Oh Baby -- Baby!

I'm finished!  Blessing outfits and knit blankets to wrap them in.  We are ready for the special day.

"The Lotus Baby Blanket" by Shana Schasteen.  I've made several of these little blankets in the past.  Here is one in pink for Baby Zoey, and one in blue for Baby Zachary (they are folded on top of each other).  Knit of KnitPicks Palette Fingering Yarn in Blush and Sky.  It is a great pattern, although a bit confusing at first.  It is knit on a circular needle.  As it grows bigger, with your knitting, it creates a little bag, which is the perfect spot to carry your ball of yarn.  However . . . because you cannot look at it laid out flat and catch your mistakes as you work.  Thus, there are a few mistakes in each, that will just have to serve as my "humble spots".

This cute little guy has outgrown his hand-knit sweater, and has been begging me to knit him another. He just loves a loose cabled cardigan with a hood.  He has picked out the yarn, and I've cast on in KnitPicks Brava Bulky in the color Cobblestone Heather (dark gray).  He has also requested a striped scarf, which will be knit in Cobblestone Heather and Sky (light blue).  

The pattern we've chose is The Robin Hood Jacket, by Zoe Mellor.  I've knit this pattern many times, even adjusting the sizing for an adult.  Here my daughter and daughter-in-law are both wearing their's.

He is so excited to get it.  Even though the weather is much too warm to wear such a sweater, he asks me every day if it is done yet.  I keep telling him it will be ready for his first day of Kindergarten in the Fall.  My two-year-old grand-daughter also wants  one.  Her's will be knit in the same yarn, in the color "Fairy Tale" (plum purple).  Her's will be knit second, but should be ready for Fall wearing as well.

These are the tease pictures I posted for our next "Knit Night" KAL.  We'll be starting up our gatherings again in September, and this is what we will be knitting together.

Here is another picture.  Can you guess what it will be?  Write you guess in the comments.  If you are the first to get it right, you will win 2 skeins of "Hooked" Cotton Yarn ($30 value), to make your own???  No need to be an attending member of our "Knit Night" group.  If you are the winner, I'll send a copy of the pattern to you, along with the yarn.  [I can only mail to those in the continental USA.]  Happy Knitting . . . . . . 

Relaxation and Knitting

I haven't posted for a while, and that is because I've been too busy relaxing!  I just returned from a 15 day Cruise through the Panama Canal.

 Along with passing completely through the Panama Canal, we visited many ports:  Cabo San Lucas, Porta Vallarta, Guatamala, Costa Rica, Panama, and Columbia.  Would you believe there was also a knitting group on board?  We met on each of the 7 "sea days".  It was a really fun group, and I made some great new knitting friends from all over the world.  You never know when you'll run into some fellow knitting enthusiasts.  So . . . besides relaxing, I was able to get a lot of knitting done, and some good books read (see the "Books I've Read" tab above).

 These two little darlings arrived just before our departure.  Born on Sunday, we flew out for our trip on Tuesday.  Welcome to the world, Baby Zoey Beth (6 lbs.9 oz.) and Zachary William (6 lbs. 10 oz.).  I was thrilled to be there for their birth.  Zach gave us a little scare, as he was born a full 20 minutes after Zoey.  But everything went smoothly, and they are already growing like crazy.

What could be better than getting two new babies?  One for each Grandma!  Both babies look just like their other Grandma (Janet).  They are both sooooo cute.

Here they are on the day they came home from the hospital.  Both wearing the little suits I knit for them.  Their hats are on backwards, but that doesn't matter.  I was really happy they fit.

You may wonder what I was knitting, while on my cruise.  This is it.  Little blessing outfits for the babies.  Small knitting projects are perfect for travel.  These little projects fit perfectly into my cross-body bag, so I was even knitting on excursions.

  At the end of my trip, I started a pink "Lotus Baby Blanket", by Shana Schasteen.  I should be finishing it up tonight, and casting on for the second (blue) blanket.  This is a tricky pattern, but so worth it, once you get started.  It is knit on circular needles, so as the blanket grows larger, you can easily through your ball of yarn into the bag that is created on you needles, making it an easy grab and run project.

As always, my mind has started clicking away, about what my next knitting projects will be.  I really need to buckle down and make myself finish up the projects from the Winter and last Summer, which are still on the needles.  Hopefully, I'll find some self-control soon.  I am just addicted to the planning stage of a new knitting project.

It is time to plant the flowers and the garden, and I've returned to my full-time job, which I really missed.  So much to do, and so little time.  I guess this is just my life's motto.  Happy Knitting!