How-To Tuesdays

I've been playing around with the idea of devoting a day of the week to either a free pattern or a how-to tutorial. Since I don't think I'll be able to churn out a new pattern every week, we'll just do How-To Tuesdays. So stay tuned. Next week I'll show you how to knit 2 socks at the same time, or in the case of longies, 2 legs at the same time. I love it! I love it so much that I've knit 2 pairs of socks since Sunday. That's 2 pairs, not just 2 socks!

Sidetracked

I get sidetracked so easily, I don't know why I bother making to-do lists. I never follow them. I found a cool sock pattern yesterday, Round About Sock. The texture has been intriguing me and I'm working on putting it into a sweater. If it is knit how the sock pattern has it, it would pull to one side, so I made a swatch with the pattern mirrored on one half and the swatched turned out awesome!!! Will post a pic later. I have a ton a bamboo that I've been trying to figure out what to do with, and this stitch on a bamboo sweater is perfect. Now to dye enough bamboo for a whole sweater.

I'm leaving for Minnesota tomorrow, so no more posts until after Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone!

Rippin' away!

This used to be a sweater :-) Now I'm going go soak it in a vinegar solution to prepare it for dyeing and to work some of the kinks out. I love orange, but this is a little overboard, so we'll put some red in it, get some flame action going. Now to find a big enough pot...

Thrift Store Mania!!!

Holy cow! I love thrift stores! I found the coolest sweaters in the world today. I went in just looking for 100% woolens and come out with that and then some. Either I'm fashionably defunked or I'm creative enough to see potential in what others view as trash. I'm seriously hoping the later. I found a 100% cashmere Free People sweater!!!




I love the buttons! It is too freakin' cute.
Other "scores" include 1 hot pink and 1 white 100% cashmere sweaters, bags and bags of merino/new wool sweaters, 3 angora scarves, 1 ultra chunky 100% wool Gap scarf (looks like knit roving), 1 angora hat, and gorgeous knee length 100% cotton Gap sweater.


Now the question, to rip or not to rip...

Moebius Cast On Video

Man, I had a hard time uploading anything yesterday. Well here is the video. Not the greatest quality; I'm hoping to reshoot it with the aid of my camerman in better lighting.
When it comes to storytelling though, I'm no Cat Bordhi.



Part 2. This one shows you how to join it in a round.

Moebius Cowl Video Tutorial

I'm in love. I searched and searched for directions on how to do it, found quite a few, but I really wanted to do it the way Cat Bordhi does. I knew she had to have the best way. Anyway, I finally found her directions on diy.net, but there was no video, only written instructions. That's fine for me because I'm one of the few people in the world that can visualize written instructions easily. These directions really threw me for a loop, not because they were written badly but because it is so freakin' crazy! So I figured I've got to make a video of this cast on. So, here it is. I had to do it in 2 shots as the first was interrupted by a child.
I did forget to mention that every other stitch on the first round will be twisted. Just make sure you knit into the right part of the stitch.
I am planning on re-shooting this in better lighting at some point in the future.

Ok, maybe not. My videos aren't uploading for some reason. Maybe tomorrow.

A call from the other side...

of the world that is. Monday morning, 6 am, the phone rings. No one in their right mind would call at that hour unless it was important so I haul my butt out of bed in search of the phone. I find it just as the answering machine picks up and I hear my brother's voice from over in IRAQ!!! Excitedly I push the "talk" button only to find nothing happens. The phone is dead. Are you kidding me? I sit in torment as I listen to his message, unable to do a thing. He did hang up with the promise to try again. Luckily he did call back on Tuesday and both my hubbie and I got to talk with him. It was so good to hear his voice and know he's doing well. Apparently he is the pilot to the stars as he got to fly Ollie North, Tito Ortiz, and Kelly Pickler. Pretty awesome! We are big Ollie North fans, so that was pretty exciting.

Aidan Sweater is done!!!

Hee, hee, I'm so sneaky. I told hubbie to compliment Aidan's sweater and ask if I could make him one in hopes that this would change Aidan's mind about the sweater. So hubby goes on and on about how cool the sweater is and how he really wishes he could have one just like it. Aidan barely let me finish knitting the collar, he wanted to wear it so badly! Aidan has a new favorite sweater that he at one time swore he would never wear. I rock!
Here is my big ham modeling it. What a goof! He even had me take a video of him.




I love the difference in the personalities of my children. These pictures are classic Aidans. He is the clown, attention junky of the family and has always been this way. We have the hardest time getting a normal picture of him. Actually, I guess this is about as normal as he gets.

Deep Deep Smit

I think I'll call this colorway Fuego! It took me a couple tries to get it how I wanted but the end piece is awesome (at least I think so).

This one started out with the same watermelon base which I dyed a gorgeous orange (who doesn't love orange). The orange was beautiful, but after it was done drying I thought, "This needs red." So, using a piece of PVC piping to suspend the yarn, I dyed one half red. It went from a blazing orange to this wonderment that I appropriately call, Fuego.

Deep Smit

Oooh, am I in trouble!!! I am the queen of hobbies and I don’t need a new one. I sure hope everyone wants dyed bamboo for Christmas because that is what they are getting! Good news is, I have to wait at least 1 hour for the dye to set. Maybe I can get my Christmas knitting done during that time (or maybe I could do the dishes and laundry then).

I followed these directions using a G&K dye kit. Purple and red is my goal, let’s see if I can do it!

http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/lowwaterimmersion.shtml

Here is the yarn that I am overdying. I washed the yarn in Synthrapol to remove any dirt/oil/grim/finish from the yarn. The original color is kind of a yucky watermelon pinky red, but not for long...


Here is the yarn soaking in the dye. I mixed blue dye in 1 cup of room temp water and fushia dye in another container. I then poured the blue dye over 1/2 the yarn and the fushia dye over the other half. Next, I slowly poured enough water over the yarn to just barely submerge it, keeping track of how many cups of water were added. 2 cups with the dye and then another 7 cups to submerge it. I then mixed in 1 tsp soda ash for every cup of water in 1 cup of water. So 10 cups water total (2+7+1=10) and 10 tsp soda ash. Before adding the soda ash mixture, I let the dye mix with the yarn without stirring at all for about 5-10 minutes. I then slowly poured the soda ash mixture evenly over the yarn and let it set for about 90 minutes.

After rinsing the spent dye from the yarn in about 4 changes of water, I washed it in hot water again with about 1/2 tsp of synthropol and then rinsed it again in cold water until the water ran clear. And here is what emerged from the pot.





I am smitten, I am in deep smit.

Almost done...

He looks a little less than enthused :-) Stinker actually told me he would never wear the sweater. That's what he thinks. He says it's too girly. What?! Argh, boys! So, I'm going to make one like it for his dad (I know James loves it) and maybe if ultra cool manly Daddy wears it, than maybe he will. I need to add a few more inches to the arms and the body (must have his mommy's monkey arms). That's the beauty of making your own clothing, all my sweaters fit my monkey arms. I want to get this sweater done so I can get started on Ice Queen for MIL (and I seriously need to clean the house).

Step, yeah!

Got strep? We do! Pretty pathetic that I'm excited about having an excuse to stay in my pj's, lay on the couch and knit all day. Let's see how much Christmas knitting I can get done. I've got 1.5 sleeves to knit on Aidan's sweater and then I'm going to cast on for Ice Queen from Knitty's new e-mag for my MIL. I really really want to make a moebius scarf as well, but Ice Queen was just so pretty and I know my MIL will love it. So the improvised moebius in Noro is just gonna have to wait.

Now on to knitting!

My camera is back!

My feet are freezing!!! Once I finish up Aidan's sweater (today or tomorrow) I'm getting started on slippers. I'm on a mission now to find rubber type soles so I can wear them out (don't want to make something beautiful and not show it off!). I'm so cold!
These are what I'm going to make in big person size.

I really want to try them with mohair but I'm not allowed to by any more yarn for a while. So they will be in wool with some texture added. I started out crocheting a pair a few nights ago, but I'm one of the few people in the world who knit faster than I crochet. So after 3 rows I gave up and ripped it out. I like knitting better.

Back to dying bamboo. I improvised this skein winder.

Now winding the skeins goes much faster. I want to go to Home Depot and gets some PVC to make this http://www.doctordirt.com/blog/niddy.html. I also have a vision of a lazy susan with pegs mounted on the wall. Give that baby a whirl and now we're talkin' fast! I've got over 7 lbs of bamboo to wind into skeins from cones so I can dye it.

Knitwear Charting Software!!!

Oooh, I'm so excited. I found this great knitwear charting software that will make getting my designs down on paper sooo much easier. Got it from http://www.knittingfoundry.com . If you don't hear from me for a few weeks, it's because I'm busy charting! I'm such a geek!

Now the Adorabubble Baby Bag can go forward. I've been reluctant to release it because I haven't been satisfied with the charts. No longer a problem!

A Better Fitting Raglan

Does anyone else notice that if you make a raglan according to the standard directions of increasing every alternate round, by the time you get the yoke long enough, you have a body and sleeve that are humongous? It's ok if you want a really big comfortable sweater, but I like fitted sweaters. So I've been playing around with rearranging the increases to make the yoke long enough and the body more proportionate. I think I've perfected it for baby sizes and I'm now working on kid sizes. Once that is done, on to big people and then I'll have a whole family of well-fitting raglan sweaters. I'm thinking of turing this into more of an e-book than just a pattern because I want to show you all the fun things you can do with a basic pattern. I'll even include my formula so you can adjust the pattern for your unique fitting and gauge (I had an epiphany last night while trying to get to sleep on how to do this and keep the pattern easy readable).

I wish I had may camera, Aidan's cable raglan is turning out so incredible and only I can enjoy right now :-(

Bamboo to dye for!

I finally got to experiment with dying bamboo. I have about 7 lbs of watermelon red bamboo, the color of which I'm not very fond of, but I got a great deal on it. So, I'm playing with dying it! Got the dye from The Yarn Stash last week. Dying cellulose fibers is definitely different than wool, more complicated and takes longer. I tested out 100 gms, going for a purple yarn and it turned out beautiful. I wish I had dyed more than just 100 gms because I'm not sure what I'm going to make with so small an amount. I'll figure something out. This morning I made 200 gms of a beautiful orange. I think my next attempt will be at handpainting it.

I don't know why I started dying now as I have so many Christmas projects I need to work on. Aidan's sweater is coming out beautiful! I love it. It is a take on the cabled baby bag in a big boys size. I'm also going to make a Moebius scarf for my MIL and am eagerly awaiting my Pure Wool shipment to start that. She is one of those that has an allergy to wool, but I'm pretty sure she'll be ok with the Purl Wool (if not I'll keep it and make her another one out of a different fiber).

Freezing my patootie!

I never thought I would miss Louisiana... and I don't. I miss Texas though. I saw the temp in San Antonio was in the 60's yesterday and almost cried. Oh, have I turned into a sissy! I haven't even stepped outside since Tuesday. The radiator in our kitchen went kaputz and the thought of doing dishes in 45 degrees is not appealling. Sending hubbie for a portable heater while we figure out what to do.
All projects are on hold until I get slippers made for everyone. Socks are just not cutting it and I don't like wearing shoes all day. Besides I found the cutest crochet slippers yesterday that look easy enough to figure out. I was going to convert them into knit, but the crochet looks sturdier than knit would. Now I have to find some scrap leather.

What has also been occupying my time is potty training. Yes, Asa is only 13 months, but I've been reading about infant potty training and realized we could do it easily. I've always known when Asa was doing his business, #1 and #2, so I thought why not stick him on the potty. Either Asa is brilliant or babies can be potty trained. Yes, at this age it is more that the parents are trained than the baby, but why not. It doesn't hurt him, he'll become "really" potty trained earlier, and I'll have less diapers to wash. He actually walked up to me yesterday and said, "pss" which is the sound I make to cue him to pee. I put him on the potty and sure enough, he had to go. Like I said, he's brilliant. Don't worry, if I go out, I will have a diaper on him. I don't mind cleaning up misses, but I won't make anyone else clean up a miss :-)

Have I mentioned, I'm freezing!

Spreadin' the word

I got to visit my most favoritest LYS in the whole world this last weekend. I'm partial to it because 2 of my high school teachers that I adore own and run the store. It's also in a very old downtown building that suits it so well. They are the ones that got me addicted to gourmet yarn. When I first started knitting, I couldn't find any decent patterns or yarn out there. It drove me nuts because I knew there had to be more than acrylic yarn, I just didn't know where to get it. Plus, you see beautiful sweaters in the store, there had to be patterns out there that weren't horribly dated like the ones I would find at the craft stores. Then the Tangled Skein opened up and introduced me to a whole new world! I taught the beginner's knitting class there the summer before we moved and I also knit sample sweaters for them. I thought that was a pretty sweet deal. They gave me the yarn and I knit them the sweater. They kept it for a year to display and then after that it was mine. I miss them and my free yarn!

Anyway, they hadn't heard of Ravelry yet!!! I gave them the low down, of course!

Today...
Finish up a new sweater/wrap/kimono idea that came to me yesterday. Crazy awesome! Knit from the sleeve up with short rows to turn the shoulder. I'll post pics soon. It's in baby size, but I may make this into a big person sweater in bamboo (I've got 7 lbs of it to use up!)

But first, I need to shower. Asa needs to take longer naps, so much to do in so short a time!

Back from Vacation!

We made our first trip home to Minnesota as a family! I'v been home a number of times since moving away, but this was hubby's first time home in over 2 1/2 years. We were only there a few days and didn't get to see a lot of people. Hopefully we'll be able to make up for that at Christmas.

Got the biopsy results from my most recent mole removal and both came back fine, no cancer! That's been a big relief for me. Out of the 12 total moles I've had removed only one came back malignant.

Today I am catching up on emails, processing orders from the weekend and lanolizing a couple pairs of customs. Busy busy busy. I made a super cute pair of Leaf Lace longies, a soaker and a sweater to match a pair of hot pink longies all over the weekend. Will post pics as soon as they are blocked.

Minnesota, here we come!

I'm takin' off for the weekend in just a couple hours, provided I get my butt off the computer and start packing!

10 hours of straight knitting, I can't wait!!! I wonder how much I can get done in 10 hours. I have a pair of leaf lace longies on my needles now and a bag full of yarn to bring along. I'm hoping to get at least 1 sweater made to take to the baby boutique in Mankato.

Minot is the happenin' place!

Yeah! I just got back from visiting my LYS. Love it! I'm so glad they are here, no more yucky yarn from Hobby Lobby for me. I still purchase a lot over the internet, but it's so much nicer to be able to hold the yarn in your hands. Of course I was about 10 miles out of the city when I remembered what I really wanted to purchase. I'll just have to stop in again later this week :-) I have an idea in my head for a funky pair of pants but don't have the right colors on hand.

I did come away with some pretty yarn that I'm eager to try. Not the softest, but the price was right. I'm thinking it will probably soften up with use.

I'm thinking Leaf Lace Sweater or britches for the green and a pair of "blue jeans" with the blue.

Lastly, here is what I'm working on now.

I am lovin' this! If I can ever get myself off the computer I'll be able to finish it in about an hour.

Now I'm off to do some packin'! We're spending Thanksgiving in Minnesota. Not looking forward to 10+ hours packed in the Scion with 3 rambunctious boys, but I should get some good knitting time in.

Noise!

I don't know how I get anything done with all the noise in this house. If the baby is yelling, big brothers have to join in on the noise imitating him. If he's not screaming, big brothers are quick to make him scream. What I want for Christmas is a day of silence. I'm so used to all the chaos that silence would probably drive me nuts :-)

The stitches on my hip are still pretty sore. I realized I've been holding Asa right on my stitches probably pulling at them and aggrivating them. My muscles just aren't built up enough on the other side to hold him on my right hip.

Enough complaining for now. Almost done with the plain baby bag. It looks like a Christmas tree! I may have to do a duplicate st Christmas tree on it later. I just have about 2" of knitting and then the bottom to work.

Surgery ain't gonna slow me down!

Ok maybe it will a little. Docs found a malignant melanoma on my back in August. Now that I've had it, every mole that is even remotely suspicious gets removed. They don't just shave it off either, they take a pretty big chunk of me with it. All this just to say I had 2 removed yesterday and am surprisingly sore from it (I guess 10 stitches is nothing to baulk at). I have to go in every 3 months for full body checks and I sure hope they don't find anymore. I have a total of 11 holes in me now and I tell ya, I'm wearing my sunscreen religiously. So I have an excuse to sit and knit all day today, so that's just what I'm going to do.

Wear your sunscreen!

Now available, in store (singular)

I got all my inventory shipped off to the artisan gallery "Stone's Throw" in my hometown of St. Peter, Minnesota! I'm so excited, my designs are now available in store (there's only one so I can't say stores :-) When I go home to visit next weekend, I'll make a stop at another baby boutique that will hopefully be interested in carrying my wool soakers for cloth diapering, cross my fingers.

I've had lots of people asking me about the Adorabubble Baby Bag. It's getting cold and mamas want to keep their babies warm and safe. It's still a few weeks away from completion. The cabled bag is being tested by 4 wonderful ladies as we speak. It is a pretty big project so just the testing part will take a while. I'm working on perfecting the fit on plain one. My biggest complaint about raglan sweaters is by the time you get the raglan yoke long enough, if you increase ever alternate round, you end up with a very very big body. We're talking 28" circumference for a 6 month old. I don't want it to be so baggy that it becomes a safety issue. So after knitting and ripping the yoke of my proto 4 times, I think I have it figured out. Now I just need to work out the fitting on the other sizes (3 sizes will be offered, small, med, large).

Baby Bag Book

Oy vey! This baby bag is turning into another book. What can I say, I like options! I want people to be able to play with my patterns and turn them into their own works of art. I also want people of all skill levels to be able to do this, so this turns my patterns into books. I'm adding a size, since the large ended up considerably smaller than I planned (either that or I have a fat baby). Still looks cute on him, it's just a lot tighter than I was wanting. I'd like it to be big enough to have light pj's on underneath.

Other options I'm working on adding are:
hood (optionally detachable)
plain, no cables
open bottom
closed bottom
button down the front
button down the sleeve
just a basic sweater
different cuff options
sleeveless bag-buttons over the shoulders

So, it will probably not be released in time for this winter, maybe in time for an Australian winter. We'll see. I'm having fun writing it (if you consider knitting and ripping, knitting and ripping, knitting and ripping fun).

Holiday, is there ever such a thing?

Well, I got my room finished, yeah! It is currently the only clean room in this house. I've got lots of housework to do today and the kids and hubbie have the day off so they can help me! I'm so nice. I always hated it when my mom would make me clean on a holiday, now I understand.
I was so excited to use my room yesterday. I knit up another bamboo diaper, new and improved pattern. I got my sewing machine, fresh from the shop, set up only to find the bobbin case missing. Argh!!! I've got a whole bunch of labels to sew onto sweaters to send off to the boutique and now I either have to hand sew them or just send them without labels. I'm leaning toward the later. I think I'll just make a cool hang tag instead.

Creating my studio!

Today I'm cleaning house! I've had my yarn and supplies all over the house in a complete mess and it's driving me mad. So, I'm cleaning out the guest bedroom and turning that into my "studio." We'll be putting shelves up, moving the bed out, and organizing all my crap. Knitting machine, sewing machine, everything is going up there. I've resisted putting it upstairs because I never go upstairs, but I've just gotta make myself. It doesn't mean I have to knit up there, I'm just containing the mess to one room.

Yeah! I have my own room!

Knittin' up some winter gear

Ok, the temp has plummetted and I need to keep us warm. Everything is on hold until I get some hats, mittens and scarves knit up. I'll probably be posting a couple new patterns as I go along so business won't be totally halted. Things I'm going to make for the kiddos and the big kiddos is a reversible at with mosaic design, a scarf hoodie with cables (I don't like the construction of the ones I've seen so this will be a new design), and reversible mittens.
First up, the hat. I've got one plain one done. Next one I'm going to mix things up a bit and add some colorwork to the body.

Footsies!

Still takin' a break for the baby bag. Got the beast part done and just need to stay away for a couple days.

So, workin' on additions to the britches pattern today. I've got all the details worked out to make it top-down and am lovin' it!!! No grafting and holes are easier to close up. This will definitely go in the pattern. Making it almost 20 pages long!! I think I should start calling a book instead :-)

As I'm working on putting footsies on it, I ran across a great short row method and extra stretchy bind off method. Both will be put in the pattern. So much to do... Anyway, Cat Bordhi's short row method is by far the best I've worked. Her video makes it even more easy to learn. Yay short rows! Now you will look forward to working your short rows!

I lied

I lied. I'm not going to work on the baby bag today. I need a break from that beast. I don't even want to look at it after yesterday.

So, instead I'm altering my britches pattern to make it top down. I think I am really going to like it this way. No grafting, no holes to stitch up at the end, awesome! I may add some feet at the bottom also. It's getting cold here and kiddo needs to stay warm at night (that should be my excuse to finish the baby bag).

One of these days I'm going to take a break from knitting. I don't think I'll enjoy it though. I love knitting. Ok, maybe I'll take a break from working on a pattern and just knit something for fun. Ya right!

Thank you hubbie!

Hubbie took the kids to the gym yesterday and I finished the rough draft for the Adorabubble Baby Bag! Yeah!!! Boy, was yesterday a loooong day. It took me a good 8 hours of straight computer work to get it done. It's amazing how long it takes to write a pattern.

Today I'm going to get the rough draft done for the plain bag. This shouldn't take me nearly as long since I don't have to write out charts and all. Much much simpler. I'm also going to work out the details for making a hole for a carseat buckle. I'd hate to spend so much time on a gorgeous outfit only for it to be usable at home. You want to take babe out in it to show off all your hardwork!

Thanks to all my testers out there!

Figured it out!

Whew! I finally figured out how to write the Adorabubble Bag in an easy to read way. I started writing it out row for row and ugh, it was horrible. I thought, graphing it would be easiest, but then how do I do that? I figured it out and am mapping out today. If only I could convince hubbie to take the kiddos and then I could get in some serious computer time.

Hats

I've gotta finish up at least one hat today. It's getting cold and my friend's kiddos need their noggins covered.

Here is a completed hat:



Now for something different...

Curse you, Ravelry!

Oooh, this Ravelry is evil. Now I will get nothing done. I'm still sitting in my pj's, no shower, no breakfast, dishes are taking over the kitchen, and diapers need to be washed. My life will never be the same, sorry kids, sorry hubbie!

I have to turn the computer off or nothing, nothing, nothing will get done today.

Sick Kids!

I've got a couple sick kids in the house so I haven't gotten much of anything done. I did have time to stop by Hobby Lobby while running errands quick without kids. They have 0 selection for wool, but I had this idea for a colorway and thought I would check to see if they happened to have the 4 colors I needed. They had 3 of them and I have the right color dye for the 4th! I don't know if I'll have time to dye yarn today, but we'll see. My sink is full of dishes so if I want to do this colorway, I have to get some housework done! I also don't have any loose skeins of wool which means I'll have to unwind a ball, ugh!
On top of that, I had another idea for the britches pattern. Luckily it is boyish and Asa needs new longies anyway so I'll be working on that as well.

Now off to do dishes...

Actually got something done yesterday!

I got the slouchy hem instructions done for the 6 month size. Now on to the next size, 12 months.

I did finish a sweater yesterday. I don't seem to have a problem finishing projects, just finishing up patterns has been tough. I need 2 days of no interruptions to get the baby bag finished. I don't think that is going to happen any time soon, so I'll just work on it as I get a chance.

I also whipped up a new free pattern, cabled baby hat. Easy! Check it out www.adorabubbleknits.com


On the slate for today... I need to clean! I'm going to set a timer and make myself do it, clean 30 min, knit 15. We'll see if that works.

Back to the bag

I took a break yesterday to make a quick baby sweater out of this lucious pink alpaca. I wish I had enough to make a sweater for myself, not that I need a new one.
On the slate today... Asa really needs more longies, so I'm going start a pair today. I have an idea for a cute stitch that I want to try out on them. I've also got an order for 2 hats and 3 blankets to get done before Thanksgiving. Blankets are done on the machine so that should go fast, hats I get to play and make something cool for 2 boys. I love making hats. I've got a spreadsheet set up so that all I have to do is plug in my gauge and hat size and out pops the pattern.

How cool is that!

And, I need to finish the baby bag pattern. Question to any of you reading this... The baby bag I made has cables that I love, but I'm thinking it might be pretty intimidating for a newbie. Should I make the pattern with the cables as options? Also, I'm thinking of just having 2 sizes, 0-6 months and 6-12 months. Is that good enough or do you think I should also have an 18 month size or even 2t?

Back to what I should be working on :-)

Ok, on the plate today is the baby bag. I finally finished up the prototype and love it. There are a couple changes I am going to make, which means I have to knit another prototype. Since winter is coming, I'll make one for Asa out of 100% wool to use as a soaker as well. The one I just finished is for friend who just had a baby last week. It is made out of superwash wool from knitpicks.com. They don't do cloth diapers so I opted for a machine washable fiber. Now to make a matching hat out of the left-over wool...

I really want to work on my new wrap idea as well. If only I had 4 hands...

Finally released!

Oy! It feels good to finally have the Britches pattern complete. At least mostly complete. Double-knit version is still in the testing phase as well as the slouchy hem. Too much to do, too little time.

So my next obsession is bamboo diapers. I got this box of beautiful white silky soft bamboo in mail yesterday and my first thought is, diapers!!! Bamboo is incredibly absorbant and anti-bacterial. My first attempt was pretty successful. The diaper works great. I'm working on a new design that will hold the slinky fabric on better now. On top of that, I'm pulling together a baby bag pattern and an inovative wrap pattern. Not enough hours in the day! Got the prototype done of the baby bag, too cute, and the wrap's proto is close to completion as well. Will post pics when finished.

That's all for now!

Just Do It!

Ok, I've been adding and adding to the pattern Adorabubble Baby Britches and if I keep going this way, it will never be published. So, I've decided to wrap it up and make the pattern available for purchase by my birthday next week, October 11th. Since I love this pattern so much and can't leave it alone, I'm going to offer all additions/revisions to the pattern for free to all who purchase it. It will be my forever work in progress.

Right now the Britches options include shorties, capris and longies in straight leg or tapered leg.
Yarn options include sport weight or heavy worsted weight.
Waistband options include enclosed elastic, enclosed drawstring, 2x2 ribbing with drawstring, and 1x1 ribbing.
Knit from the bottom up with a Gansey-like gusset and great bottom shaping for your acrobatic baby.

Coming very soon (in progress right now), double-knit reversible britches. I am so excited about these pants. Unbelievably cute and work incredibly well, virtually leak proof. Use once, turn them inside-out, put them right back on. The outside will dry while the inside layer absorbs. Can we say AWESOME!

Stay tuned...

First Entry

I thought I would start this blog to talk specifically about my knitting. I'll keep all of you updated on what I am currently working on as well as upcoming projects.

I have soooo much on my plate right now and not enough time to do everything I want. We just moved into our very first house (we are finally owners not renters!!) and I am still up to my ears (down from over my head) in boxes. I'm trying to juggle unpacking, kids and the business. Because of my obsessive nature, all I can think about is the patterns I want to create. My idea binder is overflowing and I want to bring it all into fruition. I'm having troubles just working on one thing at a time but I am forcing myself to.

First up, Adorabubble Baby Britches. I've been immersed in cloth diaperage and wool covers for the past 2 months and couldn't resist creating my own pattern. I have sizes 0-24 months completed and want to add an XL size and some more options before the pattern hits the shelf. I'm also putting the finishing touches on the Leaf Lace Infant Sweater Set as well as completing testing for my hat calculator. On top of that I'm looking in to see what it will take for me to offer wool interlock fabric to those non-knitters out there who want to make their own wool covers. Right now, my cost for the wool puts the fabric at tre expensive. We're talkin' $30-$74 a yard! That's how much I charge for a completed pair of pants. I did finally find a source for organic superfine merino at an awesome price. As soon as I get it, I'll be able to pass the savings on to you!