WIP Wednesday's: Candy stripe blankie, and a hat

There's really not much to say about this blankie, except that I think the colors are gorgeous. It's super simple and so is working up fairly quickly. The only thing I can't decide is if this blankie needs a single crochet border or not and, if it needs a border what color should that border be.

Somehow I always seem to start another project even though I have a bunch that need finishing. I have decided to work on my knitting by pulling out my practice square and turning it into a Slouchy hat with Picot edging. I just cast on this Monday so it doesn't look like much yet, as I am a very slow knitter still.

The thing I find most challenging so far is keeping track of my stitches and row count. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish them and figuring out which row I am on. I mostly can tell when I am at the beginning of the next round but it is easy to confuse my self. Also I have a question is it just me or is knitting in the round actually knitting in the spiral. It seems like it is the same as crocheting unjoined rounds--which means it is in the spiral. It might help my poor head if I could figure that out. I am so used to crocheting hats; working from the bottom up is kind of confusing to me. Theoretically they are the same and the end product doesn't change whether it is made from the bottom up or the top down but my head and hands disagree.

Oh boy I am starting to ramble. Well thanks for visiting.

Oh I almost forgot I have been working on a chart for making a zebra motif. It's taken alot longer than I planned but I think I have come up with something I can use. I hope it A.) has enough detail, and B.) won't end up too big; I just want a small motif for the corner of the candy strip blanket probably no more than 4" x 6".

If you want to check out more Work-In-Progress posts, please check out Tami’s Ami’s Blog, who’s been organizing a great WIP Wednesday blog theme!

FO Friday: A felted bowl and green booties

This post will be short and sweet as I am running out of time.

The green booties I finished last week.

With matching hat.

And last but not least:

A felted bowl I felt the need to make today. It was pretty simple and I love the way it turned out. It may become part of a larger piece that I have been playing with in my mind, but I am not sure yet.

It's not much but that’s what I’ve finished up this past 2 weeks! What have you been up to? Thanks for stopping by and reading! If you want to see more great finished items… make sure to visit Tami’s Amis blog, the organizer of this great FO Friday theme!

Have an awesome weekend.

WIP Wednesday's: candy stripe blankie, hat, booties and embellishments

I still haven't decided what to do about my cabled afghan, and my knitting has fallen by the wayside again. I am trying very hard not to get sick, since I have been feeling the warning signs for my annual bout of bronchitis. This means that I have spent more time resting and less time crocheting.

I know that little hat looks done, but I have been working on some flowers to add. I need to get some pink thread and decide on a button and I will be able to finish this one.

I have made 1 little boot to match the hat. It needs a mate, and I think I will attempt to add scallops around the cuff. I have tried to add some scallops already but I want the cuff to turn down and I am having trouble figuring out how to do that.

Last but not least I was playing with some scrap yarn and came up with a delightful color combination.

Do you remember Fruitstripe gum with its 2 mins of flavor? That's what this reminds me of. I love it!!!!!!! I think I will try to make a 36 x 36 square and add a zebra motif or maybe a red teddy bear. Don't you think that would be a fun baby blanket.

If you want to check out more Work-In-Progress posts, please check out Tami’s Ami’s Blog, who’s been organizing a great WIP Wednesday blog theme!

WIP Wednesday's: Disaster strikes my cabled Afghan

So this week while going through my cabled afghan and recounting the squares I realized that some of my squares were 12 inches long, some were 12 1/2 " and some were 11" long. So I went through the tedious progress of measuring each carefully and pulling out the edging and re-crocheting the ones that were wrong. I ended up having fix 4 or 5 of the 11 that I have so far finished. They are now all 12 inches + /- a little bit. I also started another square of the upside down canoes.

But an even greater disaster has struck my afghan. I seem to have lost my copy of the pattern booklet. I have looked into the prospect of buying another but although it costs only $4.99 to buy a new booklet it would cost another $6.99 shipping and handling fees. I really can't justify spending $12 on booklet I want one pattern out of. SO that is my dilemma and I have no idea what I am going to about it. I can probably make up or figure out a couple more cable patterns or sub in patterns from another afghan pattern But I feel disappointed because I really like the way the squares together look in the pictures I have seen. So I am not sure how to proceed.

I have started and finished a pair of cute booties to go with the green hat from last week. I will share them with you on Friday. I have also been working steadily on my knitting practice. Here it is.

It doesn't look like much, I know, but I feel like I have progressed quite a bit. Purling is almost as easy as knitting now, and over all the process is becoming almost tedious. I think I have pretty much got stockinette stitch down except for my gauge which still seems to fluctuate quite a bit. I feel great sense of accomplishment though. For a long time I thought I would never figure out knitting and I can now honestly say I can knit I have a long ways to go before I am a great knitter but I am looking forward to the journey.

Thanks for stopping by! If you want to see more great works in progress… visitTami’s Amis blog, the organizer of WIP Wednesdays.

FO Friday: Hats and booties

I have been working on tons of itty bitty hats and booties. I am working towards opening a hop featuring handmade gifts for babies and am trying to work out my patterns and build some inventory while I work out other logistics.

So without further ado:

I am still working a pair of booties to go with the pretty green hat. I think the green hat is my favorite of the bunch. I also haven't decided if I am going to embellish it or how so if you guys have any suggestions in that regard they would be welcome.

Thanks for stopping by! If you want to see more great finished items… visit Tami’s Amis blog, the organizer of this great FO Friday theme!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

WIP Wednesday's: Practice knitting and a cabled afghan

I have been running on auto-pilot for a while and this blog has fallen on the wayside. I am pickign it back up and wanted to participate in Work in Progress Wednesdays with Tami's Amis. I have finished a bunch of projects this week and I was lamenting to my Pat that I wasn't going to have anything to post as a WIP--which would of course cause me to procrastinate working on the blog.He was kind enough to offer me the scarf he is working on to share.

This is Amsterdam Lace Shawl. Pat and I both began working on this pattern at the same time about a month ago. Pat taught himself to knit almost two years ago, after the death of his maternal grandmother. His grandmother was an avid knitter and crocheter, so he decided to learn to knit as a way to feel closer to her and carry on her legacy. I have crocheted since I was a teenager but have never manged to knit despite trying to teach myself via the various internet resources. My sister taught me to knit this summ

er

and I have been practicing. I was feeling bored and ambitious and chose this pattern. After frogging it about a billion times I have concluded it was slightly too difficult for my barely being able to knit and purl. Last night I cast on to make a large rectangle in stockinette stitch to practice. IF I Have enough yarn I may edge it a

nd turn it in a baby blanket.

And finally while organizing my crochet project I found this. I have been working on this on and off since Christmas when my wond

erful mother gave me the yarn for it. I have found it quite enjoyable, and I had wanted to learn how to cable. But I have found it quite easy this is my mindless project. I can talk, watch TV and work on this without missing a stitch all at the same time, which is probably why I forgot about it even though I just finished 2 more squares on Sunday. I have 11 squares done but I just took a picture of one of each of the ones I have done.