Button, button, who's got the button?

This little tiny bit of cuteness is Nikol Lohr's Pebble Vest (direct link to free pattern here, in case you just cannot resist). It is appropriately winter-ready for this baby who is due in late December. It used way less yarn than I anticipated, because it is so very small, maybe about 8 inches tall from neck to hem. CUTE!!!

The sturdy yet cuddly garter stitch texture just slays me. It really is, as Nikol says, a manly-looking little vest, so I think it's totally perfect for a newborn baby girl who has to brave a Chicago winter. The yarn color is Hollyberry, in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, which will hopefully be easy enough for the parents (non-knitters) to care for. I will probably include some wool wash with the little pile of woolens to help them out with baby sweater care. 

Now the Pebble, like all my other unfinished knits, is awaiting button selection and application.  Well, that's not entirely true. My unfinished stashbusting stripey socks are waiting for me to weave in the 8 bazillion ends that happened when I changed yarn 400 times.  Those might just not be finished for a while.  Hunting through button bins sounds like a much more pleasant prospect, so this sweater vest, the recently bound-off Cascade sweater, and my very own Sparkle Bee cardigan (in the works for about 2 years now) ought to be getting the finishing touches very soon.

Meanwhile, until I can show you an actual finished object instead of these 95% done works in progress, please enjoy some lovely fall foliage from the Hyde Park lakefront trail.

Can you believe October is nearly over? I think the combination of teaching two semester-long courses (we just hit midterms) and a quarter-length course (woohoo! Just warming up! ???) is wiping me out and doing strange things to my sense of time.  Combine all that discombobulation with an ongoing building plumbing project that has had me kicked out of my office for over a month, plus a building-wide bug infestation that seems to be continuing apace despite the efforts of exterminators, and I'm a bit of a mess.  Thank goodness for the beautiful leaves and the tiny knitting.

More in progress...

It's not exactly startitis, it's just 95% finished syndrome. There's all kinds of stuff sitting around waiting for the final touches or that last bit of knitting and seaming.

This one needs buttons, but once I pick out the perfect set, it's going to be really freaking adorable.

Pattern: Cascade from Petite Purls Winter 2010, 6 month size
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers
Needles: US7 circular and dpns

FO: tiny blue beehive

Latest in the lineup of quick knits is this tiny blue beehive hat, for friends' soon-to-arrive baby.

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Fjord Heather, less than 1 skein
Needles: US 7 circular and dpns for crown

Pattern: improvised, but pretty basic. CO 48 sts and alternate between 3 rows of stockinette and 4 rows of reverse stockinette, doing 4 sets of crown decreases (for a square shaped top) in stockinette rows only.
Verdict: Fast, easy, cute. Tada!

I immediately cast on for a baby sweater, too, so photos will be coming shortly...

FO: owl

Here is something I made:

Pattern: Owls Two Ways by Ana Clerc

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Fjord Heather and some goldenrod colored Vanna's Choice acrylic, plus some scraps of white and brown for the eyes

Needles: US4s, I think

Verdict: super cute! I would definitely make this again. Plus, Gus approves. More importantly, so do the soon-to-be-parents whose baby I knit this for. 

In other news, exams studying is kicking my butt right now. Today was one of those "I'm overtired and feeling like a totally unbalanced human because I haven't done any yoga or knitting all week plus my house is a mess, so I'm going to sob over having to wash the dishes" kind of days. Thankfully, I have some amazing friends, which means I got an afternoon coffee break and some good conversation. And there are socks on the needles, they're just not getting any attention.  Hopefully the knitting will pick up soon. 

Now, back to reading!

Oh yarn! Plus an FO!

One of the great yarn stores in Chicago (My Sister's Knits) is closing at the end of this week, so the U of C knitters took a little trek down there on Tuesday morning to take advantage of a 50% off sale and wish Carol all the best. I might have succumbed to every bit of temptation I came across, and here's some of what I have to show for it.

Those are four different colorways of fabulous Ella Rae lace merino, which I'll be using to make socks all summer long. I love seeing them all lined up like that. Also, can you tell I like pink and purple and blue? That green skein looks a bit out of place...

In other knitting news, on Monday night I finished a baby sweater for a little one who will be arriving in just a few short weeks. This is the Helena Baby Sweater (Rav link), a free Knitty pattern, in two shades of fairly soft acrylic from Michaels. It was a really fast knit with a simple but pretty lace pattern, and I am a huge fan of the picot hem.  I made the smallest size on larger-than-called for needles, but the pattern makes allowances for a pretty big range of sizes, so you could make one for a newborn or a toddler.  Hooray for all these adaptable baby patterns I've discovered lately!

Also hooray for knitter-pal Anne's genius idea to use Kermit as a model for baby knits.

You can see that I was a little overexcited after binding off and weaving in all the ends! Hopefully the parents-to-be and the baby will be as pleased as our little green friend when they get the sweater :)

[PS May] Baby Aviatrix

Ack! Super cute baby hat!

You can see the button hole, and I still need to find the perfect button.

This is the incredibly clever and adaptable (6 sizes, written for three different yarn weights!) Aviatrix baby hat pattern by Justine Turner (Rav link).

Check out that short row shaping! It was a fast knit, which was perfect for watching a movie on Sunday night, and it gave me a chance to use my fabulous Malabrigo in pinks and reds.  This is a Project Spectrum combo I can get behind. 

Bunny

This little bunny friend, made rather quickly yesterday, is on his way to hang out with my friend's son for Easter. Please forgive the backlit photo, but I wanted to get a shot of his cute "feet" for you! I used Rebecca Danger's amazing Bunny Nuggets pattern, sans tail.

He is knit from leftover kitchen cotton with yarn eyes and nose stitched on, and he's stuffed with polyfill. He did his modeling session over at N's house, atop her amazingly colorful ottoman (sometimes lovingly called The Tuffet).

Also, good news for knitters who like pretty stitch markers! N has just posted several sets over in her Etsy shop, and they're so affordable - this set is my favorite:

Happy Wednesday - I hope it's a great one!

Shop update: baby hats

Two new baby hats added in my Etsy shop last night are perfect for spring!

They are shown here in front of my rapidly growing sweet peas (I just planted these things last week, and already they're about 4" tall! Grow little friends!). It's been so nice to have more natural light to take pictures.

My little dinner party last night was a ton of fun, and we rounded out our traditional Irish feast with a great game (where I was firmly trounced by N, who won all the money) and a kooky documentary called Vernon, Florida. It's over on Netflix WatchNow if you're at all inclined to watch 5 elderly gentlemen and one older woman telling random stories about their town, their vacations, and their hobbies. It's quite strange and fascinating.

Today I'm going to be working hard to catch up on homework and put myself in a good position to be finished with papers by the end of spring break. I have a busy weekend with a wonderful friend coming to town for a visit, so I'll try to take lots of pictures to share :)

_________________________

Giveaway info!

This gorgeous necklace is up for grabs at the Westervin blog (and I yanked the image from their page, so please go check it out) - wouldn't that just be amazing to wear in the summer? I know I've entered, and if you enter (it's super easy), you can get the necklace AND help the lovely couple behind the blog win a contest. Plus if you mention my name, I get extra entries. We all win!

________________________________

Happy knitting!

Another baby item

I have been working on this one (definitely off and on, definitely not with any real sort of concentration) for a long long time. It's a simple crocheted granny square made with 5 small skeins of Paton's Grace mercerized cotton in the Lavender colorway, which is actually a variegated purple, blue, and white yarn.

I like the finished product. It measures about 27" square, it's heavy, drapes beautifully, and will be a nice all-weather blanket for someone. It's up in my shop for now!

Circus Baby

FO report: Magic Slippers for baby

Yarn: Knit Picks Essential hand-dyed in Cartoons colorway (I keep thinking it's called "Circus")

Needles: US1 dpns, set of 5

Knitting time: approx. 4 hours total, spaced over 2 days of short knitting breaks

Verdict: This is really my go-to pattern for baby gifts, since it's so quick to knit and definitely has that "aww" factor. I'm so excited to pass these along to the father-to-be, a good friend in my program.

FO: RedPinkYellow Cowl

As promised, I'll show you some FO pictures of the cowl which is now up in my Etsy shop. First, a quick break to see my current on-the-needles project: teeny tiny baby shoes for a friend who is due next month. So wee! So colorful!

And now the less tiny, somewhat less cute cowl. I looooooove the inside of this piece. You can really see the color changes in the yarn in a way you just can't on the outside/front.

In that photo you can also see one of my new favorite sweaters. It's unfortunately not made by me, but it's lovely and warm and it looks like something I could knit if I put my mind to it. I like clothes like that, don't you?

P.S. I passed my big, scary Greek exam - hurrah!

Baby Steps

A guy in my department and his wife are expecting this fall/winter, so I churned these out yesterday. They are the most tiny, squishy little baby shoes I've ever seen, and I can't wait to see the future dad's reaction when he opens them. (ETA: He loved them!)



Yarn: Knit Picks Essential, Lily Pad Multi

Needles: US1 dpns

Pattern: Magic Baby Slippers (Ravelry link)

Verdict: Started and finished these in one day, all in all about 2 hours worth of tv + knitting time. They are so teeny and sweet, I just want to say "squeeee!" whenever I look at them and imagine bitty baby toes inside. A very satisfying project!