You Might Want to Sit Down for This One ...

Because in this post, I am actually going to show you that this blog is not just a "pretend" knitting blog - yep, I've got something to show you!  And, wonder of wonders, there are others to come!

So if you are still with me, let me show you my last FO of 2012.  This was finished on November 11, but various photo sessions did not work out, so rather than show you The Tim wearing this hat that was knitted for him, it was time to rely on the old medicine ball ...

A few years back, I knitted a Turn a Square hat for The Tim for Christmas.  It was a big hit, and was the first time I had knit something with stripes.  At the time, I had no idea what the Jogless Stripe method was, so if you looked closely, you could see where one color changed to another.  Neither of us cared, and to some extent, neither of us still do.  (*Note:  Rather than link to a specific version of the Jogless Stripe demo, I'll leave it to you to choose from the many available if you just Google the term.)

Anyway, The Tim mentioned really liking the hat, and when I found myself with a) some yarn that didn't cry out to be anything else, and b) in need of a birthday gift, I thought I'd go ahead and knit another.  This time, though, I decided to give the Jogless Stripe method a try, and I must admit it does look nicer when the item is finished.

Anyway, here you go:

The top

The side/front/whatever you want to call it

The details:

Project:  Turn a Square Squared

Pattern:  Turn A Square by Jared Flood

Needles:  US size 5 and 7

Yarns:  Brooklyn Tweed SHELTER (gray) and Classic Elite Inca Alpaca (yellow)

Modifications:  None

Comments:  If you haven't  made one of these, you really should.  The pattern is free, you don't need a lot of yarn of either color, and it goes really quickly.  Plus, it's well received.  The Tim started wearing this one, and gave me his original one to repair, as it had become unraveled!  I asked him why he didn't give it to me to repair sooner, and he said, "Because I just like wearing it too much."

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And to "officially"close out 2012 (now that it's April!), here is a shot of all of the projects completed last year:

Not a lot, and not necessarily world-shattering, but a) I'm happy with it, and b) it's not a contest!

And now that we have closed out the last year, we can move on to things completed so far in 2013 ...

Some other time, that is.  :-)

A Gift, a Date, and a Rant

A Gift

Once upon a time, there was a knitter whose niece had a little baby boy, born on Cinco de Mayo.  The knitter wanted to knit something for her new great-nephew, but a couple of things held her back: 1) the baby lived in San Francisco, so really heavy duty items like sweaters were not totally necessary, and 2) this niece did not say "thank you," "drop dead," or even "UGLY" when she was sent a pair of hand knit socks for Christmas a few years ago.  However, the knitter had always made something for any new babies in the family, ever since she had learned to knit.  So she thought about making one thing, then something else, another thing, a failed project.  Finally she just gave up.

But as Christmastime arrived, and she wasn't knitting any other gifts, she started to rethink the whole thing.  She found a pattern that she liked, and could use some yarn that she already had, and figured, what the heck, one more try couldn't hurt, right?

A week later, she had finished the knitting, and it was actually pretty CUTE!  Sure, she had to fiddle a little bit with the pattern, which was challenging for her, but her  calculations worked (a Christmas miracle in and of itself), and that was encouraging as well.  Hopefully, the gift will fit the recipient.  And maybe she'll never know, and maybe the parents will hate it.  But the knitter decided that she wouldn't care what happened once the gift was given, because then it was all out of her hands.

And so, I give you the finished item:

and a closeup of the owls that go across the front:

Details:

Project: Owls for Parker

Pattern:  Owl Baby Vest by Jodi Haraldson (a freebie on Ravelry!)

Yarn:  Berrocco Vintage Colors, colorway 5220 (1 skein and a teeny bit of another)

Needles:  US4, US5, US6

Modifications:  When I was starting the rows above the owls that turn into the sleeves, I noticed that the owl on the left (as you are looking at it) would be under the left arm, when following the pattern as written.  It looked weird, so I ripped it out and redid it, after fooling with some numbers.  (These details will appear soon on my Ravelry project page for this item.)  I was pleased and surprised when it worked, and the finished piece looked so cute!

Other comments:  I can recommend this pattern.  It's easy, quick, and the result is just adorable!

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A Date

Today is 12-12-12!  How cool is that?  Did you know it is the last symmetrical date we will see in our lifetimes?  I hope you will do/did something special or treated yourself to mark the day.  Being "numerically aware" (as my niece referred to me), I couldn't let the day pass without noting it!

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A Rant

If you have read this blog for more than three seconds at any given time, you know that I love holidays in general, and Christmastime in particular.  And this year, more than others, I'm really tired of the Scrooges who are everywhere: in person, in print, on Facebook and Twitter.  

The latest is the discussion of Christmas carols.  Granted, I have ones that drive me nuts, or that I think are wrong (i.e., "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer," "Dominic the Donkey), but I ignore them when I can, and sigh loudly when I can't.  And a lot of people don't like any Christmas song that isn't a hymn, which I can understand, but find to be personally limiting.

However, I MUST take exception with two discussions that I have come across recently that in my opinion are completely ridiculous.  Apparently, for years, we've all been listening to the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside," and not realizing that it is all about date rape.  And, the song, "Santa Baby"?  Well, that's about prostitution.  

REALLY?  Give me a break, people!  Why can't they just be amusing or silly holiday songs?  Every single thing in the world does not lead to some morally questionable result.  At least not in my world.  I just feel like these people need a sense of humor, you know?

In the meantime, there are now only THIRTEEN DAYS left until Christmas Day, and I sincerely hope that you will do everything within your power to enjoy them, and the rest of Christmastime that follows.  

And now?  I'm finally signing off ... :-)

The Story of a Pumpkin Hat

If you have been a reader of my blog for a while, you probably remember my dilemma over what/if to knit something for my newest great-nephew.  His parents are not ones to care about handmade things, so the pressure was only my pressure on myself.  But you see, up to this point, I've made all of my great- nieces and nephews hats when they were born.

Also, they live in San Francisco, so he didn't really need something warm.  At first, I was going to make him an elephant pillow from some fabric I had.  Then I decided that no, I'd knit him a toy.  I thought I would knit Elefante, by Susan B. Anderson.  Checked the pattern, decided that a) it was kinda fiddly, and b) it had some crochet, which I do not know how to do.  Moved on to a Baby Bobbi Bear, and got it all knitted.  Then I went to stuff it, and instead of looking like a cute teddy, it looked like a mangled teddy who was put back together by a blind person.  By this time, it was fall.  Parker was born in May.

So, I had a brilliant idea - I'd knit him a pumpkin hat!  YES!  The pattern is one I've done several times, and I knew it was doable in a short amount of time.  Away I went, knitting it up quite quickly.  I figured I'd be able to mail it on Saturday (yesterday).  Then my sister sent me this picture.

Sigh.  Let's face it, a baby doesn't need two pumpkin hats.  So, new plan.  The nearly completed pumpkin hat that I was making, would be for Doughboy's newest little brother, Paul.  Since I was using Encore, it would be nice and warm for his little baby head in Colorado, where they now live.  And Parker ... well ... I think I will make him the elephant pillow (sewing) that I had originally thought about making.  But, since we are going away at the end of the week, I probably won't even start it until we get back.  Such is life.

On the plus side, it meant that now I had a baby gift done!  This yarn

had become this hat

and it did get sent out to its recipient yesterday.   So all's well that ends well, I guess.  But I am wondering if just buying Parker a gift would have made more sense ... 

Details:

Pattern:  Patrick's Pumpkin Hat (I made the largest size, so it can be used for a couple of years)

Yarn:  Encore Worsted - pattern used roughly .08 ounces of the green yarn, and about a third of a ball of the orange

Needles:  Sizes, 5, 6, and 8US

Modifications:  None, except for the recipient!

Comments:  This is one of my favorite baby hat patterns, and it really is not that difficult.  I managed to make this one in four evenings of watching TV after dinner, and for me, that's pretty amazing.

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As I mentioned, we are going away later this week, so we'll see how much of anything else I can accomplish ... that's it for now!

A Long Time Comin'

Well, it's been a busy weekend Chez Ravell'd Sleave.  Yesterday was the 2nd Annual Faux Knitting Get-Together, held at my house.  I did this last year (you probably guessed that from the name of said event), and it was apparently a big hit, so people were asking me when it was happening again this year.  The reason it's a "faux" knitting event, is because some of the people are knitters, and some are not - but through Facebook, some of them wanted to meet each other, so I created the event.  I had a great time, and I think others did as well.

Needless to say, today we are all just taking it easy.  Jetsam, Pip, and Dug are exhausted (they were very busy yesterday!), and The Tim is at work, so I got some laundry started, and picked up my knitting while watching the Phillies lose.  (sigh)  Last year, after I made the cozy for my Nook Color, The Tim asked if I would make one for him.  And like most things, I took months to get around to it.  Then I started one that was allegedly a Christmas gift, but didn't finish it.  I did finish it last month, using a different pattern, and decided it was horrible-looking.  So I ripped it out, and started over with the previously used, tried and true pattern.  By now, The Tim had a Nook Tablet, but the size is basically the same.  He requested charcoal gray for the color, which was harder to find than you'd think.  

Anyway, when I picked it up today, it turned out I was only about 4 rows from the end - what an eejit!  But I finished it, wove in the ends, and added a really cool button that I had found on sale weeks ago at Loop.  I think he'll be pleased.  

This is closer to the true color of the yarn ...

But you can see the cable up the middle better in this photo.

And is this not an awesome button?  It's perfect for this - win-win!

Details are here on Ravelry, for anyone interested.  If for some reason you are dying to see the details, and don't have a Ravelry account, let me know and I can send them to you.  (But if you are a knitter, you really should have a Ravelry account - it makes life so much simpler in so many ways, and it's free ...)