I. Love. You. Baby.

Another reason I had been avoiding my knitting is I thought it would take FOREVER to figure out where I left off.  In this particular case, I had a 50/50 chance of getting it right.  For one row, I do k1, *s1 wyf, k3, repeat from *, k1  and the other row I do k3, *s1 wyf, k3, repeat from *.  

I looked at my stitches, figured out which row to do and started clinking.  I checked about 10 stitches in, things didn't look all that right, but they didn't necessarily look wrong, so I kept going....179 stitches total, about 20 minutes later.  By the end, I can tell something really doesn't look right.  I did the wrong row....  I didn't curse, I didn't get mad, I kind of had this "You knew this was going to happen, this is why you avoided it" attitude and literally set it down and went to bed.  It sat for one week. I had no idea how to fix it. I learned about lifelines while researching, which would have been helpful to stick in before I started knitting after such a long break, but looked almost impossible for me to do once I screwed up a row.  The other option was a to backtrack 179 stitches or to just yank it out and hope the stitches stayed so I could pick them back up again.  They all seemed like a no win situation.  

I picked up the project again.  I decided to try backtracking and I got about 5 stitches in before I realized it was going to be too hard, then I just started knitting.  I knew there was a big mistake in it, but I just pretended it wasn't there. I got one row done, then 2, then 3. The blanket still looked bad, I think I picked up a stitch at the end and about half of one of the rows was off.  Insert break from knitting #2. 

Just pretending it wasn't there was not going to work.  I was either going to have to frog it (yank it all out) OR I thought, I guess I could try just yanking it out until I get to good stitches and just see how it does.  I gently pulled out the circular needles and started pulling the stitches out. Hey, this might just work!! I took out my Christmas present from Mom and Dad and picked out some smaller circular needles and ever so carefully put the stitches back on the needle.  I got them all put back on and counted 179 stitches. YES! I didn't lose any stitches.  

I took my fixed knitting and sat in the chair where I knitted when I was pregnant with Arya.  I started knitting (the right way) and I started my mantra I. Love. You. Baby.  over and over again, which matched up with the k3 and s1.  I started to tear up.  It's what I did when I was pregnant with Arya so I wouldn't lose my place.  My row turned out perfect and the next.  

Clink, Clink, Clink

It's the sound I have been hearing the last few days, as I picked up Arya's baby blanket again.  I started it back in August 2011(?) when we were both certain we were having a boy.  I picked out this pretty green color called boxwood, that had wool, cashmere and nylon in it, so it had a warmth, softness and sheen to it.  I picked the green because it is Neil's favorite color and I thought it would be great for Hudson (our baby boy name at the time).  When I found out we were having a girl, I immediately wished I had purple yarn to work with.  And because of that, it sat, for almost a year, only 12 rows in. Out of hundreds, probably.

I finally got the urge to start it back up after reading though about a year of archives from Soulemama.  I absolutely LOVE that blog.  It makes me yearn to live in Maine, where the weather gets colder than Duluth, yet close enough to the water, albeit the Atlantic for them and the Pacific for me.  Amongst others, it also made me want to pick up the knitting needles again.

Baby Blankets

Sorry for the lack of photos, mom will have to take some pictures of the stuff when she gets home.

Back when I was first found out I was pregnant, I started looking for the baby blanket I wanted to knit. This was by far on the top of my list. I found the pattern in a book I had to special order from the library, got the yarn, albeit not the sandy color I was hoping for, but more of the gray color and the needles. Now, if I could just get past the first row. It's too intimidating....

My Google reader just pulled up a past entry from The Purl Bee of a blanket I remember seeing and liking, but forgot about. THIS is now the blanket I am going to be making. I'm thinking a dark green color, something that would look great for a boy (which is what I think it is), but something that won't look awful if it's a girl :) It's called the Forever Baby Blanket, which I hope doesn't mean it takes forever, but the pattern is super easy. Now, I just got to get the yarn.

Mom and I went to the San Diego Quilt Show yesterday and spent way too much money. I got 4 fabric book panels and 2 baby blanket kits. One is a Moda Alphabet Card panel kit and the other is a kit made by Lazy Dazy Cottage. The back is minky black and white zebra stripes (good for baby's eyes, not really my taste) and the front is flannel with lime greens, oranges, blacks and a jungle animal panel in the middle. Mom took both of those home to make for me! :)

Knitting/Crochet projects!

By request, here are my recent knitting and crocheting projects. My teachers were really helpful even with me being left handed and making her life difficult. Whats even more awkward is I knit right handed and crochet left handed. I found some good books that teach both ways. Its called the Encyclopedia of Crochet by Donna Kooler. She has one for knitting too.

I'll show my most exciting one first!

So, these are knitted fingerless gloves. I made them out of a cashmere blend, so they are extra soft, but still very warm. I have to do a mattress stitch on the side of each of them, but I don't know how to do that yet. I think I'll watch a youtube video to figure it out. These 2 gloves took about 1 full skein. I realized I went through a little more than half for the larger glove, so I made the next one slightly smaller. I needed to anyways because the first one was too long for my little hand. The longer one will be really nice when I make one that has more ribbing on the bottom, so it hugs around the wrist. I also made the thumb gusset on the smaller one smaller and I regret that, because it's a little tight on my thumb. I'm debating making the matching one a little bigger and just live with having one a little smaller.

On to the next... here's my crocheted dishtowel (first class project). I made it with a yarn called Cream and Sugar. It's cotton and it was really nice to work with. Its not like regular acrylic or wool yarns which are scratchy. I got some more of that kind of yarn to start making a granny square blanket. I also got some to make some simple squares to donate to make blankets for Haiti through Project Linus. We are doing that for the library for the month of February and March.

In the second crochet class we made a double crochet scarf. It also has scallops on the sides and ends. I made it out of Patons Bohemian yarn in a pink kind of color. It is SO fluffy and soft. It's also pretty thick and very warm. I went through 2 skeins for that one. I think I have to go back and buy it all up, because I heard that they are discontinuing it!

Hopefully this will inspire some people! I have to admit that it's better than sewing (as Neil cringed because I have a room full of fabric!) Its just you, a ball of yarn and knitting needles or a crochet hook. None of this sewing machine, thread, rethreading, tension, cutting fabric, piecing the fabric, etc. Way less stressful and time consuming. I hope to get good enough where I can watch a movie and knit and crochet without looking.

OH, I still have a couple of classes left. I'm knitting a scarf for Neil....I'm thinking a checkerboard pattern like this. The last class is the MOST exciting. I'm going to make one of these. The penguin to be exact. SO cute, SO adorable. I'm going to make them ALL. I already got another book that has some awesome patterns in it, such a little crochet baby with removable diaper, a mother turtle that holds white eggs and inside the eggs are baby turtles. AHH! SO awesome :)

Ok, I'm done :)