Next Way-Too-Big project?

May even try to sell this one . . .

Knitting in action!

Anyone recognize that sweater?

Baby Natalie is sporting a Mollie Hartford Original, perfect for a brisk fall day. Apparently her feet were never small enough for the booties, but they're saving them for her dolls :)

Baby Golden Dome Hat, 2.0

Here is a revised version of my Baby Golden Dome Hat, with a turned up brim (and made with smaller needles). (Printer Friendly Version)

Materials:

Worsted Weight yarn in White, Navy Blue, and Gold/Mustard Yellow

5 Size #2 dpns

Cast on 72 blue

Divide onto 4 dpns (18 on each) and join

For the Base: (see grid at the bottom of page, start at the arrow on bottom right)

Row 1: K1 P1 blue around

Row 2: [P1K1 7 blue, attach white, K1 white, P1K1 7 stitches blue, K3 white] x4

Row 3: [P1K1 5 stitches blue, K1P1 5 stitches white, P1K1 5 stitches blue, K1P1 3 stitches white] X4

Row 4: P1K1 white around

Row 5: P1 blue, K1P1 13 stitches white, [P1K1 5 stitches blue, K1P1 13 stitches white] X4, P1K1 4 stitches blue

Row 6: P1K1 around

Row 7: K white around

Row 8 & 9: P white around

At this point I turn the work "inside-out" so I can knit the majority and decrease easily.

For the Dome: (see grid, start from arrow on upper left)

Turn work inside out by bringing the work through the center of the needles and turn work. Attach yellow. Knit all yellow. You'll be working back the way you just came, so there will be small hole. You can tie this up with the white and yellow tails after you're done.

K1, P1, [K8, P1] around yellow.

Repeat [K8, P1] for about 4-5 inches (depending on the size of the baby in question).

Decreasing: [Knit until 2 stitches before the Purl row, K2tog, P1, SSK] until there are two knit stitches between each purl row. (24 st)

[K2tog, P] around. (16 st)

K2tog around. (8 st)

For "Statue"

Attach white

K2tog around. (4 st)

Kfb around (8st)

On 4 needles (2 st on each needle), [Kfb, K1]around (12 st)

[K2tog, K1]around (8st)

K2tog around until 3 stitches remain

Change to Yellow

Make a 3-stitich i-cord for about 7 rows.

Cut and thread end through the stitches.

Embellishment of Base:

Using a crochet hook, do a chain stitch up and down the white triangles (are the gables? are they peaks? I have no idea). For this version, I threaded the yarn through the inside of the hat at the end of each gable.

**when you use one color for more than 2 stitches while switching colors, carry the other color behind by twisting the two different colored yarns. Alternate which direction you twist the yarn to avoid tangling.

For Base, start at the bottom right; first blue row indicates the cast-on row.

For Dome, start at arrow near the upper left (this indicates the turned section)

(click for larger image)

Kitchen Command Center

. . . is what my home is in need of. badly.

We have this amazing island in our kitchen, which has become a catch-all for, well, ALL! Drying paint brushes, keys, receipts, mail, dinner, dirty dishes, clean dishes. And I'm finding it harder and harder to remember things (like bringing my lunch or remembering to check if my shirt has stains on it before I leave the house), so I need a place for everything so I can put everything in its place.

Cue the Container Store!!! (and IKEA and BB&B and Pottery Barn . . .)

I love love love this thing:

It's magnetic so you just stick your keys on it.



This is the "Daily System" from Pottery Barn. I think this may be what I need. Hooks for keys, slots for wallets and phones. Pottery Barn, however, is a little pricey.

But these!

The exact same system, at Bed Bath and Beyond, for about $10-$15 less for each piece.

I ended up with the File Bin, for mail and magazines, and the three-tiered storage unit with the key hooks, for keys (obviously), wallets, phones, and iPods. I decided against the calendar, even though it would probably help; we are notoriously BAD at writing things on calendars, or even remembering to switch calendars to the next month.

Now we just have to get them onto the wall . . .

Latest way-too-big project

Alphabet Baby Blanket

Found some great Alphabet Dishcloth patterns by "Knitting Knonsense". It has all the letter and the numbers 0--9. There are also some super cute patterns for animals, states, and holiday things. All the squares are relatively the same size, so they will be perfect to sew together into a big blanket.

Like many simple dishcloth patterns, there is a purled line every other row which shows up as a pattern (ever other row is knit across, I'm not exactly sure why).



To make it a little more colorful, I am going to switch colors for the pattern instead of purling.



One issues is that the 26 letters don't make an even rectangle. So I will also include the numbers 0--9, to make it 36 blocks, 6 by 6.



And I think I may even have all these colors in my stash.

Last week I thought to myself, "Ok, If I make 1 square a week, I'll be done before the baby's born!" . . . and then I did some math. 1 per week X 36 squares = 36 weeks. I am currently 12 weeks along. Average 40 weeks to term - 12 = 28 weeks. hmmm . . . I may have to speed up my knitting. Good thing these are very easy.

A - done
B - done
P - half way done . . . going in order is boring.

Literary Knitting

My elementary-school teacher mother would be proud . . .

After a quick Ravelry and Google search, I couldn't find many more projects involving knitting and children's books. May have to remedy that.
A Bernstein Bear's outfit? A Chicka Chicka Boom Boom alphabet blanket?

Classic Pooh

Trouble concentrating . . . too much pooh.