Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween, Knitters!

I don't know if you're as excited as I am, but I can't wait until tonight!! As you see above and below, I have all the yummy candy ready to hand out, my witch hat on, and the traditional "Halloween Tree" set up in the living room....a black tree with fiber optics lights in purple, orange and green...glowing ghosts, bats, and pumpkins hanging off of it. It's sooo cool and the boys love it...when you turn it on, it says, "Booooohhooooooo". (yes, I'm also a bit batty...)



Ben is going as Spiderman this year (although he originally wanted to go as Ben10...the costume is hanging around here somewhere...) and I was lucky to spend the morning with him at his very first school Halloween parade. Unlucky for me later, though, because in a rush to get everyone out of the house, I forgot my camera. Dammit. But, even without pictures, I loved watching Ben and his class sing a "spooky" song and walk around the playground, parading their adorable selves. Then, they were treated to a big table of goodies, freeze dance and stories. Oh, to be young again....



I was up late last night finishing up Tim's costume. Close to midnight, I was going over the checklist of everything he wanted to wear for school the next day (apparently, freshman are still "cool" if they wear costumes...thank goodness!). Green broadcloth tunic? Check. Sword? Check. Gloves with Triforce symbol? Check. Leather-like sling and belt to hold sword? Check. Brown leather elfish hat? Check. Yellow Triforce on upper left hand side of green tunic? Uh...no. Damn! (that's why I was up so late)

Can you guess what he is? (Ericka and Chris probably know this...)



He's Link from the Zelda video game. How do you like my handy work?

In honor of this occasion, I also managed to finish TWO knitted projects:



1. Plain Jane Socks....pattern and mini sock class pdf are soon to come to the blog....knitted using size 1 Knit Picks circs and the Magic Loop method...and Regia's Landscape Storm colorway by Kaffe Fassett. I'll be wearing these babies tonight!



2. Rocketry Cardigan....by Dream in Color for the soon-to-be-born baby boy of my pedicurist, Melissa. I used Knit Picks circular needles and KP Swish Superwash in 5 different colors - Baby Blue, Capri, Aloe, Deep Ocean and Dark Navy. I think it came out so cute...



I'm also starting to pack for Grand View....we're leaving on Friday evening (eee!) and we'll be back on Sunday evening (awwww, man!). To be honest, I am dying for a little time without the kids. This week has been torture with working and also doing a million things at home. Once this weekend is over, I think things will be calmer and less stressful. (At least until December rolls around! Shhhesh!

I'm making a promise to myself (and to the kids) that I will finish both of their sweaters while I'm at GV. Both are at least half done (or more) and I just have to get the motivation to finish them. It's getting colder and I'd really love to see all three of my guys in their hand knit sweaters....and hats and mittens.

I'll be posting about "The Month of Mittens" probably on Friday before I leave...or, in the semi-probable event that I'm WAY behind in packing, Monday. There will be a button to grab to place on your blog and, if you put the button on, link to me, and comment that you've added it, I'll put your name into a drawing to win some great yarn! Woo-hoo! Let's see how many mittens we can knit before the end of the November : )



Have a spooktacular night!!!!

Capture a Tulip...in Summer???

While tulips have long since departed, I have been attempting to recapture their spirit while knitting this...



The "Tulips: A Colorful Cardigan for Baby", designed by the highly lovely and talented, Lindsay Pekny.....is a Dream in Color Design...and it is FANTASTIC!

Jackie and I decided, once we saw this sweater, that we HAD to make it. Jackie made hers first....and after hearing her rave reviews on the patterns' "Cheez-It" quality (can't stop eating/knitting it), I started my own on Sunday afternoon.

I finished it today. Only 2 days total of knitting and weaving in all the ends. If you love color, love knitting baby items and love something quick for instant gratification, YOU MUST KNIT THIS SWEATER!

No wonder the Yarn Harlot made 3 or 4 of them! I can easily make another one!

Now, Jackie thought that she had enough yarn left over after knitting this sweet cardigan to knit one more...I don't have a digital scale, so I can't tell how much, but I think I will buy one, just so I can see. I'm sure Jackie is right...though I have a history of running out of yarn. I used Knit Picks Swish Superwash for the yarn. At $3.29 a skein, the whole sweater (and possibly 2) is only around $26...plus the cost of the pattern. Jackie and I are thinking of swapping yarns around a bit so that we can each make another sweater out of the yarn, but in a different color sequence. Won't that be fun?? And economical. I'm sure that the Dream in Color yarn is fantastic, though....and the names of the colorways are sooo cute! (Like Happy Forest, Blue Lagoon, Spring Tickle, Giant Peach and Strange Harvest...I'm very curious about those yarns....!)

Okay, enough rambling....wanna see some pics of the sweater as it was knit???

Starting on the first three colors and the neck area..



Most of the back done...and colorwork



Tulip Sans Arms...



And, want to see something even MORE interesting???

Here is the whole cardigan INSIDE OUT!!!



Ian liked the sweater even more inside out...and the cool thing is that you could definitely use it that way, too. If you're pretty careful in sewing in the ends, anyway. The icord bind off and seed stitch make the sweater reversible (edging wise) and the reverse stockinette has a great texture. When you make your own, you can decide which you like the best.

Now, since you are my knitting buddies, I will share some little tips that I used while knitting this sweater that might help you:

-Use an open basket for holding all your yarns and arrange them in the order you want to use them.
(This one was inspired by Jackie)
-Use a row "clicker" around your neck to keep track of the color row changes and pen/paper for inc/decreases.
-When changing colors, leave a tail of at least 4 inches and make a slightly loose overhand tie with old and new yarn tails. After a few rows or rounds of knitting, you can go back and weave both ends in....making sure the end goes in the opposite direction (to avoid a hole) and you are weaving into the SAME COLOR!
-Keep your scissors and yarn needle out at all times, in easy reach...you'll need them pretty frequently
-I knit the icord/seed stitch edging BEFORE the sleeves. That is the opposite of the directions, but I found it to be the most helpful and didn't seem to make any difference in the pattern, except that the sleeves are the least pleasurable part of the whole sweater, so when I was done with those, I was completely done with the sweater.
-Take pics as you go along. It's wonderful to see the how one color can make the sweater look completely different.

Here is what I was going for with the colors that I chose:

Capri, Baby Blue and Deep Ocean-the sky above a beautiful garden.

Sunshine-the sun shining on the garden.

Ballerina, Bubblegum-the inside and outer petals of the tulip.

Dublin, Aloe-the leaves and stem.

Black-the wrought iron bench in the garden where you sit to look at the pretty tulips.

And, one more thing before I go....here are two pics of the photographs I had taken of the kids on Saturday...they are so fantastic framed! (Did I mention that the photographer had me sign release so that he could use these framed prints on the wall of Picture People????!!!! Isn't that fantastic!!)



and this one, which I love....



Hope you're having a great week.....tomorrow...Knitting Pool Party at my house! I can't wait!!! : )