring green. I really like the yarns for kids socks. They are inexpensive and wear well. Plus, I am not spending my hard earned$$$ on my kids no matter how cute! I know understand the sock addiction and I have it BAD!

Contest and Sock of the Month

Well, one of my favorite blogs to read is Anne at The Bag Lady and the Pro.  Imagine my Joy when I went to read her this morning and discovered she is having a contest.  So be sure to check it out and make sure you tell her I sent you so I can get an extra entry!  www.yarnfamily.com

I also joined the Sock of the Month 5 KAL!  I found this a little late in February but they said theywould  have some openings in March and they did. WAHOO!  I am so excited.  Of course, I have 2 second socks to make but they do not count.  I still have to finish the 2nd sock of tiptoe through the tulips and my own finger weight classic sock with the yarn Sharon gave me, but now I will have to knit them as well as my new pair.  I have been slack with them because Katie wanted Kennedy to have a pair of socks, so I made theminstead of finishing my socks.  Then, I had to finish my squares for a square swap and mail them. SO, now it is back to knitting socks and more socks!!!

When did it become acceptable to wear your PJ's to Walmart?

Seriously, when did this become acceptable?  Now I know walmart is not every one's favorite store but try existing without it in a town as big as my thumbnail, with a  6 month old and a 5 year old, while on a budget.  I can not, I have tried but I can not afford it.  Anyway, not the point the point, PJ's at walmart!   I am not  talking just the questionable pant vs sleep pant. I mean the full on...Slippers, hair curlers, head wrap, I just rolled from my bed and mysteriously appeared at walmart.  Also, these people are not in to pick up a quick item: ala, my sick baby, up all night, no sleep, need diapers and her medicine.  This is weekly shopping!!!  I am a casual gal, I love my jeans, ripped and all, I do venture to stores without full make up, heels, and  in clothes that would make Stacey and Clint faint, but I have managed to get dressed.  I mean I even put on clothes to drop the daughter at school and I am not even getting out of the car!!!  

Point aside I have been a posting slacker this week.  I am going to post some pics of my current knitting and I would like to say in my defense the 6 month old is getting her first tooth and is unbearable when I put her down for 2 seconds to pee, so posting , ya not happening.  BUT I am here to make up for it SO...

I have been working on squares for a swap, but have managed to work a bit on a few pairs of socks.

This is a pair I started for Kenendy the baby. Wow , they go sooo fast!  I hope the colors turn out okay.  I picked pink for the heel to accent the colors in the top portion.

This is the pairI am knitting with the faboulously BEAUTIFUL sock yarn from my coffee swap partner Sharon.  SHOUT OUT! Love the yarn Sharon!

Tulip Socks

I decided to jump right in and try to make these socks.  They are not perfect, but I am pleased with how my first attempt at Intarsia turned out!!!  It was fun.  I had to edit the picture pattern a bit and I did not use her pattern for the body of the sock.  I used the Yankee classic sock pattern.  If you are going to make socks this is the BEST pattern!!!! You can make socks for the entire family, from baby to men's!  It is SOOO easy to follow and clear.  LOVE IT!  I incuded the link for the Tulip socks it is a free  online pattern.  If I can do it anyone can!

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring03/PATTtipt

Touch Me!!

No not really, unless you are John Mayer or James Taylor(don't ask about my taste).

I knitted YES knitted my first sock. I did it on DPN and it was not as hard as I thought it to be. For my first pair I did not use the lovely sock yarn Sharon my swap partner gave but instead some cheap (er) worsted weight encore that was easy to work worth and gave quick results. Besides the little redhead claimed my first pair for her and love her I do but I am not using beautiful sock yarn stash on 5yo growing feet!
It turned out well, now it is not perfect as it is the first, but it went SOOOO quick I can not believe it. Kate does have tiny feet for her age, she is 36lbs and 43" wearing only a size91/2 -10(American) shoe size. I do feed her. So the knitting was quick, I used a great and easy to follow pattern: Classic Socks from Yankee Knitter Designs. It has patterns for all sizes from babies to Men's. I made hers in the small size. It also allows for all types yarn and allows you to knit many types of socks besides the plain basic pair I did as my first.
Definitely worth the trip to the yarn B*&** store and the $6.


Question: Are knitting store owners in other countries nicer than here? It is not just where I am in the US, because when I lived in the south I took lessons from the knitting nazi (what I called her) of course she lived 40 years in Canada and was from England?!?!!:? Just curious.

Not a great shot....blame the camera not the photgrapher. I loved this it was easy and fun. I got it on line and just have to remeber where. I am giving it to a friend for her newborn on to be....

Andrew's Umbilical Hat

This is Andrew's Umbilical hat from Stitch'n Bitch. It was an easy mindless pattern that worked well especially after I learned Icord for the fair isle project. Do not be intimidated by it, follow the directions and it is soooo Easy!

Fair Isle Hat

Well with my dead camera I have not had a lot of access to ways to photo ongoing knitting projects but decided to take a few with Ken's IPhone. Bear with me it is not the best camera.....

This is my first fair isle attempt and like I said before a great 1st project it was just interesting enough to make it fun and Not loose your religion!

Withdraw

I am going through extensive withdraw. I know I posted a few weeks ago about my broken camera. Well it is not really working, so I can not take pictures of my knitting projects. However, more importantly, I can not take pics of my daughters and lately they have been sooo cute together. Kennedy is getting older and more fun so she just laughs at her big sisters antics all the time. Her face lights up when she sees Katie, rolling herself to be close to her and grabbing her face for kisses. Too cute.

On the knitting front, I finished my first fair isle project, a hat. An easy pattern and free on line. I loved it and it was a lot of fun. http://freddyknits.blogspot.com/2005/03/beginners-fair-isle-baby-hat-free.html

As soon as Ken gets home I will take a picture with the iPhone camera so I can post it here. My older daughter took it as her own.

I am now making a quick umbilical hat for a friends son for her shower. I had put this off because I did not know how to do an Icord and was intimidated by it. Now that I have tried it I do not know why I waited so long it was really easy, I just followed directions word for word.

Well tonight it is off to make tea hats with my daughters daisy troop. This should provide a good photo laugh of me!

Little Cables Hat

This was a great pattern. 

Very easy with enough detail to make it look interesting. I really enjoyed it.

Yarn is Cashmerino Aran from Debbie Bliss in dusty rose. This yarn was from my winter coffe swap pal: Sharon V!!!! 

Thanks Again. I love this yarn!!!

Cashmerino Yarn

This is Kennedy in her Beanie hat...Pattern from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies.

Yarn...yep you guessed it Cashmerino from Debbbie Bliss courtsey fo my winter swap spoiler Sharon.

This yarn was such a delight to knit with...and the hat was so easy and comae out so nice. I love it and so does Kennedy. Thanks Sharon!

New Project

Well, I am enjoying my winter knitting projects. I have finished up my lil project for my winter swap partner as well as a pink fuzzy scarf or my adorably girlie niece Rachel (she is 5) shh don't tell her it is a gift. I am planning a purple one for her three year old sister.

I got a wonderful box from my Mom yesterday filled with some coffee, 6 books by some of my fave authors and all new releases....and the most beautiful wool Noro yarn. Needless to say after searching online all morning I found a quick felted bag pattern that will look really nice I think.

I have started it inspite of not finishing my other scarf yet...oops!
I will post some pics of the yarn later!