WHAT'S ON THE NEEDLES

Here is what is on my needles right now. I am making this neck warmer for my daughter Katy. The first picture is the picture from the pattern. Then the next picture is of what I have knitted. I only have a few more rows until I am done. Then I have to do some crocheting on the edge which I don't know how to do which I suppose I will figure it out!!!!

1/2/2009-I updated this posting from so long ago because I wanted to add the pattern. So here it is:

Mass Ave. Knit Shop in Indianapolis

When I was in Indianapolis I went to the Mass Ave. Knit Shop. There they gave me this really cool bag and then I bought 3 skeins of handcrafted kettle dyed wool so that I could make some men's hats for Christmas. The shop owner wrote down for me the best pattern to use for the yarn that I bought. So I was very happy about that. The fun furry yarn I bought is for a hooded scarf that I want to make for myself. I don't typically like anything to furry but I thought that this was nice. It was a fun little shop and I am way glad that I went.

Pam's Knitted Purse

The first picture you see is what the pattern's picture looks like and then the next one is the purse that I did. This purse was really a pain in the you know what. I am sorry Pam but I started this in June or July of this year and I just now got it done (after putting it down a few times) and it is the middle of November. It is knitted with Berroco Suede. Which is pretty cool stuff by the way.

MY FIRST FELTED PURSE

Here is the very first purse that I have ever felted. I bought this wool at a Fiber Festival in Corydon Indiana that I went to several weeks ago. The wool itself is a rug wool and was very itchy to work with but felted beautifully. The purse itself only took me about 1 week to knit. I bought the button from Baer Fabrics in Louisville, Kentucky. I am very pleased with the outcome. If anyone is interested in this pattern please let me know and I would be more than happy to share!!

2nd stripe on the Hat

Well as you can see-the hat now has two stripes. The purple and white. I am getting ready to start putting the pink stripe on and then the last stripe will be the yellow at the top. I am trying like CRAZY to get this hat done because I am afraid that my sis is going to have her baby this weekend. She is currently starting to dialate and eface and she is working on her feet all weekend. Plus I know that she has been nesting because her apartment is EXTREMELY clean. It's usually clean but when I went there Wednesday night it was amazingly clean.

So I just wanted to show that hat off at this stage. I am hoping to try and get it done this weekend.

Start of the Hat

Okay-here is the start of the hat that goes with the sweater. As you can see I have the first stripe done which is the purple one and I have just started with the white. After I do the white I will then do a pink stripe and then a small amount of yellow on the top. I was concerned when I first cast on why the hat seemed so big but then I thought about it that this particular yarn I am using has NO give to it at all. It is made with 100% cotton. I will post it again once I get the white stripe completed. I really hope that I can finish it before she has the baby. I don't know, she called me yesterday and is starting to dialate and eface.
So-here you go:

Katy left today

Katy left today for Africa for 8 weeks! Even though I am extremely proud of her, it was still extremely hard putting her on a plane today that will take her overseas!

She went with a group called Teen Missions International. She will be riding a motorcycle across Zambia and going to different aids orphans rescue units and ministering to them as well as digging wells for fresh drinking water.

She will be sleeping on the ground in a tent with a sleeping bag and blow-up pillow. She will be bathing and washing her clothing using a 5 gallon bucket. I think it takes a really special person to do this. I sure don't know if I could.

I am DONE

Finally---I am done with the baby sweater. I stayed up until almost 1:00 a.m. last night to get this sucker finished but I am very happy with the results. Now it is time to start the hat. Hopefully that will not be too bad.

Baby Sweater and all.

Well-I am back online. Things have been crazy for me. My daughter is leaving for Zambia, Africa in 7 days and we have had so much to do it's just insane.

I have my baby sweater pieces put together.

I learned tonight at my knit night how to put the collar on my baby sweater. So as soon as I am done with that which should be in few days I will get the picture posted.

But I did want to show you this really interesting thing that I did with my sister. She is the one who is very pregnant and will be receiving the baby sweater.

We did a belly cast. Which was pretty awesome. It's a really unique piece of artwork.

Book Review Itty Bitty Hats

Okay-I promise that this will be the last post on why I love the Itty Bitty Hats book but I felt you should know this information.

I love this book because of course it has adorable patterns but also each pattern requires the same size needles throughout the entire book which I think is very cool. So basically once you invest in the book and needles all that is left is the yarn.

Also-the book is spiral bound which I love because of course it can lay flat.

Anyway-I think it's a really good book and I highly recommend it. I think it is something that I will keep for a long time and be able to make great baby gifts out of it for a long time.

Flower Hat

I'm not sure about the difficuly of this hat but I am going to look into possibly making this one for my unborn niece.

A couple of cute boys hats

Itty Bitty Hat Collection

Here are the pictures from the book as promised. I am sorry that the quality is not that great. For some reason our scanner is not working right now so I tried to just take some pictures of the pictures. What you are looking at now is one of my favorites-the pumpkin hat. If I have enough time I would love to knit this for both of my neices for the fall.

Birthday Hat-Itty Bitty Hat Collection

I love this hat. I think it would be perfect for Miss Lilly for her first birthday. Her birthday is in January so it would be appropriate.

New Favorite Book

Okay-I just got this book and I had to post it on here as I am way excited about it there are some really cute patterns in here. If interested you can get this book at www.amazon.com I think it is only about $12.00.

Baby Sweater Woes

I have been working on this baby sweater for my sister since about March. I used a pattern out of Better Homes and Gardens Knit 1-2-3 and it is knit in pieces and the pieces are joined at the end.

It is an adorable pattern however parts of the pattern are backwards. Both arms and both fronts are backwards.

Well the striped front piece I am now having to knit for the 3rd time. The first time I didn't know that there were two weights of the kitchen cotton yarn and I used the wrong weight. The second time as you see in my picture I forgot that the pattern read backwards and I knitted two left sides instead of two right sides. So I started last night on the 3rd time. So it has definitely been a learning experience.