Feeling Foxy

Have you heard that foxes are the new owls?  :)  I have been seeing a lot of fox motifs in kids' clothing and accessories lately, and I like it!  I just finished a fox hat for our baby and there are a few other patterns I favorited recently in Ravelry.

The Intrepid Fox (click on link for Ravelry pattern)--I love the color work in this one!

Willy the Wily Fox

Knit Sleepy Fox Amigurumi

Foxy and Wolfie by Katy Tricot (link not working right now)

Knits for Baby Boy #2

We are expecting our second baby boy to arrive in just about 6 weeks!  Since our first child is also a boy, I have a lot of knitted items that our new babe can wear as well.

I wanted him to have a few new things of his own though.  The set I made for Drew to come home from the hospital in (Susan B. Anderson's "Pure and Sweet Layette") did not fit as well as I had hoped it would.  It was a little too big and wide.  Maybe I should go back and make some revisions on it so baby #2 can wear it...

Anyways, here is baby #2's new sweater and hat (Jacki Kelly's "Seamless Baby Kimono").

I don't know that is is newborn size (might be closer to 3 months) but since it is for a winter baby, that is fine!

I have also made a few hats.  The first one I improvised, but it has the toppers from Susan B. Anderson's "Marley Hat." The second one is Kristen Cooper's "Woodland Fox Baby."

I have about 6 weeks left to knit a few more things...I might focus on making a hat for Drew and Jim now though before I am busy with a newborn!

Knitting in the Midst of Moving

I realized I haven't blogged about knitting in quite awhile!  I have a good excuse at least: we moved from Virginia to Germany (with stops along the way in Minnesota and Illinois!).  I did get some knitting done in the midst of the move, mostly gifts for friends who were expecting babies.  Here are some pics:

First I knit another sweet pea hat for my friend Cathleen whose baby boy was due in August.

Then I knit this adorable whale for my friend, Megs, who had been pinning all kinds of whale related baby stuff on Pinterest as she awaited the arrival of her fourth baby.

I worked on a few coordinating knits for one of my best friends, Erica.  Her beautiful baby girl, Violet, arrived last month!  Since Erica was the one who taught me how to knit, the knits we have exchanged over the years have had a special meaning!

Erica has a vegetable theme in her baby's nursery, so I knitted up a little basket of veggies!  They came out a lot smaller than I expected but are really cute.

Finally, I knit a basic striped hat in cotton yarn for my friend, Laura, who had a baby boy in California last month.  I knew that a warm wooly hat would not be necessary in California, but who doesn't love a new baby in a hat?  I hope they will get use out of it on the cooler nights of winter in CA.

Now on to knitting for my baby (due in January!)! 

Knitting Friends and the Quaker Ridge Shawlette

Erica came to visit us this past weekend.  Although we talk regularly, we hadn't seen each other in 2 years!  We always pick right back up where we left off; I love that!  We asked Jim to take some photos of us in our Quaker Ridge Shawlettes.  We knit these shawls as part of a knit-a-long that Susan B. Anderson hosted.  We've done this twice now, where we've made the same project at the same time, and it's really fun to be able to talk about our project and share our progress!  I love knitting--thanks so much for teaching me, Erica!

 Here we are pretending to admire each other's shawls for our photo shoot.  We didn't need to pretend--we really do admire them! :)

"Friendship isn't about being inseparable.  It's being separated and knowing that nothing will change."

~Unknown

Gramps Photo Shoot

Gramps Sweater: All Buttoned Up!

I'm done with the Gramps sweater!  I finished all the knitting about 2 weeks ago but I didn't have a chance to make the hike out to the fabric store to get buttons until yesterday.  I prefer to go on the weekends so I don't have to bring Drew, but he was a champ!  Such a sweet, patient boy.

It took me a looooooong time to choose buttons.  They just have so many options there and I didn't really love how any of them looked on the sweater.  As I've said before, I think button choice is really important because it can really change the look of the sweater.  I wasn't sure if I wanted a button that just blended in with the sweater or one that stood out.  I ended up going with a dark gray button that has a splash of light gray in the center.  

The good thing about buttons is that they don't have to be permanent.  If I find ones I like better down the line, I can always replace them!  For now I just want him to start wearing this sweater before it gets too warm out!

Pictures of Drew in the sweater to come...

Gramps: Completed, Unblocked

"Just stand there for 2 more minutes so Mommy can take another photo." :-)

Gramps: One Sleeve + Body Done

Sizing has been tricky...I want to make the sleeves and body long enough to allow some growth, but not so long that it looks like a tunic or girls' sweater.  The first time I tried it on him I thought the sleeves might be a little too narrow (maybe I should do less decreases so they stay wider?) but looking at it again I think they are ok.  I want to finish this pronto so he can wear it before summer!  It is so hard to make a sweater for a growing kid before he grows out of it!

Gramps

I'm working on a sweater for Drew now.  I had been wanting to make him a sweater for awhile but just couldn't find a top down pattern that I liked.  My friend Wendy let me know that a designer was giving away 1 free pattern on Ravelry as a New Year gift.  I browsed through her patterns and found one that I had favorited a couple months ago: tincanknits "Gramps!"  It is super cute.  I even saw several very similar sweaters on Gap online the other day!

Anyways, here is my sweater in progress:

The yarn I'm using is Manos Rittenhouse merino 5 ply yarn.  I got 4 skeins of it on sale at fibrespace and wow--is it soft!!  It feels so nice.  I think it is going to be really cozy.  So far the sweater seems like it is going to fit Drew well.  He has let me hold it up to him a few times ;-) and the shoulders fit nicely.  I need to increase the length (no surprise there) before beginning the ribbed edge.  

We were at G Street Fabrics yesterday and I tried to pick some buttons for Drew's "fweater" as he calls it but I didn't really know what look I want to go for yet.  The buttons can really make or break a sweater so I need to browse the project pages a bit before deciding.

Baby Girl Cardigan

In December I started knitting a cardigan for our dear friends, Catherine and Tony, who are expecting their second child (a girl!) this month.  I had favorited the "Maile Sweater" on Ravelry awhile ago although I knew it was too feminine to make for Drew.  I was so happy to have someone to make this sweater for!  

I had read some comments on other people's Ravelry project pages that the sleeves were really difficult to attach to the sweater.  I saw some tips that suggested using DPNS instead of one long circular needle and that is what I did!  When it came time to join the sleeves, I used all 5 DPNS in size 4, as well as 2 circular needles that I had in the same size.  Whenever the stitches got too stretched or difficult to knit, I just picked up a new needle.  I knit that way for about 6-7 rows and then put them all back on the long circular needle.  It wasn't bad at all!

I LOVE the way this sweater turned out.  It is so delicate and feminine.  This was a hard one to give away!  I will have to make it again someday.  ;-)

I went back to G Street Fabrics for the buttons and once again, the women working there helped me find the perfect buttons!  I love how these buttons have a two tone color, much like the variegated yarn.  They look like little tuxedo buttons.  The yarn I used is called "Cephalopod Bugga."

I had some yarn left over so I made a matching hat. I knit a one inch garter stitch edge and then knit plain.  There were a few Ravelry project pages that included a matching hat with a lace border that mimicked the bottom of the sweater but I decided to keep mine simple so as not to detract from the sweater.