Up Close to Lavender

When I posted about my Lavender Diagonals blanket I said I would post a picture of a close up of the stitch pattern. Behold:

Also made some Booties with some of the Caron Cake leftover from the Snowflake Blanket, it didn't quite use the entire ball. Unfortunately one came out bigger than the other so I'm going to have to make an adjustment.

Current Weather
-9C and partly cloudy. I insisted that the boys wear sweaters while walking today. They think I'm nuts for insisting on this but they're both old and get cold easily these days.

2015 in Review

I thought I'd take a look back at some of the things that happened in 2015.

First up, Squish. His thyroid packed it in early in the year and he must now take medication for the rest of his life. 1 pill twice a day. Makes vacations tricky. Hopefully he'll be with me for many more years.

Squish

Next up, Ahab. In February he had to leave Scent Hurdle due to his missing paw and it took until December to get him back. This involved a major change to the rules of the game. He's back in action now though!

Whistler, Oliver, and Ahab at his last Scent Hurdle tournament of 2015

Continuing with health issues I had a major gallbladder attack early in the year which ended with it's removal in November. While I was getting that done Soccer had the worst ear infection ever which took over two months to clear up. I think that's it for heath crises in 2015.

Now for the fiber stuff!

Seamless Red

Fist project finished in 2015, although it was started in 2014 was a little red sweater for my Wee Niece, completed before I even new she was a Niece not a Nephew. It's sized for a toddler not an infant.

Grey Baby Blanket

Then a baby blanket for the same kid. The picture doesn't show the texture in it at all. I'm told Wee Niece quite liked this blanket as it's very soft. My sister likes it too because it's acrylic and easily washed. The grey yarn came from a commercial sweater of mine that fell apart and I scavenged the yarn for a future project. Well used I'd say. The yellow was pulled from the stash, a leftover from another baby blanket made years ago. I was unemployed while making this one, hence everything coming from the stash.

Cell Phone Case

Then I made myself a cell phone case. I used it for a while but found it inconvenient to have to fish my phone out of two pockets.







I found I needed something to hold treats for the boys so I made myself a bag to carry dog training treats in. It fastens to the belt loop on my pants.

Dog Treat Bag

Niece Socks

Followed by socks for my not-so-wee Niece. There were definitely socks for my Nephew completed around this time too but apparently I didn't put them in Ravelry or take pictures.



Then Wee Niece got an adorable little overall that ended up fitting her for about two weeks. Kids grow so dang fast at first.

Pepita

Got selfish and made some socks to keep my own toes warm. Actually, I don't think this counts as selfish. I need socks too after all.

Super warm socks

Mom and sweater

Followed by a sweater for my Mom. She wears it lots, which is really cool.

Knocked off a quick pair of booties to go with the overalls for the Wee Niece. Feedback regarding these says they stay on quite well, Wee Niece wasn't able to kick them off immediately.

More socks, this time Mother's Day socks for Mom.

Eventually, I got around to making another something for myself. A tank-top for hiking. Note to self: go hiking more so you can use this.

Papita II

I got worried about the little overalls not fitting the Wee Neice, with some subsequent justification I might add as she was a big baby, so I made a larger version of overalls for her. Although at this point I still didn't know she was a girl.

Had to interrupt all the baby knitting to make some Father's Day socks for my Dad.

Father's Day Socks

Then straight back to baby knitting for some booties to match the second overalls.

Found an adorable pattern for toy mice for the cats so Squish and Mouse got a catnip filled treat. Where they are now I couldn't say, under furniture I suspect.

 

Returning to baby knitting I couldn't resist making a hat to complete the set for the Wee Niece.

Sister socks.

Decided that a new mom might need some new socks too. The colour in this picture is all wrong, it's the same yarn as the Father's Day socks. 

Socks for BiL

And if a new mom needs new socks surely a new dad does too. Made these for my Scottish BiL. The colour in this picture is much closer to reality than the socks for my sister above.

Experimented with some Star Booties but ended up not liking them because I chose the wrong cast on. It's a neat pattern but I need to think about the cast on.

A$$ Juice Cozy

Got caught up in a record keeping mistake and ended up making an A$$ Juice Cozy for work. Modeled on a wine bottle here. Completed with only three days warning.

Another blanket for my Wee Niece. This time a Loom Knitting experiment. I like this technique I can see ways to do some really intricate colour work.

Loom Knitting

A random pair of socks that ended up going to Mom because I got caught up with baby stuff and ran out of time to make her a pair for her birthday in December. Good thing I had these in reserve.

Mossy

Then something for myself again, a green vest done in double moss stitch. Don't think I'll be doing that again in a hurry. Worked out though as I wear it a lot.

More baby stuff, this time for a different baby. The overalls and booties went to a co-worker for his baby. When I met his girlfriend at the office Christmas party she said she quite likes them.

 

Another vest for myself. This one from the same yarn as Mom's sweater.

Gallbladder

Because I had requests to bring in my gallbladder after it was removed I knitted one as it turns out they don't let you take your organs back after they've been removed. Imagine that. It's presently in a jam jar on my desk at work.

Christmas hats for the Canadian Niece and Nephew. I think these went over well as they wore them home after opening them.

 

And another a pair of socks for myself. In fact, I'm wearing them as I write this.

And to finish off, a final pair of socks for Dad for his birthday in January. Didn't notice how different the two skeins were when I started and ended up having to rip out the first sock back to the heel in order to make the heel and toes in the second skein.

Wow, 33 projects finished in one year. I sure hope I don't have to exceed this in 2016.

And I guess that pretty much sums up 2015. Looking forward to a great 2016.

Current Weather

Mostly sunny and 1C.

Boots

Couldn't resist making some little booties to go with the overalls that I finished the other day. This pattern is terribly cute and stays on fairly well I'm told, although I suspect most babies could get them off eventually. I prefer making separate booties instead of attaching them to the overalls as the pattern calls for; they're cute that way but the kid stands a chance of wearing them a bit longer without attached feet. I think.

Pattern: Baby Boots by Frankie Brown
Yarn: Georga Baby Luv
Needle: 2.25mm

Cutie booties

Here's the whole set.

Is this much cute actually legal?

Trial by Booties

Baby booties that is.

Tried EZ's Star Booty pattern this time. Not sure about the cast on I chose, will definitely try another one next time.

They are cute though.

Progress

The latest pair of socks is progressing well. There was a hint dropped when Mom saw them.

Also found some pink/green/gray yarn that is crying out to be made into baby booties. Maybe I'll shift focus this evening.

Father's Day Update

Practiced a bit of Scent Hurdle with Soccer and he's still struggling with the idea of bringing back a specific barbell. He's always been a slow learner so this is no surprise to me.

Knitting

Father's Day Socks seem to have been well received as per usual. This is why I keep making socks, they seem to be appreciated by the recipients.

Made some progress on the Sideways Vest yesterday. About half way done now.

Still nothing on the small blanket but maybe I'll pick it up this week since I'm done the latest set of Baby Booties for Wee Bairn. Picture is all blurry but I'm too lazy to try again.

Pattern: Baby Boots by Frankie Brown
Yarn: Patons North America Kroy Socks FX
Needle: 2.75mm
Gauge: not critical babies grow so fast it hardly matters.

Socks and Other Stuff

Can't bear not to have socks on the needles so I started a two-at-a-time pair using the same yarn as the last socks. Not quite sure who'll get these but I might set them aside to go to Scotland for my sister there. The new parents might be in need of hand knits as well as Wee Bairn. Ummm, I guess that means I better do another men's pair next.

No progress on the sideways vest or the loom-knit blanket this week. Note to self: work more on these if you ever expect to finish them.

But I did decide to use up the Pepita leftovers for booties. Thinking that maybe I should just admit defeat and make a hat too.

Mouse decided this should be a cat toy..... maybe I should knit her a mousie....? Or is that asking for too much trouble?

Baby Stuff has Arrived

There are a number of knitted items that arrived in Scotland with Mom and Dad.  I was unemployed when the announcement was made so quite a few baby things got knitted right away.

In order of completion.

A blanket. Mostly just a gray acrylic from a sweater of mine that fell apart due to poor seaming on the part of the manufacturer, the yarn was OK so I salvaged it for future use. Then, when I was unemployed and needed a baby blanket I checked the stash and there it was. I thought adding the yellow brightened it up a bit, although it's not really as dark as this picture suggests. Suitable for use outdoors since it is really easy to clean. My sister and her fiancee love doing outdoor things.

Pattern: improvised mitered squares with an attached i-cord edging.
Yarn: an old grey sweater and some Bernat Softee, both from the stash.

A sweater. This isn't newborn sized, it should fit about a 12-18 month  old child. Sex of the baby is unknown so I figured red was pretty neutral. If not then we'll just go with this kid is half Canadian. Maybe I'll do a blue and white version for the kid's Scottish half.

I'm not a huge fan of acrylic yarn in general but kids are so hard on items I decided it was the best choice for this sweater. Plus, I was on a tight budget, so yarn from Walmart was what I could afford since there was nothing appropriate in the stash.

Pattern: Seamless Blue by Felicia Semple
Yarn: Red Heart Luster Sheen in Cherry and White

Some overalls. These are just too cute for words. The pattern calls for little knitted booties on the feet but after talking to my Mom about how she used to cut the feet off baby clothes so she could use them longer I decided to leave them off.  These came out quite small so I might do a slightly larger version just because they are so darn cute.

Pattern: Pepita by Martina Behm
Yarn: Patons North America Kroy Sock in Gray Brown Marl

And finally some Baby Booties. These are the same yarn as the overalls so they sort of go with them instead of knitting the feet directly onto the overalls. I really like this pattern, it's knit flat so it's easy to knit and has only one seam down the back to finish up. It only took me a couple hours to make both, although it might take a beginner a bit longer they're certainly easy enough for a new knitter to try working with sock weight yarn. Very neat design.

Pattern: Baby Boots by Frankie Brown
Yarn: Patons North America Kroy Sock in Gray Brown Marl

Now we just have to wait for the kid to arrive so these items can be used.