Tuesday 31 March 2015

It DOES matter, really it does

A while ago I fell in love with a pattern on Ravelry.  It was a beautiful shawl, I bought the appropriate weight yarn and started knitting, using needles that the yarn recommended.  The pattern said that gauge wasn't super-important since it was a shawl and any ball you bought would have far more than you needed.  Fair enough, I thought, and off I went.

After I had about half of it done I realized things were looking a little small.  I messaged the designer, who said it was impossible for her to measure gauge since hers had been blocked and that it really didn't matter.  (The entire point is to know blocked gauge, but anyways...).  I pulled it out today, and really, if I ever finished it the thing would be perfect for a cabbage patch doll.  It is just not going to happen, and the thought of reknitting the thing at a bigger gauge is enough to drive me nuts so clearly this yarn is destined to be something else.

I put in the yarn specifications into Ravelry and was looking at patterns and Bonny showed up on the list.  The pattern I wrote about in my last post about how it's amazing and perfect and totally doesn't make sense for me to knit because I'm having a baby this summer and one of my best friends is knitting it and that would look silly if we wore it to the same thing which would totally end up happening.  It's the right weight yarn and more than enough yardage for any size I would ever be (assuming that baby number two doesn't magically make my chest size bump up to an F cup or something ridiculous but I'm fairly confident that won't happen).  This yarn is also the same colour as the yarn my dear friend bought for her version of Bonny.

I sort of feel like I'm 15 saying "but I can't have it because she does."  Would it look silly for two knitters to have the same tank top in the same colour?  Would it?

Please weigh in.  Because I don't know what to do.

Friday 27 March 2015

Looking at what's next

I've been so focused on getting ready for the baby that it's snuck up on me; I'm almost done the blanket but don't have my next interesting project lined up.  I've been trying to figure out what it should be.  Last year I made a winter sweater for Caleb that I absolutely love and I want to make sweaters for both of the kids this winter.  (It feels really really weird to write "both of the kids.")  I also need to make the baby a Christmas stocking but want to wait until it's been born so I can pick the yarn (I really like the idea of violet but think it's a tad girly if we're having another boy).

I have leftover yarn from the blanket and could use it up by making a matching hat and booties but, that's just not captivating me.

A really good friend just bought the yarn for Bonny which I absolutely love to no end and would really really like to make that but am not sure about it for several reasons.  The first is that we're in the same place enough that it's really likely we'd end up wearing it at the same time and I'm not sure how ridiculous that would look.  The second is that I'm having a baby in May and while I can certainly estimate my eventual bust size (they returned to their pre-baby size eventually with Caleb) I probably wouldn't fit in it this summer.  There's no point in putting so much work into something I won't be able to wear for a while and it would be absolutely heartbreaking to guess the wrong size soooo.... it's going in the queue.  I do really really love it though.  Perhaps I will make it next winter.

I still have no idea what interesting pattern I'd like to make next.

Wednesday 25 March 2015

Getting there

Suddenly all of the squares are done and twenty of them have their ends woven in.  Weaving in the ends of the remaining five and blocking the squares seems like a very approachable next step.  Then comes crochet which I'm sure I'll be able to figure out with youtube and a friend.  I'm really happy  that this is coming together because time is flying and there are a bunch of things I want to get done before the baby arrives.

I've hauled out all of Caleb's old clothes and am sorting them for size, each size has two piles: boy and gender neutral (we're having a surprise).  I didn't realize how hard it would be to sort them.  Some of them can obviously be used for any child, the solid colour onesies, jeans and overalls are all easy.  Some of the pieces are definitely boy.  Anything that says "cool boy" or "little boy racer" easily fall into that camp, although if there was some sort of laundry emergency I would totally pull them out for a girl without a second thought.

Other garments I pull out and think that they'd be fine for a girl or a boy depending on what they're paired with, a headband or skirt goes a long way to making a top or onesie we'd traditionally define as masculine really cute on a little girl.  Then there are the other ones.  There are pieces of clothing that I pull out and ask myself "would I really put a girl in that?"  There's a firetruck sweater I love, and there are totally female firefighters, but still, it just makes me think boy.  Yet I maintain that all of the blue PJs with airplanes are definitely gender-neutral (I like airplanes and I'm a woman and the sky is blue, done deal).

Just in case you were wondering what I've been thinking about.

Friday 20 March 2015

Getting there

I was hoping to have the squares done so I could block them for last night so I can take them to my knitting group tomorrow where a friend is going to teach me to crochet them together.  Alas I have one more to make and 5 to weave the ends in.  It's okay though, I'm quite pleased with my progress and they'll be done for next week's meeting.

In other news we've finally got Caleb's big boy room ready and moved him, it seems to have gone relatively well, most of the time he goes to sleep in a decent amount of time.  The only problem is he gets out of bed and sleeps in his closet.  I can't figure out why, all his stuffed animals are in the bed (like they were in the crib), there's a side on it so he can't fall out, he can easily get in and out of it by the foot of the bed, and he'll lounge there while I'm in the room.  On one hand this seems like a minor problem, on the other I feel bad that he's camping out on the floor in his closet.

Tuesday 17 March 2015

Not so fun

I was really looking forward to spending some time with my son today, but have been really sick this morning.  I think it's just pregnancy stuff, I had one day like this in my third trimester when I was pregnant with Caleb but I was just not up to doing anything this morning.  I called my mom, who came and played with him for a couple hours while I slept, and now he's napping.  Normally I hope his naps are on the long side so I have a chance to get stuff done but I hope he doesn't have a crazy-long one today, I like the little guy and want to play with him.

It was really sweet, while we waited for my mom to come he kept giving me kisses and trying to get me water, and bringing me books to read him (normally he's not into sitting still that long, so I don't always get to read him books).  When I got up I discovered he had also "helped" me with my knitting.  He takes the dpns and stabs them randomly into the ball/fabric.  It's really sweet.

I am going to take it easy but hopefully get a square or two done on this blanket and some ends woven in (I started that to break up the task).

Friday 13 March 2015

Getting bored of the little squares

As cute as this blanket is the squares are boring me.  I realize is 25 which really isn't that much, but they're so simple and straightforward and the same that I'm starting to go a little nuts.  However, I can't really take a break from this project because this baby is coming in not too long.

I'm almost done though, then onto the weaving in of ends and blocking.

Wednesday 11 March 2015

A Violet Spring



My latest pattern, one for a tea cozy, as been typed, edited, formatted, and uploaded to Ravelry.  I'm absolutely thrilled about how it turned out, especially since I bought the colours while completely distracted by Caleb.

I also am blown away by how good the photos are (my dad is awesome).  The pattern is available here for anyone interested.  

Friday 6 March 2015

Attempting not to panic

There are just over 11 weeks until my due date.  I made a list of everything I need to do/get together by then.  On one hand, this is good because I can check stuff off as things get done and this is helpful is making sure I don't forget anything.  On the other thing the number of things that aren't done on the list is worrisome.  I am trying to remind myself that a number of them are "buy ______" most of which can be bought in Walmart and online, and that another group of them are things I need to find in my house and then put in a box/suitcase so they're all together when I go into labour.

There are still a lot of things.

I have 16/25 of the blanket squares done, which is fantastic.  Weaving in the ends is going to be a bit of an epic task but that's okay (there will be somewhere between 120-150 of them depending on how many I make while crocheting the thing together).  There's also the fact that I can't crochet, but I'm pretty smart and have youtube and am telling myself that will be enough.  (I also have friends who can explain why things aren't working if I have trouble, but I don't see them every evening so youtube is totally going to be the first bet).

Tuesday 3 March 2015

Marching Merrily On

The blanket is coming along quite well, I have 11 squares done, which is well ahead of schedule.  I wanted to make it the same size as Caleb's baby blanket, which I thought was the perfect size for tucking around him in the stroller or car, and thought I had made that one three feet square.  I was wrong, it's apparently 2.5' square.  Also, the squares are bigger than I thought they were, which means I need a total of 25 not 36 of them.  This means that I'm nearing the half done part of the knitting.  This is good, because there's not that much longer to go.

I really need to make a list of all the things I need to do and organize before this baby comes because time is absolutely flying.  I'm hoping we'll finish Caleb's big boy room this weekend and move him the weekend after, which means I can start organizing things in his current (the baby's future) closet.  Basically, there's no hope of getting that done while Caleb's awake, and playing around in his closet while he sleeps is just going to wake him up.