Almost done!

Well the holidays are almost done and over. Tim, Ronan, Seamus and I spent the Christmas holiday visting my side of the family in Las Vegas. My brother, Dwight Jr. and his family, drove up from Barstow, CA. There was quite a household of people and animals - Nancy (my dad's wife - aka - step mom) had some of her family up at the house. So...there were TEN of us staying at my dad's with their 2 yellow labs, my brother's 3 long haired weiner dogs, and Nancy's sister's 2 mini Dobermans! Ugh! Though it was crowded and overwhelming for Ronan and Seamus, it was fun to be around the chaos - and now - nice to be home. So, Tim and I did Christmas with the boys the second we walked in the door from Vegas - because Santa had come while we were in Vegas (wink, wink) and we will be doing (another) Christmas with Tim's family tomorrow night! It really is so much harder when you have children and have to spread it out. So while in Vegas, we had breakfast at a lodge at Mount Charleston. I was quite surprised at the amount of snow that was up there and the elevation. The lodge we were eating at was at a little over 7k feet but Mount Charleston reaches almost 12k feet. Who knew? After Mount Charleston we drove to Red Rocks Canyon. I wanted to visit the site where Tim and I had gotten married back in May 2001. We couldn't actually get to the site because the meadow we were married in is now a preserve but it meant a lot to me to be able to be there with the boys. Tim and I argued about the actual location of the ceremony. We took pictures of the area and then compared the pics to our wedding photos last night...sure enough - he was right! :-)

Mount Charleston

Red Rocks Canyon, Las Vegas, Nevada

...and look at this one...I couldn't resist posting this...Seamus Patrick

And at the end of it all - I was able to finally get pictures of some of the gifts I made with their recipients. Both hats were very well recieved. Success!

Stella Cloche

Cowboy Hat

Kelly, Kelly...Stella

I've been on a felting kick lately - four out of the last ten projects I've finished have been felted. I'm especially excited about the Kelly bags I knit! I initially chose this project for my book club gift exchange. After finishing, I agonized over the decision to keep it or stick with the plan and gift it. Well - the end decision, I knit another one for myself! So I have two to show off today. :-) I knit the the first Kelly bag as written in the pattern. I knit Kelly Bag II with some modifications. I made the bag shorter in width, the flap longer, and tried to add a ruffle (but that didn't turn out so great). I just love the lining I found for both the bags - so cute!

The Kelly Bag I

The Kelly Bag II

Ok - now for Stella. I knitted a cloche hat - all the rage now :-) - for my Dad's wife as her Christmas gift. It turned out cute. I have not yet added the embellishments and haven't decided what I'm going to do either. But here's a picture for now. I still need to shave it. The old sweater shaver I bought from Fingerhut fifteen years ago isn't quite cutting it on this yarn.

Stella Cloche

more pics here

Ummm -what other things do I have to share? I'm going to try and make a felted cowboy hat for my neice to go with the cowboy boots that I got her for Christmas. Oh - I'm also going to give my dad's wife two dish towels that I knit towel toppers on - you know the kind - the kind you see at grandma's house - yes, those are the ones. I think that's it for my Christmas list knitting.

Ava Tee

Ah, par for the course, another belated birthday gift. This is for my friend's daughter, Ava. This was a super quick knit and easy as pie. I even modified some - details on my Ravelry project page. I wasn't able to get the best picture because it was windy and the hanger kept moving (and it was freezing out!). This Girl's cap sleeve spring top pattern was well written and easy to read.

Winter Warmth

It's my sister-in-laws birthday this weekend so I knitted her a few things to help keep her warm this winter. She is always complaining about her neck being cold so I thought a neck warmer would be a quick, easy gift.

FOURTEEN - when I saw this pattern I fell in love with it. But I couldn't figure out how to do the 'knit 1 below'. I knit the first one (green) using a brioche stitch I found on the web. I didn't like the result - it looked like a rib (before it was blocked). So I set out to try and figure out the k1b again and finally came across video instructions on knittinghelp.com (which is abbreviated k-b). After figuring out the k1b I knitted another neck warmer in periwinkle. I LOVE IT! It came out much closer to the pattern picture.

I also knit these fingerless hand warmers for her.

"There is a season - turn, turn, turn..."

Yes...it's been quite a while. I've been busy knitting, knitting, away. I just wanted to share the latest of my finished projects. It has started to get cold, especially in the mornings, here in Colorado and the boys needed new hats for the season. So I whipped these out over a few days. I'm in love with how they turned out. Unfortunately, Ronan and Seamus refuse to wear them..."too scratchy" they say. What to do? I'm sick about it. I just love the hats and have not resigned to having to give them away yet. Can I line the hats? What can I line them with? The yarn I used is wool and mohair so I don't want the lining to make the hats unbearabley hot. Anyone?

Turn a Square, by Jared Flood.

more pics here

Druid Mittens

I participated in Ravelry's Ravelympics. The point of Ravelympics was to choose something to knit that would challenge the knitter. With that in mind, I decided on these mittens...for me! These are truly my most favorite knit. The detail in these mittens are so amazing! I was actually a little nervous knitting them - I just wasn't sure I could do the pattern justice (that still up to one's own interpretation). Someone once said to me (after showing her something I had knit), "Oh, Amy, you are so prolific!" Hmph! :-) Anyway, my response was, "It's not original, I did use a pattern." So as amazing as I think that these mittens turned out, I am exponentially more amazed that one could design such a pattern. So, without further ado, I proudly present my Ravelympics entry, Druid Mittens (Green Autumn) by Jared Flood (brooklyntweed).

Cheese!

Say 'cheeeeze'!

Accomplished?

The Anisette Shawl is done! Having finished this shawl, I have come to realize that I have never before experienced such a sense of accomplishment as a project came off the needles. It was really neat to see it all come together as I was blocking it.

And I whipped up two Barn Bags for belated birthday gifts for twin girls. After finishing the bags I thought they needed a little something to spruce it up (they were so plain). So I thought, first things first, I'll line 'em. While I was looking for fabric I found the little flowers. The bags turned out cute.

Lastly, a picture of my WIP - Aurora Bag. I'm almost done with the second side.

Just because...

Just because I have nothing else to post about - I will show off a lovely picture of little Emily in the hat I knit. I decided to knit her brother, Josh, a hat also (twins - must match). The pattern for Emily's hat is Butterfly Hat. I had a hard time finding a pattern for Josh's hat and finally decided on the Nottingham Hat. Josh's hat, however, still needs to be knit since (so no pictures to post yet).

I ended up giving the bunny I knit to someone I used to work with. She loved it.

I'm still plugging away on the Anisette shawl. I'm almost 70% done - just finished my 13th pattern repeat. On Saturday, Lynn and I went down to the LambShoppe in Denver for their monthly Pajama Jam. We bought yarn for the Aurora Bag. I've already finished one side! The bag will only be for knitting when I can't concentrate on the Anisette shawl as I would like to have it done by the end of July.

Stuff...

Here's a picture of the Rusted Root top I knit for Julie's birthday. She looks great it in. I was thinking about knitting one for myself but who am I kidding. :-)

I've been working on a lace shawl for my friend, Bridgett. Her birthday is today and I thought I would have it done for her birthday, but...alas, once again - another belated birthday gift. The pattern is Anisette. I don't have very good pictures but I'll throw one in just to give you an idea of what it looks like.

Last but not least, I'm knitting a little bunny for a birthday gift for a 3 year old boy. I hope this turns out ok. My last attempt at knitting a toy did not go well at all. For his sister, I have a Butterfly Hat that I had knit last fall and didn't fit the recipient so I had to reknit a bigger version. This is a picture of the (first) small version.

Good things come in three

Well - the last week has churned out THREE finished knitting projects!

Rusted Root

I think this is my first real wearable garment for an adult. This is a gift for my friend Julie. She was elated when she opened the package. It felt good knowing it's going to a very appreciative non-knitter.

Le Petit Trianon

This baby sweater turned out really cute compared to my first one. I found this pretty silk, velvet ribbon at The Berry Patch in old town Niwot.

Magic Slippers

Now these little gems were such a treat to knit. They are so tiny. They aren't even three inches long. These are definitely preemie to newborn size. This pattern and the baby sweater above are both free downloads from Sock Pixie. I have also knit her Mother's Day Slippers. These slippers and Le Petit Trianon went to baby Nola.

Pattern for my sock yarn

I finally found a pattern for that yummy Neapolitan yarn. It's got texture but doesn't look too tedious. Hedgerow Socks.

Baby gifts gone bad

So, on Friday, I remembered that I had a baby shower to go to on Sunday. So I scrounged thru my stash and Ravelry to see if I could find a quick easy knit. My problem was that I stuck on this yarn that I wanted to use but couldn't find a pattern. After paging thru my favorites I found Le Petit Trianon - baby kimono. The yarn I used SUCKED! I love the results but knitting with it was awful. If you dropped a stitch or had to pick a stitch up? Impossible! Once it was all knitted up, I loved it - so soft, cushy, cozy, fuzzy, fluffy! Perfect for a baby. I had a really hard time with the pattern, too. I don't know if it was the way it was written or if it was my ineptness with it. I've never seen sleeves knitted onto a sweater in this fashion and who am I to modify it with out ever having knitted the pattern before? Ugh! So anyway, I stayed up super late on Friday and Saturday night to get it done and it turned out really bad (the sleeves mostly). I will knit a new one (due to the nature of the yarn - it wouldn't be easy to frog and I can't undo the sweater because it would be impossible to pick up the stitches at the join. Ugh!

(yes that's what the right sleeve does on its own; and no, this was not meant to be short sleeve)

Another sock brings another FO

So I finished my second pair of socks last night. Much to my dismay - the second sock was almost an inch shorter than the first sock! Ugh. I considered ripping it back and joining the ball back to the sock and knitting it longer - but after seeing Seamus so happy and thrilled with the socks, I figured - no need! He loves 'em! He was all smiles while he was running around in them. He started calling them his golf shoes (go figure). Plus, it's not like he's going to be wearing out in public (with shorts on). :-)

Now on to my Rusted Root...

Froot Loops

They're officially done! My first pair of socks finished and gifted. I didn't like the yarn much when I was knitting the socks but now that they've been washed, the yarn fluffed up really nicely and is really soft. I'm curious to see how they hold up.

Busy Weekend

My nephew graduated from high school last weekend. Saturday was the celebration. After a family dinner, we all went to the Denver Aquarium. I don't know that if it's I've matured or because I have children now or that it's just better - but that place was pretty cool! We did have a set back within the first five minutes, though. One of my nieces came running back to me from the dinosaur room to tell me that Ronan had just thrown up. I raced up to the front and not only had he just thrown up but he did it all over another one of nieces. Ugh!!! She was covered - it was so gross! Poor things (Ronan and my niece). But once we dealt with that and moved on - Ronan was good to go. He just spent the rest of the evening in his onsie, pajama bottoms, and (thank goodness for) Crocs.

So we got a new camera this past Christmas. I knew I loved it before, but I love it even more now! Take a look at some of the pictures this camera took at the Aquarium! I felt like Jacques Cousteau!

I even managed to finish up my Froot Loop socks. I don't have a final pic yet but should be able to get a pic up in the next week. I decided to move on to and try to finish up Seamus' toe-up socks. I'm just about done with those. Then I'll finish up the Rusted Root top.

Mmmm - ice cream!

Neapolitan anyone?

I picked this up at the new yarn/coffee/ice cream shop. This is shop is pure genius! Have I died and gone to heaven? Three of my most favorite things, all in one place? Yes...it's true and it's right here in Boulder - Purl Knit Cafe. This yarn is for me. I want to knit a pair of socks for me but I'm having a hard time finding a pattern that is not (a) lace (with holes in the pattern) and (b) not plain rib or stockinette. Hmmm - where might I find such a thing?

Here's a picture of another WIP - Rusted Root. This will be a birthday gift for my friend, Julie. I had a bit of a time getting it started but it finally seems to be coming together now.

I've decided to finish up my Froot Loop socks before moving on with the Rusted Root. I just don't like having so many WIPs laying around. I may just turn into a monogamous knitter.

Happy ending to a Happy Birthday

Just one last picture of the boys from their bath tonight. The goggles were birthday gifts, too! (Seamus in green and Ronan in blue)

The boys turn 3 today!

So bittersweet as the boys get older. I love the people that they are becoming and at the same time lament the loss of the babies that they used to be. The birthday party was actually yesterday. Tim and I took the day off to spend their birth day with them today.

We went to the pediatrician's today. Ronan is 39 1/4 inches tall (90%) and 30lbs (40%). This is a huge jump for Ronan - he's never been above the 10% in weight! Seamus is 38 1/8 inches tall (70%) and 31 1/2lbs (50%)! This is a big up and down. Both the boys were at 95% for height at their two year appointment so Seamus is slowing down in growth. Seamus is starting to pack on some weight - how? - I haven't a clue since is he is mister, go, go, go! They were very excited to go to the doctor's office today so that they could ask if they could have peanuts now! :-D They were cleared for nuts! I'm crossing my fingers the boys love PB&J! That would make my life so much easier!

Of course, you rack your brain trying to figure out what would be a good gift (and they're only three!) - and you think you've got it (see below)...
...and this is what they fell in love with...

...miniature trash cans and a toy garbage truck purchased on eBay for a total of $17!