Brrrrrrr!

Baby, it's COLD outside!

40 degrees in the daytime is pretty darn cold for Southern California! I know, I know....we're wimps. My uncle, who lives in Montana, calls 40 degrees "shirt sleeve" weather!
Fortunately Noey has this cozy sweater that Sue knit for her to keep her warm! Can you see the X's and O's in the pattern? It's just so cute! Noey's been wearing it when we take Chrissy out for her morning walks. (the cowboy hat is a new addition to the ensemble!) Of course Chrissy has been wearing her hand knit sweater too. I'm starting to think Chrissy may need another sweater!

I haven't gotten around to blocking and seaming the Moss Rib Stitch Pullover yet. (so much for wearing it on my birthday!) About the only time I could block it is after Noey goes to sleep, but by that time I'm just too tired to deal with it! I ordered The Big Book of Knitting to help with the seaming. (hopefully soon!)
So I've started a new project. It's the V-Neck Pullover with bell sleeves. I've finished the front and started the back. The "V" seems very deep at the moment but hopefully with the ribbing it won't be too much. It's a Paton's pattern with Paton' s Decor yarn, and I'm really enjoying it. It seems to be going pretty fast.

The Emergency Socks are coming along. I'm at the toe decreases of the first one. I'm sure I could finish it tonight if I really wanted to. (I'm kinda obsessed with the pullover right now though!) I've been wearing my one and only other pair of hand knit socks a lot lately due to the severe weather!! I don't normally wear socks so this is big for me.

A functional finished object

It's done! It's fits! and it's cute! I'm counting this as my last finished object of 2006. The knitting and weaving in of ends was completed on December 31, 2006. I installed the zipper on January 1, 2007. The actual installation of the zipper wasn't too bad, but I'm not crazy about the color of the zipper. Both my mom and Joe said it looks "fine".

Pattern: Knitting Pure and Simple Neckdown Hooded Cardigan

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky - Color - Grass

I've had this yarn in my stash since I started knitting over 2 years ago, not sure now what I had planned to make with it. I have enough left over to make Noey a hoodie as well. I followed the pattern to the letter except I made it a little longer.

I started this hoodie because I could not find a suitably warm jacket or sweater for the frigid Southern California weather! I've worn it twice now, and can report it is nice and warm!

I also finished the Moss Rib Stitch Pullover. It's just waiting patiently to be blocked and seamed. I'm nervous about seaming, so I ordered some reference books from Amazon which should arrive tomorrow. If all goes well I'm planning to wear it on my birthday, one week from tomorrow. I share my birthday with Martin Luther King, Jr, so I get the day off. Joe and Noey will be off too and we're planning a little outing.

The "forced to knit" sock wasn't happening so I ripped it out and started a basic ribbed sock which is going well, I'm on the home stretch.

We're back to school and work tomorrow after 3 weeks off. I'm both looking forward to and dreading getting back to our old routine. It seems like I had a lot of knitting time over these past three weeks, I'm gonna miss that!

Cuteness

I promised myself I wouldn't let the dog overtake my blog, but.... I just can't help myself! It's not the dog so much as the cute little girl with the dog!
Noey is in heaven. She loves playing with Chrissy and taking her for walks, or runs I should say, Chrissy doesn't really walk. I think we're all finally getting used to having a dog underfoot, (although I'm very particular about where the dog can and cannot be) and we've got a routine down. Even Joe is becoming attached to her. I catch him talking baby talk to her.

Forced to knit a sock

I was planning on posting about my Hoodie Cardi which is complete and was worn today. But I couldn't get a picture of it because I got home too late. Why you ask?

Last week Noey, my mom, and myself made a trek out to the Tall Mouse Craft store. I was gifted a Tall Mouse certificate by my mom for Christmas which included yarn, gas, and child watching. It's only about 30 miles/45 minutes away but you can't just pop in when you need something. They have an eclectic array of yarn from Lion Brand to Berrocco, but I ended up buying a book and 2 Yarntainers.

Well, the Yarntainers just didn't work out so I decided to return them today. My lovely lemon of a car* started acting weird on the freeway, and finally died in the Tall Mouse parking lot. (if your car is going to die what better place?)

Knowing that I would have some time to wait I purchased some Lion Brand Magic Stripes yarn, some double points, and ended up with this much of a sock. (I used the pattern on the ball band)

I sat in my car for a good 2 hours, but I really didn't mind too much, except that it was hot and I didn't want to take off my new Hoodie Cardi because it was just too cute!

The good news is I made it safely from the freeway to the store, Noey was not with me, I got to start a pair of socks for myself, and I'm finally GETTING A NEW CAR!!! I told Joe I would not drive, ride in, look at, or talk about that car ever again.

*I had never in my life been in a tow truck until we bought my junk heap 2.5 years ago. Since then I have been in one or called one 7 times!!

The Knitting News

First up, the beautiful things Sue made for Noey. Two fabulous sweaters and a hat. They are all so pretty and so well made. (of course I turned them inside out to look at the construction!)

Sue made me a knitting bag and matching needle roll. Aren't they cute? and my favorite color too!

There were lots more goodies in our packages, but they have now been dispursed throughout the house!

Thank you Sue! We love our pressies!!

Yes, I know, I've crossed over to the other side. I now knit for a dog!

Well...it's cold in the morning when I take Chrissy out for a walk. She's now sporting a fancy turtleneck sweater to keep her warm!

Pattern: Knit Sweaters for Small Dogs

I used the basic construction of the pattern, but modified it quite a bit. I wanted it to be more of a "midriff" rather than a full, four legged sweater. I'm very happy with the results.

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease in Red - about half a skein. I used the same skein to make Isabella's Ribbed Hat.