Socks for ME!

Figured I'd make myself a pair of socks immediately after making Keiran's socks. I finished one and am working on the second - did an 'afterthought heel' (which is underneath the finished sock in this pic) hard to photograph afterthought heels in profile I find...but it does fit my feet, so I'll model them after I finish the second one :)

Sock knitting truly is addictive!!! I have a skein of Lorna's Laces for another pair for Keiran, and another 2 skeins of Paton's Kroy for a gift for 'Grandpa' PLUS I have some Henry's Attic Kona Fingering on its way (and some dharma dyes sitting here just waiting to do some space dying)...how on earth do I find the time to do this???? 

Keiran's socks (my first complete pair!)

So my first try will be frogged and reknit into a baby hat, but I managed to make an actual matching pair of socks that - get this - FIT my toddler perfectly! Unfortunately, they ended up in the wash with velcro bibs (thanks to grandma), but a little bit of shaving of the fuzzy spots make these fine - besides, how long will he actually still fit in these? A month?
Guess I need to get knitting him another pair :) 

Fuzzy caboose

Forgot to show off these photos - did this soaker months ago using CobWeb Woolies 50/50 wool/mohair blend. Used the Punk Knitter's pattern, yet must have forgotten what size I was doing because it came out wayyy too huge, so I felted it - so now lil k has a 'fuzzy caboose'
 

Keiran's sock...

Well, my first venture into sock knitting is becoming 'interesting' to say the least!!! First of all I purchased a pattern that I started with - but it has no gauge listed, nor does it mention # of inches you should have, I thought it looked waayyy too small, so 'frogged' and decided to try the Yarn Harlot recipe...I did my gauge, did some calculations based on what I measured and THIS is what is coming out...
I know it seems to look like a sock, but it's supposed to be for a toddler!!
I'm going to keep going and see what happens...I'm not in the mood for more frogging (and I did pull it on ds's leg, it fit the calf, but not so sure they'll stay up!!!) 

Wool Storage :)

Been reading the Yarn Harlot's "Knitting Rules" book, and came up with a really cool way to store more of my ever-increasing stash of wool...she does note ziplock bags are good for wool fibers to protect from moths - well I have some wire baskets that have eye hooks, so I could hang those in between the rafters of our storage and pop a bunch of baggies in there and not take up any more space on the floor/walls! I even thought I could use thumbtacks to put the little zip baggies up into the rafters and when I need them, pull them down..

Now I can see myself laying on my back in the storage looking up at the ceiling pondering the colours of my next project :) I think I might even add some of the baggies in the roof of my closet - will need to move my stepstool for that though :)

Knit, Knit, Knit...

Knitting up some wraps to try out - got some Aplix from a wonderful sewing coop on Yahoo that just begged to be tried out on some felted wraps - designing as I go along...will have photos shortly :)

Keiran is keeping dry each night with his collection of longies and soakers, still testing my designs out on him - will be moving to testing on others soon in other sizes...

Soaker up for auction!

LLL Canada is holding a charity auction on ebay.
"Breastfeeding gives babies the best possible start in life. Most mothers know this and eight out of ten make the decision to breastfeed their babies. However, by the time most babies are three months old, less than three are still breastfeeding. Yet, the Canadian Pediatric Society recommends exclusive breastfeeding for at least six months. La Leche League Canada can help more mothers to breastfeed their babies but we need your help to support our programs. "

I have donated a punk knitter's soaker cover to the auction - please help by bidding on items posted :)

http://members.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=nfcllc

Direct link to the soaker - http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7758186845

I knit this using bernat lana 100% in the natural colour - then dyed it using a combination of Kool-Aid and foodcolouring in a crockpot (I used a combination of instructions from www.knitty.com/archive.html and http://home.earthlink.net/~skyvieww/sierraspun/crockfinish.htm and http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/article/0,2025,DIY_14141_4185709,00.html). I then wound the hank of wool by hand (http://www.onceuponapattern.com/custom/pdffiles/PullSkein.pdf) and voila, started knitting the punk knitter's soaker pattern - http://community.livejournal.com/punk_knitters/110889.html.

What did I do before internet???

No rib, no seams soaker

Finally finished my soaker - this soaker was as a result of things that I liked to avoid, and things that I heard from others they didn't like about knitting soakers...I still have to perfect this pattern, but it did work out neat!

1) Ribbing stretches with use - so made a tube and drawstring waistband
2) I hate sewing seams - so knit in the round
3) Grafting/Kitchener Stitch seems to intimidate some - so started at bottom using a conditional cast-on and then knit up the stitches as legholes were done
4) Personally, I don't like knitting up stitches for legholes, there inevitably is a 'hole' somewhere, so did I-cord edges for legholes.

Will let you know the verdict on fit, etc after lanolizing!

Aubrey Doodlepants Longies

I LOVE wool longies!!! I made my first pair and gave it as a gift to a friend...Now we finally made a pair for my son, washed, lanolized and once it dried for a few days, it's first use was overnight and no leaks nor baby waking up upset!!! It was wonderful - we managed to use the same pair 2 nights in a row, let it dry one night, then used another 2 days in a row, for two weeks before it started to have the 'scent'...now washed, dried, lanolized, dried and we're ready to go again!!!