Mrs. G

Progress has been slow but steady on Mr. G's sweater.  It's a sea of stockinette for the most part, which makes for good TV knitting, but at the same time it's dead boring to knit.  I'm at about inch 8 from the hem and I need to go another 10 inches before I get to do anything interesting... yawn.  Well, at this rate, at least he is likely to have it for next winter, though certainly not before!

And since I'm bored with this project, I'm looking forward to see what my next project is going to be.  I'd love love love to make Marjorie for myself, but it seems to take DK weight yarn and I'm having a lot of trouble finding a cotton/synthetic blend in a DK weight at an affordable price (as in, less than $100 for about 1600 yards.)  I want cotton because I want to make a summer sweater and it needs to have some synthetic in it for drape.  I've made 100% cotton sweaters before (mercerized and not) and I don't care for the drape of cotton without a little bit of synthetic in there.  So, anyone who has any wisdom on this topic, I'm all ears.  :)

In the meantime, I think I'll try Sheldon since it seems that Mr. G and the kids each want one, and it looks like a quick and easy little knit.  I've bought a bunch of big box store acrylic so it's just a matter of printing the pattern and getting started.

Emma's Unmentionables: Eh.  I'm not a huge fan of bloomers for little girls over a year old or so.

Charm Shrug: Again, eh.  I have a body type on which shrugs are insanely unflattering, so I'm pretty over shrugs in general.

Juju: I do not understand knitted pants, even for babies.

Jaden: Too fussy, and I also don't care for sweaters that are partially lace.  Either commit or don't.

Nob Hill: Looks great on the super skinny model.  Would look terrible on me.

Marjorie: Love, love, love.  This is just gorgeous.

Talia: You know how I don't like shrugs?  I don't like vests either.

Yosemite: Nice enough, but would look terrible on me.  I also don't like cap sleeves.

Honeycomb: It's a vest, enough said.

Lace ribbon: Pretty, but IMO too much effort for a scarf.  I think it'll be the next Clapotis.

Laminaria: Also pretty, and something I would definitely consider making.  I have a ball of Jaggerspun Zephyr lying around; I wonder if one ball would be enough...

Mosey: I also don't like legwarmers.

Paw cozy: I have a colleague who has dogs and I'm tempted to make her two.  What an ingenious idea.

Salto: Pretty, and unique-looking.  I would definitely consider making them, though I think I'd need to go yarn shopping as most if not all of my sock yarns are variegated and I think the awesome cables in this would get lost in a variegated yarn.

Posey: I love the effect of the mitered squares, but suspect they may be more work than socks are worth.

American in China: I know a lot of people find these unattractive, but I think they are wonderful.  I'm tempted to make all of Mr. G's socks with this pattern in the future since he tends to wear holes in his handknit socks and I'm no good at darning.  I'm all for making functional things sturdy!

Brighton: I wanted to like this, but honestly, eh. 

Spirogyra: These are very Pomatomus, I think.  I'm not the worlds biggest fan of fingerless mitts, either.

...and cast on for the Cobblestone Pullover.  Here is the Ravelry link if you're interested, though honestly it doesn't look like much right now.  I'm finding that ~250 stitches of stockinette and garter stitches make for good TV knitting, but it certainly goes slowly enough.  I suppose it would go more quickly if I'd just suck it up and buy a set of Addi Turbos in the size I need, but when I already have the Denises, which are perfectly adequate, it's hard to make myself spend the money.

Winter must be knitting time for me.  Not only have I finished hats for the older boys, socks and mittens for the baby, and socks for Mr. G, but I'm in the home stretch on Little R's yellow sweater. 

So... what to do next?  I have some Zitron Loft Color for a Cobblestone Sweater for Mr. G and a kit for an Alligator Scarf for him as well.  And I also just grabbed some Silk Garden for a blanket for Little Mr. E.

Which to start, which to start...

I've been checking out other people on Ravelry and they've all got 100+ projects listed... I'm at twelve.  Sad.  :)  I suppose I'd be closer to about twenty if I'd really put everything I've knit, but honestly, how interesting are plain hats and baby mittens?  Not very.

I did finish E's socks.  They were a fun little knit, and just what I was looking for.  Unfortunately, the color choice I made was somewhat impractical as they match nothing he owns, so they're doing a lot of sitting around, and not on his feet.  I also made him a set of very simple little no-scratch mitts out of some off-white Cotton-Ease I had left over from his sweater; they are the same basic idea as cuff-down socks, just with no heel.  If only he'd stop yanking them off his hands...

Right now I'm making a basic hat for Mr. Wee similar to the one I made for Little R, and then... I'm not sure what I'll start then.  Mr. G is angling for a knit Dalek, so maybe that?  I'm not confident in my colorwork abilities, though.  I don't know.  All I know is that my effort to finish up a lot of the unfinished stuff I had lying around was maybe too successful, since I don't know what to do now!

But here I am nonetheless, making arguably less than ideal use of my time during a vacation day, but it is what it is.  I should be cleaning the house, or packing... especially packing since we leave for Disneyworld in seventeen hours or so, but I can't seem to be bothered to do that quite yet.

It has been forever since I've updated, mostly due to this little guy over here on the right.  Little Mr. E was born on 06 September 2007.  I think I forgot how little time one gets to herself when a newborn (especially a nursling) is in the

little mr. e

While sewing is out the window right now (too much to set up, not kid friendly once it's set up, plus it's not really something that I can handle being interrupted at) I have been knitting up a storm.  Mostly small items, but that's fine -- I've finished several and that's made me feel all accomplished.

little r's hat

I made this hat here on the left for Little R.  He's my "hat kid", he loves hats of all shapes and sizes.  Mr. G picked up the yarn (Patons Shetland Chunky... certainly not my first choice but then I wasn't there) on clearance at Michael's and Little R asked me if I'd make him a hat with it.  Who am I to say no?  I didn't follow any particular pattern, just cast on the amount I thought I'd need at the brim and worked my way up, doing evenly spaced decreases every other row when I thought the hat was big enough.  It's definitely a close-fitting cap and I'll be lucky if he gets the remainder of the winter out of it, but eh... it took me like five hours to knit and the yarn was all of a dollar.  If he gets a few wears out of it, it's all good.

Mr. E's sock

Been a few months, hasn't it?  I'd love to say that I've been doing a ton of knitting and sewing, but well, I just haven't.  Those who are on my LJ friendslist know why... I've been working on a rather important and time-consuming WIP that I anticipate having done in early September.  (The 6th, to be precise.)

In the last few months, I've been making my way back to sewing, though, and more recently to knitting.  I've made a few sets of footed pajamas for Little R using this pattern and some boxers for Mr. Wee and Mr. G using this one (well, for Mr. G I used the adult pattern, but it's the same as the kids' pattern save for the sizing.)  I'm making a pair of socks for Mr. G to replace the last pair, which he wore straight through, and a sweater for the baby (ok, to be fair, I haven't actually started the baby's sweater, but I have the pattern, the yarn, and the needles, so I have done everything but start!)

I've also joined Ravelry in the last couple of days and am mrsg there just as I am here.  I'm about the least interesting knit/craft blogger out there and I don't have nearly half the output of most people on there, but it seems like a fun toy at the very least.  And that's about it here (though I think it's probably enough...)

The problem with having a knitting/sewing/crafting blog when you're a full-time working mom of two kids is that it moves slower than molasses -- I so rarely get time to finish anything worth posting about!

Kids pajamas

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Like these pajamas.  They're the most basic of basic - made from poly fleece (the green is just regular fleece like you'd find in JoAnn's or wherever; the red is 100wt microfleece that I actually do think I got at JoAnn's a year or two ago but that my local locations at least have stopped stocking) and poly-cotton ribbing, they're not super exciting.  The sets took me about 3 hours apiece start to finish, and had to be made urgently this weekend since Mr. Wee (the taller of the two) has a "Valentine's Day Pajama Party" to go to at preschool this coming week.

You can tell my son is in a class of mostly girls when he comes home squeeing about a pajama party and insisting he MUST have a new set of pajamas for this exciting event.  :)

Domokun sweater WIP

The next thing I've been working on has been this Domokun sweater that is taking me for-ev-er to knit.  I have learned that intarsia and I don't get along (well, truly I have learned that it is more effort than I am willing to put into it and therefore that my intarsia comes out looking sloppy.)  This is the second time I've used this chart (which I cribbed from Brennx0r's Domokun DS Case pattern) and the second time I've had tension issues and holes.  Honestly, colorwork is not my thing to begin with (I'm a big fan of solid color items and using texture for interest rather than color,) so I'm about ready to abandon it.  Not the sweater but rather the technique -- Mr. Wee would be super disappointed if I abandoned the sweater, since he's been looking forward to it for some time now.  :)

That's all the news that's fit to print right now, I suppose.  Hoping to have the sweater done within the next week or so, as I've promised Little R his own top-down raglan (for which he has chosen a particularly retina-searing colorway of Lion Brand Landscapes yarn along with some sort-of-matching Fun Fur... never let the 3-year-old choose yarn is the moral of this story) and then I have other projects planned as well.

Christmas gift for MIL

I think I should be probably more ashamed than I am that all of my Christmas sewing has been done post-Christmas.  Ah, well - at least I'm getting it done before 2007.  ;)

I just finished this tote bag, made using SewBaby's Double Duty Bag pattern with some modifications -- I eliminated the row of pockets and used the pattern for the outside of the bag for both outside and inside so it would be truly reversible.

My one regret about these prints is that they don't photograph as well as they look in person -- they really do look wonderful together in real life, but the camera washed out the flowers on the red and made the yellow more yellow-seeming.  In reality, both the yellow and the flowers on the red have the same tone, which is much more beige-y gold than bam!yellow or washed out as pictured.  I chose these prints because my mother-in-law apparently loves red as much as I do.  :)

All in all, this is a good pattern -- well-written, simple, easy to follow.  I was finished within four hours of tracing the pattern onto Pattern-Ease, and that's including a break for lunch and several breaks for separating bickering kids/giving hugs/going to the bathroom, etc.  Not too bad.

I've bought her some Burt's Bees shower gel for MIL as well (she's very hippie-crunchy) and am about halfway done knitting her a washcloth (red cotton, double seed stitch, certainly nothing fancy or worth its own post) and that will all be her gift.  Am making coq au vin, fresh bread, and some kind of cake or quick bread for our belated Christmas with the in-laws tomorrow.  Should be fun.  :)

Mr. G's Robot

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This guy is another Wee Wonderfuls toy, from Put-Together Book #2.  Fabrics used ran the gamut, including fleece, corduroy home dec fabric, green metallic lame, and silver metallic brocade -- the lame and brocade were purchased at the Denver Fabrics store in Littleton, CO, and the others were from stash.  Buttons also from Denver Fabrics. 

This represents my first effort at drastically increasing the size of a stuffed toy pattern -- the pattern as written will yield an approx. 10 inch tall toy, and this guy is a good 30 inches tall, the size of a normal-sized pillow.  It also represents one of my first efforts at mixing fabrics and colors; I'm not 100% in love with the corduroy (the grey,) but IMO the rest works quite well.  All of the facial features are hand embroidered; the control panel was done using the chain stitch on my coverstitch machine.  I wish the face photographed better (unfortunately, that brocade is a pain and a half to photograph!) since I'm quite proud of the embroidery.  I don't consider hand embroidery to be my strong suit, but I did a good job with this one.  :)  (The game show host smile was Mr. G's idea, I swear!  ;) )

This guy is for Mr. G, and he has been eagerly anticipated since I said I would make it.  I finally finished tonight (one day late!) but Mr. G's happiness eclipses my chagrin at being late with his gift.  The kids have each asked for their own, but I don't know... at the very least they won't be made of the same fabric.  That was... not fun to work with.  But at least the end result is cute.