Sheldon the Turtle

Pattern: Sheldon
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport
Needles: US 2

When the Husband and the Sister-in-Law were young, they had a turtle. At least, I think she had the turtle and he just resided in the house with said turtle. They liked the turtle very much, but one day, the turtle climbed out of his cage and onto the table whereupon he fell onto the floor. His shell had cracked and the family took him to the doctor where they used superglue on the shell, but to no avail. The little guy did not make it.

So, when I asked the Husband which of the dozen of patterns I liked should we make for the Sister-in-Law’s little daughter, he said, “The turtle.” And thus, Sheldon was born. As was an adorable little girl.

This was both an easy pattern and an extremely complex one. If you are thinking about making a Sheldon, do it. You won’t regret it. Just trust in the pattern. I didn’t trust in the pattern and ripped out areas only to realize that I should have kept them. In the end, I think it turned out well regardless. There’s a LOT of steps and I’m not sure I ever want to make it again. Of course, much like childbirth and the first few weeks with a newborn, I suspect I will forget the pain and suffering after a few years.

To see more Sheldon photos…

Sheldon’s a Jet’s fan.

Charity Hats

Made by Hand ran it’s last charity drive this year and I made 5 chemo caps as my donation.

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK
Needles: US 6

The first hat is a pattern that’s been bouncing around in my head for years. I thought I would take this opportunity to start figuring it out and see if I like it action. I’m not 100% in love with it yet, but I’m not hating it. It’s very floppy, which I’m pretty sure is due to the cotton. Next time, I try it in wool. I also ran out of the white yarn so I had to pick another color from my stash. In my head it’s a monochromatic hat. I don’t plan on leaving the top half plain garter stitch. My intent is for that part to be a different stitch pattern, I just haven’t figured out what yet. This first iteration was more to figure out the connection with the leaves and the rest of the hat.

The other four hats were quick knits that I just knit on the fly. I tried to make more masculine hats because the trend for the chemo caps this year seemed to be more feminine and some men who undergo chemo may want a hat too. There’s really not much else to say about them so here’s the specs and a picture.

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Rowan RYC Cashsoft Aran
Needles: US 8

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Rowan RYC Cashsoft Aran
Needles: US 8

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran
Needles: US 8

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran
Needles: US 8

Sucky Thumb Mitts

Pattern: Sucky Thumb Mitts
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted
Needles: US 7

So we left my last knitting project as the hat I had made a hat for OP. And she wore it. For the most part, but we started realizing we had another problem–her hands. The winter coat came with mittens and she doesn’t like them. They are HUGE and she can’t do anything with them. The Husband had a stroke of genius and asked why I couldn’t make hand warmers for her like I have for me. So I looked on Ravelry and found a pattern  I liked.

I finally got started on the pattern in San Francisco, and in a matter of days had two little hand warmers that were a little too big on the girl and not her most favorite thing in the world.  In fact, she’d scream any time I would try to put them on.

Of course, I’m a mean mommy who feels warm hands are important, so I added a piece of yarn to the bottom of each warmer to tie it tighter and made her wear the things. She’s still not happy and can still pull them off even with the ties, but she’s happy to play with them and that’s good enough for me. I’m happy just knowing her hands are warmer with these than without and she can still play with things or suck her fingers. Someday she’ll like them. Maybe when she’s 30.

Happy Birthday!

One year ago today at 11:04, you changed our lives.

 

A Christmas Miracle

It’s like a Christmas miracle around these parts for my loyal 3 readers. After barely posting for the last couple years, this is the fourth post for December AND I have a billion more project posts to add! Of course, if you don’t like project posts, then I’m sorry you were naughty this year and this is your coal.

In the beginning was OBSESSED with knitting. Anyplace I went I bought yarn because it was so very pretty. If I walked into a yarn store I turned into Gollum surrounded by precious rings made from every fiber and color you could possibly imagine. How could I not leave with yarn. Then I hit a point where I fell out of knitting. I still did it, but I didn’t live and breath the stuff. I still bought yarn because it was beautiful, but even that began to taper off eventually.

Now that I have a baby, you would think that I would be knitting even less than I was during my least interested point. Apparently not. I have knit more this year with a baby drooling underfoot than the last two years combined, if you can believe Ravelry and you can.

I don’t know what happened, but the odd thing is even though my knitting rate is increasing, I currently have no interest in buying yarn! I know! It very well may be a sign of the apocolypse, but I’m tired of having enough yarn to knit sweaters for the entire population of Rhode Island. I like using up what I have. I actually want to get rid of my enormous stash, and have a small manageable stash of one or two skeins. What’s wrong with me? I must be ill.

That said, I have bought yarn this year, but for specific patterns and oddly enough I’m using it almost as soon as I buy it. Between you and me, I like not having the yarn hang around too long. There’s much less pressure. Better still, I’ve gone through old yarn in various projects and it feels great! There’s a sort of relief to having the yarn stash decrease.

In the spirit of yarn decluttering, I’ve decided that for 2011, I can’t buy any yarn until our local yarn festival in September and Rhinebeck in October UNLESS I HAVE A SPECIFIC PROJECT I NEED YARN FOR, and I can only buy a specified amount of yarn that I determine in advance of the fests. For example, I can buy yarn for 2 pairs of socks or X skeins of yarn for a sweater with a pattern selected. No more buying sock yarn because it’s pretty or a yarn for a shawl or sweater I want to make some day. I will go in and buy something specific or not at all.

Of course, I am making the Husband come this year so he can help me (and he owes me for all the races I watch). I mean, you can’t expect a former yarn addict to walk into yarnvana and not fall off the wagon a little bit. I just want to continue this yarn purging. It feels good. I think maybe the next step is to inventory what I already own and get it figured out. Hmmmm…I may need spotters. Maybe this time next year I’ll have only 10 skeins of yarn total! Wait, I have a lot of yarn. Maybe this time in 15 years, I’ll have only 10 skeins of yarn total. A girl can dream.