Drago[knit]fly

(I'm just going to ignore the fact that this is my first post in nearly a year an a half...) With just under a month past its Christmas due date, I cast off on my niece’s Christmas sweater.  After tearing up the internets for the perfect pattern, my sister send me some links to sweaters she liked, including this one .  Something about the simplicity called out to me and so I checked out my yarn stash to see what would work.  I gravitated to the little hearts, but when I remembered I had this shocking pink just itching to be used, visions of colorblocking danced in my head (sorry, it is a Christmas sweater, though, people! And I am a big, giant dork.)  Anyway, as is the standard, I went back and forth between shocking pink and winter white and shocking pink and oatmeal...winter white… shocking pink.  I eventually decided on the pink/oatmeal combo, only to soon doubt whether or not I could pull off using two fiber types.  Surely it’s been done. ...

After I made 3 baby blankets over the course of one summer, I had my head examined and subsequently swore off knitting blankets forever. Sure enough, the next summer J talked me into making one more for his boss. Fine. One more, but never again. I kept this promise for awhile. I didn’t even make a blanket for my own kid! Luckily, I have good friends who didn’t let Alice go without wooly blanket goodness. Zoe gives the blanket her seal of approval Fast forward to late last summer when a friend announced her second pregnancy and asked that I make her new baby a blanket. During the Summer ‘o Baby Blankets, I knit her first child a baby blanket and it had become one of her beloved blankies. How could I refuse making baby #2 a blanket? I’d rather knit something huge and boring if it’s going to be loved than something quick and entertaining if it will collect dust somewhere. Repeating this to myself over and over helped me actually believe it. Close up of the stitch pattern So, I broke my pr...

Unfortunately, the adorable little owl hat I made Alice this past fall fit her for all of fifteen seconds. And because she tears off her hats seconds after I put them on, she only wore the hat for about five seconds. Despite her loathing of headwear, I can’t let her outside in the New England winter without something. So, I found the softest and non-itchiest yarns in my stash and cobbled a little hat together. Voila! Pattern: Kim’s Hat from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (after all these years, this book is still a staple for me) Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Rhodesian, Noro Silk Garden in ___ (leftover from my still unblogged Clapotis) Needles: Size 9 Addis Comments: This has become my go-to toddler hat pattern. It works up quickly on big needles and worsted weight yarn and the pattern offers a myriad of styles to make the hat your own. Amazingly, Alice seems to really love this hat. She'll wear it if it's cold enough and when she won't wear it, she still loves to c...

What is this? An early Christmas miracle? I think the last time I posted twice in a week was back in 2006. Let's hope the momentum continues! Okay, let’s go back when back when I started my nearly a year-long hiatus on the blog (before yesterday’s post that is). I had a baby. Like any self-respecting knitter, I made an abundance of baby knits. Most of these knits were created during my two weeks of maternity leave before Alice was born. Some people nest, some people knit. Who’s to judge what’s better? While I’ve been slow to keep up the blog, I’ve been relatively good about maintaining Ravelry. Good thing, because I don’t think I would even remember what I knitted, let alone the little details. I started with a few sweaters, because a baby born in November needs lots of sweaters, right? And when a knitter talks about baby sweaters, they’re really just talking about EZ. With that, I made: A BSJ She grew out of this in like five minutes. But she looked damn cute for those five minute...

This whole owl trend of the past few years is quite convenient for my family. See, my grandma had a bit of an owl obsession. “Obsession” might even be an understatement. Her avocado fridge was cluttered with owl magnets – felt, ceramic, you name it. Owl figurines jockeyed for space on crowded window sills; cross stitch owl cushions adorned her couches. You get the picture. When she passed away in 2003, I could think of no better way to preserve her memory than by snagging one of her countless sets of owl salt and pepper shakers and a pair of owl mugs for my house. I always chalked the owls up to a fondness for a 1970s trend that wouldn’t quit. That was until a couple weekends ago when I shared my theory with my mom, who laughed and informed me that the owl was my grandparents’ college mascot. I guess that makes sense, although I can’t image a day where my house would be decorated with a myriad of royal bulldogs . Even though it’s been awhile since my grandma has gone, she seems to hav...

Knitting has overtaken sewing as my craft of choice these days. I don't know if it's because my fingers are craving the bigger needles or just because I've temporary lost my sewing space to the nursery. We're still working out my sewing machine's new home. Until then, I have to lug it down to the dining room everytime I want to sew a stitch. And pack it up every night because otherwise J would have a conniption fit ... shall we say he's a bit of a neat freak? That, and he doesn't understand how much of a pain it is to breakdown your sewing studio on a nightly basis. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah. Knitting. Maybe it's their innate portability and speed off the needles, but I'm feeling more productive and accomplished after knitting all these baby sweaters lately. My most recent project off the needles is Pink Pea (more commonly known as the Pea Pod Sweater Set), the first sweater for my baby! After spending all summer knitting for other people's b...

For some reason, I faced the biggest mental block with the name of this sweater. I even had to refer back to Ravelry just to title my blog post. I made this lil sweater for my nephew, set to arrive this November. I cast on for Trellis first, but the pattern and the yarn didn't vibe very well. After two attempts with different needle sizes, I gave up and cast on for the CPNP. Pattern: Children's Placket-Neck Pullover. Easy to follow and minimal seaming. Will definitely use again. Source: Last Minute Knitted Gifts Yarn: 3.5 skeins Mission Falls 1824 Cotton, Colorway 402. Size: 0-6/6-12. Because of the yarn sub, I followed instructions for the 0-6 version, except for the length measurements, of which I followed the 6-12. The final sweater dimensions are those of the 6-12 month size. Needles: Size 6 Addis. I enjoyed working with the MF Cotton, but will reserve it for projects with an "organic" feel. Its nubby texture workes well for this stockinette sweater, but hide...