A new hat

Last month I made Kidster #2 a new hat. There's just something about being a knitter and seeing your child in a hat that doesn't match their coat that makes you want to stop everything and "whip up" a new hat. (Or maybe that's just me.)

I wanted an earflap hat that would be warm on his neck too. So I just made one long neckflap then started the hat. It's ok. Yes, it's a little too big. But, it's not bad for no pattern and a first attempt. If I shorten the neckflap and go down a needle size it should be perfect!

Merry Christmas!

If they would only do a little more of that. Sigh.

Knitting in childrens' stories, part 4

Let me start by saying I love this book! I reserved it from my inter-library loan and I am so glad I did. From the title, "Shall I Knit You a Hat? A Christmas Yarn", to the last page this is a winner. The pictures are beautiful and the story about giving is perfect for this time of year.
It's a story about a little rabbit that wants his mother to knit hats for all of his animal friends. He proceeds to describe how each hat should be knit! It's a good thing Mother Rabbit is a knitting-designer-on the fly!

Shall I Knit You a Hat? A Christmas Yarn
by Kate Klise, illustrated by M. Sarah Klise

Keeping up with the season

It snowed for the first time. Not too much, but enough to have some frosty fun.

When we came in, I made hot chocolate and put the guys to work. We made our traditional Cranberry Bread. And we've been trying to get the "perfect shot" for our Christmas Cards. How do you think that's going?I guess I don't have to tell you which of the kidsters likes to ham it up for the camera.

The "way huger than that" bag was gifted this weekend and I'm happy to report that the recipient loved it. She's even texted me since about it, so I know it was a hit.

And I finished up another pair of slippers for my sister-in-law's gift. I hope to felt them later today and get pictures soon!

About the big ticket items

I've had two "big ticket" items in my immediate mental queue for a while now. The first (you might remember from this post) is the Heather Hoodie, but in a regular person size. I've been wanting to make it for a while now. I bought the Fall 2009 Knitscene magazine and even bought yarn for it, too.

The second is Mayer. I loved it immediately when I saw this picture on the Berroco website. I loved it even more when I saw this picture on the Webs Yarn Store blog. I have eight balls of this yarn perfect for it. Shhh, I've even done the S word for this project! Yes way! So this has been in the top position for when I am done with Holiday knitting, kidster knitting, and the other small projects I want to finish first. I figured it was about time I made something big again. And for myself. I even thought about returning the bulky yarn I bought for the Hoodie.

Then it happened.

I was out gift shopping and with an arm full of stuff when I saw this. It's not exactly the same but it has a lot of similar elements, the most obvious being the wide collar and the similar (not exact) stitch pattern. It has snaps that can turn that wide collar into a turtleneck (which at first I didn't think I'd like, but once I tried it I did). I tried it on in off-white because it was close to what I was going to make. But because of the snaps being a darker color it looked a little odd and they stood out too much. There was a black marl that I liked but three quarters of my sweaters are black or gray and I couldn't justify it. This brown one was a nice color and those big snaps blended in a lot better.

I hemmed and hawed, a lot.

1. This one is longer than Mayer.
2. I'm tall and can manage a long sweater.
3. If I did try to make Mayer it would probably take me until next winter, at least!
4. With a 30% off sale and a coupon in my pocket it would cost less than the yarn I had at home.
5. If I buy it then I wouldn't have the pleasure of making it.
6. The brown blends in with my hair color and I might look too washed out.
7. It's still not the same as Mayer and I might still want to make it and then where would I be?
8. Buy it for $20 and you can wear it right away.

Get it, or not? What do you think happened?

The bandwagon stopped...

just long enough for me to jump on!
In case you haven't figured it out yet (or seen my Ravelry update), they are the French Press Felted Slippers by Melynda Bernardi. They knit up quickly. Really quickly! Most people could probably get the knitting done in a day. The seaming wasn't so much fun, but then again you're listening to someone who will knit in the round at any and every chance. I got these done in 6 days which included a day of downtime for button shopping. Perfect match, I'd say!

I made them for my mother for Christmas. The strap came out shorter than I would have liked, and the toe area is much wider than I anticipated. But I know my mother will appreciate them for the hand knit love that they are. She is definitely knit worthy.

Multitasking...it's not really for me

A few weeks ago I had three wips going at once. I was working on the turkey, a kidster hat, and the big cable bag. I have to say it was a little strange. Me, your ever faithful monogamous knitter was cheating again. At first, I said to myself, "so this is what all the other knitters are like". Then it dawned on me that having multiple projects was not for me.

One reason was that I was trying to knit at times I don't normally knit. It was getting in the way of keeping up with the other non-knitting things that needed to get done around here. I guess having more projects going made me feel pressured to get something, anything finished. The other reason that struck me is that I spend the whole day multitasking between kidsters, school schedules, and basically keeping everyone (ok, mostly me) sane. It wasn't working for me to try to multitask in my knitting. It was stressing me out! Now I am thankfully back to one project. I hope to keep it that way for a while since I could use a little relaxation. I'm off now to go sit and knit on my one project for a while.