blair's yellow lace dress

i was able to knit this dress in only one week thanks to a few car rides, a plane ride, and a knitting night with friends.  of course i didn't pay attention to the fact that the medium sized dress would be for a 2 year old and blair is only 7 months...  so it's a dress for her future! (and maybe a tank top when she's even older)

the pattern is here and my ravelry notes are here.  it's for size 7 needles, but because of the large size and lace pattern, i may try it with lighter yarn on size 3s.  that will create a smaller dress and hoping the lace details show better.

i'm really not happy with the fact it still rolls up at the bottom even though i blocked it twice.  blocking a dress turned out to be more difficult than i expected.  luckily for me blair's mom likes the rolled up bottom.

homemade stocking - fail

i tried to make my first very own stocking for myself inspired by the tree version of this stocking from pottery barn.  but i didn't like the yarn i chose and wasn't ready to commit the rest of my life to this stocking.  so i frogged it.  and called my dad and had him send my real stocking!  it was fun trying to figure out how to knit a stocking just based on a photo online though (you can see my notes on that yellow note page)...  just need to do some better research on yarn.

funky christmas leg warmies

inspired by a very fashion forward 5 month old who wears leg warmers everyday, i made a christmas color version of this pattern.  this pair, of course, went to the baby who inspired them and i am hoping to make more to spread this cool fashion trend to the other 5 month old babies i know...

knitted uggs used as uggs!

one of the super cool babies i made these uggs for showed up at thanksgiving this year wearing them!  i really didn't think they were practical enough to be worn, but i did modify the pattern a lot by my 5th pair hoping that they could be.  and they did...  and look great.  after so many projects i've made for friends' babies not being used, it's really a pretty great feeling when they actually are.

here is a link to a post i wrote that has a photo of a pair i made for another baby a long time ago.

al's goodbye scarf

i started this scarf two years ago for allison as a christmas gift that year.  then it turned into a christmas gift for the following year since i was taking so long...  but i still didn't finish it.  then al decided to move to london :(  so the project got finished.  she'll need lots of scarves in london!  but hopefully only for 3 months since she should be coming back by then...

here are some pics of the project.  it was my first lace project (although not the first lace project i finished).  i found the pattern free on ravelry and did most of it on airplanes - it was my go-to project when i went to africa.

here i am luckily getting to wear it on the day i finished it before i gave it to her that night...

and here is al wearing it, unfortunately not letting me get a shot with her beautiful face...  boo.  but the scarf looks great on her!

brobee popcorn hat

part of my brobee costume involves a hat, so i went to imagiknit during lunch the other day to find the right color yarn after finding a pattern that would work well for the costume and for just use as a regular hat.  i also wanted to try something new since knitting can be boring if i'm not learning something new.

i found a free pattern on ravelry for a popcorn hat which i tried and i think turned out great.  it works as a regular hat and will work as my brobee costume hat once i add the 3 red horns and the black furry unibrow...

the second photo is my attempt at taking a photo of myself wearing the hat.  i was able to get a few that worked, but i liked that one the best.  ha.

more converse booties

these are such a cute pattern and were a hit at the baby shower, but i might be finished making them.  it's just not so fun to keep making the same things all the time.  and i still haven't seen any photo of any baby i've made them for wearing them!  so maybe it's time to move on...

now i'm back on the market for cute knitted items for baby showers...  maybe baby bootie moccasins?  or maybe just hats.  i'm not sure moms put their newborns in booties anyway.  it's probably not their first priority when they haven't slept in a few weeks!  ha

projects update

more converse booties

preparing for a baby shower i think i may be invited to, i started another pair of these baby chuck taylor high top booties.  although i'm a bit sick of making them, they're just too cute not to bring to a baby shower.  luckily we had knitting club at work last week so i could get myself started on these...

hopefully i'll finish them in time for the shower!  (or maybe i won't have to worry about it if i'm not actually invited... ha)

estonia lace shawl

after blocking this shawl (which is what is going on in the photos... washing it, then stretching it out with pins to dry in the shape you want the finished piece), i was so proud of it. it was really a lot of work and took a lot of time and attention and i was really excited i created it.

but then just now i was uploading it to ravelry and of course had to look at all the ones others have made of the same exact pattern and it just made the one mistake i made look really huge. so i'm a bit disappointed, but i really did everything i could to fix it. i knew something was off, so i took out a couple rows and then re-did it. maybe i needed to take out more rows, but to be honest... that's a huge huge pain in the ass. and i was so close to finishing. i think if i had known the mistake would be this obvious, i would have done more to fix the problem. oh well. i still like it! and hope the person who receives this in the mail doesn't notice!

christmas socks

these and another pair of this sock pattern ended up being the only knitted presents i finished on time for christmas. i always end up having too much on my plate. oh well. just glad to at least have gotten these finished for the boo!

i did end up running out of green yarn since i had to change colors so much... i was probably leaving too much extra when i cut it. luckily i still had some red left to finish the last sock with! just not happy it's not perfect, of course.

i still love these socks and hopefully will get some time to wear them myself... ha.

cubicle = no more knitting during work :(

today i started my new job. the company seems great and i'm excited about the possibility of actually liking a job i have. chances are pretty low, but at least i have hope.

there aren't many offices, so i'm back in a cubicle. which means no more knitting during lunch while watching tv on the internet and certainly no knitting during conference calls. although there is a phone room... not sure if it's appropriate to bring my laptop/"tv" in there for an hour at lunch to knit, but i bet i'll try it some time.

realizing i'm not going to be able to knit during work and having not knit in over a week, i picked one of my projects up as soon as i got home today. here's a photo of something i'm working on for homemade christmas. it's my first estonia lace project. a lace shoulderette. it seems simple enough now, but i haven't gotten to the difficult parts yet...

new disaster - felted socks

it was a very very sad day in my room when i found my favorite self-knitted alpaca socks in my laundry locker bag this week.  i should probably do my own laundry - or at least take better care about what i'm putting in the laundry locker bag...  and i guess i learned my lesson.  but that didn't help the feeling of wanting to cry for a few hours after the discovery.  i mean...  i LOVE(d) these socks.  it took me almost a year from start of the first sock to finish the last one.  they were the softest things ever.

anyway, i don't need to ramble on about them.  i'm just sad.  and hope no one else ever makes the same mistake i did of washing alpaca socks.  

here are some photos of the aftermath :(

(photos of before can be seen at the bottom of my first post)

(it took a while to squeeze my foot in at first, but i'm at least happy to report they still fit.  just not the same feeling.  who likes felted socks???)

Leah Dress

I just finished this little dress for Katie's soon to be newborn baby, Leah. We found out yesterday she's scheduled for a c-section May 19th... can't wait!!

I chose this pattern because I love the baby cable stitch and the lavender yarn is meant to match the bridesmaid dress I wore in Katie's wedding.

Past Projects

Here is a collection of photos of my favorite projects I completed in the past couple years or so.

Saartje's Bootees made for Chloe Jade. Pattern is free and can be found here: http://members.home.nl/tdpj/Patronen/Bootees/Saartjes%20bootees.pdf

Ugg Booties made for Juliette. These come out so adorable when modified to make newborn sizes, but I don't think they are very practical as booties. The pattern is free and can be found here: http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/article/0,2025,DIY_14141_3148516,00.html

My first dress! Blossom Wrap Dress made for Juliette. Pattern is free and can be found here: http://tinyhappy.typepad.com/tiny_happy/2008/06/blossom---a-knitted-dress-pattern.html

Oh man, I love this blanket I knit for Chloe. I really hope she uses it! The pattern is sort of free if you promise to make one for charity. Here is the link: http://www.heartstringsfiberarts.com/babyblanket.shtm
I did not know what a yarn over was at the time, so did it backwards and thus created it without any of the holes it's supposed to have. It was a terrible pain to knit it that way, but I do love the result.

Chuck Taylor Booties made for Casey. I love how cute these are! Although not sure they were ever worn since I never saw a picture. (Kate!?!) This pattern can be purchased on Ravelry.





Cashmere Deluxe Cardigan made for my godson Julian with Alpaca yarn, not cashmere. Although I should have stuck with a non-animal yarn since it's probably not the best to put yarn that shreds on babies. So Lisa, I'll understand if Julian never wears it... I think.

Little Sister's Dress made for my niece Gracie. I love this yarn and wish Artfibers didn't leave San Francisco! They had the most fabulous yarn and colors there. This pattern is free and can be found here: http://knittingalot.blogspot.com/2008/01/pattern-for-little-girls-dress.html

Cozy Toes Socks made for me. I love these socks. Love, love, love. I made a pair for Lisa a while back and had a very difficult time parting with them. So made a pair for me! Although I was wearing only one sock around for a while since it took me so long to get up the energy to make the second one... I got the pattern here: http://www.iliveonafarm.com/cozytoes.html