Knitted Slouchy Hat

It wasn't easy for me to find the perfect hat pattern will also cover my ears without making my face look round and big. I came across this Quick Cable Slouchy Hat pattern on Ravelry and was able to finish this project under two days. I used Cascade Yarns Baby Alpaca Chunky; it was so soft and dreamy to work with. I used US size 10, but think I would have loved it more if I had used 11... it would have been more slouchy.

Side view

Pretty cables that somehow all lined up perfectly... 

Simple and easy! I recommend it.

Quilted Diamond Vest

You guessed it.... I started another project; it's called the "Quilted Diamond Vest." This will be my first knitting project working with zippers. I ordered five balls of Valley Yarn Berkshire from WEBS. I ordered five balls, instead of four, because I am afraid of running out of yarn. This was my second time ordering from WEBS. It came two days after I placed the order, and as always, I was very satisfied with the quality of the yarn. 

These diamond patterns are addicting...

I took this picture last week, so by now, I already have 10 rows of these diamonds made. I am now ready for the arm hole decrease, can't wait to have the back piece completed. 

What do You Think?

Well, what have I been working on you ask? I am embarrassed to tell you, and I hope you are not bored with more of this...

Not one, but four Tommy vests!

I know, but I told you that I love making this!

You know what the best part is? These are for four pregnant moms; so many friends of mine are pregnant, so this is just so perfect! The yellow one is for a great friend of mine in New Jersey. The couple is going to wait to find out the sex of the baby, so I decided on the butternut squash yellow. 

Isn't that yellow ducky onesies adorable!? It goes perfectly with the vest. 

Aren't these just the cutest thing you have ever seen!? I just LOVE those red heart buttons. 

I got these buttons today from Three Beads & A Button in Cupertino. If you live nearby, you should definitely check it out. I appreciate the fact that I can buy as many as I like and simply browse an entire store full of beads and buttons. I hope stores like this stay in business.

All these vests are wrapped up and all ready to go! Oh so hard to see them go. Now if someone could just take a picture of a baby wearing it :) 

Basket to the Rescue!

I am not sure about you, but I used to carry all of my knitting projects in individual paper bags, and I would take these bags with me from one room to another. But I didn't find these bags easy to work with. I mean, come on! I had to take everything out of the bag, knit a few rows, put everything back, and take the bag with me to knit night or wherever. Gosh! So much work... into the bag, out of the bag... 

Not anymore! I got a solution. Check out this basket! 

I prefer rectangle baskets, I think items fit better in them.  

This basket has everything I am working on at the moment, and when I am done knitting I just put my knitting back down in the basket! Ha! So easy right?! Now if I am going somewhere the next day I just take the basket with me. Now that's what I call knitting on the go! 

Where and how do you store your current knitting projects? I would love to know. 

By the way, do you see that blue/grey sweater in the basket!? That's another finished baby vest. I will post more pictures of it another day. 

Blocking

Many people complain about making up sweaters, seaming shoulders and hiding the ends. I find them okay, I don't mind them so much and think that I have mastered them all. However, I do not like the process of blocking the final piece. I just hate the smell! Is it just me? There is weird smell to wool when it's wet! I usually take my blocking block from one room to another so I clear out the "smell" in the room. Not to mention it takes forever to dry! I even used my hair dryer to try to speed up the drying process, but I don't think it made a difference at all...

Here is a picture of the blocking board I use. What do you use? 

Did you guess it right?! Yep, I am making more tommy baby vests! I find this pattern so easy; it's a good travel project. I made two, a pink one and a brown one. I have two recipients in mind :) 

I like these T-pins; I have used them so many times and they haven't tarnished. I hope they stay this way.

Braided Girl Baby Sweater

Do you try to squeeze in time just to visit a new quilting or knitting shop when you go on trips? I do! Every time I travel somewhere new, I must stop by a quilting or knitting shop. I enjoy seeing different things displayed at these stores; I find them inspiring. And of course, when I find something unique, I buy it!

During one of my trips I found the cutest little knitting shop and saw a baby sweater unlike anything I have ever seen. It turned out it was a baby sweater that the shop owner's grandma made her when she was a baby! How about that?! I kept asking her for the pattern and eventually she found a copy of it. Wv both couldn't find the name of the pattern; it was a very old leaflet that she pulled out of a big binder full of "stuff!"

I still have to make the braids for this girl.

I think the instructions were a bit off. 

This was meant for a 6 month old, but it's so big I swear a four year old could wear it! 

I finish the back piece as well. 

Cute right? One problem.... I ran out of yarn :( 

Is a Swatch Really Needed?

Yes! Absolutely! I didn't use to believe in the whole concept of having to knit up a swatch before you start a project, but learned the hard way after many mistakes. I am starting another Greenwood Cable Vest with some super soft alpaca yarn that I picked up on Black Friday this year. And of course, I did a little swatch and realized that my gauge was off by just 1/2"; I got 5 stitches per inch vs. 4.5 stitches per inch. My entire vest would have been off by 4.5"! Given this vest is for my mom so I called her and said "Mom, is it okay for your vest to be smaller than usual?" (Note: I have made her one before). My mom said "No, absolutely not. Please use your brain, do some math, and make sure it will fit me!" So I reluctantly did some math and decided to add 10 stitches to the pattern... See! Doing a swatch does make a BIG difference!

This project really looks amazing. I have not taken good pictures of them, but will so you can admire them with me :)

New Sweater for Buddy

So I have some leftover yarn from monsnter project and decided to use them up by knitting a sweater for my dog. Check it out! Same pattern, same colors... They were so cute standing next to each other!

Watch out for the Monsters!

I finished these little monsters! I have to say they were one of the most enjoyable knitting projects that I have done thus far. However, the project does require a few techniques. I took some notes to share with you:

1. Yarn: Although I enjoyed working with the Red Heart Stitch Nation yarn and think the colors are so beautiful, I don't recommend it for beginners. This yarn can split easily, so if you are new to knitting, save yourself the trouble!

2. This pattern calls for Magic Loop and I learned that the longer your circular needles, the better! I used 32", but wish I had used 40". I used the Magic Loop method to knit the mommy monster and dpn to make the baby. Here is a good tutorial on Magic Loop: http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/advanced-techniques

3. As you can see, this project is stripy! Here is what I learned... when you are about to switch color, make sure the old color is always on top of the new color (or the new color is always under the old color). By doing so, you are "catching" the old color as you knit along with the new color. Does this make sense?

4. So when you make something that is stripy on circular needles, you will inevitably get the "ladder" look (because you are knitting in the round so your rows are like upper spirals, therefore, when you switch color, it's obvious where you switched). Therefore, to avoid this, I use the jogless method. Here is how I did it:

First round of new color: knit all stitches
Second round of new color: slip the first stitch as to purl, then knit the rest of the stitches
Third round of new color: knit all stitches

Here is a picture of the side of momma monster where I attached the arms. See, not too bad huh?

5.  The pattern recommended three-needle bind off, here is a good tutorial: http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/casting-off
I really like the look from three-need bind off; I used this technique to bind off the Spring Forward socks as well. I think it's much easier than "grafting." I mean "grafting?!" PLEASE!

6. I will be giving this to a 16 month old baby, so I choose to use felt for the eyes. That's it, a simple solution. I used felt glue and it worked super well. 

7.Lastly, I learned that I should have just stuck my knitting needle through the stitches to "pick up" stitches needed for the pocket vs. using a crochet hook! It was so difficult with the crochet hook, what was I thinking?!

 This would have been much easier!

Here is another picture of them playing in the backyard!

I Made a Mistake!

Spring Forward is not by Cookie A like I had previously stated! I am so sorry! Arg... it's just that Spring Forward is to similar to Cookie A's style; Spring Forward is actually made by designer Linda Welch.

This is my second time knitting this pattern and I have to say, I really like pink. Why do I make the same thing twice in the same color? I don't know, but next time I should definitely try using something else but pink! I started this project back in June of this year on my honeymoon to Europe, it's taken me a few months, but I am glad to finally get this project out of the way. I have to finish most projects that I start, are you like that too?

I am not sure I like the Cascade Heritage Sock yarn so much, I don't find this yarn very soft for socks.

Monster Body Parts - Done

Just wanted to post a photo of all the body parts for Daphne and Delilah the Momma and Baby Monster. I will be sure to post some notes and tips when this is all done. There are definitely some lesson learned!

Can you tell which is what?!

Little Monsters

I picked up some yarn this past weekend from Jo-Anne Fabrics and thought the colors would be perfect for Momma and Baby Monsters by Rebecca Danger. I really like the yellow and pink together; I have a recipient in mind. I really enjoyed working with this yarn; it's Red Heart - Stitch Nation (Full O' Sheep). It was about $4.50/ball of yarn, I thought that was a good deal for this toy I am making.

Colors shown here are peony (I love this color) and honeycomb. Aren't they so pretty together!?

My husband and I had breakfast in our beautiful backyard this morning, and I was able to knit for a bit. Check out how much progress I have made in just one morning! Stay tuned, I have a feeling it will only take me a few more days to finish these little monsters!

My Favorite Cardigan

It's Friday and I get to work from home! I don't know who came up with that rule, but I like it. I was going through my closet today and realized that I never took pictures of my Favorite Cardigan sweater by Knit and Tonic that I made earlier this year. You can find this pattern in the Custom Knits book by Wendy. I find her designs very easy to follow and this particular sweater was a piece of cake! It's the first sweater that I have made that actually fits me! O the frustrations of finding out that the frigging sweater doesn't fit after hours of hard work definitely didn't happen with this one! So given I was working from home, I had salad with my mom at Whole Foods and requested that she takes pictures of me wearing it!

 Say hello to my beautiful cardigan! I am so proud of it :) 

 Side view

 Back 

Close up of the collar

I still can't believe a sweater I made actually fits me! Wow.... By the way, my mom said my face is as big as the pumpkin. Gotta love my mom!

Cookie A Socks

Do you know Cookie A? If not, you are really missing out on some simple, easy, and fun sock patterns. I have made two of her patterns: Monkey and Spring Forward; they are both free from Knitty.com. How about that!? I think what makes her pattern so special is her focus on the simple math so that it's repeatable and addicting. Try it out, I guarantee you will be impressed with the outcome.

I finished one of two (of course, socks come in pairs right?!)

 I have to "graft" these stitches to finish it off, but I am too lazy to find my book on how to do this...

I made two copies of that pattern so I don't have to flip the pages back and forth. A counter is a must for this project. By the way, have you had those Hi-Chews? They are from Japan and just like this pattern, they are addicting! I can eat a whole pack by the time I am on the second pattern repeat!

Tommy for Baby Sophia

I can finally show off this baby vest I made for my friend's expected baby, Sophia! I really enjoyed working with the pattern and the yarn. The patter is called Tommy from Rowan Classic Bambino Book 12. This book has many great and easy patterns for baby knits. I like this vest because of the buttons on the shoulder; it will make my friend's life easier putting it on and off the baby. Size made is six month.

 The tag idea came from the "More Last-Minute Knitted Gift" book by Joelle Hoverson.

 

This is a picture of how I wrapped it. I made the center piece with a punch out and some cute ribbons I had from before. 

I think my friend liked it, and I can't wait to meet Sophia in this cute vest!

Little Big Planet

So my brother fell in love with Little Big Planet video and game. He has NEVER asked me to knit him ANYTHING, but this time, he did. I was sooo excited and finished this for him in two days. It just took me forever to have these picture taken and uploaded, but here you go~

Elijah Elephant

I have the cutest nephew ever and so I had to make him this adorable elephant by Ysolda Teague. Thanks to Sharon for recommending patterns by this designer. I thought the pattern was super easy to follow and there was no seaming whatsoever!! The baby broke out into a big smile when he saw it and dragged it everywhere he went!

Greenwood Cabled Vest in Green All Done!

The Greenwood Cabled Vest was so much fun to knit that I decided to make another one for my grandma. Good news is that it's being blocked! I made two vests in two weeks; one in light brown and one in the green below... by far the best vacation ever! I will take pictures of them with my mom wearing it. It looks fabulous on her.

I used the Cascade 220 Superwash yarn this time. I think I like it a lot more than the Cascade Heathers yarn that I used for the same vest in light brown. The Cascade 220 Superwash is softer and can be machine washed.

Vest ready to be blocked

Hedgehog and Mushroom Stitch Markers

I ordered these cute little stitcher markers from Scary Mary on Etsy. Her work is amazing. You should check out her profile on Etsy. She is so talented. I can't wait to use them!

Crofter's Cowl Completed!

1. So happy that I finished the Crofter's Cowl. It was so easy and I still have so much of that yarn left. I am wondering if it's enough to make another one?

All finished!

 

Keeping my neck warm...