Doing the Sneaky Sneak

I feel like a bit of a sneaky sneak lately with my knitting. I've got lots of projects going on, none of which are listed in my new side progress bars. (see, I'm sneaky)

I'm almost done with one _________ for __________. One left to go! New super short mini circulars are on their way from The Knitting Knight in Hibbing (call and tell them they need a website).

I have a ____________ done for ___________.

I have another ____ done for _________. Well, I need to sew up one dangly end, but it's done.

I have the yarn for a _________ for _________.

I'm almost done with a _______ for __________.

See, Christmas knitting doesn't make for very exciting blogging.

Knitstoned

To use a Knittymuggins word, I was so knitstoned this weekend. I started knitting on Friday night and absolutely did not want to stop until I made not one, but THREE hats! One per day, well sort of. I started this rainbow hat (Freedom yarn, 100% wool) on Friday night for a 2 year old's birthday the next day. In my house, at night, it looked very boyish. In the light of day, it was obvious that it was pink, not red. Eeee... So off to the LYS I went. I asked their advice on whether I could give this to a 2 year old boy. The reaction was mixed, leaning heavily toward no. So I finished this one up and bought a skein of Sheep Shop Yarn to make another hat. I ended up giving the little boy this just so he'd have something to open and including the skein of Sheep Shop so the Daddy wouldn't freak out.

Looks like Addie gets a new winter hat!!

Immediately after the party I started in on the Sheep Shop hat. Somehow I screwed up the pattern and ended up with a slightly different spiral. Not a big deal, it looks cute this way too! I finished this one up on Saturday night so that Adam could bring it along when he went hunting on Sunday with the Daddy of the 2 year old.

On Sunday morning I started yet another hat. This time out of Frog Tree Alpaca bulky. Mmmm... Alpaca. I finished it around 10 pm Sunday night. Not too shabby! This one is a Christmas present for my nephew. I'm debating about making another for his older sister, but my hands need a break from the bulky.

Pattern: Snail Hat by Elizabeth Zimmermann.

Big Pink Cardi

I cannot believe that I am finally to this point. I feel like I have been talking about the "Big Pink Cardi" forever. I sewed up the seems at the scrapbooking retreat I went to last week. I modeled it for everyone with the strings hanging out all over. I discovered that scrapbookers are not nearly as impressed with an almost finished cardigan as they are over an almost finished page. Seriously people, do you understand how long this sweater has taken me to finish? Your 20 minutes per page is nothing compared to my hours of work. I get more appreciation from my husband.

It's the big pink cardigan I've been working on since the Summer Olympics started. This is the second of two projects I was really hoping to finish. I guess I missed the mark on this one!

Check it out, the arms are actually the correct length and the striping turned out almost perfectly matched!!

Pattern: Needful Yarns Shawl Collar Cardigan (I believe the company has gone out of business)
Yarn: Katia Tundra (Ravelry Link)
Modifications: I didn't do the crochet edging on the collar, mostly because I don't crochet - but also partly because I like the scalloped edging. It works for me.

The cardigan is currently drying after blocking. I hope that will make the collar lay a little nicer and make the seems look like someone actually knew what they were doing when they sewed them up. Hey, I can hope for a miracle, right?

Wouldn't You Know...

My kiddo loves her hat!

We spent this last weekend down at my sisters house. I had promised my almost 7 year old niece that I would teach her to knit. I bought her some child size needles and some wool/acrylic indestructible yarn. She did really well. She worked intermittently on the knitting, in between playing Polly Pockets and Littlest Pet Shop with Addie and Lily. I have her making a hat, although I think her mom will probably have to rip it out and start her over again once she gets the hang of it. It seems as though her big problem is that she stops in the middle of the row and then forgets which way she was going. So she's got several short rows on one side. Not a big deal, she'll get the hang of it.

Here's the kicker. I taught my sister to knit as well, thinking that she'll have to know the basics in order to help my niece when she gets stuck. My sister picked it up right away - she's even knitting Continental. I struggle to knit Continental. It's so much faster and easier to throw for me - I guess I'm very right hand dominant. I can do it, especially if I'm knitting with 2 colors, but I really don't like it. So of course my sister does it naturally. Ugh. I'm blaming it on the fact that she learned how to crochet first and that's the way they taught her to hold her yarn.