The Itch

So I have only just joined Pinterest. It was probably for the best that I waited so long! Right now, after a grocery run today, I'm prepared to make shampoo, floor cleaner, laundry detergent, and I'm sure at least one other thing I can't remember at the moment. Browsing Pinterest has got me DYING to craft! Right now, our stuff that we had freight shipped from Alaska is sitting at the shipping company until we can pick it up on Saturday. We have to rent a U-Haul because our vehicle is a Ford Focus coupe and we don't want to make 50 trips. I want my yarn! I want my sewing machines! I want the rest of my clothes and shoes and hair stuff and makeup and nail polish! I'm trying to be patient, it's just a couple more days.
Another thing; I can sometimes be a little narcissistic. I love looking at Ravelry to see all the things people have made with my patterns. So I searched socktopus on Pinterest. They're in there a few times, I was happy to see another way of getting people to make the little guy, but I saw a couple of the links were for socktopi for sale on Etsy. I don't really have an official policy, I should probably make one, and I think Knitty technically owns the rights to him, they paid me, but it kinda bothers me. I love the knitting community and how respectful people have been of my patterns. I've had people contact me about selling items made from my patterns on Etsy and seem to take it well when I ask them not to. I do have a goal of getting an Etsy store open, especially now that we are on one income and things are pretty tight, and I want to sell my stuff. I guess if I'm not asked, I can't say no. Anyway, many thanks to those of you out there who have contacted me and respected my wishes on this. I'm not going to go after anyone on this, I'm sure there are many people in a more difficult place than me and I try not to make assumptions. I'm going to let it go, I just had to say my piece.
Meanwhile, in Texas... today was beautiful! It was sunny and warm and I took the kids to a park in our neighborhood and got some good play time. As we were leaving, I looked across the bayou at the back of the park and notices a couple cows grazing. This amuses me to no end and my new dear Texas friend doesn't understand why this is funny.

Blogging as Therapy?

Hello, empty room! Well, I see that there are some of you hanging on in case I have anything new on my needles.
Right now, all of my yarn and all of my needles and all of my notions are packed in boxes being freighted to me in Houston, Texas. Ayup. We moved.
My husband and I have been together for about 10 years, married 8 in April, and have spend the entire time and most/all of our lives in Alaska. With my family. Most of his extended family is down here in Texas, so we're spending a few years here and not sure what we're doing after that.
We moved during sweater season though, so that's good. I packed my Hourglass Sweater (from Last Minute Knitted Gifts) and I've actually needed it! I've been knitting very little since my other little guy was born, but I'm itching to get back into something. I'm staying home with the kids since I don't want to pay someone to watch them so I can make just enough money to pay someone to watch them. I'm homeschooling because I wasn't sure where we would land. It's working out pretty well so far.
We moved into the house we're renting a few weeks ago and I'm super excited because we have a room that can be used as a media/project room! I'm setting up a table for my knitting and sewing stuff and I can get my craft on without losing my living room! I know I sound like a broken record, but I hope this is what I need to finally get my ass on Etsy. I also hope to be on here a little more, if only to have someone to talk to (sort of). The only people in Houston I know are my husband and two kids and one new friend (thanks, Craigslist!) who seems pretty awesome so far.
It's been pretty damn hard leaving everything and everyone I know, but the new family has been great to us and I can't say I have a lack of stuff to do/see in the city.
I feel like we're in a crappy relationship here, followers, but I'm going to try my best to be here for you. I want to bring you more free stash-buster patterns and convince you to buy stuff from my hypothetical Etsy store.
We'll see how it goes this time around.

Not Knitting

So, I haven't knit anything since my last post, but I have discovered freezer paper stenciling. I loves it! Fun for the whole family!

It's the 90 minute shirt I mentioned in the last post, but I cheat and it works out to about a 30-45 minute shirt and doesn't look quite so fancy.
I picked up a bunch of shirts at the thrift store for more projects.

It is getting pretty chilly here in the mornings. We've had one frost day already. Which means I'm gearing up to being inspired to find the perfect sweater pattern. Again. I have a couple sweaters worth of yarn in my stash and I'm wanting to find something I love before I commit to knitting an entire sweater in the little free time I have. I'm imagining something loose-knit and drapey but still stylish and layerable. Maybe a deep v-neck. I'm not sure. Cardigans are always nice to layer too. I'm impressionable, any ideas?

Slowly, slowly

Okay, I have been getting a little knitting done. Just some small stuff, but it's getting me back into the swing of things.
Things have been going okay, but I'm having some pretty alone moments. For anyone who still reads my sparse posts, thank you, it helps to know I'm not just screaming into the void. It also helps to check on Ravelry and see that there are people using my patterns. Seeing all the Socktopi and Lillie Cardigans out there makes me feel a little better. I'm trying not to use the kids as my emotional crutch, they don't need that fuel for their therapy sessions later in life.

Milo just turned six, it's totally blowing my mind! His birthday is just a couple weeks past the age cut-off for starting kindergarten, so he's pretty much the oldest kid in his class. He's having a blast, though. I put us in the lottery drawings for a few of the alternative schools in the city and he got into a small school that is half-day German immersion. Yeah, yeah, why German? Because it's a stand-alone school with a lot of parent involvement and learning any language uses that part of the brain. It's not about where he's going to be in the future, it's about using that amazing young child sponge brain now!
Ash is coming up on 6 months, and the kid is a little chunky monkey. At his 4 month check up, he was the size of an average 8 month old and his head size was off the chart for his age. Huge. But pretty darned awesome. I need to start making some baby hats and taking pictures since I have the built in model. (Hey, kid, wipe that drool of your face!)

I spoke with the owner of a local baby boutique about making hats, she was receptive to the idea. As ever, though, I need to get myself together enough to have some samples I feel are worth showing (and that Etsy shop...?) so we'll see how that goes.
We actually did quite a bit this summer, despite being bogged down by the baby (that was a joke). We had a super fun tie-dye party, there ended up being 14 kids in all, I think. I love the Internet, I found out about the good dye and how to make a few basic designs. I even dyed one of Ash's diapers!

Milo had soccer the first half of summer and ice skating lessons the last six weeks before school.
I've also been revisiting some quicker crafts. Sewing is pretty instant gratification. I'm loving the 90 minute shirt! The pictures I have of the ones I've made are on a friend's daughter and I don't want to post without their permission. It's stinkin' adorable, though! I've also revisited my love for nail polish, since discovering quick dry top coat. Giving myself a simple or artsy manicure is fast, cheap and easy and a good pick-me up. I know, I bite my cuticles, it's gross, whatever. Pay attention to the pretties!
We had a pretty nice summer, but it's fading fast. We're still getting some beautiful days, but there's definitely a chill in the air. Oh, Alaska, I don't think I'll miss your six month winters. I don't think I'll be keen on killer Texas summers, but it's only temporary. Yeah, we're planning on moving to Texas for a couple years. I'm really interested to see what the hell people in Texas knit! I can't imaging anything, no matter how lacy, that could be appropriate for Texas except a month or two in the dead of winter. Any Texans out there care to weigh in? I can't accessory knit forever. Or maybe I'll adjust and 70 degrees will feel like cardigan weather.

Blogger Failure

Hey, if anyone is still with me, I'm sorry. I'm totally done making resolutions and getting my hopes up about writing regularly, it never seems to work. Only now I have an excuse. He's warm and tiny and mumbly and currently sleeping on my chest as I'm typing.
This is Ash. Just Ash. Not Ashton, Asher, Ashley or anything else.
He's the reason I'm sleep deprived and not getting much done these days. Totally worth it.
My knitting has been pretty minimal in the last few months, even before he was born. I'll talk about that in a minute. But first, I'm sure you all want to hear the story of the day Ash came into the world. Or not, but I'm telling it anyway. For posterity, right?
So, the official due date (which means pretty much nothing) was March 28. I was really hoping for 2 weeks early (totally unlikely) because my dad and I share a birthday and three generations would be pretty awesome. But I was still waiting on the 28th, and the 29th...and the 31st.
On April 1st, I got up, took Milo to his last day of preschool and went to work. Having Braxton-Hicks contractions all day, and totally ignoring them because I'd been having them for the last few months. Took cupcakes to preschool as a special last day treat. Back to work. Talked to the hubby on the phone about my day, it was our anniversary so we were talking about going to a movie that night. Went to pick up Milo from school, gathered all his stuff to take home, last little bit of chatting with teachers and other parents. Aaaand my water broke. So they helped me get everything to the car, I called Hubby, Mom, Dad (who was 2 hours away at his cabin and was going to watch Milo), midwives, and Friend-who-bakes. Made it to the birth center parking lot before I had another contraction and it wasn't much. So it's about 5:45 at that point, and I'm in soaking pants with none of my stuff and a bored 5 year old. (Ash just snorted really loudly)
My midwife wanted me to hang out and walk the halls and stairs for at least an hour to see how things were progressing. So my mom came and picked up Milo and I wandered around calling and texting everyone to let them know what was going on. Oh, technology. Around 7:00 the midwife checked me out, only at 5cm, but the contractions were getting stronger so we decided it would be best for me to stay. Called and texted everyone again and decided to sit on the floor instead of walking around. I really like the birth center experience, I want to sit on the floor, fine. I want to sit on the ball, fine. I hate the ball and roll it into the spare room, fine. Couch, fine. Back to floor, fine. Just before 8:00 Hubby shows up with friend-who-bakes. Mom arrives with Milo. Dad arrives to pick up Milo, Mom stays. Good timing because the next 4 contractions take me from concentrated breathing while standing and swaying, to gutteral screaming on the floor. So they help me up and to a bed. I only vaguely remember, but friend-who-bakes tells me, the student midwife was feeling bad that it was happening so fast and was trying to comfort me, telling me, "That's your baby's head..." and I yelled, "I KNOW!" Friend-who-bakes laughed, then felt bad for laughing.
So Ash was born at 8:31 pm. 9lbs 4oz, 21 inches long. Again, Friend-who-bakes tells me as he was coming out the midwives were kind of going "woah!" at the giant baby, but I was just trying to get him out.
This was a totally different experience than my long, slow, totally in control labor I had with Milo. I would prefer that one over short, super-intense and emotionally jarring any day.
So, that's how it went down, and now we're a family of 4 and it's pretty great.
If you've stuck with me til now, I have my tiny bit of knitting news. On my last trip to the yarn shop when I was still pregnant, Milo found Rebecca Danger's Big Book of Knitted Monsters on a bottom shelf where it caught his attention. Since he's always so patient with me when I'm yarn browsing, we got it and he picked out some monsters he wanted. I have to say, they're pretty addicting! I've made 4 so far, but I only have a picture of one.
This is Coco, the canister monster. All the monsters have names and stories to go with them. Sometimes Milo picks out this book as one of his before bed stories. Pretty dang cute, monsters and kiddo.
The boys also got me an awesome gift card to my favorite yarn store for Mothers' Day. I went in a few days ago and they just got in a ton of new yarn. I didn't buy anything yet, I need something I really want to knit. Any suggestions on a pattern? I'd really like to have a perfect cardigan, but I'm not sure I've found what I'm looking for just yet.
Well, I'm off to get a couple hours off sleep before it's baby feedin' time again. I'd like to say I'll write again soon, but no guarantees.
Thanks for sticking with me!

It's Love

If I had to pick one brand of yarn to knit with forever (because people routinely hold guns to knitters' heads and force them to do this...) it would probably be Malabrigo. For the colors and the texture. Sentence fragment.
I went to my favorite local yarn shop for the first time in MONTHS a couple days ago. The only yarn I've purchased in the past 4 months has come from a craft store, was purchased for specific projects and has been used for those projects. I needed something for me, and I found it. If you haven't seen Malabrigo's Rasta in person yet, don't bother looking it up online. All the pictures I've found don't do it justice. And you can't FEEL it through the internet. I could feel this running through my fingers and watch the colors flowing together and be content with my life. The colors are like Koigu KPPPM on a macro scale. I really love KPPPM, but it's so damn tiny. Rasta made me a headband (kind of like Calorimetry, and for the same purpose) in an evening, easily.
For me, it's definitely a splurge yarn. I'm broke and we're about to have two kids. But I went back and bought more. I don't know what for yet, but I don't care. If I could afford it, I would make a loose guage sweater with wide cables to cuddle up in because January in Alaska is sub-zero.
SPEAKING OF WHICH! I'm going to Hawai'i on Tuesday, screw this sub-zero weather! Speaking of being broke, too... My mom has generously bought my ticket and said I can pay her back. It's a family trip with my mom, my aunt and uncle, and my grandmother. And a couple friends of mine said that it sounded like a good trip, so they'll be there too. There will be pictures. I wish the internet was more than just sight and sound, I'd share some warmth and sand with my friends who are still in the dead of winter.
I hope most of you are looking toward the end of winter. We still have a few months to go, but I'm fantasizing about gardening with a baby on my back and a 5 year old running around the yard, knitting something in cotton on the deck, keeping up with an Etsy shop. *POP* That's my bubble, I really should prepare stuff for an Etsy shop.
Okay, I feel good about two posts in less than a month! Hope I can keep this up, hope you keep sticking around.

HA! Made you look!

I know, I completely failed at keeping up with that blog thing for the last six months. In my defense, I'm pregnant...? Does that count as an excuse? Due March 28-ish, another boy! Oh boy... Also, I'm open to name suggestions, we're totally stumped.
The other little guy turned FIVE in September. It's blowing me away watching him grow and become his own person. I may be biased, but I think he's pretty awesome.
I have been getting a little knitting done, mostly small stuff. A few hats, a couple shrugs, that sort of thing. The only thing I have a picture of right now is the Double Cap (Kat Coyle, KnitScene, Fall 2008) that I made a while back. They yarn I used was a little finer than called for in the pattern, but I think it still makes for a darn cute hat. These pictures are from our camping trip in Homer in July. It was colder there in July than it is some places now in December. Alaska is still pretty amazing.
So, I really hope to keep up with this. Maybe a New Year's resolution. Did I do that last year...? Probably. We'll see.
I also really want to kick my butt into gear and get an Etsy shop opened up. I want to have a little something coming in when I'm taking time off from my real job with the new baby.
I hope everyone has a lovely holiday season, whatever you're celebrating.

Is this thing on...?

If anyone is still reading this, I apologize for the 7 month hiatus. My excuses are many, but now I'm back.
In the past 7 months, not much has been going on in the way of my knitting. I have knit four hats and a shrug as a birthday present. I believe that is absolutely it. Although, a couple of the hats are new patterns and I hope to have pictures for you soon and patterns for you sooner than another 7 months.
Also! My cup hat won me first prize in the I (heart) my Lunette contest on FaceBook! They also asked if I might knit up a couple for the team over there. It's on my list of things to do. Along with socks for my mom's birthday, a couple hats and a shrug for various other gifts and a sweater that fits my son. And opening an etsy store. Wait, haven't I been saying that for about a year?
I'm not sure what's causing my knitting slump, but I do seem to be working back into my groove. I really hope I can come up with more fun stuff to knit and share.
As this is breaking my 7 month silence, hopefully I'll keep it up a little more. I promise pictures of the new hats, which were well used on our camping trip last weekend. Camping in Alaska in July is like winter camping somewhere where they don't actually have winters. It was still a blast!
I'm back, let's do this thing.

Crafty Holidays

Maybe I'll make it a resolution for 2010 to blog more regularly. And get crackin' on the patterns I need to post. And get an Etsy store set up.
Anyway, I've actually been doing some knitting in the past month that I haven't been blogging. I get the Knitting Daily e-mails and they had a free pattern for some knit ornaments that I thought were cute. These are just the ones I have left. I think I've knocked out about 10 of them. Quick and cute, good little gifts.
My favorite local yarn store, Far North Yarn Co, got in some new yarn, Marshmallows. I'm not a big fan of novelty yarns, but this stuff is so squishy and cool! One ball makes a scarf in about half an hour. For about $11. Can't beat that!
AND! I finished my pretty cardigan out of the Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk. I'm really happy with how it turned out! I finished it a couple days before Thanksgiving, but I had to enlist the kiddo to get a picture of it. I'll try to figure out some sort of pattern for this. I think it would look nice in a finer yarn, too. Experimenting to do!
He also took this fabulous picture of me sporting my Noro top. I finished that this summer, but I don't think there was ever a picture. It's just a top-down raglan with yarn-over increases. I can't remember the name of the yarn. It took two skeins and I alternated skeins every other round so the stripes would show.
So, even though I've been neglecting you, my needles are still in use. In case I don't get around to posting again in the next couple weeks (likely), I hope everyone has a lovely holiday and new year!

A Bit Personal

I have recently discovered the awesomeness that is a menstrual cup. Hey, I warned you this was personal. If you are a woman who is so lucky to deal with this on a regular basis, I highly recommend you look into one.
How is this related to knitting? Well, I was so inspired and I needed a way to bring it up in conversation...It's my new religion. Have you heard the good news?
Pattern soon, for the 2 other people who knit and use cups...

Step One

Friends, I have a problem. My problem is procrastination. I do believe I've had it most of my life.
But, I finally got around to posting the pattern for that baby cardi! Woo! It's at the expense of some current projects, but, hey, those don't involve getting a free pattern to my readership.
It recently started getting a little chilly, as I mentioned before. I took this picture a couple weeks ago. It was sunny and gorgeous in most of the city, then right at the edge, dark clouds and snow creeping down the mountains.
The past few days are giving me hope for a longer fall, because summer is definitely over here. I can hope there won't be snow for trick-or-treating, though.
The chill in the air got me furiously knitting that Alpaca Silk cardigan and I knit most of a wearable garment in about 4 days. Sounds quick, but it's on size 10 needles, I'm a cheater like that. The plan is to make a wide band that is the finishing around the fronts and neckline. That's the killer. I've managed to get about 10 inches knit in two weeks. It's a pretty cable pattern, but not so difficult that I shouldn't be completely done by now and wearing that thing out in the pretty fall weather.
I just decided to start knitting something else instead! I'm tentatively working on a stash of items for a local eco-chic boutique, scarves, hats, simple things like that. Thing is, the first scarf I made, I ran out of yarn half-way through the bind-off. Seriously. And it's knit lengthwise, so I can't just undo a row. So, I'm having a glass of wine and blogging.
That, dear friends, is why you have the cardi pattern now. The shame.
Usually it's the finishing that kills me. I promise that most, if not all, of my patterns will have the least finishing humanly possible, for myself and you. That cute leaf purse I made for my friend (should I make a pattern for that one?) nearly killed me. It was absolute torture sewing the lining to the outer. I had two inches left of whip-stitching, no problem, and it took every bit of my willpower to finish it instead of cleaning the bathroom or going for a bike ride. Anything but finishing, in both senses.
That's my rant on procrastination. I'm going to go finish my wine and probably watch a movie. I don't feel guilty!
Here's my favorite recent picture. A very small 40 year old yuppie in the back seat of my car:

Lillie Baby Cardigan - Free Pattern!

Edited Jan 2011: I added stitch count and hopefully clarified the sleeve/body transition.
Here it is! This sweet little baby cardi is exactly how I envisioned it. I'm disappointed I can't offer a picture of it on a sweet baby yet, but I'm working on that. I made a few adjustments from the original blue one, barely noticeable, but more structurally sound and appealing. The final pattern is the three button version pictured in orange. It is worked top down seamlessly (because, really, who likes sewing seams?) and uses only 4 basic stitches! If you need, Knitty has a great stitch index.
In all versions, I used Berroco Comfort because it's very soft, machine washable and dryable, inexpensive, comes in MANY colors, and one skein is enough. I imagine it would be adorable with ribbon yarn and the pattern would work just fine with any similar weight yarn.
Happy knitting for a little one in your life!

Size 0-3 months

What you'll need:

Approximately 200 yd/190m worsted-heavy worsted yarn
Size 9 (5.5mm) needles, one set of straight or a circular and a set of DPNs or a long circular for magic loop
Stitch markers
Scrap yarn
Yarn needle
Three buttons, one-half to one inch size

Gauge: 17 sts and 24 rows in 4 inches flat stockinette

Neck and Sleeve Shaping:
Using straight or circular needle, cast on 44 sts
Rows 1-3: K all sts
Row 4: K9, PM, K6, PM, K14, PM, K6, PM, K9
Row 5 (Right Side): K2, YO, K2tog, *K to 1 st before next marker, YO, K1, Sl M, K1, YO, repeat from * to end [52 sts]
Row 6 (Wrong Side) and all even rows through 24: K4, P to last 4 sts, K4
Rows 7, 9 and 11: *K to one st before marker, YO, K1, Sl M, K1, YO, repeat from * to end [Row 7 - 60 sts, Row 9 - 68 sts, Row 11 - 76 sts]
Row 13: Work as for row 5 (button hole row) [84 sts]
Rows 15, 17 and 19: Work as for rows 7, 9 and 11 [Row 15 - 92 sts, Row 17 - 100 sts, Row 19 - 108 sts]
Row 21: Work as for row 5 [116 sts]
Row 23: K all sts
Row 25: (remove all stitch markers as you get to them) K18, transfer next 24 sts to scrap yarn, K32, transfer next 24 sts to scrap yarn, K18 [68 sts on needles, 24 sts for each sleeve on scrap]
Row 26 (Wrong Side): K all sts, joining under-arms

Body:
The rest of the body is worked in a modified feather and fan pattern with edging worked in:

Pattern Row 1 (RS): K all sts
Pattern Row 2 (WS): K4, P to last 4 sts, K4
Pattern Row 3 (RS): K4 *[K2tog] twice, [YO, K1] four times, [K2tog] twice, repeat from * to last 4 sts, K4
Pattern Row 4 (WS): K all sts

Repeat these 4 rows ten times, less for a cropped version, more for a duster.
When desired length is reached, K 2 rows and BO loosely.

Sleeve:
Remove 24 sts from scrap yarn and divide evenly over DPNs or longer circular for magic loop.
Begin knitting at underarm.
Sleeve rounds 1-15: K all sts
Rnd 16: P all sts
Work feather and fan in the round (below) three times
Knit one rnd, purl one rnd, BO loosely.

Feather and fan pattern in the round:

Rnds 1 & 2: K all sts
Rnd 3: *[K2tog] twice, [YO, K1] four times, [K2tog] twice
Rnd 4: P all sts

Weave in all loose ends. Attach buttons. DONE!

As usual, if you notice any errors in this pattern or have any questions, please contact me!

It's in the Air

Okay, so maybe you can't feel it yet except here, but there's definitely a chill in the air. In fact, on my way to work this morning, I did spy some snow on the mountains. UGH! I'm not ready for winter yet! Although it has kicked my knitting butt into gear. I've knit another lace leaf beret and started on a cardigan. I don't have pictures yet, but the cardi is being made in Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk in a pretty muted teal. I managed to get a good deal on Ebay a while back...like two years ago. And I'm trying so desperately not to buy new yarn. My friend in Seattle says her yarn storage is now a display case in her living room and it helps immensely with the buying urge. I really should do that.
So, I've been meaning to post in the last couple weeks, but there's always something.
I took the kiddo to the State Fair on Labor Day, just the two of us, and we had a pretty good time. Sometimes his fearlessness worries me. He was completely unfazed:
And I have to show this picture because it cracks me up. How much ice cream can you cram in your face?
Also, he is now four. F-o-u-r. It's mind-blowing. We had a little birthday dinner at my mom's house on the day of, and had planned for a party on Saturday with some kids. Unfortunately there's a nasty bug going around, and in the last 8 days, the three in my house and at least one extended family member have gotten to see some graphic examples of digestion.
The good part is, he had it the easiest and was not entirely turned off of food.
Leaving on a happy note, before the weather really turned icky, and before we all got sick, there was some beautiful sun, a good bike ride and a harvesting of herbs.

The Play-by-Play

So, I'm home. It's nice to be home, not so nice to be back to work and maddening that I completely missed the BABY!
My dear friend in Colorado had a baby due on the 24th of August and I got in on the 25th. I was so excited she hadn't hatched yet and thrilled at the possibility of being there for the birth. Alas, when I left on the 31st (in the evening, no less) still no baby.
I did get to give her the orange baby cardi with the pretty heart buttons and finished a second while i was there, blue with little seashell buttons (no pics of that one). Working on a third, purple with flower buttons. Baby stuff is so fast and easy! And I think I've finalized the pattern, so I may post it tomorrow or this weekend.
Here's the baby wearing the orange cardi:
If you need some perspective on what 41 weeks pregnant looks like, there's this one!
After we (the kiddo and I) left Colorado, we spent a couple days in Seattle before heading back home. I got to visit with a few friends and we stayed with our Oma.
Oma is the grandmother name we gave to my other mother, my mom's partner through my childhood. She moved to Seattle in 2001 and we try to get down to visit at least once a year.
So, yesterday morning around 5am, I think, my phone rings and it's Colorado calling to tell me they're on the way to the hospital (only because there were no birth center type places...don't get me started!) and another call around 10 to let me know the baby was born. I'm so happy for them, but bummed I didn't get to meet her on the outside.
Bummed was made a little better by getting to visit my Seattle friends, one in particular. She is also a knitter and she told me her favorite yarn store and I managed to get a quick trip in before we caught the plane last night!
So, that's about it for my trip, not very productive, but that's the way I like my vacation.
Then I had to come home and revive my plants that hadn't been watered and pick some burst tomatoes off the vine. I'm heading up to the big garden tomorrow and hoping at least a few things have survived my absence. Wish me luck!
Bonus picture, a rare shot of the four of us, almost five!

*Whew*

Hi friends, just checking in before I take off on vacation for a week! Woo! I'll be heading to Colorado to sniff that brand new baby head smell and give a new cardi! Made a couple little tweaks to this version, I like it better.Not sure why it flipped...
Then we're off to Seattle, home away from home, for a few days just to hang out.
Aside from that, I've had some out of town family visiting, running around doing touristy things you rarely do in your home town. It's fun every now and then.
Also got some more cukes and berries for preserving. I'll take pictures when I get back.
It's late and I still need to pack some stuff. Have a lovely week (or so) everyone!

Viking Hat - Free Pattern!

Created as a unique birthday present, and a quick last-minute one at that. It knits up very fast and the yarn is fairly inexpensive. I figured that even if it was just a novelty, I'm not out much time or money, although he assures me that it will get plenty of use this winter!
I hope I don't earn a reputation for this, but there's a little short row shaping on DPNs and I know a lot of people found that to be trying in the Socktopus pattern. But I thought it was necessary to get the horns the right shape and I don't think it's quite as annoying in this pattern.
As ever, please don't hesitate to say something if you find something off in the pattern or you have any questions. I finally got around to putting my e-mail on my profile page, so now you can contact me directly. Have fun with this one!

What you'll need:

Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky
Color A: Bronze Patina - one skein
Color B: Sandy Heather (or a cream color) - 20 yards is a generous estimate, should be plenty
Set of size 10.5 (6.5mm) DPNs and/or a 16" circular of the same size
-I knit tightly, if you are a loose knitter, size 10 (6mm) would probably be just peachy
Stitch marker
Yarn needle
A bit of stuffing or scrap yarn to stuff the horns

Special Stitches:

Bobble - Knit into front and back of sitch twice (this requires a little tugging) so there are a total of 4 sts from the single one. Turn work and purl these 4 sts. Turn work again, slip first stitch to right needle, knit the next two sts together, pass the slipped stitch over, knit the next stitch and pass the (k2tog) stitch over, so you have a single stitch again.
(I really hope that was explained well enough, again feel free to contact me!)

W&T (on a knit st) - With working yarn in back, slip stitch to right needle, bring working yarn to front of work between needles, slip stich back to left needle and turn your work.

W&T (on a purl st) - With working yarn in front, slip stitch to right needle, bring working yarn to back of work between needles, slip stitch back to left needle and turn your work.

Hat:

Using color A, CO 60 sts, place marker and join for working in the round.

Rounds 1&2: Purl all sts
Rounds 3&4: Knit all sts
Round 5: *K5, make 1 bobble, repeat from * around
Rounds 6&7: Knit
Rounds 8&9: Purl
Work st st (knit all sts) for another 3.75 inches
Begin decreasing:
Dec. Round 1: *K4, K2tog, K4, repeat from * around [54 sts]
Round 2 and all even rouns: K all sts
Round 3: *K7, K2tog, repeat from * around [48 sts]
Round 5: *K3, K2tog, K3, repeat from * around [42 sts]
Round 7: *K5, K2tog, repeat from * around [36 sts]
Round 9: *K2, K2tog, K2, repeat from * around [30 sts]
Round 11: *K3, K2tog, repeat from * around [24 sts]
Round 13: *K1, K2tog, K1, repeat from * around [18 sts]
Round 15: *K1, K2tog, repeat from * around [12 sts]

Cut yarn, leaving an 8 inch tail. Use yarn needle to thread tail through remaining 12 sts twice, pull tight and tie off.

Horn (Make 2):

Using color B, CO 12 sts, place marker and join for working in the round.

Knit 12 rounds
Work short row section two times as follows:

K9, W&T
P6, W&T
Knit to end of round, picking up wrapped st
Knit 2 rounds, picking up wrapped st on 1st round

Next round: *K1, K2tog, K1, repeat from * around [9 sts]
Knit two rounds
Next round: *K1, K2tog, repeat from * around [6 sts]
Knit two rounds
Next round: K2tog around [3 sts]
Knit one round, cut yarn leaving a 6 inch tail.
Use yarn needle to thread tail through remaining three sts, pull tight and tie off.

Finishing:

Stuff a little fiberfil, roving or scrap yarn into the horns to make them stand up.
Use yarn needle and an approximately 12 inch piece of yarn to sew horns to hat.
Weave in all loose yarn ends.

Lots of Things! And Stuff!

Hello, friends! I've been having way too much fun these past couple weeks, and I do feel a little guilty about not sharing any of it with you until now. But I'll try to make up for it.
I know I blather about my gardening adventure a lot, but I'll save that for a couple sentences to let you know that when I'm done blathering about my garden, I'll end this post and do another post which will be a new free pattern! Woohoo!
So, last night there was a birthday party for the fiance of [Friend Who Bakes] and it was a blast. He's in a black metal band, very much about the Norse roots, but not in a racist kind of way (I guess there's a lot of that out there). So I knit him a Viking helmet.
It was very last minute and I wrote down everything as I was making it so I could share it with my readership since I haven't posted a free pattern in a while and I've been promising the baby cardigan pattern for a while. Sorry it's not the baby cardigan! But it's a fun and super fast project!
And he loved it and wore it most of the night even though it's the middle of summer and the hat is made of wool. I made the kiddo model it for me, too, like I usually do with my finished projects. Bat-Viking!
So, that's my knitting news, for those of you who aren't as interested in the garden, you may be dismissed.
But we had a good week in gardening! A few tomatoes, some cucumbers, non-garden wild berries, and a little preserving.
I'm not sure what the deal is with larger tomatoes, and I'm certainly open to tips, they just seem to be so bland! The little cherry tomatoes were impossibly delicious, and I only started liking tomatoes a few years ago, but the bigger ones, and they're not even that big, were just kind of bleh. I don't remember what variety they are, I wish I did. We have some Romas growing in the cabin greenhouse and I hope they taste good enough to warrant using again next year. The cherry tomatoes are so very good, but they're not exactly ideal for making anything with. Any suggestions on flavorful tomatoes?
I was also excited to see some pickling size cucumbers in the greenhouse! I like pickles. A lot. Especially tiny ones. I got a few ranging between an inch and a half to about four inches long, enough for a half-pint of pickles, and I was determined to have my half-pint of pickles. But there was something else. This is the first time I've ever grown cucumbers, so I have no idea what to expect. Being from Alaska, I know very little about warm-weather plants, and my gardening policy in general is to just see how it goes. Perhaps someone else can tell me. As I was looking around for cukes big enough to justify pickling, I came across TWO of these monsters:
Where did they come from?! I think I was actually laughing to myself in the middle of nowhere over giant cucumbers. So I picked them, took them home, crinkle cut and pickled them along with my half-pint of tiny cukes. Two huge cukes = three pints of crinkle cut pickles. Crazy!
In addition to that, the kiddo and I wandered the property picking wild berries that ended up being enough to make a half-pint of jam with a little left over. I had some on my toast yesterday and it was pretty tasty! It's a little early for most of the berries here, so I had to mix three different types. Tart, sweet and unexpectedly flavorful. Later in the season I should be able to have enough to make batches of single berry jam. I think I just lost my punk rock lisence to being excited about preserving.
My last preserving adventure this week was zucchini relish. The sad part is, I had to buy zucchini. Our garden got a late start and I'm sure we'll have a bunch soon enough, but not yet. I bought local zucchini and carrots from the market though, so they're going to taste really good. Another thing I'll see if any of you know: Does the relish have to sit for weeks like pickles? None of the recipes I found said anything about it. Anyone know?
So, here's a jar of each, in all their glory. Hooray for preserving!
Now I have to go read some books to the kiddo and then I'll bang out the pattern for the Viking Hat!

Knit for your Weekend

Hello darlings! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty darn good and it's not over yet. It's been a little chilly and rainy this weekend, but that's okay. Spent some good time with family and friends! My mom came over Saturday and she and I and the kiddo went for a walk in the rain to the park near our house. I love the way the rain smells, especially after all the wildfire smoke this summer. Saturday night the Hub and I and some friends went to see some good music and have some tasty beer. He does a podcast with a couple friends and they focus on Alaskan musicians. This week they hung out with David Reynolds, boy and his guitar, definitely worth a listen! He had a couple gigs in town and is heading out this week. So last night it was the Snow Goose restaurant, which houses the Sleeping Lady Brewery. Good times.
Nice lazy Sunday morning today and in about an hour [Friend Who Bakes] will be coming over to sew! Although I'm feeling my sticks and string the past few days, sewing has a faster gratification rate.
I wanted to say a few things here, too. I've gotten a couple questions about my blog/patterns. The answer is YES. Link to me! I love how knitting and crafting can bring together people across the country and the world for no other reason than a common interest in yarn! Link to me! Use my patterns! Share them with anyone!
As far as selling things, I prefer my patterns to be for personal use, gifts and such. If you knit and someone else wants to commission a project, this seems perfectly reasonable to me. I'm going to try to get an Etsy store up and running in the fall and I'd like to reserve the right to sell my finished products commercially.
Let's end on a happy note, shall we? Another of my tomatoes is turning red and should be ready to pick in a couple days. This one is all mine!
Have a good week, friends!

My Week in Crafting

So, here's the rest of the of the specifically designed chemo hats. Yarn is very important for these! I'm totally into Plymouth Oh My! yarn. I don't care that the stuff is not good for washing! It makes up for whatever it lacks in being SO SOFT. SOFT. This is the perfect yarn for chemo hats. Also tried some Bernat Natural Blends Bamboo. Very nice and soft too! And inexpensive. Well, both of those, really. And here's another shot of the wig, I think the kiddo took that picture, it's his new hobby.
Also, I'm finalizing the pattern for the newborn size of the baby cardigan. My thoughts are posting this size for free on here, then eventually working out sizing for up to 24 months and compiling into a PDF for my eventual Etsy store. So, that should be up soon. I'm making a set of them for my dear friend who has a baby due in a month! And I get to visit her in Colorado and hopefully get to meet the new bitty baby! So exciting! P.S. I know you're reading this and I just found the perfect buttons for the orange version!
In other craftabulous news (wow, my spell check didn't underline craftabulous) I've spent the past three evenings being creative with the kiddo. We got some of that Crayola Model Magic, pretty fun stuff. He made a ladybug I'm really impressed with. He's also started drawing faces and I have pictures on the fridge at home and stapled to the wall at work. Makes me smile when I'm stuck at work. Tonight we had [Friend Who Bakes] and her step-daughter over for hanging out with craft projects. Mostly beading, a little modelling clay. Good times!
On the garden front, I have no idea what's going on. I skipped the long trip this week because my dad went up the same time I usually go and he took care of the watering for me. Not too optimistic about anything but peas and potatoes. My plants at home are doing very well, though! Kiddo and I pick the peas as they grow. I figured out something to do with all the basil, too. My gawd, try this! Delicious. Seriously.
I got my first two little tomatoes and gave them to my dad. I should have swiped a bite before he ate them, now I'll never know how tasty they were! Sad. But there are more growing! It's so exciting to be growing food, even if it's way more time and energy than going to the store and grabbing a few tomatoes and peas.
Alright, time for bed! Woo! New free pattern coming soon!