Quilting until my fingers bleed...

Thank god we're on the mend and the snow is almost gone...

But I'm still inside today because I had a project I needed to get done (or at least mostly done today). Her shower is today and even though I can't be there, I wanted her to be able to see the "finished" product.

My cousin had a baby boy a few weeks ago. And because he was 5 weeks early (due the first week of April), I can't feel bad about finishing it up now...

So my day was filled with lots of seam ripping....

One major incident involving the quilt, the sewing machine and the table cloth....

(Yep, they're stitched together)

But the end product turned out pretty great:

They're big Seattle Seahawks fans, hence the fabric selection. And the back is Minky fabric, which is sooo soft, but a big pain to sew on.

I still have to hand-tack the corners, but I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. I've only made one quilt before and I had a lot of help from mom and grandmas.

And I really didn't think the pattern (which I designed) through, so when I went to put the blocks together, I had to get a little creative.

Freyja just laid on the fabric and batting. My bad for putting it in her little spot of sunshine.... So she decided to use her bed instead, poor thing.

Linking up to:

The blanket is finally done!

The baby blanket is finally done! It turned out much larger than expected... It's the third time I've knit this stitch pattern as a baby blanket, so I'm not entirely sure why it ended up so much wider than I intended. In this picture, it's being held up by the side, not the top... so what if it's a little rectangular... I'm just glad I'm done and hoping I never have a reason to knit a real afghan.

And on top of that, I even found a baby bootie pattern using chunkier baby yarn, which can be found here. It was pretty simple, but because the yarn I had was a little bit heavier than the yarn listed on the pattern, I knit them on smaller needles that I use to knit socks. I really like the mary jane look of these :)

I would like to knit some cute baby socks, but I think that would be a challenge for another time...

As for the other attempted bootie from my last post (which I only partially stitched together), my boyfriend has taken to putting it on Freyja as a "wizard" hat. Personally, I think it looks a little more elfish... I just think he really likes to pretend to be Harry Potter with her, casting spells and what not...

She hates to wear it on her head, but gets plenty of enjoyment chasing it around and pushing it off the couch for a little attention :)

Current Projects

Other than dropping stitches, I have a huge problem with getting too many knitting projects going at once... but here's what I've been working on:

1) Baby blanket for one of Sten's co-workers

I've knit a few baby blankets using this exact pattern, but this one is proving to be the toughest, not only because Freyja wants to "help out," but because I stupidly bought the wrong gauge of yarn. I went to the yarn store, already frustrated that my boyfriend couldn't get more than "pink" out of his co-worker when I asked about colors (of course, they are both guys and don't realize there are a TON of shades of pink). I took my time picking out what I decided was the perfect color only to make the rookie mistake of not checking gauge.

So, I get home and start figuring how many stitches I'm going to need to caston to make it about the right size. I do the math and it comes out to be something like 182 stitches. I check the needle size recommended for the blanket, and of course, it suggests US 6, not US 10 like I usually use for this blanket. Whoops. So it's taking me a little longer than I would have liked to complete it...

The pattern is just a stitch pattern but it is the best one, in my opinion, for this project. Why? The pattern is four rows, only one of which is a pattern row, so it's great to do when you're watching TV or being distracted by a puppy :). It also looks great and the finished product has a scalloped edge, which is kind of neat.

Stitch pattern (13 st):

Row 1: *P2tog, P2tog, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, p2tog, p2tog (repeat from *)

Rows 2 & 4: purl all stitches

Row 3: knit all stitches

I do use a garter stitch border, usually of about one inch on all sides.

2) Puppy sweater

Well, I'm now living in some place that actually has seasons, other than wet and dry, and have a puppy who is going to be in need of things to keep her warm in the colder months. I started looking for dog sweaters I liked and that I could incorporate the University of Washington "W" in as both my boyfriend and I are not only graduates of UW, but huge football fans. I wanted something with a little more personality than what most of the sweaters out there have (i.e. not garter stitched square swatches sewn together). I came across this pattern, a free one and loved it. Everyone is always saying Freyja looks like a little person, so I thought this sweater, with a little popped collar, buttons and and sleeves was perfect. Problem is, even when she's full sized, the end result with this exact pattern is going to be too big. So, I took it upon myself to "half-it," sort of like you would do in baking.... will it work? I have no idea. Check back in for updates as I continue this one... I'm sure it's going to be way more effort than it's worth.

Also, something I found handy for my color work was using excel to design it. I make all of the boxes squares and fill them in with the colors I want, changing them around until I get the design I want. Way easier than sketching it out on graph paper with colored pencils.

3)Dish cloths

I've knit quite a few of these over the years. They're cheap, handy and easy to knit. I re-found the pattern by simply googling "knit dish cloths." They don't even take one skein of cotton yarn, which you can get for cheap at any craft store. I, however, have been distracted with this endless baby blanket, which needs to be done ASAP, so I haven't even had time to sew in ends yet.

4) Sten's Mittens

My boyfriend has been bugging me since LAST year to knit him some mittens, due to the fact it gets so cold here, he can't feel his fingers in the winter (which makes me oh so excited for this winter). I went with UW colors, purple and gold. I already had the yarn, so I needed to find a pattern that fit the gauge. I found this pattern at knitty.com. There patterns are usually pretty good. But I'd never tried mittens before (I've done socks, so I understand how gussets work) nor had I tried a kitchner stitch (or grafting stitch). It's always good to accomplish something and learn a new skill or two. I, however, am not sure they'll fit his hands. If not, I guess I have a new pair of mittens :) The palm has a different pattern, so be sure to check it out.

And lastly.....

5) Socks!

Oh, this sock. If I remember correctly, I started this over

three years ago, and not until a couple of weeks ago did I pick it up again. Luckily, knitting socks using the magic loop method is like riding a bike. If you haven't tried knitting socks this way, you should. Although I've never knit socks on multiple needles, I've done enough other projects to know what a pain it is to knit that way. Another advantage is that you drop stitches less easily if you put it down and don't pick it up again for three years :)

Oh and did I mention that somehow you can knit two socks at one time with this method?? I'm not really sure how this works yet, but when I get started on a new pair, I'm going to try to do both at once... maybe I'll finally have a MATCHING pair of homemade socks?

I've got to get back to this baby blanket and my little helper isn't helping so much after all....