Little Did I Know...

It’s been a while since I’ve updated Knitosphere because of a major change in my life, the addition of my daughter Skylar Sheree. Whoa nelly has the world changed since she entered our lives on December third! Yup, that concept of “everything is going to change” is a cliché for a reason.

The biggest change that I did not expect was how little knitting time I would actually have. In all sincerity I actually thought that I would have more time for knitting while on maternity leave. Oh my blissfully naivety! Images of me happily knitting while my cherub suckled at my breast were replaced with the frustrating reality that it takes two hands and a lot of false starts to get a hungry screaming baby latched on, then continual monitoring because she is a “bad eater.” (La Leche Leaguers relax, no need to give me advice, I have been working with a lactation specialist). This wasn’t the only knitting bubble that was burst – I also imagined that I would be able to knit while Skylar napped. Ha! Turns out that nap time isn’t just for baby!

Now, nearly 8 weeks later I am finally finding my knitter groove, one little row at a time. Sure, it’s not as much knitting as I had anticipated, but I am pleasantly surprised with the progress that I am able to make in small bursts while I pump breast milk or hold a sleeping baby in my arms - that one took a little bit of figuring out on my part, Proof that it works:

Kntting sizes

I recently found found this great knitting resource so I thought I'd share: Size Charts

This really cuts down how much I need to chase people down with my measuring tape in hand!

And because posts are better with pictures, some gratuitous Brisco Fancypants footage:

Cadence Baby Hat

I decided I needed to design a coming home hat for my soon to be born baby girl. This one ended up being perfectly sized for a 6 month old instead of a newborn, which worked out nicely since I know one of those! When I started charting out this hat I was going for a triangular motif. Imagine my surprise when I swatched this and discovered that in the repeats it became cute little hearts! Perfect for a sweet baby girl.

Pattern: Cadence Baby Hat

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A Piece of Crafting History

I received the most touching gift yesterday from a senior citizen client (and friend) from work yesterday. She stopped into my office just days before I take off for maternity leave to give me this sweater that was crocheted by her grandmother:



I couldn't be happier to receive such a special gift for my daughter! When I let her know that I would be sure to take care of it and return it to her in good condition when our baby outgrows it, she made the gift even more special by telling me to keep it and pass it down in my family. I'm reeling from the honor! I figured out that this will be the 4th generation of this sweater, and I intend to keep it going.

The thing that I found interesting was that she had chosen me and my daughter to receive such a special piece of her family history. Guy surmised that she recognized that a knitter like me would understand and cherish this gift more than another non-crafter might. And I suppose he's right about that.

Picture Time

As promised, shots of my most recent FOs.

Twist & Shout - which is perfect for showing off the baby bump



Baby Girl's first mom-made sweater, Sherbet, with the addition of arrow cables down the front panels. Lovingly modeled by Pooh bear





Bella's Mitten's - A fun and fast knit!





A quick self made baby hat - too big for a newborn as I had intended when I started out, but just perfect for a friend's 6 month old. Eventually I'm going to rework this pattern for newborn size as well, then will post on this blog.



And my best work of this year, the gorgeous In The Pink. I truly am thrilled with how this one turned out - so much that I'm thinking I can't be selfish keeping it for myself. I have a certain person in mind who I'm hoping might make good use of this.

Halloween!

It's not knitting at all, but I am very proud of my handiwork on my Alien Halloween costume this year:



I pieced this bad boy together Thursday night after a brilliant suggestion by a co-worker. This one's going in the baby book for sure! It'll just be another piece of fuel for whenever my daughter grows up and needs therapy...

Block Party!

It's been a while, but I can't say that I haven't been busy with knitting. Shock of all shocks, I've actually finished all of my current knitting projects. Tonight I had a block party to celebrate:



In the center you've got Twist & Shout, which I so excitedly started last January, then lost steam on mid summer when it came time to work on the sleeves. Now that it's starting to get cold again I decided I had better finish this up in time to wear it! After seaming and trying it on I think I may have made the sleeves too long (as a result of not wanting them to be too short) but we'll see how it lays after it dries completely.



Below that is my baby girls first mom-made sweater, Twinkle, which I refer to as the sherbet sweater. I modified the body to be all stockinette stitch instead of garter then added an arrow cable down both sides.



On top in the red is a set of Bella's Mitts, which is a totally quick and satisfying knit. I think these only took me a couple of nights in front of the tv to finish up. Totally cute and similar to the styles that I'm seeing all over the mall this season.




What's left are three hats. The middle one was actually made for me by knit knacker Kelly and I decided to block it to stretch it a bit so it will fit more over my ears. Love this hat and am so glad it finally became cool enough here for me to wear it!

The hat on the left was supposed to be for my baby girl, but since it's too big for a newborn I think I'll see if it will fit a friend's baby. That's a pattern that I developed on the fly last weekend while on a road trip up to San Francisco with my mom and sister. I'm hoping to fix it up a bit and publish it here on my blog eventually.

And on the right is a second draft of a tam pattern that I've been working on for way too long. I feel like I need to make one more version of this before it hits the street, but alas I don't think I have it in me. We'll see...

I also successfully finished In the Pink, but since I don't have a lot of space in my condo that will need to wait for another day to be blocked. All I can say is that it turned out lovely and I'm excited to have it finished as well.

Hopefully I'll be able to post some modeled pictures of these after they finish drying completely. All in all, it's rather satisfying to get so much blocked at last!