Brrr… Baby it’s Cold Outside

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Life’s Stash:

Winter still has the Big Blue House in its icy grip.

I had a serious case of Popsicle feet on Sunday afternoon.  I had pulled out some yarn from the stash and was starting the Stockinette Haruni.  I even had picked out beads for the edging with the help of my girls.  But my feet were cold and my usual slippers were just not doing the trick to warm them up.  That’s when I ran across THE slipper pattern.  It’s not fancy.  It’s certainly not pretty.  But it’s got a certain charm.   The Simple Garter Stitch Slippers are just that.  Simple. Garter Stitch.  But you do a sort of origami move, sew up a seam, and crochet across the top and around the edge.  Plus, it’s a great way to use up your leftover sock weight yarn AND you can make them as bright an garish as you would like.  Because really, they’re slippers and no one minds if you have ugly colored slippers.

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Generally, I hate finishing.  I dislike seaming and doing the edging and any sort of decorate fru fru finishing that needs to be done.  But there’s something about adding the crochet edging on these slippers that just satisfies me.  It’s like a piece of chocolate at the end of a great meal.

What I’m Knitting:

As soon as Lily saw the slippers, she wanted a pair.  So tonight while Addie was at a school event with Adam, Lily and I picked out yarn for a mini version of the slippers.  I let her paw through the stash and find some self striping sock yarn that she liked.  I’m looking forward to these being an incredibly fast knit.

I expect I’ll have others in the house asking to pick out their own yarn for slippers shortly.

In the meantime, I’ve also done a little work on the gray sweater and Addie’s hat.  I also finished up the itty bitty baby shoes.  All I need to do is photograph them, then box those up and send them on their merry way.

What I’m Not Knitting:

I’m making a good effort to knit at least a few rows on my most recent projects.  To be honest, typing the same old things under “What I’m Not Knitting” is getting well, old.  I don’t want you getting bored on me!

I did decide to wait on the Lettuce Pullover that I talked about last time.  Mostly because I’ve got that dry winter skin thing going and Malabrigo Lace sticks to my fingers.  Once it warms up a little it should be easier to knit with.

Loose Ends:

I have added a widget on the right hand side so that you can sign up to get alerts by email when I add a new post.  I’d love it if you gave it a try!

So tell me, what’s the weather like in your neck of the woods?  Are you as chilly as we are?

Thank you!

Stay On Baby Bootie
Stay On Baby Bootie

Life’s Stash:

Thank you for your comments!  I loved hearing from every one of you.  It was amazing to watch comments come in from people that I know, people that I haven’t met yet, and those that I haven’t heard from in a very long time.  All I can say is WOW.  Thank you.

Keep those comments coming please!

What I’m Knitting:

I’m still working on the Stay On Baby Booties in lime green for a family member.  I’m almost done with the 2nd bootie, now all I have to do is the dreaded I-cord tie.  I-cord isn’t difficult, it’s just booooring.  I might cheat on this one and do a long cast on, then cast off rather than making I-cord.

I’m also continuing to knit on the sock.  I’ve turned the heal and it’s zipping along the foot.  It’s mindless, comfort food knitting right now.

What I’m Not Knitting:

There’s been no real changes on this.  I do need to get back to my sweater.  I’ve been fantasizing about starting another sweater, so I know I had better buckle down and get this one done before I completely forget about it.

I also was thinking about how nice it would be to have a finished Lettuce Pullover in my wardrobe this winter.  Maybe I should pull that out of knitting hibernation and work on it a bit.  I’m embarrassed to say that this never made it into my Ravelry Project page. I know I took photos of it… hmmmm….

Happy Knitting to All and to All a Good Night
Happy Knitting to All and to All a Good Night

Part of me says that I should leave the Lettuce Pullover until May during the Stash Dash because it has such a big yardage.  Part of me says that’s stacking the deck.  And do I really want a sweater on my lap during May, June and July?

Regardless, I need to whittle down some of my unfinished projects.

But there are so many fun new knits to knit!

Loose Ends:

Speaking of, I just saw that Craftsy has some free patterns today.  One is the Stockinette Haruni which is a particular favorite and has been on my “Must Knit” list for some time.  You can sign up for their emails or find the pattern here.

After I finish the baby booties, I am going to toss the stash around to find 440 yds of sock weight yarn.  Correction, I know I have 440 yds, it’s finding the right 440 yd skein that I’m going to do.  Maybe this is the time that I hold true to my New Year’s Resolution and find a particularly special skein of yarn.

Awkward Silence

I like to call myself the Comic Relief.

Hi.

I like you.

I think you’re probably pretty funny.

Yes, I mean you.  The one that’s staring at this from the other side of their computer screen.  No, don’t take that literally, I don’t mean the back side of the computer.  I mean that you take the time to read what I write.

I think you’ve got a really good sense of humor.  You read what I write anyway and I think you keep coming back.  Which implies a certain sense of humor.

You’re still there, right?  I haven’t scared you off?

So this is awkward, but could you maybe please leave me a message and let me know you’re actually there?  Just go down to the bottom of this post (or any post) and click on the button that says “0 Comments.”  You might have to type in your name, but you could probably leave a fake name and I would never really know.  Unless your name is “Bob TheMinion,” then I’ll assume it’s my 8 year old leaving me a comment.  Leave whatever comment you want.  You don’t have to tell me that I’m funny or not funny.  Talk to me about knitting.

Tell me that you’re listening.

Ok, now that the awkwardness is over, I’ll get back to our regularly scheduled programming.

What I’m Knitting

I finished the 2nd gray cowl last week and gave it to the recipient in time for a decent size snowstorm.  By decent, we got about 4 inches during the day and another dusting with blowing snow that night.  So not a huge storm by any stretch of the imagination but enough to make driving sort of crummy.

I cast on a sock during a road trip last weekend.  Socks really are the comfort food of knitting for me.  I hate to say it, but these are white and gray – with little flecks of color.  It’s sort of a vanilla sock pattern with a variation of my very own.  More about that later.

In direct contrast to the whole lot of gray that I have been knitting, I also cast on a pair of Stay On Baby Booties in lime green for a new baby on my husband’s side of the family.  These are my go to pattern for babies feet.  The pattern is in Knitting for Baby.  Lots of these little shoes have been made and they really do stay on baby’s feet.

What I’m Not Knitting

  • The sweater… for no real reason except I guess I want to knit on something that feels like progress is being made.
  • The hat for Addie…. again for no real reason.  I’d better pick it up again soon since it’s really almost done.

Knots & Tangles

Not knots or tangles this week.  But then again, there probably hasn’t been enough knitting to run into any problems.  I just finished up a big project at work, so hopefully I’ll have the bandwidth left at night to knit more.

Loose Ends

I had somewhat of a wild hair last week and started checking out knitting retreats and gatherings.  I haven’t been to any knitting classes in some time.  I looked into one in Madison, WI but decided that the cost of the hotel room I would need for 2 nights plus the registration fee made it more than I was willing to spend.  Then I remembered Yarnover.  Yarnover is hosted by the Minnesota Knitters Guild and is only about 45 minutes away from my in-laws house.  A day long class with Franklin Habit was open!  (I’ve met him before, but I go slightly fan girl in the presence of funny knitting bloggers)  Since the hubby works the weekend of Yarnover, I arranged to stay with my in-laws and have the kids hang out there for the day.  Problem solved!  Knitting enabled.  The list of vendors is pretty amazing, so I’ll have to save my pennies.

Now I should probably tell my husband about this plan…. Right?  I should tell him?